Show science talent quest aest shows aid to progress by news analyst and commentator washington I 1 don t often go into such intimate matters as private murders in these columns but I 1 have been impressed lately to see the results of the un trammelled spirit of modern youth whose repressions and inhibitions have been removed by thoughtful parents who use reason instead of the cruel discipline such as I 1 have stiff suffered ered having to go to bed without supper for instance when I 1 was impudent to my elders or being kept in the house for throwing my arithmetic at the cat instead of doing my homework or having my mouth washed out with acme soap when I 1 used language unbecoming a future commentator recently a pretty little brunette who was arker by having to leave the c ty to dwell with her parents in some dull rural area ot of M shoun re belled after shooting mama and papa she stuffed them beh nd the sofa and tr ed to dispose of the r property then there was the poor I 1 atle seventh grader who smarted under thoughtless taunting taunt ng by a tar far mer who thought the youth d splayed poor form in sawing wood the boy shot the old man and dumped him in a creek there was the 18 year old g ra from portsmouth va who playfully sprayed five G I 1 s with revolver shots in a shooting gallery and the 1 six g ris aged 14 to 16 who beat up their female gym instructor in a bronx high school of course I 1 am not old fash boned enough to encourage corporal punish ment but it does seem that a little less sparing of the rod might have prevented spoil ng the crime record of the peaceful comman t es from wh ch these youngsters came perhaps it wouldn t have helped though when the nations of the world set such bad examples I 1 couldn coulden t help thinking of a para pala graph in the concluding chapter of A that highly important and reveal ng book by former secretary of state cordell hull said hull and I 1 can see him lean ng back as he dictated looking over the wide sweep of the maryland landscape lett ng as a s thoughts go back over the rich days of his years we have a desperate need tor for more on and moral ty as the background for government the rel bious and moral foundas ons for thought and conduct re strengthen ng here as well as throughout the world there 9 no higher civilizing ji nf fluence luence than re jig ous and moral concepts borrup tion and tyranny can be driven out of gov government rement only when these con cents g ve men the faculty to ree rec cognize such evils and the strength to el minate them in these days when we hear so many unpleasant references to the atom bomb it was a relief to the national capital to get its annual reminder that the people who know most about atomic energy think far more about how it can promote human welfare than about how it can extinguish human life sixteen thousand high presented themselves this year as poss ble w liners in the seventh an nual westinghouse science talent search after rigorous elim nation tests 40 finalists were selected to come to washington tor for talks ath scientists fists vis ts to capitol hill and the white house and conversations with their colleagues these 40 students have a reason able assurance of scholarships of 1000 each from various sources aside from the search awards while the two lucky top winners each are given 2 with which to continue their studies there was another interesting thing about this year s awards the revelation that america still is draw ing beav ly on the old world for ts scientific fic talent the boy who won the top prize was born in budapest IN andrew kende displays his ex pen peri ments with new solvents to reduce explosion hazards he is andrew kende a 15 year old chemist a handsome youngster five feet e inches tall of the 40 1 nil nal ests five were born in europe and 26 parents of the 40 f nal ats were foreign born the girl winner was 17 year old barbara claire wolff ot of flushing L I 1 where the united nat ons has its headquarters although there is no connection all the contestants roust must have worked on a special entitle project and miss wolff de voted her time to production of f phen es now if you yul raise fru t i you will be interested in this al though you probably wouldn t lecog nize a if you met it on one t of your strolls through your orchard k s A Is a change a change in the body shape of a fru t fly the uy fly itself w wll 11 not be per to get at your fruit its eggs have been dyed and irradiated ob of which processes in th the e long run probably will help the frait industry when miss wolff isn t dy ing eggs and irray atma them she f e 4 barbara claire wolff who plans to become a geneticist is shown with the equipment she uses to produce is eating ed ting her school paper playing badminton studying and we sup pose practicing the modern dance and enjoying her clubs wh ch in elude clude math cancer and microscopy organ zat ons young kende s project has to do with demov ng or deduc ng explosion hazards in the chemical processes by which such modern synthetics as he s I 1 cones sex hormones and some synthetic rubbers are produced corn com mere ally some day thanks to h in men and women may be able to face the most alluring hormone or the most explosive overshoe or automo b ie t re in comparan com ve safety and may even be able to walk r up to a sil cone and slap it on the back the 40 f nal ats were rem by watson davis sc ence service di rector harlow shapley d rector of harvard college observatory and W W waymack atomic energy corn com missioner that it is not enough these days however tor for ats to stick to their f c last letting the rest of the world go by As dr shapely put it don t be so laborious in your labora tones tories that you ignore your cespon ties as citizens and as way mack warned nowadays the enlists must not only aid in the creation of knowledge but in the dissemination and use of that knowledge for the general wel fare unfortunately there are all too few trained scientists in this atomic age As the report of the president presidents s scientific research board po anted out the technological and sc entitle ress of this country depends upon one half halt of I 1 per cent of our t on some persons this small group comprises the trained manpower the scientists clans and eng upon which the on and the expansion of our economy depends and those actual ly engaged in f c research bechn cal development or teach ng comprise a much smaller group within this pool only persons the science talent search and sim liar ilar projects undertaking to discover r and encourage youthful f e talents are help ng to ensure the tu ture security and prosperity of the united states which depend as never before on the rapid extension of scientific knowledge not only oe be cause the laboratory is the t f line tine of defense in wart me and the enlist is the ind pen sable warr or but also because c entitle d Is the basis tor for our progress against poverty and disease ex G I 1 s can upset the budget again this year in its attempt to trim mr truman s spend ng con gress makes no allowance tor for near ly in U 11 on dollars st 11 unclaimed in terminal leave jay ay due enl sted men the president presidents s bulging bud get set as de only five mill on dollars for this item just I 1 per cent of the total possible cost in contrast to the usual hollywood bract ce the government a f im p pro includes none of the usual thrillers latest 25 in nute short subject made by uncle sam bears the prosaic title toward a uni form plumbing code other recent roos cover movies on bl ster rust control japanese agriculture foot and mouth d sease some of the people who say they would rather be right than pres dent don t get the chance they deserve N |