Pittsburg High School - Pirate Yearbook (Pittsburg, CA)

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1986 IN RETROSPECT 1986 had been a year of ups and downs, heroes and villians, econom- ic stability and shak y international affairs. We learned about courage against great odds, and downfall in the face of defeat. 1986 had an aroma of death hovering, but also an air of prosperity in a helpful, hopeful soci- ety. otionol On january 28th, what would have been the first space shuttle flight to carry a civilian into space, ended in tragedy. just 73 seconds af- ter lift-off, school teacher, Christa McAuliffe and six fellow crew mem- bers died in the worst space accident in history. The devastating explosion of the Challenger brought doubts about space exploration into many people's minds. It was feared that many children would not pursue any ambitions for fear of failing in a huge way, just as the Challenger's flight did. Despite the tragedy, many chil- dren eventually came to realize that around the world. The beginning of the year brought with it the most se- vere drought in almost one hundred years to the farmers of the south east- ern portion of the United States. Up to three million dollars in damage re- sulted. In mid-February, a severe Pacific coast storm caused flooding and avalanches, taking seventeen lives and causing 33,000 people to flee from their homes. Early in the year, good news for some Phillipinos arose. President Ferdinand Marcos came to the end of his twenty year reign over the country, after an election resulting in Corizon Aquino's Presidency. It was discovered that Marcos added to the country's economic depletion by ac- tually taking the people's money for his own economic gain. Another top story for '86 was the conflict between the United States and the country of Libya, led by Moammar Gadhafi in the Middle 1 ' X challenges are part of everday life, they involve risks, but are usually worth taking. Many natural disasters brought death and injury to many people 1- Eastern portion of the world. On April 15th, 150 of our attack planes dropped sixty tons of bombs over Libya. President Reagan justified our attack by calling it an attack on terrorism. Through the rest of the year, the U.S. did not fall victim to anymore terrorist acts perpetrated by the Libyans. Terrorism was on the rise in'86 as hijackings, kidnappings, and bombings filled the news almost ev- ery week. Libya, prior to our attack on them, was responsible for such an attack as the bombing of the West Berlin disco, where an American man was killed. The Palestinians claimed responsibility for blowing up another nightclub and a separate jetliner in a London airport. On April 26th, many people's worst nightmare came true when the Chernobyl nuclear reactor, in the Ukraine territory of Russia, caught fire and exploded. A huge cloud of radiation hovered the globe with more toxic radiation than that re- leased by an atomic bomb. The So- viets tried to keep the disaster a se- cret but detection by Scandinavian countries disclosed the story. On a much lighter side, Our own Lady Liberty aged 100 years this year. A dazzling celebration, involv- ing millions of dollars of fireworks, lit New York Harbor on Iuly fourth as the nation viewed with delight. All photos courtesy of The Daily Ledger.

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Seniors Gul f . Nayra Cambaros shows off her school Drummer Louis Esposito promotes spirit at an spirit by wearing a Pirate sweat shirt. . , after school rally, lk Class Commissioner Iessica Medieros holds up the mrich desired spirit stick. Class competitions were held for the stick. Varsity player Kevin Toliver Varsity football players Donald Ray Hines, Donovan shows off his 1181 jersey. Souders, and Anthony Dent look on at a songleader rou- tine. During a battle for the spirit stick, 24 Seniors stuffed into a station wagon to win it for the class. SENIORS love rallies, and at this one they show up in droves. Seniors 0 ' .

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Six million people comprised the au- dience on Manhattan Island as many others watched the gala event on television. In addition to the celebra- tion, The Lady was given a 66 million dollar facelift with a remaining 186 million dollars in private gifts for her future. Returning to natural disasters, on August 21st, a cloud of poisonous gas rose from a lake in Camaroon, Africa, killing more than 1,700 peo- ple. Then, in the United States, mother nature contradicted herself by giving us tropical storms from the Pacific Ocean in September and Oc- tober. The storms destroyed more crops and property, causing several hundred million dollars in damages. On October 10th, a devastating earthquake in El Salvador killed more than one thousand people. At the top of the political news, the Iran Arms Deal caused great con- troversy in the nation. In November, the public learned of the dealing, and the fact that the money from the arms sales was put into Swiss banks for the Nicaraguan Contras. Several chief officials claimed ignorance of the dealings, and at the time of this publication, nothing had gone through Congress. Details were sketchy as new information is re- vealed daily. As a result of the controversy, a k Dx A 'ix Vlwfvf I ' I K 0 3,-.1'vsiil .MY V, I .ff M 5... , 1 I , S . R . W' -Xifvvil ' ww. ,MW .,,, ' .ww-'Y ... Y ' svn-si-'may : ,. is f s ,awe , sk wa ,M i '-Q. X wg s' 3 .I Wi. ,, -'f - '. vu wf , s .iq X . '0. egg' A X S fail? . .Y ,Q 'N tin ii A4 ' '53 I . , 1 new word was created to suit the de- ceit. The word is Disinformation defined as the act of taking a lie or deception and packaging it in a posi- tive manner so as to convince others of its validity. This word will be added to many of our dictionaries and other newly published verbal references. The new tax reform tied up many loopholes such as the deduc- tions of sales taxes and many charity 5' -,,...- donations. In the process, however, the tax burden was taken off of six million poverty stricken Americans and directed more towards large cor- porations. Anti-drug battles from all sides were out with great strength and sup- port. The cocaine related deaths of Len Bias, a newly drafted Boston Celtic, and Don Rogers, a promising Cleveland Brown rookie, brought the public's attention to the huge problem of narcotics in our country. Lf' 4'rP' Afsffbwf ae- - 4 'Evil -S 4 f--J .-. 4 . Q - I -I T .. K I: in jf- 1 V V-.,. 0 2: -,1 --- 151121 za - . s ,, 1 ..:f'h.T .2N lE?, i . qi? xv.. I .- 'Lf ' - Q kurt' 1 ' f I