The Battalion
Number 54: Volume 55
COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 1955
Price 5 Cents
Silver Taps This Evening For Sarran
Mid-Term Commencement
Planned Eor Jan. 20
For 1 the first time in about a
decade, January graduates of A&M
College will have regular com
mencement exercises. Dr. J. P.
Abbott, dean of the College, made
the announcement of the services
for Jan. 20, 1950.
The move was taken in response
to a petition from a substantial
number of candidates for degrees
at that time, and by a majority
vote of the Executive Committee.
The Academic Council recommend
ed to President David H. Morgan
that the exercises be held. Dr.
Morgan sent the matter to the
chancellor with his endorsement,
and Chancellor M. T. Harrington
‘approved the holding of the gradu
ation exercises with the knowledge
of the System Board of Directors.
It is contemplated that the full
program will include a Baccalau
reate Sermon in the morning, Com
missioning Exercises in the after
noon, and Commencement in the
early evening, according to Dr. Ab
bott. Only the Platform Party and
civilian students receiving degrees
will be expected to appear in aca
demic regalia. No faculty proces
sional is planned at this time, but
seats will be reserved for the fac
ulty at the morning and evening
Filings Open
For Officers
Of ’59 Class
Filings opened this morning
for the up-coming freshman
class elections, five men for
the election commission and
, the student senator from the
senior class.
The filings will close at 5 pan.
Dec. 7. Students interested in the
, offices should file their names at
the Office of Student Activities on
the second floor of Goodwin Hall
during the hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The election of these officers will
take place in the MSC at the voting
"booth by the post office entrance
Dec. 14.
The following positions are open
In the freshman class: president,
Vice-president, recording secretary,
social seci’etary, treasurer, repoi't-
er, parliamentarian and five mem-
" bers of the election commission.
The only other election at this
time will be a student senator
from the senior class.
The qualifications for the above
offices are a 1.0 grade point ratio
at mid-semester for the freshmen
and a member of the class of ’59.
Qualifications for the senator is a
1.0 grade point ratio and a mem
ber of the class of ’50.
Tail Beta Pi
Will initiate
New Members
The Texas Delta Chapter
of Tau Beta Pi have elected
49 new members. Candidates
will be initiated Dec. 12 at a
banquet in the Memorial Stu
dent- Center.
Members to be initiated ai’e Ar
thur W. Adams, Kenneth M. Alder,
Ashley N. Beasley, Jerry F. Bowen,
Olin H. Bradley, Kerry E. Burleson,
Val H. Canon, Jr., Howard L. Chev
alier, Robert R. Coffman, Claude C.
Culver, Lawrence R. Dausin, Rob
ert R. Dean, Ray N. Finch, Dale
R. Flournoy, Joe B. Foster.
Robert L. Gilliland, Wilbur B.
Goldsmith, Richard O. Guthrie,
Herman L. Hassel, Jr., Frederick
W. Heldenfels, John L. Irwin, Da
vid M. Isiminger, Warren B. John
son, Jr., Herman IT. Keller, Paul
A. Kennon, William B. Ledbetter,
Gerald L. Leighton, Jack H. Lipp-
man.
Firmin L. Lucas, Jack H. Luns
ford, Gerald B. Morris, John H.
Moser, Douglas D. Mounce, Rex L.
Rowell, John S. Sheffield, Charles
R. Steele, George S. Teutsch, Joe
R. Tucker, John W. Vineyard, Leo
B. Weiss, Codie S. Wells, Franklin
D. Westmoreland.
Clyde J. Wharton, Charles D.
Williams, John C. Williams, Rich
ard Allen Williford, and Robert W.
Young.
exercises dnd the members are ex
pected to attend, Dr. Abbott said.
The last time any but the regu
lar spring commencement exercises
were held at A&M was during the
stepped-up program of World War
II days. Robin K. Ransone, senior
aeronautical engineering major, in
stituted the movement among Jan
uary graduates to get the ceremo
nies.
The Registrar will serve as a
clearing agent for any problems
which come up concerning the mid
year commencement. Plans for the
services are to be made by the in
dividuals and committees normally
concerned with administering the
regular commencement program.
Lecture On India
Planned Thursday
Hancock Presents
Two scientific papers will be pre-
* Rented by Dr. Kinney Hancock, pro
fessor of chemistry at A&M, at the
11th Southwest Regional ACS
„ meeting; Houston, Dec. 1-3. One
of these papers concerns the effect
of structure on reactivity of or
ganic compounds, while the other
describes an indirect conductivity
method for the determination of
' moisture in cottonseed meal.
construction of India.
In 1945 he came to the United
States as educational liaison offi
cer to the Indian government. From
1947 to 1950 was the head of the
Educational Department in the of
fice of the high commissioner for
India, in London. In 1950 he re
turned to the United States.
Lewis Elected Ry
Experiment Station
Dr. R. D. Lewis was elected
chairman of the organization of
Southern experiment station direc
tors during the r’ecent meeting in
East Lansing, Mich., of the Asso
ciation of Land-grant Colleges and
Universities.
The Southern region is one of
four into which the state experi
ment stations are divided for mu
tual operation and benefit. It in
cludes 13 states and Puerto Rico.
Dr. Lewis has been director of
the Texas Agricultural Experiment
Station since Sept. 1, 1946.
Veteran Fees Due
Bennie A. Zinn, veterans ad
visor, reminds all Korean veter
ans that they must complete
monthly pay certifications in 102
Goodwin Hall prior to Dec. 7.
James E. Sarran
Injuries Prove Fatal
Prof. M. S. Sundaram will deliv
er a lecture at A&M Thursday at
8 p.m. in the lecture i*oom of the
Biological Sciences Building. Sun
daram is educational and cultural
counselor, embassy of India, in
Washington, D.C.
He will talk on “India Old and
New—a Revolution in Progress.”
The public has been invited to hear
the lecture.
Sundaram was for many years
associated with the teaching pro
fession in India at three different All PlpilirP<2
universities whei’e he was profes- I'iclIvC/S iXIl. 1. 1U 111 I vo
sor and head of the Department of
English Studies. He was educated
t Madras and, subsequently at Ox-
ord, England. In 1942 he entered
the Ministry of Education as assis
tant education advisor and worked
a plan for the educational i’e-
What’s ahead, money-wise, for
beef cattle in 1956? For cotton
farmers ? For agriculture gener
ally ?
The best possible estimates on
these subjects will be given bankers
by specialists in the various fields
Injuries Fatal
To Heroic Cadet
The Silver Taps ceremony will be held tonight at 10:30
for James Edward Sarran, 19, sophomore student at A&M
who died Thursday night following injuries sustained early
last Monday.
Sarran died at 11:55 p.m. the night of the annual Thanks
giving Day football game between Texas A&M and the Uni
versity of Texas. The game had been dedicated to him for
his heroism in pushing two of his Aggie buddies out the way
of an oncoming car driven by Walter F. Galloway, route 4,
Bryan.
The students were at the bonfire guard fire on old High
way 6, just west of the Grove, and were serving coffee at
that post when the accident
occurred. They were standing
at the rear of the student ac
tivities truck when the car
smashed into the back of the
truck, pinning Sarran under it.
Sarran suffered multiple frac
tures and head injuries, and never
regained consciousness. C o r p s
Chaplain Harry Scott was with
him when he died and accompanied
the body to Brownsville, where his
parents live, for burial services.
The body was taken to Browns
ville Friday night. The Rosary
was incited at Hinkley Funeral
Home Sunday morning and funeral
Mass was said yesterday morning
by the Rev. Dan Lynch in the Sa
cred Heart Catholic Church. Bur
ial was in the Brownsville Catholic
Cemetery with the following serv
ing as pall bearers; Bob Long of
Dallas, Larry Downs and Carl Wil-
4-foi’d of Houston, Dick Chapman of
Brownsville, Joe Wilson and Dan
Moore, his A&M roommates.
Survivors include his parents,
Mr. and Mrs. Theo Sarran of
Brownsville; one sister, Mrs. Chris
Schneider of McAllen; aPd the ma
ternal grandmother, Mrs. J. G.
