Scientech Logo

Presentations In 2009

Subject Speaker Date
Use of Mass Spectroscopy in Fingerprint Identification Dr. Demian Ifa 1/05
History of High Definition Television Al Grossniklaus 1/12
Tour of Elwood Haynes Automotive Museum Nancy Kennedy 1/19
Engineering Education and the ASEE Pat Fox 1/26
Tour of Chateau Thomas Winery Host: Dr. Charles Thomas 2/02
Technology of Nuclear Cargo Inspection Summary by Tom Ladd 2/09
Computational Fluid Dynamics in Auto Racing Tom Ramsay 2/16
Personal Experiences in the Battle for Iwo Jima Jim Baize 2/23
Five Things You Should Do With Your Computer Patric Welch 3/02
Putting on the 500 Mile Race - A Look Behind the Scenes Kevin Forbes, P.E. 3/09
Ernie Pyle - The Soldier's Friend Ray Boomhower 3/16
Regional Science Fair - 2009 Science Fair Winners 3/23
Fair Oaks Dairy Farm Fair Oaks Personnel 3/30
Effect of Noise on Fetal Hearing Loss Dr. Floyd Thurston 4/06
E2C - Advanced Hawkeye Battle Management Aircraft System Nadine Melind 4/13
Indiana's Military Contributions - Yesterday and Today Brig. General J. Stewart Goodwin 4/20
Story of the Eiteljorg Museum Ed Cockerill, MD 4/27
US Infantry Adaptions in Iraq between 2003 and 2008 Chad Pittman 5/04
History of the Coroner in England and the United States Dr. John Pless 5/11
Business Blogging - Science or Art? Rhoda Israelov 5/18
Avoiding Computer Headaches While Saving Time and Money Patric Welch 6/01
Annis Water Resources Institute Dr. Alan Steinman 6/08
What Science Owes to Music Dr. Louis Chenette 6/15
Human Error in Industry Charles Russell 6/22
Destination Indiana: Historic Homes and Sites Ray Boomhower 6/29
Climate Change: Realities, Challenges, and Opportunities Dr. Paul Shepson 7/06
Demystifying Green Design Mike Grubb and Stewart Whitcomb 7/13
Dogs - Are They Good Medicine Ms. Ann Ronayne and Monon 7/20
Moving Toward a Cure of Bladder Cancer Dr. Scott Crist 7/27
Three Dimensional Atomic Structures of Viruses Determine their Function DR. Michael Rossmann 8/03
Converting Diesel Engines to Natural Gas Mike Hudson 8/10
Operation Deep Freeze and the International Geophysical Year Dick Bowers, USNavy Civil Engineering Corp 8/17
Excavating the Ice-Age Mastodon in Central Indiana Dr. Arthur Mirsky 8/24
Sources of Sustainable Energy Dr. Ronald Steuterman, Purdue Energy Center 8/31
Spectacular Engine Testing and Certification Larry Nightingale and Bob Yeager, Rolls Royce 9/14
Deserted Ocean: the North Atlantic at 2100? Dr. Norman Holly 9/21
Folate Targeted Therapies for Cancer Dr. Christopher Leamon 9/28
Evolution of Industrial Medicine to Occupational Health Dr. Floyd Thurston 10/05
A Day to Remember - Doris Day Mary Anne Barothy 10/12
Climbing Mt. Cho-Oyu from the Tibetan Side Robert Meyer 10/19
Changes to Medicare and Supplemental Insurance Programs (2010) Ed Solinski 10/26
Using Gasification to Produce Ethanol from Municipal Solid Waste Kenneth Bosar, P.E. 11/02
Overview of the Indiana State Museum Center for Science and Culture with Emphasis on the Science Aspects Damon Lowe, Curator of Biology 11/09
FIRST Program to Create Interest in Engineering, Science, and Technology Steve Lawrence and Andy Baker 11/16
Tour and Update of the Indianapolis Central Library Mike Coghlan and Cheryl Wright 11/23
Sudetenland's Deadly Hobgoblins: The Daughters of Radon Dr. Roger Robison 11/30
Annual Meeting and Presentation of the D.J.Angus-Scientech Educational Foundation George Cunningham, Vic Wenning, Doug Wagner, and Jim Wark 12/07
Timing and Scoring at Indy Racing League Jon Koskey 12/14

Vol 86 No 1 - January 5, 2009


Use of Mass Spectrometry in Fingerprint Identification

Presented By: Dr. Demian Ifa

Demian Ifa

Dr. Ifa is a postdoctoral fellow in the Chemistry Dept. of Purdue, working with mass spectrometry, with which he has 10 years of experience. His work on chemical images of fingerprints has been published in Science, and has been the subject of a CSI:Miami episode!

Mass spectroscopy (MS) is an analytical technique that functions by ionizing the compound of interest, and measuring the mass and charge of the ionized compound and its fragments. The data from the analysis is presented as a spectrum of abundance of the ions, graphed against the ratio of mass to charge. It dates back to the late 19th century and continues to be advanced and improved.

It is used for the identification or quantification of unknown compounds, and the elucidation of the structure and chemical properties of molecules.

A mass spectrometer is made up of an ionizing section, an ion sorting section which separates the ions and its fragments, a detector which measures the mass and charge, a data handling system, and a recording section which presents the data, usually as a spectrum.

Ionization can be done by electrospray ionization, which won a Nobel Prize for John Fenn in 2002. Other ionization techniques include chemical ionization, laser, fast atom bombardment, or electron impact.

The ions, which leave the ionizing section in a stream of inert gas, are sorted by devices such as electromagnetic sectors; quadrupoles; ion traps; or time of flight analyzers.

The field of MS of most interest to Dr. Ifa is imaging MS, which can identify the chemical constituents of a surface and record the specific location of each constituent. His preferred technique is desorption electrospray ionization. In this technique, a solvent spray is directed at a specific angle at the sample to be analyzed. Some ions are desorbed and directed into a MS instrument, which measures the ions.

The whole area or a small part of it can be imaged revealing the shape and the chemical composition of the sample. In the fingerprint area, desorption of correctly chosen ions can make a previously invisible print visible. Overlapping prints can be separated by the technique.

If the person who made a fingerprint had something on his finger, cocaine for example, this MS technique can identify it from a trace left on his fingerprint. If the substance on his finger happened to degrade with time, MS could tell how long ago the print was deposited.

This MS technique can look through an ink and see what was on the paper before the later writing was added.

In biological research, MS can identify where in the body a drug is distributed and where it is not, or can precisely draw the boundary of a tumor. MS can distinguish between two compounds of the same molecular weight and nearly identical structure.

Notes by Joe Jones

Vol 86 No 2 - January 12, 2009


History of High Definition Television

Presented By: Al Grossniklaus

Al Grossniklaus

Today's meeting was presented by Mr. Al Grossniklaus, Director of Engineering and Operations at WTHR (channel 13) which is owned by the Dispatch Companies. His duties have recently been increased to serve as the Corporate Director of Engineering for the entire organization. He was recently awarded the "Emmy" award for his technical work in the first live high definition television (HDTV) broadcast in Indiana.

