Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Aug. 18, 1960, edition 1 / Page 3
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Thursday, August 18, 1960 UNC NEWS Page a I hi Thinking Man's Narrator New To Planetarium Staff By RUFUS RUSSELL The house lights up at the Morehead Planetarium and the masterful narrator of the eve ning's progranr R, S. Dodson, begins .chatting informally with, members of the awed audience that he has just taken on a "rocket trip" to outer space. "Pardon me, sir," you're prompted to ask, "are, you a , professional astronomer" "Oh no," he answers, "I'm just an over-age editor, now re tired and living in Chapel Hill," :Another man who thinks for ' himself.' You have to think for yourself to be a narrator at the forehead Planetarium. The con trol console (which the narrator has to operate in the dark while lecturing constantly) has over 70 knobs, buttons and switches to direct the approxi mately 9,000 stars, planets and other stellar bodies which tra verse the stainless-steel sky of the heavenly theater. EDITOR OF "THIS WEEK" Dodson has led and is leading a full life. Amateur astronomy ihas been his- avocation for many years. His real life work has been as an editor of a national magazine, the Sunday news paper supplement, "This Week." Astronomy is his hobby. "The study of things in the sky," says Dodson, "has fasci nated me since childhood, when I saw Halley's Comet during its 1910 appearance. However, it was not until the middle 1930's that I seriously took up as tronomy as a hobby. At that time I was just beginning to reach the ulcer-begetting stage of responsibility in the publica tion business, which has been my life work." Since the 1930's he has been a participant in many astronomi cal societies, and at one time A NORWICH PRODUCT SUTTON'S Drug Sloro Phone 9-87S1 139 East Franklin St. Contemporary STUDIO CARDS Remember your friends with hilarious STUDIO CARDS Choose from hundreds Birthdays Friendship Illness . . . NARRATING STORY OF STARS Richard S. Dodson, a nar rator at the Morehead Planetarium at the Universiy of North Caro lina, points to stars in the process of current show. Dodson is former magazine editor of "This Week" magazine, Sunday newspaper sup plement and lives in retirement on a 40-acre farm near Chapel Hill. . (UNC Photo by R. R. Russell) helped construct a 12-inch re flecting telescope. Developing simultaneously with his avocational astronomi cal interests, was his vocational ability as an ace newsman. In 1926 Dodson left his home state of Maryland to assume a posi tion in New York. In 1927 he be came associated, with the Sun day "Herald Tribune," the pub lication on which was built one of America's most popular Sun day sections, "This Week," which has astronomical circula tion. Concerning the hectic pace of the publication business, Dod son says, "Helping to make a magazine of national importance in New York City is an inter esting and stimulating business, goodness knows. If it had not been a grand way to earn a liv ing I could never have spent most of my adult life in the field. But being managing edi tor of such a publication, as I was for 13 years, can bring ten sions that will drive you crazy if you don't look out, too. I learned that a night under the stars, after a day in the office, could bring surcease from Worry and help build up a philosophy you might even say a religion that would do much to calm me down and prepare me for the next day's battle." 1 x - Dodson also served as special projects director for the maga zine and became the publica tion's first "space editor" upon the . launching of the Russian Sputnik. When retirement from "This Week" approached, Mr. and Mrs. Dodson began casting around for a locale in which to live. Although they were certain that they would move south to escape the severe northern winters, they were undecided about the exact location until visiting Chapel Hill, "the south ern part of heaven." In 1956 they began to search for suit able real estate in the area and in 1958 they purchased a 47-acre farm 12 miles southwest of the village. Appropriate to his in terest in the skies, Dodson dubbed thefarm house "Star look." One of the most recent addi tions to the Morehead Plane tarium narrator's staff, Dodson delivered his first