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The Battalion
COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS THURSDAY, JUNE 28, 1962
Number 12
l
Research Project Moves To Annex
VETERINARY PROGRAM GOES TRIMESTER
DR. A. A. PRICE
. announces change
' Change Begins
In Fall Of ’64
1 A major curriculum change has been approved for vet- ,
unary medicine students at A&M effective in the fall of ?
164.
■Veterinary medicine students will then register for
asses under a trimester plan rather than the semester |
—/stem, Dr. Alvin A. Price, dean of the Veterinary Medicine
■®:h(H)l, announced.
■ iThe new program has won approval from students
icujty and the A&M System Board of Directors. The propos-
has been cited by national veterinary publications as well.
i The proposal has been under study by the College’s vet-
■inary medicine officials since 1960.
Dr. Price said the trimester
system is designed to provide
additional student contact
hours in the professional cur
riculum and reduce the total
time investment on the part of
the student.
The new program is the first of
its kind among the 18 schools of
veterinary medicine in the United
• States. The trimester plan is also
the first major change in veteri
nary education since adoption of
the two-year preveterinary re
quirement.
Present training involves a six-
year course of study, including two
years of preveterinary medicine
and a four-year professional study.
4- The trimester plan reduces the
overall amount of time required
in the professional curriculum by
9% months. More specifically, the
program provides for 9 trimesters
of 15 weeks each or 135 weeks of
professional training.
“It’s a compromise between se
mester and quarter systems,” Dr.
Price said. “But the student’s
time invested is nine and a half
less months than the semester
plan.”
A typical school year begins
with the first trimester in early
September and ends before the
Christmas holidays. The next
term begins after the New Year
holiday and continues until mid-
April. The final term continues
from April to early August.
The trimester system provides
663 net days of instruction com
pared to 576 days in the present
semester program.
At the same time, the holiday
schedule would include four days
for Thanksgiving, two weeks for
Christmas, three days for Easter,
three days for July 4 and five
additional weeks per year.
Like any program, the veteri
nary school officials realize the
program has some disadvantages.
“Advantages outweigh the dis
advantages, however,” Dean Price
said.
That students may “burn out”
under the faster pace is one dis
advantage most frequently men-
(See VETS On Page 3)
Unique Aircraft
To Be Developed
A Houston firm announced plans Wednesday to locate
research at the A&M Research and Development Annex for
a Astro-Kenitic Lift, an aircraft which resembles a flying
saucer.
The Astro-Kinetic Corp. of Houston will conduct the
tests that may lead to future development of the unique
craft. Models of the ship are already in operation, with the
phase of local work to concern producing a vehicle for
manned-flights.
Charles E. Hunter, vice-president of Astro-Kinetics, says
the United States Naval Research and Development Bureau
has provided the corporation with a special engine with an
extremely light weight which - * -
The Centennial Queen And Her Court
Researchers
j)®cover New
mall Plants
^Discovery of several new species
| very small diatoms—one-cell
pints of microscopic size—has
sn announced by an A&M re-
irch oceanographer.
nAlbert Collier, director of A&M’s
^Jirine Laboratory, said that sev-
jffil species and genera of the
nute diatoms have been isolated
>m Gulf of Mexico waters at
Iveston.
He and his research associates
^covered the heretofore unknown
«tom types during experimental
jdies on filterable organisms
41]ated from surface waters of
! Gulf.
The biological research scientist
med the diatom species “Chaeto-
r 'oslgalvestonensis” to designate
i location where they were
/ md.
'Diatoms are one-cell plants
it take on many different
j ms,” Collier said. ..“The Chaeto-
L os galvestonensis are micro-
pic in size—1.5 microns on the
cal axis and three microns on
r prevalvar axis.”
n layman’s terms, the overall
lension of a diatom is about
f the size of a human red blood
l, or about the size of the ty-
)id bacillus, he explained.
)ceanographic biologists and
er scientists see many possible
as of study evolving from the
covery of the minute diatoms.
