European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 2, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                A Ware or Sand taps a Sutton of Gratt where Dune Twete Putin in niger. Of mtg a Mung a who and of duo we of vie the threat of desertification by Mercer Cross National geographic that world see scrip troop  Ward gobbling enormous bites of food producing land each your and  consequences in the decade ahead unless awakened governments take decisive action soon Mohammed a f Kassas. An egyptian Plant co Loisl who s Tycon grappling with the Pohlem for decades uses Itani ing Siatis hcs 1o drive Home the Point natural deserts such As 1he african Sahara account Tor 33 percent of Trie Earth s land surface he says counting another 9 percent in manmade deem added Over the past so or 75 years the total reaches 43 percent. Only 1s coerce no of the world s land now produces Lood. Kassas says and in desertification continues Al its present Rale you can Eal up the 13 per cell within the next Hundred years. It s As bad As  moreover he continues the looming crisis belongs o at wealthy nations Wilh moderate climates As Well As poor and nations. The land pc Cullion Cole Prisc is one Olbie most vicious movements  says Kassas we Are All using some of the prime arable land to build  Many decision makers Are confused. Kassas says Over the Diller Cnoc Between  manmade ecological deterioration Al the resource  and do ugh n in current natural process in Low rainfall areas Erma Boseck to optimistic in the sense that desertification could to slopped because it s manmade and not natural he says. Whether it will be stopped he acknowledges is another question. Kassas a member of the egyptian parliament and a former botany professor at the University of Cairo was one o the International experts who participated in a we Klong Solen Livic symposium Earth 68 changing geographic perspectives sponsored by the National geographic society the symposium commemorated the society s Centennial year. United nations studios have concluded that it would Cost $4 5 billion a year Lor 20 years 190 billion to implement a plan of action to combat desertification worldwide Kun a adv ealm an Aid program paid for by the wealthier nations id provide a packet of action or integrated development of natural resources in countries mat need help. Between 1978 and 1985. He says he United Stales. Western Europe and Japan spent about $10 Biticon Loaid poorer countries threatened by desertification. But most of the Money went Mlo individual construction projects such As roads schools hospitals hotels and airports Kassas uses his own country As an example of land misuse. Egypt s Aswan High dam added about a million acres of and suitable Lor irrigation Melaad the land was taken Over by expanding a Flages and Industrial centers. One result was a net loss of precious arable land in one of the world s latest growing countries. Another result was beneficial. The land loss sensitized the egyptian government to the problem. A new Law string Nelly curbs building on cultivated land and promotes cons1ruc1ion of Urban centers in the desert As an example us effective policy Kassas cites the american response to the dust Bow of the 1930s when drought recurred in 1950, m caused Little disruption. The packet of policy government action technological innovation All this together helped make the system immune and More resilient and More capable he says. But he tears mat the Protection programs adopted in the 30s Are in disrepair so thai an american Doughl in the 90s could again be disastrous. I am anxious to get the u s experience documented and sold to the people before in s too late he says. Some thin in already May to too Lale Paul h. Ehrlich of Stanford University is even gloomier. He told the symposium that 35,000 ranchers through misuse of the land Are transforming into desert millions of acres strangeland in me Western United Stales in arid third world countries the problem la magnified by the poverty and Lack of political pc Wec among the masses most of tested by desertification. Power is concentrated in Urban centers. The key is political will and political action says Kassas. Get thai first and Thon everything a can follow. It s ill a technological prone. To s More   How difficult is it to turn trl key into tangible programs very difficult indeed says Kassas. There seems to be a Flap Cue a new Lino of dolls dial Kneel and clasp their hands in a gesture of prayer. My daughter s dolls did that 20 years ago. The moment she snatched them Oul of the bos. They fell to then Knees with tear in Ihetu eyes and mumbled something this was Long before dote had movable parts and microchips in their backs. Whatever my Wei saying obviously went unanswered As they were always found a Tew Days later lying naked under the bed with one cys punched out. Psychologists have always had afield Day with toys. Wat does it mean Nen a child throws big cd m Iha dryer won t Steep without a flame thrower a uses Only Black crayons to write on the Irving room Wajs a few years ago it was Teddy bears. Wiry did kids cling 10 a furry Mola animal Ohio Ghoul the teen age years ? a psychic Atnel said a Bear served As a trusted Friend Lor a Leen Agar passing through some difficult emotional bees Wilh her parents. It acts As a trusted Friend. Paric tarty for one struggling with feelings he said. Thorn s a need to an object that won t Lei them Down one that is total under their  another psychiatrist from Urcla said. Toys Loach c Hildren How to resale to each other and to the world. Some toys let Chetran at whom to real their aggression when they show rambo giving " to via a who Are depicted from the far East the Pray my Dob on the other hand Are considered by some groups to Tri Tatai Rekoon. Abo under the Micro Yoopa Are the Ramie Calora of having a Barbie Dol in the House a new York psychiatrist said a Barb Dol can be a Tot More anxiety producing than a cute Tilte asexual animal Tel me about in no one needs to hang on to a doll with a two Inch bust removable head that can be sent Oul to be shampooed n Pony Lai that secure Al Tho at from the face and neck and a wardrobe thai could teed a tamil of four Tor three months. It brings to the surface landings reserved Only Lor a husband s of get Rind i teamed Long Tome ago Rimer to gel too worked up about the Tarof Cha hour. The interest Span a Snorton. A Tew Yean ago the parents of America were Tun Tut Aton exec rorie Beksi had darned   dropped Fca Flea and things went beep in Tho riot. B of fight that has Binca dimmed. The taiga new dote angry see pm pedal Tia Tia Rev who padded act of North Dob. When he got thick with a a the targe unsold inventory he decided Tolar a North s head and put on Mikhal Gorbachev s to do enl pc an expert to Analyse that one Page 16 the stars and stripes saturday april 2,1988