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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (May 4, 1940)
CIRCULATION 5,500 OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE CITY OF COLLEGE STATION The Battalion DIAL 4-5444 STUDENT TRI WEEKLY NEWSPAPER OF TEXAS A. & M. COLLEGE VOL. 39 122 ADMINISTRATION BUILDING COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS, SATURDAY MORNING, MAY 4, 1940 Z725 NO. 83 Support-Local-Theater Movement Enters Fourth Big Week at Aggieland Stay-at-Home Campaign Started To Get First-Run Pictures; Bryan Is Sufferer From the Thursday, May 2 Issue of The Dallas Morning News, By Staff Correspondent Walter C. Hornaday (Editor’s note: The following reprint from Thursday’s Dallas Morning News is one we consider accurate and fair, on the whole). COLLEGE STATION, Texas, May 1.—The 6,000 students of Texas A. & M. College have entered the fourth week of a stay-at-home, save- your-money campaign in .a movement to obtain a moving picture show on or near the campus showing first runs equal to those of Bryan. The students, who are staying-' with the movement almost to a man, carefully refrain from term ing it a boycott, but Bryan mer chants, admitting they are losing business, declare the effect is the same. Uniformed cadets, who were found on the streets of downtown Bryan by the hundreds the after noon and night before the “strike” started, are a rarity now. Students keep softball diamonds on the campus in constant use dur ing the afternoon instead of go ing to Bryan. Businessmen in Bryan claim the students would like to come to town for their rec reation, but their ranks so far have held firm. Not Directed at Merchants Durward B. (Woody) Varner of Cottonwood, cadet colonel and cam pus leader, said the stay-at-home movement is not directed at the "the Y.M.C.A., costing 15c, or less merchants, but only at the three movies in Bryan, all owned and operated by Mrs. M. Schulman, who, he said, has refused to fur nish the college with first-run movies on or close to the campus. “We’re going to stay on the cam pus until we get first-run shows, whether it takes two weeks, two months, or two years,” said Var ner, who will be valedictorian of his class in June. “We are saving money and making better grades by sticking on the campus.” The move was voted by the sen ior and junior classes at a meet ing April 7. It was said then that students spent $64,000 a year with the Bryan shows, compared with $14,000 at the show on campus operated by the Y.M.C.A., using second-run films. Bus and taxi fares to and from Bryan have cost the students $52,000 a year, it was said. Leaders in the move have figured that each student spent an aver age of 15c in Bryan when he went to town to a movie in addition to the show admission price. Bus or jitney fare is 10c each way, and the movie costs 35c. Students have available a show operated by when coupons are purchased, but this show must wait forty-five days after the pictures have been shown at Bryan. The Battalion, college newspa per, printed long stories and edi torials when the boycott first was decided on, calling on the Aggie (Continued on page 4) College Station’s Newest Addition, ‘Campus’, Opens Highlights of Press Club Banquet president; Bill Becker, vice-president; and A. J. Robinson, secretary of the 1940-41 Press Club. Upper left: E. L. Angell, Manager of Student Publications and Students Activities, receives a gift presented by members of the Press Club. Presenting the gift is George Smith, out-going president of the Press Club. Mrs. George Wilcox is seated in the foreground. Lower left: Inspecting the gift are, left to right, Mrs. Wilcox, Mrs. Angell, Charlie Hamner, Mr. Angell, E. B. “Chic” Sale, and Larry Wehrle. Outstanding Veterinarians Appearing At A. & M. This Spring in Series of Lectures Dr. M. G. Fincher Dr. Frank Breed Dr. E. F. Schroeder Management Opens Theater Without Ceremony; Feature Opens Program Thursday night saw another step in the march of progress of College Station with the opening of the new $65,000 theater, the Cam pus, which, for its first performance, was filled to capacity. The management of the Campus avoided the pomp and ceremony that usually accompanies an opening of this sort and instead slipped quietly into the regular program of the theater. The opening of the show, entirely' eliminating a stage program, was very brief. The proceeding was begun by the playing of two re cordings of Aggie songs and yells which were made at an Aggie football yell practice by