The small size and consequent
|h surface-to-volume ratio of
se cells, plus their ability to
Itiply rapidly, have several im-
iations, for the oceanographer.
niPhese factors might enable the
litoms to reproduce rapidly even
Wier minimal nutrient concentra-
W ns, while their power of intense
iization of nutrients might cause
detion of food for other sea life,
^ said.
^('he diatoms also may interest
mical and physical oceanogra-
w >rs.
These cells might have effect
light scattering, sound scatter-
oj and heat absorption,” said
1 Her. “Because of the large
ount of metabolic and degrada-
, ^ organic residues produced, the
act of diatoms on viscosity and
jjjface tension of the water cer-
^ily needs investigation.”
?
The Bryan-Hood’s Brigade Centennial
Queen is shown honored at the festivities
at Kyle Field which will continue through
Saturday. The pageant begins at 8 each
night during the week. (See pictures on
pages 4 and 5).
TORNADO SPOTTING NETWORK
Meteorological Research
Conducted By Radar Here
Most people who have occasion
to visit A&M are aware of the
huge olive-drab radar tower be
tween Bizzell and Goodwin Halls,
but few know much about it, or
its purpose and function.
The tower is the external end of
a complex radar system operated
by the Department of Meteorology
and Oceanography in its research
and instruction in the uses of
radar in meteorology.
Known officially as the AN /
CPS-9, the set is located on the
second floor of Goodwin Hall in a
darkened, air-conditioned room be
hind doors marked “Authorized
Personnel Only.” It is on more
or less permanent loan to the col
lege by the Air Force. Its maxi
mum range is 400 miles, though
it is rarely used to gather ac
curate information at a range
greater than 250 miles.
The Radar Meteorological Sec
tion is directed by Vance E. Moyer,
who received the degree of Ph.D.
at Pennsylvania State University.
Moyer, who came to A&M in
1958, explained that the operation
of the radar is financed partly
by a grant from the National Sci
ence Foundation for weather re
search.
Logging Weather Data
. . . at meteorological center
“Though our work is almost
purely research, we cooperate with
local civil offices and the U. S.
Weather Bureau,” he said. He
explained that in unusual cir-i
cumstances, such as the passing
of Hurricane Carla through this
area last year, and imminent local
ly severe weather, the radar faci
lities are used to advise and warn
area residents of the conditions
which exist.
Moyer is the meteorological of
ficer for the local Civil Defense
organization. In the radar room is
a telephone which has an unlisted,
unpublished number.
“The number of this phone is
known only by members of our
weather observer network, and
such agencies as the Federal Avia
tion Agency, the Highway Patrol,
and area police forces,” said Moyer.
“We have enlisted the aid of
farmers and ranchers within the
effective operational radius of
our scanner, and each is assigned
an identifying number. Should a
member rancher near Navasota,
for instance, see a funnel cloud
near him, he telephones us, identi
fies himself by number, and re
ports that the cloud is so many
miles from him in such and such
direction.”
“By plotting the information on
our map, starting from the corres
ponding observer number on the
map, we can accurately pinpoint
the location of the funnel, and send
out warnings, if necessary,” said
Moyer.
“You see,” he continued, “radar
is a notorious lair. For instance,"
we are able to distinguish perhaps
only 1 out of 10 tornadoes which
occur in our area.”
“Many times a tornado is con
cealed by heavy precipitation on
our scopes,” he said. “We must
therefore rely on visual observa
tion to a great extent; thus, our
observer network.”
“When they do appear on our
scoupes, they are not particularly
difficult to identify. Almost in
variably, a tornado echo will ap
pear in the shape of a “6”, he said.
“To improve our observing faci
lities, Jake Cangelose, who is the
section Research Engineer, has
built another set which will be
used in conjuction with the CPS-9,”
said Moyer.
“The construction of this new
set was no small feat,” Moyer con
tinued. “Jake has really accom
plished something of a minor mir
acle.”
“We have scavenged and canni
balized parts from all over the
country,” ’ he said. “One part, we
found out, was simply unobtain
able, so Jake just built it.”
“We are in the process of com
piling data for a study of the life
cycles of subtropical precipitation,”
said Moyer. “Using Jake’s set and
some specially adapted 35mm
aerial-type cameras, the research
ers will assemble a large num
ber of photos of radar “weather
pictur*a,” hoping to determine if
identifiable characteristics exist
which will enable meteorologists to
better predict the weather, and
perhaps, eventually to control it.
will be installed in the test
vehicle.
