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Warm,
cloudy,
humid
Wednesday, July 8, 1970
Thursday through Saturday —
Cloudy, widely scattered after
noon thundershowers. High 98
degrees, low 76 degrees.
Telephone 845-2226
1
A&M’s early
jhistory detailed
by publication
The university’s earliest his
tory is detailed by University
Archivist Ernest Langford in
“Getting the College Under
Way,” a 65-page treatise issued
recently as the University Li
brary’s second miscellaneous
publication.
“It is hoped this informal but
informative document will lead
to a fuller understanding and ap
preciation of the early history of
Texas A&M,” Library Director
John B. Smith said.
Appointment of commission
ers, acquisition of lands and con
struction of buildings are cov
ered in the report, which brings
together findings of several
I years of Langford’s research.
The university’s actual begin
ning date is corrected to June
21, 1871, through data furnished
I in the report.
The 1871 date is a year earlier
I than is commonly cited in refer-
■ ences to the university’s found-
9 ing. Langford lists state and
I county records supporting the
I 1871 date.
“‘Getting the College Under
1 Way’ outlines events between
1 April 17, 1871, the date when
I the Texas Legislature approved
1 an act to provide for the estab-
I lishment of Texas A&M, and
1 Oct. 4, 1876, when the College
I was formally opened for the re-
I ception of students,” Langford
9 said.
1 Old Main Building, which
I burned in 1912, is shown in the
9 new library bulletin as being the
I first structure on the campus, an
| honor sometimes ascribed to
I Gathright Hall.
| Texas Clipper’
draws visitors
during cruise
Tne “’Texas dipper,” Texas
Maritime Academy training ship
carrying 180 students on a Euro
pean cruise, attracted so many
visitors at its first port of call
that police had to assist in di
recting traffic. More than 5,000
persons in Cork, Ireland, toured
the ship during a single day, Capt.
Alfred Philbrick, TMA executive
officer and skipper of the “Clip
per,” reported to Adm. James D.
Craik, TMA superintendent.
Captain Philbrick said the an
nual training cruise was “going
well” in all regards.
In LaHavre, France, 50 TMA
cadets exchanged places for a day
with 50 cadets at the French
Maritime Academy. The two
academies played rugby, with the
Texans winning, 28-4.
Shrimp nets in the sunset—A shrimp fisherman is silhouetted in the Gulf sun after
hanging his nets up to dry on his boat at Grand Isle, La. The annual shrimp season
is underway in Louisiana. (AP Wirephoto)
Ph.D. candidates gain
language alternative
><
Doctoral candidates gained a
fourth alternative this summer in
the foreign language requirement
for the Ph.D.
Czech was added to the Modern
Language Department’s offerings
in scientific French, German and
Russian.
The first course, Introduction
to Scientific Czech, enrolled 11
Ph.D. candidates for the current
summer session, according to Dr.
Jack A. Dabbs, department head.
Reading in Scientific Czech will
Graduate students
dive for treasure
Oceanography graduate stu
dents will dive for sunken Span
ish treasure in the Gulf of Mexi
co during the next month.
Involved in the SCUBA diving
work are William W. Schroeder
of San Diego, Calif.; G. S. Ed
wards of Houston and Schroe-
der’s wife Phyllis. Schroeder
and Edwards are working on
doctorates in oceanography. All
three are veteran divers.
The project involving scien
tists of Southern Methodist Uni
versity, A&M and Texas Tech is
conducted through the Institute
for Underwater Research Inc., a
newly-formed agency licensed by
the Texas Antiquities Committee
for geophysical and SCUBA sur
veys of the suspected location
where a Spanish treasure fleet
sank more than 400 years ago.
Recovered artifacts will be
turned over to the committee,
but the project’s primary pur
pose will be to mark located
wreckage to prevent plundering
and illegal recovery.
Schroeder, who instructs
SCUBA diving, recently returned
from a research project with Dr.
Thomas J. Bright in the Virgin
Islands. They remained under-
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water 21 days in the Tektite II
research program, living in a
special habitat and investigating
marine life sounds.
The graduate student said the
Texas coast work will employ
ship - mounted equipment, shore
survey crews and divers to pin
point locations of sunken vessels,
contemporary or ancient.
