authorized only if they serve low income groups or those living in economically depressed regions, particularly rural areas.
Although the benefits of appropriate technology are gen-erally recognized, there is no guarantee that people will accept these cheaper and simpler but sometimes less ran-venient designs for living. According to Mary Ann
MacKenzie, federal adviser on appropriate technology, the
real test of the Center will be whether low-income groups take advantage of it. Says MacKenzie, "I think when people
realize that specific applications of appropriate tech-nology can save them money and make their lives more pleasant, then they will be sold on it."By reducing food, energy and housing costs, small-scale technologies would enable low-income families to live
better on their incomes. Also, small-scale technologies could serve as the basis for developing new community
industries. Further, says MacKenzie, projects undertakenby the community foster a sense of cooperation and shared
accomplishment that brings people closer together.February 23, 1977
SYNTHETICS ARE HERE TO STAY
You had better hang on to that favorite cotton shirt, be-cause clothing of natural fibers like cotton may be harder to find in years ahead.
According to Manfred Wentz, textile chemist at the Univer-sity of Wisconsin-Madison, synthetic fabrics are here to stay. In fact, they will probably take over an even larger part of the textile market in the near future.
Synthetics now make up 70 percent of the nation's textile
production. Cotton and a meager one percent of wool make
up the remaining 3D percent.
Synthetics are made from petroleum products and presently take about one percent of the world's oil production.
Wentz says that synthetics can also be made from coal.
If coal supplies run short, synthetics could be recycled, although that may be a long way off.
Wentz claims that if the price incentive is there, it is possible ta separate blends of synthetic fibers chemically by the use of apprapriate solvents. For example, the synthetics industry has been working on a method for sepa-rating the polyester from cotton-polyester blends. This a11ows the recovery of relatively pure cotton fiber as well as the salvage of the chemicals from which new polyester resins can be made.
Though some people would like to see more clothing made from wool and cotton, Wentz says the chances are slim, The oil embargo af 1973 showed that even high-priced petro-leum products are still cheaper raw materiaIs than wool or cotton.
Although increasing demands an all fossil fuel supplies could eventually affect production of synthetic fibers, you can plan that those polyester knit suits and acrylic sweaters will be around for some time to come.
June 2, 1976
157
ANOTHER BABY BOOM?
The rate at which American women bear children has begun to rise in the last few months, In 1976, birth rates plunged to an all-time low,
The National Center for Health Statistics calculated an estimated 276,000 birt'hs in the United States during March of 1977. These rates are two to three percent higher than the rates for 1976.
Compared to the baby boom of the 1950s, this year' s increase is low. However, if this trend continues, the general public will soon be feeling its effects. Even a small change in birth or fertility rates can have a major impact on the economy and on institutions such as schools.
One explanation for the recent increase in birth rates is that couples who had delayed becoming parents for various reasons are making "now or never" decisions to have children. At. the same time, marriage rates are on the rise and divorce rates may be leveling off.
The increased birth rate may alarm advocates of zero popu-lation growth. On the other hand, it. may be encouraging to those who feared the American birth rate had dropped so low that the population would be unable to support a vigorous economy in the future.
In fact, demographic experts generally agree that the recent population rises are no cause for alarm, According to one expert, the rates had fallen so low in the last two
years that an adjustment was to be expected. Campbell
Gibson, formerly of the Census Bureau, says that what we are seeing now is the more normal condition. The real question, he adds, is why this trend has taken so long to develop.Whatever the meaning of the reluctant to draw long-term few months' experience. So whether the recent increase baby boom.
new figures, demographers are conclusions on the basis of a
the debate continues over is the beginning of yet another
MOVING TO THE COUNTRY
Opinion surveys have repeatedly shown that many city dwellers would really rather live in the country, or at least on the rural fringe, says Rand Corporation sociol-ogist Peter Morrison,
Until recently, moving to the country was just a pipe dream for most people, Income was the biggest stumbling block.
Although a job was generally assured in the city, finding a livelihood in the country was a different matter. Many rural areas were, and still are, plagued by job shortages .
Today, however, more and more city dwellers are making that move to the country, And rural areas across the nation are experiencing an unprecedented growth in popula-tion. Part of this growth is due to the revival of rural industries. Remote parts of the Far West are undergoing almost boom-town growth, with the renewed interest in coal and other local energy resources, A growing wood products industry is bringing more jobs to the upper Great Lakes states. And in other rural areas, the recreation industry has brought new jobs and population.
But Morrison claims other factors besides jobs have also been important in this population shift. One is improved transportation and highway systems that enable people to live in the country but still enjoy the city and its benefits.
Another factor is increased incomes. According to Morrison, many people today have incomes that allow them to live wherever they want. People are also retiring at an earlier age and with more generous pension and retire-ment benefits than in the past. And the availability of state and federal public assistance programs has allowed more people, both young and old, to live wherever they like, temporarily or permanently .
April 20, 1977
159
PRESERVING COASTAL ASSETS
A quiet community of about 1,000 people, Bayfield,
Wis-consin stretches across a hillside overlooking the south
shore of Lake Superior. Its white frame houses and
field-stone walls give the city a distinctive identity largelyunchanged since the 19th century. In those days, Bayfield
was a center for fishing, lumbering and stone quarrying.But the face of Bayfield could soon change dramatically.
The catalyst is the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore.