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Chapter 9. How Do We Listen with Profit?

An advertisement appeared in the classified section of a large metropolitan newspaper, asking that applicants interested in an attractive position with a steamship company report to a downtown office for interviews. At the suggested hour, a large number of people appeared. The job was a good one, and there was considerable rivalry among the applicants; they eyed one another carefully.

Suddenly, one of the applicants got up, opened the door leading from the waiting room, and closed it behind him. No one else moved. After a while, the door opened again; the applicant returned with another man.

"The position has been filled by this gentleman," the second man announced. "We thank you very much for coming to apply."

The other applicants were disappointed. One spoke up sharply. "Aren't you even going to interview the rest of us?"

"In a way we did," said the employer. "As you were sitting here, a Morse Code message was sent into the room saying, 'Anyone understanding this message please open the far door and come in for an interview. This gentleman was the only one who heard and understood the message. Since we need someone who can use the Morse Code, we made our selection in this manner."

Certainly the other applicants felt unhappy. They were disappointed because they had not trained their ears to listen well enough. Therefore, they did not get the job.

You can apply this same story to yourself right now. Have you trained your ears well enough to recognize one make of automobile tire from another by the sound it makes on the highway? To identify twenty birds in your community by their calls? To distinguish types of airplanes by the sound of their engines? To be able to tell a viola from a violin by the sound? To recognize voices of different friends?

The purpose of this chapter will be to assist you in increasing your ability to listen. A large portion of your speech course is spent listening to other students perform. Almost every chapter of this book has suggested listening assignments; here, we wish to approach the subject directly rather than indirectly.

1. When Are We Asked to Listen?

Often, listening determines our speech. The importance of careful listening is demonstrated in the following situations.

We Listen to Directions

If we ask a filling station attendant how to find the nearest mail box, then, after trying to follow the directions, get lost, we tend to blame the filling station attendant for giving us poor directions, rather than confess our own inability to listen well. When you set out to follow directions, do you wish that you had listened more carefully?

Your teacher gives assignments for homework. You are given instructions before writing a test. You are told how to work a particular kind of problem in algebra. How many times have you had to ask your teacher to repeat her instructions?

Most of us fail to listen carefully to oral instructions; we waste much time and effort that could easily be saved.

However, with proper instruction, we can develop a technique for listening to directions.

We Are Expected to Remember Names during Introductions

When we are being introduced to other people, we may be so occupied noticing the other person's appearance we will not hear his name. Recently, upon very short acquaintance, a host had to admit that he did not remember the name of his new acquaintance. He might have avoided such an embarrassing confession if he had known how to listen for names.

Names are important. You want other people to remember your name; it is only fair for you to remember theirs. We can develop a technique for learning and remembering names.

We Must Be Receivers of Conversation

It is one thing to be a good talker, but it is also important to be a good listener. People like to talk to someone who hears what they have to say.

Elizabeth Taylor and Spencer Tracy once appeared in a motion picture entitled Father of the Bride. When the young daughter of the story announced that she wished to marry, her father demanded to interview the young man about his finances. When the interview took place, however, the father spent almost all of the time telling the young man about his own financial successes. The young man listened politely and with enthusiasm.

FOR SOME SPEAKERS, OTHERS HARDLY EXIST.

When the interview was over, the father announced to his wife, "That young man is a financial genius." Actually, he knew next to nothing of the young man's financial situation, but he had been pleased by the way the boy had listened to his story.

A person who must be talking all the time at a party, tea, or similar social gathering, is showing two things: a lack of poise and an inability to interest himself in others. In order to listen well, we must not just sit. We must concern ourselves with the successes and failures of others. We can develop and improve our ability to listen to the experiences of others.

We Listen to Public Speeches

We hear sermons in church. At school we listen to assembly speakers. We hear or watch political campaigners over radio or television. Do we understand them? Are we well enough trained to grasp what they say?

For many years, inattentiveness on the part of the audience was blamed entirely on the speaker. If the speaker were good, we believed he could hold the attention of the audience. If the audience did not pay attention, it was the speaker's fault.

