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Reasons behind death of manned space program sad
Editor’s note: Battalion Assist
ant Sports Editor John Curylo
worked as a copyboy for the As
sociated Press news team at the
Manned Spacecraft Center during
the Apollo 14 flight. In his story,
John gives his views, based on
what he picked up in his spare
(?) time.
By JOHN CURYLO
Assistant Sports Editor
It seems a shame to have to
say goodbye to something that
has given us a lot, but that ap
pears to be about to happen.
The manned space program sees
its end in sight. Worse yet, it
feels it, too.
But the really sad part is the
reasons and explanations for the
death of the missions that made
science fiction a reality and aer
ospace terminology part of our
everyday vocabulary.
According to plans, there are
three trips to outer space left for
America’s astronauts, type Apol
lo. Off the drawing board, and
into the offices, restaurants and
street corners of Nassau Bay,
home of Mission Control, it is an
accepted fact among newsmen,
spacemen, and residents that
there will be no Apollo 17, cut
ting future explorations to two.
Snapping back to the reality of
now, the ideas surrounding the
absence of journeys out of the
earth’s atmosphere are cruel and
sickening.
What will life be like without
interruptions of the routine of our
lives to follow such ventures?
Anyone who has been to the news
center of the National Aeronau
tics and Space Administration
can see the magnitude of the
coverage by the media. It would
be nice to get a cut of the money
spent on telephone bills, coffee,
and paper consumed during a lu
nar excursion. There is no doubt
that people the world over look
at all this with intrigue. Or do
they?
Etirope was the area most in
terested in early projects. Friday,
man landed on the moon. The
third time in history, one of us
was walking on the celestial body
so near and yet so far from us.
What got the big play in London
papers? Rolls Royce was bank
rupt.
Admittedly, this was shocking.
But still, two men were on the
moon. You know, that glowing
body many miles up there in the
sky that you used to think was
made of green cheese. All over
Europe, reactions were similar.
Oh, the Yankees are up there
again, are they? Nice.
Maybe the world is spoiled.
Maybe an exploding oxygen tank
will snap them back to stark real
ization. Wrong again. That work
ed for a while last spring, but the
emotions that united the world
last spring lulled it almost to
sleep nine months later.
The multitude can be blamed
for the apathy, but the heart of
the problem is at home. If the
United States government sees
fit to terminate the program,
why should anyone else care?
If it’s not such a good deal, what
the heck? This is probably the
biggest knife in the back. And its
effects are felt. United we stand;
divided . . .
However, this difficulty is not
helped by the strategic people in
volved. It is only pushed deeper
into its grave.
It’s a safe bet that most anyone
can tell you that a tremendous
amount of planning goes into one
of these missions. For instance,
the estimate of fuel consumption
would be a real baffler in many
college classrooms. This is only
a small part of the preparation
involved.
Try these, just for starters:
the position of the moon relative
to the earth at the time of lift
off and the course plotting nec
essary to get you where you want
to go; the terrain and scientific
value of the area of the landing;
how much oxygen will be con
sumed; food; logistics for recov
ery after splashdown; power on
the spacecraft; weather at the
time of lift-off; and training of
flight controllers, astronauts, and
all the other people who make
things work.
Yet, with all the planning,
you’d think that they could find
some other time for those guys
to do their sightseeing than 2:00
a.m. All the advance publicity
talked about was the convenient
time scheduled for launching
Apollo 14 (2:30 on a Sunday aft
ernoon). But what about lunar
landing? Made dramatic by trou
ble and doubt along the way,
many people had probably fallen
asleep in front of their television
sets when Alan Shepard set foot
on the moon with all the enthusi
asm of stepping into a corn field
in Ankeny, Iowa.
Which brings up another point.
Those three guys in Kitty Hawk
must have bored each other to
tears along the way. Shepard for
instance. Now, ATs a nice enough
guy, and I’m not knocking Amer
ica’s first space hero, but let’s
face it; next to his magnificent
report, “It’s hard, hard, hard,”
the only other exciting comment
he made while setting the elapsed
time record on lunar soil came
when he dropped something and
emitted a profane remark. He
didn’t even come close to redeem
ing himself by hitting the golf
ball “Miles and miles and miles”
and throwing the “javelin.”
Okay, I’ll admit it. They’re not
up there for fun and games. But
still, they don’t have to be so
darned dull. We paid 400 million
dollars to get them there, and
they don’t even act grateful.
About the only part the people
back home could associate with
was that exhausting walk. Other
than that, Shepard and Edgar
Mitchell resembled disappointed
tourists.
See Reasons behind, page 5)
John Curylo
FRIDAY—Partly cloudy. Wind
West 10 to 15 m.p.h. High 71,
low 46.
