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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 5, 1981)
eatures {Entertainer recalls service USO celebrates 40th birthday United Press International SALT LAKE CITY — Enter- inment provided by the United ervice Organizations isn’t al- iys Bob Hope and pretty girls iinging and dancing on the flight leek of an aircraft carrier. Sometimes it’s Eugene Jeles- ik and his violin entertaining a dozen airmen in a radar lome in the wilds of Alaska. The USO celebrated its 40th rthday Wednesday. Russian rn Jelesnik has worked for the irgani/.ation for 37 of those years entertainer and national ard member. Jelesnik, a short, balding man jof 66, looks more like an agent than a performer. But he has en in show business since he was in his teens. He had his own irchestraon Broadway, appeared on some pioneer TV programs in the 1930s and has hosted a weekly TV'variety show in Salt Lake City for 26 years. He also has taken troupes of entertainers on 19 tours for the USO. He calculates he has traveled two million miles and performed in front of half a mil lion servicemen. His tours have taken him throughout the Far East, the Pacific, Europe and the Carribean — and to remote out posts in Alaska and Iceland. Jelesnik made his first tour in 1944, to military hospitals across the United States. USO then sent him overseas to Italy where he played what became known as the “foxhole circuit.” “There were three of us in that troupe,” he said, “ a guitarist, a mind reader and me. “We were right at the front lines. We performed on a flatbed truck and sometimes the troops were in foxholes around us. Being up on the truck bed made us a little nervous.” Jelesnik did a Victor Borge type comedy-music routine, us ing a violin instead of a piano. He has a similar routine today, but has replaced the mind reader with pretty girls. “One thing never changes, ” he said. “The guys want to see as many girls as possible.” Jelesnik has fiddled and joked for troops in three wars — Viet nam and Korea, in addition to World War II. But he almost didn’t survive the first tour. “We had done a show outside a small town in Italy and decided to sleep that night in the back of an ambulance. When we woke up the next morning the Army was gone. “We had no idea where we were. I.looked around and saw a red cross on a building off in the distance. I figured it was a hospit al so I decided to walk up and ask directions.” Jelesnik said he started out walking across a field and as he got closer to the building he noticed patients looking out of windows at him. People also poured out of the doors and lined up to watch. “When I got to the hospital, a priest walked up to me and said, ‘Son, we prayed for you. You just walked across a mine field. ” Over the years he has played to crowds ranging in size from six men in an Alaska radar dome to 10,000 troops in Vietnam. He and a troupe of lady performers once spent hours puddle-jumping across the Pacific to reach Marcus Island “where we played for 18 U.S. Coast Guard men.” “They were thrilled,” he said. “They hadn’t seen any girls in a year. ” For his troubles, Jelesnik has won a silver medal citation, a bronze medal and the Civilian Service Award Ribbon, the high est civilian award given by the military. He also received the USO National Council Award in 1978. panish town suffers daily violence Greg Cai a sparsf United Press International ALLADOLID, Spain — Slogans the walls of ancient Valladolid tell story: Killing Reds is a sport” Reds? No thanks’ “Death to the King” The cathedral and industrial city 0 miles northwest of Madrid, icre Christopher Colombus died poverty, is a testament to the old — the Spain of Generalissmo ancisco Franco where democracy is a dirty word. Street violence by young fascists allegedly with police connivance has become a near-daily occur- ce, especially in areas declared [ ationalist zones” by militants of e Franco-style New Force Party or Nazi-styled Falange Party. This bullying and disregard for elawhas made some areas ofValla- ilid as dangerous as the red light itricts of a port city or the streets of rim during the rise of Nazism,” , e independent newspaper El Pais (ranchoft id recently. rstCo.