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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 24, 1940)
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 YOL. 40 122 ADMINISTRATION BLDG. COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS, TUESDAY MORNING, SEPT. 24, 1940 Z725 NO. 4 Collegians Exempt From Draft Until July 1,1941 Enrollment Reaches 6,400 Tuesday; Exceeds Last Year’s Total By 360 Count Shows An 8% Increase Over This Time Last Year The enrollment for the year 1940-41, as known up to noon Sat urday, showed that this is to be the largest registration, both of old students and freshmen, in the history of the college. At that time, it showed an eight percent increase over the same time last year and the number of students still demanding to be registered indicated a great increase in the rapidly expanding school which is already by far the largest military school in the world that enrolls only boys. Final enrollment figures will not be known until October 10, when a final count of the students sign ed up for the different courses and schools will be compiled. Up until noon Monday, the number was 6400, a big increase over the 5,904 of last year, and the freshmen tal- ley jumped from 1,920 in 1939 to 2,163 this year. Approximately 4,700 students live in the dormitories, and the rest will be divided between the project houses and approved homes in College Station and in Bryan. Plans are up to build four new dormitories that will take care of the ever-increasing housing prob lem, but even after this there will not be enough room to accomodate the fast growing enrollment, since four new dorms will hold only a little more than 1,000 more stud ents. Due to the fact that many changes are being made in class es and many more students are still enrolling, complete figures on the registration will not be known until October 10. October 3rd is the deadline for changing courses and registration of students. Any one dropping a course after this date will receive a final grade of F in the course. It is estimated that the final count will be somewhere around 6,500, the largest enrollment in the history of the shook The total is already well past the 6,030 of last year and is going up steadily all the time. Aggie’s Ring'Found In Dakota Bad Lands; Returned To Owner R. C. Jackson of A. & M. has his faith in fairies and also the honesty of the human race strengthened. He received this self-explana tory letter from Paul Messer of Hedrick, Iowa: “You’ll probably think that this is a fairy tale, but I guess it really isn’t. To get down to facts, I went on a vacation through Dakota and Colorado. While in South Dakota, I had to do a little climbing, and on one of the ledges I climbed I found a Texas A. & M. class ring be longing to R. C. Jackson. “I’m trusting to luck that you will get this letter if I send it in care of your college. If you do re ceive this letter, send me your ad dress and I’ll be glad to send you your ring.” Remainder of Promotion List To Be Released Soon List promotions for the remaind er of the seniors taking advanced military science will be released within a week or ten days, ac cording to information received from the military department yes terday. Antenna and Recording Machine Added To ff / i II A. & M. College’s own radio sta tion, WTAW, is now serving its audience with an impressive array of new equipment. The new tower near Highway No. 6 is the most conspicuous of the improvements that have been wrought between the time school let out last June and the beginning of the present session. The tower, styled as a “vertical radiator” by the station’s chief engineer, H. C. Dillingham, is 222 feet high from ground to tip. The new antenna has already effected a considerable increase in WTAW’s working range, and the staff of College engineers say that this im provement will become more mark ed after further adjustments are made. Cards have already been re ceived from daytime listeners as far away as Hallettsville and Whar ton who have reported perfect re ception. The radio station has also bene- fitted greatly by the gift of a new Singing Cadets To Hold First Tryouts Tonight In Y M C A The Singing Cadets extend a cordial invitation to all freshmen and old students who would like to join the club. Numerous trips have been plan ned for the year. Several of these include trips to Austin, Huntsville, Waxahachie, Denton, and Houston. More trips will be planned as the year progresses. A long trip is taken each year during the spring holidays. This year the club is going to either New Orleans, La., or to Monterrey, Mex. Tryouts are to be held for the next two weeks, starting Sept. 24, from 5 until 5:30 and immediately after each yell practice. Tryouts are to be held in the Y. M. C. A. parlor. ■Fairchild recording machine from Dean of the College F. C. Bolton. John Rosser, director of WTAW, described the machine and its in tended uses as follows: “The corps has already had a slight introduction to the workings of this new piece of equipment. We made a recording of the yell practice held on College Night and broadcast this transcription on last Friday’s Aggie Clambake. Buster Keeton said the yells didn’t sound so good that first night, so we just broadcast the welcoming address of Dr. Walton. We’ll get some yells when they’re better.” Town Hall’s Reserved Seats On Sale Today Paul Haines, Town Hall student