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THE BATTALION
-TUESDAY, JANUARY 28, 1941
The Battalion
STUDENT TRI-WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
TEXAS A. & M. COLLEGE
The Battalion, official newspaper of the Agricultural and
liechanical 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
George Fuermann Associate Editor
Keith Hubbard Advertising Manager
Tommy Henderson Circulation Manager
Pete Tumlinson Staff Artist
P. B. Pierce, Phil Levine Proof Readers
Photography Department
Phil Golman Photographic Editor
Jack Jones, T. J. Burnett, G. W. Brown,
Joe Golman, John Blair Assistant Photographers
Sports Department
Hub Johnson Sports Editor
Bob Myers Assistant Sports Editor
Jack Hollimon Junior Sports Editor
Mike Haikin, W. F. Oxford Sports Assistants
TUESDAY’S EDITORIAL STAFF
Bill Clarkson Managing Editor
Jack Hendricks Assistant Advertis : ng Manager
Junior Editors
Lee Rogers E. M. Rosenthal
Reportorial Staff
Jack Aycock, Jack Decker, Walter Hall, Ralph Inglefield,
Tom Leland, Beverly Miller, W. A. Moore, Mike Speer, Dow
Wynn.
Stevens Institute of Technology received to
taling $96,562 in the fiscal year 1939-40.
Attention Faculty
Cramming-Mostly Pro
WHO IS THE MAN who hasn’t studied, who hasn’t
done his books justice, who has read magazines and
gone to the show when thermo was calling? Who
is about to flunk? Who will flunk if he makes a
low grade on his final examination? Is it you?
If so, then you are not the person to argue
against the proposition of cramming for final ex
ams. For you, my friend are just at the stage where
cramming is the last resort. You, my friend should
be in a position to hear an argument, of all things,
in favor of cramming.
Usually about a week or so before examinations
"the question of cramming comes to mind, and it is
•usually about this time that campus sages pass out
the un-asked-for advice not to cram. Cramming
jumbles all the facts you’ve learned until you are
so confused that you know neither which way is up
nor which way is down. One never learns by cram
ming; it is strictly memory work and accomplishes
no good. Constant studying is the only solution.
These sages have waited just four and one half
months to late to begin their dissertation. At this
stage of the game, the practice of cramming needs
some favorable comment.
In the first place cramming has been the only
straw from which many a desperate youth has
clung to escape the angry tide of failure. This bus
iness of becoming confused is theory at best. If
beforehand no facts had been learned, how could
cramming possibly jumble them up?
But the big asset to cramming is this. It gives
the student a chance to cover the whole course at
one sitting. It gives him a complete picture to study
instead of presenting one scene at a time. It en
ables him to grasp the general scope of the course,
to see toward what end each statement is driving.
It enables him to tie one idea in with another idea
and see best how they work together.
Many learned men favor no compulsory class
attendance and place all the stress upon one final
examination. In this manner they take one week of
concentrated studying for a course and claim they
get more good from their efforts than a whole
semester’s work of piece-mealing. They may have
something.
At any rate, let’s not condemn the man who
now has to cram. Don’t bother them! Let them
study.
And to the man with the low grades, don’t give
up hope at this stage of the game. Cramming has
passed many a man, and the principle has many ad
vocates. And if you pass the course by cramming,
don’t let it hurt your conscience.
The Collegiate Review
Four Colgate university alumni received $200 in
prizes for songs submitted in a contest.
Southern life and economy are to be interpre
ted in educational and dramatic films to be pro
duced at the University of North Carolina.
The Lincoln library of the late Valentine Bjork-
man, comprising more than 1,000 volumes, has been
acquired by Upsala college, East Orange, N. J.
Seventy-four Minnesotans are included in the
enrollment of 6,300 at Northwestern university.
Students at New York city’s four municipal
colleges last year contributed $972,000 in fees.
A poll revealed nearly two thirds of Univer
sity of Detroit students favor freshman hazing.
THIS AFTERNOON the faculty will meet in reg
ular session to discuss the usual routine matters
which come before this important branch of the
college’s administrative set-up.
Not so routine, however, is the fate of the
proposed Texas A. & M. Student Aid Fund. Already
blessed by the Student Activities committee and
the Executive committee, faculty approval is all
that remains in the path of final organization of
the proposed fund.
The Battalion urges the faculty to accept this
plan which—so The Battalion believes—is one of the
finest movements in the recent history of Texas
A. & M. college. Hundreds of students and many
college officials have expressed parallel opinions.