(Ht | p 0 ij ce an( j right-wing extremists Correctioi*q Uen t the same bars and, local : robbery. I,]j ce source s say, agree that refor mist Prime Minister Adolfo Suarez is rjve us sifT -i ’ , . k traitor. ( clete f three months extremists ,\e weic fey two old people in an attack on a ‘ com P e jommunist Party office and sent cooper®| ur y 0u ths to a hospital after beat- day 8 ' |gs and shooting sprees, b'ania «l ^ ie y ^ ave ^ lreatene d violence to mmitted! Utah, Florida he cities f32 that 1 :ry well Nov. dozens of officials including Civil Governor Roman Ledesma and have bombed city hall, Communist Party headquarters, Socialist Party head quarters, trade union offices, univer sity buildings, bookshops, bars and a cinema showing a film on Basque separatist guerrillas. A Communist militant who was kidnapped and “interrogated” on the outskirts of the city was released af ter five cigarettes were stubbed out on his face. Although Valladolid has a strong right-wing tradition,it has voted left in elections since the dictator died in 1975 and was succeeded by the democratic minded King Juan Carlos. “Valladolid is not a city of the ex treme right,” says Socialist Mayor Tomas Rodriguez Bolanos. But he accuses the police of going easy on right-wing thugs. “We are a little surprised to see violent rightists who have been taken into detention walking in the streets soon afterward. These people go on gathering in bars and other well-known hangouts and no one does anything about it.” A local • Socialist leader said the party once called police headquar ters to alert them to an impending visit by Socialist leader Felipe Gon zalez. Only the party and the police knew of the visit, he said, but the following day city streets were full of graffiti insulting Gonzalez. M. M. (Mack) Deans ’55 Representing the COLLEGE INSURANCE PLAN to TAMU Students for 26 years 846-7791 4340 Carter Creek Suite 103 AMERICAN GENERAL LIFE INSURANCE CO. Home Office - Houston, Texas al WOLF CREEK COLORADO SPRING BREAK $ 325.00 Includes: ★ ROUND TRIP TRANSPORTATION VIA DELUX TOUR BUS ★ 6 NIGHTS LODGING IN MODERN CABINS (FIRE PLACES, KITCHENETTES) ★ 5 DAY LIFT TICKETS ★ 2 MEALS A DAY MARCH (15-19) ONE MEAL ON MARCH (14 & 20 th ) ★ TRANSFERS TO & FROM SKI AREA. ★ PARTY PACKAGE Signup now Rm. 216 MSC. For more info call MSC Travel 845-1515. Limited spaces available. In an unprecedented move, a group of anti-fascist policemen re cently leaked to a national newspap er a statement denouncing fellow officers for being friends of right- wing thugs. They expressed concern over “the constant invasion of right- wing extremists in the police.” In the Valladolid region, “the (post-Franco) constitution not only has not been accepted by many polipe, but has been opposed with poorly veiled energy,” they said. "The legality of the ballot box is also scorned.” Responding to criticism, author ities recently reassigned the top two officers and several lower-ranking officers in Valladolid police intelli gence. / CAREERS INTERNATIONAL and DOMESTIC OFFSHORE DRILLING * What is the Drilling Industry? * What kind of career does Offshore Drilling have to offer you? KEYDRIL cordially invites undergraduate majors in ENGINEERING to attend an informal gathering to discuss these questions FEBRUARY 10, 1981 7 P.M. TO 9 P.M. ROOM 404 RUDDER TOWER Refreshments will be served. IV* Art An Equal Opportunity Employer M/F aTm study abroad aTm study abroad aTm WL < Q D Q i CO < > o D I Q i co < > Q D h c/1 [I Q CO CO < > Q 3 H FEBRUARY 10, 1981 1^-^tpm RM 3,06 MSC -Information booths on study, work, and travel overseas -International Student ID's and youth hotel cards -Study opportunities through TAMU programs and others -Fellowship information 3D/International - Project management, planning, architecture, engineering, interior architecture, graphic design, and related services. Mr. Gary Boyd, Architect from 3D/International will be available to discuss professional opportunities overseas. U.S.AID and Government Opportun11jes Overseas - Dr. Donald" Boucher, Director of International Services at TAMU, will be available to talk about work or service opportunity overseas with government agencies. Chicago Bridge and Iron - Design fabrication and construction of large metal- plate structures for storage of liquids, gases, etc., and related mechanical systems. Mr. Wood, recruiter from Chicago Bridge and Iron will discuss living overseas and international work opportunities. International Placement through TAMU - Mr. John Gudelman, Assistant Director of Placement at TAMU, will briefly discuss the possibilities available for international placement through his office. Women in Development and Title XII Strengthening Grant Program - Pamela Swan Horne fiTcurrently the administrator of the Title XII Strengthening Grant Program and Women in Development Coordinator at Texas A&M University Dr. Horne will briefly address research in these areas. "So You Think You Want a Job Overseas." - Dr. J. Christiansen, professor in the Department of Agricultural Education, author of several bulletins and many national publications and currently involved in a service project to the Dominican Republic, will be available to talk about requirements for success in overseas work. STUDY ABROAD BIZZELL HALL INTERNATIONAL CENTER tel 845-1824 (j) H C O. ■< > CD I U O) H C D «< > DO I U I C/) H C D *< > CD I U C/) H C a ■< > wiyavoHHv Acmxs uuy avonav Acinxs wjy We’re tooting our own horn . . Battalion Classifieds Call 845-2611 THE BATTALION Page 11 THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5. 