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WOLVERINE OBSERVER
May, 1961
ONCE MORE-VD
By GEORGE KENT
A few years ago, it appeared that veneral disease was permanent
ly knocked out. Now it has made a shocking comeback—particularly
among teen-agers.
Mosz of us have been lulled into believing that, with the “sure
cure” of antibiotic wonder drugs, veneral disease was done for and
finished, an evil like smallpox or diphtheria which would never again be
a major plague. We were wrong. VD is back, enough of it to worry
health authorities in every country of the world. Unless strong action
is taken, it promises to become worse than ever before.
ried woman went to her doctor for
a minor ailment; and the physician,
after taking a blood sample, dis
covered syphilis in a primary
stage. Examination of the husband
followed: he also had it. Question
ed privately, he reluctantly ad
mitted sexual contacts with seven
other women. The Public Health
Service was called in, the seven
women were immediately exam
ined for infection and they in turn
named other contacts. The circle
Here are the unpleasant facts:
Penicillin, chief weapon against
veneral disease, is losing some of
its punch. In 1943, 100,000 units of
the drug were considered sufficient
to effect a cure for gonorrhea.
Today, the germ has become so
resistant that doses of one mil
lion units are commonplace, and
many physicians inject more than
two million. Yet in Japan, for ex
ample, 30 per cent of gonorrhea
cases have failed to respond even
to massive doses. In England the
failures are almost as frequent.
In the United States failures come
to about 13 percent, and the num
ber is growing rapidly.
Other antibiotics can be used,
but some of these are also losing
their power to cure: streptomycin,
for example. Eight others are still
potent remedies, but these are un
fortunately too expensive at the
moment for general clinical use.
Meanwhile, as our power to cure
diminishes, VD is spreading. The
cities of Washington, Boston, Chi
cago, Houston, Los Angeles and
San Francisco report a 200-percent
increase in venereal disease over
the past two years; between 1955
and 1959, VD in New Orleans rose
818 percent. In that time the num
ber of early syphilis cases has
risen 23 percent in 20 states.
The figures for 1959 are shock
ing: 400,000 reported new VD
cases. “Reported” is the key word.
Some victims do not recognize the
malady or are afraid to go for
medical treatment. Others, in
states where penicillin can be
bought without prescription, or
where it is bootlegged, treat them
selves. Also, many physicians who
treat VD do not send in reports.
(Last year, for example, Kansas
doctor reported no VD cases what
ever.)
Therefore, public-health authori
ties estimate that instead of the re
ported 400,000 new cases of VD,
there were actually between two
million and four million .This ap
proaches the peak VD year of
1948 when comparatively few in
cidents went unreported. These
figures make VD our most wide
spread communicable disease.
“The rise is absolute,” says Dr.
William J. Brown, chief of the VD
branch of the U.S. Public Health
Service, “in every category across
the country — male and female,
poor and rich, young and old, Ne
gro and white, urban and rural.”
Abroad, conditions are not much
better. At a recent World Health
Organization conference, 16 coun
tries reported a frightening come
back of syphilis and gonorrhea. In
Italy syphilis cases have tripled.
In Denmark they have doubled.
England seems to have kept syph
ilis from increasing a great deal,
but its gonorrhea rate has gone
up faster than that in the United
States.
One hideous aspect of the U.S,
record is that teen-agers account
for more than one fourth of all
reported victims. More than half
of the new cases are in the 15-to-
24 age group. T. Leroy Richman
of the American Social Hygiene
Assn, estimates that there is prob
ably more VD among people under
20 than ever before in the history
of the country. New York reported
a 78-percent rise in number of
early syphilis cases among the
teens. Half of those attending pub
lic VD clinics throughout the na
tion are kids, many of them only
15 and 16. There were even 3000
cases of venereal disease among
children between the ages of 10
and 14—that is, 3000 reported
cases. Although there are fewer
girls than boys among the vic
tims, their numbers are catching
up rapidly. And more girls of 17
and 18 are being infected than
women of any other age group.
