Austin High School - Comet Yearbook (Austin, TX)

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Editor ' s JournalF Elton performed at the Frank Erwin Sept. 26 Students were dismissed at 2:25 so t could attend an important faculty meeting. Sept. 27 Police veteran from the Dallas Police Dept., Jim Everett was appointed to replace Frank Dyson as Head Chief of the Austin Police Department. Sept. 27 Walter Mondale met with Andrei Gromyko for 90 minutes to discuss the possibility of the present Sept. 28 The President met with Gromyko for an intense discussion on the sharp differences between Moscow and Washington. Sept. 26 Democrat Lloyd Doggett and Republican Phil Gramm, who were running tor U.S. senator, appeared on I security and national ( OCTOBER •This was reminiscent of t Carole Keeton and Hill Oct. 3 Back to School Night was held at SFA in which the seniors met with their parents before teacher presentations. Oct. 3 The Go-Go ' s toured to Austin ' s Frank Erwin Oct. 7 President Reagan and incumbent Mondale met in Louisville for a nationally televised debate on Oct. 7 Joe Ely performed at Auditorium Shores for KLBJ ' s Tenth Anniversary. Oct 10 Kathy Sullivan was the first woman to step into George Bush and Geraldine Ferraro debated in Oct. 13 SAT testing two days and included a parade, pep rally, dance, I and football game. 19 Staff Development Day Concert at the Frank Erwin Oct. 20 PSAT testing were administered In AHS Oct 21 Reagan and Mondale battled through their second debate marked by pointed exchanges on foreign policy and Mr. Reag Oct. 25 The federal Treasury I $17.3 billion budget deficit in the fiscal year of 1984as the second largest in U.S. history. Oct. 26 Staff Development Day Oct. 27 A 15-month-old girl, Baby Fae, received a baboon ' s heart in a five hour bold surgical effort on her falling heart. She was reported as doing fine at Loma Linda University Medical Center in California. Oct. 27 Culture Club appeared at the Frank Erwin Oct. 31 Assassination of Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India, immediately put her son, Raijv in power. Oct. 31 Estimated 50,000 loonies roamed six street in a Halloween celebration filled « spirits. NOVEMBER ' , consider what President Reagan lias dona tor Itiis strength. What is the deal with you Iiberals7 L YNN NUGENT on Reagan ' s first lour years in the White House. Do these students proudly display Reagan bumper stickers on their jackets to represent their opinions or just lo conlorm to this years fashion? ROBERT WHITLEY in a letter to the ffaroon editor. fore an understanding and often lenient review board to receive class credit. When students broke the five day limit by simply skip- ping , our party believed they de- served the consequences. Concerning the unnecessary interruptions of classtime, we tried to represent the overall reac- tion of the class. It seemed drasti- cally unfair that assemblies could no longer take place systemati- cally in order to create school spirit. Teachers and students ag- reed throughout the school that sports assemblies, cultural as- semblies, awards assemblies and spirit assemblies were a neces- sary part of the high school ex- perience. Our party hoped to bring back some of that good ol ' life into a school system that was beginning to appear mechanical. Our last platform issue was an unnoticed reform to the majority of the student body. It would occur the following year. School days were to begin after Labor Day because the legislature was persuaded by the state travel agency to change the date. In doing so, more income could be pumped into the state ' s economy. The school board was considering taking away vacation time from students and teachers alike in order to resume school in Sep- tember to stimulate the economy. The green-eyed party promised to bring a little more care into prop- osing laws for educating the youth. We promised to begin with abolishing this proposal. Criminy! We needed all the vac- ation time we could ' get from these proposed hassles and pressures. Increased Enrollment Enrollment substantially in- creased at SFA in the fall semester, with a count of 1637 students compared to the final count of 1397 students registered the previous spring. The school ' s registrar, Bon- nie McDonald, said that the increase was due to Austin ' s growth and that the people moving to Texas were in- terested in putting their chil- dren into a recognized educa- tional institution like Austin High. Also, since SFA was an- nounced as an exemplary high school by the U.S. De- partment of EducaHon, many in-district transfers took place, as well as transfers from the city ' s private schools. The AISD was expecting a higher enrollment in all the schools. Elementary enroll- ments increased again this year, meaning that the popu- lation of students will gradu- ally grow as the students reach secondary schools. Al- ready the freshman class at SFA ' climbed from 541 to 576 students in the fall semester. With the forecasted in- crease in students, high schools had to consider future problems such as overcrowd- ing where portable buildings could become a necessity and more teachers would be with- out their own specific room. Principal Jacquelyn McGee said that Austin High would not need portable buildings in the immediate future because the institution itself has the capacity to accomodate a larger enrollment. Washington meets Moscow It was the first time that Moscow and Washington talked during the Reagan ad- ministration. Soviet Foreign Minister An- drei Gromyko, the most pow- erful and adept Russian dip- lomat, met with President Reagan at the White House in September. The two great na- tions finally came together for lunch and a three and a half hour meeting after their superpower disputes con- cerning Afgahanistan, the Ko- rean Air Lines and Euromis- siles. As reported, the leaders thrashed over the bitter issues that divided them, but no tan- gible progress was made to- ward any specific goal, such as talks on nuclear arms. Gromyko said he did not come to the White House to discuss arms control, he came merely to meet President Reagan. The President said that during the meeting he sincerely stressed his not seeking superiority over Mos- cow, and he expressed that USSR clearly exceeded its military security for self-de- fense. The day before Reagan spoke with Gromyko, Demo- cratic presidential nominee Walter Mondale met the Soviet diplomat to discuss what principles his possible future administation would follow in foreign relations. Mondale said that only the President could speak for the nation, but if he won the elec- tion, he would drive a tough bargain while meeting the world ' s survival demands to make progress in arms con- trol. He said after a victory, he would seek superpower summits to challenge the Kremlin to temporarily halt nuclear testing. Editor ' s note: While Soviet and American leaders had lost time with mutual suspicions, re- criminations and delays, weapon technology had hurtled forward to an alarming extreme. Now, they decide to meet. Why? Well, it was 40 days to election day. Politics. Talking to Aoscow was a political plus for both Reagan and Mondale. Hopefully, the leaders who met had more in mind

