1 Japanese soccer fans – As one of the volunteers working for the FIFA World Cup in Dallas, my assignment is to welcome the fans as they are dropped off by bus at Parking Lot H in Arlington, give them a warm Texas welcome and direct them toward Dallas Stadium for their upcoming match.
Just prior to the Sunday contest between Japan and The Netherlands, wave after wave of excited Dutch and Japanese fans headed toward the stadium, giddy with anticipation to see their heroes perform on the pitch.
As the throngs were on their way, we noticed one Japanese fan had dropped something. We kindly pointed it out to him, and he picked up what looked like a trash bag that had fallen from his pocket. He thanked us and was on his way with his compadres.
It was reported that the Japanese have a long-standing tradition as they travel the globe to watch their team perform in World Cup games. After the match concludes, the Japanese fans clean all the trash in the section of the stadium where they were sitting.
This act of communal role-model behavior recalls the adage we were all taught as children – always leave a place better than you found it. We can all learn from the Japanese.
David Alan Jones, Farmers Branch
2 Photos of the month – Kudos on the featured photos for May by several Dallas Morning News photographers who have a gift for taking eye-catching photos – from Tom Fox’s panoramic photo of a softball game to Elias Valverde’s poignant picture of eaglets being fed in their nest.
3 Dallas Paleontological Society – Re: “Finding the T. rex of the sea – Dallas-Fort Worth researchers identify new ancient marine species,” May 22 news story.
The discovery of the Tylosaurus rex that is the subject of this front-page story led to some unexpected consequences.
In 1979, Charles Finsley, curator of paleontology at the Dallas Museum of Natural History, recruited and trained scores of volunteers to dig up what amounted to a pile of fossilized bones on the shore of Lake Ray Hubbard. After cleaning them and replicating some missing parts, the bones were sent to the University of Texas’ Balcones Research Center for reassembly.
The restored skeleton was one of the star attractions at the opening of the Dallas Museum of Natural History’s new Earth Science Hall in 1987. Meanwhile, those scores of volunteers organized themselves into what became the 300-member Dallas Paleontological Society.
Its members, well-trained citizen scientists, now collaborate with regional museums and universities to locate and excavate new fossil discoveries. At least five new fossil species have been named in honor of Paleo Society members.
Walt Davis, East Dallas
AloJapan.com