Welcome To Texas A&M,
Freshman
Edition
★ ★ ★
Section 1
Freshmen
Hello, new students! This is your edition of The
Hattalion, and we hope that it will be helpful to you.
In it you will find information about the many different
sides of student life at A&M. In this section is general
material about the college as a whole. Sections two and
three are devoted mostly to the non-academic side of
the college. Sports are featured in section four, and
although the emphasis is naturally on football, you will
find material there on the whole athletic program.
Again we say—Welcome! We’re glad to have you
on the campus, and we hope that you will enjoy your
years at Texas A&M.
The Batt Staff
Battalion
Number 12: Volume 55
COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS, THURSDAY, AUGUST 25, 1955
Price Five Cents
A&M Greets Class Of ’59
(.)rien ta lion Week
To Begin Sept. 9
Once again A&M College is preparing to greet a new
freshman class—this year, the Class of 1959, which will
begin its college career 2,000 strong.
Freshman Week begins Friday, Sept. 9. Until registra
tion a week later the “fish” will be put through a busy round
of tests, speeches and waiting in lines.
Arriving with the freshmen will be a group of upper
classmen—cadet officers and civilian student leaders, who
will help the freshmen to adjust to their new life at A&M.
Here, in brief, is the schedule for Freshman Week:
Friday, September 9
From 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. students will pay their fees and
get their housing assign--*
ments. At 7 p.m. all new
students will attend a general
assembly at the Grove. The
program will include group
fngihg' of songs-and a yell
practice, led by Paul Holliday,
head yell leader.
Saturday, September 10
Saturday will be devoted to
psychological and placement tests.
Students who have already pai’tici-
pated in the testing progi’am will
meet in Guion Hall. That night
there will be another general as
sembly, this one presided over by
J. Gordon Gay, secretary of the
YMCA. Local ministers will be
introduced to the students, who
will be taken to the churches of
their choice for informal get-to
gethers.
Sunday, September 11
The main event Sunday will be
,he informal reception held in the
Memorial Student Center from 2
to 4 p. m. Students will be in
troduced to officials of the college,
members of the MSC directorate
and council and local girls of Col
lege Station and Bryan.
Uniforms will be issued through
out the afternoon. Students are
urged to attend both morning and
evening services at the churches of
their choice.
Monday, September 12
All students will assemble in
Guion Hall at 8 a. m. for a gen
eral assembly. At 8:45 civilian
students will move out of Guion
and assemble in the Student Cen
ter for a separate meeting, which
will last until 11:50. At 9:50 the
meeting of cadets will dismiss, and
cadets not living in dormitories will
meet in the Student Center, while
other cadets attend unit meetings
in the dormitory area.
During the afternoon civilian
and military students will meet
again separately. At 7 p. m. they
will consolidate for a general as
sembly, when they will be address
Mew Students Can Choose
Military or (Civilian Status
Saturday Tests
Will Help You
Pick Courses
Saturday, the day after you
get here, you will be given a
seemingly endless series of
tests, and you will probably
wonder what it’s all about.
These tests are ability and achi
evement tests, given by the Basic
Division, and their purpose is to
let the Basic Division learn a little
about you.
From the results of these tests,
plus personal conferences, some
students will be allowed to take
advanced work, and some will be
put in special sections to improve
some part of their background.
This testing program is concen
trated mainly in chemistry, Eng
lish, mathematics, and reading.
Simply, they mean that if you
make a high grade on your Eng
lish achievement test, you may be
allowed to skip part of the regular
freshman English program, and
take some advanced work.
Some of the tests are ability, or
aptitude tests, used to help the
Basic Division suggest possible vo
cations for any student unsure of
a major.
The Basic Division people say it
is silly for anyone to try to “cheat
on an achievement or aptitude test,
because there is no actual “grade
and the tests are only to help the
students.
All students entering Texas
A&M! have their choice of being
military or civilian students.
Military students, those in the
ROTC program, will live in the
corps of cadets by military units
and wear the uniform all the time.
All classes will be housed together.
Until last year, freshmen were
housed in a separate area.
Civilian student, those who are
not taking ROTC will live in
civilian dormitories. A student ac
tivity program similar to the corps
of cadet’s has beesn planned for
civilian Students, including the Ci
vilian Students Council.
This new military-optional rul
ing was established last year by
the A&M System Board of Direc
tors to allow a Texas boy to take
a course at A&M without having
to take ROTC.
Before, all students had to take
military their first two years, un
less they were veterans or were
physically disabled.
