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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1969 A&M Professor Litter-PickerA&M Pro er r 10 Liter- Picker Leslie V. Hawkins, holder of a doctoral degree, is a volunteer part -time trashman. What's more, Dr. Hawkins is working hard at enlisting the help of friends and associates, beginning with the mayor. To make their job easier, he freely passes out back - saving equip- ment. In more genteel terms, Hawkins is a litter- picker. He also is an industrial education professor at Texas A &M University, a physical fitness enthusiast and chairman of College Station's Beautification Committee. 4 While taking early morning walks, he picks up various bits of trash — paper cups, old newspapers, candy wrappers, milk cartons, soft drink cans and numerous other items. Those various bits of trash add up in a hurry, Hawkins testifies. One day this week, for All the law allows on every savings plan at FIRST BANK & TRUST. —Adv. example, he speared 15 gallons of litter in a 30- minute period. During a recent five -day period, he collected 50 gallons. The area in which Hawkins retrieved the rubbish is a substantial middle -class neigh- borhood. The litter- conscious professor figures his neigh- borhood is as clean and at- tractive as any around. "You don't really `see' litter until you start `looking' for it," Hawkins points out. "It's there, but you must be conscious of it to notice." Dr Hawkins became con- scious of litter in late October, shortly after Daylight Saving Time gave way. to Standard Time. "I leave for my walk about 6 a.m.," he explains. "Under Daylight Saving Time, I left in the dark and returned in the dark. When the time changed, (See A01 PR OF, Page 9) BRYAN BUILDING AND LOAN ASSOCIATION —Your SAVINGS Center since 1919. Adv. Hawkins,41*d � Prof ��9 r, Is Part e rashman Leslie V. Hawkins, holder of a doctoral degree, is a volunteer part -time trashman. What's more, Dr. Hawkins is working hard at enlisting the help of friends and associates, beginning` with the mayor and other folks in high places. To make their job, easier, he freely passes out back - saving equip- ment. In more gent werms, Hawk- ins is a litter- p? He also is an industrial education profes at Texas A&&M, a physical fitness enthusiast and chairman of Col- lege Station's Beautification Committee. While taking early morning walks, he picks up various bits of trash —paper cups, old news- papers, candy wrappers, milk cartons, soft drink cans and nu- merous other items. Those bits of trash add up in a hurry, Hawkins Atestifies. One day this week, for example, he speared 15 gallons of litter in a 30- minute period. During a re- cent five -day period, he collected 50 gallons. The area in which Hawkins re- trieved the rubbish is a substan- tial middle -class neighborhood. The litter- conscious professor figures his neighborhood is as clean and attractive as any around. "You don't really 'see' litter until you start 'looking' for it," Hawkins points out. "It's there, but you must be conscious of it to notice." Dr. Hawkins became conscious of litter in late October, shortly after Daylight Saving Time gave way to Central Standard Time. "I leave for my walk about 6 a.m.," he explains. "Under DST, I left in the d&rk and returned in the dark. When the time changed, it was light when I started back home and I could -see all this trash." He used to walk about two miles each morning. "I'm doing good now to cover a mile," Hawkins notes. "I walk a lot back and forth across the street." "Picking up litter can become an obsession," he confesses. "It's about like eating peanuts —but a lot less fattening." He started out trying to carry all the trash in his hands. He soon started toting a sack and later made himself a litter sack. The three -foot pole with a nail embedded in one end costs about 15 cents. Hawkins is now making lots (See Trashman, page 4) Page 4 - College Stati Texas Thursday, December 4, 1969 THE i BATTAUON imes Part -Time Trashman (Continued from page 1) of sticks and presenting them to people such as College Station Mayor D. A. (Andy) Anderson and other members of the Beau- tiifeation Committee. "I need all the help I can get," the civic - minded A &M professor emphasizes. "Everybody seems to think that 'they' should pick up all the trash, or, still better, not discard it in the first place," he reminds. "The 'they' is 'we'." Dr. Hawkins is particularly concerned about College Station being exceptionally clean and neat because the university at- tracts so many visitors — persons attending meetings, athletic events, visiting students or sim- ply touring the campus. "The university prides itself on its well -kept grounds and facili- ties and gets many compliments for its efforts," Hawkins ob- serves, "so we want the commun- ity to be equally attractive." The university, he adds, has a long -range landscape architecture program in progress. Recently the institution opened an elabo- rate test garden featuring a wide variety of flowers for each par- ticular season. So far, Dr. Hawkins' one -man litter - picking project is a suc- cess. He has received few raised eyebrows (not too many people are out roaming around so early in the morning) but lots of barks from dogs. From all indications, Dr. Haw- kins has a congenial trashman (full -time type) who comes by twice a week. The fellow hasn't said anything, but he must think Hawkins, with all his overloaded trash cans, is the messiest man in town. LITTER- PICKING MAYOR. College Station Mayor D. A. (Andy) Anderson tests the new litter stick presented to him by Dr. Leslie Hawkins (left), A &M professor and chairman of the city's Beauti- fication Committee.