100 Campus Drive Weatherford, OK 73096-3089 … · Engineering Club Annual Shish-kebab will be held...

PHYSICSGRADSNAMED

DISTINGUISHEDALUMNINow everyone knows what weknew all along. We have somepretty special graduates. Thisyear, two have been singled outfor recognition as SWOSU Dis-tinguished Alumni. JohnAaron (‘64) and Dr. Benny Hill(‘57) will be honored for theirmany accomplishments at theSWOSU Convocation on May13, 2006. Keep your eye onSWOSU’s News and on thePhysics Alumni Web Page forrelated activities. More infor-mation about these high achiev-ers is presented later in thenewsletter.

ALWAYS GREATFOOD! ThePhysics andEngineering ClubAnnual Shish-kebabwill be held onSaturday, 6 May2006 at 6:00 p.m. The locationwill be Dr. Jones’ house.

To get to the Jones Estate, takeexit 84 (Airport Rd) from I-40and go south on Airport Road

one full mile to the four-waystop. Turn left (east) and goabout ½ mile to Cedar CanyonE. (Pass up Cedar Canyon W.) Turn south (right) and driveabout 0.4 miles. The sign“JONES 20" will be on the east(left) side of the road. Turndown the driveway. (The houseis not visible from the road.) ALUMNI ARE WELCOME!!!

Science is a way of trying notto fool yourself .– Richard

Feynman

MELISSA

GARD WILL

SPEAK AT BANQUETTake a trip to the International

Space Station. For $20 mil-

lion, you might hitch a ride on

a Russian rocket. Or for the

much more reasonable rate of

$12, you can get a fine meal,

the company of friends old and

new, and an evening learning

about the ISS at the 25 An-th

nual Spring Physics Banquet.

This year’s gathering will be on

Saturday, April 1, at 7 p.m. in

the SWOSU Conference Cen-

ter (at the corner of Davis Rd.

and 7 St. across the streetth

from Milam Stadium).

Alumna Melissa (Missy

Dubiel) Gard (‘89) will be

speaking on “The International

Space Station: What does it do,

what have we learned, what's

next?”

After receiving a B.S. in Engi-

neering Physics from SWOSU,

Ms. Gard started her career at

NASA’s Marshall Space Flight

Center where she performed

design, computational analysis

and testing on the International

Space Station’s (ISS) environ-

mental control, life support,

thermal and fire protection sys-

tems. In 1998 she was tempor-

arily assigned to NASA Head-

quarters in Washington, D.C.

where she worked on Congres-

sional materials related to ISS.

Melissa then transferred to

NASA’s Johnson Space Center

where she served as Technical

Assistant to the Deputy Pro-

gram Manager for ISS Opera-

tions. Following that assign-

ment she was the Mission Man-

ager for the third and sixth ex-

peditions to the ISS. She is

currently a Senior Manager in

the ISS Mission Evaluation

Room, leading the engineering

team that monitors ISS system

operations and performs anom-

aly resolution. Her awards in-

clude the Silver Snoopy award -

Department of Chemistry & Physics g 100 Campus Drive g Weatherford, OK 73096-3089

PHYSICS ALUMNI NEWSLETTERSpring 2006

http://www.swosu.edu/academics/physics g [email protected] g Terry Goforth, Editor

SWOSU PHYSICS ALUMNI NEWSLETTER , page 2 SPRING 2006

the astronauts’ personal award

for ensuring crew and mission

safety - and the NASA Excep-

tional Service Medal.

In addition to food for both

body and mind, the evening

will include the annual induc-

tion of new Sigma Pi Sigma

members and presentation of

awards and scholarships.

Mark your calendars and make

your reservations now. Just let

us know your plans–you can

always pay at the door. We

just need a head count for the

caterers about 3 days in ad-

vance. Hope to see you there!

PHYSICS AND

ENGINEERING CLUB

OFFICERSPres: Moin Khan

VP: Santosh BhattSec: Bhaskar BasnetTreas: Micah Perkins

Publ Rel: Michelle SchuldtHistorian: Vishnu Pokhrel

Spn: Dr. Tony Stein

CONGRATULATIONS,GRADS!This year twoSWOSU Physicsstudents receivedtheir diplomas at

convocation. Chris Robertson(Meeker) received his degree inBiophysics and is off to the OSU

College of Health Sciences towork on his post-graduate degreein Osteopathic Medicine. CaseyWells (Ninnekah) has chosen topursue an advanced degree inMedical Physics. To furtherprepare for his studies, Casey hasbegun his graduate career bypicking up additional courses inbiology and chemistry here atSWOSU. Casey also continuesto serve the SWOSU studentbody and physics program byusing his considerablebackground tutoring students inbeginning physics courses. Congratulations Chris and Casey!

