Lansing State Journal from Lansing, Michigan • Page 27

1 What's Up Today Church music, organist Wilma Jensen, 8:15 p.m., Plymouth Congregational Church; free. Fowlerville County Fair begins, runs: through the Lansing State Journal Monday, July 1 1986 SECTION tiodl to PBS officials worry about future funds it 1 braWHiKaxasa''ssf i i a By HELEN R. CLEGG Lansing State Journal WKAR-TV is caught in a para-. dox. Like many public broadcasting stations, Channel 23's quality has improved and its viewership has mushroomed.

But at the 'same time, the station is gradually being weaned from funding by Michigan State University. Many viewers think of WKAR-TV as a place of refuge from game shows, soap operas and advertising. But -there's a price to be paid. The money has to come from somewhere. And, these days, folks at the station are the first to say that donations from individuals and businesses and corporate underwriting form a large part of their operating budget "We have two on-air pledge campaigns and we are trying for a pledge-free August," said WKAR-TV general manager Robert D.Page.

There are also an auction and a house raffle. But a little more of that later. Back in 1954, the beginnings of WKAR-TV, Channel 23, were humble enough. It was headquartered in some bid quonset huts, World War II vintage, in a sort of out-of-the-way spot on MSU's campus. Known as Channel 60 then, it was on the air for an average of 35 hours a week, was called an "experimental educational television station" and was totally funded by the Board of Trustees.

Its listening audience was estimated at 35,000 households. Page said. Today, the station is located in the modern, labyrinthian Communication Arts building on Wilson Road. It has just completed a fiscal year with a $2.6 million budget and is watched by 200,000 different households at least once a week. It is on the air 120-to 125 hours a week.

In its 32 years of existence, the station has been through transitions. In 1959, it changed its call letters to WMSB and shared air time on Channel 10 with WILX. v4- ByEDSTYCH Associated Press A decade ago, about 10,000 people a week tuned in to WNMU-TV in Marquette, one of Michigan's seven Public Broadcasting Service television stations. But today, the Northern' Michigan University-based station claims that 125,000 residents of Upper Peninsula, Canada and eastern Wisconsin watch Channel 13 every week, picking it over ABC, CBS, NBC and a variety of cable offerings. WNMU's resurgence mirrors the climb all Michigan PBS stations have made from the early 1980s when state funding cuts and low viewer contributions forced them to make large budget and programming cuts.

Not all the stations can claim the large increase in viewership WNMU has, but they are all reporting financial gains. Station officials reported 5 percent to 9 percent revenue increases for 1985-86, and they predicted their 1886-87 budgets also would include small revenue increases. Scott Seaman, general manager at WNMU, says his station is popular because Upper Peninsula residents have few cultural outlets and enjoy watching an occasional symphony or ballet on television. "I think they are tired of commerical fare," Seaman said. "When they're looking to be entertained, (WNMU) may have more informative entertaining See PBS.

Page 4D Above: A children's show in progress at WKAR-TV's old studios inside World War II quonset huts on the MSU campus. The station began in 1954, and moved to present quarters in the Communication Arts Building in 1981. Right: Inside the station's high-tech studio control room. From left are Robert D. Page, general manager; George Contom-pasis, TV development officer and llene "Beany" Tomber.

membership directordevelopment Lansing State Journal aged programs, it has experienced a gradual change in its financial base. Namely, the University board has steadily dropped its support of WKAR year by year leaving it to find its own way. As recently as the 1973-1974 fiscal year when its total budget was only $767,970, MSU supplied 91 percent of WKAR-TV's budget See WKAR-TV. Page 4D "The "growth of cable TV has been the biggest advantage for WKAR," noted Page, because getting WKAR requires only the turning of the dial. There's no fancy handiwork turning to then finding 23 on a UHF dial such as country dwellers with antennas still must do.

