on
Number 60: Volume 54
COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1955
Price 5 Cents
World
News
By The Associated Press
TOKYO—Peiping radio yester
day charged that U. S. participa
tion in the Tachen Islands evacua
tion was a “pretext to invade the
Chinese coastal islands and expand
its aggression against China.”
if 'k it
WASHINGTON—The House
voted 394-4 yesterday to continue
the draft four years beyond June
30. It is currently taking about
11,000 young men each month.
i ★ ★ ★
MOSCOW—G e o r gi Malenkov’s
resignation from the Soviet pre
miership likely will mean a sub
stantial reshuffle of the whole
Soviet government under the eye
of Nikita S. Khrushchev, Western
ers in Moscow believe. Malenkov
stepped dowm yesterday with a
confession of failure to do his job.
To succeed him Khrushchev nomi
nated Nikolai Bulganin, defense
minister and an army marshal, as
the choice of the Communist pai*ty.
it it it
WASHINGTON—President Ei
senhower declared yesterday
America “must face up to the
dangers that still lurk about us”
and also must help intensify “the
will for freedom” in Soviet sat
ellite countries.
it it it
FORT WORTH—A ginat B-36
bomber from Biggs air force base,
Bf Paso, crashed and burned on the
runway at Carswell air base last
night. There were two killed
„< it it it
WASHINGTON—President Ei
senhower outlined yesterday a
three-year attack on the nation’s
school shortage which would
throw $1,100,000,000 of federal
money into emergency construc
tion. He said the program would
preserve “the responsibility of
communities and states in edu
cating our children.”
Step Taken Toward Formation
Of Foreign delations Institute
'III?
■ ^
Offer Assigned
Fori Bragg Post;
Leaves Here Soon
1
1
W
Col. Robert D. Offer
Leaving PMS&T Post
Col. Robert D. Offer, PMS&T
here since August, will leave March
1 or April 1 for a new assignment.
Offer said yesterday that he has
been ordered to a field artillery
group at Fort Bragg, N.C., prob
ably to become commander of the
group.
He said he did not know who
would replace him as top man of
A&M’s army ROTC department,
but he hoped the new man would
arrive before he left.
Offer said he did not know the
S reason for his being transferred
so soon after his arrival, but that
he did not believe the Formosan
crisis was the cause.
“My orders were dated before
that situation reached its present
condition,” he said.
Costs $200,000
Work To Begin On Chapel
Construction on a $200,000 non-
denominational chapel for medita
tion and prayer will begin some
time this year, according to Ernest
Langfoi-d, head of the architecture
Mass Evacuation
Started on Tachen
TAIPEI, Formosa—(A 1 )—The
massive evacuation of the Commu
nist-menaced Tachen Islands began
yesterday with Chinese Nationalist
Navy ships loading civilians from
the rocky beaches of lower Tachen
Island.
U. S. Navy worships and planes
threw a protective shield around
the Tachens, 14 miles from the
Red mainland and within gun range
of Red Chinese artillery on Yi-
t-iangshan Island.
Officers on the U. S. amphibious
flagship Estes said American ships
had not taken aboard any of the
nationalist civilians.
Groundwork for the evacuation
was performed Monday by U. S.
Navy beachmastei’s and marines
assisted by nationalist troops.
Red artillery on Yikiangshan fir
ed at U. S. 7th Fleet planes Mon
day but none of the shells came
close. Otherwise, the opening phase
of the evacuation passed without
incident. Peiping radio said U. S.
planes flew over Yikiangshan and
other islands near the Tachens in
“a military provocation gravely en
croaching upon China’s territory
and sovereignty.” The broadcast
said the U. S. planes left when
Communist planes took the air.
Col. Cho Kai, a Chinese Nation
alist officer, said the last shelling
of the island was Saturday and the
last bombing a week ago.
“Several Communist MIGs flew
*?ver the island Saturday on an
apparent reconnaissance flight but
dropped no bombs,” he said.
