Selwyn House School - Yearbook (Montreal, Quebec Canada)

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FOR THE SCHOOL YEAR 1967-1968 25 deb at ' ng At a preliminary meeting the following officers were elected: President: Peter Hadekel Vice-President: Robert Seely Secretary: Brandon Ayre Treasurer: Gregory Sheppard Time-Keeper: Edward Pitula House Debates - first round: Resolve that religious dogma promotes evil. Affirmative: - Lucas House - Robert Seely, Jeremy Clark Negative: - Macaulay House - John Despic, Edward Pitula Resolve that marriage is an obsolescence . Affirmative: - Wanstall House - Brandon Ayre, Gregory Sheppard Negative: - Speirs House - Danny Delmar, Peter Hadel-cel Mr. Hill judged Lucas and Speirs to be the winners. House Debates - second round: Resolve that capital punishment should be abolished. Affirmative: - Speirs House - Eric Hamovitch, Mark Lazar Negative: - Macaulay House - John Despic, Edward Pitula. Resolve that the United Nations has outlived its usefulness . Affirmative: Lucas House - Robert Seely, Jeremy Clark Negative: Wanstall House - Brandon Ayre, Gregory Sheppard Mr. Moodey and Mr. Hill judged Speirs and Lucas to be the winners. House Debates - third round lfinali: Resolve that the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggle. Affirmative: - Speirs House - Danny Delmar, Peter Hadekel Negative: - Lucas House - Robert Seely, Jeremy Clark Mr. Hill and Mr. Martin judged Speirs to be the winner, and Speirs carried off the debating cup for this year. P. H.

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24 SELWYN HOUSE SCHOOL MAGAZINE In approaching Las Vegas, we saw for the first time the particular beauty of the desert. Two shows - The James Brown Revue, and the comedian Buddy Hackett, proved an enjoyable and worthwhile experience. From Las Vegas, we drove thirty-five miles to Lake Meade, created by the Hoover Dam, which we also visited. lt was desert country, and during the day we enjoyed a swim in the Lake. In the evening it cooled off, and the park ranger told us it was one of the coolest nights - the temperature dropped all the way to 98 degrees. Under these conditions, sleep was virtually impos- sible, and we broke camp at three o'clock in the morning in order to take advantage of the coolness as we drove to the Grand Canyon. As was said before, the desert has a unique beauty. It is, on one hand, a vast, barren area, but on the other, a source of infinite attraction. The colours and shapes of the various rock formations one would think an impos- sibility without seeing them. It seemed miraculous that one river could create such a masterpiece, as the famed Canyon. In the Grand Canyon National Park, we relearned a valuable lesson: the importance of making a trench around our tent. Our initial scratch in the earth was totally inadequate to contain the deluge. Mr. Ashworth, Steven and .lohn attempted Cin vaini to protect the tent by constructing a series of dams of earth, stones and twigs. Ut seems that the Hoover dam had not taught us that much.l Enroute to Oklahoma City via the famed route 66 we toured a meteor crater, and also drove through the Painted Desert at sunset - one of our most memorable sights. From Hot Springs we went to Natchez State Park in Mississipi, and onto New Orleans. The drive from Oklahoma City to New Orleans revealed much poverty. Many areas, referred to as towns or cities on the signs and road maps, were no more than collections of squalid shacks. Frequently, from among the filthy grey structures, large, well-groomed houses arose. ln this area, prison gangs still work in the cotton fields. New Orleans: the home of the Mardi Gras, Dixieland jazz and the French Quarter. The French Quarter, Bourbon Street, and the sidewalk cafes gave us a sampling of the famous rhythmn of this southern city. Outside Baton Rouge, we visited Michoud, a N.A.S.A. area, where the first stage of Saturn I and Saturn V rockets are constructed, and then shipped to Cape Kennedy. The tour was highly informative, and made us all the more eager to see the Cape. After one day on Daytona Beach, we toured the launching sites at Camp Kennedy - a thrilling insight into the Space Age. In Saint Augustine, we discovered the strong Spanish influence in this oldest city in North America, as well as visiting Ripley's Believe-lt-Or-Not Museum, and an alligator farm. We were now heading back to Montreal a little earlier than planned. ln Washington, we visited the federal area, and saw, of course, The White House, the Capitol, the Washington Monument, and the grave of President Kennedy. From Washington, we headed northward to Mr. Burgess' country place on Lake Champlain, and finally arrived in Montreal. The trip had been a tremendous undertaking, and was a great success. There were disputes, but these were natural, and did not detract from the overall value of such an excursion. Our reward was the possession of personal knowledge of people and places which is irreplaceable. We had seen and done things we may never have the opportunity to do againp it was a living educa- tion, and this is what is remembered about Centennial '67.

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26 SELWYN HOUSE SCHOOL MAGAZINE Public Speaking Doctor S. Penton, Headmaster of Lower Canada College, kindly iudged the speeches this year and awarded first prize to Gregory Sheppard for his amusing, witty, and well delivered talk A Poem of Protest. Second prize went to Mark Lazar for his speech on Air Polution. Other speakers were: Peter Hadekel on French Canada and Confederation. Danny Delmar on Hippies - The Dissident Minority. Robert Seely on Nobody in Particular. Gregory Sheppard is to be congratulated on also winning the Westmount Rotary Public Speaking Contest. A Poem of Protest IThe Winning Speechj This morning I am going to devote my time and attention to an analysis of a well know poem, and I hope to show you that there is in this poem, a deep social significance and a strong protest against oppression. One should not be deceived by the apparent superficial simplicity of the poem, which I will read to you in a moment. The poet has been at pains to clothe his revolutionary message in the outward trappings of artless and simple rhyme. Often in this world of atomic weapons and computors, we are apt to overlook the wise and meaningful verses of yesteryear. The poem - you all know it - has been passed from generation to generation, in trouble and in happiness, in feast and in famine, in war and in peace. Baa baa black sheep Have you any wool? Yes sir, yes sir, Three bags full. One for my master, One for my dame, And one for the little boy Who lives down the lane. Let us examine this poem line by line, let us see once and for all, what that long gone poet meant to tell us, with subtlety and conclusively. This poem is of course as you will undoubtedly have realised by now, about the plight of the oppressed negro slave in the Southern States of America. Line I - Baa baa black sheep Here the rich white landowner is addressing his negro slave, portrayed cleverly in this poem by the black sheep. It must be remembered that the poet did not wish to openly cry out in support of the negro, but was forced from fear of censorship to clothe his poem in this clever disguise. Line 2 - Have you any wool? He says . . . have you any wool . . . not please have you any wool, or can I buy your wool, no, this is an order, . .. give me that wool . . .!!! Here a debatable point is raised when many critics argue... This poem could not be about the plight of the Southern American Negro, because no sheep are raised there.