Patrick Henry High School - Encounter Yearbook (San Diego, CA)

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Th Out ide Angle i ' - '25-iiviq More locks in th Library? lt didn't take long to get it passed. Implementing it might prove more difficult but super- intendent Tom Payzant felt it was worthwhile. The establish- ment of a MCH grade average requirement for students want- ing to participate in extracurri- cular activities was not unique. The Los Angeles School Dis- trict had enacted a similar rule while Morse High School had independently adopted the rule two years earlier. The raising of the grade point average from Will more athletes be forced to study more or are they already making the grades? Another incentive is ex-Patriot quarterback Matt Kofler's establish- ment of a scholarship for athletes with high grades. 1.5 to 2.0 on the 4.0 grade scale affected not only athletes but students who wanted to participate in music, debate, student government and dra- ma. Payzant justified the rule by saying that, Ml think the 'C' average is a reasonable request which says that students must fare well academically if they want to take part in extracurri- cular activities. The requirement may not have affected students here as much as at other schools but Commissioner of Boys Athlet- ics, Nick Alcorta enthusiastical- ly endorsed the idea. 'lIt's fan- tastic. I don't know if it will help athletics but I do think it will help the student athlete. A Huck Too Hot? I When you take a book off the sheif and say you don.'t like the ideas in that book, then that is censorship, said attorney Ann Brick. All across the nation many schools banned books from their library shelves. Go Ask Alice, a diary of a teenage girl who fell into drugs and committed suicide, was the most frequently censored book in high school libraries. J.D. Sa- Iinger's Catcher in the Rye, Judy Blumels Foreverf' John Steinbeck? Of Mice and Men, Huckleberry Finn, Catch- 22 , and evn such books as Laura Ingalls Wilders 'little House in the Big Woods , Shakespeards The Merchant of Venice , and Nathanial Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter had been banned from shelves. 3 Most of the books mentioned above were in the Patrick Henry library. Many books such as, Of Mice and Menfg' The Scarlet iLetter'7., i'The Merchantof Venice , Huck Finn , and Catcher in the Rye , were regular reading for students. Cheryl Cook, a senior, commented, f'The banning ofthe books mentioned is utterly ridiculous because of the fact that the students could obtain the books fromgany other source. It is the parent's place to censor books andnot the school critics'. Cost Cutting Do you remember sixth grade camp? Security person- nel absolutely everywhere all the time? Well, memories were all that was left to students after severe budget cuts in the San Diego Unified School Dis- trict. Early in September the school board slashed S20 mil- lion from the school year bud- get. School Board president Bob Filner felt that, 'LThe bud- get decreases the quality of ser- vices. . .Ithink the children are ultimately shortchangedf' He went on to say that, We will be hurting the future of our soci- ety. Many students felt the same way. Programs that were cut in- cluded sixth grade camp, music programs in elementary schools, elementary schools themselves and various athletic programs on the high school level. Many students participat- ing in athletics were required to sell such items as M8cMs to con- tinue playing. Budget cuts affected the school security forces. Head of security Al MacPherson worked with a smaller staff that was unable to patrol the park- ing lot and campus at night as much as in the past. The janito- rial staff here was also cut from 17 to 9. Maintenance engineer Lloyd Freet said that, If more students would show a little more spirit by throwing away litter and by not cluttering the walls and desks with graffiti, it sure would make things easier for everyone. Cuts were also noticed in the fine art department along with the fact that paper was limited throughout the school. Education 217

