Page Four
Ward Speaks
FLUORIDATION, BLESSING OR CURSE
By the time that this goes to press, Guilford College will probably
be drinking fluoridated water. There is nothing that we can do about
this, as we do not have any usable springs or wells available at present,
so the question is, should we take alarm, or should we regard this as
a great blessing? My answer to die first question is that there is no
need for alarm just yet unless you happen to be one of the few who
are allergic to fluoride. About the second question, I can only say that
even if it is a blessing to the majority, diere seems to be considerable
opinion that it creates a very serious problem for some people.
1 have myself been opposed to fluoridation for a long time because
I regard it as mass medication without die consent of the patient to be
medicated. Since everybody has to drink water from the municipal
supply, diis amounts to compulsory medication. My opposition to
fluoridation has recently grown, as i have found that there is a great
deal of ignorance upon the subject on the part of many of those who
advocate fluoridation while 1 have found those who oppose fluoridation
appear to know what they are talking about.
The foolishness of the arguments offered by proponents of fluori
dation is in itself enough to make any intelligent person doubt the
soundness of the whole business or even to doubt die sincerity of the
arguer. They compare fluoridation to chlorination. There is no analogy
here. Chlorination is absolutely necessary for the production of potable
water at a reasonable price. Without it we would have unpotable water
flowing from our pipes and have to buy bottled spring water for
drinking. Chlorine is introduced into the water to kill bacteria, and
great effort is made to remove it before the water enters the pipes.
Only a small residue remains, unpleasant to taste, but the price ot
freedom from bacteria. Nor have I ever heard of anybody s health
suffering from chlorine .
Another foolish argument comes when you mention that sodium
fluoride is a systemic protoplasmic poison, which it is well known to
be. They will retort, "Well, even salt (sodium chloride) is a poison."
That is not true in any sense of the word. NaF blocks enzymatic
reactions in small quantities. NaCl in excessive quantities denyclrates,
but despite its alleged poisonousness, the seas teem with life with any-
RICHARD C. WARD
up au argument ior fluoridation, 1 could do much better tliau tnac.
Another cause ior distress and doubt is the ignorance ot those in
high authority who advocate fluoridation. 1 asked our local Healtn
Commissioner whether he had any scientific literature tnat would prove
uiat fluoridation was sate tor tiie general public. He said he liau not.
some profluoridationistic medical doctors 111 UreensDoro also had prom
ised to set me straight on fluoridation by showing me some scientific
literature, it has not been torthcoming. 1 also read a letter from the
American Medical Association stating that A.M.A. "endorses fluori
dation in principle' but which then went on to say that they had no
knowledge of any scientific mvestigations that would prove ffuoridation
sate. Sucli statements did not fielp to develop my faith in the A.M.A.
1 am not so gullible as to develop confidence in an idea whose propo
nents show no sign of having any knowledge of that wliich tliey
advocate.
Another tiling that is unattractive about fluoridation is drat it is
so completely illogical. If you wished to take sodium fluoride to medi
cate yourself, you would not be allowed to do so without a prescription.
Yet the city is allowed to medicate you not only without your doctor's
prescription but also without your consent. The argument seems to L>e
diat you would not know whether you needed fluoride or not, and
you would not know the dosage. I think diat 1 know whether 1 need
fluoride or not better than die city council does, and 1 think that the
correct dosage could be stated on die bottle and that, following
directions 1 could then control my dosage. The dosage is completely
uncontrolled when taken with drinking water, as some persons drink
twenty times as much water and therefore may ingest twenty times
as much fluoride as others. Such would go far beyond the safe limit.
Anybody who has a just cause and a sound argument will not try
to silence the opposition. Freedom of speech and die press are guaran
teed by the U.S. Constitution. Yet a Greensboro dentist who opposed
fluoridation was suspended from the N. C. Dental Association and
was not even allowed to have a hearing before the board to present his
own reasons for being against it. This is not an isolated incident but
has been repeated in various forms throughout the country. Nobody
in the "learned profession" should espouse a cause which so flagrantly
suppresses freedom of inquiry and expression.
It would be very unlikely to find complete unanimity of opinion
in this or any other scientific matter so involved with ramifications, but
the disunity in this matter seems to be sufficient to raise grave doubts
of both the wisdom and the justice of municipal fluoridation. Moreover,
the proponents seem to show very little desire to convince people by
means of any logical argument or valid evidence that they are right.
