Towson University - Tower Echoes Yearbook (Towson, MD)

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THE TOWER LIGHT cancer. The price of one submarine would hnance the work of the Cancer Research Institute for 100 years. 320,000,000 would wipe out all slums. Militarism, therefore, causes increased taxes and a higher cost of living- but no increased security. Milton, the great poet, summed up this subject of preparedness beautifully when he said, For what is war but endless wars still to breed. SIGMUND SHPRITZ. Soph. 3. :ER City Noise! Roaring horns and screaming brakes, Shrill whistles wildly blown, A train which blasts through a musty hole, And the whir of cement being thrown Dirt! Torn paper and filthy streets, Dust careening toward your eyes, An apple squashed by a rolling truck, And gum flung to the walk Sorrow! Ragged man and unclean hags, Men disfigured and scarred, A woman bending o'er a drunken man Her sagged face streaked with tears JOY! . . . Laughing children and singing men, A dancer swinging round, A girl who walks alone at night, Living's a joy she's found FRANCE E. FANTOM. 6

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THE TOWER LIGHT Preparedness-A Cause of War COMMON and dangerous fallacy thoroughly believed by a great majority of people is that preparedness prevents war. These citi- zens believe that a strong army and navy acts in the same way as a police force. This analogy is completely false and misleading. The work of the police is entirely constructive. It tries to protect life and property and prevent all types of destruction. Armies and navies exist only to destroy and kill everything that man holds worthwhile. It is as logical to say preparedness prevents war as to say the law should require every man to carry a loaded gun in his pocket to prevent quarrels and shooting. Armaments are no guarantee of peace. If they were, then the highly prepared nations of Europe would be the stronghold of peace, while the undefended, fortless, four thousand mile boundary between United States and Canada would have the constant menace of war. The opposite is true. You don't and can't get peace by preparing for war. Militarism has not prevented one war but has been among the chief factors causing every war. Let us see what actually happens when nations prepare. A nation fully arms itself, supposedly for peace. Immediately another nation, fearful of the first nation's arming, increases its own war budget. Thus begins the competition in armaments. This rising pyra- mid continues and soon induces suspicion, jealousy, and strained relations between countries, until at last at the slightest pretext there is-Wat. Was not one of the major causes of the World War due to this fact, the competitions of armaments? Is not the war tension in Europe today due to the same cause? Germany arms, France retaliates and increases its war force. japan builds more submarinesg Russia, in fear, builds more aeroplanes. America has also entered this vicious circle. The day after Congress passed the Vinson bill which set a new high for our wat budget, japan increased its war budget. Due to this tragic universal race in armaments, the world is closer to war today than it was thirty days before the World War, according to Senator Nye. Looking at this problem from another angle, it is hardly possible to imagine the tremendous cost of armaments. Of the American budget of several billions of dollars, 701k is spent to pay for past wars and preparation for future wars. This means the U. S. government spends 70 cents out of every dollar for purely destructive purposes, while only 30 cents is spent to fight poverty, disease, and ignorance. The United States spent more during the World War than has been spent for educa- tion since the beginning of our country. There are over three-fourths of a million people in the U. S. suffering from that dreadful disease, 5

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THE TOWER LIGHT The Modern Arabian Nights ANY thousands of years ago in ancient Bagdad, the beautiful and virtuous Scheherazade doomed on the morrow to lose her head, wove with all her cleverness the weird and fantastic tales of the Arabian Nights. And the Sultan resting on his elevated couch, as was the custom of those Eastern monarchs, listened, and each night there- after for a thousand and one nights, he beheld, unfolding and passing before him, the amazing creations of this maiden's imagination. Today television becomes the modern Scheherazade, and as we turn its dial, even as Aladdin rubbed his Wonderful Lamp, we are car- ried away as if on a magic carpet, to behold wonders which even Scheherazade in her wildest fancies, could not imagine. What causes this wonder mechanism to operate is beyond the com- prehension of any layman. In 1842, joseph Henry discovered that an electric current passing through a coil of wire surrounding a needle magnetized that needle. This very simple fact which seems so trivial and unimportant to us, is indeed the basic principle of Radioactivity and led directly to Marconi's invention of radio telegraphy and later to our modern broadcasting and receiving stations. With the advent of the talking drama, a challenge arose to all scientists and inventors of the world. If the silent screen could be made to speak then shouldnit it be possible for the radio, a sound instrument, to transmit pictures as well? The new problem was attacked with vigor, although technically it was found that the two subjects had little relation. One involved the study of sound waves along electric wires which was comparatively familiar, and the other, the transmission of radio light waves through the ether, of which little was known. After many trials and failures, transmission of light and shade by radio waves was successfully accomplished, televis- ion became a fact instead of a possibility. From 1930 until the present, enormous strides have been taken toward its perfection, only a month ago in Great Britain a station was instituted to broadcast regular television programs available to any who might be interested. In its wake, no doubt, will follow many more im- provements, and with them the manufacture of a popular-priced instru- ment for receival. As a result of these facts, I think it is safe to predict that television not only is a reality but in the future will surpass all known forms of entertainment for us Sultans. BERNARD BERNSTEIN, Fr. 4. 7