Jerome Crawford entered the HUB-Robeson Center yesterday a black man.

Less than two minutes later, his dark features had morphed into those of a gruff white man.

"That's amazing," Crawford (junior-kinesiology) said, staring at a life-sized image of his fair complexion.

Crawford was also morphed into a man of Asian, Hispanic, Indian and Middle Eastern descent by the Human Race Machine, part of this week's Martin Luther King Jr. Day festivities.

The machine, introduced to the Penn State community last year and brought back by popular demand, will be available from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. until Friday on the first floor of the HUB.

"We wanted to do something that would explore the science of race and diversity," said Naomi Altman, a professor in the Eberly College of Science, which is sponsoring the event. "It shows that it's really such subtle differences that people make such a fuss about."

Artist Nancy Burson, who took hundreds of photographs of people from each of the six races portrayed, created

the Human Race Machine. After noting the facial similarities of each race, Burson developed a template, into which students' faces are morphed.

"We highlight and then morph the eyes, nose, mouth and chin," Miliani Jimencz, who operated the machine yesterday, said. "If you're white, for example, you'll notice that as a Middle Easterner, your eye sockets are more set-in and darker, and your eyes are a bit rounder than usual."

Students expressed varied emotions as they intently observed their morphed images.

"It is an experience for everyone," Jimencz said. "Everyone leaves here either laughing or in astonishment."

Some students were surprised at how closely their morphed images resembled their natural features.

"I was especially surprised by the Middle Eastern image," Gregg Pitman (senior-geography) said. "I expected some of my features to have changed a little more."

Cecil Fish (junior-drawing and painting) laughed as his image flashed onto the projection screen and bystanders huddled around.

"I look pretty cool as a black guy," he said.

Heather Carroll (junior-marketing and Spanish) said the images of herself as a black and white woman accurately portrayed her mixed ethnicity.

"The Middle Eastern image was a bit of a stretch, though," she said.

Crawford said it was easy to see the similarities between him and his morphed images because he is open-minded about racial issues.

"I think that [the machine] is an important way to calm all of the different racial tensions that might arise, especially on a campus that has grown in diversity, such as Penn State," Crawford said. "I really feel like every background somehow captured me, even though I am African-American."

Denise Ziobro and Theodore Jackson, USG Day of Service co-directors, said the Human Race Machine is valuable because it provides students with new perspectives.

"The machine gets across what Martin Luther King really stood for," Ziobro said.

Jackson said the machine is a powerful, mind-opening tool.

"It allows you to step into someone else's shoes, or in this case, their face," he said. "It's kind of a mental thing ... how would you be treated if you were a different race? Would you be treated differently? It's all about making students think, and it accomplishes that."