The Battalion
Volume 59
COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1960
Number 27
Professor, 64,
Retires After
48-Year Stay
One of A&M’s best known educators, Richard W. Down-
ard, retired Monday after more than 48 years of service with
the school.
Downard, as assistant professor in the Department of
Mechanical Engineering:, came to"*
A&M in 1913. He was born in Bry
an in 1896.
His first years at A&M were
occupied with taking mechanical
engineering courses and working as
a tool room keeper in the depart
ment. Six years later, he became
an instructor, and in 1940 an as
sistant professor.
Downard has been in the de
partment longer than anyone. The
only living man associated with
the school longer than he is Frank
C. Bolton, now president emeritus.
Bolton was head of the Depart
ment of Electrical Engineering
when Downard arrived on the
campus.
The campus wasn’t the prettiest
place in the world when 17-year-
old Downard began his career.
There were no paved streets, very
few sidewalks and Sbisa Hall was
{till under construction. The
youngster was obliged to ride
horseback each day from his home
in Bryan to College Station.
The professor’s teaching activ
ities were centered in the machine
shop. He was in charge of the
machining laboratory.
Far Reaching Reputation
Downard is known best for his
outstanding work with students,
Baptists Top
Denominational
Preference List
A list has been compiled by the
College Information Office of the
denominational preferences of the
students now enrolled in school.
Of the 7,215 students, the Bap
tists, Methodists, and Roman Cath
olics lead with 1,920, 1,585 and 1,-
168 respectively. There are 490
students who claim the Presby
terian Church and 442 have no
preference at all.
The Episcopal church has 347
student members in its congrega
tion, the Church of Christ is next
with 341 members and the Luther
ans have a 330 member congrega
tion in the college. Two hundred
seventeen Aggies claim affiliation
with the Christian Church.
There were 102 cards which were
not filled out.
There are 58 students of the
Jewish faith, 32 claim the United
Church of Christ, 31 men are mem
bers of the Assembly of God
Church, 30 students are Christian
Scientists, and there are 22 Ag
gies who are of the Moslem faith.
Also on the campus are 17 mem
bers of the Community Church
(Non-denominational), there are 15
Czech-Moravian students, 15 mem
bers of the Unitarian Church and
13 students who are members of
the Mormon Church (Latter Day
Saints).
Eleven of the students on the
campus are members of the Greek
Orthodox Church.
The Church of God and the
Pentecostal Church both have Ag
gies in their congregations. There
are three students in school who
claim the Buddhist faith and three
Aggies are Friends. Also there are
three students who are affiliated
with the Reorganized Latter Day
Saints.
There are three students who
belong to the Nazarene Church,
two members of the Berachah
Faith, two Christadelphian stu
dents and one Hindu.
One Zoroastrian student is en
rolled in the college presently.
The Seventh Day Adventist
Church has one Aggie in its con
gregation, The Foursquare Gospel
Church has one student member
and there is one Russian Orthodox
student enrolled in school.
but his reputation reaches beyond
this field. Research personnel de
pended on him for many years for
his advice and skilled hands in de
signing, modifying or repairing
special pieces of equipment.
Even agriculture knows some
thing of the professor. He made
a caliper-like instrument called a
turkey gauge, which is now in
wide use in the United States by
poultry men.
And to round things out, he once
made an artificial eye for a horse.
Cranky door locks and vaults
hold no myteries for Downard.
Whenever such tricky mechanisms
gave trouble on the campus, Down
ard was the man called in on the
job.
A source of great pride to the
educator is the accident-free rec
ord of his classes. He says that be
cause of his insistence on obser
vance of safety rules, no student
in any of his classes ever lost a
finger, suffered an eye injury ar
broke a bone.
“Way Up There’
Donard has no idea how many
students he has taught all these
years, but he says the number is
“way up there.”
