THE BATTALION THURSDAY AFTERNOON, AUGUST 23, 1945 A Ste'\ 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 Entered as second class matter at the Post Office at College Station, Texas, under the Act of Congress of March 3, 1870. Subscription rate S3.00 per school year. Advertising rates upon request. Co Ch PI; Repre Chicago, 1 ented nationally by National Advertising Service, Inc., at New York City, oston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. T ei oi Chr C. of ^ w in a Member Plssoaoted Cplle6ide Press John F. Spragins, Jr Editor-in-Chief Sam A. Nixon, Jr Managing Editor REPORTERS Clyde C. Crittenden, M. C. Kury, R. W. Simms, B. W. Cantrell, R. G. Reese, H. A. Pate, F. D. Baca, R. M. Wren, Ed Brandt. A Tribute and a Resolve . . . The war is over—and the American people are begin ning to recover from their first immediate reaction of un constrained celebration. There is an aftermath of serious thought that is sure to follow, during which we will all be gin to think of the problem of insuring permanent peace and to count up our losses suffered during that terrible conflict. To us at Texas A. & M. the loss of so many of our fra ternity has been a staggering blow. The brotherhood of Texas Aggiss is more than a legend to us; it is a very real and tangible relationship which binds us all together regardless of personal acquaintance. This sentiment was illustrated time after time as Texas Aggies met one another in the midst of the holocaust of war, and we who are still at home know that it is real as we are saddened by our reflection upon those who will not return. We know that they loved A. & M„ and we believe that they would have been keenly interested in seeing the Ag gie Corps awaken in the post-war era with a new determi nation to make the school the finest in the world. So, this is our tribute and our resolve: To erect to their memory an A. & M. College that will be surpassed in no de partment; to lay aside our petty prejudices and selfish in terests and make the Aggie Corps again united in the spirit of the Twelfth Man; and in that spirit to carry the principles of the Aggie brotherhood to all parts of the world in every conceivable fashion that it can be carried, in the firm belief that those Aggies who have made A. & M. famous on battle- fronts all over the world have also proved without doubt the fundamental truth of the Aggie way of life. I BACKWASH Backwash: “An agitation resulting from some actioi action or occurence.”—Webster. /a-- • Aggieland Looks Ahead . . . Since the world-wide war has had probably more tell ing effects on Texas A. & M. than on any other institution in the country, the cessation of hostilities abroad has more than given the cadets, ex-students, and everyone with Ag- gieland’s interest primary in his mind, reason to look ahead to the post-war years for a greater and mightier school than even in former days. During the pasi four years with morale at its lowest ebb, academic standards lowered, se mesters continuous, and so forth, the fond hopes of every one for a brighter future have suffered a similar fall. But now there is good reason to look for a great future. The more settled conditions that will come in the post war years should bring with them a rebuilding of the old Aggie activities and a new program for the activities that have too long been neglected. The time will come soon for the correction of such longstanding omissions. The cadet corps likewise should have “new blood” in jected, and have, as before, a corps of over six thousand cadets. With the return of such a corps, many customs and traditions now cast aside should be immediately resumed. And, in due time, Aggieland should be able, once again, to offer the commissions that were so cherished back in 1941 and 1942. Soon A. & M. will, by all rights, produce again army officers of the highest calibre—men who will hold their own and excel the highest competition. The Aggie gridiron, too, should feel new thrills and power equal to what the cadets were able to produce in those years immediately prior to the war. Yes, A. & M. turned out some amazing war-time teams, but the new strength given by incoming freshmen will bring unexcelled football fame. Once again will our rivals and the public be amazed by our ingenious plays, sportsmanship, and ^ the school spirit backing our team one hundred percent. Again, the nation will know of A. & M.’s football greatness. These things are but a few of the items that every Aggie and Aggie admirer looks to the post-war years for, and will find. What a fond thought it is for those who love Aggieland for its past days of glory to look ahead to a future real corps, with all that the A. & M. corps stood for. Now all can make plans for the future, a future that can now become ours. Latin-American Week . . . The culmination of the A. & M. Latin-American Club’s week of activity, designed to build a basis for better friend ship between all Aggies, will be a formal dance in The Grove Saturday evening to which all Aggies bringing dates will be admitted free. A gala floor show has been planned for the intermission. To the United States of America, a friendly relation ship with her neighbors to the south has always been of paramount importance. Of the states, Texas, standing at the crossroads of the hemispheres, should lead all in the regard for friendly nations southward. In Texas perhaps no other institution has so great a stake in the Latin-American world as Texas A. & M. for it is to this institution that large