Nearly 1,000 spectators, most of whom were students from elementary and middle schools, gathered outside of Butte Hall on Halloween for the 14th annual Pumpkin Drop, but the grand finale fell short when a professor pulled the plug on the event's sound effects.
The Pumpkin Drop, sponsored by the Society of Physics Students, was interrupted when Dr. Richard Haiman, a professor in Chico State University's geography and planning department, was disturbed by the noise and unplugged the extension cord.
Pumpkins were intended to drop in sync with canon explosions from Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture," proving Galileo's theory that all objects fall toward the Earth at the same rate regardless of their mass. Dr. David Kagan, chair of the physics department, helped organize the outreach event.
"Instead of coming and discussing the issue, (the professor) basically unplugged our electricity without comment," Kagan said. "I was just disturbed that a professor couldn't find an accommodation for ten minutes."
Haiman said he had been given no warning that his classroom was to be the source of power for the event. He said he had been authorized to remove the extension cord from his classroom by University President Manuel Esteban.
"In no uncertain terms he told me: 'You unplug it, close the door and you tell anybody who comes into your room that they are being rude and tell them to leave,' and I did that," Haiman said. "You have to stand up for the academic process. You have to try to ensure that the classroom experience is optimal for your students."
Esteban confirmed the statement and said he stands behind Haiman's decision. Both professors agreed that prior notice of the event should have been given and an alternate source of power should have been found. Even without the sound effects, the children still enjoyed themselves, said Dave Atkinson, a member of the Society of Physics Students who dressed as Galileo for the event.
"He didn't ruin our fun," Atkinson said. "The kids still loved it. He just made it a pain."
Amid hundreds of screams and cheers, Diego Cordillo from Palermo Middle School agreed.
"The pumpkins fall fast and they smash," he said. "It makes a big mess. Science is kind of fun."
Joining the event, Cory Poole portrayed Greek philosopher Aristotle and presented an argument that lasted for almost 2000 years.
"Earth to earth, water to water, fire to fire and air to air. It's so natural it must be right," he shouted.
Aristotle's untested supposition that all objects are attracted to one of these four natural elements supported his argument that heavier objects always fall faster than lighter ones. This was the dominant view from the fourth century B.C. until Galileo proved him wrong in the 1600s.
To demonstrate Aristotle's claim, a box of feathers and a pumpkin were dropped from the fifth floor of Butte Hall. The pumpkin smashed to pieces long before the feathers drifted to the ground. Due to Galileo, scientists know that feathers fall more slowly because of resistance from the air. If Aristotle's argument was correct, "a pumpkin tied to a feather will fall more slowly than a pumpkin of equal size dropped at the same time," Atkinson said as Galileo. This would happen because feathers, which are "of the air," in Aristotle's view, would slow the pumpkin's fall. To test this, two pumpkins of equal size were dropped together, one of which was filled with feathers. Both pumpkins exploded against the pavement at the same time. Four hundred years later, Galileo's experiment remains a demonstration of the scientific method.
"The kids love it," Atkinson said. "It's a whole lot of fun to drop pumpkins."
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