The Academy band gave concerts at the auditorium and in the open air, while the Academy choir performed regularly. Debate topics were often questions of current interest including Should U.S. Senators be directly elected by the people and Should the United States maintain permanent control of the Philippines. By 1909, the Academy library contained 1,541 volumes and subscribed to 13 periodicals as well as to Ogden and Salt Lake City newspapers. The faculty of the Academy adopted some rules concerning the use of the library during a faculty meeting held September 20, 1910. These rules included: 1. Absolute silence must be maintained in the study hall; whispering is positively forbidden. 2. Students may not leave the study hall without permission from the one in charge. 3. Ink bottles may not be used on the study hall tables where the library books are being read. Students who desire to use pen and ink may do so at the table especially set aside for that purpose. 4. Library books to be used in the study hall or to be kept over night are to be obtained from the librarian, signed for at his desk, and returned to him at the proper time. 5. Books may not be taken from the study hall during the Library period: 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. 6. Books to be retained over night may be held only from one school day to the next, unless special permission is granted to keep them longer. They may not be taken from the study hall before 3:15 p.m. and are to be returned the next morning by 9:45 a.m. Any student breaking rule 4, 5, or 6 was subject to a fine of twenty-five cents, and barred from library privileges until the fine was paid. The library was an important area of the Academy and faculty and students continued to work jointly for library acquisitions. During the 1909-1910 year, the school band which gave several concerts, had 33 members and the school orchestra had 16 members. At this time, eleven citizens of Ogden contributed 795 to the Academy and to the band for the purchase of instruments. Seven of these generous donors contributed 100 each (H. H. Rolapp, Mrs. Thomas D. Dee, A. P. Biglow, Heber Scowcroft, Joseph Scowcroft, David Eccles, and M. S. Browning). At this same time, band teacher E. W. Nichols was authorized to conduct dancing classes under the supervision of the Academy Board. Band, orchestra, and choral teachers at the Academy were paid a partial salary by the Academy and received the remainder of their income from the charges made for individual music classes. Many faculty members used their summers to advance their education, as in the summer of 1908 when Wilfred McKendrick, LeRoy Cowles and Sylvester Bradford attended the University of Chicago. In a paper submitted during the summer, McKendrick outlined for his eastern colleagues the principles he used in guiding the Weber Academy. His ideas as paraphrased in the Ogden newspaper included the following: The Weber Academy form of government is based on the theory, teach the pupils correct forms of government and they will govern themselves. The Wendell Phillips idea [prominent in eastern high schools] is that the school must be rigorously policed under the immediate direction and discipline of the faculty of the school. This is a complicated form of government and is primarily meant only for a criminally unruly community. The Weber Academy idea of government, as advocated by Professor McKendrick, is that the studentbody of the school be self-governing; that the school be taught correct principles, and that the student body govern themselves. The plan of class organization, in turn, is placed under the general supervision of a district supervisor, who in turn is responsible to the president and faculty of the school for the conduct of the students in his district. The system is that of individual responsibility, a democracy of the practical order. The system of governance at the Academy as well as the faculty, the curriculum, and the buildings had an ongoing positive influence on student enrollment which in turn required the addition of new faculty members. McKendricks philosophy of governance for the Academy was not always as open as it appeared in his 1908 essay. In March of 1910, three students presented a petition to the faculty on behalf of the student body. The petition presented by Victor Sears, William Critchlow, and Clarence McCune asked the faculty to allow the students to choose the dance music they wished and to hire any music they wish. After consideration, the faculty reported to the students that their petition was not granted. The choice of music and musicians, it appeared, would remain under the control of the faculty. The Acorn which had appeared in 1903 as a student newspaper developed into a literary magazine and was issued in the spring of 1909 in a souvenir number which was described as somewhat after the manner of a yearbook. This first yearbook for the Academy included cuts of the leading organizations of the school, of the debating team, of the dramatic club, of the faculty, and of some of the departments. The materials were prepared largely by the students and the book was ready by spring commencement. During the spring of 1909, the Weber Academy Alumni Association elected officers and determined that the Academy needed a more adequate facility for a gymnasium than the auditorium which was being used for that purpose. Three hundred alumni members pledged 10.00 each to begin a fund for the gymnasium and a finance committee was organized consisting of Clyde Lindsay, Dr. R. Wheelwright, and Mrs. Thomas Farr to promote the project. Discussions and fund raising efforts concerning the project would continue sporadically over the next several years and the gymnasium was finally completed during the 1924-1925 school year. Looking toward expansion of the Academy, the Lamoni Grix property which bordered the Academy on the south had been purchased in 1910 for 9,000. The teaching of ideas at L.D.S. church schools which were in conflict with religious teachings became a point of discussion by the General Church Board of Education and would impact all church schools. Three professors at B.Y.U. (Henry Peterson in Psychology, Joseph Peterson in Education, and Ralph Chamberlain in Biology) were investigated during the 1910-1912 school years concerning the teaching of what was termed false doctrine which specifically involved the topics of organic evolution and higher criticism. The General Church Board of Education adopted a resolution on March 29, 1911 which stated that it be the sense of this Board that any church school teacher who persists in teaching ideas contrary to the teaching of the Presidency and the Apostles of the Church, be not re-engaged to teach in the Church schools, and that at the time of engagement of teachers for Church school service it be definitely understood that the teaching of doctrine opposed to the preaching of the Presidency and Apostles shall be considered sufficient