At Lincoln High This Week

WHAT PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCE?
You mean your child has not told you about this? Hard to believe.

If you have a child attending Lincoln, Thursday night, Nov. 13th is the day to show up for the Parent-Teacher conference held at the campus beginning at 5 p.m. and ending at 7 p.m.

Find out if your child is really not getting any homework assigned or if there is a classroom problem going on that a little parent-teacher discussion can get worked out.

In any event, it is always a good thing to do- See the people who are teaching your child and let them know you care about what's going on enough to make that trip out there Thursday. Teachers are important, but they can do more with parents who are involved- get involved.

Remember these important words about high school- This is the last time that your son or daughter will have a school that is free- don't let it be wasted.

Street parking on N. Broadway is always perilous- this time I mean that northbound curb parking gets you a ticket between 4 and 6 pm, so check the signs (as any good L.A. traffic survivalist would do).


Friday Night- Wilson Mules come to play the Lincoln Tigers
If you have been following the Tigers this season, there is one last game to be played and it will be at home at 7 p.m. on Friday night against our friendly -and at times, not so friendly- rival , Wilson High. (I knew them when they had their school on the flatlands, a long long time ago.)

Come on to root for our team and while you are there, be sure to bring an appetite so that you can enjoy some LHS Alumni Association food. It's part of the fundraising activites and each year and each game, the menu tries to be better than the last. The prices aren't bad, either.


SATURDAY - THE MAGNET CAMPUS CLEAN UP AT 9 AM.

O.K., you have me there. What are we talking about here? Is the "Magnet Campus" a campus?- and that phrase sounds somehow very magical (that I was not even aware existed separately), or are we just to understand that the "campus clean up" will be done by the "Magnet" school component?

Whoever is doing it needs to be at school at 9 a.m. Simple enough.

The bigger picture, in my view, is "Why do we have to have a CAMPUS CLEAN UP at all?"
If it's an accumulated mess, then the students who attend the school should be KEEPING it clean. What this really does, in my critical view (sorry for that) is to have some constructive-leaning students have to do work for those who are getting a free ride for being untidy members of the student body.

The pride we have in our school should be shown to others in many ways. Keeping it clean is one way. There has to be a bit of "campus beautification" going on at the same time here, and THAT is what everyone should be thinking of. Cleaning up somebody else's mess is not where the energy should go- but we can look at ways to make the school campus look better- and it is one of the better looking ones in the district.

I will leave that whole idea for now. I do want to give credit to those students involved in the Saturday effort that helps keep up Lincoln and it gets our students working together for some improvements that they can immediately enjoy.

Teachers- credit to you, too.
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Veterans Day

The VETERANS DAY holiday is here and for most, as at Lincoln today, there is no school. Many of our traditions and reasons behind what our various holidays are about are not taught to our students as deliberately as our subjects of math and English. Since there is no school today, as with most holidays, not much on the cultural significance of our holidays will be able to be presented in the school setting. Letting that continue tends to erode the significance of these holidays and move our young people away from important parts of our past that should not be forgotten. This short posting is here to be sure that some available knowledge in this area is presented to be passed on so that we can try to turn that trend around.

We are at another yet another legal holiday, and for many, the reason for creating it is not clear. It is a National Holiday, and was begun in November 19, 1919, when President Woodrow Wilson

It began as “Armistice Day” to commemorate the end of World War I, which was referred to then as “The Great War” since they didn’t anticipate another big war like that one to happen again. The “Treaty of Versailles,” officially ending the war, was signed on June 19, 1919, but the fighting stopped seven months earlier, on November 11, 1918. It happened on “the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.”

“Armistice Day” became “Veterans Day” in 1954 when President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a proclamation making November 11th the date that this holiday will be observed.

That’s it in brief, but for more details, you can see on the web, the Department of Veterans Affairs page about the “History of Veterans Day” at http://www1.va.gov/opa/vetsday/vetdayhistory.asp .

The holiday is a way to commemorate service to the country of persons, as veterans now, in a different way than Memorial Day, where the country remembers the memory of lives lost of service personnel by those still here to benefit from their service.

Lincoln High School has historically had many alumni become members in the many branches of military service to this country and this note is to give the recognition to those still with us and to pause a moment to reflect on those who have passed on during their active service or in later years. The veterans from Lincoln High School can be found in many different jobs and in many different parts of the country and the world.

Let this be our modest way of saying to all of them “Thanks for your service” to all of them.

Mayor Tony, CM Weiss and Garcetti Hit The Urinals

Yesterday, Mayor Villaraigosa, Council President Eric Garcetti (CD-13), Council Person Jack Weiss (CD-5) and DWP General Manager David Nahai held a press conference by a men's restroom in a Century City office building that has converted all urinals to "waterless" urinals.

All the jokes and comments were what they consider to be their priority for the moment. Tony is a camera hog and publicity whore, and you would expect that from him instead of doing real work. Garcetti is a 100% "Go Green" advocate and would go for anything green, regardless of how much the cost would be to anyone, including you and me.

The news media comes out for bizarre things that really aren't at the top of urgent matters that affect life and death in L.A. You see little of what goes on in City Hall in the newspapers, and the Times has fired large numbers of staff in the last year, but they stopped real reporting on city issues long ago. The mayor is expert in news conferences but not so in caring about working for the city, as the LA Weekly story, "All-about-me Mayor" (linked in the sidebar) vividly show.

The crime and violence is something that I suppose gets to be put on "hold" while these city officials spend the better part of the morning to show urinals. You can also bet that there is some money to be made by an industry element who manufactures and installs these things, and that this publicity stunt is for the purpose of priming the pump for such things as getting approval for awarding contracts for city business. It all comes back to money besides their own egos.

When it comes to city development and policies- that's been strangely done, and not much in public, for most cases.

Now let's see how much money is going to these guys by way of salary.

"Raises for L.A.'s top city officials look bad," L.A. Daily News, Oct. 30, 2008, http://www.dailynews.com/ci_10860599 - The story show that in these times of increasing financial hardships hitting so many in the country, you have this runaway machine that continues to create raises automatically for city officials. They like to say, "It's out of our hands," but they could change it. They don't like that topic.

The salary for each City Council member over is $180,000.00 per year. They have lot of perks: a city-paid for vehicle, free gasoline, a staff authorization of 20 persons each, and much more that boost the benefits for these ELECTED officials. Do you have any wonder as to why they would like to stay in office?

All is not as it appears and that is what I want to keep in the forefront amid all the stunts and glad-handing that the city government continue to shower us with.

More of this to come.

Eagle Rock Forfeit Compared to 1977 LHS 63-0

The L.A. TIMES "Varsity Times Insider" Blog writer, Eric Sondheimer, compared Eagle Rock High School's forfeit of Friday's away game against Belmont with the 1977 season forfeit by our own Lincoln Tigers that some may not have forgotten and others never heard of. "Football: Eagle Rock Situation is a Fiasco," Nov. 8, 2008, http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/varsitytimesinsider/2008/11/football-eagl-1.html?cid=138264158#comments


Mr. Sondheimer's opinion was that City Section got a reputation for forfeits 31 years ago because of the LHS' loss. In concluding that there is a reputation for forfeits due to that reason both mistates facts that do not support any "reputation" carried from that forfeit, and he mischaracterizes the conditions surrounding the Eagle Rock and Lincoln forfeits that have as the only thing in common the fact that a forfeit was charged.

There was more to that game than casual readers of the sports pages would find in the L.A. TIMES, as usual, and I had to take issue with making the comparison of the forfeits based on entirely different facts that each circumstance presented. The comment was done more from memory than research, and I correct one thing now: the Wilson Coach was Vic Cuccia, not "Ric Cuccia." He passed away in January of this year at the age of 80.

A few more observations others made in the L.A. Times' on Coach Cuccia's career show his success in handling Wilson team of that day and the valued offensive performance that was zealously pursued.

"The coach guided the El Sereno school to a 39-game winning streak in which
the Mules won City Section 3-A championships in 1975, ‘76 and ‘77, led by
his son, Ron, a quarterback who set a national record for total offense.

* * *

The Mules were 151-42-6 during his 22-year coaching career, from 1956 through
1977. He taught for 44 years at Wilson, and the school named its football
stadium in his honor in 1999.

During the 1970s, Wilson’s football team drew standing-room-only home
crowds as its wide-open offense, featuring four wide receivers, rolled up points
and victories." L.A. Times, Jan. 12, 2008, "Innovative football coach made Wilson High School a powerhouse," http://articles.latimes.com/2008/jan/12/local/me-cuccia12

Others' commented on ERHS' overall unenvious situation in various responses to the Blog.

Lincoln Cheerleaders at Veterans Day Parade

The Lincoln High Cheerleaders were able to pause from their march in the parade to show some of their skills as you can see in this clip from Sunday's Northeast Veterans Day Parade.