W. A. Owens, of the English Department. Following the recordings and pre- ceeding the show a specially pre pared trailer of Aggie interest was run as an introductory ele ment which explained the policy of the Campus theater. The refrigerating unit of the theater was not in operation Thurs day night due to the failure of a small part of the machine to ar rive on time, however, the system is working in perfect order at the present time. At the midnight show Saturday the Campus will feature the show “His Girl Friday”. The manager of the Campus said, “It is my aim to keep working until I secure for College Station pictures that are both first run and First Class.” NO CORPS DANCE TONIGHT There will not be the cus tomary Saturday-night corps dance tonight, May 4, because of the large number away from the campus this week end, social secretary Charlie Hamner has announced. Welfare Committee Endorses Principle Of Plan To Distribute Jobs More Evenly Local Movie Campaign Also Up for Discussion; Varner Restates Purposes, Expresses Confidence The Student Welfare Commit-ftion is a point system; the points tee, composed of representative j are determined by the amount of members of the faculty and the stu. I work required for a position and dent body, at its monthly meeting I th e importance it carries; and no Thursday evening, voted unani- | student may be permitted to carry mously to endorse in principle the more than 10 points, plan lately proposed by the Stu- The point system originally rec- dent Activities Committee of the ommended had as the highest college, whereby student positions | number of points the cadet colonel, would be more evenly distributed j Battalion and Longhorn editors, among the students. with 10 each, and took in all stu- The recommendation from the dent positions in a scale descend- Activities Committee, originally j mg; to 2. proposed by a group of seniors | Th< headed by Cadet Colonel D. B. ! purp« Varner, states its purpose as to Comi distribute the various student jobs : the and activities among as many stu-1 the maitex dents as possible, and at the same j committee appointed time prevent any one student from j Dean F. C. Bolton, consistin fe having more to do than time will j D. W. Williams, faculty chairman; permit. The basis for the limita- (Continued on page 4) Yesterday marked the close of the second of three series of lectures given in the School of Vet erinary Medicine by prominent veterinarians from several of the outstanding colleges in the country. Dr. M. G. Fincher appeared April 20th to April 22nd and was followed by Dr. Frank Breed from April 22nd to May 3rd. Dr. E. F. Schroeder will start his ten-day lecture series on May 6. Dr. M. G. Fincher, professor of veterinary obstetrics and in charge of the Ambulatory Clinic, College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, gave a series of lectures and dem onstrations on diseases of dairy cattle April 20th to April 22nd. He also included discussions and demonstrations on sterility and artificial insemination. From A. & M. Dr. Fincher, who is on sab batical leave from Cornell, went to the college of veterinary medi cine at Ohio State University on a similar assignment. ★ Dr. Frank Breed, who is a grad uate of Cornell University, is the director of the Norden Labora tories for preparation of biologies for the prevention and treatment of diseases of farm and pet ani mals and poultry at Lincoln, Ne braska. From April 22nd to May 3rd he lectured with accompanying •♦■demonstrations on diseases of swine.has given lectures and demonstra- which included swine erysipelas, swine typhoid, hog cholera, swine plague, and influenza of swine. His discussions included labora tory diagnosis and preparation and use of chick vaccines, particularly for prevention of equine ence phalomyelitis. ★ Dr. E. F. Schroeder, an ex-Aggie of the class of ’05, will start his series of lectures on surgical and medical treatment of pet animals on May 6. An outstanding special ist on the fracture of bones, he has designed special appliances and Rockefeller Board Gives Scholarship To Joe Slaughter Joe Slaughter, son of Dr. and Mrs. S. B. Slaughter, of Bryan, has received word that he has been awarded a Rockefeller Foundation Research Scholarship by the Foun dation Board in New York City. Slaughter is now attending the Graduate School of the University of Iowa. In 1937 Slaughter received his Faculty’s Last Dance Is Monday Night Come one prof, come all ... . and wear your lightest duds! The last faculty dance for