xt7tdz032p11 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7tdz032p11/data/mets.xml University of Kentucky. Office of the Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies Kentucky University of Kentucky. Office of the Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies 1991 volumes. Call Number: LD2762.9 .K38c. Accession Number: 2018ua049 journals LD2762.9 .K38c English Office of the Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection University of Kentucky Odyssey Magazine Research -- Kentucky -- Periodicals Education -- Research -- Periodicals Research -- Kentucky Odyssey: The Magazine of University of Kentucky Research, Summer/Fall 1991 text images Odyssey: The Magazine of University of Kentucky Research, Summer/Fall 1991 1991 1991 2026 true xt7tdz032p11 section xt7tdz032p11 Mn

N)!
. .J:

he University of Kentucky the com—
monwealths graduate education and
re

“arch institution, exists to provide op—
portunities for the educatioiL personal
growth and development of individuals

and to contribute to the improvement or

society

\X'ith this mission as its premise, one
goal ol the university is to conduct pro»
grams olihasic and applied research which
support graduate and professional educa»

IlLHL provide for the advancement oli

knowledge, and seek solutions for the
acute prohlems olisociety.

The university‘s research mission also
acts as a magnet for attracting top gradtk
are students who want to participate in
nationally competitive research projects.
'l‘his research experience can oller them a
signiﬁcant advantage in their edueatioll
while laying the foundation for future
research and development. ()/)li$\i\\/:’l'.
through articles about various research
projects and graduate education programs
reﬂects the breadth of the university‘s
search for new knowledge and the myriad
ol'research endeavors undenvay. ’l'he prog»
ress that the university has made toward
achieving its research mission and secur/
ing the extramural funds required to sup»
port these types or endeavors would have
been imposslble without the talents and
dedication of our researchers.

The goal of. ()1) l’rSlS‘EYis to offer the
reader the opportunity to share in some of
the excitement, curiosity and creativity
evident in the research underway at the
University of Kentucky.

ODYS S EY

Volume IX. No. I

CONTENTS

Clay Papers Project Completes Its Final Chapter 2
Fighting Fire with Technology:
A Robot to the Rescue? 10
Fishy Behavior 14
Honorable Mention: )
Conserying Culture through Anthropology 1%”
“ Robot to the Revue? p. 10 BCl‘llHCl [11C SCCI’ICSZ ,
‘d Teaming I'p against Infertility 20
.11
it
it KIOSK 22
i: Update:
h 27

Tuska: "One Life Is Not Enough“

Fir/1y Behavior, p. 14

University Archlvcs
if ”"3"“ i 5 “3er - N073“,

s. '6 Uelvw-Mr cl 5 cntucky

1.: 2° > § Lexington, Kentucky 405%

. . a ‘ _x O

K u J T

>1 t e ;

h "5 4’ >~ , . a . . , a . . a t i . i , ,, . t ,

x ._ “ﬂ 7:)— OD K355 Y is published by the Office of the Vice PreSIdent For Research and Graduate Studies. hach issue of OD I 551:}

7 , < ._ :i describes onl ' a few ofthe many University of Kentucky research )roiects underway in a variety of areas.

, . , i . , . i . ,

d > f Requests for permission to reprint material and readers‘ comments regarding ODYSSEYare welcome and should be

,, '3: sent to the Editor, Communications and Advancement, Office of the Vice President for Research and Graduate

L1 E e \ Studies,Uniyersity of Kentucky, Lexington 40506—0057 (phone GOG/2518297).

r, . E w a, The publication of ()[)K§SEYis not financed by state—appropriated funds.

V» :J 5 '1: 5;

.C = :3 .5 Editor: Susan H. Hod etts. Assoc. Editor: eftIWorley. Desi ner: Shear & Shear. Publications Asst.: Lisa I). Lizer.

g . g 7

d g, s Research Asst.: Melinda Higgins. Contributing Writers: Elizabeth Hansen, Leigh Gaines, Suzanne Froelich. Printing:
5 "I Merrick Printing, Inc.

)l‘ Credits: cover illustration, “Progression ol‘lilie,“ by Stephen Greb; photos on pp. 5, 10, ll, 12, I3, 15, 20, 25, 27

Y by Keri Goad ; photos on pp. 7 and 24 by Lee Thomas.

