Scituate High School - Chimes Yearbook (Scituate, MA)

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22 CHIMES raduatU lion Emily Whittaker, ' 45 ' HE problems which follow graduation are many, and the graduates of the class of 1945 have more than usual to overcome. The boys in our class can ' t plan their future definitely because they don ' t know whether or not they are going into the service. Some of the boys who are graduating this year are not old enough at the present time to enlist. These boys who are planning on going to school, college or some kind of trade school will just get started when they may be taken out to go into the service. The boys who are old enough usually find that it is a few months before they knowt whether or not they have passed their physical examination. Those who do pass have to wait several months before they are called. In the meantime it seems hardly reasonable to plan to go to college. Those who do start college will be inducted when of age, and will not know whether they will be in the service one year or four or five years. Of course there are a great many boys who will learn a trade in the service and will continue in that line when they get out. The boys who have reached the draft age and can not get into some branch of the service will have the same opportunities as the girls to ob- tain positions that pay high wages. This seems to be one of the most perplexing problems that confront us. Should we accept the highly-paid positions which are now available and take the chance of keeping them? Or should we spend a few more years on education? We must take into consideration the fact that if we do go to school the positions now obtainable may be pay- ing lower wages when we get out. These prob- lems remain unsolved in our minds. Are we sup- posed to be able to cope with them? For a few students, on the other hand, the future is quite clear. They have made up their minds what they want to do and they are all prepared to go to college and start their life in some line or profession. In spite of these problems confronting most of us, there are many opportunities ahead. In the post-war world there will be reconstruction problems which will demand our best talents. After graduating we will be ready and willing to do our part in the great world. On oCiLerai diicaL ion Richard Hands, ' 45 NURING the past few years there has been JL an increasing desire to drop the culture of a liberal education and force upon the stu- dent a vocational education that would make him virtually a slave. For decades the only type of education offered was a classical education. After pupils com- pleted such a course they would often be as tm- fitted for work as when they commenced to study. This condition brought about an educa- tional theory, that each person should be trained for one particular job, and that cultural back- ground should be absolutely disregarded. This system gave to individuals of inferior mental ca- pacity a chance to obtain steady jobs at good pay. On the other hand it forced upon those of superior intelligence the status of an ordinary cog in a machine. The basic plan used by the dictators of ancient and modern history was to keep all of their subjects so ill-informed that the populace would not realize there was any reason for discontent. These dictators not only encouraged, but even enforced vocational education and forbade the teaching of a liberal education because they did not wish their citizens to realize that they were, in reality, slaves. In the educational system of many countries there is no such thing as a liberal education. The rulers do not wish the masses to become informed about facts of history and economics. They know too well the disaster that would result if the populace became aware of existing conditions. From this brief summary we may conclude that if we are to completely abolish the liberal education and establish in its place vocational training, then we will become like these other states.

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CHIMES 21 EDITORIALS Room 3o. U -Att Tom Macy, ' 45 yg HEN we take leave of our alma mater, 11 we shall have much to hope for and much to do. Ahead is the brightest horizon that men of this generation can look forward: to, a fut ure which many people have been anticipat- ing for a long time. It would be an almost un- forgivable crime for America and the rest of the peace-loving countries if we should allow this opportunity for world peace to slip away. America should not only take the initiative in post-war reconstruction, but also be influential in setting the pace of the post-war world. An eager world awaits the coming of the uni- versal peace, and the world-wide enforcing body which will insure it. The important thing is that the organization which the peace-loving countries set up, should be so derived that the political importance of the country would be subordinated for the benefit of the world. This step toward an arbitration group of combined forces has, perhaps, been attempted before; but this time it must be made boldly, not with fiery words, but with exemplary action. It must be well planned and faithfully executed by the best minds from every peace-loving country, which truly represent a cross-section of the country ' s wealth and interests. To say that war is going to cease on the face of the earth would be an over- statement. Perhaps wars are inevitable for a long time to come. War, perhaps our greatest enemy, is a thing of our own making. We have put criminals in the places where they belong, and have found the secret of control for many diseases. It is time that wars should be resorted to only for peace enforcement. A world of in- dividuals must unite for the welfare of all. To have a friend, one must be one. This is as tn.ic of countries as it is of individuals. That the money we have spent in the prosecution of the war could have been spent more rewardingly for increased travel and improved diplomatic re- lations is a fact worthy of note. The citizens of a country must know their neighbors. For in the final analysis the fate of a nation is decided by its people. The lives of us, who are young, will really begin when the war is over. Today ' s youth is working and thinking in the present of goals for the future. Ahead we can see happy people liv- ing rich and well-rounded lives in the simple at- mosphere of progress. There will be plenty of jobs, good jobs, and education for all who want it. Science will become the tool of the common man; and for all who seek it, there will be ad- venture, adventure in new horizons. Yes, there is plenty of room in this old world yet. There is room for everybody.

