—
k .. .. ■■ ' ••-•vc--. • ■ - ii* . ■■ ■■ J ■ ■
Page 2
THE BATTALION
College Station, Texas Wednesday, May 19, 1971
School protection, class roll-taking
may change through NASA researcl
PASADENA, Calif. (NASA) —
An alarm system that shows a
potential for keeping small school
disorders from becoming big
ones, and a computer that keeps
attendance records have been de
veloped by the National Aero
nautics and Space Administra
tion’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory
here.
Both are a part of NASA’s Of
fice of Advanced Research and
LIBRARY
SMU MANADA QUEEN this spring is Kenneth Benson
Jr., 22-year-old political science major. He campaigned
against the eight women contestants as a write-in candi
date last week and polled about 40 per cent of the vote.
He will reign over SMU’s spring festival. (AP Wirephoto)
(Continued from page 1)
history of Irish livestock,” Dykes
recalled. “After 25 years trying,
he was still short by Volume 2.”
Later invited to visit a shop
dealing in Gaelic items as a must
stop for his visit, Dykes spotted
the total set and found it for sale.
In the same place he found a
volume of “On the Ancient and
Modem Races of Oxen in Ire
land" by Dr. Sir William Wilde,
father of the famous playwright
Oscar Wilde. It was published in
the proceedings of the Royal Irish
Academy in 1858.
“I was afraid it would really
be expensive, but asked the young
lady at the counter—in my best
Irish brogue — what the price
might be.”
Dykes obtained the Wilde work
for three pounds ($7.20).
Technology’s effort to use aero
space techniques as practical so
lutions to public problems.
The mobile alarm has been
tested at the John F. Kennedy
High School in Sacramento,
Calif., since the beginning of the
school year. Officials say it has
been a significant factor in the
prevention of major disorders.
Each teacher can alert the
principal’s office by activating an
ultrasonic device the size of a
fountain pen. The device uses no
batteries and can be operated
from any place in the building.
The system can record any num
ber of assistance requests simul
taneously.
The alarm system has also
provided quick response to acci
dents such as helping a student
welder whose glove caught fire,
another whose hand was cut by
a bandsaw, and another who had
an epileptic attack.
A second project undertaken
by the NASA JPL team could
make classroom roll call as obso
lete as inkwells in the school
rooms of America.
A small computer similar to
Duncan chef retires
James C. (Popcorn) Stewart
hung up his apron for the last
time Friday after 40 years service
in Texas A&M dining halls.
Stewart, 68, was chef at Dun
can Dining Hall.
Duncan manager Henry Well-
nitz said Stewart “is the best
cook in the state.”
Popcorn, as Stewart was tagged
by a student several years ago,
began A&M food service work in
June, 1924. He quit once, to try
his hand at farming the Brazos
County community of Smetana.
Food Service Director Fred W.
Dollar, other university officials
and Stewart’s co-workers paid
him tribute Friday and wished
the meats specialist
retirement.
a successful
During his tenure in Texas
A&M dining halls, Stewart
worked under Sbisa and Duncan
—for whom the halls are named—
Hotard, Penniston, Nugent and
Dollar. He has been requested
on numerous occasions to barbe
cue for groups meeting at Henry
Clay’s “Friendly Acres.”
Stewart and his wife Daisy
have seven children, now living
in Alaska, Topeka, Kan.; Kansas
City, Houston, and St. Louis.
Sammy Charles plays outfield for
the Arkansas Travelers baseball
team.
equipment used to monitor radio
signals from outer space has
been adapted by JPL engineers
to relieve teachers of the tedium
of taking attendance. The “Au
tomated Attendance Accounting
(AAA) System” is being tested
at the same Sacramento high
school. If proven feasible this
semester at Kennedy High, the
AAA system could usher in a
new push-button era for school
teachers.
Instead of making time - con
suming roll calls and written re
ports, each teacher pushes but
tons on a small keyboard that
electronically records absentees
in the school’s accounting office.