<)l)\'.\\l€\

)

Clay Papers Project
Completes Its Final Chapter

by Eliazbetl) Hansen

orty years ago

historians at

the l'ni\ ersity
of Kentucky set out
to gather and pul»
lish the public and
priyate papers ol'
Henry Clay. probw
hly Kentucky's 111051
famous historical
figure and a maior
national politician
during the first hall
ol’ the 19th century.
()yer the years. {our
historians haye sei'yed as editor ol' the papers.
which haye been published in chronological
order in 10 \‘UlUIllL’NiSUInC ol'them more than
1.000 pages long. The tenth yolume \\as
issued this spring. The eleyenth and linal
yoluine. which contains documents tound too
late to be included in the chronology. is almost
complete; the proiect oll‘icially ends‘lune $0
1991.

The \‘olunies titled ’l/tePapers(g/‘llt’tltji't/‘lztt'

are usually thought of as a tool l‘or researching
political history. The documents lully exhibit

Clay‘s career as Speaker of the IIS. llouse ol'

Representati\'es‘. peace negotiator tor the Treaty
of Ghent. secretary of state. [is senator. and
leader in three sectional compromises de—
signed to save the I‘nion. But the doctr
merits—particularly the lettersiare fascinate
ing for what they reveal about the tragedies in
(Zlay‘s public and priyate life.

An engraving ufHemy Clay, [84"
(by j. Reid), UK Special (.‘ul/er'riam)

(Llay's public Iragr
L’Llyillh failure to
\\in the presidency
of the l nited \tates
despite in e at
temptsihas been
thtctltttettletl lty ltts
bit igi‘aphers. but the
reasons he al\\a_\s
tell he could um
ha\ e not been
(,lay s optimism
altt >tll ltis t hant es It)
\yii'i the presidency
is eyident through
out the papers. be
ginning belore his
litist candidacy Ill the election til 13.) t. act t tt'd
ing It ) .\lelba l’i irter I la_\ , the c urrent editt irand
director ol the papers protect

"Anyone \\ ho has studied tllay kno\\s that
he was al\\a_\ s extremely optimistic about his
chances to \\ in the presidency. He had to be
to keep going all that time." llay say s "I don‘t
think any biographies ot him up to this point
(the publication ol \oluiue 10 ol' his paperst
ha\ e adequately e\plained ho\\ he could
keep con\ iiicing himsell'that he had a chaiic e
to \\'in.”

In \‘oluine l0 are a number ot letters trom
politicians across the country urging (ilay to
run for the presidency again in lts‘th‘ and
promising him support. t )ne particularly slt't ing
letter \\as lTUlll \\illiain lSebb. goyernor ol
()hio. ol't‘ering (ilay his support and ()hios
backing at the \Vhig Party‘s national conyene
tion.

i—ﬁaq —.v .1

"\V'hen they got to the convention. ()hio did
not go for Clay." llay says. "It [the Bebb letter]
shows he had all these people telling him
things froin other states. lle had no (lallup
l’oll. He had to go by what he was being told,
lle was easy to conyince. but he was always
being told. 'This time is different: you can
winf"

Clay's ambition also kept him running for
president .r\ccording to Robert Seager II. who
preceded I lay as editor. Clay "had an ambition
that was almost a sickness." lle thinks Clay
may haye been misled about his chances
because he corresponded with "second— and
third-leyel people." not the "wheelers and
dealers" outside of Congress. "1 le had a grottp
of llacks who led him pretty much what he
wanted to hear." Seager says.

Clay lost the popular \‘ote in the 1811
election by 58.000 Votes. "And we know from
the Congressional inyestigation ct )nducted alter
that election." Hay says, "that there were more
than ﬁ8.000 frattdulent Votes cast,"

In discussing his election losses in his letr
ters. (Zlay was much more open about his
feelings when writing to women than to men
\Vriting about his defeat to other men. Clay
"said things like its probably a good thing.‘
'it's spared me a lot of anguish. work and frus—
tration.‘ and lit] probably better ofro retire at
;\shland and be happy.” I lay
says. But in a letterto Mary St
Bayard. wife of a Delaware
senator. Clay appeared much
less reconciled to the loss,
lle wrote: "I will not dis—
guise. my dear friend. that I
felt the seyerity ofthat blow.
more perhaps because two
weeks ago it was altogether
unexpected by me here."

