Texas Tech University - La Ventana Yearbook (Lubbock, TX)

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Eulogy For Happy V This year Tech lost Happy V, the university mascot for five years. Happy V died Nov. 15 due to compli- cations with a serious colic attack. Happy V followed a tradition that began in 1954. Tech ' s football team went to the Gator Bowl on January 1 of that year. DeWitt Weaver, head football coach at the time, asked Joe Kirk Fulton of the agriculture depart- ment if Tech shouldn ' t have some sort of mascot at their home games. Ful- ton agreed and Tech followed the other Southwest Conference schools in having a live mascot. The tradition was started at the Gator Bowl as Fulton rode around the football field on a black horse. Fulton was dressed in jeans, a red shirt, a red and black cape and a black hat. The Gator Bowl announcer said the rider looked like a Red Raider, and the name and mascot idea were accepted as a part of Tech ' s history. Since 1954, 16 riders and six horses have served as mascot for Tech. The preceding horses were Blackie, Tech Beauty, Charcoal Cody and Showboy Huffman. However, with Happy V and his replacement, Happy VI, a new tra- dition was started. All succeeding horses will be called Happy. Happy V was black and had a white star on his forehead. He has been con- sidered one of Tech ' s most handsome mascots and will be sorely missed. HAPPY and LARRY CADE

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Entertainment S Lubbock received a bountiful share of big-name talent this year, as groups ranging from Kiss to John Den- ver journeyed to the Hub. Rusty Wier played to a hyped-up audience Sept. 23. The concert turned into a Beat A M pep rally, and hundreds of students, their spirits soar- ing after Wier ' s performance, kept the rally going in the streets until 4 a.m. Gino Vanelli returned to Lubbock after a sell-out performance in the Municipal Auditorium last year. Pro- moters moved this year ' s concert into the Coliseum, but the expected crowd didn ' t materialize. A disappointed Vanelli performed songs from his Pauper in Paradise album for 2,890 persons. The Doobie Brothers performed in November at the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center, one of the first groups to play at the new convent ion center. Their music, popular with a lot of Tech students, provided a needed break from mid-semester blues. Kiss managed to break all atten- dance records at the Municipal Coliseum in February. A crowd of 10,300 pushed its way in to experience Kiss ' unique musical style and stage show, complete with vampires and other delights. Emerson, Lake and Palmer com- bined good music and a spectacular stage show to entertain Techsans in February. Other performers included BJ Thomas, sponsored by the Baptist Student Union; Oh, Calcutta! (yes, without clothes); Blue Oyster Cult; War, and the Beach Boys, the first big- name concert sponsored by the Univer- sity Center Programs Council. The campus went wild and crazy March 31 when Steve Martin rambled into town. Martin ' s first performance sold out before he hit town, and he agreed to do a second show the same night. Both were enthusiastically re- ceived. Cries of Let ' s get .small! echoed around campus for weeks, and local novelty shops enjoyed a long run on arrows and umbrella hats. John Denver played to a sell-out crowd May 7. Pausing only for an oc- casional sip of stage tea, Denver delighted his audience with most of his old favorites. The concert provided a mellow end to a year of top perform- ances. STEVE MARTIN 22-U VenUna