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Watching the World

They Speak “Peace”

◆ The largest meeting of world leaders to be held in 110 years took place in Helsinki, Finland, from July 30 to August 1. Termed the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, it concluded with ratification of a charter, a statement of principles that are supposed to guide participating countries. Asked on opening day whether the conference would contribute significantly to world peace, Soviet Communist Party leader Leonid Brezhnev said: “I want peace and tranquility to reign in Europe. I want all nations to live in peace and not interfere in each other’s affairs.” When asked again whether he thought the goal of peace would be achieved by the prospective agreement, Brezhnev said: “I think so, yes.” United States President Gerald Ford also said that he believed “over all that peace in the world” would be helped by the agreement. Speaking at the gathering, Brezhnev stated, regarding results of the conference: “There are neither victors nor vanquished . . . It is a gain for all who cherish peace and security on our planet.”

Putting Math to Work

◆ During a recent survey made by the Education Commission of the States, it was found that the majority of United States residents were unable to make proper mathematical calculations in everyday matters. For instance, less than half the 17-year-olds and adults polled could determine by calculation which was the most economical package of rice. Also, a mere 1 percent, of the 17-year-olds and but 16 percent of the adults surveyed were able to balance a checkbook. Being unable to calculate the best buys, many pay more for goods and services than they need to. Why does the problem exist? Project director Roy Forbes holds: “Too many students apparently fail to see the relationship between math courses in school and the use of math in everyday living.”

Space Waste

◆ The recent Apollo-Soyuz space venture, involving men and equipment of both the United States and the Soviet Union, brought one space era to its end. With this venture, America’s Apollo program came to its conclusion. But, according to U.S. News & World Report, “nearly a billion dollars’ worth of rockets and spacecraft are being mothballed and officials say it’s unlikely that any of the equipment will ever fly.”

Over 2,000 Years Old

◆ Archaeologists recently discovered a very well-preserved human body in the ancient town of Chinancheng in central China. The male corpse, immersed in a red fluid inside a series of three caskets, is thought to have been buried in the year 167 B.C.E. More than 500 objects, including utensils, clothing and shoes, were found in the same deep pit. The body, said to have a length of 5 feet 4 inches and a weight of 115 pounds, was so well preserved that its joints were movable and its skin still had elasticity.

Know When to Turn Back

◆ Hiking over mountain trails is enjoyed by many people. Yet each year, even in summer, hundreds develop hypothermia, the uncontrolled lowering of body temperature from exposure to sudden storms, winds and temperature drops. In the past century, dozens of people have been .killed by hypothermia in the White Mountains of New Hampshire alone. Hikers are advised to eat well, to dress for the worst possible weather, and when poor weather conditions develop, to turn back.

Army Ant​—Always a Villain?

◆ Army ants of South America long have been viewed as destructive villains. Columns of them are said to devour creatures and plants alike during their march, supposedly ravaging vast areas. But entomologists doing research in Ecuadorian forests recently found that the staple food of army ants consists of other insects. Ask some villagers in Ecuador and they may tell you that there is a good side to the advance of army ants. These people move out of their houses for a day or more while the ants march through. After the army ants have done away with other insects, the villagers return.

Suicide Attempts Endanger Others

◆ Each year an estimated 12,500 innocent persons are killed or injured by people attempting suicide, according to Maryland physician H. Resnik of the National Institute of Mental Health. For example, those who attempt suicide by running an automobile engine in a closed garage in order to inhale carbon monoxide gas may kill or injure others when the gas seeps into adjoining homes. Persons jumping from buildings kill or cause severe injury to pedestrians below. Some kill or maim by deliberately driving their cars into oncoming traffic. In addition, there is the emotional damage done to family members, especially children, who are left behind by a suicide.

Windmill Power

◆ Years ago windmills accounted for much of the power for pumping water on farms in the United States. There are said to be some 175,000 old-fashioned windmills yet in rural areas, about half of them usable. With energy costs rising, the windmill is getting another look as an alternate power source. Electricity-generating windmills are already in production. Experiments are being made with giant windmills for possible industrial use.

Security-Guard Upsurge

◆ A recent study in New York city revealed that the private security-guard business was growing dramatically. Security consultant Sydney C. Cooper estimated that New York has from 75,000 to 100,000 private security guards. “The figure far exceeds the combined total of the New York City police force of 30,000; transit police, 3200; Port Authority police, 1200, and sanitation police, 240,” reported the New York Post. Private guards are on the job in stores, apartment buildings and factories, and entire communities have uniformed guards for street patrols.

