Selwyn House School - Yearbook (Montreal, Quebec Canada)

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FOR THE SCHOOL YEAR 1967-1968 27 However, I am glad to say Petrofsky the well known Soviet Psycholo- gist, quells most arguments when he says, and I quote, Presvetof nichania borevitch comistye trevidof which when freely translated reads The poet used wool instead of cotton as the produce, because cotton would not fit the rhyme, and also because when the poet discovered that in fact sheep were not raised in the Southern States, he had already written the poem. Line 3 - Let us return Yes, sir, yes sir The oppressed negro humbly replies yes sir he knows that he has to say Sir or face whipping or even worse, a white washing. Line 4 - Three bags full Here one can see very clearly how hard the negro slave has toiled to produce three whole, full bags of wool. You might think that three bags is not a particularly large amount of wool, and it is to you doubters that I address my next sentence. These bags were not small shopping bags, or even the size of coal bags, no, they were larger still. Great Big Large Bags of Wool . Line 5 - One for my master, one for my dame The negro slave is forced to give one bag to his master and one bag to his master's wife, what loyalty and humbleness exists in the mind of this slave. Now the poor negro slave after so much toil has only one bag left, what does he do with the last bag? Listen carefully to his touching episode, he gives it to the little boy who lives down the lane. He gives away his last bag of wool. This is very moving, we were not told anything about this boy, whether he was rich or poor, whether he was a good boy or a bad boy, and most important, whether he was black or white. ln conclusion, let me leave you with this beautiful quotation of Bas- quali iwhose name is well known for his profound critique of Goosey, Goosey Ganderl. Basquali said of this masterpiece of poetic subtlety, and I quote The snail moves slowly, but he cannot be crushed by the butterfly . Gregory E. SHEPPARD Air Pollution CAwarded 2nd Prizel Take a good look at the person on your right, now, take a good look at the person on your left. In 'IO years, one decade, I of the 3 of you will have em h sema. Em h sema? A disease causing the lungs to lose their ox gen P Y P Y Y absorbing capabilities, forcing a person to breath harder, but retain less oxygen. Man's malignant gift to himself, air pollution, is the T60 million tons of waste matter which is dumped into our atmosphere annually by North Americans. This huge amount of airborn matter is almost entirely the generous contribution of our booming industries. The chimneys of factories profusely belch huge amounts of dense acrid black smoke into the air each day. Until recently, the poisoning of our atmosphere was recognized by obscure beaureaucratic government agencies, but little else was done.

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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.

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28 SELWYN HOUSE SCHOOL MAGAZINE At some time during the past year almost every part of the country was, for a time, enveloped in a stagnant choking filthy air. As is the usual case when a public hazard is given enough publicity las with cigarettes and cancerl a type of panic broke loose. People suddenly became afraid to breath when the weatherman said some infallible count was over a certain level. Garden clubs and PTA's had lectures on Air Pollution. The Canadian and American Governments set up Air Pollution commissions, and the Ford Foundation awarded grants to people to find ways to alleviate the deplorable condition of our atmosphere. Literally mountains of literature were produced dealing with this phase of our self-destruction. In the early part of December 1952, 400 people died within 5 days due to the now famous 'killer fog' of London, which has been recorded as the greatest Air Pollution disaster in history, while in 1963 it was reported that 647 more deaths than normal were attributed to air pollution. In future, the husband will say to his wife, Let's go inside for a breath of fresh air. A nearly unbelievable effect of air pollution is that it can drastically change the character of our planet. Smoke and exhaust fumes expelled into the atmosphere increase the carbon dioxide content, which in turn increases the temperature. Temperature increases have already been recorded in the northern oceans. If the water tmperature should consistently rise, the polar icecaps would eventually melt and flood our coastlines, thus changing the faces of our continents. This will take many years and be the result of great stupid recklessness, however, the extinction of many formerly great animal species is sufficient testimony of man's capabilities to skillfully do the unintelligent. Polluted air can also wreck havoc upon vegetation. Some plants are resistant to pollution, others are quite sensitive, however, one may be quite sure that none but the hardiest varieties exist near sources and concentrations of polluted air. The sulphur dioxide content in pollution combines with the air to form sulphuric acid, which ruins textiles, and surprisingly, women's nylon stockings. Man's history is a proud one. He has risen from the caves of the neanderthal to the skyscrapers of the modern. That climb, however, has been a costly one, for with each step man has taken in recent decades, he has literally choked himself. That which we call modern progress has produced a iungle of smoke spewing towers, inhabited by machines which exhale their own deadly venom. Before the poison of pollution reduces us to vegetables, we must find a solution to this nemesis, and put our theory to work before the damage is irreparable. Mark LAZAR Career Talks Several career talks have been given this year, and our thanks go to those prominent men who have so freely given of their time to address forms VI and VII on their respective careers, and to Mr. Iversen who capably arranged the series of talks. Mr. D. C. Tennant discussed aviation and the growing opportunities in this field, and told us about the progress and positions available in his com- pany, Air Canada.