Roslyn High School - Harbor Hill Light Yearbook (Roslyn Heights, NY)

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THE YoUTH or ToDAY SEES. ln September, 1935, we entered high school with very little thought for the world about us. We were too occupied with our own problems to be conscious of world events. All in all, it was an era of hope, of faith, and of peace. To be sure, there were disturbances, but none except the very far-seeing saw in them anything to worry about. The United States was beginning to come out of the depres- sion, the world was full of belief in the League of Nations-ltaly's blusterings over Ethiopia would be quickly and forcefully squelched. Although Hitler had announced his country's re-armament in defiance of the Versailles Treaty that spring, he had as yet made no moves to cause alarm. Many observers believed his defiance perfectly justified, and no one thought he would go much further. The Far East presented problems, for Iapan had resisted all League protests to her domination of China, and showed no signs of stopping her invasion until she had attained the desired goal. However, the general trend of the world was towards continued peace and approaching prosperity. Contrast this outlook with that of spring, l939. Daily we await news of the final link in the chain of destruction in Europe, declaration of war. A show- down between dictatorships and democracies is believed inevitable, it is doubtful that the United States can remain aloof. Meanwhile we are still deeper in depression or recession than we were four years ago. Other coun- tries are in a still worse plight internally than we. Even to youth, optimistic and cheerful as they may be, the world appears on the way down to unpre- dictable depths. However, with all the darkness of despair, there are bright spots on the horizon. Science has continued to advance at a tremendous rate: improve- ments in radio, air travel, automobiles, and other machines have been brought about, great advances in medicine have been made, television is on the public 6

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A' .--rv. CLARENCE H. MZXCKAY J

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Tl-IE YOUTH OF TODAY SEES market, Einstein and others are continuing to unfold new fields of thought. The arts are as timeless as ever, radio has brought us more and more great music each year, the genius of Toscanini, Kirsten Flagstad and others is audible to millions who are thus able to gain a greater appreciation of the finer things of life, fine books are still written, intelligent people continue to think and talk for all to hear. While things like these can distract peop1e's attention from national and World-wide problems, all is not lost. The biggest factor of hope for the world of tomorrow is the youth of today. A post-war generation, we are nevertheless conscious of what it is to suffer and worry. We earnestly desire peace, we have been brought up in this country to tolerance, humanity, and freedom. Throughout the World, and through all time, youth have been fundamentally friendly toward one another. At Roslyn, particularly, young people are brought to realize what a blessing freedom is and to know how to use it. A progressive system of education teaches us this, and We are glad for it. So, while world problems are far from solution-farther than they were four years ago-there is, at least, a younger generation which is ready to stand up for its ideals. We at Roslyn have progressed in the past four years, not only in ideals and methods, but also in equipment and material things. The beauti- fully equipped home economics and art building is a product of the last four years, as are the artistic murals in the auditorium. ln our attitudes we have progressed from the formal student-teacher relationship to a friendly and in- formal cooperation. :By making school life more sensible and normal, our supervisors have prepared us for living and for meeting our own and others' problems. This year Roslyn is sending out a class better fitted to carry on in the world of today than ever before. We hope we may live up to expectations and do our part in making the world nearer to what it should be. 7