University of Alberta - Evergreen and Gold Yearbook (Edmonton, Alberta Canada)

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.TTHE GREAT NORTH TRAIL Symbol of New Life Growth is characteristic of life. Even an adult organism constantly renews its tissues, sloughing off those which have lost their usefulness. A state or an organized society must also grow and expand and renew, if it is to maintain its vitality. To say we have reached the last frontier is tantamount to saying our life has finished its course. If external boundaries cannot be pushed back, then we must look within for opportuni- ties to grow, e.g., in social justice and security, in cultural amenities, in responsible citizenship. But it helps to have a stimulus from without, and this is now being supplied to this western country in the building of that great north trail, the Alaska Highway. The Year Book staff are to be congratulated upon selecting the new highway as the central theme of this year's issue, as it is a symbol of new life for this country, and particularly for Alberta. Since the begin- ning of history, trade has moved in Cast-West channels. Though most of the industrial world lay in the northern hemisphere, the short route between great trading centres across the north polar region was barred by great undeveloped spaces and rigorous climatic conditions. Now at fast man has developed the tools and initiative to surmount this barrier. The realization of this came dramatically when Mr. Wendell Willkie arrived in Edmonton a day or two after visiting Chungking. He himself was impelled to say. There are no distant places any more . With north-south added to east-west traffic, Alberta suddenly finds herself at one of the great cross- roads of the world. We must be prepared to handle converging streams of humanity and goods. These streams. like the waters of the Nile, should quicken and enrich our life, provided we sow and reap and cultivate in season. just as the building of the transcontinental railways gave the East a hinterland many years ago, so the Alaska Highway gives the West in its turn a hinterland. The railways ushered in an era of industrial expan- sion for the East, under the necessity of supplying the West with manufactured goods. Now we have the same opportunity and responsibility for supplying our new North. Nature has been bountiful in providing the Athabaska tar sands and the Norman oil field in reasonable proximity to the new highway. Nature has also placed the mineral wealth of the Precambrian Shield in con- tiguity with the agricultural wealth of the plains. Every kind of trained man which the University produces will be needed for the great new enterprise of developing our hinterland and its base of supply. At the moment we must bend all our effort to winning the war, but northern development deserves a foremost place in our post-war plans. Symbolic of the new and more vital era before us is the association of Americans and Canadians in building the highway, the former taking chief responsibility for the motor road, and the latter for the airway. Distance has lost most of its old significanceg it is no longer an effective barrier to trade or com- munication. Whether they recognize it or not, children of this generation are growing up to be world citizens. The first and most normal step in the promotion of world citizenship is a closer association nf the English-speaking peoples. Canada is the natural link between the two great divisions, British and American. It is certain that Anglo-American wartime co-operation must be continued in peacetime, if the peace is to endure. Common interests, bonds of friendship and of commerce, developed through the Alaska Highway, will act as a powerful cement to this association. We may trust the clear, fresh northern breezes to blow away many of the stuffy littlenesses which keep us apart, and to create an atmosphere in which all men may breathe freely. just a word to the graduates of 1943: Your stay at the University has fallen in a period when great emphasis has been placed upon technical studies. Do not forget that man does not live by bread alone. If the humanities have been temporarily eclipsed by the rude necessities of war, they still represent the lasting values in education. I hope you have acquired a taste for history and biography, literature and philosophy, and will continue to read independently. Then, even if you are unable to resolve all the problems of the world, at least you will learn to understand them. Cf d-bye. Win the war. Then set your course again by the northern star. Il. i i ...Q-' :Q ,jig ' V ' , ,' ' -gl'-x A A ' t . Lis, 5: ,v I - 4 YV W ' 0 Y- ' :Ju , ,F .4 .-fp ,,. A- N P Agp . If , h grit - 'VX X .la , ' ' 'N 1' ge V ' - 4 f -' XL Lrlls S-, -ga gg.,',.. U . - ,, Y N A 4' Q . f - e February 1, 1943 'fi 4 PRESIDENT.

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PRESIDENT ROBERT NEWTON, M.c., B.s.A., 1v1.sc., RH.D., n.sc., r.R.s.c. PRESIDENT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA

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XsW ' S 5 - M MIX,-X, G. M. SMITH Dean of Arts and Sciences I g ,ff Bling M. M. MACINTYRE Dr. OVVER Dean of Law Acting Dean of Med icinc