Recreational Assets Research Articles

Baseball during World War II: The Reaction and Encouragement of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Others

Baseball during World War IIThe Reaction and Encouragement of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Others Gerald Bazer (bio) and Steven Culbertson (bio) I honestly feel that it would be best for the country to keep baseball going. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, The Public Papers and Addresses of Franklin D. Roosevelt The Role Of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt In the famous "green light letter," a one-page letter dated January 15, 1942, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt informed baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis, "I honestly feel that it would be best for the country to keep baseball going."1 Roosevelt's reply was to an entreaty from Landis to Roosevelt the previous day.2 Thereby, Major League Baseball would continue to be played during the World War II years 1942 through 1945. The authors of this paper contend, as stated above, that Roosevelt's decision could be viewed as a foregone conclusion. This can be seen through statements in the letter itself and through an examination of specific aspects of Roosevelt's background. In the letter, Roosevelt states the "recreational asset" of "5,000 or 6,000 players" to at least "20,000,000 of their fellow citizens." He states further that "Americans ought to have a chance for recreation and for taking their minds off their work even more than before." The letter also states that "night games be extended because it gives an opportunity to the day shift to see a game."3 The conclusion can be drawn from Roosevelt's words that the morale of the American people would be enhanced by continuing baseball as a recreational outlet. This was in keeping with Roosevelt's continual efforts throughout the war to keep morale high. Frequently in speeches and in fireside chats, Roosevelt stressed the importance of morale even during the darkest days of the war. His own physical stance, head held high, chin always upward, reflected his strong optimism that the American people and their allies would prevail. [End Page 114] It was vital to Roosevelt that despite the devastating war, "certain aspects of American life" would continue.4 Beyond morale, FDR, as a baseball fan, wished baseball to continue. To this day, he holds the presidential record of having thrown out the first ball nine times—the first time in 1917 as assistant secretary of the Navy when President Woodrow Wilson, preoccupied with World War I, dispatched Roosevelt to the ballpark.5 Frequently, Roosevelt spoke of his affinity for the game or used baseball allusions to make a particular point. Among his comments were the following: If I didn't have to hobble up those steps in front of all those people, I'd be out at the ball park every day.6 I'm the kind of fan who wants to get plenty of action for my money. I get the biggest kick out of the biggest score—a game in which the hitters pole the ball into the far corners of the field, the outfielders scramble and men run the bases.7 I have no expectation of making a hit every time I come to bat. What I seek is the highest possible batting average, not only for myself, but for my team.8 You know how I really feel? I feel like a baseball team going into the ninth inning with only eight men left to play.9 We can trace Roosevelt's early involvement with baseball to his youth and years at Groton. There, his enthusiasm appears to have exceeded his talent. In his second year, he wrote his parents, "I have been playing baseball all day, and I am on a new team which is called the BBBB or Bum Base Ball Boys. It has no captain, but it is a republic and is made up of about the worst players."10 After his first game, he wrote home, "The only ball I received, I nobly missed and it landed biff! on my stomach to the great annoyance of that intricate organ and to the great delight of all present."11 More likely, Roosevelt better served Groton baseball through four years as the varsity's manager, for which he earned a ribbon.12 After...

Reading with Uncle Sam:

To raise the level of awareness of government publications as educational and recreational assets and to further the development of children's literature as a scholarly resourdce, this paper describes and analyzes government information resources for children through a content analysis of the government literature published between 1940 and 1990. Social issues like drug abuse and consumer product safety, which have guided government policy over the past 5 decades, are reflected in children's books from the government. Although no single topic or issue predominates in the literature, most books aimed at younger readers deal with the following: safety education; drug abuse; the enviroment; health; Native American folktales; birth control; and stamp collecting. Contains an annotated bibliography.

A classification of freshwater Louisiana lakes based on water quality and user perception data

An index system developed for Louisiana lakes was based on correlations between measurable water quality parameters and perceived lake quality. Support data was provided by an extensive monitoring program of 30 lakes coordinated with opinion surveys undertaken during summer 1984. Lakes included in the survey ranged from 4 to 735 km(2) in surface area with mean depths ranging from 0.5 to 8.0 m. Water quality data indicated most of these lakes are eutrophic, although many have productive fisheries and are considered recreational assets. Perception ratings of fishing quality and its associated water quality were obtained by distributing approximately 1200 surveys to Louisiana Bass Club Associaton members. The ability of Secchi disc transparency, total organic carbon, total Kjeldahl nitrogen, total phosphorus, and chlorophyll a to discriminate between perception classes was examined using probability distributions and multivariate analyses. Secchi disc and total organic carbon best reflected perceived lake conditions; however, these parameters did not provide the discrimination necessary for developing a quantitative risk assessment of lake trophic state. Consequently, an interim lakes index system was developed based on total organic carbon and perceived lake conditions. The developed index system will aid State officials in interpretating and evaluating regularly collected lake quality data, recognizing potential problem areas, and identifying proper management policies for protecting fisheries usage within the State.

