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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 16, 1955)
The Battalion Number 2: Volume 55 COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS, THURSDAY, JUNE 16, 1955 Price Five Cents Joint Meeting Next Week To Draw 400 More than 400 persons are expected to register for the joint meeting of the 30th an nual Texas Association of County Superintendents Con ference, the 19th annual Texas School Administration Conference and the 5th annual Texas Asso ciation for Instructional Supervis ors Conference at A&M June 20- 22. The three groups will meet each morning in general assembly to hear addresses by leading educa tors. Afternoon sessions will be devoted to separate conference meetings to discuss problems of the individual groups. Lawrence Derthick, superinten dent of schools in Chattanooga, Tenn., will address the general as sembly Monday morning, while the Tuesday speaker will be Jess S. Hudson, assistant superintendent for instruction at Tulsa public schools, Tulsa, Okla. Wednesday moiming J. W. Edgar, commission er of education for the Texas Ed ucation Agency in Austin, will talk to the general assembly, fol lowed by Alvin A. Burger, execu tive director of the Texas Research League in Austin, who will present the league’s report to the confer ence. L. A. Roberts, Dallas county su perintendent, is president of the Texas Association of County Su perintendents; Dean Murphy, su perintendent of schools in Cleburne, is president of the Texas School Administration group and Howard L. Ezell, supervisor of Johnson county schools, Cleburne, is pres ident of the Texas Association for Instructional Supervisors. Services Held For William Eakin Funeral services were held at 3 p.m. Tuesday at College Station Baptist Church for William Whit aker Eakin, 11-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. L. C. Eakin, who was fatally injured Monday evening. Eakin, whose father is in charge ef Brazos Valley A&M College Farms, was driving a jeep at the farms in Burleson County, when the jeep overtunred. He was dead upon arrival at a Bryan hospital. A negro boy who was with him was not seriously injured. Survivors include his parents and a brother, Larkin Jr., his paternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Eakin of Moody, and his maternal grandmother, Mrs. Verna Mathews of Bryan. Burial was in Hempstead. Hillier Funeral Home of Bryan had charge of arrangements. * GRADUATE’S BEST FRIEND—Jim Elston of Laredo and Pic, his seeing-eye dog, both received diplomas from Baylor University at Waco. President W. R. White conferred the bachelor of arts degree, with honors, to Elston, and a Cita tion of Faithfulness to Pic. Pic has guided Elston through four years of successful study and a busy extracurricular schedule. At left, is Miss Clara Duggin, assistant regis trar at Baylor. SP Wants To Stop Sunbeam; Asks Railroad Commission A Short History Of A&M in 1875 Want to reminisce? Well, let’s go back to 1875 and see what took place so far as A&M is concerned: “Texas is destined to be the most useful, the most necessary and the most important of all the states in the Union,” President Jefferson Davis of the Confeder ate States of America, stated after he had declined the presidency of Texas A&M College. The first board of directors of the college met on July 16, 1875, in Austin, and elected Davis as president. Reuben O. Bowen, an early stu dent of the college, knew President Davis and visited with him at his home at Natchez, Miss. Bowen re lated on the occasion of the semi centennial celebration of A&M in 1926, that President Davis made the following statement to him: “When I was asked to accept the presidency of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, I consented. I could not picture a more pleasant and satisfactory Army, Air Force ROTC Summer Camps To Start occupation than to be enabled to aid in instructing the youth of Texas, many of whose fathers I knew personally. “I think Texas is a great and most wonderful state. It is desti ned to be the most useful, the most necessaxy and the most im- poi’tant of all the states in the Union. It is composed of men and women of sterling worth and char acter and patriotism to a just cause. Some of the wisest coun selors from my side were soldiers from Texas. “After I decided to accept the presidency of the Agricultural and Mechanical College, my family in sisted that the burden would be too gx-eat. They insisted that my (See DAVIS, Page 2) Summer camp will soon be un derway for more than 500 army and air force ROTC students from A&M. The camps start during the latter part of this month, and are six weeks long. Army Foxt Hood, Tex., will get 90 students from A&M in infantry, chemical corps and ASA military science. Majors C. C. Waddell and E. C. Wi'ight of the Military Sci ence Department will be at the camp. Fort Sill, Okla., is the site for 50 field artillery cadets. Lt. Col. G. H. Watson, Maj. K. J. Ed wards Jr., and Capt. F. A. Walker will also go. Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., di'aws 36 Aggie cadets in the corps of engineers. Attending also will be Maj. H. S. Thigpen. Forty armor cadets from A&M will go to Fort Knox, Ky., for their summer camp. Maj. C. H. Brown and Capt. F. J. Bloom will also attend the camp at Fort Knox. The summer camp for 33 AAA cadets is Fort Bliss, Tex., with Maj. D. E. Philips and Capt. W. R. McNeil also there. Attending Fort Eustis, Va., will be 17 transpox-tation coxps cadets. Fort Lee, Va., draws 21 quarter master cadets. Maj. J. F. Birkner also will be at the camp at For-t Lee. Sixteen ordinance cadets will re port to Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Md., for their summer training. From A&M will also come Maj. W. J. Winder and Capt. A. A. Hord. The signal corps summer camp will be at Camp Gordon, Ga., with 12 cadets from A&M attending. Maj. S. L. James Jr., will also be at Camp Goi-don. Air Force Most of the A&M air force of ficers reporting to camps this sum mer will go to Bryan Air Force Base. Four A&M air force ROTC stu dents will go to Harlingen AFB. One cadet will report to Vance AFB, Okla. Representative Dewey A&M Bills Discussed The Texas Legislature passed several bills of interest to A&M during its 148-day session. B. H. Dewey Jr., state repx-esentative from Bryan, gave a repoi't on some of them. The Legislatui’e passed a joint resolution on a constitutional a- mendment relative to building needs. Dewey was co-author of f this bill which would enable all state schools to get the money they need for building without having to go to the Legislature to get it out of the genei’al revenue fund. The measure provides for broad ening the investment oppoi'tunities for the Univei'sity Pei'manent fund. The amendment will be voted upon by Texas voters in the November, 1956, election. The Student Activities fee bill, SB 186, died without appi’oval, Dewey i-eported. Dewey was on the conference committee which wrote the repoi’t on House Bill 666, pi'oviding for coverage of state employees under ’the old age and survivors insur ance provisions of the Fedei’al So cial Security Act. This bill gives social secui’ity to all state employ ees who are under the State Em ployees Retirement Act, effective Sept. 1, 1955. He was also on the conference comrhittee which wrote the re port for House Bill 709, which was the first step in seeming social secui’ity for college professors. A resolution was passed asking the Commission on Higher Education to make a study of the feasibility of college professors securing so cial' security. The biggest increase of any of the parts of the General Appro priations bill was for agencies of higher education, Dewey report ed. The increase was approxi mately 13.5 million dollars for the next biennium. For 1954-55, the At The Grove Thursday, June 16 — “Malta Story,” with Alec Guiness. Monday, June 20 — “It Hap pens Every Thursday,” with Lo retta Young and John Forsythe. Tuesday, June 21—“Shoot First”, with Joel McCrea and Evelyn Keyes. Wednesday, June 22 — “Ten nessee Champ,” with Shelly Wint ers and Keenan Wynn. Thursday, June 23 — “Come Fill the Cup,” with James Cagney. appropriation for higher education was $80,283,619; for 1956-57, it is $93,806,271. The conference committee report recommended $1,475,000 for major repairs and rehabilitations of ex isting classroom and laboratory buildings on college campuses. The report also included $148,000 for the Texas Commission on Higher Education, recommended by Gov. Allan Shivers and created by the session of the Legislature just end ed. The Commission is to coordi nate academic programs in state colleges and universities. (In a later issue of The Battalion, the function of the Texas Commis sion on Higher Education and what it can mean to A&M will be given.) Dewey wrote House Bill 629, called the “Texas Travel Act of 1955,” which passed the House and died in the Senate. However, most of the better features of the bill were incorporated in the Gen eral Appropriations Bill, he said. As part of the riders, the per diem base for offiical travel by state employees was raised