EAST TEXAS MENSA

ARTICLES

LOCSEC

DALLAS  RG  &  AG

North Texas Mensa will host the National Mensa Annual Gathering July 3-8. 2001.  Not only the best and brightest, but the funniest and the most interesting things will happen that weekend. You will want to attend BOTH their fall 2000 Regional Gathering AND the 2001 AG.  The Regional Gathering is the warm-up, the orientation, learning what Mensa gatherings are like, getting a map to the big city. (On your DFW metro map look due north of downtown at the intersection of Preston (289) and Loop 635.  Just west you'll see the "Tollway" and just north you'll see "Beltline".  Both AG and RG are in Addison, the RG just south of Beltline off the Tollway at the Dallas Marriott Quorum, and the AG a few blocks north of Beltline at the Hotel Intercontinental.) For Applications for BOTH events see RIK's E-Mail/Web Sites or Enail CRDIXON@ETBU.EDU for Application.  Members rate Dallas RGs "Great!" and the AG will be even "Greater!"

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Post Office Form 3526  10-6-2000
Publication info - editor's name, phone, address; National Mensa's address (owner); annual subscription rate - all appear monthly on the cover.

Circulation info includes:
#15. Circulation          12 Mo Avg     Sept-Oct
>    Total Copies............156          120
>    Paid Copies.............116           84
>    Free Copies..............29           34
>    Total Dist..............145          118
>    Leftover Copies..........11            2
>    % Paid Distribution......80%          71%

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Add to Killer Bees & Fire Ants List:

Besides the Black Plague in north-central Texas fleas, you can now add the West Nile Virus to your list of things to worry about.  Mosquitoes killed 60,000 crows in New York with the virus last year, and eight different types of mosquitoes spent this summer spreading it through most of New England.

The West Nile Encephalitis virus appeared in Uganda in the 1930's and usually doesn't cause problems.  Infants and elderly people sometimes develop potentially fatal inflammation of the brain and its protective sac.

New York City had 7 deaths and 62 seriously ill patients last summer, but only 1 death and 17 seriously ill the summer of 2000.  This year the virus spread to six new states, and infected new types of mosquitos that feed on most birds and mammals (including the aggressive Aedes vexans mosquito that lives throughout North America).

CREDIT CARDS

Pre-approved applications for credit cards show up several times a month at most folks homes, thanks to the way they all share information about you. Now they provide a way to be sensitive to your concerns. You can call a central service to STOP GETTING MOST CREDIT CARD JUNK MAIL! Call 1-888-567-8688 to ask them to stop.

To stop most junk mail write to:

Direct Mail Asso.
Mail Preference Service
PO Box 9008
Farmingdale NY 11735-9008

Direct Mail Association
Telephone Preference Service
PO Box 9014
Farmingdale NY 11735-9014.

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Pro vs Con

Look before you leap.
He who hesitates is lost.
If at first you don't succeed . . .
There's no use beating a dead horse.
Marry in haste, repent at leisure.
Strike while the iron is hot.
Pretty is as pretty does.
Beauty is only skin deep.
All's fair in love and war.
What goes around comes around.
You can't teach an old dog new tricks.
You're never to old to learn.
Laugh and the world laughs with you.
Misery loves company.
You can't have your cake and eat it, too.
Possession is nine points of the law.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
Out of sight, out of mind.

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Happy Birthday to these ETX Mensans!

Mac Kendree Miller III, Tyler   11-2
Le Ila Dixon, Marshall          11-4
Karl Benson, Texarkana          11-9
Linda Boyter, Flint             11-10
Phyllis Stager, Pittsburg       11-16
Stephen Smith, Ore City         11-22
Charles Mitchell, San Augustine 11-23
John Rudin, Jr., Quinlan        11-28

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Mensa Essay Contest

Our annual Mensa Essay Contest gets under way with the application in this issue.  Only 76 of our local groups participated last year, in spite of $200 per group pledged by MERF, the Mensa Education and Research Foundation that offers the awards.  Forty students entered our contest last year, and I think this is the best PR -GT project going.  I received my first request for an application last week, and got the forms today while getting things together for the printer.  (ED NOTE:  APPLICATION WAS INCLUDED IN MAILOUT! eMAIL ME BACK TO REQUEST ESSAY APP!  INCLUDE YOUR ADDRESS SO I DON'T HAVE TO LOOK IT UP!)