Shipboard magnetometer read
ings indicating metallic or rock
interruptions of the Gulf bottom
will be investigated by divers. If
the diver locates wreckage, shore
crews will take compass fixes on
the ship to record the exact lo
cation.
Schroeder pointed out that lo
cations of both modem and an
cient wreckage will be deter
mined.
“Rock was used as ballast in
Spanish galleons,” he noted.
“The magnetometer should show
the rock as an anomaly, provid
ed it is not ‘shadowed’ by near
by wreckage of later origin.”
The scientists believe galleon
remains, located in an area free
of other sunken ships, will be dis
cernible on magnetometer read
ings. Depth of the area to be
surveyed is about 30 feet.
Directing the research will be
Prof. Tom Hays, SMU anthro
pologist. SMU graduate stu
dents also will participate in the
project.
follow during the second summer
session.
Dabbs and Dr. John M. Skri-
vanek believe the intensive Czech
courses are the first such offered
in a U. S. university. They con
curred that enrollment was high
er than expected.
“We feel these courses are quite
a step forward,” commented Skri-
vanek, specialist in Czech and
Russian languages who teaches
the course. “Because of the na
tion’s centralized location and lit
eracy, it is in the mainstream of
European thought. Czech scien
tists have produced large quanti
ties of publications. For these
reasons, we believe that a doc
toral student should not be re
stricted only to French, German
or Russian, though they are ex
tremely important scientifically.”
He noted that exceptional re
search materials in biology, as
Scientist says
nature fixable
tronomy, optics and education,
among others, are available in
Czech literature. Most of the 11
currently enrolled students are in
education. Skrivanek pointed out
that John A. Ckomensky of
Czechoslovakia is known as the
prophet of modem education and
father of modem educational
methods. He suggested education
al visual aids 300 years ago.
Structured along lines of
French, German and Russian
courses, the intensive Czech pro
gram introduces the student in
the first course to reading scien
tific material. Emphasis is placed
on the language’s characteristics,
acquiring a technical vocabulary
and translation.
Students read and translate se
lected texts relating to various
sciences in the second three-hour
course, a continuation of the first.
A&M is no newcomer in
ecology.
“Ecology and other environ
mental problems have been mat
ters of concern at Texas A&M
long before they became fashion
able,” observes Dr. Jimmie D.
Dodd. “We’re delighted the public
is becoming more aware.”
Dodd, a range science professor,
is one of the university’s more
active and optimistic ecologists.
He scoffs at the idea it’s too
late to do anything about saving
the environment—a theory being
preached in some circles around
the nation.
“If you can wreck it, you can
fix it back up,” Dr. Dodd reasons.
He also is concerned, however,
about the long-term effects of
man’s manipulations of the natur
al ecological system.
Of necessity, he points out,
agriculture, industry and com
merce upset the balance of nature.
“With knowledge, natural laws
can be utilized to the benefit of
man on a long-term basis,” Dr.
Dodd explains. “However, com
plete disregard for natural laws
can result in major undesirable
short and long-term changes—and
waste of great proportions.”
“If we want to maintain or
increase our present standard of
living,” he continues, we must
have the maximum amount of
production with the minimum
amount of damage to the environ
ment.”
Herbicides represent one area
in which Dodd thinks more
thought should be given to long-
range effects. But he’s not one
who thinks herbicides, or other
scientific and technological ad
vances, should be thrown out.
“If you throw out herbicides,
you go back to 1940 agriculture—
and we can’t afford that,” Dr.
Dodd contends, noting such as
pects as the cost of labor.
“If we throw out 30 years of
technology, will society accept the
standard of living of 30 years
ago?” the scientist asks. He does
n’t think so.
One of Dodd’s research projects
could provide a breakthrough in
the key problem with herbicides:
mirleral recycling.
For the past five years, he has
been studying the effects of nu
clear fallout-type radioactive ma
terials in soil and plants. He is
attempting to find a way to keep
the radioactive material in the
soil and not recycle into the plant.
So far, he has discovered the
material doesn’t recycle in fertile
clay soil but does in sandy loam.
