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THE BATTALION
Tuesday, April 4, 1967 College Station, Texas Page 3
Girl Watchers’ Corner
GINNY PORTT
Ginny is a 21-year-old general business major at Texas
Woman’s University. The native of Chicopee, Mass., enjoys
tennis, golf and bowling.
Space Technology
(Continued From Page 1)
evolution of space launch ve
hicles.
The first one, a Redstone, was
sent up before the space act of
1958. It had a thrust power of
78,000 lbs.
Then came the Mercury Red
stone, with the vehicle which
launched Allan Shepherd on his
sub-orbital flight.
The first orbital booster was
the Mercury Atlas, which lifted
John Glenn in his Mercury cap
sule.
At this point, Debus said the
weight of the capsule, when it is
launched, approaches 4000 lbs.
But when it is recovered, after
losing its fuel and attachments,
weighs only about 2,500 lbs.
The Thor was the next launch
vehicle utilized. It generated
around 450,000 lbs. of thrust,
compared to the 78,000 of the
earlier Redstone.
A step further has been the
Atlas Agena. This launch vehicle
is responsible for the Ranger and
Lunar Orbiter’s successes. The
Atlas Centaur carried the first
Surveyor.
Debus said another Surveyor
attempt is planned in a few
months.
A Titan booster was used in
the Gemini 4 flight, when the
first rendezvous was made with
an Agena target vehicle.
The Apollo Saturn is planned
for use in moon exploration.
Saturn 5 is the newest and
heaviest launch vehicle now avail
able to the U. S.
It is 364 feet tall, has several
stages, and weighs 600,000 lbs.
empty.
The thrust generated by its en
gines is 7.5 million lbs., compared
to the 78,000 lbs. of the early
Redstone.
MSC Committee Trips Have Big Effect
By JOHN FULLER
Battalion Special Writer
Of the many Memorial Student
Center committees, Town Hall is
probably the most attractive to
prospective staffers; SCON A and
Great Issues generally produce
the biggest headlines. But the
relatively unsung Student Leader
ship Training Committee’s Hous
ton trips will quite possible have
the most far-reaching effects on
A&M students.
The committee recently spon
sored one of the annual visits,
which Trip Chairman Dani Press-
wood described as “culture in a
nutshell.” Some 30 outstanding
juniors, seniors and graduate stu
dents experienced more cultural
activities in two days than they
would normally have in two years,
with points of interest ranging
from the multi-million-dollar As
trodome to the rustic Alley
Theater.
“The main purpose of the pro
gram is to give A&M student
leaders an opportunity to see
things they don’t get to see here,
such as art museums and legiti
mate theater productions,” Com
mittee Chairman Dennis Hoh-
mann explained. “They’ll most
likely be the leaders of tomorrow,
and they deserve a glance at the
cultural and business fields in
which they’ll be taking leading
positions.”
First stop on the program was
at Jones Hall, where Tom Bul
lock, a 1946 A&M graduate and
member of the architecture firm
that produced the new performing
arts center, gave the group a spe
cial guided tour. After lunch at
La Bastille, near the Old Market
square downtown, the students
toured the Museum of Fine Arts
with Mrs. Dee Hansen, museum
docent, directing.
Dinner for the first night was
at the Shamrock-Hilton Hotel’s
Charcoal Terrace, with swordfish
steak as the main course. Later,
the student leaders moved to Sam
Houston Coliseum for the Hous
ton Symphony’s “One Dollar Con
cert,” a program of American
works conducted by Andre Pre
vin, who doubled as piano soloist.
The next morning, the group
toured the Astrodome and then
ate lunch at Kaphan’s Restaurant,
reputedly the favorite dining spot
of the Astro baseball players.
Later they visited Bayou Bend,
where some of Houston’s most
lavish homes and gardens are lo
cated. The evening’s program in
cluded the Alley Theater’s pro
duction of “The Sea Gull,” by
Anton Chekhov, followed by a
backstage visit with the cast and
staff. Afterwards, the students
had dinner at the Warwick Club
and saw the hotel’s Mecom art
collection.
How was the committee able
to finance such an excursion?
“Each student paid $15,” Hoh-
mann explained, “and we got con
tributions of $35 each from form
er A&M students in Houston to
cover meals. We were able to get
reduced rates on a lot of things,
such as tickets to the Alley
Theater and rooms at the Hilton.