Make everything as simple aspossible, but not simpler. –Albert Einstein

THECOLLAPSEOF THE TACOMANARROWS BRIDGEDr. Charles Rogers

The Tacoma Narrows bridgewas opened to the public onJuly 1, 1940. At 1.8 km long,it was the third longest sus-pension bridge in the world atthat time. As originally de-signed by Clark Eldridge, itwould have cost 11 milliondollars to build, but easternfinanciers would not lend themoney to build it unless anengineer of their choice revi-sed the plans. They choseLeon Moisseiff, a world fa-mous bridge designer.

A bridge is too complex tocalculate all of the forces in-volved, and so engineers con-struct a mathematical modelrelating the forces that theythink will be important. Meas-urements of real bridges, or ofphysical models, verify that amathematical model is goodand yields the values of con-stants in the equations of themodel. Unfortunately Mois-seiff extended his model farbeyond where it had beentested. His design called for avisually stunning bridge, anarrow and thin ribbon ofroadway gracefully suspen-ded from two soaring towers. Moisseiff’s plan would useless steel and cost only 8million dollars, so his versionis the bridge that wasbuilt–and besides, Moisseiffwas famous.

The bridge’s extreme flexibilityallowed it to oscillate in thewind and led to its nickname,“Galloping Gertie.” At timesthe roadbed became a sinu-ous sine wave with ampli-tudes so large that a car in avalley would disappear fromthe view of a car in a valleybehind it. About 10:00 a.m.on November 7, 1940, Leo-nard Coatsworth, a newseditor for the Tacoma NewsTribune, drove onto the bridgewith the family dog, Tubby, inthe back seat. The roadwaywas rising and falling 3 feetevery 90 seconds. Suddenlya stiffening line broke looseand the bridge began to twist


about its center line, pushingthe left sidewalk 28 feet be-low the right sidewalk. Thenthe left sidewalk rose and theright sidewalk fell, and so on,every 5 seconds. Coats-worth’s car was thrown a-gainst the curb in the oppo-site lane, but Coatsworthmanaged to crawl out a win-dow. The terrified dog wouldnot come.

Not able to stay on his feet,Coatsworth clung to the curbas he crawled towards theEast Tower 150 meters a-way. As he neared the tow-er, he met Winfield Brown, acollege student, who had ear-lier walked across the bridgefor the thrill of the roller coas-ter effect for the price of thedime toll. They both made itto safety. At 10:30 a.m. alarge chunk of concrete drop-ped from the central span. Ashort while later the rumble ofGalloping Gertie reached acrescendo: the air was filledwith the shrieking of twistingsteel girders, the sharp gun-shot sounds of snapping ca-bles and popping bolts, andthe grinding of concrete a-gainst concrete. One of thetwo suspension cables slip-ped from its saddle atop atower, and, at 11:02 a.m., a200-meter-long section of theroadway tore loose from thecentral span and dropped 65meters into Puget Sound. Other segments fell and sodid Coatsworth’s car withTubby still inside.

At first it was supposed thatthe bridge’s collapse wascaused by the wind exciting anatural frequency of thebridge–a resonance pheno-menon. Under this guisepictures of the bridge collapsehave made it into numerousphysics text books. The exci-tation mechanism wasthought to be the formationand shedding of vortices inthe lee of the bridge, but theexpected period for this was 1second, not the measured 5seconds.

Frederick Bert Farquharson,Professor of Civil Engineeringat the University of Washing-ton, took measurements andfilmed the collapse. He wasonsite because he had beenassigned to find ways to makethe bridge stiffer. (He alsomanaged to reachCoatsworth’s car to rescueTubby, but when he reachedinside, Tubby bit his fingerand drove him off.) Later Far-quharson made a scale modelof the bridge and discoveredthat straight winds couldexcite a torsional mode with a5 second period–exactly whathad destroyed the bridge. The oscillation frequency wasindependent of any aspect ofthe wind, provided that thewind speed was large e-nough. Once started, thebridge’s own structure magni-fied the motion until the bridgefailed. It had previously beenassumed that bridges neededto withstand only the pushing

force of winds, but Farquhar-son showed that the complexinterplay between the struc-ture and the wind must be ac-counted for. The field ofbridge aerodynamics wasborn, providing gainful em-ployment for engineers andsafer bridges for the public.

