I
Resolution argued
for flag protection
By Andy Raun ——
Staff Reporter
Slate senators and several officials
of veterans’ groups on Thursday ar
gued that the Nebraska Legislature’s
Judiciary Committee should approve
a resolution supporting a U.S. Consti
tutional amendment against flag dese
cration. .
But opponents of the resolution
said such an
amendment would
undermine the very
rights the flag was
meant to symbol
izc.
About 150
people packed a
hearing room at the State Capitol to
hear testimony on LR222. A list cir
culated in the room indicated that
most attending supported the resolu
tion.
LR222, introduced by Sen. George
Coordsen of Hebron and 23 co-spon
sors, would encourage the U.S. Con
gress to pass an amendment stating
that flag desecration was not sacred
under th£ First Amendment.
Coordsen told the committee that
his resolution would not endorse any
specific amendment but simply would
ask Congress to put one together and
approve it. The amendment then would
be sent to the states for ratification.
Thirty-eight states must approve
any amendment before it can become
law.
Eugene Schmitz, Nebraska depart
ment commander of the American
Legion, said polls indicated that 77
percent of Americans did not believe
flag burning should be protected by
the Constitution.
But Sandra George, executive di
rector of the Nebraska Press Associa
tion, said that while a vast majority of
Americans believed the flag should
not be mistreated, they did not neces
sarily favor an amendment banning
such activity.
Schmitz said that a January Gallup
poll showed 82 percent of Americans
wanted to decide the flag desecration
question by voting.
“We Americans, if given the chance,
won’t hesitate to protect our flag
through the ballot box,” Schmitz said.
Twenty-two states have passed
resolutions urging Congress to let
voters decide what to do about flag
desecration, Schmitz said.
Vernon O’Neal, commander of
Lincoln’s Legion Post No. 3, said he
thought flag desecration was a danger
to the country.
Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha, a
member of the committee, called
potential restriction of Hag desecra
tion “a nibbling away by those who
say they want to uphold the
Constitution, of one of the most im
portant guarantees” provided by it.
Chambers said that popular or not,
Hag burning legislation was wrong.
When Chambers asked Joe La
Padula, legislative director of the
Disabled American Veterans, whether
he considered the U S. Hag or the
Constitution more important, Cham
bers was greeted by a chorus of grum
bling from the audience.
But when committee chairman and
resolution co-sponsor CarPI McBride
Pirsch of Omaha told the crowd to be
quiet, Chambers said the grumblers
were entitled to their opinions.
“This is America, so let them
express themselves,” Chambers said.
African-American students
frustrated, counselor says
By Sean Green
Senior Reporter
The frustration level is close to the
breaking point for African-American
students on the University of Nebraska
Lincoln campus, an official said
Thursday night. _
Some UNL students are close to
“going off,” and the administration is
not listening, said Jake Kirkland, a
counselor and coordinator at the UNL
Career Services Counseling Center.
Kirkland made his comments dur
ing a panel discussion about race re
lations on campus at the UNL Culture
Center.
The discussion, held as part of
Black Homecoming Week, included
shouting matches, tears and outbreaks
of applause, as panelists addressed
the question “What do you think about
race relations dn campus? Are they
good, are they bad, or do they even
exist?”
Kirkland and other members of
the panel criticized the UNL admini
stration for not attending the discus
sion and said administrators were the
ones with the power to do something
about race relations at UNL.
Steve Dietz, a junior art major,
said education was the key to improv
ing race relations. To get Nebraska
students to understand minorities, he
said, education had to start when they
were in grade school, not in college.
“I was about 15 before I started to
question what was funny about a joke
containing a racial slur,” Dietz said.
“We have to find a way to make
children question what they’re learn
ing before they are old enough to
question it on their own.”
Dennis Alexander, a professor of mechanical engineering, watches a laser atomize par
ticles by blasting a 100-micron stream of water. A micron is one millionth of a meter.
Practical particles
Professor’s laser process helps environment
By Rainbow Rowell
Staff Reporter
A UNL professor has developed
a laser atomization process that
could reduce the environmental
hazards of large-scale spray paint
ing.
