SPAN: December 1977

VOYAGER:

OUT INTO

SPACE

Carrying sounds of laughter, music from many nations, including India, and greetings in 55 languages (nine Indian) two Voyager spacecraft blasted off August 20 and September 6,journeying billions of miles toward 'outer worlds. The two craft will pass Jupiter in 1979, Saturn in 1980 and 1981, probing them by TV cameras, spectro-

meters and magnetometers. One 'of the Voyagers will then move on past Uranus and Neptune, and hurl itself out of the solar system late in 1989, Qearing its recorded messages for whatever alien civilizations lie beyond. The painting above shows a Voyager's instrument scan platform aimed at Jupiter and its famous red spot (inset).

A LEITER FROM THE PUBUSHER A recent article by the political analyst Richard Lowenthal in Encounter magazine is remarkable for its balanced overview of the events of our recent troubled past-the period from the mid-60s to the present. It was a time when the pillars of liberal democracy were being shaken by disaffected groups. Morale was at a low ebb in the United States and other Western countries. The future looked bleak. But, Lowenthal points out, the pillars of democracy stood; the United States emerged all the stronger for its ordeal. In Lowenthal's words: "u.s. democracy has largely overcome ... the tendencies toward selfflagellation, the addiction to disclosures, and the paralysis of foreign policy that had been the legacy of Vietnam and Watergate, and Americans have gained a new self-confidence."

Similarly, the Western democracies lived through those years of crisis without serious damage to their political system.

Lowenthal goes on to say that the intellectuals in the West, who were the most ardent adversaries of their own societyduring the late 60s and early 70s, haye turned their back on the destructive cult of violence they used to advocate and turned their face to democratic institutions. Yet they have remained utopian: they still look for an economic and social order that would be free of all conflict. And they still dream of an ideal world, justifying any and all means to achieve that dream.

Lowenthal ends his thoughtful article with the hope that more and more of the intellectuals will come to recognize that the basic values of the West are worth being preserved by renewal-and that they will commit themselves to the service of that creative task.

But who are these intellectuals that it should matter what they think? What power do they possess?

The intellectuals are important because of their moral force. They are the ones who, more than any other group, try to measure their society by the yardsticks of that society's own proclaimed values. Hence, intellectuals are especially sensitive to the contradictions between basic values and social reality. They are society's conscience, our necessary virtue.

The world-famous Rumanian-born playwright Eugene Ionesco, in a recent. interview in Newsweek magazine, has described the role of the intellectuals incisively: QUESTION: But is the role of the intellectuals in the world really as important as you're suggesting?

IONESCO: But, of course. They make public opinion, bit by bit. Not in one year, not in two years, not even in ten years, but all the time.

Archimedes said that, given one firm spot, one can move the earth. Public opinion is the fulcrum that can overturn the contemporary world. In the past few years we have seen public opinion in the United States force the resignation of one President. And it has seen the election and popular support of another President who embodies in his commitment to universal human rights the clear mandate of the American people.

But the United States does not stand alone in this commitment. In the words with which President Jimmy Carter concludes his recent speech to the United Nations cited on pages 2-3 of this issue: "No nation has a monopoly of vision, of creativity, or of ideas. Bringing these together from many nations is our common responsibility and our common challenge. For only in these ways can the idea of a peaceful global community grow and prosper."

-J.W.G.

SPAN 2 4 5 10 14 18 21 28 31

What You Always Wanted to Know About U. S. Education

32 36

Beyond Television: The Future of Communication

by Erik Barnouw

40 Robert Motherwell-

The 'Open' Artist

by John F. Coppola

45 46 47

Indian Ambassador Presents Credentials to President Carter

48

A Tribute to Bing Crosby

49

Modern Roadside Sculpture

Front cover: This alert, cheerful yOl,lngstersymbolizes millions of children who attend American schools. For a special section on U.S. education, see pages 10-20.

Back cover: Massive concrete beams form a playground for mother and child. This sculpture is one of hundreds that now dot the American countryside. See page 49.

JACOB SLOAN, Editor; JAY W. GILDNER, Publisher.

Assistant Managing Editor: S.R. Madhu.

Managing Editor: Chidananda.Dasgupta.

Editorial Staff: Mohammed Reyazuddin, Avinash Pasricha, Nirmal Sharma, Krishan Gabrani, Murari Saha, Rocque Fernandes. Art Director: Nand Katyal. Art Staff: Gopi Gajwani, B. Roy Choudhury, Kanti Roy. Chief of Production: Awtar S. Marwaha.

Photographic Services: USIS Photo Lab. Published by the United States Information Service, 24 Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi 110001, on behalf of the American Embassy, New Delhi. The opinions expressed in this magazine do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the United States Government. Printed by Aroon Purie at Thomson Press (India) Limited, Faridabad, Haryana.

Photographs: Front cover-Avinash Pasricha. lnside front cover-NASA. 5-courtesy National Geographic magazine. 8-drawing by Robert Conrad. 12-Avinash Pasricha. 14-17-Carl Howard. 19-Homi Jal. 21-Richard Braaten. 22-Mike Mitchell. 23-courtesy Arena Stage. 24-Mikc Mitchell. 26 left-George P. Miller: right-Arthur Pleasants; boltom-James D. Warring. 27 top-Mike Mitchell: bottom-courtesy National Theater. 28-31-Sahm Doheny, Camera 5. 37-courtcsy BclJ Laboratories. 40-courtesy Vogue magazine. 43-collection Metropoli-tan . Museum of Art, New York. 47-Sandip Ray.

Use of SPAN articles in other publications is encouraged, except when copyrighted. For permission, write to tbe Editor. Price of magazine: one year's subscription (t2 issues), 18 rupees; single copy, 2 rupees 50 paise. For change of address, send an old address from a recent SPAN envelope along with new address to A.K. Mitra, Circulation Manager.

SPAN Magazine, 24 Kasturba Gandhi Marg. New Delhi 110001. (See change of address form on page 48.)

THE MAdOR DIMENSIONS OF PEACE

by JIMMY CARTER President of the United States

.In his October 4 speech to the GeneralAssembly of the United Nations (excerpted below), President Carter stressed the role America intends to play in reducing all armaments, controlling nuclear technology, restricting the arms trade, and resolving international disputes.

Thirty-two years ago, in the cold dawn of the atomic age, this organization came into being. Its first and most urgent purpose has been to secure peace for an exhausted and ravaged world.

Present conditions in some respects appear quite hopeful.

Yet the assurance of peace continues to elude us. Before the end of this century, a score of nations could possess nuclear weapons. If this should happen, the world that we leave our children will mock our own hopes for peace.

• The level of nuclear armaments could grow by tens of thousands, and the same situation could well occur with advanced conventional weapons. The temptation to use the weapons, or fear that someone else will do it first, will be almost irresistible .

• The ever-growing trade in conventional arms subverts international commerce from a force for peace to a caterer for war.

• Violence, terrorism, assassiniLtion, undeclared warsall threaten to destroy the restrainJ and moderation that must become the dominant characteristic of our age.

Unless we establish a cod(f of international behavior in which the resort to violence becomes increasingly irrelevant to the pursuit of national interests, we will crush the world's dreams for human development and the full flowering of human freedom ....

Today; I want to address the major dimensions 'of peace, and the role the United States intends to play in limiting and reducing all armaments, controlling nuclear technology, restricting the arms trade, and settling disputes by peaceful means.

When aJoniic weapons were used for the first time, Winston Churchill ,described the power of the atom as "a revelation long, mercifully withheld from man .... " Sip.ce then we have learned, in Durrenmatt's chilling words, that "what has once been thought can never be un-thought."

Peace will not be. assured until the weapons of war are finally put away. While we work toward that goal, nations will want sufficient arms to preserve their security. The United States purpose is to ensure peace. It is for that reason that our military posture and our alliances will remain as strong as necessary to \'teter attack.

However, the security of the global community cannot forever rest on a balance of terror. In the past, war has been accepted as the ultimate arbiter of disputes among nations.

But, in the nucl~ar era, we can no longer think of war as merely the continuation of diplomacy by other means. Nuclear war cannot be measured by archaic standards of "victory" and "defeat." This stark. reality imposes. on the United States and the Soviet Union an awesome and special responsibility.

The United States is engaged along with other nations in a broad range of negotiations. In the Strategic Arms Limitations Talks (SALT), we and the Soviets are within sight of a significant agreement in limiting the total numbers of weapons and in restricting certain categories of weapons of special concern to each of us. We can also start the crucial process of curbing the relentless march of technological development which makes .-C<

>#

nuclear weapons ever more difficult to control.

The United States is willing to go as far as possible, consistent with our security interests, in limiting and reducing our nuclear weapons. On a reciprocal basis we are willing now to reduce them by 10 per cent, by 20 per cent, even by 50 per cent. Then we will work for further reductions ....

The United States also recognizes the threat of continued testing of nuclear explosives.

Negotiations for a comprehensive ban on nuclear explosions are now being conducted by the United States, the Upited Kingdom and the Soviet Union. As in other areas where vital national security interests are engaged, agreements must be verifiable and fair. They must be seen by all the parties as serving a longer term interest that justifies the restraints of the moment.

One longer term interest in this instance is to close one more avenue of nuclear competition, and thereby demonstrate to all the world that the major nuclear powers take seriously our obligations to reduce the threat of nuclear catastrophe.

My country believes that the time has come to end all explosions of nuclear devices, no matter what their claimed justification-peaceful or military. And we appreciate the efforts of otqer nations to reach this same goal.

During the past nine months, I have expressed the special importance we attach to controlling nuclear proliferation. But I fear that many do not understand why the United States feels as it does.

Why is it so important to avoid the chance that one or two or ten other nations might acquire one or two or ten nuclear weapons of their own? Let me try to explain, for I deeply believe that this is one of the greatest challenges that we face in the next quarter of a century.

It is a truism that nuclear weapons are a powerful deterrent.

They are a deterrent because they threaten. They could be used for terrorism or biackmail ~s well as war. But they threaten not just the intended enemy; they threaten every nationcombatant and noncombatant alike ....

Let me be frank. The existence of nuclear weapons in the U.S. and U.S.S.R., and in Great Britain, France, and in China, is something we cannot undo except by the painstaking process of negotiation. But the existence of these weapons does not mean that other nations need to develop their own weapons, any more than it provides a reason for those of us who have them to share them with others.

Rather it imposes two solemn obligations on the nations which have the capacity to export nuclear fuels and technologies-the obligations. to meet legitimate energy needs and, in doing so, to ensure that nothing we export contributesdirectly or indirectly-to the production of nuclear explosives.

That is why the supplier nations are seeking a common policy, and that is why the United States and the Soviet Union, even • as we struggle to find common ground in the SALT talks, have already moved closer toward agreement and cooperation in our efforts to limit nuclear proliferation.

I have heard it said that efforts to control nuclear proliferation are futile; that the genie is already out of the bottle. I do not believe this to be true. It should not be forgotten that for 25 years the nuclear club did not expand its membership. By genuine cooperation we can make certain this terrible club expands no further.

I have talked about the special problems of nuclear arms control and nuclear proliferation at some length. Now let me turn to the problem of conventional arms control, which affects potentially or directly every nation that is represented in this great hall. This is not a matter of the future-not even of the near future-but of the immediate present. Worldwide military expenditures are now in the neighborhood of $300 billion a year. Last year the nations of the world spent 60 times as much equipping each soldier as we did educating each child ....

For our part, the United States has now begun to reduce its arms exports. Our aim is to reduce both the quantity and deadliness of the weapons we sell. We have taken the first few steps, but we cannot go very far alone. Nations whose neighbors are purchasing large quantities of arms feel constrained to do the same. Supplier nations who practice restraint in arms sales sometimes find that they simply lose valuable commercial markets to other suppliers.

We hope to work with other suppliers to cut back on the flow of arms and to reduce the rate at which the most advanced and sophisticated weapon technologies spread around the world.

We do not expect this task to be easy or to produce instant results. But we are committed to stop the spiral of increasing sale of weapons.

Equally important, we hope that purchaser nations, individually and through regional organizations, will limit their arms imports. We are ready to provide to some nations the necessary means for legitimate self-defense, but we are also eager to work with any nation or region in order to decrease the need for more numerous, more deadly weapons ....

As we seek to establish the principles of detente among the major nuclear powers, we believe that these principles must also apply in regional conflicts. The United States is committed to the peaceful settlement of differences. We are committed to the strengthening of the peace-making capabilities of the United Nations and regional organizations ....

The United States supports Great Britain's efforts to bring about a peaceful, rapid transition to majority rule and independence in Zimbabwe. We have joined other members of the Security Council and the Secretary General in efforts to bring about independence and democratic rule in Namibia. We are pleased with the level of cooperation we have achieved with the leaders of the nations in the area, as well as those people who are struggling for independence. We urge South Africa and other nations to support the proposed solution to the problems in Zimbabwe, and to cooperate still more closely in providing for a smooth and prompt transition in Namibia.

But it is essential that all outside nations exercise restraint in their actions in Zimbabwe and Namibia, so that we can bring about majority rule and avoid a widening war that could engulf the southern half of the African continent.

Of all the regional conflicts in the world, none holds more menace than the Middle East. War there has carried the world to the edge of nuclear confrontation. It has disrupted the world economy and imposed severe hardships on the peop'le in the developed and developing .nations alike. So true peace-peace' embodied in binding treaties-is essential. It will be in the interest of the Israelis and the Arabs. It is in the interest of the American people. It is in the interest of the entire world.

Good faith negotiations also require acceptance by all sides of the fundamental rights and interests of everyone involved. â&#x20AC;˘ For Israel, this must mean borders that are recognized

and secure. Security arrangements are crucial to a nation that has fought for its survival in each of the last four decades.

The commitment of the United States to Israel's security is unquestionable. â&#x20AC;˘ For the Arabs, the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people must b~ recognized. One of the things that binds the American people to Israel is our shared respect for human rights and the courage with which Israel ha¡s defended such rights. It is clear that a true and lasting peace in' the Middle East must also respect the rights of all the peoples of the area. How these rights are to be defined and implemented is, of course, for the interested parties to decide and not for us to dictate ..

We do not intend to impose from the outside a settlement on the nations of the Middle East.

The major powers have a special responsibility to act with restraint in areas of the world where they have competing interests, because the association of these interests with local rivalries and conflicts can lead to a serious confrontation. In the Indian Ocean area neither we nor the Soviet Union has a large military presence, nor is there a rapidly mounting competition between us. Restraint in the area may well begin with a mutual effort to stabilize our presence and to avoid an escalation in military competition. Then both sides can consider how our military activities in the Indian Ocean area might be even further reduced.

We have survived and surmounted major challenges since the U.N. was founded, but we can accelerate progress even in a world of ever increasing diversity. A commitment to strengthen international institutions is vital, but progress lies also in our national policies. We can work together and form a community of peace if we accept the kind of obligations that I have suggested today. To summarize: First, an obligation to remove the threat of nuclear weaponry, to reverse the build-up of armaments and their trade, and to conclude bilateral and multilateral arms control agreements that can bring security to all ofus.'

In order to reduce the reliance of nations on nuclear weaponry, I hereby declare on behalf of the United States that we will not use nuclear weapons except in self-defense; that is, in circumstances of an actual nuclear or conventional attack on the United State~, our territories or armed forces or such an attack on our allies.

In addition, we hope that initiatives by the Western nations to secure mutual and balanced force reductions in Europe will be met by equal response from the Warsaw Pact countries.

Second, an obligation to show restraint in areas of tension, to negotiate disputes and settle them peacefully, and to strengthen the peacemaking capabilities of the United Nations and regional organizations.

And, finally, an effort by all nations, East as well as West, North as well as South, to fulfill mankind's aspirations for human development and human freedom. It is to meet these basic demands that we build governments and seek peace.

We must share these obligations for our own mutual survival and our own mutual prosperity.

We can see a world at peace. We can work for a world without want. We can build a global community dedicated to these purposes and to human dignity.

The view that I have sketched for you, today, is that of only one leader in only one nation. However wealthy and powerful the United States may be-however capable of leadershipthis power is increasingly relative, the leadership increasingly is in need of being shared.

No nation has a monopoly of vision, of creativity, or of ideas.

Bringing these together from many nations is our COmmon responsibility and our common challenge. For only in these ways can the idea of a peaceful global community grow and prosper. 0 I

EXPANDIN.INDO-U.S.TRADE The United States is the world's largest single market, and also India's foremost trading partner, said the Commercial Attache to the American Embassy, addressing a recent seminar organized by the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce in Agra. His speech is abridged below.

There is an old saying that trade between countries is a two-way street.

India and the U.S. buy large quantities of certain products from each other.

India supplies the United States with about 65 per cent of our jute backing needs, 33 per cent of our cashew nuts, almost 25 per cent of our imports of raw shrimp and prawns. India' is also a principal supplier to the United States of items such as hand tools, bicycles, textiles, gems, sporting goods and engineering products.

The U.S. supplies India with about 60 per cent of its heavy earth-moving equipment, 50 per cent of its specialized machine tools, 70 per cent of-its computers and related equipment, and about 40 per cent of its new oil drilling equipment and supplies and specialized pumps and valves.

President Jimmy Carter has made it clear that he supports free trade and the removal of trade restrictions. This is the basic policy. of the U.S. Government in the multilateral trade negotiations now . . l' I d' h U' d American businessmen showed keen interest in III progress mvo vmg n Ia t e mte . . '.

India-made products at the recent trade fmr S~ates,and ot~er fre~-world tradmg co~n- / held in Los Angeles by the Trade Development tnes. We belIeve m and are workmg Authority of India. Above: Buyers examine toward a freer flow of trade between engineering tools made by the Projects and countries.

