12
F E AT U R E S U M M E R 2 0 0 9
Shaking It Up by Tracy Meadowcroft ‘03
W
hen Dr. Charles K. Scharnberger acquired the first seismology equipment at Millersville University in the early 1970s, the machine used a stylus that recorded movement on smoked paper on which a layer of carbon had been created by using a kerosene lamp. During his 30-year career at Millersville, he saw the equipment evolve from the stylus and smoked paper, which could only measure one movement—up and down to a pen and ink recorder—and now it is a completely digital system that also records horizontal movement— north to south and east to west. The technological advancements have allowed the data that the machine collects to be disseminated more easily than before, meaning telephone calls are no longer the primary way of passing along information to other researchers. “It has speeded things up tremendously,” says Scharnberger of the digital system. “What once took days [collecting and passing along seismic data] now may take only minutes.” Though he still operates the seismograph station at Millersville six years after his retirement, Scharnberger
