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

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F I he Tn-Service Military Color Guard passes in review before the President of the University and other administration officials in the annual Military Review 19

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The Professionalization T Each year, the debates continue. Each year, graduating seniors scurry around campus, to the Career Choice informa- tion center in Jester, to professors and advisors, to departmental placement offices, in search of their first job. For students in demand in their respective fields, such as engineering, the prospects were good. For those in say, humanities, they were less promising. Students have been turning towards earlier professionalization for the past five or six years, mounting an early quest for mega-bucks. For many, the answer continued to be a graduate degree, though that number, according to the School of Business placement office, was much smaller than the number of stu- dents who went immediately to work. To help cement the contacts made while an undergraduate at UT, many pro- fessional organizations existed. The larger colleges often had five organiza- tions within the college, each with slightly different goals and membership. These groups provided valuable career inform- ation through speakers. Most students in these professional degree programs appeared to have few worries about their job prospects in the early 80s. Similarly unworried about their first jobs were the cadets in the Reserve Offi- cer Training Corps Army, Air Force, Navy and Marines. Approximatley one percent of all UT students were enrolled in the ROTC programs this year. The training focused on development of leadership, management and disciplinary skills. Academically, technical subjects were the norm, though a liberal arts pro- gram could be followed and with a guarantee of having a job upon gradua- tion. Early professionalization, academically or militarily, brought with it its own prob- lems. The School of Business was forced to institute stricter requirements for admission into its upper-division sequence. The military services, with increased budgets, continued to look for a few more good people. 18

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Groups Keep a Variety of Traditions Alive On a campus as large and with as many students as UT Austin has, there are many divergent interests. University students find friends with the people they meet in class, where they live or where they work. But many find their niches in the University community through membership in a club or organi- zation with others who share the same interests. More than 450 groups are listed as registered student organizations on cam- pus, and they focus on subjects ranging from exploring caves to serving as offi- cial hostesses at University functions; the Red Ryders Preservation Society, formed to preserve democracy, and the college councils, formed in part as an answer to the void left by the departure of student government. New special interests groups are formed for a narrow, often recreational purpose, typified by the Surfing Club or the Flying Club. These are the newer clubs. There are organizations which have been around as long as the University itself, such as the Longhorn Band and Alpha Phi Omega, a service organiza- tion. Some traditional groups, such as GDE, the women s equivalent to APO before Title IX opened APO to both sexes, have seen their popularity wane. Circle K, on the other hand, returned to campus this year with renewed enthusi- asm, drawing prominent administrators, such as President Flawn, as speakers. There was one organization which, though relatively new, kept alive the tra- ditions of the past. The El Grupo Univer- sitario de Danza y Arte Folklorica. UT s Latin American style dance company was created to keep alive the traditional dances of the Latin-American culture. The group is only six years old this year, and has grown in popularity, within the University community and outside of Texas. 20