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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (June 25, 1959)
Taerteay, Jee 25, 1 tS MAIL TF.IIUNI, Medfere'. Or. J TDW3 wirihtfl cRtiabtJ csiwal u The Inquiring Mind '' 'This tics of articles, on many different subjects, results from work by. senior students at the school of journalism 4 the University ef Oregon. Each Is con dense Torsion of a full-length thesis written as partial requirement for graduatioa at the school. 11 IQLXJJAJJ AMERICA'S BABY BOOM- BLEMIIfG OR BURDEN? --t- Br Barbara Stepper -' A vbaby is born in the United States every eight seconds; someone dies every Jl seconds . . . every hour .450 babies are born and 170 .persons die ... in one day 10,800 join the ranks of the living and 4,100 leave them each month the figures stand at 325,000 newborn and 123,000 deceased . every year 4 million babies .are born .in America and 1.5 million persons die. - - - -. The baby boom following World War II lit the fuse of the population "explosion" that is rocking the United States today. Coupled with a declining death rate, the in- . creased birth rate is causing . the American population to ' Increase more than 2.5 mil- ' lion annually. Each year the ' net. increase is equivalent to the addition of another Mary land or the combined popu ' lations of Rhode Island, Dela ware, Idaho, Nevada and Montana. 'Latest Census Bureau esti mates show America's total " population pushing the 175 million mark. By 1975 we'll be 228 million strong. ' Explosion Worldwide Not only is there an abund- a nee of babies in America- ' the world's best crop seems to be babies. There has been ' a worldwide population ex- ' plosion in the last 15 years which in the long run may hake the world more than - the atom or hydrogen bomb blasts. " -About 2.8 billion people low inhabit the earth. The : rate of increase over the last even years has been 17 per cent as compared to 10 per cent from 1930 to 1950. "''Many countries are-exper- lancing this demographic in flation, among them Japan, China, India, Ceylon, Puerto Rico and Italy. V America is one of the lead ers in the increase, with only India and China ' growing ' -farter. The United States - growth is speedier than that ' ef Soviet Russia. While Amer- ' lea added 35 million, the So viet Union' gained fewer than - 10 million in the last 15 -'years. ;. Bleatinf er Burden? Is' America's population in- 'crease to our advantage or . disadvantage? Is the baby boom - a blessing or a bur den? 1 Will the nearly four million babies born each year mean even greater prosper- - Itjr or an eventually lowered living standard? " - In -'- deciding whether - the United States population 'iffowth may be viewed' opti mistically or pessimistically, ' the attitude of other coun- ' tries concerning population increase or decrease mult also ' be considered. Countries such - as India and Japan with large " populations and low stand- ' ards of living tend to regard - population increase as disad - vantageous and actively dis- i-courage a high birth rate. On . the other i hand, countries - eiich as Great Britain and Sweden, with higher stand ards of living and more stable . er even . slightly declining - populations, tend to view -growth as beneficial. .T'-The Soviet Union does not fit. Into either category. Ac cording to Robert C. Cook, population expert, "Since the disappearance of Hitler and Mussolini, no country . on earth except the Soviet Union is actively promoting larger population. Russians have a conviction that over population is impossible." Effects Listed There are many effects of the rapid population growth in the United States which may be viewed optimistically er. pessimistically, depending .en the Interpretation. For ex ample, the four million new babies born yearly must be fedV ' clothed, sheltered, edu cated and entertained. The Increased . necessary . produc- uvn.ana cvoairucuon. may oe viewed as a healthy accelera tion .to the economy. On the etUrr hand, the need for such atepped-up production may place a.- strain on our re-' sources that would lead to a depression. ' Another effect of the high birth rate and low death rate is that the proportion of the young and the aged is grow ing larger in comparison to the number of workers, 18 to I. Five workers today, sup port eight others besides . themselves. As the ranks of the retired grow, special pro visions must be made for .them also. Population . growth means that land, mineral, water and other natural resources are being used up rapidly by Americans and by the Ameri can .industrial machine. For example, the average Ameri- Bow usee 137 gallons of water a day. The industries gulp billions of gallons of water daily. Other ramifications of the population growth are the move to the suburbs from overcrowded cities, the traf fic congestion and parking difficulties, and the. slum areas creeping in. History Traced . The history of the popu lation growth in the United States falls into four main periods. The first, from 1810 to 1789, was a period of rapid growth. Beginning with an estimated 210, the newly settled territory increased tenfold to 2,500 by 1620. After I860 a 35 per cent in crease per decade was uni form up to 1790. From the first Census In 1790 to 1860, the population increased at a steady rate. Americans multiplied from almost four million to 30 million. In the third period, I860 to 1940, the rate of popula tion growth declined but ab solute numbers continued to rise. From 1890 to 1918 the rate slowed to 15 per cent a decade. During the first few years after World War I the rate shot up. After 1923 an other marked decline occur red until in 1931, when the nation was suffering from the Great Depression, only 872,000 persons were added to the population. During and after World War II the birth rate soared. When the war ended, the ac celerated pace continued un til today almost four million babies are born yearly. Three Views Offered Is our population, explo sion good or bad? This ques tion must be answered before a "population policy" can be established by the United States. : Other countries have policies established one way or the other. America's gen eral attitude, stemming from the "booster and boom" psy chology of frontier condi tions, has always, been .that population growth is a good thing, even though no official measures have ever : been taken to encourage it. -. Three views are apparent an optimistic, a pessimistic and a - compromise. . These three will be discussed in a second article. Use of Atomic Waste Predicted San Diego, Calif.-flJPD-Atom-ic" wastes, usually regarded as a disposal problem,, may be a blessing rather' thari-always a potential hazard, according to an expert in' the field of experimental reactors. - Dr. Richard Stone, of Gen eral Dynamics' new John Jay Hopkins Laboratory of Pure and Applied Science, which was dedicated formally today, thinks all atomic waste will be used some day. "Those so-called waste prod ucts will become useful' to mankind," he told a news con ference Wednesday. "I . al ways explain it by pointing out that gasoline was once a waste product in the produc tion of kerosene. : "I think that some day. we will take all , the atomic wastes for man's use and be crying for more." , . r Highway Engineer Receives Award Salem-OT-W. O. Widdows, State Highway 'Department Assistant Engineer, is co-winner of the Hewes Award for engineering achievement for 1959. . Widdows. shirt o! the award, consisting of a bronze plaque and $250, was made at the Western Association of State Highway officials now in convention 1 at Billings. Mont., is was announced here today. " W. C. Williams, State High way Engineer and president of the association, said an Ari zona highway engineer shared the honors. -; Recognition came to .- Wid dows for more efficient equip ment to paint stripes down highways. The hew system permits heating the paint before it is applied, allowing 30 per cent faster application. . REDS WELCOME TANKS ' Moscow fllTP A Russian official Wednesday night said his government would wel come as many -as. 150,000 American tourists, in the So viet Union this year. .Yuri Zhukov, chairman of the State Committee on Cultural Relations, also said he hoped President Eisenhower and other officials of the U.S. gov trnmcnt would make the trip. ' l'ijivmwit jskim r '?.' a: so: an m- ii'? 'aiiiw . 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Fine qual ity cotton plisse slip. The natu ral no iron fabric! Nylon lace trims. Elasticized waists. Ma chine washable. Stock up! o
