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VOLUME 64, Number 32
COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 1968
Telephone 845-2226
CS Postmaster Recalls
31 Years Of Change
By GARY MAYFIELD
Battalion Special Writer
In July, 1937, a young man
started to work as a dispatch
clerk for the United States Post
Office of College Station. Today,
31 years later, Ernest Gregg is
serving his eighth year as post
master.
During this time mass techno
logical developments have taken
over, and Gregg has witnessed
several vast changes in postal
operations.
PROBABLY THE greatest of
these developments is the air lift,
which has been in operation for
a year now. With this new meth-
The A&M student body can now
receive the announcements for the
day by telephone, according to
Logan E. Weston, general secre
tary of the YMCA.
“All a student has to do is dial
845- 6311,” he announced Wednes
day.
This new communications sys
tem is tied into the campus Cen
trex system and updates the
university announcement system.
The updating is required by in
creasing student population and
bulletin board limitations.
“The system is capable of han-
All-Student Dance
Planned Nov. 16
The Civilian Student Council
will sponsor an All-University
Dance Nov. 16 after the Rice
game, announced Larry Schilhab,
Weekend Committee chairman.
The Dance will be in Duncan
Dining Hall from 8-12 p.m., and
will feature The New Breed Soul.
The band has its own special ef
fects in the form of a light show.
“The band is very, very good,”
said Schilhab, “and I’m sure that
they’ll provide great entertain
ment for all comers.”
Tickets will sell for $1.50 per
couple. Civilian students with
dormitory activity cards may
pick up their tickets free from
their dorm presidents. Cadets
may purchase tickets from their
first sergeants.
Residents of university apart
ments may pick up their tickets
from Don Taylor, U-l-L Hensel,
846- 3963; John Bendele, A-l-Z
College View, 846-3091; or Rich
ard Anderson, O-C Southside,
846-3117.
Day students, other than those
in university apartments, may
obtain their tickets from Schil
hab, 306 Redmond, apt. 242A,
846-5248.
“Tickets may also be purchased
at the door,” said Schilhab. “We
are hoping for a good turnout.”
od of transporting six-cent let
ters by air, Gregg said that “al
most every post office in the
state receives next-day delivery.”
He noted that regular mail
leaves College Station three times
a day at 6:20 p.m., 8:20 p.m.,
and 9:20 p.m. A letter in the
drop-box by 5:30 will be shipped
out with the 6:20 mail. Other
drop-box deadlines are 7:45 and
9 p.m. He added that 6:20 mail
should reach its destination al
most anywhere in the state by
the next day.
ANOTHER CHANGE Gregg
noted is the decline of trains
operating mail service.
dling a number of calls at once,”
said Weston, “and will really be
of assistance to those students
living off campus.”
Weston noted that the follow
ing rules, adopted by the Student
Seriate, would be in effect:
ALL ANNOUNCEMENTS
made over the new communicator
must be of interest to the entire
student body or to a large portion
of it. This would inchude such
things as yell practice, athletic
events and ticket sales, special
events, or Silver Taps.
Announcements that are not
acceptable include hometown club
meetings, dorm notices, Corps
administrative notices, or others
the directors feel are not gener
ally appropriate.
The new system is located at
the Memorial Student Center in
the Student Programs office. All
announcements should be printed
legibly on a form obtainable there
and turned in at the programs
office the day before they are
to be made.
Announcements should be as
brief as possible and will be ac
cepted for the day only. Consecu
tive announcements will not be
accepted.
THE ANNOUNCEMENTS
will be approved by one of three
directors. They are H. W. Gaines,
MSC adviser; Robert Boone, Sing
ing Cadets director, and Weston.
Actual recording will be done
on a daily basis between 9 and 10
p.m. the day before by Alpha Phi
Omega. Recordings Friday will
include announcements for Satur
day and Sunday. The system will
be turned off at noon Saturday.
“If a student calls in the middle
of the announcements, all he has
to do is keep listening after the
last announcement and the tape
will repeat itself,” Weston noted.
On days where there are no an
nouncements, a thought for the
day will be used “to keep the tape
from being silent,” Weston said.
University National Bank
“On the side of Texas A&M.
—Adv.
“They’ve done away with most
train service,” he confirmed. “We
used to carry all mail to the depot
for the trains to pick up. Ten
years ago there were 3,600 trains
operating mail. Now there are
a little more than 500.”
Gregg paused for a sip of cof
fee and his hazel-grey eyes
beamed as he recalled the time-
consuming train routes and com
pared them with the present
truck service and sectional cen
ters.
