Stoneham High School - Wildlife Yearbook (Stoneham, MA)

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improved equipment, and more scienti fic methods of treatment have brought about almost unbelievable results. More people have become health-minded be- cause they have been making more money. This has caused a great strain on the various medical in- stitutions. Many advances have been made because of the war. In order to treat all these patients, new and faster methods had to be found. In comparing the mortality rates of the first world war and the second, it is found that a great improvement has been made. Ninety-six per cent of the war casualties of this war returned to action, larg- ely because of the finding out of more about blood plasma. This is an astounding record. Today people generally are living longer than they used to. The infant mortality rate is much lower than ever be- fore. Some diseases than were once considered in- curable are now curable. Medical treatment is easier for the poorer people to secure. Many owe their lives to research which has made it possible to combat diseases with new, fast-acting drugs. Penicillin, used to allay infection, is now al- most routine treatment in all hospitals. Streptomy- cin, a much newer drug, also counteracts infection. The army and navy made frequent use of sulfa drugs. The government is building some fine hospitals and setting a good example to the communities. The hospitalization of veterans is going to be a problem that will be before the public for many years to come. Psychosomatic medicine is being needed more every day. The number of veterans that need this type of care is increasing all the time. Lately many civilians have also been requiring this treatment. Medicine has advanced to the stage where every phy- sician has to have a psychosomatic point of view. In consideration of all these problems, the grad- uate of today can find many places in the world of science into which he can fit himself. Some of us will have part in the practical application of these new developments. Others will step into the research laboratories and continue the work already started. Still others will work into the administrative posit- ions open in all these fields. All of today’s graduates, however, will not be interested in science as a career. The opportunities in business for an ambitious young man are unlim- ited. Opportunities increase in direct proportion as knowledge increases. The only people who make satisfactory use of their opportunities are those who are willing to work for them. Some people never hear opportunity knocking because they are too busy knocking the other fellow. Opportunities have been abundant for every generation, but just notice how few people make use of them. To put it in a simp- ler way — if we can serve each other, or make life more comfortable or pleasurable, we have found an opportunity. “Take advantage of the little oppor- tunities and you won ' t need to wait for a big one.’’ Business today wants people who are willing to work. It wants people who are willing to cooper- ate. It wants people who are willing to follow in- structions. Most people never stop to think that an employer has to make money on them; otherwise there would be no point in hiring them. An employ- ee has to make money for the institution or com- pany for which he is working. If more people would realize this and try to make as much profit for their employers, they would probably get that raise without any trouble and maybe without asking for it. The world is too full of time-servers — or per- haps you call them clock-watchers. From the time they arrive at work in the morning they start watch- ing the clock. This causes time to drag and leads to grumbling. Soon all kinds of troubles arise in the person’s mind. Fault-finding follows. There is a saying that goes, “Happiness is that peculiar sensation which you acquire when you are too busy to be miserable.” It seems that some persons work only when they are being watched. Another saying reads, “Some are bent with toil and some get crook- ed trying to avoid it. Sometimes it seems that the world has advanced faster than man’s character. One way to eliminate clock-watching is to do something that we like or are interested in. If the work is worth while, one can afford to work his fingers off for it; if it isn’t, forget it.” People today are afraid of doing more than their allotted work. Life is too easy for them and they don ' t see any point in working. They are too afraid of doing anything that someone else is being paid to do. As one business manager says, “The fear of doing something that someone else is being paid to do, has prevented many people from being paid more for what they are now doing. People aren’t careful enough of the little things. Man never reaches his highest efficiency until he loves his work more than he loves his pay-envelope. Big jobs usu- ally go to the men who prove their ability to outgrow the smaller jobs. Here’s something that was written by Senator Arthur Capper about a man’s job: “A man’s job is his best friend. It clothes and feeds his wife and children, pays the rent and supplies them with the wherewithal to develop and become cultivated. The least a man can do in return is love his job. A man’s job is grateful. It is like a little garden that thrives on love. It will one day flower into fruit worth while, for him and his to enjoy. If you ask any successful man the reason for his making good, he will tell you it is because he likes his work; indeed he loves it. The attitude toward work of the average person today is not too different from that of years past. Many of you are familiar with the letter written by [ 26 ]

