Austin High School - Comet Yearbook (Austin, TX)

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Jackets marks the end of Austin High's sponsorship of two girls' spirit organizations which occurred in the 1970s. Then, the Red Jackets did not wantto bea dance team but asufficient number of girls were interested in a dance team to warrant establishment of the High Steppers. Declining membership and interest in both organizations resulted in the merger of the groups by Principal McGee. PRIDE A new drug education program called Prevention and Remediation in Drug Education IPRIDEI was coordinated and led by chemistry teacher Leyla Cohlmia, who served both as campus and AISD coordinator. The program is to increase not only student and parental awareness about drugs, but also that of the community. 'tWe just want to let students know they have a right to say, 'I don't want that ldrugs or alcoholj. I can have a good time without it.', Cohlmia stated. The PTSA also held a meeting in March that was an informational program for teachers, students, and parents concerning drugs and their effects. PRlDEreplacedthe drugsoffcampus program of previous years which generated controversy because of the use of drug-sniffing dogs on two AISD campuses. FOOTBALL INCIDENT More than 200 students were evicted from the Austin-Crockett football game at Toney Burger Athletic Center Sept. 24 because of rude behavior. Sunset Valley police, who provide security for all the Burger Center activities, felt the conduct of SFA students was, as quoted in the !Maroon!, the rudest, worst-behaved they had ever encountered. During the following week, Principal Jacquelyn McGee made two announcements regarding the incident. In the first announcement, McGee appealed to students not to condone the inconsiderate behavior at football games. Reactions to the appeal included complaints from students who felt they were unfairly ejected from the stadium for standing in the bleachers. Ellie Noack, AISD Athletic Director, stated that there is no rule regulating standing in the bleachers during an athletic event. The actions leading up to the eviction were a parking lot fight involving an unidentified SFA student, and the yelling of obscenities to the Sunset Valley police from the students in the bleachers. While these actions have been known to occur before, the intensity with which they occurred apparently sparked the angered ejection by the police. McGee's second announcement apologized to innocent bystanders, and asked that students not participate in the rude and obnoxious actions of others. TYLENOL SCARE The Tylenol Scare hit the week of Sept. 27. Six people in Chicago died as a result of cyanide-laced Extra Strength Tylenol capsules. A thorough investigation left police with several leads, but no convictions. The incident triggered a general consumer drug scare. Manufacturers began tamper-proofing their products to ensure consumer protection. CANCELLED CONCERTS Several major concerts including one by Fleetwood Mac and two by the GoGo's were cancelled or rescheduled during the last months of 1982. continued on page 13 Austin PRIDE becomes 'ear' for listening By Julie Ivy PRIDE iPrevention and Remediation in Drug Educationj, helps SFA students become more aware ofdrug and alcohol abuse by bringing programs to Austin High, and by making literature on the subject available for student use. PRIDE presented the program Who Says I Can't Drink, this year. After the performance, the students divided up into smaller groups to discuss their own feelings about the play and about the topic of alcohol abuse. In November of 1982, PRIDE came to Austin High. For seven years there has been a CPDE program - iCrime Pre- vention!Drug EducationI, said PRIDE sponsor Leyla Cohlmia. When PRIDE was formed, the members decided what the PRIDE was going to do, said Ursala Alvarado, junior PRIDE member. Our decision was to be an 'ear' to anyone who wanted to talk about their problems, whether they were related to drugs or not, Alvarado said. There are five sponsors for PRIDE. Cohlmia, Claire Breihan, Sean McWhirter, Sandi Vinson, and Margaret Snyder-Kahn. C. Breihan and I have been involved for five years, Cohlmia said. PRIDE does not hold any set regular meetings. Rather, they meet when they feel there is a need. PRIDE members attended a Leadership Workshop at St. Micheal's Church in November of 1982. This workshop concerned listening skills as well as alcohol abuse education, Cohlmia said. ' We talked about listening tech- niques and went through a few skits in situations where we would be the listeners, Alcarado said. PRIDE is not a fund raising or- ganization, but they do care about people. Theywantto help students makethe responsible decision concerning chemicals, Cohlmia said. Don Overall met with Seniors to talk about Graduation announcements. Mayor McClellan was a guest speaker for Rosemary Morrow's Government class. High Journal 1

