Texas Tech University - La Ventana Yearbook (Lubbock, TX)

Page 20 text:

I In the News When youVe sick of studying and pizza . . . Lubbock, Texas isn ' t your regular rolling metropolis. In fact, after the excitement of life in Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Austin or even El Paso, Lubbock seems like just another West Texas hole in the road to a lot of people. But for those students willing and determined enough to look beyond ihc same old clubs, theatres and Home Box Office (if they can afford it), there are many exciting OK, not always ex- citing—things to do in the Hub. For example, when was the last time you visited Prairie Dog Town? Load- ing up your car with a camera (insta- matic will do) and a picnic lunch can be an interesting, if not rewarding, experience. Besides, if you go on a warm day. it ' s an excellent chance to work on a tan. Feel like soaking up a little culture ' . ' Take a stroll through the Tech Mu- seum. There ' s no admittance charge. and you can trace the area ' s hisior from the dinosaurs down through the pioneer days. For a paltry sum (less than $1) you can visit Moody Plane- tarium and experience Haley ' s Comet and other such phenomena. Or try the Ranching Heritage Center, where a West Texas town has been assembled for your viewing pleasure. Lubbock sports a variet of special- ty shops, where you can look for such oddities as a larding needle, taltint; thread (ever make lace?) or a T-shirl that says just about anything you like. This can be depressing, though, if you just ran out of allowance mone for the month and can only look. You can also get overenthusiasiic and have to cat peanut butter sandwiches for the rest of the semester — even if you do spread the peanut buller with an an- tique sterling kni fe ou bought. Sports are big in Lubbock, probabh because it ' s usually easy to find an un- occupied tennis court or an open field for a game of football. Unfortun- ately, the first step in gelling a game together is assembling eni)ugh people for two teams. You could bring the great outdoors inside by buying a few plants (or open- ing your window). Some swear by plants, saying they break the monot- ony of dorm rooms and apartments and give the students something spe- cial to care for. Most plants are rela- tively easy to grow. Come on. now — even cactus grows wild out here. If you rcall pul your mind lo it. you can think of a lot of things to do on campus and around town. From below: Why not contemplate the remains of a wooly mammoth, or other para- phernalia, at the Tech Museum? Or visit the prairie dogs The little guys really ham it up when they see a camera. They even ham it up more when you throw them a few tidbits. k y- ■. ' : i ' ■v. - 2 ff. ' ■ ,

Page 19 text:

