University of Texas Austin - Cactus Yearbook (Austin, TX)

Page 24 text:

In the summer of 1950, the new Student Health Center at 24th and Wichita Streets was completed. In- side the four-and-one-half story building can be found $1,600,000 worth of modern facilities to give students complete medical and hos- pital care. The staff at the hospital numbers over 100 persons, includ- ing eleven part-time and eight full- time physicians. Dr. George M. Decherd served as director of the health service from 1946 until his death in March, 1951. He was succeeded by Dr. Paul L. White. Among the feature attractions of the building are an outside sun deck for ambulatory patients, an emergency room for ambulance cases, a pharmacy, and complete technical equipment. A student movement for better health services, which began in 1936, played a large part in getting the center built. That year a group of pre-medical students handed to the Board of Regents a petition bearing 3,771 students ' names. The petition, circulated during an epi- demic of mumps, measles, influenza and scarlet fever in Austin, asked the board to build a hospital on the campus. But the epidemic died, and so did the students ' proposal. In 1941, then Univ ersity President Homer Rainey, members of the faculty and several students secured passage of a student hospital bill in the House of Representatives by sending a special committee to that body. The Regents okayed construction in October, 1941. World War II came along, however, and con- struction was delayed until 1949. It) . East Entrance, University Health Center Dr. George M. Decherd, Director Operating Room i PAGE 20

Page 23 text:

PE EX-STUDENTS ' ASSOCIATION BYRON SKELTON President JOHN A. McCURDY Secretary The Ex-Students ' Association is a service organization whose purpose is to establish a stronger relationship between the University and its alumni. This organization engages in various worthwhile activities such as the publishing of a monthly magazine, The Alcade, in the interests of the ex-students. A permanent file including names and information regarding all ex-students is maintained in the Association office, and it is at the disposal of the University staff, students, organizations, and publications. In an attempt to bring those people who have previously had connections with the University back to the campus, the Ex-Students ' Association sponsors Dad ' s Day in the fall and Round-Up each spring. The organization also takes part in a Union Building program which has resulted in the erection of Gregory Gymnasium, Hogg Auditorium, the Women ' s Gymnasium, and the Texas Union. The most recent project of the asociation is an annual giving program which encourages each former student to donate something to the University every year. PAGE 19

Page 25 text:

Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make ye free. This statement, the purpose of the University, is carved in the Main Building just below the location where the largest portion of the general library is housed. The fine collection of books found within asserts the earnest endeavor of our school to fulfill the promise of the inscription. The general li- brary, a customary workshop of the faculty and student body, was begun in 1933 and com- pleted in 1937. In 1939 it was given its present name, the Mirabeau B. Lamar Library. The general library at the University is the largest in the South, ranking thirteenth among colleges in the United States. The books in this collec- tion of more than 950,000 vol- umes may be found not only in the Main Library, but also in small departmental collections which are scattered to every corner of the Forty Acres. In- conspicuous and yet indispen- sable, they are prepared to serve special groups of Univer- sity students. Few, if any, ever have reason to consult books in all the library ' s 25 units. Alexander Moffit, University Librarian Rare Books Collection Architecture Library ' PAGE 21