El Dorado High School - El Dorado Yearbook (Placentia, CA)

Page 181 text:

« V ' Current Events 177

Page 180 text:

Focusing On The News Baby Fae became nationally known when she was the fifth human and first infant to receive a cross-species heart transplant. When Baby Fae was born on October 14. it was discovered that she had hypoplastic left heart syndrome. This occurs when the left side of the heart is underdeveloped. Less than two weeks later, Baby Fae ' s heart was trans- planted with the heart of a 7 month-old baboon at the Loma Linda University Medical Center. Baby Fae died on No- vember 15 after living an unprecedented three weeks with the heart of a baboon. The infants real name and those of her parents were never revealed by the hos- pital during her struggle for life, al- though it was reported that Fae was her middle name. Animal rights activists be- came outraged at the use of the baboon heart in the transplant because they did not believe that an animal should have to be sacrificed to save the life of an infant. For a few years, the African continent, in particular Ethiopia, has been hit by a devastating drought which has led to a famine. Unfortunately, in many cases, the cries of the people for help have awareness canie when the dramatic film footage shot by a BBC team was aired in the United States by NBC. This caused increased donations to Ethiopia by private citizens. In addition, the United States government added $10 million in aid to Ethiopia. It has been estimated that the death toll in Ethiopia alone may reach 900.000 by the end of the year. The 1984 Presidential election will be re membered for years to come because for the first time in the history of the United States, a woman ran for the of- fice of Vice President. The woman was Geraldine Ferraro, a congresswoman from New York. Walter Mondale. the Democratic candidate, chose Ferraro as his running mate after considering oth er women for the job. The running mate of the Republican incumbent. Ronald Reagan, was Vore President George Bush. The Democratic convention took place in San Francisco, and the Republi can convention was held in Dallas. The campaign included televised debates between Ferraro and Bush and between Mondale and Reagan. Some of the im portant issues of the campaign were taxes, nuclear weapons, abortion, and prayer in public schools. As the day of the election approached, the polls showed that Reagan was considerably ahead. As predicted. Reagan beat Mon dale in the election. Mondale only won the popular vote in Minnesota, his home Stete, and Washington, D.C. Numerous musical tours highlighted the year. The Jackson ' s Victory tour was billed by promoters as the tour of the century, f-lowover, the tour got off to a rocky start when problems arose with ticket distribution. Jackson fans were upset when they learned that tickets would sell for iiO apiece and only in sets of four. The Jacksons played their last shows at the Dodger Stadium. Bruce Springsteens tour. Born in the U.S.A., was unique because of the unusu- ally long concerts. One of Springsteen ' s concerts at the Los Angeles Sports Are- na was four hours long. Doug Frate at- tended the concert and commented, Springsteen is a great performer, and the whole crowd got into the show. Animal-rights activists picket the Loma Linda Uni- versity Medical Center in protest of the use of the baboon heart in Baby Fae ' s transplant. This man and his child are among the 35 million men, women, and children starving in Africa due to the drought. The prolonged drought has caused di- sastrous crops which have led to a famine. 176 Current Events

Page 182 text:

Changing Seasons Held at the Plaza de Cafes in Newport Beach for the third year in a row, the Winter Formal provided one more occas- sion for dress up and eat out. Yearbook put on the dance that over 5CX3 students attended. The music was provided by the band, Head First. who were innovative and played songs by different popular groups. I had a good time, commented sopho- more Meredith Cline, dressing up and limousines are alot of funl The band, Head First, plays another song for the many couples to dance to. Changing Seasons, the Winter Formal theme, re- flected the many things that were different during the 84-85 school year. Gary Weisenberg smiles as he holds his date Su- zanne Ellis. Gary was a nominee for king. Acting crazy, Jeff Petredes, Doug Sipple, Jim Buck and Todd Holt dance circles around everyone while having loads of fun. King and Queen, Chris Ames, and Donna Alexander, smile as they take time out for a royal picture. Through the entire evening, students laughed, danced and had fun with dates and friends. The 1984-85 Winter Formal Court. 178 Winter Formal