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