Page Two
HIGH LIFE
• Feb. 23. 1971
1956 Editorial Expresses Views Today
The reputation for mediocrity
which usually haunts our Student
Council has not been dispelled this
year. Critics of the Student Cooper
ative Association flourish. Appar
ently there are grounds for their
incessant attacks on this representa
tive body.
It is time that we examined our
Student Council and weighed the
occasionally constructive, usually
biased criticisms of it which are
heard so often.
It is safe to say that the infamous
Student Council is seldom under
stood and even less frequently ap
preciated. True, it is not a visibly
powerful group. It seldom renders
decisions of great importance, it is
not consulted by the administration
on matters of policy; it has no real
authority in regulating student af
fairs. Obviously it has very little
tangible authority. And yet it does
have a profound if intangible effect
on this school. Some of the out
spoken critics of this one phase of
school life which the students them
selves run are either ignorant or
just what is going on or are reluct
ant to concede to the Student Coun
cil success.
Homecomings, Senior Proms and
elections are not the type of things
which make Student Councils mem
orable. We are interested in cer
tain other activities.
A series of unforgettable and in
excusable events preceded the first
constructive effort by the Student
Council. At one time drag races and
pine trees were fast converting our
school into a playground for sev
eral dozen neurotic “parking lot-
eers.” Honor Code Day, a Council
project, was the beginning of a
heartwarming nd almost unbeliev
able change in the tide of student
opinion. The activities of the Coun
cil did not stop with the full day
of discussion. Behind the scenes
Student Council members were
prodding “school spirit” back to
life. It was the Council that insti
gated those trips to Charlotte, Gas
tonia, and almost everywhere else
in the state in support of a basket
ball team crippled by a series of
bad mistakes. The Student Council
is responsible for the array of signs
and posters urging team support
which bedeck the school. Perhaps
this is too general an endorsement
for, naturally, not all members of
the Council were active or even
interested in what was being done.
These imperfections can be expect
ed of any group, however. The tra
ditional Midwinters Dance was post
poned in order that Council mem
bers would have more time to de
vote to those projects. This action
certainly was not a punitive meas
ure as some diehards imagined.
These are a few examples of the
activities which many people fail
to recognize as important. Most
people will admit that there has
been a change in attitude at Greens
boro Senior High School, however,
the onerous situation which threat
ened the annual Washington trip
along with many other traditional
activities has been almost com
pletely corrected.
Although the previous editorial
was published in one of the 1955-
56 issues of HIGH LIFE, it ex
presses many ideas held by people
about our student councd today.
Much of the business debated over
in Council is very trivial and could
be accomplished by committees
meeting outside regular Council
meetings. Although Council has
done an outstanding job completing
annual business, few new ideas have
been enacted this year. Council
should make an effort to correct
faults, such as spending too much
time on trivial items of business,
pointed out to it 15 years ago.
1971: New Student Activism
Comment -- Letter For Haircut
The relative calm which has set
tled over most of our college cam
puses this fall reflects the drastic
change in political tactics of this
year’s student activists. Even the
most militant of the student revo
lutionary groups, including the
Weatherman faction of the Students
for a Democracy Society, have re
jected the futile and destructive
acts of terrorist bombings which
have been instrumental in the po
larization of our educational, social,
political and economic institutions.
The dominant reason for such a
non - violent academic situation
stems directly from President Nix
on’s gradual, but positive with
drawal of American troops from
Indo-China. This is not to say that
most student radicals concur with
the Administration’s persistent sup
port of the Fascist Ky-Thieu re
gime, but at least the government
is not escalating its military in
volvement in that catastrophic area.
Needless to say, if President Nixon
makes the drastic error of another
Cambodian invasion, the universi
ties will undoubtedly explode in an
uproar unparallel by any previous
demonstration of large-scale pro
test.
Another contributing factor to
the subsidence of student militance
is found in the anti-riot statues re
cently sanctioned by numerous state
legislature, as well as the Federal
laws already in existence.
Many alumni of prestigious col
leges ranking from Harvard to
Duke, have warned their former
respective schools that they would
terminate their financial support if
the student “anarchists” are not
eradicated. Nearly all of the East
ern colleges have complied to this
threat, mainly because of their pre
carious monetary situation. The
student radical realizes that he can
not jeopardize his educational fu
ture for the sake of the “Third
World’s” liberation.
With the definite decline of the
SDS, Socialist Youth Alliance and
Progressive Labor Party, most stu
dent radicals have disengaged their
interest in the infantile radicalism
of these “anti - Establishment”
groups or have returned to work
within the system for the urgently
needed reforms necessitated by our
incredulous technological advances.
The most notable signs of renewed
student interest in our democratic
processes are reflected in student
participation in the campaigns of
several progrssive candidates in
this fall’s congressional races. John
Tunney, Ron Dellums, Bella Abzug
and Father Drinan are just a few
of the new faces on Capitol Hid
who owe much of their success to
student participation.
