The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, October 10, 1978, Image 7
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) • 3 «