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
122 ADMINISTRATION BLDG. VOLUME 41
COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS, TUESDAY MORNING, JAN. 20, 1942
Z275
NUMBER 48
College Publications Put on 12 Month Basis
Eight Seniors Apply For
Commissions at Mid - Term
Final Semester of Military Science To
Be Waived for Seniors Graduating Early
Eight seniors who will complete their required work for a degree
have made application to the War Department for commissions in
January, according to information received from the Sergeant Major’s
office yesterday.
Only one of these men was scheduled for mid-term graduation
originally. The others have completed their work by carrying extra
hours the last semesters ot-k.—
their attendance at A. & M., but
they have completed only seven
semesters of military science. E.
B. McKemie, senior from Dallas, is
assured of a commission.
It will be necessary to waive the
regular requirement of eight sem
esters of military training in or
der to be commissioned. Those who
have made application for immed
iate assignment to posts are: Don
Gabriel,'C Coast Artillery; W. A.
(Chipp) Routt, C Infantry; Leon
F. Rahn; Eugene R. Curtan,
C Cavalry; R B. Gibson, E Field
Artillery; Wm. H. Granfors, B
Signal Corps; and J. H. Snow, A
Signal Corps.
Civil Service
Announces New
Engineering Job
Latest examination announce
ment to come from the U. S. Civil
Service Commission is for inspect
or positions in the defense product
ion service of the War Depart
ment. Salaries range from $2,600
to $5,600 a year. Applications will
be rated as soon as possible after
receipt at the U. S. Civil Service
Commission, Washington, D. C.
Title of “Inspector, Defense Pro
duction Protective Service” im
plies the urgency of this examina
tion. These inspectors will be re
sponsible for making recommenda
tions to prevent interruptions or
delays in the production and de
livery of all types of defense ma
terial when the interruptions may
be caused by major accidents, ex
plosion or other hazards inherent
in manufacturing plants. No writ
ten test will be given. Applicants
will be rated on their education,
experience and personal qualifica
tions.
Gen Brees Visits
Campus to Inspect
College Facilities
Yesterday A. & M. acted as
host to Major General H. J. Brees,
retired commander of the Eighth
Corps Area. Acting in his capacity
as a director of the college, Gener
al Brees arrived on the campus at
9 a.m. yesterday to inspect the
physical plant of the college and
better acquaint himself with its fa
cilities.
Because his previous trips to
College Station have been hurried
and official, the general has not had
time to thoroughly familiarize him
self with the campus. Since he
had a holiday in San Antonio, he
availed himself of the opportunity
to pay a visit to A. & M.
While he was on the campus,
Brees visited the mess halls, class
rooms, and inspected the dormitor
ies.
At present General Brees is
president of the First National
Bank of Fort Sam Houston in
San Antonio. At 2 p.m. he boarded
his plane to return to San Anton
io.
Beck Reported Safe
Somewhere in Pacific
Mr. and Mrs. W. J. Beck of
Pecos received word last week
that their son, Bill Beck, is safe
somewhere in the Pacific. The mes
sage said that he had arrived at
his destination other than the Phil-
lipines.
Bill was one of the Junior Yell
Leaders in the 1940-41 school year
until he resigned to join the air
corps. He is now a lieutenant in
the air corps.
Sea Greyhound Has Attained
Enviable Record in Naval War
By L. R. Kirnsey
Most landsmen have at best a
hazy idea of the construction of
a destroyer, as well as of, the type
of job it must perform in sea
warfare. A destroyer is just what
the name imples . . . Designed in
the last war as a counter-weapon
against submarines, this type of
vessel established an enviable rec
ord. The modern “tin-cans,” as
they are affectionately termed by
Navy men, represent the last word
in marine engineering. Equipped
with powerful engines, the little
vessels can attain terrific speeds,
and with a main battery of torpedo
tubes supplemented by dual-pur
pose guns in twin-mounts, they
can deal crushing blows even to
capital ships in night or screened
attacks.
Armor is negligible on destroy
ers; in fact, the hull is so thin that
old gunners say a shell designed
to explode on impact could pass
clear through a “tin-can” and not
detonate, unless it struck some in
ternal machinery on the way
through! The advantage gained in
speed and maneuverability is tre
mendous, however. Destroyers are
used to screen the battle line
against torpedo attack by subma
rines, and are also of invaluable
aid in scouting operations. These
vessels carry depth charges, popu
larly called “ash cans” which are
thrown over when submarines are
located. These depth charges are
armed with time fuses, enabling
them to be set at different depths
when contact is made with a sub
marine. The explosion of one of
these charges is so severe that the
concussion will open the seams of
a submarine within a given radius
of the blast.
