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University of Florida. News and Public Affairs.

Formerly, Division of Information and Publications Services.

Broadcast Tape 2.  (Originally Dudley Master #4)

Date:  ca. 1983

Duration:  00:29:07

Reporters: Chris Dudley and Rose Marie Van Camp.

A collection of 22 news and public service announcements primarily related to research at the University of Florida.  The date of 1983 was chosen because the segment involving the Harn gift took place in that year.

News reports were broadcast on WUFT-TV.

Originally produced on ¾” u-matic.  Reformatted to Betacam SP in 2003 and MPEG2 in 2005.

Tape Contents

Segment 1

Title:  [Summer Fossil Camp]

Date:  ca. 1983

Reported by:  Chris Dudley

Duration:  00:01:06

File name: NPA0201

A summer camp for school teachers, engineers, bankers, and students trains them in the techniques of paleontology as they search for fossils of horses, rhinos, camels, and dogs which are twenty million years old.  The camp is sponsored by the Florida State Museum.

Segment 2

Title:  [Hurricane Awareness]

Date:  ca. 1983

Reported by:  Chris Dudley

Duration:  00:00:57

File name: NPA0202

A brief news story on hurricanes and the dangers they can bring to those who live on the coasts of Florida.  UF anthropology professor Tony Oliver Smith states that new arrivals are especially unaware of the dangers.  A parallel is mentioned in Smith’s study of a Peruvian town which lost 90% of its population due to an avalanche.  Similar disaster could occur in Florida unless emergency hurricane plans are made.

Segment 3

Title:  [Remote Sensing Applications Laboratory]

Date:  ca. 1983

Reported by:  Chris Dudley

Duration:  00:01:00

File name: NPA0203

 

Research conducted by the Remote Sensing Applications Laboratory using satellite pictures and high altitude photos to find out about conditions as drainage, soil conditions, and aesthetics and to discover where faults and sinkholes are located.  Communities can then plan better where to build.

Segment 4

Title:  [Coal Slurry]

Date:  ca. 1983

Reported by:  Chris Dudley

Duration:  00:01:05

File name: NPA0204

Dr. Alex Green, a nuclear physics engineer at the University of Florida, experiments with alternative energy sources in the form of coal slurry which he sometimes calls “Micanopy Crude” as Green’s son, who lives in Micanopy, discovered it using pottery techniques.  The finely ground coal is suspended in water, mixed with natural gas, and then burned in a homemade oil burner built by Dr. Green and his students.

Segment 5

Title:  [Recruiting black students]

Date:  ca. 1983

Reported by:  Chris Dudley

Duration:  00:01:19

File name: NPA0205

The University of Florida hopes to recruit black students who demonstrate not athletic ability but rather academic savvy.  Dr. John Boatwright Jr., the UF minority admissions officer, hopes to recruit some of these students.

 

Segment 6

Title:  [Solar Panels using Black Chrome]

Date:  ca. 1983

Reported by:  Chris Dudley

Duration:00:01:14

File name: NPA0206

Dr. Paul Holloway through a grant from the Solar Energy Research Institute is developing “black chrome” which can be used to coat solar panels and provide them with the ability to become four time hotter and to last ten times longer than current solar panels.

Segment 7

Title:  [Alligator Courtship Patterns]

Date:  ca. 1983

Reported by:  Chris Dudley

Duration:  00:01:11

File name: NPA0207

A report on the research of Dr. Walter Auffenberg, Florida State Museum reptile curator, and a doctoral student on the courtship patterns of alligators.  About eight hundred courtship sequences have been entered into the computer and forty different acts have been isolated and then coded.  By studying more primitive behavior it is hoped that more can be learned about the complex behavior of birds and mammals.

Segment 8

Title:  [Psychology of Photographs]

Date:  ca. 1983

Reported by:  Chris Dudley

Duration:  00:01:14

File name: NPA0208

Psychology professor Robert Ziller has been studying the photographs that people take and how these can reveal a person’s psychological profile. The discoveries made can help those who are in therapy by instilling a more positive attitude in them.

Segment 9

Title:  [Fathering Class]

Date:  ca. 1983

Reported by: Chris Dudley

Duration:  00:01:07

File name: NPA0209

 

A report on an effective fathering class led by doctoral student Shelton Davis allows fathers to relate their experiences and assists them to grow along with their children and to learn how to be better parents.

Segment 10

Title:  [Gould Computer Gift]

Date:  ca. 1983

Reported by:  Chris Dudley

Duration:  00:01:03

File name: NPA0210

 

Due to a gift of a computer by Gould Computer Systems of Fort Lauderdale University of Florida computer majors as Larry Swift will be able to access computers more easily with the addition of twenty-four additional terminals.  According to Dr. Elliott this increased availability will make UF graduates more useful to the state’s exploding high tech industry.

