yclists in D.C.
ant acceptance
United Press International
? st critical J
liaif.IvASHINGTON - Bri j n w ‘''-
32, says he has noticed quite a
; r e ^Sirwh e fsh°o“fs
nung^j in downtown Washington five
f ‘u ' P milt(frists who used to yell “Use
ns willTIfc'*i > “' 1,r ur ' Cl '' offlhe ? C? ad!
iS
‘•it duriii;
ring proct
bv three
0,000 no
He makes his trip faster than if he
jve and parked.
He says the bike paths are so
,wded with recreational cyclists,
r gers, pedestrians and dog-
Jkers that he prefers the roads.
He’s had a few minor accidents,
‘more from my own careless-
P han anything.”
[Rep. Bob Eckhardt, D-Tex., left
car in Houston when he came to
ishington 12 years ago. Eckhardt,
rides his bicycle when he must
ve his office to go to the floor of
House to vote. His wife also
[iding" de
the H
of living
it 3
When the Interstate and Foreign
, | . jmmerce Committee was drafting
1 . Ivin l energy bill, Eckhard found it par-
tii ilarly appropriate that he
tnose(•(jaied between committee room
House floor.
iHe lives on Capitol Hill and says,
can run home and get lunch and
back here in five minutes to
nions el
? mailed 1
ecision
to a vote Couldn’t do it with
ricers od“^
But he’s fallen victim to the bik-
„ i Irs’plague— theft.
PuBHis three-speeder, though
mos 0 ^Jaincd, was stolen from in front of
1e house. He bought a used 10-
eeder at a police auction of un-
imed bikes. Then two wheels
istal Wotl
vote
ting
t a week,
ton:l e '
is due P
i ler
3W
>re stolen, one at a time.
jEven a bigger obstacle to bicycle
Bmmuting is the problem of shar-
Ig the same road with cars, says
Ian Burden, executive director of
le non-profit Bicycle Federation.
Separate, parallel trails for bikes
ek, making
i migratioc
and Re
ay session
alien prob-
in togetht!;
are impractical as a general solution.
“Bikeways aren't working because
they don t go where bicyclists need
to go,” Burden says.
Bridges, with no shoulder or curb
lane, are another obstacle. Often
bikes are barred from toll bridges.
Burden says cyclists and motorists
must learn to accommodate each
other. Cyclists must learn to obey
the rules of the road, he says, and
motorists must learn to respect the
bicycle’s right to be there.
In Europe, the motorcar and the
bike grew up together and they get
along splendidly,” he says. “I sus
pect that will be the case in this
country in another decade or so.”
Burden, 35, and his wife lived for
seven years in Missoula, Mont.,
without a car and figure they saved
$14,000.
They once pedaled from Alaska to
Guatemala. In 1976, Burden or
ganized a “Bike centennial” tour in
which 4,600 cyclists pedaled across
America.
Burden says high on cyclists’s lists
of what they want are parking
facilities and a place at work to
shower. But what they want most,
he says, is “acceptance.”
Congress is about to provide for
the improvement of roads, shoul
ders and traffic control devices to
make bike-car road sharing more ac
ceptable.
A House bill earmarks $25 million
a year for two years and the Senate
$20 million in highway trust funds
for those purposes. Approval of a
compromise figure is expected be
fore Congress adjourns this fall.
Previously, states could use fed
eral highway funds for bike projects
— but bikes had to compete with
other demands and generally lost
out. The new bills earmark funds for
bicycles and no other purpose.
Tucked into President Carter’s
controversial energy bill is a provi
sion instructing Transportation Sec
retary Brock Adams to conduct a
THE BATTALION Page 7
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 1978
CirraVarT,
study of the bicycle’s energy con
servation potential and of ways to
overcome “institutional, legal, phys
ical and personal obstacles to in
creased bicycle use.”
Sen. John Heinz, R-Pa., told the
Senate, “Should the study be as
positive as 1 think it will be, you can
be sure I and others will be back
here next year seeking funding of a
bicycle program.”
Bicycling will never save huge
amounts of gasoline, but, Heinz
said, experts recognize that energy
is saved only through "a series of
small steps, each of marginal signifi
cance when viewed singly.”
Rep. George E. Brown, D-Calif.,
said a 1974 study estimated that 827
million gallons of gasoline would be
saved annually if 6 percent of auto
trips of under six miles were taken
by bicycle.
Helping draft the bill was con
gressional staffer Katherine Cud-
lipp, who commutes to the Capitol
by bike.
Fiddlin’ around
keeps her young
United Press International
YANKTON, S.D. — Lala Gerkins, the 81-year-old “Grand Old
Lady of the Mountains from West Virginia,” kept the audience
stomping Sunday as guest performer at the South Dakota and Open
Oldtime Fiddlers’ Contest.
For 73 years, Gerkins has stroked and plucked tunes from the
fiddle her grandfather taught her to play. “When I was 12 and he was
72, we played on each other’s birthday,” she said. “The one whose
birthday it was had to tap dance.”
At 15, she played mood music for silent films — “The Volga Boat
man was a good one for jungle pictures” — and later performed at
dance halls. “I liked the dance halls because the ones I played at
didn’t sell liquor.”
