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
YOL. 40 122 ADMINISTRATION BLDG. COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS, SATURDAY MORNING, MARCH 22, 1941
Z725
NO. 66
Sophomores Will Be Given ROIC Contracts in May
Senate Amends Bill; Reduces Dormitories from Six to Four
New Office
Building Is
Also Provided For
Bill Must Go
Before Conference
Committee for Approval
A bill authorizing’ construction of
four new dormitories was passed
by the Texas Senate Wednesday,
according to information received
here from Senator J. Alton York
of Bryan. If
Included in the bill were pro
visions for an office building and
extensions to the light and power
plant. The bill was passed unani
mously by the Senate.
The bill authorizing the con
struction of the dormitories origi
nally provided for six, but an
amendment reducing the number
to four was made by Senator York.
Te amendment was made at the
request of the legislative commit
tee of the Board of Directors con
sisting of E. J. Kiest and Joe Utay,
Dallas, A. H. Demke, Stephenville,
and R. W. Briggs, San Antonio.
Immediate needs of the college are
for four dormitories, and Senator
York’s amendment was made.
The dormitory and office build
ing bill passed by the Senate will
go to a conference committee in
order to get one bill satisfactory
for passage through both houses.
It is considered probable by Sen
ator York that the Senate bill will
(Continued on Page 3)
New Defense
Training Course
To Start April 15
Another of the intensive train
ing courses in the interests of na
tional defense will be offered at
A-. & M, April 15 and continue for
12 weeks, according to an announce
ment made here by J. T. L. Mc-
New, head of the college’s civil
engineering department and in
stitutional representative for engi
neering defense training.
The instruction in the course,
called structural drafting, is de
signed to train men for the posi
tion of draftsman in industry and
qualify them for similar positions
under federal civil service, McNew
explained.
Qualifications for admission are
two and one-half years of an engi
neering school course, including
elementary mechanics and strength
of materials.
There will be no matriculation
or tuition cost to the students en
rolling other than the cost of their
books, drafting materials and main
tenance. They will live in one of
the campus dormitories and take
their meals in the college dining
halls at an estimated cost of $25
a month for the full time of the
course.
Reservoir
Conference to Be
Conducted by Millikan
C. V. Millikan, chief petroleum
engineer, Amerada Petroleum cor
poration and special lecturer to
the department of petroleum engi
neering at A. & M., will conduct a
three-day conference on reservoir
conditions in oil fields at the col
lege, April 16-18, Harold Vance,
Head of the college’s department
of petroleum engineering, has an
nounced.
In addition to his morning, af
ternoon and evening lectures Milli
kan will conduct round table dis
cussions on problems brought to
the conference by other petroleum
engineers and students in that field.
A conference on production of
oil by gas lift method will follow
this conference and will continue
for two days, April 18-19. Papers
read by outstanding petroleum en
gineers and round table discussions
will be held over the two-day con
ference.
Weekend’s Music Maker
Maestro Boyd Raeburn is in charge of the music on the campus
this weekend. He and his orchestra played for the Composite Ball
Friday night. They will also play for the corps dance tonight.
A & M’s Project House System
Has Enabled 5000 Boys to Get Education
Action Will Keep Sophs
Out of Draft This Summer
Ag Day Date
Is Definitely
Set for May 3
Program
.Will Highlight
Week’s Activities
May 3 has been unanimously
designated as the date for Ag Day
following a meeting of E. J. Kyle,
dean of the school of agriculture,
the heads of the agricultural En
gineering lecture room.
The amendment was made at the
the heads of the agricultural de
partments, and student represent
atives from the various agricultur
al clubs, Thursday afternoon
in the Agricultural Engineer
ing lecture room. The decis
ion was made following the pre
sentation of a petition signed by
representatives of the various clubs
with the exception of the Agricul
tural Economics Clubs, the Ac
counting and Statistics Society and
the Rural Sociology Club.
The petition called for the chang
ing of the event from May 10 to
May 1 and also provided that it
should extend from the noon of
May 1 through May 3. After some
discussion, the petition was am-
mended to designate May 3 only
as Ag Day because of the short
time remaining before the desig
nated date.
“It is hoped that it will be pos
sible to secure a prominent off-
the-campus speaker for Thursday
night, May 1,” Dean Kyle said at
the meeting. This will prelude a
week-end of activities which will
include Federal Inspection review
on Thursday afternoon, a baseball
game on the afternoon of Friday,
May 2, with the Cotton Ball, Pag
eant, and Style Show that night,
all of which will culminate in Ag
Day on Saturday, May 3.
The various departments have
unofficially submitted programs
for the day. As planned, each de
partment will arrange a booth in
cooperation with the other depart
ments which will show the extent
and scope of each department. Ten
tatively planned are booths to be
placed on the third floor of the
Agricultural Engineering building.
In addition, each department will
sponsor tours which will include
the horticulture farm, the poultry
farm, the animal husbandry farms,
etc.
In cooperation, the Kream and
Kow Klub is changing the date of
the annual Spring Dairy Show,
which it sponsors each year, from
April 26 to May 3. A full day’s
activities is planned and will in
clude a cheese display and sale, a
milking contest, competition in
dairy classes, and the presentation
of Posephine Emmerglad III, train
ed Holstein cow which will provide
entertainment and humor.
Junior Education
Program Is Not
To Be Accelerated
Added Education
Cost Is Reason
Given for the Decision
Engineering education for jun
ior students is not to be accelerated
and they will not be required
to attend summer school this sum
mer for the purpose of early
graduation an announcement re
ceived Thursday from the U. S.
Commissioner of Education reveal
ed. The announcement was made
as a result of recommendations
from the Selective Service Com
mission, the Civil Service Commis
sion, the departments of the Army
and Navy, and the Office of Pro
duction Management and others.
The reason given for the decision
against accelerating engineering
education as stated by the Com
missioner was that the cost esti
mate of $500 per student for a
probable saving of three months
could not be justified to Congress
in view of the present needs.
As regards deferment of junior
R. O. T. C. students for the pur
pose of attending the accelerated
program, the national headquarters
of the Selective Service System
maintains that they are legally un
able to make any special recom
mendations as Congress was spe
cific and clear in its prohibition
against group deferments.
The proposal to accelerate the
curricula for junior engineering
students in order that they might
graduate early next year was made
to the Advisory Committee on En
gineering Defense Training of the
United States Office of Education
by a special committee of the S.P.
E.E. after a survey of 135 colleges
and universities throughout the
nation.
Fund Money to Be
Turned in Sunday
First sergeants and project house
managers are asked to turn in
money received from the sale of
the Student Aid Fund’s benefit
picture show tickets Sunday after
noon between 1 and 4 o’clock in
The Battalion office, room 122,
Administration building, Chairman
George Fuermann said Friday af
ternoon.
A member of the Student Aid
Fund committee will be in the of
fice throughout the three-hour per
iod and, in the event that any first
sergeants or project house man
agers are unable to check-in in
person,' they have been asked to
send someone in their place.
Another check-in period will be
held Thursday afternoon, March
27, at the same hours in order to
check in money and the surplus of
tickets remaining after the last
showing Wednesday afternoon.
A Battalion Feature
Largest of the American colle
giate world's cooperative housing
projects is Texas A. & M.’s so-
called project house system.
Organized in 1932 by Daniel A.
Russell, head of the college’s rural
sociology department, it began in
what A. & M. cadets had dubbed
a haunted house. Ten students
made up the charter group.
Today, with more than 500 men
living in 16 modern homes, plus
another 300 cadets living in county
project houses located near the
campus, the average monthly cost
for room and board is approxi
mately $18 per man.
A two-fold reason can be as
signed to the decrease in project
house population. First, college of
ficials and the A. & M. board of
directors have long sought to bring
the cost of living in the dormitories
to the same level as the cost of liv
ing in project houses. By Decem
ber, 1940, this fact was almost ac
complished and, today, the dif
ference in the two costs is less
than $75 a year.
Added to that is the fact that
the cost of living in the project
hauses has gone up slightly in the
past two years. Increased food
costs and rental on new houses are
the two main reasons for this fac
tor.
Although the largest A. & M.
cooperative unit houses 89 men
(the $20,000 American Legion
house), the 15 standard homes—all
built alike—take care of 32 men
each.
Men living in the cooperative
homes belong to regular military
organizations, but they also be
long to their own project house
units for the purpose of making
retreat and other formations.
The matrons are important cogs
in the project house wheels. As a
general rule hey’re middle-aged
women who are interested in boys
and—what’s more important—who
are good cooks.
The matron’s job is a big one.
She’s a sort of jack-of-all-trades
for her house. Where the cooking
is concerned she usually has a
negro assistant, but the burden of
the food-supplying job is on her
shoulders. Then, too, she occasional
ly mends the cadets’ clothes or
maybe she’s busy comforting a
homesick freshman.
Her title explains better than
anything else what he job is—the
men usually call her “mom.”
Where most things are concern
ed, life in a project house is little
different than dormitory life. But
in one connection there’s a great
deal of difference.
Every member of the house has
a certain duty or detail to do each
day. The jobs alternate so that by
the time a month has gone by a
cadet has done all of the jobs.
Washing or wiping dishes, set
ting the table, sweeping the halls,
cleaning up the yard and a dozen
other jobs are included in the daily
work.
Today, however, as the cost of
dormitory life is being pushed low
ed and lower, the importance of the
A. & M. project house system is
not as great as it once was, but
the cooperative system, observers
have pointed out, has been respon
sible for 5,000 Texans receiving a
college education who might other
wise not have done so.
Airport Plan
Progresses As
Certificate Issued
Airport Is
Declared Necessary
To National Defense
The A.^ & M. college airport is
necessary to national defense. This
fact was officially realized recently
by the issuance of a certificate of
Air Navigation Facility Necessity
by the Civil Aeronautics Adminis
tration.
“The air navigation facilities,
subject of the project, are reason
ably necessary for use in air com
merce and in the interest of na
tional defense,” is the wording of
the document.
This certificate means to the
college a large step in clearing the
way toward a W.P.A. grant of
$206,000 to be used in improve
ments and construction work on
the already established airport two
miles southwest of the college.
Improvements and construction
work contemplated include clear
ing, grubbing, grading and sodding
the landing field; installing a light
ing system and sewer and water
lines; constructing roads to the
field; paving the runways and per-
foxming incidental and appurten
ant work.
When the clearing and sodding
of the landing field is completed,
its total area will approximate 500
acres, and in this area the intent
is to pave a north-south runway
150 feet wide and 4085 feet in
length.
The project also calls for the
installation of basic lighting and
for contact lighting on the paved
north-south runway.
Funds for the project will come
from two sources in the federal gov.
ernment: a $75,000 grant from the
C.A.A. and a grant of $131,000
from the W.P.A.
The certificate issued recom
mending the project for national
defense has been granted covering
both funds.
The issuance of this certificate
is expected to hasten the approval
of the funds needed for work on
the airport to begin.
Marine Applicants to Be
Interviewed April 3 and 4
Lieutenant R. F. Meldrum, U. S.
Marine Corps, will visit the cam
pus April 3 and 4, to interview and
examine applicants for the Candi
dates’ Class of the Marine Corps
Reserve, according to an announce
ment from the military department
yesterday.
Lt. Meldrum will interview appli
cants from 9:30 to 4:30 each day
at a place to be announced later.
Physical Exams
To Be Given at
The Regular Time
In an unprecedented move,
Lieut. Col. James A. Watson, com
mandant, announced late Friday
afternoon that sophomores in good
standing would be assigned ad
vanced R. O. T. C. contracts late
in May.
Col. Watson based his statement
on authority received from the
War Department in Washington, D.
C. early this week.
Reason for the unique action is to
make it possible for those who
will normally receive contracts in
September to receive them early
enough to avoid being drafted dur
ing the summer months.
“This does not necessarily exempt
a man from the draft,” Col. Wat
son said, “but it is doubtful that
any draft board would enter a man
into the service knowing that he
had been given an advanced R. O.
T. C. standing.”
Physical examinations will not be
given until the usual time in Sept
ember, Col. Watson added.
Sophomores must be recommend
ed by their respective senior mili
tary science instructors and must
be scholastically eligible as is us
ually the case to be awarded a
contract in May.
“Although we have not worked
out all the details in this connec
tion,” Col. Watson said, “we ex
pect to have plans completed with
in a short time and will announce
them in considerable detail at that
time.”
A&M Concert
Band to Play in
Galveston Today
The A. & M. concert band will
leave today at 2 o’clock by char
tered bus to go to Galveston to
play a benefit concert for the Boy’s
Work committee, E. L. Wehner,
cadet major of the band, announc
ed yesterday.
The proceeds from this concert
will be used by the committee in
their attempt to lower the juvenile
delinquency rate in Galveston.
After the concert, the members
of the band will be entertained
with a private dance to be given
by the Galveston Rotary club.
Dates for those members without
dates have been arranged by C. E.
Wimberly, an ex-Aggie. Rooms
have been provided for the band in
private homes.
The selections to be played by
the band for the concert will be
semi-classical, Wehner said.
This is the second trip of the
year for the concert band, as it
went to Victoria, Feb. 22, to play
in the music festival held there
at that time.
The band will return to College
Station Sunday afternoon.
Cadet Review Honoring Thomason to Be Held This Morning at 11
Honoring Congressman Ewing- 1
Thomason, chairman of the House
Military Affairs Committee, a
mounted review of the cadet corps
will be held at 11 o’clock this
morning on the drill field west
of Goodwin Hall, the military de
partment announced yesterday.
Congressman Thomason is visit
ing the campus for the wedding of
his son, W. E. Thomason, to Miss
Patience Chance, daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. George E. Chance in
Bryan tonight.
' Classes will be suspended at 10
o’clock to permit cadets to par
ticipate in the review.
First call will be sounded at 10:
30, and assembly at 10:35 o’clock.
The order of units in line will
be the Band, Infantry regiment,
Field Artillery regiment, Composite-
regiment, Cavalry regiment, Engi
neer regiment, and Coast Artillery
regiment. A Battery Field Artillery
will attend as a horse drawn unit.
One battery of Field Artillery
will attend as a horse-drawn unit,
and one as a motorized battery.
One troop of the Cavalry will be
mounted also.
The uniform for the review will
be number one with white shirts.
Mounted units will wear breeches
and boots. Cadets not in proper
uniform will be reported absent
and not be allowed to participate
in the review.
The band will move west to
Throckmorton street, north to Lub
bock Street, west to Clark Street,
and on Lamar Street directly to its
position on the review field. The
■Infantry regiment will follow the-
Band.
The Field Artillery regiment will
move west to Coke Street, north
to Lamar street, west to Houston
street, north to Esplanade, until
opposite their place in line. The
Composite regiment will follow the
Field Artillery regiment. The Cav
alry regiment will follow the Com
posite regiment.
The Engineer regiment will move
south along Houston street and
follow the Cavalry regiment into
line.
After the Composite regiment
has cleared Guion Hall the Coast
Artillery Corps will move south
to Lamar Street, west to Hous
ton Street, and north to Esplan
ade, and follow the Engineer regi
ment into position into line.
Houston Symphony Concert Thursday
Was Best of Current Town Hall Series
A Battalion Review
With music critics the nation ov
er, there may be some question as
to whether the New York Phil
harmonic Symphony Orchestra, the
Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra
or half a dozen others is the na
tion’s No. 1 symphonic organiza
tion.
But there’s no question in the
minds of the Texas Aggies. Any
one of the 6500 cadets will tell you
in a hurry that his nod goes to
the Houston Symphony Orchestra.
The orchestra made its third ap-
•pearance at A. & M. in as many
years Thursday night. Traditioned
Guion Hall, where the orchestra
played, seats 2200 persons. That’s
why only 2200 Texas Aggies heard
the concert.
If the hall had 6500 seats in it,
there would have been 6500 Aggies
there.
At the behest of a roaring,
whistling, insistent cadet audience
Conductor Ernest Hoffman really
began the concert after the eigh;
regularly programed numbers had
(Continued on Page 3)
Marsteller Returns
From San Antonio
Deeply impressed by the con
structive work accomplished, Dr.
R. P. Marstellar, dean of the A.
& M. school of veterinary medi
cine, returned from San Antonio
after reading a paper before the
Texas and Southwestern Cattle
Raisers’ association.
“The cattle raisers’ association,
always one of the most progressive
organizations of its kind in the
entire United States, considered
some very constructive measures
bearing on livestock production in
Texas and the great Southwest,”
Dr. Marstellar said. “I was deeply
impressed by the forward-looking
steps contemplated.”