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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 18, 1972)
CADET SLOUCH by Jim Earle [ “Do you remember which dorm we were living in before the break?” Pedestrians Though the administration has been saying for a long time that A&M is to become a pedestrian campus, it came as somewhat of a surprise to most students when they returned and found that it had become just that over the semester break. This is not to say that spacious, tree lined malls have appeared all over campus; no, instead they just went and put a hole anywhere you might want to drive and quite a few places you want to walk. The problem is that they decided to put the holes in the middle of the main streets on campus, thereby making it difficult to do any thing like go from the Chemistry building to the Memorial Student Center without having to go to North Gate to get there. It’s hard to criticize this work, being on the level of good for the ecology, progress, motherhood and apple pie, but it sure is a pain. Environmental controls needn’t cost: researcher An A&M researcher believes en vironmental control in agnculture doesn’t have to be costly, and has the statistics to support the be lief. Dr. Ronald D. Lacewell, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, has found that a tax on environ ment polluting chemicals, as well as a marketing quota farm pro gram, will not only reduce the use of these chemicals in agricul ture, but may even mean more profit to the farmer. According to Lacewell, also an economist with the Department of Agzdcultural Economics and Rural Sociology, a combination of these programs would reduce ag ricultural pollution and have the side benefit of minimizing the economic strain on the farmer. The study took place in a five- county area of the Northern High Plains of Texas where the pri mary agricultural crops are grain sorghum and wheat. Factors such as amounts of nitrogen, herbi cides and acreage were included in a computer program model. The acreage for each crop was further broken down into dry and irri gated. Lacewell, and William R. Masch, formerly a researcher in the same department, showed that a price increase in the chemical 2,4-D, a pesticide, from $.52 per pound to $2.26 per pound (due to tax) would decrease its use by half. The net loss of agricultural income in that area would be less than half a percent. Under a marketing farm quota program, a limit would be placed on the size of crop which could be placed on the market. At the same time, the limitations on acreage worked would be lifted under the theory that idle land would be used instead of chemi cals in a limited space. Maximum production could be maintained in this manner at less expense. Using present production fig ures as the maximum for the area, the A&M researchers cal culated over a five percent in crease in net income with a large decrease in the use of nitrogen, a fertilizer, and a less significant decrease in 2,4-D. Lacewell suggested that the marketing quota program would have its greatest effect on fertil izer use while a tax would be set up to affect the use of a particular pesticide. He added that important im plications haven’t been considered due to the small area of the study. Included may be varied produc tion patterns for different re gions and the effect of time on the quantities of chemicals used. “This study is intended to serve as a basis for more comprehen sive analyses that consider these other questions,” Lacewell said. The bonfire as it was Editor’s note: Though it is now late after bonfire and the situa tion, for this year settled, the contents of this letter to the for mer university archivist, Ernest Langford, and The Battalion still apply. In it are some facts not known before and some opinions that need to be heard. Editor: Some one planted a tree in the ashes of the recent bonfire. Some one wrote an article for The Battalion in which it was stated that the first log bonfire was built and burned in 1951. There is a wide range of opinion as to the worthwhileness of this tradition. Mr. Langford, the Uni versity Archivist, has asked me to give you the following infor mation about the history of the bonfire. Back in the fall of 1920, as one Bulletin Board Tonight Wheelmen will meet at 7:30 in room 002 of the Services build ing. Ag Eco Club will meet in room 112 of the Plant Sciences build ing at 7:30. Thursday Cepheid Variable will meet in the physics building at 7:30. Williamson HTC will meet at the Memorial Student Center at 8. Pictures will be made. Fake meteors being created on campus A two-stage hydrogen gun which fires tiny balls of metal, glass or plastic to simulate me teor impact was fired for the first time last week. The miniature meteorite range gun measures 14 feet and is a gift from NASA to the College of Engineering as part of a grant. The gun will be used, accord ing to Dr. James L. Rand, asso ciate professor of aerospace en gineering, to “simulate the effect of a meteor impact on various objects and surfaces such as the moon or space crafts.” The tiny ball travels approx imately 17,000 feet per second (12,000 miles per hour) and re searchers hope to increase that speed, said Dr. Rand. The gun is powered by the compression of hydrogen in the first stage. This gas is then used to push the artificial meteor into a target. The target used was a half inch aluminum plate. The tiny ball bore a hole in the plate. NASA has already given $23,- 000 this year as part of the grant. 