Bayard was one of seyeral women Clay
corresponded with regularly. Others were
liliza lohnston. wife of Clay's good friend

josiah Stoddard lohnston of Louisiana. and

Octayia \Valton l.e\'ert. a Southern belle from
Mobile. Alabama. who was apparently Very
taken with Clay when he was in his sixties and
seyenties. according to Hay. The papers in-

cmrlimter/ on page 4

The documents—partlcularly the
&‘ letters—are fascinating for what they
K reveal about the tragedies 1n Clays

.. puhlic and private life.

Letter from Hem Clay to his son Thomas /
ﬂaw/,4: “

1/1”, / / //

//}{o/za/Af awe/4'21, //ét/:mo f/c/ 4

Xi): @120 awn/w / // /
lax K4 7M/ész%/é a:

M “War AZ é" 0/ £4.45 ‘
“/ﬂ W //W/
a aé%

' ﬁg" ,

3 ODYSSEY

fumes F. Hopkins, the ﬁrst editor of the Clay
Papers, and his successor Mary WM Hargreaves
in 1957

I feel that one of the strongest tyes that
bound me to Earth is broken— forever

broken. My heart will bleed as long as it palpitates.

Never, never can its wounds be healed.’ ’

ODYSSEY -’t

elude about a dozen letters exchanged be—
tween (Ilay and Le\'ert in which they dis
cussed such things as politics and their chilv
dren. They often made arrangements to see
each other when Clay went to New Orleans
for the winter.

Clay‘s friendships and c(>rrespondence with
women contributed to his reputation as a
womanizer. but none of the editors of his
papers has found any evidence that Clay was
unfaithful to his wife. Lucretia. “He was very
attentive to the ladies. but we found no
evidence that he was promiscuous." says
James F. Hopkins. the first editor. His succes—
sor, Mary \XKM. Hargreaves. who describes
Clay as “a dazzling personality," says. "We

never found anything that went beyond gal-
lantry—~gallantry and courtliness."

Historians know very little about Clay's
wife, Lucretia. whom Hay describes as “the
shadiest figure" in the Clay papers and Seager
characterizes as “an absolutely zero figure»
she's just not there."

"She did not write letters." Hay says. “\X'e
have one letter and it‘s a copy. He [Clay] said
in a numberofletters that she didn't write. that
she didn‘t like to write. We don‘t know why.
\V'e don't really get a very good picture of her
at all. (Ilay wrote to her a lot and he wrote
about her. but even then you just don‘t get a
very good feel for what she was like. You get
a much better feel for his children."

Because (llay was often in \V'ashington
while his family remained in Kentucky. the
papers contain hundreds of family letters. (Ilay
wrote one of the most poignant letters in the
collection to Lucretia on December 1‘). lﬁﬁi
the day after he learned that his favorite
daughter. Anne Brown (llay lirwin. had died
at the age of 28 following the birth of her fifth
child. Anne was the last ofClay's six daughters
to die. Clay wrote:

"Alas! my dear wife. the great Destroyer has
come. and taken from us our dear. dear. only
daughterl. . .

"If the thunderbolt of l leaven had fallen on
me—unprepared as I fear I am—l would have
submitted. cheerfully submitted. to a thotr
sand deaths to have saved this dear child. She
was so good. so beloving. so beloved. so
happy. and so deserving to be happy. Then.
she was the last ofsix dear daughters. most of
them at periods of the greatest interest and
hope. taken from us, Ah! how inscrutable are
the ways of providence!

“I feel that one of the strongest tyes that
bound me to Earth is brokenﬁ forever bro~
ken. My heart will bleed as long as it palpi—
tates. Never. never can its wounds be healed,

“I know. my dear wife. my duty. but how
difficult is it to restrain the sorrows of a broken
heart? I know submission to the \V'ill of God is
my duty. I have not to sustain me the religious
resource which you have. and I regret it; but
reason tells me what is my duty. . .

