Casper Star-Tribune from Casper, Wyoming • 8

star Opinion 9 Wednesday, September 1 2, 1 990 A8 Star-Tribune, Casper, Wyo. Casper gtarEribune 170 StarUne WY 82602 I 307-266-0500 Message CHEYENNE Rep. Carroll to GOP: Nyla Murphy, Mead's unsuccess- Get behind Mead Subtle. No bludgeons. 1 president of the Wyoming Heritage organization generally Society, an regarded as pro-development and pro-big business, has wisely shucked some of the society's Robin Hurless Publisher The Casper Daily Tribune Est.

Oct. 9, 1916 by J.E. Hanway The Casper Star Est. in 1949 USPS 092-660 Published daily Second Class Paid at Caspar, Wyo. 62601 by Howard Publications, Inc.

Copyright 1990, Casper Star-Tribune It's more good news than bad in drug war Miller, R-Big Horn, issued a statement a couple of weeks ago that signified the Republican Party closing ranks in the gubernatorial race this year. Miller's prepared statement, which for some reason was not widely disseminated by the news media, was a declaration of full support for GOP gubernatorial candidate Mary Mead. The statement also was designed to put to rest the perception that Mead was picked to run by the GOP establishment which shouldered other candidates out of the race. To put this in context, when Miller was still a potential gubernatorial candidate, the 64-year-old Shell dentist declared he wasn't going to let the Republican brokers" push him aside in favor of Mead. But in late April when Miller formally withdrew from the race, he described his earlier statement as a family disagreement over strategy" that had been resolved.

He then endorsed Mead. But his endorsement was without passion. In his later post-primary election pronouncement. Miller had more conviction and was more specific. He said it was time to put the charge to rest.

That charge came from Rep. "This is a eood time to remind people that I was never approached or pressured to stay out," Miller said. So there goes the brokers" theory. With typical candor, Miller said Monday that of course his statement was motivated." He had discussed it beforehand with Rep. Cynthia Lummis, R-Laramie, Mead's campaign manager.

Lummis, not surprisingly, thought it was a great idea. Miller insisted, however, his statement was offered freely. During the general election campaign, watch for more of the Gang Of Ten drop-out GOP gubernatorial candidates to come forward forcefully for Mead. The GOP seems to be haunted, even obsessed, by the crowded, divisive primary contests of 1974 and 1986. It should be pointed out that in those two elections, the governor's office was up for grabs.

Historically, when an incumbent governor is running for reelection, as is the case this year, the list of contenders thins or fades entirely. Mead, meanwhile, continues to wage her uphill fight against Democratic Gov. Mike Sullivan. The Jackson rancher, former RHETORIC IEWAI INJECTION- ffi 5T ful primary election opponent. Murphy had picked up the banner dropped by Miller and the rest of the Gang Of Ten potential GOP gubernatorial candidates.

Murphy said she ran to give GOP voters a choice. When they rejected her overwhelmingly, she was gracious in her defeat. Miller said Mead won the GOP gubernatorial nomination strictly on her own, and had been sharpened by the campaign against Murphy. have concluded that any initial group of individuals that may have originally encouraged Mary were no different than those behind me," Miller said. Mead's group employed "astute political savvy," Miller said.

Their tactic was to psych-out potential contenders by pointing out to him and other hopefuls the amount of time and money they would be required to invest in a gubernatorial primary race against a high-profile contender Mead. 4 SPEMONSOf squirrels were raiding our feeders, 1 built a small platform against the trunk of one of our Cottonwood trees where we placed sunflower seeds, ears of corn and, occasionally, unshelled, unsalted peanuts. The squirrels soon learned that it was much easier to obtain food at the platform than to hassle with the bird feeders. Consequently, the squirrels have not bothered the bird feeders for the past several years. Last summer and fall, one or two raccoon families visited our platform feeders and poked about under the other feeders almost every night, eating the uneaten sunflower seeds that had spilled onto the ground.

One female had five half-grown youngsters and the second female had six little coons. Even when both families were present at the same time, there was no sign of quarreling. In winter, mule deer jump the five-foot high chain link fence around our yard. They enjoy eating whole sunflower seeds, hulls and all. It is quite a comical sight to see them tip up the feeder and use their tongues to lick out the seeds.