Segment 11

Title:  [Reprogramming Robots]

Date:  ca. 1983

Reported by:  Chris Dudley

Duration:  00:01:30

File name: NPA0211

 

University of Florida industrial engineering professor Dr. Donald Elzinga is teaching students to reprogram robots to do additional tasks in order to make machines more versatile.

 

Segment 12

Title:  [Solar Powered Laser]

Date:  ca. 1983

Reported by:  Chris Dudley

Duration:  00:01:22

File name: NPA0212

 

A solar powered laser, which will convert the sun’s energy to laser power, is being developed by University of Florida researchers.  With funding from NASA of $235,000 nuclear scientist John Cox and his students are testing an earth bound prototype of a solar laser.

Segment 13

Title:  [Positive Lightning]

Date:  ca. 1983

Reported by:  Chris Dudley

Duration:  00:00:48

File name: NPA0213

 

Electrical engineering professor Dr. Martin A. Uman has documented for the first time in this country the rare occurrence of positive lightning which gives a larger transfer of an electrical charge than does negative lightning.  Positive lightning is more common in Japan in their winter thunder storms.

Segment 14

Title:  [Mousetrap Powered Boats]

Date:  ca. 1983

Reported by:  Chris Dudley

Duration:  00:00:57

File name: NPA0214

 

Mechanical engineering students of Dr. George Piotrowski are learning the design process through the building of small boats powered by a mousetrap.

 

Segment 15

Title:  [Bioglass]

Date:  ca. 1983

Reported by:  Chris Dudley

Duration:  00:01:17

File name: NPA0215

 

The discovery of Bioglass (a substance which includes calcium and phosphorus from bones in a special glass formula) by Dr. Larry Hench has undergone fourteen years of testing.  A three million dollar grant from the Army and other sources will make human trials possible.  These tests will be overseen by June Wilson, Hench’s colleague and wife.

Segment 16

Title:  [Nuclear Laser]

Date:  ca. 1983

Reported by:  Chris Dudley

Duration:  00:01:19

File name: NPA0216

Research scientist John Cox at the University of Florida is one of the scientists heeding the call from President Ronald Reagan to develop powerful missile defense systems.  Cox is working on a liquid laser.

Segment 17

Title:  [Laser Applications]

Date:  ca. 1983

Reported by:  Chris Dudley

Duration:  00:01:24

File name: NPA0217

The research of lasers by John Cox mentions the many new applications as in medicine and communications which will revolutionize industry.  Development of a nuclear laser can also destroy enemy missiles.

 

Segment 18

Title:  [Harn Family Gift]

Date:  ca. 1983

Reported by:  Chris Dudley

Duration:  00:01:19

File name: NPA0218

A three million dollar pledge from the Harn family of Gainesville to honor the memory of their father Sam Harn will help to build an art museum which will house many collections which are currently in the catacombs at the University of Florida.

Segment 19

Title:  [Jupiter Inlet Erosion Model]

Date:  ca. 1983

Reported by:  Chris Dudley

Duration:  00:01:18

File name: NPA0219

The erosion of Jupiter Inlet (one of many areas along the coast of Florida effected by erosion from the mix of development and tides and currents) is being studied with over $100,000 provided by Palm Beach County and the Jupiter Inlet District.  Bill Buckingham, a graduate student of coastal engineering professor Ashish Mehta, studies the wave actions in a small scale model of Jupiter Inlet and then tests a number of solutions which will combat the erosion problem.

 

Segment 20

Title:  [University of Florida Cheerleaders)

Date:  ca. 1983

Reported by:  Chris Dudley

Duration:  00:03:20

File name: NPA0220

 

A rehearsal of the UF cheerleaders (seven men and seven women) in Florida Field.  The cheerleaders are in their uniforms and various routines are practiced.

 

Segment 21

Title:  [Harn Family Gift]

Date:  ca. 1983

Reported by:  Rose Marie Van Camp

Duration:  00:04:45

File name: NPA0221

A more complete report on the three million dollar gift from the Harn family of Gainesville of the more than 6 million needed to build a new art museum.  President Marston is shown speaking about the benefits of the gift.  Several other men are interviewed briefly and mention is made of the plans for a five year fund raising drive.  A brief biography of Samuel Peebles Harn is given including his having graduated from the University of Florida in 1915 and his purchase of the old College Inn after graduation.  His three daughters and widow (Gladys Gracey Harn) are shown and they speak briefly.

Segment 22

Title:  [Wood Fuel]

Date:  ca. 1983

Reported by:  Chris Dudley

Duration:  00:01:12

File name: NPA0222

Bob Hargrave developed a truck which runs on wood chips (wood mileage is 1 ½ pounds of chips per mile).  Funding was given from the Agency for International Development to the UF Training in Energy and Technology program to undertake this project.  Hargrave and Don Post, UF forestry professor, demonstrate the truck to UF students.  

  

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