Respect for the Printed Word

Recent history of the human family in America has impressed upon us the value of national leadership - the value of responsible leadership. When we do not have responsible leadership at the top, all phases of life suffer.

Quite frequently articles appear in orthodontic literature which are not based on facts. This apparently goes unnoticed and nobody tries to rectify the error. The person writing the erroneous article is not ashamed of it since nobody criticizes him or her. The profession in general is unaware of the incorrect information in the article so everybody supposes that all is well and goes merrily on his way. After 25 years of such performance our literature becomes so watered down that it becomes chaos.

Our printed word should become "gospel." Then the student could be assured that what is being read is a fact which can be depended on. Many of the conclusions at the end of articles are vague generalities, yet they might have used thousands of dollars of research funds. We should feel responsible for the contents of our literature.

After many years the literature becomes so convoluted that it contains only limited truth. "TRUTH" is what we are striving for. When the top leadership has a high regard for truth on the printed page, then and only then will we begin to make real progress.

The organizational side of our profession has made tremendous strides. We are proud of this leadership. We in America can be proud of our progress in our ability to plan and execute our annual meetings. We are glad that some of these meetings will now be held outside U.S.A. I am deeply concerned for the welfare of my profession and I feel that it is the duty of someone to say these things.

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