NU researcher to work with NASA
■ The fuel combustion
expert worked with others
to examine a proposal.
By Michelle Starr
Staff writer
A University of Nebraska-Lincoln
researcher was recognized for his
expertise in fuel combustion by being
invited by NASA to help review a
research proposal.
George Gogos, UNL associate pro
fessor of mechanical engineering and
fuel droplet combustion expert, assist
ed in reviewing a University of
California researcher’s proposal
planned to take place on the
International Space Station.
The proposal could help solve basic
problems surrounding fuel systems,
such as those in boilers and rockets.
Gogos said it was an honor for him
to be selected out of many fuel combus
tion experts and to be invited to the
review at the NASA John H. Glenn
Research Center at Lewis Field in
Cleveland last spring.
It was a great opportunity to be
among die best scientists in his field, he
said.
“The room was full of NASA engi
neers, and it was just a coincidence that
one of the top combustion engineers
was sitting behind me,” Gogos said.
Gogos, along with Thomas
Avedisian of Cornell University and
Cary Presser from the National
Institute of Standards and Technology,
were asked to determine if the research
proposal was worth doing and to offer
suggestions for the proposal.
The proposal, which examines
bicomponents of ftiel and problems in
combustion fueling, was presented by
Benjamin Shaw, associate professor of
mechanical engineering and aeronau
tics at the University of California at
Davis.
The proposal was a culmination of
the work he has been doing over many
years, Shaw said. %
«
I’ve never given a talk that long before.
They really make you think about
what you want to do.”
m a.. |
Benjamin Shaw
professor of mechanical engineering at University of California
-- -- --■■■
The review last spring lasted an
entire day.
“It was a long process. I’ve never
given a talk that long before. They real
ly make you think about what you want
to do,” Shaw said.
The panel made suggestions, and
Shaw will present an updated and
revised proposal this spring.
The panel was pleased with the pro
posal.
The project was one of the few that
would be conducted in the combustion
module, Gogos said.
“If everything goes as planned it’s
going to be the first experiment con
dieted in the combustion module off of
the space station,” Gogos said
The project is waiting on Shaw’s
revisions and confirmation that NASA
can provide the hardware for the pro
ject Shaw said.
The project was originally planned
for 2005, but it could be executed as
soon as 2002, Shaw said.
Gogos, along with the other panel
members, will be reviewing Shaw’s
proposal again this spring, Shaw said.
Shaw has until then to pull the loose
ends together for a second review.
“He will do a lot more work until it
flies,” Gogos said.
RHA decides not to
■ The situation makes
vote abstentions count
against a bill.
ByJohnHejk&l
Staff writer *
The UNL Residence Hall
Association failed to ^ass an
amendment to its bylaws that
would have defined “majority”
After nearly an hour of debate
Sunday night, RHA gained only J 8
out of the 22 votes required for the
two-thirds majority that would
have allowed the amendment to
take effect.
“I’m a little perplexed,” said
Jadd Stevens, RHA president,
after the meeting. “I’m really
interested as to why it failed.”
The bill would have defined a
majority as a majority of all votes
cast for bills other than semester
budget bills, constitutional amend
ments and bylaw amendments.
Under current rules, a majority
must be derived from the total
number of senators, making
abstentions count against a bill.
Andrew Wigton, Cather-Pound
senator, and others opposed to the
amendment, said that abstentions
should not count as a “no” vote for
any bills, including the three
exceptions outlined in the amend
ment. —
Those in favor of the amend
ment emphasized the importance
I’m really
interested as to
why (the
amendment)
failed.”
. 1-' * '
Jadd Stevens
RHA president
of having a two-thirds majority of
all members when such large
issues are being taken up.
“We are all about the money,”
said Matt Knobbe, Abel senator.
“It is damn important that the bud
get is passed by 22 people.”
RHA also discussed the
upcoming Angel Tree project and
the semi-formal dinner and dance.
Angel Tree is an event that asks
students to buy toys for underpriv
ileged children. It will run from
Nov. 29 to Dec. 10.
Chuck Rensink, RHA faculty
advisor, encouraged students to go
to semi-formal.
“The reality is, people will go
to this if people start talking it up
in a more positive manner,” he
said.
.
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ALL MATERIAL COPYMGHT1999
THE DAILY NEBRASKAN
Suspected rapist
appears in court
By Kimberly Sweet
Senior staff writer
A professional comedian accused
of several college campus rapes
appeared in court Friday to hear argu
ments about whether certain evidence
would be admissible in his upcoming
trial.
Pre-trial motions continued on
Friday in Lancaster County District
Court for Vinson Champ, accused of
raping a Union College woman in 1997.
