Page 2 THE BATTALION Friday, November 6, 1953 Arkansas Paper Describes Incident At Little Rock (Ed. Note: The following is a sports column which ran in the November 4 edition of the Ark ansas Gazette. It was written by Orville Henry, and the headline said, “Closer Inspection of A&M Incident.”) ' Every moment and every aspect of the incident involving the Texas A&M students at War Memorial Stadium Saturday night are to be deeply regretted, and sincerely so. NO ONE ever wants to make a visitor uncomfortable, or treat him shabbily, and least of all on a night, the one night, when every thing was going in record-break ing fashion for the Razorbacks. BEFORE we bend too low in apology, however, maybe it would be best to clear the record with a closer inspection. What hap pened and who was at fault? Well let’s see. THE TROUBLE began, as you may know, when the students and their friends and Texas A&M fans continued to stand in their section behind the Aggie bench as the game progressed. They claimed their rights, according to what they called a “95-year-old custom” which says that a “twelfth Man” shall be standing and ready to be called onto the field should the need for him arise. The Cadet Corps is known as the “Twelfth Man” for all home games. (The Cadets abviously couldn’t have been standing for all games for 95 years. They play ed their first game only in 1893. Rather the tradition goes back to 1922, when Dana X. Bible actual ly called a lowly sub out of the stands to be ready to play in emergency). ‘Down in Front FANS WHO had purchased seats behind the A&M section, Which was down low and at the 40, naturally objected. . “DOWN in front,” after all, is a permissible watchword in Amer ican sports. SHOULD those fans have been denied the right to see the g^me because of a Texas custom they’d never heard of? NO, of course. They were within their rights in fussing about the situation. THUS the near-riot. The Cadet rooters were requested by the public address announcer to be seated. They refused, naturally, and became more militant, as did those fans behind them. So the police intervened, taking one of the more obstreperous A&M leaders to the exit gate. Finally, when it seemed there would have to be big trouble, there appeared Dr. M. T. Harrington, the A&M chancellor. He broke in with a broad smile and waved the Aggie rooters to follow him across the field and into an unoccupied sec tion at the 15-yard line. They fol lowed and the worst was over. Who Placed Tickets ? THE QUESTION now seems to be who put the A&M students in their awkward (though flouted) position ? NOT the Stadium. “IT IsJEVER occurred to me,” said Allan Berry, the manager, “that the Cadets would want to stand.” BUT BERRY didn’t seat them, anyway. The A&M section’s tick ets were allocated by the Univer sity of Arkansas, which handles all but the box office sale for all U of A games here. A SPOKESMAN for the U of A said at Fayetteville yesterday that the A&M ticket manager made no special request for place ment of tickets. And also that the A&M tickets were located in exactly the same spot as were and will be tickets for all visiting teams, near the 50. And the spokesman added that the U of A ticket office had not the slightest warning that any difficulty might arise over the placement of tick ets. Only 68 Tickets ACTUALLY only 68 tickets were purchased by A&M students. The remainder of the party of under 200 included Aggie boosters, many of them Arkansasans, and dates of the Cadets, many of them stu dents at Little Rock Central High. THE FIRST he knew of the has sle, said Berry, was when he step ped out of a ramp after the gate rush had ended. “AS SOON as I spotted the trouble,” Berry said yesterday, “I hurried upstairs to catch Barlow Irvin, A&M’s athletic director, who had been in the press box. But he had already left. Then I hurried back downstairs to give instructions to our police force. But they were already in action across the field. I can’t criticize them for swinging immediately into action. Even though