The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, October 30, 1990, Page 3, Image 3
Radiation violations cited Inspection stirs improvements By Adeana Leftin Staff Reporter A recent inspection by the Ne braska Department of Health has prompted improvements in commu nication between UNL’s radiation officer and authorized users, an offi cial said. Larry Grimm, radiation safety officer for the University of Ncbraska Lincoln, said that although he has not yet received a formal list of UNL’s violations, his office already has begun improvements. “Essentially, I’m already moving ahead on what they’ve told us,” he said. Improved communication should correct most of the paperwork errors, Grimm said. He attributed most of the mistakes to the large number of radia tion users on campus. About 500 faculty members and graduate students work with radioac tive material at UNL, Grimm said. Although that number stays about the same each year, he said, there is an with improper paperwork. “We occasionally miss things . .. have we dotted our i ’ s and crossed our t’s on paperwork. “The state health department came through and dinged us on all sorts of things. They were incredibly picky,” Grimm said. His office has not yet been notified of the number of violations, but one problem pointed out by the health department was UNL’s use of a new radiation procedure manual, he said. The manual has not yet received the department’s approval, but should be approved by December, he said. Problems with actual radiation use have been rare, Grimm said. “I won’t say we haven’t had acci dents. We have,” he said. “The very few accidents we have had have been handled immediately.” Grimm cited one incident last year when a graduate student who was not allowed to work with radioactive material created an explosion in a lab. No one was hurt. “All we had was one big mess to clean up,” he said. $ 900,000 in funds Crash tests get boost from contracts By Cris Wildhagen Staff Reporter • The dummy went off the road in a Honda Civic and hit the bridge railing at 60 mph. The vehicle was totaled. The cost was $20,(XX). The dummy was injured, but proba bly would do it again. The Midwest Roadside Safety Facility just received more than $900,(XX) in state and fed eral contracts to continue crash-test ing roadside safety features. The University of Ncbraska-Lin coln lest site, located at the Lincoln Municipal Airport, has been operat ing since 1976. Edward Post, a UNL civil engi neering professor and director of the site, said new designs that could re duce the number of roadside fatalities arc tested at the site. “This is a very important area of safety,” he said. Each year, there is an average of 25,(KX) fatalities and 1.7 million inju ries nationwide from accidents in which the vehicle left the road and crashed into roadside hazards, Post said. The crash-test program is trying to lower that number by testing differ ent designs from agencies such as the Federal Highway Administration and the Nebraska Department of Roads. To help continue testing, the pro gram just received more than $600,500 from the Federal Highway Admini stration Pool Fund, $165,(XX) from a Federal Highway Administration contract, and $150,000 from a con tinuing study contract, Post said. Tests performed at the facility show whether or not designs for such th ings as utility poles, guard rails or mailbox supports would be roadside hazards. Post said. MwRSF is a combined effort be tween Nebraska, Missouri and Kan sas. The states share the cost of test ing common designs, then report on the design’s safety to the agencies, Post said. Beginning midnight Sunday, Oct. 28 10 a.m. — Follow-up, theft. 11:15 a.m. — University of Ne braska-Lincoln parking stall sign stolen, Harper-Schramm-Smith parking lot, $50. 12:30 p.m. — Radio and cas sette player taken from car, dash and window damaged, Acacia fraternity, 2255 Vine St., $200 loss, $125 damage. 8:15 p.m. — Magazine taken and recovered, Love Library, $2. 10:11 p.m. — Cassette player, headphones and cassette taken, Pound Residence Hall, $120. American Heart Association WE'RE FIGHTING FOR VOUR LIFE l1 § STANLEY' H. KAPLAN £■ Take Kaplan Or Take Your Chances 216 N. 11th, Suite 102 Lincoln.. NE 68508 475-7010 LSAT: 11/28 GMAT: 11/6 GRE: 11/15 MCAT: 2/3 YOU’RE PNVPTED k k ^ k d C .C ( W TO THE MULTI-ETHNIC [ ( (' C I FOOD FEST f /O * ^ 0 { Place: Friday, November 2,1990 Time: 5:00-7:00 pm Place: Culture Center Cost: $5.00 for students $6.00 for non-students ,-%—-«—p-1 Crafts show to feature artists from 8 states I The KFOR Arts and Crafls Show will be Friday through Sunday at Agricultural Hall at State Fair Park. Artists and craftsmen from eight states will display holiday gifl ideas and home decorating items. The show will be from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day and is free to the public. Lancaster County absentee ballots available Residents who will be out of Lancaster County on election day next Tuesday can vote by absentee ballot. Absentee ballots are available