Today Al presented the history of HDTV in the US and here in Indiana. The first HDTV signal was broadcast in 1996, and the first Indiana broadcast in Indiana was in 1998 with a live broadcast of a Purdue/Notre Dame game. The first receivers were shipped to Indiana with reception being held in the Ovation stores and the Nora Theater.

Why reinvent TV and use HDTV? Of course the quality of the pictures would be much better, but the demand for additional frequencies and the ability to sell off these frequencies is what really drove the technology forward. More efficient use of the spectrum allows improved and additional services. The technology provides a 6 db improvement over analog reception. Re-packing the spectrum gives 108 MHz of recovered spectrum by moving the spectrum that is now in use by TV stations (UHF channels 52-69) to a smaller spectrum. This then provides a gold mine in the sale of this spectrum by the government. HDTV provides clearer pictures (8 times the picture elements - pixels), better sound quality (CD quality), and more TV programming options (multiple channels)as channel 20 is now doing. Lastly the HDTV signal is more efficient and more flexible than the current analog system.

Al then reviewed the technical side of digital TV (DTV). The DTV signal uses a MPEG II digitally-compressed video and audio with management data at 19.39 Mb/sec. This speed was chosen because this rate of data requires a 6 MHz wide channel, the same width as our current analog systems. This allows for transmitter and antenna design to stay the same. The MPEG II system uses the following software: Discrete Cosine Transfer-based algorithm, spatial compression algorithm, temporal compression algorithm, motion predictive algorithm. It achieves Compression Rates of: 270 Mb/s SD video compressed to 2.5 - 4 Mb/s and 1.5 Gb/s HR video compressed by 12 - 18 Mb/s. In other words, the digital technology can compress the present video signals by a factor of 100 that adds to speed and quality. Once this digital transport signal was created, a Transmission RF layer was needed to decode the signals. This was accomplished by Reed-Solomon Coding (FEC), Data Randomization, Trellis Coding, Data interleaving and 8 - VSB modulation.

This change by the local TV stations is only going to be seen by those individuals who have a TV set that is not connected to a cable or Satellite system. While you may have cable at home, you still may have a small TV in your den, or bedroom that is not connected to cable. Once this change is made, you will not be able to watch TV unless you purchase a converter box. The change was to occur next month, but now the switch over looks like it will not happen until June of this year

If you do not use cable or satellite, you more than likely will need a small UHF antenna connected to the input of the converter box. If you live outside the major TV area, like this report does, you will need an outside antenna designed for UHF. All TV sold today have the digital TV tuners.

Additional information on this technology can be found at www.DTVAnswers.com, or www.indydtv.com. Both of these sites can provide you information and someone to talk with if you need additional help.

Notes by Hank Wolfla

Vol 86 No 3 - January 19, 2009


Tour of Elwood Haynes Automotive Museum

Presented By: Nancy Kennedy, Curator

Nancy Kennedy

Curator Nancy Kennedy gave Scientech Club members the grand tour of the Haynes Museum. She was assisted by Tim Rivers, a Kokomo reporter and member of the Pioneer Club, a local auto club. Ms. Kennedy has a Fine Arts degree from Indiana University and her area of expertise is photo restoration and preservation.

Tim Rivers The Haynes Museum is his actual home, which was built in 1915. It is a wonderful place filled with many furnishings, china and other objects belonging to the Haynes family. There are many extensive photos of his auto factory, early autos and family. On the first floor is an actual 1905 Haynes auto. The garage holds three Haynes autos: a 1915, a 1923 and a 1924. The 1915 Roadster is now in running condition and it is a beautiful machine, which once reached speeds of 80 miles per hour.

Haynes Museum 1905 Haynes Auto









First we took in a slide show, in which she explained who Elwood Haynes was and his inventions. The photo collection and her excellent presentation drew many compliments. Later we toured the first floor where Ms. Kennedy showed Haynes mementos. The second floor is a self-guided tour holding many photos, license plates, etc. Haynes's influence is still with us in the form of the automobile and steel and its alloys. He was also among the 104 charter members of Scientech Club in 1918.

Mr. Haynes was born in Portland, IN, progressed through its schools and then he went to the Worchester County Free Institute of Industrial Science in Worchester, MA. He completed four years at the school and wrote his graduate thesis on "The Effect of Tungsten on Iron and Steel." He had been interested in metallurgy from a young age. He later did graduate work in chemistry and biology at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, MD.

In 1886 natural gas was discovered in Portland and Mr. Haynes and a group of investors started the Portland Natural Gas & Oil Company, of which he became superintendent. He was the person who was able to calculate the amount of gas that would be needed to reach local homes and factories. He also invented an early home thermostat. He married Bertha Lanterman in 1887; they had a son and a daughter.

Mr.Haynes had long been interested in a horseless carriage and he and Edgar and Elmer Apperson built an early automobile that was the first to be driven in the U.S. on 4 July 1894 on a rural road near Kokomo. The Apperson brothers owned the Riverside Machine Shop. Together they formed the Haynes-Apperson Automobile Company, which existed from 1898-1902, when the Appersons and Haynes had an amiable split. The Appersons built smaller cars and Haynes concentrated on the upper end of the market.

Haynes did well with his company; cars were sent to markets on the east and west coast. One of the many excellent photos shown by Ms. Kennedy was an auto dealership in California with several Haynes autos on display. Haynes was an inventor who loved working in his lab. In 1912, he invented stainless steel and "stellite" a cobalt-chromium alloy. He later sold the patent to Union Carbide in 1920. He paved the way for future alloys which are used in space exploration.

Haynes' first auto was named the Pioneer; it was donated to the Smithsonian Museum in 1910. Hence the name Pioneer Club for the auto club located in Kokomo, which once housed three auto companies: Haynes, Apperson, and the Maxwell (which Jack Benny talked about on his TV show). Kokomo boasts that it is the city of firsts: the first commercially built automobile and pneumatic tires, the first canned tomato juice and the first push-button car radio, in addition to many others.

Kokomo can be proud of the Haynes Museum. He is called Kokomo's #1 citizen. They should also be proud of the fine work that Nancy Kennedy does as the Museum curator. Her enthusiasm for her work shines through! This is truly a remarkable home.

Members who are interested in a private tour can reach the Museum at 765-456-7500. It is open Tuesday-Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and is located at 1915 S. Webster St. in Kokomo.

Notes by Bill Dick

Vol 86 No 4 - January 26, 2009


Engineering Education and the ASEE

Presented By: Pat Fox

Pat Fox

We were treated to a talk on the ASEE and its function in Indiana and around the world. ASEE Stands for the American Society of Engineering Education. The ASEE founded in 1893 is a non-profit organization committed to furthering education in engineering and engineering technology. Its office is located in Washington, DC.

The ASEE promotes excellence in engineering instruction, research, and public service. It exercises worldwide leadership in engineering education; fosters the technological education of society; and provides quality products and services to members.

The ASEE includes 4 Zones and 12 Sections. There are 4 Councils and 50 Divisions. There are also International Groups associated with the American organization. ASEE Divisions The ASEE divisions include:

Aerospace
Architectural Engineering
Biological and Agricultural Engineering
Biomedical Engineering
Chemical Engineering
Civil Engineering
College-Industry Partnerships
Computers in Education
Construction Engineering
Continuing Professional Development
Cooperative and Experiential Education
Design in Engineering Education
Educational Research and Methods
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Energy Conversion and Conservation
Engineering and Public Policy
Engineering Design Graphics
Engineering Economy

to name a few of the 50.

