THE BATTALION
WEDNESDAY, OCT. 8, 1975
f
i Local agents
seek victims
By STEVE REIS
Battalion Staff Writer
The plague of seniors and graduate stu-
lents at most colleges, including Texas
If
University, is the insurance sales
man.
■' The insurance salesman injects himself
fato the student’s life not long before
;raduation. He is persistent, friendly and
■iverflowing with anecdotes and praise for
lie Aggie football team.
i The salesman is usually plying his wares
| j members of his own alma mater.
*:
■ He can show the student the benefits
Available to him in case he drops dead in
flips tracks or is executed by his peers.
I' ji| He explains that by buying his com-
i 'lany’s product, the student will one day
:i 'ie making money by paying his company s
l| Premiums.
i The salesman demonstrates the advan-
age of losing both arms instead of just one.
I'i 1
J And this vendor of double indemnities
1 lustrates how the student can pay for his
, msurance by merely mortgaging his soul
jather than selling it. The buyer puts off
! laying until he has begun to make his way
; ijli the wild and wicked world.
'I'j These lengthy explanations usually
.jome about after a surprise phone call
;l|arly in the morningor late in the evening.
■ Is."
i The caller proceeds by dropping famil-
i i ir names and places. After a proper
' i mount of introduction, the peddler of
Versonal protection sets up an appropriate
| 1 ppointment.
: i Often the Aggie-turned-sales-agent
jjnay pick up his prospective client in his
ar, thereby erasing any chance for escape
i nee they have reached his policy place.
: ■ Here, the agent does his level best to
make the nervous and cynical student
more at ease. After a comforting conversa
tion, the insurance agent begins his infam
ously believable sales talk.
It is here that the true art of salesman
ship becomes painfully obvious to the cus
tomer.
With a friendly smile and truthful glint
in his eye, the dealer in life policies con
tinues his speech about the retirement
benefits, the disability benefits, the death
benefits and the beneficiary benefits.
Using tables and graphs and statistics by
the score, he shows his prospect the ways
that his company is just like other com
panies, only different.
Confusion, slight panic and a tight feel
ing under the collar is not uncommon for
the listener.
This is soon over.
But the ordeal is not complete. The stu
dent must now make his decision. And it is
not always easy to say no.
The policies are seemingly good and the
demonstration convincing, the salesman
trustworthy and the company, dependa
ble.
It is here that the student must weigh
for himself the value of the policy and his
need for it.
But regardless of one lone individual s
decision, the work of the agent is never
done.
He must continue pounding sidewalks
and reading mailing lists. He must plod
through the thousands of possible pros
pects in hopes of finding that perfect per
centage.
But chances are, that regardless of the
difficulties he may encounter trying to find
you — he will.
Soviets visit A&M
during stay in U.S.
Russians Visit
Sergei Baybakov was one of six delegates from the U.S.S.R. attending the
First American-Soviet Technology Youth Conference.
By VICKIE D. ASHWILL
Battalion Staff Writer
They met with Americans on earth this
time, not high above in the darkness of
space.
They came to exchange knowledge, cul
ture, and friendship and they left, leaving
behind an experience never to be forgotten
by those who met them.
They were the six members of the
U.S.S.R. delegation to the First
American-Soviet Technology Youth Con
ference. Sponsored by the Federation of
Americans Supporting Science and
Technology (FASST) and the Student
Council of the U.S.S.R., the delegates,
spent Saturday and Sunday of their ten-day
trek across the U.S. at Texas A&M Univer
sity.
Valentin Kuznetsov, vice president of
the U.S.S.R. Student Council and head of
the delegation, said Sunday that our na
tions are learning to cooperate in space and
now must do so on earth. He added that
such a task would be impossible to ac
complish as long as people continued to
accept the traditional lack of communica
tion between countries.
All six of the delegates had little trouble
communicating with students here. When
there was a language barrier Vladimir Kul-
tygin, conference translator, or Roger
Guisinger, FAAST conference coordinator
and director of energy youth council,
helped out.
The other delegation members were
Sergei Baybakov, from the U.S.S.R. Oil
and Gas Institute; Sergei Markin, Moscow
Medical University; Victor Shkalikov,
U.S.S.R. Power Institute; and Alexander
Karpov, U.S.S.R. Natural Resources Insti
tute. All ranged in age from 22 to 32 and
most are students.
“We hope that the most important im
pact of our visit would be to help overcome
the psychological feeling of foreigner to
foreigner,” Baybakov said at their last
meeting with A&M students Sunday after
noon.
Baybakov said that contacts between the
people of the two countries must begin at
the government level out of necessity, and
that it was very pleasant and inspiring that
contacts between the U.S.S.R. and the
U.S. were developing well on higher
levels.
“But I consider that two kinds of contacts
exist, he continued. “Those contacts made
on a higher level and those through the
immediate level of person to person contact
as we are now doing .... I am personally,
with all my heart, for such contacts.”
And these were the contacts that were
made. On a person to person level they
talked with students and professors during
V
tours of different parts of campus — Zachry
Engineering Center, the wind tunnel,
DeWare Field House, Kyle Field and the
Memorial Student Center.
They lunched at Sbisa, went to a Texas
Barbecue and rodeo, and local night club.
Kuznetsov said they were surrounded by
very sympathetic and nice people. T am
not afraid to say . . . that this meeting may
become a historical mark toward the fu
ture.”
Education was a major area of question
and discussion during their stay on campus.
Kuznetsov explained education in the
U.S.S.R. during their last meeting!
