TABLE OF CONTENTS

SWINE FLU   …………….             2

DO YOU HAVE THE RIGHT CONNECTIONS?   …..             3

UFO BICENTENNIAL   …….             5

INTRODUCING THE UNIT COORDINATOR   ………             7

THE STATE OF THE ECONOMY   ………..             7

THE CALENDAR PAGE   …             8

NEEDED: AN UNDERSTUDY   …………….             9

poet’s corner   ………….             10

UFO DEPARTMENT   ………             11

SCIENCE NEWS   ……             13

YOUTH DEPARTMENT   ….             15

THE STREETS OF SEVILLE   ….             17

bulletin board   ………..             19

——— ♦ ———

THE STAFF

EDITOR …..  DANIEL W. FRY

ASST. EDITOR ………  margaret little

 

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UNDERSTANDING

VOLUME XXI                              JUNE 1976                                                 NUMBER 5

Dedicated to the propagation of a better understanding among all the peoples of the earth, and of those who are not of earth.

SWINE FLU

(Asiatic Flu, Etc. Etc. Etc.)

Once again the huge wheel of Media inspired pathology has begun to revolve, and it is time to reprint the editorial published in this magazine nineteen years ago, when the last major revolution of the wheel was underway.

ASIATIC FLU

One of the prime sources of newspaper headlines in this country today is the terrifying scourge known as Asiatic Flu, which is, at last, beginning to make its appearance in a few of our cities. Its approach to our shores has been heralded by more and better advance publicity than any coming event in recent history.

It all began a couple of months ago, when a news item suddenly appeared on our news wire services. The item described a “new type of flu virus which is sweeping the countries of Asia.” It added that “medical authorities considered it certain that the disease would be-come epidemic throughout the United States during the fall months of this year. Fortunately,” the item went on, “a remedy has already been found. A serum has been developed which may well immunize us all from this new and virulent type of flu. It is hoped that the shots will be available for everyone in the country before the disease makes its appearance here.”

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At the time of reading this first item your editor’s only reaction was that medical science has indeed become efficient when it can develop a serum for a new disease before that disease has even be-come known to the public. A few days ago, however, the writer came upon a passage in a book, which seemed to fit the situation so perfectly that it could hardly be a coincidence. The book is by James R. Nickum, and is called, “Get Well, Stop Doddering.” The passage is found on page 146 and is as follows: “Another way of instilling fear is through scare heads and a great whilla-balloo by the newspapers-instigated by the doctors-which sweeps over the country now and again, of dire calamity approaching our shores from across the sea, or that is claimed to have already gained a foothold within our borders. The awfulness of what may happen is pictured, quarantine is suggested; and the result is-as was intended-the populace is thrown into a fright. The more they are scared, the easier they become a prey, the more telephones jingle, automobiles honk and rush, and horsemen gallop madly over the country for the doctors.”

The interesting thing about this quote is that although it sounds as though it had been written especially for the present occasion, it was, in fact, written forty years ago, in 1917.           The ‘Asiatic Flu’ is now sweeping the country just as the ordinary home grown variety does every year at this time and, strangely enough, the symptoms and duration of the two diseases appear, statistically, to be identical, even to the very small percentage of cases which develop fatal complications.

And so the wheel goes ’round and round’ and each time we for-get what happened on the last revolution.

Editor’s Note-History does indeed repeat itself, especially when stimulated by the motive of large-scale gain. The above editorial was written in September 1957 while the Asiatic Flu was being pushed so hard. Today it is the “Swine Flu,” but everything else is exactly the same. President Ford has announced that twenty-six million of our tax dollars are being given to the doctors to make a serum so that everybody can be immunized before the dread disease strikes. Even though we have paid for the serum in advance we will almost certainly be charged for the shot. Two hundred million shots at even a nominal one dollar each is still two hundred million dollars, which is a nice piece of change in any business.

JUNE 1976                                  3

DO YOU HAVE THE RIGHT CONNECTIONS?

By RUSSELL J. FORNWALT

If your home has the right connections, you enjoy such comforts and conveniences as air-conditioning, light, heat, power, gas, and water. Other connections give you radio and television programs. Your telephone connects you with almost every other telephone in the world.

It is the right connections, then, that make your life comfortable, enjoyable, safe, successful, and complete. The more you have, the better. Take the man who owns stock in companies which make umbrellas, bathing suits, snow shovels, and garden hose. No matter what the weather, he can not lose. He has profitable connections to rain, hot spells, snow storms, and droughts.

