Del Valle High School - Cardinal Yearbook (Del Valle, TX)

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New program design aids in game plans By Debbie Kaiser Thanks to computer genius and a computer math project assign- ment, the athletic de- partment received a program that analyzed not only itself, but also opposing teams before a football game was played. It ' s a short way to make a game plan be- fore we play each op- ponent, Athletic Di- rector Ray Dowdy said. The program was de- signed by 1987 seniors Harley DeVilbiss and Chris Mellenbruch when a semester long project was assigned in Sam Creswell ' s com- puter math class. The program the ath- letic department ended up with was more complex than the orig- inal idea thought up by DeVilbiss and Mellen- bruch. After we looked at what Harley and Chris were doing, we figured we could get a lot more out of the program with a little more time and effort, Dowdy said. Coaches were able to enter every offensive play by the Cardinals and district teams and figure out what the team ' s tendancies were on the field. Before we had the program, we had to write out every play and figure out the tendancies, and that would take six to sev- en hours to do, Dow- dy said. Big class suffers By Michael Fettes The freshmen class outnumbered the senior class by nearly two to one. Yet, the freshmen were put through the usual routine of being called Fish and having to hide from ini- tiation-crazed upperclassmen. I don ' t think its fair, freshman Kyle How- ard said. Just because upper-classmen are older, they feel they can treat us anyway they want. Not only did they have to put up with pos- sible initation, but they had to get us ed to the high school campus, new teachers, and being split up from friends. It (high school) is not as fun. I don ' t get to see my friends as much, Tracy Smith said. One way to escape the regular routine of being initiated was not to tell anyone that you were a freshman. This didn ' t always work though. Sooner or later someone was bound to find out. For the plan to work, a freshman had to act more mature. This was often difficult for the average freshman, for he was still around his former mid-school friends; therefore, he still may act like a mid-schooler and or a freshman. There was one advantage of being inititated early on in the school year; if you ' ve been initated, the other upperclassmen will leave you alone. Fans cheer football team By Ruth Jehlen The attendance was up at foot- ball games. And the varsity team said they especially appreciated the effort people were making to come. When we saw all those people in the stands it gave us a lot of encouragement, junior Rick Ry- an said. To know that people were cheering for us made us all feel more like digging down inside ourselves and giving our best ef- fort, junior Kevin Dailey said. smiling. The teams felt like they were more supported now than they were before. Even when we lost a game, people still boosted us up and told us we did great and that made us feel like we really did our part so that we tried harder the next time, senior David Williams said. We ' re just glad you all were out there, senior quarterback Tim Walker said. Rising to their feet, the crowd encourages the players. Pholo By Slcfanie Merculief. ' Op.. Mini- ' ' r

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f Pai jS ck down • punishments By Ruth Jehlen Since the beginning of time teenagers have been doing things that caused their parents anguish; take Cain and Able for example. Although they may not have been so drastic as to kill their own brother they none the less tend to land themselves in at least one mess and don ' t usually come out unscratched. I ' ve been grounded for doing something my parents thought was wrong even though it was really my own buisness, sophomore Jennifer Clark said. I ' ve been indefinitely grounded before because I went out with friends when I told my mom we were going to the movies. Needless to say I got caught! senior Ann Mikus said, laughing at the thought. Parents could be rough on their kids but they are usually justified in their actions. I ' ve never really received unjust punishment but sometimes they were a little harder than seemed fair, Mikus said. My parants can usually tell if I really did something but if they ' re not sure I just get lectured a little, fresh- man Angle Williams said. Although the punishments varied from being ground- ed up to three months, losing the car keys, or phone restriction the household rules were very similar. I have to let my parents know where I ' ll be and I ' m expected not to smoke or drink. , Clark said. Most kids felt their parents wre not too bad and agreed that on the whole the rules they had to follow were reasonable and breaking them usually earned the pun- ishment. Drinking in car banned by law By Ben Vallejo Can ' t drive with that beer in your hand. No, not because you might spill it, but the state of Texas introduced a new law on Sept. 1. The Open Container Law, prohibits motorists of Texas to drink al- cohol and operate a vehicle. A person doesn ' t get drunk while driving, they drink at home or at a bar, then get into the car and drive, senior Kerri Saunders said in response to the new law. Junior Scott Wilhite agreed that most people are already drunk when they get into the car. Most people aren ' t in the car long enough to get drunk, unless they are on a long trip, he said. Students in general believed the law would not solve the problem. Yes, I feel that there is a time and place to drink alcohol. Drinking and driving are too dangerous, one concerned student said. Most students agreed that drinking and driving are too dangerous. Although many students weren ' t in favor of the law, they realized the law was necessary. State vetos smoking on campus By Ben Vallejo The beginning of the year introduced two new laws, of which one was mandated by the state legislature. The first of the rules was a state law prohibiting the use of tobacco products on school campus or at any school activities. There were many mixed feelings over the new rule between the smokers and non- smokers. I think it (the smoking lawj is good because I don ' t like to breath in other peo- ple ' s mistakes, junior Jen- nifer Rowlan said. Threatened by the conse- quences of disciplinary ac- tion, the smoking student population would have to wait until after school to en- joy a cigarette. The second of the new rules was added to the current dress code. The rule prohibited the wearing of any shirt which promoted the use alcohol and or drugs. The students were no longer allowed to wear Co- rona Beach club shirts or ad- vertise the support of Spuds McKenzie the Budweiser dog on school campus. It ' s not the shirts; it ' s all peer pressure and family stress that promote these things (alcohol use), junior Polly Anna Whited said. The reasonning behind the passing of the new rules was the hope of a more pos- itive environment for stu- dents. vv:« A fJa out By Ruth Jehlen

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Renovations: Mid-school moved, high school expanded By Matt Dworaczyk A new year brought about many changes to the high school. Along with a new computer lab and new snack bar twice as big as the old one, the school also expanded into the mid-school. It ' s well deserved room that we ' ve been wait- ing for, Principal Joe Brown said. Students not only had to get use to new classes in the high school, but when the English de- partment and the science labs moved over there, students had to adapt to a totally new schedule of classes. I ' m glad we moved over there. I was really tired of those old, boring halls and a change was great, senior Gayla Banks said. Also added to list of renovations was the total overhaul of the snack bar. One of the Industrial Arts classrooms was used to expand the snack bar into twice the size it was last year. I was in and out monitoring during all three lunches (the first day it was opened) and it ap- peared to have beem running fairly smoothly, Brown said. Also added to the list of renova- tions was the addition of a new computer lab. The walls in room two and three were knocked out to provide more room for computer classes. I had a computer class in there and I thought it was so much nicer. I could really breathe in there unlike last year where you couldn ' t even move, senior Charles Salas said. The biggest addition to the year was the ex- tension of the high school into the mid-school. It was great not having to dodge those little kids anymore and not having to share the caf- eteria, junior Sean Peters said. The construction on the new junior high began in 1986. The junior high is now located on Pierce Lane and is twice the size of the old mid-school. Brown said the main reason a new junior high was built instead of new high school dealt mainly with money. It takes less money to build a junior high than a new high school, he said. In the years to come who knows what changes will take place. Possibly a new high school. For now though, most people are satisfied with the new changes. jtytrat By Mike Fettes Usine the computers in the ex- panded computer lab, seniors Brenda Ferro, Kathy Stevens, and Troy Brodgen appreciate the extra space. Photo by sieve Mc- Candless.