European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 21, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday August 21, 1990 the stars and stripes Page 7b.f. Skinner Dies at 86 Cambridge mass. Uple a . Skinner the behavioural psychologist whose controversial experiments with rats pigeons and babies a including his own infant daughter a attracted both Praise and loud criticism has died after a Long struggle with leukaemia. Lois Hunter a spokeswoman at mount Auburn Hospital said Skinner who was 86, died at 2 45 . Saturday from a complications of  a Secretary was by his Side aha his wife eve also was at the Hospital Hunter said. Skinners death at mount Auburn Hospital came just eight Days after he had received an award from the american psychological association and presented what he called a final defense of his controversial theories. Skinner spent the last years of his life trying to improve his image. A Many people regard me As some cold taskmaster who wants to manipulate everybody a the longtime Harvard University professor once said. A i have worked toward behaviour modification for the general welfare All my life. But now in a getting old Ana in a a Little concerned about my  r during a psychologists convention in Washington in August 1982, Skinner said aging men and women can Best Cope with their intellectual decline by relaxing the brain. He suggested giving up such hobbies As working complicated crossword puzzles and playing chess. Instead he recommended Reading mystery novels and watching situation comedies on television. At the psychologists convention in Anaheim calif., in 1983 Skinner blamed an inflexible school system for what he called a the shame of american  a i claim that the school system of arty Large american City could be so redesigned at Little or no additional Cost that students would come to school and apply themselves to their work with a minimum of coercion and learn to read with reasonable ease express themselves Well in speech and writing and solve a fair Range of mathematical problems a Skinner said. Skinners theories held that human behaviour is controlled by environment and that people act because of the a contingencies of reinforcement Quot that bring about More of one kind of behaviour and reduce another kind. His dream was that a person can control himself and the environment. A his principles of conditioning first applied to rats and pigeons arc now commonly used to help people k . Skinner Deal with problems such As phobias drug addiction and smoking. Besides his scientific experiments Skinner was a prolific author who wrote Short stories and poetry published Many books on psychology and compiled a set of lengthy memoirs. On aug. 10, Skinner was presented with a lifetime contribution citation from the american psychological association at the presentation ceremony Skinner delivered a retrospective on his theories and their future and told the gathering Quot pm very optimistic for certain kinds of psychology a the kind of behaviourism i practice. To attacking cognitive psychology. That a the usual  he aug cd that human behaviour is a byproduct of the environment that organisms Are capable of Little or no a free will Quot but rather react to rewards and punishments. In keeping with his behavioural theories Skinner Analysed his past and tried to make changes in his life through organization and management. He kept rigid personal habits that involved planning most of his Days. Bom in Susquehanna pa., on March 20, 1904, Skinner was the son of a striving lawyer whose family worked hard to better itself. His Mother was a strict woman who lived by the ten commandments and showed concern for proper behaviour. After graduating from Hamilton College in Clinton n.y., in 1926, Skinner received his . And  from Harvard in 1931. In 1936, he joined the psychology department at the University of Minnesota where he remained for nine years. During 1942-43, he conducted War research for american food giant general Mills inc. For two years before joining the Harvard faculty in 1947, he was chairman of the psychology department at Indiana University. Skinner started experimenting with rats Early in his career. During world War ii he took part in the air forces proposed a project pie con Quot that was designed to train pigeons to guide missiles. The project never got off the ground. A devoted family Man Skinner married eve Blue an English major at the University of Chicago in 1936. Their daughter Julie was bom in 1938, and another daughter Deborah arrived in 1944, a it was perhaps skinners experiments with Deborah a so called a baby Box Quot that brought the professor into the National spotlight. The Box was a crib sized climatically controlled living space with a Large picture window designed to simulate a natural environment for the child. The baby wearing Only a diaper remained in the Box most of the time but was handled at feedings and playtime. Skinner claimed the child was Happy healthy and Well adjusted. Skinners baby Box created a storm of controversy among parents across the country who considered it. Cold and heartless. The psychologist s plan to Market baby boxes under the name of heir conditioner ultimately fell through. Deborah went on to become a Well known artist in the United states and  of Iraq detainees Back