We have realized in recent years that the speech situation places much of the responsibility for listening directly upon the audience. The speaker must do his part, that is true, but effective speaking is a joint obligation of the speaker and the listeners. The speaker's obligation is to give a good speech, which is easy to listen to and well ordered; the listener's responsibility is to be attentive to the speaker. We must "train" our ears to listen to public speeches.

We Listen to the Classroom Teacher

We are given instructions in all walks of life. From the age of five to eighteen, we are taught in school and in church. Medicine, law, teaching, the ministry, engineering, sociology, and other professions requiring a college education, involve four or more additional years of listening to instruction. Technical schools in radar, radio, television, and electronics involve classroom instruction.

Classroom instruction also extends far beyond the formal school. It is a common practice these days for businessmen to return to schools for "refresher" courses. Professional men attend numerous workshops and conferences to "keep up" in their work; the conference is now an established part of the businessman's routine. Many new employees are trained for jobs in a classroom method. Therefore, we need to develop listening skills particularly suited to formal instruction. Studying in school is fun only if you know the rules. One of the rules for study is to listen to lectures. Can you do as the Romans did, and borrow ideas from others to your advantage?

We Listen during the Interview and the Conference

Two or more persons are often called upon to discuss matters of business. It may be an employer interviewing a high school senior seeking a job for the summer, or the high school yearbook staff trying to decide what cover to use, or the debate coach discussing with the team how to meet a certain opponent. During such conferences, one must know how to listen.

A young man once applied for a job that he wanted very much, but he was not accepted. Later on, he was told that he had interrupted his prospective employer too much. He had not been able to listen.

Special listening techniques for the conference, debating, and other speech situations have been discussed in the individual chapters pertaining to these activities.

2. How May We Assist the Listener by Improving Our Speaking?

In Directions

The following rules will help you to give directions that "listen" well.

Do not ask a person to remember more than five steps, but, if possible, limit the steps to three.

"To get to the First Presbyterian Church, go straight ahead six blocks, turn right at the Gulf Oil Station, and then go straight ahead to the next stop light."

Repeat your directions. Recommend further inquiries if you are afraid your explanations will become too complicated.

"Inquire at the stop light for more directions. I'm afraid I'll mix you up if I tell you everything from here."

There is a modern concept of learning which uses as its creed, "We learn through doing." The listener should do some simple act which will help him remember the directions.

"Would you like to repeat those directions back to me to see if you have them straight?"

"Just say, 'Six-right-traffic-light,' and you will have it."

In Introductions

It is not enough just to say, "Mrs. Granger, meet Mrs. Smith," or "John, I'd like you to know Francine." Making an introduction requires a technique all of its own.

During an introduction, say the name of both parties three times, and emphasize the name each time. Tell something of what each party does, where he lives, etc. Make the introduction long enough so that the parties can shake hands, see what the other looks like, and then hear the name you are saying.

It is preferable to present a man to a woman. This is a carryover from the time when a woman could refuse to acknowledge an introduction, if she chose.

"Helen, I'd like you to meet Jimmy Sarnoff. Helen Edwards is one of our cheerleaders, Jimmy. Jimmy goes to Tech High. He plays sax in their dance band."

In Conversation

If you want people to listen to your conversation, attempt to follow the advice given in our previous chapter on conversation. Keep in mind you must be interesting.

Make your stories short and effective. Do not talk about yourself and your family all of the time. Discuss the subjects which interest your friends. Keep up with the times. Read books and magazines, and listen to the radio and television so you know what is going on in the world.

Be specific in your conversation. Avoid such phrases as, "Oh, you know what I mean," or "I know what I mean, but I just can't say it," or "Well, I guess so."

In Public Speeches

If the speech isn't worth being clear, it isn't worth giving. In order to be clear in your speaking, you should number the points of the speech so it will be easy for the audience to listen to and follow.

"I am going to tell you three things about dirigibles. First, that dirigibles are ___; second, that dirigibles are ___; and third, that dirigibles are ___

Now let us take up the first point. Dirigibles are . . ."

Then repeat your three points in the conclusion. This labels the steps of your speech three times so the audience can grasp your ideas.

Be specific about your references, unless there is a reason for avoiding the specific source.

In Lectures

The same rules that apply to how to make public speaking "listenable" also apply to lecturing. But, it is also important that you stay within your time limits. Any good speaker can be a bore if he talks too long.

