DIAL 4-5444
STUDENT TRI WEEKLY
NEWSPAPER OF
TEXAS A. & M. COLLEGE
The Battalion
THIS ISSUE 16,000
OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER
OF THE CITY OF
COLLEGE STATION
VOL. 39 122 ADMINISTRATION BUILDING COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS, THURSDAY MORNING, MAY 16, 1940
Z725 NO. 38
HUGE IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM IS PLANNED
Housing Conference To Open Here Friday
Outstanding
Leaders Will
Direct Group
Meeting Is Biggest
Of Its Kind To Be
Held in the South
The first conference of its kind
ever to be held on the A. & M.
campus—the first one of import
ance ever to be held in the
South—and one of the most import
ant taking place in the entire
nation—is the Conference on Low-
Cost Housing, sponsored by the
Department of Architecture of the
School of Engineering, and the
Architectural Club of the college,
beginning Friday morning and con
tinuing through Saturday.
“This conference is attracting
probably more noted architects and
speakers than any other ever held
in the Southwest,” stated Ernest
Langford, head of the department,
who is forced to miss the confer
ence here to attend the national
convention of the American Insti
tute of Architects, the meeting of
the Associated Collegiate Schools
of Architecture, and the meeting
of the Accrediting Board of the
Schools of Architecture, taking
place this week in Louisville, Ken
tucky.
•
Richard J. Neutra, one of the
most outstanding architects in the
nation, of Los Angeles, California,
who will be on the campus during
the following week for lectures and
consultations, will be the main
speaker. He will also give a lec
ture Tuesday night, May 21, for
all members of the staff and the
entire student body. Mayor Maury
Maverick of San Antonio will be
the main speaker at the dinner
Friday night at which the Archi
tectural Club will be host. During
the conference there will be an ex
tensive exhibit of outstanding resi
dential architecture of the United
States to which the most famous
architects in the country have con
tributed their work. Motion pic
tures on the low-cost house and
(Continued on page 2)
A. V.M.A. s
To Hold First
Annual Dance
The American Veterinary Medi
cal Association will hold its first
annual dance in the annex room
of Sbisa Hall Friday night with
the Aggieland Orchestra furnish
ing music for the occasion.
Invitations have been mailed to
approximately two hundred mem
bers and guests of the A.V.M.A.
Faculty members, members of the
Veterinary Experiment Station, and
graduates of the School of Vet
erinary Medicine are invited.
R. J. Rodgers, president of the
student A.V.M.A. chapter; George
Brumble, in charge of ticket sales;
and Siegfried Neubert, chairman of
the social committee, as well as
other students, have been active
in promoting this first spring dance
of the local chapter. Plans are be
ing made to make it an annual af
fair.
16,000
Copies this issue
Sixteen thousand copies of this
edition of The Battalion are be
ing issued. With a normal circu
lation of 5,500, The Battalion
today adds over 10,000 to that
number in order to acquaint high
school students and people of
Texas with A. & M.
As Aggieland Celebrated One of Its Greatest Weekends
i
•fpiilli
piftpillpPi
T.
.
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ft i
‘ ’
New Laundry, Employees’
Dorm Contract Awarded;
Building Soon To Start
Four New Dorms, Six New Tennis Courts
Applied For; Union Facilities Planned;
Lounges To Be Installed, Dorms Repaired
By Bill Murray, Battalion Editor
A new laundry is scheduled to be ready for use when the sixty-
fifth session of-A. & M. College begins September 18; a new dormi
tory for employees of the two world’s largest dining halls has been
arranged for; and plans are being made by the A. & M. Board of
Directors for a gigantic building program which when completed will
answer all of the school’s greatest physical needs, President T. O.
Walton has just announced for the Board.
Contracts for the new dormitory for mess hall help and for the
new laundry building, aggregating $167,314, were let by the Board of
Directors at a lengthy business session on the campus Saturday.
The Smith Building Company of-<
<+ ‘ :• . ‘ ' !•
.
Ten thousand visitors thronged the cam
pus last weekend for the annual Senior
King Banquet and Dance, Engineers’ Day,
and Parents’ Day festivities. A full pro
gram kept the visitors entertained
throughout the three days of activity.
