Word: despairful
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...despair! U.S.A. stands for United Spirit Association, and the title has nothing at all to do with liquor or religion. No indeed. The group is so called because it upholds, above all else, unity and spirit, the two mantras that it will spell out this summer to 30,000 initiates, ages 5 to 18, in 82 cheerleading camps from Montana to Hawaii. And here in the largest encampment of all, just north of Santa Barbara, Calif., within dreaming distance of an enchanted forest and a blue lagoon, 1,030 girls--and seven equal-opportunity boys--have assembled in teams...
...said you hoped God was around. It sounded like a cry of despair. Does that characterize your state of mind today...
...said, 'Doctor, if I lose my leg, I will never be married, never work again.' And the doctor said, 'You are not the only patient here. Think hard about your choice by the time I return.' I was in despair. All I ever hoped for was to be taken away in a single act. I wanted...
...after day, the number of detainees grew--first 500, then 800, finally 1,000. Police jeeps and trucks rumbled through the dusty, despair-ridden black townships that surround South Africa's towns and cities, stopping at this house and that. A man was pulled out here, a woman there. The security forces arrested political activists, church workers, students, labor organizers, youthful militants--anyone, it seemed, who might conceivably lead a protest against the white minority government of State President P.W. Botha. At times the detentions seemed carefully planned, at others indiscriminate: near Johannesburg, 22 bus passengers were taken into custody...
Soweto is atypical, both for its size (pop. 1.2 million) and its relative sophistication. It has a well-established middle class and an unmistakable power elite. But there, as elsewhere, political ferment is accentuated by slum living, lack of amenities, overcrowding, crime and the breakdown of family life. The despair of township life, the prospect of no breakout from such confinement, is felt most keenly by the young. They hold the police in contempt; in Soweto they jokingly refer to patrolling police vehicles as "Zola Budd" and "Mary Decker," who competed at the Los Angeles Olympics, depending on which vehicle...