Campus/Area
University Daily Kansan / Monday, February 11, 1991
3
Devices provide new advantages Chemistry department receives grant and research equipment
By Benjamin W. Allen Kaplan staff writer
A rotating sample changer and a computer simulation program are two new devices that will give KU undergraduate chemistry students hands-on experience with sophisticated research equipment.
The sample changer, financed by a $24,000 grant from the National Science Foundation, and the computer program are accessories to the University of Kansas 'nuclear magnetic research equipment, or the NMR.
David Vander Vale (left), director of the NMR lab, and John Landgrebe, professor of chemistry, use a computer terminal linked to the NMR.
The University will match the $24,000 grant.
John Landgrebe, professor of chemistry, said the automatic sample changer would permit studies to samples to be analyzed overnight.
"It's just not the same if you read about it in a book," he said. "It makes a difference if you actually see it.
"To our knowledge, it's safe to say there are no other major universities where students get to use this power." Mr. O'Reilly said going to be a real plus for the program.
David Vander Velde, director of the NMR lab at KU, said the program and sample changer would give the researchers 200 sophomores access to the NMR
He said the program, written by Kenneth Ratzell, director of the instrument design laboratory, was designed to mimic the computer that
controlled the NMR.
Vander Velde said undergraduates would be able to gain experience before using the NMR.
"Before ever getting to the instrument, they already know what they are going to do," he said.
The NMR is one of the instruments chemists use to determine the molecular structure of organic compounds.
Landgrebe said that after running a reaction in a laboratory to produce a certain molecule, the NMR could distinguish whether they were successful.
"It tells you, 'Yes, you've got what you want, or' No, you've blown it,' " he said
Landgrebe said the grant was an example of how a strong research program augmented the undergraduate teaching program.
"This is an example where if we didn't have the research here for getting the thing in the first place we would have to go back and do the sample chaper." he said.
The core of the NMR is a superconducting magnet that is cooled to the temperature of liquid helium, or mines 269 degrees Celsius.
Thin tubes containing organic material in solution are lowered into the center of a 300 megaherz magnet, where slight fluctuations in the magnetic field produced by the magnet are interpreted by a computer.
One megaherz is equal to one million cycles a second.
The computer then can report the number of protons or carbon atoms and the type of chemical bonds associated with them, allowing chemists to elucidate the structure of the unknown organic material.
ment laboratories warn the unwary to leave all credit cards at the door, since the field produced by the instructor has been marked with numeric stripes on the backs of the cards.
The magnet is powerful enough that signs on the door to the equip-
Langrebe said the sample changer would be available in April.
Students give time to homeless project
Volunteers will camp in front of Watson to raise money for shelters in Lawrence
Rv Lara Gold
Kansan staff writer
There are 23 beds in the Lawrence Salvation Army's safe house, 43 cots in its emergency shelter and an additional 300 homeless people living in the city.
Since the Salvation Army opened Lawrence's first permanent homeless shelter Jan. 11, 1990, the beds have been used nearly 8,000 times.
However, the safe house and the emergency shelter can house only so many people because of the lack of security. The still go unnoticed and without help.
Making the future more positive for everyone by raising money for the safe house and emergency shelter Campaign, which starts today.
Dan Malmed, representative for the Homeless Campaign, said there should be more awareness about the homeless everywhere.
"I would say Lawrence definitely has a growing problem," said Jeanie Blankenship, director of homeless services for the Salvation Army.
The campaign is the philanthropy project of the Alpha Epiphany Pi fraternity. KU basketball coach Roy Williams, KU War on Hunger, Black Men of Today, St. Lawrence Catholic Council, University Council, Black Student Union and Panhellenic Black Student Union are pledged time to the project.
KU students and other Lawrence residents will demonstrate the plight of the homeless by staying outside in their dormitories or as voluntary for the next two days and nights.
"A college campus is a good place to start," he said. "We are young. We can make a difference."
Malmed said that he would like for people to come out and see what's going on and give money. The project's goal is to raise $10,000.
"It's a learning experience for us," he said, referring to living outside in boxes. "We need people to take an active part in solving the problem."
Andy Conboy, a volunteer at the safe house, said the shelter helped people find affordable housing and jobs.
"I think it's good that people are aware that homelessness exists," he said. "But we are on a tight budget. The safe house is always full."
Condobay said the safe house was not only a place for a meal and a bed but also a transitional living center.
Everyone living in the house shares house duties such as cleaning, washing dishes and doing the laundry, he said.
"The safe house helps people to begin again," Conboy said.
J. T. a safe house resident, agreed.
"Believe me, it's helped." he said.
J. T. 24, has been living in the sate house on and off for the past year after being released from the Kansas State Penitentiary for drug abuse.
