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Altvantages Aduertising System
(Continued from page 18)
After plunging last mo., housing starts soared I9.3Vo in April from Mar....the seasonally adjusted annual pace was 1,963,000; some 274/o ahead of the year earlier. single family home construction was up 7.5t/0, apts. popped up 4l.2Vo; building permits remained flat, off a mere 0.190 from Mar..
"You Can Make a Difference"
Delivering the commencement address at Louisiana Tech University, Harry A. Merlo, chairman and president of Louisiana-Pacific Corp., Portland, Or., challenged the graduates to "make a difference" in the world.
"Each of us has enormous power to make something good happen regularly," Merlo said. "The way to start is to concentrate on establishing a sense of pride and accomplishment in a job well done."
Merlo unveiled his idea of a "neighborhood revitalization program," designed to take advantage of the energy and enthusiasm that comes so naturally to Americans. He told the graduates:
"Remember neighborhoods? They used to stand for something. A community of interest. something to be proud of...to brag about. In rural areas, a whole town could be a neighborhood. In the cities, a neighborhood could be a floor in a big apartment building. But we all knew we belonged.
{'Well, suppose we revitalized that spirit. Suppose we all saw the benefits of making our neighborhoods better. Suppose as part of that spirit we made sure our home, or apartment, or yard was in order. then offered to do the sane thing for that elderly couple down the street. Suppose we decided not to wait, or even expect the government to 'take care of it', whatever the need, and took it upon ourselves.
"They could be small individual steps at frst, but the momentum could quickly build toward making our neighborhoods better. And each neighborhood improvernent is one step in making our country better. and our world," Merlo said.
