Texas Tech University - La Ventana Yearbook

“r. The Year At Tech: ■^ V Spirit was at an all-time high as Tech students returned to the campus this year. Football always dominates the fall semester, and this year the Raiders were expected to finally reach Red Cotton. The athletic department even had to provide additional student seat- ing for home football games — the re- sult of " unprecedented student in- terest, " according to the UD. Then things seemed to fall apart. Heisman hopeful Rodney Allison was injured during the first quarter of the A & M game. The Raiders never quite got back on their feet, turning in a mediocre 7-4 season record in the face of losses to arch-rivals A & M, Texas, Houston and Arkansas. Nothing seemed to be going right. Even Steve Sloan quit before the Tangerine Bowl, a debacle in Florida that many blamed on the coach who resigned to go to Ole Miss. Disappointed Raiders turned their attention to other matters. Student apathy took a step backward as controversies swept the campus, the Lubbock area and the nation. Nearly everyone on campus was involved in some sort of issue from farm strikes to election disputes. Iranian students staged several demonstrations at Tech. In fear of retaliation, they cloaked their identities behind masks as they protested the Shah ' s United States visit. Former President Gerald R. Ford delivered a speech in October to the Lubbock Chamber of Commerce. De- spite the fact that most Lubbockites, like most Texans, are Democrats, Ford received a warm welcome at the Memorial Civic Center when he greeted retiring Congressman George Mahon. Tech received its share of fine arts, too. Several dance groups, stage per- formers and musicians participated in the residency program at the UC. Ballet Hispanico presented a remark- able performance in the fall, acquaint- ing Tech students with the diverse flavors of hispanic dance. ”