In quest ions of science, theauthority of a thousand is notw orth the humble reasoning ofa single individual.–GalileoGalilei

NEWS FROM

CLUB WE-BE-

GONE

Travels of the

Physics and Engineering Club

The past year has been as

eventful as ever. Our spring

trip took us to Colorado

Springs in the great state of

Colorado for the Space Sym-

posium’s job fair. It was an eye-

opening experience for all of us,

particularly our Senior (and

some Juniors) who waited in line

for the interviews. It was parti-

cularly gratifying to see employ-

er after employer emphasizing

the importance of on-going

education. (Students do not

always truly believe professors

when we say that an engineering


physics degree doesn’t end

their education but begins it.

When employers and workers

in the field speak students

listen. ) The only disappoint-

ment at the fair was the lack of

opportunities for international

students.

The displays and exhibits at

the Symposium were specta-

cular, as well. They almost

competed with the view from

the surrounding mountains.

Most people were able to fully

enjoy the breathtaking view of

one of the prettiest parts of

our country, but getting down

from some of these places was

a particularly memorable ‘eyes

shut’ experience for some of

us...okay, for one of us (Dr.

Stein). There is nothing quite

like coasting down a steep

mountain having switch back

after switch back while smelling

the pungent aroma of hot

brakes!

Currently we are planning our

next spring trip and getting

ready for this year’s spring

banquet. In addition, we are

actively seeking speakers to

come to SWOSU to present

colloquia that give our students

a better understanding of what

the world is like after they gra-

duate. (See our ad in this

paper.)

...AND CLOSER

TO HOMEThe beginning ofspring finalsheralds the annual Physicsand Engineering Shish-kebab. Dr. Jones graciously hostedthe 2005 edition which fea-tured beef and chicken ke-bobs and all the sides anddesserts you could ever hopefor. The usual round of“questionable” awards werepresented, and a fond fare-well was wished to our gradu-ating seniors, ChrisRobertson and Casey Wells.

Fall brought a number of newand vibrant students to theClub. At our welcome backbarbecue in September wesaw a number of new facesand as well as some older fa-miliar ones. The food wasgreat—once it was cooked! (Special thanks goes to Dr.Robertson for tutoring abarbecue rookie. (Lesson #1:never be parsimonious withcharcoal.)

Following recent tradition,

we celebrated Halloweenwith a spooky movie andplenty of snacks. Of course,the Christmas party providedus with a brief respite fromfinal exams. Students, facul-ty (current and retired), andfamilies gathered at thehome of Drs. Goforth andTrail for a wonderful pot-luckspread and a rousting gameof Dirty Santa.

HOLES IN THEHOLY HOLESby Dr. StanRobertson

In a series of five research paperspublished over the last four yearsand a chapter of a book (New Di-rections in Black Hole Re-search, ed. P.V.Kreitler, NovaScience Publishers, Inc., 2006,ISBN 1-59454-460-3,novapublishers.com) Dr. StanleyRobertson, erstwhile SWOSUphysics prof, and co-author Dr.Darryl Leiter have proposed anon-black-hole relativistic modelof compact gravitating objects.Unlike black holes, their compactobject model is allowed to have amagnetic field. They call theirobject a MECO (for MagneticEternally Collapsing Object) andit has been previously describedin the Alumni Newsletter.Though compact as a black hole,it never collapses into a blackhole because it radiates away itsmass fast enough to defeat theformation of an event horizon.


