Hardin Simmons University - Bronco Yearbook (Abilene, TX)

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“All sorts of things and weather Must be taken in together, To make up a year And a Sphere.” beginning with the campaign controver- sy concerning the pledge of allegiance. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court spent the year in hearing a case from Texas where a law made it illegal to burn the flag. During the first summer school session of 1989, the court rendered its decision amidst an uproar of American patriotism. Meanwhile, one of Bush’s weakest points continued to enrage and enrap- ture Americans. Former marine Oliver North toured the country amidst a storm of strife concerning his dealings in the Iran-Contra affair that enfeebled the once-vaunted Reagan administra- America's attention shifted to Bar- row, Alaska, as support poured up there to save three whales trapped in the encroaching ice of the Arctic Sea. Biologists, Eskimos, and National Guard units combined in efforts that could not reach the giant mammals be- fore one apparently died. Success came after two Soviet icebreakers joined the effort and cleared a path for the two survivors. The Soviets stayed in the limelight throughout the school year with Mikhail Gorbachev’s continued glasnost and perestroike programs. A seemingly whole new society opened up before American eyes as democratic reforms revealed drug problems, ethnic vio- lence and many other ills familiar to western culture. The Evil Empire retreated before pic- tures of Soviet troops abandoning Af- ghanistan, pictures of elections that brought many non-Communists into high office, pictures of Soviet non- interference in Solidarity’s triumph in Poland, and calls for Soviet Army re- ductions. It was a very bad year for military aviation in the U.S. Numerous helicop- ters went down in a flurry of accidents. The B-1 continued its troubled career as two of them went down, one just a few miles north of Abilene in November. An even bigger wreck occurred right after a KC-135 took off from Dyess, creating a momentous fireball and kill- ing all aboard. The navy experienced a setback with the explosion of a gun in the number two turret of the U.S.S. In sports, a legend fell when Tom Landry received a most ungracious dis- missal from the Dallas Cowboys after the team acquired a new owner. Politically, the muck continued to sur- face in all the media. John Tower's drinking practices were paraded before the nation before he was rejected as Secretery of Defense. Before we could catch our breath, a storm arose con- cerning House Speaker Jim Wright’s actions under the congressional rules on income. After a great deal of bluster on all sides, he resigned his post. And in final notes from around the planet: spectators in Florida created quite a party while awaiting the exe- cution of convicted serial killer Ted Bundy; Japan's long-time emperor, Hi- rohito, died after reigning since before World War Two when he was still con- 20

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ff H «J Freshman and Transfer Orientation Week 1988