Museum of Natural History March 3, 1998 Contact Tina Whitman (541) 346-3116 or John R. Crosiar 346-3135 EUGENE--Your once-a-year chance to learn about that colorful rock you picked up while hiking in the Cascades, or to settle a disagreement with your sister-in-law about the identity and age of the "object" she dug up in her garden last spring comes on Saturday, March 14. From noon to 3 p.m., a panel of natural history experts will be at your disposal during Identification Day at the University of Oregon Museum of Natural History, 1680 E. 15th Ave. Visitors are invited to bring their mystery items to the museum, where university and community experts will be available to examine objects and to offer opinions about each item's identity, age and source. Topics to be covered include archaeological and ethnographic items, rocks and fossils, animals (for example, bones, nests and skins--but no live animals please!), plants and historical items. "This is purely an educational program, so we won't be doing dollar-value appraisals," says event coordinator Tina Whitman. In addition to the panel of experts, there will be hands-on games and activities for children, relating to classification and identification in a variety of natural history subjects. Admission is $2 per person or $5 per family. Friends of the Museum of Natural History members will be admitted free. Among the experts scheduled to participate are: * Quintin Barton, Lane County Historical Museum--historical items * Thomas Connolly, chief archaeologist, Oregon State Museum of Anthropology--archaeological items * Dennis Jenkins, archaeologist, Oregon State Museum of Anthropology--archaeological items * Dennis Lueck, horticulturist and naturalist--native and ornamental plants * Norman Savage, paleontologist, UO Department of Geological Sciences--fossils and rocks * Vivien Singer, research associate, Oregon State Museum of Anthropology--osteology/bones * Theodore Stern, professor emeritus, UO Department of Anthropology--ethnographic/cultural items * Guy Tasa, archaeologist, Oregon State Museum of Anthropology--osteology/bones * Tom Titus, research associate in ecology, UO Department of Biology--amphibians, reptiles, small animals * Herb Wisner, senior instructor emeritus, UO Department of Biology--birds and small animals * Harold Young, Friends of the Museum of Natural History--rocks and fossils The museum is open from noon to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday, except university holidays. A $1 donation is suggested. For more information, contact the museum office, (541) 346-3024. A recorded message about museum exhibits and activities also is available 24 hours a day by calling GuardLine from a Touch-Tone phone at 484-2000, ext. 3447, or visit Museum of Natural History's Internet website at http://oregon.uoregon.edu/~mnh/index.html. -30- #P-2162/A&E