Merrillville High School - Merrillvue Yearbook (Merrillville, IN)

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Encouraging the many picketers at the USX steel mill is Lovell Williams, an employee of the steel mill. Indiana ruled that it was a lockout in- stead of a strike. This rule allowed workers to receive unemployment compensation. ’ U.S.W.A. PLANT LOCKED OUT 1 L.U. 101f UNITED STEELWORKERS OP AMERICA L M • CIO • CIC r assing the countless hours during the lockout is Mike Adir, steelworker. Scenes like this were seen all around the gates of Gary Works. 28 Steel Strike “I’ve accepted the responsibility of getting my own job to pay for my own expenses.” — Dawn Porter

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News Makers In the 1986-87 school year, scandals dominated the news, dranscam’ and television evangelists were in the news. In addition, elections, locally and nationally caught the attention of many News of the world stunned the nation as both tragic and shocking events kept Ameri- cans on the edge of their seats. It has been a year in which the “Iranscam” has caught the attention of th e nation, and it has many Americans still ask- ing unanswered questions of the cash flow involved in the scandal. Also, contrary to President Ronald Reagan’s hopes, the Democrats have again taken charge of both houses of Con- gress. Religion in the United States is back. From the smallest towns to the greatest cities, on radio or television, religion has become an expanding, growing force. Men, such as Jimmy Swaggart, sent the message to over 145 nations through tele- vision. Even national figures — President Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Mario Cuomo, and Jes- se Jackson — made it known that their religious beliefs are important forces in their lives. Nicholas Daniloff, U.S. News correspondent, was arrested in Moscow in August on spy charges and spent 13 days in a KGB prison. The arms race continued as the Soviets introduced a new threat: highly accurate Soviet tactical ballistic missies, capa- ble of flying hundreds of miles in minutes to destroy NATO bases, defenses and com- mand centers in the opening moments of war. Syria directed and supported terrorist activities, such as fir- ing on Jewish worshippers at a synogogue and killing 21 and wounding 100 in a massacre aboard a hijacked Egyptian air- liner. The massive July 4 birthday party of the Statue of Liberty was in New York Harbor, com- plete with fireworks and tail- ships. On the health scene, it has been a year of which the AIDS epidemic has soared to a ratio of 220 people killed per week and 374 more infected. AIDS also took the life of a famous performer, Liberace. In sports, Daryl Strawberry hit the winning homerun in the seventh game of the World Se- ries as the Mets defeated the Red Sox in the biggest game of baseball. Bobby Knight led his Hoo- siers to yet another NCAA championship by defeating Syracuse, 74-73. No chairs were thrown. After five years away from the ring, Sugar Ray Leonard made one of the greatest co- mebacks in boxing history to beat the bald champion, Mar- velous Marvin Hagler. A year of both good news and bad. by TONY AZNAR Zawada In her economics class, Karen Kome- chak senior, reads a Newsweek in her economics class. Students are re- quired to read Newsweek ' s in an at- tempt by their teachers to keep the students up to date on current events. 27 World Events

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USX and its employees were not able to settle contract disagreements. The work stopage continued for six months. U-a. • p £T CL photos Zawada Families felt the economic pinch caused by the lockout at USX (formerly U.S. Steel). Som e families were hit harder than others by the work stopage. The Ochoa family was one of the many MHS families not pre- pared for the strike. “My dad was laid off before the strike, so we weren’t pre- pared for it,” said Susan Ochoa, senior. Medical, dental and optical benefits were terminated on July 30. Though the union pro- vided an emergency medical plan, it did not include dental and optical benefits. “The benefits are next to nothing. A friend of my dad’s needed X-rays, and he wasn’t covered at all,” commented Susan Pittman, senior. Although the USX employees offered to work under the for- mer contract, the corporation refused. In addition, this lockout caused many family members to get jobs. “I’ve accepted the responsi- bility of getting my own job to pay for my own expenses,” stated Dawn Porter, senior. “I’ve accepted the responsi- bility of getting my own job to pay for my own expenses,” stated Dawn Porter, senior. The nation’s longest-ever steel dispute, lasting 184 days, ended on Jan. 30. Union repre- sentatives counted 19,621 votes in favor of the new con- tract and 4,045 against it. As for the new four year con- tract, it has “too many ifs, ands or buts to be decided,” commented Terry Adler in an article by Curtis Vosti for the Hammond Times. by SHAWN LYNN CUNNINGHAM 1 he once popular USX company was once the center of Northwest Indiana’s production and employment. However, the work stopage has caused many families to suffer. Waiting outside the gates of Gary Works are many employees. Since the stopage many workers were left with- out jobs for months. 29 Steel Strike