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The Battalion
Number 17: Volume 54
COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 1954
Price 5 Cents
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Army To Get Commissions
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NOT THIS YEAR—C. K. Leighton, (left), construction
engineer for the A&M college system, and Dr. Spencer
Buchanan of the civil engineering department inspect
plans of the underground water and sewerage system so
drillers will not burst a sewer line again this year when
they sink the center pole for the bonfire.
Cadet Suspended
For Tossing Bottle
A sophomore cadet has been suspended for the rest
of the semester for throwing a b6er bottle through his
regimental commander’s window.
The cadet, Gene W. Shuey of Dallas, said he threw
the bottle because he thought the commander “wasn’t
backing up the regiment” on certain requests to the
military department.
The incident occured Nov. 4. A military panel yes
terday gave him the suspension penalty, which means
that he will be considered for reaclmission at the end of
the semester.
The bottle was an empty quart beer bottle. It was
thrown through the screen and the window; and broke
inside the room, scattering glass around the room.
The commander was not in the room at the time.
The request, which was not granted, was for the
sophomore’s unit, A armor, to be allowed to wear com
bat boots and scarves.
Lt. Col. Taylor Wilkins, assistant commandant, said
“I heard the commander present the request, and he did
all that could be done. There was no cause for com
plaint.”
Wilkins said the cadet had been suspended because
“we will not tolerate acts of that type toward senior
officers.” Shuey was already on conduct probation.
With Wet Weather
Bonfire Building Begins
By DON SHEPARD
Battalion News Editor
A&M’s annual University of Tex
as bonfire construction got under
way yesterday with the usual mur
ky weather, and according to the
weather reports received, the class
of ’58 will be initiated to the art
of bonfire building with the tra
ditional low ceiling, fog and rain.
Cutting site for this year’s bon
fire will be four miles southeast
of the college on land owned by
Dr. W. E. Street, head of the en
gineering drawing department.
Scheduled to burn at 8 p.m. Nov.
23, the logs will be stacked around
a ^-foot center pole donated by
Dr. Spencer Buchanan of the civil
engineering department. The pole
is -20 feet taller than the center
pole last year and seven feet high
er than.the tallest bonfire in the
history of A&M.
Each year an attempt is made
to build “this year’s” bonfire a lit
tle larger than its forerunners. Ag
gies scour the surrounding country
side bringing' in trees, barns,
houses or any other combustable
matter to surpass the preceding
class. This year, if the length of
the center pole is an indication of
size, they will break the record of
the 1951 bonfire, which was 65-
foot tall.
i^ndrews-JParker Construction
Co. of Bryan will drill the hole for
the center pole today, and the pole
donor will set it when the two-sec-
tioh pole is spliced and the hole
is completed.
Uniform for the bonfire, is fa
tigues or civilian clothes. Fresh
men must wear fatigue caps with
out brass at all times. Fatigues
will be authorized for all classes,
and brass is to be worn on the
left pocket flap.
Committees organized for the
bonfire and their chairmen are
woodcutting, Sam Akard and Ernie
Golub; stacking, Red Dowling, sup
ply, Theo Lindig; communications,
A1 Heimer; first aid, George Knip-
ple; guard duty roster, Bud Fair;
refreshments, James Caffey and
Garret Maxwell; building supervis
ors, Frank Davis, David Bailey
and Paul Holiday.
Coordinators for the committees
are regimental and wing com
manders, Dale Fisher, Pat Wheat,
John Leimbrook and Bill Utsman.
Howard Childers, senior yell
leader, is bonfire chief and Bob
Carpenter will be his assistant.
Trucks, axes and saws have been
obtained for getting the logs,
Childers said, but more trucks are
needed for transporting the wood,
and chain and power saws are
needed for cutting the wood.
Full cooperation from all cadets
is needed to make this year’s bon
fire bigger and better than any
one in the past, Childers said.
