Number 13: Volume 55
The Battalion
COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 1955
Consolidated To Begin
.New Year Wednesday
Price Five Cents
RRSISilS
m W f 'i
SUMMER’S OVER—School bells will soon be ringing, and
it’s time for Richard Davis and other first-graders to wave
good-bye to carefree pre-school days. Richard is the son
of Mr. and Mrs. Richard H. Davis Jr.; his father is in the
Department of Veterinary Physiology and Pharmacology.
College Station boys and girls
will know for sure next Wednes
day that summer is over, for the
city’s four schools in the A & M
Consolidated School System will
open at 8:15 a.m.
About -1,200 students are expec
ted for the beginning of the 1955-
56 school year. The white elemen
tary school, under principal Mrs.
Rowena Clark Creswell, expects
560 pupils this year; the junior
high school expects 380; the senior
high, 250; and Lincoln School about
350. W. T. Riedel is principal of
the junior high; J. J. Skirvanek
Jr. heads the senior high; and W.
A. Tarrow is principal of Lincoln.
Registration for the coming year
is now taking place, and parents
can continue to register their chil
dren thi’ough next Wednesday.
Superintendent Les Richardson
will have his office open Saturday
morning for registration. All not
registered by the opening of school
Wednesday will be registered that
morning. School will be dismissed
at 12 noon on the first day.
13 New Teachers
School Adds To Staff
Thirteen new teachers — eight
for the white school and five for
Lincoln School—have been added
to the staff of the A&M Consoli
dated School System.
Mrs. Catharyn Worley will be
in charge of a new second grade
section, and Mrs. Lois Rogers will
teach a newly-formed fifth grade
section. The number o^ sections
in both these grades was increased
this year because of the rise in
enrollment.
Dr. Les Richardson
School Superintendent
A Few Notes
()n Personnel
At Consolidated
Dr. L. S. Richardson has
been superintendent of A&M
Consolidated Schools since
1949. Before that date he
served as principal of the
high school, and prior to that he
was football coach. He has B.A.
and M.A. from A&M and his Ph.D.
from the University of Houston.
The high school principal is J.
J. Skrivanek Jr., who has served
in this capacity since 1952. He
holds his B.A. and his M.A. degrees
from thg University of Texas.
W. T. Riedel, principal of the
junior high, received his B.A. and
M.A. from A&M. He taught both
in Texas and in Mississippi before
coming here as principal in 1949.
Another principal who came here
in 1949 is Mrs. Rowena Clark Cres
well, who is in charge of the ele
mentary school. Mrs. Creswell
was at Tarleton State College be
fore coming to A&M Consolida
ted. She was awarded the B.A.
and M.A. degrees by the Univer
sity of Texas.
W. A. Tarrow, principal of Lin
coln School, has been in the teach
ing profession for 30 years, the
last 14 of which he has spent here.
He has been principal for seven
years. He is a graduate of Prair
ie View A&M and holds an M.A.
from that school.
Other new teachers for the grade
school are Mi's. Maryann Cay-
wood, first grade; Mrs. J. W. Sor
enson, third grade; and Mrs. Jan-
nette Godfrey, fourth grade.
Added to the faculty of the high
school are Mrs. Florence White,
typing instructor, and Mrs. Dor
othy Rush, who will teach English.
Larry Hayes has been added to the
physical education department.
Horace Schaffer was moved to
head coach.
The new teachers for Lincoln
School are Eunice Williams, sec
ond grade; Jean Williams, fourth
grade; James Stewart, seventh
grade; Euril Henson, eighth grade;
and Emamel Mack, industrial arts.
All are graduates of Prairie View
A&M.
Recent resignations in the
white grade school were Mrs.
Doyle Letbetter, Mrs. Flora Dale,
Mrs. Ray George and Mrs. Dor
othy Criswell.
Thomas Ryan, high school com
mercial teacher, will teach and
work toward a doctorate at North
Texas State College. Jim Bevans,
who resigned to enter the insur
ance business, taught physical ed
ucation and was high school coach.