They seem more interested in silencing the opposition than in speaking
out themselves. They seem convinced that only scientists have a right
to hold opinions in scientific matters, but when the scientists disagree,
when then is' to be the judge. I think that in this case the right to
make the decisions belongs to everybody who will be affected by this
rather dian to a few lawgivers.
A great deal has been printed both for and against fluoridation.
The above-mentioned lack of literature for fluoridation on the part of
the health commissioner, those doctors, and the A.M.A. is due to their
own failure to procure it and is not a sign that it does not exist. I used
a little more initiative and wrote to the U.S. P.H.S. and got so much
profluoridationistic literature that I now have about equal amounts
on both sides.
This literature shows that the opinions are highly contradictory.
thing from about thirty to iorty
parts per thousand ot NaCl. I have
before me a bottle of sodium
fluoride. On its label it says POIS
ON and tnen gives the antidote.
I have before three boxes of sodium
chloride from different companies,
and not one of them mentions
eitner poison or antidote. No need,
uverdose ol salt induces thirst, and
instinct tells the antidote lor that.
II this sort of argument came
trom the layman, it would be bad
enough, but 1 have even seen
chlorination and fluoeulation cited
as arguments tor fluoridation in
publications ot the U. a. Public
rlealth Service. If 1 wanted to put
THE GUILFORDIAN
Broads
Basketball
At the end of the regular season
of play the standing of the six com
peting teams was:
Binford A —Bede Walker 4-1
Binford B—Roe Pierce 4-1
Founders—Mary Claiborne 0-5
Hobbs A —Judy Allen 2-3
Hobbs B —Martha Lou Chilton 4-1
Shore—Roxi Loomis 1-4
The season ended in a three-way
tie and two nights of play-offs were
needed to find the championship
team of the tournament.
First floor Binford (NVVD)
bowed to an inspired third floor.
Hobbs Hall defeated Roe's team on
Tuesday night and won the trophy
for basketball.
Congratulations to all teams for
well-played games and the amount
of interest showed in the intramural
games. Thanks go to L. D. Davis,
VV. A. A. basketball chairman, for a
job well done. The games were well
organized and this, plus the use of
nationally-rated officials from
UNC-G, helped to make the games
run smoothly.
All-Stars
After the champion was found
all-star games were played, one
team representing each dor m.
Founders beat Shore by two points
in the consolation game at 6:00.
Then, at 6:45 the Binford team
played against the Hobbs all-stars
who won the game.
Softball Begins
The practices needed to become
eligible to play in the Softball sea
son are being held this week. Two
practices are needed—each consist
ing of 30-40 minutes. Frazier Field
is being used tor the practices and
games from 3:.'io-4:30 or 5:00 all
days this week. Day hops can sign
up in the gym or just come to the
field. Everyone come on out!
Each side has "scientific" literature,
but each side refutes tne other
side s claims. One side claims that
fluoridation is one ot tiie four
greatest public liealdi measures of
all time, while the other holds that
fluoridation aggravates every form
of ailment from baldness to cancer.
One side cites an experiment with
mice, the other discounts it as in
valid. One cites statistics from two
cities, one fluoridated and the
other not fluoridated, and the other
gets a firm of statisticians to show
the faultiness of their conclusions.
In another case some college stu
dents found fault with some statis
tics. Fluoridationists claim that
antifluoridationists are crackpots,
food-faddists, religious fanatics,
health-cultists, opportunists, luna
tic-fringe, etc., and the antifluori
dationists claim that the fluorida
tionists are a bunch of mass-murd
erers, agents of industrialists, etc.
Some on each side attribute Com
munist affiliation to the other side.
It seems to me that the average
person has the right to make up
his own mind after reading what
is available on both sides in a
matter like this and that he should
then be free either to take fluoride
or not to take it, but not free to
force anybody else to take it, nor
should he have to get a medical
prescription. One should be al
lowed to buy it over the counter
without a prescription and then
decide what dosage to take follow
ing the recommendations on the
bottle. Then you could control
your dosage rather than have it
vary accoding to the amount of
water that you drink. I think that
in that case I would choose not to
tak(> it, as, while the U.S. P.H.S.
has a great deal of literature favor
ing fluoridation, I find the reason
ing in this literature too faulty,
the statements too inconsistent
both with each other and with
known facts, and the arguments so
weak as to be insulting to the
intelligence of the reader. I think
I could give a better defense of
fluoridation than they do if I
wanted to.