Left to right, top: Bill Lauder, Bat
tery A Coast Artillery first lieutenant,
presenting captain I. Q. Mayhew a watch
from the com
year—typical
pany for his
}f 55 similar
service this
-ganization
T.
en
rs of the Confederacy, presenting
Signal Corps senior A. L. Norton with
Downs,
esident of the Texas Department of the
presentations. Center, Mrs.
president of the '
Daughters of the
Signal Corps
the Albert Sidne;
high ranking in
tics. Next
Johnston saber for
ary science and tac-
Backwash” Fuermann’s date.
ey
mili
Hockaday junior Helyne Morrow talki:
wit]
ph
tion and Saturd
rgan
orchestra played for the Senior Ring func-
night’s corps dance.
non and Saturday nights corps dance.
Below is a shot of a typical flower-pinning
ceremony which takes place in every or
ganization each Mothers’ Day. Right,
Mrs. Irene “Mom” Claghorn, assistant
superintendent of the College Hospital,
to ’
“C
Dadet
lation
to represent the corps
er,” is seen receiving con-
chosen
Mother," is seen receiving
gratulations from senior president Max
McCullar, Cadet Colonel “Woody” Varner,
McCullar, Cadet Colonel "Woody Varner,
and lieutenant-colonel Bill Oswalt for her
23 years of devoted and outstanding ser
vice to the student body.—Pictures by
staff photographer Phil Golman and as
sistants Carpenter, Jones, and Blair.
Cadet Colonel Durward B. “Woody”
Varner makes a surprise presentation of
a watch, at the Mothers’ Day revie’
warrant officer “Sergeant” King
Military Science Department, who after
20 years’ service on the campus is be
ing ordered to foreign service.
ew,
of t
Aggies Go On
Record -Wax-
At Noon Today
By George Fuermann
“Watch it!” . . . “Five seconds.”
. . '. “Take it.”
It’s just as simple as that—a few
words from director John Rosser
and the thing will be under way—
except that there were a few
hundred details which had to be
arranged first.
But to begin where all stories
should begin ... It all got started
when A. & M. won the national
football championship back in ’39.
From that day on everything a-
bout the institution from the
brand of ketchup used in the mess
halls to the school songs were
quick to hit the nation’s limelight.
At least . . . the songs were. As a
matter of fact, Rosser had so
many inquiries about records of
the several school songs that he
winced every time the subject
(Continued on page 2)
top is a model oil-drilling rig in the De-
Enginecri
departments of engineering, to acquaint | low, students demonstrate the
A small part of the big Engineers’ Day
show put on last Saturday by all the |
partment of Petroleum
be-
both visitors and students with the work j one of the complex machines in the Me-
of the School of Engineering. At the j chanical Engineering Department.
inecring; be
lie work of
in
Moore, head of the Military Department,
who after three years of the usual four-
period as Commandant of A. & M.,
been ordered to foreign service’ in
'‘Harvest Day
Feed Will Be
Held by Exes
Waco was awarded the general con
tract on both jobs on a bid of
$88,430. The plumbing and heat
ing was let to David Vickers of
Abilene on a bid of $45,150. The
electrical work went to Laddie
Lesikar of Palestine for $7,900. A
contract for the equipment for the
laundry, which will be fireproof,
one-story, and 120 by 140 feet, went
to the American Laundry and Ma
chinery Company on a bid of
$28,934.
The dormitory will be four
stories and fireproof. It will ac
commodate a maximum of 272.
A. C. Finn, Houston architect
who designed the twelve new dormi
tories and the new mess hall erect
ed on the campus last year, will
serve as architect of both struc
tures.
Construction will start within
the next three weeks, Dr. Walton
stated.
The old laundry is to be tom
down to allow for street widening
and straightening. The new one
is to be erected immediately
northwest of the power plant. The
mess hall employees’ dormitory
will be just north and east of the
Board of Directors residence
(which is just above Sbisa Dining
Hall).
•
Board Applies for Loan To
Build Four New Dorms
The Board of Directors has ap
plied to the Reconstruction Finance
Corporation for a sum not to ex
ceed $600,000 for the purpose of
building four more new dormi
tories. The building committee of
the Board and college authorities
have been studying locations for
those buildings, which are expect
ed to be in the old dormitory area
since they must be serviced from
Sbisa Hall.
Six More Tennis Courts To
Be Built This Summer
Application also has been filed
with the Works Progress Adminis
tration for a loan,, and an ap
propriation has been made to take
care of the college’s part of the
expense, to build six additional
concrete tennis courts, probably
this summer, and as near the pres
ent twelve new dormitories as pos
sible. A study of possible loca
tions will be made in the near
future.
