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Battalion Exclusive
Sense of Humor During Space Flights a Must
EDITOR’S NOTE: Bob Peek,
Battalion photographer-column
ist, worked with the Associated
Press news team covering the
Apollo 12 moon shot from the
Manned Spacecraft Center in
Houston. During the flight. Bob
wrote two stories giving read
ers an inside look at happenings
in the MSC during a space
flight. Bob is back now, tired
but rich, and here is the list
of his inside looks at the mad
life in a newsroom.
By Bob Peek
Battalion Staff Writer
‘‘Apollo 12 crewmen
turned
scientific ghouls today, stripping
the carcass of a surveyor craft
that had been bleaching in the
deserts of the moon for 31
months.”
Even science writers have a
sense of humor. This lead sen
tence never saw an editor’s desk,
but then it was never intended
for use in a story. It was some
harassed writer’s way of relieving
the pressure of trying to cover
the Intrepid crewmen’s dramatic
lunar exploration. When four
hours of moonwalk tension have
built up, any bit of laughter is
welcome.
Luckily for the newsmen at
the Space Center, the pressure
wasn’t continuous. Their week
was attuned to the spacemen’s
week. When the moon-men slept,
the AP slept. When each crisis
was reached, the AP was sharing
it, with the astronauts and with
the world.
Coverage was nearly instanta
neous. Within 10 minutes of any
major event detailed stories were
on the wire to newspapers and
radio stations around the world.
Parts of stories were often writ
ten ahead of time. Thanks to the
abundance of technical informa
tion provided by NASA, the
writers knew exactly what would
happen at any given moment,
unless something went wrong.
With this knowledge, the writ
ers could write “skeleton” stories
in advance, leaving room on each
page for quotations from the
astronauts. As soon as each event
was accomplished, the writers
finished their stories and handed
them to the editors, who made
quick revisions and handed them
to the teletypesetters.
The night of the moon landing,
writers Harry Rosenthal, Howard
Benedict and John Barbour, and
editor Ken Siner were discussing
possible leads for the lead story
on the landing. Noting the length
Che Battalion
ruesday, November 25, 1969 College Station, Texas Vol. 65 No. 42 Telephone 845-2226
ALERS
arterbackB
Saturday’s
defensive
•more AIR-
WORK CONTINUES
A civilian Bonfire crew puts its back into it Monday after- hell out of Texas is estimated at Wednesday afternoon,
noon while hauling- logs up to the second stack. Completion (Photo by Bob Stump)
of the Aggies’ symbol of their burning desire to beat the
Bonfire Stack Grows Larger
4s Ags Crank Up Machinery, Pour Coffee, Check ID’s
^ %
/V
By Bob Robinson
battalion Staff Writer
“May I see your ID please?”
The sound of buzz saws and
wavy machinery almost covered
shouts for assistance, coffee and
more men. Two trucks loaded
with logs from the cutting area
were pulling up the street be-
tyeen Duncan Hall and the stack-
ng area.
“Thank you, sir.”
A loudspeaker cut above the
din, requesting someone to re
port to the safety tent.
“May I see your ID please?”
The 105-foot centerpole loomed
high in the floodlights. Work on
the third stack was in progress.
“Thank you. Go on ahead.”
The field was muddy. Dozens
of tired, haggard looking men
Were heading to the control trail
er, safety tent, coffee trailer and
hack out toward the centerpole.
They were carrying axes, shov
els, and coffee. Spirit seemed
high, as most were laughing or
ASKABLE
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joking.
A long-distance call for Sam
Torn, head yell leader, was an
nounced over the loudspeaker.
“I’m sorry, you can’t come in
beyond this point unless you’re
working on the stack.”
Security was being handled—
adequately—by the athletes in
the stacking area at 10 o’clock
last night. They were polite, but
insistant. Proper identification
was needed to be admitted. Even
proper identification wasn’t good
beyond certain points.
The Aggie Bonfire had already
cost thousands of man-hour of
hard work. It was not going to
be lit pre-maturely by anyone,
local or otherwise, if the guards
could help it.
Two Aggies, wearing heavy
field jackets and protective hel
mets, covered with mud, were
hurrying toward one of the small
fires around the centerpole area.
