FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8: .1963 umitimi Behind the flews COfisetVation: Evolving Concept By ROBERT E. McDERMOTT Head of the Departmen = The .br'tsad concepts of land = resources conservation as con - ceived by . such" leaders as = T. Roosevelt, Pinchot and Ben = nett are generally well under = stood and .accepted by a .large = segment of our society. Within general acceptance .of forest = management, for example, the = forest fire problem is getting = to be a phase of the national = fire picture in that the major = causes are accidental and we no longer find an indifferent = attitude when miles of the hills = are burning. No More Crusading To be sure, the forest fire • problem is still with us arid = the dangers ca n and do • reach catastrophic proportions. = Nevertheless, - the great cru • sading days are over. In such = subjects as wildlife and soil = conservation, we also find that = the larger principles have been = developed and are generally = understood. E In its origins, the conserva = tion movement was something = of a reaction to a national E guilt complex. There was a = sense of shock over our de pleted = timber resources and = the drastic. reduction, if not = virtual elimination, of some = wildlife species. The dust bowl = -situation focused attention on = our dwindling soil resource • base. Over the intervening years, • many governmental agencies = and lay organizations have =most effectively. come`-to grips with = these and other large = problems to the extent that to = day the broad parameters of = conservation have been defined = and many corrective conserva • tion programs are in progress. = There are, however, new fore - = es and previously unseen con sequences of our expanding = population and technological = innovations that are changing = the resources picture. = This is, above everything = else, a prodigal century. It is = something of a paradox in that „.=. we have established the broad = principles of conservation, we = are consuming our resources = at an increasing rate. Pollution Po s sibilities = Overriding this situation is = the fact that we - have devel = oped an amazing capacity to = pollute our environment. We = applaud -the efforts of many = organizations to "Keep Ameri - = ca Beautiful (or Green)" or the F. strident "Don't Be A Litter = bug." It is a source of comfort = that the appeals are back - = stopped with the necessary = - legislation to enforce a fine or = penalty system where certain . violations occur. - But -there is a neat twist of - irony = i here because as we make = progress in good outdoor man = ners, we are becoming un - easily aware of a change in = ,our environment that is of = ‘greater consequence than tidi = ness in Public places. This is = not to minimize these programs = nor the fine progress in the = more Nor less established con - = servation programs involving E forestry, soils management ; = wildlife management or water = shed' management. There_ is no = minimizing, however, a grow = ing concern for - the mainte = mike of the total biological = environment. Atmospheric Threats The development of self = sustained nuclear reactions just = 20 years ago has not only given = us new weapons and a source _F. of power, but an awesome = problem of radioactive debris = as well. We have all observed the heavy industrial haze that = hangs over our_ great urban = areas and we have - come to recognize the environmental = dangers of photochemical con = •version of hydrocarbons result = ing in smog. We know - that in.many areas = what is coming out of our wa ter - taps for ,dorrWstic use is = really a chemical concoction = that is not. entirely .palatable. We recognize vaguely that our iiiiitiiuiiilm i3iliittiitiitivaunuitifii THE DAILY COI_LEGIAN2 UNIVERSITY 'PARK, PENNSYLVANIA of Forest Management water supplies are subject to F. a myriad of contamination E sources that results in the mast outlandish' complex sewage pollu tants ranging from sewage to a staggering array of indus trial wastes and, most recently, a new array of synthetic chem icals coming off our fields and = forests from widespread dis- = semination of pesticides and E. herbicides. This uneasiness and confu sion about massive use and disposal of chemicals ranges E. further from tolerance levels of chemical residues and addi- = tives in food to semi-perma-- nent modification of soil char- acteristics. - We do know that all life Ei exists in a rather fragile rela tionship to the interactions of environmental factors. Thus, there is a serious mandate to = science encompassed in pre dictions and control of-human interventions in nature or the conservation of environment. Urban Conservation Conservation has taken oth- = er new turns recently. Again, in = the realm of environment con servation, We are becoming in- = creasingly aware of the need of breaking up or relieving miles of uninterrupted urban = congestion. Great wings of growth have have expanded' until tt heretofore relatively separate = communities are beginning to merge, and we have projec tions of continuous urban de- = velopment and heavy popula- = tion concentrations of mega lopis. "Greenbelts" is a fairly re- = cent term that is gaining recog nition and acceptance in city planning. This term commonly = has the connotation of open or = park-like areas, or the reten tion of blocks of forested land. These undeveloped but orderly _= areas are thought of as buffers = or breaks in these great urban belts. - . Recently, however, we see a grOwing movement to keep the = better agricultural land in