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DIAL 4-5444
STUDENT TRI WEEKLY
NEWSPAPER OF
TEXAS A. & M. COLLEGE
The Battalion
DIAL 4-5444
OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER
OF THE CITY OF
COLLEGE STATION
VOL. 40
122 ADMINISTRATION BLDG.
COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS, THURSDAY MORNING, JAN. 16, 1941
Z725
NO. 41
A & M Will Soon Offer Civilian Defense Training
Film Club
Shows First
Movie Ionite
Presentation Is
“Strange Life”, A
British Production
“Strange Life”, a British pro
duction, is to be shown at the Cam
pus Theater tonight as the first
foreign film presented by the Cam
pus Film Club.
The regular movie now shovying
at the theater will end its last
showing at 8:30. The house will
then be cleared and the British
film will be given one showing.
This is the first of six movies
made in various foreign countries
which will be shown here during the
next ten weeks under the sponsor
ship of the club.
The object of the Campus Film
Club is to present selected pic
tures from other countries which
are of interest to the members
either as foreign films or for the
language spoken. It is an organ
ization of faculty members and lo
cal citizens and last year only the
members will be allowed to attend
the showings. This year the club
has decided to allow students to
attend the showings since some of
them will be helpful to them in con
nection with their courses such as
modern languages and architec
ture. It is thought that the pro
ductions would also be of interest
to the students as v representative
(Continued on Page 4)
On Editing The Battalion
Texan Editors Sinclair, Dolph Publish The Battalion
Hospitalization
Plan for Faculty
Nears Completion
The Group Hospitalization and
Surgical Benefit Plan which is be
ing organized for the members of
the college staff will become ef
fective Saturday noon, January 18,
provided 85 per cent of those who
have completed application cards
have paid their first semi-annual
premiums.
Under this plan a member will be
paid hospitalization at the rate of
$5 per day for a maximum of 70
days should he be confined in a
hospital for any sickness or ac
cident. Special hospital services,
which may include operation room,
anesthetic, laboratory fees and oth
er incidentals up to $25, will be al
lowed for any one accident or
sickness. The plan also provides
for an operation fee for any surgi
cal operation, according to a sched
ule, up to $150.
Members of the staff who have
not yet applied may still enter the
group without evidence of physical
condition and medical history by
turning in application cards before
noon Saturday.
J. M. Minton of the Occidental
Life Insurance Company will re
main on the campus until that date
to give information and otherwise
assist in completing cards. He may
be reached at the office of J.
Wheeler Barger, room 400, agri
cultural building.
Boyd Says He’d "
Rather Publish Batt
Than His Daily Texan
By Boyd Sinclair
Editor, The Daily Texan
I had two times rather edit The
Battalion as The Daily Texan. I
had rather do it because it is only
half as hard. I would only have to
work half as much were I editing
The Battalion. The Battion is pub
lished three times a week, while
The Daily Texan is published six
times a week. Thus, my reasons
are those of a lazy man, as you
can plainly see.
But there are other reasons why
I would like to be editor of The
Battalion. One of the biggest of
these is that I could write open
letters to Billy Sansing, my sports
editor, and tell him what a bum
he is. Everybody else does. But I
can’t. He might quit. And then
I would have to do his work.
If I were editor of The Battalion,
maybe this Draft (nobody had
better edit this to Selective Service)
wouldn’t be so hot on my trail and
blowing cold on me. I have thought
of becoming an eleventh-hour bride
groom, as Brigadier-General J.
Watt Page would call it, but my
girl friend’s old man is for the
Aggies, and he won’t give her
hand in marriage.
If I were editor of The Battalion,
I could have a pair of boots. I.have
always wanted a pair so shiny {Jiat
the girls could see how to powder
their nose in them. Jack Crain
won’t sell me any of his on credit.
If I were editor of The Battalion,
I could learn how to shoot a gun.
j As it is, the bull is the only thing
I have at my command.
I creep onto the campus of Tex
as A. & M. College with fear and
trembling, and my copy pencil is
grasped in shaking fingers, and
the mark which it makes is not
steady indeed. I do not care for a
guard of honor. All I want here is
a darn good guard.
