The Battalion College Station (Brazos County), Texas
PAGE 2 Thursday, February 5, 1959
Dr. Wilson Says
BATTALION EDITORIALS
. . . Our Liberty Depends on the Freedom of the
Press, And It Cannot Be Limited Without Being
Lost . . . Thomas Jefferson
-
Life - or Death
World Affairs Stress
Education Importance
Today Texas A&M is involved in the greatest struggle
in its history. More important by far than the talk of coedu
cation—more vital than the prospect of good athletic teams,
this problem is virtually a life and death struggle for sur
vival.
To put it simply, without substantial increases in state
monies, A&M cannot provide the high caliber of education it
has provided in the past.
Low appropriations for state schools exists throughout
the United States but it is more acute in Texas. For ex
ample, in recent survey of the average salaries paid in 96
state-supported schools, Texas’ state institutions ranked far
below the average. Our top school ranked 19th; the next
ranked 36th and 14 out of the 18 state schools in Texas below
40th.
During the past two years the 18 state schools have lost
306 faculty members by resignation—203 of these are known
to have left for higher salaries. This constant turnover and
resulting downgrading in staff, has done serious harm to all
the schools—A&M has been as hard hitas the rest. We must
have money enough to compete with other schools and in
dustry in the market for personnel or we will not get top men.
Although Texas is the second state in the nation in total
number of state supported schools it ranks seventh among
the states in total dollar support of higher education. It is
also in the lower half in percentage of per capita income go
ing to colleges and to support per individual student.
On the other side of the balance sheet, there has been a
12 per cent increase in the past 10 years in state appropria
tion for higher education. However, this increase is less than
the rate of increase of state expenditures as a whole.
The problem sounds big, doesn’t it? Well, it IS big but
the men of Aggieland have never before given up in the face
of adversity—no matter how long or hard the fight may be.
And there are some ways YOU can help A&M— and the
other state schools in Texas—regain the position of educa
tional leadership that once was theirs. . .
(Tomorrow: Telling the Story of Texas A&M)
Who’s Here
BiondVs Greatest Thrill
Is Being a Yell Leader
By JACK TEAGUE
Richard M. Biondi, 20-year-old
junior yell leader from Dallas,
thinks being elected yell leader of
the 12th Man was probably the
greatest thrill. of his life, but it
sure has caused some hectic mo
ments.
Richard cited one example that
happened at the Cougar Higfl^-Ag-
gie game last fall. He and the
other yell leaders were trying to
fight their, way through bands,
flags, Cub Scout packs and other
parade units to the dressing room
door to lead the Aggie team onto
the field. . They heard a yell from
the 12th Man and realized it was
too late-—the team had beaten
them out.
Bonfire activity is not all hard
work, either, as several A Vet fish
proved to Richard. They decided
it would be fitting for this particu
lar junior yell leader to be relieved
of his clothing in the cutting area.
After a hard struggle, Richard
found himself dressed in his Class
A birthday suit.
mim,
THRU SATURDAY
Van Heflin in
“GUNMAN’S WALK”
Plus
Gordon Scott in
“TARZAN’S FIGHT FOR
LIFE”
A business administration major,
Richard graduated from South Oak
Cliff High School in Dallas. He
played on the golf team there, and
it was at his coach’s suggestion
that he came to A&M. A former
student, the coach presented Ag
gieland as a challenge to Richard
—and Richard accepted.
Richard entered A&M as a D
Field Artillery “fish.” “Dog”
Battery bit the dust at the end of
his first year, though, so he went
to B Field. This year Richard is
operations sergeant of the 2nd
Regimental Staff. He is also
treasurer of the Dallas Hometown
Club, a member of the Business
Society and, as mentioned before,
a junior yell leader.
After graduation, Richard plans
to spend two years with the field
artillery if he isn’t able to get
flight training. “My eyes,” he
said, “you know.” After this little
tour, Richard wants to go into bus
iness for himself.
TODAY THRU WED.
THE BATTALION
02nnions 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 op
erated by students as a community newspaper and is under
the supervision of the director of Student Publications at
Texas A&M College.
Members of the Student Publications Board are L. A. Duewall, director of
Student Publications, chairman ; J. W. Amyx, School of Engineering; Harry Lee Kidd,
School of Arts and Sciences; Otto R. Kunze, School of Agriculture; and Dr. E. D.
McMurry, School of Veterinary Medicine.
The Battalion, a student newspaper at Texas A.&M., is published in College Sta
tion, Texas, daily except Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, and holiday periods, Septem-
Battalion,
sas,
ber through May, and once a week during summer school.
Entered as second - class
matter at the Post Office
In College Station, Texas,
under the Act of Con
gress of March 8, 1870.
ME MBKRI
The Associated Press
Texas Press Ass’n.
