Greatness Thrust on Lake Champlain

Lake Champlain is about to officially become one of the Great Lakes, allowing the University of Vermont to compete for $50 million in government research funds. Sen. Patrick J. Leahy initiated the classification that President Clinton is expected to sign into law next week, staffers for the Democratic senator said. The funds would be used, starting in October, to study Lake Champlain, which separates New York State from Vermont, and some of its environmental problems, including zebra mussel infestations. The pipe-clogging mussels are moving up the shores of Lake Champlain, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage each year.