Westlake High School - El Paisano Yearbook (Austin, TX)

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Deadline doom days Last minute cramming causes stress As the minutes ticked into hours, clock watchers fought the dread of dead- lines and due dates when procrastination took its toll and cramming took its role. 1 usually begin to work on a major assign- ment a night or two before it ' s due because I don ' t like to write or have to look up information. I just put it off until I really have to do it ' junior Jenny Ross said. Many exhausted stu- dents turned to a variety of stimulants such as No Doz, Vivarin, or high caf- feinated drinks to give them a quick pick-me-up in order to meet their assigned deadlines on time. No Doz or Vivarin helps to keep my eyes open. I usually take them the night before exams or the night before I have a research paper due, sophomore Marta Teegan said. However, several lazy students often found themselves blowing off assignments until the day they were due. At times Study of the sun Taking advantage of free time, junior Sabre Howard prepares for a lest. Many students camped out in the courtyard so they could b oth sun and study. like these, students took advantage of their spare time in other classes to desperately try to finish their homework. If I have an as- signment due that I didn ' t complete the night be- fore, I work on it either at lunch or during my free time in other classes, sophomore Tracy Walker Kick back While stretching his legs, ju- nior Joel Robison finishes his homework in art class. Many found that assignments done before class or in other classes allowed more free time after school. Teamwork Before their government test, seniors Mark Mangum and Kim Maddux compare notes, and study guides. If assis- tance could not be found with classmates, students also sought help in tutorials . said. Despite deadline pressure, procrastination even caused teachers concern as they graded papers until eleven o ' clock at night. At times such as the end of the six weeks and end of semester, no matter how carefully we plan, I think teachers, like students, undergo periods of staying up late, losing sleep, working through lunch, etc. in an effort to get their work in on time, English teacher Mrs. Martha Adams said. No matter how hard people try to finish things on time, another deadline always loomed just over the horizon and no matter how hard people tried to put it off, one always managed to catch up with them and then the only solution was a late night cramming session. When I put off a deadline till the last minute, I first organize my ideas which is the hard part, use lot ' s of B.S., and then I throw everything together, senior John Taylor said. Do YOU PREFER A PEN OR PENCIL FOR WRITING? Pencils 18% ( fENS82%| Tapping away To the tunc on the record player, junior Micky Rose completes his typing assignment. Music kept rhythm for students as they first learned the home base keys and then perfected their skills. Writer ' s block To finish her data processing home- work, sophomore Elizabeth Davis taps away at her computer terminal at home. For a more professional look, students chose typed papers instead of handwritten. Take a Number ACADEMICS

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Paper Caper Struggling to finish a research paper before class, sophomore Mike Nilsen works assidu- ously in the library. Students used the few minutes before the bell to their advan- tage. 0)i L ifesaving Library h ' .1 Q Research □ Flirt with girls ill □ Talk Q Flirt with guys JL 1 □ Take a test Q Get out of class Hy Q Get a book a Loudly whisper TmC □ Photocopy Q Clear up fines The eyes have it Massive reading courses result in visual fatigue Word by word, phrase by phrase, sentence by sentence, paragraph by paragraph and page by page, eyes tired and patience wore thin as stu- dent readers focused on the words which they lived or died by. I read almost an hour a night, but only because it is absolutely required for my English IIIH class, junior Amy Tesar said. Even though students had to read from 30 minutes to three hours nightly, the books assigned each month in preparation for reports and tests resulted in teachers spending up to 12 hours a weekend grading. One test in the class takes 10 to 12 hours to grade, so I end up spend- ing my entire weekend grading essay tests. I could just have scantron tests, but you cannot learn persuasive writing skills without practice and you need writing skills like that to do well in college, Kay Orell, head of the history department, said. Students also used books as an escape from other assignments, seeking adventure from the frightful corridors of Stephen King books, the most popular ones chocked out of the library, or the harsh realities found in History of World War I , the most read book in the library. I like the way Stephen King frightens you with his writing style and makes it interesting at the same time. A lot of stories that scare you are not interesting at the same time, junior Jay O ' Meara said. Stephen King is my favorite author. Most students spent minimal time reading, with only 8% reading more than one book a month for fun. EYE-STRAIN With one day left to complete her book, junior Trudi Donaldson quickly reads The Grapes of Wrath in the commons which provided a place for studying. WEWMlSmnMHSl Passed out After receiving back graded homework assignments from English teacher Mrs. Connie High, freshman Jason Hoo- ver figures his three-week average. Progress reports hit home mail boxes every other three weeks. Good news Maintaining an understanding of current events, sophomore Jason Brice reads The Wall Street Journal every day. Under cover To protect her textbook according to state require- ments, junior Julie Famie fol- lows the directions and makes her American History book look generic like all others. up Slipping Covers show bookowners ' personalities Fold here, cut there, slip cover on book. Tea- chers distributed class textbooks and students covered them. Mandated by a state law, texts took on a personality as book borrowers creatively went undercover. I had a book this year and I could tell at one point it went without a cover and the hardback cover of the book got wet and was expanded and had bubbles on it, junior Wade Beard said. Approximately 12,000 book covers, given by the state, protected the books throughout the semester. Creative covers, when uti- lized accordingly, main- tained the textbook ' s life- span for five years. I think they stink, but I like the blank ones bet- ter, junior John Mueller said. Edited by Heather Morris MQil THREE TO GET READY I

