The Wisconsin Magazine; 1325

You're. Mentally fit affects what you can and can not do. And it is scarey. But we are particularly concerned because this is one of the best areas of hardwood hardwoods in the Chequamegom That it was dark shape. To my eye looked Khaki colored. The WI Magazine with Dave Iverson Is a weekly presentation of these Wisconsin public television.

Good evening. Also tonight a controversy over commercial ads that explain how condoms help prevent the spread of AIDS. Television executives have been reluctant to air those commercials and we'll talk about why later in the hour. Next week is spring vacation for many school districts around the State and some families will no doubt head south to make use of the Florida sunshine. If you're considering that trip consider this as well. Doctors now think that a serious sunburn can have much more impact than just a red face. We begin tonight with a story on skin cancer what experts call the latest American epidemic. There are times after a long Midwestern winter when the sun seems almost a memory a remembered image. Something just glimpsed before it disappears even after a mild winter like this it's hard to remember the sensation known as warmth. But now spring is finally here and the hint of color graces the land but not the color long for most. Skin color the elusive golden tan.

It's you know a little bit healthier it becomes almost addictive not something that you get used to now. I can't imagine going another winter without having some sort of color or tan. On gray days the tan parlors offer color. In fact long into the night they offer color to capture students before they headed south for spring break. This tanning parlor stayed open until 2:00 in the morning - for Florida. I want to 10 for Florida because I don't want to burn down on spring break. So I don't get fried when I go down south. While experts still debate the risks of suntan parlors getting a little tan rather than the Florida fry is a good idea. As many as skin cancer patient or dermatologist will tell you a little logic to fry is a good idea - it is just a question of not overdoing it. Dr. Derek Cripps is a University of Wisconsin researcher who developed the rating system used on sunscreens. Sunscreens are considered important because researchers now believe that even just one blistering sunburn greatly increases the chances of

developing the most deadly form of skin cancer malignant melanoma. And we feel that it mostly occurs is some years after having had a flesh sunburn. So you paid for your vacation and you are going to lay out in the sun for two weeks and maybe the first few days of the most dangerous because you don't wear sunscreen you get a bad sunburn. And I think that's the site that you really have to watch. Melanoma initially looks no more harmful than a mole but it can be deadly. And doctors are seeing more and more of it as more and more people spend time under the sun. I think it's because there's more leisure time in the past we always associate skin cancer and skin damage with the farmer and the sailor. And now even we have the leisure occupations that call for the golfer that follows the sun. But apart from that more of us spend more time outdoors than we used to. But it is so very hard not to do something that looks so very good at least to white Americans

skin cancer is by and large a Caucasian disease. The irony of course is that the color white is precisely what these people are trying to avoid. Call it hella phobia. Feel better when I am tan. I feel ugly when I am white. Its better than having Better than having a pale complexion. To the maxi. And it looks nice It better than compared to being white. The psychology of tanning seems difficult to overcome and white Americans are now paying the price for their sun bacon food CSM with an ever rising rate of skin cancer. A topic for discussion at a recent House subcommittee hearing Dr. Darrell Riegel. This year it's been estimated that there will be over 500000 newly diagnosed cases of this disease at the current rate of about one in seven Americans will develop this disease during their lifetime. And Dr. Riegel worries that those grim statistics will get even worse because of something called chlorofluorocarbons or CFC s c f Cs are found in

some insulation products and fast food containers. The problem with CFC's is that they seem to reduce the Earth's ozone layer and ozone is what helps screen out skin damaging ultraviolet light. Dr. Derek Cripps. [Cirpps]: and of course if that ozone is to be depleted more light would then get through to the surface. The danger of ultraviolet light is ironically part of what makes tanning centers attractive. Tanning beds use the least harmful form of ultraviolet light UVA light tanning center operator Karen Zoft. We do say it's safer than the sun and the dermatologist or anyone else will say that also. It is a point Dr. Derek Cripps hesitatingly accept, I think if people use it they've got to use it with their eyes open and then not have sunlight. You can't have your cake and eat it. If it's impossible to go out in the sun and you would like a little tan. I suppose that's acceptable. Acceptable but not for everyone. A blond

fair skinned person like our sound recordist, Ken Vander Bird needs to exercise caution. So says the Academy of dermatologists which recommends that until further study is completed those who burn easily should avoid tanning salons made by the University of Wisconsin dermatologist Paul Larson. Their official recommendation is that until we have further information. Those people at high risk should really avoid that form of additional ultraviolet exposure. So basically any blonde or red haired, blue eyed, freckled person should go into the sun - isn't that right. Wherever the U.V. light comes from the pursuit of the ultimate tan is clearly hazardous. A quick repeat of the statistics. The 500000 cases of new skin cancer each year in this country mean that one in seven Americans will eventually get skin cancer and your chances increase the further south you live. Phoenix for example has a rate four times higher than the overall average. Do you burn readily?

