The four horsemen, mushroom clouds, super volcanoes and meteors are all said to be signs of the apocalypse.With the release of movies like “2012” and “The Road,” and the upcoming end of the infamous Mayan Long Count calendar, the biggest apocalypse prediction since the Y2K scare is generating hype.”[An apocalypse] is the hope for something better,” said Delbert Burkett, religious studies professor who teaches a course on religious ideas that deal with apocalypse predictions. “People look around at this world and aren’t happy with it — [an apocalypse] isn’t the hope for the end of the world, it’s the hope for a better world after.”Though rumors about the world’s end in 2012 are circulating, not all are convinced of the Earth’s impending doom.”There’s been predictions about [what will happen after] the end of the Mayan calendar, but our calendar ends every year,” said Jeremy Baumgartner, mechanical engineering sophomore. “It doesn’t mean it’s going to be the end of the world. If anything happens, it will be something predicted by science.”Predictions of apocalypses have been made through the centuries, Burkett said.”Historically, people believing in apocalypses were being persecuted — they were hoping that an external power would step in and change something.” Burkett said. Supporters of the idea of a 2012 apocalypse often use the impending end of the ancient Mayan Long Count as evidence for the predictions because the Maya are often associated with the occult, said Heather McKillop, an anthropology professor who studies Latin American cultures. The Long Count calendar is set to end on Dec. 21, 2012, the date most apocalypse believers say the world will end.”The Maya thought of life not as a beginning and an end but as in cycles,” McKillop said. “With 2012, it’s just the end of another big cycle. People who are alarmists just want to make something big out of this.”McKillop said the Maya do not have any known stories or records of a belief in the impending doom of Earth, and they kept track of time mainly to record their own history and to proclaim their victories in war.”I don’t know if there will be an apocalypse, but it gives you a reason to sit up, take notice of your life and live it to the fullest,” said Eve McCulloch, biology graduate student.Kayla Parker, international studies sophomore, said she doesn’t subscribe to the notion of the apocalypse because people stir up crises often.”People have always had a fascination with the unknown,” Parker said. The Mayan Long Count calendar is often associated with being an accurate prediction of the future because of the Maya’s ability to accurately track the stars and the passage of time, according to McKillop.”People are interested in astrology and the predictions of the Maya — with all the mystery of their rise and fall, their glyphs and their exotic location, people tend to make assumptions,” McKillop said.David Roberts, biology sophomore, said he has read about different theories of a 2012 apocalypse, including theories about sun flares and the end of the Mayan Long Count calendar, but said he doesn’t believe in any of it.”I look forward to December 21, 2012, so I can wake up that day and laugh at all the people who bought powdered milk and canned food,” Roberts said. “People like to think they can understand something — it makes them feel more complete, but there really isn’t anything there.”Eric Pham, biochemistry freshman, said the priest at his church made predictions about the end of the world in his sermons.”My priest kind of scared me because he said the end of the world is coming, and that there are signs of it everywhere — I don’t think it’s true though,” Pham said.Jordan Bowman, sports administration sophomore, said he keeps an open mind about the predictions.”I guess we won’t really know [what will happen] until 2012,” Bowman said. “I kind of believe in it because the calendar has never been wrong — I guess people get scared when they think the end is coming.”Follow Emily Slack on Twitter @tdr_eslack.–Contact Emily Slack at [email protected]