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A&M Educational Costs
Low Despite Fee Hike
Texas A&M administrators announced last month a
$21 increase in fees for board and laundry, to be effective
next fall.
This, of course, caused some head-shaking among stu
dents, and possibly an even stronger reaction from parents
who are footing the ever-increasing costs of a college educa
tion.
But while Aggie education costs do increase now and
then, it remains that after a student has spent four or
more years in Aggieland and received his degree, he has
spent considerably less than his counterpart at other land-
grant and state-supported institutions.
In figures recently released by the National Associa
tion of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges, of which
A&M is a member, the median in-state tuition for 1965
was $311. The Aggie from the Lone State State still pays
$100 per year. Out-of-state tuitions for these colleges
soared to $734 per year, while the non-native Ag pays onlv
$400.
Aggies shelled out $360 per man for board during 1965,
and even when the increase to $396 goes into effect next
fall, it will still be well below the Land-Grant mean of $450
for food.
While there were no separate records kept for laundry,
the A&M rate of $17 a semester, to be raised to $20, would
certainly not be considered outrageous. Especially when
a large percentage of these universities do not even offer a
laundry service.
While Aggies make comments about the changable
quality of chow served in the mess halls, they may bear
in mind that of the 95 association members, 17 offered no
board plan, one offered a six-day plan and four offered
only a five-day plan.
There is no way to measure the quality of a degree
in dollars and cents, or its worth in relation to the fees
paid. But A&M has always offered an above-average edu
cation at relatively low cost.
Three universities similar in curriculum to A&M -—
all in the South — may be a good basis for cost comparison.
They are Clemson in South Carolina, Georgia Tech, and
Virginia Tech. With A&M, they represent some of the
South’s finest technical institutions.
Clemson charges the highest tuition and required under
grad fees of the four, with a yearly total of $486. Virginia
Tech is next with $420, Georgia Tech runs at $300 while
the Aggie pays only $170.
In board, Georgia Tech is most expensive, while A&M’s
new hike will boost it to third highest of the four. In
Georgia the young engineer will dine for a yearly cost of
$510, while his counterpart in Virginia will fork over some
where around $443. Clemson’s $380 board fee was $20
above last year’s food cost in Aggieland, but is slightly
below the $396 to be paid next year.
All-in-all, the Aggie gets an education that compares
favorably with the one offered by similar schools in the
South, but at a considerably lower cost.
Even with that $21-a-semester fee increase.
A water safety instructors
course will be offered the spring
semester for students who plan
to work as lifeguards and in
structors this summer, according
to Swimming Coach Art Adam
son.
The course will be at 9 a.m.
on Tuesdays and Thursdays. In
addition, students will be requir
ed to attend one class a week for
practice teaching. In April or
the first part of May students
Che Battalion
Page 2
College Station, Texas
Tuesday, January 18, 1966
• Opinions
• Cartoons
Features
Battalion Interview
With Col. Morris S. Schm
:
-
Draft Outlook Examine!
What are the college student’s chances with his draft board? Will draft calls continue to sc
These and other hot questions are answered by Col. Morris S. Schwartz,
Texas director of Selective Service, in an interview
With Battalion Editor Glenn Dromgoole
Poll Tax: Ticket To Vote
Deadline for payment of the poll tax — the “ticket to
vote” in 1966 elections — is closing in.
Democrats, Republicans, liberals and conservatives are
emphasizing this in the wind-up of their voter registration
drives this week.
All sides apparently are concerned that some of their
supporters may fail to qualify, because of the confusion
over the federal suit to ban the poll tax.
Atty. Gen. Waggoner Carr and State Democratic Ex
ecutive Committee Chairman Will D. Davis issued re
minders that federal judges who will rule on it have advised
Texans to pay their poll taxes, since they will reach no
decision before Jan. 31.
Carr noted these requirements for voter eligibility in
1966:
• Those who want to vote in all primary, general or
special elections for nomination of candidates (including
state and local), or on bond issues, constitutional amend
ments and other propositions — and who hold no exemp
tions — must pay the $1.75 poll tax no later than the
end of the month.
