PAGE 2
THE BATTALION
•SATURDAY, MARCH 9, 1940
THE NEW M. E. SENIORS’ LOUNGE: A STEP TOWARD-
Answering One Of A. & M. ’s Greatest Needs
Above is shown the attractive, luxur
ious new A. S. M. E. Senior Lounge, in the
Mechanical Engineering Building. This
lounge, just lately opened, was conceived,
planned and furnished by A. & M.’s junior
and senior mechanical engineers, in cooper
ation with their instructors, and is for
the use of the seniors each year.
* * *
The above calls again to mind one of
A. & M.’s most-often-lamented, most-edi-
torialized-about, most distressing lacks—
that is, the lack, in many of its class build
ings, particularly the older ones, of suf
ficient accommodations in the way of
LOUNGES, RESTROOMS, plentiful and
efficient DRINKING FOUNTAINS, and so
forth.
The Academic Building (most glar
ing instance) HAS NOT ONE REST
ROOM for public use—a very common
cause of complaint. This year the Stu
dent Welfare Committee put in motion
a move to make available a large and
well-furnished restroom for students’ use
in that building. It’s a project which
would call for the expenditure of some
$2,000 or $3,000—and so, must be passed
on by the Board of Directors, before this
long-awaited step may actually be taken.
The matter has been pending for some time
now. WE ASK THAT THE BOARD CON
SIDER THIS SITUATION AND MAKE
POSSIBLE THIS IMPROVEMENT AT
ITS EARLIEST POSSIBLE CONVENI
ENCE. The Academic Building has been
without a public restroom for twenty or
thirty years now; we hope that condition
won’t exist much longer.
At the same time, a ladies’ lounge in
the building should be provided, as many
visitors frequent it.
Of course, the Academic Building
is just one building, and that case just
one case. There are many more, all in
need of correction, as soon as it may be
possible for the college to undertake to
remedy them.
And as yet just an idealist’s dream,
but one whose answering we suggest
should be seriously looked into, and if
possible realized—how about DRINKING
FOUNTAINS with COOL WATER in the
DORMITORIES?
The new M. E. Senior Lounge is one
step, a forward step, a step in the right
direction. It was one undertaken BY
STUDENTS; and they are to be congrat
ulated for their efforts and their service.
Newspaper Censorship
Always a subject of importance to college
publications is the question of whether they must
undergo rigid censorship by the school administra
tion prior to publication—a censorship which may
delete matter not wholly to the satisfaction of the
administration. This is a question particularly
timely now in view of the censorship troubles now
existing at the rapidly-growing University of Hous
ton.
Following is a letter sent to The Battalion,
with a clipping from a Houston paper, which
should serve to make clear the sort of thing
we mean:
Editor
The Battalion:
Let me call to your attention the enclosed
article, printed in The Houston Press of March
4. I am from Houston and know that these
colleagues of yours, editing the University of
Houston’s “Cougar” are printing nothing but the
truth on both of the underscored subjects. (See
clippings.)
Why not, in the interests of your vocation
and a sense of fairness, support these people in
their attempt to publish an unbiased report
colored by no influence from any source, just
as you publish our Battalion? I believe that if
this note could be passed on to the other Texas
colleges and universities and sufficient pres
sure could be brought to bear from all editorial
fronts, the city and school officials of Houston
could be induced to lift this ban of censorship
which you, as a newspaperman know can reduce
any publication from a power instructing its
readers in the true situations arising in a com
munity to a mere circular carrying announcements.
I hope you will take the plight of my friends
and your colleagues in Houston into consideration
and communicate the situation to other colleges
and strike a blow in the interests of the right
land of democracy, the American newspaper.
Respectfully,
LOUIS A. LARREY JR., ’42.
tl. OF HOUSTON JOURNALISTS
GO ON STRIKE
Censorship Charged on Editorials By
School Authorities
The staff of The Cougar, official student
publication of the University of Houston, went
on strike Monday and refused to publish again
until censorship of the paper by the college ad
ministration is lifted.
