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THE BATTALION
FRIDAY, JUNE 23, 1944
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THE BATTALION
STUDENT TRI-WEEKLT NEWSPAPER
TEXAS A. & M. COLLEGE
The Battalion, official newspaper of the Agricultural and Mechanical College
of Teas and the City of College Station is published three times weekly, and issued
Tuesday,, Thursday and Saturday mornings except during the summer semester when
it ie published two times weekly and issued on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, and
is the official publication of the students of the A. & M. College of Texas and serves
unofficially in the interest of the enlisted personnel of the United States Army and
Navy stationed on the campus.
Entered as second class matter at the Post Dffice at College Station, Texas,
juder the Act of Congress of March 8, 1870.
Subscription rate $3 per school year. Advertising rates upon request.
Represented nationally by National Advertising Service, Inc., at New York City,
Jhicago, Boston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.
Office, Room fi. Administration Building. Telephone 4-1444.
Member
Associated Collegiate Press
Calvin Brumley Editor
Dick Goad Managing Editor
Alfred Jefferson Managing Editor
Renyard W. Canis Feature Writer
J. W. Bell Sports Writer
Dick Osterholm Reporter
Bob Gold Reporter
Eli Barker Reporter
Upon This Solid Foundation . . .
a -/
This semester about nine hundred boys enrolled in A.
& M. for the first time. Many of them had never been on
the campus before and more were unfamiliar with the or
ganization of campus life. ^
In deciding to send their sons to A. & M. most parents
considered the academic standing of the college but perhaps
an even more important factor was the reputation A. & M.
has for developing those qualities which enable a boy to
think for himself in a mature manly fashion. As implied
before many of these parents were and still are unfamiliar
with the system at A. & M.
' ^ r. A. & M. is a state supported school and as such the citi
zens of Texas and the parents that send their sons to A. &
M. certainly have the right to voice their opinion regarding
the operation of the college. As is so often the case important
considerations are inundated by personal bias.
Boys come to A. & M. largely because of the reputation
the alumni has established for the school. They came here
hoping to get some of the same things that their predecessors
received so that they too might have more of an opportunity
for success.
It is respectfully submitted that even though they have
every right to criticize the manner in which a student’s
life is conducted at A. & M. that the parents should stop
and consider for a moment the reasons why they sent their
boys to A. & M. before writing to the college authorities
complaining of the manner in which discipline is adminis
tered.
Students live at A. & M. according to the customs and
practices which have contributed much toward making
Texas A. & M. the greatest of the land grant colleges. If
the people of Texas will think and consider the probability
that the things for which A. <% M. stands are largely a re
sult of the very things that some people are trying to de
stroy then perhaps much of the confusion and misunder
standing that has existed will be cleared up.
Not A Disney Creation . . .
College Station located as it is in a damp humid region
has always had a problem in,mosquito control. This fact was
recognized when the college was erected and as a result of
this realization the part of the campus where the students
live was placed on a gently sloping hill with drainage in all
directions. This added to the beauty of the A. & M. campus
but more important it placed the dormitories as far as pos
sible from stagnant bodies of water which provide incuba
tors for the pesky and deadly mosquito.
Despite all these precautions the city and college au
thorities found it necessary to employ a group of men dur
ing the mosquito breeding months to spread oil over the small
bodies of stagnant water which inevitably collect regardless
of the most careful planning in providing proper drainage.
This work is to be commended because it certainly has pro
tected the students and residents of College Station from
the annoyance and danger of the mosquito.
During the last few weeks, despite all the prevention
practices, students have been complaining because of the
prevalence of mosquitoes. 4
Study hours have been interrupted and restful sleep
has been made difficult recently by the mosquitoes that have
hatched in spite of preventative measures. Besides the an
noyance that has been caused t here have been reported a
few cases of mild malaria. The situation is not especially
serious at the moment but indications are that it can become
so.
There is still time enough to destroy the breeding
grounds of the mosquito and eliminate this health hazard.
Living together as the cadets do, one little apparently in
significant mosquito could spread enough malaria in one
night to bring the situation to the point of seriousness.
A Meaning for the War
I, for one, believe that the effort
of our writers to interpret, and of
our public to grasp, the inner
meaning of the war is wholesome
and encouraging thing. After all,
this war is costing us all a great
deal: to the fighters it means, at
the very least, a violent dislocation
of all their plans for living. Even
to us at home it means a long
strain, full of small inconveniences,
anoyances, and hardships. But if we
can be made to feel, (all of us,
fight/rs and people at home) that
this war means something and
especially that it can be made to
count constructively toward a
better state of affairs than used
to exist, then we can put up with
a lot. Of course, Pearl Harbor
answered for most of us any ques
tion as to the necessity of the
war. We were jumped on and had
to fight back. But if we can be led
even beyond this simple impulse
of self-defense; if we can be
shown not only that we are fight
ing, in justifiable self-defense, to
preserve what decency there al
ready is in the world, but that we
are struggling to build, through
this war, a better world and a bet
ter chance for everybody than has
ever existed so far—then the whole
miserable and dangerous business
of the war is put on a plane on
which any decent person can car
ry his war burdens, heavy or
light, with a good grace and a
willing heart.
