Page 14/The Battalion/Monday, December 10, 1984
Agriculture conference
emphasizes soil erosion
United Press International
WASHINGTON — Fear of fu
ture loss in agricultural productivity
has long been a compelling motiva
tion for governments and individu
als to spend money to reduce soil
erosion on the nation’s farms.
But productivity concerns have
lost some of their immediate ur
gency because of current crop sur
pluses.
So concern has shifted to the tre
mendous expense to society when
soil washes off farm hillsides into the
nation’s streams, rivers, harbors and
reservoirs and raises dredging and
water treattnent costs.
Soil, carrying agricultural chemi
cals, also can reduce recreational
uses of water, increase flood damage
and harm wildlife.
Much of this year’s wide-ranging
discussion of farm policy prior to
congressional consideration of 1985
farm legislation has focused on tra
ditional price support programs and
the impact of overall economic con
ditions on the weak farm economy.
Soil conservation also has been
widely mentioned in farm policy dis
cussions as increasing numbers of
farm groups and policymakers agree
that conservation must be more clo
sely linked with price support pro
grams in next year’s farm legislation.
At the Agriculture Department’s
61st annual outlook conference this
week, Wesley Seitz, head of the agri
cultural economics department at
the University of Illinois, said a great
deal more information on what are
sometimes called “offsite” impacts of
erosion has become available over
the past decade.
He said the changing perception
will increase pressure to spend more
conservation funds on areas with the
greatest erosion problems in con
trast to past policies of spending the
most money on land with minimal
soil erosion problems.
David Unger, associate chief of
the Agriculture Department’s Soil
Conservation Service, told the out
look conference that targeting of soil
conservation efforts should be ex
panded, but Cong
mg levels for this n<
ig levels tor tins fiscal year.
Ta
ress froze spend-
"argeting began in 132 counties
in 10 states in 1981 and was ex
panded over the next three years,
partially with newly allocated
money. This year Congress froze
targeting spending rather than re
duce money allocated for non-tar-
geted areas.
“It is unfortunate that this hap
pened,” Unger said. “The great
merit of targeting is that it directs
additional federal resources —which
are not unlimited — to treatment of
the worst problems.”
Unger said the administration is
considering proposing its own con
servation reserve, which would pay
farmers to take out of production
the most erodible land for up to 10
years by planting grass or trees on it.
Government pornography
study receives budget cut
United Press International
WASHINGTON —- A $798,000
government study of the possible
links between pornography and
youth violence, brancted a “tho
rough waste of taxpayers’ money,”
by one House member, will be scaled
down and its budget cut in half.
House and Senate subcommittees
investigated the contract for the
study, awarded without a compet
itive bid to Dr. Judith Reisman, an
author of scholarly articles and a for
mer songwriter for the Captain Kan
garoo children’s television show.
Her study was suppose to include
the examination of tne possible ef
fects of material in magazines in
cluding Playboy, Penthouse and
Hustler on violent sexual and non-
sexual behavior byjuveniles and vio
lence directed against juveniles. Un
der the proposed scaled-down plan
she will be limited to examining now
children are exhibited in the mag
azines.
Dr. David Sansbury, acting dean
scn<
of the American University school of
education, said the new spending
ceiling for the Reisman project is
about $400,000.
Patrick Martin, Reisman’s busi
ness manager for the project, said a
completion date was “not now immi
nent.”
The project was hampered by
clashes between Reisman and Dr.
Myra Sadker, who resigned June 1
as dean of American University’s ed
ucation school.
She originally supported the pro
ject but said problems with it were
“one of many factors” affecting her
decision to leave the post.
Alfred Regnery, administrator of
the juvenile justice office, who was
criticized for the Reisman study and
other programs awarded without
competitive bidding, personally au
thorized the study one year ago.
During the agency’s and Reis
man’s search for a university to host
the program, Bruce Chapman, di
rector of the White House office of
planning and evaluation, convinced
American University President Rich
ard Berendzen to accept it. Chap
man, who reports to White House
counselor Edwin Meese, said he
made the call on Regnery’s request.