Use graphs, demonstrations, diagrams, colored slides, pictures, and the like to vary from "just talk". It is said that "variety is the spice of life", and the speaker needs to vary his methods of presentation.

In Interviews and Conferences

The guides to help the listener in interviewing and conferring are similar to those suggested for conversation.

Do not keep the floor too long. If you want to be listened to, you must also be willing to be a good listener. Ask your questions clearly. Do not beat around the bush. If a small group of people is involved, use the principle advocated in the discussion of introductions. Use names of persons frequently when you address members of a group, particularly if members of the group do not know each other very well.

In these ways, we can assist the listener by improving our speaking. Let us now consider ourselves as listeners.

3. How May We Improve Our Listening?

In Directions

A good listener may take even a poor set of directions and achieve his goal. Form the habit of numbering the steps to be taken.

Suppose a high school group wished to hold a dance at the country club. In visiting the manager of the club, the group asked what arrangements should be made. The manager answered: "Of course, you can't come on Saturday night because we're booked then, and Sunday night we're closed. So it will have to be a Friday. You have to have chaperons, three of them. There is a deposit of $25.00 required, non-refundable. We need to know by next week if you intend to come."

The group should be saying to itself: first, only Friday night is open; second, three chaperons; third, $25.00 deposit non-refundable; fourth, need to know next week.

Try to perform some physical action which will help you to remember the directions. Draw a diagram, make gestures with your hands, or actually perform the act as the directions are being given. If someone is showing you how to fix an electric plug or how to run a tape recorder, ask him to let you do the act as he is telling you, so you will accompany the directions with movement.

Concentrate on the message and not on the speaker. Listen to the words, and forget about the details of the person who is giving the directions.

In Introductions

Form the simple habit of listening for the name. Repeat the name two or three times in the conversation immediately following the introduction:

"I'm glad to meet you, Holly. Betty has told me a lot about the Sandersons. You have a brother Wilber, don't you, Holly?"

This will help get the name in your mind.

Associate the name with something or somebody with which you are already familiar. In the above introduction, you might remember that H.S. (for Holly Sanderson) also stands for high school. Of course, if you know Wilber, it would be easier to simply associate Holly with Wilber.

Ask a person to give his name again if you have missed it, or even to spell it out if it is a difficult one.

"I didn't hear your name."
"Wardeau. Howard Wardeau."
"How do you spell the last name?"
"W-A-R-D-E-A-U."
"Wa-r-d-e-a-u. Pronounced War-deau? That's an interesting name. Is it of French origin?"

In Conversation

Listen attentively. Be polite and reserved. The best conversations are relaxed and mutually pleasing. Do not be so intent on saying something yourself that you listen impatiently to what others say.

Develop a variety of interests so that you have knowledge on a variety of subjects. The business and educational world at present may require us to specialize in one field but will not allow us to be ignorant of many others. You will be more interested in and "listen better" to what others have to say, if you have previously had some contact with the subject being discussed. Once we have become aware of something, our interest in it grows rapidly.

Learn to make intelligent and sufficiently enthusiastic replies. A good listener leads the discussion by his comments. Although some persons will rattle on and on, even though the "listener" does not make satisfactory replies, most conversationalists will become discouraged unless the listener is responsive. The stock replies of "Yes", "Indeed", "Is that right?" "I never would have thought of that," and the others may suffice. But, more intelligent comments are better. Make it a point to find out what is of interest to the person with whom you are conversing, or what special topic he would like to discuss. Ask leading questions to elicit this information. Note in the conversation below, that one of the persons continues to encourage the speaker to keep talking by asking questions. Everyone likes to talk; everyone hopes to find an audience interested in listening to the talk. If you wish to be a good conversationalist, learn to listen. Remember the old adage:

"Speech is silver, but silence is golden."
"Did I tell you about our trip to San Francisco?"
"No, you didn't. Tell me about it."
"Well, I went during Christmas vacation. My father had some business there, and I went along with him."
"What route did you take?"
"Going out, the Southern Pacific through San Antonio and El Paso. We stopped in El Paso overnight so we could go into Mexico."
"That must have been fun. I've always wanted to see the Rio Grande."

