Friday, September 5, 1986/The Battalion/Page 3
State and Local
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By Craig Renfro
Staff Writer
When most people retire they
look forward to rest, relaxation
and doing things that were im
possible because of work.
However, for Col. Donald Bur
ton, retirement means enrolling
in Texas A&M University to pur
sue his doctorate in industrial en
gineering.
Burton retired last week after
serving four years as comman
dant of the A&M Corps of Ca
dets. He also served as professor
of military science and headed up
the Army ROTC program.
Dr. Malon Southerland, assis
tant vice president for student
services, is serving as interim
commandant.
Dr. John Koldus, vice presi
dent for student services, said a
new commandant could be cho
sen by the middle of October.
Koldus said two people already
have interviewed for tne position,
and two more interviews are
scheduled before the end of the
month.
Even though he has retired,
Burton said he will maintain com
munications with the Corps.
“It’s time to disengage myself
from Corps relations, but we stay
in touch, ” Burton said. “I’ve been
in the army for over 30 years and
it’s time to retire.”
Burton said he considered
other job opportunities, but de
cided that furthering his educa
tion was the best of all possible al
ternatives.
“I’ve always had a longing to
pursue education," Burton said.
'I’m a firm believer that good
things happen if you continue ed
ucation all your life.”
Burton graduated from A&M
in 1956 with a bachelor's degree
in zoology. He married Vivian
Hope on July 5, 1956, and was
commissioned into the Army the
following day.
Within five years Burton
achieved the rank of captain and
was given command of an Ar
mored Cavalry troop in Bam
berg, Germany. He was offered a
fellowship to return to A&M to
continue his education, but de
cided military life was for him.
In 1962, Burton completed an
advanced field artillery course at
Fort Sill, Okla. Following comple
tion of the course, Burton de
cided to enroll at the University
of Arizona, where he earned his
master’s degree in mechanical en
gineering.
In 1967, Burton went to Viet
nam for 13 months to serve as a
field artillery group adviser.
Upon his return from Viet
nam, Burton served in various
military positions in the Penta
gon.
In 1982, alter 26 years of mili
tary service, Burton received a
call from the ROTC region com
mand general to come to Texas
A&M to become commandant of
the Corps.
“I was asked to visit the Univer
sity and if things worked out,
would I take the job,” he said. “Of
course I couldn’t say no.”
Burton said that during the
course of his stay the Corps un
derwent several improvements.
“I don’t want to take credit for
any changes,” Burton said. “They
occur through the action of the
cadets.”
Burton said one of his first
goals as commandant was to give
control of the Corps’ day-to-day
operations back to the cadet offi
cers.
“We wanted to restore the ini
tiative and authority with the ca
det officers,” Burton said. “Gar
land Wilkinson (1986-87 Corps
Commander) will be one of the
best commanders in the history of
A&M.”
Another problem the Corps
had to overcome was a persecu
tion complex, he said. Burton
said the Corps had become with
drawn, and felt that it had a
worse image than actually
existed.
“Over time they have done a
Col. Donald Burton
good job of getting rid of the
Mickey Mouse stuff that was
going on,” he said. “The em
phasis is now on individual and
general development. Because of
this a lot of good things have hap
pened.”
Unfortunately, Burton said,
one student died before the
Mickey Mouse stuff came to an
end.
On Aug. 30, 1984, Bruce
Goodrich died after being forced
to participate in a 2:30 a.m. moti
vational exercise session.
“The Goodrich ordeal was very
tragic,” Burton said. “No one will
be happy, but it was handled as
best as it could be. Although it
was a tragedy it had some positive
outcomes.”
As a result of the incident, Bur
ton said the cadet officers pulled
together and re-evaluated their
priorities.
Burton said the Corps plays a
very important role in the success
of A&M.
Foremost, Btfrton said, is for
the Corps to produce military of
ficers. Burton said the armed
forces consider it important to get
officers from universities with a
wide range of backgrounds and
interests.
“People don’t realize how im
portant that is,” Burton said.
“A&M is the largest producer of
officers in the nation besides
West Point and Annapolis.”
Burton also said the Corps has
the responsibility of setting the
tone of campus life and activities.
MSC to hold
Open House
for students
By Daniel A, La Bry
Reporter
Several thousand students are ex
pected to “expose” themselves from
4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday at the Me
morial Student Center for one of the
largest Open House events ever held
at Texas A&M.
The 37th annual MSC Open
House, sporting the theme “Expose
Yourself,” will be capped with a
street dance. The dance will start
about 8:15 p.m. in the Rudder
Fountain area featuring a live band,
The Executives, playing recent Top
40 songs.
Terry Marsaw, staff adviser to the
MSC Open House Committee, said
registration for Open House contin
ues through the end of the week.
He said the continued registration
will bring the total number of partic
ipants very close to 200 and that
space may have to be denied to some
participants that register late. Open
House usually averages about 160
participants, Marsaw said.
The wide variety of participants
scheduled to have booths include
MSC committees, service groups,
academic departments, dance/music
groups, international student clubs,
and religious and recreation clubs.
Marsaw said he expects 6,000 to
7,000 students to attend the event.
At Open House, students can ob
tain literature from different organi
zations at the groups’ informational
booths. Several live entertainment
acts also are scheduled to perform in
the lounge area.
Open House Chairman Andy
Dastur said, “The most important
thing is for two sets of people to be
happy — the clubs and organizations
who promote their goals and the
people attending to get involved in
the University.”
Lake Somerville target
of cleanup campaign
Lake Somerville will be the target
of a cleanup campaign Saturday
morning, with several organizations
scheduled to participate.
In College Station, the Texas
A&M Sailing Club and the Universi
ty’s Alpha Phi Omega fraternity
have volunteered their support.
According to the reservoir man
ager’s office, about 300 people have
already committed themselves to the
morning project with more antic
ipated. Cities in the surrounding
area to be represented at the
cleanup include Houston, Pasadena,
Brenham, Bryan and College Sta
tion.
Persons interested in volunteering
for the cleanup are asked to call
Martin Gustafson, project manager,
at (409) 596-1622.
Registration for volunteers will be
at 8 a.m. at the Rocky Creek Park.
Groups then will be led to desig
nated cleanup areas. Free lunch and
refreshments will be served along
with live entertainment by the coun
try music duo, Freddy Lake and
Harmonica Kate.
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