Page 2 ROGUE NEWS December 20. l72
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THE ROGUE NEWS P"""
Published bi-weekly, during the school months, by the Associated
Student Body of Ashland Senior High School, 201 Mountain Ave.,
Ashland, Oregon 97520. Subscription cost $2.50 per year.
Editor Rosario De l.a Torre
News Editor Jeanne lloadley
Editorial Editor Joseph Hawk
Feature Editor Steve Schmelzer
Sports Editor Sharon Hill
Advertisers Peter Dodge, Teresa Fowler, Anita Johnson
Business Manager Jeri Lewis
Photographers Harold Kerninghausen, Willie Thompson
Reporters Kandy Dew, Jim Roberts, Ingrid Sandberg, Dale
Nelson, Ken Svensen
Sports Reporters Kevin Gandee, Charlie Lewis
Advisor Clifford M. Brock
Printed by THE PRINT SHOP, Ashland. Oregon
Human Rights Day
School officials were supposed to observe Human Rights Day.
Human Rights Day, which fell on December 10, passed by with
little or no recognition. This day, by decree of the National Education
Association (NEA), is to be observed by class discussions, skits and
poster contests.
It was not.
Human Rights Day is an international day set aside by the United
Nations General Assembly to recognize the equality that exists
between all men.
On the scholastic level, the NEA encourages teachers to discuss,
or at least mention, this equality in hopes of bettering the relationship
between American children.
According to J. D. Maulsby, ex-member of the Oregon State
Human Rights Commission, "students of all ages should realize that
America is a huge melting pot of all cultures and many minority
groups have made positive contributions to America's growth."
Despite the lack of many minority groups in Asland, this day was
too important to go unnoticed. JAH
Opinions on Departmentalization
'Snow Day' Policy
The question of cancelling school because of cold weather and
snow is a much argued one.
The burden lies directly on the shoulders of District 5
Superintendent Stanley Jobe.
On mornings when holding school is questionable, Jobe and
Charles Calhoun, proprietor of the school's buses, travel bus routes in
their cars.
"After we observe road conditions I'll call the Weather Bureau. I
find out what the weather and temperature will be for that day," said
Jobe.
Taking all these things into consideration. Jobe makes a decision.
"It's not easy. If I let school out, some 3,000 kids are nut in the streets
playing. They're usually safer at school," said Jobe.
Another aspect which cannot be overlooked is the amount of days
that school must be held. The state requires that school be held 175
days. That includes 5 emergency days. This school year is scheduled
for 178 days.
"Everytime school is called off. the state has to approve it or we
have to make it up in the spring," said Jobe. School must be held 170
days no matter what catastrophe might occur.
"1 can't let school out everytime it snows. It's only December and
we have a lot of snow ahead," said Jobe.
School has been let out once this year on Friday, Dec. 8. "This was
because of the extreme cold. Many kids don't dress properly," said
Jobe.
Christmas and Commercialization
Christmas captures and enhances the good side of everybody.
But has commercialization ruined it?
Look deeper! To many Christians it is still the celebration of the
birth of Jesus Christ. The Early Christian Church, in the fourth
century, established December 25 as the day Christ's birth would be
celebrated. Many traditions have sprouted up that have not been
ruined by commercialization: the carols, the holly and laurel and the
friendly kiss under the mistletoe.
The early decorations in the department stores, the pushing
crowds and Santa Claus on each street corner seems to enhance the
spirit of the season rather than weakening it.
There is not a soul who, in one way or another, does not anticipate
the heralding of Christmas.
So, do not look at Christmas with a pessimistic attitude. Christmas
is what you make it for other people, commercialization or not.
God bless all and have a truly Merry Christmas. JAH
What's Departmentaliza
tion?"
This was the first response
that the people interviewed
gave to the question. "W hat do
you think of departmentaliza
tion?" Their response changed
when they learned that de
partmentalization is a pro
gram in which U.S. History
and Modern Problems stu
dents are allowed to take
courses like Sociology, Psy
chology, Political Science, and
Governmental Structure in
by Steve Schmeler
lieu of the regular classes. The
general response was that of
appeal.
Senior. Doug Wright briefly
said. "It's a good idea."
