By BOB ROSCHKE

What is my purpose at Maine West?

The answer depends on whose view I take. My personal reason is to gain knowledge and experiences that will be useful to me. The reason I'm here is something completely different to the administration's and some of the teacher's reasons.

The educational system in America isn't what the name implies. Perhaps it would be better to refer to it as the social conditioning system. If students were to be truly educated, many aspects of the "American Dream" would be shown to be simple fallacies. The schools in America are used to condition people into accepting the society which is in existence. This isn't directly the fault of each school. It is caused by the majority of the U.S. population who have completely accepted the moral and social standards which are followed today.

Many courses can't be taught by schools because of the way they are set up. For example it would be difficult for Maine West to teach a course on white racism because the American educational system as a whole is a racist institution.

Because the schools are used in this manner, a student has two choices; he can either completely accept the purpose for which the schools are used (perhaps without even realizing their purpose, as many at West seem to have done), or he can take what he wants from the system as it stands and resist the conditioning process. If the student chooses the second alternative keeps him from his classes for a day, S‑201, his only real reason for attending high school.

The problem lies in the whole educational system, not only at Maine West. In order for people to change what is happening, they are first going to have to see the problems and educate themselves to these problems. Once the wrong has been seen, changes can possibly come about.