The 1980s
1980
- Stout enrollment is 7,413.
- University closes for two days in July to conserve energy and water
following a freak wind storm -- campus suffers $50,000 damage.
- Ronald Reagan elected president.
- Secret U.S. mission to rescue hostages in Tehran aborted.
- Washington's Mount St. Helens explodes.
1981
- Library Learning Center constructed.
- Paul Erlich, Gloria Steinem and G. Gordon Liddy are featured in University
Speakers Series.
- President Reagan and Press Secretary James Brady shot as they leave
Washington hotel.
- Columbia, first reusable space vehicle, makes first flight.
1982
- Baseball team wins WSUC title.
- CBS Sports broadcasts a 23-15 Blue Devil win over UW-Oshkosh.
- Great Britain and Argentina enter military conflict over Falkland Islands.
- Equal rights amendment dies as ratification deadline passes.
- Surgeons in Salt Lake City implant first permanent artificial heart
in human patient, Barney Clark, who dies 16 weeks later.
1983
- Stout begins bachelor's degree program in Applied Technology.
- Men's tennis team begins its five-year reign over the WSUC conference.
- Harold Washington narrowly elected Chicago's first black mayor.
- Pioneer 10 crosses orbit of Neptune and becomes first spacecraft to
leave our solar system.
- Soviets shoot down Korean Air Lines jetliner.
1984
- Bowman Hall undergoes $2.1 million renovation project.
- Men's gymnastics team earns national title.
- Reagan re-elected president by landslide.
- Bell Telephone System breaks up.
- "Baby Fae" receives baboon heart to replace defective heart
and lives 20 days.
1985
- Stout enrollment peaks at 7,730.
- New Memorial Student Center constructed.
- March snowstorm drops 10 inches of snow on campus in less than 24 hours.
- Stout registration process is computerized.
- Earthquakes in Mexico and Chile kill thousands.
- New form of cocaine, known as "crack," appears in New York
City.
- Coca Cola revises Coke recipe.
1986
- Chancellor Swanson leads a Stout delegation which establishes ties with
several post-secondary institutions in China.
- Graphic and Interior design students develop a plan for renovation of
downtown Menomonie.
- First "Bash on the Grass" provides a non-alcoholic entertainment
alternative during Homecoming.
- Space shuttle Challenger explodes shortly after launch killing crew
of seven.
- Soviet Union reports accident at Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
- Newly-refurbished Statue of Liberty opens after two years of repair.
1987
- A $20,000 burger-flipping robot is tested in Stout's Burger King fast-food
laboratory.
- Four granite sculpures titled Portal, Gateway, Borderline and Sentinel,
installed on the grounds of Memorial Student Center, bring mixed reactions,
inspire "Stouthenge" T-shirts.
- Golf team wins first of three consecutive WSUC crowns.
- Chrysler Corp. announces plans to buy American Motors.
- Judge in "Baby M" case denies parental rights to surrogate
mother.
1988
- $5 million fieldhouse addition completed.
- Two Stout students earn gold medals at Wisconsin Food Service and Lodging
trade show.
- George H.W. Bush elected president.
- Agriculture Department declares drought emergency in South and Midwest.
- Mikhail Gorbachev becomes Soviet chief of state.
1989
- University introduces bachelor of science in Construction.
- Construction begins on Stout Technology Park.
- Democratic government elected in Poland and Berlin Wall opens, signaling
dramatic reforms in many Eastern European countries.
- San Francisco earthquake kills 55, causes $3 billion damage.