With ‘Misalliance’
Players Score Hit
In Initial Show
Journalism Club
Elected to Society
The Journalism club’s petition
for membership in Sigma Delta
Chi, professional journalism fra
ternity, was approved unanimously
Saturday at the fraternity’s na
tional convention in Columbus,
Ohio.
Initiation for the A&M chapter
is set for Feb. 18, in the Memorial
Student Center.
r Fhe Journalism club has been
planning for several years to pe
tition for membership. Last sum-
meir, Battalion Co-Editor H a-.r r i
Baker organized the material and
prepared the formal petition. Cop
ies of the petition were sent out
in October to the 54 collegiate
chapters and the 46 professional
chapters of the fraternity.
Bill Fullerton and Ralph Cole,
junior journalism students, atten
ded the Ohio convention which
ended Saturday. D. D. Burchard,
head of the journalism department,
accompanied the students.
By JERRY NEIGHBORS
Battalion Staff Writer
The Aggie Players have done it
again. The production of George
Bernard Shaw’s “Misalliance” held
in the MSC Ballroom last night
was, to put it mildly, a success.
*” Much of the credit goes to Shaw,
of course, but Shaw would have
been worth very little without the
capable acting of the Players. C.
K. Esten’s direction was also lack
ing in very little.
During the past four or five
years, the Aggie Players have pre
sented many plays, most of them
good and few of them bad enough
to be called even mediocre. But
this last play, “The Misalliance,”
shines out from the rest.
Weather Today
s
CLEAR
The forecast for today is clear
and warmer. Yesterday’s high was
61, low 53. The temperature at
10:30 this morning was 61.
It would be hard to say who was
the best actor since all turned in
a better than average performance.
But, taken as an overall situation,
there are very few suggestions that
could be given for improvement.
Last night was only the initial
performance. There are three more
to follow this week. The second
starts at 2 p.m. today and the
third will start at 8:15 tonight.
The group takes a vacation tomor
row with the fourth performance
not scheduled until 8:15 p.m.
Thursday.
Worthy of special mention in
the cast were Don Powell, playing
a clerk turned “avenger”; Victor
Wiening, as the venerable old Eng
lish soldier of fortune who fancies
himself as a philosopher, and Iris
Bullard, an unbelievable Polish
wonder-woman who proceeds to be
loved by all the men concerned and
who masterfully “woman-handles”
anybody who seems to be stepping
out of line.
Others in the cast include Bill
Swann as Johnny Tarleton, Hairy
Gooding as Bentley Surftmerhays,
Ann Tishler as Hypatia Tarleton,
Florence Delaplane as Mrs. Tarle
ton, Ted Castle as John Tarleton,
Sr. and Bill Gilbert as Joey Perci-
val.
Great Issues
Cancels Speech
By Stassen
Harold Stassen, director of
the U.S. Foreign Operations
administration, who was
scheduled, to speak for the
Great Issues series Wednes
day, has postpned his talk because
of a bipartisan foreign policy
meeting called by President Eisen
hower, Bud Whitney, Great Is
sues committee chairman, an
nounced yesterday.
Stassen, Whitney said, will be
re-scheduled to speak sometime
early in January.
His speech topic, “The East—
Far, Middle, Near—Which Way
Now?”, will not be changed, Whit
ney added.
Dr. Robert M. Hutchins, former
chancelor of the University of Chi
cago, will be the next speaker for
the Great Issues series Dec. 5.
“We are trying a new scheduled
time for speakers,” Whitney said.
“Hutchins will speak Sunday af
ternoon, instead of during the
week.”
Sandlin Wins
J. H. Sandlin jr., of College
View, has been named winner of
the portable typewriter given
away by the Bryan Business Ma
chine company. Sandlin’s name
was drawn from the entries by P.
L. (Pinky) Downs jr.
Judging Team
To Enter Shows
A four-man crop judging team
from A&M will participate in two
international contests this month.
