Christopher Columbus High School - Anchor Yearbook (Bronx, NY)

Page 7 text:

OUR YEARBOOK To a casual reader. one not directly concerned with the Senior Class of June. l045. this Yearhoolc will have little or no significance. He will merely note. hetween these two covers, an assortment ol literary essays. a collection of photographs. and. to him, utterly irrelevant jolces and jingles which the Jingle Committee has inserted. However, to the members ol the Class. and to their ahle advisers, this com- pilation of literary, artistic. and humorous material has a deeper, liner import. Here, on these printed pages, is collected the life-breath ol' the Senior Class in .the lmlaclc and white of print and paper. The literary achievements are not to he regarded merely as good or had litera- ture, but as the souvenirs left hehind hy a representative portion of the Class. The photographs will serve. when the present Seniors loolc haclc with that Hinward eye upon the days spent in Christopher Columbus. as the delicate rememhrances of the past. The Jingles accompanying will momentarily he read. laughed at. and forgotten. But. in that dim future. when this hoolc is talcen from the attic and the dust hlown from its cover, each Jingle will he read and read again, and visions of the past will he conjured up. The lite-hreath, so carefully stored away in this chest of print and paper. will permeate the room. and long forgotten incidents, long forgotten hopes. and long forgotten worries will he lived over again. Here, then, is a chest containing many things. Vvhen age has mellowed the ingredients. the sum total of them all will he a sweet perfume. the perfume of Memory. Nlay its delicate odor never diminish in strength. As the years march on. may it gain in purity, in delicacy. and in fragrance. , s 'ts

Page 6 text:

DEDICATIO f X f . Us f ff .::...o 0 I .'o' ,o.:.1 ... . r,t o 9 00. This yearbook is dedicated to the memory of two members of our faculty. hir. Andre Fontaine and Mr. Irving Lasher. No one who knew these men is left unmoved hy their recent deaths. No one can forget them, nor the ethical principles that they in- cutcated. nor the work they accomplished. Vve realize that our small trihute Witt in no way assuage the grief caused hy their departureg nevertheless we desire to show our gratitude for the things they stood for. Mr. Fontaine was with Columbus since the school opened, and devoted himself whole-heartedly to the school. He found time for a multiplicity of outside interests such as gardening and paint- ing. in which he displayed his characteristic energy and enthus- iasm. He sponsored many useful innovations in the schoors ad- ministration. A vihrant speaker, a sympathetic listener, Wir. Fontaine inspired all the students he met. He will always remain a part of Columbus tradition. hir. Lasher was a guide to students who needed to he led: he was the powerful, vital force who imhued boys and girls with the spirit of his own religious and moral convictions. The pupils he guided, the ctuh he estahiished, the echoes of his presence in Cotumhus, att these are his monuments here. Vvhite this trihute to Wir. Lasher and Wir. Fontaine as in- spiring teachers. as welt as friends. confidants. companions, and motders of our future. may seem totally inadequate, it is expressed with the deepest sincerity of the graduating seniors. Our only hope is that some day, in some way, we may justify the sacrifices they have made in our behalf.

Page 8 text:

TO THE GRADUATES OF JU E l945 lt seems quite clear that you boys and girls are going to spend the next twenty-five years in the middle of a iiveiy battle between two opposed attitudes which can be loosely but fairly described as the preservation-of-free-enterprise-in-a- capitaiistic-democracy viewpoint and the Federal-Government-management-of-a- planned-economy viewpoint. Each side has determined and intelligent adherents and is able to present a good deai of persuasive evidence. Of Tate we have been hearing much about the necessity for continuing production quotas and ceiling prices for an indefinite period after the termination of hostilities. At the same time we have increasing evidence of the development of black markets, and the newspapers inform us that in general each group of producers is diligently at work trying to persuade the Office of Price Administration that price fixings and price ceilings are very admirable indeed, for ali other fields of endeavor, but are about to produce disaster in their own. g There is a great deal of evidence for the conclusion that many, many individ- uals and powerful groups are trying to seize what they can for themselves with little regard for the effect of their actions on our economy as a whole. In brief, we are conducting two wars: abroad, one of arms, at home, one of ideas. inevitably we are confused because while trying to finish a war, We are trying to begin a return to peace, and this effort is complicated by the fact that we are trying to attain a baiance between governmental and individual activities. This effort to attain a balance is not at all easy. There are some things that we ieei pretty sure are legitimately government activities, such as, Hood control, carrying the mails, and fire prevention. There are other activities that we are pretty sure ought to be the endeavors of private enterprise, such as running a store, being a lawyer, or developing a business. There are many activities that we carry on in both iways, public and private, such as, education, supplying water to communities, building bridges. furnishing electric power, and providing medical attention. Also, when activities become very large, or when they are related to general welfare, We have a feeling that Government regulation and supervision are necessary, as in the case of railroads, and the marketing of stocks and bonds. and milk. Now, which way is our country going? Not, T believe. ali the way to a planned economy, nor back to the days of unrestricted freedom for urugged individualism. T believe and T hope we are going to continue with the difficult business of trying to find a sensible, woricabie balance. The necessities of this war have compelled us to accept an amount and a kind of regulation that many among us would iike 4 .