"My dear. I ought to endeavor to comfort
you. and I am shewing my weakness. I cannot
help it. This dear child was so entwined
around my heart: I looked forward to so many
days of comfort and happiness in her com—
pany. during the remnant of my life. that I shall
never. neyer be able to forget her. My tears.
and thank God they haye flowed almost in a
continued stream. haye been my only relief.
Sleep. food. I have scarcely tasted either. .

Most of the tragedies in Clay's priyate life.
the deaths of his daughters. for example.
inyolyed his children.

\Vhile it is generally known that Clays
eldest son. 'I‘heodore. spent much of his life in
the Lunatic Asylum of Kentucky ( now Iiastern
State Hospital ). few people know that another
son.‘Iohn. also spent time there. Letters clocw
mentingAlohn‘s confinement were published
this spring in Volume 10.

(According to Hay. when she became editor
she was told there were restrictions on the
letters about ~Iohn‘s mental illness and that
they could not be shown to anyone until they
were published in the chronology. Because
john was first committed to the asylum in
185. only seyen years before his father‘s
death, the letters were not scheduled for
publication until \‘olume It), May and Seager
say they do not know the origin ofthe restric—
tions. but IIargreayes says she knows. “\V'e
cooked it up, \‘L‘e were afraid." she says. The

letters had come originally from the Library of

Congress collection and I Iargreayes had found
them in the 1930s. Because letters are the
property of the correspondents and their de—
scendants. Hargreayes feared someone would
try to stop publication of negatiye material
about the family. "\V'e cliclnt want to make a
great sensation about the misfortunes ofClay‘s
children. . . \\"e did not want to sensationalize
it." she says.)

john was hospitalized less than a month but
was in and out on other occasions. During the
last years of his life. Clay worried constantly
thatjohn was going to become like Theodore.
Hay says, After his father's deathxlohn married
his nephew's widow and became a well-

continued ml page (8’

Robert Seager II

S ODYSSEY

The Origins of the Clay Papers

An engraving ofHemy Clay, I852
(by/4.11. Ritchie, UK Special Collections)

'1th Papers o/‘l/mujt' (.‘layr w as one of

.s'eyeral historical papers projects be—
gun in the l'nited States in the early
Wills. The chairman olithe l‘niyersity
of Kentucky‘s history department.
'l‘homas (Ilark. recruited James [7.
Hopkins to edit the (Ilay papers and
Mary \V..\l, 1 iargreayes to be the asso—
ciate editor. Although conceiyed in
NW). the project didn‘t get underway
until 19%.?

“Tor a country boy who had ne\'er
done much work o1 that sort (editing
historical papers). 1 had an awful lot
to learn it was fun." recalls Hopkins.

now 82. "It was also an awlul lot o1

work."

Hopkins traveled to libraries to
gather (Ilay materials on microﬁlm or
photostats. Because photostats cost
30 cents a page in those days and

microfilm about four cents. most ot‘

the letters came in on microfilm and
then had to be typed. llargreayes did
much of the typing hersell at first.

including most of the Library of

Congress file of (Zlay‘s papers.

Early linancial support came from
Barry Bingham. Sr. o1‘1.ouis\'ille. (iuy
Huguelet of Lexington. The Lilly lin‘
dowment ol‘lndianapolis. the l 'ni\'er~
sity of Kentucky Research Fund. and
the l 'niyersity otKentucky l’t‘es‘s‘ ( now
the l‘niyersity Press o1Kentucky 1. the
publisher otthe papers. Since the late
l‘)(>(ts the project has been funded by
yearly grants from the \;ttit)ii;ll llisv
torical Publications and Records Com»
mission. Last year the \ational line
dow ment {or the Humanities pro-
\ ided a 833311111) grant to complete the
project,

"i dont think anybody really un—
derstood in the titties when these
projects got underway exactly how
much was entailed. how many docus

ments they were going to lind. how
many would keep appearing oyer
the years." says Melba Porter llay.
who became editor and director ol'
the project in 108".