The team, composed of Eugene
Buckholt, J. R. Coleman, Craig
Weigand and Carlos Griffin, will
participate in the International
Intercollegiate Crop Judging con
test in Kansas City, Mo., Nov.
23. They will then go to Chicago
for the judging contest conducted
by the International Livestock
Exposition Nov. 27.
Letter Assures
Qualified Men
All qualified graduates of the army ROTC will be com
missioned this year, said Col. Robert D. Offer, PMS&T.
Offer said that he had received information from the
department of the army that all qualified graduates through
April 30, 1956 will be commissioned.
This applies to January graduates, May graduates, sum-
■♦■mer school graduates, and
Action Taken
Against Units
Stealing Signs
Two military units have
been punished for stealing
commercial signs to put up
around the drill field where
the bonfire is being built.
The units, the band and squad
ron 12, must pay for and replace
the signs, and they will not be al
lowed to put up a sign on the field
this year.
A third sign has been reported
stolen by the McCormick Sign Co.
of Bryan. Military officials are
investigating to find out if it has
been put on the field by a unit.
The other two signs were taken
from the Caucaisian Kennels and
A&M Consolidated school.
The band will have to pay $75 to
replace the one they took, and
no estimate of the cost of the
other is available. It cannot be
replaced, since the posts which
were set in concrete, were sawed
off.
No individual disciplinary action
has been taken so far, but Col.
Taylor Wilkins, assistant com
mandant, said that action would
be taken if the military depart
ment could find out what individ
uals were responsible.
summer camp graduates, or
a total of about 350 men.
Offer said the letter also
indicated that all qualified
students now enrolled in junior
military science would also be
commissioned on graduation.
The military department here
does not know yet whether or not
the graduates will receive com-
misions in the branch in which
they are now receiving training.
The letter said that branch quotas
would probably be established by
Jan. 15.
All graduates who receive com
missions between May 1, 1955 and
April 30, 1956, will go on active
duty between July 1, 1955, and
June 30, 1956.
Quotas by month for active du
ty calls will be established as they
were last year, and graduates can
volunteer for the month they want
to enter the service, as long as it
is within the limitations of these
quotas.
Final decision on the commis
sioning of junior military science
students cannot be given until the
headquarters has more informa
tion, the army said.
Based on the present rate of
loss and expected limitations on
the number of officers that can
be kept on active duty, it appears
that all army ROTC graduates in
the spring of 1956 can be com
missioned too, the letter said.
Power Plant May Get
Reconditioning Work
Student - Prof
Week Set
For Dec. 6-13
The Student Life commit
tee yesterday voted to desig
nate Dec. 6-13 inclusive as
Student - Faculty Relations
week and left the mechanics
of Student signing to the sub
committee headed by Carl W. Lan-
diss. Lack of student response
last year was largely due to insuf
ficient time to obtain student sig
natures, Landiss said.
Pat Wheat was named chairman
of the 12th Man Bowl committee
and C. G. (Spike) White, Barlow
(Bones) Irvin and Barney Welch
were named faculty members.
Wheat was authorized to select
student members.
In other business, a budget of
$100 for the civilian council \yas
approved to permit a council ban
quet and awarding of keys and the
who’s who special committee an
nounced a selection schedule.
Monday the sub-committee drew
up a tentative list of candidates
and will submit information on the
list to student activities office af
ter a check on qualifications has
been completed. On Dec. 7 the
list will be turned over to individ
ual members of the Student Life
comittee and the final selection
will be made by the committee
Dec. 13.
J. Gordon Gay, chairman the
student aid committee, reported
$2,139 on deposit in the student
aid fund, $449.12 on loan at pres
ent and $1,269,34 due and past due
on loans dating from 1942 up to
loans three months overdue.
Mayor Ernest Langford of Col
lege Station was given permission
by the city council last night to
agree to a new recommendation
Anyone Want
Two Girls
As Riders?
Two girls from TSCW have
written The Battalion saying
they would like to ride home
to Amarillo with any Aggies
who happen to be going that
way Thanksgiving.
