"Where Do We Go From Here?"
(A talk given in honor of and in tribute to the life and memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.)
(The meeting was opened by President Wesley R. Johnson, who presented Deputy Mayor Adam Shakoor, City of Detroit, as Presiding Officer.)
ADAM SHAKOOR: Thank you very much, Wes.
I am very pleased to be here on behalf of Mayor Young, who is currently recuperating from the flu. He asked me to convey his warmest regards to The Economic Club of Detroit, and also to express his sincere appreciation for your selection of Dr. Massie as your speaker today.
Dr. Samuel P. Massie is a distinguished educator, who has been a Professor of Chemistry at the U.S. Naval Academy since 1966. From 1977 through 1981, he served as Chairman of the Department of Chemistry at the Academy.
Dr. Massie is a native of Little Rock, Arkansas, and got an early start on a very distinguished academic career. Dr. Massie graduated from high school at the age of 13, and graduated summa cum laude from A.M.N. College of Arkansas, with a major in Chemistry, at the age of 18.
Later he was awarded a Master of Arts degree in Chemistry from Fisk University in Nashville, and a Ph.D. degree in Organic Chemistry from Iowa State University.
Dr. Massie has served as Chairman of the Department of Chemistry at both Langston University, which is located in Oklahoma, and at Fisk University, as well as serving as Chairman of the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at Howard University.
From 1960 through 1963, he was an Associate Program Director at the National Science Foundation, and from 1963 through 1966, he was President of the North Carolina College at Durham.
Dr. Massie was Chairman of the Maryland State Board for Community Colleges for 10 years, retiring in 1989, and was a member and officer of the Board since 1968. He also was Chairman of the Governor's Science Advisory Council in Maryland until September 1989 and was a member of the Board of Trustees of the College of Wooster in Ohio from 1966 through 1987.
Dr. Massie has lectured widely at colleges and universities throughout the United States and has given papers in Chemistry before international conferences in such countries as Switzerland, Japan, Mexico and Brazil.
He also has received many honors and awards. In 1970, the University of Arkansas, which he could not attend as a student because of Jim Crow laws, awarded him an honorary degree. He also holds honorary doctorates from Lehigh University and the University of Maryland.
He is listed in American Men of Science and Who's Who in America. Iowa State University has given him its highest alumni award, The Distinguished Achievement Citation. Dillard University has awarded him the same honor. In 1976, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity gave him its highest award, The Laurel Wreath.
In 1961, he was recognized as one of the six best college Chemistry professors in the nation. In 1980, the National Organization of Black Professional Chemists named him its Outstanding Professor. In September 1988, The White House Initiative award was given to him, and it was the first Lifetime Achievement Award given by that organization.
This month Dr. Massie was featured in the "Spotlight on Excellence" in the All Hands magazine of the United States Navy.
Dr. Massie is married and his wife, Mrs. Gloria Massie, is a Psychology Professor at Bowie State University, and the Social Editor for Jet magazine. They have three sons, all of whom have finished law school.
I am very pleased and very honored and very proud to present to you Dr. Samuel P. Massie.
(Applause)
DR. SAMUEL P. MASSIE: Deputy Mayor Shakoor, I thank you very much for that kind introduction. Please express to Mayor Young our regrets that he is ill and could not be present, and our hope that he has a speedy recovery. To you, Deputy Mayor Shakoor, President Johnson, members and spouses of the Economic Club of Detroit, fellow Archons and Archousai of Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity, students and other ladies and gentlemen: I am honored by your kind invitation to join you and millions of men and women throughout our nation and our world in paying tribute and honor to the life and memory of a great American and friend of mankind, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I personally was especially fortunate to be his host as President of the North Carolina College at Durham at the last college convocation where he spoke in 1964, just before receiving the Nobel Peace Prize. One of our most treasured possessions is a picture of Dr. King with our three sons taken during that visit. I also wish especially to thank your Club member and my very close friend and fellow Archon, Mr. Walton A. Lewis, for making this opportunity possible.
