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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (May 3, 1985)
Friday, May 3, 1985/The Battalion/Page 3B Snakebite f/ete's sometf/ncf worth a CLOSER The best cure is to be wary University News Service It’s spring and time to be wary of snakes, a Texas A&M wildlife scien tist warns. “If you come upon a snake, re main calm and simply walk away,” Dr. Fred Hendricks, associate pro fessor of wildlife and Fisheries sci ences, says. “Most snakes are not ag gressive and most man-snake encounters go unnoticed by man. In any case, an average person can out run a snake.” Hendricks says chances are only four in 10 that a poisonous snake will release venom when it bites. The fatality rate from snake bite is ex- trememly low, he says. Less than 1 percent of the victims who are struck die from the 2,000-plus bites an nually reported nationwide. Snakes are most active between April and mid-June because it is the mating season. In early spring they move about a great deal, but as the weather warms up much of the activ ity will be limited to the early morn ing and late evening hours, the wild life expert says. “Nearly all bites occur from peo ple handling snakes, rather than be ing surprised by one,” Hendricks says. “Most bites come as no surpri se.” Hendricks says people should learn to distinguish one snake from another, because rattlesnakes, cop perheads, cottonmouths (all pit vip ers) and coral snakes are the only ones considered dangerous in Texas. He says people should be cautious when picking up fallen limbs, boards, tin and other objects on the ground this summer. “They ought to get rid of debris,” he says. “If they did, it would reduce the likelihood of a snake being around. “Don’t lift anything towards you,” he says. “Lift things away from you so a snake won’t be staring you in the eye.” There’s no standard procedure for treating snakebites, Hendricks says, although most doctors would advise remaining calm, avoiding un necessary movement and putting a constricting band above the bite to slow down but not cut off the blood flow. Then go immediately to the hospital. “There’s so much controversy about how to treat snakebites that the best cure seems to be to learn to avoid snakes and not get bitten in the First place,” he says. Americans respect religion’s influence Associated Press Americans have more respect for organized religion than for any of the country’s other major institu tions, and tne impression is growing that religion is having greater impact on society. But there has been a downward trend in the view that religion can answer most modern problems, al though a majority still tnink it can do so. These are among Findings sum marized in the latest reports of the Princeton Religious Research Cen ter, a branch of the Gallup poll orga nization, which gathered the data. Results of recent surveys also show some key differences between evangelicals and non-evangelicals on some major social issues, but also some striking concurrences. Protes tant and Catholic views ran parallel on several issues. A majority of both — 73 percent of Protestants and 72 percent of Catholics — favor prayer in public schools. Majorities — 51 percent of Protestants and 59 percent of Catho lics — favor a ban on abortions ex cept in case of rape, incest, or when the mother’s life is endangered, Gal lup Finds. Most Americans also are found to think it is proper for religious groups to express their views about political, social and economic mat ters, but not to oppose or endorse specific candidates. Only a tiny minority, 3 percent, say their pastors have ever sided for or against particular candidates. The Findings were based on inter views with scientifically selected cross-sections, most of them involv ing 1,000 or more people. The topmost degree of confi dence expressed in organized reli gion, compared to other institutions, continued a consistent pattern turned up over the past decade. Similar to results of six previous surveys conducted since 1973, the new study found that two-thirds of Americans — 64 percent — have a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of confi dence in organized religion. The next highest rated among U.S. institutions, as measured by the degree of confidence in it, was the U.S. military, which 58 percent of the people voiced substantial trust. In ensuing order, with the per centages having confidence in them, were these institutions: Banks and the U.S. Supreme Court, both 51 percent; public schools, 47 percent; newspapers, 34 percent; organized labor, 30 per cent; the U.S. Congress and big busi ness, both 29 percent, and television, 26 percent. While a majority — 56 percent — think religion can “answer all or most of today’s problems,” the pro- f iortion has showed a steady decline rom what it was 10 years ago — 62 percent. The present level was even fur ther down from the high optimism of a quarter century ago when 81 percent in 1957 felt religion offered solutions to most all difficulties. Nevertheless, the proportion of Americans who think religion is in creasing its influence on American life has risen almost steadily from a low of 14 percent in 1970 to a cur rent 42 percent. Ice sculptors practice perishable form of art Associated Press MIDLAND — Sculpture has tra ditionally been one of the most dura ble, permanent art forms, but some sculptors’ soaring eagles, graceful swans and proud dragons turn into mere puddles of water within hours. “Almost any ice carving will last five to six hours,” said Robert Ver- vynch, executive chef of Mission Country Club. Ice carvings are often used as chilly but grandiose centerpieces adorning banquet tables for parties. ' While primarily decorative, ice sculptures originally had a very utili tarian purpose. “Ice carving was founded in the late 1800s by Auguste Escoffier for the purpose of preserving ice cream bombes, which are best presented when placed upon an ice base,” according to Vervynch. Vervynch still sometimes makes ice carvings intended as much to keep food chilled as to look pretty, such as small ice boats to keep shrimp cool. Vervynch and his staff members carve at least 40 ice sculptures a month, he said. One of Mission Country Club’s ice carvers, Mike McDonald, recently won third place in the ice carving category at the Texas Chef Associa tion’s Culinary Salon statewide com petition in Dallas. Like most Midland ice carvers, McDonald uses an ice pick to scratch a rough outline of his sculpture on one face of a large ice block. The standard block of ice weighs 300 pounds and is 22 inches wide, 42 inches tall and 11 inches thick. Then he fires up a small chainsaw and starts carefully — but noisily — lobbing off chunks of ice until he has transformed the block into a rough statue. Asked how he knows where to cut and how deeply, McDonald gave a classic sculptor’s reply, “I just elimi nate what doesn’t belong there.” He also adds most of his detailing with delicate applications of the chainsaw to the ice. McDonald pre fers using the chainsaw to handtools because it is faster and the power saw’s fast-moving blade is able to cut into ice without his having to bear down and risk shattering the carv ing. “Pressure is what kills the ice,” he said. Not all ice sculptures use the same techniques. “Everybody does it a little differ ently,” said Bill Chambers, executive chef of the Petroleum Club of Mid land. “I base out on a chainsaw. Then I do the actual sculpting with a chisel. I use a little pocket saw to fin ish with.” Jean Pierre Thevenaz of the Mas ter’s Club does his ice carvings en tirely by hand, but not because he’s an artistic ascetic. He used a chain saw, he said, until “I burned it out.” Rather than replace the saw, he now simply uses handtools. 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