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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 11, 1981)
Local THE BATTALION Page 3 WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 1981 Umbrellas do more than shield rain By CATHERINE J. THOMAS Battalion Reporter Mary Poppins landed a job as a nanny with her umbrella, the girl on Morton’s salt box sports hers on her shoulder and Gene Kelly discarded his and sang in the rain. Everybody has an umbrella. T. S. Crawford said in his book, “A History of the Umbrel la,” the first umbrellas were constructed more than 3,000 years ago in Egypt and Assyria as a sign of prestige and to block the sun. He said it is thought that the umbrellas were mod eled after the heavens, and were held over kings by their slaves to show their heavenly status. Even in earb Greece, Craw ford said, the people sometimes used umbrellas by the side of graves to provide shade for the dead instead of the usual planted trees. But not until 1750 were umbrellas used for the same purpose they are today — to shield rain. Crawford said even then they were seldom carried in anticipation of a shower be cause the novelty of their aris tocratic status had worn off and their faulty waterproofing made them more trouble than they were worth. The first pocket-sized Recognition of Greeks Prepared for thtf worst rainstorm, Steven Belli, a junior from Dallas, holds a dual ieryl Maynard umbrella over Kay Ingram, a sophomore from Houston. The umbrella sells for $50. umbrella was invented in 1787. The frame was made of whale bone and the handle was maho gany. In the early 19th century umbrellas aided in nautical ex periments, Crawford said. In 1844 they were used to test the prototype of the inflatable rubber life-raft. It was powered by an umbrella and a paddle. Robert Louis Stevenson coined this folksy phrase: “There is no act in meteorology better established ... than that the carriage of the umbrella pro duces dessication of the air; while it be left at home, aqueous vapor is largely produced, and is soon deposited in the form of rain.” In other words: when you leave your umbrella at home, it’ll rain. Luckily, College Station isn’t low on umbrellas, even after the wet spell last week. Beall’s, in Manor East Mall, has many $6 and $8 umbrellas, in both the tote size and regular size. The Fair, also in Manor East Mall, has umbrellas ranging from $2.49, for a see-through plastic one to $4.50, for a black, men’s style umbrella with a matching case. Lester’s, in Bryan, has umbrellas ranging from $6 for a plastic one to $21, for a cane- type umbrella, with an Italian- made handle. R Rush & Co., in Culpepper Plaza, has a unique selection of umbrellas. Their prices start at $6 for a plain black umbrella and range to $65 for an umbrella whose tip can be stuck in the ground and the handle opens up to form a chair. Another unusual umbrella at R Rush & Co., going for $50, is navy blue, has two adjacent domes and is made for two peo ple. What could be more prac tical? Student conference to meet here Friday Texas A&M University will host the Texas Junior Engineering Tech nical Society (JETS) conference Friday, at the Memorial Student Center and Rudder Complex. The conference will include a competitive testing program, a Gen eral Assembly Awards Program and engineering exhibits. High school students who are JETS members will take competitive tests in chemistry, engineering graphics, mathematics, biology, phy sics and English on Friday morning, Kathy Shearer, assistant state coordinator of JETS, said. The winners of the competitive tests will be determined by raw test scores. Shearer said. These winners, along with recipients of scholarships awarded by Southern Methodist University, Texas A&I University and Texas A&M will be honored at the General Awards Programs beginning at 3 p.m. in Rudder Auditorium. W.W. Madden of Exxon Co., U.S.A, will speak at the program. Exhibits showing the contributions of engineering to society will be open from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the Rudder Center Exhibit Hall. The Texas Junior Engineering Society has been holding state con ferences for over 25 years. This year’s conference is sponsored by the Texas Advisory Committee for JETS in cooperation with Texas A&M’s College of Engineering. Approximately 2,300 JETS members will attend the conference. Shearer said. Spring for an still in works AlvarCZ A proposal to recognize Inter- fraternity Council and Panhelle- nic at Texas A&M University has been delayed for the past three weeks by the organizations’ com mittee formed to draft the prop osal. When completed, the proposal will be submitted to Dr. John J. Koldus, vice president for student services, asking the Student Orga nizations Board to recognize the two Greek organizations as official University groups. This would allow the two groups to use Uni versity facilities for meetings and advertising and to apply for a share of the Memorial Student Center profits as do other recognized organizations. Mark Hawkins, president of In terfraternity Council, said Mon day efforts to write the proposal have been delayed because sever al committee members had been unable to attend meetings to draft the proposal. Committee members include Hawkins, Lisa Jakubik, president ofPanhellenic, Lisa Newsome and Casey Fleming. Hawkins is planning another meeting for Thursday and he said he hopes to complete the proposal before spring break. 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