$1.50-No Advertising Vol. V, No. 5 February/ March 1979 ' •• .. ,.
Page 2 RAIN February-March 1979 BUILDING Carpentry for Builders, A. B. Amary, 1972, $4.95 from: Drake Publishers 801 Second Avenue New York, NY 10017 l'IG.17. DEVEL0PMINT 0, OUTER STRING. Magicians seem to a child to have special powers. By keeping their tricks close to their chests, many other professions also maintain monopolies, demand unconscionable wages, and gain undeserved respect from others. Some are starting to share their secrets-often just common sense and the accumulated wisdom of experience and previous failures. Knowing how to do things makes us much more liable to reach for and try to do more. This book of advanced carpentry and joinery for craftsmen gives the sometimes strikingly simple and sometimes complex details of construction of curved stairs and handrails, flashing complex dormer shapes, special cabinetmaking fasteners, panelling, cabinets, sliding doors, roof framing, concrete formwork and temporary shoring for repairing buildings. Valuable stuff when you want to get beyond 4'x8' plywood construction. -TB from Shelter II I 2 PIG• HIUCAL 0A SPIRAL STAIRS. Shelter II, Lloyd Kahn, Jr., editor, 1978, 224 pp., $9.50 softcover, from: Shelter Publications P.O. Box 279 Bolinas, CA 94924 As well-rounded an overview as you might hope to find, Shelter II is the second in an excellent series of resource books for people discovering what they are after in building their own homes. It begins, appropriately, with a look at traditional housing forms from around the world that are a natural outgrowth of indigenous culture, climate, terrain and available building materials. Timetested lessons not to be undervalued. ·- .. : ~~i~ Amateur forcing house - - .- - f" I , •. _•, 0 )--; ~~~ ·, : Window conservatory · :l:..·_k;;.~~.:~~~~-.:.~ : : : ~ From Illustrated Catalogue of Goods Manufactured and Supplied by W. Cooper Ltd.. Horticultural Providers, London. Date unknown (probably late 1800's). ·• : ~ · Lean-to conseroatory ,._, 2 ' The design and construction of small, wood-framed buildings-the most practical structure for most North American conditions-is covered thoroughly here, including•foundations, framing, materials, details, codes and inspectors. There's plenty of excellent advice for would-be owner/builders and appropriate technologists, including well-timed words of caution about untested or expensive alternative energy hardware and trying to live in remote, unpeopled locations. With other good additions, like Studs Terkel on Working carpenters, George Abernathy on moving back to the city, and examples of urban homesteading and inner-city rehabs, Shelter II feels like the right place for potential homebuilders to ready themselves for building in the '8Os. - SA Fine Woodworking, bimonthly magazine, $12/yr. from: The Taunton Press 52 Church Hill Road Box 355 Newtown, CT 06470 The same high quality and craftsmanship that symbolize a master woodworker's art is reflected in the content and style of this magazine. If you have ever hung a door, constructed a joint or made furniture, you know there are a dozen tips to make the task easier. Fine Woodworking provides both the tips and the in-depth understanding that you rarely find in magazines and usually only learn through experience or from another woodworker. Articles with excellent photographs and illustrations cover a wide range of subjects from use and care of tools to the making of fine musical instruments and cabinets. The best of the first seven issues of the magazine are organized in the book Fine Woodworking Techniques (1978, 192 pp., $13.95 hard cover from Taunton Press). Highly recommended. -PC
February-March 1979 RAIN Page 3 RAIN access \ \ ''' \ ,;,,'\ \ ~ \ , , , ·-~ - ~' !'!!:,l,b;,_.~~ "It is Q.\So ~O..'\O.'-j -to ho.v~ holh it'\ 'jo1.w 5'"(.e..\ b~rrels.~ AGRICU-LTURE "How Durable is the Small Farm?", by Wade Greene, Country Journal, December.1978, $12/yr. from: Country Journal P.O. Box 1225 Brattleboro, VT 05301 The facto_rs that originally contributed to centralized agricultural production are changing. With the era of cheap energy over, economic signs point toward an increase in small-scale localized food producers. However, opposing this shift are powerful institutional • factors (e.g. federal and state tax laws, agricultural price-support systems and commercial loan policies), which are heavily oriented toward large-scale agriculture. Two trends appear to be emerging: farms which are smaller and more numerous at lower acreages, and larger and fewer at larger acreages. So it appears the small farm cannot only _ endure, but will experience a resurgence. Numerous statements and references to studies supporting this theory are included in the article. - PC RECYCLING A Guide to Running a Recycling Project, 1978, 29 pp., free from: Recycling Information Office Oregon Department of Environmental Quality 522 S.W. 5th P.O. Box 1760 Portland, OR 97207 When you read statistics on how the av~rage amount of refuse disposed of per·capita each day has increased from two1pounds in 1929 to almost 6 pounds .. by 1980 and is costing us $4. 5 billion a year in addition to tremendous environmental costs to air, water and land, it's enough to make you want to start a recycling project. Here is just the booklet to tell you how to do it. A Guide to Running a Recycling Project is directed to environmental clubs, scouts, church groups, schools, service dubs and individuals who wish to earn some extra cash and at the same time take some responsibility for their physical environment. It lays out all the technical aspects of implementing and running a recycling project, such as the markets, materials,·labor, publicity and legal requirements involved, as ~ell as case histories of recycling expenences. RAIN's office is at 2270 N.W. Irving, Portland, OR 97210. Ph: (503) 227-5110. RAIN STAFF: Phil Conti Steven Ames Linda Sawaya Lane deMoll Yale Lansky Tom Bender Nandie Szabo Copyright © 1979 RAIN Um~rella Inc. Contributing Editor,=Lee Johnson Typesetting: Irish Setter Printing: Times Litho This guide is more than just a variation on' the recycling theme. It is,a lively illustrated, well laid out, stepby-step, concise guide to running a recycling project. -NS I . S-oil maps, properly interpreted, can be a useful tool to the small farmer in understanding and managing the land on which he lives. Maps should be available at t1he nearest county office of the Soil Conservation Service-. If they are out of copies, contact your congressman. For the limitations, benefits and interpretation of a soil map, read Small Farmer's Journal, Fall 1978, p. 18, $10/yr. (P.O. Box 197, Junction City, OR 97448). -~C 2x4 - 12 ft _long 2x6 , 2x4 Ht:n 1.oll('crnr de rad below - 314 in ply"~ d , l 74 I i Attach metal roof 10 2x4~ - ---{ :-1e-1n Solar kiln for drying small quantities of fore niture grade lumber from Fine Woodworking, Summer '77.
