Page 2
THE BATTALION
-SATURDAY MORNING, AUGUST 1, 1942
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
jpon 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
<-6444.
1941 Member 1942
Pissocided Cblle6icite Press
Brooks Gofer Editor-in-Chief
Ke® Breanen.. Associate Editor
Phil Crown Staff Photographer
Sports Staff
Mike Haikin Sports Editor
Mike Mann .....Assistant Sports Editor
Chick Hurst - Senior Sports Assistant
N. Libson Junior Sports Editor
Advertising Staff
Reggie Smith Advertising Manager
Jack E. Carter Tuesday Asst. Advertising Manager
Louis A. Bridges Thursday Asst. Advertising Manager
Jay Pumphrey .Saturday Asst. Advertising Manager
Circulation Staff
F. D. Asbury, Jr Circulation Manager
Bill Huber..... Senior Assistant
H. R. Tampke ; Senior Assistant
Carlton Power Senior Assistant
Joe Stalcup «. Junior Assistant
Saturday’s Staff
Clyde C. Franklin Managing Editor
John Holman Junior Editor
Benton Taylor Junior Editor
Jack Keith , Junior Editor
Reporters
Tom Journeay, Harry Cordua, Bob Garrett, Ramon McKin
ney. John Baldridge, Charles Kaplan, Gerald Fahrentold, Bert
Kurtz, Bill Jarnagin, Bob Meredith, Bill Japhet, Jack Hood,
Jack Chilcoat, Bill Murphy. John Sparger, and Henry Holguin.
Let's Not Lose This!
Every now and then, Aggieland loses some
thing that it has had for years and years.
War or no war, however; heat or no heat,
however; the Aggie SPIRIT is one thing
that just can’t bfe taken away from us.
During football season, we have plenty
of ways of showing that spirit, but this
summer, chances to air your feelings about
this place are few and far between. One of
those “chances” was the reception given
Norman Raine Thursday night.
In the first place, there wasn’t much,of
a “corps” there to welcome him, and what
was there didn’t, or couldn’t, put on much
of a show because the fish messed up all of
the yells and songs.
Memorizing a few lines of verse isn’t
difficult for anybody, so every man on this
campus should know those yells and songs
by now.
The Aggie Twelfth Man has been the
only man in the United States to be called
down officially for making too much noise.
We have made that much noise because we
have all been real Aggies—full of those old
butterflies. Let’s not let that old spirit die!
Those four or five hundred—not thous
and—Aggies at the station Thursday night
didn’t put on the show that four or five
thousand could have. Those fish were
there yelling, maybe not in the right place,
but still they yelled. All the sophomores did
was glare at the freshmen.
Upperclassmen, teach those songs and
yells to your fish, and when the Aggie corps
gets together again for a yell session, let’s
EVERYBODY come out and Y-E-L-L!
War must be for the sake of peace, busi
ness for the sake of leisure, things necessary
and useful for the sake of things ywble.—
Aristotle.
Realism vs. Sensationalism
(Condensed from an article, “Are We Com
placent,” in the Syracuse Post-Standard).
In order to make the news seem more im
portant, reporters and commentators have
fallen into the citizen’s habit of talking about
happenings as though they were the doings
of great, “third-personized” Beings.
Can we not have a change of phraseol
ogy in news-writing so that phrases such as
“a victory for the United Nations,” “the
Axis threat,” the danger to the British Em
pire,” “Soviet counter-attack,” and the like
appear less frequently, and such terms as
“you and me,” “us,” “our men,” and “the
men and women of England and Russia,” ap
pear more often?
Instead of symbolic cartoons which
fickle our fancy and encourage us in being
too lazy to think, cartoons showing Germany
as Hitler, England as John Bull, and the
United States as Uncle Sam, can we not have
more pictures of something real, accounts of
■something which will make us, as individ
uals, think, feel and act?
The public is not something for writers
to cajole, amuse, or discipline. The times are
now too serious for us to be satisfied with
the “analyses” of our side-line experts who
describe the war as though it were a game
which we are merely watching.
