said, was realizing the common
interest of a world filled with
mystery.
"I still can recall my first
plane ride and Neil Armstrong's
walk on the moon," he said.
"Community is also sharing in
the grief and remembering
where you were on Nov. 22,
1963."
As principal of Oak Park
High School since 1983,
William Murrell has watched
what he calls "the upheaval of
public education."
Mr. Murrell, who grew up in
New York City and graduated
from high school in 1963, par-
ticipated in the Civil Rights
movement and anti-war
demonstrations. He views to-
day's students as generally self.
consumed with a "what's in it
for me?" attitude.
"We're wrestling with crime
and aggressive youths who will
not follow rules," he said. "Many
students of today do not accept
`not having.' "
Mr. Murrell tries to get stu-
dents to think about their po-
tential rather than their
frustrations.
But time is passing for the

Class of '74. Too young to be
drafted into the Vietnam War,
yet old enough to recall a sim-
pler life, graduates are making
choices and balancing contra-
dictions.
Mr. Tocco, who said at one
time he hated being in school,
can't get enough education. He
recently passed the bar exam to
go along with his engineering
degree.
Mr. Goldman, who watched
his father work 12 hours a day
in the produce business, said he
never wanted to work those
long hours. But five years ago,
he established H&R Renova-
tions, which specializes in re-
furbishing multi-housing units.
He puts in many long hours.
Mr. Blair, owner of Murray's
Discount Auto Stores, can af-
ford a lifestyle in the more op-
ulent suburbs, yet he would
move back to Oak Park in a sec-
ond if some things changed.
But, the problem is: things
have changed.
Today's baby-boomer parents
talk about the excesses and
permissiveness of the youth cul-
ture.
Today, the Class of 1974 just

The Blairs:
"You knew everyone on Just about
every block."

William Murrell:
Watching the "upheaval of
education."

might sound as if they have
made a transition they couldn't
have imagined 20 years ago:
they've become their parents.
It seems anachronistic from
a generation that wore too
much paisley and lived through
the hangover "love-in" of the
1960s. Each has his own theo-
ries about the causes of social
ills: Mr. Tocco cites the break-
down of the family and the high
divorce rate; Mr. Blair notes
that crimes are "much bolder";
and Ms. Blair is convinced that
most people are consumed with
work.
And, in a chorus of agree-
ment, everyone takes turns rip-
ping into television and the
media for being obsessed with
"if it bleeds it leads" news shows
and the pursuit of high ratings.
What is sometimes forgotten,
however, is that the current
graduates have watched on av-
erage 350,000 television com-
mercials. They've also heard
about environmental disasters,
Wall Street greed, endless crim-
inal investigations of public of-
ficials, and riots in the streets
of west Los Angeles.
In other words, today's grad-
uates must at times wonder
about the scarcity of "good
news."

"Each generation has its own
problems," said 1994 Oak Park
High School graduate Karyn
Young. "Like us, the Class of
1974 had the maximum
amount of problems they could
deal with. They had the Viet-
nam War and we have gangs
and guns."
Ms. Young, who will study
architectural engineering at
Penn State in the fall, explained
that general public cynicism
just seems to rub off. Yet, she
remains focused.
"Most of my friends know
that they need schooling to suc-
ceed," she said. "When it comes
down to it, we know that we
have to take care of business."
Perhaps those with the great-
est at stake are recent gradu-
ates, who the media has labeled
"a generation at risk." But, ac-
cording to students from the
Class of 1994, any generaliza-
tions about their generation are
unfair
Although the rage and frus-
tration of rising teen-age vio-
lence and a general disrespect
has been well documented, said
Oak Park Principal Murrell,
there are plenty of reasons to
have faith in the future.
'We only need a few, strong
leaders, capable of grasping
problems and making positive
change without regard to their
personal advancements," he
said.
Although there is little com-
mon ground in their taste in
clothes, hairstyles, music, food,
conversation, art, architecture

and cars, the graduating class-
es of 74, '84 and '94 share sev-
eral opinions: 1970s fashions
were pretty bad, and general-
izations about their respective
generations are unfair.
Yet regardless of whether
they grew up watching "All in
the Family," "Dynasty" or "Bev-
erly Hills 90210," students from
the last 20 years find the most
common ground when talking
about a notion that ultimately
serves as a bond — the Ameri-
can Dream.
Nineteen-eighty-four gradu-
ate Ms. Bloom speculated on
the possible responses from the
three generations: "It seems like
the Class of '74 has an answer
ready, the Class of '84 has yet
to answer and the Class of '94
doesn't have a due."
But 1994 graduate Ms.
Young might have a response
that transcends any generation.
"The American Dream is to
end every social and political
problem that stems from hate,"
she said. "The closer and closer
we can get to accomplishing
this, the better the world will
be."
Times change, but some val-
ues will always remain worth
pursuing.
Today, the Class of '74 is be-
coming nostalgic, the Class of
`84 is coming to grips with un-
met expectations, and soon, the
most recent graduates will be
hit with a thing called reality.
Time, all graduates un-
doubtedly agreed, waits for no
one.

