Saint Laurent High School - Milestone Yearbook (Montreal, Quebec Canada)

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III. VOICES: What a sight he is! It ' s a shame. A pity. Woe. Woe. It ' s not his fault. A derangement. Definitely. A pity. A pity. He ' s on an odyssey (of a sort). Prometheus laughed and the gods laughed too. Ugh! Ugly, isn ' t it? Will not fit. And dripping. Disgust! Where shall he be put? Ugh, over there in the corner — I see only what I want to see. Never heard a peep out of him. Thought I heard a noise. There was a wee voice. He could not fit. IN UNISON: We did our best. CURTAIN. by Grante Fox SENIOR ESSAY FIRST PRIZE THE THREE ITS You might find a group of these people — uneducated, unemployed and unhappy — aimlessly clustered in a neighbourhood drugstore, or hanging around a street corner gloomily smoking cigarettes. Some sit idly on the front steps of cheerless houses thinking, and dreaming and weaving useless hopes. They are young, mostly in their teens and early twenties. Yet the problem they face is serious enough to make them old. Right now it is particularly acute and threatening to become worse. What is this all about? Who are these young people? What is their problem? Surprising as it may seem, these young people make up the largest single age group of unemployed workers in Canada. Almost all these youngsters are so-called dropouts, students who left school before earning a diploma. Theirs are the faces that were missing from the high school yearbooks. Over two-thirds of those who enter school eventually drop out without graduating. This situation is potentially the most dangerous social condition existing today. Uneducated, these teenagers will have to become part of an adult world in which education is a must . What are the hidden reasons that cause teenagers to leave school besides obvious low grades? Some are the underprivileged products of city slums. They quit to get away from their area and the unhappiness which may prevail in their households. By going to work and living on their own, they escape. But many come from rich homes. They are perhaps spoiled and to obtain the things denied, they leave school to earn it themselves. Another type are those who unfortunately get involved with the wrong bunch of friends. Maybe one of them has found himself in trouble with the police and become convinced that his record was ruined. What, he thinks, is the use of trying anymore? Others leave school after they ' ve had a summer job and a taste of earning money. Explanations are as varied as the faces of the teenagers. Some are compelled to leave to help support a large family, thousands come from broken homes. In some areas the would-be dropout is now being looked after by a process of early detection. It may be possible, by starting in the primary grades to influence and reduce the number of dropouts. Some symptoms are easy to discover, playing hookey and being continu- ously tardy are two; getting a report with low or failing marks is a probable third. Behaviour problems are the hardest to find and those are often the causing factors. Such youngsters are not just statistics or bodies. They ' re people. They need encouragement; they need understanding. But what about those who are presently uneducated, unemployed and consequently unhappy? It is essential that these young people be provided with the kind of education and training that will give to them satisfying working careers in today ' s world. Generally the picture is grim. As society becomes more and more highly mechanized, certain jobs disappear. The remaining jobs, as well as the new ones that are created, require in- creasing degrees of skill. The mass production industries no onger absorb the large number of unskilled or semi- skilled workers they once did. Of the jobs available today, only a very small number — four out of every 100 — do not require any education. Reliable predictions say, moreover, that this small percent will decrease in the years ahead. Unskilled, they will try to find employment in a labour market in which jobs often vanish at the click of a switch. The new jobs that machines have created demand what the dropouts lack — a better education. The problem the unemployed dropout faces then becomes painfully clear. He is trapped in an impossible situation. First, he is unable to qualify for the skilled jobs that are open, and second, the supply of unskilled jobs he might be able to fill is decreasing rapidly. These then are our dropouts, who compile the great tragedy of our time — youngsters who failed in high school because they couldn ' t do the work, or youth who could have done the work but wouldn ' t. They are the cruelly mixed-up teenagers with family, school, or social problems who didn ' t graduate and for whom we can ' t produce jobs. Now, when it is too late, they realize that education and training are the keys to a better future. All of them are uneducated, unemployed and unhappy. This statement is as true now as when Thomas- Jefferson said: — If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, it expects what never was and never will be . Gloria Kolker

