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

Page 9 text:

rove ropout die successful tarv. The I Sobe! Prize ' ' jrofesc: Steven fc IW wpw of tfce B M IBOItTS W1S flMBD ditilntnity m i!ow:fc( world to mi ti Tns. There vere ;- .;; iir- OBB t !1 3 (Mt Tk rasons dm - A vtritiblt ! ' ll! B ,.-- ' - ' - H j Gleaming and sparkling through the night-time skies of Austin is the Tower, perhaps the most visible and most representative of UT ' s magnitude of treasures. Texas Treasure 5

Page 8 text:

HE TOWER clock chimed 1 a.m. It was quiet on the In- ner Campus drives. The sky was dark, dark blue, almost velvet and the University ' s Vic- torian roofs, red Spanish tile and pale limestone looked like a silhouette of a storybook land against the sky. But the quiet was deceptive. Inside those buildings, deep down the halls and labyrin- thian libraries, it was 1 a.m. and progress never slept. In glaring contrast to the penum- bra outside, blazing lights burned within and illuminated the incessant endeavors within a plethora of buildings. Students still persevered in the Undergraduate Library, TAs still graded papers, research continued on and on, the physical plant ran smoothly, The Daily Tex- an came together; oil still pumped out of the ground on vast West Texas plains. Elec- tronic devices and UT police guarded all these UT ' s abundance of treasures. The abundance of the treasures could be traced in part to another complex, rich source the billions of barrels of black gold pumping forth from deep within the University lands in far West Texas. When the Santa Rita rig blew in 1923, the gusher virtually transformed the University of Texas. In early years at UT, classes were held in wooden shacks, but the forest of oil der- ricks on rich West Texas lands remodeled University formations and foundations. Responsible for much of University con- struction including the new Main Building and the Tower, the Permanent University Fund at $1.5 million was second only to Har- vard ' s at $1.7 billion. Construction at the University was the most visible evidence of progress and pro- minence. From the Victorian, gingerbread- laced Littlefield Home to the space-age outline of the Erwin Special Events Center, Traditions, Tower Typify Treasure Trove by DIANA WILLEKE the University was graced with some of the best academic and athletic facilities in the state. Athletes practiced long hours at Memorial Stadium, Bellmont Hall and Disch-Falk Field. The Texas Swim Center was chosen to hold the Olympic Trials for the 1980 games. Research continued well into the night in UT ' s massive libraries. The University of Texas at Austin had the eighth largest academic library in the United States with almost five million volumes. Scholars came from all over the world to utilize the Humanities Research Center, which housed a world-reknowned collection of rare books and manuscripts. Its most famous listing was the Gutenberg Bible, one of only five com- plete copies in the world. Besides streaming oil gushers and multitudinous construction, Western- flavored images of rolling ranchland and ap- propriately, Longhorns dotting the land- scape preserved Texas legends and con- tributed to the basis of Texas wealth. UT counted its own Longhorn, the animal and symbol, a tradition to be treasured. Traditions March 2, the Hook ' em sign and the Eyes of Texas were perhaps the most visible hallmarks, but the most impor- tant tradition was the quality of academics. The prestige of UT ' s academic programs contributed greatly to the University ' s reputation. In terms of quality of faculty and programs, the College of Engineering ranked sixth in the nation, civil engineering ranked third and accounting and psychology were slotted fifth and sixth, respectively. UT led all institutions in the South for the number of doctoral degrees awarded and UT ' s top- notch graduate programs included four doc- toral programs (linguistics, German, Spanish and botany) ranked in the top five. In graduate professional programs, business education and law ranked among the top 10. The enviable rankings throughout the University stemmed from successful recruiting of outstanding faculty. The University boasted the 1977 Nobel Prize winner for chemistry Dr. Ilya Prigogine and Pulitzer Prize winning historian Dr. William Goetzmann. Visiting professor Steven Weinberg was the 1979 recipient of the Nobel Prize in physics. One aspect of UT that drew many outstanding professors and researchers was the wide array of resources and the diversity of the students. UT ' s 46,000-plus enrollment made it one of the four largest state univer- sities in the country. Students came from all over the world to attend the University of Texas. There were approximately 2,000 foreign students atten- ding the Austin campus in 1981 as well as 5,169 from out-of-state. The reasons that coaxed non-Texans to leave their home states varied. Texas and especially Austin of- fered a culture unmatched anywhere country music, a la Willie Nelson, balmy weather and Barton Springs. Yet, primarily they came to attend the University. Some clearly visible and others hidden, treasures at the University compressed an almost infinite storehouse. A veritable treasure trove, UT ' s assets included its peo- ple, traditions, ideals, buildings, instruction, individuals and their differences. Inside the first class facilities, research continued at Port Aransas, McDonald Observatory and the Austin main campus. Candidates perfected dissertations, scientists worked on worldwide problems and com- puters systemized programs. Outside, the darkness surrounded, but students still en- dured and graduates prepared all the while absorbing memories and knowledge to treasure. 4 UT Tieasure Trove

Page 10 text:

HE LIBRARIAN hisses Shhh, hushing all voices, snoring or sneezing that dare to violate the sepulchral silence of the library. The gray-haired spinster vanishes down the dark aisles lined with periodicals and books. That probably comprised the favorite stereotype of a library ever since Gutenberg chained his Bibles to a table. But to know the University ' s libraries was to know that no stereotype could ever cover the diversity. University libraries, contrary to what might be popular belief, were not merely shelves from which books could be bor- rowed. Research was the main event in University libraries and they were well equip- ped for that. UT ' s eighth-ranked library system fell into three categories, which catered to some aspect of academic research. The General Libraries, the Tarlton Law Library (the nation ' s sixth largest) and the Humanities Research Center (rare manuscripts, art, photography) were the three divisions. But when thinking of libraries, it was the General Libraries that came to most minds. The General Libraries are the ones used by the 40,000 students, said Mary Pound, publications director for the Perry-Castaneda Library. Although some managed to avoid them during their stay in academia, the General Libraries were the places most students went to study, research, catch 40 winks or just look out the window. UT students didn ' t always have it so good. The University had no library until March 1884 when approximately 1,000 BOUND IN EXCELLENCE UT Libraries Become a Bibliophile ' s Heaven by MAUREEN CREAMER books were housed in a small dark room on the fourth floor of Old Main. The library was an open stack one for faculty members and female students. Male students ap- parently were not to be trusted in the stacks; librarians brought the requested books to the male students. In 1911, the library was moved into brand new Battle Hall. The architecturally hand- some building, though, had cracks and less space than the old facility. A gubernatorial veto of a funding bill left the library devoid of elevators and bookstacks. The University acquired more and more books; many had to be stored in nooks all over campus and the hodge-podge demand- ed attention that finally came in the form of the Tower in 1934. All 27 floors were to be filled with books; but the closed stack library on numerous levels grew cumber- some as more floors were booked up. Suggestions for a new facility were tossed around; one even proposed locating the new library under the South Mall. The Perry- Castenada Library, the third largest such facility in the nation, opened in 1977. Some observers suggested that PCL ' s shape was a stylized depiction of Texas. It may have looked like Texas from above, but the building ' s exterior wasn ' t Texan but In- diana limestone. The fossiliferous limestone on the inside, however, was Texan from way back. Once inside, the new student would find the amount of information stored in PCL staggering with the card catalog jungle as testimony. In August 1981, PCL had 1.5 million volumes and 5,000 periodicals. The Undergraduate Library, in the Academic Center, was the place most lower division students learned the ABCs of research. The antiseptic atmosphere had space for 1,928 students. The branches were the libraries with per- sonality. Home of the main collection from 1911 to 1934, Battle Hall in 1982 housed the Architecture Library. Its colorful vaulted ceiling reared regally over rows of lighted wooden study tables. And if nature called, women could head down the circular marble staircase to the little girl ' s room the women ' s cloakroom, vintage 1911. The Science Library (formerly the Main Library) on the second floor of the Main Building was reminiscent of the Library of Congress. It contained enormous blue and gold shields on the lobby wall and wood-beamed ceilings emblazoned with sayings from Samuel Johnson and Sam Houston. Another species of the branch libraries in- cluded the Engineering, Physics-Math- Astronomy, Geology, Chemistry and Fine Arts libraries. In July 1979, the scattered flock of fine arts libraries was finally gathered up into the Fine Arts Building. This library had the largest branch circulation and housed materials for art, drama and music students who could even practice on an electronic piano that was silent to all but the player wearing headphones. At the other end of the scale was the Classics Library, nestled in a yellowed corner of Waggener Hall ' s first floor. With 17,000 volumes, it had the smallest circulation. A combined reading- and reference room allowed students or faculty members to curl up in a warm corner and escape with gods and supermortals. The libraries continued to be a valuable resource to UT, attracting the attention of scholars everywhere. The foresight of Ashbel Smith, first Board of Regents chairman, the donations of bibliophiles and the en- dowments of figures like Major George W. Littlefield fostered the tradition of a library system bound in excellence just as great books are bound in fine leather. 6 Libraries