As a result of the extreme relati-vistic time dilation, this processcould continue for trillions ofyears. For earthbound observers,a MECO would be essentiallystable and very dim, hardly dis-tinguishable from black holesexcept for their magnetic fields.Robertson and Leiter have usedthe MECO model to explain de-tails of the x-ray spectra and rap-id variability of both neutronstars and stellar mass black holecandidates. In a 2004 paper pub-lished in Monthly Notices of theRoyal Astronomical Society(MNRAS, England), they show-ed how these spinning magneticobjects could drive astrophysicaljets. These ubiquitous jets havebeen observed for young proto-stars, white dwarfs, neutron starsand supermassive galactic nu-clei. Magnetic objects, such asthe MECO can produce them allwith infalling, accreting matterand a spinning magnetic field.Typically, the infalling matterforms an accretion disk thatinteracts with the central mag-netic field at the inner edge ofthe disk. As magnetic field linesentangle in the disk, they arewound toroidally and stretcheduntil there is enough energystored in a toroid to drive itsejection. Ejection occurs whenthe axial magnetic field recon-nects across the disk. Mass ejec-tions in puffs, somewhat similarto smoke rings blown out, havenow been observed in severalastronomical jet sources. (Forsupercomputer simulations andmovies (!) of this process for

protostars, seehttp://astrosun2.astro.cornell.edu/us-rus/disk_prop.htm ) Asshown in the simulations for jet-emitting states, the magnetic fieldof a MECO sweeps the interiorof the accretion disk clean, leav-ing a central hole in the disk, andcreates a thin hot inner ringwhere the disk and magnetic fieldinteract. Additionally, the mag-netic field drives disk winds backout over the disk. These can pileup into sizeable “outflow struc-tures” where they impinge onother gas and dust in the less wellcollimated outer zones of accre-tion. None of these features arepredicted by current black holemodels. They are magnetic signa-tures. Though originally designedfor application to stellar massblack hole candidates, Robertsonand Leiter showed in theMNRAS paper, that the MECOmodel could be properly scaledup for application to galacticnuclei.

In a paper recently accepted forpublication in the AstronomicalJournal*, Robertson and Leiterhave joined forces with Dr. Ru-dolph Schild of the Center forAstrophysics (CFA), HarvardUniversity to apply the MECOmodel to the explanation of fea-tures of a quasar, Q0957+561.Q0957+561 is a compact object,three to four billion times themass of our sun. Such objects areroutinely called supermassiveblack holes, although no signa-ture properties of a black holehave ever been observed for any

of them. Before the MECO mod-el, there were simply no knowncredible alternatives. Stellar massgalactic black hole candidatesprimarily produce x-rays and aremuch too small to be resolved byour satellite x-ray telescopes, butQ0957+561 provides a way toobserve the magnetic signatures.It produces multiple images thatare a result of relativistic gravita-tional lensing by an interveninggalaxy along the direction ofsight. A good example of similarmultiply lensed images can beseen for quasar Q2237+0305(Einstein’s Cross) at http://www.astrouw.edu.pl/~ogle/ogle3/huchra.html . ForQ2237 there are essentially notime delays between arrivals ofthe four images and the bright-ness variations are identified asintrinsic quasar brightness fluctu-ations. But there are significantbrightness variations shown at2950, 3300 and 3700 days sinceJulian Date 2450000.Q0957+561 shows comparablebehavior that almost certainlybetrays the existence of complexinternal structure. In addition,there is rich detail on shorter timescales that arises from microlen-sing by planetary size objects inthe host galaxy of Q0957+561.Autocorrelation and cross-correl-ations between the multiple im-ages and Fourier analyses ofthese variations of luminositiespermits a reconstruction of themajor geometric features of thesource. The image reconstructionprocess is somewhat similar tothe tomography used in medical


diagnostic imaging. The mul-tiple images produced by thegravitational lens are essentiallyviews of the quasar from oppo-site sides of the intervening len-sing galaxy. This provides a bin-ocular baseline sufficient for re-solving the quasar structure. Thesizes of quasar source featuresare commensurate with the timeit takes light to travel acrossthem. For example, if a bright-ness variation occurs in one day,the emitting feature responsibleis about one light day in size.

Q0957+561 has been extensive-ly studied for many years, withsignificant findings previouslypublished by Schild (1991), Peltet. Al. (1996) Thompson &Schild (1997), Pijpers (1997),Elvis (2000) Oscoz et. al.(2002), Colley and Schild(2003), Schild & Vakulik(2003), and Schild (2005). The“outflow structure” has becomeknown as the Elvis ring and thecomplex of Elvis ring and a hotinterior ring, ten times smaller,but still out at 35 times theSchwarzschild radius and withan empty interior is now calledthe Schild-Vakulik structure. Inaddition a small jet centered a-bove the central object is presentin the reconstructed image. Furi-ous theoretical efforts to explainhow a black hole could producethese magnetic features are pre-sently underway in many of themost prestigious research insti-tutes of the world (especiallyincluding CFA!). Additional ur-gency is added by recent find-

