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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 16, 1927)
4 fttfi BATTALION THE BATTALIOM Published every Wednesday night by the Students’ Association of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas. Subscription price $1.75 per Year. ALL ADS RUN UNTIL ORDERED OUT. Accepted for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, authorized October 18, 1922. All undergraduates in the College are eligible to try for a place on the Editorial Etaff of this paper. Freshmen, Sophomores, and Juniors who are interested in journalism for its own sake, are urged to make themselves known to some member of the Staff. EDITORIAL STAFF L. J. FRANKE .... S. I. STRATTON, JR. R. H. JONES L. H. MADDOX . . . R. O. PEARSON . . . S. BAKER A. R. MENGER C. M. FLORER T. A. PTLKEY R. E. HOMANN . . . , W. G. RALPH .... R. T. FALKENBERG W. O. MORRIS G. M. WRENN . . . . W. T. COLEMAN . . G. F. STARK R. B. TATE N. A. DONGES W. C. JOHNSON . . R. C. HAYNIE W. D. McELROY . .. L. L. TAYLOR Editor Managing Editor Associate Editor Associate Editor Associate Editor Associate Editor Sports Editor ...Associate Sports Editor . .Assistant Sports Editor Exchange Editor Social Editor News Editor . . . .Associate News Editor . . Assistant News Editor . . .Associate News Editor Literary Editor Literary Editor Literary Editor Associate Literary Editor Humorous Editor Humorous Editor Cartoonist BUSINESS MANAGER R. L. EDGAR Business Manager J. A. DAVIS Assistant Business Manager R. E. O. SLOAN Circulation Manager TO THE FACULTY AND STUDENT BODY. At the beginning of the year, I set as my goal in editing the “Battalion” a “closer cooperation and a more complete understanding between the stu dents and the faculty” (see Issue No. 1., editorial under heading of “The Policy of the Battalion). The student council here has never been a success, and I realize that it never could be a success as long as A. and M. remained a military school. Since the military training at this institution is one of its greatest attractions, and as the corps is one of the most worthwhile things at A. and M., I searched for some other method of drawing the fac ulty and the students together. I hoped, then, to fill the place of the student council through the “Battalion.” It was an ideal of mine to so conduct the Student Opinion column that the cadets would set forth their honest opin ions and criticisms therein; and I hoped and believed that members of the faculty individually or the faculty collectively would treat these articles with consideration and thought, and either answer them in some form of forum discussion, or reply to them in this publication. Two weeks ago, just as I was beginning to receive a large number of student opinion articles, I was required to subject each of these articles to the Commandant to approval. The initial article to which offense was taken appeared in the January 19th issue; an article rather sarcastically written, perhaps, but nevertheless containing a good suggestion in the plea that fac ulty members form a habit of dropping into the mess hall unannounced and eating at any seat selected at random. Since that time several Student Opin ions have been approved and several disapproved. In each case the articles frowned upon were suggestions or complaints directed to the faculty; in every case those approved dealt with students. That shattered my ideal of a closer understanding between the faculty and the students, for it left no channel of communication between the two bodies. The Committee on Student Activities, which deals with student publi cations (article 51, paragraphs 1, 2, and 3, College Regulations) consists of Col. Turner, Chairman, and Dr. Lee and Mr. Richey, members. However, since this committee has never met during this scholastic year, and both Dr. Lee and Mr. Richey expressed themselves well satisfied with the “Battalion,” it is apparent that the action toward the Student Opinions was not made in the capacity of the committee, but in that of the commandant. Furthermore, I cannot remember a single instance in the past when this committee required an editor to submit his copy to them before going to press. As one very prominent member of the faculty expressed it last Monday, “We have always had confidence and trust enough in the editor of our student publication to allow him to use his own judgement in the selec tion of his material.” If my judgment is not to be trusted and the faculty has no confidence in me, then evidentally I am not worthy of editing the “Battalion.” If I am to be denied an opportunity of trying to establish a better understanding be tween the faculty and student body; if the students are not to be permitted a free