The Battalion College Station (Brazos County/, Texas
PAGE 2 Wednesday, March 5, 1958
An Editorial
CADET SLOUCH
School for Parents
The “good old days” may be gone forever, but this
week College Station parents have a special invitation to go
back to school and once more smell the chalk dust when
blackboards are erased, the mixture of odors coming from
the chemistry laboratory and hear the marching feet on
the way out to recess.
But visiting their children’s school is much more im
portant to a parent than just recalling fond memories. This
is Texas Public School Week, honoring the Texas schools
which were created 104 years ago when the first law was
passed establishing the public school.
The need for the public school never changes, but times
and conditions may change or require the change of methods
and practices in education. This is inherent with anything
that grows, for growth is the result of change.
It is a healthy thing in our democratic way of life to
have intelligent understanding of the important functions
of our basic institutions. This is especially true of the
schools. The initiative and resourcefulness and the wisdom
and leadership that our schools are inculcating in the youth
of today are the answer to the problems of citizenship in the
years ahead.
Local citizens can be assured of this and do their part
in understanding and helping the public schools to fulfill
their great obligation to America’s future by being a partici
pant in the annual Public School Week, which began Mon
day and closes Friday.
Open house is being held in all College Station schools.
Their hospitality should not be wasted. Anyone who cares
enough to send his child to school should care enough to
want to know what kind of school he is attending. (—GM)
Survey Shows Students
Like Sports Participation
Results of a recent survey by
the Associated Collegiate Press
National Poll of Student Opinion
Show that College students in
general prefer to take part in
sports rather than just to watch.
Men interviewed contributed
most strongly to this overall high
preference. Coeds who would
rather participate barely edged
out their sisters who would pre
fer to be spectators.
To obtain these preferences,
the Associated Collegiate Press
asked the following question:
“Do you prefer to watch
sports events, or would you
rather take part in them?
Why?”
The overall figures showed that
56 per cent of the interviewed
students preferred to participate,
24 per cent preferred to watch,
18 per cent had no preference and
2 per cent were undecided.
Broken down, 65 per cent of
the men preferred to participate,
18 per cent had no preference, 13
per cent liked to watch and 4 per
•cent couldn’t make up their minds
one way or the other.
From the girls asked, 42 per
cent liked to participate, 49 per
cent preferred to watch and 18
per cent showed no preference.
Although the more energetic
coeds were barely in the major
ity, they all at least were certain
whether they preferred action,
observation or whether they were
neutral. The more ambitious
men, on the other hand, have a
few in their ranks who haven’t
decided which class they fall into.
Aggies -
Try Youngblood’s
Fried Chicken
V2 Chicken - Trimmings $1.00
Barbecue — Steaks — Seafoods
Rock Building
South College
Midway Between
Bryan & College
13 DAYS TO GLORY
The Siege of The Alamo
by Lon Tinkle
Shaffer's
Now At
THE PLACE TO BUY BOOKS
Open 8 a. m. to 6 p. m. — 6 Days A Week
THE BATTALION
Opinions expressed in The Battalion are those of the stu
dent writers only. The Battalion is a non-tax-supported,
non-profit, self-supporting educational enterprise edited and
operated by students as a community neivspaper and is gov
erned by the student-faculty Student Publications Board at
Texas A. & M. College.
The Battalion, a student newspaper at Texas A & M., is published Jn College
Station, Texas, daily except Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, a
September through May, and once a week during summer school.
ion,
lain
and holiday periods,
officio members are Mr. Charles A. Roeber; and Ross Strader, Sec
tor of Student Publications.
ret
ary and Direc-
Entered as second-class
matter at the Post Office
In College Station, Texas;
under the Act of Con
gress of March 8, 1870.
MEMBER:
The Associated Press
Texas Press Ass’n
Associated Collegiate Press
Represented nationally by
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Services, Inc., New York
City, Chicago, Los An
geles, and San Francisco.
The Associated Press is entitled exclusively to the use for republication of all news
dispatches credited to it or not otherwise credited in the paper and local news of
spontaneous origin published herein. Rights of republication of all other matter be:
In are also reserved.
News contributions may be made by telephoning VI 6-6618 or VI 6-4910 or at
the editorial office. Room 4, YMCA. For advertising or delivery call VI 6-6415.
Mail subscriptions are $3.50 per semester, $6 per school year, $6.50 per full
year. Advertising rates furnished on request Address: The Battalion, Room 4, YMCA,
College Station, Texas.