Upcoming events include.

1. ASEE Annual Conference - 2009 will be held in Austin, Texas. Attendance is approximately 3,500.
2. The Annual Workshop on K-12 Engineering Education
3. 8th Annual Global Colloquium on Engineering Education will be held in Budapest in Oct 2009.

Previous meetings were held in Cape Town, South Africa; Istanbul, Turkey; Rio de Janerio, Brazil; Sydney, Australia; Beijing, People's Republic of China, Nashville, Tennessee; and Berlin, Germany.

4. Annual Conference for Industry and Education Collaboration (CIEC)

Current ASEE initiatives include Diversity Strategic Planning to study women in Engineering, minorities in Engineering, and K-12 and Pre-college educational efforts.

Contact Information is psfox@iupui.edu. Much information may be found at the website www.asee.org.

Notes by Bill Elliott

Vol 86 No 5 - February 2, 2009


Tour of the Chateau Thomas Winery

Hosted By: Dr. Charles Thomas

Charles Thomas

Members toured this wonderful facility, with its wine room consisting of tanks, barrels and bottling line; the tasting room; the gift shop and the upstairs dining facilities. Since the tour was held on Groundhog Day, Scientechers checked to see if Charlie Thomas saw his shadow when he came out of his barrel (he did). Chateau Thomas

As promised, inside a large fermenting tank was Bill Dick in full scuba gear. Well, ok, it was just a life-size cut out with a real oxygen tank and large mask. But there was the photo of Bill's face on the cut out. John Morrical photographed the tank gag, in addition to many other things in the winery. No member escaped John's camera. Bill Dick

Please refer to the Club web site (www.scientechclub.org) where Dr. Thomas is well represented with lecture notes from 2 Dec 2008, a Sagamore of the Wabash article and a piece about the winery. Charlie and Jill Thomas just celebrated the winery's 25th anniversary.

We met the staff members who assist Charlie: Sheila Kavanaugh, general manager; Mike Cunningham, chief winemaker, and Cynthia Goodman, assistant winemaker. Steve Somermeyer, a retired Lilly chemist, who assists the winemakers, was in California. Dr. Thomas led the tour through the fermenting area. Cynthia demonstrated batonnage, the process of stirring up the lees in the barrel once a week and Mike Cunningham worked the bottling line. Charles Thomas

People enjoyed the myriad of offerings in the Gift Shoppe and sampled various wines at the tasting bar. Many people bought some of the Chateau Thomas wines. Over 40 types of wine are made each year resulting in a production of 11,000 cases of wine. Three-fourths of the wine produced is red table wine; the remainder is white table wine, sparkling wine, and several dessert wines. Wine Tasting

The dining area can seat 250+ people in the four artistically decorated rooms on the second floor. Many wedding receptions (an average of two per month), corporate dinners, and special family parties are held in the banquet rooms. Dinner is available each Friday to the accompaniment of an array of musical artists. In the summer, concerts are held on the outdoor deck. The tasting room and the dining areas were expanded by 50% several years ago. A recent addition is a 2,000 sq. ft. building next door that serves as another wine and food center. It includes a large parking lot, a much valued resource.

Future plans include adding a pizza shop to the food service areas and a Farmer's Market on Saturdays. Just down the road the Plainfield convention center will sprout up out of the cornfield sometime in late 2009 or in 2010. Chateau Thomas is well situated to supply fine wine and food for visitors, both to local people and those traveling on I-70.

Club members had a very enjoyable tour and they showered Charlie Thomas with compliments on his outstanding winery!

The full set of John Morrical's pictures may be seen at Morrical Images

Notes by Bill Dick

Vol 86 No 6 - February 9, 2009


Technology of Nuclear Cargo Inspection

Summary By Tom Ladd

Tom Ladd

Unfortunately, the scheduled speaker was unable to appear at the meeting this week . Instead, as we were treated to extended introductions by the members present. We all learned more about each other than we were able to remember or had gleaned from the meetings of the last two years. Good luck to Dee Slater in her upcoming surgery.

The last 15 minutes of the meeting was given over to Tom Ladd. Tom had heard the presentation that we were supposed to hear and gave us an abbreviated discussion of the topic.

The talk covered the work of two professors from Purdue on ways of discovering what is held in containers at airports and seaports. Their work continues work already started by others. This work in essence involves the passage of beams of neutrons through containers. Particular molecules in the containers will absorb different amounts of neutrons. Prior work had used neutrons generated from radioactive Californium. These neutrons are of extremely high energy on the order of 14 Mev. The problem with this is that unless there is an extremely long time for acquisition, smaller molecules are difficult to identify. A broader range of energies was needed to obtain the data in a reasonable amount of time. Energies in the 1-10 Mev range were desired. Also, it would be nice to be able to turn the neutron beam of and on, something that cannot be done with a radioactive source.

The professors answer to the problem was to develop a Uranium mirror. High energy neutrons are sent into this Uranium block, and there is a multiplier effect so that several neutrons are released for each incident neutron. The neutrons released are of variable energies allowing a broad and diverse beam.

Currently, the professors have a patent pending on this project. The question was posed. "Will this be showing up at an airport near Indianapolis anytime soon?" The answer is that this is a work in progress with no interested purchasers at the present.

With such limited notice, Tom was able to give a very interesting and coherent presentation. Thanks to Tom for his willingness to do this on the spur of the moment.

Notes from Tom Ladd

Vol 86 No 7 - February 16, 2009


Computational Fluid Dynamics in Auto Racing

Presented By: Tom Ramsay

Tom Ramsay

Today we were privileged to listen to an extremely interesting discussion relating to the aerodynamics of race cars. The talk was given by Mr. Tom Ramsay. Tom is an aeronautical engineer who currently works for Honda Racing. Tom is involved with Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) as it relates to closed wheel racing (Nascar, etc) and open wheel racing (IRL, Formula one, ALMS).

According to NASA the NAS division, the principles which allow aircraft to fly are also applicable in car racing, the only difference being the wing or airfoil shape is mounted upside down producing down force instead of lift. The Bernoulli effect means that if a fluid (gas or liquid) flows around an object at different speeds, the slower moving fluid will exert more pressure than the faster moving fluid on the object. The object will then be forced toward the faster moving fluid. The wing of an airplane is shaped so that the air moving over the top of the wing moves faster than the air beneath it. Since the air pressure under the wing is greater than that above the wing, lift is produced. IRL Racer The shape of the Indy car exhibits the same principle. The shape of the chassis is similar to an upside down airfoil. The air moving under the car moves faster than that above it, creating down force or negative lift on the car. Airfoils or wings are also used in the front and rear of the car in an effort to generate more down force. Down force is necessary in maintaining high speeds through the corners and forces the car to the track. An Indy ground effect race car can reach speeds in excess of 230 mph using down force. In addition the shape of the underbody (an inverted wing) creates an area of low pressure between the bottom of the car and the racing surface. This sucks the car to road which results in higher cornering speeds.

