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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 12, 1965)
AlJO et 'I Che Bdttdlion iJEWSP^P|g Volume 61 COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS THURSDAY, AUSUST 12, 1965 Number 196 Stop iND OR US- UR- xc. The {Presses By LANI PRESSWOOD I If you haven’t seen a myste- rious light in the skies lately mat hovers silently, glows three [different colors, and then tears |ff at Mach II speed, then you’re st not looking. Because the UFO is most def- itely with us again. From Aus- alia to Alaska the sightings have been pouring in the last few weeks. The official term for the tthenomenon is unidentified flying [object, the popular one is flying saucer. I And whether your view is of- ■cial or un-official this UFO Ihing has got to be the mystery |of the century. B Have you ever explored behind Hie covers of one of the serious iflying saucer books” on the paperback stand ? If you want |> keep a completely skeptical utlook on UFO’s, free from any oubts whatever . . . don’t go last the covers. The one that hooked me was kitten by a retired Air Force najor who seems to be pretty trapped up in the subject now. Be throws out a lot of facts in lie book and proceeds from there [to some pretty rank speculation [about the origin of these things. Even if you ignore the specula tion though, those cold hard facts ire still staring at you. And they bake the author’s charge that he Air Force hasn’t been playing (fair with the public seem valid. I The Air Force has an official bureau called Project Blue Book which has been exclusively con- terned with investigating UFO’s dor nearly 15 years now. The luthor, a gentleman named Key- loe, says the Air Force knows a lot more about these babies than they’re telling and that their alibi for their secrecy is the fear of a national panic. I Now these are pretty strong Words but a few incidents which are virtually part of the public domain by now- make you wonder iW’hat all really is in the Blue ook files. ) The famous Captain Mantell case occurred in 1948. An un known object was sighted by ob servers at Godman AFB in Louis- |ille and Mantell was dispatched to investigate. He maintained radio contact with the base, said something was up ahead and that he was moving in closer. | These were Mantell’s last words. His plane suddenly crash ed and the wreckage was widely [scattered. The Air Force said he was chasing Venus. I Then there was the time that fFO’s buzzed Washington D.C., back in 1952. People all over the Capitol city reported seeing a group of strange glowing objects which hovered and maneuvered in the night sky. Perplexed radar operators on he scene watched the blips in prazement. Finally it was de luded to find out what in the am Hill was up there. The near- ist air base was notified and [ithin a few minutes F-94’s were Streaking over the Potomac. When fie jets approached, the objects Iccelerated up to tremendous Ipeeds, and hurtled out of sight j|nd off the radar screens, leaving |he jets pathetically behind. I And there was the Lake Super- i|>r thing a few years ago that |o me is even more ominous. Once a gain, an unidentified flying ob- jject was sighted as a blip on a pdar screen. The thing was cruising out Jver Lake Superior. A jet was [Scrambled and sent up to in- Nstigate. As he steadily gained h the object, the pilot kept up I steady radio contact with the gadar operator. On his screen the fperator watched the two blips, is on gradually moved up behind fhe other. Then the pilot saw the object. _ e said it looked metalic and was ■lowing and he was going in for I closer look. The radar operator watched his screen with horror It what followed. The trailing jllip caught up with the other one *nd then two blips became one. (continued on page 2) Tax Testimony In Consolidated Trial Continues CONSOLIDATED’S BENGAL BELLES The Bengal Belles, composed of junior and senior girls at A&M Consolidated High School, have returned from a drill team school at SMU where they won a third place trophy in competition. The group will soon begin two-a-day practice sessions in prep aration for the coming football season’s halftime activities. Linda Isbel (center) is the drill team’s captain. Testimony continued Thursday in 85th District Court, in the civil jury trial pitting the A&M Consolidated School Distri ct against complaining property owners. The suit, styled Roy W. Kelly and others vs. A&M Consolidated School District, contends that the 1955 tax roll omits many items of personal property which they consider taxable such as bank deposits. It also contends that the new assessments made by the district are inequitable. institutions. The subpoenas re quire them to bring into court individual account statements. Counter motions requesting nullification of the subpoenas have been filed by attorneys re presenting the financial firms. The controversy flared up when the school district revalued from a total valuation of less than $14 million to slightly more than $32 million. The tax rate of $1.98 per $100 valuation was lowered to $1.15 but the assess ment was raised from 40 per cent market value to 80 per cent, thus increasing the total valua tion. District Judge John Barron is presiding over the trial. Frank Harmon is representing the school district in court while Mac Bennett is the attorney for the property owners. Governor’s Pecan Wager Covered By A&M Prof A jury of nine men and three women was selected Monday as the trial began. Prospects are likely for the trial to continue through next week. On Monday Tax Assessor Wil liam Miller testified