Austin High School - Comet Yearbook (Austin, TX)

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blanketed with three snowfalls in early months ' ■ ' ■: Trey Halley and his sister play In the Christmas snow . Seniors Robert Jomanson and Leah Stubbs experience Icy conditions and traffic Seniors MItzl Parrls, Louis Black, Carol Billings, Laura Witt, Sydnl Case, Lisa Renz and Nicole Tatum celebrate the third snowfall Hawaiian style. into June to meet the minimum in school days re- quired by law. After one school day in January was considered a make up day (due to the rescheduling of final exams), administrators decided to take two days off the Easter Break, April 4 and 8 to make up for the lost class hours. However, students and teacher were given a short holiday on Good Friday since the Texas Education Agency excused one of the snow days. Dr. John Ellis, the Superin- tendent of school, had the re- sponsibility of deciding whether Austin students should stay home or get the bodies in school after extraor- dinary weather. The condi- tions to close the schools vari- ed. We have security forces, Ellis explained. They travel in the AISD along the bus routes to check and see if the routes are passable. The ques- tion is: can our students be transported safely to and from school, and if 10% of our Superintendent of school. Dr. John Ellis awaits snowfall as a part of his respon- sibilities to declare snow days. buses can ' t make it, we close school. 1 tried to decide by 10:00 p.m the night before, but sometimes with this Texas weather it could have changed. So, I woke up at 3:00 ci.m. and see how the roads were. Also, 1 contacted the Weather Bureau to see what the forecast was, Ellis said. To inform the public of school closings, Ellis called the media and then sent a chain call to school administrators. We had our people out all night and in the early morning hours to see about the icy con- ditions, explained Ellis. Editor ' s note: During fall fi- nals in 1982, Austin was slightly covered with a belated White Christmas. The AISD gave us p ' ermission to leave in the middle of our second final. Most students icere overjoyed beyond the sight of the snow for being dismissed from exam stress. Unlucky for nu I was merely bouncing a bas- ketball around the gym in a P.E. class. Wow, what a break. Nevertheless, I was happy to see snow in Texas, and the truck drive home from a friend ' s older brother was unforgetably fun. Have you ever heard that Texans cannot drive in icy conditions? Well, it ' s true. After a feiv 180 turns and close calls in hitting the spinning cars around us, wc made it home to plow snow balls at passing vehicles. That was when I was a freshman, of course. The first snow of my senior year was your average romantic snow experience. 1 stayed inside by the fire most of the time with the exception of going outside to take pictures for this historic event as my Dad put it. When Austin snowed again before fi- nals, I was astonished by the ad- ministration ' s planning. We came to school two hours late to sit instead of taking our pre- scheduled finals. This snow Dad did not insist on taking pictures. In February when it snozued the hardest, guess who decided to be an average Texan on icy roads? Besides spinning around on bridges and skidding across inter- sections with red lights, I slid into a tree from on top of a steep hill. I think 1 killed the tree. m

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Editor ' s Journal more during his second term as California ' s governor, and he intended to achieve greater success in his second presi- dential term. Mendez suspended In January, students and faculty were informed that Assistant Principal Jose Men- dez had been charged with in- decency with two minor girls. Mendez was suspended from his position at Austin high. An editorial in the February Maroon said, a personal in- teraction between student and teacher to nourish the de- velopment of young people is necessary in creating a human learning environment. But it is also important that both student and teacher have an understanding of the formal relationship and that there is no misinterpretation. Shultz and Gromyko talk in Geneva Revival of arms-control dis- cussions between the U.S. and Soviet Union in snowy Geneva took place in mid-Jan- uary. Fifteen hours of talks be- tween George Shultz and An- drei Gromyko proved to be a success when after the meet- ing when the Soviet leader said, goodbye and best wishes to you. Before the meeting, the Kremlin made it clear that the USSR wanted to improve rela- tions with the U.S. Reagan called the meeting a new dialogue with Moscow. The result of the meeting was sim- ple planning of future re- sumed arms-control negotia- tions where both countries would bring three distinct sets of delegations on: long-range nuclear weapons; inter- mediate-range nuclear arms; and weapons in space. To re- duce nuclear arms and in- crease stategic stability were the culminated objectives. Within the actual meeting, little discussion on arms-con- trol was administered. These complex issues were again de- layed to be discussed at a later date; but at least both sides agreed to be flexible, patient and determined. State of the Union message On his 74th birthday, at the height of his popularity after a landslide victory last November, President Reagan delivered his State of the Union message