Pajre Four Heppner Gazette Times, Heppner, Oregon Heppner Gazette Times THE HEPPNER GAZETTE, Established March 30, 1883; THE HEPPNER TIMES, Established November 18, 1897; CONSOLIDATED FEBRUARY 15, 1912 Published every Thursday morning by CBAWFOBD PUBLISHING COMPANY and entered at the Post Office at Hepp- ucr, uregon, as secona-ciass matter. JASPER V. CRAWFORD, Editor SPENCER CRAWFORD, Manager SUBSCRIPTION RATES: One Year $2.00 Three Years 6.00 Six Months 1.00 Three Months .75 Single Copies .05 Official Paper for Morrow County A Little Better, Maybe? A FEELING prevails among some business houses here that con ditions are improved over a year ago. The feeling is based on retail sales prior to Christmas and is not shared by all of the concerns mak ing up the commercial life of Hepp ner. In some instances there was a de cided improvement. One store re ported an increase of 52 percent in the Friday-Saturday rush before Christmas compared with 1938, which was about an average year. There was no special effort at mer chandising. In fact, stocking for the Christmas trade was based on pre vious years with the result that many lines were sold out before noon Saturday. Other stores reported similar experiences. No attempt has been made to an alyze this increase. It has been sug gested that the heavier buying was due to the fact that not so many people went elsewhere to observe Christmas and that perhaps many more than common came here for that purpose. That may be, but it is not hard to believe that the effort put forth this year to attract trade for the holiday season had a part in the improved business. True, the effort put forth was but a beginning and it should point the way to a more concerted effort the year round. No store was ever put out of business by establishing fair pri ces and advertising that fact to the public. A well-established sales policy, good merchandise and- fair prices are something a merchant can advertise with pride. If Heppner is to hold its own in the commercial world its business houses will have to adopt an aggressive policy and stay with it. An occasional flurry may bring in a few extra dollars. but it is the steady pull for business that builds up volume. Let Heppner's resolution for the New Year include a recovery of trade territory. There is no use in our business houses settling down to a limited trade. Let us face the facts, admit we have been derelict in our duty and set about to make a right about face. It may require casting off some lifetime customs and the change will not be easy but it will be good for all of us. A Good Resolution IF YOU have not completed your list of New Year resolutions and if you have been in the habit of soliciting the transportation of pass engers in your private automobile, right now is a good time to incor porate a resolve not to follow the practice. Numerous instances of such conduct have been called to the attention of the public utilities commissioner and he proposes to do something about it. His interest cen ters largely upon those' cases where compensation is sought through a "share expense" arrangement. The Oregon Motor Transportation act provides that no person shall engage in the transportation of per sons over Oregon highways for hire, compensation or consideration until he shall have obtained a permit from the Public Utilities commissioner authorizing such operation, and as one condition precedent to the is suance of such a permit, policies of insurance with public liability and property damage risks must be filed as a safeguard to the public. It fol lows that any person performing for hire service without compliance I ER to blast the very hills apart with the motor transportation act is operating in violation of law. Perhaps such practice is not fol lowed in this vicinity, at least not to the extent of advertising for pass engers. If there be one who con templates seeking financial aid in this manner let him ponder the law before taking action. It has been countenanced in the past but it is illegal. MEWS dispatches keep hinting of " a major offensive to be launched by the Russians in the spring. If reports of losses suffered by the soviet army to date are correct it looks like the sensible thing for Stalin to do would be to launch that drive right away. If he waits until spring the Finns will have the Rus sian bear whittled down to their size. And there is no doubt about their being able to complete the job after that. Educational Forum Contributed articles from county school leaders telling the pur poses of education. Guidance in the Modern School RALPH E. JONES If you want to shoot a pheasant, don't you aim at something? We teachers in our guidance work are attempting to get children to aim or point toward some definite goal when they "shoot their mental and physical energies." When asked why they go to school or why they take a certain subject, too many students answer, "To get credits to pass or graduate"; "mother and dad want me to do it"; or, "I dun'no." A real purpose and sound objectives are lacking in the school life of many people. It would seem like sound logic to say that if you don't know where you are going, you are not likely to get to a desirable place without a good deal of grief. Guidance is carried on in schools through special courses in a direct manner and also through the use of more subtle devices in an indirect manner. Individual counseling with certain members of the faculty has long been an accepted method of getting children to face reality Sometimes just a quiet talk will start students reflecting upon the meaning of life and what they in tend to do about making their lives happy and