The Snake Pit

Snake Pit photos

Down the Corridor

News on campus included the inauguration of U.S. President William Howard Taft. Succeeding Theodore Roosevelt as president, he was inaugurated in the midst of a snowstorm March 4, 1909. ... “Preach” Rayzor, son of Mr. and Mrs. James Newton Rayzor of Denton, invented a machine for trains to communicate with one another.

Among courses offered for the first time were a filing course designed to "lay the foundation for office work" that included "filing miniature letters in a miniature filing cabinet"; a business course on "money, banking, credit and business cycles"; and a Texas school law course. ... The college received a new Kelly Printing Press with a maximum printing speed of 2,200-3,300 sheets per hour. ... Harriss Gym was the location for the President's Ball celebration in honor of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's 52nd birthday. All proceeds went to benefit the Warm Springs Foundation for Infantile Paralysis. ... A  Danish dancer performed at North Texas, while a female member of the Canadian House of Commons spoke about the economic woes of the United States. ... The debate team traveled 2,600 miles in 12 days to debate throughout Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee and Kentucky..

Students returned to North Texas in January to find the thermometer at 7 degrees Fahrenheit. ... A Cuban student returned to his parents and Cuba following Castro's defeat of the dictator Batista, whose military had closed down the University of Havana and killed thousands of students protesting the government. ... The Campus Chat selected the campus' "Best Dressed Girl" for the annual Glamour magazine contest. ... English professor Howard Key discussed his book Twister Tales, a collection of stories from tornado victims. ... Burglars stole 24 firearms from the North Texas museum in a pre-dawn robbery. ... The newspaper reviewed the motion picture I Want to Live, based on the true story of a woman on Death Row, starring Susan Hayward; it played at the Denton Fine Arts Theater.

Regent and alumnus Charles "Mean Joe" Greene spoke to a journalism class about the 1980 Coca-Cola commercial that won the 1980 CLIO award. ... The University Art Gallery displayed 1930s Depression Era fashions. ... William Painter of history turned "15" years of age on Leap Year day Feb. 29, 1984; he was really 60 years of age. ... Paramount Pictures and representatives from Rody Kent Associates auditioned students for roles as extras in The Jesse Owens Story, which was filmed at Fouts Field March 22-26; 400 were needed for a crowd scene. ... H. Ross Perot spoke at a workshop on campus about public schools. ... Lightning struck the TV antenna of the Kappa Sigma fraternity house on West Oak, damaging electronics inside but injuring no one in the incident.

Changes to computers on campus were begun to prevent a possible Y2K problem. ... Native American author and poet Simon J. Ortiz Jr., of the Acoma Pueblo tribe of New Mexico, spoke on campus. ... UNT students expressed mixed reactions in the North Texas Daily for an article about a possible impeachment of President Bill Clinton. ... A grand opening gala took place at the new Murchison Performing Arts Center.