Another man I know advanced himself from precinct worker in his election district to a civil court judgeship. He was able to do so because he had the right political connections. In fact, such connections can lead you to congress, the governorship of your state, or even the White House.

If you are a salesman, you land large orders as a result of the right connections with purchasing agents and office managers. A good credit rating serves as an excellent connection between you and the bank. A college diploma can connect you to a variety of careers. A union membership card connects you with good employment opportunities in one field or another.

Physical, financial, political, educational, and social connections to life are important. They are the means to getting most of the things you want.

You will recall the famous “blackout” of November 9, 1965, in the eastern part of the United States. For hours, millions of homes were darkened because a vital connection between two power plants was broken.

You can easily plunge yourself into spiritual darkness, too, by a break in the connection between you and your Source-God. This is well dramatized in the Bible story of the Prodigal Son. When the young man departed from his father’s house and from his precepts, the result for the son was depravity, degradation, and despair. When he re-established the connection with his father by returning home, he once again enjoyed peace and plenty.

The many wonderful blessings of your Heavenly Father are yours now and always, if you will maintain or solidify your connection with the one great Source of all good. “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.”

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At times, you, like almost every one else, either doubt, deny, or decry God’s power in your life. When you do this, you lose contact with your Source, and the result is often sickness or sorrow.

In a sense, God is like a giant power plant. Interrupt your connection, and you immediately cut off the supply. Let us see, then, what some of the important spiritual connections are, in order for you to enjoy more of life’s blessings, opportunities, and “the more abundant life.”

You will find that faith is a strong connection to a life of health, happiness, and harmony. Indeed, even the smallest amount of faith (“the grain of mustard seed”) can help you surmount tremendous problems and overcome seemingly impossible obstacles. Faith is your important pipeline to spiritual power and prosperity. Keep it intact.

There is, perhaps, no greater connection to life in all its aspects than love. It is love that joins you with success in your marital life, child raising, social affairs, school or college, business or occupation.

Your giving nature also is a powerful spiritual connection to the blessings of life. Down through history all the great sages have taught that giving never impoverishes the giver. It only enriches him. Give freely in terms of enthusiasm, interest, attention, loyalty, and dedication to your job. It makes no difference whether you are

a bank president, bootblack, housewife, or student.  The quality of forgiveness is another of your spiritual connections to the life that is beautiful, serene, full of friends, and peaceful. The Divine stature of man is never more revealing than when he is forgiving.  How well are you connected to life? If you have frequent periods of frustration, boredom, illness, despondency, or anxiety, your connections may be poor. If you are a constant loser, lonely, or limited, then, in telephone vernacular, you are not properly “plugged in” to life.

So, first of all, increase your spiritual connections by becoming more loving, understanding, charitable, tolerant, patient, kind, and forgiving. When you harbor hates and hurts, it is as though you cut the wire which brings the electricity into your home. It is as though you break the pipe through which the water flows. You break the connection between yourself and your good-God’s eternal gift to you.

When you increase your spiritual connections, you will under-stand how to increase your other connections so that your life will become vastly richer and fuller. These are your interests, your emotional and financial investments, your incentives.

JUNE 1976                                  5

But perhaps your greatest connection to life is the realization that you are now the son of God. And that makes you one with all mankind. This is the great truth of being.

Awareness of the Divine in the human, the Eternal in the mortal, and the spiritual perfection in the physical will help you understand your connections to God’s limitless power in you and in all persons.

When you are properly connected to God through faith and prayer without ceasing you will experience no spiritual blackout or energy shortage.

 ♦  ♦  ♦ 

UFO BICENTENNIAL

In cars, campers and airplanes they came by the score, nearly three hundred of them to listen to the historical recounting of sights seen in the skies the past two hundred years and more. From Florida and Massachusetts, from California, South Africa and Montreal, Canada, and all points between, they came.

And they came also from Space. Lights were in the sky over Tonopah during those three days; lights that flashed blue and orange and white and traveled horizontally at such speeds the eye could hardly follow them.

Travis Walton and Mike Rogers from Snowflake, Arizona came to tell their story. And what a story it is. Nothing like the news re-ports, just a straightforward story, simply told with such utter seriousness and sincerity that no one thought of questioning it. Travis is a tall, handsome, red-haired young man with intense blue eyes; Mike Rogers, who told the story of the five who witnessed the ship’s arrival and Travis’ disappearance, has a sense of humor that is delightful, and he is an artist. He painted a picture of the episode that is striking in its impact on the viewer. (Helen Mann of Myrtle Creek, Oregon bought it!! Congratulations, Helen.)