The only reason I like to edit
The Daily Texan above The Bat
talion is that around the Texan
there are such fair and charming
ladies, but after Bob Nisbet and
George Fuermann come over to
edit the Texan in February, I ex
pect them to pay no more attention
to me whatsoever. You know how
these women are about uniforms.
Perhaps I shall have to borrow
one from the boys at the filling
station in order to keep these dam
sels on the campus after Bob and
George come over and do their
stuff. Miss Jeanne Douglas, of my
editorial staff, brought us over to
Aggieland. I wonder if we can get
-her to come back.
If any of you boys over here
want to fight, I hope you’ll do it
Italian style.
Daily Texan Editors
'
Long-horn Beauty
Section Deadline
Nears; Is Jan 20
All pictures to go into the Vanity
Fair and Senior Favorites section
of the 1941 Longhorn must be
turned in to Joe Jones, room 205,
dorm 1 by Monday, January 20.
All staff members, organization
commanders, seconds in command
and first sergeants should have
their pictures made immediately
for the Longhorn.
First sergeants are required to
hand in the company roster as
soon as possible and not later than
next Monday.
All camp pictures and campus
snapshots should be turned in as
soon as possible to Cecil Grissom,
room 201, dorm 9.
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Above, left, is Boyd Sinclair, editor of The Daily Texan. A native of Sherman, he is a member of The
Texan’s editorial council; a member of the board of directors of Texas Student Publications, Inc.; treas
urer of Sigma Delta Chi, national honorary journalistic fraternity; and is listed in 1941’s Who’s Who
Among Students in American Colleges and Universities.
Above, right, is Jack Dolph, associate editor of The Texan. A journalism senior from Dallas, he is
vice-president of the Southwest Journalism Congress; a past treasurer of Sigma Delta Chi, national
honorary journalistic fraternity; and a member of the University Press Club.
Drum And Bugle Corps Being Organized To Furnish
Music For Cadet Corps at Breakfast and Noon Formations
Two drum and bugle corps
play for breakfast and noon for
mations are the plans of the mili
tary department soon to go into
effect.
Patterned after the custom at
West Point, the two units will play,
one at each mess hall, the bugle
calls for the formation and also a
special march for the cadet corps
to march in by in entering the
mess hall.
The plan, originated and fos
tered by Lt. Col. Watson, has been
to.fapproved by President Walton and^.
will go into effect as soon as the
Band can make arrangements for
music and training.
Organization for the units will
consist of six buglers, six field
drums, one bass drum, and one set
of cymbals. With each group there
will be two seniors to act as in
structors and directors, one for the
bugles and one for the drums.
These drum and bugle corps will
be stationed at the regular band
stands while they are playing.
Another item in the plans for
music during meal formations is
the announcement that the flood
lights have been ordered from
Houston and should arrive next
week. These will enable the band to
play for the evening meal each
day, and with this addition the
cadet corps within two weeks
should have music for every meal
formation.
Appropriation has been passed
to pay the members of the Drum
and Bugle Corps regular bugler’s
salary for meals they play.
Money, Money, Money--- But Iranian Student Finds
Americans Also Take Time for Cultural Enterprises
By George Fuermann
Mehdi Khan Sheybani. Pronounce
it any old way you want to, it’s
still the name of an A. & M. cadet.
You and I would probably say
he was from Persia, but he’ll stop
you on that point every time. In
almost perfect English he’ll ex
plain that the real name of his
fatherland is Iran. It seems that
two or three centuries ago many
of England’s citizenry became eco
nomically interested in the nation.
The area they settled in was called
Parce (a unit of government par
alleling our American county) and
from that came the word “Per
sia” which was gradually applied
to the whole nation.
Today, the Anglo-Iranian Oil Co.
is still the largest vested interest
in Iran and ranks fourth in world
oil production.
Specifically, Mehdi’s home is in
•Teheran, capitol of Iran, where his
father is a land owner and presi
dent of the nation’s important tel
ephone and telegraph corporation.
More than that, his father is a
former cabinet member, having
been Minister of Communications
for seven years while his political
organization was the majority
party. “He owns a thousand cam
els, too,” Mehdi will proudly tell
you.
Mehdi’s earlier education was
obtained in Iran in the regular
Iranian manner. That is, six years
in the “preliminary school” and
six years in the “higher school.”
From there he could have gone
to any one of several good Iran
ian universities, but he chose to go
abroad for his college education
and in 1934 he went to France to
begin eight years of study that led
him to England and, finally, to
the United States.
-f First he attended the Lycee-fed; and followed it a week later
Orleans, about a hundred miles
south of Paris, to learn French.
After a year in Orleans he spent
six months at the Ecole Politech-
nique where he studied French
history and political science.
Then, in 1936, he went to Eng
land to learn English and, like
most foreigners, ran into more dif
ficulty trying to tackle that task
than any other he had known. Ox
ford was next and there he re
mained until the beginning of the
war Sept. 1, 1939. That’s where
the story gets warm.
Mehdi had two choices; return
on another ship.
“We came on the S.S. Newfound
land,” Mehdi said, “and that was
certainly an exciting voyage. We
had a convoy of 13 ships and at
every signal for a blackout we ex
pected to hear a torpedo rip
through the boat.”
While on board the Newfound
land, Nehdi became acquainted
with John Murray Anderson, one
of Billy Rose’s top-notch directors.
It was Anderson who gave the
Iranian lad his first introduction
to American girls, a troupe of
American chorines returning from
“Can’t Believe That
This Is True,” Jack
Tells Batt Editors
By Jack Dolph
Associate Editor, The Texan
Somehow or other it doesn’t
seem possible.
I mean about editing The Battal
ion.
r
As I sit here at my typewriter,
it is raining slightly outdoors. I
can see two girls on the steps of
the Romance Languages Building.
There is a pretty brunette typing
at the desk next to mine. Girls dash
from cars into the library in a
quick scurry to keep their perma
nents from being ruined. What
will be the situation at A. & M. I
ask myself. How will the soc sect
ion of The Battalion be printed
that day? How will the 6,000 ca
dets know that Jimmie Jones out
of Dallas and in the Chem depart
ment know who poured at the Ross
Volunteer tea dansant? If, I think
sadly, there are no girls, how does
the soc staff function.
But alas, that is merely a minor
problem anyway. What I am really
i afraid of is that there may be
stories on agriculture. Being a
city boy, I am not sure whether a
Duroc Jersey is a cow, a hog, or
a baseball team. I can see the copy
now. “Ag students elated at new
methods of . . .” That is the word
I am afraid. That “ ...” I keep
seeing it in my dreams. A phrase
I never saw before.
Or something mechanical. I don’t
think I understand mechanics very
well. All this stuff about fluid
drive, free wheeling, and free park
ing are seriously affecting my life.
I feel as if I am gradually becom
ing afflicted with arterio schlero-
sis.
No doubt the climax will come
with a double-header on agricul
tural mechanics.
I know one thing about agri
culture, however, and since we are
on the subject, I guess you might
as well benefit by it. That is on
agricultural problems. I am a whiz
at agricultural problems. We all
know that there are problems. I
took a course on the subject and
it became a problem so I solved
the problem by dropping it. My
consolation is that the professor
used to be a brain-truster with the
New Deal and the New Deal has
been a problem to more people
than me.
Of course, there is a nutrition
problem too. I have wired the
stores at College Station and writ
ten three air-mail letters to the
various cafes already about the
tea supply. I have tea at four
o’clock every day, of course, and
couldn’t bear the thought of going
without it. Simply couldn’t.
Outside of these problems I am
gleefully awaiting my chance to
tell the truth, the whole truth, and
nothing but the truth to The Bat
talion readers. My soul is alive
with its responsibilities.
At other times I think all of a
sudden, what will I do in College
Station? Why on earth did I say
yes. Then my soul cringes. But
I have bolstered my courage once
again.
