Plainville High School - Plainsman Yearbook (Mariemont, OH)

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JOHN .D. BLACKFORD, Superintendent Ezmcg When Dre Einstein evolved this rather innocuous looking equation in l905, it caused barely ,3. ripple in the scientific world. Yet in l945, the application of that equation blew Nagasaki and Hiroshima to bits, and brought World War ll to on almost immediate conclusion. lntellectuully, man's success has been phenomenal. He has discovered even no- ture's ultlmute secret of transferring muss into energyethe some process which generates heat and light in our suneand the millions of stars. Furthermore, he has discovered how to duplicate that process at his convenience, here on this planet. Man must now, of necessity, live in peace. A Harvard scientist, Dr. Alfred S. Romer, recently stated that the rat is the most likely of all creatures to inherit the earth; Semehow, it lsnlt funny. Mun now has Gl his command the means of com- pletely destroying himself in the space of a few days, or perhaps in a few hours. Obviously, the kind of political and economic philosophy, and of religious practice, which causes or even permits wars must be replaced by principles and practices which beget universal wellebeing and universal peace. There is no other choice. We can swim under the ocean like fish; we con sour through the air like birds; perhaps by now we can hurl ourselves through interplanetary space like comets. Yet how futile are these things if we do not first learn to walk on the face of the earth like men? 36

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EARLE R. SEIDNER, Principal With every class of seniors graduated trOm Plainville High School, or from any high school, go the good wishes to its members for success in the years to come. May there be among you great lawyers, skillful surgeons, wise teachers, successful business men, distinguished ministers, clever engineers, and the heads of fine homes. Whether the measure of your accomplishment is great or small, whether your situation in life is high or low, whether your influence extends to many people or to few, you will always shore alike in one respect: you are citizens of a mighty nation founded upon democratic precepts. Each of you is in part a ruler of a great land! Regardless of the degree of your success in the fields of work you may choose, the very fact of this democracy lays upon you a responsibility that you must accept and discharge. We Americans live and work and prosper in the democratic way of life which we have always accepted as the best and the most ideal the world has ever known. We cannot conceive that we should think otherwise. Yet today this way of life- our wuyeis being questioned and challenged all over the world. Herein lies your obligation, the work for which this school has tried to prepare you. You have not yet been called upon to fight and die for this land as others have; God grant that you may live and work for it so well that a time may come when all people will agree that the way of the United States is truly the best way to think and to live.