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Show - jk " r .1, r " ... " Obituaries C2 11 j fTfCnS ' 'r I (T Monday, November 29, 1993 The Daily Herald 1 8th century pharmacist a hero of science Carl Wilhelm Scheele is one of the unsung martyrs of modern science. ' An 1 8th Century Swede, he was trained as an apothecary or, in a present vocabulary, pharmacist. In those days, apothecaries generally made their own potions and drugs, and Scheele was no exception. And he loved the work we today call chemistry. He was gifted indeed; his work led to numerous lucrative job offers. He turned them all down to remain Orem appropriates JyracSs m Graffiti By DONALD W. MEYERS Herald Staff Writer OREM There's something painted in your neighborhood, and it don't look good. Who ya gonna call? In December, call the Graffiti Busters. Ted Peacock, public safety director, said the city council's appropriation of funds for graffiti re- moval equipment will allow the department to get the program up and running in December. The program would use volunteers to remove graffiti from public and private walls as quickly as possible, Peacock said. So far, the Key Club at Orem High School, the Kiwanis and alumni of the Citizen's Academy A have offered to staff the program. Peacock said the business community has responded to the idea with enthusiasm. Originally, Peacock sought a $15,000 appropriation to purchase a water blaster to strip the graffiti from walls, and an old hearse to transport the volunteers and equipment. The request was pared down to $5 ,000 when he learned that the city's public works department had a similar piece of equipment. Peacock said tests between the proposed piece of equipment and the city's device found they were high-pressu- re almost the same, but the city's could be refitted to perform as well. The tests were done at local businesses that had been hit with proudly said. "Gangs put up graffiti to communicate with other gangs. If we don't let them communicate with each other, they are not going to he here. Ted Peacock, Orem public safety director graffiti. "Our piece of equipment upheld the city directive by removing the graffiti and then some," Public Works Director Richard Manning Manning said new nozzles would make the city's blaster less destructive to the painted surface it was cleaning. Peacock said he is in the process of obtaining a hearse from a local undertaker to transport the Graffiti Busters and their gear to graffiti sites. The only critical comments on the program came from Councilman Kelvin Clayton. Clayton suggested the program should be run with less fanfare, and without a hearse. He explained that if the city makes a public show of removing graffiti, it may embolden the artists, who will try to replace the removed art in a grander fashion. He also suggested that a pickup heartfelt thanks B USUI'S truck from the city motor pool could perform the transport duties as effectively as the hearse. "I know I'm not looking forward to riding in a hearse," Clayton said. Peacock said making the work ' fun, by parodying the Ghostbus-ter- s movies and using a hearse, will encourage more volunteers and keep the enthusiasm up. Also, there is a serious law enforcement reason for removing the graffiti. "Gangs put up graffiti to communicate with other gangs. If we don't let them communicate with each other, they are not going to be here," Peacock said. The city has adopted a policy towards gangs and zero-toleran- ce gang-relat- activities. ed Company creates y Jdfciyf Science' & r I f innovative ' .? "sy Society is. ."..4K r. at his workbench. ... link system 0 By SHEILA SANCHEZ Herald Staff Writer fmnf V One of his discoveries in 1773 was oxygen; he found several different ways to isolate it. But as often happens in science, hedelayed in publishing his data. He finally got around to it in 1777. But by that time Joseph Priestley had both discovered and published the existence of oxygen, so Priestley gets all the credit and Scheele gets only a footnote. entre-prenue- ... S': In 1774, Scheele discovered a gas. The old Greeks had a term for such a color: chloros. Scheele borrowed from that term to name his smelly new chemical: chlorine. yellowish-gree- n . And the substance turned out to have some incredible qualities. Its , virtues were first seen as a bleach for wood, cotton and linens. It was a brutally corrosive gas, however, and it damaged metal equipment and machinery in a hurry. But by 1789 someone found that it could be combined with a potash and tamed down adequately for reasonable use. And interest in it grew rapidly. It seemed to combine quickly and easily with nearly everything. In Scheele's time it was thought still to be a combination of two or more elements, but in 1 8 10 it was shown to be a pure element in its own right. And it is one of the most reactive of the 100 or so known. Due to this chlorine virtually never occurs alone in nature; me single exception I know is as a tiny component of some volcanic gases. It makes up i only 0.03 1 percent of the earth's crust. We encounter it daily, of plain old ; course, as table salt ; sodium chloride. And the two