EAGLE ROCK H.S. COACH ASSAULTED
The ERHS woes continue for their football program- The LA Times reports this morning that Coach Lopez was assaulted during practice on Thursday by a former football player for Eagle Rock High, as another part of the Principal Velasco-Coach Chou controversy continues. http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-football8-2008nov08,0,4479688.column

The Friday game at Belmont was cancelled as Principal Velasco considered it too dangerous since half of the team had been sitting out the practices in the stands and not in a condition to play safely. The assault, he said, was not the reason for the forfeit of the season's last home game for Belmont.

The Daily News also covered the story, and has a few more details. http://www.dailynews.com/sports/ci_10927122

Opinion: Regardless of the loyalty that the students and players feel to Coach Chou and the unhappiness over the situation, there is an extreme lack of maturity shown, a lot of it on the players’ side. If they wanted to protest the decision, they should have continued the protest through their parents and administrative processes, as slow and frustrating as they are.


The idea of being a proponent of sabotage of the team for the entire 2008 season is viewed by many as a high school equivalent of a temper tantrum and pouting child who disagrees with his parents' decisions. The actions on Thursday elevated this to a more serious level.


The whole school suffered this season, and this is one of the best applications for the term, "Cutting off your nose to spite your face." The particular student, according to the story, was urged to hit the coach and he followed their instructions, spearing the coach with a helmet, as the coach was not looking. He ran away afterwards and jumped a fence, which might give you an idea of what he thought his actions represented.


For the student body to accept this level of conduct would be poor policy. The fact that the players were part of the problem, urging the act, shows them to be lacking in the moral character that Coach Chou was credited with instilling in his players. It looks like all the good that Coach Chou was said to have produced in terms of conduct and character did not spill over into all the players, with many on their roster being new players.


While the students may not be happy with the outcome for coaching, they really had an obligation to the school and to the rest of the community to play out their games in the best way that they could. Clearly, this has not been the case. If this team were a private company, you would not see many on that team keeping their jobs.


Part of the high school experience is to prepare the students ready for being full-fledged adults, taking responsibility for their own actions. You are supposed to act accordingly as you move up in grade level, not return to less mature approaches to problems.


The identity of the student who did this crime is known to the players, and probably to the administration, too, since he came into the office to complain about the coach and was told to leave. The routine security procedures would already have made identification here complete, even though the attack was not prevented. If the school did not manage to screen him at all, then the players have a moral obligation to cooperate and give up his name- it will come out sooner or later, anyway. Their are pranks and there are crimes. This was no prank.


It very well could have had more serious consequences. School security, from my observations, is either not taken seriously or applied overly intense for some matters, but weakly or inconsistently in other matters, all in the same school. Entry onto a campus could also endanger other students, which absolutely is intolerable. The attack on the coach was equally serious, with a blatant disregard for authority. Isn’t that the kind of thing that’s been shown in too many high schools where firearms and death have happened? We don’t want to see this again, and we are fortunate if the coach recovers completely. Unexpected bodily impacts can have permanent and disastrous results.


What should happen to the offender? If he is still under age 18, juvenile law will apply, but if he is 18 or over, he is subject to application of the laws as any adult is, and it looks like he should be arrested and charged with the crime and let the criminal process handle the rest. Needless to say, this did not demonstrate any good judgment, but then most criminal conduct provides you with a lot of examples of what reasonable people DON'T do.


Overall, the situation at Eagle Rock High is a shameful situation, with the principal having a history of decisions that certainly have not been crowd-pleasers. It looks like Velasco doesn't care about anything but his own ego, but that's beside the point as far as how the members of the football team (the dissident football players) have handled matters. Even if they think their principal makes lousy decisions does not justify poor performance, and in no way justifies attacking the guy they put in to keep thing running.


If these unhappy players were not going to give it their best effort, they should have quit the team and let students who will try to play give it a shot. Maybe they would have lost every game badly, but they would have had the pride in knowing that they still were not quitters or malingerers who damaged the non-quitters. Doing things like that was simply not honest and again, shows very juvenile attitudes applied to the situation.


There is a Northeast Veterans Day Parade this Sunday at 1pm on Eagle Rock Blvd. Franklin and Eagle Rock usually have their football players appear in the parade in some form as part of the each schools entry. I really don't know whether the ERHS team would have much to be proud of this season to show up, but keeping all of them out would punish the ones who were not blameworthy, and I don't know what that would be in numbers.


I don't think the complainers would want to be in the parade anyway, so that may sort itself out. The rest of the students, as well, already know just who is doing what in this. A good transition season could have come to ERHS even if they lost every game- but, sadly, this situation and tainted season will just be another part of ERHS history.

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LHS FOOTBALL Results up to 11-7-08:

09/12/08 vs Huntington Park High School ........W 34 - 17

09/19/08 vs Fairfax High School ...................................L 8 - 20

09/26/08 @ South Gate High School ...............W 27 - 0

10/03/08 @ Manual Arts High School ...............W 32 - 0

10/10/08 @ Los Angeles High School ..............W 31 - 6

10/17/08 @ Eagle Rock Jr/Sr. High School .........................L 14 - 35

10/24/08 @ Belmont Senior High School ..........W 20 - 14

10/31/08 vs John Marshall High School ............W 27 - 24

11/7/08 vs. Franklin High School ....................................L 29 - 20

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WHAT'S HERE?

Today is Homecoming at Lincoln- JV game time- 3pm; Varsity game time- 7pm.
Franklin High School Panthers will be the opponent in this second-to-last home game.
Remember to stop by the Alumni Association's food stand and buy lots of food- it's really good and reasonably priced- AND remember, when you buy from the Alumni booth, it's helping with the fundraising efforts for LHS student scholarships and needed program assistance.

Next week's home game will be the last for the season and the traditional rivalry continues with Wilson High's Mules coming in to close out the home schedule for this year.

COMING IN THE NEXT WEEK:

Saturday, November 8, 2008: Beginning a weekend to honor veterans and celebrate their service- "Northeast Residents Gather to Salute Veterans"- in Cypress Park/Glassel Park , "The Friends of Cypress Park Community Improvement Association, Inc, (FCPCIA) will partner with the Greater Cypress Park Neighborhood Council to hold the fifth annual event. A traditional ceremony will be held at the Cypress Park Veterans Memorial and then conclude with a Veterans Day celebration at the nearby Cypress Park Recreation Center." See http://egpnews.com/?p=3509 for more details.

Activities planned to include the family of L.A. County Deputy Sheriff Abel Escalante, 27, also a veteran, recognizing his service as well as the service of all others who have served the country. Deputy Escalante was murdered in a drive-by shooting in Cypress Park on August 2, 2008 at 5:45 a.m. as he prepared to leave for work.

Veterans and their families are urged to attend and register according to EGP News -"Marcus Gutierrez, FCPCIA president, said the event is open to everyone not just veterans. He said he is looking for families of veterans to come to the event to help the group in its efforts to identify all veterans from Cypress Park."

More included activities: at Noon- A fly-over by a Blackhawk helicopter, piloted by National Guard pilot Rob Wilson, Garfield High, Class of 1977; a festive performance by local Aztec dance troupe Xipe-Totec; and, the “Shooting Stars,” a team of professional military veteran skydivers to land in Cypress Park Recreation Center field at 12:30 p.m.

Sunday, November 9, 2008: Northeast L.A. 3rd Annual Veterans Day Parade. “ 1 p.m. preceded by an 11 a.m. ceremony at Eagle Rock City Hall.

"The event, formerly the Eagle Rock Veteran’s Day Parade will begin at 11 a.m. with a solemn ceremony and wreath laying at the Veterans memorial at the Eagle Rock old City Hall located on 2035 Colorado Blvd. At 1 p.m. the parade will start at York Blvd and make its way to Eagle Rock Blvd and end at the corner of Castor Ave and Merton Ave. The Parade will conclude with an entertainment program at 2:30 p.m. Councilman Jose Huizar, the Eagle Rock and Glassell Park Neighborhood Councils as well as the Eagle Rock and Highland Park Chambers of Commerce are sponsoring the parade." From the ENG News item above cited, http://egpnews.com/?p=3509 .

Last year's parade included Eagle Rock High School band, cheerleaders, and drill team, and Franklin High's band, cheerleader and drill team members appeared, as did players from the football teams, local officials and organizations were represented with several car club entries among the marchers and other vehicles. Lincoln High School - a northeast area high school- has not been among the entries as yet.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008, VETERANS DAY- LHS will be closed.

Thursday, November 13, 2008- at LHS, Parent/Teacher conference (an Open House) from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. If you have children attending Lincoln, this is a good time to see who the teachers and administrators are, bring any questions you have on your son's or daughter's education and find out what you can do to get the most from attending LHS and see what the teachers need from you, as well, to do their best.