manager, announced Monday morn ing that reserved seat tickets for Town Hall programs to be pre sented during the forth coming school year will go on sale Tuesday morning, at eight o’clock for $4 each. Sale on these tickets will last until Wednesday evening and may be obtained at the Y.M.C.A., College Station, and at A. M. Wal drop Co., Bryan. A very attractive and colorful series of entertainment has been arranged and will be presented at intervals so as to last throughout the duration of the college year. The U. S. Marine Band, under the leadership of Captain Taylor Branson and directed by Captain W. F. Santelman, will be the first program presented on Town Hall and will appear Thursday night, October 3 in Guion Hall. This re nowned organization, referred to as the “president’s own” is under special permission granted by the President of the United States. The second Town Hall presenta tion of the year will be the “Fisk Jubille Singers,” acclaimed by musicians as the finest vocal en semble of the Negro race for seven decades, will appear in Guion Hall on Monday night, November 4. They have been received in the White House by the President and have sung before Queen Victoria and many other renowned indi viduals. Jean Dickenson, 26 year old American soprano, star of both radio and opera, will be Town Hall’s third presentation of the year. Miss Dickenson will appear in Guion Hall Wednesday night, December 4th. She recently made her debut with the Metropolitan Opera and received world-wide ac claim on her splendid performance. The Littlefield Ballet, first Bal let ever composed of and directed by Americans exclusively, will ap pear as Town Hall’s fourth pre sentation in Guion Hall on the night of February 4, 1941. The Littlefield Ballet is composed of a company of 65 and a full symphony orchestra, beautiful girls, gorg eous costumes, and gay. dancing mark this organization. The Houston Symphony Orches tra, outstanding musical organiza tion in this section for a decade, will appear in Guion Hall on the night of March 3rd, 1941, as Town Hall’s fifth presentation. Seniors To Hold Meeting The senior class will hold its first meeting of the year in Guion Hall Wednesday night at 7:30 with Tom Richey, president; Howard Shelton, vice-president; and Jeff Montgomery, secretary, in charge. The purpose of the meeting will be to discuss business which has a- risen during the summer and since the beginning of the current school year. Among the various things to be brought up will be a discussion of a junior-senior corps trip to San Antonio for the Tulsa University football game on October 5. Also will be decided the places for the regular corps trips for this semes ter. Senior section for football games will be the same as it has been previously, and whether or not the juniors have a separate section will be left entirely to their decision. The senior class will decide whether or not to present the Board of Directors with the re quest to charge for visitors who dine in the college mess halls. Also will be discussed the pro position of making kaki slacks regulation for meal formations, and for changing final exam week back as it was previously. The senior class officers will ap point committees for the Senior Ring Dance and Banquet, Decora tions, and for Mothers Day at the meeting. Colonel Watson Presents His Plans And Policies To Cadet Officers In a talk Tuesday morning hrfstandards for this Corps. the Assembly Hall, Lt. Colonel James A. Watson, new comman dant of the College, presented to this year’s cadet officers and first sergeants his plans and policies for the coming year. His message was apparently well taken as was shown by the response that fol lowed. The text of his talk is as fol lows: “Doctor Walton, Colonel Ashburn, and officers of the corps, my initial appearance be fore you in the capacity of Com mandant is an occasion of which I am very proud. “My future contacts with you will be in furtherance of our vital National Defense program and the highly important place therein that this great school fills. “The troubled situation in Eu rope which occupies most of our thoughts must necessarily guide our procedure in these times pre paring to protect this country. “I believe that this mission of the cadet officers is clearly out lined, that is to so conduct them selves as to maintain the highest “Discipline and training rest with you to the greatest extent. You have been selected for your character, ability, and personality to carry out this important func tion. “The opportunity presented to you to gain training and exper ience in command is unequalled. The firmness, wisdom, and judg ment with which you exercise this authority will determine the con duct, interest, and contentment of the Corps. The responsibility is great. “The officers of the military de partment are here to instruct and advise you. Detailed instructions as to your duties will be issued from time to time. “The profession of arms and its comradship is one in which the element of pride, some call its morale, is the greatest factor. “I expect you to feel, exercise, and develop this quality to the highest degree in yourselves and in all the men under you. “In a last analysis, I am your (Continued on page 4) A & M’s Guardsmen Will Be Called For Year’s Active Duty November 22 School Board To Discuss New Dorms Wedesday Morning The College Board of Directors will meet at 9:30 Wednesday