Equipment Corporation of India, Limited.

An important move in this direction by the American Government has been the U.S. Generalized System of Preferences product (cups, saucers, dinner plates, etc.) is a good example of a new export (GSP) wmch went into effect on January 1; 1976. Under this scheme, some 2,700 from India under the GSP. This illustrates products-from developing countries, rang- the basic concept behind the GSP, which is to encourage developing countries to ing from Angora goat hair to zirconium oxide, are permitted duty free entry into diversify their exports.

The United States remains the largest the United States. India is already selling about 550 products in the United States single-country market in the world, an which are eligible for duty free entry affluent market of some 216 million under the GSP. These include precious people. Many people view the U.S. and semiprecious stones, cast iron fittings, market, particularly with national advertising via television, as a huge, single, leather belts, and ivory articlt<s.

In 1976, about $73 million worth of homogeneous market. In fact, the markets Indian products were eligible for duty in the United States are determined by the free entry into the United States unde~ the type of product that you are trying to sell.

GSP. This amounted to about 10 per cent Some items, such as fashion clothing of India's total exports to the U.S. items, have diverse markets. Skirts and Recently I attended a ceremony marking shirts that sell well in California may not the first shipment ever of ceramic items be popular in Connecticut. A basic condifrom India to the United States. This tion for being able to sell in the United

States is that you must know the market.

This involves doing some sort of market research. You may' enter into agreement with a good distributor who knows the U.S. market; participate in trade shows, of which there are hundreds each year; take part in buyer-seller meets; advertise in trade journals; or visit the United States in person and line up buyers.

For some basic facts, I recommend the publication Market Information SeriesUSA, prepared by the Indian Trade Development Authority. It contains valuable information on marketing and distribution in the United States.

I notice that India has recently won some very big orders for products that are popular in the United States. An article appeared in the newspapers stating that Indian scooters and mopeds will shortly make their debut on American streets and roads, following an order secured by Scooters India. Another example is the agreement entered into by India's Tannery and Footwear Corporation and an American company for the supply of young men's boots. These are just two of the many areas in the United States that are open to enterprising Indian companies.

In addition to a large, affluent market, another advantage of selling in the United States is that there are virtually no import restrictions. We do not have any import licensing arrangements, and in general we do not impose quota restrictions on imports. Our basic philosophy is that imports help keep prices down for the American consumer. For the exporter to the United States, this means that if you have a product that is of good quality, at a competitive price, and can meet¡ delivery schedules, you can compete in the U.S. market.

It is to the mutual advantage of both countries that trade between the United States and India continue to expand.

Today, the United States is India's largest trading partner. I believe that we will see continued increases in trade between our two countries as long as the commercial and economic factors remain favorable for such trade.

0

T

he floor of the sea is a land no man can ever walk, a spectacular landscape miles beneath the ocean's surface, only recently explored and, as late as 25years ago, virtually uncharted. Much of the surfac~ of the moon is better known than the surface of the earth beneath the sea. But the floor of the sea has become the subject of one( of the bitterest-and, some observers say, most hopeless-disputes in international relations today. On the bottom of the ocean are mineral deposits large enough to supply all mankind for years, even centuries, to come.

There is enough copper to last the entire world for 6,000 years, compared with 40 years' reserves on land; enough nickel to last 150,000 years, versus 100; aluminum for 20,000 years, versus 100.

With deposits on land dwindling and becoming harder to find and more expensive to mine, some of the largest metals and energy companies in the world have formed partnerships to mine the sea for metals that today cost the United States some $2 billion yearly to import, Some companies have already mined the floor of the sea successfully, but only in tests.

One company reports two areas which alone hold more nickel than all the known reserves on dry land. Another company tried to file a claim with the United States Government for the rights to a "mother lode"¡ on the Pacific ocean floor. Altogether, the companies have spent more than $100 million on exploration and testing. Now they want to begin ocean mining commercially.

It's Ii hunt for sunken treasure on a cor- . porate, national and global scale. But what are the rights of the hunters? Who is to control the sea floor-an area larger than all the continents together-and who is to profit from it? These questions have embroiled more than half a dozen meetings of the United Nations Law of the Sea Conference.

* * *

More than half of the world lies two miles deep beneath the sea. For a generation, in increasing numbers, men in small ships have prowled the oceans,. profiling, photographing and sampling the floor of the sea, drawing the shape of a landscape no one had ever seen, finding new mysteries. They discovered the forces that shape the continents and the causes of mountain ranges, eruptions and earthquakes, all of which had baffled geologists for a century.

Beneath the sea, clefts, cliffs, plains and mountains lie in pristine grandeur. Plains flatter than the eye can measure stretch over the curve of the earth. Low hills spring from the plain and cluster on higher ground.

Seamounts rise out of the landscape, their flanks sheer and unencumbered by foothills.

Gaping chasms drop as deep again as the sea floor itself. Massed peaks rise rank on rank into a chain of mountains greater than

any above the sea.

On the ocean floor it is dark, silent and almost still. Placia currents whiffle by, leaving ripples in the sediments. There are fish and shrimp in the watâ&#x201A;Źr; anemones, starfish, sea urchins and odd animals called sea cucumbers on the bottom, clams and a myriad of tiny worms in the sediment itself. More happens in the deep sea than anyone ever suspected.

Time-lapse photography in a part of the Pacific staked out for deep-sea mining has surprised biologists: The bottom visible to the camera changed completely in six months; rough places became smooth, and smooth ones rough. Animals stalked by, leaving only their tracks. Something that for three months had looked like a rock got up and moved about a foot, then settled down again and looked like a rock for three more months.

Life proceeds without haste in the deep.

A tiny clam may not become sexually mature and reproduce until it is 60 years old. Decay

Far from being a last resort, mining the floor of the sea has certain advantages over mining ashore. A deposit of manganese nodules can be found without drilling or blasting. (including the biodegradation of pollutants) is nearly imperceptible: Year-old sandwiches found in a lunch box in a sunken research submarine were entirely fresh - though soggy.

The strange life of the sea floor could be a unique resource. Biologists have already produced drugs from similar creatures of shallower waters: a potent, safe insecticide and several substances that inhibit cancers 'in laboratory experiments. The animals of the deep abyss have yet to be examined.

Among the mountains of the sea, and spread across the hills and plains, vast deposits of minerals have been found and sampled. According to one authority, the deep-sea sediment called red clay contains a quantity of copper beyond comprehension -a trillion tons or so-which if it could be dredged up profitably might supply the world for thousands of years. The floor of the sea, moreover, is the ultimate source of many, if not most, of the mineral deposits now mined on land. One of the most remarkable discoveries of the last decade is the way in which the floor of the sea has been-and is still-transformed into dry land during the creation of a mountain range. With this new understanding geologists expect to find new mines ashore.

But the immediate commercial focus is on manganese nodules, strewn across the sea floor as thick as windfall apples. Manga~

nese nodules are round, or potato-shaped, or like bunches of grapes, or like hamburgers -or shaped like nothing in particular. The nodules contain 40 different metals, including copper, aluminum, nickel, iron and cobalt-as well as manganese. (Copper is used for electrical wiring, tubing, roofing, paint pigments; nickel for coinage, safes, armor plate, in paints and varnishes. Iron is used to make steel, cars, machine parts, stoves, pipes, radiators. Cobalt, now being used to treat cancer, is a component of stainless steel and of alloys used to make jet engines and cutting tools. Manganese is used to harden steel and in making glass, paint, fertilizer.)

There are an estimated one and a half trillion tons of manganese nodules on the ocean floor. Their numbers seem endless.

They are surprisingly light, porous and crumbly. Mostly they are black, but .sometimes brown. Most are half an inch to six inches across. The largest nodule ever found weighed almost 860 kilograms; it came to the surface tangled in a telegraph cable and was thrown back.

Manganese nodules were first seen by the British ship Challenger, which made the first long oceanographic voyage a hundred years ago. There were nodules in most of the samples the ship dredged from the sea floor throughout the world; at first the scientists aboard thought they were fragments of meteoroids. Not until after World War II, when the first deep-sea cameras were put into use, did anyone see the overwhelming numbers of manganese nodules carpeting the ocean floor, often packed so thick there is no space between them. They lie in fields that cover millions of square miles in every ocean.

Manganese nodules, unlike most ores, contain little but metal. Although they cover more of the earth's surface than almost any other salable resource and have been known to science for a century, scientists still don't know how they are formed. They are not fragments of meteorites, though they sometimes look like cinders. Microscopic creatures may have a significant role in their creation.

Like pearls, or laboratory crystals on a string, they grow around a seed, a scrap of bottom sediment, a shark's tooth, a whale's earbone, a flake of rock, a piece of another manganese nodule. When a nodule is sawed in half, it reveals a "seed," showing growth layers around it lilce tree rings.

The nodules grow very slowly. A hundredpounder pulled up by a ship of the Scripps Institute of Oceanography in San Diego was found by laboratory analysis to be about¡16 million years old and to have grown a millimeter per 100,000 years. Nonetheless, nodules en masse have been estimated to be growing Jaster than mankind can use themor, by a less enthusiastic calculation, at the

modest rate of 16 million tons per year.

The metals found in nodules are the same ones that are found dissolved in seawater and distributed through the sediments on which nodules lie. Whether they come from the seawater or the sediments or from both, however, is still a matter of speculation.

One theory is that minute, snaillike insects called forams, which sometimes coat nodules (like barnacles), act as a sort of catalyst in the growth of nodules. Another theory is that bacteria are the active agents, and yet another that the amount of rock fragments spread about by undersea eruptions determines where there shall be nodules, and how many. Whatever the cause, nodules vary from one place to anofher. Some regions have few; others, no room for more.

Some have small ones; others, large. In some places, nodules are richer in metals than in other places. Nodules from the Pacific are softer than those of the Atlantic.

* * *

While gold and diamonds have been mined from shallow water for many years, manganese nodules, locked in a remote, forbidding environment, were only of academic interest until 1959. In that year, John Mero, then a young graduate student in mining engineering at the University of California, published the first effective argument for deep-sea mining. Mero calculated where nodules were most plentiful, how many there were, what they were worth, how they could be mined and at what cost. A stocky man now in his mid-forties, Mero has been writing and lecturing 'on the potentials of nodule mining ever since. He is now developing a promising method of ocean mining.

Far from being a last resort, mining the floor of the sea has certain advantages over mining ashore. A deposit of manganese nod-

ules can be found without drilling or blasting; and every nodule to be mined during a 20-year-long project can be p~otographed and counted with still and television cameras before a single piece of mining machinery is ordered. No shafts have to be bored or mountains bulldozed to reach the ore, no power plant constructed to process ore on the spot, no railroad built to carry it to the ocean for shipment abroad, no towns erected to house miners. The cost of 'a deep-sea mining operation could be as much as $500 million, but in recent years new mines in remote places on land have cost nearly twice that. Mero points out that there are no cartels at sea, like OPEC, to manipulate prices; no hostile or unstable governments to seize assets, and no unfavorable balance-of-payments problems. He claims that deep-sea mining would keep metal prices stable for years.

Four of the metals found in nodulescopper, nickel,. manganese and cobaltare considered commercially interesting today, and the United States imports all of them at a cost of about $2 billion a year.

About half of that amount could come from ocean mining by 1985.

The corporations involved in deep-sea mining are American, British, French, Belgian, German, Dutch, Australian and Japanese. There are four mining ventures active in the United States, each backed by a consortium of companies, as well as projects in France, Germany and Japan. The Virginia-based Deepsea Ventures Inc. is backed by a consortium of United States Steel, Sun Company (formerly Sun Oil) and Union Miniere of Belgium. The New York-based Kennecott Copper Corporation is the managing partner in a consortium with British Petroleum, Rio Tinto-Zinc Corpora-

"You're not the only fish down here, you know."

Drawing by Modell. Š 1976 the New Yorker Magazine, Inc.

tion and Consolidated Gold Fields Ltd., all of Britain, Noranda Mines Ltd. of Canada, and Mitsubishi Corporation of Japan. International Nickel Company, Metallgesellschaft A.G. and other German companies, Sumitomo and a subconsortium of Japanese companies, and Sedco Inc. are partners in Ocean Management Inc. of Beilevue, Washington. Lockheed, Amoco Minerals and a subsidiary of Shell Petroleum have agreed to consort and are looking for another partner. International Nickel, United States Steel and 14 other companies are also backing the development of a mining system

by John Mero's Ocean Resources Inc.

* .* *

The financial risks. in ocean mining are substantial, and of the dozens of companies involved, none has yet elected to undertake fhem alone. While failures are to be expected in any new venture, complicated machinery tends to break down at sea. One mining expert compares his company's process to picking something off the sidewalk by dangling a long piece of spaghetti from the top of the World Trade Center.

The simplest of the systems being developed is John Mero's continuous line bucket, a series of one-ton hoppers on 16,000 yards of four-inch-thick rope. The line, which hangs between two ships, is towed slowly, so that each bucket drags along the bottom and scoops up the nodules.

The four consortia are developing more complex and expensive-but perhaps also more effective-systems than the line and bucket. Suction dredges winnow nodules from the seabed and then suck them up a pipeline by means of hydraulic pumps or compressed air. The consortia have built dozens of components and cautiously tested them piece by piece in different shapes, sizes and combinations; they have tested small-scale mining devices at sea and smallscale plants for processing nodules into metal. They have even constructed simulated sea floors in which to make more tests.

In 1970, Deepsea Ventures spent several months mining nodules from the Blake Bahama Plateau, a relatively shallow part of the Atlantic only a few hundred miles from the company's headquarters in Virginia.

Though only a test, it was the first time nodules had actually been mined. Kennecott, which is building the largest mining system (to handle 15,000 tons of nodules a day, whereas Deepsea is aiming for 5,000), has operated in much deeper water-but without trying to bring up any nodules.

All the consortia have scheduled what they consider major tests during the next year or so. One ship, however, is/about to embark on a shakedown cruise in the .â&#x20AC;˘ Pacific that should yield 15,000 tons of nodules for Deepsea Ventures Inc. An ore carrier 560 feet long, converted for the job and re-

Like pearls, manganese nodules grow around a seed. A 100pounder pulled up was found to be about 16 million years old and to have grown a miUilneter per 100,000 years. named R. V. (for research vessel) Deepsea Miner II, it can take 1,000 tons of nodules a day off the bottom, a fairly close approximation of commercial mining, though still at only one-fifth its capacity. It's a queerlooking vessel, with a iarge geodesic dome sprouting out of its middle. Inside is a derrick, and a well in the bottom of the ship through which equipment can be lowered to the bottom of the sea. Oil drillers call such a well a moonpool-after its nighttime reflections-but Deepsea has roofed out the moonlight. The derrick is gimbaled, or suspended, so the rocking of the ship doesn't break the pipe that brings the nodules up.

* * *

The best nodule fields in the world, both for quantity of nodules and quantity of metals in the nodules, lie along a strip of the Pacific Ocean floor 2,500 miles long and 800 miles

Navigation by the stars

land-based radio tower, ..nail igatio.n..aid_

wide. The strip starts at a chain of seamounts about 600 miles west of the coast of Mexico and runs to the Line Islands, around 600 miles southwest of Hawaii. Identifi~d in 1972 by David and Barbara Horn and Maryland Delach of Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory, the strip is called the golden horn. There the mining consortia have been running surveys with high-precision sonar and still and television cameras, looking for the richest pockets and then sampling and mapping them in minute detail. John Mero originally estimated an ocean-floor nodule mine could be operated for 20 years on 20,000 square miles of sea floor. There are two million square miles in the golden horn.

By the erid of 1977, Deepsea Miner II will arrive there. Its crew will lower a dredge through the moonpool by attaching some 450 sections of pipe, one by one, until the dredge hits the ocean floor-16,000 feet below. The process will take five days.

Then the ship will tow the dredge at the speed of two to four miles an hour, scraping and sucking up nodules, across a 6-by-19-mile section of the low, rolling country that Deepsea has mapped by computer. Sonar transmitters will be set on the bottom along the way to help navigation, and there will

be two television cameras on the dredge itself looking ahead at the nodules and any obstructions that may lie in the way.

Even so, the miners don't expect to "lawnmower" the bottom. (This is a lawnmower that. bags its cuttings.) The best they can do in three miles of wa~.er is to cut a swath that looks as if it had been mowed by someone who had drunk six martinis. They don't really know the environmental impact of what they are doing. The animals in the path of the dredge will probably be killed, others may be suffocated by stirred-up sediment.

Scientists say that although the effects of the sea floor on the rest of the world are unknown, it is unreasonable to expect half of the world not to have a significant effect on the other half, whether or not we are clever enough to see it.

A few years ago, two distinguished scientific journals speculated that spores, bacteria and other small and noxious creatures that had lain dormant on the ocean bottom for centuries would "bloom" in the surface water after being dumped off a mining ship.

No "blooms" have actually been observed,¡ however. According to Anthony F. Amos and his associates, oceanographers of the University of Texas who saw the mining in the Blake Bahama Plateau, the concentra-

tion of sediment dumped in the ocean was .05per cent after eight minutes.

* * *

The profits of nodule mining are either excellent, marginal or imaginary, depending on whom you talk to. "The economics are very, very favorable," said John E. Flipse, who resigned as president of Deepsea Ventures in July 1977.