Penicillin has undoubtedly re
duced the total social cost of VD.
Even so, last year 4000 died of
syphilis. (This, once more, is a
reported number; since doctors
when possible avoid writing the
shameful word on a death certifi
cate, the total must be appreciably
larger.) Also, we spent 12 million
dollars to treat and maintain our
syphilitic blind, 48 million dollars
for those rendered incurably in
sane by the disease. The cost in
other disability, and in maimed and
feeble-minded offspring, is impos
sible to estimate.
The ravages of gonorrhea are
even more difficult to assess. This
disease can cause arthritis, heart
disease, liver and kidney trouble—
even death—but it does its chief
damage to the reproductive organs.
In women its symptoms are slight
and may elude "detection. A woman
may infect her sexual partners and
remain unaware of the disease un
til it is deep in her body and she
has become sterile.
For such reasons, Dr. R. R. Wil
cox of St. Mary’s Hospital, Lon
don, considers gonorrhea a greater
problem than syphilis. “The fig
ures indicate a world-wide failure
to control the disease,” he says.
The responsibility for the spread
of VD lies in promiscuity, in false
confidence in the antibiotics and,
most of all, in public indifference
to the problem. The appearance of
penicillin, promising one-shot pain
less cures, loosed a flood of opti
mism. Everybody got the idea that
VD was finished; early, total
eradication of it was predicted.
Researchers gave up the hunt for
a true immunizing agent and turn
ed to other fields. Specialists left)
the task of diagnosing and caring
for the venereally diseased to the
general practitioner. On the mis
taken theory that blindness from
gonorrhea was no longer a men
ace, hospitals in many countries
quit putting silver nitrate in the
eyes of the newborn.
The United States had an excel
lent system—easily the best in the
world-—for dealing with VD. But
in view of the optimism, Congres
sional appropriations for control
were trimmed from about 12 mil
lion dollars to three million dollars
per year. (Recently, however, these
funds have been creeping up
agairf.) Staffs of public-health in
vestigators were reduced, clinics
shut down. Today 21 states have no
public-health facilities for diag
nosis and treatment of VD. There
are no longer the abundance of
warning posters and instruction
pamphlets, no longer as many lec
turers going from school to school.
If we are to reverse this trend,
we will have to provide more treat
ment stations. And we must edu
cate young people to the dangers.
Considering the early age at which
some teen-agers acquire VD, such
preventive instruction might per
haps be extended down to the
freshman and sophomore years of
high school. Also, to control syph
ilis, we can insist on more wide
spread blood testing—already com
pulsory in many states as a pre
lude to marriage.
Meanwhile, the job of stopping
potential VD epidemics falls to the
staff of the U.S. Public Health
Service. Whenever a case of VD
shows up, they must try to unearth
the history of a score, even a hun
dred or more, of sexual contacts
and bring all the diseased to treat
ment. That the incidence of VD is
not higher is a tribute to the skill
and hard wo^k of these health
sleuths.
Take a recent case in a pros
perous New England community
of 52,000, which had no prostitutes
and a low VD rate. One day a mar-
widened until it included 112 men
and women—20 teen-agers among
them, the youngest 13 years old
—and a total of 61 sufferers from
venereal disease. So far as health
authorities could know, they had
discovered all the persons involved,
seen to it that all the infected were
sent to clinics for treatment and
stopped an epidemic. But any one
of the persons interviewed might
have left out a name. And that one
name could be enough to start an
other epidemic of infection.
In inquiries of this kind, speed is
of the utmost importance. With
any delay, the circle of infection
can spread at an alarming, ever-
increasing rate.
Obviously, the job of the investi
gators demands persistence and
tact—particularly since they have
no police powers, cannot arrest
anyone or use any form of coer
cion. They are specially trained in
a school conducted by the U.S.
Public Health Service.
