Alameda High School - Acorn Yearbook (Alameda, CA)

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.5 hitnriat.. OUR SCHOOL ORGANIZATION VERY ONE will admit that the school organization is probably stronger than it has ever been in the past. This term great interest has been taken in war relief work, and every student has gotten behind this type of work and has done their bit to help, through the organic spirit prevalent. The students have backed up the athletic teams this year, and taking the most important form of athletics, i. e. baseball in question, one can readily review'the games and see the splendid and large rooting sections of Alameda High. The student meetings have been successful, the desire of the fellows to cut is practically a thing of the psat, and student activities have been in their prime, if such a word may be used to describe them. The short introduction above shows what a school of but eight hundred stu- dents can do if the proper administration is in power. As editor of a publication, I take liberty to criticise the disorganization of Oakland Technical High School ami compare it with our splendid organization. One could briefly describe Tech's organization as a thing upon which no brain po-wer or real thinking has been used. Over there the military organization and athletic organization buck against each other and consequently litle is done. The student meetings over at Tech are poor. The yell leader is president and secretary literally, and he conducts the meetings from beginning to end. The president at Tech would not dare to attempt conduct- ing a meeting, for the I. W. VV. spirit prevalent there would surely either be dis- orderly or would take methods similar to those used by rowdies and kick him out. N0 disorder or rowdyism is prevalent in Alameda High and every one is rooting and backing up the ofticers ot' the Student Body. The military companies cannot buck against the athletic organization merely because all the big athletes in A. H. S. take Military. We all hope the present good work of the administration will continue in the t'uture. ARlEN'T HE CUTE, SALLY? The above editorial illustrates in brief the strong organization of the past term. However, everyone did not back up the administration this semester. For instance, much discussion has been caused by articles in the issue of the Oak Leaf dated April 11, 1918. The editors of The Acorn feel that the policy of the Oak Leaf, as apparent in the issue, is sadly at variance with the spirit prevalent in school this term. The spirit of the school, as has been pointed out before, may be shortly em- bodied in the word boost, and surely this is not the spirit shown by the Oak Leaf. In the first place, the Low Senior Class and the Student Body at large received a decided shock in the uncalled for and inane criticism of the Senior Play. Pre- sumably this eriticism is a feeble attempt at cleverness or wit, but the objective is lost and only the blank, meaningless, and foolish comments remain. The writer ot' this article even went so far as to suggest that another play would have been more ,THE ACORN Page Thirteen

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suitable, dared to suggest such a thing after the play had been produced. ,' The play was a decided success and the least that the Oak Leaf could have done was to congratulate the Senior Class. In the second place, the paper published an editorial headed Ain't He Grand, Mabel? Before proceeding to attack this article, the staff of The Acorn will admit that it is foolish for a fellow, who has not the permission of his parents or is under 18, to smoke, but in any case we feel that the Oak Leaf should have in it articles which should not tend toward making it a paper representing a high school, where there are only religious services conducted. In this cutting satorical article the author in blazing words condemns the fools that smoke, he denounces the game of pool as sinful, he tears down with one literary swoop the reputation of every man who uses tobacco, he destroys with one scratch of the pen the entire school organization by claiming that all smokers are fools, cripples, chronics, or hopeless idiotsg he says that no officer! or school man of prominence smokes, that those who do indulge are merely show-offs and perform for 'Mabe1 merely to be called 'fGrand, and with more such childish prattle seeks to reform the wayward youth, who are destroying civilization by the use of the awe-inspiring cigarette. ln another set of editorials in the edition of May 10, the editor of the Oak Leaf practically defies the school organization. He states literally that no matter how his editorials are taken, he will nevertheless continue writing them Call prac- tically trashj. Fellow students, we elect the editor to put out a paper which will have in it news, that we will be interested in. Should we tolerate this any longer? Think it over, and act. The articles are prattle, foolish, with no objectives and merely stamplthe Oak Leafi' as a paper with policy which, not only slipping its bonds to moralize, is missing the entire point of the present administration, and is wasting space in teare ing down where boosting is needed. It is easy to tear down, but difficult to build up. The administration under President Bishop, as has been before stated, is a solid foundation. Lets build up Oak Leaf and similar organizations of your type. Page Fourteerz THE ACORN O