Coming in future issues…..

Progress Report on Fontenelle Trees

Urban Trees Fare Better
Than Rural Cousins

Hunting Fossils in Nebraska

Nebraska Barns          Kid Korner

- Scientists have found that trees in New York City grow twice as well as counterparts grown some 50 miles from the city.

"I know this sounds counterintuitive but it is true," says Jillian Gregg, lead author of the study. City  ozone is tougher on country trees."

Gregg's findings were published in the journal "Nature." As a graduate student at Cornell, Gregg began planting identical clones of cottonwood trees in and around New York City. Test sites included the New York Botanical Garden and the Hunts Point in the Bronx; a Consolidated Edison fuel depot in Astoria, Queens; as well as Long Island's Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton; Eisenhower Park in Hempstead; and the Cornell Horticultural Research Laboratory in Riverhead.

About 50 miles north of Manhattan, in the Hudson River valley, Gregg planted cottonwood clones at the Millbrook institute.

The study aimed to show the impact on plants of a tough life in the city, where a variety of gaseous, particulate and photochemical pollutants resulting from fossil fuel combustion bombard plants as they struggle to grow in soils laden with heavy metals.

For three consecutive growing seasons Gregg returned to the sites to plant cottonwoods, harvesting them to weigh their biomass and to perform other kinds of analyses. She controlled for differences in light, precipitation, season length and soil factors, making air quality the primary factor of concern.

The researchers at Cornell and the Institute of Ecosystem Studies determined that the rural trees did not grow as fast because of higher sustained levels of ozone that originated in the city.

"Ozone is what we call a secondary pollutant," Gregg explained. "So while the primary precursors for ozone are emitted in the city, they must act in the presence of sunlight, over time, before ozone is formed. By then, the air mass has moved to rural environments."

More WPA stories about Nebraska by Nebraskans

Gutknecht (R-Minn.) is set to head downtown to address Grover Norquist's famed meeting of movement conservatives. Gutknecht may come under fire for demanding that prescription drugs be reimported at Canadian prices--an artificial pricing scheme that may not sit well with Grover's people….New polls in Michigan show it may not be a swing state. Polling there shows 47% voting for anyone but Bush, 46% for Bush. 48% believe Bush mislead the people on Iraq while 47% believe Bush. Not a good set of numbers for an incumbent president….The late Congressman Mo Udall used to joke that any senator who's not in detox or jail thinks he should be president. Senator Chuck Hagel, who's eyeing the 2008 race, is taking that maxim to the extreme by getting subordinates to address him as if he's already the com-mander-in-chief. Insiders say that the ambitious Nebraska Repub-lican wants interns and staffers to stand when he enters the room. And when they engage him in conversation, they are to end sentences with "sir" or "Senator" just to make sure everyone knows who's in charge….

In the Why Did It Take So Long Dept. this news item-- MSNBC finally fired the hard right wing host  Michael Savage from a Saturday talk show slot. It appears the network was overwhelmed with complaints about the show as he continually ridiculed gays, feminists, liberals, ACLU members and generally anyone who disagreed with his rigid agenda….hold on to your hats, right wing journalism--here comes the left wing counterbalance! The Guardian UK is headed for an American edition. The Guardian UK is the fruit of a trust whose only purpose is the continuation of the paper and so is not beholden to corporate demands and is free to practice hard hitting journalism no holds barred…."The world expects something more of an American president than to prance around on a flight deck dressed up like [a] pilot. He's expected to be a leader. That's my fundamental issue with it. It doesn't reflect the gravitas of the office. Furthermore, it's a little phony."--Gen. Wes Clark (ret), rumored to be a near future candidate for the Dem. nomination for president in 2004….A federal appeals court voted 2-1 against the administration when it voted to proceed with a court suit by the conservative Judicial Watch regarding revealing the members and transcripts of the Cheney Energy Task Force which the Bush Administration says would compromise national security...Within the past two months, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has ordered U.S. military commanders to devise a new war plan for a possible conflict with North Korea. Elements of the draft, known as Operations Plan 5030, are so aggressive that they could provoke a war, some senior Bush administration officials tell U.S News...Sen. Orrin Hatch "is pushing a constitutional amendment that could allow his pal, fund-raising helper and potential California gubernatorial candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger, to also run for U.S. president someday," the Desert News reports….Rep. Gil

U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson: Phone: (202) 224-6551  Fax: (202) 228-001240, Suite 5 Dirksen Basement (Temp)
Washington, DC 20510
senator@bennelson.senate.gov
U.S. Sen. Chuck Hagel: Phone: (202) 224-4224  Fax: (202) 224-5213
346 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
chuck_hagel@hagel.senate.gov
Rep. Doug Bereuter: Phone:(202) 225-4806 Fax (202) 225-5686
2184 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Rep. Lee Terry:Phone: (202) 225-4155  Fax: (202) 226-5452  1513 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
talk2lee@mail.house.gov
Rep. Tom Osborne:Phone: (202) 225-6435  Fax: (202) 236-1385
507 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
PLEASE NOTE: Congressmen Bereuter and Osborne do not have email

SEC. B, p2
Senate Moments

SEC. B, p3
HISTORY
SCRAMBLE