ings that empty inner accretiondisks are implied by the bestspectroscopic models for jetproducing stellar mass black holecandidates. This contradicts themost widely accepted black holemodel in which a black holespinning at maximum allowedrate uses frame dragging veryclose to the event horizon to ejectmaterial from a luminous accre-tion disk that reaches essentiallyall the way to the event horizon.For black holes, a new explana-tion is clearly needed. My per-sonal favorite new black holemodel, due to its delightful acro-nym, MAD, (for magneticallyarrested disk) assumes that thedisk somehow (tooth fairies?)generates a magnetic ring thatdrives the jet. But it mistakenlypredicts that a steady flow ofluminous matter continues insidethe magnetic ring. The reason forthis is that disk generated fieldsare necessarily limited to havelower energy density than thekinetic energy density of the diskmaterial orbital motions; other-wise the magnetic field and dif-ferential rotation would preventthe formation of a disk. Thisleaves too little energy availableto eject all of the inflowing diskmaterial. The intrinsic centralmagnetic field of the MECOmodel circumvents these pro-blems. The bottom line is that wehave been able to look closely ata quasar and what we see lookslike a MECO. This is a good be-ginning of the end of the blackhole paradigm.

*”Observations Supporting theExistence of an IntrinsicMagnetic Moment Inside theCentral Compact Object Withinthe Quasar Q0957+561", byRudolph E. Schild, HarvardCFA, Darryl J. Leiter, MARC,Charlottesville, VA and StanleyL. Robertson, SWOSU

SPEAKERSWANTEDDo you have astory to tell? Wehave an audience

for you. Share your hardearned experience and well-seasoned advice with past,present, and future SWOSUgraduates. Our studentsbenefit greatly from yourinvolvement. If interestedplease contact Dr. Stein orDr. Goforth.

Facts are stubborn things; andw hatever may be our w ishes,our inclinations, or the dictatesof our passions, they cannotalter the state of facts andevidence.–John Adams

A NIGHT OF

HONORSThe SWOSU Ballroom

was the place and

April 9, 2005, was the

date of the 24th

Annual Physics Spring

Banquet. Old friends and new

gathered to share delectable

delights and an evening honor-

ing past accomplishments and


setting the stage for future

ones. Six new members were

inducted into the SWOSU

Chapter of Sigma Pi Sigma, the

honor society of the Society of

Physics Students. Signing the

book and receiving their pins

were Santosh Bhatt, (Jr,

Nepal), Moin Khan (Sr,

Pakistan), Vishnu Pokhrel (So,

Nepal), Chris Robertson (Sr,

Meeker), Ashis Shrestha (So,

Nepal), and Dr. Wayne Trail

(Faculty, Weatherford). This

year’s J.R. Pratt Award for the

Outstanding Student in Physics

went to Casey Wells (Sr,

Ninnekah), and the Outstan-

ding Midclassman in Physics

was awarded to Vishnu

Pokhrel. Michelle Schuldt (Fr,

Woodward) was selected by

her peers as the Outstanding

New Physics Club Member.

Graduating senior Chris

Robertson was presented with

his Graduating with Honors

Medallion to wear at convoca-

tion, and Casey Wells was re-

cognized for his induction into

Who’s Who.

Through the generosity of

alumni, faculty (retired and

active), and friends of the

Physics Program, over $4,000

in scholarships was awarded to

deserving and appreciative stu-

dents. Receiving the $1,000

J.R. Pratt Scholarship was

Moin Khan. The $700 Arthur

McClelland Memorial Scholar-

ship was awarded to the winner

of the Outstanding Midclass-

man in Physics recipient,

Vishnu Pokhrel. Santosh Bhatt

received a $500 Physics Alumni

Scholarship and a $250 Arts &

Sciences Dean’s Scholarship.

Four other Physics Alumni

Scholarships in the amout of

$700 each were awarded to

Bhaskar Basnet (So, Nepal),

David Chantz Drake (Sr, Elk

City), Micah Perkins (Sr, Ponca

City), and Ashis Shrestha.

