Wednesday, january 18, 1978
Dage6
daily nebraskan
Library detector expected to decrease book theft
By Georgene Cetak
Joe College is back in school and scan
ning the book shelves in Love Library. Al
ready he has two twenty-page term papers
due in two days.
Loaded with six Shakespearean sonnets
and eight anatomical essays, Joe heads pell
mell down the stairway toward Love's
north entrance. He runs by the library
desk, forgetting to check out his books and
heads for the door.
Joe mumbles a few words to the book
check-out worker. Suddenly, an alarm goes
off and Joe feels a cool arm across his
abdomen. He looks frantically to the book
check-out worker, but sees no one.
Joe has been caught in the clutches of,
not a bionic burglar alarm, but Love's new
check-out system.
The device, installed during the semes-'
ter break at a cost of approximately
$46,000, will hopefully curb an annual
$26,000 loss due to book thefts, according
to Gerald Rudolph, dean of libraries.
Money for the project was allocated
through the university's equipment fund.
Rudolph compared the system to an air-
Correction
An error made during the drafting of a
legislature bill led to an inaccurate report
of LB789, introduced by Sen. Donald
Dworak of Columbus. The bill would raise
the age for buying off-sale alcoholic bev
erages to 21 , but would not raise the legal
drinking age.
LB679 by Sen. Ralph Kelly of Grand
Island, if passed, would raise the drinking
age to 21.
The Daily Nebraskan incorrectly identi
fied Sen. Martin Kahle of Kearney as Sen.
Maurice Kremer of Aurora in a photo
graph. The report and photograph appear
ed in the Jan. 16 issue of the Daily Nebraskan.
fi f
line security device.
"We've placed a target in books to
trigger a response when someone exits
through .the security point," he said.
When books are checked out of the li
brary, the targets are deactivated by a
machine operated by an employee behind
the desk.
Rudolph said if a person leaves the
library with books that have not been de
activated, an alarm sounds and an arm
locks, preventing a person from passing
through the gate.
When books are returned they are reac
tivated before being replaced on the
shelves.
Although the book targets are not
readily detectable, it is possible to see
them, said Dean Waddel, assistant dean of
libraries.
'There is no guarantee if you do find a
target that there aren't more than one,
though ," Waddel said .
The library staff began marking the
books in November.
Rudolph said some materials returned
this month may trigger the alarm because
they have not been targeted.
If a person is found leaving the library
and the alarm goes off, "we'll assume the
person just forgot to check the material
out, and well ask him to check it out,"
Rudolph said.
Waddel said if a person is caught steal
ing books, UNL Campus Police will be
notified. Waddel said thefts are not only a
financial loss, but an inconvenience for the
library staff.
"In some cases they ' (library materials)
are impossible to replace " he said.
Hundreds of the library security devices
have been installed across the country, Ru
dolph said. "It (the device) has proven to
be fairly reliable in other institutions."
The University of Nebraska at Omaha,
Kearney State College, Chadron State
College and Doane College all have
installed similar devices.
Two full-time employees, several' student
assistants and other library - employees
checked-out books previously. The
employees have been reassigned to other
library tasks in security, maintenance and
circulation , Waddel said .
Bill increases physician's aid trainees
By Gail Reid
The number of persons accepted into
the physician's assistants training program
"at the University of Nebraska College of
Medicine would increase during the next
three years if a bill introduced in the Neb
raska Legislature becomes law.
Lincoln Sen. Steve Fowler's LB669,
would require the college to expand its
program and train at least 30 assistants in
1978, 45 in 1979 and 60 in 1980.
Additional physician's assistants could
extend health care to rural areas, and sup
plement doctors' effectiveness, Fowler
said.
"The university has not been as ag
gressive as it should have been in expand
ing this program," he said.
However, Jessie Edwards, assistant
director of the physician's assistants pro
gram, said he did not know what the im
pact of more trainees would have on the
program. An increase to 60 trainees could
present some problems, and the proposal
will have to be further studied, he. said.
Nancy Loftis, research intern for Fow
ler, said there is "a severe shortage in
health manpower." Currently, there are 39
assistants in Nebraska, and it has been es
timated there is a need for 146 more, she
said.
The bill would help produce more assis
tants to meet needs as quickly as possible,
she said. More assistants would allow doc
tors to use their time and expertise more
efficiently, she said.
Edwards said physician's assistants are
supervised by a doctor, but their duties
include giving physicals, making rounds to
hospitals, taking medical histories, diag
nosing and prescribing treatment for
patients.
During the first 14 months, the physi
cian's assistant's study program is essen
tially the same as that for medical stu
dents. Assistants also see patients, but
there is less emphasis, on severe problems,
Edwards said.
The primary goal of the program is to
place physician's assistants in rural areas,
he said, Of 52 assistants who were gra
duated from the medical center, 33 still are
in the state; 22 working in areas with less
than 5 ,000 people, he said.
Nebraska Union
Main Lounge
Print check out
Saturday and Sunday
January 21 & 22
Check out begins at
10:30 a.m. Saturday
2-4 p.m. Sunday
The Loft, Nebraska
East Union
Print check out on
Sunday, January 29
7:30 p.m.
U.i.a ' Cano.il
m
m
m
14th Street Lounge k
121 N. 14th ,
Monday Jan. 16 Laurie McClain
Tuesday Jan. 17 Bob Bovee
Wednesday Jan. 18 Bob Bovee
Thursday Jan. 19 Peter Blakeslee
PriHm .Ian .90 Sallv Cowan K
. Saturday Jan. 21 Sally Cowan
Guitar and Vocals - 9 p.m. to Close h
V$ 2-fers4-6 pm. M
Radio Station KFOR
and Co-Sponsors
invite you to attend the
KFOR Bridal Forum
Tuesday the
31st of January
nineteen hundred and seventy-eight
at seven o'clock in the evening
Pershing Auditorium
LINCOLN, NEBRASKA
Pick up your KFOR Bridal Forum 'invitations at:
BEN SIMONS
169 South 13th Siret I Gateway
DANIELSON FLORAL
127 South 13th Street
BOUNTY HOMES
3939 North 48th Street
CIETZE MUSIC
12080 Street
JOHN CERA0L0, PHOTOGRAPHER
303 North 52nd Street
SEARS
Gateway
THE DONUT SHOP
27th (O Street
BOOMER'S PRINTING
12120 Street
LINCOLN TOUR I TRAVEL
13th M Streets I Gateway
UNITED KENT ALLS
710 North 48th
AMERICAN FAMILY INSURANCE
Agent' Off tt
MEGIHNIS FORD
6400 Q Street
SARTOR HAMAJIR JEWELRY
1 1500 Street t Gateway
RECCHI SEWING CENTER
540 North 48th St.
HABITAT
Gunnjr'iCompiei
LINCOLN HILTON
141 North 9th Street ,
MERLE NORMAN COSMETICS
Gateway