Hattiesburg American from Hattiesburg, Mississippi • 10

HATTIESBURG AMERICAN THURSDAY, JULY 14, 1994 PAGE 10A Three-day outlook for southeast Mississippi Friday Saturday Sunday Chance Chance North Mississippi Expect scattered evening showers and storms, then partly cloudy skies tonight, with a low near 72. Friday, expect partly cloudy skies with showers and thunderstorms likely by afternoon. High near 88. vOK of storms Yo of storms Hi-sos Hi-90s Chance of storms Hi-90s LO-70S L0-70S Lo-70s Regional Temps Agriculture Climate Readings Tuesday's figures: Humidity 71 24-hour high 80 24-hour low 70 Wind calm Barometer 30.17 24 hour rain 85 Local Forecast The Hattiesburg area can expect scattered evening showers and thunderstorms, then partly cloudy skies tonight. Low near 75.

Hi Lo Pre 89 71 17 S3 71 34 87 72 .05 85 72 00 87 72 iO 88 71 .05 Oxford Tupelo I I Starkville GreenvilJe Ivjcksburg Meridian Sy Jacksort I I Hattiesburg 1 Rainfall amounts through Friday will average Vi to 1 inch with locally higher amounts possible. Expect 5 to 7 hours of sunshine. Jackson Tupelo Birmingham MoM Montgomery Baton Rouge Lake Charles New Orleans Shrevepott 91 77 32 73 .94 78 .01 National Temps Central Mississippi Expect scattered evening showers and thunderstorms, then partly cloudy skies tonight. Low near 72. Friday, expect partly cloudy skies with scattered afternoon showers and storms.

River Stages Leaf at Petal 7.7 Pearl at Columbia 5.2 Mississippi at Vicksburg .19.6 Pascagcula at Merrill 8.9 Coastal Tides High Amount Low Amount Mraissw Aw Pass) 3:40 l.m. 1.1 3:04 l.m. 0.4 Biloii Bay 1.5 p.m. 0.6 Anchorage Atlanta Baltimore Boston Charlotte C. Chicago Cincinnati Cleveland Gulf Coast Forecast Apalachicola to Gulfport: Tonight, expect southwest winds 10 knots with smooth seas 2 feet.

Friday, southwest winds 10 knots with seas 2 feet; a light chop in protected waters. Dallas Ft Worth 96 1 -I im I Biioxi xnI Sunset Today Sunrise Tomorrow 6:09 FRIDAY Lo Pre 53 .00 72 68 69 .00 71 00 72 .03 64 .01 69 174 66 00 78 .02 56 00 69 03 78 00 68 .00 61 00 69 2 04 59 .00 72 .03 75 .04 80 .00 60 00 71 01 73 00 73 00 75 00 78 00 63 00 76 00 77 00 63 00 52 .00 75 .00 8:03 HIGHS area Denver Detroit Houston Kansas City Las Vegas Little flock Los Angeles Louisville Memphis Miami Beach Milwaukee Nashville New York Orlando Philadelphia Phoemi Pittsburgh St Louis San Antonio San Diego San Francisco C. 24-hour Weather American readers may obtain complete, Fronts: South Mississippi Expect scattered evening showers and storms, then partly cloudy skies tonight, with a low near 75. Expect partly cloudy skies Friday with showers and thunderstorms High near 88. current weather data by calling our Weather -0 0s 10s 20s 30s 40s 50s 60s 70s 80s 90s 100 Cold Warm Sunnv Clear Partly Parity Cloudy Rain Showers Thunder- Snow 2 night cloudy cloudy storms Track Hotline from a Touch-Tone phone.

Calls cost 75c for the first minute; 50c for each additional minute thereafter. 1-900-370-8728 Stationary First qtr. 716 Last qtr. 730 New 87 Full 722 Nnonl weather torecuti by Weather Services Bedford. Mass.

Lucedale man warns of cosmic catastrophe "I'm kindly and warmly suggesting that people buy a hundred pounds of rice, beans, dried milk; things they can store." JOSEPH NEWMAN Lucedale inventor, writer chairman of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Southern Mississippi. "You're in more danger of being done in by crossing Hardy Street." The collision will mean more to scientists than to the average guy, said Jim McMurtray, an aerospace education specialist in astronomy and planetary science at NASA's Stennis Space Center. "To the best of our knowledge in Earth's orbit and literally black-out the sun approximately 30 degrees above and below the earth's equator," he said. "The lack of available sunlight would destroy the most viable crop-producing areas of our planet and fulfill Bible prophecy." He expects the negative effects on the earth to happen within six months and that in the meantime the U.S. government will try to cover up the catastrophe, but eventually tell people to start hording foodstuffs.

