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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, 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 3, 1870.
Subscription rates $3 a school year. Advertising rates
upon request.
Represented natio"hally 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
Pbsocioted GoUeftiote Press
Brooks Gofer.
Ken Bresnen..
Reggie Smith..
Mike Haikin....
Mike Mann
F. D. Asbury
Tom Vannoy.
Clyde C. Franklin.
4 Editor-in-Chief
Associate Editor
Advertising Manager
Acting Sports Editor
.Assistant Sports Editor
Circulation Manager
Managing Editor
Managing Editor
Editor’s Note: Staff organization will be completed after
the first staff meeting, and the masthead will carry the com
plete staff as soon thereafter as possible.
So You're Going to Be An Aggie
You are now a member of the greatest bro
therhood of men in the world. Over thous
ands of miles of land and sea, where ever
you may go, whatever you may do, you will
find men wearing the ring of A. & M. But
you cannot call yourself a true Aggie until
you have undergone the ritual of your “Fish”
year, for it is in that year that you will be
taught the meaning of Aggie Spirit. Either
you will grow to love A. & M., or if you are
hot willing to accept the role of a freshman,
you will grow to dislike the college and will
leave.
The purpose of fish duties is not to haze
nor to hurt you. Nor is the purpose to re
lieve upperclassmen of undesirable tasks or
responsibilities. The purpose of serving as a
fish is to teach you discipline. Within a short
time most of you will be taking your places
in the armed forces of the United States as
leaders of troops engaged in battle. Unless
you know and thoroughly understand what
discipline is, unless you are the master of
;self discipline, you cannot be a successful
deader.
It may seem to some that the Aggie
isystem tends to destroy initiative. On the
(contrary, by removing all previously estab
lished ideas of superior abilities and by re
ducing rich and poor alike to a common
status, your superior officers are able to
ascertain your individual worth on the basis
^f results, not reputation.
You now stand at the doorstep to the
proving grounds of man’s ability, common
^sense, willingness and eagerness to learn.
Before you is the opportunity to carry on a
great tradition. On the road ahead lie many
pitfalls and heartaches. If you will conquer
them, you may proudly call yourself an Ag
gie.
No other weapons are needed to win this
battle than a firm heart and a determination
and willingness to be an Aggie in the full
est sense of the word. Remember, 50,000
other men have preceded you in the path you
are now walking. They are Aggies! Will you
be one?
Welcome New Students
This week some 1200 boys from all parts of
Texas and the United States will be intro
duced to Aggieland. They will be taking one
Of the biggest steps in their lives. The re-
: turning Aggies know that they have come
in the right direction—to the greatest school
‘ in the country. Each old student welcomes
“the new Aggies heartily.
Here at Aggieland there will be many
new things to you new students, and some
of these you will not like. But it has been
proven time and again that the best man
grins and meets his obstacle with vim and
vigor. In many cases help will be offered;
take it, for experience, you’ll find, counts.
Your stay here at Aggieland will be what
you make it and what you want it to be. A
student gets back what he puts into his
work, and this is true here as well as else
where.
Welcome to Aggieland and good luck
while you are here.
Quotable Quotes
■“Victory will be in two fields, combat and
recovery. The impoverished nations of Eu
rope have not the force to handle victory
alone or recovery alone. America will lead the
way in organization; in answering the tor
menting question, how do we want to live;
in the just care of our soldiers; in the fair
distribution of the national income; in at
tempting to reduce unemployment; and in
world co-operation. Only a trained people,
trained in leadership, trained in analysis,
trained in agreement, can win these great ob
jects. To them our colleges can and will be
dedicated, for they are among the highest
objects to which the civilization that we
cherish is dedicated, our colleges with all the
rest.”—From an address by Isaiah Bowman,
president, Johns Hopkins University.
Robert C. Yates of the Louisiana State
university mathematics faculty is the author
of a new volume, “The Trisection Problem.”
THE BATTALION
-TUESDAY MORNING, JUNE 2, 1942
Open Forum
BACKWASH
B(j
.lack Hood
"B&skwuh: An ntitation rcnultinr from •com nation or oe-ourronoe.”-- We&ntor
16 Harding Place,
Danbury, Conn.
May 13th, 1942.
Commander Corps of Cadets,
Texas Aggies,
Texas.