principal ores from which it comes are rock salt (halite) and silver chloride or horn silver. hyper-reactivit- y, ! :But we don't use the two to make chlorine gas. Rather, we usually prepare it from rock salt in water, as in ocean water or inland lakes such as the Dead Sea or the Great Salt Lake. By applying electricity to the solution, chlorine gas is derived. It is cheap and it is incredibly useful. ,1 ! ; ; . ; i i In the early years of this century we discovered that it could purify water, and now 98 percent of all i American drinking water is treated , with chlorine or chlorine-base- d ; disinfectants. We drink it, we use it Sn the manufacture of nearly everything we use. We are a society built solidly on chlorine. ; We also found it could kill it was the earliest gas used on the battlefields of World War I. And it apparently contributed to the death of its founder. Carl Wilhelm y Scheele. For he died at the age of 43, apparently rrom inadequate safety measures with his chemicals. too-earl- And now Acre that it is contributing to too ! many deaths among us as well. We have a classic case of weighing the ' benefits against the cost; of educating ourselves so we can ; understand the issues Involved in a coming political brouhaha of high-- . stakes propositions. We'll pursue that natter further. is growing ; concern 2a Herald PhotoJennifer Grigg BYU's Nathan Hall accepts his team blanket from BYU President Rex Lee Saturday. Traditionally, seniors are given the blanket at the last home game. Hall, a Texan who came to BYU from Ricks College, tugged at the heartstrings of fans when a heart problem forced him from the field during the Fresno State game. Hall later returned to finish the game and the season. Orem OKs plans for park near sewage plant By DONALD W. MEYERS Herald Staff Writer Half of an OREM tract next to the city's sewage treatment plant is destined to become a city park. The city council recently approved plans for the proposed Springwater Neighborhood Park, at 1000 South next to the city's sewage treatment plant. The plans were created by the city's Recreation Deprtment and a citizen's committee. Jerry Ortiz, recreation director, said the park would actually occupy five acres. The remainder of the 11-ac- re property would be used to create a buffer between the park and the plant, with the hope of abating the smells coming from it. No date has been set for work to begin on the project. Ortiz said the next step will be to prepare bid materials. He estimated the cost of the project to be $475,000. Ortiz said this is not the first time a citizen's committee has been used for a park project. He said the city has been using the committees for the last 15 years. Garry Maag, chairman of the citizen's committee, said the members of the committee were all Sanpete school district building costs should rise N. By IDA. O. DONALDSON Herald Correspondent - ConstrucMT. PLEASANT tion costs are presently 10 percent higher than anticipated at the time of the North Sanpete School District bond election which will in- crease anticipated construction costs of proposed district projects. School architect Dale Allsop has recommended to board members that it might be necessary to scale down the four remaining projects or eliminate a project entirely if spring construction costs are similar to costs stimulated by the existing construction market. He said if the construction market continues as is, or worsens, there is a distinct possibility that bids on any or all projects could come in higher than anticipated. Board members, however, are unwilling to accept AIlsop's recommendation and have instructed Allsop to proceed with design work for all four projects (construction of Fountain Green Elementary School and adding on to North Sanpete high and middle schools and Mt. Pleasant Elcmen- - tary) and prepare for bidding around April 1, 1994. Construction of Moroni Elementary School is not included in the proposed building projects (although it is included in the bond) because that school is already under contract and currently under construction. Allsop .said projects for cities and counties are currently experiencing 20 to 40 percent cost overruns because of the market crunch and anticipation of a severe winter. Other areas in the state are experiencing similar construction problems. Estimated construction costs approved by North Sanpete voters during the Aug. 31, $5.5 million bond election, and which includes a 5 percent contingency, include: $1,658,223 for a new Fountain Green Elementary School; $1, 861,946 and $860,293 respectively for additional classrooms and rooms at the high school and middle school, and $421,606 for additions to Mt. Pleasant Elementary. Allsop said the school district has not prioritized the projects. multi-purpo- asked for what they considered the ideal park, and the best from each option was incorporated into the the traffic and smells associated with the sewage plant, plus provide residents with a measure of securi- proposal. The proposed park will feature a tennis court, a basketball court, volleyball court, horseshoe pit and several pavilions. There would also