TUES T -
DIAL 4-5444
OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER
OF THE CITY OF
COLLEGE STATION
The Battalion
DIAL 4-5444
STUDENT TRI-WEEKLY
NEWSPAPER OF
TEXAS A. & M. COLLEGE
VOL. 40
122 ADMINISTRATION BLDG.
COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS, TUESDAY MORNING, SEPT. 17, 1940
Z725
NO. 1
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Ferguson Buys Campus
Theatre; $40,000 Is Prio
i f lk 4iets Late Class A Pictures By
» ee ^iary 1; Lewis Retained As Manager
Cj a i n Station’s Campus Thea--"'
YMCA Remodels
School For Use
As South Branch
6,300
e Students
Predicted
tert j iied last May 2 and bank
rupt since August 1, was pur
chased last Friday by Ben S.
Ferguson, Dallas and Hamlin
theater operator. The announced
price, of the theater was $40,000.
Ferguson had been receiver of
the theater since its bankruptcy.
immediately following the pur
chase of the theater Ferguson an
nounced that, “I will do every
thing in my power to cooperate
with A. & M. College and with
its .‘student body.”
Although he would make no def
inite committal in respect to re-
c< ' ing late class A picture shows,
he said, “I will do everything in
my power to get them as soon
as possible. Further than this, I
beh.eve that it is safe to say that
thejfe is a reasonable possibility
of securing these recent releases
of class A picture Shows before
January 1.”
Ferguson further pointed out
thrt there would be no immediate
chiange in the theater’s policy.
C. i-Ej Lewis, manager since bank
ruptcy, will remain as manager.
L^'is, whose home was in Okla
homa City befoi’e coming to Col-
leg'e Station, has had a wide ex
perience in theater work.
Ferguson, whose home was for
merly .in Dallas, will divide his
time between Dallas and College
St-ition, making his home here.
Battalion Staff Meeting
There will be a meeting
of the entire Battalion Staff
Thursday night at 7:30 in
room 122 Administration
; building. All artists, adver
tising men, magazine writers,
proof readers and reporters
from last year including those
who wish to join for the first
time are requested to attend.
This meeting is of extreme
importance.
Improvement in the local plant
of the Y. M. C. A. have been the
object of a building program car
ried on by that institution. The
bleacher behind the bowling alley
in the basement of the “Y” has
been removed and seats built in its
place. The old Consolidated school
building has been renovated and
between $1,000 and $1,500 have
been spent in making it into what
will be called the South Branch
of the “Y”.
In putting in seats behind the
bowling alleys the Y. M. C. A. has
erected seats both' for the players
and for the spectators. These seats
were taken from the rear of the
Assembly Hall, and ones that were
not in use. Eighteen seats for
players and 35 seats for spectators
have been erected.
The new South Branch will be
used as an office for the new sec
retary, Alfred Payne, for a recrea
tional program, for club meeting
rooms, and as a meeting place for
the Y cabinet. In spending the
$1500 on the building the Y.M.C.A.
has put in a recreation room with
seven billiard tables, a parlor, a
reading room, a game room for
shuffleboard and ping-pong, an
office, and five meeting rooms.
These meeting rooms will provide
a place for about 60 students to
get together at one time. Two of
these, however, can be converted
to one that will accommodate 120.
In a statement from J. Gordon
Gay, assistant secretary of the
Y. M. C. A., he stated, “Me regret
that no bowling alley could be put
in, but the building just wasn’t
made so we could get them in.”
As yet no action has been taken
on construction fvork to convert
Guion Hall into a suitable place
for showing motion pictures.
Student Executive Positions To Be
Limited By Approval of Point System
Ten Points To Be Maximum Allowed A Single
Student; Ruling Passes Faculty Unanimously
Student executive positions imtstudent jobs be distributed among
t he corps will be limited in the
future as a result of a new ruling
pa ssed by the faculty at its meet-
injg last June 6.
The distribution of student jobs
wi II be regulated by a specific
point system outlined below in
detail. Originally recommended by
th Student Activities Committee
la^ t spring, the new>,ruling is one
of which‘has been followed by
m uiy other major American col
leges and universities years ago.
Ar-ts and Science Dean T. D.
Brooks declared that the move
ment for rulings of this type had
•b sen in effect for moi’e than 20
yfiars.
The » original recommendations
oi the Student Activities Com
mittee provided that the various
as many students as possible, and,
at the same time, prevent any
one student from being engaged
in more activities than time would
permit. The basis for this limi
tation, as recommended by the
committee, would be a point
system whereby each job would be
judged by the importance it car
ries and weighed accordingly.
The maximum number of points
to be allowed a single student
would be ten. These recommen
dations were accepted by the fac
ulty and the new ruling has been
set up with these essentials as
a foundation.
