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>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