Rockland High School - Cauldron Yearbook (Rockland, ME)

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12 THE CAULDRON show your spirit by cooperation? I'll tell you what I mean. If there is a special assembly which someone has worked very hard to bring, but you find that you don't enjoy it, don't talk with your friends about Frank Sinatra, or the girl you met last night-be quiet. Say to yourself, If I enjoyed this program, would I want everybody talking while I was trying to enjoy a few moments of entertain- ment? No, I wouldn't. So remember to be quiet, because there are others who are enjoying this program even if you don't. If you do remain quiet, that's school spirit. You have school spirit, too, when you don't throw spit balls around the room, clutter up other people's desks with your scratch paper or complain about the assignments which are given to you. School spirit is your cooperation with your teachers and friends. Remember once and for all, the banner which is in your school gym. This banner does not refer just to the game of sports, but to a greater game, the game of life. Remember- When the last great scorer comes to write against your name, he writes not Whether you won or lost, but how you played the game. VANCE NoR'1'oN THE HOUSE ON THE CORNER There is a house on the corner of Pine Street. There a middle-aged couple live. In the window of the house hangs a service liag with one blue star. Last week the couple received word that their only son, who was in the Air Corps, was Missing in action over Germanyv. Of course they still hopeg until the final word is received there will still be hope in their hearts. They gave all they had -their only son-to their country. How about you? Do you deserve all this? Are you worthy of all the blue stars-and the gold ones? There are many things that we can do besides sending sons, brothers and hus- bands into the fighting. We at home have a great responsibility to shoulder. We must supply the weapons with which these men may fight 5 we must give blood to the blood banksg and we must buy War Bonds and Stamps. Don't these things seem small compared to the sacrifice that the couple on the corner made? Some other things such as rolling bandages at Red Cross, and serving as mem- bers of the rationing board, or as U. S. O. hostesses, take up more time. Things like airplane spotting, Coast Guard Temporary Reserve, and Air Raid Wardens take even more time. What is the good of some of these things? Of what use are these to men in the front lines? I am sure that the lirst one, supplying weapons, needs no explanation. People give blood to blood banks so that it can be administered to badly wounded men or those suffering from shock, either as whole blood or as blood plasma. A supply of each of these is kept in the aid stations at the front as well as in the rear. Buying War Bonds and Stamps helps to supply the weapons, food, and clothing for our fighting men. It builds ships and guns. Practically everything our 4

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THE CAULDRON 11 The discussion continued, pro and con, until, by March 1941, nearly everyone was convinced, by what he had read or heard, of the necessity of our aiding Britain to help ourselves. Congress realized that the majority of the American people favored lend-lease, and the bill was passed Ma1'ch II, 1941. This is an example of the beneficial use of propaganda, a use that is vital to the welfare of a democratic country. The people rule in a democracy. Thus the elected ofhcials are influenced by what they hear and read and see-all excellent channels for issuing propaganda. There are many instances to illustrate the propagandisfs ability to pervert to his own use any occasion that presents itself. For example, in 1927 there was a serious anti-foreign outbreak at Nanking. Chinese troops began to kill and plunder in the foreign residential district. In order to prevent a general mas- sacre, British and American warships laid down a barrage around the building where the foreigners had taken refuge. The Soviet press represented this as an unprovoked slaughter of helpless Chinese by bloodthirsty foreign imperialists. Thus the Chinese received a contorted picture of the American role played in this episode. ' By these examples it is seen that the difference between useful and evil propaganda is not easily discerned. The propagandist has devious ways of twisting the truthg by a subtle inflection or doubtful insinuation he can arouse a slight suspicion that develops gradually into open distrust. How can one recognize evil propaganda when it is presented in a reasonable 'mannerf To perceive propaganda one must be very familiar with a subject before he can recognize propaganda relative to that subject. 'l'hrough a liberal education whereby a knowledge of many studies is gained, one can become familiar with varied subjects. It is the duty of the high school and college to train its citizens in these studies in order that they may be able to analyze the claims of propagandists and distinguish the good from the bad, rejecting the infiuence of corrupt or selfish groups. JOAN Amaorr SCHOOL SPIRIT VVhat is school spirit? Oh yes, you'll say, I know what school spirit is. Tl1at's the spirit that is shown when your school is playing its toughest and hardest battle, and when the student body is cheering and backing up its team, win or lose. Yes, you are right. But there's more than that. Let me tell you. Can you and the players take it on the chin when the team loses? When you are on the winning team, do you rub it inn? If you are a good Wilmer as well as a loser, and if you are playing dearly, not for you and you alone, but for the team as a whole and for the glory of your school, that's school spirit. School spirit also stands for the way you treat your school building. If you're the student who hacks away on the chairs with a knife or pencil, the one who uses reckless talk about your school clubs, or the one who thinks the girls' basketball team is just a big laugh, than you haven't any school spirit. Politeness is also school spirit. WVhen your school is good enough to show you moving pictures, special assemblies, and many other tlnngs worth While, do you

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THE CAULDRON 13 fighting men need can be bought with the money from War Bonds and Stamps. The bandages that are made in Red Cross Rooms all over the country are sent to all parts of the world where the fighting is taking place. Rationing boards regulate the consumption of scarce commodities such as gasoline, sugar and butter. It issues certificates for washing-machines, cars and bicycles and thus keeps production from soaring, due to high wages, by selling only to those who really have need of the products. There are Red Cross Nurses' Aid Courses and Cadet Nurse Courses which help to relieve the nurse shortage. At the present time, with a bill to draft nurses if they do not volunteer, and with the need for more nurses as the fighting gets more and more savage, this is very important. Nurses' Aids make it possible for more nurses to volunteer and for the hospitals to keep running efficiently. Wlieli you think of all the couples who have sons in the service, and when you think of all the blue and gold stars that show the sacrifice of all these people, do you think you are doing your share? These few ways of aiding our fighting men entail no real sacrifices for us at home. Compared to the things the boys are going through, what little we can do here at home we should do. Nothing that we can do is too much. Think again on these questions. Search your heart and mind. Do you deserve all the sacrifices being made for you? Are you worthy of all the lives of those boys fighting out there? Let your conscience be your guide ! MARGARET JACKSON ONAWA'S SPELL God gave all men all earth to love, But, since our heart is small, Ordained for each one spot should be, Beloved over all. For about twenty-five families, most of them out-of-staters, Onawa, a small Maine lake in the Moosehead Region, is this spot beloved over all. From Sep- tember until 'lune these families relive past experiences there and plan future activities. Though they differ greatly economically and socially, their common bond, a love for Onawa, unites them for the summer. Those who go to Onawa are regarded by some people as a bit queer, for out- siders think It incomprehensible that a place inaccessible by automobile should hold such an attraction. This very seclusion is the charm of the spot. Onawa's only touch with the outside world is the daily stop of the ancient combination freight and passenger train. This train, which is called The Scoot because of its breath-taking speed of fifteen miles per hour on a down grade, is niet each day by the entire colony, who greet the friendly trainmen and get what mail and provisions it may bring. As the train crawls away, the campers, with filled pack-baskets on their backs, again wind their way down their various trails to the privacy of their own camps. The primitive life of Onawa holds adventure for a young boy. Exploration of coves and inlets, leading to discovery of beaver dams and turtle nests, give him