Newspaper Page Text
Going metric?
By JERRY MITCHELL
BOONE, N.C. (UPI) —
Americans soon may have to
recall the foot, the mile and the
pound the way they remember
the foxtrot, the rumble seat and
the nickel cup of coffee.
It seems the English system
of weights and measures —the
one we inherited from our
Anglo-Saxon forebears —is des
tined to be replaced with the
metric system.
The United States is the only
industrial nation in the world
still clinging to the English
system, finding itself in compa
ny with countries like Burma
and Liberia, and American
business is feeling the pressure
to convert.
Congress has not made the
change official but industry is
pressing for the switchover to
maintain foreign markets and
the conversion is considered
just a matter of time.
Dr. Thomas L. Rokoske, an
associate professor of physics
at Appalachian State Univer
sity, has been pushing the
metric system for the past year
and predicts the country will be
predominantly on it within a
decade.
“We will inevitably go
metric,” Rokoske said in an
interview. “It’s a matter of
Indochina
at glance
By United Press International
SAIGON — President Nguyen Van Thieu resigns, |
I blames Kissinger for leading South Vietnam into disaster |
by not honoring written Nixon commitments. Resignation
expected to lead to negotiations for a ceasefire.
WASHINGTON — President Ford calls Secretary of
State Kissinger to White House to discuss Thieu
| resignation. There was no immediate official White House
comment on the resignation.
SAIGON — Communist troops capture provincial
capital of Xuon Loc, once seen as a resistance to the
Communist drive. Front lines 26 miles from Saigon;
Communists mass 100,000 troops for final assault.
CLARK AFB, Philippines— More than 600 Americans
and South Vietnamese fly to Clark from Saigon in stepped
up evacuation.
BANGKOK — Thai Foreign Minister Chartchai
Choonhavan says that American military equipment
being brought into Thailand by fleeing Cambodian
government troops will be turned over to the Khmer
Rouge insurgent government in Phnom Penh.
VIENTIANE—Renewed Communist attacks threaten to 1
I cut a vital highway linking Vientiane and the royal capital
of Luang Prabang.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia —Malaysia tightens its
border security to prevent an influx of Cambodian
refugees entering via Thailand.
Weather
SUNNY
ESTIMATED HIGH TODAY
75, low today 41, high yesterday
74, low yesterday 47, high
tomorrow in low 70s, low tonight
in upper 40s. Sunrise tomorrow
7:16, sunset tomorrow 8:07.
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Legal secretaries honored
These Griffin delegates to the Georgia Association of
Legal Secretaries in Macon during the weekend brought
home the second place ribbon for their history book.
Foot, mile and pound may join
foxtrot, rumble seat and nickel coffee
convenience and practicality,
because it will enable the U.S.
to compete with more flexibility
in the world trade market.”
Six metric conversion bills
are now before Congress and
optimists predict that one will
be approved by August.
The bills are essentially the
same, the only significant
difference being the method of
compensating various segments
of labor and small business for
the expense of changing sys
tems.
Five of the bills call for
conversion over a 10-year
period. The other doesn’t set a
specific timetable to make the
conversion.
“The members of Congress
know it would be beneficial to
have the metric system,”
Rokoske said. “At the moment
the biggest problem has been
the uncertainty by small
business people and by the
labor groups that it’s going to
be unduly costly to them.”
Labor costs include purchas
ing new tools to measure in
metric sizes. One sponsor
suggests low interest loans to
small businessmen to pay the
costs of conversion.
1 Rokoske said talk about
i switching to the metric system
was scuttled in the past
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“Most folks will fight to
defend their beliefs —
especially if they are wrong.”
because of the cost. But cost is
not as much of a factor today,
he said.
“People are now saying the
cost is going to be minimal,”
he said.
“Some companies are not
even estimating costs any
more. They say because they
will be economizing it will not
be costly.
“Large business is finding
that it can manufacture things
more economically now than
they have in the past and
they’re using this metric
switchover as a time to remove
a lot of the inefficiency in the
manufacturing.”
Rokoske said many industries
realize that the domestic
market for many products is
not growing as much as
markets overseas.
“What we have to do is to
look for expanded markets,” he
said,” and we can’t sell our
goods because they are mea
sured in units that everybody
else does not use.”
But aside from the pressure
from business to make the
transition, Rokoske said the
metric system just makes good
sense.
“The metric system is a lot
easier. Everybody can count by
factors of 10. You can count to
Thieu quits; raps U.S.
SAIGON (UPI) - President
Nguyen Van Thieu resigned
tonight in a speech in which he
blamed South Vietnam’s mili
tary disasters on U.S. failure to
honor President Richard M.
