Saint Charles High School - Charlemo Yearbook (St Charles, MO)

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Rud and his wagon . ' g ill l l Q Communit itf Censorship? l W Editorial: book removed is indeed a threat to a student's complete and liberal education. Professional instructors choose course material and the mere fact that a single complaint removes their teaching medium renders them less effective and handicaps the student who would benefit from this material. Rudy's Red Wagon was chosen by a professional educator for its educational value in hopes the student could maturely absorb its f t N X 'C QSEQEQJB Xl ' w' wav t tx X Q E J ix X R .J 1 Jfs -, -J barred from school Then came Rudy with his wagonful of tricks. And he pushed it right down the center aisle at last Thursday's St. Charles School Board meeting. Rudy's Red Wagon, an up-to-date supplemental reading book dealing with communication strategies in our contemporary society, was referred to as obscene filth, by an SCHS student's parent. Acknowledging this complaint and honoring the request that the book be removed from the course materials, the LA Department committee in charge confiscated and removed all the copies. Rudy, though, lives on in many minds as an indication of what is yet to come. Irving J. Rein, author of the book, states in his introductory statement that the intent of the book is to show how the purpose of such strategies, obscenity being one example, is manipulation. They are the beings of communicative violence, stated Rudy's writer. Well, it seems Rudy has foimd another victim fallen prey to his endless circle. Flaring anger and emotion-al harangues are prime examples of how authors of obscentiy-laden materials can get their readers right where they want them. The conclusion drawn, is that the objectionable material included within this book only adds to the book's effectiveness in showing ob- scenity's place in today's society and to make students aware of its power - not to condone its use. Allowing complaints from any source as motive enough to have a valuable information. Since the school district hires teachers for their knowledge of current teaching methods and learning media, most parents feel safe in entrusting their child's education and the selection of his learning materials to that professional. As for what is to come, it is advised that school librarians arm themselves with scissors and marking pens. . . . at this point we have an obscene library book in the St. Charles High School library, is thank- fully enough, a gross understatement. The library is chock full of alledgedly obscene books. Rudy is going to have to bring more than his Red Wagon in order to cart them all away. A novel referred to in the junior Minority Voices course is The Autobiography of Malcom X, exemplifying this type of literature where obscenity is necessary to grasp the actual meaning of the book. The school library also houses novels like A Clockwork Orange, The Sterile Cuckoo, Catcher in the Rye,Psychology Today magazine, etc. Even such classics and classroom texts as Macbeth contain these questionable words. Rudy's Red Wagon is just a beginning if one is going to cleanse the entire library of filth, This type of valuable literature exists in every library. One doesn't have to travel far to find obscene words. Public restrooms, late-night talk shows, and even walks through the school building while classes change would provide anyone with plenty of obscene verbal ammunition. The trouble lies with the student's inability to handle the usage and regard it in its proper perspective. lv x Q jigs W1 KJ

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Contemporary Literature and Lan- guage of Film, both traditionally consid- ered Language Arts courses, were ruled as fine arts through curriculum review. The courses were taken by juniors and seniors to fulfill their fine art credit prior to gradu- ation. The Language Arts Department under- went further change by re-offering Debate I to interested speech students. Mrs. Ja- nelle Weinberg instructed the class of ten students, five enrolled in Advanced Speech and five in Debate I. The classes ran sepa- rately, coming together on Fridays for speech projects or debate sessions. Three formal debates were run over the semester. Topics were selected nationally in refer- ence to the political reform idea and an extra classroom assignment brought de- bate on price controls. Senior Writing Workshop was offered to senior college bound students interested in writing, both factual and creative. The full year course included story, poem, and term paper writings.

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