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

Page 24 text:

1 1 GET A WHIFF OF LUBBOCK The day started as any other da ' . but something was different. What is that hid- eous smell? This was a common phrase heard from unsuspecting new students. ' es, that distinct odor was back. The glo- rious essence of cattle being fattened on their way to the slaughterhouse became a common odor to Tech students when cer- tain weather conditions existed. Everyone knew of the infamous Lubbock stockyards. Kim Graham, a freshman from Denton, said, It is so tlat and arid here that the wind carries the smell, and nothing acts as a barrier. Melissa King, a freshman from Houston, said, The smell comes when it is windy or when the weather is changing. Sophomore Suzy Urban of Lubbock said the true cause of the smell is when the wind blows into Lubbock from the feedlots and brings the smell with it. Being the inquisitive person that I am. I went in search of the mystic stench. I made call after call. I got hang-up after hang-up. I was beginning to wonder what these peo- ple were trying to hide from this poor mis- led college freshman. But I finally went to the top man, Stanley Young, Lubbock County agent. I was con- fused and distraught, but he made my eyes (and my nose) open to the true meaning of the cattle scent. The smell was a constant dilemma at the Lubbock feedlot outside the southeast cor- ner of town. Students, however, only got a wiff of the odor when the weather condi- tions were just right. Warm, windy and damp conditions stir up the cattle waste and magnify the smell even more than usual, Young said. One evening when the wind was blowing into the Hub City from the southeast, the aroma arose and made the inhabitants of the city take notice. My search was now complete. My mys- tery of the cattle stench was solved. The stockyards were proven innocent, but the feedlot and weather conditions were found to be the culprits. The smell has its benefits, though. The cattle industry is a valuable enterprise in the Lubbock area. Lubbock is part of the High Plains feeding industry that extends from Lubbock to the Oklahoma and Kan- sas lines. Twenty-two percent of all cattle in the United States are fed in this area. Lub- bock ' s feedlot and Tech ' s own feedlot com- bined feed 51,000 head at a time. So, Don ' t forget to shut your windows. — Rebecca Hawkins Cows like this one just outside town are responsible for the smell in Lubbock. (Photo by Darrel ThomasI i... ?5 20 — Feedlot

Page 23 text:

rOO BIG TO WALK Be ond the aterage bus nde. one Tech siuder.l lakes her chances riding the Raiderland Express on Oct. 31. Dnver Kenneth Griffen. also known as Alabama. delivers students to their morning classes dressed as Dracula. iPhoto by Allen Rose) Red, green, or yellow route, even tee mc 5i pnysically fit person discovers soon enough that riding the cam- pus bus is worth the wait. Students at the Holden Hall stop wait up to 15 minutes only to face a bus filled beyond capacity. iPholo by Darrel Thomas) TECHS SA 1 G GRACE The wheels on the bus go round and round so early in the morning. so the old song goes. Texas Tech has a large transpor- tation system that consists of seven buses. It mcludes one blue route, two red routes, one yellow route and one green route that run exclusively on the main campus. Two buses — the Raiderland Express, which is a Tech bus. and one Lubbock city bus-run on and off campus routes. Tech is a large campus, which makes it hard for students to get from one side to the other in 10 minutes if they have back-to- back classes. Many students ride the bus instead of walking to class. Some Tech students have criticized the bus system in the past, saying it lacked effi- ciency. Some changes were made this year in bus routes and the number of bus stops to tr ' to cut the lag time between buses and to improve the bus system overall. Many students use the bus as a place for socialization. Students use the bus time for chatting w ith friends and enjoying a crowd- ed and noisy party atmosphere. People carrv on conversations with friends and ac- quaintances — even when that friend is at the back of the bus and they are at the front. Some students ride the bus evervAvhere. from commuter to campus and then around campus throughout the day. I ride the bus if it s there. said Pat De- Groote. an electrical engineering major from Sevema Park. Md. But I don ' t like to wait for it. On the other hand, there are those stu- dents who avoid the bus system altogether. I ' ve been at Tech for three years, and I ' ve never ridden the bus. said Tim Reiter, a political science major from Gainesville. Mainly I avoid the buses because they ' re too crowded and you have to wait too long for them. — Jamie Stewart Campus Buses — 19

Page 25 text:

¥tcc Oesiffaed by Loro Luiz