Che Battalion
Vol. 65 No. 74
College Station, Texas Friday, February 20, 1970
Telephone 845-2226
Geistweidt Calls for
Moral Guts’ at A&M
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Student Senate President Ger-
F Geistweidt Thursday challeng-
J corps and civilian leaders to
m the “moral guts” to tear
lown the walls of misunderstand-
that divide the two segments
i! the A&M student body.
Speaking to the delegates to
Operation Jericho, Geistweidt
larged them to make the April
lections contests in which each
jndidate is judged by his quali-
itations, and not by his cloth-
“Don’t be the hypocrite student
ditician we’ve known so long,”
t pleaded, “the one who only
ives lip service to unity and in-
ividualism before the election.”
He said that this devious con-
act, this use of ploys for the
idle purpose of gaining votes,
said destroy in a week any good
itlationships between corps and
irilian students that have taken
year to build.
He characterized the civilian
ini corps factions as tribes set
part by high walls. Atop the
walls are the tribal leaders, in a
position to both see their own
tribe below and the leaders of
the other tribe across the way.
In everyday relationships, the
student body president says, lead
ers from both tribes interact,
see each other as they really
are and achieve a mutual respect
for each other.
Tribe members however, do not
interact, with those of the other
tribe and the walls of fear and
suspicion remain. Members of one
tribe, Geistweidt said, tend to
think of those in the other as
stereotypes, not as people.
He said that it is the task of
the leaders of both tribes to dare
to start tearing down the walls
that divide the two. Yet, he said,
this is difficult for the leader for
he is afraid that if he dares to
take the other side in any mat
ter, he’ll lose the support of his
tribal followers.
Too often, he said, the attitude
of leaders of the two tribes is
this: ‘T’m your friend. But you’ll
play hell if I’ll respect your peo
ple or any who wear the same
clothes as you do.”
“You leaders aren’t guided by
mass opinion; you guide it,” he
maintained. “But you’re going to
have to take hold of the reigns.”
Geistweidt, a member of the
Cadet Corps himself, said that
the corps is failing to understand
emerging civilian attitudes.
“The civilian more and more is
being considered a second-rate
citizen,” he said.
Geistweidt noted that though
the civilians number 81 per cent
of the student body, they have
only 50 per cent representation
in the senate and “zero per cent
of the yell leaders.”
“They also receive no credit
for their efforts in The Batt, The
Review, or in radio announce
ments,” he said.
He admonished civilian students
to not blame the corps for “in
tentionally” trying to limit the
SON
utility of Students, Faculty
upgraded in Recent Years
A&M, in recent years, has ex
(rienced a constant upgrading
[the quality of its students and
iculty, the president-elect of the
ssociation of Former Students
)ld Operation Jericho delegates
krsday night.
Leslie L. Appelt said that re-
ftt of achievement tests show
_ _J la t the quality of graduate stu-
— ^ I tuts at A&M has risen steadily
s ypj; irecent years, as has the quality
— [students entering the institu-
Appelt said he felt that the
iculty has gone up in quality
irecent years, demonstrated by
ic number and amount of re-
(arch grants directed at A&M.
"I was taken aback to find that
the research grants that are made
available to A&M are equal to
the amount of money,” Appelt
said, “that the Texas Legislature
funds the operations of the uni
versity with.”
It was a pleasant surprise for
him, Appelt said, to discover that
faculty members were good
teachers as well as good research
ers. This is shown, he said, by the
fact that those with research
grants are often selected by stu
dents to receive outstanding fac
ulty awards presented by the for
mer students.
Appelt noted that the upgrad
ing in quality experienced by
A&M was shown also in the new
library. It is one of 70 in the
nation, he said, which has mem
bership in the Association of Re
search Libraries.
Speaking about A&M’s image,
Appelt said that the former stu
dents hired a professional con
sulting firm in the latter part of
the ’60s to determine the image
A&M had in the state.
What they found, he said, was
that many high school counselors
and students, along with students’
parents, had a concept of A&M
that was about 10 years out of
date. An intensified high school
recruiting program, along with
new information brochures, is now
being used in an attempt to ac
quaint people with A&M as it is
today, he said.
Florida Senator to Speak
On Republican Strategy
ice
■van
"Republican Southern Strategy”
fill be discussed Monday in a
'olitical Forum presentation by
Florida legislator who won the
irgest number of votes in the
fate’s history.
U. S. Senator Edward J. Gur
ley will make the 8 p. m. talk in
ie Memorial Student Center Ball-
Mm, announced forum chairman
diaries Hoffman.
Admission is free.
The Florida Republican was
University National Bank
"On the side of Texas A&M.”
—Adv.
elected to the 88th Congress in
1962 by 52 per cent of the vote,
a 3,466 vote margin. Gurney was
returned to the 89th Congress by
a 31,985 vote margin and in May,
1966, running for the 90th, re
ceived 97.4 per cent of the vote.
His Democratic opponent with
drew.
Senator Gurney, 66, had an 80
per cent mandate from the people
in the statewide Republican pri
mary in 1968. He won the largest
number of votes in Florida’s his
tory in the general election when
he became the first to go over
one million votes.
The solon’s name was marked
on 1,131,499 ballots, nearly 250,-
000 times more than his opponent.
Senator Gurney is on the Sen
ate Committee on Government
Operations, Public Works Com
mittee, Special Committee on the
Aging and Republican Campaign
Committee.
A native of Maine, Gurney re
ceived a degree at Colby College
in Waterville and graduated from
Harvard and Duke Law Schools.
He holds honorary doctor of
law degrees from Colby and Rol
lins College in Winter Park.
powers of the civilian student
body.
“Blame the civilian students,”
he said, “for not getting out and
voting.”
Most important, Geistweidt
said, is that no one should blame
a whole tribe for the actions of
one member of it.
Geistweidt summed the current
status of intra-student relations
in this and three other areas,
discussing social fraternities, po
litical minority groups, the role
of the female at A&M.
Noting that the “one great Ag
gie fraternity” concept no longer
seems to satisfy social elements
of A&M’s varied student body
make-up, he said other measures
are ibeing taken.
“The civilian residence hall
program seems to be filling the
civilian student’s social need,” he
said, noting that pushies for the
establishment of social fraterni
ties have died down in the last
two years.
Minority groups have been em
braced within the system as in
dividuals, making ethnic identi
fication unnecessary, the Mason
senior added.
He said the A&M environment
must adjust to the presence of
coeds and provide recognition for
the increasing part they are tak
ing in student activities.
Some male students fear coeds
will destroy the heritage of rug
gedness that has been built at
A&M, Geistweidt commented, and
some, without malicious intent,
forget she is here.”
SEMESTER LOAN—Angel
Pina catches up on studies
while waiting to check out
a painting from the library
Thursday. Prints are due
back in May. (Photo by Bob
Stump)
OFFERING SOLUTIONS—Operation Jericho delegates talk things over Thursday during
one of the discussion sessions held following a morning panel presentation on academic
excellence. (Photo by Jim Berry)
Excellence Main Goal
Of A&M, Byers Says
Texas A&M’s main goal is the
development of excellence in stu
dents, faculty and facilities, Dr.
Horace Byers told a Jericho au
dience Thursday morning.
Byers, vice president for aca
demic affairs, headed a panel dis
cussion on academic excellence.
On the panel with him were Dan
C. Lowe, associate dean of busi
ness administration, Barbara Da
vis, marketing professor, Dr.
Charles McCandless, associate
dean of liberal arts and Dr. Frank
Hubert, dean of liberal arts and
education.
Byers said that the quality of
students at A&M has been im
proved recently because of high
er entrance requirements.
He noted there are 57 aca
demic committees serving the
university and many others serv
ing the colleges. Dr. Byers told
the students 11 of the academic
committees have a total of 46
students assisting in the decision
making process.
Lowe cited arguments for and
against a pass-fail grading sys
tem. He said that a pass-fail sys
tem may encourage student cre
ativity. But he also said that it
makes difficult student evaluation
by graduate schools and prospec
tive employers.
Lowe said that removal of a
strict grading system eliminates
much of the pressure of compe
tition, but he questioned whether
this is really the best way to pre-
The Civilian Student Council
has invited two student editors
to discuss civilian coverage or
the lack of it, in their respective
publications.
Mark Olson, CSC president,
said Thursday that Vancy Man
ning, editor of The Review, and
Dave Mayes, editor of The Bat-
pare a student for life after col
lege.
