University of Delaware students plan trip to Antarctica

NEWARK, DELAWARW - About a dozen students from the University of Delaware will travel next month to Antarctica to photograph the harsh climate and relay the pictures over the Internet. <br> <br> Professor Ralph Begleiter, a former CNN correspondent, described the three-week trip as a once-in-a-lifetime chance for students to research and photograph a place few people have ever seen. He&#39;s leading the group along with photojournalism professor Jon Cox. <br> <br> ``This is a great opportunity. I never thought I&#39;d get to go to Antarctica,&#39;&#39; said student Bryan Townsend, 21. ``This is something I&#39;ll tell my kids about.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> The group of 16 students, 13 from the University of Delaware, will leave Jan. 4 for Buenos Aires, Argentina, where they will establish a mobile digital publishing classroom at the University of Palermo. <br> <br> The team will spend 10 days getting to Antarctica and the Shetland Islands on the Peregrine Mariner, a Russian research vessel. <br> <br> Students will use rafts and kayaks to make daily excursions from the Peregrine. They&#39;ll use laptop computers to save digital photographs, write stories, edit footage and design Web pages to publish the product while they&#39;re still in Antarctica. Students also plan to report about their adventure live by videophone to CNN. <br> <br> Begleiter said he is stressing the importance of research to the young photographers. <br> <br> ``You have to be able to write a good story to go with the pictures,&#39;&#39; he said. <br> <br> Topics to be studied include the environment, the wildlife and the geopolitics of the region, an international no man&#39;s land where at least 30 nations maintain a research presence. <br> <br> The trip calls for students to spend at least one night camping on the ice; temperatures in January typically are 0 to 50 degrees with little snow. Students have been warned to keep a regular sleep schedule, which could be difficult in the summer season of 24-hour sunshine. <br> <br> Adam G. Marsh, an assistant professor of marine studies who has traveled several times to Antarctica, told students to dress in layers to keep warm and to always have water with them. The zero humidity on the arid ice cap can cause dehydration easily, he said. <br> <br> Marsh also urged the group to have a global positioning device with them and radios to contact their ship in case of trouble. <br> <br> ``There is no established emergency medical system there, no 911,&#39;&#39; he said. <br> <br> But the students said they are not thinking about the dangers. Danielle Quigley, 21, said that after she read about the trip, she couldn&#39;t stop thinking about it. <br> <br> ``I had to go,&#39;&#39; she said.