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The Battalion
STUDENT TRI-WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
TEXAS A. & M. COLLEGE
The Battalion, official newspaper of the Agricultural and
Mechanical College of Texas and the city of College Station, is
published three times weekly from September to June, issued
Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday mornings ; also it is published
weekly from June through August.
Entered as second-class matter at the Post Office at College
Station, Texas, under the Act of Congress of March 8, 1879.
Subscription rate, $3 a school year. Advertising rates upon
request.
Represented nationally by National Advertising Service, Inc.,
at New York City, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, and San
Francisco.
Office, Room 122, Administration Building. Telephone
4-5444.
Bob Nisbet Editor-in-Chief
Keith Hubbard Advertising Manager
George Fuermann Associate Editor
Hub Johnson Sports Editor
Tommy Henderson Circulation Manager
Phil Golman Staff Photographer
Pete Tumlinson Staff Artist
J. B. Pierce Editorial Assistant
X. R. Vannoy Editorial Assistant
SATURDAY’S STAFF
Earle A. Shields, Jr Managing Editor
T. R. Harrison Assistant Advertising Manager
Junior Editors
W. 0. Brimberry R. B. Pearce W. C. Carter
Sports Staff
Bob Myers Assistant Sports Editor
Jack Hollimon Junior Sports Editor
W. F. Oxford Sports Assistant
Reportorial Staff
Bill Amis, Charles Babcock, Don Corley, W. F. Keith,
Z. A. McReynolds, Jack Nelson, L. B. Tennison.
Clarifying the Issue
THE SINCERITY of juniors and seniors in desiring
the early suspension of holidays is a point about
which any doubt should be allayed. On the surface
it might appear that the agitation was stirred up
and facts overemphasized in order that school might
be dismissed and extra holidays gained.
Such is not the case!
The committee that appeared before the faculty
stressed again and again that their purpose was to
prevent further spread of the flu epidemic and
that that was the sole reason.
Here we would again like to stress that point.
To prove their point the boys indicated that
the time taken at this time would willingly be made
up at a later date, and several plans have been
advanced to take care of the situation. However,
at this time none has been adopted.
When 60 men in an organization of 200 be
come so ill that school work is impossible then there
is time for concern, and just that has happened in
one outfit, and the case is about that over the cam
pus. It would be an injustice to keep students at
school under such conditions.
Again it is imperative that we impress those
concerned with the facts that the students are ear
nestly seeking sensible solutions to their problems,
and that frivolous or hot-headed decisions are not
responsible for the holidays.
Careful consideration was given the issue by
level-headed students and faculty members, and a
logical solution was the result.
Real Meaning of Xmas
Christmas really means, “Christ, the gift of God
to men, women and children’. To the English peo
ple we owe the word Christmas — Christ Mass — a
religious ceremony celebrating the birth of Christ.
December 25th is the accepted date of the birth
of Christ as He was born at midnight on Christmas
Eve.
Do you know why Santa Claus comes down the
chimney at Christmas time instead of coming
through the window? English custom of sweeping
down the chimney at New Year so good luck could
enter.
It is to the Dutch that we owe the custom of
hanging up our stockings. They placed their wooden
shoes before the large fireplace, but we Americans
substituted stockings because wooden shoes would
not stretch.
The holly wreath that we hang in our homes
was copied from the English who believed the holly
leaves represented the thorns Christ wore upon the
cross, while the little red berries were the drops
of His blood.
For nearly 2,000 years the world has been get
ting better. Men and women have more confidence
in each other; credit has been placed upon a firm
er foundation.
The giving of Christmas presents brings out the
thought—“Peace on earth, good will toward men”.
It was General W. B. Booth, founder of the
Salvation Army, who was once asked the question
if he were solicited to leave a message to the
world what would it be. He wrote only one word
and signed his name. That word was “others”.
Happiness is not seeking pleasure for ourselves
but doing the necessary things for others.
