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ful appearance. This will seat around 17,000 and is where they will hold basketball games, gymnastics, and boxing, among others.

The equestrian events, which usually are held miles from the host city, in Rome, will be held virtually in its center. They have a tremendous park there and have constructed the jumps and obstacles right in this park where hundreds of thousands of people will be able to see them.

The Olympic Village, where there are to be housed some 7,000 athletes from 84 countries (the number which have entered the games to date), is a model of efficiency. Here they have erected beautiful permanent buildings which are commodious, and there are 10 different dining rooms in among the buildings. The nations will be grouped so that those who are accustomed to certain types of food can have exactly what they wish and, if they so desire, they can bring their own chefs. Here the athletes will have their own post office, their own world bank where they can change their money into Italian lire, shops where they can purchase almost anything, and a large hall where they can be entertained with movies, dancing, and hold get-togethers of many kinds.

The question may come to your mind how the nation of Italy and the city of Rome can afford such expensive and elaborate preparations for the XVII Olympiad. In contrast to the methods of raising money for Olympic activities that we pursue in the United States, where our contributions come from thousands of sport-loving fans who want to support this worthy cause, and from gate receipts from the tryouts, in Italy the National Olympic Committee receives a percentage from the football lottery, which is a legitimate enterprise in that country. This amounts to several million dollars a year, and from these receipts they are able to build these magnificent structures and outdo anything that has ever been done in promoting a set of Olympic games. This is a very easy and feasible way; but the American Olympic Committee has strongly felt that the Olympic effort should be promoted by friends and sport lovers who are willing to send in their contributions to us, rather than have our team subsidized by a bill being put through Congress. We have appreciated the magnificent support that has been given us so that the task of raising roughly $1,500,000 for the winter games in Squaw Valley and the games in Rome is not an insurmountable one.

The old adage that "all roads lead to Rome" will certainly be true this summer when the fine young representatives of 84 countries will go to that magnificent city to live together, practice together and enter contest where regardless of size of nation, race, creed, or color, all will have equal opportunity in competition. It is my honest and sincere feeling that such international contests where the best representatives from countries all over the world have an opportunity to get to know each other, to make friends, and learn to respect each other will do more to perpetuate international peace than any other single plan that could possibly be conceived.

Italy is to be congratulated on the most magnificent facilities that any Olympiad has ever seen, and with the tremendous worldwide interest in athletics the XVII Olympic games cannot fail to be one of the greatest athletic spectacles of all time.

THE LENS AND I

(By Ronald Reagan, Pacific Palisades, Calif.)

For most of my life I have experienced the inconveniences of imperfect vision. Like so many people with visual problems, I always had mixed reactions to wearing corrective glasses. As an active participant in several varsity sports in high school and in college, I was always somewhat handicapped with the impractical aspects that glasses presented; yet I was constantly grateful for the perfect vision that was only possible through the corrective glasses I had to wear. When I began my motion picture career, I found this same problem was very much with me. Obviously, I would be very much out of character as the adventurous Western hero-with a pair of glasses perched neatly on my nose beneath a 10-gallon hat. But on the other hand, taking off across country on a fast horse because the script said "they went that-away," became a very hazardous undertaking when even the ground was a blur to my nearsighted eyes. Then came the "miracle" that answered the problem of the lens and I contact lenses. And I mean the original contact lenses. My wearing time then was only a couple of hours; but it was enough to allow for careful rationing of my

wearing periods to see me through action scenes and even personal appearances. I might add that previously during my personal appearances, the audience could see me but I had never seen the audience.

Now the true miracle of contact lenses is complete for me. The lens and I are the best of friends. I wear my lenses constantly (and comfortably) from wake-up time to lights out. Even my closest friends have forgotten that I ever wore glasses-and what is even more important, it seems that I have forgot

ten too.

If I have anything to say, it is to all parents everywhere: As soon as your child is old enough to have his eyes examined, have it done; if he needs to wear glasses, perhaps he can also wear contact lenses and enjoy the freedom these tiny and comfortable aids to good vision have given me.