from its present $6 maximum (which in cluded filling out papers to show that $6 was spent) to a flat $7 per day. Norton AFB, Calif., will get 19 A&M cadets for summer training. Sixty-eight cadets will attend camp at March AFB, Calif., this summer. Two camps will be held with 38 cadets from A&M at the first camp, and 30 at the second. Williams AFB, Ariz., will get 15 A&M cadets, as will Luke AFB, also in Arizona. Another Arizona base, Davis- Monthan AFB, will have two camps. Thirty-nine A&M cadets will be in the first camp, and 27 will be in the second. Eglin AFB, Fla. will have a late camp, to start in August. Twelve cadets from A&M will be at Eglin. Hide-A way Dance in MSC Mon day Nigh t Monday night’s Hide-away dance will be held on the ter race of the Memorial Student Center. The dance will be from 8 to 11. The dances are part of the MSC’s summer entertainment program. The Capers Combo will play for the dance. Both boys and girls should feel free to come without dates, said Mrs. Frances Shackelford, summer program consultant. The dances are informal, and cost 25 cents per person. Mock Disaster Rescue Planned At 8 Tonight A mock disaster situation will be set up at College Sta tion tonight at 8 on “Rescue Street.” “Live” victims will be rescued from the buildings. The rescue operations will be a part of the National Civil De fense Alert called by Pres. Eisen hower June 15, 16 and 17. The program will be put on by the Brazos County Rescue Service cooperating with the Texas Civil Defense and Disaster Relief. “National guard, fire depart ment, police, Boy Scouts and Red Cross will be on hand to perform their various duties in assistance to the rescue crew to avoid con fusion or panic,” Virgil B. Phips, director of the Brazos County Res cue Service said. “Rescue Street” will be located at the Fireman Training School area adjacent to the WTAW radio tower north of College View apart ments. The public has been invited to watch the rescue operations in ac tion. Weather Today PARTLY CLOUDY Skies today are partly cloudy with a possibility of scattered thunder showers this afternoon. Yesterday’s high was 94 and low was 70. Temperature at 10:15 this morning was 83 degrees. Continuous Losses Given As Reason Backed by the protests of the Chamber of Commerce of both College Station and Bryan, local residents are awaiting a public hearing by the Texas Railroad Commission on the removal of the two day-time passenger trains between Hous ton and Dallas. The Southern Pacific Railroad has asked the Commission for authority to remove the trains, known as the “Sunbeam,” which stop only at College Station. Neither train carries mail or express baggage. The request was made because “losses have been con tinuous,” according to a statement issued by the company. Operating results for a recent 12 months listed all expenses as $675,767.79 and all revenues f- as totaling $439,575.99—a loss ' " of $236,191.80, reported by the company. Cancellation of the Sun beam would leave only two night trains for passenger service in this area. Both are mail trains, and stop all along the line. The north bound leaves College Station after 1:30 a.m., and the southbound leaves the city a little past four in the morning. According to the railroad, traffic is now moving by its own choice over the highways and the airways. “By far, the greater percentage has gone to the privately owned automobile.” Further Losses “Therefore, the future of these trains, so far as traffic is con cerned, offers only the prospect of further and probably greater los ses. It is futile to hope that they will ever ‘pay their way,’ much less make a profit,” the statement reads. A. P. Hardy, assistant passenger traffic agent with the SP, said, “The losses sustained in their op eration have been continuous over the past several years, and have reached the point where they rep resent a considerable drain upon the railroad’s financial resources.” The daily average departures during March from College Station were 7.1 in the morning and 5.2 in the afternoon, he said. Aver age arrivals were 5.2 in the morn ing and 12.3 in the afternoon. Hardy said that removal of the trains would not affect any local employees. The Railroad Commission is ex pected to hold a public hearing on the action soon, at which persons opposing the removal of the two trains may appear. Reading Course Has Specialists In Textbooks Specialists from companies which publish the elementary textbooks used in the Texas public schools system are working in conjunction with the reading consultants in the Reading