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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 27, 1968)
Rain Makers Not In Demand—A&M Needs ‘Stoppers Rain, like a cattle stampede, is easier to start than, stop, agree Texas A&M meteorologists en gaged in weather modification re search. The question of drying up the clouds was put to A&M Geo sciences Dean Horace R. Byers and Dr. Vance E. Moyer, head of the university’s Meteorology De partment, in view of the pro longed June drenching over much of Texas. Dean Byers, chairman of the Texas Water Development Board’s Weather Modification Advisory Committee, noted that so far sci- ^entiists have had limited success in making it rain and certainly take no credit — or blame — for recent downpours. He pointed out, however, that the problem of inducing rain in volves relatively small quantities of moisture and is therefore much more feasible than stopping it. Few people realize how much water is included in a heavy or extended rain, Dr. Moyer ob served. He did some hasty figuring and concluded that almost two million tons of water fell in the Burton Creek Water Shed — a (Seven- square-mile area in Bryan — dur ing a 12-hour period in which gauges showed slightly less than four inches of rain. “That’s enough water for a good-size lake,” Moyer quipped. “When you have excessive rains over a period of time, it represents the ,storm’s energy, which can be the equivalent of some of the largest thermal nu clear bombs,” Byers added. He said the main difference between the two types of energy is that the storm’s energy is ex pended during a long period of time and over a large area. The dean emphasized that very little research hajS been conducted in the field of rain stoppage, al though it definitely is an aspect of weather modification. “For practical reasons, work in weather modification has been concentrated in starting, rather than stopping rain,” Dr. Byers said. Moyer said the problem in pro hibiting rain would be develop ment of a technique to get the air to retain its moisture — in short, evaporate it. “The only way I can think of doing this is to heat the air,” he explained, adding that this would be a monumental task. Dean Byers agreed, pointing out the air would have to be heated from the top of the cloud to avoid stirring up more boiling energy. The problem is further com pounded by the fact the average lifetime of a cloud is approxi mately one hour, at which time the cloud evaporates by itself. “Actually, while one side of a could is forming, the other side is dissipating,” Dr. Moyer re marked. “People think they see a cloud that stays overhead all day,” he continued, “but what really hap pens is that another cloud comes in to take the original one’s place.” Moyer said some success has been attained by non-meteorol ogists in dissipating fog at air ports, using a chemical spray so lution. While fog is similar to rain, he pointed out, rain droplets are millions of times larger than fog droplets and dissipation would therefore require much more heat. Battalion Wins 1st In TP A Competition New Dormitories Planned To House 1000 Students ppiiifiifi ‘NO LINES’ Freshmen planning to enter A&M in the fall have begun summer conferences and a new registration method which makes them ask: “Is that all ?” The remainder of the students may go to the “pre-registration” method in the spring of 1969. See story on page 4. Pakistan University Head Visits A&M’s Ag College Other Board Action Sets Sea Research The Battalion has been an nounced winner of first and sec ond place awards at the Texas Press Association’s annual sum mer convention in San Antonio. The first place award was pre sented for outstanding pictorial reporting of the Thanksgiving Day football game activities in the news photography competi tion. An editorial repudiating the stand of state college and uni versity student body presidents and campus editors against the Vietnam war received a second- place certificate of achievement in the editorial competition. This year the Battalion com peted in Division I, for newspa pers in cities of 15,000 to 150,- The Atomic Energy Commis sion is in the process of issuing a construction license to Texas A&M for conversion of the Nu clear Science Center reactor to Triga type fuel elements, accord ing to Congressman Olin E. Teague. A reactor official said the Cen ter has received the AEC letter, dated June 14, which will be fol lowed by a 15-day waiting period before actual reactor modifica tions to accept the 26 uranium- zircoriium rods begins. Donald G. Anderson, operations manager, said the reactor will be shut down July 1, when the con struction permit becomes effec tive. Center Director Dr. John D. Fountain Room Open During 4th During the July 4th holidays, the Fountain Room in the Mem orial Student Center will re main open, according to Col. Fred W. Dollar, food services director. On July 4, 5 and 6 the Foun tain Room will be open from 8 a.m. until 7 p.m. Formal business hours will resume on Sunday, Dollar said. 000 population. In 1965 the Battalion was in Division II, for daily newspapers published in towns of less than 15,000 population. The student newspaper won the General Ex cellence Award for