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ad lib
thursday, november 16, 1978
thursday, november 16, 1978
ad lib
page 5
Mesozoic to the future, museum full of treasures
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Photo by Mark Billingsley
By Peg Sh eld rick
What's so great about Morrill Hall?
"The bones and the models," said
Larry, age 9, who was there for a health
class.
"The wild animals," said Susie, age 2
21, a university student.
"The dinosaurs," said Stephanie, age 1 1,
who was visiting from Bellevue.
"1 enjoy the imitation diamonds," said
one woman in a red pantsuit. "But I think
this (Elephant Hall) is the most fascinating,
because it has to do with our part of the
state." (Fremont, in this case.)
"The big animal statues" are Christin's
favorites, but she admits the mummy is
also "pretty neat."
In the Time and Space gallery, Simeon,
a day care student, was asked what he liked
best about Morrill Hall. "This part," he
responded, "because it's dark."
Whether you're into stuffed animals or
stars, dinosaurs or diamonds, Morrill Hall
is likely to have something you'll enjoy.
The displays run the gamut from anthro
pology to zoology, and even if you aren't
the museum type, you might find it an
interesting place to kill time before the
game or to wander through with visiting
parents.
Students in engineering, art, geology,
and physics are among those who take
advantage of the University of Nebraska
State Museum (a.k.a. Morrill Hall), but
"there could be much more use made,"
according to Dr. Allen Griesemer, the mu
seum's associate director.
Major features
The major features include Elephant
Hall, the Planetarium, the Vertebrate Pale
ontology section, the Hall of Wildlife, the
Center for Asian Studies, and the ever
popular Transparent Woman. Also cached
within the museum's halls are a functioning
seismograph and a seismometer, a real live
mummy or two, and a reconstruction of a
giant rhinosceros, the Baluchithere. There
are also classrooms and auditorium
facilities.
The museum has 12-13,000 specimens
on display, and that only comprises one
percent of the three million specimens
owned by the museum. Some of these have
been on exhibit for quite a while. For ex
ample, the habitat groups in the Hall of
Wildlife were created during the 40s and
50s. Other displays are relatively new, such
as the Dinosaur Gallery.
"It's a bit different than other dinosaur
displays," according to Griesemer, in that
the bones and the reconstruction are dis
played in a muted, semi-hidden atmosphere.
"We tried to give you a feeling for the
Mesozoic, when those animals were alive,"
said Griesemer. In his opinion, the atmo
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Photo by Mark Billingsley
sphere of "mystery" saves the exhibit from
the usual "circus" look with things out in
the open in the middle of the floor.
Reconstruction
Both the dinosaur reconstruction and
the reconstruction of the giant rhino are
the work of museum staffer Roger
Vandevere. They dramatize as no skeleton
could the ponderous nature of these beasts.
But the skeletons, too, are interesting.
The Vertebrate Paleontology exhibit is
particularly strong when it comes to
camels, bison, horses, rhinos, and ore
donts (little pig-like herbivores), but the
real scene-stealer is Elephant Hall itself.
"It pulls together some things you'd never
see anywhere else," said Griesemer. It con
tains everything from the skeletal remains
of a circus elephant that died in a fire to
the fossil remains of a mastodont once
touted as "the world's largest." It's still a
colossal exhibit, but the museum no longer
calls it the largest. In fact, several
specimens once billed as the largest of their
kind have been stripped of that claim to
fame.
"It's always a tug of war between your
scientific conscience and whet the public
wants," explained Griesemer. "Rather than
be inaccurate, we decided to gradually
eliminate them (the Svorld's largest' labels).
There's a certain amount of interest value
of a museum. People want to see the
Svorld's Jargest.' The claim isn't provable.
Hopefully we won't do that anymore.
What's important is that it's a good
specimen."
Many of the skeletons on exhibit in
Elephant Hall are composed of remains
found right here in Nebraska. Excavations
have unearther mammoths as well as other
mammals at various sites around the state.
Periodically the museum sends researchers
into the field to try to uncover such fossils.
Decisions on where to dig are based on the
geologic background of the area. For ex
ample, western Nebraska is rich in deposits
from the Cenozoic period, (35-40 million
years ago), but sometimes random chance
lends a hand.
"A lot of it comes from people just
coming in and saying 'I have a bone
sticking out of my ravine,' " said Griesemer.
Curators responsible
The curators of each of the museum's
nine major collections are in part respon
sible for deciding which specimens should
be used for research and which for display.
The choices for display are part of an over
all plan, and there is also an Exhibits
Committee that aids in the process. The
specimens are prepared by students and by
preparators. If a find was particularly dra
matic, as was the assemblage of rhino re
mains discovered a few years back, some of
its specimens will undoubtedly be
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displayed.
Most university museums are less public
oriented. "I guess universities feel their
primary responsibility is to students,"
said Griesemer. "We feel a responsibility to
more than the students." He thinks that
Nebraska has a "fairly decent public mu
seum," with some exceptional collections
and exhibits. There aren't many of this size
or nature in the midwest. The museum has
two satellites, one at Ft. Robinson and one
in the form of its exhibition at the State
Fair. The museum has come a long way
since it opened its doors in 1887.
irector Bunn keeps stars in his eyes
By Kent Warneke
There is a building called Morrill Hall
and inside Morrill Hall there is a portion of
the building called Mueller Planetarium and
inside the planetarium one can often find
its director, Jack Dunn, and inside Jack
Dunn is a wonder to behold.
Jack Dunn is a reporter's dream. He is
easy to talk to, interesting and extremely
knowledgeable on his forte, everything
concerning planetariums.
