City bracing for oppressive heat

If you can't take the heat, stay out of Bloomington this week.\nMonroe County Hoosiers, like many others in the mid-to-southern regions of the state, are experiencing a National Weather Service "excessive heat warning" until 7 p.m. today. The temperature within Bloomington is expected to register in the mid-90s this afternoon as the heat index rises above 110 degrees. Similar to the yolk of a chicken egg frying on a sidewalk manhole cover beneath the solar glare of about 10,000 degrees, campus community members have baked in the sweat of a week-long heat wave blistering the nation from coast to coast. \n"An Indiana summer is usually this humid but it's never really this hot for this long," said IU senior John Vujovich. "I love the heat but I hate the humidity -- the feeling of waking up and taking a shower, but when you walk outside you don't feel like you've showered ... The sweat from walking one block to school to study is like running half-a-mile." \nBloomington temperatures hovered around 90 degrees Monday through Sunday, and the heat index registered above 100 degrees nearly every afternoon last week. According to the National Weather Service, the heat index is the temperature a human body feels when heat and humidity are combined.\nOlder persons, children and people with certain medical conditions like heart disease are at greatest risk for heat exposure. According to the Centers for Disease Control, about 9,000 Americans died from heat exposure from 1979 to 2002 -- more than hurricanes, lighting, tornadoes, floods and earthquakes combined. \nSenior Matthew Martellaro, an employee of the Indiana Memorial Union's Sugar & Spice, said many students have flocked to his food service stand during the state's most recent heat wave to guzzle buckets of iced coffee and slurp tubs of Creamice frosted beverage. He said year-round sales of Special K Chewey, Chocolate Chunk and No Bake cookies are not affected by the temperature as much as sugary and caffeinated drinks.\n"Students should drink plenty of fluids and water is the best thing out there," he said with no visible sweat beads dripping down his brow due to his air-conditioned work environment. "You can try to avoid the humidity but you can't ... Students can go to the pool to cool off or they can go to someone's house if that person has a pool."\nAlcohol consumption, strenuous outdoor physical activities and perspiration inhibiting medications also increases the risk for hot-weather related injuries, according to the CDC. Air conditioning is the number one protective factor against heat-related illness and death, and lightweight, light-colored and loose-fitting clothing can reduce a person's body temperature if activity must occur outdoors during the day.\nValparaiso resident and junior Sean Ripley said he is combating the heat with increased air conditioning use within his campus home. He said the Canadian air rushing off of Lake Michigan provides his hometown with more of a breeze and wind than Bloomington during hotter summer months, which makes the 100-plus temperature days seem more bearable. \n"It feels like you're swimming when you walk around outside. The second you step outside, whether or not you have bathed, you feel disgusting," Ripley said. "The heat makes you feel tired and the humidity might make it seem like you aren't getting enough done. You have to fight through it ... When I get to work I have been sweating a bit and it takes me a few minutes to feel normal."\nAbout 20,000 Americans died from the effects of heat and solar radiation between 1936 and 1975, according to the NWS, including 1,250 people during the 1980 heat wave. More than 20 Americans died from the recent heat wave in Las Vegas, and authorities are investigating dozens of other possible heat-related deaths across the country as of press time.\nBesides the infamous sunburn and murmurs of heat cramps, heat exhaustion can lead to heat stroke and immediate medical attention may be necessary if a person continues to vomit after prolonged heat exposure or if her or his internal body temperature rises above 106 degrees.\nVujovich said he recommends students still "do what they want to do" but to postpone most outdoor activities until after a 6 p.m. dinnertime if possible to avoid potential negative heat-related heath consequences. He said his friends have continued to toss Frisbees around and hit baseballs in batting cages despite the sweltering summer weather.\n"I've been exercising, running, at 10 p.m. at night to avoid the heat and the weight room in the HPER has been ridiculously hot," Vujovich said. "You can always get out of the heat, but if there is one thing I could do without it would be the humidity"