The total aerodynamic package of the race car is emphasized now more than ever before. Teams that plan on staying competitive use track testing and wind tunnels with moving bases (at a cost of $4,000/hr) to develop the most efficient aerodynamic design. The focus of their efforts is on the aerodynamic forces of negative lift or down force and drag. The relationship between drag and down force is especially important. Aerodynamic improvements in wings are directed at generating down force on the race car with a minimum of drag. Down force is necessary for maintaining speed through the corners. Unwanted drag which accompanies down force will slow the car. The efficient design of a chassis is based on a down force/drag compromise. In addition the specific race circuit will place a different demand on the aerodynamic setup of the car.

Formula 1 Racer A road course with tight corners, requires a car setup with a high down force package. A high down force package is necessary to maintain speeds in the corners and to reduce wear on the brakes. This setup includes large front and rear wings. The front wings have additional flaps which are adjustable. The rear wing is made up of three sections that maximize down force.

The speedway setup with an oval track looks much different. The front and rear wings are almost flat and are used as stabilizers. The major down force is found in the shape of the body and underbody. Drag reduction is more critical on the speedway than on other circuits. Since the drag force is proportional to the square of the speed, minimizing drag is a primary concern in the speedway setup.

NASCAR Racer Aerodynamic testing is extremely expensive. Formula 1 racing has a considerable advantage as far as money is concerned. They are able to spend $500,000,000 annually on aerodynamics. Track testing, wind tunnel testing and computational testing are used to design the car and build it at the first of the year.

As track testing is expensive and time consuming as is wind tunnel testing, computational methods for determining aerodynamics down force, stability, balance, push, looseness, etc. have been tried for many years, and have been rapidly improving as computer power has increased exponentially. With the supercomputer you can input many variables. You can see how cars will handle in traffic. You can take an individual race course and find the most efficient line to take through the various turns. You can compute the most efficient car setup for various tracks under various conditions. More aspects of racing will be open to computation in the future.

Notes from Bill Elliott

Vol 86 No 8 - February 23, 2009


Personal Experiences in the Battle for Iwo Jima

Presented By: Jim Baize

Jim Baize

Mr. Baize is a graduate of Northwestern University with a degree in mechanical engineering. He also has a degree from Purdue University in nuclear engineering. He attended Northwestern University on the G.I. Bill, following his discharge from the Navy after World War II. He worked for the Allison division of General Motors until 1959 when he started his own engineering firm. He sold his companies in 1995 and now serves as a business consultant to several firms. He has received several medals and awards and his name appears among the leading scientists of the world.

Jim was raised in the home of his grandparents until economic circumstances dictated that he set out on his own. He had several different jobs, working in Indianapolis and living in a downtown hotel for $.25 per night. A friend suggested that he join the military. Since he was only 15 years old he had another friend pose as his father attesting that he was actually 17 years old, which was the required age for service.

Mr. Baize began his presentation by showing a video containing multiple images of the horrors of the Battle of Iwo Jima. One slide showed the remains of the landing craft, which he piloted to an area near the shore. Many of the pictures were taken by the famous photographer Joe Rosenthal, who took the pictures of the Marines raising the flag on Mount Suribachi. Jim Baize personally observed the flag raising, which actually occurred 64 years ago today.

Before the landing in early February 1945 , the navy, using large battle wagons pounded the island with artillery. It looked like the artillery fire was causing severe damage to the island installations. The Marines thought that it would be easy to take Iwo. They had no idea what they would encounter. Mr. Baize's job was to pilot a Higgins boat (LCVP)to the shore. He was in the second wave of attackers. When he got within 20 yards of the beach his boat was hit and all 38 Marines and three crewmen aboard were killed with him being the sole survivor. He was dazed following the explosion and a nearby Marine picked him up out of the water. He was given the weapons and rations of a nearby dead Marine and after six weeks of training to be a sailor, and one hour of training to be a Marine, he joined a Marine platoon. Of the 46 men in this platoon only four survived; Mr. Baize being one. He was the only sailor to fight hand-to-hand on Iwo Jima.

It took three days to get 500 yards on this heavily fortified island. The Japanese spent four years preparing Iwo Jima for battle. The island is located 700 miles from Tokyo. They had so many weapons that every square foot of this 4 mile x 2 mile island was covered by these weapons. The island was of volcanic origin, with very little topsoil. There was no place to hide. The Japanese were hidden in 17 miles of underground tunnels, all of which communicated. There were 1245 pillboxes. The Marines were used to fighting during the day but they could not rest, even at night, because of the suicide squads of Japanese. The Japanese were indoctrinated by their leaders to fight to the death and not become prisoners which they considered cowardly.

It was important to take the island, because there were two important airfields located there. In flying to Japan, American bombers lost fighter plane support part way because of the limited fighter range. Japanese fighter planes based on the island could then attack these unescorted American bombers. Of the 71,000 Americans fighting on the island of Iwo Jima, 8000 were killed. This is one third of all Marines lost in the second world war. There were 22,000 Japanese defenders with all but 800 being killed.

Mr. Baize was injured in battle, and then removed to Saipan, Guam and subsequently to hospitals on the west coast of the United States. While in the hospital for five months he was contacted by a person from the American Legion and told about the educational opportunities available after military service of which he took full advantage.

Notes from Jerry Kurlander, MD

Vol 86 No 9 - March 2, 2009


Five Things You Should Do With Your Computer

Presented By: Patric Welch

Patric Welch

Mr. Welch has a BS in business from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with an emphasis on information systems. He was a software development manager at RealMed and taught computer programming at Ivy Tech. Patric Welch started Noobie, Inc. in 2006 to help others effectively use technology. Although he is a professional techie, he is often referred to as Mr. Noobie.

Your computer should be connected to the Internet. If your computer is not connected to the Internet, you are missing most of its possibilities. You should be doing the following:

1. Communicate. There is no excuse not to have e-mail. You can use your Internet Service Provider's email address (ex. yourname@comcast.net). However if you use any of the following, you can retain your e-mail address if your service provider changes:

Google: http://www.gmail.com ;
MSN: http://www.hotmail.com or
Yahoo: http://mail.yahoo.com.

Instant messaging lets you communicate with friends on your list who are on line. Use:

Windows Messenger: http://messenger.live.com;
Yahoo: http://messenger.yahoo.com or
AOL: http://www.aim.com.
Software from http://www.pidgin.im connects to all three.

For voice over IP (VOIP) and or video conferencing go to http://www.skype.com and for social networking go to http://www.facebook.com (500,000 now on Facebook).

2. Save Money. Online shopping may save money (sales tax and cheaper price). The number one shopping site is Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com . You can compare prices and learn an online store's ratings at:

http://www.pricegrabber.com ;
http://www.shopping.com ;
http://nextag.com ;
http://www.bizrate.com or
http://www.google.com/products.

3. Stay Informed. News in newspapers is a day old. Get your news faster on the Internet at http://www.cnn.com; http://www.foxnews.com or http://www.msnbc.com.
You can subscribe to a web site's RSS feed and use a feed reader to read only the news you want. Try http://www.google.com/reader.

