thursday, October 5, 1978
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Carper Complex
Thurs. 9a.m. -10 p.m.
UNL to get $14 million
for spectrometric study
UNL has been selected as one of six new
regional scientific instrumentation facilities
by the National Science Foundation,
according to Michael Gross, associate pro
fessor of chemistry.
He said the university will receive a total
of $1.4 million over four years and be
established as one of the world's leading
centers for mass spectrometric research,
the analysis of quantities of chemical
samples with sensitive equipment.
The university will get $677,000 this
year to buy a new mass spectrometer and
the supporting computer equipment. The
equipment will be housed in the chemistry
department in Hamilton Hall and is expect
ed to be ready within a year.
Gross said one reason UNL was chosen
over 115 other applicants was because the
university already has one of the finest
mass spectrometers and the staff to run it.
"We told them if they fund us with
another we will be at the very frontier of
the field," Gross said.
He said the new spectrometer will great
ly increase the facility's capability and be
used to analyze more complex chemical
samples. The two-year-old spectrometer
will be used for samples with fewer chemi
cal elements.
Gross said the creation of regional
instrumentation facilities represents a
change in direction for the National Sci
ence Foundation, which has traditionally
helped individual colleges and universities
establish their own laboratories.
But a revolution in technology and
escalating equipment costs have forced the
NSF to turn, instead, to centrally located
facilities that can be used by many
scientists.
He said UNL's facility will be shared by
scientists from all over the nation. NSF will
provide travel expenses for scientists to
come to the center to use the equipment.
Gross said mass spectrometric tecn
niques apply to almost all scientific fields,
such as agriculture, where it can be used to
identify pesticide residues.
He said mass spectroscopy also is crucial
in monitoring the environment for traces
of chemicals such as DDT and other trace
pollutants.
Survival Skills Center trains
unemployed wanting to work
Many cities have agencies which train
persons for employment, but Lincoln has
an agency that trains persons in urban sur
vival. The agency is the Survival Skills Center
at 12th and 0 streets. It serves those
eligible for benefits from the Comprehen
sive Employment Training Agency accord
ing to Suzanne L. Merwick, SSC assistant
director.
The eligibility requirements for CETA
used to be that a person be unemployed
for seven days, Merwick said, but, CETA
now also is requiring that a person meet
low -income eligibility requirements.
She said the center is designed to fill
in the cracks left by other agencies.
She explained that most cities have a
four to five percent unemployment rate,
but Lincoln only has a 2.7 percent rate.
This means that many of the
unemployed in Lincoln are persons who
are chronically unemployed and do not fit
into existing vocational programs because
they do not have the social or coping
skills to keep a job , Merwick said .
Retarded couple
An example of a client they helped was
a married couple which was mentally
retarded, she said.
The couple was unable to be totally
independent so an apartment had to be
found with houseparents, Merwick said.
A sponsor in the community also was
needed to help the couple and they both
required vocational training, she said.
The center even helped the woman get
a uniform for her job, Merwick said.
The center emphasizes self-sufficiency,
according to Merwick.
"We refuse to make you (the client)
dependent on an agency."
"Sometimes people come in her who
want to be supported by an agency and
don't want to work. We just tell them that
we can't help them and to come back when
they're ready to work."
Dr. Gary Meers, SCC director, and UNL
associate professor of business education,
along with other faculty members,
approached CETA with the survival skills
program idea, she said.
Cooperative effort
UNL administers the center, but it
receives its funds from CETA and the De
partment of Labor and works in coopera
tion with the State Department of
Education's Division of Vocational Edu
cation, she said.
The center opened in June of 1977. A
hear from now the university will with
draw from the program and probably turn
it over to CETA, Merwick said.
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