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University Daily Kansan
Nation/World
Wednesday, April 2, 1986
Manhattan muncher eats his way into NY jail
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — The Man Who Ate Manhattan was nubbed mid-bite.
In a not-ready-for-Miami Vice caper, two park rangers disguised as nature lovers used marked bills, a surveillance camera and walkie-talkie to get the goods on a bespectacled botanist who calls himself "Wildman."
Sure enough, they caught "Wildman," a.k.a. Steve Brill, right in the act. The 37-year-old perpetrator was duly handcuffed, hustled into a police van and taken down to the precinct. Book him, they said, after searching his backpack.
Eating the weeds in Central Park.
The charge?
Eating the weeds in Central Africa
Brill confessed in a telephone interview
yesterday. "We picked dandelions and a few
other common weeds. We ate a few high-bush
cranberries . . . a little bit of water mint . . .
and some day ill shoots."
and some say better.
For the past five years, Brill has been conducting four-hour, $15 walking tours of New York City parks, showing urban dwellers which plants are edible. The foragers fill their bags with delicacies such as wild black cherries, carrots, blueberries, water mint, mustard and even coffee beans.
Brill, in his trademark white pith helmet offers recipes along the way.
Brill insisted he's not a criminal. "We take only renewable resources," he said. "We pick maybe one dandelion weed out of hundreds of thousands that are moved down."
The Parks and Recreation Department says it warned Brill several times to spit it — er, cut it — out. When he refused, the law moved in.
"I'm just trying to get people into nature, to show them they can touch things and smell things and taste them."
Touching and smelling is OK, said Parks and Recreation Department Commissioner Henry Stern, but the tasting part is a no-no.
Stern,claimed Brill and his customers "cut a very destructive swath through the park"
but was unable to provide any figures or specifics. None of the 11 customers was arrested Saturday.
"Parks are to look at," Stern said. "Our motto is 'Please don't eat the daisies.' It's like going through the zoo and eating the bear cubs."
Brill was taking a college ecology group on an edible tour Saturday afternoon, paying little heed to the couple who "acted a little strange."
"They didn't interact or pick anything. They were a little bit stiff and sort of quiet. They just kept taking pictures," Brill recalled. "I kept holding up plants for the guy to photograph."
The mysterious couple turned out to be undercover rangers, and at the end of the tour, they radioed for backup. Uniformed Parks Enforcement officers arrested Brill on misdemeanor charges of criminal mischief. He was ordered to appear in court April 18.
"I had nothing in my bag — no digging, tools or anything," Brill said. "God foribl I would have had a dandelion in my backpack or I'd still be in jail.
"They searched me for weapons. What am I going to have, as a botanist? Some insect repellent to spray them with?"
Preschool debate develops
The Associated Press
NEW YORK - The case for sending 4-year-olds to school sounds compelling.
Studies from Ypsiilan, Mich., to New York City indicate that preschool programs foster academic achievement, lower dropout rates, reduce juvenile delinquency and save tax dollars in the long run.
Some parents and educators are questioning the rush to push such young children into classrooms, but teacher unions and many school officials in New York, Connecticut, and elsewhere are endorsing it.
And last year, top business executives in a landmark school reform report titled, "Investing in Our Children," concluded that despite the cost of preschool, it is one of the best education investments a reform-minded community can make.
Why, then, have public school systems throughout the country been so slow to adopt it?
Money is the quick answer. It's hard to persuade taxpayers and lawmakers to finance a new educational program for 4-year-olds — even one widely thought to save money and help students — at a time when dollars are scarce for existing programs serving children of more traditional school age.
Many school officials feel uncomfortable pressing for a new program for preschoolers while the public thinks existing programs are in crying need of reform.
ng speed of restraint. There also are educators and parents who question the wisdom of school for children so young that they might have trouble just getting to the bathroom safely.
rate University psychology professor Edward Zigler, in a speech last year, questioned whether preschooling was good for all children just because studies have shown it useful for disadvantaged youngsters.
