Wednesday, September 23, 2009
{The Blue Banner}
Page 9
‘Grossology’ makes science fun for children
By Alex Hammond
Staff Writer
RAHAMMON@UNCA.EDU
Snot. Warts. Belches. All the nasty,
dirty, smelly things about the human body
used to be taboo. Now, they have an ex
hibit, and it opens in Asheville Friday at
Heath Adventure inside Pack Place.
I had an epiphany when I was clipping
my toenails. This was about 15 years ago
now, and I started thinking about that gunk
beneath my toenails. I thought, ‘Whoa,
kids like gross stuff. I’ll just make up a
new science called Grossology,”’ said
Sylvia Branzei, a former schoolteacher
from Oregon.
It stunk. Er, stuck.
Sylvia Branzei wrote her first book in
1995 to try and hook students into want
ing to learn. Now, she has an entire series
of books based on the approach of em
bracing the nasty and smelly and not-so-
nice parts of the human body.
A friend told me, ‘You’re either going
to sell one book or a million.’ Now here
've are,” she said.
The book series ranges in topics from
the human body, animals and experi
ments, then finally Grossology and You.
We were really conscious when we did
the series that they come out in an order,”
she said. “Grossology and You is like an
advanced Grossology book.”
Branzei also has an exhibit, developed
py Advanced Animations, LLC, that tours
internationally. The Health Adventure is
getting the larger of two national exhibits
for a cut rate this year, she said.
“They were able to get the large exhibit
because of the economy,” she said. “We’ve
dropped the price, that’s for sure.”
According to Jan Shoener, account ex
ecutive at Advanced Animations, the ex
hibit’s arrival in Asheville is a symptom
of the economy.
“We had a date come available,” Shoe
ner said. “And (the Health Adventure)
was able to host it.”
“Mission Children’s Hospital is actu
ally sponsoring Grossology,” said Becky
Brown, one of Mission Children’s Hospi
tal’s marketing managers. “We actually
have one of our physicians who said that
he’d seen this exhibit, I think in Texas,
and he said that it’s really good.”
Brown also said the exhibit provides a
chance to reach out to children in a way
that other programs do not.
“The different exhibits just seem to fit
in real well with a lot of what the physi
cians at Mission Children’s Hospital do,”
she said. “We feel like Grossology really
has a lot of health education to offer to
children.”
Stephanie Kiser, director of community
health and corporate wellness at Mission
Hospitals, said health care education is
one of their biggest concerns.
“A lot of time people don’t think of
hospitals having a vested interest in the
health of the community, but it’s in our
mission statement,” she said.
See GROSSOLOGY Page 13 |
Photo Courtesy of Advanced Exhibits
Sylvia Branzei wrote a series of books about Grossology. An exhibit based
on her work opens inside Pack Place on Friday.
HOLA’s salsa dance night improves campus interaction
By Dannielle Elms
Staff Writer
DAELMS@UNCA.EDU
The Hispanic Outreach for Learning
Awareness held its first “salsa night” of
I the semester on Friday, bringing students
together for a celebration of Latin dance
culture.
“For a while, there was no room on the
dance floor. We had a salsa lesson by An
dres Montoya, a local salsa promoter and
dancer. Lots of people had their first salsa
lesson and danced to music that was new
to them. To me, that alone means the night
was a success,” said Tirzah Villegas, adver
tising vice president of HOLA.
HOLA works toward equal college ac
cess and improved diversity on campus.
Members said approximately 60 people
attended the dance social, which involved
, .-layes - Staff Photographer free salsa lessons, food and the opportunity
HOLA, a Latin advocacy group at UNCA, hosts monthly salsa dance nights to meet new people,
the Highsmith Union and strives to improve campus diversity. “At a tvnical sals
“At a typical salsa night, people meet
each other, receive beginner’s dancing
lessons and dance closely with a partner,”
said Jensel Garcia-Robles, co-president
of HOLA.
“I enjoy the salsa nights because I’m
not the best dancer, and it allows me to
relax with some new people and friends
who are trying this for the first time and
other friends who are better-versed in the
sexy art of the dances. I get to dance with
some of the beautiful people who attend.
We also raise money while doing so,”
Garcia-Robles said.
HOLA says every salsa night is a fund
raiser for a different Latino cause. The
get-together aided a nonprofit organiza
tion called Nuestro Centro, which deals
with under-documented people living in
America.
“Nuestro Centro is currently still
working with the Immigration and Cus
toms Enforcement raid on Mills factory
See HOLA Page 11 |