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CHIMES 23 Neither can we abolish vocational education, for if we did, many would not be interested in school and hence they would remain practically uneducated. We must allow matters to continue as they have in the past, with a liberal education for those who wish to gain background and cul- ture, and vocational education for those who wish merely to make a living. This is the only course we may take if we profess to any semblance of a true democracy. MY HOME Joan MacDonalo, ' 48 The white sand of the beaches, The blue dome of the sky. The wheeling, screeching sea-gulls. The swift ships passing by — This is my home and haven. This is the place I adore, Close to the bed of the ocean, Near to the sky and the shore. Life ' s long and dreary labors With beauty, seem to fade. When the sun sinks from the heavens To the ocean nature made. Now the fisherman ' s day is over. Now they wearily come to rest, ' Tis then I see the beauty Of this land I love the best. THE OLD DESK Annelaine Limper, ' 47 Linda Blake knelt down on the damp earth and shoved her hands into the warm moist dirt, picked up handfuls of it, and rubbed it between her fingertips. She had been stricken with a severe case of spring fever and was planning her garden in her mind. Suddenly Linda jumped up and started running toward the house. She thought, This is a wonderful day to clean out that old desk in the attic. Stopping halfway to the little, weatherbeaten. Cape Cod structure, she turned to survey her small domain. A gentle spring wind fluttered the new leaves on the two gnarled, old apple trees and tossed a few fluffy white clouds around in the otherwise-unclouded azure sky. Linda shook back a lock of long, wavy, auburn hair and breathed a deep sigh of contentment. At that moment a little girl clambered over the ivy-covered wall and ran toward Linda. Hello there, Natalie, Linda said to the dark- haired, dark-eyed little nymph of seven. Hello, Linda, Natalie replied, I think you make yummy cookies. Natalie was very quick about coming to the point. Well, it just happens that I made a batch of sugar cookies this morning. I had a feeling that I might have callers, Linda announced, as she took the little girl ' s hand. In the kitchen, she offered Natalie the well-stocked cookie jar, which was quickly relieved of half its contents. Linda remembered that she had started to the house with a definite purpose in mind and sug- gested to Natalie, Wouldn ' t you Hke to come upstairs and help me explore an old desk? They climbed the steep stairs to the little attic, Natalie carrying two fistfuls of cookies and Linda, a small gold key. Linda seemed as eager as a young girl; and Natalie, being a young, young girl, was naturally ready for exploring. Linda opened two dormer windows to let in light and fresh air. Then she ran over to a beautiful, antique cherry desk. The dust-covered desk had been in her family for four generations and had four deep drawers and numerous in- triguing cubby holes. Linda opened the cover of the desk to disclose yellowed documents, old photographs, and a fat bunch of letters tied with faded blue ribbon. She ignored the photographs and old papers; the letters were apparently of more interest. Natalie, sticking close to her side, inquired, Who are all those old letters from? Linda, with a wistful smile on her face, said, Oh, someone I used to know a long time ago. Linda realized that Natalie wouldn ' t be inter- ested in all those old letters and showed the little girl a trunk filled with old-fashioned wooden toys, rag dolls, and a wealth of doll clothes that would delight any small girl. Na- talie immediately became absorbed with the trunk and its contents and Linda returned to the letters. As she untied the worn blue ribbon, a faint smell of lavender arose. Linda laughed to her- self and extracted a fragrant sachet from among the envelopes. She thought to herself, Weren ' t high school seniors silly, though? After ten years, one would think I ' d have a little more sense. But here I am, poring over David ' s letters and getting as much pleasure out of them now as when I received them. Linda started the first letter. She continued to read for a while, then let the paper drop to her lap while she reminisced. She had gone with David all through high school and many years after that. Delving through a drawer, she found her memory book. As she opened it, a few, dried-up, brown gardenia petals slipped out. Linda looked through the book, at old dance