I— RHA giyes support to Asian-aid proposal By IevaAugstums Assignment Reporter While the economy in Asia is falling, student support for those affected is on the rise. RHA members talked Sunday about the differences between American and Asian economies; then the Residence Hall Association passed a bill support ing its dedication to University of Nebraska-Lincoln international residence hall students affected by the Asian economic crisis. RHA President Ben Wallace said the purpose of the bill was to voice support for the measures the university may adopt in response to the Asian economic crisis. I he bill states that RHA has a duty to be responsive to the needs of all of the students in the halls.” With the majority of interna tional students living on campus, Wallace said, RHA is responsible for their living accommodations. “We need to do what we can to help out our fellow students and peers,” Wallace said. “Their per manent address may be in another country, but they are our neigh bors.” Association of Students of the University of Nebraska Senator Kara Slaughter worked on the bill with Wallace and answered ques tions brought forward by RHA members. Larry Willis, a Husker Hall senator, said he was pleased with UNL and its efforts but was con cerned about the American stu dent response. “This is a very amiable thing the university is doing, but if it was our economy, I don’t think the action taken would be the same,” Willis said. Residential Enhancement Chairman Jadd Stevens disagreed. “If we can lend our support to this issue, we should,” Stevens said. “It is about lending a help ing hand and showing our sup port, not keeping our hands in our pockets.” Slaughter said this is the worst crisis that Asian countries have had, and the students would be doing a disservice to the universi ty and their peers if they were not willing to show support. “Asian students are contribut ing more to this campus than just paying tuition,” Slaughter said. “Academically they are lead ers in the classroom, and they are a rich part of UNL’s diverse uni versity culture.” In other RHA business: ■ The association is sponsor ing a $500 scholarship for out standing leadership and service in the residence halls. Applications will be available at the front desks of all residence halls on Thursday and will be due in the RHA office, 237 Union, by March 13. ■ A residence town hall meet ing will be held on Feb. 11 at 8 p.m. in the Abel Hall ballroom. The topic of discussion is UNL’s food service. Students will be able to voice their opinions again this year about dining hall food. For more information contact Stevens, Residential Enhancement chairman, (402) 436-9143. Students enthused by SCIENCE from page 1 Another activity available was chromatography, or separating plant pigments with different sol vents. Yvonne Gindt, an assistant chemistry professor at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, let children isolate proteins. The kids also tasted paper to see whether they had certain genetic traits. People with certain traits can taste chemicals others cannot. The children then determined the types of blood with a mock blood-typing kit and examined slides of animal blood under a microscope. But the presentation that gar nered the most attention Saturday belonged to Jim Carr, a brightly dressed UNL chemistry professor, who demonstrated chemical explo sions - very loud ones, which could be heard on all three floors of the museum. When Carr held a candle to an ordinary-looking balloon, a thun dering boom accompanied a bas ketball-sized ball of flame. “All the candle did was burn a hole in the balloon allowing the heat to get to its contents,” Carr said, as he explained the explosion to a crowd of children gathered around him. But the child assisting Carr had an even simpler explanation: “Whoah!” I ssassasa ■ ?* ;•;; ■ t: : *-r • t" ' '-I ■••■ • - - . ' - . ' .,• ■- • •" ■''"•••' ' - ' , ' ' V, , - . '• . ••■" ' • • "' ■ - v‘: ^ • STARTS TODAY if • . ' ■ ■ > • For a free catalog, visit www.harolds.com or call l-80