A surprise speaker of international renown came with veteran George Van Tassel and Dorris: T. Gaylord Hieronymus from Georgia. His talk was inspirational and full of humor. The crowd loved him. And George Van Tassel- -there’s no one quite like George. His terse and truthful statements came like a prophet’s cry to the slothful.

Two women were a delightful part of the program. Dorris Van Tassel told the story of her contact with space people a fantastic story it was too. Until you have heard her, you’ve missed some-thing! Zula Brinkerhoff, adopted by three Indian tribes came to tell the Hopi prophecy of the return of the saucers to Earth. I wish I

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could have heard it. But at exactly that point in the Sunday after-noon program a telephone call came to say that Travis Walton’s party had been delayed by car trouble. And so all energies were bent in the direction of getting that pick-up truck on the road again.

There were other speakers of course-but to give a full report of ” them would require a separate edition of the magazine. All were worth hearing and it’s too bad you missed it, if you did. (There were many members of Understanding here. Irene Meade and Helen Mann, Wanda and Bob Bosshard, Clarence and Betty Gahlbeck, Jeff Perry briefly and two friends from Unit 85 in L.A.)

The solar oven performed well in spite of a hazy sky. So many tasted the hot dog properly prepared! Lela Maxwell organized the snack bar and salads were great. The menu was typically a space-age offering of Celestial salads, Heavenly hamburgers, and Rocket fuel consisting of radishes, onions and baked beans! Robert Max-well’s mighty flapjacks were the hit of the day for early risers. A full plate wide and half an inch high. One was plenty!!

The convention ended with all present crowding around Travis to shake hands and assure him he was among friends. (He hasn’t had that kind of experience up till now. Out of work since his flight in November, ridiculed and exploited, he reacted positively to the warmth and friendship of the crowd.) Mike Rogers with a wife and four small children has also been out of work since the incident. There isn’t a lot of work to be had in Snowflake, Arizona and the experience with the spacecraft has surrounded them with a stigma that is hard to erase.

 ♦  ♦  ♦ 

INTRODUCING THE UNIT COORDINATOR

There are 87 charters for Units of Understanding Inc., some very active, many not so active but all loyal and interested in the goals and purposes of the organization. Communication between units and between members-at-large has been by individual effort of members in a unit or between individual members. Now it is time to make communication and coordination a basic part of the organization activity. So this issue of the magazine introduces Mrs. Helen Doyle, 2525 No. 8th St., Phoenix, Az. 85001, P. 0. Box 900, Telephone 602-257-0368. Unit leaders are asked to send her their monthly program announcements.

In addition to knowing what each Unit is doing, Helen is going to coordinate a major project within the Units. Understanding Inc. began with an idea of reaching agreement in the areas of social and spiritual ideology. To date it has not really been worked out within

JUNE 1976                                  7

the organization. Or within the framework of the individual memberships. It is now time to begin this task. It could be the means of contributing to peace for mankind on our Earth. Unit leaders will be contacted and asked to start the effort within their own Unit to find those principles upon which all Unit members may agree unanimously to lay a foundation for a social science and a spiritual science. This was done many years ago in the area of physical science. And to date there has never been a war fought over any concept in the physical science because there have existed those principles up-on which agreement could be reached for problems which arose.

No attempt has been made to do this for the social or spiritual facets of our life. There is no reason why it couldn’t be done and every reason why it should be done and done now.

Once the Units have agreed upon even one principle of either a social or a spiritual nature, that principle should be sent to Helen Doyle who will circulate it to all other Units for acceptance or rejection. In this way, Understanding Inc. will be fulfilling its original purpose and making a major contribution to all mankind. It is not expected that such an undertaking will be quickly or easily accomplished. But the effort to do it at all is important enough to justify such effort. So-put on your thinking caps-and add to your meet-ing agenda 20 minutes every meeting to try and agree on a principle and forward it to Helen who will circulate it to other Units.