Page 4 RAIN February-March 1979 This important article excerpted from Whole Person Health Care, by Mark Tager a·nd Charl'l?s Jennings, was reprinted by permission. This recently.published book is available from Victoria House Publishers, 2218 N.E. 8th, Portland,·OR 97212, for $8.95. (See Rain review December 1978.) - LS '11() X • Il1\Y f)ll Nf)'t1 .• '11() X ·Il1\Y ? by Mark Tager and Charles Jennings In light of recent findings on the adverse effects of low-level radiation exposure (see Health Activism, pages 281 ff.), the medical, dental and chiropractic use of X-rays is coming under increasing scrutiny. Helen Caldicott, M.D., of Australia, an internationally known authority on the medical effects of low-level radiation, now claims that there is no safe level of exposure to radiation. We are deeply impressed with her work. It ha9. long been established that even low levels of radiation (for sustained periods) can produce mutations in plants and animals by bringing about changes .in chromosomes. There is every reason to conclude that these genetic changes occur in humans also. Children of American radiologists have been found to suffer genetic defects well above the statistical norm, and the tragic effects of radiation on the children of survivors. IONIZING RADIATION- I .llilN .SULruR•J' ""·"':1' ID{1fi}J~"~"-' ..,.alla,cka:tby:att~ .. ""1-, ~;~u7o~i..~"~~ known tD a,nu.ntnnr u, l.,_; ~ads Tlw rad.llon ll nnil, 0111 r--<t bu-tticidrrb MldftatU /Ind n,u· ~.,.. t+.t- firwt- _y,11Crn1to11 ftY'or~Nldor,i1cus,"" .5""""-. loDJ;!:.:~~i,l':,,J U>Jl/,L, -61' .,._ .. ',,,. KllVPTON - ~S _,. .. .,. "'.'f"' ltln11LNlllM · '°' .,.. . . •:r· z111c· •.J .,-..- .t,t.r~t' .8.4RlllM ·110 ~;;I~~~• .,--. ""' CDn \M · 1J1 ,..... , .,t'fr'l l'UfiOIOUM ·239 ~ . H ... _y,. Q».MJ"U.t, AiL)Alk J ffOlr W11CLU.II. r,-, ~ 4 0 • IDNf.YS R.lllllL!<IUM· 106 .,......,..,. ,.,,. Clamshell Alliance Poster of Nagasaki .and Hiroshima are well known. Perhaps the most •disturbing aspect.of the radiation problem is that there appears to be no exposure level below which health and genetic effects are entirely absent. While alL the evidence regarding the diagnostic use of Xrays '(a form of radiation) is not yet in, there have been enough scientific correlations drawn between X-rays and cancer to lead us to believe that they are indeed dangerous. Unfortunately, there are times when not allowing your physician to take X-rays of your condition may be even more dangerous. The only prudent course open to us at this time is to assume that there is no su'ch thing as a safe 'X-ray, and try to evaluate when the acknowledged risk of X-ray exposure will be worth taking. To x.ray, or not to X-ray? The decision of whether to use X-rays in dia'gnostic procedures is too important to be left to the doctor alone. Doctors are as human as the rest .of us, and not every decision is made from an enlightened health perspective. Some doctors make ' use of X-rays when the waiting room starts tp fill up ("Why don't you send the kid with the knee pain to X-ray first?"), others use them to enrich their personal store of medical and . anatomical knowledge, and still others make extensive use of X-rays to a~sure that their own posteriors are well protected from the boot of malpractice. You may not want to expose your organic1 molecules to the threat of radiation for these reasons. Yet obviously there are many other reasons for taking X-rays which may be well justified. In a general sens.e, the most valid X-ray is one which will affect the course .of treatment by providing information which cannot be obtained in any other manner. And so a final determination of whether or not to take an X-ray in any specific instance must foc;us on - the medical treatment which follows the X-ray. This, we believe, is the central issue in the diagnostic use of X-rays. What kind of treatment is being considered? Will st1ch treatment vitally affect your life and function, or is it designed to correct a minor annoyance or pain? In other words, will the treatment which results from the X-rays ·save or prolong your life, or have a direct bearing on your ability to function as a human being? If it arrests a malignancy, heals a duodenal ulcer, mends a fractured bone, or permits a dentist to eliminate a painful throbbing toothache, the answer is yes. If the treatment is related to a S<'-'.,lf-limiting condition- a short-term injury which will heal itself, or a short-term disease with no lasting consequences-the answer is no. In order to help you come to an understanding with your doctor concerning the use of X-rays, we h?,ve prepared a list of X-ray guidelines which refer to specific types of diagnostic X-rays. This list is in no way intended to replace your physician in the X-ray decision-making process. Admittedly, our list is oversimplified. We offer it primarily to provide a frame of reference within which to discuss this whole question with your doctor. -.
