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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 13, 1945)
THE BATTA LION THURSDAY AFTERNOON, DECEMBER 13, 1945 If r 1 Page 2 | It Won’t Work This Way . . . Among the requisites for an aggressive, forward-look ing community, there is one without which no town or city can progress. In fact, one might almost say that without this asset, even survival itself is well-nigh impossible. The quality to which we have reference is that of unison,. of common co-operative effort toward achievements which will result in benefit to the community as a whole. To the newcomer to College Station, the town’s most glaring liability is its lack of this cardinal requirement for civic success. Factional and personal desires are permitted to enter into almost every aspect of the community’s civic life—its business life, its city government, its social and religious activities, its schools, and even its relations with neighboring communities. This impossible situation will be generally conceded to be the result of the town’s widely spread geography, and this condition is in turn a logical development of the neces sity of building the community around the college campus. In this respect, there lies a difference between this com munity and other comparable towns. If we did not believe that this is a civic obstacle which can be overcome, we would be ready to admit failure and abandon any efforts toward promotion of College Station as a separate and independent community. As for the method of solving the problem, we believe that there can be only one answer. Certainly, very little can be done toward drawing the town together geographically. There will always be a North Gate, an East Gate, and a South Side. College Station MUST rise above this disadvantage. There MUST be developed a community spirit which will transcend business or personal prejudice for any one sec tion of the town. There MUST be a realization that projects which are a benefit to the city of College Station are direct ly or indirectly beneficial'to every merchant and every re sident within the city limits. And there MUST be a laying aside of grasping and selfish aims for the taking up of joint cooperation in the promotion of civic interests. Unless these ideals are adopted, the city will never progress, and where there is no advancement there can be only retrogression. There are many local citizens who will profess to a great civic interest, but who wll prove to have selfish am bitions when the chips are down. On the other hand there are many who are truly concerned with the city’s advance ment and unification, but who are disposed to allow them selves to be influenced or who lack the initiative or the courage to assert their opinions. A civic organization is badly needed, one which will provide a means for unifying the cooperative spirit of the town, one which will serve as a common ground for thrash ing out above the board the controversial problems of the community, and one in which any selfish or sectional aims may be clearly recognized and branded as detrimental to the city’s welfare. Perhaps the nucleus of such an organiza tion lies in the College Station Kiwanis Club or in the Bus iness Men’s League, although the latter, being composed exclusively of business men, is in its present form not suf ficiently representative of the community as a whole. Whatever form the organization takes, it should have the courage to inquire into and make public the proceed ings of our city government and the operation of our school system, to set up an unbiased and unprejudiced city plan ning program, and to let the chips fall where they may! Concerning Advanced Contracts . . . On February 4, 1945, advanced Military Science will again be offered to juniors and seniors of A. & M. It will be the first time that advanced students of this school have had military contracts since the classes of 1944 and 1945 were taken out of school in June of 1943. Most of the class of ’44 went straight to Officer Candidate Schools, but the ’45 group was sent to a basic training center before being assigned to various ASTP units throughout the nation. A majority of these men finally became officers, and made a fine record to compare favorably with the classes which came before them. With the return of advanced “bull text” will come a group of juniors and seniors that will not only be larger in numbers but should also have a more rounded education and different outlook on life. Further, the draft boards will no longer be able to interfere with a man’s work if he is making a satisfactory record, which adds up to older men in the Corps. Because A. & M. is a military school, the renewal of contracts will aid materially in the return of the school to normal times. It may be the spark which this college has needed for quite some time. Aggie Facts . . . It is estimated that almost 300,000 visitors annually come to the campus, exclusive of football crowds. The func tions bringing visitors, in addition to visits of parents, girl friends, etc., include cattle auctions, horse show, rodeo, short courses, etc. A. & M. can provide dormitory housing for more than 5600 men and the A. & M. mess system is the largest seat ed—table style feeding in the country. BACKWASH Backwash: “An asritation resulting from some action or occurence.”