Sunday, November 6, 2011

Weekly Updates 11/6/11

Hello, Secular Students!

Happy November! Here's your sixth week update for the Secular Alliance!

Meeting Reminder

Bubbles!


That's right, our next meeting is devoted to science, specifically the science of bubbles. If you have ever wanted to know the answers to these questions:

  • What exactly is a bubble, anyway?
  • Can there be a bubble inside a bubble?
  • Can there be a square bubble?
  • What about an anti-bubble (a bubble that is a spherical layer of air with water on the outside and inside)?
Then this meeting is for you. We're back in our usual location, in the Uncommon Room, in the basement of Rockefeller Chapel, at the usual time of 6 pm, on Tuesday November 8th.

Announcements
  • Sagan Day: On November 12th, at Northwestern's downtown campus, the Secular Alliance, along with the Women Thinking Free Foundation, the Northwestern University Secular Student Alliance, and the DePaul Alliance for Freethought, are hosting a panel and social event to celebrate Sagan Day. For those who don't know - shame on you, for one thing -  Carl Sagan was an astronomer, a skeptic, a science promoter, and a UChicago alumnus. In particular, he is known for the Cosmos television series. He would have turned 77 years old on November 9th, so this event is a celebration of his life and legacy. Oh, and did we mention it's FREE? For more information, and to RSVP, check out the Facebook event.
  • Skepticon: Skepticon IV, the largest Midwest skeptical conference, will take place November 18th-20th in Springfield, Missouri. At least three members of the exec board are planning to attend, and we'd love to take a group down. If you're interested, let us know at a meeting, or via email at ssa.uchicago@gmail.com.
  • IV Debate: We are still in process of arranging a debate with the Intervarsity Christian Fellowship on campus. The two general topics we're considering are "Are humans special?" and "Is there a value to discovering "truth" without a higher power?" We will keep you updated as the details get worked out. If you would be interested in debating, send us an email at ssa.uchicago@gmail.com.
  • Blogging: We are still looking for students to blog for us! Are you interested in sharing an article or a video blog on our website? We'd love to have guest bloggers, as well. If you have an article written, you can email it to ssa.uchicago@gmail.com. Or, if you're just interested, but aren't sure what to write or talk about, email us about that too, and we'll help you get started.
    Also, if you run a personal blog about topics related to secularism, let us know, and we may feature it on the website as well.

Links You Should Follow
  • No Shave November, also known as the Movember movement, started last Tuesday. On Twitter, it sparked an outpouring of some supportive, but many more misogynistic and shaming comments on women's appearances, particularly not shaving. There's a discussion of the problem on Teen Skepchick.
  • On the complete flip side, however, a new hashtag, #feministwishlist, was also started on Twitter this week. The responses are poignant and often inspirational. (Tip from Token Skeptic)
  • Did you remember to change your clocks for daylight savings time? National Geographic has a discussion of daylight savings, and whether or not we should keep it.

That’s all for this installment. In conclusion, this week’s quote is from David Hume: 
"Generally speaking, the errors in religion are dangerous; those in philosophy only ridiculous."

Hope to see you on Tuesday!

~The UChicago Secular Student Alliance~

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