successful. Generally speaking, guidance giv es children information which will help them make more intelligent choices. Examples of such informa tion would be facts about jobs, pro fessions, school subjects, social life, manners, getting along with teach ers, getting along in the home, per sonality, character, understanding people, the proper use of credit, in surance, hobbies and many others too numerous to mention. In one guidance course taught in our school, "Personal and Business Re lations," the students are told on the first day of class that anything they wish to talk about is a part of the course. Certainly most anything could be construed to relate to some personal or business relation that a person might have in life. There is only one restriction in this course and that is "everything must have a purpose and that there should be a sincere desire for information. It is up to the teacher to guide these discussions and activities into pur poseful activities. If the teacher does this, then our students go out into the world "much less like green peas" and are much better equipped to face the multiplicity of problems of the present-day citizen. The entire educational program is one of guidance, involving con tinuing appraisal of a pupil's attain ment compared with his own ability to attain. Here is an example of one lesson in a group guidance ef fort which is used in our school. The Powerhouse of the School Power the thundering force of falling water is transformed into light, or whirls the wheels of migh ty machines. From the depths of the earth comes a liquid which speeds three thousand pounds of automobile at ninety miles an hour. From the kernel of the corn scient ists produce a compound with POW- But from what does all this POW ER generally spring? Would it have Deen translormed, harnessed, or created without the action of the mind? And each of us has been endowed with MIND. One of you who reads these- words has the POWER OF MIND to create undreamed-of advancement a great invention, a world-helping idea; each of you has tremendous power, waiting for you to become its mas ter. If you can only realize your true possibilities, if you can be fill ed with the will to assume MAS TERY of your native power your years will bring more REAL RE SULTS. There is a place in this school where a special opportunity presents itself for you to develop POWER the power to organize your efforts, the power to force yourself to do outstanding work. That place is the STUDY HALL, the powerhouse of the school. In that room more LIFE SUCCESSES are made than in any other part of this building. The time you spend there is of unusual value because you are under your own di rection and the POWER TO DIR ECT YOURSELF will be of great est aid to you when you are through with school. Education Versus Propaganda The word "propaganda' has long been considered as something bad. This is a case of being judged by one's companions, for propaganda has come to light through its evil associates such as war and other undertakings. The student of words will recog nize that propaganda comes from the Latin verb which means "to sow." Propaganda has been de scribed, however, as a systematic at tempt by an interested individual to control the attitude of groups of individuals through the use of sug gestion and, consequently, to control their, actions. In these days of broader scone in the field of education, psople are beginning to realiez that education is not to be turned on and off as though one were manipulating a hot water faucet. Education has been found to be the general assimila tion of all one's daily activities. As suming this to be true, one might readity see that everything that one does, hears, reads or sees, has some influence on his life in one way or another. If and when these forces of influence are so arranged by an individual or group of in dividuals so as to control the actions and thoughts of others, propaganda has been employed. It would seem, then, that propa ganda and education are closely re lated. To some extent they may be, but the distinguishing feature is the intent of the individual whose in fluence is affecting others. This can be best illustrated by the salesman who employs every device he can to make his commodity .at tractive. If he is trying to sell a blind horse, he points out the good points of the horse, carefully avoid ing any mention of the bad features. His intent is to influence the atti tude of his customer. If the same tactics are used on a group of indiv iduals, it would be classed as propa ganda. In true education, the student is encouraged to seek out the whole truth not just a selection that may lead him into a course of action that might be different from what he would ordinarily have carried out. The good teacher tries to show the pupil or student the alternatives the different sides of any problem in order to give the student an op portunity to use his own judgment. The teacher tries to avoid pre-di- gesting the material for the student. However, a teacher should be an in fluence for good. Thus, it is found that there are times that education and propagan da might very well go hand in hand. Education can help the propagan dist and propaganda can help the educator. By the same token, how ever, one may be used as an anti dote for the other. The smart pro pagandist, therefore, will cooperate as much as possible with the edu cator. Educators must take advan tage of the opportunities afforded and employ propaganda for the good of education. Happy New Year I o May it bring to each and all of you Health Happiness Prosperity II Heppner Gazette Times Thursday, Dec. 28, 1939