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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (May 22, 1929)
THE BATTALION This Wave of Col legiate Bolshevism From all Sides Come Tidings of Re bellion in the Colleges Every day there comes through the mail some proof that the little wave of dissatisfaction with Things as They Are here is not a thing unique and belonging to this college alone. Such harmful pessimism as certain of our campus editcn-s have express ed throughout the year and as was found in a concentrated form in the recent bolshevik journal, the “Jaca- niad” is present not only in dear old Aggieland, but can be found in such safe and sane places as the College on the Hilltops of Denton. For ex ample, the following little sketch from their Students Forum column of The Lasso. “To the Students of C. I. A.: Student government, oh yes! we certainly have student government at C. I. A. This school is a democratic, progressive school for young women. But what kind of Student Govern ment do we have ? The Student Coun cil sits as a figurehead to mask the actions of the power that is. As Stu dent elections draw near, I wonder just why we have a Student Govern ment. I wonder just what good the Student Council is to the students. They are dumb and meekly acquies cent. Are they afraid to speak their minds, to argue their points ? If they are not, why do they not speak out ? If we can not have a free thinking, independent Student Council, why have one ? Let us either have a Stu dent Council or let us do away with this camouflage which we degnify by the name of a Student Council! let us have a Student goverament which means something, which is something more than a figurehead. Elections are near—if you are satis fied with your government as it now stands, you will vote indifferently; if you are awake, if you are think ing, if you are dissatisfied, you will signify your dissatisfaction in the coming- elections. I willingly accept all the buzz of the hornets that this may stir up; I am perfectly ready to accept the dis pleasure this may bring upon my head—but I do think that the time has come to cease to discus the things our colege hasn’t got in “bull sessions” and come out in the open They gave the express rider a good start Henry Wells, developing the mail and ex press business of Wells Fargo, knew the neces sity of careful preparation andalertmanagement. Communication was more than the picturesque racing of pony express riders; behind the scenes there was always the systematic planningof routes, the watchful inspection of outposts and men. Communication today is immeasurably faster than it was then, thanks to electricity. And to a vastly greater degree has the work of prepa ration behind the scenes become important. In the Bell System, management must con stantly look ahead to provide the sinews of ser vice against growing public demand—material and men must be mobilized to extend and keep open the lines of communication. BELL SYSTEM nation-wide system of inter-connecti71 g telephones “OUR PIONEERING WORK HAS JUST BEGUN”' and get a few- of them. “Bull ses sions” do stir up enthusiasm, but what we need is action and plenty of it.” And this is coming from the de mure little lasses who w^ear the blue and white dresses and love their “big aggie brothers” (as the debat ing team of our cawlege can well testify), the little girls who call us “little eggies” or more appropriately, “eggheads.” Deah, deah, what is this old world coming to ? But we of the khaki sojer suits and- they of the modest ankle-length frocks are not alone. Not long ago the campus was flooded with these vicious and utterly pernicious .col legiate attacks on the attrocities of present administration. The Tulane sophisticates put out a wild green sheet with headlines that stated such glaring facts as “Tulane is Hell” and “Dean Dope Fiend” and titled the whole thing the “Fullabullo” in burlesque of their regular edition, the “Hullaballoo.” Down at Arlington some foolish lad went rampant in a little one-sheet affair called “Vox Populi,” and said some very nasty things about his college and some of the individuals thereabouts. This thing has even spread to the Universities, those usual centers of moral turpitude and sophisticated ennui. In the University that bears the name of this broad and shining- commonwealth a few enterprising- youngsters attempted literary and social blasphemy in a very enter taining pamphlet called the “Blun derbuss,” and incidentally, cut all ties of affiliation with their alma mater. At the University of Missouri some foolish lad insinuated in a ques- tionire on the sex question that all might not be well with the world, and the legislature raised more fire and brimstone than a publicity seek ing salvation spreader finding a washer in the collection plate. Even the Canadians have caught the fever, according to the “Mon grel Daily,” the burlesque edition of the usually respectable “McGill Dai ly” of that prominent Canadian Uni versity. What can be wrong? Is the blind old horse that once drew the Parnassian shay slowly down the road with such staid and restful dig nity gone heywire from drinking Brazos bottom corn, or wha.t? Viva la Revolution! C. I. A. INITIATES THE ABORIGINE Initiations are merely a hang over from primitive and barbarous abo riginal times. Tribal ordeals were always imposed upon those entering into the recognized state and privil eges of manhood. Even today, the Australian bush people practice such hideous initiation ceremonies. One of their program items is to knock out tbje front teeth /.of all young men seeking the label of man hood. On the C. I. A. campus it has metamorphased into blacking the teeth to secure the appearance of snagg-lethoothedness. Tying the hair in fantastical shapes is only one more common example of atavistic initiative custom. Instead of the campus initiates having to endure days of hunger, they are made 'to eat unpleasant tasting victuals. The long deep gash es cut into the face and breast of the savage become the more delicate stroke of the paint brush across the pledge’s cheek. And so on to the eternal discomfort of the pledge. C. I. A. LASSO