Page 6
College Station, Texas
Wednesday, August 2, 1972
THE BATTALIQ
Four organizations
More entertainment
to be had this fall at TAMl
By STEVEN OUALLINE
Entertainment has come a long
way at A&M in the 40 years
since interested students and
townspeople presented the first
loosely organized Town Hall pro
ductions to offer the students an
alternative to studying or going
home every weekend.
On-campus entertainment to
day consists of dozens of clubs
and committees to insure that
students will have activities avail
able to suit individual tastes.
There are four university-
sponsored organizations, all mem
bers of the Memorial Student
Center Council, which promote
programs directed toward politi
cal and social involvement, cur
rent interest topics and light en
tertainment. Town Hall, Political
Forum, SCONA and Great Issues
are the elements from which many
university entertainment activi
ties are built.
Town Hall can be considered
the father of all organized en
tertainment activities, other than
sporSs, on the A&M campus.
This organization, founded over
40 years ago, broke the ground
which enabled related activities
to grow.
It was originally an informal
group of students trying to inject
some life into campus social ac
tivities. Prior to its organization,
campus entertainment consisted
ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR gathering places between classes at A&M is the bell in
the rotunda of the Academic Building. (Photo by Bob Leitz)
primarily of spectator sports and
beer drinking.
The first efforts of Town Hall
were directed toward bringing
theatrical groups to A&M. The
future of the organization was
shaky until the late ’30s when
growing financial support and a
wider variety of entertainment
began enticing students to stay
on campus during weekends.
A significant boost came in
1957 when, with the financial aid
from the Journalism Club, Town
Hall booked “The Louisiana Hay-
ride,” one of the most popular
touring groups of the ’50s. The
entire show was broadcast over
national radio. This was the be
ginning of a new era in A&M
entertainment.
With the increase in enrollment
in 1964, resulting from the ad
mission of coeds and dropping
ROTC training as a requirement,
Town Hall began receiving funds
from the Memorial Student Cen
ter to finance its productions.
For more information concern
ing Town Hall’s structure and
plans for the coming year, see
the related article on page 7.
Political Forum has as its pri
mary function to act as the “rec
ognized organization in the Me
morial Student Center which an
nually invites prominent figures
on the state and national political
scenes to take part in nonparti
san programs,” according to Paul
Turner, last year’s chairman.
The group is composed of po
litically interested young people
whose goal is to provide stimu
lating and informative programs
of political thought.
Political Forum members must
organize all aspects of program
activites, from issuing invitations
to prospective speakers to decid
ing on a menu, if necessary, and
Bryan s
better idea
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since 1916.
CADE
FORD
1309 TexasAve. Bryan,Texas 77801
arranging for the speaker’s re
ception.
Also included in the responsi
bilities of members is the distrib
ution of posters and press re
lease to the public, securing room
reservations for guests, printing
a program bulletin to publicize
upcoming features and gather!
a biography, which includes edu
cational background, occupation
and political activities, of each
of the prospective speakers.
Turner mentioned the admini
stration had loosened its policy
toward speakers on campus.
“Our speaker’s policy changed
somewhat last year,” he said.
“The council approved speakers
who would have been considered
too liberal two years ago.”
SCONA (Student Council On
National Affairs) is a once-a-year
affair and perhaps the most care
fully organized of all campus ac
tivities. It started 17 years ago
to promote student concern for
and participation in national af
fairs.
Ben Thurman, 1972 SCONA
chairman, said the conference is
based on roundtable discussions,
each co-chaired by authorities on
the subject being treated.
This format, developed at A&M,
has served as a model to similar
conferences at Virginia Polytech
nic Institute and Auburn Univer
sity.
Planning and preparation for
SCONA go on year-round, accord
ing to Mrs. Pat Ramsey, SCONA
secretary. The topics for this
year’s conference were chosen im
mediately following the awards
dinner for last year’s meeting.
SCONA prides itself on being
the only self-supporting organi
zation of its type on campus.
“A&M doesn’t grant any funds
to us,” Thurman said. “We re
ceive our funds entirely from
contributions of former students,
corporations, foundations and in
terested individuals.”
Last year’s $22,400 budget
went to room and board for dele
gates and speakers, honorariums
and funds for sending A&M dele
gates to similar conferences
across the nation.
SCONA has sponsored some of
the most controversial figures of
the last two decades. Included as
speakers in past conferences were
Lyndon B. Johnson, Hubert H.
Humphrey, Birch Bayh, John
Tower and H. Ross Perot.
The SCONA conferences have
been sometimes controversial,
sometimes spirited, but always
enlightening.
Great Issues offers the A&M
student a chance to hear, in per
son, the views of the policy
makers of today.
“The purpose of Great Issues,”
according to last year’s chair
man, Sam Drugan, “is to bring
to the campus informed speakers
who will acquaint the student
body, faculty and community with
the issues and problems of our
society.”
How do they go about this ?
Drugan said it is a rather com
plicated affair.
A list of prospective topics is
narrowed to about 20, which are
then researched by committee
members. The Dean of Stub
okays the program and cam
that a speaker be removed fii§Tiv
the list if he feels that the spa
er will incite campus unrest,!
cording to Drugan.
He said Jane Fonda, an at
war activist, was the only
cently proposed speaker cent
ed because of fear that shevg
cause disquiet on campus.
Great Issues sponsors am
erage of 20 speakers each js
The programs are financed»
marily by funds from the Stud!
Services fee.
An honorarium of $250-5#
paid to speakers, but Drugam
ed that a fee of up to $1,750
been paid to particularly sou
after speakers.
Great Issues is different In
most entertainment function!
campus in that students
very big role in deciding on tip
and speakers. A planning n
mittee gets ideas from stw
and faculty members ii
naires distributed during theys
Great Issues serves thestuife
of A&M by bringing stimulac
and controversial personal])
from across the nation
campus and enabling speaker
audience to come into close
contact.
Yes, entertainment has
a long way at A&M over the
40 years, but planners and^
ganizers of the various
will not be content with
successes. They plan to coni
to strive for the very best
speakers and entertainers
to A&M.
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