EDITORIAL, PAGE 2
‘Wake Up, Rip Van Winkle’
Texas A«M
The B
College
alion
PUBLISHED IN THE INTEREST OF A GREATER A & M COLLEGE
VOLUME 46
COLLEGE STATION (Aggieland), TEXAS, TUESDAY, APRIL 22, 1947
EDITORIAL, PAGE 2
“Open-Book Exams”
Number 61
Gilchrist Defends Wind Tunnel Expenditure
Clark, in Interview With Batt Reporters,
Charges Gilchrist With 4 Law Violations
Dr. F. B. Clark, head of the Eco
nomics Department, in an inter
view with Battalion correspondents
Sunday morning, charged President
Gibb Gilchrist with four violations
of the law in connection with the
draining of the College Park Lake.
The violations according to Clark
were:
1. Intimidation to the extent of
obstruction of justice.
2. Collusion to commit tres
pass. .
3. Trespass.
4. Malicious mischief-
Clark stated that he learned
Gilchrist (then Dean of the
School of Engineering) was plan
ning to spend public funds in the
amount of $4,000 or more on prop
erty belonging to the Southside
Development Co., a corporation of
which Clark is and was president.
After attempting to discuss the
property improvements with Mr.
Gilchrist wi t h o u t satisfaction,
Dr. Clark contacted other members
of the community and discussed the
proposed draining of the Colege
Park Lake.
An appeal was made to Dr. T.
O. Walton, then president, but he
professed himself unable to hfilp
them in their fight to keep the
lake.
Dr. Clark stated that he made
one more attempt to discuss the
lake with Dr- Gilchrist and that
again he felt he had not been dealt
with fairly.
Shortly after this last visit to
Gilchrist’s office, Dr. Clark related
the following episode:
“Mrs. Clark called my office and
informed that a drag line was at
work curring a gap in the dam,
and wanted to know whether or not
I had given permission for it to be
done. Of course I had not for the
simple reason that I did not, ac
cording to my judgment have the
legal right to give such a permis
sion, even through action of the
board of directors of the Southside
Development Co. In fact I had
refused to attend any meeting of
that board in which the question
would be raised. She said, how
ever, that they were acting under
what they thought was a permis
sion granted by The Southside De
velopment Co.
“What had happened was that
two members of that board had
met and drawn up a line of pro
cedure for opening up the dam and
cutting out a drainage ditch. This
was acted on by Gilchrist as per
mission to do what he wanted to
do. I knew nothing of the exis
tence of such a document until af
ter the call from Mrs. Clark. I
found out later however that the
action was taken by my friends
and associates for the simple rea
son that they thought that I would
be fired if they did not do it- They
knew me well enough to know that
I was not going to sign any such
document under the circumstances.
“Well the dam was cut, the con
crete ditch was laid, and as a con
sequence we have a containing
nuisance in the front of our homes.
This nuisance cannot be removed
as long as Gilchrist remains pres
ident of the college. He has done
nothing since which shows any in
clination to- right the wrong which
he perpetrated on us at that time.
Dr. Clark produced a letter re
ceived from A. M. McNeel, ’25, of
San Antonio. The letter is dated
April 6, 1947, and reads in part:
“I read with great satisfaction
your comments at Dallas on the
A&M mess, same appearing here
in the SA Express.
“Your statement on the ‘inti
midation’ that exists among the
faculty members i£ identical and
exactly follows the pattern which
permeated the State Highway De
partment during 1930 to 1935 at
which time I worked for same. At
that time, I saw a few Resident
Engineers who were afraid to open
their mail for fear it meant their
jobs. As to the smaller fry—all
but one (myself) were scared at
all times to make any statement
which involved the ‘dictator’ him
self or any of his often boneheaded
policies-
“At this time it appears that the
Board is completely sold on the
man; and feel that everyone else
is ‘out of step’; but, the truth will
come out from men of courage like
yourself who put the college above
personal things.”
. ★
Dr. Clark in a preliminary state
ment which he had prepared for
delivery to the Texas House-Sen
ate Investigating Committee stated
on April 10, 1947:
“During the last week we have
experienced at College Station one
of the most shameful instances
possible to an educational institu
tion. If I had not for other rea
sons already stated that according
to my judgment President Gibb
Gilchrist and the Board of Direc
tors of that College should be re
moved from office and the admin
istration of the College put in other
hands, I would say that now.
“That which I have in mind is
the recent mass trial of students
for disobedience. I see in this act
culpability a little short of treason
It would be treason in line of bat
tle.
“I contend that a group of civil
ians who presumes to give orders
on matters of military discipline
to a highly trained military man
who is responsible for training
soldiers is guilty of an act which
stops a little short of treason. To
say the least a governing board
of a great educational institution
which presumes to do that sort of
thing has by that act lost forever
the respect of the students and
should be removed from office.
“Furthermore their very reason
for doing it stops a little short of
treason. The reason is apparently
insistence on blind obedience- His
tory reveals that intelligent diso-
Governor Jester Crowns King
Vacek at Aggieland’s Most
Successful Cotton Style Show
The “Showboat” was the setting
for the coronation of Eugene Vac
ek, A. & M. senior agronomy stu
dent from Weimar, and Miss Joann
Dobbs, Menard, as king and queen
cotton at the thirteenth Annual
Cotton Pageant at A. & M. Fri
day night. Governor Beauford Jes
ter crowned the king before a
capacity crown of 3,500 in DeWare
Field House.
Miss Dobbs, a sophomore speech
student at Texas State College for
Women, emerged from the “Show-
boat” to receive her crown from
the hands of her royal consort and
together they reigned over a court
of 150 duchesses and their escorts-
Maids of honor to the queen, who
were chosen from the four classes
at TSCW, wore flowing white eve
ning gowns. Beatrice Luther,
daughter of Dr. and Mrs. H. A.
Luther, was crown bearer to the
queen, and John Turner, son of
Mr. and Mrs. Bill Turner, was
crown bearer for the king.
Decorations for the pageant in
cluding a large backdrop across
the gym, emphasized the “Show-
boat” days. Stalks of cotton were
strewn along the sides to give the
house the familiar touch. As the
duchesses were announced, they
descended the stairs of the show-
boat platform and were escorted
by A&M students to their places-
Duchesses for the Southwest
Conference schools were then pre
sented to the royal pair, their
court, and the audience.
Under the direction of Mrs.
Manning Smith, the pageant mov
ed smoothly and proved to be the
most successful ever staged at A.
& M. The pageant and ball are
held each year to halp defray ex
penses for students to take cotton
study tour in the summer.
Caperettes Perform
Following the coronation, the
royal pair and their court were
entertained by the dancing Caper
ettes, a tap-dancing team from
TSCW, and “Christy the Great”,
a magician from Dallas.
Twenty professional models
from Sanger Bros., Dallas, fash
ioned the latest apparels in cotton
for summer and spring. They mod
eled everything from evening
gowns to bathing suits.
Before crowning King Cotton,
Governor Jester said, “It is not
often in the span of life that a
Jester gets to crown a king.” He
added that he was very glad to
have the privilege of coming to
the occasion and that Texas A&M
was next to his heart beside the
orange and white-
As the grand finale, the Caper
ettes and “Christy the Great” per
formed a number in conjunction.
After the 2-hour program, the roy
al entourage moved from the scene
of the coronation to Sbisa Hall for
the Cotton Ball.
bedience in a soldier is far more
valuable to the nation than blind
obedience. One of the greatest
battles of history was won by in
telligent disobedience. Reference
is to the battle of Trafalgar.”
On May 29, 1944 shortly after the
election of President Gilchrist, Dr.
Clark prepared a statement in sup
port of a grand jury investigation.
Pertinent portions are listed here
with:
“This request of Dr. T. O. Wal
ton, former president of the Agri
cultural and Mechanical College
of Texas, for a grand jury investi
gation of the terms and conditions
surrounding the appointment of Dr.
