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The Voice
September 30,1981
Planetarium
Almost
By Michael W. Moore
The new planetarium at FSU is
almost ready for its first class. In
stallation of the sound system is taking
place, but before it can begin operation
the state must approve the work of the
contractor.
According to Mr. Jan Dabrowski,
Planetarium Director, it will be a while
before shows can be given-mainly
because of the time involved in the
production of a program, which is like
doing a show in a theater. To operate,
there must be film, sound tracks,
rehearsals, and personnel for each
production. These are problems
because the planetarium presently is
operating without a budget or staff ex
cept for Mr. Dabrowski, who spends
only one-third of his time on the
planetarium.
The planetarium is a combination
classroom and multi-media theater. As
such, it has the potential of providing a
wide variety of learning experiences to
FSU students, elementary and secon
dary students, and the general public.
Interest in the new facility is already
high in the community. Workshops
have been conducted with county and
city school teachers to give tips on how
to teach basic astronomy and how the
planetarium would be able to sup
plement their instruction.
At the national level, the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA) has shown interest in studying
A Family Affair
FSU Welcomes New Faculty Center For Continuing Education
By Ronnie McLean
By Anthony C. Scott
Another program at the center is
sponsored by the State’s Council of
Economic Education. This program is
designed to bring teachers of elemen
tary grades back into the classroom to
learn economics. The teachers can then
effectively pass on to their students
economic information that children
can learn at an early age and apply
throughout their lives.
CE sponsors seminars and
workshops to help the residents of
Cumberland County. They attempt to
prevent duplication of services that
Fayetteville Technical Institute offers.
Funding is becoming a major issue and
one of their primary objectives is to
seek foundation support. All programs
outside of normal classroom hours are
apart of CE.
Dr. DeField T. Holmes, Special
Assistant to the Chancellor, oversees
CE and he is also coordinator of the
Area of Biology. He has served in
numerous positions at FSU and enjoys
the fact that FSU is a fact growing
organization. He sees CE as a basic
part of the university and the com
munity.
Vandalized
repaired or who will do the repair
work. There is some disagreement as to
whether the university or the original
contractor who constructed the
building is responsible for repairs.
Although the plants are still alive,
Dr. Haas worries about the coming of
cold weather because the damage will
not allow for operation of the facility.
The greenhouse, constructed of
metal, concrete and glass, was pur
chased for experimental work with
plants. Many students have already
volunteered to work in it.
The Voice takes this opportunity to welcome all new faculty members and to
introduce them to the “Family”.
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS
Dr. Kimon Constas
Dr. Robert Fritz
Dr. John Greenwood
Mrs. Barbara Jones
HUMANITIES & FINE ARTS
Dr. Geoffrey Rugege
Dr. Edward Hill
ADDITIONAL NEW FACULTY
Mr. William Head
Mr. Norris Harvey
Dr. Kwoh Chi Wong
Dr. Matthew Edwards
Dr. William Meadows
Dr. Harriette Howard
EDUCATION & HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
Mrs. Saundra Shorter
Mrs. Rose Hogg
Dr. Ralph E. Burns
SOCIAL & BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES
HISTORY
Dr. Shelton Clark
SOCIOLOGY
Dr. Ella T. Keller
Dr. Lillian Williams
Dr. Ann Holmes
A
%
Dr. David Haas at work in the greenhouse
The Center for Continuing
Education (CE) at Fayetteville State
University supervises programs which
provide continued education in a non-
traditional role. CE involves more than
just a two- or four-year degree. It
works with the family unit and through
its efforts it creates a better informed
community of citizens.
There are several programs currently
being implemented as part of CE at
FSU.
With a grant from the Dept, of
Labor, FSU provides the teaching of
basic skills to parents currently
receiving Aid for Dependent Children
(AFDC). Most of the learning takes
place on computer terminals and is
self-paced. The program runs for six
months and has over 100 students
enrolled. The employment success rate
is about 20 percent and continues to
climb.
Continuing Education also has a
program to help high school students
pass standardized tests with more
competitive scores enabling more of
them to enter some type of higher
educational institution.
Greenhouse
By Anthony Scott
Over half of the glass in the
greenhouse has been broken by rocks
thrown from the vicinity of the
railroad tracks. The greenhouse is
located adjacent to the rear of the New
Science building.
Dr. David Haas, assistant professor
of biology, specializes in botany and
donated most of the plants in the
greenhouse. Dr. Haas said the
greenhouse presents an easy target and
he doesn’t know when it will be
Mr. Jan Dabrowski at projector-control console (Photo by Patsy Cortez)
Star Field Projector
motion sickness in astronauts. Mr.
Dabrowski already has received a
$1,000 research grant from the Resour
ce Center for Science and Engineering.
He plans to get students involved in
researching double stars. Most stars in
the sky are double stars and the resear
ch would determine their properties.
Mr. Dabrowski emphasized how in
strumental Chancellor Lyons was in
making sure FSU got the new facility.
He also commented, “As a cultural
resource, the planetarium will be
a place people can go to better their
minds. There are about a dozen
planetariums in North Carolina as op
posed to 107 in Pennsylvania. In con
trast, the city of Pittsburgh has about a
many as our state.” This is a
significant disparity in terms of
educational and cultural opportunity
for residents of our state.
Built by Spintz Space Systems, Inc.
of Chadds Ford, Pa., the planetarium
measures 30 feet in diameter with a
dome 47 feet from the theater floor.
The seating capacity is fifty-eight with
two additional spaces for wheel chairs
or folding chairs. The primary star
field projector has several thousand
lenses and holes and projects the pat
terns of stars in the night sky. In ad
dition, the planetarium houses over 24
auxiliary projectors controlled by a
console in the back of the theater for a
wide range of special effects.
Primarily, the new facility will be
used by FSU students for astronomy
classes, science classes and general
programs. Mr. Dabrowski commented
that he would like to see people in the
drama area take an interest in it since it
can accomodate many other purposes
than astronomy. He will be contacting
all the divisions about using it for
special programs. The planetarium is
under the supervision of the Division
of Physical and Life Sciences.
Operations and the projection of
programs will be managed by the
Planetarium Director. Inquiries may
be directed to Mr. Jan P. Dabrowski,
Planetarium Director (919/486-1650)
or Dr. Valeria Fleming, Division Head
(919/486-1682).