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THEGRANTONIAN
November 10, 1966
Education offeró ótudentó opportunitieó for óucceóó
The chance to become the person you want to be; the
chance to become employed doing the work you want to
do; the chance to make a fortune, even a small one; and
the chance to gain an understanding of those around you
are offered through our educational system.
This week has been National Education week. Little
has been said or done to emphasize this, but it is a part
of our daily lives. Unfortunately we often take for
granted the education we are receiving, and the oppor
tunities we are meeting every day in school.
Begun, furthered and strengthened by the National
Education association, National Education week is a way
for the adult citizenry to become aware of the changes
in curriculum and advances in techniques of our educa
tional system.
Our country has supplied each of us with one of the
greatest advantages one person can give another, knowl
edge; the knowledge needed to understand yourself and
others; the knowledge needed to make decisions; the
knowledge that helps you adjust to an ever changing
world.
Primary schools, high schools, colleges and univer
sities are the basis of our educational system. They sup
ply our nation with the intellectual, economic, and polit
ical leaders necessary for America to head the western
world.
The challenge of the future and how prepared we will
be to meet it depends on how thoroughly we apply our
selves in the search of knowledge.
Veterans' day once for Allies' victory;
now pays tribute to soldiers of all wars
by Cynthia Barrett
Women cried, men were near hyster
ics, and spontaneous parades began. The
entire nation rejoiced at 11:00 a.m. on
November 11, 1918. Armistice had been
achieved—the Allies were victorious in
Europe.
In drizzly rain, in a railroad car
in the Compiegne forest of France,
the German peace delegation and
Marshal Ferdinand Foch, Allied
commander, signed an agreement
ending the “war to end all wars.”
Headlines screamed the victory, ra
dios crackled with the announcement.
After a year and a half of conflict and
126,000 dead, the United States could
enjoy peace.
President Woodrow Wilson pro-
jJlie Cjrantonian
Published weekly by the advanced jour
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Vol. 69, No. 10 — November 10, 1966
Editor....................
Barbara Earnest
1st Page Editor................ Gayle Fleming
2nd Page Editor . .. ............. Elaine Wolfe
3rd Page Editor............. Cecile O’Rourke
4th Page Editor................ Mike Hoffman
Reporters........................... Cindy Barrett
Bonnie Brown, .Mike Cochrane, Casey
Coughlin, Cynthia Evans, Cynthia
Froom, Mary Jane Hulett, Marilyn
Leonard, Lorna Viken
Business Mgr........................ Marilyn Best
Circulation ........................... Lorna Viken
Photographer..........................Julie Ferry
Adviser............................... Willard Mohn
claimed the day to be a holiday, and
on every November 11 Armistice
day was celebrated. The day was
made an official federal holiday in
1938.
Special services are held every year
at the tomb of the unknown soldier in
Washington, D.C. Parades, picnics and
speeches celebrates the day of victory.
But the celebration began to lose
its significance when World War II
and its cold war aftermath began to
tarnish the happiness felt when the
end of “war to end all wars” was
Celebrated.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower de
cided to change the name and emphasis
of the holiday. He proclaimed November
11 Veterans’ day in 1954, to honor the
veterans of the United States armed
forces. The day was dedicated to world
peace.
Traditionally, Veterans’ day is cele
brated here by an assembly featuring
patriotic speeches and music. These re
call to mind the democratic principles
for which our veterans have served, and
perhaps fought.
What does it involve this joining the
armed services? Strain, fear, delay in
marriage, and delay in education are
some of the factors veterans considered.
If world peace is ever achieved, and
the need for armed services is ever de
stroyed (an unlikely eventuality), Amer
icans will still honor their veterans, for
these people were willing to sacrifice for
their country’s wellbeing.
Our dead veterans have honor “. . . be
yond our poor power to add or detract,”
as Abraham Lincoln expressed it. Those
veterans still living are honored tomor
row, and it is our privilege to honor
them.
Grading ton fusion due
to students'ignorance
of cumulative system
by Elaine Wolfe
The first grading period is over. Soon
the cries of “That teacher doesn’t know
what he’s doing, I deserved at least a
*B’,” or “Grades don’t mean anything
the way these teachers grade,” will be
heard throughout the school.
Complaints such as these about
grades are partly due to student
ignorance about the cumulative
grading system. By understanding
this system, teachers’ grades may
seem more reasonable.
By attributing all of the student’s aca
demic achievement from the first day of
school to the day before the report cards
are filled out, the cumulative grading
system takes in the widest scope possi
ble. With each new grade, the previous
one no longer pertains, dr in effect it no
longef exists.
In other words, the first quarter’s
grade is given for the first ten
weeks. The second quarter’s grade
is for the first 19 weeks, and so on
until the final grade at the end of
the year accounts for the entire
year’s work.
This particular grade system has two
distinct advantages over the averaging
grade plan. With the cumulative system
a student’s level of achievement at that
precise time is indicated, but with the
averaging plan the present level of
achievement is added to that of the pre
vious quarter’s and then divided.