X-ray Guidelines Skull X-rays. When head trauma results in unconsciousness, and physical findings (like unequal pupils, blood behind the eardrum, depressed bone fragment) suggest serious injury, skull X-rays are certainly appropria_te. In situations where there is no loss of consciousness, where head trauma has been minimal, and no physical findings present themselves, close observation may be substituted for an X-ray. Many emergency-room doctors will recommend X-rays on childrrn in this situation, but responsible monitoring of the child by the family must be considered a r_ealistic option. • Neck X-rays. Indirect trauma to the neck, as in whiplash, often results in taking numerous X-rays in the iegion of the neck. Ironically, these X-rays are often taken at the insistence of the 'patient, rather than the doctor; insurance claims and lawsuits, rather than any medical priority, are the reason. If you want to win your lawsuit, you may need the X0 ray. But if you are primarily concerned about your health, a good physical examination of the neck can often make X-rays unnecessary. Physical diagnosis of ne'ck problems; and corresponding treat7 ment utilizing massage, physiotherapy, and spinal adjustments, are1areas where chiropractic excels. If you can convince your • chiropractor to proceed without X-rays, chiropractic treatments can sometimes offer a radiationless alternative to medical procedure. X-rays of the neck are also commonly taken to diagnose arthritis; again, the salient question is, will the results of the X-ray alter treatment-of the condition, whether or not the condition is officially labeled arthritis. Chest X-rays. We do not believe that chest X-rays should be used ·for routine screening for TB or other chest disorders in asymptomatic individuals. Yet in cases of chest trauma, shortn~ss of breath, c;hest infections accompanied by chills and fever, and situations where the active presence of cancer or TB is expected, they are necessary. Cardiovascular X-rays. This.is one area where routine physical examination offers insufficient data upon which to base a diagnosis. There are a number of heart conditions which can- ' not be treated w_ithout the information provided by an X-ray. Congestive heart failure, valvular lesions, and con.genital heart problems are examples of such conditions. In cases of heart failure, chest X-rays may be necessary to monitor clini~al , progress, and a series is usually taken over a period of time. Arteriograms, in which dye is injected into the arteries and an X-ray taken to determine the condition of the blood ves- • sels, is becoming an increasingly popular proced~re. These should not be done simply for a "look-see_," but limited to_ . cases in which the patient is a bona fide surgical candidate, and where the surgery itself offers a realistic-hope of improvement. In general, because of the serious nature of cardiovascular disease, card-iovascular X-rays are an important part of a successful diagnostic and tre<ltment program. Upper gastrointestinal X-roiys. These are often necessary to confirm the presence of an ulcer, and to distinguish between a gastric and duodenal ulcer, as the two have distinctly different treatments. Also, in the case of gastric ulcers, X-rays are needed to rule out the possibility of cancer. As we have mentioned earlier in this section, your ability to communicate and carry on a meaningful relationship with your doctor is a very important part of receiving good health care. This matter of ~-rays is an excellent case in point. The doctor's needs in this area must be balanced against your own, and this can happen only when the doors of genuine communication are open. Generally ·speaking, a good,doctor February-March 1979 RAIN Page 5 Lower gastrointestinal exams. This procedure involves the use of barium enemas to obtain information about the condition of the rectum and lower intestine. The most valid indication for their use is bleeding from the lower intestinal tract which cannot be identified by sigmoidoscopy. The vast majority of serious rectal conditions are within the reach of the examining finger and the sigmoidoscope. X-rays may also be used in select cases of colitis when it is medically important to determine the extent of involvement. Kidney X-rays. Generally, this is an area where X-rays are used appropriately. Often they are performed when bleeding from the urogenital tract cannot be accounted for by the presence of infec.tion and rouses suspicion of cancer or chronic kidney disease. RecurrerH episo~es of kidney and bladder infections in both adults and children also call for X-ray diagnosis. Rare cases of hypertension may be caused by abnormalities of the kidney which can be disclosed through X-ray. Extremities. X-rays are indicated whenever physical examina- . tio~ points to the possi,bility of a fracture. X-rays of the extremities are probably the least ris¼y, and the degree to which they aid the doctor in the job of setting the bone is considerable. Additional X-rays can be expected and justified when fractures are not healing.properly, or when a functional deformity is present. In cases where _lingering bone muscle or joint pain does not respond to conservative treatment over time, an X-ray would be indicated. Arthrograms (dye injection 'of the joints) may be helpful to the operating surgeon after the decision to operate has been made. Rarely should these findings alone be used to determine the course of treatment. Dental. We cannot recommend routine use of X_-rays for dental check-ups. A-good diet_and proper care of the teeth _ and mouth can make such X-rays unnecessary to begin with. Furthermore, a skillful dentist should be able to look, pick, and diagnose most dental problems without resorting to • X-rays. In certain instances, a spot film of a specific problem area may help guide your dentist's hand. Above all, however, be wary of a fulf mouth series "just to be safe." Chiropractic. This is a difficult area to evaluate, since many chiropractors feel that X-rays are vital to their prac'tice. Some of the most skilled chiropractors make little use of X-rays, trusting instead in their hands and po~ers of observation for diagnosis. The individual consumer of chiropractic care has two op~ionr (1) search out a chiropractor who is willing to work without X-rays, and (2) evaluate the need for X-rays as a part of benefic,ial treatment, focusing on the question of whether the treatment offers sufficient improvement in life and function to warrant the risk. Our general feeling on this matter is that chiropractic would do well to reduce greatly its reliance on X-rays. Retakes. Any o~ the above X-rays may pave to be repeated in order to get the desired results. To err is human, but it's your health that the technician is erring with. If you suspect that you have an inexperienced technician at the controls, demand to see his or her superior to discuss the situation. The X-ray ·room is n~ place for on-the-job t;raining- at least when a human body is on the X-ray table. will use fewer X-rays than a poor one. The more skilled the doctor is in the whole art of diagnosis, including the physical diagnostic skills of looking, touching, and listening, the less he or she will nave to rely on X-rays to "get the picture." When a good doctor meets an activated patient, X-rays can be placed in the proper perspective.
