Profile: John Larson

As the son of military man, John Larson traveled around the world at a young age and has loved traveling ever since. Larson was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota in August of 1952 and has been flying since he graduated high school. Because his father was in the military, he attended high school in not only the United States, but in Germany and Portugal as well.

Larson’s father retired in Iowa around the time that he graduated High School and Larson didn’t want to live in that area forever. “I learned how to fly so I could travel around”, said Larson. Larson flies both planes and helicopters and has been flying professionally since 1985 and kept keeping track of his flying hours after he hit 10,000. Although he graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, his true passion was flying so he continued to work in that field. “My first job was as a pilot for an insurance company in Iowa”, said Larson, “to promote business”.

Larson now works as the chief flight instructor at Corvallis Aero Services with students whom he teaches to fly both planes and helicopters. He also states that he works as a “corporate pilot flying for a major construction company in the west U.S.”.

“John is a great guy to work with. He is very down to earth and is so passionate about what he does,” said Kristen Jones, an office assistant at Corvallis Aero Service and student at Oregon State. “He is just very fun to work with and he has done so much.”

“I have been to 34 countries. I’ve flown people, cargo, air ambulances, been the repo man, and retrieved and delivered air-crafts in distress in other countries”, said Larson. Some exciting encounters were when engines blew up twice when he was in flight. One time was in Ohio and the plane had two engines so Larson could maneuver the aircraft and land it safely. “The other time I was flying a single engine plane over the Gulf of Tadjoura in the Indian Ocean and needed to maneuver the plane into Africa for an emergency landing.”

Some of Larson’s proudest moments took place in Iowa as well as around the world. “When I was a student at the University of Iowa the president of the University would come and ask the instructor if It was okay to leave class to fly [The university president] to a meeting in Chicago”. Other proud moments include “successfully delivering planes into central Africa for missionary work” and flying presidential candidates during the Iowa Primaries. Larson is also proud of being able to fly air ambulances. Even though he said he felt like he wasn’t doing a lot, he liked to be able to help even if it was in a small way.

By the way Larson speaks of his experiences and all that he has done, you can tell he is passionate about flying. “It’s a great life,” said Larson, “I get to do many things I wouldn’t have been able to do if I’d taken different paths.”

“That Summer Glow”

It’s getting closer and closer to that time of the year where shorts and tank tops come out, and long pants go away. Spring break is coming up as the sun is coming out more, it’s the time of year we start to spend outside and enjoy this. As fun as it is, what are we doing to protect our skin? A lot of the time we don’t  think to use sunscreen until later in the summer, but the fact is we should be using it every time our skin has any sort of contact with the sun.

The sun’s rays, which are called ultraviolet A and ultraviolet B rays (UVA and UVB rays), damage your skin. Exposure without protection to these rays leads to early wrinkles, skin cancer and other skin problems. When you’re in the sun often over time skin cancer can develop, even if you don’t burn.

Tanning beds are not any safer because they as well use ultraviolet rays. It is claimed that tanning beds are “harmless” because they contain UVA rays, but both UVA and UVB rays cause skin damage. While UVA rays take longer than UVB rays to damage the skin, they go deeper into the skin than UVB rays.

The highest risk factors for skin cancer include having fair skin and red or blond hair, light color eyes, many moles or freckles, working/playing outside, and having many moles, freckles, or birthmarks. Self-examinations for skin cancer should be performed regularly (See How To Perform A Self Exam).

The key to protect yourself from skin cancer is to avoid being in the sun or tanning beds. If you’re going to be in the sun for any length of time, wear long clothes made from tight-woven fabric so the sun’s rays can’t get through to your skin, and stay in the shade when you can. A wide-brimmed hat is also good to protect face and neck.

But let’s be honest, who wants to be all covered up in the sun? Yes that is the number one way to avoid skin cancer, but what other things can we do to protect ourselves and still enjoy the summer sun? Although sunscreens do not protect us completely, they do help. Use sunscreens with a sun protection factor (SPF) of 15 or more. Apply it 30 minutes before going outside so that it can be absorbed by the skin. Put more on every hour if you’re sweating or swimming, and remember that the water does not protect your skin; 60%-80% of the sun’s rays can reach at least one foot under the water’s surface.