Among his former students still
on the campus are President Earl
Rudder, C. M. Simmang, head of
the Department of Mechanical En
gineering; R. M. Wingren, profes
sor, Department of Mechanical En
gineering; Charles W. Crawford,
Associate Dean of Engineering; Dr.
H. C. Dillingham and R. P. Ward,
both professors in the Department
of Electrical Engineering.
Simmang praised Downard’s
years with A&M.
“Throughout his many years of
faithful, conscientious and valu
able service. Downard became a re
liable and dependable stanchion,
both to students and faculty mem
bers alike. I hope we can continue
to lean on him in the future for
advice and counsel,” Simmang
said.
Downard plans to spend most of
his time now stock farming on a
piece of land in the Benchley area
and puttering around in the yard
of his home on 1004 Winters St.
in Bryan.
The professor and his wife, Ella
Frances, have one son, Kenneth,
who was graduated from A&M in
1960 with a degree in veterinary
medicine, and one daughter, Mrs.
Carl Rogers of Waco.
Veteran Professor Retires
Richard W. Downard, left, who was with the Department
of Mechanical Engineering for 48 years, retired Monday.
He was an assistant professor. With him is President Earl
Rudder. Downard came to the school in 1913 as an em
ployee and student. He was with the department long than
any other man in the college’s history.
OF LAND-GRANT SCHOOLS
Rudder To Attend
National Meeting
President Earl Rudder is expected to represent A&M at
the 74th annual convention of the American Association of
Land-Grant Colleges and State Universities. The association
is to meet in Washington D. C. Nov. 14-16.
The convention is to be composed^ ; — :
of various division meetings in
addition to several general sessions.
Divisions of the association are:
The Division of Agriculture, the
Division of Arts and Sciences, the
Division of Engineering, the Coun
cil on General Extension, the Coun
cil on Graduate Work and the Divi
sion of Home Economics.
Also, the Council on Instruction,
the Council of Presidents, the Di
vision of Veterinary Medicine and
the Public^ Information Group.
Session Speakers
Speakers at the two general
sessions of the convention are the
Rt. Rev. Msgr. I. Lussier, Rector
of the University of Montreal;
Clifford M. Hardin, president of
the American Association of Land-
Grant Colleges and State Uni
versities; and Ambassador Mo-
hamed Ali Currim Cnagla of India.
Also named speakers are John
K.' Galbraith, of the Department
of Economics at Harvard Uni
versity; Eric A. Walker, President
of Pennsylvania State University,
and C. Clement French, chairman
of the executive committee of the
association.
To Be Panelist
Dr. John Calhoun, Vice-Chan
cellor for Development of the A&M
College. System, is to be a panelist
at one of the division meetings.
His topic is “Accreditation of
Graduate Programs.”
Committees of the association
senate are:
The Committee on Business, the
Central Steering Committee, the
Foreign Technical Cooperation
Committee, the National Defense
Committee, the Committee on
Training for Government Service
and the Water Resources Com
mittee.
The Council of Presidents will
discuss “The Present and Future
Role of Agricultural Extension and
Relations to General Extension.”
Also discussed will be “Coordina
tion of Agricultural and General
Extension Programs” and “Exten
sion Programs and Meeting the
Needs of Urban Areas.”
Dallas W eekend Near
World Wrap-Up
By The Associated Press
Juno II Rocketed Into Orbit
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.—A Juno II rocket leaped
skyward early Thursday in an attempt to orbit around the
earth a “spinning top” satellite designed to probe the myster
ies of the ionosphere.
The 76-foot rocket was powered aloft from this missile
test center at 12:23 a. m. EST. Tucked in its nose was the
90-pound satellite, called Explorer VIII.
Word on whether the satellite achieved orbit was ex
pected from the National Aeronautics and Space Administra
tion in about two hours.
The Juno II rose ponderously from its pad, gradually
picking up speed as its tons of fuel were consumed. After
40 seconds it arched smoothly toward the northeast, spurting
a brilliant tail of fire.
it it
“Dry” Ruling Held Intact
AUSTIN—The State Supreme Court Wednesday left in
tact a lower court ruling that a subdivision of a “dry” county
may hold a local option election and vote itself “wet.”
