Irvine High School - Citadel Yearbook (Irvine, CA)

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Feature 23

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uurINu with stepfamilies David and Linda are in their fifth year of mar- riage to each other. It Is the second one for both of them. David had two children from his first mar- riage, while Linda had three. They, along with millions of other Americans, have been through a divorce and remarried, thus forming a stepfamily for themselves and their children. According to a 1982 issue of Current Lifestudies, adjustment to a step family is not easy for the children involved. It has been proven that younger children have an easier time adjusting than do teenagers. I was three years old when my parents were divorced, so I don ' t remember that much. It ' s been harder to adjust since I ' ve gotten older, because a lot of questions pop in my mind about why they got divorced, said one IHS junior. According to Dr. Clifford J. Sager, director of the Jewish Board of Family and Children Services in New York City, kids have a hard time accepting the loss of their natural parents ' undivided atten- tion, as well as being placed into a new family ar- rangement that they had no part in choosing. It was hard for me, said a senior boy, because I had to get used to a whole new and dif- ferent home life. At first, I felt a lot of resentment towards my stepdad. Children seem to feel a great loss when a parent remarries, but open communication is the first step in the right direction to overcome this feeling. I had a hard time accepting my stepmother, but we started talking to each other about our feel- ings. From then on we got along great, an Irvine sophomore girl said. Much has changed, though, since the once- upon-a-time days of Cinderella, when step- mothers were considered foes rather than friends. My stepmother and I are close. I have my real mother, and my stepmother is my friend, a freshmen girl commented. But what does divorce and remarriage in a fami- ly teach the kids about the institution of marriage? Seeing my mother divorced three times had made me think that nothing will last, a junior girl commented. A stepfamily, however, is not only formed by a divorce. When a widow with children remarries, they become members of a stepfamily. Sophomore LoriSmolln was in this situation. It was so much easier to adjust than I thought it was going to be, she said, all of our friends real- ly helped us with the death of our mom, so it made it easy to adjust to a new family. At first my step- mom was more like a good friend, but now I think of here as a sister. Despite some of the problems involved in form- ing and dealing with a step family, many psychological experts point out that this situation has a positive side. Unlike the nuclear family, in which children have two parents, kids in a step- family have more adults to turn to for role models and support. They may also find a stepparent one to confide in. Throughout my parent ' s divorce, a senior male concluded, and becoming part of a step- family, I ' ve learned how important communication is. I ' ve also learned that there ' s a lot of love and caring in stepfamilies as well as regular ones. — by Liz Marrujo SHARING A LAUGH: Junior Matt Otto tdkes time out of his day to converse witli his stepfather, Bruce Baron. OPEN COMMUNICATION: Junior Lori Cramar and her mother Sue Graham, discuss being members of a stepfamily with para-counselor Chris Gober. 22 Feature

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P©)!!. tt€! : t m M ' tm mm m M Public opinion about education has, within the last five years, experienced a return to an em- phasis on basics. It is time to end the rhetoric. It is time to restate the principle that a strong public school system is at the heart of a strong, diverse America, said U.S. Representative, Dan Glickman. In California, this new shift toward traditional education resulted in the passing of Senate Bill 813 (SB 813) in 1983. SB 813 dealt with changes in funding, academic curriculum, and teacher-testing. The changes being made and the new, in- novative teaching techniques teachers are incor- porating are all geared for one thing: making students learn, said IHS Unit Principal, Leah Laule. Nationally, funding for public education was not increased. President Ronald Reagan did not slash funds, but he tried to. According to the National Education Associa- tion (NEA), figures for the U.S. Budget for federal aid disproved Reagan ' s claim of wanting to im- prove the nation ' s education system. In 1980, former President Jimmy Carter requested $13.3 billion in federal aid for education. In 1981, Carter upped the request to $13.4 billion. Then, in 1982, Reagan cut federal funds to $13.1 billion, and the 1983 budget was slashed to $10.3 billion and Reagan requested further cuts. However, with the passing of SB 813, public school funding in California saw some improve- ment. For example, $400 per pupil would be awarded to high schools for improving their students ' academic achievement on composite test scores. This funding was proposed as an in- centive to schools to improve their students ' scores on national tests. Along with this fundings, a change that directly affected IHS students was the new honors classes. According to Laule, the classes were weighted with an extra grade point for each grade a student received. This new policy encouraged students to take more classes with a higher level of difficulty. Junior Lendor Tobias said, If the school was not awarding the extra grade point, I might not have taken Social Science Research, and thus learned as much as I have. With the University of California ' s approval, an extra grade point was awarded for the designated honors and advanced placement classes, accor- ding to Laule. Another curriculum change was the requirement of two years of science and one year of Fine Arts 24 Feature or Foreign Language to graduate. In Japan, I never had the opportunity to get in- volved in activities at school. It ' s good for everyone to cultivate an interest outside of studies. Having these new requirements will give everyone the chance to find that interest, said Senior Koichi Hanada. Requiring seniors to take 5 classes a day was another change that sparked controversy. The ex- ception to this requirement was if the student was taking a work experience class or a college course, in which case, the other activity would count as a class. Requiring 5 classes puts too much pressure on seniors. If I was going to take five easy classes, I wouldn ' t mind, but most TA ' s push the seniors to take hard classes. When I end up taking five classes of 4-5 difficulty, plus participating in a team sport, plus working, it just becomes too much, said Senior Michelle Olis. However, Sophomore George Quitoriano ex- pressed a different point of view. The new requirement of five classes would keep seniors on task and prepared for college. Otherwise, seniors just become too lax during their last year in high school and they regress. Another new requirement from SB 813 was for teachers to take the California Basic Educational Skills Test (CBEST) before they received teaching credentials. Teachers changing school districts had to take the exam also. There was a controversy surrounding the CBEST and substitute teachers, said Laule. Substitutes were required to take the CBEST, but the test cost $50 each time to take, and substitutes wonder if it is really worth it. Mid year, California legislature changed again, however, and eliminated the CBEST requirement and mandatory four years of college for substitutes. Due to a shortage of substitutes, only three years of college was necessary to obtain a substitute credential. All these changes came because of a general shift in emphasis toward basic education, meaning more studying, better teachers, and a strong academic core. As said in the NEA ' s slogan, A Strong America Needs Strong Public Schools. — by Cathy Chou AP PHYSICS . . . AMUSING?! Apparently, Senior Jeanne Pandes finds AP Physics problems no problem at all. r m,