Gibb Gilchrist as the president of
the College has come from me as
a matter of academic information.
I was first impelled to make the
request in my own name. From
this I was inhibited by the advice
of close friends- The feeling among
these was that it would jeopardize
my position in this College.
“The element of apparent crim
inality which appeared in the ap
pointment of the new president
showed itself in the manner in
which the Deans were required to
do what amounted to swearing al
legiance to a man whom I have
reason to believe they mortally
hated, the facts of which were
fully known to the members of the
board. It could have happened at
the very instance when they were
required to appear before the board
and promise allegiance to the new
president they had a change of
heart. If that did happen the
facts can only certainly be known
by revelation in a court. The
drime here referred to is known
as malfeasance in office, a com
mon laws crime. The legal sanc
tions applicable to this crime are,
of course, well known to this
court.
“Incidental to this investigation
I should like for this jury to look
into the matter regarding the ef
fect of the appointment of the new
president on the personnel of the
staff of the College. When it was
announced, according to my judg
ment, not fewer than ninety five
per cent of these persons were not
only shocked but thrown almost
into panic. A spontaneous move
ment for a mass meeting in pro
test almost materialized and prob
ably would have materialized if we
had not been given reason to ex
pect that the ex-student assicia-
tion, either officially or otherwise
would request an injunction from
the local court of equity asking that
the board be enjoined from further
exercising the functions of that
board until matters could be inves-.
tigated. That injunction for some
reason did not materialize.’”
On June 2, 1944, Dr. T- O. Wal
ton wrote the following letter to
Dr. Clark:
“The matter you discussed with
me has been given consideration
by Judge Combs, and he confirms
the judgment I expressed to you
in our conversation, namely, that
in case the question you have in
mind is taken to the Grand Jury,
that some attorney thoroughly
familiar with all of the details of
the case that you propose to de
velop should be present at the
Grand Jury for the purpose of fully
developing all of the facts.
“It is his opinion and mine, that
it would be perhaps prejudicial to
the whole case, if for any reason
after hearing the facts, the Grand
Jury should fail to act. Of course,
it is not for me to tell you what
to do, but my counsel would be that
you not rush the matter.”
In a letter to Dr. T. O. Walton
dated June 3, 1944, Dr. Clark
wrote:
“Ater a careful consideration of
all of the legal aspects of this
case and after having talked the
matter over with at least one com
petent attorney, I have come to
the conclusion that you have as
nearly a perfect case as could be
conceived of to be presented be
fore the grand jury. If the cir
cumstances can be t confirmed be
fore the jury which you revealed to
me in our conversation at your
home,.,Gibb Gilchrist is at this time
an imposter occuLy&g the presi
dent’s ofice of this College. This
conclusion is based on my assump
tion that there has been no legally
competent board of directors for
this College for some time. This
means, of course, that all of the
firing and hiring that has been
done in recent months including
yours is illegal; you are therefore
the president of this College. I
think you can prove this fact to
the grand jury or any other court
of competent jurisdiction.
Dr. Clark, appearing before the
State-House investigating commit
tee last night, requested an exe
cutive session. ,
Clark Requests Executive
Session; Hearing Continues
Jester Plans]
Crisis Council
Governor Beauford Jester an
nounced Saturday night in Austin
plans to create a permanent dis
aster control board- This announ
cement came after studying a pro
gram which he will probably re
commend as an emergency to the
Legislature.
Under Governor Jester’s tenta
tive plan, the control board would
have a director and 'be made up
of experts in all lines of disaster
reliefs.
The board would he charged
with co-ordination of various
fields, including police, relief, in
formation, health, and communica
tions.
He emphasized the need for a
complete index for the board to
set up controls and have informa
tion at its fingertips. Such a
board, said Jester, would elimin
ate some of the confusion and du
plication of effort that have been
noted following the Texas City
disaster.
