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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 15, 1940)
1 CIRCULATION 5,400 OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE CITY OF COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS Station, Texas. The Battalion DIAL 4-5444 STUDENT TRI WEEKLY NEWSPAPER OF TEXAS A. & M. COLLEGE YOL. 39 PHONE 4-5444 COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS, THURSDAY MORNING, FEB. 14, 1940. Z725 NO. 51 Costume Ball Opens Social Activities Architects Swing Out Friday Night At 1st Spring Prom John Sullivan To Play For Annual Club Affair In Sbisa Hall at 9 p. m. It’s here! A. & M.’s yearly crowded and gay social season will begin in full swing when the Archi. tectural Society presents John Sullivan and his popular Houston Orchestra for a costume frolic in Sbisa Hall Friday night at nine p. m. The Architectural Society will hit a note of novelty in opening the social season when its costumed dancers are swayed by a costumed orchestra. The theme of the dance will be “Famous Characters from History.” Dancers will wear cos tumes depicting their favorite characters of history and John Sullivan’s band, too, will be in dress of historical figures. Band stand decorations will consist of a large history book with ancient characters drawn on it. All arrangements for the dance have been completed and all architectural students and their friends are expected to attend. Sullivan’s orchestra has obtained great popularity from many uni versity bookings and a long en gagement at Houston’s famed Sylvan Beach. Sullivan will pre sent many interesting specialties including The Three Freshmen, The Brass Choir, The Triple Tongued Trumpeteers, vocal solo ists, trombone trio, and instrument al soloists. The orchestra, which has played here before, made a great hit with the students of the last summer school session during the very successful Summer Press Club Dance. Bids for the Architectural Society Dance may be obtained through students in the Architecture De partment at two dollars per couple. All dancers must wear costumes to the dance, which will last until one o’clock. Saturday night a corps dance will be held in Sbisa Hall to the music of the Aggieland Orchestra. Scrip will be one dollar. PRESIDENT WALTON TO ADDRESS MEN’S GROUP IN HOUSTON SUNDAY A. & M.’s President T. O. Walton has accepted an invitation to speak to the men of Woodland Baptist Church, of which Rev. W. M. Har rell is pastor, at Houston, Sunday morning, February 18, Rev. Harrell has notified The Battalion. A number of A. & M. men are expected to be in the congregation that morning. Everyone who wishes to attend is welcome. Opportunities For All On the ‘Rat’— Take Them. . . Many opportunities exist on The Battalion staff for those students who desire to take advantage of them. Advertising Manager Larry Wehrle has announced that there are three vacancies for juniors on his advertising staff. Juniors with either Monday, Wednesday, or Fri day afternoons off who would like to fill these positions are asked to see Wehrle in 217 hall 11 as soon as possible. All students wishing to join the editorial staff are being invited to do so by present ing themselves at The Bat talion Office and announc ing their intentions. The Battalion Office, in case you don’t remember, is 122 Administration Building. Cadet Players Will Meet Tonight at 7:15 The Cadet Players, newly organ ized dramatic group on the A. & M. campus, will have its first meet ing of the second semester tonight at 7:15 in the lecture room of the Agricultural Engineering Build ing. The club, whose purpose is the production of one- and three-act plays, was organized at the end of the last semester to stimulate interest in draamtics at A. & M. All prospective new members are invited by officers of the club to be present at the meeting to night. COLLEGE FILM CLUB ORGANIZED BY A. &M. PROFS Club to Lease Films Which Do Not Ordinarily Reach Popular Audiences The College Film Club, newly organized campus club, is a fac ulty organization for bringing to the campus films that do not ordi narily reach this part of the coun try and do not show to popular audiences. When the club was organized last month, the membership was to be limited to 160 members. However, the use of a larger hall for showing the films allows a larger membership, and the sub scription list has increased to 190. The original plans were to present the pictures in the Animal Indus tries lecture room, but now the larger Physics lecture room will be used. The first picture in the series will be shown next Wednesday be ginning at 7:30 p. m. It will be a French film “Mayerling,” star ring Charles Boyer. No one will be admitted except club members. Other shows scheduled for the second semester are “Thunder Over Mexico,” “Carnival in Flanders,” “Peter the First,” a German film entitled “Der Hauptmann von Koepenek,” and “Grand Illusion.” Officers of the club include R. M. Weaver, who is the chairman of the committee for the organi zation; S. O. Brown of the Biology