the current session will be held in the Sbisa Hall banquet room Monday, May 6, from 9 to 12 p. m., Faculty Club president Walter S. Flory has announced. The date has had to be advanced over that previous ly announced because of student demand for the banquet room. This dance will be the spring in formal. It is suggested that very informal sports wear be the dress keynote, with sports clothes of any type being worn, and slack suits for men, cotton dresses for ladies, or any other very cool at tions before orthopedic surgeons and veterinary organizations in many states. At the present Dr. Schroeder is the chief veterinarian at the Angell Memorial Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, an en dowed institution which is the larg est of its kind in the world. Born in Industry, Texas, in 1886, Dr. SchroedAr graduated from A. & M. in Animal Husbandry in 1905 and was a member of the first stock judging team here. Aft er graduating he managed the Clifton Ranch in Waco for three years before entering the College of Veterinary Medicine at Ohio State University from which he graduated with the class of 1911. He practiced in Boston, Massa chusetts, and in Harrisburg, Ohio, before joining the Angell Memor ial Staff in 1924. bachelor of science degree from A. & M. The two following years he I tire> be j ng qu jte satisfactory. The was a graduate student assistant wear j ng 0 f sports clothes is merely and in 1939 he received his master a suggestion, Mr. Flory states; and of science degree. He has now al- jf f or an y reason it is more con- most completed a year’s work tow- ven i e nt to attend in other attire, "'ncr the idea and I ard his Ph.D. degree. members may do so. ' - Welfare The scholarship which Slaughter A]1 staf f members of the college th I has been awarded is a very high | are being cordially invited to at tend and bring their friends. A large number of couples are ex it provides adequate remuneration pected, and the best faculty dance for continuation of his chosen of the season is in the offing, it is work. declared. mnor. It does not require that the "<? student change his field of work. EX-CONVICT MILLS SPEAKS BEFORE AGGIE AUDIENCE Bill Mills, a Texas convict for 25 years from Emory, Texas, spoke before ^n audience of A. & M. stu dents at Guion Hall Friday night in an effort to bring to the boys relevant information concerning the State Prison System. Dressed in striped denham cov eralls that he wore in the peniten tiary, Mr. Mills made a striking figure, and he made a striking im pression upon members of the au dience when he displayed a mur derous appearing whip called a “bat” that was and is still used by prison officials as a means of pun ishing offenders. Mr. Mills said he was innocent of his first and last crimes, but that he took the “rap” for a friend the first time. He emphasized the ne cessity of keeping one’s reputation clean, because, as he said, a con vict has a very poor chance of convincing a jury that he is inno cent of a repeated crime. Staley and Beck Elected Junior Yell-Leaders For 1940-41 School Session Over 700 Members of the Sophomore And Junior Classes Present At Meeting Skeen Staley, engineering student from Witchita Falls, and Bill Beck, agricultural student from Pecos, were elected junior yell-leaders for 1940-41 at a joint meeting of the junior and sophomore classes Thursday night. Jim Borden, Ed Allen, J. O. Alexander, and Billy Davis were the remaining members of the six candidates aspiring for the office. The Tuesday Last Day for Senior Banquet Sales Tuesday will be the last day that money may come in for the Senior Banquet to be held next Friday night, according to senior class President Max McCullar and social secretary Charlie Hamner. The deadline has to be established, the class leaders said, in order that the mess hall may be advised def initely of the number of couples to prepare for. Money should be turned in to McCullar, by 5 p. m. “The biggest and best ring dance and banquet of them all is the goal of this year’s function,” class officers said, and “work is prog ressing steadily to insure seniors and their dates a great time in this event of all events for A. & M. men.” 9 Russ Morgan, who sports a high hat and tails nowadays, will be on hand to furnish music for the banquet and ring dance. Russ at one time was an ordinary guy who hardly sported more than a miner’s cap and dungarees. For Russ is inordinately proud of his background as a Scranton, Pa., coal digger. His dad was a mine foreman, and a darned good