The original objectiye oi the proji
ect was "to collect as completely as
w e could photocopies ()1. letters
written by (Ilay. letters written to
him. his speeches. other writings ot
which he was the author and signil’iv
cant items about him." l Iopkins says.

The lirst \‘olume w as published in
193‘) alter seyen years ()1 research.
compilation and editing. lt coyers
the years 1“)— through 181 t and is
two pages long. A newspaper at:
ticle at the time predicted that the
remaining nine \‘olumes would be
published at the rate ol' about two
per year and that the total cost ()1 the
project would be szooooo, Both
predictions w ere far from accurate.
llay doesn't know what the project
has cost. but "it‘s a lot more than
that." she says.

The second and third \ ( )lumes ap
peared in l‘)ol and WW» and took
(Ilay through the War ot 1813. his
tenure as Speaker oi the l'..\ House
of Representatiyes. and his first presi‘
dential candidacy in 182 t. The projl
ect hit a slowdown w hen ll reached
Clay's years as secretary oi stale
l'rom 185 to 18.“) because ot' the
sheer \olume ot documents. The
original plan was to include (Ilay's
tour years as secretary of state m ( ine
Volume; instead. a \qume was
deyoted to each year. \ine years
elapsed between the publication o1
yolume ﬂ and the appearance ol'\ 0].
ume tin 10“.}. Volume 3 follow ed a
year later.

Alter Hopkins had a heart attack in

()l)\ \\1"\ o

the early l‘)“()s and retired in 19W. he
became a part—time consultant l'orthe

project. liargreayes became editor

and project director. a position she
held until her retirement in 19—").
Volume (it the last produced by llar—
greayes and llopkins. \\as published
two years alter llargreayes retires
ment. lt co\ ers Clay’s third year as
secretary ol‘ state and is Lith’ pages
long.

ln 1‘)" Robert Seager ll joined the
project and became director and edii
tor in 10“). \V'ith \olume ". the first
~\‘ea‘uer edited, the project took a
basic turn in philosophy. Rather than
attempting to include eyery doctr
ment. a decision \\ as made to com—
press by listing routine documents in
a calendar at the end and reducing
the scope ol the footnotes. “ll. \ye
hadnt done that. \\ e still \\ t tuldn't be
finishing up." says llay, \\ho joined
the pt‘ojett ttt l‘)>s‘(),

\eager directed the publication ol‘
\olumes " (1083). H (108” and ‘)
t Mrs—i belore retiring in 105‘. Vol-
ume ‘ coyers (Zlay ~s last year as
secretary ol state. \ « iluttte H the years
I830? 152% \\ hen (Ilay \\ as a presideir
tialcandidate.ctimprt)miserand\\"hi‘ey
Party leader. and \olume 0 the years
183‘ lHiﬁ \\hen (Zlay was again a
presidential candidate and leader of
the \\ hi5; l’arty.

llay succeeded Seager as editor of
\olume lit (lHttsl833t and ol yols
ume 11. a supplement \\hich coir
taitts ( >\ et‘ 1.1)1 N) letters discoyet’ed too
late l'or publication in chronological
order. an errata ol mistakes lound in
the other \olumes. a comprehensh e
bibliography. a calendar or minor
di nutrients. and a calendar and essay
about art\\ork done i >Hilay prepared
by retired l'niyersity of Kentucky art

professor (Ilill‘ord Amyx, 'l‘he supple—
ment is expected to he published in
late 1991 or early 1992.

A celebration is planned ~lune 21—
.22 to mark the conclusion of The
Papers o/Ylwzrr (J/(Iy project, It \\ ill
feature a banquet a symposium. a
reception at Ashland and an exhibit
ol'Clay memorabilia prepared by ['K
Library Special Collections and Cols
lection Deyelopment departments

_ ()l)\ ss1‘\

;‘

Asblmzd, Clay} home,
(irm 1910
(UK Special Collertiom)

ODYSSEY 8

know n horse breeder.

