be Battalion
Quarrels Would Not Last
Long, If The
Fault Were
Only On One Side.
THURSDAY — Occasional light
drizzle or rain today and to
night. High 45, low 4$.
FRIDAY — Partly sloudy to
cloudy with widely scattered
showers. High of 57.
Vol. 67 No. 193
College Station, Texas Thursday, December 7, 1972
845-2226
Apollos ‘Go’ Despite Computer Hassle
By HOWARD BENEDICT
AP Aerospace Writer
CAPE KENNEDY, Fla. <A>> —
Delayed for more than two hours
by a computer problem coming
within a breath of a flawless lift
off, Apollo 17 vaulted toward the
moon Thursday morning, pro
pelled by a fiery rocket on what
could be man’s last voyage to an
other world in this century.
The last flight of the historic
Apollo series began at 12:33 a.m.
EST as a thundering Saturn 5
rocket thrust Navy Capt. Eugene
A. Cernan, geologist Harrison H.
“Jack” Schmitt and Navy Cmdr.
Ronald E. Evans away from their
home planet on a scientific expe
dition to fill in missing chapters
of moon history.
Despite the delay in launch,
Apollo 17 went smoothly into
earth orbit. To reach the moon,
the spacecraft orbits the earth
twice in slightly more than three
hours. Then another rocket burst
from the Saturn 5’s third stage
will send the spacemen toward
the moon and away from their
home planet.
Mission Control said the tardy
launch will not affect the Dec. 11
arrival time at the moon. The
lost time will be made up by per
forming a more powerful rocket
thrust when the spacecraft blasts
out of earth orbit.
FORMING AN ICE FLOW was easy Wednesday afternoon if one had the patience to
wait in a freezing wind for one to form. The picturesque icicles were found atop the roof
of the A&M Press building on its air conditioner water cooler. (Photos by Mike Rice)
Rather Cites Government
For Creating Trust Crisis
The American crisis of trust in
leadership will not be solved by
fovernment management of news,
a prominent television network
journalist believes.
"Our country’s problem today
is a lack of communicable trust
in its leadership,” Dan Rather
stated in a Political Forum talk
Wednesday.
The CBS News White House
correspondent said it runs
straight through the Republican
and Democratic Parties, from
county courthouses to the White
House.
Rather believes the last evi
dences of communicable trust
were during the Eisenhower ad
ministration and that “it must be
built back.”
“It’s a gut issue,” he informed
an audience of more than 800
TAMU students, faculty-staff and
administrators. “We’ve got to get
truth out of our leaders.”
“I don’t see it happening. What
I see is when someone is in doubt,
they stamp ‘secret’ on it. Then
if the press gets it, administra-
Record 1,224 Aggies Applied
For Graduation Saturday
A record 1,224 students have applied for mid-term graduation at
Texas A&M Saturday.
Houston attorney Leon Jaworski, immediate past president of the
American Bar Association, will be commencement speaker. The
exercises will be held at 9 a.m. in G. Rollie White Coliseum.
Gen. Jack J. Catton, commander of the Air Force Logistics
Command headquartered at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, will address
students receiving military commissions at 1:30 p.m.
The cadets’ first 1972-73 parade field review will take place after
commencement and commissioning.
Corps Commander Ronald L. Krnavek of Corpus Christ! will lead
the review off at 3:15 p.m.
Col. Thomas R. Parsons, commandant, said it will honor Gen.
Catton, and about 130 newly-commissioned officers.
Col. Parsons noted the review will not be of the Final Review type
held at the end of the spring semester. He said it will be cancelled in
case of inclement weather.
Hundreds of thousands of per
sons jammed viewing sites in the
Cape Kennedy area to bid fare
well to Apollo and to watch the
blazing departure in the first
after-dark launching of an Amer
ican manned space flight.
They all had to wait two hours
40 minutes beyond the planned
liftoff time while experts trouble
shot the problem with a com
puter-driven device called an
automatic sequencer.
The countdown proceeded
smoothly to within 30 seconds of
the originally planned liftoff time
of 9:53 p.m. EST when the de
vice, for some reason, failed to
pressurize an oxygen tank in the
third stage of the Saturn 5.
This caused the computer device
to call an automatic halt to the
countdown.
Launch control recycled the
countdown to 22 minutes and re
sumed, only to be halted again
eight minutes before launch. This,
officials said, was to give experts
more time to resolve the prob
lem.
Launch spectators were re
warded for their long wait by
the most dazzling liftoff in the
history of this spaceport, where
more than 3,000 rockets have
been fired in 22 years.
The astronauts rode quietly
calling out the routine readings
on their instruments.
“At three minutes, we’re go,”
Graduating Ags
Need To Make
Aggieland Plans
Saturday’s graduating seniors
who have paid for a 1972-73 Ag
gieland are reminded they should
make arrangements with secre
taries in the Student Publications
Office to have annuals mailed to
a forwarding address.