morn ing in the director’s room for the purpose of discussing the erection of the four new student dormitor ies. An appropriation of $600,000 was received through an application to the Reconstruction Finance Cor poration during the past summer. At a meeting of the directors, which was held in the early part of Aug ust, it was decided that the location of the buildings and the type to be erected should be postponed until this meeting. At the meeting Dr. Walton was authorized to appoint a committee to handle the details of vacating and disposing of residences on the campus that are now occupying sites for prospective new buildings. Only administrative heads of the college will remain in campus res idences, and all others now resid ing in buildings on the campus will be given opportunities to pur chase the homes and remove them to various residential subdivisions adjacent to the campus. At the present it is hoped that construction on the new buildings will be started sometime this winter. WTAW Will Double Its Time On Air This Year Re-scheduling of the Texas Farm and Home Program and par ticipation in the Texas School of the Air have resulted in more than doubling the broadcasting schedule of A. & M. College, ac cording to WTAW director John Rosser. This does not in any way change the actual hours of broadcasting of WTAW. The College radio sta tion is operating on its customary schedule—11:25 to noon every weekday, with an additional hour from 4:30 to 5:30 on Friday after noons and a total of one hour from 8:30 to 9:30 Sunday morning. Formerly, the Texas Farm and Home Program was heard at 11:30 over WTAW and TQN. Under the new setup, the program is heard only over WBAP, WOAI, and KPRC every morning at 6:15 o’clock, and WTAW may make use of the 11:3.0 time locally as it sees fit. The College studio will also ori ginate for the network a quarter- hour weekly program as part of the Texas School of the Air. To be heard Wednesday at 1:15 P. M., the A. & M. series will be called “Jobs Ahead.” It is designed to offer oc cupational information to youths of high school age who will shortly be seeking work. The series will be written and produced by Rosser, in collaboration with outstanding edu cators in the College and the State Department of Education. The first program will be broadcast on Oct ober 9th. “Even without the new program series, A. & M. College has for many years had more time on the Texas Quality Network than any other school or college in the State,” Rosser said. “At the present time, I believe that we produce more actual broadcast hours than any other educational institution in Texas.” Yell practices, however, are by no means the limit of usefulness of the machine, Rosser pointed out. The recorder is of the double-turn- table type, capable of transcribing a high-fidelity record of any sound, from music to speech, of any length, and without interruption. The switch from one table to another can be made instantaneously, al lowing a program of any length to be recorded in “takes” varying in length from fifteen to twenty-seven minutes. It is planned to record a series (Continued on page 4) Faculty To Hold First Dance Of The Year Friday Evening Friday night, October 4th, will mark the beginning of the faculty dances when the first dance of a series of nine will begin at 9 p. m. in Sbisa Hall annex. Music will be furnished by the Aggieland Or chestra which will make its first appearance since it was reorgani zed by Ed Minnock. All officials of the College and members of the faculty are urged to attend. E. D. Parnell, president of the faculty dance committee has announced that season tickets are now available and may be se cured from him or Russell Couch, secretary. The price for season tickets is six dollars for the series of nine dances. Texas Guardsmen Not Exempt Under Provisions of Burke-Wadsworth Act By George Fuermann Texas A. & M. students, and collegians throughout the nation, will be exempt from military conscription until the end of the current 1940-41 long session. Section five, article (f) of the Burke-Wadsworth Mili tary Conscription Act reads, “Any person who, during the year 1940, entered upon attendance for the academic year 1940-41 (1) at any college or university which grants a degree in arts or science, to pursure a course of instruction satisfactory comple tion of which is prescribed by such college or university as a prerequisite to either of such degrees; or (2) at any university described in paragraph (1), to pursue a course of instruction to the pursuit of which a degree in arts 4-or science is prescribed by such university as a prerequisite; and who, while pursuing such course of instruction at such college or uni versity, is selected for training and service under this Act prior to the end of such academic year, or prior to July 1, 1941, whichever occurs first, shall upon his request, be deferred from induction into the land or naval forces for such training and service until the end of such academic year, but in no event later than July 1, 1941.” Article (a) of section five ex empts, among many other groups, “cadets of the advanced course, senior division, Reserve Officers’ Training Corps.” Guardsmen Called The announcement made public last Thursday calling all Texas Guardsmen into active service for a year’s training beginning Nov ember 22 will affect Texas Aggies, but the number of A. & M. students who