The Way It Was: Science 1965

 

Under the direction of Ted Thepe, S.J., Xavier purchased radiation monitoring equipment and built a radioisotope lab in Logan Hall. Here, Thepe and a student examine a gamma sintillation counter spectrum. Thepe, who retired from teaching but is still active around the University, explains in a profile on page 13, “I got $15,000 worth of government grants for our radiation monitoring equipment. I would buy radioisotope sources and bring them in and store them in our lead shields. We would take pre-1960 dimes, which had more silver, and stick them in the shield, and the silver became radioactive in the dimes and then it would dissipate quickly.”