Benjamin Franklin High School - Electron Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

Page 13 text:

Our Vice Principal? Looking Ahead to the Next Twenty-five Years, is the theme of this, your Almanac. Your view of the future has been much improved by your graduation from the Benjamin Franklin High School. Your graduation is an achievement of which you may be proud and upon which I congratulate you most heartily. Your future will depend in large measure upon how well you use your talents and training, and upon the amount of effort you will expend to achieve success. I extend my very best wishes to each of you for a happy and successful life. Sincerely, Forecasting what the next twenty-five years has in store for us is not an easy task. Despite all of our scientific knowl- edge, we still cannot predict the future with any degree of accuracy. We can and usually do resort to what might be called an educated guess. What is of greater significance however, is that as human beings, we can aspire! As rational, intelligent beings, man usually sets up goals or objectives and then strives to achieve these goals as quickly and completely as possible. What should our aspirations and expectations be? First and foremost we should devote maximum energies as individ- uals, groups, or nations toward achieving world peace! For without the broad foundation of a lasting peace all other aspirations crumble into meaningless nothingness. We can expect continued great strides in all fields of human knowl- edge, especially since we are realizing more and more the overall importance of basic research. We can especially look for vast changes in communication systems as well as in all aspects of transportation, earthbound and otherwise. Also advances in the medical field will surely be dramatic and a boon to mankind in general. Finally, we should aspire towards, as well as realize sig- nificant improvement on the social, economic, human relations, and educational fronts. Individual, group, and national preju- dicial attitudes have, and probably will continue to change in only a gradual manner. However, just as certain as the sunrise, there will undoubtedly be an ultimate realization of the true worth of the individual. Or as the immortal Robert Burns so succinctly put it about 200 years ago, A manls a man for a that . ?y MM A4? MW 9

Page 12 text:

A Message for the Present and 37mm Swim Dear 6mduate: Looking ahead twenty five years, I can see you attending your child's graduation, just as. your parents are eagerly anticipating yours today. How will things have changed, what new wonders will we have, and what new demands will be made upon you and your son's generation? Advances in medical science, Which even today have turned the miraculous into the commonplace, will prolong man's life, making it possible for most of you to enjoy seeing your grandchildren graduate from college. Automation will continue to eliminate routine jobs and rapid, revolutionary change will become part of our frame of mind. New products, new medical discoveries, new synthetic materials, wonder drugs, jet aircraft, space travel and nuclear energy will have altered our ways of doing things and our outlook so radically that we will tend to think of the future not just as a modified extension of the past, but more and more as a new way of life. While we have made great progress in learning how to master our physical en- vironment, we will have only begun to deal adequately with distribution or sharing these accomplishments with our own underprivileged or With the great mass of humanity in underdeveloped nations. Technological and scientific progress will continue to bring problems of overpopula- tion, unemployment, increased leisure, and the many sociological problems resulting from mass migration from rural to urban areas. These will remain problems for many years to come. With all the material advances we have made, we must also recognize and believe in the dignity and worth of each individual. Without mutual understanding and respect for the rights of all individuals, a free democratic society cannot exist. It is clear when we think of the dizzying changes of which we are a part, that no one can keep up with our changing world unless he makes a conscious effort at self- improvement through life-long education. In this sense, your graduation is truly a com- mencement. May you enjoy a good life, rich in opportunities to learn and grow and participate meaningfully in activities that are individually and socially rewarding. aw I. Lewis Horowitz Principal

Page 14 text:

A studious moment in our library. A case of suspended what would you call it? Behind the 56mm The word for the day is -. With ?mnklinis' Trying to put a million dollar pose into clay. 64114121 611mm