Lj
Eleven Prophets of Modernity
Dr. Mayo’s Column
(This is one of a series of sketches of
post-war American writers who have con-
tributed conspicuously to the formation of
personality.)
the ‘modern’
ELEVEN PROPHETS OF
MODERNITY
X. JOHN DEWEY: Experience Is
the Best Guide
This generation of ours, John
Dewey says, has been the first to
realize that there are no fixed and
unchanging principles. It’s no good
he goes on (in “Living Philoso-
phies”) trying to shape our lives
according to some ancient standard
or ideal. What we should do, he
thinks, is to meet experience with
an open mind; learn from it what
is desirable and what is bad; and
then use our brains and our will
power to give to later experience
such a shape as to make life more
livable and satisfying.
Here is an illustration, I think,
of what he means: A long time ago
it was decided by the wise that a
chaperone ought to accompany any
boy and girl who went out togeth-
er after dark. Our generation, find-
ing that the chaperone was fre-
4
——
College Station
Officially City
As Heads Sworn
The City of College Station be-
came officially into being last week
with the swearing in of the recent-
ly elected slate of officers, fol-
lowing a ruling by Attorney-Gen-
eral Jerry Mann that college em-
ployees could so serve. Professor
J. H. Binney of the Math Dept. is
the city’s first Mayor. Councilmen
or Aldermen are Ernest Langford,
’14, head of the Dept. of Architec-
ture; Luther G. Jones, ’21, Agron-
omy Dept.; George B. Wilcox, 23,
Education Dept.; Alva “Scrip”
Mitchell, '94, head of the Dept. of
Mechanical Drawing; L. P. Gab-
bard, Texas Agricultural Agricul-
tural Experiment Station, and J.
S. Hopper, of the Mechanical En-
gineering Dept., City Marshall. All
of the officers are property owners
in the city.
quently a joy-killer, has tested out
by experience the possibility of dis-
pensing with her without harmfui
results. Exit the chaperone, to the
considerable relief of the young
fry.
In our time dozens of more ini-
portant matters than this have
likewise been tested out by ex-
perience, with the result that many
boring and cramping customs and
beliefs, sanctified only by tradi-
tion, have been discarded. Life, 1
believe, has accordingly become
freer and richer in this generation.
But many more ancient “ideals”
are still badly in need of being
tested in the same crucible of ex-
At the first meeting of the
City Council of College Sta-
tion yesterday afternoon, L. P.
Gabbard was elected mayor
pro-tem, J. T. L. McNew city
engineer, J. Wheeler Barger
city attorney; E. W. Steele,
city engineer; and Dr. J. E.
Marsh, city health officer.
Sam Hopper, city marshall,
was authorized to work with
Col. Moore and Col. Ashburn
toward a solution of the traffic
problem on the campus.
J. W. Barger is to work up
a franchise with Bryan for
water distribution, taxes, and
the bus lines.
College Streets
To Be Paved And
Named State Roads
Three streets of College Station
are to be paved and designated as
state highways, according to in-
formation just received by Col. Ike
Ashburn, Executive Assistant to
the President.
The roads on the north and south
sides of the campus which connect
the old and new highways are to
be improved. Spence Street, which
passes by the new dormitories, 1s
also to be included in the project.
Surveying on the streets is to
start immediately.
5,048 NOW
ATTENDING
SCHOOL HERE
The enrollment for the second
semester stood today at a total of
5,048, Registrar E. J. Howell an-
nounced. This number is about 100
greater than the last report. How-
ever, a further increase of 50 is
still expected before Feb. 20, the
final date set for second-semester
“registration.
The total enrollment of students
for the entire 1938-39 session has
reached 5,843. This is greater than
any other in the history of the
college.
Sam A. McMillan, Jr., ’37, is in
the Land Utilization Division of the
Soil Conservation Service, with
headquarters in the Neil P. Ander-
son Bldg., Fort Worth. He is the
son of S. A. McMillan, Sr., 09, Re-
gional Farm Management Advisor,
Farm Security Administration,
headquarters at Dallas. Young Sam
recently paid the campus a visit
while passing through and express-
ed himself as being very happy and
enthusiastic in his new work.
With Younger Alumni
Oscar Seward III, ’38, is with
the Legal Department of the State
Highway Dept., and located at
Lipan. He and Miss Mary Gandy
were married last October in Lipan,
Texas. . . . Dick Skrla, ’38, gets
his mail at 201 W. 10th St., Austin.
. «+. Sim Lake Jr., ’38, is with the
Dallas Power & Light Co., and gets
_his mail at 5328 Miller, Dallas...
Wilson B. Buckley, ’38, is in the
"Soil Conservation Service, Conway,
Arkansas. . . . Only Rhodes Schol-
ar ever chosen from Texas A. &
M. was Wright Thomas, ’22, now
Chairman of the Department of
English at the University of Wis-
consin. . . . Sidney S. Stone, grad-
uvating this mid-term, will be as-
sociated with the J. E. Stone Lum-
ber Co., Nacogdoches. . . . Alton
S. Queen, 37, the old “Bat” Sports
Editor, is salesman for the Koerber
Products Co., Palacios, Texas. . . .
S. A. “Doc” Lipscomb, ’05, of Lip-
scomb’s Pharmacy, was a star
baseball player for the Aggies
during his school days. . . . And
ask Bill Sparks, ’19, about that
time he entered a “Company” foot-
ball game sporting a mustache. . . .
Marvin J. Simms, ’37, is Assistant
County Agent, Wheeler, Texas. . . .