Brown of San Antonio.
Sarran was born in San Antonio
on March 27, 1937, but was taken
by his parents to Bi - ownsville as
an infant. He lived there since
and received public school educa
tion there.
A&M Commandant Col. Joe E.
Davis said that to his knowledge
Sarran’s death was the first bon
fire fatality in the history of the
school.
The fund which was being taken
up among students, faculty and
citizens in College Station and
Bryan to aid the cadet will now
be tmaied over to the family to
pay hospital expenses or for any
other use they care to make of
it., according to Travis B. Bryan
Jr., Bryan banket’, who was assist
ing the A&M Student Senate Wel
fare Committee in collection.
The Brazos County grand jury
may be asked to investigate the
death of Sarran, according to Comi
ty Judge John M. Barron. Evi
dence appears to be contradictory
and confusing, he said. The acci
dent investigation has been com
pleted by College Station police
chief Lee Norwood.
At A&M 42 Years
Rites Held Today
For Dr. Fraps
Funeral services were to be held
today at the Hillier Funeral Chapel
in Bryan at 3 p.m. for Dr. G. S.
Fraps, 79, of 302 Walton Drive,
College Station. Dr. Fraps, who
had been connected with the chem
istry division of the Texas Agri-
cultural Experiment Station at
A&M College for 42 years, prior
to his retirement in 1945, died ear
ly yesterday morning. He had
been ill for several months.
Interment will be in the Bryan
City Cemetery.
Dr. Fraps is survived by his
Aggieland Studio
Individual pictures ai’e being
made only at the Aggieland Stu
dio, according to Kurt Nauck, edi
tor.
In explaining the announcement,
Nauck said that last year a few
students had their pictures made at
other studios and as a result, they
were not included in the ’55 Aggie
land.
He said that since the Aggieland
Studio is the official yearbook pho
tographer, all individual pictures
for the ’56 Aggieland should be
made there.
Nauck also said that ideas for
the theme and dedication of the ’56
Aggieland may be turned in at any
time. Ideas should be placed in the
suggestion box placed thei’e for
them in the Aggieland office, 201
Goodwin Hall.
Bankers School Plans
Ag Problem Panels
A&M Property
Sold For Use
As Armory
Sale of approximately five
acres of Texas A&M College
property to the federal gov
ernment, for the use as the
site of a 400-man reserve arm
ory, was approved by the Board
of Directors of the A&M System.
Board members approved sale
of the propei’ty in the general lo
cation of the north boundary of
the campus near Highway 6, the
exact site to be determined later.
Approval was granted after
members heard that the armory
was desired by the local Organized
Reserves, that a majority of parti
cipants in the program would be
students or faculty members and
that such an armory would estair
lish closer relationship between the
ROTC and Organized Reserve pro
gram.
Under Section 262 of the new
defense bill, high school students
can enlist in the service, receive
six months active duty training
after graduation and then be as
signed to active reserve unit for
their remaining seven and a half
years of obligation.
widow, Mrs. Ellen Saundei’s Fraps
of College Station; a daughter,
Mrs. Mary Fraps Tinus, Maple
wood, N. J.; a son, George S.
Fraps Jr. of Jonesboro, Ark.; three
grandchildren; and one brother,
J. C. Fraps, Tucson, Arizona.
He came to A&M in 1903 as chief
of the division of chemistry, T.A.
E.S., and ex-officio state chemist,
and served successively as assist
ant chemist 1903-04, as associate
chemist, 1904-05, and as associate
professor of chemistry 1903-05, ac
ting professor, 1905-06, and associ
ate professor of agricultural chem
istry 1906-12.
Dr. Fraps was instrumental in
focusing attention of his students
as well as teachers and others en
gaged in studies of Texas agricul
ture upon the value of a knowl
edge of the chemical nature of the
soils and the products of the soils.
He was a leading figure in the
soils and fertilizer phases including
the regulation of the manufacture
and sales of commercial fertilier,
also in the proper preparation and
distribution of feeding stuffs and
practical methods of evaluating
the various feeding constituents.
