St Albans School - Albanian Yearbook (Washington, DC)

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ATHLETICS

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the United States should adopt a permanent system of universal military training after the war as basic in its policy of national securityf, Mr. Hulen had purposely drafted it broadly in order to allow the members to make amendments concerning the age and length of service of the conscripts. In order to familiarize the Class with the topic, Mr. Hulen outlined two bills previously presented to Congress. Both required the conscript to take at least one year's military training, and made him subject to call for a period of four to eight years. At an active and informal 'tquiz sessionv the following Friday, Frank Harman asked Mr. Hulen whether he thought that the reason this proposal was being pushed through now was that its advocates feared that public opinion might be against them after the war. Mr. Hulen replied that this might be the case, for Americans usually become lackadaisical after wars and refuse to see ahead to the next conflict. When Bradford de Wolf and John Hinton expressed the opinion that a ear's militar trainin would reatl im rove the eneral health of the nation's Y Y s 3 Y P U g n p p youth, Geoffrey Owen countered that a man,s entire physical conditions can not be changed sufliciently in one year to warrant conscription. The meetings were en- livened b fre uent clashes between Porter Kier and Frank Harman. Y q On February 16, Congressman Monroney of Oklahoma outlined, from a purely objective point of view, the arguments both for and against compulsory military training. Setting forth Hrst the objections of the bill's opponents, he said that the country should not decide on military training when her judgment is affected by war hysteria. He emphasized that the adoption of conscription by this country would show to the world that we do not believe an enduring peace is possible, and he added that the training which the conscripts would receive would be obsolete by World War III. Presenting the arguments of the proponents of the bill, Mr. Monroney said that public apathy may defeat the bill if it is postponed until after the war, just as a similar bill was allowed to die after World War I. Also, he added, training gives the conscript physical advantages, contact with all classes of people, and knowledge of various trades. Above all, he concluded the nation must be militarily prepared against future aggressors and not trust to the oceans and our existing power to halt an enemy. Since the Albmzimz goes to press before the final vote on the Conscription Bill has been taken, and before the last topic of the year has been announced, it is not possible to record the last discussions and amendments. If, however, the interest in the Government Class continues as it has for the earlier part of the year, the members of the Class can look forward to a year which has been one of the most successful of its history. ORGANIZATIONS 1945 I 3

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Standing, left ot right: McCulloch, T. Perry, Schoenfeld, R. Smith. Seated, left to right: Mr. Arnds, Reeves, Mr. A. Wagner, Mr. Henderson. The Athletic Association N APRIL of last year, the major letter recipients of 1944 met in Room A to choose, from their number, the Athletic Association of 1945. In this meeting, John Reeves and Robert Smith were elected Chairman and Secretary respectively, and McCulloch, Perry, and Schoenfeld were selected to complete the committee. This year's Athletic Association has made no radical changes in the rules and procedure of the organization. It has, as in past years, carefully considered the qualifications of each participant in the school's sports program, and has awarded the school insignia in the cases which they have deemed deserving. The Athletic Association, however, did deviate from its constitution by award- ing major letters to the soccer team which tied for the District Championship. Heretofore, major letters have been awarded only when the championship clearly belonged to St. Albans. However, because of the excellent record of the team and the fact that examinations prevented a play-off, the Association felt itself justified in presenting major letters to the team. ATHLETICS 1945