In Public Speeches

The best practice in learning how to listen to a speech is to attempt to outline the speech while it is being given. This is easily done if the speech is well organised and if the main points are labeled and fixed by the speaker, saying, "Thirdly, we need to discuss. . . ." If the speaker is disorganised and tends to wander from the subject, the outlining will be more difficult.

See if you can repeat to yourself, from time to time, the main points of the speech. Is it chronologically organised? By this we mean, did he give his points in the order in which they took place in the past. For example, if a speaker were discussing the history of debating in this country, his main points, chronologically organised, might be as follows:

POINT ONE: By 1881, intercollegiate debating had begun.

POINT TWO: In 1895, Baker published the first modern text on debate.

POINT THREE: In 1932, O'Neill and McBurney published The Working Principles of Argument.

POINT FOUR: Tournament style debating rose rapidly in the 1930's and 1940's.

POINT FIVE: In 1962, no accurate count of numbers participating is known, but an estimate is 250 colleges and over 1,000 high schools.

Notice that the first point took place in 1881 and the last one in 1962. Thus, the speech is chronologically organised, or arranged according to time.

Is it enumerative organised? By this we mean, is the speech organised so that it could be rearranged without causing the speaker difficulty? Here are the main points that might be used in an enumerative listing of points:

POINT ONE: The student who will not cheat on tests gets a fair picture of his progress in the class.

POINT TWO: The student who will not cheat on tests knows he is developing a good habit.

POINT THREE: The student who will not cheat on tests will force himself to study properly.

Does the speech follow a natural order? That is, does he give his points so that the first one leads to the second, the second to the third, etc.? This speech is logically organised:

POINT ONE: If you wish to be useful to the world, you must be able to express your ideas clearly.

POINT TWO: One of the chief ways you express your ideas is through speech.

POINT THREE: It is necessary to study how to speak, just as it is necessary to learn to write and to read.

POINT FOUR: Students who have studied how to speak are more successful.

In Lectures

Good note-taking is the best way to insure that you have listened correctly in class. Although you may not have a great deal of lecturing in your classes in high school, you will encounter much lecturing in college and in all walks of life. Everyone should develop a sound and effective way of taking down what information other people are giving.

GOOD NOTE-TAKING IS THE BEST WAY TO INSURE THAT YOU HAVE LISTENED CORRECTLY IN CLASS

You may use a type of numbering and lettering or you may devise your own system. The result of the outline, no matter what style is used, should be the same. The note-taker is making a road map of the lecture.

In Interviews and Conferences

Since the procedure for interviewing and conferring is highly varied and informal, it is more difficult to draw up rules for listening. A great deal must be left to the common sense of the listener. Much of what is needed can be accomplished it both parties realize that it is as important to listen as to talk!

Plan to talk only during your share of the time, unless there is a specific reason for varying from this. If there are four people in the conference, do not talk more than one-fourth of the time.

In an interview, do not interrupt the interviewer. If you have come into an office to be interviewed, listen carefully to what is said. Speak when you are asked to speak.

Student Check List 9: HOW WE IMPROVE OUR LISTENING
How would you rate yourself?	Point Value	Your Score
1. Do you make it a point to repeat the other person1s name in the conversation after an introduction?	10
2. When meeting a person for the first time, do you try to associate the person* s name with some other person, thing, or event?	10
3. If you do not hear the person* s name distinctly during an introduction, do you ask the person to repeat or spell his name?	10
4. Do you always try to be a good listener when others are talking?	10
5. Do you avoid interrupting the speaker?	15
6. When being given directions, do you repeat the directions to make sure you have them right?	15
7. Can you recite to yourself the main points of a speech after you have heard it?	20
8. Do you usually take notes when listening to a lecture?	10
TOTAL	100

Summary

It is frequently said that, "Listening cannot be taught". It appears certain that this statement is NOT true, but it also implies a truth which must not be overlooked. Perhaps what is meant is that listening is something which can be learned only if the student really wants to improve his listening habits.

Young people tend to be sure of themselves. Or, if they are not sure of themselves, they are reluctant to admit that school can help make them sure of themselves. It is certainly true that you cannot be taught to listen unless you wish to learn.

Improved listening habits will not only help you in your speech work, but will also enable you to hear all sorts of sounds that will make your life richer and finer. With active, conscious training and effort anyone can improve his listening. "HE WHO HAS EARS, LET HIM HEAR."

