: V
THE BATTALION
Page 2 College Station, Texas Wednesday, May 1, 1968
Mike Plake
CADET SLOUCH
^r^Cain Opposed To A&M Co-education
by Mike Plake
Battalion Features Editor
Wofford Cain was born Octo
ber 19, 1891, in the sleepy Texas
town of Athens.
I approached my interview with
him the same way I always do
with a multi-millionaire, head of
two large oil and gas companies
and donor of over 100 opportunity
award scholarships since 1946.
I stuttered and blew my cool.
Cain was appointed to the Tex
as A&M Board of Directors by
Governor John Connally in June,
1965.
Cain pledged a certain amount
towards the new addition to Cush
ing Memorial Library several
years ago. He fulfilled his pledge
this year; $250,000 will buy many
desks.
AS I walked towards the Board
of Directors’ house, I thought of
questions to ask the man.
When he arrived from his pri
vate plane with his personal as
sistant, when he walked into the
room, sat, and offered me a Coke,
his image changed.
He wasn’t the bustling execu
tive, with the gruff, busy attitude
I expected. He wasn’t quoting
from a prepared speech, and had
no one taking down our conver
sation in shorthand to make sure
everything I wrote would be on
the “up and up.”
Instead, he was “plain folks”—
an ordinary man, with a usual
demeanor and a sincere attitude.
So there was no interview,
really. No prepared questions.
We talked.
“MR. CAIN, you are the larg
est single contributor of any type
funds in the history of Texas
A&M. You’ve given scholarships
to people in every conceivable
major and from many different
areas. Why?” I asked.
He leaned forward. His stocky
body filled the easy chair there
in the old-fashioned room. He
sipped his Coke, and replied.
“Well, I graduated here. I’m
Sound Off
“Don’t mind him—he bought my boots and is nervous
every time I wear them!”
Editor,
The Battalion:
State Professor
Salary Still Lags
Despite record increases in state appropriations, faculty
salaries and compensation, state universities still lag be
hind rates at private universities, according to a study by
the American Association of University Professors (AAUP).
“Unfortunately, a well financed,
but non-representative minority
of extreme left youth dominate
the forums of virtually every
campus from coast to coast.
Hence, although they do NOT
speak for American youth, the
“new left” is not only heard but
given major attention by the
press, and by the people. It is
dangerous for us to underestimate
the warped impact thus given to
the climate of public opinion.”—
Herbert A. Philbrick, author of
I Led Three Lives, August, 1967.
The survey shows that state universities lag most sev
erely in compensation which includes salary plus special
fringe benefits.
State universities are least competitive in their pay to
full and associate professors and most competitive with
assistant professors and instructors.
So it is at t. u. But not at A&M
—yet. Recently, though, several
underground publications have
sprung up, spreading controver
sial issues into every corner of
the campus.
The difference between full professors at private inde
pendent vs. public institutions amounted to more than $3,-
280 in salaries and benefits. For associate professors the
difference was more than $2,100.
State university professors were not in the worst posi
tion. In fact, they rated favorably against church-related
universities, teacher colleges and rated only slightly below
professors at private liberal arts colleges.
The forerunner of these was
the good old Paranoia, which met
such great success, it expanded
into a whole second issue, Para
noia 2. This really isn’t such a
fantastic journalistic feat, but
it is a record at A&M.
From 1966 to 1967 salaries at state universities rose
6.6 per cent while those at private institutions went up an
average of 4.8 per cent. Yet of the 20 institutions report
ing the highest average faculty salaries, not one was a state
university.
The AAUP also noted generally lower salaries in in
stitutions which are in Southern and border states.
Attrition of professors due to retirement is reasonable,
but if state institutions are to maintain the high degree of
competence among staff personnel which they so tenaciously
seek, salaries must become more competitive.
Three thousand dollars in extra pay can buy a lot of
groceries, and there is little doubt that if there was a choice
between two relatively equal academic institutions, one
public and the other private, a professor would choose the
latter.
