Newswise — High school students from as far away as Hawaii and Egypt are planning trips to Rolla, Mo., next month to practice the art of blowing stuff up. The University of Missouri-Rolla, the only university in the United States to offer a minor in explosives engineering, is again hosting Explosives Camp this summer. The camp, in its third year, has been so popular with high school students that UMR has added a session this year. The sessions, which are both full, will be held June 3-9 and June 17-23. "This is the only camp of its kind in the world," says explosives expert Dr. Paul Worsey, a professor of mining engineering at UMR. Many of the activities take place at UMR's Experimental Mine, where campers learn about underground blasts and mining engineering careers. This year, Army specialists from Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., will visit to present information about the use of military explosives. Campers also shoot dynamite, learn about detonators and set up fireworks displays. The activities are supervised by professionals like Worsey, who has been known to blow up frozen chickens in order to demonstrate the power of explosives.
Camp sessions are limited to 20 students each. Those who will attend the 2007 sessions are all American citizens who are at least 17 years old and have expressed an interest in enrolling at UMR. The cost of the camp, including room, board and field trips, is $450.
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