April 19, 2000
Page A5
(Elje Portiani» (Dbeeruer
P o rtlan d
Family Living
Have a happy
Easter
Earth Day, is mankind a How to Achieve Quality Family Time
titanic failure?
COW TIUBUTtDSTO»Y
A c to r L e o n a r d o D iC a p rio , a
spokesperson for Earth Day 2000
( A p r il 2 2 ), h a s b o u g h t in to
environm ental alarm ism . “The Earth
is heating up and every o n e’s Future
is at risk,” he exclaim ed, “ Pleasejoin
us [this Earth Day] in sending a strong
m essage to our governm ents that
now is the tim e for action to prevent
violent changes in our clim ate.”
Mr. D iC aprio’s sentim ents reflect the
e n v ir o n m e n ta l e s ta b l is h m e n t’s
austere view.
To DiCaprio, m ankind is the problem,
th e c a u se o f th e en v iro n m en ta l
“crisis.” He ignores the fact that
m ankind is also a problem s solver-
and pretty good at it too.
H istory proves that m ankind is m ore
a “problem s solver” than a problem .
H um anity has dram atically improved
its diet, m obility, health, and overall
quality o f life.
In A m erican and m uch o f the world,
people live longer, w ork less and have
m o re tim e to e n jo y th e ir lives.
M oreover, our increased tim e and
r e s o u r c e s h a v e a llo w e d (a n d
encouraged) us to better appreciate,
protect, and improve the environment.
P opulation and econom ic grow th
m ean that m ore people are m ore able
to r e s o lv e a b r o a d e r ra n g e o f
environm ental problem s beyond their
ow n health and w elfare.
A w ealthy econom y m akes for a
h e a lth y
e n v ir o n m e n t,
an d
technological innovations m ake it
p o s s ib le fo r u s a d d r e s s m o re
environm ental issues. A w ealthier
w orld is a cleaner, safer, healthier and
fairerw orld.
T hose w ho see m an, w ealth, and
te c h n o lo g y as e n v iro n m e n ta l “
problem s”suffer from the “Terrible
T oos” : they believe there are already
“too m any” o f us, w e already consume
“too m uch” and w e already have
allow ed “too m any” innovations.
T hey see m ore to fear than revere in
biotechnology, the expanded use o f
energy, suburban developm ent, and
global trade to these alarm ists, our
current lifestyle an environm ental
“crisis” : w e are depleting natural
resources, causing global w arm ing,
destroying the natural environm ent.
T he A m erican lifestyle, they w arn, is
unsustainable; allow ed to continue,
it w ill lead to global destruction.
T heir solution to the earth ’s gloom y
p r o s p e c t? M a ssiv e g o v e rn m e n t
in te rv e n tio n to slo w an d d irec t
econom ic and technological change.
U n f o r tu n a te ly
f o r th e e c o -
catastrophists ’ thesis, environm ental
quality continues to im prove along
w ith affluence and population.
F o r in s ta n c e , th e C o m p e titiv e
E nterprise Institute’s Earth Report
2000, published this year by McGraw-
Hill, sa y ’s “ T oday, alm ost tw ice as
m any people are fed per acre o f
cropland as w ere fed about [ 100 years]
ago. “ Truly, m ankind is a problem
solver.
M oreover, our problem s are best
solved w hen people are free to use
their intellect to discover new ways
to address old problem s. That process
allow s us to use m ore resources.
W hile decreasing our stress on the
planet
This Earth Day, policym akers should
ponder this point before endorsing
increased governm ent controls on
resource use, econom ic activity and
technology. Such controls are all too
lik ely to c rip p le th e in n o v a tiv e
process, and to create unnecessary
tensions betw een environm ental and
econom ic values.
Slowing econom ic and technological
grow th w eak en s th e p ro ce ss by
w hich w e have, todate, fended o ff
ecological and econom ic disaster.
I f L e o n a rd o D iC a p rio a n d h is
doom sday follow ers have their w ay,
th ey ’ll be right!
Thus, on this April 22, let us com m it
to both a freer and a cleaner world.
The fact is, you really c a n ’t have the
latter w ithout the former.
W hen w as the last tim e you and
y o u r fam ily spent an ev e n in g
to g e th e r w ith o u t w a tc h in g
television?Can ’t remember? T hat’s
because, like for m ost A m ericans,
telev isio n seem s like th e only
source o f relaxation. W e forget that
it is possible to spend quality tim e
w ith the fam ily and still have fun.
T hat’s why you need to start setting
aside some quality family time, even
if it’s only a couple o f hours a week,
w ithout w atching television.
To H elp parents do this, one week
out o f every year is designated as
National rV -T u m o ff W eek, when
f a m ilie s a c r o s s th e c o u n try
voluntarily turn o ff their television
sets and turn to other w ays to have
fim w ith their families.
You can make it easier for you, Hasbro,
the makers o f some o f the best-know n
classic gam es, is here to help. They
have com e up with a new w ay o f
bringing fam ilies closer to g eth er by
helping them spend quality tim e while
having them take advantage o f their
time together by interacting with each
other, face-to-face, playing board
g a m e s r a th e r th a n s e p a r a te ly .
Introduced during the fall o f 1998 as
a practical way to put some real qual ity
tim e back into your busy life, H asbro
has brought together som e o f its m ost
well known games forthe Family Game
N ightthem e.
They include, the M onopoly gam e,
Scrabble gam e. T he G am e o f Life,
Sorry. C lue, PayD ay and Y ahtzee.
“ W e believ e that play in g gam es
•m akes fam ily tim e together m ore
m e an in g fu l an d fun, sa y s Jo h n
Chandler, senior vice president o f
m arketing for H asbro Games.
“We know from our own families that
when you play a gam e there are tw o
experiences - the actual gam e w here
you strategize and the em otional
experience o f enjoying each oth er’s
com pany. There are m any fam ilies
rediscovering the w onder o f board
g am es, a c c o rd in g to th e T oy
M anufacturer A ssociation. Sales
o f fam ily and adults gam es were up
m ore than 10 percent in 1999.
For parents w ho need a little extra
helpplanningaFam ilyG am eN ight,
H asb ro has m a d e a fun an d
interactive brochure outlining the
benefits o f fam ily gam eplay that
also provides creative ways to plan
family gam e night. To O rder your
free brochure, send your address
via e-mail to fgn@ hasbro.com or
w rite to Hasbro Family Games
Night, P.O. Box 5659, Pawtucket, RI
02862. For more information about
F a m ily G a m e s N ig h t, v is it
www.familygamenight.com
T R I-M E T 'S A M A Z tfiK j A M E N IT IE S
Meet Jerry.
Jerry is a happy Tri-Met rider.
Here Jerry waits for his bus. Does it
faze him that some meteorologists
are predicting 20 years of wetter-
than-normal-weather? No. Because
Tri-Met is adding more bus shelters
every year. Jerry stays dry.
Some days it gets hot. Hot enough to
melt plastic dolls on the sidewalk.
But Jerry is cool. Why? More air-conditioned buses
than ever. Not only is Jerry dry and cool, he is busy. He’s
got people to see and places to go. But he knows that on
many routes, including his,
lii Mu Nt (
more frequently
Minority
from page 1
lim itations, w hether w e are w hite
people or black people or brown
people.... The answ er to that question
is yes. W hite people can also build
around them team s o f people w ho
live and w ork in those com m unities
that they are serving and em pow er
them to m ake sure that they serve as
a liaison betw een them and those
com munities.
TRI MET
503 238 RIDE
Which means Jerry is more efficient and has
more free time to play with his dog Rusty.
tty SOI 238 ^ 1
W WW
tri met org
»