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Page 14 PHOENIX March 7,1974PHOENIX News Analysis:r * |r i ! iu ! \\ A / _______I _____VVUIU Ul!I :L i q u i dShould be up to CommunityBY JOHN BLACKMOREBrooklyn Botanic Garden official Charles Mazza was concerned that the press treatment of Dr. Cathey%u2019s report in relation to the massive security light installation program appealed to emotion rather than rational thought. He was particularly concerned with those who %u201c o v erin terp reted %u201d C athey%u2019s scientific findings in order to forestall the installation program. We%u2019d like to take this opportunity to respond to several points made by Mazza in his recent press release and interview with the PHOENIX.In light of Cathey%u2019s findings, Mazza didn%u2019t %u201csee any sufficient reason to hold up the street lighting program.%u201d He supports his opinion >vith a critique of Cathey%u2019s report. Generally, his objections are well iounded, doing much to clarify what can and what cannot be extrapolated from Cathey%u2019s work. .After all, he is the expert and we are not. But given the possibility of damage to newly-planted trees in our neighborhoods, and his strong conviction as an expert that %u201cCathey%u2019s evidence does not warrant halting the installation program,%u201d a few layman%u2019s comments are in order.First of all, in the three PHOENIX articles dealing with this issue, we have not promoted the halting of the installation program, rather we responded to the concern of several community groups and many individuals that he community had not been adequately informed by the city of all the pertinent facts, a primary ane being Cathey%u2019s report. Burell%u2019s insistence that no study existed that demonstrated harm to trees is a case in point.Mazza%u2019s main criticism ofCathey%u2019s report dealt not with its methodology, rather with its relevance to trees on the street. As he pointed out, the dictates of scientific research demand that experimentation be highly controlled, that extraneous variables be held constant. This very point, that Cathey conducted his study under rigorously controlled conditions, leads him to doubt its relevancy. For one thing, the temperature was maintained at 68 degrees F, which obviously contrasts wit conditions found in the natural environment. However, Cathey also reports his observation that winter dieback was severe on lighted trees under the influence of high-pressure sodium lights at his nursery, where temperature was presumably not controlled.Mazza also mentions the youth of the trees used in Cathey%u2019s study as not representative of trees on the street. But it is the health of young trees that is of issue here, in light of the tree-planting programs currently underway in Brooklyn.Mazza rightfully warns us against reading %u201cwinterkill%u201d as necessarily meaning that the trees died. He points out that winterkill is a common occurence under normal conditions indicating damage to twigs and limbs (in most cases offset by spring growth). However Cathey, as mentioned above, termed the winter dieback as %u201c severe,%u201d particularly with the maturing London plane trees commonly found on Brooklyn streets, under the influence of the sodium lamps.That Cathey reported continued growth (and thus susceptibility to damage) with other common light sources, as mercury vapor and incandescent light is indisputable. Cathey reported that while all night lighting sources caused continuous growth, this effect wasScotto Funeral Home106 First PlaceBrooklyn, N .Y.Salvatore Buddy Scotto, PresidentTR 5-2515Si r n l y t u y i A j y r F2rrGorfiridftia0ifTkAmjB) 7B3-5436_ Antique deagi c%u00b1%u00ab6es,vwpps, suits &< velvets Sailorpante Receded jecre. jackets &%u25a0 dungaree skirts Reindeer sweaters Men's 6-l-b^oicrshrtsFii^. Storm QDats. %u201cDogges Art Deco jewelry g-acoessones Ritctaork quilts.. And bts, lots more.minimal with mercury lamps (7 out of 22 species were affected) and maximal with incandescent and sodium lamps (17 and 16 out of 22, respectively).Mazza remarked that Cathey%u2019s conclusions on the possible effects of frost and pollution were highly speculative. Speculative they are, but if Mazza agrees that the state of continued growth yields plants more susceptible to noxious environmental factors, and that air pollution and heavy frost can damage maturing trees in a state of rapid growth, we think he might give Cathey%u2019s speculation some credence.We agree that further studiesmust be done before %u201cwe s ta rt,preparing (the sodium lights) a funeral pyre for the demised.%u201d These studies should aim at isolating sodium lights as a critical variable in the damage to trees, if indeed this effect has validity. Cathey asserts that %u201c light alone...is insufficent to sustain growth,%u201d and that its growthcontrolling effects are exerted %u201conly when the environmental and cultural conditions are properly combined to permit rapid growth.%u201d We also agree that controlled naturalistic observations (of trees on the street adjacent to sodium lighting) should be conducted Our difference with Mazza is one Of opinion. He is prepared to interpret the degree of, damage found in Cathey%u2019s report as %u201cinsufficient towarrant the halting of the lighting program.%u201d On the other hand, we, as laymen, note that a preliminary study has demonstrated under controlled conditions that sodium lights do cause damage to maturing trees commonly found on the streets of our neighborhoods. What significance these results should have on the installation program is a matter of lively dispute. If the sodium lights indeed significantly increase the safety of our streets, perhaps the health of our trees is a moot point. However, this fact too has not been clearly demonstrated. One thing out of all of this is clear: it is about time for the city officialdom to put their money where there mouth is and let each community decide.Ship Contract Goes to YardCongressman John J. Rooney announced last week the awarding of a $3.5 million contract by the United States Department of the Navy to the Coastal Drydock and Repair Company of New York for work to be done at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in Fort Greene. The work is scheduled to be performed on the destroyer U.S.S. Power DD 839 as part of a regularly planned overhaul program and is scheduled to begin immediately and be completed by late July.Queen Aggravain (Ginger Howard prepares another test forthe Castle Steward (Elena Karabatos) to give the princess whileher pages Lynn Khafif and Dawn DuBois look on. See all theaction, March 8, at 8pm and March 9 at 2pm and 8pm at PackerTheatre, 160 Joralemon S t as the students, faculty and friendsperform %u201cOnce Upon A Mattress\comedy\A Chorus G ro w s ...if ( M EN & W O M A N 'S0 HAIRCUTS )1W e Sw ingBoth W aysjThe HeiC hairStylingColoringCurlingPrivate booths^ Ask for Tony or SaliIContinued from ra ge 6Juilliard graduate, came to his present post during January 1972. Chosen by Philharmonia Manager Maurice Edwards, Bill Walker and the Society, he was later appointed Assistant Philharmonia Conductor by Conductor Lukas Foss.A visiting professor at SUNY in Stony Brook, N. Y. last year, Aurelius is currently studying orchestral conducting with Leon Barzin at the National Orchestral .Association.\watch a society of serious amateurs beginning to reach a high level %u2014 and it%u2019s a pleasure to help in that endeavor.%u201dGrateful for the chance to workwith Lukas Foss, Aurelius says that the conductor %u201cmakes you feel like a colleague rather than an assistant %u2014 which is particularly terrific for a young guy.%u201d Aurelius%u2019 aim is toward the development of the society along the lines of the much lauded Cleveland Society. %u201cWe%u2019re trying to set up an organization %u2014 of people with limited training %u2014 to evolve the technical facility to sing with one of the leading musical organizations in the city %u2014 and we%u2019ll make it,,%u201d he asserts.Make Haste,Not Waste,*l xiUmh.jT U E S -F R l 12-9 S A T -9 -6 J2 1 4 HICKS ST \\t BROOKLYN HEIGHTS j* I n c o m e T a xi T R E E 15-MINUTE$ CONFERENCEj To discuss tax services, ideas, $ review a tax return, answer $ questions. All fees set before further j work. By appointment.$ THE TAX ADVISOR$ M 5-HNY ST. 624-7347 $s