The computer stores the infor
mation each period and does an
end-of-day compilation of the
school’s attendance. Frank Schi-
mandle, Kennedy principal, says
some teachers and office workers
will be relieved of 10 to 14 re
ports daily. The AAA system is
expected to save each teacher up
to 40 minutes per day.
The experimental system can
handle up to 128 classrooms and
3,000 students. Each of Kenne
dy’s 76 classrooms has been
equipped with an AAA transmit
ter. Kennedy has 1,700 student!
and is steadily growing.
Here’s how the system work
A compact transmitter in eat!
classroom has keys numberd
from zero to nine plus buttons ti
signal tardy students, transmit
sion errors, or emergency cal
Each student has a four-dip
number; each teacher has a ctdt
book listing students and the:
numbers.
The teacher presses the »
bers of absent students otlj,
which are recorded in a centa
computer. The computer pft
vides readouts of class atteii
ance each period. One clerk-tip
ist can operate the complex alto
several days of training.
Each teacher and room has#
identifying code number, tot
Principal Schimandle believti
that the system will also enallt
a closer check to be kept onto
ants and mid-day dropouts.
The AAA system was ada
from a basic small computer d
in Mariner missions. JPL ef!
neers supplied the complex lop
software to record the desiid
school data.
Coconuts may offset protein deficiency problem
Texas A&M researchers are
developing a process to economi
cally extract food proteins from
fresh and dried coconut.
Funded by the U. S. Agency
for International Development
(AID) through the Texas A&M
Research Foundation, the study
is expected to help solve protein
deficiencies for people in Asia
and Africa.
Heading the project is Dr. Karl
F. Mattil, director of the Food
Protein Research and Develop
ment Center at A&M, and Dr.
Carl M. Cater, head of the cen
ter’s Oilseed Products Division.
Responsibility for the study
lies with Perry H. Quinitio, on
leave from the Franklin Baker
Co. of the Philippines, and Dr.
R. D. Hagenmaier, assistant re
search chemist at the Oilseed
Products Center.
Quinitio, research and quality
control manager for Baker’s two
Philippine plants, reports that
technology is available to extract
the protein but the processes cur
rently are not economical. The
April boosts B-CS rainfall total to 6 inches
Six-month rainfall totals in nately humid and cloudy, with low, 1.26 at Harvey, 1.23 at Kur-
the College Station and Bryan
area crept to around the six-inch
mark during April.
Early May changed the situa
tion and, according to the long
range National Weather Service
outlook, the trend will continue
during the next 30 days.
The outlook calls for near nor
mal temperatures and moderate
precipitation of about four inches
between mid-May and mid-June.
The period should be predomi-
above-normal morning tempera
tures and below-normal after
noon highs.
The area drained by Burton,
Wolf Pen and Bee Creeks re
ceived 1.05 inches last month, the
average of 34 observers in a
Texas A&M rainfall runoff
study.
The top measurement within
the watershed was 1.10 inches in
the 300 block of Brookside and
1000 block of Wind Road. A 2.01
gauging was made at Steep Hol-
ten and 1.18 at Easterwood.
An April low of .83 inch was
recorded at Bizzell Hall on the
A&M campus, in the 1000 block
of Edgewood and 1100 block of
South Winters.
May 9-11 thunderstorms includ
ing varied size hail produced be
tween three and four and one-
half inches of rain here.
April temperatures averaged
68 degrees, slightly above nor
mal. The range was from 37 on
April 7 to 88 on April 26 and 27.
two plants process 700 tons of
coconuts each day, he said.
He expects a pilot plant in
stalled in the Oilseed Production
Center here to provide the an
swer to the economic problems.
Process operations are expect
ed to begin shortly, he said.
If the process is feasible, Quin-
titio reports, an identical plant
will be built in the Philippines.
The extracted protein will be
used as a food supplement in the
Philippines.
Most of the Philippine coconut
production is exported as copra
or coconut oil. It is obtained by
crushing the coconut meat and
using an antiquated drying proc
ess, open air drying in most cas
es, or drying ovens.
