i PIES
Che Battalion
Volume 61
COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9, 1966
Number 279
Dean Reveals
iVuto Fee Hike
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By DANI PRESSWOOD
Battalion News Editor
Dean of Students James P.
Hannigan revealed Tuesday a
parking registration fee increase
will become effective next fall to
finance current and future park
ing facilities construction.
Approved by the Board of
Directors last week, the fee
would increase the rate from $3
to $5 per semester, $3 to $4 dur
ing the summer, $6 to $9 over
for the nine-month regular term
and from $7.50 to $10 annually.
“Parking fees will be the main
source of revenue for the new
parking lots,” Hannigan said.
“With the extra and existing
funds several new lots will be
constructed as well as maintain
ing the present ones.”
Hannigan added that until re
cently state funds had been used
for parking facilities but a law
passed recently prohibits the
appropriation of state funds for
that purpose.
Presently under construction
is a lot at the junction of Spence
Street and Farm Road 60 capable
of holding about 220 automobiles.
According to Hannigan, an
extension to the G. Rollie White
Coliseum parking area will be
built in the immediate future.
“This addition will extend the
present lot south to the new
tennis courts being constructed
and provide space for around 700
more cars,” he noted.
The Board approved $75,000
for the project last week.
Another projected parking
area site is a strip running sev
eral hundred yards along the
west edge of the campus.
“This lot will go from Kyle
Field to the underpass under
construction,” Hannigan said.
“Several railroad tracks will be
torn out to accommodate the
parking site. Estimates are that
it will hold a couple of thousand
cars.”
Hannigan predicted the con
struction of parking facilities on
the lot west of the Memorial Stu
dent Center and east of G. Rollie
White Coliseum, depending upon
the site chosen for the proposed
auditorium.
“Wherever the auditorium is
built it will be surrounded by
blacktop and the other area will
have a smaller parking area,” he
explained.
A&M has 7,782 cars registered
for on-campus parking, while
street and lot facilities only ac
commodate 6,395.
r¥¥¥Tiviv. MARRIAGE FORUM ™
Sociologist Says
Truth Important
For Happy Union
By ROBERT SOLOVEY
Battalion Staff Writer
Truth is stranger than fiction.
And in the 20 years that Dr. Robert Ledbetter, University of
Texas sociologist, has been counseling marriages, he has found
that statement to be a basic fact.
Speaking Tuesday in the second of five forums sponsored
by the YMCA, Ledbetter stressed how to make marriage mean
ingful.
There is no one element that will make a marriage a success.
Sex is an important element but not necessarily the strongest ele
ment, he noted.
“Sex does not have the carrying power over the years,” he said.
He said that there are a great many expectations, often false,
that each individual has of the other person prior to marriage.
‘Most people haven’t faced up to the realities of a relationship.
Some become disillusioned when what they get isn’t what they
expected,” he said.
Ledbetter cited a case where a young college girl apparently
wanted to. snub her boyfriend and did so by writing him a letter
outlining her expectations of him that he couldn’t possibly realize.
She wanted her future marriage to possess all of these qua
lities: love from both parties, similar interests between mates, the
same religion, the same morals and trust, two children and similar
political beliefs.
She also wanted a husband who was kind and considerate, a
family man consistent but fair in discipline, good at remembering
the little thing and dates, older and intelligent with nothing less
than a master’s degree, with a pleasing personality and who didn’t
smoke or drink.
She further wanted for a spouse a person willing to work so
that she wouldn’t need to take a job, attractive, independent of his
family, a gentleman, an appreciative person, a person who would
remain agi'eeable and never go to sleep angry, a person interested
in travel (here she listed specific countries), a person who would
give and take and be tolerant.
The boy replied with a letter in which he dropped his
candidacy.
Ledbetter listed seven topics that could be used as weapons
and cause emotional problems in early marriage.
1. Sex—it should be a great strength but is often used as a
weapon of domination.
2. Money — the wife who goes on a shopping spree to get
back at her husband until she finds out that he cancelled her credit.
3. In-laws — dependence on the support of the parent families
and the wife’s threat to “go home to mother.”
4. Food — the wife who refuses to cook a meal because she
is mad at her husband.
5. Children — who are used by their parents as tools and are
caught between their problems.
6. Social relationships — whose friend to invite to a party
or whom with which to associate.
7. Religion
“First there must be communication, it is a basic factor. Many
people don’t even know that they’ve offended their partners because
they never discuss things with each other,” he noted.
“There must also be an acceptance of each individual for what
he is. Unfortunately, we rarely reveal our true selves prior to
marriage.”
