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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 25, 1954)
Battalion Number 22: Volume 54 COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1954 Price 5 Cents 6 World’s Largest’ Ags Yell As Fire Burns An estimated 10,000 persons last night watched what was called “the world’s largest bonfire” blaze into the sky as the A&M student body held a yell practice around the fire. The fire was started at 7:30 p.m. by torches thrown by the three senior yell leaders, Howard Chil ders, Bob Carpenter, and Frank Davis. By 8:15, the fire, which had trouble getting started, had burned long enough to fall apart, with the logs pointing in all directions. Finishing touches were not put on the stacked-log bonfire until late yesterday afternoon, climaxing about two weeks of work. The ‘UT Frathouse,’ an outhouse, K r as hauled to the top of the fii'e {tbout. 4 p.m. yesterday afternoon, find oiling the wood began at 5 p.m. and lasted until buraing time. The band supplied the decorated outhouse, and the anmor units oiled the wood with donated crude oil and kerosene. Traditionally, the armor flags are flown from the top of the fire. Speakers at the bonfire ceremo nies were P. L. (Pinky) Downs jr., Lions Hear Safety Lecture on Flying * Maj. Alfred Yorston, wing fly ing safety officer of Bryan air force base, explained accident pi*e- vention and investigation procedure to members of the College Station Lions club Monday. Latest reports, Yorston pointed out, show that 70 per cent of air accidents are caused by human error, 20 per cent are due to bad maintenance, and 10 per cent are a result of weather conditions. He declined to comment on the crash here Saturday night, in which a Marine pilot and a former A&M student were killed, until in vestigation had been completed. '-In a short business meeting fol lowing luncheon T/Sgt. T. M. Buf- ford was appointed scout master ijpr troop 450. Two A&M cadets, John Starke and Frank Urbanik, were selected to assist Bufford with the troop. Weather Today Forecast for today is clear to partly cloudy with little change in temperature. The high yesterday was 62, low 44. A&M’s official greeter, the senior football players, and the yell lead ers. Here are some figures on the size of the bonfire, measured and compiled by Guillermo Corral, a sophomore from Juarez, Mexico. The volume of the bonfire was Library Announces Holiday Schedule The following schedule for Cush ing Memorial library has been an nounced for the Thanksgiving holi days: Wednesday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday closed Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday 8 a.m. tb 12 noon Sunday closed Monday regular schedule 30,150 cubic feet, and the base cov ered an area of 1,1810 square feet. The wood reached up 50 feet, with the outhouse and flags reach ing up another 15 feet. Circumference was 150 feet; ra dius was 24 feet; and diameter was 48 feet. Considering a carload of wood to be four feet square and eight feet long, the bonfire contained 235.5* carloads of wood, or enough to build four five-room houses. Four Join Gviard Four local men have enlisted in the National Guard during the per iod of Oct. 25 through Nov. 15, said Capt. Barney ,Welch, com manding officer. They are Wil liam M. Action, Morris B. Taylor, Bobby Mooney and Paul Quintero. Dinner Club Hears Noted Diving Team The experience of deep sea div ing wa sexplained Friday night to the Knife and Fork club by Vin cent and Lucy Palmer, a noted husband and wife diving team. Besides doing ordinary diving and research about deep sea life, Mrs. Palmer is the first woman to make a career of underwater paint ing. Her husband is vice-president of the New Yoi’k Adventurers club. “There is less danger in diving than in driving- an automobile,” he said. He went on to illustrate how most of the hazards generally as sociated with sea diving are over drawn and, to a large extent, un true. “It’s the things we don’t know about that frighten us,” said Mrs. Palmer. She is the mother of three children, all of whom have diving suits. Palmer also explained the prac tical side of the posibilities of ex ploiting the ocean’s resources. He said this was the solution to many of our problems. “The edible vegetation under the sea is tremendous,” Palmer said. “If we can harness this food, then we can lessen the hunger in the world.” Mrs. Palmer, in her painting, uses regular oil paints on a metal paint board. She desci-ibed two instances, once when a moral eel laid on her shoulder to watch her paint, and another time when an octopus grabbed her, but did not harm her. Along with their talks, the Pal mers drew pictures of the various kinds of diving gear and some of the inhabitants of the sea. College Station People To Vote On Sewerage Bond Wednesday Congressman Will Speak Here Nov. 30 Congressman O. C. Fisher will speak here Nov. 30 at 4 p.m. in Guion hall on his ex perience behind the iron cur tain. The talk, which is sponsor ed by the Saddle and Sii’loin club, will be at 4 p.m. in the animal husbandry lecture room. All stu- dehts and faculty members are