The Bermuda Recorder

              ip permuba . jsb eecortrer ip h ss l0t§*t m s^e^nmflnf snnnnl enridje^ver^jea^jidi huilt...for tllc s oxo est published weekly price 15 cents volume 49 hamilton bermuda saturday feb 10 1973 no 6 pr*of le bv jennifer smith berke institute's prizegiving this is a true story written by a youth who wo caught up in the abuse of drugs it is the hope of the author that the experiences related here would in some way discourage other youths from follow ing down that path of destruction ey devaughn h seymour this year's prize presentation for berkeley insti tute was a memorable one — memorable in the fact that it was the first for principal c v maxwell and that it took place during prove the pupils confidence in the seventty fifth anni their ability to write examip versary year this year's ations hence we are enonir presentation also had an aging as many pupils as ms other new feature in the sible to begin writing iheir person of a valedictorian g.c.e examinations in ine beverly warner mr vox fourth year . . this does not well noted that the idea mean that our curriculum will of having a valedictorian be dictated to by the expedi was conceived so that the ency of writing examinations graduating class could we still look upon the first participate more fully in three years of secondary school the prize-giving as developmental years we third and fourth years who have shown proficiency in a particular subject we feel that this is appropriate since he g.c.e is a subject orientated examination i wish to thank mr & mrs r t jones for their donation to assist uj in obtaining prizes and also to the other donors of cups and special prizes as indicated in the programme ends an almost unbroken asso ciation with cambridge which began in 1898 we are also makirtg use of the royal so ciety of arts as an external examination we are hoping that an earlier exam will give the weaker pupils the conli dence and experience they need in order to tackle the g.c.e or at least give them a certi ficate that indicates a certain measure of achievement to assist them when they seek employment it is anticipated that the bermuda secondary school certificate will serve this purpose in the future devaughn seymour is a young man of determina tion and ambition he has recently returned to bermuda as a qualified commercial pilot this marked the realiza tion of a boyhood dream for at the school he took a a . n,m - month mechanic's course while 9 woa wfiokld by sandi the son of mr & mrs stan ley h p seymour de vaughn's ambition to be a pilot was sparked by his father who was the first col oured pilot in bermuda from the age of five he was capti vated by the seaplanes that used to take off over his house in somerset nothing made him happier than to catch a glimpse of these planes as they pursuing his flying after school hours he received his certifi cate as a airframe and powerplant mechanic in 1971 in march of the same year he also received his solo certifi cate for solo flying he soon followed this with his private licence on november 9 1971 and his commercial pilot's licence on january 21st 1973 at the age of twenty-two trying to live alone in a world where you have to de pend on your own built-in sense of self survival is quite diffi cult time because i used to only get high on the weekend by sniffing drugs then it turned into every other day at that time drugs were prevalent but the knowledge to beware of things gotten too easily were not i just knew then that i felt good when i got high and being around people that i en joyed being with berkeley breaks with i wonder sometimes how i coped with myself all that time when i think of it it makes me sick inside and i know i won't travel down that dark lonesome road anymore sometimes my feelings became so gross that i didn't know what to do or where to turn but this as well as many other things were all of my own do ing my choice in a world which offers so many alterna tives i felt at times that 1 would have preferred dying but deep inside i knew this wasn't the way although i felt that for awhile i had died or was trying to slowly men tally more so than psysically cambridge examinations in his principal's report mr c v maxwell revealed thai the evening opened with the singing of a hymn followed by a prayer given by mr f s furbert m.b.e and former principal of berkeley mi c simply seek to give our pupils more purposeful direction as they develop to make an ear lier writing of the examination feasible now that we have been ec ognised as a centre for the london general certificate • f education pupils will be able to write examinations twice a year we shall no longe be offering candidates for the cambridge examination thus continuing mr maxwell ex plained the program behir.j open day and the new depart mental changes soared into the air this was speaking of the courses lie eventually it turned into an everyday thing i could not un derstand then why i always wanted to get high at first it was a mental thing then i found out by accident that i had become addicted v maxwell then gave his principal's report in which he speaking of the success of berkeley's pupils in examhia in order to reveal our edu cational programme to parents j_s;_^^jcjcj^b i^sfcfcftr ipjk the year 1972 began with some very acute staffing prob lems we were thankful for the services of mrs cheryl taylor who replaced mrs sharon parris who resigned for mater nity reasons and mrs bar bara dyson who came for half a day to replace mr derek croudance who left suddenly during the christmas vacation stated tions mr maxwell said we are most gratified by the continued success of pupils in english language english literature