Stratford High School - Mnemosyne Yearbook (Houston, TX)

Page 61 text:

I J Junior Robin Morris relaxes on the Punk r0Ck meeis the Texas Long- bus that took staffers to the lnterscho- horns BS Junior Cathy l-ludspeth dis- lastic League Press Conference in plays her purchases from the Austin Austin. trip g - A Exhausiion prevails as staffers pau?-'ng dU 'n9 3 Wf?'QhfY f9flQ'OUS receive their deadline Things got debate, Senior Jeff Falick scowls over fafhef sluggish fowafd me end! ii 53,5 an opponents arguments Senior Steve RIDDYA F' x. , my unior Brad Todes contemplates ' vhether or not to use a Certain photo- iraph on his page ofthe Oracle. 'We're very serious about this dead- nel explains Ms Peggy Schneider, My , idvisor, as Senior Chris Wallis looks Q ' 'l H r J, Jn Hr ' 'W ' , -sw ' ..f .. M ,., , ,.,,,f'7 g .., publications 57

Page 60 text:

0 Staffers visit UT campus Q 0 Deadlines create problems Q 0 Paper wins second in state 0 . fi? is - t. . 5 -A me ff- n f 'V .9 at 99 2311! ' - 1' , 3? wi .s 22.2 .rg o Student Newspaper ' Stratford High School ' 14555 Fern ' Houston TX - ' I found that it takes more than time, energy, talent and perseverance to produce a newspaper. lt takes money. And more often than not, we just didn't have enough, said Oracle Editor-In-Chief Chris Wallis. Financial problems combined with the rising costs of commercial offset printing made change inevitable. We switched to a new size of paper called mini-tabloid that is roughly half the size of the old Oracle. And we were only able to publish eight issues as opposed to last year's 12, said Managing Editor Cathy Hudspeth. After producing five issues, the staff encountered the infamous Oracle crisis. lt took us 70 days to complete issue 6, and overall it was very demoralizing. We had the paper ready to go several times, but we simply didn't have enough ads sold. So we had to constantly revise and update, said adviser Ms. Peggy Schneider. A grade crack-down followed the crisis in order to provide some staffers with the motivation needed to complete two more issues. A fast-paced, quick-witted, and sharp-tongued atmosphere prevailed during the fifth period Oracle staff class. With the diversity of people that we had it would have been impossible for things not to be interesting. After all, we had a rabbi-to-be, a vegetarian jogger, a chain- smoking Muppet fan and a reformed druggie, said Feature Editor Julia Joseph. Certain moments really 56 publications stand out in my mind as being especially memorable. For instance, the time when we had a minister for a substitute, and he, Jeff Busch and Jeff Falick held a Judeo-Christian summit meeting, recalled Chris. I remember when every member ofthe staff signed a petition to stop Chris from running the headline, 'Sniff, Flomel, sniff,' said Cathy. And how could I forget when I went to pose forthe cover picture with Santa Claus and found him completely stoned? she said. Due in part to a close friendship between the Oracle and Mnemosyne editors, much of the traditional animosity between the two staffs were abolished. We even ate spaghetti and gefilte fish and watched The Exorcist together, said Junior Brad Todes in reference to one of the combined staff parties. For their hard, if sometimes inconsistent work, the Oracle staff placed second in AAAA newsmagazine competition at the April interscholastic League Press Conference in Austin. Ms. Schneider remarked, Not bad -for beginners. I was trying to come up with some news tips, but there were times when the ideas just wouldnt come, said Senior Julia Joseph. Phone calls often meant advertising money, as was the case in this instance with Junior Jeff Busch.

Page 62 text:

Looking tor the best action shot, Junior Jennifer VanGilder skims over her negatives taken at the track meet. They deserve a break today! After finishing a newspaper photo assign- ment, Juniors Jennifer VanGilder and Robin Morris relax with an icy cold l oo G Q O Ei - S Ga f- QQ X ' ' ' Q, 1 , - Q ' It 5 0 Q - - J f Q Have you ever looked up because, you get to go on when they didn't have their from your work in oiass to the football field during pictures, Jennifer added, find yourself Staring infg the games, in addition to being and sometimes it wasn't single glass eye gf a permitted to do a lot of our fault. camera? things other people don't. ln spite of difficulties, Pretend l'm not here, Also, 8CC0fdll'19 to Fl0bir1. most photographers the photographer tells you. YOU take PlClUf9S of 8 lOl of considered their position to Hah! Easier said than done. strange things. . . be a valuable experience. Throughout the year, Such strange things lt's like learning your career photographers were lflcluded Ayatollah Kl'10m9lr1l for free, said Jennifer. frequently seen in toilet Pape' and the HWS lt's teaching me J classrooms and at school and legs PlCfUred onthe responsibiIity, commented functions busily taking their COVSY of an 0faCl6 ISSUS- Sophomore David Dukes, l assigned pictures, Junior Once, Robin commented, Mnemosyne photographer. Jennifer Van Gilder, Oracle ll1eYlll19 Ofacle Slaffi l learrl Something new photographer, commented asked all of US to 90 to an everyday that only that being 3 photographer ice cream parlor and take experience can teach you. often meant a free page to pictures of that. Head Photographer anything that was According to Oracle Junior Yvette Helin learned happening at the school. But Pl10l09f3Pll9f Tom Dealy, a what being under pressure it was still work. junior, staffers often expect really means. Yvette found Junior Robin Morris liked the impossible, that one of her main ' being a photographer The writers got very irate Pf0blemS Wai l10l9fl0U9h cooperation. Yvette coke at McDonald 's. commented, It was hard at first, but it's easy now. There really isn't much I don't like about it, said Jennifer. I enjoy it. lt's very interesting. 58 photographers