after 535 sen- ators and congressmen and political Washington joined in a chorus of Happy Birthday. Reagan created bright vis- ions for the future with hope of arms control and plans for tax reform. His speech sum- marized his presidency motto of hope and opportunity and the leadership of a sec- ond American revolution to less dependency on govern- ment. He made it sound so easy. bay by day, we are shat- tering accepted notions of what is possible. Anything is, if we have faith, the will and the heart. The White House was im- pressed with Reagan ' s ability to accentuate the positive when in reality, national is- sues were questionably gloomy. Officials commented that the Union Message was notable for what Reagan did not say. He had almost no mention of his proposed 1986 budget and the $180 billion deficit it entailed. Meese ' s nomination stalled In February Edwin Meese 111 was intensely examined by the U.S. Senate, primarily by the members of the Democra- tic party, upon his nomina- tion to attorney general. De- spite the control of the Senate by the Republicans, Democ- rats on the Judiciary Commit- tee were critical toward Meese. Delaware Senator Joseph Biden announced that Meese was below the extraordinary stature and character needed in the office. He said that not only should the man in the federal position be honest and ethical, but of higher standard than Meese had de- monstrated. The charges against Meese only stalled his nomination, but after the investigation, he was cleared of any violations of the law, was confirmed. and Meese pledged to be an attorney general of whom the nation can be proud. Extracurricular time limited The State Board of Educa- tion passed a new policy which limited after student participation in extracurricu- lar activities to no more than eight hours per week per ac- tivity. The rule became effec- tive on the first of January and was scheduled to expire at the end of the semester unless the state board mad it a perma- nent rule. It did. The wording of the policy left many sponsors confused about which activities were exempt from the policy. The State Board was to destin- guish between extracurricular activites as being non-related to classroom instruction and cocurricular activites as being an enrichment of instruction. The policy did not cleariy state whether it included cocurricular programs such as debate or drama. Principal Jacquelyn McGee said that she held extracurricular spon- sors responsible for interpret- ing and enforcing the 8-hour policy. D grade resurrected Teachers throughout the state repeatedly requested the resurrection of the D grade after the State .Board of Educa- tion eliminated the grade from public schools in re- sponse to HB 72. The legis- lators believed that the D grade promoted excessive social activity therefore taking time away for academic activ- ity. So the D grade was re-insti- tuted, but with different num- erical value than before. The newly-adopted rule in- troduced a grading system that changed the numeric value of each letter grade. The new grading system was an- nounced as follows: 100-90, A; 89-80, B; 79-75, C; and 74-70, D. Previous to House Bill 72, a letter grade of D was given to those students who scored in the 60-69 range, signifying a below-average perfor- mance. School districts throughout Texas were required to adhere Ho Austin winter -=-=- .-- ' — -TJC. Downtown Austin D, ' uring the last few hours of the winter vacation, Austin was hit with a rare snow storm that forced the AISD and the majority of Texas districts to close school Jan. 2 and 3. Again on Jan. 14, icy condi- tions from a weekend snowstorm delayed the open- ing of school doors to 10:55. It was peculiar bad weather timing because the first day of final exams were scheduled for that day. The testing periods were moved up to Tuesday through Thursday. A final blanket of snow co- vered Austin at the end of Jan- uary, making Feb. 1 an official snow day out of school class- rooms. The closings caused the un- usual problem of making the snow days up within the school calendar. The district administrators figured the days could be made up by shortening the spring holi- days, eliminating the two holidays around Easter, or ex- tending the spring semester

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1 Editor s Journal to this system no later the Sept. 1, 1985. Aqua Festival location moved The annual problem of overcrowding at Auditorium Shores for the Austin Aqua Festival finally led 79% of Au- stin voters to approve a bond issue to move the festival to a permanent location at Lake Long. With the cooperation of the City Parks and Recreation Department, the unde- veloped parkland at Lake Long will eventually hold three large amphitheatres for entertainment, a children ' s play area and restroom facilities. The 3,000 acres of land will provide festival goers the ad- vantages of more parking facilities, more room for people, and more room for booths and activities ' areas. The Lake Long location was planned to accomodate all the events that previously were held on Auditorium Shores. The three major events that will not be moved to Lake Long are the River Raft Race on Town Lake, the Land Parade down Congress Av- enue, and the Night Water Parade on Town Lake. Although the new lake loca- tion would be somewhat of a disadvantage due to the lengthy drive, the city will be actually be saving