I think we should pause long enough to thank
God for living in a Christian country. You know, I
believe in prayer. My definition of prayer would be
—communicating with God for that which we de
sire—not deserve.
Did you know the Mohammedan people pi’ay
five times daily, but only pray for themselves—
never for others ? Christmas is a good time to pause
long enough to take stock of ourselves and really
see of what value we have been through the year
to our neighbors, city, county, state and nation.
Let us all enter into the Christmas spirit, love
one another, give to those less fortunate than our
selves, and try to carry oiit Christ’s teachings.
—By P. L. Downs ,Jc
Quotable Quotes
“THE COUNTRY MUST abandon the present cafe
teria system of education in which the student is
left free to select any academic diet he pleases,
subordinate vocational training to liberal education,
and recognize differences in natural ability. Liberal
education which is partly informative, partly dis
ciplinary and partly moral, in making men think
for themselves, is the only effective training for
responsible citizenship in a democratic state.” Prof.
T. M. Greene of the philosophy department of Prince
ton university believes American schools and colleges
fail to provide students with an adequate education
for life in a democratic society.
“Today it is obvious that Germany is a country
that has to be reckoned with; it is obvious, too, we
are not, to put it mildly, on friendly terms with her;
it is all the more important to understand her and
her language. Chamberlain did not understand Ger
man and for that reason perhaps could not un
derstand Hitler.” Dr. Berthold L. Ullman, professor
of Latin at the University of Chicago, says the com
plete disappearance of German during the World
War years was deplorable and foolish.
“Perphaps the most frightening aspect of mod
ern war is the intellectual blacout which it creates.
One does not have to subscribe to H. G. Wells’
grim prophesy that ‘mankind, which began in a cave
and behind a windbreak, will end in the disease-
soaked ruins of a slum’; but certainly the night in
Europe without the sacrifice of cultural values on so
vast a scale that the chance of an enlightened and
gracious life, not alone for this generation in
Europe but for the children and grandchildren of
this generation, will be irretrievably lost.” Rockefel
ler Foundation’s President Raymond B. Fosdick
voices fears over the war’s cultural destruction.
“The young man or woman planning a career
should begin to point toward it in high school or
even earlier. He should learn which fields interest
him, which he seems to be fitted for, which will
call for capacities he seems to have. He can develop
his talents along those lines, and if his interests
shift he can change his goal. But he should be
pointing toward something, talking about it, read
ing about it, working at it in his spare time, if
possible. Then he will come out of school with
some understanding of what he wants to do, what he
can do and why he thinks as he does. He will be
ready to start his career.” Walter Hoving, writing in
the New York Times, restates an old-fashioned
truth.
—Associated Collegiate Press
FRANK LOVING PRESENTS:
/ Heard the Preacher Say
PROGRESS ... all of us, engineer and ag student,
post-grads and professors, realize the importance
of the word. All of us recognize its powerful influ
ences and know that an inevitable result of it is
the necessity of adjusting our society and individ
ual lives and actions to the changes it forces upon
us. We have progressed beyond hangings for witch
craft; we have progressed beyond enslaving our
fellow man; we have progressed beyond the sub
jugation of one sex as inferior to the other; why
then must we remain in the same old rut when it
comes around to our religion! I hereby charge that
the vast majority of the religious leaders here
and about everywhere else afe propounding to the
intelligent youth of this country a lot of obsolete
theological bunk that might have convinced some
one in the middle ages of something, but which is
quite out of the ken of the modern mind. Though
there is still a class of people to which this type
of thing may appeal, it is not helping a bit in
reaching the kind of thinkers turned out in the mod
ern colleges and universities. I think the cry of our
religious leaders should not be about a “return to
religion”, but rather for a “turn of religion.” If
any good is to be reaped from the teachings of our
faith, those teachings must be adapted to the at
titudes fostered in a modern youth, and not in the
good old trite “camp meeting style”. I do not pro
pose to deny father his “old time religion”, but I
beg that it be given to me' with definite modifica
tions. Faith is a logical thing, make it logical, not
sentimental; love and kindness are reasonable, make
them products of reason, not of fear; our God can
be proven by meditation, prove him thus, and not
with hackneyed and oratorical truisms.
