1. The dramatic events of December 7, 1941 plunged this nation into war. The full import of the war we cannot even now comprehend, but one of the effects stands out in sharp relief the coming of the air age. The airplane, which played a relatively minor part in World War I, has already soared to heights undreamed of save by the few with mighty vision. Inn wartime the airplane is the artillery on wings and the battleship that flies. To man in his need it symbolizes deadly extremes : friend of foe; deliverance of death. It is a powerful instrument of war-revolutionizing military strategy, but its peacetime role is just as revolutionary. This new master of time and space, fruit of man’s inventive genius, has come to stay, smelling to earth and smoothing its surface. To all of us, then, of youth and to adult alike, comes the winged challenge to get ourselves ready-to orient ourselves for living in an age which the airplane seems destined to mold.
2. Prejudice means literally prejudgment, the rejection of a contention out of hand before examining the evidence. Prejudice is the result of powerful emotions, not of sound reasoning. If we wish to find out the truth of a matter, we must approach the question with as nearly open a mind as we can and with a deep awareness of our own limitation and predispositions. On the other hand, if after carefully and openly examining the evidence we reject the preposition, that is not prejudice. It might be call “post-judice”. It is certainly a prerequisite for knowledge.
3. It has been found that the sense of taste and smell become dull as we get older because taste-buds and the nerves involved in the olfactory system deteriorate and die. The number of functional taste-buds may dwindle from about 7000 at birth to 1000 or 2000 by late adulthood. As a result, a 70-years-old may need two teaspoons of sugar in a cup of coffee in order to perceive the same preferred degree of sweetness that was enjoyed from one teaspoonful at age 25. Sensitivity also appears to very with the time of day. Both senses become most acute at about 3 a.m., swing back to a low point around waking time, and then gradually grow sharper again throughout the day.