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

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Robert E. Lee Hall Faces Appomattox, Watkins Says Goodbye, Lemons Recalled Students returning a little early from winter break got to frolic in Austin ' s only snowfall of the spring semester. The University closed on Jan. 12 at noon, but reopened the next day at 1 p.m. While the two-inch snow shower immobilized Austin, Northern states faced record sub- zero temperatures that dipped into the dou- ble digits with wind-chill factors. Passersby stopped to gawk, and sometimes even cheer, near 21st and Univer- sity as a crane crashed a wrecking ball into Robert E. Lee Hall. The destruction of the old building was to make room for a new Teaching Center. Reported by Runner magazine to be the fifth largest 10,000 meter race in the nation, the Capitol 10,000 let 11,823 official entrants loose in the streets of Austin on March 22. Eddie Espinosa, a 23-year-old mechanical engineering major confined to a wheelchair, was the first to cross the finish line. As usual, some students kept involved in politics. Ten percent of the student body turned out on March 10 to reinstate student government, absent from the campus since 1978, with a 64 percent margin. Also, Univer- sity students registered to vote in Austin helped 5-1 to defeat a proposed amendment to the fair housing act that would have made it legal for landlords to deny housing on the basis of sexual orientation. Outraged students held a rally when President Peter Flawn denied tenure for the second con- secutive year to Al Watkins, an assistant pro- fessor of government. As 1981-82 was Watkins ' seventh and up-or-out year, the denial left him 18 months to leave UT. The next firing, which shocked UT and Longhorn fans even more, was that of Abe Lemons, head basketball coach for six years. The action by the Athletics Council came nine days after the end of an unfruitful season which had gone up like a rocket and taken a nosedive the second half. Concerned citizens banded together to protect the Austin oasis of Barton Springs from possible pollution. Two UT-based groups, Students to Save Barton Springs and Students for Environmental Defense, feared the proposed southern extension of MoPac Boulevard, which included a bridge to cross Barton Creek, would threaten the natural spring. The United States Geological Survey found very real evidence of pollution when they measured the count of fecal coliform bacteria at a record high, signaling the seepage of human waste into the water. This scare prompted the Parks and Recreation Department to instigate a new policy in February requiring the spring to be closed for at least a day after each rain. March end- ed with city officials still trying to locate the source of the contamination. January 28 Italian authorities storm Red Brigade hideout freeing Brigadier General James L. Dozier, kidnap- ped 42 days earlier from his Verona apartment. Just as police broke in, one of the members of the terrorist organization had a gun poised at Dozier ' s head, ready to kill him. February Jorge Luis Broges, renowned Spanish-language writer, fills Lyn- don Baines Johnson Auditorium when he delivers the University ' s annual Hakett Memorial Lecture. The Globetrotters, basketball team with the madcap antics, make their annual trek to the Frank Erwin Special Events Center. fTlarch 1O 22 Doomsday. All nine planets in the solar system are aligned on the same side of the sun. In a 1974 publication, The Jupiter Effect, two British astrophysicists predicted that the combined gravitational pull would knock the earth out of orbit, setting off violent earth- quakes that would destroy the earth. Commander Jack Lousma and pilot C. Gordon Fullerton blast off in the space shuttle Columbia on an eight-day mission the craft ' s third orbit. January February March 27

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Appc Goa Two onlookers view the process as Robert E. Lee Hall crashes and crumbles to the ground in January to make room for a new teaching center. With a little ingenuity, Bill Leissner of Austin transforms himself into the abominable snowman on Jan. 12. J M3? ' % . T - v . . . , rv ' , . f t . 5 r . .; .- vi -. ' ' ' ' ,. ' .-SJbi ' . ' . ' ..-.; ily I '

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Falkland Island Crisis Erupts, Students Take Stand by Sitting Flowerbeds burst into a spring fashion show of changing colors, and bright pink and white azaleas dotted the front of the Academic Center. April and May, after a few late cold snaps, finally tempted Texas coeds to dig out their favorite shorts and don beach t-shirts. The northern half of the nation, however, still shivered under snowstorms. A chilling foreign crisis also permeated world affairs. In the Falkland Islands, an un- prepared England was taken by surprise when Argentina invaded the archipelago which it called the Malvinas. Britain retaliated and landed on the islands May 21. Both sides reported numerous casualties. Ruled by Britain since 1833, the islanc ' s were home to 1800 English citizens. Despite the explosive situation in South America, President Reagan took time out and flew down to Knoxville, Tennessee. There he opened the 1982 World ' s Fair and dedicated the U.S. pavilion. On the local scene, seven bumbling Ag- gies managed to get themselves into a lot more trouble than they had bargained for early one April morning. In an attempt to steal a heavy granite war memorial from underneath one of the scoreboards in Memorial Stadium, they rolled it down four stadium steps, damaging two of them and chipping the corner of the marker. Three culprits were caught fleeing from the scene and the four others were apprehended later. A few days before, though, it was UT students who landed in some hot water. As many as 150 demonstrators participated in a sit-in at the West Mall Office Building pro- testing assistant professor of government Al Watkin ' s denial of tenure. Fifteen students were taken to Bellmont Hall and cited with disruptive behavior, and three were held for refusing to identify themselves. Any rebellious spirits settled down, at least temporarily, in late May as students struggled between finals and the pull of sleep and beckoning balmy temperatures. Commencement exercises were held May 22, finishing yet another year, and UT looked forward to its upcoming 100th anniversary. Theresa Veach Jed Smock. Bible-toting fire-n-brimstone touting evangelical king of the West Mall, warns students of their sins. 28 April May