I do burn yes, I do - a single serious burn is what can lead to malignant melanoma the most serious form of skin cancer. But overall Sun accumulation summer after summer can exact a price as well as a basal cell carcinoma. It's another more treatable form of skin cancer. The skin it seems is like a memory bank and even every day fun in the sun over the years can lead to something called basal cell carcinoma. A surgical treatment for this kind of cancer was pioneered at the University of Wisconsin 50 years ago. Today patients still come from all over the country to have suspicious perly shaded blemishes removed and analyzed. The first is from the left forehead that's at the site. Previously exsided has been found to be basal cell carcinoma. Carcinoma does not turn into the more deadly melanoma but it is serious and it is cancer. Left untreated carcinoma can disfigure still it will take more than unpleasant pictures like these to change America's tanning

habit. Dr. Paul Larson for some people they feel it's a rite of summer and it does become that. I think they're in for a problem. Larson and others don't advocate total abstinence but they do believe in moderation and the use of protective sunscreens. Converts won't come easily. What about if you're in the sun then you have to wear like you know a maximum sun protector so they don't get tan. Well then what's the purpose of being in the sun if you don't get tan. Do you use any kind of sun protector? You know we are invincible and we're going to be [unclear]. I spent most of my summers going up at a lake cottage in sun all summer long. Minneapolis resident Julie Poli is young but clearly not invincible. And since that time you've had about how many skin cancers. I'd say 50 or more if you're more Poli's 50 skin cancers have all occurred over the

last several years. Month after month she returns to the University of Wisconsin hospital for treatment. Her trouble started one summer a decade ago. Ten years ago I was severely burned in Brazil and I was camping for a month on the beach and blistered - in particular my face and my back today. Poli has six suspicious areas of skin removed for further study or four turn out to be cancer. Number one is Clear. Number two is it cancer. It's from the right temple. Number three is a cancer and each time a come I get anywhere between 5 and 20 removed and it's really traumatic each time I come here just that I can't enjoy walking out down the block for an hour or something you know. I have to think before I go outside. So far Poli's skin cancers have been treatable but because she was once badly burned she is at risk for someday developing the most serious form of skin cancer melanoma.

I'd like to see people you know. Not be out in the sun as much I used to think tans look really nice. And to some extent they do but when I see people in the middle of winter who are really tan it doesn't look that healthy. I think you know you don't have to be as extreme as a lot of us are. And yet you were saying to me that even within your own family you haven't quite succeeded in making that point. You know I have sun worshippers as brothers and sisters and my father too. But you know they not only go out in the sun a lot but they also use (blues - UNCLEAR). It will be difficult to change our attitudes about tanning difficult to change the idea that skin cancer is no big deal. Statistics won't do it alone nor will dire warnings about the ozone layer. Perhaps a story like Julie Poli's will you know it affects your life you know. You know mentally affects life. It affects what you can and can't do.

And it's scary. It is a big deal. Still to come in the magazine a look at the skies above Belleville, Wisconsin skies that researchers are examining for UFO'S. A rash of sightings centered around the small midwestern town coming up in the second half of the magazine. In 1976 Congress told the U.S. Forest Service to prepare long term plans for the National Forests. Eleven years later those plans are still not completely finished though the draft plans released last year still provoke plenty of controversy. It was one of those documents it seems that nobody was very happy about. We thought we'd take a look tonight at those plans and what's planned for the North Woods. The forest plan photographed by Jim Erskine and reported by Art Hankins. In terms of potential for beauty a national forest could rival a national park.

But there's a difference. The National Park is there to provide primarily a place for people to commune with nature and to preserve wildlife habitat. A national forest on the other hand [buzz saw] The national forest on the other hand is run by the Forest Service, a branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. They grow things with the intent of those things will be harvested. All of the other benefits of having a national forest are to some degree agricultural by products. The important thing is growing trees. The supervisor of the Chequamegom National Forest is Jack Walter. We were growing probably three times as much timber on this forest as we were cutting annually. So our annual harvest could be substantially higher than it is now.

Under the pending plans for the National Forests more timber will be cut in the Great Lakes area. Here are some of the increases the plans call for logging in the Chequamegom going up about 21 percent. The Nicolet up nearly 50 percent in Michigan's Upper Peninsula logging in the Ottawa and Hiawatha forest would be up 24 and 48 percent in Minnesota. The increases in the Chippewa and Superior forests would be up twenty seven and forty two percent. I would like to think these as early states in total could supply a much bigger share of the of the nation's timber needs and still accommodate all of the other resource needs that we have. The State of Wisconsin took a different view. Last November the attorney general's office filed a protest known as an appeal. It contended the forest plans focused on logging to the detriment of developing other resources. That appeal however is no more. In a separate action today. I am requesting that the attorney general withdraw the state's appeal of the United States Forest Service Plan