Of course, the tour of Jones Hall
was free.”
The committee selected partici
pants for the trip from a list of
55 names submitted to the MSC
Council, according to Hohmann, a
senior mathematics major from
San Antonio. He said the first
22 selections were made by posi
tion, such as presidents of major
campus organizations. The final
list included Corps leaders, class
presidents, varsity athletes, Grad
uate Student Council representa
tives, civilian leaders, and even an
Aggie wife.
Obviously, any weekend cover
ing so much territory takes near
ly split-second coordination—and
a lot of planning.
“A lot more work goes into this
thing than I ever dreamed of,”
Presswood commented. “We
started lining this weekend up
four months before the trip. You
have to get an early start to be
able to schedule all these activi
ties in one weekend and make as
many reservations as you have
to.”
Presswood, a junior journalism
student from Fort Worth, said
Stark lines up former students in
Houston to handle the financing.
But the rest of the details are the
committee’s job.
“After the schedule is worked
out, we have to compile informa
tion and ‘Who’s Who’ brochures.
And there’s the tough job of se
lecting the students who get to
participate.”
The committee has sponsored
orientation sessions before each
of the five trips, in order to let
students know what to expect.
Stark said several students have
commented to him after a Hous
ton weekend that they had en
joyed the symphony and plays
more because of the informa
tional sessions.
Students who went on last
month’s trip are enthusiastic
about the idea of “culture in a
nutshell.” Robert Gonzales, a jun
ior government major from San
Antonio, noted that the weekend
marked the first time he had been
to a symphony concert since
grade school.
“I had an opportunity in San
Antonio, but I didn’t really want
to go,” he went on. “It was also
my first taste of the professional
theater, and I really enjoyed it.
It’s difficult just to get out and go
to these things, and they’re really
not available here.”
“The most important thing I
got out of the trip was learning
that the Houston exes are really
interested in giving us the oppor
tunity to enjoy all these activi
ties,” Joey Webber, junior history
major from Waco, remarked. “I
was also impressed with the op
portunities in Houston open to us
after college.”
Dick Franklin, senior zoology
major from Kenedy, called the
trip a “broading experience,” add
ing that he had never been to an
art museum until the weekend.
“I think it gave us all a better
view of the culture that’s actually
here, and that relatively few peo
ple know exists,” he added.
One of the sponsors is J. L. H.
Rountree, president of Rountree
Machinery Co. in Houston.
Though not a former student,
Rountree’s son was graduated
from A&M, and Rountree says he
thinks of himself as an Aggie.
He says he is as impressed with
the trip as the students are.
“A&M doesn’t have much social
life,” he explained, “and this pro
gram gives the boys an excellent
chance to observe the finer things
of life, such as the symphony, the
Alley Theater, and the many fine
restaurants here.”
Stark shares this viewpoint. He
explained that the idea for the
project, begun in 1963, was
prompted by the fact that A&M
is largely a technical school, and
by the large numbers of students
who come from communities
where they lack either the oppor
tunity or the motivation to learn
to enjoy visual and performing
arts.
“If A&M’s student leaders are
going to go out and compete with
the best students from other
schools, the outstanding A&M
students should be given a special
opportunity to learn about such
activities,” he went on. “In ef
fect, this is part of leadership —
to understand and support such
cultural pursuits — and the com
mittee’s purpose is to develop
leadership.
“We also wanted to let the stu
dents meet outstanding families
in Houston,” Stark noted. “We
wanted them to be able to have
dinner and go to the theater with
these civic leaders in the A&M
family — whether former stu
dents or just friends of the
school.”
But most of the people con
cerned with the committee’s pro
gram point out that the trip is
more than an exercise in leader
ship training.
“This trip is more of a reward
to students who have compiled
strong school records than any
thing else,” Presswood said. That
is why it’s designed mainly for
seniors.”
Hohmann called the trip a
“sort of reward for good work
at A&M,” pointing out that the
“cream of the crop” is selected
for each trip. Rountree noted
that one of the weekend’s accom
plishments is, after all, the fact
that “it gives the boys a heck of
a good time.”
The only major criticism of
the trip was its careful timing,
leaving few spare minutes to the
students.
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