8th-grader wins UI student grant
A Williamsburg eighth-grade student, Rachel Schnebbe, is the first recipient of the UI Hygienic Laboratory Student Grant for the 2007-08 school year. Her work compares the levels of radon in water samples in five locations in the Williamsburg area.
Beginning this month, the grant will allow Rachel to work alongside the Hygienic Lab radiochemistry staff to provide radon testing, as well give the young student the chance to receive a hands-on approach to laboratory science.
"This program is important because public health and the field of radiochemistry are in severe need of growth in our workforce," Marinea Mehrhoff, the Hygienic Lab supervisor of radiochemistry, said in a release. "Students get to see something else they can do in this field."
Rachel's work at the lab will involve collecting water samples and preparing them for analysis to learn quality control standards for the procedure. The goal of her tests will be to determine whether radon levels in home water samples are below the EPA-recommended levels for health safety.
The Hygienic Lab has offered the student-grant program since 2000, with laboratories located on the UI Oakdale Campus, as well as at the Iowa Lab Facilities in Ankeny.
- by Patrick Futtner
1 killed in I-80 crash
A Wilton, Iowa, woman died and two others were injured Tuesday after a semi struck a Chevy Trailblazer that had crossed the median on Interstate 80 near the Herbert Hoover Highway interchange, the Iowa State Patrol reported.
Meghan Vanzandt-Miller, 33, died on the scene, authorities said.
According to reports, Vanzandt-Miller was a passenger in the Trailblazer, and Joshua Miller, 30, of Wilton, Iowa, was driving west on I-80, just east of Iowa City, when he lost control and crossed the median.
A semi with First Fleet carrier out of Joliet, Ill., driven by Cedar Rapids resident Gary Newman, 52, was traveling east when the Trailblazer crossed the median. The semi hit the passenger side of the Trailblazer.
Tenley Miller, 9, also from Wilton, Iowa, was also in the Trailblazer at the time of the crash.
All three occupants of the Trailblazer were wearing seat belts. They were transported to the UI Hospitals and Clinics. Reports said both Millers were injured.
- by Kurtis Hiatt
2008 Woodie Awards
