Cadets Cace Kiee'OwI
Bow
In Houston Feature Clash Tomorrow
Ags Pitted Against
Top S WC Offense
THE
BATTALION
Published Daily on the Texas A&M College Campus
Number 50: Volume 57
COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 1957
Price Five Cents
C j i vi! im i s 1 vi
To Proposals
BY ROBERT WEEKLY
Civilian Student Council mem
bers last night met to discuss
problems currently affecting Civil
ian students at A&M, only to find
the problems not ready to be
brought before the council.
The big discussion period sched
uled to take place on the Civilian
students’ part in the honor code
failed to materialize. The repre
sentative scheduled to make the
report was unable to attend be
cause of work conflictions.
The second big question of the
night also met with dismal failui’e
as yell leaders Ted Lowe and Don
Houston failed to appear in their
icheduled discussion of bonfire
preparations.
Meteor Study
Urged by Panel
At AMS Meet
Encouragement of meteor
ological research was stressed
yesterday to 160 meteorolo
gists here for the American
Meteorological Society nation
al convention.
In a panel discussion, continuous
'research and high school training,
in fundamentals were accented by
panelists.
John R. Gerhardt, Electrical En
gineering Research Laboratory,
University of Texas, said that all
too often meteorological research
is started only because of a disast
er.
Dr. D. P. McIntyre, meteorolo
gical branch, Canadian Depart
ment of Transport, expressed con
cern over high school training in
fundamentals.
“I think the high schools of
this country—-and my own—need
to get back to the fundamentals.
It now is possible to go all through
high school without exposure to
science or mathematics.”
Dr. Morris Neiburger, Depart
ment of Meteorology, University of
California, struck out at contract
research.
“Contract research has its place
but it is limiting on the bright
youngsters who do it. It causes a
tendency to follow a predetermined
path, whose goal is simply the sat
isfaction of the contract.”
He added that it “causes a ten
dency toward ‘hack’ research.”
The bonfire in general was dis
cussed by the traditions committee
as they made recommendations for
the guarding and building of. the
bonfire.
A resolution was passed declar
ing that civilian students will be
assigned three-hour periods to
help guard the bonfire.
As to construction of signs for
bonfire week. Representative Pen
dleton said:
“I believe only those dormitories
that help build and guard the bon
fire should have the privilege to
erect signs on the drill field.”
The council encourages all stu
dents to stimulate their interest
and help build and guard the bon
fire.
Bennie Zinn, head of student af
fairs, warned against the wearing
of high school letter jackets at
A&M, since it is against college
regulations.
Lester Berry, vice president of
the council, said the 12th Man Bowl
won’t be held at the regular time
this year since the varsity won’t
be able to provide coaches and
trainers because of the expected
post season game. Tentative plans
call for a replacement of the bowl
by a “post season basketball
game.”
The council held a spirited de
bate on the merits of a letter di
rected to those civilian students
that dress as “scrounges”.
The most sincere retort given
last night in answer to a rebuttal
on the question was a representa
tive’s directive:
“Publishing this letter will only
hurt those scrounges, Let it hit the
Battalion as such.”
Big Turkey Shoot
In Offing Sunday
The A&M Range and Forestry
Club will sponsor its annual turkey
shoot on Kyle Field Tuesday from
2 to 8 p. m.
The shoot is open to all nimrods,
including students, faculty mem
bers or anyone else interested. Par
ticipants will be divided into groups
of 10, with each of these 10 get
ting two shots at a target. The per
son with the two best shots in each
group will win a turkey.
Proceeds from the shoot go to
the Range Plant Identification
Team, for help in paying their trip
to the National Plant Identifica
tion Contest. The team has won
this contest for the past two years
and can permanently retain the
plaque if it wins this year.
Tickets may be purchased for a
dollar at the Student Activities Of
fice, the Range and Forestry De
partment, or from any member of
the Range and Forestry Club on
the campus.
Ag Student to Get
Scholarship From
Borden Foundation
The annual presentation of the
Borden Foundation agricultural
scholarship will be made at the
next meeting of the Kream and
Kow Club Tuesday night at 7:30.
W. W. Echols, ’3G, of the Borden
Southern Division, will present the
award.
This award, first started in 1946
and awarded by the Borden Foun
dation ever since, is a $300 scholar
ship given to a senior student in
agriculture.
Purpose of the award is to create
more interest in the dairy industry
and to promote and reward superior
scholarship in this area. Similar
awards are given in each of the
land-grant colleges offering a ma
jor field of study in dairying, and
in each of the accredited veterinary
schools in the country.
Faculty Fellowship
To Meet Tuesday
The Faculty Christian Fellow-
shipi will hold its November meet
ing in the A&M Chapel Tuesday
morning beginning at 6:30 a. m.
Opening with individual medi
tation and organ music by Dr.
Murray Brown, the program in
cludes a devotional by Dr. R. E.