• Persons over 60 must obtain exemption certificates
by Jan. 31.
• Those turning 21 years of age can secure exemp
tion certificates up to 30 days prior to an election, as can
new residents just completing their residential eligibility
by election date.
• Free poll tax receipts are available through Jan. 31
to qualify voters to cast ballots for federal officers (U.S.
senator and congressman only this year).
Apparently, 1966 will see lots of political action —
and the voter without a poll tax will be on the outside
looking in.
Water Safety Instruction
To Be Offered In Spring
will have to spend five nights,
Monday through Friday, with the
district representative of the Red
Cross for instruction.
The course will replace the old
theory course 210 but the pre
requisite is senior life saving.
The course is now going to be a
regular physical education
course and will be needed by
those planning summer jobs re
lated to swimming.
Q. Col. Swartz, what is the
present draft quota for Texas?
A. The draft quota for Jan
uary is 1,475. I can reasonably
say this is twice as much as this
time last year.
Q. About how many men are
registered with the Selective
Service in Texas ?
A. As of Dec. 31, 1965, there
were 1,709,528.
Q. And about what percent
age of these actually are pres
ently 1-A?
A. We have 12,734 who are
1-A not examined. In that total,
there are about 11,000 orders to
report for pre-induction examina
tions. That right there gives
you an idea of how short we are
of manpower in the state.
Q. What are the various
classifications and what do they
mean?
A. (1-A) Eligible for no other
classification and available for
military service. (1-C) On active
duty in the military service.
(1-D) Member of armed forces
reserve or a student taking mili
tary training. (1-S) College or
high school student subject to
deferment by law for short peri
od. (1-A-O or 1-0) Conscientious
objector. (1-W) Conscientious
objector working in an approved
civilian job. (1-Y) Qualified for
military service only in time of
war or national emergency. (2-C)
Farm job deferment. (2-A) Civ
ilian job deferment. (2-S) Col
lege student. (3-A) Fathers.
(4-A) Completed military serv
ice. (4-B) Public officials. (4-C)
Alients. (4-D) Ministers and divi
nity students. (4-F) Physically,
mentally or morally unfit for
service. (5-A) Too old for mili
tary service.
Q. Who decides student and
civilian deferments?
A. The local boards.
Q. What factors do they take
into consideration for civilian or
farming job deferment?
A. They ask if the man is
engaged, except for a seasonal
or temporary interruption, in the
activity; if he can be replaced
by persons with his qualifications
or skills; and if his removal
would cause a material loss of
effectiveness in the the activity.
Q. What is the policy concern
ing college Students?
A. We recommend that local
boards regard the student’s un
dergraduate study to be in the
national interest: When he is
certified as satisfactorily pur
suing a full-time course of in
struction (colleges usually con
sider a minimum of 12 hours as
full-time); or when he is certified
as pursuing less than a full-time
course if the local board finds
that he is making satisfactory
progress towards attainment of a
bachelor’s degree in four succes
sive calendar years, or five suc
cessive years in case of those de
grees normally requiring five
years of study.
Q. What about deferments for
college students — do you expect
them to be tougher to get?
A. I think if a boy goes to
college, he has an interest in
going to college. If he’s taking a
bachelor’s degree and maintains
his scolastic equilibrium for the
first four years, I think the board
would go along with him for his
first bachelor’s degree. I think
also that if he is anxious to go
to graduate school, the board
would give consideration to that
because he has to be a pretty
good student to go there. But
THE BATTALION
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The Battalion, a student newspaper at Texas A&M is —
College Station. Texas daily except Saturday, EDITOR GLENN DROMGOOLE
ptember through Managing Editor Gerald Garcia
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The Associated Press, Texas Press Association Photographer ... Herky Killingsworth
I don’t think the board will let
him work or an additional bache
lor’s degree.
Q. Are draft calls in the near
future expected to reach Korean
War proportions?
A. I haven’t the slightest
idea. The President hasn’t said
what he wants. All we know
is they want to build up the
services to 3 million. That would
mean an additional 335,000. If
it went beyond this, we could
easily have a call similar to
Korea — it reached 80,000 then
and some Reserve and National
Guard units were called.
