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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 13, 1941)
Page 2- THE BATTALION The Battalion STUDENT TRI-WEEKLY NEWSPAPER TEXAS A. & M. COLLEGE The Battalion, official newspaper of the Agricultural and ■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. 1940 Member 1941 Associated Colle6iate Press Bob Nisbet Editor-in-Chief George Fuermann , Associate Editor Keith Hubbard Advertising Manager Tom Vannoy Editorial Assistant Pete Tumlinson Staff Artist J. B. Pierce, Phil Levine Proof Readers Sports Department Hub Johnson Sports Editor Bob Myers Assistant Sports Editor Mike Haikin, Jack Hollimon, W. F. Oxford , Junior Sports Editors Circulation Department Tommy Henderson Circulation Manager W. G. Hauger, E. D. Wilmeth .... Assistant Circulation Managers F. D. Asbury, E. S. Henard Circulation Assistants Photography Department Phil Golman Photographic Editor G. W. Brown, John Carpenter, Joe Golman, Jack Jones Assistant Photographers THURSDAY’S EDITORIAL STAFF George Fuermann Acting Managing Editor George Woodman Assistant Advertising Manager Junior Editors Tom Gillis D. C. Thurman V. A. Yentzen Reportorial Staff Lamar Haines, John May, Z. A. McReynolds, J. D. Mehe- gan, L. B. Tennison, Mike Speer, James F. Wright. Shavetails for a Year TWELVE MONTHS active duty immediately upon graduation! That is quite a blow to seniors ex pecting to fill jobs at the end of the current sem ester. It means that these seniors will have to mark time for a year or, to put it differently, take time out from their life plans to serve for a year in the army. “Take time out” is an appropriate phrase, because in the form the seniors are now filling out there is no indication that these boys who are going into active duty have any chance of continuing in the army. This much can be said of the new orders. It is at least comforting to know one way or another what is about to happen. Hitting in the dark and planning in advance for other things with active duty hanging imminent is much worse than know ing even being called. And the fact that the active duty is coming immediately after completion of the advanced course has the advantage of fixing things whereby the June graduates will have facts to present their respective employers instead of vague supposit ions. It will also have the advantage of giving them their year of active duty immediately and not at some other time, which unplanned for, might not be at all convenient with respect to a job. There is only this question to be raised about the situation. What assurance can we as Reserve Commissioned Second Lieutenants have that our term of active duty will not be extended indefinite ly once we are in. Rightly enough, the form calls for twelve months’ active duty, but can we' bank on that? Another question will be upon what grounds or what consideration will be used as a basis for de- ferrment. Will students be permitted to complete their college education in case they do not grad uate or in case they desire to do graduate work? These and other questions can only be answered by the War Department and will probably be ans wered for individual cases and not in general terms. Before it can be said that college graduates with reserve commissions are beefing about active duty when other not-so-fortunate individuals of the same age are now serving the same time as conscripts or draftees and living the lives of en listed men, let us add that there can be no dis senting comment from A. & M. on the necessity for serving the country. A. & M. men are more than glad to do their share and are willing to make endless sacrifices in case these sacrifices are needed. For some boys a year’s active duty will be a welcome blessing and in any case, A. & M. boys have no cause for crying. Think how much worse things could be or could get. Uncle Sam, please tell us Aggies what it is you want done and when and where (we do not even bother at this stage of the game to ask why) be fore you give us the word “go”. What Now for France? EFFECTIVENESS of General Charles de Gaulle’s Free French forces in aiding the British in their African successes, continued rumblings from Vichey and P^ris, and the growing belief in well-informed circles that Marshal Retain and Reichsfuehrer Hitler are heading for a showdown, have served to focus attention once more on the situation in which con quered France finds herself. Undergraduate students of foreign affairs in the United States feel that France’s role is still destined to be important, de spite the fact that Petain’s regime has virtually no alternative to complete collaboration with the con querors. At Iowa State college, the Daily Student waxes skeptical in calling attention to Petain’s recent as sertion that France is a soverign nation, vested with the duty of defending her soil, extinguishing divergences of opinion