March 8

Page Two

Obviously, the drunken driver is a disgrace and a menace on the highway. But what about the driver who has only had a few drinks? How can you protect yourself and your passengers from those who are driving under the influence of alcohol? The following series of articles will consider these and other vital questions

‘One for the Road’ 3

Alcohol and You 4

Alcohol and Driving 6

Drinking and Driving​—What Can Be Done? 9

[Picture Credit Line on page 2]

Cover photo: H. Armstrong Roberts

‘One for the Road’

WE HEARD the sirens, but we thought they were just from fire trucks rushing to a fire. I called my neighbor across the street, since he is a fireman. ‘He’ll know what’s going on,’ I thought. But his line was busy. Then I figured, ‘Let me call my son Jeff. Maybe he saw what happened on his way home.’ There was no answer. Now I really started to get nervous.

My 29-year-old son Jeff had come over that Sunday night to have dinner and to say good-bye​—he was leaving for vacation the next day. About a half hour earlier, he had hugged and kissed his father and me, and then he left. But why wasn’t he home yet? He lived only a few blocks away.

I called my neighbor again, and this time his wife answered. She said she would get her husband and have him call me back; he had gone out to see what happened. While I was in my bedroom waiting for his call, a police car pulled up in front of our house.

The police sergeant approached the front door. My husband Steve, his heart pounding, opened the door. Groping for words, the sergeant finally managed to get out: “I hate to say this, but there’s been a terrible accident and your son . . . your son is . . . is dead.”

That’s when I heard Steve yell, and I ran out to see what had happened. In disbelief I insisted: “It can’t be true. It’s got to be the other guy.”

“No, I don’t like to have to tell you this, Mrs. Ferrara,” the sergeant explained. “It was very quick, very sudden, but, yes, he’s gone.” I don’t remember another thing I said or did that evening.

At 9:50 p.m. that night, February 24, 1985, our son Jeff, an outgoing, curly-haired young man, died instantly when his pickup truck was struck by another car. And the other driver? According to the newspaper reports I’ve cut out and saved, he is an executive assistant district attorney. Among other things, he was charged with drunken driving. Only time will tell whether he is convicted. Regardless, our Jeff is gone.​—As told to Awake! by Shirley Ferrara.

Drinking and Driving​—A Deadly Problem. The statistics are sobering. About every 20 minutes a scene like the one described above is repeated somewhere in the United States. Alcohol contributes to more than half of all traffic fatalities, claiming from 23,000 to 28,000 lives each year on American roads. It is estimated that 40 percent of the drivers killed on the roads in Canada each year have blood alcohol levels above the legal limit. Germany has its share of the problem​—approximately one out of every four road deaths is due to drinking and driving.

And as Jeff’s tragic experience illustrates, even if you yourself don’t drink and drive, you’re by no means safe. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in the United States estimates that on Friday and Saturday nights, when consumption of alcohol is at its highest, in some areas one out of every ten drivers on the road is legally drunk! So how safe are you if the driver around the next curve is too drunk to control his car?

But statistics don’t tell the whole story. Statistics can’t tell the grief of the mother, like Shirley, whose son or daughter has been killed in an alcohol-related car accident. Statistics can’t convey the guilt of the driver who, after sobering up, realizes that he’s taken another’s life. As one young man lamented: “No matter what the jury decides, I’ve got to live with the fact that four people are dead because of me. There isn’t a moment since it happened that I don’t think of it. It’s always there, when I wake up in the morning and when I go to sleep at night.”

Of course, it’s up to you whether you drink moderately or not at all. But driving while under the influence of alcohol (or any other drug) is not a private matter​—not when the lives of others are at stake! Yet, how many times have you heard of someone saying the proverbial ‘one for the road’ and then snatching a quick drink before slipping behind the wheel and driving home?

Drinking and driving is a problem, a death-dealing problem. What can you do to protect yourself and your family from the driver who has had too much to drink? Before answering that, it will be helpful to consider how alcohol affects you and your ability to drive.

Alcohol and You

‘Joe, I think you’ve had one too many,’ the host says.

‘Who, me?’ Joe replies, slurring his words. ‘I can handle it!’

‘Maybe so, but I suggest you have a cup of coffee before you drive home.’

GOOD advice? Definitely not! Actually, if he’s had too much to drink, a cup of coffee will not make it safe for Joe to drive home; nor will a breath of fresh air, a cold shower, or exercise. Such things may make Joe more awake. But there’s only one thing that will help him to sober up​—time. To understand this better, it is helpful to take a look at how your body handles alcohol.

How Alcohol Works

When you drink an alcoholic beverage, the alcohol is quite “anxious” to get into your bloodstream.a Unlike other foods, it doesn’t need to be digested. Some 20 percent immediately passes into your bloodstream through the walls of your stomach. The rest is absorbed when it passes on to your small intestine.

The extent to which alcohol affects you depends upon how much it builds up in your bloodstream. And how quickly it builds up depends upon several factors:

(1) Amount of alcohol consumed: How much alcohol do you consume with a typical drink? Does a can of beer contain less alcohol than a shot of whiskey? Surprising as it may seem, the typical serving of beer, table wine, and 80-proof whiskey all contain about the same amount of alcohol​—a little more than a half ounce (15 cc).b

Thus, the report Physiological Effects of Alcohol, published by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, concludes: “In terms of the effects that drinking has on an individual’s mind and body, then, it does not really matter a great deal whether he or she chooses to drink wine, beer, or ‘hard liquor’​—what is most important is the actual amount of alcohol consumed.”

(2) Rate of absorption: A number of factors can affect the rate at which alcohol is absorbed into your bloodstream. Food is one factor. That is, having food in your stomach tends to dilute alcohol and slow down its absorption. So a person who has a glass of table wine with dinner will raise his blood alcohol level less than if he drank the same amount of alcohol on an empty stomach. The spacing of drinks can also affect absorption. Two drinks within a few minutes are much more intoxicating than two drinks taken over a couple of hours.

Weight is another factor. Why? Simply because the more a person weighs, the more fluid there is in his body to dilute alcohol. For example, explains the report Development of a Traffic Safety and Alcohol Program for Senior Adults:c “A person weighing 160 pounds [73 kg] has about 110 pounds [50 kg] of water in his/​her body to dilute alcohol. After three drinks in an hour his/​her BAC [blood alcohol content] would be about 0.07 percent. If an individual weighing 100 pounds [45 kg] drank the same amount in the same time, his/​her BAC would be about 0.11 percent, and [he/​she] would be eligible for arrest as a drunken driver.”

The alcohol concentration of the drink may also affect the absorption rate. That is, the greater the alcohol concentration of the drink the quicker the alcohol will be absorbed.

So the absorption of alcohol into your bloodstream can be somewhat hastened or slowed​—depending on any of the above influences. However, there is one other factor that determines how much alcohol builds up in your bloodstream.

(3) Oxidation rate: Once alcohol is in your bloodstream, your body begins working to eliminate it. A small percentage (between 2 and 10 percent) is given off unchanged in the breath, sweat, and urine. The remainder is oxidized, “burned up,” mostly in the liver, where the chemical structure of the alcohol is changed to release heat and energy.

How quickly does your liver oxidize alcohol? The rate of oxidation may vary slightly from person to person, depending upon such factors as weight and health. According to the report by Malfetti and Winter, “as a general guide, a 150-pound [68-kg] person can oxidize (or ‘burn up’) the alcohol in one drink in one hour.”

How does alcohol build up in your bloodstream if your liver quickly swings into action to eliminate it? It is simple: When the absorption rate exceeds the oxidation rate, the blood alcohol level rises. The report Physiological Effects of Alcohol illustrates it this way: “It’s much like bailing water out of a leaky boat: If alcohol ‘leaks’ into the blood faster than the body can ‘bail it out,’ its level, or concentration, rises.” And as the blood alcohol level rises, the person gets increasingly intoxicated.

So while alcohol is rather “anxious” to get into the bloodstream, it takes its time about leaving. The body will “burn up” the alcohol at its fixed oxidation rate. And until it does, you should keep off the road. Why? Because alcohol affects you in several areas that are essential for the safe driving of an automobile.

[Footnotes]

[Picture on page 5]

If he’s had too much to drink, will coffee make it safe for him to drive?