1981 Death rays’ future in space unlikely United Press International WASHINGTON — Despite frequent talk about the use of lasers and particle beams as weapons in space, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology physicist says such space-based death rays are beyond the realm of practicality for the foreseeable future. “Even if eventually they could be developed, the cost of replacing, supplying and maintaining them would be prohibitive,” said Kosta Tsipis in a report to the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advance ment of Science. In addition, he said energy beams would be fatally vulnerable during their initial stages in space. And even if they were made operational, he said they probably could be neutralized by a variety of countermeasures. However, Tsipis said airborne lasers as anti-satellite weapons do appear feasible within the next two decades. Physicists have known for years that concentrated columns of light or beams of atomic particles could carry potentially destructive amounts of energy hundreds or even thousands of miles away. But unlike today’s weapons which use chemical or nuclear explosives, lasers or particle beams must physic ally hit the target, requiring extremely accurate aiming systems which themselves would pose formidable de velopmental problems. Tfre problem with particle beams, Tsipis said, is that the energy would disperse to such an extent that there would not be enough to damage a distant target in space. It would not be practical, to produce enough energy to deal with that problem. “One can therefore safely conclude that particle beam weapons are not practical for use from exoatmos- pheric (space) platforms, even without considering the difficulty of beam aiming and countermeasures that bur den a particle beam weapon,” he said. Lasers, on the other hand, would not suffer from such energy dispersion in space, Tsipis said. But he said a spaceborne laser system capable of delivering knockout pulses to a swarm of intercontinen tal ballistic missiles would require a high quality light concentrating mirror perhaps 10 feet in diameter and several thousands of tons of hydrogen and oxygen to generate the energy required. Tsipis said there is little technical proof that such a mirror could be built “within the visible technical hori zon” which he defined as stretching to the end of this century. In addition, he said an anti-missile laser system in space would have to be able to detect a thousand or so targets, calculate their locations and direct the laser to fire several pulses at each within a few hundred seconds. He said the system also would have to overcome decoys or other countermeasures. “To conclude, practical space-based directed energy weapons systems are not within the visible technological horizon,” he said. PROPHECY . . . Spring linens have arrived. Basic colors or the new shades of Periwinkle and Strawberry. If you don’t already know how great this fabric is, let us introduce you to a classic. '' V~* price fall and winter sale still in progress. 707Texas a. Charli 096-9626 W OUR DIVERSITY MEANS WE HAVE MORE TO OFFER If you were given only one word to describe the Quy F. Atkinson Company, you'd probably choose ' diverse '. A proven company of unusual breadth, competence and drive, Atkinson goes where the work is — to every part of the world, to almost any kind of job, to work under almost every condition. We are proud to be what we are — a diversified company of builders. Our diversity can mean a great deal to your career if you are studying: EITGinEERIMG Civil Mechanical Electrical (w/power option) BUSIMESS Management At Atkinson, chances a^e you'll be given the opportunity to develop skills in a short time that would otherwise take years to acquire. The challenge of assignments and the growth opportunity lend themselves to upward mobility, not to mention monetary rewards. So, before you make a decision on your future, take the time to find out what we have to offer by talking with our representatives while they are on the Texas A&M campus on Feb. 11 & 12, 1981. • h ^ Contact your Placement Office to schedule an ^ TjJ » interview appointment. If you are unable to arrange an interview, please send your resume to: College Relations Coordinator Guy F. Atkinson Company F.O. Box 593 South San Francisco, CA 94080 An Equal Opportunity Employer M/r GUY F. ATKINSON COMPANY I I I I ! I it .f e it d 11 ?- s, ar ar ar in iiOf It tal ny k. in he on lar las an, ed the lor- ur- gas i by the