The girls, Toni Heath and
Myrna Folsom, said they
would help pay for the gas
and if necessary would “sing
pop, hill-William or classical,
even.”
“We need a ride but bad,
so some knight in Aggie ar
mor please come to our res
cue!” their letter stated. Their
address is box 2073, TSCW
station, Denton.
set up fo the college power plant.
A recommendation will be sent
to the next A&M System board of
directors meeting to construct
power lines to Bryan for emerg
ency use and to build a 7,500 kilo
watt generating unit in the col
lege power plant.
The power rate for College Sta
tion would be increased slightly
per kilowatt. The college would
continue to sell power to the city.
The recommendation will pi*o-
pose twice the amount of power the
plant now has.
The building of an underpass on
farm road 60 at the AAA building
was also discussed at the council
meeting. Langford will meet with
John E. Blair, district highway en
gineer, on the matter.
Specia Elected
Tony Specia was elected presi
dent of the San Antonio A&M club
recently. Other officers are Jim
Keeter, vice-president; Bill Nourie,
secretary, and Bubba Harris, treas-
urer.
Tickets On Sale
For Texas Game
Tickets for the Turkey day game
with the University of Texas are
now on sale at the athletic ticket
office.
Ticket sales started yesterday
morning and seniors have been giv
en priority on tickets thi’ough to
day, said Pat Dial of the athletic
office. Sales will end noon Sat
urday, he said.
“This method was done at the
request of the Texas athletic of
fice,” he said.
After today, the tickets are on
sale to anyone.
Prtces for the tickets ai'e $1 for
student tickets and $3.25 for date
tickets. Students must show their
season atMetic ticket and their
identification card when buying a
ticket, Dial said.
City Sets Meeting
To Discuss Sewers
A town hall meeting will be held
Thursday night in the A&M Con
solidated high school cafeteria to
discuss the extension of sewer and
sewerage systems for College Sta
tion.
Financing, planning and the ac
tual construction will be explained
in detail at the meeting to allow
eligible voters to know what they
are voting on in the Dec. 1 elec
tion.
AF Grads Get Flying Option
A new air force policy, reported
ly based on a surplus of pilots, will
ticular combat-type aircraft, they
will sign up for four years, dating
This way, those who take the ad
vanced training will have to put
allow air ROTC graduates to from the time they finish basic in more time, giving the air force
choose whether or not they will
take advanced flight training.
•Here is how the new plan will
work:
All category I seniors will go in
to flight training, as past policy
has set up.
After they finish the basic flight
training, which qualifies them for
flight training.
If they do not choose to take ad
vanced training, they will sign up
for two years service, dating fi'om
the time they finish flight train
ing.
Those students who do not agree
to take the advanced training will
be given administrative or special
jobs, will fly enough to qualify for
the advantage of his training.
The air force says the advant
ages. of taking the advanced train
ing are that the man is assured
of a cockpit position, has a better
chance for continued active duty,
and has a better chance for a re
serve commission.
An article in the Air Force
Times, unofficial air force news
paper, says that this policy, which
wings as an air foice pilot, they f]jght p a y an( j “remain proficient.”
have the choice of taking oi le- rpj^ a j r f orce sa y S this new pol- will probably reduce the number
jecting advanced training. i C y has been started because in the of combat pilots, is a result of the
If they take advanced training, past almost all of a man’s service air force having too many pilots,
which consists of training in a par- time was taken up with training. The Air Force Times says that
all flight training classes have a
waiting list, and that a “logjam”
of pilots' has resulted.
The sudden increase in the num
ber of pilots, after la^t year’s de
crease, is attributed to more AF
ROTC graduates than expected
taking flight training, more stu
dents entering the flight training
program from high school than ex
pected, and more pilots than ex
pected electing to stay in the air
force past the required two years.
The air force has also stopped
its advertising and recruiting of
candidates for flight training, ac
cording to the Times.