Friday, November 14, 2008- Last Home game for the football season, under the lights- LHS v. Wilson High, JV at 2 p.m., Varsity at 3 p.m.
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CITY SPENDING RE-CAP ON SPECIAL EVENT FEE WAIVERS BY CITY COUNCIL

COMING out of the general fund as approved today by L.A. City Council,
locally, are:
Friday's Agenda Item 33:

"b. MOTION (REYES - PERRY) relative to declaring the Cathedral High School home football games on November 1, and November 15, 2008 a Special Event (fees and costs absorbed by the City = $500).
* * *
e. MOTION (HUIZAR - LABONGE) relative to declaring the Third Annual Eagle Rock Veterans’ Day Parade on November 9, 2008 a Special Event (fees and costs absorbed by the City = $6,135).
* * *
h. MOTION (HUIZAR - LABONGE) relative to declaring the St. Dominic’s Annual Parish Fiesta on November 7-9, 2008 a Special Event (fees and costs absorbed by the City = $11,517). "

Motions on Item 33 passed as submitted. Item "e." should be corrected as the "Northeast Veteran's Day Parade."

Money in these categories comes from the City General Fund that is for having the stated expense covered by the City instead of the named event, intended to be something of a general benefit to the community and public, open for all to participate in, and usually not a for-profit event.

The Council has begun to follow these guidelines more often than before when they were very generous and casual, granting event fee waivers for lots of profit-making events.
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Honoring Our Past


Following the re-dedication to honor Dr. Andrus, a bronze plaque was installed over the center aisle doorway in the front entrance lobby. In 1916, Dr. Andrus became the first female high school principal in California. She retired in 1944 after 28 years at Lincoln High School. She then continued working to help others, accomplishing what is considered by most people to be her most significant achievement, founding the AARP- the "American Association of Retired Persons."

Ethel Percy Andrus-(1884-1967)




One familiar view over the years at Lincoln is the Auditorium that was re-dedicated to honor Dr. Andrus in February 2008.







From the CA Focus, May 2008 issue, AARP's California publication:

"AARP Honors Dr. Andrus at Lincoln High Dedication Ceremony
As part of AARP's 50th anniversary celebration, more than 1,200 people attended a February 8 dedication ceremony of the Ethel Percy Andrus Center for the Performing Arts at Lincoln High School in Los Angeles. Dr. Andrus served as the school’s principal for nearly 30 years before founding AARP. Joined by civic leaders, formers students, volunteers, and members, AARP toured the newly restored auditorium and enjoyed performances by the students of Lincoln High. Thanks to a $100,000 Ethel Percy Andrus Legacy Award, the refurbished theater will house a pre-professional training program for students interested in the performing arts."

ELECTION DAY IS OVER- finally.
There was enough going on to make people both happy AND unhappy with these election results. Obama, or I should really say, "President-elect Obama," will be sworn in as the new President of the United States on January 20th, 2009, according to my recolletion of tradition and the law.

I can remember back in January 1961 and seeing President Kennedy on tv at Albion St. when we watched him get sworn in as President and it had snowed in D.C and it was cold. There was some kind of electrical short with the podium wiring and Robert Frost, the famous poet, spoke after some singing by Marian Anderson, a famous black singer. We were in the auditorium, I believe, and watching the whole ceremony on a black and white tv, since color tv's were still not a common thing. It was all very impressive looking to us, even though we just knew it was Kennedy becoming president and that was the big thing for us.

There's the famous speech that President Kennedy made that day that gets played on tv a lot, even YouTube should have it. The funny thing about that time was that some people were for Nixon and others were for Kennedy, mostly Kennedy, but we used to see all these bumper stickers (back when cars had real bumpers) and count them to see the popularity of each one.

But we never heard of vandalizing and all this pretty serious tension that you had lately with this Obama v. McCain presidential race. Our times have changed. Lots of people were looking at this more like a sporting event - maybe from seeing too many Laker playoffs and having last year be a waste for them- but there was a lot more similarity to a competitive sports event than to an election campaign with the only real action was when they tallied up votes in each state so you could keep track of who was winning states.


The local props and measures had some surprises. It looks like people can't get enough of taxes and giving out more public money through bonds that have to be paid back by the taxpayers for so long that the interest costs alone can be as much as the bond amount. More like paying for a home mortgage for 30 years.

Really, did we NEED to start spending for a high speed train to San Francisco. Well, I guess by the time it ever gets built we might find a reason. There may be so many people in the state that it will be populated in places that are empty now. I went to college in San Diego after leaving Lincoln and I could tell how long it would take to get home or back to the campus as I drove on the freeway just by looking at the areas I was passing through- Commerce, Norwalk, La Mirada, Santa Ana, Disneyland (Anaheim), El Toro Marine Air Base (Tustin?), OCIR- "Orange County International Raceway, San Juan Capistrano, the Nuclear Plant (San Onofre), Camp Pendleton, Oceanside, Carlsbad, La Jolla (Torrey Pines Park) and San Diego, the Navy base and Point Loma. There were big spaces in between and I remember some places had horses and cows in the fields that you could see from the freeway. So much empty and open space, usually green, in between cities.

It's all changed now. You can't tell where you are because of all the buildings everywhere- it all looks the same, and there's no way to know how long it would take because of all the traffic at all hours at any location. One time I came home from San Diego on a Friday early afternoon and did not step on the brake, not even to slow down, until I got off the freeway in Lincoln Heights, the traffic was so light and steadily moving- it was like watching a no-hitter developing in baseball; you wonder how long this can go on until something interrupts it all. That was the only time that happened. The ususal travel time came out to be about 2 hours and 10 minutes with only a few segments that going past 70 mph was not going to get you a ticket. That would be too slow for most open stretches now, but like I said, things have changed. It's time to leave memory lane.


Well, if you voted good for you. My recommendations were based on lots of things and some people might agree, others not, but what happens too often is that you spend all your time evaluation some choices- maybe not all- and then somebody comes in and starts punching their ballot like they are choosing a lottery number, not really even familiar with what the ballot measure is about.

The city tax is not much but it's easy to buy the same things for me in Glendale, Pasadena, Alhambra and so on, where the sales tax would be lower than 8.75%. For some expensive items, maybe like new cars, you know people will do that, but not for everything.

WELL, What's done is done. We can consider that again later.


FOOTBALL- BUT AT EAGLE ROCK HIGH SCHOOL
2007 Season, Coach Chou has winning season; 2008 Principal bars Coach Chou from being head coach, no winning season, but maybe a "whining" season.
See the Daily News story of October 24 http://www.dailynews.com/preps/ci_10811846
gives some update on what has been happening with their football program since their principal got into a dispute with the coach last season, allowed him to continue coaching after he "resigned" in a dispute with the principal and then rescinded it afterwards. The principal said he only allowed the coach to finish the season as head coach, and that was all. The coach said it was understood to be a plain and simple return to his head coach job, and then things went downhill for Eagle Rock's football program from then on.

There is an LA TIMES Varsity Blog story on this from January that gets out more details, which make the principal look to be more interested in power than the overall good of the school. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/varsitytimesinsider/2008/01/dismissal-of-ch.html

The local monthly paper in Eagle Rock, The Boulevard Sentinel (taken in part from the old neighborhood paper, The Sentinel that was a sister publication to the Lincoln Height Bulletin News of old) has more and richer details in its report, http://www.boulevardsentinel.com/03-2008.htm "Breaking the Code of Silence."

The next month, "Community Demands ERHS Principal Be Removed" http://www.boulevardsentinel.com/04-2008.htm

In the end, the parents let the ball drop by not pushing further, but they were already becoming afraid of retaliation against their children by the principal and most became intimidated. LAUSD admin turned out to be there just to settle the people down with meetings that went nowhere as far as real remedies and truth, in my opinion.
In the end, the most forceful factor could have been parents, but they could not carry the fight any further. By the way, nearly all forms of retaliation are illegal and actionable in court, but most people don't know how they can use develop their case in terms of proof issues.

Well, let's leave all that for now. Lincoln's Homecoming is coming up Friday night and you might check the Daily News comments regarding the next opponent, Marshall, and the Marshall team player's ideas regarding the Eagle Rock High team's condition. http://www.topix.com/forum/high-school-football/TH0PQL7UMRVS3TFKO#

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ABOUT THE VOTE DECISIONS-

THE GUIDING THEME for the vote on bonds is that our economy is in poor shape right now and BOND measures are costly to the public, so it's not a good mix.

The other factor that sways the decisions is that the poor ability of government and its agencies to spend money wisely and avoid waste and corruption so that you just get little squeaks for your buck. We should hold off for that reason, too.

Most of the ideas sound good, but some also involve HUGE amounts of money that will burden people and their children for years to come and NOT worth it.

Voting down a BOND proposal does not keep it from coming up again in better times, with better language, and more controls so that the money WILL GO to WHERE they SAY it will go. Why is this? Because there's too much language is included-intentionally- that leaves loopholes and we have been deceived too often in the past to "trust" any good intentions and judgment.

OTHER DECISIONS ON VOTES
Some past experience and observations on operations in government and industry show that all is not as it is presented, and the comments include this where possible.