“There must be an understanding of each other for the things
that make them unique, and there should be love and affection;
a combination of love, self sacrifice and true friendship,” he
concluded.
Pulitzer Winner
Speaks Tonight
Pulitzer-prize winning his
torian-journalist Allan Kev
ins will deliver the fifth in
a series of University Lec
tures at 8 p.m. tonight in
the Chemistry Lecture Room.
Nevins will speak on “Is
The Press Properly Serving
American Democracy?”
Nevins, president of the
National Academy of Arts
and Letters, has won two
Pulitzer Prizes for litera
ture.
He is the author of more
than 30 volumes and is best
known for his books on the
Civil War.
Nevins has also won the
Bancroft Prize, Scribner
Centenary Prize, the Gold
Medal for history and bio
graphy from the National
Academy of Arts and Let
ters and the Gold Medal of
the New York Historical So
ciety.
NSF Awards
Research Aid
For $82,200
Two National Science Founda
tion grants for Texas A&M total
ing $82,200 were announced
Tuesday.
The largest award, $52,200,
supports research by Dr. Charles
D. Holland, Department of Chem
ical Engineering head. The funds
will support his work on “Dyn
amic Behavior of Distillation
Systems”, for two years.
Holland and three graduate as
sistants plan to develop models
for distillation columns at un
steady state operation of separ
ating multicomponent mixtures.
Dr. Charles Squire, associate
dean of the College of Science, is
principal investigator for work on
the properties of liquid. The
project has been awarded $30,000
for two years.
“Intrinsic Volume Viscosity in
Liquids” is the technical title of
the project. Squire expects to
direct four or five graduate stu
dents in this field.
“We are looking into the prop
erties of liquid argon” Squire
added. “We expect to be world
pioneers in finding properties of
liquid neon.”
The study has been aided by
a $1,000 gift of Freon-14 from
DuPont Chemical Company.
k. N -V
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INVENTOR ENCOUNTERS OBSTACLE
. . begins demonstration of object detector.
MIMS MOVES AWAY
. . detector guides him clear of table.
NOW STEPS ASIDE
. Mims almost around table here.
DETOUR COMPLETED!
. radar-like invention pans out.
Aggie Edison Revealed
Invents Object Detector For Blind
Class Election Filing
Open Until March 15
Sophomore, junior and senior
class positions are open for filing
in the Student Programs Office.
The deadline is set March 15.
In addition to class officers,
the three senior and two junior
yell leader posts will be open.
The election is scheduled
March 24.
Easter Seal Committee Plans
Extensive Mailing Campaign
Clarence M. Jones, chairman talent contest during the March
of the Brazos County Easter Seal
Committee, said this week a con
centrated mail campaign in
Planned for College Station-
Bryan late in March.
Funds raised from the local
Easter Seal campaign will be
Osed to finance local, state and
Sational programs for crippled
children. About 74 per cent of
'ocal contributions will be re
fined for the Brazos Valley
Rehabilitation Center, transpor-
^tion to hospitals and the annual
Crippled Children’s Clinic.
Jones, a Bryan architect, said
the committee is planning a Lily
Day for April 2 and a teenage
Anderson Resigns
English Head Post
Dr. John Q. Anderson, head of
the Department of English since
1962, will resign August 31 to
kcept a post at the University
cf Houston.
The folklore expert will be a
Professor of American literature
‘t the Houston school.
Anderson joined the A&M fac-
% in 1953. A native of Wheel
er, he received his Ph.D. from the
University of North Carolina in
*352.
25-April 4 local drive.
The drive, sponsored by the
Brazos County Society for Crip
pled Children, will also aim at
local public schools for pupil con
tributions. Jones said no student
campaign is scheduled for Texas
A&M, but that married students
will be contacted.
“Single students have their ties
at home,” Jones explained, “but
the married couples are more
likely to be involved with Bryan
and College Station activities.”
Other Easter Seal committee
members appointed by Dr. R. E.
Leighton, society president, in
clude Mrs. Charles Tanner, treas
urer; Mrs. L. P. Coffey, service,
civic and social clubs; Mrs. Clar
ence M. Jones, mailing chairman;
Miss Judy Wendell, schools, and
Dan Chadbourne, special advisor.
Local Easter Seal children are
Byron Moore, son of Mr. and
Mrs. B. D. Moore; Emily Adkins,
daughter of Mrs. Orna'Mae Ad
kins, and Kimberly Badgett,
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John
L. Badgett, all of Bryan. Badgett
is a student here.
