SCONA Opens Here Tomorrow
HE BATTAL
Volume 59
COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1959
Number 42
Rudder Commends Corps
On Dorm Study Conditions
Freshman Grades
Down From 1958
President Earl Rudder told Corps commanders and scho
lastic officers that study conditions in the dormitories were
to be commended, but that freshman grades were lower as a
class this year than last.
The meeting was held in the Biological Sciences Lecture
Room yesterday at 5 p. m.
This year 8.26 per cent of the freshman class posted
above a 2.0 grade-point-ratio as compared with 10.59 last
year. 37.31 per cent were in the 1.0 to 2.0 as compared with
39.17 in 1958, said Rudder.
The President added that 54.43 per cent fell below the
1.0 mark while only 50.24 dropped below the mark last year.
In spite of the lower grades,
Rudder pointed out, only 94
freshmen had left this year
ns compared with 155 at the
same time last year.
“We. have no thought of aban
doning the plan of treating our
men as we would want to be treat
ed,” said Rudder.
On a national average, Rudder
pointed out, 70-75 per cent of en
tering students retm-n to their col
leges the second semester. He add
ed that 40 per cent graduated on
schedule and that an added 20 per
cent graduated soon after.
The president their called for
questions from Corps members.
■ “Are we trading quality for
quantity?” one man asked.
In answer Rudder said 72 per
cent of the freshmen who had left
Tere in the top half of their high
school class, and that they had
been in the top 68 per cent of the
college placement tests.
“Our goal is to keep the man
around long enough to make a
good Aggie out of him,” said Rud
der. “Our faculty has a great obli
gation in this, too. But it is going
to take everybody to do it.”
Another question was, “Is the
Corps CQ policy with its honor
passes too lax?”
Rudder said it could be too lax.
He said, “The honor pass system is
no good unless the honor is there:”
“Is it not true that the Aggie
freshman takes a bigger course
load than most college freshmen?”
asked another.
Rudder said this was true, and
that no comparison with other col
leges could be made, since our sys
tem of grading is' different from
most colleges.
James P. Hannigan, Dean of
Students, presented the results of
a study by Frank W. Hubert, dean
of Arts and Sciences on why the
grades might be low from a facul
ty standpoint.
He said Math 100 and English
100 had been dropped. They were
introductory courses for freshmen
who were weak*in these subjects.
Two other changes in the De
partment of Mathematics were
putting calculus into the curricu
lum earlier than before, and a new
intensity in Math 102, making it a
more difficult course than before.
He said the Department of
Chemistry had adopted a new book
and new theories which outdated
older books.
In summary Hannigan said, “I
consider the Coi’ps at A&M a
splendid one. Any low grades that
the students get are not the result
of a lax policy.”
“The Senior class is doing a
whale of a good job and 90 per
cent of the juniors ai’e, too. How
ever, in certain outfits there is a
bad situation that should be cor
rected,” he added.
Fish ‘Doing Well’
After Fall in Dorm
Toby Cunningham, freshman pe
troleum engineering major from
Miami, suffered a fall down a
flight of stairs in Dorm 14.
He was taken to St. Joseph’s
Hospital where he was x-rayed
and reported not to have been ser
iously injured, according to hos
pital attendants.
Cunningham fell shortly before
noon Monday.
.
Nike Missile on Display
A U. S. Army Nike Missile is now on dis- U. S. Army Missile Program. Gen. Medaris
play in front of the Memorial Student Cen- will be the first speaker for the fifth annual
ter in conjunction with the talk Wednesday Student Conference on National Affairs,
by Maj. Gen. John B. Medaris, chief of the
Aggie Campus Chest Totals
$1,074.25 in First Round
Debate Team Wins Second
Andrew Schovaloff, left, and Jay Hirsch won second place
in the Southwest Conference Traveling Debate Champion
ships held Saturday at Texas Tech. The pair were the top
affirmative team in the tourney.
The Aggie Campus Chest put
$1,074.25 in the bank in the first
round of the 1959 drive.
“It’s not quite what we expect
ed,” commented Marvin Schneider,
Chairman of the Student Senate
Welfare Committee, “but it’s still
pretty good.” There are still sev
eral outfits which have not turned
in their money, Schneider pointed
out.
On the whole, the Corps did a
good job this year. One outfit con
tributed over $100, said Schneider.
• Contributions to the Aggie Cam
pus Chest were taken in the Corps
of Cadets last Saturday morning.
Each military unit commander was
responsible for the collection with
in his own outfit. Money collected
was turned over to Brigade or
Wing staffs and then forwarded
to Marvin Schneider or Wade Do
ver, members of the ’59 Campus
Chest Committee.
