Foreword: During the past year, the Oracle, as well as the whole student body, has witnessed a change in the spirit of Bangor High School. There has come into the school a greater share of those intangible elements which go to make up "school spirit." This change has taken place on the football field, on the basketball court, at club meetings, in the corridors, and most important in the minds of the students. This growth of school spirit has taken shape in the effort to wo cooperation, to aid in projects for the benefit of the school, to encourage class spirit and pride.

Student Council: Many of you who are Debate Club members attended this year's Class Debates. There you heard discussed a question of ever increasing importance the question of student council. This is a subject that has been popping up occasionally for several years; and with our present principal has come new interest in the problem. Mr. Chaplin has already expressed his great interest in and desire for a student council. However, not unlike a piece of math paper, the question has two sides.

The Nine Point System: Recently removed from its long occupied shelf and ostensibly put into effect upon a student body which heretofore has been largely, if not totally, unaware of its existence, is Bangor High School's nine point system. When first adopted, the system was intended, among other things, to safeguard students from overburdening themsives with outside activities and thereby causing their scholastic work to suffer, and also to prevent monopolization of important school offices by a few outstanding students.

B. H.S. Students Make Movie: The Road to the Tomb Horror Film! The Players: Balfour Golden, Ruth Carlisle, Paul Ford, Margaret Carlisle, Robert T Blake, John Woodcock, John Webster. Screen adaptation and direction by Paul Ford. Produced by John Alden Woodcock. Photography by Preston B. Rand. Art work by Lois Vincent. Running time: 40 minutes... Premier performance of this super spectacle of the century will take place at the forthcoming Debate Club dance on the twenty-first. At that time, unless we are much mistaken, this, the first motion picture ever made and played by Bangor High School students, will be seen by a huge and enthusiastically horrified audience.

Vocational Guidance: Vocational guidance has come more and more into prominence throughout the United States lately. Although we do not pretend to be acquainted with all the causes and the entire development of the idea, we believe that the machine age and the depression--that is, changes in our economic life--have been two of the more important reasons for its growth.

A Blanket Tax Plan for B. H. S.? Before attempting to make any sort of intelligent discussion of the blanket-tax idea it might be well for us to explain what the blanket-tax is. It is not, as its name might imply, a tax on blankets. It is a system, employed commonly by colleges and more and more frequently by high schools throughout the country of making available to students one "blanket" rate covering subscription to all school publications and admission to all athletic functions held by the school.

Foreword: When there is enough of widespread interest so that every student will want his subscription when the best of the school's literary talent is brought to light when the Oracle will capture for the total stranger a perfect detailed panorama of the school we know so well--when the atmosphere of the school may be divined in every line, and, above all, when our readers shall never know what novelty to expect in each succeeding issue then shall the aims for which past staffs have been working and which we have kept in mind be fulfilled.

Foreword: To interpret the school to the community to give the people of Bangor a elear and well-rounded picture of life at Bangor High School has been a definite aim of the 1937-38 Oracle Board. A wide-spread publicity campaign, which included red and white posters distributed through the town, gained a twenty percent increase in subscribers, a substantial number of whom were citizens of Bangor. In the magazine itself a department of special interest was "Who's Who Among the Teachers", which presented. pictures and brief accounts of various high school teachers. New members of the faculty, department heads, coaches, and others were featured this year. In every issue the Oracle presented a write-up of a prominent business concern which advertises with us. The HOBBIES section and CRACKS AND COMPLIMENTS--a style column were also new and interesting.

The R. O. T. C.--A Training for Youth: Ever since the 1890's, when military drill was instituted at Bangor High, feeling has run high concerning the value of the R. O. T. C. Opponents of drill have argued war, expense, and many other disadvantages or even dangers. In every case, however, the accusations have come from people who dislike military organizations because they suggest war. We believe that these objectors do not realize the real meaning and value of the R. O. T. C. Some might even uphold the complete abandonment of our regular army, although I believe this to be clearly unsound. It should be very evident that national safety as well as a great saving in men and money would be afforded us if our national reserve were capable of bringing to a swift conclusion any war into which we might be forced.

March: This is March, the month when winter leaves, when young men's fancies turn to thoughts of love, when hats are in the air, unless berets are in style, and when the members of the Oracle Board work their brains to the bone. This is the month of the mad March Hare, who signifies the fact that, supposedly, March is the maddest month of the year.

You Can Get It--If You Try: Probably the hardest thing for us to realize is the fact that we must soon become men and women and bear the burdens of a large and growing nation. However, with mid-years rolling around, we are forced to stop and think what we want to do after we graduate from high school. Are we going to attend some higher institution for education, or are we going to commence to make our living?

Can You Hear? What in the name of common-sense is that man saying?" asks the first student. Don't ask me; I can't hear him," says the second student. Conversation similar to this passes from the lips of students and teachers at each assembly. Due to stage curtains and the structure of the hall, the voices of assembly speakers are unheard by many people. Thie is probably the answer to the restlessness which sometimes arises during the address in chapel. The only way one can make himself heard is by talking in a very loud tone. This is a vory tiresome procedure for both speaker and audience.

Assemblies: According to Bangor high school tradition, the Oracle board had charge of the first assembly of the year. This assembly was in the form of a one-act play, starring editor Charles Redman, strangely enough, as Charles Redman, the editor of the Oracle. The second lead was played by Danforth West, playing himself, business manager of the Oracle. The action of the play deals with the unorthodox methods of the business manager to boost the subscriptions of the Oracle at the expense of the editor, who is against advertising in any form.