Alcohol and Driving

YOU SLIP behind the steering wheel, start the engine, and off you go. Driving may become second nature to you, especially if you’ve been doing it for years. But it is not as simple as it may seem.

It has been estimated that under normal circumstances you make about 20 major decisions for each mile you drive. Decisions about what you see and hear in connection with other cars, traffic signs, and pedestrians must be translated into actions involving the brake, the accelerator, the clutch, and the steering wheel. And you don’t have much time to decide​—often just a split second.

So driving requires a delicate coordination between decisions and actions. Alcohol makes this driving task especially dangerous. Why? Because alcohol affects the driver in several ways that significantly impair his ability to drive safely.​—See the box, “BAC and Behavior,” on page 8.

Alcohol and Vision

When you drive, it has been estimated, 85 to 90 percent of the information you obtain regarding the traffic situation is received through your eyes. Your vision is controlled by a very delicate system of muscles that move and focus your eyes. Alcohol slows the function of these muscles and thus impairs vision in several ways.

For one thing, alcohol reduces the ability of the eyes to control the amount of light entering the retina. That’s especially critical at night. Why? Because it increases the amount of time it takes for the eye to recover from the glare of oncoming headlights. Explains Alcohol, Vision & Driving, distributed by the American Automobile Association: “Normally, it takes one second for the pupil to constrict and respond to the glare of oncoming headlights. It takes seven seconds after exposure to headlight glare for the pupil to once again adapt to the dark conditions. This recovery action is slowed by alcohol.”

Consider the potential danger: It is late at night. You are driving on a winding, narrow highway​—just one lane in each direction. The glare of the headlights is blinding for drivers on both sides of the road. How safe would you feel if you knew that the driver of an oncoming car had been drinking?

Alcohol also reduces peripheral vision​—the ability, when looking straight ahead, to notice things on either side of you. This is especially dangerous when mixing alcohol and high-speed driving. Explains Alcohol, Vision & Driving: “Most drivers fail to realize that at 30 MPH [48 km/​hr], a driver has reduced his side vision by 25%. At 45 MPH [72 km/​hr], he has reduced his side vision by 50%. And at speeds over 60 MPH [97 km/​hr], he is literally driving down a ‘vision tunnel.’”

Just imagine the possible consequences when the drinking driver speeds through intersections or past parked cars where a small child may suddenly dart out.

Moreover, alcohol can cause double vision, so that the drinking driver may see two cars approaching him instead of one. Furthermore, it can affect a person’s ability to judge distance. From all of this, it is evident that alcohol and driving, like oil and water, just don’t mix. Indeed, the Bible has it right when it says: “Who has dullness of eyes? Those staying a long time with the wine.”​—Proverbs 23:29, 30.

But accurately seeing the traffic situation around you is only part of what is involved in safely driving a car.

Alcohol and Judgment

Once you perceive the traffic scene, you must judge, or decide, what action you are going to take. For example, suppose you’re traveling on a two-way road, and the car in front of you is moving very slowly. You must decide if and when it is safe to pass.

Here, too, alcohol can be deadly. How so? Often, as the drinker’s blood alcohol level rises, so does his self-confidence. Explains the manual Alcohol and Alcohol Safety: “A person at this stage [.04 to .06 percent blood alcohol content] is likely to consider himself more alert and even more capable than normally even though there has been a reduction of his reaction time, his judgment, and his ability to respond to emergencies. Thus, as his actual ability to perform decreases, his confidence in this ability increases.”​—Compare Proverbs 20:1; 23:29-35.

As a result, the drinking driver may take more chances in passing or speeding. Why, if the person is a poor or an inexperienced driver to begin with, even the slightest effect on his judgment could be dangerous!

Alcohol and Reflexes

It’s bad enough that the drinking driver has trouble seeing and takes more risks. What further compounds the problem is that alcohol also slows down his reaction time. As a result, it may take just a fraction of a second longer for him to move his foot from the accelerator to the brake pedal.

To illustrate how dangerous that can be, the report by Malfetti and Winter notes that if you have just two 12-ounce (355-cc) cans of beer within an hour, your reaction time may be slowed by two fifths of a second. Now, that may not sound like much. But the report notes: In two fifths of a second, an automobile traveling at 55 miles per hour (90 km/​hr) will travel an additional 34 feet (10.4 m)! Why, that could be the difference between a near-miss and a fatal accident!

When you consider how alcohol affects a person’s vision, judgment, and reflexes, it is easy to see why drinking and driving are a deadly combination. But what can be done about the problem? And how can you protect yourself and your family from the driver who has had too much to drink?

[Chart on page 8]

(For fully formatted text, see publication.)

BAC and Behavior

If a person consumes and absorbs alcohol faster than his body can oxidize, or “burn,” it, the level of alcohol builds up in his bloodstream. Researchers refer to this as the BAC (blood alcohol content). For example, a BAC of 0.02 percent means that 0.02 percent of one’s blood consists of alcohol. As the BAC rises, the person gets increasingly intoxicated, as the following chart illustrates.a

BAC of 0.02 percent: The “depression of the nerve centers controlling the inhibitions and judgment centers begins to a mild degree when the blood alcohol level reaches .02%, which, for a person of average weight [154 pounds (70 kg)], would require the ingestion of 1/2 ounce [15 cc] of alcohol. This is the amount usually contained in one drink of beer, whiskey or wine.”​—Alcohol and Alcohol Safety, a manual prepared for The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (U.S.A).

BAC of 0.05 percent: “Driving skills are impaired at blood alcohol concentrations (.04-.05 percent) one might observe after drinking only two to three alcoholic beverages on an empty stomach.”​—Fifth Special Report to the U.S. Congress on Alcohol and Health.

“Changes in mood and behavior appear at a BAC of 0.05 percent. Judgment, thought and restraint also are usually affected at this level.”​—Development of a Traffic Safety and Alcohol Program for Senior Adults, by James L. Malfetti and Darlene J. Winter.

In some areas this is the level at which a person can be arrested for driving while ability impaired (DWAI).

BAC of 0.10 percent: “At a BAC of 0.10 percent (five average drinks in one hour) voluntary motor actions​—walking, hand movements, speech may become clumsy. Blurring and split vision may occur at this level. So also might tunnel vision: on a highway, for example, a driver or pedestrian sees only what is directly ahead, not those dangers that may be to the side.”​—Senior Adults, Traffic Safety and Alcohol Program Leader’s Guide, by Darlene J. Winter, Ph.D.

“Drivers with blood alcohol concentrations above 0.10 percent have been estimated to be 3 to 15 times more likely to have a fatal accident than nondrinking drivers.”​—Fifth Special Report to the U.S. Congress on Alcohol and Health.

In many places, this is the level at which a person can be arrested for driving while intoxicated (DWI).

One does not have to be staggering drunk before his or her ability to drive diminishes. So why mix drinking and driving at all? The safest rule to follow is: If you drive, don’t drink; if you drink, don’t drive.

[Footnotes]

[Picture on page 6]

How safe would you feel if you knew that the driver of an oncoming car had been drinking?

[Picture on page 7]

The effect of alcohol on your reflexes could mean the difference between a near-miss and a fatal accident!

[Credit Line]

H. Armstrong Roberts

Drinking and Driving​—What Can Be Done?

THE OCEANSIDE resort town of Southampton, New York, has declared war on drunk driving. What is part of the battle plan? The Designated Driver Program. How does it work? Under the program, when going out socially, individuals decide within their group who will be the driver for the evening. Many of the town’s bars and restaurants issue a “Designated Driver” button for those who are chosen.

Then what? Councilwoman Patricia Neumann, one of the promoters of the program, explained to Awake!: “The person wearing the button is entitled to free soft drinks for the evening on the premise that he or she will drive the others home.”

But that’s not all the town does. Councilwoman Neumann continues: “Every week, our local newspaper prints, in a rather prominent place, the name, age, and address of any person arrested for driving while intoxicated.” And the result? She adds: “Our roadblocks turned up fewer and fewer people who were driving while intoxicated. I think all three things together​—the roadblocks, the printing of the names in the paper, and the Designated Driver Program—​have helped.”