Quinitio has worked for the
Franklin Baker Co., a subsidiary
of General Foods, for the past 10
years. The chemical engineering
and food technology graduate
came to Texas A&M in January
as senior scientist on the 18-
month study.
When a protein process is de
veloped, Quinitio says the whole
coconut will be used, except for
the water.
He estimated the average co
conut has 27 per cent of its
weight in the husk, 30 per cent
water and 43 per cent coconut
meat. The husks are used for
fuel by the farmers.
Approximately 70 per cent of
the dry coconut is coconut oil.
The copra, once oil has been ex
tracted, still has a high protein
content but it is usually used as
livestock feed in most countries.
Quinitio hopes his process will
benefit people unable to afford
high-protein foods.
He explained the coconut food
protein would be sold as a food
supplement to food producers
and the Philippine public. An ex
ample is protein supplement in
baby food.
Dr. Carl M. Cater, head of the
Oilseed Products Division, Food
Protein Research & Development
Center at A&M, said he is opti
mistic an economical process will
be developed.
BUSIER - JONES AGENCY
THI
Geo:
Pen:
in h
real
with
H
very
REAL ESTATE • INSURANCE
F.H.A.—Veterans and Conventional Loans
ARM & HOME SAYINGS ASSOCIATION
Home Office: Nevada, Mo.
3523 Texas Ave. (in Ridgecrest) 846-3708
Remote weapons system
designed by aero senior
ATTENTION
SUMMER SCHOOL STUDENTS
7 DAY Summer Board
1st Session $ 99.00
May 31 - July 9
2nd Session $104.25
July 12 - August 20
5 DAY Summer Board
1st Session $90.70
2nd Session $94.00
YOU CANNOT EAT FOR LESS ANYWHERE ELSE!!
“QUALITY FIRST”
A weapons system designed to
move the foot soldier away from
the direct path of flying lead but
keep him in battle contact has
been proposed by a Texas A&M
engineering student.
Dudley C. Wilson’s idea is
a remote - controlled hovercraft
mounting a variety of automatic
weapons.
He calls it RAMPARTS, for
remote amphibious air raft for
tactical support.
The senior aerospace engineer
ing major of Tulsa, Okla., said
current technology can remove
the soldier from the heat of bat
tle and place him in a protected
but not necessarily isolated loca
tion.
Wilson believes his remote wea
pons platform will increase the
soldier’s confidence and willing
ness to fight.
“War is waged for control of
people and land,” he added. “If
it must be fought, it must contain
the human element, otherwise a
battle would be a meaningless,
expensive junk heap.”
Wilson noted that military ap
plications of hovercraft is not
new. The Army’s 8%-ton opera
tional SK-B hovercraft gunship
carries a crew and gunners for
four machine guns and a 7.62mm
minigun.
He researched and designed a
lighter, more maneuverable and
controllable vehicle. Its crew
would be replaced by remote
equipment, the majority of which
would be located in the control
position.
Transistorized cameras for bat
tle situation display, sensors, ac
tuators and communications gear
would be carried on the 18-foot-
long craft. Designed around a
350 horsepower air-cooled piston
engine, it would be 12 feet wide
and have a 6% foot silhouette.
Wilson envisioned a two-turret
weapons system in which a va
riety of machine guns, small can
non or grenade launchers would
be interchangeable.
He used only a moderate
amound of armor in his hover
craft design, employing thrust
fan housings, ammo boxes, en
gine and self-sealing fuel tank to
protect remote equipment and
lift fans.
RAMPARTS has a four-hour,
40 knot operating capability un
der Wilson’s design parameters
and could reach areas inaccessi
ble to land or water vehicles.
“The hovercraft is as effective
over water as land,” the Squad
ron 11 cadet commented. “Snow,
desert, marsh, ice flows and rice
paddies could be negotiated
With its 40 knot speed, RAM
PARTS could quickly overtake
surface ships or land vehicles.”
In day or night river patrols,
the craft might precede a com
mand gunboat to detect or en
gage enemy forces, he added.
