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Thursday, October 12, 1995
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Nobel prizes awarded for study of subatomic particles, ozone
The Associated Press
STOCKHOLM, Sweden — Four Americans and a Dutch scientist won Nobel Prizes for sounding the alarm about the depletion of the Earth's protective ozone layer and discoveries about some of nature's tiniest particles.
The chemistry prize, for the ozone work, went to Mario Molina of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sherwood Rowland of the University of California-Irvine, and Paul Crutzen, a Dutch citizen working at the Max-Planck Institute for Chemistry in Germany.
The physics prize went to Martin L. Perl of Stanford University and Frederick Reines of the University of California-Irvine. They discovered "two of nature's most remarkable subatomic particles," said the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in their citation.
The winners of each prize will share $1 million this year.
Americans have dominated the Nobel science prizes since World War II. More than one-third of the physics and chemistry laureates have been from the United States.
Although ozone is considered a pollutant at ground level, it protects the Earth from the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays at high altitudes.
At an MIT news conference today, Molina said
he saw his Nobel Prize as vindication for the field of environmental science, long belittled by mainstream scientists.
"This shows that one can do rigorous science that is hypothetical, but can also be tested and applied," said Molina, 52, a professor in the school's Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences.
The Swedish Academy said that thanks to Crutzen, Molina and Rowland, "it has been possible to make far-reaching decisions on prohibiting the release of gases that destroy ozone."
"The three researchers have contributed to our salvation from a global environmental problem that could have catastrophic consequences," the Academy said.
Molina and Rowland, working separately from Crutzen, reported in 1974 that chlorofluorocarbons — the CFC gases used in spray cans, refrigerators and other items — threatened the ozone layer.
They calculated that if the use of CFC gases continued without abatement, the ozone layer would become significantly depleted.
Crutzen explained in 1970 how nitrogen oxides react with ozone to accelerate the reduction of the layer. He was reportedly vacationing in Spain yesterday and could not be reached immediately.
The report from Molina and Rowland led to restrictions on CFC release during the late 1970s and early 1980s, the citation said. Their research predicting an ozone "hole" laid the groundwork for its discovery in 1985 over the South Pole.
"Not until 1985, when the real shock came, was there any real urgency in international negotiations on release restrictions," the academy said.
As a result of the scientists' discoveries, "the most dangerous gases will be totally banned from 1996," the citation said. Developing countries have been given a grace period.
Rowland said yesterday it was satisfying to see the potential dangers of ozone depletion become widely understood. He had no idea, however, what he would do with his share of the prize.
"I haven't given any thought to that at all," he said. "First, I guess I'll have to pay my taxes."
The winners of the physics prize discovered subatomic particles called the tau and the neutrino.
In the mid-1970s, Perl found the tau, a heavier cousin of the electron. The tau is highly unstable and decays into other particles in less than a trillionth of a second.
The Nobel Committee also cited Reines for detecting the first neutrino, called electron anti-neutrino, in work that started in the 1950s.
The Associated Press
U.S. restricts troops in Japan
TOKYO — The U.S. military is restricting nightlife and alcohol for troops on Okinawa after three servicemen allegedly raped a local schoolgirl, fueling calls for a reduction or withdrawal of American troops.
Starting Friday, a major entertainment district near Kadena Air Base will be off limits to U.S. soldiers after midnight, the military said yesterday.
Other measures recently enacted include limits on alcohol sales at base stores and increased military police patrols.
Two U.S. Marines and a sailor are in Japanese custody on charges of raping a 12-year-old girl on Sept. 4. No trial date has been set. If convicted, they could face life in prison.
Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama spoke in parliament yesterday. He called the rape disgusting and said he understood Okinawans' anger
about numerous base-related incidents in the past.
Murayama said he planned to discuss the possibility of cuts in the U.S. troop presence with President Clinton at a meeting of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Japan next week.
About 29,000 of the 45,000 U.S. troops in Japan are stationed on Okinawa, where almost three-quarters of the land is set aside for the American military.
The small island, located between Japan's main islands and Taiwan, is a key U.S. outpost in the Pacific.
Relations between residents and the U.S. forces were strained even before the rape because of brawls and the murder of an Okinawan woman by a Marine last May.
The Associated Press
Charged in the rape are Marine Pfc. Rodrico Harp, 21, of Griffin, Ga.; Pfc. Kendrick Ledet, 20, of Waycross, Ga.; and Navy Seaman Marcus Gill, 20, of Woodville, Texas.
