Carpinteria High School

Gimme an N: Noisy but nice. That's what it is like when 2,000 teen-agers compete to see who is best at yelling and smiling at the same time. Pep squads from 120 high schools from Fresno to San Diego are gathering this weekend at Magic Mountain in Valencia for the 10th annual Southern California High School Cheerleading Championships.

It's election season, kids, so get ready to vote. OK, it may be true that 18 is the legal age for that, but it's never too early to develop the habit, so to speak. That's the idea being promoted this fall by some inventive high school and middle school teachers. They are including assignments about the 1996 general election in their social studies, history and economics classes.

On a rocky beach at the foot of rugged cliffs, some 200 people erupted in cheers Saturday. Someone blew a conch shell. The pungent smell of burning sage wafted from ceremonial abalone shells. Women in long, colorful skirts adorned with shells burst into song. For only the second time in at least 150 years, a Chumash plank canoe was cutting through the waters of Santa Barbara Channel.

It's Carpinteria's turn to be in the limelight. Well, it's not exactly "lime" light, but it's certainly a shade of green. This weekend is the annual California Avocado Festival, two days set aside to honor the city's prolific production of the fruit. Yes, it is a fruit, in case you were wondering. It's apparently a popular fruit too, judging by the number of people who have attended past festivals.

Ambling among the crowds along Ventura County Fair's main drag Sunday afternoon, there was little indication that it would all come to an end after the evening's fireworks show. After the last rocket's ember had faded into the summer evening sky, the carnival workers would begin folding up their stalls and loading their rides onto awaiting trucks. The souvenir and food vendors would pack up for the journey home, leaving the fairgrounds a windblown ghost town.

A look of stern concentration crossed the face of Rio Mesa High School junior Lisa Tillquist as she gingerly worked her fingers across her flute. Tillquist, 15, was preparing for the kill. This was do-or-die time--the last marching band competition of the season. But like any pro, now with five years of music lessons under her belt, she was cool and collected. "We've done this before," Lisa said. "So I'm not worried. I'll just go out there and do my best."

They jumped, they shouted, they kicked. And they won. Carpinteria High School's girls' cheerleading squad took the top honor and drew quite a crowd for the Ventura County Fair's first cheerleading competition on the final day Sunday. Sandra Gonzalez of Carpinteria kicked her legs furiously in the air and stretched against a picnic table to warm up as teams from Rio Mesa and Oxnard high schools ran through their drills. Six teams competed.

The years that Don Clark coached football at USC aren't memorable in context of the school's athletic achievements, but the man made a lasting impression on those who knew him. Clark, who died Sunday night in Huntington Beach of what appeared to be a heart attack while jogging, was warmly remembered Monday by his friends. He was 65. "In Don Clark, you had as fine a friend as a human being could have," said Marv Goux, who began his college coaching career as a member of Clark's USC staff in 1957.

After the climax of a bitter, yearlong conflict over Native American images at Carpinteria High School, officials on Wednesday issued two orders: Roll up the floor mats emblazoned with a cartoonish Indian head and cease giving out athletic patches with the image of a glowering red man. But, in a victory for traditionalists, the school will retain all the other Native American likenesses and symbols that dot the campus where residents have cheered on their Warriors since 1928.