David Crockett High School - Texan Yearbook (Austin, TX)

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8!Back To School During the first week of class social studies teacher Calvin Lynch looks over his roll card as he acquaints himself with his students' names. j Above: A worker from MGM Towing Company tows away an illegally parked car. Was it worth the twenty dollars it took to get it back? Right: Assistant Principal Johnny Brown enforces the new tardy policy by giving freshman Liz Brown her permit to enter class and notice to serve an hour of d-hall. Lv FQ? .X W I A 3 X if P.. W A 55253

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, 'T ' . ' -.. : self ii' ew as is 1. s y.1',- hat makes Austin dif- ferent? What made 1985 unique? Probably the most memorable event of the year was the record three winter storms that struck in January. Austin can usually hope for snow every two or three years but this year there was snow on the ground three separate times. Many Crockett students made or tried to make snowmen and have snowball fightsg many did so for the first times in their lives. Music was hot in '85. Prince, Cyndi Lauper, Bruce Springsteen, Triumplh and U2 blew into town early in t e near. Frank Erwin Center was the ost for many great concerts and good memories. Sixth Street was alive and hopping with entertain- ment. Those too young to enter the clubs and bars were content to cruise the street and become part of the show themselves. There is a special life-style here that people defend and preserve. Austinites feel like the chosen ones living in the chosen land. God, with his burnt orange sunsets has smiled upon us and we are gfveatful No Vacancy his is the way many Austinites feel about others Ctranslate that Yankees! moving down here. During the period from June 1984 to January 1985 more than 29,000 vaeople moved into the Austin area. ile it was flattering that so many wanted to make Austin their home, many residents felt that this created a major groblem. Austin was getting more an more overcrowded and its citizens were getting tired of it. Control Pollution: Put a Yankee on a Bus Some felt that this was the way to control the over- whelming traffic problems that had J!! been arlaguing Austin's streets for sever years. Residents were afraid that Austin would turn into another Houston or Dallas. Major arteries were clogged and I-35 was a parking lot twice a day. Traffic became such a large problem that a task force was created to study it. Move It The question was: Do we ke? Robert Mueller airport in the mi dle of the city, or do we move it to a location where it can have room to expand as it is needed? On January 19 voters wrestled with this question in one of the biggest bond elections in the city's history. Move It advocates cited Mueller's small size and prox- imity to schools, homes and highwaysg they saw it as out-of-place and un-safe. Keep It supporters coveted the airport's convenience and hinted that the opposition had were trying to force something that Austin really didn't need. In ten years, three different task forces had advocated a move to a less congested site. The ci- ty wide election was almost a dead heat. By only some 700 votes, the Keep It forces prevailed. The voters just couldn't decide. Austin Unemployment 3.2'Z:, Lowest in Texas Central Texas residents had good newsg Texas had one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country and Austin's rate was the lowest in the state. There were jobs for everyone, even high school students. The job market was booming. If you like the the hurricanes you can move down to the coast Folks up 'round Austin like the tornadoes and floods the most. You 're from where? Michigan, Detroit? We l, hush my mouth. You 've arrived just in time for the seven year drought. Steve Fromholz by Michelle Creasey Austm!7

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- - ' f1,Ql!,g Sag Z efo rm School reshapes old ways, What! An hour in D-hall just for being tardy to class?l But Mr. Crist, I have to go to work after school! Beginning in 1984, Texas public school students had new attendance re- quirements to meet. This change, along with others influencing academics, sports and extra-curricular activities were enacted during a special summer session of the Texas Legislature. The law makers were acting on the recommendations of the Governor's Select Committee on Educa- tion headed by H. Ross Perot. The Perot committee recommended many of the changes that found their way into House Bill 72. The new tardy policy was a change that students weren't happy about. One tardy got you one hour detention, another hour for the second tardy and for the third-a parent conference. The attendance policy also changed. The bill states that a student who exceeds five absences per semester, loses credit.t Last year it was eightl The seniors and freshmen were affected Freshmen Travis Gage and Patrick Maldonado take a minute between classes to exchange books. 47 4 Q luv' 'ii wvlrd upsets time honored traditions most by HB 72. The seniors, were no longer allowed to be exempt from finals. In previous years , if a senior was making a good enough grade, hefshe didn't have to take the final test. I don't think it's fair because the other seniors had a chance. If we are passing with an A or something I don't see why not, said senior DeAnna Risner. We usually don't hear much from the freshmen, right? Fish aren't supposed to speak up. But, this year they did. Freshmen now need 24 credits to graduate whereas in previous years only 21 credits were required. It shouldn't be done that way for the general graduation plan. For the academic excellence plan it's okay because there's more demand for education in high technology jobs, said freshman Rodger Shaheen. Parents were happy with these changes- students had to be given the op- portunity to be tutored if he is failing the course, and report cards were mailed home rather than being sent home with the students. HB 72 wasn't the only thing to make some changes around school. Prin- cipal, Robert Enos, made some of his own rules, such as cutting out daily advisory and adding a fifteen minute break between second and third periods. Of course, the overcrowding at Crockett didn't change. There were simply not enough parking spaces. If a faculty member didn't get there early enough to fight for hisfher rightful parking space, a student probably got it, which was then towed away. MSLM Towing Company in north Austin did Crockett's towing and for S20 cash and your own transportation you could get your car back. Junior Ronda Collins had her car towed well into the first six weeks. I had been parking there two weeks prior that that. On that day, I got there early and the monitors got my license number. My mom had to come get me dur- ing school hours and take me all the way down to Burnet Road, said Collins. As of November 5, 65 cars had been tow- ed away. Some of the kids and adults get nasty and take it out on the secretaries. But on the majority we don't get too many com- plaints, said assistant principal Frances Bush. A fact of life-change is inevitable and there was plenty of it at Crockett High. by Amy Felps Back To Schoolf9