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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 13, 1962)
Back to School Edition The Battalion Section Three UNDERGOING TRAINING Two A&M Graduates May Be Astronauts i. Two A&M graduates, one a na tive of Bryan whose family still es here, have been chosen to bain in the U.S. man-in-space H'ogTam as possible future astro- muts. They are Navy Lt. Commander ^arl Birdwell Jr., whose father arl Sr. is manager of the Ex- :hange Store, and Maj. Byron F. Knolle Jr. of Houston. The two, along with another Texan, Lt. Cmdr. Walter W. Sto- rall of San Benito, began training Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., in June for the purpose of possible participation in the Dyna Soar, Gemini and Apollo projects. Birdwell, 34, has been in the Navy since 1945. He was born in Stephenville and attended high school there for several years but moved to Bryan-College Station during his colleg-e years. In the fall of ’45, he enlisted in the Navy cadet training program. The Navy sent him to school at Southwestern College in George town for another semester. Birdwell has been a pilot ever since he enlisted in the training program. “Carl used to lie out in the back yard,” his father reports, “and watch planes fly overhead. Then he would tell us about the day he would be in one of them.” His father said Carl was so in terested in flying that when he was young he would sneak out and spend money he made selling- newspapers to take flying lessons. Birdwell received a NASA phy sical examination in April at Pen sacola, Fla. % t % ■ ill I i m vnxi vC** m ■111 ' ; v ;' Summertime Frolic [With summer school came coeds, and with dance, one of the many events staged week- jcoeds came dances. The swingers pictured ly by the MSC dance committee, were attending a “Roaring 20’s” Grant Forms Study Group In Chemistry A $650,000 grant from the Ro bert A. Welch Foundation has been accepted by the Board of Directors to establish a chair for research. President Earl Rudder said in come from the grant will be used to endow a professorship known as the “Robert A. Welch Chair of Chemistry.” “It is with great pride that we accept this generous gift from the Robert A. Welch Foundation,” Rud der said. “This endowment will en able A&M to enhance its programs of excellence in science.” Established by the will of Ro bert Alonzo Welch, a Houston philanthropist, in 1952, the foun dation has now approved a total of more than $8.6million to foster and encourage fundamental re search in chemistry in Texas. “The Robert A. Welch Chair in Chemistry” for which this endow ment is made, will be perpetual and actively maintained by A&M per manently,” acording to foundation trustees. The trustees are Daniel R. Bul lard, chairman of board of direc tors of the Mound Company; Wil fred T. Doherty, Mound Company president; Lester Settegast, gen eral counsel for the company; and Rogert J. Wolfe, president of Wolfe Oil and Gas Company. The Department of Chemistry has long been an integral part of scientific education at the college. It currently has 21 full-time faculty members who have received their formal education in 34 dif ferent academic institutions. They are asisted by 38 graduate stu dents and post-doctoral fellows. Also within the department is the Chemical Thermodynamic Proper ties Center, sponsored by the A- merican Petroleum Institute and the Manufacturing Chemist Associ ation. The center is devoted to re search studies leading to best or i critical data on “key” compounds. First State 4-H Horse Show May Be Held Here Next Year Livestock officials in the De partment of Animal Husbandry may stage Texas’ first statewide 4-H Horse Show next Aug-. 22-23. Dr. O. D. Butler, head of the Department of Animal Husbandry, has headed a study group to pro vide a means of recognition for Texas’ rapidly-growing 4-H horse program. A series of halter and perform ance contests are now being rec- Aero Engineering Department Now Has New Name The Department of Aeronau tical Engineering became the Department of Aerospace Engi neering Sept. 1. The new designation, which recognizes the broader scope of this aspect of the School of En gineering, was formally ap proved during the summer by the Texas Commission on High er Education. Aeronautical engineering has been a part of the engineering curriculum here since 1940. In recent years, more emphasis has been placed on the aerody namics, structures and propul sion of missile and space craft as well as aircraft as industry moved in this direction. Lutheran Church Names New Pastor The Rev. Luther Rostvold has been installed as assistant to the pastor at Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church. Rev. Rostvold, 31, is a native of Nashwauk, Minn. After high school he attended Hibbing Junior College until entering the U. S. Army. There he served as tank driver and clerk-typist. He also worked with the Army Service Club, planning all types of programs for service men. < ommended to Texas county agents as an outgrowth of the meeting— along with suggestions on how to best form 4-H horse groups in counties that don’t yet have them. Many already do. How fast each Texas county de velops its own 4-H horse program has to depend on not only a coun ty agent’s initiative, but how much support is given the effort by breeders and other youth lead ers in each county. The state 4-H show, as planned, calls for each county to send a number of its top young horse owners to the state meet — the number to depend on the club’s total membership. By even the most conservative estimate, this should produce a 4-H youth show involving several hundreds of horses. A total of 15 classes are being planned for the two-day show. Nine of these would be halter classes, the rest perform ance classes. In the halter divi sion there would be classes for all types and sizes of mares and geldings. The show is also being sched uled in conjunction with A&M’s third annual Horse Short Course, so that horse-owning families can come to see—or take part in—the 4-H show, then stay for the two- day short course. Nothing Stops Fearless Bride During Wedding An act of nature could not snuff out one August wedding in the All-Faiths Chapel. Just as the organist was ham mering out “Here Comes the Bride,” and the blushing bride herself was about half way down the aisle, the electric organ went silent due to a power failure and the whole auditorium was plunged into total darkness except for a few decorative candles on the alter. Courageously, the bride kept walking steadily toward her groom as though nothing at all had hap pened. After such a display of fortitude, no one else dared cal) the ceremony to a halt. The officiating minister, Rev. Byron R. Lovelady of the College Station A&M Methodist Church, must have had the scriptural pas sages memorized, for it would have been quite impossible to read the vows in such dim lig'ht. However, the whole ceremony turned out to be quite beautiful after all, and at 8:23 p.m. Rev. Lovelady pronounced Coach Dick Johnson and Marlyse Abbot man and wife. The couple is living in College Station. Summer Events Viewed This section of The Battalion’s Back to School Issue is devoted primarily to happenings over the summer and the appointment of new college personnel since the conclusion of the last regular semester last May. Needless to say, everything of consequence that took place over the summer could not be included because of space limitations. This is particularly true with new personnel, since the summer saw a vast turnover of professors as well as the administrators featured on pages 6 and 7. Of course, it was difficult to view some of the summer’s many occurances without also looking into the future. This, too, is done in this section ... as witnessed in the stories and pictures on the new Plant Sciences Building and four of the first Texas Maritime Academy cadets. I l| |! - ’ TEXAS A&M'S OUTSTANDING BOOK STORE Text Books-New and Used Slide Rules and Drawing Equipment Stationery - Engraved Desk Lamps Aggie Souvenirs Aggie Decals Paperback Books Typewriter Rental Study Aids Everything We Sell Is Unconditionally Guaranteed- Pleasant, Friendly Service Modern, Air Con ditioned Store We’ll Cash Your Checks Free Book Covers and Desk Size Blotters r OPEN AFTER CHURCH SUNDAY SEPT. 16 UNTIL 9 SHAFFER'S BOOK STORE Box 890 College Station, Texas THE FRIENDLY STORE SERVING THE MEN OF TEXAS A&M Across From The Post Office — North Gate Open 8 A. M. to 5:30 P.M. Daily ■ s