The Michigan Daily-Frida, May 28, 1982-Page 13
Air ForceF seeks,
to counter Soviet
threat in space
LIKE A BIBLICAL PLAGUE, 'millions' of tiny frogs, spurred on by ideal
breeding conditions, have swarmed over a normally quiet Florida suburb.
Milons of frogs
vade Florida suburb
LONGWOOD, Fla. (AP) - Some
folks here are convinced it's been
raining baby toads, but whatever the
source, legions of the bug-eyed hoppers
were on the march here Thursday like -
an army of "littlesoldiers."
Since Monday they have been coming
out in hordes in the cool of the evening,
early in the morning and right after a
rain in the manicured Windsor Manor
neighborhood of this Orlando suburb in
Central Florida.
SUE RYAL, A resident said, "It's like
a biblical plague."
Lawns, sidewalks, and patios are a
moving mass of tiny spadefoot toads,
hopping heaven knows where, apparen-
tly insearchof food.
They crunch underfoot. Kids pop
them under their bikes. The crackle of
exploding bodies can be clearly heard
as cars drive through the quiet neigh-
borhoodat night.
HOUSEWIVES have to sweep them
quickly away so they don't rush in the
house when a door is opened in the
morning.
"They're quiet; you'don't her any
noise until they get hurt," says Cindy
Michael, "And then they kind of wail. .
. like a baby crying."
Agricultural Extension Agency
Frank Jasa said they large numbers of
the newly hatched toads apparently
were being driven out of marshy
ground by hunger. They eat insects,
and some of the residents here say
they've noticed almost no mosquitoes in
the past few days.
"They seemed to be coming by the
millions and billions." Jesse Michael
said Thursday. "They're marching
down the sidewalk, getting out of the
grass. Theylook like little soldiers."
BALTIMORE (UPI) - The United
States is expanding its military space
program to ensure the Soviet Union will
not control the "high ground" of Earth
orbit, Air Force officials reported
yesterday.
"We now are poised to really
capitalize on the advantages that space
offers us in the conduct of defense of our
national interests," said Brig. Gen.
Bernard Randolph, director of space
systems and command, control. and
communications at Air Force
headquarters.
"SPACE IS the modern equivalent of
the 'high ground' that military leaders
have for centuries sought out and ex-
ploited to their advantage," he said at a
meeting of the American Institute of
Aeronautics and Astronautics.
The Air Force now relies on satellites
for gound and sea survillance, early
warning _f a missile attack, com-
munications, targeting, navigation, and
weather prediction.
Maj. Gen. Jasper Welch Jr., assistant
chief of staff for research and
development, said the Soviet Union has
similar space systems and is placing
"much greater emphasis on the
military uses of space" than the
United States.
MOST TROUBLING, he said, is
Russia's development of a space
weapon, an anti-satellite spacecraft,
"whose sole purpose is to deny our use
of space."
And he said it appears the Soviets are
testing an improved anti-satellite
weapon.
"It is difficult to deny that in this
period of rapid evolution of space
Students trespass in tunnels
Five University students were
arrested early yesterday morning for
trespassing in the steam tunnels bet-
ween the Michigan Union and the
University Museum of Art. The five-
three women and two men-gained ac-
cess to the tunnel system through an
unlocked entrance near the Law Quad,
police said. They tripped a silent alarm
in the tunnels near the art museum.
University security staff brought three
of the students out through the
museum, while Ann Arbor police of-
ficers arrested the other two. Accor-
ding to police reports, the five said they
were "just exploring" in the tunnels,
miles of which weave between
buildings in the central campus area.
The five were released pending further
investigation of the incident.
'usum)
... to carry military payloads
systems and increasing reliance by the
U.S. and the Soviet Union on satellite
support, that military contests in space
loom asa real possibility," Welch said.
Randolph said the Air Force will soon
test its own anti-satellite weapon, a
small two-stage rocket that will be
launched from an F-15 jet fighter, to
counter the Soviet threat.
Such a weapon now will be directed
by ground-based radar, but Randolph
said the Defense Department is
working on satellites equipped with
heat-sensing infrared radiation detec-
tors to mpnitor objects in space.
ordered some cookies. He then grabbed
the clerk, and while threatening her
with what police described as a "long
set of tweezers," took an undisclosed
amount of money from the cash
register. He fled the store on foot,
without taking any cookies.
Roof swindle reported
A man believed to be a gypsy attem-
pted to swindle an elderly woman out of
more than $2,000 ina phony roof-repair
scheme, police said yesterday. A man,
woman, and two children approached
an 84-year-old woman this week and of-
fered to seal coat the roof of her house
for $12. Upon finishing the roof work,
the man demanded $2,030, claiming
that the sealant cost $12 per gallon. The
woman s daughter issued a check for
the amount, but stopped payment.
When the man returned, she wrote
another check, stopped payment again
and called the police. The man's truck
later was impounded at the Red Roof
Inn on Plymouth Rd. Shortly thereaf-
ter, according to police, a large number
of vehicles presumably belonging to a
band of gypsies left the Red Roof Inn
a ctheadedsgoth,
Students raise funds for
African exchange program
(,ontinued from Page ..5)
Park. The registration fee is $7 until
June 2 and $8 the day of the race.
Although she has requested either
electronic or construction work, Lob-
dell expects to be assigned some type of
teaching position during her eight
weeks in the Ivory Coast.
"I like to travel, and in my opinion, to
know a culture you have to work with
the culture," said Lobdell, who will be
studying next near at Brussels Univer-
sity in Belgium.
"I would just compare it to someone's
first trip to Europe," she said of her
African trip. "You don't know exactly
what you're getting into ... what you're
going to see."
Caplan said he plans to do additional
work for Crossroads when he returns
from Sudan. "Not enough people know
about organizations like this-"h ad
adding that many people have miscon- J.B. Chips shop robbed
ceptions about such organizations. A tweezer-wielding bandit stole a
small amount of money from the J.B.
"I don't want to take an active part in Chips Co. chocolate chip cookie shop on
a coup or spread evangelistic paranoia State St. Wednesday night, according to
... I just want to go over there and police. The robber, described as a
work," he said. "The best reasons you muscular male about six feet tall, en-
ever learn are through experience." tered thestore a ittlafter Vp. and