University High School - Cub Yearbook (Oakland, CA)

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Student Government, Past and Present By hlargaret Holman Shortly after the doors of Uni- versity high school opened for the first time in the old grey building at f orty-ei ghth and Webster streets in-Hie year 19111, the few students assembled there began to feel the urge toward student government. This desire was expressed to the members of the faculty, who at that time did not deem it advisable to start a form of absolute self -gov- ernment. However, it was finally agreed that a co-operative govern- ment should be adopted, the legis- lative body of which should consist of one representative from each major room, and which should be known as the student's cooperative council. To preside over this group a student president was chosen, hut from the old semi-annual Cubs, that offer the only actual source of information, we are led to believe that the first councils were actually presided over by the principal, and that the faculty made up a goodly number of the members. If a club or organization wanted a matter brought before the coun- cil, the subject was first called to the attention of the major-room representative, and then was taken by him to the council whenever it happened to meet, which was only when business demanded, for we are told that its chief duties we1'e those of apportioning the budget and of electing the Cub staff. As time went on and the mem- bership of the student body in- creased, the need for a written set of laws grew until, in 1919, a con- stitution, drawn up by a com- mittee consisting of M a rio n Brandt, Esther Munson, Kenneth Foresman, Wilson Minor, and Ted VV right, was adopted by the stu- dents. This document was long and cumbersome. It provided for a goverment much like that which we have already attempted to de- scribe, but with many new features. The officers to be elected--a pres- ident, a vice president, a secretary, and a yell leader were clearly speci- fied, and the council was made to include not only the representatives from major rooms but those from other groups as well. There was one from each of the boys, and girls' major sports, two from the Girls, league, and one from the Block U society, which was considered' ' portant and influential ienou have a vote, the school treasu the boys' physical di1'ecto1', and the girls' physical director., Besides the executive officers of the council, there were of course the various committees. Those llted include one for each of the fol- lowing: Assembly, recept i o n, dues, publicity, auditing, and em- blems. This early constitution also pro- vided f or the election of officers by the Australian ballot system, and for the distribution of athletic awards, the formation of commit- tees, and the organization of the classes. Its main weakness lay in the fact that the council was too large to work efficiently. Repeated at- tempts to remedy this condition by 14

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maybe 'lThe Rat , Qhad the man no name?j was one of those unfor- tunate misfit personalities who have no place in this world. If only he could really learn some- thing about him! Pattyll' f'Aye. 'cTell me one of those horrible gshiv- er your tim- ber' tales. HStill harp- in' at it, kid? VVell, if I have to spend a cruise on the same ship with him, you ought to tip Inf' off how to g u a rd m y yo un g life against the horrible unknownf' UAW, now, kid, you got me wrong. ltlurder ainit in the first 'luff's' line. The whole thing is this and it ain't such a joke as you are tryin' to kid yourself into thinkin' it is, neither. VV e got laws and regulations aboard ship. There is all ways of interpretin' them. Some officers is lenientg some's not. There ain't no need to be, but discipline is the gRat's, line. It's the thing he does better than any- thing else. YVhere the normal of- ficer will let ,er go at ccurtailment of libertyl, this guy'll bring up a 'court martial'. That's why he's hatedf, UAnd is that what raises the goose-flesh on your neck when you see him coming, is that why you're afraid? Huh! Expect me to swal- low that? Afraid ain't the word, Johnny. It's a kind of spooky feeling he gives me, if you know what I mean. VVait until you've see11 more of him. Canit you see, kid, how a man would face a six-inch gun without bat- ting a lash, before held risk close con- tact with a filthy slimy rat of th e sewer?v 77 'SI think so, but- 'IVV e l l, that's how it is. I tell you if there was a single human normal fea- ture to off set his cursed cold-bloodedness, we could stand it, but he hasn't even got a spine. Not a man aboard would willingly follow him into battle. The cowardly, C1'CCPy way heas got of sneakin, up on ,, you-. 4'Aw, junk the hot air, Patty. You canlt tell me that one human can lll21liC you all feel that way without doing somethingf' '4But he airft human, kid. That's just whatis got us all hoodooed. Let me tell you, many a boy aboard, on liberty, enjoyin, him- self, has had the heart froze out of him, for no real reason, say, in a dance hall, maybe, just catchin' sight of 'The Ratl, sneakin' slinkin'-dw gContinued on Page my

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amendment failing, a new consti- tution was adopted in 1921. Tl1is new document was prepared by the civics classes after considerable re- search by the students under the di- rection of lNIiss Crystal Harford, and was designed to meet the needs of an enlarged student body. The most fundamental change was that concerning student body membership. Wlie1'e formerly this privilege was granted only to holders of A. S. U. H. S. cards. by the new constitu- tion all stu- dents were oi sidered a izens, al- though only those holding cards were al- lowed to vote. T li e n e w elective offi- cers provided fo r were a presid e n t, a y ell leader, and five coun- cilmen - one for finance, one for publicity, one for boys' sports, o11e for organizations and special events, and one for the .junior high. Each of these was to be nominated by a petition, bearing the signatures of at least five per cent of the holders of A.S.U.H.S. cards. A vice president, a clerk, and a chief justice 'were to be ap- F. H. Boren, Friend of Student Goverment. pointed. These, along with the principal a nd school t1'C3Sl1l'C1', made up the personnel. The new council was made to function t h r o u g h committees. Each commissioner was given the authority to appoint his own, with the exception of the commissioner of girls, affairs whose work was to be done by a council composed of representatives from each class or e and each girls, organizat i o n T he chief ustiee in turn appointed his vigilance comm it t e e s There were and are at the date, three of them, a senior boys', present girl sl a senior and one for the u n io r high. The fi- nances W e 1' e managed by the commis- sioner in co- operation with the faculty 'treasurer of the s c h o o l. Assisting him were committees of salesmen. The publicity com- niissionerls staff consisted of the various members of the art de- partment and the staff of tl1e Daily U -N-I. A committee was also selected by the clerk of social affairs to assist in the supervision of the noon dances, and the com- missioner of junior high had his 15 41,18