SATURDAY — Clear to partly
cloudy. Wind North 10 to 15
m.p.h. High 68, low 38.
Che Battalion
warm,
breezy,
cloudy
IE
Vol. 66 No. 76
College Station, Texas
Thursday, February 11, 1971
845-2226
[$ Legislators solving fiscal
problem quickly: Presnal
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Choice £*0
,Lb, ,J
12-0z.
Legislators are rushing to solve
Texas’ fiscal problems and ap
prove amendments in the 62nd
session, Rep. Bill Presnal of
Bryan said Wednesday.
“All of us went to Austin real
izing the urgency of getting
quickly to work,” Presnal told a
standing-room-only Political For
um audience here.
Emphasizing the rush, the leg
islator who represents Brazos,
Grimes and Madison Counties,
said that he wouldn’t get to see
his wife on the Political Forum
speaking trip.
He had to be back in Austin
within 90 minutes for hearings
before the House Appropriations
Committee, of which Presnal is
a member. In addition to the
Appropriations, Agriculture and
Higher Education Committees re
appointments, he was also as
signed this session to the Elec
tions and State Finance commit
tees of the House.
“Appropriations hearings take
a great deal of time,” Presnal
said. In spite of the state’s emer
gency fiscal situation and the
regular session - opening proce
dures, a considerable amount has
been accomplished since the gavel
rapped at noon Jan. 12, he added.
“Four constitutional amend
ments have been approved, along
with other legislation,” the for
mer A&M staff member noted.
“That’s no small feat, since it
takes two-thirds vote in both
houses to approve amendments
Art belongs to people,
graphics expert claims
By FRAN ZUPAN
Battalion Managing Editor
Art can no longer be separated
from the people, the former head
of the Graphics Department at
the Annenburg School of Com
munications in Philadelphia told
a Contemporary Arts Committee
presentation audience of about
200 Wednesday night.
“Frequently in the past some
one could work up in his studio
oblivious of the person ‘down
there’,” printmaker Samuel Mait-
in said, “but now there are no
excuses for not realizing who
will see the picture and under
what conditions.”
When an artist considers his
viewer the whole nature of his
craft begins to change Maitin
said, adding this is a delicious
idea.
This new way of “art think”
is coming into other areas of
man’s life — law, architecture
and pollution control, to name a
few, Maitin said.
“This is fortunate because we
University’ National Bank
“On the side of Texas A&M.”
—Adv.
are almost dead,” he said men
tioning examples of polluted
water. “If we don’t change, we’re
going out. It’s got to be changed
or you might as well take a
‘trip’ and lie in a corner cause
you won’t be able to do it any
more.”
Maitin said there are three pre
dominant aspects of graphic com
munications in the United States
today.
The first he mentioned is con
cern with phenomena, especially
natural phenomena.
A phenomenal image in nature
captured by the artist, such as
Alfred Stieglitz’ cloud photo
graph, has made viewers really
look at nature, Maitin said.
“Earth art, digging a hole in
the ground and contemplating its
shape is included here,” he ex
plained. “This is really big in the
West and, to a lesser degree, in
the East where there’s not as
much land.
The second ‘now’ form of art
is art which informs viewers
about the media process, Maitin
went on.
When the commercial silk-
screen process is printed on large
canvas, a new art form emerges,
he illustrated.
“Transference of media changes
the viewer’s whole response,” he
said.
The third aspect of modern
graphics is the one Maitin most
elaborated on—a moral concern
for your audience.
“You look at people and be
come alarmed at their condition,”
he said. “Then you wonder if
your art has relevance. The med
ium is my message is no longer
completely true, at least not in
the East.”
Maitin spoke of the Gorilla Art
Action Group and Artworkers Co
alition, two groups of artists who
seek to make art for “the people.”
These groups closed down every
major art museum in New York
City except the Metropolitan
Museum of Art, Maitin said.
“The museums closed because
they basically agreed with the
groups,” he claimed. “The Art-
workers coalition demanded that
the Museum of Modern Art sell
some of its collections and use
the money to build public hous
ing.”
(See Art belongs, page 3)
for the ballots.”
He said the speed was neces
sary since law requires such
measures to satisfy requirements
for the May 18 public election.
Presnal said the amendments to
be voted would form an ethics
commission, allow legislation to
consider amendments during spe
cial sessions, increase the consti
tutional ceiling on welfare and
increase bond limits for water
improvement and treatment fa
cilities.
He said four fell by the way-
side, including Governor Smith’s
plan to issue bonds for the bene
fit of the available school fund
and allowing board members of a
water district to hold elected po
sitions. The latter, Presnal said,
is of interest to the College Sta
tion City Council.
“What you hear about the fis
cal crisis is true,” he said.