they may have incited some of the A&M folks, they certainly pre vented a riot.” Chancellor Praised BERRY praised the good - na- tured action of Dr. Harrington for saving the situation. BEFORE he moved into action, Dr. Harrington had made this re mark to a person seated near him: “THEY ought not to stand un der these circumstances and so far from home, but what can you do ? It’s their custom and you can’t tell them not to.” DR HARRINGTON told Berry that “it was understandable for the students to stand but we couldn’t have let it go on in that section of the stands.” A STUDENT leader insisted that Berry allow him to explain his position over the public ad dress system and request'an apol ogy, but Berry declined and said Dr. Harrington also asked that no announcement be made. Roughed Up THERE WAS some talk that the student who was removed from the game was roughed up. Berry said he talked with the student after he had re-entered the stadium, which he was allowed to do almost immediately, and that he didn’t appear to be “roughed” any. MARVIN Potts, chief of police, sent this message to The Battal ion, the campus daily at Texas A&M. “I SAW and talked to the stu dent as he was led to stadium gate. He showed no signs of beating and made no complaints at the time. He was escorted to the gate by two officers who turned him over to the gate man for expul sion. Officers then returned to stands. “ENTIRE incident regrettable. Someone here made mistake of scheduling standing unit at mid- field section. However, something had to be done. I sincerely ap preciated help from Dr. M. T. Harrington. Without his assist ance there would have been a riot. People in stands irritated be cause felt they hadn’t paid $3.60 per seat to stand.” Report Made BERRY SAID he had written a full report of the affair as he knew it and turned it over to Howard Grubbs, secretary of the Conference. He said he had also written a warm thank-you letter to Chancellor Harrington. AS FOR the Cadet Corps, it probably neither relished the game not the incident, even if the hyper-spirited crew did carry the beaten Aggies off the field after the game. It could be that the experience will serve some good. Henceforth the A&M tick et office likely will pay more heed to the location of its seats. And in Arkansas, at least, the hosts will, too. AS AN afterthought, perhaps fans who were at the game now can appreciate the din and dis turbance the 6,000 Cadets make for A&M home game at College Station. They often take over other stadiums in Texas, too, and they have been involved in other incidents. BUT LET’S close this one. Letters to the Editors Editors, The Battalion: This letter is in reference to the sportsmanship displayed by a group of Aggie and former Aggie students at the A&M-Arkansas game at Little Rock the past Saturday. To begin with, I would like to say that I have much admiration and respect for A&M. While in the service I came in contact with many former Aggie students of the graduating class of 51’ among them John Barron, Tyler, Texas; Don Kahn, Eugene ‘Nick’ Morrison, Percy J. Bennett of Houston, Texas; and Mike Mon- tos of Brownsville, Texas. From the former Aggie stu dents I learned something of the spirit and tradition of your school, the most striking of which is the Aggie Twelfth Man. Now the Twelfth Man was very prominent at the Little Rock game and therein lies this gripe. This group of approximately 300 root ers were seated between the 40 and 50 yard and what amounted to some of the best seats in the stad ium. Better than what our own stu dents had and very much better than we’ve received at any out of town game. Seated directly behind the Aggie students were some 5,000 - 6,000 Razorback fans from over the state of Arkansas. Now none were Ark ansas students however and I doubt if they familiar with the 12th Man tradition. Consequently they didn’t take too well to the idea of standing thru the two and one half hours of time that the game consumed. On four different occasions it was announced over the P. A. sys tem for these Aggie students to please take their seats for the benefit of those sitting behind them. The results were negative except for the obscene gestures from the fingers of some of the students. Finally after much discussion the group still refused to be seat ed and moved or were moved to another section of the stadium. The stopper though came at the end of the game when some stu- dents proceeded to stampede through the Razorback band in their half hearted attempt to carry the ill-fated Aggie football team from the field. This resulted in the knocking to the ground of many of these band smen including some of the girl members. If this was a show of Aggie spirit and tradition then I can see nothing in it to be proud of. Perhaps they were a little ir ritated at the outcome of the game, none the less it was one of the poorest displays of sportsmanship that has ever been exhibited at either Fayetteville or little Rock. A few years back Arkansas was censm - ed by the Southwest Con ference for alleged rough tatics in a game with TCU. Though exploitation by the press the University was smeared with a black mark for unsportsmanlike conduct. A couple of years later through the renewed spirit and sportsman ship On the part of the student body and athletic teams, this black mark was partially erased with the winning of the SWC sportsmanship trophy. Sheep Raisers Hear Shepardson Dr. Charles N. Shepardson, dean of agriculture, spoke Tuesday to the Texas Sheep and Goat Raisers association meeting in San An tonio. Dr. T. R. Timm, head of the agricultural economics and socio logy department, also spoke. Dr. David H. Morgan, presi dent, attended the annual conven tion. The Battalion Lawrence Sullivan Ross, Founder of Aggie Traditions “Soldier, Statesman, Knightly Gentleman” The Battalion, official newspaper of the Agricultural and Mechan ical College of Texas, is published by students four times a week, during the regular school year. During the summer terms, and examination and vacation periods, The Battalion is published twice a week. Days of publications are Tuesday through Friday for the regular school year, and Tuesday and Thursday during examination and vacation periods and the summer terms. Subscription rates $9.00 per year or $ .75 per tnonth. Advertising rates furnished on request. Bntered aa aecond-clasa matter at Post Office at College Station, Texas under the Act of Con gress of March 3, 1870. Member of The Associated Press Represented nationally by National Advertising Services, Inc., at New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Fran cisco. JERRY BENNETT, ED HOLDER. .Co-Editors Ihuck Neighbors Managing Editor Harri Baker ...Campus Editor Bob Boriskie ...Sports Editor Jon Kinslow City Editor Good Luck ... A GG I E S Visit Us After the Games and Enjoy a Real Treat . . . WITH B-K ROOT BEER — ALSO TRY OUR — • HOT DOGS • CHILI DOGS .. • CHEESE DOGS Bil-Bera Drive-In 2704 COLLEGE Across from Country Club Lake If I remember correctly the de ciding vote was cast for Arkansas by the committee from Texas A&M College. Perhaps some day the commiittee from the University of Arkansas will be in the same position to so honor your own school. I feel sure that the Aggie stu dents will have their own story to tell upon returning to College Sta tion so this letter is to more or less present the Arkansas side of the incident. Charlie Piles, Fayetteville, Ark. Editors, The Battalion: If we’ve been asleep for the past ten days as S. J. Smith Jun ior, chairman of the Student Sen ate Seating Committee, infers, then we can only say that Smith must have been asleep since he was bestowed the honor of chair man of that illustrious body, the seating committee. Granted we know of the election before hand, but we do not feel that it should have been our obli gation to tour the campus in quest of ballots and polls, as we would have had to done, in order to vote in this past election. It was our idea that the ballots were to have been brought around to each room, but speaking for Adams and Robards, no ballots were ever seen. • As for those lucky enough to receive ballots, according to many non-regs we’ve talked to, the bal lots were never picked up off of their doors as they were supposed to have been. We can only say that, had Mr. Smith performed his duties in the proper manner, the election, in stead of being the messed up af fair that it was, might have given a vote representative of the stu dents concerned. We feel that a person given the responsibility of heading a com mittee should have the initative to perform his job in a capable and efficient manner. The vote may have to stand as is — but we hope that future committees at A&M will take heed of the poor job done in this past election, and perform their duties with more care. Dick Adams, ’55 Jack Robards, ’55 Reed Rankin, ’55 Police School Opens Monday Policemen representing 12 Texas towns started training Monday at the opening here of the Texas Municipal Police Training School sponsored by the Engineering Ex tension service. Purpose of the school is to train municipal policemen in Texas law and the basic fundamentals of police work. Each policeman must maintain an average of 70 to stay in school. Instructors include Beasley, A&M college employes, Bryan and Col lege Station officials and out- of- town law officers and legal of- ficals. New Steam I’unnel Nears Completion The steam tunnel supplying heat ing lines for DeWare field house and the new P E building will be completed within 30 days, said C. K. Leighton of the physical plants department. The $67,000 tunnel, furnishing hot water for heating and domestic uses, joins the Memorial Student Center tunnel at Houston and Lamar streets. Cement work on the 600-foot tunnel is 95 per cent complete and pipe work is 65 per cent complete, Leighton said. HOUSTON CORPS TRIP SPECIAL! THE AGGIE RALLY DANCE Featuring THE AGGIELAND ORCHESTRA FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13 10 P.M. to ?—at the PALADIUM South Main at O.S.T. Cut-Off Behind Stuart’s Drive-In $1.50 PER PERSON (Tax Included) Tickets are available at the Student Activities Office ONLY 1500 WILL BE SOLD — SO GET YOURS NOW! ^J^ouston Zsrip Special DISCOUNTS ALL FOOD BEVERAGES '0 TO TEXAS AGGIE CADETS At Houston's Aristocrat of Italian Cuisine orrento ^e&taiAha/rit 1419 FANNIN AT BELL AT 2449 SERVING FROM 11 A.M. DAILY JUST LOOK AT THESE SAVINGS SPECIAL DINNER MENUS INCLUDES APPETIZER, SOUP, SALAD, DESSERT, BEVERAGE VIM CUTLET MILANESE WITH SPAGHETTI REG. PRICE 2.50 AGGIE PRICE 1.90 VEAL SCALOPPINE REG PRICE 3.00 AGGIE PRICE 2.25 NEW YORK CUT STEAK WITH SPAGHETTI REG. PRICE 5.50 AGGIE PRICE 4 15 CHICKEN A LA SORRENTO WITH SPAGHETTI REG. PRICE 3.50 AGGIE PRICE 2.65 SPECIAL A LA CARTE DISHES PIZZA PIE REG. PRICE 1.25 AGGIE PRICE 95c LASAGNE AL FORNA REG. PRICE 1.75 AGGIE PRICE 1.35 SHRIMP PIZZI0LA REG. PRICE 1.50 AGGIE PRICE 1.15 ITALIAN CHEESE CAKE REG. PRICE 25c AGGIE PRICE 20c MIKE HAIKIN, ’42, Publicity Director Meet the College Crowd at LOUAN r . . the collegiate favorite for GOOD FOOD & DANCING every night for the past 14 years n -d-s EM - 2688, Dallas Greenville Ave Off Central Expressway LI’L ABNER Baby Knows Best By A1 Capp TH'ONUV COPY O' TH' sadi e hawki ns DAV RULES HERE" a. Key AH STOLE TH' ROLE ABOUT TH'AGE LIMITS" 'C4C«£jr NOW-cAC*t E r. THAR'S NO AGE LIMIT.’'.''— . EVEN BABV BACHELORS GOTTA RUN.''.'' ONCE VO'HAS NABBED A BABV BACHELOR O' YORE OWN, HIS FOLKS! HAPTA TAKE CARE O'VO'-, sCAckiffy ’-DURIN'YORE IG-Y'AR 4 ENGAGEMENT.'.' ATTHATINST-AMT-A B-A&'T BACHELOR WAKEEUP OCREAM/NOU — HONEST ABE IS ACTIN'WORRIED.'.' WHAT'S HE GOT TO WORRY ABOUT ? iU P O G O MIZ MYKIte £NAPP£P mv (Jack an'so i puicKvveoreAsoN& fOZOJZAlMOHP MArjf/P" oue fif/esr puy Ythev cant Witt HAVE t/HL/M* COUNT,eo /MSN7BD euSSTi- l sVfc't! PLAY TUTI0N5 AN' WS'tt. J A TW&UV&' C0NFU55 mfNeMYJ MAN UNB AN- il-6 vfll-r Y THE TUNE OF MM gV MI-MI- OAree tiM'OAcee HM DUMfy HAIM--- % By Walt Kelly I I5N'T COUtPN'T T G0O0> 'Y NOG )’ <50T if i GlT/TfdWN . YOU IS /7M££& I6| p/zir. PtAY A MCOKsY.i %