Student journalists hope to unite schools Tenor trio to treat five cities
MISSION — Students at two high schools wary of each other after a fatal shooting are trying to move closer by jointly producing a newspaper that tackles the event head-on.
More than 40 journalism students from Olathe North and Shawnee Mission North high schools worked feverishly to get the special edition ready for release today.
The shooting last month killed two young men, one a student at Olathe North. A 17-year-old Shawnee Mission North student has been charged with two counts of murder.
Police said bad blood started between students and fans of the two schools at a Friday night football game. The shooting occurred two nights later, when a brawl broke out behind Alathea North High School.
The special newspaper "is an attempt to try and fill in students about some of the things that have happened in the aftermath of that," said Candy Birch, journalism teacher
"We want to show what happened and that we can still get along..."
at Olathe North.
Thomas Miller
Olathe North High School
"I think some of the kids felt like they weren't being informed," she said yesterday.
"There's been no hostility between
Students at both schools said the tragedy unfairly damaged their reputations. They said the project was proof that they could get along with each other.
any students," said Thomas Miller, 15-year-old, Olathe North, sophomore who worked on the project. "We want to show what happened and that we can still get along together."
Missy Barrett, 18, Shawnee Mission North senior and news editor of Mission, the school paper, said students at her school felt sympathy for Olathe students.
The special edition is an 11-by-17-inch sheet printed on both sides. It includes letters from students, sections on rumors about the shooting, how the school administrators handled it and how the media covered it and profiles of each school.
The title is "North," in large letters, with "Olathe" and "Shawnee Mission" in smaller letters on either side. It's meant to highlight the unifying name the schools share.
"We want them to know that Shawnee Mission North empathizes with them, that what happened should never have happened," Barrett said.
The Associated Press
LONDON — To an explosion of camera flashes, the world's favorite trio of tenors announced yesterday they will reprise their hit Rome and Los Angeles concerts for 300,000 fans in five new cities.
Jose Carreras, Placido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti treated the world's media to a 45-minute performance designed to show they harmonize both on stage and off.
Jokingly, they discussed everything from aging to money — and the benefits of singing in the shower.
So, are they rivals? Absolutely not. "The fact is that we are very, very good friends and the great moment is when we perform together," Domingo said to reporters crowded into the banquet hall at London's Wembley Stadium, second stop on the tour.
"When you are singing with two colossal colleagues," said Pavarotti, "the only rivalriv is with yourself..."
Right on cue, Carreras said, "In personal terms, this (tour) is a tremendous time for us."
Do they sing in the shower? Make that a treble yes. "My best performances are in the shower," said Domingo.
Asked about his 60th birthday today, Pavarotti grew solemn. "I am lucky to have a father who is 83 and
singing every day like a bird. I'm looking to be 70, then 83 like my father," he said.
The three, who first teamed up for a charity concert in Rome in 1990, have outsold all other performers of classical music and have brought opera to a wider audience.
On tour, they will perform selections from the sold-out Rome event and from their second smash concert, in Los Angeles in 1994, as well as some new selections.
The tour starts off at Tokyo's Kasumigaoka Stadium on June 29, 1996 then moves to Wembley on July 6. Another concert will follow at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. on July 20, at Munich's Olympic Stadium on Aug. 3 and at Melbourne Cricket Ground on March 1, 1997.
London's Philharmonia Orchestra will accompany the tenors in Tokyo, London and Munich, and the Metropolitan Orchestra at Giants Stadium. It was not announced which orchestra will play at the Melbourne concert. James Levine will conduct the 21/2-hour performances.
Tickets for the Giants Stadium concert will range from $25-$500.
The events will be broadcasted live nationally, but there are no plans for worldwide screenings or for recordings, said producer Tibor Rudas.
Engineering Advising Information
Civil:
EECS:
Advising dates: Monday, Oct.16, through Friday, Oct.20
Advising dates: Monday, Oct.16, or Tuesday, Oct. 17
Mechanical:
Advising dates: Monday, Oct.16, through Friday, Oct.27 Go to your department and make an appointment with your adviser
All other engineering departments:
Advising date: Thursday, Oct. 19 3032 Learned Hall
The university mails Permit to Enroll forms to students.
Students may pick up ARTS forms in the dean's office, 4010 Learned Hall, beginning Thursday, Oct. 12.
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