Illinois News Index

McHenry Plaindealer (McHenry, IL), 22 Jun 1984, p. 32

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40% OFF EVERGREENS Lush • Long Lasting Up to 50% OFF SHADE TREES FLOWERING SHRUBS Excellent Selection - Tip-Top Shape • PotentMa - 3 Varieties • Red Twig Dogwood • Forsythla . • Dwarf Honeysuckle • Alpine Currant • Wolgala • Hydrangea • Arrowood Viburnum • Rod Maple • Silver Maple • Green Ash • Linden • Skyline Honey Locust • Corkscrew WMow Plus More! PINES -White Scotch - Austrian SPRUCE - Colorado Blue -Green JAPANESE YEWS JUNIPERS -8 Varieties All TimberGym Units & Accessories Slides • Teeter Totters • Sand Boxes Professional Installation Available „ Sales Ends July 18,1984 Massage may be therapy for infants By Linda Allnock United Press International WASHINGTON - Children are not really carefree beings and they benefit, just like adults, from a massage after a hard day, says physical therapist Tamara Meyer. "We are living in much more stressful times than ever before, and if parents are stressed, children pick it up," says Meyer. "Infant and child massage is one of the most effective solutions. "Touching is desperately need­ ed by infants, children and adults," she says. "For parents of new babies, touching is intuitive. But a systematic program en­ courages more than just natural cuddling would." But infant massage and exer­ cise requires changes in attitude, she says. "Not until the last five or ten years has infant development been looked at this way. Babies are always thought of as not very intelligent, but they respond drastically to their environment." The realization that babies do react to physical stimulation in a way that affects their develop­ ment -- even if they don't remember it when they grow up -- has created possibilities for better child-raising, Meyer says. "We can do things for our children that before we didn't even know were possible." For example, parents may find themselves pleasantly surprised at the calming effect a daily massage can have on a hyperac­ tive child. One of the hyperactive children she counseled "had never taken a nap before; after his massage, he went right to sleep," she says. Meyer has developed exercise and massage programs for babies in their first 12 months and up to their fifth year in her book, "How to Help Your Baby Build a Healthy Body." Her program for infants in the first months of life includes gentle face, limb, neck and shoulder rub­ bing, and simple stretches intend­ ed to work the baby's new muscles. In later yearss^ie says, more vigorous massage helps relieve stress in children, and exercise programs should emphasize in­ dependence. These simple activities are all part of her theory that family health is reflected in the use parents make of tactile stimula­ tion -- touching makes a closer family. A living room full of back- rubbing parents or family aerobic exercises is not a guarantee of a happy home life, but the constant touch and sharing of family physical activity is a giant step toward better child development, she says. Hospitals that allow parents to touch and hold premature babies while in the incubator have much higher survival rates for those in­ fants, according to a study she cites in her book. A pattern of early physical ac­ tivity can prove a more effective parenting tool as well, she says. "Many people go into parenting without much thought, because it's supposed to be something natural," she says. "When they run into stumbling blocks, they feel ineffective, or on the outside -- especially fathers." The massage and exercise pro­ grams can bring new parents close to their children at an early age, she says. If the thought of exercising a 9- month-old baby or giving a backrub to a 2-year-old child br­ ings chuckles to some parents, that's to be expected, Meyer con­ cedes. But parents should not be intimidated by societal inhibitions toward touching, or assumptions that very young children do not need physical stimulation, she stresses. Touching extensively from the moment of birth is already prac­ ticed in other societies. Such closeness may also be a preven­ tive measure for child abuse, she says. "Family stress is a big problem in children's lives, and massage and exercise can provide an outlet for that." With an impish smile, she notes that the exercise and massage program is not intended to build a baby that can do spectacular things, but to aid development of motor and social skills. "The idea is not to build a 'superbaby,'" she says. "But we can develop and enhance the potential every child has." New chemical may impose birth control on roaches By United Press International WASHINGTON - The govern­ ment said Tuesday a chemical that imposes birth control on cockroaches promises to give apartment dwellers a fighting chance in their perennial battle against the pests. The Agriculture Department announced that tests of the pro­ duct, called hydroprene, showed that a single spraying in a 100-unit apartment complex cut the roach population by 95 percent eight months later. Richard S. Patterson, a govern­ ment entomologist, and Philip Koehler, a University of Florida entomologist, tested the chemical for about a year at the depart­ ment's Insect laboratories in Gainesville, Fla. The chemical is not yet available to consumers. It is in the final stages of obtaining the re­ quired registration from the En­ vironmental Protection Agency. By mimicking the hormone that governs maturation, hydroprene locks the pests into a state of sex­ ual immaturity. Sprayed roaches grow and have normal life spans but their matings produce no off­ spring. Spraying also produces twisted wings, so results are visible to the human eye. "Hydroprene looks promising for controlling roaches in places where conventional spray pro­ grams have not worked well, par­ ticularly large apartments, warehouses and military com­ plexes," Patterson said. Drawbacks of regular spraying are that some roaches pick up on­ ly sub-lethal doses and others avoid contact with sprayed sur­ faces. Roaches also develop resistance to pesticides. Patterson said the new chemical will work in tandem with existing roach sprays. "The regular spray makes a heavy initial kill that brings the population down to an acceptable level," he said. "Hydroprene then works over the next six or seven months to curb the birth rate." KOnaa 1 m SECTION 2 - PAGE 12 - PLAINDE ALER - FRIDAY, JUNE 22,1184 National news Dam safety increasing, but progress is slow By Brad Smith United Prats International . DENVER - Nearly $2 million more is being spent by state governments this year than two years ago on dam safety pro­ grams, but progress in the area is slow, a national report said Tues­ day. The report to the national con­ ference of state dam safety of­ ficials said 26 states have ade­ quate dam safety laws, 20 have on­ ly marginal laws and four have no effective legislation at all. The report