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
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