University of Miami - Ibis Yearbook (Coral Gables, FL)

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J.C. Ridley The Year In Bewew Following Hur 'cane Andrew, many students pitched in to help clean up. Jim Gibson Commencement on the University Green can become a shower of confetti and bal- Ioons.

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w tilolmm Yt's all in the lightt By ROBERT MILLER erhaps no other place in the world is as colorful as Miami. South Florida has more brilliance, tinges and complexions to keep the eyes happy than any other part of the country. Simply look around, and you cant be bored. That is probably why it has been such a favorite tourist spot over the years. Miami is Visually stimulat- ing. Why are so many commercials and fashion shoots are now being done in Miami? The photographers will tell you itis the light. llThere is something about the light here itls spe- cial? one photographer said. tOf course, the weather doesnit hurt eitherJ There is also the fun-filled atmos- phere of sun, sand and the sea. The Latin accents and the recent dangerous reputation make the place llcolor- fulil in many different ways. III the colloquial sense Miami is colorful, all right - in the colloquial sense. A colorful and dubious history has given the city a certain reputation for eccentricity. What other city would name a street for a known narcotics traffick- er? But to love this city is to love its color. Dave Barry, the Pulitzer Prize-winning humorist and colum- nist for The Miami Herald, explained why he loved Miami this way: lII really like South Florida. Sometimes I love South Florida. But its not easy to explain why I like Bayside and the Grove I like the Book Fair and the Columbus Day Totally Nude Regatta and of course the King Mango Strut, a wondrously demented event that each year proves the important and reassuring scientif- ic law that there is no direct correlation between age and maturity I like South Beach on a Saturday night when the bars are busy and the bands are playing and the Beautiful People are strolling past beautiful, yet somehow comical, architecture and the world famous Atlantic Ocean is right there mil Some people are overwhelmed by the weirdness that goes on here, others are excited by it. William Jennings Bryan, the legendary politician and founding father of the University of Miami, said in 1924, ttMiami is the only City in the world where you can tell a lie at breakfast that will come true by evening? This is, after all, the city where Gary Hart line. 12 The former Centrust Tower is a highlight of Miami's colorful sky- was caught with his pants down. But this former resort town, now an international city and the tlsocial crossroads for the Americas? according to US. News 62 World Report, is hot and alive with color like no other American city. University of Miami students are a part of all this color. Going to school in such a place has its distinct advantages. At UM, it seems as if bright colors are a part of everything we do. They are mandatory. Iron Arrowls jackets, Homecoming, football, Greek Week, the Rathskeller, etc. Color, color, color! We should expect no less from a University that has three such bright official colors. Burnt orange, dark green and white are colors that take a little getting used to, but they grow on people. Calle Ocho, South Beach, Hurricane football, Key Biscayne, the ocean and the bay, Coconut Grove, the Homecoming fireworks and boat burning, the sunsets - it all begs to be photographed in Technicolor. Mere black and white does not do the intense reds, greens and blues jus- tice. These colors can be seen: - On 8th Street, where the Cuban men play dominoes in the park. - At the annual Goombay Festival in Coconut Grove, celebrat- ing Bahamian culture. - In the trendy European tourists and the older Jewish popula- tion that share Miami Beach. - During commencement exer- cises on the lawn of the University of Miami, where the shower of con- fetti, champagne and balloons is a tradition. - On the streets of downtown, during the annual Nissan Grand Prix of Miami. - On the waters of Biscayne Bay Saturday and Sunday as the weekend sailors take their crafts out and the sailboards and catamarans cut the waves and ride the winds. - Downtown on any given evening, thanks to the many bank buildings and offices that have added neon and flood lights to make the skyline a celebration of color. Dave Bergman A tossed salad Miami has its share of colorful people and events. It is a diverse place. According to The New York Times, Miami llis now the most tforeigni of all American cities? Just over half of Dade Countyls nearly two million people are Spanish-speaking. In addition, nearly half of Dadels population was The Year In Review

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born abroad. ltMany of them were running from something, from communism or tyranny or hunger, and an accident of geography made Miami their haven? wrote the St. Petersburg Times in a feature story last April. Its diversity is a strength. ttl went to get my tire fixed the other day in the downtown, and as they were doing it, I walked down a street over near Second Avenue? said Miami native Jeff Byrne. llAt the first house people were speaking Creole, at the next house they were speaking this J amaiean patois la dialectl and at the next house they were speak- ing Spanish and the next, English and fl In Miami, ttwhites and blacks, Cubans and Haitians, refugees from Nicaragua, El Salvador and elsewhere are all vying for a piece of the American dream? wrote US. News 8: World Report. The City has been compared to a tossed salad - not a melting pot, however. People arriving in Miami do not llmeltli together and blend smoothly into one cohesive community. But they do come together to lend their ttflavorsil to a great mix - like a tossed salad. The University is just as diverse - if not more so - as the rest of the city. Sit in the International Lounge of the University Center for just a little while and that becomes quite evident. TI'IIB COIIII'S Sometimes it has seemed like that tossed salad has more in common with a salad dress- ing - oil and Vinegar - than lettuce and toma- toes. The different groups in Miami have, at times, been at odds. The Mariel Boat Lift, ttthe most abrupt demographic upheavalii to occur in ltany city on the North American con- tinent? according to Newsweek, the drug wars, rioting in Overtown, Liberty City and Coconut Grove, and the homeless problem have all polarized portions of the City at one time or another. But adversity is something Miamians are Jim Gibson used to. And most of the time it brings out the UM's campus is best in them. often compared to Hurricane Andrew is just one example. a tropical garden. They showed their true colors then, in the aftermath of the llworst natural disaster in US. history? Neighbor joined neighbor in cleaning up and rebuilding. The University community jumped in and did more than its share of good deeds following Andrew. Students, faculty and staff from all the Universityls schools and departments, after helping our own, went immediately to work helping others less fortunate. They turned a dark moment into a shining one. It has been like this following every upheaval. After the big hur- ricane of 1926, the Great Depression, World War II, the drug wars and the influx of refugees, Miamians have pulled together and rebuilt their city, stronger and better than before. The III'ODIS On these pages we have collected our best colors. All of the words and images reflect the colorful nature of this msmutlpn and Its p cop 16' Ill some The Hurricanes defeated the way, thlS ent1re book 1s dedicated to Fl ori d a Stat e S emin 0' e s in that idea. 1992's biggest game in the We have attempted to capture Orange Bowl. The orange this yearis range of colors and events and green crowd urged the and record it for you, for the future. team on in another close We hope you enjoy it. contest with the inter-state rival. 14