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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 9, 1940)
PAGE 2 THE BATTALION TUESDAY, APRIL 9, 1940 The Battalion forum STUDENT TRI-WEEKLY NEWSPAPER TEXAS A. & M. COLLEGE * A grici City of College Station, is to June, issued and is published The Battalion, official newspaper of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas and the City of “ published three times weekly from Septembe Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday mornings; weekly from June through August. Entered as second-class matter at the Post Office at College Station, Texas, under the Act of Congress of March 8, 1879. Subscription rate, $3 a school year. Advertising rates upon reauest. 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-S444. 1939 Member 1940 Associated Golle&iate Press dILL MURRAY ...... LARRY WEHRLE .. James Critz EL C. (Jeep) Oates EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ADVERTISING MANAGER Associate Editor Sports Editor Philip Golman John J. Moseley H. G. Howard Circulation Manager •Hub’ Johnson Asst. Sports Editor '"-'—an Staff Ph<' ' - eley Junior Editors on George Fuermann J. Robinson Earle A. Shields lotographer Staff Artist Bob Nisbet Junior Editors Billy Clarkson George Fuerma: A. J. Robinson TUESDAY STAFF Charlie Wilkinson Managing Editor Bam Davenport Asst. Advertising Manager C. A. Montgomery Editorial Assistant R. V. (Red) Myers Jr. Sports Assistant Senior Sports Assistant Jimmie Cokinos Jimmy James Junior Advertising Solicitors K. W. Hubbard J. D. Smith Reportorial Staff Bill Fitch, H. S. Hutchins, W. D. C. Jones, Joe Leach, J. L. Morgan, Jerry Rolnick, J. C. Rominger, E. A. Sterling, W. P. Walker, R. J. Warren It Can’t Happen Here ... . . . but it did! Not so many nights ago two cadet athletes—evidently “hard up” for something to do—poured Hi-Life, a poisonous liquid, into the friendly German police dog which has lately habit uated the new dorm area and has been a friend to ALL Aggies. It is hardly necessary for The Battalion to condemn this action. Both cadets have suffered in the eyes of other students who know them. Condemning this action is unnecessary. The Battalion, however, would like to point out that this immature, child-like, rotten, mean, and un- Aggie action is NOT typical of the corps as a whole. Fortunately, real Aggies wouldn’t pull a stunt as cold-blooded and “gutless” as this one. Fortunately, read Aggies would frown on any action as unfair as this one. Fortunately, actions of this kind are def initely NOT the Aggie way of doing things. Speak Your Piece Civil liberties are inherent American privileges. They are the basis for democracy in a nation, muni cipality or on campus. Of all rights enjoyed by any group, freedom of speech, press, assembly and reli gion are perhaps the most important. As any democratic organ would do, The Bat talion encourages the exercise of these privileges, with emphasis upon freedom of speech and press. For the benefit and use of its readers is set up the ■“Open Forum” column. Through this column, students, faculty members and administrative officers may speak their pieces ■on any subject. If you have a rag to chew, a bone to pick or a point to make, The Battalion welcomes your comments and remarks. Anonymous letters will not be printed, but the writer of a letter may have his or her name with held upon request. Long letters cannot be printed. The maximum length is 250 words. Although The Battalion welcomes comment on any subject, the material printed in the open forum column should not be interpreted as always reflect ing its editorial policy. Letters presenting views conflicting with those of The Battalion will be print ed readily. Exercise this civil liberty of freedom of expres sion. Let off that extra steam. Speak your piece. In Just a Few Weeks In just a few more weeks several hundreds of young men will take one last look at the A. & M. campus and then plunge into the “icy world.” Some of these graduates will have jobs waiting for them, but many of them won’t. This same procedure has been going on for years. Since the college was founded, graduating classes have gone out to find a place for themselves. Today most of them have succeeded and, with secure posi tions in life, they wonder how they can repay a debt they feel they owe their Alma Mater. The problem of establishing connections, of meeting the people in a position to afford employ ment, is a great one, and it is one where those ex-students who have gone on before may lend a helping hand. One of the most vital services ex students could perform would be to voluntarily help these newcomers. The ex-students who have been through the after-graduation crisis understand the problems that face the graduate. To the ex-students who wish partially to repay their Alma Mater, nothing would be more appropriate than to step in at graduation and help some be wildered young fellow get a start in life. And noth ing would be more satisfying than the thrill of get ting some young man off to a good start in life. THE QUICKER THE BETTER Every time we bounce and jounce in a ear over that plank-protected wter pipe laid temporarily across Military Walk at the “Y”, we pray fervently that this annoyance to traffic will quickly be ended with the installation of a permanent and unnotice- able line. We believe every driver on the campus has noticed and made the same wish. The quicker it’s done the better. FREEDOM OF THOUGHT “Freedom of thought and of action