M > ft Wednesday, August 31, 1983/The Battalion/Page 3 ■ | he poii U it often “tween jui ver yone, n- doors slat y at I •ion on am >ers imnie4 begin ises. questions if ongress.aE to Pentagot. tees are om mse " , r ain, thatsi timate seems to of • lowest con t*re shamefi 'prised win n g- Retiring professor to miss his only hobby: students by Mary Laura McNair Battalion Reporter Charles Walden Plum says it will be harder for him to retire from his teaching career of five years at Texas A&M than it was 01 him to retire from Standard Oil Company of Ohio after more than 30 years. The 69-year-old accounting irofessor said it will be difficult ecause of the students. “That’s the only thing that has kept us here,” Plum said. ‘We’ve had many opportunities to leave since we came; we’ve gone and visited; but there’s a different quality here. I could make speeches on that.” Citing Texas A&M students’ courteousness and sincerity, Plum has nothing but praise for Aggies. I’ve been on the accredita tion of 18 business schools all over the country and part of that you sit down and talk to the stu dents,” he said. “And I’ll tell you case, itofts this is one fantastic place.” cakes asM that wordij ■ faniili ai(l Oz.” ; fignienwj ountry"[ riblytalb /wood s 0 ovvever W DeCair« Munched: 1 ' nicel eg§e i ion da)' Plum said that while he was at the oil company, Texas A&M asked him to teach. However, the company was not ready to let him go. He was asked to come to the University for four months, teach and then decide what to do. “That’s all it took,” he said. “I fell in love with the place.” Plum said he doesn’t like to hunt, read or play golf — his hobby is working with students. “Everyone feels so sorry for me that I don’t have a hobby,” he said. “I have never had a hobby. I’ve never had the time or the desire. There’s nobody happier than I am.” Plum and his wife Margaret attend all the football games, all MSG OPAS programs, and all the MSC Town Hall concerts — including Joan Jett and Adam Ant. “We like music that has a beat,” he said. “I love jazz.” Plum also is involved with the Athletic Department. It’s a great experience talking to the foot ball recruits, he said. “I am a graduate from Ohio State and if I can get up and say good things about A&M...well, an Aggie can say good things ab out Aggies but for a Buckeye to say A&M’s a great place, well that’s something,” he said. Plum said he thinks Texas A&M is unique because of the students’ loyalty to the Univer sity. “One of the most interesting things I’ve done at A&M was a study of financial resources,” he said. “It was amazing for me to find out that unlike most schools, the number of former female students who contri buted to the school was equal to the number of male students, percentage-wise. This does not happen in other schools.” Females defintely add some thing to the University, he said. “I can’t imagine this blasted place before females,” Plum said. “There is no question in my mind that females spruced this place up.” Plum, who was awarded a Dis tinguished Teacher certificate last May, said his experience at Texas A&M has gone well be cause of Margaret’s support. “The students come first and Margaret always puts herself second,” he said. Plum’s door is open 24 hours for students, he said. “He’s a workaholic,” Mar garet said. “He spends 98 per cent of his time with students.” Plum considers himself some what of a liberal when it comes to students. He said, he realizes the pressures students face every day. “Most teachers don’t under stand students’ personal prob lems,” he said. “The pressure of grades and the parental press ure is just horrible.” Plum, who is teaching Accounting 210, said he will let any student who is not prepared for the regular test on Thurs days to take a make-up on Mon day nights. One of the only complaints Plum has received about his accounting class, was that sever al students in the 12:30 p.m. sec tion said they don’t like the fact that they had to miss “All My Children.” However, this semester may be his last to teach. In the spring, Plum will be 70 — the Universi ty’s retirement age. However, he still might be associated with the College of Business Administra tion. The dean has been talking with him about doing some counseling work. He said he would enjoy doing that because he likes to raise questions in students’ minds. “I like to make students think about things they never thought about before,” Plum said. “I ask them about their future, their goals and their home life.” Plum takes pride in the fact that students are not afraid of talking to him. Some will come to his office and use a half a box of Kleenex telling him about their boyfriends, he said. Plum said that one day a female student came in and said that his name was on the girls’ washroom