4. Research. With encyclopedias on the web, research is easy. Wikipedia is written by users but errors are usually discovered by other users. Try:

http://www.wikipedia.org ;
http://encyclopedia.com ;
http://britannica.com ;
http://encarta.msn.com or
http://www.reference.com .

5. Have Fun. Play online games at http://www.pogo.com or at http://games.yahoo.com .
You can also rent DVDs at http://www.netflix.com or look at YouTube http://youtube.com.
You can listen to college sports broadcasts on Yahoo at http://sports.yahoo.com/top/collegebroadcast .
Or you can download iTunes at http://apple.com/itunes .

It is amazing what you can do with your computer and the Internet.

Notes from Malcolm Mallette

Vol 86 No 10 - March 9, 2009


Putting on a 500 Mile Race - A Look Behind the Scenes

Presented By: Kevin Forbes, P.E.
Director of Engineering, Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Kevin Forbes

The talk today provided our members a wonderful story about the Indianapolis Speedway. The track was built in the spring of 1909 as a test track for motor vehicles built in the state of Indiana. The original land purchase was 320 acres. The first race was held on August 14, 1909 on a sand and "tar" surface that failed and was red flagged 65 miles short of the distance. Brick payment was then installed using 3,200,000 - 10 lb bricks. It was installed in 64 days, or 50,794 bricks a day.

In 1910 so many events were scheduled that, by the end of the season, the novelty had worn off and no one was attending. As a result it was decided to host one grand event a year starting in 1911. One of the founders, Carl Fisher, was sensitive to the fact that the race was an entertainment event and felt that the race duration should be between 7-8 hours. At the then current speeds, this meant that the race should be 500 miles long. The first 500-mile race was won by Ray Haroun and took 6 hrs, 42 min with an average speed of 74.602 mph.

On November 14, 1945 Tony Hulman purchased the track from Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker. The land area within the oval is 253.64 acres. Of the total land now owned, 74% is used to park 88,000 vehicles. 415 separate structures now exist that provide 1,344,000 sq. ft of space. 18 grandstand structures cover 23 acres. Water consumption during race day is 2,001,400 gallons.

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway currently employs over 485 full time staff members. But, on race day, 9,620 individuals are required to provide the following functions: Retail, Food, Traffic/Parking, Pedestrian/Crowd control, Fire Safety, Race Track Safety/Rescue workers, Jet Dryer operators, Ambulance drivers, Sweeper operators, Firemen, Local law enforcement, Federal law enforcement, Race officials, Medical, Public relations/media, Broadcast media, and maintenance crews on standby.

On race day, 30,000 balloons are filled with a full size tanker truck of helium. The IMS Radio Network is the world's largest with more than 400 affiliate stations. The PA system at the track, which includes 420 speakers, 200 amplifiers, and 329,000 feet of wire, makes this PA system the world's largest. All of the electronic equipment is completely backed up, so if the city of Indianapolis were to lose power, the race could still be run. 22,656 gallons of bottle water are sold, along with 37,860 gallons of beer and 18,956 gallons of soda. The water, beer, and soda are cooled with 750,000 lbs of ice.

Timing and scoring of the Indianapolis 500 are provided by an electronic loop placed at the finishing line that determines the exact time each car crosses the finish line. This timing system is backed up by an individual person for each car. The race control system has three sets of eyes on the track at all times together with 24 cameras that can cover 120% of the track. Keith also discussed the timing system for the Formula One cars which is completely different. The lap time of a Formula One car can be measured to 1/10,000 of a second.

In the past, race tracks were designed for racing, not for entertainment. Over the past few years, however, race track designers have found that the public wants a complete view of the track. Unfortunately, this is not possible at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway which was originally designed as an unpaved test track and whose 2 1/2 mile length was necessary to allow the dust to settle before a driver made another round. To help solve this problem, the IMS has installed 19 large video screens that provide views of the entire track. The total surface area of these screens is 1/8 of an acre and is the largest video system in the world.

Kevin's talk today showed how much the race track cares about its visitors. They can provide any type of service needed for over 400,000 people who attend the race.

Notes from Hank Wolfla

Vol 86 No 11 - March 16, 2009


Ernie Pyle - The Soldier's Friend

Presented By: Ray Boomhower
Managing Editor, Indiana Historical Society's Traces Magazine

Ray Boomhower

Ray Boomhower has been senior editor of the Indiana Historical Society's Traces of Indiana and Midwestern History for the past ten years. He is a native of Mishawaka, IN. He earned a degree in Journalism and Political Science in 1982 from Indiana University and a master's degree in U.S. History from IUPUI in 1995. He worked at the Indiana Daily Student and then was a reporter at two small daily newspapers: the Rensselaer Republican and the Anderson Herald. He has had more than half a dozen books published and received IHS's Hoosier Historian Award in 1998. His book The Soldier's Friend - A Life of Ernie Pyle was published in 2006.

Mr. Boomhower wove his tale of Ernie Pyle's life as he moved through slides projecting photos of Mr. Pyle in an engaging narrative of the reporter's life. All of the photos are contained in his book about Ernie, as he was known to everyone - GI's and President's alike. Ernie Pyle was born on 3 Aug 1900 in Dana, IN, a small farming community north of Terre Haute, adjacent to the Illinois state line. Ernie, thin and slight, was a quiet man like his father, a tenant farmer and carpenter. His mother, the main figure in Ernest's life (as she called him), was revered in the community for dispensing no-nonsense advice. Ernie was known as "Shag" as a young man for his curly red hair. He loved Indiana and especially the Indianapolis "500", which he attended many times. He wanted to join the Yanks in WW I but the war ended just after he signed up.

He decided to attend IU and while there he met Paige Cavanaugh, who became a lifelong friend. Another important acquaintance was IU Dean of Men, Clarence E. Edmondson. The Dean learned about Pyle's interest in journalism during an interview. Since IU did not then offer a degree in Journalism, Ernie majored in Economics. During their sophomore year, Cavanaugh urged Pyle to take Journalism classes because "they were so easy." Pyle worked for the Indiana Daily Student in his Jr. and Sr. years. His dream of travel to far away places was realized at IU when he went to Harvard with the football team. His greatest adventure was sailing to Japan with the baseball team in 1922. Because of duties aboard ship he was unable to take in a game. However, he did write a few articles about his experiences and they were published in the Daily Student under his name.

During his senior year he received a job offer which he felt was the one he should take. Over his parent's objections and with the approval of Dean Edmondson, he took a position as reporter for the LaPorte Herald. At age 22, Ernie had leaped into the real world. He took a room at the local YMCA and began his career with the usual jobs, issuing reports from the police station, courthouse and city hall. He was well-liked and was praised for his good writing. While at the paper, Pyle was given the assignment of attending a Ku Klux Klan membership recruitment meeting. He was followed to his room and warned against reporting on the meeting but Pyle went forward with articles anyway.