As WKAR has matured and taken on many beautifully pack- (WMSB) having been on 10," said. Page. The puzzle lay in the difference between VHF (very high frequency) transmission and UHF (ultra high frequency) transmission. People were used to VHF stations; all they had to do was dial from 1 to 13. But tuning in on UHF stations, such as 23, required investing in an antenna.

telecasting an average of 38 hours a week. In 1972, it went back to its old call letters, WKAR, and became Channel 23, which it has all to itself. However, a dramatic change accompanied this alphabetical ping-pong for the viewers, mostly. "People needed to figure out where Channel 23 was after. could turn on its irrigation Crackles, pops of growing corn ing of the plant's stoma, the minute openings on the leaf that allow air to escape or enter, to see if corn is thirsty.

If a plant is "well-watered and happy," the stoma will open early in the morning and stay open until evening. If it's too dry, the stoma will close. The monitors are wired into a computer that can turn on an irrigation system, according to Fiscus. With the techniques see substantial increases in yield," says Fiscus. "We're only putting on as much water as the plant When that happens, faint popping noises result As the plant becomes more stressed from water shortage, the number of pops increases.

A normal level, for ex-ample, constitutes 200 to 400 emissions a day. Under severe drought, the meter will measure as many as 20,000 emissions daily, said Fiscus. The pops are measured by a tiny high-frequency microphone strapped on the cornstalk a few inches above ground. In a similar fashion, pressure monitors on the leaves of corn measure the clos calls for." For instance, farmers could produce up to 150 bushels of com on an acre using the sensor system, compared to 160 under conventional production. However, the computerized system means they use one-third less water.

To Fiscus, that adds up to a .30 percent increase in yield. "It could save the farmer a fair bit," he says. So far, the monitoring systems aren't being used commercially, although some firms have expressed interest in producing them. says Fiscus, because "by the time he sees symptoms, he's already losing his yield (of corn)." Fiscus and colleagues at the Rocky Mountain Area of the U.S. Agricultural Research Service in Fori Collins are testing' several different methods that could pinpoint for farmers the most crucial watering times for their cornfields.

I The one using microphones measures the "acoustic emissions" that occur when the water column in the plant, called the xy-lem, breaks apart because it's not getting enough water. By ELLEN HALE Gannett News Service When Iowa farmers say they can hear the corn grow, they really can, says a plant scientist whose study of the snap, crackle and pop of corn plants could help produce more corn for less money. Strapping tiny microphones onto cornstalks, researchers not only have been able to detect when the plants most need water, but have confirmed the old farmer's myth that corn makes noise as it grows. Corn, says Colorado plant phy- siologist Edwin L. Fiscus, can be very loud.

It "pops" as water evaporates from its leaves, and it crackles as growing leaves slip and slide inside their sheaths, and these noises may provide farmers with a computerized, scientific way to irrigate their cornfields using the least water possible. Ultimately, sensors attached to only a' half dozen cornstalks in a 160-acre field could automatically signal to turn on irrigation. Such systems are much better than simple eyeballing by farmers. At 78, Mary's taken up weightlifting, likes to dance, too young people look a little surprised to see her climb on the machines. "Some of them probably think I'm somebody's mother," she said.

Mary said she hopes to continue her weightlifting for as long as she i "Sitting home is a dragt There's-really nothing for us to do. I don't want to go senior citizens dinners. I'm just not interestedV; too young. want to do some things I won't be able to do in four, five or six years." Mary added, "I'm Just taking it easy." She said she tries to work out every other day if she feels up to it She also encourages others her age to take part in similar activities. "I feel a lot more of the women in my category should do itfshe said.

"I strictly say it's very won-1 derful for someone who can take it" Mary said she hasn't really met a lot of new friends at the fitness center because she knew many of those who belong already. did add that some of the "My chores were usually in the house," she said. "At home all we really had was rollerskating." One activity Mary has enjoyed all of her life is dancing. "She can put the young people to shame on the dance floor," said Pat Foster, owner of the fitness center. Foster and her partner, Joan Macario, have taught Mary how to.

use the weight-training equipment and monitor her progress. "I think she's doing real welL" Foster said. "We don't let her over-do it" .7. quently and also has helped her physically. "It's been good for my body at my age," she said.

