THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31. 1991
EUGENE, OREGON
VOLUME 93. ISSUE 46
Maze o’ bikes
Tei Gordon retrieves his bicycle from the plethora of velocipedes in front of Condon Hall
Photo by Andfo Hanieri
University
to rethink
curriculum
By Jason Reuter
tmw.i a Contribute'
The University needs to riwwi-v. its
undergraduate < urruuturn in order to
better prepare students tor the gist cell
tury work, tone, said Uerald kissler, se
nior vice provost for planning and re
sourt es
"Students going to tile University ot
Oregon now will spend most ol their
working lives in tin1 gist r entury. lie
said I he\ w ill need skills they now
have difficulty developing within our
current undergraduate system
kissler said problem solving, reason
ing, and analytical and r omtnunieation
skills w ill be the abilities a student w ho
wants to succeed in the job market w ill
need
"I! they have these general skills," he
said, "they will lie better prepared to
meet .1 wide array of workplace dial
lunges
Today's students will he changing
jobs freipientlv throughout their lives,
which means they will need general
Turn to CHANGES. Page 4
Atypical weather may hint at global warming
By Rene DeCair
fineraid A1.'- ‘i alo i fl'lot
Katu-d renched (Jregonians
who dream of trading in their
rubber shot s for swim wear to
live m ■) warm, desert-like envi
ronment nitiy gel Iheir wish if
gtotuil warming continues, s.nii
several area climate experts
But University chemistry
proiessor and greenhouse effect
expert. 1’uul tngelkmg. said the
catch is that people will not
have to move out of the state to
expert e n c e t h e wual h o r
changes,
"If you wanted to live in
California but didn't want to
move there, this is a wonderful
opportunity," he said of the in
crease in global warming.
Several climatologists and
meteorologists offered theories
earlier this week as to whut is
causing the state's recent erratic
weather patterns They also of
fered predictions about what
kind of weather people tain ex
pect in the future.
Kick Holtz, meteorologist for
the National Weather Service,
said the recent warm tempera
tures caused by a ridge of high
pressure in the area have given
way to another system The
new system is creating tem
peratures below the area's aver
age of 59 degrees for this time
of year.
The daily lows forecast for
the next few days are expected
to go below the freezing point
Holtz said what is causing the
strange hot and cold spells —
which are far from normal — is
anybody’s guess.
F*TK>to try A/xJr*
Exports soy Oregon's coot tell temperatures could become a thing ot
the past it the greenhouse effect continues to escalate.
"Nobody has the answer." ho
said "There are a lot of theo
ries flying around all the time
It’s not an exact science.”
Engelking and David Green
land. University climatologist
and geography professor, said
they would not rule out the
greenhouse effect as a contrib
uting factor to the unusual
weather However, both inert
said they could not positively
say it was causing the weather
irregularities
Greenland said one possibil
ity is that the northern hemi
sphere seems to !>e moving to
ward more weather variability
He said tills may be a result of
the changes in the ocean tem
peratures.
The El Nino effect, which oc
curs when warm water goes
from the western Pacific Ocean
to the custom Pacific Ocean,
produces abnormal atmospher
ic effects
Trade winds are related to
the warm water, he said And
although the flow of water hap
pens every four to seven years,
it is not a regular pattern and
lasts for about a year
But the difficulty with tiger
ing out tin' pattern, Greenland
said. IS that it is a "chicken
and-egg problem in that you
can t say one thing i auses the
other" if the atmospheric air
causes ocean temperature
changes or it it is the other way
around
Regarding the greenhouse el
fret theory to explain weather,
both Kngelking and Greenland
said that has always been what
is now called a greenhouse ef
feet
But. they note, it is now en
hanced by atmospheric gases.
i n r 1 u ding m i! t li a n o ,
c hIoro f I u urocar ho n s mid car
t><in dioxide, wlilcli arc being
released into the atmosphere
primarily as a result of human
act I Vlties
bngelking predicts that
worldwide temperatures will
increase an average of three dc
grees Celsius hy the middle id
the next century if fossil fuels
continue to be used at the rate
they are
"That's the difference be
tween wearing a sweater in
your house at (>f> degrees and
taking it off ul 70 degrees."
Kngelklng said
He said tfie real worry of glo
bal warming is not so much
that the ice caps will melt as
tias lieen widely reported, but
that the oceans will expand like
fluid in a thermometer
Humans will adapt to the
weather, but other tilings in the
environment, such as animal
and plant life will not adapt so
easily, he said
bngelking said that people
should be aware that there is a
price for using fossil fuels that
will eventually lead to perma
nent climatic changes
The government's response
to scientists' warnings of the
greenhouse effer I is a "more so
phisticated brush-off" than it
was during the Reagan Admin
istrution, Kngelking said Then,
scientists were told by the fin
e r g y Depart rn e ul not t o
"breathe a word" to the publit
alxiut a report released recom
mending alternative energy
sources, he said
Briefly_
I lit: Eugnnu (chapter of lliti
N.ition<tI Lawyers (mild has
released a statement ton
deeming tin: proposed Ore
gon (: i I i i. un s Alliance
amendment to tin- statu con
stitution. saying tin- amend
muni is discriminatory.
See story, Page 5
Peace_
Israelis and Arabs deli:
g a 11: s m t: t In M a tl r i d
Wednesday in historic talks
aimed .it ending more than
•to years of strife in the Mid
dle East
Elsewhere, radicals on
both sides condemned the
peace talks, with one Iranian
Parliament member calling
for the assassination of all
participants
See story, Page 7
Civil rights_
The Senate overwhelm
ingly approved a major civil
rights bill Wednesday which
would expand the legal
rights of sexual tlist rimma
lion victims
President Ilush has indi
rated he will sign the hill,
ending two years of haggling
between the administration
and Congress
See story, Page 9