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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 20, 1980)
THE BATTALION MONDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1980 Page 7 % Constitution still sailing "nor of r is- V.—J Crosses harbor once a year for ‘Salute to the Nation ’ nning r^e. run its ent Gov^. is, Gillq c up at SL nmons, t iter and filing plact n- to 4p, m liversity stq to vote ano ;ed when the sure no one d Forum w| •okesmen f® ates as posse Section, tost Ed Claih said he also icey to speah 75 percent of ite for Ronald i is based on ican-oriented ed programs is sponsored, ; don’t always they favored es ee national - Glacier Ni- •e looking fci thousands of paging grizzly hree deadly ave metgnie- ; of grizzlies in er in the park. }f all previous United Press International BOSTON — “Huzzah! Her sides must be made )f iron!” So shouted an American seaman as British can ton balls bounced harmlessly off the sides of the USS Constitution during her famous victory over he British man-of-war Guerriere in the War of 1812. “Old Ironsides” wasn’t exactly built of iron. But her live oak sides deflected enemy shot remarkably well and she has survived — at least about 10 percent of the original Constitution has survived — 183 years. The vessel is today a naval oddity for she re mains one of the rare tall sailing ships still in commission in anybody’s navy. The Russians use an ancient square-rigger, Krusenstem, as a training ship. But the U.S. Navy assigns an active duty offic er, with the rank of commander, and the uniform of 1812 to skipper ‘‘Old Ironsides.” He is backed up by an active-duty executive officer and a crew of 49 sailors who have volun teered for the assignment from boot camp. Cmdr. Robert Gillen of Charlestown, Mass., is Constitution’s 59th commander. On a recent summer day, he marched smartly into his office, wearing the swallow-tail jacket of his uniform, white choker, britches, calf-high boots with tassels. On his head, he sported a gold-trimmed “fore-an-aft” hat. “How many at muster this morning?” he asks, all business. “Thirty-nine,” replies the executive officer. A&M-developed sorghum “We’re undermanned,” shrugs the skipper, philosophically. “And that’s not unusual for most U.S. ships today.” Gillen and his men are required to wear the ancient garb on special occasions. Cost to the Navy for the skipper’s custom-tailored uniform which cannot be handed down to his successor is about $600. It takes Gillen a full 45 minutes to squeeze into the togs. When he does, he prefers not to sit down. Gillen wears two other more mundane “hats.” He serves as the Navy’s senior representative in Boston, once a busy naval center but much reduced in importance since the Nixon adminis tration. Gillen is also the officer in charge of navy sup port activities in the area. “Some of my Russian friends find it hard to understand what I’m doing now,” quips Gillen. The Constitution, he explains, is more than just a relic. The Navy spends about $80,000 a year for maintaining Constitution which needs constant caulking, painting, polishing and shining. “She’s evidence of the obvious commitment the country has to preserving the freedom of the seas,” says Gillen, leaning against a picture win dow which looks up at the ship’s bowsprit and dolphin striker. “But it’s more than that. She’s symbolic of our maritime history, of our national heritage.” Constitution was the second ship built for America’s Navy after the American Revolution. Guatemalan farms boosted ;ar ing an Ohio woman. Hie identified anil rangers discfr a Texas mat it bear has not hind legs, the hs up to 8M :s even exceed zzly is a biolo- develops mas By USCHI MICHEL-HOWELL Battalion Stair A disease and insect resistant strain of grain sorghum developed at Texas A&M University has helped small subsistence farmers and large commercial producers in Guatemala to increase their production by at 1 least 25 percent. Until the project started, Guate malans had grown a sorghum variety that took 11 months to mature and was of low yield, Bill Ross, assistant director for international programs, said. , The white grain sorghum is called ICTAM 777 and ICTAM 950. De veloped by Dr. Fred Miller, plant scientist at Texas A&M, genes allow it to ripen in about 90 days. The Guatemala project is one of several international assistance prog rams to foreign countries at Texas A&M and was completed last Sep tember. Costing $1,790,490, it was ss and and can funded by the United States Agency i 25 mph. for International Development, issessing poll The ICTAM sorghum varieties iting people- yield about three crops a year and are i the wake of adapted to a small-plot economy that ts are not sun uses almost no machinery, Bill Ross jple-bear con- said. s accessibleto “An advantage