The project led Congress to re
write federal law requiring review by
outside experts and competitive bid
ding for such programs.
Reisman’s work also had not been
submitted for “peer review,” a cus
tomary practice in which outside ex
perts examine a proposal for theory
and methodology, an agency spokes
man said.
Batter up
Photo by ANTHONYS. CASPER
Batter Charlie Thompson, pitcher Jeff
Mackey and outfielder Ty Gentry play stick-
ball in the Universiy Complex. Stickball
originated on the streets of New York.
Roach assists in burglar’s escape
“The staff has been in disarray,” a
university source said. “A full staff
has never been hired and there is no
proposal and very little product to
show for a federally financed ven
ture ten or 11 months into it.”
A General Accounting Office re
port showed the juvenile justice of
fice’s non-competitive grants have
decreased in number by 10 percent
since 1982 but the actual dollar
amounts of those grants leaped by
nearly 30 percent.
United Press International
HOUSTON — Convenience store
clerk David Phan held a robber at
bay for 15 minutes with a toy gun,
but was forced to Jet him go because
a cockroach short-circuited the
store’s alarm.
The robber had surrendered his
knife when Phan, a 90-pound, 5-foot
Vietnamese native, displayed his toy
weapon.
Phan then locked the door and
rang the alarm for police.
“But the alarm didn’t work,”
Phan, 28, said. “It had a roach in it. I
kept looking at the clock and looking
at him. He was getting mad. I had a
big problem.”
After 15 minutes, Phan, now an
American citizen after fleeing Viet
nam in 1975, decided to let the man
go. But first he studied the man’s
driver’s license.
“The first was easy,” Phan said of
an earlier robbery in w'hich he
grabbed the bandit’s gun. “But this
time I had to keep the toy gun hid
den so he wouldn’t know. I amveij
small. I thought he might jump me
1 felt that if I kept waiting he might
kill me.”
The robbery' occurred Nov.
and Phan identified the robber#
week through police photographs!
charge of aggravated robbery hi
been filed against a Houston man
“Everybody tells me I am a hero,
Phan said. “1 don’t know.”
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McDonald's
DRIVE-THRU
WINDOW
MCDONALD’S
INTRAMURAL HIGHLIGHTS
McDonalds
At University Drive
Now at Texas and S.W. Parkway
At Manor East Mall
BREAKFAST EVERY
MORNING
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FACILITY HOURS
These are the times the recreational facilities will be open the
Christmas in term:
De Ware Field House-Dec. 20-Jan. 18
Closed
East Kyle and G. Rollie White-Dec. 22-Jan. 1
Monday-Friday 10 a.m.-10 p.m.
Saturday-Sunday 10 a.rn.-10 p.m.
Weight Room-Monday-Friday 11 a.m.-11 p.m.
Saturday-Sunday Noon-10 p.m.
Closed Dec. 25-Jan 1
Pool-(Outdoor) Monday-Friday Noon-2 p.m.
(Lap Swimming Only)
(Indoor) Monday, Tuesday & Friday 6 p.m.-10 p.m.
Wedensday & Thursday 6p.m.-7 p.m.
Saturday 7 Sunday Noon-6p.m.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
McDonald's Intramural Highlights is sponsored each Monday in the Battalion by
your local McDonald’s’* Restaurants at University Drive, Manor East Mall and on
Texas Avenue. Stories are written by members of the Intramural Staff, graphics are
by Joel Hickerson, and photos are by Tom McDonnell and Marcy Basile.
The Fencing Club was one of several sports clubs holding tourna
ments this semester
After three rain delays, the Triathon finally got underway in Novem
ber.
Company L-2 came out winners of the men’s division preseason
Flag Football Tournanment
The swim meet consisted of three days of intense competition. Here
are the winners of the t-shirt relay.
Clements Crush earned dorm points by winning class A women’s 16
inch softball.
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