University of Texas Austin - Cactus Yearbook (Austin, TX)

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By Air, Sea: Texas In July, 1979, Skylab space station came tumbling back toward earth, but the world awaited its arrival with more glee than trepi- dation. Skylab-watch panics were the latest rage on campus, and many students sported official Skylab target t-shirts and survival kits including plastic helmets, targets and Chicken Little first aid kits. The event occurred at a good time. World news was slow, and summer students had lit- tle to do except speculate where the celestial workshop would land. Although guesses near the Indian Ocean would have been more cor- rect, UT students usually chose targets nearer to home. Projected orbits showed that Skylab would pass over San Marcos in the latter part of the week and many students eyed the sky carefully as they walked by taller buildings. But where would it land? The tower? Math class! After all, the plummet would take care of the professor and next week ' s test at the same time. No, wait! Hope against hope . . . Please, let one itty bitty piece land in the Jester cafeteria PLEASE! Oh, well. Missing Friday the 13th by a mere day and a half, Skylab returned to earth on July 11, 1979, six years after being launched into space. After 34,981 orbits, the space labora- tory landed in the Australian outback. Although the largest pieces of debris weighed more than two tons, no injuries were reported and not one of the expected lawsuits material- ized. The final crash did nothing more than give fortune hunters a field day and put an end to the party. Joan Holland Marine biology students Marcia Ewcll, Brian Fry and Walter Sohl examine data while tracking the oil slick ' s progress. 22 Skylab

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Politics Disturbs Summer Peace lyhili during suf :-io.whidi nic-smcb 10 liitnh ' Bee Gees, lit Irani , embirketl i more than begin their irfomdin screaming jits Center lor ticket), idky.llic iv calls tha falkklfca Salvatuxi Sandwich vendor Mike Klcinman is confromcd by a UT policeman who warns that selling at the comer of 23rd and San Jacinto Streets is a violation of University rules Students Spit for Gain, Glory Enjoying their last carefree day of summer, dormitory residents i unversed at the Andrews, Blanton, druthers Quadrangle for the annual Labor Day Watermelonfcst Dis tance spittcrs competed in the seed-spitting contest. Junior RJV IVrr came in a whirling first pl.uc finish with a spitting diM.irur I s feet. Non-iontest.ints pl.iyt-d yoilevlull .ind l- ' risbec in the 9() degree he.r off. they consumed do ens i f watermekxu and g.illons cit Icnini. Alys IVxloin, head of women ' s resuk-nce halls, first orgjni?cd the event lo years agn after being approached by girls who jskni Mrs IVxioin. how do you meet a gm came up with the watermelonfcst All resi- dents of men ' s and women ' s dormiton- invited Watermclonfest became an annual event, with over 400 residents attending this year. The budding romances seen by have proved the annual event successful. Oumpiun RJV 1 Vir uv . pu. kcr rx cr August September 21

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Endures Summer Ups, Downs The summer of 9 was devastating for the Texas tourist industry, particularly around Padre Island. The normally crowded beaches of the Texas coast were nearly deserted by mid-August as tourists fled, fearing the arrival of the world ' s largest oil slick. On June 3, the Ixtoc I oil well, located in the Bay of Campcchc off the Yucatan penin- sula, blew out, spewing 30.000 barrels of crude oil a day into Mexican waters, causing the largest spill in history. Two months later, oil from the still-uncapped well had traveled MX) miles north to hit Texas beaches. Contracted by the Coast Guard, a team of University of Texas students and scientists analyzed the chemistry of the oil spill a few weeks before it arrived on the American coastline. This group of biologists, headed by Dr. Patrick Parker, a professor of chemistry and marine science at the UT Marine Science Institute ' s laboratory at Port Aransas, also determined the substance ' s toxicity to marine life, particularly in Laguna Madre. Despite extensive and concentrated efforts on the pan of Coast Guard and environmen- tal officials, some of the crude entered the ecologically delicate lagoon, but breeding grounds were not permanently damaged. Even so, most officials agreed it would take years for the fishing and shrimping industries along the coast to return to normal. By mid-October, rwo months after the oil first washed up on shore, court action began to determine who should pay for the massive cleanup campaign. Public and private con- cerns, including the State of Texas, filed more than $371 million in damage suits against: PEMEX, the nationally owned Mexican oil company; Pemargo, a private drilling com- pany contracted by PEMEX; and SEDCO, the Texas-based drilling firm which leased the well to Mexico. SEDCO filed suit in Houston U.S. District Court to limit its liabil- ity to $300,000, citing maritime law, which restricts liability of vessels in international waters. The company claimed that the oil rig was a vessel. Under this law, all subsequent lawsuits had to be filed in Judge Robert O ' Conor ' s court, who set the filing deadline at October 23. Fifteen minutes before the deadline, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a $6 million suit against SEDCO, charging negligence. More than 94 percent of the pending suits were filed by southern Texas business inter- ests, many of them claiming revenue loss from decreased tourist trade. Area fishermen also sustained heavy losses due to the crude, which at times traveled forty feet below the surface. The oil rendered many of the shrimp and fish caught by the fishermen inedible, and guaranteed a shortage of Gulf seafood for the next two years. -Join Hollind Bjrb Booth xrapn lar from her fcci on South Padre Island