Beasley Appointed
To TPA Position
Wallace D. Beasley, coordinator
of police training for the Texas
Engineering Extension Service, was
ed by Dr. David H. Morgan, presi- I recently appointed chairman of the
dent, and Dr. J. P. Abbott, dean of | police training committee of the
Fish Elect Officers
During First Term
Each class at A&M elects
its own class officers to speak
for the class and to handle
plans for the class’s dance and
other functions.
Officers for the freshman
class will be elected sometime
during the first term, after
everyone has got to know his
classmates.
If a student takes military, he
will take basic ROTC for the first
two years, and then will be eligible
for an advanced contract.
To get an advanced contract, a
students has to elect it, be accept
able to the training officers, and
have a satisfactory academic re
cord.
Students in the advanced con
tract program are paid 90 cents a
day for the two-year advanced con
tract period, and are eligible for a
commission at gi-aduation.
A&M offers military training in
all army branches and the air force.
Both civilian and military stu
dents are eligible for a draft de
ferment, if their grades are good.
Civilian students get a scholastic
deferment, and military students
get a ROTC deferment.
If the grades of either a civilian
or miltary student do not stay
above passing, he is not eligible
for deferment.
President’s Welcome
Welcome to Aggieland, the Land-Grant College of Texas
which for 79 years has been offering to the sons of Texas a
thorough, liberal, and practical education at the lowest pos
sible cost. You will find available here rich and varied edu
cational, spiritual, and social experiences that will assist you
in developing into a well-rounded individual competent to
serve the state, the nation, and the world in forwarding the
ideals of democracy and the dignity of humanity.
The opportunity for your development lies before you.
Your success in realizing that opportunity depends on you.
The faculty and staff are willing and eager to assist* you,
but the extent of your success depends upon the time and
effort, as well as ability, which you are prepared to devote to
your education. It is our hope that your years on this be
loved campus will be challenging, profitable, and enriching.
Sincerely,
David H. Morgan
President of the College
One of Nine
the college.
Tuesday, September 13
All students will assemble at 8
a., m. for a general assembly, at
which they will learn something
about the work of the Basic Divis
ion. At 10 a. m. unit meetings will
be held for cadets, and civilian stu
dents will meet separately.
At 1 p. m. unit commanders will
speak to their units about the uni
form, study habits and course of
study. At 3 p. m. civilian students
will hear a program on A&M’s
customs and traditions.
The general assembly at 7 p. m.
will offer information about the
college’s extra-curricular activities.
(See FRESHMAN, Page 2)
Texas Police Association.
As a member of the Engineer
ing Extension Service for the past
12 years, Beasley conducts on-
the-job classes for policemen over
the state, in addition to a regular
four-week course held on the A&M
! campus.
Beasley recently established and
j now conducts an Industrial Plant
' Protection School and a course in
Criminal Law for Peace Officers,
| held twice yearly.
Salesmen
Try to Gyp
Unwary Fish
Freshmen are the logical
prey of a class of super-sales
men who believe that fresh
men will buy anything—even
the radiators in their rooms.
The college has a system of
licensing persons to sell in
the dormitories. Anyone who
has a license is honest and is
selling good merchandise.
Anyone who doesn’t should be
suspected. He ought to have
a license.
If a salesman comes to your
room with a “good deal,” ask
to see his authorization. If
he doesn’t have one, report
him to your unit first sergeant
or house master.
You are not obligated to buy
just because an upperclassman
is selling.
A&M Just Part
Of Huge System
Texas A&M is the biggest part
of a complex educational institu
tion called the Texas A&M Sys
tem.
Headed by Chancellor M. T. Har
rington, the A&M System is com
posed of A&M, Prairie View A&M,
Tarleton Junior College, Arling
ton State College, the Agricultural
Extension Service, the Agricultur
al Experiment Station, the Engi
neering Extension Service, the En
gineering Experiment Station and
the Texas Forest Service.
Each of the colleges or depart
ments in the system is headed by
its own president or chief.
Over everybody is the A&M Sys
tem Board of Directors, appointed
by the Governor. Present mem
bers of the board are W. T. Doh
erty, chairman, Harold Dunn, R.
H. Finney Jr., H. L. Winifield, J.
\V. Witherspoon, Bob Allen, H. B.
Zachry, Price Campbell and L. H.
Ridout Jr.
Dr. David H. Morgan
President .of Texas A&M College
Reception at MSC
Honors Freshmen
Texas A&M College, headed by
President David H. Morgan, is
composed of four schools, each with
a dean in charge.
They are the School of Arts and
Sciences under W. H. Delaplane;
Agriculture, J. E. Adams; Engi
neering, John C. Calhoun Jr., and
Veterinary Medicine, W. W. Arm-
istead.