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But today, Seen through glasses dark with age and knowledge, Dull hues appear Where once bright colours were. And confines of society Rule my life, Keeping my path Narrow and restricted. No more will joy-filled days Be spent tasting the freedom of youth, For that was Yesterday. Dan Johnson FOR WE ARE YOUNG Our joys are few Our tears are many We commit sins And know it not. For we are young And our world Reels Before us; large and open and frightening. For we are young And time defeats time — A continuous battle, not won or lost. A waging war Of many soldiers; us And few guns Oh time of War, we cry Oh time of Peace. What is Peace? What is War? We know not. What can we do? Nothing, For we are young. Barbara Kuehl LAST ACT OF RAMSHAM VOICES: Goodness gracious, look. Something must be done! Yes, yes, it must be done. Come along then, easy does it. I wonder why? That is certainly not the point, it must be done. We must keep it up. After all, the Status O ' uo - There he is. What is he doing? Oh, nothing. Thinking and reading, and stuff. What? Did I see? Never. Were? Let ' s go! VOICES: Bring the Parochial! Push him in! He doesn ' t fit. Rubbish, everybody fits. It ' s your imagination. There, you — it ' s your imagination because I say it is. He ' s still stuck on the edge. He cannot fall through. Oh, well, it is obvious he is stubborn — rather fleshy or something. Let ' s all push together, something will give way. Push, Push, (pinch), PUNCH! It ' s no use. He ' s still sitting there. What is he up to? Nothing — I don ' t see see anything. He ' s frozen, it seems. STERILIZE! It doesn ' t work. LIE. Keep trying. HE: I am unable to be involved! VOICES: I heard a noise. I didn ' t. Neither did I. IN UNISON: We hear nothing. HE: Where ' s the challenge! VOICES: This is intolerable. He must fall through — it ' s what ' s done. That ' s the way it is. It ' s good for the soul. He will! Jump on him. Crush! Squash! Knock! He hasn ' t budged. I know. He is holidng on with his hands. That ' s cheating. He ' s a fake! Well, why not? That ' s it! Oh, I am so clever. Knock! Bash! Hit Crush! HE: Rack yours, not mine . VOICES: A slacker, that ' s what. Does things he shouldn ' t — shocking things. Look, he ' s dripping! Sen- sitive one, ain ' t he? A VOICE: He is brilliant. VOICES: Did you hear that? Yes. It means: He seems obviously conceited and has an intense persecution complex, is paranoid, and suffers from neurosis. Poor boy. I wonder why? He must go through the Parochial. Jump! Jump! Squash! Bash! Gush. He can ' t strain through — a matter of fit. Too big? I don ' t think so. Some sort of disgusting broadness, an energy or capacity, hard to tell. But reason is not important. Kick! HE: Stop! Stop! (noises again) VOICES: He sees a lot, you know. I. Gulp. What? Yes. IN UNISON: We all have to do thing we don ' t like t do — so there Bash! Kick! Squash! Tell him. Never mind. What mind? Keep going, the usual way. How about the Proverbial Lollypop? Makes him sick. Shock! Fool! HE: Let me go — a note to the wise, a plea to the ignorant. VOICES: Thinks he ' s Moses. Ha! Ha! Ha! Kick! Good joke. Thank you. THEY WOULD NOT TRIP OVER THEIR SAGE BEARDS. HOW RIGHT THEY ALWAYS ARE! 43

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SECOND PRIZE THE EVILS OF MATERIALISM The trouble with our modern society is that a man ' s acceptance and success is measured in money. The fact that this is the criterion in the western world leads man to steal, lie, cheat, rob and murder in order to achieve this level of acceptance. What has happened? Where did man fail? What went wrong? Why is it that when you talk of a friend you are asked what kind of a job he has, how much education? People are not interested in his intelligence or his wel- fare; they simply want to know his economic, and in a way, social status. Why is it that the criterion of success isn ' t a life you find challenging, a job you get satisfaction from, people, friends that you make happy and make you happy in return, but a split-level house, two-car garage, a good address, one or two latest model, chromiest cars, a private school for your children and wall-to-wall carpets? What has happened to change the values of society into those where security no longer means the assurance that you are loved and cared for, but that you are loaded down with Life, Health, Car, Liability Insurance and every other kind of financial security that can be imagined? Was man always this materialistic? Did he always pui such an inflated value an money? Perhaps there was a time when man ' s truest enjoyment came from nature and .fellow man, but in this modern age I see so many people taking refuge in the premise that materialism brings happiness. How much happiness can you derive from a thing ? No matter how many clothes, cars, jewel-encrusted goblets and Eiffel Towers you possess, they are still only things . They don ' t grow, breathe, live, change, respond. And common to all things , the pleasure and happiness you get from them will dwindle and thoughts of more exciting and beautiful things will fill your mind. So many young people are disillusioned by the pros- pects of materialism. When I ask students their ambitions, the answer invariably is fame and fortune , wealth and happiness money and success , or some variation. Little do they understand that money will not lead to happiness, but au contraire will lead to frustration and unhappiness because they will be up to their necks in payments for things that have long since lost their ability to please, and which they couldn ' t afford to begin with. Materialism is a trap into which the unwary and unhappy too often fall. Lured by the vain promises that materialism will be a means to their opal of happiness, success or recognition, they find that it is an end in itself, an end from which there is no escaping. Mary Louise Holubek CAN MONEY MEASURE SUCCESS? Can money measure success? This question raises another query — what is success ? The dictionary defines it as a termination of affairs; attainment of an object according to one ' s desires, now often with parti- cular reference to wealth or position . Immediately the question of money arises. The origin of the word money is of special interest in this case. It was named after a special power of the goddess Juno and meant warning . Indeed, today money is worshipped as a goddess was in ancient times. Does the majority of people in the world strive primarily for material wealth? Unfortunately it does. Therefore once one has earned a considerable amount of money, success has been attained. From the point of view of a person who works seeking emotional satisfaction, money definitely is not a measure of success. To this individual, only the extent of his own sense of fulfillment and humanity ' s appre- ciation determine the degree of his success. This person is often financially poorer than his opposite, since he will take any job at any salary if he feels that he can do it well and benefit mankind by his efforts. By defini- tion he is successful since he has achieved his goal, al- though his family may starve in sufferance of his beliefs. Thus opinions are in conflict. I do not believe it is right to generalize in this situation. Rather, upon consider- ing both points of view, one must agree that the solution to the question lies within the individual, depending on his goal in life. This conclusion is based on the assumption that success can be measured. I feel that since success is abstract it cannot be reckoned. Does a smile gauge happiness? There can be joy without a smile and a smile without joy. The same principal applies to the validity of money as a measurement of success. Sheila Chaplin THOUGHTS ON THE FILM OUR UNIVERSE Deep, vast, empty. These were the impressions which swept over me upon viewing Our Universe . The idea of space being endless in depth sent a shiver through me, as I saw the vast emptiness and loneliness of space. Amazement was my second reaction as I saw the wonders of the sun. The film showed how the sun, by constant nuclear explosions, sends out rays to the earth 45