Abilene Christian College - Prickly Pear Yearbook (Abilene, TX)

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teacher pay hikes in excess of five percent, a figure big city superintendents said,' We can’t live with, but he’s made it clear it’s not negotiable.’’ The teachers' outcry of he's getting even for their support of Hill, drew lots of press, but no pay raise. Despite the predictions of the lobbyists, Clements announced he'd oppose an increase in the allowed homeowner rates. Observers outside the Lone Star State anxiously awaited the legislature’s decision on scheduling the Texas Presidential primary. The opportunity to host the pre- miere primary in 1980, getting a jump on New Hamphsire, was forsaken in the interest of fiscal con- servation. It’s cheaper to have a good way to keep the conservatives voting in the Democratic primary. With appropriations unsettled and the capitol at odds with the governor’s mansion on the subject of referendum, the Prickly Pear went to press with no better guess than the Austin grapevine about how many special sessions the maverick governor would call. 140 days every two years and some have wondered if the public interest of Texas might be better served if it met two days every 140 years. But somehow it all fits with the political scene of Texas. The people who gave you Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin, Ma Ferguson, Billy Sol, Lyndon, Speaker Sam, and Dolph and Janey, now give you a Republican governor, senators split 50-50 and chaos on capitol hill. Is this what they mean by

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of California Ronald Reagan. ACU faces dotted crowds and centerstage at the inauguration. Herb Butrum, ACU's former coordina- tor of special alumni activities, helped coordinate the inaugural festivities. The Big Purple marched down Congress Avenue in the parade. Dr. Rex Kyker, head of the depart- ment of communication, read the preamble to the U S. Constitution accompanied by the University of Texas band, and many ACU officials special guests section. ACU Vice President Bob Hunter, also executive vice president of the Independent Colleges and Uni- versities of Texas, was already be- ginning the legwork which led to passage of the Texas Equalization The sides became clearly drawn for a battle that, in the words of a state representative, would make the Thrilla in Manilla' look like a Sunday picnic. On one front, there was Speaker of the House Bill Clayton, whose ambition to be governor may be the worst kept se- cret since the Sharpstown scandal. On the other side was Clements, the man who had spent a fortune for a job that pays him what he considers pocket Lieutenant Governor Bill Hobby, the man who captured his political ideology ir it ain’t broke? £ astound the old guard leaving them new gov£ jpport

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From Jonestown to the Summit: A Paradoxical Year The year was eventful. Americans were shocked by cultic deaths, saddened by the passing of an American hero, frightened by a nuclear power accident, pressured by an ever- increasing energy shortage and encouraged by a foreign peace agreement. On Nov. 18,1978, the country was stunned by the suicidal deaths of hundreds of U.S. citizens in Guyana. The tragedy began when U.S. Rep. Leo J. Ryan (Calif.) and four other Americans were shot to death by members of the People’s Temple, a California-based religious cult operating in a settlement called Shortly after the shootings, hundreds of cult members, apparently under persuasion from the cult’s leader, the Rev. Jim Jones, committed suicide by drinking a cyanide-laced flavored drink. Jones died with the group, apparently of a self-inflicted gun shot. By Nov. 24, the death toll had risen to 780 men, women and children, and investigations into cults nationwide were sparked. Deaths of another kind captured national interest on May 25 when 275 people died after an American Airlines DC-10 jet crashed shortly after takeoff from Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. The accident, claimed to be the worst of its kind in U.S. aviation history, occurred after the engine on the left wing separated from the craft and fell to the ground, apparently causing the plane to roll to the left and plunge 500 ft. to the ground nose first. The mishap resulted in a Federal Aviation.Administration order on May 29 grounding all DC-10 jets until it completed an inspection of the engine- mounting bolts thought to have allowed the engine to fall off. Thirty- seven of the 138 U.S.-operated DC-1 Os failed the inspection. By June 6, the FAA had grounded indefinitely all DC-1 Os operated by U.S. airlines and prohibited foreign- registered DC-1 Os from operating in U.S. airspace. It was the first time a U.S.-manufactured jetliner fleet had been grounded for anything but brief inspections. The controversial nuclear energy issue gained momentum in late March with an accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear power station near Harrisburg, Pa. A series of breakdowns in the cooling system of one of the plant's reactors on March 28 resulted in the leakage of radioactive steam and the formation of a hydrogen gas bubble which threatened to explode and scatter radioactive gas and debris throughout the area. On March 30, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission warned of a possible meltdown of the uranium core, and pregnant women and pre- school children within a five-mile radius of the plant were advised to leave the area. The NRC announced on April 2 a dramatic reduction in the hydrogen bubble and a cooling of the core, and on the following day the commission said the bubble had been eliminated, ending the incident but not the controversy. With the nuclear issue still raging, forces of nature seized the nation’s attention on April 10 as tornadoes struck in Tornado Alley” along the Texas-Oklahoma border. The twisters left at least 60 persons dead and about 800 injured, creating millions of dollars of property damage. In Wichita Falls, Tex., a tornado flattened everything in a mile-wide path nearly 10 miles long. Damage was estimated at $200 million. The twisters, called the most deadly to strike Texas in 25 years, also did about $6 million damage in Vernon, Texas, and $13 million in Lawton, Okla. From these destructive, yet rather simplistic forces, the United States turned to a highly complex issue that