Austin High School - Comet Yearbook (Austin, TX)

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it E ii .ws sfo c During the University of Texas' Centennial Parade on Sept. 15, Michelle Grodsky, Paul Von Wupperfeld, Eric Meisner, Paul Pennington, Jody Hart, and Mike Curtis ride a float crafted by some of the SFA faculty members. junior class shows monstrous spirit during a pep rally for the varsity football team on Sept. 16 after a victory over Travis. 15 ftee , J , lf'-:ann Tami Monte Ezell, Doug and Johnson lead the seniors duringa battle between the guoniors during the Homecoming Parade, on Sept. classes. - jam with the Through the Years. Once all the marchers and their tloats reached the west parking lot, the participants joined an outdoor pep rally beside t e west side entrance. The Homecoming Dance featured a special effects company, Whiplash, which provided a disc jockey, lights, videos, mirrors, and a fog machine. This comcpany also played requested songs. The students danced an partied until the clock struck twelve. A student ID was required of all students and the admission was 51.50 for a single ticket and 52,50 for cou les. This year the Student Council sent invitations to the parents of students to visit Austin High on Homecoming, All alumni were welcome to the parade, football game, and dance. U.S. Marines killed in Beirut terrorist bombing Flags were flown half-mast all over the nation in response to the deaths of more than 200 U.S. Marines in Lebanon on Oct. 23. A suicidal Lebanese terrorist rammed a truck carrying explosive cargo into the four-story Marine headquarters buildin . Its result was the largest non-nuclear explosion in human iistory. I The goal of the attack was clear: to drive out the U.S. troops. ' The American military was present in Lebanon with France, Italy, and Britain to promote peace. The terrorists wanted them out, but who was behind the attack? In his nationwide address on television the following Thursday, President Ronald Reagan made a strong statement in favor of the continuation of the U.S. presence in Lebanon: We cannot and will not dishonor them now, and the sacrifices they made, by failing to remain as faithful to the cause of freedom and the pursuit of peace as they have been. Throughout the week, the site of those sacrifices was slowly pulled apart in the search for marines, dead lor alive. As bulldozers and cranes grumbled back and forth in attempt to pull away the crushed slabs of concrete, other volunteers searched throughout the ruins. Eventually the hope of finding survivors diminished as the wreckage search ended. Following stepped up criticism of the presence of the Marines from Congress and from Democratic presidential candidates, Reagan ordered a withdrawal of the Marines from the Beirut airport in Feb., 1984, a move Reagan exkplained was simply redeployment of the Marines to ships o the coast of Lebanon. US invades Grenada For the first time since the Vietnam War, the U.S. committed troops to a combat attack Monday, Oct. 24. The invasion of Grenada immediately drew a worldwide choms of protest. The assault took place on the island 80 miles off the Venezuelan coast in the Carribean's Windward Islands. President Rea an's decision to invade the tiny island was conducted wits the declared purpose of protectin the lives of 1,000 Americans who were retained on the isiand after a militarly coup had togpled the left-wing government. On uesday, Oct. 2 , two days after t e death of more than 200 Marines in Beirut, the U.S. sent 650 armed Marines and hundreds of U.S. Rangers to rescue the Americans on the island. Although six of Grenada's worried Caribbean neighbors had requested the U.S. action and supplied 400 men to the operation, many nations accused the U.S. of violating international law. But the administration produced evidence which it said showed that Grenada was becoming a Soviet-Cuban base that threatened U.S. stategic interests in the Caribbean. When the U.S. Army Rangers met heavy resistance from Grenada military and from Cubans on the island, an additional 5,000 U.S. paratroopers were sent to the island. By Thursday, Oct. 27, all major military objectives were declared secure. The final American toll was put at 18 killed and 91 wounded. From Cuban records captured on the island, it was established that the Cuban and Soviet compacts with Grenada had been more elaborate than the U.S. ad thought. Fidel Castro had planned to send 341 officers and 4,000 soldiers to the island, increasin the total of armed Cubans to the force of 6,800. Later six wareiouses north of the Point Salines airstrip had been found with Soviet and Cuban ammunition, but the arms were recorded as ancient. Although the 1,000 Americans