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■Wf BATTALION
51 Days 'til
Final Review
Published Daily on the Texas A&M College Campus
Number 94: Volume 58
COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS, THURSDAY, APRIL 2, 1959
Price Five Cents
A&M Appropriations
Face
Millon Cut
The South Shall Rise Again
This group injected the spirit of Dixieland setting for the annual Fish Day activities
into April Fool’s Day festivities in Duncan when the freshmen became sophomores for
Dining Hall yesterday. The day was the the day and the sophs took the role of fish.
Final Show of Year
Town Hall to Present
’141 Abner’ Tuesday
“Li’l Abner”, an original musi
cal comedy that features all of A1
Capp’s famous hillbilly characters,
will be presented at Town Hall
Tuesday at 8 p. m. in G. Rollie
White Coliseum.
The “zip and zingo” show will
be Town Hall’s final attraction of
the year.
“This will be by far the most
entertaining of any attraction ever
offered by Town Hall,” C. G.
(Spike) White, manager of recre
ation and entertainment, said yes
terday.
“Li’l Abner” brings to life the
lovable characters in the “Li’l Ab
ner” comic strip created by A1
Capp. The characters include Li’l
Abner, Daisey Mae, Mammy and
Pappy Yokum, Earthquake Mc-
Goon, the Skaggs Brothers, Moon
beam McSwine, Available Jones
and his sister Stupefying Jnes.
“I saw the show in New York
a year ago and to me it was more
entertaining than ‘My Fair Lady’,
‘Westside Story’, ‘New Girl in
Town’, ‘Damn Yankees’ or any of
the other big Broadway musical”,
From Gov. Daniel
Batt Gets Citation
For Safety Crusade
The Battalion received a special
merit citation from Gov. Price
Daniel for outstanding service
among public communication med
ia in the Governor’s 1958 high
way safety crusade.
The award received by The
Battalion was the only one given
to a college newspaper. Othei
awards in the contest went to 12
daily and 4 weekly newspapers,
16 radio stations and three as
sociations.
The Battalion also placed sixth
in the national collegiate news
paper safety contest sponsored by
the Lumbermans Mutual Casual
ty Insurance Co. of Chicago, 111.
This was the eleventh straight
year the newspaper, has placed in
. Board Candidates
To Speak Tonight
» The College Station Lions Club
will sponsor a meeting for the
candidates for the A&M Consoli
dated School Board tonight at 7:30
in the A&M Consolidated High
School Auditoi-ium.
Each of the nine candidates will
be allowed five minutes to present
his views to the public, said David
R. Fitch, president of the club.
Fitch will also serve as master of
ceremonies at the meeting.
The election to fill three vacan
cies on the board will be held Sat
urday at the school.
Milton Williams and C. A. Bon-
' nen are seeking re-election. *
The others filing are Albert W.
Jache, the Rev. Charles G. Work
man, George B. Hensarling Jr.,
Mrs. Raymond \B. Hite, Milton
Ford, J. B. (Dick) Hervey and
Harold E. Redmond.
the national contest.
Gov. Daniel’s award was made
at the Governor’s Breakfast which
was the opening feature of the
Governor’s Highway Safety Con
ference held on conjunction with
the 20th annual Texas Safety
\ssn. meeting in Austin recently.
Gov. Daniel pointed out in
announcing the awards that
through the cooperation of the
communications media and Texans
197 lives were saved under the
1957 traffic death toll.
The issue of The Battalion
which won the two awards was
published prior to the Christmas
holidays. Last Christmas was the
third consecutive Christmas vaca
tion period during which no Ag-
•ies have been killed in automobile
accidents.
A special letter of praise was al
so received from Col. Homer Gar
rison, Jr., head of the Texas De
partment of Public Safety, for the
quality of the issue.
Friday Last Day
For Junior Pics
Friday is the last day that jun
iors may submit pictures of their
girls as entries for Junior Class
3weetheart.
Pictures must be turned in at
the Office of Student Activities.
Tickets are now on sale in Of
fice of Student Activities for the
Junior Prom and Banquet to be
held April 11. Banquet tickets can
be purchased for $1.50 per plate,
with prom tickets at $3 with a
due’s card and $5 without one.
Music for the prom will be fur
nished by Jimmy Simon and his
10-piece band from Houston.
White said of the show.
The show is being presented by
Lee Guber, Frank Mprd and Shelly
Gross, producers of the successful
Music Fairs at Westbury, N*. Y.;
Valley Forge, Pa.; and Camden,
N. J.; in association with Norman
Panama, Melvin Frank and Mich
ael Kidd.