Students in areas with no essay contest are out of luck.  They must enter the group with their home zip code.  College students can enter at their school or home zip code.  Only 50 Loc Secs have sent in their forms to date. Most of them use one year terms for officers, and you frankly don't know whether to **** or **** when the paper work deluge from National hits you the first year.  East Texas Mensa, the AMC, and some other local groups use two year terms for officers.  If an officer doesn't pay his dues, he's replaced, which has only ever happened once.  But two years gives you enough time to learn the ropes.  The Essay Contest form is one all groups should send in.  Some of the entrants join, and lots of future adults hear about our society.

Please pass this form on to a friend or relative.  But be aware, if they live in an area with no contest, they may want to move in with you to compete in our ETX Mensa contest.  (Please talk to some guys about entering. They are lagging behind the girls now for several years.)

Humor

Financial Statement Send an email to the LOCSEC to receive this information.

RVC Ramblings #37
Rik Hess, Region 6 RVC
E-mail: rvc6@us.mensa.org
Phone: 817-292-6477 (before 10 PM)

The weather has snapped its 100 degree string, but we still seek rain in north Texas.  At least we can go outside and enjoy the evenings again.

Some people have asked me about the changes in staff at the national office.  For those who dealt with Tamela Herzog, Donna Bone, or Julia Lilly:
Tamela has moved on to become the Executive Director of the UTA Alumni Association -- the same organization we originally hired her from.  Our loss, her gain.  Paige Faulkner has been promoted as the new membership director. Donna and Julia have each decided to pursue other personal goals, and they will also be missed.  Jeff Holloway is our new national groups coordinator. He works as the liaison between the local groups, their officers, the RVCs and the national office to assist local chapters.  Filling in for Donna, as the testing coordinator, is a part-timer with her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology.  We are continuing to seek a qualified person to take over this job full-time.   During this transition, there have been some instances of tests not being scored and results not being sent out as quickly as we like.  This should be back on track now, so please let me know if you hear of certain instances or other problems of which I should be aware.

Some people have expressed concern over the number of staff that have left recently.  I believe we are going to have to adjust our expectations. When we hire bright young professionals, then we train them further, we must realize that Mensa will not be able to afford them for their entire professional life.  As much as we might like to keep some of our staff, Mensa is an organization of limited means.  We need to be happy we could benefit from their time on staff, as we continue to grow.  (You can train them and risk losing them, or NOT train them and KEEP them.  Ed)

On another matter, there is new information on our national web site, www.us.mensa.org.  We have added new content to the Member Resources area. You will need to provide an ID and Password to access this area. This security information is being published in the Bulletin and will change regularly.

At this site, there is already a good bit of information for members and officers.  You can change your address or other information on-line, read officer reports, and visit member's web sites. Drop by when you have a chance.  And if you have an idea as to something more to add, please let me, or someone at the national office, know about it.

And, PLEASE HELP ME.  I need a Webmaster to take over for Lori Crews. The design work is done, so the main job I need is to keep the content up-to-date.  Lori and I will help you learn.  Drop me a line if you are interested.

The final item I want to mention is the National Testing Day is set for November 11 (Nov 4 in Tyler).  If you have a friend who might be interested in taking the Mensa test, this may be a good time to encourage them.
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RVC Ramblings #38
Rik Hess, Region 6 RVC
E-mail: rvc6@us.mensa.org
Phone: 817-292-6477 (before 10 PM)

The folks in Austin did it again. Their second annual RG was a great success. Once again I was impressed at the number of local members who took part -- and how many young members were there. From what I see, the canvas of all members, done early last year, is paying off with more membership involvement.