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I dislike deadlines because they can be devasting for procrastinators who need lots of sleep. If you do not plan in advance you are going to have to stay up all night to finish junior Caroline George I suppose deadlines are necessary, but I dislike them because I do not do it all till the day that it is due and the pressure and lack of sleep is just too intense for me to handle junior John Bergeron Methods vary for presenting papers Writer s Cramp When it came to writing, both good and bad students searched out the right ways to write. Of the varied ways to put it on paper, writers chose from the most common methods such as hand- writing or more complex methods such as word processing. I use a computer because it is easier, due to all the editing options from which to chose from, junior Iain Sclater said. Though with a computer, it can become less important what words end up on the paper as much as the fact that they are in clear legible columns. Any report written on the computer is an automatic ' A ' for me; teachers get tired of sloppy, messy, unreadable manuscript. It ' s the ultimate in brown-nosing, sopho- more Jason Brice said. However, the results of a tea- cher poll proved only two out of three teachers actually preferred computer-written reports to hand- written. Computers are not trust-worthy; I always like to see reports done by hand, Coach Robert Brashear said. Even though some teachers held nothing but mistrust for the computer, other teachers liked the professionalism of the computer generated documents. I really enjoy type-written pa- pers—they compare those students that are lazy, disorganized, and in- competent to those that are superior in most mental ways. , librarian Sally Morgan said. The style with which a writer presented his work might vary from when an assignment was due. For whatever reason the writer chose to use that particular style, he was never the less being judged on it. Typical typing tedium tries temper With back complete- ly straight, hands in position, eyes forward and ears attentive and waiting for a record to begin saying ],],], space, K,K,K, space,... , many students found the monotony of typing class lacking in entertainment. The record makes class more interesting, but I don ' t think it helps any- more than the book or teacher, sophomore Nan- cy Higgins Sciid. Despite the type- along-to-record techni- que, many said they remained unexcitcd by At least now, I know where a few of the keys are. Now I know how to type on my computer using more than two fingers. sophomore Keith Blake the record and unexcited by the class. I really think typing is a boring class, like all of my other classes that I ' m in, freshman John Kaiser said. Although some saw no benefits in taking the course, others said the class improved their homework and grades in other classes. Since I ' m taking typ- ing, it has helped me in using my computer which I use for other classes, junior Joel Haro said. Some courses like geometry never seemed to be of any use, while typing on the other hand continued to be of use throughout high school. I took typing class in 7th grade for a year, and I ' m even better at typing now since I still have to type papers for other classes, junior Trisha Boyer said. Even though typing out a letter 15 times in a row might have seemed silly at the time, in the long run, the advantages outweighed the negatives. At least now, I know where a few of the keys are. Now I know how to type on my computer using more than two fingers, sophomore Keith Blake said. FRANTIC FINGERS As she faces her senior wills deadline, Kim James IjTpes on the only vacant typewriter that she could find. Seniors, who published wills, not only had to meet deadlines, but also had to type them. Edited by Stephen Harrison I THREE TO GET READY|