The economics will turn on nickel, a metal that is both expensive-more than $2 a pound today-and so plentiful in nodules that two companies could be mining 40 per cent of what the United States uses by 1985, according to studies. Kennecott anticipates producing 80 million to 90 million pounds of nickel a year and should earn $100 a ton from the three million tons of nodules a year it proposes to mine. Kennecott claims it will cost $5 to $10 a ton to mine nodules and $10 to $15 to refine them.

Independent analysts double those figures, add transportation and investment costs and In the artist's drawing below, two ships tow a 16,OOO-yardrope carrying a series of buckets that scrape up nodules. Deepsea Miner II uses compressed air to lift nodules vacuumed off the ocean floor. Another method deploys a dredge to scoop up nodules and a pump to lift them up.

still find a profit. Richard Tinsley of the Continental Bank in Chicago, who has made a specialty of ocean miJ;ling, estimates it will cost $60 to $70 to mine a ton of nodules and process it into metals worth $100.

The Ocean Mining Administration of the United States Department of the Interior is more pessimistic. It has concluded that .nodule mining could turn an annual profit bf 12 to 22 per cent, which "may be considered ... barely adequate to justify the ... risks. " On November I, 1967, the delegate from Malta, Dr. Arvid Pardo, spoke to the United Nations General Assembly on the global problems of the use and misuse of the oceans.

Detailing the vast wealth blanketing the sea bed, he reminded nations of the loopholes in existing international law on the sea.

That law, in the Geneva Convention of 1958, is a model of evasion couched in highso.unding language. It gives' coastal nations sovereignty over the ocean floor out to a depth of200 meters, the edge of the continental shelf- "or beyond that limit, to where the depth of the superjacent waters admits of the exploitation of the natural resources of the said areas." In translation, the law says whatever is on the floor of the sea belongs to whoever can get it. "That's almost free license," Pardo remarked later. Under the

Satellite used for precision navigation

law, the United States could claim ownership of all the Pacific from the golden horn area to Hawaii and the mainland-or almost anywhere eise. "We could see a scramble for land like the one in Africa in the last century," said Pardo. Raising that specter before the small nations, Pardo called on the General Assembly to pass a resolution saying that the resources of the sea floor were a "common heritage of mankind." In 1969, the U.N. passed such a resolution, also making the floor of the sea off-limits to mining until further notice. But the resolution is not law, and all the international conferences held since 1973 have failed to agree on an international regime over the'sea floor.

Frustrated by many countries' suspicions that poor nations would be euchred out of the sea's great wealth by the rich, many diplomats entered the Law of the Sea negotiating session in. May 1977 with little optimism. The 114 Third World nations, represented by the so-called "Group of 77," would have the "common heritage of mankind" husbanded by an international body generally referred to as the Authority, under which there would be another body, known as the Enterprise, doing all the mining. Each United Nations country-maritime or landlocked-would have one vote in the policies of the Authority, and no commercial enterprise would be allowed to mine the floor of the sea. But industrial nations like the United States have insisted that their companies be allowed to mine, too, and they have proposed various compromises which, according to supporters of the Enterprise, would hamstring its operations.

"Rarely has any generation had so clear a choice to make between order and anarchy," said Elliot Richardson, the chief American delegate to the United Nations Law of the Sea Conference, as this year's negotiating session opened. Considerable progress had been made, though major issues were still unresolved.

As for the mining companies-who call progress at the U.N. slower than the growth of manganese nodules-some claimed to have intentionally delayed their projects because of the unclear status of their mining rights.

Three separate bills have been introduced in the U.S. Congress, however, to resolve the legal uncertainties caused by the absence of a Law of the Sea. And observers confidently expect this Congress to pass one of them. "With the law straightened out," says the head of one mining group, "we could be doing real mining in a couple of years. " D About the Author: William Wertenbaker is a staff writer at The New Yorker magazine. He also occasionally writes for other publications, and is the author of The Floor of the Sea.

WHAT YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT

EDU ATI In 1787, the Continental Congress declared in the Northwest day's "unsettled times." But whatever its causes, the problem is Ordinance that "schools and the means of education shall forever generating action among American educators. The Federal be encouraged." Almost 200 years later American education re- Government, under its drop-out prevention program, has spent mains the anvil on which the national culture is created and adapt- millions of dollars on pilot projects in various parts of the country. ed to changing needs. One of the great historic goals-universal For many schools, the immediate answer is to provide educationfrom kindergarten to university-is nearing a successful counseling, special classes with more personalized instruction climax: close to 100per cent. for troubled youngsters. Curriculum enrichment is widely used The sheer size of the American educational effort and the to spark the interest of disaffected youngsters. Part-time employregionaldiversity of the school system continue topresent problems. ment and vocational training are often found helpful in dealing On the other hand, diversity allows for experimentation. All in with "turned-off" students. all, American education presents, in the words of Princeton University professor Whitney Oates, a situation not only exciting QUESTION: Who pays for education in America? but staggering in its complexity. The following questions and ANSWER: Public schools in America are tax-supportedanswers attempt to unravel some of these complexities. mostly property tax is used to defray the cost of education up to the secondary level. In colleges and universities the situation QUESTION: How many Americans are in school today? is different. State-supported colleges and universities charge ANSWER: Out ofa total population of about 215 million, more a lower tuition fee for residents and a higher tuition for nonthan 60 million Americans are enrolled in classes ranging from residents, the argument being that the parents of residents pay nursery school to the postgraduate college level. That is more taxes which help the state support these institutions for higher than one in every four Americans. According to the 1970 census learning. (the latest done), more than half (52 per cent) had finished high school. The percentage among young adults-18-24-year oldsQUESTION: Can you explain the organization and structure was even higher-73 per cent. Put differently, a higher propor- of education in the United States? tion of Americans than ever before is going to school-and ANSWER: Education in the United States comprises three levels: elementary, secondary, and higher education. Vocational they are starting at an earlier age and staying in school longer. training, adult education, schools or classes for special types QUESTION: Is education in America compulsory? When do of children, also form part of the program in most states. The American children start their schooling? organization and curricula of private schools and colleges are ANSWER: Education is not only compulsory, but it is also similar to those of the public schools, although the administrafree up to high school. In America everyone has a right to educa- tion differs. tion, and parents send their ~hildren to school at the age of six.

Some children go to school earlier. At age six an American child QUESTION: Do all American children go to free public schools? would normally enroll in the first grade and have to remain in ANSWER: Parents may choose to send their children to their school till the age of 16-or up to the 10th grade. Children local free public schools, or to a private school where fees are can, and some do, drop out of school in the 11th and 12th charged. Private schools enroll about 14 per cent of the elemengrades. About 90 per cent of the students, however, complete tary and secondary school population. Of this percentage, 9 out of 10 attend Roman Catholic parochial schools.

12th grade.

QUESTION: Why do children drop out from school before finishing?

ANSWER: Some critics blame the "outmoded" curriculum, others cite television, dissolution of family bonds-;-or simply to-

QUESTION: When does the school year begin in the U.S.?

ANSWER: The school year is usually nine months, from early September to mid-June. The common pattern of organization referred to as the 6-3-3 plan includes the elementary school in

grades 1 through 6, junior high school in 7 through 9 and senior high school in 10 through 12.

QUESTION: Are there qualifying examinations at the end of high school?

ANSWER: Most American schoolchildren do not have to sit

for a qualifying final high school examination. They "graduate" from school with a high school diploma upon satisfactory completion of a specified number of courses. College-bound students generally take college admission tests.

QUESTION: Who administers U.S. education?

ANSWER: Control of education is vested in local school boards.

educational programs to be responsive to the particular needs of each community. There are some 22,000 school districts in the United States, and each district has its own school board.

QUESTION: Does this mean that there is no Federal intervention in the school system?

ANSWER: Well, the U.S. Supreme Court's intervention has had

far-reaching effects on the American educational process. The classic example is the case of Brown vs. Board of Education in 1954. In the Brown case, the Supreme Court laid down the principle that deliberate segregation of students by race in the public schools was unconstitutional. By this landmark ruling, the court gave legal sanction to two fundamental truths-that racial separation by law establishes schools that are inherently unequal, and that a promise of equality before the law cannot be squared with use of the law to establish two classes of students, one black and one white.

The local control of schools has resulted in' a good deal of diversity in the quality of American education: Since the cost of education is met primarily by property taxes, the richer the community, the better the schools. Even within one state; schools can range on the qualitative ladder from very good to very poor.

The 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution provides that "the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the sta;tes,are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people." Education is one of those subjects that is administered by the states.

From time to time, the people have asked the Federal Government to lend a hand, as in providing land for schools. However, the people of the 50 states have generally been reluctant to have the Federal Government pay for, and thus possibly control, education. In spite of this, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 committed the Federal Government to expendi- QUESTION: So equality of opportunity in education is quantitative and not qualitative? tures of $1,300 million in that year alone.

The Congress of the United States has constitutional powers ANSWER: Education in America is no bed of 'roses. There to allocate funds for education, but it has no direct control over it. are problems in creating equal qualitative opportunity.'The Since each of the states is responsible for its own ~ducational important thing is that most American educators and the' system, their practices and policies differ. The state legislature, American people are aware of them and are trying to solve them as the source of power, enacts laws pertaining to education, in several ways.

One way is preschool education. An American child's first but the state department of education and local school districts introduction is usually in kindergarten classes operated in about' are responsible for the operation of the school system.

One of the unique -characteristics of American education is half the public school systems. A few systems also provide the degree to which schools are operated by local school authori- nursery schools. An estimated 3,000 school systems operate ties. The broad authority given to local boards allows public such schools through the Head Start program for disadvantaged children, financed fully or in part with funds from the Federal Government.

QUESTION: What exactlY is the Head 'Start program?

ANSWER: The Head Start program, as the name implies, is

"According to U.S. v. Miranda, you're violating my civil rights." Š

1974, by

permission of Sarurday Review/World and Ed Arno.

designed to give children -especially those from the more backward sections of society-a head start to help them overcome the handicap.

The age group is commonly four and five-years. These preschool education programs, which maintain a close relationship with home and parents, are designed to give the child useful experiences that will prepare him or her for elementary school.

HeadStart stresses fundamentals such as health examination, effort to draw out withdrawn and fearful children, and brief exposures to some of the intellectually stimulating experiences that are common fare for more fortunate children coming from affluent, well-educated families. The approach has varied from community to community. In some, children have the benefit of a two-year program; in others, it is one year. Some programs concentrate on children only; in others the effort is to bring in parent participation to stimulate their interest in their child's welfare and teach them to improve the home environment.

The Head Start program is still experimental; its results are uncertain. Nor does it solve the other pressing problems in educa-

tion for those who lack basic skills in the English language or those who speak a language other than English at home. There are an estimated five million such children. All of them could profit greatly from the use ofa language other than English in the classrooms.

QUESTION: Doesn't that mean that with the U.S. Supreme Court and the Federal Government playing a more active role, education in the United States is being increasingly run by people in Washington?

ANSWER: No. Even though it may seem that local school authorities are losing their control on education policy, they still are in full command and education still remains a state subject. And the Federal Government through its Office of Education only lays down broad policy decisions. On the other hand the U.S. Supreme Court is concerned with basic human rights as they pertain to education.

QUESTION: Is there any attempt to teach languages other than English?

ANSWER: Indeed, there is. Responding to the needs of these children, many school systems are gearing themselves to provide education in a language other than English. The process was speeded up as a result of a 1974 U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Lau vs. Nichols case, which held that the failure of the school QUESTION: In spite of the success of American education, one district in San Francisco, California, to provide special language does often hear about the problem of "functional literacy." instruction to some 1,800 limited-English-speaking Chinese What does this term mean? students violated the 1964 Civil Rights Act by denying them the ANSWER: High school graduates are considered to be funcright to a meaningful education. Following the decision, the tionally literate in the United States. But whether literacy is United States Congress doubled the Federal appropriation for functional or not functional is determined largely by the type bilingual education, including emphasis on the history and of society in which the person is going to live and work or use culture of children's forebears, multicultural classes, and bilingual that literacy. In the United States it is usually defined as the textbooks. ability to read and understand all the instructions that come Numerous ethnic groups-Spanish-Ianguage-speaking, .when a 'person buys a new gadget-be it a frostIess refrigerator American Indian, Eskimo-have begun to find a new responsive- or a color TV set, a toaster or an electric can opener. And by ness to their individual needs within the American educational this criteria, according to a recent study, nearly 20 million adult system.

Americans are not considered "functionally literate."

QUESTION: What does the term "busing" mean?

ANSWER: In order to step up racial integration in schools, transportation of children from one area to another was mandated by the courts. This is called "busing." Busing for desegregation, where it has occurred, has caused the pupil population mix to become more heterogeneous, increasing the complexity of the teacher's task. In addition, many parents did not live in the area where the children attended school, thus further weakening the relationship among teachers, pupils and community.

To resolve this ever-present problem, some cities like New York and Denver have used two specific mechanisms: (1) rezoning, which is realignment of school districts to improve pupil mix; and (2) magnet schools, in which certain schools in majority (usually white) areas are given special resources of high quality to help retain the majority students when minority children are bused in.

QUESTION: Are there any new trends in American education?

ANSWER: Throughout the years Americans have regarded their school system as the greatest melting pot and equalizer of society. In a social system characterized by cultural pluralism, the schools have been expected to playa major role in imparting national culture and traditions. In the past decade, and especially in the past few years, another interest has emerged; that is, having schools devote specific attention to developing an awareness of the ethnic heritage of all Americans and each group's contribution to the national heritage.

So in other words the trend has shifted from the "melting pot" theory to what is now called the "salad bowl" theory.

Instead of trying to get homogeneity out of diverse groups, the present effort is to create a nation in which, like a salad, each constituent retains its individuality and yet is part of the same dish.

0

Learning learns but one lesson: Doubt!

-GEORGE

BERNARD

SHAW

Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence.

I am always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught. _________________

-_S_'R_W_'N_ST_O_N_C_H_U_R_CH_'_LL

C'-

THEIR CLASSROOM IS OUT-OF-DOORS In an exciting educational project, students of the Children's School of Science in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, learn about nature and living things not in the classroom, but through direct observation in the field, at the seashore and on the sea itself.

Field trips are the best and biggest parr of the summer program of nature studies at the Children's School of Science (left). Above: Entomology students traipse along the rocky shore of Cape Cod in search of insect specimens. Far left: A limnology student investigates the physical, chemical and biological properties of life in the fresh-water environment.

Rarely does one come across a school that is liked by all of its students. There is however one such school in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. It is the Children's School of Science, whose summer program of nature studies is so popular that there is a long waiting list of young people eager to enroll.

One of the most unusual-and successful-educational projects in the United States, the summer program of nature studies, which has been in existence for more than 60 years, was originally planned to keep local children usefully occupied, and at first included such general subjects as dancing and singing. Now, however, living things and their relationship to their surroundings are the main subject matter of the summer sessions.

The aim is to give young people an opportunity to appreciate and understand nature, and the scientific methods of studying it, mainly through observations in the field. Most of the instruction takes place not in the classroom but outdoorsin the fields, on the pond, on the seashore and the sea itself, where students observe, identify and examine firsthand, marine life, animal life, plants, insects and a myriad other living things.

The program, which is open to youngsters between the ages of 7 and 16, offers a large number of courses. Each course, restricted to 20 children, is complete in itself and is oriented to a particular age group, and the teacher has full freedom to work out the details of the course. The curriculum changes every summer, although some popular courses are repeated. Among the courses taught are such highly specialized subjects as marine biology, entomology, seashore ecology and oceanography.

Students meet for an hour and a half, five days a week for six weeks. There are no formal examinations, no prerequisites for any course, no grades or credits. This minimizes competition and provides an opportunity to learn simply for the fun of learning.

The Children's School of Science is an informal, independent, nonprofit venture, relying on parent-volunteers for much of its financial and administrative support.

The summer program also benefits greatly from the resources of two prestigious organizations based in the city-Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the Marine Biological Laboratory-and their matchless pool of teaching talent.

The summer sessions attract some 300 pupils annually, many of whom return year after year-for learning here is fun. 0

AN INDIAN TEACHER IN AMERICA Poet, writer and literary critic from Bombay, Saleem Peeradina (right) taught American literature recently to high school students in North Carolina. He relished the experience, and shares it here with readers in a personal account of the light-serious world of American classrooms.

When I first joined North Carolina Public School it was as a substitute teacher. I was interviewed and began work the following day filling in for a teacher who had extended his leave. I taught Frost and Huckleberry Finn during that month and, realizing how much fun it had been, decided to apply for a job when the new academic year began. Fortunately for me, the students spoke up on my behalf and the headmaster offered me a position on the faculty for the next academic year.

I was to teach the 11th-grade course in American literature and the literature section of the 12tJt-grade humanities course.

I had examined the syllabus of the humanities course which had been set up by a senior teacher and had been in operation for a year. I was excited by the prospect of doing books that represented different periods, styles and geographical areas. I was told also by the chairman of the department, who made the same recommendation to the headmaster, that I could modify my part of the humanities course to suit my intentions and ideas.

The existing selection of books was excellent-except for Thomas Mann's Magic Mountain, which I felt was too advanced for high school seniors, and Dante's Divine Comedy, which I had bypassed in my own study of literature and did not feel qualified to teach.

After some initial resistance from the humanities teacher, which changed into secret resentment, I was allowed to take these¡books off the course and replace them with others. I say this to show along what lines the school was run, who had a say in what, and how easily minor issues were resolved.

