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HIGH LIFE
November 26,1980
Grimsley’s ‘Believe It Or Not’
Lunch Schedules To Change
Opinion— Letters To The Editor—
Student Finds Ad Disturbing
To the Editors; ther thanking us "for mah*
By Tommy Grant
Greensboro students were
faced with a new change for
the 1980-81 school year.
The change in this year’s
school time schedule. Stu
dents certainly presented no
complaints about getting out
at 3:06, but the shortened
lunch period caused much
uproar from the student
bodies, especially here at
Grimsley.
People say ‘‘you can’t
fight City Hall (or the School
Board as the case may be)
but who needs to fight?
Page, with the largest enrol
lment in the city has the
smallest lunch room in the
city, making it difficult to
serve students in the time
allotted. A proposal from
Page was submitted to the
other high school principals
and to superintendent Ken
neth Newbold to extend each
lunch period by six minutes.
This was achieved by cutting
every class to fifty minutes,
leaving ten minutes to divide
between the two limch per
iods.
Concerned about con
tinuing protests and com
plaints from students, I pro
posed to GHS principal R.L.
Glenn that Grimsley adopt
the same schedule as Page.
He was quite open to discus
sion of the matter. His only
objection was that in the
past, longer lunch period
have presented more lunch
tardies. (Last year Grimsley
had its longest lunch period
ever, 55 minutes, and it
was the worst year ever for
limch tardies.) This year
Grimsley has had the fewest
lunch tardies ever with the
shortest lunch period. Buy
many students, who choose
not to eat at school, are
finding it difficult to go out
for lunch, eat and get back to
school. Mr. Glenn’s concern
for student needs was ob
vious. He presented a revise
schedule to the other princi
pals and to Dr. Newbold. In
the next two to four weeks
Grimsley will have six min
utes longer for both fourth
and fifth period lunches.
Grimsley students com
plained when Page adopted
a new lengthened schedule
and Grimsley’s lunch per
iods remained the same.
‘‘Why?’’ was the question
voiced most often. Mr.
Glenn felt there was no real
student need for change.
When confronted by my
question and proposal that
there is definitely a need for
change, we worked together
and a change was effected in
two days.
This proposal will work
only with student’s coopera
tion; getting back to school
on time is of utmost impor
tance.
That man behind the big
desk in the main office feels
a committment to Grimsley
students. If presented with
problems (and proposed sol
utions), he is willing to work
hard to determine the best
route possible to alleviate
difficulties. Thank you, Mr.
Glenn!
In the October edition of
High Life, an ad with the
heading "The Student
Center’’ caught my eye. As I
continued to read, I realized
this ad was for McDonalds,
offering students a "...
place to meet, to talk, to
have a good time, to cele
brate your victories and help
forget defeats. . .’’ and fur-
‘Brubaker’ Breaks Away
By Karen Brown
Thomas Murton, ‘‘Bru
baker,’’ found time to break
away from his prosperous
Okl^oma poultry farm to
participate in this year’s first
GET SET program. For
those students who were not
fortunate enough to hear this
fascinating speaker, I would
like to share some of his
thought-provoking ideas and
a bit of history.
# # *
# Thomas Murton in his real
life, as opposed to the melo
dramatic entrance of Robert
Redford, in the movie "Bru
baker, ’ ’ went into the Tucker
Prison Farm as a warden and
not as a prisoner.
# It was not his masters or
doctorate degrees in crimi
nology which landed the
warden’s job for Murton.
Rather, his agricultural de
gree led to his appointment
by Governor Winthrop Roc-
kerfeller.
At the prison farm, the
trustees, who were the more
honorable inmates, ran the
prison and also carried guns,
(it should be noted that this
kind of system is not in
existence today.)
# Murton said, "You didn’t
need to know how to read
and write in Arkansas; you
just needed to be a ‘good oT
boy!’’
Continued on page 3
ing McDonalds more than
just a place to eat.”
