Appalachian State University - Rhododendron Yearbook (Boone, NC)

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BOONE CITY LIMIT When you finally get to Boone it ' s a bit of a shock. This isn ' t some backwoods sleeping little hamlet. There are actually street lights and telephone poles! The trip in has been somewhat deceiving. The surrounding countryside has had a lulling effect on the newcomer. Everything seems almost too pretty. If you ' re lucky enough to visit during the fall the bulk of the film you brought is probably all gone before you enter the kilometer high city. There is so much here. Until very recently Ap- palachian State University has complimented the whole scheme of things. There seems to be a profusion of construction everywhere you look. The campus that welcomed me in 1977 is slowly being taken over by something called a growing midsize institu- tion. My landmarks are being plowed over, dug up or neglected. We ' re paying very dearly for our progress. The problem being that Appalachian State has become such a popular school to attend. We have everything. Of course the first thing that leaps to the trained mind is the outstanding skiing facilities surrounding Boone. (Doesn ' t everyone in Boone ski to work?) In actuality the town is a liv- ing, thriving commercial for North Carolina. Appalachian has proven to be a star in that commercial. We have appeared in national magazines and on tv. In all the back-slapping confusion let ' s not forget what we have here. It should be preserved. If we aren ' t careful Mountaineers we are going to cut too deep into our namesake. It should be said that I am not the last word on this subject, but I do realize that we ' re crowding too many buildings into a small area. We have hit our limit. Everytime we add another building or cover up yet another patch of grass we lose a part of what is uniquely ours. I am proud of where I earned my degree; but I don ' t want to be lost as a returning alumni. In just the four short years that I have been at ASU all the maps that I received as a freshman have become out- dated. I wonder what the graduates of Appalachian Normal School would say about this transforma- tion we have gone through? 8 Introduction

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This is the main overlook on US 421. Scenic places like this are second nature to most of the people around here. It says more than any pat label or slogan. The mountains seem constant and forever. Introduction 7

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mik. s ssmim Introduction 9