for the National Forest in Wisconsin. Governor Thompson's action crushing the state's appeal to use the crowd but it wasn't enough to make the timber industry happy. The Wisconsin Michigan Timber Producers Association has also filed an appeal contending the proposed forest plans don't allow enough logging. Carl Tyler is the group's executive secretary that will not be enough if we have any kind of an expansion. The Forest Service and their plan has some mechanical mechanism too. To allow for some industry coming in but we don't believe that's enough. The Forest Service is John RayBlick is in charge of planning for the Chequamegon again. And what we try to point out to the timber producers and all of our assumptions of future demand and future supply are strictly that they're assumptions based on the existing data base that we already you know that we have been they were making some projections into the future. We do not believe

that they are going to make these changes. Especially with some other group that has appealed for less timber. You can imagine the ruckus that they're going to put up if we were looking for more timber for a new industry. This is the hemlock. But you don't think that's going to be around long. Well just judging from the fact that there's a few this size in here which are maybe a couple years old and there's nothing ten years old in here just absolutely nothing no hemlocks at all. Dr. William Alverson a researcher with the botany Department of the University of Wisconsin-Madison is one of the people raising the ruckus. Alverson and a colleague from the University Steven Solheim developed a proposal which is at the heart of another appeal this one filed by the Sierra Club and the Wisconsin forest conservation taskforce. According to the conservationists appeal the forest plan puts at risk trees like these. Some of the oldest birches and hemlocks in the Chequamegom. The plan doesn't actually call for these trees to be

cut. Alverson it just doesn't give the trees enough room. Well it's a wonderful thing that this area is here. The problem from our perspective is it is too small. This grove of hemlocks and yellow birch only has about 60 acres in extent and because it is so small even though it's high quality in some regards it's a museum piece. A lot of Alverson's says this version of this grove of trees as a demonstration of a theory called island biogeography under the theory there's a simple rule. In general the smaller the pieces of habitat the higher the extinction rates. So it's just to say that. You need fairly large pieces of land in order to not lose things over time. What restricts the size of this grove is the clear cutting that is eventually scheduled to take place nearby when a clear cut area recovers it looks like this. It makes perfect habitat for deer. The deer will then wander into the nearby hardwood areas Alverson feels the deer are responsible for the lack of young trees

in this grove. So somewhere between then, here and say eye height they are getting eaten. I think I can't say catagoricaly say it is only the deer. he said it's only by doing my guess is that's a large problem. To protect the young trees and other organisms that need large tracts of land to survive. Alverson and his associates from the UW botany Department proposed creating bigger islands that would be two of them in the Chequamegom going into three of them in the Nicolet combined the islands would occupy about one fourth of the area in each of the two forests. These areas wouldn't be logged get all. The rest of the forest could be logged. More heavily. Timber output would be about the same. The Forest Service was interested. We stated that this forest had two hundred fifty thousand acres. Of land suitable for the production of timber that we did not need. For timber this 10 or 15 year planning period. The Sierra Club response to that was let's set that aside for island

biogeography. And then through a series of meetings and discussions. We talked about that we did never did agree to set aside anything today Walter contends the proposal never went beyond the talking stage. We never agreed to the setting aside so to speak or drawing a boundary around it. We said it's available for the study but the draft forest plan prepared by the Chequamegom staff was quite specific. The forest plan has identified two or three areas where research is to be conducted. This will also protect future options of managing these areas for natural diversity. And contrary to what Walter says there were lines drawn on a map. This map was provided by the Forest Service. The Forest Service drew those black lines on that map. Indicating that those were the lines that was the area that they were proposing to be set aside for the Study of biopic diversity. Robert Stellin [sp?] is president of North Country Lumber which operates a large sawmill in Mellen

His firm buys timber like these maples that are in one of those set aside areas just due west of Mellen. We're particularly concerned because this is one of the best areas of hardwood dense hardwoods in the and the if Chequamegom this area of 100000 acres plus the 50000 acres was set aside for 10 years the likelihood of it being an unset aside is just it isn't there. In that. The once that would be set aside. We believe that's going to be there forever. Stone when it was given these maps at a March meeting between the Forest Service and the timber Producers Association the island biology proposal was the last item on the agenda when they brought that to your attention at that meeting. What did you tell the Forest Service. Well one of our members was so flabbergasted he left the meeting because he couldn't believe what he was hearing. We - we of course disagreed at that

meeting and asked for a copy of this map. And then we - we went out and started to started to lay the groundwork for telling our side of the story. That involved a letter to University of Wisconsin system president Kenneth Shaw attacking the involvement of the botany Department representatives in the planning process as irresponsible and academic insensitivity. It was signed by the Board chairman of nine northern counties who felt the conservationists were threatening the local economy. The university's response was that researchers were expected to share their expertise on matters of public policy. Although the idea of setting aside areas for the Study of biologic diversity is now thought of as somewhat controversial it was initially endorsed by a lot of people in the Park Falls area. Everybody from the forest ecologist clear up to the forest supervisor but that wasn't the case when the proposal got to the U.S. Forest Service Eastern regional office in Milwaukee. Butch Mereada (sp?)