Restroom Need Is To Be
Answered
The building committee of the
Board is at present making plans
(Continued on page 2)
A. & M. Totals
240 Members In
A. L M. M. E.
Texas A. & M. College member
ship in the student association of
the American Institute of Mining
and Metallurgical Engineers totals
240 for the current year, only one
member removed from a tie with
the Colorado School of Mines for
the leading place in the nation, it
was announced by Harold Vance,
head of the Department of Pe
troleum Engineering.
The A. & M. membership is not
a requirement for students and is
entirely voluntary, also being lim
ited to junior and senior students.
A. & M. stood eleventh in mem
bership in 1938, third in 1939 and is
second this year. University of
Texas with 189 members is third
this year, was seventh in 1939 and
13th in 1938. The two Texas
schools probably will lead in 1941.
’41 Seniors Elect
New Officers Tonight
Senior class officers for the nextf dent is elected and will then turn
4,200 Copies Of New
Longhorn Being Issued
Longhorns were issued to
iors yesterday afternoon; juniors
receive their books this afternoon
! from 1:00 to 3:00, sophomores from
| 3:00 to 5:00 and freshmen will re-
i ceive them on Friday afternoon
j from 1:00 to 5:00.
This year’s Longhorn is the larg
est, most colorful annual that has
j ever been published, the editors
I believe. The book contains an even
j 500 pages and 4,200 copies have
I been printed and bound. Binding
| is in blue and silver, and further
4color is added by the natural color
! pictures of the campus buildings,
j This book is strong evidence of
the beauty and color of the A. &
M. campus. A special section has
j been devoted to the Sugar Bowl
j corps trip, made up of pictures
; and descriptions of the New Year’s
| football game at New Orleans. Ex-
| tensive treatment has been given
to the sections on the corps, mili-
Ltary organizations, athletic clubs,
| activities, etc.
(Continued on page 2)
year will be elected tonight at
7:30 in Guion Hall when members
of this year’s junior class vote in
a special meeting of the senior
class of 1940-41. Offices to be
filled tonight are class president,
vice-president, secretary-treasurer,
and historian.
Senior class officers are to be
elected now instead of at the be
ginning of the fall term so that
the newly elected officers can start
work immediately on problems
which cannot readily be postponed
until the beginning of next term.
Contrary to previous statement,
numerous classes previous to this
one have elected officers during
The year’s biggest picnic, with
1,250 guests invited, will be the
second annual “Harvest Picnic”
given May 27 by the Association
of Former Students in honor of
the teaching staff of the college
and members of the 1940 graduat
ing class. The event is given by the
Association to celebrate the com- j spring term; the issue being
pletion of another year s school i one that is decided individually by
' v01 ^‘ | each class. The senior classes of
Invitations have been mailed to , 1939 and 1940 elected their officers
both teaching staff and all men ! during the fall term but most of
expected to receive their degree^; the classes previous .to these had
in June, or during the summer. Ex- elected officers at the end of the
Student Secretary E. E. McQuil- junior year so that the officers
len requests that any member of could start work at that time and
the teaching staff, or any senior, the class could start the senior year
not receiving an invitation, should completely organized.
the meeting and the election of
the other officers over to him.
Every member of the junior class
is urged to be present, so that the
vote will be representative of the
whole class.
Officers of this year’s junior
class include Ele Baggett, presi
dent; Tom Richey, vice-president;
I. B. Stitt, secretary-treasurer; and
Jeff Clarke, historian. The post of
social secretary for the senior class
of 1940-41 has already been filled
as the result of a junior ballot
election of Jack Nelson.
come anyhow, since mailing lists
of this variety are difficult to com-
(Continued on page 2)
Cadet Colonel “Woody” Varner
will preside at the meeting to
night until the new senior presi-
Barg-er To Be Visiting
Prof at Michigan
J. Wheeler Barger, head of the
Department of Agricultural Eco
nomics at A. & M., will serve as
a visiting professor at Michigan
State College during one term of
the coming summer session.
Professor Barger will offer a
special course there dealing with
economic and social planning along
agricultural lines, which will be
open particularly to county agents,
governmental employees and voca
tional teachers who are to be in
attendance.