Arizona Daily Star from Tucson, Arizona • Page 1

Gardners' Column Page 3 Nick Nolte offers his opinion of working with Kate Hepburn; Cheryl Ladd's portrayal of Grace Kelly is discussed; Gary Coleman challenged by dramatic role; and Lucie Arnaz's TV career began on "Here's Lucy." Coleman Arnaz Vol. 144 No. 210 Tucson, Wednesday, July 3, 1985 East Edition o) in 1,1 1,1.1,11,111.,, ijiiiij im Mm The University of Arizona Environmental Research Lab, left, is experimenting with foods and irrigation, among other things. Hundreds of tilapia, or Santa Pedra fish, below, which are bred in just about every color of the rainbow, make good subjects for nutrition and genetics research at the lab, and tasty meals for local fish lovers afterward. 1 (lSl 00 ft -J' r- -D.

y-r 1 1 I Photos by Bruce McCldland, The Arizona Daily Star Short Trips Food is staff of life for Environmental Lab water is too costly or unavailable. Inside its greenhouses, the lab is growing more than 700 species of halophytic crops highly salt-tolerant plants that are irrigated with seawater or other highly saline water. The plants have the potential of being used in seed protein, vegetable oil and livestock feed, Stumpf said. "This may Well be a very economical alternative for a number of plant commodities," Stumpf said. "Scientists who visit our facility are amazed at our selection (of halophytes).

These could be used for everything from football field sod to ornamental grass and bushes." The lab is growing halophytes on seacoasts in Rocky Point, Sonora, and in the Middle East, and other large-scale experiments are planned, Stumpf said. The plants can be grown using even brackish water, Stumpf said. "Any fanner could turn his brackish water into a gold mine. These plants are amazingly resilient. All the seacoasts in the world have the potential to be turned into productive areas." In one greenhouse, lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, corn, cabbage, peas and soybeans are grown to demonstrate how controlled environments can be used in a desert.

Different irrigation systems hydroponic, aero-ponic, drip are used, but "one of the most important parts in the art of greenhouse growing is the nutrient solution used," Stumpf said. "We're checking to see if we can improve the yield with a little environmental control, then we'll see if it's cost-effective." Inside the Solar Oasis, the lab's research techniques energy conservation, controlled-environment agriculture and aquaculture all come together. The pavilion, which is a prototype outdoor facility, features solar collectors, evaporative cooling and all the indoor comforts, and has recently been used for jzz concerts and lectures. The lab has also developed a series of demonstration solar homes, in cooperation with government agencies. The homes mix modern techniques with traditional concepts to test "passive" cooling and heating systems through computer monitoring and analysis.

The lab offers free one-hour weekly tours of the 10-acre facility at the airport at 1:30 p.m. every Tuesday. To get to the lab, take Tucson Boulevard south from Valencia Road, past the hotels, then go north on the air freight road to the entrance. Reservations are required for groups of 10 or more. in which life could exist indefinitely without support from the outside world.

The lab also helped develop controlled environments and growing systems for the land pavilion at Walt Disney World's EPCOT Center (Experimental Prototype Community of Tommorow), where the future of agriculture is portrayed. The Environmental Research Laboratory was an outgrowth of solar energy research at the UA, and became an official research division of the UA in 1967. The multidisciplinary staff has designed production, training and demonstration facilities in this country and throughout the world. Its agricultural research makes use of several sophisticated greenhouses that use computerized sensors to control the temperature and humidity inside. Today, experiments are under way dealing with intensive food production, sea water crop irrigation, and the cultivation of aquatic animals for their protein value.

David Stumpf, UA research assistant and a tour guide, said the lab's goal "is to apply our scientific knowledge and programs to help undeveloped countries." The dream is as old as agriculture itself: to use seawater to irrigate food crops in regions where fresh By Ray Panzarella The Arizona Daily Star The University of Arizona's Environmental Research Lab is in the business of making dreams come true. Indeed, the work under way there is the stuff of great science-fiction novels. The primary focus at the lab is on the development of non-traditional food production systems for areas where food is scarce. But the lab has delved into many diverse areas. Last year, the lab opened an $8 million commercial Hawaiian shrimp farm, using cultivation technology developed by the lab, which is located at Tucson International Airport.

The lab also has begun test-marketing a tasty fish to local restaurants and stores after breeding too many of the blue tilapia, or Santa Pedra, for nutrition and genetics research. The lab has worked with the Arizona cotton farmer to develop an alternative drip irrigation system, and has been called upon by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to help research space farming. Recent news stories have focused on the lab's part in designing self-contained "biospheres" to be built on a ranch near Oracle. The biospheres would be chambers as possible prototypes for space colonization Eating Out Review Eegee's serves nostalgia plus good food Andrea Marcovicci still a victim, but this time it's a sweet role i cious of microwaved lettuce. Anyhoo, all the regular sandwiches run about $2.79 or so, and junior sandwiches are available.

