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

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r t Jexas ' Si ' ech »»•■. V 1 «»V-«i •»» ' »-» 3t» »s c:«k . Student Association President Amy I )ve distributes buttons and bumper stickers bearing the slogan Texas Tech TvAce The I ' niversity. The slogan was developed by members of the Tech En- hancement Committee as the theme for much of the [)ublic relations efforts pro- moting Texas Tech. (Photo by Darrel Thomas) 1 ech Enhancement Committee member Gary Bannister devotes his time to building a good image for Tex- as Tech by making Texas Tech Twice The University buttons. (Photo by James RaabI — - V G 1 eamwork gets the job done as Cireg Storm draws the patterns Eric Morse cuts out buttons. Both are helping further the efforts of the Tech En- hancement Committee. (Photo by James Raab) Tech Enhancement Coniniiltee — 11

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Promoting Texas Tech is role of Tech Enhancement Committee What is it about Texas Tech that makes people want to come here? Or stay here, for that matter? Is there more to Tech than you think? Texas Tech Student Associ- ation President Amy Love started a committee that would answer those questions and more. The Tech Enhance- ment Committee (TEC), for- merly known as the Image Building Task Force, was set up to promote the finer points of being associated with the university. The goal of the committee was to inform people associat- ed with the university of the importance of their support. The committee sought sup- port from the student body and ex-students to promote the campus on the local, state and national levels. The main purpose of the Tech Enhancement Commit- tee was first of all to bring a better awareness among the student body about what Tex- as Tech has and what it has to offer, said Love, originator of the committee. In addition to that, we were looking to pro- mote the university ' s image both statewide and national- ly. Among the means of com- munication for TEC was a pamphlet that contained up- to-date impressive facts about Texas Tech University. The information from the pam- phlets was planned to be used for a poster that would be dis- tributed to the Tech commu- nity. TEC was set up to keep in communication with deans, department chairs, support departments (such as Recrea- tional Sports and Career Planning and Placement) and student organizations that might be searching for impor- tant facts concerning Tech. The committee kept in con- tact with University News and Publications, Tech ' s pub- lic relations office, for a con- certed effort. Love said TEC hoped to in- form the students, campus personnel and citizens of Lub- bock of the impressive aspects of Tech and to develop a better relationship between students and faculty through knowl- edge of what each has to offer. Tech has an outstanding image. It ' s one that we just didn ' t bother to tell anybody about, said Love. When you talk to professionals, when you go to businesses and foun- dations, Texas Tech is looked upon very highly. But for some reason, we haven ' t taken the time or effort to go out and we ourselves promote it. One of the goals of TEC was to create a statewide public re- lations campaign that would increase awareness of Tech throughout the state by em- phasizing what Tech has to of- fer. TEC created posters, bumper stickers and buttons with the theme, Texas Tech, Twice the University. The committee worked with chap- ters of the Ex-Students Asso- ciation in major cities and re- gions, including target cities such as Austin and Houston where Tech needs to concen- trate efforts on image en- hancement. Both the Dads and Moms Association and the Office of New Student Relations were important factors in creating a favorable image for the uni- versity. Not only does our effort start within (the university), but we realize that we ' ve got to branch out to all our alumni and get them motivated, be- cause they are a part of our university, said Love. A framework for Action- Building Political Support for Tech was developed by TEC. A letter-writing cam- paign was started to commu- nicate the positive aspects of Tech. The committee distrib- uted information to statewide newspapers and legislators. Another goal was to get some political and voter support for Tech-related issues. A student survey was con- ducted with the objective be- ing to create a broad base of knowledgable students in re- gard to what Tech has to offer. The goal also was to under- stand the feelings of Tech stu- dents and address areas of concern. The committee informed students of activities and op- portunities that are offered at Tech, allowed the students to find out the facts important to them and let them formulate questions. Some of our students take Texas Tech for granted and at times don ' t realize how lucky they are to be at a university that has received national prominence but is small enough to care, said Love. Twenty-four thousand is a large size so you get the sense of a large campus, but small enough still to be personal. The number one response we got on why people like Tech is the friendly atmosphere. You can ' t get that at a lot of other campuses. — Tony Renteria 10 — Tech Enhancement C ' onimitlee

