Grand Rapids High School - Pirate Yearbook (Grand Rapids, OH)

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the world. We all know that is desperately important, because another warmith the terrible weapons we now have and some which are still in research would be disastrous to civilization. It would destroy all semblances of government in all nations and produce an age similar to the Dark Ages. Terror will again prevail over the world, controlled only by those who are able to muster suf- ficient forces to rule the world. Yes, it is a grave responsibility our country has to carry in these troubled times. Our statesmen and diplomats are doing their best to 'avert another armed conflict and still not follow a pattern of appeasement. As I have said before, we are the real government of the United States, if we' lose confidence in our offizers and fail to give them the cooperation we need, then we may well prepare for a war which will make even the last one seem puny by comparison. The world always has and always will need men with great confidence and ability, men with vision and courage, who can surge ahead and lead the people. However, a leader must not have his own personal glory as a goal and expect to become a truly great leader. He may lead and direct the lives of millions of people. But what will be the result? We saw that plan reach ' a climax in the life of Adolph Hitler. It wrecked his country and even now his people are stunned by the ravages of war. The goal of a leader must include the welfare and happiness of the people he leads. But leaders alone can not help a country. The people must realize what their leaders are doing. They also must know what is required of them as a people and how they can best give their leaders the cooperaion they need. A country is no better than the people and leaders together can make it. Upon the leaders and people of this country and those of other countries depend the future of our civilization. Gail Fitch

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WTO the Stars through Difficulties Ladies and Gentlemen: Tonight, we the Seniors of W47U, welcome you, our parents, teachers and friends, to this commencement. As we look intoime future tonight there are troubles and wibulations for all of us.N Our country has just passed through one great war and nowi ere' is talk of another. Yes, these are times that even the best of us quail under added responsibility. And we must share the responsibility of keeping this peace for the future generations. Men with confidence in humanity say this all will pass and give way to permanent peace. Others agree that this is a very depressing time, but go further by saying that great nations can never peaceably agree on important matters, Which view shall we follow? Governments are no better than the people composing them and we are the real ,government UT this Great country. As we are one of the most powerful nations on earth, our decision will count heavily in deciding the fate of mankind. We one it to our decendents to make a decision we shall never regret. We are now enjoying the toils and achievements of men who have 'gone before usg Men who believed in the old adage WThere is a silver lining to every cloud. They believed in it and devoted their entire lives to bettering conditions under which they lived. For instance, during the Dark Ages, the outlook for civilization was much bleaker even than it is today. Today we fear the advent of an agesnmilar to the Dark Ages. Then the majority of people were not concerned with the future. The forces of evil grolnd the people down, terrorized them and gave them little to look forward to. There was no education and little security to be found. Yet, despite this bleak outlook, people were preserving gpast customs and accomplishments. In that world there was one place of safety, the great monasteries of Europe. There men labored keeping alive the spark of civilization. In those days there were no printing presses. If something was to be preserved in writing, it had to be written by hand. Men who believed that civilization was not dead, laboriously copied volumes of past historical events, literary achievements, and preserved them in the depths of the old monasteries. Their faith was justified and their work was not in vain. The world as they knew it eventually disintegrated and the principles of humanity again ruled the world. ' Those men had courage and devotion of highest type. They were working and praying for a day which they knew only future generations would see, the day of deliverance from terrorizing forces. We too, are working for a day which we are afraid we ourselves shall never see, a day of permanent peace and cooperation among the great nations of

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1: Toni t we, the 60th graduating class of Grand Rapids, are 'about to step forth o be challenged by a new age, the Atomic Age. This new age dwarfs all others by comparison. On the work of this class and others like it all over the world, could or will hinge the entire future of our civilization. We have two choices, firsty we can make the world a much better place in which to liveg or second we can carry on a series of the most destructive wars in history, which might eventually wipe out all mankind. ll Our first choice is built on peace, coeoperation, and mutual trustg our second, on distrust, greediness, and lust for power. ' We must not only make the right choices and decisions. We must be prepared to carry them out quickly and efficiently. Thus, the responsibility falls not only on those of us who make the decisions, but on those who carry them out. Whenever a person mentions the Atomic Age, the first idea that comes to our minds is the Atomic Bomb. However, the Atomic Bomb could be a very minor part of this new age. Included in the Atomic Age are other new horizons electronics, radar, and plastics, are but a few. Men who should know tell us that it is entirely possible that we shall be able to make rocket trips to the Moon and Ears in the near future. On the Moon could very easily be huge deposits of uranium and radium. -We do not know what else could be there, houh ever. If we do set up a base there, it would be a short hop to that massive dangerous, but fascinating planet, Mars. We are now several years ahead of any other country in the atomic research work. It is up to us to keep ahead, yet if we try to keep ahead, the other countries will try to catch up. We do not trust other countries and we co1ld start another war. Should we try to keep ahead, then, or should we show the other countries that we trust them, and quit our research toward war? If we do, we are cutting down our own safety. We must make up our minds. If we fail and a new war starts, the atomic bomb may seem small and insignificant compared to other weapons. Rockets that spread poisonous gases and deadly germs over a whole city is only one of the other weapons. Radio- active particles will be spread in the same manner and when caight in gas masks, they will subject victims to shortrange radiation. Blisters form on the sking in S to 6 hours blindness follows: then osmotic skin bleeding from affected areas, and finally death. We know less about the things we shall have if we succeed. These are some of the marvels we have in the field of radio, for instance. Radios will print our morning newspaper for us in the early morning, so we can read them at breakfast. Exoerimenting scientists found that a pin-sized wire of columbium nitride, a highly heat-sensitive compound, in a casing cooled by liquid hydrogen, could pick up radio broadcasts. This is just a wireg it does not have tubes or other aids of the conventional radio. Other soientiststorked with micro-waves. First, they beamed thago mares into a balloonful of ammonia gas. The ammonia absorbed theseswaves and turned their intangible energy into molecular energy, which spread to the balloon skin. This balloon skin, acting - . I 1 1