The evening was capped off

with an insightful talk by retired

faculty member Dr. Stanley

Robertson, who brought us into

the cosmological debate about

the existence of event horizons

(necessary to define a black

hole) and showed some of the

current data and claims being

made. He also shared some of

his experiences as a “rebel” in

the field and the difficulties en-

countered when trying to pub-

lish “radical” ideas. Lessons

learned include a reminder that

science is based on evidence,

and that scientists must be at

once both diligently skeptical

and open-minded to

challenges.

Learning w ithout thinking isuseless. Thinking w ithoutlearning is dangerous.–KongFuzi (Confucius)

PAY ITFORWARDDo youremember trying

to make ends meet whenyou were a student? Doyou remember those whowere willing to help out?

Tuition and fees continu-ously rise faster than infla-tion. In-state tuition iscurrently $108 per credithour, and fees are tackedon top of that for certaincourses. All told, a typicalschool year costs about$3,300 in tuition and fees,plus another $3,000 for aminimal room and boardplan.

Consider making a tax-deductable donation to theSWOSU Foundation to helpsupport scholarships. Ifyou designate the money togo to one of the Physicsfunds (J.R. Pratt, ArthurMcClealland, or PhysicsUnrestricted), it will beguaranteed to go to supportphysics students and thephysics program. You don’thave to fund a full scholar-ship yourself. If yourschedule prevents you fromattending the banquet thisyear, perhaps you’d like todonate the cost of a ticket($12) to one of the funds.Every little bit helps, andthe power of many donorsworking together adds upfast! And to those of you


who have made a regularor occasional habit ofsupport, WE THANK YOU!

When did ignorance become apoint of view ? – Dilbert (ScottAdams)

JOHN W. AARON(‘64) is beinghonored this year asa SWOSU Distin-guished Alumnus. Mr. Aaron began hiscareer at NASA in the FlightOperations Directorate at theManned Mission Center(now Johnson Space Center)in Houston. He quickly ad-vanced to become Electrical,Environmental, and Commu-nications (EECOM) officer inMission Control for the Gemi-ni and Apollo Programs. Among his many contribu-tions, John devised the re-covery for the power systemson Apollo 12 after the space-craft was struck by lightningduring launch, thus avoidinga mission abort. He also de-veloped the recovery se-quence for powering up theApollo 13 Command Moduleto prepare for Earth atmos-phere reentry after the CMwas shut down to preservepower following a devas-tating explosion in the oxy-gen tank. In a 2003 HistoryChannel Documentary“Falure is Not an Option,”based on a book of the same

title by Eugene Krantz, onecontroller said “If you evertook a poll on who was themost capable flight controllerthat ever sat in Mission Con-trol, I believe that most wouldsay John Aaron.”

John lead the team of engi-neers that developed theflight software for the SpaceShuttle Orbiter’s onboardavionics system and even-tually became Chief of theSpacecraft Software Division. He also directed the earliestphase of the InternationalSpace Station (ISS) Programand was appointed to leadefforts to streamline andmanage JSC’s engineeringsupport of the Space Shuttleand ISS Programs. John’sleadership lead to better inte-gration of the various NASAinitiatives (technology, scien-tific, robotic, space transpor-tation, and human flight)which provided the founda-tion for the Human Explora-tion and Development ofSpace (HEDS) initiative. Hisefforts have significantly re-duced redundancy betweenagencies and contracts. Hehas served as TechnicalAssistant to the Director ofthe JSC, Manager of theSpace Station Projects, andManager of JSC EngineeringDirectorate, Systems Engin-eering Office.

John retired from NASA in

2000, but he continues to dopart-time consulting work. He and his wife Cheryl nowlive in Marble Falls, TX.

BENNY J. HILL(‘57) has been

named SWOSU

Distinguished

Alumnus this year. Dr. Hill re-

ceived his degree in physics

from Southwestern State Col-

lege under the instruction of

the legendary J.R. Pratt. Benny

then worked as a research

assistant at Los Alamos Scienti-

fic Laboratory for two years be-

fore returning to SWSC as a

physics instructor for one year.