on the island were not in imminent danger, President Reagan said that being so close to such an inherently unstable regime could have put the U.S. citizens in jeopardy, and that the mission was necessary to protect them. Observance marks Stephen F. Austin's birthday Because preserving tradition wasa goal of the spring semester Student Council in 1977, they began a spirit focus day for the fall of that year known as the celebration and memorial service for Stephen F. Austin's birthday, For the past six years, students on a steeriigg committee have successful y produced such an event each ov. 3. This year, more than 300 of Austin High's students, teachers, and alumni braved the rainy morning of Stephen F. Austin's 190th birthday celebration. Visitors from other schools and representatives of each of the U.S. Armed Forces were also present. I if

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third floor tried to help others on the second floor by screaming their classification. This was only the start of the highstrung battle between the classes before the first afternoon pe rally of the year. Each class strategically tried to win the spirit competition with signs, props and mutual class chants during the 3:15 rally. The freshmen were placed opposite the sophomores as the juniors were facing the seniors. While each class tried to out-spirit the others, the underclassmen used their voices as weapons, flashed signs, and held up lposters, Members of the senior class held up pages of the ocal newspaper for an original displa of spirit. They looked pretty sharp, especially when they all, threw the papers in the air to start their individual chants. When the band marched into the gymnasium the students clapped their hands and stomped their feet to the booming of the dnims. As the cheerleaders presented various cheers, the classes screamed at the top of their lungs for the varsity football team, in hopes of winning the weekly spirit stick. T e whole gym echoed of spirit. Out of the noise and from behind the bleachers came Action 24 sports reporter, Ben Storey, with his camera man, an event which drove the student body wild. The noise increased. After waiting awhile for the students to calm themselves, Storey took a microphone, commented on the incredible spirit, and said that this pep rally was the loudest he'd ever been to. As the camera man zoomed in on excited students, Storey started many zany cheers and called upon different classes to display vocal strengths. The freshmen, sophomores, iuniors, and seniors matched each other's volume showing total s irit, PStorey then brought out a hurge trophy with a gold football mounted on top. He announce that SFA varsity football had won the 24-Action News Team of the Week award for their strong performance in the 14-8 victory over Travis High the preceeding week. The gym erupted in pandemonium. SFA Disqualified from District Football race During varsity football practice on Tuesday, Sept. 27, Coach Bill Harper called the team together before advancing to the field for the workout. Harper had bad news. He said that Stephen F. Austin High School had been disqualified from winning the District 26AAAAA football championship or making it to state UIL playoffs in 1983. The disqua ification was the result of a violation ofa UIL rule which prohibits a student or team from taking part in more than one game within five calendar days. Two Austin High football players participated in the varsity game against McCallum on Friday, Sept. 16, and were permitted to p ay in the junior varsity game against McCallum on the fol owing Saturday, Sept. 17. The members of the varsity team were shocked to hear the news. Some players went home early from practice in angry disbelief while others stayed for the workout. Harper anticipated the reaction from the hard-working players, but he hope the team would stay together for the remainder of the season, The following day the Austin-American Statesman published a story about the violation and penalty that the UIL District Committee decided to assess against Austin High. lt stated that the remaining games of the season would be counted as forfeiture. However, in reality and contrary to the American-Statesman story, Austin High received the disgualification penalty which greatly differs from the for eiture penalty. In forfeiture, the remaining games of the season would be recorded in UIL district records as automatic losses, regardless whether Austin High won, tied, or lost, In the disqualification penalty, the remaining games of the season were played and the actual scores were recorded, but none of the games could be counted as District 26AAAAA competition. The players and the students came to school