DIAL 4-5444
STUDENT TRI WEEKLY
NEWSPAPER OF
TEXAS A. & M. COLLEGE
The Battalion
CIRCULATION 5,500
OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER
OF THE CITY OF
COLLEGE STATION
VOL. 39 122 ADMINISTRATION BUILDING COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS, TUESDAY MORNING, APRIL 23, 1940
Z725 NO. 78
Battalion
Gets First
Class Rating
Is Judged by ACP
Among 406 Papers
From Entire Nation
The Battalion newspaper has
Sfbeen awarded first-class honor rat
ing for 1939-40, in a national
journalistic judging contest recent-
ly completed by the Associated
Collegiate Press, national scholas-
;|f tic press association.
It was judged among the two-
three times weekly class of papers
published in schools of 5,000 or
more. Altogether 406 papers from
r ? |: senior and junior colleges of 47
; states, Hawaii and Alaska were
entered in the judging.
The judging is conducted not for
I the purpose of creating rivalries
between the newspapers of the var
ious colleges but to encourage and
suggest further improvements that
may be made in each.
Editors of The Battalion express
ed gratification over the rating,
which placed The Battalion well
up with other college papers. It
also represented a rise from second-
class honor rating which was at
tained by The Battalion last year.
Ratings Stiff
Ratings are made on the basis
of news value; extent and variety
of news coverage; news writing
and editing; headlines, typography,
and page makeup; and sports and
special features.
Special praise was given by the
judges to several features of the
paper. They stated “As the World
Turns is excellent”; and “the edi
torial page features are excellent.”
High rating was also given on news
and sports coverage, feature
stories, and printing.
In all but one or two of the
numerous items listed in the score-
book The Battalion received a rat
ing of ‘Excellent”; and it had a
rating of “Good” on every point
considered.
First-class honor rating is ex
ceeded only by All-American.
Ag Engineers
Plan Annual
Barnyard Hop
Informal Frolic Takes
Place on Friday Night
By Bill Clarkson
Again the time has come when
the old hayloft will ring with
the strains of the square dance and
the rustle of calico and overalls.
Yep, it’s the Fifth Annual Barn
yard Frolic, given by the Agricul
tural Engineering Society, which
comes on Friday night, April 26.
The fiddling will be done by Jack
Littlejohn and his “Barnyard
Ramblers”, otherwise known as the
Aggieland Orchestra. An addition
al attraction will be a 15-minute
square dance, which will be called
by Colonel F. G. Anderson.
A busload of T. S. C. W. girls
will arrive Friday evening for the
dance. There are thirty-five dates
available and those wishing dates
must see R. L. Patrick, Room 207,
Bizzell Hall. The list of girls
coming just arrived yesterday, so
hurry over to Bizzell, Aggies, if you
want a date.
The mode of dress for the affair
will be regalia commonly seen in
the rural districts. A $5 prize will
be given to the most uniquely
| dressed couple.
There will be an hour broadcast
over Station WTAW from 10
o’clock till 11. The orchestra is
expected to have a special program
arranged for the broadcast and
a master of ceremonies will be
chosen to officiate during the hour.
The decorations will consist
mainly of piles of hay, farming
implements, and various other
things to give the appearance of
a barnyard. It was suggested that
a cow be brought in but there
would probably be trouble get-
(Continued on page 4)
A. & M. Cooperates 100 Per
Cent With CAA Training Plan
2,500 ATTEND
SMITH-HUGHES
CONTESTS HERE
Since the Civil Aeronautics Au
thority launched its new program
to train 20,000 men a year, many
A. & M. students have accepted
the chance to obtain first-hand in
struction in handling a plane.
Through the efforts of Dean of
Engineering Gibb Gilchrist, A. &
M. was selected as one of the
schools where the new program
would be carried out. A. & M. is
now participating 100% in the
program and is equipped with a
flying field which promises to be
one of the best in this section of
the state.
To take part in the program it
was necessary for the college to
secure an airport that would meet
the requirements of the C. A. A.
Through cooperation with the city
of Bryan a site was selected about
two miles west of the college. The
Kadette Aviation Company was
awarded the contract to train stu
dents, and they have erected a
large sheet-iron hangar at a cost
of approximately $2,500. They have
five planes used in student train
ing. Three are Taylor-Craft and
two Piper-Cubs. These planes de
velop fifty horsepower and have
a cruising speed of 80 miles per
hour.
Work is being done on the field
by a non-student N. Y. A. group
and the college has furnished some
of its equipment to level the run
ways. The State Highway Depart
ment is planning to convert the
county road, now passing near the
airport, into a state highway con
necting with the Caldwell road.