Services, Inc.,
City, Chicago, Los An
geles, and San Francisco'
for republication of all news
paper and local news of
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dispatches credited Co it or not otherwise credited in the paper and local
spontaneous origin « *- L - -* —*-•—
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Advertising rate furnished on request. Address: The
lege Station, Texas.
>1 year, $6.50 per full year,
e Battalion, Room 4, YMCA, Col-
News contributions may be made by telephoning VI 6-6618 or VI 6-491
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6-4910 or at the
JOE BUSER..
..EDITOR
Fred Meurer Managing Editor
Gayle McNutt Executive News Editor
Bob Weekley ..Sports Editor
Bill Reed, Johnny Johnson, David Stoker, Lewis Reddell....News Editors
Bill Hicklin Sports Writer
Robbie Godwin, Jay Collins, Ken Coppage,
Jack Teague, Henry Lyle Staff Writers
Earl Doss, Laney McMath Photographers
Ray Hudson — Circulation —llanager
(Ed. Note: The following is an
address by Dr. Logan Wilson,
president of the University of
Texas, concerning the competitive
position of Texas’ 18 state-sup-
ported colleges and universities
and what it means to you.)
“Everybody realizes that our
leadership and perhaps even our
national survival are being chal
lenged. More of our citizens must
be brought to realize that the
preservation of our state and na
tion depends no less upon the
strength of our educational sys
tem than upon the strength of
our military establishment and
that in these uncertain times our
capacity for self-government, and
particularly for strong state
government, is being put to the
test as never before in history.
“My purpose in this writing is
not to present the case for the
University of Texas primarily,
but for the state-supported sys
tem of higher education of which
our university forms a capstone
and' intergral part. The fate of
that system for the next decade
or so will be vitally affected by
some decisions to be made within
the next few months. I want to
review briefly some basic chal
lenges to be met.
Challenge to Our Nation
“In this highly competitive
world, there is a growing realiza
tion that our American educa
tional institutions are not as
strong as they ought to be. Prior
to Sputnik, unfortunately, not too
much attention was paid to the
oft-repeated story of low teach
ers’ salaries, crowded classrooms,
inferior libraries and laboratories,
easy academic standards, and so
on. Since then, fortunately, we
have been doing some stock-tak
ing.
“What are some of the find
ings? Here are a few startling
ones.
“On the average, professors in
this country are paid at a rate
about two-and-a-half times that
of manual laborers; in Russia the
corresponding rate is 16 to 1 or,
to take a look at student-teacher
ratios, we find the following:
Moscow University, 6.6 to 1; Har
vard 3.3 to 1; Illinois, 5.4 to 1;
California 7.7 to 1; the University
of Texas, 16 to 1.
“We can afford to spend moi’e
on education but to do so we must
assign a higher priority to the
importance of teaching and re
search as crucial enterprises. We
must be willing to make some
sacrifices and to forego some
present comforts for our future
security and prosperity.
“As someone has said, Amer
icans know the difference be
tween good and bad roads—they
must come to know the difference
between good and bad education
and determine to settle only for
the good. Mere talk will not get
the job done.
“Our educational problems will
ASKET
' BALL
THURSDAY
Feb. 12 - 7:30
White Coliseum vM#
Doubleheader
Hollywood
Queens
vs.
Aggie All Stars
$2.50 $2.00 $1.25
Student
Activities
©
be solved only by a hard-headed
insistence upon investment in im
proved quality. All of our citi
zens must take a real interest in
educational standards and accom
plishments and must be willing
to pay higher taxes to support
our state schools and make heav
ier contributions to support our
private institutions.
Challenge to Our State
“Even though the world-wide
challenge is to our nation, re
sponse to it—if we are to keep
our present local anl state con
trols—must be from localities and
states. We now have the chance
to show whether we can and will
assume state obligations to match
our talk about state rights. But
we must respond promptly, de
cisively and in full measure.
“To begin, we. should recognize
the importance of having in Tex
as a system of higher education
in which each institution offers
opportunities and programs of
quality similar to and competitive
with those of better comparable
institutions throughout the na
tion. Sensing fully the impor
tance of highly trained manpower
to the state’s industrial, commer
cial, political and cultural devel
opment, we must come to regard
financial support of education as
an investment in our own future.
“In my judgement, we need to
be more realistic and less paro
chial about where Texas stands
today. A few basic facts in this
regard are telling:
• Texas stands 7th in total
personal income, and 7th in total
dollar support of higher educa
tion;
• Texas is 2nd in the number
of accredited institutions;
• Texas is in the lower half
of states in support provided per
student;
• Texas is in the lower half of
all states in the percentage of per
capita income going to higher
education;
• Although state dollars ap
propriated for higher education
have increased sharply in the last
ten years, the increase has not
been out of line with the total
increase of state expenditures;
“In short, we get a grade of
“C” for effort. Despite several
increases approved by the Gov
ernor and the 55th Legislature,
these conditions still exist. Is
this what we want and need - for
the youth of our state?
