Woodstock Collegiate Institute - Oracle Yearbook (Woodstock, Ontario Canada)

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Revolt Of A Realist I don'l wanl lo sound like a school- leacher, bul lhe educalional syslem in lhis counlry is going all lo lhe dogs. I happened lo look inlo lhe lyping room lhe olher day and I was amazed al whal lhey were making lhose sludenls wrile. ll was some eye-wash aboul 'lhe quick brown lox iumps over lhe lazy dog'. Incredible, isn'l il, lhal a lree and enlighlened age such as ours, an age lhal has produced such marvels as lhe aeroplane, lhe alomic bomb, lhe anamorphic camera, and lhe lool-long hol-dog, can s+iII cling lo such a lanlaslic, oulmoded doclrine. Now, iusl slop a momenl. Think aboul il calmly, and in lhe cold, relenlless Iighl 'ol reason. The Board ol Educalion says lhal a quick brown lox lumped over a lazy dog. Why, il's nolhing bul a lissue of lies. Have you ever seen a quick brown lox jump over a lazy dog? You're doggoned righl you haven'l. Have you ever seen a quick brown lox? You have nol. I looked up 'lox' in lhe diclionary, and il slales plainly lhal loxes come in lhe lollowing colours only: black, red, blue, silver, and grey. No brown ones. Nol even a Iighl beige one. Nol lhal lhal makes any dil- lerence. No lox, nol even a brighl pink one wilh charcoal grey ears, is going lo wasle his lime jumping back and lorlh over a dog, lazy or no. No percenlage in il. The average lox is much more likely lo be oul knocking around wilh a bunch ol olher foxes. As lar as lhal goes, whal dog is going lo sland slill while a quick brown lox goes hopping all over him, gelling unclerlool, and generally clullering up lhe landscape. Nol mine. If I had a dog lhal didn'l have any more brains lhan lhal, I would cul him up in Ii++le pieces. Bul lhere's no use lalking aboul il. This is iusl one example. The educalional syslem loday is lull ol lhal kind ol lhing. For inslance, lhe one lhey leach kids in public school. Whal is il, now? 'Peler Piker peeked a pike of peckled . . .' Or is il, 'Peler Peeker pecked a pick ol peekled . . .' Oh, well, you know whal I mean. Doug Bale - '55 Words Expression ol lv1an's lhoughl, 'lwixl man lhe link, By which we all are laughl lo speak, lo lhinkg Made up ol symbols each wilh meaning clear, Yel laken by lhemselves, so meaningless, so dear. Words raging, healed, angry, Words spoken sollly, slill, Descriplion, aclion orders, They seem lhe world lo fill. And yel lhe world wilhoul lhem Would seem so silenl, queer. Bul peace wilhoul expression A myslery lo lear. For language is expression Of lhoughls made lree and clear Which unexpressed, are manacled Nol loosed lor all lo hear. Anonymous T01 My First Cake Il was a memorable day when ambilion suddenly seized me and I decided lo make a marvellous cake iusl like lhe one piclured in lhe magazine I had been reading. Il was such a golden opporlunily, nol even molher al home lo suggesl a simple receipe suilable lo whal she considered my abilily. How carelully I did blend lhe sugar and shorlening, and yel how lumpy il remained. For whal seemed an hour I beal and chased flying parlicles ol lhose six eggs. Each lime I silled lhe flour lhe quanlily in lhe bowl became less and lhe pile on lhe lloor more. Al lasl il was done, and I deposiled il in lhe oven wilh visions ol lhe supper lable. Never was a resl more dearly earned. Wilh a clear conscience I Iell lhe cleaning-up and read comlorlable lor lhe lwenly-live minules required lo lurn il a beaulilul golden brown. The lime being up, I proudly opened lhe oven door and-lhe cake had nol changed. A coolness made one look down-Oh Hor- rorsl I had lorgollen lo lurn lhe oven on. Phyllis Frier, I OG Seventeen