At present there are only two
runways on the field but it is plan
ned to develop three runways ca
pable of landing any type of plane
that might want to land here. A
north-south runway is planned that
will be 5,280 feet long and 500
feet wide. A group of civil en-
(Continued on page 4)
AAUP Banquet To
Be Given May 9
The annual banquet of the local
chapter of the American Associa
tion of University Professors will
be held in Sbisa Hall on the even
ing of May 9. President Edgar O.
Lovett of Rice Institute will be
the featured speaker, his topic to
be “Student Interest in Intellectual
Standards.”
President Lovett is known to
many members of the A. & M.
staff, and has the ability to deliver
a talk that is both valuable and en
tertaining. He will be introduced
by President T. O. Walton. Several
musical numbers will complete the
program.
The A. A. U. P. banquet has come
to be considered an outstanding so
cial event. A well-known speaker
is presented each year. Last year’s
banquet, at which President Homer
P. Rainey of the University of
Texas spoke, was attended by more
than 400 persons.
The administrative officers of
the college will join with the A. A.
U. P. in welcoming President Lov
ett, and plans are being made for
a banquet attendance of several
hundred persons. As in the past
all persons interested in the pro
gram are invited to attend. Tickets
will be placed on sale about May 1.
TOWN HALL MAY
PRESENT CADET
AMATEUR HOUR
As an extension of the Town
Hall series for this year an ama
teur hour with Aggies participat
ing will be held during the later
part of May, provided the quantity
and quality of talent is present in
our midst. All Aggies who have
any kind of talent, ehnnia
M £ sndurBO
g 6 ’ ixppu a n
thii. & is the only requirement, ei
ther individually or with others
in a group. If everyone interest
ed will contact Sullivan immediate
ly, a very interesting program of
all Aggie talent can be arranged.
Take First Flying Course
In the plane above are seated
two of the students taking the
flight training program at A.
& M. C. E. Tabor is in the rear
cockpit, and J. M. Ilfrey at the
controls. Both have soloed.
In the lower picture are,
standing left to right, Ilfrey,
F. C. Thomas, J. M. Isbell; kneeling, left to right, Tabor, S. E. Brown,
and J. R. Propst. These are part of the forty students taking part
in the flight training at A. & M.
Greeks Weren’t By Themselves-
Sodagalese Too Has Word For It
By George Fuermann
The Greeks weren’t by them
selves in having a word for it;
the soda jerkers do pretty well in
their own right. But “soda jerk-
er” is a hard word—the kind you’d
better add a smile to. “Scientific
dispensers of carbonated bever
ages” is their own self-titled niche
in the world of things.
“Eighty-two, a van stick, and
pen an old style,” cried Arnold
“Flash” Walker in his best
Sodagalese as the astonished couple
stared.
But Mr. Walker remained as un
perturbed as Adolf Hitler in a
Jewish synagogue. He could have
said, “Please give me two glasses
of water, a vanilla ice cream cone,
and a milk root beer,” but Mr.
Walker was too good a sodajerker
for a thing like that; too loyal to
Sodagalese, the All-American soda-
jerker’s language.
There seem to be a few well-
defined ethics in respect to Soda-
"galese. For example, the lan
guage is apparently classified into
four divisions: fountain drinks
which have to be mixed by the
sodajerker; ready-mixed drinks;
the regulars, such as water, tea,
and coffee; and sandwich, ice
cream, and lunch talk.
A sexy term, is “neck one”; but
it only means that the customer
has called for a bottled Coca Cola.
A “running shot” is a fountain
coke in a paper cup. Sometimes
things get complicated. If three
people come in the store and order
a lime coke, a cherry phosphate,
a vanilla coke, and three glasses
of water, one without ice, Flash
would sound off with, “Shoot two,
disappointed and nailed; an honest
phos; 83, cut the hail on 82.”
So don’t let anyone fool you
about Sodagalese—it’s an art.
From a “straw belly” to an “old
style run through a cow pen,”
there’s lots to learn.
(Continued on page 4)
Singing Cadets Begin Annual
Central Texas Trip Tomorrow
The Singing Cadets of Aggie--
land will begin their annual tour
of Central Texas Wednesday, April
24, and return to college on the
28th.
Their itinerary, just published,
will include short performances at
the Marlin and Waco High Schools,
Wednesday morning. At noon on
that day the singing organization
will have lunch with the Waco A.
& M. Mothers Club at the Lyons
Club in Waco. Wednesday after
noon the singers will give a per
formance at the Hillsboro High
School and then continue on to
Fort Worth where they will spend
the night.
