Grand View University - Viking Yearbook (Des Moines, IA)

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LAWRENCE BRAINARD Science Dept. REINHARDT WEISSIN GER Languages VERMU N D OSTERGAARD Dean of Students MARIAN MORTENSEN Commercial ffm? LOWELL . LOCKRIDGE Science Dept. HERBERT HURLEY Science Dept.

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Do You I-Iear a Call? Lift your head! Look around and hem' Voices insistent and ringing, Voices calling you, far and near, Challenging, urgent, and singing. Voices calling you! As through a gigantic loudspeaker' the voices of to- day meet us in a confused medley, if not to say a Babel, of appeals. The hucksters of commercial interests, the propagandists of political views, the rivalries of labor and industry, the dramatics of international conference- all these and many more meet us in loud dissonance. The. net impression is one of confusion and bewilderment, often resulting in indifference and leth- argy. It is difficult to single out the different voices, it is even more difficult to appraise them. Standards of good and evil, of honesty and dishonesty, are hard to apply. Eagerness is replaced by caution as willingness is twisted into gullibility. Young men and women, entering into the world, have a difficul- ty of choice seldom set before a rising generation. Peace through security or peace through cooperation? Prosperity through individual enterprise or prOS- perity through control? Happiness through indulgence or happiness through renunciation? All are advocated. Which is the way? Yet so much hinges upon the choice. Shall we have peace or continued war? Shall we use atomic power for growth or destruction? Shall we have a moral revival or continued moral decay? The voices try to guide, but they only confuse. What can we do? We can hear a call! For the moment we may hear only the voices, but if we listen closely, we can hear a call. The important thing is to have our ears tuned in the right manner. There is first of all the call of our people. That call has come to ws through the voices of our great leaders, inspired and dedicated, through the great documents of our national history, through the whole tenor of our na- tional life. It is the call of great ideals, the guiding and challenging spirit of freedom, tolerance, opportunity, and helpfulness. Harkening to that call our country has become great. Industry, agriculture, commerce, army and navy- these have not made us great. They have made us strong and, they can make us tyrannical. Are we going to listen to the voices of selfish interests, or are we going to heed the call of America? There is also the call of mankind. It is a call that has never been clear and articulate in the world. It is weakened today by hunger and suffering, by the destructiveness of war. But it is an urgent call and it is a growing call. It is obscured by voices of greed and selfishness, but it is strong enough to be heard by those who have ears to hear. Are we going to hear the call of mankind, the call of brotherhood and cooperation? And then, all inclusively, there is the call of God. It was given voice hundreds of years ago on the hillsides and lakeshores of Galilee, and it is as audible today as it was then. It is the call to service: follow me-serve me! Thus the call came to fishermen, publicans, merchants, and laborers, and thus it comes to all of us today. It may be a still, small voice in the great chorus and it may be necessary that we be still so that we can know that He is God. But we can tune our spirits to this call so that it becomes the great- est voice of all. And thus it should be. We hear that to which our ears are tuned. It is my sincere hope that Grand View College may help us to be attuned so that we will not heed the voices of the world but may hear the call-and follow it. Johannes Knudsen, President.

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C a A. . NIELSEN Sociology MRS. J EAN ICE N OYES Speech HARALD KNUDSEN Athlet1cs PETER J ORGENSEN Soc1al and Poht1ca1 Science A. C. AMMENTORP English Dept. EDWIN T. SAN DBERG English Dept.