Circulated Daily
To 90 Per Cent
Of Local Residents
Number 227: Volume 53
The Battalion
PUBLISHED DAILY IN THE INTEREST OF A GREATER A&M COLLEGE
COLLEGE STATION (Aggieland), TEXAS, THURSDAY, MAY 6, 1954
Published By
A&M Students
For 75 Years
Price 5 Cents
News of the World
By the ASSOCIATED PRESS
HANOI, Indochina—Vietminh “mole men” dug trenches
and foxholes closer to the heart of Dien Bien Phu last night
amid signs that another major assault on the shrinking
French fortress might come quickly. French aircraft, tak
ing advantage of a let-up in the tropical rains, plastered
Vietminh artillery and antiaircraft positions.
★ ★ ★
GENEVA—France and the Soviet Union agreed
yesterday to start peace talks on Indochina Friday if
possible and certainly by Saturday. Agreement was
reached as French Foreign Minister Georges Bidault
decided to ride out his country’s Cabinet crisis in
Geneva.
★ ★ ★
LONDON—Britain has agreed to join early Allied talks
to consider taking united military action in Indochina if the
Geneva peace negotiations fail, American and British sour
ces said last night. The American-proposed parley of air,
land and sea force chiefs is expected to take place within
the next three weeks in Washington.
* * *
WASHINGTON—Secretary of State Dulles was
reported last night to have told 24 key congressional
leaders that the United States at present has no
plans whatever to send any forces into the Indochina
war. Dulles is understood to have advised the legis
lators at a secret State Department briefing that
President Eisenhower believes Indochina is a far
worse place to involve American forces than was Ko
rea.
★ ★ ★
WASHINGTON—President Eisenhower said yesterday
the McCarthy-Army row has cost the United States a loss
of international prestige and, to some extent, of national
self respect. He hopes, he told his news conference, that the
incident will provide advantages that are at least comparable
to those losses.
NUGGET CLUB—Talking over life at A&M after the For
mer Students Association barbecue for seniors last night
are Bud Fried, Hal Schadel, John Kimbrough ’41, and Ken
Clinton. Kimbrough, former Aggie football great, spoke to
the seniors last night.
Magazine Controversy
MSS. One, Commentator Argue
By JOHN AKARD
Battalion Feature Editor
MSS. One, a collection of student
writing's, is now appearing on the
newsstands. It is an anthology
containing essays, narratives,
poems and satire written for Eng
lish class assignments.
MSS. One was sponsored by the
English Major’s club and was ed
ited by G. W. Dawson, Raymond
Gossett, Charles Donohue and W.
D. Willis.
The question was raised whether
MSS. One competes with The Com
mentator, official magazine of the
School of Arts and Sciences.
The Battalion contacted Robert
Feragen of English department,
advisor for MSS. One, about the
controversy.
He said that the purpose of
MSS. was to sum up the year’s
work in student writing by re
printing the best feature articles
written during the year.
MSS. was compiled by review
ing articles collected from papers
submitted by English professors.
The articles were written by the
students as class assignments.
Feragen said that the editors
reviewed articles in The Commenta-
Skrabanek Treated
For Snake Bite
R. L. Skrabanek of the rural
sociology department returned to
St. Joseph’s hospital Tuesday fol
lowing treatment for a copperhead
snake bite.
He was bitten on the foot, April
25, at Camp Creek lake where he
and his family were having a pic
nic and fishing trip. He was rush
ed to Franklin hospital and given
anti-venom serum and retm-ned
home the following day. Later he
developed a skin rash and reswell
ing.
Wednesday he was repoi’ted to
be recovering from the reaction
but he will remain in bed for some
time.
Weather Today
STILL CLEAR
Continued clear today and to
night. High temperature yester
day 71. Low this morning 48.
tor and The Battalion, but found
none of them worth reprinting.
None of the articles in MSS. One
has been printed before.
“MSS. One is not designed to
compete with The Commentator . . .
it is subordinate to all campus
publications,” Feragen said. “The
Commentator would not print all
the things we print,” he said.
Feragen pointed out that the
problems of MSS. were not the
same as those of The Commentator.
“The Commentator was not a lit-
Filing for the Democratic pri
mary July 24 closed Monday with
many office-holders making the
race without opposition.
Because of errors in Wednes
day’s election story, the list of
candidates is repeated for the in
formation of voters in the College
Station area.
In the wide open race for dis
trict judge of the 85th judicial dis
trict, four candidates filed for the
spot vacated by the retirement of
Judge W. S. Barron. They are
John R. Grace, Heame attorney;
W. T. McDonald, Bryan city at
torney; Davis Grant, Brazos county
attorney; and W. C. (Bill) Davis,
Bryan attorney.
Senator Race
Incumbent State Senator W. T.
(Bill) Moore will be opposed by
J. Alton York, Brenham attorney
and former state senator.
Candidates for commissioner,
precint 1, are Raymond A. Nolan,
incumbent, and Glynn A. (Buddy)
Williams.
Unopposed for justice of the
peace for precinct 7 is John F.
Royder, while Joe Noi’wood is the
Students Named
To Replace Staff
Thirteen students were named to
the student entertainment staff
yesterday to replace the present
seniors who graduate.
New membez*s of the staff who
will be seniors next year are Val
Canon and Bill Utsman.
New juniors on the staff are
Bobby Lee, Bob Bacher, Don
Driggs, Les Robinson, Walter Par
sons, B. F. Watkins, Gay Henry,
Bill Huskey, Mike McGregor, Har
ry Scott and Hughes McCrarry.
“These men were selected from
more than 50 applicants. This is
the largest turn out for new mem- ;
bers we have ever had,” said Bill
Johnson, student entertainment
manager.
Staff members usher and are in
charge of publicity for Town Hall
and the all-college dances.
erary magazine this year,” he said.
Articles from The Commentator
will be printed in next year’s MSS;
if the editors think they are
worthy, he said.
When asked if the English de
partment had encouraged its stu
dents to submit articles for The
Commentator, Fefagen said that he
could not speak for the Whole de
partment but that he pei’sbnally
had. He said he had never sub
mitted any articles which were
written as class assignments for
lone candidate for precinct con
stable.
Candidate for the office of coun
ty attorney and running unopposed
is John M. Barron, Bryan attor
ney..
Office-holders who did not draw
opposition in the Democratic pri
mary include B. H. Dewey, state
representative, 44th district; A. S.
Ware, county judge; A. B. Syptak,
county clerk; J. W. Hamilton, coun
ty sheriff; Norton Burkhalter,
county tax assessor-collector; F. T.
Cole, district clerk; B. V. (Bill)
Elkins, county treasurer; and Wil
liam D. Bunting, county school su
perintendent.
Clifton C. Carter, Bryan business
man, is the lone candidate for coun
ty Democratic party chairman.
Party precinct chairman candidates
for precinct 3 are Norman F. Rode
and F. C. Bolton. Unopposed can
didate for precinct 16 chairman is
Mrs. K. E. Elmquist.
Highway Research
To Be Done Here
A&M has been chosen as the
construction sight of the $78,800
highway research center, said Gibb
Gilchrist, A&M highway and water
system research engineer.
Construction will start May 24,
said T. R. Spence, physical plants
manager.
The building will be used for
research by the highway depart
ment and has been approved by the
Texas Legislature.
The center will contain a base
ment storage-room 19 convenient
offices, two large conference rooms,
a reference library and map rooms.
There will be no laboratories in the
building. Experiments will be car
ried out in other laboratories with
available facilities.
[ “It will provide graduate in-
sturction for young men who de
sire to pursue their studies to ad
vanced degrees in the engineering
field and to engage in research
in transportation projects and pi'o-
blems,” Gilchrist said.
publication in The Commentator.
“If The Commentator can get the
cooperation of the English depart
ment, then maybe they can get
the articles . . . we were never
sure what the intent of The Com
mentator was,” he said.
Feragen said that the staff of
MSS. One had thought over the
question of whether or not it dup
licated The Commentator and de
cided that was not the case.
He felt that MSS. One was more
for the good of The Commentator
by interesting the students in good
literature. He stressed the fact
that there was a need for a maga
zine which reprinted the best in
student writing.
Other Side
Bob Hendry, editor of The Com
mentator, said, “after looking over
MSS. One, I would definitely say
that it is not in competition with
The Commentator.”
MSS. can reprint any article
from The Commentator as long as
they give credit, as does The Read
er’s Digest, Hendry said.
“We encourage anybody from
any school to turn in an article
for The Commentator. I prefer
this method because I think it
tends to get only the better-written
stories for the magazine as well
as giving the author more satis
faction when it is printed,” he said.
All the articles in MSS. One
would have been considered for
publication in The Commentator,
but because the magazine has col
lege-wide readership, reader inter
est and importance should be con
sidered, Hendry said.
“There is no guarantee that they
would have been printed,” Hendry
said.
Hendry said, “The Commentator
is a more professional magazine
than just a collection of student
writings.”
The policy of The Commentator
as announced in this year’s first
issue (November) is “our main
objectives this year are to inform
people with our features, cause
people to laugh with our humor,
make people think with our edi
torials and just let people enjoy
our fiction.”
The authors and editors of MSS.
One did a good job, Hendry said.
“There is a need for such a publi
cation at A&M,” he said.
MSS. is an author’s abbreviation
for manuscript, the completed draft
of his work. The editors say that
since a manuscript is always sub
ject to revision and proofreading,
MSS. represents student writings
which do not have the polish which
comes with time and experience.
The editors have dedicated MSS.
One to “Michel T. Halbouty ’30,
geologist, petroleum engineer and
author, whose generosity provided
for its publication.”
COMMENCEMENT exercises of
the eighth annual Game Wardens
school will be held at 10 a. m.
May 27 in the Memorial Student
Center.
Candidates Prep
For Primary Race
Praises Sung for FSA
To Graduating Seniors
Texas Dust
Flies North
To Yankeelam
SCHENECTADY, N. Y., May
6—CP)—Sweep out that dust
reverently, ma’am. It might
be from Texas.