He then returned to Los Alamos

as a staff member performing

computational modeling of

various nuclear physics and

other processes while taking

graduate courses in physics

and mathematics from the

University of New Mexico. In

1964, he returned as an Assis-

tant Professor of Physics at

SWSC and assumed the posi-

tion of Chair of Physics which

he held until 1990 with only a

two-year leave from 1966-68

during which he worked on his

Ph.D. in the Theory Group at

Texas A&M University. Dr. Hill’s

long and tireless service built

the Physics Department at

SWSC (later SWOSU) into a

nationally-known program

which graduated 350 students


during his tenure including 40

who went on to complete ad-

vanced degrees in physics, en-

gineering, medicine, optomet-

ry, architecture, mathematics,

and computer science. Majors

in Biophysics and Engineering

Physics were added under his

leadership, as was the induc-

tion of a charter chapter of the

Society of Physics Students

(locally called the Physics Club

and later the Physics and Engi-

neering Club) which has been

routinely recognized as one of

the Nationally Outstanding

Chapters of SPS. He taught

most of the courses offered in

physics as well as courses in

FORTRAN and Scientific Pro-

gramming for many years.

Many of us know of his active

participation in placing gradu-

ates in jobs or graduate

schools, and maintaining rela-

tionships with alumni to build a

very strong SWOSU Physics

Alumni Association that en-

sured placement of future gra-

duates. Dr. Hill’s contributions

to science education in Okla-

homa went far beyond the

SWOSU classroom. He presen-

ted computer science lectures

for the NSF-sponsored Science

Camps at SWOSU. He gave

lectures and demonstrations at

area schools and for public

audiences and encouraged his

faculty to do so as well. He

also served as a judge for the

Oklahoma Junior Academy of

Science in Stillwater and at

local, region, state, and even

international Science Fairs held

in Oklahoma.

In 1985, Dr. Hill began part-

time corporate defense work for

BDM Corporation. Following his

retirement from SWOSU in

1990, this became a full-time

position where he managed

numerous invention, design,

manufacturing, testing, and

evaluation programs critical to

U.S. defense and security, inclu-

ding work on tags and tamper-

indicating devices for security in

international arms control

treaty verification, effects of

high humidity on the perfor-

mance of infrared imagers used

by U.S. Border Patrol, assess-

ment of counter-missile sys-

tems on U.S. military aircraft

and of foreign missile systems,

systems for detection of buried

land mines, and evaluation and

modeling of a variety of systms

to detect materials which could

be used by terrorists to develop

“dirty bombs.”

Dr. Hill retired for a second time

in 2003. He now resides in

Santa Fe, NM, where he is pur-

suing his interests in history,

Indian and Spanish cultures,

painting, writing, photography,

and as a critic of restaurants in

New Mexico.

The whole problem w ith thew orld is that fools and fanaticsare alw ays so certain ofthemselves, and w iser peopleso full of doubts. –BertrandRussell

A FRESHLOOKOnce again, thefirst floor of theChemistry-

Physics-Pharmacy (CPP)building is undergoing amajor facelift. Last summerwe moved out of the northwing so the architects,carpenters, electricians, andplumbers could move in. Classrooms and labs will beequipped with modernnetwork-ready audio-visualcapabilities and additionalelectrical outlets to ac-comodate an increasing num-ber of notebook computers,and a new student computerlab will be added. Plans alsoinclude updating the HVACsystems for greater efficiency. We hope to move back intothe wing in time for the startof fall classes. Drop by andcheck it out!

ALUMNINOTES

Richard Vaughn(‘99) received hisMBA from the University ofOklahoma in May, 2005. Congratulations, Richard!


James Bates (‘62) retired fromNASA in December, 2004, aftermany years of service. Jimoversaw many fascinating pro-jects during his tenure at NASAand shared some of them with usas banquet speaker. He hastaken up his second career as apiano tuner and as a full-timegrandfather. Best wishes, Jim.

Joe Beisel (‘97) is completinghis PhD in Mechanical Engi-neering at Oklahoma StateUniversity and is scheduled todefend and graduate thissummer. He’s in job huntingmode now, and has had a fewinterviews. Can we get him afew more...?

Dr. Edwin Green passed awayMay 3, 2004 at the age of 82. Dr. Green was professor ofgeology and geophysics atSWOSU from 1975 to 1986. Heis greatly missed.

Ron Wollmann (‘73) is puttinghis chemistry to work as theowner/operator of Panther HillsWinery, located on his homeoutside of Bessie, OK (justsouth of Clinton). Ron producesa variety of naturally-fermentedwines. Check out his web pageat www.pantherhills.com fordetails including directions,available wines, and tastingroom hours.

Loyal Barber (‘82) is co-ownerof a software consulting com-pany, BLT Soft Incorporated(www.bltsoft.com). This father-

son company specializes in theinstallation and modification ofRetek, a software package usedin retail merchandising to controlitems, pricing, purchasing, etc.,for the home office.

