Middle Tennessee State University - Midlander Yearbook (Murfreesboro, TN)

Page 11 text:

Plus B. J. and Some More of Homecoming . . . Top 40 fans got their moments of glory during the fall semester when Kenny Rogers and the First Edition, B. J. Thomas, and the Temptations, each nearly filled the gym. The First Edition gave their normal witty college show (interspersed with some fairly daring gags) that was humorous throughout. B. J. Thomas, under considerable strain, as he confessed to the audience, nevertheless delivered his sophisticated set of hits to the homecoming weekend audience. And the Temptations— ooh! They had to he the best stage show seen and heard here in ages. Have you ever seen a homecoming weekend in which the weather was so beautiful it simply wasn ' t real? You know the type— mild, sunny, just the right weather for a football game. Well, we ' ve seen that kind of weekend, too. But the 1970 Homecoming weekend was nothing like that at all. Dr. Homer Pittard, Alumni Director, couldn ' t make arrangements for good weather, but he and his faithful band planned nearly everything else imaginable for the alumni and students. While the women in the company were off touring Oaklands, their husbands— many of them, anyhow— were competing in the annual alumni golf tournament. With a barbecue, a Saturday morning ham-and-eggs breakfast, and a buffet luncheon under their belts, the guests of honor, all six thousand of them set out to take in the Hospitality Hour, complete with a concert appearance by the Southerners from the MTSU of 1938. In addition to all that, a reception at President Scarlett ' s home, an alumni versus varsity baseball game, a scrimmage by Coach Jimmy ILarle ' s round-ballers, the homecoming parade, and of course (of course!) the game, rounded out the weekend nicely. MTSU athletics has always been with us and always will be, hopefully. Ground was broken for a new gymnasium in the early spring (or late winter) of 1971 to help insure that sports will be a permanent fixture on the campus and that HPER will have exhaling space. Many people thought the quality of MTSU ' s athletic teams was, sadly, also a tradition, and one about which the less said, the better. New head football coach Bill Peck did much to dispel the tradition, however, and MTSU finished the football season at what seemed comparably dizzying heights, with a mark of 6-3-1 (3-3-1 in conference play). Most satisfying game, no doubt, was the runaway victory over Austin Peay; most heartbreaking, to the casual observer, must have been the 17-13 defeat at the hands of TenneSee Tech. Nevertheless, one game couldn ' t wipe out a relatively stunning overall season, marked by some clutch victories (Ball State, in which we were tied or trailing until the final seconds) as well as the almost-pulled-it-out defeats (Eastern Kentucky, where the team looked sharp, felt sharp, and were sharp, but lost anyhow).

Page 10 text:

. . . With Registration Trauma and Reunion With Old Friends . . . The most distinguishing feature was the lack of available classes. One really can ' t forget the scene in the Tennessee Room— students signing for classes that don ' t exist are a unique sight. I don ' t know what bizarre natural law dictates that registration days must be accompanied by extremes in weather, but it is so, believe me, it is so. Spring semester ' s opening day was no exception. (Deceptive name, spring— at least as far as registration is concerned). The unlucky people who didn ' t get to register on the first day silently cursed the closed section boards that broke out in red acetate until they resembled an advanced case of leprosy. The mere ring of the Computer Center telephone in the Tennessee Room struck panic into their souls. Disgusted sophomores with just over 30 hours would mouth about what they termed sadistic administration officials who close classes before they were full, knowing in their hearts it wasn ' t true as they signed for their evening classes. (If they were lucky they got evening classes. If they weren ' t lucky, well, they got Saturday classes, or wound up taking Rabbit Raising, Watermelon Cutting, or Basketweaving 306 —anything to get an open section). The students themselves tried as hard as any campus committee to inject a little fun into campus life. Congregating in the University Center and assisted by a guitar, a Frisbee, an occasional banjo or mandolin, or sometimes just each other, they played. ( You see, says one young fella in ' granny ' glasses, No one has yet bothered to explain to us that one comes to college to be Straight and Grown Up; Thus, he continued, we hairy, unencumbered, beautiful people proceed to actually enjoy ourselves. My gracious, something should be done! This is par for the course among MTSU students, and I ' m sure it has aroused the envy, at one time or another, of every Straight Student on campus. This is the dawning of the age of Aquariu-u-us . . . A tightening-of-the-belt budget policy this year forced the three campus publications and the radio station to make adaptations. It didn ' t affect the nature of the people concerned, however; COLLAGE, the MIDLANDER, the SIDELINES, and WMOT-FM were still staffed by the same group of long-suffering, dedicated, and probing students and harried ad asors. Closelv related in thier aims and goals, and often staffed by many of the same people, the communications corps chattered on through 1970. Jim Lynch, Jill Woodworth, David Page, Duane Sawyer, and Bill Phillips guided this group of Excedrins as they photographed, interviewed, reported on, broadcasted about, and wrote about ever ' major personality to touch the lives of MTSU students this year. And through it all Bill Phillips even managed to go to classes once or twice. Good work! JOEL WHITI SENATOR c ' fC.

Page 12 text:

. . and Then Winning Football and The Tearls of Earl ' . . . } »—, ' •- ' .iET- (|i»»»