COUNTY Measure J. (almost forgot this one)
"NO" (the opinion below is borrowed from "Mayor Sam's" Blog- I adopt this opinion)

"Community College Classroom Repair, Public Safety, Nursing & Job Training -- Los Angeles Community College DistrictThe community colleges just got a huge bond measure a few years ago and has wasted a good chunk of it. However, there are a few good projects now under way. Lets give the colleges a few more years to prove they can spend wisely and if they really need more money we can talk about it."
Vote No.

THE GUIDING THEME for the vote is that our economy is in poor shape right now and BOND measures are costly to the public, so it's not a good mix.

The other factor that sways the decisions is that the poor ability of agencies to spend money wisely and avoid waste and corruption just give you little squeaks for your buck, and we should hold off for that reason, too.

Most of the ideas sound good, but some involve HUGE amounts of money that will burden people and their children for years to come and NOT worth it.

Voting down a BOND proposal does not keep it from coming up again in better times, with better language, and more controls so that the money WILL GO to WHERE they SAY it will go. Too much language is included that leaves loopholes and we have been deceived too often in the past to "trust" any good intentions and judgment.

FREE COFFEE at Starbucks on Voting Day- TODAY -November 4.
Yes, free. See the website (just be sure that you actually DO VOTE today)- and they are going on your word, you don't need the "I VOTED" sticker.
http://ebm.cheetahmail.com/c/tag/hBJD193AJvkyvB7W6-cBurpcXQ4/doc.html

Another place for a free coffee today is:
The Casa Princesa coffee shop in Highland Park on York Bl., between Ave. 45 and Tonawanda (A few blocks from Eagle Rock Blvd, and across the street from Sparkletts Water. It shares the location with the "Sign-a-rama" business; big parking lot in front). Show your sticker.

Another huge burden on taxpayers, and more money to waste by our LAUSD Board

VOTE "NO" on "Q", $7 Billion dollars alone is unjustified, and ALL this to be put in the hands of LAUSD, one of the most wasteful agencies ever, is not a good deal.
===========================================
Measure Q. Safe, Healthy Neighborhood Schools -- Los Angeles Unified School District (School Bond - 55% Approval Required)
To improve student health, safety and educational quality, shall the Los Angeles Unified School District: continue repair/upgrade of aging/deteriorating classrooms, restrooms; upgrade fire/earthquake safety; reduce asbestos, lead paint, air pollution, water quality hazards; build/upgrade specialized classrooms students need to meet job/college requirements; improve classroom Internet access by issuing $7 billion in bonds, at legal interest rates; with guaranteed annual audits, citizens’ oversight, no increase in maximum tax rate?

==========================================

STOP LAUSD'S WASTE and COSTLY EXPERIMENTS WITH YOUR MONEY.
This proposal came from LAUSD, with the figure set for the ballot measure here to be 7 BILLION DOLLARS- and it was decided in one afternoon to double the request from 3-1/2 BILLION DOLLARS- this hows how arrogant and greedy the LAUSD Board is.

What bad actions they done in the past? They have just added 20% to admin salaries; the enrollment in LAUSD continues to shrink but they continue to build school, at the same time displacing residents, often in poorer areas of town; they continue to throw money at problems in education and they don't work. In the past year we saw their payroll catastrophe for employees that fouled up their pay checks from bad software they used at a cost reported to be hundreds of millions of dollars. They have wasted millions of dollars in bad construction deals- An Echo Park site that cost homes to residents was shut down by a Superior Court order after they took too many shortcuts on procedures- tax payers cover the loss. See the Citywatch, May 2, 2008, story on LAUSD examples of waste, http://www.citywatchla.com/content/view/1206/75/

The Beaudry and First St. toxic waste and earthquake fault site is the most expensive high school in the U.S, actually, in the world. The final cost to be over $4o0 Million- opened in October, 10 years behind schedule. To make it nicer, they called it "The Roybal Learning Center".

The old Board of Ed site on Grand Avenue downtown has a high school still not opened it's flashy Arts high school that is running a bill of $232 Million dollars that has a "rollercoaster" design added for a monument to design, above a performing arts theater, that at an ADDED $49 Million to the cost of and adding another year to the opening. In May 2008, L.A. Times' columnist wrote about it http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lopez4-2008may04,0,4743795.column In 2001, the estimate to build the high school was $30 million. Grand Avenue downtown developers pushed for that change to make THEIR project look more fancy for investors- at taxpayer expense.

You can see the Sept. 3, 2008 story on this in the "L.A. Weekly" for a vivid example of expense without direction, "Art School or LAUSD Folly?" http://www.laweekly.com/2008-09-04/news/art-school-or-lausd-folly/

The school still will not open for another year- meanwhile, more students suffer from not having this when it could have met a need AND closer to $30 million that the $230 million range.
The LAUSD broke ground on a new high school in Glassel Park in the old Taylor Yard train site that they paid $50 million to a developer who bought it out from under them 2 years ago when they were too slow to pay $30 million, so they used eminent domain to get the property and the settled selling price gave the developer that $20 million profit in 2 years for his initial $30 million purchase- LAUSD costs taxpayers HUGE amounts of money over and over.

See http://outside.in/Lincoln_Heights_Los_Angeles_CA/tags/lausd for some references to news stories about these and other example of WHY LAUSD should not be in charge of money. This is shown in many of the stories, and this is their history, not just a couple of bad deals.

NO ON "Q".

L.A. County Measure R- Sales Tax increase

A "NO" vote on this.

Measure R. Traffic Relief - Rail Extensions - Reduce Foreign Oil Dependence -- Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Sales Tax Increase - Two-Thirds Majority Approval Required)
To:
Synchronize traffic signals;
Repair potholes;
Extend light rail with airport connections;
Improve freeway traffic flow (5, 10, 14, 60, 101, 110, 138, 210, 405, 605, 710);
Keep senior / student / disabled fares low;
Provide clean-fuel buses;
Expand subway / Metrolink / bus service;
Dedicate millions for community traffic relief;
Shall Los Angeles County’s sales tax increase one-half cent for 30 years with independent audits, public review of expenditures, all locally controlled?

==========================================
Vote "NO" on this measure - notice that it's called a "half-cent" tax- That it intended to disguise the true description that it's another 1/2 "PERCENT" tax added to the current tax, of 8.25% in L.A., so that out of EVERY dollar you spend, a total of 8.75% sales tax is proposed, raising the tax from the existing 8.25% sales tax rate. A $10 sale will cost 87.5 cents (rounded off to 88 cents).

This is an extra .5% added to the sales tax- AND this will continue for 30 years. The temptation that lures you here is the possibilty, they call it a "goal", that all of the things that we hate about transit, especially traffic jams will be fixed.

THIS IS ANOTHER MONEY GRAB-

THIS is what they say will improve- NOT "CURE"- our transit problems. They really have no answer. We already have the highest taxes for a state and spending is never done in the best way. Special interests who help the politicians by contributing to their campaigns are the big winners when it comes time to hand out contracts.

You will also see that there is never enough money to get done what is promised. In this case, there is little that WILL be guaranteed to be done. That's because they know it's not the solution.

EVEN THEIR OWN COSTLY (PAID FOR BY MTA THAT IS TAX-DOLLAR SUPPORTED) glossy and lavishly illustrated brochure they mailed out to convince you says "goals"- that means what they WANT to do, and NOT what IS going to be accomplished. These are important details in how they put their propaganda together that really HIDE the truth from us.

The current economy makes this even more of a bad deal which makes this even a more disasterous deal.

DON'T let that happen and DON'T let the sales tax continue to climb by adding this for another 30 YEARS!

"NO" on R

City of LA Propositions and recommendations

Proposition A. Gang & Youth Violence Prevention, After-School & Job Training Programs -- City of Los Angeles (Parcel Tax - Two-Thirds Majority Approval Required)
To address gang violence through prevention and job training programs; preventing students from dropping out of school; funding supervised after-school programs, tutoring/mentoring, vocational/apprenticeship programs, expanded graffiti removal; requiring Controller audits, citizen oversight; funding proven programs; shall the City of Los Angeles levy an annual $36 gang prevention tax, with discounts for low-income seniors, on each real property parcel?

NO, NO, NO- Doesn't this sound like a good title? Beware. Council Member Janice Hahn continues to push for more taxes to cover her proposals that do NOT have a proven track record but WILL make the city property owners pay more for another experiment that channels money into their favorite programs so that it appears to be a worthy expense. It's not.

The city proposals have continued to show that they benefit the image of the officials while the measures just suck money out of the city treasury and improve nothing for us, but enrich the organizations that get hired, usually being connected to the politicians in one or more ways. Some people call these things "scams" and I agree.

The City is over $400 million off their budget, and they don't manage money or programs well at all. This is another scheme to get more from homeowners, made out to have you think it won't hurt too much but add up all the charges the City has been putting on you, little by little, and it's getting worse.
Vote "NO" on Prop. A

Proposition B. Update of Low Rent Housing Authorization -- City of Los Angeles (Ordinance - Majority Approval Required)
Shall existing voter-approved authorization for low rent housing be revised to remove impediments to federal and state funding and requirements not compatible with current housing needs, and authorize the development, construction or acquisition of low rent housing by public entities in the City of Los Angeles, maintaining the previously authorized voter-approved level of 3,500 units per Council District, subject to availability of funding and all City development requirements?