Exercises

Listening to Directions

1. Each student should prepare a set of directions explaining one of the topics listed below. Then, each should be asked to read his directions aloud while the other members of the class listen. One or more students should then be asked to repeat the directions. The student who originally prepared the directions should be graded, not only on his own performance, but also on the ability of the class to repeat the directions.

The following areas for directions are suggested:

How to Get from One City to Another

How to Get from One Place to Another in Another Town

How to Prepare a Food Dish

How to Fix Something on an Automobile

How to Repair a Simple Object

2. The instructor will give the class one or more sets of directions. The class shall do one or more of the following to help remember the directions:

a. Number the steps of the directions, and be able to say not only how many steps the directions had but also what those steps were.

b. Take some physical action, with hands, while the directions are being given, to help remember the directions.

3. The instructor, or one of the members of the class, will attempt to show the class how to repair a single electric plug. Each member of the class will be equipped with a small screwdriver, a short piece of electric cord, and a male plug. As the directions are being given, the class will perform the instructions. Members of the class will be encouraged to ask questions while the directions are being given.

Remembering Names during Introductions

1. Students in the class will be divided into pairs. Each pair will prepare to introduce one member of the pair to other members of the class. Fictitious names and occupations should be used.

During the class period, each pair will be asked to come to the front of the room. Then the instructor will call on a member of the class who will come forward to be introduced to one member of the pair. The one being introduced will respond to the introduction, repeating the name of the person to whom he has been introduced at least once.

2. Each member of the class will introduce another member of the class to the group. Fictitious names should be used. The group will simply concentrate on grasping the names, rather than watching the faces.

3. Each member of the class will introduce to the group another member of the class. A third member of the class will be asked to respond to the introduction. Fictitious names will be used. The third member responding will in each instance ask for the name to be spelled out and pronounced again.

Listening to Public Speeches

1. Students should submit an outline of a speech they have listened to outside of class. Suggested sources for speeches are: a sermon in church, a speech given by a candidate for office, a television speech by the President or another important per son, a speech at the high school assembly program, or a speech on radio.

2. The following speeches will be read to the class. Make a detailed outline of each speech, illustrating plainly whether chronological, enumerative, or logical organization has been used.

1. "Highway Homicide", Frank E. Denholm, South Dakota State College

Four years and seventy-one days ago I began the duties of Sheriff of Day County, in and for the State of South Dakota. During the previous fall, I had been elected by the people to an office that carries more responsibility than any other in the courthouse family. Very shortly, I was to learn as sheriff that I was to render a great diversity of service-more than any other county official. I was to be a conservator of peace; an arresting officer of the Court who must subpoena jurors and witnesses; I must levy attachments; I must eject tenants; I must collect taxes; and at all times I must protect the rich, the injured, the troubled, and the poor. Yes, I was sworn to uphold and enforce all the laws of the State. And I knew that traffic laws were no exception. In fact, most of my contacts with the people grew out of traffic accidents or violations.

On the morning of the third day of my youthful official administration I strolled down the cell corridor of our county jail. I chatted briefly with the tenants. Seven of the eleven occupied cells housed local men-the majority of the prisoners were serving time for our most popular crime, "driving and operating a motor vehicle on the public highway while under the influence of intoxicating liquor." During my administration, no other violation confined more men in the county jail than, "driving while drunk." The evening of that same day I was to receive my inaugural initiation. About 5:45 p.m., the telephone on my desk jangled. "Hello, is this the Sheriff? Come to Waubay at once. Passenger train has just hit a car. Occupants killed." Nine minutes later Deputy Sheriff L. V. Knott and I were at the scene of the accident. An ambulance and doctors were on hand, too, because of the modern convenience, the two-way police radio system. Frankly, never before and never since for that matter, have I seen an automobile more demolished. Parts were strewn 350 feet along the railroad right-of-way. The steam of the locomotive swept by the brisk northwest wind blurred from our view the mangled bodies of the victims. There wasn't much left of the first victim. My deputy picked up a hand and a portion of an arm. The face and head were nothing but a pulp-like material covered with globs of congealed blood. The bowels were exposed. It didn't take an M.D. to conclude that little could be done for this person. As life was still present in the second body, we rolled it onto a blanket and carried it to the ambulance. For six weeks this young man lay unconscious at the hospital-grasping for life. At the scene we pieced together ragged evidence. Identification was almost impossible. Among a multitude of things found in the debris were several empties and three full cans of beer. The out-of-state license on the automobile was misleading. The fingerprints I had taken from the mangled hands at the morgue were not too clear. Yet, twenty-four hours later identity had been established. The community was shocked to learn that the victims were two local boys returning home from a job near Sioux City, Iowa. The survivor later verified our piecemeal story with the comment, "We had been lunching and drinking on our way home-Stan saw the train but we thought we could beat it."

