The Green caldron - University Library

ife? The Green Caldron
War or Peace: It Depends on You
THREE
Sue Fullerton
Rhetoric 101, Theme 1
WEEKS AGO AN EVENT SURPRISED AND SHOCKED
most citizens of this country ; the Russians launched their satellite,
Sputnik. Before this, we had lulled ourselves into a sense of security
concerning our scientific superiority. We were like the high school student
who is the smartest in his class. He gets good grades without studying, there-
fore he thinks he can learn with no eflfort. Because we had always been first
to have new mechanisms and gadgets and because our scientists had made
some notable discoveries, we thought that only in our country were inventors
ingenious and scientists brilliant. Then came the blow to our national ego
the Russians launched the first man-made satellite.
Furthermore, we are told that our own scientists cannot duplicate the feat
because we have not developed a fuel powerful enough to project a satellite to
a height where it will remain to circle the globe. Does this mean that Russia
is ahead of us in all scientific development? No. Does this indicate that the
Communists are capable of coming into our country and either seizing it or
destroying it? No. Will this lead to World War HI? The answer to this
question lies with each individual in the United States.
Remember the too-smart high school student? He came to college and
found a great many other people who seemed to know just as much or more
than he did. He has begun to wonder, "What if I'm not as smart as I think?
Maybe the guys at home were just dumb." Making top grades now without
studying is impossible ; he has never studied. What will he do ? There are
two possibilities : either he learns to study, works hard, and makes good grades
or he doesn't study, plays around, and goes home after a semester or two.
What will we as a nation do ? Our security in superiority has been upset.
We are not sure that we know as much as everyone else. What will we do?
Again there are two possibilities : Either we can accept defeat or we can rise
to meet the challenge offered us. Either we can admit we are defeated and go
into a state of panic which would necessarily accompany such an admission, or
we can rise to the challenge and encourage our scientists even more in their en-
deavors for superiority of accomplishment.
However, some of our attitudes may have to change. No longer can we
point to our nation with gross conceit saying, "Look, world, we have every-
thing : freedom, more material advantages than any other nation ; more brilliant
minds. Our nation has made more progress in every way than any other."
Now we have begun to wonder ; perhaps that is a good thing. When our friend
was in high school, he could "get by" without studying; therefore he didn't
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