Not long after the articles appeared, Pyle was offered a job in the nation's capital at the Washington Daily News. There he met Lee Miller, who became a close friend. After hours there was a lot of card playing and passing around of a jar of bootleg gin. In the fall of 1924, he met Geraldine "Jerry" Siebolds, a girl from Minnesota who was working for the Civil Service Commission; they were married a year later. Ernie's desire to travel was not impeded by marriage and he and his wife decided to quit their jobs and roam about the USA. With $1,000 of savings and a Model T Ford, they set off with camping equipment for the horizon. They traveled for nearly three months, ending in New York City where they were forced to sell the auto to make ends meet.

For a time, he worked at various NYC newspapers and developed a knack at writing headlines. However, his old friend Lee Miller called from Washington, D.C. asking him to rejoin the Washington Daily News as telegraph editor. During this stint with the paper, he began writing a column on aviation. In March 1928, Pyle wrote one of the first U.S. columns devoted to the subject. Although he never flew himself, he logged over 100,000 miles as a passenger. Pyle grew famous in his role as a special friend to pilots. He knew them all. In 1932 Pyle accepted the job as managing editor at the paper. He did that for the next several years, even though it meant losing his independence as a reporter.

In December 1934 after an illness, Ernie and Jerry took some time off in warmer climates for a few months. Upon his return he wrote eleven columns about their experiences and they were a big hit with readers. Management at Scripps-Howard liked the articles so much that they invited Pyle to continue his travels with reports submitted about their odyssey. For many years Ernie was on the road as the "Hoosier Vagabond." He wrote about everyone, stopping in each town at various offices, asking about interesting characters. These columns led his peers to consider him the top reporter in the U.S.

After war broke out in 1939, Pyle aimed to be a war correspondent. He viewed the battle of Britain and filed many columns from England over a period of four months. After a brief period of rest at home, he decided to cover the troops in North Africa, where he lived with the GI's, making sure to list their names and home towns in the articles. He moved on to Sicily with the U.S. Army and shared those experiences. His columns were read in 200 newspapers.

Some time later he went back to the U.S. for some rest but found that his fame negated the chance for a respite. He did war bond rallies, one of which was with Henry Morgenthau, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury. Then it was off to Hollywood to meet with producers to film a movie about the life of the soldier at the front - a film that became The Story of G.I. Joe. (The movie is highly recommended by Mr. Boomhower.)

In late 1943, while back in Italy, Pyle wrote what many think was his most famous column, "The Death of Captain Waskow," who was beloved by his men.

While in Anzio and then Nettuno, Ernie was nearly killed after a German shell landed on the hotel. Because of the excellence of the war columns, his friend Lee Miller submitted them for the Pulitzer Prize for 1944, an honor which Pyle won.

He followed the troops in France after the Normandy invasion, sharing a tent at times with Andy Rooney, who was writing for "Stars and Stripes." He was present for the liberation of Paris on 29 August 1944, in what must have been a thrilling experience. Because of fatigue, Pyle once again returned home for a rest. This didn't last long because he felt the pull of the South Pacific and wanted to report on the action in the vast empty sea.

Pyle's last assignment was during the invasion of Okinawa. While traveling on a neighboring island, he was killed by a sniper's bullet. He was buried there but his remains were later transferred to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Punchbowl Crater, Oahu, Hawaii. His wife Jerry died a few months later.

Ernie Pyle Ernie Pyle: IU Reporter, Aviation Reporter, Hoosier Vagabond, War Correspondent, 1944 Pulitzer Prize Winner, GI's Friend, Hoosier Gem.

HISTORIC SITES
Ernie Pyle Historic Site - Dana, IN - Operated by the Indiana State Museum System.
Ernie Pyle Home - Albuquerque, NM - Now a branch of the County Library System.

Notes from Bill Dick





Vol 86 No 12 - March 23, 2009

Central Indiana Regional Science and Engineering Fair - 2009
Presented by Science Fair Winners

The fair went well this year, with 200 projects by 241 students on the 17th and 310 projects by 365 students on the 19th. There were over 50 judges on each day, many Scientech members, while others were recruited by Scientech members.

The prizes awarded were 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and honorable mention in each of grades 4-12. In the 4th and 5th grades, the judging was separate for boys and girls. The winners of grades 9-12 were invited to attend today's meeting, along with their teachers or sponsors. A total of 46 invitations were issued for students and teachers to attend the annual boat trip this year. Kim Bodell

L.A. Marshall Awards (monetary) were given to 9 teachers or sponsors, including the 4 invited to today's meeting. Also, a new award was given. The Outstanding New Teacher award was given to Kim Bodell, 5th grade teacher at Eden Elementary School in Greenfield.

Marisha Wickremsinhe The 10th grade winner was Marisha Wickremsinhe of Brebeuf High School. Marissa could not attend today's meeting, so her father and sponsor, Enaksha Wickremsinhe, was present to accept their awards and to summarize her project. Her Enaksha Wickremsinhe project had at least 3 facets, all related to the pH in the stomach. She studied the effect of pH on the dissolution of a number of different tablets, and drew conclusions about whether those drugs should perhaps be taken with or without food (which modifies pH). She also studied the effect of pH on the dissolution of different formulations of the same drug, and examined the effects of various antacids on stomach pH.

MAmelia Reynolds The 9th grade winner was Amelia McReynolds of Noblesville, who was accompanied by her teacher and sponsor, Kristi Janson. Amelia's project, entitled "The Ants Go Marching…Away: Testing Natural Ant Repellents" compared a number of different substances to see which worked best as an ant repellent. The substances included various ground spices, catnip, and lemon juice. Her methodology involved placing ants into a container with a line of the substance being tested, and counting the number of times the ants would cross the line made from the substance being tested. She concluded that, of the substances she tried, ground cloves worked best.

Mercedes LaLand The 11th grade winner was Mercedes LaLand of Arsenal Tech High School, who was accompanied by her teacher and sponsor, Elvia Solis. In her project entitled "Bio-sensors: The New Canary in the Coal Mine" Mercedes collected samples from 3 creeks, and used them as substrate for growing a transgenic moss that would fluoresce to a degree proportionate to the pollution in the creek. She hypothesizes that such an assay could be a "quick and easy" assay for the degree of pollution in water.

Meelyn Pandit Finally, the 12th grade winner was Meelyn Pandit of Noblesville High School, who was accompanied by his teacher Charles Emmert (who has developed a habit of having winning students at these events). His project was entitled "Using polyphenolic flavonoids to inhibit the growth of staphylococcus aureus." These flavonoids are botanic antioxidants that we consume in green tea. By plating the organisms in the presence of various flavonoids, he identified which appeared most to inhibit growth. He would next like to study the effect of the flavonoids in beta-lactamase producing organisms.

Scientech members expressed their congratulations to the winners and their gratitude to the teachers and sponsors for their efforts in promoting science education in our schools.

The D J Angus-Scientech Educational Foundation devotes its financial support to the encouragement of students in the sciences. Scientech provides a very significant amount of volunteer labor to make the Science Fair and Boat Trip successful. All of the effort to keep the foundation active is volunteer and almost all of the foundation funds involved go to support the students.

Reported by: Tom Spradlin

Click HERE for the complete list of winners at all grade levels



Vol 86 No 13 - March 30, 2009


Tour of Fair Oaks Dairy Farm

Arranged by: Jim Bettner

Our Narrator

Fair Oaks farms operates some of the largest dairies in the United States. We visited one of these dairies studying the operation mostly traveling by their bus.

