Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 5, 1945)
P£ p age 2 THE BATTALION THURSDAY AFTERNOON, JULY 5> 1945 The Battalion STUDENT WEEKLY NEWSPAPER Office, Room 5, Administration Building, Telephone 4-5444 Texas A. & M. College The Battalion, official newspaper of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas and the City of College Station is published weekly, and circulated on Thursday afternoon. Entered as second class matter at the Post Office at College Station, Texas, under the Act of Congress of March 3, 1870. Subscription rate $3.00 per school year. Advertising rates upon request. Represented nationally by National Advertising Service, Inc., at New York City, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. W of Member Pbsoaoted CoUe6iate Press Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor Sports Edito: <u John F. Spragin's, Jr le Sam A. Nixon, Jr Harold Borofsky Phil Lichtenstein A. S. T. P. Editor w REPORTERS j Clyde C. Crittenden, S. A. Wells, M. C. Kury, R. W. Simms, B. W. Cantrell, R. G. Reese, H. A. Pate, F. D. Baca. R. M. Wren Let’s Have More te a The informal dance on the slab Saturday night was a of definite success by all standards-The response from the Corps A was excellent, the number of dates surprisingly good for ai such short notice, the general arrangements went without m difficulty—in short, everyone had a good time, di hi The music of the Aggieland Orchestra set a pleasing sr mood for the first real social event of the summer. What ai is needed now is a few more events equally as good plus tr one super summer attraction. Days pass a lot faster in these dreary summer schools when there -is an appropriate variety t e of entertainment. Let’s have more. C w C Fraternities Debunked . . . 1 Culminating decades of criticism of a most severe na- t< ture is this month’s article in The Readers Digest enumerat- r< ing the thousand and one evils of the Greek letter organiza- “ tions commonly referred to as the sorority and the fratern- ! ity. That conscientious denunciation and debunking of the 2 two greatest evils of college life can be applied to nearly every institution of higher learning in this country, but c just because the majority of the colleges and universities a have them does not indicate such organizations are com- a mendable. A. & M., of the very, very few, can proudly boast v that it has escaped such a plague, and when Readers Di- I gest featured its article by Mrs. Glenn Frank A. & M. was r paid a compliment in disguise. * C J Every Aggie who reads that article will be fully in accord with its every assertion; otherwise, he cannot claim ( the supreme honor of being an Aggie, for A. & M. is sym- 1 bolic of democracy—the worst enemy of the sorority and ‘ the fraternity. Nothing is more disgusting to an Aggie than some of the insipid and degenerate fraternity practices so commonly found at some state supported institutions These are bad enough at state schools and when the notorious acts for which every sorority and fraternity is known, are practiced in a denominational institution sup posedly based on Christian ideals and precepts, it is a little too much to swallow. And yet those things are known to exist in nearly every one of the religious institutions in this state. The authoress of that article was motivated into writing her denunciation when she observed the evils of a fraternity being cast upon an American war veteran. She could not condone such an infamy being hurled upon a returned serv iceman, and she took it upon herself to bring it to the pub lic’s attention. It was not surprising, though, to read of such a thing happening, for that is the reputation that the Greek letter organizations have acquired for themselves. It was a relief and a pleasure to pick up an article such as that, read it, and then be able to say with a clear con science that A. & M. never has and never will be guilty of supporting such cruel practices. The Aggies hate everything that a fraternity and sorority stands for, just as we hate anyone who does not love the American way of life. Instead of making someone feel inferior and attempting to ruin his life with a sense of inferiority, we devote our selves to reducing everyone to the same level. We care not for what a man owns or for who he is. Just being a plain old Aggie is all that matters to us, and from the time we enter here as “Fish”, we are taught to hate and to fight fraternities and all they stand for. We are all for one and one for all here in Aggieland, because we do not have our institution divided into a polyglot of petty forces, each one competing against the other at the expense of the institu tion as a whole. We have one common aim and that aim is to make A. & M., not some trifling club for sissies, but a bet ter place for a MAN to acquire an education and an appre ciation of his fellow man. THE BATTALION --SAYS-- BUY WAR BONDS BACKWASH Backwash: <4 An agitation resulting from some action or occurence.”