Rural Sociologists
To Hear Address
On Prison System
Warden Reed Cowzart of the
Federal Penitentiary at Seagoville,
Texas will speak to members of
the Rural Sociology' Club at 7:15
p m, Thursday, April 24, in Room
203, Agriculture Building, on the
subject, “The Work of Federal
Penitentiaries and the Opportunity
for the employment of CollegeMen
in Prison System Work.”
Cowzart, a native of this section
of Texas, has been engaged in
prison work in the Federal Peni
tentiary System for over 20 years-
His education and experience has
been largely in the social science
field, which qualifies him to speak
authoritatively on the Federal Pri
son system, incluring his exper
ience as probation officer and pen-
itientiary wai’den.
ManE Juniors To
Make Inspection
Trip to Lufkin
Juniors in Management Engin
eering will travel to Lufkin on
Monday, April 28 to visit the Tex
as Foundries at 8:30 a. m. and
the Lufkin Foundry and Machine
Company that afternoon.
Many juniors have already sign
ed up, and those who have not done
so, and who wish to go, should
report to the Management Engin
eering office immediatelyr
The purpose of this trip and in
spection is to help provide a prac
tical background for some o the
senior courses in Management En
gineering.
Assignments of students to cars
for transportation will be posted
in the Management Engineering
office. All students making the
trip should complete arrangements
with the driver of the car for
transporation, it has been an
nounced by V. M. Faires, Head of
Management Engineering.
State Department
Foreign Officer
Exams in September
The Department of State will
hold examinations for positions as
Foreign Service Officers Class 6,
in September of this year, W. R.
Horsley of the Placement Office
stated yesterday.
Eligibility requirements are: (1)
The candidate must be between 21
and 35 years of age; (2) Must have
been a citizen of the United States
at least ten years and, if married,
be married to an American citi
zen.
Duties of the work cover many
fields but require particular know
ledge of history, government, eco
nomics, and modern languages. Sal
aries range from $3,300 to $4,400
per year.
Interested students should con
tact the Placement Office for com
plete details.
By Charlie Murray
“I have never been satisfied with
any job I have done”, President
Gibb Gilchrist stated last night be
fore the House-Senate investigat
ing committee. However, “I think
I have done a very good job” (as
president), he added after further
questioning.
In a three-hour session, the 10-
man committee questioned Presi
dent Gilchrist at length regarding
practices and transactions which
had taken place during his adminis
tration.
President Gilchrist, who was first
associated with A. & M. as Dean
of Engineering in October, 1937,
recalled the appointment of J. W.
“Dough” Rollins as Dean of Men
in the summer of 1945. The con
trol of student life was taken away
from the military department and
placed under Rollins and his as
sistants, most of whom were A.
& M. graduates, but the responsi
bilities remained on the cadet of
ficers, he stated.
Then in November, 1946 the
Board of Directors agreed to re
route the control of student life
through the commandant, to be as
sisted by reserves officers in teach
ing positions. This change was
finally made in January, 1947. This
action was again, brought about
by the determination of the Board
to eliminate hazing. As a result,
Gilchrist said, hazing became a
“lot better than it was last fall.
We will probably have to wait till
the end of the semester” to see
how well the hazing ban has func
tioned.
Wind Tunnel
~ Alter replying to the V S A
“wind-tunnel” question on March
29, Gilchrist found that the Board
of Directors had met in Dallas.
Dean Potter of Purdue University,
when asked how much to pay for
a wind tunnel, replied, “Not too
much. If you are not going to pay
$1,000,000, don’t pay over $25,000.
Perhaps $15,000 or $10,000.”
Gilchrist, who had earlier spok
en to Dr. Potter, had asked him
for his recommendation of a man
to head the Aeronautical Engineer
ing Department. “Potter told me
that Howard Barlow is the best
man in Aeronautical Engineering
in the country.
“Barlow was then brought to
the campus in that position, and
I followed his recommendation
for the wind tunnel.” *.