expression of their thoughts and a chance to state their complaints through the channels of their publication, then I have no desire to continue at the head of that publication. I therefore respectfully, though very regretfully, tender to the faculty and the student body my resignation as editor of the “Battalion.” LOUIS J. FRANKE. “CLOSER COOPERATION AND BETTER UNDERSTANDING.” It has always been the custom of the editor of the “Battalion” to address an editorial to the students in the last issue of the year. I would like to at tempt to solve the most prominent problem on the campus today. For the last few days I have been listening to the opinions of students all over the campus. I find everywhere murmurings against “petty and un reasonable” regulations, against the curtailing of the rights of the students, and against the unreasonable stand taken in regard to complaints concern ing these matters. I hear dark hints of “revolutions” and “Long Bats.” I find seniors read}’ to lead, underclassmen ready to follow. Believe me, the solution of your troubles is not to be found in a “revo lution.” It has been tried before without success, and even if you won, you would lose. Go to the faculty as individuals. Take it upon yourself to visit some member with whom you are familiar. Tell him of the situation and of the students’ reaction; if you are wrong, he will show you where, and if you are right, he will help you. Send representatives to President Walton. Talk the matter over with him, and rest assured that you will get not only a considerate hearing, but that he will suggest a remedy, and a speedy and just one. And when the present situation has cleared up, see to it that it draws you closer to the faculty. Much more will be done if the faculty and student body have some medium of exchange of ideas. You will find as 1 have found out in the past few days, that the members of the faculty include many men who are just and fair, and who place the interests of A. and M. above every thing else. They will be glad of an opportunity of obtaining an insight into the students’ point of view. LOUIS J. FRANKE. A LADY SAYS HER SAY. We print the following letter, postmarked Dallas. “Dear Mr. Franke: Please, please as Editor of “The Battalion,” do not mean the contents of that article, “A Challenge,” which was published in the week of Febru ary 2nd. Do not mean or believe that the value and honor of the Senior A. and M. ring is being cheapened by the minature ring, or that the senti ment attached thereto is being desecrated. It isn’t. It can’t be. The Aggie Senior ring stands for all the good there is in men, and is the highest honor that can be paid a college student. It is revered and respected by the wearer, and that ring bears so high a standard that it is not easily detracted from. It is a pass key to any port, and a recommend ation to any man, and pronounces the wearer a gentleman in every sense of the word. What higher tribute can be paid? The minature Senior rings were made for a purpose and that purpose was to give the young ladies a share of the happiness and comradeship which they must miss by not being real Aggies. There are those young- ladies who love A. and M. deeply and sincerely, bbut their connections can never be other than indirect. They know and feel the Aggie spirit, but at a distance. All the more glory for them to love that school faithfully and truthfully, though deprived of the privilege of being its children. When Aggielahd laughs, she is happy, when it cries, she is sad; when it rejoices, she is glad and when it mours, she sympathizes. Will you deprive these young ladies of the privilege of wearing the symbol of the school they love so well? The Senior ring only brings them closer to A. and M. and accen tuates rather than mitigates their respect. They too, rever it and all it means. That privilege granted con only bring joy and deep respect. There is no disloyalty at A. and M. There can be none among its followers. Won’t you see and understand that these young ladies realize their disadvantage, and the minature Senior ring helps to alleviate that feeling of vacancy, and is a means of bringing them nearer to the school and stu dents they love individually and collectively, and of whom they are so proud? I can only assure you that underlying my attitude is a love for the greatest school in the world, and that you have challenged a principal upon which I have always relied and depended. Keep the minature ring, and “There Shall Be No Regrets.” ONE OF THE “YOUNG LADIES.” Editor’s Note: “Somebody’s” girl sent this in. Fellow, if you haven’t already given her a minature ring, send her one tomorrow; if you have, send her another. 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