By Angela Twining
Biology and Agriculture Week kicks off Monday, March 12 and the Bio/Ag Council is ready to convince the student body it will be “so fun you can bet the farm on it.”
Brian Sorenson, 24, a senior from Provo, majoring in molecular biology, is president of the Bio/Ag Council. He said this is the chance for students at BYU to see all that goes on in the Bio/Ag College.
From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., today through Thursday, booths from clubs and departments in the college will be set up in Brigham Square.
On Tuesday and Wednesday local bands will play outside as part of the festivities.
“It”s going to be fun. We”ll have a couple local bands, some farm animals for petting and more,” Sorenson said.
Sorenson said this week is the biggest project of the year and the chance for the school of Bio/Ag to shine.
The service project on Saturday is the big culmination of Bio/Ag Week, Sorenson said. Students can give back to the university by doing service at the BYU Dairy.
“We want wards, we want family home evening groups, any one who wants to bring a buddy – there really is a lot to do. It”s important to give back to an institution that”s helped us out,” he said.
Sariah Ong, 19, a sophomore from Carlsbad, Calif., majoring in audiology and speech pathology, participated in the service project last year.
She said even though she is not in any biology or agriculture program, she participated to show appreciation for the dairy.
“I”ve never been on a dairy before, and it was a neat experience for me to check it out,” she said. “It”s just fun to go and get dirty.”
Ong said some of the activities they did included scraping paint off buildings, picking weeds and cleaning.
James Porter, an associate professor in the Zoology Department, was chairman of the symposium committee for Bio/Ag Week.
The symposium is on Friday and the invited guests will all speak on “The human genome: A blueprint for the future.”
“Last year, the symposium was more looking backwards on this century and the history we”ve learned,” Porter said. “This one is more for the future.”
He said the speakers will tell how the human genome will affect mankind ethically and scientifically.
“This is the chance for the College of Bio/Ag to inform the students in the community of the things it”s involved with,” he said.
