Newspapers / Grimsley High School Student … / March 14, 1972, edition 1 / Page 2
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Page Two HIGH LIFE -Mar. 14, 1972 Letters To The Editor Journalism Prerequisite In ?Jot T^ecessary It has been rumored that in the year or so, a journalism course will lie a prerequisite for being a High Life staff member. This would be unfortunate. There is only one strong argu ment for organizing the newspaper staff, in this manner. The staff members would supposedly know what they ore doing. All that is needed to counter this argument Is a copy of one of the 1971-1972 High Life's. The quality of this pap er shows that having taken journa lism does not install originality nor creativity where there is none. Journalism also cannot teach the organization that is necessary to run a high school newspaper such as ours. It is ridiculous for a student who wants to write for High Life to have .to substituite a journalism course for advanced composition in his curriculum, and it is even more absurd to replace a chemistry or physics course for a journalism class. Another problem that would arise if journalism were a require ment would be that the staff mem bers would be exclusively seniors because the only earlier year a stu dent could take journalism would be the junior year. This year, High Life is coming out with more regularity, more ar ticles per paper, and a wider vari ety of articles than lost year, even though neither of the editors-in- chief nor any member of the edi torial staff has taken journalism. This should be proof positive that the only requirement for High Life staffer should be a recommendation from an English teacher. W.W. Heat Frustration And "The Odoi^ By Parke Puterbaugh At first glance, this might not seem a totally valid and serious top ic for an editorial. However, if some thought is given, it is a very real problem we here at GHS experi ence; it's just that its existence has heretofore gone unquestioned. First, our school is too hot. In the dead of winter in Greensboro, when the temperature sometimes dips as low as 40°, you can be sure the temperature inside GrimsIey will be at least 90°. Worse yet, for reasons unknown, they leave the heat on after the final winter rainstorm until around the middle of April. At any rate, I'm sick of walking into classrooms so hot the ink in my pen starts boiling. This phe nomenon is also hazardous to health, causing a condition similar to heat prostration which I call heat frustration. It is not very conducive to study, and we students are lethargic enough without such outside stim uli. Which brings us to the seconcL problem: our school smells, literal ly! Yes, it pains me to say, GHS has house-itosis. The mysterious smell appears at different times in different places. If you have not come in contact with it yet, it smells like dead, minced rats, or some incredibly foul foreign cheese. While walking around the school, one notices some very strange and unappetizing odors indeed, prompt ing such gut level reactions as "Yecch!" "What the heck's that?'' and "Let's get out of here, quick." If you are so unfortunate as to be a victim of The Odor while in a classroom, the only thing you can do is hold your nose in misery and your stomach in expectation. In Poland this might go unnotic ed, but we, the aristocratic effete of GrimsIey High School in Greens boro, North Carolina, should not have to tolerate it. Won't someone buy a can of Glade? Notes From Home Food for thought for Seniors: I am a senior, now 18. I can buy alcoholic bevferages and own fire arms. I am entrusted with a two thousand pound potential weapon as transportation. 1 have been ex posed to hard drugs and corruption most adults wouldn't believe. I can be drafted to legally kill, maim, and destroy men, women, and chil dren in the name of democracy. Recently, I have been granted the privilege and responsibility to elect the officers I choose to lead this country. When I am absent from school I can't get back in without a note from my mommy. If there is any line of logic here I fail to grasp it. Jeff Kruek Class of '72 (hopefully) May Day Voting Questions Dear Editor: As a concerned student at Grims Iey, I would like a few questions in regards to May Court elections. I am disheartened in the way the elections committee and certain in dividuals handled the election. I had the idea that in the past, it was a tradition that the May Queen was elected by the whole student body, not by the senior class only. I and several other students Were under the impression that the last ballot was to elect those we wont ed on the May Court, not for May Queen. We thought that there would be a later ballot for electing the May Queen from those chosen to be on May Court. I am interested in knowing why this procedure was changed this year and who had the authority to change it. In my opinion this change in election procedure should