ustxtxb_obs_1957_08_09_50_00008-00000_000.pdf

Week in Texas AAUP STUDIES TECH OA portrait of the late Jesse Jones of the Houston Chronicle has been placed in the University of Texas journalism library. Jones gave the journalism school $25,000 in 1952 to establish the Jones Scholarships in Journalism. OA University of Texas an thropologist, D r . William Madsen, i s investigating folk medicine among Mexican-Americans in the Rio Grande Valley in an effort to “help define the problem of mental health” among them. OThe federals have abandoned their intention to ask a federal grand jury investigation of the acquisition by chain publisher Houston Harte of San Angelo Morning Herald. Harte publishes newspapers at San Angelo, Abilene, Big Spring, Snyder, Marshall, Denison, and Corpus Christi and the Greenville Evening Banner. OThe United Christian Youth movement, meeting at Brownwood, passed several resolutions condemning segregation, terming it “un-Christian and contrary to the expressed teaching of the Scriptures.” Nine major Protestant groups were represented at the meeting. OMiss Texas of 1957, chosen at Kerrville, is Carolyn Calvert, the 18-year-old daughter of Supreme Court Justice and Mrs. Robert W. Calvert. ‘ OOak Cliff temperance lead ers barred newsmen from a meting of drys attended by 200 people “because we thought it best, because we just don’t want reporters at the meeting.” Oak Cliff is bracing for another hot local option election. OA civil anti-trust suit has been filed in a New York Smyrl Matter Is Reassessed SAN ANTONIO Col. James A. Smyrl , the officer relieved as commander of the Air Force’s only recruit training unit at nearby Lackland Air Force Base, has been summoned to appear before a five-man board of inquiry and show cause why he should be retained in the Air Force. The board convenes Sept. 3. Smyrl was relieved of his command by Maj. Gen. H. L. Grills, Lackland AFB commander, because, he charged, he was told to pressure Air Force trainees into patronizing civilian concessions on the base and declined to do Smyrl will not have the power to subpoena witnesses in his behalf, but he may request that the board itself summon witnesses whom he believes “may add materially to his case,” according to Lt. Gen. Charles T. Myers, cornmanding officer of the Air Training Comamnd, who this week announced calling of the board of inquiry. Meantime, on Aug. 2, a team of three investigators from the Air Force’s Inspector General’s Department arrived at Lackland to conduct a second inquiry into Smyrl’s allegations. And a report by an investigative team who spent from June 25 to July 2 at Lackland on the same mission has, through Lackland’s public relations office, been issued. The report mildly criticizes Lackland’s command team for showing “favoritism” in the award of a contract to the owners of the roller skating concession. district court against Hughes Tool Co. of Houston. The government alleges the company acted in restraint of interstate and foreign commerce in the sale of oil and gas well equipment. A German manufacturer was named co-defendant. OJohn Vaughn, a vice presi dent of BenJack Cage’s ICT Insurance Co., until “it got too wild for me,” emerged from a Travis County grand jury session and told reporters he doubts Cage will ever return to Texas. James Cage, president of ICT Insurance Co. when it collapsed, appeared before the grand jury for just less than two hours. OThe Texas Farm Bureau got crosswise with the Texas Research League on the subject of farm-to-market roads. TRL has recommended that laws governing construction of FM roads be changed to divert funds now tagged for new FM construction to maintenance of existing FM roads. Said TFB’s J. Walter Hammond: “If we, the farmers and ranchers of Texas, are to keep our farm-to-market road program, we are going to have to start rallying our forces now.” OState Auditor C. H. Cavness recommended that the Insurance Board fire its $700-a-month assistant comptroller does not have enough work to justify an assistant, certainly at this salary level.” OLand Commissioner J. Earl Rudder has been promoted from brigadier to major general in the army reserve corps. He’s commanding officer of the 90th OU.S. News and World Re port predicts Texas population will reach 12,399,000 by 1975. Houston, the magazine said, will have a population of 2,308,000 in ’75. OWhisky drinkers at Paris are waiting for the Red River’s waters to recede so they can examine the hull of a buried riverboat believed to have foundered in 1855 with 200 barrels of grog aboard. OGov,. Daniel, speaking at the dedication of Jacksonville’s new reservoir, said an adequate water supply is the state’s greatest need. He praised Jacksonville for financing its own water project, adding cities who do not wait on federal and state aid “will be far ahead in the parade of Texas progress.” Harrison Promoted To Insurance Chief AUSTIN William A. Harrison, a 47-yearold career state government executive, was cited for his “character, honesty, and incorruptibility” by Insurance Board chairman Penn Jackson as he was elevated to the $20,000-a-year job of state insurance commissioner. Harrison , formerly the assistant state auditor, has been acting commissioner since June 21. The board members were very pleased with his work. Meanwhile, t h e International Life Insurance Co. of Austin, the landlord of the insurance board which is on notice \(in the insurance reorganization law of the be moving out within two or three more years, raised the board’s rent from $6,697.68 to $8,000.98 a month. The company agreed to make certain alterations in the offices used by the board. AUSTIN The University of Texas chapter of AAUP met on Thursday and voted, unanimously, to send a wire to the executive secretary of the national AAUP urging prompt appointment of a fact-finding investigatory team on the recent Texas Tech dismissals. The motion to send the wire was made by Dr. H. J. Leon. An amendment to the Leon motion, which called for a chapter committee to write a letter to Tech directors pointing out the possible consequences to Tech of allowing the firing action to stand as is \(but noting the chapter beand delaying sending of the telegram until after the Aug. 17 meeting of the Tech board, was defeated. The amendment was offered by Dr. Carson McGuire. Dr. Frederick Eby, not a chapter member but invited to speak, spoke against any action by the chapter. Dr. George Sanchez spoke against the McGuire motion, as did law professor Jerre Williams. It was the sense of the UT meeting that it was hampered in speaking out on the Tech case because it lacked firsthand facts. Fact-finding , it was pointed out, is exactly the function of national AAUP’s committee on academic freedom and tenure. Approximately 40 members of the chapter attended the meeting. Dean Charles Davis of Florida State University has been designated by the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools as its investigator of the firings of Profs. Byron Abernethy Herbert Greenberg and Per Stensland from the faculty of Texas Technological College \(ObAUSTIN The Texas State Committee on Political Education scoring of Sen. Ralph Yarborough’s voting habits. Said the score card: Yarborough, since he took office last April 29, has voted “right” eight times, “wrong” three times and been absent \(for voting twice. Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson, for the whole period covered by the report, Jan. through June, voted “right” eleven times, “wrong” eight times and was absent once. Yarborough voted “right,” according to COPE, on: Confirmation of McCarthy protege Scott McLeod to be ambassador to Ireland; appropriation of an additional $100,000,000 to support mortgage market to aid home construction and to keep interest rates down; authorization to build 200,000 public low-rent housing units yearly; reduction of federal share of slum clearance costs; raising of District of Columbia school teachers’ salaries; cutting conservation reserve portion of soil bank by $100,000,000; passage of foreign aid bill; ratification of atoms for peace treaty; Hells Canyon. Johnson voted “right”COPE saidon: Weakening of drought relief program for cattle; increasing funds for stockpiling of strategic metals; authorization of funds and troops for use against communism in Middles East; retention of anti-trust funds in banking bill; reduction of funds for flood control and river work; appropriation of funds for strategic metal Dr. Donald Agnew, executive secretary of the Atlanta-based association, said he expected Davis would be on. the Lubbock campus “in the next week or 10 days.” A negative finding by the association could result in the loss of accreditation for Tech, possibly as early as the beginning of the 1957-1958 academic year, next September. Meantime, the American Association of University Professors, whose standing committee on academic freedom has been formally asked by the Tech faculty to investigate the firings, has not said publicly when it will act. The AAUP procedure apparently would be time consuming; the standing committee must appoint a team of investigators; these investigators report to the full committee; the committee reports and recommends action to the next annual convention of the association scheduled for next December. A negative report by the AAUP would mean that Tech would be listed as a “censured administration” a considerable handicap to recruiting competent faculty members. Four small town editors one daily, three weeklies this week condemned the firings. Three of these, Archer Fullingim of the Kountze News, Ernest Joiner of the Rails Banner, and H. M. Baggarly of the Tulia Herald, attacked J. Evetts Haley of the Tech board of directors. Said Fullingim: “You remember Haley. He ran for governor on a crackpot platform in 1956 …. Being the type of radical conservative that he is, Haley is the kind who wants to purge people who do not agree with him …. A. Shivers, knowing Haley was a stockpiling; reduction of federal share of slum clearance monies; cutting of conservation reserve portion of soil bank by $100,000,000; cutting foreign aid funds by $90,000,000; passage of foreign aid bill; ratification of atoms for peace treaty. Yarborough was “wrong” on: Cutting funds for voice of America; cutting f or e i g n aid funds by $90,000,000; sending civil rights bill to Senate committee. Johnson’s “wrong” votes were: Motion to table new Senate rule restricting filibuster to prevent minority rule; cutting of corporation taxes on businesses of less than $225,000 and raising the taxes on larger companies; approval of McLeod ambassadorial appointment; cutting of Voice of America funds; addition of $100,000,000 to support mortgage market to help home construction and keep interest rates down; building of additional 200,000 public lowrent housing units yearly; District of Columbia teacher pay raise; sending of civil rights bill to committee. Yarborough was absent for voting on the appropriation to stockpile strategic metals and on passage of foreign aid bill. Johnson was absent for voting on Hells Canyon. The report notes that Gov. Daniel was absent for voting on a motion to table new Senate rules to restrict filibusters and that William Blakley voted right on the weakening of drouth relief programs for cattle; on more funds for strategic metal stockpiling; on the Eisenhower mideast doctrine; on retention of anti-trust teeth in banking bill; and was absent for votes on small business tax cuts and for flood control and river work funds cuts. Texas style Joe McCarthy, the sort of character you hear foaming at the mouth late at night on the Mexican border radio stations, appointed Haley …. all we say it that the Shivers chickens are coming home to roost on the Texas Tech campus …” Baggarly also saw the hand of Shivers in the Tech incident: “This we know, if there ,exists a political hell for persons who prostitute the U.S. Constitution, these same regents \(Tech’s direcpart. “Their action Saturday in slamming the door on an open hearing for the ousted professors is just another chapter in the tragic saga of how Shivrocracy works. May it be told from one end of this country to the othernot to injure Texas Tech as it surely will, but as an educational device for those who suppose that past criticism of the recent dark era in Texas government has been ‘just politics.” Baggarly called on Gov. Daniel to prove his “honor and integsanction the action … and take his place alongside Allan Shivers, or will he prove his integrity by calling for their resignations?” Baggarly said Texas needs “to appraise the present system of operating” state colleges, adding: “It’s a frightening thought when one considers that every member of every governing board of every state college is an appointee of the governor.” Ernest Joiner of the Ralls Banner commented: .”Tech belongs to the people who bought and paid for it and who are taxed for its maintenance. The board, through its chairman, has announced that it is none of the owners’ business, any more how their property is managed.” Barnes Broiles of the daily Jacksonville Progress said that . “Texas can’t allow the Texas Tech insult to be forgotten” and went on: “Gov. Price Daniel has condemned the secrecy of the board in taking the action. He is to be commended for that. Maybe he’ll appoint men who have more respect for freedom when terms ex