If your group is interested trying a canvas, you may want to contact Geri Neemidge, the Lonestar LocSec, for details on how they handled theirs. She can be reached at gneemidge@usa.net, or at 1801 Messick Pl., Round Rock, TX 78681-7126.

And, THANK YOU one and all who showed interest in, or volunteered for, the R6 Webmaster position. I have selected Rachael Stewart, who volunteered first. She lives in Austin and also serves as the Editor for their newsletter, the Armadillo Literary Gazette. Our first job will be to restructure the site before it is moved to the national server.

While on the subject of volunteers, NOW is the time to check into helping with the Mensa Scholarship program. It is always hard to turn away applicants just because the local group where they live does not have a Scholarship Chair. Check with your LocSec (or group President) for more details.

My last item for this column is the National Testing Day, officially set for November 11 although some groups have scheduled it on other days due to local contingencies. If you have a friend who is interested in taking the Mensa test, this may be a good time to encourage them.

If you know someone who feels uneasy about taking the Mensa test, you might suggest that they take the Mensa Home Test first. It is available for purchase on-line at www.us.mensa.org by credit card. This is also being used as a test of the credit card system. If all goes well with this processing, we hope to offer dues renewal via secure credit card processing on-line.

And now the RG/AG notices for our region:

- Thanksgiving Day weekend, Nov. 23-26, 2000 - North Texas Mensa's "Feast of Pleasures and Delights XXII RG" (Dallas).
Registration $40 to 11/15; $45 after. Registration contact: Ron Wheeler, 3010 Ridgeview Ln., Irving, TX 75062. Reserve rooms at the Dallas Mariot Quorum (new hotel), 14901 Dallas Parkway, phone 800-811-8664 or 972-661-2800. Ask for the Mensa rate of $62.00 per night S/D.
More info at http://www.northtexasmensa.org/2000rgre.htm

- July 4-8, 2001 - AG 2001 "The Annual Gathering" hosted by North Texas Mensa (Dallas).
Registration $55 through 1/31/01, $65 through 4/30/01, $75 through 6/30/01, $85 through 7/7/01 (walk-in rate), Young Ms (13-20) will be $10 less than the current rate on the date it's received, Children (6 - 12) will be the current rate on the date it's received. Little Kids (5 and under) will be free.  Reserve rooms at the Hotel InterContinental - 15201 Dallas Parkway, Dallas, TX 75248 (972-386-6000).
Contact the web site at http://ag.us.mensa.org.

Thank you,
Rik Hess, Region 6 RVC
6052 Wormar Ave. Fort Worth, Texas 76133
phone: 817-292-6477 (before 10:00 PM)
Email: rvc6@us.mensa.org

Region 6 Website:
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Atrium/2413/ Region 6 Email Talk List (for Mensa business) to join send to: majordomo@lists.us.mensa.org ("subscribe region6-talk" in the message).
Region 6 Email Chat List (for member fun conversations) to join send to: majordomo@lists.us.mensa.org ("subscribe region6-chat" in the message).

ARTICLES

Triple Nine Society
From: "Sean P. Healy"<genghis@healylaw.com>

(INTERNET WIRE) -- 10/04/2000 --

What are the politics of the super-intelligent?  A nationwide poll just taken among members of the Triple Nine Society (TNS), a worldwide super-high IQ group, shows the surprising result that their views on most issues are closer to libertarian than to either Democratic or Republican positions.

Membership in this group requires a documented IQ score in the top one-tenth of one percent of the general population, corresponding to an IQ of approximately 150 or higher.  Only 5% of those who qualify for Mensa, the better-known IQ society, have IQs high enough for admission to TNS.

Most of the poll's 95 questions asked for a rating from 1 to 5, to show the preferred degree of government involvement, funding and control in a wide range of social and commercial issues. Other items asked for a ranking of alternative reforms. The questions were sent to 357 members, with answers returned by 57 of the 310 U.S. members.