Page 6 RAIN February-March 1979 GOODTHINGS Older Women's Network 3502 Coyote Creek Road - Wolf Creek, OR 97497 • Newsletter available, supported by donations Wonderful Older Women 1014 S. 47th St. Philadelphia, PA 19143 The energy and honesty of these two groups of ~omen turns me on. Older Women's Network (OWN) is a couhtry ·collective in Southern Oregon.which puts out a newsletter filled with warmth and caring. In past workshops they have constructed a solar greenhouse, •taught country survival skill,s and held support rap sessions. In contrast to the rural setting of OWN is Wonderful Older Women (WOW), an urban collective associated with the Movement for a New Society (4722 Baltimore Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19143). They offer workshops, perform street theater and write songs. - PC ,, Jean Rose's Kitchen Cosmetics: Using Herbs and Eatables in Natural Cosmetics, 128 pp., $3.95 from: Panjandrum/Aris Books 99 Sanchez Street San Francisco, CA 94114 •The word cosmetics, from the Greek root Kosmetiko, really means the art of beautifying the body. Commercial-cosmetics have a tendency to deal with external applications alone, where Jean Rose's Kitchen Cosmetics is concerned with gradual and long-lasting effects which harmonize and bring a balance to skin functions. Her cosmetics recipes, many that work from the inside to the outside, are devised to keep you not only looking but feeling healthy and 'attractive from head to toe. Rose spices her simple recipes with herbal lore and witty epigrams. Based on common kitchen and garden ingredients, from yogurt to strawberries, it 1also offers generai'hints on the~gathering and preparation of fresh plants for cosmetic application. Here is a book which should be kept on the kitchen shelf next to your favorite cookbook and used just as m_uch. -NS from Indian Artists 1;1t Work Indian Artists at Work, Ulli Steltzer, 1978, 163 pp., $8.95 softcover, from: University of Washington Press Seattle, WA 98105 One of Rain's favorite books, from which we have drawn both a cover photo and a photograph for Stepping Stones, Ulli Steltzer's perceptive dqcumentary of the Native craftspeople of British Columbia is now available in softcover at a lower price. Over 200 penetrating photographs and short texts come together to remind us that "the only way ·tradition can be carried · on is to keep inventing new things." -SA Herb andAilment Cross Reference Chart, $6.00 plus $1.00 postage from: United Communications Box 320 Woodmere, NY 11598 , If you are not intimidated.by fine print and take the time.to read the simple instructions as to how to use the chart this 30"x40" hand-drawn pen and ink' labor of love can be an invaluable guide to any of you interested in the medicinal application of herbs. v This chart is thoroughly cross-referenced with just about every herb book I own or would like to own, from Jethro Kloss' Back to Eden to Cu/pepper's Herbal and V. J. Vogel's American Indian Medicine, to mention a few. Just in case you don't have six hands and 30 fingers to assist in the crossreference process, a yardstick type strip containing the ailments comes with the .poster, making it easier to correspond ailment to herb. Uses, minerals, symbols, vitamins, properties and definitions are all found in this visual encyclopedia of herbal lore . . . and coloring it in makes it that much more useful. - NS FOOD A Guide for Action on Food and Hunger in the School and Community, John Ripton and Susan Hall, 1977, 50 pp., $1 from: WHY Box 1975 Garden City, NY 115 30 Looks like a good guide to _get teachers and students involved with the issues surrounding food in their community. Suggested classroom and community activities are intertwined to examine food production, ma-rketing and advertising, nutriton, hunger and community gardens. Anyone using the pamphlet also might want to consider the subjects of recyclable containers and compost operations to complete the cycle. Resource list of films, books and groups included. This booklet is for doers. - PC
LAND Are the Rockies Too Big to Worry About? Peter Berg & Linn West, editors, Seven Piece Portfolio, $3.00 from: Planet Drum Foundation Box 31251 San Francisco, CA 94131 Planet Drur:n's new "bundle" 6f materials is a wholistic exercise in bior·egional consciousness, focused on the backbone of North America, the Rockies. Its foldouts, maps and flyers will expand your perspectives on their geological time, a hydrologic system that affects an entire continent and every ocean surrounding it, the seasons that can be measured in the cycles of wild animals and wild flowers, mountain poetry and interspecies regard. Here are new glimpses of a bioregion almost too great to comprehend. You can threaten it with the destruction of unplanned and irresponsible demands, or you can seek to live here rooted in the soils and in touch with its integrity and power. Knowing the whole helps you make the right choice. -SA A Research Report on Developing a Community Level Natural Resource Inventory System, Deborah Barlow, George Burrill, J~m~s Nolfi, 1978, 49 pp., $3.00 from: Center for Studies in Food SelfSufficiency Vermont Inst. of Community Involvement 90 Main St. Burlington, VT 05401 Observing that most methodologies used for comprehensive rural planning efforts are misplaced urban planning techniques, the Center for Studies in Food SelfSufficiency in Vermont set out.to de- · velop a planning tool designed specifically for rural areas. What they came up with was a computer-based resource inventory system which overlaps and stores mapped information, prints maps of any individual category or combination, and determines total acreage of any category or combination. Named SEURAT, after French Pointillist Georges Seurat, their system has be·en . used in pilot studies 'in both Brattleboro and Middlebury to assess planning questions concerning available agricultural land and waste disposal alternatives as February-March 1979 RAIN Page 7 II MEDICINE WI--IEE.L" - H;</h., ,·,, .,. ~ ,1\1Jn f 1lll!') f) N ,,,.,,,Q .... ",ci• • IJ-70 • \ ) 8700 fed, ..JUSt abnve t,mberline. on a. fla.t -lopped 5houlder