Pflugerville High School - Panther Paw Yearbook (Pflugerville, TX)

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Current Events Moments The events of 1985-86 were marked by tragedies, but there were some bright moments as well. I did not really know what was going on until someone told me, said an ob- server after shuttle mission 51-L ended on January 28, 1986, 13 seconds after lift- off in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The space shuttle exploded and took seven lives with it, including the woman who was to be the first teacher in space, Christa McAuliffe. America was not the only country that experienced tragedies. In Mexico City, a series of devasting earthquakes rumbled through the city in September and the death toll was in thousands. Worldwide efforts were made to raise money to re- build the city. Terrorism was a major problem in 1986. President Reagan shocked the world when he took action against Lybia by bombing terrorist training camps. A Trans World Airlines jet, flight 847, was hijacked in Athens, Greece, in June with 145 passengers and eight crew members on board. 106 hostages were released in days, but the remaining 39 hostages were held for 17 days. One American hostage was killed. Four Palestinian terrorists hijacked the Italian cruise liner Achille Lauro and one American was killed. After the ship was released, the Egyptian government agreed to return the hijackers to the PLO. However, because of President Reagan's action the hijackers were intercepted by American jets as they flew out of Egypt and returned to U.S. to stand trial. For the peace of the world, President Reagan and Mikail Gorbachchev talked at the peace talks in Fleuv D'Eau and ceremonies were held at various times during the year in Washington to com- memerate the 10th anniversary of the fall of Saigon government in Vietnam. The eyes of the world were also on the starving. U.S.A. for Africa and Live Aid were established to raise money for Ethi- 5 opia, and Farm Aid focused on the plight of farmers. Some of the uplifting moments were in sports, as Cincinatti Reds player-man- ager Pete Rose broke Ty Cobb's career hitting record in September and the Kan- sas City Royals won the World Series by defeating the St. Louis Cardinals. Bret Saberhagen was named the most valu- able player of the series. In football, the Chicago Bears won Su- per Bowl XX by defeating the New Eng- , land Patriots. This was a year that had many histori- cal events all over the world that changed the lives of many people. These events are now in the past, but will affect us forever. In History

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)VJ° 1. Senior Carrie Hays shows her clowning spirit with a funnel on her head. We understand Carrie, it gets to us all. 2. Senior Randy Pogue poses for a GQ look on a summer weekend. 3. Senior Travis Turman shows he has enough school spirit for everyone. 4. Junior Jeff O'Neal shows he has a great sense of humor. 5. Seniors show their sense of humor while they take a break on a work of art. Seniors shown, Front row: Kami Kaatz, Mark Bitleris, Phillip Knoblock, Tammy Hoddle, Tammy Seaton: back row: Jeff Hawkes, Woody Patrick, Greg Phillips, and Jim Grey- beck. Clowning Around Hey moms! Just look at us now! Each new year students learn new things. Most of our time is spent learn- ing things like English, math, history and science. Teachers are not the only ones who teach us about life, however. Every once in a while there are things that other students can teach you — like how to talk yourself out of trouble or how to have a great food fight without getting caught. It is during this time that your friends are at their best! There were actually times that stu- dents appreciated being at school. These were the times when our classmates made complete clowns of themselves. Do you remember the time when Rod- ney Bray, junior, began to eat crickets in class? Or the times when freshmen were given the opportunity to buy nonexis- tent tickets to ride the elevators? Do you remember senior Gary Avant's mohawk —Clowning Around 17— haircut? Teachers even got into the act. At one of the more memorable pep rallies. Coach Frank Tighe and assistant princi- pal Dan O'Leary joined in the fun by bestowing kisses on an unwilling victim, a piglet. No matter how many rules and regula- tions there are in school, the clowns will find a way around them.

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1. After reaching a certain point in the sky, the space shuttle exploded, killing the seven men and women on it. 2. Christa McAuliffe folds her training uniform for her trip to Houston for training for space. 3. The Vietnam Memorial was erected in Washington, with more than 58,000 names of soldiers dead or missing. 4. Geneva, November 19, Fireside Chat-President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. 5. War in Middle East continued in 1985. A Moslem man hugs his son moments after a bomb explosion outside West Beirut. 6. A series of devastating earthquakes rumbled through Mexico City in September. 7. The Kansas City Royals won the World Series. —Current Events 19—