A native of North Carolina, Dr.
Fraps held degrees from North
Carolina State College, and a fel
low at Johns Hopkins. Prior to
coming to A&M he served in the
chemistry department at North
Carolina State College.
Serving as active pall bearers
will be Dr. F. C. Bolton, Dr. T. O.
Walton Sr., T. E. Rattan, Dr. D.
B. Gofer, T. R. Spence and Dr. J.
F. Fudge.
of agricultural economics during
the fifth annual Texas Farm and
Ranch Credit School for Commer
cial Bankers at A&M College Dec.
6.
Turf Conference
Dec. 12-14 is the date for the
Texas Turf Grass Association Con
ference, which will be held in
rooms 2A, B, C, and D and the
assembly room of the Memorial
Student Center.
The Agronomy Department is
the sponsor and chairman is Ethan
C. Holt. About 130 are expected
to attend.
Fi ties Help Build
New Parking Lots
The Board of Directors of the
A&M College System, meeting at
College Station, approved expen
diture of funds derived from fees
for reinstatement of driving per
mits for use in increasing parking
facilities on the campus.
The system of charging fees for
reinstatement of driving permits
was approved at the June 25 meet
ing of the board. At this meeting
the college was authorized to ap
prove fees for reinstatement of
driving permits provided that no
single fee exceed $5.
Since its beginning in September
this year the fee system has
brought in about $1,400—an aver
age of nearly $30 a day.
NEXT YEAR, OLD ARMY—Blazing bright’y, but futilely, the 1955 version of the annual
Turkey Day bonfire lights up the 10,000-plus crowd which attended the lighting cere
monies and the following yell practice last Wednesday. The bonfire was hot, but the
orange and white team from Austin made things even hotter the next day. “But just
wait ’til next year.”
Dr. John G. McNeely of the De
partment of Agricultural Econom
ics & Sociology will head a panel
to discuss the beef question. Dr.
R. L. Hunt of the same department
will head a discussion on cotton.
Dr. Nathan M. Koffsky, chief,
Farm Income Branch, Agricultural
Marketing Services, USDA, Wash
ington, will discuss the over-all
picture for agriculture.
Advance registrations indicate
that planners of the school set the
figure about right when they gear
ed the program for an enrollment
of 175 for this session, according
to Dr Tyrus R. Timm, head of the
Department of Agricultural Eco
nomics and Sociology, which hand
les arrangements for the annual
meeting. The credit school, attend
ed by leading bankers from every
part of the state, is sponsored by
the School of Agriculture at the
college.
Another featured talk will be
given by Chas. N. Shepardson, ag
ricultural member of the Board of
Governors for the Federal Reserve
System, Washington, D.C. Shep
ardson is former dean of the
School of Agriculture, and was a
key figure in organizing the credit
school.
0. Dept. Changed
To 0. & M. Dept.
Members of the Board of Direc
tors of the Texas A&M College
System, meeting here last week,
authorized a change in title for the
A&M Department of Oceanography
to Department of Oceanography
and Meteorology.
The change in name was made
following a recommendation to the
board from the Academic Council’s
meeting of Oct. 25. Addition of
the word meteorology to the de
partmental title does not consti
tute an expansion in curricula, but
was done to give recognition to the
outstanding program already of
fered within the department.
Oceanography and Meteoi’ology
at A&M constitutes one of the fast
est growing departments of the
college.
Weather Today
Temperature at 10:30 a.m. was
39 degrees, a slight increase over
the 29 degrees in the early hours
this morning. Forecast is contin
ued cold and clear with high scat
tered clouds late this evening. Yes
terday’s high was 49 degrees.
AGGIE TOUCHDOWN—Jimmy Wright lies on his back
after punching over from the 1-yard line for an A&M touch
down against Texas in the Turkey Day game on Kyle Field.
The two Aggies lying on the turf beside the A&M quarter
back are unidentified. Watching helplessly are Texas’
Chester Simcik (11), Charlie Brewer (21), and Delano
Womack (44). The TD w r as the only one scored by A&M
as the Longhorns roared to a 21-G upset.