of Medicine Mounfo.,n, o.. 74- Ro fee.t d,amde.r c,·rcle oF while or c.re,o.t11-colore.d 111,iestone slabs. , from Are the Rockies Too Big a factor in land development. Their Research Report is an overview of this process. We'll be.eager to learn how the~e efforts affect their long-range goal of developing a.self-sufficient, diversified-agritultural economy in Vermont. -SA BALANCE OF THE GARDEN, RHYTHM OF THE LAND The Ocean·in the Sand, Japan: From Landscape to Garden, Mark Holborn, 1978, 104 pp., $6.95 softcover from: Such intuitive knowledge of nature seems to stand in stark contrast to the devastated, polluted landscape of much of modern Japan. Yet Japan, says Holbrook, like its gardens, contains a world within a world. And within, there remains Shambhala Publications, Inc. 1123 Spruce St. Boulder, CO 80302 While the formal gardens of the West reflect a linear worldview that seeks to impose order on nature: the gardens of Japan reflect its historical identity with the flow of nature, and the inherent harmony of natural form. The Ocean in the Sand, Mark Holbrook's deft exploration of the relationship b.etween culture,and nature, traces the traditions which have infused Japanese gardens with a natural mythology that persists today, despite the country's transfiguration into an industrial superpower. Shinto, Geomancy (the sacred science of land surveyance), and especially Zen have all contributed to the garden's heritage as a vehicle of balance in a land of contradictions. Perhaps most artful has been the Japanese mastety for creating illusions of space in small garden enclosures, and to use that space to produce either a sense of transience-or a sense of focus. The z'en-influenced Garden of Stones at the Temple of Ryoanji outside Kyoto gives us more insight into that mastery. • Here, five groups of iarge, moss-ringed stones are arranged . simply in a bed of coarse s'and. "Within the space of the garden, framed by the wall, images are compressed that extend from a view of the !andscape that is cosmic, to a pinpoint focus on matter which is IT?-icrosrnpic. You can refer immediately -to·the native landscape that is reflected-the rocks stand like rugged islands in the waves of an ocean, an image so - familiar after the native coastline; or they rise with the thrusting volcanic rhythm of the mountains, the sand swirling around their base like a cloud lingering on the lower ·slopes ... " a spirit close to the pulse of nature. The garden is a key to that source. -SA from The Ocean in the Sand
Page 8 RAIN February-March 1979 COMMUNITY Municipal Fire Insurance, $2 from: Institute for Local Self-Government Claremont Hotel Building Berkeley, CA 94705. There's little incentive for a community to fund and work for better fire prevention and suppression when the benefits. never return to the community in lower insurance rates. The city of Mountain View, California, tried it and found its property owners paying out $2.5 million in fire insurance premiums against.an average loss rate of $500,000. For every dollar of insurance payments, t~e companies were pocketing four dollars of excess premiums! One wise alternative is municipal fire insurancewhere the community insures as well as educates and prevents. and puts out fires-all from the same pocket. This • report details historical development of fire insurance, prevention and suppression along with the problems and benefits of combining them into a single self-balandng institution. One of a series of reports on pragmatic specific alternatives to tradifional local public • safety services. Write for pubhcations list. -TB Organizing Production Cooperatives: A Strategy for Community Economic Development, Alvarado-Greenw9od, • Haberfeld and Lee, 1978, 220 pp., $7.50 CDCs and co_mmunity organizations eligible for Legal Services Assistance, $15 all others from: National-Economic Development & Law Center 2150 Shattuck Avenue, Suite.300 Berkeley, CA 94704 Production coope{atives offer workers an ·opportunity to own and control their workplace. This type of co-op ca·n be used in many fields, from farming and produce distribution to manufacturing arid janitorial services. While members ca"n privately own their work units, such as truck, farm and boat, the co-op operates financially on a cooperative basis with organizational decisions made democratically. The structural and procedural features of a production co-op are described in this how-to manual with heavy emphasis on the financial and kgal aspects. People interested in implementing this idea might want to consider the Consumer Co-op Bank as a possible source of • financial assistance. It is a'uth orized to loan up to 10 percent.of its capitalization to producer co-ops. - PC lns.titute for Community Economics 639 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 0_2139 . 617/661-4661 • One of our readers recently wrote to us enquiring about The Community Land Trust: A Guide to a New Model for Land Tenure in America by Bob ' Swann, 1972, which was listed in 'Rainbook (p. 155), from International Independence.Institute, whose forwarding address has expired. Coming up very close in time to that request-as things cosmically do at Rain-is the connection and sourcf for that book. I hope that person reads this because we wrote to him/her about a week before this answer appeared: ' • The International Independence Inst. initiated the Community Land Trust concept in 1969 and has established the National C:LT Center to help spread the word. The Institute for_Community Economics seems to be an umbrella for the national CLT, along with Community Investment Fund, Inc., an alternative investment fund. "T' he Institute • is focused on creating alternative economic systems for decentralized community development. The, National CLT .Center has an excellent publications list including the CLT Guide, "Model Community Land Trust Corporation ByLaws," 26 pp., $2.00, and "Land TrtJsts as Part of a Three-fold Economic Strategy for Regional Integration" by Robt. Swann, 1973, 8 pp., $.80. Write to' thern for further information and publications list. - LS Co-op Bank Act Numerous articles have been written about the potential impact and possibilities of the recently passed National· Consumet Cooperative Bank Bill.