It is the Forest Service's regional forester. My reaction was that, that issue is premature. It is not 140000 continued contiguous acres that should not have any management of any kind. That reaction may have been based on an incorrect presumption. The conservationists insist they never proposed turning the tracks into wilderness area which would have to be left untouched by human hands. In the main things we wanted to stop in these areas if possible is the logging because it creates a disturbance it creates a patch of young trees lots and lots of light in these areas lots and lots of things like deer and grouse and other other organisms that are favored in disturbance habitats. But there's other uses such as snowmobiling and hiking and skiing. Small scale timber harvest such as hobbyists or people local people coming in and cutting some dead trees for their own use. That stuff's really low intensity Chequamegom going to Forest Supervisor Walter cooperated Alverson's version of the story. In the end Forest Service regional

officials wouldn't go along with the proposal submitted by the staff in the Chequamegom going to reduce island biogeography is a theory not ready to become Forest Service practice. Because I want us, the Forest Service and the public to study the issue of biotic diversity. We That land is not going to change in character. We get adequate time in the in the next decade or next decades to address this issue. And that's what my decision is based on: the study of biotic diversity. We do not have to be stampeded into a decision to put land into this issue. Last June the regional office rewrote the proposed plan. The original wording called for the preservation of large tracts of land necessary to protect future options of managing these areas for natural diversity. The new language says only that island biogeography can be studied at the individual forests supervisors discretion the timber industry is taking part of the

credit for the change. Almost every county board has a unanimous vote. There was a few exceptions. Opposing this proposal. And all of that was communicated through to the regional headquarters in Milwaukee and I'm sure it had a an effect on what the regional office decided. The industry had a role but not a very significant role. I don't listen to industry no more no less than anybody else. I try to listen to all groups timber industry however gives the impression that it's married to the Forest Service. Timber Producers Association Executive Secretary Carl Tyler. We have worked close with the Forest Service the industry and the Forest Service and it's been a very happy partnership. These two National Forests in Wisconsin and two beautiful pieces of real estate. And it didn't happen by lending it to nature. It happened because the Forest Service. Some time into it some effort into it some money and put in the logged properly and nurtured it along properly.

However Alverson'a says: Just having to take a effects of logging on other species of plants and animals into account it is seen by industry as a threat given that this is such a politicized situation and you have. The timber companies in Wisconsin and not only them but timber companies in the western United States terrified Is this a precedent for the National Forests. They fear regardless of the scientific merits of it they really don't want to see it as a as a precedent which would say that diversity has to be one of the issues considered equal with other multiple uses of the forest. As it stands now. Island biogeography is a concept that will be studied in the national forests. But no lines will be drawn on any maps. The Forest Service contends no timber schedule for cutting in the areas is that were considered for designation during the next 10 years anyway. And the forest plan does call for preserving smaller Groves like the grove of hemlocks. We visited earlier. However Alverson quoting another researcher says for these trees it may be too late.

He's termed this the living dead. And the reason he calls it that is that if you look at this beautiful stand of hemlocks now and yellow birch for a while you start to realize you know all you see are moderately old trees. There's a few medium age trees and essentially no youngsters. What that means is that the population is dead on its feet. The governor by the way will bring the two sides the Sierra Club and the timber industry together for a meeting next week. The spring election was the top story of this past week we'll review the results of the gambling referendum in just a few moments. First though our regular summary of the stories that affected our stay for the week ending April the 10th. There was more grim news about AIDS this week. The State Division of Health released new statistics that show a doubling of AIDS cases in Wisconsin a year ago there were 73 cases in our State. Today there are one hundred and sixty one. At the current rate there will be nine hundred fifty eight cases in Wisconsin by the year 1990. On Wednesday a state senate committee endorsed the idea of increasing the speed limit to 65

miles per hour on rural stretches of the Wisconsin interstate system. In testimony before the committee state transportation officials supported the idea but a State Medical Society spokesman opposed it. We'll have a full report on the speed limit debate on next week's program. The bridge that collapsed in New York this week took a Wisconsin casualty a truck driven by a Green Bay Man went over the edge when the bridge collapsed. As of Friday morning the body of 39 year old John Minmon. of Green Bay still had not been recovered. Voters across the state went to the polls on Tuesday. A warm spring day and several well publicized contests brought a high turnout for an off year election. Three Republicans were elected to the state Senate to fill vacancies their representatives Carol Bittner Robert Coles and Tim Wheaton all won special senate elections. Democrats still outnumber Republicans in the State Senate by a margin of 19 to 14. The attention getter on Election Day was gambling as both referenda passed. The final tally showed the state lottery winning convincingly with a slimmer margin of victory for parimutuel betting.

