Norway High School - Caduceus Yearbook (Norway, ME)

Page 28 text:

26 high school. He learns to meet and get along with people. It gives him a chance to see that someone else helps him a little in making the world go 'round. It teaches him to think clearly and logically and to express himself well. It brings out to himself and others his good and bad points, his gen- eral personality. High school is a mill in which a little polishing is done on the product before turning it out into the world. It doesn't eliminate all of the hard knocks, by far, but it helps. Besides that, high school can be fun if a student gives it half a chance. Cer- tainly with athletics, dramatics, clubs, social activities, other similar activities, and just the associations a student will make with other students, faculty mem- bers and other people whom he will meet, ought to provide enjoyment for everyone. There are other reasons, no doubt, but perhaps the preceding article has presented some of the good ones in favor of a high school education, which in general is probably the base for four of the best years of our lives. TRAGEDY IN THE SNOW Karen Turner and Jerry Stevens sat before one of the huge Hreplaces at the best hotel in Sun Valley, Idaho. The lounging room was filled with other talkative people of all ages. The at- mosphere at the hotel was always friendly and informal with folks clad in ski pants and bright colored shirts. The young couple by the fireplace didn't seem to notice the laughing groups around them. Karen said sol- emnly to attractive, eighteen-year-old Jerry, I just don't like that girl. There's something about her that does- n't belong here at Dad's hotel. Oh, Karen, sometimes you are im- possible. Merely because she's an ac- tress you have to cook up a melodrama. She seems all right to me, Jerry said teasingly. Yes, I suppose you would think so. She's the most beautiful glamour girl THE CADUCEUS that ever hit Sun Valley, retorted Karen. They sat quietly for a while and then decided to get a little shut-eye. In her room Karen shed her ski clothes and got ready for bed. Her long black hair and blue eyes made a strik- ing contrast with her pale blue pajamas. She began to think about Stephanie Hathaway, the movie actress, but soon forgot her and drifted off to sleep. The morning sun finds Jerry and Karen sailing gracefully down the beau- tiful slopes. They come to a stop near some firs and sit down to rest. It's pretty rough going after the storm we had last night. We must have gotten at least a foot of snow, Jerry said after he had recovered his breath. I guess you're right. It never bothered me before to-. Karen stopped short and gasped as she saw a hand protruding from the snow beneath a huge fir. Jerry must have noticed it too for they were both at that spot in a second. They began to push the snow away and soon the beau- tiful face of Stephanie Hathaway be- came visible. Not stopping to look up, Jerry or- dered, Go get help at the lodge. She may still be alive. He had hardly gotten the words out of his mouth when Karen was off down the mountain slope. Jerry continued digging and soon dis- covered that it hadn't been an accident. There was a bullet hole in her back. Karen, her father, Mr. Turner, and two other men arrived within an hour. By that time the corpse was uncovered and lying face down so that the ragged bullet hole was visible. Mr. Turner was the first to speak. We'd better leave things as they are and go back to the lodge. You stay here, Bruce. I'm going to call in the F. B. I. Come on, kids, I think you could use some coffee. That evening two agents from the F. B. I. came and looked things over. They decided that not much could be

Page 27 text:

THE CADUCEUS 25 WHY G0 T0 HIGH SCHOOL? Why go to high school? That ques- tion has been asked thousands and thousands of times by all kinds of stu- dents. Most of the inquirers have found some answer, at least to fit the con- ditions that made those particular people curious about the problem. However some students have not been able to find ample reasons for continu- ing their education to obtain a high school diploma to outweigh the reasons for not doing so. This seems almost impossible except in a few cases where it is a necessity to leave school or in the case of individuals not having sufiicient mental ability to successfully complete high school courses. Many students seem to think that a high school education is unnecessary in getting a job. But with the new courses which are being offered in high schools today it seems that no matter what a person might want to do he would be able to obtain a better liveli- hood for himself if he had the benefit of the training he would receive in one of these courses. This is obvious in such cases as that of the student who wishes to enter some phase of agriculture. Certainly he is better off with the experience and knowledge he can derive from an ag- riculture course in high school. Since industrial arts and, in many schools, manual arts courses have been installed it is quite plain to see that boys can be in a better position to get many jobs by means of having taken these courses. These courses give pre-job training in such things as carpentry, electricity, mechanics, and in other similar fields. For the girls, home economic courses provide training that is extremely val- uable in many various occupations as well as in home-making. In most fields a high school diploma is the first requisite. Clerical and white collar workers have to have at least a complete high school education. Any person entering college has to have a diploma which is much harder to ob- tain, and today more and more positions in business and industry are filled, not just by high school graduates but by holders of college degrees. Another proposition to be considered by a student is whether or not he might have the ability to undertake a job which would be better than he could ob- tain as a non-graduate if he had the training afforded by a high school edu- cation. Often an education uncovers and develops talents and abilities which a student does not even know he posses- es and which would provide him a much better chance to earn a good living than he would have had otherwise. Many students seem to think that they can earn enough money to make it worthwhile not to go to high school. But if the student thinks it over, he will find that at his age he would not be able to get a very high-paid job and he prob- ably never would have much chance for advancement. On the other hand if he had spent four years in high school he would probably have spent four of his most cherished years this way and started out in a better job and be bet- ter fitted to expect advancement. Regardless of whether a person must be graduated from high school to get a job or not between two candidates for a position of similar ability, the applicant with the diploma will usually get the job. Employees feel in most cases that the better educated person is the better person to employ and work with. Another thing which should be con- sidered by the high school student of today is the fact that jobs will be hard- er to get in a few years. Many of the jobs that were open to young people in wartime can be filled now with more qualified and better-educated workers or the jobs are simply non-existent now. In the years to come jobs will be harder to find and an education will be a neces- sary qualification for almost any posi- tion. Another advantage of a high school education is the social and practical education it offers. A person learns sportsmanship and responsibility in

Page 29 text:

THE CADUCEUS 27 , --1 done then, so they let things rest 'till morning. Never in all of Karen's sixteen years had she ever been involved in a murder, or even done anything but read about them in the papers. She felt terribly guilty about the way she had distrusted Miss Hathaway and had said so openly only two nights ago. It wasn't a very pleasant feeling to know that a killer was running loose and might even be in her father's hotel. All the guests were questioned as a group and individually. It seemed that Miss Hathaway had gone out shortly after supper having expressed a desire to ski in the moonlight. Six others had done the same thing. One party of four young people had gone out after supper and had returned about ten. They said that they hadn't gone up on the mountain but had stayed on the smaller slopes as they were all begin- ners. The other two who had gone for a moonlight ski were men, apparently not knowing each other. One was Mr. Durand, a tall slim man in his early forties. He was wearing black ski pants and a light blue ski sweater. Mr. Durand said that he was out for only a short time and that he had come in when the storm began. The remaining suspect, Kent Walker, was a younger man just out of the Army and resting between jobs. He was very handsome and an expert skier. Miss Hathaway had been seen with him many times during the past week. Walker didn't deny this and even admitted being in love with Stephanie Hathaway. The four young people who had gone skiing during the evening were crossed off the list of suspects. Mr. Walker was first on the list, with Mr, Durand immediately after. Both men were released but were watched carefully in the days that fol- lowed. The F. B. I. agents worked day and night for weeks but didn't seem to make much headway. Karen and Jerry were also hunting for clues like a couple of dogs. One afternoon three weeks after the murder had taken place, Jerry was thumping the walk while Karen was looking through some bureau drawers. All at once Karen said, Jerry, come here. I think I've found something! With Jerry at her side she opened a small chest which had been shoved into a corner of the bottom drawer. Look, a letter addressed to Miss Hathaway! they exclaimed at the same time. The letter turned out to be from Miss Hathaway's husband who was appar- ently unknown to anyone. Miss Hatha- away, or rather Mrs. Williams, was try- ing to get a divoice from her husband who refused to give it to her. Im- mediately Mr. Williams was found leav- ing Idaho. He confessed the killing of his wife giving his reason that he was very jealous of Kent Walker and, if he couldn't have Stephanie then, no one could. The following month Jerry and Karen read about the death sentence of Mr. Stanley Williams and sighed a sigh of relief as they sat quietly before one of the many fireplaces in Sun Valley. -Mary Noble, '51 SHOULD EIGHTEEN YEAR OLDS BE ALLOWED TO VOTE? I have read and heard much about whether or not the minimum age for voting should be lowered to eighteen years. Now, I would like to give my own ideas on this subject. I believe that eighteen year-olds are perfectly capable of voting. Most of them are just completing high school and are probably better informed on current events and political problems than the average person over twenty- one. Most high school graduates learn little about politics in the following years. They forget some facts that they learned in school. They must usually concentrate on a job which they are learning and have little time to fol- low politics. Those who go to college will probably be better prepared to vote than a high school graduate, but the