That is what one town has done. Of course, while such efforts may be effective in reducing the number of fatalities, they by no means completely eliminate the problem. Meanwhile, what can you do to protect yourself and your family? Several things.

Be Responsible About Drinking and Driving

A Bible proverb says: “Wine is a ridiculer, intoxicating liquor is boisterous, and everyone going astray by it is not wise.” (Proverbs 20:1) That recommends having a responsible attitude toward the use of alcoholic beverages, acting in such a way that you never have to feel sorry for what happened when you were drinking.

That is not to suggest that the Bible endorses prohibition. In no way does it condemn the moderate use of alcohol. (Psalm 104:15; 1 Timothy 3:2, 3, 8) But as the previous article showed, a person does not have to be staggering drunk before his or her ability to drive is impaired. So a Christian should be cautious about drinking before getting in the driver’s seat. Frankly, why take a chance by mixing drinking and driving at all?

Perhaps a lesson can be learned from counsel given to kings back in Bible times. Proverbs 31:4 states: “It is not for kings [when officiating] to drink wine or for high officials to say: ‘Where is intoxicating liquor?’” But why abstinence? The next verse Pr 31:5 explains: “That one may not drink and forget what is decreed and pervert the cause of any of the sons of affliction.” What does that suggest? That there may well be times when abstaining from alcohol is in order, especially when we engage in activities that have a direct bearing on the lives of others.​—See also Leviticus 10:8, 9.

Consider, too, the Bible’s words at Romans 14:21: “It is well not to eat flesh or to drink wine or do anything over which your brother stumbles.” So, there may be occasions when a Christian should refrain from drinking alcoholic beverages out of consideration for the sensitive viewpoint of others. Would that not strongly suggest that the Christian should avoid mixing drinking and driving and thus show consideration, not simply for the viewpoint, but for the very lives of others?

Then there is the matter of setting an example for others, particularly youths. If you are a parent, you have special reason to beware. Before you caution your teenager about the dangers of drinking and driving, make sure your own actions support what you are saying. The do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do philosophy usually doesn’t work with children. Often they pay more attention to what you do than to what you say.​—Compare Proverbs 20:7.

When You’re the Host

Genuine hospitality involves much more than providing your guests with food and drink. When you invite others to your home, you have a responsibility to set the tone for the evening. You also have a moral responsibility for their safety.

In fact, some areas even have laws stating that those who serve alcoholic beverages to visibly intoxicated persons may be held liable if there’s an accident involving such persons. In recommending the enactment of such laws, the U.S. Presidential Commission on Drunk Driving noted: “These laws implicitly establish the necessity of placing responsibility on the part of the seller or server, whether they be commercial or individual hosts. [Such] laws also reinforce the principle that others have a responsibility to prevent intoxicated individuals from driving.”

Clearly, whether there’s a law against it or not, when you serve alcoholic beverages to guests in your home, you have a responsibility to see to it that things are kept under control.​—Please see the accompanying box “Be a Responsible Host.”

What Governments Are Doing

As public concern over the dangers of drinking and driving increases, governments have stepped up their efforts to deal with the problem. Here’s what some are doing:

Raising the minimum drinking age: Does it really help? Consider what happened in the United States and Canada when the drinking age was lowered some years ago. Explains a report by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety:a “In a study of various states and Canadian provinces that reduced the drinking age from twenty-one to eighteen, significant increases were shown in fatal crashes.” But, then, beginning in 1976, some of the places that had lowered the drinking age began to raise it. The result? The same report answers: “When states raise the drinking age, there is a corresponding decrease in fatal crashes among law-affected drivers.”

Passing tougher laws: In some areas, drinking drivers face stiff fines, increased license-suspension periods, and jail sentences for repeat offenses. Are such tougher laws the answer? Notes Alcohol Health and Research World: “In Britain, fatalities from traffic accidents decreased initially by 23 percent in response to the widely publicized Road Safety Act of 1967, which allowed police to require alcohol breath tests of drivers. Passage of similar legislation in Canada brought about an 8 percent reduction.”

But before long the results in both countries somewhat dissipated. Why? The report continues: “Because drivers whom publicity had convinced of a new higher risk of arrest learned from subsequent experience that the risk had not really increased much.” In other words, tougher laws are effective only if they are strictly enforced. As the Bible long ago put it: “When a sentence against a crime isn’t quickly carried out, men are encouraged to do wrong.”​—Ecclesiastes 8:11, An American Translation by William F. Beck.

Clearly, there is no easy solution to the deadly problem of drinking and driving. Governments are trying to tackle it. But each person must do his part. Before ever mixing drinking and driving, stop and think. Think about your own life. Think about the lives of others traveling with you. And think about the pain felt by the loved ones of those whose lives were cut short by the drinking driver. As Shirley Ferrara said regarding her son Jeff: “Twenty-nine years old is awfully young to die. It really is.”

[Footnotes]

[Box on page 10]

Be a Responsible Host

If you serve alcoholic beverages to guests in your home, what can you do to keep things from getting out of hand? Here are a few suggestions:

● Don’t hesitate to suggest to a guest who will be driving that he should be careful about any drinking of alcoholic beverages

● Limit the amount of alcohol served

● Offer nonalcoholic beverages as well

● If possible, have some food or snacks available. Remember that food slows the absorption of alcohol

● Don’t push others to drink

● If someone has had too much to drink, then by all means don’t allow him or her to drive. Make some other arrangements for that one to get home safely

[Box on page 12]

How to Protect Yourself From the Drinking Driver

How can you protect yourself and your family from the driver who has had too much to drink? It helps if you wear a seat belt and keep a safe distance between you and other drivers. Also, be on the lookout for the drinking driver. Watch out for the driver who:

● Turns with wide radius

● Straddles center or lane marker

● Almost strikes another object or vehicle

● Weaves or swerves

● Drives on other than designated roadway

● Drives at slow speed (more than 10 MPH below limit)

● Stops without cause in traffic lane

● Follows too closely

● Brakes erratically

● Drives into opposing or crossing traffic

● Signals inconsistent with driving actions

● Responds slowly to traffic signals

● Turns abruptly or illegally

● Accelerates or decelerates rapidly

● Drives at night with headlights off

Based on The Visual Detection of Driving While Intoxicated, by Anacapa Sciences, Inc. Prepared for the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Washington, D.C.

[Picture on page 9]

In many areas, drinking drivers face stiff fines, license suspension, and jail sentences

[Picture on page 11]

Why take a chance by mixing drinking and driving?

Young People Ask . . .

How Can I Learn When My Teacher Is So Boring?

THE boy in the red-striped shirt looks bored. He bites his nails and stares into space, as if inviting a reprimand. His teacher, though, is more interested in teaching than in punishing.

“What does it mean to use the ‘context’ to find information?” the teacher energetically asks the class.

“It’s using different meanings,” guesses one boy.

“Sort of,” agrees the teacher, wrinkling his brow as he thinks of a way to rephrase the question. He tries again: “Using the context is making use of what in order to find missing words?”

“Ideas!” says one student. “Dreams?” asks another. The boy in the red-striped shirt shows a flicker of amused interest.

The teacher tries another tack. “OK, pretend it’s wintertime, and I walk down to the forest and come across a place with a large opening in it made out of rock. I look inside and I hear . . . ” (The students giggle at his imitation of a snoring bear.) “What would I say I next see? A bear, an ant, a monkey?”

“A bear,” says one student. “He’s in a cave and bears hibernate in caves.” The Awake! reporter watching this classroom scene is surprised. For this astute observation has been offered by none other than the boy in the red-striped shirt.

The teacher is pleased. “Yes, you used the surrounding words to figure out that I would see a bear. Now let’s see how we can do this in today’s lesson.”

A good teacher is at work. A man who not only knows his subject but also cares about his students. An instructor who tries to make his classes interesting and who doesn’t panic if his students are slow to catch on. Does that sound like any of your teachers? Perhaps. However, The Family Handbook of Adolescence says: “Some surveys show that the majority of adolescent students are critical of teachers, complaining that they are boring or lacking in humor.”

Of course, it is only reasonable to assume that most teachers are at least moderately competent. But sooner or later you may get a teacher who simply bores you ‘to tears.’ And if this happens, you can get frustrated because you want to learn all that you can while in school. What can you do? Is learning then a lost cause?

