PAGE THURSDAY, HIGHLANDER 2 Editorials... OCTOBER 16, 1969 The liberty of the press is a blessing when we are inclined to write against others and a calamity when we find ourselves overborne by the multitude of our assailants. —Samuel Johnson Press Is Pressed to Maintain Its Traditional Freedom, Yet Avoid Damaging Anyone’s Individual Rights _ you be very should proud that you live a country in > >. Yes, oe The first article of the “Bill of Right” says, that there shall be no “abridging the freedom of the speech or of the press.” Every pupil in his American History class agrees that this represents great progress in the development of freedom in com parison to the situation in England. Every adult agrees, that that is still important for a democratic society. But how important is that really to you? Is it only a thing to talk about, only a thing to be proud of? constitution whose oe? rx 4 guarantees the freedom of the press. But you should not only have it on a piece of paper but you should accept and practice It. You want and you need a free press. But what is a free press? No control from any organization or institution! ee , Sa 4 The only control comes from the laws. | Even the free press is not allowed to break the laws. But it is very hard for a newspaper to find its limits in the laws, since they are too vague. So every newspaper must draw its own and line abide by the general guidelines established in this profession. But the limits newspapers have differ very much. It depends on the purpose of the paper political the and opinions the ticle which no other one would print, but public institution? Whenever journalists have. One paper an ar- prints is that a reason to control a paper by a a person feels that his privacy has been infringed on or his charac- ter libelled, he may seek satisfaction against that newspaper in the courts. That is right and nobody would deny this right of the individual. After a fair trial the judges can decide which right in that special case is of greater value, the right | of the individual freedom or the right of the freedom of the press! But even if the individual gets justification, no court in a free, democratic country would decide that because of that mistake the paper made now an institution has the right to control the policy of the paper. Even if that certain paper has been sentenced—there is no danger for the other newspapers that there ever will be censoring. Newspapers should not be allowed absolute freedom to write anything without being afraid of punishment. The individual must be protected against tyranny. But the newspaper must also be protected against the tyranny: of censoring and _ that is a protection of the society against the tyranny of manipulation. SCHOOLRIT? SPI _. Since the beginning of the school year, many organizations at Ben Lomond, including this newspaper, have been pressing the importance of “School Spirit.” But is school spirit just going out and supporting your football team? School Spirit can mean a number of things to different peo- ple. I have broken it down into three classifications. First (having no bearing on importance), is supporting our athletic teams. This includes attending pep rallies and assemblies, hall decorating, poster contests, and finally going to the game and yelling your insides out. Except for the game with Bonneville, the Scots have proven themselves to be great supporters of our football and cross country teams. Even though we played a good game and lost to Roy, our team was treated as victors by members of the studentbody. One of Roy’s studentbody officers commented at the close of the game, “With the kind of studentbody BL has, they deserve to win every game.” Secondly, is the importance of supporting the organizations within the school. The people in the drama or music departments work just as hard to present a school play or concert, as do the Bonnie Lassies or football team in perfecting their abilities. It’s just as important WANT ADS Room 36 DURING THE FIRST PERIOD to attend something like “Our Town” as it is to watch Ben Lomond play football. Neither activity is more or less important than the other. If you have a great football team, your school is looked up to. But if you have a great football team and a great a cappella choir, you’re looked up to as being even greater. Third, but by no means least in importance, is pride in your school. I can’t see how anyone can take pride in their school, when the entire campus is covered with trash. Maybe you aren‘t responsible for it being there, but we’re all responsible to help pick it up. This isn’t the job of the Executive Council alone to take care of. This is a matter that should be of prime importance to all of us. If you have a method of helping to keep the school clean, take it to the Student Council. It may be just the solution. Also included in school pride is to stand up for your school. Don’t cut it down to others. If Ben Lomond does poorly in something, forget it. Concentrate on trying to improve it, not to degrade it. Most of us have at least a third of the school spirit. Let’s aim for three thirds or perhaps even more. Mall Value of Judiciary Council This year, we at Ben Lomond should feel very fortunate as we are the first classes to begin reaping the benefits of the many new innovations in our school. For example, we have an excellent new stadium and track, our swimming pool is completed and in full use, and in keeping with the athletic spirit, students have been offered for the first time, a class in lifetime sports. These innovations add a lot to our everyday school life and certainly involve al lof us directly or indirectly. There is, however, one idea still in the formation stage that deserves to be brought to our attention. Since last year the administration has been toying with the idea of setting up a student judiciary council to help with the enforcement and interpretation of our school policies. Now most of you are probably picturing a bunch of “A” students who will be given the au thority to pick on the poor parking lot clan, and who will be looking down their noses all through a kangaroo court. On the contrary, this is not what the office has in mind — far from it. The plan is to take a group of average students to form the council. The kind of students who have problems themselves, and who more or less know the SHoen®&e Od wry Nasriasy, Sree ropes when it comes to sluffing, smoking, drinking, etc. This way it would not only be difficult ple who have been there and, should there be underlying circumstances, by people who would be more sympathetic. If the coun- cil should decide to suspend the student; he would be unable to blame the principal by saying, “He’s always had it in for me.” He could blame no one but himself and a group of students whom he can feel is not better than he. As was stated in the beginning, the idea is still in the embryo stage and needs more planning, but more than anything it needs your support and suggestions. If you have an opinion that might be helpful, or if you just want to voice your support, then convey your feelings to your student council representative. It may start the ball roll- Last Wednesday, under the direction of the Executive Council, Ben Lomond had a massive cleanup. Fifteen students from each class wereexcused to launch an attack against litter. The clean-up was very successful, at least for the time being. But the school must be kept clean. If the snack bar is responsible for most of the litter around the school, it will be closed until something can be done about the problem. The Executive Council urges each student to help keep Ben Lomond clean and beautiful. ing. Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor Reporter and Editorialist Features Columnist Sports Editor Chief Reporters Elaine Archuleta, ey Sargent. Staff Artist Photographic Editor Exchange Editor Staff Advisor Gwen Knight, Scott Ogden Kent Groves Dave Jones Gunda Tietjen Kathy Johnson Dan Walker Carma _ Dabel, Karin Johnson, MickBecky McKain Dave Wertz Vickie Bosler Mr. Monte Ogden