Austin High School - Comet Yearbook (Austin, TX)

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Soviet leader dies Yuri Andropov, the leader of the Soviet Union, died Feb 9 of heart and vascular insufficiency, kidney disease, and diabetes, Andropov had been in charge of the USSR for barely more than a year since the death in 1982 of Leonid Brezhnev. During Andropovs final months in power, he made no public appearances, instigating rumors that he was terminally ill. Andropov, was 69 at the time of his death, seven years beyond the averatge life expectancy for Soviet males. At the age of 49, he suffere a heart attack and, like 10'Zv of people over 65, he had diabetes. The combination of cardiovascular disease and diabetes made him a victim of kidney trouble such as rep,orted when he assumed power in November, 1982. By Fe ruary, his kidney function had become so poor that he started specialized treatment on a dial sis machine, at first, two or three times a week, but eventuallyy it became every other da , The various symptoms Andropov displayed during his last appearances in public were trembling hands, uneven gait, di ficulty in getting out of his chair, and muscle weakness. Despite the complications he suffered, Soviet authorities maintained that Andropov remained mentally alert throughout the ordeal by conducting business from his bed. Even a week before his death, Soviet doctors remained publicly optimistic about his return to normal activities, but Andropov died, leaving the Soviet Union to face yet another leadership transition. Thus, Konstantin Chernenko, 72, who had been defeated by Andropov 15 months before in a similar situation, stepped into office. Andropov's rule was marked by the Soviet downing of a passenger airliner, attempts to reform the Soviet bureaucracy, and increasing hostility toward the US. The final years of Brezhnev, the short year of Andropov and the new regime headed by Chernenko were times of increasing tension between the Soviet Union and the US. Angry rhetoric was exchanged between the two countries, and the Soviets walked out of strategic arms talks in protest of American deployment of missiles in Europe. A measure of the low in Soviet-American relations was that President Reagan attended neither Brezhnev's nor Andropov's funerals, Now that Chernenko has taken office, many people believe that the Soviet Union will undergo another trauma of power change sooner rather than later. It seems that Soviet leaders have one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel, said SFA student, Iulie Ivy. Americans win 8 medals at winter olympic games The United States was thought to be represented by its strongest team ever for the XIV Winter Olympic games in Sarajevo. However, the Americans won on y eight medals, including four golds, but a number of U.S. athletes achieved notable, non-medal performances. The first medals to be awarded to the Americans at the games were silver, and draped around the necks of brother-and-sister figure skating pair, Kitty and Peter Carruthers, The mighty Elena Valova and Oleg Vasiliev, world champions from the U.S.S.R., won the gold medal. Following the Carruther's silver victory, Debbie Armstrong brought the U.S. its first gold medal in the giant slalom. In that same competition, Armstrong's teammates, Christin Cooper and Tamara McKinney respectively finished second and fourth. It was a stunning surprise, and it took the sting out of the first week's disappointments, including the U.S. hockey team, which lost to both Canada and Czechoslovakia and tied with Norway, and cross-country skier Bill Koch, who tied for 21st in the 30-km race. During the ski jumpin competition, American Ieff Hastings earned a fourth place wit? a 90-meterjump. Not since 1924, had an American athlete jumped in comparison with Hastings. Another unexpected finish was the our-man bobsled team which came in fifth, Nick Thometz finished fifth and fourth in the 500- and 1,000-meter races, which was better than he had figured he would do, The 15th place attained by Bonny Warner was the best ever by a U.S. woman in that sport. The real slendor of the Sarajevo Games 1? in the attainment of three men. Bill johnson won a gold me al in the downhill ski race being the first American to win a gold in that event. Twin brothers, Phil and Steve Mahre took a gold and a silver in the slalom race. The public finally could distinguish the brothers apart because Phil wore the gold and Peter wore the silver. In the last week of the Olympic games, Scott Hamilton, a three-time world champion, won the gold medal for his figure skating. Canada's Brian Orser took the silver and Iozef Sabovtchik of Czechoslovakia took the bronze. After receiving his medal, Hamilton grabbed an American flag from the audience and skated around the rink to the applause of the excited crowd. Following the U.S. figure skating ViCf02 for Hamilton, Rosalynn Sumners skated beautifully and ma e off with the silver medal. She barely lost to East German's Katarina Witt who took home the gold. Reagan calls for stronger classroom discipline ln his State of the Union Address in February, President Reagan called for reforms in discipline to fight crime in the Pl I onus ei it me miss I Beth Simpkin, freshman, performs a back dive pike at the Texas Swim Center. cartoonist for the Austin America Statesman, speaks to the Intro Reporting class Nov 14. 