GOOD VISION IS VITAL IN BASEBALL

(By Bill Veeck, Chicago White Sox, American League Champions)

It would be difficult to overestimate the importance of good vision in the game of baseball. Without good vision, one just wouldn't be able to meet the rigid standards that are necessary to maintain in order to keep up with the keen competition that exists in baseball today.

While good eyesight is important in other athletic activities such as football, basketball and track and field-it is even more essential in baseball. This is due to two major factors; namely, the size of the ball and its tremendous speed in flight, whether it be the pitcher's delivery to homeplate or the ball coming off the bat of the hitter.

There have been many examples of outstanding stars in football and basketball who have succeeded although they were not blessed with good vision. Such is not the case in baseball.

Baseball officials, naturally, are very much aware of the tremendous importance of good vision among their athletes. As a result, clubs periodically require that their players undergo eye tests in order to make sure that their vision is just as good as possible. If any defects are discovered, corrective measures are employed, if possible. In some cases, when necessary, glasses are prescribed in order to aid the player as much as possible.

Batting and fielding are two of the vital elements in baseball. Good vision is most essential to successful application of each of these skills.

Timing is all-important to the good hitter. Good eyesight aids in proper timing and thus assists the hitter to become more proficient with the bat. When the pitcher delivers the ball toward homeplate, it may approach the batter at great speed; it may curve in any of several directions; or the speed may vary with different pitches. It is very easy to understand why good vision is so essential to the batter when he is faced with the task of meeting such pitches squarely.

The defensive phase of baseball is very important also. A player must have good eyesight to "catch the ball off the bat" and thus "get the jump" on the ball in his efforts to field it. This "getting the jump on the ball" is the prime factor in the success of our great defensive infielders and outfielders.

Take centerfielder Jim Landis of the White Sox, for instance. When the hitter connects with a long drive to the outfield, he is off with the "crack of the bat" to make the catch. Keen eyesight, coupled with his great speed and natural instincts make him one of the great outfielders in baseball today.

We might consider the importance of good vision in another way, too. It certainly takes "good vision" on the part of the men who operate the baseball clubs to maintain the game on a high plane. It also takes "good vision" to build a ball club into a pennant contender.

That, of course, is considering vision in another light. But it is important in baseball, as in all other activities.

I can't help but think how important a factor good vision was in the 1959 World Series, particularly in the games our Chicago White Sox played in the Los Angeles Coliseum. With a tremendous mass of white shirts forming a most difficult background for both hitters and fielders, the two teams played very well considering this visual problem. Good vision was needed, as never before, in the three World Series games played in Los Angeles.

Yes, good vision is indeed vital to a baseball player, a baseball club, and to the wonderful fans who watch America's favorite pastime.

RX FOR PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL: GOOD VISION

(By Dr. Bill McColl, Chicago Bears)

The importance of good vision is dramatically demonstrated throughout the entire field of competitive athletics. In fact, the formula for success in almost every competitive sport is: "Keep your eye on the ball." You'll find this prescription applies as much to the devoted father and his 6-year old son playing a game of "pitch and catch" as it does to a golf professional instructing an octogenarian in swinging a golf club. The fundamental principle of sharp eyesight-keeping an eye on the ball-holds true in so many sports because a ballor some similar object-is the focal point,

It requires concentration to keep an eye on the ball-and the quality and degree of concentration, combined with natural physical ability, experience and training, determines the degree of success an athlete will attain. Paramount to concentration, however, is accurate perception-clear, sharp vision-something that is taken for granted by everyone except those who do not possess it.

Not every athlete is blessed with the 20/20 or 20/10 visual acuity possessed by such great sports personalities as Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox. These days, however, athletes with visual handicaps, such as I have, even as low as 20/200 uncorrected, may enjoy the advantages of clear, normal vision through corrective lenses-and especially contact lenses.