As the World Turns...
BY DR. AL B. NELSON
A NEW SET OF LOCKS will at last be built for
the Panama Canal in order to prevent disruption of
national defense through the possible destruction of
the present locks. The new contruction will allow
the present fleet to cross from one ocean to the
other in one half the forty seven hour’s required.
The catch in the proposition is that it will take a
minimum of five years to complete the construction
of the new locks.
A former Aggie, recently called into active ser
vice, has been seeking to rent an apartment in the
city where he is now stationed. He reports to his
family the moment the owners or managers see
his uniform, they ask sixty-five dollars for an
apartment which has been advertised to rent
for thirty-five dollar per month. From the indi
vidual to the mass of organized labor and big busi
ness, the sole object of a large proportion of the
population of the United States seems to be to
profiteer at the expense of the national safety. Such
people would sell their government to the enemy
if thy obtained their pay of “thirty pieces of silver”.
Haile Selassie, former ruler of Ethiopia, is on
the march again. Now located just on the border of
his country and Egypt he is directing a campaign
of revolt against the Italians. His people call him
the “Conquering Lion of Judah” and he claims
descent from King Solomon and the Queen of
Sheba. Though short in stature the former Em
peror seems to be long on courage and persistence.
Lily Pons has just become a naturalized citizen
of the United States, thus giving up her French
citizenship.
Finland is now rearming in preparation for
further eventualities. Her Budget for the army
doubled this year. Apparently the Fins do not trust
“someone”.
Many bombs dropped on London by German
planes were found to be of British make. Our boys
will no doubt enjoy being killed by shells made of
American steel, fired from ships made of American
steel, powered by engines using American oil, all
financed through the sale of silk to clothe the pret
ty legs of American women. The Japanese, con
temptuous of American good sense, are not even
making a secret of their intentions.
Deanna Durbin, now nineteen years of age, has
announced her engagement. This announcement will
probably be of greater interest to most young men
than the most vital news of national or international
importance.
THE BATTALION
■SATURDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1940
is -me name
OF A
WILLISTON, N.D.
RESIDENT/
BACKWASH
By
(mm fuerram
’’Backwash: An agitation revolting front soma action or occurrence.”—Webster.
Finis, 1940 . . . Easily one of
the greatest years in the 64-year
history of Texas A. & M. college
1940 opened with a boom as the
Aggies defeated Tulane 14 to 13
in the New Orleans Sugar Bowl
last January 1. And
the year closed eq
ually as boomingly
as the senior class
—in an unprece
dented move for
the class of ’41—
carried its fight for
a desired gain to
the faculty and col
lege officials, a
fight in which the
their point, togeth
er with the aid of a near-epidemic
of influenza. Watch for repercus
sions from this move, from cadets
and faculty members alike, -dur
ing the first few weeks of the yet
unborn 1941. Principal aim of the
seniors in asking for an early dis
missal for Christmas holidays was
not ;guided by a desire to avoid
two or three more days of class
room work. The real aim was two
fold. First, the seniors justly claim
ed that the near-epidemic of flu
now current on the campus might
spread even further and result in
the loss of life. Second, and one
of equal concern to the senior
class, that seniors allegedly were
allowed a certain amount of author
ity, but every time the class had
attempted to take authority the
same had been denied. The prin
ciple of the thing was more of a
concern than the thing itself. Only
weak point in the senior argument
was in placing the blame for the
tremendously unpopular 30-cent
guest charge in the mess halls at
the feet of the faculty. The board
of directors alone is responsible
for the surcharge. Incidentally, it
is highly probable that the board
will vote to cancel the meal-sur
charge at their next meeting at
which time they will hear the plea
of a four-man committee repre
senting the student body. Back
wash believes that the initiative
taken by the senior class where the
near-crisis of the past three days
is concerned was a good thing and
rates the class 21-carat, grade A
congratulations.