have been approved by the student body or at least announced before the last balloting. (Name withheld) Capital Punishment To the Editor: An article in support of capital punishment by Rprin Platt appeared in your newspaper recently. While Mr. Platt is certainly entitled to his opinion, I suggest that other con siderations must be presented if one is to fully evaluate the issue. The question of capital punish ment is acute. In July 1970, there were about 650 prisoners on the Death Rows of American peniteni- aries—a number unprecedented in this country's history. Many of these prisoners have had their ex ecutions postponed by stays or re prieves granted pending the out come of cases involving the consti tutionality of the procedures by which death penalty is normally im posed. Recently the Supreme Court agreed to hear a case this year to determine if capital punishment is "cruel and unusual punishment" as defined by the U. S. Constitution. The unmistakable trend of his tory is toward the abolition of capi tal punishment. Most of the devel oped nations of the western wolid have abolished the death penalty including Great Britain, West Ger many, Italy and others. Capital punishment has been abolished either formally or in practice in most Latin American countries. Countries which retain capital pun ishment such as the Soviet Union and Spain have in the past year commuted death sentences under the pressure of world opinion. Crime statistics show no higher homicide rate in states with capi tal punishment than in those with out. Too, it has long been thought that the death penalty fell dispro portionately upon black defendants. Available evidence establishes con clusively that this is true in the North as well as the South. Of 455 executed for rape since 1930, near- ' ly 90% have been black. Capital punishment has also been termed a "privilege of the poor" since studies conclude that low socioeconomic status makes it far more likely that a defendant will be sentenced to death. The physical horror of execution by application of lethal gas was recently described by Warden Duf fy, he reports that the prisoner is strapped in a chair, the chamber is sealed, and the cyanide gas eggs are dropped into the sulfuric acid. When the acid reaches the prisoner "at first there is extreme evidence . of horror, pain, strangling. The eyes pop, they turn purple, they drool. It is a horrible sight. Wit nesses faint. It finally is as though he has gone to sleep." It is con troversial how quickly the prisoner loses consciousness. Some medical experts believe cyanide poisoning amounts to slow, agonizing strang ulation. It was reported that Caryl Chessman gave a prearranged sig nal six minutes after the gas reached him. For these reasons, the North Carolina Civil Liberties Union and its parent organization, the Ameri can Civil Liberties Union, supports the repeal of capital punishment. Anyone wishing further informa tion may contact the NCCLU, P. O. Box 1 872, Greensboro, or the North Carolinians Against the Death Pen alty, Linville Falls, N. C. Sincerely, Betsy Brinson Executive Secretary NCCLU Music Articles Attacked Editor of High Life: This letter is directed to any staff member of High Lite who has written any music articles. High Life is to be commended for its well-written and informative music articles. It is obvious that the sub jects are well researched and the writers have an extensive knowl edge in the at;ea of music. Unfortunately, the writers are narrow-minded in their choice of what albums or areas of music to write about. Despite what the writ ers seem to be implying, black mus ic does exist and is doing well in the form of soul, blues, jazz, and other types of music. Two radio stations (WMOE-FM and WEAL) play soul music exclusively, so there seems to be no evidence that black music is going downhill. So why does High Life continue to ig nore this area of music? So far this year, all of the record reviews and articles (Beach Boys, Allman Brothers, Yardbirds, etc.) have been about white-oriented groups. Even the article about the seven most neglected albums had nothing about black music. The Isaac Hayes, Ike and Tina Turner, Aretha Franklin, and Jackson 5 Coliseum shows went un mentioned in High Life, while James Gang, Santana, and Jethro Tull concerts received detailed ar ticles, despite the fact that the av erage attendance at the former four concerts was higher than the attendance at the latter.three. This seems to be obvious dis crimination. I eagerly await the next issue to see if High Life will see fit to publish one or two words about the Sly and the Family Stone concert (after all, almost 10,000 people were there) and change its prejudiced attitude toward black music. Dave Earnhardt '72
Grimsley High School Student Newspaper
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March 14, 1972, edition 1
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