INSIDE DOUGLAS COLLEGE / JUNE 19, 1990

 

 

College employee recognized by major publication

long-time Douglas Col-
lege employee and an im-
portant American

publication have found the right
‘chemistry’.

materials that go into the products

consumed by the general public."
"like to know what things are

made of," she says. "The public

costs the same as a crystal one,
we'd wash it out and use it again."
However, the benefits of tech-
nology should not be abandoned
because of negative side effects.

 

Chemistry
Department Tech-
nician Jean Allan
has had an experi-
ment that she
developed, pub-
lished in the Jour-
nal of Chemical
Education.

It’s an experi-
ment that provides
a simple and safe
test for fibre iden-
tification, which is
usually carried out
by trained tech-
nicians using ad-
vanced equip-
ment. "It’s appeal-
ing because it

 

   

should be aware of those things

Rather, technol-
ogy has to be
used to fix itself,
says Allan.
"We've
developed all
these products,
but we have to
use them respon-
sibly.”

Currently on
a one-year leave
of absence from
her Technician
position in the
College’s
Chemistry
Department,
Allan says that
recognition from

 

 

makes you ques-

tion and observe

carefully," says Allan, who came to
Douglas College in 1974. "It il-
lustrates the actual differences be-
tween types of molecules."

Allan says that having her
work published by a major
American chemical journal is pres-
tigious for her and for Douglas
College. "It’s one of the big ones,"
she says. "Chemists at all levels are
familiar with it.”

The process of having the ex-
periment published was long and
tedious. "It took me two years to
get them to accept it. It went
through a number of editorial
levels. Each month I would get
the magazine and look for it,"
Allan laughs. Finally, in the March
1990 issue, it appeared.

Allan immigrated to Canada
from England in 1968, and em-
barked on a career in analytical in-
dustry and environment testing at
a time when such things were not
high on anyone’s list of priorities.
She describes herself as an "en-
vironmentalist concerned with the

Jean Allan

too. The average consumer has no
line of defence, so they shouldn’t
take anything for granted."

The technological age, says
Allan, is a victim of its own suc-
cess. "Technology has given us
things too cheaply. If a plastic cup

an important and

widely-read
chemical journal is gratifying. "It
feels good. It was definitely worth
the struggle."

Jean Allan is currently the
Coordinator of Workplace Hazard-
ous Materials Information System
(WHMIS) for Douglas College.

 

 

I CARE wins
National Literacy Award

Congratulations to Carol Leyland, Joyce Cameron, and all
the other workers and volunteers of the I CARE program
for bringing the Association of Canadian Community Col-
leges National Literacy Award to Douglas College. This
award recognizes the program’s hard work and successes
in the area of community-based programs.