Penn State University - La Vie Yearbook (University Park, PA)

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Cr«« student Zen An ton ink and fuel scientist Howard Palmer with their model solar energy collection system on the roof of Mineral Industries Building. Students at work in a car mechanic shop in the Altoona vocational education school system. Hitting the Roof Zenaii Antoniak. a grad student in fuel science, spent the summer of 75 on lop of the Mineral Industries building. Doing What?” you might osk. He was roof-sitting a small, experimental version of a solar energy collection system that he and his adviser built. Their emphasis while building the system was on simplicity and practicality. Almost all the materi- als and parts used are common and inexpensive. In fact, they used ordinary commercial graphite to soak up the rays, since black is a veritable sponge for sunlight. In simple terms, the system works like this: an X-shaped piece « graphite is housed in an in- sulated glass pipe, and helium gas Is pumped through the pipe. When !be graphite soaks up light, heat is transferred to the flowing gas, and this heated glass could ultimately drive a gas turbine coupled to an electric generator. The system is meant for power plant installations, not for the home, and the scientists hope to demonstrate the feasibility of heat- gases enough to run a turbine in a full scale working model. ■ Stop Drop-outs Trying to spot the potential high school dropout and then find ways to keep him in school was the goal of a Penn State research team who followed the progress of 780 ninth- grade students through the Altoona High School system. For four years, Dr. Seymour llrantner and Dr. Thomas Ender- Icin watched and recorded traits of both vocational and non-vocation- al students. Of the twenty independent vari- ables used, absenteeism and a low grade-point average were the most consistent dropout warning signs. With vocational students, it was a combination of the two; but with non-vocationals it was absenteeism only. Special counseling might keep these potential dropouts in school, and the research team recommends that the attendance record and grade-point average for each stu- dent up to grade nine be carefully watched. The team's report has been sent to high school administrative per- sonnel and counselors all over the country. ■ 21

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NEWS RESEARCH Battling Bulges We’ve all heard the saying, Thin is in, but fat is whore it's at, usual- ly spoken by some jolly, plump per- son. Unfortunately, for some 20 mil- lion overweight Americans, fat is not where it’s a I. If you are obese (weight 25-30% more than your opti- mum weight), you are more prone to chronic diseases, high blood pressure, respiratory difficulties, and find strenuous exertion nearly impossible. Simply eating less is not the cure-all for obesity, and re- searchers in the University's Labo- ratory for Human Performance Re- search. directed by Dr. Elsworlh R. Buskirk, are trying to define the causes of obesity in order to find safe, permanent weight loss meth- ods. Observing characteristics of fat vs. t iin people may shed some light on the subject, and researchers have studied methods of determin- ing body fatness. Body denseness was measured by pinching skin folds, using ultra-sound, and weigh- ing people underwater as well as in the air. One researcher is testing lean and overweight women as they exercise in cool water, in hopes of determining whether thin women expend more calories. The researchers believe that childhood patterns may play a role in obesity - good physical training in youth may decrease the chances of becoming an overweight adult. An experimental training program with eight to twelve year olds showed that the overweight kids did benefit from the physical activi- ty. They reduced body fatness and showed significant fitness gains. ■ Energy Social scientists at the University are studying resource related issues in order to provide state legislators with information they need in mak- ing major policy decisions. Working under the University's Center for the Study of Environ- mental Policy, the researchers are studying consumer attitudes to- ward energy conservation, burial of low-level atomic waste and pollu- tion abatement bonds. Dr. Terry A. Terror, director of the Environmental Policy Center, is in charge of the research projects which are being funded by part of a $335,000 grant from the Ford Foundation. For the first project — consumer attitudes toward energy con- servation — two marketing profes- sors arc designing methods of mea- suring consumer preferences. They are using new marketing research techniques which measure how much relative importance people place on specific energy proposals when considering them as alterna- tives. Four researchers are working on the second project which involves finding disposal sites for low-level radioactive wastes. The scientists are developing guidelines for selec- tion of disposal areas in Pennsylva- nia for these nuclear wastes. A finance professor is conducting the third project which concerns pollution abatement revenue bonds. He is evaluating the bonds, which are issued by various political units in the State, to see how the bonds benefit local communities, if they lower the cost of capital for a com- pany. and what motivates in- stitutions to buy these bonds. ■ 20