The power at A&M is in the
hands of those who want to pre
serve the great traditions of this
school: the former students, the
administration, the corps, and the
majority of the civilian student
body. The University policies that
Paranoia attacked were policies
supported by the majority of the
student body. If Paranoids don’t
want to conform to these policies,
they can either try to change
them or drop out. The only way
to change them is to get the sup
port of the majority of the stu
dents, and the majority of stu
dents didn’t come to A&M to
change it.
Fortunately for higher education, the pay scales for
university professors and instructors has been getting in
creasingly better. Competition for students, and research
grants, and the pressure of public sentiment is making the
teaching profession commensurate with most civilian job
opportunities. It must be maintained.
Bulletin Board
TODAY
The Texas A&M Sports Car
Club will meet at 7 p.m. in Room
203 of the YMCA.
The Texas A&M Research
Foundation will meet at 4 p.m. in
the Architecture Auditorium.
THURSDAY
The Amarillo Hometown Club
will elect officers at 6:15 p.m. at
the Country Kitchen.
The Houston Hometown Club
will make plans for a summer
party at 7:30 p.m. in Room 201
of the Physics Building.
The song says “Paranoia strikes
three; into your life it will lead.”
I urge Aggies not to let your
emotions get the best of you. The
new left thrives on campuses
where students hate the adminis
tration, and this hate makes left
ist movements seem romantic.
Don’t weigh their intellectual cut-
downs in relation to administra
tive bobbles, but weigh them to
the great traditions that founded
your Aggie heritage. Weigh them
to the Spirit; weigh them to the
words that opened your school
on that marble slab in the Coke
Building; and then think about
the consequences.
To the editors of Paranoia: give
it up, men. I come from New
THE BATTALION
Opinions expressed in The Battalion
ure those of the student writers only. The
Battalion is a non tax-supported non
profit, self-supporting educational enter
prise edited and operated by students as
a university and community newspaper.
The Associated Press is entitled exclusively to the use for
epuiblication of all new dispatches credited to it or not
otherwise credited in the paper and local news of spontaneous
origin published herein. Rights of republication of all othei
herein are also reserved.
d-Class postage paid
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Texas 77843.
The Battalion, a student newspaper
published in College Station, Texas daily except Saturday,
Sunday, and Monday, and holiday periods, September through
May, and once a week during summer school.
at Texas A&M is
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MEMBER
The Associated Press, Texas Press Association
EDITOR CHARLES ROWTON
Managing Editor John Fuller
Features Editor Mike Plake
Editorial Columnist Robert Solovey
News Editors Steve Korenek, Jim Basinger
Sports Editor Gary Sherer
Asst. Sports Editor John Platzer
Staff Writers Bob Palmer, Dave Mayes,
Tom Curl
Photographer Mike Wright
■
URGENT!
Juniors and Sophomores
May 3 is deadline for turning in proofs for 1968 Aggieland at the
University Studio.
HHIIHHiHflHHi
England and I’ve been exposed,
impressed, and then unimpressed
with this romantic form of aca
demic exhibitionism. I am im
pressed neither with your verbal
skills, nor with your iconoclastic
approach to Aggie traditionalism,
nor with your cheap sarcastic
cut-downs of anything authorita
tive. Your newspaper is looked
on by the members of the Corps,
the goat-ropers and sk’s, the stu
dent who, unbelievably, came here
to study, and the teachers who
came to teach as the biggest farce
they have seen in some time. Your
impact is as small as your minori
ty; you can change nothing; you
are for nothing. The song also
says, “Nobody’s right if every
body's wrong.”
Randy Durham ’71
★ ★ ★
Editor,
The Battalion:
I wish to expand on your arti
cle of April 30 concerning the
SDS. It contained two points
which I feel were not put in their
proper perspective.
