Pepper’s Idea of F.D.R. Memorial Is a Walk in Park

Calling the lack of a memorial to President Franklin D. Roosevelt “tragic,” Rep. Claude Pepper (D-Fla.) urged a House appropriations subcommittee to approve funding for the proposed $35-million project. “Let us not wait until the last of us New Dealers have passed on,” said Pepper, 88, the oldest member of Congress. Pepper, who came to Washington when Roosevelt began his second term in 1937, is chairman of the planning commission for the F.D.R. memorial. After two earlier memorial designs were shelved amid criticism, a third competition in 1976 led to a design by landscape architect Lawrence Halprin that has attracted wide support. An 8.8-acre site has been reserved near the Tidal Basin between the Lincoln and Jefferson memorials. Halprin’s plan calls for construction of a park cut into four segments to note that Roosevelt was the only President elected four times. Roosevelt’s grandson, David Roosevelt, told the House panel that the design “encourages reflection and contemplation of the principles we all covet. It does not specifically celebrate the man--rather his ideals, accomplishments and dreams for the future of our country.”

--First Lady Barbara Bush, joining a group of celebrities in lending support to a national advertising campaign to prevent child abuse, urged greater involvement at an earlier stage in the cycle of abuse. “The time to get involved is before the blow lands,” said Mrs. Bush, honorary chairwoman of the National Committee for Prevention of Child Abuse and Childhelp USA. “Sometimes it’s as simple as being a good neighbor, listening to a young mother talking over a cup of coffee or, even better, offering to take the children for an hour or two.” The ad campaign, which coincides with National Child Abuse Prevention Month, focuses on verbal abuse of children. Coordinated by the Advertising Council, the campaign urges parents to “stop using words that hurt” and to “start using words that help.” Among the celebrities on hand were Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Edward Woodward, Norm Crosby and Cheryl Ladd.

--A police roadblock set up to catch burglars instead snared Prince Philip, husband of Queen Elizabeth II, when two young British policemen pulled him over without recognizing his car. The prince was driving to Windsor Castle, west of London, when the officers signaled a car and the Range Rover behind it to stop. Only after questioning the driver of the car for several minutes did the officers then approach the Range Rover and recognize the prince. They immediately apologized for the inconvenience and, with a salute, sent him on his way.