Surprisingly, the grosbeaks and finches also seem to prefer eating on the platform rather than on our other feeders. In winter, they also prefer to feed at the flower-pot feeders possibly because they are sheltered and up to 30 birds can feed comfortably without hassling each other. When we first began feeding the birds, we used commercial bird food mixtures. However, we soon found that much of the millet and other small seeds were thrown out on the ground uneaten, attracting a myriad of House Sparrows. We soon switched to feeding only the large striped sunflower seeds, Joan Barron I SI for Business" recommendations.

Most prudently, she has abjured the Blueprint's recommendation of importing garbage as an economic development move. This step, though it might be wholly logical and pragmatic, is highly disasteful to Wyoming residents, who feel deeply put upon as it is by forces outside the state. To endorse it would be political suicide. Witness the public outcry and the prompt response of the Legislature over prospects of empty unit coal trains hauling garbage from Denver or Chicago for burial in the vacant coal pits at Ilanna. Although Mead supports severance tax breaks for the oil and gas industry for new production or secondary recovery to pump out oil that otherwise would be left in the ground she doesn't favor a general cut in mineral severance taxes.

Nor does she favor oil drilling in Brooks Lake area in Fremont County. Otherwise, her campaign is following "Blueprint for Business" pretty much word for word. in March, April and May. The Audubon Society Encyclo pedia of North American Birds, published in 1 980, lists only 29 reports of albinism in Evening Grosbeaks. Actually, it is hard to distin guish whether this bird is a partial albino or an incomplete albino.

It is also possible that the bird is affected by schizochroism a term applied to abnormally pale or washed-out coloring of the plumage resulting from an absence of pigments. I guess I'll leave the question of which term to use to the genetics experts. 1 have kept a log for several years noting the first appearance of the different bird species each year. I find it very interesting to note that the return date of each species in the spring varies little over the years, rarely by more than one week's time, and many times only by a day or two. In the coming season, I hope to be able to add more entries to my log about the visitors to our yard, perhaps including the intriguing partial albino Evening Grosbeak.

(Permission was granted to reprint this article which first appeared in the October issue of Wild Bird Magazine.) Anne MacKinnon Editor program also began in 1972. It is based upon reports from more than 700 hospital emergency rooms in 2 1 metropolitan areas, supplemented by reports from "chief medical examiners in 1 7 cities. Doctors on emergency duty see the worst victims of drug abuse. Most of their patients are hard-core addicts on the edge of death by overdose. Others are inexperienced novices who have not developed a tolerance to the forbidden substance.

The picture improves. The fourth quarter of 1988 saw 11,247 emergency room cases involving cocaine. In the fourth quarter of 1989 physicians reported only 8,627. One ought not to speak of "only" so many cases, for each case carries a tale of human tragedy, but year-by-year comparisons are useful. Through the high school senior survey, begun in 1975, Bennett's office gets a perspective on what may lie ahead.

The survey is based upon a sample of 1 7,000 students in 130 public and private high schools. Respondents anonymously fill out a questionnaire that reflects not only their actual use of drugs but also their attitude toward substance abuse. Here the news is good. High school seniors were asked: Have you used a drug within the past year? In 1979 more than half of them (54.2 percent) said yes. Last year that percentage dropped to 35.4.

A growing percentage of the students disapprove of both marijuana and cocaine. In his statement last week, Bennett candidly acknowledged the shortcomings of his three sources. In face-to-face interviews, even with abundant assurances of confidence, people will lie. Emergency room data tell us nothing about drug use in rural areas. The annual survey of high school students misses those who have dropped out.

Even so, because the same data are gathered at the same intervals, a firm base has been created. The picture slowly brightens. Yet Joe Biden's pessimism has a sound basis also. Drug treatment centers are overflowing with patients. In many cities the bloody turf wars between drug dealers grow more homicidal.

The number of hard-core addicts is increasing. In the past four years the number of deaths attributed to cocaine overdose has more than tripled. No one ever thought the president's declared war upon drugs would be a quick campaign. Winning the war will require persistent support for years to come. For now, thcie is more good news than bad news, but we have a long way to go before any significant victory may be claimed.