Will spend a few minutes more now on what's next in the ongoing gambling saga. We have asked Senator Fred Risser to join us from the state senate Senator Risser is on the anti side of gambling I should mention by the way before we begin our discussion that we did invite several people to participate from the pro side through no fault of their own they were not able to join us but we will now get the anti-side from Senator Risser. Your lost what's next? Well the voters of the state of Wisconsin have directed the legislature to bring about state run lottery and to license the parimutuel betting and those of us who didn't like the idea now have a different task. Our task is to bring about the best possible in means to implementing legislation that can be created by men. But what we're going to be doing is we're going to be looking at what works well in other states and what hasn't worked well and try to incorporate the best possible ideas for Wisconsin. You have a sense yet of what has worked well and what hasn't. We're surrounded by states with some experience in gambling are you going to send legislators out to to analyze what those other states have done

for example how do you go about deciding what's good and what's not. The legislature will be appointing several committees to work on this. The Assembly will have their committee. The Senate will have its committee. And I anticipate that several hearings will be held and people will come and discuss what has worked in their states and what hasn't worked in their states and I don't really anticipate much traveling by such a committee. When the committee gets their work finished will propose implementing legislation to go through the legislature just like anything else the legislature will have a chance to propose amendments to it. The end result will be presented to the governor and he will either sign or veto the bill. What are we talking about in terms of timing there are a lot of people out there I suppose who have $10 bills burning a hole in their pockets ready to buy those lottery tickets. They can be able to do that soon or not. You know the legislature has a few other things to do besides implement. Legalized Gambling. We have a budget that we have to get out by the end of June. We have some other some thousand bills pending and we're not going to drop everything just to work on

legalized gambling but we will work on it we'll work on it in all due deliberate speed I think work at looking at nothing being debated in the Legislature until the October session at the earliest. I can't believe that there will be any lottery tickets sold in Wisconsin before next year. It may be two years before we have tracks in operation some gambling opponents have suggested that there ought to be so-called sunset legislation attached to whatever bill you do come up with the idea being we'll give it a run for four years and then it will be no more after that. Is that viable in your view I know I'm asking a legislative opponent but what about in all honesty I don't think it's too viable It seems to me if the lottery works. That we will continue on with it and if it turns sour on us heaven forbid a legislature will either revise it or eliminate it. What can turn sour. Senator Risser in Wisconsin has this long tradition of clean politics and state government. Is that a red herring. You know that we have to worry about organized crime and all of this what what what could turn sour what continues to worry you about all this.

You know I am concerned. And that's why I'm going to be putting my best efforts forward to keeping Wisconsin government clean and putting forth the best possible regulatory legislation relating to parimutuel betting. Yes it can turn sour. We've seen it happen in other states. We saw it happen in New York where they had to suspend the lottery altogether. Delaware went broke with the lottery of Pennsylvania there's still some people in prison for trying to fix that lottery and of course we've heard a lot of tales about what could happen with horseracing the use of drugs a substitute in horses at the last minute. And what not and so our task is to try and keep our image of clean government clean even though we've gone into the legalize gambling. Proponents would say but you know the will of this people has has now been heard and they want you to go ahead and do this. Are you going to hold up the train on this one or will we see this proceed with if not all speed at least all deliberate speed. No I think the people have voted in our form of government. The majority determines the

policy of the state the majority the people in the state who voted in the last election say that they want the state to run a lottery. And we will implement a lottery and I think it will be implemented sometime next year. (Dave's - unclear) (broken - unclear) a little closer on parimutuel betting. I think that will probably work on the lottery first in on the parimutuel betting second. But the voters of this state determine the policy and I think the legislature will do its job of putting together the legislation necessary. Senator Risser thank you for coming tonight. Gambling has been part of our society our civilization for a long time but it wasn't the reason why civilization started with some thoughts on why civilized civilization began here's Milwaukee Journal satirist Joe McNally. You know Milwaukee could have been the cradle of civilization. According the New York

Times the anthropologist have figured out the reason for civilization it was beer. That's it. Beer was a reason primitive people stop wandering around aimlessly as hunters and gatherers. You saw country at Farm Aid. Why would anyone give up the open road in the thrill of the hunt. To go into agriculture is really just an advanced form of mowing the lawn. Those people weren't thinking about hauling Whole wheat bread or building strong bodies 12 ways. They were brewing beer. The world's oldest recipe written on a Samarian tablet was for beer. Meat Loaf came much later. There are primitive drawings of beer drinkers 5000 years ago in Mesopotamia. Imagine even pronouncing that you've had a few. Archaeologists even found their empties they unearthed ancient narrow necked vessels used to ferment the stuff. They're still trying to decipher the marking's to find out how much of the deposit

