PAPERS ON HIGH SCHOOL SCIENCE 399 



THE ORGANIZATION OF A SCIENCE CLUB 

 Raymond Lussenhop, Bowen High School, Chicago 



The remarkable success of the Bowen Bird Boosters 

 cannot be accounted for by the location of Bowen High 

 School in the great Calumet district, where the students 

 are accustomed to see smoke stacks instead of trees. To 

 find the reasons for success, then, we must inspect the 

 organization, the activities, and the policies of this sci- 

 ence club. 



Science teaches us accuracy, conciseness, and clearness. 

 Why should its clubs not follow this trend? The pur- 

 poses of this club are very plainly defined in the consti- 

 tution, which states: "The objects for which this club 

 are formed are: (1) to study birds; (2) to protect the 

 birds; (3) to attract birds around our school, in our 

 parks, and about our homes ; (4) to subscribe for current 

 bird literature and to support the Audubon Society both 

 financially and with our influence". 



' ' The officers of the club shall consist of a president, a 

 vice-president, a secretary, and a treasurer. ' ' By an un- 

 written law, the president and the treasurer are always 

 boys; the vice-president and the secretary are always 

 girls. These officers are elected every spring. They must 

 be members of the Zoology classes of that year and must 

 be sophomores. The officers cannot be re-elected. This 

 prevents a small group from getting and keeping con- 

 trol, a deadly mistake in any organization. 



The membership is limited to those students who have 

 taken or are taking bird study in the Zoology classes. At 

 present the membership is 275. At the end of each year, 

 all old members are dropped unless they retain their 

 membership by the payment of their dues. For the first 

 year the dues are 35 cents ; for each year after the first, 

 Juniors, 10 cents; Seniors, 5 cents. Seniors and Juniors 

 taking Zoology are eligible for membership but not for 

 holding office. Faculty members may be admitted to 

 membership only on the recommendation of a student 

 member of the club. The discussion and the vote on this 

 prospective member must be held in secre + ., no member 

 of the faculty remaining in the room while the students 



