Hayfield Secondary School - Harvester Yearbook (Alexandria, VA)

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LYNDON B. JOHNSON, 36th President of the United States died of a heart attack on January 22, 1973. He be¬ came President when John F. Kennedy was assassinated and won a full term on his own by a landslide. During his term of office he was plagued with pressures to get us out of Vietnam. Peace demonstrations were a common occur¬ ence in Washington as the President searched in vain for an honorable way to end the war. The day after he died, the Vietnam cease-fire agreement was announced. THE POPULATION INCREASE became a great con¬ cern because our ability to cope with resulting problems failed to keep pace. The national increase from 1970 through 1973 was estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau at 3.3%. During this same time the state of Virginia’s pop¬ ulation increased 3.5%, and it is believed that the percent¬ age of increase in Fairfax County was higher than most other counties in the state. We saw farms, forests, and open land bulldozed for the development of suburban housing, shopping centers, of¬ fices, and industrial complexes. Many citizens and public officials are questioning the traditional American assump¬ tion that bigger is always better. The percentage of people living in apartments, high- rises, and condominiums increased at a greater rate than those living in private homes, which is a sharp contrast in life style that America has known. THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION year of 1972 en¬ abled us, during our junior year, to observe the process used by our country in selecting its president and vice president. Shirley Chisholm of Brooklyn, New York, became the nation’s first Black woman representative to seek the presidential nomination. George Wallace, govenor of Alabama, also seeking the Democratic president¬ ial nomination, was shot in May, 1972 at near-by Laurel, Maryland during a campaign speech. The attack left him paralyzed from the waist down. In July 1972 the Dem¬ ocratic Convention held in Miami Beach, Flori¬ da, nominated George McGovern and Sargent Shriver to be their can¬ didates for President and Vice President respective¬ ly, and in August, 1972, the Republican Party nominated Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew as their candidates for President and Vice President re¬ spectively. The political campaign developed into a series of controversies but Republican nominee, Richard Nixon won his reelection with a land¬ slide victory over Democrat George S. McGovern. MARK SPITS AND BOBBY FISCHER were the top two champions in the year 1972, Mark Spitz won 7 gold medals in the Olympics, more than anyone had ever won in a single Olympics. Bobby Fischer became the first American to win the world chess championship by de¬ molishing Boris Spassky from Russia. the world we lived in while at hay field 21

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CANCER research institutes around the world produced preponderant evidence that lung cancer was more pre¬ valent among tobacco smokers than among non-smokers. Under pressure from the Federal Communications Com¬ mission the tobacco industry agreed to discontinue radio and television advertizing by September, 1970. During this same time, cigarette manufacturers were required to print on the label of each package, “Warning the Surgeon General Has Determined That Cigarette Smoking is Dan¬ gerous to Your Health.” This warning was also required in all printed advertisements of cigarettes. DRUG ABUSE is one of the serious problems of our time and the legislation that was passed affected us. Illegal pos¬ session of drugs is a misdemeanor punishable by a $1,000 fine or up to one year imprisonment, or both, for the first offense; and a $10,000 fine or up to three years imprison¬ ment, or both, for any subsequent offense. Thus, the teen¬ ager or college student, who took a brief fling with pot in¬ vited not only undesirable side effects, but also, legal dan¬ gers and the stigma of carrying a criminal record that held vast implications in his future. In most areas of the U.S., it became difficult—if not impossible—for a young person with a narcotics conviction to enter such professions as teaching and law, and usually as difficult to gain employ¬ ment in some industries. Addictive drugs are concern world wide as well as to us. The U.S. Narcotics Bureau estimate that half-million addicts in the U.S. use from 6 to 10 tons of heroin a year. Fifty-seven countries grow and produce heroin and valiant efforts to curb imports have been made. In 1974 there were more than a half-million Americans who drank to excess, making alcoholism the nations num¬ ber one drug problem. The number of problem drinkers, was 36 times greater than the number addicted to hard drugs. ENERGY CRISIS was a phrase that became a reality in 1973. The whole problem centered around the avail¬ ability of crude oil from which propane, gasoline, and many other fuels and chemicals are derived. As fuel needs for indus¬ try, home, and transporta¬ tion increased at an accel¬ erating rate, the output of most oil producing areas failed to keep pace with the demand. Although geologists say this crisis was long on its way, most of us will remember it as coming suddenly. Both Federal and State laws were en¬ acted to cope with the many problems and cutbacks were instituted for home, industry, and business: gas stations were ordered closed on Sundays; airline flights were cut; speed limits were reduced across the nation; big neon ad¬ vertising signs were turned off. The Federal Energy Ad¬ ministration was created. It became a global problem and some European countries banned Sunday auto driv¬ ing. Prices for gasoline, heating oil, and residual oil sky¬ rocketed. Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and other Persian Gulf producers imposed an embargo October 17, 1973 on all exports of oil. They aimed specifically to hurt nations that were helping the Israelis in their war with the Arabs. The energy pinch hurt all industrialized nations of Europe, as well as other energy consuming countries around the world. At the start of the year Great Britain went on a 3 day work week to conserve energy and President Nixon pro¬ claimed a year-round Daylight Savings Time. Many people believed that the energy crisis wasn’t real, but manipulated by the big oil companies who have world wide investments, so in January 1974, four congressional committees opened hearings to have the $100 billion oil industry prove that the energy crisis was real. Meanwhile, scientists and engineers turned their atten¬ tion to other sources of energy that previously could not compete with the low cost of gasoline and fuel oils. An ex¬ perimental solar heating system was installed at a high school in Warrenton. TRANSPO ’72, the world’s first international transpor¬ tation exposition was held at Dulles International Airport in May and June of 1972. 20 the world we lived in while at hay field