On the front page where the more spec
tacular events now are played up, we need
also some news, and some recognition, of
things which ordinary individual citizens
are doing. If a newswriter, broadcaster, or
columnist is to talk intelligently about “the
people,” he must first become one of the
people himself. Then our leaders and citi
zens will be working not at cross purposes,
but hand in hand.
Formerly the richest countries were
those- in which Nature was most bountiful;
now the richest countries are those in which
man is most active. For in our age of the
world, if Nature is parsimonious, we know
how to compensate for her deficiencies; our
engineers can correct the error and remedy
the evil. For the powers of Nature, notwith
standing their apparent magnitude, are lim
ited and stationary; but the powers of man,
so far as experience and analogy can guide
us, are unlimited.—Henry Thomas Buckle.
The World Turns On
[PRIVATE BUCK By Clyde Lewis
By DR. R. W. STEEN
Events of the last few weeks should cause
Americans to take stock of some of their
political views and activities. One of the
things for which we are fighting in this the
greatest of wars is democracy. Yet Ameri
cans as a group seem to value democracy
very lightly indeed. In Texas, for example,
there are more than 3,000,000 white adults,
yet barely 1,000,000 made it to the polls on
last Saturday to assist in choosing a Demo
cratic candidate for the high office of United
States Senator. Where were the other
2,000,000 ? What effect would they have had
on the race for the Senatorial nomination if
they had taken the trouble to go to the polls
and vote? This lack of interest is perhaps
typical of the American attitude toward
many of the freedoms and privileges which
are enjoyed in this country. We talk much
of “the right to vote” but fail to make use
of it. Many of the 2,000,000 who did not vote
Saturday would wail loudly if they were sud
denly deprived of the ballot, yet it is diffi
cult to see why they are entitled to it.
It has long since been conceded that
voting is a privilege rather than a right.
Many people are now coming Jo look upon
voting as a duty rather than a privilege. The
citizen is obligated to make his wishes known
at the polls, and to assist in every way pos
sible in the choice of qualified and proper
officials.
It should also be the duty of the citizen
to demand a high standard of intelligence
and conduct from persons elected to office.
None can doubt that the country is facing
many grave and serious problems. Yet the
standards of campaigning have not material
ly improved. Many candidates insist that at
titudes toward isolation and the war should
not be permitted to enter the campaigns.
In Georgia Gene Talmadge can find no bet
ter issue on which to seek reelection than
the threadbare question of separate schools
for negroes and whites. The silly collections
of words which he gives to the people as
speeches give the impression that if he were
turned out of the mansion negroes and whites
would immediately begin attending the same
schools. In Tennessee one of the major ques
tions seems to be whether or not the gover
nor likes dogs. This is undoubtedly a weighty
issue and should be given careful considera
tion by the people of Tennessee. Then, if they
have any time left over, they can consider
such minor problems as the war. Other ex
amples could be given, some of them closer
to Texas, but it would seem to be obvious
that in times such as these Americans should
consider carefully the use they have made
and are making of the privilege of voting.
“You can wear your boy scout merit badges, if you want to,
Buck, but I don’t think the Colonel is going to be impressed!”
BACKWASH
By
lack Hood
“Backwash: An aeritation resulting: from some action or occurrence Webster
Hit Parade ... —
Tonight at the Juke Box Prom,
request slips will be provided for
those wishing to hear their favorite
tunes . . . the slips will have a
place for your first, second, third
and fourth choices. From them will
be tabulated the
week’s Aggie Hit
| Parade, so be
sure we have a
| list of your top
| four tunes. If
:: practical, request
slips will be on
^^^hand for the Au-
f§l|l||'Ji ( , 7 dance
when the Aggie-
Hood land opens the
pavilion, and August 8 with Ina
Ray Hutton swinging the stick.
War Comments
By Walter F. Goodman, Jr.
A Second Front
Every Russian private and every German of
ficial, every British Tommy and every Amer
ican citizen are all wondering: “Will there be
a second front? If so, when?” This is the
question of the hour. To Russia it may mean
defeat or victory for she can’t retreat for
ever. To Germany a second front is a vital
question likewise. From previous wars she’s
learned to always avoid fighting on two
fronts at the same time if possible—it’s al
ways dangerous and often fatal. This ex
plains Hitler’s tremendous desire to defeat
the Russians this year at all costs so that
when a drive comes at his back he’ll be able
to turn to meet it, and if he can accomplish
this, what a scrap we’ll have!