NO- THIS IS not what it seems to be (and that's why they write them up this way) - a NO vote
on this one. The Mayor has this provision to manipulate to favor developers making more deals with him that will make the problems of high density even worse as a result, but allowing deals to be made for developers to get favored treatment. Don't go for this shell game.
Vote "NO" on Prop. B.

These are just the City of LA props;
To see a Directory of Los Angeles County, CA MEASURES , go to http://www.smartvoter.org/2008/11/04/ca/la/meas/

REMINDER FOR VOTING ON TUESDAY - summaries. Some recommendations will be posted on these summaries by Tuesday Morning.
Directory of California State Propositions
Propositions Click on ballot measure for more detail.

Proposition 1A. Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train -- State of California (Bond Act - Majority Approval Required)
To provide Californians a safe, convenient, affordable, and reliable alternative to driving and high gas prices; to provide good-paying jobs and improve California's economy while reducing air polution, global warning greenhouse gases, and our dependence on foreign oil, shall $9.95 billion in bonds be issued to establish a clean, efficient high-speed train service linking Southern California, the Sacramento/San Joaquin Valley, and the San Francisco Bay Area, with at least 90 percent of bond funds spent for specific projects, with federal and private matching funds required, all bond funds subject to an independent audit?

Proposition 2. Standards for Confining Farm Animals -- State of California (Initiative Statute - Majority Approval Required)
Shall certain farm animals be allowed, for the majority of every day, to fully extend their limbs or wings, lie down, stand up and turn around?

Proposition 3. Children's Hospital Bond Act. Grant Program -- State of California (Initiative Statute - Majority Approval Required)
Shall $980,000,000 in general obligation bonds be authorized for construction, expansion, remodeling, renovation, furnishing and equipping of eligible children's hospitals?

Proposition 4. Waiting Period and Parental Notification Before Termination of Minor's Pregnancy -- State of California (Initiative Constitutional Amendment - Majority Approval Required)
Shall the California Constitution be changed to prohibit abortion for an unemancipated minor until 48 hours after physician notifies minor's parent, legal guardian, or, in limited cases, substitute adult relative?

Proposition 5. Nonviolent Drug Offenses, Sentencing, Parole and Rehabilitation -- State of California (Initiative Statute - Majority Approval Required)
Shall $460,000,000 be allocated annually to improve and expand treatment programs?

Proposition 6. Police and Law Enforcement Funding. Criminal Penalties and Laws -- State of California (Initiative Statute - Majority Approval Required)
Shall of minimum of $965,000,000 of state funding be required each year for police and local law enforcement?

Proposition 7. Renewable Energy Generation -- State of California (Initiative Statute - Majority Approval Required)
Shall government-owned utilities be required to generate 20% of their electricity from renewable energy by 2010, a standard currently applicable to private electrical corporations? Shall all utilities be required to generate 40% by 2020 and 50% by 2025?

Proposition 8. Eliminates Right of Same-Sex Couples to Marry -- State of California (Initiative Constitutional Amendment - Majority Approval Required)
Shall the California Constitution be changed to eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry providing that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California?

Proposition 9. Criminal Justice System. Victims' Rights. Parole -- State of California (Initiative Constitutional Amendment and Statute - Majority Approval Required)
Shall notification to victim and opportunity for input during phases of criminal justice process, including bail, pleas, sentencing and parole be required? Shall victim safety be a consideration for bail or parole?

Proposition 10. Alternative Fuel Vehicles and Renewable Energy. Bonds -- State of California (Initiative Statute - Majority Approval Required)
Shall $5 billion in bonds paid from state's General Fund be authorized to help consumers and others purchase certain vehicles, and to help research in renewable energy and alternative fuel vehicles?

Proposition 11. Redistricting -- State of California (Initiative Constitutional Amendment and Statute - Majority Approval Required)
Shall the authority for establishing state office boundaries be changed from elected representatives to a commission comprised of Democrats, Republicans, and representatives of neither party selected from the registered voter pool in a multilevel process?

Proposition 12. Veteran's Bond Act of 2008 -- State of California (Bond - Majority Approval Required)
Shall a nine hundred million dollar ($900,000,000) bond be issued to provide farm and home aid for California veterans?

Monday night- election views.


RECOMMENDATIONS ON STATE PROPOSITIONS:

Prop. 1a. -Safe, Reliable High Speed Passenger Train Bond
NO- a big waste of money. How are any of the promises going to come through? Do we NEED a high speed train other than for a hugely expensive experiment.

Prop. 2. Treatment of Farm Animals, a statute.
NO- a tough one, but thinking on economic terms, the change won't make a difference as industry will move operations out of state to, costs for the producst will increase and not much is assured to improve.

Prop. 3: Children's Hospital Bond Act
NO- Just economic conditions make me hold off on this expense.

Prop. 4: Waiting Period and Parental Notification before termination of pregnancy for minor.
YES- As a parent , it just does seems enough shown as a reason to justify procedures on a minor WITHOUT telling parents or guardians first.

Prop. 5: Non-violent Offender, sentencing, parole and rehabilitation
NO- this will make trend for not facing the consequences of one's own acts to continue. Rehabilitation is not something that you can force people to happen and there does not need to be more expense for the state taxpayers to allow people to avoid "free", non-jail outcomes for what would be a crime under any circumstances. More abuses are potentially possible as this would create such opportunities if passed.

Prop. 6: Criminal Penalties and laws.
NO-

Prop. 7: Renewable Energy
NO- It locks us into having more expense without certain benefits. Another money grab.

Prop. 8: Limit on marriage
your VERY personal choice- do you want to change the law? As it stands now, gay marriage is a legal choice.
No means allowing marriages between same sex couples (No change in the law).
Yes means to create a new law that would prevent marriage between same sex couples.

Prop. 9: Criminal Justice system
NO

Prop. 10: Alternative fuel and Energy:
NO- a HUGE expense, with a substantial part of the cost going to "rebate" incentives, education and information expenses. The real outcome is that the public's money is going to finance the industry's public relations and the payments to cover this will continue for the taxpayer's to cover the industry's expenses. It is too much public money to be applied for private benefits. We can't afford this.

Prop. 11: Redistricting , by Constitutional Amendment and Statute
YES- one change that is needed to take power away from the politicians that they have used to create permanent re-election districts by drawing boundaries to create those outcomes by the political party majority purposely planned. ANY other group could make fairer boundaries to give the districts a balance so we can have real races for office. Stop the rigged district outcomes by taking away the politicians out of this process.

Prop. 12: Veteran's Bond Act of 2008-
NO- the VA is not a reliable agency to be handling more money at this time. The monetary burden would not justify the risk for misuse and waste.

ANNOUNCEMENTS
For the old readers and the newcomers, WELCOME. The information here today is NOT about the "LHS 95th Anniversary Gala" that happened this past Saturday night at the Omni Hotel downtown. "Why not?" you may ask. Well, since I wasn't there and no one has told me anything about it, I can only say, "If you went, email me about your experience, observations, opinions or other comments on it for posting. email: lhs90031@earthlink.net "

Today is strictly about some entertainment and information that is found on the web.

LARadio.com - check daily it for a month free
in http://www.laradio.com/ - normally a low-cost subscription needed, but for NOVEMBER, it's free. There's a little bit in here for everyone, Monday through Friday, available at about 7am those days.

Let me share this with you from the LARadio.com column this morning:

“I am encouraging you to share this information with your radio address book to alert those who may not know about the site that not only will they have access to the daily current news during November, but they will have access to 11+ years of Archival material and columns. “

“If you are a fan of Los Angeles radio – current and past - LARadio.com would like to invite you to read about the daily activities of Southern California radio.
Go to http://www.laradio.com/ and click the Members Only link at the very top of the page. When the box comes up, insert the word “free” (no quotation marks) in the username and password sections. That’s it and you’re in. Please check back every weekday morning around 7 a.m. for the latest LARadio news. Enjoy!”

So there it is. Try it. I have found lots of things here just as a fan of radio from "back in the day" to now. There are even some of my own emails and comments there, published on the site over the years. Lots of our memories are connected to radio as much as any other meduum. In that way, it really is part of our recollections- good and bad- of high school through music that become revived each time we hear certain songs.

How far back can you remember? Does anyone remember Hunter Hancock? Huggy Boy? Bill Balance? OK, then how about Ryan Seacreast or Rick Dees, or even Big Boy or Kevin & Bean? Does anyone remember that you could hear all types of music on the same station compared to now, when you have to choose Urban, Smooth Jazz, Pop, Country to find certain songs. The 60's radio did not divide music like you have it now. It was truly an eclectic mix that we just took for granted then. There's lot's to be found, large and small, on this site, and just tons of inside information and details on so many things besides music.