Department, secretary; T. F. Mayo, librarian; and S. B. Zisman of the Architecture Department. Stated Mr. Weaver, “We believe this will be a distinct addition to the cultural life of the community. Present indications are that there is a great local demand for this type of entertainment.” If the program works out as successfully as the officers hope, the opportunity to join this organ ization will be extended to stu dents next year. Nation That Divided Under Abe Lincoln Now Honors Him Kay Kyser To Pick Vanity Fair Beauties Pictures of 46 girls, entered by members of the senior class for the Vanity Fair section of the Longhorn, were sent by air-mail Wednesday to Kay Kyser, of radio and film fame, who will make the final selections for the Long horn. Kyser notified George Smith, Longhorn Editor, and Mick Williams, Vanity Fair and Senior Favorites head of the Longhorn, of his acceptance Tuesday of the invitation to select the beauties for A. & M.’s annual. According to members of the Longhorn staff, this is the largest number ever entered in such a contest at A. & M. Of the 46 sent to Kyser, eight will be select ed to be placed in Vanity Fair. The remaining 38 will be entered in the Senior Favorites section, 218 pictures having been turned in to this section alone. One full-length picture and one bust picture of each girl were sent to Kyser, who is at the present filling an engagement at the Park Lane Hotel in Miami, Florida. He will have completed his selections within two weeks and the pictures are expected back at A. & M. be fore the end of February. Kay Kyser, an ex-student of the University of North Carolina, is a popular member of the air waves with his School of Musical Knowledge, broadcast from coast- to-coast each Wednesday night at 9 a. m., and is particularly popu lar with college students all over the United States. ENROLLMENT FIGURES BOOSTED AS 5,336 REGISTER FOR SECOND TERM Dean Bolton Attends A.I.E.E. Meet, Talks With Ex-Aggies Banks in every city over the nation were closed Monday to hon or the birthday anniversary of the president who led the United States through the war between the States. Three-quarters of a century ago his name could not be mentioned in polite society in Southern cities. Today, with sectional prejudices gone, every son and grandson of the Confederate and Union armies are proud of Abraham Lincoln. It isn’t so strange that he should be so loved and respected by friends and former foe. Lin coln didn’t want the Civil War. Secession and slavery followed immediately after his election. Even though he didn’t tolerate slavery, he did not fight because of vengeance toward the South and its people. The sincerity of of his attitude stirred the feelings of all present when he delivered his address at the battlefield at Gettysburg. In ■short, direct words, he pictured the undesirable effects of “a house divided against itself . . .” Born of Southern parents in Kentucky, February 12, 1809, his first twenty-five years was in pov erty. He split rails for his daily bread. He borrowed books from neighbors to study by the fire place at night. He used a grape vine when surveying. He had en tered the law profession, but it was not until after long years of partnership practice, several dis appointing terms in the legisla ture, violent debates with Douglas, and his speeches in New England and the Mid-West, that political leaders of the nation took notice of him. And when he was chosen presi dent it even astounded the mem bers of the young Republican party that had elected him. Today Lincoln stands among the world’s great. A Son of Mother Nature, Dr. O. M. Ball Has Been in "Who’s Who” Ever Since 1912 Social Security Heads To Address Economics Meeting The Economic Club will present a five star program tonight at 7:45 in the Chemistry lecture room consisting of a film dealing with the Social Security Program and short talks to be given by four important officials from the So cial Security Board at Washing ton. Officials of the Social Security Board, who will appear at the meeting to be on the program, will be Mr. Z. E. Avery, manager of the Austin Field Office Social Security Board; Miss Harriet Moore, State Department of Public Welfare, Bryan, representing the Public Assistance Programs; Mr. George Spears, Houston, represent ing the Texas Unemployment Com pensation Commission; and Miss Margie E. Neal, Educational Repre sentative Informational Service Social Security Board. They are the leaders in their respective branches of the Social Security and the Economics Club is fortunate in having such an ar ray of principal workers appearing on the same program. By Bob Nisbet A man who has done his share in bringing fame and a good name to A. & M. College is Dr. O. M. Ball, curator of the College Museum. Not many of the boys now in college have had the pleas ure of his association because he resigned from active duty as a pro fessor in 1937, but from 1903, when he first came to the college until the time of his resignation, Dr. Ball figured prominently in the affairs of the colTege as head of