TRussell Recovering
F rom Inj iiries
Dr. Daniel Russell, who was in
jured last year while on leave for
Point 4 program duty in Haiti, is
apparently recovered from his in-
ju ries.
An excerpt from a letter which
Russell sent to Luther Jones, which
appeared in the Feb. 8 edition of
the Kiwnnis club weekly bulletin
read as follows:
“I finally got out on a fishing
trip yesterday. Three of us caught
ninety pounds in an hour and
half. I am feeling just fine now
and can see no permanent effect
from my accident.
Cho declared the garrison is
prepared for any emergency if
the Reds attack before the evacua
tion is completed.”
Col. Mu Wei said the soldiers
had not yet been told they would
be withdrawn but the civilians are
all packed and ready to leave.
U. S. tracks and jeeps range over
the roads, carved from the steep
hillsides.
A strange silence hangs over the
island and the singsong Chinese
voices caimy far in this silence.
There is no sign of movement on
the Communist islands nearby.
Navy officers on the U. S. flag
ship Estes reported Lt. Gen. Liu
Lien-yi, garrison commander, in
sisted he still was without orders
for a withdrawal.
However, Liu’s soldiers were
stacking ammunition and gear on
the beaches, ready to pull out v r hen
ordered.
Frog teams—the U. S. underwa
ter demolition experts—completed
a beach survey for the withdrawal.
Two Red mines were found and
disposed of.
A Navy beach master said the
pullout may be “painfully slow”
because of the high tides and poor
beaches.
Pilots from carrier planes said
they saw explosions on Yikiang
shan, eight miles to the north, and
speculated the Reds were blasting
out gun positions.
One officer said the Communists
made “no threatening nor unfriend
ly maneuvers” in the first day of
the withdrawal.
“Indications are the Reds do not
intend tk make any,” he added.
“But we cannot relax and do not
intend to. We will have the same
air patrols.”
department. •
The winning design for the chap
el was submitted by Richard Vroo-
man, assistant professor of archi
tecture. Vrooman was awarded
commission as architect for the
chapel. He has an AB degree from
Obeilin college, Bachelor of Archi
tecture degree from Westeim Re
serve, and Master of Architecture
from A&M. He has been with the
college four years.
Vrooman’s eight panel design
will be on display in the Memorial
Student Center the later paid of
the week, Langford said.
Two other designs submitted by
former students drew prizes of
$500 and $250. Second place went
Film Group Names
Spring Schedule
“Drole De Drame” and “Pinky”
will be the next films presented by
the Memorial Student Center Film
society in the MSC ballroom Fri
day, according to Cyrus Johnston,
chairman.
Tickets are on sale at the main
desk of the MSC for $1.25 for stu
dents and $1.50 for non-residents.
They will remain on sale until 5
p.m. Friday.
The society will show several
foreign films dui’ing the semester
The schedule is as follows:
Feb. 18, “Phantom of the
Opera;”
March 4, “The Strange Ones;”
March 20, “Chaplin Festival;”
April 1, “Gigi;”
April 22, “Thirteen Rue Made
line;”
May 15, “A Run for Your
Money,” “The Tramp” and “Steps
of the Ballet;”
to Preston M. Bolton, ’41, son of
former president and Mrs. F. C.
Bolton, and third to Donald E. Jar
vis, ’50, of Fisher and Jarvis of
Dallas.
Langford was appointed profes
sional adviser for the contest. Jury
members making the awards in
cluded Thomas E. Gracen of Hous
ton, chairman; Carl Koch of the
Massachusetts Institute of Technol
ogy; Oscar T. Hotchkiss jr., presi
dent of the Former Students as
sociation; Howard R. Meyer, Dal
las; and Robert F. White of the
architecture department.
The $200,000, set aside by the
Former Students association will
include mechanical equipment and
air conditioning, but will not in
clude architect’s fees, costs of su
pervision, furnishings, or landscap
ing.
“Plans for the new chapel will
begin immediately,” Langford said.