Students are required to pick
up annuals in person or have them
mailed.
Forwarding addresses, plus one
dollar for handling, should be
brought to Room 216 of the Serv
ices Building.
said Schmitt shortly after the
first stage rocket burned out and
fell away.
“You’re going right down the
pike,” said Mission Control.
Technicians both here and at
Marshall Spaceflight Center in
Huntsville, Ala., worked against
the clock to overcome the prob
lem.
Experts here determined that
a computer which controls the
countdown was not able to ac
cept the fact the third stage oxy
gen tank was being pressurized
manually instead of automatical
ly as planned. In effect, they
worked out a new program which
told the computer to accept the
manual pressurization.
The new procedure was worked
out on a mockup of the system
at Marshall, the center which was
responsible for development of
the Saturn 5 rocket.
After more than an hour of
testing, technicians determined
that the new technique would
perform satisfactorily.
The technicians were working
against the 1:31 a.m. EST dead
line — determined by the posi
tion of the earth, moon and sun
— beyond which launch would
have had to wait until Thursday
night.
Apollo 17’s astronauts are
scheduled to have a quiet day in
space today. Here are the plan
ned activities (all times Eastern
Standard):
9:41 a.m. — The astronauts
begin a six-hour, 44-minute rest
period.
4:25 p.m. — Rest period ends.
4:55 p.m. — The crew eats
breakfast.
8:33 p.m. — Lunch.
9:33 p.m. — Crew exercise
period.
11:33 p.m. — The crew has
dinner.
The astronauts end their day
at 1:03 a.m. EST and begin an
eight-hour rest period.
Mission Control said the times
of some mission events during
Apollo 17’s coast to the moon
may not occur precisely as sched
uled because the trip to lunar
orbit has been speeded up to
make up the time lost by the de
layed launch.
Truman’s Health '‘Critical’
By CHET CURRIER
Associated Press Writer
KANSAS CITY <A>> _ Former
President Harry S. Truman,
fighting congested lungs and a
weakened heart, remained on the
critical list today but medical of
ficials said his condition was im
proved.
A statement issued at 10 a.m.
EST by Research Hospital and
Medical Center, where Truman
was taken late Tuesday, said:
‘.‘His age (88) and the potential
of sudden change require that he
continue to be described as criti
cal.”
But the hospital’s hourly bul
letin reported “he is not in a
coma and is becoming more re
sponsive to stimuli.” An hour
earlier, the spokesman had said
Truman was in a “deep stupor
but responsive to painful stimuli
as differentiated from a coma —
when the patient is unrespon
sive.”
Truman’s condition was down
graded from serious to critical
late Wednesday, and John
Dreves, spokesman for Research
Hospital, said he had suffered a
“temporary relapse.” He said
Truman’s condition later stabil
ized, however.
At Truman’s bedside were his
wife Bess and her sister-in-law,
Mrs. George Wallace, the hos
pital said.
T r u m a n’s temperature was
102.8 degrees, the hospital said,
indicating “he is not responding
to antibiotics administered intra
muscularly, necessitating the ad
ministration of the antibiotics in
travenously.
“The administration is being
performed with extreme care to
prevent adverse reactions because
of his known allergies,” a hos
pital spokesman said.
An hour earlier, the hospital
said Truman’s condition was in
a “very delicate and critical bal
ance.” The hospital’s definition
of “critical” includes the phrase
“death may be imminent.”
Dreves said:
“In response to speculation
about the cause of Mr. Truman’s
hospitalization, Dr. Graham said
that pulmonary difficulties had
been treated at home, as indi
cated, for the past two weeks.
The acute phase and heart fail
ure began the night before hos
pitalization while the arterio
sclerosis has been a gradual
change for some time.”
In earlier bulletins Dr. Gra
ham said the bronchial problem
was complicated by a mild weak
ening of the heart caused by
hardening of the arteries. Dreves
said at the evening briefing the
reference to heart failure was
synonymous with the weakening
described earlier.
The rest of Dreves’ statement
read:
“Mr. Truman is receiving occa
sional administration of carbon
dioxide to stimulate the in
creased blood flow interspersed
with the inhalation therapy treat
ments noted at the afternoon con
ference. He is also using a flota
tion mattress to prevent imped
ing the circulation.”
Dreves said the carbon dioxide
is being administered by mask.
Dreves was relaying written
questions from newsmen to Dr.
Graham.
Rolling Stone’s Mick Jagger
Stars In CAC’s ‘Performance’
A&M Library Will Be Open
24 Hours A Day For Finals
Around-the-clock quiet for semester finals study will be
available to A&M students at the University library Dec. 12-15.
The facilities will be available to prepare for exams 88
straight hours, from the regular 8 a.m. opening time Dec. 12.
