San Diego State University - Del Sudoeste Yearbook (San Diego, CA)

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WHITE and GOLD 7 forced to think how much like playing with mercury school-teaching is. Whatever be your inward convulsions, outwardly you must be calm and steady, never once revealing your internal state, lest in the very revelation you add to the difficulty. Yet whatever be the trials and tribulations of our first encounter with the world, there are also the hopes and the joys. 'We love our first school with a strong affection'-an affection, that llhopes and en- dures and is patient,H and rifts in the clouds give us frequent glimp- ses of our ideals beyond, made brighter by the dark surroundings. -A7mz? Horral, l01. The insurrtmnn. The horned toad really started it. To be brought to the labora- tory and put in ayellow dish surrounded by a wire screen was very trying to such an independent traveller. He regarded his fellowspeci- mens with a degree of contempt because of their passive submission to treatment that was often disrespectful in the extreme; and did not hesitate to comment upon their lack of spirit. in that particular. VVllen the frogs arrived a powerful impetus was given to the spirit of discontent among the laboratory specimens. Indeed, the very manner of their arrival was calculated to breed disturbance-for they were brought in by small mortals, and struggling with all their might. And when they had been dumped together promiscuonsly into a rus- ty tin can, they proceeded to give voice to their injured feelings. The other specimens were rather shocked at the boisterous man- ner of the frogs, but such volnbility could not fail to have its effect upon them, and they began to consider their wrongs. HWell! this cross-section affair just wears nle outlll exclaimed the sea anemone. lkThose clumsy mortals poked around in my septee and reversed my stomach till I almost fell to pieces; and then they complained that they couldn,t see anything! uThatls nothinglll snapped a crab,. uYou should have heard the mean things they said about me today when they were drawing me. If my joints werenlt so stiff from this formalin Ild show them a few things. HThat teacher hates me, sobbed the Medusa, tlI know it. Iim the only one that hasnlt a glass top, and she told the others to throw me around all they wanted to.H The clams had been listening to it all with open mouths, and one was about to say something when an old starfish came stiny down

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6 WHITE and GOLD ed, a method, which, in spite of its popularity, cannot be considered beautiful, being characterized by a great abundance of variety and a total lack of unity. It is remarkable that in a district school that can scarcely boast of a dozen pupils, so many different types will be represented. There are the active, mischievous ones, bubbling over with life and spirits, who, when their interests are once aroused, will expend as much energy upon work as upon play. There are thelazy, indif- ferent ones to whom work is work and will never be anything but work, for whose benefit it becomes a patience-tiring necessity to be perpetually operating some forcing system; and, sad to say, there are some who seem to have settled into a state of mental apathy, lto rouse them from which is almost a hopeless task. So great is this need of effort on their own parts, that in our zeal, we feel impelled to take them by the shoulders and shake them from their Hdogmatic sluul- bersdl But knowing this to be impossible, we can but remember that slow and steady wins the race. Then let us be thankful there is the one whose sole aim in life is to pleaseewho does his best and would like to do more. A teacher can reasonably be engaged with but one grade at a time, and so what to do with children who are so wonderfully accomp- lished in the arts of ttreeling and writhingl, as; to threaten disaster to the more elegant accomplishments of reading and writing, is a serious problem. Ink-well lids raise and lower themselves, pens and pencils roll to the fioor as if by magic, and loose-jointed desks near by are so continually in a state of sympathetic vibration that you think this problem could be most easily solved by turning it over to Science, saying, HHere, at last, is perpetual motion!H ' Here is another by no means simple problem. You give out a piece of work that you suppose will occupy at least thirty minutes, and in teneperhaps lesseToni, Dick or Harry, tsometinies all threel bob up serenely with the triumphant announcement that it is iinished. You are engaged in developing some other subject and your carefully laid chain of thought is thus suddenly snapped. Then you think how valuable are those suggestions contained in books not written with pedagogical intent. What, for instance, could be more appro- priate and effective than ilto take a canvas bag which ties at the mouth with strings; into this slip hini head first, and sit on himfl thus sup- pressing him as they suppressed the guinea pigs in iiAlice in VVon- derland.H There comes a time, however, when your unwritten and even ver- bally unexpressed law, ilSay what you mean, mean what you do, and do business,H is generally observed, and there will be days when all is calm, and everything seemsjust as it should be. But the very next day the order of things may be entirely reversed, and you may be

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8 WHITE and GOLD the shelf, moving laboriously upon his dried up tube feet. llI heard you talkingfl he said, lland came down to l' HKeep away from my jarl', cried the trap-door spider, tlyoulll scratch the paraiiin off my labelll and the starfish stopped and stared with all his eyes spots at the rows of shining jars. uMy stars! how smart you all do lookll, and as he gazed admir- ingly, a weak voice spoke up from one of the dissecting pans 011 the table: ltWell, I suppose you all have your troubles, but I canlt help feeling dreadfully cut up over my treatment this morningf, and with a sigh it sank back in the formalin. A vigorous scratching noise was heard, and the horned toad emer- ged from the sand 111 the yellow dish that was surrounded by a wire screen. uPm tired of this, he said shortly. HWhy don t you do something? For 111e, I intend to get out of this place of tormentfl With this he lurched against the wire screen again and again, until he had pushed it over the edge of the table, and then, through the hole thus made, he dropped upon the floor. There he paused, looked up at the astonished specimens and said: uThere! did you see that? Its a good thing to have a little com- mon sense? With which wise remark the horned toad started off in quest of freedom and new adventures. The frogs in the tin can had been too much occupied with their own squabbles and grievances to pay much attention to outside affairs, but the daring act of the horned toad excited their interest, and they listened with much sympathy as their unfortunate fellow specimens told their tale of woe. At its conclusion the frog leader said: ttDear fellow creatures, we feel deeply for you, and would be very glad to help you. As you doubtless know, we are musical people and fre- quently give open air concerts. Perhaps if we were to sing to these mortals in your behalf, they might be more merciful to yoqu This plan met with unanimous approval, and it was decided to have the concert in the morning when the mortals assembled in large numbers. So in the morning, until the appointed time, nothing was heard from the frogs beyond a little preliminary tuning up. When all the mortals had assembled and the room was hushed, the frogs began. There were solos, duets, trios and whole choruses, separate or blending together in wonderful profusion, and sometimes in several keys at once. They sang the woes of their fellow specimens in low gurgles of pity and sympathy; or soared aloft iu the expression of the joys of living in the open air. They threw themselves into the song with such abandon that the laboratory fairly rang. When a rude jerk startled them and they were thrust out into the hall with no thanks, no signs of appreciation, but another demonstration of the right of might.