P{^e 2
THE GRYPHON
Friday, December 18, 1970
Christmas is an unusual time of year. As stores
begin to bring out their Christmas decorations and
people start making gift-lists, a whole new atmosphere
descends upon the globe.
Little kids are the ones who get Christmas fever
the worst of all. Toy catalogs provide mothers with
a few extra moments of quiet as the little one breath
lessly searches page after page for the ideal Christmas
gift. The moment of triumph comes when he spots
it—the one thing that the wants more than anything
else in the world--at least on that particular page.
These little ones have heard about the meaning of
Christmas--about the kid born in a manger with a
bunch of animals around. But, of course, the kids
cannot grasp the religious significance of the holi
day--they're just too young.
The young person is caught in the middle when it
comes to Christmas activities. For some, the joy of
receiving still dominates theei^otions; for others, they
have found the true joy i» giving. Some like I said,
have found the joy in giving but they still wait in ner
vous expectation for their many presents--Iguess it*s
just natural.
Part of the joy of Christmas comes with the reli
gious activity that plays such a major role in the holi
day lives of many people. One man--and he was l>orn
on this day. His life, his words serving as the pur
pose for existence for those who have heeded a calL
People are worth thinking about. During this Christ
mas season, break into a new life, one of joy, con
cern, hope and love. May Peace be with you and have
a Merry Christmas.
rhe Crazy Campus
By TIM BRINN
For weeks now, rumors have
been floating around about trips
to Florida, Canada, Sharpsburg,
Soul City, and other winter
"hotspots”. Some students, the
real individualists, are even
planning to stay in the “All-
America City”! Wonder of won
ders! Everybody seems to be
going to at least one of those
wild Christmas parties. Yes,
the future-the next two weeks-
looks very promising (except
for this newspaper, which will
probably end up lighting some-
body*s fireplace.)
This Christmas let’s all try
to help out someone. Make
Christmas a little merrier-
give yourself.
Wonder how?
Ytxi’ve already started. Stu
dents everywhere are showing
more interest in the world out
side the classroom. Getting
committed and involved to help
others is really great.
Have fun this holiday season,
and take your well-deserved
break from the school routine.
Just do something to make it
count. These next few weeks
will be just as empty and mean
ingless as you make them.
Christmas should mean
something to everyone besides
spiked eggnog or coming hbme
late after a party. .-.The next
sixteen days will-be a great
time to make a special effort
to help somebody, some
where. Help yourself, too-go
to church. Christmas is the
one time of the year when you
can go and not feel guilty about
not attending Sunday school for
the past six months. Do it
right-make it a Yuletide year
ly habit.
But whatever you do in the
next 304 hours, make it count.
Mankind, starting with you, can
use all of the Christmas ^irit
it can get!
MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM
THE GRYPHON STAFF!
Progress In Action
The lunch room stinks. People ought to be able
to eat lunch away from school without their parents.
Senior priviledges are being ignored. The student
body is apathetic. Some teachers can’t teach well.
If you have a complaint, voice your opinion. Every
two weeks, the SRA meets. There is homeroom re
presentatives are able to voice or relay a point they
would like discussed. The Human Relations Commit
tee operates a complaint department. All one has to
do to get a complaint out in the open is to fill out a
complaint blank found in the Guidance Office and turn it
back in then attend the monthly meeting where the com
plaints are brought before the committee. Another
means of getting a problem out in the open is through
letters to the Editor of this newspaper. Many people
read the letters and it is a way to get some support.
A final approach, which is used many times as a last
resort by most students, is to talk to a member of
the Administration. An appointment can usually be
made with one of the principals with very little difflr
culty and the Guidance Office is open all day . . .
just walk in (with corridor pass, that is.)
Progress beings with individual action. Problems
can only be solved if they are known to be problems.
Individual action for progress has to start some-
wbere-why not with you?
