University of Oklahoma - Sooner Yearbook (Norman, OK)

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games. The Riji Reil mustered a pretty ni}; ; ' ' l af;};re(;ation, iiuliiilinj; siiih {greats as ()r ie Matthews, jaik Jacobs, and a promisinsi Freshman lialthaik named Joe (lolding. A er fast halfback from m liome town, (iiis Kitchens, was one ot the MKiiiN students at O.l ' . tliat ear w lio w eic not to conic back from tlie war. I left 0. J . in the spring ot I ' ' 41, erdiNfiiifi in the Coast (luar.l. It was UH7 belore 1 got back, and in those si UMTS the major changes around Nornian and the camims had taken pl.ice. The I ' niversity was no longer confined to one campus, in tact, and classes were designated as being held either on the south campus, main campus, or north campus. ' ou go to school at .Norman? an O.U. student was asked. Well, not exactly, was the reply. 1 have a couple classes just a little bit north of Noble, and a couple more a little bit south ot Moore. The w ai ' was o er, and some of the schools of war w i-ic ln ' ing utilized for peacetimes to funush, classrooms in which (nmg men were taught to dissect cadav- ers so that the could sa e lives instead of take lives, and other nung men were taught to design beautiful buildings instead of destroy them. There must be hope for the future. ou can go tlow n on South Campus and find, without much effort, signs of deca) ' creeping over the temporary buildings that served as class- rooms and laboratories for war. Hut on the main campus the machines r)f man ' s ingenuity continue to build structures ol steel and stone that, pra ( iod, will still be standing when man has learned how init to wage war. So there have been many changes at O.U. in the la t ten wars, and without giving it much thought 1 can say 1 like the changes. New buildings, more housing, better facilities, enabling more stuilents to come here and learn, and leave here better able to help keep the world on an even keel. And it 1 xvcrc askeil which particular change of all the changes I like most, I would say 1 like best the fact that O.l ' . ' s doors ha e bi( n thrown open to all Americans regardless of color Ol religion, and that the student body of my Alma Mater has, with one or two infantile cross-burning exceptions, acce pted the death of Jim Crow without mourning the loss. Yessii, it looks like the University of Oklahoma is a going concern, and I ' m proud to have been a part of it and to have witnessed its grow th. In a few ears, if I can make the right arrangements with the Touchdown Club, I intend to seiul m sons to O.U. and when the da comes, I (irobabh won ' t feel a bit older than 1 do at this very minute, because remi- niscing is a mental labor not calculated to make anybod feel ten years yoimger. As pointed out in the first paragraph of this article, in IQOO there were 272 students at O.U., and the w a 1 feel right now , 1 wonder what ever became of the other 271. Graduating seniors try caps and gowns for si e in anticipation of the big da

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Perfect fnntball weather and a winning team caused all students to forsake studies Saturda aftcrniMins to cheer on Big Red. and Oklahoma City. I sorrow a little for ou who lU ' wr hat! the rollicking adventure of a trolley ride to or from the rotisseries (gymnasiums) of Reno and California stieets with a coeducational group of fun-seekers on a cold winter night. Due to the fact that the nation was still ha ing an eco- nomic crisis in 1940, we went in for free campus entertain- ments more enthusiastically than students now seem to do. The afternoon tea dances at Hester Hall (or was it Robert- son?) used to draw large stag representations, and on Satur- day afternoons dansants were thrown in the Union ballroom with camjMis dance bands furnish- ing the music. There were hocke matches between lady teams on jilaxing fiehis east of Hester and Robert.son Halls, where now stand great edifices dedicated to more in- tellectual pursuits. iNo one ever seems to pla hocke ' anymore, and women ' s hockey matches are something everybody should be al- lowed to (jhsei e at least once a (M]-. .And it ' s a shame the have mo ed the ariheiy range down past Lindsav Road. We .schcdarly paupers used to while away warm afternoons watching the girl Rob in Hoods .sometimes hit the straw - stuffed targets and live danger- ,. t ,■ ,, ' I nincation nn the i;im|Ui ' ously. Also, in those days, emplified In ,U. rad.t e football practice was open t(j the |ji„ Snxde public, and there were polo games on Sundays, and they had good crowds at the Drama School ' s one-act play presenta- tions in the auditorium. Jl OPLL.AR songs in I ' HO were such now nearh ' forgotten favorites as High On A Wind Hill, Sleepy Time Gal, Swamp Fire, Frenesi, Pompton Turnpike. Glen Miller ' s band was at the peak of its |X)pularity, and the brothers Kberle were favorite crooners with Miller ' s group and Jim- my Dorsey ' s band, and a young man named Frank Sinatra was getting much attention because of his ability to make high school girls faint and scream, not neces- sarily in that order. What ever be- came of him, I wonder? The big news was the draft, the constant bombing of London, the presiden- tial campaign between Wendell W ' illkie and F. D. Roosevelt, and a certain tenseness between the Cnited States and Ja|ian. AVithout realizing it, football as bcgiiuung to be de-emiiha- si e,l already in the fall of 1040. Somehow there wasn ' t anything ticniendousK important about the ciutcome of college grid battles when the world was going up in smoke, and ou could always get a good seat for the home of the three armed services is e irnmanding officers, Bob Bumpas, ■, and U.ih Ounaho.

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