Many years ago when large numbers of people began migrating to Georgia's
larger cities, the total number of voters in only a few of the state's
urban areas threatened to become greater than those in all of the rural
counties combined. In order to eliminate the imminent possibility of the
"city bosses" controlling state politics, the infamous County
Unit System was first introduced, and it has remained as part of the state
constitution ever since.
In every state primary the unit system of voting, which was designed for the protection of the smaller counties, is by virtue of its unfair allotment of unit votes leaving literally hundreds of thousands of Georgia city voters little voice in their state government. Fulton County cast 72,956 popular votes for Governor in the recent primary but received only 6 unit votes, while Lee County, though it cast only 142 popular ballots, was given two unit votes. These figures mean in effect that through the unit system, each of the Lee County popular votes was made 172 times more powerful than any single vote cast in Fulton.
The principle of the County Unit System basically may be a good idea, but until it is revised to balance out with latest census figures, it will be neither fair nor democratic. In this day and time of 1954, it might be well if we were to heed the words of Cicero, who two thousands years ago, though knowing nothing of a County Unit System, said, "The rights of the minority should at all time be protected, but never at the expense of injustice to the majority."
Tray System Beneficial To All Grady Students
In the past few years many idea for improving Grady have been printed in
these pages. The latest im provement, is the new system in the cafeteria.
This plan of charging tray deposits benefits all students, in that there is now no necessity of raising prices to provide funds with which to hire extra workers to clear the tables. The only people who can make this system a success are you, the students of Grady.
Progress for Tomorrow Rests on Progress Today
To the Boys and Girls of Henry Grady High School:
One of the poets said
"I wish that there were some wonderful place
Called the Land of Beginning Again,
Where all our mistakes and all our heartaches,
And all of our poor selfish grief
Could be dropped like a shabby old coat at the door
And never put on again."
The thought here expressed is beautiful. Unfortunately, though, there can
never be a land of beginning again. Every day becomes our personal history.
And history cannot be changed. This day will never come again. Its opportunities
and its challenges and its triumphs will never be offered again. It is our
solemn duty to make this day yield its maximum in our personal growth and
development. We shall not pass this way again.
When you come to graduate, your entire school record, as expressed in terms of subjects, grades, and behavior, is your school history. That school history, usually called a transcript, will determine largely the type of college you can enter, the sort of letter of recommendation which can be written about you, and the sort of job you can obtain. Almost every employer will want to know such things as how well you attended school, how you behaved, what sort of grades you made, what subjects you took, and so on. You are making the history which will comprise your transcript when you graduate. You are also setting today and every day the pattern of your habits and character.
May I urge you to do your best every day. We have different abilities and capacities. Some of us can learn trigonometry better than others, some can play football better than others, some can play the piano better than others, and some can paint pictures better than others. But all of us--every single one of us--can do the best possible for us. And that is success.
R.W. Stephens