George Washington High School - Hatchet Yearbook (New York, NY)

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OfIF'lI arrange social functions for the members. The Admissions Committee, before which students hoping to become members must appear, was headed by Herbert Rubinowitz, the Arista's re- nowned Film Committee was headed by Anna Drakontides, Maki Iwamoto became chairman of the Arista Program Committee, which plans all Arista activities and meetings, Vera Hess was chosen to preside over the Installation Committee, whose very pleasant job it is to plan and give a tea in honor of new members, and Valerie Fray became leader of the Service Committee, in charge of offering assistance to students desirous of giv- ing service to the school. Before very many weeks of the term had gone by we were destined to meet ,the members of the Honor Ushers' Corps, an organization of high standards whose job it is to assist at school as- semblies and various other functions. Armand Diaz, Antonios Morfesis, and Larry Hahn were chosen the new leaders of the Corps, which was founded in 1939, and has been directed for a number of years by Miss Ruth McEvoy. Of course, the most outstanding occurrence of the school year was the replacement of the retir- ing Mr. Boylan by Dr. Leonard J. Fliedner as Principal of G.W. The students were indeed hon- ored and pleased to be given the opportunity to meet the distinguished gentleman who had been newly placed in command. The four assemblies in September, therefore, were dedicated to that purpose. Third and fourth term students, Assembly C, were the first to have the honor of greeting Dr. Fliedner. Then followed Assembly D, first' and second termersg Assembly A, seventh and eighth termersg and Assembly B, fifth and sixth termers. At each assembly, a student, representing the group, made the welcoming address and pre- sented the Principal with a token gift, each with a special significance: Natalie Twersky for the C group, Paul Davies and Ursula Weil for the D, Herbert Rubinowitz and Lorraine Ludwig for A, and Marjorie Howard for the B group. Dr. Fliedner, introduced by Mr. Schottland, Ad- ministrative Assistant, at the first two assemblies and by Miss Florence C. Meyers, Administrative Assistant, at the others, addressed the assemblies. He expressed his deep appreciation of the stu- dents' welcome and his real pleasure with their token gifts. His advice to them on how to achieve success in their high school careers stressed the importance of hard work and good attendance. The younger students saw the orientation film, This Is Washington, produced by Dr. Wheat, Mrs. Ruth Lancourt, and Leonard Strutin. The narrators were Anna Drakontides, Barbara Mc- Guire, and Kirby Warren. The older students heard the Glee Club sing the Alma Mater conducted by Miss Mazona Don and two selections by the band conducted by Mr. Luther Gloss, Bells Across the Meadow by Ketelby and The Thunderer by Sousa. Meantime, Washingtonians had not been idle in the field of sports, for we swept three victories in the city-wide trials of the journal-American and Park Department 310,000 skating derby as Al Stewart won the 100, Bob Schaefer the 220, and Bob Cohen the 500. Hard on Cohen's heels was Roger Schroeder, a schoolmate, who also qualified. The borough finals were held on Sunday, Oc- tober 1. First, second, and third place winners in all borough events qualified for the City Cham- pionship on Central Park Mall, on October 15. Undoubtedly one of the highlights of the term was the heated campaign for class ofiicers. Much thought was given to the matter of voting, and when the ballots had been collected and tallied we learned that Herbert Rubinowitz, Robert Gray, and Patricia Hay were destined to be our top brass in the roles of President, Treasurer, and Secretary respectively, a.nd that they, with the assistance of the presidents of all the senior classes would comprise the Senior Council. President, Secretary, and Treasurer of the senior official classes were respectively:

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HInGlHilLliGIl-IITS S THE EVER-FASTER moving years slip by, we of the graduating classes of 1950-51 will undoubtedly find ourselves spending many a happy hour recalling our school days and the sometimes fearful, often frantic incidents that were so much a part of those glorious preparatory years. And, if we are typical of generations of G.W. alumni, we will remember most vividly and relive most often the countless exciting moments of our eighth term. Somehow the frenzied pitch of feverish exuberance and excitement that had been building up all along seemed to come to a climax in that last colorful term. We will remember with smiles of amusement and nostalgia how we never had a chance to study or catch up on incomplete assignments dur- ing' long officials because preparations for the senior swimming party and the senior dance seemed much more interesting. We will recollect with many a sigh how our allowance money never lasted a full week because someone always de- manded money for something-senior dues, The Hatchet, class rings and pins, and all the rest of the wonderful accoutrements that helped make that eighth term the most memorable of all. We will delve, too, into the memories of how franti- cally we threw ourselves into campaigning for school offices, our last chance for fame in high school. And so, perhaps it is most fitting now, as we take our leave of a fine school that has of- fered us such wonderful preparation to meet the world and try to make it a better one, that we note some of the highlights that will linger in our thoughts of eighth term. As the Fall term opened we found ourselves smiling with pleasure at the choices we had made for our G.O. officials, for Alex Petrides, Gabriel Damascus, and Betty Pizska were living upto our expectations and carrying out their numerous duties quite capably. By being elected president, Alex had achieved the honor of holding the high- est student-elected office in G.W. His classmates and friends knew him as a member of our base- ball team, the lunch squad, and a monitor in the Health Ed. office. Vice-President Damascus had previously distinguished himself as a G.O. Rep- resentative, class president, and a member of the Honor Ushers' Corps and the Service Squad. And Betty, formerly of the Cherry Tree staff, had offered her services to the Cheering Squad, the Grade Adviser's Office, the Honor Guard, the Biology auxilium, and to the G.O. as a repre- sentative. A new judicial Board was chosen, headed by Spiro Gallousis and Constantine Vlatos. Early in the Fall term, too, the Arista, G.W.'s honor society, began formulating plans for its special functions and events. Mr. C. E. Linville was given the post of new faculty adviser of Arista, and Herbert Levin, Bessie Carasoulas, and Diana Douglas were voted Leader, Vice-Leader, and Secretary respectively. Committees within the society were organized to carry out the duties and

