Warren Central High School - Wigwam Yearbook (Indianapolis, IN)

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f a bad one by Jan Fair “And here is our latest fist of school closings for tomorrow in Indianapolis and surrounding areas . . During the month of January students found themselves spending much of their time listening to radio and weather forecasts to see if their school would be closed the following day. Due to the abnormally cold temperatures and the n early d isast ro us natural gas sh ortag e, Warren Township students missed 1 0 scheduled school days. - Some students took advantage of ;■ this surprise vacation to get out in the weather, while others simply passed their time by sitting at home. Senior Jim Coplen ventured down a heavily drifted Franklin Road and spent an af- ternoon pulling cars from the deep snow with his jeep. Sophomore Cathy McKee spent part of her spare time viewing current movies, while senior Lynn Tisdale Sat upstairs and watched tv where it was warm. ' Various businesses were also af- fected. Because of the gas shortage they were ; requested to reduce their gas consumption by 40 percent. Ther- mostats were automatically set at 55 degrees, or in some cases, turned off completely because lights and electric heaters provided ample warmth for patrons. Mr. Dick Worth, Washington Square . mall manager, stated that although Ayres closed earlier than usual, the other stores were staying open until 9 p.m. “None of our stores use gas, and . therefore, are not affected by the shortage.” He did add, however, that bad weather h ad prom pted some stores to close early on occasion. , For many students the reason for the gas shortage was not clear. Oil companies moved a lot of their drilling to the Middle East in the 1960s. Be- cause new gas often was discovered while drilling for oil, gas discoveries in the United States have decreased in recent years. A more fundamental reason was that after years of discovering the biggest and easiest gas fields, there were fewer and fewer of them waiting to be found: Meanwhile, the natural gas in- dustry built up its market with discount rates f b r la rge industrial users and ad- vertisers to stimulate household gas and other sales. Since about 1968, the United States had simply been burning up more gas than it s found every year, and siphon- ing off its reserves. That sort of thing couldn’t go on very long without run- ning into shortages. It seemed that with one cold winter, the United States energy crisis was back. The problem was that there was not enough natural gas to go around. “There’s no other year when we’ve tied or broken so many records,” re- ported meteorological technician Roger Kenyon in The Indianapolis Star. The Weather Service said Janu- ary 1977 was the most frigid first month in any year since someone started keeping track of such things back in 1873. Police begged persons not to travel other than for emergency purposes, so that any clear passageways on roads could be open to emergency vehicles. Shoppers did not travel on the slip- pery and snow covered roads unless they were in need of essentials. Though most businesses were abie to stay open in spite of the gas shortage, all were affected by the loss of clien- tele, except the food chain stores. Most grocery stores were open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. According to a spokesperson for Krogers, this had not affected business. “We just have more compact hours,” she said. Mr. Michael DeFabis, president of Preston-Safeway Foods stated, “About the only problems we encoun- tered was getting employees to their job.” The utility company pleaded with its residential customers to keep their thermostats to 65 degrees in the dayt- ime and 60 degrees at night. Many fac- tories were ordered to keep thermo- stats just high enough to protect H O Vitality I VJ Energy crisis

