Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts - Mohawk Yearbook (North Adams, MA)

Page 30 text:

efau pfzopfzecy HE ARMCHAIR PROPHET was sunk deep in an overstuffed chair the other night listening to smoothly blended violin music when, so unobtrusively as to be unnoticed, the radio which stood nearby assumed decidedly futuristic activities. In his relaxed state, however, the Prophet accepted the change without dismay. Waveringly at first and then more clearly, this ordinary pre-war instrument began projecting pictures upon a shifting screen of smoke which had grown up overhead from the Prophet's pipe. The scene, when it became more definite, was clearly a gay, feminine afternoon party. From the appearance of the room one would guess that it was part of a modern apartment in some great city. Whether the details of plot, setting and character were announced to him, or whether they were silently transmitted to his receptive senses, the Prophet couldn't be sure, but they were as real to him as though he were a part of the scene, and so it was that he related them to me. By means of a few well-directed inquiries, he began, I found out that this festive gathering was in honor of the twentieth anniversary of the graduation from college of a group of girls with whom I once was well acquainted. They had devoted a brief period to teaching, then like so many others, resolved to bend their efforts toward the improvement of other professions. Alice Beaudreault for one, having retired from a brilliant stage career at the zenith of fame, was now the director of a college for male actors, which had the longest waiting list yet recorded. Her college supplied all of the men for the celebrated Miss Morrison's Shakespearean productions in Basic English. Suddenly the music which was being supplied by a unit of Davis' Stradivarius Specialists was interrupted, and an urgent call was broadcast for Dr. Kernahan to report at the Medical Center of which she was execu- tive in charge. 26

Page 29 text:

But four years ago far-sighted men having heard the increasing rumble of approaching war were starting the mechanisms of national defense. But wait - we call them far-sighted. What did we call them in nineteen-forty .... alarmists',? Perhaps we did, not realizing that the warning was already late. We may question whether those same far- sighted men noticed the small beginnings of World War II nearly ten years before. It is comforting to think that some in America sensed danger in events abroad, even while others among us ignored them, or worse, helped to promote them. In which group can we place the youth then in college? Here we stand, fifty years separated from our beginnings. We have been at war since December 7, nineteen forty-one. It is perhaps in- appropriate at this time to examine whether we, through myopic com- placency or greed helped bring this conflagration on ourselves. Rather we should now accept the responsibility for the years that lie ahead. Have we been thoughtful citizens? We shall be, for thoughtful Americans are unselfish Americans. Unselfish Americans can see beyond their own doorsteps to the distress of their neighbors. And their neighbors' troubles do not go unnoticed nor unaided. Fifty years from now we, the class of nineteen forty-four, will be but a dim shadow, symbolized by a climbing vine. Nineteen ninety-four will not attempt to trace our course through life, for that is solely our concern. Then let us accept the future with the unswerving resolve that each of us as individuals can look back one day with clear-sighted eyes on his own fifty years of progress. Helen M. Sindermmz 25

Page 31 text:

My curiosity being aroused, I approached Helen Sinderman, who was proceeding spasmodically along the refreshment table. I noticed several attractive caterer's boxes bearing the legend, MacAdoo-Clever Canapes and Courses for Carnivores . Helen had, it seemed, become a food- taster, because, she confided, she liked to have a finger in every pie. She explained that the refreshments were approved by Meadels Master Menu, which governed the city's nutrition. The caterer had outdone herself on this occasion for her friend Fran, who arranged parties like this daily in a professional way. Carrot-stick in hand, I next proceeded to a group engaged in dis- cussing with some heat the policies of Evelyn Hampel, maintained by the city government as Coordinator and Chief of Police. Hopelessly trying to maintain harmony as usual was Alice Galusha, who by virtue of family connections had become choir director of the city's most fashionable church. Out of the corner of my eye I caught sight of the celebrated philoso- pher-hermit Naomi Michalak edging toward the door. Having made the rounds myself, I joined her, and on the way to the elevator we tried to find hints in the youth of those persons I have mentioned which might have indicated their future had we been more perceptive. I am sorry to say that our musings were of short duration. The un- precedented downward velocity ofthe elevator destroyed the focus, dis- persed the screen, and there I was sitting bolt upright beside my buzzing pre-war radio. ' 2T