The same procedure could be
used with an armed helicopter,
which would be most visible and
eluded by hostile forces, giving
RAMPARTS a surprise element.
Dr. Charles A. Rodenberger,
aero engineering professor for
whom Wilson wrote a report on
the design project, called it “a
very innovative concept.”
In it, Wilson applied his engi
neering ability outside his own
immediate field of interest. An
Air Force ROTC cadet, he will be
commissioned in the Air Force
upon graduation.
"WHEN YOU
CALL ON US FOR
846-3773
VISIT OUR NEW OFFICE
MSC
BEVERLEY BRAIEY UNIVERSITY TRAVEL .. a &m university .
BRYAN
One daj
it p
i P
'66 Mus
!450.00. (
’66 VW
{700 or fi
Alan Hint
iiipw
III;
NO ping! NO pollution!
it’s The Poser Magnum!
It’s a what? It’s an astounding automotive
innovation which is guaranteed to:
Cbe Battalion
Opinions expressed in The Battalion are those of
the student writers only. The Battalion is a non-tax-
supported, non-profit, self-supporting educational enter
prise edited and operated by students as a university and
community newspaper.
The Battalion, a student newspaper at Texas A&M, is
published in College Station, Texas, daily except Saturday,
Sunday, Monday, and holiday periods, September through
May, and once a week during summer school.
LETTERS POLICY
Letters to the editor must be typed, double-spaced,
and no more than 300 words in length. They must be
signed, although the writer’s name will be withheld by
arrangement with the editor. Address correspondence to
Listen Up, The Battalion, Room 217, Services Building,
College Station, Texas 77843.
MEMBER
The Associated Press, Texas Press Association
The Associated Collegiate Press
Mail subscriptions are $3.50 per semester; $6 per school
; *6.50 per full year. All subscriptions subject to 4*4%
sales tax. Advertising rate fui
The Battalion, Room 217, Servi
year;
lies
Texas 77843.
All subec:
irnished on request. Address:
Building, College Station,
bject
est.
Members of t
Lindsey, chairman
F. S. White, College of En
College of Veterin
of Agriculture; an
Student Publications Board are
Liberal
f Engineering ; Dr. Asa I
ary Medicin
d Roger M:
ud<
H. F.
gineering ; ,
Medicine; Herbert H. Brevard, Coll
Filers,
rineering ; Dr.
ine; Herber
Miller, student.
Jim
College of Liberal Arts;
“ . As- ”
a B. Childers,
Jr.,
ege
The Associated Press is entitled exclusively to the use for
reproduction of all news disj
otherwise credited in the paper
published herein. Rights of repul
he
Represented nationally by National Educational Advertising
Services, Inc., New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles and San
tierwise credited m the paper a
origin published herein. Rights
matter herein are also reserved.
Second-Cli
he
dispatches credited to it or not
nd local news of spontaneous
.1 news of spontaneous
iblication of all other
lass postage paid at College Station, Texas.
EDITOR DAVID S. MIDDLEBROOKE
□
□
□
□
□
Increase auto mileage and power
Lengthen engine and parts life
Make starting easier
Make engine run smoother
Reduce octane requirement
and very important:
it reduces Air Pollution
Contact:
w
VA
II
ONLY
PASER MAGNUM OF SAN ANTONIO
P. O. Box 28298
San Antonio, Texas 78228
*29.95
Ilf
.
..
II
life::
Manufactured by
REI INDUSTRIES, INC.
Money-back guarantee
Dallas, Texas
Easily installed
No servicing
Saves dollars
Lasts and Lasts
:
;;
-.-v * - a
Four
mobil
Lay a
down
NELS
8
1968 Poi
malic OH i
7’ 8” D;
rails, fast
2653 after
2809 Villa
Ha
Co
Pres
We stoi
Where
Qua
Wheel
Sys
Wat<
Almoi
r
Brak
2 \
H0L]
Othi
$1!
Start
Yo
Joe
220 E.:
JO
Oui
:.i ■ . ■ v! .
V.. ,v:v;v.v