Newport News High School - Anchor Yearbook (Newport News, VA)

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THE BEACON 103 Men of the Squad, you have done yourselves proud! You have upheld the best traditions of an institution, which, though small, throbs with a vitality and a spirit that sweeps all before it. As the Spartan mother of old told her son to come back with a victory or be brought back on a shield, so did we demand that you bring back a victory, and so did you fight with every ounce of energy and bring back the State Championship! Had you been the defeated instead of the victorious, our hearts would have still been with you. We should have welcomed you with hearty handshakes and outspoken praise, for we were confident that you would give the best that was in you. We revel in the satisfaction of knowing that you won the game fairly and squarely. We recognize in you the true symbols of sportsmanship that stand for the highest ideals in Man. Glad are we that there is no taint of unfairness to mar the sweetness of victory. Better, far better to have gone under in defeat with colors streaming and veins pulsating with the desire to win only in a square way, than to have emerged with a victory won by unfair means. Coach Webb, words are too scarce and language too feeble for us to properly express the feeling nearest our hearts for you. It was you who served as the ideal and inspiration for the Squad. It was you, who, unselfish of your time and energy were directly responsible for our greatest honor. Coach Webb, gentleman of the highest order, we honor you as the first man coaching the first high school team to officially win the State Championship of Virginia! Scrubs, those who sacrificed their ambitions that others might be more perfect in their game, all praise is due you in helping to turn out this team. Unselfishly you gave your time for the school, and unselfishly we give our praise in recognition of your worthiness. Men, we again salute you as the first foot ball team in Virginia today. We again honor you as the first team to officially win the foot ball Champion- ship of the State! Plagiarism If variety is really necessary for the provision of the “spice of life” it may easily be found among the ranks of thieves, although the desirability of such a type of diversity is indeed questionable. As you all know, there are many more than “fifty-seven varieties” of thieves and among them is the plagiarist. This type of thief is one of the worst of all the band, even though his plan of work may not be on the Jesse James scale. Any original literary piece which a person has produced belongs peculiarly to that person, for if the feeling expressed is genuine, the utterance is really a part of the author. And to steal away this property which is so jealously guarded by the author, to take upon himself the honor of its composition, to affix his own signature — this is the work of the plagiarist! What could be more despicable, more utterly contemptible, more cowardly! Let everyone regard the plagiarist with the utmost scorn! Let him forever be an outcast from honorable society! The plagiarist has no honor; perhaps that is why he tries to steal it. But he only succeeds in gaining dishonor. Besides, he is robbing himself of the belief which others place in his integrity, in his truthfulness, and most of all, the faith which others have in his good name. What does Shakespeare say concerning this ?

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TH BEACON Published Monthly During the School Year by the Students of the Newport News High School Entered as second-class matter January 24, 1919, at the post office at Newport News, Va., under the Act of March 3, 1879. 15 Cents Per Copy TERM S: Advertising Rates Upon Application $1.00 Per Year EDITED BY G. Edward Travis Editor-in-Chief Evelyn Ryce Associate Editor Remington Chewning News Editor Frances Gray Literary Editor Norman Bradburn Athletic Editor Richard Nichols Art Editor Clyde Francis Lytle Genevieve BonnewelL Ex. Editor Adolph Lefkowitch Joke Editor Emanuel E. Falk Bus. Manager Asher Baker Adv. Manager Hilda Morris Circulation Manager Jack Gordon Alumni Editor Faculty Supervisor Winning the State It is done! We, the Newport News High School, have Championship! emerged victor in a contest in which defeat would have been an honor, but in which victory came to crown the zenith of foot ball enthusiasm. We have worked hard for two years to build up a team that would pave the way for the State Championship; and that would establish itself as the premier team in Virginia. We have backed the team unreservedly and whole heartedly, and it is good to feel that our confidence in them was not misplaced. It is a time not for a boisterous exuberance of spirit, or a showy display of feeling, but a time for silent thankfulness. Of course, it is only natural that we should feel elated over a victory that was so gloriously won, it is only natural that we should have that feeling of supremacy that comes with a victorious eleven, but with this feeling should be intermingled that of trust lived up to. The self conscious feeling that we have done all that was demanded of us, and that we have shown ourselves worthy of the sacred trust left for us to safeguard.

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104 THE BEACON “Who steals my purse, steals trash; ’tis something, nothing; ’Twas mine, ’tis his, and has been slave to thousands; But he that filches from me my good name Robs me of that which not enriches him And makes me poor indeed.” This serves to prove that the plagiarist is worse than the ordinary thief. It is useless for him to whisper to himself, “No one will ever know.” Even if his plagiarism should remain undiscovered, the blot will be on his character and will show in other ways. It is most singular that anyone can deliberately rob himself of that which should be to him the most precious thing in life, namely, reputation. For he who will plagiarize will also steal other things besides literary material. And the person who steals a line from another’s paper is as much a plagiarist as one who steals a story or copies the whole of another’s work. Plagiarism seems often to be a failure on the part of some people to realize the seriousness or the nature of purloining the material or ideas of others. But it is indicative of a lack of scrupulousness, of a looseness of morals, of a falsity in ideals. Just what is the degree of guilt of the petty plagariast we may not judge, but we do know that one who practices plagiarism in any way what- ever, bids fair to increase the scope of his Satanic activities. Cheating Cheating is the scapegoat son of Satan, the blacksheep of the family of Evil. It is the most degrading, the most loathing habit to which mankind has ever been susceptible. It is a thousandfold worse than the lowest form of crime — for there can be honor among thieves, but, a cheat loses all honor, all self respect, and casts those omnipotent traits and bene- dictions which God has bestowed upon us, to the winds. We will agree that man is, at one time or another, tempted to steal what is not morally, physically or mentally his own property. But, remember those words of the wise prophet and sage, “Yield not to temptation.” Bear in mind that “all that glitters is not gold.” The man in front of you may have an answer written so perfectly, that you really believe his is the best answer. You copy it and receive a good mark. You are happy that you have obtained such a high standard. Do you realize that you are doing yourself an injustice ? Don’t you know that you have actually stolen another man’s thoughts ? Can’t you realize that you are bluffing yourself and that you are the ready and most ignorant dupe of Satan, that you are the personfication of the lowest hypocracy? Give your own thoughts a little exercise. Originality is as abundant as the sands of the seashore, but as priceless and as sacred as the most precious of God’s gifts. Remember that to yield to temptation is to make yourself the greatest of hypocrites, the lowest of thieves. Originality is a blessing of God, imitation an attribute to Satan.