Theodore did not improye alter he was
hospitalized. In a_lune 1832 letter to his lather.
Henry (Ilay. ylr. described the diagnosis and
treatment recommended by ’l‘heodore‘s phy>
sieian:

“’l'heodore is deranged upon two subieets.
loy'e ['l‘heodore had dey’eloped a liixation on a
woman] and ambition. ’l‘he lirst ean only be
cured by time. the seeond by humiliation. By
humiliation he l'l‘heodore‘s physician] means
that 'l'heodore should be treated by all as an
ordinary young man ineapable ol‘ sell diree-
tion. That no partieular delerenee should be
paid to his opinion or judgment how eyer
mueh w e may attend to his personal eomlort;
it should not appear. That no indulgenees
should be made the eyidenees olany partied
lar respeet. In line that w e should appear
entirely indifferent to his opinion or his mind."

The family also was told it w as a mistake to
send ’l‘heodore his politieal periodicals "as it
would ey'int‘e regard lior his opinions."

“No wonder he didn't get better.” Hay says.
Hay says john eould haye improyed beeause
treatment methods changed between the time
'l‘heodore was eommitted and_lohn's et )Iil‘lnk"
ment. Hargreayes questions whether there
was ever anything wrong withylohn other than
his being a bit unstable. The family may haye

been paranoid because oi 'l‘heodore. she
says.

Clay’s lay'orite son was Henry (Ilay'. lit.
who is deseribed by both Hopkins and
Hargreayes as "the apple ol his father‘s eye."
.-\eeording to Hay. young Ileniy was sup,
posed to be the most promising oltjlay's liye
sons. btit that promise ney er materialized.
"He had gradttated second in his elass at
\V'est l’oint. but other than that. he neyer
really did anything.” Hay says.

Although trained as a lawyer. Henry. ylr.
was not praetieing law when the Mexiean
\V'ar began. He enlisted in the army and
seryed under (ien. Zachary Taylor in \ley
ieo. llenry.ylr. was killed l"eb. Zﬁ. lés’ t‘ at the
Battle of Buena Vista. Among the Clay pa~
pers are a letter Henry. ~lr. wrote to his lather
a few days before being killed. a letter lrom
'l‘aylor telling (Ilay of his son's death. and a
letter lirom (Ilay' to \\'illiam \. .\lert‘er:

"l lind it extremely dillieult to sustain
mysell under this heayy ealamity. I \\;ls
greatly attaehed to him. and he had high
qualities. well~know n to me. entitling him to
my warmest alleetion. How olten. my dear
friend. are the obieets most endeared to us
snatehed away lrom us! Sut'h has been my
sad e\perienee throughout lite,"

llenry. «Ir. "neyer really did anything with
his lil'e exeept giye it in the w ar.” Hargreay es
says. "It w as almost like a ehant'e to redeem
himsell."

.r\ll ol' (llay's thildren had linant‘ial prob—
lems exeept for ~lohn. who liy ed at home.
Hay says,

Thomas was in eonstant l'inaneial trouble.
she says. "l [e had at least one business that
w ent broke. a hemp laetory' making bagging
and rope. and (lay took the lall li()lillllll.u l lay
says.’I'homas'businessfailures almost eaused
(Ilay to lose .v\shland iust alter he had been
del'eated in the 18 H elet'tion. .v\ number or
(Llay's l'riends li‘om around the eountry an-
onymously paid about Sﬁiolltl or his more
gage. whieh enabled him to keep ;\shland.
(Elay purehased .\lanslield. a larm adiaeent to
.-\shland. l'or’l'homas to liye on. but when he

died. (Ilay lelt Mansfield in trust to Tliomtts'
children.

In Hays \'ie\y. James was the most success—
ful ol (Ilays children. A l:t\\'yei‘_l;ttnes setVed
as charge d'allltires to Portugal during the
Fillmore administration. He bought Ashlttnd
alter his litther‘s deztth and rehuilt the house.

He later hemme '.l (Ionlederate and died ol

tuberculosis in (Ianuda during the (Iiyil \Var.