R-v svMcvrmz i ifiy By JAMES J. KIPATR1CK Universal Pivss Syndicate WASHINGTON How goes the war on illicit drugs? The question brought conflicting answers last week. Bill Bennett called a press conference to pass along some good news. Sen. Joe Biden scheduled a meeting of his judiciary committee to emphasize the bad news.

Bennett, a staunch Republican, is director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Biden, a staunch Democrat, is a senator from Delaware. The war upon illicit drugs is much too serious to be left to politics, but in this town almost everything is politics. Two months before election day, the president's strategy is either working or it is not working. You pays your money and you takes your choice.

My money goes to Bennett. He has statistics. Biden has impressions. To be sure, Bennett's figures have their limitations, as he emphasized in last week's report, but are the best figures we have. Says Bennett: "They describe a drug problem that has been getting better, not worse." As the field commander in the drug war, Bennett relies chiefly upon three sources of intelligence.

These are the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN), and the annual National Fligh School Senior Drug Abuse Survey. Findings from all three sources provide reasons to be encouraged. The household survey, begun in 1972, is based upon a sample of 4,000 to 9,000 randomly selected households. Professional pollsters do face-to-face interviews. Respondents are assured that their answers will be kept in strict confidence and will be used for statistical purposes only.

Questions then focus on the of specific illicit drugs: What kind of drug? How often? How much? The most recent household survey (1988) found that 37 percent of those interviewed had used an illicit drug one or more times in their life. An estimated 14.5 million people qualified as "current users." They had used a drug at least once in the preceding month. The figure is disturbing appalling is perhaps a better word but it compares with 23 million current users in 1985. In this three-year period, the number of current users of cocaine has dropped by half. Confirming evidence comes from the DAWN data bank.

This the wujci4 The stopping place of winged visitors By H. WAYNE ASHCRAFT Special to the Star-Tribune We live about a block away from a small creek that runs into the North Platte River in Casper, Wyoming a town with a population of about 50,000 people nestled at the foot of Casper Mountain. Our bird feeding area has a tube feeder for thistle seed, a hummingbird feeder, a homemade feeder and a platform feeder built primarily for squirrels, but now used extensively by raccoons in summer and mule deer in winter. In winter we also feed sunflower seeds in three large flower pots that are placed in front of our picture window. (These sunflower-seed pots are used to grow petunias in the summertime.) Although our neighborhood is urban, the brushy creek area attracts many bird species, mule deer, raccoons and fox squirrels.

Our feeders don't attract a great variety of birds, but we have visits from an occasional Downy Woodpeckers, both Stellar and Blue jays, Mountain Chickadees, black-headed Grosbeaks, Brewer's Blackbirds, Common Grackles, American Goldfinches and a few House Sparrows. What we lack in variety, however, we make up for in numbers. It is not uncommon to have flocks of 40 to 60 Evening Grosbeaks, 30 to 40 Pine Siskins and 50 to 75 finches gathered in our trees and the feeders. Most recently, we had a flock of about 50 Red Crossbills join our feeding birds a first for our feeders. Our feeders also attract other wildlife.

Some years ago, when which eliminated many of the sparrows but seemed difficult for many of the desirable species to crack. There was also considerable waste. We finally settled on small, black-oil sunflower seeds and thistle seed, with an occasional treat of "bird cakes" that we make with melted suet, corn meal and peanut bits. We feed year-round, and most years we serve 600 to 800 pounds of sunflower seed 40 to 50 pounds of thistle seed and miscellaneous items such a suet, watermelon or cantaloupe rinds and, occasionally, peanuts. After years of feeding and watching birds, we had an unexpected new visitor.

In early November 1989, 1 observed what I first thought was a new species for this area. This bird appeared at our regular feeder in company with finches and grosbeaks. After checking with binoculars, this bird appeared to be a yellowish-pink, female Evening Grosbeak partial albino. It was warier than the other birds, and it would appear for only short visits to the feeder. This individual again visited our pot feeders in late January 1990 and then once a month.