“AT FIRST when we had
trains, one could leave Dallas
with mail at 4 a.m.; it took 12
hours to reach Houston,” he con
tinued. “It had to stop at every
station along the way. Now
trucks take six hours and stop
only at Corsicana, Waco, Bryan,
and Conroe.”
This reduction of time is due
mainly to dropping the mail off
at sectional centers, he explained,
which “satellite” the mail to the
surrounding community post
offices.
During the course of these
changing years, Gregg grew up
with the post office. Born in
Bryan 55 years ago to the late
Mr. and Mrs. J. G. Gregg, he
was tenth of 13 children.
NOTHING CAME easily for
the Gregg family, and young
Ernest had to work most of his
life.
“Mom and Dad both died when
I was young,” he recalled. “It
was pretty tough going; my older
brothers took over the house and
kept it going for nine years. We
had one sister there for three
years, but other than that it was
just us boys.”
After graduation from Stephen
F. Austin High School in 1933,
Gregg had planned to attend
Texas Technological College.
“MOST JOBS offered 25 cents
an hour.” He smiled and the soft
glow of his face lit his eyes once
again. He continued.
“I had made arrangements to
go to Texas Tech; I had saved a
little money, and a fellow up
there promised me a job in a
service station. Then the grade
came in.”
This was the score of his civil
service exam he had previously
taken. So he went to work for
the post office instead of Texas
Tech.
The old post office was situ
ated on the railroad near the old
depot at West Gate. Just before
Gregg began work the firm
moved to its present location in
1937. The size of the building
was doubled in 1962.
This same year the post office
building was moved Gregg mar
ried the former Miss Leila Moehl-
man, also of Bryan. They have
raised two daughters and two
sons, one of whom graduated
from A&M; the other, from Yale
University.
Gregg and his wife now live
at 706 Inlow.
Taped Announcement System
Added To Campus Telephones
Fringe Parking Lot Areas
To Get Lighting Facilities
By DALE FOSTER
Battalion Staff Writer
Texas A&M is on its way to
providing parking-lot lighting in
fringe parking areas, cutting
through red tape that has stalled
the project for two years.
Many campus thefts and acts
of vandalism have occurred in
these unlighted areas and Cam
pus Security Chief Ed Powell be
lieves they can be partly attri
buted to the lack of proper light
ing facilities.
The idea of providing “day
light” at night in these areas
has been tossed back and forth
for two years among the univer
sity administration, A&M Board
of Directors, Texas Transporta
tion Institute, Campus Security,
student groups and others.
“I AM PLEASED to report
that President Rudder has acted
favorably on the Civilian Stu
dent Council’s resolution con
cerning parking lot lighting . . . .
he shares your concern about
this problem,” Joe Buser, special
assistant to the President stated
in a recent letter to Civilian Stu
dent Council President David M.
Wilkes.
Buser added that a research
project by the Texas Transporta
tion Institute has been completed,
and the firm of J. W. Hall En
gineering has started plans and
specifications for additional light
ing.
“Originally the A&M Board of
Directors asked Mr. Rudder to
get TTI to make the study,” noted
Associate Dean of Students Ben
nie A. Zinn. “TTI finished their
study about two weeks ago and
turned it in to President Rudder.”
“AS I UNDERSTAND it, the
Board doesn’t meet until later
this month and has to pass on
any bids in order to award a
contract,” Zinn said.
Some questions have arisen as
to why the $9 student parking
fee is not applied to lighting the
lots.
Chief Powell said all parking
fees, in addition to parking fines
on campus, are used to build and
resurface lots because the state
has refused to allow appropriated
funds to be spent on parking
facilities.
IN THE PAST YEAR the Law
Hall, U. S. Department of Agri
culture and Corps freshman and
sophomore lots have been resur
faced. In addition new parking
spaces were built between South
campus Lots 31 and 48 and Are
as 5 and 8 near the cyclotron.
Until a contract is awarded,
the Campus Security and student
precautions are the only deter
rents to potential thieves. Regu
lar night patrols, a high number
of arrests and public awareness
are present safeguards against
property loss and damage.
“When the lot along the west
side of the campus was started,
I wrote a letter to Mr. Zinn stat
ing that lights be ordered and
installed,” commented Chief Po
well. “Before the lot was finished,
I sent another.”
POWELL SAID THAT the
area is being patrolled, but thefts
are also occurring in other pla
ces, particularly Lots 24 and 40
of the Corps of Cadets parking
area on the south side.