is threatened in our world, and if we are to preserve the freedom which has been won for us at great cost, it is im perative that universities, and university men and women, be alive to the issues and alert in playing their part.” Queens University’s Dr. R. C. Wallace tells today’s collegians to take their place in the world of affairs. SILVER TAPS DESECRATED TO THE CADET CORPS: Silver Taps is a reverent tribute given by the cadet corps in memory of a fellow classmate who will be with us no longer. A large majority of us know and observe this fine custom. At Silver Taps Sunday night, one conspicuous light in Ross Hall would not go out. Polite requests to turn out the light were returned with profanity. Finally at the insistence of the crowd, it was ex tinguished, and then turned on intermittently during Taps for the purpose, as it turned out, of making domino plays. Oaths, laughter, and clattering dom inos continued to disturb the stillness observed by the cadets in memory of their late friend. Those dis turbances, those few boys in Ross Rail, robbed the ceremony of much of its reverence. The contrast of those oaths and laughter with the reverent silence of the cadets spoiled the memory of that Silver Taps for many boys. After the last bugle note had faded, a mixed group of cadets went up to the disturbing room to see what sort of a person would rob a dead Aggie of his last heritage from Aggieland. A graduate stu dent living in Ross Hall and four or five Ross fresh men were continuing to play with their dominos when the group entered. When told that they had spoiled the effect of Silver Taps, the graduate stu dent offered no remarks of apology, but challenged the group with oaths to do something about the situation. He made it plain that he was an EX-AG GIE and a graduate student, and that we were ex cused from the room. When he was reminded of the example that he was setting for the Ross freshmen whose attitude was little better and the lack of true Aggie spirit shown by his conduct, he again chal lenged us to try to do something about it. We have accepted the challenge and will need no coercion to divulge the name and character of our subject. Are we going to let the policies followed by our Ross Hall graduate student and Ross freshmen ruin one of our finest Aggie traditions? This group knows which side of the fence they will stand on and we hope that the rest of the corps will stand in with decisive action. JAMES FOUTS R. C. CAMPBELL JOHN L. DODSON T. M. HAGOOD A. W. GUILD E. B. McKEMIE MAYO THOMPSON BACKWASH By George fuermann W. C. FREEMAN W. A. LANGDON MARSHAL BIGGS NEWSPAPER ADS BEST Some of the largest users of radio advertising— including a full-sized automobile manufacturing company—have gone off the air. It is significant, however, that not a single large advertiser ever discontinued use of newspaper ad vertising. Some of them have, in fact, increased their newspaper lineage since the first of this year. All forms of advertising have their uses, but many have flourished for a time and died in the years that newspaper advertising has been the mainstay of commercial publicity. People may glance at salebills and toss them away; they may pass a billboard a dozen times and each time forget in a minute what they saw there; they may hear an an nouncement over the radio that appeals to them and forget all about it a moment later. But a newspaper advertisement that appeals to the reader is seldom ignored, and if the details are forgotten it is avail able for an additional perusal. —Exchange As the World Turns... By Dr. R. W. STEEN The Allied blockade of Germany is being ex tended and tightened. The Baltic is being patrolled more carefully by allied warships, and British sub marines have struck at several ships either within or very close to the territorial waters of Norway. The British insist that Germany is regularly violating the neutral waters, and that there is no point in giving Germany the benefits of an international law which Hitler’s government does not recognize. The Baltic states insist that their neutrality must be respected. Just what they will be able to do about it is difficult to see, but the result may be the entrance of some of these powers into the list of warring na tions. The choice should be fairly simple. Britain and Fance have so far given their acts at least the color of lay, while Germany has resorted to a whole hearted destruction of neutral ships, and as fre quently as not sinks them without warning. Meanwhile efforts are being made to interfere with Germany’s supply lines through the Balkan states. The Allied program at present seems to be to intercept as much sea-going commerce as possible, and to purchase all of the supplies the Balkan states have for sale. The plan is not working as yet, and may never work, but it is giving the world a good example of economic war. British cruisers have intercepted ships as far away from Germany as the Pacific coasts of Russia. Russia insists that the goods intercepted were for use in Russia, but Britain seems to think that they would make their way over the Trans-Siberian rail road to Germany. As a result the ships are being held in spite of Russian explanations and threats. Neutral observers rate the German airforce as superior to the allied force, and believe that Germany can produce more planes than France and England combined. The great German plane factories will become useless, however, if the Allies can interrupt the flow of one or two basic materials. That is what the Allies hope to do. At the same time they are do ing all that they can to reduce non-military imports into their own countries and to increase their exports so as to have more money with which to buy military supplies—especially planes—in the United States. German crops are reported to have been seriously damaged by the severe winter. The same report is made of the crops in the Balkan countries bordering Germany. If these reports are correct, it may be that nature will prove an unwittingly ally in enlisting General Hunger on the side of Britain and France. R. W. Steen "Backwash: An agitation resulting from some action or occurrence.”