University of Kansas - Jayhawker Yearbook (Lawrence, KS)

Page 31 text:

tt El to That theory says that earth tempera- I, I ures may be slowly rising because green- I . it iouse gases such as carbon dioxide and ' ' ome pollutants are building up in the tmosphere, trapping heat near the arth ' s surface and aggravating a Irought. Bogner doesn ' t put much stock in that ' ' : i heory explaining the winter ' s conditions. ;:.:. It would have to take effect over hun- : , reds of years, Bogner said. You : j ouldn ' t be able to notice it over a life- ime. Bogner ' s statements are backed up by ; L , ;i mdings from the National Oceanic and Umospheric Administration reporting na tai significant evidence of temperature in- - -, rease in this country between 1895 and : ..j 987. The NOAA study analyzed re- : , : , ords of temperatures and precipitation rom about 6,000 locations for almost a ,..,.: entury and found only expected seasonal ariations. So much for December and January. ut what about the bone-chilling cold air -. HH ----- .5 -..;;, jitj nat abruptly entered the scene in Febru- The culprit responsible for that mur- ... .,, erous cold is an Omega Block that devel- ... ped in Alaska, according to Joe Eagle- , lan, professor of atmospheric sciences ' k ad of that department. Eagleman described the Omega Block .. .. SB a well-developed weather system with rcles of high pressure concentrated round it. The bands of high pressure ike the rounded shape of the Greek let- i omega, hence the name. Air pressure is literally a measure of ie weight of the atmosphere. The air t f as certainly heavy in Northway, Alaska, .. i n Jan. 31, the day before the cold air .ached us. On that Tuesday, the Na- . ( onal Weather Service recorded a baro- , letric reading of 31.85 inches, the high- j t atmospheric pressure ever measured in { le Western Hemisphere. Eagleman said that one of the charac- t teristics of this block of high pressure was its stability. Systems usually respond to heating in the tropics and cooling in the polar areas, he said. Heat is then transferred to the poles, and vice versa. That ' s the reason for winds. Sometimes though, there is less mix- ing for a while, and things stabilize. The stabilizing effect of the Omega Block built the intensity of the cold air, Eagleman said. Another factor was the long arctic nights in Alaska during the winter, resulting in only two or three hours of sunlight each day. The long periods without the sun ' s heat helped to build a pool of dense, frigid air that was the catalyst for Alaska ' s record-setting cold. The clockwise circulation of air around the high pressure system kept building in strength as it picked up more and more cold from the North Pole until it finally overpowered the warm air south of that system and pushed it toward Canada and the continental United States, Eagleman said. Andrew Morrison Taking advantage of the first snow of the year, David Whitaker, Onterville, Ohio, sophomore sleds behind McCollum Hall on Feb. 5. 27

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' When University of Kansas students look back at the winter of 1988-1989, they will remember the week of Jan. 31, during which temperatures in Lawrence dropped 8 1 degrees - from a high of 71 to a low of 9 below zero - in just four days. When weather historians look back at the winter of 1988-1989, they may be tempted to call it The winter of La Nina and the Omega Block. La Nina and the Omega Block are the two most prevalent theories for a winter that began with drier-than-normal condi- tions in December and mild temperatures in both December and January, but which suddenly became arctic on Feb. I, accord- WEIRD WINTER WEATHER by Bill Kempin ing to the KU weather service. December precipitation in Lawrence was 0.8 inches below normal and included no snow, said Ed Levy, observer for the weather service. The December mean temperature of 39.4 degrees was five de- grees warmer than normal. Levy called that temperature variance a significant difference. Even more significant were January ' s temperature readings. The mean January temperature of 43.5 degrees was 15 degrees warmer than normal. Mark Bogner, president of the atmo- spheric science club and a member of the weather service, said the dry conditions that held down precipitation totals throughout 1988 were still in effect at the beginning of the winter, and the drought of ' 88 could be traced back to the equator- ial Pacific Ocean and the theory of La Nina. Meteorologists describe La Nina as a band of cold water near the equator streaching from South America to the central Pacific. It crops up when trade winds from the east blow warm surface water to the western Pacific, prompting colder water in the ocean depths to come to the surface. A band of this cold water and a stretch of warm water southeast of Hawaii clashed, Bogner said, causing a zone of unstable air resulting in thunderstorms. Normally, these thunderstorms form just north of the equator, but in 1988 they formed farther north, on the edge of the jet stream. The jet stream is a long, nar- row high-altitude current of high-speed winds blowing generally from west to east. The storms on the edge of the jet stream caused swirls and eddies in the atmosphere that created high pressure and low pressure systems, pushing the jet stream farther north than usual. This al- lowed a large, dry high-pressure system to set up and hover over the United States, especially the Midwest, resulting in high temperatures and no rain or snow. In effect, La Nina drew moisture away from us, Bogner said, and left us with drier and warmer air. While La Nina is the most plausible explanation for the lack of precipitation and cold air, some have raised another theoretical possibility, the greenhouse effect. Students take advantage of unusually warm weather on Jan. 31, 1989, in front of The Crossing. 26

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HILLEL HOUSE by Marijo Newton Picture two people rushing around in a steamy kit- chen, lifting lids and peeking into an oven. The smells of chicken, rice, French bread and deserts float around the room. This Friday night is not a normal night for the residents of this house because they are serving dinner - for 30 people. The occasion? Jewish Shabbat dinner. The place? Hillel House, 940 Mississippi St. Besides Hillel, the campus organization for Jewish students, Hillel House is a co-ed, communal living orga- nization able to accommodate seven students each se- mester. Fall 1988, five men and two women lived in the house, then Spring 1989, six men lived in the house. These students are responsible for cooking their own meals, including an occasional Shabbat dinner, as well as cleaning and doing general housekeeping duties. I feel like I ' m on my own but I don ' t have to worry about things, said Ken Steinberg, St. Louis sophomore and Hillel resident. Steinburg said he got involved in Hillel House through his sister-in-law. She took me to one Shabbat dinner and I loved it. I ' ve been here ever since, he said. He liked the Jewish environment that the house pro- vided. For example, all the food is kosher and services are conducted on high holidays. Hillel is also involved in the Big Brother Big Sister program through the Lawrence Jewish Community Center. The program matches Jewish children in the community with students in Hillel. They do activities together, like going to the park or going bowling. Sometimes, the house gives parties for the children. The program is designed to show children ages 4-14 that there are other Jewish people in Lawrence, said Jennifer Marks, Overland Park sophomore and secre- tary of Hillel. Plus you get adopted by a family in Lawrence, added Steinberg. Among other activities that Hillel itself is involved in is the coordination of Israel Awareness Week in earl) ' May. A display is set up in the Kansas Union that provides information about Israel. The Hillel students also write letters to the Kremlin in the Soviet Union to help refusniks obtain visas. Refusniks are Soviet Jews who the government will not allow to leave the country. Hillel sponsors a family in the U.S.S.R. and is trying to help them leave the country. Hillel is also active in bringing lecturers to campus, including Elie Wiesel, in October. Weisel is a Jewish survivor of a Nazi concentration camp and the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Hillel keeps about 700 students informed of its acti- vites through mailings. Hillel House itself and Hillel, the larger organization, help Jewish students find a place at the University to practice their religious princi- ples. ! .,]- Fulkrrson Hillel House, 940 Mississippi St.