4________ THE GRANTONIAN________ November 8, 1968
Editorials
y
Supreme iacn^ce in
They came as freshmen, meek and young, walked the halls with hun
dreds of other students, and graduated with hope and future plans in mind.
B.T. 3rd Thomas L. Cogill, U.S. Navy; Lance Corporal Gerald G. Ded-
more, U.S. Marines;-Corporal William E. Irwin, U.S. Navy; Lance Cor
poral Stephen M. Krinke, U.S. Marine Corps; Specialist 4 Dwayne C. Mc
Clure, U.S. Army; Corporal Steven J. Miner, U.S. Army; Lance Corporal
Merrick R. Pierce, U.S. Marine Corps; and Sergeant Kenneth L. Thomas,
U.S. Army. These eight were patriotic Grantonians, not because they died
for their country, but because they fought for their country and its beliefs,
and died in the process.
No material thing can ever take the place of eight human lives, but a
living memorial is more than fitting.
The organ, purchased in the memory of the eight Viet Nam war dead
servicemen will be paid for through contributions by friends, and family
of the dead, and by faculty members and students. Individual contribu
tions should be made through the Grant High School Memorial Organ
Fund.
With each note played on the Memorial Organ, whether it be Veteran’s
Day, or Christmas, thoughts of these men who made the supreme sacrifice,
and thoughts of those who yet may do so for their country, will go with us,
and with all those others who hear and see, the living memorial to the
gallant dead.
'Unite black and white people’ discussion topic
“If you do not discuss the problems of
the black and white relationships,” com
mented Junior Johnson, “you will never
have a united black and white commu
nity.”
TAKING THIS into consideration, a
meetiiig was held for all interested stu
dents who had questions or ideas about
the problem. “Unite black and white
people” was the topic used for discus
sion. Mr. Johnson and English teacher
Thomas Neilson were the moderators for
the discussion.
Students and teachers could attend the
discussion if they so desired. If a student
had a class and wanted to come to the
meeting, it was up to that student to get
excused. Neither teacher in charge of the
discussion wrote out excuses, and if the
student received a cut slip for the par
ticular class, it was up to him to clear it.
“WHY DO YOU RIOT,” and “Why are
you so loud in the halls?” were a few of
the questions asked of the Negroes.
“We are loud because it is our way of
having fun,” was one answer. “When the
black people bum down their own. area,
the white man will build it up again,”
was another answer. Another comment
was, “They say they will build things,
but they never say when.”
“I THINK IT WAS a good idea to have
this meeting as an open discussion,” said
Doug Mackie. “It should be done more
often. It might help in one way or the
other.”
If these discussions are continued, it
^Jhe (jrantonian
Published weekly by the advanced jour
nalism class of Ulysses S. Grant high
school, room 203, 2245 N.E. 36th Avenue,
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Printed by Modern Typesetting company
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Vol. 73, No. 9 — November 8, 1968
Editor .......................................Jan Kelley
Page 1 editor........... ......... June Ammon
Page 2 editor................. .Marlene Feves
Page 3 editor................. Bruce Fishback
Page 4 editor ................... Martha Ojard
Reporters........Debby Liesch, Katherine
McGregor, Kathi Robinson, Lisa Rose,
Debbie Rovech, Gary Cogill
Photographer .........Joyce DeMonnin
Advertising Manager ... . Kathy Walton
Circulation Manager ..Kathy McGregor
Circulation Staff ... . Margaret Hadden,
Mary Ann Hutton
Advisor................... ........... Willard Mohn
is hoped that the auditorium will be
available, so that more people will be
able to attend.
“I THINK we should keep having
these open panel discussions,” asserted
Junior Johnson. “It will bring our white
and black students .closer together. I feel
that it will put an end to almost all of
the racial problems at Grant.”
An outside speaker from Washington
University discussed the purpose of the
Black Panthers organization. He ex
plained that the main purpose of this
group is to keep, and have, self-protec-
tion in the community in which they
live.
VARIOUS IDEAS and comments were
raised .concerning his statements. “I
think that they were too militant about
the whole thing,” said Elise Anfield.
“They believe in rioting in their own
area, and believe that the white man
will come in and build it back up.”
“I feel that the Black Panthers are
just a young police force,” asserted Di
ane Wagner. “If they see someone in
trouble they will try to help them no
matter what color they are. I think that
by having these sessions, it will clear up
a lot of unanswered questions. They
should have them announced ahead of
time so more students can participate,
and also—more space is needed.”