You know me, one student wrote. I sit beside you in class every day. I may even be standing in front of class lecturing. In fact. I may be any one of the thousands of people walking across the Tech campus at any given time. You don ' t know it, but I ' m gay. The reason you don ' t know is due to the fact that I don ' t fit into your stereotyped notion of what gay people are ' supposed ' to be like. Other people expressed disgust for homosexuals. Homosexuality is sickening, 25 Wells residents wrote. Homo- sexuals have no place in any society. The idea of gay student organiza- tions makes all of us want to throw up. If homosexuals feel that they can ' t express themselves in Lub- bock, they can leave and nobody will miss them. Three law students decided ho- mosexuals were not the only minor- ity discriminated against at Tech. In recent weeks we have seen several letters concerning homo- sexuals, biscxuals, triscxuals, tran- svestites, and other discrete in- sular minority groups, Gary Kis- siah, Chris Johansen and Wendel Withrow wrote. The time is now at hand to bring to the attention of this society the respect and appreci- ation that is due to another minority group. To wit, the hog liver lovers. While some students were up in arms about homosexuality, others had waged a newspaper war over the legalization of marijuana. A group that called itself AMER- ICA spoke out against marijuana. NORML: is smoking marijuana nor- mal? the group wrote. Would you want your children smoking mari- juana; and what if your parents were pot heads? Smoking pot is wrong legally and morally. Look at the people who smoke marijuana, some look like humans, but most have long hair which is usually filthy, beards, wear stupid looking beads, and need a bath. If marijuana is not bad for you, then why did the Mafia introduce it solely to the black community. Dave Land and Bob Starr replied to AMERICA ' S letter: This is a rebut- tal to the letter of April 15, 1977 against Marijuana. Upon first reading of the letter we assumed it to be a joke — but subsequent review of the letter led to the realization that the group signing as AMERICMA (against Marijuana everywhere re- stricting imbalanced criminal minds always) might actually believe it. The pot issue remained the focal point of the UD editorial page until an article and editorial by News Editor Jay Rosser, concerning SOBU ' s anger at the absence of blacks on the cheer- leader squad, took precedence. Primarily, I would like to say I do not think the cheerleaders should be judged on skin color or religion, one student wrote. The cheerleaders that we, the students, want are those who work hard to represent Texas Tech University in the best possible way. Judy Smith wrote, Any black should be insulted and embarrassed by SOBU ' s demand for special try- outs. This is not equality, but an im- plication that blacks are not up to standard. SOBU President Charles Gulley attempted to explain SOBU ' s stand. No one is asking whites to give us anything, Gulley wrote. All we want is equal representation in every- thing. Fred Wilmer represented a slightly different view on the matter. Being black, I naturally would like to see blacks on the cheerleading squad, Wilmer wrote, on the senate, and simply more involved in campus leadership. But I, along with other black students, do not feel that other blacks should ask for or be given special treatment. The issues may not have been solved by presenting students ' view in the UD, but the editorial page provided an emotional outlet for anyone who had something to say and wanted to say it badly enough. What would we do with- out letters to the editor? Insidc- ' ja

Page 21 text:

You might iry loading up the car with a case of Kool-aid (Colorado or otherwise) and heading west of town to watch the sunset. West Texas is known for its beautiful sunsets (and sunrises, but few people are up in time to catch them). You can ' t get that back home in the mountains, and the quiet atmosphere is a great advantage when you ' re trying to get to know someone. If you ' re really into the outdoors (and most people at Tech are) you might try heading for the nearest 7-1 1 and buying a kite. This makes for a very inexpensive date, it ' s also one of the few times the wi nd in Lubbock can be an advantage. Or try sailing at Maxey Lake, where you can rent a sailboat, small as it is, for practically nothing. Some people swear by Buffalo Springs Lake, where you can go boat- ing if you have one and just watch the boats if you don ' t. Both are good ways to get a suntan. Of course, if you ' re a serious outdoors enthusiast, you probably like hiking, camping and rappelling. There are numerous groups in the city that organize such outings. You might try heading for the Uni- versity Center, where something is going on nearly every hour of the day. The UC provides entertainment for almost all tastes. Try a game of foosball or air hockey if you care to, or check out the new Courtyard Series during lunch. Some of the musical entertainment has proved to be quite a pleasant surprise. When was the last time you read a really good book? (Not the one you read for political science.) The Tech area abounds with bookstores, or you can visit the Mahon Library. Some people get into the crossword puzzles in the UD and the Avalanche-Journal. You can occupy most of an evening with the Seek-and-Find, the Jumble and other vocabulary-improving ven- tures. It can make you feel pretty good, too, when you use a word like fueil- leton in a sentence — correctly. Or when you remember what Guido ' s high note is. Of course, if none of these sugges- tions really excite you, or if you tried those that seemed interesting and you ' re left without a thing to do after a week, you have a choice. You can resign yourself to the fact that Lub- bock is not going to change, except for the weather, and start studying. Or you can leave town for a weekend. Even if you have to catch a ride. Even if you don ' t have anywhere to go but home. You can always console yourself. Tech just doesn ' t have Mom ' s home cooking, and besides — isn ' t it time you had your laundry done? Clockwise from upper left: You could take up a new hobby, like trampolining. Or play a couple of hands of poker to kill a few hours. (Just don ' t kill your Tinances.) Shooting the breeze is an- other popular pastime at Tech. tnside-27