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Vitality Election Democratic candidate for It. gover- nor, Mr Thomas Teague, answers questions from the assembly of govern- ment classes. Congressman Andy Jacobs, Demo- cratic candidate for 1 1 the District, talks to Mr. Orr’s government class at the Federal Building downtown. Expressing his views on issues and candidates, Mr. Dan Burton, Republi- can candidate for the 44th District, spends some time with students who are interested in the election. students rally for the cause Only a few months before the gen- eral election, Americans considered the presidential election as an anticli- max to the bicentennial year, accord- ing to the Gallup and Harris polls. However, on election night both voters and non-voters across the nation viewed with concern and anticipation one of the closest presidential races in American history. Guaranteed by the 26th Amend- ment, 18 year olds for the second time in history were able to exercise the right to vote. About 150 students who were already 18 volunteered their time to help at the polling places. Senior Debbie Riggs was eligible to vote, but because she was working at the polls, she was required to cast her ballot downtown at the City-County Building at least a week before the election. Debbie was excused from school on election day because she showed her credentials to the deans the day before election. Debbie said she was up at 4 a.m. to be at her precinct, John Marshall High School, by 6 a.m. She said she didn’t leave the poll until 8 p.m. “I will probably do it again next year,” said Debbie. Why did students like Debbie spend all that time and energy on an elec- tion? Mr. Philip Douglas, government teacher and inspector at the Lakeside polls, said, ‘‘For some of them it’s be- cause it’s the first time. It’s something new.” Another reason for student interest might have been the number of candi- dates that visited during school hours to speak to students and answer ques- tions. Visitors ' included Sen. Vance Hartke, a Democrat, running for his fourth term to the U.S. Senate; Thomas Teague, Republican for the 44th Congressional District, and Larry Buell, Republican for 11th District congressman. On a larger scale, Indianapolis was visited by the two major candidates, Jimmy Carter and President Gerald Ford. Mr. Carter was welcomed at Weir Cook International Airport where he gave his campaign speech. President Ford flew in with Air Force escort and gave a speech at the Scottish Rite Cathedral. President Ford carried the vote in In- diana and also at Warren Central. In the mock election taken the Monday before the eiection, Mr. Ford had 1 ,002 votes and Mr. Carter received 385. Students supported Mr. Lugar with 1,072 votes to Hartke’s 257. Mr. Ja- cobs had 887 votes to Buell’s 437. Mr. Bowen received 977 votes over Mr. Conrad’s 361 . The votes were accurate for Indiana, but in the presidential election Mr. Car- ter won with the strong foundation of the south. When students were asked how they felt about the outcome of the presiden- tial election, three out of four students thought Gerald Ford would make a better president. The reasons some other students gave were, ‘‘Ford’s more experienced,” ‘‘Carter con- tradicts himself,” and some just “couldn’t stand Jimmy Carter.”

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equipment. As a result some closed because they were ordered by the gas company to do so or because it was just too cold for employees to work. With the closings came a jump in the- unemployment figures. Warren Central was not heated by gas but by oil. Nevertheless, by the middle of February, crews of township maintenance men turned thermostats down to 65 in every room in the school. Students complained about the colder temperatures for the first few days but soon learned how to dress to stay warmer. At the height of the storm crisis, Mr. Roland F. Knox, supervisor of street operations for the Indianapolis Depart- ment of Transportation, commented in the Star, “We are fighting a losing battle right now. As long as the wihd Mr. Austin Walker, superintendent of continues as it has— up to 34 miles an Warren Tpvynship schools, said final hour— there is very little we can do. We exams would be given to Waffen Ceri- have plenty of salt, but it is useless tral High Schoor students on a ‘‘no with these cold temperatures. If the fail” basis, meaning students couJd wind stops, we will start an ali-put ef- help their. grades, but not hurt them by fort to clear roads.’’ taking final exams During the crisis some faced not “Our concern was that some stu- only shortages of fuel, but milk and dents Who needed final exams to im- food, because highway and rail travel prove their grades would be hurt if we was at a standstill, especially in the didn’t allow the exams to be given,’’- northern half of Indiana. Mr. Walker said. “But we’ve lost so Finally, with so many days of school much school, and many students missed, several events were canceled might have been hurt by the layoff,” and had to be rescheduled or forgot- In an effort to help students catch ten. Students were worried about upon lost studies, the State Depart- being faced with final exams when ment of Education scheduled general school resumed. Worries were over, classes on television. The classes however, when they learned that the were to benefit public school students exams would not be compulsory. of all ages and could be viewed at 7 a.m. aturday. ; ; Sqj Mrmid-term graduates were origir Hscheduled to graduate Janu- ary aHUHowever, like many other evenflBBe snow delayed the occasion un 1Bfc ary6 Th H ter storm also brought a set- back fedminiatrative organization. • Repod M Js for the fall semester, HW ic K V anuar y 21 , were not is- February 15. i l HPhigh school sports jA HI Kurricular ; Ee. «| Vrh e faculty play, “Ar- Lace,” originally planned ' ' bnuary 15 and 16 was rescheduled to February 5 and 6. “Some One Acts with Class,’’ the class plays, was rescheduled three times. It • ri i2 a, iL planned for January -S, || 0 , 1uary 1( and final| y P er 19. The girls ' gymnastics season to begin Jah- uaryi nibwever, the snow storm de- layed it until January 26. The various winter sports teams had to work twice as hard in order to make-up their lost meets. The winter of 77 will be one. to re- member in the years to come, ' Senior Dan Stites and Junior Dawn Graves keep warm by the fireplace dur- ing the energy crisis. : Vitality Energy crisis