A Learning Process
Report cards came out several weeks ago and, as
usual some students made the “A” or “S’* honor roll
and others didn’t. Maybe a few students made all
A*s other than one C plus. Of course this student had
learned a great deal more than one on the B honor
roll that had compiled all B-’s--but, the requirement
for the honor roll is all A*s or B*s. So statistics go
on. Class ranks are given, achievement test scores
recorded—one could go on forever listing the statis
tics compiled every day on each student ar RMSH.
Rit, are all of these statistics of value or are
we placing too much emphasis upon whether or not
Joe makes 63 or 94 on a math test? A person cannot
be accurately judged for value according to his test
g^rades alone. A total evaluation of a student’s abili
ties, use of abilities, common sense and personality
giving a well-rounded report is possibly a more sensi
ble approach to the grading system. It may be that
the old A, B, C, D, E grading system is just worn out.
To some students, making an A is the goal. As a
few teachers have emphasized, it’s not the final grade
that counts, but the ftiawpt Ojf ;Vu?pwJiedge learned
and the applicability of this knowledge that comes first
in education.
To relieve the pressures upon students and teach
ers and to place more value on the actual learning
process, maybe a change in our grading system to a
pass-fail system is necessary. Anyway if not this
type system, a re-evaluation of our grading system
by th administration could be the first step. It
just might be that someone wants to hear again, "Hey,
guess what I LEARNED in school todi, ?”1
\0\'r\‘i I
Dear Editor,
This world is filthy! This*
country is filthy! This state is
filthy! This city is filthy! This
school is filthy!
When is it going to affect us?
When are we going to realize
that it is affecting—when we
need a shovel to tunnel to the
mailbox--when the water is so
thick with scum that we can
walk across it--when we go to
the river get our cars filled up
with oil- when we have a gas
mask to match every outfit in
our wardrobe.5?
It doesn’t have to be this
way. It's up to us to change
it. Something needs to be done.
The Publicity Committee
of the
Ecology Club
To the Editor:
In my opinion, the most un
called for rule of all is the
one which restricts where a
student can, and cannot, eat
lunch. As it now stands, we
(the students) have three
choices of where to eat lunch:
(1) at school, (2) at home, or
(3) at a restaurant--if accom
panied by a parent. As you
can see, this rule makes it il
legal for a student to go to a
restaurant for lunch if he is not
accompanied by a parent. This
rules seems a bit unreasonable.
The school could lift the pre
viously mentioned restriction
and, at the same time, release
itself from all responsibility
for the student while he is away
from school for lunch by issu
ing a parental permission per
mit for the parents of the stu
dent to sign.
The other rule which seems
highly unreasonable is the
smok'ng rule. We are now en
tering winter and, for the se
cond year, people who smoke
during lunch are expected to do
so outside in the cold and rain
or snow. Why, instead, can’t
an area be blocked off in the
Student Commons for smoking
purposes?
Because of the presence of
these overly restrictive and, I
feel, trivial regulations, RMSH
assumes the air of a penal in
stitution. Of course, this is
not the first protest against
these rules, but I feel that
persistent complaint will hope
fully result in eventual change.
Very respectfully.
Bill Young
THE GRYPHON
Member of Colorabia Scholastic Press Association
Memlter of QoiH and Scroll, I.H.S.H.S.J.
$1.25 Yeariy
EDITOR Tim Brinn
BUSINESS MANAGER Gail Keeter
ADVERTISING MANAGER Brenda Horton
CIRCULATION MANAGER Lynn Safy
PAGE EDITORS:
1st Lynn Safy
2nd David Cordts
3rd GaU Keeter
4th nmrbert Baker
5tii Robin Bourne
6tb Mate Ruffin
7th Dennis Pittman
8th Alonzo Hines
JUNIOR STAFF
Maty Barr, Tim Chapman, Doug Crie. Carol Dice, Debbie Grif-
fta, Richard Newman, Buddy Porter, Teresa Slavin, RAin
Thorp. Nancy Ward.
ADVISOR — Mrs. Margaret Williams
PRINCIPAL Mr. V. J. Colombo
ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL Mr. R. D. Armstomg
ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL Mr. John Lan^ey