Study: Drought ruined Mayans
NATIONAL
NEW YORK
(At*) — Th«* most
sovnre (trough! in
I ho past 7.000
yours might ha\»>
contributed to
the mysterious collapse of the
thriving Mayan civilization
Scholars are trying to under
stand why the Mayan civili/.i
tion in the southern Yucatan
Peninsula collapsed around the
it) to 'em, when it nas
r.learly thriving as late as the
year 700.
Now scientists have found
evidence that around the time,
major Mayan cities were aban
doned and left in ruins, because
the area around a Irx a I lake was
suffering through its worst
drought in (tie last 7,200 years
That may have been one rea
son for the collapse, re seen her
Jason Curtis said Wednesday
A geology student at the Uni
versify of Florida in Gainesville,
Gurtis dev ribas signs of drought
in ancient nuui from the bottom
of the lake in an article with oth
er scientists in Thursday's issue
of tlm journal X’aturv
Jerenty Sabloff, director of tlm
University of Pennsylvania
Museum of Archaeology and
Anthropology in Philadelphia,
called the finding an important
step toward understanding the
Mayan downfall
Other research shows that no
single factor can he Mamed, but
rather, the picture we re build
ing up is a whole series of
strains," he said.
The strains include a growing
population, warfare between
cities, military threats on the
Mayan borders and envirunmen
tal degradation. su< h as the cut
ting down of vast areas of the
jungle that led to increasing ero
sion.
"Drought in and of itself
would not have caused a thru
ing civilization to almndun some
of its major cities, he said "But
if it's added tu these other major
burdens, if you're already hav
ing difficulties feeding the gen
eral population, increased dry
ing of the climate would have a
much more severe impa< t than
usual."
Nations are still struggling
with problems such as popula
tion growth, local warfare and
growing populations, raising the
question of how much a nation
can handle before natural events
cause it to collapse, he said
Flooding, earthquakes or cli
matic shifts brought on by glob
al warming might "tie enough to
push civilizations over the edge,
where the governments could
not maintain food distribution,
protection of their people and
trade," he said
Jet crashes into apartment, 2 die
WICHITA FALLS, Texas (AP) An Air Fort e
(raining )«>t billowing bloc k smoke crashed inlo an
apartment complex Wednesday, engulfing one
building and several cars in flames At Ittast two
people were killed and lt> injured
The T-'tH's two pilots ejected just before it went
down and parachuted onto the athletic field at a
high school. They were not seriously injured
The plane, which had just taken off from Shep
pard Air Force Base, experienced some sort of
met hanlcal problem, the tniliUrj said
It was trailing smoke and piocos were falling off
just before it crashed, said Renee Stephens, a wit
ness.
"It sounded just like a bomb," she said. “There
was a big mushroom < loud and the whole building
was consumed by flames. "
Witnesses said the plane just missed two
schools and a day-care center fxsfore smashing into
the 120-unit Amber Falls Crossing apartment com
plex four miles from the base. One of the 11 budd
ings in the complex was hit; four apartments in
that building wore destroyed.
"It took out about six cars," said Eric Struve, who
works at a restaurant nearby. "It hit about 50 feet
away from the (apartment) office. A lady that works
fiere was blown out of the office, but she's OK
Two bodies were found in a parking lot outside
the apartment complex, said Lt. Col. Mike Laugh
lin, a base spokesman. Sixteen people were hospi
talized, he said, lt was not immediately known if
any were seriously injured
Air Pon v (Jol Bill (hi utt did not rule out the
possibility of other victims being found m the
apartment complex, since not ell tenants wort
immediately an minted fur
The pilots, who were not identified, were
assigned to the 80th Flying Training Wing, based
at Sheppard
"The pilots are extremely distressed nivout what
happened," Ori utt said "But from what we know
it was a nits harm al problem There was nothing
they could do."
Mary Hayes, a secretary at an elementary st hotil,
said the plane went right over the campus. whose
students are already home for the summer Parts of
the plane were scattered across the school
grounds, some near the front door
A piece of the jet's canopy ended up in the park
tug lot of Wichita Falls Hirsvhi High School, two
blocks away.
At least two children were on a playground
directly behind the crash site, Jerry! Byrd and his
cousin.
"I ran out and all I saw was fire and smoke."
said Jerryl's aunt. Norma Byrd "It was so black
you couldn't even see the building I was looking
for the hoys 1 was very scared, but they came
•round the side of the building I was very
relieved.”
The T-38. a twin-engine two-seater, is rnauufai
hired by Northrop
Bob Dole: Hollywood lacks decency
I.OS ANGblJKS (AP) — GOP
presidential hopeful Hob Dole
accused Hollywood on
Wednesday of promoting vio
tome, rape and casual sex in
music and movies, and said for
the good of America's children
"the mainstreaming of deviancy
must come to an end "
The Senate majority leader, in
the entertainment industry's
backyard, said his reaction to
today’s popular culture was
more than a “codgv old attempt
of one generation to steal the
fun of another A line has been
crossed — not just of taste but of
human dignity and decency "
In remarks prepared for deliv
ery (it an evening 1 ,os Angeles
fund-raiser, the early GOP front
runner repeated a challenge to
Hollywood executives first
voit ed during In* campaign
announcement tour in April,
urging them to focus on familv
oriented programming and
products
Specifically, Dole criticized
the R-rated action movies
Natural Ham killers and True
Hamanre as "films that revel in
mindless violence and loveless
sex" Dole also specifically
t iled throe recording groups,
Cannibal Corpse, Celo Boys and
2 Live Crew
"I'm talking about a culture
business that makes money
front 'music* extolling the plea
sures of raping, torturing and
mutilating women, from songs'
about killing polit emen and
rejecting law," Dole said, "The
mainstreaming of deviancy
must come to an end, but it will
only stop when the leaders of
the entertainment industry rec
ognize and shoulder their
responsibility.”
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