ALmER
FROM
THE PUBLISHER Daniel J. Boorstin is one of the most exciting interpreters of American history. His innovation has been to tell the story of the United States in terms of its technological development. Thus, for example, in one of the chapters of his Pulitzer Prize-winning trilogy, The Americans: The Democratic Experience, Professor Boorstin describes how Americans, in developing the manufacture of ready-to-wear clothing, put into practice the democratic principle of equality. Not merely in the United States, but all over the world, ordinary people could wear relatively inexpensive clothing of good quality and fit. The social and psychological consequences of this democracy of clothing were considerable-the common person came to feel the equal of his social "superior" inwardly as well as outwardly. Politically, too, he could feel freer to assert his independence of former masters. July being the month of American independence from British colonial rule, SPAN presents as its lead article Professor Boorstin's further thoughts on the connection between politics and technology-as well as education-in the American experience. April 1978 witnessed a milestone in American history: the ratification by the U.S. Senate of treaties gradually yielding the sovereignty of the Panama Canal to the Government of Panama. The treaties were the subject of strong controversy in the United States, since the canal had been built by American ingenuity at an enormous cost in lives and money, and is considered important for American security. But the U.S. Government had committed itself to cede the canal to the country of its location. There was a full and prolonged public debate, accompanied by compromises on the part of both the American and Panamanian governments, before the treaties were presented in a form acceptable to the U.S. Senate, as representative of the people. The Panama Canal treaties have been hailed as a model of the democratic process and international cooperation. A colorful article on the Panama Canal, how it was built, how it works and the lives of the people who live in the Panama Canal Zone is presented here to supply the background for the signing of the treaties. At home, in the United States, commemoration of the tenth anniversary of the tragic assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., served as an occasion for pause and reflection. How far has the United States gone in realizing King's immortal phrase, "I have a dream .... "? To what extent has the historic injustice against blacks been reduced-in jobs, homes, education? A SPAN correspondent in the United States soberly appraises the pluses and minuses of the past decade of full-scale effort to provide equal opportunity for American blacks. In response to what is obviously a matter of much concern to our readers, we asked our managing editor to interview one of the U.S. consular officers on the procedures connected with getting visas to go to the United States, particularly for student nonimmigrants. It was a no-holdsbarred session; difficult questions were posed insistently, and the answers were equally forthright. Readers of this article will learn who, and under what circumstances, can get a visa; the role of the visa officer; and the general provisions of American immigration legislation. The subject is a complicated one; in subsequent issues of SPAN we will publish articles on the background of U.S. immigration legislation, -J.W.G. and on the lives of new immigrants.
SPAN 2 A Guide for Visa Seekers 4 Black America: A Decade Mter the Death of SPAN Interviews a U.S. Visa Officer
Martin Luther King
by Ross Chomiak
5 Political
Technology: The Continuing American Experiment by Daniel l. Boorstin
11 Understanding Indian Music 1 4 Surrounding Our Lives With Art 1 8 The Rise of Citizen Power 20 A Passage Through the Panama Canal 2 6 The Art of the Poster 2 8 The Five Careers of Rene Dubos
by Yehudi Menuhin
by Krishna Chaitanya
by Gerald Rosen' by Bart McDowell
by Richard Kostelanetz
32 34 41
Revisiting America
by Anees lung
44 46
The American Record on Disarmament by Hugh O. Muir
49 Front cover: Imaginatively using one art form, painting, to portray another, music, Milton Glaser's poster for the Temple University Music Festival colorfully demonstrates the theme of the Poster and the Arts exhibition being shown in India. See pages 26-27. Back cover: Art Anthony takes two friends for a ride in his bare-framed, homemade airplane Breezy, one of over 400 unusual aircraft on display at the annual exhibition of the 48,000-member Experimental Aircraft Association in Wisconsin. See page 49.
JACOB SLOAN, Editor: JAY W. GILDNER, Publisher. Managing Editor: Chidananda Dasgupta. Assistant Managing Editor: S.R. Madhu. Editorial Staff: Krishan Gabrani, Aruna Dasgupta, Ninnal Sharma, Murari Saha, Rocque Fernandes. Art Director: Nand Katyal. Art Staff: Gopi Gajwani, B. Roy Choudhury, Kanti Roy. Chief of Prodnction: Awtar S. Marwaha. Photo Editor: Avinash Pasricha. Photographic Services: ICA Photo tab. Published by the International Communication Agency, American Center, 24 Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi 110001, on behalf of the American Embassy, New Delhi. The opinions expressed in this magazine do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the United States Government. Printed by Aroon Purie at Thomson Press (India) Limited, Faridabad, Haryana.
Photographs: 14-15 botlom-Avinash National Geographic Society. 2S-Joe
Pasricha. 19-Paul Conklin. 21.25-George F. Mobley, copyright Š 1975 Baker. 41- Yog Joy. 49 and back cover- Mickey Pfleger.
Use of SPAN articles in other publications is encouraged, except when copyrighted. For permission, write to the Editor. Price of magazine: one year's subscription (12 issues). tS rupees; single copy. 2 rupees 50 paise. For chanse of address, send an old address from a recent SPAN envelope along with new address to A.K. Mitra, Circulation Manager, SPAN Magazine, 24 Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi 110001. .