Bunk, say two astronomy experts. "Earth won't come to an end because of this astronomical event," said William Hughes, By TAMMIE C. LANGFORD AMERICAN Staff Writer While astronomers and scientists are looking forward to the collision of pieces of a comet and Jupiter, self-proclaimed inventor, writer and doomsayer, Joseph Newman of Lucedale, is using the event as a way to warn doubtful earthlings of this planet's eventual demise. He argues that once Jupiter's immense magnetic field is attacked, a chain reaction will be felt throughout the universe, especially on earth. "Whatever happens to any planet is felt by the sun, which triggers the action to other planets," Newman said.

"I'm kindly its massive gravitational field and sent on a path that would intersect the surface of Earth. "If our governments were to launch hydrogen bomb-carrying rockets to intercept and explode this oncoming comet debris, the resultant dust could be captured and warmly suggesting that people buy a hundred pounds of rice, beans, dried milk; things they can store." He said his research proves that one or more pieces of the comet could glance near Jupiter, be whipped through and around this win be a very scientifically interesting event, but it's not the end of the world," McMurtray said. "If it turns out to be, then I'll be very sorry. But we won't have to atone for it or apologize for it." Diffie proves he's no ordinary Joe FRANKLIN, Tenn. Joe Diffie's cheatin' heart is telling on him, just like the song says.

Diffie and his wife are divorcing, and a judge ordered the country music singer Tuesday to list everyone he has had sex with during his marriage. "It's a shame it's come to this," said Johnny Slate, Diffie's manager. "Joe is not contesting this divorce and has done everything he can to make it as painless as possible for both parties." Diffie has already acknowledged he had an affair with Liz Allison, the widow of race car driver Davey Allison. Diffie's hits include "Prop Me Up Beside the Jukebox" and "John Deere Green." Houston, Brown still want 2nd child NEW YORK Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown still are hoping for another baby after the pop diva suffered a miscarriage. Miss Houston announced last week that she was pregnant with COMET Local experts: Comet's collision with Jupiter won't affect Earth Comets aren't new, Hughes said.

"Things like this have happened in our solar system before," he said. "We see huge scars on the planets where comets and things have hit and deformed the face and surface. "Impacts like this are new to us, but if you're as old as our i the couple's FROM page 1A To prepare for the big event, take a couple of trial runs at finding Jupiter. Look south after sunset and Jupiter will be the brightest thing you can see in the southern sky. Using good binoculars, viewers can see four moons and the disc of Jupiter.

They are so bright Galileo Galilei saw them in 1619 with the first astronomical telescope ever built; a crude forerunner to today's high powered telescopes. Modern viewers are advised to use 10-power binoculars or a 50-power telescope. Right now, Jupiter is visible in the night sky from sunset to midnight in all U.S. time zones. But leave Jupiter gazing and the could- or could not-be spectacular light show to the experts, especially the Galileo probe, which is perched 150 million miles on the far side of Jupiter.

That's 450 million miles closer than earth. "In planetary terms, that's relatively close," said Jim McMurtray, an aerospace education second child. But she miscarried days later while on tour in Hous-t her spokeswoman said Wednesday. "She's sad but they hope specialist in astronomy and planetary science based at NASA's Stennis Space Center. What's different about this cosmic collision is it's the first time astronomers have been able to predict impact, McMurtray said.

'This is really the first time we've been able to predict a collision for more than a few seconds before it happens," he said. "But we really don't know what to expect. You could get anywhere from zero to 10 on the 'wow, look at that' scale." Both men say the comet collision could be a non-event for the inhabitants of Earth. "Even the astronomers and operators of Galileo aren't going to be disappointed if we don't see anything spectacular," McMurtray said. "If we are able to see where it goes in, we should be able to see the impact zone fairly quickly.

The trajectory will tell us about Jupiter's gravity and atmosphere. We're going to get a lot of data whether it's spectacular or not." to 30 percent may resemble meteoric particles of fine grains and larger chunks of metal. Where comets come from is really, pure speculation. "Comets come from a huge sphere of ice ball that make up the Ort Cloud," said Jim McMurtray, an aerospace education specialist with NASA at Stennis Space Center. "The Ort Cloud has been installed up there because we need comets to come from some place." Theory has it that one of the ice balls occasionally dislodges from the cloud, which surrounds our solar system, and falls toward the sun in an elliptical pattern.

"Comets in general are quite fragile and they oftentimes break up into multiple pieces and then pretty much disappear after that," Hughes said. "While this comet does pack a lot of energy, it's not enough energy to do anything to Jupiter. You will not see it knocked out of orbit." By TAMMIE C. LANGFORD AMERICAN Staff Writer Astronomers' best guesstimate is that the largest chunk of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 is about two or two and one-half miles in diameter, big enough to damage earth, but small enough to barely faze massive Jupiter. But don't worry, experts say the earth is in no danger.