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NEW HORIZONS FOR TODAY ' S YOUTH Qraduation c4ddre33 The youth of tolay are faced by problems far more complex than ever before; and although these problems are balanced by increased advantages, these very advantages have been responsible for many com- plications. For example, the opportunity of acquir- ing a higher education has been welcomed by such a large number of young men and women that the colleges and universities have been unable to expand their facilities in proportion to the need for them. The world also is finding it hard to adjust itself to the rapid increase of sicentific knowledge. The ques- tion of atomic energy alone will require years of re- search before its possibilities are even touched. Ad- vances in medicine and surgery have gone ahead faster than most community hospitals could keep up. Many of these hospitals are still under-staifed and under-equipped, and are further handicapped by in- sufficient funds. In the business world, unions have done much to help labor; on the other hand, strikes, called by unions, have crippled industry. With the solutions to all these problems yet to be found, truly it can be said that great opportunities await the youth of today. Some of the most noticeable advances during the last ten years have been made in the lield of phy- sics. Probably the development which has caused most interest is the discovery of atomic energy. Al- though atomic energy has been used largely as a wea- pon, many experiments are being carried on to find peacetime uses for it. Some scientists say this energy can be used as fuel to drive machinery and heat homes. Science is now trying to use this energy to change substances to artificial radio-active carbon and phosporous for the study and control of cancer. It will be the youth of today who will make the discov- eries of tomorrow. Jet-propulsion, which was first put into practical use during this war, has many possibilities for peace- time developments. Rapid transit will benefit great- ly from this conversion. Jet-propulsion has been re- sponsible for the great speeds which airplanes have been able to attain. It has also had much to do with the large amount of work done on rockets. Inventors believe there is a possibility of using jet propulsion to supply the power to drive boats and automobiles. Radar, another recent discovery, has been an in- valuable aid to both military and commercial planes and ships. With radar, flights have been possible that would ordinarily have been cancelled. Ships have been protected from collisions and have been guided through bad weather. Today the army and navy are training many people in the use of radar. When these people return to civilian life, they can do much to make this world of ours a little more safe. If the time ever comes that the world can con- centrate on peace-time production, radar will play a very important part. As time goes on, all these new developments cannot help but make this world immeasurably smaller. The field of chemistry has made similar advan- ces, particularly in the development of plastics and synthetic materials of all kinds. We often hear the remark that the plastic age is here. Industry is an illustration of the vast number of things that are now being made of plastic. Today this new mater- ial replaces wood, glass, metal, wool, silk, bristles for brushes, and tires. There are numerous other artic- les in which plastics are used extensively. Wood has been made tougher and more durable by the addition of plastics. This wood is used for building homes and making furniture. Plastics can be molded into almost any shape or design in a sin- gle step. “As clear as glass’’ refers to transparent plastics that are used with glass or replace that mat- erial entirely. Sandwiched between layers of ordin- ary glass, this becomes “safety glass.” The three qualities -- nonshatterability, ease of molding, and lightness - have made it popular with industry. It is used to make transparent containers for medical supplies, splints for broken bones, protecting shields for injuries, windows in oxygen tents, casts, and dres- sings to help doctors see “how things are progress- ing.” So much metal was required for our enormous military program in the 1940’s that our government and our industries were forced to use other materials, one of which was plastic. Some of the automobiles made in 1942 had as many as 230 different plastic parts. The clothing industry found many new ways to substitute plastic for fabrics that were scarce. It can be manufactured into satins, velvets, moires, crepes, etc. It does not mildew and perspiration does not affect it. “As we step into the realm of plastics chemistry, one writers states, “we indeed enter a land of magic where almost anything may happen.” D. D. T. is another wonderful chemical product put to good use during this last war. This can be used to combat diseases carried on the body. Also it is used to kill insects and pests. Wet water is now a great help in fighting fires that ordinary water will not extinguish. Many new drugs have also been perfected. In years to come countless new industries will undoubtedly spring up as a result of the never- ending work of chemists. The field of medicine has also made great pro- gress in the last few years. Blood plasma, new drugs [ 25 1