The struggle against syphilis
and gonorrhea is a continuing one,
and not always successful. These
ailments are rooted in strong hu
man emotions and in human weak
nesses; not even the most strenu
ous efforts of our health depart
ments, though their manpower
were 100 times as large, will by
themselves be sufficient to stop
VD. Any ultimate solution lies
with ourselves. VD among the
young is only another symptom of
the malady we call juvenile delin
quency—the failure of family and
community to provide discipline
and a healthy, sanely happy pat
tern of living. These are failures
we must correct, if we are to wipe
out this dread disease.
14th USNCA Congress
Set for U. of Wisconsin
The 14th National Student Con
gress of the United States Nation
al Student Association will be held
at the University of Wisconsin,
Madison, August 20 through 30,
1961, USNSA President Richard
Rettig announced recently.
More than 1200 representatives
from 400 colleges and universities
in the U.S., foreign student organi
zations, educational associations
and youth organizations are ex
pected to attend. Theme of the
Congress is “The Expanding
World of the American Student.”
The National Student Congress
is a comprehensive workshop for
the exchange of ideas, techniques
and programs on student problems,
as well as the ultimate authority
on all policy and programs for the
USNSA.
Each USNSA member school is
entitled to from one to seven vot
ing delegates and an equal number
of alternates, based on the official
enrollment of the school. Schools
which are not members of USNSA
are invited to send official observ
ers to the Congress. All student
participants must be certified by
the student government and ad
ministration of the school which,
they represent.
Representatives from faculty
and administration of all schools,
from the college and professional
press, from educational associa
tions and student and youth or
ganizations, and from foreign stu
dent groups are especially invited
to attend and observe the Con
gress, according to Rettig.
Three special conferences are
scheduled prior to the Congress
for student body presidents and
college newspaper editors of all
U.S. schools, and for NSA Coordi
nators from USNSA member
schools.
Ethiopia’s Historic Role In Africa
' By ANDY MAKHENE
Ethiopia by virtue of being the oldest independent state in what
was one time “The Dark Continent of Africa,’’-and now, “The Emerging
Africa,” has played a historic role by cherishing her freedom and above
all, bu maintaining her country herocillay against forces of imperial
ism, colonialism and exploitation by foreign powers. Eventually, her
dauntless stand for freedom and human dignity has had a greater im
pact and influence in the continent of Africa. This very passion for
nationalism and independence had ostracised Ethiopia from the world
of scientific progress and discovery, commercial and cultural exchanges.
But since the reign of the present Emperor, the country has made tre
mendous strides in scientific progress, cultural exchanges and com
mercial enterprises.
At this juncture, let me give you
a vivid picture of Ethiopia. It is
bounded on the Northeast of Africa
by the Red Sea; East by French
and British Somaliland; Southeast
by Somolia; South by Kenya and
North by the Republic of Sudan.
It is 457,150 sq. miles in area,
population about 22 million. It is
mainly on the high, central plateau,
with elevation from 5,500 to 9,000
feet. It has temperatures that are
free of pronounced seasonal vari
ations. This gives the greater part
of Ethiopia one of the world’s best
climates. Its exports are: fruits,
coffee, hides, vegetables, skins, oil
seeds, cereals, etc,; mineral depos
its: vermicallits, asbestos, mica,
sulphar, potash, salt, lead, copper
mangamese, iron, platinum, and
gold.
The present Emperor is the
255th monarch of the Solomonic
line; he ascended the throne on
November 2, 1930. He gave hi«
country its first written constitu
tion in 1931. It was later revised
in 1955. Today the Parliament
consists of two houses, the Cham
ber of Deputies (lower house of
Parliament), and an upper house,
the Senate. The spoken official
language is Amharic. The popula
tion is predominantly Christian.
There are few Mohammedans and
adherents of other faiths. The con
stitution provides for complete
freedom of religion, speech, press,
and assembly, and also guarantees
equality of civil rights for all citi
zens irrespective of color, creed,
or race.
In 1896, the Italians attempted
to conquer Ethiopia but failed. The
defeat of the Italians ushered in
a new era for the whole of sub
jugated states (or races) in Af
rica, because it destroyed the old
myth of white race as being su
perior and unconquerable for all
times. It also gave rise to anti
imperialism and anti-colonialism
movements in Africa.