was. People began settling down in communities and ordering another round. They could go out hunting and gathering in later pass that old narrow neck vessel. Blame the beer that made Mesopotamia famous. The next thing we knew we lived in teeming cities. We had social problems and our mothers were mad we were breathing down our necks. Milwaukee was on the cutting edge of civilization. That's where man's highest art form evolved.. They called it the beer frame. It was Milwaukee's Journal satirist, Joe McNally. Last February was an important month in the in the world of Astromony, those in the Southern Hemisphere were able to witness an event that hadn't occurred in about about 400 years. A supernova the death of a star. If you didn't happen to be in the southern hemisphere Well don't feel neglected there have been some pretty interesting celestial events around our neck of the woods too. In fact near Belleville they're waiting for the UFO

reports. Belleville, a small stunningly peaceful sort of town just southwest of the state capital. To the casual observer it seems to be a quiet uneventfull for a place. Yet the sharp eye soon pick up telltale signs that something is a little unusual here. A little different. The password these days in Belleville is look up -. littlest town may still be peaceful. It is no longer the skies above. May never be the same. Waiting for the UFO's. Waiting for the UFO - Waiting for the UFO . They Said it was huge, cigar shaped thing and it glowed white. Was a it was motionless. It looked like A big rocket - it was dark shaped to my eye looked khaki colored. Okay now this is a rocket, it was about like

like that. I would say it looked something like that I would say it looked something like that. It had a little light right on the front "We want a UFO - waiting for the UFO" Was officially been classified as an official flap - a flap meaning that it's a high concentration UFO activity with in a concentrated area surface. What appearance did it give? It what appearance did it give? The man investigating this official flap is Don Schmidt a co-director and investigator in Wisconsin for the Center for UFO studies a national organization headquartered in Evanston, Illinois in the last six months the center has tabulated odd events in the skies above Waukesha, Elmwood, White Lake, Gleason, Bristol, Union Grove, West Bend, Grafton, Milwaukee, and Fremont.

If this weren't enough in the last three months. Belleville and surrounding environs have been besieged with well over a dozen sightings of something above Paoli, Monticello, Argyle, Hollondale,, and New Glarus. And of course Belleville. Today, Schmidt and his investigating crew have come to Bellevile trail by the local media to in turn a trail a series of sightings that took place on Friday March 5th at about 6:00 in the evening. Ira Fundseth and Fred were driving together in Fundseth's car when something in the sky caught their eye - it started back in there. We watched it - moving across - when it went out of site over there. over there. It was a large cylindrical shaped object with four separate smaller rectangular shaped objects that seemed to be attached in a line underneath. It moved across the sky. Then the large part shot away and the smaller ones seemed to disintegrate in the air.

The center is able to explain away 90 percent of the sightings, but that tantalizing 10 percent remains. The investigating team arrives at the home of the Thorain or Boots (unclear) Well I was just standing here looking out because it was so pretty. Such a nice night sky was red sun had that thing hanging down and I Looked & looked. When you say a thing what do you mean? to learn to do what you want. Well the thing that Frida was remarkably similar to what Harvey Fundseth and Fred Gutenauer saw.. And when it left it just hung there like this. Then the top part just went like that turned just like that again. The team takes testimony and tracks the course right. Like a fairy tale. There you go. They keep showing up. The Belleville UFO flap is important to the center not only because of the number of reports but because of their content.

Our shapes describe whether they are be cylinderical shaped or even shaped as a blimp. It gives us much more to work with. There's a light that unfortunately lights come a dime a dozen. They don't tell you much. [singing] Waiting for the UFOs Waiting for the UFOs This whole flap started back in January when Belleville police officer Glen Kazmar was no longer interested in talking to the press reported seeing an unusual series of red, blue, and white lights. There is no way to my knowledge that could have been an airplane.That is a route play. I've been working over ten years and I've never seen any think like that. Generalization that people who see UFO's. Number of fishermen down south sitting on the dock late at night & they happened see something they get picked up. That is not the case at all. We're talking about

scientists about police officers about teachers. Or politicians. In fact former President Jimmy Carter claims to have seen a UFO. Well on his way to a Lions Club meeting in Georgia in fact one out of every 10 Americans claims to have seen a UFO. Ordinary Americans Neutenhauer is a construction worker for a communications firm. Harvey Fundseth works for the state as a surveyor and Mrs. Friday is a constituent representative for a state senator - ordinary Americans who are willing to stand up and be counted. There have been cases where people have really been driven from their jobs or relationships or broken up as a result. They have had to leave even their hometowns occasionally. I don't accuse where it was I that was almost like a lynch mob where they burned a particular man out of his trailer home for nothing for no other reason than he claimed to have seen a UFO.