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THE STATE OF THE ECONOMY

By DANIEL W. FRY

In the last “State of the Union” report, the nation seemed to be doing about as well as could reasonably be expected, but there were some statements concerning the Economy which were somewhat difficult to understand. It was indeed comforting to hear from the President and his staff of economic advisers, that the demon “Inflation” has at last been overcome and will afflict us no more. It would have been even more comforting however if it were not for the fact that the price of practically everything we have to buy seems to be going up even faster than before! All of organized labor and most public servants are demanding wage and salary increases of from 25% to 30% and, in most cases are getting them. (High public officials do not demand the raises, they simply vote them for them-selves.) Since the cost of virtually all raw materials and supplies is also on a strong upswing, there can be little doubt that, by this time next year, we will be paying 30% to 40% more for everything we

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buy. (It is difficult to see what is gained by overcoming “Inflation” if prices are still going up at the same rate.)

The comfort that can be derived from the announced drops in the unemployment rate is also tempered by the knowledge that most of the official drop results from the fact that those whose un-employment benefits have run out are no longer counted among the unemployed, even though they are still without work. Also there are those who, after many months of effort, have simply given up the attempt to find work, and so are not counted as unemployed, even though they are not working either.

The Stock Market is advancing somewhat, but the fact that every significant jump is followed almost immediately by an equal sell-off for profit taking, indicates that there is little confidence in long-term gains.

Business is increasing. People are buying more, but it is not clear whether this is due to increased confidence or simply due to the realization that their money will continue to lose value indefinitely, and so feel that they might as well spend it while it will still buy something! All in all, the state of the economy can only be de-scribed as Confused, and the situation will probably not be clarified until several months after the national elections in November. When the great political pressure to make things look good has finally been relaxed, perhaps then we can find out where we really stand.

 ♦  ♦  ♦ 

THE CALENDAR PAGE

The regularly scheduled activities at the International Cultural Center are discontinued for the summer months of June, July and August. The calendar will again appear with the September issue. During this period Dr. and Mrs. Fry will be touring across the country lecturing and discussing with Unit leaders and Board members, plans for the development of the Center in the coming year.

Tour Itinerary for June

Leave Tonopah May 31st, arrive Chicago June 5th. Lecture Sponsor, H. R. Lathrop, Des Plaines, Ill., 213-266-9183.

June 7th, Lecture Sponsor, John Hawkins, Northboro, Mass., 617-393-8220.

June 8-1 Oth, Northboro, Mass.

June 11th, Buffalo, N.Y., Unit 37, Robert Shatzel, 716-741-5387. June 12th, Buffalo, N. Y.

June 13-14th, New York City, Sponsor, John W. Boushka, 212-475-1507.

JUNE 1976                                  9

June 15th, Mrs. Irene Serra, Sponsor, 201-543-4885.

June 16th, Walter Stepp, 215-535-3406, Sponsor.

June 17th, Blanche Biegenwald, 609-845-9516, Sponsor. June 18-19th, Mary Bassano, 201-477-0079, Sponsor.

For unconfirmed points and dates, please call Mrs. Ronald Gibson, Faywood, New Mexico, 505-546-7031.

July 1-10th, Christ Light Center, Dr. Gilbert and June Holloway, Deming, New Mexico.

Tonopah, by July 12th.

NEEDED: AN UNDERSTUDY

The Founder and President of Understanding Incorporated needs an understudy. The need is urgent. The individual (it might be a couple) should be able and willing to learn the work of the organization and then be able to do it. Housing is available for the right person or couple. The nature of the work to be done involves public relations and promotion of the International Cultural Center as a school and a site for other positive programs for the benefit of the desert community and the Understanding membership. Planning and promoting conventions, development of the property to make it an attractive place for retreats and recreation for other organizations is a major factor of the work. Managing and administrating the business details of the property and the organization are also important facets of the work.

Applicants will need to come for personal interview. Financial arrangements will depend largely on the ability of the successful applicant to make the property pay an adequate wage.

Applications should be addressed to Mrs. Daniel W. Fry, Star Route Box 588 F, Tonopah, Az. 85354.

 ♦  ♦  ♦ 

Overheard In An Orchard

Said the Robin to the Sparrow,

“I should really like to know

Why these anxious human beings

Rush about and worry so.”

Said the Sparrow to the Robin,

“Friend, I think that it must be

That they have no Heavenly Father

Such as cares for you and me.”

-ELIZABETH CHENEY

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poet’s corner

DESTINATION

In ever widening circles

The waves will reach the shore;

The waves made by the pebble

Dropped from my hand, before

I realized the impact

A small white stone would make

Upon the calm bright mirror,

That was the sleeping lake.

In ever widening circles,

A kind word will express

The love and comfort needed,

Some soul to heal and bless,

And in expanding beauty

Increasing more and more,

Will break in final glory

On Heaven’s waiting Shore.

