About 3,500 people panned for gold, checked weather conditions across the country and made slime at last weekend's EMEX '89 - College of Earth and Mineral Science open house.

The open house, organized by students in the college, was held in Walker, Steidle, Deike, Mineral Sciences, and Academic Activities buildings.

Soon after the doors opened, the empty hallways and rooms filled with crowds of young and old, families, and lots of children trying to see each of the experiments, displays, presentations, movies and lectures.

"I am very pleased with the turnout," said Wayne Hudders (senior-mineral economics), this year's publicity chairman for EMEX, adding that 1,500 more people attended than last year.

The presentations included everything from glass melting to a display of dinosaur bones. Justin Plock and Nathan Zane, both second graders at Boalsburg-Panorama Village Elementary School, said they enjoyed exploring a model goldmine under Steidle.

"It makes you feel like you're a real miner wearing the helmet," Zane said.

The geoscience department featured a seismograph, hooked up to a geophone, which detected movements while a needle on the seismograph printed them out.

Joe Kulak (senior-geoscience) watched as one group came in and everyone in the room jumped up and down making human earthquakes so they would register on the needle of the seismograph.

Meanwhile in 317 Steidle, EMEX '89 participants learned to make various colors of slime, a moist sticky substance.

"The people are helpful in answering questions so kids understand it and I understand too," said State College resident Rose Shumskas. She said she brought her son and his friend to see the display of Penn State's artificial hearts.

EMEX '89 events were not just for kids.

"The program is run by the undergraduates and is geared to the entire family," said Everett Tiffany, dean's assistant in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences.

A tour through the geography department in Deasy Lab -- where Penn State's Night Safety map was made -- provided information about map-making, while a first floor display featured a pin board with a map of Pennsylvania on which visitors could place a pin on their home towns.

Curt Janota (junior-meteorology) taught nine-year-old Billy Rogers a few computer tricks on the weather wizard by showing him how to find out the current temperature in Delaware, California, and Lewistown.

A tour of the weather station on the roof of Walker was also offered, where people were shown several weather instruments that measured factors such as wind direction and speed, rainfall, snowfall, and radar distances of particular conditions.

A display in 301 Steidle focused on superconductivity.

Deborah Smith (senior-ceramic engineering) explained how "ceramic superconductors react like magnets like the train in Japan that travels 300 miles an hour 'floating' above the track."

EMEX '89 also featured a local forum with a panel of experts available to answer questions about local problems of water, radon, zoning, noises, and climate.

"Our professors are very knowledgeable about the topics," Tiffany said.