Newspapers / The Chowan Herald (Edenton, … / March 24, 1983, edition 1 / Page 8
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Page 8-A Engineer Studies Bob I’airns — Ovej- the years, the equip ment used to play basketball has gtfcftfrn with the game. To day, ii teat-treated, 18-inch metal rim bolted to a thick, shatter-resistant glass backboard stands were Dr. Jame'l ftaismith’s peach basket knee hung. So why are slam dunkers still shattering backboards and bending rims? That’S the problem Sorensdn-Christian In dustries, the nation’s number one supplier of roll-in n petition basketball back; 3, took to Dr. Frank Hart, a N. C. State Universitv mechanical engineer. Hart’s extensive research on the backboard and rir produced some un precedented knowledge about dunk stress and how to pre vent it from breaking glass boards. The research also led to development of a new beefed up basket called the “Gorilla Goal.’’ a rim so resistant to stress that it may prove to be the basket of the future. Breakaway baskets being used by many National Col legiate Athletic Association teams and the National Basketball Association are the current panacea for stress-related damage to backboards. But even these spring-loaded, hinged, collap sible rims, designed to give 9hen hit with 230 pounds of force from a slam dunk, haven't ended all the devastation. • Most breakaways are con structed of the same metal as traditional baskets, so if Mayers hang from them after pe basket collapses, there’s no guarantee against bending p: anges Asked For Community 1 Services Aid 1 “The state needs to take a (poser look at the costs of (Mandated community ser- Vjces,” State Senator Bob Jor dan (D-Montgomery Co J said recently. 5; Jordan is introducing a in the N.C. General jjjssembly directing the State pjudget Office “to prepare the ilate budget to reflect the costs of the state’s share of locally operated programs.” i;The lawmaker said, “We at jibe state level have decided Syer the years that counties through community services prov ide many services to qur citizens better than many $ our state institutions. But in Mandating such things as detention, mental health and 9>cial services, we have not looked closely at the continu thg costs of those programs. shile we looked at the infla tionary costs of state pro pains, we do not do the same for local services. The result lias been that the state and gounties have been at odds aver who bears the costs.” i Jordan said, “The counties Ijave had to pick up those costs or cutback the service." I.Jordan’s resolution, if ap proved, will direct the state budget office to prepare the Budget to include the expan sion costs for employees and inflation costs of locally operated state funded gfograms. ;|“lt will not be an easy thing for the budget office to do in- Sially. Hie budget format fjay need to be changed,” the Senator said. 2: The lawmaker is in his Eth term in the state te, and is co-chairman of Senate Base Budget mittee. si Jordan said he has been stu dying the idea for a long time. 1 s added, “The state may not I labletopickuptheincreas ( I costs of local programs. If i , then the state and comities i 11 share the burden of mak- I k reductions.” J 1 or breaking. According to Hart, who is also NCSU's associate dean of engineering, the problems of bending and glass breakage aren’t just affecting teams who play competition basket ball. The country’s public schools, playgrounds and recreation centers spend hun dreds of thousands of dollars annually to replace standard metal baskets which have been dunked to death. It is here that the research which resulted in the “Gorilla Goal” might best apply. Hart said that when high-strength goals are installed, a whole team of kids can hang from hoops and never bend them. Hie research at NCSU was done in two phases. In phase one, Hart and his associates studied the metal rim. They tested it for weakness and found its stress level. Using what they learned, they were able to develop a high strength goal which would perform in the same way as a traditional competition basket. A computer model developed by NCSU engineers enabled them to simulate the metal rim and observe its reaction to the dynamic force of a slam dunk on a video screen. “We gathered our data by loading calibrated weights at various positions around an actual competition basket rim. Obituaries Continued From Page 2-A Surviving are one son Billy Voliva of Miami, Florida, two sisters Mrs. Cassie Martin of Burlington and Mrs. Lina Welch of Edenton, four brothers Cedric Basnight of Fayetteville, Ben Basnight of Edenton, Thomas J. Basnight of Edenton and Bill Basnight of California. She is survived by two grandchildren. Funeral services were held Friday at the Palms Memorial Park Funeral Home in Naranja, Florida. E. W. Downum ? TMr: W'. Powpujn, 74, of|j Beaufort, N.C. died on Marche 20 at Carteret County Hospital in Morehead City, N.C. He was the retired founder and owner of E. W. Downum Department Store in Beaufort. He is survived by his wife, Mrs. Nellie Chadwick Downum of Beaufort, two sons; Paul Downum of Raleigh and David Downum of Beaufort: and a daughter, Mrs. Barbara Willis of Beaufort. He is also survived by two brothers; Dr. A. F. Downum of Edenton and E. R. Downum of Richmond, Va.; a sister Mrs. Lucille Deßerry of Rocky Mount, N.C. and eight grandchildren. Funeral services were held at Ann Street Methodist Church