In the vigorous and rigorous sport of professional football, no player is more dependent on good, sharp vision than a pass receiver-usually the pass-receiving end. This particular athlete's value to his team depends mostly on his ability to catch the forward passes-usually under the most difficult of circumstances. This is a feat that requires the utmost in good vision, perception, and concentration. In no other phase of professional football is it more important to "keep your eye on the ball." It might be interesting to note that the top pass-receiving end in professional football during the 1958 season was Ray Berry of the world champion Baltimore Colts-and Berry wears contact lenses on the playing field and off the field. While the pass-receiving end requires the ultimate in good vision, it is also a major requirement of the player (usually the quarterback) throwing the forward pass. One of the commonly popular phrases used by sports writers reporting the passing abilities of a good quarterback like Johnny Unitas of the Baltimore Colts is that he can "thread a needle" with a forward pass. The use of this phraseology implies extraordinary eyesight that allows a passer to put the ball accurately in the hands of a receiver far down the field. And that takes sharp visual perception, plus skill in timing the forward speed of the ball with the receiver's running speed.

Again, you often read in the sports pages another expression pertaining to visual skills-"peripheral vision"-a phrase usually applied to a good broken field runner. It was the great All-American of two decades ago, Tom Harmon, of Michigan, who used his peripheral vision to great advantage on the football gridiron. There were those who claimed Harmon had "eyes in the back of his head," but in reality Harmon had the exceptional peripheral vision that allowed him to see a tackler coming up from the side while his eyes looked straight ahead. Thus, Harmon (and many other great runners) proved time and again that clear, sharp vision is the greatest asset to success in football.

My own decision to wear contact lenses was inspired by my inability to see the not-too-distant scoreboard during night exhibition games. To me this was a very serious deficiency because all of the Bear exhibition games were staged at night. While it was not always necessary to wear my contact lenses during the day games, I soon found that I usually had a better day when I wore my contact lenses during daytime contests. That was about 5 years ago and I have been wearing them ever since.

Today's technological advancements in the design and development of contact lenses make it possible for me to wear contacts all through the day and evening. allowing me to see more efficiently and to perform better. When I'm not playing ball, I am busy as a doctor, and it is during surgery that I find contact lenses demonstrate most dramatically the importance of good vision.

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT CONTACT LENSES

How good are contact lenses-and for what purposes are they best? Who can wear them? How long can they be worn? Can children wear them comfortably? If you are one of the estimated 4 million people wearing these aspirin tablets size lenses, you know the answers already. Almost anyone with a difficult seeing problem can wear them, and wear them nearly all day and night. People-including very small children-who are nearsighted can find clear vision and comfort in contact lenses. Older persons with very low vision will find contacts can give them workable sight. Astigmatism, a common vision distortion, can be easily corrected. Cataract patients are finding that vision can be restored by contact lenses.

While most people want contacts for appearance or vanity, many wear them for their functional value. Contact lenses don't steam up or collect frost on cold mornings-even in extremely low temperatures; they offer complete freedom of sight, with no frame edges and offer a 15 percent wider field of vision; they don't streak in the rain; they are very fine for most sports activities and outdoors events; they offer actors and others who appear in public the freedom of movement with perfect vision.

The American Optometric Association warns, however, that a professional examination and professional fitting of these tiny lenses is absolutely essential to patient satisfaction. After all, if you pay from $150 to $300 for your contact lens service, you should get only the best. The AOA notes that there are all kinds of contact lens fitters, from poorly trained to ultraprofessional. Most are ethical, but some are not. You are advised to consult your family optometrist first. You may not be able to wear them at all. There is a rather trying period of adapting to contacts, and you must be very patient-sometimes requiring two or more fittings and adjustments.

Both optometrists and ophthalmologists warn against contact lens fitters who advertise their business-because it is a business with such people. The code of ethics does not allow reputable optometrists and ophthalmologists to advertise. Some advertisers will promise perfect fittings for as low as $50; beware of any low price offerings because there is little chance that you will get the service necessary for complete satisfaction.

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(By Mark W. Peters, vice president, Nixon Nitration Works) "Foure thinges hurt the sight of al menne, that is, Teares, smoke, wynde, and the woorst of al, to see his friend unluckie, and his enimies happy.” So goes a quotation four centuries old.

I haven't any statistics to prove it, but in this sixth decade of our century, when we add our hours over a desk, or whatever our tools of labor, to the hours we sit behind a steering wheel to the hours we relax-in front of a television screen, I feel sure that never before has the sight of "al menne" been more likely to be hurt.

