From the 1950s through the 1980s, people living or working at the U.S. Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune or Marine Corps Air Station New River in North Carolina were potentially exposed to drinking water contaminated with industrial solvents, benzene, and other chemicals. Scientific and medical evidence has shown an association between exposure to these contaminants during military service and the development of certain diseases later on. If you or a loved one were present at Camp Lejeune for 30 days or more between 1953 and 1987 and were diagnosed with one of the conditions listed below, you may be entitled to significant compensation. WE’RE READY TO TAKE CAMP LEJEUNE
The True Story of F.D.C. Willard A CAT COAUTHORED AN INFLUENTIAL PHYSICS PAPER
Cats defy the laws of physics all the time, so it’s only fitting a cat would teach us physics more directly — by coauthoring a highly cited, influential physics paper.
In 1975, Jack H. Hetherington was a professor of physics at Michigan State University, and he completed a paper on
• Cancer • Female infertility • Hepatic steatosis • Stillbirth/miscarriage • Birth defects
• Multiple myeloma • Myelodysplastic syndromes • Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma • Kidney Disease • Scleroderma
atomic behavior. However, he had a problem: As a sole author, Hetherington had used “we” throughout the paper. A colleague pointed out that publishers reserved that language for papers with multiple authors.
WHY ARE LAWSUITS BEING FILED? On Aug. 10, 2022, President Biden signed the Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022 (S.3373) into law. The act allows military veterans and other affected individuals to file civil lawsuits against the U.S. government for harm caused by at least 30 days of exposure (including in utero exposure) to water at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina from Aug. 1, 1953 to Dec. 31, 1987. The U.S. Join us in Kansas City to celebrate the fall festivities with pumpkin patches and tons of other outstanding outdoor activities this spooktacular season. CAROLYN’S PUMPKIN PATCH This pumpkin patch has something fun for the entire family. You will find plenty of pumpkins and gourds in their 50-acre patch as well as fun fall activities like wagon rides, a little farmer’s playground, pig races, and even an antique pedal tractor carousel. Celebrate the Spooky Season Let the Ghoul Times Roll in Kansas City
With today’s software, this would be a minor inconvenience. But to fix his error in 1975, Hetherington would have to retype the entire paper manually on his typewriter. Time was short, and Hetherington had done all the work himself. According to Hetherington’s 1982 book, “More Random Walks in Science,” he explained, “After an evening’s thought, I simply asked the secretary to change the title page to include the name of the family cat.” And that’s what happened; the professor named his Siamese cat, Chester, as his coauthor. Of course, the name Chester wouldn’t look convincing as a scientific paper coauthor. So, he invented “F.D.C. Willard.” The initials stand for Felis Domesticus Chester. The last name, Willard, was the name of Chester’s father. The professor didn’t feel too guilty for trying to deceive the publisher: “Why would I do such an irreverent thing? … If it eventually proved to be correct, people would remember the paper more if the anomalous authorship were known. In any case, I went ahead and did it and have generally not been sorry.” The journal loved the paper, but the ruse stayed secret among his close colleagues until a visitor arrived to meet the authors. When Hetherington told them the truth, they laughed, and not long after that, the feline coauthor became quite famous. F.D.C. Willard not only saved Hetherington from rewriting the entire paper, but also continues to inspire cat-related academia antics. On April 1, 2014, the American Physical Society (APS) announced all cat-authored papers would be made freely available. “Not since Schrödinger has there been an opportunity like this for cats in physics,” they wrote. We couldn’t agree more.
New this year, kids will have a chance to tackle the giant spider web, dig in their Corney Corral, and visit their new baby calf — Oreo!
This event will take place from Sept. 17–Oct. 31, and tickets are priced at $10 for Monday through Thursday and $12 for Friday through Sunday. Children under the age of two will get free admission, and there are also family passes available.
For more information and ticket passes, check out CarolynsPumpkinPatch.com .
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