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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 7, 1969)
V tic THE BATTALION Hi the left in thetrtj obvious 'rest sou; craelii s werepj explosive St group: '■ring to: e philos; - a Unite 'g questis T BELT! tun men's te 'rive 3n, Texai liW kies nion ipany 846-83 lafeterij ml Friday, March 7, 1969 College Station, Texas Page 3 ‘Couldn’t Care Less’ Profs 9 Year 9 s Study Leads To Somerville Plan Okay Army Waits For Belgian Ag President Earl Rudder and the Board of Directors have okayed a proposal to construct an all university recreation complex at Lake Somerville. The Lake Somerville project has been in the offing for the past year and a half, according to Bill Stell, a graduate student con nected with it. “About a year and a half ago Dr. Leslie M. Reid, head of the Recreation & Parks Department, learned that Dr. William J. Clark of the Biology Department was exploring the possibility of ob taining a lease on the lake for aquatic biology and wildlife re search,” Stell says. “Dr. Clark had in mind facilities which would allow for water qual ity, turbidity, (biochemical, and vegetation studies,” he added. At the same time, according to Stell, the university and Dr. Reid were ascertaining if negotiation leading to university use of res ervoir property were feasible as part of an integrated campus recreation program. “To determine its feasibility, Dr. Reid first contacted the Fort Worth District Office of the Corps of Engineers, which owns the right to the land around the lake, and then Billie Gaines, res ervoir manager there,” Stell says. “Dr. Reid and Dr. Clark dis cussed their findings one night and decided that due to the ap parent widespread interest in the project, steps should be taken to create an all-university recreation complex there.” THE FIRST of these steps was a survey. Three questions were asked—What type of educational and/or recreational developments would you foresee your depart ment or organization being able to use ? For what activities would you use this development? What types of facilities would be re quired to support these activities ? “The survey,” Stell says, “indi cated that the majority of the departments and organizations would use these facilities at some time during the school year. “BENNIE SIMS, president of the Memorial Student Center ^Council and Directorate, calcu lated that with the 400 student organizations on campus and 30 available school weeks the ‘re treat’ would be used by 13 groups a week if each group used it only once out of the entire year. He predicted that such a facility at Somerville would be overcrowded almost at once.” Some of the departments and organizations surveyed were — Agricultural Education, Entomol ogy, Range Science, Wildlife Sci ence, and Biology; the Civilian Student Council, the MSC Direc torate and Council, the Sailing Club, the Scuba Club, and the YMCA. The survey having illustrated that such a complex would be well used and would perform many services, Gaines informed State Senator W. T. Moore of Bryan that A&M did, and had for some time expressed an interest in ne gotiating a long-term lease for use of lands having access to Lake Somerville. Senator Moore was informed also that A&M was conducting feasibility studies of such a project. The step next taken resulted 1 in the acceptance by President Rud der and the board of the project proposal. “WHAT WE must do now is prepare a complete prospectus outlining the facilities and activi ties desired, and submit this to the President’s Office for review and action by the board,” Stell says. “A similar prospectus must then be submitted to the Corps of Engineers. This proposal will include a description of the facili ties to be developed, the uses to be made of the property, and the lands desired. “At present,” Steel continues, “the lands include three sites. Two are located on the eastern shore of the lake; the other on the south central shore.” Lake Somerville, which is about 28 miles from College Station and 15 from Brenham, is approxi mately 914 miles long and from !4 to 314 wide. Eight public parks have been established along its shore. The town of Somerville is located at its eastern end. The final step which must be taken before the project can be begun will be to request funding to construct activity, research, and continuing education facili ties. This will be submitted to :aN jlty. I. m. lage- ;orj’ : gch- JOIN FREE TODAY jell 11 ' TUNES Stereo Tape & Stereo Album Club TIP1T0P TAPES 1,000 SO. COULTER DRIVE PROM COLLEGE STATION, TURN RT. OFF TEXAS AVE. AT COULTER DRIVE. the Department of Health, Edu cation, and Welfare under the Higher Education Act of 1965. When these steps are completed it is expected that as much adja cent land as Texas A&M Univei - - sity requests can be secured under a long-term (25 year) lease for $1.00 per year with a 25-year option. It is anticipated that the basic agreement will include: • Furnishing of lands and necessary access by the Corps of Engineers. • Facility construction under a HEW gi-ant. • Provision of specialized equipment and facilities by indi vidual groups or departments. • Assumption of normal main tenance and repair expense by the university. Belgian Jean-Francois Ledent knows that the Belgium Army is waiting for him. But he couldn’t care less. Working on his master’s degree here, the Leuven, Belgium, native, at 25, doesn’t get excited about draft card burners. They don’t exist in his country. “At least, I’ve never heard about any,” he said. Matter of fact, Ledent, sound ing a bit like his American coun terpart with his free and out spoken mannerisms, added, “I think it can be an interesting experience.” Belgians are requir ed to serve a year on active duty, primarily as a result of NATO commitments. Ledent readily admits, however, that American students are “much different.” He attributes the difference to the nation’s uni versity systems. CALLING ATTENTION to the “very old institutions” in Europe, some of which date to the Middle Ages and “impress people,” Ledent said the majority of American freshmen wouldn’t be admitted. “They’re stricter,” he empha sized. By comparison, Ledent stressed most students are enrolled in a technical school, rather than a university. Ledent, noting that some U. S. doctorate-level material is receiv ed in first and second year studies in a European institution, con tinued, “I cannot judge too quick ly.” HE PRAISED the nation’s uni versity system as being “more flexible” as compared with only “one schedule” in Europe. “I can choose what I need here,” he said. “They make schedules for you and that is very good.” Recalling how he decided to come to America and especially A&M, Ledent said he received a $1,560 Rotary Foundation Gradu ate Fellowship. “My American friends — two from Texas — said A&M was good so I took it,” he said. After travelling about the coun try, Ledent ended up briefly in Chicago during the National Democratic Convention which he labeled, “very, very interesting and fascinating.” HE ALSO visited in St. Louis and Dallas, and toured Austin by mistake after going to sleep on the bus and failing to make con nections to College Station in Waco. Finally arriving at the univer sity about 3 a.m., Ledent said, “I saw my first sunrise in Texas here, after sleeping in a chair in the YMCA.” The soil and crop sciences ma jor has few plans for the future. “Maybe I will get marriage . . . I do not know ... I am a free man so far,” he said. LEDENT PEOPLE and those think young lyfniuerdit^ NstlOPIQ I CURRENT RATE PER ANNUM INTEREST PAID QUARTERLY ON SAVINGS CERTIFICATES Deposits Made By The 10th Earn By The 1st. CUSTOMER SERVICES • AMPLE PARKING QUICK AND EASY ACCESS TO BANK LOBBY • CONVENIENT FACILITIES FOR “AFTER HOURS” DEPOSITS • DRIVE-IN WINDOWS FOR SPEEDY AND FRIENDLY SERVICE • “ROUND TRIP” BANK- BY MAIL SERVICE POSTAGE PAID lyjniuerditu NstlOPIsl BSPlk ‘The Bank That Works Hardest For You’ ‘On the side of Texas A&M” College Station, Texas