one. Moreover he was a musician —drummer with the leading local band. His mother was a pianist too, with his father, they had play ed vaudeville before the mines presented the latter a more sub stantial sort of a living. ■six candidates had previously been selected from a field of twelve sophomores, who had submitted their names by petition to be con sidered for the post, at a meeting of the sophomore class Thursday of last week. The results of Thursday’s elect ion are as follows: Skeen Staley 467 Bill Beck 367 Ed Allen 225 Jim Borden 146 Billy Davis 103 J. O. Alexander 101 (Continued on page 4) MATH CONTEST PRELIMINARIES HELD THURSDAY Preliminaries in the Mathemat ics contest were held Thursday night at 7:30 in the Academic Building. In the contest, which is sponsored annually by the Math Department, there were 30 fresh men and 50 sophomores participat ing. Three prizes are being offered to the winners of the contest. The first and second place winners will receive watches, while a prize of ten dollars goes to the third place winner. The twenty students receiving the highvst grades in the prelims- -» nary examination will take the final exam Thursday night, May 16th, at 7:30 in the Chemistry Lecture Room. These students selected to take the last test may substitute their score on the final test as their semester exam grade in Math 104. Naturally enough they were in terested in a musical career for their son. However, there had to be a succession of cave-ins, ex plosions, and the deadly black damp of the mines before he got his first whack at a musical job—that of pianist in a Scranton movie. ENGLISH CONTEST FILING DEADLINE IS THIS MORNING It was dollars earned there that bought his first trombone which he shortly carried “blind baggage” into Philadelphia where two inci dents of importance were to be fall him. He knocked off a job in Paul Specht’s Orchestra and won a radio commercial. (Continued on page 4) NEXT YEAR’S T CABINET HOLDS FIRST MEETING The Y cabinet for next year had its first meeting Monday night, April 29, in the Y chapel, where Preston Bolton, newly elected pres ident, and M. L. Cushion, general secretary of the College Y, talked to the new members and discussed plans for next year. For its first activity, the club Today marks the final dead line in which entries for the Eng lish Contest, sponsored by the English Department, may be filed. No entries will be accepted after 10 a. m., regardless of the reasons for delay in filing. The contest will be held May 9 in the Library classroom between 6:50 and 9:30 p. m. According to Dr. George Summey Jr., head of the English Department, the ex- amination will consist of a gener al vocabulary test, course questions on material in English 104, 207,. 210, and 232, and will include high value questions that will test the student's ability to organize and develop short papers, with enough options in subject matter to allow for differences of training and special interests. Those students that participate in the contest are invited to attend the Mathematics-English Contest dinner Tuesday, May 21, tickets for which will be furnished without charge. members are going to Bastrop on Saturday, May 4, where they will enjoy swimming, a steak dinner, and hear a talk by Block Smith, the head of the Y at Texas Uni versity. About 40 members are ex pected to make the trip. The group is scheduled to leave from the front of the Y at 1:00 on Saturday and return about 10:30 the same night. The newly elected officers for the club during the coming year are Preston Bolton, president; Paul Haines, executive vice-president; Tom Richey, social vice-president; Paul Egner, secretary; and Fred Smitham, treasurer. At the meet ing, members were asked to select the committees on which they would like to work next year. There will probably be about two more meet ings this year to complete the or ganization so that next year’s cab inet may begin work as soon as school starts. Major Irvin To Be Transferred To Fort Oglethorpe Army orders have been issued from Washington to the effect that Lieutenant-Colonel John A. Weeks, Cavalry, at Fort Oglethorpe, Geor gia has been transferred to Col lege Station. The Military Depart ment at A. & M. College has re ceived no word as yet about the time he will arrive here. Lieut.-Col. Weeks will take the position which has been held the past six years by Major W. R. Irvin, who will go to Fort Ogle thorpe at the end of school. Major Irvin has been senior in structor of the Cavalry unit at A. & M. College.