Page 4 February 9, 2017 TORRANCE TRIBUNE Story and Photos by TerriAnn Ferren On Thursday, January 26, Torrance High School students, teachers, Student Council, Kiwins, special guests Louis Zamperini’s son and daughter Luke Zamperini and Cynthia Zamperini-Garris, and others gathered on the steps of the high school, near the Senior Patio, to spell out “LZ 100” on what would have been Louis Zamperini’s 100th birthday. It had been a long time since my summer school days when I took Drama (twice), Home Economics and Typing respectively at Torrance High School. Last week, I walked up the steps of that beautiful school and checked in with the office. Staff, along with Debbie Hays from the Torrance Centennial Committee, escorted me into the school, past the Senior Patio and down the steps where I saw the preparations for the afternoon’s event. An excited Student Council and others were preparing for their fellow students who would join them that afternoon, forming the letters “L Z” and “100” for Louis’ 100th birthday. Four huge sheet cakes depicting different events in Louis’ life, from Sam’s Club (two of which they donated), graced the snack tables. I noticed a group of students gathering on the steps, waiting for the bell to ring. It was finals week, I was told, and I overheard lots of anxious teens discussing their exams. James Lee, age 17, Samantha Montano, 16, Samantha Pollock, age 17, Ashley Sasaki, 17, Torrey Park, 17, Britny Jumalon, 17, Joseph Chang, 17, and Blake Porter, 18, excitedly waited for the festivities to begin. Joseph said, “We are here to celebrate Mr. Zamperini’s hundredth birthday. He was just a great man and everything he’s done for Torrance High- -can’t put to words how much… There was a movie about him.” On one side of the yard, wearing a maroon t-shirt with a picture of Louis on the front, and orchestrating the event along with the Centennial Committee, was Nathan Jones. It was Jones who also planned Louis’ memorial celebration at Torrance High School several years ago, along with the City of Torrance and the community. Jones told me, “With the help of the Centennial Committee…we have about 350 kids coming out [today]. It’s something nice. We have our track team, our cheerleaders, our drill team, different groups on campus, our Tartar Ladies, our Tartar Knights, and our ASB Student Council. We’re trying to get as many different kids that we can, as well as our teachers, and community as well. We are looking forward to it.” Just then, I noticed Louis Zamperini’s son and daughter, Luke and Cynthia, coming down the stairs. Cynthia Zamperini-Garris told me, “I am so grateful to the citizens of Torrance to the students of Torrance High for keeping my father’s memory and his legacy alive in their hearts and their minds. It just means everything to us. I am welling up already and I just got here.” Luke Zamperini added, “It is wonderful, just wonderful. On what would have been my dad’s 100th birthday, to have the school do this to remember his birthday and celebrate it. We are just so glad to be here. I was just telling Nathan [Jones] that the family has felt more associated with Torrance now that my father has passed on. He was down here all the time. So now the family feels that we will come down more. We are happy to be doing this and that the Historical Society is curating all his memorabilia and we have carried on his non-profit organization. It used to be called Victory Boys Camp and now it is called the Louis Zamperini Foundation and we are exploring the possibility of opening up a thrift store in Torrance for the foundation Robert Williams, age 18, wearing the shirt from the film Unbroken, and holding Louis Zamperini’s shoes. if at all possible.” Around Cynthia Zamperini-Garris’ neck hung a small gold USC track shoe. She told me, as she held the gold shoe in her two fingers, “He got these little gold track shoes when he was running races for USC. I have one, Luke has one, Angelina Jolie has one, and his sister, Sylvia’s daughter, Linda has the other one. Both of his sisters had one all their lives. He gave one to his mother, one to each of his sisters…and my aunt sent me one…and I think she inherited Grandma Zamperini’s which she gave to her daughter Linda, and then Louis wanted to make a special gift to Angelina--and she wore this the entire time she was making the film [Unbroken] before, during and after. A treasure. It is so small and so nothing-looking, but means more to me than any trophies or medals.” Former faculty member Jerry Ronan, who retired from Torrance High School in 1992, walked down the street from where he lives for this special event. Smiling and gesturing, Jerry told me, “My office used to be right over there. This was home from 1955, before most people were born! What I like is that they have done this recent renovation and updated things. The campus looks great inside and outside. The classrooms are bright and nice.” Torrance Centennial Committee member Debbie Hays told me that the Kiwins (the Kiwanis High School service group) are here especially because “back in the day, the Kiwanis Club presented Louis with the trophy he won for setting the world record in high school--the interscholastic school record for the mile, back in 1934. The Kiwanis Club used to have Louis go around with Jim Thorpe, the older Olympian, because back then he was discriminated against and so they had a young Olympian and an old Olympian, if you will, together--so he could get speaking engagements. And the Kiwanis Club sponsored them and paid Jim.” Luke Zamperini gave the welcome and words for the auspicious occasion and then--with instructions from Nathan Jones- -the students, faculty and others lined up to make the “L Z 100” for the photograph. The photographer (Lifetouch) was stationed on the roof of the overpass offices overlooking the steps. Everyone smiled and looked up for the camera. Then a quiet came over the crowd and on the count of one-two-three, the photo was snapped. A glorious sea of young faces with the Zamperini family in the middle