Q. How would these quotas
be filled ?
A. I’m afraid that we’d really
have to ride close on the student
picture. In Texas, we have 105,-
379 student deferments. Now
these lads are military age boys.
Of course, I don’t know how
many of those would be physical
ly deferred. They all should be
able to pass the mental test.
Q. Who would be called after
the college students?
A. After they take the stu
dents and all-single men, then
they will have to take fathers.
Before we’d do that, we would
take those that are 1-A and be
tween 26-35. But that’s just
a drop in the bucket. Also, we
have 183,711 in 1-Y classifica
tion, but I doubt that we’d get
more than 20 per cent of them.
While we’ve got a lot of people
in numbers, when the time comes
to say where they are — they’re
just not here.
Q. Do you think Selective
Service will resort to tests in
choosing college students ?
A. I hope not. I think that
we are going to get from the reg
istrars the kind of cooperation we
need. We’ve got to remember
that we’ve got a war on and a
lot of people don’t seem to realize
this. It’s one that is going to
require a dedicated effort by the
military services and the home
front.
Q. Do draft boards show pre
ferences for certain fields of stu
dy — for instance, would a stu
dent in engineering be less likely
to be called than a student in,
say, liberal arts?
A. During World War II and
the Korean War, the board did
take into consideration what
would be best for the national in
terest. Many of the defense
plants specified certain types of
graduates. It is up to the local
board to decide what might be in
the national interest. The hu
manities are sometimes just as
necessary as any other field. I
think maybe some draft boards
might not consider a student
majoring in piano as being in
the national interest. There
again, though, just what does
the local board consider to be
in the national interest?
Q. What is the status of
graduate students?
A. Various deans of graduate
schools have convinced me that
boys who are working on a Ph.D
need the full three years above
their master’s degrees for re
search, practice and dissertation.
When a student goes to graduate
school, the dean notifies us that
he has been accepted. The local
boards consider five years as
reasonable time for graduate
work.
Q. Is a student preparing to
teach accorded any special privi
leges?
A. There is no group defer
ment, but as individuals they
are given serious consideration
for deferment.
Q. When a student graduates,
about how long is it before he
is reclassified 1-A?
A. Just as soon as the local
board receives word from the
registrar’s office that he is no
longer in school or has been
graduated. He would perhaps
be reclassified at the next board
meeting. They meet once a
month. Of course, they can meet
at any time and with our needs
so critical, they may be meeting
more often.
Q. And then about how long
before he is called for physical
and mental examinations?
A. He would be called at the
next date for physical examina
tions, usually once a month. He
would be more likely to be called
than some boy who has just fin
ished high school. The induction
process is in reverse order—we
take the oldest first. Right now,
we’re in the 19 age group.
Q. If a person is found quali
fied for service, about how long
after his physical is it before he
is called into the service?
A. We have to give him 21
days notice when he gets his
physical. From the time he gets
his physical, he can count on 22
days before he gets his orders
for induction.
Q. So then, a college graduate
in good condition could expect
to be drafted in ?
A. A boy who graduated in
May in all probability would go
pretty early in July.
Q. Have there be«t
youth in Texas involved ii
draft demonstrations?
A. I haven’t heard of
Q. What would be ;
in handling these personi'
A. If a boy burns !iii|
card, that’s the Justice 1
ment’s problem.
Q. What is your opit^
such demonstrations?
A. Everyone who
this country is great
on the forefront and
be criticizing. Of coura,|
have the freedom to critici
some people don’t seem to
the responsibility that
this freedom. This is
time that the college a:
have been infiltrated will
core communists. I think!
trying to get the men 1
country thinking along
lines and it may somedayif"
us considerably.
Q. Do you believe tlnl|
ent conscription practices
inequalities?
A. I don’t see any
ties in the system for
son: The system places
istration and classificati:
hands of the local board,
to appeal. If he doesn’t!
the local board has els
him, all he has to do isi
within 10 days. This is
to the appeal board wittii
Federal judicial district ati
five men examine his ft
make their decision. Sol
along with local board tl
cations and some reverse
A split decision on the s
board can be appealed li|
President.