-FLORENCE FRENCH

 ♦  ♦  ♦ 

JUNE 1976                                  11

UFO DEPARTMENT

TOP ASTRONAUTS CONFIRM: WE SPOTTED TWO UFOs

(By Paul Dougherty-The Star, March 2, 1976)

Two U.S. astronauts graphically describe seeing UFOs, on a new long-playing record released this month.

And both claim that photographs of the mysterious objects apparently vanished once they got into official hands.

Astronauts Gen. James McDivitt and Col. Gordon Cooper tell their stories on a record produced by UFO investigator E. Lee Speigel called “UFOs: The Credibility Factor.” It is distributed by Columbia.

McDivitt gives a detailed account of watching and photographing a UFO which flew alongside his Gemini IV spacecraft in June 1965. McDivitt says on the record: “I have never been able to identify it, and I don’t think anyone ever will.

“As it (the Gemini capsule) was rotating around, I noticed some-thing out in front that was a white cylindrical shape with a white pole sticking out of one corner of it.

“I couldn’t tell how close it was and I couldn’t tell what the size was-depth perception is not very good unless you know what the size of the object is that you’re looking at.

“I thought I might run into it, so I turned on the flight control system.

“Two cameras were floating in the spacecraft. I grabbed one of them and took a picture. I let go of it. Then I grabbed the other one and took a picture.

“I never did find out what it was, and nobody else ever did either. “They checked NO RAD records to see what they had up on radar and there wasn’t anything within very close range of us.”

McDivitt says the films he took were sent to Houston. When the published pictures did not show the object, he went to Houston and looked through all the frames.

“And there wasn’t anything in there like what I had seen!” he said.

Col. Cooper says he sighted a group of strange objects while stationed with a fighter group in Germany before he joined NASA. Cooper says the objects appeared for three days. They flew strange patterns, like fighter formations except that sometimes they would almost stop, or change direction suddenly in a right 90-degree turn.

Cooper says almost every pilot on the base flew as high as their planes would take them “still trying to spot these strange devices

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flying overhead, and we never could get close enough really to pin them down.

“But they were round in shape and very metallic-looking.” Cooper adds: “Personally, I believe in UFOs and I think they are very likely travelers from some other planet, if not in our galaxy then in a neighboring galaxy.

“When you look at the hundreds of thousands of planets that have the potential of having the same kind of climatic conditions and the same kind of atmosphere that we have, I just really can’t believe that God would have just put man on ONE of these places alone.”

Cooper also recalls, an alleged case of suppression of photographic evidence of a UFO that landed near Edwards Air Force Base in California.

He says film of the reported landing was sent to Washington, “never to be seen again.”

Speigel’s record also includes interviews with physicists, psychologists and radar experts. It concludes with a plea to people to keep an open mind about UFOs and the probability of the existence of other intelligent life throughout the universe-“because it is there.”

 ♦  ♦  ♦ 

ABDUCTION BY UFO DESCRIBED

(The Columbus Enquirer, Feb. 13, 1976)

CHICAGO (UPI)- A Fargo, N.D., woman claims she and two others were abducted by an alien creature last August and “dissected like frogs,” the director of the Center for UFO Studies says.

The woman’s descriptions of the creature and the spacecraft were translated into sketches by a television weatherman, John Coleman of WLS-TV, for a series on UFOs by the ABC affiliate.

“She claims to have been abducted,” said J. Allen Hynek, a Northwestern University astronomy professor. “I said claims.”

Mrs. Sandy Larson, 32, said she, her daughter Jackie, 15, and Jackie’s boyfriend were taken aboard a UFO which landed near Fargo last Aug. 26 and were given a complete medical examination, Hynek said.

Hynek was present last month in Fargo when Mrs. Larson was hypnotized and questioned about the incident by Leo Sprinkle of the University of Wyoming.

Mrs. Larson said they were driving on a highway, 40 miles west of Fargo, when they heard a loud noise and saw “a series of 8 to 10 glowing, round objects lined up in the sky, descending toward Earth.”

JUNE 1976                                  13

Frightened, she stopped the car. After the objects disappeared, she drove to a nearby service station and discovered it was an hour later than she thought.

Under hypnosis, Mrs. Larson said a creature “with elastic band-ages for a head, or elastic bandages around its head” subjected her and her daughter’s boyfriend to “a complete medical exam . . . stripped naked and all parts of the body examined . . . even our heads were opened and all parts of our brains looked at … we were dissected like frogs.”