Debaters Win
Second in SWC
The A&M debate team finished
a close second to Baylor for the
second consecutive year in the
Southwest Conference Traveling
Debate Championships held at
Texas Tech in Lubbock Saturday.
The Aggies racked up 26 deci
sions to Baylor’s 27.
An A&M team composed of An
drew Schovaloff and Jay Hirsch
was chosen top affirmative team,
while a Baylor team of Judy Wil
liams and George Schell was cho
sen best negative team.
Teams from schools in the
Southwest Conference, with the ex
ception of Arkansas, debated the
question: “Resolved, that Congi’ess
should have the power to reverse
decisions of the Supreme Court.”
Each team competed in six
rounds in the two-day tournament.
Last night and tonight collection
for the Campus Chest will be made
in the civilian dorms. William H.
Brown, M-l, Puryear and Roland
Dommert, 1-10, Walton are in
charge of the Civilian collection
this yeai% according to Schneider.
Results of this year’s Chest drive
will not be known until sometime
Friday, Schneider said. Totals
from the Corps and Civilian col
lections, and the amount taken
from the boxes in the MSC will
have to be considered.
Sixty per cent of this year’s Ag
gie Campus Chest will be returned
directly to the student body,
Schneider said. In the past, sev
eral checks have been sent to de
serving Aggies or their families.
The remaining forty per cent
goes to such deserving organiza
tions as the World University
Service, the Brazos County Tuber
culosis Association, the College
Station Community Chest and the
March of Dimes.
Aggies who missed the collectors
when they came ai'ound the dorms
are reminded that they can still
contribute by putting their money
in the receptacles located at the
end of the coffee lines in the MSC,
or by contacting any member of
the Student Senate Welfare Com
mittee.
Medaris Address
To Launch Event
By JACK HARTSFIELB
Battalion Staff Writer
Maj. Gen. John B. Medaris, chief of Redstone Arsenal,
will kick-off the Fifth Student Conference on National Af
fairs tomorrow in the Memorial Student Center.
Medaris, responsible' for launching the Free World’s
first earth satellite, Explorer I, will talk on “Facing the
Challenges of the Space Age” at 1:30 tomorrow in the Ball
room of the MSC.
In conjunction with SCONA’s address by Medaris, an
exhibit on United States Army Missiles opened at noon to
day in the Promenade of the MSC, and in front of the MSC.
The exhibit is composed of a Nike Hercules Missile,
America’s first line ground-to-air high altitude defense weap
on. The exhibit will display^
nose cones, instruments and
space experiments. There is
also a continuous showing
movie on the preparation and
launching of a missile. Army per
sonnel will explain the exhibits.
Munro Delayed
Sir Leslie Munro, United Na
tions Special Representative to
Hungary and former New Zealand
Ambassador to the United States,
was scheduled to follow Medaris to
morrow evening at 8 in the G. Rol-
ie White Coliseum.
However, Munro notified SCONA
officers by phone last night that
he will be unable to appear as
scheduled due to the current Hun
garian and Algerian debates in
the United Nations.
Moved up to replace Munro’s
talk will be the address by The
Hon. R. S. S. Gunewardene, Am
bassador of Ceylon to the United
Sates, tomorrow night at 8 in G.
Rollie White Coliseum. His topic
will be “Coping with Crisis Areas
in the Cold War.”
Ambassador Gunewardene was a
founder-member of the Ceylon Na
tional Congress which led the coun
try through the path of constitu
tional development to ultimate in
dependence in 1948. He was leader
of the Ceylon delegation to the
United Nations General Assembly
sessions in 1957 and was elected
vice president of the General As
sembly, polling one of the highest
votes yet recorded.
This past year, he was re-elected
Chairman of the Human Rights
'Commission. He was also recently
appointed concurrently Ceylon’s
Minister Plenipotentiary and En
voy Extraordinary to both Cuba
and Mexico.
Dr. Howard R. Bowen
At 8 p. m. Thursday in the MSC
Ballroom, Dr, Howard R. Bowen,
president of Grinnell College in
Iowa, will address the student as
sembly on “Expanding Our Econo
my in an Unstable World.”
As one of America’s most out
standing economists, Bowen will
cover in his speech the effects of
mutual assistance programs, pro
moting international trade, produc
tivity, automation and a shorter
work week and potentialities of the
common market.
Bowen has been an economic
consultant to many federal and
and state agencies, to the Na
tional Council of Churches and to
the Social Science Research Coun
cil. In 1949 he was a member of
the United States tax mission to
Japan which reorganized the tax
system of that counti’y. In 1950 he
was president of the American Fi
nance Assn.
Along with his duties at Grinnell,
(See FIFTH on Page 3)
SCONA V
SCHEDULE
OF EVENTS
Following is a summary of the
schedule of events for SCONA V:
Wednesday
1:30-3:45 p.m.
