European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 24, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 8 the stars and stripes . Sunday april 24,1994 beaches Dune Pensacola Fla. Apr if life is a each Florida is the liveliest state around says a geologist who put 12 of Testate s beaches on his annual top 20 list. Florida won the sweeps Stephe Leatherman of the University of Mary land said Friday. People in Hawaii Are going to be calling  for four years Leatherman has examined data collected by geologists nationwide on 650 Public beaches. His Cri Teria include Sand softness water and air temperature number of sunny Days currents smell pests trash and litter Access crowds and crime. Topping this year s list was Grayton Beach state recreation area 60 Miles East of Pensacola. Hawaii had four beaches on the  Only other state with More than one was new York with two. Grayton Beach ranks at or near the top in most of those categories. Grayton Beach is kind of the perfect each if there is one Leatherman a place in the Sun the top 20 on University of Maryland geologist Stephen Leatherman s 1994 Survey of Public beaches across the United states 1. Grayton Beach state recreation area 11grayton Beach Fla. 2. Kailua Hawaii. 12. 3. Ca Ladesi Island state Park Dunedin. Fla. 4. St. Andrews state recreation area 13, Panama City Beach Fla. 14. 5. St. Joseph Peninsula state Park 15. Port St. Joe Fla. 6. Kau Naoa Hawaii. 16. 7. Crandon Park Miami. 17. 8. Ulua Hawaii. 18. 9. St. George Island state Park i Apalachicola Fla. 19. 10. Fort Desoto state Park St. Petersburg Fla. 20. Delnor Wiggins pass state recreation area Naples Fla. Perdido key state recreation area Pensacola Fla. Hul Poe Hawaii. Ocracoke Island . Sand key Park Clearwater Fla. East Hampton Beach . Westhampton Beach . Clam pass Park Jacksonville Fla. Smathers Beach Florida keys. Coast guard Beach mass. Said from his office in College Park and Beautiful clean aquamarine my. It s a Well maintained state recce  National area has Good facilities for Visi what Grayton Beach does t have tors sugar White Sand a Lake nearby Are hotels High rises hot dog stands and crowds. Only 66,000 people visited the Park last year. Some beaches get that Many in a Day he said. The 1994 Survey returned to its Origi Nal rating criteria emphasizing nature Over development. The 1993 list was sponsored by a travel Magazine and therefore gave More weight to Ameni ties such As hotels and restaurants Leatherman said. He had no business sponsor this year. Leatherman said he fears that Resi dents of the Best beaches might try to use his Survey to boost development. I Tell them not to kill the Goose that Laid the Golden egg he  be got to keep development in balance Rith nature. Leatherman excludes past no. 1beaches from his surveys so there will be a new Winner every year. The Pas winners were Kapahua in Hawaii in 1991, Bahia Honda state recreation area in the Florida keys in 1992, and Hap Una in Hawaii in 1993. Official who let backed by judge " ". M1 Jackson miss. A the principal suspended for allowing prayer in school was wrongly disciplined and should be restored immediately to his position judge ruled Friday. Chancery judge Chet Dillard ruled that Bishop Knox did riot violate the Constitution or school regulations in allowing students to read prayers Over the intercom last fall. Of Knox should also receive his salary for the past four months the judge said. The Job at 900-student Wing Field High school pays up to $56,655 a year. Justice has finally been served said Knox s attorney Nate Kellum of the american family association Law Center. It should Send a very Clear message tothe school Board. That prayer should be allowed in the school  Knox 38, was out of state and could not be reached for comment. It was t immediately Clear when he would return to work. School spokeswoman Elayne Hayes Anthony said the District has not decided whether to Appeal. Students voted last fall to have prayers read Over the school intercom. The prayers were read nov. 9-11 but discontinued because of protests. Superintendent Ben Canada fired Knox on nov. 24for insubordination after attorneys for the Jackson school Board said Knox was told four different time snot to allow the prayers. School Legal staff had said that prayer Over the intercom was unconstitutional. In december the Board downgraded the punishment to suspension without pay until july 1. Knox has said that since the prayer was initiated handled by students he did t think it was a violation of a 1962 . Supreme court decision barring school sponsored religious activity. Dillard who heard arguments in the Case monday said the Board decision violated or. Knox s statutory and constitutional rights was arbitrary and capricious and was not supported by substantial evidence. Dillard quoted the Bible in his ruling and said the courts must discontinue trying to change society by jul  we have completely missed the main objective of the founding fathers of our country when we reach the Point where we construe our Constitution to allow Stu dents to have abortions yet forbid them to Pray in school Dillard wrote. The Mississippi legislature this year passed a Law Al lowing student initiated school prayer in the state be ginning july 1. I m glad he got his Job Back. I m glad it s Over for him student body president Kim fails said. Students will get pretty Rowdy next week  All stood up Lor him and thought what he did was  president Clinton shakes hands with some children after giving a speech about Earth Day at Meridian Hill Park i Washington d.c., on thursday. The Park had been plagued by crime and blight before volunteers cleaned it up. Report peddles biking walking Washington Opp in the Clinton administration Friday marked Earth Day with a commitment to promote bicycles and walking As regular Means of transportation transportation department report called for Steps to double the percentage of All biking and walking trips from 7.9 percent to 15.8 percent and to decrease injuries and fatalities among bicyclists and pedestrians by 10 percent. The full color Glossy 150-Page government funded report neither pledged new Money nor anticipated such a request from Congress but instead recommended that existing government activities such As safety pro Grams and construction projects include specific Atten Tion to bicyclists and pedestrians needs. A spokesman for rep. Martin Sabo d-minn., who initiated a congressional request for the report said advocates of no polluting transportation could use som of the Money that is already there and re evaluate it for the ways in which it is  spokesman Derek lick also said Sabo As chairman of Trie House budget committee planned to use the report s recommendations to incorporate such Priori ties into legislation concerning Highway appropriations and other related projects. This study gives us a Strong starting Point Sab said in a statement accompanying the report. An Esti mated 50 percent of americans live less than five mile from work. A Harris poll indicated that the number of Ameri cans commuting to work by bicycle could jump tenfold if Small improvements were made he said a spokesman for the Sierra club said the Environ mental organization welcomed the administration s at Tention to the matter but expressed scepticism about the report s Long Range value. Generally when it comes to cutting pollution fro transportation voluntary measures Don t Cut it said Ted Freeman of the Sierra club s global Eji Ergy an warming program. It s important that they Are recognizing with this re port that other modes of transportation Are important to promote but when push conies to shove on global warming we Are going to need to do something about the american automobile he said. Freeman said that As a first step president Clinto could enact a proposed regulation increasing from 27.5 Miles per gallon to 45 mpg the minimum average fuel efficiency rating required for automobile manufacturers