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fo amend her own consfifufion, buf fhaf has been changed, for in I949 fhe federal Parlia- menf was enabled fo pass amendmenfs affec- fing maffers wifhin fhe federal field. As yef no solufion has been reached concerning amendmenfs of fhe powers of fhe provinces. Canadian cifizenship, aparf from fhe general sfafus of Brifish subiecf, was esfab- lished in I947 as a nafural accompanimenf of nafionhood. ln fhe fhirfies, Germany was again rising as a sform cenfre, and in Sepfember, 1939, Brifain and France again wenf fo war. This fime, however, Brifain's declarafion did nof bind our more-fully grown counfry! As Mackenzie King had promised, our Cana- dian parliamenf mef fo decide fhe issue of peace or war, and for one week Canada remained neufral fo show her full sovereignfy. We Canadians saw fhaf we had fo do our share fo save fhe free and democrafic way of life in which we so firmly believe. Wifh fhe declarafion of war on Sepfember IO, I939, Canada really came of age in world affairs. The Firsf World War had leff us a vigorous indusfrial counfryg fhe second made us fourfh in world imporfance. During fhe war we carried ouf our own Lend-Lease sysfem 'of supplying war maferials worfh four billion dollars fo our allies under fhe name of Mufual Aid. Canada had gained much experience in world affairs, and since fhe war, has shared wifh Brifain and fhe Unifed Sfafes in fhe secref developmenf of afomic energy. ln facf, our counfry holds one of fhe world's chief supplies of uranium, fhe raw maferial for afomic power, and has builf one of fhe few afomic piles fo sfudy fhe new energy af Chalk River, Onfario. The San Francisco Conference of I945 was held fo draff a plan for a world organi- zafion, fhe Unifed Nafions. Canada was given a leading role when her imporfance warranfed if. She 'rherefore became a princi- pal member of fhe Afomic Energy Commis- sion, fhe World Food Board, and fhe Infer- nafional Civil Aviafion Aufhorify. Since Canada was one of fhe few nafions af fhe end of fhe Second World War wifh a large surplus of food and indusfrial goods for resforafion work, she became a leading mem- ber of fhe Unifed Nations Relief and Re- habilifafion Adminisfrafion, whose massive fask was fo resfore and rebuild fhe war-forn counfries. Sixteen We mighf ask ourselves fhe quesfion, Was Canada a small or greaf power? Beside fhe milifarily sfrong and well-popula- fed counfries such as fhe Sovief Union or fhe Unifed Sfafes, she was small, buf in ferms of her major war efforf, her world imporfance as a source of food and maferials, and her greaf indusfrial and financial sfrengfh, Canada was nof small. She was a middle power. The Second World War has much ad- vanced our power, infernafional sfanding, and sense of responsibilify. We have come of age in a cold new world, where Brifain's power can no longer serve fo profecf us, where even fhe broad oceans cannof ensure securify, and where fhe Arcfic wasfes are no longer an impossible barrier buf a fronfier fo be defended. This means new sfafure for Canada buf also new dangers. As fhe world has gradually become divided info fwo huge camps of communism and democracy, if has become necessary fo sfrengfhen fhe defences of fhe free world. For fhis reason, Canada fook a leading parf in forming fhe Norfh Aflanfic Treafy Organizafion in I949. She ioined fhe Commonwealfh Conference af Columbo in i950 fo draff plans for develo- ping fhe backward lands of Asia in order fo fry fo save fhem from communism. In fhe Unifed Nafions in fhe pasf few years, Canada has served a period of mem- bership in bofh fhe Securify Council and fhe Economic and Social Council. Our Canadian Minisfer for Exfernal Affairs, Lesfer B. Pear- son, was elecfed Presidenf of fhe General Assembly af ifs sevenfh session in I952. Canada supporfed fhe decision of fhe Unifed Nafions fo resisf fhe Communisf ag- gression in Korea, and so Canadian froops were senf fhere fo help. As a furfher proof of Canada's growing confribufion fo world affairs, we read fhaf in I957 Canada is going fo increase her confri- bufion fo fhe Colombo Plan fo share in fhe building of an afomic research reacfor in India. Yes, wifh glowing hearfs we see fhee rise . Truly, Canada has emerged as an imporfanf nafion, and her imporfance is growing. We no longer are a small, insignifi- canf member of fhe Brifish Empire: we are a full-fledged nafion of fhe world. Elaine Offo, I 3A