—Webster. By Junior Canis What two promising young law students nearly gave an English prof, higher blood pressure as a result of a bitter debate as to the proficiency of the new English Proficiency test . . , . ? ) • 0 And by the way, who is that promising young accounting major who makes a mad dash for Killeen every Friday evening? In his es timation June 'comes around every weekend. His highly intelligent roomate also has some fantastic ideas about a girl in Cowtown— that’s Fort Worth in case some “bird brain” doesn’t know. 0 At the practically unannounced dance this weekend (almost every one knew about it by Friday) the following phenomenon occurred . .. Thusly .•. . The emaciated O. D., “Slim” Spragins was seen wearing a straw for a raincoat. By the way how was that dance? We did not quite make it by a hundred and fifty or so miles.. What’s this unconfirmed rumor about having a name orchestra for the next dance? Suppose we could engage Bob Wills or Roy Acuff? 0 How about Sleepy League, God’s gift to the women of T. U., who finally got back from the week end on Tuesday only to be outdone by his roommate, Bill Geer, who hasn’t been seen, since he left. 0 Bob English and Ambrose (Sun- nyboy) Lyth are simply mad about lawn mowers. Who knows—they may go down in history as the men who mowed down College Hills single handed, and in the summer time at that. It is inconceivable that anyone should be so hard up for folding lettuce. Who knows— they may end up as consulting en gineers for some lawnmower Com pany. 0 Some people, simple souls that they are, are still existing under the illusion that there will be a 1946 Longhorn. It seems that some vile creature absconded with the yearbook funds. In this connection it might be noted that Smith promises that if you will all quit hounding him he will give each and everyone who contributed to the cause a spin in his shiny new 1942 Cadillac convertible. 0 And there’s the story of the cannibal’s daughter who liked her boyfriends best of all when they were stewed. The next little ex cerpt is nothing but pure plagia rism, but it’s a darn good story. It seems that two Aggies, whom for our purposes we will calle John Aggie and James Aggie, were hitchhiking out of some little vil lage not far away when a car came roaring around the comer headed in their direction—ap parently out of control. John saw the car but James, facing the op posite direction was unaware of the danger. “Look out!” John yelled, but too late. As tjie dri ver slammed on his brakes, the skidding car flipped John a dou ble somersault and, when he re turned to earth again he didn’t move a muscle, appearing to be near dead. Thinking that every bone in James’ body must be bro ken and remembering the primary rule of first aid, John—now tho roughly scared—nervously caution ed his prostrate companion, “Don’t move, James; don’t move.” “Hell,” James came back—now very much alive—“Whatta you want me to do; stay here and get run over, again ! ! ! ” 0 Any resemblance to this column and creative writing is utterly ridiculous. “Backwash” will here after probably be referred to as “Hogwash.” 0 And as the setting sun sinks upon the distant horizon we bid a fond farewell to “Backwash”, as we will probably never again be allowed to set foot in the “Bat talion” office. Farewell. 0 Junior wishes to inform all the readers of this miserable tripe that due to his incapacity to write “Backwash” this week, three “col laborators” as they desire to be designated, put their heads to gether and produced the above “Hogwash” as they so accurately put it. \ Good Neighbors \ Chile .... Land of Contrast By Ruben R. Caro-Costas Chile, a country with the longest coastline in the world, blazing deserts and antarctic forests, mod ern industrial cities and primitive agricultural communities, is the land of contrasts in South Ameri ca. Stretching for 2,600 miles from the subtropics to the subartic tip of South America, Chile resembles an elongated California, no more than 221 miles wide at some places. Two mountain ranges march her entire length. Between these two mountain ranges is located the Chilean Valley, with some of the best agricultural soil in South America. Three Regions Geographically, Chile can be di vided into three sections, each with its distinct climate and topo graphy. In the north is found the great Chilean desert, arid and mountainous, source of the re public’s mineral wealth. Below this desert comes a diversified region which includes the Central Valley with its rich agricultural soil, where 89% of the people are con centrated. In the northern section of this valley the area is dry, with warm summers and little frost in winter. Irrigation, fed by the Andean snows, has made the land agriculturally rich. In the south ern section it is rainy, and the cli mate is mild in winter and warm in summer. Along the coast of this region are concentrated the in dustrial cities and haciendas. South of this valley is the last of the three regions in Chile, a territory densely forested with infertile soil. Indian Blood on Wane Racially, the Chileans are pre dominately Europeans, with an Indian strain which is rapidly van ishing. Spanish blood predominates and is followed by some British, German, French, Italian and Swiss. Chile has been one of the most difficult countries in South Amer ica for