“Our country is a country of the young, ”
Kuznetsov said. “More than half of the
people are under 30 years of age. Our coun
try is in an era of scientific technological
revolution . . . large masses of workers are
participating.
“We consider it absolutely necessary for
young people to be in command of scien
tific technologies for humanistic purposes
.... it is the basic requirement for every
youth .... to receive serious education in
these fields,” Kuznetsov said.
Out of 250 million people in the
U.S.S.R., 80 million are students. Each
year, approximately three million students
graduate from high school after ten years of
required education. From there they go to
various ipsiitiites (similar to colleges in the
U.S.), technical schools or begin work.
Kuznetsov said that every man has the
opportunity to receive an education for all
forms of education are free of choice. Entr
ance into institutes of higher learning is
very competitive in the U.S.S.R., for each
year there are only so many vacancies.
Kuznetsov added that students graduat
ing from these institutes were aided in find
ing jobs by the government, but that the
student could find a job on his own if he
wished.
Entrance requirements to these insti
tutes are similar to U.S. colleges which is
basically done by academic record.
“If you are not a lazy bone,” Kuznetsov
said, “and you work hard, you have every
opportunity to enter institutes. Of what we
saw of the facilities of the learning proces
ses here, we would be able to say that our
(facilities) roughly correspond to yours.”
The main goal of the Soviet educational
system, Kuznetsov said, is to aid in the
future of their people, stimulate their
creativity and help him to have an active
place in society. He added that it wasn’t
easy to accomplish this task for there are
problems with facilities and being able to
arouse the interest of teachers.
Shkalikov, a 28 year-old who should be
finished with school in about two years,
said that students were given an introduc
tory course in the field they chose to go
into, which went into great detail. This
way, the student is sure that he has made
the right decision for his future.
Conservation of energy and the envi
ronment were discussed during the last
session here.
Karpov said there was no direct impact
on the U.S.S.R. because of energy prob
lems in other parts of the world.
“One reason is because we have vast
areas of natural resources, that is, mineral
resources, that are only in the beginning of
their development," he said.
Baybakov explained that their main
problem was transporting the natural re
sources, but while natural gas is presently
largest in supply, coal may soon be in the
number one position because of develop
ments in these vast regions.
As far as the environment is concerned,
the delegates said it has been a matter of
concern for several years and now have
enacted several laws for preservation of the
environment.
Kuznetsov believes that the whole area
of Siberia is the generator of fresh air for the
world.
“Americans are using more air than they
are producing, he continued in a jovial
manner. “If we did not preserve the great
forests of Siberia, we would practically be
strangling the Americans!
The Soviet delegation will complete
their ten day conference attending an
Energy Symposium sponsored by the
White House in Knoxsville," Tennessee,;
and at the National Aerospace Youth
Forum sponsored by FAAST in
Washington, D.C. Wednesday through
Friday.
J
1
'I if
Green Acres Nursery
Plants from
cans and dirt
By JUDY BAGGETT
Contributor
Photos by JACK HOLM
Beer cans and home brewed dirt add up
to 15-cent plants at Green Acres Nursery.
It’s a little hard to find but most customers
seem to think those inexpensive plants
make the search worthwhile.
Gertrude Crenshaw, 67, began her bus
iness three years ago with only five plants.
Now she has three overflowing
greenhouses. More than a green thumb is
needed to grow plants, she explained. It
takes work — like grating cow manure and
leaf mold to add texture to the potting soil.
The day begins at 6:30 for the Cren
shaws. Watering has to be done early, and
it takes most of the morning.
The Crenshaws don’t advertise, but in
stead rely stictly on word of mouth.
Tf you like my plants, tell your friends
about ’em,” she said. “I turn advertising
money back to my customers.”
Mrs. Crenshaw greets her customers as
they drive up. Chatting and laughing, she
walks them to the greenhouse and lets
them browse leisurely.
“Why rush time? she asked. “Tm hav
ing a good time with my customers.
People come and stay for hours sometime.
“I love plants, she said. “They’re my
life.” That may have a double meaning.
Most of the money earned from the nur
sery goes toward medicine for her heart.
“It says in the book to water when the
temperature is rising,” Crenshaw said.
A wheelbarrow sits near the house. Be
lying her fragile Appearance, Crenshaw
uses the wheelbarrow to move boxes of
cans, cow manure or dirt.
“If you stop working,” Crenshaw said,
“you sit there feeling sorry for yourself.”
Potting plants in cans cuts down on ex
penses. Mrs. Crenshaw has sold 15-cent
plants since she opened and doesn’t plan
to hike prices. Most people like plants just
as well in cans as in anything else, she said.
Customers and neighbors bring cans of all
kinds to her. She and her husband, W. E.
Crenshaw, cut off the tops with knives.
Trimming with scissors does away with the
sharp edges.
“All you have to do is soak the plants for
one minute in water, tap on the bottom,
and they’ll come right out of the can,”
Crenshaw said. “Won’t even mess up the
roots.”
Though Mr. Crenshaw helps out be
cooking soil or cutting cans, he isn t always
enthusiastic. The nursery keeps him from
fishing as much as he would like to. The
Crenshaws cook dirt in a big pot over an
open fire. That kills the bacteria in the soil,
and by making the potting soil at home,
cuts the cost.
Mrs. Crenshaw’s canned plants, (above)
The sign marking the greenhouse drive
way. (top right) Mr. Crenshaw reminisc
ing on the old days, (right) A&M student
Suzanne DeYoung examines a hanging
basket, (far left) Mr.s. Crenshaw showing
her wares.