Senior Vet Flips Hat into School Committee Ring

Seeking to remedy some of the ills of local schools which he smarted under as a boy, 27 year-old Robert I. Morris '44, who graduates in February, announced his candidacy for the Cambridge School Committee this week.

A Social Relations Major with a particular interest in the problems of juvenile delinquency, Morris hopes to put into effect the recommendations of a $25,000 survey of Cambridge schools last June headed by Alfred D. Simpson, associate professor of Education.

Lack of a proper system of child guidance is Morris' chief bone of contention' with the present system. His platform calls for a complete achievement record to be kept on each individual pupil, so that a precocious kindergarten block builder would possibly be steered into the construction trades as a high school youth, if his talent continued to express itself.

Taught in Navy Blue

Teaching problems confronted Morris even during his four and a half years in the Navy. He spent 18 months in the Aleutians teaching navigation to Russian crews through an interpreter.

Just as difficult, he expects, will be his efforts to will one of the six elective seats on the School Committee. If he comes out on top this November, one of his first moves will be to push for a longer lunch period, something he always felt necessary as a student himself at Cambridge High and Latin.

"Teachers talk about proper eating habits and cleanliness in the class-rooms," he points out, "but when the lunch bell rings the fastidious lad who tries to wash his hands finds no soap or towels in a filthy little washroom, and there is barely time to bolt his food down and return even if he makes a track start at the door."