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About The Grantonian (Portland, Ore.) 19??-???? | View Entire Issue (Nov. 21, 1969)
4 THE GRANTONIAN November 21, 1969 Editorials Exchange teacher from Russia visits; answers questions about USSR life by Martha Ojard Gangsters not sent into oblivion! 'Sir Gawain' 'living in Chicago Southside, ’ say students Sir Gawain, is alive and living in the Chicago Southside! The “great silver screen” has not sent the 1930’s gangsters into oblivion! James Conover’s English Lit students hand in a joint term pro ject. Big G Meets the Derby, a ten-minute, silent, 8mm, full color feature film of 1930 gangster type was produced as a transition from Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, a 14th century didactic romance familiar to most seniors. THE STORY is sparked with violence, adventure, suspense, lust, seduction, re sistance and religion, practically simul taneously. Evidently the makers felt it deserved the self-inflicted “X” rating. Allen Mayberry, Mark Borquist and Evan Whipple portrayed, consecutively, Big G, Bad Bert (alias the Derby) and The Priest. Completing the cast were five “thugs”: Gerry Reese, Doug Board man, Dave Grosz, Terry Owens and Pat Doyle. FINISHING THE nine was Don John son, official cameraman. Rocky Menashe also lent her talents as “The Gay Lady.” The whole scheme took five weeks to carry out. It began with the idea of simply rewriting the epic into more mod ern English. Then the more original pro cedure was brought about on suggestion of Allen and Gerry. AFTER MUCH planning in and out of class, actual filming was ready to begin. The company traveled to such on-lo,ca tion sets as the railroad tracks under 42nd Ave. at Lombard and a drive through North Portland (representing Chicago Southside). Seven hours of film splicing followed, with the selection of appropriate musi cal accompaniment, which was then taped. Premier showing were last Friday at which time Dr. Roy O. Malo authorized new film allowance to the students for possible future productions. According to the group, they’re ready to start again— this time with a little more knowledge of what they’re doing. Mr. Conover is encouraging them along also. He was “extremely pleased” with the project. Generally Speaking by Gary Cogill Recently a black member of our var sity football team injured his leg very badly in a daily practice. He was taken immediately to a hospital in the Portland area to get aid, and the bills began to moimt. His name is Terry Phillips. IT WAS then brought up among the coaching staff and various members of the faculty, not to mention the players, that a collection be started to help pay for some of these bills. Money then came pouring in and the bills began to look smaller and smaller. A lesson may be learned from all of this. Whether it be the idea of charity or helping people in a time of difficulties. THERE IS one thing that is tremen dous about all of this, and that is that re gardless of the person’s color, money* was raised to help him. Not only by black students but by white students also, and it is vitally important that people feel this way when our world is in such an uproar. It is tremendous that people can throw out all forms of prejudice and con centrate on getting something done that is worthwhile. Self is sometimes very important, but many times the security of others outdoes the importance of self. A big hand may be given to these few who have thrown out thejir ideas of being prejudiced. Thfey should be com- mended for making others see their way in stopping forms of racial disorder in the world. Grant High School may only be a small incident in many incidents around the country that has showed some prom ise towards making peace among people who feel that color of skin is a barrier. Terry is at the county hospital; he would welcome all visitors. “Zrastvweetchye Kak Wee poszeveye- tye?" asKed Mrs. Victoria Georgievna Annikova, a Muscovite English teacher who is visiting American schools. MRS. ANNIKOVA was selected to be a member of a group of Russian teachers being “exchanged” with American Rus sian teachers for two months. “I don’t know why I was chosen, though,” she commented. The exchange is sponsored by the American Friends Service Com mission. She will be in Portland three weeks, then she goes to Philadelphia, New York, and Washington. Her visita tion began in Cambridge, at a private school—Brown and Nichols, which is an all-boys’ school. “There was only one other woman teacher there, besides my self,” she reminisced. When asked if she liked America, she replied, “Yes, it is just as I had expected. I had read a lot of books about it before I came, and they prepared me. But of course, people are people everywhere; Americans don’t really differ from Rus sians.” SHE CONTINUED to say that Moscow and Portland were different, as far as population and building construction goes. “There are 7 million people in Mos cow. Our buildings are long and tall; I live in a block long, 9-story high apart ment building, on the ninth floor,” she elaborated. When asked to comment on the differ ences and similarities of Russian and American schools, and Russian and American teenagers, she said that Rus sian students “all wear uniforms. The girls wear brown dresses, a white collar and cuffs, and white aprons. The boys wear gray slacks and blue jackets. Oui teenagers like both classical and modern music. They also like to travel. Even in winter, they go camping or hiking. They take tents, knapsacks and guitars, and travel.” IN RUSSIA, students