Dear Sir:
It was my pleasure on Monday, May
11th, to listen to the radio program from
your campus and given by Vox Pop and
Mr. Johnson. As far as radio programs go, I
believe it was one of the best of such so far.
Towards the end, in fact the end, I was
held in my chair by your silvery trumpets,
when they played your college salute to
those graduates who have died in the cause
of today, Taps.
I cannot find words that would express
to you and your great college, the feeling
that came over me all through that sacred
few minutes. I know how you feel, because
I went through the last war. I know how
your hearts are saddened when you hear
another of your great men has passed to
the great beyond, and, with this in mind,
may I present to you and your great college
my Taps to these noble lives. May their
souls rest in Peace.
Sincerely yours,
William P. Adams.
(Editor’s note: The poem is printed on the front
page).
From Capital to Campus
ACP’s Jay Richter Reports from Washington
Ten Points Maximum Student May
Garner at One Time in Campus Affairs
Climbing
Hood
HIGH PRICES CHECKED
WASHINGTON.—(AGP)—College stu
dents—because their “income” is relatively
“fixed”—should benefit more than the aver
age person from the Office of Price Admin
istration’s over-all ceiling order on prices.
The inflationary spiral has sent retail
prices up 19 per cent the last year. Were the
spiral to continue, students would find it
tougher and tougher to compete for goods
and services in a market glutted with eager
buyers.
The ceiling on retail goods goes into effect
May 18, while that on services becomes ef
fective July 1. Retailers then must charge
no more than their highest March price.
Here is what will happen to some important
items in the student budget:
Room and board—If you live in a war-
rental area room and board will be controlled.
Some two-thirds of the Nation’s population
is included in these areas.
Restaurant meals—No price control.
Clothing—Both men’s and women’s con
trolled.
Movies and entertainment—No ceilings.
Carfare—No ceilings.
Cigarettes, cosmetics, toothpaste, as
pirin—Just a few thousands of “processed
commodities” on the controlled list.
Laundry, dry cleaning, shoe repairing,
etc.—Controlled.
Beauty and barber shop services—No
control. The government does not recognize
beauty as a “commodity,” and only services
involving commodities are controlled.
You might remember, when the ceilings
go into effect, the order does not wipe out
price differences between stores. If a mer
chant under-sold his competitors last March,
he may still do so. On about 100 important
cost-of-living items retailers must post signs
signs informing purchasers of the maximum
legal price. Also, merchants must give you
a sales slip if you request one.
* * *
WAR . ..
Quisling’s order sending 500 Norwegian
teachers off to Finnish labor camps in the
cramped hold of the S. S. Skjerstad has
aroused storms of protest throughout Nor
way. The 500 were among thousands who
refused to join Norway’s Nazi Teachers Un
ion, Norges Laerersamband.
When the “Nazi slave ship” docked in
Tronheim, it was reported that all the teach
ers were sick and two of them had gone mad.
Even Quisling satellites protested against
resumption of the trip. Provincial Governor
Prytz wired Quisling:
“Hygienic conditions on board are ex
traordinarily bad . . . Many will not be able
to lie down at night . . . Many of the teachers
are ill . . . The water supply is insufficient.
. . . Suggest medical examination for all
teachers.”
The ship was sent on its way after a
Quisling physician treated some 100 of the
sick.
Back in the saddle again . . .
we thought about starting this
67th year with the usual Backwash
column . . . leaving out the “wel-
come-back-did-you-have - a - good-
vacation” bull . . . but this was
written during vacation and we’re
as lazy as you are ... so we’ll
just introduce ourselves to the
“fishermen” and try to make cus
tomers out of them.
To the newcomers: Backwash is
the Aggies’ column dealing with
the lighter side of Aggie life. (This
is one thing you
don’t have to pay
for, or stand in
line to get . . .
our job isn’t front
page blab, sports,
or editorials; but
usually falls in
iseveral depart-
■ments: Human in
terest, entertain
ment, humor (or
call it worse), campus small talk,
miscellaneous . . . and this year
we hope to uncover interesting
lines on Aggie-Exes in the service.
Once in a while we have to put
in our two pennies worth in the
form of a little editorializing, but
we try to shy away from that—•
the editor can do the bleeding.
