Dealing
with 'tracked-in mud month'
By Joanne j. falls
Home Economic Extension Agent
With the entrance of summer
the best of back entries take on the
look of a disaster area. As May
showers
awaken
flowers, the
family is
busy clean
ing up the*
yard and
preparing
planting
areas.
Children
take to out
door play
again. To
the homemaker, it is "tracked-in
mud month/' and something has to
be done about it!
The first step to limiting the
amount of outdoor debris brought
indoors is to make sure everyone
uses the same entry after "dirty"
work or play. To keep mud and grit
Falls
from being tracked through the
house, resign yourself to the fact
that this area will have to be
cleaned at least once a day ?
maybe more on busy weekends
when children are home from
school.
Next figure out the best ways
to keep the clutter confined to that
one part of the house. It is ideal if a
half-bath is located near the entry.
Then children can interrupt play to
use the toilet, wash up and be out
again with no problems. However,
if this isn't possible, have them take
off their shoes or boots before walk
ing through the house. They may
*groan, but it takes longer to erase
the trail of tracks than for them to
get out of and into shoes. Even if
children are young and need help
with their footgear, you will still
save time having just one really
muddy area with which to contend.
Another saver is to locate all
the things children are likely to
come in for near the "mudway*" If
possible, arrange a series of hooks
and holders on a wall. This can be
done quite attractively and is conve
nient year round for changes of
sweaters and coats as well as a vari
ety of toys. Or try a narrow free
standing bathroom towel rack. A
suitably-sized carton will hold bats,
balls, mitts and what-have-you. If
it is in view to other areas of the
home, cover the box with a gaily
patterned self-adhesive vinyl. A
rimmed cookie tray is a handy tem
porary home for muddy boots and
wet sneakers and can be carried
with contents to the sink for suds
sponging. Machine washable scat
ter rugs soak up a lot of foreign
material. Have at least two on
hand, one in use and one in the
wash. Shake rugs out as often as
necessary and launder frequently.
& Finally, organize your cleanup
equipment. Keep a small caddy or
box of cleaning supplies nearby to
deal with fingerprints and dirt on
and around the doorknob and adja
cent walls. A quick back and forth
with a sponge mop keeps most
flooring tolerable, with a little thor
ough scrubbing <5f the small area
two or three times a week, depend
ing on the ratio of people, activities
and outdoor conditions. A
lightweight vacuum is helpful to
pick up loose dirt from floors and
especially carpeted areas.
With a through-the-garage, util
ity or rec room arrangement, it may
be possible to screen off a section
as a dressing area. Keep a change
of clothes or clean tubbable robes
ready for young people as well as
for yourself and husband when
working in the yard. Also, have a
laundry basket for fast deposit of
muddified work and play togs.
For treating those mud stains
that children get on their clothing
dyeing play activities and sports, let
tTfc mud dry first. Then brush well
to loosen and remove soil. Soak 30
minutes or longer in warm water
with enzyme pre-soak. Launder the
garment. If stain remains, bleach if
safe for fabric. Enzymes are often
present in pre-soak detergents.
SETI... where do we begin?
Communication
The search for extraterrestrial
intelligence (SETI), to be sure can't
be a report, as there really isn't
much to report just yet. Efforts
have been limited and often times
low key. To date, there is no proof
of any life beyond this planet. Our
civilization has acquired a certain
momentum over six thousand years
of technical development. Given
this context, what then is a mean
ingful definition of intelligence?
As a race, we may be to young
to appreciate another form of intel
ligence unless we can relate to it in
familiar ways. Comparisons and
analogies are boundless. Ants have
a precise social structure while bee
tles are free for more independent
action. Which is smarter? Ted is a
born survivor, leading a street gang
at 12, becoming head of his labor
union at 27, and endearing high
public office at 34.
< Ned was a sickly child who, to
break the monotony of many
bedridden dAys, taught himself cal
culus while other kids his age were
still grasping at the rudiments of
algebra.
Which is fittest? In cosmic
terms, the kinds of difficulties we
have defining intelligence here on
earth are probably hair-splitting. In
t>rder to communicate with other
beings, there mu$t be a common
language. We expect it to be the
language of physical understanding
derived from dispassionate and, we
hope, objective observation.
And that understanding must
lead to a technology capable of
making contact across the vastness
of space. The definition of intelli
gence then, for practical, is a func
tional one. Carl Sagan's first
science fiction novel, Contact , con
templates the circumstances of the
first human* contact with extrater
restrials. Sagan has done more to
advocate SETI than any other per
son. But the nature of Sagan's ETI
is less than definite and the story
I :rxx::v:- .?
sort of weirds out at the end. tiveness.
What is it we seek? Extrater- The porpoise challenges our
restrial intelligence! The term car- notions of intelligence and culture,
ries a lot of implicit baggage. If we and our ability to truly relate to
are to make sense of, appreciate, them outside of the species context.
t^y
STARWATCH
By EDWARD A. ALLEN
and contribute to the history of
SETI, it would behoove us to be
mindful of this baggage- a powerful
set of tacit notions and biases about
what we're looking for.
Why, 'Extraterrestrial Intelli
gence'? Are there creatures right
here on this planet which hold a
claim to an intelligence nearly as
foreign to our own? And what is
meant by 'intelligence' anyway? To
what degree are we correct in mod
eling intelligence by extension from
our own behavior and culture?
How important is technology; and
in what forms? What are the con
notations of the answer, cither way,
to that last question?
Whenever terrestrial intelli
gence is discussed, it's almost guar
anteed that the cetaceans, whales
and porpoises (particularly the por
poises) are mentioned. In past
times it could be believed that
humans alone had the power of
rational thought and understanding.
Today, the facts require of rational
and understanding people that they
be willing to yield exclusivity.
The brain-to-body mass ratio
of the porpoise is similar to that of
humans. Among all mammals this
ratio has been found to correlate
well with intelligence, as does neo
cortical convolution (the folds at
the surface of the brain) which is
more intricate in a porpoise brain
than in a human brain. Porpoises at
play display a high degree of inven
To use myself as an example, on the
one hand I realize lhal cetacean
intelligence is as legitimate as our
own. But, on the other hand, I don't
understand it, it's alien. People
would never behave like that. And
the 'experience' of porpoiseness is
beyond my comprehension. Yet
here is a fellow earthling, a fellow -
mammal, with roughly the same
physiology, sharing much of the
same biochemistry and genes.
>4 We seek communication, with
messages which are relevant to our
own development as a species and?
reflect natural law as we know it. If
the ETIs speak over our heads,
nothing will be gained in the
search. So, really, intelligence is
not the issue at all. The issue is
'sympathetic interest,' which trans
lates into communication.
IF
\w,-.w- . . , .....
Welcome Home
Sergeant Marvin Foster (rtflht), a member of the Lawrence
Hilt American Legion Post 453, returned from the Persian
^l#sliiMnafnbaf?f <ha 312 Evacuation Hospital
Beeerve unit, where he works aa a communication specialist
**l# members of the Po?? 453 honored 9gt. Foster and his
family at an ewarde dinner May 12. He la pictured here
||$|IVtlH| a plague from Commander Larry Wilson (left).
W
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