Hynek said the daughter felt like she was “left stranded in a field. She lost track of what had happened to the others.”

The boyfriend was not hypnotized and declined to be identified.

 ♦  ♦  ♦ 

SCIENCE NEWS

NASA scientists explain project

ROBOT-LAB TO SEARCH FOR MARS LIFE

(Boston Sunday Herald Advertiser, Feb. 22, 1976)

By Joseph Kornfeld, Science Writer

The search for life on Mars, which begins this summer, rests with a pair of landing craft that are part robot and part laboratory.

This week, as the two Viking spacecraft carried these detachable landing modules another million miles or so closer to the Red Planet, scientists from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), convened in Boston to explain the search.

The scientists, here for the week-long annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), said the landers will scoop up Martian soil and test it for Earthlike behavior. If, for instance, there are signs of photosynthesis, the food-producing mechanism of the plants we know, the chances are that the soil harbors living, microscopic organisms.

The test results will be radioed to the Viking orbiter modules, about 20,000 miles above, and then relayed back to Earth.

Dr. Harold P. Klein, a biologist in the Viking project, told an AAAS gathering on Wednesday that he thought there was a one-in-50 chance of life existing on the planet. Guesses by five other NASA biologists, he said, ranged from one chance in 10 to one in a million.

Dr. Klein said the landers, each to be parachuted down at different sites on the dusty terrain, test for life in three ways. The photo-synthesis test involves mixing the soil with water, artificial sunlight and carbon dioxide-ingredients that a plant transforms to food. In the carbon dioxide molecules, however, the carbon atoms have been

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tagged with radioactivity.

If the soil, when heated and analyzed, yields organic, food-like compounds, and if those compounds contain that tagged carbon, NASA will suspect the handiwork of living micro-organisms.

The module will also “feed” organic compounds containing radio-active carbon to the soil and wait for signs of life-like metabolism. If carbon dioxide, with a tagged carbon atom, and other expected gases are produced, the test results would be positive.

A third and similar experiment would test the air surrounding a soil sample for methane, another gas that would indicate metabolism.

The non-returnable craft may conduct these experiments for up to four years, but if no life is found, the mission will not necessarily be a failure. “There’s a lot to learn about the Martian climate and geography,” says Gerald Soffen, another NASA scientist, “and if we find that life at least existed in the past, we may have clues to the origins of life on Earth.”

The Viking ships, which were launched separately last summer, are traveling a roundabout route of 440 million miles and will arrive when Mars is about 200 million miles from Earth. The landers are scheduled to drop July 4 and Sept. 4 but the exact sites are still in question.          f But Dr. James S. Martin, director of the mission, says the first probable site is Chryse, a giant canyon on the northern side of the Martian equator. It’s a relatively mild area on a planet that is generally cold and harsh, says Martin, and it seems to contain the dried-up bed of an extinct river, a sign that it may have been hospitable to life in the past.

A life-size model of the Viking lander is on display at Hynes Auditorium, which is serving as exhibit hall for the AAAS gathering. Among its duplicated features are two cameras that were de-signed for NASA by a local optics firm, the. Itek Corp. of Lexington.

The cameras will take photographs of each landing on Mars area and transmit them back to Earth. They also will allow NASA head-quarters to guide the 11-foot earth scooper, according to Dr. Thomas Mutch, a Brown University geologist who is involved in the project.

“The twin cameras,” he says, “work stereoscopically, like a pair of eyes, so that we’ll have depth perception. That way we can judge the distance of a Martian rock, so as to avoid damaging the scooper.”

JUNE 1976                                  15

INSTANT BEFORE DEATH PRODUCES FLASHBACKS

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Hundreds of pleasant memories flash through a person’s mind the instant before violent, sudden death, University of Iowa researchers contend.

“Time stood still,” said a young woman who had believed she would die in a car crash. “It seemed to take forever for everything to happen.

“It was very much like sitting in a movie theater and watching it happen on the screen. The memories were pleasant but made me sad realizing this was the life I was leaving.”

Interviews with 104 people who survived near-death situations bear out the popular belief that a person visualizes much of his life while he is on the brink of oblivion, the researchers said.

“Many described their emotional state as pleasurable and 23 per cent even acknowledged joy,” the researchers added.

Slowness of external time and a vast recall of happy events were generally linked and clearly related, they said.

