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

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When going to class got to be a pain, students decided to . . . BloMT it off It ' s a Texas Tech cliche: If all Tec students were going to hell, som would leave early. Everyone seems to be skippin classes. Some with reason, som without. And it doesn ' t seem to matte when in the semester. A week-Ion vacation at spring break still isn ' enough time away from school, s students leave as many as three day in advance. It seems like before and afte vacations are the peak times fo absences, Daryl Jones, the chairpei son of the Department of English, said 1 have a lot of teachers come into m; office asking, ' Wonder wher everybody is? ' 22 — Skipping Class m

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U foncience. these eopJ nsk the urath f Mor-er Sature by . !Cl asing tornados I Yan ' re air : : i - . . - ' wa+ii ; ;-;■ -■ - - - - en. tix little winite tQcraadai s fm- the !atercept irchassis- The. soli white toiniiiackt mbo easts a. tciacfioi is mi ttlie viewtiig airea ud poss iis hpatfM j; a«iir wa . 2ss you b y Qcjnr caisnsva ana oouer •.31 and htd out to yma car to Bmeet qmmg a£ aer peo de «iiD mH dsase e tarc2(io: aaaniitar its mavemesfL Crszy. 5ht? Hat if yowVe a The idea is to intercept the storms ;-:?; ' - . - — - -zi ... - ; -iking - j: ; ;; -.: -3 :-.- i-age, ; I ■ -;■;-;- - :arserL professor in - ' :: --: f- : ;-;sS Group and Pet. -z formed :3 put in vjfLuefsii adwantage to people living in Tor- nado ADeyv a- -■ ' .- r-i-:- -z ' --- the nMlIlieir ' . T : ; ; i ' : i : - : : : Oklahoiinia i - : - - . -: - central Texas ;-; -:-:-: -::.;- ' -.a at- mospr ' - ' tand the storm ' s The tea.- - ; . .perates wit.-iin --•::.; ;.-:=:; ' ;- ' orth • -: i Si--;-: . - : 5 5 far 1 illas. The team usu i . : : -. = ■j-Iate morning, makes a decision xhere the activity «w be. Team - .embers then hit the road. They try ■ -J position tfaenMeivcs on the south or . - ' . - ' side of the tornado. In order -- - ; ffi-? ' «ind speeds, they mu -. i - to two mies of the --se to a storm of course tying experience. In a - i - Pampa, Marshall and other team members were caught between the advancing tornado and the hail preceeding it. The tornado had been moving northwest but turned suddenly. Because of road limitations, the team could not get out of the way and had only about 60 seconds to make a decision either to stay where they were and hope for the best, or to try and outrun the tornado and risk hail da age. They decided to run and -:- . escaped safely but with wind- ;- -; ; ;; — ;ge from the hail. !; as a hair-raising situation. Petersen said. Just reading the log is enough to scare you. Petersen also noted the hazards in- volved often do not involve the tor- nado itself, but the lighting, fleish flooding, hail and slick roads. Because people are willing to risk personal safety, the public has become more familiar with tornados and storms, learning what to do in dangerous situations. Until the 1950s, the National Weather Service could not use the word tornado on television for fear it would cause panic in the streets. Because of the effort of such groups as the Tornado Intercept Team, the public has become more knowledge- able about tornados. Some people spend their vacations in the Texas panhandle during April and May just to chase storms, Petersen said. Storm chasing in- volves people who follow the weather the way other people fdlow the soap operas. Despite the scientific basis for chas- ing tornados, there is still a definite thrill involved. We aren ' t as crazy as fjeople think, Marshall said. Our purpose is to do the research, not get hurt. But even he admits the thrill. Some people hang glide, others skydive. I chase tornados. — Kellie McKen e Tornado kHercepl Team — 21

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Of course, the question is not really meant to be answered. Most pro- fessors know why students aren ' t there. Most of the time, students can ' t be found on campus. They ' ve gone for the holiday(s). No statistics were available on the total number of absences from either the Office of the Registrar or the Of- fice of the Vice President for Academic Affairs. Kevin Moseley, a freshman from Plainview, said he skipped classes for a variety of reasons. A lot of the time, there is no incen- tive to go to class, Mosely said. The class is boring, or I may need to catch up in some other class. Whenever I feel 1 have to skip, 1 try to plan it so it won ' t affect my grades in any of my classes, Moseley said. The Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, Len C. Ainsworth, said he knew cutting classes was becoming a problem and felt doing so was bad for students. Those people who don ' t attend class are the ones who are usually associated with bad grades, Ainsworth said, stressing the need for attendance. If you ' re not going to class, chances are you aren ' t going to prepare, either. And we feel out of class preparation is very important. Regular attendance at class is im- portant for a build-up of ideas, he said. Another student who skipped classes but differed with Mosely about doing so was a senior nutrition major, Robin Lucky. The El Paso native said skipping class affected her adversely. I always feel guilty when I skip a class, Lucky said. It definitely af- fects me because I feel 1 have lost a day of something I could have benefit- ted from had I been in class. Lucky said she never really wanted to skip class, but she occasionally did. I ' m the one who ' s paying for school. Sure, it hurts to miss a class, but I think that should be my choice, she said. — Dennis Ball While Geography 132 may not be the most in- teresting of classes to some students, it appears more than a few skipped the class in Holden Hall the day before Thanksgiving. Skipping Class — 23