THE WEBSITE
You are reading "the blog" now, but "the website" http://www.lincolnhigh90031.com/ is still not actively updated- a couple of times over years is pretty much the story. So I would say that's "infrequent". I was teaching for a couple of years at Lincoln- yes, THAT Lincoln. This was from late 2003 to late 2005 and I thought it would be better if I did not try to comment about the same place that employed me to avoid any conflicts. That was a real experience that provided me with a perspective that could not easily be seen otherwise. More on that at another time.

THE FUTURE
So we are here, and this is a much faster posting operation, so I will use it more frequently as I come across things to share. Some will be purely for entertainment and some will be informative and from the political angle, showing you what City Council and other officials do to make life better but only for them, not for you. I almost forgot to include LAUSD and that needs to be considered in this theme of unresponsive and wasteful bureaucracies.

If you are one of "them" of the described group, you already know many of the shady dealings that go on. You might even think they are right, but I hope to bring it to the forefront where now much is being hidden from the general view. So more on THAT later, but not TOO much later.

If you have ideas or suggestions, I will handle things a little differently than what I found to be the case with LAUSD and the L.A. City Council. UNLIKE those groups, I will READ and CONSIDER each item as I receive it and I will try to do things in order to accomplish improvement of the human condition, a little bit at a time.

Today is Sunday- If you have not changed the time on your clocks, it would be a good idea to do that for any clock that doesn't set itself like the computer clocks and cell phone clocks. Check your VCRs, home phones, microwave ovens, clock radios, car clocks, and so on This way you won't fool yourself needlessly if you're in a rush and check the time that will be an hour ahead of the right time.

Just to refresh the instructions, move the clock setting BACK one hour, which is adjusting the time to "Pacific Standard Time." "Daylight Saving Time" is done for this year and the daylight part of the day will continue to become shorter for a while along with the cold weather sneaking back, just cold enough for us to get out the coats, sweaters, jackets, and even umbrellas, if any rain shows up. Do you remember where you put yours?

LINCON'S HOMECOMING Game will be plalyed this Friday, November 7th with Franklin High Panthers visiting us at Andrus Field to try to dampen the setting. Game times: 3pm for J.V., 7pm for Varsity game.
Be sure to stop by the Alumni Association's food stand for a good selections of food and drinks, and you'll be helping out with the fundraising efforts at the same time.

What's next after that home game? Just ONE more game.
There will be one more home game left this season for the following Friday, November 14th, Game times, 4pm J.V. and 7pm Varsity.

Today is Halloween- enjoy the weekend.

Tuesday November 28, 2008- one week to go until the November election day. Do take advantage of your right to vote, especially in the city elections which happen to be needing some serious evaluation - to come later here. Most of the measures will wind up costing taxpayers lost of money for quite a few years, but with little benefit. Stay tuned here for more.


NEW SCHOOL YEAR- NEW PRINCIPAL FOR LINCOLN HIGH
Nothing new posted for a while, as you have noticed. Meanwhile LHS has said "Goodbye" to Jim Molina as principal and "Hello" to Mr. Torres, formerly at Hollenbeck Middle School, who will be in charge of things at LHS now.


GALA 95TH ANNIVERSARY DINNER AND DANCE - Saturday, Nov. 1
The ALUMNI ASSOCIATION has the Gala 95th Anniversary of Lincoln High School at the Omni Hotel this Saturday evening, November 1st. Tierra will provide the live musical entertainment and the rest to be filled in by a DJ who should keep things moving.

There is further information on the Alumni Association's contact page http://www.lincolnhs.org/mambo/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=647&Itemid=203
that is located within the Official LINCOLN HIGH WEBSITE.


FOOTBALL GAME THIS WEEK AT HOME- DATE CHANGE
The other news that may not have trickled out from LHS is that the home game that was scheduled for Friday, October 31 (Halloween) was determined to be needing a change of date for a number of reasons, one of which being appropriate security, from the information provided at the October 18th Alumni meeting.

The NEW date: Thursday, October 30th: "LHS vs Marshall 4:00-7:00PM" appears on the LHS Calendar. I take that to mean JV game at 4pm and Varsity game at 7pm. If you have questions on this, call the main office at LHS, 323-341-4600 to find out more information.

That is all for now for the select few who happen to click onto this page. The Main page is overdue for an update- but check this for news as well.

This Friday is Homecoming for Lincoln High School with the Varsity game starting at 6 p.m. The JV game will begin at 2:30 p.m. The opponent this week will be Marshall High School. Halftime activities will be focused around the presentation of the Homecoming King and Queen and the Court.

The Homecoming Dance will be held in the Girls' Gym following the game. The Lincoln High Alumni Association will have the food concession operations going during the game with lots of tasty food.

NEW TELEPHONE NUMBER for LHS- Mr. Wadsworth has passed along the news that the school has a different number. It is now 323-441-4600. The old "CApitol" prefix that became just "22" will no longer identify the school with the geographic area of the Lincoln Heights neighborhood.

Monday, March 27, 2006-
Looking to updating website since you may have noticed that nothing new has been shown for a loooong time. There has been a lot that I have thought about writing but it has been on the back burner for a long time. Lots of things are in the news that relate directly to Lincoln High and some things that I just want to bring to the attention of some of you who may not know.

ALUMNI note: (From Mike Ibarra) Tuesday evening- March 28th, Varsity Baseball Fundraiser at Alhambra Shakey's Pizza, 6:30 to 9:30 pm, 2234 W. VALLEY BLVD., ALHAMBRA, CA
626-289-7851

One item is the alma mater. Despite the good intentions and efforts of many people, the school and the system are not like the alumni might remember. Observations and suggestions to follow.

BIG NEWS: One change that some readers might have noticed is that the GUESTBOOK sign-in and CURRENT comments are not working. This is more due to system problems than my exercise of editorial control. The GUESTBOOK page apparently dropped off the file server sometime in Dec. or Jan. Continue Reading-

Some good and bad about this- Good news: I have a back-up copy but only to Nov. 2005
Bad news- December and Jan. entries missing, but there were very very few additions.


I will have to restore the missing parts to get it going again. The backed up messages will be broken into archives to be more manageable. (I know it took a long time bring up even with DSL connections.) Since this is the most accessed part, it should be kept as a smaller sized segment.

One interesting observation- I may have been the only one who couldn't find the Guestbook since I did not get a single message about the problem from anyone else. (Reminder: E-mail is free to send)

(This is still not much of a change from the status quo since I did not get much feedback from any source about the lack of changes to the website with the exception of Bill K.)

1968 Eastside Walkouts Want to be a star? Well, how about an "extra"?
Filming is scheduled to begin this weekend at LHS on an HBO film produced by Moctezuma Esparza, and directed by Edward James Olmos. July 16 and 17 will recreate some of the scenes from the walkouts that many of you might remember and participated in (yes, some of that generation still very much around).

BELOW IS COPY OF E-MAIL received from another friend about more filming on this production. You can be a part of this- crowd scenes- so all ages wanted.

"From: WALKOUT EXTRAS [mailto:walkoutextras@yahoo.com]
Attached is a registration form [Call or e-mail to them for copy of form] for being a volunteer extra. Fill it out and fax or email it back to us
ASAP.

We need MANY people in order to reenact the protest
scenes, so pass along the word to all your friends.
There is a shooting date set for July 31st that will
take place in front of City Hall in Downtown LA. This
is one of the dates where we will need people of all
ages. Please let your friends and family know, as
this will be a very important date to show up, we need
1500 people this particular day. It helps to fill ot
the registration form ahead time so we know how many
people to prepare for, in terms of meals.

Thank you for your interest in the film, WALKOUT.

Tery Lopez
WALKOUT Film Recruitment"

These are Important dates from the e-mail attachments you should request:
"I am available to volunteer as an extra at least 8 hours the following days. Please check all that apply:
Saturday, July 16, 2005 Saturday, July 23, 2005 Saturday, July 30, 2005 Saturday, August 6, 2005
Sunday, July 17, 2005 Sunday, July 24, 2005 Sunday, July 31, 2005 Sunday, August 7, 2005
Monday, August 8, 2005 Tuesday, August 9, 2005 Friday, August 12, 2005

"To REGISTER as an extra email us at walkoutextras@yahoo.com or call 213.534.3486"

Just passing along the information. There is the crowd scene at City Hall for later in the month where all ages would work; this weekend is going to be mainly student-age extras at LHS.

LHS Alumni REUNION DANCE, at American Legion Post 790,

DATE SATURDAY, MARCH 5, 2005.

ADDRESS
American Legion Post 790
330 North Azusa Ave.
West Covina, CA

MUSIC Armenta Brothers

COCKTAIL HOUR 6 TO 7 PM
BUFFET 7 TO 8 PM
MUSIC 8 TO 12 AM,
.
For information call POST AT at 626-331-9063 OR John Diaz (Class of 1943) AT 626-570-8673
Cost $10, includes buffet, 7- 8 PM.
$12 at door.
CALL NOW FOR TICKETS.
EVENT SELLING OUT FAST!