One almost slipped in the mud,
almost spilling the two cups of
Former Student Named Dean
Of Harvard Business School
Lawrence Fouraker, A&M class
of 1947, was named Dean of the
Graduate School of Business Ad
ministration Monday by Harvard
University President Nathan
Pusey.
Fouraker, who is currently di
rector of research and holder of
the Edsel Ford Chair, succeeds
Dean George Baker Jan. 1.
A native of Bryan, he is a
pioneer in experimental econom
ics using computers.
Speaker at last fall’s Century
Club luncheon, Fouraker did his
graduate work at the University
of Colorado and taught economics
at Penn State for 10 years before
joining Harvard, J. Wayne Stark,
director of the Memorial Student
Center, said.
He joined the faculty of the
Harvard graduate school in 1961,
Stark noted, and became a full
professor in only three years.
While at Harvard, he has been
a friendly contact for former
University National Bank
"On the side of Texas A&M.”
—Adv.
A&M students and has helped
in recruiting for the A&M Col
lege of Business Administration,
Stark said.
coffee he was carrying.
Spirit was high in the control
trailer. Aggies with three and
four days growth of beards, per
spiration — stained sweatshirts
and parkas, and mud-caked boots
were drinking steaming coffee
out of plastic and styrofoam
cups.
One student, a senior in G-l,
Larry Jenek, hadn’t had over
eight hours sleep since Saturday
morning.
“We’re gonna burn this thing
Wednesday,” he said, “and then
beat the hell outa tu!”
One of the seniors in the trail
er picked up the mike that con
nected with the loudspeaker.
“Somebody get over and start
unloading those trucks,” he said.
“We need logs on the stack.” The
words echoed back into the
trailer.
“We’re hauling logs around the
clock,” Janek said. “And we
need all the help we can get. It’s
all volunteer work from now on.”
Classes start again today and
work can no longer be required
on the Bonfire.
Tom Condry, a senior and one
of the four stack bosses, said
that work is still a little ahead
of schedule.
“The mud has been a hin
drance,” he said, but it’s packing
pretty well and hasn’t been a
major problem.”
Equipment has been holding
up real well but there is still a
shortage of trucks,” he said.
“The Bonfire should be com
plete early Wednesday after
noon,,” he said.
Activity to and from the
control trailer was heavy. Peo
ple were constantly coming in
for instructions or requests and
then leaving to go back to their
units.
“I think somebody better have
a talk with the weatherman. It
was supposed to start raining at
nine this evening,” someone said.
“Nine, hell,” another Aggie
answered. “It’s supposed to rain
clear through tomorrow.”
Another added that there has
been rain during Bonfire work
nine out of the last 10 years.
Janek said Coach Gene Stall
ings has been at the stacking
area every morning since Satur
day.
“He was here this morning,” he
said, “and said it looks like we’re
winning here, so we’re going to
have to win Thursday, too.”
Janek said one of the students
asked Stallings what he thought
about the Ohio State-Michigan
upset. He said Stallings’ only
comment was that should make
Texas number 1 and the higher
they get the easier they fall.
On the edge of the stacking-
area, nearest Duncan Hall, was
one of the coffee trailers. A&M
coeds were again working long
hours, serving coffee, working in
the safety tents and, in general,
helping to boost morale.
The loudspeaker sounded again
with another request for men to
unload the trucks and get more
logs to the centerpole.
The buzz saws stopped momen
tarily and all that could be heard
was the sound of shouts giving
orders and directions. A truck
started up and spun its rear
wheels in the mud as it drove
off the field into the street. The
saws started up again, covering
the area with their high pitched
whine.
A guard stopped someone com
ing into the area.
“May I see your ID please?”
he said.
“Here’s my senior ring,” he
said, raising his left hand, “Is
that good enough ?”
He started to walk around but
(See Bonfire, page 2)
of time the astronauts were tak
ing in dressing for the walk, and
length of time they were sched
uled to walk, Rosenthal suggested
a paraphrase of astronaut Neil
Armstrong’s first words on the
moon.
of family writing. Both wire serv
ices and magazines ranging from
“Life” to “Ladies’ Home Journal”
crowd the lawns in front of the
astronauts’ homes, and follow the
wives and children wherever they
go.
said ‘When I saw the parachutes
open, . . .
