National
THE BATTALION
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1981
Page 13
Toys: good, bad and gross
United Press International
WASHINGTON — This
Christmas toy season, the Aster
oid video game is rated among the
best, a doll that vomits is billed as
trash and several play guns are
ranked as among the most hazar
dous.
The rating, billing and ranking
are all part of the 10th annual toy
survey by the Consumer Affairs
Committee of Americans for
Democratic Action.
The most disgusting toy, it said,
is “Jiggles” — a set of molds out of
which children can make lemon-
flavored lizards and strawberry-
flavored spiders. The group said
the toy could teach children bad
habits — namely eating bugs.
The consumer affairs group.
which dispatched toy surveyors
across the country, said the lowest
prices among national chain stores
can be found at Toys-R-Us.
Ann Brown, head of the com
mittee, said the most dangerous
toys appear to be the variety of
projectile guns, darts and similar
toys. She said several “look like
they were donated to us by (Li
byan leader Moammar) Khadafy.”
Among best toys it found were
the Asteroids video game and the
“Pyraminx,” a three-dimensional
pyramid puzzle along the lines of
the Rubik’s cube, last year’s big
selling brain teaser.
Other toys on the “good” list
were the Fisher-Price Arts and
Craft kits. Penny Racers by
Takara, the Whip-It puzzle by
LJN, the Air Jammer Road Ram
mer by Tomy, Flip and Fold
Fashions by Tomy and the Crayola
Caddy by Binney and Smith.
Brown said because the Con
sumer Product Safety Commis
sion decided earlier this year not
to impose regulations on toys
which shoot projectiles the matter
has been left to voluntary industry
efforts.
Last week, the commission said
it has not found any single toy
which is dangerous in terms of fed
eral law.
The Americans for Democratic
Action group has not claimed the
play guns and other toys violate
federal law, but has said some
could be hazardous.
The “most dangerous toy” sing
led out by the group was the Fal-,
conmatics cap gun and the Ghosti
cap gun with removable silencer
made by Edison toys, and ABC’s |
Wide World of Sports Deluxe
Dart Set made by Crown Recrea-1
tion.
The group criticized the cap
guns as being too realistic looking
and difficult to supervise. It said
the darts contained no warning
label of any kind and should be
sold in sporting goods stores, not
toy stores.
The consumer group survey
consigned to the “trash box” a toy
called “Tummy Ache” —- a card
board doll-like figure that sticks
out a pink tongue and throws up
after being fed cutouts shaped like
candy, french fries and other food.
State sued by nursing homes
United Press International
AUSTIN — Three nursing
homes specializing in caring for
the mentally retarded have filed
suit against the state welfare de
partment, charging its funding
plan will deprive patients of ade
quate care.
The suit, filed Tuesday in state
district court, challenged the De
partment of Human Resources’
reimbursement formula for fund
ing the Thomas Care Center in
Austin, the Ada Wilson Hospital
in Corpus Christi and the Con-
valscent Center in Dallas.
“We’re asking the state to obey
its own rules,” said Monte Read,
administrator of the Dallas facil
ity. “We shouldn’t have to sue the
state of Texas to get the Depart
ment of Human Resources to com
ply with its own procedures and
state law.”
The suit claims the department
intended to disregard the reim
bursement formula and decided to
fund the three centers at lower
rates.
In September, U.S. District
Judge George Cire ruled the de
partment had changed Medicare
funding for the retarded without
consulting the federal govern
ment.
Cire ordered the department to
revise its funding formula and sub
mit it for federal approval before
implementing it.
The suit charges the depart
ment with violating the adminis
trative procedure act by im
plementing the new plan without
federal approval.
W?
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veeks I
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'nion e
Briggs Babes
Photo by Michelle Richie
Spend Spring Break on
Liz Miley, a freshman animal science
major and Cathy Black, a sophomore
wildlife and fisheries major, put
last-minute touches on their decorations
for the second floor of Briggs Hall for a
contest with the first floor.
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heat ciif
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> opporto
Scientist testifies at trial
creationism ‘not science 7
• 4 days-3 nights in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
• March 15-19
• Round trip air transportation on Texas International
• Accommodations at Calinda Plaza Vallanta
• Round trip transfers between airport and hotel
• includes room tax
. ...
/s. An»
adaS aril United Press International
rm wbl LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Scien-
to ChiriP sts dissecting Arkansas’ creation-
AmeriG science law word by word testified
ese [that no scientific evidence exists to
cos grafkack up the theory as explained in
iminisb the statute or as presented in liter-
/eeks allure.
ire fral Requiring teachers to give ba-
c Unitflpnccd treatment to creationism
| a and evolution would be “dreadful-
■ wrong” because creation-
Rience “is not science,” said
Francisco Ayala, a genetics profes-
[sor at the University of California
at Davis.
I The American Civil Liberties
Union has filed suit against Arkan
sas creation-science law saying
eationism is nothing more than
religion and, as such, violates the
institutional separation of
church and state.
The state defends the law by
saying creationism can be sup
ported with evidence that is at
least as scientific as evolution.
Only that evidence would be used
in the classroom, state lawyers
say, because Arkansas’ law speci
fically forbids religious instruc
tion.
Ayala and geologist Brent Dal-
rymple gave detailed scientific
testimony Tuesday, saying many
creationist writings were based on
outdated or discredited research,
were erroneous or were deliber
ately misleading.
Dalrymple, who tested moon
rocks for the U.S. Geological Sur
vey, said he particularly objected
to creation-scientists’ claim that
the earth is no more than 20,000
years old.
“I put that in the same category
as the flat earth hypothesis and the
hypothesis that the sun goes
around the earth,” he said.
Sen. James Hoisted, D-North
Little Rock, testified that his will
ingness to introduce the bill in the
Legislature last spring grew from
his personal religious beliefs.
Hoisted testified to the fact that
the bill passed the House and Sen
ate with virtually no debate. The
bill was signed by Gov. Frank
White, a born-again Christian,
who later said he had not read all
of it.
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