883 



THE VISION OF A HOPEFUL FUTURE 



I want to end, as I began, on note of hope. If we confront 

 these tough issues with wisdom and responsibihty, the 

 future holds great promise. President Reagan, in his State 

 of the Union message in February, reminded us all of the 

 important lesson we should have learned by now; "There 

 are no constraints on the human mind, no walls around the 

 human spirit, no barriers to our progress except those we 

 ourselves erect." Today we see this fundamental truth 

 being borne out again in China, where a bold new experi- 

 ment in openness and individual incentives is beginning to 

 liberate the energies of a billion talented people. The 

 Chinese have realized that farm productivity is not merely 

 a matter of scientific breakthroughs; it is also a matter of 

 organization and human motivation. 



The technological revolution is pushing back all the 

 frontiers on earth, in the oceans, and in space. While we 

 cannot expect these advances .to solve all the world's 

 problems, neither can we any longer speak in Malthusian 

 terms of inevitable shortages of food, energy, forests, or 

 clean air and water. In the decades ahead, science may 

 find new ways to feed the worid's poor— ;_already we can 

 only look in wonder at how increased farm productivity 

 has made it possible for a small percentage of Americans 



to produce enough food for a significant portion of the 

 world's people. 



We may discover new souces of energy and learn how 

 to use existing sources more effectively — already we see 

 that past predictions of energy scarcity were greatly ex- 

 aggerated. We may see new breakthroughs in transporta- 

 tion and communication technologies, which will in- 

 evitably bring the world closer together — think back on 

 the state of these technologies forty years ago, and im- 

 agine what will be possible forty years hence. 



Change — and progress — will be constant so long as we 

 maintain an open society where men and women are free 

 to think, to explore, to dream, and to transform their 

 dreams into reality. We would have it no other way. And 

 in a society devoted to the good of all, a society based on 

 the fundamental understanding that the free pursuit of 

 individual happiness can benefit everyone, we can have 

 confidence that the products of science will be put to 

 beneficial uses, if we remain true to our heritage and our 

 ideals. 



Therefore, we retain our faith in the promise of prog- 

 ress. Americans have always relished innovation; we 

 have always embraced the future. As President Reagan 

 put it, we must have a "vision that sees tomorrow's 

 dreams in the learning and hard work we do today." 



July 12, 1985 



Membership Election Calendar 



Twenty-Third Election (1986) 



Nomination packets 

 mailed to Academy 

 Members 



DEADLINE for receipt of 

 nominations 



DEADLINE for receipt of 

 reference forms for 



List of nominees 

 (Anonymous Comments 

 Package) mailed to 

 Academy Members 



August 12, 1985 



December 3, 1985 



January 13, 1986 

 February 3, 1986 



DEADLINE for receipt of 

 anonymous comments ;]^-^_ 

 from Academy Members "} 

 - - '-A 

 Meeting of Committee on^ 

 Membership to formulate ^^ 

 ballot '^! 



Ballot Book mailed to 

 Academy Members 



DEADLINE fdr receipt of ' 



ballots % 



■-n 



16 THE BRIDGE 



