**Salina campus goes tray-less**
KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY – K-State Salina’s cafeteria is no longer serving up trays. The new trayless dining program is expected to minimize waste, conserve natural resources, and promote environmental stewardship.
“Studies have shown that trayless dining programs reduce food waste by 25 to 30 percent per person,” said Levi Esses, assistant director of student life. “Reducing that waste saves on food expense which keeps meal plan costs lower for our students.”
The trayless dining program also helps conserve natural resources such as the water and the energy it takes to heat the one-third to one-half gallon of water used per tray, reduces the amount of chemicals introduced into the water table.
“The trayless dining initiative also allows the foodservice workforce to maximize their time on other tasks,” Esses said.
_By Natalie Blair, Kansas State Collegian_
**Earthquake shakes up students**
PENN STATE UNIVERSITY – As most were settling into the second day of classes, Penn State and downtown State College felt a tremor from the 5.8 magnitude earthquake centered about 100 miles southwest of Washington, near Louisa and Mineral, Va., according to the United States Geological Survey.
The tremors at Penn State occurred at roughly 1:52 p.m. on Tuesday — one minute after the earthquake registered in Virginia — Mike Pigott, senior meteorologist from AccuWeather, said.
Penn State professor of geosciences Kevin Furlong said though the quake tremors were shocking, they weren’t out of the ordinary when it comes to East Coast earthquakes.
The quake was “shallow,” Furlong said, meaning the fault was close to Earth’s surface. The quake was therefore able to travel a much larger distance and created a ripple effect that struck State College.
And Pigott said the 5.8 magnitude is the reason why State College felt tremors — a 5.5 magnitude earthquake can be felt as far as 300 miles away from the quake’s epicenter, he said.
No related injuries were reported in the area and buildings remained unscathed, both Penn State spokesman Geoff Rushton and the State College Police Department said.
Rushton said some students and faculty evacuated buildings on their own, but the university didn’t order any official evacuations.
_By Christina Gallagher, The Daily Collegian Online_
**Grant aids in funding of new building for nanoscience technologies**
UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA – Some of the world’s smallest particles will soon have a new $13.8 million building, where nanoscientists can meticulously and accurately measure the particles’ size and properties.
The construction of the Nanoscience Metrology Facility will be complete in December. It is scheduled to open in the late spring of 2012.
David Sellmyer, director of the Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience, wrote the grant proposal for the new facility.
Also a professor of physics and astronomy, Sellmyer explains nanoscience in a nut shell as “the study of matter in its smallest dimensions.” Metrology is the science of measurement.
“Nanoscience and nanotechnology has blossomed in the past five to 10 years,” Sellmyer said. “It’s because of nanoscience research that we are able to have things like cell phones and computers. At the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, we emphasize nanoscience as an applied science.”
The building was funded partly with a grant of $6.9 million from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The other half of funding will come from university resources and private donors.
_By Maricia Guzman, Daily Nebraskan News_