The high court held it has no jurisdiction in a dispute
rising out of a Castro County local option election Oct. 10,
1959. The ruling in effect upheld an Amarillo Court of Civil
Appeals judgment in favor of the “wet” forces of Precinct 4.
The Court of Civil Appeals on June 20 threw out a de
cision by Dist. Judge Harold La Font that the local option
election was illegal under a constitutional amendment that
went into effect Aug. 24, 1935. La Font agreed with the
county’s “dry” forces that the amendment prevented sub
divisions of a county dry on Aug. 24, 1935, from going wet.
★ ★ ★
Looting;, Raiding Plots Revealed
LULUABOURG, the Congo—An English adventurer told
Wednesday of leading a punitive raid of looting and burning
Baluba tribesmen against their hereditary enemies, the Kan-
iokas.
John Meredith Roberts, 23, admitted leading a reprisal
raid but denied participating in the killing of Kanioka tribes
men, allies of Communist-backed ex-Premier Patrice Lumum
ba.
“My conscience is completely clear,” he said.
★ ★ ★
Siamese Twin Bodies Found
WATSONVILLE, Calif.—The embalmed bodies of red-
haired Siamese twin babies were found in a suitcase in the
vault of the Pajaro Valley Bank here.
Authorities said Wednesday the bodies may have been
in the safekeeping vault of the bank since 1908. Included in
the suitcase were certificates signed and dated 1908 by a
doctor and an Arizona embalmer, and two X-ray negatives.
Bank officials found the twins the day before Halloween
while making a routine inventory of items in the vault as re
quired under a new state law. Packages and articles are
stored together in the safe-keeping vault as opposed to safety
deposit boxes which the bank does not have free access to.
Students Leave
Early As Possible
By TOMMY HOLBEIN
Aggie celebrations are scheduled to start as early as pos-
sible’as the entire Corps of Cadets moves out for Dallas Fri
day, with many, many things on tab for the two days of
festivities.
Included on the list of things to attend are the warm
welcomes awaiting at Texas Women’s University Friday
night, the parade Saturday morning, free barbecue after the
parade, the A&M-SMU clash in the Cotton Bowl, and a tre
mendous college-wide “blast” in Dallas Memorial auditorium
Saturday night.
Special word comes from Rose Ann Annaratone, Aggie
sweetheart of last year, that a “get-acquainted” open house
will be held in the Tessie dor- 4 '
mitories starting at 7 p.m: Fri- tx •Ik •
Hamel Arrives
This Afternoon
For Address
Bonfire First-Aid
Volunteers Needed
The Student Safety Society is looking for students with
first-aid experience and students with jeeps or two-way radio
equipment.
The society is trying to get qualified people to man first-
aid stations during the work on 4
the bonfire .
Anyone interested in joining the
SIGHTS SET FOR TOP JOB
Sweetheart
Arrives Today
For Festivities
The 1960-61 Aggie Sweetheart,
Louise Kuehn, will head a delega
tion of Texas Woman’s University
representatives who will arrive on
campus this afternoon for the in
itial activities of the year’s first
Corps Trip.
Miss Kuehn, a nursing major
from Corpus Christi, and the other
delegates will arrive late this aft
ernoon especially for Yell Practice
tonight.
The other delegates will include
class presidents, prominent social
leaders and other appointed dele
gates on the two campuses.
The group is due at the Me
morial Student Center around 5
and will enter through an arch of
crossed sabers, formed by senior
cadets.
Miss Kuehn will officially be
crowned at halftime during Sat
urday’s A&M-SMU clash in the
Cotton Bowl.
LBJ Ignoring Tower
By The Associated Press
DALLAS—If you listen only to
Sen. Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas,
you will never know he’s running
for reelection to the Senate as
well as vice president of the
United States.
