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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 6, 1997)
asteroid killed dinosaurs I By Jm Goodwin Staff Reporter David Watkins has discovered that one who digs deep enough just may find what he’s looking for. The University of Nebraska-Lin coln geology professor returned in February from a five-week interna tional drilling expedition off the east coast of Florida. The venture yielded evidence that Watkins said is proof the impact of a six- to 10-mile wide as teroid 65 million years ago obliterated the dinosaurs. Watkins — along with UNL ge ologist Mary Anne Holmes and UNL graduate student Jean Self-Trail — found the proof 300 feet below the earth’s crust in a thin, brownish-yel low layer thought to contain asteroid particles. Above the particles is a two-inch layer of gray clay, signalling a nearly dead world, Watkins said. Smatterings of evidence alluding to the theory’s accuracy have abounded for decades. However, the expedition’s discoveries prove the theory’s truth, Watkins said. “A geological record is like a bode,” he explained. “Everywhere you go there is a book, but most of the pages are gone. This is the case where all the pages are in the book, in the right order and undisturbed. There is no doubt.” Scientists discovered the asteroid particles about 1,000 miles northeast from the asteroid’s pdnt of impact on the northwestern fringe of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. And though there are still skeptics of the asteroid-impact theory, the evi dence of a collision Watkins found during his expedition disproves other theories about the dinosaurs’ demise, he said. Watkins said the cataclysm began even before the collision. The aster oid is thought to have trailed a shock wave created by its 60,000-mph en trance into the Earth’s atmosphere. The shock wave sent tidal waves roll ing over lands up to 500 miles away, Watkins said. The asteroid then met rock, in stantly vaporizing and ejecting rock particles almost eight miles out of the Earth’s atmosphere, Watkins said. The rock froze, showering the Earth with glass dust. The dust landed on glass pebbles thought to be ocean floor material melted by friction caused by the asteroid’s impact. The event almost instantaneously wiped clean the slate of biological ex istence, Watkins said. “This event reset the clock and everything started out differently,” he said. “Werre talking about two totally different systems and casts of players. “If you exploded every nuclear de vice on Earth at (Mice, the force of the asteroid’s impact would be 10 times more intense,” Watkins said. “It would have been hellacious.” Lancaster’s job market evaluated By Lori Robison Staff Reporter Over the next five years, more than 5,777 new jobs will be created in Lin coln/Lancaster County, according to a survey conducted for the Lincoln Partnership for Economic Develop ment. ij However, data collected through the Fall 1996 study indicate that many of those jobs will be for technicians, salespeople and office/clerical staff— jobs tliat typically do not require a four-year degree. The survey was requested by the LPED to evaluate the present and fu ture job market in Lincoln/Lancaster County. The study targeted businesses that earn more than half their revenues outside the area as well as those who have more than 100 employees, project executive Terri Parsons said. However, many smaller firms — which make up 92 percent of all the local busi nesses — were also contacted. The data collected by the Gallup Organization are currently being re viewed by the Workforce Development Council, a division of the LPED. The council’s goal will be to develop a rap port with and collaboration among the private and public business sectors as well as potential employees. But Parson said that while 70 per cent of job openings nationwide do not require a bachelor degree, four-year degrees are far from becoming obso lete. Development, interpersonal and computer skills will always be impor tant aspects of any job, she said. With area businesses collaborating with the education community as well as those in the labor market, she said, all aspects of the community will reap the benefits. “It really is a win-\yin-win situa tion,” Parson said. As part of. e Walt Disney World* College Program, you can do some pretty amazing things. • Learn from some of the top managers in the hospitality and entertainment industry. • Work behind the scenes at the world's number one vacation destination. • Live with people from all over the world. The opportunities are priceless! And so is the experience. You must attend our Casting Session to be considered. Start building up that resume now. Ask our Representative about special opportunities for those students who speak Portuguese. WTO SESSION MU: Thnrsday, March 13 TIME: 7 pn LOCATION: Wick Center FOR MORI INTO, CONTACT: Marsha Phelps (*02) 472-1452 Also visit us at www.careermosaic.com/cm/wdw/wdw1.html I Co. I £0£ • Drawing Creativity from Diversity ■ . _ ■_. d Jolly Rancher Screw Hriver Well j HUNKSf EVERY THURSDAY jg _ 7T011PJL E Whiskey Gin & Tonic < 5 FREE ONLINE HOURS WTTH THESE NAVDTUNL PLANS.* Low Usage Plan: 15 hours for $6.50 a month. Medium Usage Plan: 40 hours for $10.00 a month. High Usage Plan: 250 hours for $19.50 a month. And whichever you choose, we’ll give you 5 FREE HOURS every month. Additional minutes are $.02. INSTALLATION IS FREE. Call 472-5151 (students) 472-3434 (faculty or staff) or stop by 211 Nebraska Hall. * You must be a UNL student faculty or staff member to qualify for these plans. Netscape software is available in Windows and Macintosh versions. What do you think of our Hepartment of Athletics? , commitment to equity? academic integrity? fiscal integrity? rules compliance? Open Forum Wed., March 19, 11:30-1 p.m. East Union. All students, faculty and staff are welcome to give input to the NCAA certification study. ■2: Chanticleer ^^P “Orchestra