On Thursday, April 24, the cadets
will give performances at various
Fort Worth high schools during
the moraing and afternoon. They
will journey to Denton later on
Thursday afternoon and give a
full evening recital at T. S. C. W.
Friday they will go to Dallas
where they will put in the whole
day singing at many of the Dallas
high schools. That evening the
group will give a performance for
the Dallas A. & M. Mothers Club.
► Saturday morning, April 27, the
Singing Cadets will be presented
as an added attraction on the Early
Bird Radio Program, heard over
WFAA, Dallas, from 7 o’clock till
7:42.
The group will sing for the
Sunday School Hour at the East
Dallas Christian Church on the
28th and return to college later
on during the day.
The numbers which the cadets
will sing on their tour are to be
rrp-roarlng he-man songs which
were popular during the past three
seasons. They will also sing “The
Spirit of Aggieland” at all their
performances. Their selection of
songs will extend from the sublime
to the ridiculous and from the
sacred to the boisterous.
J. J. Woolket, professor in the
Foreign Languages Department
and director of the Singing Cadets,
will accompany the organization
on the tour.
The officers of the organization
are Maynard Curts, president;
Siegfried Neubert, vice-president;
Charlie Zahn, business manager;
Gilbert Michalk, publicity manager,
and Reynolds Smith, librarian.
23rd Annual FFA Boys’
Meeting Is Held Monday
Around 2,500 members of the
Texas branch of the Future Farm
ers of America attended the 23rd
Annual Smith-Hughes Day held
here yesterday.
The event is in reality a state
judging contest for students of
vocational agriculture and is con
sidered the highlight of the school
year for those students known as
the Future Farmers of America.
There were ten judging events
which consisted of dairy judging,
poultry judging, soil conservation,
entomology, cotton classing, live
stock judging, crops judging, farm
shop, horticulture, and wild life.
Those entered in the dairy judging,
livestock judging, crops judging,
and soil conservation were winnqrs
in their area judging contest. The
winners of the dairy and livestock
judging contest will represent Tex
as in the national Smith-Hughes
Contest to be held in Kansas City,
Missouri.
The winners of the various con
tests were not announced until
late last night making it impos
sible to obtain their names for
this issue of The Battalion.
The boys who arrived Sunday
spent the night in a specially pre
pared space under the Kyle Field
Stadium, in dormitories, and some
slept in trailers brought along for
that purpose.
The Senior Collegiate Chapter of
the F. F. A. sponsored a picture
show for the contestants last
night.
FRIDAY IS DEADLINE
TO ORDER INVITATIONS
For those seniors who were
unable to place their order
for commencement invita
tions last week, orders will
be taken on Thursday and
Friday afternoons of this
week. Friday afternoon is
the deadline for ordering the
invitations.
Fish-Game Dept.
Announces Plans
For Summer Work
Dr. Walter P. Taylor, head of
the department of Fish and Game,
announced Saturday that plans
have been completed for the two
summer field courses to be offered
by the department.
A course in stream and pond
management is planned for the
first term of the summer session,
June 10 to July 20. The work
will be in charge of Dr. Kelshaw
Bonham, and practical aspects of
fish culture will be stressed. Head
quarters will be at College Sta
tion and most of the work will cen
ter in Brazos County. This course,
400S, carries six semester hours
of credit and will cost the student
approximately $60, inclvfding reg
istration fee, board, room and trans.
portation. Present plans call for
trips to state fish hatcheries to
study methods employed by these
agencies. Through practical work
on the ground, practical methods
of stocking and rehabilitating farm
ponds or tanks will be given at
tention.
The second six weeks period,
July 22 to August 31, Dr. W. B.
(Continued on page 4)
E. W. GLENN IS
REPRESENTATIVE
AT I. E. MEETING
E. W. Glenn, of the Industrial
Education -Department of Texas
A. & M., is representing the col
lege at a conference of industrial
education in Memphis, Tennessee,
April 22-24. The conference was
called by the United States Board
of Education, from the ranks of
teachers and supervisors of indus
trial and vocational education.
Nelson Gains 91 Votes
Little 58, in
Valedictorian
Durward B. Varner, with a
grade-point average of 2.8516, val
edictorian of the class of ’40.
Varner To
Make ’40
Valedictory
Cadet Colonel Durward B.
“Woody” Varner, senior in agri
cultural administration from Cot
tonwood, Texas, received a new
honor yesterday when in balloting
by the senior class he was elected
valedictorian of the class of ’40
by a plurality over nine rivals for
the honor..