The wind tunnel will be some
thing which we can be proud of,
Gilchrist said. It will not be out
moded in 5 or 10 years, but it will
put A. & M. ahead of other schools
in that field, he asserted. “We
are ahead of the pack,” Gilchrist
concluded.
Mess Hall
“Cadets paid, for the month of
February, $1.20 a day for meals.
This price has probably gone up,”
Gilchrist said. Veterans pay by
the meal, which amounts to about
$41 a month, or $1.37 a day,” he
stated.
The pay-by-the-month basis
Aggie Station
Handles Texas
City Messages
W 5 A Q Y, Amateur Radio
Station at A. & M., was active
in handling messages of Red
Cross and emergency supply
nature during the recent Texas
City disaster. It also handled mes
sages to and from Texas City con
cerning safety of relatives of A&M
students when the Red Cross at
Texas City cleared that informa
tion.
The first communications from
Texas City were sent by Amateur
Radio Station W 5 A Q Q which
moved a portable station to Texas
City from Galveston early after
the first explosions.
W 5 F Q Q, the operator in
Texas City, operated continuously
from the time the station was set
up until the F. C. C. declared the
communication emergency ended.
He survived three nearby explos
ions early Thursday morning which
removed the remaining glass from
the windows of the building from
which he was operating. W 5 F-
Q Q still operated during this
time, but he did so from under the
table.
for Cadet Corps is lower because
15% can be expected to be ab
sent from meals during the
week-end, Gilchrist pointed out.
The last mess hall report made
by a committee of the Veteran Stu
dents’ Association last summer
was “satisfactory”. This included
a comparison with other schools,
and the Dean of Men assisted work
ing with them.
Previous Static
Gilchrist recalled three “upris
ings”, or incidents of “static”, the
first which took place in the spring
of 1937.
In 1941 when Colonel Watson
was commandant, a raid was made
and “paddles” were collected.
Again in 1942, similar action of
the Board to stamp out hazing
caused an uprising. 141 discipline
cases of hazing, all of which were
found guilty, took place between
February 1 to the end of the se
mester in 1942.
A little static took place in May,
1944.
After Gilchrist’s statement in
January regarding 49% of the
freshmen leaving school, he said
that he had received 442 letters
from parents, friends, and others
concerned with A. & M. Of this
number 10 were in opposition, and
54 cited cases of individual cases
of hazing.
Publicity
“I don’t control him at all,” said
Gilchrist of G. B. Winstead, direc
tor of the Publicity Department
since 1938. “I don’t attempt to,”
he reaffirmed. “Only two things
have I said to him about publicity
—don’t brag too much and give
the man who does the job the cred
it, not the administration.”
“I don’t recall any matters being
suppressed,” he said.
Election
Regarding his election by the
Board, Gilchrist said that “I was
n’t elected unanimously. Three
directors told me they had not vot
ed for my election. Two wished to
look further, and all three pledged
100% support. None are on the
board now.”
Deficiencies
Q. What’s the present attitude
of the student body? Any lack
of cooperation? Reasonably nor
mal bases?
A. If you ask me, they’re going
to school. This semester’s defic
ient list (failure to pass 10 se
mester hours with a C average) is
only 3.94% of the student body.
Last year it was 14%. The year
before that was 16%%. The low
est up until now had been 11%.
Q. Do you think the seniors in
the Cadet Corps should be dele
gated any authority?
A. I have always been much in
favor. My intention in 1945-46
was to try to preserve it, and give
the seniors the responsibilities.
Easter Advertising
Q. Were the seniors not al
lowed an extra day at Easter to
advertise the college, a thing
which has been done in the past?
A. I really don’t recall what was
done. The Executive Committee,
composed of Dean Bolton and the
other deans of the school, said
‘Not this year, but next year.’ A
number of engineering trips had
been planned this year. I have
always favored these Easter trips,
but I understand they will be in
stituted again next year.
Extension Service
When asked the reason for mov
ing the 12 district agents from
headquarters at A. & M. to their
respective districts, Gilchrist re
plied that he considered it a good
business deal; in a survey taken
of district agents, he found that
31% of their time was spent in the
district, 10% enroute between from
their district and college, and 59%
at college.
