The Battalion
Vol. 74 No. 107
10 Pages
Serving the Texas AdcM University community
Friday, February 27, 1981
College Station, Texas
USPS 045 360
Phone 845-2611
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A&M may get less
research money
By JANE G. BRUST
Battalion Staff
When Texas A&M University resear
chers ask the state legislature for $7.2
million for organized research over the
next two years, it is unlikely they will
receive that amount.
The organized research allocation is
used to initiate new research projects.
There is no other source of funding for
such projects.
Dr. Robert Berg, director of Univer
sity research, explained that the request
comes from a formula based on enroll
ment, faculty and research projects dur
ing the previous year.
Berg said the formula emphasizes the
number of graduate students because
graduate students are more likely to be
part of a research program.
"Our history of this appropriation is
that they’ve never funded 100 percent
offormula,” he said. “It started out as 70
percent of formula and decreased from
there to about 35-30 percent.”
Two years ago the legislature allo
cated $750,000 for each of the 1979-80
and 1980-81 periods.
Berg said more money will be put into
equipment purchases if the legislature
gives an increase over the allocation two
years ago.
“If we have an increase in our orga
nized research appropriation, it is true
we can put more money into equip
ment,” he said.
Berg pointed out that because the
University has grown a tremendous
amount in the past 15 years, much of the
sophisticated analytical equipment has
deteriorated or has become outmoded.
“At this point we are falling somewhat
behind in general research equipment,”
he said.
Berg named the colleges of Science,
Geosciences and Medicine as ones
which are largely dependent on modem
equipment.
Berg said the organized research
money is allocated to each college so the
deans can develop research programs
that they deem important to their parti
cular colleges.
Money is also allocated for faculty use
of the data processing center, use of the
radiation services at the nuclear reactor
and miscellaneous expenses.
All of the money is used for unspon
sored research, Berg said.
“We’re trying to let the faculty get
new ideas and new data on new lines of
research so that they can turn around
and submit a proposal to federal agen
cies and get outside support — we call
this ‘seed money.’”
Current research includes work in
the College of Science to develop new
sources of fuel. Berg explained that re
searchers are working to get hydrogen
out of water and coal.
“Once you get these basic elements
out of the raw material, then you can
easily combine them with carbon and
hydrogen to make methane gas,” he
said.
“That’s basic research, but it has an
ultimate application in energy.”
The College of Medicine has begun
studies into the development of micros
copic blood vessels. Sophisticated
laboratory equipment for work in this
area will be purchased with some of the
money allocated this spring.
The legislature requires that the
organized research appropriation be
used exclusively to support studies that
are ultimately beneficial to the state.
S. G. project may help
summer job seekers
By DANA SMELSER
Battalion Reporter
Some of Texas A&\T s undergraduate
students may find summer job hunting
easier with the help of a new Student
Government project.
Summer Jobs for Aggies is designed
to encourage Texas A&M’s former stu
dents to provide or help locate summer
sjobs for undergraduates, Roger McCon
nell, student government coordinator
for the project, said.
McConnell said Student Govern
ment has mailed 150 letters and is in the
process of visiting 12 Texas A&M Clubs
in 10 cities to explain the project to
potential employers.
Student Government has appropri
ated $1,000 for the program.
The base of the project is “Aggies
helping Aggies,” McConnell said.
Anyone having the opportunity of
providing a job for a student can mail in
a job placement card describing the
location, salary range, preferred major
and the type of experience needed for
the available job.
After receiving the cards. Student
Governrnent will open the files to
undergraduates to see what jobs they
can find.
McConnell said their goal is to open
the files by April 6.
“It will be on a first-come-first-served
basis,” McConnell said, “because we
can’t decide which students should get
what jobs.”
The student then contacts the poten
tial employer to set up an interview.
Although the project is simple,
McConnell said, “it requires the use of
our most valuable resource — our for
mer students.”
Two reasons exists for the project that
began this year, McConnell said. First,
the state of the economy is making sum
mer jobs harder to find.
Second, the Placement Center only
found a little over 100 summer jobs for
undergraduates last year. “That’s just
not enough,” McConnell said.
The project is designed to help stu
dents in all majors in as many cities and
communities as possible. McConnell
said jobs for doctors, lawyers, small
businesses and large corporations
should be available.
“If we can place 100 to 200 people, it
will be well worth while,” McConnell
said.
The project has been well received,
McConnell said, and has the support of
both the Association of Former Stu
dents and the co-op program.
Somewhere over the Rainbow
Staff photo by Chuck Chapman
A rainbow of balloons arched over the mall in front
of Rudder Tower Thursday to promote tonight’s
annual All Nite Fair.
Sponsored by the MSC Council, the theme for
this year’s fair is “The Wizard of Oz,” and everyone
is urged to dress as their favorite Oz character.
The fair will be held in the MSC from 8 p.m. to 3
a.m. and admission is 50 cents. About 60 student
service organizations will have game booths
throughout the MSC and tickets for these are 10
cents.
Three guest performances will be given in the
MSC lounge: Tom Deluca, a hypnotist, will per
form at 9 and 11:45 p.m.; and “The Amazing
Jonathan,” a comedian-magician, will perform at
10:30.
Quartet adds humor, harmony to Singing Cadets
The four Aggienizors, Jeff and John Melson (standing
left to right), Dwight Webb and piano player Scott
Photo by T. Garrett
Sullivan, practice sight reading a new tune for their
barbershop quartet.