E-mail me at
mikethedadibarra@sbcglobal.net

Call Mike Ibarra for information (323) 262-3653

Lincoln High School 2005 Alumni Appreciation Dinner
You are invited to the Lincoln High School 2005 Alumni Appreciation Dinner

LHS Alumni Appreciation Dinner on Sat. Jan. 29, 2005.

Great Italian Buffet. $17.50 per person.

Palermo Ristorante Italiano
1858 N. Vermont
Ave. LA, 90027.

Limited seating RSVP by Jan. 26, 2005.

Contact Tina & Oscar Ornelas 562 941-7885.

Mail checks to:
LHS Alumni Association
15274 Goodhue. St.
Whittier, CA 90604.

Contact Mike Ibarra for info.
(323) 262-3653
mikethedadibarra @ sbcglobal.net

MENU APPETIZERS- mushrooms, broiled with herbs, garlic and cheese.
Pizza Rosa, Anthony's own creation.
ENTREES- Chicken Picata, lemon and wine sauce includes side order of
spaghetti.
Lasagna Ala Bolognas. Layer upon layer of extra large noodles, meat,
Ricotta chesse, pamigiano cheese, Romaine cheese, Mozzarella cheese,
with delicious meat sauce topped with melted Mozzarella cheese.
INCLUDES- salad, garlic bread and dessert and coffee.

Parking You may park at ONE of the FOUR following locations, (1) behind Palermo's, (2) Post Office lot across the street (3) behind the 7-11 (4) Masonic Temple just north of Franklin, please note Location 3 &4 are valided parking.

Special thanks to Anthony for graciously offering his Ristorante for the special event!

LHS ALUMNI ASSOCIATION - a meeting is tentatively planned for Saturday evening, January 15, 2005 at PALERMO'S RESTAURANT in the Los Feliz area. More details are pending. Carlos Reyes, Class of '74, makes the special request for alumni to attend who may interested in becoming involved in the Association's events for the new year.
New and ongoing activities and projects will be discussed at the meeting along with an opportunity to relax and have a good time and good food.

Well, it's finally Christmas.... or, "Holiday" break, for LHS Staff and students. All will resume in three weeks for the last month of the semester.

Today, Saturday 12-18-04 - the Broadway Parade will be held from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., beginning at Lincoln High School and ending at Daly Street. Celebrities, organizations, and the ever-present political candidates- incumbents and challengers, as well as more community figures, will be present.

Will Lincoln High be represented? At this time, my guess is "No" since (1) we have-for the second or third year, at least- no marching band, and (2) there was no publicity at all regarding the LHS cheerleaders' or drill team's participation earlier, so that's why.

I hope I am wrong as there should be no reason for the neighborhood's main high school to be missing from a community event. ON December 5th, the Highland Park Parade, or Christmas Parade or Northeast Parade (there have been so many names in the past) was held. Franklin and Eagle Rock High Schools were represented in that parade, according to the program of participants. Many years ago, I remember that LHS had it's band, drill team, cheerleaders, Jr. ROTC, and the ROTC Drill Team all participating in this parade. We did seem to find that school pride was not a scarce commodity back in our times. Things have changed a bit, but if LHS is going to be moving back up to where it could be, alumni can have a part by voicing that opinion to show how important things like that are.

Come see the parade, if you can. It is sponsored by the Lincoln Heights Neighborhood Council.

Friday's game against Eagle Rock High- before the sun could set for the day, the Eagles defeated the Tigers varsity squad, 38-0. Our team has had some surprising performances this year and there is one more opportunity this year to see if the home field advantage will help this Friday.

Game time should be back at the regular 7 p.m. Support the football program and remember the reception to honor our Veterans will be held from 5:30 p.m. in the Girls Gym. Our opponent for the November 12th game will be the Marshall High Barristers.

Season notes: If you have been coming to the games you may have noticed that the only bands venturing out on the field at half-time have been the visitors. LHS does not have a band for these games. There are some students and alumni who have independently sat in the stands to take up the musical role, but this is not connected with the school.
If any alumni are interested in seeing a Lincoln High Band representing the school at the games in the next season, please contact Mr. Molina, our principal at JMolina107@aol.com <JMolina107@aol.com> to indicate what interest there is. Otherwise it will probably be the same next year.

Friday night's J.V. and Varsity Football games will be at HOME, 4 p.m. J.V., and 7 p.m. Varsity kickoffs.

Lincoln Varsity lost last week at Roosevelt in a non-league game, but will be adjusting to meet Bell High for this week's matchup.

Tickets $5 at the gate, enter on North Broadway, stairs or ramps. For any handicapped access questions, call the main office at (323) 223-4021 to inquire about the arrangements.

Parking was not a problem for the last home game; plenty of street parking nearby, with the No Stopping restriction for Northbound traffic ending at 6 p.m.

Please come on over to see a game this season under the one-year old lights.

Lincoln Tigers were at home yesterday, with both the J.V. and Varsity teams coming away with victories against Mark Keppel High from Alhambra. Although still in non-league play, the games allowed the Tigers to apply their summer training and give the newcomers their initial playing time. The coaches will be using the upcoming week to adjust strategies for the next opponent, the Roosevelt Rough Riders. Congratulations to the all the teams and their coaches for their efforts.

The attendance was light, but the game was full of some very rewarding action on the field. For all those who attended, thanks for the support. The next Varsity game will be at Roosevelt Sept. 17th, next Friday evening at 7 p.m.

Next Saturday evening, September 18th, the LHS Alumni Association will be hosting the long-awaited "Sock Hop" at Lincoln, which will bring back those memories of old once again.

Place: Our very own "Girls' Gym." The hours will be from 7 p.m. until 11 p.m., with no entries after 9 p.m.
Refreshments will be available from the fundraising tables, along with a soft drink and chips to get you started, just for buying a ticket. Sock Hop tickets will be $15 per person, $25 per couple. For additional information, call- Tina (562) 541-7885, or Stephanie (323) 225-8652.

Join us there and dance to the music of the '40's, 50's, 60's & '70's. Remember, tennis shoes or socks only on the gym floor. And no alcohol allowed on school property.


The Tigers will play the next home game in two weeks, Friday Sept. 17th. J.V. at 4, Varsity at 7. Support our teams. Support our students. Your attendance matters.

LHS FOOTBALL- The first game for 1984. At home under the lights on Friday, Sept. 10th. The Tigers v. Mark Keppel High-Alhambra

Reception at 5:30 in Girls' Gym, "In Honor of 9-11 Heroes," the law enforcement, fire and safety personnel.

4 p.m. j.v. game
7 p.m. Varsity
TICKETS- Students: $4 purchased in school ; Gate price: $5
Food stands will be hosted during games by Alumni and Students.

Support the players, coaches and students of LHS.
Street Parking note: Northbound side on Broadway available AFTER 6 p.m.

Football Schedule notes:
Home, Friday, September 10th, 7pm - v. Mark Keppel High, Alh.
Friday, September 17th is AWAY, v. Roosevelt High, evening (a change from the earlier posting here.)
Home again on Friday Sept. 24th, v. Bell High at 7 p.m.

There are about 5 home game this year, all at night on our home field. For a complete list right now, you will need to go to somewhere that has the poster up, like Dino's (which happened to be my source- obviously, I am not on a mailing list, e-mail or otherwise.

Sorry about the lack of more dates, I didn't have a chance to write all the dates down, but you can see for yourself now. More dates and details as we learn them. I DO know there is no varsity game scheduled for October 31st, Halloween, like last year.

As we are coming back to another academic year for LHS, here are a few items to consider.

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Some additional notes on upcoming events, details subject to adjustment- The following information is for a posting that was delayed (by me), as you may have noticed. It was submitted a while back from Mike Ibarra, S'66 (Thanks, Mike):

!!

Saturday, September 4, 2004 Laughlin Turnaround.
$25 donation includes Food (breakfast and buffet) and door prizes. First pickup @ 2035 Gates Street. Leaves at 5:30 am. Returns at 11:00 pm. 2nd pickup @ FairPlex-Pomona at 6:45 am. (323) 221-8164 for directions. For information contact Vera Padilla 323-225-0030

Friday, September 10, 2004 Lincoln Honoring The 911 Heroes at Night Football game.
Reception at 5:30 pm in the Girl's Gym. Games starts at 7:00 pm.

Saturday, September 18, 2004 - SOCK HOP
Be there. $15 per person or $25 per couple. 7 pm to 11 pm. Lincoln High Girl's Gym. Info: Contact Stephanie (323) 225-8652 or Tina (562) 941-7885>

Friday, November 12, 2004 Lincoln Honoring All Veterans and enlisted personnel at Night Football game.
Reception at 5:30 pm in the Girl's Gym. Games starts at 7:00 pm.

Mike Ibarra Summer 66

During the summer, the extra classrooms are slowly but surely being removed.  Many of them were visible from the football stands and you might have seen them if you went to any games or were at the graduation.   Modernization has about been completed, with the Administration building one of the last projects to be completed.
 