“How about ‘Twenty minutes
for man, seven hours for man
kind,” he deadpanned.
Silence.
“Oh, well. It was just an idea.”
Stories on the families of the
astronauts are boring to read and
discouraging to write. But com
petition between AP and UPI
extends into the never-never land
Wives’ quotations are seldom
original. On the day of splash
down, one reporter radioed quotes
to me from his car. I took down
the quotes from the radio in
the wirephoto room, which was
crowded with editors and tech
nicians.
“It was the most beautiful
sight I ever saw,” the wirephoto
crowd finished the sentence for
the reporter.
... it was the most beautiful
sight I ever saw’.”
“I’ve got a quote from Mrs. Sue
Bean,” the reporter said. “She
It was the the astronauts’ kids
that kept the family beat from
being dull. After a week of
pranks, one of the kids topped
it when he climbed onto the roof
of the Bean house, in the rain,
and bombarded the soaking pho
tographers and reporters with
firecrackers.
★ ★ ★
Moon Men Home Safe
After Historic Voyage
By The Associated Press
ABOARD USS HORNET <A>>_
Apollo 12’s moon voyagers came
home safely Monday, making a
bull’s-eye splashdown in tropic
waters. It ended their million-
mile trip, man’s second lunar
landing mission and first detailed
scientific exploration of the
moon.
Charles “Pete” Conrad Jr.,
Richard F. Gordon Jr. and Alan
L. Bean rode their Yankee Clip
per spacecraft to a landing
amidst foaming whitecaps in
South Pacific seas. American tel
evision audiences viewed the
splashdown live and in color.
Stowed aboard their charred
spacecraft were more scientific
treasures than were brought
back on man’s first moon land
ing mission. Apollo 11 last July
had landed on the moon to prove
man could do it. Apollo 12 went
back to begin detailed explora
tion and to carefully document
scientific data. It also made a
pinpoint lunar landing, clearing
the way for future touchdowns
in craters and mountain valleys
on the moon.
The spacecraft seared into
earth’s atmosphere at 24,000
miles an hour and floated down
under three huge orange and
white parachutes, easily visible
on television. The splashdown
was only 3.1 miles from the re
covery ship, stationed some 400
miles southeast of Samoa.
The spacemen were lifted from
a raft attached to their floating
spacecraft and flown by helicop
ter to the Hornet flight deck.
Then, while a band played “An
chors Aweigh,” the all-Navy
space crew went directly into a
silver van on the hangar deck of
the carrier, starting an isolation
that will end Dec. 10 at the Lu
nar Receiving Laboratory in
Houston.
The quarantine is designed to
prevent spread of any possible
germ or disease the astronauts
bring back with them from the
lonely surface of the moon. No
such germs were found after the
first moon-landing voyage and
officials say the chance is re
mote this time.
Inside the silver van, a doctor
and a technician start an ex
haustive physical examination,
the first of many planned during
the long quarantine period. The
physician, Dr. Clarence Jerni-
gan, will perform extensive blood
tests, searching for any possible
alien organism.
Apollo 12’s return to earth
went flawlessly from the mo
ment it started its final plunge
downward.
The crew jettisoned the cy
lindrical service module just be
fore the spacecraft collided with
the earth’s upper atmosphere.
Gordon then turned the space
crafts’ blunt end forward, and
the metal cone of the command
ship smashed into the steadily
thickening atmosphere.
Friction from the air caused
the blunt end to glow cherry red
as it plummeted earthward. The
three astronauts, protected by a
heat shield, remained safe inside
the cabin that carried them to
the moon and back.
A helicopter came in quickly
with the excited report: “Tally
ho! I’ve got a visual contact.”
The orange and white para
chutes stood out brilliantly
against a blue sky as the space
craft approached the water. The
chutes collapsed as the craft
splashed into the ocean and turn
ed upside down, its small end
pointing into the water instead
of into the air as it should.