Hell, it’ll be a cinch. Afraid? Not
me. Not much. Oh, Bob, come here
and tell ’em I’m not a spy. Hey,
George .... hey. Oh.
to Iran with his studies unfinish- j war-beseiged England and France,
ed, or come to the United States j “These American girls are still a
and complete his education. His | miracle to me,” Mehdi says with
decision was almost his last. He l considerable admiration. Anderson,
managed, with some difficulty, to incidentally, wamed Mehdi that;
secure passage on the ill-fated | Texas was the finest place in the 1
Athenia; was forced to cancel this | nation to which he could come,
because the vessel was over-crowd-! (Continued on Page 4)
North Gate Fire
Quickly Extinguished
A small fire in the Aggieland
Pharmacy drugstore at the North
Gate, caused by a gas leak in a
bread toaster, was repsonible for
an early morning fire Wednesday.
The toaster flamed up when it
was lit this morning and efforts
of the employees to check it were
futile. After the fire trucks ar
rived, the gas was shut off and
the flames were extinguished. A
cracked front window glass, slight
damage to some canned goods, and
a burned toaster were the results
of the fire.
Watson Says A&M
Is Pushing Defense
Cooperation Hard
Plans are nearing completion at
Texas A. & M. College for the
training of civilian population in
fields of national defense prepar
ation, beginning Feb. 11, Gibb Gil
christ, Dean of the School of En
gineering announced today.
R. A. Seaton, Dean of Engineer
ing at Kansas State college and Di
rector of Engineering Training for
National Defense, notified Gil
christ Monday morning that the
federal government had approved
training in five courses including
aeronautical engineering, materials
and inspection, camp sanitation,
engineering drawing and aircraft
inspection.
At the same time Seaton re
quested Gilchrist to notify him
whether or not A. & M. could of
fer six additional courses in water
and sewer plant operation, produc
tion engineering, production sup
ervision, design or airplane struc
tures, metalurgy and machine de
sign. “We are prepared to offer
training in these additional fields,”
Gilchrist said, “and expect approv
al of them within a short time.”
The courses will last 12 weeks
and will be financed by the fed
eral government. “Anyone can take
these courses,” Gilchrist pointed
out, “who can meet the necessary
qualifications.” The qualifications
vary for the different courses and
will be published within a few days.
“Speaking in a national sense,”
Seaton stated in a wire from Wash
ington, “there is a salient need for
men in these fields and it is our
hope to place graduates from those
courses in industry as soon as they
have completed the training.”
Gilchrist is one of 10 members
of the Advisory Committee on
Engineering Training for Nation-
(Continued on Page 4)
Sinclair, Dolph
On WTAW at 11:45
Thursday Morning
Boyd Sinclair, Sherman, editor
of the The Daily Texan, student
newspaper of the University of
Texas, and Jack Dolph, associate
editor of The Texan, will be inter
viewed at 11:45 a. m. Thursdays
from station WTAW by John O.
Rosser, managing director.
Following the broadcast the two
editors of the Texan will attend a
luncheon in Sbisa Hall at 12:15
o’clock. Members of the faculty and
of The Battalion staff will be pres,
ent.
The Battalion initiated the ex
change of Southwestern college edi
torial chiefs yesterday, when the
University of Texas journalists
edited this copy of the Battalion.
In exchange, editors Bob Nisbet
and George Fuerman will go to
Austin to guest-edit the Daily Tex
an Feb. 3.
Sinclair and Dolph arrived on
the Aggie campus at 1:45 p. m.
Wednesday and were met by The
Battalion staff, who introduced
them to campus and faculty of
ficials.
“I have been overwhelmed by the
cordial hospitality,” Sinclair de
clared.
During the afternoon the two vis
itors looked over the campus, wrote
and edited copy for The Battalion,
and later that night assisted with
the make-up. The Campus theater
was visited last night. Pictures
of Aggietone News, which have
excited attention in Austin, were
shown.
The broadcast over WTAW will
be from 11:45 to 12:00 o’clock this
morning. Rosser will quiz the Aus
tin students on their opinions of
this campus and its xulationships
with the University at Austin.
Guests at the luncheon will in
clude Col. Ike Ashburn, executive
assistant to the president; Lt. Col.
James A. Watson, commandant;
E. L. Angell, manager of student
publications; G. B. Winstead, di
rector of publicity; W. C. Stone,
professor of journalism; J. C. Ho-
tard, supervisor of subsistence; and
Nisbet and Fuermann.