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Th Out ide Angle Sup up up School We need to focus on the aca- demics, seemed to be Tom Pay- zant's message to San Diego. As the new superintendent of the San Diego Unified School Dis- trict, Payzant set out to improve the academic situation in the city schools. One of his first moves was to place a 2.0 grade point average requirement on students who wished to participate in ex- tracurricular activities including athletics. Payzant also proposed a strengthening of the graduation requirements in the coming years. Included would be a com- puter literacy requirement in or- der to prepare students for the future. He did stress the impor- tance of subjects other than math and science. lf we go down the tech track and forget the humani- tites, we're going to be shallow people. We've got to have a bal- ance. Along with strengthening the graduation requirements, Pay- zant stressed homework and pro- posed a district wide homework policy. Parent involvement would be of great importance. Parents would need to work hand in hand with their child and receive constant feedback on the student's progress. Another area the Payzant felt needed improve- ment was teaching. Bothered by the 3070 failing rate on teacher competency tests the superinten- dent admitted, L'We can't solve teacher problems with moneyf' Payzant was disenchanted with how schools were rated aca- demically. We need to get off this bit of comparing school A to school B. He stressed a need to focus on the progress of the indi- vidual school from September to June. In order to improve test scores and the student's educa- tion Payzant referred to setting goals. ul think we ought to shoot higher than just being able to read a newspaper. By shooting Taking over Tom Goodman's job as superintendent of San Diego City Schools is not an easy job. Tom Payzant sets out to make several personnel, graduation and homework changes. Payzant speaks to Matt Siegal, Commissioner of Finance, about the ASB grading policy above. 216 The Outside Angle for higher goals he believed that student performance would im- porve. Every student can learn. Besides improving the basic education of students, Payzant had opinions on other issues. By visiting two to three schools a week, he quickly learned the problems and concerns of each school and the district overall. With regards to optional physical education for high school stu- dents, the superintendent point- ed out that the district had to be cautious that students would re- ceive some exercise. Faced with tight schedules of some students, he suggested placing several ac- tivities, such as athletics, that took up a period after school. Payzant favored integration and had no conflict with the courts here. He saw it as an op- portunity, not a problem. That mix is much more realistic. Al- though the superintendent saw the magnet program and Volun- tary Ethnic Enrollment Program as good starts, he did see a need for more. Payzant also stressed other aspects of integration. 'fWe must look at the quality at the end of the bus ride. We have to be careful not to find ourselves playing the numbers game. The new superintendents re- lationship with the School Board started well with an eight hour discussion about the future year. He did admit that, When you come to a new job you have a honeymoon. Payzant wondered when it would end. L'They say what they want and I like that, was his simple way of describing the board. Payzant made several administrative changes by res- tructuring many departments and unloading unneeded person- nel. School Shorts How severe was the sho age of math and science teac ers? California schools lost 64 math and science teachers ea year to industry. Nationwide t number of new math teache declined 77 C70 over ten yearsgl science teachers the drop-off w 63 070. And 30070 of those who 0 teach were underqualified. California dropped to 5C in the nation when it came to d lars spent per student. The : vere state budget probler didn't help much. Book-of-the-Month club i students? The San Diego Schc Board announced a plan to i quire each student to read o book a month, Enforcement this plan was seen as difficult I: i was kept alive.

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l iT ' l Th -Out id Angl Familiar faces, fresh faces, fading faces. It was a year filled with people in the news. The birth of a future king, the death of a princess, new hope for peo- ple with heart conditions, a popular band retired, and the Padres got a new player. The year flew by, and only in retro- spect did we realize how many names made headlines and magazine covers. William Arthur Phillip Louis was born to bear a heavy bur- den: he was second in line to the throne of England, while his un- cle, Prince Andrew, dated a soft-pron actress Koo Stark. In Russia, leader Leonid Brezhnev died and was replaced by KGB leader Uri Andropov who seemed ready to deal with our President Reagan. James Watt planned to make the California coastline a site for oil drillers. A massacre occurred in Lebanon and Israeli Defense Minister Sharon was forced to resign much to the disapproval of Richard Gere stars in the romantic film, An Officer and a Laker basketball star Kareem Abdul Jabar sets several Paul Newman plays a lawyer in The Verdict. Billy Martin returns to the Yankees as manager for a third Drew Barrymore captures America's hearts in E.T. Teen heart-throb Matt Dillon grows up to star in Tex. Gag Me, is the phrase popularized by Moon Unit Zappa's Secretary of the Interior, James Watt continues to infuriate President Ronald Reagan faces two more years in office Iia-c-es Poppin ut of Everywhere Menachem Begin. Valley girls were all the rage, and Michael Fagan stole an un- allowable peek at Queen Eliza- beth. Barney Clark lived through an operation which gave him an artificial heart, and John De Lorean was arrested for possession and intent to sell 220 pounds of cocaine. ln sports, Mercury Morris was arrested and sentenced to 20 years to life in prison for sell- ing drugs. Kareem Abdul Jab- bar led the Los Angeles Lakers to be the best in basketball while John Riggins was chosen as most valuable player in the Superbowl which the Washing- ton Redskins won. Jimmy Con- ners won the U.S. Open singles title and Steve Garvey joined the Padres. Eubie Blake, a living jazz mu- sician legend, died at age 100 and The Who broke up after many years of performing. Singer Karen Carpenter died at age 32 of a heart attack as a Gentleman. NBA records. time. Valley Girl. environmentalists. and possibly more? Prince William is born in July to a pari of proud parents. f ' Jan-Michael Vincent is oohed and aahed over by girls 5 when he stars in ABC's The Winds of War. ' Heather 0'Rourke cries out in Poltergiest. r result of anorexia nervosa. A new youngster appeared on the movie screen, Drew Bar- rymore and her pal E.T. warmed the hearts of thou- sands of viewers. Dustin Hoff- man of Tootsie and Ben King- sely of Ghandi earned themselves nominations for Os- cars. Richard Gere forced wom- en across the country to be- come starstruck after his part in An Officer and A Gentle- man. Meryl Streep earned an Oscar nomination for her role in Sophie's Choice, and Jessica Lange gained a nomination for her role in Frances. Pia Za- dora gained fame, though her rich husband may have bought it for her, and Steven Spielberg earned a huge amount of mon- ey for his two successes, E.T. and Poltergeist. This year also saw many losses, Hugh Beaumont of Leave it to Beaver of a heart attack, Ingrid Bergman of Can- cer, Vic Morrow of a tragic acci- dent occurring during filming and Grace Kelly in a car acci dent. 218 The Outside Angle