invited. Fisher, representative from Tex as’ 21st district, has just returned from a tour of Russia. He made the tour as an American tourist instead of as a government repre sentative. In his talk he will describe what he saw there. Fisher is from San Angelo and is a member of the House armed services committee. He was elected to the House of representatives in 1942 and has been a member of Congress con tinuously since then. A&M Will Display Cattle In Chicago A&M has been invited to display a breeding cattle progress exhibit in the International Livestock Ex position in Chicago Nov. 27 thru Dec. 5, Di\ O. D. Butler, of the animal husbandry department, has announced. This is the first time since the Exposition’s beginning in 1901 that Texas or any other state has been asked to pi-ovide an exhibit showing research and its findings as part of the program. The Texas show will be prepar ed jointly by A&M and Texas Tech. Influenza Leads Influenza was the leading dis ease in the College Station-Bryan area with 46 cases reported for the week ending Nov. 20. Diarrhea was second with 14 cases report ed. News of the World By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ' 1 WASHINGTON—The United States strongly protested tonight Communist China’s condemnation of 13 Americans to prison terms on what the State Department called “trump ed up charges.” 'k "k 'k UNITED NATIONS, N.Y.—The Western powers and Russia joined today with all U. N. members in a rare unanimous vote approving President Eisenhower’s atoms-for-peace plan. ★ ★ ★ WASHINGTON—Sen. Case (R-SD) denied today pub lished statements that he changed his position on one of the censure charges against Sen. McCarthy (R-Wis.) because of political pressure. ★ ★ ★ LEBANON, Mo.—Two police officers late today found the .32 caliber automatic pistol which they said Thurman Priest used in the kidnap-slaying of his 11- year-old niece last Wednesday. Revenue Bonds Total $300,000 The people of College Station will vote Wednesday on the proposed $300,000 bond issue, climaxing several year’s study by the City Council. The question in the election is “the issuance of $300,000 sewer improvement revenue bonds.” Of this amount, only $255,000 will be sold, leaving the rest for future expansion such as extensions and improvements of the sanitary sewer system, said City Manager Ran Boswell. Those eligible to vote are residents of College Station who have paid their poll tax or have an exemption; own tax able property which is rendered on the city tax rolls; and have lived in the state for 12 months and in the voting pre cinct for six months. The plan drawn up by a citizen’s advisory committee of the City Council calls for a $138,000 treating plant. The report of the committee included the following conclusions: ® The present practice of dumping practically raw sewage into dry creeks near the city limits constitutes a “serious menace” to the health of the citizens of Col lege Station. • A sewage treatment plant capable of giving complete treat ment of the sewage “is imperative.” The present system of individual septic tanks is “not only inadequate but is very inefficient.” ® Considerable extensions to existing collecting system will be necessary. Certain areas in the city cannot now be served with sewers. An extensive system of main collector lineg will be required to convey the sewage to a treat ment plant approximately two miles south of the city. • The best method of financing these improvements is the sale of revenue bonds to be paid through increased sewerage service charges rather than from increase of taxes. Boswell said that many College Station residents do not know that the city does not now have a sew age treatment plant. “The committee has been work ing about two yeai*s, and they wanted to be sure they were right,” he said. “They have done a good job on planning it.” If the plan is approved, it will give College Station one of the best sanitary sewer systems of any town of this size anywhere in the state, he added. “It is the best that can be had,” Boswell said. Voting boxes will be as follows: Ward I, A&M Consolidated school (This wai’d is that area of the city lying south of the A&M campus and between Old highway 6 and new highway 6.) Ward II, J. C. Culpepper’s office. (Ward II is that part the city lying east of new highyfly 6 and south of Lincoln avenue.")' ■ Ward II, city hall. (This ward is all the rest of the city, includ ing the A&M campus residences.) Dorms To Be Open During Holidays All dormitories will be open dur ing the Thanksgiving holidays, Harry Boyer, chief of housing, said. Since the dormitories will not be closed, each student should make sure his room is locked before leav ing Boyer said. The reason for leaving the dor mitories open, Boyer said, is be cause many students will be gone from the campus only one day. One Bonfire Guard Takes It Serious Some bonfire guards are very serious about their obligations. An A&M professor was inform ing- his neighbor, a foreign student pilot at Bryan Air Force base, how carefully Aggies guard the bon fire against sabotage by raiding University of Texas