history and art seven pupils received distinc tion in english language one of these by a boy barritt dil in his fourth year ninety-seven pupils were successful in 190 subjects six of these passed in six or more subjects continued on page i it happened on a weekend i stayed in the house and i had gotten up and didn't feel too sharp i didn't think anything was wrong until later when i started to feel worse then i remembered someone saying that they had felt bad for awhile sometimes in the morn ing until they had a blow so i figured oh it's nothing affiliate to host b & p women's clubs some seventy members and friends of the business & pro fessional women's club in the u.s will be coming to ber muda on february 22nd for a 4-day stay # this was revealed by the local club's public re lations officer mrs june masters when she announced that the business & profes sional women's club nortn east area will be holding their president's meeting weekend here for the first time i used to read a lot about drugs and its effects on people and their behavioral patterns but i was too naive to under stand and i felt that this would not happen to me i knew that i would never let anything take control of me but little did i know i had no knowledge within myself to accept or re ject any of the things that i read because i felt that was just some egghead professor writing about something he had never experienced and i did not take into valuation that i knew even less than he we were happy at the begin ning of the year to welcome back both mrs joan blades and mrs patricia holder who had been away on maternity we are endeavouring to im we offer heartiest congrat ulations to the 158 boys and girls who will tonight receve certificates and prizes we have included in our prize list this year those persons in the the local club announced that they were pleased that bermuda was chosen for the site of the presidents mee t - a little later on i went out and bought a bag went back home and sniffed it and dis missed the whole incident be cause i still felt that i could stop anytime i wanted to so i just kept on using drugs ing the meetings will be held at the southampton princess where the ladies are also stay ing each morning at 10 a.m mr devaughn seymour when lie made up his mind that he wanted to be a pilot took at the school mr sey mour noted the program at the school was geared for avi ation only we were totally in volved with the working of a plane it was quite a thorough course — well-explained at each point each day you came away knowing soinethinj'»t*iu a plane wanderlvs1 . . . heading the group of presi dents from the north east dis trict of business & professional women's clubs will be doro thy lloyd hutchings district governor education because i felt that i was do ing my own thing and didn't really care about anything but me and i tried to clean it up by saying i am really trying to find out who i am 5f7 vincent — after leaving mt soufriere we boarded the boat for the homeward journey but stopped on the way to eat and to swim in a large pool with a lovely little waterfall be t0 i eave st vincent it was a hind which one could walk sa j mome nt someone once after climbing the moim said fa at every parting from surprising thath we energy in-h dulge any other vigor i however theh invigj refreshingbj watching t.v i saw one of these same friends he was with a west indian cricker team i got in touch and we had a wonderful time recall irrg the happy events of that time and bringing up to date the places and people we had all known and had shared many memorable moments with devaughn seymour receiv ed his early education at west end school from there he at tended sandys secondary school graduating u^j969 with the distinction of being out standing boy at school he bad taken science courses in prep aration for his training as a pilot the visiting business ai'd professional women will arrive in bermuda on thursday feb ruary 22nd when they will be met by local business & pro fessional women's club presi dent marlene butterfield and other members they have a full schedule of activities start ing from the day of arrival # thimis were cool for a hftg continued next issoej by eiaine~el mr lawson ratteray feted at packwood's old folks home speaking of what impressed him most when he was flying mr seymour said the most amazing thing i've found about flight is that in steep turns you lose your sense of direc tion — this is the most confus ing thing and never ceases io amaze me someone one loves is to die a little i could not help out agree although much water has passed under the bridge since those carefree days it is still one of my forever mem ories upon graduation from bi^ii school devaughn wetu to work for aircraft services bermuda limited he stiyed there for a year leaving in august 1970 to go abroad to school at teterboro school of aeronautics in teterboro new these were the only islando that i spent any length of time in at that time and it would be some years before i return ed to the w.i not knowing of course that i would have my first matrimonial adventure in trinidad and where my two children would be born eighty-two year old mr lawson ratteray is retiring from the position of treasurer for friendly society of the packwood's old folks heme mr ratteray served in this position from 1937 until the present and he was honoured for his services to the home at a presentation on wednes day night when he was pre sented with an engraved gold chain watch anybody there was a lot of horseplay while swimming around in the pool and not being used to the fresh water which ; f course has little buoyancy as compared to salt water 1 was pushed down into the water