Melissa Ray, age 10, of Shreveport, Louisiana, for her question:

Why is the world so terrible?

A number of Andy's pen pals are expressing this gloomy outlook. So it's time to review it together and perhaps share some of its wearisome burden. Goodness knows, we hear enough grim news to tempt us to suspect that this world is a terrible place. But after all, where else can we go? Besides, if we survey the situation with courageous curiosity, we can discover rays of hope which we can share, too.

Every day we hear depressing reports of riots and warfare, pollution and poverty, crimes and other man made miseries. These things are not new. But in the past, it took .ages to spread the news. What happened last month seemed remote. Nowadays,, TV and fast communication systems rush news events around the world in a flash. We feel part of what is really happening.

Let's face it, people like to hear about ghastly, exciting events. That's human nature. So naturally some of the more terrible and dramatic items are selected    and presented to us. Those of us who wish to enjoy more pleasant reports sometimes may have to hunt for them on back pages and in quiet corners. But they are there.

We actually do have more than our share of planet sized problems. But there have been times like this before. Nature, it seems, intends us to improve ourselves and our societies    continuously. But history tends to lag behind schedule. So every few centuries, a generation is faced with a major housecleaning project to bring things up to date. Right now, we are challenged to cope with one of history's transition periods.

Ours is the first modernizing project on a global scale. The improvements call for big changes    and the idea of changing things tends to scare both young and old. When folks are upset, they often do wild and foolish things. So this is a time to be kind and understanding of others. Our fears will be replaced by helping hands as the picture becomes clearer.

And this housecleaning project of ours is really quite something. For example, there is a genuine worldwide stirring to banish warfare forever from the pages of history. Imagine, this mindless misery has been with mankind from the beginning. No wonder the new outlook stirs up deep rooted objections on all sides. This job challenges one of history's biggest and blackest aspects.

Another challenge is the age long accumulation of world pollution. At present we are still pointing angry fingers of blame at Them and Those. No wonder the picture looks holepless. But it will become brighter as we calm down and plan ways to end the messy situation    taking care to add extra plans to prevent it in the future.

We shall, of course, tackle our big clean up job and bring the world up to date. We shall overcome mankind's ancient desire to glorify warfare and learn to replace the punch in the nose with a sensible agreement. We shall remodel our activities in line with the laws of nature and reach a wondrous working arrangement with our generous earth.