Returning teachers in the white
elementary schools are Mesdames
Lewis Knowles, Louis Coke and
Eleanor Manning, first grade;
Mesdames L. P. Dulaney, Georgia
/Williamson and Jack Kent, second
grade;
Mesdames C. K. Leighton, Mary
Camp and Fi'ank Coulter, third
grade; and Mesdames Grace Skriv
anek, C. K. Esten and Jhek Sloan,
fourth grade.
Edsel Jones, and Mesdames H.
L. Heaton, Frances Brusse, A. R.
Owen, V. E. Schember and D. W.
Fleming will resume their duties
as instructors in junior high.
Back at the high school will be
Mrs. S. S. Sorenson, English and
Spanish; Mrs. A. R. Orr, mathe
matics and Latin; Mrs. Mildred
Byrd, home economics; Charles L.
Byrd, vocational agriculture; Wil
liam Miller, history; A. R. Orr,
mathematics; K. C. Morgan, gen
eral science and biology; Robert
Knapp, English and chemistry; and
J. D. Chaney, business manager.
Educational specialists return
ing to their posts will be Mrs. Shir
ley Frazier, speech therapist; R. L.
Boone, music director; Mrs. J. W.
Barger, art instructor; and Mrs.
J. T. Duncan, librarian.
Returning to Lincoln Elementary
School are Julia Campbell, first
grade; James Hawkins, sixth
grade; Audrey Pol’d Rogers, third
grade and Madelyn Howard, fifth
grade.
J. R. Delley, history; L. E. King,
science; Thay M. Owens, home ec
onomics; and Pearl Carter, Eng
lish, will resume their duties at
Lincoln High School.
Returning to their administra
tive posts are J. J. Skrivanek Jr.,
high school principal; W. A. Tar
row, principal of Lincoln School;
W. T. Riedel, junior high school
principal; and Mrs. Rowena Cres
well, principal of the elementai’y
school.
All schools in the system will
begin work on Sept. 7. Starting
time has been changed from 8:25
to 8:15 a.m., but dismissal time
will remain the same.
The fpllowing holidays were ap
proved by the Board of Trustees:
Thanksgiving (Nov. 24 to 25),
Christmas (Dec. 19, 1955 to Jan.
1, 1956) and Easter (March 29 to
April 2). There will be a holiday
in March so that teachers can at
tend the T.S.T.A. District Conven
tion.
The school year will end on May
29, 1956.
Turkey Course
Sch edu led Here
A turkey short course, sponsored
by the Poultry Husbandry Depart
ment, will be held on the campus
Sept. 12-16.
Registration will be conducted in
the Reid Laboratory at the Poul
try Center beginning at 8 a.m.
Monday, Sept. 12. All meetings
will take place in the Reid Labor-
atoi’y.
About 40 people will be present
for the course, which is under the
direction of E. D. Parnell.
School busses, both city and rui’-
al, will run in the morning and at
noon. There will be no cafeteria
meals served until Thursday, which
will be a full day except for first
graders. The first grade will go
only half a day for the first six
weeks.
The A&M Consolidated Indepen
dent School District includes al
most all of the southern half of
Brazos County. Within the school
district’s limits are the entire City
of College Station area and a ma
jor part of the Texas A&M cam
pus. The boundaries enclose ap
proximately 90 square miles, the*
whole area being served by school
busses.
The schools are administered by
a seven-member Board of Trustees
who serve overlapping three year
terms. The members are elected
at large by the residents of the
school district. The Board is inde
pendent of the administration of
the County School Superintendent
and the County School Board.
Present members of the Board
are John H, Rogers, president;
Milton D. Williams, vice-president;
Henry L. Allen, secretary; E. E.
Brown; J. R. Jackson; Ernest J.