cost be- cause permanent facilities created. Shuttle buses will also be operated during cer- tain events for those who do not wish to drive to Lake Long. The site will not be moved until 1986. Marcii in Geneva Reagan ' s national security advisors questioned what should be the opening U.S. bargaining proposals at the Geneva arms-control negotia- tions in March with the Soviet Union. But it was apparent that without new agreements in Geneva, both countries could find themselves trap- ped in a potentially destabiliz- ing race. The President and his cabinet responded to this challenge. Notably, never be- fore has Reagan given such an ambitious mandate to stimu- late superpower strategic thinking. Yet, he refused to use Star Wars or the MX mis- sile as a bargaining chip for the Geneva talks. Rather, limiting intermediate range nuclear arsenals in Europe would be discussed. Editor ' s note: Possibli the Republican negotiators realized that the quest for international ac- cord on arms-control could try American patience to the point of affecting the 1988 presidential election. When the public showed its deep concern for threatening technology that could ultimately cause assured destruction, the party probably saw that their ad- ministration could no longer abs- tain from creating arms treaties. It was time to try to give the vot- ers what they wanted most: peace and international security. Cheerleader elections Sixteen students competed for cheerleading positions on March 20 in front of the freshmen, sophomores and juniors. Eight were elected to lead the school spirit for the following school year. The 1985-86 cheerleaders elected were: Surrenden Angly, sophomore; Suzanne Be- nevides, sophomore; Mary Gilbert, junior; Melanie Milner, junior; Kino Moore, sophomore; Suzanne Skruggs, juior; Kelli Weedon, junoir; and Millay Wood, sophomore. Sophomores and juniors who tried out needed to have a physical exam, a report of citizenship by their teachers, and a grade average of a 70 in all of their courses for the six weeks period preceeding try- outs. Students who had at- tended Austin High for more than seven semesters includ- ing the ninth grade were in- eligible to try-out. Before try- outs are held, a review com- mittee determined the eligibil- ity of the applicants who prac- ticed jumps, cheers and chants during a two week clinic taught by veteran cheer- leaders. After the applicants were reviewed as eligible they partiscipated in the try-outs. On that morning the candi- dates presented two chants and a cheer in small groups, then the senior cheerleaders gave a goodbye cheer. A few seniors who disreguarded a stategically scheduled meet- ing found their faces wetted with happy tears as their classmates tumbled on the gym floor for the last time. Crime Prevention Week After completing a course in Street Law, Student Coun- cil President Philip Jabour felt that the council should stimu- late crime awareness to the student body. Crime Preven- tion Week was planned for the last week of March, and the project was sponsored by the Student Council under Emily Swiff as head chair. The project included infor- mation about home safety, personal safety, and traffic safety. A day of prevention demonstrations, distributing information, and visits by members of the Austin Police Department (APD) was dedi- cated to each aspect of safety. On Tues., March 26, home safety was the theme. To in- form students about home safety, members of the APD came during lunch to display various locks and alarms for the home. Property records were also avail able for stu- dents to register their valuable items in case of theft. Wed- nesday was dedicated to per- sonal safety . Activities in- cluded a rape prevention film shown during the student council meeting that morn- ing. A karate expert gave tips on self-defense during lunch. Crime Prevention Week con- cluded on Thursday with traffic safety . A crash simulator was the main attrac- tion. On this machine, volun- teers were carried down a short ramp at about five miles per hour and stopped sud- denly to experience the sensa- tion of a car collision. Swiff commented that the student community should under- stand that buckling seat belts can literally save lives. She explained that 98 percent of last year ' s automobile-related fatalities were the result of a person not wearing a seat belt. Since New York had im- posed a law requiring seat belts to be worn, the state re- ported 38 percent fewer fatalities. As a growing con- Pat Roach is belted Into a crash simulator by Michael Jones. Mary Gilbert chats for cheerleader ( tlons. cern spread due to the alarm- ing statistics and the success- ful law results in other states, Texas legislators were consid- ering making seat belt buck- ling a law as well. Texas boosts tuition Texas had a billion dollar deficit due to higher educa- tion. While trying to limit budget reductions, the Legis- lature proposed to increase tuition to make up for $569 million of the state ' s deficit. The proposal would raise the tuition from the current $4 per semester hour to $24 per hour by 1994. Tuition would be increased at the rate of $2 per school year for resident students if the proposal pass- ed, increasing the fees as fol- lows: 1985-1986 school year, $6 per semester credit hour; 1986-1987, $8 per hour; 1987- 1988, $10 per hour; 1988-1989, $12 per hour. A portion of the revenue 1 ■ to Hm