—Webster. ■ Fuermann Backwashin’ around .. .T.S.C.W.- ian Margaret Anderson, who—with Greig Beeler—attended last week’s Infantry Ball, says that A. & M. and our Denton sis ter school should get together on a joint degree: B. R. (Bachelor of Ro mance) . . . for 25$ Dallas Pig Stands offer an “Aggie” sandwich. Its make up includes baked ham, Swiss cheese, and lettuce served on rye . . . An interesting dining hall sidelight is the little-known but effective system of “Comment Sheet” inaugurated a year ago by director J. C. Hotard. At the end of each day the various stu dent head-waiters report cadet com ments for the day in respect to the various meals. These are then mim eographed and distributed to the proper persons, after which chang es are occasionally made in menus. For example, a typical sample is, “Dinner, Unit 1, ‘Everything was fine—no complaints.’—Early.” An other is, “Unit T, ‘Meal fine ex cept greens—as usual, they were very slow.’—Kimbrough.” ... As Shep Fields and his orchestra were playing for Friday night’s Town Hall program, the writer counted tapping feet in Guion Hall’s first- row balcony. Twenty-three out of 44 students were keeping time to Shep’s rhythms, which is no small compliment to the band . . . More than 80 T.S.C.W.-ites were on the campus for the week-end’s Infantry Ball . . . The number of freshmen attending corps dances is increas ing by leaps and bounds with every dance. It wasn’t so many years ago that first-year cadets couldn’t at tend corps dances without dates. • The “won’t kiss” girl: Typical of New Orleans and ev erything Aggies think about the city after the Sugar Bowl game was songstress Claire Nunn who shares honors with Shep Fields. Self-described as the “won’t kiss” girl, Claire’s antics and singing left little to be desired in the minds of most Aggies. As unusual as she is clever, her life is guided by four “dont’s”—at least that’s her story. “Don’t pluck eyebrows, don’t wear girdles, don’t smoke, and don’t drink” are the four negative count erparts of the swing-singer’s life. If her story is true, she broke all date-request records at Friday night’s Infantry Ball. Just a week earlier Connie Barleau hit a new high with 86 requests for dates, but, not to be outdone, Claire claim ed that hers were 93 requests. She stayed with her story, too. Her name used to be Clara Fredericka Tapper; now only twenty years old, she’s married to Rudy Nunn, an alto sax man with one of the les ser-known orchestras in the East. The Aggie “agreement”—not a “boycott,” just a “coincidence”: Af ter many years of submitting to an unnecessary evil, the cadet corps has aroused itself to unified and concerted action in respect to se curing first-rate, date-to-date mov ing pictures shows with Bryan. One thing, however, should be un derstood from the start. That is the fact that this non-patronization agreement is not directed to benefit any particular theater interests at College Station. Aggies want shows at Aggieland at the same time they are shown in Bryan—it makes no difference who shows them here. And a logical desire, too, because cadets are forced to considerable extra expense in journeying five miles and return just to see a pic ture show. But, to be successful, this movement will need the whole hearted, one-hundred per cent co operation of the corps — and THE CORPS WILL GIVE Fiscal Office Not To Close Till 1:30 W. H. Holzmann, comptroller of accounts of A. & M., has announc ed that 1:30 each afternoon (ex cept Saturday) will be the perma nent closing time of the Fiscal De partment from now on. In the past the closing time has been 1:00 p. m., but for some time the Fiscal Department, in response to popular request, has been try ing out the later closing hours, and has found that the department de spite the extra load is functioning satisfactorily and is finding the change to meet with the approval of the study body. The Fiscal Department will con tinue to be open hereafter till 1:00 Saturdays, 1:30 every other week day afternoon. THIS COOPERATION. AGGIE SPIRIT COUNTS FOR TOO MUCH WHEN IT COMES TO AN UNDERTAKING WHICH WILL BENEFIT THE ENTIRE CORPS. See you at the Assembly Hall . . . • On Shep Fields: For the seventh consecutive week, “Tuxedo Junction” leads the Aggie hit parade. Maestro Fields further pointed out that “Put Your Little Foot” again holds down second place in most oft-requested numb ers with “All The Things You Are” appearing in third for the first time . . . Said Shep, just before leaving for San Francisco’s St. Francis Hotel where he opens to night, “If I were to return to col lege again, I’d head for A. & M. without hesitation. I’ve never be fore seen a college with so much spirit.” . . . Twenty-nine years old, his orchestra was not only con siderably better than the corps had expected it to be, but the general sentiment seems to place him in a near-tie