on Wednesday, March 23. Burial followed in Beaufort Cemetery. Obituary information pro vided by Williford-Barham Funeral Home. Lucy Hofler Mrs. Lucy Byrum Hofler, 92, of Sunbury died at her home on March after a pro longed illness. She was a former school teacher at Gates County Schools and also a former Post Mistress at the Sunbury Post Office. She was a member of Damascus Chris tian Church. She was the wife of Willie H. Hofler, deceased and the daughter of Mary Wiggins Byrum and Moses Byrum both also deceased. She is survived by her two sons; Willie H. Hofler, Jr., of WUliamston and J. Willard Hofler of Sunbury, three daughters; Miss Marie Hofler of Sunbury, Miss Nell Hofler of Sunbury and Mrs. Elizabeth Elmore of Edenton. She is also survived by • brother, W. Graham Byrum of Sunbury and a sister Mrs. Mattie Roundtree of Suffolk, Va., four grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grand child. Funeral services were held on March 23 at the Damascus Christian Church Cemetery with the Rev. Avery Brown presiding. Obituary pro vided by Tv-'ard’s Memorial Chapel of Elizabeth City. Preventing Stress On Basketball Backboards “After removing each load, we measured the rim’s abili ty to snap back to its original position,” Hart said. “When a rim can no longer recoil, it is bent and permanently damaged.” When the test results were programmed, the resear chers observed the video simulation of the rim, slowing the tape down, running it frame by frame until they discovered the breaking point. A typical competition rim family centers I I EDENTON VILLAGE SHOPPING CENTER I » I IB TGSVs policy to be priced r> the -i*-.,, Regular Sale Prices may v*rv m.rket Dv market but rh» vatat nru-. ,» p,lc *'*® uc,,on 11 '* ,h ® po!icy ol TG4Y to »ee that you are trappy with your purchase* •It il S purchase WS4* am* Master Care* accepted 6y l,u ' m * pn< * »'*•>'*»* *»«*o'»*<l *We will be happy to relund your money you are not satisfied with your «Bb a— Rustler Brand Junior 10 lbs. I \ Jeaiw»»wraagier Cow Manure I I : "irxii ?u n $| 097 Peat Humus I I lo soi7 I Junior Toga bg Centealal Potting Soil I I Garden Hose "W Top Soli 8 1 I jf ® *1” J l I Iqtcaii 3 cubit* ft. I T 37 «rgl J %-W'7 - - _ ——- - m’-JIHI/i -*j iiik I 111 ihy^i.iiA^r.iiri^Jit I CJ DOUBLE I s | 97 | |S!f I COUPON DAYS | _ Ip■ Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, I fl I to I I March 24, 25, 26, and 27, TG&Y of Edenton ■ jSHKL Fertilizer j I will honor manufacturers coupons for double their .J . 1 I face value, if the item that is called for on the 1 1 10-10-10 I I coupon is carried in our store, and you purchase I yTiPw I 27 | that item. Just another way we prove that day in | I ■ and day out your value advantage store is TG&Y. I - j Reg. 1.67 No substitution will be allowed and coupons will SO Inrh 1 not be 6XChan 9 ed for cash. I I (,al. Unt. I I *139" Pn w m >%j *1 67 ... | I gfi Play S.iuT ®3 57 /C r.pt.™ u..mu I I v v Am-- QM e«iH I Qutcfcrete 3™ Jr Hide Seek Eggs ■ 12" Bl.rk ftWkH. *( n DaK.h.rk ■ Ws&S. TG& Y WILL MEET ANY LOCAL COMPETITORS ■ CURRENT AD VERTISED PRICES BRING THEIR AD! I THE CHOWAN HERALD (breiiaways included) will suppwt only 280 pounds of force. The new high-strength “Gorilla Goal’’ supports more than 800 pounds of dunkage, and without the hinges and ex tra hardware found on the breakaways, it looks and reacts like the baskets players have been shooting at for the past 40 years. “The high-carbon, medium phosphorous, low-magnesium mixture of metal combined by a special heat treatment gives the “Gorilla” all the right stuff,” says Roald Sorensen, president of Sorensen- Christian Enterprises, the Angier-based company marketing the new goaL “Three Dawkins could chin themselves simultaneously and the rim wouldn’t bend.” In a second phase of the research, Hart and the NCSU engineers again employed the computer and video simula tions to confirm their suspi cions about glass boards and the role misalignment has been playing in their breakage. “We programmed the video model to display a simulated board by sections, then wat ched different levels of force from dunk shots as they mov ed through the glass,” Hart said. “When the force became so great that it reached the board’s stress level, the glass shattered.” The model was then pro grammed to test the board while tipped at different angles. “Our suspicions were confirmed. If a glass board is misaligned (one corner tipped slightly in or out), it is in a pre-stress condition and moire likely to break when hit by dunk force,” Hart said. According to Sorensen, misaligned glass boards have even been known to shatter during the night, hours after a game has been played. The crowd leaves the gym, the heat goes down, the building freezes, and the board, still in a pre-stress condition, shat ters to smithereens. Results from the second T ' March 24, I'.Wi phase of Harts research allow him to offer some advice on maintaining glass backboards, regardless of gym temperatures or the type of rim. “When adjusting the bolts on your boards, tight isn’t always right,” he said. “All you need to do is use a level and make sure the board |s perfectly perpendicular.” If it is, even slam dunkers like Dawkins are going to have, a tough time breaking your board.
The Chowan Herald (Edenton, N.C.)
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March 24, 1983, edition 1
8
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