From the salient features of
the ships themselves, interest nat
urally turns to the men who oper
ate them. There is a certain spir
it among tin-can sailors that can
be found in no other branch of
the service. The crew of such a
craft is necessarily small, and
men become better acquainted. A
destroyer’s chief officer is usually
in the lower commissioned rat-
(See DESTROYERS, Page 6)
Gabriel Resigns Editorship Of
‘The Battalion’ to Enter Army
The resignation of Don Gabriel
as Editor of The Battalion in or
der to graduate and receive a
commission in the Coast Artillery
Corps was announced yesterday
at a meeting of the Student Ac
tivities Board.
Gabriel, a member of C Bat
tery, Coast Artillery Corps, and
cadet major, will graduate at mid
term in order to go immediately
into active duty with the army.
Gabriel is an economics major and
will receive his BA degree next
Friday.
The appointment of E. M. (Man
ny) Rosenthal as Acting Editor was
also approved by the board. Fur
ther changes in The Battalion staff
were not made at this time.
Succeeding Tom Gillis as editor
during the summer session when
Gillis resigned to become Cadet
Colonel, Gabriel assumed the post.
Gabriel, who is from Fort Worth,
is a member of the Economics
Club, the Scholarship Honor Soc
iety, and a former captain of the
A. & M. Debate Club.
Early graduation of the editor
was possible as he had complet
ed all requirements for his degree
at midterm with the exception of
the second semester of senior mil
itary science. He was able to waive
this in order to obtain his degree
at this time. As yet, he has not re
ceived his orders to go on duty.
Gabriel had served as a Junior
Editor during his Junior year and
was appointed Associate Editor
at the close of school last year.
Prior to his appointment as editor
for the 1941-42 college year, he
had seiwed as Associate Editor and
Editor of the Summer Battalion.
Complete plans for The Battal
ion staff for the second semester
have not been announced. Present
plans will call for a more ex
tensive use of junior editors. At the
same meeting the Student Activ
ities Board recommended that The
Battalion be continued as a tri
weekly publication throughout the
entire year. Because of this, move
it is anticipated that there will
be a great many openings for
more students on The Battalion
staff.
Read the Ads! Maybe You Will Military Dept
Be the Winner of Three Dollars
Aggies are given a chance today
to try their hands at judging the
merits of advertisements appear
ing in The Battalion. Three dol
lars cash goes to the reader who
can most nearly imitate the judges’
choices of ads appearing today.
Students in the department of ag
ricultural economics, who are tak
ing “Principles of Advertising”,
are participating in a contest in
ad writing which is being run in
cooperation with The Battlaion.
The contest is under the direction
of Professor Stewart H. McKin
non. The Battalion will furnish $15
in prizes to be given the winners
in the contest.
“The primary objective of the
contest is to stimulate the interest
of students, readers, and merch
ants in advertising,” McKinnon
said.
The contest is divided into two
divisions. The students themselv
es will receive $7.50 in prizes and
the readers will receive the other
$7.50. First prizes in each contest
will be $3.00, second prize $2.00,
Defense Council Says
Brazos County Plans
FDR Birthday Ball
In commemoration of President
Franklin D. Roosevelt’s birthday
a dance will be held in Bryan at
the Bryan Country Club on the
night of January 30. The Aggie-
land Sextet will furnish music for
the affair and admission will be
$1.10 with the proceeds going to
the infantile paralysis fund for
the crippled children at Warm
Springs, Georgia.
Tickets are on sale at Lipscomb’s
Pharmacy at the north gate.
third prize $1.50 and fourth prize
$1.00.
One hundred and sixty-eight stu
dents are submitting ads in the
contest. They drew the names of
prospective advertisers from a hat
and space was sold by the adver
tising staff of The Battalion to
14 advertisers. The four best ads
will be chosen and the students
writing them will be awarded priz
es. Readers of The Battalion will
be allowed to judge the ads and
send in their selection on the
blank being printed in this paper.
To enter the contest the read
er need not buy anything. He need
only submit the names of the ad
vertisers whose ads he thinks are
the best. These ads have already
been judged and the readers who
come nearest to selecting the win
ning ads will receive the prizes. No
one may receive two prizes. The
decision of the judges will be fin
al.
Urgent Need Exists
For First Aid Profs,
The College Defense Council has
urgent need immediately for ins
tructors in first aid training cours
es, it was announced by M. L. Cash-
ion, chairman of the committee on
medical services.
The immediate need is for an
instructor to work with post office
employees; but other instructors
are needed for student classes and
housewives’ instruction.
Any student or civilian who is
competent to teach first aid is re
quested to telephone Mr. Cashion
at 4-7584 or the general chairman
of College Defense Council, Dr.
C. C. Hedges at 4-5514.
Requests Early
Payment of Fees
The Commandant’s Office re
quests that students who have been
in school the first semester pay
their fees and make their room res
ervations for the next term as soon
as possible. This will save the stu
dent much time in registering for
the next term and make it easier
for the commandant’s office to keep
the reservations correct.
The fees for the next term may
be paid at the fiscal office any time
from now until registration is com
pleted. However, the fees must be
paid before registering. The fees
for the whole term are $142.00 or
$72.75 for the first installment
which includes $2.50 for the Y
card. Students who have paid their
board for January will be given
credit for $6.20.
Waco Mothers Club
Gives $5 to Library
General Reading Fund
The Library General Reading
Fund has just been increased by
a five dollar gift from the Waco
A. & M. Mothers’ Club. This con
tribution and other gifts that have
been received this year bring this
fund to a total of $270. i
This fund has been contributed
to for four years by the A. & M.
Mothers’ Clubs. It is spent by the
Library for books and classical
records requested by the boys them
selves, general policies being de
termined by a Student Library
Committee.
Committee Votes Annuals
i
For Each Graduating Class
Date for Senior Ring Dance Remains
Undecided; Gabriel Resigns as Editor
In a sweeping action the Student Activities Board decided by a
unanimous vote to continue the present publication policy on in the
usual manner during the summer semester, at a meeting held Monday
afternoon in Dean F. C. Bolton’s office.
Under the proposal as adopted by the committee, The Battalion
would continue as a tri-weekly publication throughout the entire 12
month school year. Special ef
forts would also be made to con
tinue publication of The Battal
ion magazine as a monthly publi
cation.
In the case of the Longhorn a
slightly different situation would
prevail, Joe Skiles, manager of
student activities explained. The
board went on record as recom
mending that each Senior Class
have a Longhorn. This is a gen
eral policy, Skiles explained, and
will have to be modified to meet
any changes in present conditions.
In the case of the college’s two
technical publications, The Engi
neer and the Agriculturist, the
committee voiced a strong deter
mination that these publications
should continue publication even
if it became necessary for them
to be published every other month.
“The entire publications staff will
gear itself to the present emerg
ency,” Skiles stated. Hel cautioned
that the publications set-up is de
pendent upon the ability to get suf
ficient paper and other materials.
The board voted to defer action
on placing a date for the Senior
Ring Dance. It was decided that
the Senior Class should be given
a full opportunity to express its
desires concerning the dance.
It was pointed out that the Sen
ior Class could choose the date
it desired for the Ring Dance. The
action of deferment was taken af
ter several members of the com
mittee proposed that it might be
wise to combine the usual Mothers’
Day and Ring Dance activities, and
hold them at Easter. Last week
the class voted to hold the dance
on May 14 .
Other action of the board was the
acceptance of the resignation of
Don Gabriel as editor of The Bat
talion and the appointment of
Manny Rosenthal as Acting Edi
tor.
Committee Approves
Ring Contract Again
The ring committee met last
Friday afternoon and took up a
two-year option on the three year
contract held by Josten Manufac
turing Company of Minnesota. This
company has made the Senior
rings for the past three years and
will continue to do so for the next
two years.
Singing Cadets
Have Full House
At Group Singing
Approximately four hundred peo
ple attended “Audience Participa
tion Program” in the Assembly
Hall last Saturday night. The Sing
ing Cadets provided the stage en
tertainment and their director, Ri
chard Jenkins, was the master of
ceremonies. To quote Jenkins,
“Everyone had a swell time.”
This same type of presentation
will be held every Saturday night
next semester at 7 p.m. The next
show will be February 6.
This program is designed to give
the students a free entertainment
on Saturday night, provide a place
for students and their dates to
go before dances. This is an en
tirely new form of program and
cannot be compared with anything
which has previously occured or is
now taking place.
By limiting the show to one hour,
anyone can afford to attend with
out changing their entertainment
plans.
These gatherings are open to fac
ulty members and outsiders as
well as students.
Red Cross Game
Brings Over $300
The American Red Cross bene
fit game between the Maroons and
Whites held last Saturday at Kyle
Field has already brought in $289.-
05. All of the money has not yet
been turned in and it is expected
to go well over $300 when the com
plete totals are checked. All the
net proceeds of the game will go
to the American Red Cross. Only
the actual expense of putting the
game on will be deducted.
Much of the success of the
affair goes to the players, coaches,
print shop, publicity department,
and First Sergeants. The players
of the teams will receive medals
and pictures of the squads they
played on.
CPI Scholarships Still Available To
Students For Coming Spring Semester
Flight scholarships under the
C.P.T. program are still available
for the spring pi’ogram. Ample
Corsages for National Defense;
Student Floral Concession Buys Defense
Continue Hensel Fellowship After End
Bonds To
of Conflict
By Ken Bresnen
A new idea in the Aggie “all out
aid” program has been adopted
by the Student Floral Concession.
In former years the concession was
operately solely for the profit of
the student who ran the conces
sion, but beginning this year the
concession will be held by the
Landscape club and operated by
students. All profits accruing
from the sale of corsages will be
invested in United States Defense
Savings Bonds which will be set
up as the F. W. Hensel fellowship
for the outstanding senior in Land
scape art, so that he may continue
graduate work in his field.
Since all seniors will go into
.the military service upon gradua
tion and hence will not be able to
avail themselves of this oppor
tunity, it has been decided to in
vest the money in bonds, thus help
ing win the war, and at the same
time increasing the amount of the
fellowship by the interest that will
accrue on the bonds.
“Highly commendable” was the
comment of Dean Gilchrist, “A
splendid idea to help our nation to
finance the war,” said Jess Casey,
of Casey’s confectionery. Dean Kyle
agreed that the five hundred dol
lar bond purchase would make a
scholarship to be much sought af
ter. These three men constitute
the board of trustees for the Hen
sel fund.
At the same.time that the bus
iness is building the scholarship,
it will be providing employment
for about fifty Aggies. These men
who are engaged in selling the cor
sages, making and delivering them
are able to make several dollars
each week by working only a few
hours.
When the Student Floral Con
cession goes into action for the
first time this year on February 6
to make the corsages for the an
nual Fish Ball, it will be operating
from its new office and shop in
the old house east of the college
green house. The rooms in this
house are now used by the students
of landscape art as drafting rooms.
Last year, the writer had the
opportunity to watch the corsage
makers at work, and it is his opin
ion that these Aggie made corsages
are far superior in design and
construction to any others seen at
the dances. At last years senior
ring dance, the concession was able
to purchase orchids from a large
floral concern in New Orleans at
a reasonable price. Two hundred
and eighty nine seniors sent their
“one and onlys” orchids for the
dance that night, because they
were made up by the students in
the insterest of the students, and
therefore could be sold at a much
lower price than is usual for these
gems of the floral world.
A mass production scheme, as
sembly line and all, has been plan
ned to facilitate the making of
corsages this year, so that more
corsages can be made in a shorter
time, thereby assuring the arrival
of the flowers while they are still
blossom fresh. All orders will be
brought by the salesmen to the
desk of the manager at the door
who will sort them and send them
to the various departments where
they will be put into operation.
From ice box back to ice box,
the process of making a gardenia
corsage would go something like
this—The gardenias are unpacked
from the boxes in which they are
received in their natural state and
are sprayed with cool water to
keep them fresh during processing.
Then the leaves and stems are re
moved. While one fellow is wash
ing each leaf and polishing it on
a cotton cloth, another is supplant
ing the natural stem with one of
(See SCHOLARSHIP, Page 6)
quotas have been received to take
care of qualified applicants who
can meet the requirements. The pri
mary course has a value of about
$500 and the secondary course of
about $1,000 flight and ground
school work and are available to
A. & M. students for a total cost
of less than $40. The expense to
the student covers an insurance
policy, a physical examination com
parable to that given by the U. S.
Army Air Corps, and transporta
tion to and from the airport.
Under Civil Authority
The military aspects of this pro
gram are particularly important,
although pilot training is still a
civil activity. The Army and Navy
Forces are particularly anxious to
obtain graduates of either the pri
mary or secondary courses since
their past records indicate that
about 90 per cent of these grad
uates complete their military flight
training while only 60 per cent of
those who have not had C.P.T.
training can be expected to finish
satisfactorily.
Selective service deferment has
been given in practically all cases
of students who are doing satis
factory work in this flight train
ing program. Students who are
(See CPT TRAINING, Page 6)