Titans Update: In response to the email, from Principal Monica Oviedo, sent to me and others, I have responded with the following: Hi Dr. Oviedo, Dave Navarro here, Class of 1963 and the 1962 ASB VP…. pleading guilty as the perpetrator of all the noise being made on social media, some which no doubt has reached your email box. Let me start by congratulating you for the positive path on which you have taken Pioneer High School. I knew, when I met you at the 50 years celebration, that good things were in store for my beloved high school alma mater. You have proved me correct. Second, l congratulate the Pioneer Titans football team, and coaching staff, for their second win in a row, at Cerritos. Having read your response concerning all the alumni conversation going on with regards to information I was initially given, not by members of your staff, but by a member of the PHSAA, I would like to respond and offer some insight. Our first and biggest objection, is one you related to in your response… that being Pioneer High School coaches purchasing and being allowed to wear a shirt that replaces the Titan emblem with a cartoonist sort of rocket that has been described in many ways, from a bad drawing of an orca, to a shark, and words I won’t mention. Regardless of how the “rocket” under Titan Pride looks, it is misleading; giving the impression that the rocket is our logo, when in fact, a rocket, Titan or otherwise, was NEVER envisioned in conjunction with Pioneer High School. That it is being worn, with your permission, is conceived by an overwhelming majority of alumni discussing the matter, is bold, rude, and disrespectful to our heritage and legacy, as Pioneer Titans. Our selection of Titans, by vote, by students of the incoming classes of 1961, 1962, and 1963, under the direction of principal Jack Jines, was taken from greek mythology, and combined with the spirit of Olympic athletes of old Greece. It was a theme that would have been chosen, even if the name of the school turned out to be Olympic High School, which ran a close second to Pioneer. Coming together, it all fit well with our Pioneer spirit and our original shield, which bears at its center,a chain and bolt of lightning, overlaid by the letter T (for Titans) and topped with a torch and the atom. What better way, we envisioned, to represent a combination of science, learning, exploration, oneness and strength. It is the shield on my graduation ring. In latter years, the T was replaced with a green P, for Pioneer, and the word Pioneer replaced with the word Titans, in black. It is from that torch, atop the shield and representing Victory, that the name of our yearbook and eventually our Victory torch, donated by the Class of 1964 came to being. The fact that NASA launched the Titan Rocket program almost in conjunction with the opening of Pioneer High School was purely coincidental. NEVER, before we opened and during those first years, was there any thought given to Titan rockets by the ASB, of which I was a part, or any other entity having interest in Pioneer High School. It was well into the 60s before the Titan rocket was less known, in the negative, as a weapon of ICBM war and adopted to the Gemini space exploration program. From our grand opening, in 1959, and for all of our years at Pioneer, we were in the Cold War. We had periods of ducking under our desks. We certainly didn’t need a mascot or logo that referenced that negativity. Further demonstrating that no thought was ever given to Titan rockets, in 1966, the ASB decided to give a face to our Titan. You will find that face in the 1966 yearbook, portrayed by Sue Gormley and, your former Assistant Principal, Harry Yessian. Over the following years, I dare say too much liberty was given and taken, with regards to the Titan image and shades of green. I absolutely agree that it has gotten out of control, and implementing a helmet that looks suspiciously like plagiarism from that of the Michigan State Spartans does not help. However, it also doesn’t help that representatives of your staff are flagrantly sporting shirts that misrepresent the Titan drive and spirit. Further that they would be allowed to put that image on football helmets is beyond disrespectful to our Pride, as Titans. I hear you saying, “We are NOT changing our mascot away from the Titans.” I don’t hear you saying the image of Titans will NOT be a rocket. Nor do I hear you saying that this “coherent brand”, you seek, is not going to be a comical image of a Titan rocket. I have no idea where Mr. Haines and Mr. Moscorro got the impressions that our mascot, Titans was reference to the Titan rocket/missile program, which lasted from 1959 (after the ASB voted) until 2005, but… respectfully, they are wrong. Again, one need only follow Pioneer High School history. So… since your statement does not preclude arbitrary changing of the Titan mystic to coincide with the above mentioned Titan rockets and the logo on the coach’s shirts, can we conclude that that change will not happen? And can we respectfully request that those shirts and the decals, misrepresenting our legacy, be stopped. with much regard, Dave Navarro, Class of 1963
Posted on: Fri, 19 Sep 2014 20:31:13 +0000
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