Feature Article in "Argus Leader" - Sioux Falls, SD - April 18, 2002


    versity of Arizona's Optical Sci-
    ences Center, he developed a
    deeper understanding of what
    makes telescopes work, and
    began building them himself.  He
    completed 12 telescopes, the

 
   deflating physically at the memory.
   "But so many people helped me.
   And I eventually started over."
      One of the local firefighters that
   night was Frank Slater, a profes-
   sional tile setter from Quinn who


   and rotates around a cement core
   that provides a rock-solid base for
   the telescope, which he built for
   $16,000, rather than the commer-
   cial price of $200,000.


   it's not like these things run in clus-
   ters.  And researchers won't expect
   any problem soon.  But they also
   believe that determining hazards
   for the future makes sense.


    the middle of a dream that began
    decades ago, when the Palomar
    Observatory in Southern Califor-
    nia was his starry-eyed mecca.


See photo of presentation to Governor William J. Janklow on April 29, 2002.

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