Rail versus Pipeline: Bayesian Decision Problem

In response to increased foreign demand for United States bulk commodities, state officials must decide how to improve their port facilities and inland transportation networks. They must consider where improvements should take place, the size of the improvements, and how modes such as railroads and pipelines should be used. They are uncertain, however, about many things: the stability of export markets and their state's share; the cost of the transportation projects; the future payoff to the state in terms of revenues, jobs, and industrial tax base; and the negative impacts on the environment, recreational assets, and quality of life in the port area. An approach to solving this problem based on the theory of Bayesian decision analysis is presented in this paper. The approach is sufficiently general so that it may be applied in a variety of settings where port development is being contemplated, and it is demonstrated with a specific case study based on recent North Carolina coal export projects. Results o...

The wildlife of parklands

SUMMARY Every parkland provides habitats for wildlife. Wildlife is frequently recognised as a recreational asset. A few ancient parks are of outstanding national or regional importance for the conservation of invertebrates and epiphytic lichens associated with old trees and dead wood. The perpetuation of suitable habitat is essential if this conservation interest is to be maintained.

Coastal zone management and conservation

Abstract Improved understanding of the inter-relationship between physical and biological parameters in the functioning of ecosystems, resulted in close interdisciplinary collaboration in the planning and development of Richards Bay Harbour on the coast of Zululand, southern east Africa. In its pristine state the lagoon utilized for this purpose had an area of c. 3000 ha, an average depth of 1 m, a narrow connection with the sea (resulting in considerable lag in tidal water exchange), river inflows through extensive filtering swamps and marginal vegetation fulfilling a vital stabilizing function. Because of the high biological productivity of the system every effort was made to retain its ecological viability in spite of harbour development. Collaboration between engineers, ecologists and planners resulted in a scheme where-by the lagoon was divided into a northern harbour area and a southern sanctuary area. The sanctuary receives a major proportion of river inflow and has been provided with its own opening to the sea. Water level and pollution control is aided by the provision of tidal gates in the berm wall. Apart from its biological function, the aesthetic and recreational asset of the sanctuary area to the growing city of Richards Bay is substantial. This paper discusses the success and failure of this scheme. The latter was caused by canalization of a filtering swamp (i.e. flood-plain), by poor agricultural practices in the catchment and exceptional floods in 1976/1977 resulting in massive silt deposition in the sanctuary area. Future management of the area is again heavily dependent upon interdisciplinary collaboration and the final outcome may yet be a significant ecological and aesthetic asset.

HISTORY OF NEW JERSEY COASTLINE

The New Jersey coast probably is the most important recreational asset in the nation. This is due in part to the nearby densely populated metropolitan areas that experience unpleasantly hot and humid weather during the summer months. New York and its satellite communities, having a combined population of approximately 13 million, is only 50 miles from the nearest and 160 miles from the most remote of the 57 resort towns that dot the 125-mile length of New Jersey seashore. The Philadelphia metropolitan area, with a population of approximately 4 million, lies 60 miles from the nearest resort and only 86 miles from the farthest. But it is not merely geographic proximity to large numbers of people and the compulsion of uncomfortable weather at home that attracts 4 million vacationers and a great many one-day excursionists to the New Jersey seashore resorts each year. Nearly all of the 125 miles of shoreline is a satisfactory sandy bathing beach, and about 80% of it is open to the public at no charge. The ocean is not polluted, its temperature is approximately 700 throughout the summer months, and its surf is not dangerous. The 57 resort communities collectively offer a great variety of accommodations ranging from luxurious hotels to modest boarding houses and tourist camps, and the surroundings include highly developed areas, as at Atlantic City, as well as localities remaining in a natural condition. The development of this shoreline as a recreational resource began nearly two hundred years ago, at Cape May.