4 i 5 6 s s During a state board of education meeting on Sept. 10, Principal McGee receives a resolution honoring Austi High's excellence in education. public schools. Reiterated his belief that school violence is the primary obstacle to excellence in education Reagan urged a return to old fashioned discipline where school administrators have more authority to discilpline students. The President's Wor ing Group on School Discipline said that legalistic disciplinary procedures have hindered the ability of school principals to deal with behavioral problems. White House officials say that the President could challenge a Supreme Court ruling which, under the 14th Amendment, guarantees due process to students. The Court established that students facing suspension should be informed by the priority. Schools SAT scores best State and district means administrators of the charges against them, and given an opportunity to defend themselves. Principa Iacguelyn McGee said that student discipline is a lot different to ay than when Reagan and she went to school. Then, students did not have any rights and a principal did not need any kind of evidence to suspend students, McGee supports the concept of student rights, and feels that we cannot go back to the old way of school discipline because due process is necessary to be fair to students. The general public indicates a concern about discipline in the schools. The Gallup Poll has indicated for the past ten years that people chose poor school discipline over low standards and incompetent teachers as the primary reason for the downfall in public education. McGee feels that discipline is important, but academic excellence should always be first Austin High's 1983 graduates earned higher mean scores on the Scholastic Aptitude Test than did other graduating seniors in the AISD, Texas, or the nation, The average mean verbal fEnglish and Grammarj score for the AISD was 444, for Texas, 4125 and for the U.S., 425. The mean verbal score for SFA graduates was 486, 22 points higher than the next district high school. The mean math score for the AISD was 489, for Texas, 453: and for the U.S., 468, SFA graduates scored 514, leading the district by 25 points. Principal Iacquelyn McGee felt that the success of the students was partial y attributed by the programs at SFA. For instance, the students at SFA are required to take four years of English to graduate instead of only three years as is the case in most high schools. The school has also maintained a 14-,am any

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'X 'sr l , l W A is Susan Skaggs, Leah Stubbs, and Jeanett Villarreal listen to Student Council leaders. on Jeff Sanders emcees S.F. captures the attention of millions of lov. Austin's 19th Birthday Celebration on Nov. 3. we .V .,. ,,,, 3 I 5 , .. , K Q I -f..., , .fi .rip V? X 3 F . A My 5 T-HW 1 I sgbxgfyig 1' ,. W 4,1 .Sm .J . V, , . -tv.. ff 'W' V 'iv ' 4 ft? W. V 'r.:t e 1 ' V J gil , fl 4 'Q '- V f if f ! figs 'It ,7 f? ' i Z , , ., ,ug V .ls 'ff Ay. Z . , 3 'r 12 ef 1 1212. ..., 'Tw e ,, W- V Q ' . it J' f ' I V 1.l ii- - if s 1 A if ,fp V if ,QQ Freshman, Debbie Dodds, writes her opinion about the U.S. involvement in Lebanon on the second floor graffiti board. 'he sophomore class prepares their Homecoming float on iept. 30. Honors Assembly marks scale. It focused on the average middle-American going about their day - a farm family preparing for their dau hter's wedding, college kids registering for c asses - while offgin the background, TV bulletins report NATO armored troops breaking through . . . Soviets invading West German airspace . . . nuclear weapons in range over . . , Then came four minutes of the most frightening footage ever to be shown on TV, When the explosions, immolations, and mass vaporations ended, the starkest nightmare ever broadcast began. Even so, the aftermath in the movie was shown less severe than what would actually occur. SFA's exemplary honor In a special assembly held on Dec. 7, the day officially declared Austin High Day by the City Council, students had a chance to realize the significance