“I usually wear sunscreen at the beginning of the summer when I am still really white and burn easily. I normally only wear 8 or 15 SPF,” said Amanda Roadhouse, student at LBCC. “Sunscreen is a very good idea and protects your skin. My friend’s mom had melanoma seven times because she didn’t wear sunscreen as a child. It’s really scary!”

Although any sunscreen is better than none, lower SPF’s don’t protect nearly enough and one is still at risk for skin cancer.

The sun’s rays are the strongest between 11am and 3pm, so if possible it is best to stay out of the sun during those hours, or if not due to barbecue and beach- just be sure to protect your skin as much as possible. Aside from skin cancer, tanning can actually make acne worst. It may mask it, but only temporarily. A tan may look pretty, but in the long run it’s not that worth it. A tan is really just the body’s attempt to protect itself from the sun’s harmful rays.

“Contrary to public beliefs, people who are more brown skin also need sunscreen, they are not immune,” said Alethea Skinner, a student at Linn-Benton Community College majoring in Journalism. “I wear the maximum, 70 SPF. I don’t want [skin cancer].”

Yes of course it’s hard to stay covered up in the sun, and most of the time we just don’t want to! We want to enjoy it and not feel swamped in clothing. I am like this too, but am very cautious about my skin. I always try to make sure I wear sunscreen when I go outside, everyday a moisturizer with SPF 30 already in it so it’s one step easier. Think about it, in the long run- it’s not that bad of a thing to just put on that t-shirt and sunscreen.

At A Glance:

Who: Sun Lovers
What: Protecting yourself from the sun
Where: Outside; And don’t use tanning beds.
Why: Prevent skin cancer
How: Tight-knit clothing and sunscreen over SPF 15

Increasing amounts of Arctic methane releasing into atmosphere

Methane in today’s atmosphere is a stronger greenhouse gas per molecule than CO₂, and an atmospheric concentration that can change more quickly than CO₂ can. There has been a lot of press coverage of a new paper in Science called “Extensive methane venting to the atmosphere from sediments of the East Siberian Arctic Shelf”, talking about the instability of this important greenhouse gas.

Over 80% of the bottom water over the ESAS was found to be supersaturated with dissolved methane, and 50% of the surface water. More than 100 “hotspots’ were discovered, where large quantities of methane are escaping from the sea-floor.

The latest estimate of methane release from the shallow seas off the north coast of Russia, the East Siberian Arctic Shelf (ESAS), suggests that around 8 teragrams per year of the gas are reaching the atmosphere. This is equivalent to prior estimates of methane released from ALL oceans.

Although methane is harmful to the environment, there’s no reason to fixate on methane in particular. Methane is a transient gas in the atmosphere, while CO₂ essentially accumulates in the atmosphere-ocean carbon cycle, so the climate changing from the increasing CO₂ that methane oxidizes into may be as important as the concentration of methane itself.

So just like too much of any greenhouse gas, methane [at this point] is something that isn’t entirely controllable with the little actions we do to protect our environment. We just have to deal with the consequences and do what we can so it doesn’t worsen.

35 Somali Pirates Captured

“The French Defense Ministry claims one of its frigates has seized 35 pirates, four “mother ships” and six skiffs in various sweeps off the coast of Somalia.”

It seems odd that there really still are issues with pirates around the world today, but they are still out there.  The arrests that were recently made in the past few days occured in one of the most vital and busiest shipping lanes in the world. The Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean seem to be the most at-risk spots for ships to be overtaken by Somali pirates.

If there was more coverage of pirates around the world in general, we would see how big the issue actually can be. Many people see pirates as something of fiction or of old times, but they are still around. Nearly half the 47 ships hijacked off Somalia last year were taken in March and April, which are the most dangerous months of the year for ships in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean. With over four hundred pirate attacks last year the situation has been growing steadily worse and many vessels are choosing alternative routes to avoid the risks now inherent in the area.