Today, I wish once again to borrow from the legacy of Dr. King - this time, the title of his last book, "Where Do We Go From Here?" This is an especially appropriate subject as we enter a new decade -- the nineties -- so critical a time. I must remind you that the word crisis has two roots, danger and opportunity - at the time of greatest danger, we have our greatest opportunity, or in the words of Charles Dickens - "it is the best of times, it is the worst of times."
When I was a student in elementary school many years ago, like many of you - we took courses, not in English, as we now know it, but in grammar where we analyzed our sentences. I wish to do that with our title. First, there is the subject, we, which means that whatever is done, should be done collectively. Business, industry, communities, government, and educational institutions, all must join hands in our common self-interest. We must not let any of man's artificial barriers of race, religion, sex, or national origin separate us, and like the Berlin Wall, these barriers must fall so that we can work together in making this a meaningful world.
Second, there is the predicate, this time a compound verb, do go. You will note that the first word is do, not should, will, ought, must, or can, but do, signifying positive action, and the second word, go, means activity. Then, there are the two adverbs, here, our present position, and where, our desirable future position. Finally, there is the preposition, from, stating the direction of action. In other words, in following the title of Dr. King's book, I shall bring you some thoughts on the larger subject - What can business, industry, and education, acting collectively with government and our communities and families do, first in our world and nation, but more significantly in Detroit, to take us from our present position to a more desirable future?
Now as a scientist, I learned early that while study of the entire universe is important, it is often not practicable. To make a meaningful contribution in a limited time requires careful delineation of the subject. In a similar vein as regards luncheon speakers, I learned that a good luncheon speaker has three qualities: he stands up to be seen; he speaks out to be heard; and he sits down in 20-30 minutes to be appreciated.
I, therefore, propose that because the problem of Black America is so great, that because the majority of citizens in Detroit are black, and especially because of the appearance just last week of three major documents: (1) The National Urban League's The State of Black America in 1990; (2) The National Assessment of Educational Progress, released by the U.S. Department of Education; and (3) the report of the Quality Education for Minorities Project, supported by the Carnegie Corporation, I shall limit my thoughts to you today to consideration of the position of Afro-Americans in our nation, especially Detroit.
I shall discuss where we must go during the next decade - the nineties - and the twenty-first century if our nation is to meet the challenges of an awakened Asia, a moving South Africa and South America, and a unified Europe, but more importantly, the needs of humanity. Edwin Markham reminds us, "We're all fools until we know that in the common plan, nothing is worth the building if it does not build the man. Why build these temples glorious, if man unbuilded goes? We build our world in vain, unless the builders also grow."
And yet, I find that even a discussion of the problems facing America is too great: employment - black family - housing - drugs - crime - teenage pregnancies. I must find a common denominator, and all of these are impacted by education. I quote from the article by Marian Wright Edelman in Black America, 1989 - "education remains one of the black communities' most enduring values. It is sustained by the belief that freedom and education go hand-in-hand, that learning and training are essential to economic quality and independence." I remind you of the words of the ancient Greek philosopher, "man has often said that only free men shall be educated, but God has said, only educated men shall be free."
In limiting my talk, I found myself sharing the frustration of the Detroit Strategic Planning Project for 1987, and I commend this report to you if you have not read it, when they say on page 15 of the report - "there are many vital areas omitted from the Project's scope, but the DSPP was meant to address a manageable list of priorities of this community, and not to cover every aspect of life."
I, therefore, limit further my thoughts to the improvement of the role of education, especially public, in looking at our problem, and to the actions that business, government, industry, and the community can make in improving the educational quality of our city, and our nation, even though I must mention other factors which impact greatly on education.
Since I arrived in Detroit this weekend, I found that there was another national report on education issued, this time by the American Council on Education. It contained the disturbing news as reported in yesterday's Detroit Free Press that "the college participation of low-income blacks has dropped significantly and even fewer blacks of this income group completed college."
I will not bore you with the startling statistics given in these four reports, I only mentioned them so that you might be aware of them and read them at your leisure, but I do wish to draw several conclusions about our present position, our here.
Here is a rapidly changing world where democracy is no longer a forbidden word in Sofia, Bucharest, or Warsaw, or even Moscow. Here is an awakened Asia, a hopeful South Africa and South America, a unified Europe.