JOE TINDEL Editor
Jim Neighbors Managing Editor
Gary Rollins Sports Editor
Joy Roper Society Editor
Gayle McNutt City Editor
Joe Buser, Fred Meurer News Editors
Robert Wcekley Assistant Sports Editor
David Stoker, Johnny Johnson, John Warner, Ronald Easley,
Lewis Reddell Reporters
- Jlm — rl ° American Science Students
Climbing Despite Handicaps
"I'M tilao w watee pksmtiu’
crme 16 overe?"
Letters To The Editor
Editor:
The Battalion
After reading the figures con
cerning the effect of optional
Corps on enrollment at A&M I
Job Calls
Thursday
Reliance Electric & Engineering
Co. will interview electrical, indus
trial and mechanical engineers in
terested in sales, manufacturing,
production, marketing and re
search.
Cabot Carbon Co. of Pampa will
interview chemical, civil and me
chanical engineers.
Owen-Illinois of Toledo, Ohio,
will interview accounting, business
administration, economics, physics,
chemistry, and industrial, chemical,
mechanical, electrical, civil, and
architectural engineering majors.
Bell Telephone System will in
terview economics, business admin
istration, civil, electrical, indus
trial, and mechanical engineering
majors.
am wondering if you have the
figures on how many of the
8,616 Civilian students enrolled
for the spring semester of this
year are fifth year men (not
graduate students)’ who have
completed four years in the
Corps. I suspect this number
plus the men who are veterans
will reduce your Civilian major
ity to a considerable minority.
Don Lummus ’58
You may glean knowledge by
reading, but you must separate
the chaff from the wheat by
thinking.
—Francis Osborn
By GARTH JONES
AUSTIN, (A 5 )—Three traveling
salesmen for better teaching of
science and mathematics think
the nation is well on its way to
regaining the lead in worldwide
science education.
“It’s the students themselves
that make you feel good about
the whole thing,” says Wayne
Taylor, director of the Science
Teaching Improvement Program
at the University of Texas.
He and two colleagues traveled
70,000 miles during the past year
trying to help Texas teachers
give better math and science in
struction. Their traveling, how
ever, was not without certain in
struction of its own.
Football Monuments
“Cities and towns all over Tex
as are building monuments to
football spectators which are
used maybe half a dozen times a
year while their gifted young
sters daily struggle along in in
adequate laboratories where they
can’t even lift a test tube without
bumping into somebody else’s
Bunsen burner,”, says the out
spoken Taylor.
“I have yet to see a football
team go on the field without
adequate equipment, yet every
day we see science teachers labor
ing to teach our children without
proper or even adequate facili
ties.”
In addition to working with
teachers and school administra
tors, Taylor’s center is making-
big plans for the addition of a
science incentive contest to the
annual Texas Interscholastic
League competition in the spring
of 1959.
“Last year Texas schools held
more science fairs than any other
state,” Taylor said proudly. “Ten
per cent of the entries in the na
tional science fair came from
Texas and we had 10 per cent of
the winners.”
Such response keeps Taylor
and his partners bubbling about
the educational wares they
peddle.
Back Yard Dangers
They are not promoting a
“crash program” to turn out mil
lions of “smooth dome” prodigies.
For instance, the do not encour
age backyard rocket launching
experiments.
“In fact we have asked some
local papers not to publish rocket
fuel formulas,” said Alan Hum
phreys, a member of the team.
“There are plenty of creative
activities in science without tak
ing up the dangerous ones.”
The science teaching improve
ment center here is completing its
second year of operation, with
funds from a two-year grant by
the American Assn, for Advance
ment of Science. The association
also supports similar programs in
Oregon, Nebraska and Pennsyl
vania. Even though the science
association grant will end this
year, the program will continue
in Texas because 19 participating
schools have agreed to share its
cost.
Duties of a science counselor
include explaining and encourag
ing the use of visual aids, plan
ning experiments, advising ad
vanced students, and giving ex
pert counsel on everything from
planning a new laboratory to
staging science fairs.
Work With Converts
One of their most important
functions, according to John
Wagner, another team member, is
working with teachers with no
previous experience in science in
struction.
These “retreads” — teachers
converted from one job to an
other—are a big problem. In 24
Texas schools last year, 14 vo
cational agriculture teachers
were converted to science or math
teachers. The decrease in rural
population has cut down the de
mand for agriculture instructors
while the need for science and
math teachers is almost unlimit
ed.
Junior Year
New York
An unusual one- year
college program
See your dean
or write
for brochure to:
Dean F. H. McCloskey
Washington Square
College
New York University
New York 3, N.Y.
Professional Visual Care
BRYAN OPTICAL
CLINIC
• Eyes examined
• Glasses prescribed
• Contact lens fitted
Dr. Smith and Staff
Optometrists
Convenient Terms
TA 2-3557 105 N. Main
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