Hubert supported the tradition
al grading system and called it
“the pulse of the learning sys
tem.”
Dead week is really folklore,
Hubert said.
“The week before finals is a
time when most students try to
learn what they should have
learned during the four previous
months,” he said.
Miss Davis said that quality of
instructors “is not the result of
chance.”
HOUSTON — A&M President
Earl Rudder’s condition was
changed to satisfactory Thursday,
and St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital
officials said this morning that
he was continuing to improve.
Wednesday, Rudder was trans
ferred from the hospital’s oper
ation recovery room to a private
room.
Thursday was the first time
since Rudder suffered a cerebral
hemorrhage the first part of the
month that his condition has been
anything other than serious.
The hospital official said that
Rudder sat up several times
talion, have been asked to explain
certain policies of their respec
tive publications.
He said the called meeting is
open to the public and will begin
at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the Assem
bly Room of the Memorial Stu
dent Center.
“The key to quality teaching
is the understanding of responsi
bility-responsibility to those you
teach, to those you work with
and to your university,” she said.
McCandless said that before
anyone talks about relevance of
college courses, he should first
ask, relevant to what and to
whom ?
An institution should undergo
continual reevaluation of the con
tribution of each course to the
curriculum, the program and the
institution’s objectives, McCan
dless said.
Thursday and was more alert.
Rudder also began physical
therapy treatment Thursday, the
official said. He said the therapy
consisted of body movements to
keep or improve muscle tone.
No visitors, other than family,
are allowed yet, the official said.
Any decision on visitors, he said,
will have to be made by Mrs.
Rudder and attending doctors.
Rudder’s family Thursday ex
pressed gratitude for the many
cards, flowers and messages re
ceived during his current illness.
“We sincerely appreciate all the
prayers and other expressions of
hope and concern which we have
received during this most diffi
cult period,” Mrs. Rudder said.
“I wish I could thank each per
son individually, but sheer num
bers make it impossible.
WEATHER
Saturday — Cloudy to partly
cloudy, light drizzle early morn
ing Wind Easterly 10-15 m.p.h.
High 63, low 42.
Sunday — Partly sloudy. Wind
Easterly, 10-15 m.p.h. High 71,
low 39.
StudentPublicationsIs Topic
Of CSC Meeting Tuesday
Rudder’s Condition
Now 4 Satisfactory’
Band to Hold Dance, Select
LAURA SWINBANK LINDA DAVIS KARAN LITZMANN GAYLE LaNIER
Sweetheart Saturday
PAT LUCEY
Texas Aggie Bandmen turn
music making over to another
group Saturday for the annual
band dance.
About 300 band members, their
dates and guests are expected for
the 8 to 12 p.m. event in the
Memorial Student Center Ball
room, according to Edwin Lamm-
III, band commander from San
Antonio.
Maynard’s Gimble’s nine-piece
orchestra will furnish music for
the formal-dress occasion. The
ballroom will be decorated in
“The Old South” theme.
Highlight of the evening will
b£ introduction of five sweet
heart finalists and secret-ballot-
selection of the honoree by those
attending.
The finalists:
Laura Swinbank of Houston is
a Stephen F. Austin College
sophomore majoring in pre-nurs
ing. She will be escorted by
Jim Connally.
A freshman marketing major
at A&M, Patricia Ann Lucey,
will be escorted by Gregg Weav
er. Miss Lucey attended S. F.
Austin Jligh in Bryan.
Karen Litzman is drum major
of the Columbus High School
band. She is an honor student,
a sophomore and will be escorted
by Russell Braden.
Gayle LaNier of Waxahachie
attends Baylor, where she is a
freshman elementary education
major. Her date will be Stpve
Sullivan.
An Odessa High senior, Linda
Davis will be escorted by Joe
Anderson.
Finalists were selected by a
committee composed of chairman
John Small, band operations of
ficer; John Otto, combined band
■drum major; Richard Garrett,
Maroon Band drum major; Rich
ard Sweaney, Maroon Band exec
utive officer; Larry Barfield,
band supply officer; Warren
Jamieson, Johnny Potts, Jim
Lamm, Larry George, Gilbert
Rodriguez and Van Knight.
J