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Show Lottery Lover Professor of Passion Dejected Jensens NIGHTS; Columnist Kelly Zeigler thinks gambling with your future is a good thing. It's nice to find a teacher who is in love with their work and students. Brothers Andy and Alex both saw their teams fall in the second round. SEE OPINION, PAGE 7 SEE CAMPUS LIFE, PAGE 9 SEE SPORTS, PAGE 12 The Daily Utah KM RONICLE Tuesday, March 23, 1999 "The University of Utah's Independent Student Voice Since 1890" Kersten Swinyard Chronicle News Writer University of Utah researcher been placed with science greats IP c-- such as Albert Einstein, Alexander Graham Bell and Stephen Hawking. Richard Shorthill received the Benjamin Franklin Medal for standing research with fiber optics. fzri, a 1 His late colleague, Victor Vali, was a joint recipient. Shorthill and Vali built a fiber optic gyroscope from cable in 1976. "We demonstrated that it is possible to build an optical gyroscope," Shorthill said. "It's used in inertial navigation for airplanes, for navigae tion for military purposes, for missiles. "Just to be recognized for something way back in 1976 is great," he said. "But I still can't believe that I'm included with someone like Einstein. But I'm disappointed that my colleague couldn't see it." Vali passed away approximately one week after learning of the award last December. Shorthill was researching Mars, the moon, Jupiter and Saturn. His colleague, Vali was interested in the short-rang- A 2 II , . 1 'A. same work. "I convinced him to come here and work with me not knowing exactly what we would do," Shorthill said. As it turns out, they began tinkering with a new field new for 1976, that is. "At that time, not much was known about fiber optics or their characteristics," he said. "That was when they were not that big. No one was interested in them, except communications." Communications companies use fiber optics cables as a more efficient data, he way of transmitting explained. "One fiber optic cable that was 1 119 Research Raises to Level of Science Greats U A Vol. 108 No. f1 Si ' say, 10 microns, could carry all the conversations in the United States at one time. High resolution television is from fiber optics," he said. "We got the spin-ofrom their work. Every communications company was working for fiber optics." Shorthill and Vali used fiber optics to make a gyroscope, or a rotating navigational tool. The gyroscope works by measuring the difference between two light sources that are traveling in opposite directions, Shorthill said. "If I can measure that small difference in time and distance, that difference tells me how fast I am rotating. That distance is very small, down to the wavelength of light," he said. "That's an essential part of navigation on an airplane. That's what they use to tell where they are." The researchers utilized a principle known as the Sagnac effect, named after Georges Sagnac who worked on an optical gyroscope in 1913. Sagnac was trying to determine the rotation of the earth with magnetic beams. Shorthill and Vali were merely trying to build a practical, less expensive device for navigation; they succeeded. "When you use a gyroscope and they turn, there's a lot of noise, and they're very expensive," he said. "They might cost $100,000 out of a system that costs one million." Shorthill's and Vali's work made less expensive, more accurate instru ments available. "The fiber optic gyroscope is much less, say $10,000. That's why we were excited to work with it," he said. "We predicted they would be much more accurate, and it turns out they have been." "These navigation systems are so good now that they can actually zero them when they leave New York, and when they land at the airport in London they are within a few feet of where the computer says they are," Shorthill said. "The Franklin Institute in has awards Philadelphia every year, some in political science, some in business and various disciplines like chemistry and physics," Shorthill ff said. Other recipients of the award include Barry Marshall, who was honored for discovering a bacterium that cures ulcers. "His colleagues didn't believe him, so he injected himself with the bacteria and cured himself," Shorthill said. Douglas Engelbart was honored for developing the computer mouse, and Noam Chomsky received the award for developing a system that is now the basis for computer languages. "One of the awards is $250,000, but that's only the business person," Shorthill said. "I get a gold medal worth about $200." Shorthill will present his paper and receive the award at the Franklin Institute's ceremony on April 29. "just to be recognized for something way back in 1976 is great But I still can't believe that I'm included with someone like Einstein. But I'm disappointed that my colleague couldn't see it " University of Utah research professor, Richard Shorthill, on receiving the Benjamin Franklin Medal for outstanding research with fiber optics. Richard Shorthill and the late Victor Vali were named recipients of an award for their fiber obtics research Child Welfare Expert Speaks to U Social Work Students David McEntire Chronicle News Writer Fifteen million children will not succeed as adults in America because of isolation from hope and economic opportunity, said Dr. Ira Barbell, a senior associate of the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Barbell spoke at the Social'Work auditorium at the University of Utah Monday about "Transforming Agencies and Practice for Improved Child Welfare: Lessons and Family Learned." Kathy Barbell, his wife, was also present. She consulted throughout the day with different groups on child and foster care issues. Ira Barbell represented the Annie E. Casey Foundation, a private, char I itable organization dedicated to building better futures for disadvantaged children in America. "I believe that all children can learn, grow up and make a contribution to the community," he said. The foundation's mission is to help American children become more effective parents and workers in the future, he said. Being the largest of its kind, the foundation also strives to reduce the fraction of children that fail in society and produce better outcomes for disadvantaged children, said Barbell. Despite the foundation's large 1999 budget, total resources would of percent equal of public expenditure on problems one-twentie- th iiiiini i 1 i'ri -'- I I'. I ' " "" . i.:;..,,, 11 . .- -V rrJ;.v,"v v , ??i'v,2 y, ?.&-yj2. iUy v rifmff&ftC--- .LL jjt - ,- f- v 'T t-4:- r :- -- V-. - : 4 $! - , I 1 see social work page THE DAILY UTAH ONLINE CHRONICLE NICE FOLLOW THROUGH: This group oflinksman enjoy the warm weather on the Utah golf course. 4 IS ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB AT , WWW.chfOnicle.Utah.edu s |