Norway High School - Caduceus Yearbook (Norway, ME)

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26 THE CADUCEUS usg it is the responsibility of the individ- ual to govern himself accordingly. Why should we hesitate to grasp the torch and There is one vital quality nec- success-o11e factor which may carry on 'Z essary to mean the difference between making pur- chases in the market of vain regrets or sweeping on with the tide of inspiration- that quality is faith. Faith in ourselves and our beliefs is vital, success without faith is beyond my power of conception. Yet, as we are compelled day after day to recognize the corrupt and confused state of the world in which we live, we wonder at the hypocrisy of it all. As idealists, we should consider this a challengeg hfere is the opportunity to show the world that youth can conquer all. That is happy, untried youth ready to reform the world and everyk one in it. The odds are too many, the opportun- ities, too vague. The beauty of faith ceas- es to be the shining thing it once was and tarnishes with age. Consequently, we be- come cautious and do not trust so implicitly as we once did. The spark of youth 's flame becomes feebler, and we suffer fear and doubt, our self-confidence is shaken. We are not quitters! All we ask is a fair chance to try for our goals, but we need a really fair chance. Slowly, almost unconsciously, we surround ourselves by a hard shell that few can penetrate and from which we seldom emerge because of the un- admitted fear of more disappointments and disillusions. Where are those inspiring ideals? Have they been completely dashed on the rocks of hopelessness? I cannot believe that one entirely loses the hopes and aspirations of youth, Like seeds, however, they will re- main dormant unless they receive the nec- essary stimulation to procure reaction. It would be unfair to say that any specific condition is responsible for tl1is state of af- fairs. Perhaps we need more self-confi- dence or someone to have faith in us. May- be we lack the necessary incentive to in- spire our ambitions and set fire tothe kindling of our careers. Our goal is success-but what is success? Everyone has his own definition, but few of us have it formulated i11 a single se11- tence on the tip of our tongues. Our en- vironment forms a background for our va- rious impressions, and it is the little words and deeds of others that decide the nature of our characters. More or less fortunate- ly for us, however, nature has provided each individual with a mind of his own, and one result is a varying capacity for happiness. When Tyler was running for president in 1840, his opponents made the statement, Tyler would be satished with a log cabin and a barrel of cider. Of course, Tyler 's aspirations were, in reality, considerably greater, but the log cabin and barrel of cider plus faith, hope and charity would make a great many people happier than becoming president. There is a cer- tain class of people who maintain that con- tented people are unambitious. It appears to me, that they are not broad enough to understand the virtue of being patient and giving thanks for what one has without losing sight of a very definite goal. VVe are ready to work with strong, sincere ef- fort-toward success-that success which is happiness, and happiness is the result of making others happy. -B. Bachelder '40. Lost in The dreadful wfods Where there is no food, No place to sleep nor warm yourself: Then death. -Douglas Grover '-80.

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THE CADUCE US 25 plied that the source of the propaganda is a foreign country, usually one of the dic- tatorships, Italy, Germany, or Russia. This is not always true. Other countries, France, England, even Finland a11d China, are or have been guilty of sending some- what colored or incomplete information to the United States on matters pertaining to war. XVhy, if the real definition of propa- ganda, an idea or belief which is spread, is applied, we would find we would be unable to read a book or a magazine or listen to a radio without encountering it. We see, therefore, that there are several types of propaganda, some more dangerous than others, of course. The type that should be most interesting to us because it is the most dangerous, is the untrue information that we hear or have heard from the nations at war. These have been sent to us with the intention of getting our sympathies on one side or another and thus, perhaps indirectly, drag- ging our nation into war, as has been done in the past. There is one way of averting this, how- ever. We can regard with suspicion and make a mental reservation against all news which we are not positively sure is from a reliable source. In this way, we will be able to distinguish, to a great extent, be- tween the opinions of a warring country, which are certain to be somewhat U12iSeLl, and the opinions of a more reliable observ- er. In the same way, we cannot find the true aims of a political party from a rallied supporter or a frenzied opponent, but from an unconcerned individual. Another way to aid us, as a country, to keep clear of actions that are not neuaral, and their inevitable companion, war, is to keep cool, to leave the mind open to facts from several sources, and not to form any definite opinions on subjects of importance until we have tried to sift the true from the false and weighed the information from different sources. Thus, it is very import- ant that we do differentiate between micr- mation from different sources. If we were able to go back and drag all our old opinions out of our minds, as on a housecleaning day, and attempt to judge them by these standards which have just bee11 presented, we would find n1a11y that should be assigned to the ash barrel. It is, moreover, often easier to keep a bad opinion of some person or country than a good one. I happened to read in a reput- able magazine a quotation from a letter which cast a shadow on the character of Cotton Mather, a respected Colonial preach- er. An issue or so afterwards I was for- tunate enough to read a paragraph retract- ing this quotation. The editors had, it seems, been misinformed. The next time I saw a reference to Dr. Mather, however, instead of thinking of the retraction, I thought of the original quotation. So we see it is very easy to have and to hold a wrong opinion of another country and its program. Let me say, therefore, that what seems to be the best way to keep America defin- itely out of war is to regard with suspicion all information from unreliable sourccsg to weigh, as much as possible, the opmions of several groups, and to keep, in general, a wary eye on the information pertaining to the activities and policies of the various countries at war. -Warren Roberts '41, MOST LIKELY TO SUCCEED Do we dare to face the future and openly proclaim that one of us is more likely to succeed than another? To be sure, we are young and have strength and courage. -We have studied the problems of social and ec- onomic life and shall be guided by the er- rors of others. The difference between right and wrong has been impressed upon

