The number on the All-A lists is diminishing. Grady is having fewer and
fewer National Merit finalists and semi-finalists, and this year, for the
first time in several years, Grady does not have a Westinghouse finalist.
What is happening? Why this decrease in scholarly achievements? Does it mean that teachers are grading harder, that students are taking harder subjects or that students are just not learning and studying as they should?
Maybe this decline, if such, is not just a local affair, but reflects a national trend. This trend may have resulted from appeals to step-up the school system and catch up with Russia. If this is so, it means that an A is getting harder to get.
On the other hand, the fewer achievements could mean that students are not studying or trying to get good grades as they have in the past. Or it could mean the caliber of the Grady students has declined and they are not capable of attaining high grades. The Southerner feels that this matter is a serious one and some careful research should be done before definite answers are attempted. Whatever the answer is, something should be done about the situation, if possible.
The Southerner is planning research on this subject, and will use the results in a series of editorials. If you have any opinions or suggestions that you feel would aid the Southerner, please put them in the Southerner box In the office.
Going Backwards Would Help
Cafeteria operations at Grady, the administration assures us, are probably
the best in the city. The food is quite edible, serving speed is at least
adequate, and faculty supervision insures reasonably good order and cleanliness.
However, the figurative linen is badly soiled by the prevailing lack of
respect for the rights of others in the serving line.
Although these actions are officially deplored, conditions in the cafeteria actually aid breaking in line. This anomaly arises from the arrangement of the two lines. Students enter both lines in the center of the room, and the lines are, at best, very close, providing a channel up which students calmly stroll, entering the line wherever they meet a "friend." Because of the prevailing confusion, the faculty is rarely able to spot offenders, and the punishment is usually but loss of the stolen place in line.
Fortunately, this situation can be easily alleviated. As in the snack bar, the lines could be made to flow from the outside to the center, where the cash registers could be easily relocated with a minimum of carpentry. The tray and bottle storage center's location near the wall probably would not interfere with the line on that side, as its peaks of operation are near the ends of the recesses, while the lines are busiest at the beginnings. If, however, possible congestion there is feared, that line could be left as is, and only the other changed, which would still result in separation of the lines, would make possible effective faculty supervision and could cure this blight on our record.
The Southerner strives to serve its readers as: (1) a source of news and entertainment for the student body, (2) an opportunity for students to express themselves freely through letters to the editor and through literary contributions and, (3) a stimulus of interest in school, community, and national affairs.
In this issue and the next, two new editorial campaigns will be brought forth. We hope that these campaigns will be as successful as some of the past Southerner campaigns in raising student interest and concern for the issues at hand.
The recent survey taken in homerooms was of great help to the staff in deciding where improvements were needed and making up our policies. We wish to thank all students, especially those who added constructive criticism, for their cooperation.
If you feel that the Southerner should strive toward some specific goal, or if you have comments about those we now aim toward, please write them down and put them in the Southerner box in the office. Remember that the Southerner is your paper, representing Grady and you wherever it goes.