If this was not enough to make me immediately comfortable and full of enthusiasm for the role I could play, I was informed that I would have complete freedom in designing the 11thgrade American literature course. I star'ted doing this well before the year began, and had to submit a booklist a month or so in advance, so the school bookstore could stock itself with the texts. Apart from poetry, and the short story, my formal acquaintance with American literature was limited. I had read at random many other writers and was aware of their importance in the line of historical succession. Naturally, I was tempted to include authors whom I was familiar with and, from them, to select what appealed to my tastes and sympathies. From one point of view, a bias toward the material you are going to handle has the potential of making an interesting course. But it is entirely subjective and arbitrary and most so-called experimental courses (not in literature alone) in schools and colleges are unconsciously or self-consciously guilty of following this norm.

I wanted to have as typical and as diverse a selection as possible. This was the first time most of the junior class was doing a full-scale study of American literature, so it would make

sense to provide a survey that would include established writers, genres, characteristic themes, all of which would show a possible literary and historical development. I wrote many tentative lists and then finalized one in consultation with the chairman of the department. He offered some suggestions, but gave me maximum latitude and support (incidentally, he was younger than I was). He said it would be advisable to have a few extra texts than to fall short by a couple at the end of the year. I was also supposed to do regular grammar and composition exercises from a prescribed book. I have an instinctive dislike for the stuff and honestly, I admitted, I could not tell a transitive from an intransitive verb. Also (more hedging), would I have time to spend on grammar when I would be doing so many texts during the year? Trusting I would play it by ear, he left me the option of doing or not doing composition. I took the easy solution, of course, but at the end of the year 1 felt guilty having avoided the pains necessary for a disagreeable task.

It was true that having 30 books to do in two grades (a different book nearly every week), my hands would be full. Ideally speaking I wanted to go through each book at least twice before considering myself ready for its presentation in class. When school was about to open, I realized I had not done any of the preplanned reading and would have to take each book as it came. Since most of the books on the two lists were "new" to me, I plunged into each one with a fierce appetite. Some books I got an opportunity to reread, but most of the time I was only one jump ahead of the students and my preparation on any given day was more or less tentative. I had to start Walden in class before I had myself finished reading it. With poetry and short stories there was no problem. With longer works I found myself pressed for time, although on an average I spent four hours a day on homework.

I might add that as a rule I did not stand up in class armed with notes unless it was factual information that 1 was giving.

I usually used a set of points or phrases as a starting point and then built up my lecture on that. Knowing in advance what I was going to say precisely took the spontaneity out of my thinking. It was more of a challenge to draw my inspiration from the faces before me and the words on the printed page. This left room for comment and criticism from the students and often ho~ a particular class moved depended on all these elements coming into play. The secret is to grasp the character and scope of each class; then you can get the students to contribute the best that they are capable of giving. On days when I was not ready with a particular assignment, or felt dull or sensed that the class needed a break, I let them read in silence. Within the four walls

of the class, the existed on the fringe of the class and sometimes I would sense teacher's authority was a collective resistance to a particular book that they found dull the only one-there was or difficult. Even students who enjoy reading literature have no interference in any a preference for one type of writing and are left cold by another. manner from the head- (My group of students reacted negatively on the whole to poetry, master. although they responded favorably to Frost.)

In selecting the I have always been realistic about the inclinations, whatever books, I followed histo- their origin, that attract one student to mathematics, another rical chronology in a to biology and a third to the arts. There are differences in aptivery limited sense. I tude that seem almost inherent and no amount of heartbreak chose instead to balance on the part of parents, or bullying on the part of teachers will seriousness with light- create any radical shift in the way a student performs in a given ness to alternate one subject. It is best to encourage and nurture a propensity that form with another and exists and shows every sign of maturing than to panic over what to vary the pace with a is ostensibly lacking. There is much to be said for exposing the difficult book and a less student to as many disciplines as possible, but this has more to demanding one. Since do with attitude and outlook on life than with formal or academic we would be dealing training and is instilled at home in early childhood. So I dealt primarily with the texts, with each student more, or less as a single person-the size of "history" was to be considered only as it pertained to a particular the class helped a great deal. There was one student who slept text. I did establish a kind of link as we moved from one text to regularly in my afternoon class and I left him in peace. In his another, hoping that at the end of the year an overview of sorts wakeful state he was so restless he disrupted the entire class. would emerge. My colleague, who took the third section of the Sports is not only an important activity in American schools 11th-grade class and who had undergone formal teacher's trainand colleges, it is often a flagrantly snobbish one. A winning ing, introduced a number of different methods of teaching and coach commands adoration and respect. Students receive testing from which I gathered useful hints. football, basketball or golf scholarships, and all sorts of academic Regular and systematic testing is part of any curriculum in concessions are granted to them just so they will continue on the America, whether in school or college. Altogether I had 60 team. As a rule I think this is a healthy practice intended to students (an average of 15 per class) and I made it a practice foster the singular gifts that an individual may be endowed with. to give them some sort of a test after each book I'd finish in Most students for whom sports is a passion graduate from the class. I tried to make the tests as different as possible on each school team to the college team to professional sports ... to occasion-choice of essay questions, series of short questions, success! The problem of dealing with their poor academic showing paper~ on different topics, group discussions and oral reportsstill remains. A boy in my class, who was an excellent golfer, in class and out of class. Five students volunteered to do an was miserable in nearly all the subjects in class. Most of the original chapter on Huckleberry Finn and I was delighted with teachers bent over backward to accommodate him and we felt their wit, their imagination and the conviction with which they it was necessary because he put in all he had, which was never copied Twain's idiom. After I'd finished Faulkner's As I Lay enough. Another student was only too aware of his standing on Dying, which is highly imagistic, one of the students suggested the team and didn't give a damn about classwork. the whole class do a visual representation of the novel by using Aptitude is one thing, sound judgment is another. In a survey cut-outs of pictures and words. I made it more specific by letting at the end of the year, I had my students check and comment upon them each choose a character and define his inner and outer world the books we had read indicating their preferences. The book from the disparate and divided expressions that Faulkner gives that won unreserved and expected approval was Huckleberry to each character. We had a most impressive array of posters Finn. Others were liked or disliked mostly on the basis of subjecthe following week. At the end of the year I made them do a tive feeling or aversion. On the question of justifying, in literary lengthy report of a book they had to read independently. terms, the choices they had made, they left the space blank.

The following year, I decided to have three book reports, If they hated a book,. that was it. I must have repeated myself each due at the end of the term. All this in addition to the exams several times because I never lost an occasion to point out to them at the end of the term. Thus, not only are the students kept the difference between liking or disliking a book and finding it active all the time (quantitative learning is one of the constant good or bad. They might like mushy poetry but their judgment pressures in the American system, particularly in the university), of its intrinsic worth would have to be independent of their the teachers are kept busy too. In school, with four classes to personal taste. On the other hand, a piece of literature may be teach each day, I found time during two daily periods of study- judged to be good and yet not evoke in the reader a corresponding hall supervision to correct tests and assess papers. But it was a echo of sympathy. I condensed LA. Richards' four statements race in which I was always behind. Besides, study-hall time was on value-judgments: utilized by students seeking extra help and more often than not I like it but I know it is not good.

I found myself trying to catch up with current periodical literaI don't like it but I know it is good. ture from the library! If I have given the impression that I was I don't like it and I know it is not good. overworked, it is not true. Being fully occupied has always done I like it and I know it is good. wonders for my psyche.

I don't know if it made any impression on them, but this I was lucky that a substantial proportion of my students is not an unusual phenomenon in 'American classrooms. There that year were above average in interest, ability and performance; is a kind of "liberal" philosophy of education that believes all a small number were below average and a fair number were judgments to be statements of opinion and of subjective beliefs. midway. It is more inspiring to teach a class of wide-eyed students If I like it, it's good, it's my thing; if you don't, it's O.K. than to slave after one that is indifferent (some teachers find the Arp.erican students often begin their sentences with, "I latter more challenging). Even so, there were students who feel it is ... " or "I don't see it that way .... " The work or object

l )jl

Th_e,weary days were few and far between. In general, I think ... the manner in which the school was run was so wholly conducive to the well-being of ,the teacher, that one gave of one's best. or person as a discussable entity is altogether diminished-the subjective relation to it, which is primarily an ego relation, is the only acceptable norm. Teachers/parents with no convictions of their own, encourage students to "express" themselves as if every 13-year-old were the repository of truth. The idea is so indiscriminately and uncritically practiced that it is hard to tell where innocence ends and where devastation begins. The grossly simplified "getting in touch with your feefi.ngs" has become such a professional catchword in the realm of psychological counseling that it is both embarrassing and touching. The reign of mediocrity which arises from the absolute relativity of values is not a threat any more~it has been dictating its norms for more than two decades now. But that is another story.

To return to the question of subjective taste, I encountered so much resistance even from the bright and normally open students to my suggestion that they had no taste-it was still in the process of being developed-that I began to doubt my own efficacy in curing them of their inbuilt cultural myopia.

In turn, I tease, goad, provoke, emphathize, support, bully, flatter, humor, reward my students in order to shake them out of their complacent patterns of thought, keep them on their toes and get them to stay aware of the change. I had no difficulty in making the books we were reading as interesting as possible; the class on its part responded energetically. In fact, I always observed a noticeable increase in their involvement with a book that had seemed obscure at first, when after explication it began "to make sense." Some of them did revise their opinions, although grudgingly, but that was all right with me. However, there was no dearth of feedback-that is one of the liveliest traditions of teaching and learning in the United States. Students are bold and outspoken, often arrogant, but most of the time sharp and provocative. They certainly kept me on my toes.

I have a tendency to overexplain and I have to check myself to allow for more immediate participation by the. students.

Faulkner's As I Lay Dying, I let them tackle raw, without any clues from me. As I had anticipated, they couldn't make anything out of it-most of them thought it was a joke, the others dismissed it as not making any sense (their favorite phrase).

Then I let them into my secret purpose,which was to deliberately .frustrate them with a view to making the book a puzzle to solve, a challenge to overcome. I asked them to reread it from the beginning, began pointing out the qualities of Faulkner's style, the rationale of his technique. I told them it had an amusing surprise ending. They became eager and admitted readily that the book was really simple and absorbing. It was the most complete conversion I have seen.

With Death of a Salesman, I conducted oral readings of the play to familiarize them with the plot, the tone and the morality of the drama. Having chosen an edition of the collected stories of Hemingway, I joked about what stories I wouldn't do because they were explicit and they promptly devoured "Up in Michigan" and started searching for more. I teased them for the remainder of the year about having discovered the source of their motivation to learn! I have still not found a satisfactory way of doing a fultlength novel. I couldn't assign more than 25 pages a day and there was not enough to say each day on the reading they had done.

On the whole, we did manage to do justice to the books although there were slack periods. Whenever I began to hear the sound of my own voice bouncing off the walls-that invariably took the .c

wind out of me. But the weary days were few and far between.

In general, I think the setting and the manner in which the school was run was so wholly conducive to the well-being of the teacher, that one gave of one's best.

That year, the American Film Theater was introducing to a national audience a selection of outstanding plays done on film and screened monthly on preset dates. We had a group of 60 students who had paid to participate in the program (most of them for the chance of getting out of school for a whole morning), and it not only provided a good outing but also exposed them to some of the most brilliant productions of theater I've seen. We saw O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh; Pinter's The Homecoming; Simon Gray's Butley; Osborne's Luther; Ionesco's Rhinoceros; Chekov's Three Sisters; Albee's A Delicate Balance. There were other films and TV productions that supplemented our reading admirably: The Glass Menagerie, Long Day's Journey Into Night. One student read The Great Gatsby, saw the film which had just been released then, and offered to do a comparison of the two for extra credit. I point this out to show on how many levels studying and teaching can be undertaken, how students take the initiative, and the mutual rewards and satisfactions.

Rapport, trust, even affection, are important aspects of teaching for me. I ate lunch with the students (all the other teachers sat at faculty tables and cast suspicious glances in my direction) and held "open house" for each of my classes that year. Whenever the weather was nice, I took my class to the edge of the pond on our campus. Although the faculty as a whole was one of the best I've ever worked with, any group organization creates its own politics, its speculations and its frivolities.

Parental interest in the school and its activities was high for several reasons. The school had been established by a consortium of parents-all of them wealthy-who wanted to invest in quality education for their children. As a citizen this might have elicited another response from me, but as a teacher it made no difference-in fact, as far as teaching itself was concerned, I doubt if I could have functioned better than I did in a less supportive environment. Public schools have some of the same standards that any mass education system anywhere would have.

The quality of the instruction varies, the conditions of work are not ideal, but the fellowship of the students is more just, more vigorous. In private schools, the rich associate with the rich, feeding each other's notions of privilege and power, thus maintaining the divisions that are there to begin with. Their instruction though is of a demonstrably high quality.

Aside from informal functions, we had two major conferences with the parents-one in the first term, the second in the last term. Each teacher had,a set of '''advisees'' (students advised) and met with their parents individually. I looked forward to these since I always look for more dimensions in human affairs than are normally available. Some of the other teachers were not too keen-understandably, because some parents are difficult to deal with. Although there were some pressures from influential board members and trustees (I heard gossip about a teacher being eased out in the past), administrative and academic areas were managed by the headmaster who was one of the most capable and amiable persons I've worked with-not under!

His was an unenviable position-political as well as academicand I thought he had done a remarkable job in making the school what it was in a relatively short period of five years.

0

CAPITAL FARE IN WASHINGTON THEATER The vitality of the theater in Washington, D.C., surprises those who have always associated theater in America solely with New York's Broadway, and Washington solely with political convolutions. In recent years, the capital of the United States has become a focal point of innovative theater. It houses the prestigious Kennedy Center, where one sees the finest dramatic presentations from all over the world.

There is the Arena Stage, known for unusual theater design, for the quality of its productions, and for encouraging important new playwrights. There is the city's oldest theater, the National, which has entertained the high and the humble for one-and-a-half centuries. There are experimental works and amateur productions, various forms of community theater, and troupes that cater to specialized audiences of women, blacks, children, students, the deaf and the dumb. On any given evening a Washington playgoer can choose from a wide range of offerings-light entertainment, dramas of social significance, historical pageants and classics. This feature provides a sampling of these attractions.

Kennedy Center. Opened on September 8, 1971, the John F. Kennedy Ce1;lterfor the Performing Arts provides Washington with a magnificent showcase for theatrical presentations. Four Presidents-Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon-worked for its creation. Designed by Edward Stone, who designed the American Embassy in New Delhi, the Center houses a 2,700-

seat concert hall, an opera house that presents opera, musicals and ballet, the l,lOO-seat Eisenhower Theater, a smaller stage for experimental productions, and a movie theater for the American Film Institute.

They offer the finest in music, opera, dilnce and drama from the U.S. and . abroad. Above.' A scene from The Heiress, adaptedfrom a novel by Henry James.

Palisades Theater. Puppet theater in America is largely in its infancy; but the art is evolving, and Washington has several groups devoted to this form. One of them is Richard Hopkins' Palisades Theater, which stages fairy tales like Little Red Riding Hood in the "shadow puppet" style. Above: Afisherman's wife in a Hopkins puppet production, a fable about elusive wishes. Richard Hopkins regrets that puppet theater is regarded as children's entertainment. His own plays, though aimed mainly at youngsters, also strive to appeal to older people.

Arena Stage. Founded in 1950 by an enterprising woman, Zelda Fichandler, the Arena Stage is famous both for the excellence of its productions and for innovativeness in theater design.

The stage (right), uncluttered by railings or pillars, seats 750 people on all four sides of the playing area.

Sometimes the setting is simply a bare floor or the roof of a house.

Arena Stage has a wide repertoiretragedy, comedy, farce, musicals, classicals-and a penchant for new ideas. It has sent more plays to Broadway than any other theater.

Dinner Theater. There are eight dinner theaters within an easy drive from the center oj Washington. They have become more and more popular in recent years, since they provide a pleasant evening's dining and entertainment under one rooj at a reasonable price.

Audiences are attracted by the "one-stop" convenience oj p'arking jree, having dinner and then watching a play or musical from their tables.

Thanks to the proliferation oj such theaters, suburbanites are watching live perjormances jor the first time. In earlier years, dinner theaters specialized in jrothy jarces and comedies, but the better ones now offer more serious productions on well-equipped stages. Right: At the. Burn Brae Dinner Theater in the Maryland countryside ajew milesjrom Washington, a large cast, including both projessional actors and writers, present 1776, a musical about the writing oj the Declaration oj Independence.

The sage character at center stage is Benjamin Franklin.

University Theater. Colleges and universities bring a touch of freshness and vitality to theater in America's capital. Courses in drama expose students to the world's great plays, and also impart practical theater skills.

In the vanguard of the college theater movement has been Washington's Catholic University. Its graduates have gone on to illustrious stage careers. The university has presented many polished productions of classical works, occasionally with a guest star of the stature of Helen Hayes or Mercedes McCambridge. Photo at right shows a scene from Medea, starring McCambridge. Above: Howard University director Ted Cooper poses before a portrait of Ira Aldridge, a great Negro actorfamousfor Shakespearean roles, notably as Othello. He is particularly known for his memorable tour of the Soviet Union in the 1850s. The university's theater is named after Aldridge.

Amateur Theater. Washington abounds in amateur groups, some of them run by dedicated theater lovers who have achieved a surprisingly high level of competence. Occasionally they use a professional actor.

Some amateur groups are connected with church, school or community organizations and help worthy causes. One

of them is the Hexagon Club (left). It stages an annual musical review that raises thousands of dollars for health and educational charities. Below: A scene from Three WomenA Poem for Three Voices, based on the poetry of the late Sylvia Plath.

It was produced by the Washington Project for the Arts, an alliance of experimental groups.