Gerkins, who doesn’t read music, said she has competed in count
less fiddle contests and “never finished anything but first.” The
reason, she said, is performing tunes nobody else will touch.
Her favorites are “Bing Crosby, Southern bluegrass and sym
phony.”
“I hate country western music. There just isn’t anything to it.”
Gerkins stands about 5 feet, 5 inches and weighs a bit more than
100 pounds. She wears flowered print dresses and has cocoa-colored
hair.
“My hair don’t get gray, it just gets faded,” she said. “I never dyed
ny hair. I’m not trying to hide my age because I want to get older.
"Be Two Places at Once-
Give The Gift of Life
AGGIE BLOOD DRIVE
T Thurs.. Oct.10-12th
9a.m.-6p.m., 224 MSC
wo-tvay market promoted
Yugoslavs seek U.S. trade
United Press International
chesattbf BELGRADE — The United
M Univer- [ fes and Communist Yugoslavia
| pushing to improve trade levels
1 economic cooperation.
In a way it’s an investment in the
ureon both sides. Or even call it
iurance.
Jugoslavia, whose number one
borderto-Bi v idual trading partner is the
2 stressed IUnion, is looking for new
Irkets so as not to become overly
hey would P' an f on the East bloc for its
■ everyjot pnomic needs in case economic
needitlo pendence could be used as a
:ssure point in the future, dip-
gal alieiu na is say.
Ilion. United States, always ready
ie United n ew markets, also is interested
ikely theii reaching third markets through
nt ventures with the Yugoslavs,
centaged Pra ^ e between the two countries
illegally s ^own a nearly threefold in-
anttobf ^ se s'ooe 1970 to a total around
W) million last year, with $1 bill-
>in trade expected this year.
loreover, the trade is more or
s balanced, in sharp contrast with
goslavias massive $2.4 billion de
pt with the Common Market
Ntries in 1977.
|The United States ranks number
P 1, behind the Soviet Union,
lest Germany and Italy — among
f grade s individual trading
artners. But, as one U.S. source
jd, its a long way from one to
ur.
At last year s meeting between
IR’
President Carter and Yugoslav Pres
ident Josip Broz Tito in Washington
it was agreed to set up economic
working groups on both sides to
focus on specific trade problems.
Heading the U.S. side is Under
secretary for Commerce Frank Weil
who journeyed to Yugoslavia in Sep
tember to open a modern new
American business center in the
heart of downtown Belgrade and to
underscore the importance placed
on U.S. participation in this year’s
annual Zagreb trade fair.
For their part the Yugoslavs sent
a high-ranking trade delegation to
the United States the last week of
September, led by Ilij Vakic, presi
dent of the Yugoslav Chamber of
Commerce, and including business
leaders and company directors from
about 40 of Yugoslavia’s top firms
and banks.
The group was meeting with rep
resentatives of top U.S. firms in
areas including agriculture, chemis
try, metals and metal products and
retail trade. Vakic said they would
“offer goods to their American
partners, examine new projects for
industrial cooperation and joint ven
tures and discuss new undertakings
in third markets.”
An extensive Yugoslav traveling
exhibition will tour the eastern U-
nited States in October and No
vember to try to drum up business
for their export goods — including
canned food, wines, textiles,
clothes, leather and shoes and
mechanical tools and parts.
American sources say there is a
psychological block to be overcome
on both sides.
In the U.S. there is a lot of ignor
ance about Yugoslavia, with its de
centralized Communist rule and
system of “Self mah&gentent j'”- - *
though the country is classified by
the Department of Commerce as a
Western European country.
On the Yugoslav side, American
sources said, there is almost a fear of
getting too deeply involved in the
huge and extremely competitive
American market. They are con
cerned, for example, whether
Yugoslav companies could compete
as to quantity and price as well as
quality.
U.S. Ambassador Lawrence Eag-
leburger sees the key to expanding
American business in Yugoslavia as
increased Yugoslav exports to the
United States and said the new
American business center will be
used to promote two-way trade.
“I’m personally convinced if we
want to sell more to Yugoslavia we
have got to buy more from Yugos
lavia,” he said.
TAMU MSC TOWN HALL
SERIES ATTRACTION #2
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 20 8:00 P.M.
G. ROLLIE WHITE COLISEUM
10% discount is not valid on
merchandise already on sale
or for FERTI LOME products
HARDY GARDEHS
A&M
Student
Non-
Student
Date
General
Public
General
Admission
FREE
w/ticket
3.00
4.00
Reserved
4.00/
4.50
4.00/
4.50
6.00/
6.50
1127 Villa Maria
Bryan
846-8319
ART AT
TEXAS A&M
Rules for the MSC Arts
Juried Student Art Competition
may be picked up at the
MSC Gallery or MSC Room 216
DEADLINE for entry October 27
MIRANDA'S
MIXED DRINKS
ROCK 'N ROLL MUSIC
DANCING
Happy hour 1-6 mon.-fri.
(Monday night football)
309 University (Next to the Dixie Chicken)
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