First, we did not call for the
resignation of either Earl Rud
der or James Hannigan. We did
discuss the effect a change in
administration could have on the
campus. We reached no conclu
sion and took no action on the
matter.
Secondly, the “demonstration at
a Corps of Cadet review” was one
of the methods of direct action
considered only if all other forms
of recourse were closed to us.
The only decision reached by
the Monday meeting was to cir
culate a petition on campus that
reads:
“On April 26, 1968, the AAUP
censured Texas A&M University.
We, the undersigned, demand that
the administration take immediate
and direct action to correct the
situation that brought this con
demnation to our university.”
I commend The Battalion for
its printing of the SDS article,
in that it is a step toward a more
open political climate at Texas
A&M University.
Jeff Daniel
Students for a
Democratic Society
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very fond of the school. I feel
that I owe the school a lot. It
gave me my education.
“I guess I’m just trying to pay
back a little of what it has given
That day, Cain finished the pro
ceedings for another donation to
his school. In his wife’s and two
other parties’ names, he present
ed A&M with a $100,000 thor
oughbred race horse, Jedgar
Ruler.
HE WASN’T much of a speak
er, as such. You could tell that
from his replies to other ques
tions in the conversation.
“Since you graduated in 1913,
the school had changed consider
ably. Do you consider students
to be any different now than
when you attended?”
“Sure, they’re different in
some respects. When I was here,
the school was strictly military.
There were no civilians.
“Now, the situation is changed.
The Corps of Cadets is optional,
I understand.”
“Do you think the change from
compulsory to non-compulsory
membership in the Corps of Ca
dets will change the school dras
tically ?”
Cain laughed. Another sip of
Coke.
“I DON’T really know what the
situation will bear out.”
I asked him about coeducation.
“I’m opposed to complete co
education,” expressing himself
mostly with hand gestures.
“I think the present situation,
accepting coeds when they cannot
practically pursue their course of
study elsewhere, is good. I don’t
think dormitories should be built
in the future to accommodate a
complete coeducational program.”
“What do you think of student
sit-ins, strikes, and demonstra
tions seen on university campuses
today?”
“I’m opposed to them. I think
it would work out better for the
school and for the students to
work through conventional chan
nels to express their grievances.”
THEN I moved from campus
issues to the Texas capital. Since
he was giving A&M the race
horse, I wondered how he felt
about parimutuel betting.
“I’m for parimutuel betting and
liquor by the drink. Not that I
care that much about liquor, and
not because I own some race
horses.
“I think both of these things
could help the state by bringing
in more tourists and more tax
money,” he said.
And that was that. He left the
room, went into the Board of Di
rectors meeting and gave us a
race horse.
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LOOK AT THE MAN
THEN LOOK AT THE
RECORD
In The State
Representative Race:
BILL PRESNAL is the only can
didate that is a lifelong resi-
den of Brazos County and the
district.
BILL PRESNAL is the only can
didate that is a graduate of
Texas A&M. (B.S. degree -
1953, M.S. degree - 1959)
BILL PRESNAL is the only can
didate that has served on the
Texas A&M University staff.
BILL PRESNAL is the only can
didate that gave up full-time
employment to seek the office
of State Representative.
BILL PRESNAL is the only can
didate with ten years employ
ment in the field of education.
BILL PRESNAL is the only can
didate that has held a political
party office.
BILL PRESNAL is the only can
didate that merits your com
plete confidence and support.
VOTE FOR
BILL PRESNAL
State Representative
Brazos - Grimes - Madison
Counties
May 4 Democratice Primary
SMITH
has been
■ ■
forTexas
since1944.
6 years in the Texas House
6 years in the Texas Senate
6 years as Lt. Gov. of Texas
Vote for the man with
experience in every elective
legislative office.
Vote for Preston Smith for
Governor of Texas.
Pol. Adv. — Paid for by The Preston Smith Committee, Harold Dudley, Manager
PEANUTS
By Charles M. Schulz
PEANUTS
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