Watching the World

‘Harmful to Children’

● “The threat of nuclear war is having a harmful psychological effect on children,” reports The Globe and Mail of Toronto, Canada. Three fourths of students in grades 5 and 6 and grades 12 and 13 that were interviewed did not expect to live out their natural lives, said Toronto psychiatrist Frank Sommers. In a U.S. study, psychiatrist Sybille Escalona asked 350 children what they thought the world would be like in ten years. Seventy percent “spontaneously mentioned the bomb . . . either by envisaging a gruesome existence underground, or in terms of wholesale destruction,” Escalona said. In the Soviet Union, 80 percent of 300 youths questioned by U.S. psychiatrists stated that the threat of nuclear war affected their future plans. The Toronto newspaper concludes: “As adults and parents, we must understand the enormity of what we are doing to children in presenting them with a world laden with such terrible, omnipotent weapons.”

Peace After 2,130 Years

● The Third Punic War between Rome and Carthage, which was fought from 149 to 146 B.C.E., at which time Carthage was destroyed, has finally come to an official end. In February, at Tunis, Tunisia, Mayor Ugo Vetere of Rome and Mayor Chadli Klibi of Carthage signed a peace treaty. “In a warring world, almost any peace treaty that is signed​—anywhere, by anybody—​has to be hailed,” says The Economist. “Better late than never.”

Spy Surge

● “We have more people charged with espionage right now than ever before in our history,” said William H. Webster, director of the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation). In 1984, 9 people, including 5 Americans, were charged with spying, bringing the total up to 22 since 1979. Why are spies apparently proliferating? The biggest motivator is money. But there is another reason. According to The New York Times, investigators say that “a dangerous new breed of spy has emerged in recent years: the man or woman with access to classified information who is excited by the action and intrigue of spy novels and movies and decides to live out fictional fantasies.” People become spies “not just for money but also for excitement,” says the report.

Burglary Danger

● Every year almost a million people are at home when a burglar breaks in, and 30 percent of them become victims of violence, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics of the United States Justice Department. These chilling statistics are based on reports of 73 million burglaries that occurred from 1973 to 1982. Of the 9.5 million people that were surprised by burglars during this period, 1.7 million were assaulted, 786,000 were robbed, and 281,000 were raped. “A substantial proportion of the violent crimes that occur in the home take place during a burglary,” says bureau director Steven Schlesinger.

Baby Shortage

● “More than 160,000 babies were aborted last year, cutting the number of newborn babies available for adoption to a trickle,” reports The Daily Telegraph of London. “Childless couples who want to adopt now have to wait years for a suitable baby and in many cases will never be able to get a newborn infant.” Additionally, more single women today keep their babies rather than offer them up for adoption. “Faced with such a lack of new-born babies for adoption it is inevitable that surrogacy will become increasingly attractive to childless couples desperate for a baby unless it is banned by law,” concludes the report.

Unceasing Cesareans

● “More babies are being delivered by Caesarean [sic] than ever,” reports Newsweek, despite well-publicized recommendations to reverse this trend. In 1975 cesareans were performed in 10.4 percent of all births in the United States. In 1980 the number of cesareans rose to 17 percent. Today the figure stands at 20 percent. Dr. Norbert Gleicher, author of a recent study in The Journal of the American Medical Association, says that a third of today’s cesareans are performed because the operation had been used during the mother’s previous delivery. But the axiom “once a cesarean section always a cesarean section” is out of date, he says, adding that “60 percent of these women can deliver vaginally if given the opportunity.” Gleicher recommends that hospitals with high cesarean-section delivery rates should be investigated.

Avoiding Blood Hazards

● “Too many of both [physicians and patients] think donor transfusions are safe,” says Ronald O. Gilcher, director of the Oklahoma Blood Institute. “Homologous transfusions are not really safe.” Agreeing is Dr. Robert Mendelsohn, a well-known critic of many common medical practices, who suggests the following to avoid the hazards of blood transfusion: “Since blood banks are unlikely to ask all the tough questions that might eliminate many [unsuitable] donors, and since plenty of donors are unlikely to knock themselves out of the box by giving totally truthful answers, I repeat my time-tested recommendation​—if your doctor tells you you need a blood transfusion, try to pass as a Jehovah’s Witness.” Of course, that would be deceptive. But the doctor apparently feels that the position of Jehovah’s Witnesses against taking blood is a wise one.