His sometimes flamboyant cam
paign oratory is aimed strictly at
the top job. He is ignoring his
vigorous young college professor
opponent, John G. Tower.
Johnson finds himself in a tight
trap and none of his famous politi
cal savvy can extricate him.
For should he actively campaign
for the Senate, he thereby admits
the Democratic presidential slate
is doomed and he is hunting for
another job.
Tower is under no such restric
tions. The Republican has stump
ed the state untiringly in a well-
organized, obviously well-financed
campaign.
And Tower well could skyrocket
from his political obscurity of a
few months ago into the Senate
seat. Should Johnson become vice
president, a special election would
be necessary, with no primaries.
Thus Tower could expect to be
the sole Republican in such a cam-
test, with possibly a dozen or so
Democrats running and killing
each other off, leaving him top
man.
Johnson shows all signs of con
fidence, as do his supporters. For
instance no unofficial Johnson-
for Senate committees have sprung
up, and certainly they would have
done so had Johnson felt he was
in danger. Such committees would
provide a campaign for him with
out Johnson admitting the need
for one.
Tower, 35, resigned as professor
of government at Midwestern Uni
versity in Wichita Falls to run for
the job.
He is a stocky, handsome,
friendly man who speaks well
from the platform. His students
rated him an interesting teacher.
Tower has one handicap of John
son’s making. Since the Senate
majority leader will not campaign
against him, Tower sometimes
gives the appearance of flailing
at the air.
The professor thus has been
forced to campaign largely on na
tional issues with the hope that
Texas will throw its votes to the
Republican presidential ticket and
carry him along with it.
He once said, “anything that
helps Nixon helps me.”
He said in an interview “I think
it’s obvious thy’re scared.”
He credited fear with bringing
Johnson back to his home st?ite
for nearly a week of campaigning
for the national ticket immediate
ly before Tuesday’s election.
Johnson, of course, is in a way
campaigning for his Senate seat
by letting himself be seen and
heard any time he appears in
Texas. But he so far has dis
cussed the presidential ticket, not
the Senate post.
“I’m the conservative candidate
and Johnson is the liberal,” Tower
claims. Tower says Johnson’s
Senate votes have satisfied the
conservative voters in Texas only
a 10th of the time.
“I know that the odds against
me are terrific, but I am running
to win,” says Tower.
One of his major campaign
points is that Johnson should not
run for two offices at the same
time.
operation is invited to attend the
society meeting to be held Tues
day at 7:30 p.m. in Room 107 of
the ME Shops.
Jerry Brown, president of the
group, asked that anyone knowing
where the society can get hold of
needed equipment contact him at
Room 6-C of Law Hall as soon as
possible.
Last year’s bonfire racked up
more than 37 injuries. Although
none of them were serious, prompt
first-aid attention saved many an
Aggie an uncomfortable time. The
first injury last year was not in
the cutting area, however. It oc
curred about a week before the
crews went out when an upper
classman hurt himself while sharp
ening an axe.
Science Grant
Totaling $19,400
Awarded School
The A&M Research Foundation
has been awarded a grant of $19,-
400 by the National Science Foun
dation. The grant will be used for
the support of basic research ti
tled, “Semiconduction of Organic
Charge Transfer Complexes.”
The research will be under the
direction of Dr. Joe S. Ham of the
Department of Physics. The grant,
now in effect, is for two years.
day, followed by the annual
Aggie-Tessie dance in the
TWU auditorium.
At 8:30 Saturday morning, the
Corps of Cadets will begin forming
at the corner of Market and Rec
ord Streets for the 11-block march
down East Main to Pearl St.
Moveout time will be 9:45 a.m.
Free Barbecue
Following the march-in, the Dal
las A&M Club is sponsoring a
free barbecue for all Aggies and
their dates, to be held in the Var
ied Industries Building on the
northeast side of the Cotton Bowl.
This word comes from Roland Ed
wards, Class of ’43, who is gen
eral program chairman for the
club.
