Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (April 1, 1988)
Prof fights back against allergies By Eve Nations Staff Reporter While many allergy sufferers sneeze their way through spring, Margaret Bolick fights back by studying pollens and their effects. Bolick, curator of botany and associate professor of museum and biological sciences at the Univer sity of Nebraska-Lincoln, became interested in the study and crushing of pollen because she has pollen allergies herself. “I’m one of the few pollen suffers that can get back at the pollens,” she said. Bolick tests the air to see which pollens arc in the air at certain times. During different times of the year, several different pollens arc present. For instance, during late March and early April, juniper and elm pollens are abundant. “No one identifies the specific kind of pollen that is in the air, they justgive the pollen count,” she said. My research will help understand what is going on by knowing which pollens arc in the air.” Collecting pollen samples is not difficult. Bolick sets out slides coated with Vaseline on the roof of Nebraska Hall. The slides capture the pollen grains that arc in the air. The slides arc left out for about five hours. Weather affects the pollen count. The pollen count will be higher if the weather is dry and there is a low relative humidity. “Ten minutes of rain washes a lot of the pollen out of the air,” Bolick said. “If someone wants to air out their house, it is best to wait for a rainstorm when pollens are out of the air.” People can develop allergic re actions any time in their life. Usu ally there are peaks in people’s lives when they develop allergies. These peaks usually develop during pu berty and the late teens and early 20s. Stress is also an important factor 7 Aj / in allergies, she said. “Stress can trigger allergies,” Bolick said. “A lot of kids don’t get allergies until they hit the campus.” Bolick also studies how the al lergens in the pollens are released. She is specifically interested in the structure of the pollen walls. “I am trying to see how strong the pollen walls are,”she said. “The variety of types of walls are amaz ing.” No one has done this type of research before, she said, because researchers did not have the right equipment to measure the pollen walls. *‘I talked to some engineers and found out that there was no work able equipment. I then got in con Andy Manhart/Dally Nebraskan tact with the National Science Foundation and talked with them about devising equipment,” Bolick said. Test results of pollen wall strength are different from what were firstpresumed. The testresults showed that the pollen walls are not hard and brittle, as thought before Bolick’s research, but arc tough and flexible. Bolick said the research will take years to fully understand the pollen. “There are thousands of differ ent types of pollens and pollen structures,” she said. “With the equipment here, it will take years to complete.” RHA pay bill tabled Bergmann: Bill has backing for reintroduction By Brandon Loomis Staff Reporter After much debate Thursday, the newly elected 19th Senate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Residence Hall Association voted to table indefinitely a bill that would pay its executive officers. Ken Libby, former Speaker of the Senate and originator of the bill, said the senate could attract and retain good officers by paying them. Harper Senator Christopher Lehan disagreed, saying that volunteers should better serve hall residents before expecting a salary. Lehan said if the officers want money, “let them run . . . for U.S. Congress. This is not the U.S. Con gress.” Ellen Foley, Sandoz senator, said she opposes paying RHA executives because such an action would in crease student housing costs. “I don’t think RHA has made enough impact on residents to get paid,” she said. Selleck Senator Doug Wetzel said paying executives would make RHA an elite organization. Abel Senator Marlin Bergmann, whom the senate elected as its speaker Thursday, said although the bill was tabled indefinitely, and can no longer be discussed, it has enough support to be reintroduced as a new bill. In other business, the senate voted to give the University Program Coun cil $500 to finance a Club Coca Cola dance on East Campus April 13. TaraTwedl, a UPC representative, said UPC needs $1,000 before it can decrease dance ticket prices from S4.50 to $3.50. All proceeds will go to the Special Olympics. The senate also voted to let the College Carpet Organization sell carpets on campus during FINK week in the fall. RHA will receive 10 per cent of the profit. < lop students to be honored oy Amy rewards Senior Reporter Students who have earned distin guished scholarship awards will be recognized April 8 at the 60th annual honors convocation. Patrice Berger, honors program director at the University of Ne braska-Lincoln, said Thursday that 2,039 UNL students will be recog nized at the convocation. There are three levels of recogni tion, Berger said. A Chancellor’s Scholar Award will be given to 11 students who have received a 4.0 grade point average throughout their college career. The Superior Scholar Award will be given to 223 students who have either been in the upper 3 percent of their graduating class or have been on the honors convocation list since en tering the university. The Chancellor’s and Superior Scholars Awards are available only to seniors who graduated in December i / or who will graduate this May or August. All other students at the convoca tion will receive High Scholar Awards. Berger said High Scholars must have an accumulative GPA of 3.6 and have met other requirements. The requirements for juniors, sophomores and freshmen include a minimum of 12 credit hours during the fall semester, at least nine of which arc graded. Seniors must have completed a minimum of nine credit hours, at least six of which are graded. The honors convocation is an all university function sponsored by the chancellor’s office, he said. The con vocation will be at the Bob Devancy Sports Center at 2:30 p.m. Berger said about 30 more students will be recog nized at the convocation than last year. However, he said, there arc 25 fewer Superior Scholar students than in 1987. All students are invited to attend the convocation, Berger said. ••S' BEER & WINE AT NOON 17 HAPPY HOUR 6-CLOSE BEER & WINE AT NOON MONDAY NCAA FINALS Big Screen TV BLUE MONDAY Free Taco for each 11 Blue Margarita you order (after 8 pm) TACO BAR 50c each (8-11 *«>0FF 6-CLOSE Blue Jumbo BEER & WIN MARGAR,TAS AT NOON Ov 27 WEDNESDAY TACO BAR Every Wednesday 50c Tacos 8-11 pm THURSDAY TEX-MEX FEST 1/2 price appetizers ( • % $1.50 Long Island Ice Tea $1.50 Long Necks FRIDAY HAPPY HOUR 3-7, 10-close 22 HAPPY HOUR 3-7,10-close I 2 SATURDAY HAPPY HOUR 12-5,10-close HAPPY HOUR 12-5,10-close ~ HAPPY HOUR 12-5,10-close 23