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

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SUMMER- Hurricane Allen approaches the Texas Coast August 8. Before dissipating above Mexico. Allen claimed I 3 1 lives, three of which were taken in TexasJ The summer should not see any prolonged hot spells develop for any section of the country, although most sections will experi- ence temperatures slightly above normal. 1980 Farmer ' s Alma- nac The big green Martin Luther King Boulevard exit sign over Interstate 35 welcomed me back to the University of Texas. Look- ing out the window, I saw the imposing Main Building. I smiled, knowing that I was back in Austin home of the Longhorn football team, the Showband of the Southwest, Barton Springs, Mount Bonnell, and the state capi- tol. I was on a pleasure trip that Fri- day in July. Later that evening I In the Heat of Texas SUMMER 980 David Johnson would be meeting my friend] Kevin, the Irving Cowboy. Like! a lot of urbanites, Kevin became a city-kikker with the advent o the motion picture, Urban Cow boy. The nation was two-step ping itself into an era of Texa: chic. Western-cut shirts tuckec into close-fitting Levi ' s, dancinc at the Silver Dollar, and steam pressed hats enough to make home-grown good ol ' boys wan ' to recoil into a burnt-orange sun set. The campus itself seemed to be more or less as I had left it twc months earlier. The Tower ' s West minster Chimes still marked the quarter hours, Littlefield Fountair sprayed tarnished bronze figure; and The Dally Texan was stil 26 Sun

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Features Edited by Joan Holland Kathy Shwiff Brian Vanicek Events of the Year 26 Where the Arts Are Housed 46 Music 48 Dance 60 Drama 64 Art and Collections . .74 Speakers Special Events . . .80 .88 Issues of the Year . .94 Features 25

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an ' free for the taking. On this par- ticular day, the front-page head- ine read, Carter Signs Draft Bill. Having been born in I960, I saw that I would be expected to fsign up on the first day of regis- rration. Seated under the shady West Mall oak, the apparent back ard of two domesticated squir- -els, I scanned my copy of The Daily Texan. The American teams ere boycotting the Moscow Olympic Games, Mount St. Hel- ens was still rumbling in Washing- t-on, The Who concern at the Spe- cial Events Center had been a oeaceful hit and comedian Rich- ard Pryor was slowly recovering ffrom first, second and third degree burns. In Florida, an unprecedented vvave of immigrants from Haiti and Cuba had come ashore. The refugees make darned good citi- zens, said President Carter. Of course there are some loafers, but there are loafers in my family, too. In a related story, the Presi- dent ' s brother, Billy, filed with the Department of U.S. Justice as a Libyan agent revealing that he had received more than $220,000 from that African country. Billy- gate coupled with the Iranian hostage issue pulled President The nation was two-stepping itself into an era of Texas chic. Carter to an all time low in public opinion polls. I arose from my rest in front of the Texas Union and proceeded to tramp down the Drag. The month-long heat wave had bag- ged its limit. Gone were the gui- tar players; gone were the ven- dors; gone were the street peo- pie; gone was the wind it was hot out there. Only the large cricket conventions were out that afternoon. Unlike the Republicans and Democrats who had convened in Detroit and New York, the crickets were rallying in what little shade they could find beneath the business awnings. Three children were collecting the delegates in brown paper bags. I assumed they were not being gathered as eggroll ingredients. For supper, Kevin and I feasted on the Stallion ' s legendary chicken-fried steaks and yellow cream gravy, a real rib-stickin ' $2.50 meal. Later that evening, like millions of other television viewers, we tuned in to Dallas, the series that got America ask- ing, Who shot J.R.? I slept well that night. The bed was soft, the room was cool, and the confusion and excitement of September was still a world away. I Graving the record heat wave, a runner at Town Lake is treated to a few seconds of cool. Tom Mathews spores the Urban Cowboy ' look. Summer 27