Panama and Frank are the cre
ators of the book entitled “LiT Ab
ner”. Kidd, director of choreo
graphy, is known for his dances
in productions such as “Guys and
Dolls”, “Can-Can” and “Finian’s
Rainbow.”
One of the nation’s top song
writing teams, Johnny Mercer and
Gene de Paul, created the musical
scores for the show. Lyrics are by
Mercer, music by de Paul, includ
ing such great hits as “The Coun
try Is in the Very Best Hands”,
“Love in a Home”, “Namely You”,
“I’m Past My Prime”, “If I Had
My Drouthers” and several more.
Both Mercer and dePaul are fa
mous for their Broadway produc
tions, and Mercer has written var
ious popular songs.
William and Jean Eckart, cre
ated the scenery and lighting.
Tickets for “LiT Abner” are on
sale at the Department of Student
Activities in the YMCA. Admis-
-’on for adults is $2 and student
tickets cost $1. Town Hall tickets
will be honored.
House Measure
Hingeson Senate
By JOE BUSER
Battalion Editor
Figures released this week show more than a million
dollars may be trimmed off requested appropriations for
A&,M for the 1960-61 biennium.
Taken from the commiittee report on House Bill 216
which is currently before the House for approval, the figures
show $7,391,805 budgeted, for the college for the first year
of the two-year fiscal period. The college had requested $8,-
592,977. Figures for the second year (1961) are also sepa-*
rated by more than a million dollars.
Funds for teacher salaries for the 18 state-supported
colleges were increased by 9.6 per cent by the House Bill.
The additional monies were available on a student semester
hour formula basis.
Salaries at Texas A&M were
cut $278,307 from a requested
$3,395,207, based on projected
enrollment for the 1960 term.
The second year of the biennium
showed a similar cut in salaries
here.
Departmental operating capital,
instructional administration and
organized activities funds also
suffered severe slashes on the
basis of low enrollment for the
upcoming fiscal period.
Library funds for 1960 suffered
a $32,648 cut for the same reason.
Vice President Eaid Rudder said
yesterday that the cut in appro
priations in the House bill was the
result of a drop in projected en
rollment as well as the drop in
students in the current school
year. Enrollment was estimated to
be 7,700 by 1960 but the 400-stu
dent drop this year did not support
this projection, he said.
No appropriations were made
for student health services or in
tramural athletics but the lan
guage of the bill does not prohibit
spending appropriated funds for
these purposes. The House com
mittee said they deleted the two
from public fund financing be
cause (1) neither was an educa
tional activity (2) health service
was not one of the things the
college was created for (3) intra
murals are not akin to supervis
ed play, nor did they fall within
educational functions of a college.
Guide Posts
To live in the presence of
great truths and eternal laws,
that is what keeps a man patient
when the world ignores him and
calm and unspoiled when the
world praises him.—Balzae.
Weaver Receives
Harvard Grant
Di*. Nevin Weaver, associate pro-
fesor of entomology, is the recipi
ent of a 1959-60 postdoctoral fel
lowship from the National Science
Foundation.
He will enter Harvard Univei’sity
next fall for a year of advanced
study.
A native of Navasota, Dr. Wea
ver graduated from Southwestern
University in Georgetown in 1941
and received his M.S. degree in
botany from A&M in 1942 and his
Ph.D. in entomology hei*e in 1953.
Weaver joined the Department
of Entomology in 1951 as an in
structor.
He is the author of more than
20 technical articles on honeybees
and related subjects.
Weaver, who plans to return to
A&M College after his year of
study at Harvard, is the son bf Mr.
and Mrs. Roy S. Weaver of Nava
sota.
Weaving Exhibit
Now On in MSC
David Bradley, 1958-59 presi
dent of the Texas Designer-
Craftsman, is now conducting
weaving exhibitions and fabric
displays in the Promenade of the
Memorial Student Center.
The exhibitions and displays,
sponsored by the Creative Arts
Committee, will last through April
11.
Bradley has held exhibitions
widely over the United States. He
is a member of the National Ad
visory Board of the American
Craftsmen’s Council.
News of the World
By The Associated Press
Soviets Rattle Sabers In Berlin
BERLIN—The Soviet Union Wednesday warned the
United States to stop high-altitude flights to Berlin. The
U. S. Air Force said it will continue them as necessary.
Stepping up pressure elsewhere, the Soviet Union issued
an order in Moscow temporarily banning all travel by West
ern diplomats outside the Soviet capital and Leningrad—
presumably because of spring military maneuvers. Meeting
this head on, Washington restricted travel of Soviet diplo
mats to the Washington-New York area in the United States.