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Abraham Lincoln in 1 86 1 in answer to a request from a lady for jobs for her two sons. The letter, addressed to Major Ramsey, ends with these words: “Set them at (work) if possible. Wanting to work is so rare a want that it should be encouraged.” The class of 1947 must go out with an eagerness to work. We have to go out and forget petty prej- udices and deal with principles. Only in this way can we really amount to something. We have to learn by seeing what makes others fail and profiting by their mistakes. The world will be only as good as the people who live in it make it. Unless one is a teamworker, he has little chance of succeeding. A good worker can get along with other people. One Cla33 yUemorieJ Time - 1957 Place - Stoneham High School Characters - Marge Marshall, head of the Depart- ment of English Jeannie Jackson, successful concert singer visiting the school Marge — It seems as if it were only yesterday that we were being taught in this same building. Let ' s take a tour around the building and see what past experiences we can recall. (They start at room 7 on the first floor) Jeanie — Isn’t that the room where we were taught parliamentary law? What unusual subjects we us- ed to debate! Marge — We were even going to buy a policeman’s suit and club, too. (They walk on) Jeanie — What a wonderful time we had electing our sophomore officers. When our adviser, Mr. Richardson, introduced a new way of election by nomination papers and campaign speeches, no one thought it would work out very well; but it turned out to be very successful. We were all happy to have Don Dewhurst elected president; Jack Don- aghey, vice-president; Tony Rotondo, treasurer; and Barb McGilvreay, chairman of the social com- mittee. Marge — Yes, and that was also the year that Jeanne Murcell came through with flying colors at the Boston Herald Spelling Bee finals. She won a beautiful silver cup for the school. Jeanie — Our sophomore year marked our first par- ticipation in the Carnival Ball activities. We re- ceived many compliments on the singing of our glee clubs even if it did seem as if the members would never stop coming through that little side door near the stage. How they ever managed to ar- range three hundred of us on the stage, I ' ll never business man has said. “Ninety per cent of the people who lose their jobs, do so because of a lack of ability to get along with people, not because of a lack of a- bility to do the job.” If the entire class of 1947 is to succeed and is willing to work to obtain that success, there is no end to the opportunities available. Our horizons are unlimited. Each of us should echo the thrilling words found in the diary of an American soldier who died at Chateau-Thierry : “I will work; I will save; I will sacrifice; I will endure; I will fight cheerful- ly and do my utmost, as if the whole struggle de- pended on me alone.” Walter M. Johnson know. (They start upstairs) Marge — In our sophomore year, many historical events as well as successful school affairs took place. First of all was the important conference at Yalta, the last conference that President Roose- velt attended. Then we were all saddened by the death of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Soon afterward we were electrified by the news of the surrender of Germany on V. E. Day, May 6, 1945. The conference at Potsdam ended with the plans for the division of Germany into sec- tions. Jeanie — Then came our junior year! That was a year of more substitutes than in our sophomore year. Oh, here’s the lab where we had our chem- istry class flood. Naturally, it was during 11C1 per- iod. Those faucets simply wouldn’t turn off. I had visions of a teacher strolling peacefully under one of those open windows from which we threw the water before Mr. Lund came to our rescue and shut off the water. Miss Finn ' s room was dir- ectly underneath the lab so we had a slight shower from the ceiling the next period when we went to English. (They continue, through the assembly hall.) Marge — I wonder how many rehearsals have been held in this hall? We certainly had a grand time with Miss Drago and Mr. Arkwell at glee club practice. We added some songs well worth know- ing to our repertoire through them, too. Jeanie — That was the first year we put on a Spring Concert, wasn’t it, Marge — Yes, that was a most successful affair. Weren ' t our marshals at graduation that year Jo Koprek and Ray Iverson, Jeanie — Yes. Remember the big turnout we had at our class dance that year? Let’s see — it was call- [ 2 7 ]