In June, 1951, I drove into Minneapolis to take custody of a felon extradited by the courts of South Dakota. It was a comfortable, sunny, summer afternoon. The trip was almost half over. I was following a freight truck down 26th street. Traffic was moving at a normal rate as we approached an intersection. I saw the light change from green to yellow, and just then a vehicle sped past me on the left side. The truck had stopped, and I was preparing to do so. Apparently the driver of the truck had beckoned the waiting pedestrians to proceed across the street. Those pedestrians didn't realize that death was lurking beyond the parked truck. The driver who intended to beat the light never made it, for just as his car hit the intersection, his right front fender wrenched seven-year-old Judy from her mother's grasp and crushed her beneath the chassis of the sliding vehicle. I was the one who lifted her gently from beneath the death-trap car. I looked at her pale face and trembling blue lips, the warm blood from her little body penetrated my clothing and seemed to burn my flesh. We made Judy as comfortable as possible on blankets until the ambulance arrived. A crowd gathered quickly; police officers, newspaper men, and cameramen. The officers made a routine check. Questioned some witnesses and obtained addresses from others. The young speeder was taken to the station for further investigation. His observation, "I could not seethe truck blocked my vision"-didn't seem at all significant since Judy was dead.

Ladies and gentlemen, the illustrations that I have submitted to you are not figments of the imagination. I know that any peace officer could duplicate these without too much difficulty. In fact, I have chosen not to divulge some of the more gory accidents. Annual statistics of the National Safety Council indicate that you seem to be intent upon destroying yourselves. Last year you drove 55 million motor vehicles more than 540 billion miles in killing and injuring 1,536,500 people. Ten million of you were involved in highway accidents. I imagine that this figure should actually be 14 or 15 million, because only 10 million accidents were reported to officers. This means 27,400 accidents per day, 1,140 accidents per hour, one accident every three seconds. Yes, one every three seconds; that means in the light of day or in the darkness of night we can hear the continuous humdrum of screeching brakes, shattered glass, crumbled steel, screaming children, hysterical mothers, crying and cursing men- and then-sirens, officers, ambulances, observation-doorbells, the next of kin. Every three seconds, over and over again and again.

Ladies and gentlemen, as an experienced officer I am convinced that you as motorists are not too anxious to commit a personal act which would cut down the number of accidents and deaths. I believe that you have amply demonstrated that, for you have had the information, the knowledge, and the facts for years and years. Instead of lessening the number of accidents, however, each year finds you working feverishly to increase the number. Last December 15th, a national approach, in the form of Safe Driving Day (S. D. Day), revealed that the nation still killed 66 people in traffic accidents. It appears that you still intend to pass on hills, that you intend to drive fast when you should drive slowly, that you intend to drive slowly when you should drive faster, that you intend to take the chance at the intersection, or to indulge in that "one for the road" just before you start home.

Since as a motorist you do not intend to do anything about this growing problem, I am going to ask you as a citizen to accede to a number of recommended reforms that will enhance your chances of staying alive. Remember now I have been a peace officer, so I can use myself as a horrible example. When I was elected Sheriff of Day County, I defeated a man who had had sixteen years of experience in law enforcement. I had had none. My friends:

Recommendation number one.

Let us establish a universal merit system with stipulated qualifications, to include all peace officers. A merit system that will provide incentive for the best qualified men-job security, graduated pay scale, death and retirement benefits. Then and only then may we have the opportunity to rid our law enforcement agencies and courts of political trickery and petty politics.

Recommendation number two.

