Thursday. October 26, 1978
5
Fusion possible energy source
Staff Reporter
By RON BAIN
Thermonuclear fusion, the energy source of stars, might be harnessed by scientists in the future to produce electricity, according to Francis Prosser, a University of Kansas physics professor.
Prosser says scientists researching fusion are getting closer to controlling the forces that cause hydrogen atoms in rockets to explode.
Sunlight and all other forms of solar radiation are products of condensed thermochemistry. The temperature structures of 45 million degrees.
THERMONUCLEAR FUSION is the opposite of nuclear fission, the splitting of an atomic nucleus. Nuclear fission causes a release of tremendous energy that can fuel nuclear power plants or result in nuclear bomb explosions. Fission results from the collision of heavy, radioactive nuclei (such as uranium). Fusion results when light weight atoms, such as hydrogen atoms, are melted together by extreme temperatures under high pressure.
Thermonuclear fusion would produce less radioactive wastes than nuclear fusion, although the amount of radioactivity produced by fusion would vary depending on the fuels. Prosaer said.
He said the fuels most likely to be used in a controlled thermonuclear fusion reactor would be isotopes of hydrogen called deuterium and tritium. An isotope is a varied form of an element with the same number of electrons as other forms of the element but a different atomic weight.
DEUTERUM IS a naturally occurring isotope of hydrogen commonly known as "heavy hydrogen," Prosser said. Tritium is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen that nature but is produced by nuclear fission reactors as well.
In theory, these isotopes of hydrogen could be fused by temperatures of millions of degrees, and the energy released by their fusion could be contained in a vacuum created by magnetic forces. Prosser said. The heat generated by the fusion reaction could then be used to power steam turbines to produce electricity, he said.
However, Prosser said the theory was not easy to apply.
BUT HE said fusion research using lasers promised to result in controlled fusion reactions that were energy-efficient or that generated more energy than was used to start the reaction.
If fusion becomes a common source of energy, Prosser said, there will be little chance of running out of hydrogen to fuel the reactors.
Prosser said there would probably be no problem using the helium produced by fusion reactors as waste.
"Helium in itself is very useful and is in no sense a pollutant," he said.
IF FUSION reactors are used in the future, they will create less radioactive waste than the fission reactors already in use. Prosser said, but the problems of radioactive waste disposal will still exist.
"We should not put all our eagles in one basket," he said. "Both solar and thermonuclear energy need to be explored."
Group helps elderly combat loss of hearing
BvLYNN WILLIAMS
Staff Reporter
A group of older people meets weekly in 288 Hasswell
and a group of younger people in N. Professor thinks is the most
rehabilitating affection of all.
About 10 men and women sit, probably a little less tall in their chairs than in their younger years, and attentively watch a young woman articulate their names without speaking.
Expressions of comprehension cross their faces and each one straightens slightly, momentarily, as his or her ear hears.
Hearing loss is the major reason for the isolation and frustration that causes many older people to experience self depreciation and loss of self-confidence, John Tomkovich, assistant professor of speech and drama, said.
"That's probably a harder social problem in our society than having to get glasses or gowns or burning
WITH THE SKILL of lip reading, the hard-of-hearing can participate in conversations with younger people without falling behind and can enjoy such pastimes as watching TV and attending speeches and club meetings.
At a meeting, one client bemoaned the fact that there was no discreet, universally-recognized signal that a person could use to tell someone to speak more loudly or clearly.
The teacher asked the woman to tell the class when she discovered such a sign. The woman consented to do so, saying, however, "I may have lost all my friends by that time."
Adelia Thomas, a client, had a more blunt opinion about the problems of hearing loss.
"I think if they just opened their mouths and spoke," she said. "As far as they are concerned, they're mumbling and she said."
University Daily Kansan
THE CLASS members listen together, adding their ideas, as a clinician gives them hints for understanding people in difficult situations. She suggests tricks such as ruling out words about baseball in a conversation about gardening and listening for language that is habitual for the age group of the speaker.
