Centralia Township High School - Sphinx Yearbook (Centralia, IL)

Page 29 text:

1 1 Bark 1'0wff1NIary Ann Stoker. Robert VValler. Donald King. Edra Schneider. Lorraine Peithman. Bliss lilca Creedy. Fran! roto- Evelyn NVood, Bernice Vkellpott, Helen XVheeler, Irina Soeder, Muriel VValler, Norma Chambers. Current Events Discussing all the major events in the world of news, kept the Current Events club continually on the jump. Following informal procedure, the programs included talks by members of the faculty, open forums, round-table discussions, and intelligence tests. To start the meetings interestingly, the calling of the roll was changed by requiring each member present to give a current event as his name was read. After all business had been called to the attention of the club, the meeting was turned over to the member in charge of the program. At one meeting, Miss Hartley gave an account of the buried city at Wfycliffe, Ken- tucky. Having been there herself, she was able to present a vivid picture of the habitudes and customs of the prehistoric people who had lived there. Miss Merz was called upon to give some interesting facts about Yugoslavia, the subject she chose for her master's thesis. Miss Curtis delighted the club by compari-ng'the ancient Romans' great economic struggle two thousand years ago with our present economic dilemma. She read many bulletins posted in the Roman forum which read very much like modern news headlines. Usually somewhere on the program, Norma Chambers, posing as Lowell Thomas, gave fifteen minutes of 'news flashes before a wooden microphone which transformed the club into a radio audience. Everyone enthusiastically participated in the open forums and discussions held on some of the current world events such as the European War situation, the coming presidential elections, and Ethiopia vs. Italy. An intelligence test that was published by Time, the weekly news magazine, was divided into several parts and administered to the members at various times. The test had questions on important men and women in various fields such as aviation, explora- tion, excavation, engineering, writing, and moving pictures. The oilicers of the club were: Edra Schneider, president, Phyllis Wright, vice-presi- dent, Helen Wheeler, secretary. It was sponsored by Miss Mccfeedy. T'wenly-five

Page 28 text:

The Forum Every student emerging into life must be able to express his own ideas and opinions in a comprehensive manner, consequently the Forum club was organized to give C. T. H. S. boys this practice in self-expression and public speaking. At the meetings the usual method of procedure was followed. The primary purpose of the club was to interest the students in argumentation, informal debating, and related subjects. The boys in the club were assigned two or three-minute talks on current events. These talks were then constructively criticized by the other members. Some of the topics used as material were: Prohibition Should QShould Notj Come Back, - Who Will Be the Next G. O. P. Candidate for President?,'- All Teachers Should QShould Notj Have to Take the Loyalty Oath --and Is the New Deal a Failure?,' Many more interesting talks were given as an observation of American Educa- tion Week, November 11 to 17. A club of this type has certain advantages over an ordinary debate or public speaking club, in that it relies less upon stereotyped or cut-and-dried material, and is more likely to develop originality and self-reliance in speaking. When the club was first organized last year under the joint sponsorship of Mr. Corbell and Mr. Trout, it was announced that it would promote the interest of the students in this high school in effective and original speaking rather than flowery oratory. Besides the informal talks, o en forums were held durin which a member mi ht . . . Pi . 3 3 bring up any subject for discussion, whether it was related to the school or not. This plan encouraged the free and informal exchange of ideas, and furnished the opportunity for students to ex ress their 0 inions on school rulin s and sub'ects, and news events. P P g l The officers of the Forum for the year were: Stanley McNail, president, Donald Muck, vice-presidentg Robert E. Wilson, secretary, Howard Wendling, parliarnentariang Chester Evans, Sergeant-at-arms. The club was sponsored by Mr. Harold Brown. Its meetings were held every two weeks. Bark Voir'-fHomer Pumphrev. Clvde Castleman. James Lynn. Rohr-rt XYzillcr. Stanley McNail. F!'0l!f ron R-Robert XYilson, Chester Evans, XTilmer Howe, Donald Muck. Mr, Brown. l Twenty-four

Page 30 text:

Y l Back row-R.XVin'te. N. Niblo. R. Stinde, H. Smith, E, Furthing, P. iiuhl. Front 7'0'ZU xV. Simmons, J. Saul, J. Pick, J. Crouch, hir. Atkins. Auto Mechanics A few years ago the qualifications required of one desiring to enter the automotive industry were very meager. Any young man who could ply a wrench decently and use a screwdriver with comparative ease was considered a first-class mechanic. As such, he encountered little difhculty getting a job in one of the numerous one horse garages that sprang up in great numbers all over the country. Today, however, the situation has undergone a complete changeg no longer is such preparation sufficient. The successful mechanic of today must be about as well versed in the automotive field as a doctor is in medicine. V Early in September Harold Smith suggested to Mr. Atkins that he organize an auto, mechanics club which would be composed of students who were interested in the advancement of the automobile. At the first meeting, Jimmie Pick was elected presi- dentg Harold Smith, vice-presidentg and Emery Farthing, secretary. A committee com- posed of Jack Crouch and Raymond Hoyt was given the responsibility of preparing the programs for the meetings. Each program was centered around some specific subject. Either the topic was discussed before the club by some appointed member or a trip was made to some garage where an experienced mechanic gave demonstrations relative to a chosen subject. Diesel engi-nes, which are fast coming to the front were the subject of a lengthy discussion relative to their remarkable economy of operation, extreme lightness in weight per unit horsepower, and simplicity of construction. A discussion tending to show that auto racing has many hazards and drawbacks but is important in the development of pleasure cars proved to the club the necessity for its being encouraged. The increased speed and tremendous saving in gas consumption obtained by streamlining was brought to the c1ub's attention so that interest would be created in the study of designing. A study of testing apparatus took the club to I-I,oltkamp's Garage where a, spark plug analyzer showed the effect of compression and carbon on the spark plug's activity. Twenty-six