A second attempt was launched
by the imperialist forces to crush
Ethiopia, under the leadership of
their beloved Emperor, Haile Se
lassie, who waged, without assist
ance, and implacable struggle
against superior forces with a firm
resolve to allow no appeasement
to the protagonists of imperialism
on the continent of Africa, or to
grant them any hope for conces
sions which could later serve as a
means for subjugating Ethiopia’s
brothers in Africa.
Ethiopia took the lead by these
two victories and Africa replied by
shaking the tenacious shackles of
imperialism when Liberia in 1847
gained its independence and was
followed by Iibya in 1951. Thus,
it will be observed that Ethiopia’s
heroic stand against colonialism
and Fascism and the sacrifices
that she made for the course of
national independence and interna
tional justice occupy a memorable
place in the annals of the African
continent. Ethiopia has thus far
been in the frontline in the free
dom struggle in Africa.
Events will prove that even ini
her time of trial and struggle,
marked by a critical stage of world
history, Ethiopia has defended the
cause of the freedom of Africa.
Ethiopia has indeed enhanced heh
international prestige in the con
temporary world under the able
leadership and guidance of his Im
perial Majesty. It played its role
as only the active Bandung and
Accra powers, with the aim of
consolidating the independence of
Africa and Asia for the purpose of
liberating the entire continent.
Ethiopia has been independent
since known history.
Common Concern
Cedar Falls, la. — (I.P.) — In a
letter to the Editor column of Iowa
State Teachers College newspaper
College Eye, H. W. Reninger of
the Department of Languages,
Speech and Literature, points out
that “As academic standards move
upward over the nation and class
room seats become fewer than the
prospective occupants, students are
required to use their intellectual
endowment or to become lost in the
race.
“The students who clearly be
long in college because of such
endowment confront the New Edu
cation with better work. Those
who swing on the periphery of aca
demic life because of indolence or
lack of endowment become desper
ate enough to try to beat the exam
ination system. So the stories cir
culate: the stolen key, the forced
transom, and the rifled waste
basket.
“One solution to this problem,
the mechanized solution, suggests
more security, better locks, more
policemen, destroying the stencils,
typing the examination sheets in
the darkened basement and keep
ing them under the mattress with
the government bonds. Considering
the nature of most examinations,
this mechanized solution is cur
rently necessary.
“The better solution, I believe,
examines the examination : it comes
from the educator, not the police
man. The better solution argues
that an examination is a teaching
instrument designed to teach while
it examines, and that an examina
tion which tests exclusively belongs
on a police sergeant’s desk, not a
professor’s. It argues that an
examination is a teaching device
of equal status with the syllabus,
lecture, textbook, and college li
brary—a device that teaches and
examines for the values inherent
in the ccrurse.
“As the course is built, the
examination is built, as the course
advances, the examination ad
vances; as the course develops the
power to use its facts, the exami
nation increases that power. The
examination which fails in these
respects is a mechanical task
master, a weaving scarecrow to
frighten children on a windy night.
“We can examine for a command
of facts, the power to use them,
and the values created by the fused
experience—what else? The exam
ining devices used to achieve such
ends are available to any teacher
—and thier-proof without a lock.
The testing for facts can be done
periodically throughout the course
in a series of five-or-ten-minute
quizzes scored by machine or stu
dent assistants.
“The basic examinations can be
designed to require the student to
use those facts and to help him lo
cate the values inherent in the
course. Can the student do these
things ? That is the test.
“Such an examination consists
therefore of a series of problems
which develop, say, from 1 to 20
precisely as the course has develop
ed. The problem—the examination
sheets—are given to the students
days, perhaps weeks, before the
examination ig administered. On
examination day the instructor se
lects, perhaps, six of the problems
to be writen upon, and the writing
begins.
“The preparation for writing
such an examination is a creative,
thoughtful act, and can be done as
the course itself progresses. The
real test is: having the facts, what
can the student do with them? If
he does not know the facts, he will
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