By DENISE RICHTER
Battalion Reporter
They step out of the ranks of the 60
Singing Cadets — four men dressed in
the group's standard military tuxedos.
They begin to sing and suddenly, the
auditorium and tuxedos no longer seem
appropriate. They ought to be in a bar
bershop, razors in hand, dressed in
striped coats and sporting handlebar
mustaches.
They are the Aggienizors, four Texas
A&M University students who are the
official barbershop quartet of the Sing
ing Cadets. The current Aggienizors are
JeffMelson, a senior chemical engineer
ing major from Abilene who sings bari
tone; his brother, lead singer John Mel
son, a sophomore industrial engineer
ing major, from Abilene; Scott Sullivan,
a senior mathematics major from Big
Spring who sings bass; and Dwight
Webb, a sophomore agricultural econo
mics major from Perryton (“that’s P-e-
double r-y-t-o-n spells Perryton,” sang
Webb, the group’s tenor).
“The Aggienizors are a legitimate
barbershop group but we also use them
for comic relief because they’re such
hams,” Robert L. Boone, director of the
Singing Cadets, said.
Group members agree. “I guess we
are comic relief,” Jeff Melson said.
“Coach (Boone) introduces us as the
Aggienizors and everyone gets a big
laugh just from hearing the name of the
group. We go up there and tell jokes and
try to sing well, too. But, if the music
isn’t good, the humor isn’t going to sal
vage it.”
The original Aggienizors began apart
from the Singing Cadets.
“They were just four guys who
wanted to get together and sing barber
shop,” Jeff Melson said. “Somewhere
along the way they told Coach that they
had a barbershop quartet worked up
and asked if they could sing in a show. ”
Sullivan said the original group sang
together for two full years, but groups to
follow haven’t been so lucky.
“Ever since then, we’ve had a prob
lem with turnovers; we lose at least one
guy each semester,” said Sullivan.
“Since you always have to start over
when you get a new person in the group,
it got to where they were relying more
and more on humor during the shows.
Now we’d like to go back to a little less
humor and a little more barbershop.”
Turnovers are still a problem. The
current group has only been singing
together since the beginning of the
semester. “We had a 75 percent turnov
er (since last semester),” Sullivan, the
only holdover, said. “We got together
the second week of school and had two
weeks to prepare for a 30-minute per
formance.
“When even one person drops out
and you have to replace him, you have
to work for an entirely new blend. Half
of barbershop is getting used to singing
together. ”
Melson said, “One reason the four of
us got together is because, as brothers,
“Since you always have to
start over when you get a
new person in the group, it
got to where they were re
lying more and more on
humor during the shows.
Now we'd like to go back to
a little less humor and a
little more barbershop. “
John and I just have a natural blend.
Dwight and Scott had sung together
quite a bit also, so it all worked out.”
In addition to performing at all Sing
ing Cadet performances, the Aggieni
zors emceed the 1980 MSC Talent
Show, provided the luncheon entertain
ment for the 1981 Conference of Stu
dent Government Associations conven
tion at Texas A&M, and performed at
the Miss Texas A&M University
Pageant Saturday.
After all of these performances, is
stage fright a problem for any of the
Aggienizors?
“I only relax after we’ve finished the
tuning chord (the standard four-note
chord sung at the beginning of each
song),” John Melson said. “That’s where
we’re most likely to make a mistake. We
can sing the songs, we just seem to have
some sort of mental block against that
tuning chord.”
Sullivan also said he relaxes more
once be is on stage.
“Usually I get really tense right be
fore we go out, then after we start, I
relax,” Sullivan said. “One thing that
helps me is the fact that I move around a
lot while we sing, tapping my feet and
snapping my fingers. It’s my tap and
dance routine. I call it disco barber
shop. ”
The Aggienizors are a self-governed
group. “We audition to fill our own
vacancies and choose our own music,”
Sullivan said. However, Boone has the
power to veto any selection that he feels
is not appropriate for a Singing Cadets’
performance.
“In many ways, you might consider
Coach ouragent,” Jeff Melson said. “He
books all of our performances outside
the Singing Cadets. He’s also our num
ber one critic. ”
Boone said, “They’ll work up a num
ber and I’ll listen and try to help them,
but they do all the work. I just try to give
them ideas on themes and on particular
songs that they might want to try.”
The group’s unofficial adviser is Dr.
Dennis M. Driscoll, an assistant profes
sor of meteorology.
Driscoll is internationally known in
barbershop circles as an arranger of
music for barbershop quartets, Boone
said.
“He deserves a lot of the credit for
the Aggienizors’ success,” Boone said.
The Aggienizors’ success can also be
attributed partially to the many hours
devoted to practice. The group prac
tices at least six hours per week in addi
tion to the daily hour-long Singing
Cadet rehearsals and weekend tours..
But, long hours of practice are no
thing new to the group’s members since
all of the Aggienizors were involved
with vocal music in high school.
The foursome didn’t give up their
music when they came to college and
each plans to continue singing as a hob
by. “None of us plan to make music our
vocation, that’s why we re here at A&M
studying math or engineering or agri
culture,” JeffMelson said. “We do this
simply for the fun of it and if we are this
involved with music while in college,
I’m sure we’ll all keep it up forever.”