Conrad, Bean and Gordon wait
ed, their spacecraft windows un
der water, while inflatable bags
forced the cone-shaped ship to
turn upright.
Overhead, helicopters clustered
with swimmers crouched inside,
waiting to go to the Spacemen’s
aid.
After Apollo 12 righted itself,
swimmers closed in. They at
tached a floatation collar to hold
the six-ton craft stable. “We’re
all okay,” the astronauts report
ed.
One swimmer brought respi
rators and fresh suits to the as
tronauts, who dressed aboard the
tossing spacecraft, preparing to
go into quai’antine aboard the
recovery ship.
Unlike the astronauts from the
first moon landing mission, Apol
lo 12 crewmen did not wear head-
to-toe coveralls to prevent con
tamination. Officials said the
coveralls were too uncomfortable
(See Apollo 12, page 3)
Johnny Rivers To Perform
At Town Hall after Bonfire
An entertainer who has won
six gold records in as many years
will perform Wednesday at Tex
as A&M to a sold-out audience.
Johnny Rivers will go on the
G. Rollie White Coliseum stage
a,s the first Town Hall .Special of
1969-70, announced chairman Rex
Stewart. About 19,000 tickets
have been sold for the post-bon
fire performance.
Tickets will be required for ad
mission, Stewart reminded. As a
Town Hall special, the ID-activity
card admission policy is not in
effect. Stewart noted the show
has been sold out for more than
a week.
The Thanksgiving game bon
fire yell practice starts at 7:30
p. m., coliseum doors open at 8:15
p. m. and Rivers starts his one-
hour show at 8:45.
A diversified talent with his
own record label and involved with
the successes of The 5th Dimen
sion, A1 Wilson and poet-singer
James Hendricks, Rivers shaped
his personal career from the
heart of the traditional blues area,
Baton Rouge.
onstration records and occasional
ly performed in clubs.
Rivers worked closely with
Roger Miller, Elvis Presley and
Johnny Cash, learning, exchang
ing ideas and meanwhile admiring
and studying the works of Fats
Domino, B. B. King, Ray Charles
and other southern blues per
formers.
Armed with solid roots, a bur
geoning musical talent and con
siderable enthusiasm, he went to
Los Angeles in I960. After three
years of writing and occasional
performing that made him known
throughout the world, the popular
performer hit gold with “Mem
phis.”
Gold records for “Seventh Son,”
“Mountain of Love,” “Mabillene,”
“Secret Agent Man” and “The
Poor Side of Town” followed in
rapid succession.
John Rivers has recorded eight
albums for Imperial Records,
appeared on television shows in
cluding “The Hollywood Palace”
and Ed Sullivan’s and was the
subject of a TV documentary.
RIVERS
‘IdeaV Weather Forecast
From there, the 27-year-old
superstar observed music world
happenings in Nashville and New
York. He wrote songs, sang dem-
For Bonfire and Game
Coeds to Sign Up
At Housing Office
A&M coeds are to accomplish
their Housing Office pre-registra
tion for the spring semester at
the Housing Office instead of
the Legett Hall lounge, as pre
viously announced, according to
Allan M. Madeley, housing direc
tor.
Bryan Building & Loan
Association. Your Sav
ing Center, since 1919.
BB&L.
—Adv.
Ideal bonfire and football weather is predicted for
mid-week at Texas A&M, when almost 50,000 persons
will begin assembling for the A&M-Texas football game.
A&M meteorologist Jim Lightfoot, who called the
shots precisely for early Monday rainshowers, said the
intermittent precipitation should begin clearing Tues
day.
Lightfoot had no revisions in the seven-day fore
cast he made last Thursday.
It calls for northerly winds of 10 to 15 mph and
temperatures in the mid-50s for 7:30 p. m. Wednesday,
when Aggie yell leaders put torches to the annual
Thanksgiving Day game bonfire on the drill field south
of Duncan Hall.
The thermometer is expected to dip to 33 Thursday
morning and, under clear to partly cloudy skies, climb
to an afternoon high 1 of 61 by the time the 1:30 p. m.
game gets under way. The wind is expected to remain
from the north, at about five to 10 mph during the
game.
No rain is forecast for either Wednesday evening or
Thursday.