Editor’s note: Looking Back reviews opinions published in The Spokesman-Review during this week in history.

Primary bashing – April 11, 1946: An S-R editorial was not pleased with dumping the convention system and adopting a direct primary. It began:

“The direct primary is not an ideal method of nominating candidates for office.” The editorial said it sounded good in theory and would be preferable “if all the people took the time and trouble to learn about the relative merits of the innumerable aspirants for nomination and then went to the polls … to cast their ballots for those candidates they knew to be best qualified. But that is not the way it has worked out.”

The editorial said the selection of recently elected state legislature “was a result of neglect and indifference on the part of voters.”

Lazy students – April 7, 1956: An editorial titled “Student Laziness Can Weaken Our Country” lamented lack of interest and aptitude in mathematics compared with Japanese students, noting:

“No doubt our school pupils do shy away from mathematics courses to an alarming degree, and that is one reason why this country is running short of engineers and scientists. Why they dislike it may be due to more profound reasons than the mere fact that they do not do so much simple arithmetic in their early years. It may be due to an increasing national laziness in a land blessed with history’s highest standard of comfortable civilization.”

This complaint is awfully similar to the one we hear today, and has spawned the STEM movement to get more students interested in fields related to science, technology, engineering and math.

Crank the tunes – April 10, 1966: An editorial took on a study which concluded it may be a sign of intelligence that high school students prefer studying “to the accompaniment of loud music.” The research shows that the effect doesn’t work for younger students, college students or adults, which prompted this comment:

“Having completed this singular bit of research, perhaps Dr. Hoffman might be prevailed upon on behalf of distressed parents to pursue the corollary. Is there some means by which this trying four-year lapse between pre-high school and college can be shortened?”

Sick transit – April 8, 1976: Spokane City Council dropped pursuit of a Public Transportation Benefit Area, or as an editorial said: the idea “vanished into thin air – or, in this case, polluted air – by … consent of the City Council.”

The editorial continued: “Because of increasing pollution problems and dangerous carbon monoxide levels, state and federal government authorities may not wait much longer for the Spokane area to resolve to work on a more fully used transit system.”

Buckle up – April 2, 1986: An editorial praised passage of a mandatory seat belt law. It began:

“Thanks to the Legislature, the Washington State Patrol and his own good judgment, Gov. Booth Gardner now stands a better chance of enjoying a long and healthy retirement. So do … thousands of Washington residents.”