Spare That Frog

● ‘Stop using frogs’ legs from Bangladesh, India, and Indonesia.’ That is what the World Wildlife Fund is asking restaurant owners and hotel chefs to do in order to preserve these three countries’ most effective insect control. Bangladesh alone exported 70 million frogs in 1983. But 70 million frogs eat 100 tons of insects daily, including malaria-carrying mosquitoes, says the Wildlife Fund. Without these frogs, mosquitoes proliferate. Adds Elizabeth Kemf, editor of W.W.F. News: “In Bangladesh the cost of importing pesticides [to fight insects] far exceeds revenue earned” from exporting frogs.

‘Unethical Practice’

● The practice of taking blood transfusions to enhance athletic performance is known as blood-boosting, blood-doping, and blood-packing. Proponents say it can increase an athlete’s endurance by adding red blood cells, which carry oxygen to the body. Recently, at least six, perhaps as many as nine, members of the American cycling team admitted that blood transfusions had been administered to them before competing in the Olympic Games in Los Angeles, reports The New York Times. While acknowledging that blood transfusions were not strictly forbidden in writing, F. Don Miller, the executive director of the United States Olympic Committee, condemned them as “an unethical sports practice.”

Flunking Geography

● “U.S. College Students ‘Flunk’ in Knowledge of Geography.” That was a 1951 headline in The New York Times. Then, only 77.5 percent of college students in North Carolina could name the country drained by the Amazon River. Are college students better informed today? Not according to a recent statewide exam. Only 27 percent of North Carolina college students named the correct country. Less than 50 percent could name the two states with the largest area in the United States​—Alaska and Texas. Some respondents placed Dublin in Ohio, Lima in Italy, the Ganges in Brazil, and the Amazon in Egypt. “For a country . . . whose social matrix is inextricably woven into world affairs, we are amazingly uninformed of its geography,” said Professor Richard J. Kopec in assessing the results of the test.

Boy Talk, Girl Talk

● “In an average conversation, women ask 70 percent of the questions and men interrupt 96 percent of the time.” That is how Science 85 summarizes the results of studies that analyzed informal conversations between two persons of the opposite sex. Men were more restrained​—interrupting only 75 percent of the time—​when they conversed with women that were new acquaintances. As for starting cross-sex conversations, public relations consultant Pamela Fishman observed that men succeeded in 28 out of 29 attempts while women succeeded only 17 times out of 47. “Men . . . do the lion’s share of the interrupting (and the talking),” concludes the article.

Stretching MPG

● Attached to the wiring of inventor David Hicks’ 1981 Toyota station wagon is a small 13-ounce (370-g) device that any cost-conscious car owner would love to have. The device boosts miles per gallon by 14 to 23 percent. How does it work? By controlling the electrical output of the car’s alternator. The alternator constantly produces electricity​—usually too much—​when a car is running. This exerts mechanical drag on the engine. But Hicks’ invention disables the alternator except when the driver activates the brake light or when the battery’s charge gets low. The alternator runs freely most of the time, putting only a minuscule load on the engine. Engineers from the Department of Energy call it “a very convincing method of improving motor vehicle economy.”

Donkey Comeback

● The city of Itu, Brazil, inaugurated its new Exposition Grounds with an auction of 160 donkeys, bringing in 650 million cruzeiros (about $217,000, U.S.). The best animal, a Brazilian Pega, fetched 24 million cruzeiros (about $8,000, U.S.). Donkeys are becoming highly prized in Brazil. Less costly and more durable than tractors, they can work on steep slopes, get into difficult corners, and loosen up the earth with their hooves as they pull a plow. Rising fuel costs make the donkey even more attractive. Most of the auctioned animals will be used for breeding purposes.

Violent Toys

● “Various groups across the country are encouraging consumers to boycott military toys,” wrote columnist Lois Sweet in The Toronto Star. GI Joe, a popular doll, is one of the major boycott targets. Other protested toys are A Team, HeMan, and Masters of the Universe dolls​—all modeled after violent characters on popular television programs. Why the concern? Sweet says that “the resurgence in war toys points to a renewed romanticization of war,” and that these toys teach children that “force is the way to solve problems.” GI Joe​—with sales totaling $125 million (U.S.)​—was the best-selling toy in 1984.

Unplanned Confession

● Frances James had just got on a train after visiting her daughter, who had been robbed and shot by an unknown assailant only the day before. “I just happened to sit down next to these guys,” she later told The Boston Globe, “and I heard one say, ‘I pumped a broad in Dorchester last night because she wouldn’t turn loose her bag.’” Mrs. James’ ears perked up. “Did you waste her?” asked his companion, she said. The reply: “Nah, I don’t think so. There was nothin’ on the TV.” She followed the youths, called the police, and helped locate the suspect so they could make the arrest. The arrestee, only 14 years old, was arraigned on charges of juvenile delinquency by reason of attempted murder. Said Mrs. James, “And there he was talking about shooting my daughter . . . right next to me. Now that’s incredible, isn’t it?”