NebraiskaN_
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Comtta N*bratk*r
Mirk McVicke?, East Campus landscape supervisor, and his
assistant Tom Dobbs check the angle lor the tree’s cabling
; : system.
tDoctor’s stressed patients
' cured with saws and cable
By Cotta* L. Sheehan ;
If; Saftiof Rdm>».- :;-g • -V '• i
Mark McVicker talks about
how he assists Ms patients when
they're under a lot of stress, then
turning around, he picks np a saw
and walks toward hut latest patient.
Instead of a white coat and
jtetiioacope, McVicker's uniform
includes a hardhat and saw. His
pi stressed patterns are trees.
; McVicker, the landscape
| supervisor for die University of
NefaraskaJUncola Ham Campus,
I pattsea before climbing into the
s^fwnai bockcu s'. v y
" He points to theatres* cracks on
> m Current patient, a common
backbenry in front of the Agricul
ture Commumcatiofts building.
ffBat than common hackberry i
isn't so common. It is currently the
second largest common hack berry
in the state. The tree's large size
has caused the fitting ana stress,
McVieker said.
"We took some of the weight
off by trimming the tree, then
we'd use cables m the treetop for
support," he said.
McVieker said the high
strength aircraft cables can with
stand about 12,000 pounds of
4*fbe cables give support tut- I
der heavy winds but stiU allow the,;
oelto sway in a natural way/*
McVieker said,.iy-Ath % .
/. Whde pointing to om of his *
cured patients located near the
BagUuioo^llcViidters^dpeople J
only tKHi x thCCtew installing (ItC |
came, not the cable itself K •
Blast injures one
UNL cleans explosion mess
ny aara isauaer
Suff Reporter
Officials are still working to
clean up traces of radiation
and chemicals in a lab where a
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
graduate student was injured by an
explosion July 12 at 2:30 a.m.
Sheng Shijie received a cut on her
chin and got radiation in her hair
while conducting an experiment in
volving radioactive materials in
Hamilton Hall.
Sheng was otherwise uninjured
because of the precautionary meas
ures she had taken, according to
Larry Grimm, UNL radiation safety
officer.
Grimm said Sheng was wearing a
lab coat, gloves, a lead apron,
goggles and a mask.
“She was well protected,” he
said.
Grimm said the radiation in the
experiment was not as dangerous as
the chemical. The radiation came
from carbon-14, which Grimm said
gives off very little radiation.
Grimm said it was the chemical,
not the radiation, that set off the ex
plosion.
George Sturgeon, vice chairman
of the chemistry department, said the
chemical Sheng was using is very
touchy and unpredictable. Called
aiazomethane, the chemical can be
set off by scratches on the glass of a
beaker, he said.
Sturgeon said that although the
diazomethane had been stored for
about two years, there is no scientific
evidence that its age was a factor in
the explosion.
Sheng contaminated both the hall
and the women’s bathroom on the 7th
floor of Hamilton after the explosion.
Grimm said he already has
cleaned the hall and bathroom of
radiation. He said he will clean the
contaminated iab as soon as he re
turns from a conference in Colorado.
“We have a big mess to clean up
and it will take a couple of weeks to
do it,’’ he said.
Grimm said one problem with
cleaning up the radiation comes from
contradicting information about what
cleaning products to use. He said
clean-up crews must avoid using
cleaning products that will react
negatively with the chemical.
After the explosion, Sheng was
taken to Lincoln General Hospital
where she tried to wash the radiation
out of her hair. She was unsuccessful
because the diazomethane had
bonded to her hair, Grimm said.
As a result, Sheng had most of her
hair cut off, Grimm said.
Although the haircut probably
wasn’t necessary, he said, Sheng had
it cut for safety reasons.
Grimm said the radiation
wouldn’t have permeated the scalp
and the chemical "probably
wouldn’t have.’’
Sheng will take urinalysis tests for
several months to be sure that she did
See EXPLOSION on 2
in.. ..1,1,11 .11.. .. .III .MWI.I —.—1
Plane crashes
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) * A
United Airlines DC* 10 airliner
carrying 298 people exploded and
crested hi a Mil of ftoe Wednes
day while trying to make an emer
gency landing m Sioux City.
There were reports of survi
vors, tinted said.
The plane experienced "com
plete hydraulic failure” before
the crfcsb, Federal Aviation Ad*
ministration spokesman Fred Far*
The plane was on a flight from
Denver, with an eventual destina
tion of Chicago.
A witness, Mark Smith, said he
could see survivors walking away
from the crash.
A National Transportation
Safety Board spokesman said the
crash occurred just after 4 p.m.
Multi-Cultural Affairs program
receives $140,000 federal grant
By Diane Brayton
Staff Reporter
The University of Nebraska
Lincoln recently received a
$140,000 federal grant for a
program that will provide tutoring
and career and academic counseling
for low-income high school students.
The Upward Bound Program,
sponsored by the U.S. Department of
Education, works through colleges
and universities to reach area high
school students, said Jimmi Smith,
director of UNL’s Multi-Cultural
Affairs.
The program will increase the
numbers of low-income students
going on to college by working
within the Lincoln community,
Smith said.
“We’re going into a partnership
with Lincoln public schools," he
said.
The population targeted for the
program includes low-income high *
school students. Preference is given
to under-represented students, such
as racial minorities or women.
Students who are the first in their
family to attend college also are eli
gible. All students involved in the
program must show an educational
need.
Educational need means the stu
dent needs "extra supplemental as
sistance in order to complete their
secondary program and go on to col
lege," Smith said.
Besides offering tutoring and
counseling, the program will make
internships more available to disad
vantaged students, Smith said, and it
will teach them networking skills.
Smith said he also wants to use the
program to inform the public about
the students’ achievements. He said
the public often doesn’t recognize the
accomplishments of low-income stu
dents.
"A number of low-income stu
dents are prevented from taking ad
vantage of higher education because
of social conditions," Smith said.
"Those populations are not perform
ing up to their potential."
By offering this assistance, UNL
will be able to give low-income high
school students motivation to stay in
school and encourage them to attend
post-secondary institutions. Smith
said.
Colleges and universities nation
wide are eligible for the grant, mak
ing the process a competitive one.
Smith said.
“We have very compelling prob
lems in Lincoln that require extra
resources to combat,” he said.
“We also have resource people
who can,as a team, work to overcome
the problem, especially for the mi
nority and female population,” he
said.
Although the grant is a start, Smith
said, * ‘ it doesn ’ t even begin to scratch
the surface of need.”
“We need to use community re
sources to make it stand a ghost of a
chance,” he said.
Because of the limited money
available, UNL will be able to start
the program in only one or two area
high schools, he said.