Knowledge gained in the study
of radiactive materials could have
application to recycling problems
in herbicides.
Another of Dodd’s projects ex
plores the pros and cons of burn
ing off some of the woody plant
growth to allow grass and other
plants to grow more readily.
The burning creates an air-
pollution problem, but it has been
ascertained that under certain
climatic conditions such fires
cause little damaging atmospheric
pollution. Dodd hopes the guide
lines will be adopted statewide.
Texas A&M, Dr. Dodd notes,
is one of the nation’s leading
institutions for ecological studies.
In addition to having the people
with the interest and ability to do
the work, he points out the insti
tution has a unique situation in
that within its own state it can
study everything from the ocean
to the desert.
Dr. Dodd points out A&M has
research programs dealing with
both air and water pollution, as
well as studies which could help
solve the problem of solid wastes.
The university also has well
established programs to develop
and protect marine resources and
possibly perfect techniques for
economical desalting of sea water
for agricultural and related
purposes.
Employes due
to finish forms
University employes are urged
to complete forms for the revised
group insurance enrollment by
Friday, July 17.
Insurance and Safety Director
John W. Hill stressed that al
though the effective date of the
new insurance is Sept. 1, the large
volume of applications cannot be
processed unless all are received
“no later than July 17.”
Hill said final information and
enrollment meetings are sched
uled in the Memorial Student
Center Ballroom at 2 p.m. Tues
day, July 14, and 9 a.m Wednes
day, July 15.
“All persons who are regular
employes of the Texas A&M Uni
versity System and budgeted by
name on a full-time basis are
eligible for this coverage,” Hill
pointed out.
Each eligible employe is re
quired to either enroll or sign
a waiver for each of the five types
of insurance, he said.
The insurance coverage includes
a required life insurance policy,
an optional life insurance policy,
hospitalization, accidental death
and dismemberment and a long
term disability policy.
“All employes are required by
state law, and supplemented by
Board of Directors action, to car
ry the required life insurance,”
Hill reports. “The required life
insurance is up to $5,000, based
on the individual employe’s salary.
All employes are required to
complete enrollment forms on the
required life insurance,” Hill de
clared.
The individual employe has the
option of accepting or rejecting
the other insurance, either all or
part, but must indicate the de
sire on the application form.
Each department or compar
able administrative unit within
the system has a representative
appointed to assist personnel who
have not yet enrolled or signed
a waiver for each type of insur
ance, Hill added.
Departmental study
seeks buoy benefits
The Oceanography and Mete
orology Departments will conduct
the technical aspects for a Gulf of
Mexico pilot study which could
lead to a worldwide network of
data buoys.
The research will be performed
under a $20,000 grant from Gulf
Universities Research Corp.
through a contract awarded by
the Coast Guard for its National
Data Buoy Development Project.
GURC is a non-profit organiza
tion which includes 17 universi
ties in the five Gulf state. A&M
is a charter member.
Dr. Vance Moyer, head of the
Meteorology Department, ex
plained the overall Gulf pilot
study will seek to determine the
economic benefits from a com
prehensive grid of buoys equipped
with various types of oceano
graphic and meteorological in
struments, as well as navigational
devices.
The meteorologist estimated the
economic benefits derived from
improved weather forecasting for
the eastern two-thirds of the
United States could have a $1
billion impact annually.
Dr. Moyer and Dr. Richard A.
Geyer, head of the university’s
Oceanography Department, will
be assistant project managers for
the study’s technical team. Tech
nical manager will be Thomas E.
Hawkins of San Antonio-based
Southwest Research Institute, an
associate GURC member.
In addition to the technical
aspects, the Gulf of Mexico study
will include economic and man
agerial consideration. The eco
nomic study will be headed by a
Tulane University professor,
while GURC staff members will
handle the managerial function.
University National Bank
“On the side of Texas A&M.”
—Adv.
New dormitory—Approximately 1,000 students will be housed initially in
the new low-depsity dormitory complex, shown here in artist’s conception.
A $7,197,000 contract for the project has been awarded to Houston-based
Manhattan Construction Company of Texas. The center commons area is
designed to accommodate an additional two wings, allowing future expan
sion to double capacity.