Luckily this week, Operation Atalanta, the attempt by an EU joint force to restrict and eliminate pirate attacks has been successful. The operation has two main purposes– to ensure the safety of passing vessels supplying aid on behalf of the World Food Programme (WFP) to those who need it in the African state and also to try and ensure no attacks take place on ordinary freight and container ships while traveling the Gulf of Aden.

“Illumination Project”

The Illumination Project, put on by student leadership from Portland Community College’s uses theater to promote equality, compassion, and justice for everyone, dealing mostly with Racism.

In my anthropology class, we got into a deep discussion about racism and people’s point of views toward everyone of different races. It’s so crazy for me to think that people would ever be judged on something as simple and superficial as the color of their skin.

In the skit put on by PCC today at LBCC, It dealt with how blacks are discriminated against, even today in an advanced society. In one part of the skit, the guy was pulled over for ‘having an out tail-light’, when there was actually nothing wrong with the light. Two of the guys in the skit were talking about how police officers tend to pull them over more for any excuse they can get just because they are of color, and judged to be more sketch.

Another part of the skit showed one of the guys going to buy pizza, and the cashier saying that the EBT machine wasn’t working.. implying that he would need food stamps- solely because he was of color. Things like this really open your eyes about how much racism really goes on around us, even though we fail to see it.

In all honesty, racism is bull shit. There is no reason why people should be judged even the slightest bit because of the color of their skin. God created all equal, there is no excuse for treating a person of color any different than a person of your own race.

Column: Be a Health-Nut, without hating it.

When you treat your body well, you achieve obvious health benefits that greatly improve your life.

“Eat healthy and exercise”- We all know this is the main way to lose weight and be healthy. But what exactly must you do to have the benefits of a healthier life? And do you have to go crazy limiting yourself to bland foods and stressing yourself out with an exercise regimen? Not so much. It is a lot easier than one would think, even little changes make a big difference.

Eating healthy is one thing, but you also have to know how much to eat. Maintain a balance between how many calories you consume compared to how many calories your body uses. The recommended daily average is 2000, but it also depends on your height, weight, gender, and physical activity.

So how much of what? Eating a variety of foods is beneficial. The healthiest foods are fresh fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes- which are complex carbohydrates full of fiber, vitamins, minerals, are low in fat, and cholesterol free. Organic is the best option because it is free of preservatives, chemicals, and genetically modified ingredients.

Drinking a lot of water is also incredibly vital to our health, being as our bodies are made up of about 75% water. Water helps flush our systems, especially the kidneys and bladder, of waste products and toxins. If you don’t like drinking water like me, add a splash of citrus juice or make some iced green tea, which not only adds a twist to your everyday glass of water, but has it’s own health benefits. Green tea contains epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a powerful anti-oxidant that besides inhibiting the growth of cancer cells, kills cancer cells without harming healthy tissue.

By eating healthy you are boosting your energy levels, improving your bodily functions, and helping to improve your immune. You will sleep better and be more rested when you wake up, and have more energy throughout the day. You will meet your daily nutritional needs and consume the necessary vitamins and minerals which can boost your immune system and shield you from many common illnesses.

Exercise is also necessary for a healthy lifestyle. The recommended for adults is 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity a week, such as walking, or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity like jogging or running. This is reasonable if you put it into proportion, 1 hour and fifteen minutes (75 minutes) of jogging is about a 35 minute session only twice a week or 25 three times a week.

Muscle strength training is also necessary to keep your legs, hips, arms, and back in good shape and moving how they should. This is necessary just two or more times a week.

An easy way to achieve these goals is a gym membership, if possible with your budget. Gyms have all the equipment for both your aerobic and strength training exercises, and some are even open 24-7, allowing it to fit well with your schedule. If you aren’t much of a gym person, invest in a set of weights and use those for different activities for muscle strengthening. My favorite form of aerobic exercise is taking a run outside. The best time is a rural road on a sunny day, but even a rainy day in the city can be just as freeing.