the Biology Department. Not altogether another Lincoln, but certainly possessing many of his sterling qualities, Dr. Ball is also a son of Mother Nature Af one time in sndurBO he staked out Ai«aqri of ground in the land and tilled the soil. That was before he decided to enlarge upon his store of “book-learning.” Having made that decision, he enrolled in the University of Okla homa as its first student of botany. Later he studied for his doctor’s * i 1H£: fot m-: 't r/A r: 1 m Dr. Ball shown at his work in the College Museum degree at Leipzig University in Germany. In 1903 Dr. Ball first came to A. & M. as professor of biology. At that time he was the sole teach er in the department, lacking the benefit of any assistants. When (Continued on page 8) Saturday Deadline For Manuscripts In Aggie Play Contest All students having entries for the Aggie Play Contest must have their manuscripts in to C. O. Spriggs of the English Department by Saturday morning at the lat est to be eligible for any of the $40 offered in prizes, managers of the contest have announced. The original requirements for the plot of the play were that it must be a murder mystery with A. & M. life used as a background. Due however, to the difficulty of writing murder mysteries or to lack of interest in that type of play, the contest managers opened the contest to any type of play based on A. & M. life and entries will be on any type desired by the writers. Prizes for the contest are $25, $10 and $5. However, no prizes will be awarded unless the judges decide that the best plays are worthy of production. The plays may be submitted in either narra tive or dramatic form. Managers of the play contest in tend to sponsor the production of the winning manuscript during the spring term if the document justi fies the effort. ' ^ , ' Mi* > ■ 1 ..." -1 ||||||| | ||||||;||| > M A ; - m ■•' i * a- . tti ifi . ^ rv - .. - ; j j ,^ - ^ ■ : ■ lllllffl ■ 5,500 Expected To Register Before Registration Ends *■ Around 6,400 Students Enrolled for Entire Year, Tops All Records 5,336 students have registered for the second semester with the Reg istrar’s Office, according to an of ficial announcement Wednesday afternoon. According to previous estimations this total is expect ed to reach almost 5,500 by Mon day, February 26, which is the last day that students may register for the second term. Of this number, approximately 250 students will be enrolling in A. & M. for the first time this year. Of these, 125 are old stu dents returning to finish their work and 125 are new students who are enrolling in A. & M. for the first time. Shown above, left to right, are- R. E. Hellmund, chief engineer for Westinghouse; Dean Frank C. Bolton, vice-president of Texas A. & M. College; and Marvin W. Smith, nationally-known ex-Aggie who graduated with the class of ’15 and is now vice-president in charge of enginering for Westing- house. They were among the prom inent people attending the annual winter convention of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers in New York City, January 22-26. Smith was conferred the profes sional degree of electrical engineer ing at A. & M. in the fall of 1938. Dean Bolton took his undergrad uate college work at Mississippi State College and his graduate ■work at Ohio State in electrical engineering. He was head of the A. & M. Department of Electrical Engineering from 1909 to 1932, was dean of engineering here from 1922 to 1937, and since the latter date has been vice-president and dean of the college. A large number of ex-Aggies at tended the A.I.E.E. convention. Among the well-known former stu. dents Dean Bolton talked to there were R. B. Steele, ’22, superintend ent of Canadian National Tele graphs; E. W. Boehne, ’26, an out standing engineer with General Electric; and T. G. Banks, ’31, radio engineer for the Bureau of Air Commerce of the U. S. Depart ment of Commerce. Nine Out of Ten Song Hits Written By Unknowns Instead of Tin Pan Alley Music students of Texas A. & M • with a yen for composition are in vited, along with youthful song makers from all over the nation, to submit their efforts to the prac tical test of criticism and publi cation, according to an announce ment received from New York song news centers. On October 1st, 1939, an Advis ory Board staffed by Paul White- man, Guy Lombardo, Kay Kyser, and Billy Rose selected the nation’s outstand amateur songwriters. Of the ten writers whose songs were chosen for publication, nine were college or university graduates. This in itself is unusual since Tin Pan Alley has always been singu larly devoid of college-bred “hit” songwriters. More important, however, is the fact that unknowns at last, are able to break into professional writing circles. By means of a unique plan, un known songwriters were given the opportunity to collaborate with leading ASCAP tunesmiths, there by facilitating the discovery of -novice authors and composers whose talents merited professional recognition. The Song Hit Guild, headquar tered in the heart of Tin Pan Alley at 1619 Broadway, New York