of the national honor received by Austin High over the summer. Distinguished guests were present to address the school, American public schools have been subject to several critical studies which often conclude that education is on the brink of or plagued with mediocrity. Mayor Mullen felt that instead of SFA declining in education, it has just gotten better, proving the possibi ities that can be achieved. Con ressman Pickle, an Austin High alumnus, was thrilled with the school's success, and he commented that he often bragfgs about SFA to his colleagues on Capital Hill. A ter thetguests spoke, Princpal Jacquelyn McGee told the students an teachers that they should have a plaque of their own because it really belonged to them. I 'J l Attendance Problems Plague AISD Basketball Games Basketball game attendance was in a depression this season. The 23 varsity boyslgirls doubleheaders etween Dec. 20 and Ian. 6 averaged only 111 fans. Only 13 district games had more than 100 people and only one ame, Crockett vs. Travis at Buager Center, had more than 250 observers. hen Burger Center drew more than 100 paying customers, it was a rare occasion. Three San Marcos-Travis games in 1983 drew tremendous crowds compared to the 1984 total. The last playoff games, after the two teams tied for the district title, drew the largest crowds ever to see a 26AAAAA game: 4,250 at San Marcos' Strahan Coliseum and 3,300 for the game played at Burger center. Those crowds were attracted by two of the top teams in the state who had battled all year for supremacy in the district. Obviously the attendance was not typical because in 1983, boys' games drew an average of only 171 fans and girls' games drew around 57. Basketball did not make money for AISD in 1984. Out of the S376,550 subside AISD gave the athletic department, 581,515 went to basketball, even when the sport was the biggest money-loser in the 11 sports that the district teams play. The estimated expenditure this year for basketball was S114,515 and its income was just 533,000 Flu Epidemic lowers School Attendance The winter in Central Texas brought with it a flu epidemic that caused one of the most serious attendance problems ever at SFA. More than 10W of Austin l-ligh's students were out of classes beginning Ian. 23 and lasting through February. Attendance clerk Bertie Owen said that a lot of students were callin in with the same symptoms, but were returning to schoofbefore they were completely well due to the attendance oli . P Scclllool nurse Sandy Vinson said that teenaglers and adults were getting sick more than elementary kids, w ich is unusual. She sent plenty of folks home until the fever had come down for twenty-four hours. Many students and teachers returned to school once they felt better, but as they gradually started fzeling worse, t ey often have contaminated others around t em. Twenty years after the Beatles marked by Maroon The innovators of the biggest musical revolution arrived in the US in February, 1964. As this twentieth anniversary was marked, many survivors of the sixties treasured the memories of the musical and societal created by the Beatles. Although young people were we l restricted in style and thought, the Beatles rock-nfroll music had a major impact on the philosophy of the youth. To the older generation the group signified an outrageous fad that would soon die out, but the young adults believed that the band was God-send, and a connecting link between past innocence of youth. During their introduction to the US, the band generated mass hysteria from screaming fans and fainting females. Later the Beatles were associated with the social revolution that emphasized the freedom to criticize social customs, exercise freedom of thought without strict moral codes and rebel against the older generation. Some lpeople say they started out as entertainers, but became the po itical mouthpieces for the youth. The sense of identification with the Beatles unified the youth, but the older generation gradually became more alienated from the misguided kids 0 the sixties. The parents ' The movie either left fha viewers with 3 sense of including Hunter Harrison, special counsel to the Secreta of f h f , b d hopelessness and helplessness about nuclear war or made Edufahonf COHSYESSNSH Il lake PiCk1Ef Mayor Ron Mullen, D ' f youth fgere alfald slag the ml wgyld encourage Kewl., more aware gf ips dangers, pmducers 0f 1'he Day Affef ana AISD School Board President Ed Small who all elaborated ?Penme 'g0 Bemfsf 'BUS 'he Pgofnoglokf 0 'WE Utd PTC?