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THE CAD UCEUS 27 PAUL ROBESON, NEGRO The book, Paul Robeson, Negro, in- spires one with an overwhelming desire to meet Paul Robeson, to hear him sing, and to see his friendly, engaging grin. You want to talk with this giant Negro. You wish that you might have been there when Rutgers University overcame the Navy football team with a score of fourteen to zero. You wish that you might have seen Paul Robeson, Rutgers' end, carrying the team through to victory. A great athlete in all sports. Robey was well loved by the faculty as well as by the student body. You would have enjoyed seeing the face of Paul 's beloved father when Paul received the Phi Beta Kappa key in his Junior year and when he was selected by Walter Camp as end for his annual all-American football team. You fervently desire that you might have seen Paul in 1925 in London. It was the11 that he played The Emperor Jones,', Eugene O'Neill's famous play. You also would have liked to see him as Jim Harris in All God 's Chilluns Got Wl1lgS.7, You would give your favorite set of Shakes- peare to see him in Show Boat. In fact, there is nothing Paul Robeson has done that you would not like to see. Woven into the story of Paul Robeson is the story of the Negro. You realize the struggle the Negro has to gain the rights which the Constitution gives him. Per- haps you have wanted to visit Harlem. Your motive was probably a passing curios- ity to see how the Negro lives. Now you want to visit it to meet the many intellect- ual and accomplished Negroes who live there. You would like to know more of the race that produced the famous and lovable Paul Robeson. You will think Paul Robeson is perfect, just as his wife thinks he is perfect. Paul Robeson can be described only in superla- tives. His voice is said to be the most beautiful in the world, rich, haunting, with complete control. He has brought the songs of his race to the world as no other person has done. He is known and loved by millions of people, both white and black, because he is just himself, a magnetic per- sonality-Paul Robeson, Negro. -Ruth Greenleaf '41, NORTHWEST PASSAGE I believe 'tNorthwest Passage is one of the most interesting and well written books I have ever read. There are very Iew chapters that do not hold your interest. The only fault I found in reading the book is that one should really spend long periods of time on it at once, as it is not easy to get the right meaning if you read it by snatches. Langdon Towne, the chief character, is se11t to Harvard. Through some fault of his friends, Hank Marriner and Cap Kutf, he was dismissed before he had fl!1lSll6ll his education. This very much displeased his father and mother. Under these circum- stances he was unwelcome at home, which made him turn to the country. He did backbreaking work in the beating sun the larger part of the summer. His first action, when he returned from his unpleasantly spent summer, was to call 011 Elizabeth Browne, a dear friend to him. He was heartily welcomed by the Reverend and Mrs. Browne. When asked WIIZLL he intended to make his life work, he replied that his highest ambition was to become an artist. A quietness fell over the room as suddenly as does the dusk blot out the day- light. The Brownes were very much against the idea of Langdon 's wasting his time on a career as useless as that oi an artist, consequently, there was quite a bit of argument following this outburst and