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SFaJisTH HIGH SCHOOL l »L FOREVER Cathy Ramirez A new school sign was placed near the front entrance as a gift from the class of ' 83. HOUSE PARK FIELD The Austin Cowboys during football season. Perry Minfon, Shane Bradshaw, and Scott Montgomery paign was centered around re- vising the revisions in House Bill 72. Our platform verses the brown-eyed party was in favor of the absence policy; in opposition of rules involving unnecessary interuptions of class time; and against the beginning of school after Labor Day. Our party platform rep- resented only a few of our con- cerns for the on-going negative effects the House Bill would have on the Texas public school sys- tem, however we decided to praise the absence policy for its success. Since the policy was already pi- loted at SFA before the state made five days a semester an absence limit, we elaborated its positive effects. First of All, it kept a higher percentage of students pressent in the classroom. As Principal McGee put it: Stu- dents can only learn the material when they attend the their class- es. We argued that if a student did exceed to fi ve day limit, he had the opportunity to appear be- Austin cowboys created to help Key Club promote Maroon spirit By JENNIFER HAILEY An the past, the SFA Key Club has always worked to promote spirit at SFA. In an attempt to create a stronger spirit at Austin High football games this year, the Key Club formed a special group called the Austin Cowboys. The Cowboys helped with escort- ing at the football games, con- trolled crowds at the pep ral- lies, and painted the signs which the players ran through at half time. Key Club Presi- dent, Rod Edens said, Brent Covert was elected president of the Austin Cowboys, and he has done an excellent job of putting together a great spirit organization. The Cowboys worked hard during the week preparing for the pep rally and the varsity foot- ball game. On Wednesday af- ternoons, the group gathered to paint the sign and to dis- cuss duty assignments for the upcoming game. At the games, the members would appear early wearing a cow- boy hat, a long sleeve white button down shirt, bluejeans, and boots. On a special occa- sion such as Homecoming, the group sported blue blaz- ers without hats. As a result of the formation of the Cow- boys, Key Club acquired more members. Eden said, We are trying to get a lot of different people involved. This year we had approximately 70 mem- bers which is almost double the size of last year ' s group. With more man power, we were able to get more done. Although the Austin Cow- boys were not officially a school organization, it was ac- cepted warmly by parents, students, and most faculty members. Covert said, We are a spirit organization formed for the purpose of in- spiring withm the school en- vironment. As sponsor of the Key Club, Gaylord Hum- berger is the link between the school organization and their parent sponsor. The Univer- sity Kiwanis Club. As well as providing services for the school, the Key Club worked with the Kiwanis on fund rais- ing pojects and other worth- while causes. B

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The class of ' 87 marches In the Homecoming parade. At the end of half time, the Varsity football team runs through a sign created bv the Kev Club Senator Lloyd Doggett During the Homecoming parade, the junior class show high spirits on their float. than to gain popularity at home. It was our futures these leaders were holding in their power. At least Reagan or his advisors could have tried to negotiate a date for a superpower summit for arms talks during the meetings. But despite the stategic dates of the first meetings, they should be considered as steps that attempted to narrow the gulf between East and West. SAT national average report In the last week of Sep- tember, the College Board, which sponsors the college- entrance exams, reported the average score of the Scholastic Aptitude Tests (SAT) four points higher than last year. This was the largest single in- crease since SAT scores have dropped, beginning in 1963. Math scores increased to a na- tional average of 471 , and ver- bal scores increased to 426 for a combined average of 897. In 1963 the average was 980 out of a possible 1,600. The jump in the scores probably resulted from an overall improvement in schools. Recent school re- forms have led students to take more academic courses. Also students have been re- quired to take more standar- dized exams to prepare them for the SAT and other exams after high school. The increase showed that someone was doing some- thing right. However, Greg- ory Anrig, President of the Educational Testing Service who produces the SAT, de- nounced the SAT as a meas- ure to show the overall perfor- mance of American schools. He said if a student scored well on the SAT, it was his accomplishment, and his school should not accept the credit for an individual ' s knowledge. Thirty-nineth session at tine UN Soviet Foreign Minister An- drei Gromyko and President Ronald Reagan addressed the 39th session of the United Na- tions in New York Sept. 24. The president spoke about U.S. foreign policy, arms con- trol, Central America and U.S. Soviet relations, while Gromyko expressed his feel- ings on nuclear arms, space weapons. Central America and Soviet U.S. relations. Regarding foreign policy, Reagan said he welcomed di- versity and peaceful competi- tion. He explained that his ad- ministration would follow its principles without being ideologically rigid while seek- ing international friendships and good will for all. Reagan said that there was no sane alternative for arms control beyond negotiations. however, a restraint on both sides needed to take place be- fore any negotiations. Gromyko said the Soviets wanted to maintain a nuclear arms equilibrium at the lowest possible level. He said such a balance was disrupted by U.S. obstacles. In conclusion, Gromyko added that an effec- tive freeze on nuclear-weapon arsenals by all possessing countries was his state ' s goal, but before any such dream could be initiated, the U.S. should reverse its plans for military arsenals in space. In discussing Central America, Reagan justified the presence of American troops as a defensive to protect democratic freedoms. The Soviet Prime Minister charged the U.S. of interfering in situ- ations that could be peacefully settled without American troops. Finally, both speakers ex- pressed their desire to main- D