that auto mobiles have been entered on the Expansion Planned For Civil Defense If Texas Gov. John Connally loses his bet with Pennsylvania Gov. William Scranton on the Texas-Pennsylvania High School All-Star football game Saturday the Keystone State official will receive the finest pecans the Lone Star State has to offer. Scranton recently wagered 1,061 apples—one for every Penn sylvania player recruited by out- of-state colleges—that the all stars from his state would defeat their counterparts from Texas. Connally accepted the challenge and doubled the bet by putting up 2,122 Texas-grown pecans. Dr. J. B. Storey of Texas A&M, secretary-treasurer of the Texas Pecan Growers Association, read about the bet. He wrote the gov ernor and offered 2,122 pecans to be selected from winning entries in the 1965 Texas State Pecan Show Dec. 15-16 at A&M. Con nally accepted. Storey is an associate professor of horticulture. His letter to the governor read in part: “We are confident that you will have plenty of apples this fall and that there is little like lihood that it will be necessary for you to supply Gov. Scranton with the Texas Pecans. However, in the event that Pennsylvania were to win through some acci dent, the Texas Pecan Growers Association would be more than happy to furnish the choice Texas pecans . . . “The Texas State Pecan Show is not only the largest pecan show in the world, but is well recog nized by the industry as contain ing the highest quality pecans. The 840 entries in the 1964 show came from about 350 Texans throughout many of the state’s 180 pecan producing counties. “We would even be willing to ship Gov. Scranton a sample of Texas pecans as a consolation no matter how badly the Texas All- Stars defeat his team.” In his letter of acceptance to Storey, Connally wrote: “It is possible, but not likely, that Pennsylvania will win the game, so I greatly appreciate your offer to furnish the 2,122 pecans from those entered in the 1965 Texas State Pecan Show at A&M. Frankly, it might be worth a defeat in order to introduce Texas pecans to our less fortu nate neighbors in Pennsylvania. Perhaps your offer of a consola tion shipment to Gov. Scranton would serve this purpose.” The governors also bet on the game last year, and the Texans were thumped 12 to 6. Connally paid off with a pair of silver spurs. Scranton had put up a miner’s helmet. The game will be played at Hershey, Penn., and will pit some of the top high school graduate football talent from both states. 1965 tax roll. In Tuesday’s pro ceedings, Dr. Harold Redmond, one of the complaining property owners, volunteered his bank de posits for tax assessment pur poses. Program At A&M Miller agreed to assess the de posits furnished by Redmond, which amounted to slightly over $5,000. It was the first time that the school district has ever rendered a specific bank deposit. The property owners who are filing suit claim that the $32 million valuation recently ap proved by the district would be nearly doubled if all personal property were rendered. Texas A&M’s Civil Defense Training Division of the Engi neering Extension Service has been awarded a $105,000 grant by the U. S. Office of Civil De fense to expand its 1965-66 pro gram. Dr. Willis R. Bodine, chief in structor for civil defense train ing at A&M, said the grant basically provides for addition of a full-time staff member, ad ditional staff travel for personal contact with local government officials, and two new courses. strategic defensive forces are listed before civil defense.” Basic goal of civil defense is the survival of the American population in the event of nu clear attack on : : the United States. Dr. Bodine said emphasis dur ing the year will be on fallout shelters. “Our target is every elected and appointed public official in Texas,” he said. “In turn, we hope they will organize at the local level for disaster prepared- The plaintiffs have issued sub poenas for the appearance in court of representatives of local firms involved in finance, such as banks and savings and loans Contract For $3.25 Million “The continuing importance of civil defense is indicated by the increases we have received for our program,” Dr. Bodine com mented “The first year we re ceived $70,000, the second $80,- 000.” A&M’s program gives train ing support to the State Office of Defense and Disaster Relief, affiliated with the Texas De partment of Public Safety. USD A Laboratory Awarded A contract to design a $3.25 million toxicology laboratory at Texas A&M has been awarded to Matthews and Associates Archi tects and Engineers of Bryan. Rep. Olin E. Teague of College Station notified University of ficials Tuesday. The toxicology facility is one of three USD A laboratories costing $4.25 million to be built on A&M property. The other structures are a $700,000 cotton pathology unit on the university campus and a $300,000 cotton ginning lab planned for A&M’s South Plains Research and Extension Center, Lubbock. Byron T. Shaw, USD A agri cultural research administrator, said the toxicology laboratory will be the largest of its kind in the nation. Most of its research activities will be devoted to pesti cides and insects affecting live stock, he said. Charles E. Estes, partner in the Matthews firm, said the con tract was made by the General Services Administration which has charge of federal buildings and government construction throughout the nation. He said work on preliminary design should start in two weeks. The laboratory will consist of a main one-story building and 12 smaller outbuildings. Estes said the tentative loca tion is