Your Attitude Counts!

What is your attitude toward learning? One recent experiment revealed that a teenager’s level of concentration is quite high in classes such as the industrial arts, physical education, and music. However, it nosedives in classes dealing with language and history.

Are physical-education or music instructors more gifted than teachers of academic subjects? Not likely. The researchers felt that nonacademic classes allowed students greater participation. However, could it be that students just have a negative attitude toward academic subjects? If students decide in advance that a subject is boring, even a teacher with the skills of Plato may have a hard time holding their attention.

What is your attitude toward certain subjects? Might it need adjusting? Algebra may not seem worth while now. But how well you learn may one day be of interest to an employer who is considering investing time and training in you. So take an interest in what you learn! It may take some of the boredom out of school.

‘A Good Teacher Is . . . ’

At times, though, even students interested in learning complain that they have “bad” teachers. But just what is a “good” teacher? One young girl told Awake!, “I like my math teacher because she’s a lot of fun.” One boy praised his English teacher for ‘cracking a lot of jokes.’

But while being likable or even entertaining can be an asset for a teacher, it is not a substitute for his being “adequately qualified to teach others.” (2 Timothy 2:2) Of course, here the Bible is primarily referring to spiritual qualifications. But it does highlight the fact that one requirement of a good teacher is that he should know his subject.

Unfortunately, knowledge and a colorful personality do not always come in the same package. One youth had a teacher who could crack jokes like a comedian. However, the youth admits, “We never did get around to doing much physics.” On the other hand, another youth indicates that his teacher was knowledgeable. Yet he calls him “horribly boring. He spoke in a monotone and used exceedingly big words that no one understood.”

Do you have a teacher of the latter variety? If so, remember what some early Christians said about the apostle Paul. He was superbly qualified as an instructor of God’s Word. Yet some Christians in Paul’s day complained that “his presence in person [was] weak and his speech contemptible.” Paul replied: “But even if I am unskilled in speech, I certainly am not in knowledge.”​—2 Corinthians 10:10; 11:6.

If some overlooked what Paul had to say and saw only his alleged deficiencies as a speaker, what could have happened? They would have lost out on gaining valuable knowledge. Don’t make the same mistake when it comes to school! Before writing off an uninteresting teacher as being “bad,” ask yourself, ‘Does he know what he is talking about? Can I learn from him?’

Work at Learning

‘But shouldn’t learning be fun?’ you ask. At times it can be. However, some of life’s most valuable lessons are learned through patience and hard work. Jesus Christ, for example, “learned obedience from the things he suffered.” (Hebrews 5:8) Learning by that type of experience was not much fun, but it provided a valuable lesson nonetheless. The knowledge you can gain in school is likewise worth while. So pay more than the usual attention to the teacher who is a drab speaker. Try taking notes so as to keep your attention riveted on what he has to say. Supplement dull classroom discussions with additional study at home.

If you really put forth effort to learn, you might be surprised at how much you can absorb​—even from a supposedly boring teacher. Observed The Family Handbook of Adolescence: “Although some students are aware at the time of the powerful positive effect a teacher is having, more often it is only after a number of years that a teacher’s influence is fully recognized.”

An article in U.S.News & World Report says that besides having knowledge, a teacher must be “able to communicate that information.” And some teachers do get low marks on communication. However, note the principle stated at Proverbs 20:5: “Counsel in the heart of a man is as deep waters, but the man of discernment is one that will draw it up.” Yes, sometimes you can draw a teacher out.

‘Make Him Teach’

In her book The High School Survival Guide, Barbara Mayer, a teacher herself, notes: “Teachers, who have probably repeated these same lessons more times than they care to remember, tend to fall into a routine, and simply present the material as they have in the past. If a topic is glossed over too lightly and you still don’t feel you understand it, raise your hand for a change and ask for more information . . . Make him really tell you all he knows.” Will the teacher resent this? Not if you do so respectfully. (Colossians 4:6) What can result? Says Mayer: “You’ll discover that your teacher is coming to class a bit more prepared, and with more than just surface information.”

Enthusiasm is contagious, and your desire to learn just might inject some life into your teacher. Of course, don’t expect a drastic transformation. And there may be some classes that you just have to grin and bear for a while. But if you are a good listener and sincerely interested in what is going on, you can still learn. And that’s what school is all about, isn’t it?

[Picture on page 14]

At times one must learn through sheer effort

[Picture on page 15]

A competent teacher need not be a comedian or an entertainer

The Bible’s Viewpoint

Easter​—Is It for Christians?

WHAT is your view of Easter? To six-year-old Alexandra from Canada, it means a party. ‘Your friends have you over for cake,’ she said. ‘You write to the Easter bunny if he brought you chocolate eggs.’ To others, the occasion means little more than a few extra days free from work or school, a long weekend. And yet, to many, Easter is the most important religious festival of the year, one celebrating the resurrection to life of Jesus Christ three days after he had been put to death. But how does God view Easter? Is there more to it than commemorating Christ’s resurrection? If we want God’s approval, it is essential that we know.

There is no doubt that Christ’s resurrection is vitally important, central to Christian belief. The apostle Paul emphasized that by writing: “If Christ has not been raised up, our preaching is certainly in vain, and our faith is in vain. Further, if Christ has not been raised up, your faith is useless; you are yet in your sins.” (1 Corinthians 15:14, 17) So in order for our worship to be pleasing to God, we must exercise faith in the resurrection of Jesus.

But there is more to Easter than celebrating the resurrection of Christ. Men have taken the Biblical significance of the occasion and added symbols and customs that originate from ancient peoples who served false gods. For example, consider a well-known emblem of Easter in some countries​—the rabbit. “Ancient pagans used the rabbit as a symbol of the abundant new life of the spring season. . . . The first record of the bunny as an Easter symbol is found in Germany about 1572,” says The Catholic Encyclopedia for School and Home. Likewise, the Easter-time use of hot cross buns, brightly colored eggs, or chocolate bells has its roots in pagan religion. And, incredibly, the very name Easter (used in some languages) relates to a pagan deity. The Westminster Dictionary of the Bible states that Easter was “originally the spring festival in honor of the Teutonic goddess of light and spring known in Anglo-Saxon as Eastre. As early as the 8th century the name was transferred by the Anglo-Saxons to the Christian festival designed to celebrate the resurrection of Christ.”

This pagan ancestry is widely recognized and well documented. The question is, Does it matter? Since Easter purports to honor Christ, does God overlook the fact that its trappings, even the name itself, are linked to the worship of other gods?

God’s View of Easter

In the first two of the Ten Commandments given through Moses, God said: “I am Jehovah your God . . . You must never have any other gods against my face . . . because I Jehovah your God am a God exacting exclusive devotion.” (Deuteronomy 5:6-9) Even the suggestion of false worship would not be tolerated, as was seen time and again in God’s dealings with the nation of Israel.

For example, while Moses was yet on Mount Sinai where he received those commandments on two stone tablets, the Israelites began to mix symbols of Egyptian religion with their worship of Jehovah. After collecting gold earrings from the people, a molten statue of a calf was made. Then came the proclamation: “This is your God, O Israel, who led you up out of the land of Egypt.” The Bible account tells us: “Finally Aaron [Moses’ brother] called out and said: ‘There is a festival to Jehovah tomorrow.’ So on the next day they were early in rising, and they began offering up burnt offerings and presenting communion sacrifices. After that the people sat down to eat and drink. Then they got up to have a good time.”​—Exodus 32:1-6.

As with those who celebrate the modern-day Easter festival, the Israelites were professing to worship the true God. Remember, it was called “a festival to Jehovah.” They intended to associate Jehovah with the image. Yet, they were frolicking at a festival that mimicked an Egyptian deity, perhaps Apis, who was represented as a young bull. Was God pleased? Not at all. He nearly brought the nation to ruin on account of it!​—Exodus 32:7-10.

Similarly, God expects Christians to keep their worship pure and untainted, having nothing to do with customs, symbols, or festivals associated with false gods. To illustrate: Suppose you knew that a knife had been used for a dishonorable purpose. How would you feel about using that same knife for cutting and eating your food? God has seen firsthand the unsavory pagan religious practices from which Easter originated. Should not his view be what matters to us?