Eric Brown (‘95) is now Direc-tor of Engineering Technologyfor Silicon Valley Expert Wit-ness Group. SVEWG specializesin providing highly qualifiedscientific and technical experts inintellectual property and otherlitigation matters to law firmsnationwide. Eric says the job isinteresting and allows him tobring his background in science,engineering, and business togeth-er in a challenging and fun way.

Terry Cox (‘86) is employedwith Seimens TransportationSystems. Terry visited SWOSUand gave an informative talkabout his career in system opera-tions to the students in April2004. He opened some eyes tothe possibilities of careers thatdon’t have the word “physics” inthe job description. Thanks,Terry!

Lee McClune (‘69) dropped byon December 19, 2005. He wasin the area to talk to economicdevelopers about his Sorganolendeavors.

Adam Fisher (Faculty ‘96-‘98)is now in the Minneapolis areaworking with BAE doing soft-ware architecture for the Army'sFCS program.

Ross Giblet (‘04) is a “Frac,” orTechnical Professional in Pro-duction Enhancement, for Halli-burton. For those of us unfamili-ar with Petroleum Engineering,thousands of gallons of gel arepumped into the ground at highenough pressures (up to 20,000psi) to put a huge fracture in theground where the hydrocarbonsare. Then a mixture of sand andgel is pumped in to keep the frac-ture open. Ross’ job is to makesure that the fluid system behavesproperly by monitoring pressures,rates, and leakoff. After com-pleting six months of intensivetraining at the Tecnical Excel-lence Center in Alice, TX, he’sback in western Oklahoma andon the job.

Mike Alsobrook (‘86) works forthe Department of the Navy atthe Patuxent River Naval AirStation where he is programmanager for installation of thethe Tomahawk Weapon Systemon Trident submarines which arebeing converted to carry Toma-hawks instead of ICBMs.

Lucas Weber (‘04) visited thedepartment last spring, freshfrom the Navy Nuclear School. We later welcomed Lucas on arecruiting visit to educate sciencemajors on career opportunitieswith the U.S. Navy.

A w it ty saying provesnothing.– Voltaire


LET US KNOW WHAT YOU’RE UP TO!It’s our great pleasure to prepare this newsletter and to share with you what we and other alumni aredoing. Your friends from good ol’ SWOSU would love to hear about YOU. Keep us up-to-date, andwe’ll pass it on. Of course, we especially need to keep up with your addresses (email for quick contactand snail mail just to send you the newsletter). Be sure to let us know when things change so we don’tlose touch.

WE’RE EASY TO FIND

You can send mail to us at 100 Campus Drive, Weatherford, OK 73096-3098, or e-mail us or call us at

Dr. Terry Goforth (580) 774-3109 [email protected]

Dr. Charles Rogers (580) 774-3108 [email protected]

Dr. Tony Stein (580) 774-3107 [email protected]

Dr. Wayne Trail (580) 774-3124 [email protected]

Mary Lou Scouten (Secretary,Department of Chemistry & Physics

(580) 774-3266 [email protected]

or just send your e-mail to [email protected]. We’ll see that it gets to the right person.

AND DON’T FORGET WE’RE ON THE WEB

You can find us at www.swosu.edu/academics/physics. Click on the Alumni link for the newsletter(past and present) and other news.


ALUMNI EMAIL ADDRESSES*

*If you are a SWOSU Alumnus, drop us an e-mail at [email protected] and we’ll send you the completelist of alumni e-mail addresses that we have on file.

mailto:[email protected]


PHYSICS ALUMNI BANQUET 2006

Saturday, April 1, 2006 7:00 p.m. SWOSU Conference Center $12/person

Name No. Persons Attending

Address Phone

Email

Please return to: Dr. Tony Stein h 100 Campus Drive h Weatherford, OK 73096

SHISH KEBAB 2006

Saturday, May 6, 2006 6:00 p.m. Dr. Jones’ home $5/person

Name No. Persons Attending

Address Phone

Email

Please return to: Dr. Tony Stein h 100 Campus Drive h Weatherford, OK 73096

Or... just give us a call or e-mail us to confirm for either/both event(s).

100 Campus Drive Weatherford, OK 73096-3089 … · Engineering Club Annual Shish-kebab will be held...

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