•
A Grand Old Lady.
She’s a grand old lady and, for
her benevolence and enthusiasm
toward all causes connected with
Texas A. & M., she was recently
made an honorary member of the
American Red Cross.
The only female cadet of the
Aggies’ all-male student body, all
she would say after the ceremony
was simply, “This is the first or
ganization I’ve even been a mem
ber of, and that makes today the
most important one in my life
since the Sugar Bowl game in New
Orleans last January.”
The lady’s name is Reveille.
Reveille, just in case you aren’t
educated in these things, is the
famed mascot of the Texas A. &
M. cadet corps. She isn’t much to
look at—as beauty in dogdom goes
—but she’s a little black and white
combination-bred dog who rates
“tops” in the opinions of Aggies
and Aggie-exes throughout the
world.
But back to this Red Cross deal
again, “I’ve never been so sur
prised in all my life,” she admit
ted to the writer a few hours
after the ceremony was over, “and
I’m certainly indebted to Tom Bond
for his influence in this matter,”
she said.
Rev was a little reluctant to
talk about her latest honor (she’s
quite modest for a dog), but by
standers soon coaxed her into tell
ing the story.
“The fact is,” she said, “I’m a
member of the Tom Green County
chapter of the Red Cross. Guess
I’m just about the only dog to
belong to the Red Cross,” she
proudly added. “You see, it all
happened like this. A fella by the
name of Thomas A. Bond from
Rankin requested Susan Miles—
she’s the secretary of the Tom
Green chapter—to give me a mem
bership. Well, Susan talked it over
with the rest of the chapter and
now I’m a member of the Red
Cross.”
Rev’s not only a member, but
she can prove it. She wears her
new Red Cross button on her col
lar, and, if you’ll go by her room,
she’ll show you her membership
card.
You may be one of those people
who doesn’t believe that Rev can
talk, but she’s been hanging around
the campus so long (she began
rooming here in 1931) that a wag
of her tail and her short barks are
easily interpreted by any Aggie
from dog languages to good honest
English.
•
Aggie Enrollment.
At one time or another, all of
the state’s 254 counties have been
represented in the college’s enroll
ment. Most bashful of the lot, how
ever, is Yoakum County which
failed to furnish a cadet for the
corps until 1938. Winkler County
didn’t show until 1936.
In 1906, 137 counties were rep
resented in the enrollment figures;
today 240 counties are included in
the campus personnel. Zapata
County hasn’t done so well, only
one student from that county hav
ing enrolled in the college since
its birth in 1876, and he waited
until 1923 to do so.
In the 64-year history of the col
lege 47 of the states have been
represented in the student body.
Delaware alone has failed to send
a candidate to be a Texas Aggie.
This year 43 of the states are
represented. Georgia, Idaho, Mary
land, Vermont and Delaware are
the unsociable states for the 1940-
41 long session.
As in-years past, Louisiana leads
the states in A. & M. out-of-state
enrollment. This year the state
that furnished A. & M. a bowl for
its football team to play in last
January 1 sent 73 students to be
members of the cadet corps. Ark
ansas, California, New York and
Oklahoma are four other heavy
contributors to the .college’s en
rollment.
Forty-three foreign nations have
been represented in the college’s
student body since it w-as founded.
Most of A. & M.’s foreign students
come from Central and South
America. Puerto Rico and Mexico
have especially large delegations
Stomach Comfort
Why suffer with Indi
gestion, Gas, Gall Blad
der Pains or High Blood
Pressure? Restore your
Potassium balance with
Alkalosine-A and these
troubles will disappear.