The farm we visited is 19,000 acres acquired in 1998 and 1999. This is a family-owned farm. 3000 of the acres are set aside for streams, ditches and to protect wildlife. Corn and hay are raised on the farm to feed the cows but additional feed is required from outside to meet all the feeding requirements. There are a number of farms in the Fair Oaks group similar in size to the one we visited and located in Indiana, each of which has 2000 to 3000 cows.

Most of the cows in the herd are black-and-white Holsteins, but there are also a few other breeds represented. The Holstein breed has been around for about 2000 years, probably originating in Holland. Adult cows weigh about 1400 to 1500 pounds. They are crepuscular animals being especially active at dawn and dusk. Cows are social animals, who usually follow the lead of the larger, stronger, and more aggressive individuals. They groom themselves and each other. Visitor Center

Cows have four stomachs. They chew and swallow quickly. The food then goes into the first and second stomachs, the rumen and reticulum. When they are full she burps up a small amount of food (cud) and chews again. After more chewing it goes into the third stomach, the omasum and then enters the fourth stomach the abomasum where digestion actually occurs.

The cows in this herd have a relatively large amount of freedom as to where they sleep and when they eat. Food is available at all times. Cows generally eat about 6 ˝ hours per day. They need about 100 pounds of specially mixed feed daily and drink 30 gallons of water. This results in the production of about 10 gallons of milk. The total mix ration (TMR) includes 52% corn silage and the rest consisting of alfalfa hay, corn, cotton seed, soybean meal, citrus pulp, corn gluten, vitamins, and minerals.

The manure and urine are collected and in a complex process including bacterial digestion are converted into methane, fertilizer and natural soil. Enough methane production is achieved to power generators producing electricity to operate the farm with the residual being added to the power grid. This process reduces the farm odor by more than 90%.

DairyGoRound The cow stalls have sand floors to make it easier for the cows to get in and out and to reduce infection. Each cow is milked three times a day. The cows are led into a large holding area, which leads onto a rounded platform, which travels slowly in a circular direction. This "dairy-go-round" takes about 8 ˝ minutes to complete the cycle with milking taking five minutes. Careful attention is paid to the udder teats to keep them clean and free of infection.

Birthing Barn All cows are fertilized artificially. After birth, they are farmed out for two years, and then return to Fair Oaks as heifers. They have a gestation period of nine months. After delivery, they give milk for 10 months and then are given a two-month rest before they become pregnant again. They do this until they are seven to 10 years old.

The milk is shipped unpasteurized to Indianapolis and points south. It is transported in specially lined tanker trucks, which can keep the milk at 34 to 35°F for 24 hours.

Further information on Fair Oaks may be found at this site.

Notes from Jerry Kurlander

Vol 86 No 14 - April 6, 2009


Effect of Noise on Fetal Hearing Loss

Presented by: Dr. Floyd Thurston

Dr. Floyd Thurston

Dr. Thurston is a longtime member of Scientech. He was in charge of the health and safety department of a large company some years ago, when the subject of today's talk came to his attention in the form of a letter to the head of the company. An article had been published which reported hearing studies on young children. Some of the children with hearing losses were born to mothers who had worked in noisy textile mills.

The data showed a 3-fold risk of 10 dB (decibels) of hearing loss when the mother worked in an area with 100 dB ambient noise. Dr. Thurston was concerned enough to study the literature and try to evaluate the actual risk.

Hearing loss in the US affects about 28 million people, and 10 million of them are thought to be injured by noise. Hearing losses are also caused by aging, disease, and genetic factors.

Newborns aren't routinely screened for hearing, so there is no large body of data that can be related to the mothers‘ employment (or taste in music). 46% of employees are women, 75% of them are 24-35 years old, and half will be pregnant during their working life, so there are a very large number of children who might be affected by workplace noise.

OSHA sets time limits for exposure of employees to noises of various intensities, but the question of specific limits for exposure of pregnant employees has not been answered. Dr. Thurston gathered information on various aspects of the problem:

Neonatal IC units are noisy. Could any observed hearing loss have actually occurred there?

Does noise attenuated by passage through the abdominal wall and amniotic fluid have the same effect as in air?

Several studies have been done in animals over the years, none of them giving the conclusive answer. In sheep, fetuses exposed to 120 dB for 16 hours showed hearing loss with partial recovery. Another test in sheep, where hydrophones were placed in the uterus, found 20 dB of difference between various locations in the uterus.

In humans with microphones placed in the uterus, one test found 19-60 dB of attenuation caused by the abdominal wall. And it also found 85 dB of background noise in the uterus! Other similar studies found background as low as 50 dB, with the type of microphone causing a lot of variance. All tests in humans show that high frequencies are attenuated more than low frequencies. (Effect on the fetus of its pregnant mother's standing in front of a huge subwoofer?)

A 1936 study showed that noise raised the heart rate and activity of a fetus. But the attenuation factor should have brought the noise down to background. Why was there an effect?

Summing up, all the studies to date lack control groups and medical histories of the subjects. Further, the measurements of workplace noise weren't timely. Other risks of hearing loss weren't controlled or recorded. Dr. Thurston concluded that there probably is not much risk to fetuses from workplace noise, but more and better studies would be desirable.

Notes from Joe Jones

Vol 86 No 15 - April 13, 2009


E2C - Advanced Hawkeye Battle Management Aircraft System

Presented by: Nadine Melind
Rolls-Royce Corp.

Nadine Melind

Ms. Melind introduced her presentation with a number of charts showing the extensive Rolls-Royce product line and percent revenue of each business sector, ie.:

Civil-49%
Defense-19%
Marine-24%
Energy-8%

There are 38,900 employees in Rolls Royce, with 8,000 in the US and 4,400 in Indianapolis. The US headquarters is in Reston ,VA.

The E-2D Advanced Hawkeye is the U.S. Navy's primary battle management and control platform. It is the cornerstone of the theater air and missile defense for our joint warfighters. The basic operation of the system is:

1. The E-2D detects the threat,
2. Requests confirmation via other defense systems, eg., satellite or Global Hawk,
3. Confirmed image captured from servers,
4. Image transferred to air or sea based weapons systems,
5. Command sent to prosecute the identified threat,
6. Threat neutralized,
7. Battle damage surveyed, Confirm threat neutralized.

Each of the 10 Aircraft Carrier Battle Groups has 4 E2 aircraft on board with at least one aircraft in the air at all times. Hawkeye Aircraft

The history of the E-2 system is:

1961- Hawkeye enters service as E-2A
Hawkeye up dated to E-2B
1973 The E-2C enters service
1978 1984 Advanced RADAR processing systems introduced
1988 Group 1 RR T56-A427 engine introduced
2005 E-2D Design/Development begins
2007 E-2D first flight
2008 E-2D enters production

The Navy plans to build 75 E-2D aircraft. The aircraft has an 80.6 ft wingspan, has four system operators, pilot and copilot crew. A typical mission length is 4 hours but with in-flight refueling that will be extended to 8 hours. The E-2 typically flies about 400 miles out from the carrier. The T56-A-427A turboprop engine has been upgraded for the E-2D mission with a 400hp generator, increased strength gearbox, 10,000 hr prop shaft, electronic digital control system (FADEC), new 8-bladed H-S propeller, and engine health monitoring system.