narration in the 1959 Christmas spectacular, "Star of Bethlehem," presented annually at the Planetarium. He is currently narrating a show entitled "Life on Other Worlds" for which he wrote the script. UNC School of Pharmacy, was named for the first ' dean of the present school, Edward Vernon Howell. CARRY OUT SERVICE DELIVERY SEKV1CK ENJOY DELICIOUS PIZZA AT THE Air Conditioned FIXE " CANDLELIGHT MUSIC ATMOSPHERE Computation Center Group Attends National Meets "Five members of the staff of the UNC Computation Center will at tend the "USE" meeting in Syra cuse, New York from August 16 thrPugh 19. This is a conference made up of the users of Reming ton-Rand s 1105 and 1103 auto matic electronic digital computing systems, and is known as the Uni vac Scientific Exchange. Persons attending from here will include Webb Evans, associate di rector of the Computation- Center; J. W. Hansen, chief of the pro gramming staff; Tom Saboski, also a programmer; Fred Palmdahl, chief of maintenance; and Harold Jackson, research engineer for Computer Improvement and Mod ernization. Sessions will be held in the Hotel Syracuse. Later in the month a number of persons from Chapel Hill will par ticipate in the fifteenth annual national conference of the Associa tion for Computing Machinery meeting in Milwaukee, Wisconsin from August 23 through August 26. At the opening session Dr. John W. Carr III and Arthur E. Oldehoeft, recent member of the staff of the Computation Center, will present a paper entitled "Re sults of a Survey of Computer Oriented Mathematics in the Soviet Union." Dr. Carr will also present a pap er on "Applications of Experience in Computer Programming to Pos sible Mistakes in the Proofs of Un- decidability." Statements from the abstract of this work include these assertions: "The key proofs in un decidability theory involve a proof by contradiction, intuitively leaving much to be desired . . . Under this interpretation, the contradiction proof appears itself - to contain contradictions." In that section of the program called "Logic and Circuit Design," which includes the preceding pap er. Dr. Carr and Shimon Sven. a graduate student from Israel, will also present "'An Analysis of Logi cal Design Using the Filde of Inte gers Modulo 2." The staff of the Computation Center at Chapel Hill will also contribute to the discussion on "Extension of Popular Compilers." "The Expansion of an Algebraic Compiler to Facilitate Symbol Manipulation," prepared by Rob- TOWER RESTAURANT Highways 15 & 501 Chapel Hill-Durham Blvd. Finest Foods at REASONABLE PRICES -O- WELCOME all Students & Faculty HE3 IP022E ert Coe, Sylvia Hubbard, and C. L. McCarthy, all members of the staff here- during the last year, will be given to this section. Pro gramming Chief J. W. Hanson -will discuss "An Experiment in Writ ing an Algebraic Language Com piler." , in addition to these persons pre senting papers the Center here will also be represented by Roger Hansen, editorial assistant for the new journal, Computing Re views," which is edited and dis tributed from Chapel Hill. Other persons attending include Jtaoeit Wonderly and Fred Blackwell ct the Programming Staff and Har old Jackson, ' Research Engineer. Kerr Lake Area Now Off Limits The. University, has been notified that the recreation area allocated to the use of the University at Kerr Lake has been restricted. No swim minf or water skiing may be carri ed on due to the pollution of this "Nutbush" area by sewage. - .This "Nutbush" area has been restricted by the State Eoard ct Health and the U. S. Army Corps of Engneers until, further notice. It is understood that other areas are still avaiakle for water sports. All students and University staff members are requested to observe the restrictions. This recreation area was licensed to the Universit by the U. S. Army Corps of Eengineers in 1955 and comprises seme 220 acres of land adjacent to Kerr Lake. The area is near Tcwnvi2e, Vance County. Graham Memorial Barber Shop Air-Conditioned 8:30-5:30 Mon.-Fri. 8:30-1 PU Sat. Also Spaghetti Ravioli Sandwiches Drinks 5 P. M. TO 12 P.M. CLOSED WEDNESDAYS 406 W. Main SL Carr bo ro Phone 7-1451
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Aug. 18, 1960, edition 1
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