Last year’s Brazos County
campaign raised $2,804.45, with
$1,500 going to the Brazos Valley
Rehabilitation Center.
PUBLIC SCHOOLS WEEK VISITORS
A College Station family studies a biology exhibit at A&M
Consolidated Junior High School during Public Schools
Week being observed in local schools this week. Schools
will continue with special activities for parents through
Friday.
By LANI PRESSWOOD
Battalion Amusements Editor
Whoever said there was noth
ing left to invent?
Forrest Mims, a Texas A&M
senior, has produced a device
completely on his own which may
eventually become an invaluable
boon to the blind.
Mims, who calls his invention
an object detector, finished his
first prototype Monday and is
now in the process of having it
patented. It works on the same
principle as radar, only using
concentrated, infra-red light in
stead of radio waves.
In simplest terms, the device
works this way:
A transmitter sends out a
strong, invisible beam of infra
red light. This beam is reflected
off objects in its path and is
picked up by a highly sensitive
photoelectric cell.
There, the reflected beam is
converted to an audible tone by
a four-transistor amplifier. The
intensity of tone is determined
by the distance of the object, so
the closer the object the louder
the tone.
Mims’ unit is now contained in
two small plastic boxes. To de
monstrate the device’s capacity
for minitiaturization, he hopes to
complete a working model
housed in a container just slight
ly larger than a pill box by the
end of the week.
“I’m now in the process of
getting financial backing from
an on-campus group,” Mims ex
plains, “ and my idea is to event
ually develop a marketable see
ing aid that would fit in a
pair of eyeglass frames. A more
advanced system would allow a
blind person to detect any ob
ject in its path, whether it be
a curb, wall or another person.”
The gadget that makes all this
possible is a little item known
as a “light-emitting diode” com
posed of diffused Gallium Ar
senide. Only the size of a pin
head, this laser-like source of in
fra-red light furnishes the origi
nal beam and sells for several
hundred dollars.
The lack of this costly little
item delayed Mims for awhile in
translating his theory into prac
tice. So naturally he fell back
upon a traditional Aggie virtue
— initiative.
COMPLETE UNIT
. . . receiver (left), trans
mitter.
Sophomore Ball
Set For Saturday
Selection of the 1966 Sopho
more Sweetheart will highlight
the Sophomore Ball, scheduled
for 8 p.m. - 1 a.m. Saturday in
Sbisa Hall.
Sweetheart candidates include
Sara Jane Ereckson, Ann Pea
cock, Betty Johnson, Cheryl Lynn
Blair, Christine Marie Philquist,
Sharon Willings and Sally Lind
sey.
The dance will be patterned
after last week’s Combat Ball,
with members of the Corps wear
ing fatigues writh combat boots
and civilians wearing sport shirts
and slacks. Dress for the girls
will be casual.
The Jades will proride the
music.
Tickets may be purchased
for $3.50 per couple from class
officers or at the Student Pro
gram Office in the Memorial
Student Center. Tickets will al
so be sold at the door.
Over the icy mid-term break he
hitchhiked up to a well-known
electronics corporation and tried
to talk them out of one of their
high-priced diodes. The company
official heard him out patient
ly, but then humoringly sent him
back to A&M to prove he could
build a receiver before entrust
ing him with the vital diode.
Mims promptly hitchhiked
back to school and stayed up all
night constructing his receiver,
which is technically called a de
modulator. He quickly fired off
the finished receiver to the com
pany and they responded with
three of the expensive diodes
to aid his experiments.
Several corporations have al
ready expressed keen interest in
Mims’ plans and several pro
fessors who have seen his work
ing model have all been en
thused about his project’s po
tential.
One of the most remarkable
things about his success is that
his knowledge of electronics has
been self-taught. The 21-year-
old cadet is majoring in govern
ment, not EE, and hopes for a
career in intelligence work.
His activities at A&M have
also been largely non-technical.
He has been active in the Young
Republicans, has been president
of an area Baptist Youth Associ
ation and is now vice-chairman
of the Great Issues Committee.
“A person can self-educate
himself in the field as well as in
the classroom,” Mims observes,
and his list of scientific achieve
ments to date well back him up.
He has constructed a four-tran
sistor radio that fits into an ear,
an even smaller one-transistor
radio, numerous rockets, and sev
eral computers with a large vo
cabulary for translating lan
guages.
Not many individuals can boast
of such a wide variety of inter
ests and achievements, but For
rest’s roommate has remained
singularly unimpressed — she’s
a four-month-old black widow
named Madame Fang.