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

Page 25 text:

The widening of University Avenue proved to be a thorn in the city ' s side as area merchants united to protest the project. Lubbock vs. Merchants: Fighting in the Street One of the main streets along the Tech campus became an object of con- siderable controversy when merchants and the city of Lubbock clashed over University Avenue construction. The construction project which widened the street ap- proximately 11 to 17 feet and included the installation of a concrete median, angered many University Avenue merchants, who claimed the project had harmed and would continue to harm their business The remodeling of Univer- sity Avenue began with the replacement of pavement in front of businesses in early September, forcing bar- ricades to be placed in front of many driveways and entrances. Jim Bertram, director of the Lubbock City Planning Department, said drives were blocked to prevent injuries. University Avenue mer- chants, however, claimed the barricades only slowed their profits. During the three weeks the road in front of my store was blockaded, I had a $600 to $800-a-week cut, Randy Brestrup, manager of Robison Cleaner ' s, said. International House of Pancakes owner Joe Katin fil- ed suit against the city of Lubbock and W. D. Turner Construction Company to protest the blockade of his driveway. Katin said his rights had been violated by the bar- ricades and the clutter involv- ed in installation of the pavement. The whole principle of the suit is that the city is sup- posed to keep the drive clear of debris, Katin said. Katin claimed that his business dropped approximately 30 percent during the time his driveway was blocked. Other businessmen, however, said the construc- tion did not hurt their normal business activity. My business was not drastically affected by the construction, said Steve Lee, manager of Alcoc Storm Door Window Company. A major concern of the area businessmen was the in- stallation of a median. The merchants said the median would restrict access to their businesses, since it would be broken only at the Sixth, 15th and Broadway street intersections. Mer- chants feel the median could block as much as 50 percent of their traffic, Katin said. Katin is vice chairman of the University Area Business Association, a group of University Avenue merchants who opposed the construc- tion of the median. Bertram said there were a number of reasons the city elected to install the median. One of our thoughts was the traffic turning on Univer- sity, which was causing a high accident rate, he said. Students at Tech who are crossing the street were another consideration. The median is at least a center refuge for them, he added. Still another considera- tion was Tech, which felt we were removing some of their landscape by widening the street. The median was sort of a compromise for beautification, he said. The wide parts of the me- dian contain planted turf with trees. Don Hamblin A sign of the times The sign outside Joe Katin ' s Interna- tional House of Panca kes was the most visible sign of the bitterness University Avenue merchants felt toward city officials during the con- struction on University. Students whose residence halls face University express- ed differing views on the construction. There wasn ' t really much noise, just a lot of traffic, said Susie Campbell, a Doak Hall resident. Other students, however, said the noise level did disturb them. The noise would wake me up at six o ' clock in the morn- ing, Snced Hall resident Tom Coleman said. The noise kept us awake and it was hard to study dur- ing the day, Weeks Hall resident Anne Chambers said. — Cindii Gardner University Constnjction — 21

Page 24 text:

Two-way traffic Where it didn ' t close off traffic com- pletely, construction on University forced traffic into only two lanes and caused numerous traffic jams. Digging up the street A practice not appreciated by University businessmen was the clos- ing of all four lanes of traffic and removal of existing pavement. Adrtn Snider 20 — Uniuersity Construction

Page 26 text:

What I want for Christmas Dear Santa, I bet you ' re surprised to hear from me. I haven ' t writ- ten since I was seven. Then, I told my friends you didn ' t ex- ist. I never did know when to keep my mouth shut. Sorry about that. I know everyone is always writing to you saying gimme, gimme, gimme. Well, big guy, I, too, have something to ask of you. I ' m not asking for the usual stuff. I don ' t want you to talk to my profs even though I ' m on scho pro. (That ' s scholastic probation. I didn ' t make my grades.) I don ' t want a fur coat, jewelry or a ski trip. (Most of my friends are going skiing during Christmas, though.) I ' m not asking for more money. I can handle being overdrawn. I just wish the bank would quit harassing my Dad. Speaking of Dad, I haven ' t told him about my $96 phone bill. But, I really don ' t need cash. What I ' m asking for money can ' t buy although it would be much simpler if it could. John Lennon tried it, and it didn ' t seem to work. John was well-known, but I figure even more people know you. Everyone may not like rock ' n ' roll, but who could dislike Santa? You see, I ' m kind of confused. We were talking about war and the nuclear arms race last week in my political science class. The whole thing just doesn ' t make sense. But, I never claimed to understand politicians. There is a foreign student in the class. No one sits by him. Everyone seems to be mad at him because of his country. Maybe his country is kind of screwing up right now, but it ' s not his fault. Two athletes sit behind me in class. They talk everyday, mostly about l-formations and defensive alignments. Today they were talking about kill- ing someone. I never heard why. Getting back to my re- quest, Santa, I need your help. Everything everybody else worries about seems so unimportant. Just suppose for this Christmas Day, things were different. Suppose there was world peace. Sup- Shape it up A volunteer worker at the Ranching Heritage Center prepares a salad during Candlelight dinner. Ho Ho Ho Ttch students got a surprise when Santa drove a Citlbus for a day dur ing December pose that all the hatred was removed. Suppose we were all equal — the same. I know I ' m asking a lot. But, Santa, I know you won ' t let me down. You could never let anyone down. Peace on Earth. Love, A Tech student — Jerri McCrarv 22 — Chriilmas