Here is a United States where Doug Wilder can be elected Governor of Virginia, and Dave Dinkins, Mayor of New York City, and Coleman Young can be re-elected Mayor of Detroit. Here is where Mayors Rice in Seattle and Daniels in New Haven can be elected with minority black populations to leadership roles, and as mayors join Bradley of Los Angeles, Wilson of Oakland, Goode of Philadelphia, Schmoke of Baltimore, Barry of Washington, Barthemely of New Orleans, and in Atlanta, Maynard Jackson can replace Andrew Young who replaced Maynard Jackson.
Here is a nation where General Colin Powell can brilliantly lead our armed forces as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, where Louis Sullivan can direct the department of HHS, Constance Newman, the Office of Personnel Management. The late Mickey Leland, by his tragic death, calls even more the hunger of our world.
Yes, here is a business situation where John H. Johnson publishes the longest running monthly pictorial magazine; an industrial situation where Dave Bing, after a brilliant basketball career, becomes a steel magnate, and Roy Roberts became a Vice-President, first of General Motors, and now of NaviStar. Yes, here is a nation where Debbie Turner, one year away from her doctorate in Veterinary Medicine, can become Miss America.
And yet in spite of these very positive facts here presents many areas of delusion for here is also a nation where a rumor in Boston can turn an entire city against its black male population. Here is a situation where in 1987, the median family income for blacks was $18,098 but for white $32,274 - Here is a situation where only 26.9% black youth are employed as compared to 50.8% white youth, and in the total population in 1988 there was 11.8% black unemployment as compared to 4.7% white.
Here is a situation where in 1986, a black infant born in the U.S. was more than twice as likely to die than a white infant. This black infant has less chance of surviving than a baby born in Cuba or Bulgaria and is less likely to be born with the proper birth weight or his mother to have had prenatal care.
Here in the field of education, the picture is similarly bleak.
I recognize some of these frustrations for as a youth in Detroit 47 years ago, one year away from my doctorate, the only job I could get was a relief porter at the Detroit Bank on Woodward and now you invite me to address the Economic Club.
The New York Times in an editorial yesterday asked the poignant question, if Dr. King were alive, how might he view the state of Black America? It answers, "Why, he would surely take pride in the extraordinary increase in black political power, but he could not help but be disturbed by persistent poverty, the devastating effect of drugs, the resurgence of overt racism and he would be heartbroken by the deterioration in the structure and stability of the black family." But the editorial continues, "One suspects that he would stress education more than he did in 1960. Head Start works, why not make it available to all who could benefit? Likewise more preschool and developmental day care programs and prenatal care for poor women are needed. Poverty rates decrease dramatically as years of school increases, reports the Census Bureau." At the same time, I read in the survey report of the National Assessment of Educational Progress that the reading and writing skills of American youth are still too low, although as a black I am pleased that black students of all ages have narrowed the reading gap and that the black dropout rate is declining, which showed that the 1970 approach of putting large amounts of money into compensatory education programs for disadvantaged, mostly black, students had measurably good effects on their abilities, effects that continued to pay off many years later.
Where Do We Go From Here? First, I'd like to begin by restating the six goals of the Quality Education for Minorities Project, with which I agree. (1) Ensure that minority students start school prepared to learn; (2) Ensure that the academic achievement of minority youth is at a level that will enable them upon graduation from high school to enter the work force or college fully prepared to be successful and not in need of remediation; (3) significantly increase the participation of minority students in higher education, with a special emphasis on the study of mathematics, science and engineering; (4) strengthen and increase the number of teachers of minority students; (5) strengthen the school-to-work transition so that minority students who do not choose college leave high school prepared with the skills necessary to participate productively in the world of work and with the foundation required to upgrade their skills and advance their careers; and (6) provide quality out-of-school educational experiences and opportunities to supplement the schooling of minority youth and adults.
Second, as I describe where we must go, I wish to pay special tribute to Detroit for three projects, and I acknowledge, with deep gratitude, the assistance of Archon John Codwell in providing me with these materials. These projects are (1) your previously mentioned Strategic Planning Project; (2) your Compact Project which you have similar to Albuquerque, Boston, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Louisville, Memphis, Miami, Pittsburgh, Providence, Rochester, San Diego and Seattle, coordinated through the National Alliance of Businessmen. This Compact involves a large number of Detroit businessmen, industrial leaders and educators as "stockholders." All of these represent School-Business Partnerships for Improving Education; the third of these projects is the Michigan State-sponsored Partnership for Education in which the Detroit Community participates.