The poll shows that people with very high intelligence have a strong preference for minimal restrictions on such activities as gambling (56%), prostitution (60%), pornography (77%), and use of alcohol (66%), tobacco (66%), and marijuana (71%). A clear preference (80%) was shown for legalization of illicit drugs, with some controls over use, as is currently the case with alcohol and tobacco.

The current income tax was ranked last among five methods of taxation. A national sales tax was ranked first, followed by a flat tax, a value-added tax, and a simplified version of the present tax system.

A public health care system that provides for the poor and the elderly was favored by a majority ranging from 67% to 74%, and doctor-assisted suicide was found acceptable by 76% of the respondents. An overwhelming 95% want abortion legally available, with 49% opposing government restrictions of any kind.

In a ranking of the 7 initial presidential candidates by intelligence, Alan Keyes was perceived as the most intelligent, followed by Bill Bradley, Steve Forbes, John McCain, Al Gore, and Pat Buchanan, with the Republican candidate, George Bush, ranked 7th.  For details, see www.milesresearch.com/tns/.  Miles Research 15045 Eastvale Rd. Poway, CA 92064

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JOHN'S STORY
by Jane Thompson <jthompson@pwpl.com>
(Jane is a member of NTM who sent us several articles.

I'm not too sure about this whole concept of an afterlife.  The idea of life without a body doesn't do much for me; certainly the traditional notion of everlasting torment in hell and everlasting bliss in heaven just doesn't sound right. I've never done anything to deserve eternal, horrible torture. (There was that one time, but I felt so bad I told my boss about it. He just laughed and said he would have done the same thing and not to worry about it.)  As for eternal bliss--well, I just don't know that I'm cut out for that kind of happiness.  It actually sounds kind of boring, I guess.  I've always thought of the time after death as being a great deal like the time before birth; not real exciting, to be sure, but I don't remember being unhappy, either.

My brother-in-law, John, a Mensan from Houston, died in April.  I knew him most of my life and loved him dearly.  He started dating my older sister in 1957 and married her in 1958.  One of the charming things he did when they were dating was to decorate the envelope of the daily letter he sent her with a beautifully detailed drawing.  The postal employees in Oklahoma City looked forward to his letters almost as much as my sister; if one arrived late, it was delivered as a "special delivery" because they knew she was expecting it.  Sometimes the postman rang the doorbell just to tell my sister how much they enjoyed that day's drawing or to make a special request:  "Hey, the guys wanted to know if he would draw another ship."  I never understood how a jet mechanic could also be an accomplished artist, but he could draw or paint anything.  Once, stuck by inspiration with no canvas handy, he simply grabbed a shirt, cut it up, stretched it,  and painted a picture on it for my father.  That painting hung in my father's living room until the day he died, and he always proudly pointed it out to visitors, even long after my sister divorced John.

He was the first man who treated me as if I was an intelligent human being (which was rather novel in that era),  but he certainly didn't take it too far.  He introduced me to MAD Magazine back in the late 50s, then carefully mailed it to me once a month so I wouldn't miss an issue.  My parents thought it rather odd reading material for a grown man but were so taken with his charm they let it slide.

I spent many hot, sticky summers, in Houston as I was growing up -- partly to get away from the watchful eyes of my parents, partially drawn to the charms of the Air Force Base where John worked, but also because John was irresistible.  His house wasn't just full of teenage sisters and sisters-in-law;  it was also full of airmen.  My sister assured us that they swarmed there all winter, too.  John was easy going, accepting, and a great storyteller.  His stories were always funny and usually told with himself as the butt of the joke.  Of course, when I got older, I realized that if he couldn't tell a story funny then that story didn't get told.

I saw the genesis of one of these on a hot, muggy Fourth of July weekend in early 60s in those innocent times before locked doors or air conditioning. The airmen were off for the weekend, the teenage girls were hanging out with the airmen, and John was working.  Houston has a tropical climate; outdoor workers kept to a schedule that allowed for an afternoon siesta and a late supper cooked after the evening sea breeze kicked in.

