European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 02, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 8 the stars and stripes wednesday october 2, 1985 Richter Developer of scale to measure earthquakes Dies Pasadena Calif. A Charles f. Richter who developed a pioneering scale for measuring earthquakes and had a continuing and profound effect on the study of seismology has died of heart failure at the age of 85. Richter died monday after suffering several years from congestive heart disease said his spokeswoman Jerene Hewitt. He was hospitalized after a heart seizure july 30, 1984, and eight Days later was transferred to Park Marino convalescent Center in Pasadena. Or. Charles f. Richler will be remembered by the Public for his Richter scale of earthquake magnitude said Dallas Peck head of the is. Geological Survey in Revlon a. This pioneering Advance permitted the accurate measurement of the size of Richter who retired As a professor emeritus of seismology at the California Institute of technology in 1970, be came a household name because of the Richter scale which he developed with Laboratory director Beno Guten Berg in 1935 after k. Sadati originated the idea in Japan in 1931. In his later years Richter seemed concerned that Gutenberg who died in i960, did not receive proper recognition for his work. The usual designation of the magnitude scale by my name though perhaps convenient he said in a 1977 speech docs less than Justice to the great part which or. Gutenberg played in extending the scale beyond its initially local Range. Earlier Scales measured quake intensity based on ground shaking and the damage done to structures which varied depending on whether the quake was Felt in a populated or uninhabited area. The open ended Richter scale which showed the total Energy released by quakes allowed a fairly precise Mea sure of temblor no matter where they were. Every in crease of one on the scale say from 4.2 to 5.2, represents a tenfold increase in magnitude. Richter also was a very decent kindly person who loved literature and foreign language said Frank press president of the National Academy of sciences in Washington . He was totally dedicated to geology and absent minded about things outside his scientific Field said press a geologist who once worked under Richter at Cal tech. He once showed up at a Black tie dinner with a shoestring for a tie because he forgot his tie. In Many respects he was the absent minded professor except in his Field where he knew and remembered everything his 1958 textbook elementary seismology and the 1954 seismicity of the Earth and associated phenomenon with Gutenberg remain important scientific references today three decades since their publication Sai i Peck. For myself and thousands of scientific colleagues who count themselves fortunate to have been students of or. Richter his influence As a teacher and Mentor remain a continuing and profound influence on the understanding and application of Earth science in the United states Peck said. Bruce Bolt professor of seismology at us Berkeley and director of the Berkly seismographic station called Rich or. Charles f. Richler Ter one of the great pioneers in seismology along with Beno Gutenberg. They worked together to produce the first modern study of world Don Anderson director of the seismology Laboratory at Cal tech said Richter was basically a very person. However when the subject of earthquakes came up he completely Richter also was known for promoting earthquake Public awareness and the need for strict building codes Anderson said. Charles Francis Richter was born april 26, 1900, on a farm outside Hamilton Ohio. He was raised by his mater Nal Grandfather who moved the family to earthquake country the los Angeles area in 1909. He attended the University of Southern California and Stanford University then entered Cal tech to work on a doctorate in theoretical physics. In 1927, a year before he got his degree he went to work As a physicist at Cal tech s new seismological Laboratory then operated by the Carnegie institution. Richter married Lillian Brand of los Angeles in 1928 and she died in 1972. They had no children and Richter a longtime resident of Altadena Calif., has no close rela Tives or survivors Hewitt said. He was named a Cal tech professor of seismology in 1952. In 1959, he went to Japan As a Fulbright research scholar at Tokyo University. He played a key role in establishing the Southern California seismic array a seismological reporting net work at Cal tech that has proven invaluable in the study of earthquakes around the world said Cal tech spokesman Dennis Meredith. Hewitt said that after Richter s heart seizure in july 1984, she asked him if there was anything he wanted and he replied Richter will be buried at Mountain View cemetery in Altadena. Plans for a memorial service were pending. Suff a i nation s icebox May capitalize on its freezing reputation International Falls Minn. A nicknamed the nation s icebox for its penchant for posting the cosh temperatures in the Continental United states tha Canute Border town is considering cashing in on the big chill. How about a 22-foot thermometer to lure tourism since the not exactly Balmy weather won mayor Bob Anderson told the City Council that a twin cities company could build what May be the world s org est thermometer As a tourist attraction to this town of 6,400 people. A flashing sign on the Bottom would display the temperature. They laughed when they put