Nixon’s written promises of aid.
The resignation opened the
way for possible negotiations of
a cease-fire with the Commu
nists who have pushed the front
lines to within 26 miles of
Thieu’s presidential palace.
Rebels have massed 100,000
troops for a final assault.
At exactly 8:40 p.m. (8:40
a.m.EDT) Thieu, biting his lip
and apparently fighting back
tears, said:
“In front of the National
Assembly, I announce my
resignation as president.
“Goodbye, my friends.”
Thieu said he and former
President Nixon had agreed
“on paper” that the United
States would provide all neces
sary aid to South Vietnam to
defend itself if Thieu signed the
Jan. 27, 1973, Paris peace
agreement.
Thieu said he had been
assured of U.S. aid, and it had
not been delivered.
“I never thought a man like
Mr. (U.S. Secretary of State
Representing the Griffin organization were (1-r) Marilyn
Higgins, (Men Duke, Nancy Cavender, Shirley Johnson
and Florence Williams.
10 hardly without any education i
relative to counting in factors ;
of six or three.”
Mind-boggling fractions such
as 27-32 and 7-16 will be
eliminated and all fractions will
be in units of 10.
“It isn’t that difficult, real
ly,” said Rokoske. “I think the
thing that holds people back is
the thought of changing.
“The average citizen doesn’t
want to change because he is
reluctant until he is told to do
something. If he doesn’t see a
reason for changing, he’s not
going to change and that, I
think, is the big thing why
people don’t want to switch
over.”
Length is measured in
meters, a meter being a little
more than a yard or about 39
inches. There are 1,000 meters
in a kilometer and five
kilometers is about three miles.
Weight or mass is measured
in grams and liquid or volume
is measured in litres. A
kilogram is about 2.2 pounds. A
litre is a little more than a
quart.
“I can’t think of any area of
daily living that won’t be
affected by the metric change,”
said Dr. Joan Terry, associate
professor of home economics at
Appalachian State. “But it’s
DAILY NEWS
Vol. 103 No. 94
Henry) Kissinger would deliver
our people to such a disastrous
fate,” Thieu said.
As he delivered his televised
speech to the nation, the North
Vietnamese and Viet Cong
closed in on Saigon from three
sides. The government earlier
today abandoned Xuon Loc,
which some persons have called
the 1975 Dien Bien Phu.
Fifteen minutes after Thieu
began his speech, authorities
ordered an 8 p.m. to 7 a.m.
curfew—one hour longer than
the normal both in the evening
and morning—apparently to
avoid panic.
Saigon’s defense forces were
placed on full alert.
“If the United States had
intervened as it should have,
we would not be losing province
capitals, district capitals,”
Thieu said.
“And we would not be faced
with losing our national capi
tal.”
Thieu said he would hand
power to ailing, 72-year-old vice
president Tran Van Huong. But
it was expected Huong also
would resign.
That would hand the presi
dency to Senate President Tran
Van Lam, a political moderate
really a logical and realistic
approach that will be good in
the long run.”
She maintains conversion is a
“psychological” problem.
“But I don’t think we should
panic because it will happen
gradually,” she said.
Many items on the grocery
store shelves are now marked
in both measurements and
sewing patterns are switching
over to metric measurements.
“People that make patterns
want to make just one set of
patterns that will go out
through North America. Cana
da has gone metric, Mexico is
metric and we’re the only
country left so we’re getting
caught in the middle,” Rokoske
said.
The furniture industry has
made a move toward the
metric system because the
wood industry is going to
metric sizes of wood. A 4’ by 8’
sheet of plywood is now being
made 1.2 meters by 2.4 meters,
which is about an inch
narrower and one and one-half
inches shorter.
The National Parks Service
has started posting both the
English and metric distances
on new road signs.
GRIFFIN
Griffin, Ga., 30223, Monday Afternoon, April 21,1975
£
L
Thieu
who might be able to open
peace talks with the Viet Cong
before Saigon itself is attacked.
Thieu gave no indication
whether he would leave Viet
nam, but most senior officials
said they believed he would
seek exile, possibly in the
United States.
“If the Americans don’t want
to support us any more let
them go, get out! Let them
forget their humanitarian
promises!” Thieu said.
Thieu’s 90-minute ended at
9:25 p.m. (9:25 a.m. EDT). He
gestured emphatically through
out the speech. He pounded the
lectern frequently and often
repeated himself.
Huong, in the swearing-in
ceremony, said, “I will defend
the country and protect the
constitution and carry out the
duties of the presidency of the
Republic of Vietnam.”