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8-1, Philip Blanco, Carol Berger, Fred Fulop. 8-2, Herbert Rubinowitz, Lorraine Ludwig, Ber- nice Malinowitz. 8-3, Hilary Hershaft, Patricia Hay, Robert Gray. 8-4, Ernest Kohn, Christine jurgens, Arlene Gerber. 8-5, Charles Wenz, Amy Theodore, Alma Spence. 8-6, Suzanne Newton, Anne Smith, George Yuelys. The Senior Council was the group whose re- sponsibility it was to schedule the events so eagerly anticipated by the envied wearers of the orange and black, and to guide their loyal followers in the paths of pleasure at dances and skating parties. Many of us, too, gave willingly of our time and effort in exchange for the honor of serving on committees. In very little time we had organ- ized groups to take charge of arrangements for that big event in our high school lives, the prom, and to attend to the business matter of soliciting subscriptions for the Hatchet Before the term had barely gotten under way, we had also organ- ized committees to confer and hand down decisions on questions dealing with the happy time, Senior Week, and with assemblies, jewelry, the senior gift, and like matters. During the Fall term we were privileged to attend some very unusual and fascinating assem- bly programs, which proved informative as well as entertaining. An interesting study in sound, with a scientific demonstration in lilm to prove that it is a vibra- tion, was given in October. Dr. Wheat and Dr. Teichman planned the presentation. Marion Wil- son, George Brown, Catherine Collins, Harvey Flieshman, Frank Krajchir and .lean Pincus were the student assistants. XVashington's new tape recorder was used to make a recording at the assemblies which was almost immediately played back. The music chosen was America, the Beautiful played by a brass quartette, sung by a sextette, and Hchorusedi' by the assembled students. In a film the Motion Picture class demon- strated the mechanism of the tape recorder in detail. Barbara McGuire was the narrator. Dr. Fliedner gave a short lecture on sound, its history and uses, at the close of the assemblies. With the theme Careers in Business, the Bookkeeping Department produced a playlet en- titled Four Graduates Apply for a job. Thomas Laskey played the part of the agency manager and Herbert Rubinowitz was the narrator. Thelma Berzofsky, Francis Toback, and George Henderson were the job hunters. A round table discussion followed the playlet, moderated by Eleanor Campbell. Theresa Gal- lagher, Carmen Quintero, and Frances Rutigliano were the student speakers. After the discussion, Mr. Cohn, Chairman of the Bookkeeping Depart- ment, gave a talk. Although not directly connected with the pro- gram, one of the highlights of the assembly was the reintroduction of the salute to the flag. Wil- liam Bernstein and Warren Weinstein made up the Hag honor guard while Alex Petrides, G.O. President, led the salute. The program stressed definite factors that are important to any boy or girl preparing to embark upon a business career. It pointed out the fact that future success depends upon present prepara- tion. Certificates of scholarship, presented each term by the General Organization, were given to two hundred and thirty-five students who had an aver- age of 85? or over in their major subjects last term. Dr. Fliedner personally gave the certificates to the highest ranking students in each term: Herbert Rubinowitz 96, Lorraine Lopez 97.6, Richard Den- nis 95, Louise Bargamian 97.2, Lewis Segal 94.75, and David Rodvien 95.75. These students were seated on the platform during the ceremonies. The program included a selection from the Bible, read by Bessie Carasoulas, Vice-Leader of Arista, the National Anthem, sung by the audi- ence led by Miss E. Ruth Spalding, greetings from the Arista by Herbert Levine, Leader of Aristag address by Dr. Fliedner, a solo, The House I Live In, by Earl Robinson, sung by Harvey Sklar, and the exit march played by Mr. Luther Gloss. Has the Korean War Strengthened or Weak- ened the U.N.? was the topic discussed by Mr. Linville's Leadership Class at the assemblies on October 31 and November 1. A panel of six stu- dents and a moderator conducted an informal discussion which tried to answer some of the problems that face the U.N. today because of the Korean War. The policy of rearmament recently adopted by the U. S. and how it has affected the possibility of war was studied. Some students thought that it had increased the chance of war while others felt that it had removed the immediate possibility. The status of China in relation to the war and the U.N. was the next problem. The panel also tried to decide how much the Acheson Plan, which amends the veto, has improved the U.N. At the conclusion of the program, ten minutes were allowed for questions from the audience.