Reactions in Belleville have been considerably calmer. We took a little ribbing. Because that's part of it is one guy that was teasing us. Sighted one last Sunday night and he watched it through his son's telescope. The next time he saw us why he just said there definitely is something up there. But what is that something else is the Belleville UFO sighting. Dr. Mark Slovak is an astronomer at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. He believes that there are some things in the sky can be explained as something ordinary that we ordinarily don't see for example. Officer Nass Mars sighting of a series of red white and blue lights. And you were to imagine yourself standing little figure here looking out toward the night. Dr. Slovak utilizes a computer to paint a picture of the appropriate chunk of sky that Kasmar would have seen on January 13th, three in the morning the night of a full moon. Fainter stars are lost in the

glare of the moon. Somebody standing there at 3 a.m. in the morning would have seen one, two, three, maybe four bright stars very near the horizon. And particularly they would have, there eye probably would have been attracted by this star. It's called Betelgeuse, the brightest star in the constellation of Orion the Hunter. As it sets it goes through a thicker and thicker layer of air between you and the star and that causes a twinkle to [unclear] we formally say. It'll flash reddish bluish whitish colors back and forth back and forth. It would have stood out by itself as a very red solitary jewel-like looking object that we think would be a good candidate for explaining what he saw. We do not often look up Which is a shame for our heavens are home to some spectacular sites, nightly miracles, comets that singed the sky which the break light into circles in rain color back to Earth. The list is endless and includes not only explained items but items unexplained that

later are explained. Dr Marc Slovak: Back In the late 60s we thought gee, we had discovered one. This was the discovery turned out later of the pulsars stars. He's sending neutron stars that emit very rapid periodic radial signals that were accidentally discovered by a radio telescope in England. And when they were first discovered they were labeled LGM's standing for Little Green Men because here was a regular patterning sounded like Morse Code coming out from space. And we knew of no phenomena at that time that could prove this. There can be no doubt there are surprises in the sky. But what kind of surprises. Well when they were ribbing us, they would say we were looking for intelligent life. Certainly it exists in Belleville and many scientists are certain convinced that it exists somewhere out there. The question is of all the billions and billions of planets out there. What are the chances that intelligent life would come to Belleville. Not

likely according to Slovak. The chances that they would be selecting the Earth, the third planet from our other dinky star? I would go to Jupiter myself if I came to the solar system, a much more impressive looking planet. According to Slovak we are too mundane to merit a visit. Of course many people visit Cleveland every year, but Slovek chooses to ignore that parallel. Schmidt is much more reassuring about Earth's appeal. He believes that visitors have been raining down but their visits have been kept under wraps. This is an idea that is immensely appealing even to Slovek even to Slovea. Fascinated by it. Any person, scientific or otherwise we're not humans we're not alone in this galaxy. It makes the galaxy suddenly seem like a warm friendly homey place that you have neighbors out there. Neighbors, Slovak believes that they're out there. And without realizing it we have been waving hello to them for a long time. How? By the waves of our old TV and radio shows that have been spilling out into

space for the last 40 to 50 years. That is what we're going to be known for. any extraterrestrial intelligence that happens to have a receiver that can listen to that stuff the Earth just turned on. I can see Jackie Gleason now. And what they will probably do is to record the message like Carl Sagan talks about in his latest book novel Contact. We'll send it back to us in a slightly changed form to let us know that some intelligence picked it up and while they may not approve of it at least use it as a returned enveloped. Since apparently we've already started a correspondence. Allow me to use the waves of this program to relay a message. If you're out there. Come on down Bellville. It was a great place to stop, quiet town, nice people, and I hear they have a great fish fry. If you would like to comment on this week's broadcast write the Wisconsin Magazine 821 University Avenue Madison Wisconsin 5 3 7 0 6 planet

Earth. Joanne Garrett produced our last report. Peter Kleppin and David Hestad were the photographers. We will turn now to the topic of how television makes choices about airing controversial commercials and public service announcements. The controversial issue again is the TV messages are about how condoms can prevent the spread of AIDS. The ads exists but you won't see them on network television. Here's an example of one such commercial. I never thought having an intimate relationship would be a matter of life or death. But because of AIDS I'm afraid. AIDS isn't just a gay disease it's everybody's disease and everybody who gets it dies. The surgeon general says proper use of condoms can reduce your risk so you'd be crazy not to use them. Condoms are [unclear] called Lifestyles. I'll do a lot for love but I'm not ready to die for it. And joining me now to talk about this topic is David Sanks, who is the station manager of WISC-TV a

CBS affiliate in Madison and Esther Thorson a professor of journalism who studies advertising and advertising trends at the UW Madison. David let me ask you first of all would you air a spot like that. That one in particular would be looked at quite closely by the station before we give a stamp of approval to it. What concerns you about that kind of commercial? What is it that gives you pause before you would put something like that on the airwaves? Well in the main objection that we might have is whether or not a commercial spot such as that one may have an element of promoting promiscuity, sexual freedom that uh is really not the messages that we would want on the air. What we want [Iverson interrupts]: Because of the line "I'll do a lot for love but I won't die for it" is that what... That would have part of it. There are there are a number of elements that come together it's through the visual image that's there, the audio, how all that ties together and what kind of overall message we feel that is being given to the public.