Redman Jr.; and C. A. Bonnen. ^
The Board recently approved a
$362,684 budget for the coming
school year. Expenses expected
are $17,200 for administration;
$183,552, white school instruction;
$44,463, Negro; $33,000, cafeteria;
$13,194, transportation; $22,940,
operation and maintenance of
plant; and $40,690.38 for fixed
charges. Receipts expected are
$13,038.20 from federal * funds;
$231,877, state funds; $357, county
funds; and $117,412, local funds.
The school district is entirely in
dependent of the city government
but contracts with the City Council
to have school taxes collected by
the city-employed tax assessor and
collector. The district has the legal
power to levy taxes, establish its
own yearly budget and issue school
building bonds as prescribed by
statute.
Bond issues for the schools are
as follows: 1939, $75,000; 1941,
$40,000; 1949, $125,000; 1951, $111,-
000; and 1953; $385,000. The 1953
bond issue was for the construction
of the new senior high school build
ings.
Consolidated has a Band Boosters
Club and a Mothers and Dads Club.
Lincoln School also has a Mothers
and Dads Club. With the start of
the school year membership drives
for these clubs, which serve the
school, will be starting.
The original school district was
chartered in 1909, but apparently
no tax-supported school was oper
ated until 1920. Union Hill, Well
born, Rock Prairie, and Shiloh com
mon school districts joined with the
A&M College Independent School
District in 1928 to form the A&M
Consolidated Independent School
District. The letters “A” & “M” in
the name are not abbreviations of
“Agricultural & Mechanical” and
are used simply as letters, without
punctuation, in the name.
Most of the original Union Hill
district is now a part of the Bryan
School District. The Peach Creek
and Minter Springs districts were
added to the A&M C.I.S.D. in
1949.
The present district has had no
legal connection with Texas A&M
since 1939 when the public school
system obtained its own buildings
and moved from the college cam
pus. By mutual agreement, but
without financial reimbursement,
student teachers from the various
teacher-training departments of
A&M College gain experience ip
the local public school system. Th^
number doing so is small since the
primary purpose of the college is
directed along engineering and ag
riculture lines.
Nearly half (41%) of tEe par-
(See CONSOLIDATED, Page 2)
Jpri v
WEEK EARLY—Lincoln School won’t open its doors until
Wednesday, but Lavorn Mitchell, who will be entering the
first grade, is already prepared to go to school. Lavorn
is six years old and is the daughter of Mrs. Clemmie Mit
chell.
South and West
US Industry Moving
American industry is on the
move on a completely unprecen-
dented scale—and the trend of the
moves of industry is defintely to
ward the South and the West.
Speaking at the fifth annual In
dustrial Development Course be
ing held at A&M today and tomor
row, Charles Layng, associate edi
tor, Industrial Development of At
lanta, Ga., told the conference that
the industrial giants have announ
ced plans for new plants involving
Weather Today
Today will be partly cloudy, with
lower temperatures but no chance
of rain. Low today was 71 de
grees; high yesterday, only 90
degrees. >
expenditures of from fifty million
to a billion dollars each. “Thous
ands of small industries, too, are
laying plans for moving else
where,” the Atlanta editor declar-
ed.
Layng .said that “the competi
tion for new industry is bitterly
keen.” He declared that the first
thing- in attracting industries is to
learn what industries it is possible
to attract.
“What about the South?” the
speaker asked. “The Southern As
sociation of Science and Industry
predicts that our territory will gain
more than three thousand multi
million dolar factories in the next
ten years and many more smaller
ones. Included will be more than
200 multi-million dollar plants that
IN RECOGNITION—Forty-six Junior bowlers received certificates of merit for success
fully completing the summer Junior Bowling classes conducted by John Geiger, MSC
Bowling Alley manager. Shown are the 34 boys and girls who were at the presentation
| ceremonies Friday night. Kneeling in front are the two boys and two girls who received
j trophies for outstanding improvement and learning. They are, left to right. Lunette
Fazzino, Tommie Letbetter, Connie Lyrdahl, and Furman Isbell. Geiger is kneeling on
I the left.
