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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 16, 1985)
Monday, September 16, 1985/The Battalion/Page 3 State and Local [Prof: Ifs one of the best A&M radar facility is unique By TRENT LEOPOLD Senior Stall Writer I Texas A&M students and other ■razes Valley residents are fortu- late to have one of the best weather ladar facilities in the world at their lervice on the A&M campus, says |)r. James Scoggins, head of the De- iarttnent of Meteorology. I “To my knowledge, we have the Inly radar anywhere in the world lithadual frequency system,” Scog gins says. “The radar is capable of Knding two beams of varying iavelengths into the atmosphere si- Bmltaneoiisly. The large dish on the top of the Jl&M Building is the antenna f or the stem which sends out and receives le beams. I “The large dish sends out a 10- lentimeter wavelength while one of lie smaller dishes sends inn a 3-cen- Imeter wavelength,” he says. “The _lher small dish is actually a dummy Bhich helps keep the antenna balan- led." I The 10-centimeter f requency de- |cts the larger particles in a storm, Ich as hail, while the 3-centimeter tiequency reveals the smaller parti- Hes, Scoggins says. ! d Scoggins says the radar can detect numerous particles associated with a thunderstorm such as hail, rain drops and even tornadoes. “While our system cannot detect wind intensity in a particular storm, we can see an image (on the radar screen) produced by a tornado known as a hook echo,” he says. “We can also determine the height of a storm by sending the beams in a ver- tical direction.” The weather radar has been moved several times since it has been at A&M. “Before being moved to the pre sent O&M Building, it was located at Goodwin Hall while the antenna was on top of Bizzell Hall,” Scoggins says. “Now the antenna and radar unit are all housed in the present O&M Building.” The 10-centimeter radar was built here and began operating in 1956, while the 3-centimeter system began operating in 1957. The 3-centimeter system was obtained from the Air Force. Jake Gangelose is responsible for maintaining the radar and helped build the 10-centimeter system. Gangelose says the radar is equipped with a device enabling the operator to tape what is being seen on the radar screen. “When Alicia hit the coast, we taped the storm,” he says. “Now when students want to study hurri canes, all we have to do is plug in the tape and study.” While meteorology students use the radar to study various weather phenomena, five meteorologists are assigned to keep people in the Bra zos Valley aware of upcoming severe weather. Scoggins says Brazos Valley resi dents have the best severe weather warning system available anywhere in the United States. “In addition to having the best ra dar in the world, we also have a trained staff which is on call at all times to inform the public about ap proaching severe weather,” Scoggins says. “We can be 100 percent accu rate about forecasting severe weather, because when we can see it on the radar screen we know where it is and we can watch all of its movements. “The radar is capable of scanning for about 400 miles, although we rarely look at any storms over 200 miles from here since they would have to be very large for us to see them,” he says. ^iost items? MSC Lost and Found 11 night be the place to find them By CRAIG RENFRO i themsek Report er Ever wonder wh« it haj pened to le motionji lat book you losw t) r w liat about Klustrieslu ie calculator that y Oil thr rught was • . one forever.' T here 's a go >d chance vision andt lat these items and m; my more can |uiremenis e found at the Me m rria 1 Student enter Lost and lou nd The Lost and Fou nd is ocaled at le MSC guest-room m ain desk and with one raj Jerk-cashing wind* w on the first 'a rahnor til loorof the MSC. Li ISt spi ing more 11 1 {lllllc ..J ch and evn Ian 2.900 items, IK h ; is books. Ickoacks, wallets and jew elry were rest thing! nought to the Lost i IK nd Fo and, says lyce McNeill, Lost a round coor- Knator. ■ The MSC also re cei\ es items > at night.lV ed guardia s, protect® xpressiontf ought in 1 rom the shuttle bus routes, the intramural complex and from other buildings on campus, McNeill says. Approximately 70 percent of the items are reclaimed, she says. “The biggest problem is that peo ple don’t bring the items back right away, and the student who lost it gives up on ever Finding it,” McNeill says. Another problem is that many students do not know that a lost and found exists and that their items could be there, she says. “If we find a number or an ad dress we get in touch with the stu dent,” McNeill says. To claim a lost item the student must accurately describe it, she says. If the description fits the item, the item may be reclaimed. The policy, as required by law, is to keep the items for at least six months before disposing of them, McNeill says. Accurate daily ledgers are kept to record each item brought to the MSG, and monthly inventory checks are taken and posted in the MSC Student Programs Office, she says. As for the unclaimed items, the MSC Lost and Found committee auctions them off in October and April. Proceeds from the auction go to Student Programs for annual Christmas party expenses and deco rations, she says. “An overwhelming amount of items are brought in each semester,” McNeill says. “If students were just more aware of our service, maybe they could find what they lost.” $12. 00 for the Twelveth Man First Meeting for Aggie Club Sept 17 Rudder 401 7 p.m. SCHOLARSHIPS FOR STUDENT ATHLETES Benefits: •Certificate of Membership •Club Decal •Aggie Club Pin •Press Guides •Bus Charter Option to Out-of-Town Athletic Contests •Seniority for Football Tickets in the Aggie Club Look in The Battalion for upcoming meetings on football Road- trips or come by the office on the North End of Kyle Field. r journalise Page Mwj rence I card reshmen i >r [•Alitor Editor or /s Editors itor 0 Jerry Oslin , Jan Perry n Williams liter Smilli I Grabein I ■tea Adair, I nali Oates 1 Cassavov inara Bell, Cassavov, Doug Hall, nmy Kirk, t Leopold, une Pang, n Pearson I Rohsner, I neth Sury I like Lane, I i J homas I le Brown, j Pallmeyer eg Bailey, j nk Hada, j 1 Sanchez ^ newsp^i . A&M anil chose of. the essarilr nf tors, fueultf uspaper f° r pny clM ses f-Mif due- r ]oliday and ?>.75pe Jlycar. •rse- Att- McDonald lotion, O -:W6. Ad- (X 77W-5- ★Freshmen and Sophomore photos for 1986 Aggieland Yearbook will be taken at the Year book Associates studio September 16-20 and 23-27. ★The studio is located at 401-03 West Univer sity (above campus Photo Center at North- gate).