wall. “I’ve been waiting for this all my life,” Plum said. “Will you pick up the phone and call my wife and tell her so I can brag about it when I get home?” “Cool it buddy,” the student said. “All it says is ‘Take Charlie Plum’s accounting class.’” Watermelons by the ton Former pipefitter happy in new job United Press International Queen City — The fruit of James Quinn’s labor can be found on picnic tables all over Texarkana and Dallas. During the summer, Skaggs Alpha Beta customers in those cities can satisfy their traditional summer hunger with one of Quinn’s Queen City waterme lons. “These watermelons are as good as any you’ll find,” Quinn said. Behind the 34-year-old grow er, the remains of a mostly eaten 10 to 15-pound melons seem to speak for themselves. “The kids usually eat at least two a day,” he said of his three daughters. With many of Quinn’s Cobb Gem watermelons weighing over 100 pounds, two would probably be more than a single family could finish in one sitting. In his 70-acre melon patch Quinn raises three varieties of the hot-season fruit: the oblong, striped Cobb Gem; the round, dark green Black Diamond; and the long, striped Jubilee. Quinn emphasizes he is a commercial grower and does not try to raise champion-size watermelons. Because he sells his crop to Skaggs by the ton, Quinn said he is more con cerned about the overall weight of his crop than with trying to raise one melon big enough to compete with giants from Hope, Ark. and Bixby, Okla. The Atlanta-Quinn City area native said he got into the water melon raising business three years ago when he was laid off from his job as a pipefitter. “I just kind of had it in my head that I could grow waterme lons to support my family,” Quinn said. “So, I took out an FHA loan and lost every dime of it in the first year.” Since 1980, however, Quinn has learned a lot about waterme lon farming and expects to pay off the loan and make a modest profit this year. He also was re called to his pipefitting job. “I wouldn’t recommend any body grow watermelons. It’s a trade, just like pipefitting, and you have to sort of serve an apprenticeship,” he said. Quinn said he was tutored in the finer points of melon grow ing by Parker Johnson of Atlan ta, who has grown watermelons for many years. Skaggs was also very suppor tive, he said, since when you fin ally succeed in raising a crop, it’s often difficult to market About 50 percent of the work involved in growing a crop of watermelons must be done by hand, Quinn said. Quinn, his wife, Mary, and two of his daughters spend many hours in the patch to en sure a good crop. County of‘Box 13’fame involved in voting fraud United Press International Brownsville — It has been nore than eight years since [“Duke of Duval” George B. Parr [shot himself to death near Be navides, but the vote fraud charges that followed the politic- boss for decades are con- Itinuing in Duval County. Parr, who engineered the [“Box 13” episode in which Lyn don Johnson defeated Coke Stevenson in the 1948 senatorial election by 87 votes, shot himself [to death on April 1, 1975, while facing a federal income tax sent ence of five years. But allegations of vote thiev ery among warring political fac tions in the county have been regular fare nearly every elec tion since then, as they were dur ing Parr’s lifetime. Monday, the wife of current Duval County Judge Gilberto Uresti went on trial along with County Commissioner Fidencio Saenz and five other people on charges they paid up to $50 1, apiece for votes in the May 1982, Democratic primary. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jack Wolfe told the jury at the open ing of the trial Monday after noon that he would show that the seven conspired to defraud the voters of that county by buying votes with county wel fare vouchers. On all Aggie home football game days enjoy a Roman Feast Cenare presents a boutiful array of festive Italian cuisine for vour pregame picnic, tailgate party or even post game feast! Our feast is offered all day and will be served family style in Cenare’s dining room. Orders for take-out taken starting eac Tuesday before home games. For more information or reservations call 696-7311 Cenare • 404 University Dr. E. • College Station ONE DAY Wednesday, August 31st 2 and 3 Cubic Foot REFRIGERATORS WHY RENT WHEN IT’S SMARTER TO BUY? Sale Priced at $70-$95 (depending on size and condition) Compare at $119-$169!1 Student Services Company has hundreds of 2 and 3 cubic foot refrigerators for sale—many of them only one year old. • 6 month guarantee • Economical for dorm students, busi- • 2 and 3 cu. ft. sizes nesses, mobile homes, game rooms, • Hundreds to choose garages—you name it, from—handpick your own • Excellent resale value later on. 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