UO professor researches
Earth's greenhouse gasses
From fossils to coral reefs, our planet gives clues
to how "greenhouses" affect fauna and floral life
BY EVA SYLWESTER
SENIOR NEWS REPORTER
A University professor of geologi
cal sciences is researching past oc
currences of global warming to bet
ter understand the global warming
taking place today.
Greg Retallack’s research, pre
sented at the Geological Society of
America’s annual conference in Oc
tober, sprung from the common
knowledge among geologists that
there are certain places in the world
where fossils are generally better
preserved than others.
These “fossil bonanzas” are
found in areas where there is a low
oxygen content, because organ
isms that scavenge upon and
promote the decay of dead animals
require oxygen to survive.
Retallack discovered that fossils
from certain time periods are more
well preserved than others.
After compiling data on the ages of
these well-preserved fossils, Retallack
found that during the past 500 million
years, there have been 41 periods
where fossil preservation was excep
tionally good.
Oxygen levels were low through
out the world during these periods.
Retallack said high levels of
methane gas, introduced into .the at
mosphere either by igneous intrusion
or the destabilization of deep sea sed
iments, were present in the atmos
phere during these periods. When
methane interacts with oxygen in the
air, carbon dioxide forms.
Retallack said these periods of
global warming contribute to the
overall stability of the planet.
When too much carbon is present
in the air, it can change the oxygen
that most animals need to breathe
into carbon dioxide. Fossils, com
posed primarily of carbon, keep
excess carbon underground.
While some species become ex
tinct during periods of global warm
ing, many species survive these peri
ods, which is why there is still life on
earth today, Retallack said.
However, global warming
can cause difficulties for those
experiencing it.
“Greenhouses can have a seri
ous side,” Retallack said. “We have
a record of greenhouses that have
GLOBAL WARMING, page 7
Drugs: Study strives to
yield standard procedures
Continued from page 1
For the first two years, the study will
focus on Lane County, with Jackson
County examined the third year.
Squires said she hopes HHS will ex
tend the grant so the study can be con
ducted on a national scale, but she
added that results would have coun
try-wide implications.
The COE specializes in research
on early childhood development
and assessment. It developed the
Ages and Stages Questionnaire that
allows parents of young children to
evaluate their child at home, using
questions such as “If you hand your
child a toy, does she wave it
around?” The questionnaire is now
used around the world.
Squires said this project is partic
ularly important here in Oregon,
where more people per capita are in
rehabilitation for methampheta
iiiine use than anywhere else in the
country, according to an Oct. 3,
2004 Oregonian article. Meth use by
parents has swamped child protec
tion agencies; Squires said meth
was a factor in 71 percent of cases of
kids placed in foster care.
Although the drug is acknowledged
as a huge problem, very little is known
about the impacts of prenatal meth use
on children, she said.
“There tends to be a lot of very early
irritability, crying — that sort of thing, ”
she said. “But about cognitive or think
ing skills, we don’t really know yet. ”
The COE will partner with the Re
lief Nursery; the Early Childhood Co
ordination Agency for Referrals, Eval
uations and Services; and the
Childhood Development and Reha
bilitation Center.
Judy Newman, co-director of EC
CARES, said the study will be an im
portant step in having a standard pro
cedure for evaluating children early
and figuring out which children need
services most.
“We would like to do the best pos
sible job of identifying kids that need
our services,” Newman said. “We
want to make sure we can reach out
to those kids to get the best possible
outcome because we believe the
sooner, the better.”
EC CARES is an early childhood
special education program that
serves children with special needs
from birth to age 5.
Participation in the study will be
voluntary, but Squires feels many
women will cooperate.
“Sometimes having a baby is really
a life-changing event, and if they’ve
been trying to get off drugs, seeing
that there’s another person to be re
sponsible for can be enough to moti
vate them — get them into treatment
— to try to change things in their
lives that need to be changed,”
Squires said.
Contact the higher education reporter
at kbrown@dailyemerald.com
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IN BRIEF
Students reveal work
at jewelry sale today
TWenty-two students in the Jewelry
and Metalsmithing Program at the Uni
versity will be selling original pieces of
jewelry that they created for the 11th
annual Cheap Jewelry Sale today in
the lobby of Lawrence Hall.
The sale goes from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
but in the past, a lot of items have sold
out during the first couple of hours,
said Visiting Assistant Professor and
sale organizer Anya Kivarkis.
According to a press release, stu
dents were instructed to create jewelry
with an exciting twist, and some of the
pieces are “outrageous in design.”
Each student was responsible for 20
to 40 pieces, made from traditional
materials like silver and non-tradition
al materials like plastic, felt and rubber.
Kivarkis said all of the contribut
ing students have worked rigorously
in a collaborative effort to bring
together a unique collection of jew
elry using both intermediate and
advanced techniques.
Prices will range from $5 to $15
and money made during the sale
will go to reimburse students for
materials and to guest lectures and
studio equipment.
— Emily Smith
Former Mafia getaway
driver speaks tonight
The University will host a free pub
lic lecture by former Mafia getaway
driver Georgia Durante at 7:30 p.m. in
180 PLC tonight titled “The Company
She Keeps: One Woman’s Journey
Through the Dark Side.”
Durante worked as a model and
stunt driver and started a stunt car
company called Performance TWo.
Her lecture, based on her book,
“The Company She Keeps,” will cov
er her experiences in the Mafia with
sexual abuse and violence and her
spiritual journe/toward self-under
standing, according to a University
press release. The lecture is spon
sored by Evelyn Nelson and Robert
Wulf and the Wulf Professorship in
Humanities with support from the
Wayne Morse Center for Law and
Politics and several other University
departments and programs.
— Nicholas Wilbur
Score Points for
the Ducks!
Fourth Annual * November 1-16
Donate blood on behalf of the Ducks!
On campus blood drives: November 8-11,11am-5pm
Register in the EMU Taylor Lounge
Call Lane Memorial Blood Bank 484-9 1 1 1 for more information.
- www.CivilWarBloodDrive.com -
LANE MEMORIAL
blood bank
..
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OI'KiVKKSITV (IF ORKCiUN
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