monday, march 17, 1980
daily nebraskan
page 3
es: d
etectives of scientific
By Skip Volkmann
Riddle: What can trace the invisible trail
of a fleeing criminal; explain a mysterious
operating room death, detect a fraudulent
painting, a phony coin, a less than authen
tic statue; and save an astronaut's life?.
Answer: That super-sleuth of minutia,
the microscope.
In a slide show Friday, sponsored by the
American Chemical Society and aptly
titled "Sleuthing with the Microscope,"
Robert Z. Muggli described the detective
like work of the microscopist. Muggli is
senior research microscopist for Walter C.
McCrone Associates, Inc., in Chicago, 111.
Detective Work
"When a murder suspect was appre
hended in Illinois for a murder in Louis
iana, he vehemently denied having ever
been south of the Mason-Dixon line, and
police were beginning to believe him. But
his pants and pant cuffs were vacuumed
and in them we found pollen of Spanish'
Moss, which doesn't grow in Illinois. So we
were forced to conclude that although he
had never been south of the Mason-Dixon
line, his pants undoubtedly had," he
mused.
ASUN out of election funds
By Kent Warneke
The ASUN Student Court could call for
another ASUN election -but ASUN doesn't
have the money to conduct one.
Three cases will be heard in student
court Thursday night about violations in
the electoral procedures. The court has the
option of declaring the March 12 election
null and void and calling for a new elec
tion. If that happens, ASUN would have to
go outside its budget for money to put on
an election because all available funds have
been spent, Kim Weiland, electoral com
mission member said.
"We would probably have to appeal for
extra funds from the vice-chancellor's
discretionary fund," Weiland said.
Weiland said approximately $1,500 was
spent on the March 12 election for ballot
expenses, donation to poll workers and
publicity costs.
Lower costs so far
Tliis year's election costs are lower than
last year's because a second election has
not yet been called for, Weiland said. Last
year, Bud Cuca defeated Joe Nigro for
ASUN president in a . runoff election.
"If a whole new.election is needed, then
about the same amount of money will be
needed," Weiland said. "But if only the
executive ballot needs to be done over, it
will cut the expenses on a lot of things,
especially the ballots."
The earliest times for a new election
probably would be the week before or
after spring break. The late dates could
cause problems, she said.
In one case, students will be getting ex
cited about spring break, and in the other
they'll be getting ready for finals, Weiland
said. It would be hard to get people to vol
unteer to help with the election, she added.
"We would probably have to cut down
the number of polling places for a new
election ."Weiland said.
"It's hard to get people to turn out for
one election. No one wants to try and do
that for a second time," she said.
Weiland also said that new guidelines
probably would be established for the
ASUN Electoral Commission for the
amount of money candidates can spend on
campaigns, if a new election is needed.
No new money
Tim Munson, LSD party presidential
candidate, said his party spent approxi
mately $65 on the election. He said he felt
that no new money should be allowed for
candidates. Only the money raised for the
previous election but not used should be
spent, he said.
Na.- :e Shannon, treasurer for the US
party, said the party spent about $650 on
its campaign and used up all available
funds.
John Parsons,. STAR party candidate,
said his party spent between $300 and
$350, and if a new election is needed,
available funds would be used to campaign
harder and more thoroughly.
Jay Willhoft, independent candidate,
spent $28. He said he probably wouldn't
spend as much in a new election.
A write-in candidate, Lynn Rogers, was
unavailable for comment.
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The slides showed the microscopic evi
dence Muggli and his colleagues collected
to expose a Titian painting, painted with
modem pigments, and phony corns that
had their dates altered to make them
more valuable. He showed a "second-hand
authentic statue that couldn't fool the
keen eye of the microscopist.
With their expert ability to recognize
microscopic fibers, Muggli and his col
leagues were able to determine that a hos
pital patient died after surgery because his
plasma transfusion had been contaminated
with cotten fibers that lodged in his heart.
And NASA frequently sought their opinion
on equipment malfunctions that could have
spelled tragedy for the Apollo astronauts?
Muggli said.
Muggli said microscopists are analyzing
fibers and particles vacuumed from the
Shroud of Turin to determine its age. The
cloth is believed to have been used as
Christ's burial shroud. The results won't be
mysteries
released for two years, he said.
Little respect
Despite its many uses, however, the
microscope does not enjoy a prominent
reputation among scientists.
"One reason the microscope is so little
respected, he said, "is that it has been
around for a long time, and it's too cheap.
"A $5,000 microscope will do just
about everything you would want, and
that's just not respectable when compared
to a sophisticated $250,000, newly-invented
piece of equipment, he said.
"Another reason microscopes may not
be in vogue is nobody has figured out a
way to hook a computer to it, he said.
"The eye is the computer.
Microscopists play a game to improve
their ability to recognize unknown objects.
It's called UFO, Muggli said, and the object
is to find something that nobody else can
identify.
.Mm .-st
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