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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 18, 1982)
ajojM iuea} aqi ; /ssaj5ojcl ui aje sjeijj. |03;u|p jaqjjnj,, uAAou>(un sj ainD aqi ——^ uiojj X|iDajip asije jeij} SLuajqojd jes -ipaoi jaq;o,, oj sa>(nu sua^ij uoijduas 6uiAj; spaa 'Xjopje; aAijoujojne oA>ioj_ e je ueujjiedaj p/o-jeaA-/f e 'epejp s/5ec/ luo-/_/ £>ar>ufjuo^J WINTER -\9S2 BEYOND 9 C30/7D T^E/IIJV/6, /MULTI- TUOIHOUS' IMFINIT? IN Vf\RWTION! O I® CREATION QEYONp IMA6INIM6! YET, IN ALL THAT, ONLY EARTH, ALONE V\0M IO BILLION PLANETS.. HAS THE DONNA REED SHOU/. ^Tsh (M* A "float" goes something like this: you shut your naked self into an ob long black box, 4 feet by 4 feet by 8 feet, soundproof, and suspend your self in a ten-inch solution of 175 gal lons of water and 800 pounds of Epsom salts, usually for a minimum of an hour. The hourly rental fee aver ages about $15 —though Tranquility Tanks in New York offers an overnight special (7 hours) for $60. Higgins' Float to Relax has opened 23 centers in the U.S., England and Sweden; franchisees pay a one-time fee of $23,000 for six tanks (which average about $3,000 apiece) and a training staff. Competitor John Lade- man, president of Oasis Tank Co. in Phoenix, Arizona, reports he sold 30 tanks in his first 10 months of busi ness. Meanwhile, in San Francisco, Glenn and Lee Perry, who opened Samadhi Alliance in 1972 (when they sold only 10 tanks), say that '81 sales will total about 200 tanks. Among the owners of tanks are the Dallas Cow boys and the Philadelphia Eagles foot ball teams, Robin "Mork" Williams, and Yoko Ono. Counter-Cube Cult Creates Chaos Rubik's Cube, the by-now ubiquitous plastic toy puzzle that has boggled some of the best minds on Earth (and that was dissected in the Fall, 1981 issue of Beyond) has finally generated a backlash. First a pair of young Califor nia entrepreneurs made a small pile last Christmas with a wooden gift item called the Cube Smasher. Though adaptable to tasks like walnut shelling, the Smasher is designed expressly for making the exasperating puzzles fly into plastic flinders. The makers claim that several grateful customers have mailed in smashed cube parts along with thank-you notes. Then Esquire put a picture of a Rubik's Cube in its Dubi ous Achievement Awards section at year's end, asking that the subject never be mentioned again. Now come reports that teachers, though they initially applauded the Cube's challenge for young minds, are now sick to death of the device. "It's mostly the kids who are bright but don't like school," complains an anon ymous California teacher. "They're al ways fumbling and clicking the damn things—even in class." As countermea sure, some teachers are confiscating the cubes, promising to return them at the end of the school day, and devi ously peeling off the color patches on a few sides of the cubes in order to switch them. "It makes them totally impossible to solve," the anonymous teacher says with a leer. "Drives 'em nuts." one-button feature switching. All with about 1/3 less bulk than regular portables. So, finally, you can gorge yourself on incredible sound. And still be able to move. fMd«r Mrvtu card CJ) PIONEER* We never miss a performance. .iomtS ifinozisfl anil-milS to aohoa womuG