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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 24, 1994)
February 24, 1994 University of Nebraska ◄ SPORTS Rocked, Shocked Jayhawks Nebraska explodes to a 24-point halftime lead and holds on to beat lOth-rated Kansas 96-87 before a raucous sell-out crowd at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. Page 8 Thursday 27/11 Today, mostly cloudy with a chance of light snow. Vol. 93 No. 111 Damon Lee/DN Ted Jorgensen, professor emeritus of physics and astronomy, displays the matched set of irons he developed while researching his book, “The Physics of Golf. Jorgensen said the identical weight of the clubs helped golfers achieve a more consistent swing. Professor blinds golfers with science By Cami Walker Staff Reporter It took physics to build the atomic bomb, to create the steam engine and to invent the telephone. But not everyone knows that it takes physics to play gol f. Many professional gol f ers don’t even know it, a retired physics professor said. Fault for this lack of knowledge docs not lie with the pros, the professor said. In fact, no one is at fault. The subject has never been studied intently, until now. Ted Jorgensen, a University of Nebraska Lincoln professoremeritus, is trying to show golfers with his new book, “The Physics of Golf,” that the game is a lot more than just swinging a club. ‘‘If you get a hold of a book about how to play golf,” Jorgensen said, “it teaches you a style of swing rather than giving the would be golfer an understanding of what he’s trying to do. Learning the physics that apply to the swing teaches them this.” Twenty-five years of the 88-year-old Jorgensen’s life have been spent researching the subject. He’s been plugging complicated math formulas into computers and reading about golf all these years just because he is interest ed in the game, he said. Jorgensen started golfing 34 years ago, when he married his second wife, Dorothy. He said he began learning too late in life to become a good golfer. He wouldn’t disclose his handicap, but it has increased with age, he said with a smile. “Being a really good golfer is like being a good violinist. You have to start when you’re 5 years old and practice, practice, practice— which I didn’t have time for. Also, that wasn’t what I was after.” Jorgensen said he became interested in the theoretical aspects of the game and began to look at golf as a problem in physics. “I looked upon the swing of a golf club as a double pendulum (the club is one, the golfer’s arms the other), and about 25 years ago I wrote the differential equations de scribing the motion of the pendulum.” When more advanced computers came out, he was able to solve those equations to give a complete description of his pendulum model of the swing. He compared his model with a strobo scopic photograph he took ofagolfer’s swing. He used reflecting tape, which he put at points on the club and the golfer’s head, to take the picture at night in his back yard. This picture is on the cover of the 155 page paperback that has been published by the American Institute of Physics. The computer told Jorgensen many things See GOLF on 6 State officials: Smith will adapt easily By Angie Brumcow Senior Reporter Californian Dennis Smith will be trans planted easily onto Midwestern soil, state officials said. Sen. Scott Moore of Seward said although he had reservations at first about a Californian leading higher education in Nebraska, his wor ries were soon eased. “His roots arc fully planted in the Midwest,” he said. Smith, former executive vice chancellor at the UniversityofCalifomia-Irvine, will become University of Nebraska president on March 1. Moore said Smith’s background in Indiana and at Purdue University led the senator to believe Smith would adapt easily to Nebraska. “He understands M id west cul lure very well,” Moore said. “He seems to be a Midwesterner at heart.” Gov. Ben Nelson said hedidn’t think Smith’s out-of-state status would make it hard for him to take the lead of the NU system. “I don’t think it’s going to be a detriment,” he said. “Nebraskans are welcoming to those from outside the state.” Rather, Nelson said, Smith’s experience at Irvine probably would help him in Nebraska. In California, Smith was part of a large statewide university system, Nelson said. That experience will allow him to effectively guide Nebraska’s multicampus, systcm.Nelson said. Moore, chairman of the PRP^nnmfll Nebraska Legislature’s Ap w■y*l«^«wMlitpropriations