Diet and exercise- the necessary elements to keeping your body healthy and feeling like it should. You never have to sacrifice the things you love, just eat your favorite fatty foods in moderation, and limit your relaxing ‘lazy’ day in front of the TV to once a week and be active for the rest of the time. You’ll not only maintain a healthy body weight, but overall you will feel better about yourself, which will raise your confidence and make you a generally happier person.

At a Glance:

Who: The health-conscious
What: Eat healthy & exercise
Why & How: How to be healthy without going crazy overboard, just doing the small lifestyle changes to better your body.

“If global warming is real, why is it cold?”

While searching for my latest ocean-related blog idea, I came across the headline “If global warming is real why is it cold?” I thought about it and realized I didn’t completely know the answer.

Much of the public seem to believe that climate and weather are directly linked. They are related because they both have to do with atmospheric conditions, but the difference between weather and climate is a measure of time. “Weather is what conditions of the atmosphere are over a short period of time, and climate is how the atmosphere “behaves” over relatively long periods of time,” NASA stated.

Then why is the weather cold? The Times Online describes how this winter has been a ‘blocking high’ over Greenland and Baffin Island that has raised temperatures above normal in these areas, and brought cold weather to the surrounding regions – Northern Europe, the UK and the north east coast of America.

Just because here in parts of North America we seem to be freezing, which makes it hard to comprehend ‘Global Warming’, other parts of the world are sweltering. The Christian Science Monitor tells us that Globally, the 2000′ s were the hottest decade on record.

Global warming is the increase of the Earth’s AVERAGE surface temperature due to a build-up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Just because we have record cold weather, doesn’t mean global warming isn’t occurring.

“We believe global warming exists because scientists have stated that it has been the ten hottest years on record started in 1991, sea levels are rising, ice caps are melting and the connection between man-made emissions and global warming is well established.”

And to tie in with last weeks beat story, even the Coral are finding new ways to adapt to protect themselves from global warming. Corals around the world, already threatened by pollution, are widely likely to be first and most threatened species as the earth’s climate warms.

“The scientists, from Penn State University and elsewhere, have produced new evidence that some algae that live in partnership with corals are resilient to higher ocean temperatures.”

Corals and algae live together in what scientists call a ‘symbiotic relationship’. Coral polyps shelter the algae and as these plants photosynthesize they produce sugars the corals rely on for food. With this heat-resilient algae binding to the corals, they will have a better chance of surviving for longer. Although this algae will not save the coral in these reefs, it will definitely buy some time.

Research Presentation Shows Flaw in the CAM Model, Based on Observation.

Research on sea ice loss and and cloud coverage show a flaw in the CAM3.5 and CAM4 climate models, based off of observations.

The Community Atmosphere Model (CAM) is the atmosphere component of the Community Climate System Model (CCSM). The Community Climate System Model (CCSM) is one of the primary tools for climate science studies in the United States. The CCSM consists of atmosphere, ocean, land, and sea-ice components coupled through exchange of mass, momentum, energy, and chemical species. (SciDAC Journal of Physics: Conference Series 78, 2007)

Jennifer Kay, 32, sees her lectures around the states as a tour, moving from one place to another, getting feedback from people in the same career field and uses that feedback in her new research and lectures. Kay compared this to a tour in the way that she gets feedback and uses it on her next project, as artists use feedback from their audience to better their next album.

CAM3.5 has a built-in response between sea ice and clouds in fixed atmospheric regimes. The system shows that clouds increase over newly open water, but this feedback is not realistic as proven by observations.

“Observations reveal no summer cloud response to sea ice loss, but cloud increases during early fall,” said Kay “CAM3.5 has a built-in feedback between stratus clouds and sea ice. This feedback produces unrealistic cloud increases over newly open water in stable atmospheric regimes.”

“It is a useful way to talk to collaborators and get feedback” said Kay, speaking of her research presentation. “It’s pretty fun. The people are fun and nice.”