The apostle Paul wrote: “What fellowship do righteousness and lawlessness have? Or what sharing does light have with darkness? Further, what harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what portion does a faithful person have with an unbeliever? And what agreement does God’s temple have with idols?” The answer: None at all. He continues: “‘Therefore get out from among them, and separate yourselves,’ says Jehovah, ‘and quit touching the unclean thing;’ ‘and I will take you in.’”​—2 Corinthians 6:14-17.

From earliest times, God has emphasized that his people worship him exclusively, having nothing to do with the appendages of false religion. True Christians show appreciation for the resurrection of Christ, not by celebrating a festival transferred from pagandom, but, rather, in line with Jesus’ command, by commemorating his death and, like Jesus, continually seeking to please God by worshiping Him with spirit and truth.​—Luke 22:19; John 4:24.

[Blurb on page 17]

Since Easter purports to honor Christ, does God overlook the fact that its trappings are linked to the worship of other gods?

[Picture on page 16]

What connection do these things have with Jesus?

Better Health​—In a Glass of Water!

IT IS right there at the kitchen sink. Usually it is readily available for all. It costs little, but can bring better health. It is one of our body’s most important nutrients. It is cool, clear water. Yet the simple advice to drink more water is often neglected by even health-minded people.

Did you know that about 70 percent of our total body weight is made up of water? So it is not difficult to see why we need plenty of water for our bodies to function in a healthy way.

Of course, our kidneys do a wonderful work. Equipped with millions of filtering units, the kidneys screen out impurities from the blood and return the purified fluid to the bloodstream. It has been estimated that we would need to drink thousands of cups of water a day if it were not for the recycled water provided by our kidneys.

But even with healthy kidneys functioning well, the supply of clean water in our bodies drops constantly and needs replenishing. Without sufficient fluid to flush out the by-products of cell metabolism, body cells can slowly become poisoned by their own waste.

Fortunately, much of the food we eat supplies a great deal of the water we need because many foods are made up largely of water. Take the egg as an example. You may not realize that an egg is about 74 percent water. A piece of steak is about 73 percent water, and a watermelon has a huge 92-percent water content. But even so, most of us would still benefit by drinking more water.

Writing in the Weekend Australian, Michael Boddy cites the experience of mountain climbers to support the claim that excessive fatigue can result from a buildup of poisonous waste in body cells. He says: “Swiss mountaineers failed to conquer [Mount] Everest due to lack of water, and water is why the British expedition under Sir Edmund Hillary was successful​—they were made to drink twelve cups of water a day while on the climb.”

The same writer tells of a Harvard University experiment that also bears out the value of drinking water. A small group of athletes was instructed to drink no water at all and asked to walk briskly at three miles an hour (5 km/​hr). They kept going for about three and a half hours. Then their body temperature rose suddenly to about 102 degrees Fahrenheit (39° C.). Soon after, they collapsed from exhaustion.

A second group followed the same routine, but they were allowed to drink water whenever they felt thirsty and as much as they wished. This group lasted for about six hours and then experienced exactly the same reaction as the previous group.

Then a third group was tested. But this group was monitored closely, and it was found that they lost about one cup of water every 15 minutes. By replacing this amount of water as it was lost, none of this group experienced the sudden rise in body temperature, nor did they reach the point of exhaustion. In fact, all of them claimed that they could have walked on indefinitely. So it seems that natural thirst may not be an accurate barometer of our body’s need for water. We might need more than thirst dictates.

Perhaps we could all improve our health by drinking more cool, refreshing, God-given water.

[Picture on page 18]

Walking at three miles per hour, a person loses one cup of water every 15 minutes

Soccer Hooliganism​—Disease or Symptom?

By “Awake!” correspondent in the British Isles

“WE ARE due an exciting European Cup final worthy of the name,” the London Times of May 29, 1985, reported. But it added: “Brussels is preparing for the arrival of Liverpool’s supporters . . . A huge security operation has been mounted.”

Yet 38 died and more than 150 were injured when hooligans went wild at Brussels’ Heysel Stadium as teams from Britain and Italy met. London’s Daily Mail reported:

“The tragedy, an hour before the match had been due to start, was caused when Liverpool supporters, possibly provoked, charged a Juventus section of the crowd. There was only a flimsy barrier between the two sets of fans at that point and the Liverpool fans climbed over it and pulled it down. The wall and crash barriers collapsed under the weight of Italians fleeing in panic . . .

“After the wall collapse, men with the lower parts of their bodies trapped and being crushed by rubble screamed in agony, their arms stretched forward in appeals for help.

“But around and above them fans still fought, kicking and punching each other and hurling missiles . . . The rioting was seen on television in 80 countries taking live coverage of the match . . . More than 1 1/2 hours after the tragedy, as both team captains appealed for calm, supporters of both sides were still taunting Belgian riot police and pelting them with bottles, cans, stones, rocks and lighted fireworks.”

Such hooliganism, however, is nothing new. Rioting fans have sparked panic, stampedes, and death during and after many soccer matches. Why, the very month of the Brussels disaster, 8 were killed and 51 injured in a riot among fans at Mexico City’s Olympic Stadium! And to mention just a few other incidents:

In October 1982, 20 died after a soccer match at Lenin Stadium, Moscow. In February 1981, another 19 were killed in Piraeus, Greece. In August 1980, 16 died in Calcutta, India. In February 1974, in Cairo, Egypt, 48 were trampled to death. In June 1968, fights among fans in Buenos Aires, Argentina, resulted in 72 fatalities. And in May 1964, at least 318 died and 500 were injured in Lima, Peru, when fighting broke out after a referee disallowed a Peruvian goal.

Soccer hooliganism, however, is particularly prevalent among British fans. The London Times printed a grim list enumerating deeds of hooliganism at British soccer matches over the past 23 years. Supporters of British clubs have wreaked havoc in European cities such as Rotterdam, Paris, Saint-Étienne, Turin, Madrid, Basel, Oslo, Amsterdam, Brussels, Valencia, Copenhagen, Luxembourg, and Lisbon. No wonder Europeans call soccer hooliganism “the British Disease.”

Reporting on the tragedy in Brussels, London Times reporter David Miller echoed the feelings of many, writing: “When outside, a cavalcade of ambulances and emergency medical units tend the dead and injured in a scene reminiscent of a battlefield and when afterwards the fighting continues horrendously in the streets, a halt must be called.”

Soccer hooliganism is indeed a plague on society. But could the violence associated with the hooliganism be merely symptoms? If so, of what disease?

A Sick Society?

Soccer was described in The Sunday Times of London as a “mirror to society, and our own present society is a nasty, greedy, violent one.” The paper added: “Football is not in itself the cause of violence, but it is a perfect theatre for it . . . It attracts and canalises violence, which might otherwise lie dormant or explode sporadically.”

The violence manifest in the rivalry between soccer clubs follows a pattern found in other actions that many so-called law-abiding citizens condone. David Robins, after seven years of studying soccer hooliganism, explains in his book We Hate Humans: “The tendency of nation states to settle territorial disputes by violent means, and with only the slenderest of references to ideals or moral principles, can be read by the politically illiterate as no more than a grown-up version of soccer warfare.”

Thus the magazine The Economist advised: “As a shamed Britain ponders the tragedy of Brussels, it would do well to examine the system of cultural values that made it possible.”

Identifying hooliganism as a symptom of a sick society, the President of the Association of Chief Police Officers, Charles McLachlan, bewailed the lack of discipline in present-day life and called for better guidance for the young. Chief Constable Robert Bunyard of Essex Police described football riots as “the concentration of behaviour people indulge in elsewhere.”

Is the sickness that pervades human society terminal? Or is there a cure? What treatment will succeed?

Treating the Symptoms

Identity cards and body searches have been proposed to curb entry of hooligan element into football grounds. Justice Popplewell, High Court judge, conducting an inquiry into football safety, concluded that requiring membership cards for supporters would contribute to decreasing hooliganism. This proposal, if implemented, would prevent casual visitors from entering the football grounds. “That in my view,” says Popplewell, “is a price which the public and the club have to pay to try to reduce football violence.”

