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

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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

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1976 Cactus Yearbook In 1970, the big word in campus politics was radical. After almost eight months of continual campus unrest, radical candidate Jeff Jones emerged as the Student Government president. Jones focused on untradi- tional issues throughout the traditional University election, receiving 5,885 of the 10,121 votes cast, with only $40 in campaign expenditures. Many speculated about the future of the University with a radical Student Gov- ernment president, a traditional administration and a conservative state legislature. In the Student Government elections of 1976, Jay Adkins and Skip Sly- field drafted an Arts and Sausages platform for their Absurdist Party. If elected, Adkins and Slyfield promised to change the University ' s motto on the Main Building to Money Talks and to sponsor a different spectacle each month. Tiring of political antics, voters opted to abolish the Students Associa- tion, April 1978, claiming that the body squandered $42,000 of appropriated funds with little, if any, voice in administrative matters. Despite the stu- dents ' push to abolish Student Government, the final decision rested with the regents ' vote. Where once a scurry of political activity flourished, later an empty mall remained. In 1979, the big word in campus politics was extinct. 1979 Cactus Yearbook 9