Anaheim Union High School - Colonist Yearbook (Anaheim, CA)

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Blue and Gold VALUE OF THE MERIT SYSTEM INCE the introduction of the merit system, in 1924, there have been many and various comments on it, pro and con. Some are very strenuously op- posed to it. Others are indifferent to its causes and effects. The great majority appear to favor it and profit by itg but the results will be known 5 at the termination of each school year, in June. Records will show how the students have conducted themselves and how they may discipline them- selves in the future. Certain courses of study are set forth in schools, but everything is not taught or learned through these courses. Experience is the greatest and best of teachers. Know- ledge obtained from between the two covers of books does not constitute the sum of all knowledge. Rather, that knowledge which is gained by the individual who seeks out the laws of nature for himself-that is knowledge in its best form. Thus the seeker, putting forth his best efforts, thereby knows victory. J Outside of the school curriculum are two great instructors, association and pre- ference, from which students learn and which may be harmful or beneficial. This system of using merits will check up on the faults and virtues, weakness and strength, of every student in such a way as to show accusation or Commendation. Perhaps this system will be an incentive for the boys and girls of today who shall be the men and women of tomorrow. The fact remains that they are the army training for the battle of life, to weather the storms as they will. LEARNING There is a very foolish idea lodged in the brains of some of the lads and lassies roaming the school campus. This idea is that they come to school to earn grades, not to obtain knowledge, ----- a simple idea, but one which many have cherished since their grammar school days. Freshmen seem to head the list of those possessing this undesirable notion. But then, even Scrubs will grow up in time, and, by the time they are Seniors, they may know enough to study for their own good, not for the quarterly reports of their efforts. Sophomores have not, as yet, proved themselves as having super-intelligence, either. They are, perhaps, more sober and less frivolous than the Scrubs, but not by any means are they perfect, yet. juniors become jolly and feel that, with a small amount of their teachers' assist- ance, they may even become Seniors. Seniors! Ah, how dignified and how lofty they do feel! -during the last year of their high school career, with the world waiting for them to show their abilities! They, with diploma in hand, shall conquer the universe and make it yield up its bounties. However, the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is very elusive. Only those having the needed requisites will attain it. The pot of gold represents SUCCESS, whether of business, fame, or another phase of its meaning. This thing of learning, now, is not a new subject. VVise men of the ages, famous, eminent, and loved men and women found it worth while. Now, get down to WORK and acquire your share of this treasured thing, LEARNING. Your part is compara- tively easy, others give you their experiences through History, Law, Literature, Lan- guages, Sciences, and other uncounted achievements. It is solely up to YOU to do your part. Fifteen

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1X.....t.i Q Q Blue dnd Gold HOLD CHIEF CATALINAM 5,11 O YOU KNOVV that most famous and most wonderful sculpturer, the N 9' Old 'VI f h S 9 ,sal f tanoteea. QQ Near Laguna Beach there is a very stately Indian ever looking towards zkuifika the sea. He lives at Aliso, a beach south of Laguna, where many campers come every summer. But, odd to say, very few people ever see him. How queer it is to say that very few people ever see him because he is from twenty-five to thirty feet high and about twenty feet wide. He is ever looking at Santa Catalina, where he once lived, yearning year in and year out to be back there to live in the wilds of the western side of the island. Strange, isn't it, that so very few people see him? Often I have camped at Laguna Beach, but never before had I been at Aliso, so I sauntered around to see what sort of surroundings there were that I was going to camp in. I gazed over the ocean, about sun-down, to the isle I love so well, wishing I were there. The gold of the sun was dancing in flashing rays upon the water. My, what a beautiful sunset! To be an artist and paint it as my eye saw it! My, what's that cliff supposed to represent FH I asked. It looks as if it's carved to represent something. I wonder what it could be ? An old sailor, hearing me, spoke. That,H he said, is Old Chief Catalina. Have you ever heard the story that is connected with it? Of course it is a myth, because it was carved by the breakers, as many other places of Laguna are, but the legend sounds like a possibilityf' No, said I, I haven't. Well, in 1507, Old Chief Catalina was made ruler of the island. As you know, in 1542 Senior Juan Cabrillo came to the island. Old Chief Catalina and his people, in their rage, fought against Cabrillo and his men. Never before had they fought people who had gunsg and they didn't know how to fight themg and consequently they were beaten. Chief Catalina, instead of surrendering, dove off of the top of Sugar Loaf and swam for the mainland. f'For two days and nights he swam in the cold water and finally at sunrise of the third day he reached shore. The minute he touched his foot on shore he was turned into stone by the gods of the sky. The water, being cold, froze him hard and the sun beat down upon him. As he baked, his head grew larger and larger and the rest of his body disappeared. until there sat the head of an Indian. twenty-five feet high and twenty-three feet wide. From then until now he has been baking in the sun and that is why you see him there. Never does he move his heady always he keeps it faced toward his former home. Every evening as the sun goes down, Old Chief Catalina moans to go back to his island. My, what a beautiful legend! Yes, but the true story is that the ocean has been pounding against it for several hundreds of years and has carved it as you see it todayf, Thus ends the story of Old Chief Catalinafl -Richard Dugdale, '28 Fourteen Q lx

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Blue and Golcl GOODTHMBER F YOU CHANCED to take a thorough inventory of your character, would the finding be all that it should be? Of course, everyone knows that there are none of us perfectg if we were, We would not be residing on this planet. But we can find room for improvement, and no one but our- selves knows just how badly it is needed. There are ever so many small things that seem of no account but which count up rapidly and become large factors in our lives. Are you good timber or are you composed of a poor grade of wood? Can you stand the buffeting and hard knocks of life, or are you a weakling? The world is in little need of those creatures that have to be coaxed and coddled. GOOD TIMBER The tree that never had to fight For sun and sky and air and light, That stood out in the open plain, And always got its share of rain, Never became a forest king But lived and died a scrubby thing. The man who never had to toil, Who never had to win his share Of sun and sky and light and air, Never became a manly man But lived and died as he began. Good timber does not grow in easeg The stronger wind, the tougher treesg The farther sky, the greater lengthg The more the storm, the more the strengthg By sun and cold, by rain and snows In tree or man good timber grows. Where thickest stands the forest growth We find the patriarchs of both, And they hold converse with the stars Whose broken branches show the scars Of many winds and much of strife ---- This is the common law of life. . ffl 3- X fa x Q LQ., 79x ' cv , HXEZJQ Q' X ia I t3l ----Selected. SPEECH Speech is the gift that lifts man above the level of the beast. That gift is often misused. When a thought is spoken it should carry force and meaning. Meaningless chatter seldom gains a speaker anything but the title of chatterbox or 'fgossip . Actions and speech communicate to others the trend of our thought and character. By too hastily speaking, with no forethought, opportunities are sometimes lost forever. Speech is silver, but silence is golden -an old maxim, and as usual, a true one. ln special conferences and sessions it is a well-known fact that the man who speaks last carries the most authority. Humans are swayed by strong impulses of wonder, fear, love, hate, and many other emotionsg so it does not pay to heed impulses. Moments of carelessness may cause a lifetime of regret, a fact not to be overlooked. Sixteen