sections of the lands below the Rio Grande look for scien tific and agricultural leadership and guidance in the great postwar era. More and more the leading scholars of Latin- America are turning to Texas A. M.; more and more high state positions in the governments of the Latin-American countries are being filled by men trained in this institution. The values of continued friendly relationships are mani fold—increased enrollments in Texas A. & M., growing op portunities for A. & M. graduates in the business and eco nomic development southward, valuable cultural ties that enhance the prestige of A. & M. men wherever they may be found. The dance Saturday night is an opportunity for an enjoyable evening. The objective of the Latin-American Club’s program this week can not but help add to the im proved relationship desired between all groups on the cam pus. By The Collaborators During the past two weeks there have been held on the steps of Goodwin Hall two yell practices. In reality they were yell practices in name only, for in the opinion of BACKWASH the vast majority of the freshman did not know the yells well enough to practice them. In the fall of 1941 the fi’eshman had three days to learn the yells; in the fall of 1942 the freshman had ten days. The present freshmen have had ten weeks. Where does the blame for the poor showing of the freshmen rest? Maybe individual company yell practices under the close supervision of the company officers would remedy the exist ing situation. But if something isn’t done soon, the Corps can well expect to come out second best in the show of school spirit at the football games this fall. 0 If there is one place where they really have the spirit, it’s at T.S.C.W. The following “Tessyite” version of “I’d Rather Be a Texas Aggie” was sent in by some inter esting young woman, who said that it had become quite popular there. I’D RATHER BE A TEXAS TESSIE I’d rather be a Texas Tessie, a sau cy southern gal, Than to be from any other school from New York to Cal. I’d rather take off to DeGeorge’s, Abe and Pappy’s too, Than to have Van Johnson and Sinatra too. I’ll be true to the colors of red and white, But when the weekend comes, I’d say Big D’s all right, And if I’m blue ole pal, you’ll hear me say, “Let’s go down to Mac’s and drink our cares away.” I’d rather be out on a corp trip, see an Aggie game, Down Kyle Field way and then late date the same. Tessie, I’ll always be a Texas though Denton is dry, I guess I’ll always be a Tessie til the day I die. From all that we can gather, a big time was had in Denton a few days ago, with women all over the place and very few Aggies to be found. This sort of thing should not go on. With all those good- looking females in one place cer tainly we can represent ourselves better. 0 J. B. Kearby had a very thrilling and exciting experience at Little field Dormitory at T. U. last weekend. It seems that he had already taken the little woman in when she decided it would be nice to have another goodnight kiss through the window, which was a little too high for J. B. to reach. She suggested that it would be handy to have a suitcase for him to stand on and promptly handed one out the window to him. He stood on the end of it and it still wasn’t quite high enough so he chinned humself up and promptly smacked her a luscious kiss. In the meantime the suit case had toppled over and as J. B. started to let himself down he fell in the shrub bery at the same time the House Councilor happened up on the scene only to take in the part where J. B .was apparently falling or jumping out the window. This could be very embarassing couldn’t it, J. B.? 0 The “fish” have requested that it be made known to the “frogs” that the money taken in from the Freshman Ball of two weeks past is now in safe keeping with the Student Activities Office and that they have not absconcfed with the said funds as they are rumored to have done. They, the “fish”, have also requested that it be declared that the past Freshman Ball in cluded their class and not just the “frogs” as the Battalion repre sented. •.Good Neighbors BETTER RELATIONS OUR LATIN AMERICAN NEIGHBORS By Paul S. Ballance With the large number of books being written about Latin Amer ica in general, and the great num ber of books about the various in dividual countries South of us, it is very difficult to choose what one may call the best. One of the more recent books that interests and fascinates me, is the publication edited by German Arciniegas, entitled “The Green Continent”; this volume was pub lished last year by Knopf. It is a selection of writings of more than thirty Latin-American authors— historians, biographers, novelists, and essayists. This collection pre sents the most comprehensive pic ture of the lands and peoples be low the Rio Grande that has been written in recent years. The editor has chosen the articles and has written his own introductions with one end in view—to reveal fully to North Americans what our southward neighbors are; the phy sical landscapes they inhabit, their racial antecedents and interming- lings, their history and culture, their great men, and their aspira tions for today and the future. The result of this anthology is a fascinating pageant of mountain and jungle and plain, of armored Conquistador and Creole Aristocrat and Indian peon, of ancient church es and busy modern harbors, of honored scholars, of bloody dic tators and the simple everyday working folk who, in Latin Amer ica as elsewhere, are the vast bulk of the