a Weber State College Comment, et tte ee ” - October 1988, Page 8 Ogden couple repays debt to Americans with WSC chemistry scholarship “When I wanted to go to America there was not money, but a number of organizations helped. Now, I would like to return the pay to all American people for helping me out. People on a doctorate degree in chemistry. “She had an inferiority complex when she first went to the university because Weber State was a smaller school. But I told her other students were not smarter. Those other students were from larger schools, but they were taught by graduate students. Later she told me ‘Mom, you were right’,” she said. Mrs. Hamrick taught special education in Ogden for 17 years beginning in 1968, and though she met with what she termed as “difficulties” in the form of discrimination because of her nationality and religion, she said her total experience in Utah has been positive. “Life is strange. Things turn you around.” The Hamricks are not wealthy, but they did save. They established two scholarships this year, one at Weber State and another at Howard University in Washington, D.C. were very generous.” The Weber State scholarship is worth $1,200 a year, and r. and Mrs. Elbert Hamrick of Ogden are not rich, but they felt a debt to education and have established a chemistry scholarship at the college to help students in need. The scholarship was partly an obligation felt by Mrs. Hamrick to education in general and partially influenced by the fact that their daughter was the top Weber State chemistry student in her graduating class. “She andI had arap session every night,” Mrs. Hamrick said. “I knew all about the chemistry department.” Mrs. Hamrick, the former Yong Ok Lee, is a native of South Korea and grew up in Seoul as a “top-notch student.” She completed a type of private high school in that Asian country and wanted to pursue further education. But even though her family was financially stable in war-torn Korea, they lacked the necessary funds to send Mrs. Hamrick to the United States. Yong Ok Lee Hamrick | will be given to a junior or senior majoring in chemistry who has both good grades and financial need. When Mrs. Hamrick dies her will specifies that Weber State will “When I wanted to go to America there was not money, but a number of organizations helped. Now, I would like to return the pay to all American people for helping me out. People were very generous,” she said. Money from women’s groups and other civic organizations provided enough funds to bring Mrs. Hamrick to Cornell University. From there she attended Auburn University, the University of Utah and Utah State University. While in Korea she met Mr. Hamrick who was serving in the Army. They were married and adopted a daughter, Yoon Mi. Their daughter showed intellectual promise from an early age, and was a sterling scholar at Ben Lomond High School, Mrs. Hamrick said. At Weber State she was - named the Outstanding Chemistry Graduate in 1984, the receive 50 percent of the trust fund, a donation valued at $75,000, the couple said. first female to receive that honor. She is now working make two students happy this year, at least,” she said. “Anybody can do what we’ve done regardless of the amount of money they make. You don’t have to have a lot to do this,” Mr. Hamrick said. “Giving is a blessing,” Mrs. Hamrick added. “I will Math, not always a four-letter word —towards goal of $13.1 million Centennial gift campaign tops $9 million The college has raised over $9 million towards the goal of $13.1 million as part Communications, for the Women’s Edu- ‘of Weber State’s centennial fund-raising drive, campaign officials said. The campaign will run until the end of fund. Pledges to the campaign for significant gifts have come from John A. and Tita Lindquist, Browning Arms, Great Salt this academic year, said John Hinckley, Lake Minerals and the Stewart Founda- chairman of the WSC centennial campaign, and is designed to give the college a financial foundation to meet the coming tion. Monies are now being received to cover those pledges, college development officers said. “The thing that these funds are going to do isensure the growth of the college. The endowment fund will not be spent. It will grow and in the years to come will have an even greater impact on the college and the students who go there,” Hinckley said. century. “All kinds of people have helped us-big donors, small ones, alumni, business, professional people, college people, and people in the community. Everybody’s participating, everybody has embraced the centennial experience. We have not been turned away any place,” Hinckley said. The money raised will be used for library books, student scholarships, teaching programs to encourage excellence, equipment and other student needs. “Weber State College is truly the hallmark of the whole area. When you think of the number of people involved in operating the school, some 1,100, that’s a very big economic impact in this area. I think everybody realizes that, as well as the college’s educational contribution,” Hinckley said. The school recently received a $125,000 