The barbecue will last from 11
a.m. until 1 p.m., giving everyone
plenty of time to move into the
Cotton Bowl for the game. • Stu
dent and date tickets for the an
nual grid clash went off sale yes
terday.
Following the game, a mammoth
aftermath termed “the blast” will
be held in the Dallas Memorial
Auditorium.
It probably to be the finest Ag
gie party in the history of A&M,
with three top name, bands slated
for the evening, playing from 9
p.m. until ?
The bands are Ted Weems, Jim
my Palmer and the Dave Klein
trio, and dancing will be held on
both floors of the spacious audi
torium.
15 Feet Each
It has been calculated that each
person should have about 15
square feet for dancing, since the
total area available is 75,000
square • feet. An expected 5,000
are anticipated to attend and cover
a fair portion of this area.
All cadet units and various dor
mitories will be seated together,
and all students, both present and
former, have been invited to at
tend the festive affair.
Tickets were sold in the dormi-
(See WEEKEND on Page 4)
Governor Price Daniel’s plane is
scheduled to land at Easterwood
Airport at 5 p.m. today for his ap
pearance tonight at a Kennedy-
Johnson fund-raising dinner in the
Jesse Jones Dining Hall at Allen
Academy at 7.
Daniel will be the guest speaker
at the dinner, due to be attended
by Democrats from the entire cen-
tral-Texas area.
The meeting was originally
scheduled to be held in the Texas
National Guard Armory in Bryan.
The reason for the change in loca
tion has not been revealed, but re
ports ■ indicate a larger crowd is
expected.
Tickets may be purchased at the
Kennedy - Johnson Headquarters
near the Bryan Post Office on 26th
St. or from Ed Saenz, Dorm 3,
Room 202.
They sell for $5 per person.
The text of Daniel’s address or
the topic has not been revealed.
Two Architecture
Professors Attend
El Paso Convention
T. R. Holleman, Head of the
Division'of Architecture, and Ben
H. Evans, coordinator of archi
tectural research, Texas Engineer
ing Experiment Station, are at
tending the annual convention of
the Texas Society of Architects,
being held in El Paso through to
morrow.
They are accompanied by Wil
liam G. Wagner and James Wal
den of the Division of Architec
ture, who will meet and work with
architectural students attendinng
from throughout Texas.
IN ENROLLMENT
Brazos Schools
Show Increase
The Bryan and Brazos county schools have in the ten
year period from the 1949-50 school year to the 1959-60 school
year shown a rise in the students in attendance.
In the 1940-50 school year the total number of students
in the county was 6,332 as com-i ———
pared with 8,821 students in the
county schools in the 1959-60
period.
In Bryan in 1950 there were
2,166 white students in school and
1,080 colored students. In the 1960
tally there was a marked increase
in the number of students, 4,586
white and 1,638 colored.
In the A&M Consolidated Schools
there was a marked rise in the
number of white students from
1950 to 1960, the number went
from 614 to 1,261. During this same
period the number of colored stu
dents decreased 10, from 335 to 325.
There were, in 1950, 1,079 white
students in the County School Dis
tricts and 1,058 colored students.
During the decade of the 1950’s
both of these figures decreased
greatly. In 1960 there were 656
white pupils in the County Schools
and 335 colored pupils.
Since the end of the 1960 School
year there has been a gi’eat in
crease in the number of pupils
enrolled in the schools in Brazos
County. As of Oct. 1, 1960, there
are 9,109 students enrolled in the
schools.
The Bryan schools have in
creased to 4,721 white students
and to 1,713 colored students.
In the A&M Consolidated System
the number of white students en
rolled has gone up to 1,333. The
number of colored students has
gone down though to 317.
There has been a slight increase
in the past year in the schools in
the County School District. There
was a rise of nine white pupils
from 656 to 665. There was more
of a rise in the number of colored
students enrolled in the County
Schools, from 335 to 360.