Lawrence Davis was the founding editor (1968-1969) of the Hurricane Courier, the student paper of New Castle Senior High School.  He wrote a weekly editorial titled “The Davis Viewpoint.”  Unlike the other articles and essays in the paper (including mine), Lawrence’s writing was intelligent and challenging.  His talents — and his horizons — were already well beyond high school.  I could not blame him for being exasperated with us, as he wrote in this December 1968 editorial.  This may seem tame now but was pretty reactionary stuff for a sleepy place like New Castle, PA. — CHC

REFLECTIONS

I have been reflecting on the year 1968.  I can safely say that we would all be a lot better off without such a year.  The problems of apathy in this high school are so great that they stagger the imagination.

I am tired of hearing that New Castle High is dead.  YOU ARE DEAD.  New Castle High is not a building.  It is not teachers.  It is not administrators.  IT IS YOU.  I refuse to listen to any more “dead” people.

Apathy is a sticky mess, here at New Castle High.  I have heard that some people don’t care because “they have no rights.”  I wonder how many of you know your rights?  Has any one taken the time to read the Student Council Constitution or talk to the administrators?

We are too content with the status quo.  We must learn to accept things for what they are worth.  Not everything that utters from a teacher’s mouth is the truth, although some would have you believe so.  Learn to evaluate.

Those students who are truly concerned need a big gun.  That gun is knowledge.  The ammunition is research and the trigger is genuine concern.

Yes, this has been a year to remember (auld lang syne and all that).  We need help.  Heaven knows we need something, if not help, then what?

On a lighter note, I would like to wish all of our readers a very meaningful Christmas and an improved outlook for 1969.

L.D.