X. B. Cox Jr. ’37, has been ap-
pointed Assistant County Agent,
A. & M. Extension Service, at
Snyder. . . . Dr. John T. Kirby, ’38,
assistant City Health officer and
is also practicing veterinary med-
icine at Lufkin. . . . Jim N. Bos-
well, '37, is manager of the Plains
Cooperative Hatchery and Cold
Storage Locker System, Plainview.
.... Jesse W. Collier, ’38, is with
From The Battalion
the Soil Conservation Service at
Morrilton, Ark. ... W. E. Stages,
’87, in his first year of coaching at
the Hull-Daisetta High School
turned in a great job with a Re-
gional Championship football team
last fall. . . . Walter Daggett, ’37,
recently moved from El Paso to
Ft. Worth where he is with the
Daggett-Keen Livestock Commis-
sion Co., at the Stock Yards. . . .
J. W. Tompkins, ’38, has gone
with the Soil Conservation Service
at Floresville. . . . M. J. Simms,
'37, is assistant county agent at
Wheeler. . . . W. C. O'Neal, who
graduated at mid-term, has been
appointed to the Texas Apiary Ser.
vice at College Station and is al-
ready on the job. . .. J. Weldon
Young, ’37, has been elected voca-
tional agricultural teacher at Ros-
coe. ..» «0. B. Long, Jr.,.37, is
with the Humble Oil and Refining
Company at Rio Grande, Texas.
. « « « Robert E. Mitchell, ’38, is
taking a year’s active duty as a sec-
ond lieutenant in the 15th Field
Artillery, U. S. Army, at Fort Sam
Houston. . . . Louis Nagy, 38, is
assistant county agent at Rio
Grande City. . . . Malcolm G. Slay,
‘38, is teaching vocational agricul-
ture at the Ben Hur High School,
Route 2, Marshall, Texas. . . . H.
W. “Howdy” White, ’38, is taking
a year’s service under the Thomas-
son Act as second lieutenant 15th
Field Artillery, Fort Sam Hous-
ton. . . . Earl C. Fry, 38, is assist-
ant county agent at San Angelo.
....Jdames W. Aston, ’33, Bryan’s
new city manager, was cadet col-
onel in his Senior year; captain of
the Aggie football team in 32; and
a member of the Y cabinet. . . .
A. R. Reinarz, ’37, is with the Na-
tional Supply Company at Long-
view, Texas. . . . Recent newly-
weds include: James Keeling, ’38,
Magnolia Petroleum Company,
Loving, New Mexico; Ben E. Dil-
lon, ’38, Lampasas; Dr. J. W. Hea-
ton, ’38, Bethany, Missouri; E. H.
Staples, 37, Falfurrias; Oscar S.
Long, ’38, Firestone Tire Company,
Houston; Joe C. Gilbreath, ’37,
Austin; John E. Dershiner, ’38,
Galveston; and R. C. Holmes, ’38,
Pecos.
A couple of last issues’ “Lost-
Strayed-Stolen” men have been lo-
cated, thanks to the help of Aggie
readers. Stanley Cassin, ’14, is
living at 121 Arcadia Place, San
Antonio, and James T. Carney, 26,
is Commanding Officer, CCC Co.
2884-C, Winnsboro, Texas.
AUSTIN
BRIDGE COMPANY
DALLAS, TEXAS
CONTRACTORS - BUILDERS
MANUFACTURERS
Roads - Bridges - Road Machinery
The Aggieland
Inn
ON THE CAMPUS
Ofyers You
Comfortable Rooms
Dining Room and
Lunch Room
[J
Make It Your
Headquarters
perience.
For example: It is still widely
taken for granted in certain parts
of the country that a man who
accumulates a fortune is auto-
matically benefitting the nation
thereby. High tariffs help the men
who are accumulating fortunes.
Therefore high tariffs benefit the)
country. Surely this sort of ancient
economic “ideal” needs a little
testing out.
The New Deal, whether one ap-
proves of its policies or not, has
certainly been a great tester by
experience of traditional political
and economic ideals. This is why
so many conservatives yell bloody
murder in the daily press.
Science, which has influenced us
more than any other generation,
is nothing but an organized and
systematic testing out of ancient
beliefs and a formulation of new
ones by means of controlled ex-
perience, known as “experiment.”
We have about reached the stage
of trusting the results of scientific
experiment in physical matters like
diet and medicine. We are gradual-
ly moving toward the shaping of
ideals for human conduct and in-
stitutions by the same scientific
method of experiments fairly and
coolly conducted and impersonally
studied for their findings.
Of course, as John Dewey points
out, we still have a long way to
go before we learn to trust ex-
perience sufficiently to throw away
all the useless and harmful beliefs
and ideals which we still respect
simply because they are ancient.
But at least we are on our way.
John Dewey's views have probab-
ly influenced more “modern” people
than those of any other living
American. For one thing, he made
his attack on the public mind
through the educational system.
He captured most leading educa-
tors twenty years ago. Tens of
thousands of young school teach-
ers have imbibed Dewey’s ideas
in Teachers’ Colleges and Educa-
tion Departments. Millions of stu-
dents who perhaps have never
heard of John Dewey himself have
nevertheless received his philosophy
of experience through their teach-
ers.
If the “modern” man is more
likely than his ancestors to trust
experience and to disregard mere
tradition, he owes this trait more
largely to John Dewey than to any
other American.
J
L. A. Buescher, 22, is president
of the First National Bank at Mis-
sion and is one of the civic leaders
of that city and the Rio Grande
Valley. He is serving now as pres-
jdent of the Mission Chamber of
Commerce and has been living in
that city since 1930. He formerly
lived at Smithville. Mr. and Mrs.
Buescher have one daughter.
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