Day 4

With day four at a close, I am convinced this state has much to offer. The touring of the state has revealed many resources and a strength among its people that I never imagined. It is, however, a lack of understanding in this regard which I believe has led to the current stereotype held by many about WV. For example, we visited a company just purchased by Catepillar which specializes in the development and production of a high wall mining machine which may be the single greatest piece of technology I have seen in person. I say this not so much for the incredible volume of coal it can recover, but rather it representing the culminating example of physics applications. Mechanics, fluids, waves, optics, electricity, magnetism, thermodynamics, and even quantum physics are involved in the production of this machine. And, this is done in WV. So much for the notion of West Virginians not beig able to compete in the advanced world of today, not to mention that it is like the coolest tonka truck ever!!

The last part of the day was spent investigating the history of Matewan. Here, we were able to investigate the historical gunfight with Sid Hatfield and allies against a group of Baldwin Felts detectives. This rich history offered such a suspenseful story hollywood itself could not have created such a masterpiece from scratch.

I do feel somewhat bothered by the lack of passion many residents have about their state. I hope that I can do my part in remedying this by instilling in my students a deeper appreciation of WV as a state. This experience has given the insight and motivation to do so. It is my responsibility to now deliver. Now to the bear and our leader Steve.

I must apologize; Steve and Pat reminded me that I am from Ohio. They also made it clear in their own special way, it would be quite a shame if I were to ACCIDENTLY get left behind in someplace called War, not to mention nearly impossible to find my way home. So, as much as I would like to reveal the goodies, the idea of not seeing the Buckeye state again is to frightening to overcome.

Goodnight,

William Strait

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