Today industry alone creates eye hazards far greater than tears, smoke, and wind. As we all know, in manufacturing jobs throughout the country safety gear is supplied and safety programs are operating, bolstered constantly by several wonderful nonprofit organizations which remind us in many vivid ways to safeguard our precious sight.

Yet, in spite of research, education, and a variety of scientific skills all aiding and preserving vision from childhood onward, there still remains industry with its estimated 300,000 eye accidents occurring every 12 months. This would certainly indicate that effective eye protection is not in use as widely as it should be; which in turn would indicate that management is not maintaining effective control of the situation.

Whoever employs men knows how vital is each man's vision to the vitality of a business. Because our plant is comparatively small, we haven't found it necessary to conduct a formal or "must" safety regime. Person-to-person appeals and reminders, or what we might call a missionary approach, have

helped to keep our safety record good. We do require eye examinations for every potential employee. He doesn't begin his job without corrective eyewear. Wherever possible we adapt a man's visual capacity to his job. Where it isn't possible, he isn't hired. When you consider the tragic accident or increasing infirmity which can result from overtaxed vision, this isn't as heartless as it sounds. On a less personal basis, a company's reputation is in jeopardy, its economy affected. Eventually insurance premiums have to get higher. And what company can afford even one inefficient worker?

To keep our efficiency as high as possible, we know the value of regular eye examinations for every person. We have had our lighting facilities checked and improved by experts. We supply safety goggles and request that they be worn. But this isn't enough. It takes constant hammering and vigilance to keep men careful.

Individually, I wonder how many of us are consistently impressed by the importance of eye safety and, more simple, by just good visual health. I guess it's all too lamentably human that we have to be jolted by the preventable accident, by the loss or near loss of sight before we are able to do more than take for granted our precious gift, our power to see.

It seems to me that we who in any way contribute to the optical industry would be natural crusaders for healthy vision. As with all improvements, we'd do well to begin with ourselves, in our homes; then examine again and again our offices and shops. Let's make sure and keep making sure that the best possible safeguards are installed and always in use.

Who of us wishes to see even our enemies unhappily involved in an eye accident which could have been avoided? Why, if we can help it, suffer from that hurt to our sight which is "woorst of al," seeing our friends unlucky, unlucky with their only pair of eyes.

THE POST'S MOST PRECIOUS ASSET-YOUR EYES

(By Peter E. Schruth, vice president, advertising director, the Saturday Evening Post)

The Saturday Evening Post's most precious asset is one it does not own or control. But the care and well-being of that asset are never long out of our thoughts; for without its good health, my company and its products would cease to exist. That asset is the eyesight of the American people. It is our chief concern, and we salute the optometrists of America for their invaluable skill in preserving and protecting it.

The history of modern civilization is the history of the demands made on human vision. Consider the fact that a brief 200 years ago the number of people who could read was infinitesimal. In 1760 those who earned their livelihood working under artificial light, in offices and factories, were so few as to be almost nonexistent. Practically everybody worked outdoors as farmers, fishermen, or in the building trades. True, women in their spinning and sewing did fine precision work; and so did a few artisans like silversmiths. But most of the work we engaged in and the games we played made few demands on that delicate, but sturdy organ, the eye.

But with the 19th century, the world moved indoors. The industrial complex was born, with its offices and factories. Men huddled over the lathe, and both men and women over the desk. Literacy rose, and mass communications developed with newspapers and magazines. National advertising made possible mass distribution and mass production. These in turn brought to America the highest standard of living in the world, and more leisure time. But in their leisure, people made not fewer, but greater demands on their eyesight; for they had discovered the joys of reading, one of the most sublime discoveries in the history of mankind.

My company has had the privilege of playing a leading role in this discovery. For over 75 years now, the Curtis Publishing Co.'s magazines have been enjoyed by untold millions of people, week after week and month after month. Through our pages, they have explored every corner of the globe and much of space; they have studied every significant political and economic development of their day; they have received instruction in everything from the art of cutting out a paper doll to that of baking a cake and making a dazzling

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