Among other recommendations, Popplewell advised the police to make full use of closed-circuit television to watch for crowd violence. In some areas, this suggestion has already been taken up, and the police are deploying vehicles known as hoolivans. These provide a location from which they can maintain surveillance by using colour video cameras. On spotting trouble, the police can identify and then photograph individual hooligans.

Plans to ban the sale of alcohol at, near, or even en route to the football grounds will also hopefully contribute to a lessening of the violence. The London Times editorialized: “British football may have eventually to be played in fortified amphitheatres with iron cages where there used to be terraces, and a breathalyser machine [to measure the alcohol content of the breath] at every turnstile . . . Future football matches may not have the excitement and romance of the national game of our past. But at least it may be a game again, a game worth playing and safe for export too.”

Such measures, though well intentioned, treat the symptoms but leave the disease still rampant. As The Guardian Weekly put it: “No game is worth fortifications that merely address the symptoms, but not the disease.” Then, how can the disease be successfully treated? How can hooliganism be eradicated not only from sporting events but from human society as well?

Eliminating Hooliganism

The horrifying events of May 29th were a decided contrast to what happened two months later in the halls of the exhibition park in Heysel, just 500 meters (1,640 ft) from the football stadium. It reminded one of the difference between a wild winter sea and a tranquil summer one. From July 25 to 28, 1985, a large, multilingual crowd gathered there again. But the atmosphere was so different.

This crowd came together for a four-day district convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses. They were there to learn about Christian integrity, and they heard thought-provoking discussions on such subjects as “Integrity to Truth in a Godless World” and “God’s Times and Seasons, to What Do They Point?” While the attendance reached 27,402, there were none of the stealing, fighting, and bodily injuries that marked the previous gathering. Rather, the assemblage was marked by its peace and orderliness.

On Friday morning, the proceedings were interrupted by a bomb threat. But notice the different reaction of this crowd when under pressure: An announcement was made, and everyone evacuated the halls in an orderly fashion. A representative of the press timed the evacuation​—it took just eight minutes. One hall was emptied in just four minutes! This startled one woman delegate. She had left the crowded hall to go to the rest room, where there were no loudspeakers. When she came back just five minutes later, the hall was completely empty. There was nobody in sight! She was quite disoriented until she found out what had happened.

The halls were empty for one hour while the police and 500 volunteers searched all the buildings. No bombs were found, and the convention program continued.

Similarly, in Britain some 142,859 people spent four days in ten different stadiums attending the “Integrity Keepers” conventions of Jehovah’s Witnesses, and their association was unmarred by any acts of hooliganism. In fact, a football-club official said: “There is never any confrontation . . . The peaceful atmosphere . . . is catching.”

Contrasting the convention crowds with those who attend football matches, the police in Manchester said: “Football spectators look on us as enemies and don’t take any notice of us. But you people go out of your way to be friendly.” “If everyone were organized . . . like you, I would be out of a job.”

What made these crowds so different from those attending football matches? It was not the use of body searches or closed-circuit television surveillance. No, but it was the fact that the people themselves were committed to a peaceful way of life. Many of them formerly espoused a violent way of life. The change for them, however, came as they regularly studied the Bible, applied its teachings in their lives, and associated with others who follow the Bible counsel to “seek peace and pursue it.”​—1 Peter 3:11.

However, by itself this activity will not cleanse the earth of all violence, including soccer hooliganism. This will happen when God’s Kingdom intervenes in earth’s affairs and removes all unrighteousness and violence. Then peace will prevail under the “Prince of Peace.”​—Isaiah 9:6.

Jehovah’s Witnesses warmly invite you to visit their Kingdom Halls and their conventions. See for yourself how people are transforming their lives permanently by applying the principles outlined in the Bible.

[Blurb on page 20]

“An evening of sheer folly bespattered football with blood, and we will not be able to forget it.”​—French magazine Onze

[Picture on page 21]

Why such tranquillity here?

[Picture Credit Line on page 19]

ROSSEL and CIE, S.A., Brussels

Trinidad Builds It in Four Days!

“IF YOU can put up that church in four days, I’ll give you all the ice you need, free of charge!” That was the ice vendor’s challenging offer when he heard that the local congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses was trying to build a Kingdom Hall nearby in just four days. He was willing to bet that they could not do it. After all, this was Trinidad, where time overruns were normal in the construction industry, and the Siparia Congregation had only 72 members. Since Jehovah’s Witnesses do not gamble, they bought enough ice from the vendor to make cold drinks for the 300 perspiring volunteers and went to work.​—Isaiah 65:11.

Could they do it? They felt they could. After all, they had been planning the project for the past six months. The foundation had been laid a month before, when certain plumbing and electrical installations had been completed, and needed materials were stored on site.

With curious neighbors watching, the work began on Friday evening, May 17, 1985, as over a hundred volunteers converged on the site. When Saturday, May 18, dawned, the framework had been completed, roof covering had started, and the masons began to lay bricks. By midday the roofing was finished, the public-address system was installed, and a cautiously confident sign appeared:

Kingdom Hall Construction

Estimated Building Time​—4 Days

May 18, 19, 25, 26

But who were these workers? The work force was comprised of people of widely different backgrounds. Here was a young doctor applying paint with almost surgical precision. And what about that woman building the stage? She is a single parent who drives a taxi for a living. A mason, 40 years in the business, was working side by side with a technical-school graduate who recently finished his masonry course. We must mention, too, the number of women who worked not only cooking but digging drains, painting, laying the lawn, carrying bricks, doing mortar work.

How did the public react? When water ran out and further mortar work seemed unlikely, the nearby fire chief, overwhelmed by what was being attempted, sent a fire tender to deliver water three times during the night. He even brought friends to see for themselves what was being accomplished. Across the street from the hall, one woman graciously allowed the Witnesses to store materials on her premises. She attended the first meeting held in the hall.

And what about our ice vendor mentioned earlier? By the second day, all the ice had been used up. But he had seen what had happened thus far and offered the Witnesses money to buy more ice. Yes, now he believes that Jehovah’s Witnesses can do it!

MEPS​—What It Can and Cannot Do

“IT’S sure great that you have MEPS,” a writer was told by another member of the Brooklyn headquarters publishing staff. “Now writing must be easy for you.”

The speaker sincerely believed that MEPS, an acronym for Multilanguage Electronic Phototypesetting System, could somehow make writing easy. Somewhat amused, but particularly surprised, the writer assured him that people, not machines, do the writing.

Well, then, what can MEPS do? Does it really help with writing? If so, how? Can it translate written material from one language to another?

MEPS for Writing

MEPS is a computer system for preparing material for production on printing presses, primarily offset presses. The heart of the system is the MEPS computer, which is housed within a frame that is, approximately, a three-foot cube. The shaping into pages of the written text is done electronically, using what is called a MEPS graphics terminal. Then the MEPS phototypesetter puts the pages in the form used to produce plates for the presses. Jehovah’s Witnesses themselves, at their Watchtower Farms facilities in upstate New York, designed and built the MEPS computer, graphics terminal, and phototypesetter.

However, IBM Personal Computer terminals are also linked with the MEPS computer. And it is these IBM terminals (which send to the MEPS computer whatever is entered on them) that are used by writers for initial entry of text at the Watch Tower Society’s writing offices in Brooklyn, New York. Does the use of this equipment really make writing easy?

No, because writing is a creative effort that must be done by a person, not a machine! And the machine​—in this case the IBM terminal—​serves basically the same function as a typewriter. In fact, its keyboard is essentially the same as a typewriter keyboard. The principal difference is that the entered text appears on a screen rather than on a piece of paper. However, if a printed document is needed, a nearby high-speed printer can be activated to print out on regular sheets of paper everything that has been entered.

So, as far as directly creating the words to be printed is concerned, the benefits of MEPS to the writer are not great. And yet there are significant ways in which a computer terminal can assist a writer. How so? Well, in that it is so much more versatile than a typewriter. Typographical errors can quickly and easily be corrected. Words, sentences, and paragraphs can be moved from one place to another in the text with a few keystrokes, and this helps the writer see immediately the result of his ideas.

In the future, a large computer file of the Watch Tower Society’s publications, called a data base, will be available on MEPS. This will make it possible for a writer to call up on his screen information from various publications, such as the Bible, Aid to Bible Understanding, other books, and perhaps as much as a hundred years or more of the Society’s magazines. No doubt this will also prove to be a useful tool for writers.

