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COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS THURSDAY, JULY 29, 1965
gjNTESTSf^
Number 194
Stop
The
Presses
English Institute
Nears Completion
For 45 Teachers
By LANI PRESSWOOD
Dozens of people watch while
a murderer pounds his victim
to death on a darkened city
street.
A woman is attacked on a side
walk and lies injured while pass-
ersby ignore her cries of help.
A man riding on a subway is
subjected to a mugging while
other passengers in the car look
the other way.
These aren’t scenes from a far-
out movie or episodes created by
some writer of the macabre.
These things happened in the
U. S. A. of 1964 and 65.
When newspapers carry these
and similar stories, it shocks a
disbelieving nation. People shake
their heads, talk about the “as
phalt jungle” where it’s all hap
pening, and tell you they’re per
sonally glad they don’t live in
such an inhuman place.
I wonder if it’s really that
simple though. If you can sit
down with a map and pinpoint a
few spots and say this place is
guilty while the other areas
aren’t.
I don’t see these as isolated
events. They seem instead
to be the most intense and brutal
examples of Ian attitude v/hich is
growing more and more common.
People are afraid to “get in
volved.” What a lovely, consci
ence-easing phrase — I just did
n’t want to get involved. It’s
not that I didn’t care, I just
didn’t want to get involved.
Don’t you see ?
No I don’t.
I don’t understand good swim
mers who stand on the bank and
watch people die. Or people in
a restaurant who sit frozen
while someone chokes on a chick
en bone lodged in their throat.
Or doctors who tell you one
thing when it’s a matter of ther
apy for an injury and another
when you mention that they
might be called to testify in a
suit. Or professors who keep
their knowledgeable opinions on
public issues to themselves al
though academic freedom at their
schools is ostensibly guaranteed.
Or people who would write let
ters to newspaper editors if they
could do so under the cloak of
anonymity. Or witnesses to
crimes who carry their knowledge
to the grave rather than get
mixed up in a trial.
What is everybody scared of?
Is it the same sort of “fear”
that prompts a majority of col
lege graduates to talk in terms of
security in their future jobs in
stead of opportunity?
Maybe that’s the right word,
security, or rather insecurity.
It’s a fashionable one anyway
and it gets the message across.
But it’s not easy to draw a
line and say this is where inse
curity ends and fear begins.
Whether you prefer to call peo
ple insecure of scared, they are.
This might be the result of the
Depression, whose imprint is still
visible on the generation which
endured it. Or maybe it’s be
cause of the prevalency of the
idea that the world is spinning so
fast you better cling to your
niche with everything you’ve got
because once you slip out of place
you may never again be able to
regain a foothold.
But most likely it’s a side
effect of The Bomb—that awe
some, inscrutable institution
whose presence has been haunt
ing man ever since he realized
just how monstrous his creation
really was.
Whatever the reason, the feel
ing persists that these scattered
but commonplace events are in
some vague but definite way
linked with the callous refusal
to try and help a fellow human
being who is being beaten to
death outside your window.
People are running scared. They
work scared, they vote scared,
and they live scared.
And knowing what scared peo
ple are capable of scares me.
Students in English classes at
41 high schools will benefit from
a new program nearing comple
tion at Texas A&M. The Eng
lish Institute, among the first in
the nation, ends Friday.
The program for 45 high school
teachers began early in June.
The teachers are completing nine
credit hours of study in three
graduate courses, plus wrokshop
sessions. In the workshops they
are preparing teaching units in
composition, study of the lan
guage and literature.
“I think one of the things
the teachers will go away with is
a more professional attitude,”
Professor J. S. Jernigan said.
He is director of the English
Institute offered by the A&M
Department of English. Funding
is under the National Defense
Education Act.
Both the participants and the
A&M English faculty express
satisfaction with the program.
“If a similar institute is ap
proved for next year, as we hope,
I think it is pretty likely to be
much the same because the par
ticipants seem pleased. I have
talked with many of them about
this,” Jernigan said. Some of the
45 teachers, in fact, want to re
peat next year. This cannot be
done.