people. The backbone of any country is its economic stability. Seymour E. Harris has edited a very inter esting and informative volume, en titled Economic problems of Latin America, published in 1944 by Mc Graw-Hill. This volume contains 18 chapters on Latin American economics, war and postwar, each written by an authority. Most of the contributors are or have been employees of the Federal Govern ment, and each has devoted much time and thought to studying the problems upon which he writes. The economics, economic history and prospects of these countries are presented, answering some of the following perplexing questions: What accounts for a low per capita income of $100.00 or less ? Why are the rates of interest so high in Latin America? Why has the advance of inflation been so rapid? How much inflation is necessary? What have been the main effects of the United States war effort on Latin America? What are the prospects for price control? These and many other questions are an swered by the staff of experts who have contributed to this volume. Henry Albert Phillips has writ ten a most interesting volume, en titled Argentina, pivot of Pan- American peace. Argentina is no doubt the most talked-about coun try in South America. The author of this volume states that most of the talking has been done by the North Americans, and that the talk is not only one-sided but defi nitely lopsided. This is all because very few North Americans know what made Argentina what she is today. The big question with the Argentians was not one of Neu trality, but of Wheat, Corn and Beef. The author of this volume has for many years observed and lived in South and Central America, Mexico, and Spain, and he tells us about Argentina, its background, history, economics, the way its people think and why—a great many things undreamed of by us. Francis Violich has written a volume that should appeal to every one interested in Latin America. Mr. Violich’s book is entitled Cities Your City By F. R. Brison Tenth of a Series By Ruben R. Caro Costas The pan-American “Good Neigh bor” policy is a system which makes of the spirit of cooperation the keystone for better and closer rtelations among the twenty-one American republics. Peaceful col laboration among the nations is conducive to an understanding of one another’s problems as well as of the problems common to all. This better understanding in turn makes possible a suitable basis for solving international controversies. In order to obtain close coopera tion from all the American repub lics, each one of them must estab lish a policy of mutual assistance and reciprocal cooperation. By close collaboration each country can make available for the use of the others certain things which they have and at the same time receive things they do not have. By this policy they benefit themselves and contribute to the welfare of the others. Economic, cultural, and social welfare—working together for all these are contributing to the strengthening of the friendly ties among the American republics. This tying together is known as interdependence. Taking up the cultural interdependence of the Americas, one finds that it has manifested itself in every field of history, geography, sanitation, and public welfare. All these are com mon ties which link us closer to gether. Music is a universal language. Through music, countries very of ten attain great popularity outside their own borders, thus serving as an introduction of one country to another. Take the Brazilian Zamba, the Cuban Rumba, the Argentine Tango—all these have attained im mense popularity outside their own borders. They have helped to bring peoples of those countries closer together, interested in each other and the country in itself. Peace is by far greater than just absolute absence of war. In order to achieve peace, each country should and must cooperate positive ly and assist others in the solution of the economic and social prob lems confronting them. We must respect each other, no matter how great we are. Both big and small countries should respect each other for this respect is the main guar antee of the weak against the op pression of the strong. We should not ask for privileges and rights that will hinder the economic and social standing of another country. We must work together by helping each other in building a lasting peace by becoming all together stronger and greater. We must preserve good faith and trust one another, keeping faith in treaties and the ideals for which they stand. Mutual benefit is our prime goal, but in order to succeed in achieving this goal we must cooperate with each other. Learn about one an other’s ideals, ideas, traditions and customs, and the more we know about one another the easier it will be to understand and to link our bonds of friendship closer to gether, in our aspiration for a better world and a happier family of nations. PENNY’S SERENADE — By W. L. Penberthy In sports, one of the most im portant things in the success of an individual or team is timing. By timing we mean the execution of a | skill by the indi vidual at the ex act time. When 3 we speak of the timing of a team, H we mean each and Wery player be- fi '' ing at the most |^advantage- ous spot, and car rying out his as signment at the Penberthy time that it will be the most effective. Coaches spend a great deal of time per fecting timing because they real ize that the play that is not timed does not click. Lack of timing or loss of timing is often given as the reason for many defeats. At