1984 Yearbook
Source URL
Title
1984 Yearbook
Description
SEASONS OF 1984 NEWS
"SEASONS OF 1984" refers to a generative impulse that shouts, "Keep on
going!" To see the mighty oak in only
one season may be to misunderstand
the comfort of shade or the value of an
acorn to a squirrel or the rich wood
grain enhanced by the cabinetmaker's
varnish. The oak is a tough, resilient
tree. It grows slowly, lives long, and
sgrvives the stormy winds which regularly clean out its weaker branches.
The distinctive seasons of the Midwest
see the oak thick with leaves in
Summer and Fall. In Winter and
Spring the tree may stand stark as a
skeleton against the sky. But its identity remains true. It is an oak! And it
will keep doing what an oak must do!
A "season"' is a limited duration, but
implied is another season to follow. As
individuals, as members of the St.
Ambrose community, and as participants in the world at large, we get
satisfaction from living in each season, but we sense that we also are
preparing possibilities for "next season." Since George Orwell wrote the
novel "1984," the year has had a quality of anxiety attached to it. The evening news in this Spring of 1984 tells us
of people who achieve and some who
stumble, of nations that war and businesses that fail, of students who graduate, and of farmers who each Spring
plant seed again.
The cover of TIME magazine's 60th
anniversary issue (October 1983) bore
the caption, "The most amazing 60
years in history!" These exciting years
— people, events, technological
changes, the hurts and hopes — comprise a story registered in the community memory. Implied by these
years is an awareness that there is
much more good to come, and probably also some bad. The "Seasons of
1984" appear as good or better than
1983 and there is confidence that the
"Seasons of the Future" will be good
too!
1983 — 1984
THE SUMMER OF '83 was hot and
dry. The drought reduced the Iowa
corn crop to 25 percent of normal. The
PIK ("Payment in Kind") Program was
a mixed blessing. Farmers who had
borrowed extensively were in dire
financial circumstance. The farm
machinery business was slow with
unemployment in the Quad-City area
at about 16 percent.
CLOUDS OF STRESS hung over the
world in the Seasons of '83 and '84.
Menachem Begin, Israel's tenacious
prime minister, resigned Aug. 28 after
leading his nation through six difficult
years.
KOREAN AIR LINES FLIGHT 007 was
shot down Sept. 1, 1983, by a Russian
fighter plane when the commercial
747 strayed over Russian territory.
Thirty Americans were among the 269
people who lost their lives when the
plane plunged into the Sea of Japan.
The world was outraged at this
atrocity.
ONCE BEAUTIFUL LEBANON continues to erupt with warring factions.
Peace-keeping forces from France,
Italy, Great Britain and the U.S. were
almost powerless to effect any real
peace. Lebanese soldiers and people
face an almost impossible situation.
EARLY SUNDAY, OCT. 23, a suicidal
terrorist drove a truck loaded with
explosives into a U.S. compound in
Lebanon, killing 238 marines. Again
the nation grieved as soldiers came
home in caskets.
AGRICULTURE SECRETARY JOHN
BLOCK said: "American agriculture is
the envy of the world. We took 80 million acres out of production, had the
worst drought in 50 years, and aren't
facing shortages."
CLOUDS OVER DAVENPORT move
East and the sun shines again. There
were many cold, cloudy days that
seemed to extend into summer. People remarked that we missed having a
Spring Season in 1984.
2 Events of the Year
"SEASONS OF 1984" refers to a generative impulse that shouts, "Keep on
going!" To see the mighty oak in only
one season may be to misunderstand
the comfort of shade or the value of an
acorn to a squirrel or the rich wood
grain enhanced by the cabinetmaker's
varnish. The oak is a tough, resilient
tree. It grows slowly, lives long, and
sgrvives the stormy winds which regularly clean out its weaker branches.
The distinctive seasons of the Midwest
see the oak thick with leaves in
Summer and Fall. In Winter and
Spring the tree may stand stark as a
skeleton against the sky. But its identity remains true. It is an oak! And it
will keep doing what an oak must do!
A "season"' is a limited duration, but
implied is another season to follow. As
individuals, as members of the St.
Ambrose community, and as participants in the world at large, we get
satisfaction from living in each season, but we sense that we also are
preparing possibilities for "next season." Since George Orwell wrote the
novel "1984," the year has had a quality of anxiety attached to it. The evening news in this Spring of 1984 tells us
of people who achieve and some who
stumble, of nations that war and businesses that fail, of students who graduate, and of farmers who each Spring
plant seed again.
The cover of TIME magazine's 60th
anniversary issue (October 1983) bore
the caption, "The most amazing 60
years in history!" These exciting years
— people, events, technological
changes, the hurts and hopes — comprise a story registered in the community memory. Implied by these
years is an awareness that there is
much more good to come, and probably also some bad. The "Seasons of
1984" appear as good or better than
1983 and there is confidence that the
"Seasons of the Future" will be good
too!
1983 — 1984
THE SUMMER OF '83 was hot and
dry. The drought reduced the Iowa
corn crop to 25 percent of normal. The
PIK ("Payment in Kind") Program was
a mixed blessing. Farmers who had
borrowed extensively were in dire
financial circumstance. The farm
machinery business was slow with
unemployment in the Quad-City area
at about 16 percent.
CLOUDS OF STRESS hung over the
world in the Seasons of '83 and '84.
Menachem Begin, Israel's tenacious
prime minister, resigned Aug. 28 after
leading his nation through six difficult
years.
KOREAN AIR LINES FLIGHT 007 was
shot down Sept. 1, 1983, by a Russian
fighter plane when the commercial
747 strayed over Russian territory.
Thirty Americans were among the 269
people who lost their lives when the
plane plunged into the Sea of Japan.
The world was outraged at this
atrocity.
ONCE BEAUTIFUL LEBANON continues to erupt with warring factions.
Peace-keeping forces from France,
Italy, Great Britain and the U.S. were
almost powerless to effect any real
peace. Lebanese soldiers and people
face an almost impossible situation.
EARLY SUNDAY, OCT. 23, a suicidal
terrorist drove a truck loaded with
explosives into a U.S. compound in
Lebanon, killing 238 marines. Again
the nation grieved as soldiers came
home in caskets.
AGRICULTURE SECRETARY JOHN
BLOCK said: "American agriculture is
the envy of the world. We took 80 million acres out of production, had the
worst drought in 50 years, and aren't
facing shortages."
CLOUDS OVER DAVENPORT move
East and the sun shines again. There
were many cold, cloudy days that
seemed to extend into summer. People remarked that we missed having a
Spring Season in 1984.
2 Events of the Year
Publisher
U.S. Yearbook Service, Des Moines, IA
Date
1984
Rights
St. Ambrose University, 518 W. Locust St., Davenport, IA 52803
Identifier
http://cdm16810.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p16810coll2/id/6800