be a small sandlot for small children to play in. ty. Maag said the park would be accessible either from a proposed subdivision on Geneva Road, or by driving through the Springwater neighborhood. There would be no opening on the 1000 South side, only a berm and trees along that side of the park. Maag said the berm and trees would further shield the park from "AH you get down that road are plant workers, truckers and beer drinkers. They are looking for places to drink beer," Maag said. By limiting the access lo the park, residents can see if beer drinkers are going into the park and call police. Councilman Keith Hunt said the plan, without opening up 1000 South, the plan appears too dependent upon the construction of another subdivision to open up the Geneva Road access. "I appreciate the concern to have the park as private, but it is not good planning." Work on new library wing could start early next year By DONALD W. MEYERS Herald Staff Writer Work on the proOREM children's wing of the public posed library could start as early as measures March, once are completed. Library Director Dick Beeson said the city took the first step towards trimming $1 million off the proposed $4.15 million project recently by hiring a general contractorconstruction manager. Culp Construction Co. was recently hired as the contractor and manager of the project for 4 percent of the total cost of the contract.- On a $4 million contract, Culp's fee would be $160,000. Beeson said the Salt Lake City contractor is the same one that did the renovation of the Cathedcral of the Madeline in Salt Lake City. Bids received in September after the ceremonial groundbreaking came in almost a million doltars over the budgeted cost. The project was sent back to the drawing board in an effort to find ways cost-cutti- PROVO Education communication technology is giving big rewards to young working for Parlant Technology. With offices in Provo, the company, which opened in 1989 with three employees and made about $100,000 in sales during its first year of business, has developed into a $3 million dollar operation with 28 employees. The secret to their success? There are many. One secret Parlant Technology President John Graff, 28, is willing to share with the media is the company's creation an interactive of ParentLink communication system allowing teachers and parents to communicate when it's most convenient for them. Graff also said the company has a new product on the market called Teacher's Assistant, to pare costs. The cost cutting will be one of Culp's main responsibilities. Beeson said Culp will work with the subcontractors on the project to find ways to reduce the cost without compromising on the services the library would offer. The project calls for constructing additional shelf space for the children's section, which is now housed in the basement, putting in a story room and a garden area for outdoor activities. The addition would be located on the north side of the building. "We're beginning to look at every nail and footing," Beeson said. He said the library project was the victim of the construction boom that has hit the state. With plenty of available work, construction companies are charging more for projects, Beeson said. He noted that the project has caught the attention of contractors in states where the economy has not been as good. He said the city received a bid from an architect in Illinois. rs allowing teachers to keep grade books in the computer. No longer will children be able to hide from their parents their report cards and grades. The system allows parents to call the school to find out what grades their children have received. Mapleton Elementary School has purchased the system and Graff said the results have been incredible. ParentLink works via computer. The computer program automatically calls every school student since it has all of their home telephone numbers, Graff explained. The system usually has several telephone lines. It is designed specifically for school use, but can easily be adapted to other uses, Graff said. Cost of ParentLink depends on the school's size. Teacher's Assistant is an additional module to ParentLink. The Parent-Lin- k system is available for less than $2,495 for a school with approximately 300 stu- dents, Graff said. phone, Using a touch-ton- e parents can receive specific information about their child and general information about what's happening in the school. Parents can punch in a teacher's number for a recording of homework assignments or daily summary. They can also punch in other numbers to obtain information about their child's grades, attendance record, missing assignments or deadlines for future assignments. Parents can also leave messages for teachers and report excused absences. "Based on statistics from schools across the country using ParentLink, parent involvement with the schools creases, in- higher homework completion rates are achieved and student can be improved," Graff added. "ParentLink makes it easy to keep up with w hat's happening in the school and gives the parents a frequent, two-wa- y self-estee- m communication Graff said. network," |