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

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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.

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RIGHT: Energetic canoers paddle through the San Francisco rapids in the lower canyons of the Rio Grande. BELOW: Revelers at Willie Nelson ' s 4th of July picnic roast in the sun. have a really unique background I ' m one of only 10,000 business majors. A one in four chance at UT. There are more business majors these days because there seems to be less money around. I ' m not a typical finance major. For one thing, I don ' t have any izods. My father is an engineer for an oil company. I have lived in Sydney, Singapore, and Indonesia: now, my parents live in Japan. I was born in Ari- zona and grew up in California in an oil town. I feel like a Texan because I like Texas. Accordingly, I like Texans because they ' re inde- pendent. There ' s still hope for Texas room to grow. Other places have filled up. I ' ve never been in a city that ' s really like Aus- tin. Austin has its own twilight zone. This place seems like the most painless blend of converging lifestyles. Austin has liberals and conservatives and communist youth brigades. I think Austin is really lucky to be growing - economically, culturally everyone is conscious of the perils of growth. Austin may have the chance to be the first big city that grew success- fully. In Austin, you can ' t escape the friendli- ness. There are lakes and the sun shines all the time and it ' s not a dust bowl. Out of the country, the image of Texas is going back to Gene Autrey and John Wayne. On that same line, here ' s an Australian joke. ' Q: What ' s the difference between a rich Texan and a poor one? A: A poor Texan washes his own Cadillac. ' I don ' t think that UT spends enough on teachers. Texas could have an excellent academic reputation. They have everything a good school could want a good city, a good academic cen- ter. But, they need to spend more money on other things besides buildings. UT really does have a bureaucracy and any bureaucracy is impersonal. But if anyone is going to win a war on mediocrity then they have to improve that somehow. Gene Ward, senior in finance from Austin.