OTHER STUDENTS that participated
in the discussion felt that it was worth
while, and that more should be held.
The participants did not seem to be
afraid to ask the questions that bothered
them, and the students gave direct an
swers. Some students felt that these dis
cussions will not end the racial prob
lems at Grant. No matter where you go,
they say, there will be prejudice.
Another step that might be taken is to
bring Negro History classes together and
have them discuss the past and future
problems of the black and white rela
tionships.
“This would probably give a better
understanding to the students,” com
mented Diane. “They will realize that
both groups of people must meet each
other half way.”
“It is my sincere hope that these ses
sions will be continued, and that maybe
some of our racial problems can be un
derstood,” concluded Junior Johnson.
Student ’relevance poll’ nets varied reactions
Recently, Edward Basaraba, English
teacher, conducted a poll among his sen
ior English classes, concerning the rele
vance of the English curriculum to stu
dents. One hundred eleven responded,
thirteen were absent.
“WELL, MR. BASARABA, it (refer
ring to class discussion concerning pos
sibilities of change), didn’t do much
good, ’cause if ya want to know the
truth, you are kind of set in your ways,
no offense, you can’t help it, you are get
ting older, and the older a person gets,
the more set he is. Don’t feel too bad
though, it’s a bummer to be down.”
“I think that we may not be inter
ested in the books that are assigned to
us, but I am sure that the school board
has found something in them that they
think would help us. After all, we are
here to learn from others, not to say
what we want to learn.”
“ADD A FEW books by contemporary
Letters to the Editor
To The Editor:
I just read your article entitled POLL
REVEALS DRESS CODE UNREAD;
CHANGES WANTED ... and complete
ly freaked when I got to the part which
read: “Concerning the question, ‘Does
long hair interfere with a student’s learn
ing?’ 371 students said it did.”
I just wish to warn all of the girls
with long hair that if they want to learn
anything this year, they’d better cut it
off now, before it’s too late. That must
also apply to our foreign exchange stu
dents (who must’ve had a little more up
there academically in order to qualify
for the AFS program). Regan C. (Excuse
me, Regan, for condemning you!) who,
if I’m not mistaken, has carried a 4.0
GPA for the past few years; Janet Jump,
last year 4.0 . . . and Kanta Mirchandi,
from the year before .. . etc. .
Oh, I’m sorry. You 371 students may
be referring to the guys only. Since when
have ears been a major difference of the
sexes?
I think I’ve made my point clear as to
my opinion of the ridiculous statements
expressed by these students. And I’d ap
preciate if any of you 371 would show
the courage to come up to me and de
fend your viewpoints. (I’ll even put my
hair behind my ears to hear you better!)
Thank you,
Debby Rengo
To the Editor:
I feel that the Memorial Assembly on
the morning of November 6 was the best
ever conducted at Grant. The student
body behaved in such a way as to be
commended. The moment the color guard
entered, a hush came over the room.
Thank you,
Cathi Block, Linda Donin
authors. . . . But I think we should also
do the required because many of the
students . . . are college bound and will
probably be held responsible for the ma
terial ...” About forty-five of the total
had this “Keep some—change some”
opinion.
“Let’s do what we did yesterday, (re
ferring to the discussions) more often.
The greatest feeling in the world is go
ing through the day knowing that we
didn’t do English in English.”
“FIRST OFF, when I was younger, I
loved English, but when I moved to Port
land, I lost all interest completely. . . .
Patterns of English didn’t make any
sense. I can’t remember now what it was
even about, except that a noun was a ‘1’
and a verb a ‘2’, etc. My sophomore year
we went into the history of the English
language. . . . That was more boring than
anything on the face of the earth. I hated
it with a passion. When the teacher was
absent or late, I felt like jumping up and
down for joy. The whole thing was a
burden; I felt just swamped by it and
would’ve done anything to escape it. At
the same time there was . . . the thick
book of A Tale of Two Cities. I didn’t
care if I passed or failed.”
“. . . The classics give ideas that are
prevalent to any age. This is why . . .
they’ve lasted. . . . You can’t just com
pletely throw out the classics and jump
into the contemporary—our environment
requires the two ...”
Four of the students polled were in
different and twenty-eight advocated
change.