“Seventeen of the teachers
have decided since they came that
they wish to pursue further grad
uate studies in English here,”
the director said.
The English Institute at Texas
A&M is described as part of the
increasing interest at state and
national levels in updating and
strengthening the English curri
culum in schools.
Primary purpose of the Eng
lish Institute here and on 104
other campuses is to make teach
ers better subject matter special
ists and to acquaint them with
the latest principles, techniques
and materials. At A&M the
teachers had an opportunity to
study the use of closed-circuit
television in teaching English, as
an example.
Lt. Governor Smith
Speaks As Firemen’s
School Continues Here
RICHARD DORN
Grad Student
Dies In Wreck
For the second time in less
than a week, death has claimed
a Texas A&M student.
Funeral services were held
Wednesday at 10 a.m. in Woods-
boro for Texas A&M graduate
student Richard Conrad Dorn.
Dorn died Monday in a Corpus
Christi hospital from injuries sus
tained in an auto accident July
19.
A 1965 graduate of A&M, Dorn
was doing graduate work in mar
keting here this summer. He
lived in Hensel Apartments.
Broken Leg Doesn’t Stop
Persistent Aggie Mother
Mrs. Joe P. Smith always
dreamed of attending Texas
A&M.
When her opportunity came
this summer she didn’t allow
traffic accident injuries to pre
vent her from continuing in the
English Institute for high school
teachers. She was back in class
two days after being released
from the hospital. Her right leg
is still in a cast.
Mrs. Smith is among 45 Eng
lish teachers attending the eight-
week institute which ends July 30.
“It’s the fulfillment of a life
long dream to attend A&M,” Mrs.
Smith said. “From the minute I
was big enough to breathe, I
heard about A&M.”
The Smiths are graduates of
Louisiana Polytechnic Institute.
He is a gasoline plant superin
tendent at Refugio; she teaches
at Refugio High School.
Their son, Jerry Paul, is an
Aggie. This September he begins
studies in the College of Veteri
nary Medicine.
“When my son heard I was
coming to A&M, he was quite
happy in a way. But he said,
‘just wait till I tell my friends
my mother is going to Aggie-
land’,” Mrs. Smith recalled.
Mrs. Smith’s car was struck by
a careening auto near LaGrange.
She was enroute to College Sta
tion after a weekend at home
when the three-car wreck oc
curred on a Sunday afternoon.
She was hospitatlized for two
weeks with a broken heel and
other injuries.
“I kept begging to come back
to school,” the teacher said. “The
idea of having to quit was more
than I could take.”
Missing two weeks of graduate
course work means her grades
will be marked “incomplete” as
the institute ends. She has per
mission to complete work later
this summer.
“Certainly I couldn’t make it in
class here without a lot of help,”
Mrs. Smith said.
Her roommate, Mrs. Ann Riley
of Sweeny, brought meals to their
room so Mrs. Smith would not
have to climb steps and helped
in other ways.
Other participants in the Eng
lish Institute have helped, too.
An address by Lt. Governor
Preston Smith and a public dem
onstration of fire-fighting tech
niques highlighted Wednesday's
activities in the 36th annual
Texas Firemen’s Training School.
Texas A&M is hosting the
school, which began July 25 and
will run through August 6. Over
2,000 firemen are participating in
theevent. First week of the school
is for municipal firemen while
the second will be for those en
gaged in industrial fire protec
tion.
See related pictures, page 3
Smith’s speech came at a ban
quet honoring all visiting digni
taries at 5:30 p.m. in Duncan
Dining Hall. In the brief talk
he praised the school and its
benefits for the public.
He earlier attended a coffee
reception along with other state
officials in the Ramada Inn Ball
room.
Among the visitors were House
Speaker Ben Barnes, Railroad
Commissioner Byron Tunnell, and
numerous state senators and
representatives.