The college also has the Grad
uate School, headed by Dean Ide
P. Trotter, and the Basic Division,
now under acting dean C. H. Rans-
dell, which is a non-degree grant
ing school.
The schools are then broken up
into departments, each under a de
partment head.
Lost Articles Kept
In Two Places
There are two lost and found
offices on the campus.
One is operated by the Campus
Housing Office
To Meet Trains
The Memorial Student Center
will sponsor an open house for new
students from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday,
Sept. 11, to acquaint freshmen with
their student center.
The open house includes an in
formal reception in the balh’oom
honoring all new students, who will
be introduced to President and Mrs.
David H. Morgan and Dr. and Mi-s.
Robert B. Kamm. Kamm is Dean of
Student Personnel Services.
Students will also meet Chancel
lor and Mrs. M. T. Harrington,
MSC Council members, all deans,
and heads of the various depart
ments of the college, such as Stu
dent Activities, Student Affairs,
Basic Division, Office of the Com
mandant, MSC, Registrar’s Office,
Dining Halls, YMCA, Exchange
Stoi-e , Athletic Department and
Student Publications.
All the committees of the MSC
will have booths and displays in
the ballroom with leaders there to
welcome students and explain the
committees to them. Students who
wish to sign up for work with these
groups may so.
Also on hand to greet the stu
dents will be many girls from Col
lege Station and Bryan, who will
meet the students, introduce them
craft shop, recoi-d room, piano
room, Ham Club room, browsing
library, directorate offices and
game room will be open all after
noon.
The Bowling Committee is spon
soring a tournament for all those
who would like to participate, and
there will be checkers and chess
toumeys in the game room.
The Capers Combo will play all
afternoon in the fountain room.
Miss Sandra Sevier of Crockett will
provide organ music in the main
lounge.
The dean of the college, John j to the college officials present, and
Paul Abbott, is in charge of the 'direct them to the booths of corn-
academic side of the college. All mittees in which they are interest-
of the deans report to the president e d.
Hospital Provides
Medical Care
The College Hospital is located
on the campus and is under the di
rection and supervision of the col
lege physician and a staff of tech
nicians and nurses.
Sick calls are held daily be
tween 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday
through Friday and from 8 a.m.
to 12 noon on Saturday. Of course,
emergencies are taken care of at
any time, and doctors and nurses
are always available to render the
necessary service.
All students who live in college
housing are required to pay a med
ical fee, $5.50 for the first semes-
I ter and $5 the second term.
through him. The commandant of
Corps of Cadets also reports to
him.
Robert B. Kamm, dean of student
Edmond Saad, a junior student
at A&M, is in charge of all ar
rangements. Assisting him will be
two faculty wives, Mrs. Fred Smith
affairs that are outside the class-
Those students who arrive on room,
the campus by train and bus will The Academic Council, compos-
He has conducted 12 four-week Security Office, which is located
training sessions on the campus
since he established the short
courses in 1953.
His assistant instructor is Ira
E. Scott.
on the first floor of Goodwin Hall.
The other, less well-known, is in
the Memorial Student Center.
Articles are turned in to the main
desk and may be redeemed there.
not wait around and wonder how
they’re going to get to a dormi
tory.
Cars from the housing office,
headed by Harry Boyer, will meet
all trains and most of the buses
coming into College Station Fri-
1 day Sept. 10.
personnel services, is in charge of and Mrs. Ide P. Trottei;, and 14 lo- |
the student life program of the i cal girls who will act as senior hos-
college. He handles all student | tesses. They are Misses Ann Hic-
kerson, Avon Burkhalter, Texann
Esten, Rosemary Lenert, Carolyn
Cobb, Pat Stewart, Jo Ann Ryan,
Don’t Come
To School Early
Don’t come to school early. The
dormitories will not be open before
the set date, and the dining halls
will not serve meals.
So come sometime on Friday,
! Sept. 9.
The earlier you get here that
. day, the better, for there are al
ways lines to stand in. You might
ed of all the department heads, is Patsy Taylor, Carolyn Landiss,
j the governing body of the college. | Jean Puddy, Mae Martin Bryant,
| It makes the rules that go into the Janet Folweiler, Jo Ann Nolen and j get to be first in some of them.
| rule book. The Executive Com- | Kerstin Ekfelt. j
J mittee of the Academic Council, Besides attending the reception,
j composed of all the deans, passes ! students can take this opportunity
| on certain academic and student j to look over the facilities of the
I life matters. | MSC. The dark room, art galleries,
The largest crowd to see any
opener was 58,466, when the Ags
played UCLA at Los Angeles in
1951.