City, is the originator of this project. The first group of songs selected by the Guild’s distinguished Ad- vistory Board were assigned to Santly-Joy-Select, Inc., the music firm that published such world- famous “hits” as “The Music Goes ’Round and Around,” “Three Lit tle Fishes,” and “The Man With the Mandolin,” among others. This firm gave the successful writers advance royalties and Regulation Songwriters contracts. “Holy Smoke” (Can’t Ya Take a Joke,) the first of the selected songs to be introduced, is well on its way to the “hit” class having been performed by such radio lum inaries as Kay Kyser, Paul White- man, Blue Barron, Kate Smith’s Ted Streater, the Merry Macs on (Continued on page 8) Classes for the second semester officially started Tuesday morning and absences occurred by students registering or returning to school late will be charged against them. Total registration for the entire year has not yet been tabulated but pre-registration reports indicate that the total number will be approximately 6,300 or 6,400 students enrolled at A. & M. for the 1939-40 session. Registration for the first term totaled 6,086 and with the additional 250 for the sec ond term previous registration rec ords will be topped. Official college calendar dates for the second semester are: March 22-25, inclusive, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday- Spring Recess. May 31, Friday—Commencement Sermon and exercises. June 1, Saturday—Final Review. June 1, Saturday to June 8, Sat urday—Second semester examina tions. BRITH HEAD TO ADDRESS A. & M. GROUP SUNDAY M. N. Dannenbaum of Houston, first vice-president of the Seventh District of the B’Nai Brith, will be guest speaker at the open meeting of the A. & M. Hillel Club Sunday evening at 7:30 in the re~ ception room of the mess hall. Mr. Dannenbaum will speak ora “The Jewish Scene at Home and Abroad,” and will be introduced by Will Nathan, attorney, also of Houston. The Bryan B’Nai Brith Lodge will be joint hosts with the col lege club for the occasion, and will serve refreshments to those attending. The meeting is open to the public, and a welcome is ex tended to all those who wish to familiarize themselves with pres ent-day conditions of Jewish life. Assembly Hall Goes Into ‘Big Time’ Status With Matinees, Unique Two-Run Free Shows By George Fuermann “The most valuable entertain ment asset of A. & M. College.” Thus opinioned a recent campus visitor in respect to the Y.M.C.A.’s campus picture shows. As if em phasizing the visitor’s remark, the “Y” has recently instituted a series of improvements and advancements in its Assembly Hall shows which include two free shows on Sunday afternoons with matinees on Mon days, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays; bringing better pictures to the campus earlier than heretofore; and the addition of new, modern sound equipment. Now in their sixth year of ex istence, the Sunday afternoon free shows are one of the most popular forms of Aggie entertainment. Sponsored by the A. & M. Former Students Association, the practice of showing free shows is the only one existent in American colleges and universities today. But the de-1 mand for the shows have become so pronounced—as evidenced by the more-than-capacity attendances j -♦■each week—that two showings of-fular time. The purpose of the each feature will be made through February and March as an experi mental trial. The two features will begin at 12:45 and 2:30, and a reliable authority has indicated that the quality of the free shows in the future will surpass by a wide margin the pictures of former years. Second in order in the recent Assembly Hall advancements are the afternoon matinees. Long an advocation of many students, the afternoon shows became a reality Tuesday afternoon when several hundred cadets attended the first matinee showing, “The Four Feathers.” Typical of all Y.M.C.A. shows, the matinees will be made up of the best pictures available and will be shown on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday after noons at 3:30. The Monday after noon feature will also be shown matinees is to provide pictures at a time when many of the stu dents have “time on their hands.” Cadets are often unable to attend the 7:30 shows because of study requirements. The bringing of better pictures to the campus earlier than here tofore has been evident since last September, and a continued effort is being made in that direction. Early last December, new, modern sound equipment was installed— equipment which is the equal of that in most metropolitan theaters. But no discussion of the Y. M. C. A.’s Assembly Hall shows would be complete without mentioning the important benefit shows held each Thursday and Friday nights. By this means various campus techni cal and social organizations are enabled to earn money to buy neces sary equipment, send members to Tuesday afternoon and night, and i national judging contests, and g;en- the Wednesday matinee will be j erally help the organizations to shown Wednesday night at the reg- function better.