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Jeep an awk- M , ' Q i Princess Grace died Sept. 14. The Administrators lowered the two flags in front of Austin High in memory of Lana Tatum and Kathryn Rodgers. Kathryn Rodgers, sophomore Lana Tatum, sophomore to less major events such as Cheerleader Tryouts and National Merit Finalists. SCHEDULES MAILED Student schedules were mailed during the first week of August so all necessary changes could be made before the first day of school. Principal Jacquelyn McGee felt this procedure worked well and stated in the Maroon I want to continue this program in the future. LOCKER LOCKS The final installation of combination locks was finished before the first day of school Aug. 24. This project had been postponed last year because of inadequate funding. ATTENDANCE POLICY A newly adopted district-wide attendance policy for high schools limited students' absences to ten per semester, but SFA, which piloted the ten-absence policy, was being used to pilot a more strict, eight-absence limit policy. Principal McGee stated that the attendance increased from 94.790 to 95.806 since the project started. The 1.1 A1 increase was a significant increase, McGee stated. In a Maroon interview, McGee said she advocates a five absence limit, but has not been able to obtain approval from the school board. She stated that a student can learn only when that student is in a classroom situation. HONORS GRADUATION Principal McGee implemented an Honors Graduation Program for students who want to pursue a more rigorous academic program. To graduate under the Honors Plan, astudent must earn 24 credits rather than the 21 units required for regular graduation. The program is designed to recognize students who took harder courses, yet maintained at least an A - average. Some specialized courses included in the program are Trigonometry, Physics, and Texas Studies. Students who completed this program received a diploma stating that the student graduated under the Honors Graduation Plan. Although some students and teachers were critical of the plan, McGee said that The goal of the Honors Graduation Program is to encourage students tc take more quality courses and to help prepare students for college. TARDY POLICY Another policy affecting students involved tardies. On a student's third, fourth, and fifth tardy, a detention card was filled out by the teacher, and forwarded to the appropriate Assistant Principal. The student would serve D-Hall each day until it was finished. Failure to serve D-Hall would result in doubling thetime not completed, and ifthe doubled time was not completed, the student would be automatically suspended. COLOR GUARDIRED JACKETS The Colorguard replaced the Red Jackets as SFA'S flag corps, now under the direction of Band Director Rosendo Sanchez, who feels it is easier to supervise the entire halftime show as one group. The Fied Jackets are now the school's pep squad and spirit raisers. Next year they will merge with the High Steppers and will be called the Red Jackets, but the new organization will be a dance team as well as a spirit squad. Eligibility for the Color Guard starts after a special spring semester training session. The merging of the High Steppers and Red continued on page 12

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A-we-. 75 gifs Sponsors Sean McWhirter and Claire Breihan discuss an issue with Senior Scott Brown at a PRIDE meeting. T I r,: A4 K ,, 1, ' '----- f. .-,, J f ., 1 ,r M' fic' -,,, 5 ' 3 , M W , -1 f X f I Principal McGee welcomes the speakers from Huntsville. The prisoners spoke to students on various topics during their visit to SFA. - f'--I Qi 4 t if I etto . rf, , 5 J' qs 7. 2 I Q l Y ' i W I f,w'1f' , J, .. ,f r 'X ' gf 'T 22' 'gif' Q W, , rf 1 f fig 'gif ,. P' ' X A26 X 54 n 1 Q . .. . Q ... 1 A workman finishes installing a door in the English Barney Clark, the first man to receive a plastic heart, Department. lived for 86 days after the implant. Reasons for the cancellations varied from a low number of ticket sales to sickness of different band members. Most of the concerts were postponed until they could be rescheduled to fit the performer's bookings. WRISTBANDS The Frank Erwin Center implemented a new plan to aid concert-ticket buyers. The administrators developed a plastic wristband to hold a person's place in line for ticket buying. This new program eliminated the overnight check-in and camp-out procedure. Rather than forming a line prior to the sell of tickets, people receive a wristband with a number on it enabling him to get in line of the morning of the ticket sale. Officials said the procedure ran very smoothly and they plan to continue it. BREZHNEV'S DEATH Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev died of a heart attack Nov. 10. The death came as ashock to Soviet citizens who had seen Brezhnev at a Red Square parade three days earlier, although the Soviet leader had been ill for some time. Brezhnev gave many contributions to his nation, such as two decades of relative governmental stability. He negotiated the SALT I and Il treaties to limit nuclear weapons, but also continued the Sovietpolicyofstifling Soviethuman rights activists and other dissidents. SHEFELMAN'S CARTOON SFA alumnus Daniel Shefelman, former cartoonist for the !Maroon!, and Cometand forthe Centennial Yearbook, had one of his political cartoons published in the Nov. 15 issue of Newsweek Magazine. BARNEY CLARK Barney Clark, the first man to receive a plastic heart, died after 112 days with the heart. The heart was invented by a doctor named Jarvik who gave his name to it. Clark volunteered to receive the heart, and had an operation Dec. 1 to put in the heart. Clark died Mar. 30 because of multiorgan deterioration. Doctors said the heart was still in excellent condition. HONOR ROLL RECEPTION Reception acknowledging honor roll students were held on Dec. 9 and 10. The freshman and sophomore achievers were honored the first day, and the juniors and seniors were honored the next. The reception was the administration's way of showing appreciation to these achievers. ROACH'S FIRE The house of Connie Roach and her two daughters, SFA senior Megan. and SFA freshman Courtenay, caught on fire the night of Nov. 22. The blaze was caused by an arsonist who was later apprehended and jailed. Many of their personal belongings were destroyed in the fire. A Club Foot benefit for the Roaches on Dec. 19 raised over one thousand dollars for the family. WINTER BREAKIFINALS Winter break came Dec. 18 through Jan. 3. Austin, which saw no snow this year in sharp contrast to the snowy winter of 1981-82, had a relatively mild winter. Final examinations were held Jan. 10, 11, and 12. Unlike the previous year when snow forced scheduling of exams, this year's finals were administered on schedule. continued on page 14