National Theater. Washington's oldest theater, the National, was built in 1835. For more than 140 years it has presented some of the world's finest performers- French, Italian, German and English-before countless Presidents, statesmen and dignitaries.

The original theater building was destroyed four times by fire between 1852 and 1922, when it was rebuilt on the same site in the heart of town.

Left: Bubbling Brown Sugar is a black musical celebration of the characters, songs and dances that electrified cabarets and theaters of New York's Harlem between 1910 and 1940. The show was enormously popular. Two stars of the musical were veterans Avon Long (far left) and Joseph Attles (thirdfrom left), both of whom began their careers in Harlem. Also in the picture are attractive newcomers Barbara Rubenstein and Barry Preston.

WOMAN ON THE MOVE

he Blakes the unworkable work

by CHRIS WELLES

'I like the challenge of charging into a situation which everyone thinks is hopeless, and trying to make it work'-that's Sandra Brown, one of the very successful businesswomen in America today.

Beginning her career as a schoolteacher, she now owns a thriving educational enterprise and hosts of other ventures.

When Sandra Brown was a little girl, she used to lie in bed listening to her father's conference calls. A dynamic sales executive and head of Electrolux Corporation's door-to-door sales campaign, her father would talk strategy from his home office next to her bedroom with salesmen at branch offices all over the United States.

"Daddy," she said in a burst of enthusiasm one day, "I want to sell Electrolux vacuum cleaners when I grow up."

Her father looked at her in surprise.

"We don't hire women," he said.

Now in her mid-thirties, Sandy Brown has already gone a long way toward demonstrating that women are as qualified as men to sell Electroluxes or to occupy any other business position. Sandy has not yet tried to sell vacuum cleaners.

But she has sold countless copies of numerous publications with which she has been connected, mostly in the field of elementary education. MultiMedia Education, Incorporated, which she founded, has collected millions of dollars in royalties from programs formulated for educational publishers. Among the most remunerative is a beginning reading program that employs filmstrips, cassettes and printed materials to teach kindergarten and first grade children the alphabet.

Brown has also been successful in selling ideas, especially the need for individualized instruction for children and equal opportunity in business for women.

Most recently, she has been occupying a role-requiring more sophisticated sales talents and often thought of as reserved mainly for men-as an entrepreneur.

Not only has she originated several ventures, such as The Executive Woman,' a $20-per-year newsletter for women in business, but she has recently become involved in the arcane art of buying up troubled companies on the cheap, refinancing them and turning them around.

Left: Sandra Brown belies the popular image of a typical successful businesswoman-a cold, gritty and masculine individual. She is charming, soft-spoken, and radiates warmth.

When Kids., an innovative but badly managed magazine written by and for children under 15, veered toward bankruptcy in 1973, Brown raised money from private investors, bought a controlling interest, paid off anxious creditors, cleared. up the management problems, doubled the circulation to 60,000 and put the publication into the black.

Sandy Brown bears little resemblance to the image held by many men of the typical successful businesswoman-a cold, gritty, masculine individual who in order to compete with men acts like them.

Instead she is personable, soft-spoken and very feminine. "There are businesswomen I can't stand," says Lynn Robinson, assistant editor at Kids. "They are very shrewish and temperamental, always throwing their weight around. But Sandy has a great deal of charm and warmth.

She's very human."

The intensity and concentration Sandy brings to her business dealings derive in large part from her father. Like him, she psyches herself up every morning.

"You've got to be in a positive frame of mind," she says. "My father was a master at it, because he felt that what you believe you can do, you can do. So in the morning I say to myself: 'You can, you can, you can.' If something isn't going right, I'll say: 'Never give up, never, never, never.'

If I'm going out on a sale, I'll say: 'This is what I want and I'm going to get it.' When I do that, I usually do get it."

Raised by her financially' successful father and a dutiful, subservient nonworking mother, she felt no ambition other than to marry a successful man and settle into a quiescent existence raising children and managing a household. She went to Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts and married a footban player from nearby Amherst in her junior year.

"I did all the things that good girls were supposed to do," she says.

It was while teaching school in East Windsor, Connecticut, to supplement her husband's income that she realized good girls could do a lot more than they were supposed to. "I loved the children and

I was tremendously challenged by the job," Sandy says. "And I realized that the way most children are educated is really criminal." She was incensed that all the children in the same grade typically are taught as if they possess the same interests and intelligence. "If you deal with kids according to their learning curves," she says, "you cut learning time in h~lf."

In attempting to apply and gain acceptance for her ideas, Sandy soon ran into the educational system's obdurate resistance to change. She became reading supervisor for 11 schools in Middleton, Connecticut, and substantially raised the reading scores. In order to advance further, she earned a Ph.D. in educational administration from the University of Connecticut. But when she attempted to obtain appointment as a school principal, she was rejected in favor of a much less qualified gym teacher.

Discouraged, she left to join American Educational Publications, publishers of My Weekly Reader. She edited the fourth grade edition but soon tired of the routine. When a newly created Federal regional educational laboratory in Appalachia opened up, she flew down to Charleston, West Virginia. The laboratory "was a tremendous opportunity. I was able to travel all over the country looking into innovative educational ideas." But once again, she felt stifled: "I started getting fed up with all the red tape and the difficulties in making changes in large structures."

Having found out she was not suited for the role of the traditional housewife, she now discovered a second important fact about herself: She was not suited to be a cog in someone else's wheel either.

She quit the laboratory, moved into a tiny, unheated office in downtown Charleston and began her career as an entrepreneur publishing Reading NewsReport, a journal of reading and language arts for teachers and school administrators.

The early days were not auspicious.

Though the newsletter, which she put

As a successful entrepreneur, Sandra Brown hopes not only to achieve wealth and recognition but to serve as a model for other women who aspire to business careers. out single-handedly, found many readers, it was not profitable and she fell into heavy debt. After a move to Washington, she began designing individualized instructional materials for publishers anxious to tap the education market, then expanding rapidly due to heavy government spending programs. Again, the new business, while popular, was unprofitable.

Her creditors became increasingly uneasy.

"I was in big trouble," she conceded.

In searching for assistance after moving to New York, she came upon Kenneth Martin, a Harvard business school graduate and software head of a publishing house. Sandy had approached the publisher with a proposal for a basic reading program similar .10 the one she eventually sold to Singer and which has earned over $200,000 for MultiMedia.

Though the house turned it down, Martin was very interested and wanted to learn more. Sandy described the new company (to be called MuitiMedia) she hoped to establish to control her various enterprises.

Her ideas were sound, but from a business standpoint, her plans were rudimentary at best.

"At our first meeting," Martin recalls, "I asked her to show me her cash flow projections. She asked, 'What is cash flow?' I decided that she needed some real financial advice." He was amazed how fast she assimilated ~. "She's an incredible brain picker," he says. "She worked me over pretty heavily. And she's relentless." Mter talking with her about MultiMedia, Martin left his job at the publishing company, helped her draw up plans for the new concern, and investedsome of his own money. Based on their projections, they decided to sell a third interest in the concern for $300,000.

Now, while Martin oversees the day-today financial affairs of Sandy's enterprises, she has become so sophisticated she does her own financial negotiating.

Like many much larger corporations captivated by the glamor of the education market, MultiMedia began diversifying into ventures it would later regret. Some nurseries were profitable, but only marginally so. And a network of learning

centers at which students could purchase including listings of available jobs and supplementary instruction lost $200,000. interviews with women who have made it.

"We made the mistake of expanding too Brown also talks of setting up a women's rapidly," she admits. credit union as well as establishing a Retrenching, Brown returned Multi- small business investment company.

Media's focus to its original activity of Accomplishment of the multifarious preparing educational material and re- goals Sandy has set out for herself cruited another cash transfusion from requires a frenetic work schedule as an independently wealthy private investor. demanding as that of any senior corporate Over the past couple of years, Multi- executive. Her typical day begins in her Media has edged into the black and begun modest midtown Manhattan apartment retiring its accumulated debts. As the with an eggs-and-bacon breakfast, quick concern at last obtained some of the scanning of The New York Times, the success she had originally envisioned, psyching-up ritual, and a six-block walk she realized a third important fact about or cab trip to the office, where she arrives herself: She was not suited to the routine of at 9 a.m. Except when she is eating out, operating an established business, even lunch invariably is an ordered-in ham-¡ burger, whose bun she discards. ("As soon one she herself had created. Impatient and restless, she found she thrived on as I start eating more than a thousand undertaking new challenges, not building calories a day," she says, "I begin to upon past achievements. put on pounds like crazy.") Her day She continues to oversee MultiMedia lasts till around 7 p.m. after which two "with my left hand," as she puts it, or three nights a week she goes outbut she has given up the presidency of almost always to business dinners. ("I the concern and turned over operating really don't do anything social. ") When control to others. This has left her free she doesn't go out, she walks back to to develop new programs, make new her apartment, orders a hamburger or acquisitions for MultiMedia and to pursue cooks a piece of meat and works until her just-beginning career as a corporate 11 p.m. The sole habitual indulgence in rescuer. "I like the challenge of charging this spartan routine is half a glass of into a situation which everyone thinks sangria or rose wine which she drinks is hopeless and trying to make it work," just before getting into bed "to help me she says. get to sleep."

As an empire. builder, Sandy Brown Her only breaks are infrequent tennis hopes not only to achieve wealth and games, brisk horseback rides in Central recognition but to serve as something Park and very rare and brief vacations, of a model for other women who aspire usually traveling and skiing. to business careers. Promoting greater "I work all the time," she told a visitor success by businesswomen, in fact, is to her office late one Friday afternoon. her primary focus these days. The principal "I don't watch television and I hardly vehicle is a newsletter called The Executive ever go to the movies. Even when I'm Woman, with a circulation of 2,000. taking a shower, my mind is working."

She held up a sheaf of papers describing ActuaJly, Sandy sees it as not just a newsletter but as a cohesive device serving a foundering company which she was the same functions for women that golf thinking of attempting to resuscitate.

"Ken Martin just left for the oper-a," outings and club lunches serve for men.

Besides the newsletter, she has in- she said brightly, "but I can't wait to augurated a series of dinners for female get home so I can spend the evening executives, seminars at such business insti- reading this memo."

D tutions as the Chemical Bank, and "Women's Business," a weekly show on About the Author: Chris Welles, a free-lance New York cable television which gives writer, often contributes articles to such maga. news of interest to female executives, zines as the Reader's Digest and Nation.

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE

"My adv.iceis to go back home and tell your father you're sorry." Š 197J, by permission a/Saturday Review and

Joseph Farris.

// ARB INVfSTMENT COMPAI'lY

//j

"I thought it might brighten your day to know that rm happy about everything."

Courresy

"The work isn't bad here-once you learn to ignore it."

Chon Day.

Courtesy

Jeffrey

Monahan.

"Now that rve gotten the worm and'since it's still early, 1 think r/l go back to sleep." ŠJ977.

Reprinted

by permission

o/Ladies Home Journal and Orlando Busino.

A story by Roald Dahl I had a new car. It was an exciting toy, a big BMW 3.3 Li, which means 3.3 liter, long wheelbase, fuel injection. It had a top speed of 129 mph and terrific acceleration. The body was pale blue. The seats inside were darker blue and they were made of leather, genuine soft leather of the finest quality.

The windows were electrically operated and so was the sunroof. The radio aerial popped up when I switched on the radio, and disappeared when I switched it off. The powerful engine growled and grunted impatiently at slow speeds, but at sixty miles an hour the growling stopped and the motor began to purr with pleasure.

I was driving up to London by myself. It was a lovely June day. They were haymaking in the fields and there were buttercups along both sides of the road. I was whispering along at 70 mph, leaning back cornfort-

ably in my seat, with no more than a couple of fingers resting lightly on the wheel to keep her steady. Ahead of me I saw a man thumbing a lift. I touched the foot brake and brought the car to a stop beside him. I always stopped for hitchhikers. I knew just how it used to feel to be standing on the side of a country road watching the cars go by.

I hated the drivers for pretending they didn't see me, especially the ones in big cars with three empty seats. The large, expensive cars seldom stopped. It was always the smaller ones that offered you a lift, or the old, rusty ones, or the ones that were already crammed full of children, and the driver would say, "I think we can squeeze in one more."

The hitchhiker poked his head through the open window and said, "Going to London, guv'nor?"

"Yes," I said. "Jump in."

He got in and I drove on.

He was a small, ratty-faced man with gray teeth. His eyes were dark and quick and clever, like rats' eyes, and his ears were slightly pointed at the top. He had a cloth cap on his head and he was wearing a grayishcolored jacket with enormous pockets. The gray jacket, together with the quick eyes and the pointed ears, made him look more than anything like some sort of a huge human rat.

"What part of London are you headed for?" I asked him.

"I'm goin' right through London and out the other side," he said. "I'm goin' to Epsom, for the races. It's Derby Day today."

"So it is," I said. "I wish I were going with you. I love betting on horses."

"I never bet on horses," he said. "I don't even watch 'em run. That's stupid, silly business. " "Then why do you go?" I

asked.

He didn't seem to like tha question. His little ratty fac went absolutely blank and h sat there staring straight ahea at the road, saying nothing.

"I expect you help to wor the betting machines or som thing like that," I said.

"That's even sillier," he an swered. "There's no fun workin them lousy machines and sellin tickets to mugs. Any fool cou do that."

There was a long silenc I decided not to question hi any more. I remembered ho irritated I used to get in m hitchhiking days when drive kept asking me questions. Wher are you going? Why are yo going there? What's your job Are you married? Do you hav a girlfriend? What's her name How old are you? And so o and so forth. I used to hate it.

"I'm sorry," I said. "It's non of my business what you d The trouble is, I'm a write

and most writers are terribly nosy."

"Y ou write books?" he asked.

"Yes. " "Writin' books is okay," he said. "It's what I call a skilled trade. I'm in a skilled trade too.

The folks I despise is them that spend all their lives doin' crummyoId routine jobs with no skill in 'em at all. You see what I mean?"

"Yes. " "The secret of life," he said, "is to become very very good at somethin' that's very very 'ard to do."

"Like you," I said.

"Exactly. You and me both."

"What makes you think that fm any good at my job?"

I asked. "There's an awful lot of bad writers around."

"You wouldn't be drivin' about in a car like this if you weren't no good at it," he answered. "It must've cost a tidy packet, this little job."

"It wasn't cheap."

"What can she do flat out?" he asked.

"One hundred and twentynine miles an hour," I told him. ''I'll bet she won't do it."

"I'll bet she will."

"All carcmakers is liars," he said. "You can buy any car you like and it'll never do what the makers say it will in the ads."

"This one will."

"Open 'er up then and prove it," he said. "Go on, guv'nor, open 'er right up and let's see what she'll do."

There is a roundabout at Chalfont St. Peter and immediately beyond it there's a long straight section of divided highway. We came out of the roundabout onto the carriageway and I pressed my foot hard down on the accelerator.

The big car leaped forward as though she'd been stung. In ten seconds or so, we were doing ninety.

"Lovely!" he cried. "Beautiful! Keep goin'!"

I had the accelerator jammed right down against the floor and I held it there.

"One hundred!" he shouted .... "A hundred and five! ...

A hundred and ten! ... A hun-

boys, waiting for him to arrive. dred and fifteen! Go on! Don't "Watch out for this man," slack off!"

I was in the outside lane and my passenger whispered, " 'Ee we flashed past several cars as looks mean as the devil."

The cop CaLneround to my though they were standing still -a green Mini, a big cream- open window and placed one colored Citroen, a white Land meaty hand on the sill. "What's Rover, a huge truck with a con- the hurry?" he said.

"No hurry, officer," I antainer on the back, an orangeswered. colored Volkswagen Minibus ....

"Perhaps there's a woman "A hundred and twenty!" in the back having a baby and my passenger shouted, jumping up and down. "Go on! Go on! you're rushing her to hospital?

Is that it?"

Get 'er up to one-two-nine!"

"No officer."

At that moment, I heard the "Or perhaps your house is scream of a police siren. It was so loud it seemed to be on fire and you're dashing home right inside the car, and then to rescue the family from upa cop on a motorcycle loomed stairs?" His voice was danup alongside us on the inside gerously soft and mocking.

"My house isn't on fire, lane and went past us and officer." raised a hand for us to stop.

"In that case," he said, "Oh, my sainted aunt!" I said. "That's torn it!" "you've got yourself into a nasty The cop must have been doing mess, haven't you? Do you about a hundred and thirty know what the speed limit is when he passed us, and he in this country?" took plenty of time slowing "Seventy," I said. down. Finally, he pulled into "And do you mind telling the side of the road and I me exactly what speed you were pulled in behind him. "I didn't doing just now?" know police motorcycles could I shrugged and didn't say go as fast as that," I said rather anything. lamely.

When he spoke next, he raised "That one can," my passenger his voice so loud that I jumped. said. "It's the same make as "One hundred and twenty miles yours. It's a BMW R90S. Fast- per hour I" he barked. "That's est bike on the road. That's fifty miles an hour over the limit !" what they're usin' nowadays."

The cop got off his motorHe turned his head and spat cycle and leaned the machine out a big gob of spit. It landed sideways onto its prop stand. on the wing of my car and started Then he took off his gloves and sliding down over my beautiful placed them carefully on the blue paint. Then he turned back seat. He was in no hurry now. again and stared hard at my He had us where he wanted us passenger. "And who are you?" and he knew it. he asked sharply.

"He's a hitchhiker," I said.

"This is real trouble," I said. "I don't like it one little "I'm giving him a lift." bit. " "I didn't ask you," he said.

"Don't talk to 'im any more "I asked him." " 'Ave I done somethin' than is necessary, you understand," my companion said. wrong?" my passenger asked.

