Newspapers / The blackbird. / Dec. 16, 1954, edition 1 / Page 2
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PAGE TWO THE BLACKBIRD, ROCKY MOUNT SENIOR mOH SCHOOL THURSDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1954 Fifty Years Of Golden Opportunity By Julian Aldridge With a big glass of milk and a trayful of sandwiches I flopped on the sofa an xiously awaiting the broadcast of the Duke vs. Carolina football game .... the one I had been waiting to hear all season. Suddenly my thoughts seemed to change from football to the strangest thing. I began to feel as though I were attending a meeting. A voice spoke out a nd the meeting began. It was something like this: “Fellow American Christmas Seals. Once again we meet for our annual dinner meeting before embarking into the homes of our fellow American citizens for the fifthieth year. It was only fifty years ago that we were brought into the world. Scanning through our past we see many milestones of which we can be proud. We have gone far towards helping to bring peace, comfort, and security into the lives of many who would not have had these were it not for us. For the past fifty years we have helped in the fight against tuberculosis .... providing help for those who have been stricken with the disease and financing the research of the scientists who are trying to find ways and methods of com bating tuberculosis; we have worked internationally as well as here in America, and we have established methods of case finding in the local community. Our scientists have made great strides in the fields of research and I am proud to say that this would not have been possible were it not for us. These scientists diijcovered that a small germ, the tubercle bacillus, is the cause of tuberculosis, that the only positive cure is rest of the lung and surgery, that it is not heredi tary, and that the germ is spread by those who are stricken with the disease. It has also been reported to me that the citizens of America have moved tub erculosis from number one killer down to sixth place. This in itself is proof of the good we are doing. However, even though I am able to make to you such good reports, tuberculo sis still kills one person every twenty-six minutes. Broken homes, mental an guish, and economic losses are but a few of the mishaps of the disease. The ex treme cost of caring for these tuberculous patients is heavy on the taxpayer’s pccketbook. Suddenly I heard Dad saying, “Wake up. Son. Duke won!” Was I disgusted! I had fallen asleep during one of the most exciting football games of the season! Then I began to think about the dream, which had been so real. I looked about me .... There were my parents and sis ters in a conifoi table home, and all of us were well and heal thy. Then I realized how our lives would be affected if tuber culosis were to strike us. The dream had more meaning and quickly I said, “Dad, we must buy Christmas Seals, for they depend on us.” ChftiS'|'MA& SeaU pAVE ROaJ Io a cure fois TB. TB.CURtr iFUTURE tmiSTMAt AMOCXA tOtiVUY JULEn 50 TEARS Of PROGRtSS Were They Necessary? Were all the 560 absentees from school last month entirely necessary? Students who are actually sick are doing the cor rect thing to stay home so that others will not be sus ceptible to their illness, but such excuses as “I was just tired”, “I had a headache”, and “I had a little sniffle” are insignificant reasons to stay away from school. Few students seem to realize the importance of at tending classes . . . they are the students who stay away from school thinking they are losing nothing. Actually the work done in the classroom makes up approximately fifty per cent of a person’s education. How then can a student who makes a habit of “being absent” expect to half way pass a course when he gives up fifty'per cent of his opportunity to learn. A day missed from school can never be made up. Those who are absent hurt^io one but themselves. How many times this year have you been absent? Were all of these absences necessary? Are you helping yourself learn or h.in.dering your opportunities? Ed. Note: The above article, written by Julian Al dridge v/as one of the winners in the recent TB contest, sponsored by the National Tuberculosis Association and the Columbia Scholastic Press Association. The other winning essay, by Charles Bateman, is placed elsewhere on this page. In the upper right hand corner is the winning cartoon drawn by Lucinda Oliver. SCHO/?/ THE BLACKBIRD Official Publication of Rocky Mount Senior High 9. Member of the Columbia Scholastic Press Association EDITORIAL STAFF Editor Julian Aldridge News Editor Peggy Whitehurst Sports Editors Charles Bateman, Sonny Cherry Feature Editor Jimmy Moore Exchange Editor Martha Bradley Columnists Kathryn Batton, Henry Thompson Staff Artist Sally Wicker Staff Writers Woodrow West, Sylvia Poland, Betty Cockrell, Fay Bradshaw BUSINESS STAFF Business Manager Lucinda Oliver Assistant Business Manager Norma Bulluck Advertising Manager Ronnie Felton Circulation Manager Eddie Felts Assistant Ad. and Cir. Manager James Ezzell FACULTY ADVSER Mrs. T. D. Young Published nine times during the year by the Journalism Class of Rocky Mount Serjor High School. Subscription Rate $1.00 As Size Indicates, Sr. Billy McIntyre Likes Good Food Billy McIntyre was selected by the editors and business managers of the two school publications, The Blackbird and the Hi-Noc-Ar, as the “Personality of the Month” for December. Billy, who is popular and active around the campus, is a member of the Service Club and vice- president of the Black Masquers, an honorary dramatic organiza tion here in school. As indicated by his size of six feet, four inches tall and two hun dred and five pounds, Billy likes to eat. All foods are good to him, but barbecue and roast beef are his favorites. Liver is the only food he dislikes. His. favorite movie actress is June Allyson, but he says any tall blonde will do. His favorite teach er has blue eyes and “whitish” hair. When it comes to music, Billy says he likes Jazz (which seems to be the current rage among teenagers), but that there are none that he particularly dislikes. “The usual kind” is his favorite dances, but he likes all of them. In the scholastic line, Billy says that he likes biology and typing best, but all are okay! “I have not decided, I might go to Hollywood and break in the movies,” was his reply when ask ed about his plans for the future. Let’s Go Dancing! Members of the social committee put a lot of time and effort into decorations, plans, and re freshments for the annual Christmas dance, but it can be a success only if the students attend. They make the party. Let’s do our share in mak ing this the best dance ever and be there tomor- row night! Seals Or Signs By Charles Bateman Tragedy strikes! A crying mother being separated from the fami ly, a wistful child sadly waving to his playmates, an elderly grand father in his rest bed, all of these are signs of one of the most dread diseases in the history of mankind, tuberculosis. Tuberculosis knows no bounds. It strikes the young and the old the rich and the poor, all races and denominations. It has no early tell-tale symptoms to warn of its coming. However, one sure way. to detect it in time for cure is by having a chest X-ray. One of the projects sponsored by the local Kiwanis Tu berculosis Committee, an affiliate of the Na tional Tuberculosis Association, is the stress ing of chest X-rays for every citizen of the city of Rocky Mount. Contrary to popular beliefs, tuberculosis is not inherited. It is spread by a germ, the tubercle bacillus. Throughout history, tubercu losis has been foremost among fatal diseases. Although its name has (Changed and more is known abcjt it, it still ranks as the most com- imon fatal disease known to man. However, it can be cured. To catch it in time, a chest X-ray is a must. When more and more people realize this and do something about it, tuberculosis will become a conquered disease, such as small pox has become in this country Each year 110,000 new cases are discovered in the United States. These cases can usuallji be cured by an extensive rest in a sanitorium under expert care and proper conditions. The job of discovering these cases falls to the local tuberculosis committee, whose work is financed solely by the sale of Christmas seals. Through the committee’s efforts it is slowly but surely being controlled. This year, after receiving Christmas Seals through the mail, contribute generously to support this program. Iteplace the dread signs of tuberculo.'iis with the smiling faces of little children on the Christmas Seals.
Dec. 16, 1954, edition 1
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