Florida Institute of Technology - Ad Astra Yearbook (Melbourne, FL)

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Stop Signs We all know of the bothersome stop signs on Country Club Road, maybe you are all to aware of them. These signs were placed at there respective corners in August 1968 after residents complained. Over the years the signs have become the objects of a lot of mischief. In April 1973 students applied to the FCC to start a FM radio station. The permit was granted in December 1973 and WFIT went into action. Initial hours were from 4 pm to 2 am through the week. The ten watt station had a five mile radius. In 1979 WFIT changed from 91.5 to 89.5 and boosted its power from 10 to 3,000 watts. They Call It The Streak The fad of the early 70s was extremely popular at FIT. In March 1974 when the fad was just beginning Today newspaper ran an article asking BCC and FIT students if this could happen here — no one thought it would. But the article is probably just what people needed to egg them on. FIT laid claim to the largest group of streakers when approximately 500 students streaked from the Science Tower to the dorm quad. Police wanted to arrest students but did not do anything because of the large number of students involved. Instead they took pictures which they later tried to use as identification to arrest students. Meanwhile, as the students streaked by fellow students and residents of Melbourne turned out to cheer the group of students on. Streaking continued with head and foot wear of different sorts becoming popular. Sights at FIT included streakers who carried flags, streakers on stilts, and bizzar hats. Campaign Visits Hubert Humphrey’s campaign for votes in the March primary of 1972 included a visit to FIT. Also President Reagan campaigned at FIT when he was running. 21

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20 Playboy FIT made Playboy magazine when inhabitants of Shaw Hall placed the Playboy emblem on the front of the hall. A picture of the incident was sent into the magazine by a secretary. In February 1976 Playboy bunny Susan Marks of Miami visited the Melbourne campus. Of course the inevitable had to happen and did in March 1968 when students were busted for possession of marijuana and beer drinking. Some minor “demonstrations” followed. An undercover narcotics informer posed as a student of FIT in May 1972. The operation lead to several Melbourne drug raids. Earth Day Earth Day April 1970 was observed at FIT as it was nationally. FIT students decided to have a ‘“Polluter of the Year Award”. First place went to Florida Power and Light, second place to the Melbourne Sewage Plant, and third place to PAFB for its Banana River dump yard. Another FIT? Elise Frank of Tampa filed a suit in September 1971 saying that her school had the official claim to the name of FIT. She said that she had received a charter in 1957. The Tampa school taught art, architecture, electrical engineering, electrical drafting, and landscaping. FIT has a — it fit. In 1968 West Melbourne wanted to upgrade their waste disposal plant. The problem was they would be dumping into the stream which runs through the FIT campus. Needless to say, not even the best plunger could get the disposal system to be passed. What about the ’60s The university saw few problems as the rest of the nation was caught up in the Vietman demonstrations and civil rights movements. Reasons for the little action were explained to be do to the heavy study load at FIT and that we had serious students. Many state colleges had students which were merely dodging the draft.

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22 Although December 7 has special meaning across the nation, December 7, 1982, had even greater significance to the F.I.T. Community. This day marked the ground-breaking of the long-awaited new Evans Library. Many prominent people from the Brevard com- munity attended the ceremonies. Dr. John Mill- er, Vice President for Academic Affairs served as Master of Ceremonies, and Father Douglas Bailey gave the invocation. The audience was addressed by President Jerome P. Keuper; Bill Lynch, President of SGA; Dr. Gary Wells, Bio- logical Sciences; and Dr. L. Henson, Director of Libraries. The architects are Skidmore, Owings, and Mer- rill. Construction is to begin in January 1983 with the dedication in memory of Florence and Artemisa Evans expected in February 1984. le