Thieu kissed and embraced
his successor before and after
the swearing-in ceremony.
Thieu said South Vietnam had
been constrained not to go into
the north by international
agreements, such as the peace
accords in Paris.
But he asked, “If soldiers at
outposts are overrun where do
they go? They have no place.
We have no place to run if we
give up the Republic of
Vietnam.”
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Bruce Phillips has to reach to measure Arnold Mclntyre with two meter sticks. Both are
physics students at Griffin High who are studying conversion from English to Metric
systems.
Reaction
Mansfield says it’s
move in right direction
WASHINGTON (UPI) - Sen
ate Democratic Leader Mike
Mansfield said today the
resignation of South Viet
namese President Nguyen Van
Thieu was a “move in the right
direction” which might bring
about a negotiated settlement
of the war in that country.
Neither Mansfield nor any
other congressman reacted
immediately to the charge
which Thieu made in his
resignation speech—that the
United States had reneged on a
commitment of military aid
made by former President
Richard M. Nixon.
But several others appeared
to support Mansfield’s assess
ment that the resignation
“would further decrease pros
pects” of U.S. military aid to
South Vietnam. And many of
them also expressed the hope
that a negotiated political
settlement could be achieved in
that war torn nation.
Mansfield said the appropria
tion of more U.S. military aid
would be “futile” considering
the continued retreat of Viet-
Supreme Court
Georgia man loses
alimony argument
WASHINGTON (UPI) - The
Supreme Court today denied a
hearing to a Georgia man who
argued that alimony should be
paid to men as well as women.
The brief order lets stand a
decision by the Georgia Su
preme Court that women need
financial support more than
men after divorce. The action
by the federal tribunal is
effective only in Georgia.
The state court in its short
opinion cited a U.S. Supreme
Court decision endorsing Flori
da’s tax exemption for widows
but not widowers.
The Georgia case was
brought in Fulton County
Daily Since 1872
nam military forces and the
amount of time it would take
before the aid could be “put
into the pipeline.”
“The question is is it too late
for negotiations,” Mansfield
asked.
He told reporters he hoped
that an agreement could be
reached which would allow the
Viet Cong and the remaining
elements to form a coalition
government.
“I dislike using the term
surrender, but negotiations
would bring the conflict to an
end,” he said, adding that
Thieu’s resignation was a
“move in the right direction.”
Sen. Stuart Symington, D-
Mo., expressed a similar
thought. “Let us all hope, ” he
said, “that this will speed up
negotiations that will result in
less loss of life and property.”
But Sen. Sam Nunn, D-Ga.,
warned the “resignation only
makes a political solution a
possibility—not a probability.”
Rep. Joe Waggonner, D-La.,
said he doubts the North
Vietnamese and Viet Cong will
Superior Court by MichaeJ
Vincent Murphy 111.
In other actions, the court
refused to interfere with school
desegregation plans in In
dianapolis, Ind., and Louisville,
Ky., and rejected the appeal of
convicted Watergate burglar
James W. McCord.
The court also:
—Dismissed Florida’s appeal
from a decision that its
disorderly conduct law is so
broad as to embrace speech
protected by the Constitution.
—Allowed Texas to file a
complaint directly in the high
Court alleging that New Mexico
had been using Pecos River
immediately wage a military
campaign against the Saigon,
but probably will wait to
determine if the Saigon govern
ment will surrender.
The resignation came as no
surprise and probably signals
the end of South Vietnam as an
independent country, he added.
Waggonner said, however,
there still is adequate time to
evacuate Americans and cer
tain South Vietnamese from
Saigon. And Mansfield added he
understood that “events are
forcing the speed up of
evacuation.”
“With Mr. Thieu’s resigna
tion, two questions remain: is it
enough of a change in
leadership and is it too late,
considering the severity of the
situation in South Vietnam,”
Sen. Gary Hart, D-Colo., said.
Sen. Frank Church, D-Idaho,
a member of the Foreign
Relations Committee, added
grimly:
“The war is finished. The
cause is lost and the Viet
namese now take charge of
their own affairs.”
water which had been promised
to the Lone Star State..
—Cleared the way for arbi
trators to decide whether the
Hearst Corp, must make lump
sum retirement payments to
Los Angeles Herald-Examiner
employes who resigned from
the paper during a strike.
—Denied a hearing to a Fort
Smith Ark., black youth who
was sentenced to life imprison
ment without parole for com
mitting rape at age 16.
In the divorce case, Murphy
argued that state laws should
be changed to allow men
alimony if their former wives
are more financially indepen
dent.