“Vrooman will present detailed pre
liminary drawings to the Former
Students association in May, and
construction will probably begin in
September.”
The normal tour of duty for a
PMS&T is three years. “But the
army wanted me, so I’m going,”
he said.
When asked what he thought of
A&M, his first ROTC assignment,
Offer said, “About the best thing
to say is that it’s quite a place.”
“I was surprised in many ways,”
he said. “A&M is large, and it
takes a little time to get used to
so many people stomping around.”
Offer, a West Point graduate, at
tended the army’s Command and
General Staff college for a year
just before coming to A&M.
He has also seen service in the
Pentagon, with the Military Ad
visory gi'oup at Rome, and with
the fifth division in Iceland, Ire
land, North Africa, and Italy.
Offer replaced Col. Shelly P.
Myers, who left for duty in Eu
rope.
Silver Taps
Planned Tonight
Silver Taps will be held to
night. at 10:30 for Dan Burgin,
freshman business administration
major from San Antonio.
Burgin was killed in a car-
truck crash 20 miles west of
Beeville Feb. 1.
Influenza Leads
Influenza was the leading dis
ease in Brazos county last week
with 22 cases reported to the
county health unit. Mumps was
second with 13 cases, and diarrhea
was third with 12 cases. Eleven
cases of chickenpox were also re
ported.
Committee Formed
By Student Center
The first step has been taken toward creating at A&M
an annual Student Foreign Relations Institute that would
be one of the two organizations of its kind in the nation.
The Memorial Student Center has set up a temporary
committee to plan for the conference, which would involve
from 150 to 200 college students and cost an estimated $10-
15,000 a year to put on.
First problem to be solved is financing the institute,
said Bud Whitney, MSC council vice-president and temporary
chairman of the committee.
He said the financing would probably be done by getting
a grant, and that there is a “good chance” of getting the
“■money.
Whitney mentioned the
Jesse Jones foundation and
the Ford foundation as pos
sible sources. He said Robert
Hutchins, who was formerly con
nected with the Ford foundation,
offered his assistance when he was
here as a Great Issues series speak-
Aggieland
Names Dates
For Pictures
Picture schedule for military
students has been announced
by the Aggieland ’55.
The schedule is as follows:
Feb. 9-10, A, B, C, and D
infantry; A, B and C armor;
Feb. 11-14, A and B engineers,
A transportation, A ordnance;
Feb. 15-16, A, B, C and D
field artillery, A, B and C anti
aircraft artillery; Feb. 17-18,
A quai*termaster, A signal, A
chemical; Feb. 21-22, A and B
composite, maroon band, A and
B athletics.
Feb. 23-24, white band,
squadrons 1 through 3; Feb.
25-28, squadrons 4 tshrough
10; March 1-2, squadrons 11
and 21; March 3-4, squadrons
22 and 25.
Juniors To Meet
The junior class will meet tonight
in the Memorial Student Center
ballroom at 7:30, according to Allen
Greer, junior class president. Plans
for the Junior Prom will be dis
cussed, he said.
During Meeting
Rites Conducted
For Pigg’s Father
Funeral sexvices wei’e held yes
terday in Waxahachie for Calvin
Harvey Pigg, Texas agrtcultural
and livestock leadex*.
He was the father of Calvin Pigg
jr., A&M agricultural journalism
major frbm Bryan.
Pigg, 61, was chainnan of the
Texas Agricultux'al Stablization
committee and state vice-president
of the Agricultural Association of
Texas. Waxahachie was his home.
Agriculture Plane
To Be Shown Soon
By DON SHEPARD
Battalion News Editor
A new experimental agriculture
ail-plane, the Ag-3, will be demon
strated at the Texas Agi'icultui'al
Aviation conference and shox-t
course on pest conti’ol here Feb. 20,
21 and 22, said Fi-ed Weick, direc
tor of the Pei’sonal Aircraft Re
search centei'.