His voice was as soft and oily "Just sit tight and keep mum."

Like an executioner approachas hair cream. ing his victim, the cop came 'That's more than likely," strolling slowly toward us. He the cop answered. "Anyway, was a big, meaty man with a you're a witness. I'll deal with belly, and his blue breeches you in a minute. Driving were skintight around his enor- license," he snapped, holding mous thighs. His goggles were out his hand.

I gave him my driving license. pulled up onto the helmet, showHe unbuttoned the left-hand ing a smoldering red face with wide cheeks. breast pocket of his tunic and We sat there like guilty school- brought out the dreaded book

of tickets. Carefully, he copied the name and address from my license. Then he gave it back to me. He strolled round to the front of the car and read the number from the number plate and wrote that down as well.

He filled in the date, the time, and the details of my offense.

Then he tore out the top copy of the ticket. But before handing it to me, he checked that all the information had come through clearly on his own carbon copy. Finally, he replaced the book in his tunic pocket and fastened the button.

"Now you," he said to my passenger, and he walked around to the other side of the car. From the other breast pocket he produced a small black notebook. "Name?" he snapped.

"Michael Fish," my passenger said.

"Address ?"

"Fourteen, Windsor Lane, Luton."

"Show me something to prove this is your real name and address," the policeman said.

My passenger fished in his pockets and came out with a driving license of his own. The policeman checked the name and address and handed it back to him. "What's your job?" he asked sharply.

"I'm an 'od carrier."

"A what?"

"An 'od carri er. " "Spell it."

"H-O-D C-A .... " "That'll do. And what's a hod carrier, may I ask?"

"An 'od carrier, officer, is a person '00 carries the cement up the ladder to the bricklayer.

And the 'od is what 'ee carries it .in. It's got a long 'andIe, and on the top you've got two bits of wood set at an angle .... " "All right, all right. Who's your employer?"

"Don't 'ave one. I'm unemployed. " The cop wrote all this down in the black notebook. Then he returned the book to its pocket and did up the button.

"When I get back to the station I'm going to do a little checking up on you," he said to my passenger.

"Me ?What'veI done wrong?" the rat-faced man asked.

"I don't like your face, that's all," the cop said. "And we just might have a picture of it somewhere in our files." He strolled round the car and returned to my window.

"I suppose you know you're in serious trouble." he said to me.

"Yes, officer."

"Y ou won't be driving this fancy car of yours again for a very long time, not after we've finished with you. You won't be driving any car again, come to that, for several years. And a good thing, too. I hope they lock you up for a spell into the bargain."

"You mean prison?" I asked, alarmed.

"Absolutely," he said, smacking his lips. "In the clink. Behind the bars. Along with all the other criminals who break the law. And a hefty fine into the bargain. Nobody will be more pleased about that than me. I'll see you in court, both of you. You'll be getting a 'summons to appear."

He turned away and walked over to his motorcycle. He flipped the prop stand back into position with his foot and swung his leg ov~r the saddle.

Then he kicked the starter and roared offup the road out of sight.

"Phew!" I gasped. "That's done it."

"We was caught," my passenger said. "We was caught good and proper."

"I was caught, you mean."

"That's right," he said. "What

you goin' to do now, guv'nor?"

"I'm going straight up to London to talk to my solicitor," I said. I started the car and drove on.

"You mustn't believe what 'ee said to you about goin' to prison," my passenger said.

"They don't put nobody in the clink just for speedin'."

"Are you sure of that?" I asked.

"I'm positive," he answered.

"They can take your license away and they can give' you a whoppin' big fine, but that'll be the end of it." , I felt tremendously relieved.

"By the way," I said, "why did you lie to him ?"

"Who, me?" he said. "What makes you think I lied?"

"You told him you were an unemployed hod carrier. But you told me you were in a highly skilled tradtl."

"So I am," he said. "But it don't pay to tell everythin' to a copper."

"So what do you do?" I asked him.

"Ah," he said slyly. "That'd be tellin', wouldn't itT' "Is it something you're ashamed of?"

"Ashamed?" he cried. "Me, ashamed of my job? I'm about as proud of it as anybody could be in the entire world!"

'Then why don't you tell me?"

"Y ou writers really is nosy parkers, aren't you!" he said.

"And you ain't goin' to be 'appy, I don't think, until you've found out exactly what the answer is."

"I don't really care one way or the other," I told him, lying.

He gave me a crafty little ratty look out of the sides of his eyes. "I think you do care," he said. "I can see it on your face that you think I'm in some kind of a very peculiar trade and you are just achin' to know what it is."

I didn't like the way he read my thoughts. I kept quiet and stared at the road ahead.

"You'd be right, too," he went on. "I am in a very peculiar trade. I'm in the queerest peculiar trade of 'em all."

I waited for him to go on.

"That's why I 'as to be extra careful '00 I'm talkin' to, you see. 'Ow am I to know, for instance, y'ou're not another copper in plain clothes?"

"Do I look like a copper?;' "No," he said. "You don't.

And you ain't. Any fool could tell that."

He took from his pocket a tin of tobacco and a packet of cigarette papers and started to roll a cigarette. I was watching him out of the corner of one eye, and the speed with which he performed this rather difficult operation was incredible. The cigarette was rolled and ready in about five seconds.

He ran his tongue along the edge of the paper, stuck it down, and popped the cigarette between his lips. Then, as if from nowhere, a lighter appeared in his hand. The lighter flamed.

The cigarette was lit. The lighter disappeared. It was altogether a remarkable performance.

"I've never seen anyone roll a cigarette as fast as that," I said.

"Ah," he said, taking a deep su6k of smoke. "So you noticed. " "Of course I noticed. It was quite fantastic."

He sat back and smiled. It pleased him very much that J had noticed how quickly he could roll a cigarette. "You want to know what makes me able to do it?" he asked.

"Go on then."

"It's because I've got fantastic fingers. These fingers of mine," he said, holding up both hands high in front of him, "are quicker and cleverer than the fingers of the best piano player in the world!"

"Are you a piano player?"

"Don't be daft," he said. "Do I look like a piano player?"

I glanced at his fingers. They were so beautifully shaped, so slim and long and elegant, they didn't seem to belong to the rest of him at all. They looked more like the fingers of a brain surgeon or a watchmaker.

"My job," he went on, "is a hundred times more difficult than playin' the piano. Any twerp can learn to do that.

There's titchy little kids learnin'

to play the piano in almost any 'ouse you go into these days.

That's right, ain't it?"

"More or less," I said.

"Of course it's right. But there's not one person in ten million can learn to do w~at I do. Not one in ten million! 'Ow about that?"

"Amazing," I said.

"You're darn right it's amazin'," he said.

"I think I know what you do," I said. "You do conjuring tricks. You're a conjurer."

"Me?" he snorted. "A conjurer? Can you picture me goin' round crummy kids' parties makin' rabbits come out of top hats?"

"Then you're a cardplayer.

You get people into card games and you deal yourself marvelous hands."

"Me! A rotten cardsharper!" he cried. "That's a miserable racket if ever there was one."

"All right. I give up."

I was taking the car along slowly now, at no more than forty miles an hour, to make quite sure I wasn't stopped again. We had come onto the main London-Oxford road and were running down the hill toward Denham.

Suddenly, my passenger was holding up a black leather belt in his hand. "Ever seen this before?" he asked. The belt had a brass buckle of unusual design.

"Hey!" I said. "That's mine, isn't it? It is mine! Where did you get it?"

He grinned and waved the belt gently from side to side.

"Where d'you think I got it?" there was my watch lying in telling me he was the president he said. "Off the top of your his palm. "Nice bit of stuff, of the Royal College of Surtrousers, of course." this," he said. "Superior quali- geons or the archbishop of Can. I reached down and felt for ty. Eighteen-carat gold. Easy terbury. my belt. It was gone.

"I've never heard that word to flog, too. It's never any "You mean you took it off trouble gettin' rid of quality before," I said. "Did you invent it?" me while we've been driving goods." along?" I asked, flabbergasted.

"Of course I didn't invent ''I'd like it back, if you don't it," he replied. "It's the name He nodded, watching me all mind," I said rather huffily. the time with those little, black, He placed the watch care- given to them who's risen to the ratty eyes. fully on the leather tray in very top of the profession.

"That's impossible," I said. front of him. "I wouldn't nick You've 'eard of a goldsmith and a silversmith, for instance.

"You'd have had to undo the anything from you, guv'nor," buckle and slide the whole thing he said. "You're my pal. You're They're experts with gold and out through the loops all the givin' me a lift." silver. I'm an expert with my fingers, so I'm a fingersmith." way round. I'd have seen you "I'm glad to hear it," I said. doing it. And even if I hadn't "It must be an interesting "All I'm doin' is answerin' seen you, I'd have felt it." your question," he went on. job. " "Ah, but you didn't, did "You asked me what I did for "It's a marvelous job," he answered. "It's lovely." you?" he said, triumphant. He a livin' and I'm showin' you."

"And that's why you go to dropped the belt on his lap, "What else have you got the races?" and now all at once there was of mine?" a brown shoelace dangling from "Race meetings is easy meat," He smiled again, and now his fingers. "And what about he started to take from the he said. "You just stand this, then?" he exclaimed, wav- pocket of his jacket one thing around after the race, watchin' ing the shoelace. after another that belonged to for the lucky ones to queue "What about it?" I said. me-my driving license, a key up and draw their money. And "Anyone around 'ere missin' ring with four keys on it, some when you see someone colleca shoelace?" he asked, grinning. pound notes, a few coins, a tin' a big bundle of notes, you I glanced down at my shoes. letter from my publishers, my simply follows after 'im and 'elps The lace of one of them was diary, a stubby old pencil, a yourself. But don't get me missing. "Good grief!" I said. cigarette lighter, and last of wrong, guv'nor. I never takes "How did you do that? I never all, a beautiful old sapphire nothin' from a loser. Nor from saw you bending down." ring with pearls around it be- poor people neither. I only go "You never saw nothin'," longing to my wife. I was taking after them as can afford it, he said proudly. "You never the ring up to the jeweler in the winners and the rich."

"That's very thoughtful of even saw me move an inch. And London because one of the you know why?" you," I said. "How often do pearls was missing.

"Yes," I said. "Becaust;: "Now there's another lovely you get caught?" you've got fantastic fingers."

"Caught?" he cried, dispiece of goods," he said, turning "Exactly right!" he cried. the ring over in his fingers. gusted. "Me get caught! It's "You catch on pretty quick, "That's eighteenth-century, if only pickpockets get caught. don't you?" He sat back and I'm not mistaken, from the Fingersmiths never. Listen, I sucked away at his homemade reign of King George the could take the false teeth out cigarette, blowing the smoke Third." of your mouth if I wanted to out in a thin stream against "You're right," I said, im- and you wouldn't even catch me!" the windshield. He knew he pressed. "You're absolutely "I don't have false teeth," had impressed me greatly with right. " I said. those two tricks, and this made He put the ring on the leather "I know you don't," he anhim very happy. "I don't want tray with the other items. swered.

"Otherwise I'd 'ave 'ad to be late," he said. "What "So you're a pickpocket," 'em out long ago!" time is it?"

I said.

"There's a clock in front of I believed him. Those long "I don't like that word," he you," I told him. answered. "It's a coarse and slim fingers of his seemed able "I don't trust car clocks," vulgar word. Pickpockets is to do anything. he said. "What does your watch coarse and vulgar people who We drove on for a while without talking. say?" only do easy little amateur jobs.

I hitched up my sleeve to They lift money from blind old "That policeman's going .to look at the watch on my wrist. ladies. " check up on you pretty "What do you call yourself, thoroughly," I said. "Doesn't It wasn't there. I looked at the that worry you a bit?" . man. He looked back at me, then ?"

"Me? I'm a fingersmith. I'm "Nobbdy's checkin' up on gnnnmg.

"Y ou 've taken that, too," I a professional fingersmith." He . me," he said. spoke the words solemnly' and "Of course they are. He's said.

He held out his hand and proudly, as though he were got your name and address

written down most carefully in his black book."

The man gave me another of his sly, ratty little smiles.

"Ah," he said. "So 'ee 'as.

But I'll bet 'ee ain't got it all written down in 'is memory as well. I've never known a copper yet with a decent memory. Some of 'em can't even remember their own names."

"What's memory got to do with it?" I asked. "It's written down in his book, isn't it?"

"Yes, guv'nor, it is. But the trouble is, 'ee's lost the book.

'Ee's lost both books, the one with my name in it and the one with yours."

In the long, delicate fingers of his right hand, the man was holding up in triumph the two books he had taken from the policeman's pockets. "Easiest job I ever done," he announced proudly.

I nearly swerved the car into a milk truck, I was so excited.

"That copper's got nothin' on either of us now," he said.

"You're a genius!" I cried. "'Ee's got no names, no addresses, no car number, no nothin'," he said.

"You're brilliant!"

"I think you'd better pull in off this main road as soon as possible," he said. "Then we'd better build a little bonfire and burn these books."

"You're a fantastic fellow!"

I exclaimed.

"Thank you, guv'nor," he said. "It's always nice to be appreciated."

0

About the Author: Roald Dahl is one of America's most prolific and widely read short story writers. He is also the author of many children's books, which include Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Among his other published works (mostly collections of short stories) are Kiss, Kiss; Someone Like You; James and the Giant Peach and Selected Stories. His stories have appeared in such magazines as The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly and Playboy.

As with many giant steps in technology, today's home television set may soon be replaced by something still more up-todate. It will involve ideas that science fiction people have been picturing for decades-in fact, for a century or so.

Now, at last, in diverse laboratories and field tests, their visions are turning into practical hardware. The ingredients seem to be right at hand.

A factor behind the advances is a development relating to cable television.

This system has long been able to deliver 20 channels or more-a versatility impossible to over-the-air television and so far not at a sensational profit. However, now it is about to be expanded further, in a fashion: it may soon offer a choice of hundreds of channels, along with another dramatic option-two-way communication, the chance to talk back.

The key to all this is a mysterious "optical fiber," now emerging from the laboratory. This glass fiber looks like a thin violin string. Laser beams can travel through it and-incredibly-carry innumerable streams of communication simultaneously in both directions.

Combine this virtuosity with various "miracles" already familiar to us-computers, satellites, cassettes, facsimile transmission-and what do you have?

A "telecommunications" revolution, it would seem. What its social implications may be is not clear. Some see it as a momentous democratizing development, involving an unprecedented governmentcitizen dialogue. Others see it as opening a new era in education. Still others see it as a breakthrough for minority interests of all sorts, offering them a diversity of special channels.

There are also less optimistic opinions, but problems of use, in the view of most telecommunications technicians, are for

An optical glass fiber now being tested inU .S.laboratories may usher in a new 'wired world.' To bank, shop, conduct business or view a film, all that you'll have to do is press the right buttons. later. They themselves are developing the "hardware." "Software" problems can be settled in due time by writers, teachers, performers, producers, graphic artists, musicians and so on - the software people, as they are known in telecommunications language. (Software people don't seem to care for this term. In fact, hardware and software people tend to be kept apart by their vocabularies, but let us set this problem aside and see what the hardware people have in mind.)

It goes like this. In one wall of your room will be a telescreen. It will be able to bring you a wide range of images and sounds and data, via push-button controls. In the first place, you can summon up current events, drama offerings, game shows, athletic contestsnot unlike your current television choices.

But you may also decide to see a classic film which a computerized switching system can call forth from an archive.

Or you may decide to take a university course, prepared and stored in an electronic repository; each lesson, as and when you need it, can be summoned by your push buttons. When ready, you can order the exam: question after question will appear on your telescreen, to be answered by push button, and the sequence will be climaxed by your grade,

which will at once be recorded somewhere in a data bank. For intensive study you may want some information on paper rather than on the screen.

Pushing the right buttons, you can bring it spilling out in the form ofa "printout."

Your income tax forms may reach you in the same way-unless that primitive business is abolished for an entirely new system, to be mentioned presently.

Your daily newspaper may also reach you in this way.

Instead of conversing with a computer you may prefer to talk to a human being-your daughter in New York, for example. There seems no reason why the telephone function, including sight, should not be incorporated in the telecommunications system. Thus you and your daughter will be able to speak to each other while each appears on the other's screen. For conference calls, split-screen arrangements can be used, so that face-toface business conferences can involve representatives of widely scattered offices, even on several continents. Much business work can be done at home, with instructions, reports and statistics transmitted electronically via words or visual display or printout, or a combination of them.

The insanity of rush-hour travel may gradually pass into history.

One of the most irrational of modern logjams, the postal system, may also yield to tomorrow's telecommunications.

The telescreen engineer sees every home or office as a "terminal." The wellequipped terminal of the future will be able to send, as well as receive, official documents and letters.

It is assumed by most telecommunications futurists that some of the choices available via your push-button (digital) controls will be free-sponsored by advertisers or available as a government

service-while others will involve payment. Tuning to an opera performance will probably involve a fee. For a 1!12iversitycourse you will likewise ¡be charged something corresponding to current tuition fees. The method of payment will probably be made as painless as possible. The act of tuning may simply deduct the fee electronically from your bank balance.

One of the forces propelling telecommunications toward a new era is the computer. Data banks are already, of course, a reality for insurance firms, banks, 'law enforcement agencies, health agencies; access is available over long distance .via cable or microwave or satellite. A Milwaukee, Wisconsin, hospital, about to perform an emergency operation on a patient from Los Angeles, California, can get the patient's computerstored medical history, in seconds. A New Orleans, Louisiana, newspaper,

Above: A fiber cable made by Bell Laboratories which dIn permit beams of light carrying messages to pass through it. The cable thus facilitates simultaneous two-way communication.

instead of trying to maintain its own massive newsclipping "morgue" on interc national events, can purchase access to The New York Times computerized morgue or information bank. A detective investigating a case in Albuquerque, New Mexico, can instantly check fingerprints and other data in Washington computers. One computer can feed its data to another. In telecommunications scenarios, computers are constantly talking to each other.