Both bans were effective immediately. The State Depart
ment said the U. S. ban will be lifted when the Soviets lift
theirs, but there was no immediate indication how long they
would last.
★ ★ ★
Russian Embassy Personnel Expelled In Mexico
MEXICO CITY—Mexico’s decision to banish two mem
bers of the Soviet Embassy staff for involvement in the wild
cat rail strike will be followed by other anti-Communist
measures, informed sources said Wednesday.
It is probable, these sources said, that the Mexican gov
ernment will ask the Soviets to reduce the number of their
embassy personnel. It now is estimated about 100.
Ag Tells of Torture
On Bataan ‘March’
llRl
''ril
iililillill
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§. -
Hli<
The Milton G. Alexander Family
• . . death march survivor, wife and children
By BOB EDGE
Battalion Staff Writer
Milton G. Alexander, a junior
mechanical engineering major
from Palestine, is a courageous
man, because after ten years of
working in a Post Office and at
the ripe age of 38, he decided to
go to college.
Not many would have the cour
age nor the self confidence to tack
le such a task, especially with a
family, yet this is just a sample
of the courage and strength that
Alexander used to suiwive the Ba
taan “Death March” and three
and one-half years as a prisoner
of war.
In describing the situation lead
ing up *o the infamous “Death
March,” Alexander stated that the
battle for Bataan had been go
ing on for three months and the
American forces had been pushed
down into the very southern tip
of the Bataan peninsula. All who
could make it were ordered to the
island of Corregidor. The surren
der of Bataan finally came on
April 9, 1942.
Alexander, who was a light-ma
chine-gunner in the 21st Infantry
Regiment, was suffering from a
head wound from shrapnel at the
time of the surrender. He explain
ed that during the march, which
lasted 13 days, anyone who lagged
or fell out from sickness or to get
water, was shot. Having only the
clothes he was wearing when cap
tured, plus his canteen, Alexander
said that his weight dropped from
155 pounds down to 100 (they
were fed one small bowl of rice a
day). Nearly everyone was either
wounded or sick with malaria, he
stated.
The march carried what was
left of the prisoners to a railhead
at San Fernando, some 80 miles
from Bataan, said Alexander.
From there he was taken to his
first POW camp, Camp O’Donnel,
which was located in the interior
of the island of Luzon. From here,
he said he was moved to four other
POW camps before being sent to
a camp in Japan.
During his stay in these var
ious camps, Alexander empha
sized that the men had to help
each other to stay alive. He re
lated one experience where a fel
low prisoner spent what little
money he had left to buy Alexan
der some quinine. He said that
he was practically dead withrma-
laria at the time, but later pulled
through. His benefactor later died
of malaria.
On Oct. 1, 1944, Alexander was
aboard a Jap POW ship, bound
for Formosa, normally a two and
one-half day voyage (it took them
39 days).
Conditions aboard this vessel, he
explained, “were worse than those
I personally experienced on the
march from Bataan. We were in a
convoy of 13 ships, 8 of which
were sunk by American subma
rines before we reached Formosa.
I was put in a hold which meas
ured about 50 by 60 feet, with 500
other men. We stayed this way for
39 days. They fed us a cup of rice
a day and occasionally a cup of
water. Approximately one-third of
the men didn’t make it.
Alexander was later taken from
Formosa to a POW camp 400 miles
north of Tokyo, where he worked
in a copper smelter. He said that
the weather was pretty bad at this
camp and he caught pneumonia
and had both feet frozen.
“Near the end, when the Japs
tried to tell us about the atomic
bomb dropped on Hiroshima and
Nagasaki, we couldn’t believe one
bomb could do so much damage.
We assumed there had been a
massive air-raid. On Aug. 15, 1954,
they brought us in from work and
simply said that Japan and Amer
ica were making peace. The next
morning they were all gone except
the Japanese commander.
Alexander said that he was tak
en from Japan by destroyer and
later returned to the United
States by ship.
Among the awards and decora
tions he received were the Purple
Heart, the Distinguished Unit
Badge with two Oak Leaf Clusters,
the Combat Infantry Badge, the
American Defense Campaign Rib
bon with one Bronze Star, the
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Ribbon
with two Bronze Stars and the
Philippine Defense Ribbon.
Air Force-9
Scheduled Tonight
The Air Force Officer Quali
fication Test (Sta-9) will be
given for the last time this year
in two sessions .today and Sat
urday.
The first part will be given to
night at 6:30 and the second part
will be given Saturday morning
at 7.
Anyone interested in taking
the test should report to the De
partment of Air Science Confer
ence Room in the Trigon to
night.