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
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EDITOR HAYDEN WHITSETT
Managing Editor Doug Dilley
News Editor Sue Davis
Sports Editor John Curylo
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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. Anderson
Former A&M Coach
and Commandant
■V
FINAL MAKE-UP FOR 1972
AGGIELAND PICTURES
s: ;:cvj ii'Pd-u ■
For
Senior and Graduate Students
Jan. 17 - 21
Page 2
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