From all reports the U. S. and Great
Britain have led Russia to expect a second
western front relatively soon, but so far we
have seen little evidence of one in the near
future. It’s common knowledge that an of
fensive over a body of water against fixed
positions is a difficult thing to carry out,
but aside from this one fact it must be real
ized that months and months of gruelling,
stringent preparation and training is neces
sary to successfully launch such a move. In
my estimation it would necessitate a mini
mum of two million men to start the first
phases of such an attack to merely gain a
toehold in enemy territory. Also, tremendous
losses would have to be sustained from such
an offensive. To follow up this invasion, a
much greater force would be required to
occupy and hold the territory and to push
the offensive to a successful conclusion.
The obstacles to overcome are tremen
dous but apparently a second front is cook
ing judging from the high ranking officials
and service personnel turning up in England
these days. But more than plans are needed
for an invasion. Only men and more men
will hold the answer, and where are these
men? Of a certainty they are not in the
British Isles. If I recall correctly, the U. S.
has only sent about four or five convoys to
Ireland and England and as armies go to
day, this is only a handful of men.
The likelihood that we will see a second
front this year is highly improbable—the
men and material just aren’t present. But in
the meantime , the Germans are approaching
the Caucusus, the Volga, Stalingrad, and
Astrakhan. Loss of these strongholds would
be strangulation for Russia and to best aid
her we should direct all our energies to re
inforcing Russia and temporarily leave the
question of a second front in abeyance. This
would mean then, that instead of sending
troops to Ireland, we should send material to
Russia through both the southern Astra
khan and northern Archangel routes.
Thus appears the immediate solution
and with its completion and a solid Eastern
line on the offensive, we could prepare for
a western effort!
Monikers ... —
Names submitted in the contest
to name the new dance slab are
trickling in, some of the best being
Cedarena, The Scarlet Carpet, Ag-
arena, Cedar Grove, Maroonstone
Square, etc. But a real, bang-up,
ear-catching name will still take
the bacon over all those yet en
tered . . . the bacon being two
tickets to the week-end dances, (in
cidentally, those trees around the
slab aren’t cedars after all, but
they’ll pass for cedars.)
Sweepings ... —
Norman Raine was (humanly)
scared at the corps welcome Thurs
day night, but what stranger
wouldn’t be if he were hauled off
the train and partially undressed
on the spot . . . and he was ready
for bed after the fast-cadence
walk with the band . . . Dick Jen
kins will bring back The Mysteri
ous Howard, who made a hit on
Kadet Kapers this spring, if the
KK fans want him . . . Just to
keep the record straight: There
will be a Deans Team this semes
ter, issued the latter * part of next
week . . . According to one ob
server, The Battalion, for once,
was right (in a double-barreled
way): Thursday’s paper said Raine
would be here that night, and we
had rain (cheezy, ain’t it?) . . .
One thing about Eco Prof A. F.
Chalk, he’s so nice about dashing
a boy’s classroom dreams. A few
days ago Grover Carothers, C In
fantry, was dreaming in class.
Prof. Chalk walked over and
tickled him gently under the chin.
We are told Carothers mumbled
something, made a blind hug at
thin air, and abruptly woke up
(with a very red face) . . . Due to
a strangely increased water bill,
the electric power will not be cut
off again except in cases of emerg
ency . . . The legend of the return
of the swallows to Capistrano
shown at Guion Hall recently
brought this to light: Swallows re
turned to the administration bldg
of Sul Ross State Teachers Col
lege, near Alpine, Texas, as pre
dicted by faculty members who
have kept calendar data for five
successive years, a record which in
time may rival the famous return
of the swallows to the San Juan
Capistrano Mission in California,
where March 19 marks the widely
publicized arrival of the birds from
their winter quarters . . . Up TCU
way, students were questioned,
“Should a boy and girl in love
marry before he leaves for serv
ice?” More than one-third answer
ed yes. Another 25 percent think
engagement is best—the marriage
to wait for the boy’s return. Forty-
two percent favor canning the
whole thing until the scrap is over.
