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

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I i 1969-1978 Cactus Yearbooks The decade of the 1960 ' s ended in outrage and protest. Students demon- strated against a war they could not understand, yet were forced to fight, banding together to rally for peace, love and ecology. America slipped into the 1970 ' s, yet students maintained fervor and con- viction to work for a common belief. Demonstrations for peace began to resemble wars in May 1970 when four students lay dead at Kent State Uni- versity. By January 1973, protestors ' enthusiasm gradually faded after the complete withdrawal of U.S. troops from Vietnam was implemented. As concern for the war dissolved, Americans focused on domestic issues. Protestors ' pleas for ecology did not go unnoticed as federal regulations required stricter pollution control measures for industry. The OPEC oil embargo initiated the energy crisis and threatened the American lifes- tyle. Nader ' s Raiders fought for consumers ' rights, Woodward and Bern- stein exposed the Watergate coverup and women ' s rights advocates marched for ERA. By the late 1970 ' s, a generation Looking out for Number 1 emerged. With far more leisure time, students spent their energy on jogging and fancy diet schemes, or elaborate clothes and discos. Although problems of rampant inflation, alternate energy sources and the all-important job search remained prominent in students ' minds, the University campus con- tinued to provide a refuge from the real world. 1979 Cactus Yearbook 5

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' 1969 Cactus Yearbook The University of Texas grew throughout the 1970 ' s, desperately trying to keep pace with an ever-expanding enrollment. Progress did have its price, however, as campus construction contributed to confusion by obstructing pedestrian traffic during peak class change times. Swinging cranes, noisy bulldozers, blasting and drilling made way for progress as new buildings consumed every inch and more of the Forty Acres. It started as an issues of environment versus expansion. In 1969 faculty, students and non-students took up the fight to save Waller Creek trees by lodging high in their branches so construction workers could not chop them down. Trees all over campus made way for new buildings and park- ing lots. Eventually even the new parking lots succumbed to make room for even more new buildings. In 1972, the Board of Regents approved a $60 million construction pro- gram that Regent Frank C. Erwin Jr. called a master plan for the next ten years. The plan included construction of the Perry-Castaneda Library, the Special Events Center and the Fine Arts Complex. It ' s all in the name of progress, but there ' s no place left to park. ToBuiia . . 1979 Cactus Yearbook 7