Sunday, April 28, 1957
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Pnn W in
Sundyg Ai2ne
Birth of a Substance FRATERf
Ne -Fo nd orazo Is BetterThan Diamond(Continued from Page )
By JAMES STEVENS which we were not certain could THUS THERE are two reasons Pledges are proud of their situa-
OBERT H. Wentorf, Jr., though be made until after we had actu- why other scientists were du- tion and are also eager to talk of
not yet 31 years old, has ally made it." bious about the possibility of mak- "personal servitude." They seem.
achieved what many scientists The clue that led Wentorf to ing such a material. First, there to be somewhat like the marine
have failed to do in a lifetime; believe that such a product was were none in nature to confirim who just returned from boot-
camp, It may be hell, but it's more
e has discovered, a method for possible was the similarity of pro- that it was possible; second, there than worth it,
making a new substance, "Boa- perties of graphite, a black slip- was no good reason for believing One pledge explained with a
con." pesy form of carbon, and boron that they could be made except mixture of diffidence and pride,
Borazon is the name given the nitride, often called "white graph- a similarity between crystals form- "Most of the actives are pretty
cubic form of baron nitride. "Bo" ite." Graphite is pure carbon as ed at other conditions good guys, and sometimes you can
cubimes from Boron and "aeon" is Giasohdebis t e an a The nitrogen under 1,000,000 fool around with them. You just
romeofrom Boronand 50, is cdismond, but the manner swhich, pound.. per square iinch and 30001 have to know their moods.'
from Azo, which refers to nitrogen. the crystals form is different. degie arehei antly he prsknt mos '
In this form the compound is so rpie cytizd t wr degrees Fahrenheit apparently The president has fairly good
nard that it easily scratches dia- Gressite crytaledatr fore donates one of its rarely used control of the organization and
mondt sheet-like crystals that, although electrons to a boron atom, pro- seems to know what he's doing. He!
moo. het lkeesstas ha, stlouh iding the necessary bond. explained that the winter period
The actual hardness of the sub- strong in one direction, can slide i e ngcsar n - foling ta i the tough-
Stance is about the same as dia- over one another like two sheets B b
mond. Although it scratches dia- --- ness, the two are very similar in est for everybody and he has to
%mond, a diamond will also scratch See Cover Picture density and, as X-rays reveal, in keep the boys up. Football season
Borazon, as it will other diamonds. - S- --_ __Inner crystal structure, is over, and spring, and all that it
Until this discovery, the diamond of paper. Under the great pressure The crystals formed have varied brings hasn't come. So he lets
'as thought to be much harder that nature places on diamonds from white, yellow or red to brown, them sing an occasional dirty song
than any other substance. for thousands of years. cross bonds gray or black. A single crystal is during dinner to keep them uni-
One definite advantage Borazon which act like glue between the usually about 1/32 of an inch in ted and cheerful.
has over its natural counterpart! sheets gives the diaiond its mreat diameter, but lumps of several
is its ability to withstand ex- hardness. crystals joined together have been 0NLY ONE member of the house
- remely high temperatures. A dia- made as large as a pencil eraser. is troubled by pledge-active re-
mond literally "burns up" in the SCIENTISTS searched long and The far-reaching effect of such lationships. He's liked and res-
air at 1600 degrees Fahrenheit, hard to find a method to make a discovery is to open an entirely pected by the other members of
chile Borazon can withstand synthetic diamonds, but the an- new field. Now that diamond, long the house, but is a "little too ideal-
temperatures of more than double nounceient by General Motors thought the ultimate, has been istic."
this figure. Laboratories in February, 1955 surpassed, there is no telling to He's decided, however, the fine,
To the owner or expectant own- that they had successfully syn- where our horizons will extend. united fraternity which results is
eof a "girl', best friend" this fact thesized diamonds wa, the first Va rios other compounds will be the must valuable thing anyway.,
may make little difference, but proof that it could be done. At tried and the improved materials "It's one of those times when the
to the industrialist, it is great 1,500,000 pounds per square inch that will be needed for tomorrow's end justifies the means."
advantage, b e c a u s e grinding and 5000 degrees Fahrenheit, the progress will no longer be a movie The members all are sure of the
'heels and drill bits which now largest single stone was 1/16 of producers dream, importance of fraternity. On a big
use diamond as an abrasive reach an inch in its longest dimension ____
.extremely high temperature's in hardly the size stone to make a
small areas. Machinists are always girl's heart flutter, but an achieve-r
looking for a method to make ment nonetheless.
their tools longer-lived and more Boron and nitrogen lie on each
efficient, side of carbon in the periodic u
table so it might seem obvious that " INSEPARABLY U J by Ca
'BUT BOHAZON is not just a new a compound of the two would be
product, it is a major scientific similar to carbon in most of its
achievment; it is the doorway to properties.
greater discoveries to come from There is one important differ-
high pressure, high temperature ence however. Carbon is a good(00rlt /ae itt
operations. electrical conductor while boron-
Wentorf completed his research nitride is a very poor conductor.
at General Electric in early March This is important because the CHINO and MADRAS
of this year. In announcing the binding material, or mlectrons, are
discovery, he said, "Today I have free to move in a good conductor
the pleasure of telling you about Boron-nitride has no such free
the discovery of a new substance electrons.
NITY.o.
campus, they'd feel lost if they
didn't have the group. Actives help
them with their studies, they have
people to whom they can tell their
problems, and a good close group
of friends.
"What else could you do on a big
campus? It would be a mighty cold
and unfriendly place."
And of course, there is a ra-
tionale for the vigorous pledgeship.
It does weld the pledges together
as a unit, and makes them appre-
ciate the chapter a ,great deal
more. Activation becomes a truly
important goal, despite the ter-
rors of "Hell' week.
OF COURSE, some aren't aware
of the rationale. "I took an
awful lot of guff as a pledge. and
now it's my turn to return it. And
those boys will feel the same way."
is a common explanation of the
hazing practices.
The boys in the house, naturally,
do all of their dating together, and
have their parties, which "are as
good as any on campus." No drink-
ing in the house. It is against Uni-
versity rules, and the house itself
imposes fines on members found
with liquor.
Chi Chi Chi is just about the
best fraternity on campus.
It has the most men in activi-
ties, truly fine grades, the mem-
bers are close, and it is well-liked,
admired, and respected by the
campus in general.
esskilseggig " YN
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