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

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- ;: --. e. fori 4 ' L .; sfecti |j[ 710 C-6 ' 31 ,900 men. .-.-;- frit- -. : : ,) : , Isian Fifiij A.Wa: res . . .-.- : : -igi ' e ' bers H ; it!i anf people .-- ' -- ' - Wait begets knowledge is a philosophical way of stating that checkout time for these students at the University Co-op is still another 30 minutes away. oer of the notorious Chicago , Seven, a group charged with mas- terminding violent demonstrations .at the 1968 Democratic Conven- tion. In contrast, Jerry Rubin, who :iad also been a member of the Chicago Seven, emerged as a lember of a Wall Street broker- ige firm. Back on the beach Mark loticed a reposed girl with a Con- lally campaign button pinned to ler halter top. He confronted her, ' I thought he wasn ' t running any- lore. No, I guess he isn ' t came her littersweet response. Politicking was all the rage in leptember. In between the first ationally televised Longhorn Football victory and the first Texas nion all-nighter, representa- ' ives of the three primary presi- dential candidates touched cam- Jus in their political version of the Texas Swing. Mark McKinnon, Daily Texan editor, is booked at County Jail for refusing to cede controversial negatives. September 29

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SEPTEMBER This was September 2, the first day of classes and I was standing in the hour-long book-buying line at the University Co-op, clutching an armful of books that I would probably never read and never be able to sell back. Mark McKinnon just got thrown in jail, declared a campus crier somewhere in the front of the store where they keep the Longhorn T-shirts, bookends, caps, stationery and walking sticks. Apparently The Daily Texan editor had elected not to surren- der negatives sought by prosecu- tors in the trial of 16 Middle East- ern students charged with disrupt- ing a speech by Iranian ex-UN Ambassador Fereydoun Hoveyda earlier in the year. My sidekick, Mark, attempted to break the ice with a bearded man garbed in army fatigues slouching behind us. I noticed that you ' re into European studies, Mark said, pointing an accusing finger at the text clutched by the commando. Uh, yes, came a fatigued response. Mark continued, They ' ll prob- ably have to re-write the books after this Polish thing is over. Uh, yes, came another weary response. The Polish thing Mark refer- red to was the ship workers strike in Poland. Led by Lech Walesa, rebellious shipyard workers in Gdansk laid down their tools and ignited a chain of walkouts threat- ening the collapse of Poland ' s ail- ing industrial establishment. In an unprecedented move, the Com- munist party conceded to work ers ' demands, legalizing inde-l pendent trade unions and the right to strike in Poland. On Sep- tember 24, while many were stil wondering if the Soviet Union would send troops into Poland, Iraqi troops were thrusting into Iran blowing away Iranian oil sta- tions. In retaliatory air strikes, Iran returned the favor. I returned to the dorm where students were experiencing those last delicious moments before the summer heat expired into the sedation of fall. Down on Jester Beach, the grassy knoll that adjoins the graduate wing of Jes-l ter Center, dozens of half-dressed! guys and girls were sunbathing. The tranquility on the beach was deceptive, for it would soon give way to a month of campus confusion, national campaigning, and world unrest. Undoubtedly, some of the sun-| bathers participated in the Greek community ' s fall rush, a hecticl week of parties and activities cul- minating with 710 women and approximately 900 men pledging; in sororities and fraternities. Fric- tion between the Greek and anti- Greek forces became a daily sta- ple of The Daily Texan Firingj Line editorials. Word smiths on: both sides of the line argued their respective stands ... Greeki life is the reinforcement of rigid ' class barriers . . . , The Greek: system offers the members the ' opportunity to work with and ' socialize with people who have) common interests, and so on. Meanwhile, in New York City, Abbie Hoffman came out of hid- ing. A radical Yippie leader of th 1960s, Hoffman had been a mem A prophetic sign surfaces at the Seorge Bush Gerald Ford political rally that was held on the Main Mall. 28 September

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OCTOBER- A cluster of buoyant Longhorns carve time off of their academic ledger and celebrate on Dallas ' famed Commerce Street the night before the Texas-OU game. It was seven o ' clock on the Thursday night before OU Weekend and I was sitting in my friend Kevin ' s kitchen sink, talking on the telephone with my mother. Who will you be staying with in Dallas? she asked. Kevin, I said, he ' s the guy from Irving I told you about. You mean the one who se slid- ing glass door you walked through? she asked. That ' s him. His parents will be out of town (should I have said that?) and they ' ll have plenty of room (before 20 college kids check in and turn the place into a flop house). Well, all right, she said, but no foolishness. The next day, we spent four hours on the road. Our conversa- tions ranged from the Delta Upsi- lon race to the Cotton Bowl to the previous Wednesda selection in which studentj ftlrose %fc three v o t e s . er- jWf re SAj d e n t ' s Association. Proponents of the newly approved constitution said that such an organization could provide a strong student lobb, against the proposed 100 percent tuition increase. Opponents of 9rudent aovernmervt saw tne iiFsti- tirHon as n6r ly ja j dy of f the parncipants ' resumes. After 100 miles of nothingness since Waco, the Dallas skyline, punctuated by the geodesic dome of Reunion Tower came into ' focus. We were finally here and all ' that seemed to matter was the wild night on the town before Sat-l urday ' s big game. It even over- shadowed the Soviet Union ' s offen to give military assistance to the Iranian revolutionary regime ofl Ayatollah Khomeini. Although the offer had been turned down, Soviet diplomats and military del- egations continued to display unu- sually heavy activity in the Middle East. Ahead of us, the rear window of a Volkswagen van proclaimed in white shoe polish, OU Con-i sumes Wastes, while in back of us, the windshield of a Grand Prix boasted, Texas Longhorns I. 30 October