amassing the most points in the division. The paper won first in editorial and appearance and won a second place certificate for news writing in the 1965 contest. Staff of the prize-winning 1968 publication included Charles Row- ton of Killeen, editor; John Fuller of San Angelo, managing editor; John McCarroll of Odessa, news editor; Bob Solovey of Silver Springs, Md., editorial columnist, and Mike Wright of Victoria, photographer. Randall has indicated the facility will be inoperative only about a month. Following satisfactory modification, installation and test ing, the AEC issues an operating license. The new fuel elements will raise reactor power tenfold, to one megawatt. Special controls presently being constructed by NSC technicians will enable steady-state or “pulse” type oper ation, the latter simulating the equivalent of a burst of radia tion from a nuclear weapon det onation. Anderson indicated modifica tions to the control console, re actor bridge and possible experi ment facility additions at the bottom of the stall will be com pleted before the fuel changeover is made. Old MTR fuel platep will be removed from the reactor and stored in the “swimming pool” before Triga elements are in serted. Anderson said blade-type control rods will also be replaced, and the old rods will be stored in the pool for radioactive decay before disposal. Randall pointed out the re actor down-time will enable ex periments to update their research programs for the new power ca pability. Dr. S. D. Choudhuri, vice chan cellor of East Pakistan Agricul tural University at Mymensingh, faces a crowded agenda in a five- day visit which opened Monday at Texas A&M. In the midst of a whirlwind tour of six countries through sponsorship of the World Bank’s International Development Agency, he launched his A&M itinerary with a tour of the Data Processing Center. A&M President Earl Rudder will huddle with the distinguished visitor today to discuss future programs between Texas A&M and East Pakistan Agricultural University. Since 1961, noted Dr. Jack D. Gray, International Programs di rector at Texas A&M, more than 100 East Pakistan students have ,studied at Aggieland under Agency for International Develop ment sponsorship. Gray, host for Dr. Choudhuri’s visit, said 29 graduate students, two seniors and two sophomores are representing East Pakistan during A&M’s first summer term. The remainder of his itinerary includes stops in the Soil and Crop Sciences, Wildlife Science, Poultry Science, Agricultural Engineering and Agricultural Economics de partments. Dr. Choudhuri, in his current leadership position (Since 1962, earned his doctorate at the Im perial College of Science, a com ponent of the University of Lon don, in 1944. He earned master’s and bachelor degrees from Presi dency College in Calcutta, India. All degrees are in botany. Director of agriculture for the East Pakistan Province in 1959- 62, Dr. Choudhuri had spent a decade as research director for the JUTE Research Institute in Dacca. He revealed that the Interna tional Development Agency has arranged for 15 new fellowships for EPAU’s faculty development. “Each award amounts to ap proximately $15,000 toward Ph.D. study,” the administrator said. “Scholars will do advanced work in world bank member countries —Munich University 'in Germany, Lund University in Sweden, the Sorbonne in France, Kyoto in Japan, Oxford in England, and four universities in the United StatejS.” “Those in the U. S. are Ohio Bryan Building & Loan Association. Your Sav ings Center, since 1919. B B & L —Adv. State, MIT (Massachusetts Insti tute of Technology), Cornell and Texas A&M,” Dr. Choudhuri con tinued. “All participating EPAU faculty members already have master’s degrees.” While at A&M, Dr. Choudhuri will visit with Pakistani students, lunch with International Pro grams officials, confer with Agri culture Dean H. O. Kunkel, and be guest of honor tonight for a dinner with President Rudder as host. Dr Choudhuri will board a jet early Saturday for a flight to Tokyo enroute to Mymensingh. Texas A&M ham radio opera tors talked to approximately 1,500 different stations over the week end in a national communications field day testing amateur emer gency operating capabilities. Ted W'ittliff of Taylor, junior electrical engineering (Student who participated in the 27-hour test, said the seven-man A&M crew came close to tying the national record for number of stations contacted and may have led the nation this year. Wittliff said it will be several days before Memorial Student Center Radio Club members tab ulate all the entries on their logs and even longer before the na tional results are published. He noted there could be some duplications in the estimated 1,500 calls made from portable equipment placed in the Kyle Field press box. The national record is about 1,630 calls, Wittliff said, adding that A&M won the national com petition several years ago. Texas A&M has been given the go-ahead by its board of directors to develop preliminary design for a new dormitory complex which would initially house 1,000 stu dents. A&M President Earl Rudder said the four-story complex for single students would include a new dining facility, with a total cost