colonization. She was a rough and difficult land to ex plore since the Spaniards were faced with the problem of fight ing the toughest and most warlike Indians ever found in South Amer ica—the Araucanians. These Ind ians were in constant strife with the Spaniards and they kept up this fighting for a hundred years until a treaty was finally worked out. The Indians were allowed to retain the southern region of Chile —the forested area. The enterprise, energy, and imagination of the Chilean people rather than the natural resources of the country have made Chile one of the greatest of South American republics. She ranks along with Brazil and Argentina in import ance. Foreign capital, largely from the United States and France, has financed the exploitation of Chile’s great natural resources of nitrates, copper and iron. Chile’s own cap ital has helped to develop her coal, her hydroelectric power, and her smaller mines. Chile’s Mining Problems The development of Chile’s min eral wealth of nitrates, copper, and iron has been a terrific prob lem. Most of Chile’s mining in dustry is found in mountainous and desert territory, where equipment food, men, and even water have had been brought from the outside' world over forbidding territory. R oads, railroads and pipe lines have had to be built, and the original equipment was carried largely on mule pack. Despite all this, Chile’s mining industry is one of the best equipped and managed in exis tence. Her exports of copper lead the world, while her production is second only to that of the United States. For many years, the story of nitrate was the story of Chile. When the nitrate market was good, Chile was prosperous. When the market fell off, she suffered ser ious unemployment. Until the in troduction of methods of extract ing nitrates from the air during the first World War, Chile, with her thousands of miles of powder dry desert, had a world monopoly in this material so necessary for TNT and fertilizer. After both Germany and the United States had develop ed chemical extraction, the nitrates settlements became ghost towns, unemployment was very serious, and the government suffered a set back as her revenues were cut off. But unless Chile could develop her own industries, she must be de pendent upon the rise and fall to By Edna B. Woods Bookstores and newsstands are full of books and magazines, and publishers are announcing new books daily. These are evidence that people are writing. Yet a vast majority of the books published during war time drop into quick and permanent obscurity, or earn the brand, “personal narrative” with the same ultimate fate. It could be ' that persons who would be our best authors are engaged in fighting, or it may be that authors can’t isolate themselves from the sentiment and sordidness of war A. S. Tl>. Antics by John D. Kilgore All members of First and Second Companies welcome the arriving Reservists and hope their stay here will be pleasant. To tell the truth we were more than a little sur prised when all that two hundred and fifty men lined up in front of Dorm No. 5 for the first time. Regiment, ATTENTION! The Battalion Softball League got off to a good start Tuesday when Third floor Second Company beat Section 263 in a close game that ended 4-3, and CE Section 262 lost 4-3 to the third termers in First Company. And all of us who’ve met our new green—braider or have seen him around will be glad to hear his name is Ollie J. Helton, a shy boy who originated in Conroe, Tex as. His eighteen months in ETO earned him the Bronze Star and other medals, and his visits to Pa ris (France) got him something more important. He’s had four and a half years service, during which he climbed to Staff Sergeant, but he took a cut to Buck Sergeant when he came to A. & M. The en tire battalion wishes him the best of everything, and hope his stay here will be one he will long re member. Hot News—Rumor No. 726 has is that a mascot by the name of “Sparky Junior” is expected soon, and if true congratulations are in order for Mr. and Mrs. Sparky, who, however, modestly waive all showers, etc. We hear that Bill Cox is having trouble finding anybody to oppose outside markets, as in the case of the nitrates. Santiago, the capital, is one of the finest cities in South America, if not in the world. It has a popula tion of 984,489. The buildings are modern and the commercial struc tures are as good as those found in Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires and New York. Valparaiso, the chief port, with more than 300,00 inhab itants, is built on the same scale as Santiago. Concepcion is anoth er impressive harbor city, site of the country’s chief naval station, and the port through which pours most of Chile’s coal. 75% Literacy Education is compulsory and ranks high in Chile. There are five universities and a score of high schools and primary schools. The University of Chile, just a hundred years old, has the largest propor tion of foreign students of any American University, with 1,000 of its 6,000 students from other na tions. More than 75% of Chile’s (See GOOD NEIGHBORS, P. 3) to write at their best level. What ever the cause, only a