For most people it's not until you have passed your youth that you begin to have recollections of the past. For me, it was the Student Union Building.

I began my studies as a freshman in 1966, when that building was brand new. The third floor was a variety of formal settings, mostly where students could meet with their parents, rather than at a dorm room, where freshmen were required to live.

All the women wore skirts and dresses. To wear jeans meant that you were part of the hoi polloi, and not college material. Only male students were allowed to wear shorts.

For all female students there was "bed check," meaning the women's dorms doors were locked at midnight, and one must present a handwritten note from one's parents in order to go home on weekends. Yes, Dean Dickey and General Lindley truly were in control of campus activities.

"Meet me at the SUB" still brings to mind those golden days of meeting and making friends in the simple booths on the second floor. There was a cafeteria line for low priced food, certainly no $5 hamburgers and $2 soft drinks! Many students brought their own "brown bags" containing their luncheon goodies.

On the street level, the first floor, was the "NTSU Book Store" and the U.S. Post Office with four-digit mail boxes. And the basement was storage for books inventory.

Most people walked everywhere. There were few marked parking spaces on the streets, and no charge for parking. Only parking for employees beside the Administration Building was restricted. Otherwise one parked on the street that ran in front.

It often took three days of walking from one building to another, and another and another to register for classes each semester. Oh, those long lines and the waiting!

I left and then returned in 1980 in order to finally graduate Dec. 19, 1981. Enough of my reminiscing. May you have rich memories of your days at UNT.

John E. "Jack" Nicholson ('81)
Richardson