WKU students can rest assured that they will survive finals week and the so-called “doomsday” on December 21st.

The Hardin Planetarium hosted a discussion of rumors about the end of the world in their series 2012 Doomsday: Predicting an End, or Just a Cycle?

Planetarium coordinator Ronn Kistler takes the audience through a power-point presentation that looks at the rumors, where they came from, and the possible scenarios for doom.

Kistler said the final date on the Mayan calendar is not an indication of the end of the world, but rather signifies the beginning of a new cycle.

“It’s just like New Years,” he said. “We don’t look for the world to end that night, we look for a new beginning, or cycle.”

He also presented ways the Earth could potentially end, including solar storms and the reversal of Earth’s rotation axis, and went through step by step explaining the improbability of each scenario.

“The thing is that none of these predictions make sense,” he said.

Some believers think that an asteroid or other planet could collide with the Earth, something that Kistler said was extremely unlikely because of the ability to detect it in advance.

“If there were an object out there large enough to destroy the earth on December 21st, we would have noticed by now,” he said.

Kistler said we should live our lives without fear and worry, and recited the Bible verse Matthew 6:34.

“Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow, for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own,” he said.

Kistler doen’t hold anything against those who believe in doomsday theories.

“We’re all free to believe what we want,” he said.

Dakota Dever, a shift leader a Panda Express, doesn’t believe the world will end in December.

“Apparently there’s been proof that there’s another Mayan calendar that goes past the year 3000,” Dever said.

Cincinnati senior Margaret Meeds said she believes she will make it through the year as well.

“I don’t think it’ll end this year, but I eel like it’ll end in some insane way,” she said.

2012 Doomsday: Predicting an End, or Just a Cycle? will run through December 23rd, every Tuesday and Thursday at 7 p.m., and every Sunday at 2 p.m.