I made it back from vacation in one piece, and although I did have a mild head cold there were no dramatic ER visits this year. I really didn’t look at my email very much so it’s going to take a while to get caught up. If I owe you a reply, well, let’s hope for the best.
I return to campus only to find Bill Peebles ’70 at it again, this time on an unauthorized trip through the steam tunnels.
I just adore this:
The first time I ever went down in the old sections of the tunnels I spent ten full minutes considering whether I ought to panic. (I think I have video of that somewhere, by the way, but I’ll have to ponder where it might be.) It’s pretty tight down there, also dirty, dark, and hot:
Misspelled by accident or design? I’d guess simple indifference. All colleges are the same under ground:
Bonus: The new sections are much swankier.
The first picture is Beau Jon Sackett.
He looks just fantastic!
Busted! Thank goodness the Statute of Limitations ran out…..
And thanks for the compliment, Melissa. Just to let you know, I’m still seriously handsome, but a whole lot less geeky. 😉
My first trip in the steam tunnels was probably in the spring of ’57. I remember we found the gate to Jones College was locked. Very interesting for a Civil Engineer.
“And I’ll substantiate the rumor
That the English sense of humor
Is drier than the Texas sand”
Jones College may have been under construction in the spring of 1957, but I’m pretty sure it did not open until 1958.
It opened in September of 1957. They couldn’t start the college system until they had a functioning women’s dorm.
“Johnnie’s in the basement, mixin up the medicine
I’m on the pavement, thinkin bout the government”
In the ‘80s I attended a number of “Tunnel Parties” usually hosted by a fellow alum who shall remain nameless. The favored entrance was through a manhole just north of Sid between Will Rice & Hanszen; while the accommodations were not terribly comfortable, the parties were outstanding. I’d send you some pics Melissa but I think I burned them long ago to protect the (not so) innocent.
My first foray into the tunnels was in 1975. It was pretty easy, you took the elevator down to the basement of the Geology building. After that we got in through the Baker basement. During the fall of 1977 I lost my brand new Rice ring in the tunnels. I went back down, this time sober, and still could not find it. I had the ring replaced. In the Spring I was told by Clay Crawford (Sid 1978) that Building and Grounds had my ring. i went over expecting quite a talking to but got my ring back without any fuss. And that it why I still have two Rice rings.