Several clinicians, graduate students of speech-language pathology or audiology, stand against the walls, rising in pairs to enact real life situations that could arise to test their elderly clients' new hearing skills.
Speech-language pathology is the field of diagnosis and treatment of all disorders related to speech and language, Tonkovich said. Audiology refers to the field of diagnosis and non-medical treatment of hearing losses and
At one meeting, a radio is played to provide the distraction of background music at a mock cocktail party. The clients drink juice, eat cookies and circulate or remain seated, chatting with other clients.
Hearing aids tend to bring in the more distant noises of background conversation and music, a male client said.
Another male client suggested an alternative to speaking to someone in a noisy room was "to hail them
Clients are given sheets with the sentences but the clinician does not mouth them in the listed order. Thus, the clients must guess each sentence. Some make out only a word; another respond is given positive reinforcement.
In another real-life simulation, a tape of cafeferia notes is played as a clinician mouth sentences that might be used in an emergency.
"If they were being paid by the minute they couldn't be nicer." client Emmy Burgress said.
"THEE IS a similarity between a cud-chewing cow and a gum-chewing girl," a woman client said. "But the difference between them is the thoughtful expression on the cow's face."
Some of the clients report improvements in their lire-reading ability.
"I watch these soap operas and we have an awful lot of interference with those dormitories," one woman client said. She is now able to follow the plot of the story by reading the actors' lips, she said.
In another skit a female clinician chews gum and speaks to another clinician as clients attempt fruitlessly to explain how the drug works.
Before the class ends, the clients go off to individual booths, each with an assigned clinician who has worked with them.
JULIA EYER, a clinician of speech language pathology, said, "You plan a program just for that client."
The class has been offered for three semesters, beginning last spring, Larry Marston, professor of speech and drama and Tonkovich's fellow supervisor of the clinicians said.
The only fee charged is a dollar for the students who ride the minibus to the class.
Originally, a $5 fee was to be charged.
"There were some individuals who indicated that they wouldn't be able to come because of that expense,"
He said the clinic followed the example of a number of universities by offering the reduced fee for the elderly.
IT COULD be easy for the younger observer to view considerations like special fees as another sign that this clinic is for a distinct minority of people different from himself.
But then he remembers the rejoinder of a grazing client to a young clinician's declaration that he didn't understand the problems of dentures because he had never worn them.
"You'll be old enough some day," she said.
Crossing-quard clown
Staff photo by RANDY OLSON
Opal Facklam, 229 Grant, horses around with one of the regulars, Jim Fainer, 9, at her corner on 7th and Locust.
Sorority Orientation Meetings Thursday, October 26th
7:00 pm Woodruff Auditorium, Kansas Union For Residents of GSP and Corbin
8:30 pm Woodruff Auditorium, Kansas Union For Off-Campus and Scholarship Hall Residents
8:00 pm Lewis Hall Living Room For Lewis and Hashinger Residents
8:00 pm South Ellsworth Cafeteria For Ellsworth and McCollum Residents
8:00 pm Oliver Living Room For Oliver and Naismith Residents
...
Come find out about sorority life! University of Kansas Panhellenic Association 104B Kansas Union 864-4643
HOMECOMING CONCERT
with special guests
ASHFORD & SIMPSON and Michael Henderson
This Saturday at 8:00 P.M. Allen Fieldhouse, Lawrence
Ticket prices: $7.50 and $8.50 KU Students $6.50 and $7.50 with I.D.
Career Center for Women in Research & Technology (CWRIT) - Rockville, MD - Career Center for Women in Research & Technology (CWRIT) - Rockville, MD - Career Center for Women in Research & Technology (CWRIT) - Rockville, MD
CWRIT - Careers Center for Women in Research & Technology (CWRIT) - Rockville, MD - Career Center for Women in Research & Technology (CWRIT) - Rockville, MD
Another Lewis Grey and SUA Production
Model Number 8644358
Need help? Advertise it in Kansan want ads. Call 8644358
Need help? Advertise it in Kansan want ads Call 864-4358