Champ was brought to Lincoln in
March 1998 from Pasadena, Calif.,
where he was arrested for attempted
rape. He was later linked to assaults at
Carthage College in Kenosha, Wis., and
St. Ambrose College in Davenport,
Iowa.
During the time of the attacks,
Champ was touring small Midwestern
colleges performing his standup rou
tine.
' The evidence in question includes
DNA tests done on a blood sample
obtained from Champ, information
from a day planner obtained by a police
officer in Pasadena and testimony given
by the victim and witness in the
Pasadena case.
Prosecutors also wish to use evi
dence linking Champ to the rape of a
woman in Omaha in March 1997.
The short distance between Lincoln
and Omaha and similarity in the
assaults make the evidence compelling
enough to use in Champ’s trial, said
Deputy Lancaster County Attorney Joe
Kelly.
The incident at Union College
occurred while the victim was in a base
ment musical practice room.
The Omaha incident occurred in a
u
The dissimilarities
are more than the
similarities
Shawn Eluott
Vinson Champ’s attorney
computer room on a college campus.
No weapons were used in either
case, and both were, asked to surrender
money before die assaults took place.
The suspect in both cases is accused
of forcing anal and vaginal sex, using
his own saliva for lubrication.
Champ’s attorney, Shawn Elliott,
said there is no evidence to pinpoint
Champ’s location in Omaha on March
5,1997, when die rape took place.
He also said the similarity of loca
tions, both at college campuses, is not
enough to link the rapes, since college
rapes aren’t unusual.
Variations in the way the assaults
were carried out makes each one unique
and not necessarily related, Elliott said.
“The dissimilarities are more than
the similarities,” Elliott said. I
Elliott also argued against using the
testimony of the victim in the Pasadena
case, saying she was unable to properly
identify the suspect’s face. He also
wanted to throw out testimony from a
witness for the case.
The victim elaims only to have seen
the suspect’s reflection in die window.
Lancaster County District Judge
arguments under advisement
Champ tvill appear in coprt again *
Dec. 22.
i
MQJCLLER from nase 1
-Pp-1■-:■■<
all people because of die high cost of
college. If she could change one thing
about the world, she said she would
eradicate poverty so it would be pos
sible for everyone to receive a higher
education.
Moeller has been teaching at
UNL since 1990. In this short amount
of time, she has made an impact on
many students’ lives, students said.
Laura Sullivan, a senior political
science and international affairs
major, is one of those students.
Sullivan enrolled in the Service
Learning class that Moeller taught
last spring. She said she sees Moeller -
as more of a mentor than a teacher.
“Whenever you are around her,
your troubles melt away. She makes
you feel like you can conquer the
world. She is so upbeat, and her out
look on life turns your whole day
around,” Sullivan said.
Moeller also helped Sullivan
focus her goals, and the class helped
her realize that she must make a dif
ference in other people’s lives.
Making a difference is a common
theme Moeller lives every day. She
said she hoped to be remembered
because she did make a difference
through her work.
Auction
to help
charity
■ The ninth annual Santa
Cop event raised money
for underprivilaged kids.
By Marissa Jo Carstens
Staff writer
Mark Stahlhut, the president
of the Lincoln Police Union, wan
dered around the auction floor
Saturday with a police dog, Auto,
accepting 50 cents for each kiss
from the large dog.
Meanwhile, Santa Claus took
present requests from area chil
dren, and Lincolnites bid on items
including new tires and auto
graphed Comhusker memorabil
ia.
These efforts were part of the
ninth annual Lincoln Police
Union’s Santa Cop charity auction
held Saturday at the Nebraska
State Fairgrounds Grandstand.
The auction raised $24,716.
Through the auction, the
Police Union members hoped tq
give about 3,000 Lincoln area
children a happier holiday season.
“All of the funds will go
towards purchasing toys, food
and, in some cases, clothing for
underprivileged children in
Lincoln,” said Lincoln Police Ofc.
Tom Duden, president of Police
Union Charities, Inc.
The Santa Cop program is
supported by volunteers and local
businesses and individuals who
donate to the project.
Some of the items purchased
with the proceeds will be deliv
ered to homes starting around q
Dec. 17 or 18.
The majority of the items pur
chased will be placed in a make
shift toy store created by the
Lincoln Action Society, Duden
said. -i:
Parents who applied for assis
tance will then use vouchers to
buy toys and other items for their 7
children for Christmas. .
Each year officers and mem
bers of the Lincoln Action Society
identify needy families for the
auction.
But the auction also had some
changes this year.
une addition was the auction
eer’s helpers - four members of *
the University of Nebrasla
Lincoln’s Alpha Chi Omega
Sorority - who found out about ,
the auction from their house
mother.
Sorority members Alicia