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VICE PRESIDENT SPIRO AGNEW, who seemed un¬ tarnished as Watergate touched member after member of the President’s official family, had his own “skeleton in the closet.” Federal prosecutors portrayed him as a poli¬ tician who had cooperated with and encouraged a tradition of illegal shakedowns and bribes from Maryland contrac¬ tors. Agnew resigned and was fined $10,000 and placed on a three year proba¬ tion. Early in 1974 he was barred from the practice of law in his home state of Maryland. The vacancy was filled by Representa¬ tive Gerald Ford, leader of House Minority, who was selected by President Nixon and the appoint¬ ment confirmed by Con¬ gress. METRO, the Washington area subway, and the dream of the people of this area since the turn of the century, be¬ gan to show signs of reality in the ’70’s. Northern Virginia Transportation Day on June 17, 1971 marks ground-break¬ ing for the first Virginia subway station at Rosslyn. The first Virginia land acquisitions occurred on September 12, 1970—about a half-acre lot at Huntington Station location. Metro, as we have come to know it, is legally designated as Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. It is an interstate compact authorized to plan, build, and oper¬ ate the regio nal rapid rail system in Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. The initial operation of the Metro was planned for 1974, however, completion would be in 1979. When completed it would consist of about one hundred total miles of rail service; one third in Virginia, one third in Maryland, and one third in D.C. Of this total mileage half would be subway and half surface. WATERGATE was a popular name of a scandal that became public June 17, 1973 when five men with eaves¬ dropping equipment were caught breaking into Demo¬ cratic National Headquarters. The break-in alledgedly was led by a Miami real estate dealer and a former Central Intelligence Agency operative. The Watergate hearings dominated the news in 1973 and probably reached its peak of interest in the fall of the year when the Senate Watergate Com¬ mittee televised its pro¬ ceedings for the public. The scandals cost the Administration two Attor¬ ney Generals, an acting director of the FBI, a Dep¬ uty Attorney General, a special Watergate prosecutor, and a full measure of Presidential aides and lesser figures. By the start of the year 1974, many legislators and Jus¬ tice Department officials were seriously considering im¬ peachment of President Nixon for his alleged part in the offense, his part in the cover-up, or his withholding of evidence in the Watergate Affair. THE HIJACKING OF AIRPLANES to Cuba became a source of public alarm. Incidents of this new form of crime were on the increase and at the time we entered high school a new word was coined to define this offense—skyjacking. Although domestic skyjacking declined in 1970, skyjack¬ ing of international flights increased sharply. The U.S. Department of Transportation set up a permanent federal sky marshal force for deployment on domestic and inter¬ national flights. 22 the world we lived in while at hay field