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March 5, 1999 JOURNALISTS: Here's a story idea and some Purdue events during the next two weeks. La Nina puts new twist on tornado season March 7-13 is Tornado Preparedness Week in Indiana, and this year Hoosiers might be well advised to take extra precautions. A Purdue study shows that Indiana and nine other states could experience twice as many tornadoes this year as last year. Graduate student Suzanne Zurn-Birkhimer, working with Purdue Professor Ernest Agee, compared the geographical variation in tornadoes for El Nino years vs. La Nina years during an 81-year-period. She found that there were more tornadoes in the Central and Southern Plains and the Gulf Coast during strong El Nino years, such as 1998, with a shift to more tornadoes in the lower Midwest, the Ohio and Tennessee valleys, and the mid-Atlantic region during La Nina years, such as this year. "The major axis of this increased activity is in Mississippi, Arkansas, western Tennessee, western Kentucky and Indiana," Agee says. CONTACTS: Ernest Agee, (765) 494-3282, agee@thunder.atms.purdue.edu; Suzanne Zurn-Birkhimer, (765) 494-06667, zurn@eas.purdue.edu Events Thursday, March 11. "Excellence Is a Moving Target," is the title of a talk to be given from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. in the Krannert Building Auditorium. The speaker is Venu Srinivasan, a 1977 Krannert graduate who is managing director of Sundaram-Clayton Limited, Chennai, India. The company won the 1998 Deming Prize for Overseas Companies for its excellence in manufacturing. A reception will follow the lecture. CONTACT: Tamyra Gibson, director of public relations, School of Management, (765) 494-4392, gibson@mgmt.purdue.edu Friday, April 2. Board of Trustees meeting. 1:30 p.m. Room 304 (Anniversary Drawing Room), Purdue Memorial Union. (Date changed from March 26.) CONTACTS: Jeanne V. Norberg, director, Purdue News Service, (765) 494-2084; jeanne_norberg@purdue.edu, or Joseph L. Bennett, vice president for University Relations, (765) 494-2082; joe_bennett@purdue.edu Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; e-mail, purduenews@purdue.edu To the Purdue News and Photos Page