Leighton and ends with coffee and
doughnuts in the YMCA South
Solarium.
Weather Today
Cloudy skies are expected this
afternoon, with thundershowers in
the early evening.
Relative humidity at 8 this morn
ing was 100 per cent, and the tem
perature, 66 degrees.
Aggies Leave Early For Houston
Wayne Yeager (left) and Jim Hanna, sixth
year students from Puryear and Legett
Halls, pack their clothes preparing to leave
for the Rice-A&M game in Houston tomor
row.
In ME Shops
$97,000 Atomic Reactor
Aiding Science on Campus
By LEWIS REDDELL
An unimpi’essive looking ma
chine located in the mechanical
engineering shops could produce
an amount of energy almost be
yond human comprehension if its
power was fully unleashed.
The machine is an atomic re
actor called an AGN-201, which
has been in operation at A&M
since September 1, of this year.
Although the word reactor is a
familiar part of everyday vocabul
ary, few really know what it is
and what the purpose of the
machine is.
Reactors are machines that pro
duce neutrons, which are small un
charged parts of atoms, and gam
ma rays, which are similiar to x-
Reservists to Hear
Lecture on Missiles
A mobile instruction team from
Fort Sill, Okla., will give an,
orientation on Army missiles used
by the field artillery Tuesday
night in the auditorium of A&M
Consolidated High School
The orientation will include his-
toi'ical development, tactical em
ployment and capabilities of the
surface-to-surface missiles used by
the field artillery.
Heading the instruction team at
College Station is Maj. Woodrow
W. Wiltse and Capt. Robert J.
Ellison, instructors from the U. S.
Army Artillery and Missile School.
Lt. Col. Veon M. McConnell, unit
advisor for the College Station
reservists, announced that all re
servists and interested individuals
are invited to attend the two-hour
presentation.
rays and heat. These are produced
through the fissioning or splitting
of atoms of uranium.
The reaction that takes place in
the machine is carefully controlled,
and it is in this respect different
from an atomic bomb.
Reactions are occurring in the
reactor at all times, for the atoms
continue to split constantly. The
process can be speeded up by in
serting control rods in the ma
chine. These control rods are
simply small amounts of uranium
which cause the splitting of the
atoms to speed up.
The purpose of the machine is
to make radioactive materials for
scientific research and gamma
rays for use in medical treatments.
Although the machine is owned
by A&M, the Atomic Energy
Commission determines the amount
of uranium the reactor may use
and what amount of watts may be
generated.
A&M’s reactor operates at a
maximum heat of one-tenth of a
watt, although it is capable of
producing several million watts.
The reactor, however, will be used
for training and research for
hundreds of years before generat-
Auditions Planned
For Talent Show
Auditions for the Aggie Talent
Show are scheduled for Moiiday
and Tuesday nights at 7:30.
Persons who have previously
signed up for auditions are asked
to go by the Directorate Office
in the Memorial Student Center
and schedule an exact time for
their audition.
ing as much heat as one average
sized home does in a night.
Cost of the reactor owned by
A&M was $97,000. Richard E.
Wainerdi, associate professor in
nuclear engineering is reactor pro
gram coordinator, and Associate
Professor Ed. Andrew of the
Electrical Engineering Dept, is co
ordinator of the nuclear education
program.
All persons interested in the
reactor will have an opportunity
to see it in operation at an open
house in the ME shops Nov. 27,
from noon until 6 p. m.
BY GARY ROLLINS
Battalion Sports Editor
The lease to the Cotton Bowl for January 1 will be placed
on the sacrificial stone tomorrow at Rice Stadium when the
powerful Cadets encounter the Rice Owls.
The Aggies are riding an eight-game winning streak
this season, and haven’t seen defeat since the final game
of 1955.
The largest crowd in Houston football history will gather
to see if the Aggies from College Station are really the
nation’s number one team. Upwards of 70,000 people are ex
pected, and tickets for the game are as scarce as hen’s teeth.
Rice has waxed both hot and cold this year, proving
every week that they were the “dark horse” of the con-
♦Terence. They won their first
two games, and then bowed to
Duke’s Blue Devils, 7-6. The
following week, they eased by
the Mustangs by a 27-21
score, only to have Texas’ sassy
Longhorns trip them up 19-14.
Since that defeat, they have
seen defeat at the hands of Clem-
son’s Tigers, 20-7 and tasted
sweet success by skinning Ark
ansas, 13-7.
In a conference vein of thought,
Jess Neely’s Owls have a 2-1 rec
ord.
If they are unable to stop the
Cadet point-making machine, they
will have to satisfy their desires
by watching television when the
Aggies play in the Cotton Bowl
next January.
The hard-fighting Farmers need
but one more victory to cinch the
championship, but it’s a foregone
conclusion this game with Rice will
not be an easy victory.
The number one offense in the
conference is pitted against the
number one team in the nation.
