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Volume 61
Che Battalion
NEWSPAPER
frbNTESf^i
COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 1966
Number 295
grab
bag
By Glenn Dromgoole
Bilingualism is a rather strange
word to most of us. Unfortunate
ly, it is also unknown by too
many educators in our public
schools.
Texas A&M’s first Conference
on Bilingualism in Texas, spon
sored last month by the Depart
ment of Modern Languages, dis
cussed problems of the child who
has home experience in a langu
age other than English but is
forced to use only English in
public schools.
Linguists are concerned that
children with basic understand
ing of other languages are losing
command of them because of Eng
lish-dominated curricula.
They contend these pupils
should be encouraged to use na
tive languages in elementary
school, at the same time they are
learning English, for at least two
reasons.
For one thing, youngsters re
quired to pick up an entirely new
language for all their early-school
work are likely to fall behind
children from English-speaking
homes. Second, studies have
shown that children with suffici
ent grasp of two or more langu
ages rate higher on intelligence
tests and tend to have higher
reading skills and a larger voca
bulary.
Dr. Jack A. Dabbs, head of
language study here, claims a
large number of Texans speak
Czech, German, Spanish and Swe
dish. He beileves it is not wise
to waste this environmental lan
guage because of schools with
courses only in English.
Dabbs refers to a study of
Canadians in French-speaking
areas which showed that bilin
guals outranked monolinguals by
about 10 per cent in comparative
I.Q. tests, vocabulary tests, and
achievement in both French and
English. Another survey of
New York City students revealed
similar responses.
“The student who has come
from a home with experience in
another language should be iden
tified, nurtured and encouraged,”
he says.
Plans to cultivate bilingualism
have been initiated on a large
scale in Laredo where elementary
pupils are given half-day instruc
tion in Spanish and the other half
in English. San Antonio and
Houston schools are gradually
putting the program into prac
tice.
Foreign Languages in Elemen
tary Schools, a federal program
designed to teach English-speak
ing children another language
during their formative years, is
also a step toward preserving and
advancing bilingualism.
Chief concern of the A&M con
ference, and of many linguists,
however, was to nurture the basic
language when the child begins
the first grade if not before.
Last month's meeting urged
school superintendents, teachers,
sociologists and linguists to begin
work for bilingual programs in
all sections of the state, especial
ly those with large sections of
Czech, German, Spanish and Swe
dish speaking populations.
We watch with interest the
challenging, progressive and nec
essary attack.
"'N
Anderson Wins
Mayor’s Race
i
Election Fills
Council Positions
'\
SIGNS OF THE TIMES
With the coming of spring and holidays, Col- naturally. Faithfully accompanying his
lege Station kids pull their kites out of the master. Or is he just wondering what that
closet in readiness for another summer, little black box is that’s pointed at him ?
And what is a boy’s best friend? His dog,
2 Students Awarded
Graduate Scholarships
Two major graduate grants —
a Fulbright Award and a Na
tional Defense Education Fellow
ship — have been awarded to
Texas A&M students.
Senior Craig G. Buck of Tyler
has been awarded a Fulbright
Award to study in Bolivia next
year.
Winston L. Wilson of Quannah
has won a $2,000 National De
fense Education Act fellowship
for graduate study at A&M.
Announcement of Buck’s award
was made by Dr. J. M. Nance,
Fulbright advisor and head of
the Department of History and
Government.
Researchers
Install Kiln
Highway researchers at Texas
A&M are going into the artificial
rock business.
Installation of a $20,000 kiln
to prepare synthetic gravel for
study began Monday.
The stone, prepared from clay
at high temperatures, weighs
only half as much as natural
gravel and is being used in in
dustry for building materials and
roadway base.
The test instrument, 25 feet
long and 3 feet in diameter, is the
only one of its size and versatility
on a college campus, reports its
designer, Dr. W. B. Ledbetter of
the Department of Civil Engi
neering and the Texas Transpor
tation Institute.
The research program by TTI
is sponsored by the Texas High
way Department and the U. S.
Bureau of Public Roads.
The A&M research oven was
built by Standard Tool and Ma
chine Company of Longview.
Donations from Featherlite Cor
poration of Austin and Gifford-
Hill and Company of Dallas help
ed with the cost.
Buck, son of Mrs. Jennie G.
Buck, of Tyler, will study Latin
American government and poli
tics at the Universida de Mayor
de San Simon in Cochabamba,
Bolivia. The Fulbright Award
provides for travel, maintenance
and allowances for 12 months.
The graduate of Carthage High
School and recipient of a Wood-
row Wilson scholarship at A&M
will be studying 2.0 grade point
ratio average students at the
University of San Simon. Buck
is a senior civilian student major
ing in government.
He chaired A&M’s 11th Stu
dent Conference on National Af
fairs in December. The 21-year-
old attended similar conferences
at Naval and Air Force Acad
emies and made two trips to Mex
ico in preparing himself for the
task.
Bucl$ worked for Congressman
Olin E. Teague in Washington
last summer as an intern.
Wilson, a member of Alpha
Zeta, honor agricultural fraterni
ty, is called “one of the most
outstanding students in agri
cultural economics” by his pro
fessors in the fellowship nomi
nation.
The Quannah High School
graduate is a senior and is listed
as a “Distinguished Student.”
“Mr. Wilson’s performance in
class and in activities of the Agri
cultural Economics Club give us
confidence he has the ability to
do well in graduate work,” the
letter of recommendation notes.
The 22-year-old economist ex
presses particular interest in
marketing and hopes to complete
his Doctor of Philosophy degree
here. He plans to enter the field
of college-level teaching after
completing his studies.
TTI Survey Says Faster
Emergency Service Needed
Speeding emergency activities
in freeway accidents is a need re
vealed in a traffic engineering re
searchers survey for the Texas
Transportation Institute.
Questionnaires were recorded
from major city police depart
ments to total the time required
for various phases of activity at
an accident. An average time
from the moment of the accident
until the freeway is cleared was
determined.
“An average time of approxi
mately 35 minutes was required
by one of the major cities for all
activity,” Dr. C. V. Wooten, assist
ant TTI director, reported.
The survey showed it normally
takes five minutes to report the
accident. Another five minutes
elapses while a police dispatcher
notifies an investigating officer.
He usually reaches the scene in
5 to 10 minutes.
A wrecker operator is located
in about 10 minutes with a simi
lar period required for him to
arrive at the scene.
Frank L. Lynch, TTI research
er, offered these suggestions for
reducing clearance time:
Have an adequate number of
roving police cars especially dur
ing peak traffic periods.
Adequate access to communica
tion media for accident reporting
should be available.
Investigators should have a
thorough knowledge of street ac
cess to the freeway in their dis
tricts.
Researchers concluded with a
recommendation that “studies
should be continued to determine
appropriate methods of encour
aging drivers to move their vehi
cles to some point off the freeway,
thus reducing the effect on the
traffic stream.”
By ROBERT SOLOVEY
Battalion Staff Writer
D. A. Anderson defeated T. R.
Holleman by a slim 34 vote mar
gin in the mayor’s race during
Tuesday’s city elections.
H. B. Adams, O. M. Holt and
A. P. Boyett were winners in
the contest for city council spots.
The voting showed 437 ballots
for Anderson and 403 votes for
T. R. Holleman.
City Manager Ron Boswell
described the turnout as average
but did not release the exact fig
ures of eligible voters.
Anderson, 56, of 1202 Foster,
heads the Texas Forest Service’s
Information and Education De
partment. A graduate of Texas
A&M, he has lived, in the area
for the past 27 years.
In Ward 1, H. B. Adams won a
council seat by defeating J. E.
Kirby, 305-116. Adams, who
lives at 205 Timber, was not
available for comment.
Except for 38 write-in votes,
O. M. Holt ran unopposed and
Avon the election in Ward 2 with
235 votes.
Holt, of 1016 Francis, is pro-
Grads May Spend
Summer In Asia
Several graduate students may
spend the summer as civilians in
Viet Nam or Laos.
Graduate Dean Wayne C. Hall
has announced that 40 young
American men will have an op
portunity to serve in these South
east Asia countries.
Hall noted the Agency for In
ternational Development has au
thorized a project to assist Viet
N.am and Laos in improving ca
pacity and effectiveness of pro
vincial level programs.
These programs, Hall explain
ed, include rural reconstruction,
refugee assistance, supply distri
bution and community develop
ment.
The dean said 30 students will
be assigned to Viet Nam and 10
to Laos. He indicated the ad
ministering Institute of Interna
tional Development prefers grad
uate social science students who
have strong interest in Southeast
Asia.
Fuller aims of the program
and application forms will be
available shortly at Hall’s office.
Library Crane Mechanical Marvel
By JOHN HOTARD
Battalion Special Writer
What is yellow, weighs 95,000
pounds and stands 120 feet high?
One very large taxicab ?
Wrong.
An oversized giraffe ?
No.
Would you believe a crane?
Not the whooping variety, but
the construction variety.
This isn’t just any old crane.
It’s a Liebherr T-110 tower crane,
made in Ireland and the only one
of its kind in Texas. The crane,
which now stands behind Cush
ing Library, belongs to Temple
First Bank & Trust now pays
4%% per annum on savings cer
tificates. —Adv.
Associates, the construction firm
which has the contract for the
library project.
This monster can lift a maxi
mum load of 11,000 pounds, and
can raise itself to a height of
150 feet freestanding (without
guy wire) or 250 feet with guy
wires. It is now standing only
75 feet high and will only be
raised to a height of 85 feet on
this particular job.
The crane can raise or lower
itself at the rate of 10 feet per
half hour with the aid of a
built-in jacking device. Only 36
square feet are needed for the
device to stand on. The boom has
a reach of 120 feet from center
and can rotate 360 degrees in
one minute.