gift from the George S. and Delores Dore Eccles Foundation to fund a television project that will improve the health education the college offers in rural Utah. In addition to that recent gift, the college has also received a $1 million trust from Mark and Lola Austad; an $80,000 pledge from the Deseret Management Founda- tion; a $75,0000 pledge from Utah Power and Light;a $25,000 gift to the WSC Family Education Center from the Wil- liam Randolph Hearst Foundation; and $5,000 from Mt. Bell, now U.S. West cational Resource Center scholarship The college will make the $13.1 million mark, and Hinckley said he is confident they will exceed that amount. “This is going to be the hardest part, getting the last bit. The big donations came first, and now to make $2 or $3 million out of smaller contributions is hard to do. We have our work cut out for us, but we'll make it.” The campaign committee consists of volunteer members who have contributed time and money to the gift campaign, he said. Most fund-drives use a substantial portion of the raised dollars to pay for the campaign, but Hinckley notes that even though there have been some costs the total bill of this effort will amount to less than two percent of the funds raised. “We’re pretty proud of that. That’s fairly uncommon.” “I’m nota graduate of Weber State, but we think Weber State makes such a contribution to the area that we need to get in and support the college. It’s something I’ve been very honored to do. I don’t need to be a graduate to be sold on the college,” he said. Without mathematics there would be no tax returns to file and no interest on home loans. “But then there would also be no income to tax nor geometry to design structurally sound homes,” said Weber State mathematics professor Dr. Lee Badger. 2 Most elementary, high school and college students complain about having to type of claims that an insurance company can expect in the coming year and determine what a reasonable insurance rate should be,” he said. “Mathematics saves us millions of dollars every year by determining the most cost-effective way to accomplish such tasks as transporting goods between ware- houses and markets, designing meals that leam math, and Dr. Badger agrees that meet certain nutritional requirements, or matching workers with jobs for which they are most qualified.” place, “but it would also be less convenBut math’s most significant impact on ient.” “4 society since the “Correct geomea V+ 2, industrial revolutry allows one to BY tion was the develbuild more stable opment of the buildings and O computer, he said. stronger ships. t x Originally used With it and trigoYO y=-2x+3 + during World War nometry one can II to crack German codes, the computer accurately establish property boundaries, has revolutionized the world of bookkeepand measure distances across inaccessible ing, word processing and industry. regions,” he said. without it the world would be a simpler Pr oe 25y -5x+17= 154 99 _ 68& The ancient Greeks used mathematics to chart the stars and develop the calendar, and it was the calendar that increased trade and “led to the discovery of the new world,” he said. Sixteenth-century mathematics also made twentieth-century space exploration possible, said Dr. Badger. “No other mathematical discovery since the mathematics of the Greeks has influenced our lives more than calculus,” he said. “Today the laws of calculus allow us to give precise directions for placement of satellites and space probes.” “Computers control robots that clean up toxic chemical spills in the workplace,” he said. “They allow surgeons to see a tumor without exploratory surgery. They allow chemists to develop drugs that promote a healthier life. They enable the blind to read prints, and may even enable them to ‘see’,” he said. But Dr. Badger notes that while discoveries in mathematics have been considerable, the jury is still out as to whether or not they have all been beneficial. “The same ability to prescribe orbits for The result of calculus, combined with satellites allows us to compute trajectories other sciences, has been the development of things such as weather satellites and forecasting, communications satellites, long-distance telephoning, planet study and photography, airplanes and electronic circuitry, Dr. Badger said. Mathematics can also be helpful in less scientific areas. “Using a branch of mathematics called probability we can analyze long-term trends in uncertain events. This allows us of cannon balls and intercontinental ballistic missiles,” he said. “Mathematics and science also developed the atom bomb and nerve gas,” he added. to calculate the odds in a crap game and determine which player those odds favor. Likewise we can predict the number and “Because of mathematics, the standard of living and longevity have increased,” he said, “but so have ulcers.” Whether used for productive or destructive ends, the WSC professor said that mathematics has always been an “indispensable tool and often provides the initial impetus for so much that affects our lives daily. And it will surely continue to do so in the future.”