How would you analyze the the message, Professor Thorson? Is that effective first of all and and why are executives like Mr. Sanks a little bit shy about putting that on the air? Well I think he's exactly right. It's very sexually suggestive which is probably not at all relevant to the health consequences that we're interested in. As far as its effectiveness I don't think it's terribly attention grabbing except in the sexual suggestiveness which is probably not a plus in terms of communicating a message about the disease prevention aspect. So it really doesn't talk about AIDS and condoms it just talks about how condoms are a good thing. Yes that's right and I think that the other problem with that is offensive to a lot of people is that it essentially argues that you can save yourself by using condoms about Lifestyle condom so that there's that brand emphasis there which is a little bit questionable. David, going back to what stations can or cannot do. Now the networks have said they're not sure they want to put these on the air or they won't put them on the air. But you as a local affiliate still have some options.

We have the option to accept or reject any piece of advertising that is. sent to us for air. And the reason for that is what? That each local community each market differs therefore Madison might want to do one thing. Duluth another. That's correct. Exactly, Particularly with an issue like this. OK. Let us take a look now at another example of this kind of advertising this really isn't an advertisement so much as it is a public service announcement that talks about the relationship between AIDS and the use of condoms. This is with the surgeon general Everett Koop. Let's take a look at that message now. A message of critical importance for everybody about AIDS and condoms. U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop: the best protection against the infection right now barring abstinence is the use of a condom. A condom should be used during sexual relations from start to finish with anyone who you are not absolutely sure is free of the AIDS virus. Brought to you as a public service by the American Foundation for AIDS Research. AIDS,

It's everybody's problem. Professor Thorson your thoughts on that one in terms of effectiveness, in terms of whether or not stations would be more likely to use that particular message. Well I think that's the most likely one to be accepted because it is totally informative. There is of course no sexual suggestiveness about that at all. And it's very tasteful. I would be very surprised if many people would be offended. But does it make its point? Does it does it work in terms of advertising? Is that the kind of thing that's going to affect people's behavior? I think absolutely. I think that when you talk about using condoms and sexual relations you've probably got people's attention. Mr (thanks - unclear) as a station manager, likely to put that one on the air? Yeah it's straight talk. It's not mincing any words, it's not doing anything but presenting the information as they now believe that's one method to help prevent the spread of AIDS. So if that PSA public service announcement were sent in the mail to you and arrived on your desk understandably WISC hasn't received that yet you would be so

inclined to put that on the air? This first time I've seen it. But I would say yes without - with some qualification I really don't think we have a problem with that. Let's talk for a moment about how television conveys information. And this is obviously a topic of great concern to society at large, what is television's responsibility? What are advertisers responsibility to convey information about about AIDS and the prevention of AIDS? Well I think television is an extremely important and effective way of communicating, educating, [inaudible] the American public. And I think that the federal government has essentially said that we want to use television as one of our educational tools. But very strangely it turns out that the gatekeepers here are not governmental people but rather the networks who are not accepting these things at all. And the local stations who may or may not depending on their their own estimates of their own audiences. So you would like to see.

I think that the networks should accept these things and I think the local affiliates should also do so within the constraints of tastes and social acceptance. Mr. Sanks. I think that as far as the networks are concerned, I can understand their position of saying that the the issue of condom advertising really crosses into the whole concept of contraceptive advertising. And at this point they're playing it very cautiously in stating that they believe each market each television market has a mix of individuals that are going to be different across the nation and they think that the local station is more apt to be able to assess what the reaction would be in their communities what their communities will are willing to accept on the air. That's part of our job is to is to try and judge those kinds of things. All right. Down the road though I think I think they probably will I think they should

accept some kind of advertising to help get the message out to the broader public. All right we'll see what happens on the airwaves in Wisconsin. David, Thanks. Esther Thorson Thank you. Finally a few excerpts from some of our mail over the past couple of weeks. First this letter from Colonel Peter Reilly who wrote about our program on the Wisconsin Nicaragua sister state relationship and what we didn't tell our viewers. Our viewers, Mr. Reilly wrote, they need to know what the Sandinistas will not permit them to assist the most destitute because those unfortunate victims have been made so by Sandinista policies. According to the UN, more people are fleeing Nicaragua than any other country in Central America. And we also heard from another viewer who didn't think we presented the entire picture. This time on the topic of Indian fishing rights. Once again, he wrote, you managed to present a program that only presented your point of view. You did not have anybody presenting the point of view of those who oppose these rights the courts have created for the Indians. And that's our report for this week. I'm Dave Iverson, thank you for joining us, good night.

Next time I'm on the Wisconsin magazine. If you were faced with. just having a short time to live, you yourself would want to be at home. That is the most relaxed atmosphere. You can be surrounded by the things that you have loved all Your life. You can have your family right there. Participating in your care. For the terminally ill many terminally ill people and their families are benefiting from hospice care at home. Everything goes through your mind, you know. How can you afford this, be here. All of a sudden the answer is in how to handle this. There There are two people who have chosen hospice care, next time on the Wisconsin magazine.