In conclusion, I want to stress the
moral and political superiority of
“individual activism” over the au
thorization sectarianism of the New
Left. Unless the politically potent
ial six million students in the U.S.,
many of whom can vote in national
elections in 1972, are able to form
a cohesive coalition with minority
groups, blue-codar workers, liberals
and radicals. Any hope for produc-
ive alterations in the foreign and
domestic policies of our nation re
main futde.
Dnce-upon-a-time there lived a
king who needed knights to spread
the honor of his kingdom across
the land. He summoned his court
iers to go forth among his subjects
and seek men who seemed worthy
of the task. Those who were ac
cepted by the king had to meet
certain standards required by the
king and to participate in the train
ing and jousts.
Now the king did not pay his
knights but promised them the hon-
of wearing his royal coat-of-arms
after proving themselves worthy.
The knights were overjoyed at hear-
this for it was truly an honor to
wear the kingdom’s shield. ‘They
ROTC — Risht Or Wrong
Does the Reserve Officers Train
ing Corps have any right on our
campus? This is a question stu
dents should ask themselves.
ROTC is a vital part of the United
States armed forces. In 1969 the
New York Times reported that 85%
of the junior officers, rnost of whom
are sent to Viet Nam, are products
of ROTC programs. Colonel Pell,
former ROTC commander at Har
vard University, said the ROTC
is “essential to the life blood of the
U. S. Military”. Should this life
blood continue to flow?
If ROTC does have a right on
campus, then these must also have
a right to:
1) Suppress through widespread
killing the struggle of the Vietna
mese people for the benefit of a
handful of U.S. businessmen who
have or are eager to invest abroad
for greater profits at the expense
of the people of the U.S. As re
ported by U.S. News and World
Report “One of the world’s richest
areas is open to the winner in Indo
china. That’s behind the U.S. con
cern . . . tin, rubber, rice, key
strategic materials are what the
war is really about. The U.S. sees
it as a place to hold at any cost.”
2) To train military juntas to
seize control of governments or to
support otherwise oppressive gov-
rnments in protection of U.S. cor
porate interests in countries such as
Greece, Panama-, the Dominican Re
public, Guatamala, South Africa
and others. Wherever you find val
uable natural resources and cheap
labor, there is the U.S. military to
defend it.
3) To use armed forces as a po
litical weapon in filling, for exam
ple, strinking postal workers and
in suppressing other workers strug
gles.
The military that exercises these
“rights” is served by a major artery
on our campus—ROTC. But we hear
students ask, “Doesn’t ROTC have
its right to speak and teach?” Then
should we support and protect its
right to conquer, its right to sup
press and kill, its right to destroy
the very freedom of the people you
claim to protect?
Rick Johnston
Dear Editor:
As a feUow newspaper worker
I am appalled at the editorializing
I found in the column on page four
entitled “The Benchwarmer” in
HIGH LIFE on January 26, 1971.
This article only shows the bad
sportsmanship of the Grimsley stu
dents. There is not anything wrong
with defeat. It may be humiliating
at times, but to say that your one
loss of the season was due to the
referee’s calls is outrageous. I do
believe that many students may
harbour these feelings, but should
they really be put in print without
a byline?
In standard Journalism which is
objective, the phrase in my opinion
does not belong in a news story nor
in a column appearing minus a by
line. Need I mention the filler “GO
GHS”? It is unmistakably a moral
tag.
Come around, Grimsley, you may
have us in basketball, but as far as
football, wrestling, and newspaper
go you have a long road toi travel.
Respectfully,
M. Lisbeth Elkins
Managing Editor
PAGES BY PAGE
went out upon the field of battle
and fought hard and well (well,
sort of).
After the battle the king dismiss
ed the knights from his service
and set his royal engravers busy
making the knight’s shields. The
knights, now serfs, continued their
daily lives anxious to receive the
king’s prize.
Now when the engravers had
finished their task, the king had
his courtiers stunmon the serfs who
were to receive the prize. The king
did not like the appearances of
some of his ex-knights and refused
to give them their reward. Although
they fought well for him and had
been promised the prize.
If the length of my hair or the
style of my clothes makes the dif
ference between receiving pr not
receiving my letter. Coach, the let
ter is not worth having.
Mark Connolly
Sirs,
I would like to go on record as
being 100% in support of Mark
Connolly. Mark was on the varsity
football team here during the pa^
season (which would be better for
gotten). He worked hard for his
letter, and when the letters arrived,
he was not allowed to receive his.
Months after the football season,
the coaching staff feels his hair is
too long. I think the coaches should
be glad that he kept his hair short
during the season and leave well
enough alone.
I feel Mark is being done an in
justice and deserves the support of
the student body.
Andy Oglesby, ’72
HIGH LIFE
Published Weekly
1 September through 1 June, except
Thanksgiving, Christmas, between semes
ters and spring holidays by the students
of Grimsley Senior High School,
801 Westover Terrace
Greensboro, N. C. 27410
Second-class Postage Paid
In Greensboro, N. C.
$1 Per Semester
uNTMutTioNAiii Founded by the
Class of 1921
Revived by the
Spring Journalism
Class of 1937