Cadet Colonel William A. Beck
er was the cadet most vitally ef
fected by the new ruling this year.
The ruling forced - Becker to re
sign as editor-in-chief of the Long-
(Continued on Page 2)
New Enrollment
Record Will Be
Set By Thursday
An official prediction by Regis
trar E. J. Howell of an enrollment
of 6,300 and numerous unofficial
prediction ranging from 6,500 to
7,200 clearly indicate a new enroll
ment record for Texas A. & M.
College.
As the 65th long session gets
under way, an expected 2,500
freshmen will register tomorrow.
Following the freshman registra
tion, upperclassmen will register
Thursday. Detailed information in
respect to registration may be
found in the Official Schedule of
Classes and Directions for Regis
tration booklet published by the
Registrar's Office.
Military Office
Will Be Moved
To Place In Ross
Reconditioning of Ross Hall was
begun last week in order to make
office rooms for the Military
Science department and the Com
mandant’s office. This work is ex
pected to be completed in a few
weeks, and the move will be made
some time after the registration
rush.
Plastering work on the walls
and painting and cutting doors in
order to combine the dormitory
rooms into suitable offices will
render the old hall practically new
on the inside. Because the walls
form the support for the roof, they
cannot be torn out to make larger
rooms; for that reason offices will
be rather a suite of rooms. Few
buildings today are constructed in
such a manner.
It is expected that the Com
mandant’s office will occupy the
first floor with also a room de
signated as headquarters for the
officers of the day. This head
quarters will serve as a campus
information booth staying open
during the day and part of the
night. A student and faculty dir
ectory will be kept in this room
with also a file of each students
schedule of classes. This will make
locating students for parents and
friends an easy task.
The office of the professor of
Military Science and Tactics, and
the offices of the Military depart
ment will occupy the second floor.
Also on this floor and on the third
floor will be the offices of the var
ious units.
Classes in Military Science will
still be held in the rooms on the
first floor of the Academic build
ing because rooms large enough
to hold classes cannot be made in
Ross. Some of the department is
expected to be moved by the open
ing of school, and the rest will be
moved a^ quickly as is convenient.
This move will not only give the
Military department more room,
but will also provide more space
for classes in other subjects to be
held in the Academic building.
Becker Is Cadet Colonel
For 1940-41 Long Session
It Can Be Done...
ilLt. Col. James A. Watson Succeeds
Moore As Commandant And P.M.S. & T.
By George Fuermann
As the Battalion goes to press for the first time of the 1940-41
long session, a time-out is in order to greet A. & M.’s returning
football players on behalf of the Twelfth Man.
Sports writers and commentators from coast to coast have said
that you can’t win the national championship in 1940. Public opin
ion says you can’t do it. Even tradition says that a team can’t re
peat as champion of the rock-lined Southwest Conference. On
every hand the word is “can’t.” But you can!
•
You were a team without a peer last season . . . The best in
the nation by any measure. The victorious season of 1939 was a
welcome present to ex-students throughout the world, and it re
sulted in untold renown for Texas A. & M. College, its mighty
football machine, its coaches, its band, the yelling section—the
Twelfth Man, and for those intangible traditions that we Aggies
know so well. From Timbuctoo to Kalamazoo, Americans know that
Aggies stand and yell throughout all games. They know, too, that
every member of the squad is gi’eeted by his teammates when he
leaves the field—no matter whether his efforts have produced a
touchdown or put the team “in a hole.”
•
But that’s ajl history ... You football players know how you
did it'. . . . The question is, can you do it again? The Twelfth
Man believes that you can, and although none of us Aggies possess
the wisdom of Socrates, the fact is evident that the pressure is on
you to do so—and especially to destroy a tradition next November
28 in the annual Texas U. battle which will be fought this year
in Austin..
•
For you to repeat as Southwest Conference champions would
be more than just winning another championship—it would be a
great thing for the thousands of Aggie-exes, for the student body,
for the faculty, for the coaches, for the state, but most of all—
for you, and especially for those twenty-odd football men who will
be ending their careers as Aggies next June.
Another A. & M. championship team would not be made up of
just the eleven men who start the game ... Or the eleven men
who finish the game. It would include these, of course, but the sub
stitutes who ride the bench, the members of the traveling squad,
the “Blue Boys” who stay home, the ineligibles, the transfers, and
the freshman squad that takes a lot of head-knocking—they’ll
ALL be members of that great team. They’ll ALL share equally in
the honors.
You haven’t got anything to worry about, though, if the same
spirit prevails this year as was evident throughout the 1939 season.
There was a will to win, but there was more than just that. There
was a spirit of woi’king together; a desire to cooperate with the
coaches and each other; a spirit which said “play these games one
at a time”—it was a healthy spirit, the kind that makes champ
ions.