2 students (Continued from page 1) ial will follow in Mount Olivet Cemetery, under the direction of Jack H. Rowe Funeral Home, League City. Hjornevik is survived by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Wesly L. Hjornevik of Reston, Va.; four brothers, David of San Marcos and Daniel, Douglas and D. Quin- cey, all of Reston; paternal grand parents, Mr. and Mrs. Simon Hjornevik of Moorehead, Minn., and maternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Martin Ostby of Seattle, Wash. Hjornevik received his bachel or’s degree from A&M and was completing requirements for a master’s degree. Cbt Battalion Opinions expressed in The Battalion are those of the student uniters 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 Saturd; Sunday, Monday, and holiday periods, September ing summer school. May, and once a week during summer Saturday, through LETTERS POLICY Letters to the editor must be typed, double-spaced, and no more than 300 icords 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 77S-13. MEMBER The Associated Press, Texas Press Association The Associated Collegiate Press Mail subscriptions are S3.50 per semester; S6 per school All subscriptions subject to 5% on year; $6.50 per full year. All subsci sales tax. Advertising rate furnished on request. Address: The Battalion, Room 217, Services Building, College Station, ubje est. Texas 77843. The Associated Press is entitled exclusively to the use for eproduction of all news dispatchs credited to it or not otherwise credited in the paper and local news of spontaneous Members of the Student Publications Board are: Jim Lindsey, chairman ; H. F. Filers, College of Liberal Arts ; F. S. White, College of Engineering ; Dr. Asa B. Childers, Jr., College of Veterinary Medicine; Dr. W. E. Tedrick, College of Agriculture; and Layne Kruse, student. pap. origin published herein. Rights of republication of all other herein Second-Class postage paid at College Station, Texas. matter are also reserved. Servic Franc Represented nationally by National Educational Advertising Inc., New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles and San EDITOR HAYDEN WHITSETT Managing Editor Doug Dilley News Editor Sue Davis Sports Editor John Curylo ALLEN i OUR SPECIALTY Oldsmobile 1/5 Carat Cadillac Eye Clean Diamond SALES - SERVICE For Senior Ring, “Where satisfaction is $40 plus tax standard equipment” I C. W. Varner & Sons 2401 Texas Ave. J Jewelers 823-8002 1 North Gate 846-5816 AGGIE PLAQUES Plaster Accessories Finished - Unfinished Working- Area Free Instructions GIFT - A - RAMA Redmond Terrace College Station of the coaches in the Athletic Department, I witnessed my first bonfire. It was a well aged tradi tion at that time. It was made up of community trash, boxes etc. that the merchants stored for the pick-up week preceding the bon fire, the wood piles of all the professors and every piece of loose wood and much that was not loose which was on or near the campus. The students partic ularly transported the one or more holer back yard outhouses, of which there were a great many in those days, to add to the bon fire. All of these materials were quickly combustible, even though the pile might be quite large the fire seldom outlasted the speech making. The students had a big time. Yes, those were the great times? Please note the question mark. The College had 1700 stu dents. The spirit was great. We had not been scored on in football for the past two seasons and went to the last game that year before a single touchdown was scored on our team. The bonfire was well on its way. It continued to be built in a similar manner for the next 15 years. The students were 100% for continuing this type of bonfire and were very unhappy when the present log bonfire was forced upon them. In the summer of 1935, Dr. T. O. Walton, the College President, asked me to take the job of Com mandant and Dean of Men. Dur ing the building of the bonfire my ideas about the bonfire, as a coach, began to take on a differ ent slant in my new assignment. The morning following the 1935 bonfire, a very irate farmer came to my office to say that the boys had carried off his log barn, lock, stock and barrel. He demanded payment for the barn. We assess ed each company and battery for enough to pay the man. There were many other complaints for less raids and it was evident to me that something should be done about this tradition. Juris diction in this case rested with the office of the commandant. Prior to the time when the 1936 bonfire would be built, we issued orders that no one would be al lowed to collect bonfire materials or place them on the bonfire other than authorized personnel, and that the manner of building a le gal bonfire would be under the direction of the commandant. This made the student body very unhappy, but being boys of an earlier generation, they figured that those in positions of respon sibility should call the shots. At that time there were many dead trees in the wooded area between the railroad and Easter- wood airport. I got permission to cut and remove these dead trees to construct the 1936 bonfire. It was then when the first log and legal bonfire was built. The man ner of building was as follows: an agency of the college furnished saws and axes and a couple of trucks. I personally marched the “bull ring” to the spot and took my turn at the saw. The sopho mores and freshmen had a good time and thought it was “good bull”. In a manner an old tradi tion was ended and another one was begun. I have mixed emo tions about the present bonfire situation. The first log bonfire was not large but was large enough to get the job done. I think it is silly to strive each year to make it bigger than ever be fore. The work group has in creased in size from the small disciplinary bull ring of the past to an annual bonfire which seems to breed a wide degree of for or against opinion, with great num bers involved. As a coach, I thought most of A&M’s traditions were good. As Commandant, I thought many of them were bad, and managed to get rid of a few of those that kept the enrollment down. As an oldtimer, I’ll line up with my side of the generation gap. Many aspects of building the bon fire contribute to making a clos er knit association among the students. I can’t like a bonfire which destroys trees. Thanks to those who planted the tree. Frank G. 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