He said the program at the safe house had helped bring him to a new level of responsibility in the community.
He has a job and is more positive about his future.
Historical town threatened
Proposed landfill could bury ruins
Gov. Finney talks to Verdis Robinson of Kansas City, Kan.
Timothy Miller/KANSAN
By Nedra Beth Randolph
Kansan staff writer
A proposed landfill could bury the ruins of a possible underground railroad town settled by one of the settlers. The University of Kansas.
Browning-Ferris Industries has proposed building a landfill on the site of Quindaro in Kansas City, Kan. But claims by historians that the town was part of the underground railroad have led to a legal dispute that could prevent the landfill from being built.
The case of the City of Kansas City, Kan, vs. Browning Ferris Industries is in progress, but the company failed a counterattack against the city.
The city of Kansas City, Mo,
passed a bill asking the City of
Kansas City, Kan., not to allow the
landfill, and many local residents
and Gov. Joan Finney agree that
the town was part of the underground
railroad and that its remains should
be preserved.
"This is the very essence of democracy in Kansas." Finney said yesterday. "Historically, it must be preserved."
Samuel Simpson, after setting Lawrence and setting up financing for the establishment of the University of Kansas, settled the pro-abolitionist town of Quindaro on Jan. 1, 1857.
Simpson and the other founders, established Quindaro to compete with pro-slavery towns in the surrounding area.
At the time, residents of the Kansas territory had to decide whether it would be a free state or a slave state.
But Qunidong, built on the bluffs of the Missouri River, went bust after a few years of commercial boom. His company was as one reason for the town's demise.
The Wyandotte County Historical Society and Museum conducted a presentation about the excavation of Quindaro at the George Meyn Community Center in Bonner Springs yesterday. An exhibit of Quindaro artifacts will be on display until March 17 at the museum.
There has been a great deal of controversy since the excavation of the town site a few years ago. Some people think Quandoar was a station along the underground railroad. Others do not.
Browning-Ferris, the company
that proposed the landfill, financed the excavation of the townsite.
Larry Schmits, principal investigator at Quindaro, said in a speech at the presentation that he did not think there was enough archeological evidence to prove that the underground railroad went through Quindaro.
Fred Whitehead, who is making a documentary about Quindaroo, said a full-scale, national study of the facts would reveal the facts about Quindaroo.
"There is no doubt in my mind about the fact that there was an underground railroad in Quindaro," he said. "The facts will reveal it."
He said there were historical documents that proved Quindaro was part of the tribe.
"Calling attention to it is the most important thing for Quindaro," he said.
Creative inventor saved lives with gas mask, traffic signal
Kansan staff writer
Wearing the gas mask he invented, Garrett Morgan plunged into a smoke-and gas-filled tunnel to rescue the trapped workmen inside. It was July 25, 1916, and an explosion had blasted through a Cleveland waterworks tunnel 250 feet below Lake Erie.
Morgan and other rescuers were able to go down into the tunnel without being affected by the gases and bring the others to safety.
By Lara Gold Kansan staff writer
African-American History Month
An updated version of Morgan's invention was the mask that was used to protect U.S. soldiers from enemy fire during the battlefield during World War I.
It also is the gas mask that U.S. troops and Israeli citizens are using in the Persian Gulf War.
Morgan was born in 1875 and raised on a farm in Paris, Ky. He was the seventh of 11 children born to a freed slave woman.
When Morgan was 14, he became a handyman for a wealthy landowner who hired a grammar tutor to teach her. The spark was sparked at this young age.
After Morgan made his life-saving rescue, manufacturers started producing his invention and fire departments started using it.
He invented his gas mask in 1912 and improved upon it in 1913. The improved gas mask was designed to be put on and taken off quickly.
He traveled around the United
States, demonstrating his gas mask. In Southern states, Morgan would pose as an American Indian man demonstrated his gas mask.
He invented his gas mask in 1912 and improved upon it in 1913.
But production was cut short when people found out an African-American had invented the gas mask.
However, his inventing did not stop.
Morgan invented the three-way automatic traffic signal and was awarded a patent for it Nov. 20, 1923.
His invention was different from previous "Go-Stop" signals because it had a yellow light
With the "Go-Stop" signals, a
He sold his traffic invention for $40,000 to General Electric Co.
traffic officer had to be present so the signals "go" and "stop" would not be ignored.
Morgan was not only an inventor with good business sense, he also was concerned that African Americans were adequately covered in the newspaper.
He established a weekly newspaper, the Cleveland Call, in 1920 and published it until 1923.
In 1943, he contracted glaucoma and was left almost blind for the rest of his life.
Morgan was a lifelong member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, but always was involved with improving the lives of all Americans.
However, he was continually honored by the U.S. government for his invention of the gas mask and traffic light.
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