Jokes, Tensions Mark Process
Draft Physical Exams Reviewed
Editor’s Note: Clovis McCallister, former Battalion News Editor
and presently a reporter for the Midland Reporter-Telegram, relates
his experiences with the draft’s physical examination. (Reprinted
from the Midland Reporter-Telegram.)
By CLOVIS McCALUSTER
“What in the hell are you doing here?”
Although the answer was apparent, the question seemed the most
typical exchange among 16 men who climbed aboard a Selective Serv
ice chartered bus one afternoon last week in Pecos.
Old neighbors, underclassmen and fellow graduates were begin
ning their trip to Ft. Bliss at El Paso for the Armed Services physical
and mental examinations.
In addition to the 16, three others were bound for induction.
Of the group, six were married, two over two years and one just
a short month. A majority of the group had been to college and most
were recent graduates. A couple had just dropped out the past semes
ter and planned to return as soon as possible.
Most of the men were being paid by their employers for the time
while they were under the care of th U. S. Some were not. Jobs in
cluded school teaching, credit manager and oil company pumper.
The group joked, cursed the government and President Johnson
and the draft board.
One prospective draftee got a taste of the military when he first
received his notice to appear. He lived near El Paso, and wanted to
meet the group in El Paso. But he was ordered to travel to Pecos,
some 227 miles.
He drove to El Paso, left his car, purchased a ticket to Pecos, left
at 6:30 a. m. on a bus from downtown El Paso, got to Pecos at 11:30
a. m., got back on the bus at Pecos at 2 p. m., got off the bus at 6:30
p. m. in El Paso at the same place he had boarded it earlier, walked
across the street and took his room provided by the Army. All by
order of the U. S. Government.
On the bus, the group joked, exchanged ideas about their chances
for being selected and became reacquainted. Some relived the past
and recalled forgotten friends. And continued to curse the govern
ment.
After arrival in El Paso at the Army YMCA and supper provided
by the Army, the group quickly went their different ways, most
meeting at one place or another on the other side of the i
Juarez.
Nothing but money stopped the group until the 5:30 a. m, 1
the YMCA for breakfast, Luckily, all showed up.
At the induction center, the propects were greeted by the
and ushered in for the start of the physical examination, whitt
broken into two parts.
There were moans about “three foot needles” used for tapfi
blood, and that the floor was too cold for bare feet.
And there were those personal indignities.
Finally, 5 of the 16 were called in for another session
induction sergeant and were informed that “they had beet
enough to be qualified.
As the five returned and told their news, the remaining UK
signs of relief, talk buzzed and smiles appeared. Then two
found they had to have further testing, another that he was
turn Jan. 11 and another five were needed for additional i®|
tion.
Those who had medical histories provided by their fam®
tors as proof of some physical limitation were not selected.
Of those selected, two were college graduates, both ff*
another lacked a year of schooling and the others had had some 1
They were informed that they had at least 22 days befoP
would be called for induction, and the oldest would be call#
unless he had been married before Aug. 26, 1965. Those i f
group would be called only after the unmarried and those
since Aug. 26 had been called.
The only comfort was the news that under an act passed
1950’s, the draftee was not legally responsible for his debts'#
service, but they would continue to mount interest through ther
in the service.
Thoughts of those selected then turned to what they ^
Some drifted into the idea of Officers Candidate School,
others eyed enlistment and the reserves.
Then it was time for the return trip.
But five of those aboard now knew that instead of return
routine civilian lives, they could soon find themselves behind *|
in a Viet Nam rice paddy.
PEANUTS
By Charles M.!
I-
I DON'T KNOU) IF I SHOULD
BELIEVE HIM OR NOT...HE 6MS
HE'S ALLER6ICT0 SN0U)!
H'OU MEAN VES, I DON'T
FOR MONE*/? HAVE ANY USE
FOR BEADS'
—
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-
I 6UESS A 6000 BUSINESSMAN
CANT AFFORD TO BE SARCASTIC...