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NEWS RESEARCH Cancer Suspect The Specialized Cancer Research Center in Hershey is investigating the herpes viruses as suspected cancer causing agents. Under the direction of Dr. Fred Rapp, a team of researchers is concentrating on three specific herpes viruses: the Epstein-Barr virus; the human cy- tomegalovirus; and the herpes sim- plex virus, types 1 and 2. The Epstein-Barr virus has the most potential for human cancer of those under study, according to Rapp. The researchers are trying to define how the virus enters and transforms epithelial cells, those which develop into the cancerous tumor cells. The human cytomegalovirus is a newer cancer suspect, and re- searchers arc trying to determine if it is connected to genital and uri- nary tract tumors in some way. With the herpes simplex viruses researchers are developing methods to compare the ability of these vi- ruses to transform cells. ■ They Eat Manure With soaring feed prices and grain shortages, cattle raisers may have to turn to animal wastes to nourish their livestock. It’s not as bad as it sounds. Ani- mal scientist Lowell L. Wilson is feeding his cattle, among other things, ensiled manure. Ensiling is a process of fermentation that changes many of the physical char- acteristics of the manure. The cattle at Penn State seem to like it. and are growing. And they're growing as much and as fast as cattle fed standard feeds, according to Dr. Wilson. His studies indicate that cattle waste silage can substitute almost pound- for-pound for corn silage. Only 15% of the beef consumed in the northeast is produced there, but Dr. Wilson feels using animal wastes could boost production 40%. m Soft contact lenses used in test by athletes. Lenses Tested In the past decade, contact lens use in sports has become more and more common. Spurred by the ath- letes' demands, the Bausch and Lomb Co. was interested in finding out whether soft lenses would per- form better than hard lenses in sports. Penn State’s Sports Research Institute, directed by Dr. Chauncey A. Morehouse, undertook such a study for the Soflens Division of Bausch and Lomb Co. After screening by a team physi- cian and examination by an op- thamologist, 30 players in the Fall ‘76 intercollegiate sports program at Penn State were selected and fitted with Bausch and Lomb Soflens contacts. Most of the athletes wore the soft lenses about two weeks before completely adjusting to them. Mi- nor difficulties experienced during the adjustment time included tired- ness, redness and irritation of the eyes. Once adjusted, the athletes were required to wear the lenses only during play, about two hours a day. but most voluntarily wore them up to 16 hours each day. At the end of the testing period, which lasted all season, 95% of the athletes stated that Soflens use was better than or had an advantage over hard lenses or glasses. ■ The Pump Is In Walk through any grocery store and you'll notice that the pump is fast replacing the traditional spray can on the shelves. The pump’s popularity can be traced to concern over the ozone layer, a shield that protects us from much of the sun’s ultraviolet rays. Harmful gases from the spray could be penetrating this shield, and meteorologist John Olivcro is working on a NASA-supported pro- ject to study ozone in the stratos- phere and beyond. Small mete- orological rockets, capable of going up 40 to 45 miles, will provide the data for his study and he hopes to determine just how important ozone is in controlling climatologic- al effects far above the earth. ■ Production Study Animal scientist at Penn State have been studying the sometimes bizarre social behavior of animals in a series of projects directed by Lowell Wilson, Grant Sherritt and Hannon Graves. The scientists are coming up with practical sugges- tions for farmers who want to get the most from their animals. Their studies are particularly geared to discovering why crowding, inter- mixing of groups and isolation can affect production efficiency. One study of high-density hous- ing programs for beef steers showed the older and larger steers were the more dominant ones. This tempera- ment is related to production, with the more dominant steers gaining weight more rapidly, thereby reaching slaughter weight and grade sooner. Another study investigated the behavior of lambs reared in envi- ronments of varying degrees of iso- lation. It was found that artificial environments or isolation had no adverse effects on growth and so- cial behavior of lambs. m 22