- oped for prevention through understanding in future 011 5FA's excellence in education. owgvent e . Etssbecimet E I 0 So. t. eyouci dwnht en' generations, and that the images of the film would inspire the BEf01'9 Harrison presented a plaque to Principal Iacquelyn exginmenas Syl! Busty es' eastefn rehglog an rugs' nations of this earth, their people and leaders to find the means McGee in l'9C0Snifi'9n Of SFNS 3Chi9V9l'l16fll of academic h e Bea? es mlpact was revoluhogary an - extenslve' Theg fo advert the fateful day, excellence, he told the audience that they were purely and ed .3 Pm ound Ulfluence on todays Amencan Soflffv bo' Stuents for Nuclear Awareness a new student organization 5lmPlYfhe Very 595' in the nation- The audience f95P0nd9d in muslcquy and Pghhcauly' They encouraged people to open created as a result of the contemporary concerns about nuclear 3 sfafldmg Dvafion Once the Plaque was Pfesemed in behalf Of rfiyd Ideas - ang hchfl enge old values' but approved wa,-Iwasinspif-ed by fha movigs account-The group discussed President of the United States Ronald Reagan and the U.S. sec' fsffucfwf ehavaor' , . ' nuclear political issues, the scientific effects of nuclear war, and Seffefall' of Edufafion Teffel 3911- onsequerlt y' Q g fade? commltmem to love and Peace other aspects of nuclear warfare The award was given as Part of the Secondary School through their music ls still popular in the hearts of all Recognition Program, which recognizes outstanding schools Sllbsecluent genemhfms' of the four Beatles' three offhem are , to show that communities, such as Austin, can make education mu ahve and releasing records ' Paul' george and.Rm5o' The , work' SFA? award is meaningful to local educators because it fourth Beatle, Iohn Lennon, was killed in 1980 outside his New l -, I l reinforces support for the educational system as a whole. Today York apartment house' 1 l l l I3

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Mm 'W ' -ef I 'om Cogdell, sophomore, Sofie Cavazos, junior, and Steve Cantu, senior join hands a final prayer of the 'ellowship of Christian Students on Nov. 29. SAT mean verbal scores 486 444 4 I 412 Nation Texas AISD SFA 489 SAT mean math scores 51. 468 A53 Nation Texas AISD SFA 'iraduates of 1983 earned higher mean scores on the i SAT than other graduating seniors in the AISD Texas, i -L ss? itat .X PLE ith s M a - -5 Congressman J.J. Jake Pickle hails Austin High M, the nation ' during a special assembly on Dec. 7. well-balanced academic atmosphere through the instituted attendance policy. The number of students in school went from 86'Z1 to 96'Zv with this policy, keeping the students in school, more days, which aided in the superiority of the SAT scores. The junior counselor, Margaret Kahn, credited SFA's success on the SAT to the teachers w o believe in demanding the most from their students. Phyllis Rothgeb, English Department chair, said that Austin High has a tradition of academic excellence because the students are very well prepared, and the competition pushes the students to do their best. Break Dancers strut and twirl in new fad In a darkened downtown parking lot of the South Bronx, several youths gathered together to create the newest dance craze to hit America since rock-n-roll dancing. Break Dancing began on top of a scrap of linoleum used as a homemade dance floor when teenagers took turns strutting to the center of the dance floor to spin, flip and twist into a human pretzel. Break Dancing has spread across the nation, and its belated arrival in Austin seemed to trigger the infectious whirls and sipins to teenagers in all neighborhoods. At least a dozen break ancing groups exist in Austin, and they fold their bodies and resemb e expert contortionists in parking lots, shopping malls, skating rinks, school hallways and downtown nightclubs. A breaker can slam himse f to the ground and twirl on his head or his shoulders with his legs cutting through the air above him like helicopter blades. With speed and agility, he can reverse his moves and become an upright acrobat preparing to twist into a number of unidentifiable shapes. He can walk on his hands while his body is perpendicular to the floor. He can bend backwards and hold that position until he jumps from his hands to his feet. T e dancers have named some of their moves and maneuvers that mimic objects, such as, the scorpion, the egg roll, the helicopter and the centipede. One of the most difficult maneuvers to complete is a crab-like dance in which a dancer throws both legs over his shoulders and walks on his hands. Besides dancing in assemblies and in the school hallways, SFA breakers occasionally visit Sixth Street to embrace their audiences. Unfortunately., the Austin Police were worried about the large crowds the dancers would attract. The crowds often grew so large that pedestrian traffic on the sidewalks were blocked. The breakers were forced to move to Red River and Fifth Street for their