Berkeley High School - Olla Podrida Yearbook (Berkeley, CA)

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Mr. Catlett, Student Activities Coordinator David Shiver Kevin Finney Robin Burr Jim Davidson Dee Dee Earl John Aller Keith Wilson

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STUDENT SENATE STUDENT SENATE: DeMel Tucker, Mike Pruett, Jackie Patterson, David Shiver, Sharon Scott, Evelyn Walls, Denise Brown. In an attempt to awaken interest in student govern- ment, the fall Board of Control (BOC) made energetic plans- Early fall saw the “Police on Campus” polemic. To deal with the proposed police program, the BOC held an after school hearing and a mandatory assembly (The first since Clifford Wong’s assembly on school violence) to present the issue adequately and fairly. The students voted on the issue and the police on campus proposal failed to get a majority or even plurality of student votes. When the School Board considered it, the proposal finally died. Later in the fall, the BOC reviewed the ASBHS Con- stitution and proposed some far-reaching amendments. First, the BOC metamorphosed into the Student Senate. Second, offices, like the President, Vice-President, Sec- retary, and Treasurer were eliminated and replaced by eight Student Senators. The Class Presid- ents were kept intact. The BOC also exhumed the Student-Staff Court which was adopted by the School Board in 1971. The Court, made up of students and teachers, heard appeals on disciplinary actions taken by the Administration on students. The fall BOC was also blessed with its own resident muckraker, Paul Henkin. Henkin brought myriads of charges against BHS President John Cosmos Aller. Charges included: abuses of privilege, malfeasance, character assassination, and bribery (John allegedly paid up to a dime for votes !). Although tempted to set up a Committee to Investigate the President, the BOC voted to deal with more mundane matters and Paul Henkin’s charges were quietly interred. The Fall BOC initiated the BOC “Bulletin” to be more informative and accountable to students- Re-election time came for those who were not gradu- ating, and after an election of eight Student Senators from a record-breaking field of 16 candidates, the spring Student Senate began where the Fall BOC left off. The spring Student Senate was marked by two major events. First, the Student, Parent, Faculty Administra- tive Council (SPFAC) began to roll with increased im- petus- The proposal was born by the Fall BOC and would create a governing board which would serve in the capacity of the Principal. Some of the powers of the SPFAC would be to determine the BHS budget, rules, and administrative procedures. The proposal was ap- proved by the students and was taken before the faculty where it recieved many constructive criticisms- Second, the Student Senate created a committee for a Greg Brown Scholarship Fund. As BHS students know, one of the star basketball players, Greg Brown, died from a heart seizure during a game. The Student Senate spent a great deal of the spring semester trying to raise funds for a scholaship fund in Greg’s name- The Student Senate had $1,400 to play with during the spring semester. A committee was set up to decide what to do with the money to improve BHS. Students were given the opportunity to help decide and they suggested everything from building a new gym to buying a herd of pigs to run through the library. Both the fall and spring student governments were profitable, both in terms of leadership training for its participants and in terms of the increased effectiveness of student power. Since 1967, student government has been on the decline. However, with the new blood, the new energy of BOC and Student Senate members, stu- dent government is coming back — stronger than ever David Shiver