Protecting Our Health Pick an apple, a tomato, a peach-no worms in the harvest. We are familiar with the abundant use of pesticides by farmers, but today's chemists are becoming uneasy. They calculate that there are 45,000 different pesticides, and all of them can be absorbed by the fruit on which they are sprayed. The chemists estimate that every morsel we eat in the future may contain a deadly quota of pesticide. The tragedy* will come slowly but the threat is real. These government chemists do not suggest that we ban pesticides. They are cautious* and do not easily panic. What is needed, they say, are appropriate, budgeted* doses that will not pollute* our food.

The Famous Monster of the lake There seems to be more and more evidence that the enormous* monster in Loch Ness, a solitary lake in Scotland, is more than a vision. Each year there are numerous* glimpses of the monster by visitors and neighborhood people; also recent films, not easy to ignore,* are making even scientists hesitate. The story of frequent visits by a monster once seemed absurd to them, but now they are not so sure. Yet the conflict is far from over. Those who believe the monster exists are still in the minority, and they are constantly competing* for more information to prove that the Loch Ness monster is not a fiction. Even now they are trying to get more and clearer moving pictures of what has become the famous inhabitant* of the lake. Perhaps the question of whether the monster exists or not will be answered in this coming decade.

Weight-watchers Judging from the popularity of books on dieting, one would think an epidemic of obesity is sweeping the nation. Although being fat is not contagious, it is a condition not to be sneered at since it affects one-fourth of all Americans. Without magnifying the problem, professionals concerned with the nation's health, from chiropractors to medical specialists, agree that being overweight is a major obstacle to good health. They point out that people will readily see the need to ventilate their homes for fresh air to get rid of vermin that may cause disease, but they jeopardize their health by eating the wrong foods or the wrong amount of foods. Coincidentally, a recent survey of employment agencies showed that obesity has a negative effect on a person's chances of landing a job. While the job-seeker is asking about salary and pensions, the employer is thinking about the worker's healthand weight is a vital consideration when it comes to injuries, disease, and absenteeism. Some municipal jobs, in fact, do require an applicant to be within normal weight range, and one New York bank insists on an oral understanding that applicants will take off excess weight. As the Wall Street journal put it, "Fat people often find slim pickings in the job market."

A Time for Decision Carl Brown walked wearily from the bus stop, his thoughts preoccupied with the day's events. He had become accustomed to receiving the blame for his colleagues' mistakes. He could remain complacent when less deserving workers were promoted ahead of him. He could even maintain an air of indifference when the young man he had trained now snubbed him. What he could not endure was the ridicule of his fellow employees. His wrath flamed at the thought that his secret had been exposed. The legend of his honesty had died. Carl Brown pondered his next move. Should he resign or take even more drastic measures? His steps led past the wharf where the ships were unloading their cargoes of fruit. He looked into the dark waters and took a deep breath. No, this was not a sin that could be erased. He heaved a sigh and determined to amend his ways. Never again would he sign his ballot "Carl Smith."

A Valuable Discovery The laser is a marvelous device that sends out a slender, concentrated beam of light, a light that surpasses the light at the sun's surface. So vast is the laser beam's power that it has without a doubt the capacity to vaporize* any substance located anywhere on earth. The laser can penetrate steel, pierce a diamond, or make an accurate die for wire so thin that it can be seen only with a microscope.Grateful eye surgeons report that they have used laser beams to repair the retinas in some fortunate* patients by creating tiny scars that joined the retina to the eyeball. Pioneering* medical men are making cautious exploration* into cancer cures with the laser, confident that they will alter* the course of this brutal* disease.

A Home Where the Buffalo Roam Even today in South Dakota a cowboy emerges from behind a jagged rock where he has lingered in ambush waiting for the crafty buffalo to appear. Although not wild-they are raised on vast* ranches-the gallant,* defiant bison need to be hunted with the same vigor cowboys showed a century* ago. For a while, Americans thought the buffalo would perish from the earth; fortunately* the buffalo is far from being such a fragile animal. Now more or less captive, the buffalo, an estimated* 10,000, are raised for profit by ranchers who prosper from the sale of buffalo meat. When did you devour your last morsel* of tasty buffalo burger?

lnhe Frozen Future Doctors are always devising* new cures for diseases that kill people. But suppose you are dying from an incurable illness now. If only you could postpone death until a cure was found! Now some people are trying to do just that. One young man consented to having his body frozen and placed in a massive capsule in order to preserve it until doctors find a cure for his disease. Some peopie have denounced this unique experiment with a torrent of angry words. They resent human attempts to molest the natural order of life and death. There is also a gloomy fear that the world is already overcrowded and that people have to die to make room for those who are about to be born. If the experiment works, unforeseen problems undoubtedly* will arise.

Bible Zoo One of the most popular tales of the Bible depicts the great flood that destroyed every mortal except Noah and his family and the animals on his ark. Should there be a repetition of that disaster, there is one place where all the biblical animals are already gathered. The man to be commended for this novel collection is Professor Aharon Shulov, a zoologist at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel. Professor Shulov appointed himself a committee of one to search out the 130 creatures mentioned in the Old Testament. Among the occupants of this zoo are crocodiles, camels, apes, peacocks, deer, foxes, and sheep, some of whom had to be imported from other lands. They are settled in suitable quarters on a twenty-five acre site in Jerusalem. Visitors to the zoo not only get to view and feed the animals, but they are also treated to quotes from Bible verses that encourage the study of the Good Book and teach morality amidst the waddling of the ducks and the wailing of the wolves. Not surprisingly, the children have the final word at a special corner of the zoo, called the Garden of Eden, where animal cubs roam freely, attracting the attention of hundreds of youngsters who visit daily.

Terror in the Cemetery I like to bet on anything that is exciting, so when my friends tried to tempt me with an offer, I took it. The idea was for me to spend a frigid December night in a cemetery, all alone. in order to win twenty dollars. Little did I realize that they would use dirty tricks to try to frighten me to abandon the cemetery and, therefore, lose my wager . My plan was to recline in front of a large grave, covered by a warm blanket, with a flashlight to help me cut through the dismal darkness. After midnight, I heard a wild shriek. I thought I saw the grave open and a corpse rise out of it. Although I was somewhat numb with fear. I tried to keep my senses. Using good judgment, I knew that no peril could come to me from that sinister figure. When I did not run in terror, my friends, who had decided to conceal themselves behind the nearby tombstones, came out and we all had a good laugh Those spirits that may inhabit a cemetery must have had a good laugh, too.

A New Way to Treat Prisoners The warden of a prison today will readily acknowledge the new trend in prison reform. In an attempt to provide a different brand of justice for society's delinquents, officials now reject the idea that prison should completely deprive the convict of freedom. Thus, in some prisons inmates are allowed to leave the prison grounds to visit their spouses or to pursue their vocation. Even the more unstable convict who may have committed homicide is not penalized as harshly as before. The hope is that if persons emerge from prison less defiant than they do now, society will be the beneficiary.