“To put another question, can
Texas afford to do better ? Here
it should be noted that in the last
year for which figures are avail
able, 36 states had higher per
capita state-local taxes than Tex
as. Moreover, 37 states had high
er taxes .in relation to personal
A&M MENS SHOP
103 MAIN NORTH GATE
AGGIE OWNED
THURSDAY and FRIDAY
In CinemaScope and Color . . .
“TEN THOUSAND
BEDROOMS”
Dean Martin — Eva Bartok
in Cinemascope and Color
income, and all of our neighbor
ing states have a tax burden in
dex in excess of ours.
Urgency of Action
“The crux of the matter, of
course, is that we shall have the
quality of higher education in
Texas that our citizens and tax
payers are willing to support. In
my opinion, Texans need to look
at the dividends which an in
creased investment would bring
not just to students but to the
state as a whole. The real issue
is clear: Much more is at stake
than institutional budgets—we
are actually deciding the future
of our children and our state.
Somehow our citizens and their
leaders must achieve a willing
ness to make the necessary in
vestment through added taxes. I
believe that our citizens are look
ing to their elected representa
tives to make the right decisions,
even though those decisions may
not be easy or be popular in all
quarters. If we fail in our duty,
we shall all be the ultimate losers.
“Should we fail to do the need
ed things, the deferred costs will
be too staggering or will come too
late for us to meet them. The
more we weasel over meeting the
challenge, the higher the price
we shall pay for our neglect, for,
as the philosopher Whitehead has
said, ‘In the conditions of mod
ern life the rule is absolute; the
race which does not value trained
intelligence is doomed.’ ”
LETTERS
Editor,
The Battalion:
.... I want to tell you how |
much we enjoy reading your pa
per and keeping up with the
news at the college. Not mean- |
ing to take any credit from last I
year’s editor, but we have re
marked how much more enjoy
able the reading matter is this
year as compared to last year’s
issues and how much more in
formative it is on activities with
in the campus.
It is a real credit to you and
your staff.
Mrs. Raymond G. Post
Baton Rouge, La.
* * *
Editor,
The Battalion:
The VMI Corps of Cadets sends
, its heartiest congratulations on
your designation as a Militai'y
College.
After having associated with
Aggies this summer at ROTC
camps and seen their abilities and
performance at first hand, there
is no doubt that the honor you
have received is well deserved.
Keep up the splendid job which
you have been doing and we will
look forward to meeting and serv
ing again with Texas Aggies in
the future.
Cdt. 2nd Lt. Henry E. Thomas
Editor, VMI CADET
¥ ts m
' -7 vie --<*•'
Aggieland Makeup
Pictures Scheduled
Aggieland ’59 make-up pictures
for Civilian sophomores, juniors,
seniors and graduate students
may be taken before Saturday,
Rod Stepp, editor, said yester
day.
Stepp said that no exceptions
will be made.
We Aggies like to read about Wee Ag
gies. When a wee one arrives, call VI
6-4910 and E^k lor the Wee Aggie Edi
tor
Mr. and Mrs. Robert W. El-f
well, '60, of C-6-D College View/
are the proud parents of a baby
boy.
David Nelson arrived at 4:42
a.m., Jan. 20, at St. Joseph Hos
pital in Bryan.
★ ★ ★
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas S. Bar
ton, ’59, of C-10-X College View,
are the proud parents of a future
Aggie Sweetheart.
Conni Michele arrived at 5:24
a.m., Jan. 22, at St. Joseph’s Hos
pital in Bryan.
★ ★ ★
A future All-American basket
ball star was born Tuesday to Mr.
and Mrs. Neil D. Swisher, ’59.
The boy weighed in at nine
pounds in a Kilgore hospital.
* -k *
A future Corps Commander
was born Tuesday to Mi', and
Mrs. D, L. Day, ’61, C-8-D Col
lege View.
Michael, 6 pounds, 7 ounces,
was born at 4:30 a.m. in Bryan
Hospital.
Social Whirl
7:30
Animal Husbandry Wives Club
will meet tonight in the Soutb
Solarium of the YMCA.
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A&M Fine Arts Festival
The MSC
RECITAL
SERIES presents .
PHILLIPE
8:00 tonight •
ENTREMONT
MSC BALLROOM
Friday:
The MSC Recital Series presents HOLLYWOOD STRING QUARTET
zinipS W sa I JBI ID
is « « wr wr m
SHE SAYS I'VE JUST SOT A
FACE FACE, BUT YOOVE
GOT CHARACTER/
-3-
YOU'VE SOT A BIG NOSE,
THAT'S WHAT Y0UVE GOT/A
BIG NOSE AND LONG STUPID EARS!
SIGH 4^ BUT THATS
A WHOLE LOT BETTERTHAN
^ A FACE FACE... >
1/-^