usually begin to learn a foreign language, in this case, usually English, when they are 8, if they are in a “special school.” In a “normal school” foreign tongues are taught at 11. Instead of grades, Russian students re ceive “marks”: the highest mark is a “5,” the lowest is a “1.” Late News Bulletin . . . [ Tana Marrs and Larry Wheeler have been nominated to represent National Honor Society’s local chapter in national competition for NHS scholarships. The two were selected Wednesday morning at a special meeting of NHS. They now qualify to be colnpared with other NHS’ers on a national level. If selected nationally, they will receive an NHS scholarship for $1,000. One hun dred seventy-five such scholarships will be awarded to NHS seniors who fulfill four areas of achievement: leadership, scholarship, character, and service. “All forms must be returned to the Scholarship service by December 10,” Mrs. Elva Newcomer counselor and NHS advisor, explained. “Both of our nom inees will participate, but their eligibility does not guarantee that a scholarship will be awarded,” she concluded. Letters to the Editor Editor, The Grantonian: In last Thursday’s assembly, 11/13/69, the conduct of the Grant High student body was thoroughly disappointing. Some of the students talked during the playing of the national anthem. Others showed disrespect for the speakers by visiting, doing school work, and sleep ing. Grant has been a great school not only because of its outstanding athletic teams, but for its music, drama, academic achievements, and, as noted, especially in this assembly, for its nationally recog nized forensics program. We think it is too bad that the student body generally has to be so crude in assembly conduct. Surely the great tra ditions we have inherited and hope to pass on to other students demands a greater degree of sophistication than we showed in our last assembly. Anne Gerber Kathy Murray Marty Roberts Harriet Diver Barbara Kelley “ALL EDUCATION is free,” she em phasized. “There is no tuition or expense for school—in fact, some college students receive a stipend from the govern ment. My daughter receives 11 rubles a month.” Continuing to elaborate on Russian schools, she commented: “The students do not choose subjects. They must take everything we have outlined for them— everything is essential. Because of this, by the time they are through high school, they are capable of entering any univer sity in Russia. But to enter college, en trance exams must be taken: only these are used in deciding upon admissibility of a student.” AVERAGE CLASSES are usually made up of 38 or 39 pupils. If English classes are begun at 8 years of age, that class is split into three sections, with 8-10 students in each division. “There is a lot of hunting and fishing in Russia,” Mrs. Annikova explained. “And people travel abroad more. This is my first trip abroad, but my husband has been to many foreign countries.” SHE DENIED any drug problem in Russia—“there is none at all.” .She was also asked about reactions to the Ameri can VietNam Moratorium and she an nounced, “There are no demonstrations against our government because we elect our government. We can write our gov ernment about our grievances — we get an answer, ft is. illogical to protest against people we elect to government.” She asserted that there is freedom of press and speech in Russia. “It was im possible for me to undertand your tele vision movies . . . because of the com mercials. We never interrupt our pro grams. At first, I couldn’t tell whether the commercial was part of the movie or not!’L Miss Illona Zakovics, German and Rus sian teacher, later enlarged upon Mrs. Annikova’s replies. “The T.V. is con trolled by the government. It is only available for several hours a day— perhaps one-two hours in the morning, and one-two hours in the evening. It is usually political or maybe educational. It’s party-run, and usually all slanted.” One interesting aspect of Russian life is the requirement for obtaining a driv er’s license. “One must be able to take apart and put together a car motor.” Upon seeing quizzical looks, Mrs. Anni kova smiled and said, “Oh no, only my husband has a driver’s license. The tests are very complex.” Mrs. Annikova concluded her remarks about Russia with a typical Russian phrase—“Dusveedanya!—‘Goodby!’” Miss Zakovics also added, later, that she “was embarrased to let her see our cafeteria. I walked out the other way so she wouldn’t see too much. We walked through Jello in the halls and I won dered ‘What if she slips and breaks her leg?’ I could just hear her explanation— ‘Oh, I slipped on some Jello in America at one of their high schools!’ ” Published weekly by the advanced journalism class of Ulysses S. Grant high school, room 203, 2245 N.E. 36th Avenue, Portland, Ore. 97212. Phone 288-5975 or 288-3839. Printed by Mod em Typesetting company with a cir culation of 2600. Second class postage paid at Portland, Oregon. Subscription cost $2.00 per year. Vol. 76, No. 10 — November 21, 1969 Editor ............................. Martha Ojàrd Page 1 Editor........... Margaret Hadden Page 2 Editor ..........Mary Ann Hutton Page 3 Editor ................... Gary Cogill Page 4 Editor........... ..... Jenni Raies Reporters............... Sue Gottsch, Chris Hawes, Steve Johnson, Kathi Rob inson, JeanTaylor. Entertainment Editor.......... J....... Mary Ann Hutton Advertising Manager....... Sue Gottsch Business Manager............................Sue Gottsch Circulation............... Neil d’Autremont Advisor....................... Willard Mohn
