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Page 4 • The Bait align
s\ggielife
Wednesday October4 i
Meteorology program puts students on the hunt
By Katharine Deaton
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Stewart set to shed
his Picard persona
T he typical reaction of most
people when notified of an
oncoming storm is to seek
shelter and take other precau
tionary measures.
But not all people react like
this. The Texas A&M Student
Chapter of the American Meteo
rological Society recently orga
nized a storm-chasing program.
The Texas A&M Mobile Severe
Storm Data Acquisition
(TAMMSSDA) is comprised of
students who chase storms in
their spare time.
Dr. Michael Biggerstaff, an ad
viser for the group and meteorolo
gy professor, said the storm
chasers’ main purpose is to verify
the existence and location of
storms and to notify the National
Weather Service stations located
in Houston, Fort Worth and New
Braunfels of severe weather.
“The idea is not to be in the
middle of it, but to be able to
verify that severe weather oc
curred as soon as possible after
the event,” Biggerstaff said.
“Sometimes the Doppler radars
used by the National Weather
Service issue false alarms, and
TAMMSSDA can help to verify
the actual weather condition.”
Marion Alcorn, the group’s ad
viser and meteorology professor
at A&M, said the information col
lected by the storm chasers is also
used in research and teaching by
the meteorology department.
“TAMMSSDA wants a video
recorder,” Alcorn said, “so if the
students see a good [storm], they
can tape it. The video can be
used in teaching.”
Alcorn said the major step to
getting organized is the acquisi
tion of equipment such as hand
radios and tape recorders. How
ever, this can be costly.
“The storm-chasing is fairly
new,” Alcorn said. “For the last
two to three years, they’ve made
attempts to get organized.”
Adam Houston, a senior me
teorology major, is president of
the student chapter of the mete
orological society and is an ac
tive participant in the storm-
tarsi
a
Photo courtesy of Dr. LoulsWfa |
Dr. Louis Wicker, a professor of meteorology at A&M, encountered
tornado while conducting an experiment near Kellerville. Wickerwr
with students on the Texas A&M Mobile Severe Storm Data Accwisit
chasing program. Houston said
finding funding was difficult.
“We really didn’t know where
we could come up with the mon
ey,” Houston said.
The Department of Student
Activities approved $1,000
through the Association of F’or-
mer Students.
Also, a portion of meteorology
graduate students’ tuition is
pooled as a financial resource for
programs and equipment to ben
efit the department. F'unding
was approved for the group with
the provision that the collected
information would benefit the
meteorology department and
graduate students.
Houston said the total $3200
granted to the program has al
lowed them to purchase hand ra
dios, audio recorders, maps and
various odds and ends.
“The most difficult task for
storm-chasers is coming up with
money for equipment,” Houston
said. “Eventually, we hope to
buy a video recorder, but it costs
a lot more money.”
Alcorn said the students first
chased storms with ho equipment
but soon realized they needed ra
dios to stay in contact with the
base station, the Eller Oceanogra
phy and Meteorology Building.'
Some students hold radio!-
censes they earn with the heif
and training of the handrail
club. II
'There are no requiremeife
students must meet to join!
group. However, a studentm
to storm-chasing must aecompt
ny an experienced chaser mJ
attempting it alone.
“Experience plays a big part
in this,” Houston said. Inexpert
enced students’ chances IT
ting hurt or killed are great.’ ,
The group and the mt teorol®
department combat inexperienu
with knowledge.
Students who have am
derstanding of weatheraci
forecasting have a better
chance of remaining safe aai
collecting useful information.
“To be a good storm chaser,
you have to be a good forecast-f)
er,” Houston said.
Houston admits that a!
though the storm chasers actas
a means of correction and vert
fication, they make mistakes,
“It’s imperfect,” Houston saii
“Even if you have lots of expert
ence and are a good forecaster,
you can miss good storms. Mete
orology is an imperfect sciencei
PEOPLE IN
CHAPEL
HILL, N.C.
(AP) — After
seven years in
command of
the starship
Enterprise, ac
tor Patrick
Stewart has
his feet firmly
back on Earth.
Stewart
said he’s hop
ing to shed his
better-known identity, Capt.
Jean-Luc Picard, with a series of
roles on film and the stage.
“I’m currently in a mode of
looking for work that puts as
much room between me and
Capt. Picard’s space suit as possi
ble,” Stewart joked before putting
on a one-man show at the Uni
versity of North Carolina.
The search has kept the
bald, Royal Shakespeare Com
pany-trained actor quite busy
since Star Trek: The Next Gen
eration ended in 1994.
Stewart is in a Broadway
production of Shakespeare’s
“The Tempest.” He completed a
run of the same play in Central
Park this summer.
He also has a starring role in
the film Jeffrey, a gay love story
currently in theaters, and will ap
pear as a ballroom dance instruc
tor in the upcoming Let It Be Me.
Congressional
family expands
Powell says rap
should be positive
HOUSTON
(AP) — Colin
Powell says
rappers
should keep in
mind how
their music af
fects children.
Rappers
“should see if
WASHINGTON (AP) - F*
ly values are growing on Call
HiH. I
Reps. Susan Molinari and m
Paxon, the only married couple
serving in Congress, are expeff-
ing their first child in May. )
“This is just another sign that
the Republican Party is cohM
ing to grow in numbers,’’the Neff
York lawmakers said Tuesday-
Molinari will be the third law
maker to give birth. Kep. Yvoft
Braithwaite Burke, D-Calif, w
the first 20 years ago.
Powell
we can up
grade and up
lift it a little
bit,” said Powell, who joined other
black leaders in a private meet
ing with rap music artists and
producers in New York last July.
As for the musical genre it
self, Powell said: “It’s not an
artistry that I totally under
stand, but they are creative.”
The former chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff spoke with
the Houston Chronicle Monday
during a stop to promote his auto
biography, My American Journey.
Correction
An A&M student
identified in a picture as
Tina Harrison
yesterday on page 3 ii||
should have been ||
identified as Anita !
McGauder-Johnson,®
facilitator of discussion.
at Saturdays J|
S.I.S.T.A.S. workshop
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