Home

JVC Updates

Ten - April 24, 2005

Hello all,
Springtime (and more importantly - storm season) has
arrived in Norman, and with it has brought the annual
ritual of what-is-eric-up-to-now decisions to be made.
Good news is, I've made a lot of those decisions in
the last month or so since my last email (and still
the only tornado I have seen yet this season - so
far...)
As far as grad schools, after visiting both Washington
DC and New York since spring break, I've decided to go
with the program in "Climate and Society" at Columbia
University in New York. I had a lot better overall
feeling there... the thing that did it for me was
during a class I sat in on, since the current group of
students are the first to graduate within the program
(it's only a one year program) they were planning
their graduation ceremony. Every one of them
expressed their sadness that their time together and
their time with the professors and lecturers was
almost over. To me, anyone that mourns the end of
graduate school like that is either completely in love
with their program or just putting off joining the
"real-world workforce". For these students, I think
they loved their time at Columbia so much that they
didn't want to see it go. I only hope that my
experience there will be as fruitful and rewarding.
There is no question that the opportunities there are
priceless (although being an ivy league school they
try as hard as they can to put a price on it!) - I did
get some assistantship money from the University, but
I will have to take out some loans to cover the rest.
The research group I will likely be working with is
located at Lamont-Dougherty Earth Obseratory - a
world-class earth sciences research facility right on
the banks of the Hudson River about 45 min. from
Manhattan. You don't even feel like you're anywhere
near New York City... it's very beautiful and peaceful
there. My building would be the IRI - the
"International Research Institute for Climate
Research". They focus on existing problems in
developing countries that climate change will impact,
as well as possible new problems that might appear.
Like I think I have mentioned previously, to me my
experience at Columbia will be a perfect blend of my
meteorology background and the passion for addressing
social justice issues that I have gained from my time
at SLU and in JVC. To me, it will be the "social
justice of weather".
To adjust to living in the big city, I'll probably
sell my car, get a subway pass, and with the money I'm
currently spending for rent in Oklahoma combined with
my car payment, I *might* be able to get a studio
apartment somewhere. My plan right now is to contact
a few other former JV's and see if I could look for an
apartment with them, as well as continue a somewhat
JVC lifestyle as much as we can. (Think: SAVING
MONEY!) If any of you have friends or know of someone
I should meet while living in New York this next year,
please let me know!!
Also - you're ALL welcome to come visit! If you have
ever wanted to visit New York City, this is your
chance!! =)
Next piece of news: our first (out of three) radar
truck has arrived from its home in Massachusetts, and
we took it out for a test drive last Thursday. There
are some (hopefully) minor problems with its data
processing, but we will get it figured out soon I
hope. The second truck will be here hopefully the end
of this week, and the third truck (an experimental
radar formerly used for missile tracking for the
military - and whose wavelenth/frequency is
classified) should be here in late may. I will be
riding in the truck that arrived this week - it's the
truck with the highest resolution, and also the truck
that made the data that I have been analyzing all
semester in my research. Now all we need are storms!!
Third piece of news: As many of you know, this week
was the 10th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing
- April 19th, 1995. This was an event that changed
the life of every Oklahoman (and many of us who grew
up and live in the midwest). I have felt a special
connection to that event, because it's one of the
first truly important events that I remember growing
up - and also because it happened so close to home. I
remember mom and dad taking us down there in high
school, a few years after the bombing, when the chain
link fence was still up around the site. One thing
that stuck with me then was the symbol of the survivor
tree - a tree on the federal building grounds that
bore a large part of the blast - had all its leaves
knocked off - and yet survived. It became a symbol of
hope for the other survivors, and the family members
of the 168 people who died. A symbol that life is
powerful enough to overcome evil and death.
Last night, after spending a little bit of time at the
memorial this week, and watching and listening to all
the speeches from world leaders on this topic in the
last few days, I decided to participate in the last
event of the week - and run a 5K (3.1mi) race this
morning in coordination with the Oklahoma City
Memorial Marathon. Since all the runners started at
the exact same time, and used the same course, there
were turnoffs for the different race lengths. When
the turnoff came for the 5K, I decided to keep going,
I felt pretty good (mind you I had not trained AT ALL
in the last few weeks, besides a little running on the
side and some hiking). So much to my surprise I ended
up running an entire half-marathon (13.1 miles). Once
I got going, and thinking about all those who died 10
years ago, and all the families who will never get to
spend one more day with their loved ones, I decided to
cherish that and honor it, and just go for it.
Besides, a little leg cramp and blisters on your feet
are nothing - it makes you realize you're alive. And
being alive is the most precious gift we could ever be
given. So I did it, I didn't have a great time (2hrs
40min) but that's not the point anyway. It was fun, I
finished, I didn't walk, and I'm glad I got to do it.
(I'll train for the next one though!!). My friend
Brad ran the full marathon today, and it was SO
inspirational to watch him and some of the other
runners finish. One man I talked to along the way was
running in his 7th marathon since October, and another
man I watched finish is attempting to run a marathon
in all 50 states this year... this is his 15th since
January.. can you imagine?? Another side note... I
overheard a woman who had given birth recently say
that her doctor told her that giving birth was
equivalent to running a marathon... I guess she was
trying to find out! Anyway, it definitely made me
want to go ahead and go for the full marathon
sometime... but again, I'll definitely train for it
this time!
Last note: I recently made a webpage that has links to
my current and future programs, as well as a lot of
information on climate change... and of course a lot
of pictures, including pictures of the radar truck,
the three chases I've been on so far this spring, as
well as the half-marathon today and some photos of new
york. I'm not putting any photos in this email so
you'll have to check the website to see them!

http://weather.ou.edu/~holthaus/

I'll be updating it pretty frequently, so check back
for new pictures, etc whenever you can.
To all those graduating in May, good luck and finish
strong! To all those looking for jobs and a way to
apply that Jesuit education... stick with it! =)
Patience is a virtue. And to everyone else, thanks
for supporting me this year in Oklahoma, I couldn't
have done it without you.
My prayers are with you all, and enjoy the springtime
weather!
Many blessings,
Eric