As I read the descriptions of these programs, I felt for a moment that today I would be talking to the already saved. Many of the ideas I would suggest for Detroit are already being done. And yet when I saw the equation on Page 6-A of the Sunday, December 31, 1989 issue of the Detroit News which reminded us that often Detroit's deadliest equation (as in Washington, LA, and NYC and too many cities) is BLACK + MALE + 17 = death. I add BLACK + FEMALE + 14 = pregnancy, BLACK + MALE + FEMALE + 19 = unemployed. I then realize that enough has not as yet been done.
And now I'd like to add some of my personal thoughts from a teaching career than began in 1940.
(1) Because basic learning takes place so early - as Nellie Forbush, a nurse from Little Rock, my home town, in the classic musical South Pacific reminds us - you've got to be taught before it's too late, before you are six or seven or eight; you've got to be carefully taught." We must strengthen our pre-school program, especially Headstart, Kindergarten and Day Care.
(2) We must strengthen our individual activities. So many of us, with small businesses, small industries, or even individuals, feel that because be apparently can do so little, we will not do anything. I must first remind you of the ten most important two-letter words in the English language: "if it is to be, it is up to me." And I would second like to tell the African parable of the sparrow who while flying through the sky heard a clap of thunder. He fell to the ground with his two little legs sticking up. An eagle flying nearby saw the sparrow and asked "hey, man what's happening?" Replied the sparrow, "the sky is falling down." Mocked the eagle: "and what are you going to do, hold it up with those two little legs of yours?" Replied the sparrow, "One does what one can with what one has." Each business, each industry, each community group - indeed each individual - must do what it can. I am especially proud of the Archons of the Detroit Chapter of Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity as described in the Detroit Free Press of December 14, 1989 who are serving as mentors for students of Detroit's Bellevue Elementary School. One such Archon is Dr. Austin Curtis who worked for eight years with George Washington Carver. Think what a thrill it must be for this elementary youngster to share a personal experience with Dr. Curtis. In most of our lives, there was someone who cared.
(3) Can we increase our support of elementary schools so that more male teachers can find it possible to serve them? Since so many of our youngsters come from single-parent, (usually mother) homes, the presence of a male teacher might help fill this gap in their learning and lives.
(4) For several years, I served as an advisor in New York City for their Project City Science, a program for middle school youngsters, aged 10-13, a most impressionable age. Perhaps Detroit might wish to consider such a program.
(5) Can we establish inventive funds to reward students who do well in elementary and secondary schools as well as increase our scholarship funds to all students? Education is becoming increasingly expensive.
(6) In some developing school districts, we might give thought to group schooling, where students might take subjects at more than one level. Many students read at the second-grade level, write at the third-grade level and calculate at the first-grade level. To force them, as we presently do, to attempt the same level of performance in all subjects, often reduces them to the lower level of learning.
(7) Can we take greater advantage of the new electronic tools of television and video-tapes and computers?
You will note that these recommendations have been directed at the lower level. This is because this is where I feel the larger and more urgent problems are found - the need for stronger foundations. And yet we must do something at the top.
(1) For 21 years I directed the Community College programs in Maryland. I know its value. Because so many students, especially minority students, enter Community Colleges, we must strengthen our community college system, especially the transfer system into the four-year college as a means of increasing our minority participation.
(2) And finally one of the most distressing facts. In 1988 in all of the Ph.D. degree-granting institutions in the U.S. there were only four mathematicians, only three in Computer science - in this the age of the P.C. The NSF reported that the actual number of Ph.D. degrees awarded to blacks in the sciences, mathematics and engineering in the eighties dropped. This we cannot afford.
I'd like to close with one of my favorite poems, "The Bridge Builder."
"An old man traveling a long highway
Came the evening cold and gray
To a chasm vast and deep and wide
Through which was flowing a solemn tide
The old man full of vigor and vim
Crossing eased in the twilight dim
But he turned and, safe on the other side,
Built a bridge to span the tide."