About noontime everyone conked out in the heat;  I don't remember the exact configuration of people, but I think Jo, Leon, me, and Kjar were on the couches, with Karen and the bohunk on the kid's beds;  the kids were all piled on one bed.  Mary Ann was in bed, dead to the world, in her and John's bed.  A couple of other airmen stopped by to see what was happening, and following the custom of the times, simply walked in without knocking. They found a whole bunch of sleeping people, but nowhere to sleep except the other half of the bed Mary Ann was in.  Naturally, they did the only sensible thing and climbed in bed with Mary Ann, promptly falling off to sleep.

When John, the only person who was working and actually deserved a nap, came home a few minutes later, he found two airmen in bed with his wife and no place to sleep.  He stretched out on the floor for his siesta.  For years he loved telling the incredible story of coming home from work and finding sleeping people all over his house and not one but two men in bed with his wife.  Naturally, he embroidered the tale beyond all recognition--but it was very funny the way he told it.  He was one of those people you never forget and never stop missing.

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The Power of the Mob
By the Curmudgeon
Copyright © 2000 by the author

In George Orwell's 1984 he paints a terrifying picture.  Early in the novel, Winston Smith, the protagonist, rebels against the Party.  Thinking negatively against the Party is a crime.  Winston never really believed in the Party, and by showing that, he didn't participate correctly in the TWO MINUTES HATE.  In the Two Minutes Hate, you are shown a type of movie for two minutes which is about the enemy to the Party, and you are supposed to cheer against it.  Winston just watched the people yell and scream for a while and then he started to join in and realized that "The horrible thing about the Two Minutes Hate was not that one was obliged to act a part, but that it was impossible to avoid joining in."

You may have seen newsreel clips of the huge rallies held by the Nazi Party in Germany in the 1930s.  As Hitler regaled the crowd with his thundering rhetoric, they responded with heart pounding "Sieg Heil" repeated over and over.  We sit in our living rooms and see these film clips and ask ourselves "How could that ever happen?"  The German people were not, and are not bad people.  Their spleens are not permeated with hatred for others.  How could they have become so infected with the hatred that drove the whole Second World War?

Let me offer you a tiny window on the experience. The year was 1971.  The Progressive Conservative party in the Province of Alberta, Canada had been ineffectual as a political voice for several decades.  A charismatic young man, Peter Lougheed, had taken over its leadership in 1965, and had become visible because instead of simply opposing legislation offered by the ruling party (whose majority was 36 to 7), he consistently offered alternative legislation designed to achieve a similar result.

When the election cycle began, billboards popped up all over the province bearing the single word "NOW!".  Mr. Lougheed did the legwork.  He traveled the length and breadth of the province, appearing in little old ladies homes for afternoon coffees, and at rallies for the Party candidates in every constituency. I was hired by the Party as a photographer to cover the final rally held at the big Edmonton Performing Arts Center.  A photographer who works on such an assignment functions primarily as a "fly on the wall".  He observes with his camera, but doesn't participate.

The rally was well planned, and well presented.  The only tiny glitch was when a prankster had managed to plant a small sack of flour high above the stage and suddenly disgorge its contents near Mr. Lougheed.  He didn't miss a beat, and I didn't miss the shot.

His speech built to its climax, and he finished with "Its time for a change, and that time is NOW!"  As soon as he said the word "now", his acolytes on the stage took it up as a chant.  "Now, Now, Now".  It rang through the hall, and in seconds was taken up by the 2,500 people in the audience.  It ascended in a thundering crescendo, and I felt my pulse pounding in synchronism with it.  Before I knew what was happening I discovered that I, too, was shouting right along with everyone else.

A frightening experience.

Please think for yourself when you vote.

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MY FIRST SHIP and The House of a Thousand Tits
By Jack Oram

This is history! - and on a much grander scale (well, at least half a grand) than Marvin Zindler's pet project for extermination, The Chicken Ranch.

