Transport: Thumbs Up

For a student generation to which thumbs have more to do than pull out plums, six-foot, 20-year-old Stanley Fiese of Beloit (Wis.) was last week putting his 185 lb. of brain and brawn behind a helpful idea—Registered Collegiate Thumbers. A student at St. Ambrose College in Davenport (Iowa), he got the idea last May, thumbed his way around during the summer to enlist boys in several colleges.

When St. Ambrose opened this fall he had distributed 25 charters covering more than 500 members. For a 50¢ fee members receive an authorized R. C. T. emblem as a visible roadside high-sign, and a certified identification card bearing on the reverse a legal waiver releasing any motorist kind enough to offer a lift from liability in case of accident. Encouraged by the Roman Catholic faculty at St. Ambrose, Thumber Fiese plans to enlist 800 more colleges. Says he: “We believe our fundamental idea is sound and . . . that our organization will benefit society. … I have a girl friend in Beloit and visit there weekends. That isn’t the reason I thought of this plan, but the R. C. T. emblem sure helps get a hitch.”