Committee, TRANSITION agreed that Smith’s Irvine experience would be helpful when it came to the budget. In the last three years, the Legislature has had to make significant cuts in the NU budget. California’s universities have had to make more drastic cuts recently. At Irvine, Smith dealt with the large cuts by trimming 3 percent from academic units and cutting a larger per centage from services and athletics. “They’ve done some extreme things there/’ Moore said. “It’s my hope the (Nebraska) econ omy will continue to go up, and we can add instead of subtract.” But if cuts are needed, Moore said, Smith has proven he can do it. “He seems to have the background and un Reaction outside the system ► State Sen. Scott Moore of Seward said Smith's background in the Midwest, such as Indiana and Purdue University, would help Smith adapt quickly to Nebraska. ► Gov. Ben Nelson and Moore both said they would work closely with Smith in preparing NU's budget. Friday, th« Daily Nobraskan will axptora how mambara of the HU Board of Movants vtow Incoming NU praaldant Dennis Smith. derstanding,” Moore said. Smith is assuming his new job at just the right time to deal effectively with the budget. Moore said. The new president will be in on preparing the 1995 biennium budget for the NU system from the beginning, he said. “Now is a good time of the year to begin,” he said. Nelson and Moore said they would work closely with Smith in preparing the budget. See OPINIONS on 3 Curtis dean: Ag college’s doubt over By Brian Sharp Staff Reporter When the Nebraska College of Tech nical Agriculture in Curtis was put back into the NU system, seven years of uncertainty ended, officials said. Bill Siminoe, campus director and associate dean at NCTA, said the move, approved by the NU Board of Regents last Saturday, would clarify where the money was coming from and who was in charge. But some arc still questioning why the col lege is even in existence. Sen. Scott Moore of Seward said the college should not have re opened. “We had it closed, and in my opinion the Legislature should have stood beside the board (of regents),” he said. The regents initially closed the college in 1987 as part of a mandated SI .5 million budget cut. It reopened one year later after the Nebraska Legislature restored its funding. Moore said by not supporting the closing, lawmakers sent the university the message that budget reductions could be avoided by making high-profile cuts. Another cut proposed in 19X/ was the elim ination of the College of Architecture. That closing was not approved. Allan Moeller, assistant vice chancellor of the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Re sources, agreed that the university had side stepped the cut. “The bottom line is that the state didn’t get its budget cut, even though the university got credit for one,” he said. Moeller said the program had improved since then, and the college was now a valuable part of the university. “The program, at that lime, had not kept up with the advances that the field required,” Moeller said. “They just had to upgrade the overall curriculum.” Siminoc said during the seven years NCTA was on its own, all majors were redone and re equipped. But Moeller said questions about whether NCTA would remain open or be permanently closed had gone unanswered until Saturday. “I think ... things arc finally going to settle down,” he said. “They (NCTA) were kind of up in limbo for a little while.” The regents will still control NCTA.Siminoe said, with Irv Omtvcdt, vice chancellor of the See CURTIS on 7 Police charge teen in stabbing From Staff Reports A teen-ager from Arkansas was charged Wednesday in the assault ofa Nebraska football player. Lancaster County Attorney Gary Lacey said Christopher Sewell, 17, had been charged with second-degree assault and use of a weapon to commit a felony. Sewell, of Pine Bluff, Ark., is accused of brandishing a knife and slabbing freshman redshirt player Ramone Worthy during a Jan. 30 fight at a Residence Inn motel. A group of five, including Sewell, attended a party at the hotel uninvited. Worthy was stabbed with a 2 1 /2-inch kitch en knife after he tried to pull another party crashcroffofjunior receiver Abdul Muhammad. Sewell, wno was in town vismng relatives, had not been arrested by Wednesday afternoon, Lacey said. A 16-year-old juvenile was arrested earlier this month in connection to the ease. Lincoln Police Chief Tom Casady has said he doesn’t expect any more arrests to be made for the incident.