of about $6 million. The new facilities could be ready for occupancy as early as 1970. Rudder said the complex will be designed for possible expan sion at a later date to accommo date approximately 2,000 stu dents. The board of directors appro priated $60,000 for preliminary design. A&M currently has 32 dormi tories with a capicity for 6,458 students. The newest dorms were completed in 1965. Rudder said new facilities for single students will be needed to meet the university’s growing over-all enrollment, which has increased approximately 1,000 an nually in recent years. He also emphasized there is still an acute need for additional off-campus housing for married students and faculty-staff per sonnel. The proposal for the new cam pus facilities, Rudder noted, was based on the recommendation of a dormitory committee which has been studying A&M housing needs for more than a year. Establishment of a Center for Dredging Studies at Texas A&M was also approved by the board. A&M Engineering Dean Fred J. Benson told board members the center will be operated by the Civil Engineering Department and include teaching, research, information dissemination and operational activities. He said the proximity of A&M to the Gulf of Mexico and the capabilities of its staff make it Each call this year, he ex plained, lasted approximately 30 (Seconds and consisted of a signal report and location of receiving station. He said all equipment had to be operated from emergency power and be set up after 2 p. m. Saturday. Aggie ham operators, whose call sign is W5AC, have handled emergency traffic during hurri canes when standard communica tions channels were wiped out. They a] ( so provide radio-phone patch links for A&M personnel on assignment in foreign coun tries. Completing the A&M team were students El Campbell of Houston, Rick Dougherty of Griffin, Ga., Ken Polk of Riesel, former stu dent Bill Parry of San Antonio and two College Station high school students, Jack Madeley and Dave Hoffman. Also involved in the operation were club advisors, Dr. W. D. Harris and Bill Harris, chemical engineering faculty members. appropriate that the university provide leadership in this field. The dean noted that new and improved methods of dredging must be developed in the near future, in view of renewed inter est in greater utilization and ex ploitation of marine resources and increased activities in estu aries along the shore and off shore. Benson also pointed out both state and federal governments are making a concerted effort to de velop new interests and facilities to stimulate research and devel opment of marine resources. Earlier this month, Texas A&M was awarded a $475,000 grant by the National Science Foundation to develop a Gulf Coast marine resources program. Construction contracts and ap propriations authorized by the board totaled $1,478,889. Texas A&M contracts went to Vance & Thurmond Contractors, $232,650; R. B. Butler, Inc., $192,224, and W. E. Kutzschbach Co. $191,091, all of Bryan. Homer F. Weaver of Houston won a $69,040 con tract for a Prairie View College project. Appropriations included $557,- 908 for four Texas A&M projects, $58,000 for four at Prairie View, $9,750 for one at Tarleton State College and $168,226 for Texas Agricultural Experiment Station facilities at Beaumont and Wes laco. The Beaumont appropriation totaled $144,426 and completes (See Dormitories, Page 3) ‘Old Army’ Movie At Grove Friday Friday is going to be a big night for movie-goers at Texas A&M’s Grove Theater. The scheduled film, “We’ve Never Been Licked,” usually packs students into the open-air amphitheater. “The movie portrays student life at Texas A&M and follows many Aggies through World War II exploits,” noted theater man ager James Hill of Abilene. “It’s a dandy!” The Universal production stars Robert Mitchum and Noah Beery Jr. Anne Gwynne and Martha O’Driscoll are the featured ferns. Director is Walter Wanger, tops in his day. The stars spent weeks on campus making the film. “They attended football games and other student activities,” a veteran A&M staffer recalled. “Best of all, they mingled daily with students in efforts to get a better feeling of Aggie spirit.” Hill said “We’ve Never Been Licked” is billed as an added at traction to follow “To Be a Crook” slated for 8:30. “We’ve Never Been Licked,” Hill added, “will be shown about 10 o’clock. However, it might be a good idea for patrons to arrive early. That way, they can be assured a seat.” Rain holds no horrors for Hill. He has made arrangements for both movies to be shown in the Memorial Student Center Ball room if inclement weather pre vails. University National Bank “On the side of Texas A&M. —Adv. ‘FUN AND GAMES’ The next dance of the Memorial Student Center’s Summer Directorate will feature the “Fun and Games Commission,” formerly the “Six Pentz.” The band has recorded such top hits as “Today-Tomorrow” and “Imitation Situation,” according to Denny Kniery, dance committee chairman. The dance next Tuesday at 8 p. m. will feature a “Wisk-a- Go-Go” theme and a special surprise attraction which promises to be a bargain at twice the price, says Kniery. AEC Issues Permit For Nuclear Change Aggieland ‘Hams’ Make 1,500 Calls