Personal Involvement:
The Impact of Individual Effort he Soci et y' s theme fo r 19 70- 7 1

T was "To Strive for Excellence."

Thi s did no t imply a lack o f ex cell ence in the past but rathe r a continuin g goal for oursel ve s in th e fu tur e . E a c h w o rkin g da y , eve r y
A SH RAE member utili zes so me measure of his intelle ct and experie nce in pe rfo rming the basic task o f ea rnin g hi s liv elihood . Th e sum total of thi s int e ll ec t a nd ex pe ri e nce c ann o t b e meas ured qu antit a tive ly, but is ce rta inl y impress ive . T o s timul a t e inc reasing utili zation of thi s e xcelle nce fo r th e b enefit of man k ind , I hav e

chose n " Pe rso nal In vo lve me nt " as the th eme of my administrati on for
197 1-72.

S upp ose ea c h of o u r mem be rs perso n a ll y in vol ves him s e lf in lo ca l civic acti vities fo r th ree hours CVC IY week . Ove r a yea r, thi s wo uld co ns titut e ne arl y fo ur milli o n m a nh o ur s .
Moreove r, AS H RA E membe rs have just th e tal ent s needed to ass is t in th e soluti o n of so me of the majo r problems of ollr natio n!
T a ke polluti o n, fo r exa mple. We ha ve probl ems o f a ir pollutio n, wate r pollutio n, th ermal polluti o n, an d no ise po llution , a m o n g oth e r s. But air , wat e r , heat and no ise a re ju s t th e things ASH RA E members "cut th eir te eth o n. " ASHRA E, thr o u g h it s me mbe r s a nd prog ra m s , is a prime factor in ad va nci ng th ese a nd o th er a rea s o f techno logy . \Ve s impl y ca nnot s ta nd o n th e s id e -Jin e s o f th e pollutio n prob lem . \Ve have so mu ch tale nt that it is our res ponsibilit y, in de e d o ur dut y a s profes s io n a ls, t o lend our ai d.
It is no t easy. Ho rrendous pressure s a re bro ught to bea r by ac tivi st groups that cl amor for acti o n now and techn ical a nd