Patrick County High School - Archive Yearbook (Stuart, VA)

Page 28 text:

Rubik’s Cube: The Challenge No other toy since the hula hoop has been so widely ac¬ claimed with its faddish popu¬ larity. It doesn’t beep or buzz, and it requires no batteries. No assembly is required, unless you take it apart. Hungarian sculptor and ar¬ chitect, Erno Rubik, is the in¬ ventor of the mathematical toy, Rubik’s Cube, and children, as well as adults, are fascinated with the challenge of solving the puzzle. The cube is a masterpiece of three-dimensional engineering, and comes apart into twenty small subcubes. Each of its six brightly colored sides provides an array of colors once the puz¬ zle is scrambled. The challenge is to reorganize the cube so that each face of the cube has only one color (as determined by the center square on each side). Selling for prices in the $5 range, the original Rubik’s Cube is stamped with the name in the center white square. Less expensive copies are available without the trade¬ mark on the cube — some in different colors. Also available are necklaces and key chains with the tiny cube dangling on a chain; simply stated, they are everywhere! Numbers of Rubik’s Cube buffs soar with the multi-colored cubes that are easily visible from a distance, yet it is questionable how many owners have actually conquered the challenge. Immediately after the cube, which provided the question, came the books, which pro¬ vided the answers. Now every¬ one can work Rubik’s Cube; it’s only a matter of memory, and the challenge now comes with how fast you can solve the puz¬ zle. Many people simply re¬ moved the stickers and re¬ placed them to make the cube appear solved, yet this only worked a few times since the colored stickers soon loose their stickum. Other less pa¬ tient people, in a frustrated at¬ tempt to destroy the seemingly unsolvable puzzle, took it apart, leaving a scrabbled mess of colored plastic. Little did they know that if the puzzle was reassembled at random, chances were 11 in 12 that the colors would be oriented in such a way that the puzzle would be impossible to solve. The popularity of Rubik’s Cube has hardly faded from the halls and classrooms. Cubes are carried with books, and smaller cubes are carried in pockets and purses — some¬ thing to do during every spare moment. With the popularity of the cube came a quest for the pocket-sized challenge. Now there are many mini-chal¬ lenges, including Whip-It, Pyra- mix, The Missing Link, The Snake, and the 14-sided Dia¬ mond Cube. They all provide exercise for the brain and a strain of nerves, but with no batteries required, it may be better in the long run. Eighth grader, Terry Hill, quickly be¬ came popular as “one who could work it.” Each day students from all over the school brought him cubes to “fix”. 24 Rubik’s Cube

Page 27 text:

Quiz Place the letter of the pictures in the space beside the matching name. Items to pay particular attention to include hair color, eyes, mouth, and overall expres¬ sion. 1. Amy Shelor 2. Wynn Cherry 3. Lynn Lawson 4. Nelson McConnell 5. Elizabeth Warren 6. Linda McGroary 7. Ann Belcher 8. Beverly Dillard 9. Polly Tatum 10. Barbara Pendleton If you score correctly on all ten items, you either know the teachers pretty well, or you have quite an aptitude for recognizing people. Perhaps you should consider trying out for a television game show that has the same format. If you score 6-9 correctly, you could still give the contest people a run for their mon¬ ey. If you score 3-5 right, don’t feel bad; there were only a couple of pictures that were really easy anyway. If you only scored 1-2 correctly, don’t pat yourself on the back too much; you could have guessed those! None right? You didn’t even try, and should not waste your time looking for a contest to play. Answers are on page 207. I Teacher Quiz 23

Page 29 text:

Puzzle enthusiasts also have their day; it’s just that some days the cubes are easier to work than others. Tracy Turman, Jerry Hutchens, Melissa Kreh, Martha Hall, Jon Epperson, Kevin Harbour, and Gary Burnette take time out to relax with their mental toys. Rubik’s Cube 25