This is a disturbing and
confusing ad. At McDonalds
we are not given a place to
meet, or talk, or celebrate.
We are told to purchase our
food, sit down, and eat. As
soon as we are finished, we
are made to leave the pre
mises. The abrupt manner m
which we are often treated
by the management at these
times doesn’t seem to fit the
description of the ad.
Is McDonalds trying to tell
us something? Indeed, do
they want us to give them ‘ ‘a
break?”
Sincerely,
Matisa Bolen
Manners Lacking
To the Editors:
I would like to express my
views on the behavior of
some students at the recent
Get-Set convocation on Oct
ober 23, with guest speaker
Thomas Murton, the "real”
Brubaker.
'The purpose of Get-Set is
for high school students to
learn about the various
Continued on page 3
High Life
Grimsley Senior High School
801 Westover Terrace
Greensboro, N.C. 27408
Co-Editors Karen Brown, Tommy Grant
Editorial Staff Barbi Prillaman (News),
Leslie Berkelhammer (Feature), Brian Hoagland,
Sherri Phillips (Sports), Mark Langston (Columnist),
Van Alston (Student Services)
Assistant Editorial Staff Susan Brady (News), Kelly Ferrell,
Cindy l.eBauer (Feature), Andrew MiUer (Sports)
Reporting Staff Lisa Berkelhammer, Laurie Bradley,
Cathy Cass. John Cox. Sandy Kates, Cameron Reece,
.Steve Streuli, Lisa Von Aspern, Robyn Walton
Business Manager Cathy Cass
Advertising Manager Danny Beamer
Assistant Advertising Managers Beth Byrd. Laurie Bradley
.Advertising Staff Aly.son lloppough, Brian Kriegsman
Classified Ad Supervisor Susan Brady
Photographers Beth Sykes (Head). Kevin Carpenter.
Anthony Hipps, Susan Kabold, Alan Seay
.Artist - Tim Ellis
Typists Lisa Berkelhammer (Head), Sandy Kates
Circulation Manager Bill LaCasse
Office Manager Cameron Reece
Advisor i.ynn Wright Tanner
Printed By
Stone Priiilitig Company. Inc.
High Point. .\orLh Patohna
-Comment-
-By Mark Langston ■
Student Government Needs Voice
A serious problem exists
in our present system of stu
dent govenunent: it isn’t
working. Over the past sev
eral years, it has failed to
settle any serious student
concern. The question is
why, and what can be done
about it?
A unanimously agreed
upon reason with those in
volved is a lack of communi
cation on all levels. Student
Council and SSBAG repre
sentatives Sherri Phillips
and Gwen Blount feel that
the School Board does not
give student opinion enough
consideration. While a new,
more responsive elected
board maj'^ change that,
another problem still re
mains, that of communica
tion between representatives
and students. There isn’t
any to speak of. Most stu
dents have no idea who their
repesentatives are. How can
they when no effort is made
to inform them?
Many students do care
about their government. The
majority, unfortunately,
have become disillusioned.
'The elections have become
popularity contests, because
most students realize how
little authority their repre
sentatives are given. SSBAG
has only an advisory role
with the School Board at
best. Even the Student
Coimcil prohibits class presi
dents from voting, something
Council President Phillips
strongly opposes.
Both the communication
and authority problems can
and must be corrected. As
sistant Principal James Ful
ler feels that the students
often misunderstand School
Board policy and suggests
that a paper be issued to
explain key issues. He also
favors using assemblies to
inform students. Blount and
Phillips want either a vote or
veto power for SSBAG.
Mr. Fuller’s ideas for clar
ity are excellent, but they
alone are not enough. Past
controversies have proven
that students must have
board representation. The
best solution is one derived
from another of Mr. Fuller’s
ideas: a seriously elected
student review committee
empowered to veto board
legislation. Such a commit
tee is necessary. It means
little to have a voice in
government if that voice is
never counted.