with newspapers in their hands in disappointing confusion. The forfeiture news was how the majority of the student body saw Austin High's season punishment. However, on Sept. 29, Tom Prentice, journalism teacher, spoke to the students during announcements. Prentice stated the correct information and encouraged the school to maintain it's pride. Also on that day the Austin-American Statesman corrected itself in the sports section with a story interviewing SFA players. The team said that they would stick together and play their hardest throughout the football season. Many troubled parents of the players presented their concerns confronting the UIL ruling. T ese parents not ong wanted to change t e ruling, but they believed that AIS coaches had met earlier in the season in order to collectively break UIL rules. No evidence was discovered which verified the booster's beliefs as a result of an investigation conducted by Supt. Iohn Ellis in mid-November. Homecoming activities include parade, mums, and a dance The fall Student Council, under the leadership of President Paul Gerling, provided a co-ordinated Homecoming Celebration Sept, 30, The council organized a morning Spirit Parade, a Homecoming dance in the school cafeteria a ter the varsity football game against Lanier High, and sold traditional Homecoming mums, Before school, many organizations and class groups joined the band, the Red jackets, and the cheerleaders in the Homecoming Parade, It started in the east parking lot and ended by going through the west parking lot. The organizations that entered in the float contest had constructed their own float to somewhat match the parade's theme s 3 a I E I , U.S. Marines help a wounded soldier from the fallen U.S. headquarters in Beirut, after a terrorist rammed a truck carrying explosive cargo into the U.S. building. :CI Q, ......,, A My Judge hornberry speaks to John Greenway, and Paul Gerling the day he was installed as a distinguished alumni to the of Honor in September. fo-naw. any

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Senior Jeff Sanders, the emcee, opened the program noting the celebration closely accompanied Veteran's Day, and Missi Brandes, senior, introduced the present armed forces representatives. Todd Bland, Lane Brindley, Iohn Greenway, Dana Hanslik, and Susan Stoltz, organizers of the memorial service, introduced and welcomed visitors from Porter junior High, Lanier High School, Westlake High, and Churchill High School from San Antonio. David Davalos was one of the several students visiting from Churchill High who had been touring the school in order to find out more about the other Texas high school named exemplary by the U.S. Department of Education. He said that he was g ad to share the honor with as fine as institution as Austin High School, and he hoped that students from SFA would consider a return visit to Churchill Hi h. After Lisa Goodman, senior, read a brie? biography of Stephen F. Austin, Tom Prentice, journalism teacher at SFA, gave the audience an inspiring speech on the importance of personal and institutional heritage. He traced Austin High's links to the past and his own links to American history, challenging students to learn of their own personal heritage and to act to shape living history rather t an to sit on the sidelines and observe history being made, Prentice criticized the nuclear arms race, asking whether the nuclear age will shape us or will we shape the nuclear age. Alluding to Iohn F. Kennedy, whose death profoundly affected Austin High some twenty years previous, Prentice criticized Ronald Reagan's handling of the Grenada crisis, especially censorship of the press. The most memorable speaker was Col. James Lamar, a veteran of the Vietnam war who had flown in more than 80 combat missions before being taken prisoner from 1966 to 1973. Lamar told the audience how he parachuted out over North Vietnam in his 84th mission and was captured by local peasants. His captors broke him only after he thwarted their plans to interrogate him, set him up as a flak trap for rescue missions, and held a press conference with him as their hostage. Lamar said he learned the meaning of freedom, and that when a country is taken over by communists the first thing that oes is the freedom of the media and the next is the educational freedom. He concluded by explaining his present occupation of selling America to Americans. As the colorguard from Fort Sam Houston provided a closing demonstration, Martelle Luedecke-Klier senior, announced the annual placing of the wreath by the memorial stone, which has been a Maroon tradition since 1920. Once the wreath was put in place, Rosendo Sanchez, band director, sounded Taps from the third floor