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Show 1r EStle Creek 3 Suppose It's just natural to love out- friends and hate lour enemies and this human propensity ds relatively rel-atively all right, provided our hate doesn't blind us ito the lessons we might learn from those who continually con-tinually do things that irritate us. The lion's share of the commercial commer-cial ballyhoo on radio and TV these days is devoted to the mechanical and luxurious wonders of the coming com-ing 1958 automobiles. The new models will be longer, with higher fins, added chrome, flashier colors and more automatic gadgets than ever before. Perhaps the epitome of automation automa-tion is 'the Ford Hardtop in which the trunk hists up, 'the top stows away and the trunk closes, all at a little punch of a conveniently located button. What it costs the American people for all of these unnecessary jim-cracks and the broadcast time and magazine space to advertise them must be a staggering sum. And this wouldn't be so bad either, if we were not lagging behind the Russians in the scientific developments devel-opments of the cold war. Perhaps a little more time and money spent on ballistic missiles and less on luxurious vehicles would not be amiss. This is lesson number one we could learn from the hated Communists. Lesson number two has to do with education. We Americans, the richest people in the world, spend three per cent of our total income for education. The Russians spend over five per cent. In addition, the Soviets are training train-ing about three scientists and engineers en-gineers to our one. They do this trick simply by selecting teenagers teen-agers who have above average intelligence in-telligence and educating them In technical schools at government expense. Their other boys and girls are sent to vocational sohools or to work. Investigators report that there are extremely few teenagers wasting time in Russia. The recent upsurge of vandalism vandal-ism and juvenile delinquency throughout the United States is all the proof that we need that something is definitely wrong with our youth problem. Too much leisure, leis-ure, too little work, too little responsibility, re-sponsibility, too much educational do as you please and too little parental par-ental concern are a combination that is playing hob with our program pro-gram to fit our youth for success in the scientific and atomic age. Military and educational authorities auth-orities try to explain our failure to keep pace with the Communists by bewailing the fact that we do not have the money for more and better technical education and advanced ad-vanced military developments. This is not -true, we have the money, we have the manpower, we have the materials, we have the schools and the teachers; but as yet we have not chosen to make the best use of what we have. The easy way is usually the improvident improvi-dent way, when it comes to maintaining main-taining our strength and supremacy supre-macy in the vicious struggle for national survival. Two statements by the man on the street clearly illustrate the attitude at-titude of too many Americans in explaining our present predicament. predica-ment. First ,the Russians may be producing the most college trained scientists; but we are turning out the best football players. Second, the Russians have the 1.000 pound Sputnik No. II; but we have the Edsel. The lessons are plain for all to read. Will we profit by them 7 So long 'til Thursday. |