The demonstration began at
7:30 p.m. at Brayton Field, near
Easterwood Airport. It was held
for the benefit of city, county and
state government officials as well
as the general public.
The firemen battled butane gas
fires, bulk fuel storage, car fires,
house fires, and airplane blaze,
and numerous other fires. They
also performed rescue operations
in various simulated situations.
Conducted by A&M’s Engineer
ing Extension Service, the school
is sponsored by the State Fire
men’s and Fire Marshals’ Associ
ation.
Funeral Services Held Sunday
For Professor Of Statistics
LT. GOVERNOR ARRIVES
Lt. Governor Preston Smith, decked out in fireman’s grab,
chats with Hal. H. Hood of the Dallas County fire depart
ment as they watch firemen go through their paces at the
Fireman’s Training School Wednesday. A special dem
onstration was held in his presence at Brayton Field. He
spoke at a banquet later in the afternoon.
Summer Theater
Proves A Success
Funeral services were held
Sunday for Dr. William S. Con
nor, Jr., Texas A&M professor
of statistics. He died unexpected
ly early Friday night at the fam
ily residence, 503 Nagle Street,
after an apparent heart attack.
Dr. Connor had joined the
Texas A&M faculty last Septem
ber as a visiting professor in the
Institute of Statistics.
He had a national reputation
for the design of experiments
and was senior co-author of a
number of publications issued by
the U. S. Bureau of Standards.
He was the author of more than
30 technical papers.
Survivors include his wife here,
three children by a former mar
riage and his parents. The chil
dren are William Clayton Con
nor, Richard Carpenter Connor
and Martha Lynn Connor, all of
Durham, N. C. His parents are
William S. Connor of Waterboro,
S. C., and Mrs. Mary Connor, Co
lumbia, S. C.
Funeral services were held in
All Faiths Chapel on the Texas
A&M campus. The Rev. Walter
McPherson, pastor of the A&M
Methodist Church, officiated.
Burial was in the College Station
City Cemetery. Callaway-Jones
Funeral Home had charge of ar
rangements.
Dr. Connor came to A&M’s In
stitute of Statistics from the Re
search Triangle Institute at Dur
ham, N.C. He earlier served six
years with the Bureau of Stand
ards. Dr. Connor also had been
with industry as a consultant and
on the faculties of the University
of Kentucky and Davidson Col
lege.
He listed membership in varied
professional and honorary socie
ties. Among these are Phi Beta
Kappa, Institute of Mathemati
cal Statistics, Biomerics Society,
and the Royal Statistical Society.
He was a fellow of the American
Statistical Association.
Dr. Connor completed under
graduate studies at Davidson
College in 1943 and graduate
studies at the University of
North Carolina in 1951.
Statistics recently compiled by
the Aggie Players indicate that
summer theater is about to be
come a permanent part of sum
mer activity on the A&M campus.
During June and July the
Players presented 11 student-
directed plays, two readings,
and a variety show in the Fall
out Theater Workshop. A total
of 70 people directed, acted, work
ed on stage crews, or partici
pated in some way in one or more
productions.
Attendance for the six nights
of shows ranged from 50 to 115,
averaging almost 83 per night.
Total attendance, which is be
lieved to have been affected by
the fact that the workshop was
not air-conditioned until most of
the shows were past, was 496.
All of the plays presented were
directed by students in Theater
Arts 383, Techniques of Direct
ing.
Although the directing course
is not being offered this semest
er, C. K. Esten, instructor for
theater courses offered through
the Department of English and
director of the Aggie Players,
has announced two plays to be
presented August 6 and August
9.
The first play, “Sharon,” by
Kipp Blair, a three-year member
of the Players, is being directed
by Tim Lane. Lane previously
directed “Hello Out There,” by
William Saroyan, in May, and
“Courage, Brother,” a play of his
own, in June.
The second play, “A Child Is
Crying,” by B. L. Lenoir, will be
directed by Lenoir, who also di
rected “The Fisherman,” by Jon
athan Tree, presented July 8.