“The limited area we’re working
in and size of this particular job
made this crane very practical,”
said Harvey Thigpen, superinten
dent of the library project. “This
building will be built in an area
220 feet square and this crane can
reach everywhere but the corn
ers. One of its big features is
the time it saves. It can pick up
something in one corner and
place it in the opposite corner
in a matter of minutes. With an
ordinary motor crane it would
take a couple of hours to move
the crane.”
Thigpen added that the control
system, also built in Ireland, is
the best he has seen. The whole
crane is loaded with safety fac
tors, such as a deadman’s switch,
a knob which has to be pressed
and held before anything on the
crane will operate.
The crane is entirely electrical
ly operated from a 440-volt cir
cuit with a total of 82.6 horse
power. It can also be run by
remote control at a distance of
100 feet.
“Being qualified to operate a
motor crane does not qualify a
person to operate this one,” Thig
pen remarked. “We have an
operator who is being specially
trained right now for the job.”
Only Thigpen and his two fore
men are now qualified to run
the crane.
The crane can be broken down
into 10%-foot sections, with the
fessor in the Department of Ag
ricultural Education. An A&M
graduate, he is mayor pro tem
pore and has lived in College
Station for 18 years.
In Ward 3 and running unop
posed, A. P. Boyett tallied 101
votes.
Boyett, 43, is a native College
Station resident. He is a self-
employed rent property salesman
and lives at 4300 Culpepper.
The new mayor thanked his
supporters and pledged to serve
the community to the best of his
ability.
“I am honored to have been
elected by the people of College
Station. I will accept their
mandate to serve as mayor,” An
derson said.
“I appreciate the confidence of
the people. I would like to thank
and to acknowledge the help of
those that worked in my behalf.
“It is with humility and hum
bleness that I accept this office,
and I will work in the people’s
behalf for the betterment of the
College Station community,” he
added.
Anderson said his program for
improvement includes bettering
the College Station water dis
tribution system to provide suf
ficient water to the people and
for fire fighting equipment.
Speaking about the three coun-
cilmen elected, Anderson said he
thought they could all work to
gether in harmony for the bene
fit of the community.
A meeting will be held this
Thursday to canvass the votes.
A special election will be held
later to fill the post left vacant
by J. A. Orr, who resigned at
the last session.
Boswell had predicted a turn
out of 1000 voters but the actual
count was 840. This is 126 more
than last year and 414 more than
the election in 1964.
The race for mayor was the
first contested election in the
last 20 years. The office was
vacated by Ernest Langford, 74,
who had served 12 consecutive
terms before announcing his re
tirement earlier this year.
DR. C. G. CHEZEM
Los Alamos Lab
Nuclear Scientist
Due Next Fall
A noted nuclear scientist, Dr.
Curtis Gordon Chezem of the Los
Alamos Scientific Laboratory,
will be a visiting professor this
fall.
Dr. Robert G. Cochran, Depart
ment of Nuclear Engineering
head, announced Chezem’s em
ployment.
“Dr. Chezem will teach ad
vanced courses and seminars in
addition to working with gradu
ate students,” Cochran explained.
“He may initiate research pro
grams in reactor kinetics and
reactor hazards evaluation.”
Chezem is a senior scientist in
critical assemblies group of the
Nuclear Propulsion Division at
Los Alamos. He is also profes
sor of nuclear engineering and
physics at the Los Alamos Gradu
ate Center of the University of
New Mexico.
The 42 : year-old engineer has a
Ph.D. in physics from Oregon
State College, an M.A. degree in
physics and a B.A. in mathe
matics from Oregon University.
He is married and has four chil
dren.
He worked as a radio an
nouncer while attending college,
and spent summers as a logger,
forest fire fighter, and a U. S.
Forest Service lookout. In the
Navy, he was a telegrapher, after
serving as a radio officer in the
Merchant Marine.
Sociology Professors
To Attend Conference
Four staff members of the
Department of Agricultural Eco
nomics and Sociology will take
part in the annual meeting of
the Southwestern Sociological
Association Thursday through
Saturday in New Orleans.
Professor W. K. Upham will
chair a session of four papers on
Sociology of Health; while Dr.
B. H. Nelson and Dr. W. P. Kuv-
lesky will present papers.
Dr. R. L. Skrabanek will chair
business meetings of the organi
zation. Skrabanek is president of
the association.
boom breaking down into three
40-foot sections. It took approx
imately 300 man-hours to erect
the crane this time, but that time
will be decreased as the work
men pick up speed.
In case anyone plans to watch
the crane for hours in hope of it
toppling over, he can forget it.
It has a 14,000 pound concrete
counterweight on the counterboom
(that part of the boom projecting
from the other side of the tower.)
The base of the crane is also at
tached to a 15-foot-6 square con
crete base which is six feet thick.
But even with all the crane’s
safety factors and it’s stability,
you’ll still find all the workmen
walking around and not under it.
MONSTER AT WORK
giant crane used on library construction.