Northampton High School - Nesaki Yearbook (Northampton, MA)

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55iOCLASSHC Q C65 Q NGYTH-QS E X I ' 9 Q2 intelligent control over the factors that govern our lives in a material way is to give ourselves intensive training for citizenship, We must train ourselves in analytical and constructive thinking now, by applying our theoretical and idealistic school-knowledge to current events, including those of our daily life, and we must practice such think- ing when we have the voting privilege. Though the vital force for such a program must come from within, educational institutions would be far from error in laying more stress on those courses that stimulate original thinking and that emphasize whatever encourages an intelligent interest in public affairs. Perhaps even more important is the development of those qualities of character that mean worthy ideals, for if a man's attitude is ignoble or self-seeking, no amount of intellectual ability can make his services valuable to his state or his nation. In the end, we hnd that it is not beyond us to mold our own futures, in spite of the threatening diniculties. To find our life work, to become an integral part of the home, to take our part in community life, and to become worthy American citizens will not be easy, but we have good faith in our ability to follow our chosen path. How well we fulfill our intentions is a matter for anticipation and hope, not speculation or dread. Twenty-mne

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The Senior Looks at His Country Y Y S we raise our eyes from the scrutiny of problems peculiar to youth as individuals and as members of a community to consider our difficulties on a national scale, we see four burning question-marks. The hrst of these, undoubtedly the first to scorch us, is the unemployment situation. lt is a condition created entirely by another generation, whose mistakes may be visited on us in the form of general economic insecurity, if not in actual suffering. Their business methods, which are necessarily one cause of the depression, we must accept without stint or reservation or be labelled un-Americanf, Meanwhile all remedial legislation , must run the gauntlet of' blind partisanship, demagogy, and big business to have its sharp edges smoothed away before it appears on the statute books. The result is a slow, hard-won progress that lags behind present- day needs. An outgrowth, in part at least, of the years of depression is the fast-mounting public debt. Washington is spending money at a rate comparable to that of war-time, and when we consider that economists blame war-time spending for many of to-day's troubles, we wonder for what further financial distress today's spending may pave the way. Of one thing we may be sure: our generation is to look forward to the re- payment of the largest debt total the United States has ever incurred. A third shadow on the horizon for youth is the possibility of war. True, pessi- mists have predicted war for the past decade, but a multitude of false prophecies by no means precludes the fact of real peril. If one of the several danger spots of the world does flare up, the question arises, Will America be drawn in? We, who have had but a comparatively few years to enjoy normal life, answer with an emphatic No, But will our objections arrest the Yea's of voices far more powerful than ours? Looking at the government, we see another enigma. Governments change with the timesg and with affairs in the United States and the world as unsettled as they are, it is hardly to be expected that ours will be able to pursue approximately the same policy toward business and industry that it has in the years before depression. There- fore it is reasonable to assume that, as time goes on, the government will either strengthen and extend bureaucracy, or swing back toward a lairrez-faire policy. Which shall we favor, and how shall we enforce our decision? WALTER F. GRUzD1s The answer to these and all other questions related to the problems of youth we must seek within ourselves. In a republic such as ours the best means of exercising Twenty-eight

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MORRIS ABRAMOFF C.H.S.D.A. lg Stamp Club 4, Basketball 1, 2, 3, 4g Cross Country T e a m 3g Tennis Team 3, 4, Captain 4g Baseball 4. CARLTON D. ADAMS DORIS AHLQUIST President Girls' Glee Club 4g Librarian Girls' Glee Club 4, Stamp Club 59 Science Club 43 Glee Club 3, 4, Mixed Chorus 33 Basketball 1. PETER AIKSNORAS Botany Club 2, 35 Science Club 4. HOWARD AISENBERG Chairman Executive Com- mittee History Clubg Chairman Executive Com- mittee C.H.S.D.Ag C.H. S.D.A. 1, 2, 3, 4g His- tory Club 3, 43 Humor Club 2, 33 Science Club 3g C.H.S.D.A. - Aletheia Committee 4, C.H.S.D.A. +Aletheia D e b a t e 45 Stamp Club 2, 3, Business Board of CLASSIC MYTHSQ Track 1. Thirty VINCENT AKELAITIS Science Club 4. MICHAEL ALEXANDROWICZ JOHN ANKSTITUS Baseball 4. GEORGE ARCHAMBAULT Secretary Rifle Club 4, Stamp Club 2, 43 Rifle Club 2, 3, 4. RAYNOR AREY Chess 4.