In February of 1953, after a seven-month recovery from a terrible auto accident, I made my first trip on my brand new Marine Engineer's license. The SS African Star (Farrell Lines) had sailed short-handed from Philadelphia, and I flew down to Balboa to join her crew as she went through the Panama Canal.  We were headed for Haiphong, the seaport for Hanoi, where the French were under siege by the Viet Cong.  We had a cargo of medical supplies, small arms ammunition and light vehicles.  Somehow, the French had kept open the 20 miles of railroad track from Haiphong to Hanoi.

After unloading what was consigned to Haiphong (we were not allowed ashore), we sailed for Saigon with the rest of our cargo.  Saigon was still under French control, and was an absolute paradise - especially for a 21-year-old kid.  The people were open and friendly, and the city was a shopper's dream.  In particular, I remember that the best French perfumes were dirt cheap.  I bought a 4-oz. bottle of Arpege for my mother ($6), and a 4-oz. bottle of Shalimar ($5) for my Bronx-Irish lass, Patricia Margaret Anne O'Shaunessy (can you get any more Irish than that?). Chanel No. 5 was $4 for a 4-oz. bottle.  That was perfume, not toilet water.

The food was incredibly good, and superb restaurants were everywhere, but the best food and entertainment were in the hotels, in the European tradition.  But the sailor's Shangri-la was yet to come.

The House of a Thousand Tits was a French prison.  The women in the city who had been jailed for minor offenses were allowed to "work" to pay their fines, and it earned its name because there were always a minimum of 500 girls in that prison.  The prison itself was built in a square with a large, open, central "bullpen", and was operated by the French military.  Access was easy - just present some form of ID at the gatehouse (where it was duly registered), and in you go.  If you were a French citizen, you were required to use a condom, and take a supervised pro on leaving.  Other nationals were not subject to that requirement, but it was available (free) if requested. This was in the days before STD's became so common as they are now, and the virulent strains of today's STD's were virtually non-existent.  No one had heard of chlamydia or herpes much less AIDS, and the worst you might chance would be syphilis or a dose of clap, but even that was rare.  All 500 girls were inspected and tested on a daily basis, and the risks were minor.  It was probably safer, then, than Las Vegas is today.  Ah, for the good old days!

Prices varied all over the place.  From the "bullpen", you could get laid for 35 cents.  This was the lowest of several price echelons.  The girls mingled with the crowd, and if you selected one, she'd take you to a small cubicle fitted with a small bed, facing the bullpen, and behind a curtain. On occasion, an exhibitionist would leave the curtain open and put on a show for the bullpen - the girls never seemed to mind - it was good advertising.

We "rich American sailors" always opted for the top of the line, for $5. For that exorbitant fee, you were ushered into a good-sized room with ten lovely girls, take your pick.  If you didn't like any of them, they'd be replaced by ten more, and again ten more, until you found one you liked. She'd take you off to her room, sometimes on the far side of the prison - a long walk.  She spoke English fluently, as well as Vietnamese, French, and probably others.  Her room was very comfortably fitted with a Queen-size bed, a radio and sometimes a record player, along with a full complement of conventional furniture.  I've stayed in motel rooms in the US that were much worse.  She'd discuss Beethoven with you, or give you the scores of recent US baseball or football games.

A few minutes after you arrived at her room, there was a discreet knock at the door.  She'd rush to open it, and there was a white-uniformed waiter, carrying a large plate of sandwiches and a chilled bottle of good French champagne, both of which she would share with you (but only if you asked her to do so).  A second bottle of champagne, if desired, would cost you a dollar.  Another plate of sandwiches cost two dollars.  There were no time limits - you could stay the night if you wished.  She'd wake you in the morning at the time of your choice, in the fashion of your choice.  The only draw-back was that you had to wait until you got back to the ship for your morning coffee - coffee was too expensive for prison fare.

Regretfully, we sailed after four days - south through the China Sea and across the Indian Ocean to Africa, where we resumed our normal schedule. We picked up cargo at Mombasa, Dar-es-Salaam, Lorenzo Marques, Durban and Capetown, and then crossed the Atlantic to return to our 33rd Street pier in Brooklyn.  My first trip on my first ship turned out to be a round-the-world venture (in more ways than one), and a most remarkable adventure.