south of Farm Road 60 across from the College of Veter inary Medicine. Gus F. White, formerly with the Texas Department of Health, has been hired as the fifth staff member. He will direct the con ference program for public of ficials and teach Civil Defense Management, one of the new courses. Dr. Bodine noted that local government officials are legal ly charged with emergency re sponsibilities. “This means any emergency which threatens lives of people —tornadoes, nuclear explosions, fires and so on,” he stressed. The other new course in de signed for radiological defense officers. “People tend to think of civil defense as a little-bitty thing,” Dr. Bodine continued. “The im portance of civil defense has ranked in the top three protec tive measures in the event of nuclear war by Secretary of De fense Robert McNamara. Only strategic offensive forces and "Numerous shelters have been located and stocked, but we have few trained managers and have made no practice runs,” he add ed. “We need to find more peo ple to do this sort of thing.” In addition to the new courses offered by A&M’s training sta£f, the curriculum includes shelter management, civil defense plan ning and operations, industrial civil defense management and civil defense adult education. A&M Researchers Liquefying Gases W. J. ROBINSON Psychologist Joins Faculty An educational psychologist who helped devise some of the psychological tests used in the nation’s schools, will join the Texas A&M faculty Sept. 1. Appointment of Dr. William J. Robinson as an associate profes sor in the Department of Educa tion and Psychology was an nounced Thursday by Dr. Paul Hensarling, department head. Dr. Robinson comes to Texas A&M from the graduate faculty of the University of Tennessee. “We are fortunate in securing a person of Dr. Robinson’s repu tation,” Dr. Hensarling said. “His services will provide support for our new Ph.D. program in edu cation.” Dr. Robinson will teach courses leading to the certification of school counselors on the master’s level and have charge of course work in educational psychology. Rocket fuel, improved surgical techniques and better steelmaking are a few of the benefits man already has gained from chilling gases to temperatures of minus 296 degrees Fahrenheit or lower. Basic research which may field the secrets for even greater benefits is underway at Texas A&M. The “space race” is a powerful impetus. Dr. C. F. Squire who helped pioneer the field of low tempera ture physics heads the Texas A&M project. His studies date to 1935. Two years later he was working intensively with liquefied hydro gen. “In 1937, I guess, a handful and I were the only scientists in the world fooling with liquid hydrogen,” the A&M professor and associate dean said. Now the National Aeronautics and Space Administration almost routinely orders $75 million worth of liquid hydrogen for rocket fuel. Liquefied gases are a $1.5 billion industry expected to double within 10 years. “Out of the basic research laboratories has emerged this giant worldwide industry,” Dr. Squire said. A basic researcher, he stresses, produces new facts and these are the “raw materials” used by the applied sciences in meeting human needs. The world of liquefied gases is a strange one, Dr. Squire em phasized. “Among the fascinating things we find at these low tempera tures is the fact that metals lose all resistance to electricity,” he continued. Industrial laboratories are exploring ways to use this fact. “The hope that many of us have is that by studying the gross properties of these materials, we might reach a better understand ing of the giant molecules in the life processes,” Dr. Squires said. “These giant molecules are almost life itself and they behave ac cording to quantum laws.” The extreme cold slows the motions of the atoms. This allows better study of their properties and interesting quan tum laws are followed. “A fortunate tie-in” of low temperature physics and NASA’s programs was noted by Dr. Squire. The liquefied gases are to be used as a fuel source to supply energy within the space vehicle on long duration flights. Supporting basic low tempera ture physics research at Texas A&M are The Robert A. Welch Foundation of Houston and a NASA institutional grant. Na tional Science Foundation funds are sought. Graduate students working under Dr. Squire speak casually of temperatures of minus 300 de grees Fahrenheit. Atmospheric gases liquefy at temperatures of minus 296 to 320 degrees Fahren heit. Absolute zero is calculated at minus 459 degrees and research ers have gotten temperatures as low as 1/1000th of one degree. Dr. Squire has reached within three one-thousandth of a degree —on a different scale—of abso lute zero. The world record low is one-ten thousandth of a de gree on the same scale. Re searchers at Oxford University set this record. A&M graduate students know liquefied gases can be dangerous although nitrogen is quite stable. Liquid oxygen is the most dan gerous. Among those A&M graduate students involved in the project this summer are: Edward Za- mecki, Baltimore, Md.; Donald Naugle, Fort Worth; Robert Kasowski, Houston; Herbert Moeller, Norwalk, Conn.; James Miller, Pasadena; Edward Sharp, Uniontown, Pa.; Dr. Thomas Adair III, Houston; and Donald Avery, Prescott, Ark. BASIC KNOWLEDGE FROM INTENSE COLD Texas A&M Professor C. F. Squires uses gases liquefied at temperatures hundreds of degrees below zero to probe the secrets of matter. He is a pioneer in the field of low tem perature physics, doing his first work 30 years ago. Lique fied gases now are a $1.5 billion annually business.