students. Baloney, the foreign student said in effect, all it would take is a litttle shrewd planning. So he came to the campus to look the situation over. When he got fairly close to the bonfire, a freshman stopped him. “Don’t come any closer, sir,” he said. “I just want to look at the pile of wood,” the foreign student ans wered. “Look at it from there, sir. Don’t come any closer.” “Suppose I don’t let you stop me ? ” “I’d have to kill you, sir.” The foreign student turned around and left. Student Directory On Sale Wednesday The 1954-55 Student Directory went on sale Wednesday in the Stu dent Publications office, Goodwin hall. The new edition contains a new section, “College Officers,” and each section is in different colors. The dh-ectory has been thoroughly proof-read, said Karl E. Elmquist, director of student publications. The price for the directory is 75 cents. Morgan ‘Encouraged’ About ROTC President David H. Morgan said this week he was “great ly encouraged” about the fu ture of the ROTC program after visiting the Pentagon and Congress in Washington last week. “The future of the ROTC pro gram in land-grant colleges looks brighter than it has for the last five years,” Morgan said. Morgan, who in Washington for the annual meeting of the As sociation of Land-Grant Colleges and Universities, spent a day in the Pentagon discussing ROTC affairs and a half day in Congress talking to members there. The defense department is study ing the ROTC program, he said, and the House and Senate commit tees on reserve officers affairs are also considering it. “The policies concerning ROTC will be carefully scrutinized in the coming year,” Morgan said. Initiation Tuesday For Phi Eta Sigma Initiation for prospective mem bers of Phi Eta Sigma, freshman honor society, will be held at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in the assembly room of the Memorial Student Center. A grade point ratio of 2.5 is required at either the end of the first semester or freshman year. Students eligible for membership are Byron Andrews, Anton Bracks, David Atteberry, Ronald Casey, John Evins, Ronald Huffman, John Huffmeyer, James Hutchison, Royce Kappeler and John Kelly. Jacob Koehl, Warren McCoy, Charles Moeller, Jack Moseley, Jon Neely, Bobby Nelson, Fletcher Pool, Wilbert Tihelemann, Berdis Urban, Jules Viterbo and Robert Young. Students Awarded Scholarships of $500 each have been awarded to two students by the Schlumberger Foundation of Houston. Billy Ray Shaw, junior electrical engineering student from Kilgore, and Harold Gene Fox, senior physics student from Sla ton, received the awards. m % % Lady Scientist Back On Duty At A&M A comely woman scientist, the only one in the South who holds a"master’s degree in oceanography, is back on duty with the A&M Re search foundation here after sev- dfal months of work at the Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies. Miss Lela Mae Jeffrey, a na tive of Teague, first became inter ested in the mysteries of the ocean when she was employed in 1949 as a technician in the foundation’s study of oyster mortality off the Gulf Coast. She has worked on various other projects since, with time out to obtain her MS degree at Scripps Institution of Oceano graphy. She holds the master’s in phys iology from the University of Tex as. At present she is engaged in a pi-oject for the navy department. This is carried on through the oceanography department and the foundation’s laboratoiies- at Gal veston and Grand Isle, La. “It was a thrill working at Oak Ridge,” Miss Jeffrey says. “I’d certainly welcome the opportunity to go back next summer or any time that I might be assigned there by the Research foundation.” Recently a high official of ORINS wrote Dr. Dale F. Leipper, head of the oceanography department, about “the excellent work done by Miss Jeffrey” during the past summer. The letter read in part: “She worked with Dr. Elizabeth Rona of our staff on a problem with many intricate aspects. She contributed many ideas and un- stintingly of her time and energy. This included a great amount of ‘overtime’ on the project. We feel that this project could not have been cai’ried to its point of near completion without the tireless ef forts of Miss Jeffrey. You are to be complimented on having her on your staff.” While at Oak Ridge Miss Jeff rey was the subject of a feature story and picture on the fr-ont page of the daily newspaper there. This told of her work with samples of water from thre oceans — the Atlantic, Pacific and the Gulf— shipped in huge bottles to the atomic city. The study of the age and or-igin of sea deposits involves uranium and radiation equipment, hence the location of this work at the center of nuclear projects. A confirmed landlubber, Miss Jeffrey would prefer to do hex- oceanographic investigations any where but at sea. She has made some short runs on the Research foundation’s schooner, the A. A. Jakkula, based at Galveston. While at Scripps Institution in California her graduate studies required spending some time aboardship. “But I’ll admit that I get sea sick,” she says. “I like my work from a terra firma station.”