auds Aggies for Safety
9
Warns of Accidents During Holidays
™ BATTALI ON
Published Daily on the Texas A&M College Campus
Number 67: Volume 57
COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 19, 1957
Price Five Cents
Campus Police Chief Predicts Death
Will Mar Christmas For Aggieland
A Promising Career Ends
k. ^ t.
Silver Taps Notice
Ags Face High Odds
On Trip Homeward
By JOHNNY JOHNSON
It’ll be an unusual holiday if some A^gie doesn’t get
killed in an automobile accident, and the toll may run as
high as three or four, Fred Hickman, Campus Security chief,
grimly predicted yesterday.
If this prediction holds true—and past records indicate
it might—a Silver Taps will greet returning Aggies on Jan.
6.
Col. Homer Garrison, Jr., head of the Texas Department
of Public Safety, has forecast that 113 Texans will be killed
during the 11-day period from 6 p.m. Saturday through mid
night, Jan. 1.
Authorities agree on the two main causes of highway
■♦■fatalities, alcohol and speed
ing. Out of the eight acci
dents in Brazos County dur
ing the year which killed 11
persons, all but one were at
tributed to these two factors, ac
cording to O. L. Luther of the
Texas Highway Patrol.
At the present, Brazos County
is below last year’s record of 15
persons killed through this date.
Bryan has a total of seven traffic
deaths in 598 accidents thus far,
while College Station has record
ed none in 78 mishaps.
At A&M, Corps freshman Wil
liam Sidney Rogers is the lone
traffic fatality pf the current
school year. Rogers was killed
Oct. 29 in a two-car collision on
Texas Avenue, in which another
man also died.
For Aggies who like to figure
things in odds, each one faces one
chance in 7,000 of meeting death
over the holidays. The average
Texan’s odds are only one in 70,000.
Hickman offered this bit of
prophecy to Aggies: “Start early,
get there later, and come back able
to get an education.”
Last Christmas, no Aggies were
killed in automobile accidents.
Aggie Leaders
Urge Students
To Be Careful
With the Christmas holi
days nearing, three campus
leaders, Jon Hagler, Bob Sur-
ovik and Bill McKown — are
urging Aggies to “be careful.”
“We’ve all looked forward to the
holidays with great anticipation,
hoping to enjoy fully all of the
events that take place during that
time.
“Unless we get there, we will he
unable to share with our families
and friends the joys of the sea
son. The seriousness of the sea
son merits your seriousness on the
way home,” Corps Commander
Hagler said.
Surovik, president of the Stu
dent Senate, said, “These promise
to be the best holidays ever. We
have things to look forward to, and
let’s not spoil them by having an
accident which could have been
easily prevented.”
JOHN Q. AGGIE
Age — 21 “E” Seniors
Died—Auto Accident near Anytown
Home — Anywhere, Texas Funeral — 10 a. m. Wednesday, Jan. 7
Silver Taps tonight at 10:30 p. m.
Editor’s Note: John Q. Aggie is a fictitious name—but any student’s
name could fit. Don’t let it he yours!
President Urges Safety
I hope all Aggies will be very careful and observe the
rules of safety in driving home for the holidays. An acci
dent can take away the pleasure and happiness of the holiday
season.
Merry Christmas to each and everyone!
M. T. Harrington
President
Price Daniel, Governor of Texas
Last year in December, 252 persons were killed in traf
fic accidents on Texas streets and highwaj^s. Of this num
ber, 108 were killed during the Christmas holiday period.
Texas A&M College, however, had the enviable record
of not) a single traffic fatality involving one of its students.
This safety record is a tribute to the good judgment of the
student body and the fine safety campaign sponsored each
year by The Battalion.
This year, the Department of Public Safety predicts that
113 persons will be killed in traffic accidents over the Christ
mas holidays. State and local officials have mapped an all-
out campaign to reduce this slaughter, and as Governor and
Chairman of the Texas Traffic Safety Council, I appreciate
the wonderful cooperation of Texas A&M students and facul
ty members.
I earnestly hope that A&M repeats its fine record of
the last Christmas season. It can be done if every person
associated with the college will resolve to drive carefully and
return safely to school in January.
Sincerely yours,
Price Daniel
Governor of Texas
Class of ’61 Picks
Murphy President
Clint Murphy edged out Billy
Thompson, 222-220, for president
of the class of ’61 in. run-off vot
ing held Wednesday.
Other officers elected werei Paul
Martin, vice president; Robert
Bower, secretary-treasurer; and
Tilman Reeves, social secretary.
Murphy is a Squadron 15 aero
nautical engineering major from
Abilene. Martin, from Tulsa, Okla.,
Weather Today
Weather in the College Station
area will be cloudy, rainy and
windy today, with a maximum
temperature of 65 degrees and a
low tonight of 50.
Rainfall during the 24-hour
period ending at 8 this morning
totaled .03 inch. Yesterday’s high
temperature reading was 76 de
grees at 3:45 p. m. This morning
the mercury dropped to a low of
65 degrees at 5:30.
The 8 a. m. temperature was 66
degrees and the relative humidity,
95 per cent.
is an engineering major in A Quar
termaster. Bower, petroleum en
gineering major from Houston, is
in A AAA. Reeves is a Dallas pet
roleum engineering major in B-
AAA.
The four officers, along with the
election commission and Student
Senate members elected earlier, will
guide the class of ’61 for the school
year.
Main function of the class will be
the Fish Ball to be held in the
spring.
Christmas Story
To Be Narrated
The Aggie Band, Aggie players,
and Singing Cadets will combine
their talents for the second annual
all college Christmas party tonight
at 7:30 in C. Rollie White Coliseum.
The Aggie Players will narrate
the Christmas story.
The band and the Singing Ca
dets will furnish music for the
program sponsored by the Student
Senate.
Power Brakes vs. Fast Cars
A Gamble for Life
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By FRED MEURER
If there was only one car travel
ing on a highway, the single driv
er could open up his 275 horsepow
er without too much worry.
If that car was the only object
on the highway, he could open up
all the way with hardly a worry
at all.
Unfortunately these situations of
fantasy never exist. There’s al
ways another driver sharing the
road somewhere. There’s also the
danger of some elderly person
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■
crossing the highway after check
ing his roadside mailbox around
the curve just ahead. A stray
cow or horse may even be linger
ing in the middle of the road.
Any of these situations present
danger for a speeding motorist.
As can be seen by the chart, it
takes some time to stop a fast-
moving auto. At 90 m.p.h. brakes
can’t stop a car before 325 feet of
road whiz by. That’s longer than
a football gridiron.
There’s more to stopping a car
than just applying the power
brake. The driver must first rec
ognize the danger and send a warn
ing to his brain. Only then does
he jam on the brake. And only
then does the mechanical action
begin slowing down the car.
At the maximum speed limit of
60 m.p.h., an automobile covers 88
feet per second. That doesn’t leave
much time to stop if sudden dan
ger lurks ahead.
Every driver should remember
that he isn’t the only one on the
road. Someone once remarked:
“The only safe way to drive is to
think of the driver ahead as the
biggest fool in the world.”
Fellow travelers on the high
way may think that of you, Aggie.
Don’t go out of your way to prove
it to them.