Townsend Harris High School - Crimson Gold Yearbook (Flushing, NY)

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GENERAL ORGANIZATION The General Organization, spurred on by the capable guidance of its chief executive, President Robert Van Santen, attacked prob- lem after problem this term with rare ability and unreserved confidence. By employing every possible faculty and source of energy, the Student Council administered Townsend Harris affairs with remarkable dispatch and efficiency. Many were the achievements of the body, as it succeeded in terminating ventures of iucalculable value and import. An outstand- ing feature of this semester,s developments was the revision of the G. O. Constitution, a task essential in eradicating a multitude of obsolete and faulty provisions, and the sub- stitution of clauses more conducive to good government. This accomplishment alone en- tailed the utmost concentration and unremit- ting labor of the council members. The group also sponsored a Varsity Show, a function which received merited acclama- tion from the student body. The industry with which the G. O. fostered the production most assuredly deserves the recognition of the entire school. These examples admirably illustrate the manner in which the G. O. functioned for the half-year. At all times the members tried to live up to a high standard of cooperation. It is this adherence to a policy of harmony which spelled the success of the G. O. Council. Robert Van Santen .......................... President Jack London .............. ...... V ice-President Bennett Sallman ..... ........... S ecretary Wfilliam Friedman ..... .,...... ....... T r easurer Representatives Henry Maas, U.A Leon Levey, L.A Fred Charlton, U.B Abraham Siegel, L.B Gilbert Banner, U.C Ed Ehrenberg, L.C Victor Lewis .......................... Service Delegate Solomon Chaikin ...................... Club Delegate Thomas Durrance .......... Publication Delegate john Henry .............. ......... A thletic Delegate page ninety-seven

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EXTRA-CURRICULA ACTIVITIES As President of the General Organization, I believe that there is no message I can con- vey of greater importance than the value of participation in the affairs conducted by the student body, apart from, but not alien to, the curriculum. As this portion of high school life is purely voluntary, it is most often disregarded. And never has a more dire mis- take been made, for the aim of all extra-cur- ricular activities is never foreign to classroom life, but rather complementary. Since Harris is a training camp for a fuller, more mature existence to come-a miniature battlefield-so our activities prophecy the problems we encounter in outer life. And, as preparation for this battle, I know of no better place than our clubs, where we learn to mingle with other human beings, to per- fect our personal philosophies, and to supple- ment our knowledge of the arts. School publications furnish splendid mod- els of intelligent and just business organiza- tions, while no better example of training can be offered than that of participating in de- bate, of learning to respect others, opinions, and to set forth our own intelligibly. I have never claimed that a student owes anything to the school. Instead, I have con- sistently demanded a more intelligent under- standing of the situation. It is my earnest belief that the student has one debt. It is to himself alone that he is responsible for the interest he takes in improving his own condi- tions, in learning to live his life in the best possible manner. The General Organization will have done its work, if it can call itself truly a general organization. President of the G. 0., Robert Van Santen

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THE STADIUM A Although there were many innovations in school activities during the semester, perhaps the greatest and most important was that in the Stadium. Under Editor-in-Chief Harry M. Simon, Jr., the organization of the staff and the make-up of the paper were both changed to such an extent that the Stadium became a finer and more professional journal than it had ever been during its history at Harris. Under the new plan, the old board was divided into several staffs, each under a de- partmental editor, who supervised individu- ally the work for which in the past the Editor- in-Chief was held responsible. Typographically, the Stadium was radically altered. A new and more beautiful type face was used for headlines: the whole paper was made more legible, and the make-up became less stereotyped and formal. To such an extent were these improve- ments noticed and appreciated by the student body, that a decided increase in its circula- tion resulted. Harry M. Simon, Jr. .,... ........ E ditor-in-Chief Malcolm Finkelstein ............ Managing Editor ....... Editorial Chief Henry Maas ............... Burton Shepard .................,........ News Editor Henry Hofbeimer Jr. .....,.. Business Manager Edwin Youngerman ........ Advertising Manager Maxwell Kern ................ Circulation Manager Jack London Robert Hewitt Howard Kieval Goodwin Breinin Fred Charlton Morton Stark page ninety-eight