Sterilization Increase

◆ Many United States couples are resorting to sterilization for contraceptive purposes. From 12 percent during 1965, the number had risen to 29 percent by 1973, with another 14 percent saying they planned on sterilization. According to this study undertaken by the National Survey of Family Growth, these operations were divided nearly evenly between males and females.

How High Is Everest?

◆ Mount Everest, in the Himalayas, is well known as the earth’s highest peak. But how high is it? By trigonometrical means its height once was established as 29,140 feet. Basing their figure on measurements undertaken early in the twentieth century, Chinese atlases have given Everest’s height as 8,882 meters (29,191 feet). But both Western and Chinese cartographers recently agreed on a height of 8,848 meters, or 29,031 feet, after Everest was measured by members of a Chinese expedition that reached the mount’s summit on May 27.

Breast-Cancer Toll

◆ A World Health Organization study reveals that more women are dying now from breast cancer than ever before, despite present efforts at early detection and surgery. According to the study, there is a pattern of low death rate for breast cancer in most of Asia, Africa and Latin America. But, on the average, one woman in 25 dies of it in Western Europe and North America. “It is a somber thought,” states the report, “that present methods of treatment​—though evidently effective in many individual cases—​do not seem to be having any over-all impact upon the disease or upon the heavy toll it takes of female lives.” Breast-feeding is not so common in North America and Western Europe. Many feel that this is a factor contributing to the higher breast-cancer rate.

Highest Deficit in 30 Years

◆ For the fiscal year ending June 30, 1975, the United States government had its highest budget deficit in thirty years​—$44.2 billion. During the preceding twelve months the government had taken in $280.9 billion in the form of income taxes and other revenues, whereas it spent $325.1 billion. Federal government budget deficits have taken place in sixteen of the last eighteen fiscal years, and this year’s deficit is the highest since the war year of 1945.

“Holy” Rats

◆ Deshnouk temple, in India’s state of Rajasthan, is dedicated to the lowly rat. Reportedly, at this location over $3.3 million worth of grain is fed to these “sacred” rodents yearly. Should a pilgrim accidentally trample a “holy” rat to death, he is penalized. The fine? A golden statue of the dead creature given as a gift​—at a cost of some $450. Reflecting on the grain fed to rats at Deshnouk, Indian scientist Narendra Sharma asked: “Isn’t it rather ironic? Ruddy rats going around with their tummies full of all sorts of goodies in a perennially poverty-stricken state where human beings cannot even expect a couple of square meals a day?”

Ancient Statue of Hadrian

◆ During late July, in a field near Beit Shean, Israel, an amateur archaeologist found a life-size bronze statue of Roman Emperor Hadrian. Morton Leventhal, a visiting New York city stockbroker, responded to the beeps of a metal detector he was using and began digging, only to find the head of the second-century statue lying face down. Though the statue was in pieces, reassembly was considered to be no major task. Reportedly, the statue is worth tens of thousands of dollars. It has tentatively been dated between 117 and 138 C.E., when Hadrian ruled.

Howl of the Coyote

◆ To many people the wail of the coyote is quite an eerie sound. But it is particularly unpleasant to sheepmen of the western United States, since the coyote’s jaws yearly reduce their flocks by tens of thousands. Though the predators are trapped and shot, this has little effect on their ranks, now estimated at 2.5 million. In recent times, they have spread to southern Canada, as well as the eastern United States.

Two Official Tongues

◆ Peru now has two official languages​—Spanish and Quechua. Millions of Indians living in Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador and northern Argentina and Chile speak Quechua, an ancient tongue that spread throughout the Andes in the days of the Incas. In early June it became Peru’s second official tongue. Peru now is the second Latin-American land having two official languages. The other is Paraguay, where both Spanish and Guarani hold sway.

Quake Damages Shrines

◆ When a 30-second earthquake struck central Burma on July 8, it turned many religious temples into rubble. The shock waves did their damage at Pagan (Puh-gahnʹ), southwest of Mandalay, along the Irrawaddy River’s eastern bank. Once a royal capital, Pagan had some 5,000 temples in past centuries, and over 2,200 still are in evidence as mounds of ruins or structures in various states of preservation. The recent tremor reportedly damaged over half of Pagan’s 500 most important religious structures. Included in the rubble is the gigantic seated Buddha of Thandawgya, now headless and with a nearly shattered torso.

Late to Bed?

◆ Individuals vary, but those who customarily go to bed at a late hour may be impairing their health. According to New Orleans Public Service Inc., they may encounter such troubles as visual strain, hearing impairment, greater irritability and mental depression. Last, but not least, complete collapse may be experienced. An old saying is, “Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.” Well, that practice may at least make you healthier or help to preserve the health you now enjoy.