was based on a survey in May of state dam safety officials done by University of Tennessee civil engineering pro­ fessor Bruce Tschantz, who did a similar survey in 1982. The original study was done for the Federal Emergency Manage­ ment Agency to determine what progress had been made in state dam safty programs since the con­ clusion of a federal program to in­ ventory and assess dams around the country. The new study showed that the total budget at the state level for dam safety programs was $12,023,560 this year, compared to $10,114,274 in 1982. The level of funding is a measure of a state's commitment to dam safety, Tschantz said. The state with the biggest budget for dam safety is Califor­ nia, with $3.5 million. States with no funding at all are Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Kansas, Loui­ siana and South Dakota, while Nevada reported a budget this year of $25. Another measure of commit­ ment is the number of people employed in dam safety pro­ grams. Tschantz' survey showed an in­ crease in two years of 28 full-time workers in all states -- from 279 in 1982 to 307 now - although 12 states reduced their staff. The number of states with at least one employee in dam safety rose from 44 to 47. The same four states -- Alabama, Delaware, Florida and Hawaii -- that either didn't have any dam safety legislation or the legislation was ineffective two years ago have made no changes, the study said. Ten states that have the best safety programs, based on per­ forming eight recommended func­ tions, are Arizona, California, Col­ orado, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Min­ nesota, New Hampshire, Ohio and Pennsylvania, the report said. Only four states -- California, Idaho, Ohio and Pennsylvania -- had performed all eight functions two years ago. The states which Tschantz said had dam safety programs that met minimum recommendations are: Arizona, Arkansas, Califor­ nia, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Loui­ siana, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Noreth Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Vermont. Regional news Famous Chicago theater to face final curtain June 28 CHICAGO -- The State-Lake Theater, which displayed its neon manyiee to downtown's State. Street 65 years ago, will have its final curtain call on June 28. The theater's last show and per­ formance will be "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom," a manager at the theater said. The Chicago movie house is ex­ pected to be remodeled by ABC In­ corporated to house studios and offices for television staUon WLS. The 2,64>8eat theater, which opened March 17, 1919, was con­ sidered the premier movie palace in the city in offering film and stage shows. With the closing of the State- Lake and the possible closing of Jthe Chicago Theatre across the street, State Street may be without a Loop movie house. ABC is expected to remove the theater's giant marquee and con­ vert the auditorium into two levels of broadcasting studios, including one that would accommodate a television audience of 250 people. ABC also intefnds to remodel the terra cotta facade and ground level retail shops in the 12-story of­ fice building that houses the theater. Survival instructor teaches back-to-basics circa 1784 By John O'Brien United Prau International Survival instructor Paul Risk teaches today's adults tasks that were fundmental to life two cen­ turies ago -- and could save their lives even now. "If Daniel Boone came back to­ day and found out adults are in the field learning to build fires and make shelters, he'd wonder how they survived long enough to be adults," said Risk, Pennsylvania State University associate pro­ fessor of recreation and parks. "We've bred a whole generation of people who don't even know how to build a fire. "I'm teaching the basics of life in, say, 1784." Risk, a former park ranger and former member of a mountain rescue team, tries to minimize risk for people who are lost or face emergencies in the wild. He has been teaching college courses, including one on global wilderness survival, and holds public survival seminars. He also helped tape a simulated survival attempt by plane crash victims, for broadcast on the Pennsylvania public television program "Out­ door Pennsylvania." His 340-page textbook, "Outdoor Safety and Survival," is in many bookstores throughout the coun­ try. The seminars held by Risk and his firm, Surivival Technology Associates -- with help from state and local authorities throughout the nation -- are attended by teenagers to sexagenarians. He will leave his less lucrative university post in July. Some of the seminars are fun­ damental day-long courses on sur­ vival or outdoor safety. Some ad­ vanced two-week seminars in­ clude field trips. He also offers courses on communication techni­ ques and urban safety, including how to deal with an attacker. Risk, 47, of College Park, Pa., said in an interview if people know nature and prepare for emergen­ cies, they will not be too scared of the wild to function nor will they I take its dangers too lightly. He estimated that several thou­ sand people in this country per year go through a survival ex­ perience, which he defines as any delay or disorientation in the wilderness. The only difference between survival techniques and camping is that one is voluntary and other is necessary. Risk stresses psychological . aspects of survival -- on his sta­ tionery is printed "Survival is an attitude" -- and he said the wise person remains calm and knows what to do next because of preparation. The most basic survival tools are a whistle, matches and knife -- for use, respectively, in signal­ ing, starting fires and as an all- purpose tool, Risk said. Other survival items to have in car or camper, particularly when traveling in wilderness areas, in­ clude water, shovel, blanket, reflector, flare, aerosol horn, spray paint, tool kit, first-aid kit and flashlight. The five keys to survival are fire, shelter, signals, water and food. He called food least important because the average person can survive 30 to 50 days without it and rescue often comes before food is necessary. But water is needed within four days. Risk said it is wise to notify so­ meone of your travel plans, and to stay put when lost, because rescuers look where you are most likely to be. And when most people unfamiliar with the wilderness start moving, they just go around in circles. He recommends staying in place, establishing a camp and starting a fire -- even in summer. He said making a fire occupies the hands and provides a psychological boost. Next, obtain shelter from the elements -- heat, cold, rain, wind. "If your car has broken down, this may mean dismantling your vehicle for Insulation," he said. The upholstery and filler can help keep you warm. The hood could help form a lean-to. v I

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