East High School - Cardinal Yearbook (Minneapolis, MN)

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lfllIIIl'Illl'IllIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMII 'W' I 'lll'lllI'lIll'Illl'IIIlIIIIIWIWIIIIIII IIIlIl'I'iIII I t ww 'lll'llll'Illl'llll'llII, y , vc' ww EAST HIGH SCHOOL, MINNEAPOLIS of us, we could not be just like anyone else, anyway. But we do not want to be a direct copy of even a perfect person, do we? We want to be ourselves, to make something of our own selves by beginning with the cultivation of our own best inherent qualities and then by acquiring others from people whom we admire. If we have tried to do right and be true to ourselves and to our friends, then we will have self-trust and self-respect, and will be ourselves always, whether we are like anyone else or not. K. C. T. THE GROWTH OF A SCHOOL SYSTEM CONSIDER what the last fifty years have done for the schools of Minnesota. Our parents tell us of the little frame schoolhouse of their day. The white-washed walls were bare except for an occasional map or chart, the heating plant was an enormous cast-iron stove, which served to keep warm only the fortunate few in the torrid zone immediately around it. The ventilation system simply wasnit. The individual drinking cup was unknown, the children then using the community clipper with cheerful disregard for the germs which make life a burden for the modern child. Punishment was then mostly corporal, moral suasion not being used to any extent. The ruler and the big stick, administered in full view of everyone, usually repressed any mischievous tendencies in the younger children. Today splendid buildings are designed for educational purposes. Delicately tinted walls furnish a back-ground for pictures representing the best in ancient and modern art. Heating plants of today maintain a uniform temperature, while ventilation systems provide washed and heated air without subjecting the pupils to drafts from open windows. Study is made as attractive as possible. Moving pictures and entertaining lectures are, and will be, used more and more, so that pupils will almost uncon- sciously absorb knowledge with little effort on their part. Yocational schools, providing an opportunity for the development of those technically inclined, are being established with courses in designing, banking and the like. The old system produced great men and women, the new should produce super men and women. Will it? ' M. L. M. CONCERNING COMPULSORY MILITARY TRAINING IN PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOLS MOST of us have already formed our opinions on the question of compulsory military training in public high schools. Many favor it-more do not. Nlilitarists say that it is necessary, is anything necessary that is not right? For nearly twenty centuries the world has been growing gradually away from war and its accompanying degradation. We say that men have become civilized. Civilization, then, is a departure from cruelty and viciousness. Then why should we compel the youth of the nation to debase himself and mankind by teaching him to destroy, not build the works of man? Woulrl not this system lower the morals and ideals of our youth? Would it not make of our young men brute beasts? The youth of today has his idealsgthe inheritance of countless generations of Illl

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f'fi6i'l'Tli'Tf'i'TW ARE HPR SCHUUI. AC'l'IYlTllC5 NYURTH WHILI11? U we really gain any praetieal value from the interests outsitle of hooks that take tip our spare moments? If we flo not. the fault lies with the intliviilual mem- lier rather than the existence of the organizations. lf we, as memliers ol' a sehool eluh. have sense enough to give to it its flue interest antl support. with all the yigor anfl enthusiasm we possess. ancl then. with equal zeal. hurl ourselves at the perhaps cluller tasks. namely. our lessons. we awomplish niuvh lor our sehool anil gain mueh for our own selyes. There shoultl he no sueh thing as all work. ilihe young person. to lit himsell' lor lilie alter leaving sehool. shoultl seek to liroatlen his yiews anrl sympathies liy learning to eo-operate with his companions. not only' in the elass room. hut in srhool interests tlemaniling ltir loyal attention. 'lihe only mlanger. then. is laek ol' halanee. anrl this prohalvly' aeeounts lor the prejuiliee against the value ol' sehool aetiyities. Since our hooks are of tirst importanee. let us use them as a measure to tleterinine the amount of time antl interest we shioulil spenfl on other pleasures. thus gaining a perllevt halanee antl making our organizations an inlluenee lor inilustry antl genuine worth. li. Nl. li. BEING ON ITS SELF Hts not someliotly tolcl you. time anrl again. on some oeeasion or other when yon tliil not know' exaetly how' to eontluet yolirselli. just he y'oursell f What tlitl that usomeliotly mean? lt' you really' are shy. aw kwartl. svaretl. lilunt. almrnpt or t-areless. shoultl you always remain thus anal never striye to heeome kinil antl inter- esting. just lveeanse it wonlil make y'on tlillierent? Slioultl you haye an irleal person whose qualities you eopy. or shoultl you liye up to your own instinvts entirely. regarslless ol' what other people think? To he ones sell' is to lixe up to that self that he knows ileep flown in his heart he wants to lie. anil ought to he. hut possihly has not hail either the grit or the op- portunity to lie. Nlany are the times when we are mistaken in our opinions ol' our lellow stntlents -or eyen ol' our elilers- -lieeause we jutlge them lrom external appearant-es. not knowing eaeh oneis hitlslen. true sell. lfaeh one ol' ltr tloes not realize in his vhililhootl tlays what ltir real sellm is: he is too immature to know that self is in the making. antl what his real eliaraeter is. But when he iloes lintl himsell. little lty little. he eoulcl anrl shoultl strengthen the gootl that is in him until it tlominates his whole personality. Anil now' alrout patterning our liyes upon an itleal. There are people we haye known whom we atlmiretl so mueh that we just know yy e wonltl want to lie like them. Shoulil we? Although we coultl appropriate eertain qualities anti make them a part I to t