of the shot stood still for the epic photograph. The banner, across the front of the sea of students read, “Happy 100th Birthday Torrance Tornado.” Then, right on cue, accompanied by the Torrance High Band, everyone sang, “Happy Birthday to Louis.” Goosebumps, anyone? I noticed one young student dressed in an old-fashioned Torrance High School shirt, holding track shoes. Robert Williams, age 18, from the Torrance High cross country team, was chosen to wear the shirt from the film Unbroken and hold a pair of Louis Zamperini’s actual track shoes for the photograph. He told me, “I am incredibly honored to be given the opportunity to represent him. I am a fraction of what he was, so it is incredible I was given the opportunity out of all the people it could have been. I am incredibly honored.” This is a very special year for Torrance High School because this year marks the Centennial year. On September 11, 1917, Torrance High opened its doors to the community. It is fitting that the Torrance Centennial Committee chose its most celebrated alumnus, Louis Zamperini, on what would have been his 100th birthday, to also kick off a yearlong celebration of the very first high school established in Torrance. Looking at the photograph that was taken on that special day, I noticed there were so many students who showed up for the picture, the “100” is sort of blurred. No matter. That simply shows the love and respect Torrance High School students and faculty have for their beloved alumnus, Louis Zamperini. Happy Birthday, Louis! • TerriAnn in Torrance Happy 100th Birthday, Louis Zamperini The cake celebrating what would have been Louis Zamperini’s 100th birthday. 3D Printing from page 3 the crew of the Starship Enterprise had a 3D printer onboard as they traveled the galaxy in the 1960s television series. Museum visitors can get a close-up look at the first 3D printed car. The 3D automobile represents both the past and the future of how factories churn out products for industry and consumers. The technology of 3D printing, which originated in 1981 in Japan, is viewed as the replacement for the assemblyline manufacturing that carmaker Henry Ford introduced into American commerce in the late 19th century. American engineer Chuck Hull is credited with developing in 1984 a more commercially useful way to print solid images, basing his process on work done by French General Electric Co. that dropped the project after seeing no money in it. Hull correctly predicted it would take 30 years to be widely adopted by industry and consumers. High-end systems cost a half-million dollars, and are used by General Electric to make turbines for engines. Desktop models start at around $650 and are sold by office suppliers like Staples. South Bay companies are using 3D printers in research and development to get industrial and consumer products to market more quickly. Aerospace and defense contractors, with their need for precision parts that meet strength and weight specifications for use in aircraft, are able to bypass the traditional supply chain and avoid delays by making parts or ordering them locally from a 3D print shop. An advantage of this manufacturing method is that 3D printers can use lightweight materials, like carbon fiber, and apply it in a lattice pattern for maximum strength and safety. The 3D printing companies themselves are driving the industrial revolution in how products and prototypes are made. They are experimenting with materials, including metal printing, and rapid prototyping that takes a product engineering team’s concept from design to reality in less time. The goal is to lower strength-to-weight ratios in aerospace and defense, making aircraft lighter and fuel efficiency better for commercial airlines and the military. The 3D printing companies say it can be done. The actual name for 3D printing is additive manufacturing, a description of the process of adding layer upon layer of plastic, for example, until Mattel has a new-toy prototype or the toy itself. Additive manufacturing leaves less waste and is considered more efficient. Parts and products are made without whittling down a hunk of metal or plastic. It’s a simple matter of addition versus subtraction. Nike is off and running with them. The athletic footwear maker used to spend thousands of dollars on a prototype and wait weeks to see one. Using 3D printing, Nike has shaved time and money off the prototype process. Its development cost is a few hundred of dollars, any changes to a shoe can be made instantly on a computer, and the redesigned prototype is reprinted the same day. Though prototypes have been the major use so far, some local companies have found 3D printers useful for short-run or custom manufacturing, also called one-off. As speeds of these space-age printers increase and the price of commercial units drop, it’s expected more manufacturing will be done by 3D printers. Medical-device makers are using them to build prosthetics for patients. The new manufacturing process isn’t limited to machine and aircraft parts (see GE’s video of its working Boeing 787 jet-engine model posted on YouTube). Human organs are being created using a patient’s own tissue as the material, and there are practical uses for dentistry that could replace molds in the making of replacement teeth and bridges. Much like how dot matrix and laser printers moved from offices into people’s homes, 3D printers are available for everyday uses. Machines costing up to $2,000 are printing jewelry, appliance parts and colorful iPhone cases. Hobbyists and do-it-yourself types are wrapping their heads, and their hands too, around this industrial revolution in the making here in the South Bay. Like any computer-driven device, it requires software that takes time to learn to operate. The good news is that ready-to-print software for running desktop 3D printers is finding its way to the market. Like software for PCs, the 3D programs are easy to install and begin using immediately to make things. •
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