Source: Heather Wagoner, 785-826-2917, hwagoner@k-state.edu
Web site: http://www.consider.k-state.edu/openhouse
News release prepared by: Katie Mayes, 785-532-6415, kmayes@k-state.edu

Monday, April 6, 2009

HANDS-ON DISPLAYS, FREE PURPLE PRIDE ICE CREAM PART OF K-STATE AT SALINA'S OPEN HOUSE APRIL 18

SALINA -- A Wildcat flyover, Purple Pride ice cream and the chance to use a student-built cannon for target practice are just a few of the interactive displays available at Kansas State University at Salina's Open House from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, April 18.

General information about academics and the day's events will be available in the College Center. Campus tours will leave the admissions office every hour starting at 9:30 a.m., and the residence halls will be open so that members of the public can see what campus living is all about. Student work will be on display and the library will be having a book sale.

At K-State at Salina's Open House you can:

* Learn about aerobatics firsthand from pilot and performer Wayne Handley, 10 a.m., College Center.
* Get a free taste of Purple Pride ice cream, College Center.
* Watch as student pilots conduct a campus flyover, noon, weather permitting.
* Use a computer game to predict how long before you become a millionaire, Technology Center lawn.
* Get a glimpse into how factory automation works, 153 Technology Center.
* Learn about unmanned aerial vehicles and check out the unusual views from this piece of flying equipment, aviation ramp and Maintenance Teaching Hangar.
* See how quick your reflexes are using miniature heavy equipment, Technology Center lawn.
* Get up close and personal with K-State's fleet of aircraft and check out a Life Star EMS helicopter and a Blackhawk Dustoff, aviation ramp.
* Target your least favorite collegiate mascot using a cannon built by K-State at Salina students, Technology Center lawn.
* Make your own souvenir using K-State's plastic injection molder, 121 Technology Center.
* Try your hand at operating heavy equipment using a simulator, south parking lot.
* Experience aviation-inspired art projects, from model planes to lamps made from engine parts, Maintenance Teaching Hangar.
* Check out the student-built solar boat and see that concrete can float, Technology Center lawn.
* See what it's like to take K-State's jet for a spin using the university's simulators, 144 Aviation Center.
* Learn about NASA's Shuttle Program and the International Space Station through a mobile multimedia display, south parking lot.
* Enjoy the Wildcat Breakfast Fly-In from 8 to 11 a.m., where members of the public can rub elbows with K-State pilots and mechanics of the past, present and future, aviation ramp and in the Maintenance Teaching Hangar.

A full listing of K-State All-University Open House events is available at http://consider.k-state.edu/openhouse