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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 6, 1941)
Page 2 THE BATTALION ■THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1941 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; is sued Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday mornings; and is pub lished 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 3, 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 1-5444. 1941 Member 1942 Plssocided Collegiate Press Don Gabriel Editor E. M. Rosenthal Associate Editor Ralph Criswell Advertising Manager Sports Staff Mike Haikin Sports Editor W. F. Oxford ... Assistant Sports Editor Mike Mann Senior Sports Assistant Brooks Cofer Junior Sports Editor Chick Hurst Junior Sports Editor Circulation Staff Gene Wilmeth Circulation Manager Bill Hauger Senior Circulation Assistant F. D. Asbury - Junior Assistant Bill Huber, Joe Stalcup Circulation Assistant Photography Staff Jack Jones Staff Photographer Bob Crane, Ralph Stenzel Assistant Photographers Saturday’s Staff D. C. Thurman Managing Editor Jack Lamherson Assistant Advertising Manager Charlie Babcock Junior Editor Ken Breencn Junior Editor Reportorial Staff Calvin Brumley, Arthur L. Cox, Selig Frank, W. J. Hamilton, Jr., N. W. Karbach, Jack Keith, Tom B. Journeay, Douglass Lancaster, Tom Leland, Charles P. McKnight, W. B. Morehouse, Richard F. Quinn. Gordon Sullivan, C. G. Scruggs, Benton Taylor. John Holman. Open Forum Vital ProMem Confronts The A&M Student Bodg The cold light of dawn reveals another fresh man gone. “He can’t take it” is the concensus of his company. A student has difficulty in passing his work. “A playboy,” murmur his professors with Greek chorus precision. The company Polly Anna develops mo- rousness and a biting repartee. “Hm, not as pleasant a fellow as we thought,” agree his self-righteous critics. “Eighteen per cent of student body on Dean’s team,” a Battalion headline says. “A crying shame,” protest disappointed parents. Growing A. & M. Problem There has been a growing problem which, while not necessarily limited to A. & M., should be of vital concern to the students, faculty, and administration here because by its elimination we could increase the effi ciency of turning out normal, well-trained graduates. Is it not strange that an institution that is interested in administering large know- lege doses makes no provision for the proper mental functioning of the assimilating mech anism? In full justice, this has not been the result of deliberate ostrich-like evasion, but of insufficient recognition that such a need exists. We need a special department which is composed of men trained in human relation ships to take care of the mental welfare of the corps. Its function would be to ease the strain between the student and his environ ment. The department could investigate all delinquent cases, all working students, and all cases under undue mental strain so that proper influence could be exerted to insure good mental attitudes and freedom from va rious types of worry. All the staff members need not be psychiatrists, although one sure ly should be on the staff. “But is such a department really need ed?” you might ask. Two cases, extremes, perhaps, may be cited as proof that such a department is needed. Some years ago a student saw fit to destroy himself because of financial diffi culties. Perhaps no solution could have been worked out, but there were strong possibil ities. Care in Treatment Another student entered a department office one night and began to wreck the fur nishings, before he was caught and held by a night watchman. When the head of the department came, he exhibited rare judg ment. He told the student to go to his room, but to come by and see him the next day. During the subsequent interview the depart ment head dragged to light a persecution complex. An adjustment of classes and some thought cleared a situation which could have been disastrous for the student. We admit a failure when we permit a student to return to his home without ben efit of any attempts to help. His problems do not magically cease with the purchase of a- railroad ticket. No one can expect a student to step from the debris of a short-lived col lege career with the equaminity of a dime novel hero. Humans reach greatness because we are a bundle of failings, not because of Victorian attributes. All Male Enrollment Problem The isolation of our campus, an all male enrollment and our dormitory set-up contribute to a system which is far from normal. It is inconcievable to believe that students can be torn from a great number of varied environments and plopped down under such a system without numerous casualties unless some provisions are taken. As students, we are taking the “break or make” tradition too close to our hearts. The fact that we have so many “breaks” in proportion to “makes” is criticism enough. We should give more consideration to the “break” proposi tion. There is no basic reason for the ma jority of resignations which cannot be cor rected. Student Failures Recently a large number of students have returned home because they failed to pass the required number of hours. There still are students on the campus, who have failed in one or more subjects. What is the reason behind these failures? Native intel ligence ? While a correlation may be drawn be tween high school grades and subsequent grades in college, there is sufficient varia tion to assume that factors other than study ing may be also causative. Admitedly, all low grades are the result of insufficient studying except in rare cases, but the crux of the matter may be traced to those factors influencing studying Other than sheer lazi ness. The student may be in an impossible situation, such as living off the campus and depending on catch rides to college, or ex cessive financial worries. True, if the student is unable to make high enough grades to stay in college, he should be sent home, but he should have had the opportunity to try under optimum conditions. Corps Cooperation Needed But the establishment of such a depart ment as mentioned would not be successful unless it had the fullest co-operation of the corps. Under no circumstances should the student feel under any social ostracism for patronizing such a service, nor must he feel any shame to admitting a problem. He must feel that the department was established for his benefit and must feel free at all times to discuss any problem which may hamper him. He must feel assured that his discussions will be treated will full confidence and sin cerity. He must realize that the welfare of a sane society rests on a well-adjusted mem bership. Somehow and somewhere, the germ that will create such a department is lying dor mant. By sufficient exertion it may be made to blossom. Think it over. V. A. Yentzen, ’42 Quotable Quotes “The present world turmoil is a phase in the evolution of an epi-organism, or world state, because two important problems are not yet solved. One has to do with the progressive extension of the integrating forces of society, and their product, namely altruism, loyalty and the feeling of being part of even larger groups. Consequently there will be an ever greater scale of conflicts between groups and nations until one all-encompassing group in tegration is achieved. The second problem concerns leadership. Mechanisms for selecting the leaders in present human societies - are still extremely primative and subject to se rious breakdown.” Dr. Ralph W. Gerard, Uni versity of Chicago physiologist, predicts a world state will evolve as a biological cer tainty just as the parts of the human body are integrated. The World Turns On By Dr. R. W. Steen Two interesting articles appeared on the same day early this week. One was a trans lation from a German military magazine which proved in a most scientific manner that the Russian army was made up of 10,000,000 men. The other was a report from the German news agency that Russian losses in the war, kill ed, wounded and captured, now number more than 10,000,000 men. This is all a bit puzzling, for available reports indicate that there are at least a few Russians holding the lines west of Moscow while others have just succeeded in driving the Nazis out of Rostov in one of the few reverses suffered by steen the German army in this war. The United States and Japan are engaged in an all out war of nerves. The situation is serious in the extreme, and actual warfare might result at any time. The Japanese have much to worry about. The people of this island empire have suffered greatly because of the war with China, and a war with the United States would mean also war with Britain. The Japanese can find little en couragement in the constant arrival at Sing apore of men and supplies, while the arrival in the far east of several additional British warships was certainly not welcome news to the Japanese. In spite of the odds against them the Japanese may decide to fight. They place great store in what they term their honor, and the economic isolation which has been forced upon them is damaging in the ex treme. In choosing between war and economic strangulation they may decide upon war as the lesser evil. The last Italian outpost in Ethiopia sur rendered a few days ago. The surrender brings to mind the bombastic outburst made by Mussolini in 1936 when he modestly stated to the Italian people: “Our peace, the Pax Romana, is expressed in this simple, irrevo cable, final statement: Ethiopia is Italy’s. The head of the Government and the Ras, defeated and fleeing, count no longer. No forge in the world will ever be able to make them count again.” That statement was made five years ago, and Mussolini has doubtless learned that a great many things can happen in five years. PRIVATE BUCK .-. By Clyde Lewis COVERING caps disMONs WITH i TOM VANNOY “You don’t catch me sleeping, Sarge. I’m all set for this ‘gorilla’ warfare I been hearing about!” BACKWASH BY Charlie Babcock “Backwash: An agitation resulting from some action or occurrence.”—Webster Turnstile Click „, A f ort , p ? gra, r t was he,t ! the stage before the first show. According to a recent survey Tli e master of ceremonies read sev- made by the Associated Press, era i congratulatory telegrams from every Southwest Conference school, friends who could not be present, excepting 'Rice, showed an increase anc j among those were ones from in total number of fans attending Dr. T. O. Walton, Aggie Backfield home football games this past sea- Coach Marty Karow, and Governor son in compari- Coke Stevenson, all of whom wish- son with 1940. e d Kimbrough success in his new A. & M. was field. host to 97,784 cus- Then K i mbrough came on the tomers at five stage< He smilcd and thanked the games, whi e in aud j ence f or coming. Then, he 1940, it was only j 00 j. e d down at the first couple 84,036 for a like of rows and spotted e fellow wh had gone to' school with him, John M. Arendale, a deaf mute. Big John thanked the deaf boy for coming. Arendale couldn’t hear the third spot in the conference, him but he understood by read . n u m b e r of con tests. However, the Aggies had to be content with ing Kimbrough’s lips. • • • first and second places going to Texas and Rice, respectively. Texas footballers played before 135,000 fans in five games, com- Xv6C0rClS pared to 106,000 customers in four games the year before. Rice drop ped from 115,000 in seven games in 1940 to 100,000 in this fall. e ® o World Premier The aerial battles in “A YANK IN THE R.A.F.” are authentic, and were filmed over Germany, France, and England with the full cooperation of the British Air Ministry. The picture stars, Ty rone Power, Betty Grable, and John Sutton and will be shown at the Campus tomorrow and Mon day. In addition to the battle scene, interest in the story is kept from lagging by the struggle between Tyrone and John for the favored spot in Betty’s heart. It all adds up to make an excellent motion picture that really lets the Ameri can public know how the war is being fought. Betty is in a role that fits her fairly well, that of a night-club entertainer, with plenty of chances to make the most of dancing and eye-filling figure. Tyrone ferries a bomber to England from the States and runs into Betty with whom he was acquainted here. He enlists in the R. A.F. and compli cations set in. A light bit of romantic drama in a vivid tropical slash of techni color is “ALOMA OF THE SOUTH SEAS” at Guion Hall tonight. Any mention of romance in the South Seas should immediately bring to mind Dorothy Lamour of the fam ed sarong. Costarred with her is John Hall. The story behind the picture is not a whole lot as far as im portance goes, but the scenery over comes almost all the difficulties that this would entail. If it weren’t for technicolor, there just wouldn’t be anything at all to “Aloma of the South Seas.” In order to enjoy it, such things as consistency, dia logue, situations, and performances must be overlooked. This is just one more in Dottie’s long string of Qampus sarong-y romances. Red Skelton makes his debut in the motion picture world in “WHISTLING IN THE DARK” at Guion Hall at 1 o’clock this after noon. He writes such perfect crime stories that he becomes a (See DISTRACTIONS, Page 4) WHAT’S SHOWING AT THE CAMPUS Saturday — “UNEXPECT ED UNCLE,” with Anne Shirley, Charles Coburn, and James Craig. Saturday prevue, Sunday, Monday—“A YANK IN THE R.A.F.,” starring Tyrone Power, Betty Grable, and John Sutton. AT GUION HALL Saturday, 1 p. m. — “WHISTLING IN THE DRAK,” with Red Skelton and Conrad Veidt. Saturday, 6:45, 8:30 — “ALOMA OF THE SOUTH SEAS,” featuring Dorothy Lamour and John Hall. Monday — “FOOTLIGHT FEVER,” with Alan Mow bray and Donald MacBride. — W. J. Douglas, Jr. INSURANCE AGENCY General Insurance Commerce Bldg Phone Bryan 2-6605 If the Aggies hadn’t had Texas university on the football sched ule during the past five years, it six games wou i d be ab i e t 0 bo ast of the fin est record in football for that per iod. As it is, A. & M‘. must be con tent with fifth place among the na- John Kimbrough’s appearance in tion > s grid pows in the way of Houston Thursday night, both on games won and } os ^ during the past the screen and on the stage, caus- ba if. decade> ed many to recollect fond memor- The AP ' ranked the first five ies of the big boy when he was teams in America as fo ii ows: " jarrin’ his way to gridiron. fame on the Points Team— W L T Pet For Ag The Kirby theater officials hung Duke 40 6 x -870 1042 199 out the “standing room only” sign Tennessee 45 7 x . 865 12 08 196 at the first performance, with a Fordham 32 6 3 .842 804 214 large number of the capacity audi- Notre Dame ....3 5 7 2 .833 683 292 ence being young boys and girls A> & M 37 8 3 >822 902 253 who came to watch their hero per- form. Many Aggies were in the y ■. 1 r'l m 1 crowd, but it remained for the IClailO COWS iravel witticisms of the adolescent group Jn Style ill Trailers to supply the color of the occa- Idaho has four dairy herd im- sion. provement association testers oper- In one scene where John was ating from comfortable and well running across roof tops to cap- equipped trailers. In one end of ture one of the many villians, a the trailer is a compact and ef- voice, apparently from a girl about ficient milk-testing laboratory. The ten, shrilled, “Oh Daddy, look at trailer is so wired that when it John Kimbrough running just like arrives at a farm it can be con- he did in the game.” That pretty nected with the power system. A well sums up young America’s con- small motor runs the testing ma- ception of Big John as a Texas chine and an electric plate heats Ranger. the necessary water. 4-1181 LAST DAY “UNEXPECTED UNCLE ,, PREVUE TONIGHT 11:00 P. M. SUNDAY — MONDAY TYRONE POWER 1 ■ BETTY GRABLE Plus World Today — News Cartoon COMING SOON r JOHN KIMBROUGH in ZANE GREY'S LONE STAR QUCCN A. & M.’s All-American Kimbrough Crashes Into The Movies As The “LONE STAR RANGER” ofm* a* r>>k Gifts of JEWELRY For this Xmas The one gift that is lasting and there is nothing your sweetheart, wife or girl friend would like better than a gift of jewelry. BRACELETS — LOCKETS — COMPACTS With Aggie Seal DIAMOND RINGS — SILVERWARE WATCHES C. W. VARNER, Jewler North Gate Bryan GUION HALL —MOVIE— SATURDAY — 1 P. M. Only Whistling in the Dark with Red Skelton & Conrad Veidt SATURDAY — 6:45 & 8:30 love prize or the islands: DOROTHY LAMOUR JON HALL j w s ooT/f S fj' Poromounf’j music.filled fhnll spectacle " 9low ‘ n * reCM/coiORf ' A T>ar amounr Picture with 1YNNE OVERMAN • PHILIP pren k ATurDtur FRITZ LEIBER • DONA D AKE n' MTHER,N£ ^WE . UnflRt • Directed 6, ACFREB SANTEtl.' ' Selected Shorts