Junior, Tom Waltz expounded
a little more by commenting,
"It sounds great, it gives more
of a choice in choosing the
courses you're interested in."
Most respondents disliked
the present system and their
feelings were echoed by
Senior, Terry Etters when he
said. "Sure sounds like a
better idea than boring history
classes we have now. I wish
we could use that system this
year."
Not all students want a
change in the system. Senior.
Dave Dykes said, "I like the
present system better, be
cause it deals with present
problems and you learn new
things."
It's a difficult decision to
make, whether or not to use
the departmentalization sys
tem. Some schools are using it
quite successfully and yet
some schools are doing fine
without it.
Flexible Scheduling Views
According to U.S. History
teacher, Bill Leybold, it would
take two basic adjustments to
make the proposed flexible
scheduling system work.
First, the teachers would have
to adjust their teaching to
correspond with the differ
ences in scheduling and, sec
ond, the students would have
to adjust themselves to the
added responsibility of util
izing their free time.
The flexible scheduling sys
tem appeals to both fast and
slow students because it gives
them a chance to study at
their own speed. Leybold said,
"If beneficial in that it pro
vides both slow students and
fast students with an oppor
tunity to progress at their own
rates."
English teacher, Barbara
Murdock, commented that the
proposed system is "the best
idea I've heard in ages, it
would offer students the op
portunity to pursue special
ized interests while at the
same time it give them a
chance to achieve a general
education."
The flexible scheduling sys
tem has many opportunities
available to students who are
willing to take the responsibil
ity of utilizing their time. For
example, on the open days,
students could hold a film
festival or a symposium. On
the open days even students
could offer their own courses
that they would like to teach or
else just study anything they
want.
Think About It
by Steve Schmelzer
There's an old song that says "You always hurt the one you
love, the one you wouldn't hurt at all. You always take the
dearest rose and crush it till the petals fall."
This song reflects the feeling that many of us have
experienced, that feeling of nausea after you have said
something that hurts someone that means a lot to you.
As humans we often experience "communication gaps" in
our attempts to communicate 'with the people we care for.
It seems that we often find ourselves saying the wrong
things to the people we love the most. After "blowing it" and
saying the wrong things we usually lose a lot of sleep thinking
about what we did, but still we can't force ourselves to do
something as humanitarian as apologizing.
We humans are so dominated by egotistical pride that we
often refuse to let our real feelings show. People are so afraid
that someone will find out that under their mask is actually a
sensitive person who is vulnerable to embarrassment, jealousy,
love, and other human emotions.
By trying to mask our feelings we not only hurt ourselves
but also the people we care for, because we seldom can
overcome our pride to tell them what they really mean to us.
The way to stop hurting others and even ourselves, is to tell
our loved ones what they mean to us and even lower ourselves to
apologize when we do say something that we didn't mean.
Communcation becomes so much easier when the true feelings
are allowed to be expressed.
Comments
To the Editor:
The audience at the student
matinee of The Man W ho Came to
Dinner deserves praise for their
excellent conduct all through the
two and one-half hours of the
performance.
It is true that the play is
entertaining; and for a general
audience, a fast-moving humor
ous play is most successful.
Student audiences have not al
ways been so courteous when a
play is serious drama and asks
them to think more than to be
entertained. The student matinee
production of Our Town is a
frightening example.
Yet a good comedy, well writ
ten and played at a fast pace,
whether written in 1592, 1939, or
1972 is appreciated by most
students. Those of us who have
worked closely with Man have
come to realize the excellence of
the writing of Kaufman and Hart,
and we want to thank our
audience for sharing the experi
ence with us. You have demon
strated that student audiences
can be excellent.
EDITORIAL POLICY
Students are welcome to ex
press their views in letters to the
Rogue News. Any letter to the
editor must be of reasonable
length and signed, though the
name may be withheld on
request. However, the letter will
remain on file available to any
one who wished to se it. It is the
policy of the Rogue Newt not to
publish anything libelous in
nature. Only spelling and punc
tuation will be changed Letters
will be printed on a space avail
able basis. The opinions ex
pressed in the letters are not
necessarily those of the Rogue
News or its staff. Letters should
be delivered to H It or Mr
Brock's box in the office.