The Draft
We have heard much about the
inequities of the draft and the
proposed plans to remedy these
inequities and heaven, or any draft
age young man knows that these
there are aplenty. But we do not
hear of the unfairness of the sys
tem in relation to the possibility
that a man's schooling or career
or family life will be interrupted,
that there is a constant fear that on
the strength of a piece of paper
he can be forced to stop his life in
midstream, perhaps never to con
tinue. The complaints come from
representatives of some certain
highly, disproportionately vocal
segments of the society, the poor
and from representatives of certain
minority groups. It is their conten
tion that elements of their con
stituency are more liable to the
draft than individuals from other
elements and that their young
men supply more than their fair
share to the current manpower
levies to support the Vietnam war.
These groups are well heard by
some of the cheaply bought and
vote hungry politicians that run
our nation. Measures that will
correct this alleged discrimination
are among those to be put in
effect as result of the report of
the President's draft advisory
group. These measures boil down
to an elimination of graduate
school and possibly even college
deferments so as they would say
the sons of the rich formerly
shielded by baing able to afford
to stay in school will take their
place in the ranks along with their
poorer and downtrodden fellow
citizens.
What are the real consequences
of the elimination of educational
draft deferments? In a complex
society such as ours the principal
still is not different from in the
most simple. Each person must
contribute, and his function should
be established so as to coincide
with his abilities. Those who are
blessed with the ability to absorb
and be receptive to higher educa
tion and utilize their knowledge
for the benefit of the society should
do so and those able to learn little
more than how to fire a rifle should
bear the brunt of the responsibility
for rifle firing at those times and
places where the society feels
need be fired. Today with numer
ous grants, loans and scholarships
available it is the rare individual
barred from the ivy halls for want
of capital. It is no longer the lich
who fill the nations colleges and
universities but the able, both rich
and poor, black and white alike.
While the college and graduate
student may feel no remorse that
under the present system he is
temporarily free from the draft,
colleges and universities are not
just draft loopholes as America's
number one chocolate soldier
Lewis B. Hershey seems to feel.
The way students came to be de
ferred in the first place was through
a little piece of legislation called
the National Defense Education
Act passed by our legislators, in
their wisdom coming to believe
that college was America's best
friend. In this they were never
more right. In today's technological
age it is our brains that will keep
us on top, we will require an ever
increasing number of highlv train
ed people, generally trained in col
leges, and specially trained in
graduate schools. We must have
scientists mathematicians, psychol
Quaker Village Barber Shop
Under New Management
RAZOR CUTTING, HAIR STYLING, REGULAR CUTS,
FLAT-TOPS, FULL CROWNS
(Bootblack)
Remember, it pays to look well groomed.
Guilford College Drug Co.
Your Friendly Rexall Drug
April 14, 1967
ogists, economists, doctors and
lawyers, in short, people trained in
every ramification of human en
deavor, and our colleges and uni
versities are the only place from
where these will come. We need
quality people, but in our age we
will need the sheer weight of num
bers as well, and if draft defer
ments encourage students to con
tinue their education the small
benefit to these individuals in a
postponement or even waiver of
military service is far outweighed
by the overwhelming advantage
to our country, in providing our
country with the trained leaders
we so desperately need. It is col
lege graduates and masters, and
Ph.D.s, and not foot soldiers that
will keep us on the top of the
heap of nations and if we follow
the myopic path of our leaders and
permit them to squander the blood
of our best brains in a costly war
of attrition, then just as surely we
will not long be in the big nation
business.
o
SEE AND
HEAR!
Hurry to
THE TALENT
SHOW!
Dana ... Tonight
Come To The
SENIOR
AUCTION
Founders
April 28
Find It and Buy It
Orchestra Concert
(Continued from page 2)
only problem was that there were
fewer than a hundred people in the
audience. The performance lacked
adequate publicity, thus there was
a great waste of talent and money.
I look forward to being a part of a
packed Dana Auditorium at the
next performance of the Guilford
College-Community Symphony Or
chestra.
—RANKIN YVHITTINGTON
Edmonds Friendly
Road Drug Store
Yotir Complete Drug Store
Quaker Village
Shopping Center