The walkout resulted from censorship of an
editorial hitting at the laxity of parents with stu
dents of high school ages.
Censorship was placed on the paper two weeks
The Battalion
STUDENT TRI-WEEKLY NEWSPAPER OF
TEXAS A. b M. COLLEGE
The Battalion, official newspaper of the Agricultural and
Mechanical College of Texas and the City of College Station, is
published three times weekly from September to June, issued
Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday mornings; and is published
weekly from June through Augrust.
Entered as second-class matter at the Post Office at College
Station, Texas, under the Act of Congress of March 3, 1879.
Subscription rate, $3 a school year. Advertising rates upon
request.
Represented nationally by National Advertising Service, Inc.,
at New York City, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, and San
Francisco.
Office, Room 122, Administration Building. Telephone
4-6444.
1939 Member 1940
Associated Gotle&iate Press
UILL MURRAY EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
LARRY WEHRLE ADVERTISING MANAGER
James Critz Associate Editor
E. C. (Jeep) Oates Sports Editor
H. G. Howard _____ Circulation Manager
“Hub” Johnson Intramural Editor
Philip Golman Staff Photographer
John J. Moseley Staff Artist
ago following editorials criticizing the city ad
ministration for the poor condition of streets near
and around the university.
Wellington Abbey, co-editor of The Cougar,
said the staff will not publish another paper
unless the censorship is lifted.
“We believe we are capable of justly dis
cussing conditions in Houston,” he said. “We
are not minors, but are working people. The ma
jority of us work in the day, and go to school
at night. We do not want a puppet paper.”
The March 1 issue of The Cougar carried
notices on the front page and in the editorial
columns telling of censored articles. Abbey’s
column “View of the Editor,” was carried on the
front page with this message:
“Editor’s note: Wellington Abbey, co-editor,
wrote this week’s editorial column but it was
censored by the Administration.—Alice David.”
Miss David is co-editor of the paper with
Abbey, and also is in on the walkout.
On the editorial page was a single editorial,
written in comic style. It was titled “Spwing,
Spwing!”
Beneath the editorial was this notice:
“This is the only editorial that passed the
censors this week.”
Staff members said the idea of censorship
was against the principles of democracy.
“As long as any paper is being censored there
is not a true form of democracy,” said Joe Ma-
berry, amusement editor of the paper. “I stand
with Abbey and the rest of the staff.”
Dean N. K. Dupre of the university said:
“Let.’em walk out if they don’t want to abide
by the sponsorship that is set up by the
administration. We can’t turn the school over to
the students.”
•
We’re on the side of the students of the Uni
versity of Houston.
Fortunately, The Battalion is a newspaper en
tirely free of censorship, in a school where the
faculty and administration are broad-minded
enough not to want to interpose any such censor
ship. The only rules that must be followed are
those the students on the staff set for themselves—
the common rules of reason, honesty, decency, and
consideration for others. We follow them as best
we can.
Of course, we accept the advice of our elders;
and in particular we are indebted to Mr. E. L.
Angell, manager of student publications, for his
frequent help and wise counsel.
But—thank heaven—we’re not censored.
The Battalion has been a free paper since a
year or two after President Walton took office,
fifteen years ago. Up until that time everything
that went into the paper had to pass a rigid cen
sorship. Dr. Walton, in the interests of democracy
and freedom of speech, was responsible for the
ending of that censorship.
In the opinion of The Battalion and of the
present administration, all the affairs of the student
body and the faculty work out better when they
are conducted in a spirit of cooperation. Coopera
tion, of course, does not work if it’s just on one
side. But real cooperation exists here, and real
democracy, in the way that all parties concerned in
any problem that arises may get together to talk
it over and work it out for the best of all con
cerned. Leaders and representatives of the stu
dent body are frequently called into consultation
by the administrators of the college, for a frank
discussion of student problems to work out solu
tions as nearly as possible according to student
desires. The Student Welfare Committee is an
agency which works in that fashion, for the bene
fit of the student body. Wherever feasible, rea
sonable, and judged to be for the best interests of
the student body, students’ requests have been
granted; even if not, they’re given fair and full
consideration.