A total of 146 members of the
senior class cast their votes in this
election, held in the rotunda of
the Academic Building from 8 a.
m. to 5:30 p. m. Monday. Only
72 votes were cast in last year’s
election, when Andy Rollins won
i in the primary with 36 votes in his
favor.
Varner’s leading contender was
W. T. (Bill) Guy, mechanical engi
neering student, who polled 35
votes. C. L. Mason, architecture
student, came third with 12 votes;
and the other contenders, who re
ceived a scattering number of
votes, included the following, in
order with their courses:
J. C. Brown, chemical engineer
ing; Harold A. Jones, electrical
engineering; Roy Caldwell, liberal
arts; E. J. Herzing, electrical engi
neering; A. T. Higgle, chemical
engineering; and T. P. Higgins,
electrical engineering.
Only a plurality—not a majority
—is needed to win the valedictor
ian’s election; consequently no run
off is needed.
Kemp Malone To
Talk On American
English Wednesday
Kemp Malone, professor of Eng
lish at Johns Hopkins University
and the highest ranking professor
at the institution, will deliver a
speech on 'American English Wed
nesday, in the Chemistry lecture
room.
Professor Malone, who is con
sidered a first-rate authority on the
subject of American English and
all matters pertaining to such, has
had an educational foundation
which is quite an enviable one. He
received his Ph. D. at the Univer
sity of Chicago and took addi
tional graduate work at Prince
ton, the University of Copenhagen,
and the University of Ireland.
Professor Malone began his
teaching career in the Atlanta,
Georgia, Technical High School.
Following this he held a two-year
Carnegie Foundation appointment
as exchange teacher in Prussia.
Since then he has taught at Cor
nell, the University of Minnisota,
and the Johns Hopkins University.
the Primary
Total of 253
Juniors Vote In
Election Monday
W. A. (Bill) Becker became edi
tor of the 1941 Longhorn, and
Paul Haines student Town Hall
manager for 1940-41, as the re
sult of the junior class election held
yesterday from 8 a. m. to 5:30 p.
m. in the rotunda of the Academic
Building.
Jack Nelson led with a plurality
in the primary election for social
secretary, but did not attain a ma
jority. Hence he and Bob Little
will oppose each other in a run
off for that position to be held
Thursday in the Academic Build
ing, under the same conditions and
at the same time and place.
•
Becker is a junior in C Field
Artillery. He was named junior
editor of the 1940 Longhorn in a
recent announcement by present
editor George Smith. Defeated can
didate Ele Baggett, president of
the junior class, is in B Infantry,
and has also worked this year as
a junior assistant on the annual.
Paul Haines is in D Cavalry;
defeated candidate for Town Hall
manager is David Yarbrough of A
Engineers.
Jack Nelson is a junior of the
Infantry Band; his rival in the
runoff, Bob Little, is in F Coast
Artillery. Candidates for social
secretary in the primary, who are
now out of the running, are Aubrey
V. Hamilton of A Chemical War
fare, Jimmy Giles of A Field Ar
tillery, Ed Ivey of B Chemical
Warfare Service, and Lloyd May-
field of F Field Artillery.
•
The voting in yesterday’s elec
tion was as follows:
For Longhorn Editor
Bill Becker 178
Ele Baggett 74
For Town Hall Manager
Paul Haines
159
David Yarbrough
94
For Social Secretary
Jack Nelson
91
Beb Little
58
Aubrey Hamilton
41
Jimmy Giles
. .. .29
Lloyd Mayfield
27
Ed Ivey
7
A total of 253 members of the
junior class cast ballots in this
election.
•
The sophomore class, being un
able to obtain the use of Guion
Hall for the meeting scheduled for
last night, did not meet, but in
stead will assemble Thursday night,
for the purpose of naming the six
most capable men to fill the two
junior yell-leaderships next ses
sion. A joint meeting and vote
of the sophomore and junior classes
will subsequently elect from the
six the two junior yell-leaders.
U. T. Student Wins
Battle With Regents
Over Catalog Change
Rights acquired by a student reg
istering in the University of Texas
under a particular catalog can
not be changed or modified to his
detriment by the Board of Regents,
Attorney-General Gerald Mann had
ruled last week.
In an opinion requested by J. R.
Parten of Houston, chairman of
the university Board of Regents,
the Attorney-General held that a
student meeting the requirements
of the catalog under which he en
tered the university did not have
to meet changes in those require
ments.
The requirements in question
were grade requirements. The stu
dent’s grades were sufficient for
the requirements under which he
entered school, but did not meet
changes which have been made.
The student’s name was with
held.