Iiyen on his deathhed (Ilay was dealing with
his sons' l'inaneiztl dillietilties. Clay went to
\\ ushinglon in the spring ol 18;.) to argue t\\'o
eases helore the Supreme (Iourt because he
needed money. eyen though he knew he
might not li\'e to get haek home to :\shl;tnd.
lle \\;ts tingthle to argue the eases himsell. hut
he got other people to do so for him LllKl (iltty
split the lees with them, "Money was the
I‘L‘Jstﬂl (Zlgty \\ ent hack [to \Vashingtonl." Hay
say s "l le really \\;tnted toget home todie. hut
he just \\';lsill ahle,”

()n \pril 3H. 1H1). (iltty wrote to _l;tmes
telling him he h.td endorsed it 5 Lllllll note for
him. In that letter he also \\ rote: “.\ly health
tontmttes premrioLIs and extremely eritieztl.
l nless there is .1 linorahle ehange soon. 1
cannot hold out much longer, I h;t\ e sent lor
Thomas " His son llltnttds \\;ts \\'llll (lay in
\\ ;tshington \\ hen he died there on lune 2‘).
lHQJ.

(Zlity 's prolilems \\ith his children were
similar to those l);tniel \\'ehster and john (I.
(..tll]( )tm had \\ ith their children. The children
of all three men may h;t\ e llJLl dilliettlty liying
up to the reputations ol their llimous litthers.
Hay rind Hargretn'es s;ty, (Ilay. \V'ehster and
(lalhonn \\ ere ;lll senators in the ﬁrst hall ol'
the Wth century and are eonsidered by many
historians to he the most importgtnt politiegtl
ligttres in the period lrom the \Vur oi 1813 to
the ( iiyil \\";tr < )ther than :\ndre\\ lackson. \yho
\\';ts on the opposite end ol the political
spectrum lrom (lay and \Vehster. Like (Ilay.
\V'ehster and (Zulhotin hztye been the stihieets
ol historieal papers projects.

l)id (iltty desetVe to h'.t\‘e ill years deyoted
to the eompilation and editing of his papers?
l lay thinks so. "(Ilay \\';1s :1 mueh more signil‘i—
cant ﬁgure than Ltll those nonentities that
heeame president during that time. How many
people can rememher a president het\\'een
lrteks‘on and Lincoln?" 0

‘ ‘ Clay was a much more signiﬁcant

ﬁgure than all those nonentities
that became president during that time.
How many people can remember a president

between Jackson and Lincoln? 9 ’

Henry Clay and his wife Lucretia
(Henry Clay Memorial Foundation)

k) ODYSSEY

ODYSSEY l()

v‘ i ‘ »‘ ' unmﬁi‘gx
byjrﬁWorlq
n the wall of Kozo Saito's office is a
large photograph of Albert Einstein.
The old physicist is balancing himself
in a sailboat. his white shirt billowing out and
his hair a wild drift of snow.

Saito. an associate professor of mechanical
engineering. gestures toward the photo. “Yes,
he's a hero of mine, but not so much for his
mathematical theories." Saito‘s face eases into
a smile. “lt's Einsteinsj)/.7I'/osop/.7_t'that interests
me more." he says. “his belief that science
should improve peoples lives."

Fighting Fire with Technology:

to the Rescue?

And Saito. in continuing a research project
at the University of Kentucky on fire detection
and spread. is proving to be an able practitio—
ner of this philosophy. The result of his work
may not only improve people‘s lives. it may
save lives.

Funded by the National Institute of Stan—
dards and Technology‘s Center for Fire Re—
search. Saito has been working with several
researchers at [TK‘s Center for Robotics and
Manufacturing Systems to develop a fire—
fighting robot. “We have in the building right
now a functional. mobile robot." says William
(irttver. director ofthe center and co—principal
investigator on this project. “It can be guided
remotely to enter rooms. climb stairs. and
even crawl over beams and debris."

With its manipulator arm extended and its
three separate sets oftrack treads moving over
the wheels‘ high—tech pulley system. the robot
resembles a miniature tank. Attached to the
arm (capable of pivoting in two motions) is a
gripper with two "fingers" that can be continu-
ously rotated in clockwise and counterclocki
wise directions. The fingers can be manipu—
lated to squeeze together and cltttch an object.
\X’eathenresistant housing rises from the plate
of the robot. and at the top of this housing is
a spotlight and a color TV camera with a zoom
lens,

A cable, $28 feet long. runs from the back of
the robot to a command console. the idea
being that in a hazardous situation the operav
tor can control the robot from a remote
location. The switchbox functions on the
console include 23 options which allow an
operator to move the robot forwards and
backwards. lift the various tracks. operate the
spotlight and camera. and move various other
components. Gruver refers to this process as
“tele—operation" or “tele—robotics."