(see The Neighborhood Works, October 13, 1978, $20/yr. individual and non-professional organization, 570 W. Randolph; Chicago, IL; The New Harbinger, Winter 1979, $8/yr., NASCO, Box 7293, Ann Arbor, MI 48107). A four-page report, The Co-op lj.ank: New Funds for Community Development, containing the legislative history and a sectionby-section summary of the Act, condensed from the Report of the Senate Committee on Banking, Hqusing and Urban Affairs, is available for $. 50 (bulk rates available) from: Conference on Alternative State and Local Public Policies 1901 Q St., N.W. Washington, DC 20009 - .PC Neighborhood Composting in New York City, Douglas Qaly and Elizabeth Christy, 1978, 36 pp., $.55 from: Council on the Environment of New York City 51 Chamhers St. Room 228 New York, NY 10007 A recent Gallup poll found 32 million American households (44 percent) raised some fruits and vegetables-$10 billion worth. With that.type of activity, can •composting be far behind? Neighborhood composting in New York City makes a lot of sense when you realize the city produces 10 million pounds of compostable organic waste a day and has more vacant open ~pace now than in 1900. The booklet is a good model to use in getting neighborhoods involved with recycling their compostable waste. The pamphlet includes secti<;rns on compost methods and structures (bin, • drums-appropriate for apartment buildings, schools, etc.), operation and a list of what ingredients to include and where to obtairi them. -PC Energy Forum Northwest 316 Lewis Hall DW-20 U. of Washington Seattle, WA 98195 206/543-0980 Energy Forum Northwest is a continuing education program that consists of a three-part project in community development: a community Energy Demonstration project assisting two Puget Sound communities to learn skills in use of small scale energy projection systems and conservation methods. They're putting together a community energy awareness exhibit and an Energy Resource Guide with a planning and organizing workbook for the Pacific Northwest. Anyone in this region who is involved in a community energy project can contact Gordon Thompson at Energy Forum to be included in the resource guide. The third part of the program is .a regional conservation workshop planned for Sept. 1979. It's so good to see a university project focus on neighborhoods and communities in . a relevant way. The success of this project seems to rely on the communities' involvement, so get in touch if you want to' see something good come of it. -LS ' •
Some exciting possibilities are in store.for the Tennessee Valley Authority region with Carter's appointment of David Freeman (former director of Ford Foundation's Energy Policy Project) as director and chairman of the TVA Board, and Fran Koster (former head of the U. of Massachusetts Energy Policy Office and founding member of new roots) as chief of TVA Solar Applications. Brian Crutchfield, former NCAT regio11:al outreach worker in North Carolina, is now also on board as an A.T. specialist for,the TVA Office ofTrib~tary Development, which is the smallest of TVA's three offices. The Office of Engineering and Design has 2000 ·employees, and the Office of Power (47,000 employees) includes the Division of Conservation, under which exists the Solar Applications Dept. There you have the rough structure of this mammoth agency, which generates and distributes electric power in six Febrl,\ary-March 1979 RAIN Page 9 A pilot program of the Solar Applications Dept. that Travis Price (technical consultant on 5 i 9 East 11th St. in New York) consulted on, called the "Memphis Solar 1000" program, has been underway since September 1, 1978'. 1000 homes were to have solar hot water systems installed for $12/ month, and $1 maintenance, in the city of Memphis. With people who are supportive of appropriate technologies in key positions at TVA, the momentum and positive energy is picking up. A coalition of regional gr.oups has formed to encourage and provide grassroots input and networking, citizen advocacy and a newsletter. If you live in the TVA region or know of apyone who does and wants to plug in, this is• a good time to do it.,The following groups are forming a coalition to put together a publication: contact Joe Hultquist of Tennessee Solar Energy Assn. for further information. states. Tennessee Valley Coalition --------- Appalachian Science in the Public Interest Alabama Solar Energy Assn. P.O. Box 612 • U. of Alabama Corbin, KY 40701 Huntsville, AL 35807 606/523-0918 205/895-6361 Al Fritsch, exec. dir. SW Virginia . Coalition of Appalachian Energy Conservers P.O. Box 275 Castlewood, VA 24224 703/762-5408 Richard Austin Mississippi Solar Coalition 887 Briarwood Drive Jackson, MS 39211 Fran Koster-Solar Applications TVA-426 United Bank Bldg. Chattanooga, TN 37401 (615) 755-3587 FLASH! TVA's solar division is looki~g for 7 people now to fill technical and managerial positions. Contact their staff recruitment at the Solar Applica-rions address above for more information. Gerald R. Guinn Long Branch Environmental Education Center Rt. 2, Box 132 Big Sandy Mush Leicester, NC 28748 704/683-3663 Paul Gallimore Tennessee Solar EnergY"Assn.' P.O. Box 127 • Kodak, T,N 37764 Joe Hultquist (Thanks to Joe Hultquist for this information.) Brian Crutchfield Office of Tributary Area Development TVA-124 Evans Building Knoxville, TN 3790 l • (615) 632-2494 Southern Unity Network-Renewable Energy Project (SUNREP) 3110 Maple Dr., N.E., Suite 412 Atlanta, GA 30307 Information clearinghouse and fund finding assistance in A.T. projects in the Southeast U.S., organized by Merle Lefkoff, of Georgia Conservancy and SAVE, Ron Mitchell, bottle bill lobbyist, and Len Levine, community organizer in Atlanta. (From Self-R eliance) Tennessee Energy Authority Suite 707, Capitol Blvd. Bldg. Nashville, TN 3721'9 This agency is beginning a ride sharing program in Nashville via buses, van pools and carpools. Check wi.th them about this and other programs (from People and Energy).
