Getting ready for and applying to college is a long and difficult process that starts as early as the ninth grade, and choices may be limited. California’s college student population is projected to grow by 12,000 new students each year. One study indicates that to accommodate them, the state will have to create a new university every September. So, with enrollments rising so quickly, what should high school students do to ensure themselves a place in the college or university of their choice?

First off, set realistic goals. According to Sunny Halpern, college counselor at Malibu High School, students should remember that “there are thousands of colleges and hundreds that are wonderful. Everybody doesn’t have to focus on the top schools. There is a college for everybody.”

She says that getting into the University of California system is becoming increasingly difficult. “There are so many more kids. All the UCs are probably ranked in the top 25 or 50 colleges and you can’t beat the price.” She suggests trying the Santa Cruz, Irvine and Riverside campuses.

Second, prepare carefully. Halpern recommends that students think about college and career plans when they select their courses for the ninth grade. Ambitious students have to get on the college track, which means advanced placement and honors classes. She also encourages ninth graders to participate in sports and extracurricular activities.

By 10th grade, achieving high grades in honors and advanced placement classes should be the college-bound student’s paramount goal. Colleges want to see that students have challenged themselves by taking more than minimum requirements.

By l0th grade, students are supposed to start becoming familiar with colleges and begin making visits to campuses that appeal to them. Interviews with admissions personnel and alumni can also be arranged at this time.

The Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT), a practice version of the SAT I, is taken by 10th-graders in October. Corrected answer sheets give students an idea of how well they’ll do on the real thing. Students retake this test in the 11th grade, when high scorers become National Merit semifinalists or Commended Scholars.

Some students begin tutoring or group practice sessions for the SATs at this time. However, Jennifer Valdman, owner of A-Plus Educational Tutoring in Malibu, begins working with some students as early as the seventh grade. She said the decision of when to begin study sessions “depends on the age and qualities of the child.”

Halpern said that practice helps students do better on standardized tests, but, “except for those who are highly motivated, students don’t generally start [preparing] until the 11th grade.” She warned students and parents against “panicking.”

An abundance of SAT training programs exist, the best known of which are Ivy West and Princeton Review. Courses are offered after school, on weekends, and during school vacations. Some students also take the ACT Assessment test, which can be used as an alternative standardized test.

Free test preparation classes are available on the Internet. Personal computer prep courses can be purchased at a reasonable cost, as well.

UC schools are moving to eliminate SAT scores from admission requirements, however. Wealthier students can afford more training and thereby have an advantage when they take the test. This year, UC schools doubled the “weight” of the SAT II, diluting the value of the SAT I. The SAT II focuses more on achievement, while the SAT I is more of an assessment test.

At the end of 10th grade, some students take SAT II tests in advanced subjects such as biology or algebra II. The best universities require three SAT II tests along with SAT I tests in math and English.

Junior-year grades count the most. This is the time most students study SAT practice books or computer programs on their own, as well as take prep courses for the college boards. Students are advised to take a college summer course, get a job or volunteer, join a team or start a club. In other words, start collecting material that can be mentioned in application essays.

Some students take their SAT I tests for the final time at the end of the junior year. Others wait until the fall of the senior year. By then it’s time to start filing applications, collecting recommendations and writing personal essays. Most colleges have application deadlines around January 1, but the UC and California State University applications are due in November. Many students apply to their college of choice for early admission, which also occurs in the fall.

By early April, the results start to come in. It is time for many students to readjust their vision of the future.

For the well-prepared, however, the fun is just beginning. They’ll be getting a large, heavy envelope with more forms to fill out.

Anti-homosexual epithets have become a common part of high school students’ vocabulary, as a casual listen in campus hallways and athletic fields might indicate. Teens have turned such words as “fag,” “gay” and “homo” into all-purpose pejoratives to describe anything from an irritating person to a dreaded homework assignment.

“[Gay] has become a slang term,” said Malibu High School junior Lukas Mehring.

“When most people say it, they don’t mean it in a good way, but not in a derogatory way either,” added junior Joseph Bolter.

One MHS junior, who asked that his name not be used, said he often uses anti-gay terms as slang. “I don’t hate [homosexuals],” he said, but “I am just not comfortable with it.”

Other MHS students are not so apathetic to the use of such words.

“By using such words they are inadvertently denigrating homosexuality,” said senior Avi Mendelson.

Though senior Jeremy Johnson does not condone the use of anti-homosexual terms, he says that “it’s derogatory if you say it in front of a gay person,” but not in the way that the words are usually used by students.

While girls are not unknown to make anti-homosexual remarks, it seems to be more common among boys. Senior Grace Blauner sees this as a sign of common male adolescent insecurities.

“It is because guys are more insecure with their own sexuality,” said Blauner, who spent this past summer at UC-Santa Barbara researching heterosexual reactions to homosexuality. She found that “the male participants were exceedingly more homo-negative than the female participants.”