Planetariums originated in Germany
where they were used strictly for use in the
field of astronomy. As time passed and
planetariums became more common to
other countries, the uses of the planetar
ium's also expanded.
"The dome of the planetarium, uppn
which all the projections are made, can be
classified into two types according to per
sonal opinion," Dunn said.
"If you want to call the dome a sky,
then the material used in planetarium
shows should be strictly related to stars
and stellar objects; but if you refer to the
dome as a screen, then it can be a window
to the universe and used for many varied
topics."
"Needless to say, I refer to the dome
here at UNL's planetarium as a screen,"
Dunn said.
The Mueller Planetarium was built in
1958 and its use has been growing ever
since. Armand Spitz built the projector in
the Mueller Planetarium, a conglomeration
of assorted, movable shapes to form a
unique type of projector.
"The projector that we have is what
could be called the middle size, ranging in
cost from S25.000 to $40,000. The smaller
size projector runs from $10,000 to
$15,000 and the big size cost up to
$300,000." Dunn said.
"We complement the projector with
projector pods and booths which make for
special effects, greatly adding to the projec
tor's solo capability" Dunn said.
Unique effects
"Some of ur most unique effects come
from these small, inexpensive projectors,"
Dunn said. "I have bought lenses for
around SI 2 (H) apiece that work just great
with our shows, mainly because they are
cheap quality lenses and cause distorted
images when e need them."
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The building the museum currently re
sides in (its fourth home) is not without
problems. It was built 51 years ago, and
some of the cases now in use" are as old as
the building. Maintenance can be difficult,
since none of the cases are air tight. Heat,
dust, and light do damage.
"You have to keep taking things off dis
play," said Griesemer. They also have to
battle the bugs that come to eat the paper
and organic matter on hand. The lack of air
conditioning is a discomfort for visitors as
well as a hazard for the displays.
Continued on page 6
The newest piece of equipment that the
Mueller Planetarium employs is the laser
beam in a show called "Laser-The Light
Fantastic."
"The laser beam has really begun
popping up in planetariums around the
country and the only thing holding it back
is the cost, which can be very expensive,"
Dunn said.
"Mueller Planetarium's laser is a single
colored beam and we could add more co
lors, but it would cost us a great deal of
money," Dunn said. "We feel we're glad to
have what we have."
"All of the laser's gyrating, fascinating
images projected upon the dome must be
run manually. It takes a lot of practice to
put a laser show together to make it run
smoothly with the music accompanying it
and also just to get the timing down pat,"
Dunn said:
"Basically, it is not the shows them
selves that cost money-we can put one
together for $50-but the equipment
that is needed runs the price up," Dunn
said. "But you have to remember that once
we buy a piece of equipment, we can use
it over and over again."
Activities not limited
Dunn is not limited to activities con
cerned with UNL's planetarium. He also is
a member of the International Planetarium
Society (IPS), a society of 10 countries
formed to exchange ideas. The United
States and Canada are the originators and it
has been growing since then.
"Currently, I am the representative of
the Great Plains area in the U.S. on the
council of the PIS, which is their governing
body," Dunn said. "We're also going
through elections by mail right now and I
have been nominated for the position of
president-elect, which would be a two
year term, starting January 1 if I was
elected."
"The IPS is an organization of planet
arium people. We were isolated as a whole
until this group was formed. Now we have
greatly increased our exchange of show
ideas, increased communication and have
information on government grants, new
materials and equipment coming out,"
Dunn said.
"The exchanging of script ideas is pro
bably one of the best examples of IPS's
usefulness." Dunn said. "I have probably
traded with 30 other planetariums, includ
ing one from Athens, Greece, and it's a
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Photo by Mark
great way to promote cooperation between
planetariums and get new show ideas.
To be a director of a planetarium one
needs to possess more than a knowledge of
astronomy, especially when the interests of
people are broadening every day, Dunn
said.
"A director's job is one that tends to
appeal to certain kinds of people, people
who like the public and enjoy working
with them," Dunn said. "You have to have
a broad background, music, science, the
arts, and especially have a knowledge of
public relations."
New techniques
"We're getting into new techniques in
promoting planetarium shows, working
with Public Service Announcements and
thinking about getting into the video field.
"Present a variety of topics" is the main
concept that Dunn said he bases his shows
on at the planetarium.
"With so many different people in the
world today, you need just as many dif
ferent ideas," Dunn said. "Your shows
have to be applicable to current events. If
there's going to be an eclipse of the sun,
well have a show featuring eclipes. When
the space shuttle is set into space, we'll
more than likely have a show on the space
shuttle."
"You have to touch and look into the
things the universe, astrology, philosophy,
energy, psychic phenomena's and areas
that wouldn't normally even be associated
with the sky. For instance, Shakespeare
in the Sky and Death and the Universe, are
topics that are very interesting, but aren't
usually connected to the stars," Dunn said.
"Audience involvement is very
important when producing a planetarium
show. You have to make it a real experi
ence for them," Dunn said. "Involve the
audience in what they see and hear, try to
get them to think about what the show is
telling them, because receiving the show's
message is what it's all about."
Movies, TV
The new advent of space-connected mo
vies and TV shows have also been advanta
geous for planetariusm, Dunn said.
"I think that the current TV shows now
are as much space fantasy as science fic
tion, and it's great for us because it's a sign
that people are interested in space," Dunn
said. "Regardless of the quality of the
science in the shows, it's still a very healthy
sign"
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Billingsley
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Photo by Mark Billingsley