(Unknown)
Friends, in a way, we are all that old man. Fate has been kind to most of us. We had parents and communities that cared. There was no crack. Alcohol was illegal. The neighborhood was our parents. You could even leave your door unlocked. Our children have no such opportunities. Can we, business, industry, government, community and educational leaders, join hands and build bridges of understanding and love for our youth before they perish as they cross in the twilight dim of poverty, crime, drugs, inadequate education, unemployment and hopelessness? Can we exhibit the four C's (Concern, Commitment, Cash, Carry-Through)? Can we? We must, if our world is to survive in the twenty-first century. And when we do, all of God's children can join hands in the words of the old Negro spiritual, saying "Free at Last - Free at Last - Thank God Almighty, we're Free at last."
(Applause)
QUESTION: "With the coming labor shortage and the lack of qualified students to meet the future needs of American industry, do you feel it is paramount for corporations to get involved in our educational system and, if so, how?"
ANSWER: First, that's any easy question to answer in one respect. They must, for there is a shortage of labor supply. And if they do not develop and help us to develop properly trained people, we will fall further behind. You see, one of the tragedies we're running into in competing with countries like Japan, and now Germany - and they may soon be unified, don't forget that - is that in those countries they put a little bit more emphasis on helping their young people become prepared to enter the work force.
In our country we've had sort of a laissez-faire attitude. We say, well, we hope they're ready but if they're not we can't worry about it. And now we are finding the effects of that.
There are several ways that I would like to see corporations do this. I would like to see perhaps some corporations - as some of you are doing; so, when I say what you should be doing, this doesn't mean you're not already doing it - help us to sponsor some elementary and secondary schools. Provide them with some of the equipment that they need. Some of you are already doing this with computers and other electronic instrumentation. Provide them with some teachers.
This is where you could maybe have one of your male employees help you with that. Begin by getting these students interested in science. You see, one of the troubles about science is that we have given a misguided notion. Let me just tell you this. This is a true story.
On my tests I used to always give as my first question, define chemistry, because I thought every student should know what they were taking. I do this quite often. I made it what I called a "two and fifty question." Two points if they got it right; 50 points off if they missed it.
Now this isn't as unfair as it seems because much of life is that way. You can do right all your life and nobody says anything. But you go out and make one little mistake and everybody censures you.
And so I do it quite often. I give different evaluations. But they knew what was coming. I wanted one simple answer: "Chemistry is the science of matter and its changes." Nine simple words. But one girl didn't know what I said but she knew she didn't want to lose 50 points, so she said, "Dr. Massie, chemistry is what's the matter with science." (Laughter)
Too many of us feel that science is what's the matter with school, and we have to teach our students differently.
But I also want to say that we must not only prepare them in sciences, we must prepare them in other areas. For example, I teach Chemistry but on every test I give I have an English question. And I give a simple question. I say, "Discuss your understanding of this topic."
Now, really they would have had me if they had said, "I don't understand it," because that would have been a correct answer. But they knew I would not accept that. (Laughter) And there I grade the English and thought as well as I grade chemistry content because I think we must teach our students to read, write and speak. We must help them understand history because those who have not learned the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them.
We must help them understand geography. You would be surprised at the large number of people who don't know the location of various countries. They now read about all the happenings in Asia, Europe and South America, and have no idea where the countries are located.
We must teach them to learn language.
We must teach them because a man must be a complete individual.
And I wish to remind you that a student
is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be lit. And a good
fire needs fresh air.
So, let's constantly give them all of this. But corporations must do this at the elementary and high school levels first.
Now how much can you do? Do what your corporation can afford. You won't get bankrupt doing this. Your stockholders still want to see some benefits. But this is where you can begin.
And then give a small grant. How much? Whatever you can afford. Give it to the colleges around you because somehow they've got to get improved. Support your community colleges. Support your senior colleges as best you can. Because if we don't get people who can do things, we're lost.
And then you'd be surprised with what we can do when certain adults go back to school. We're note dumb. We don't stop learning at 21. And sometimes these workers who come to you need a push going back to college to learn other things.