few novels live after a period' of war. The First World War produced such books as Eric Remarque’s ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT, Arnold Zweig’s THE CASE OF SERGEANT GRISHA, and Ernest Hemingway’s A FARE WELL TO ARMS. ALL QUIET ON THE WEST ERN FRONT is an account of the fighting on the Western front told by a German who went into the army at the age of eighteen. It is a powerful story, not so powerful because of the horrors it portrays but because of the matter-of-fact way in which these horrors are ac cepted. THE ROAD BACK (a les ser book), a sequel to ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT, is a soldier’s attempt to adjust himself to the life of a civilian. A moving story of power and loyalty is Arnold Zweig’s THE CASE OF SERGEANT GRISHA. It’s the third of a tetralogy; the first two are: YOUNG WOMAN OF 1914, and EDUCATION BE FORE VERDUN. THE CASE OF SERGEANT GRISHA is the story of a little Russian soldier who is caught when he tries to escape from a German prison camp. And despite the fact that he has been erroneously condemned to death as a spy, the German Command asserts that he will have to pay the penalty—for political reasons and for the effect this act of discipline will have on the other men. The action of the story is based on the futile efforts to absolve the Ser geant from punishment. Ernest Hemingway’s novel of World War I, A FAREWELL TO ARMS is a highly dramatic story in which an American Ambulance Officer becomes involved with an English nurse on the Austria-Ita- lian front. From a rather tawdry beginning the romance develops into a moving and beautiful love his team in our friendly little PT basketball games. It couldn’t be because he has the best five-man football teeam in the battalion. And Louie Reeg won’t answer any questions about a certain gal in Galveston who doesn’t write to him any more. Neither is Section II burdened with that old “what a great lover I am” line that he usually hands out. That title, by the way, has gone to Ray (James incognito) Stewart. It’s a well known fact that he has all the prettier women in Bryan on his string. Motto for the week is ‘if you want a date in Bryan, stew Stewart.’ Softball managers chose John (Judge Kneeshaw Mountain) Ran dolph as “high commissioner,” to rule with iron hand . . . too bad the clouds left for Wednesday’s drill . . . with near unfamiliar rifles . . . what’s the cause of “dampened spirits” bn the south end of the third floor? . . . any truth to the story of a “special detail” of new reservists for some “supervised room cleaning?” . . . what’s wrong with the cadre soft- ball team, with pick of league stars . . . it’s too bad the army orienta tion sheets don’t furnish a set of answers for “discussion questions” to aid panel members . . . Questions of the week: Why doesn’t music- lover Fred Stohr appreciate sweet strains early in the morning (0958) . . . what’s Alan Sluizer’s priceless secret for sleeping with eyes opened . . . Arthur Krbecek is try ing to learn, but with little success say fellow EE’s . . . claims sleep ing sickness . . . How many arms have been broken by that great big beautiful Kishi? FOR A SUMMER PICK-ME-UP Come by for an ice-cold drink or a delicious dish of ice cream — at — GEORGE’S CONFECTIONERY In the New “Y” story just before its tragic end. The author of A FAREWELL TO ARMS, Ernest Hemingway has received more acclaim through moving pictures based on his books than from the books themselves. This is only natural, yet those who read his books prefer them to the movie adaptations. Hemingway’s literary achievements rest not so much on plot, but on characteriza tion and on his ability to reproduce reality, and the conversations that he gets on paper have the superb effect of coming from the mouths of the characters whom he creates. FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS depicts the phase of the Spanish Civil War which was fought by the guerrilla bands. Here an Amer ican sacrifices everything to fight for an ideal. The action in FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS takes place ip three days, yet the four hundred pages on which it is re corded seem short indeed. / Hemingway’s other writings in clude THE SUN ALSO RISES, a novel of the twenties describing shiftless Americans and English men who possess nothing but time and money and who use them both in a fruitless search for an uniden tified satisfaction in Europe, and his excellent collections of short stories, especially FIFTH COL UMN. All of these books are on your Library’s shelf. FINE UNIFORMS LAUTERSTEIN’S PHONE 4-4444 qmpm Air-Conditioned Opens 1:00 P.M. — Ph. 4-1181 Thursday—Last Day GEORGEBBENtSiUKAS! C\i»tvc*vt Plus Color Cartoon Friday and Saturday Double Feature No. 1 Ginger Rogers Ronald Coleman Jack Carson starred in “LUCKY PARTNERS” No. 2 PfibberSm?" :-w*r m lusim r*uitiT Hi 60ID0M 0LIVII 1*11 AH HALE Ml OH Dfe|ClAB RKO Radio Pktvro Color Cartoon Sunday and Monday It's from the best seller by COL. ROBT. L. SCOTT ? Dennis Morgan DANE CLARK - RAYMOND MASSEY Plus “Tom ’n Jerry” Cartoon Tues. - Wed. - Thurs. BETTY SMITH'S THEE CHOWS tJN BHOOKLYN Plus “Bugs” Bunny