5/10/2000 The New Scanner Makes a Grand Entrance
Dr. Mark D'Esposito has received a truly sizeable birthday present today as he joined his colleagues in taking delivery of the new scanner. Here is his account of the exciting event:
"On Sunday morning at 6 am, an El Al 747 dropped off our new little baby at
the LA airport. It weighed 14 tons. After clearing customs it arrived at
Berkeley on Tuesday afternoon. On Tuesday morning, a 40 ton building arrived
and promptly got stuck trying to get up a hill to the new scanner site.
After working all day, at 8 pm just prior to sunset, two cranes hoisted the
new building (40 tons) into it's location without destroying any trees or
property. The magnet was guarded all night and also lifted to it's site on
Wednesday morning and is being put into the building as I write. We were
almost delayed by a visit by Madeline Albright when the secret service shut
down access because of protestors. You can see the pictures for yourself.
Anyway, we have a full length video, narrated by Bob Knight which will be on
the web soon after editing. He interviewed the entire Dept of Psychology
throughout 2 days in front of the installation. After handing each professor
a small red magnet from his childhood days, he asked each of them "Which do
you prefer, a small magnet or a big one?" You will have to hear the answers
for yourself but most agreed that size counts."