Jennifer Kay’s lecture on Arctic sea ice and its interactions with the environment was held in Burt Hall Tuesday afternoon. There were about 30 attendees, most attending due to similar interests, such as Boundary Layer Meteorologist, Larry Mahrt, and Jim Coakley, Atmospheric Scientist.

Jim Coakley said he came to the lecture because “I’m an atmospheric scientist; this is what I do.”

“This is such a rapidly changing field”, said Coakley. “There has been so much evolution of these models. We are putting together space observations. We couldn’t do that 20 years ago.”

CAM4, the most recent climate observation model, is showing arctic sea ice loss at a slower rate than it is actually occurring at. The CAM4 model is showing a projection of clouds in areas where there are not actually clouds. Clouds have a cooling effect on the climate and block solar radiation, so having those in the CAM4 model would mean the ice is more blocked and likely to melt at a slower rate. Without those clouds, there is more solar radiation on the ice and it is in a warmer climate, making the sea ice melt much more quickly than projected, meaning that climate change could be much more severe than we believe.

82 Endangered Coral Species Threatened

“The Obama administration will consider federal protection for 82 coral species threatened by warming water temperatures.” The National Marine Fisheries Service said that it found “substantial scientific or commercial information” that Caribbean and Indo-Pacific corals may be threatened or endangered.

With global warming occurring and ocean temperatures rising, these corals are threatened because they need very specific water temperatures to survive. It may seem like this is not a big issue, but corals are very important to our oceans. Coral holds together some of the most diverse ecosystems, such as the Great Coral Reef, and also protects our shorelines from getting completely ravaged. [Information from my Research paper on Coral Bleaching; ask in you’d like more information].

I’m glad this information is getting out more to the public, and there should be more of an emphasis on how coral isn’t a plant- it is an actual animal that is being threatened, and a crucial part of marine ecosystems. Environmentalist predict that the threatened corals could be wiped out within the next 50 years if they are not protected from the warming waters, pollution, and rising ocean acidity.

Profile: John Larson

As the son of military man, John Larson traveled around the world at a young age and has loved traveling ever since. Larson was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota in August of 1952 and has been flying since he graduated high school. Because his father was in the military, he attended high school in not only the United States, but in Germany and Portugal as well. Larson’s father retired in Iowa around the time that he graduated High School and Larson didn’t want to live in that area forever. “I learned how to fly so I could travel around”, said Larson. Larson flies both planes and helicopters and has been flying professionally since 1985 and kept keeping track of his flying hours after he hit 10,000. Although he graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, his true passion was flying so he continued to work in that field. “My first job was as a pilot for an insurance company in Iowa”, said Larson, “to promote business”. Larson now works as the chief flight instructor at Corvallis Aero Services with students whom he teaches to fly both planes and helicopters. He also states that he works as a “corporate pilot flying for a major construction company in the west U.S.”.

“I have been to 34 countries. I’ve flown people, cargo, air ambulances, been the repo man, and retrieved and delivered air-crafts in distress in other countries”, said Larson. Some exciting encounters were when engines blew up twice when he was in flight. One time was in Ohio and the plane had two engines so Larson could maneuver the aircraft and land it safely. “The other time I was flying a single engine plane over the Gulf of Tadjoura in the Indian Ocean and needed to maneuver the plane into Africa for an emergency landing.”

Some of Larson’s proudest moments took place in Iowa as well as around the world. “When I was a student at the University of Iowa the president of the University would come and ask the instructor if It was okay to leave class to fly [The university president] to a meeting in Chicago”. Other proud moments include “successfully delivering planes into central Africa for missionary work” and flying presidential candidates during the Iowa Primaries. Larson is also proud of being able to fly air ambulances. Even though he said he felt like he wasn’t doing a lot, he liked to be able to help even if it was in a small way.

By the way Larson speaks of his experiences and all that he has done, you can tell he is passionate about flying. “It’s a great life,” said Larson, “I get to do many things I wouldn’t have been able to do if I’d taken different paths.”

At a Glance:

Who: John Larson
What: Flight Instructor at Corvallis Aero Service
Where: Corvallis + 34 countries
Why: Pursued his goals and lives the life he loves because of it.