Dennis Alexander, a mcchani
piymnRn cal engineering
professor at ihe
'1 ¥ 1 Wj Universii\ o!
Rr Nebraska-1.m
laser atomiza
; tion, a patented
—[process for
forming fine particles. The process
can be used anywhere atomization
is needed, such as spray painting,
fuel injectors or medical treatments.
The process, which is used to
reduce a substance to a fine spray,
is better than air or liquid pressure,
Alexander said, because the fluid
being sprayed has a smaller change
in volume.
When the particles emerge, he
said, their drag is high, which slows
them down. The smaller the par
ticle is, the more it drags. Because
of this, the particles reach their
terminal velocity one to two inches
from the nozzle.
The process makes the particles
easier to control, Alexander said.
Thus, more particles end up on the
surface being painted, and fewer
end up in the environment.
Laser atomization is more envi
ronmentally safe than currcntproc
esses because particles are more
easily controlled, he said.
Alexander submitted a patent
disclosure to the Board of Regents
in 1985. The patent was granted in
September 1991.
The process is more expensive
than current atomization processes
because lasers are more expensive
than fluid or air pressure, he said.
But when environmental factors
are considered, it may be less ex
pensive.
Alexander said the equipment
involved in the painting process
sometimes was the most expensive
part of a factory. Because of Envi
ronmental Protection Agency regu
lations, plants arc required to have
a waterfall that picks up excess
paint particles in the air. The par
tides in the water form a sludge
that is disposed of in landfills.
Alexander’s process would make
such measures unnecessary. He also
said he expected the prices for solid
state diode lasers with greater power
to decrease, making the process
more affordable.
The next step would be for
someone to take his idea and make
small-scale items to sell, he said.
Alexander said he was trying to get
someone interested in licensing the
patent and developing products.
Alexander said he came up with
the idea while researching for an
army contract on how high-pow
ered lasers propagate through the
atmosphere.
One-third of revenue from the
patent goes to Alexander, he said.
One-third goes to the mechanical
engineering department, and one
third goes to UNL.
Alexander has submitted another
patent disclosure to the university
for laser-induced breakdown spec
troscopy.
This process could be used to
detect heavy metals in environ
mental samples.
Arson suspected in Harper hall fire
from start Heports
University police said arson might
be the cause of a fire in Harper Resi
dence Hall early Thursday morning.
Lt. Milo Bushing saida firecracker
that produced smoke was lit and slid
under the door of room 620. Once the
firecracker heated up, he said, the
carpel caught on tire and flames spread
to the vanity. The door and a light
fixture also were damaged, he said.
The fire was reported to UNL police
at 12:41 a.m., and caused about S50C
worth of damage, he said.
Bushing said the incident might be
nothing more than a prank with nc
intentions of arson. But until this is
determined, he said, the arson cnarge
will remain.
UNL police have no suspects at
this time, he said. A $500 reward is
, being offered to persons with infor
mation regarding the fire. Anyone
with information should call univer
sity police at 472-3555, UNL Hous
ing Office at472-3561 orCrime Stop
pers at 475-3600.
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Continued from Page 1
in Nebraska based on five criteria:
student financial aid, renovation or
remodeling, fire or
life safety projects, pilot instructional
programs and pilot research programs.
Each dollar provided by the com
mission would have to be matched by
an equal amount of non-state, private
or reallocated institutional funds.
Bruce G. Stahl, executive director
of the coordinating commission, said
the commission supported LB 1027.
He said it would help meet needs in
postsecondary education.
“The commission supports the bill,”
he said. “We hope it goes through
because there are so many needs.”
Stahl said the bill, which was backed
by Gov. Ben Nelson, was a sign of
growing support for education in Ne
braska.
“These arc tight times, and a new
source of funds to be used in this way
is a stamp of approval not only for the
commission, but a recognition of the
significant needs that might other
wise not be met in post-secondary
education,” he said.
LB 1027 currently is being consid
ered by the Legislature’s Appropria
tions Committee.