Smokey Bear up an Derson told the Council. But if you had a Penny for every picture of it that s been taken you d be Rich last master of the bauhaus school of Art and design Dies Montecito Calif. A Herbert Bayer the lot master of the German bauhaus school of Art and design died it his Home near Sania Barbara after a Long illness. He was 83. Bayer born in Haag Austria fled nazi Germany and a Rived in the United states in 1933. He worked As a Painter architect sculptor typographer and artistic consultant to corporations such As Atlantic re had co., which announced his death at the family s request Bayer also was a design consultant at the Aspen goto., cultural Center and the Aspen Institute for humanistic sad ies. Woman with distracting bust to receive $2,660 in Back pay Omaha neb. A a 25-year-old woman win receive s2.660 in Back pay for being fired because her 40 Inch bust was too Patricia Tinerella worked As a receptionist cashier Tor about seven weeks at the rec room Shoppe before she was told oct. 4, 1983, that she and others were being dismissed in a budget cutback. Later company officials said Tinerella was dismissed because she did not perform her work Well. But the Nebraska equal employment Opportunity commission found that she had been discriminated against. Steven Swihart the hearing examiner said the rec room Shoppe treated Tinerella differently from male employees by requiring her to de emphasize an immutable characteristic of her sex while such requirement does not and could not exist for Meese says big lawsuit awards threatening nation s Economy san Diego a enormous damage awards in injury lawsuits often without proof of fault threaten serious harm la the nation s Economy attorney general Edwin Meese i told the slate bar of California s annual meeting. Meese said the insurance Industry is in a position of precariousness because of expanding liability and Small businesses arc being forced to go without insurance and face possible bankruptcy from lawsuits. Interferon proving effective against genital warts Minneapolis a interferon a medication in search of a disease appears promising in the fight against Geni Tal warts which afflict an estimated 25 million to 40 million americans research ers say. Tests of the hormone often have been disappointing since Large amounts of it were made available by genetic Engi Neering several years ago. There had been speculation that it would cure various ills from common colds to cancer. However experts now say they believe they have identified a potential use for interferon. Three studies into the experimental use of interferon for genital warts a common venereal disease problem were presented monday at a meeting of the american society for microbiology. This is the first time that us Creeron has been shown by multiple investigators to be effective. It i been a medication in search of a disease said one of the re searchers. Or. Lawrence Eron of Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church a. There is no question in Rny mind that interferon has a part to play in the a Jat ment of genital warts Eron said. Or. Alvin Friedman Kien. Who con ducted another of the studies at new York University said i be treated warts for 2 years and worked with All sorts of other treatment modalities and i think the response in the treatment trial that we be done is rather the warts which Are caused by a variety of the human papilloma virus can be painful and May be transmitted to babies during childbirth. Some researchers have found circumstantial evidence linking the warts with cervical cancer. The National centers for disease control estimate that 25 million to 40 million americans have Genius warts about twice As Many As have herpes. A variety of treatments including freezing burning and the use of caustic chemicals can eradicate genital warts but More than half the time they come Back. The researchers said interferon can Clear up the warts permanently. Friedman kick s study was conducted on men and women whose genital warts failed to respond to Ordinary therapy. Doctors injected interferon directly into their warts twice a week for eight weeks. The warts went away in 17 of 28, or 61 percent of those who got interferon com pared with 4 of 27, or 15 percent of a group who received Dummy shots. In Eron s study patients received Simi Lar injections three times a week for three weeks. The warts disappeared in 17 of 75 patients or 23 percent and in 11 percent of a comparison group. However when those who failed to re Spond completely to the initial treatment received another series of injections an additional 45 percent were cleared of their genital warts. Eron said ibis suggests that the More interferon people receive the better the results. He kept track of the patients for nine months and of those who were helped 85 percent remained free of the warts. A third study conducted by or. Rich Ard Reichman of the University of Roch Ester in new York produced less dramatic results. Depending on How much in Erfe Ron people got Between 5 and 28 percent of the patients were cleared up. Reichman said the response might have been lower because the interferon was injected into the patients arms rather than directly into their warts. The researchers said a drawback of interferon therapy is that it produces flu like Side effects such As fever and fatigue that Only gradually go away. However Eron said genital warts patients will put up with a lot if you can prevent relapse. They la go through a lot of
