Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (June 25, 1985)
Tuesday, June 25, 1985 University of Nebraska-Lincoln Vol. 84 No. 161. Weather: Partly cloudy and continued hot and humid today with a 20 percent chance of thunderstorms. Expect a high of 93 (34C). Tonight will remain humid with a low of 67 (19C). Partly cloudy and cooler on Wednesday and Thursday with highs in the 80s (30C). Barb BrandaThe Nebraokan Responsibility and fun mii: at the pool. ..Page 6 3 Columnist sides with female athletes. ..Page 7 ' '-'V.. Supporters still hope for vet school Mark DavisThe Nebraskan As traffic passes on Highway 2, a large funnel cloud threatens to touch down near 40th Street. No tornadoes touched down in Lincoln, hut high winds, hail reportedly grapefruit size and flash flooding caused damage in and around the city. By Michael Hooper StaflT Reporter When LB204 was passed by the state legislature and signed by Gov. Bob Ker rey earlier this month the NU Board of Regents were authorized to negotiate with other states to establish a cooper ative veterinary school at UNL. A UNL veterinary college task force visited five states to inspect their vete rinary colleges. Ronald Roskens, NU president, and four NU regents made follow-up visits to Mississippi State University and Kansas State University. A cooperative veterinary school with one school, instead of the present con tractual five, will make it easier for the vet student when applying, according to UNL veterinary school coordinator, Gene White. "We have a contract basis with five different university schools, but they have five different pre-vet require ments," Gene White said. This makes it difficult for a student to prepare for veterinary college because he or she must apply to more than one institu tion, he said. "Nebraska has no say in four of those schools' (application requirements)," White said. There is a little more than $2 million in Nebraska funds spent each year to keep 157 veterinary students enrolled at the other universities, White said. "We're proposing to have the stu dents do their clinical training within the state," White said. "The students would get their basics at another col lege," he said. "The proposed arrangement would keep the $2 million in the state," he said, supporting the new veterinary clinic. Keeping the money in the state would benefit Nebraska economically, he said. "It's really like bringing a new industry into the state with a 2 million dollar pay-off," White said. The regents are considering four vet clinic options, but White said he wasn't sure that the regents would be discuss ing them at their next meeting. Continued on Page 3 Construction continues at Health Center By Colleen Kenney Staff Reporter The University Health Center's new addition is about three-fourths completed and should be finished by the beginning of the fall semester, a UHC official said Friday. But this summer, despite extensive construc tion work and some inconveniences, the center is operating close to normal, said Gary Wilkin son, director of business services at UHC. "We've operated at almost our full service for a long time," Wilkinson said. The quality of patient care is not affected by the construction work, he said. "But we're all misplaced," Wilkinson said. While the $30.5 million addition will be adding no new features to the UHC services, the extra 20,387 square feet will give UHC physicians and employees more room to work, Wilkinson said. The new east wing will hold five new exam rooms, bringing the total to 25 exam rooms. However, the number of beds will decrease from 14 to six because of advances in medical technology and "philosophical changes," Wil kinson said. "If you can send them home, send them home," he said. In many cases, a patient's condition can be treated at home or in the dormitories as well as at the center, and that costs less money, he said. Last year an average of three to five beds were used at the same time, he said. If more beds are needed, the patients will be taken to Lincoln General Hospital, he said. The six physicians and the physician's assist ant will have two and one-half times more office space, he said. The Health Center was designed to serve a maximum of 15,000 students when it was, con structed in 1958, Wilkinson said. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln now has more than 24,000 students. ' The new addition is designed to hold a third story if more space is needed in the future. This summer, over-night patients are served heated frozen fDod because the former dietary kitchen is a pathway for cables and other con struction equipment, Wilkinson said. "The dietary services are really limited," he said. Patients will have to endure the construction noises, he said. Sometimes physicians "couldn't hear heartbeats" while examining patients near the drilling, Wilkinson said. Dust and lack of air-conditioning in the old part of the building are other inconveniences, he said. "We have no air movement whatsoever," Wil kinson said. But center's personnel and patients have "maintained a good sense of humor," he said. Students visiting the center must ring a buzzer at the south side of the new addition to enter. The Health Center is open Monday through Friday this summer, 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. A physician is on call from 4:30 p.m. until 1 1 p.m. weekdays and all weekend. There is a $10 after-hours charge. Treatment sought Nitrates pollutin g water By Kip Fry Staff Reporter Biological de-nitrification and chemical pre cipitation may "sound Greek" to most people, but according to the chairman of the UNL Civil Engineering Department, these processes may save Nebraska drinking water from high levels of dangerous nitrates. "Nitrates have long been recognized as the state's primary water problem," said Dr. Bill Kelly. The problem arises when fertilizers contain ing the chemical are washed into streams and rivers, Kelly said. This skyrockets the level far above the recommended ten parts per million. Health risks are the major concern of re searchers. Blue baby syndrome is known to be caused by nitrates. Infants are also extremely susceptible to the effects. State regulatory people will make communi ties with high nitrate levels get a new water supply," Kelly said, "such as drilling a new well." But treatment so far has not been successful, he said. A new process designed to eliminate the nitrates could save money for Nebraska and its towns," Kelly said. "Some communities just don't have that kind of money." Biological de-nitrification is just one of the numerous projects in the experimental stage at UNL. The process, said Dr. Mohamed Dahab, assistant professor of civil engineering, removes the chemical with a biological culture. "The nitrates are then transformed to nitro gen gas, and the nitrogen bubbles to the top," Dahab said. "Nitrogen makes up 80 percent of the air we breathe so it is not harmful." If this proves successful, it will be used for medium to small-sized communities. But Dahab adds that it will not be suitable for home use. It will then be used as a pre-treatment before it goes through a water treatment facility. Dahab's project has been funded through the UNL Water Resource Center. The Center, a federally-funded project, in turn finances researchers whose endeavors concern water problems dealing specifically with Nebraska, according to Karen Stork, administrative assistant. While some researchers have been greatly aided by such funds, not everyone is able to get the needed money to get their research off the ground. Continued on Page 3 f" 1 -n i -" " ''' ilium-. ii u ..J. pi. 1 1 niwwww r mm, -Luiiij! i t V 'ft 4J I v4 tr ' "' - .'-I -'" lit' Mark DavisThe Nebraskan Dan Halstead trys to come up with a good idea after a Bobcat bulldog er became stuck in the mud during construction at the University Health Center.