Dexter High School - Signet Yearbook (Dexter, ME)

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5 . THE SIGNET 15 believe that the public and papers would be much better situated than before. Sure- ly reporters would spend less time in think- ing up and hunting up such stuff as is now in vogue. Coughlin '28, Take Aim Classmates, we Seniors are standing now on the threshold of strenuous life. Behind us lay our undergraduate yearsg before us lies-the world! Behind us lay carefree, happy years spent with the joyous aibondon of youthg years of work, years of play, years of growth physically and mentally. Bu-t the purpose of all these years has been to prepare us for the grueling race of life which every fellow must run. If we have ke-pt in training and if we have faith- fully followed the advice of our coaches, then may we rejoice as strong men to run this race, but if we have broken training, then are we seriously handicapped at the start. 'Soon we are to be turned out -of the mod- ern educational machine of today, 'finished high school products-twelve years in the making. Some of us are going to college to an additional four years before we the hard raiceg others are going to train start start immediately. But which-ever we do, there is an axiom which was taught us in geometry but which is just as practical in solving the knotty proposition of life, name- ly: a straight line is the shortest path be- tween two points. It always has been and it always will be . One -of these points is represented 'by the culmination of all our preparation, and the other success--our cherished dream-our goal. V-7 ' ' It is highly imperative that we select our goal and bend all our efforts to reach that one. How tragic it is to see a fellow start- ing out blindly not knowing whither he goest nor how to get there. He stumbles into all the by-paths and detours of life, but gambling on the hundredth chance that some day he fwill strike the right road which leads to success, he 'plods along. Alas! death usually overtakes this fellow before half his journey is over, for life is short. and time is Heeting. Classmates, we must take aim. We can- not afford to scatter our goals. Just as no one can lire broadside into -a flock of ducks an-d expect to fill his 'game bag, so no one can aim at many goals and expect to reach one. As a mighty hunter once said, we must select our bird and then 'pickle it'. We must think purposely, act purposely and live purposely. Failing to do this many spend much lost time and energy in pack- ing trunks they will not need in their journey of life. They lburden themselves with useless baggage. By doing everything with a single view in mind and with the utmost concentration we will chart on the highway of life the shortest and straightest path to success. Dunham '28, an Getti How did you get by? Will you be able to look back with pride and say to yourself, I got by honestly. Or did you bluff along cheating whenever possible, not only fool- ing your teacher but yourself as well? The way we accomplish our 'tasks in higfh school is the one which we will use in later life. It is up to us to make that way the best and squarest in our power. The greater majority of students have get by for their motto, but they have the ng By wrong view of the matter for they should not only strive to pass but to bring their marks high above the passing line, building for htemselves a firm foundation on which to stand. 'The harder we strive the better results will be. We realize that all students do not have the ability to get high marks and that they are aable to 'pass only by hard study. We know too, that many students are able to do much better work than they pass in, making a failure simply because 1 ' Q. 'gfg' 53 5 OW L.. Sl