The Student Aid Fund is a good thing. It is
something unique in American colleges and univer
sities. It is something which every Aggie will be
proud to be a part of.
Here’s hoping that the faculty stamps OK and
gives a go-ahead signal on the proposed Student Aid
Fund.
Miss Abby Burgess is the thirty-first member
of her family to attend Brown university. Her
father is a faculty member.
A report estimates Dartmouth pin-ball play
ers shoot 6,000,000 balls a year.
Vunise Barrow, sister of heavyweight champ
ion Joe Louis, is attending the University of Mich
igan.
A new species of oak, first distinctly new tree
found east of the Mississippi in 75 years, has been
discovered by Dr. Wilbur H. Duncan, University of
Georgia botanist.
Catholic University of America has added 31
new members to its teaching staff.
—Associated Collegiate Press
Man, Your Manners
BY I. SHERWOOD
The Welcome Guest
CONSIDERATION, ADAPTABILITY and tact
are the principal qualities of a gracious guest—one
whom any host or hostess is delighted to entertain.
Faculty members are always glad for cadets to
visit them in their homes, but when you call do
not over-stay your welcome—a call of thirty minutes
is long enough. Never stay longer than an hour
after dinner unless entertainment has been pro
vided.
Answering Invitations: Your reply should be
prompt and if the invitation is written, it is per
missible to use your visiting card by putting in the
left corner “With pleasure” and under that the date
of the dinner or party. To decline write “Regrets”
and the date below. If you have no visiting cards,
your answer should be in the third person.
Mr. Philip Laird
accepts with pleasure
or (regrets that he is unable to accept)
Mr. and Mrs. John Smiths’
kind invitation for
Saturday the twenty second of May
at seven o’clock
When you do not know what to wear you
should inquire to make sure.
Your Arrival: Arriving too early is almost as
bad as arriving too late. You should time your ar
rival according to the type of party. One should
arrive for dinner about five minutes before the
specified time. Guests are expected for informal
parties about twenty minutes after the stated time.
At the Party: If host or hostess does not greet
you at the door, pay your respects to them as soon
as possible.
At very large parties you may converse with
anyone without being introduced.
Be careful of the hostess’s possessions. If you
break something, apologize but don’t dwell on it.
Later send her a duplicate, if possible.
Be a clean smoker. Don’t leave a trail of messy
ash trays as you go from place to place in the home.
Your Departure: A guest should know when
to go home without waiting for someone else to
make the move.
At a large party say goodbye to those close by.
At a small party or dinner tell your host and hostess
goodbye, the honor guest, if there is one, and the
hostess’s family.
Thank them by saying “Thank you so much”
or “I’ve had such a nice time”.
As the World Turns...
BY DR. R. W. STEEN
IT IS DIFFICULT to understand all of the excite
ment over the opinions of Colonel Lindbergh. He has
proved himself to be a competent pilot, and he is
doubtless an authority on matters pertaining to
aviation. His opinions on such matters doubtless
deserve careful consideration. There is, however,
nothing in his training or experience that qualifies
him as an expert in foreign policy.
• As an American citizen he is en
titled to have opinions and to ex
press them freely. Some Americans
will agree with him, others will
p| disagree. All of that is to be ex
pected, but there is no reason why
his opinion on foreign affairs
should be worth any more than
the opinion of the average diplo
mat on matters of aviation—and
no one would care to ride in a plane
Steen built and operated by diplomats.
Colonel Lindbergh himself
seems a bit confused about the whole situation. He
is convinced that Britain can not win, and that
America has nothing to fear from an Axis victory.
At the same time he favors a comprehensive pre
paredness program. If we have nothing to fear
from an Axis victory, then against whom are we to
prepare? Surely we are not to fear any of the pow
ers already beaten. Surely we are not to fear a
defeated Britain. Could it be that Lindbergh himself
lacks confidence in this “Wave of the Future” which
is being sponsored by national leaders who gained
their positions by the tactics of gangsters, and who
continue to use such tactics.
Hitler and Mussolini have met again, and the
result this time seems to be a plan for a unified
command of the Axis forces. It is easy to believe
that such a plan might have been formulated, and
it is just as easy to believe that when it is put into
effect Italy will have very little to say as to what
is going on. Incidentally, the Italian empire in
Africa is rapidly ceasing to exist. A well organized
revolt is getting under way in Ethiopia, and British
troops are having no little success in taking over
other portions of the empire. The Italian empire
seems doomed. If Britain wins Italy will not get
the territory back. If Germany wins she will prob
ably take the lands as compensation for assistance
given to Italy. From all present indications, Musso
lini made a serious mistake when he entered the
war last summer on the assumption that all was
over except writing the peace terms.
%■
"It’s sporting of you, Miss Murphy, admitting you were wrong
about that arithmetic problem."
BACKWASH
Bg
George fuermann
“Backwash: An agitation resalting from some action or occurrence.”—Webster.
Concerning Examinations and
Term Reports ... .A few of the
answers and statements received by
the profs where exams and term
themes are concerned are a little
on the goofy side. An agronomy
student, for ex
ample, recently
had the following
to say about a
dust mulch: “The
dust mulch theory
is nothing more
than )a panacea
cure-all or remedy
for all ills which
are so often advo
cated by high-
Fuermann powered salesmen
medicine men
and college professors.” . . . And
here’s a new conception of seed
germination and growth as ex
pounded by another agronomy stu
dent: “The seed are planted in
good soil. The germ side of the
seed is fertilized by the fertilizer
in the soil and begins to grow.”
. . .And here’s a few answers re
ceived on a recent history quiz:
“The person asking to be natural
ized must not be an alien.” . • . .
“To be a citizen of a state a cit
izen must not be a citizen before
he can become a citizen.” . . . .“A
minor is not allowed to vote un
less he is at least 21 years of age.”
. . . Unique was the occurance at
Sunday’s tour duty. One offender,
assigned to do the full two-hour
stretch, showed up with 30-odd tur
key sandwiches which freshmen in
his military organization had made
from the dinner’s left-overs. At
the half-time, while cadets were
resting from their Devil’s Island
duties, the sandwiches were passed
out as far as they would go. . . .
Seniors who contributed Vanity
Fair candidates for the 1941 Long
horn have one chance in three and
a half of winning- Twenty-nine en
tries were sent Cecil B. deMille
yesterday afternoon by Joe Jones,
manager of the section.
• • •
An Explanation
Saturday’s Backwash contained an
item which alleged that within a
few weeks, a near-scandal would
be exposed involving three of the
college’s highest student body of
ficials. The item stated that the
expose would be based on capital
ization of student executive pos
itions.
The item also stated, “Backwash
may be wrong on this tip.”
Backwash was wrong—complete
ly. It’s not difficult to apologize
for a thing of this kind, and the
facts are these. Last Wednesday
night six seniors and a civilian
came to the writer with off-the-
record information concerning an
alleged scheme whereby three
prominent students were capital
izing on their executive positions.
The seven men asked the writer to
help in the investigation. The writer
refused.
The following night (Thursday),
two of the six seniors again re
turned with the information that
they would have the necessary facts
within 60 days. “Would The Battal
ion publish these facts?” they
asked. The writer explained that
the facts would be published as
a news story contingent to two
things. First, their accuracy, and,
second, the decision of The Battal
ion’s editor-in-chief.
The writer however published the
tip on the basis of having an ad
vance “scoop” for the column.
The item was altogether unfound
ed—as investigation by competent
authorities has plainly shown—
and the writer was in gross error
in publishing the statement;
• • •
Scoop
Most books which have been writ
ten about journalism and journal
ists are full of better-than-average
anecdotes illustrating the ups and
downs of the Fourth Estate. Wit
ness Stanley Walker’s fine book,
“City Editor,” or Oliver Gramling’s
“The Story of News-”
The latter book contains one of
the best of the lot. The story cen
ters on a tour of the U. S. which
was made some years ago by Sara
Bernhardt. One day she was in
terviewed by a young AP corres
pondent, Sam Davis, for his own
paper, the Carson (Nev.) Appeal,
the San Francisco Examiner, and
for AP. The actress liked Davis so
much that, when her train was
ready to leave, she put her hands
on his shoulders, kissed him on each
cheek and then squarely on the
mouth, saying, “The right cheek
is for the Carson Appeal, the left
cheek for the Examiner, and the
lips, my friend, for yourself.”
Knowing a good thing when it
came his way, Davis exclaimed,
“Madam, I also represent the As
sociated Press, which serves 380
papers west of the Mississippi
River alone!”
“ESCAPE” is a picture you will
want to see before the hard grind
of finals sets in. The picture may
leave a depressed feeling after you
have seen it but it is plenty good.
Here is enough suspense.in this
production to frazzle the nerves
of a stone statue. Robert Taylor is
trying to rescue his mother from
the authorities in Germany and
smuggle her out of the country,
and he really has the devil of a
time. In the first place he doesn’t
find out she is a German prisoner
until a few days before she is sup
posed to be executed, and in the
second place he has to cause her
artificial death to get the body
and then revive her and whisk her
away.
The director couldn’t have picked
a better countess than Norma
Shearer. She has an aristocratic,
sophisticated air if there ever was
one. And when she has her hair
done in an overhead braid, she
looks like nobility itself.
The ruthlessness of the Nazis is
the villain of the story. The Ger
man general involved works with
a machine-like Prussian personal
ity, and there is a little Nazi doctor
who is sympathetic with their ef
forts but rather helpless and
afraid of the long arm of the Ges
tapo. The picture wasn’t really
meant to be propaganda but it
helps.
Hugh Herbert is down at the
Campus in “SLIGHTLY TEMPT
ED.” He can’t even resist being
tempted at all though; he plays
the part of a kleptomaniac who
hasn’t got conscience pang 1. This
rather irks his pretty daughter,
Peggy Moran. Herbert “woo-woo’s”
his way through this show like he
does all his others. That is just a
silly little mannerism of his that
you can’t forget, but there are lots
of silly little school girls that you
can’t forget either but you don’t
have to like them.
WHATS SHOWING
AT THE ASSEMBLY HALL
Tuesday 3:30 & 6:45—
“SKY MURDER,” with Wal
ter Pidgeon and Donald Meek.
Wednesday, Thursday 3:30
& 6:45—“ESCAPE,” starring
Norma Shearer, Robert Tay
lor, Conrad Veidt, Felix Bras-
sart, Bonita Granville, Albert
Basserman and Phillip Dorn.
AT THE CAMPUS
Tuesday — “SLIGHTLY
TEMPTED,” with Hugh Her
bert, Peggy Moran, Johnny
Downs and George Stone.
Wednesday, Thursday —
“I’M NOBODY’S SWEET
HEART NOW,” with Dennis
O’Keefe, Constance Moore,
Henel Paris and Samuel S.
Hinds.
MUSICAL MEANDERINGS
By Murray Evans
Glenn Miller continues to be the
number one band in the estimation
of this department. He rightfully
boasts the finest reed section in
the business, and has made it the
distinguishing feature of his style.
With a liberal use of clarinets and
a full, yet soft background, he has
developed more than one sparkling
arrangement, and these to the de
spair of all imitators. Ray Eberley
handles the vocals in blue ribbon
style. His rendition of “There I
Go” is strictly super-duper. Iron
ically enough, I heard a north Tex
as station play “Moonlight Sere
nade” this last week end. Miller
himself can’t use this, his own
theme, on radio!
If ‘Practice Makes Perfect” there
ought to be droves of ultra-fine
bands by the time this music feud
is over. To quote one musician, “It
was good the first 345,634% times
I heard it.” Maybe it ought to be
called “BMI Blues!”
Once in a great while some name
band reaches down into the hill
billy grab bag, scores some simple
old la-deda tune and elevates it
into something altogether worth
while. Wayne King is a current ex
ample, and his “You Are My Sun
shine” stacks favorably with the
best of the present day ditties.
(Which, at the moment, isn’t any
thing to rave about.) King puts
plenty of sugar-coated sunshine
into this one with a violin quartet
that catches the ear.
Fluorescent Lights Is
Topic of Committee Meeting
The use of flourescent lamps
in the dormitories and ways of help
ing students do more studying
were the main subjects discussed
at the last Student Welfare Com
mittee supper.
L. L. Fouraker of the Electri
cal Engineering Department, is
head of a committee doing research
on the advantages of flourescent
lights. As soon as the findings
are complete the Student Welfare
Committee will decide whether
Flourescent lamps will be used in
A. & M. next year.
The Student Welfare Committee
is composed of 41 members, includ
ing students and teachers. Each
class and The Battalion has a rep
resentative on this committee.
CAMPUS
15c to 5 p.m. — 20c after
TODAY~ONLY
A
hiomh-do'NM
tomorrow' - j
DENIS O'KEEFE
CONSTANCE MOORE
—in—
UNIVERSAL
Assembly Hall
Last Day — 3:30 and 6:45
"Sky Murder"
—also—
“Homeless Flea ,, - “Wedding Bills ,,
News
Wednesday - Thursday — 3:30 & 6:45
Ethel Vance's sensa
tional best-seller
springs to stirring life
on the screen...aflame
with all the suspense
... the breathless ro- **** CONRAD VEIDT
SHEAREM
NAZIMOVA
FELIX BRESSART • ALBERT BASSERMANN
mance... that thrilled philip dorn • bonita granville
.... , , Directed by MERVYN LeROY
a million readers! a mervyn uroy production
Short—“Eyes of the Navy”
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