It is just this interpretation of
the war as a crusade and not a
browl which a score of recent
books has achieved. A Time for
Greatness, by Herbert Agar; Stuart
Chase’s little books, The Road We
Are Traveling, Goals for America,
and Where Is the Money Coming
From?; The Coming Showdown,
by Carl Dreher; The Future of In
dustrial Man, by Peter Drucker;
Michael Straight’s Make This the
Last War; The Conditions of
Peace, by Edward Hallett Carr;
The Unfinished Task, by Herbert
Corey; Let the People Know, by
Norman Angell; Alvin Hansen’s
essay, Toward Full use of Our Re
sources; and Wendell Willkie’s
One World. These are twelve of
the best things that have come out
of the war between book-covers.
Every one of these books is real
istic, warning us of difficulties
and deadly dangers. eYt the chief
theme of every one of them, also
is not the hope of salvaging the old
pre-war world, but the possibility
of creating a better world than
has ever existed—if we manage
things properly.
BACIhWAjn
By Reynard
W. Canis
Backwash: An agitation resulting from some action or occurrence.”—Webster.
—OPERA —
(Continued from oage 1)
at this time that the director urged
him to take up music for an oc
cupation, and he was soon on his
way to France to study.
Because of his exceptionally fine
voice, Mr. Gurney has been hail
ed from coast to coast, but this is
only one of his many qualities as
he has a fine sense of humor. Hav
ing once been a college man him
self he knows what the college
student wants in the way of music.
The show, which is free, should
prove very interesting to the Ag
gies, servicemen, faculty, and local
residents.
Say look—and who hasn’t. Dis
tractions, distractions. They are
driving the corps batty. The heat
is sorta distracting too. The Aggie
campus has never been famous for
its beauty, but then who ever said
anything about sixteen hundred
hunks of brawn contributing any
thing to the scenery. All kidding
aside though . . . there are scads,
literally scads, of single unattach
ed ladies working in departments
and offices around the campus.
(Wanted: One air conditioned of
fice fully equipped with ice water
and stuff and staffed with effic
ient secretaries. Blondes preferred.)
Landscaping isn’t the only thing
that improves the scenery.
Tis a Shame
Somewhere down in the Duncan
Mess Hall area, sometimes referr
ed to as Navasota, two lithsome
lassies in a V-8 (Strangers on
the campus) no doubt apparently
lost their way and in vain tried
to seek directions from passing
Aggies. Sho nuff is strange the
way these guys that call them- ^
selves Aggies are so reservedly
timid when spoken to. Proper
training no doubt. . . Check your
oil Mister?
Letter Home
Dear Dad,
When you sent me here to A.
& M. you said that it would be
costing you less money on account
of there were no places to go nor
nothin’ to do around here. Well, \J,
you were right about no love, no
nothing until your pride and joy
comes home. Meaning me of
course. ^
Say, Pop, I told my captain that
I had to go home to see the doctor
so he gave me a pass. Get the car
filled up with gas and put a few
strips of tape around those holes
in the tires. Really don’t need to
see a doctor. What I need is the (
gentle caress of a few moonbeams .
(See BACKWASH, Page 4)
Man, Your Maimers
By 1. Sherwood
“If your brother is an enlisted
man and you are entertaining an
officer, can you have them both for
dinner in your home at the same
time?”
In a private home, enlisted
men and officers mix informally
without thought to rank or prece
dence. If the party were official,
that would be a different matter.
“Who precedes whom, the man or
the girl, when entering or leaving
the following: (a) Restaurant? (b)
Theater? (c) Taxi?”
(a) The girl. She follows the
headwaiter if there is one and she
goes first when they leave.
(b) If there is an usher the girl
follows him and the man follows
her but if there is no usher the
man goes first to locate seats. At
a movie the girl may find the seats
if she chooses, when there is no
usher. On leaving', the theater or
movie the man naturally steps out
of the row first but waits in the
aisle for the girl to step ahead.
(c) The man gets out of a taxi
first so he may help the girl out.
The girl enters first.
“How do your introduce an air
cadet after he graduates?”
He ranks as a second lieutenant
and you may introduce him as
Lieutenant So-and-So. Socially any
officer is introduced according to
his title, except in the Navy, all
under Commander are introduced
as “Mr. So-and-So”. The lower
ranking officer is presented to the
higher ranking officer.
PENNY’S SERENADE
.By W. L. Penberthy
The candidates for our Football
team are now working out in
preparation for the season to
come. At present there are enough
men on the squad for us to have
several teams
but this group
I w i 11 dwindle in
size for various
reasons. The men
who survive and
| make up the
squad that will
represent the
school next fall
will b e those
who have shown
that they have
the ability and
the desire.
A coach likes to have a group of
men who have ability, who have
had good training and a lot of
experience and who have a love
for the game or what I call de
sire. Many of the players on our
Penberthy
team will not have all of these
qualifications but the coach who
has a group of men without de
sire is in for a tough season. I
have seen a lot of men in sports
who had ability, training and ex
perience but lacked the desire.
These men fell far short of the
greatness which they were capable
of achieving. On the other hand
I have seen men in sports and in
life who had mediocre ability, but
who were diligent in their endeav
or to learn and had desire, go far
beyond the expected goal.
A lot of us are prone to blame
our failures on our lack of abil
ity but it is my feeling that any
of us who have average ability
can accomplish just about any
thing we see out to do if we are
sufficiently interested and are will
ing to work hard enough. Interest
and industry will go far in offset
ting lack of ability.