by some idiot and to my horr.ir found myself unable to suilace also at that moment someone called for the swimmers to look towards the camera sub sequently when the pictures were developed someone ask ed where was i and thought the person who replied at the bottom of the pool was trying to be funny i've seen lots of changes during this time on a small scale and we can now accom modate 18 patients at the home thursday february 22nd — the visiting members of b & p.w.c will be guests at a re ception at southampton prin cess sponsored by the hotel they will then be welcomed b members of the local branch at an : official informal wei come party at archlyn villa at 6 p.m it is hoped at this event that they will also get an opportunity to meet some other business and professional people in the community rounding off their first day in bermuda will be a late night party where the visiting presi dents will be entertained by the executive committee of the warwick workmen's club at the moment the jobs in aviation are very tight says i did not think that i would continue to have such a good time but i found barbados ar enchanting island and met many famous cricketers there we went fishing swimming and exploring and although time has erased the names rf some of the places visited i remember sam lord's cast'.e lion rock and the barbados aquatic club my hosts were charming people one of the male members of the family who i remember as a very high-spirited young man up to all kinds of tricks became a squadron leader during the war and was awarded the d.f.c mr ratteray noted that the first committee for the pack wood's old folks home had 20 members each representing different societies he was the youngest member of a com mittee that included such peo ple as mr albert gilbert and mr henry cann jersey continued on page 9 but in the interim i return ed home — nothing of earth shaking proportions happened and i found life just a little lit too serene for my liking so i went to america again this time to visit an adopted aunt in cleveland ohio which i felt to be a city that i really would have liked to have lived in and this nearly came about drugs fifth ii a series lsd mr ratteray is one of the founders of the packwcod's old folks home he is also one of two remaining members of the first committee the other remaining member is mrs helen maynard lsd or lysergic acid diethylamide was first developed in 1938 from lysergic acid one of the ergot alkaloids ergot is a fungus tha grows as rust on 1'j e what are its physical effects grain just how power an average dose of lsd ful is lsd one ounce amountin g t t0 r speck of i , • , colourless tasteless odourless is enough to provide materia l has an effect lasting 300„000 average doses from 8 to 12 hour users typi attending the dinner which was prepared by mrs griseida burrows and her committee were mrs olive smith treas urer designate mrs helen maynard assistant secretary and one of the founders 37 years ago mrs inez phillips mrs joy parks secretary mrs winifred brown mrs anita smith miss vida wil liams matron mr albert smith committee member mrs elsie bascome and mr alfred simmons committee member however what could have been a traegedy for me was not suddenly everyone began screaming for me and my boy friend dived down i would say just in time and pulled me out they sat me on a reck and my head felt like lead i don't remember all that hap pened except i must have oeen given the right form of firs aid because shortly afterwards i was eating fried chicken pelau mangoes and feeling that it was really good to be alive prior to this i spent some time in philadelphia the quaker city my friend there was a lively girl who ran a printing shop and who had relatives in bermuda she told me of a lot of interesting ad ventures one of which i re in the 35 years that mr ratteray served as treasurer of the committee he missed only 3 meetings recalling those days he states we've had our ups and downs like everything else — there've been times we didn't have money to pay the staff their wages — but today we're in a position to say we don't owe legally classed as a naila cingen — a mind affecting drug — lsd is noted mainlv for producing strong and bi zarre mental reactions in peo ple and stniking distortions in their physical senses — what and how they see touch smell cally take it in pill or capsule form although the amount of active material is so small it can be placed on almost any thing the physical effects con sist of enlarged pupils a flush ed face chilliness perhaps a rise in temperature and heart friday february 23rd — visit ing members will have an early breakfast followed by the pres ident's meeting at 10 a.m fri day afternoon will see them en tertained at a rendezvous tea i made many friends most of whom achieved fame in their own land a couple of years ago in london while continued on page 9 new year's honour . . no 4 continued on page 3 mr sammy wilson queen's certificate and badge of honour and hear beat and a slight increase in other less known but power ful hallucingenic or psyche delic mind-manifesting drugs include peyote mescaline psil ocylin dmt and stp blood pressure lsd is not an addictive drug — that is even though ihe user may use it regularly and become tolerant to its effects no withdrawal symptoms re suit if it is suddenly discon tinued mr samuel wilson hos a job that never ends as o youth leader with the pembroke youth centre he makes himself available to the young pople he dealo with on a 24-hour basis the things that they were in . recently he was honoured volved in down there so he for his work as a youth became a member and was leader when he received soon put in charge of the sport . the queen s certificate and ing activities of the centre badge of honour in the d ... .