A weather researcher advis
ed New York housewives last
night that soil from the South
west, stirred up by windstorms,
fell in the East during late
winter snow storms.
Vincent Schaefer said sam
ples of the soil, collected in
eastern New York, showed that
each square mile contained
several tons of dirt from Tex
as, Oklahoma, New Mexico and
Kansas.
Phi Eta Sigma
To Initiate Three
Three honorary members of Phi
Eta Sigma honor society will be
initiated at a banquet May 6 at
7:00 p.m. in the Memorial Student
Center ballroom.
The members are W. W. Armi-
stead, Dean of the School of Vete
rinary Medicine, Walter Delaplane,
Dean of the School of Arts and
Sciences and H. B. Curtis of the
mathematics department.
New officers for the 1954-55
school year are: Larry Dean Piper,
president; Aubrey G. Owen, vice
president; James Duke Willborn,
secretary; Robert L. Glazner, treas
urer; Charles R. Correl, historian;
Weldon Walker, junior advisor and
Jerry D. Ramsey, senior advisor.
Students making a 2.5 grade
point ratio on their first semes
ter’s freshman work or both semes
ters of their freshman year auto
matically qualify for admission to
Phi Eta Sigma.
Battalion Gives
Awards May 14
Five awards for outstanding
service to A&M will be presented
at the annual Press club banquet
in the Memorial Student Center
ballroom May 14, said Bob Boris-
kie, co-editor of The Battalion.
Harri Baker, Battalion co-editor,
will present the awards. B. C.
(Dutch) Dutcher, chairman of the
executive committee of the press
club will preside at the banquet.
Dunn, Kimbrough
Speak at Barbecue
A&M’s graduating seniors heard the praises of the For
mer Students association sung last night, and ended by sing
ing the “Spirit of Aggieland” themselves, led by the top rank
of the college.
The occasion was the first annual barbecue given by the
Former Students association for the seniors as. an unofficial
farewell from the college and a welcome into the association.
Speakers were J. Harold Dunn ’25, president of the FSA
and member of the system board of directors, John Kim
brough ’41, former All-American from A&M, and Oscaj?
Hotchkiss ’24, vice-president of the FSA.
J. B. (Dick) Hervey, secretary of the FSA, introduced
the speakers. Also on t h e-* : —
speakers list were President
David H. Morgan and Pat
Wood, president of the senior
class.
“Your success in life is in direct
proportion to your abilities learned
here and the contact you keep with
the Former Students association,”
Dunn said.
He said everyone connected with
the association “derived great sat
isfaction” from being associated
with it.
Kimbrough asked the seniors to
‘keep the spirit alive” and to en
courage boys to come to A&M.
Hotchkiss listed the work of the
FSA, including the Development
fund, the Memorial Student Cen
ter fund, the Gold Star scholarship,
the archives office, the Opportuni
ty awards, and their current proj
ect, the building of an all-faith
chapel here.
Good Cooperation
Morgan said he could not have
wished for any stronger coopera
tion from the senior class this
year.
“This has been your senior year
and my fish year as president,”
he said.
Wood thanked the association for
the barbecue.
Cadets To Take
Commission
Oath May 21
All air force cadets receiv
ing commissions in June will
take oath in the chemistry lec
ture room at 4 p.m., May 20th.
The army cadets will re
ceive the oath in the physics lec
ture room at 7:15 a.m., May 21.
The commissioning ceremony
will take place in the new physical
education building at 1 p.m., May
21. Maj. Gen. Charles E. Hart
will give the principal address.
After the address Maj. William
J. Winder will give the oath of
office.
Maj. Gen. Hart will then present
commissions to 203 cadets sched
uled to receive army commissions.
Maj. Gen. Gavriel P. Disosway will
present commissions to 155 ait;
force cadets.
“Those air force cadets not re
ceiving commissions will be given
a certificate of completion,” said
Maj. Luther J. Westbrook, opera
tions officer.
The more than 600 seniors, for
mer students and guests present
for the meal ate four cows and
three goats, barbecued by the din
ing halls. The goats were donated
by Dr. J. E. Marsh, college doctor.
To close the meeting, Hervey
called for volunteers to lead in
singing the “Spirit.”
The call resulted in Morgan,
Dunn, Kimbrough, Hotchkiss, Her
vey, Wood, College Greeter P. L.
(Pinky) Downs jr.. Dean Emeritus
E. J. Kyle, and insurance man John
Longley leading the singing.
Turkish Minister
Makes Study Here
Yusuf Ziya Alkan of the Turkish
Ministry of Agriculture is study
ing plant physiology and pathology
here.
He is on the campus studying
under L. S. Bird, who is in charge
of the cotton disease and research
program, and Dr. G. M. Watkins,
head of the department of plant
physiology and pathology.
READY SOON—Putting the finishing touches on College Station’s Little League base
ball park at the southside are (left to right) Otto Richter, W. J. Coney (on the pole), Ben
ny Chapman and David Washington.