Also under this system if a student
tends to slack off in his effort toward
the end of the year his grades will show
this. The average plan would not show
the slacking off, because it would have
to be averaged in with rest of the year’s
work.
On The Shelf
by Elaine Wolfe
Yes / Can motto describes Sammy Davis
“He’s the greatest entertainer of our
time,” and “Go back to the Congo you
Kosher coon,” were both said of Sammy
Davis Jr. The first was stated by Frank
Sinatra and the latter by an anonymous
bigot protesting outside a 1960 John F.
Kennedy rally where Mr. Davis was
performing.
YES I CAN is the autobiography
of a man who has been on stage all
of his life, spotlighted by those who
admired him for his talent and by
those who hated him for the race
he was born into and the religion
he chose. YES I CAN is Sammy Da
vis’ personal story.
The years of struggle; the car accident
when stardom was within reach; the age
of doubts, fears and hypocracy; and the
people who had faith in him are all por
trayed in this recent autobiography.
Success and failure came his way,
but the success became Mr. Davis’
passion and “yes I can” his motto.
He believes he has to be three times
the performer that anyone else is.
Once because he is a Negro, twice
because he is a Jew, and third be
cause of the physical handicap he
acquired in a car accident when his
left eye was torn from its socket.
Sheltered and protected from racial
prejudice for the first half of his life
by show business, Mr. Davis had a rude
awakening when he joined our still
racially segregated army during World
War II. His adjustment to a world he
never knew existed is stirringly told by
Mr. Davis.
Friendships with Frank Sinatra, Peter
Lawford and the rest of their clan, Jeff
Chandler and Tony Curtis, are genuinely
told without exploitation or fraud.
Frank Sinatra’s deep rooted faith in
Sammy Davis from the beginning gives
a keen insight into their relationship of
today.
Through his own words Mr. Davis
transports the reader into his own per
sonal and public worlds. His worlds of
perpetual motion, concern for all people,
and boundless talents are truthfully ex
posed for the first time.
Yes I Can is in the school library.
Teachers dispute,
discuss study aids
inhibiting students
Cliff’s Notes claim to be “America’s
most asked-for study aid.” Since that
suggests they are popular with students,
how do they rate with teachers?
Each teacher of the English depart
ment received a questionnaire asking for
their views on such study guides.
“For certain students, such notes do
have a value. The notes might clear up
a problem just as asking a teacher might.
But generally the notes inhibit individual
thinking, questioning,
searching. Used as a
substitute for close
individual reading,
for thinking, for in
quiring, they have to
be considered second
rate learning. I don’t
wish that for any stu
dent.
Edward Basaraba
“I recall that Soc-
rates once said to Plato—‘He who uses
Cliff’s Notes stands dangerously close to
the precipice of ignorance’,” commented
Edward Basaraba.
“Such guides are all right for college
students and responsible, eager high
school students, but they are not for the
average or lazy students who may not
bother with the actual work. Study
guides are fair, but too often they take
the fun out of figuring something out for
yourself. “When students get everything
handed to them, as they do in these
study guides, they quit thinking for
themselves and start
looking for some
teacher or literary
critic to do their
thinking for them.
And worse yet, they
get in the habit of
looking for pat, over
simplified answers,”
said Mrs. Marjory
Mrs. Marjory Hubbard Hubbard.
“It is rather easy to perceive who uses
such notes and who does not. They can
be constructively useful. As a teacher I
try to be acquainted with the notes cov
ering my class units. I try to indicate
where I believe the notes are in error
and where they are of real help.”
“I caution against plagarism in using
the notes. I find no cases in which the
notes are an adequate substitute for the
text. By recognizing their existence, I
feel that I can direct serious students to
use them intelligently. Others profit very
little from either the text or notes any
way,” commented Charles Randolph.
“I discourage the
use of Cliff’s Notes.
I have discovered
that a sizeable num
ber of students use
these Notes instead of
reading and using
their own notes and
judgement. I recom
mend aids and/or
• Miss Helen Cherry
criticisms for post
reading assignments. I believe they can
serve a worthwhile function in reviewing
a work which has already been read.
“In addition, I am not so certain that
these Notes are critical and comprehen
sive enough to properly analyze and ex
plicate several of the great classics of
literature,” explained Allen Transue.
“They can assist the student in under
standing a field of study. Too often they
are used as a substitute for the original.
There are better works of criticism
available for student use,” said Jack Gil
liland.
“Cliff’s Notes are great for kids who
like funny books and will never get be
yond the funny-book stage. Obviously,
they are used by those who are more
interested in passing tests than in learn
ing anything,” Mrs. Constance Person
stated.
“I am against the use of such study
guides, especially when they are read in
lieu of or before the book. The student
should allow himself his own opinion,
not a biased, predetermined one. I feel
that the student should respect his own
opinion and if he does he will be very
wary of predigested materials contained
in these notes,” Miss Helen Cherry com
mented.