Junior Bowlers
Get Certificates
Forty-six boys and girls re- president A1 McClellan, presented
ceived achievement awards Friday the certificates to the group. Four
night, certifying that they had sue- trophies, the awarding being based
cessfully completed the 11-week o n performance, improvement,
Junior Bowling Classes held this bowling ettiquette and ability to
summer at the Memorial Student take instruction, were also award-
Center bowling alleys. e d by Geiger.
John Geiger, manager, who in- The trophy winners in the 7 to
structed the classes with the as- ll-year-old class were Connie Dry-
sistance of A&M Bowling Club dahl for the girls and Furman Is
bell, boys. In the older group, 12-
17, Lunette Fazzino was picked as
winner of the girl’s trophy and
Tommie Letbetter got the boy’s
award. A special award was giv
en to Mrs. Bea Durdhal who, al
though not participating, attended
every class meeting. She got a
certificate for one free line of
bowling at the Center.
Many parents turned out for the
presentation ceremony, which was
held in the MSC assembly room.
A film, “Striking Champions,” fea
turing some of the top men and
women in bowling, was shown be
fore the awards were given.
The complete list of award win
ners is as follows: Hank Halstead,
Nils Ekfelt, Steven Morris, John
ny Lane, Jeff Wallin, Dianna Dyr-
dahl, Connie Dyrdahl, Furman Is
bell, Larry Randolph, Ricky Peters,
Bob Koch, Robert Klerk, Gerry
Morris, Jerry Dyrdahl,, Brad Gun-
elson, Lynn Morris, tfimmy Hol
land, Billy Letbetter, Tommie Let-
better, Dennis Minor, Bill Jones,
Jackie Lane, Lunette Fazzino,
Paula Kidby, Mike O’Grady,
Nick O’Grady, Pat Rye, Peggy
Rye, Dali McCannon, David Smyth,
Dicky Hickerson, Dick McCannon,
Joe Randolph, Susie Minor, Fred
Brison, Sandra Klerk, Jan Zim
merman, Ronnie Bolen, Patsy
O’Grady, Tom Kahan, Allen Coul
ter, Lane Coulter, Glenn Gregg,
Judy McPherson, Jay Pruitt and
David McCannon.
will be making products of which
we haven’t heard today, because
they haven’t yet been invented.”
“There is an increase rather
than a diminution of the south
ward trend of a large number of
industries. Our pleasant Southland
continues to hold a strong lure of
manufacturers. On the other hand,
never forget that competition is
getting tougher every day.”
Harrington
At Biloxi
For Conference
Dr. M. T. Harrington, chan
cellor of the A&M System, is
participating as a guest in
the Southern Regional Educa
tion Board’s fourth annual
Legislative Work Conference in
Biloxi, Miss., which will end to
morrow.
Delegations of legislators ap
pointed by the governors of the
14 states of the Southern Regional
Education Compact were welcomed
by Lt. Gov. Carroll Gartin repre
senting Gov. Hugh White of Mis
sissippi before settling down to
study the crisis in higher educa
tion resulting from rapidly expand
ing enrollments.
The Conference has as guests the
presidents and representatives of
the governing boards of the major
state colleges and universities of
the region. Also present as ob
servers were a delegation appoint
ed by the governor of West Vir
ginia, which is considering ratify
ing the Southern Regional Educa
tion Compact.
The Board has advocated state
and regional planning on a long
term, continuing basis to prepare
for the doubled and tripled college
enrollments expected during the
1960’s and 1970’s.
Cadet Officers
To Be Oriented
Cadet officers and non-commis
sioned officers of the cadet corps
at A&M will undergo a two-day
orientation course Sept. 7-8. About
175 students will be on hand for
the orientation instructions, prior
to the opening of school Sept. 19.
Purpose of the course is to pre
pare cadet officers to take com
mand of the corps of cadets.
Newly-appointed officers and non-
coms who will attend include the
entire cadet corps staff, regimental
commanders and their sergeant-
majors, battalion commanders and
their sergeant-majors, and the
company and squadron command-