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Wnt (Samecock Laser inventor speaks at USC by Rebecca Whitehead The Gamecock The Nobel Prize-winning inventor of the laser spoke at USC Thursday about his invention. Charles Townes spoke to about 100 students and faculty members in the Coker Life Science Building. Townes, a Greenville native and professbr at the University of Califomia-Berkeley, focused on how he came up with the laser, how it works and how important it is to follow through with ideas. Townes spoke about the interaction between different sciences. He cautioned against “channeled, fixed ideas.” “Many ideas come up and people pass them by,” he said. Townes said some of the best ideas aren’t planned. “The laser (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) came about in, what you might say, an accidental way,” he said. “That’s the nature of a new discovery.” He began his speech by discussing the beginning of his Career, after he obtained his Ph.D. in physics from the California Institute of Technology. He said he had wanted to teach, but took a job with Bell Labs under the advice of his professors. Jobs were hard to find because of the Great Depression. After World War II, Townes said, there was more room for technological development. “After the war, there were remarkable discoveries and ideas that came up with backgrounds in engineering,” he said. “Engineering and science are very closely related.” Townes was soon working on ideas of his own. In 1948, he started work at Columbia University, where he made the discovery that the shorter the wavelength, the stronger the reaction between molecules. His project was aided by military funds. After a few years of trying to perfect the project and failing, he was told he was wasting money. Townes used tenure to keep going, however, and within three months, the maser (Microwave Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) was invented. Townes later took a sabbatical to France, where he collaborated with a student of his for three months on an amplifying project. He also visited a university in Tokyo, where he came across a colleague from Columbia University. The two worked together on a patent for optical masers and communications. Once his ideas became famous, Townes said those who used to doubt him finally began to give him their support, and one of his former professors recommended him for his first public prize. The ideas kept coming. In 1957, three years after the maser was finished, Townes developed a plan for the laser. His plan was published in 1958 and completed in 1961. He received his Nobel Prize in 1964. Townes encouraged his listeners to work on their dreams and ideas. “I didn’t have the only idea for producing stimulated emission,” he said, referring to a book written in 1924 by a German physicist containing plans similar to his own. Townes foresaw many uses for the laser, both technological and scientific, but didn’t predict the use of the laser in eye suigery and other areas of medicine. The university desk can be reached at gamecockudesk@hotmail.com WUSC holds ‘Moolah for Music’ by Valerie Matchette The Gamecock Madonna on WUSC? The Backstreet Boys on 90.5? Have the DJs at USC’s campus radio station lost their minds? WUSC will be suspending its “no Top 40” policy this weekend for its annual spring fund-raiser, Moolah for Music Weekend. Listeners will be able to call in requests for their favorite songs and participate in events sponsored by the station. The open format begins today at noon and ends at midnight Sunday. Participants pledge money to hear their requests and can win prizes. “There’s opportunities to win all kinds of stuff,” said Camille Watkins, the radio station’s public affairs director. She said everyone pledging at least $25 wins a WUSC T-shirt, and each listener who puts the station over every $200 mark wins a prize donated from an area business. Prizes include gift certificates for piercings at Body Rites and gifts from the Joyful Alternative and the Rosewood Market. Several restaurants also made donations, including Delaney’s Pub, Miyabi’s, Rising High, Zorba’s, McAllister's and Toogie’s. Listeners can even win a VIP party from Hooters. The radio station will also give out concert tickets to see Disturbed, Cold, David Gray, SR-71 and String Cheese Incident. The weekend’s grand prize is a mountain bike from Outspokin’ Bicycles. The weekend’s activities will begin today at 11 a.m. on Greene Street in front of the Russell House. Local bands Bleak and Loveapple will play, and Domino’s will provide free pizza every hour. Witkins advised students to get to the kickoff quickly because the free pizza goes fast. The Carolina Alumni Association will hold a sing-along contest, awarding a Cocky slinky doll to the winner. According to Watkins, student oiganizations SHARE (Sexual Health Awareness and Rape Education), Carolina Productions and the Student Office of Drug and Alcohol Abuse will be involved as well. Friday night, the Elbow Room will host its Battle of the Bands finals in an “unofficial sponsorship” of WUSC. Competing will be Fling, Hurt Reynolds, Mass Connection, Science Knows No Sin and Hot Lava Monster. The show starts at 9 p.m. Saturday night, WUSC will hold a party at the New Brookland Tavern with bands Quench, Slurr, Mastadon Ho! and Jack Synister. The concert will begin at 8 p.m. Tickets are $5, but concert-goers can get a coupon for a dollar off from the Elbow Room or Manifest Discs and Tapes. “I highly encourage everybody to come out for Saturday night,” Watkins said. She said the music will be eclectic, with something for everyone. “It’s gonna be a night to remember.” Station manager Taylor Marshall Green said the weekend’s goal is to “make tons and tons of ducats.” He said he expected Saturday’s concert to be a huge success because there are three more bands this year than there were in last year’s event. “We’re expecting big crowds at both of these events,” Watkins said. She said this year’s activities would try to involve the entire Columbia community and not just USC. Holly Harper, WUSC graduate assistant, said the station lias high ambitions for its fund raising. “The goal of the weekend is to raise funds to support the radio station,” Harper said. “These donations help make it possible to continue to bring great music to the airwaves. You give us moolah, we give you music.” The university desk can be reached at gamecockudesk@hotmaiLcoin Budget from page 1 I ' could attend the demonstration. “A lot of the professors are very, very • excited about it,” Hard said. This protest is different from previous protests because it isn’t being run by an organization, such as Student Government. “This is involving everyone,” Hard said. She complimented SG on the job it has done protesting the cuts, but said the events were more formal than this protest. “They’ve done press conferences, and they’ve done certain things, but it doesn’t seem to be working,” she said. State senators were considering a bill that would have slashed most universities’ budgets by about 12 percent; however, a late amendment Thursday changed that figure to 8.7 percent. The House passed a budget reducing the university’s state funding by about 12 percent; Gov. Jim Hodges’ original budget cut the school’s allocation by 15 percent, but Hodges lias since pushed a plan he says would virtually exempt USC from the cuts. The cuts are part of an overall reduction in the state budget, which legislators must reduce to avoid a $500 million shortfall. The university desk can be reached at gamecockudesk@hotmail.com f55^S3S»S!?® \ \ rK* - ?£«»- \ IS Wednesday- 4 6 ?& cen^J I _^ Riverbend | r Apartments I 100 Riverbend Drive W.Columbia, SC 29169 I I Call today about our move-in specials! 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