Everyone charged and found guilty of "driving while drunk" must serve at least a ten-day sentence-five days in jail and five days in a policeman's uniform. I am convinced that there would be fewer second offenses for such charges if the offenders were forced to accompany any officer on just one death message to the next of kin.

Recommendation number three.

We should have a universal compulsory physical and psychological examination for anyone found guilty of having committed an act of personal or property damage, and such a person should be denied the right to drive a motor vehicle until he meets the requirements of such a test. This examination, on a state level, should be established by a competent board of medical and psychiatric experts, and must be administered by a court of record and not by a Justice of the Peace.

Ladies and gentlemen, I have only three recommendations. Personally I feel if any one, two, or all three of these recommendations could be put into practice, the problem would be alleviated. At the present moment you are still alive. The next time you drive through a city that proudly exhibits a road marker that indicates "Forty thousand friendly inhabitants welcome you" remember that each year one such person is scattered and brutally killed on the public highways of America. While you are alive, why don't you start doing something in your community? Fundamentally you are the only one who can remedy the situation, because you are the one who may become a statistic. I want you to join and work with your local council for Safety Education. If there isn't one in your community, I want you to be the initial organizer. This problem cannot depend upon letters to the editor or letters to your Congressman. It can be solved only by individual, personal action.

2. "Mingled Blood", Ralph Zimmerman, Wisconsin State College

I am a hemophiliac. To many of you, that word signifies little or nothing. A few may pause a moment and then remember that it has something to do with bleeding. Probably none of you can appreciate the gigantic impact of what those words mean to me.

What is this thing called hemophilia? Webster defines it as, "a tendency, usually hereditary, to profuse bleeding even from slight wounds." Dr. Armand J. Quick, Professor of Biochemistry at Marquette University and recognized world authority on this topic, defines it as "a prothrombin consumption time of 8 to 13 minutes." Normal time is 15 seconds. Now do you know what hemophilia is?

Hemophilia has had significant influence on the pages of history. Victoria, the queen of an empire on which the sun never set, was a transmitter of this dread ailment. Through her daughter, Alice, it was passed to the Russian royal family and Czarevitch Alexis, heir apparent to the throne of Nicholas II. Alexis, the hemophilic heir apparent, was so crippled by his ailment that the Bolshevik revolters had to carry him bodily to the cellar to execute him. And through Victoria's daughter, Beatrice, it was carried to the sons of the Spanish monarch, Alfonso XIII. While this good queen ruled her empire with an iron hand and unknowingly transmitted this mysterious affliction, my forebears, the peasants of southern Germany, worked their fields, gave birth to their children, and buried their dead sons. Hemophilia shows no respect for class lines. It cares not whether your blood be red or blue.

For hemophilia is a hereditary disease. It afflicts only males, but paradoxically is transmitted only by females. The sons of a victim are not hemophiliacs, and do not pass it on. However, half of the daughters are transmitters. Of the transmitter daughter's children, half of the girls are transmitters like their mother, and half of the sons are hemophiliacs. Thus the net spreads out and on. Theoretically, it follows strict Mendelian principles. But because it has a recessive characteristic, it may lie dormant for generation after generation. As far back as my ancestral line can be traced, there is no evidence of hemophilia until my older brother Herbert and me. The same is true of 50 percent of America's 16,000 bleeders.

And there are many of us. Medical authorities estimate that there are some 16,000 hemophiliacs of all types in the United States. Clinically we divide into three groups: classic hemophilia AHG, and two types of pseudo hemophilia, PTC and PTA. I am a classic hemophiliac-the real McCoy.

What does it really mean to be a hemophiliac? The first indication comes in early childhood when a small scratch may bleed for hours. By the time the hemophiliac reaches school age, he begins to suffer from internal bleeding into muscles, joints, the stomach, the kidneys. This latter type is far more serious, for external wounds can usually be stopped in minutes with artificial tropic thromboplastin or a pressure bandage. But internal bleeding can be checked only by changes in the blood by means of transfusion or serum injections. If internal bleeding into a muscle or joint goes unchecked repeatedly, muscle contraction and bone deformity inevitably result. My crooked left arm, the built-up heel on my right shoe, and the full length brace on my left leg offer mute but undeniable testimony to that fact. Vocal evidence you hear; weak tongue muscles are likely to produce defective L and R sounds.