shows. Once only the dance of the South Bronx, now the dance has elite, professional dancers that are paid to break at nightclubs and television specials. Music videos and dancing scenes from 'Flashdancef 'Footloose,' and 'Style Warsf also help spread the popularity of break dancing. Some breakers were also paid to participate in the movie, 'Breakin' or in a Michael jackson Pepsi commercial to stir up even more of the country's attention on the latest dance invention. Free-lunch privileges ceased by AISD For years, the AISD offered a free-lunch program for students whose famil incomes fall below a given mark. In February the AISID cancelled some free or reduced price lunch privileges in coordination with the federal government in order to crack down on students who get away with school lunch fraud. The AISD ceased the program for 123 students, where 103 continued to pay reduced prices and 20 were ordered to pay full rice. P Vada Bockhorn, manager of the SFA cafeteria, said that only nine students from Austin High were taken off the free lunc program and most of the students were put on the reduced- riced ro ram. About goo Sliistgdents were on the free-lunch program and the majority of those received reduced priced meals. The nine students ta en off the program neglected to submit the proper income information. If those students produced the adequate information they could return to the program within the ear. y The reason the government audited the program was to stop students from receiving free lunches when their parents were earning an income over the cut-off mark. The shidents that were taken off the rogram had either increased their family income or did not finnish income reports. Principal Iacquelyn McGee supported the government's decision in auditing the program to change any discrepancies and to save the taxpayers money. Students nabbed in radar detector thefts The Austin Police Department reported 55 burglaries of autos involving the theft of radar detectors between january and March. Because of the vast number of burglaries, the APD began extensive investigations on the stolen property which resulted in six Austin High students being accused or charged with stealing radar detectors for themselves or their friends. Most radar detectors mount on the car dash and are designed to sound an alarm when the car approaches a law officer using a radar gun to measure speed. Many students at SFA obtained these devices and owning one soon became somewhat of a fad. A law officer on duty noticed that there were a lot of radar detectors in the cars in the SFA parking lots. When he found out that the devices were traceable by recorded serial numbers, the APD started checking detectors. The first two detectors that were inspected were reported earlier as stolen. The police recovered 13 stolen devices from Austin High students who either had bought them from someone or had taken the detectors from apartment complex parking lots, the Highland Mall parking lot, West Austin homes and businesses, the University area, or along MoPac. The students that were involved with the criminal offense were subject to the consequences ofa third-degree felony. However, the students who bought the stolen merchandise were not charged if they turned the detectors over to the police, Coach Harper resigns After months of controversy over the Maroon's disqualification from the District ZGAAAAA football competition, head football coach, Bill Harper announced his resignation from Stephen F. Austin High on March 19. Harper had coached at Austin High for four years following a coaching position at Linden-Kildare Hi h, a 3A school in East Texas. The four years Harper coached hefd a record of 10-29-1, but his last 3-7 season put Harper and the Maroons in center stage. An University lnterscholastic League rule, which states no player can participate in more than one game within five calender days, was broken when Harper played two Maroons during a varsity game one night, and played the same players during a junior varsity game the very next day. Although Harper said the events in October did not play a big part in his decision to resign, both he and the football team were shrouded in controversy when Harper was placed on probation. He also received a letter of reprimand from Princpal McGee. l just thought it wasgood for me and good for Austin High, stated Coach Harper o his resignation. The AISD immediately began the process of finding a replacement for the head coaching position in hopes of receiving a new coach before spring training. Unfortunately, many of the players were very concerned about having to gain new positions and learninzg new plays with a new coach, while many players were fire up about a new coach to take charge. 1