Appropriations hearings must
bring the $9 billion in requests
down to a workable figure.
“We are spending $6.4 billion
in the current biennium,” Pres
nal pointed out. He said the Leg
islative Budget Board is expected
to make about a $7.5 billion rec
ommendation.
Presnal said one measure in
hearing would move welfare
ahead of the Teacher Retirement
System in priority temporarily,
to make money available to wel
fare payments first.
“This is temporary and I do not
believe it will adversely affect
the TRS,” he added.
Presnal said that short term
deficit financing is not new to
Texas. The procedure was em
ployed in 1961 under Gov. Price
Daniel.
“It’s like me getting a new
tractor,” the Brazos dairy farmer
explained. “I might pick the trac
tor up today, and tell the dealer
I’ll pay him the whole cash
amount next week.”
Bill Presnal, the state representative from Brazos
County, speaks to a Political Forum audience. (Photo by
Lloyd Sneed)
Postmaster explains rate increase
Proposed new postal rate in
creases, which will call for in
creases in virtually all mail cate
gories, is expected to bring a
total yield of $2.12 billion into
the postal system over a period
of years College Station Post
master Ernest Gregg said Tues
day.
In addition to the long-stand
ing Postal Service proposal for a
two-cent boost for letters from
six to eight cents, airmail rates
would go up a penny, from 10 to
11 cents, and airmail cards from
eight to nine cents.
CSC to discuss phones
Campus regulations concerning
on campus housing for male stu
dents and telephone contracts will
be among the topics discussed at
tonight’s Civilian Student Council
meeting.
According to present regula
tions, all undegraduate male stu
dents, even those over 21, are re
quired to live on campus unless
married, living with a relative or
able to prove financial hardship,
Mark Olson, CSC president said.
The CSC is also opposed to
the telephone contracts which all
on-campus students are required
to sign, stating that the occupants
must accept charges on all calls
placed from their room regardless
of whether they made the call or
not, Olson said.
The meeting will be at 7:30
p. m. in Room 3D of the Memorial
Student Center.
If temporary rates are placed
into effect, post cards will go
from five to six cents although
the proposal provides for a full
increase to seven cents each.
Parcel post rates will not be
effected.
If the Rate Commission does
not present to the Governors of
the Postal Service a recommend
ed decision of rate changes by
May 11, it is anticipated that a
temporary rate increase will be
put into effect by the Postal
Service, Gregg said.
Substantial increases also are
proposed for magazines, newspa
pers and other categories of sec
ond class mail, he said. These
increases will be phased over five
years to soften the impact on the
mailers.
About 80 per cent of the na
tion’s mail volume of nearly 90
billion pieces in fiscal year 1972
will be business-type mail, and
the bulk of the increase would be
borne by these users.
Gregg pointed out that the in
creases will place the nation’s
postal system on a sound finan
cial basis and shift more of the
costs from taxpayers generally
to these who use the mails the
most.
He added that higher rates had
been sought by administrations,
but no action had been taken.
Correction
The Genetics 301 criticism
session scheduled for 7 p.m. today
was erroneously reported by The
Battalion yesterday. The session
is scheduled for 7 p.m., Febru
ary 18.
Band Sweetheart to be chosen at Saturday night dance
The five finalists for the Aggie
Band Sweetheart will be narrow
ed down to one Saturday night
at the annual band dance.
The dance will salute Lt. Col.
E. V. Adams’ 25th year as direc
tor and will be highlighted by the
crowning of the Texas Aggie
Band Sweetheart.
She will be selected from five
finalists to be introduced at the
Memorial Student Center Ball
room event.
Finalists include Carolyn Gay
Spinks, University of Houston
sophomore French major. She is
a 5-6 brown-eyed blonde and will
be escorted by Bruce Stone of
Houston.
A 5-2 blonde with blue eyes,
Gwen Mosley is a senior and band
member of Winston Churchill
High School in San Antonio. Her
date is Ronald Baugh of San An
tonio.
Karen Litzman is drum major
of the Columbus High School
band, where she is a junior. Rus
sell Braden of Columbus will es
cort the green-eyed brunette who
stands 5-7.
Blonde Cathy Lynn Chubbuck
studies psychology at TCU. She
is a freshman. Her date is Lewis
H. Evans of Tyler, also Cathy’s
hometown.
A University of Texas at Aus
tin freshman in Spanish, Randye
Ann Campbell will be escorted by
Jim Morris of Amarillo. She is
a 5-8 brunette and graduate of
Westchester High School in Hous
ton.
McDaniel said about 300 band-
men, their dates and guests are
expected for the 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.
event. He added that the band
will play for the A&M-Rice bas
ketball game, so the dance will
get a late start.
Karen Litzmann Cathy Chubbuck Randie Ann Campbell