King Hill and Frank Ryan team
up with Buddy Dial to travel the
airways. They will match skills
with All-American John David
Crow and a squad of title-hungry
Aggies.
The ' game will be locally tele
vised on Houston Channel 2,
KPRC-TV.
1957 Bonfire
Officers Named
Via Committees
The newly organized 1957
Thanksgiving Bonfire Com
mittee, with all its committee
heads, was announced this
week.
Heading the whole organization
is Lt. Col. Taylor Wilkins, assist
ant commandant. Student leader
for the committee is Ted Lowe,
head yell leader. Coordinator of
the committee chairmen is Jerry
McGown, while assistant coordina
tors are Don Houston, George
Shepard, John Ligon, Donald Kir
by and Arvill Newby.
In charge of labors supervision
is a four-man committee composed
of B. L. Kelley, Sonny Ellen, Dave
Cox and Jack Heald. Other com
mittee heads, include Ray Sims
and Glen Nerren, wood cutting;
John Mayfield and David Bonnen,
transportation; Tom Miller and
Bob Williams, building supervision;
Travis Johnson, stackers; Armon
Hewitt and Ronny Kimball, sup
ply and safety; Joe Vinincasa,
communications; John Foster,
emergency first aid.
Others are: Jim Groves and
Dave Bagley, guard duty; Don
McGinty and Curtis Schulze, re
freshments; Charles Smith and
Carroll Lam, guard fires; Bob
Burkhard and Richard Whitmire,
oil; Jim Brady, publicity; Jerry
Roberts, center pole.
GOG Members Put
On Ready Reserve
WASHINGTON, 6*P)—The Air
Force informed state civil defense
directors yesterday it is putting
the entire Ground Observer Corps
on a ready reserve basis Jan. 1.
Technological advances in radar
warning systems were cited as one
reason for the change in status.
This will mean the closing of 29
filter centers and numerous GOC
observation posts where thousands
of civilians serve around the clock
on a voluntary basis watching the
skies for unidentified planes.
Center Pole Set Up
For Annual Bonfire
Reaching skyward behind Dun
can Hall is the center pole erected
today to support the world’s
largest bonfire.
Aggies Monday will begin over
a week of sweat and strain to pre
pare the huge campfire for the
torch the night before the annual
Thanksgiving Day fracas with the
University of Texas.
With thoughts of the outcome of
tomorrow’s game with Rice still
fresh on their minds, Aggies will
grab saws, axes and trucks and
race for the woods to cut down the
biggest trees possible to throw
against the center pole.
Freshmen will be working
especially hard trying to beat pre
vious freshman classes by building
the tallest bonfire yet.
The bonfire record was set in
1954 when the present senior class
were freshmen. That year the
center pole sti-etched 75 feet into
the air. Its base covered 11,810
square feet; its circumference was
150 feet and its diameter was 48
feet.
An estimated 30,150 cubic feet of
wood was burned in that tremen
dous blaze.
Bonfire officials this year are
putting special emphasis on safety.
Last year’s efforts kept accidents
to a minimum. Since 1955, when
James Sarran died from injuries
received while guarding the bon
fire, special efforts have been made
to prevent other accidents.
When the bonfire blazes, it will
be representing the burning desire
of every Aggie to beat the Uni
versity of Texas on Turkey Day.
15 Bodies
Found in Hunt
For Airliner
HONOLULU UP)—Fifteen
bodies from the lost air liner
“Romance of the Skies”—one
still strapped in a seat and
two reported wearing lifebelts
—were found yesterday floating
amid wreckage scattered widely
over the Pacific Ocean about 850
miles northeast of Honolulu.
The tragic discovery was made
by a search plane from the air
craft carrier Philippine Sea.
The carrier and escorting vessels
sped to the scene and put over
boats which began fishing for the
wreckage and bodies.
The Pan American Stratocruiser
with 44 persons aboard, vanished
last Friday afternoon on a routine
flight from San Francisco for
Honolulu.
The Philippine Sea, reaching the
scene with the destroyer Epperson
and Coast Guard cutter Bering
Strait, immediately put over motor
launches while its helicopters di
rected the recovery operations.
A radio message, intercepted at
Navy and Coast Guard headquar
ter's in Honolulu, was taken to in
dicate that the bodies and wreck
age were scattered over a wide
area.
One of two American search
planes which had gone out on the
hunt early yesterday radioed at
about the same time that it was
over the area and that two of the
bodies were wearing life jackets.
The carrier pilot who made the
original sighting said one body
remained strapped in a seat of
the lost plane.
The discovery was made at 8:40
a. m. Hawaii standard time and
the carrier reached the scene about
three hours later.
Rear Adm. Thomas A. Ahroon,
task force commander aboard the
Philippine Sea, indicated he plan
ned to return the bodies and re
covered wreckage to the carrier’s
home port. Long Beach, Calif.