Speech by General Medaris
(MSC Ballroom)
6-7 p.m.
Smorgasbord
(MSC Ballroom)
8-9:30 p.m.
Speech by
The Hon. R. S. S. Gunewardene
(G. Rollie White Coliseum)
Thursday
6-7:30 p.m.
Texas-Style Barbecue
(Back Lawn—MSC)
8-10 p.m.
Speech by Dr. Howard Bowen
(MSC Ballroom)
Reception Immediately Following
(Assembly and
Birch Rooms—MSC)
Friday
6-7 p.m.
Buffet Supper
(MSC Ballroom)
Speech by Di\ Nabor Canillo
(MSC Ballroom)
Reception Immediately Following
(Assembly and
Birch Rooms—MSC)
Saturday
8:30-10 a.m.
Review of Corps of Cadets
(Main Parade Ground)
12:15-1:45 p.m.
Luncheon and Final Speech by
William H. Lawrence
(MSC Ballroom)
Ballinger Named
TACT Vice Prexy
Dr. Richard H. Ballinger, pro
fessor in the Department of Eng
lish, was elected vice president of
the Texas Assn, of College Teach
ers in Austin Saturday.
Dr. James H. McCrocklin of Tex
as A&I was named pi’esident;
Claude Bowen of Lamar Tech, ad
ministrative vice president; and
Clifford Casey of Sul Ross, secre
tary-treasurer.
The next local chapter meeting
of TACT will be held tonight at
7:30 in Room 107 of the Biological
Sciences Building.
MSC Event Begins at 8 in Guion
Aggie Talent Show Tonight
The Aggie Talent Show is set
tonight at 8 in Guion Hall with
10 outstanding acts highlighting
the evening program.
The winner of the show will rep
resent A&M in the eighth annual
Intercollegiate Talent Show to be
presented in March. Both talent
shows are presentations of the Me
morial Student Center Music Com
mittee.
In addition to the 10 scheduled
acts, specialty numbers will be
presented between the acts includ
ing the first public presentation of
a satirical song, “Soldier, States
man and Knightly Gentleman.”
The song was written by Dr. Phil
lip B. Goode, professor in the Divi
sion of Business Administration.
The acts include:
® Jerry Brown, a rock ’n’ roll
singer who accompanies himself.
• John Holveck, hillbilly singer
and fiddle player.
• Melvin Goodwin, singer of old
Irish songs.
• Jose Maher, Spanish guitarist
and calypso singer.
• “The Emeralds,” a combo.
• Buchanan and Lee, pianists.
• Paul M. Paige, popular sing
er.
Master of ceremonies for the
Lions Begin Sale
Of Christmas Trees
The College Station Lions
Club opened its annual Christ
mas tree sale Monday and will
continue the sale through Wed
nesday, Dec. 23.
Proceeds wil be used to con
tinue club projects.
The sale lot on Highway 6
at the East Gate will be open
on weekdays from 1 to 8 p.m.,
on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to
8 p.m. and on Sundays from 2
to 6 p.m.
In additions to the trees, the
club also has lights and pine
cones for sale.
evening is Joe Easley, a band soph
omore from Eagle Pass. Easley
has been working in radio stations
for the past five years and was em
ployed last summer by the Amer
ican Broadcasting Co. News De
partment. He has done stage and
theater shows for the past six
years including a show with John
ny Ray.
The judges for the show will be
Capt. W. T. Rife Jr., Department
of Military Sciences and Tactics;
Dr. E. E. Stokes, Department of
English; Rush McGinty, vice pres
ident of the MSC Council; Mrs. M.
T. Harrington; and Mrs. Rod
Whisenant.
The Aggie Talent Show Staff is
comprised of eight members, in
cluding the chairman, Jimmy Rob
erts; director, Paul Phillips; stage
manager, Joe Jackson; and assist
ant stage manager, Richard Nagy.
Also on the staff ai’e Don Rey
nolds, lighting director; Davq
Woodard, program design; David
Hughes, publicity chairman; and
Mike Bozardt, staging.
ASAT Re-Elects
Anderson Officer
Dr. John Q. Anderson, professor
in the Department of English, was
re-elected secretary-treasurer * of
the American Studies Assn, of
Texas at its fourth annual meeting
at the University of Houston Sat
urday.
Other faculty members from
A&M who attended the meeting
included Dr. J. Milton Nance, head
of the Department of History and
Government, J. T. Duncan, Herbert
H. Lang, and Haskel Monroe, all
of the Department of History; and
Melvin M. Rotsch of the Division
of Architecture.
The fifth annual meeting of the
A.S.A. of Texas will be held in San
Antonio in December, 1960.