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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 22, 1939)
4 1 \ fi ‘x m ! r • 1 i ‘ • u FranMy, there arv many ways in which Anr>es» would rather consider the feminine population in the neiffh- borin* city of B> van than in the cold light of economics, but nevertheless and notwithstanding, it cannot be de nied that many economic theories are easily applied to the so-called **400.” From an Agffie viewpoint, the roost applicable of these economic theories is the law of diminishing utility. (**UtiHt|r # H for those who haven’t had any esataocnics, is the “want satisfy- i ing power of * gNHMgttp”.) According to this law, as the quan tity of a commodity (in this caae, Bryan girls) incrsMts, the atility of each added unit (more girls) decreas ed. Bad on the other hand, (and a more important consideration as far as Aggies are concern, d) a* the quan tity of (ttill the Bryan girls) 4***Mha, thf utility increases. Before leaving the “ole home town” to attend college, the quantity of women in comparatively unlimited, and tlms their utility isn't over-em phasised. But, oa spriving at Aggie- land, cadets not opljr are quick %c learn that there Is an alarming short age of the lassies, but that the pro portion la about one girl to two- hundred Aggies (conservative esti mate)! The corresponding increase in their utility is little short of appall ing. Certainly it is true that the de mand that Aggies have for girls is Ml out of proportion to the quantity . that Bryan offers. But the law of diminishing utility isn’t by itxelf in being applicable to Bryan’s skirts. It’s not hard to apply the laws of value is use and value in exchange to the fair daughters of the unfriendly city. The eco profs tell us that value in use is the utility u good has to an individual in comparison with its value in exchange. Because harems are illegal in the United Stat es, we don't know very much about a girl’s value in exchange; but if there is anyone who appreciates s' girl's value in use more than an Ag gie, I've got to bo shown. With the single exception of a check from home (or from anywhere else for that mat ter) I know of nothing that has the value in use or want satisfying ’ power that a girl has—and without making the homeward trek on week ends, Aggies must .rely on the Bryan crop of femmes for their dates. Ah, you Bryan gals, you may be conceited no end. < vrotistieal jas the o Id maid's cat, and as independent as Adolph Hitler in a Jewish synagogue, but you have valde in use qualities that allow your other sins to be al- FEBRUARY moat (. . . and I did say “almost" 1 forgiven. Someone has said that there is something good about every per son and that we will find this if we search diligently enough for it. After years of observation, most of the Ag gies have concluded that this is'true-- even insofar as the Bryan “400" is concerned; they aren't so dumb after all. Generations of them have come and gone, and In the process of time they have learned the limit to which their “value In use" qualities will Vet them go—and get away with K! in economic *r* bp# by yeorye fuermann s ' Labor, too, has its theory of value- advocating that labor is responsible for all value; and Angies can well lay stock in this theory j Since 1876 we have been laboring with Bryan gals nine months out of twelve, and their value has taken an astounding jump every year since that time. If you don't believe it, try to get a date with one of Bryan'a chosen few. The law of marginal Utility, how ever, is one that the girls are more concerned* with than are (cadets. The law rambles on to the effect that as additional units of a commodity .(ca dets, now, instead of girls) are avaiK . 4 I* IgJ ‘ f - ) H * able, the utility of each additional unit decreases—and, considering that there are nearly 6,000 Aggies, the utility of the last three or lour hun dred must be several figures below aero. Nor should the marginal utility curve be confused with feminine • streamlining; for anyone that has ever taken an eco final will readily testify that there is no relationship between the two. There are two foreign trade th*o- / riea that .pay also be appropriately applied to the Bryan cream-rocks and these arc the laws of comparative and absolute advantage. Comparative advantage is that advantage which one group enjoys over another because it is capable of fulfilling certain qual ifications better than any other group. ( An absolute advantage, on the other hand, is that advantage which a cer tain gragy enjoys because it is the > i. . up capable of fnlfilling cer tain qualifications. Now it cannot be 4 aaid that the Bryan friHs are the only ones that fulfill an Aggie’s vision of the perfect girl (it must be s vision’ because only a few of us have ever found ona> but a person need go no further f than Brasoe County, Texas to determine the truth of the law of comparative advantage. It is obviou* that the law of absolute advantage doesn't a|>ply in this case, because there are jgirt* . . . and girls l . . and girls, the world over. They come byH far moral frequently than any street ; car; but few have the resources to travel the world over in quest of g date. And therein enters the tnlth of the law of comparative advantages; because of their comparative proxim ity, the B van gals enjoy a decided advantage over other females insofar »» Aggies are concocfcod. The nuisance value of a commodity, however, is one economic theory that does NOT concern Bryan's feminine SggrogntiM.. The nuisance >alue of a commodity is the value of anything you want to get rid of because it is s thorn in the side, and trying to as- Socsate this theory with anything fem- J j mine (Bryan or otherwise) it like getting into something neck-deep on a giraffe. Can you imagine any fem inine pulchritude here at Aggiesland that is a “peaky ntiaance?’* Neither can I! And so it ia. B^an girls, that we ' “kadrts” take oqt hat* off to you. r but we wish that you were ten-fold (year, ev«n a hundred-fold) in quan tity. In the light of economic theories, or from' any other viewpoint/ Bryan is the home of contented gals!!! ; • 17