at the elec tion commissioner’s office, 555 S. 9th St. Office hours are from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. today and Thursday, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday and Friday, and from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Saturday. NASA physicist to address Wesleyan forum Charles Jackman, atmospheric physicist at the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, will address the Nebraska Wesleyan Uni versity Forum at 10 a.m. Nov. 9. Jackman’s lecture, “Stratospheric Q/onc Change,” will be in the McDonald Theatre in the Elder Memorial Speech and Theatre Center, 51st Street and Huntington Avenue. The forum is free to the public. Forum Continued from Page 1 “I’m an invited guest here,” he said. “I expect to be treated like one.” Charles Lamphcar, director of the Univer sity of Ncbraska-Lincoln Bureau of Business Research, said that because the lid proposal is a constitutional amendment, it probably could not be removed for three or four years. In that time, quality at the university, as well as through out the state, could deteriorate, he said. “A lot of quality students would leave, and it would probably be the better ones,” he said. “There is a high probability of quality deterio ration.” Jaksha said the term “lid” is used loosely and docs not describe his proposal. The pro posal allows continued spending increases by local and state government, he said. As long as increases arc less than 2 percent, they can be approved by the mclluxls used now, he said. If increases are more than 2 percent, citizens must approve them in a special elec tion, he said. “There is no lid,” Jaksha said. Moody called the proposal “mean-spirited” and said it punishes governments which ask for spending increases of more than 2 percent. If the voters turn down the request for funds, he said, the government is limited to no increase — not even 2 percent. Loan Continued from Page 1 White said NSLP’s regional marketing time, the federal government reimburses the guarantee agencies completely for loans that arc not repaid. Agencies that have dclault rates of more than 5 percent arc not completely reimbursed. Ninety percent of loan defaults arc reimbursed when defaults exceed 5 percent but arc under 9 percent. For guarantee agencies that have de fault rates of more than 9 percent, the reim bursement is 80 percent, approach, school review policy, education planning centers and assistance with lenders and schools will help NSLP stay within the 5* percent range. , . NSLP has proven itscll to be a sound guar antor, White said. “I think that NSLP is off to a real bright future and I foresee us serving the folks in Nebraska as we have in the past,” she said. wmsmmmmmtmmmm 1111 win—i ^-1 Joton Jimorton B A. Sociology, Eorlham Collage M.A. Sociology, Univanity of Virginia Ph D Candidate. Sociology, Univanity of Chicogo "I don’t know how anybody gets through college today without a Macintosh. Sometimes I have so many assignments that 1 barely have time for sleep. Yet my Macintosh alk)ws me to get my work done on time-without making sacrifices. ' Working on mv dissertation and field studies means * ,■ \ collecting an incredible amount of information. * So jumping from one program to another with ease is imperative, as is quickly making charts and graphs By enabling me to do these things. Macintosh ^ probably saves me an hour and a half each day. “.Another great tiling about the Macintosh is that |/ it makes v<>u feel technically confident. Remember Jy putting toys together when you were a kid? vxho reads the directions? Nobody You ltxik at the pic ture of the hike and you know exactly what Wf to do. Hie Macintosh operates the same way. ■8$/xfl I actually taught a friend to use one in two minutes. CTl "Vihat vviiiikl my life lx* like without a Macinuxsh? S# The Computing Resource Center 11 Computer Shop mj University Bookstore = Pa- lower Level, Nebraska Union L® 472-5785, Hours: 8am-5pm Why dt) people love Macintosh’? C 1990 Apple Computai. Inc Apple, the Apple logo, end Macmtoeh KL *r“ r*9;*,0r*0 OedemerKs ol Apple Computer Inc annual turnover rate of about 100 to 200 people. Everyone who uses the radiation must complete an extensive training period and is subject to routine check ups. Every two years, users must reapply for their radiation licenses. “It’s a lot of legwork” for his of fice, he said. To streamline the checkup proc ess, Grimm said that he has estab lished communication with deans, directors and chairpersons in the col leges with which he works. Previ ously, Grimm’s office had no contact with department heads. Most of the people Grimm has contacted have sent a list of their employees who arc using radiation, he said. “There arc about three or four dif ferent colleges that have to respond to us and nearly all have called us,” Grimm said. The number of violations discov ered during the inspection may look bad, Grimm said, but it is misleading. Most of the problems did not deal with misuse of radiation, he said, but