Greenville High School - Chrysalis Yearbook (Greenville, ME)

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22 THE CHRYSALIS ideals in the classroom, students must also learn that democracy is an un- finished business, and that injustices do exist. ' The place to remedy and check tht spreading flood of hate and suspicion is the classroom. If we can all be taught so that we will really believe the familiar but vital cry: Know your neighbor and love your neighbor, we will then begin to fully appreciate our American heritage and privileges V. Knowlton '47 ON BOOKS Some books are to be tasted, oth- ers to be swallowed and some few tc be chewed and digested, says Francis Bacon in his essay, On Studies. O. the latter I shall say little as they arc obviously technical books. I wish to deal with those that are to be tastec and those that are to be swallowed In these, Sir Francis Bacon doubtlesc ly was referring tothe stories which open entirely new vistas for us. There is nothing to compare with a book to take us from the common place of ou, surroundings - Wonder, romance and mystery, says Walter de la Mari lie between the covers of books. To a certain extent we are all gyp sies at heart. You may travel ove land and sea by the conventional ships, trains and planes, while I mus use books as a magic carpet to carrg ine to wished-for distant lands. Emil Dickinson was a stay-at-home. Book: were her travelplane. See how wel she has put it in her poem called Ti Book : There is no frigate like a book To take us leagues away, Nor any coursers like a page Of prancing poetry. This traverse may the poorest take Without oppress of tollg How frugal is the chariot That bears the human soul! We are not confined to the 20t.. century. Through books we can race backward to old Spain, to the day. when Christ was performing his mir- acles upon earth, to the early days o, England: we can sail with Columbus, Cortez, and DeSoto5 we can fight side by side with our ancestors at Bunker Hill, at Saratoga, and at Gettysburg: we can suffer with Elaine, and rejoice with Rowena. There is no toll, ther, are no restrictions. Oh for a. book and a shady nook Either indoor or out, With the green leaves whisperini overhead Or the street cries all about. Where I may read all at my ease Both of the new and oldg For a jolly good book where on I look Is better to me than gold. -An Old English Song Lois Faulkner '47 THE VALUE OF ATHLETICS The value of athletics to a school, an organization, or a community is indeed great. Athletics not only help the athletes that participate in them, but they also provide entertainment for millions of people. It would b very hard to find a person who, at one time or another, had not sat in the grandstand of a baseball park or who had not watched two football team, clash on the gridiron. However, the main value of ath- letics is to the athlete. In the long hard training practices required to

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THE CHRYSALIS 21 2 -.L X I- Z - i f 'iiiifiiiiseaiwiiiigif 2 ' o W W Zeilsii iil is Ziff M 6,115 2 ' ' s ., E -a YA,-U -??I ' J fr:- ' I T -Q85 u of 'L EE4 lfyi'-1w:i Y, -f YY 6126 - X Y , - EDUCATION AND THE BUILDING OF CHARACTER The time is coming when our edu- cational systems must prepare to teach more than the mathematics, geog- raphy, history and other cut and dried subjects which it has presented to the children of the nation up to this time. We are coming to realize that there must be classes in the art of liv ing together with our neighbors, es- pecially those toward whom we are apt to feel hatred and prejudice. There is little place in our minds and hearts for the false fears and petty discrimination which have unfort- unately crept into us Americans who so pride ourselves on our lack of class distinction and our equality of oppor- tunity. Small children, young boys and girls, and many hundreds of thous- ands of men and women in their late teens spend more time in the class- and in- room under the guidance fluence of schoolteachers than with including any other human beings, their parents. It is in the classroom. X on the school playground, in the social life of the school, that their characters and their world outlook, as well as their mental habits, are largely formed. The Nazis have shown us what can be accomplished in ten years in the development of character in the schools of a nation. What they accom plished in evil influence can be dupfi cated in our schools in a wholesome influence over the same period of time. The bully at ten is the bully at thirty. To the name-calling child the object of his derision is a lowly infer- ior. When he yells Wop , nigger, kike , or chink he does not know that he is deriding the Constitution of the United States. Who is to explain this to him, that when we belittle anyone for reasons of race, religion or color we are ridiculing ourselves, our parents, and our country and holding them up to contempt? The idea that is America is the idea of freedom for human beings. Besides learning the meaning of American

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THE CHRYSALIS 23 play basketball, football, and other sports, the strength and endurance o- the individual is developed. He acquires speed, .co-ordination, and control of his body and mind. Cour- age and determination are broughi forth. In addition sportsmanship and character are formed. The best sports are the ones that require team play, for teamwork is one of the greatest assets of athletics. In most jobs the ability to work to gether with other people is required, and the training received in playing a game such as football develops this ability. In a school or college sport: provide a rest from studies and bring forth school spirit. Although it is a good thing to be able to take a defeat, it is not always desirable to lose. A winning team boosts the morale of both the players and the fans and keeps up the inter- est in the sport. In order to have such a team, the players must have full development of strength, endurance, speed, a good coach, and a lot of luck. There is a wide variety of sports in which people can participate. Base- ball, hockey, football, basketball, swimming, skating, boxing, wrestling, running, fishing, and hunting are only a few of the many kinds of sports. Sports can be used to prevent juv- enile delinquency. If boys and girls take an ardent interest in building a successful team, they will not spend their time doing harm. ' Robert Diehl, -17 YOU AND THE UNITED NATIONS The first meeting of the United Nations was held in Feb. 1946. The General Assembly adopted a reso- lution on the public information policy initiated by the United States dele- gation that began with the words: The United Nations cannot achieve the purpose for which it had been created unless the peoples of the world are fully informed of its aims and activities. That sentence alone is what holds the United Nations tn- gether. The people have got to back them up in order to get success. They have already won the faith of the people by letting them discuss things such as some of the issues involved between the conclusion of the Dum- barton Oaks conversations and the end of the San Francisco Conference. For the United Nations to keep on being successfulya clear public under- standing of the opportunities and limiEitions inherent in the United Nations structure is an essential foundation. The United Nations have different specialized agencies such as: the Food and Agriculture Organization. the International Labor Organization. and others either now in being or to be created. The United Nations was created to help us deal with the danger, difficul- ties and disagreements we knew would be waiting for us when the fighting stopped. We are shocked and discouraged because the mere establishment of the United Nations has not banished them. We should not be because the problems with which the United Nations must deal are nourished by six years of war and it will take years to resolve and adjust these problems. The processes of international col- laboration are hard and slow, but this