Just what is a comet and where do they come from? "A comet is described as a dirty iceberg," said William Hughes, chairman of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Southern Mississippi. "They have a lot of material in them." The nucleus of comets is believed to consist of frozen gases and ice mixed with dust. The gases include ammonia, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and methane. The gases and water make up from 70 to 80 percent of the total mass. The remaining 20 Houston to have more children," spokes woman Emily Bear said.

buiui sjraieui, its a tuniinuii thing." The possibility of a celestial light show which probably won't be seen by any earthlings except those watching the view through the Galileo probe is nil because it will happen during the afternoon, when Jupiter can't be seen. But the crash has given Americans something to talk about. "One of the best ways to observe American culture is going to a grocery store," McMurtray said. "This has replaced O.J. Simpson and sightings of Elvis as the cover story." Miss Houston, 60, who won eight American Music awards and three Grammys this year, is continuing her tour and will perform with Kenny at the World Cup finale on Sunday.

Miss Houston and her husband have a l-year-old daughter, Bobbi Krishna. Miss Houston is trie only recording artist to have seven con LUCAS State education chief hails Lucas' testimony at Ayers Huffman said he and others did manage to sing happy birthday to Lucas Tuesday night on an Oxford street corner as participants left the federal JjLmmlmn it mi secutive No. 1 hits. Astronaut Glenn never got his wish WASHINGTON John Glenn made one glorious, landmark orbit around the Earth. But he wishes he could have flown to the moon.

Glenn, now a U.S. senator, recalled watching Apollo 11 with awe and jealousy from Mission Control in Houston in 1969. "Would I like to be in on a moon landing? Yeah," the Ohio Democrat said Wednesday. Glenn, one of the space program's most popular members, said he never got an explanation for his diversion to earthbound work training and design jobs after his orbit. "I never talked to President Kennedy about this decision but the rumor was that President Kennedy did not want to risk me on another flight," he said.

Today's Birthdays: Former President Ford is 81. Movie and stage director Ingmar Bergman is 76. Former NBC newsman John Chancellor is 67. Former football player Rosey Grier is 62. By The Associated Press Cleere FROM page 1A college board plan would close Mississippi Valley University and Mississippi University for Women.

"No one wants to close any institution," Lucas said. "The college board does not and Ray Cleere does not and Cleere does not deserve the bad rap he's received over this." Cleere, the commissioner of higher education, has announced he will resign at some point after the Ayes case. He is widely blamed for the plan to close two schools. "The board felt this would answer the Supreme Court ruling to desegregate," Lucas said. "Closing schools is a pretty harsh solution to segregation.

"We're up here fighting because we don't want to lose any unit," Lucas said. "If the proposal was to close the school can't you see the people up here marching." Lucas said USM is not opposed to Jackson State or Alcorn operating similar programs to those now available at USM. Lucas said to move USM's doctoral program in education, its graduate work in business and master's degrees in business and public accountancy as proposed, would not only hurt the university, but the southern part of the state. "Our programs in business and polymer science played a very important role in helping to attract a major industry employing 1,000 people to Hattiesburg," Lucas said referring to Sunbeam-Oster. Lucas said the university also must retain its Certified Public Accountancy degrees.

"If you will just let me brag for a moment, and I have a tendency to do that," Lucas told the court. "Of the 17 who passed the last CPA exam, 10 were Southern graduates and they also took the top three honors." Academic Vice President David Huffman said he was surprised by the proposal, which would move two USM programs that have the university's highest minority enrollment engineering technologies and social work. "When you move a program, the accreditation does not follow," Huffman said. "USM cannot lose these programs and meet its mission." A survey of eight historically black universities that successfully attracted other-race students showed the schools took programs they had, not new programs, and placed them in locations people wanted to be and offered them at night, Lucas said. The survey was done by Ray Hoops, former vice chancellor of academic affairs at the University of Mississippi.

Hoops recently was named president of Southern Indiana University and testified prior to Lucas. By NIKKI DAVIS MAUTE AMERICAN Staff Writer OXFORD University of Southern Mississippi President Aubury Lucas got high marks for his appearance in U.S. District Court here Wednesday. Lucas, called to defend the University of Southern Mississippi against proposed raids of USM programs by plaintiffs in the Ayers desegregation lawsuit, did well during his hour in the witness seat, said Commissioner of Higher Education Ray Cleere. "It was very important that the court hear at the end of this case from a senior president such as as Dr.

Lucas," Cleere said. "He captured the university's mission and well defended it." Lucas, who has been at the helm of USM for 20 years, celebrated his 60th birthday Tuesday while waiting to testify in Oxford. Academic Vice President David Lucas himself is not sure how well he presented USM's need to keep several key programs and degrees which plaintiffs want U.S. Judge Neal Biggers Jr. to move to historically black institutions.

"You just really don't know whose voice comes through after two months of testimony," Lucas said. "But I feel good about having the opportunity to tell the judge something about USM," Lucas said. "You know he lives in north Mississippi and so many people in this part of the state don't know that much about us.".