Page 10 R~IN February-March 1979 RUSH A week long training seminar on rural organizing will ~e conducted by The Institute, March 4_-9, in Little Rock, Arkansas. This-hands-on seminar will deal with specific challenges of rural organizing, including: building, mobilization and maintaining groups, communication and media skills, and de- . ve-loping an organizational·agenda. En-• rollment is limited to provide each • participant with maximum individual attention. Contact: Lina Newhouser, The Institute, 523 W. 15th St., Little Rock, AR 72202," 501/276-2615. The New School for Democratic Management presents Community·Business Training-Northwest Session, Feb. 25 to March 2, 1979, in Portland, Oregon. Courses include Finandal Management, The American Economy Today, CoJI1munity Economic Development Strategies, etc. The courses .are designed for , people involved with women's enter- , prises, food and housing co-ops, appropriate technology producers, etc. Tuition is $60/course and scholarships are available. Contact: New School for Demo- • cratic Management, 589 Howard St., San Francisco, CA 94105, 415/543-, - 7973. In Portland, call 503/224-7541. In March, 1979, the University of California Energy Extension Service is sponsoring 3 programs on practical energy conservation applications to be held at the University of California, Davis, campus. The programs are: Energy and Landsc~pe Architecture, March 3-4,· The Water Pumping Windmill, March 12-16, and Gasification Update, March 3 I-April 1. Contact: Patricia C. Erigero, University Extension, Univ'ersity of California, Davis, CA 95616, or call 9161752-3_090. The Phoenix-Next Earth-Art Center, a non-profit educational cooperative whose purpose is to provide a climate which will foster creative and ecolo,gical solutions to societal problems, is conducting a number of weekend workshops in South Acworth,.NH. They are: Psychodrama, Feb. 9-11 ; Animal Vege- . table and Minerals-how they relate to healing and .other aspects of human nature, Feb. 23-25; Community Education, March 9-11; Be.a Clown, Be a Clown, Be a Clown! March 23-25. The fee for a full weekend (including meals) is $3 5 (resident), $30 (non-resident). For more information, contact Phoenix-Nest Earth-Art Center, South Acworth, NH 03607, 603/83 5-6902. The Bicycle Network wili hold its annual gathering in New York City, Feb. 17-18, to share idef!S and strategies for increasing bicycle usage in the U.S. Contact: Greater Philadelphia Bicycle 'coalition, P.O. Box 8194, Philadelphia, PA 19101, 215/726-8794. The "(.Jnivefsity of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown: will host the 1979 National Conference of the Solar Energy Society of Canada, Inc:, August 18-21. The the,me ·of the conference is "Solar Energy: Bringing i(down to .Earth." This theme, stressing practical application of current renewable energy, will be reflected both in the two-day public program and the technical sessions. Conference organizers are soliciting technical papers on ·all aspects of renewable energy. For more information contact: Ma'rtha Musgrove Pratt, P. 0. Box 2932, Charlottetown, PEI, CIA 8C5, Canada. i ~.· ,~ I ~ ·. ,.1/£ . ... . . . •: A natural farmers' meeting will l;>e held in Columbus, Ohio, March 4, to discuss methods, marketing possibilities, and a communication network for people farming without petrochemicals. For more information,·contact Kathleen Cusick, 513/683-948'3, at the Rural Resource~, R.R. 1, Box·11, Loveland, OH 45140. The 5th Annual Minnesota Ene!gy Conference is planned for Feb. 22-23 in Minneapolis. Two days of intensive lectures, case histories, and practical how-to-do-it workshops. c·ontact: Minnesota Energy Copference, 414 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis, MN 55401, 612/3 30-5696. The Fairbanks Environmental Center . in Fairbanks, Alaska, is looking for an 'Executive Director. This person.would be responsible for implementing the dec;isions of the Executive Board, organizing grass roots support, giving public presentations on many conserv.ation issues, and many other tasks. Salary is $BOO/month an'd some assistance in moving. Interested persons should send a resume and 3 references to: Search Committee, Fairbanks Environmental Center, 431 Skese Highway, Fairbanks, AK 99701, 907/452-5021. The Farallones Rural Center is looking for a new director. Person must be committed to principals of right livelihood and voluntary simplicity, skilled at (and experienced in) administration (including fund raising) and program develop111ent, and interested in educati9nal and community processes. Sfnd resume and comments to Alison Dykstra, The Rural Center, 15290 Coleman Valley Road, Occidental, CA 95465. The Farallones Rural Center is also looking for a builder/teacher to coordinate an 8-week hands-on workshop focused around the construction of a solar facility. Opportunity to live at , ' Farallones and share·in the benefits of living in a sti~ulating community and educational center from late May through July or early August. Contact Alison Dykstra at the above address. A few people_are in, the process of starting a collectively run, non-profit, natural foods restaurant/coffee house/ community center in Binghamton, NY, and are looking for people to help them start this dynamic new business. Co'J'Jtact: People's Power Plant, 43 South Wasqington St., Binghamton, NY 13903. A Symposium on Geothermal Energy and its Direct Uses in the Eastern United States will be held on April 5-7, 1979,, at the Homestead in Hot Springs, VA. The program will provide a basic background on geothermics, as well as present testimony from 5 (or more) people who are currently using geothermal energy in their businesses. Topics for discussion include: Exploration and Drilling Methods, Heating and Air Conditioning with Geothermal Energy, etc. Contact: Geothermal Resources Council, P.O. Box 98, Davis, CA 95616.
February-March 1979 RAIN Page 11 Tools for the small Farm by Phil Conti I In the past several decades, agricultural research and development has focused on the demands of the large, chemicaldependent, capital-intensive, mechanized farm. Development of technology appropriate for the scale of the small family farm has been overlooked. Because of this small family farms have become increasingly "uneconomic" Now, however, there are signs that this may be changing. Gene and Steve Talbot, an innovative father and son team operating a ten-acre organic farm in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, have developed an integrated system of diversified row crop production. Central to the operation is a transplanting machine. The transplanter works by using prefertilized water under pressure to drill a muddy hole into the cultivated beds. The seedlings are then hand set. By providing moisture immediately, there is significant reduction in the shock and mortality rate associated with transplanting, plus there is minimum interruption of plant growth. The usual row crops of lettuce, onions, tomatoes, corn, broccoli, squash, cucumbers, etc. can be planted with this system. An article in the Fall '78 issue of Tilth, a Northwest agricultural journal, tells of successfully transplanting celery last July during a week of 90 degree daytime temperatures. The methods employed by the Talbots at Windfall Farm provide a model that could change the economics of small scale farming. The system consists of four main elements: a solar greenhouse, specially designed transplanting trays, permanent beds, and the transplanting machine. • Solar greenhouse- 16'x96' contains over 80,000 seedlings in transplanting flats supported by 55-gallon drums. The drums act as a thermal storage mass and reduce any radical fluctuations in temperature. The Talbots are currently experimenting with dried molasses as a component of their soil mix. The results have been positive, with an increase in both the micro-organism population and resistance to aphids. Steve Talbot uses the pushcart transplanter on Windfell Farm. • Speedling transplanting trays-produce a seedling root base with tapered sides in the shape of an inverted pyramid. Seedling production costs currently run 1¢/plant, including labor, heat, soil mix and depreciation on trays and greenhouse. Transplanting allows intensive use of the land. Four crops of lettuce can be harvested in the usual three crop season (180 days). • Permanent beds-five feet wide, prevent compaction of soil and allow continuous building of organic material. • Transplanting machine-available in three sizes: a hand held sprayer which hooks to a garden hose or backpack has three nozzles; a push cart which supports a twelve-gallon pressurized water tank has eight nozzles, drills 1000 holes/ hour/nozzle, approximate cost $600; a trailer pulled by a tractor holds a thirty-gallon tank and three workers to plant seedlings, six nozzles, drills 2000 holes/hour/nozzle, approximate cost $6,500. Intensive use of the land and successful production transplanting do not have to be restricted to farm use. This highyield crop system can be applied in more densely populated areas. For the suburban or urban gardeners who do their gardening after work or on weekends, time is an important factor. Cooperative use of adjacent backyards and common ownership of a cultivator, transplanter and greenhouse could produce abundant crops at low cost and within the available time limitations. The same cooperative approach could also be taken by community garden members and neighborhood associations. For a more in-depth evaluation of the push cart model, marketed as the Jetmaster, read Tilth, Fall '78, "Evaluation of the Jetmaster" (subscription $5/yr., Rt. 2, Box 190-A, Arlington, WA 98223). For more information on the transplanting system, contact the Talbots at: Windfell Farm P.O. Box 172 Banks, OR 97106 Right: Diagram - "~nzzle drilling hole and seedling with specially tapered root base being set.