The supply chain for the E-2D aircraft system involves many states along the East coast, South, Midwest and Western states of U.S.

The project is just begun Low Rate Initial Production (2009) with Full Rate Production beginning in 2013

More information on the Hawkeye aircraft may be found at www.naval-technology.com/projects/hawkeye/

Notes from Jim Bettner

Vol 86 No 16 - April 20, 2009


Indiana's Military Contributions - Yesterday and Today

Presented by: Brig. General J. Stewart Goodwin
Ass't Adjutant General, Indiana Air National Guard

General Stewart Goodwin

Brigadier General J. Stewart Goodwin is the Assistant Adjutant General, Indiana Air National Guard and also serves as the Deputy Joint Forces Commander - Air for the Indiana National Guard Joint Forces Headquarters in Indianapolis. He is the principal advisor to the Adjutant General on matters pertaining to the Indiana Air National Guard which consists of the 122nd Fighter Wing in Fort Wayne, 181st Intelligence Wing in Terre Haute, Atterbury Air-to-Ground Gunnery Range in Edinburgh, Jefferson Air-to-Ground Gunnery Range in Madison, and 207th Weather Flight in Indianapolis.

On May first, General Goodwin will become the Commander of the Indiana Air National Guard. His civilian occupation is Executive Director of the Indiana War Memorials Commission.

General Goodwin received a Bachelor of Science, Management/Marketing from the University of Evansville in 1971, and a Master Of Science, Industrial Safety, from Central Missouri State University in 1975. He also studied at the Air War College.

The State of Indiana has a great military legacy. In the Civil War, there were 18 states loyal to the Union and Indiana provided 10% of the soldiers that served the Union. Three out of four Hoosier men of military age during the Civil War served in the military.

Indiana now is the 14th largest state but has the 4th largest National Guard. No state has had more servicemen and women in Iraq and Afghanistan than Indiana. The Indiana National Guard has both a Federal mission, fighting for our country, and a state mission, helping in emergencies at home. Therefore, those in the Indiana National Guard swear an oath to the Nation and to Indiana. There are 15,000 in the Indiana National Guard.

Indiana now has one Air National Guard fighter wing. It is based at Fort Wayne. Two planes from a fighter wing based in Terre Haute escorted Air Force One after 9/11. That wing is no longer active. However, the National Guard still puts $52 million into the Terre Haute area per year. There is a National Guard facility in Terre Haute where guardsmen monitor video information from drones in Afghanistan and Iraq.

For example, three terrorists in Iraq parked a truck along the side of a road. They then began digging a hole in the middle of the road and planting an IED. They were being watched by a US drone aircraft. The guardsmen in Terre Haute observed what was going on as displayed on the video from the drone. They called the forward air control in Iraq and attack jets dropped a bomb on the terrorists. This demonstrates that, with modern technology, Terre Haute is only seven seconds from Iraq.

By 2016 the F16 fighter jets will be retired. The replacement in 2025 will be the F35. In the meantime, the fighter wing will transition to the A-10 Wart Hog ground attack plane. The National Guard fighter wing at Fort Wayne is working to be the very best. Only the very best will be kept in operation during the interim.

The Indiana War Memorials Commission operates the Soldier's and Sailor's Monument on the Circle and the Indiana War Memorial between Pennsylvania and Meridian Streets, as well as many other monuments over 24 acres. The Memorial was built for 2 million dollars in 1920 and would cost 500 million today. There is a museum in the Memorial that is constantly being improved.

General Goodwin has made the necessary arrangements so that a veteran's funeral can be held in the Memorial. The latest project for the Memorial is a museum of items made in Indiana for the military. Indiana has made major contributions to supplying the military, including the Norton bomb sight and LSTs in WW II.

Soldier's and Sailor's Monument The Monument on the circle was built from 1889 to 1902. When the four sculptures that are now placed on the sides of the Monument first arrived from Europe, they had full, long, beards. The sculptor revised the statutes with a chisel on the spot to make the beards short, in accord with the custom here during the Civil War.

There is now a problem with Lady Victory's support. She looks to the south on top of the Monument, and the metal braces that support her have corroded. They will be replaced.

Indiana citizens have valiantly served the United States in war. Indiana has honored them with many majestic war memorials, second in number only to those in Washington, DC.

Notes from Malcolm Mallette

Vol 86 No 17 - April 27, 2009


Story of the Eiteljorg Museum

Presented by: Ed Cockerill, MD

Ed Cockerill

Ed Cockerill, MD, a member of our club and a board member of the Eiteljorg Museum, presented a program about the the Museum which is celebrating its 20th anniversary.

The Eiteljorg Museum came about in the late 1980's as a result of the cultural boom in downtown Indianapolis and the goal of the Lilly Endowment to make Indianapolis a more attractive dynamic city. The White River State Park needed an Eastern venue and attempts to attract the Heye Foundation from New York had failed. Harrison Eiteljorg was looking for a site to house and display his extensive collection of 19th and early 20th century American Western Art. These mutual needs resulted in the Eiteljorg Museum of Natural American and Western Art opening in 1989 with a collection of over 1000 artifacts from the Eiteljorg collection and a similar number from the Huston Museum housed in the Lilly Home at Eagle Creek. Harrison Eiteljorg

Over the past 20 years the museum has hosted over 130 exhibitions, hosted thousands of school tours, doubled in actual size with new construction and added almost 5,000 pieces to its growing collection, including the Gund Family collection of western art including Remington's and Russell's, the Klaper collection of Art, the Perelman collection of South West art and artifacts, the Wiener collection of illustrations, and the Kersting collection of artifacts and jewelry.

The Eiteljorg is governed as a private foundation relying on grants, donations, membership sales and rentals. In the past 20 years an endowment has been raised to help offset expenses. It's present value is in the neighborhood of 15 million dollars.

For the past decade, the museum has conducted the Native American Artist Fellowship Awards. This program has a senior artist and five additional native artists. The museum has made significant acquisitions from the shows and now owns the finest collection of contemporary Native Art in the world with preliminary plans for a world tour and book of collections.

If you have friends or a family group or reunion visiting Indianapolis, Ed Cockerill would be happy to conduct a tour of the exhibit and artifacts. All he needs is a short notice and someone with a low pitched voice so that he can hear questions or needs of the group. He can be reached at: ecockerill@indy.rr.com Eiteljorg Museum

Ed provided the members with interesting facts about the construction of the museum and its design by Jonathan Hess. Jonathan Hess was only 26 when he spent two years traveling to inspect nearly every major museum in the West. The outside of the building is from Minnesota sandstone that was collected from a quarry northwest of Minneapolis. The exterior stone was mined, cut and numbered to maintain the continuous pattern of the strata on the building. Eiteljorg requested that some of the stone be reserved, and 10 years later it was used on the second expansion of the museum. The Red Stone is from Germany and mahogany is the wood used to give the mission style interior.

Notes from Hank Wolfla



Click HERE to continue scrolling down the presentation summaries.