dances we see individuals lose their timing and get out of step. In the earlier stages of the war lack of timing was described by the phrase “too little and too late”. Good timing is often a split sec ond proposition, and it can’t be too early or too late. However, I think I am safe in saying that if we are going to err it is better DUTIES OF A BOARD OF EQUALIZATION Each year three resident proper ty owners and qualified voters have the privilege of serving on the Board of Equalization of the City of College Station by appoint ment from the City Council. It has been the policy to have one man ap pointed each year who has served the previous year. - Principal duties of the Board of Equalization are: (1) to examine the rendition rolls of all property; (2) to correct any errors; (3) to include property that may have been omitted, and (4) to revise rendition values of property so that they may represent a true, normal, and market value of the property in question. The first three duties are sim ple and easy to perform. The fourth is not simple or easy. The work of the Board of Equalization is made difficult by the fact that so many different kinds of property are included, ranging from live stock to railroad equipment. Actual ly in making “revisions” the ren dition value may be lowered or raised. Property owners seldom object or complain if the rendition value of their property is lowered. They are usually concerned, and sometimes exercised, when the ren dition value is raised. This con cern arises from the fact that renditions are frequently increased progressively from year to year and seldom lowered. Inasmuch as the amount for wjiich the property is rendered determines the amount of taxes which must be paid, the Board of Equalization becomes a tax-fixing agency. It sometimes comes to enjoy the same sort of “esteem”, enjoyed by the despised tax-gatherers of biblical times. Actually those who serve as members of a Board of Equaliza tion have an unusual privilege. It to be too early than too late. Man^r of us who have good tim ing in sports do -not carry this quality into our daily life and are prone to regard as unimportant the necessity of being on time for meetings and appointments. We all know of people who are habitually tardy regardless of the time set for the appointment. These people bother us because we are always in doubt—we know they will be late, but we never know how late. Whenever we have an appointment it is awfully nice to know that the one who we are to meet will not only know we will be there, but that we will be there a little early. is their privilege to equalize proper ty values so that the rendition will conform to some common standard. The factors that give property value are extremely vari able—cost, improvements, loca tion. Because of these, the “true” normal, and market “value” of property is not easy to determine. Some cities follow a rule of ac cepting renditions which are ad mittedly not that, but instead are valuations of some arbritary per centage of the real value. In Col lege Station, for example, our valu ations for rendition are roughly considered to be 50 per cent of the real value. Until the present time most of the property in College Station has been rendered low for county and state taxes, somewhat higher for city taxes, and higher still for school taxes. In the fu ture, property will be rendered the same for city and school taxes. The Board of Equalization may invite property owners for a con ference regarding renditions prior to a decision as to the value for which property should be rendered. This practice, however, is seldom followed. Probably better under standing would prevail if Boards adopted a policy of consultation with property owners before making even a tentative decision on the value to be placed on the property. Finally, the property owner is usually notified, as re quired by law, to appear and show why his property value for taxes should not be changed. After such a public hearing the Board then sets the value of the property in question, and its action is final. Neither the city secretary nor the city council is privileged to make changes in the tax rolls after they have been finally ap proved by the Board of Equaliza tion. EXPERT SHOE REPAIRING Holick’s Boot Shop of Latin America. Most of the ex cellent photographs with which this volume is illustrated were made by the author, who is considered an outstanding young architect and city planner. The material for this volume was gathered under the sponsorship of the Columbia Foun dation of San Francisco. This vol ume was intended primarily to bring city planners of both con tinents closer together through a better comprehension of each oth er’s problems. Informed people everywhere in the Western hemis phere who are eager to understand the point of view, living condi tions and social psychology of oth er members of the Pan-American Union can do no better than to read this interesting and enlighten ing volume. All of the books mentioned here are in the College Library. We not only sell polish and brushes but we GIVE infor mation to you on how best to shine your own shoes. Holick^ Boot Shop DR. N. B. McNUTT DENTIST Office in Parker Building Over Canady’s Pharmacy Phone 2-1457 Bryan, Texas STUDENT CO-OP Bicycle and Radio Repair PHONE 4-4114 /" \ - qmpu\ Air-Conditioned Opens 1:00 P.M. — Ph. 4-1181 Two Days Thursday and Friday also Color Cartoon Saturday Only Big Double Feature No. 1 joh . Louise 5)\ umm 1HAIL AUBRITT0N1 mm mot (M/M ® Mrf * «