Tough Bush stance Washington up a relatives of americans being detained in Iraq and Kuwait rejected iraqi president Saddam Hussein s overture to them sunday backing president Bush a get Tough stance. A it is getting worse Day by Day. He makes it impossible for the crisis to be solved through  Rao Muriuki Audi a Milwaukee foundry supers isor said. Saddam in a statement read by a spokesman told families of detained foreigners in Iraq and Kuwait that he Felt the same anguish he knew they were feeling and blamed the detentions on the Bush administration. �?o1 done to know what is going to happen a said Muriuki Audi 47, whose wife and 10-year-old daughter were on a British airways flight to India that was detained during a Stopover in Kuwait. The aug. 2 Stopover coincided with iraqis invasion of the Liny emirate. Iraq last week said it intended to place detained westerners at key economic and military Sites As a shield against attack from Western forces. Saddam said saturday that foreign nationals a including newborns a would suffer whatever deprivation of food native iraqis must endure because of the  embargo against Iraq. Mary Trundy of Brockton mass., whose twin brother is being detained in Kuwait said she supports Bush a decision to move . Troops to saudi Arabia saying a i feel we had no  a i feel that other nations should Send More troops in too so that its not just on the .,�?� she said. Quot i wish they could have got the americans out  Trundy a brother John Stevenson 43, who escaped from Iran the Day before the revolution broke out in that country in 1979, was caught in Kuwait when Iraq invaded she said. A a it a just like history repeating itself Quot she said. In Spring Texas near Houston Patricia Hale turned fit her television saturday the first time since her husband Edward was taken captive. The Oil worker was among 35 detainees who had been held at a Baghdad hotel but whose current whereabouts Are unknown. She said the news about iraqis intentions to use . Nationals As a shield and possibly to deny them food is the worst of the crisis. A and you know Quot Hale said a i think the hardest thing is that there a nothing 1 can really personally do. I feel so helpless. A i realized we would get to this Point where there would be the food problem. I thought about that a lot. I also thought they a eventually Start using these people openly a she said choking Back tears. Donnita coleus husband John is an Oil Field worker still in Kuwait. She Hung yellow ribbons and a . Flag outside her Odessa Texas Home. She also fears for her two sons army soldiers either headed toward or now in saudi Arabia. Her son in Law is an air Force reservist who expects to be called up for Active duty any Day. A you Stop and think about it a she said. A everybody Over there is nervous and tense. They re hot and thirsty. The tempers arc very Short. I worry that instead of deliberately going to War we will accidentally go. A a there a a game the kids used to Plav when i was a kid where you gel face to face with the other person Ana you stare at each other. The first person who blinked was the loser. A a that a the Point that we re at right now Quot Cole said a a in a just hoping that no one blinks because if they do i shudder to think what will  ones get Chance to Tell gis they miss them Chicago up1 a because a Small girl wanted to Tell her daddy she missed him hundreds of . Military men and women in saudi Arabia will get the Chance to hear messages from friends and family Back Home. The satellite music network based in Mokena in Chicago s South suburbs gave listeners an Opportunity Over the weekend to Call in and record a message or request a song Tor loved ones in the military. About 10 of those greetings were then played on the air each hour. Dean Richards operations manager of the network said tapes of the entire weekends broadcasts will be aired by the american forces radio and television service when a transmitter now under construction is set up in saudi Arabia. It started last Friday when the girl whose father is stationed in the Middle East called Richards during his program which is heard on More than 220 affiliates across the  she did no to know where her daddy was and she just wanted to say hello she loves him Ami please come Home a Richards said. A it was really  the network then decided to commit the whole weekend to taking messages and requests for the soldiers Quot its working out really Well a Richards said. A the phone lines Haven to stopped ringing since Friday morning. People Are just calling up with these really emotional messages and you can hear their voices  he said some of the messages have been from friends and family and others have come from people who just want the soldiers to know somebody is thinking about them. A probably the most requested song is god bless the .a.1 by fee Green Wood Quot Richards said. A a we re also getting a lot of requests for a right Here waiting by Richard Marx and a wind beneath my wings by Bette  the tapes of the weekend s programming will have to be edited before being broadcast to the troops to remove any anti Arab sentiment or troop locations he said. Most of the messages though did no to exactly contain military secrets. Quot you hear the wives and the children a Richards said. Quot you can realty Leel the emotion the