In all such communication transactions, the term "long distance" is losing much of its meaning. When television programs or documents or data are transmitted by satellite, 3,000 kilometers involve no greater difficulty than 300

kilometers. In phone calls of the future, with two-way video in color, distance may no longer be a cost factor.

Thus the ingredients of the revolution are with us; their wider use seems certain to affect home and office, business and pleasure, information and persuasion, student and teacher, citizen and government, in ways that may be startling.

Optical glass fiber is based on cheap and plentiful silicon, whereas coaxial cables use scarce, expensive copper. The difference may hasten the wiring of communities throughout the world. What the scientist foresees is that the virtuosity of the fibers, combined with that of satellites and computers and electronic recorders, will tend to integrate various communication systems and purposes into an extraordinary multichannel, interactive communications world: communications of one to one, one to many, many to one, many to many.

So confident are scientists of this development that intensive meetings have already been held to work out details, to anticipate what hardware may be needed. Meetings have been held in the United States under the auspices of the National Research Council, sponsored by a consortium of government departments-Commerce; Health, Educa-¡ tion and Welfare; Housing and Urban Development; Transportation-with participation by representatives of the Federal Communications Commission, the U.S. Postal Service, and the White House Office of Telecommunications Policy. All feel that the impending communications revolution may radically alter the context of their work. And all look to the revolution for answers to their increasingly pressing problems.

The scientists brought together in such meetings are from diverse fields, representing television, telephone, telegraph, aerospace, computer and other industries.'

They see their interests convergingbut also clashing. Thus the emerging telecommunications visions involve a power struggle, which will be, in fact, a continuation of struggles dating back to a century ago ..

The wiring of the world really began with telegraphy. In the United States this invention was soon seen to offer; along with rich blessings, some dangers.

"What hath God wrought?" Samuel Morse asked, clicking the first intercity message. For a time the answer seemed to be: monopoly power. By the 1870s Western Union, absorbing smaller companies, had a web of wires reaching 37 states and nine territories. As the only.

sures eventually dissolved the partnership, and made RCA independent of its Computers and wires may soon creators.

Although RCA was organized as an move us to a cashless society. international message service, its energies The waves of paper that were soon redirected by the eruption now engulf the world of finance of the broadcasting mania, which between 1920 and 1922 brought more than 500 -currency, checks, bonds, stations to the air in the United States. bills-may become obsolete.

For a short time, all broadcasting stations performed independently, producing their own programs-a clearly irrational arrangement. Stations could such system, it could charge monopoly rates. However, with the invention of. be linked into networks by the use of the telephone by Alexander Graham Bell connecting wires. AT&T, Western Union in 1876, the monopoly position of the and Postal Telegraph all vied for this telegraph began to suffer erosion: in- interconnection role. AT&T won the formation acquired an alternative channel. struggle. With the formation of NBC Western Union, tried to throttle the (National Broadcasting Company) in 1926 competition with patent litigation, but and of CBS (Columbia Broadcasting failed to do so.

System) in 1927. AT&T hecame their By the 1900s AT&T (American Tele- sole means of interconnection. Some phone and Telegraph Company) was observers thought this posed the danger so wealthy that it could, with one 30- of a new power concentration, but again million-dollar check, buy control of a new element altered the situation.

With the dawn of the space age after Western Union. But by this time America had learned something of the dangers of World War II the communication satelmonopoly control, especially in com- lite emerged as an alternative means of munications, and the sale was halted by interconnecting radio and television antitrust action. The two wire systems stations, as well as cable television remained as competitive elements, along systems, computer networks and other with another rival, Postal Telegraph. such systems. This brought the name This was a private company, formed Western Union back into the interconnecin 1882, having nothing to do with tion sweepstakes: By 1976 the Public the postal system; it simply decided to Broadcasting Service was contracting with call itself "postal" because the word had Western Union International for satellite become an antimonopoly rallying cry. interconnection to replace or supplement The company became especially active in AT&T cables. And lIT had re-entered communications abroad, and these activ- the situation when it joined with RCA, ities eventually metamorphosed into ITT AT&T and Western Union International (International Telephone and Telegraph in the formation of COMSAT, the inter~ Corporation). nationally responsible Communications Meanwhile, still another information Satellite Corporation, to provide worldchannel had made an appearance: wire- wide linkages. less, which became radio, which gave All these, along with aerospace and birth to electronics, which in turn bred computer interests, are behind the telethe computer. In the laboratory, Edison's communications visions in laboratory, electric lightbulb turned into the elec- think tank and seminar. They are cotronic vacuum tube, and this helped planners, but also rivals. lightbulb manufacturers such as General Who will be the gatekeepers of the Electric, Westinghouse, and Western Elec- evolving system? Will authority be disperstric (an AT&T subsidiary) to assume ed or concentrated? Will the multiplicity gigantic stature in electronics and radio. of channels provide a rich diversity of During World War I their assembly choice, or only seem to? Who will decide lines produced quanti!k.s of electronic what treasures are to be stored in the war material. The war dramatized the electronic archives available to your push unique abilities of radio as a commu- buttons? History teaches us that these nications instrument, and this led in are crucial questions-and confronts us 1919 to formation of RCA (the Radio with still further questions. Will the right Corporation of Americil}-=-inwhich Gen- of priv.acy survive the telecommunications eral Electric, Westinghouse and AT&T revolution and its network of data banks? became controlling partners. Again a For the moment such questions remain dangerous communications monopoly unanswered and unanswerable. The curseemed to be forming, but antitrust pres- rent focus is on hardware miracles. >

Meanwhile, dreams of things to come lure us on. They offer a heady mixture of possibilities. Ithiel de Sola Pool of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology points out that nowadays an average U.S. family, settling down for an evening, generally has three television network programs to choose from. This has been, he feels, "a powerful force toward conformity. Wherever one goes in the United States, the same fads, the same styles, the same scandal of the week, the same ball' scores, the same entertainments are on people's lips." He feels that in contrast the emerging technology can help to "individualize people rather than to homogenize them." He'predicts: "Increasingly, communications devices will be' adapted to individualized use by the consumer where and when he wants, on his own, without the cooperation of others; he will use machines as an extension of his own capabilities and personality, talking and listening worldwide, picking up whatever information he wants."

Pool apparently feels that Man himself will be changed by the emerging technology. "For the computer promises to make it possible to interrogate an inanimate data base with the same ease and success with which we now ask questions of a friend or colleague .... " He sums up: "A picture begins to emerge of a society ever more individualized in its interests and tastes."

The added factor of two-way "interactive" communication seems invaluable to Pool as to others. In place of an era in which "the citizen hears but is not heard," they see an era of citizen feedback.

Economist Harold J. Barnett feels this factor will be especially important to local politics, restoring the "community ethos" which mass-audience television has helped to undermine. The factor is also considered important in "telemedicine," a subject of endless futuristic scenarios. These picture the physician examining and interviewing remote patients via telecommunications. A patient need not be brought to the electrocardiograph: the telecommunications system can provide the link.

The two-way factor will also be important in the use of special shoppers' channels. The buyer at home will be able to survey available merchandise, then place orders and authorize payments.

The possible impact of telecommunications on finance is particularly intriguing. The financial world is drowned in waves of paper-currency, checks, stocks, bonds, bills, orders, accounts-

that flow endlessly from office to office to contemplate. As we have seen, visions via messenger or the postal system. That of the wired world have been with us all this is obsolete is being shown by ever since the invention of the telephone. computer networks. "Computers and As early as 1882, an artist pictured a wire," writes' Barnett, "are moving us woman shopping via television, and to a cashless society." Payments will another taking a course via televis·ion. flow over the telecommunications system. In the early 1900s, the motion picture In the computerized financial world, taxa- was expected to have many of the same tion may even be simplified by diverting effects predicted for telecommunications to the government small fractions of -wide dispersal of knowledge, equalization of opportunity, strengthening of all individual transactions.

In the magazine Science, Edwin B. democracy and of international underParker and Donald A. Dunn describe standing. Broadcasting, at the very hour of its birth, was expected to have similar the system of the future as a "combined library, newspaper, mail-order catalogue, effects. The first issue of Radio Broadcast, post office, classroom, and theater." It launched early in 1922, predicted that will resemble current television, yet change broadcasting would elicit a new national it radically. "Broadcast television is like loyalty and produce a more contented the passenger railroad, taking people to citizenry, that the government would be scheduled places at scheduled times." a living thing to its citizens instead of Tomorrow's wired system is expected an abstract and unseen force, that elected to be "like a highway network, permitting representatives would not be able to people to use their television sets in the evade their responsibility to those constiway they use their personal automobiles; tuents who put them in office, and that the people's University of the Air would they may be able to select information, education and entertainment at times have a greater student body th~m all and places of their own choosing." This the rest of our universities put together. . will presumably foster "equal social Magazine articles of the day featured such titles as "How Radio Is Remaking opportunity in the United States."

We should recognize that new tech- the World," "Radio, the Modern Peace nology readily evokes rosy expectations. . Dove" and "Ether Waves vs.· Crime Possible blessings are more easily glimpsed Waves." than problems, and are more gratifying were they, wrong, or were some of

these predictions only premature and are they now' about to come true in a new "telecommunications" phase of the electronic epoch?

In· the already large and growing literature on the wired world of tomorrow, a persistent theme relates to transportation; 'For it is expected that "message movement" will eventually replace much "people movement" -thus relieving our glutted transportation system, easing problems of the use of energy and improving the quality of our air.

Again and again we are told that the symbolic interchange offered by telecommunications can and must replace a large percentage of the physical encounters now serviced by physical travel. We will become telecommuters,teleshoppers and televoters. But what will all those people be doing-those human beings who no longer need to stir from home, who will save endless hours of mass transport and be blessed with leisure?

What will they do with their lives? What will their lives mean to them?

At this point, the hardware man invokes the software people. They are to enrich the citizen's life with a vast assortment of video services and packages; entertainment, education, art, culture. But the software man tends to be baffled by the assignment. .

It seems to software people that the hardware specialist loves smoothly functioning equipment but does not love people; who are messy and disorganized.

Why else would he devise these scenarios which always seem to eliminate peopleor at least keep them out of the way, at home?

The root of all art is the fantasizing characteristic of human beings by which they cope with the pressures and perplexities of their lives. Art serves the artists-and the audience, when art succeeds-as interpretation, clarification, redemption. What pressures will haunt the telecommunications viewer of tomorrow? What fantasies from the studios of software will fruitfully engage his attention, ease his tensions, keep him content before the telescreen and push buttons? The hardware emerging from our laboratories is truly miraculous. Designing the software may prove to be far more difficult.

0 About the Author: Erik Barnouw is a professor

"As of September ist, Fm sorry to say, you will all be replaced by a tiny chip of silicon."

Drawing by Stevenson. © 1977 the New Yorker Magazine. Inc ..

of dramatic arts at Columbia University and Woodrow Wilson Scholar at the Smithsonian institution. He is the author of Tube of Plenty: The Evolu~ion of American Television and coauthor (with S. Krishnaswamy) of Indian Cinema.

THI 'OPIN' ARTIST

by JOHN F. COPPOLA

At 62, American artist Robert MotherweU is at the height of his fame. Last July there was a mammoth exhibition of his paintings in Paris-probably the largest one-man show any living U.S. artist has ever been given in a French museum. At left: MotherweU, in his Greenwich, Connecticut, studio. Above: 'The Persian, 1'-' 1974,48'/" x 36" , acrylic, on board.

"The history of modern art tends at certain moments to become the history of modern freedom .... At the same time, modern artists have not a social, but an individualist experience of freedom," wrote Robert Motherwell.

That is a particularly apt appraisal because any persons engaged in the rather fragile business of expressing themselves, whether with words on paper or with paint on canvas, are dependent on the right to be heard.

When freedom's position is challenged, artists are among the first to take up its defense, for the cause is peculiarly their own.

Motherwell's statement is also an insightful summary of the course of his own career.

His reputation as one of the leading painters in the United States rests on two series of paintings that express contrasting viewssocial and individual-of freedom.

For 20 years, Motherwell's signature as an artist were the "Elegies to the Spanish Republic," which dealt, in abstract forms, with the artist's political sensibilities. The last decade of Motherwell's work, however, has been dominated by a series of "Open" paintings that utilize a different set of abstract images to deal with a personalized sense of freedom.

That contrast is characteristic of Motherwell's art, which consistently has been a balance between contradictory elements, between feeling and intellect, structure and openness, freedom and necessity. Motherwell's paintings deal, in an almost literary manner, with intellectual values, yet the imagery used to express them, both in the "Elegies" and the "Open" paintings, was encountered by chance. His style sets up a contrast between the soft, painted edges of his forms and the hard, clear contours they convey. The result is what one critic has called "a socially relevant art out of a Matissean sensibility."

Many of the "Spanish Elegies," which number more than a hundred works, are long, friezelike canvases in which black ovoids and alternating slabs of darkness are silhouetted on a white field. The forms may suggest pregnantwomen, the tail and testicles of a sacrificial bull -or perhaps ominous shadows against a whitewashed wall. The paintings suggest sex and death simultaneously, the black at once funereal and yet more alive than the white.

Motherwell encountered the "Spanish Elegy" motif in 1948 while doodling in preparation for decorating a page of poetry by his friend, art critic Harold Rosenberg.

Almost immediately, the forms appeared in a Spanish context, one derive'd from Federico Garcia Lorca's poetry, in the ink drawing, "At Five in the Afternoon," and soon focused on the specific association of the Spanish Civil War.

The theme was not new to Motherwell.

He had begun to paint Spanish themes some half dozen years after Franco's victory in such abstract works as "The Little Spanish Prison" (1941-44) and "Spanish Prison (Window)" (1943-44). The "Elegies" followed the Civil War by almost a dozen years, but the interval was crucial.

The Spanish Civil War made a notable impression on the circle of American artists who were about to give rise to Abstract Expressionism. "I was 21 in 1936, and that was the most moving political event of the time," Motherwell recalls. "For my generation, the Spanish Civil War was the first realization that the forces of evil could conquer, an idea that came as a tremendous shock to Western intellectuals."

The exhibition of Picasso's "Guernica"

The 'Spanish Elegies' are not political, but my private insistence that a terrible death happened that should not be forgotten. in New York in 1939 was a seminal moment for these artists. The painting's attempt to express the artist's social consciousness at the same time that it provided symbols to communicate that concern to society at large underscored one of the basic dilemmas facing American artists.

Motherwell regretted that an American artist could not paint a "Guernica" for the same reason that he judged Picasso's work a "relative failure": the artist was cut off from the great social classes by his own spirituality and could no longer hope to find symbols that would speak for a whole, increasingly materialistic, society. So when Motherwell approached his own series of symbolic paintings on the Spanish Civil War, he was prepared to accept the divorce of art from society and substitute his own subjective responses. In the end, the "Spanish Elegies" transcend their source.

Though socially conscious works, they are more expressive of a lost cause.

Motherwell himself has noted that "the 'Spanish Elegies' are not 'political,' but my private insistence that a terrible death happened that should not be forgotten."

The paintings were intended, he adds, "as a meditation On the death of the Spanish Republic, and then as a general meditation on life'and death and their interrelationship."

This internalizing of social values was characteristic of Abstract Expressionism as it developed in the United States. In a catalogue text for a Motherwell exhibition,

Frank O'Hara noted that, in the artIstic climate of the Second World War, it was "impossible for a society to be at war without each responsible element joining the endeavor .... I think that it was the pressure of this temper and this time that forced from Abstract Expressionism its statement of values, which is, and probably shall remain, unique in the history of culture. While other protesting artistic voices were bound by figuration and overt symbolism, the abstract expressionists chose the open road of personal responsibility, naked nerve ends and possible hubris."

That belief, indeed insistence, in the validity of their own personal, ethical responses manifested itself, Motherwell wrote, in that these "artists especially value personal liberty because they do not find positive liberties in the concrete character of the modern state."

In Motherwell's painting, the concept of personal liberty found its expression in his "Open" paintings.

In 1967, Motherwell noticed a small canvas leaning against a larger one in his studio and remarked that "I was abruptly struck by the beauty of their proportional relationship." He drew a charcoal line on the large canvas around the contour of the small one and so began his "Open" series.

In the "Open" paintings, a squared-off "U" is drawn or painted on a monochromatic field, sometimes isolating a recnmgle of a second color, more often emphasizing the unity of one color by dividing it. Sometimes the "U" is anchored to the top edge of the canvas; sometimes it floats in the picture plane. Variations include a horizontal line that divides the picture or a third vertical line that divides the "U"; on occasion, the "U" is repeated as a series of inverted arches.

The artist was born in Aberdeen, Washington, in 1915, into a family with little interest in art. Motherwell's life as an artist began in New York in the 1940s. At the University of Oregon, where he was still more or less committed to an academic career, someone suggested that he study art history with Meyer Schapiro at Columbia. Schapiro urged Motherwell in 1940 to abandon scholarship for painting and it was through him that Motherwell met the French surrealist artists and writers. Motherwell found this milieu both sympathetic and inspiring, and he entered it with enthusiasm.