“Everything was in slow motion,” said a race driver whose car flipped over several times at 100 miles an hour.

“It seemed like I was a player on a stage and could see myself tumbling over and over in the car. It was as though I sat in the stands and saw it all happening.”

Seventy men and 34 women took part in the study by Dr. Russell Noyes, an associate professor of psychiatry, and Roy Kletti, a clinical psychologist.

They began their research after collaborating on a translation of a study published in 1892 by the Swiss Alpine Club that cited experiences of persons involved in near-fatal mountain climbing accidents.

The Iowa project included mountain climbing mishaps, but also near drownings, automobile accidents, battlefield experiences, cardiac arrests and severe allergy reactions.

 ♦  ♦  ♦ 

A Prophecy for America?

In 1829, the great South American Liberator, Simon Bolivar, wrote: ‘I have achieved no other good than independence. That was my mission. The nations I have founded will, after prolonged and bitter agony, go into an eclipse, but will later emerge as states of the one great republic, AMERICA. “

 ♦  ♦  ♦ 

We cannot all be great, but we can always attach ourselves to something that is great.

– Harry Emerson Fosdick

16                                                  UNDERSTANDING

YOUTH DEPARTMENT

YOUTH IN SCHOOL

VIRGINIA SARGAVAKIAN

Kids all over the world have a responsibility to themselves to get the education our nation offers by going to school each day.

The students come to school from different homes with different backgrounds but they all have something in common and that is the fact that no matter if they want to learn or not they all would like to achieve success in the eyes of others and to themselves.

Kids have problems and decisions to make each day like adults and many of them can handle whatever situation comes up in their lives, yet there are others who can’t cope with themselves in life and consequently are left uptight with their problems.

As long back as I can remember, there have always been a difference in kids. There have always been the popular students, the talkative and the quiet ones, the intelligent students, the ones who try hard and the ones who just don’t care. In every class there are these students with different personalities and different values in life.

Many students have problems with school because when the teacher explains something the fast learners catch on, but those who are a little slow in understanding don’t understand and if they are quiet and shy, they don’t bother asking questions leaving themselves all mixed up with unanswered questions which consequently leads them further and further behind in the class.

Mr. Ted Pape, head counselor of Glendale High School works with kids and their problems each day. I asked him, “What do you think is the main problem with students concerning school?” He replied, “They are unable to formulate goals so they don’t know where they’re going.” But Mr. Pape doesn’t blame the students for this problem because he says, ‘We are in a changing society.”

The most common reaction I received from students about school was, “It’s dull and boring,” and when I asked why they would re-ply, “It’s the same thing everyday.”

“Students don’t understand how to study, because our society stresses that the only thing worthwhile is what’s fun and if some-thing can’t be learned in five minutes, then it’s not worth learning,” quotes Greg Stone, a French teacher at Glendale High School, who not only has patience with his students, but seems to understand them as well. When I asked him how he thought the students felt

JUNE 1976                                  17

about school, he said, “They like school, but they hear from other students that they shouldn’t so they are afraid to reveal how much they like it.”

Most parents seem to agree that school should be the place where students come willingly to learn and to make friends. One concerned parent quoted, “Kids should continue their education as far as possible, because in this time and age people can’t get anywhere without an education,”

Some kids are very quiet and shy in class. Though they are more free and comfortable with their friends, they still aren’t as outgoing as other students. There are those who are willing to fail an assignment because the assignment involves an oral presentation. If they could only realize that they, the students are in the same situation and that getting in front of a class is not worth failing the assignment. You as the individual speaker, do get something out of this. You can prove to yourself and others that you too are an individual with thoughts and feelings, thus, building up your confidence in yourself.

The audience, as the group listening, should be polite, and listen quietly, and also appreciate the individual or individual’s time and effort put into the presentation. Not only did it take time and effort, but it also took courage for those involved to present some-thing in front of a group of people. Many young people don’t understand this and it is sad for the individuals who worked so hard on the presentation, and also for the audience, that they should treat their fellow friends in such a way and not realizing at all with-out empathy.

As growing people, the kids of today will grow through problems and troubles, learning always and will one day in the future be the adults of our nation, yet they will never stop learning.