Hunter, speaking on some
of the principles of the air
craft, stated that the lift has a
capability which is a totally new
concept of aerodynamics. “This
new concept device, because of
simplicity of design and low pro
duction cost compared with the
rotary blade concept, will conceiv
ably bring a third dimension to
commuter and personal transpor
tation,” he added.
He said the simple operation of
the lift will permit anyone to oper
ate it with the same ease as driv
ing an automobile. “It has the same
maneuverability ^and load capacity
as the helicopter,” he said.
Corporation President W. Fre
mont Burger labeled the existing
facilities available at the research
annex and the reservoir of highly
trained personnel and equipment
available at A&M College as the
main reasons for the decision to
locate in Bryan.
“We have the man-flight mech
anism about 70 per cent complete
at the present time in our facilities
located at Fairfax, W. Va.,” Burger
said. He added that the first flight
could take place within six weeks
after opening facilities at the
Annex.
Burger referred to construction
of the fiberglass lift as very simple
in comparison to the helicopter. “It
has no complex moving parts such
as rotor heads,” he reported, “and
it is estimated that the initial con
struction cost of the lift will be
less than half that of a compar
able helicopter.”
300 Expected
For Journalism
Training Here
More than §00 high school stu
dents and teachers will attend
the fourth annual High School
Journalism Workshop July 15-20,
according to Delbert McGuire,
workshop director and head of
the Department of Journalism.
The workshop, largest single
week conference of its kind in the
country, is designed to aid both
students and advisors of high
school newspapers and yearbooks
in basic rudiments and advanced
techniques of publication work.
Principal speakers for the three
convocations of the Workshop will
be Dr. Max Haddick, director of
the Interscholastic League Press
Association of Austin; Paul Swens-
son, director of the Newspaper
Fund, Inc., of New York City;
and Walter Humphrey, editor of
the Fort Worth Press.
Assisting in the planning and
operation of the Workshop will be
Dr. John Merrill and Harry O.
Ritter, members of the Depart
ment of Journalism faculty.
In charge of the newspaper di
vision of the workshop will be
Mrs. Edith King of San Antonio
Junior College, and directing the
yearbook division will be Charles
J. Dolan of the Taylor Publish
ing Company, Dallas, and Billy
Pope, faculty member of Pasadena
High School,
Conference Speakers Tell
Of New Chemical Compound
A new chemical compound said
to possess important advantages
in the fight against the vicious
fire ant was described during the
sixteenth annual Pest Control
Operators Short Course.
The new compound also was
described as holding promise in
control of the harvester or red ant
which infests much of South and
West Texas.
The 138 persons registered from
throughout Texas for the two-day
short course also heard discussions
of numerous other insects and of
advances in control measures.
Sponsoring the short course which
ended on Friday was the Depart
ment of Entomology.
Dean R. E. Patterson of the
School of Agriculture welcomed the
pest control operators and praised
their organizations as a means
of disseminating information.
Radar Tornado
characteristic “6”-shaped (arrow)
Dr. J. C. Gaines, head of the
Department of Entomology, was
presented an honorary membership
in the Texas Pest Control Associ
ation in recognition of his individ
ual and the College’s assistance to
the industry. State Association
President Jack Plummer of Galves
ton made the presentation to a
surprised Gaines duxdng the open
ing ceremony.
Most of Thursday was devoted
to a detailed report on termites,
their life cycle, nutrition, and con
trol measures. Dr. Jack Bready
of Purdue University, whose aca
demic specialty is termites, was
the speaker.
The mandibles or jaws of a ter
mite, although strong enough to
bite into hard woods, are delicate
enough to move about the minute
eggs of termites during the incu
bation period, Bready said.
The report of the new compound
which has the common name of
Mirex, was heard during the open
ing session on Friday. F. L. (Roy)
Bailey of Jackson, Miss., spoke. He
is a technical specialist in the agri
cultural chemical development with
General Chemical Division of Alli
ed Chemical Corp.