Workshops now being held at A&M. The workshop which ends June 24, is designed to improve reading in the public schools through care fully planned reading programs. Sponsored by the Department of Education and Psychology, the workshop is considered one of the best being held this year, Dr. G. P. Parker, department head, said as the meetings began. Teachers registered include Mrs. Jackie Clark, Bellville; Mrs. Mil dred Heidemann and Mrs. Emma Seeker, Brenham; Mrs. Elda Ad- kinson, Mrs. Lee Coffey, A. R. Denny, Mrs. Fred Elliott, Mrs. A. L. Giesenschlag, Mrs. Stella Haupt, Mrs. L. L. Johnston, Mrs. Jocelyn Kimberling, Miss Jean Kirby, Mrs. Margaret McAdams, Mrs. Thelma Nolen, Carl Orr, Mrs. Bertha Prince, Miss Judy Rosier, Miss Maxine Sanford, Miss Gertrude Standley, Mrs. Moselle Streetman, Miss Ophelia Wilcox, Miss Mar garet Zuber and Cecil T. Nabors, all of Bryan. Cecil Brown, Caldwell; Mrs. Flake Fisher, Mrs. Ruth Lewis, Mrs. T. O. Williams and Spencer Smith, College Station; Mrs. Onis Dyer and Mrs. Dorothy Norman, Navasota, and Mrs. Ella Jackson Horn, Palestine. Tornado Warning Service Network Review Set Operations of the nation’s first radar tornado warning service, the 24-station Texas Radar Tornado Warning Network, will be review ed at a two day conference at A&M June 24-25. About 50 radar meteorologists, civil defense officials, weather bu reau personnel and officials from cities participating in the warning network will review two years op eration of the service. Climax of the conference .will he formal ded ication of the service on the morn ing of June 25. The Texas Radar Tornado Warn ing Network was set up follow ing the disastrous tornado that hit Waco on May 11, 1953, in which 114 persons were killed. At a conference held at A&M June 23, 1953, a five-man commit tee representing state and federal agencies and the college’s Depart ment of Oceanography laid plans for the warning service which now operates in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana. Leading Disease Strept throat was the leading disease in the College Station-Bry- an area for the week ending June 11, with 15 cases reported to the county health unit. Next was diar rhea with 13 cases, and gonorrhea was third with eight cases report ed to the health unit. Surplus U. S. government radar sets are obtained for use by par ticipating cities. Modification of the sets for use in tracking tor nadoes is done by personnel of the A&M Research Foundation. Cities participating pay installation and modification costs of about $10,- 000 a set. Sets are operated by weather bureau personnel. The modified sets have a track ing range of about 200 miles, and cities in the network are located so that there is considerable over lapping of territory scanned. This allows continuous round-the-clock watch to be kept on suspect weath- County Changes Charges of Theft Theft charges against two A&M students were changed to charges of malicious mischief, according to the county attorney’s office. Gerald Forrester of Fort Worth pleaded guilty in justice court to a charge of malicious mischief and was fined $5 and costs. He and Carl Green of Austin, both last year’s freshmen, were originally charged with theft of equipment from the A&M Athletic Depart ment. No action has yet been taken by the school, according to Lt. Col. Taylor Wilkins, assistant com mandant. er conditions that may result in the dreaded “twisters.” Stations are in direct communi cation with the state departments of public safety and offices of civil defense and disaster relief. When a dangerous weather area is noted, state police headquarters are called and officers in the dan ger zone are notified by radio. Additional warning services to ra dio stations, weather bureaus, and television stations are also pro vided. Radar meteorologists believe that a high proportion of casualties from tornadoes can be eliminated if persons in threatened areas can be given sufficient advance warn ing to allow them to seek shelter. The warning service provides forecasts of conditions that are favorable for tornadoes to develop. In 1954, with only eight stations in actual operation, 17 alerts for possible tornadoes were sounded. Six twisters followed, striking heavily populated areas — with only three deaths. At present the network has four stations which are scheduled for modification. The remainder, in actual operation, work in close communication to give warning of possible tornadoes in an area that extends from central Oklahoma to the Gulf of Mexico—from the Big Bend area of Texas to beyond New Orleans.