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THE STREETS OF SEVILLE

JULIANA B. LEWIS

The words “Eternal Spain” seem to ring with romance, especially so in southerly Seville where a rosy-gold dawn lazily ushers in an-other day. At the early hour of seven, only a rare few here venture into the stillness of the dimly lit streets. Somewhere a rooster crows into the silence. A gathering of women, resembling dancers in black from their veiled heads to their toes, glide by to attend an early service at the world’s second largest cathedral. Dogs bark, arousing a few more Sevillanos from their dreams, and the streets are no longer in the care of the cats who have been on patrol all during the

18                                                  UNDERSTANDING

dark hours.

By eight the light of day is glowing warmly in many a blossom-scented garden. More of the locals are about at this hour, joining their neighbors for morning rolls and hot chocolate or cafe expresso purchased for a few pesetas in a favorite taberna or restaurant.

Vendors in the main market at Plaza Alfalfa begin to assemble their wares for display in eager anticipation of a good day’s business. These wares may include anything from olives and ripe oranges over-loaded in sturdy straw baskets to fine porcelain or silks and ornaments of silver and gold.

On the way to office or shop, the male population pauses now and then to pursue a well-practiced pastime-that of paying compliments to passing ladies fair, such gallantry being known as the “piropo.” And the ladies fair, with their shawls, mantillas and fans, casually accept as their due these verbal bouquets tossed by their observers as they conclude market purchases or continue their stroll along the promenade.

By eleven the heat of the sun is more intense. A Marquis pauses by a fountain-trough to refresh his beautiful Arabian horse while a sierra farmer does likewise for his faithful plodding donkey. Men gather at street corners in groups, looking superior and talking politics or swapping stories about the price of pomegranates in the markets, while others sweep the narrow, cobblestone streets or sell newspapers. Persistent youngsters, known as “limpiabotas” repeatedly approach any passer-by for the purpose of putting a sparkle to his shoes, no matter should they just have been polished. A late but unhurried train whistles in the distance

By three in the afternoon the leaves of the many lilies adorning the tower of Seville’s dominating building, the beautiful Giralda, begin to droop from the penetrating sun. Children, playing in the Court of Oranges below, start for home. Visitors to the city, whether they be wandering through the streets glimpsing into the lovely, half-hidden patios or reviewing their “Don Quixote” in the corner of the “Parque de Maria Luisa” devoted to cleverly tiled seats depicting scenes from the life of this knight of the woeful countenance, return to their lodgings. For this is the time of day which ordinarily terminates the lunch hour and commences that of the siesta. Shutters are closed and most of the town retires for this customary period of napping. By five the relenting sun and lower temperature plus the anticipation of a gala evening once again sends los Sevillanos surging forth to streets convulsed with gesturing, lively humanity and open horse-drawn carriages in competition with honking automobiles, for apparently

JUNE 1976                                  19

the procedure remains first honk, first swerve. Bull-fighting enthusiasts eagerly head for the plaza de toros to observe this traditional and colorful display of a brave beast confronted by the sword of a skillfully courting torero, and where too, perhaps, by watching this enactment of a battle against death in the guise of the bull, they realize more fully they are alive. Others choose merely to promenade their favorite streets, while still others throng to the big swimming pools.

By nine many are back at the restaurants where wines served are in such varieties as to bewilder the stranger, appearing in choices from numerous types of rioja and the light wine of Valdepenas and the sweet one of Malagra to infinite types of sherry, Spanish brandies, anis and aguardiente. While indulging the palate with his final selection, served with a four-course meal of full-flavored Spanish cookery which might include a paella (rice, fish, meat, pimentos) or perhaps roasted lamb, there may appear for the patron another delight in the form of the famous Andalusian dancers rhythmically expressing the passion and gaiety that remains so much a part of the Spanish heritage.

By midnight most of the Sevillanos consider their day well spent and of a sudden the life and bustle come to an end. With shutters latched, deserted streets and the mysteries of the night are left again in the care of Seville’s lean and hungry cats until another day breaks.

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bulletin board

Coming summer attraction! Christ Light Community summer convention July 2-10 with The Rev. David Ebaugh, Rev. Edwin Kelly and Dr. Daniel W. Fry. Many will be there. You? Dr. Gilbert N. Holloway and wife June cordially invite your presence.

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20                                                  UNDERSTANDING

A belated recognition of letters from the British UFO Society, 47 Belsize Square, Hampstead, London, NW3, England. Richard Lawrence of that Society sent an article defending George Adamski’s saucer picture after an article came out suggesting it was a bottle cooler!! Of course it wasn’t a bottle cooler, but thanks Mr. Lawrence. The gentleman who invented the bottle cooler admitted that it was not invented until seven years after Mr. Adamski’s picture was taken.

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