Pittsburg State University - Kanza Yearbook (Pittsburg, KS)

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The beautiful floats seen in the Homecoming parade start as a shell of wire and wood and a pile of multi-colored tissue paper. Through the hard work of such people as David Main,, Pitsburg senior, the raw materials are tran- sformed into floats. Main was working on the float for the Newman Center. —Dale Bratton Agility and flexibility were needed more than athletic skill by participants in the Gorilla Games. Kelly Hill and Shannon Tote, both Kansas City fresh- men, find that togetherness is not as easy as it looks. —Jim Ivy Homecoming 27

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REPARATIO Is the final product worth the price? The Homecoming floats roll smoothly down Broadway during the parade. The spectators watch, amazed by their originality and beauty. But rarely do they consider the amount of time that was spent working on these floats. A lot of thought and hard work is what it takes to build a float, according to Scott Wilson, Paola senior and president of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity. We started planning the actual construction of the float long before Homecoming. Mary Ann Long and I actually met many times over the summer on the planning of the float, Wilson said. Long, Lenexa junior, was the float chairman for the Sigma Sigma Sigma sorority. Wilson said the actual construction of the float began near the end of September. Mike Melichar, Overland Park junior, was primarily responsi- ble for building the float, but we also had one hundred percent participation from the sorority and fraternity members throughout the project, he said. It was the first time in five years that the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity had built a float, Wilson said. Now, it seems like an awful lot of hard work and wasted time for the amount of money we received for winning first place. But I guess the people who didn't win a prize are the ones who should want to speak up. The fraternity and sorority spent over $1,000 for the materials to build the float. Although about $300 was donated, the rest came from the organizations' funds. That is why we were disappointed when the prize was a lot less than we had hoped for. We spent the money hoping to win the same amount back. The float took a big chunk out of our funds. Linda Hartman, Chanute junior, and Steve Grom, Joplin junior, began planning their float for the Alpha Gamma Delta sorority and Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity later than the Sigma Phi Epsilon float planners. We started plan- ning about the first week of school. We spent a few hours each night planning the float, Grom said. We started construction of the float in September. Dave Newallis, Rick Simpson, Frank Austin, Rob Hart and myself did the building on the frame. When Homecoming got nearer, though everybody began helping. We used the county garage for our float. It was a lot of hard work. We worked on it about five hours every night, Grom said. Newallis, Leawood sopho- more; Simpson, Overland Park senior; Austin, Ottawa senior; and Hart, Pittsburg junior, are all members of the Lambda Chi fraternity. Grom said that his fraternity, too, has complaints about the building of floats. A couple of us are trying to join the Homecoming policy board because we feel that it is not economically practical to build a float anymore. You never get back what you put into it. The floats are fun to build, but they are also a lot of work and money. The end result is nice, but I don't know if it is really worth all the trouble and time put into it. I know not everyone can win a prize but for the ones who do, it should at least be worth it. Grom felt that if the prize money for float winners does not increase to the point where the winners at least earn back what they put into the floats, Greeks would stop participat- ing. The Greeks are big participants in the Homecom- ing events and we do our best to get other people involved. But it is getting to the point where we can't afford it anymore. I just hope some- thing can be changed before it is too late, Grom said. Homecoming is an important tradition, and I would hate to see it ruined because of economics. □Lor Purdy An advanced form of a children's game, Follow-the Leader is used by the football team to quicken the reflexes and reactions of the individual players. In this break-dow.- drill, the football players, imitating the ac- tions of leader Tom Beebe, Bonner Springs senior, entertain the crowds at Yell-like-Hell. — Dale Bratton .20 Hornecoming

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 22 Shopping School loyalties can become confused during shopping trips. Ron Curtin, Osawatomie freshman, considers buying a cap and jacket from another Kansas university. — Dale Bratton Decorating a house can be an expensive proposition. Linda Hessman, Shawnee freshman, looks for knicknacks to add the finishing touch to her college home. — Dale Bratton