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

Page 13 text:

E II H

Page 12 text:

RIGHT: Houston: a labyrinth of highways, new construction and oil. BELOW: The Shack in La Grange is famous for its barbecue. T SHACK custom has been my home all my life. It ' s the fastest growing city in the nation - 1,000 new families are coming in a week. The people are very rich, very poor and a lot in between. We ' ve got it all. You can ' t stereo- type a Houstonite they ' re all different. The traffic is horrible, the weather is terrible. Every time I go home, it rains. Likewise, every time I go home there ' s a new building going up. But, it ' s got its good points, such as the Museum of Fine Arts, Jones Hall and the Alley Theatre. Also, lots of good architecture. The man who designed the Pi Phi house (John Staub) designed most of River Oaks. When it comes to UT, this is a training ground for junior politicos. I wish some of the classes were smaller. When I first came here, I thought all the orange and white jazz was overdone, but the longer I was here, the more I began to appreciate it. It unites the students whether it ' s a good reason or not. We ' ve got one of the best library systems in the world. Also, we ' ve got one of the best pho- tography collections in the world and no one knows about it. There ' s so much diversity in the state you can Harltn Fleming, senior in art from Hous do anything you want to -- it ' s practically its own country. I ' ll probably stay in Texas the rest of my life. hit

Page 14 text:

Richard Dragistit, sophomore in architecture from Midland. like being from Midland. I like being from a small town but not too small. It ' s like Peyton Place; everybody knows about everybody else. I had a plain ol ' childhood. I had an average childhood. Midland is not the most exciting place to be when you ' re a child. To have fun you have to go out of Midland. Midland is sandy but clean, and dry. Of course, Lubbock and Odessa have no class ( near by neighbors). Lubbock really smells. Odessa smells like an oil refinery. There ' s money in Midland from oil. It ' s a good place to get a job everything is highpay- ing. Midland has tall buildings. It has an impres- sive skyline considering that it ' s all in the plain. We have the nation ' s twelfth-largest independ- ent bank. We have more office space per capita than Houston. People get upset when you brag about the wealth. There ' s very little greenery - maybe a few flowers or cactus. Water bills are horrendous. Some of the yards look like jungles (because) people can buy anything. Most ot the kids my age want to get out, but they end up returning like yo-yos. Midland has an extensive pull people are tied to the town - not like Dallas or Houston. However, there ' s also a desperate attempt to get out. It ' s a little too conservative for its own sake. There are plenty of staunch Republicans. The town is hemmed in, restrained. There ' s nothing to do no concerts, no action. When I was in high school, we used to drive up and down the streets. I didn ' t have a hard time making the trans- ition to UT because I know a lot of other people. Most of the girls from Midland (here at UT) are sorority girls. We ' re no hicks. We have a lot of problems defending ourselves it ' s a real cosmopolitan place. People are always going to different places, such as Dallas, which is only 600 miles. We fly because it ' s only $20 and people also take their own planes there are lots and lots of pri- vate planes. Actually, 150 miles isn ' t that far in West Texas. Going to Lubbock for the day (240 miles roundtrip) is nothing unusual. Space is larger there. I ' m a strong supporter of Midland. For such a small town, it really has a lot going for it.