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COULD YOU USE AN EXTRA THOUSAND DOLLARS? Donald W. Mann, president of Negative Population Growth, Inc., has announced a $ 1,000 bonus for the first person to write a major article (of 2,000 words or more) about NPG and its principles and get the piece accepted for publication by a national magazine with a circulation of 300,000 or more. For additional info—and to see if you're not too late to enter—write the organization at 103 Park Ave., New York, N.Y. 10007, or phone (212) 683-5454.

U.S. ATLANTIC COASTAL WATERS MAY BE DEAD BY THE YEAR 2000, says environmental scientist Dr. James Carpenter, if large eastern seaboard cities do not find a better place or method for disposing of industrial and sewer sludge. The researcher's studies show that the Atlantic Ocean from Long Island, New York to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina is nearing its capacity to accept nutrients and heavy metals and is on the verge of "serious and irreparable damage" . . . this, while many coastal cities continue to reject effective land-based disposal alternatives as being "too costly".

GORDON C."SQUA RE TOMATO" HANNA —the man we can all thank for developing the famous VF145 variety (those red, tasteless "tennis balls" mass-produced and marketed in nearly every supermarket produce department in the country)has been inducted into the California Canners Hall of Fame. "Better they should have canned him," quipped Ellen Goodman of the San Francisco Sunday Examiner & Chronicle. . . and to that we can only add: Amen.

SO YOU THINK YOU'RE A FARMER, DO YOU? If Dew federal guidelines for determining what constitutes a "farm" are approved as expected, you may find you're just another welfare case. The USDA and the Bureau of Census are quietly planning to raise the amount of produce you must sell in order to qualify as a bona fide farmer—a figure which is currently $50.00 for units of ten acres or more, or $250 for spreads of less than ten acres—to around $1,000. As a result, nearly a quarter million low-income growers will be coldly eliminated from federal rolls . . . and thus from farm assistance programs.

IF YOU'RE A RUNAWAY and would like to let your folks know you're OK, "Operation Peace of Mind" in Houston, Texas will relay your exact message to your parents at no cost, and with no prying questions asked. If you're in Texas, dial (800) 392-3352 . . . if you're anywhere else in the country-except Alaska or Hawaii-ring up (800) 231-6946. The numbers are toll-free, and the service is hassle-free. Do it.

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