Both directors were students in
the directing course the first
summer semester.
Esten expressed pleasure with
the summer theater workshop’s
success.
Full-Scale Educational TV Begins This Fall
EDUCATIONAL TV MONITOR
This is one of the educational television monitors being
installed in various buildings on the Texas A&M campus.
The program will begin full-scale operation in the fall. At
the present time the system is being used chiefly in English
instruction.
By JERRY EARL and
DON MIKA
Special Writers
Beginning Sept. 1 the Educa
tional Television Program at
Texas A&M will begin its first
full-scale operation, according to
Mel Chastain, program director.
At the present time, a series
of tapes is being used by Dr.
Lee Martin, head of the program,
as an aid in teaching English.
In the Academic Building, these
tapes are being viewed over
monitors in the classroom itself.
Seven classrooms In the Aca
demic Building are now ready for
use. More monitors are being
placed in Francis Hall as well as
in the biology building. By
September, 730 students per class
period can be aided by this new
TV system.
In the summer of 1964 the
A&M Board of Directors gave
final authorization for the equip
ment and construction of an edu
cational television station. Upon
completion of the new library,
the station will be moved to the
old library where it will be housed
on the first three floors.
From the location in the
library, programs will be trans
mitted to almost every classroom
building on the campus.
Meticulous care was taken to
insure each student audio and
visual clarity while viewing the
monitors. These studies on view-
ability concluded that 26 feet was
the maximum distance which any
student could be away from the
monitor.
Chastain believes this station
will have the best television
equipment availiable on the mar
ket.
When the station begins broad
casting by closed circuit radio
frequency this fall it will have
two black and white Marconi
cameras, an Ampex 2000 video
tape recorder, one 1100 Ampex
tape recorder, one studio vidicon
for still pictures and a control
panel that will equal almost any
other commercial or educational
television station.
Although the station is now
designed for closed circuit opera
tion, future plans call for UHF
broadcasting within 36 months.
Because UHF educational broad
casting performs a public service,
the Department of Health, Edu
cation and Welfare will match the
funds put up by A&M.
Until UHF broadcasting is
begun, the station will operate
from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. every week
day using closed circuit program
ming. Pilot subjects for fall 1965
will be English, Accounting,
Biology and Psychology.
Educational television will en
able the professor to pre-record
the lecture in the morning for
re-play several hours or days
later. The ability of television
to magnify very small objects
under microscopes to full 23-inch
monitor size will afford students
an opportunity to see things
which they might not otherwise
have been able to see.
Educational television will also
allow important lectures from
authorities to be recorded and
played back at any time. If the
professor wants to supplement
his lecture with certain programs
related to the subject, this too
can be arranged.
“We don’t intend to promote
‘black-box’ education at Texas
A&M. Effective educational tele
vision is a supplement to, rather
than a substitute for education,”
said Chastain. Chastain also
noted that there will most likely
be a professor in the class to
answer questions by the students
when television is used widely.
Future plans for educational
television will also include the
purchase and operation of a mo
bile studio. The advantages of
having a mobile studio are center
ed around the flexibility of tele
cast locations. Wildlife projects in
the field can be taped for re-play
the next day or the same equip
ment can be taken into labora
tories for live telecasting of com
plicated experiments which are
too difficult to be transported to
the main studio for taping.
Another project under careful
planning is future membership in
the Texas Educational Microwave
Project. This project is a system
of microwave towers linking eight
colleges and universities together.
This network was started in 1960
under a grant made by the De
partment of Health, Education
and Welfare for the advancement
of educational television in Texas.
To join this network it would be
necessary to construct three
microwave towers between Col
lege Station and Austin at a cost
of $300,000.
The purpose of this system is
to transmit to all member sta
tions educational tapes which
individual stations may lack. The
system also gives a wider scope
and selection of subjects which
would enhance the programming
material of each individual
station.