One thing to beware at Eegee's is the soft pretzel, a dastardly innovation of the late '70s that is as tasty as belt-leather. Eegee's has 10 locations across town, listed in the phone book. Cash only. No non-smoking section; wheelchair access. By Robert S.

Cauthorn 'The Arizona Daily Star For anyone who went to high school in Tucson from the late '60s on, it's hard to be objective about the Eegee's sandwich shops. On one hand, it's basically a fast-food joint, although the sandwiches are a fat notch above Eegee's brethren. On the other hand, the place has a certain magic to it. More than a decade's worth of teen-agers have been raised on or employed by Eegee's. Naturally, teen-agers define themselves by where they hang out, so I call those kids Eegee's teens.

You can date people by whether they were pre-Eegee's teens or not. The pre-Eegee's teens had, of course, Johnies. For my own part, I fall in the middle a late-Johnies, cuteness. They call a ham-and-cheese sandwich a ham-and-cheese sandwich no screwing around. The sandwiches are still served on large, soft torpedo rolls and have that swell, special Eegee's taste, just as they did around 1970.

And the frozen fruit drinks still go down like the nectar of icy gods. But things have changed in the last few years. There are more locations all over town and, with decentralization, Eegee's isn't quite the hangout it used to be. Even though the restaurants are still packed at lunch, one doesn't find kids lingering forever over the fabulous Pina Colada drinks (13 years ago we felt mighty grown up drinking something as exotic as Pia Co-ladas, even if there wasn't any alcohol in them). Perhaps the most startling change is the many, older Eegee's teens like myself bringing their kids in for a sandwich, with nostalgia on the side.

I can spot old Eegee's teens a mile away. It's something in their eyes. If you've gotten the idea Eegee's fast food is addictive, you're right. One nice thing about Eegee's that hasn't really changed are the prices, which have increased only 70 cents or so in the last decade. I know this because I almost always order the same sandwich: a hot ham-and-cheese with mustard, hold the lettuce, pickles and anything else that's green.

They microwave the hot sandwiches and I'm deeply suspi By Dick Kleiner Newspaper Enterprise Association HOLLYWOOD Andrea Marcovicci, while she is deciding whether she is an actress or a singer, has found the time to be swallowed by a large dessert. Marcovicci is one of the stars of Larry Cohen's latest sci-fi weirdo called "The Stuff." Not the right stuff or the wrong stuff, just "stuff." This stuff eats people. Michael Moriarty and Paul Sorvino are among the others menaced by this high-calorie killer. "It was a fun part for me," Marcovicci said. "I have usually played the victim in movies; I was the victim in 'The Front' for Woody Allen and in the TV movie 'Cry Rape' and many more.

But not in this one. In this one, I play an advertising executive. Of course, later on I am again a victim I am eaten by the dessert but this is an entirely different sort of victim part." She says she was seriously troubled by her roles as a genuine victim. After "Cry Rape," for example, she went through a difficult time. "If anybody so much as tapped me on the shoulder," Marcovicci said, "I would shy away.

I couldn't even look at a man for weeks." But being swallowed by a confection didn't trouble her. She is able to look at a chocolate mousse or a raspberry tart with the best of them. Her real problem, however, is determining which career she should pursue, acting or singing. She says she has been wavering between the two all of her adult life, and some of her childhood as well. Marcovicci is now singing in a Hollywood club.

This is her first solo engagement in a club in seven years, but she thinks she will do more. "Except there is a problem with singing," she said. "And that is that a singer has to be on the road a lot, and alone. And that can be terrifying. Will they early-Eegee's teen.

Eegee's was a popular, and singu Percy Ross raises some rent for a reader who needs help Andrea Marcovicci in a fun part like me? And then, after the night's work is over, you have to go back to a Jiotel room, with only a bouquet of roses to keep you company." Marcovicci is a New Yorker. She and her brother were the only children in the apartment building where she grew up. Her mother Helen Stewart sang in New York clubs. Her father was a doctor who had come from Romania. She grew up singing.

At age 17 she sang for the fun of it at a party attended by Arlene Francis, who afterward called Andrea's father and asked him if it would be OK if Andrea sang with her on Merv Griffin's show. It was and she did. And she has been a singer ever since. Except when she is an actress. larly wholesome, hangout in my group.

We'd go to the old Eegee's under the New Loft Theatre and have a sandwich before going upstairs to see a movie. Later, we'd head downtown to Cafe 016 for dessert. We were Eegee's-New Loft-Cafg 016 teens, I suppose. It was a good life. With that kind of history, you can be sure I've watched Eegee's closely over the years sort of guarding my youth.

Yellow is still the big color inside and out after all, the place made its name on frozen lemonade. The tables are still standard Formica Americana and the menu is always mercifully free of yuppie Pass 2 i.