The 135 h.p. plane is designed
to carx-y a spray or dust load of
about 800 pounds, and will do all
agriculture work such as spraying,
dusting, and seeding.
It is one of two airplanes in this
Registration Set
For Dance Classes
Registration for the spxnng se
mester dance classes of the Memo
rial Student Center will be held
from 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday in the
MSC ballroom.
Sponsoi'ed by the MSC dance
group, the classes will be conducted
by Manning Smith.
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NEW DUSTER—The Ag-3, an experimental spraying and dusting plane designed by Per
sonal Aircraft Research center at Easterwood airport, was flown in yesterday from
Lockhaven, Penn, where it was being tested. Standing by the plane are Tom Heffner, pi
lot, Fred Weick and George Roth, who worked together designing the plane.
field, Weick said, that have been
financed by the Piper Aircraft cor
poration.
Weick, w r ho sxxpervised the design
of the plane, pointed out that it
will be a much smaller and cheaper
airplane than those used before.
The Ag-1, also designed by the
Personal Airci'aft Reseai'ch center
at Easterwood aii’port, carried a
job load of 1,200 pounds, and the
Ag-2, now being developed in Cali
fornia, carries 2,000 pounds. Both
planes, he said, would cost approxi
mately $15-20,000 while the Ag-3
will cost about $6-7,000 including
equipment.
It is an easily maneuvered plane
which wall take off and climb 50
feet in a distance of 920 feet.
The equipment to be used on the
Ag-3 is not yet complete, but
should be finished in sevei'al
months, he said.
Weick pointed out that using
planes in agincultux-e costs a little
more, but thei'e are definite advan
tages.
“Most important is speed,” he
said. “You can control insects
w T hich nox-mally damage your crops
so rapidly that by the time you
have treated with ground equip-
merit it is too late. The Ag-3 will
be a powexTul and readily available
weapon against insect infestation.”
Most spraying at the present
time, Weick explained, is done by
professional applicator firms.
“Since the Ag-3 is a small cheap
er plane,” Weick said, “I think it
will px-obably inci’ease the number
sold. Three persons will be able
to buy where only one could af
ford the larger planes,” he added.
“The purpose of the institute
would be to give intei'ested students
a chaxxce to express their opinions
about world affail's in conference
with informed students from other
schools,” Whitney said.
Held Annually
The institute would be held an
nually, with students from selected
schools invited to send representa
tives to the four or five-day meet
ing.
The list would probably be con
fined to schools west of the Mis
sissippi river, since West Point
sponsoi’s a similar conference for
eastern schools, Whitney said.
The institute’s program would
also include speaker's prominent in
the field of foi*eign relations and
United States foreign policy.
It would probably be held in the
late fall of each year, and the
temporary committee is already
planning for next fall, Whitney
said.
Committee Members
Membei’s of the temporary com
mittee include Weldon Walker, Bill
Alsup, Henry Goff, Harold Sellers,
John Jenkins, Larry Kennedy, Les
Robinson, Bob Bucher, Bob Castor,
Cynis Johnson, Wilson Hardy, and
Peter Stromberg.
When definite planning starts,
Whitney said, this committee will
be broken into sub-committees, and
enlarged to 50 or 100 A&M stu
dents.
“It will be a big thing, and it
will requii'e a lot of work/’ he
said.
Only One Other
The West Poixxt conference, call
ed the Student Conference on Unit
ed States Affaii's, is the only other
student confei'ence of this type in
the nation. Several cities, includ
ing Houston and Dallas, have sim
ilar foreign relations groups.
Two repi'esentatives from A&M,
Whitney and Coi*ps Commander
Frank Ford, attended the West
Point meeting last fall. Whitney
and Johnson attended a meeting of
the Houston group a month ago to
get ideas for the proposed A&M
institute.
Weather Today
^=r
CLEAR
$
The weather outlook for today
is clear with little change in tem
perature.
Yesterday’s high was 60, low 48.
The temperature at 10:15 Khis
morning was 53.