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On My Own For The Hrst Time That did it! That was the final straw! I absolutely could not stand another day in that ghastly house with those horrible people. Not one of them understood my point of view, nor did a single solitary soul even con- sider Iistening to me, when I tried to make them see that I had meant no harm. It was not that I was being in the least intolerant. It was a sim Ie out and out case of the straw that broke the camel's back. I had taken all the abuse I could, and I absolutely refused to take another snitch more! The time I had set for my departure drew near, and when the grandfather clock had struck the hour, I quietly opened the side door and crept stealthily down the walk, hiding behind the bushes and trees, lest anyone see me before I had placed a good distance between the house and myself. A good two and a half hours later, I finally relented and decided to return home to forgive those horrible people at the house. A great many things had happened within those hours. First of all, the dog followed me. I didn't really mind that, for it gave me someone to talk to, as I walked along. However, when he wanted to share my food, which consisted of three parsnips and a tomato, that was an altogether differ- ent story! I finally broke down and let him share it with me though. I think the one thing that decided me on returning home was the peculiar gnawing feeling in my stomach at about ten minutes to six in the evening. I knew it was nearly six, because along with the parsnips and to- mato, I had taken a quilt and a huge alarm clock. I had wanted to be sure of waking up in plenty of time to continue my iourney in the morning. The quilt was to keep me warm in the potato patch where I had planned to spend that first night. I did quite a lot of thinking in those two and a halt hours. I considered the broken vase, and how valuable Mother had said it was, and the way I had flooded the bathroom playing with the dog. I should have realized the sail boat would never hold him! Actually, Mother had had a perfect right to be angry with me, and I finally admitted it to myself. Having come to this conclusion, I picked up my quilt and alarm clock, and made my way across the street and up the Eighteen sidewalk to my home. I was full of forgive- ness for Mother and my, didn't that roast chicken smell delicious! I suppose the whole story sounds silly to you, but when a girl is only four years old, you can't expect her to travel a very great distance on only three parsnips, and a to- mato. Not when she's on her own for the very first time. Daphne Sinclair, l3A The Attraction of Things Olrl and New Since the beginning of time the attrac- tion of things old and new has been one of the inexplicable reasons for the continuation of man's explorations into the dim and distant years gone by and the equally dim and distant years of the future. His travels into lands of long ago to become acquainted with peoples of extinct races and his ventures into the realms that are to come. His flights to events and places that have played a part in history, and his afeeble flutterings to places and things, which according to his inadequate knowledge, might play a role in the future. All these are prompted by the attraction that things old and new have for mankind. At the awakening of civilization, the attraction of things new, aroused men to em- bark on dangerous voyages into the unknown, seeking, new lands, new riches, and new peoples. On the other hand, however man- kind was also intent on preserving relics which symbolized things of value in the past, proving that things old also held great attraction. All the way up through time, there have been the historians of the past, delving into the wonders of ancient times, at the bidding of their enthusiastic attraction to things of long ago. But there have also been the in- ventors and the scientists, who with futuristic minds, pondered and invented things of a time yet to come. There have been the archeologists, dedicated to things old, by seeking cities and relics of races of man's ancestors, but these have also been the archi- tects, always striving for things new. In every race of people, no matter when, or how they existed, there have always been some who would rather have the solid reality of things old, of things that have been tried and proven by the experiences of people