Lincoln is finally air-conditioned and during the current summer school session, it is so nice compared to places where school goes on in the heat.   Summer school ends at Lincoln on August 17th with about 3 week of vacation to use up before another year begins.   The dismantling of the extra classrooms will open up the parking areas that have been unavailable for a year.  The storage area on one lawn in the Senior Court is being cleared off, with installation of a sprinkler system probably the most important element needed to restore that area to its former beauty.   Fill in the rose bed with some new rosebushes to complete the picture and all should be looking better than ever.
 
More to be told on the modernization changes that were done.

Coding has been changed and The GUESTBOOK should again be accessible for browsing.

CAR WASH, SAT. JUNE 26, 8 AM. TO 1 PM.
Lincoln Heights Senior Center, 2323 Workman St.
Donation is $5.

The Lincoln High School Football teams will be working to raise money for uniforms and related materials so that they can get off to a good start this summer. Help out. Buy an extra ticket to get the teams going into the summer with the right tools for the game.

Alumni meeting on Saturday, 6-12-04, postponed, lack of quorum. Rescheduling to about a week, individual contact needed.

Finals week. Graduation on June 17th, Thursday afternoon on LHS' Andrus Field. Grad Night at Disneyland to follow.

AN IMPORTANT MEETING DATE CHANGE: Alumni Association will be meeting NEXT Saturday. A whole lot of last minute items resulted in having to push the date over to Saturday, June 12th at 9 a.m.

For more information, come to meeting. It is free, and friendly and important.

Meeting of Alumni Association, this Saturday, June 5, 9 a.m.
Room 201, LHS. All alumni welcome.

Tonight Sat. 3/27/04
Casino Roya night at "After the Schoolbell Rings" program facility, 3116 West Main St., Alhambra beginning 7 p.m.
Food, buffet style, served until it's all gone; dessert at 11 after gaming is done.

$35 donation ; prizes

This Saturday, March 27th, beginning at 7 p.m. in Alhambra, there will be a Casino Night held to benefit the Lincoln Varsity Football team, the LHS Alumni Association, and the program, After the Schoolbell Rings. Food of a substantial nature and excellent quality will be served, there will be various games of chance and a liberal supply of chips to play with. All this for the donation of $35 per ticket. Raffle prizes, a superb bartender and some smoke free and smoker designated locations will be present for your enjoyment.

More on this to follow. Tickets will be sold at the door.

Reminder: Meeting of the Alumni Association at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow, Saturday, Feb. 14th at 9:30 in Room 201 at LHS.

Any and everyone invited to meeting. A little pot luck for refreshments before and during the meeting. Casino Night is an upcoming event included on the agenda.

The LHS Asian students celebrated the Chinese New Year, the Year of the Monkey with special dance and martial arts presentations for the students and faculty in the Auditorium on Friday, February 13, 2004. Included in the program was the Gates Street Elementary dance group which performed the visually impressive dance. The program began with the entrance of four Chinese dragons, proceeding through the audience up to the stage with a very vivid and entertaining dance. There were two performances given which brought another cultural element into the school environment.

Holiday Monday, Presidents' Day. Lincoln's Birthday Yesterday. Absent from school events was any formal celebration or acknowledgment of the birthday of the person for whom our school is named. Some basic facts to refresh your memory:

Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States. Born 1809 on February 12th. The Civil War ended on April 9, 1865, and President Lincoln died four days later on April 14, 1865 after being shot by John Wilkes Booth. an actor who sympathized with the South. President Lincoln was attending a play at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C. on Good Friday and was shot by the assailant who fired at him from behind at close range. Abraham Lincoln was the first President of the United States to be assassinated.

Alumni Meeting coming this Saturday morning at LHS, Room 201 (Ms. Padilla's room). At the last meeting held last month, monthly meetings were also scheduled for the 2nd Saturday of the month for the rest of the year, to begin at 9:30 a.m. after 9 a.m. coffee and snacks. All alumni welcome to attend and add comments and questions, or just visit.

Dan Ramirez was elected President at the meeting, Carlos Reyes, Treasurer, Stephanie Mancillas, Secretary. (The complete list to be added later, with class years.) The topics included the activities for the 2004 year, the allocation of sponsorship donations to LHS student organizations, the Football program activities.

Parent group interests were raised over the issues of student safety. Mr. Guzman, representing the parents on the site council made his presentation at the meeting. The absence of dress code enforcement, inappropriate and ineffective conduct of school personnel and general concerns that all that is possible to be done is not being done by the responsible elements to ensure the safety and well-being of students were presented to the alumni.

The Alumni Association will continue to follow progress on the issue as it develops and relay information to concerned alumni. As for recreational activities, a picnic for summer, a sock hop in the gym and the reunions that were being planned were discussed and will be in develpment for next Saturday. Representatives of various classes that planned reunions for 2004 still appear to be in planning modes. Additional information pending. No representatives have attended the meetings since the November 90th Anniversary Celebration.

As an aside, there will be a turnaround trip to Stateline, Nevada on the 28th of February, $20 per ticket, as a Memorial Scholarship fundraiser, leaving L.Hts at 5:30 a.m. on that date, a Saturday, with specific details from Vera Padilla, organizer. A popular trip, act now to get in on the fun.

SCHOOL NOTE: Last Saturday, the 56 high schools in the LAUSD competed in the Academic Decathlon. Lincoln placed 7th in the competition, according to the LASUD website source. Further competition among the top finishers is expected. By the way, the LHS Decathlon team received a significant contribution from the Alumi Association at the last meeting towards the Team's acquisition of School jackets, modelled after the school's letterman jackets. Congratulations to these industrious young individuals.

Friday's latino boycott by the students hit the school pretty severely. Over 1,000 students were absent at LHS, creating a loss of about $23,000.00, according to the report from the school administration.

The overall reason for this was to demonstrate dissatisfaction with the Governor's work in opposition to the license law for residents not legally in the state, or undocumented, if you prefer. In any event, all students in L.A., and especially latino students, have be in school as much as there is an opportunity to do so. The schools have so little money coming through that this loss makes the student the losers.

I find it difficult to see the wisdom of hurting one's self as a method to get a point across. The students' actual level of commitment and understanding of what was represented to them mattered little. As a general observation, the students were given a reason to miss school, some saying that it was a "Mexican holiday," and they were taking advantage of it. I think they were the ones where advantage was taken.

Using our students, who should be given every opportunity to obtain a free education, as a method to wield some clout was a very unfair, selfish and self-destructive act. I don't see how failing to pursue the opportunity to receive an education should be considered to be productive when fighting deficiencies in literacy alone is a reason for spending MORE time in school, not less.

The leaders, if you want to call them that, should not be praised by anyone. They hurt the students, did nothing to advance their education, cut a lot of funding that makes the schools run. They made it even more difficult to accomplish the task of educating our young people, a particular segment of the population which has long been faced with high drop-out rates at the local schools.

Using the students very simply as pawns in the game of politics, wanting to protest the driver's license issue, is just wrong. There was nothing in it for the students, nothing even relating to issues of education. Maybe THAT would be a questionably meritorious basis, but this wasn't even close.

Again, I find it very difficult to understand how hurting yourself can show anyone how smart you are.

Seasoned alumni may remember the blowouts from 1968 on the Eastside, but that was directly connected to the school situation. Even then, many were leaving campus as a matter of peer pressure as for dissatisfaction with conditions. That was the decade of social change and to a large extent, many too young to be a part of that period would like to see a reason now to have the same experiences of protesting for their cause.

Let's at least have it be worth the costs.

For those students still IN school, the LHS baseball program is coming together with tryouts coming up. The Lincoln soccer program is underway. The JV team played Roosevelt's twice-champion JV team on Thursday afternoon at LHS, but with Friday's activities, the winning side is still unknown.

Two more weeks of classes until the holiday break for 3 weeks and then back to classes. There is another reunion planned. This one is going to be next year, 2004, to bring together the Class of 1964. More on this later. Just saw a flyer today at LHS.

If anyone noticed the L.A. Times yesterday, Tuesday in the California section, there was a photo of one of the 4 shooting victims. The shooting happened after school at about 3:45 p.m at a restaurant just across the street from the front entrance to the school. So far there is not much information about the cause, the perpetrators or the exact way it happened. The shots were heard by many on campus at the time.

It doesn't appear that there is much that can be done to prevent the persons from doing such things to other people. Fortunately, none of these victims do not appear to be in a life threatening condition.

It seems that there is so much of these violent acts these days that the Times did not bother to write more than a caption, nor was much made in the television and radio news. Apprehension of the involved persons and punishment is about all that you can expect. If anyone has a plan or an idea for prevention of off-campus violence, let us know.

As for the school itself, there is the modernization work still in progress. The 500 building is done. The Administration (100) building is half done with a wing about to re-open and the other wing about to close for the workers to get at it. The Library balcony area is worked over to extend the area out into what was an exterior area.

More is happening, but this is the most notable change for now.