Gloria Martinez, vice principal at MHS, admits the use of anti-homosexual slurs on campus but does not see it as a major problem.

“When we [the MHS staff] hear it, we say it is not appropriate,” said Martinez. “If it becomes a problem, there are consequences, such as detention.”

“At the very least, the student will be warned and the parents called for any such harassment,” said Principal Mike Matthews. “Over the past eight years, I have suspended students for harassment.”

Many overlook the actual meaning of these words, failing to realize that they hurt.

“Throughout middle school I went to the administration every week in tears because people were calling me gay,” said Johnson. “The administration wouldn’t do anything because they said they had to catch the person in the act.”

Matthews vaguely remembers Johnson’s complaints. “I do not recall the exact follow-up from this student’s concerns from events that occurred six years ago, but I do know that we did meet with the student and his parents to discuss his concerns,” explained Matthews.

“Verbal harassment is greatly impacting young gay students,” said Marla Weiss, a teacher at Beverly Hills High and a member of the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network. She added that gay students are often unable to tell anyone about the harassment. The student “simply goes home, cries and then comes back to school the next day to hear the same thing over and over again.”

School districts across California have established programs aimed at preventing homophobia among high school students. In 1999, Gov. Davis signed a law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity at California schools.

But establishing acceptance of gay students is far from easy. Anthony Colin, 16, of El Modena High School, was at first prohibited by the Orange County Unified School District to establish a gay/straight alliance on campus. After a year of court hearings and intense opposition from the school board, parents and students, Colin was finally allowed to establish the club. He was recently awarded the Spirit Endurance Award by Amnesty International for his gay rights activism.

A report by the Massachusetts Governor’s Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth in 1993 found that 97 percent of students in public high schools report regularly hearing anti-gay remarks. And, according to a National Anti-Gay/Lesbian Victimization Report conducted by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force in 1984, 45 percent of gay males and 20 percent of lesbians reported having experienced verbal and/or physical harassment in high school due to their sexual orientation.

The great danger is that verbal abuse can lead to physical violence. Gays and lesbians, according to a 1995-1996 Human Relations Commission’s Report on Hate Crimes, comprise the second largest group targeted for hate crimes in the United States. Anti-gay hate crimes continue to rise, according to an FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, which said that in 1998 there was a 14.3 percent increase in reported anti-gay hate crimes. It is suspected that most anti-gay hate crimes remain unreported.

And fear and hatred of homosexuals can be deadly. Who can forget the murder of young Matthew Shepard in the fall of 1998, who was targeted because he was gay?

The Malibu Youth Commission, in its first year, is still trying to find ways to develop fun and safe activities within the city, which will hopefully appeal to Malibu youths as a substitute for Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade, Hollywood clubs and high school parties.

“The reality is that any kind of commission takes a little bit of time to get on its feet,” said Paul Adams, Malibu’s director of Parks and Recreation.

Established in memory of late Councilmember Harry Barovsky, who first brought the idea to the City Council, the Malibu Youth Commission is made up of 15 teens, the majority of whom attend Malibu High School, with Adams presiding over meetings. The 15 teens replied early last year to an ad in a local paper.

According to Adams, other cities have such commissions to target the needs of youths. He added that the commission primarily serves as an advisor to the City Council about Malibu youth.

“The City Council recognized that there was an issue with there being nothing for the youth in Malibu to do,” said commission chair Alexis Bolter, a senior at MHS. “Our purpose is to create an environment for the youth in Malibu.”

“Our most difficult challenge has been trying to get things established, because this is the first year,” explained Bolter.

An early difficulty that the commission encountered was the sudden departure of Marilyn Stern, the City Council’s former recreation supervisor, who moved to San Diego earlier this year.

“We had Marilyn Stern helping us, who just left,” said Bolter. “We were trying to get some activities going, but due to her absence were unable to.”

The Malibu Youth Commission is not to be confused with the similarly named Malibu Youth Coalition. The main difference that sets the commission apart from the coalition, according to Bolter, is that the coalition is run by a group of parents whose focus remains more on middle school students, while the commission has chosen to focus more on high school students.

“The Youth Commission has a lot of potential with a lot of pull with parks and the city, but people need to get involved,” said MHS senior Jeremy Johnson, a member of the commission. He added that people are welcomed and encouraged to attend the Youth Commission meetings and submit their ideas.

Johnson says that the commission has spent the past months establishing a mission statement and official guidelines for the commission.

Events that the commission hopes to offer later this year include a basketball tournament, coffee clubs and a free concert for local teens in Malibu Bluffs Park later this spring. Funds for these events will be provided by the commission.

“Basically, we want to have events where the Malibu youth will be able to hang out,” said Bolter.

According to Bolter, the commission is conducting a needs assessment to aid it in better serving the youth of Malibu.

For those who want to submit ideas or attend a Youth Commission meeting, meetings are held at City Hall, in the large conference room, from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on the third Monday of every month.