Sold by
Lipscomb’s Pharmacy
Fuermann
seniors carried
$2,000 Donated to TSCW Architecture
Class to Buy Wood for Low Cost House
Two thousand dollars has been
given to the senior architecture
design class by the Douglas Fir
plywood Association for the pur
chase of plywood to be used in
building a low cost houst at T.S.
C.W. in the near future.
During this week Joseph Wes
ton, representative of this com
pany, is visiting in the architec
ture department and is showing
the students the possibilities of
plywood construction. To those sen
iors who are designing the low
cost house project he is showing
pictures, giving lectures, and sit
ting in with them on informal dis
cussions for the purpose of bring
ing forth new ideas.
The house itself will be located
behind the Arts building on the
campus of T. S. C. W. at Denton.
After its completion it will be us
ed as a demonstration house by the
home economics department there.
At the beginning of the sem
ester the architectural students
were given a problem in which they
were to design this house for a
family of four. The house was to
be built at a minimum cost and
yet afford many advantages. Pre
liminary plans were completed and
forwarded to the home economics
and art majors at T.S.C.W.
Just before the Thanksgiving
holidays these girls came to
A. M. to discuss the plans and
offers suggestions. As a result of
the meeting the architecture stu
dents have taken up a further
stage in the development of their
plans.
To lower the cost of the houst,
which is being designed on the
modular system, it will be built in
the shops and asesmbled on the
job. In such construction there
are three types of sections that
are sued: one with a door, one
with a window, and one with a
solid surface to be used as a wall
section.
The senior architecture class is
designing around a new way of
BRAIN TWISTER
By. R. R. Lyle
Some of the boys who have had
calculus asked me for a problem
involving calculus so this is one
involving Math. 203.
A frustum of a cone has slant
height of twenty-four inches and
the diameter of the upper base is
six inches. What should be the
diameter of the lower base to give
a maximum volume to the frustum.
Answer 18.814.
You boys who are studying half
and double angle formulae in trig
should be interested in the follow
ing.
A nine-ribbed umbrella is strip
ped of its fabric covering so that
its ribs are straight even when
open. They are opened so that each
rib makes an angle of 15° 13' with
the center stick. Find the angle
any rib makes with the one next
to it.
Answer 10° 18'
at A. & M. each year.
China, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Pol
and, Russia, Switzerland, Syria,
Turkey, Iraq, Palestine, Korea,
Arabia and Greece are among the
many other nations which give the
corps a cosmopolitan flavor.
Only three students from Ger
many have attended the college;
the last being for a year during
the 1916-17 session.
living rather than around any set
of historical forms. As a result
greater improvements will come
greater improvements will come
about in the planning of the home,
planning of its room arrange
ment, and in planning its pos
ition on the lot so that it will take
maximumu advantage of sun, air,
and view and give maximumu use
of the ground, however small.
Those seniors in the class are
Charles Bailey, Frank Beadle,
Preston Bolton, Joe Bourn, Rich
ard Brooks, LaVere Brooks, Sid
Lord, Roland Laney, Raymond Par
rish, and Ray Rose.
A. B. YEARWOOD JR., class of
’39, has been appointed temporary
associate' agronomist at John Tarl-
eton Agricultural College. Year-
wood was graduated with a double
major in Animal Husbandry and
Agronomy. He came to his present
position from Tucson, Arizona
where he was a student assistant
in Range Research.
CAMPUS
15£ to 5 p.m.—20c after
LAST DAY
iMinHY-iowiHtoowe
BARBARA ALIEN inu mo*i ,
Also
CARTOON - NEWS
Prevue Tonite
Sunday - Monday
Donald Duck - News
$49.50
See this wedding ring
set—and many others—
in our store.
You will find many
styles, and at moderate
prices.
MY WE SHOW YOU?
SANKEY PARK
JEWELERS
Bryan, Texas
WHAT TO GIVE?
FIRESTONE
Radios - Bicycles - Toys
Tires - Tubes - Auto Supplies
CONWAY TIRE CO.
Corner 27th and Bryan St.
BRYAN, TEXAS
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