A short time later, the prison was closed down as the French left Viet Nam. What a pity - the end of an era.  Only Marvin Zindler would have been happy.  I made three more trips on the Star, to South and East Africa, from Walvis Bay and Capetown to Zanzibar and Mombasa.  Years later, Farrell Lines sold her under a modernization program.  Under the new owner, age and neglect had rendered her unseaworthy, but she was kept in service on the rivers. Later, I learned that she had burned and sunk in the Mississippi River off Vicksburg.  A strange and sad feeling came over me, as if I had lost an old friend.

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OZONE HOLE OVER A CITY FOR FIRST TIME
(Sent by Cindy Contreras, San Marcos Mensan, formerly from Tyler)

Chiles' Punta Arenas is first urban area to fall under a hole.  For two days last month the ozone hole extended over Punta Arenas, Chile, located at the southwestern tip of South America.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

WELLINGTON, New Zealand, Oct. 5 .  The hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica has stretched over a populated city for the first time, after ballooning to a new record size, New Zealand scientists said Thursday. Previously, the hole measured at three times the size of the United States had only opened over Antarctica and the surrounding ocean.

ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH scientist Stephen Wood said NASA data shows the hole extended over the southern Chilean city of Punta Arenas on Sept. 9-10, exposing its 150,000 residents to very high levels of ultra violet radiation. Too much UV radiation can cause skin cancer and destroy tiny plants at the beginning of the food chain. Wood is a researcher with New Zealands respected National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research. Dr. Dean Peterson, science strategy manager of the Antarctica New Zealand research group, said Woods findings showed for the first time a city being exposed by the ozone hole. The longer it gets, the greater the chances of populated areas being hit by low ozone levels, said Peterson, who was not involved in the study.

OTHER AREAS AT RISK.  Peterson said segments separating from the hole could affect Argentina and even the tip of South Africa, Australia or New Zealand.The hole wont grow to that size. But as it breaks apart, fingers of low ozone, or filaments as we call them, will go over major land mass areas. Those filaments will be over the land mass for a few weeks.  Last month, scientists expressed surprise when NASA data showed the hole at just under 11 million square miles  the biggest it had ever been. That has since been revised to 11.4 million square miles. The previous record was 10.5 million square miles on Sept. 19, 1998.

Record-low temperatures in the stratosphere are believed to have helped the expansion of the ozone hole during the southern hemispheres spring season. Antarctic ozone depletion starts in July, when sunlight triggers chemical reactions in cold air trapped over the South Pole during the Antarctic winter. It intensifies during August and September before tailing off as temperatures rise in late November of early December.  Depletion of the ozone layer over Antarctica and the Arctic is being monitored because ozone protects Earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation.

The ozone is an atmospheric gas which filters out a harmful form of solar radiation known as ultraviolet radiation.  About 90% of the ozone in our atmosphere is contained in the stratosphere (the region from about 30,000 feet to 180,000 feet above the Earth's surface).  Ozone is produced by intense ultraviolet (UV) radiation in the upper stratosphere, which causes oxygen molecules (O2) to reform as ozone molecules (O3).  The ozone molecule spends most of its life absorbing UV.

Ozone is destroyed when it reacts with one of a variety of chemicals in the stratosphere such as chlorine, nitrogen, bromine or hydrogen. Such chemicals come primarily from man-made chlorine and bromine compounds produced for refrigerants, aerosol sprays, and solvents.

A number of factors found only at the poles increase the likelihood of ozone depletion.  As the air in the stratosphere cools and descends during the winter, strong winds create a vortex around each pole.  This air is effectively isolated the rest of the atmosphere.  Within this vortex form polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs).  Studies indicate that the chemical composition of these stratospheric clouds and the extremely low temperature - provide the perfect environment for breaking ozone molecules. Ozone levels over Antarctica fall to abno