by James O. Henry Chairman, History Department, Biola College
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being sent to 1,500 public, private and parochial schools. In the first eight months of the campaign, more than 10,000 filmstrips on the subject have been distributed throughout the country. The program involves a siz able portion of the Cancer Society’s $113,000 budget for educational ac tivities, plus outlays of local cancer committees. It is clearly designed to offset efforts by cigarette makers to sell their products to young persons. Schools in many parts of the country are cooperating in bringing this ma terial to the attention of students, according to the Society. Often this is done through lectures given by the science teachers with the aid of the filmstrip. The kits for distribution contain batches of material earmark ed for students, teachers and admin istrators, cancer is based largely on statistical studies that have been chal lenged by tobacco manufacturers and by some investigators. A new method of dating the age of the past civilizations based on heat ing their rocks and pottery is now available to help the historian and archaeologist. Thermoluminescence, caused by radioactivity in all sorts of materials and displayed when they are heated, is the basis of the new method. Announced to the American Association for the advancement of Science in Chicago recently, by Dr. George C. Kennedy and Dr. Leon Knopff of the University of Califor nia Institute of Geophysics at Los Angeles, the method is extremely simple and speedy. The material, usually pottery or lava, is heated to below the point where it gives off light. This releases thermolumine scence, which is caused by electrons being freed from the solids in which they have been trapped for years. According to the theory, all materials contain traces of radioactive ele ments. Over the years this radioactiv ity decays, giving off alpha and beta particles that trap electrons in solid crystals. The older the material, the more electrons are trapped. When the material is heated up to about 350 degrees Centigrade or less, the elec trons are given back and create a mild light that can be captured by a photomultiplier tube. The more light, the older, the material is. Antiquity Traced by Heating Rocks
Soviet1 Russia to Start Inventory of its Resources
(continued from page 7) during the past nineteen hundred years, instead of this being an en couraging sign, it is, instead, a most alarming sign. And instead of its be ing evidence of a growing church, it could indicate a spiritually-decadent church. One of the greatest periods of popularity of the church occurred at the time of Constantine when Chris tianity was made the state religion. The church grew numerically to an amazing degree; it grew wealthy to an amazing degree; and it grew wicked to a tragic degree. Indeed, historians tell us that one of the major contributing factors to the Dark Ages was the decline of spirit uality in the church of that era and its becoming identified with the ini quitous conditions that then prevailed in the world. Today many Christians believe that the spiritual conditions in the United States and which are indeed reflected throughout the free world, are among those signs which point to the soon return of our Lord Jesus Christ. We sincerely hope and pray that such is the case. If not, it could very well be that unless there is a very definite return to a “ better knowledge of the catechism, Protestant theology, Prot estant principles and the content of the Bible” , America and the entire world will be entering a new period of “ dark ages” when the true “ Light of the World” will be almost snuffed out. Oh yes, men will have a great religious consciousness, but the life and vitality thereof will be complete ly gone and the doctrines which are held will be nothing more than a “ dessicated web of juiceless categor ies.” May God help the Protestant church to return to Him! *Dr. Edward L. R. Elson "Christianity Today/' June 5, 1961
In a move regarded as being of the broadest significance, the Soviet Gov ernment has ordered the first basic inventory of all national industrial resources in thirty-four years. The inventory will be carried out on the widest possible scale. It will include not only an enumeration of every in dustrial facility, tool and supply in the country, but it will also report these in terms of price and value. The only previous inventory of national scope in Russia was carried out in October, 1925. This placed in the hands of the Soviet Government basic economic data. The new move to as sess the value and capability of the Soviet industrial plant has in the opinion of leading economists an even greater significance. The move comes at a time when Soviet economists are deeply preoccupied with one question of utilizing several radically new mathematical economic tools, which employ new largescale electronic computers. Chinese Messes Feed 400,000,000 Four hundred million rural dwell ers in Communist China now eat in community mess halls, Vice Premier Tan Chen-lin told the National Peo ple’s Congress in Peiping recently. Mr. Tan said the vast network of community dining rooms now totaled 3,900,000 units and accommodated 73 per cent of the rural population. The latest figures give Communist China’s population as about 670,000,000. The dining rooms operate as part of the system of communes, the basic social units for collective living in Commu nist China. The entire rural popula tion of Communist China was incor porated into communes nearly two years ago and the system, which socializes every phase of life, is now being organized in the cities. Teenagers Warned on Smoking The American Cancer Society is seeking, on a nation-wide scale to woo teenagers away from smoking. By working through the schools and through youth groups such as the Boy Scouts, the Society hopes to per suade a large proportion of the na tion’s young people that smoking may lead to lung cancer. In Manhattan and the Bronx alone special kits are
S. H. SUTH ERLAND , President The Bible Institute of Los Angeles, Inc.
Send to Prayer Time, The King’s Business maga zine, 558 So. Hope, Los Angeles 17, California.
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THE KING'S BUSINESS
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