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Ugly: A matter of politics Ugly — 1, FRIGHTFUL, DIRE 2. offensive to the sight: HIDEOUS 3. offen- sive or unpleasing to any sense 4. morally objection- able: REPULSIVE 5. like- ly to cause inconvience or discomfort 6. SURLY QUARRELSOME. When I tr ' to envision what Sports Illustrated writer Douglas S. Looney was like during childhood, all I can pic- I might even be able to get you an ugly date. —Joe Homaday in a letter to SI sportswriter Douglas Looney ture is a runny-nosed kid who ran around saying, My dad can beat up your dad. The funny thing is I think he still says it. When Looney goes as far as to call one of the most beauti- ful campuses in the south- western United States ugly, he ' s gone too far. If he were still a kid I ' d probably spank him. Perhaps a little more in- sight into the matter would justify my case. After Sports Illustated ranked Texas Tech ' s football team 20th in the na- tion and Tech finished a dis- appointing 3-7-1, the maga- zine ' s staff was not amused. In Looney ' s evaluation of the Tech campus the next year, he wrote, out of the blue, Looks as if they should cancel classes and covert the school into a prison. In what seemed an attempt to rub salt in the wound, Loo- ney went on to proclaim Aus- tin as the best town and the University of Texas Longhorn band as the best band. The only thing Looney did not do was kick a prairie dog. What he did do was upset generally everyone associated with Texas Tech. Bill Dean, executive director of the Ex- Students Association, chal- lenged Looney ' s accusation and questioned whether the writer had ever set foot on the campus. Sports Illu strated and Loo- ney were not finished in their assault on the Tech campus, however. Looney dropped his second bomb on the campus in the Aug. 31, 1987, issue of SI in which he added more insult to the already uncalled for in- jury Three years ago we said . . . Texas Tech has the ugliest campus. An avalanche of mail has disputed this assertion. So we have looked at the school again, rechecked the photos, and consulted experts, Loo- ney claimed. We are not too proud to admit our mistakes. This, however, is not one of them. Sports information director Joe Homaday invited Looney to come to a Tech football game, offering him a tour of the campus. Maybe even a pa- rade, or a picnic under one of the ugly trees . . . Maybe a Sports Illustrated Ugly Man on Campus contest ... I might even be able to get you an ugly date, wrote Hornaday. Dean used his influence to deal an even more severe blow to SI. He challenged Looney ' s fairness in publicly repeating what he deemed as this slur. Dean canceled a renewal of his son ' s subscription to SI and concluded his letter: Further ... I intend to write a letter addressed to all 91,000 graduates of this uni- versity and strongly encourage them to cancel their subscrip- tions to SI if they have one. In the September-October is- sue of the Texas Techsan Dean carried out his threat with an open letter to Tech exes. Joel Brandenberger, a Tech- ex from Austin, served SI its second slice of humble pie which should muffle Looney for the time being when he wrote, Realizing that my opinion might be considered biased, I decided to find a comment from an objective observer. I didn ' t have to search long: ' . . . neither Texas Tech with its elegant campi nor air as clear as Steubei glass has enabled Lubbock shake its unsophisticated ii age . . . ' What publicatioi would describe Texas Tech ' campus as elegant? Why nonj other than Sports Illustrai ed . . . On the subject of ugly, pei haps Looney should revie Webster ' s connotations 3-6 the word ugly and read articles again. Then his quei tions as to who or what is ugly could be answered. — Tony Renteria An ugly sight at Tech. the tov looks worse when shown through ugly trees. Gives a person a pn- type feeling of incarceration. (Ph. by Corby Roberts) 12 — Ugly Campus Sneed Hall behind ugly flowers bl h. (Photo by Corby Roberts)