You may then be wondering: If, for the writer, MEPS simply constitutes a more sophisticated form of typewriter, why has so much time, effort, and money been devoted to developing this computer system?

Preparing Text for the Press

The fundamental reason is the industry-wide move away from hot-metal typesetting and its related letterpress printing to phototypesetting and offset printing. In hot-metal typesetting, molten lead is turned into metal type by what is commonly called a Linotype machine. Then the entire text and picture image is formed into the raised surface of lead plates and mounted on the press for printing. In offset printing the text and picture image of each page has been reproduced on film and photographically transferred to the surface of the offset plate.

MEPS was developed, in particular, to replace the prepress operations that became obsolete when hot-metal typesetting, along with letterpress printing, was abandoned. Its development was mainly necessary because existing phototypesetting equipment in the industry fell far short of meeting our multilanguage needs. And it is proving to be a marvelously effective instrument. Consider what happens, for example, after an Awake! article has been written, edited, approved, and judged ready for printing.

As indicated earlier, the ready-to-print article is stored in the MEPS computer, having been entered by means of the IBM Personal Computer. This article can now be called up on the MEPS graphics terminal and can be composed in the form of pages right on the terminal screen. Any selected typeface, or font, in the desired size can be assigned to any portion of the written text. Then, when ready, the written text is “poured” into rectangular text boxes or into shapes designed to fit around areas reserved for illustrations.

But you may now wonder: How is this material transferred from the MEPS display screen to a form that can be used to produce printing plates for the offset presses? This is accomplished by the MEPS phototypesetter. This machine reproduces on photographic paper the visual image of the pages exactly as they have been composed on the graphics terminal screen. After the photographic paper is processed, it is photographed to produce film that, in turn, is used to make offset printing plates.

Does MEPS Translate?

Remember now, MEPS is a multilanguage system, which is certainly needed by Jehovah’s Witnesses, since they regularly publish in over 150 languages. MEPS is unique because of its ability to handle all of these, as well as many other languages. In fact, presently it is programmed to take care of nearly 200 languages! But what does this mean? How is MEPS able to get written text translated from say English into Spanish?

The point to get clear is that, while MEPS can process many different languages, it does not translate from one language to another! People are used to do the actual translating. Machines are unable to replace humans as truly effective translators. The MEPS graphics terminal has been designed to display a great variety of languages. How has this been done? The keys on the keyboard have been made so they can be redefined, that is, they can electronically be altered to care for any language for which the computer has been instructed, or programmed.

Let’s illustrate this by examining what happens when a Spanish translator, working with a typewriter, translates text from English to Spanish. The translator has the English text before him on paper. Using his knowledge of the languages, he translates the thoughts from English so that the Spanish reader can absorb the ideas that were originated by the writer in English. But the translator cannot type the Spanish text with an English typewriter. Why not? Because the Spanish language has accented characters that are not found on an English typewriter. He needs a Spanish typewriter. And that’s what the MEPS graphics terminal provides. To get the Spanish keyboard, a simple command is punched that alters the keyboard to that for the Spanish language.

But as noted earlier, it is not simply Spanish and English that the MEPS graphics terminal can handle but nearly 200 languages! And as you may well be aware, many languages, such as Armenian, Korean, Russian, and Arabic, use an entirely different alphabet, or script. Also, there are nonalphabetic languages, such as Chinese and Japanese, for which MEPS is now being programmed. Some languages read from left to right while others read from right to left. Programming MEPS to take care of all these languages has been no small task, and there is still much to do!

However, remember: While MEPS can handle all these languages, a person who knows the language has to do the translating, and the translated text has to be entered into MEPS.

Some smaller branch offices and isolated translators do not have the direct need of the MEPS equipment. In many cases they use only the IBM Personal Computer, which stores what is entered on it on a thin, flexible diskette. This diskette is then mailed to a branch having a MEPS, where the material stored on the diskette is composed and prepared for printing.

Administrative Uses

Besides its use in preparing magazines, books, and other literature for printing, the MEPS equipment is also used in many branches for administrative work. For example, it is used to keep an accurate inventory of the amount of literature on hand. The system creates an invoice that is sent to the congregation ordering literature, and then the branch stock inventory is automatically adjusted to show the current number of items left in each language. In addition, in some branches MEPS is used to store and print the addresses of all subscribers of the Watchtower and Awake! magazines.

MEPS Use Worldwide

It was back in 1982 that the first MEPS computer was completed and put into experimental service. In February 1983, Germany became the first country outside the United States to receive the MEPS computer, along with four graphics terminals. It was not until November 1983 that the first MEPS phototypesetter was put into production use.

At the present time, 25 branches of the Watch Tower Society have one or more MEPS computers, as well as a total of 150 graphics terminals. And 24 branches have MEPS phototypesetters. All this sophisticated MEPS equipment has been manufactured by Jehovah’s Witnesses working at their production facilities in upstate New York near Wallkill. It is planned that MEPS will eventually be in use in over 30 countries in the world. Already the use of MEPS has helped make possible the simultaneous publishing of The Watchtower in 30 languages and the Awake! in 14 languages.

Indeed, MEPS is making publishing in many languages easier. Truly, it is an exciting leap forward in publishing, even though it does not make writing easy and does not translate.

[Picture on page 24]

A member of the Watch Tower Society’s writing staff at work at his computer

[Picture on page 26]

Page 24 as composed at the graphics terminal in the English language

[Picture on page 27]

Page 24 as composed at the graphics terminal in the Hindi language

From Our Readers

Staying Chaste

Regarding your article “Young People Ask . . . Staying Chaste​—Is It Really Best?” (November 8, 1985), I give a profound yes to that question. In the past, I’ve been involved in a live-in arrangement because we both thought that we were in love. As a result, I have children born out of wedlock, and we have long since broken up. I totally agree with the Bible’s advice to flee from fornication. But I think that you are implying that in order to have a happy, successful marriage, you have to be a virgin. What about those of us who have made this awful mistake in the past but are willing to make our hearts and minds over according to Jehovah’s standards?

W. D., New York

There is no doubt that following God’s law on chastity before marriage is one of the best ways to ensure a successful marriage. However, this does not mean that those who have lost their chastity before marriage can never enjoy a happy marriage. It may be more difficult, involve more problems and sorrow, and require greater effort. Though God’s forgiveness does not remove the natural consequences of a person’s wrong actions, his forgiveness and blessing can help one to attain happiness. Read Psalm 103:8-14; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11.​—ED.

Regarding your article “Young People Ask . . . Staying Chaste​—Is It Really Best?” I sincerely hope single persons, especially younger ones, take it to heart. I have been married five years and though my husband considers me a wonderful wife, I secretly regret not having been a virgin for him. The opinion was ‘experience is best.’ My wanting to be so experienced resulted in four abortions, one miscarriage, all in four years, and several boyfriends. Needless to say, it was not a happy period in my life. Now I am happily married, but the loss of self-control in those younger years still plagues me. Believe it! Staying chaste is best.

S. M., Minnesota

Stanley Theater Restoration

I am amazed and discouraged at the article “A Historic Landmark Becomes an Assembly Hall for Jehovah’s Witnesses.” (October 22, 1985) Christ has told us to be lowly in mind and keep our eyes on simple things. I am disturbed to see the Witnesses spending their time and resources on such a project. Does this serve as an example to congregations around the world that they too should strive for stained glass, chandeliers, and adorned columns?

J. W., Tennessee

In order to use the building for assemblies, it had to be restored. What was done was to restore what was there, and this effort has created much goodwill in the community and support for our use of this building. Jehovah’s Witnesses do not design new meeting places or assembly halls to be so elaborate. As a matter of fact, in a general instruction to all congregations, it is stated: “It is recommended that Kingdom Halls be modest, suitable houses of worship, not extravagant in size or style, not wasteful of dedicated resources.” The same principle would apply to the building of assembly halls.​—ED.

