Northwest High School - Vanguard Yearbook (Indianapolis, IN)

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What were the alternatives when the pressure built up inside Northwest students, when no amount of dever- sions or recreations could solve the frustrating ex- periences of living in the middle of childhood and adult- hood? To escape the pressure, many students ultimately walked down several avenues of release, each on a dif- ferent level of gravity. An impending test or class presentation sent many students to the nurses's office with dizzy spells or an up- set stomach. Mrs. Lillian Resnick, the school nurse saw 50 to 75 students daily in her first floor office. Although some were imposters, most that visited the nurse were ill. When a student entered the office, Mrs. Resnick tried first to ascertain what was wrong. lf the illness involved fatigue, headache, or other minor maladies, the student would rest on a cot, should the sickness be of a more serious nature, Mrs. Resnick contacted the student's par- ent's if he was to be sent home. With regulations defin- ing a school nurse's role, Mrs. Resnick was permitted to administer reasonable first aid. Any dispensing of medication without perscription was illegal. Excuses for going to the nurse's office ranged from humorous to grim. Mrs. Resnick recalled a most unusual reason from a boy who suffered from acute itching. ln- vestigation revealed that the boy's mother had washed his underwear with fiberglass curtains, leaving irritants in the cloth. The most serious accidents she had dealt with involved bone fractures, though there were few.3 Occasionally a student sought the nurse's aid after tak-' ing a drug that they could not cope with. However, Mrs. Resnick felt that the nurse's office was the last place a 4 person with a drug problem would have gone. - Awareness of drug use on the high school level was underscored by the schedule of guidance counselor Dr. Gilbert Shuck, while most faculty members' ninth period involved preparatory periods of teaching freshman or sophomore classes, Dr. Shuck's schedule read Narcot- ics-Room l76. His duties entailed educating North-y west of the modern problems of drug use. ln February and March, Drug Scene: Indianapolis, a free exhibit at the Indianapolis Children's Museum, illustrated the vio- lence of drug abuse with I9 photomurals, each explain- ing one of last year's city deaths attributed to a drug' overdose. The range of dangerous drugs some students turned to included alcohol and mentally-and physically-alter- ing drugs, reasons for their use ranged from social ac- ceptance to physical need. Discovering the actual num- ber of drug users in the Northwest student body was an impossible task, most kept their habits concealed, and many non-users felt that social status would increase with tales of experiments with alcohol or mariiuana, E ca e from class..- esca e from liFe.'

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-v i - l900's were Consumer Reports and Ramparts, Rolling Stone shook off its underground image to emerge as an important critique of music and the music society, and perennial favorites of male students of Northwest were the countless different car, hot rod, and motorcycle magazines. With the folding of the long-extablished va- riety magazine, Look, in November, 1971, the transi- tion of magazines to suit specialized tastes was nearly complete. Cartoonists captured the fancy of Northwest students as they also experienced a period of transition. In the daily comic strips, Peanuts by Charles Schulz and Tumbleweeds by T. K. Ryan were not only valid social and philosophical comment, but also among the favor- ities of students. Comic Books, from True Romance to Green Lantern enioyed a revival. New cartoonists, imi- tating the style of animated films of the l93O's, contrib- uted to the underground press, Robert Crumb, Gilbert Shelton, Ken Greene, and others created cartoon char- acters in such counter-culture comic books as Zap, Mr. Natural, Tooney Loons, and Noof Unnies. it is today The motion picture rating system kept students under 'l8 from attending movies with R lUnder I8 requires ac- companying parent, guardian, or spousel or X lUnder 'l8 not admittedl ratings, limiting them to those rated G lAll ages admittedl or GP lAll ages admitted-parental discretion advisedl. Most Northwest students selected Billy .lack as the year's best. Starring relatively unknown Tom Laughlin, the story revolved around a half breed veteran of Vietnam who has dropped out of society to study ancient Indian lore and protect kids at Interracial Freedom School from uptight citizens. Students also mentioned as movies important to them: Two-Lane Blacktop, starring Warren Oates and singer James Tay- lor, Academy Award-winning actor George C. Scott's Patton, a film biography of Army General George Pat- ton, futuristic science-fiction thriller Andromeda Strain, Summer of '42, a story of young, inexperienced love, Little Big Man, with Dustin Hoffman as the only living white survivor of the Battle of Little Big Horn, and clas- sics Gone With the Wihd and Dr. Zhivago, re-released to capture new audiences. The medium that stole moviegoers from the theatre, television, filled many hours of students' lives. There was little question on which program was most popular, Emmy-Award winner All in the Family lCBSl, with Carroll O'Conner, Jean Stapleton, Bob Reiner, and Sally Stru- thers, shocked and amused people with its frankness and subiect matter. Archie Bunker, played by O'Conner, became the hero or the enemy for viewers with his middle-class, conservative, sometimes preiudiced opin- ions. Outspoken announcers Howard Cossel and Don Meredith on Monday Night Football lABCl entertained Northwest football fans with their between-play banter. Laugh-In lNBCl, and hour of fast-paced comedy skits and black-outs hosted by Dan Rowan and Dick Martin, was toppled from its pinnacle of popularity by All in the Family and newer shows. Other shows, Nichols lNBCl, with James Gardner as a motorcycle-riding sheriff of a western town at the turn of the century, Mike Conners Ui' .sf-Q . ,gi xii! an Q ..lw,,,,.. A t a- X. -W is is FT- 1 K - 1 - 1. . . fs. 5 x 'Y 1:. ' eq ..,. ME.: and Gail Fisher in Mannix lCBSl, about a private detec- tive, comedian Flip Wilson's The Flip Wilson Show lNBCl, Sesame Street lPBSl, a show directed to pre- school youth, but with appeal to all ages, Great Ameri- can Dream Machine lPBSl, a highly acclaimed television newsmagazine, Mary Tyler Moore, as a young, unmar- ried assistant producer of a news program in the Mary Tyler Moore Show, and Room 222 with Lloyd Haines as a high school teacher with special insight into his stu- dents' problems, all figured prominantly in Northwest students' television schedules. Whether graphic, cinematic, or electronic, escape routes from reality offered by 1971-1972 media were gladly taken by frazzled Northwest students. lol Looking in on Archie Bunker on All in the Family, Randy Dewees, freshman, judges his opinions. lbl Senior Sherri Norton and Scott Swanson, '71 graduate, take in a winter Favorite, Dirty Harry. lcl To expand his knowledge beyond the classroom, senior David Dukes explores the world of books. 61

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of school work and outside iobs were cited as for use of uppers and downers, pills to increase or induce sleep, with habitual use, their con- often became dependence. Hallucinatory and alcohol were more socially-oriented drugs, in- get-togethers sometimes became beer or pot par- even with the great risk of being raided. Legal or not, drug use continued for many students. o combat it, Dr. Shuck attempted to form a committee students to discuss and ofter alternatives to drug use. felt that students could better fight drug abuse at than adults. Legal drinking was within arm's reach for Pioneers 18 years old when the state legislature passed a permitting the sale of alcoholic beverages to all men women I8 or older. As the bill waited for Governor Whitcomb's approval or veto, opinions poured his office, at first, letters ran heavily against the but later support came from college towns. late support failed to convince Whitcomb, as he ve- the bill, claiming it was not in the best interest of people. The legislature upheld the veto, leaving -to-20 year olds with partial adult rights. lb-cl As part of Drug Scene: lal Checking the authenticity lndianapolis at the Children's of his illness, Mrs. Resnick MUS9Um,fl1959 two Pllolo mU ' fakes fhe femperofure of als illustrate two casses of freshman David Hcrrless. df'-19 abuse.