Since the agents are paid travel
expenses, “I could see no reason to
pay them for 10% of their time
spent enroute.”
With this method, headquarters
remains at A. & M., Gilchrist said,
and this serves as a post of dis
semination. The districts receive
all information from here.
Q. How many faculty members
left during your presidency?
A. 42.
Q. Were they forced, or in
timidated, to leave?
A. Not that I know of.
Q. Regarding a speech to the
Dallas A. & M. Mothers’ Club,
what did you speak on?
A. I spoke on the Student Union
Building, the chapel, and other
things for the students.
Q. Did they ask you to speak
on the situation at A. & M.?
A. No, I was invited to speak on
any subject I wished.
Clark Called to Stand
Dr. F. B. Clark, head of the
Economics Department, was the
next witness called to the stand.
He was questioned first on his ad
dress in Dallas before economists
of the social sciences throughout
the southwest. He had not been
asked to speak on A. & M., but
spoke on “problems facing every
college in the United States.”
He wholeheartedly opposed any
form of hazing, and stated that the
only hazing which had been ad
ministered to him was “when I
joined the Baptist Church.”
At this time Dr. Clark asked to
meet with the committee in execu
tive session.
Q. Are you afraid somebody
will fire you
A. If I had that feeling of fear,
I wouldn’t have said what I have
already said. I would like counsel
ing from you on certain matters.
If you don’t give me help, I’ll have
to carry my burden alone.
For the next half an hour Dr.
Clark met with the committee in
executive session, after which fur
ther testimony was adjourned un
til 8:30 a.m. this morning. Del
bert V. Schultz, ’46, and Dr. Clark
were expected to be heard at this
time.
Pre-Registration For
Advance R O T C Contract
Students Now Under Way
Preliminary registration for all students who contemplate signing
Advance ROTC contracts in September, 1947 is now taking place, Col.
G. S. Meloy Jr., commandant and PIVfS&T, has announced. An ROTC
questionnaire is available at Ross Hall, the’ Veterans’ Advisor’s Office,
the Registrar’s Office, and at the Student Affairs Office.
Students desiring to sign an ROTC contract for the first time
will be required to fill in this questionnaire and be interviewed by
the senior branch instructor of the branch of their choice prior to
May 15.
Advanced contracts will be
offered in the Infantry, Field
Artillery, Armored Cavalry,
Signal Corps, Coast Artillery
Corps, Corps of Engineers,
Chemical Corps, Ordnance,
Quartermaster, and Army Air
Forces. It is contemplated that
contracts will also be offered
in the Transportation Corps,
Veterinary Corps, and Army
Security Agency. Students in
terested in the last three will
report to the Executive Of
ficer, ROTC Headquarters, for
interview.
Students under Advance Con
tract receive a monetary allow
ance in liew of subsistence at the
rate of 66 cents a day at the
present time. In addition, a com
plete officer type uniform is fur
nished at no expense to the stu
dent.
Upon the successful completion
of the military and academic
course, a student will be tendered
a commission as a second lieuten- |
the student’s junior and senior
year, a six weeks’ camp is held
for all Advance ROTC contract
students. At this summer camp
students are paid at the rate of
$75 a month and a mileage allow
ance of 5 cents a unile for travel
ing to and from this camp. All
expenses at camp are paid by the
government.
Applications for admission to
the advance course for the follow
ing technical services must be en
rolled in the academic fields des
cribed below:
Chemical Corps
Mechanical engineering, chemi
cal engineering, electrical engin
eering, chemistry, biology, food
technology, civil engineering, geol
ogy, meteorology, accounting, law,
metallurgy, physics, business and
engineering administration.
Corps of Engineers
Undergraduate engineering cur
ricula accredited at the institution
ant in the Officers Reserve Corps. ] by the Engineers Council for Pro-
During the summer period between | (See REGISTRATION Page 4)