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14 THE SIGNET The Needs of Our Schools As our high school days draw to an end, we begin to realize the advantages that we have had while in this school. We have a small library, a gymnasium, good text- books, well developed music, manual train- ing, and domestic science departments. Our school is more fully equipped than many other schools of its size, and we appreciate .all this. But we hope that other pupils may have an opportunity to have -more advantages than we have -had. An addition to our as- sembly hall would make assem-blies possi- ble. Nolw, too much physical discomfort makes enjoyment impossible. Our gymnas- ium might be improved by placing mats about the walls to guard against injury, and equipment is needed. We also hope that other students may, some day, have an athletic groun-d near to the school. A few tennis courts, a vollery-ball court, :and ground for other sports would greatly bene- fit the students. N. A. Bucknam, '28, Newspapers Extry!! Extry!! Latest news scandal hot from the press! Get your copy here. Tells all about the Montgomery-Brooks di- vorce case! Have you ever heard a news- by shouting something of this nature on a busy street corner? Lf not, you have miss- ed one part ofthe life of a large city. Rumors, filth and trash must be shown before the eyes of the reading 'public for t'hem to get the most from a newspaper. A newspaper is an instrument that bears news to the public. But is this sort of thing news? Perhaps it can be classified as news in one sense. Murders, hold-ups, divorces, and cases of un-fair dealings are displayed daily in all iparts of the United States. The reading public craves such news. It 'pays enormous sums annually to be able to gloat over the misfortunes of those whose names are printed in great scareheads of the local dailies. 'B Of course, papers must publish this to stay in business for their competitors may not be so conscientious or at least their editors say so. If a daily should 'attempt to come out with only national and local news, the greater part of its readers would soon stop purchasing i-t. The paper might live but its profits would not be so enor- mous as those of the scandal-monger press down the street. Statistics show that, at least, forty per cent of the juvenile crimes, movie di- vorces and hazardous trans-oceanic Hights are done for the sole purpose of 'having their feats displayed in the headlines. Cheap pictorial newspapers 'present many bad examples and some illegal things to the public. But they thrive, for their read- ers demand -su-ch cheap, sensual trash. Ohil- dren seeing these ipafpers iday in and day out form a halbit of seeking such things in life and many are tempted to enter into such similar things to those portrayed. It has been wisely said that these papers cater to the ignorant for they cannot read and so must form their ideas from pictures. How much better it would' be if these agencies could be employed to portray to these peo- pl-e the good in the world ins-tead of the crime and 'bad influences. A paper that carries daily news written so that all may understand it and bearing important national and inter-national af- fairs as well as local items minus the sen- sational write-u-ps can be classified as a good news-palpers One may usually inter- pret .the type of paper through its editor- ials. Editorials are a part of the news- papers and should be read just as carefully as the news. Some papers pride themselves on their editorials and pay large sums of money for men who can write worth-while items. I think that along with the rest of our national weeks it would be well to have a Good Newspaper Week. For -one week the news-papers would omit all sensational dramas in life, publishing only honest-to- goodness facts. At the end of the week I

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5. 16 THE SIGNET they do not take the extra time to polish up -on the subject. What are they doing? Not only are they harming themselves, but they are also bringing the scholarship stan-dard of their school down to a lower average. 'The knowledge we gain in high school is indispensable to us in later life and it is more than likely that many -of us will never have another opportunity :to study the things which we take in school. It is therefore important that we aipply ourselves to our given tasks not only with vigour, but .also with interest. Let us, the present students of today and the future citizens of to-morrow, not only get by , but also come through with the greatest honor-that of having done our best! Avis Titcomb '29. Enemies of America America has two kinds of enemies to-day: foreign and domestic. Tlhe country always has had them and it probably always will, to a certain extent. The less dangerous off the two evils, in my mind, is the foreign. The emigrants who come to this country with an idea of a socialistic form of government constitute the foreign enemy. 'These men, many of them brilliant, are continually trying to undermine the American system of govern- ment. The 'best way to ideal with them is to educate them on the subject of the form of American government. Perhaps this can never be fully done. That will be deter- mined as time goes Joy. The -other, and more deadly enemy of the United States, is the indifferent voter. He is always complaining about -the way that the machinery of the government is rung always finding fault with the oflicials and the high cost of living. But he has not the courage or the intelligence to vote. He is the one who does the mos-t to -hurt his coun- try's reputation. No nation in the world provides as much freedom for its citizens as -does the United States. The American policy is that it is the right and duty of ea-ch citizen to choose the men to govern him. But this shirker, the lazy, indifferent voter, does not take advantage of this great opportunity. Always remember this, voter! One vote, wisely cast, may swing the elec- tion! E. Johnson '28. Heroes of the Air During the 'past two years, we have seen many brave deeds done in the air. Byrd iiew over the North Pole, and then across the Atlantic, landing in the sea to prevent injuring people by landing while there was a thick fog. Two army fliers reached Ha- waii and then Lindbergh flew alone, in a small airplane, across the Atlantic. He was the first to accomplish this feat. The bravery of these men and of the others who have done ot-her feats is worthy of our emulation. Greater than this, how- lesson they brought home to ever, is the us which is: The man who is brave and one who makes all possible wise, is the preparations wbefore he sets out. The man who starts without preparation and without understanding the danger is not braveg he is foolhardy. A 'truly brave man is one who knows the dangers and after -all pre- paration is made, sets out in spite of them. This, and the modesty of their actions, show us that a truly brave man is not one who does a thing on the spur of the moment, and then brags about it, 'but one who knows the 'danger and goes ahead and does his task and doesn't talk loudly about it afterward. It's an example we'Americ-ans need for we are very prone to perform great tasks, it is true, but to do them hastily and often carelessly. By quietly crossing the ocean alone, Lind- bergh has given all of us a lesson that we should consider seriously. Donald Blake '29.