„ „,., 1973 new year's honours _*__*"*"__ wl ! son cora , ■ ■ | mented i formed a pool we asked mr wilson how he t team * a soccer team and a first became involved in work table-tennis team and we com ing with youth ... he notsd p eted 2sj ° h r **•_. that it all began when he during this time peppy dill brought out a junior soccer was in charge ot the centre team one of the first in 1968 ?, owe when he went abroad ' mr wilson was given more responsibility after bjyears lyoung people the bjwas bjyouiik people be bjresponsible fz one would have thought that that was enough of adventure for one day but there was one more close shave the pilot of the boat must have had a few too many because he seemed to be weaving rather uncer tainly in and out and too close for comfort to the rocky shore line it was a romantic night and most of the couples were cuddled together singing and paying more attention to eacn other than the manoeuvres sf the boat however my fr ; er:d and i after the events of the day felt that another near dis aster would be too much and so we kept an eye on the course the boat was taking luckily as it turned out for all of us it was just as wem for it was only our frenzied call to the boatman that sav ed us from landing on a great rockjutting out in the wa'cr don't know what's going to happen if our people don't start being honest with each other this is one of our downfalls will get a better understanding of their kids . . we have kids of all ages coming here — but the hardest people to get to come into this place where it would bring about igreater understanding are the parents the only time they come is when their children get into trouble approaching young people why do people take lsd acid mr samuel wilson said i find that you can't compel the young people today to do any thing so i just go along and do the things i've found are right and they fall in line . . . the overwhelming majority of people take lsd for the high — to feel better tivs may be because they are un able to deal with life's frus trations or feel alienated other reasons given by some users for taking lsd include curiosity because my friends are using kicks to understand myself better ' or in a search for religious or philosophical insights at vari ous times in history substances a diverse as alcohol etner opium and nitrous oxide so called laughing gas have also been claimed capable of providing easy and instant paths to wisdom or to religious or philosiphicaal insights to day these consciousness ex panders of an earlier day art regarded as merely common place substances without anv mystical properties whatevtv what are its psychological effects the psychological effects of lsd vary considerably accord ing to the amount taken the personality of the user and the circumstances under which the drug is taken effects can be notably different at differ ent times even in the same person ■ ■ because of the times in which these children live and the things that are circulating around them are more detri mental than before there may be a lot of kids mixed up in these things but they are afraid to go home and say so because there is no communi cation there the boys wash cook and clean the place continuing he noted i've heard several stories from ihe kids about why they don't get along at home a lot of people say there's a generation gao but i don't agree that there is the problem is that parents today are not taking a real interest in their kids i don't mean providing for them and giving them everything but communication is what the kids don't have with their parents , ■'■' i mr samuel wilson marked changes in sensation are typical vision is signifi cantly altered users are likely to see unusual patterns and the meaning of what is seen is often transformed one sen sory experience may be trans lated or merged into another for example smells may be felt sounds may be seen these are called synesthesias iuu sions and hallucinations can occur and delusional thoughts continued on page 8 by jennifer smith seldom happens ... i don't know why but i feel that many adults feel that the youths are not fully mature and so they don't want to give them any responsibility i think that this is wrong they were called the cobras and used to practice at the salvation army hall continu ing mr wilson said the boys all wanted to go play for other clubs and so i joined the young men's social club and worked with their junior mr wilson admitted that there are times when he has problems dealing with the young people he says there ve been times when i've had to take knives away from kids a lot of the kids here have a don't carish at titude and they feel anything that the other race does hi superior but here i feel ihat defining what the term youth leader means to him mr wilson explained mainly a youth leader is a person who listens to the young peo ple and then who also tries his best to get a lot of their ideas that are good put into effect this is something that in dealing with young peo ple mr wilson uses a com bination of tact logic and con sideration he says what i show these kids is considera tion he also teaches them to be honest he notes i we finally arrived back in kingston safely very tired in deed but safe and happy with everyone agreeing that it was a day to remember when the tjme came for me there's no real generation gap — but there is neglect i feel that it's the parents in general and the sooner they realise this the sooner they when the pembroke youth centre opened mr wilson went down there he saw that the kids were not serious about team continued on page 9