"I've lost some weight over it" But weight loss wasnt what brought her to the center to begin with. She said she mainly was interested in toning up. There have been other benefits as well. "I've been resting better at-home. It gives me a better outlook on life," she said.

The eldest of 18 children, Mary said she was not physically active as a child, By PATHS AM AR Associated Press CWINN Seventy-eight-year-old Mary Brockway wanted some more activity in her life, so she took up weight training. Mary said she began going to the Gwinn Fitness Center at the beginning of May. "When you're alone, you need some activity besides sitting watching TV and listening to the news," she said. Taking up the weight training and a fitness program has gotten Mary out of the house more fre Mary Brockway: Weight training gives her more activity in her life. Inside Today People I Advice 2D Women customers need to respect working women for the good of all, says Niki Scott.

Costeau heading back to sea MIAMI After extensive refurbishing. The Calypso is preparing to re-embark on its ambitious around-the-world excursion, and its 76-year-old captain, Jacques-Yves Cousteau, still has his sea legs. In about three weeks, the 44-year-old Calypso is scheduled to leave Miami, then pass through the Panama Canal en route to the South Pacific, including Cocas Island. French Polynesia, New Zealand, Australia and New Guinea. It will also tour Southeast Asia.

3D Disney World has come up with a cookbook of the best recipes served in its restaurants. Princess takes a turn LONDON Princess Anne deftly steered a 14-ton armored personnel carrier over a 30-foot-high tank obstacle dubbed "the trainees' terror." The 35-year-old daughter of Queen Elizabeth II visited Catterick Garrison in Yorkshire on Saturday in her capacity as colonel-in-chief of the 1420th King's Hussars. She took the controls of the 14-speed Spartai. carrier on a drive to watch a mock tank battle and her route took her via the training obstacle, a high pyramid called the Knife Edge. Actor: It's a tough business S.C 4 Actor Sam Waterston has one word of advice for young people thinking about entering his profession don't "It's a wonderful profession, but it's a horrible business," Waterston said at a news conference before meeting with high school students attending the South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts.

He said he didn't expect those really excited about acting to follow, his advice, but said they should know they will face stiff competition. Irwin to renew ark search COLORADO" SPRINGS, Colo. Space James who has walked the-valleys of the moon, says he plans again to-climb the heights of Mount Ararat in search of Noah's Ark. Recovering from a recent heart attack, the ex-astronaut and nine others plan to go to Turkey in August to do what Irwin already has done five times, climb the mountain and look for the ark. Compiled from reports by the Associated Press and Lansing State Journal staff.

a Digest 3D brief look at the latest in food and nutrition news. 8D There's a surprising amount of quality pro-gramming on tonight, Mike Hughes reports. Princess Anne Costeau Familiar names get invitations HYANNIS, Mass. The list of Caroline Kennedy and Ed Schlossberg's wedding' guests includes familiar names from the administration of the bride's father, slain President John F.Kennedy. Those invited to the wedding Saturday at Our Lady of Victory Church in Center ville near thjs Cape Cod town Include Ken-, nedy's former Defense Secretary Robert McNamara, former Secretary of State Deaa Rusk, and former Treasury Secretary Douglas Dillon.

Folk arts grows The Michigan State University Museum has been named the state's center for folk arts programs, marking 'another key step for local people. The push began when the husband-wife team of Kurt Dewhurst and Marsha Mae-Dowell travelled the state, meeting whit-tiers and basketmakers and totem-pole experts and more. Now he's director of the, museum and she's curator of folk arts. The museum has been designated by the Michigan Council for the Arts as the centerpoint for future folk programs. Provost featured today i If you've been waiting to question Mich-.

igan State University's new provost, your chance is coming today. David Scott will be on Ireae Deyle's phone-in show. That will be from 12:17 to 1:30 p.m. on WKAR-AM (870)..