In order to turn this model into an effective
fire-fighting machine. there are some “hard
ware problems." as Gruver calls them. that
must be solved. "This model has rubbertreads.
for example." he points out. "And they would
fry in a burning building." So some engineer‘—
ing modifications will need to be made. per
haps retrofitting the robot with metal treads
and using higlrpressure water spray to cool

them. Such design problems. Saito and
Gruyer agree. are relatively minor. What they
term "conceptual problems" are far more
challenging.

For this firefighter to be propelled from the

world of science fiction into the realm of

science fact. according to Rajiy Mehrotra. it
will need to be endowed with “local intelliA
gence" (the result of decisionvmaking soft
ware) and a guidance deyice so that it knows
where it is. :\Iehr< )tra. a professorof computer
science whose expertise includes the deyelA
opment ofthe robot's Vision system. imagines
a robot capable ofmoying and opening doors
on instruction. “\X'e‘ll probably do our first
tests of this capability in this building." he
says.

An essential part of the robot‘s intelligence
system will be its ability. after entering a
burning building. to decide where the hottest
part of a fire is located, This is where Saitos
work comes in, "I've been doing research
since 1984 to mathematically calculate up
ward flame spread along the corner of a wall
so that a robot will be able to intelligently
combat a fire." says Saito. ’I‘hrough an infra—
red camera system mounted onto the robot.
it will be able to look through a flame and see
behind it by using filters; then the robot. using
a “profile" of the burning wall. can shoot the
hottest spot with a directed jet of water or
chemical, says (iI'LlVCl‘.

In order to obtain a profile or. as Saito puts
it. do some "temperature mapping." data are
gathered from an artificially created and
contained fire in [‘K's Combustion and Fire
Research Laboratory. ’l‘oward the back ofthis
lab is a structure capped with a galvanized
metal hood The space underneath. about the
size of an ayerage closet. has one open side.
two solid walls. and a wire—mesh screen
forming a final "wall." The two solid walls are
made of marinite. a standard non—combus~
tible. fire—resistant material. A fire burner.
which simulates the burning floor ofan actual
room. is actiyated and fire begins to crackle
up the walls.

“A fire is hotter and stronger in a corner
than along the surface of a wall." explains

‘ We have in the building right now

a functional, mobile robot . . .

It can be guided remotely to enter rooms,
climb stairs, and even crawl over beams and

debris. ’ ’

. _: m. - ‘\
Kozo Saito W/illi/zm Graver

Saito. "so that‘s where we want to create our
fire." An infrared camera and a \‘ideo camera
record the height of the flames and the heat
distribution in the corner. Then a computer,
connected to these cameras. allows the re—
searchers to make a temperature profile.

“What we are trying to do is describe or
represent the situation. the enyironment. in
some mathematical sense so that a robot
given this information will be able to predict
future developments." says Gruyer. "\Vhere is
the hottest center of the fire? In which direci
tion is it spreading the fastest? The robot will
need to be able to know this to respond
accordingly."

Gruyer explains that the logic and speed
with which a robot w ill react will improye as
techniques such as artificial intelligence exr

muff/111w! on page /J

ll ODYSSEY

ODYSSEY 12

—
An essential part of the robot’s
intelligence system will be its
ability, after entering a burning
building, to decide where the
hottest part of a ﬁre is located.

On a tour ofthe roboticsandmanufaeturingsystemx
building, thirdgraa'ersﬁ'om Arlingwn Elementary
School get acquainted with the center's mobile
robot.

pert systems continue to develop. "A rule
might be that if situation A occurs, the robot
reacts in a defined way. Ifscenario B happens.
it reacts in some other way." Gruver says. The
researchers' goal is to program the robot to
prompt the operator to make logical and
effective decisions based on the facts of the
situation at hand. “The two main keys to
developing the functions of the robot.“ he
adds. “are the computer and the software."

The most diffic