TAMU fall semester finals are scheduled Dec. 13-16, 18 and
19.
Circulation Librarian Mel Dodd said the main checkout desk,
division service desks and reserve room will close at midnight and
reopen at 8 a.m. during the period. Studying students may use
accessible shelf materials in the library, however. Doormen will be
on duty.
The final exam study arrangement has worked well for the
last couple of years, Director of Libraries John B. Smith noted.
The last Contemporary Arts
Committee Film Series movie of
the fall semester will be present
ed in the Memorial Student Cen
ter Ballroom at 8 p.m. Friday.
Mick Jagger
“Performance” is one of the
most contemporary films slated
in the series and features Rolling
Stone Mick Jagger and James
Fox in the life of a superstar.
The film is set in London and
was shot on-location. It is a story
of the underworld and an incisive
probe into the effects of love and
hate on human relationships.
Jack Nitsche wrote the music
except for “Memo From Turner”
by Jagger and Keith Richards,
also of the Stones.
Joining Jagger in providing
vocals for the soundtrack are
Randy Newman and Buffy Saint-
Marie. Merry Clayton and “The
Lost Poets” are also featured on
the soundtrack. Randy Newman
directed the film.
Tickets are one dollar for
A&M students and $1.50 for all
others. Refreshments will be
available.
tion goes to court to try to pre
vent publication,” Rather related.
There are “some few things”
that should be kept secret, he ad
mitted, but “the question to be
answered is whether it being
known will embarrass the U. S.,
or a candidate for political of
fice.”
“What goes on in the Depart
ments of Commerce or Agricul
ture,” he queried, “that 400 to
500 pieces of paper a day need
to be kept secret?”
Rather, a Texas-born and train
ed reporter who views his as an
adversary relationship (“an im
portant cat-dog relationship”)
with politicians, said that “more
and more in recent years, espe
cially on the part of this admin
istration, leaders have tried to
manage the news. They mislead
reporters, and by misleading re
porters, they mislead you.”
He said each administration
from that of Kennedy on “has
gotten a little bolder in selling
the idea that society’s problems
are the fault of the press, like
pointing out the growing gap be
tween the haves and the have-
nots.”
“How long has it been since
you heard top U. S. leadership
admit it has made a serious policy
mistake?” the speaker posed.
(See Dan Rather, page 2)
Banking is a pleasure at First
Bank & Trust. Adv.
Cohen Calls Occult ‘Handle On Life’
Most young persons turning to
the occult, are from families
without religious backing and are
searching for a similar type hold
ing on life, said Daniel Cohen,
editor of Science Digest.
“People have more things than
they ever had before, but they’re
still not happy,” said Cohen in
speaking before an almost full
house in the Memorial Student
Center Ballroom Wednesday
night.
“No one seems to care to
change things anymore. The
world seems too big and complex
to change. Instead people turn
to the occult to get some sort of
Daniel Cohen
handle on the world in order to
understand it better.”
Cohen, a skeptical observer of
the occult, said ‘occult’ means
hidden knowledge derived from
ancient times when secrets were
intrusted to a few.
Belief in the occult was thought
to be dying in the 18th century
or the “enlightenment period.”
“But there is a greater interest
in occultism today than there has
been in the last century,” said
Cohen.
“In the late 19th and early
20th century, there was a rise of
spiritualism,” Cohen continued.
“But this growth did not change
things much. I wonder if the rise
in interest of occultism is a sign
of change today?”
Several reasons were used by
Cohen to justify the growth in
interest of the subject. Included
in these reasons were the decline
in organized religion, a disen
chantment with science, a sense
of individual lack of power, drugs
and the anti-establishment fig
ure.
“Parapsychologists and astrol-
ogists don’t like to admit they
are part of occultism, but they
are,” emphasized Cohen.
Astrology, in a short summa
tion, began with the creation of
civilization and was originally
intended for one person — the
king. There was no meaning in
the stars for the commonfolk un
til the Greeks expanded astrol
ogy into what it is today.
The meaning of astrology is a
foretelling of the future according
to the position of the stars at the
time of birth.
“Astrologers pretend to tell us
something about ourselves,” said
Cohen.
“Witchcraft is basically the
practice of bad or evil magic,”
continued Cohen. “Originally
priests looked upon witches as
competition as they offered im
mediate relief to their subjects,
even if this relief did not neces
sarily happen. All priests could
do was to submit a request to
the subjection of God.”
“Modern spiritualism never
really got off the ground as an
organized movement until 1888
when a family called ‘The Foxes’
heard strange rapping noises in
the form of signals in their
home.”
“It became a popular move
ment and led directly to the study
of parapsychology which hasn’t
yet given up on the idea of try
ing to find some proof of im
mortality,” said Cohen.
University National Bank
“On the side of Texas A&M.”
—Adv.