Childhood and early adolescence are the danger periods of a hemophiliac's life. As recently as November, 1950, the Science Digest reported that 85 percent of all hemophiliacs die during that period. While the figure is exaggerated, it tends to indicate this salient point: If society can keep a hemophiliac alive until after adolescence, society has saved a member. During those years, society is given a responsibility it too often refuses to accept.

You might ask-But what can I do? What do you expect of me? The answer lies in the title of this oration: mingled blood. For all that boy needs is blood, blood, and more blood. Blood for transfusions, blood for fresh frozen plasma, blood for serum fractions. Not Red Cross Bank Blood, for stored blood loses its clot-producing factors. But fresh blood directly from you to him in a matter of hours. Your blood, dark and thick, rich with all the complex protein fractions that make for coagulation-mingled with the thin, weak, and deficient liquid that flows in his veins. Blood directly from you to the medical researcher for transformation into fresh frozen plasma or anti-hemophilic serum. During those years, his very life is flowing in your veins. No synthetic substitute has been found-only fresh blood and its derivatives.

Because medical science had not advanced far enough, and fresh blood not given often enough, my memories of childhood and adolescence are memories of pain and heartbreak. I remember missing school for weeks and months at a stretch-of being very proud because I attended school once for four whole weeks without missing a single day. I remember the three long years when I couldn't even walk because repeated hemorrhages had twisted my ankles and knees to pretzel-like forms. I remember being pulled to school in a wagon while other boys rode their bikes, and being pushed to my table. I remember sitting in the dark, empty classroom by myself during recess while the others went out in the sun to run and to play. And I remember the first terrible day at the big high school when I came on crutches and built-up shoes carrying my books in a sack around my neck.

But what I remember most of all is the pain. Medical authorities agree that a hemophilic joint hemorrhage is one of the most excruciating pains known to mankind. To concentrate a large amount of blood into a small compact area causes a pressure that words can never hope to describe. And how well I remember the endless pounding, squeezing pain. When you seemingly drown in your own perspiration, when your teeth ache from incessant clenching, when your tongue floats in your mouth and bombs explode back of your eyeballs; when darkness and light fuse into one hue of gray; when day becomes night and night becomes day-time stands still-and all that matters is that ugly pain. The scars of pain are not easily erased.

Once a hemophiliac successfully passes through that dangerous period, his need for blood steadily decreases and his health improves. The nightmare of youth is gradually hidden behind a protective curtain of objectivity that is seldom raised. In contrast to my childhood days, I can look back on more than three years of college with joy and a sense of achievement. I've had some good breaks. I've been in debate and forensics for four years and had a variety of satisfying experiences. I've been lucky in politics. My constituents, the student body at our college, elected me President of Student Government. Like so many other American youths, I've worked my way through college as a clerk in a hardware store. On warm weekends, while not a Ben Hogan at golf, I have shot an 82. And back home, a girl wears my wedding band.

For today, except for periodic transfusions, my life is as normal as anyone else's and my aims and ambitions are the same as anyone else's. But now, a different type of social relationship needs to be found. Because a hemophiliac is so totally dependent on society during his early years and because his very existence is sometimes then precarious, society now tends to lag in recognizing the change. It sometimes fails to realize that this hemophiliac's life is no longer in serious question and that now his right to aspire to any new height should not be frowned on by a society still vividly remembering the past. Now, he seeks neither pity nor privilege. He wishes to be regarded not as a hemophiliac but rather a human being to be evaluated like any human being.

I cannot change that part of my life which is past. I cannot change my hemophilia. Therefore, I must ask you to help those hemophiliacs that need help. For I remember too well my older brother, Herbert, so shattered in adolescence by hemophilia, that his tombstone reads like a blessing: "May 10, 1927-April 6, 1950, Thy Will Be Done." And I ask you to help hemophiliacs because one day my grandson may need your blood. But I also must ask you to recognize a hemophiliac for what he is today; to realize that past is prologue, that weakness sometimes begets strength; that man sometimes conquers. And so I pray:

"God give me the courage to accept the things that I cannot change; the power to change the things which I can; and the wisdom always to know the difference between the two."

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