Milford chronicle., 1959-07-03
A Continuation OF The
Address Given By Oliver
Caldwell To Milford
Seniors

Because Soviet schools are open
six days a week, in ten years So
Wet students spend as much time
on their schooling as you did in
twelve years. A senior in a Soviet
high school would normally have
six classes each of the six days Of
his week He would take home with
him each night his class book with
the assignments for the next day,
and his parents would sign a sta
tement to the effect that he had
put I'm at least three hours on his
homework; this would give him an
average of nine hours a day in
classes and studying; but this is
not all: he is also supposed to put
in a couple of hours at the sports
club, and is encouraged to spend a
good deal of time on activities
sponsored by the Communist Party.
1t is not surprising that high
school seniors in the USSR tend to
look mature and lean and fit.
Those who graduate with A or B
average are paid to go to the
army, and to farms and factories.
Everyone is encouraged to try to
better himself, and everyone is
supposed to work part time with
his hands while he is preparing
for a career in some institution or
college.
We know little firsthand about
Chinese communist schools, but
they are belived to be like those in
the USSR. We know Chinese Com
munist schools are turning out
large numbers of tough, competent
people, who have been trained to
work and to conquer on various
frontiers. They have been told that
you, and other Americans like you,
are the chief obstacle in their path.
What are these critically impor-
tant modern frontiers?
A. One of the most important is
Science. Communism teaches that
man is just machine that runs
down at death, that there is no
reality beyond the senses. There
fore science becomes the eQuiva-
lent of religion to people in COM
munist countries; and in Moscow
the magnificent new University is
called the cathedral Of cOmmu-
nism. Science is perhaps the great
est of the new frontiers on which
we are challenged by communism.
Your counterparts in the Soviet
Union have all studied physics for
six years, chemistry over a period
of five years, biological sciences
for about four years, and astrono-
my during their senior year. In ad-
dition, all Soviet students gradua-
ting from high schools have stud.
led mathematics for ten years
through trigonometry. Altogether,
about 40 per cent of their time
since entering school has been
spent on science and mathematics.
Exact comparisons with our sys-
tenn are hard to make. On a nation
al basis, about one out of ten A
merican high school students will
have a course in chemistry and
about one out Of twenty students
will have course in physics. You
are best able to judge for yourself
how we'll you compere to the stu
dents in the USSR in your know
ledge of science and mathematics
What do the Soviet authorities
expect to achieve through this sys-
tem2
They believe knowledge is pow
er, that the nation with the great
est ability to use the laws of ma
ture will be supreme. 4l
Physics, they say, is the basic
science of the universe. AS our
earth gets more and more crowded
and as our natural resources be
come exhausted, it will be essen
tial for men and women to use the
resources of other planets. This
can only be achieved by exploiting
the laws of physics, and to lesser
degree other natural sciences. The
people best able to control the laws
of natural science will control the
solar system, which will make
them invincible on earth.
Chemistry is essential to space
science, but perhaps most iinpor-
tant in exploiting the natural re-
sources we already possess on this
planet. Chemistry will enable the
factories of the Communist world
to outproduce the factories of the
United States. If this were to hap
pen, 1t would be hard for our in.
dustry to compete with Soviet in
dustry, and the foundation of our
economic and military superiority
would have been destroyed. This
is what they believe in Moscow.
And biology, properly applied tC
meeting the needs of the expanding
population of our earth, can dc
many things. Biological science
can increase our food supply, anG
raise eveyone's standard of living