and reducing dissidences of the colonies. “According to the French official,” continues the Student, “an agreement was made for the two countries (France and Germany) to collaborate in rebuilding a crippled France. Hitler ‘forced one to no dictate; no pressure,’ Petain said. Maybe so,” observes the Iowa publication, “but somehow it just doesn’t ring true. The stigma of ^rlitler’s propagandists methods seems to taint Pe- I Jn’s every word. It is hard to believe that Hitler V«^Vt shape the rebuilding of France as he wants “Twt Collet® University Daily Kansan joins in the view .he French government, totalitarian since its cs with Germany, has little choice but to to whatever terms may be offered by the Axis in peace negotiations, regardless of the conse quences—chief of which would probably be a decla ration of war on Great Britain. And a declaration of war on its traditional ally would precipitate a breach of diplomatic contact with the United States and South American nations which Petain considers essential to France’s welfare in regard to hoped-for and much-needed food supplies.” It is pointed out by the Cornell Daily Sun that “with France unwillingly, or otherwise, lining up with the Axis powers, the question of her colonies has come back into the news. President Roosevelt is reported to have warned the Vichy government that further signs of military co-operation between Germany and France may result in this country seizing Martinique and French Guiana. But there are other elements in our affairs with France. Most important, there is Dakar, in French West Africa, a port which an offened France might turn over to Germany. This base on the South Atlantic, some 1,800 miles from Brazil, in event of an Axis victory would be a seat of operations for any attempt at penetration of this hemisphere. It is, of course, out of the question for our navy to go over to Africa and occupy every potential ‘enemy’ point of operations. Nevertheless, the fact remains that the president will have to consider the role of Dakar, in any decision which will determine future relations with France.” Thus, while formal United States friendship for France continues, the con census of collegiate editorial thought is that Ger many will tighten its iron grip on France and that the prostrate Vichy government will be forced to assume a key role in Hitler’s attempt at world rev olution. —Associated Collegiate Press Something To Read BY DR. T. F. MAYO American Publishing Trends A RECENT SURVEY in The Publisher’s Weekly shows that in 1940, less than half as many books on Philosophy and Ethics were published in the United States as in 1920. This, however, was the only class of books which did not increase. Games and Sports jumped 202%; Education, 214%; Bus iness 139-%; Biography, 127%; Sociology and Eco nomics, 121%; Fine Arts, 122%; Science, 113%; Agriculture, 107%; Music, 101%; Technical books, 73%; Philology, 63%; Poetry and Drama, 62%; History, 58%; Fiction, 54'%. Eyery man may interpret these figures in his own fashion. To your writer, it is disheartening to note that America is absorbing fewer and fewer books of philosophy and ethics. It makes him wonder if the schools and colleges are producing or even trying to produce good and thoughtful human beings, equipped and habituated to seeing life steadily and seeing it whole. He wonders also, however, whether other types of literature (such as drama, biography, and fiction) do not nowadays contain more “philo sophy and ethics” than they used to. If this is true, then the drop in the number of books specifically in this field need not be quite so alarming. As the World Turns. BY “COUNT” V. K. SUGAREFF LABOR STRIKES retard the National Defense Pro gram. Organized and often unorganized laborers go on strike as a last resort to obtain higher wages. Other demands of labor, such as better working con ditions and shorter working days, have been se cured either by state or national legislation. Labor has made great progress in the last generation. There was a time when economists thought that poverty was nomal and that their own law of wages (subsistence wages) was a natural law. It was nature’s respon sibility to care for the laborers. Then came the theory that industry is responsible for labor and a series of laws were passed to protect the laborers, namely, the child labor Sugareff law, the workmen’s compensation act, and others. We have entered a new stage in the status of labor. In 1936 the Democratic Party plat form stated, “We hold this truth to be self-evident— that the government in a modern civilization has cer tain inescapable obligations to its citizens, among which are: (1) Protection of the family and home; (2) Establishment of democracy of opportunity for all the people; (3) Aid to those overtaken by dis aster.” The present administration has accepted the “inescapable obligation” in regard to labor. The Wagner Relations Act, the Wages and Hours Act, and the Social Security Act tend to strengthen la bor’s position as an important factor in our eco nomic life. Even the injunction has been brushed aside as a corrective measure against striking la borers. Forty-eight million wage-earners, many of them voters, are worth catering to if one wants to win an election. During an industrial pick-up strikes are a normal condition, but during the present crisis strikes should be, and can be, minimized. Efforts are already under way to improve labor-employer relations. Our Diplomatic Front Is Active. President Roose velt broke another precedent and went out into Chesapeake Bay to welcome Lord Halifax, Britain’s new envoy. It was a friendly gesture by our chief executive to the English people. Such diplomatic acts on the part of responsible officials often def initely influence the relationships of nations. What President Roosevelt can not do in person he does through personal emisarries. Col. William Donovan (“Wild Bill” Donovan) is now somewhere in the Near East. Has been with the British forces on the African front, and has, also, visited the Balkan capitals and had interviews with the leading states men there. He is likely conveying messages to these people to the effect that the U. S. will aid England with all possible speed. Harry Hopkins is in London to find out the most effective ways by which we can help England. Lanchlin Currie is in China and has conferred with Chiang Kai-shek concerning economic aid to China in her war against Japan. A word of warning or encouragement here and there may forestall or even prevent military action. Diplomacy is our first line of national defense. £= m Sr f f" f 3 f f f pl S51 ill pi i! Hi mm f f f \ r UNIVERSITY OF 5AM MARCOS’ LIMA. PERU, IS THE OLDEST UNIVERSITY IN THE AMERICAS / IT WAS ESTABLISHED • • • IN 1571 • • • • BUCKSHOT- GALLAUDET COLLEGE (WASHINGTON ,00.) IS THE ONLY COLLEGE FOR THE DEAF IN THE WORLD/ Prs COVERING^ _ _ fCAHRIStWM TOM GILUS v 0-v , p For light musical comedy, go to see “IRENE,” the benefit show for the Accounting Society at the Assembly Hall Friday. It has a gay lilting swing and some good technicolor shots which puts it up as a good, light-hearted musical. Anna Neagle, the red-headed British actress, has the part of Irene. As a society clothes model, she is forced to wear an old Alice Blue gown of hers to an upper- crust party. The producers wisely ran into a technicolor sequence to get the gorgeous appearance of her red hair and the Alice Blue gown and she really wows them. Anna is just a slender little wisp of a girl and she does a smooth dipping dance number to the tune of “Alice Blue Gown.” The tune is repeated throughout the show in several different moods from swing to dreamy waltz. Another catchy little musical se lection the title tune “Irene.” You will probably find yourself coming out of the show whistling one or the other of these little musical numbers. Ray Milland, long a leading man for Dorothy Lamour, has the lead ing male role. He owns the store that Anna models for but that is barely enough to help him win her away from Alan Marshall in the nick of time. Little Anna is easily qnd justifiably the main character in this light musical comedy. The third foreign film under the sponsorship of the Campus Film Club is showing at the Campus Theater at 8:30 tonight. This time it is a British film, “NIGHT TRAIN.” There is a little bit of propaganda mixed into this one which is a running spy story in front of a war background. The British handle the situation with a suspense that is almost madden ing. WHATS SHOWING AT THE ASSEMBLY HALL Thursday 3:30 & 6:45— “YOU’LL FIND OUT,” fea turing Kay Kyser, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff, Dennis O’Keefe and Helen Parrish. Friday 3:30 & 6:45— “IRENE,” starring Anna Neagle, Ray Milland, Roland Young, Alan Marshall, May Robson and Billie Burke. Benefit of the Accounting Society. AT THE CAMPUS Thursday—“KID NIGHT ENGALE,” with John Payne, Jane Wyman, Walter Catlett and Ed Brophy. Thursday 8:30—“NIGHT TRAIN,” featuring Margaret Lockwood, Rex Harrison, Paul von Hernreid and Mau rice Oster. Friday, Saturday—“HUD SON BAY,” starring Paul Muni, Gene Tierney and Laird Cregar. Did You Know This Campus Was Under Lots of Water Once There was a day when the pres ent sites of Denton, Temple, San Antonio and Del Rio were coastal areas, cooled by breezes from the Gulf of Mexico. The campus, then, was covered by water and was not ready to rise by silt deposits from the gulf for 150 million years. A large geological map of Texas, which shows the influence of water on the state, has been placed on display at the museum and is in tended to show the different kinds of rocks and something of their distribution over a given area. This has been done by the use of color, the darker colors indicating older and the lighten colors indicating the more recent series of rock formations. This map of the geol ogy of Texas is based on more re cent information. The name and color are given in explanatory col umns. The distribution of these formations is plotted on the map. -THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1941 50,000 Additional Hitch-Hikers , Cards Available at YMCA Copying an idea from Eastern colleges, the Y.M.C.A. has print ed more than fifty thousand ad ditional hitch-hikers’ “Thank You” cards to be carried by Aggies and to be given to the driver of each car in which he rides. The Y.M.C.A. print ed similar cards last year. These small maroon and white cards are about 2x3 inches in size. On one side they contain a small note of thanks and consid eration and on the other side a blank space for the Aggie to fill in his name and address in case the driver ever passes through College Station. “The cards may be secured, free of charge, from the desks at either the old or new Y.M.C.A.,” assis tant secretary J. Gordon Gay said yesterday. You may return books bought from LOUPOT’S if you don’t need them, one week after purchase. The sustained excitement will get on your nerves as the plot chase's from Czecho-Slovakia to England to Germany to Switzerland behind a scientist who knows how to make a new type of steel plate. There is spying and counter- spying but the suspense itself is suspended for a time while two English gentlemen stop in the tens est moments to discuss the most unimportant trivialities. The prim and pretty British hero ine of this film is not entirely un familiar to American audiences; she is saucy Margaret Lockwood. Through some blundering on her part, the suspense of the show is heightened, and beauty in distress is always interesting. Attention Housewives! These new IMPERIAL tables have character and charm. Not only this, but they change existing into enjoyable living . . . Surround yourself with convenient little tables. IMPERIAL’S great line is at your disposal at— MCCULLOCH-DANSBY CO. COMPLETE HOME FURNISHERS Bryan Phone 2-5164 MUSICAL MEANDERINGS 1 I * By Murray Evans If somebody should happen to ask me, point-blank, what I think about feminine vocalists in gen eral, I would say it in one word, “Putrid!” Then I would hedge a bit and make discourse something like the following: “Of course there are some ex ceptions that almost convert me. Now you take Maxine Sullivan, for instance. She’s black, but her voice has quality that ranks sec ond to none. So I would place her first among lady sparrows. Say, do you remember when she out- sang Dorothey LaMour all over the ring in “St. Louis Blues”? You don’t? Well, when she started sing ing, the show got quiet, and she held everybody spell-bound until the last note. She did it only be cause of her singing, too, because after all she is a Negro and not especially a voluptuous one at that. Now, if I were pinned to it, I would describe her vocals in two words, plaintive and wistful. Next to Maxine I’m bound to place luscious Alice Faye among my exceptions; else my conscience would bother me nights. She has a generous, soft mouth that always looks like a Cupid’s heart, and the way she forms words with it makes you envy Tony Martin to his low est vest button. Her diction is something over which to marvel, and her voice is low, vibrant and rich. But she has beauty to help put her songs over, beauty which soars far above the common Fanny Fry prettiness. She can put more affection into one look than any femme, besides youre ‘one and on ly,’ of course. Of a certainty. (Em phasized, to keep from getting in hot water.) To say it all in a few words, Faye’s vocals are magnetic, and appealing to the eye as well as to the ear. But these two be exceptions. Think, if you will, of Marlene Dietrich, Sigrid Gurie, Claudette Colbert as they struggle through a musical score so pathetically, and then agree with me that the mill- run of women vocalists are just not up to par.” fufure fife teach for the \ TELEPHONE Phi Beta Kappa key lost several years ago by Harry M. Hubble, professor of Greek at Yale, was found the other day behind a book in the West Haven town clerk’s office. No matter what line of business you go into after graduation, you’ll find the telephone a powerful aid. If you’re in the selling end, the telephone will help you to save time, cover more prospects more frequently, increase sales and decrease selling costs. If your work has to do with purchasing, distribution, production, administration or collections, the telephone will help you to get things done faster at low cost. Bell System service is so valuable to business because it meets so many varying needs. WHY NOT GIVE THE FAMILY A RING TONIGHT? LONG DISTANCE RATES TO MOST POINTS ARE LOWEST AFTER 7 P. M. ANY NIGHT—ALL DAY SUNDAY. n f * .4 * > / i v » r > f r* ♦ v 'Ofc ■ip * f * 0 * i *