of the Guatemala ing the bearil project is that it produced a commer- t ; cial variety of grain sorghum that is manage a wil£; also ideal for Texas growers,” Ross is the grizzly;; said. bn Craighead The Office of International Prog- [e you get into rams is concerned with helping other e chance ofai, countries improve, but also wants j Texas fanners to benefit from the va- blem is the it- rious projects, Ross said, that the bei' Sorghum is important for Guate- n the pastdt ; malans, because it is used for tortil las, which besides black beans and maize, are the main staples of Guatemalan diet. Baby food, grits or cereal are also made from sor ghum, Miller said. Small farmers consume their sor ghum completely on the farm, and Guatemalan commercial production is mostly for the home market, Ross said. Sorghum is drought resistant, be cause it rolls its leaves up when the weather is dry and prevents mois ture from evaporating, Miller said. “The Guatemalan sorghum is not more drought resistant, but is has an increased yield, because we added certain genes,” Miller said. “The plant has longer panicles and more seeds,” he said. The new varieties can be used for human food, Miller said, because they taste similar to maize. In the United States sorghum is presently used only as livestock feed, but Afri cans and Indians consume it daily. Miller said. Guatemalans practice intercrop ping, a method where other crops besides sorghum are grown in the same field, Ross said. When the sor ghum yield is increased, the other crops also increase in productivity, because they also can be planted more frequently, Miller said. ■ The assistance project involved training of Guatemalans at Texas A&M as well as the sending of short term consultants to the South Amer ican country. “The biggest problem that faced us there was political instability,” Ross said. Consultants were at times in danger of being killed or kidnap ped, due to constant fighting be tween rival factions, he said. But no incidents were reported. The farmers in Guatemala, most of whom live along the Carribbean and Pacific coasts, have responded well to the new sorghum variety, Ross said. Texas A&M-sponsored radio com mercials promoted buying sorghum seeds. “We sold the seeds in 10-cent packages, at the same price you can get a Coke over there,” Ross said. “In the commercials we stressed that the farmer who buys seeds with his 10 cents is a smart one, while the one who buys a Coke isn’t.” Designed by Joshua Humphreys and josiah Fox, she was a technological marvel in her day because she incorporated a number of important new features in naval architecture. Her bow was shaped more sharply than other ships of the time. Her masts were taller. She carried more sail — more than an acre’s worth. Her sides were made of 21 inches of live oak, one of the toughest kinds of wood available. And she mounted 24-pound guns. This combination allowed her to outsail her enemies while pounding them to death when engaged in battle. A gold-framed mirror seized from the Guer riere still hangs in the commodore’s aft cabin and the original desk used by first skipper Charles Stewart is sound and equipped with quill pens. Gillen and his crew put to sea once a year much like other crews. Their cruise is dramatic if abbre viated. On July 4 Constitution is tugged across Boston Harbor where she fires a 21-gun “Salute to the Nation.” The salute celebrates the vitality of American democracy — a thought which is enshrined in the vessel’s name. But there is a important technical reason for the trip: To turn the ship around so she weathers evenly on both sides. Preserving Constitution has inspired many over the years. The nation’s school children chipped in their nickels and dimes in the 1930s, inspiring Con gress to come through with matching monies to make a major rebuild possible. Orchestra plays tonight The Bryan-College Station Cham ber Orchestra will open its 1980-81 season with a concert tonight at 8 p.m. in Rudder Theater. Presenting the concert is the Classical Piano Group at Texas A&M University. Featured soloist will be Carl Fis cher, a nine-year-old pianist from Dallas who began his piano studies with Lyn Reyna of Bryan while his father was attending Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine. Carl is currently a student of Dr. Richard Rodriquez of the Uni versity of Texas at Dallas. Carl is the son of Roger and Lucia Fischer of Dallas. LOUPOT’S BUYING USED BOOKS NOW! LOUPOT’S BOOKSTORE Northgate — at the corner across from the Post Office w 3 many back rsity of Idak 1 izzlies inhali park and sut’ ach can travel iiles. 00 P.M. lAY ECIAL Steak r avy Des and other e and Butter ea trM Appearing LIVE Tuesday Night M 13.50 ame Cover GARY P. 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