This college should consider itself highly for
tunate in that such is the case.
BACKWASH
By
George Fuemann
'‘Backwash: An agitation resulting from some action or occurrence.”—Webster.
Down Military Walk . . . Add
to camp-car early birds: Jimmy
Gallagher, Mayo Thompson, Joe
Slicker, and Dan Grant who will
head Galveston way in a ’29 model
Packard—even if they have already
burnt out a bear
ing in the thing
. . . Hitch-hikers’
dream come true:
Two hours from
•"College to near
by Navasota; 45
minutes from
•HyP® lHa Navasota to
Shreveport,
Fuermann Louisiana —
thanks to an air
plane ride. The four Aggies who
did it were Marvin Martin, Her-
bert Alexander, Norris McGowen,
and Davis Muirhead . . . Overheard
in chem lab.: Said a freshman who
had just asked the prof a ques
tion and who had been told to look
the answer up in his text book,
“The people in this department
are undoubtedly the most tight
mouthed people I have ever seen.”
Said a junior, when another stu
dent asked how he obtained his
analysis, “Oh, I just ask five oi
six fellows what they think and
then take an average.”
•
He’ll probably be lynched:
From the “Forty Acres” comes
the story of Carl Hill’s ex-room
mate who is now doing a stretch
at Texas U., Gene Tips by name,
he doesn’t have much use for the
University and he’s upsetting all
kinds of traditions by being the on
ly student there who attends classes
completely dressed in Aggie uni
form.
Credit where it’s due:
Backwash’s Ugly Boy contest is
history, but there’s still something
to be said. No contest of the im
portance assumed by the Ugly Boy
championship could have been or
ganized and administered without
a great deal of work on someone’s
part. The committee of 41 mem
bers is the agent which deserves
ALL the credit. Its members work
ed hard to make the contest a
fair one; to run it on the right
basis, and to organize it so that
the entire corps would have as
much enjoyment as possible out of
the contest. The two chairmen,
Don Peterson and Ed Robnett
worked many hours on the contest,
and the entire committee function
ed without fault. Incidentally, the
enthusiasm which the corps evi
denced in the contest have insur
ed its permanency as an annual
function at Aggieland.
•
Monday night’s the night:
....At that time the special yell
practice will be held to crown the
King of the Uglies and to present
him with his honorary degree, B.U.
(Bachelor of Ugliness).
•
“Loudest and tallest—that’s the
Aggies:
In an article published in North
western University’s “Purple Par
rot” relating the experiences of
four N. U. students to New Or
leans this past New Year’s, the
writers say, “The Sugar Bowl
game . . . The Texas Aggies stand
ing throughout the entire game—•
the loudest and tallest people in
the world and such spirit as North
western has NEVER seen!”
bu Dob Nisbel
AH WOMEN
By
Tes£ Charlton
Special to The Battalion from The Lass-O of T. S. C. W.
From now until the Final Ball,
A. & M. will probably be the
chief topic of conversation around
these parts. Naomi Boutwell,
Martha Perrin, Alice Neck, Tee
Scofield, and Eleanor Brous
(among others) all came back with
glowing accounts
of the Field Ar
tillery Ball.
Bodie didn’t re
ceive Hallie Beth
Willingham’s let
ter saying she
was coming down
to see him until
the day after she
arrived, but ev
erything turned
out nicely. It on
ly took her an
hour to find him
after she got
Tess Charlton theie.
With spring comes the urge to
travel. Lucky are the seventeen
delegates the T.S.C.W. journalism
department is sending to New
Orleans for the Southwest Jour
nalism Congress, sponsored this
year by Tulane University.
