Tottenville High School - Purple Parrot Yearbook (Staten Island, NY)

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In Rcfrosperf ln future years our class will rememher 1950 through 1954 as the years during which our high school days were spent. Pleasant as those years were however, they will he rememhered hy future generations as a period of uncertainty throughout the worldg a period of tension when men wondered whether world peace was really possihleg hut mostly, a period of increasing hope for the future. ln spite of the great contrihutions of science, medicine and literature, those years were dominated hy the shadow of Communism and the threat of world conflict. Three months hefore we entered high school the Korean Wai' hegan. No other single event throughout our high school career had such a profound inHuence upon our lives and the lives of all peoples. The following years were filled with great anxiety as the free world wondered if it could meet the test of Communist aggression. The United Nations fought hard to win the respect of those who had condenmed it. As the world watched, the forces of the United Nations met those of Communism. Then, in June of 1951, the Russian delegate to the United Nations proposed that the Mhel- ligerentsw should hold conferences for the purpose of hringing about a cease- fire. During our sophomore and junior years these conferences continued. Finally, in July of 1953, the long awaited truce was signed. Although the most important, Korea was only one of many events that helped create world tension. The world will never forget the savage war in Tndonesia, the Berlin Crisis, the disclosures that Communists had infested our government and the discovery of thermonuclear weapons hy the United States and the Soviet Union. One must not helieve that those years were filled only with despair. On the contrary, many noteworthy events proved that the world had not aban- doned its hope for peace and that man had not lost his desire to progress. Our greatest asset in the crusade for peace was the United Nations. At the close of our high school career, the world still did not know whether the United Nations had earned a hetter fate than its predecessor. However, it did know that in its nine years of existence, the United Nations had done more to promote world peace and the general hetterment of conditions every- where than the League of Nations did in its twenty-seven years. Over- shadowed hy the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council and its agencies have hest exemplified the accomplishments of the United Nations. ln 1952 the people wanted a change in our government. The Eisenhower administration hrought new ideas and solutions to old problems. From an historical meeting at Bermuda came the idea of the pooling of atomic resources hy all nations for peaceful use. A 5'Big Four , conference was held to settle disputes over Germany and Austria. Perhaps the greatest accom- plishments, however. were from the fields of science and medicine. It seemed 34

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He startled me so that I dropped the glass on the floor, smashing it to bits, cut my linger picking it up and slipped on the freshly waxed floor as I went to get the broom and dust pan, bruising my personality in the bargain. Finally I pulled ,lunior out of the closet. You may conclude this para- graph Ior yourself as the details are too gory. A few hours later Mr. and Mrs. Kiljoy returned. Was little ,Iosah good? she asked while looking around for signs of a struggle. Hvliell he is now, I answered as I accepted my pay. I collected my things and started home with a gleam in my eye as I thought of ,lunior tied in a knot, his mouth gagged and nailed to the bedroom Wall. Itis things like this that do a woman a world oi good. Creation Once upon a windy day, As gazing ,cross a snowy field Full with the blooms of May, The dazzling horizon hit my eye And made me wonder . . . Who is it that made the birds to fly, The worms to creep, the flowers to grow? The hand of this creator Must be very sure, patiently slow. This artist with his colors bright, Brushes the shy, the sea, and land, And paints them with blues, greens, and celestial whites. And as the sun's rays shine and gleam, I know I'll never tire of this beautiful scene. B. BosLoW ELSIE BoDENscHATz P. H D. Unlimited Standing here in the front of the class, With a poetry book and yesterday's pass, She teaches us Shahespeareis Hamlet and Macbeth Or a poem about someone's inevitable death. She leads us in discussions about lie and lay, And hnows we'll forget it in only a day. HlVever use jargonfy she says to our class, H01' Till fail you, no less, as quick as a dashf' No Mrun-onsm and better not mahe uincompletes Or else your marks will certainly depletef' Through our tribulations and all of her trials, She'll be our best friend when we're on our last miles. BARBARA BosLoW 33

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remarkable that so much had been done in four short years. Medicine came closer to cures for cancer, polio and other dread diseases. Science progressed at a remarkable rate with new discoveries being made almost every day. Those years were filled with hope and promise for the future. Many years from now, as historians try to evaluate the years l95O through 1954, they may be troubled by the apparent contradictions of those years, for during them tension and uncertainty existed side by side with hope and a feeling of accomplishment. Whatever their decision, we know that never before was there such an exciting time to live-for never before was manis future so firmly in his own hands. ARTHUR POWELL T126 Lab Squad Very few students during their stay at Tottenville have ever been in the laboratory. For this group l, as an unbiased outsider, will try to make an accurate Hreportf' about the lab and its inhabitants. The little demons that work there are known as the lab boys. There are various types of these people. First there is A--. He is a tall, Mdumbl' boy who thinks that a flask is a type of ray gun, and firmly believes that bunsen burners make handy objects to throw at fellow Mlab boys. The second type of lah squader is more dangerous than Ai. Bi, that shall be his name, doesn't shout or scream but quietly mixes hydrochloric, and sulfuric acid, and when the opportunity presents itself, will slip the potent mixture into an enemy's lunch bag. Naturally, there is just the right amount to vaporize the entire contents of the bag. ln this manner our shrewd little operator slowly starves his adversary to surrender. C-, the third type of Mlab boyf, is the most dangerous of all. He doesnlt throw bunsen burners or vaporize people's lunches. His weapon is much more powerful, it's a camera! If you have ever done anything which was not altogether legal, this boy has recorded it on film. Be careful, for one day you might find your picture, in great enlargement, showing you committing the unpardonable sin of combing your hair in the cafeteria, pasted up on some wall. The question which naturally arises is, MHOW do these volatile students get on the lab squad in the first place?', lVlr. X-, supervisor of the lab squad, chooses his helpers with the greatest of care, but to no avail. Even the meekest of students becomes a dangerous fellow once he has touched a Hoffman apparatus or smelled fresh chlorine. Yet! What would happen to school life and the science department if we didn't have that little band of scientific radicals, our LAB SQUAD? CARL ORGELL 35