It's in corporations' enlightened self-interest that they put money into it. And they will find that the more they put into it, the more they will get out of it. Yes, I'm a firm believer that corporations must do what they can in their communities.
I also wish to mention another activity in which corporations, including some from Detroit, have joined foundations, government, and educational institutions (Historically Black Colleges and Universities, called HBCU's for short) in sponsoring three national symposia under the auspices of the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities Science and Technology Advisory Committee. As mentioned in my biography, this Committee awarded me in 1988 its first Lifetime Achievement Award. This group made some major contributions in helping these institutions through these symposia and related activities.
Also, we need your presence. You see, one of the weaknesses of life in general is that there are so many who just want to give money. Now, we need money. Man does not live by bread alone, but he must have that bread. I'm a firm believer in that. (Laughter)
But we need more than your money. We need you. We need your thoughts, your understanding. How many of you industrial people go to PTA meetings? How many of you corporate people help us with our school groups? And then you sit back and criticize. A different world will not be built by indifferent people.
One more thing I want to remind you. "A mule cannot kick when he is pulling, and he cannot pull when he is kicking." And neither can we.
(Applause)
QUESTION: "What should we as a nation do to encourage more young people to enter the fields of science and engineering?"
ANSWER: Well, the answer to that again, let's not kid ourselves. Man, tragically, is a selfish individual and he works for rewards. Now, different things reward different people. So, if we're going to have students in the fields of engineering and science, we're going to have to make the fields attractive. You see, one of the hard problems we face is that you and I go out and work all our lives and we make it here or there. Sugar Ray Leonard fights one night and makes $12 million. A basketball player who almost can't write his name signs a half million dollar contract.
Some singer gets out there with a guitar or something and he fills the stadium. We have to get our sense of priorities. So, I think what we have to do is that we have to make the opportunities in science and mathematics more rewarding, more rewarding in two ways. Certainly the financial remuneration is necessary but we also need job satisfaction. You see, one of the real problems we have in life right now is that so much of life has become automated. There's no thrill in doing it. I find myself as a teacher asking, why, after 49 years would I still enjoy teaching? But let me tell you how I feel.
We began the semester just last week. All of my students began with an 'A'" And they come to me with 'D's. And when I say I disagree with them, that they ought to have an 'A' in Chemistry, they say, "Dr. Massie, you're crazy. I have never had an 'A' in Chemistry in my life. Why would you give me an 'A?'" And this is where I say to them, as I say to you, "Because I'm going to treat you and expect you to handle it like an 'A' student. 'A' students do harder work. 'A' students come to class. 'A' students react to different things." Now they may not all appreciate it but at least for the moment they believe it. And I believe they're capable of making an 'A'. People will do what you expect them to do, I've learned that.
(Applause)
So, let's make a reward to teaching that's more than just money. Money is fine, don't misunderstand me. I've no complaint about it. But you've got to make the job have some other meaning beyond that. The real reward comes when you see a life get turned around because of what you've done. Because you see I still believe in fighting.
The last sermon that I heard Martin Luther Kind speak came from a Psalm of David. And some of you who are Bible scholars may remember this. The Psalmist asks, "What is man?" And Martin Luther King gave two answers. He said, "First, man is an animal with all the animal instincts. You've got to feed him and clothe him and all these things. But man is also part of God and you can't take that away from him." And somehow when you give man the opportunity to exhibit that, he does it. Have you ever thought that the two best times of the year are Christmas and Easter? Think, no matter how bad things are, somehow we become more touched during these seasons. I've known people to give me things. I don't want people to give me anything, but man accepts what is he given. So, if somebody offers you something, don't refuse it, let them show their humanity by giving something.
And so I propose that we would try to make the fields of science and mathematics, and add teaching, more meaningful by making them more rewarding both materially - I'm for material things, and teachers' salaries are much too low - but also by the respect we give the job. He's not just a teacher. He's a teacher.
I would also like to recommend strongly that we modify our elementary and secondary curricula so that all students take more mathematics and science. Living as we do in a technical world, all citizens need more exposure to and understanding of these areas. Too often, we assume that people are incapable of learning these areas when the problem is improper presentation of these fields.
