The Michigan Daily - Monday, November 29, 1993- 3 Astronauts to correct nearsi ed e telescope WASHINGTON (AP) - When tests in the summer of 1990 showed that the $1.5 billion Hubble Space Telescope had a flaw that left it seri- ously nearsighted, despair swept through the astronomy community. "It was crushing," recalled Sandra Faber, an astronomer at the Lick Ob- servatory at the University of Califor- nia who had spent years planning to use the Hubble. "Our whole hopes and plans-scientifically, financially, personally and otherwise - were completely demolished." Some astronomers became like shellshocked survivors of a war, she said. But others sought solutions. Tod Lauer of the National Optical Astronomical Observatory provided the first hope. Days after the discov- ery of the problem, he demonstrated a way ofusing a computer to correct for the flaws created by the Hubble mir- ror. Others developed similar com- puter enhancement techniques, and within six months of finding the flaw, astronomers began to realize that *something important might be sal- Unidentified man bares all at Bursley; hazing suspected By SCOT WOODS DAILY STAFF REPORTER How do you explain a streaker wearing only sunglasses, a hat, two socks and a liberal application of shav- ing cream? Two North Campus students were asking the same question the morning of Thursday, Nov. 18 after seeing a man meeting just that description. Perhaps term paper season is get- ting to the students in Bursley Resi- dence Hall. Maybe the bus rides to Central Campus are creating too much stress in the lives of normal people. Or maybe a mid-week party ani- mal lost control. But Seth Vruggnik and Tim Bisson, both LSA first-year students living in Bursley, said they think haz- ing is a much better explanation. "It's not something some normal guy would decide to do," Bisson said. Bisson said he did not smell alco- hol or see the streaker stumble. But although there were no signs of force, Bisson said the streaker did not seem to be enjoying his littlejaunt. "I don't think this was something he wanted to do." Vruggnik said they tried to iden- tify the man, but the shaving cream was especially think around the intruder's face. The men said they were socializ- ing when the lubricated exhibitionist appeared at the end of their hall. He sprinted past the group and out a door. The two men followed the streaker through several halls, where they heard him shouting. But they soon lost track of him. "We were in shock," Vruggnik said. "That's definitely the wierdest thing we've seen (at the University) so far." If the incident is indeed hazing, and if the offending person is caught, he could face serious charges under the University's Statement of Student Rights and Responsibilities. Members of the group responsible for hazing the man would also be subject to judicial action. The case would be handled through the office of Mary Lou Antieau, judi- cial advisor of the policy. She was not available for comment due to the Thanksgiving holiday. Reports released by Antieau's of- fice reveal that hazing accounts for the single largest number of charges brought under the statement since its implementation in January 1993. Fifteen of the 49 charges were related to hazing, according to the report. The Hubble Space Telescope drifts away from the Discovery's cargo bay. NASA will go after the nearsighted telescope this week in an attempt to fix Hubble's blurry vision. A record five spacewalks are scheduled for the flight. vaged from even a bleary-eyed Hubble. Since then, photos taken by the orbiting telescope have reshaped some of the fundamental understandings about the universe. Even in its de- graded condition, Hubble has probed to the previously unseen heart of dis- tant galaxies, and photographed the individual pieces of a speeding aster- oid. Hubble has taken astronomy to the brink of locating and proving the existence of black holes, the mysteri- ous, theoretical objects that are so dense even light cannot escape their gravity. "We have done better than I thought we would at working around the problem," said Peter Stockman, deputy director of the Space Tele- scope Science Institute in Baltimore. "There are many areas where the Hubble findings are unique. There are discoveries that could not have been made in any other way." With image enhancement tech- niques, "we got back about half of the capabilities that we had expected," said Alan Dressler of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. "The im- ages were good enough to see the basic features of what galaxies look like at 4 (billion) to 5 billion light years away.,, A light year is the distance light travels in one year, or about 6 trillion miles. It is also a measure of time since the light carries an image of what existed when it was created. Murder is leading workplace killer in five states, D.C. WASHINGTON (AP)- Murder was the leading cause of workplace death in five states and the District of Columbia during the 1980s, accord- ing to the first federal study to pin- point workplace fatalities by state. Of the 7,603 Americans slain on thejob in the last decade, 985 workers were murdered in Alabama, Connecti- cut, Maryland, Michigan, South Caro- lina and Washington, D.C New York doesn't tabulate on- the-job homicide, but the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) estimated its toll at 867. If accurate, that would make New York the capital of workplace murder. "We need to realize that these fa- tal injuries are not acts of God," said Lynn Jenkins, author of the NIOSH study. "They are preventable and we must take steps to find out what the risks are and how to prevent them." The study noted that some progress has been made. Workplace deaths overall declined by more than 1,600 between 1980 and 1989. NIOSH first warned about work- place homicide last month, when an early analysis of this study showed murder to be the biggest killer of working women. The full study, released today, of- fers the first state-by-state look at the problem. NIOSH wants state govern- ments to find ways