Perhaps you are slab-happy
from hearing so much about the
new portion of concrete near the
West Gate commonly called “The
Slab,” but the grand opening Fri
day night and the SUMMER
STOMP to be held Saturday night
are two events that shouldn’t be
missed by anyone. Scrip will be a
dollar ten and dress will be infor
mal.
The JUKE BOX PROM tonight
will be the last one to be held in
Sbisa Hall, according to Bobby
Stephens, social secretary. Othefs
this summer will be held out un
der the sky on the No Name Slab.
As in the past, a regular hit pa
rade will be carried on during the
dance so that everyone should get
to dance to his favorite tunes.
Price of the dance is 35 cents.
For those who enjoy strictly
dramatic pictures, “SUSPICION,”
showing at Guion Hall today only,
s is highly recom-
jj mended. Joan
Fontaine (of “Re
becca” fame) and
Cary Grant are
co-starred in the
production.
Grant is a
:i worthless Eng-
4 i s h m a n who
^thrives by his
Cary Grant g 00 d looks and
charming manner. In a fast and
furious courtship, he falls in love
with Joan Fontaine, a quiet girl,
daughter of a wealthy army man.
After she has married her no-good
husband, she realizes that he is
worthless and has no scruples. She
even suspects him of having killed
his partner, and she lives in mortal
fear that he will do the same to
her. How she discovers her mistake
and averts tragedy completes the
story.
The Lowdown: excellent acting
under excellent directing.
Showing for the last times to
day at the Campus is “The Spoil
ers,” with Marlene Dietrich, Ran
dolph Scott and John Wayne. At
midnite tonight and Sunday and
Monday “BEDTIME STORY” will
play. The cast includes Fredric
(See DISTRACTIONS, Page 4)
See That Your Organiza
tion Has An Entry In
LOUPOT’S
$50 CONTEST
Qampus
4-1181
Box Office Open Till 10 P.M.
LAST DAY
teif 5
Also
Musical - Cartoon
Latest News
PREVIEW TONIGHT
SUNDAY AND MONDAY
with ROBERT BEWCHLEY • A COLUMBIA PICTURE
Also
Merrie Melody Cartoon
News - Panoramics
Carl Hoff and Orchestra
Comedy Occupies Top
Spot on “TreasuryStar
Parade” on WTAW
Comedy occupies the “Treasury
Star Parade” spotlight, in the
broadcast to be heard over Station
WTAW today at 11:30 a.m. when
George Burns and Gracie Allen
appear as the program’s special
guests. The confused but earnest
contributions of Gracie’s family to
the nation’s war effort supply sub
ject matter for fifteen laugh-pack
ed minutes. Paul Whiteman and
his orchestra, and the soloist Jim
my Cash are heard in the prog
ram’s musical features.
WHAT’S SHOWING
At Guion Hall
Saturday—“Suspicion” with
Cary Grant and Joan Fon-
tain.
At the Campus
Saturday—“The Spoilers,”
with Marlene Dietrich and
Randolph Scott.
Midnight — “Bedtime
Story” with Fredric March,
Loretta Young and Robert
Benchley.
Sample Cartoon to Win $50.00
No Chatter From You,
Pm Headm’ for LOU!
Loupot’s Trading Post.
An Aggie Tradition
fs~
/
Gel the Neu'est in Both Style* on
VICTOR and COLUMBIA RECORDS
HE’S MY GUY—Tommy Dorsey
“TAINT NO GOOD”—Erskine Hawkins
“BE CAREFUL, IT’S MY HEART”—Dinah Shore
“LIGHT A CANDLE IN THE CHAPEL”
—Tommy Dorsey
HASWELL’S
Bryan
MOVIE
Guion Hall
Friday and Saturday
1:00 — 7:00 and 8:30
Cary Grant — Joan Fontaine
“SUSPICION’’
— ALSO —
Late News — “The Village Smithy’
COMING
Monday - Tuesday - Wednesday
Ann Sheridan — Ronald Reagan
in
“Juke Girl”