QUESTION: "Based upon your experiments in anti-cancer studies, what is the outlook for cancer cures?"
ANSWER: Well, I've got to give you three answers there. Number One, I don't know. Number Two: First, we have to recognize that cancer is a multiplicity of ailments. If it were a simple ailment that we could concentrate on, we might have it, but we don't exactly know how it starts. There are some kinds of cancer, breast cancer, for example, and lung cancer, where we've made some wonderful strides. Others we haven't yet made. There is one thing I want to say to all of you. You must get regular tests to see where you are now. Cancer is such a fearsome word, that so many of us don't want to find out. I recall in my own situation, I get keloids easily. I got hit on my chest and I had a little swelling on my right breast and, I confess, after six weeks I was frightened. Now I teach about this all the time. But I was afraid to go to the doctor because he might just say, "Sam, you've got a malignancy." I didn't want to know it. But I can't hide.
So, what I'm saying is, we have to get checked. And many of the kinds of cancers we have can be relieved and perhaps cured if we get to them in time.
Now we must also continue to put money into research. You see, one of the other problems we have with certain kinds of biological studies - and cancer is one of them; AIDS is another; Alzheimer's Disease is another one - is that the answer to these is so tricky that it's going to take people with great experience to recognize the differences. the changes that occur when a molecule becomes cancerous are very slight. And it's going to take somebody with a lot of experience to see that. So, we've got to pay research workers to study that. But I'm hopeful that we will come along and do that. However, I must remind you that as one ailment leaves us, unfortunately another ailment may arrive. But I'm very hopeful that one day we will find a cure to certain forms of cancer. We may probably never get relief from all forms of cancer.
And another point I want to make. It isn't necessary that we cure everything. We probably can never cure everything. But if we can make it so that you can live a rich and full life with these things, that may be all we can do.
QUESTION: "The Navy football team just squeaked by Army 19-17 this year. What is your prediction for 1990?"
ANSWER: Well, of course, number one, we always hope for the best. We did one good thing. We changed our schedule. We no longer play Michigan. (Laughter) We don't play don't play Syracuse and we don't play Pittsburgh. We're playing, oh yes, James Madison and Lehigh. (Laughter) Now there are three teams we must always play. We're going to play Army, we're going to play the Air Force and we're going to play Notre Dame. And those I think we can beat. But the others we are changing.
My prediction is that we will do reasonably well. Because I remember that one of the major problems we face is that everybody who goes to the Naval Academy owes five years of service after he or she graduates. And to ask a young man with that kind of skill to give up five years at a quarter of a million or a half of a million a year, that may be above the call of duty. And we don't have too many patriotic saints. (Laughter)
So, I think we will do well within our field. But the most important thing about athletics - and that's why we do it so much at the Naval Academy - is that it's the best place we have to teach the youngsters how to live. You've got to remember that the Naval Academy is different from most other institutions. First of all, we don't graduate any followers. We only graduate leaders. We only graduate men and women who are going out there and their primary job is to teach men and women to do what no man or woman wants to do and that's to die with dignity. Nobody wants to die. And yet that's what we must teach them. How to be naval officers and die with dignity.
Incidentally, I saw a movie the other night. I want to recommend it. If you haven't seen "Glory," see it. It's one of the most wonderful stories. In this movie you see how this young Massachusetts man taught these soldiers how to fight and die with dignity. And so that's our hard job. But we ought to also teach these youngsters how to live with dignity. And that isn't always easy. But the athletic field is one of the best places to teach life. We don't want them to learn how to lose. But we do want them to learn how to accept loss. So, I feel that we will do pretty well.
Well, since that was my last question, I like to close with this thought to you if you will permit me. That is that we live in a wonderful world. God is in His heaven, but He has no hands but ours, He has no eyes but ours. So, we must try at all times to do what we can to make this a better world. I like to say, you should live so that when you die even the undertaker will cry.
(Applause)
WESLEY R. JOHNSON: Thank you, Dr. Massie, for a most inspirational, thought-provoking and excellent talk. We appreciate your coming to Detroit to speak to The Economic Club. Thank you Deputy Mayor Shakoor. Thank you all for coming. The meeting is adjourned.