ag ricultural production so that =_ these more productive areas = are not lost for the future. We are also recognizing that cities Fr: can no longer be unattractive work centers in which the eco nomically unfortunate ar e forced to live and where the F. more fortunate earn a living and do not choose to live. We are learning that cities can be developed consistent E: with the necessity of and de- = sirabilfty of urbanization with the full implications of •the word "civilization" and also provide natural beauty and charm. Another example of an evolving conservation concept may be found in the greatly increased interest and partici pation in outdoor recreation F. since World War IL More peo- with more money, with more leisure time, are travel 'rig over more highways with the resulting heavy use of our . ecreational areas. Destruction Through Overuse ii In most respects, this is a = most commendable situation except that there is an old F. axiom which quickly asserts itself ". . . "Outdoor recreation = tends to destroy itself." That is, we commonly develop out door recreation facilities in the = most attractive, if not most unique, areas we have and then proceed to overuse them to the extent that we reduce or de stroy the original aesthetic .value. Here again; we are beginning to recognize and gauge a series of compromises that must - be _F.:. made between degree of de velopment and use and reten tion of difficult to measure but 'nonetheless real environmental El factors. , So it is that conservation is - an evolVing concept that rests -= on the principle of wise use with recognition and , evalu ation of the total biological en vironment. IIIIIIIIMMISISIIIIIIIitifiliiIIIIIIIIIIii:: Record, Hop The closing time for the West Halls Record Hop is 12:30 a.m. rather than 1:30 a.m., as stated in an advertisement yesterday. Activity Cards All women students who have not filled out - activity cards may do so in 105 Old Main. Jazz Mass Record The record, "Jazz Mass," will be heard and discussed at the Presbyterian Univesrity Fellow- Cold Wave Forecast For Today; Light Snow Possib By JOEL MYERS Canadian air masses began a renewed assault on the United States last night as frigid arctic air began invading the north eastern part of the nation. Temperatures in Pennsylvania were expected to respond rapidly to the new intrusion of arctic air. A low of 10 degrees was seen for this morning and a high of 12 is indicated for this afternoon. TONIGHT'S LOW will be zero or below. Gusty northerly winds and oc casional snow flurries should ac company the very cold weather. The complexion of the weather map has changed radically during the past two days and a new cold weather regime appears to be coming established. Temperatures are expected to remain well-below normal through the weekend and into next week. Snow is likely tomorrow, and there- is some chance of a few Memorial Lounge at the Chapel FRIDAY Afternoon --- 3-5 P.M. Conversation Open Fire Refreshments Music Are you -keeping posted? Most people _know that their electric service comes from a business owned, by investors— owned by thousands 'of people like you and your neighbors. It does not come from government— not the city, not the state. Do you know it, too? WEST PENN POWER Investor-owned, tax-paying ---serving WESTern PENNsylvania TODAY ON CAMPUS ship at 7:30 p.m. in the fireside room of the student center, 132 W. Beaver Ave. Isaac Sinai, writer, will speak on the critical •immigration and refugee problems. facing the 1963 United Jewish Appeal at services at 8 p.m. at the Hillel Foundation. "The Turn of the Screw," spon sored by the Artists Series, will be presented at 8:30 p.m. in Schwab. e Tomorrow inches of snow accumulating by Sunday. A storm moving rapidly south eastward across the central states is forecast to generate a band of precipitation in the Mississippi Valley today. Snow is expected to move toward the Commonwealth from that area tonight and t(l.- morro\v. THE FORECAST for this area / calls for a cold wave today. It will be partly cloudy, windy and very cold with a few snow flurries. Tonight should be partly cloudy o clear and quite cold. Snow, gusty winds and very old temperatures are seen for to norrow and tomorrow evening. "Vie do not say that a man who takeS ?to interest in politics minds his own business. We sav he has no business here at all." --Pericles "AT HOME" EVERYONE IS INVITED Hillel Speaker Artists Series Women's Debate ;'.0..,.'....; - ?':?:;1..9' -!,.:.'.'A':::.:*.":;,,ii,::'-''A, All student tickets have been dis tributed. Colloquium Charles A. Ross, of the Illinois State Geological Survey. will speak on "Evolutionary Paleon tology as a Geologic Tool" at the Mineral Industries Colloquium at 3:45 p.m. in the M.I. auditorium. Spring Week Positions Applications for Spring Week positions are to be turned in by tomorrow to the Hetzel Union desk. Applications are available at the HUB desk and through the Men's Residence Council, the As sociation of Women Students and fraternities. Approximately 200 people are needed to work in the Spring Casino, Peter Lockhart, Spring Week chairman, .said recently. Questionnaires Questionnaires on group partici pation in Spring Week are now being distributed and are to be returned by Feb. 15. Prof Named to Commission Melvin W, Isenberg, professor of architectural engineering, has been named to serve in 1963 on the Planning Committee on Fire Safety to Life and Fire Protection of Buildings, a committee of the Building Research Institute. PAGE FIVE
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers