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THE BATTALION
■SATURDAY MORNING, APRIL 11, 1942
The Battalion
STUDENT TRI-WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
TEXAS A. & M. COLLEGE
The Battalion, official newspaper of the Agricultural and
Hechanical College of Texas and the City of College Station,
is published three times weekly, and issued Tuesday, Thursday
and Saturday mornings.
Entered as second class matter at the Post Office at College
Station, Texas, under the Act of Congress of March 8, 1870.
Subscription rates $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.
1941 Member 1942
Associated GoUe6iate Press
E. M. Rosenthal ^ Editor-in-chief
D. C. Thurman Associate Editor
Lee Rogers *. Associate Editor
Ralph Criswell:. -Advertising Manager
Sports Staff
■ike Haikin Sports Editor
W. F. Oxford Assistant Sports Editor
Mike Mann Senior Sports Assistant
Chick Hurst. Junior Sports Editor
Russell Chatham Junior Sports Assistant
Circulation Staff
Gene Wilmeth ., Circulation Manager
F. D. Asbury ’. Junior Assistant
Bill Huber, Joe Stalcup .....Circulation Assistants
Cedric Landon Senior Assistant
Photography Staff
Tack Jones Staff Photographer
dob Crane, Ralph Stenzel Assistant Photographers
Phil Crown Assistant Photographer
Saturday’* Staff
D. C. Thurman Managing Editor
(eith Kirk Junior Editor
Tack Hood Junior Editor
Jack Lamberson Assistant Advertising Manager
Reporters
Calvin Brumley, Arthur L. Cox, Russell Chatham, Bill
Fox, Jack Keith, Tom Journeay, W. J. Hamilton, Nelson Kar-
bach, Tom Leland, Doug Lancaster, Charles P. McKnight, Keith
Kirk, Weinert Richardson, C. C. Scruggs, Henry H. Vollentine,
Ed Klngery. Edmund Bard, Henry Tillet, Harold Jordon, Fred
Pankey, John May, Lonnie Riley, Jack Hood.
-Joe Ex
Aggies have always been proud that as indi
viduals they don’t stand out as typical “Joe
Colleges,” but for the exes its another story.
A. & M. former students are probably the
most typical of their kind that can be found
any place in the United States and if ever
the term “Joe Ex” comes into general use
the A. & M. former students will be the per
sonification.
Alumni of all institutions occasionally
like to refer back to the “good old days”
when they were students. But who has ever
met an ex-Aggie that didn’t use such a sub
ject as a continual topic?
“Why, you boys today have it easy.
Now, when I was a student ...” and so far
into the night the slightly colored tales reel
forth. Students listen with their mouths
wide open and are almost happy that they
didn’t have to attend back in the good old
days. Little do these present undergraduates
realize that within a few short months a new
fish class will have to listen to their slightly
colored tales about their good old days which
have just passed.
Then the ex likes to reminisce even
further if he has the chance. He likes to have
the opportunity to go back to his old room
in Foster, Ross or one of the other dorms
and see where he once spent long and hard
hours burning the midnight oil. It ^rings
back a lot of wonderful memories, memories
of things which can’t be regrasped but are
being relived by the present student body.
No, bears don’t come to the eyes of these
grey haired Texas gentlemen who now are
the leaders of the Lone Star state, but when
they stop and gaze into the room which was
once theirs you can bet your bottom dollar
that a lump wells in their throat.
As typical of college ex-students as A.
& M. former students are, there is one thing
which makes ex-Aggies stand head and
shoulders above the rest. That one thing is
that an A. & M. man is an A. & M. man for
ever. His loyalty to his school never ceases.
There is no such thing as a fair weather
Aggie who only claims his school when the
football teams are outstanding. A. & M. men
are proud of their school always and fight
for it continually as have all former students
since the gates of Aggieland swung open
65 years ago.
Guayule
During the past few weeks word has grad
ually come to the front that A. & M. is mak
ing plans for another great contribution ’to
national defense. Others schools and private
institutions have been working on the same
project and have been premature announce
ments, but unherald, men at A. & M. have
worked and experimented with the guayule
plant and the possibilities of processing rub
ber from it.
Those men who have been doing the pre
liminary work have been doing it on their
own time and expense. They feel it is part
of their contribution to national defense. Of
course the college has given its approval
for the work to be carried on, and President
Walton, while in Washington, made arrange
ments for a grant to carry on the experi
ment if the preliminary reports are fully
substantiated.
The plan of attack has been simple. It
has been shown that rubber can be satisfac
torily processed from guayule, but to date
it has only been grown in special climates
and in special areas. The plant itself takes
several years to grow and it would take a
lot of precious war time to be able to plant
and raise this weed in the suitable areas.
However, certain members of the Experi
ment Station have recognized that certain
varieties of the guayule are abundant in our
own state and feel that it is growing in a
sufficiently concentrated area to be used
commercially and thereby partially relieve
the rubber shortage.
So far no definite claims have been
made, but there are well founded hopes that
the state of Texas and A. & M. in particular
can make another contribution to national
defense.
Something to Read
—- By Dr. T. F. Mayo
Just What Are We Defending?
As free material for the War Information
Center trickles in, it is interesting to note
how many different opinions exist as to
what we are defending in this war. Most
of this material is being sent, at the request
of the .Government, by organizations of
Americans, each of which was formed to
emphasize some one quality or tendency in
our American scheme of things.
Frequently these organizations hate
each other cordially. It is going to be rather
amusing, for example, to see in our War In
formation Center, patriotic pamphlets from
the National Associatiort of Manufacturers
and the League for Industrial Democracy
standing cheek on the shelves. We hope that
they won’t set each other on fire!
The National Association of Manufact
urers feels that this is a war “to defend
American freedom.” The League for Indust
rial Democracy, on the other hand, is mili-
tantly patriotic because equality of oppor
tunity, in so far as we have it in the good
old USA, is what is primarily at stake.
The NAM, consisting largely of wealthy
business men, want to defend America be
cause here a man can (more or less) “do as
he likes with his own,” and can get as rich
as his abilities and opportunities permit
with the minimum of interference from So
ciety.
The League for Industrial Democracy,
on the other hand, speaking habitually for
the right of the little man to be protected
against the big fellow, burns with desire to
defend.this country because it is, compara
tively -speaking, the land of equal opportun
ity.
Both groups are probably right.
After all, these United States aim at
Democracy, and Democracy consists of
Freedom and Equality of Opportunity bal
anced against each other in such a way that
neither destroys the other. Absolute Free
dom, of course, would end shortly in the de
vouring of the little men by the big ones,
to the complete abolition of equality of op
portunity. Absolute Equality of Opportun
ity, on the other hand, could be maintained
only by not only abolishing private owner
ship of the means of production, and all
inheritances, but bringing up all kids toge
ther under identical conditions. And this
sort of thing, most of us feel, would be an
intolerable interference with individual free
dom. »
If we win, then, we keep our chance to
make a real Democracy. If we lose, there
just won’t be any such chance, anywhere,
any time.
Those that have china plates themselves
are the most careful not to break the
china plates of others.
—James Matthew Barrie
The World Turns On
: — By Dr. R. W. Steen=========:
The Allies have suffered serious reverses
during this week. The loss of Bataan, while
expected, is a serious loss and cannot be
made to appear in any other light. Perhaps it
will arouse Americans more than any event
that has taken place since Pearl Harbor.
Throughout the Allied world there is great
and undying admiration for the heroism of
the forces which held the peninsula for
months and then went down fighting. They
fought a good fight, and in the end were
beaten by disease and exhaustion as much
as by waves of Japanese soldiers. Time is
one of the most valuable items in the war
plans of the Allies, and the valiant stand
on Bataan has undoubtedly given the Allies
valuable time in which to prepare for coun
ter blows in the future. Bataan may well
have been the Alamo of the war with Japan.
The British have lost two more cruisers
and an aircraft carrier to Japanese planes.
The loss of these vessels will weaken great
ly any effort that Britain can make to fight
the Japanese on the sea. The only naval gain
to offset this is the sinking of an Italian
cruiser in the Mediterranean. This is poor
compensation, for Italian cruisers have prov
ed to be of little value.
It was revealed on Thursday that Amer
ican plants are now producing more than
3300 planes per month. British production is
supposed to be well over 2,000 planes per
month. There is no way of knowing how
many planes the Germans are producing, but
it is generally believed that their production
is not more than 2500 planes per month.
Italian production is low, and Japanese pro
duction is negligible. The Allies, with Rus
sian production included, should thus be
gaining about 3,000 planes per month in the
race for control of the air. There should
come a time' in the near future when Allied
ships and men can fight while friendly
planes fly above them.
Developments of this week should im
press Americans with the need for early vic
tories. No American doubts that this coun
try can win. What America needs to do is to
win as quickly as possible. We are not doing
our best when some industrialists think only
in terms of outrageous profits, when some
labor leaders think only in terms of new
gains for labor, and when some farm organ
izations think only in terms of higher prices
for farm products. Maybe it is time for all
of us to decide that war should call for sacri
fice by all citizens. It is barely possible that
nobody should profit from a war.
Turning,on the Heat
Lupe Velez’s witchery soon has Kay Kyser in a daze, just a part of
the plan to incapacitate Kay and thus prevent his debut as a
Shakespearian actor in a scene from Campus Theater’s midnight
show “Playmates.” The picture, starring Kay and featuring. John
Barrymore, Lupe Velez and Ginny Simms, will also play Sunday
and Monday.
BACKWASH Ui
‘‘Backwash: An arftation resulting from some action or occurrence.”—Webster
Back When —
Even back when J. B. Newton
of Rockdale was in school here
(1926-1927), the Aggies were pret
ty quick on the draw. He recalls
this corps trip hangover:
On the train coming back from
the Dallas corps trip, a couple of
Aggies suddenly
discovered that
they had forgot
ten to get a sou
venir—even a ho
tel towel. So they
proceeded to take
.the Negro porter
Unto a little room
on the train and
“deuniform” him (a porter’s uni
form looks good hanging on the
wall). The boys didn’t have any
trouble getting the uniform back
to the hall—the porter was strand
ed without his pants and couldn’t
report the “accident.” But no soon
er than the railroad company had
discovered the loss, hell began to
break loose. There wasn’t any two
ways about it, they were going to
get that uniform back — they
thought. But they went about it
the wrong way. The bull’s office
called in over a dozen seniors and
made them O. D.s. Then started a
thorough search of the halls. They
surrounded one hall at a time and
went through every crack and
corner of every room. Just as they
surrounded the last (guilty) hall,
the (guilty) boys discovered that
they were trapped. Down from the
wall came the uniform—but they
still didn’t know what they were
going to do with it, and the bulls
were in the hall. At last, and none
too early, they got an idea. Sprink
ling the uniform with cleaning
fluid, they burned it on the floor—
all but the buttons, they left via a
water route. When the officers
came into the room and wanted to
know what in hades they were
burning, the boys came back, “Sir,
the radiator is busted, and we’re
freezing to death.”
Maybe the boys didn’t get out
of it, but it was a darn nice try.
Thou Shalt Not
Sugar is rationed. Tires cannot
be bought (legally). A hot water
bottle is a luxury. It even looks
like we will become a bearded
generation.
In an effort to keep students
mentally balanced, and to conserve
nervous energy, we hopefully sub
mit ten commandments for the
Aggies—and everybody:
1. Thou shalt not get ants in
thy pants and foolishly en
list.
2. Thou shalt give up ideas of
marrying Penny to escape
the draft.
3. Thou shalt not develop lame
ness nor blindness, nor shall
ye cut off th^ trigger fin
ger.
4. Thou shalt not burn the mid
night oil just to save elec
tricity.
5. Thou shalt not put the
snatch on thy roommate’s
rubber bands.
6. Thou shalt not stop study
ing, but shall give it the
works (assuming you’ve
started).
7. Thou shalt not date the girl
friend of thy boy-friend who
is in the army.
8. Thou shalt not covet thy
brother’s chevrons (or but
tons, or diamonds).
9. Thou shalt not play too
much boogie-woogie when
patriotic songs are on the
air.
10. Thou shalt button thy lip
about war and keep it but
toned.
Present restrictions on college
students really aren’t too bad, as
serts Dr. Frederick C. Waite, pro
fessor emeritus of histology at
Western Reserve university.
When the college still was young,
he said, students couldn’t use to
bacco, liquor or cider “which was
over a week old.”
“They were instructed to touch
their hats when passing an in
structor, but to tip them to wom
en and professors,” he said.
rf ■ \j|
DO YOU HAVE THE SCHOOL
ANNUAL FOR EACH YEAR
THAT YOU HAVE BEEN HERE?
You should, because they contain pic
tures and memories of you and your
friends of your college days.
IF NOT, COME BY
Student Activities
Office
Administration Bldg.
And Buy Now At These
Greatly Reduced Prices
1940 LONGHORN - $2.50
1941 LONGHORN - $3.50
Never give way to melancholy; resist it
steadily, for the habit will encroach.
—Sidney Smith
“A TREASURE FOR THE FUTURE”
^ ■
A person who has come up spec
tacularly in the past few years is
Robert Preston, currently to be
seen in “PACIFIC BLACKOUT”
at the Campus. He has been be
fore the camera for about two
years and has risen to the rank
of stardom. He got his start in
dramatic work in a Little Theater
production at the age of 15. Pres
ton hails from Newton Highlands,
Mass., and he will be seen in the
recently-released story of the
South, “Reapthe Wild Wind.”
If it’s delightful music you > are
seeking, and a dash of acting
thrown in for good measure, then
you are looking for “PLAY
MATES” at the Campus tomorrow
and Monday. The list of big-name
actors is enough, to insure an en
joyable motion picture with names
such as Kay Kyser and his orches
tra, John Barrymore, Ginny
Simms, Lupe Velez, Patsy Kelly,
and May Robson.
The whole story is sheer non
sense as far as making sense goes.
It discourses on the efforts of two
press agents to get their client,
John Barrymore, on the air. To
obtain some much-needed publicity
The Great Profile agrees to teach
the art of Shakespearian acting to
the “Old Professor”, Kay Kyser.
Barrymore overacts his part, and
Kyser underdoes his so they come
out about even.
Ginny Simms plays a triple
threat offensive as the vocal, ro
mantic and glamour girl leads sim
ultaneously and she does right
well at the job, too. To top things
off, Kyser manages to produce a
swing version of Romeo and Ju
liet. There is a little less music
in this Kyser picture than in the
previous two, but the comedy is
spread around enough to make up
the deficit.
A great story by Hollywood on
the efforts of the government to
train fighters for their air corps
is “FLIGHT COMMAND” at Gui-
on Hall today. Bob Taylor, Walter
Pidgeon, and Ruth Hussey are in
the spotlight in the picture. It is
truly a fine effort in the dramatic
line.
Robert Taylor, cocky as ever, is
transferred from Pensacola to the
Pacific coast to a squadron com
manded by Pidgeon. Taylor meets
Ruth Hussey, his wife and becomes
very friendly with her before he
WHAT’S SHOWING
AT THE CAMPUS
Saturday—“Pacific Black
out,” with Robert Preston
and Martha O’Driscoll.
Saturday prevue, Sunday,
Monday—“Playmates,” star
ring Kay Kyser, John Barry
more and Ginny Simms.
AT GUION HALL
Saturday — “Flight Com
mand,” with Robert Taylor,
Walter Pidgeon, and Ruth
Russey.
Monday — “One Foot in
Heaven,” featuring Frederic
March and Martha Scott.
discovers her identity. Affairs
have grown quite complicated and
a divorce between Pidgeon and his
wife looms. Taylor is expelled from
the squadron. But eventually the
whole thing works itself out to
everyone’s delight.
Nashville Colleges
Combine All Libraries
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AGP—
Something new in Tennessee college
operation came into being this
month with dedication of the joint
libraries of (Jeorge Peabody col
lege for Teachers, Scarritt college,
and Vandervilt university. Two-
day exercises marked the dedica
tion.
The joint libraries represent a
new movement in higher education,
research, and library service. They
were established to eliminate un
necessary duplication, to co-ordi
nate and expand the library re
sources and services of the three
neighboring institutions of higher
learning.
The library building and its en
dowment are jointly owned and di
rected. In like manner its book
resources and services and all of
the other library resources and
services of the three co-operating
institutions are jointly controlled
and administrated by one board of
trustees.
This co-operative enterprise is
designed as one of the steps toward
realization of a great regional uni
versity center in Nashville.
Dial 4-1181
LAST DAY
“PACIFIC
BLACKOU r r
with
ROBERT PRESTON
‘MARTHA O’DRISCOLL
Also
Cartoon — News
“$21 -a-Day-Once-a-Month”
Community Sing
PREVIEW TONIGHT
AFTER CORPS DANCE
SUNDAY - MONDAY
The^Tops in Fun for ’421
fKQ RAD' 0 Picture
with JOHN LUPE 6INNY *
BARRYMORE • VELEZ • SIMMS
Also
News — Comedy
“Stranger Than Fiction”
MOVIE
GUION HALL
SATURDAY
2 p. m. -- 7:30 and 9:00
Robert Taylor - Ruth Hussey
in
Flight Command
SELECTED SHORTS
COMING
Monday - Tuesday - Wednesday
ONE FOOT IN HEAVEN
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