"We are driving children too hard," he said. "We must allow children to enjoy their own childhood, their most precious commodity."
crease the number of preschools.
But preschool education may be about to get an important new opportunity to prove itself, and perhaps increase the number of prizes.
A mayoral commission in New York City issues a week urging the city to provide universal preschool for its 100,000-4-year-olds. If approved, the city would be the first to offer publicly financed preschool to anyone wanting it — although cities like Philadelphia, Washington and New York itself already offer it on a limited scale.
In Philadelphia, for example,
schools spokesman Bill Jones said
the city had offered at least some
public preschool since the late 1960s,
and 5,552 3- and 4-year-olds are
enrolled.
New York Mayor Edward I. Koch,
while praising the universal preschool idea in principle, balked at the cost and said he favored a more limited expansion of preschool. Half-day universal public schooling for the city's 100,000 4-year-olds would carry an estimated $114 million price tag.
New York state requires school attendance at age 6. But the vast majority of 5-year-olds voluntarily attend kindergarten, and nearly half of New York City's 4-year-olds already attend preschool.
Palace staff rescues paintings
"By the grace of God and our own salvage corps, the great bulk was saved," said Sir Oliver Millar, surveyor of the queen's pictures.
'We were extremely lucky when you think that some of the paintings
United Press International
HAMPTON COURT, England — Queen Elizabeth II's art experts yesterday praised palace staff members who braved flames and falling beams to save priceless paintings from a fire at the 16th-century Hampton Court palace of King Henry VIII.
threatened were Italian Renaissance works — pieces that are simply priceless."
But he said restoration of damaged halls of the palace and seven paintings could take up to two years.
Officials said the 1,000-room castle, except for the damaged area, would be reopened to the public within a few days.
After accompanying reporters to the former royal retreat that was built in 1515 in Richmond, west of London, Sir Oliver said the works had been saved Monday by speed and organization.
Just before 6 a.m. Monday, smoke sensors alerted residents and workers of the fire in the palace. The castle is said to be haunted by the ghosts of the two wives Henry VIII had heared, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard.
The SUA Special Events Committee is continuing it's tradition of bringing quality musical entertainment to K.U. Be a part of an enthusiastic, responsible, hardworking team. Interviews for the following positions on the 1986-87 Special Events Committee will be held Monday, April 7:
Usher Director Security Director Hospitality Photographer
Open Mon.-Sat. 8 a.m.-8 p.m.
The fire started upstairs in one of the 15 apartments reserved for former service personnel or their widows. The culprit may have been a single cake, lighted at the bedside of a war hero's elderly widow Lady Gale, officials said.
Are you tired of fast food or dorm meals?
The fire spread to the King's Audience Chamber.
Come to Appabelle's Restaurant and experience the taste of good home cooking. Every item is made from scratch and cooked to order.by our experienced chef.
Breakfast • Lunch • Dinner
Carry-Out, 843-2710
923 N. 2nd (North Lawrence)
Restaurant
Communications Director
Public Relations
Stage Manager
Lighting Director
To apply: sign up for an interview today at the SUA office on the 4th floor of the Kansas Union. Deadline is April 7, at 5 p.m.
Serve In Appalachia
Come for one week to serve the needs of the poor in Appalachia. Single, Catholic men are invited to be involved in home construction, visiting the elderly, and sharing one's gifts with mentally, emotionally and physically handicapped. There will also be opportunities to learn about the culture, people, and music of the Appalachian area.
May 17 - 23
July 12-18
The week-long sessions available are:
August 24.30
For more information about the Summer Volunteer Program, please send this coupon to Brother Jack Hemmigh, Glennary Home Missions, 1243 W. 87th St., Chicago, IL 60607.
Name ___ Age ___
Address ___
City ___ State Zip ___
Telephone ( ) College ___ SO80-3/66
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medium 13" one-topping pizza $6.95
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large 16" one-topping pizza $8.95
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