Burbank Junior High School - Wizard Yearbook (Berkeley, CA)

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Three years ago we welcomed you to Burbank Junior High School. Your work in Burbank is now over. You are very different individuals from what you were when you entered this school. You have helped to im- prove Burbank and Burbank has improved you. You now go on to Berkeley High School, What Berkeley High School does for you in the next three years depends largely upon you. You can make Berkeley High School better or you can make it worse. Which will you do? What you are to become in the future depends to a great extent on: (a) what you are now; (b) what you want to be; (c) how hard you are willing to work to be what you want to be. You will soon be entering adult society and taking over the respon- sibilities of an adult citizen. Society needs you at your besti We urge you to put forth every possible effort for self-improvementi We have enjoyed our contacts with you and wish you a life of suc- cess and happiness . --L. L. Standley, Principal of Burbank School, PRIZE- 7 INNING ESSiYS The following essays, written by pupils of Burbank School, were a- warded silver prizes by Berkeley Post of the American Legion. They were the best submitted by Berkeley junior high school pupils. MAKING THE UNITEL STATES CONSTITUTION The Constitution has been called the oak which shelters liberty . It not only shelters liberty but it upholds the ideals our forefathers strove to attain. After the Revolution the Continental Congress had little power. The poor classes suffered from hard times and expected the government to give them relief. The business men and land speculators wanted a strong central government. Such a government would have improved business, opened new lands, and increased prosperity. The Articles of Confederation were weak because no provision was made for money to regulate interstate and national affairs. A convention was called by the wise leaders of the nation in the summer of 1787. The object of the Constitutional Convention was to re- vise the Articles of Confederation. They found them sb imperfect it was impossible to improve them without writing a new document. After four months of debating the delegates drew up the document which is our pres- ent Constitution. During the convention many problems arose. S rae of these were state representation, the commercial differences between the North and South, interstate affairs, the negro problem, and foreign relations. Eventually the convention compromised. The nation was given the right to deal with national, interstate, and foreign affairs. It could

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Marv Taylor, Tom Marks, Norman Graham, Manuel Estrado Ali ' ta 2o lot , Goorje Fong, Kenneth Geary, »anda O ' Neil Haroldino Strlokley, Sylvia Heath, Lawrence Abrie Fred Amenson Tony D 1 Oliveira, Herman »rede and Charles Brown, Eleanor m.Ur MECHANICAL STAFFS . ■ ■ — Alvarado, ' Estelle .inderson, Mildred Astorg Mary Bale, Eric Becky, Donald Bieman, Verna Boston Elvira brennes, Joe Briseno, Lillian Brown, James Chandler Lillian Chappell, Jane Christensen, Audrey Christopher Martha Collins, Violet Dellamar, Rita Dieden, Audrey Etli Herbert Farrer, Virgina Fisk, Florence Free, -Valter Gordon Gilbert Grady, June Hamilton, William Higgins, Helon Hood Thelma Houck, Palmira Iacobitti, Gilbert Johnson ’ ' ' ilia Mae Johnson, Theresa Just, Frances Kajfez, Albeit Kaski Misao Kawakami, Barbara Kirby, May Kishii, Phyllis Kleeberger Glory Krag, Gloria Logwood, Dorothy Longrus Alfred Louisiana, Robert Maclean Lorraine Made ro s , Melvin Maderos, John Mailho, Marie i, ; -,toyer Arthur Miller, Lynn Mobert, William Morse, Nels Nelson William Oliver, Patsy O ' Neill, Shirley Peters, Genevieve Petti john Eugen Rolf-Rieque , Theodora Ruegg, Ruth Runge, Allan Sahlberg Betty Seher, Hilda Sena, Elmer Silva, Beatrice Silveira Arthur Sohlman, June Strickley, Kyllikki Stromberg, David Taylor Martha Tonin, Helen Tronoff, Elaine Tscheekar, Barbara ;alker :thel Wood. Mary Jane Young, Atsuko Yusa VIZARD FACULTY COMMITTEE Mrs. Tomsen, Managing Editor, Photography Mrs. Phelps, Literary Mrs. Stewart, Mechanical Miss Weller, Art Mrs. Skimmings, Subscriptions Miss Glover, H9 Photography NO -S FACULTY COMMITTEE Mrs. Mead, Managing Editor Miss Santos, Art Mrs. Skimmings, Subscriptions Mrs. Stewart, Literary

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levy taxes, wage war and coin money. Above all it coulu enforce its own laws, have its own courts, and the states hau to accept the national law. The Constitution provided for a strong central government with a strong system of checks and balances. The Constitution was created to preserve liberty ana the ideals of men. Like the oak our Constitution has stood for nearly ono-hundred- fifty years through storms and hardship. It has seen three thousand at- tempts to amend it but only twenty-one have bo n successful. May the oak of our nation preserve liberty and the ideals of men in our country f orever . -- ' Iary Tieslau, H8 THE U; IT L STATES CONSTITUTION The American Constitution was not a new experiment in government. People in England had been fighting many centuries for Self-government, The fathers of our Constitution were from English families. The .articles of Confederation was our first Constitution. The Articles were unsatisfactory. Ther was no executive. Laws could be made but not enforced. There was a separate government in each of the thirteen states, but not one government for all. The Articles of Con- federation did not have any money , nor any way of raising money. A better central government was wanted by the people. First there was the debtors class. When debts Were not paid people were jailed. Paper money was issued which was not worth its face value. The business of the well-to-do people was bad. Business men wanted their industries, business, shipping and trade protected, so a better central gov-rnment was wanted. There were foreign dobts to pay so a better central govern- ment was needed. ' Washington was selected as leader when the Convention met at Philadelphia. It was held behind closed doors and kept a Secret. But one of the members, Madison, kept a record in code. ' Ve know what went on because his journal was published years later. There were several difficult problems the Convention h;:d to settle. The North was commercial. Their interests were different from the agri- cultural South. The states were working against each other in govern- ment. There was still the unsettled negro slave problem. The three parts of the Constitution were executive, legislative, and judicial. The laws were made by the legislative department. Con- gress was composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The president enforced the laws which Congress made. The Supreme Court de- cided upon the laws . Postal affairs, taxation, coinage, foreign relations, army, navy, and interstate commerce were certain rights of the nation. Both nation and states derived their rights from the people. Because of its control over the commerce, industries, and finance, the people have always tried to improve and strengthen our central government. The people of tho United States have been governed well ior 150 years by the Constitution of the United States of America. --Shinji Tsuchida, H8x