Watching the World

A Warring Century

“A bloody century, the 20th has already had 207 wars, and an estimated 78 million lives lost in them, more than five times as many deaths as in the 19th century,” states the recently published report World Military and Social Expenditures 1985. “Two-thirds of the world’s countries, representing 97 percent of the global population, have been in at least one war in this century. Since World War II the level of violence has heightened.” In fact, not counting the two world wars, there have been four times as many deaths due to war in the 40 years since World War II as in the 40 years before it. The number of civil, local, and regional conflicts has spiraled upward. Religious and ethnic causes for these conflicts have reached a new peak in recent years. The battleground for most wars fought since 1945 has been the Third World countries, where advanced weaponry has put every area, however remote, close to the battlefield. Civilian deaths have climbed sharply. “Wars are now more life-threatening for non-combatants than for the men fighting them,” says the report.

Toxic Leaks

In the United States, in the past five years toxic leaks have killed at least 135 people, injured 1,500, and driven more than 200,000 from their homes, reports the Environmental Protection Agency. Each year, there are some 1,400 accidental releases of hazardous chemicals. The agency estimates that about 2,000 people develop cancer annually because of exposure to them​—almost equal to the number of people who died in the well-publicized Bhopal, India, tragedy in 1984. “There has been much talk but little action about how to avert similar catastrophes,” says The New York Times.

Alcohol’s Role in Crime

The results of drunken driving are well known. But how about alcohol’s role in other crimes? A recent report from the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics shows that 68 percent of those convicted of manslaughter, 62 percent of those convicted of assault, and 49 percent of those convicted of murder or attempted murder had been drinking beforehand. Overall, 54 percent of those convicted of violent crimes admitted that at the time of the offense they were “pretty drunk” or “very drunk.” Even for nonviolent offenses, such as public disorder and burglary, 48 percent of those convicted had been imbibing alcohol before the offense was committed. The survey of nearly 6,000 inmates in some 400 jails across the country was said to be representative of the over 223,000 people locked up in the nation’s local jails at the time.

“Glut Economy”

“All over the globe, in developed and developing nations alike, producers in a broad spectrum of industries are turning out more than consumers can buy, creating a new world economy​—a glut economy,” says The New York Times. “Overabundance has replaced the chronic shortages of the 1970’s. There are rising stockpiles of raw materials, underutilized and mothballed factories and vast pools of idle labor.” As a result, protectionism is becoming common in many industrial nations, making it harder for Third World countries to sell their goods. And as prices have been forced down, these nations have resorted to increasing their output, hoping to make up for the loss of income​—thereby adding to the glut.

Slowest Rate

Europe now has the slowest population growth rate in the world, says the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Between 1975 and 1980 the yearly growth rate fell from an average of about 0.8 percent to 0.4 percent. Population experts expect the decline to continue​—reaching 0.26 percent by the end of the century and zero growth by the year 2025. Africa, on the other hand, has the world’s fastest growth rate. It rose from 2.1 percent in 1950 to 3.0 percent in 1980, and it is expected to reach 3.1 percent by the year 2000. Overall, the world’s population is no longer growing as rapidly as it once did. It now increases at a rate of 1.7 percent each year, adding some 80 million people.

The Heritage of War

A bleak, distorted life faces Beirut’s children, says The West Australian of Melbourne. Even now, toddlers can tell the difference between incoming and outgoing shells, between the various types of artillery fire. “One wonders what these children will be like when they are older, what with all the ugliness surrounding them,” says Beirut nursery teacher Iman Khalife. “Their conversations revolve around shelters, explosions, battles and fighting, electricity cuts and water shortages.” She says the favorite game of the three- and four-year-old children she works with is “War,” in which they react as if a shell had exploded nearby. Older youths are also affected. “I can’t sleep unless I hear the sounds of shells,” says Ghazi Sabbagh, a 20-year-old university student. So in order to sleep when there is a lull in the fighting, he plays a recording he made of the mortars, shellfire, and grenades.

Stronger Cigarette Warnings

The first warning in 1966 said that “cigaret smoke may be hazardous to your health.” The second, in 1970, said that it is dangerous to health. Now, in 1986, cigarette packages will carry four new warnings from the U.S. surgeon general, stating that cigarette smoke contains carbon monoxide; causes cancer, heart disease, and emphysema; damages the fetus and complicates pregnancy; and that quitting now greatly reduces such risks. The new warnings, each stating specific dangers, will be rotated quarterly. It is hoped that an informed public will be convinced to stop smoking or never even start.

Tendon “Factory” Discovered

Researchers at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A., have identified the body’s tendon-producing “factory.” Peering into the cell by means of an electron microscope that magnifies one million times, they found the ribosome that produces collagen, the protein constituent of tendons. With its three protein strands twisted together like a rope, collagen gives tendons their strength to attach muscles to the bone. The Times of London reports that the way the protein strands are produced and twisted together “appears to be the most complex piece of cellular assembly yet discovered.”

Dangerous Company

Living or working with someone who smokes can be dangerous to your health, says a new American Cancer Society study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. After analyzing a group of 134 nonsmoking women with lung cancer, the researchers found that a nonsmoking woman exposed to the smoke of others was 10 to 30 percent more likely to develop lung cancer than was a woman who was not exposed. And the risk of getting lung cancer increases with the amount of smoke to which a nonsmoker is exposed. “The women . . . who were exposed to the smoke of at least 20 cigarettes a day,” notes the report, “showed a risk twice as high as that of women not exposed at all.”

Jazz for Buddhists

For centuries, Buddhist temples have been peaceful sanctuaries for quiet meditation, but now some are taking up unusual sidelines. For example, Jotokuji Temple in Kyoto, Japan, reverberates with the sounds of jazz three nights a week. According to Asahi Evening News, the temple’s priest says that “he’s comfortable having young, leotard-clad female bodies gyrating and bouncing in his house of worship.” However, he admits that “it’s not easy to chant sutras to jazz accompaniment.” Other temples use pop music, comedy, and “day-as-a-Buddhist-nun” gimmicks to attract people.

Inadequate Skills

Eighty physicians who volunteered to test their skill in detecting breast tumors did not do well, reports American Health. The lumps, ranging in size from 1/8 to 1/2 inch (3 to 13 mm) and varying from soft to hard, were embedded in silicone breast models. Although they had greater success in locating the largest lumps, each physician, on the average, found only 44 percent of them, and one doctor detected only 17 percent. Internists were the most successful, while gynecologists located the fewest. Many of the doctors said they were inadequately trained for such examinations. The time spent in examining the breasts was an important factor. Experts say that early detection is the best protection, that is, to locate the tumors while they are still small. They recommend monthly self-examination in addition to the physician’s examination. Most small tumors can be removed by a lumpectomy, in which only a small area of the surrounding tissue is affected.

Car Finder

Over a million automobiles were stolen in the United States in 1984. According to the FBI, only half of the cars stolen are ever recovered. This has prompted one Massachusetts company to come up with an electronic device​—about the size of a blackboard eraser—​that will enable police to track down a stolen vehicle. In a year of testing, most vehicles fitted with the device were located within ten minutes. When a theft is reported, a central computer will be used to activate the electronic bug, which will emit a signal that can be picked up within a five-mile (8-km) radius by tracking units mounted in police cars. The computer will also tell the police the year, make, color, and registration number of the stolen car, for easy identification. The device can be installed virtually anywhere in the car, even inside the upholstery.

Finding the Key to Happy Family Life​—Making Your Family Life Happy

What is the key? How can you find it?

The book Making Your Family Life Happy points to that key. Whether you are a husband, a wife, a parent, or a child you will benefit by reading it. Only $1.

Please send, postpaid, the hardcover, 192-page book Making Your Family Life Happy; I enclose $1 (U.S.).

The Most Important Event in History

The event was the death of Jesus Christ. Why so?

It served to vindicate God’s name, proving that a human could keep perfect integrity to God.

It opened to mankind the prospect of attaining everlasting life in paradise conditions.

Jesus himself instituted a memorial of his death on the night before he died. It was a simple ceremony. During it, Jesus told his disciples: “Keep doing this in remembrance of me.”​—Luke 22:19, 20.

Will you remember?

Jehovah’s Witnesses invite you to join them in observing this most important event in history. This year the date for memorializing it is Monday, March 24, after sundown. You can attend at the Kingdom Hall nearest to your home. No collections will be taken, and visitors will not be expected to do anything but listen to an instructive talk and observe the simple proceedings. Check with Jehovah’s Witnesses locally for the exact time.