are members of the National Guard is yet undeterminable. President T. O. Walton pointed out, however, that there are prob ably very few Guardsmen enrolled here. “It is my belief,” he said, (Continued on Page 4) College Students Offered A National Photography Contest Youth In Focus, a national photo contest, paying more than $1500 for the best pictures about young America awaits every college cam era fan as they return to school today. The contest is sponsored by Dr. Mary E. Wolley, president of the University of North Carolina. It is open to amateur photograph ers whether they own dollar Brown ies or expensive Leicas, Youth In Focus announced that, “The subject, story, and skill will determine the winners; technical ability will be entirely incidental”. Interesting pictures of students in class rooms, labs, dining halls, at football games and “bull sessions” will form an important part of the photographic document Youth In Focus will pro duce. Entry forms, rules, and complete information about the contest may be obtained from Youth in Focus, 1775 Broadway, New York City. Football Dances Open With Saturday’s Corps Dance By E. M. Rosenthal Open season on bird dogs will officially start this coming Satur day night, September 28, when the corps will have its first dance of the year in Sbisa Hall. Ed Min nock, maestro of the Aggieland Orchestra, at that time will pre sent the new members of the band and the latest arrangements of songs that are being acclaimed over the country. Both the jitterbugs and the other dancers, who take life less recklessly, should be well pleased with the new floor and improved acoustics that they will find in Sbisa Hall. The addition of these features was started during the summer and will probably be com- American Society Of Civil Engineers To Hold Its First Meeting Tuesday The A. & M. Student Chapter of- the American Society of Civil En gineers will hold its opening meet ing of the year Tuesday night at 7:30 p. m. in the lecture room of the Civil Engineering building. As guests of the Chapter, all freshmen enrolled in civil, admin istrative and agricultural engineer ing will meet with the sophomores, juniors and seniors in an informal smoker for the purpose of dis cussing plans for the coming year. At the conclusion of the smoker, election of a vice-president and a secretary-treasurer will be held and various standing committees ap pointed by the president, Henry Drumwright. The Chapter brings to the cam pus of the institution an organi zation affiliated with the National Society, which has in its member ship 16,113 engineers representing every state of the union and 46 foreign countries. Through the ef forts of Mr. R. J. Potts, formerly a professor of Highway Engineer ing at A. & M. and now a prom inent business man of Waco, a Texas section of the Society was organized in 1913. The student chapters soon resulted as the need of a closer touch between the young student engineer and the practic ing engineer became apparent. A. & M. was the first college of the state to secure an affiliation for a student chapter and the current year will probably see a peak mem bership of over 150 student engi neers. The National Society has func tioned since its organization in 1852 under a completely selective membership basis, however it urges that every effort be made to see that all college students planning to practice in any field of civil engineering after leaving school be given an opportunity to better qualify themselves by maintaining membership in student chapters. In keeping with this policy, the pres ident of the A. & M. student chap ter has indicated that he plans to make a special effort to see that freshmen as well as others who have not yet joined the society are afforded every opportunity to work and meet with the organization during the year. ■pleted before the end of the week. There have been unconfirmed rumors going about that prices will be slightly higher for the corps dances this .year. If this is true the small addition will be merely a government tax and not any increase of the base price. However, it is believed that Sat urday night’s cost will be the reg ular $1.00. The price of season tickets for the nine faculty dances is six dol lars. They are available now and may be secured from E. D. Parnell, president of the faculty dance com mittee, or from Russell Couch, secretary of the organization. Mr. Parnell urges all members of the faculty and officials of the Col lege to attend their first affair of the year. Minnock says that the orchestra is every bit as hot as it was last year, and he hopes that the corps, and the faculty will again give the boys the rousing receptions that they have in the past. He promises music from the slow sweet style to those fiery swing numbers which proved to be so popular last year. Minnock’s big wish is that every one let his tune preference be known so that the Aggieland can feature what the campus, as a whole, wants. Annual A & M Staff Banquet To Be Sept. 27 New members of the staff at Texas A. & M. College and their wives will be honored at the an nual dinner to be held in Sbisa Hall Friday evening. September 27, Dr. F. C. Bolton, dean of the college has announced. All of the new members and their wives will be guests of the Deans and Directors and all old members are expected to attend to meet the newcomers to Texas A. & M. Further details will be announced later.