The travel bug also hit mem
bers of the floriculture class here,
and twenty students went to Hous
ton last week to the National
Flower Show.
Pete Tumlinson’s clever cartoon
of “that’s what little Aggies are
made of,” in the current issue of
the Bat, is quite popular here. In
fact, it now adorns the walls of
many dormitory rooms.
Margaret Jo Cartwright says
she would like to have her picture
back from Gene Santoni, but she
wants to keep his to show to her
grandchildren.
Leads Well-Known Orchestra
Playing Corps Dance Tonight
There’s lots of material to choose
from for this column, so let’s
give a glance at each rather than
slight any of them.
Certainly the most outstanding
show for the weekend is playing at
the Queen Sunday and Monday.
“TOWER OF LONDON” brings
Basil Rathbone back to his vil
lain roles in one of his most vil
lainous. It has an added aspect
of horror with one Boris Karloff
wielding an axe and other instru
ments of execution and persecu
tion. The cast follows:
Richard III Basil Rathbone
Mord Boris Karloff
Elizabeth Barbara O’Neil
Edward IV Ian Hunter
Lady Alice Barton Nan Grey
The doings of the English aris
tocracy during the 15th century
is the background of the story.
Rathbone is the king’s youngest
son who kills the Prince of Wales
that he might inherit the throne.
His scheming and trickery are aid
ed by his most useful follower,
Mord. Not only is Mord a mur
derer himself, but he has a whole
legion of spies and murderers at
his command. One of their most
“luscious” killings is accomplish
ed by sealing a man in a wine
barrel until he drowns. It’ll scare
you out of two grade-points.
Another good show is playing at
the Assembly Hall Saturday night,
“FIRST LOVE” starring Deanna
Durbin. However, since Miss Dur
bin thrilled our sight here no less
than yesterday, it might prove
worthwhile to concentrate on the
afternoon show, “THE * SECRET
OF DR. KILDARE.” Lew Ayres
and Lionel Barrymore continue
their sequence of the trials and
tribulations of the young and the
old doctors. It is worth seeing.
In Bryan again, the Palace has
“THE SHOP AROUND THE
CORNER” coming up Sunday
through Tuesday. Talk about a
line, the Aggies’ line, as publicized
by T.S.C.W., has nothing on the
line that Jimmy Stewart feeds
Margaret Sullavan. It might be
worth while to see the show and
observe his technique.
A generous burglar broke into
the home of O. P. McDaniel in
Macon, Ga. Nothing was taken but
an 18-pound ham was found lying
on the kitchen table.
M-Tllli
ASSILVUILY
HALL
LOVERS OF DUMAS!
His immortal romance
reaches the screen
in a blaze of glory I
L/)W'K£NCG WEL/O
WHATS SHOWING
AT THE ASSEMBLY HALL
Saturday, 12:45 —“THE
SECRET OF DR. KIL
DARE,” with Lew Ayres and
Lionel Barrymore.
Saturday, 6:30 and 8:30—
“FIRST LOVE,” starring
Deanna Durbin.
AT THE PALACE
Beginning Sunday—“THE
SHOP AROUND THE
CORNER,” with Margaret
Sullavan and James Stewart.
AT THE QUEEN
Sunday and Monday —
“TOWER OF LONDON,”
with Basil Rathbone and
Boris Karloff.
with
ROBERT DONAT
ELISSA LANDl
Mon., Mar. 11, 3:30
TUBS., MAR. 12, 3:30
Also 6:30
Adm. 15^
SEE and DRIVE
the new
FORD V-8 CARS
COUPES
TUDORS
SEDANS
and convertible
COUPES
The only cars in the
low price class with
a V-8 engine.
BRYAN MOTOR
CO.
Phone 111
Bryan
Dress Up for Spring j
i r\..
In the spring a young Aggie’s fancy lightly turns to
thoughts of comfort. For real comfort on a warm spring
day try a Glover sport shirt.
THf ucmef STOBf
“AN AGGIE INSTITUTION”
■—