with Bernie Cummins for the best band of the year on the Aggie campus. • Politics: Within the next thirty days a Texas Aggie, attending college at the present time, will announce candidacy for one of the State’s highest elective offices. This will mark the first time in A. & M. his tory that a student has run for a major political office. Although his candidacy may sound farcical, he will probably have only one oppon ent, is given a fighting chance of winning, and he has been active in Texas politics for several years. The cadet in question is consid erably older than the average col lege student and is well known and respected in the corps. • Listen in on radio station WT- AW this morning, 11:15 to 11:45, at which time the writer will interview Cadet Colonel Woody Varner in respect to the Aggie non- patronization agreement. FERRARI RECOVERING FROM SKULL OPERATION Maurice Ferrari, Aggie who was injured in a car accident March 3, when returning to college from his home in Rockdale, is reported well on the way to recovery. He was recently brought to his home from the hospital at Temple after hav ing withstood an operation for frac tured skull and concussion of the brain. JOHNS HOPKINS PROFESSOR WILL LECTURE HERE The Department of English tak es pleasure in announcing a lecture on American English at 7:30 p. m. on Wednesday April 24 in the Chemistry lecture room by a rec ognized authority—Professor Kemp Malone of Johns Hopkins Univer sity. Professor Charles O. Spriggs and others who know Professor Malone say that he is an excellent speaker whose audiences both respect and enjoy his lectures. The following facts taken from Who’s Who in America will indicate the range of his experience and the reasons why he is rated as a leading authority on the history and present state of our language. He is a Ph.D. of the University of Chicago, with additional graduate work at Prince ton, the University of Copenhagen, and the University of Iceland. Af ter teaching two years in the At lanta (Ga.) Technical High School, he held a two-year Carnegie Foun dation appointment as exchange teacher in Prussia. Since then he has taught at Cornell, the Univer sity of Minnesota, and Johns Hop kins University, where he was pro moted in two years from lecturer to professor. He was the founder (with Louise Pound) of American Speech, of which he was managing editor from 1925 to 1932. He is a member of the editorial boards of Modern Language Notes, the Amer ican Journal of Philology, Specu lum, the English Journal, and American Speech, and is the author of The Literary History of Hamlet, The Phonology of Modern Icelandic, and numerous articles in philologi cal and literary journals. During his visit on the campus, Professor Malone will also canduct an informal conference on April 25 for the benefit of the English staff and a few invited guests from the English staffs of other Texas in stitutions. From College Station he goes to Austin on April 26 for a conference at the University of Texas on methods of linguistic re search, and on April 27 he is to make the principal address in Georgetown at the annual meeting of the Conference of College Teach ers of English. r Short Cuts’ To Grades ... Oh, Yeah! According to a recent release from the Associated College Press, the editor of a Mid-Western col lege newspaper has given advice to its readers on just how or how not to get a straight-A average. The editor, of course, didn’t make any guarantees with his suggest ions, in that he found from him self that the advice didn’t always work. 1) Don’t give your professors apples. Too obvious. 2) Find out his hobby and fol low this up with well-planned ques tions to draw him out. , 3) If the entire class walks out of the classroom when the professor is ten minutes late, be the only one to wait, even if it’s half an hour. This procedure is good for a B-plus any day. 4) Always greet an instructor pleasantly, never using his first name, but a cheery “Good morn ing, professor.” 5) When sitting at the faculty table in the dining hall or walk ing about the administration build ing, always walk with your head down as if in deep thought, pon dering some weighty problems in mathematics or philosophy, for in stance. This is highly recommend ed to get on the honor roll. 6) Offer to wash the profes sor’s fear, put up his storm win dows or do any little job around the house, but don’t accept money for the work. 7) “Apple-polishing” procedure in classrooms includes sitting in the front row, responding to profes sional humor with loud, hearty guffaws and liberal use of big words. This is important—never use a two-syllable word where a five-syllable word will do. 8) Carry a lot of big reference books around. This is tremendous ly impressive and is worth an A- minus in any class. 9) If you must close your eyes while in deep thought, wrinkle your forehead and otherwise look worried or the professor may get the wrong impression—and grade accordingly. The University of Wisconsin claims that its radio station, WHA, is the oldest in the country. DYERS HATTERS AM ERI CAN* S TE AM IAUNDRY DRY ♦ ♦ CLEANERS PHONE 58 5 BRYAN Patronize Your Agent in Your Organization | You Will Need these for STRING Quality Ties... . . . will help you to look your best. They will put you off to a good start this spring. Belts .. . Hickok & Knothe You will need a belt with style and quality for spring. Socks... Phoenix and Interwoven Lightweight for spring - all pat terns and colors THE EXCHANGE STORE “An Aggie Institution’'