In 1943 Motherwell made his first collages ~the medium in which he has produced some of his most beautiful works-for a show at Peggy Guggenheim's gallery, "Art of This Century." It was followed by a solo exhibition the following year.

The large oeuvre that Motherwell has produced in the 30-odd years since he began to paint seriously in the heady atmosphere of that wartime period obviously owes a

great deal to the spirit, if not to the formal language, of the surrealist milieu in which he came of age as an artist.

Motherwell's art has remarkable variety.

There are paintings that are all gesture and dash-trajectories of unbridled feeling left unrevised by any afterthoughts-and there are Motherwell paintings that are very carefully constructed with each color and shape set down with studied attention. "There is an unemphatic vein of elegance in his work," writes Hilton Kramer, "even a taste for that painterly cuisine the Abstract Expressionists have often alleged to have jettisoned from their art. He is thus the very opposite of the kind of modern painter who establishes a single image or idea as his trademark, and then sticks to it forever after. He is a brilliant colorist, especially in his collages, yet his most monumental paintings-the 'Elegies' -are mainly black and white."

In contrast to the predominantly blackand-white '''Elegies,'' and like the collages, the "Open" paintings make extensive use of color, emphasizing perhaps Motherwell's adherence to Mallarm6's dictum that art should use only the means unique to it.

Paintings are made of colors, and Motherwell's work is a celebration of them.

His paintings, though abstract, are accessible because "my blue is the blue of the sky

or the sea. My greens are trees, flower and called 'Elegy to the Spanish Republic'?" plant greens." Motherwell adds that "the Nonetheless, the associations attached to the 'pure' red of which certain abstractionists title, "Open," are especially relevant to the speak does not exist. Any red is rooted in concept of freedom they express. blood, glass, wine, hunters' caps and a Writing about the "Open" paintings, Motherwell noted that some of his associathousand other concrete phenomena. Other; wise we should have no feeling toward red tions with the series were the 80-odd definiand its relations, and it would be useless as tions of "open" that appear in the dictionary. an artistic element."

Foremost among them are "having no When he was making the transition to the enclo~ing or confining barrier" and "being "Open" paintings, Motherwell first read completely free from concealment: exposRafael Alberti's poem, "To Painting," and ed to general or particular perception or found it a continuing source of inspiration. knowledge. " "Every time I got stuck," he recalls, "I The motif of the "Open" series suggests would read a few lines of the Alberti poem, a window, although the first "Open" paintand then the images would come again." ing had an inverted "U" on the lower half Motherwell created a livre de luxe of of the canvas, looking very much like a aquatints illuminating Alberti's poem, which doorway. Before beginning more than 200 celebrates the artist's tools, particularly his works based on this theme, Motherwell colors. Although "To Painting" does not decided to put the opening at the top of the deal specifically with Motherwell's art, one painting, where it becomes a metaphoric passage from it goes far toward explaining window. the force of the "Open" paintings: The artist notes that "a door imprisons, Black opened a well in the brilliance whereas I seek the opposite: an opening into an airy, rising world."

0 and spoke from the pit: "I too am comely" The literary and historical aSSOCiatIOns About the Author: John F. Coppola specializes in the that Motherwell attaches to his paintings fine arts, and his articles bear the stamp of a writer have on occasion drawn criticism, one at home with his subject. An artist himself, his reviewer complaining, "Who must not feel prints have drawn critical approbation in exhibiobliged to respond respectfully to something tions in the United States and abroad.

INDIAN AMBASSADOR PRESENTS CREDENTIALS TO PRESIDENT CARTER .America's relations with India "have been enhanced substantially in the last few months," said U.S. President Jimmy Carter as he received the diplomatic _credentials of India's new Ambassador, Nani A. Palkhivala. He praised the Indian people's "deep commitment to democratic principles. " Ambassador Palkhivala said earlier that in President Carter's October 4 speech at the United Nations, there was not "a single idea or principle with which India would not agree."

Following are excerpts from Ambassador Palkhivala's address: Mr. President, the United States and India are indentured to the same ideals and aspirations. Today presents a rare opportunity of deepening the relationship between the two nations. There is a new atmosphere of hope and expectation that the future will see a furth{(rstrengthening of our bonds ....

The people of India have always held the American people. in great affection, admiration and esteem. The founding fathers of our Constitution drew largely upon your fundamental law. Libertythe eternal flame-lights our Constitution as luminously as it does yours.

India is keen to explore fresh directions of cooperative endeavor with the United States. Our political dialogue can cover larger areas and also gain in qualitative content. ...

It sounds like a cliche but happens to be sincerely true to say that India has abiding faith in the cause of international peace and good will and offers its hand of friendship to the United States in the task of promoting that cause. In principle and in practice we adhere to the ideal of genuine nonalignment. However, our nonalignment does not spell indifference to the fundamental issues of justice and human dignity.

In the human cycle, years-sometimes centuries-pass like a wayward time, and then comes a moment marked by the growing consciousness that an era is emerging and that man is moving in a new direction toward a new life. Humanity is today in that transforming mood. It is restlessly groping its way to the unity of the human race, which postulates that the United Nations be united. Recent events bear witness to the shaping and molding of a new world order marked by

"India offers its hand offriendship to the United States .... " Indian Ambassador Nani A. Palkhivala with U.S. President Jimmy Carter.

a rising awareness of the need for justice and moral values. Robert Lowell referred to "the tranquilized fifties." We may look forward, with justified optimism, to the humanized eighties.

You, Mr. President, have called upon the United States to set standards of morality and decency in public life and policies. The Government of India is committed to the same life-enriching values and will play its role constructively in the community of nations ....

In his reply to the Ambassador's remarks, President Carter said: ... This is a most welcome occasion for me today as I reflect on the development of relations between our two countries. As you so rightly note, the world is entering a period in which the fundamental values of human societies and of the international order are being examined in a fresh light. Our two countries, each in its own context, have emerged from a recent period of internal strain with fundamental institutions intact and our dedication to freedom reaffirmed.

The renewed commitment of the Indian people to democratic government has been a source of great satisfaction to all Americans.

In this process our peoples have learned much, not least that the moral and human quality of our institutions is vital to their functioning equitably and justly. We have also learned to develop and strengthen ties with societies which share our ideals

and values. We in the United States have stated our determination to give our national values a central role in our diplomacy and I am happy that our relations with India have prospered and acquired a new meaning in this context.

This is as the relations of free societies should be.

The new spirit of hope and good will has created an opportunity for deeper and better ties which, I am happy to note, our two countries have not neglected. I believe that the progress we have achieved in recent- months in developing a climate of trust and confidence is witness to the new direction in which we have embarked.

I welcome, therefore, your interest in exploring the possibilities of new and joint endeavors. We should seek ways of broadening the foundations of common interest and enterprise. For perhaps too long, India and the United States have viewed each other in fixed terms rather than as dynamic, evolving societies. The developments of the past year in both our countries add up to a new. starting point, to a potential for creative approaches. Let us give them full rein.

One instruJ?1entin this process certainly includes the Indo-U.S. Joint Commission and the work of its three subcommissions -on economy and commerce, education and culture, and science and technologyto whose continuing success the United States is fully committed. The full range of private and unofficial relations, which reflect many' decades of continuous and fruitful contact between our two peoples, also comes to mind as a channel for expanded bonds.

Mr. Ambassador, I am eager to contribute to this cause. My exposure to India has been indirect but intimate and longstanding. My mother's service near Bombay has left on me an indelible sense of the rich fabric of Indian life and of the great efforts that are being made to 'achieve a better' condition of life. My correspondence with Prime Minister Desai has been a source of great satisfaction ....

My Administration and I will look forward to a pleasant and constructive association with you, Mr. Ambassador, and your government as we work to achieve common goals, wl)ich will be of direct benefit not only to our two peoples but to the cause of world peace, stability and progress.

0

GANDHI JAYANTI IN WASHINGTON

The relevance of Mahatma Gandhi to contemporary America India's Minister for External Affairs, Atal Behari Vajpayee, addresses and India was recently cited by India's new Ambassador to the October 2 meeting in Washington. By his side are Mrs. Kamala, director of the Gandhi Memorial Center in Washington, and Ambassador Nani United States Nani A. Palkhivala.

The Ambassador was one of two scheduled speakers at a A. Palkhivala. In the front row is Mahatma Gandhi's granddaughter ceremony in Washington, D.C., marking the anniversary of the Sumitra Kulkarni. late leader's birth. The other speaker was India's Foreign Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.

I could have such a beautiful October 2," she told the gathering, Addressing a gathering of some 300 Indians and Americans, sharing with them some of her recollections of morning devoAmbassador Palkhivala said: "Today, under the Administration tions with Bapuji and the annual services at Raj Ghat in Delhi of President Carter here, and of Morarji Desai in India, I dare after her grandfather's death. say Gandhiji 'has an even greater relevance than he ever had Pointing out that the beauty of Bapuji lay in his ability to before-because both the governments today stand for moral reduce issues to basic terms, she stated, "if only we could identify values, for decency in public life, for adherence to certain basic our problems with that simplicity, 'I'm sure we would find their principles rather than to expediency and to temporizing." solutions equally simple."

Foreign Minister Vajpayee highlighted the irony of the Opening the function earlier, the American director of the fact that "Gandhi has been eulogized, romanticized, mythologiz- Gandhi Memorial Center, Mrs. Kamala, expressed the hope ed but never properly conceptualized." . that "the people of India will see, and understand and know "Instead ,of merely paying him ... tribute," Vajpayee said, the life of Mahatma Gandhi for inspiration, for moral aQd "let us take the pledge that we will start a new exercise in under- spiritual idealism." She told the gathering that the morning standing and interpreting him in the way that he would like us convocation was a testimony to the fact that it is at the level of to. His path was a path of experiment and truth, his method, a spiritual idealism that true human understanding is shared. a method of service to the people, and his system, a system withIn his speech, Ambassador Palkhivala reviewed the essentials out exploitation .... " of the Mahatma's philosophy: His unshakable belief in God, "It is easier to become a liberal Marxist, but it is very difficult his faith in nonviolence, his courage and ability to inspire to become a Gandhian ... because to be a Gandhian, one does courage, his universal and noncommunal outlook, his sense of not have to wait for the revolution or any other change to come. compassion and infinite love, his practical approach to problems.

We have to start right now," the Foreign Minister said. He added, Foreign Minister Vajpayee stressed the need for a second "The year 1977 will be remembered in India and the United look at Gandhi's thinking in terms of the economic and technoStates as the year of reassertion of the abiding validity of the logical concerns of the contemporary world. He spoke about the truth that nothing matters more than the dignity of man." "failure of the elite class to deliver the goods" and the "irrelevance The presence of Mrs. Sumitra Kulkarni, Member of Parlia- of the models of political and economic development borrowed ment and a granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi, lent warmth from other countries" as having "rudely awakened us to the to the occasion. "I never thought that this far away from India relevance of Gandhi."

0

AMERICA ACCLAIMS NEW INDIAN CINEMA Ten films from India, shown recently at the American Film Institute in Washington, D.C., under the banner of "New Indian Cinema," evoked high praise from American critics and cineastes. The movies were Satyajit Ray's Sonar Kella; Duvidha, directed by Mani Kaul; Basu Chatterji's Chhoti Si Baat and Sara Akash; Avtar Kaul's 27 Down; Shyam Benegal's Ankur ..

Pattabhi Rama Reddy's Samskara ..Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Arjun Pandit.. Tapan Sinha's Atithi; and Chomana Dudi, directed by B. V. Karanth.

The "vivid, original and engrossing films from India" were refreshing in a season of commercial releases in the capital, said Washington Post critic Alan Kriegsman. He described Sonar Kella as "wonderfully captivating, the kind of movie you can't wait to see again."

"There is a warmth to Ray's touch as a director that has few parallels in Western cinema," said Kriegsman. "As a movie with particular rewards for children, this one deserves to be set alongside such classics as National Velvet and The Adventures of Robin Hood."

Kriegsman declared that Sonar Kella confirmed the rule that age is no barrier to enjoyment. "It's got everything we wish more of 'Our movie fare had-a corJ~ing good story full of action, danger and

SPAN is available at leading newsstands at Rs. 2.50 per copy. An annual subscription at Rs. 18 for 12 issues saves 40 per cent and conveniently bnngs SPAN to your home or office

Kanu Mukherjee and Ajay Banerjee in a still from Satyajit Ray's Sonar Kella, "the kind of movie you can't wait to see again."

suspense; a minimum of violence; ample humor; striking visual composition and color photography; lively landscapes; excellent acting; and a superb set of characters."

But, Kriegsman added, the other films in the series also bore witness "to filmmaking talents of a very high order."

He made particular mention of Mani Kaul's Duvidha. "This is a rather more specialized movie than Sonar Kellamore challenging and rarefied. But fOf anyone interested in the poetic possibilities of filmmaking, it may come as a revelation. "

Both the story of Duvidha and its emotional implications are "set forth through a stream of lyrical images, with the help of some of the most sensitively used musical background I can ever recall encountering. The picture moves slowly, especially by Western standards, as do most Indian films. But once you've been ensnared by Kaul's magic spell, nothing else seems to matter but the lovelorn ghost and his exquisitely brooding bride," Kriegsman said.

Discussing Avtar Kaul's 27 Down, Kriegsman noted that the film's railway ambience- "the rumbling cars, the chugging engines, the station platforms, the chance encounters, the passing countryside-becomes a metaphor for all that is promising, romantic, transient, threatening and elusive about the hero's life. The film is somewhat somber in tone, but keenly sympathetic. The poignance of the story is intensified by the knowledge that the gifted young director drowned in a rescue attempt three weeks after the completion of the movie."

The Indian films were screened-first in Washington, later in New York, San Francisco, Minneapolis and Los Angelesunder the auspices of the subcommission on education and culture of the Indo- U.S. Joint Commission.

0

I

SPAN

A TRIBUTE TO BING CROSBY

Hollywood singer-star Bing Crosby, who appeared in more than 60 movies and sold 300 million records in an entertaining career that spanned half a century, died at 73 in Madrid a few weeks ago.

Winner of an Academy Award for his role as the young priest in Going My Way, Crosby starred in such well-acclaimed films as Bells of St. Mary (with Ingrid Bergman) and The Country Girl (with Grace Kelly and William Holden). Paramount cast him in one film after anotherAnything Goes, High Society, Blue Skies,

Bing Crosby with Grace Kelly in The Country Girl, a much-acclaimed Hollywood movie of the 1950s.

Holiday Inn and White Christmas.

Crosby dominated the popular music scene in the 1930s and the 1940s, and topped a U.S. personality poll in the 1940s-above General Dwight D. Eisenhower, President Harry Truman and Pope Pius XII. He had his fans everywhere, including India. The editorial note alongside is reprinted by permission from the Times of India.

Happy For Ever T 49, when most people grou~e about thcir unfulfilled personal . ambitions and the hideous state of the world, Bing Crosby wrote his autobiography, "Call Me Lucky".

An apt title and a just one. For two decades already he was among the ten most popular st:ors of Hollywood and the topmoM name on radio. Last week he died at 73, just two months short of another white christmas, a festival that began raining hollies when Bing gave it reverential voice and a permanent victorY. Among thc zaniest happenings of the 'forties were the impromptu feuds of those two giants, Bing Crosby and Bob Hope, aided and abetted by Calcutta-born Dorothy Lamour in the "Road:' pictures all three made so famous. Indeed, in one of his books, Bob devotes a whole chapter to his friend.1t is called, "0 Death, Where Is Thy Biog 1" Thl: question would be fairer now, some thirty years later, because only death can answer if Bing is going his way along the blue skies, with the bells of St. Mary's tolling a sad farewell.

Bing Crosby's forte was light comedy and a distinctive crooning ~hat could develop a crack at just the right moment. That little break and those good looks melted every female heart in the audience. When he came on with the redoubtable Fred Astaire, no one could tel1 who drew the bigger crowds, for song and dance merged and became one simple perfection. With Bing's going, life is a little poorer but that Holiday Inn up there is a lot richer. Bend your ear but little and you'll hear it resounding. Not unpredictably, a Crosby movie was called "Mr Music".

A

CHANGE OF ADDRESS FORM

SPAN

TO: SPAN Magazine Subscription Service Sundeep 4. New Marine Lines Bombay 400 020

When notifying SPAN about a change in your address. please attach the address label from a recent SPAN envelope in addition to filling out the form below.

Since four to six weeks are needed to process a change of address. please let us know about any change promptly.

NEW

Name Address

Cheque 0

ADDRESS

BLOCK

LETTERS)

_

I enclose payment of Rs. 18 in favor of SPAN Magazine by "A/C [j

(USE

_

Bank Draft 0

Postal Order 0

Payee"

Money Order (receipt enclosed).

MAIL TO:

Circulation Manager. SPAN Magazine 24 Kasturba Gandhi Marg New Delhi 110001

Modern Roadside Sculpture If you motor along the north-south highway across southern Nebraska, you may find yourself on an art tour. Monumental sculptures like those above and on the back cover have sprung up in roadside picnic areas. These sculptures exemplify the new look in public art all over the

United States. Abstract works of great size and glowing color adorn open roads, shopping centers and university campuses. People are puzzled, yet delighted: roads are no longer drab. As modem art ventures out from the gallery, the outdoors get more exciting.

Top: Stone carving designed by Paul Aschenback on a hillside in Vermont. Above left: "Memorial to the American Bandstand" is the title of Richard Field's concrete-and-steel structure.

Right: A welcome arch of aluminum beams in Nebraska designed by Linda Howard. Back cover: Mother and child play hide-and-seek in concrete sculpture by George Baker in Nebraska.

Modern Roadside Sculpture