And you’ve come back with the same spirit this year. Observers
say that your mental and physical condition is excellent. You’ve
more than done your part throughout the past summer.
•
As far as the Twelfth Man is concerned, you don’t have to be
champions of anything to be the nation’s number one football team.
Win or lose, Aggie Spirit will always be staunch behind you.
But the point is . . . The Twelfth Man beleives you can repeat.
The Twelfth Man beleives that there is no such word as “can’t”
where you are concerned.
It can be done The Twelfth Man beleives that it WILL be
done!
Tentative Promotion List As Made
By Commandant For 1940-41 Session
With the approval of the President of the College, partial and ten
tative appointments and assignments in the Corps of Cadets for the
1940-1941 session are announced herein. All promotions are subject to
change and are contingent upon classification and enrollment in the
Department of Military Science and Tactice, either as a member of the
R. O. T. C. or as an elective. Permanent and additional promotions and
assignments will be announced at the earliest practicable date.
CORPS, FIELD, AND STAFF
Colonel
Lieutenant
Major
Major
Major
Major
Becker, W A.
Colonel Haines, P \G.
Duce, T. E.
Walker, J. J.
Thomason, J. N.
Clay, J. A., Jr.
Major
Master Sergeant
Master Sergeant
Master Sergeant
Colgin, C. H., Jr.
Gillis, T. S.
Wright, O. W.
Pena, W. M.
(Continued on Page 2)
Corps Commander
Executive
Adjutant
Personnel Officer
Intelligence Officer
Plans & Training
Officer
Supply Officer-
Sergeant Major
Supply Sergeant
Intelligence Sergeant
Commandant
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Lt. Col. J. A. Watson
Cadet Colonel
' -I
W. A. Becker
Famous Detective
Visits Mar stellar
To Discuss Horses
Eighty year old Frank Norfleet,
modern “Dick Tracy,” is retiring
from the sleuthing business after-
tracking down his 100th criminal
and returning to his first occupa
tion of breeding horses.
The super detective paid Texas
A. & M. College a visit this week
end and conversed with Dr. R.
P. Marsteller, dean of the school
of Veterinary Medicine, on the
latest developments of fine breed
ing horses.
Just to show how active and
hardy he is at the age of 80 years,
he recently participated in a
marksmanship match at the
World’s Fair and took first place
over 103 other entrants. He will
retire to his new business at Hale
Center, Texas.
Frank E. Norfleet, son of the
famous detective, graduated from
Texas A. & M. College in 1922,
being awarded a degree in ag
riculture.
Promotion List
Reveals Other High
Cadet Military Officers
William A. Becker, Kaufman,
has been named cadet colonel and
corps commander for the 1940-41
long session. The college’s highest
student executive, Becker has long
been outstanding in collegiate ac
tivities. Elected editor-in-chief of
the college annual, The Longhorn,
he was forced to resign this posi
tion to become cadet colonel be
cause of the new maximum point
system effected this past summer
in respect to student activities.
Last spring Becker was also
elected president of the Market
ing and Finance Club and vice-
president of the A. & M. Press
Club, both of which he will resign
as the new cadet colonel.
In addition to his other activ
ities, Becker has been a member
of A. & M.’s national collegiate
pistol team for the past two years.
He is a member of C Battery Field
Artillery and brings to that reg
iment its second cadet colonel in
three years.
Lieutenant Colonel James A.
Watson, Infantry, succeeds Colonel
George F. Moore as Commandant
and Professor of Military Science
and Tactics.
Colonel Watson began his mili
tary training with the National
Guard of West Virginia in 1916.
During the World War he went to
France with 60th Infantry of
the Fifth Division and was with
this unit as part of the Americar
Army of Occupation in Germany.
Then on July 1st, 1920, he entered
the regular Army as a Major of
the Infantry.
(Continued on Page 2)
Payne Will Assume
Position In YMCA
Vacated By TYiriit
A new secretary, Alfred C.
Payne, has been added to the staff
of the Y. M. C. A. filling the place
vacated by David Thrift when he
left for Wisconsin to do graduate
work.
Payne came to A. & M. from
Yale where he was studying the
ology and sociology. He is a grad
uate of Clemson. Foi’merly his
home was in Cartersville, Georgia.
In filling Thrift’s place Payne
will take charge of work with
freshman and will have his of
fices in the new South Branch of
the “Y”, located in the old Con
solidated schoolhouse.
An interesting sidelight on
Payne’s career comes from the fact
that it was he who first conceived
the idea of carrying cards of ap
preciation on hitch-hiking trips.
The A. & M. “Y” cabinet conceived
the idea from one that Alfred
Payne originated in Clemson.
Payne was selected for work at
this school without the Y. M. C.
A. officials here knowing that he
was responsible for the idea, or
he knowing that this school had
been using it.
Registration — You’ll Soon Be Doing It Too
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