Page 12 RAIN . February-March 1979 It's important for those of us pushing the economies ofselfreliance to understand how we interface with the larger system and to know which public policies will truly help in our work. As Hazel Henderson, futurist and author of Creating Alternative Futures: The End of Economics (Rain, April '78) notes here, the historical management tools known as Keynesianism can no longer effectively control the nation's larger economy without huge inequities and chronic inflation. Yet economists have still not learned to account for the power of once and future non-monetary economies to support and even replace those expensive habits we cannot afford. It's time to put our good work up front and make it known that we are a societal force worth investing in. - SA Despite the latest OPEC price increase, it is useless to make scapegoats of the Arabs. They deserve credit for the thankless job of teaching Americans some of the global realities of the declining Age of Petroleum. New oilfields, whether in Mexico or China, do not belong to us. We must pay for our oil imports. This year we will pay $4 billion more, with the usual effects of worsening our balance-of-payments deficit and depressing the dollar while increasing domestic inflation. This, in turn, further depresses the dollar, and the cycle begins anew, as OPEC says it must raise prices again to correct for the fallen value of our dollar payments. The remedy involves correcting a long-standing conceptual error propagated by economists long before Keynes: the equating of our society's total socioeconomic productivity with that portion of it based on competitive, market-based cash transactions and the flows of money they generatemeasured as the Gross National Product (GNP). Economists only plot this "formal," "official" economy of market-based production of goods, commodities and services and the jobs they provide in the private sector, along with the taxes, jobs, services, subsidies and transfer payments that make up the public sector. But we are so used to this "money veil" (as economists admit) and its statistical illusions that we forget that alongside this "official" economy there is and always has been a shadowy, "unofficial" or "informal" economy. It is based on our traditional heritage of cooperation, reciprocity, barter and use-valued (rather than market-valued) productive activities. It includes home remodelling and fix-ups, mechanical repairs, home workshop and craft production, furniture refinishing, food growing and canning and all the vital community-based voluntary and unpaid household production (including parenting children, caring for the old and sick, ameliorating the stresses of the marketplace competitors and cleaning up the messes left by careless production and consumption.) Such socially indispensible work, though unpaid, has always provided the essential cooperative social framework which allowed the highly-rewarded competition of the marketplace to be "successful." This "informal" economy was estimated in 1969 as equivalent to some $300 billion annually (more than all the wages and salaries paid ·out by all the corporations in the U.S.) if it had been "monetized" and included in the GNP, according to Scott Burns in The Household Economy. As the GNP-measured "formal" economy declines, luckily this "informal" emerging Counter-Economy will continue its rapid growth, providing a safety-net for many and a bridge to a more balanced socioeconomy for the future. SEEING OUR ECONOMY WHOLE ... by Hazel Henderson The failure of Keynesianism can now be seen as our overreliance on the institutionalized, "formal," cash economy to provide for all our needs, goods, services and jobs. Instead, it is bogging down in debt and inflation. We are perilously dependent on the now-bankrupt economists' policy tools of centrally manipulating an abstraction called "total economic demand." A few simple levers are relied on: either continuing to print more money or administering the "old time religion" of arranging a recession by squeezing credit and hiking interest rates, or slashing the federal budget or de-regulating already high gas and oil prices. All of these policies are now inflationary. The old Keynesian tool-kit worked with much smaller rates of inflation back when we could expand the economic pie using cheap inputs of energy and resources, fuel our consumption with credit and provide larger slices to all the competing groups in society. Now these ineffective Keynesian band-aids are being peeled away to reveal underlying social conflicts about how to slice the now-stationary GNP-section of the pie. Some are intensified but familiar battles between special interests, as when older energy industries struggle to retain their subsidies in the face of newer upstarts, like the burgeoning solar energy industry. Others involve ominous new clashes that politicize credit, investment and debt: such as conflicts between city workers in Cleveland and New York and their bondholders and banks; labor and business arguing over wage/price guidelines; Wall Streeters fighting over capital availability and possible credit controls, over which investments are "productive" versus those that are "unproductive," or whether credit for homeowners must be squeezed as competing financial interests attempt to divert mortgage funds and force the housing sector to bear the brunt of recession. Similar crunches appear in the conflicting requirements between needed rates of saving, investment and consumption, where equally painful trade-offs will have to be negotiated. Yet we must avoid the "easy" route of allowing the poorest and most powerless groups to bear the brunt of stabilization efforts, through job layoffs and rationing by price. Politicians vied with each other at the last elections in offering voters phony tax cuts and escapism rather than helping us face the inevitable austerity period ahead as all industrial economies make the painful transition to less resourceintensive forms of production and consumption. Today we need to understand this transition and how the Soaring Sixties bogged down in the Stagflation Seventies. The Economizing Eighties will be a·period of belt-tightening and hard choices during which we can re-deploy our enormous assets and lay the groundwork for the sustained-yield productivity and renewable resource-based economies of the da, .1ing Solar Age
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