Polytechnic High School - Polytechnic Student Yearbook (Los Angeles, CA)

Page 14 text:

■ Freedom and order tend to limit each other. Increase of freedom re- laxes the existing order, while order grows by restricting freedom. Only with increase of character and intel- hgence can freedom and order in- crease together. The above state- ment carries with it much of value in the idea of self - government whether we are thinking in terms of self-government in high school or in the larger spheres of state and na- tional government. We have been hearing for some time of the taking away of personal liberties. Men as well as boys and girls frequently do not realize the need of increase of character and intelligence in order to keep freedom when once obtained. J. G. GooDSELL, Vice-Principal What is self-government? It is that which makes possible the American Dream, the conception of a land in which life is rich in opportunity for every man in proportion to his ability. But the dream is of no value if it is not given concrete form through appropriate action. Whether or not it is fulfilled de- pends fundamentally upon the individual. He has to know that such an achievement implies sacrifice of personal ambitions and liberties for the good of all. A government may be successfully managed by the people it governs only if those people maintain a high standard of thought and action, are suffi- ciently experienced in the practical problems of democracy, and are willing to assimie the responsibility of making their government function. The peo- ple must learn how to govern. There is no more important place for this train- ing than the modern high school with its organized systems of student govern- ment. Eugene Stones, President, Boys ' Self -Government, S ' 33

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Along with the new deal in economics and in politics comes the new deal in education. A strong movement is on foot to do away with the traditional method of dividing mathematics, history, science, lan- guages, music, art, and vocational work into separate compartments. Integration, or fusing of subjects, is the new plan. Each year a different civilization will be taken up and ex- plored, and the ideas and ideals and ac:omplishments of a people will serve as training in all the branches now taught separately. This will bring the process of education a little nearer to the experiences of life. Adsle Humphrey, Vice-Princijial Man has always reverenced learning and looked up to the scholar as a leader. This is because knowledge gives man a comprehension of the activi- ties of the world about him. He can direct affairs wisely only through under- standing them. We picture the educated man as tolerant, unselfish, law- abiding, and impartial. In comparison, Addison, wise observer of life, likens the uneducated human soul to marble in a quarry, possessing none of the beautiful qualities until it has been highly polished, to bring out its color and lustre. The educated man is able to use his knowledge as a tool to shape prog- ress, and in doing so, he is of assistance to the group. The whole purpose of living is service to the community. This is made possible through education. Understanding through education is the ideal of the schools, which train us for the service that the world needs. Virginia Hoffman, President. Scholarship Society, W ' 33

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There are 487,000 words in the new Webster ' s Unabridged Diction- ary. We in our expression and thought require this enormous num- ber of words representing separate and distinct ideas in order to think and express ourselves adequately. Poverty in English is inexcusable with this wonderful array of terms at hand to facilitate a variety of ex- pression. Poverty in thought is like- wise out of place for the same rea- son. Still we find persons who use one word that has but one meaning to express a score of ideas. Nice, for example, is applied as a descrip- tive term for a man, a woman, a girl, a boy, a time, a party, an excursion, a picnic, or a pie. The poor in Eng- lish we have with us always. And it is so unnecessary. E. B. Couch, Registrar m P ■1 r F. : . 1 ff ' W - ' m • ■ ' ■ ' 3 fc ' - ' iiii ' llifc ' i ' ' ' ' ■ ., ' 1 ■ •■■. .■■-v.. ' ■ ' •■. - !! A strange, beautiful fabric woven from the threads of love and hate, grief and mirth, wisdom and folly: this is life. There is so much of mystery in our infinite universe and so little of understanding, so much of groping after mean- ings and finding none, that for bewildered youth all existence resolves itself into a confusion of emotions. When life ' s skeins become so tangled and twisted that in pausing to straighten them we lose sense of the whole wonderful pat- tern, we turn to those with the supreme gift of vision. We seek interpreta- tion from the teacher — the musician, the poet, the scientist, the philosopher. To him we look for the inspiration that shows us the great scheme of things. The fullness of our appreciation of life depends upon the guidance of him who finds a glorious service to perform in a turbulent world, the service of leading us into understanding. Lillian Wihlborg, Managing Editor, The Poly Optimist, S ' 33