to prevent the biggest killers of their workers, Jenkins said. Nationwide, 62,289 civilians died on thejob from 1980through 1989- about 17 workers aday. Another 1,300 soldiers perished. Overall, murder was the third-lead- ing killer of civilians, following mo- tor vehicle crashes and machine inju- ries. Texas, California, Florida, Illinois and Pennsylvania had the highest number of workplace fatalities. But a better measure of risk is the rate of fatalities per 100,000 workers. Using that, the workers most at risk were in Alaska, with 34.8 deaths per 100,000 workers, followed by Wyo- ming, 29;Montana, 20.9; Idaho, 16.7; and West Virginia, 15.7. The safest workers were in Con- necticut, with a fatality rate of 1.8; Massachusetts, 2.3; and New York, 2.6 - even though Connecticut and New York had 50 and 867 workplace murders respectively. Other murder tolls include 211 victims in Alabama, 70 in Washing- ton, D.C., 180 in Maryland, 313 in Michigan and 161 in South Carolina. Water-related accidents were the top killer of Alaskan workers, and air transportation accidents led in Ha- waii and Nevada. Car crashes were the biggest killers in the remaining states. Construction and transportation- utility workers accounted for the most fatalities, 18 percent each. But the riskiest occupation was mining. Almost 32 of every 100,000 workers in the mining industry died, followed by 25.6 construction work- ers. % Most likely to be murdered at work were taxi drivers, police officers and retail workers. At highest risk were people working with money or valu- ables, or working alone and at night, Jenkins said. She said most of the homicide probably occurred during robberies, as opposed to disgruntled employees Consumers kick off holiday season with gusto-over weekend Y::.: * ASSOCIATED PRESS Consumers who spent erratically for much of this year regained their zest for shopping during the Thanks- giving weekend, giving the nation's retailers an encouraging start to the Christmas season. Several big storeowners said yes- terday that consumers, while budget- conscious, were buying more frills and luxury items. "It's a healthy sign that people are buying in the categories that show they have some liquidity," said Myron Ullman, chair of R.H. Macy & Co. Inc. Ullman said Macy did better than expected over the weekend. Sears, Roebuck and Co. also reported it ex- ceeded its sales plan. Retailers in the Midwest and on the East Coast lost some business to foul weather. But since the rain, sleet and snow came so early in the season, most expect to make up the sales before Christmas. "It's just one day and it evens out most of the time," said Bloomingdale's Chair Michael Gould. Bloomingdale's had a strong Lunar eclipses occur when the Earth is directly between the sun and the moon, approximately every six months. The moon gradually darkens as it passes into the Earth's shadow, SUN EARTH sometimes appearing to changeSUE4T M color. weekend, with sales at stores open - at least a year-the industry standard for measuring how strong business is -rising nearly 11 percent on Wednes- day, Friday and Saturday from the same period a year ago. Retailers had a pleasant surprise in California, where the recession has lingered. Dayton Hudson Corp., which' has two-thirds of its Target and Mervyn's stores in that state, was finally able to keep pace with the rest of the country, spokesper- son Ann Barkelew said. Macy also reported good busi- ness over the weekend in its Orange County, Calif., stores and posted surprisingly strong sales in New York City. The prospect of a good Christ- mas season was heartening to retail- ers who last year had their first de- cent holiday season in four years. But with business having been bumpy for much of the year, storeowners who depend on the holi- days for half their annual profits can't let down their guard. "The only thing that's been con- sistent is its inconsistency," Gould said of retail sales. Foul weather clouds view of lunar eclipse orbit North American skywatchers had the best view of last night's eclipse, the first one since Dec. 9, 1992. Here's what the eclipse may have looked like and approximate times for each stage of the event.' u c 3 J Farth's shadow By JAMES CHO DAILY STAFF REPORTER Missed last night's lunar eclipse? Don't worry, the next one is only six months away assured astronomy Prof. Richard Sears. Overcast skies and flurries prevented Ann Arbor residents from watching the moon hide behind Earth's shadow early this morning. The lunar eclipse, visible to observers throughout North America, lasted more than three hours. "Lunar eclipses occur during the time of full moon when the sun, Earth and moon all line up with the moon behind Earth, hidden within the shadow cast by our planet," said astronomy Prof. Richard Teske in a press release. During a solar eclipse, however, the moon blocks the light from the sun in its journey to the Earth. As a lunar eclipse progresses, the moon changes color. The moon takes on a coppery color transforming the satellite into a blood-stained orb. "The shadow's rim has a reddish tint, an effect caused when sunlight grazing Earth's edges passes through the surrounding atmosphere. All colors of sunlight-except reds are filtered out by the air. This is the same effect that dyestherising or setting sun red,"Teske added. The Earth's curved shadow cov- ered the moon as it entered the shadow at a speed of 2,300 miles an hour twenty minutes before midnight yesterday. Mid-eclipse occurred at 1:20 a.m. The moon exited Earth's shadow at 3 a.m. Lunar eclipses no longer have im- portant scientific value and are not in- tensively observed by astronomers be- cause of the long history of lunar inves- tigation. "The space age has transformed the moon from a distant astronomical body into a nearby, well-understood object. Astronauts have walked its surface and brought back moon rocks. American spacecraft have crashed into it, landed on it, circled it and photographed more than 99 percent of it," Teske added. 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