• • •
Last Year
Started as usual . . . close to
7,000 registered . . . our football
team was the fall attraction—they
literally fought and tore their way
from the underdog position to the
top . . . then, December 7th—and
the fun started. Many changes
quickly changed Aggie College
days to Aggie Red, White, and
Blue days . . . some of our prized
traditions got the ax, but it was
all for Uncle Sammy. Shortly be
fore mid-term we began to really
taste the war—even outside the
mess halls . . . the semester was
shortened a week, and we wasted
no time getting into the second
semester. The Board announced
a 12-months school year, with no
finals. The last go-around seemed
short . . . dances were crowded
into the scarce week-ends, but
bands (like sugar and rubber) were
hard to get. Finally, the Great Day
rolled around for our seniors . . .
but the 564 who got commissions
didn’t get a breathing spell—they
were ordered to active duty two
days after graduation (out of the
frying pan, into the fire).
• • •
This Year
It’s “around and around she
goes,” but she stops for no man
. . . everything is speedier. The ’43
seniors will graduate in January,
so the football season, the dance
season, etc., will have to be jammed
together ... it should be far from
dull. The new open-air dance pa
vilion will be used for regimental
dances, as well as Informal shin
digs . . . and Social Secretary
Bobby Stevens hopes to get more
good bands on the dotted line this
summer.
• • •
Left-overs
And was her face red: Mrs.
Francklow, secretary in the Stu
dent Activities office, was worry
ing over the problem of identify
ing about 300 students who had
lost the fiscal receipt with which
they were supposed to get their
Longhorns. One day a little fella
came into the office ... he was
dressed in coveralls—one leg rolled
up . . . Mrs. Francklow didn’t even
look up . . . said she, “Alright,
let’s see your yellow slip” . . .
the young man returned, “Please,
I’d like to get my mail. I’m Boyd
Raeburn.”
Most everybody heard Dub Sib
ley talk to Ann Sheridan via long
distance telephone on the Vox Pop
program a few weeks ago . . . but
not all of it. Dub Sibley said a few
words to Ann over the air waves,
but he talked to her a good while
after leaving the stage at Guion
Hall . . . something like this: “Say,
Ann (Honey), I got a girl out at
U.C.L.A., and I wish you’d wire her
for me and tell her to saddle her
horse and come to Texas . . . and
I’d sure like to have a little six-
by-eight foot snapshot of you.”....
We swiped this for the fish: “Be
lieve it or not, your handshake re
flects your personality” . . . “The
shortest distance between dates is
a good line” ...
Student executive positions in
the corps are limited as a result
of the point system which has
been adopted by the Student Ac
tivities Committee.
The maximum number of points
to be allowed a single student
would be ten. The original recom
mendations of the student activi
ties committee provided that the
various student jobs be distributed
among as many students as possi
ble, and, at the same time, prevent
any one student from being en
gaged in more activities than time
would permit.
The basis for this limitation, as
recommended by the committee,
would be a point system whereby
each job would be judged by the
importance it carries and weighed
accordingly.
Student positions on the campus
carry the following weight:
Cadet Colonel 10
Editor Battalion .....10
Editor Longhorn 10
Advertising Manager Battalion 8
Advertising Manager Longhorn 3
President Senior Class 8
Associate Editor Battalion 6
Associate Editor Longhorn 6
President Junior Class 6
President Sophomore Class 6
President Fx’eshman Class 6
Town Hall Manager 6
Senior Yell Leaders 6
President of student clubs 4
Managing Editor Battalion 4
Junior Yell Leaders , 4
Vice-president student clubs .... 2
Sec.-Treas. student clubs 2
WELCOME BACK TO AGGIELAND
OLE ARMY
DINING
AND
DANCING
Renew those old acquaintances and make new ones
out at Franklin’s . . . Enjoy delicious refreshments
and dancing at the Aggie gathering place.
Franklin’s
Iowa State college spring quarter reg
istration is 5,211, a drop of 21/2 per cent from
the 1941 spring quarter.
Foster hall is to be the name of the
new girls’ dormitory at Texas Christian uni
versity, which is nearing completion.
University of Michigan faculty members
have undertaken 31 war research projects
for the federal government.
Sixteen Iowa State College women are
now qualified to drive ambulances in the
services of the United States.
SECOND HAND
BOOKS - UNIFORMS
DRAWING EQUIPMENT
ALSO
NEW AND USED BOOKS
I. E. S. STUDY LAMPS
a1 L NECESSARY SCHOOL SUPPLIES
COMPLETE RADIO REPAIR SHOP
STUDENT CO-OP
North Gate—One Block East
Phone College 4-4114