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<title>Ryerson Astronomical Society: Billion Year Plan
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<FONT SIZE="+3"><B>The Billion Year Plan</B></FONT><BR>
<FONT SIZE="+2">A Vision for RAS's First Billion Years</FONT>
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Version 0.01<BR>
21 February 2000
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<BLOCKQUOTE>
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<B>A note on units:</B> All dates in this document are given using the
Gregorian
calendar of Earth (Sol 3). One day in the Gregorian calendar corresponds
to one solar day on Earth. One year corresponds approximately to one
revolution of Earth about the sun. The days of the year are divided into
twelve months, based roughly upon the revolution of the Moon about the
Earth. These twelve months are January, February, March, April, May,
June, July, August, September, October, November and December. September,
April, June and November contains 30 days; all the rest, except for
February, contain 31 days. February contains 29 days if the year is
divisible by four and not by 100, or if it is divisible also by 400;
otherwise, February contains 28 days. The days of the year are also
divided into seasons, based upon the extrema of Earth's orbit about the
sun. Winter begins on the day with the shortest period of light and the
longest period of darkness, the winter solstice, and continues to the
vernal equinox, at which light and darkness attain equal length. The next
season is spring, which stretches until the summer solstice, when the
period of light is longest. The third season is summer, which lasts from
the summer solstice to the autumnal equinox; and the remaining season is
autumn. All seasons mentioned in this document are in fact
academic quarters at
the University of Chicago, which approximate northern hemisphere
seasons.</FONT> </P> </BLOCKQUOTE>
<H3>Spring 2000</H3>
<H4>22 April: Earth Day</H4>
<P>22 April is Earth Day. Some day close to Earth Day, University
organizations traditionally hold an Earth Day fair. The Society should
consider staffing a table that provides information about light pollution,
as well as the terraforming of Mars and the long term fate of Earth and
the Solar System.</P>
<H4>Procurment of New Bookshelf</H4>
<P>
The Ryerson Astronomical Society owns a small library worth of books.
Among our historically-important books we count our log books, which date
back to 1952 and include entries by such famous scientists as Carl Sagan,
and
a relativity text once owned by U of C Nobel Laureate Subrahmanyan
Chandrasekhar We do not have sufficient shelf space to house all our
books,
however. For this reason, RAS should procure a new bookshelf in Spring
2000.
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<H4>Installation of Electronic Weather Station</H4>
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Due to the effects of the lake and Chicago's air pollution, weather
reports from the National Weather Service and companies such as
AccuWeather
often fail to convey important information about observation conditions in
Hyde Park. An electronic weather station would allow the Society to
monitor
weather conditions in the Hyde Park area and make better plans for
observations.
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One of the most inexpensive and commonly used amateur weather
stations
is the Oregon Scientific WM-918, which lists for $399. A wide range of
free
add-on software, writing by amateur weather watchers, is available for
this
station. One such package would allow the Society to make information
about
Hyde Park weather conditions available to Society members and the
University
commuity through the World Wide Web.
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<P>The <A HREF="http://www.weatherwatchers.org">Central Atlantic Storm
Investigators</A> recommend the purchase of the
WM-918 from Heartland America, which sells it for $199 plus $20
shipping.</P>
<H3>Summer 2000</H3>
<H4>Climate Control</H4>
<P>The RAS office currently lacks climate control. This has the potential
to damage our library. In addition, in order to maintain a comfortable
temperature during the winter, we must open the crawl space in order to
let heat from lower floors rise into the office. This, however, exposes
the office to particles of fiber glass, which pose a hazard to human
health.</P>
<P>When Building Services removed a skylight from the RAS office a couple
of years ago, not realizing that the office was occupied, they promised to
compensate us by helping us improve the state of the office. It is
time for us to call upon their assistance.</P>
<H4>Refurbishment of the RAS Office</H4>
<P>The furniture within the RAS office is in a horrible state of repair.
The Society should replace the chairs in the office with ones that are not
falling apart and consider replacing the office rug as well.</P>
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