balcony, as it began to rain again. Some of the students had tears in their eyes while others silently thought about the service. When the bell rang everyone briefly saluted and returned to their classes. Southern Association evaluates SFA During the week of Nov. 7, the school was evaluated by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools QSACSJ as a part of a district wide inspection designed to determine if individual high schools are to par with the majority of the nation's schools. Austin High, Crockett, Travis, McCallum, Lanier, Reagan and Johnston were all accredited by SACS for another 10 ears. y The team of about 50 evaluators analyzed segments of Austin High's curriculum including Art, Business Education, Driver's Education, English, Foreign Language, Health and Physical Education, Industrial Arts, Math, Music, Science, Social Studies, Special Education and Vocational Education. Other elements of the evaluation included student activities, administratorlteacher cooperation and support services. The task force was made up of education professionals from the South West Education Lab, and the Texas Education Agency as well as other educational agencies. The study involved a comparison between a self-education and a week's worth of observations by the evaluation team. Separation of church and state affects Fellowship of Christian Students The separation between church and state became a definite reality to the Fellowship of Christian Students. They were not allowed to announce meetings over the school's P.A. system or to put up numerous posters about their fellowship in the school. Even though the group did not have an official mission, they met weekly to have fellowship before school. On Nov. 8, Thomas Cogldell, Sophomore, invited Christian Scott Puffer to speak. He c allenged the students to show their Christian commitment in their aily lives at high school and in their relationships, The meeting ran similar to an informal service. Throughout this year, the Supreme Court studied the nation's question about minor mixtures of religion with school, Some issues announced were Bible study courses, spiritual meditation during school hours, an religious group involvement. However, the US Senate refused to pass a constitutional amendment supported by Pres. Reagan which would have authorized organized, voluntary prayer in school. we .'i': Coach Bill Harper awaits his team's recognition at a it 4 , r 2 1 1 . I ' f O f f 2 v , I r , , t , . . , in WW ' . S 'wif' ' V Z ii.: W 'E'-f+m:,.,, . , '9! fLf ? l'W-e 'T We , -if-lin 1 - . V .V , - 'ug r'm:q,,g ,.., .. l ,rf . ,,,,,, , 1 . ,, I 1 ...,, . Q-9. Q ze 1. f .1 Q' '24 if 7 2 4 e rf During the week of Nov. 7, Jerry Thomas ot th pep rally. 'ss ' Wx . . , I: 1, .fi mfs f. ' 4:44 . . 2 .li V 2' V ,Y . 2 ,2 as ,fa , , . .,, ' , g Association of and Schools observe Wayne Brumley, Drew Tate, and Randy Tolbert watch their teammates play during a disappointing season 0' disqualification from UIL records. Beth Simpkin wins in AAAA Diving Competition The AAAA Diving Invitational for high school divers was held in San Antonio on Nov. 18-19. Divers from the Austin area competed together as a single team. Beth Simpkin, freshman, not only participated in the competition but brought home fifth place awar s for the high three meter board and the low one meter board. After fouryears of gractice, Simpkin's best dives on the low board were t e front 112 and the back 112 pike. On the high board her favorite dives were the front layout, front dive with a 112 twist, and the front 2 112 pike. At the end of her high school education, Sim kin hopes to receive a college scholarship for her divin skills. During the academic year the Austin higi school area team competed in five meets, ln the summer another five meets are held, but the competitions enjoy the outdoor diving scene. ABC's 'The Day After' stirs nuclear war discussion Devastated. Kansas City, Middle America, and the nation has been destroyed. The buttons have been pushed, the missiles have been launched, and the bombs have fallen. A shattered world remains: a society of the dying, a civilization in ruins, ' During social studies, science, journalism and other classes on Nov. 21, which followed showing of ABC's 'The Day After' movie about nuclear war, teachers held discussions with students who had viewed television's nuclear nightmare. For the first time in visual history, viewers were forced to graphically experience the ground-zero agonies of ordinary pegnle from nuclear war. nlike movies such as 'Wargames' and 'Missiles of October' which deal with nuclear war merely as a possibility, 'The Day After' showed the grim reality of Armageddon on 3 human 1 -,Guam fly!!-f0401'G'!