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r., llllHHlllll'F'ElllllllllllllllHHlllllllHHlllllllllllllllltilllllllllllllmllllltlifilllHHllHHllllllllllllllllllNHlllllll1NH3UH3lillllllllNWHlilllVlllllllllllllNWINWlllillllllllllllWHllllllllNHIUHWHHWN3llltiilllllllllllllllllHNllllll'llll'lll!'l'1'l NINETEEN SEVENTEEN CARDINAL improvement. First of these ideals is the aversion to blood, cruelty and destruction. Healthy, normal youth, such as attends the public high schools, loves beauty, admires strength and reveres age and weakness. Is it any wonder that he rebels at com- pulsory training, which prepares him to desecrate and destroy all these? Another ideal is the love of justice and democracy. Compulsory military training is a direct contradiction of these principles. To impose anything compulsory without the sanction of the general public is, of course, undemocratic. Then, too, the very organization of the army is anything but democratic. So the American youth naturally rebels at the imposition and organization of such a system. Finally, the general character of the army-the morals of the men are not the best. The vicious character of the work of such a body of men naturally tends to lower morals and ideals, at which the American youth, as a whole, rebels. Is there not some right on the side of the high school boys when they say that compul- sory military training should not be adopted in this state? N. W. S. HIGH SCHOOL MILITARY SERVICE AT this time of national crisis, the question of military training in secondary schools should be of supreme importance to the high school pupil. The arguments against military training are profuse, and seemingly convincing. We are told that if military training were universally established in the high schools, the boys would become brutal, and would lose their regard for all that is pure and beautiful, that such a system would make of us a nation of militarists. It is also contended that the amount of training that can be administered has no practical military value, but is entirely superficial, and tends only toward making military service in any form odious to the growing boy. In a large degree, the success or failure of the project depends on the attitude of the boys themselves toward such a system. If military training is looked upon as more or less of a lark, the benehts to be derived would more probably be negative than otherwise. But if the boys can be made to realize the importance of such training, and to participate in it a qualification for citizenship, its success would undoubtedly be confirmed. This plan of service would not make of the boys ardent militarists, enthusiastic and eager for war, but make them realize what war really is, stern and terrible, and would dispel any youthful visions of glorious adventure. While probably few Napoleons or Leonard Woods could be developed out of our high schools, yet the boys could be thoroughly trained in the rudiments of army routine. The strict organization of the army is exceedingly beneficial to the growing boy, in that it forces him to be quick and alert, and teaches obedience and responsibility, which prove of incalculable value in later life. It probably would not be Wise to make this service compulsory, as not all the boys are sufficiently physically developed to withstand the rigors of military train- ing. If credit were to be given for the work, I am sure that the system could be established with little difficulty, and would prove profitable both to the boys and to the nation. M. A. S. f12l