“Two tall standards and lights
have beenj installed on Lewis
Street between the two lots, but
there are bases for three,” the
security officer said. “Due to
an increase in number of cars and
freshmen parking in the grassy
area beyond the southermost lot,
we have requested an additional
light on the other base to raise
lighting by 50 per cent since the
electricity is already there.
“On the west-side lighting, the
TTI has said that it has suffici
ent temporary lights for the area
between Joe Route Blvd. and the
USD A Building,” he added There
are not enough to go below the
swimming pool.
“ORIGINALLY those cars with
green parking stickers (Fresh
man and sophomore civilian dorm
students) had to park, in part,
to the south of Joe Route. They
were all later moved northward
because of a lower than expected
number of cars with maroon
stickers (dorm students) that get
the spaces nearest the dorms.
“In some instances there have
also been daytime thefts. On Oct.
28 a student reported parking in
the Guion Hall Lot at 8 a.m.
his two-way radio was stolen.”
Chief Powell added that an
increasing number of arrests has
also helped. A man has been
specially assigned to investigate
thefts, acts of vandalism, and any
other criminal activity.
“SERGEANT GOSSETT is real
good at his job,” he said. “This
position was made available just
this fall by the last appropriation.
In addition the overall force was
beefed up by four men.”
“Although we make every ef
fort to insure the safety of stu
dent vehicles and property within
the vehicles, we can not guarantee
against any loss,” noted Gossett.
“On the apprehension of law
breakers, we need to have more
public participation,cooperation
between staff and security offi-
(See Parking, Page 5)
Great Issues
Will Present
Czech Forum
Great Issues will present a
three-speaker program on “Czech
oslovakia 1968” in the Memorial
Student Center Assembly Room
Tuesday at 8 p.m.
Dr. William R. Smith, head of
the Department of Psychology,
will be the featured speaker. His
wife, Betty, who accompanied
him to Czechoslovakia last sum
mer, will speak from a woman’s
viewpoint.
The two were in Czechoslo
vakia conducting an exchange
program for world businessmen
and industrial leaders.
Jeanna Chastain of College
Station will speak of her experi
ences as an international ex
change student to the Iron Cur
tain country, program chairman
Ron Tefteller related.
“The program will be divided
into 3 areas which will concern
the students, cultural aspects,
and the economic and industrial
conditions of Czechoslovakia,”
noted Pete Coffman, committee
host for the program.
“The program will approach
these subjects by time periods —
before and during reform and
after the Soviet invasion.
Aggies with activity cards will
be admitted free. General admis
sion tickets for patrons and fac
ulty and staff are $1.50. A sea
son ticket costs $5.00.
Bryan Building & Loan
Association, Your Sav
ings Center, since 1919.
B B & L -—Adv.
WORK CONTINUES
Workmen maintain a steady pace on the central administra
tion building- of the Southwest Veterinary Toxicology and
Livestock Insect Research Laboratory. The new unit, lo
cated across the road and north of the College of Veterinary
Medicine, will be the largest of an 11-building research
complex.
Town Hall Taking ‘Supremes’ Poll
Would you be interested in watching the top female
vocal group of 1968 perform? Texas A&M has the oppor
tunity to be the only school in Texas to host the Supremes,
the top stars of the Motown sound.
Louis Adams, Town Hall chairman, said because
finances of Town Hall are dwindling, his committee will
conduct a poll today to determine whether the students
will be willing to attend the concert.
The poll asks whether the students would be willing to
pay $2.50 to 3.00 for general admission seats, and whether
the students would attend the concert Jan. 11.
The polls will be conducted in Sbisa Dining Hall,
Duncan Dining Hall, and the Memorial Student Center.
Deadline to answer the questionnaire will be Friday.
Chivalry Seems To Be Alive And Well At Aggieland
HIGH CENTER
A Battalion photographer happened onto this perplexing scene dur
ing the noon hour Wednesday in the staff parking lot north of the
Services Building. The driver, a female staff member, had somehow
driven over one of the dividing curbs and was unable to get up
enough momentum to lift the rear wheels over.
SCOPING OUT THE SITUATION
Minutes after the driver abandoned her car to find help, two stu
dents appeared on the scene. Here they check under the auto to
see how much room remains between the curb and the undergirding.
A plan was in the making.
UP AND OVER
As the car’s owner and a friend look on, the two students (plus a
third passerby) boost the car over the hump as a fourth helper
drives. Minutes later, the girls were on their way with the car still
unscathed. (Photos by Mike Wright)