Dedication: Mr. Charles E. Taylor--progressive educator, able and just administrator--your whole-hearted devotion to the best interests of Bangor High School has earned for you the respect and admiration of students and teachers alike. You have held scholarship to an increasingly high standard; you have encouraged all the varied interests of the students--never have we found you too busy or too tired to attend our plays, debates, concerts, and athletic events. It is due in large measure to your wisdom and integrity that Bangor High School has prospered and gone forward during the past ten years, and to you, with gratitude and appreciation, this book is dedicated by the students of Bangor High School.

New York World's Fair 1939: A national poster contest, open to the 30,000,000, boys and girls who comprise the school population of the United States with a free trip to the New York World's Fair as the Grand Prize, was announced recently by Grover A. Whalen, President of the New York World's Fair 1939. The contest will be open to all students, except children of employees of the World's Fair Corporation, from the first grade through college, in the United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. This includes children in schools under private direction and parochial schools, as well as those in the public schools.

W. P. A. Arts: Many times this year the Oracle has received information regarding the Four Arts Program of the Works Progress Administration. These bulletins contain information of the work which the WPA is doing in regard to theatre productions. While presenting their own plays and helping present others, the WPA is giving entertainment to many people and is also helping many would-be actors.

Chatting with Doctor Hauck, University of Maine President: Two flights of stairs, two long corridors, and a door marked President; a large office, another door, and then President Hauck ushering us Into his private office; an immense polished table in the center of the room, straight backed chairs against the wall, and a large glass-topped desk at one end. Doctor Hauck welcomed us in the friendliest manner (could this be the stern, elderly gentleman we had expected?) and then we got down to business.

Ice Cream versus Education by Norma Munster: Ice Cream! Come And Get All You Want! Absolutely Free!! So Long as You Eat It All!" Should you happen to see such an incredulous sign as this hanging outside an ice-cream parlor, would you ignore it entirely for fear there might be rat poison in it, or would you trust to human nature, gorge yourself with this delicacy until ice-cream cones played tag in your dreams? Suppose some morning as you gained sight of Bangor High School, you were suddenly confronted by a glaring notice in hugh red letters: "Education--Absolutely Free--All You Want For Just a Few Hours of Studying." What would you do in this case--rush in eagerly and take your share, or would you be very generous and give the other fellow a chance first?

The Tuberculin Test: We would like to call your attention to the fact that everywhere in the United States, doctors and health officers are working very hard to stop the spread of tuberculosis. In our own city Miss Hopkins, Dr. Gumprecht, and Dr. Fellows, the heads of the Anti-Tuberculosis Association in Bangor, are doing their utmost to prevent tuberculosis. However, because of the lack of cooperation on the part of school children, these people can not make much progress. Everyone can help very much by taking the tuberculin test. In a few weeks the freshmen will be asked to take it, so let's cooperate by having 100% of the freshman class taking this harmless test.

Magazine Honors for the Oracle Repeated in 1936: The Oracle in receiving First Class Honors in the Sixteenth All-American Critical Service for Scholastic Magazines, conducted by the National Scholastic Press association, scored eight hundred and ninety-five out of a possible one thousand points. In attaining this recognition the Oracle was in competition with sixteen magazines representing schools from various parts of the United States, with student enrollments ranging from nine hundred to sixteen hundred. The entries in all classes totalled one hundred and fifty-one.

Another American Tragedy by John Lewis: Tragedy again blots the souls of American people people in one of its most fearsome ways. The unfortunate people dwelling in the valley districts of Southern New England, up-state New York, and especially in Pennsylvania, are harrassed by uncontrollable waters. Verdant acres of fertile farmlands are ruined by yellowed waters of once serene rivers. Farm-houses and barns with stock still in them are swept swiftly to destruction. Thriving villages and cities are destroyed by turbulent waters. Comfortable homes of striving laborers are whirled away or ruined. Thousands are driven from their homes, forced to leave most of their possessions behind them to be claimed by angry waters. At the latest report, one hundred fifty-five are dead, and hundreds more missing.

Attitude Toward School: Today's attitude toward school has changed, for the most part, considerably from that of years gone past. If, by chance, it has not, then it should change as soon as possible. In our grandparents' time and even as late as the time when our parents went to school, this institution of learning was much different. They were taught under many disadvantages. The school house in itself was a great hindrance to the teacher and pupil. Also books and facilities inside the school building were not too great a help to the pupil. Thus, with the improvement of school buildings and books, the attitude of a pupil should change to a great extent. These were not the only drawbacks, however. A student of grandpa's time was not made to feel that the school was his, and not being made to feel this, it was necessary for the teacher to watch the pupil every minute. The students were not given any responsibility and therefore could not show their worth. Pupils, however, should be and are, to some extent, given a chance to be responsible for the function of school life. This can be done through cooperation of both the teacher and the pupil.

A Balanced School Life: Do we, as a group, receive benefits in proportion to our labors? Or, and, perhaps, what is more important, do we expend efforts that make us worthy of receiving any reward? Some of us, in less than four short months, will start counting up the profits of our four years at Bangor High School. What will the totals tell? A's, B's, and C's don't count as much as that feeling which tells us we have done our best, indeed, our utmost, to attain respectable rank and to really learn what we set out to learn. Some of us will continue our education further.

Our Understudies: The Oracle wishes to take this opportunity to congratulate the faculties and students of the Mary Snow and Abraham Lincoln Schools for their effort and interest in the publishing of a school newspaper. The three editions of the "Palm Breeze" edited by the pupils of Abraham Lincoln School, last year, met with such enthusiastic approval that the maintenance of the publication for this year was assured... The Mary Snow School prints "Snow Flurries" under a similar plan.