—Webster. r By The Collaborators sections will be deleted if some We See By The Papers .... more pictures are not turned in The Megaphone, of Southwestern p.d.q. What’s the matter with the University, had some little softie- Seniors, or is it their women, or thing about the Thanksgiving day lack of same? game concerning whom the staff 0 was for, and throwing few juvenile That little flurry of snow, sleet civilized man is in- By Edna B. Woods unbearable tragedy, but the mis- made him (Readers’ Adviser for the fortunes of Happy Boy have only domitable. College Library) begun. Fourth Master Lin’s hide- Reading RICKSHAW BOY is ous daughter, Tiger Woman, tries like hearing a good story told. The RICKSHAW BOY to capture Happy Boy and is sue- story itself is impressive; the back- By Lau Shaw cessful in disrupting his personal ground of China and modern Chi- , , , ,, , , ^ ‘‘I pledge that while I breathe I life irreparably. In the interim he nese life is interesting; the style cracks here and there about the or whatever it was, the other day loses the who lovea M Little is easy a „ d lucid . Happy Boy is s “ us ° S ,s “ h0 °! “ r Pare 1 Sever 1 P /: P \ " naw ™ e ’ honesty of it,” were the words ef Lucky One, only to find her later, an unforgettable character and his "h th T 'i U 't| V t h ,i, ar thro "f h seve T a c<>uple ' )f Leshmcn. This Lau shaw at th twentieth aimi . ju a nd at the point of death. But story is a revealing introduction channels that they could do with chit-chat was overheard, ‘Say, Fish , . ^ tt d D rhina a hKra PicvtV wW ^ „n versary celebration of his literary the spirit of Happy Boy which has to contemporary China. career. Lau Shaw is regarded as — looking around the Southwestern Blank, what do you a think of all campus, if they wanted to have this white stuff?” Jreh Blank something to criticize *** know, but I cogitate that they’re The Baylor Lariat, in an editorial carrying this Super Suds business on the report of the Baylor honor too far” Ah, well, live and learn . . council, stated “So here we are— (T; „ T cn. > , . ^ - - 99 44-100 percent pure—even bet- Head yell leader Martin Vick ? 1 ‘ au ^ s ^ en an 0 e xr n Ace-ies- . ~ ^ , . . , ~ imnnrtanr.p of his litp.rarv parser. . j, T , one of the pioneers in modem Chi- phed, m all good faith, I don’t , ... i^xxt nese novel-writing. RICKSHAW BOY a recent translation of his Chinese story, “Camel Happy Boy” is perfect evidence of the honesty Tales from Tessieland ter than 98 percent.” Could that be got a letter from his girl, Sue, a 4-1.a Li.. „4.i,„_ J RICKSHAW BOY is an excellent i(. der just where they are. mas present he Was going to buy The Daily Texan, in printing an her. , AGP release, threw a jibe our way 0 concerning leading “cheers” at SCIENCE athletic contests, saying: .There Before I heard the Doctors tell are two important things wrong The danger of a kiss, with cheerleading and organized I had considered kissing you cheering in general. In the first The nearest thing to bliss; place, people can’t become enthu- Now that I know biology, siastic and cheer just because they I sit and sigh and moan; are told or asked to do so. Cheer- Six million mad bacteria— leading creates a synthetic atmos- And I thought we were alone, phere and enthusiasm. ... second 0 in the evening until the holidays. crack about the Aggies’ sl ap g , the other day in which she offered ^ held hole TthrChrist wLk t ■two-percenters ? If so, we won- to stand half the cost of the Chrnrt- ^ ^ thoughts P alul mteUs ^ holidays . p revio usIy, TSCW stu- ‘he Ad Building all the way to the modern China against a background dents have gone home from the Col- Auditorium waiting for the concert of fascinating realism. lege with troublesome minds and to begin, and as the line moved for- RICKSHAW BOY is a story of a sense of “ nr « st > aB have College wa '' 1 ; students sang caros. the Chinese. If there were white stada '' ts everywhere. But this year This is our serious side All the people in Peking when the story it’s different. The Christmas spirit year we laugh and joke and takes place, they aren't to be found ia predominantly peaceful and “gripe,” but at Pre-Christmas fes- in this book Happy Boy an or overwhelming this year because it s txvities on the campus before we phan from the country, comes to Peace at last. leave for the holidays, the real Peking at eighteen. Big, slow, Everywhere on the campus, in iftoaning of why we came to TSCW rather dumb, but ethical in the the dorm rooms, class rooms, and | s defined. This meaning is found manner of the great Chinese phi- at activities, that intangible thing ™ the traditions and little things losophers, Happy Boy believed that known as spirit in the true sense we participate in to make a joy- point against organized ; cheering Fish: “I was dreaming last night ri g ht actions produced good re- and peace of mind can be seen ® us an d wonderful holiday season . . . (is) the lack of courtesy in- that I died and when I got to sults - His struggle in the city with looming over students at TSCW. tor each ot us. herent in the idea of rooting Heaven, St. Peter gave me some practically every imaginable evil We feel that this Christmas we This is our Christmas spirit this against the visitors ...” To all chalk and ordered me to climb —poverty, social injustice, hunger, have something to hang on to, year. This is what Christmas means of which, we have only this to a long ladder, writing one of my perversion—is a struggle for mere something to be thankful for more to us on the TSCW campus now, add, “Oh yeah???” sins on each rung.” * survival. It is only Happy Boy’s than ever before, and we find that one of peace, to look forward to, o Dewdrop: “Yeah, go on.” character that makes survival pos- our College aim means more to us. and one in which to have fun. This Why aren’t the Seniors turning Fish: “Well, I gets up to about sible. We on the TSCW campus have will be a Christmas of all Christ- in their Favorite and Vanity Fair rung 4,999 when somebody stepped Happy Boy’s one ambition is to grown up, and Christmas is making mases,and we’Ve already begun pictures? We hear the editor of on my fingers, so I yelled and own a rickshaw. If he accomplishes as realize it. Maybe it’s just at the making of it up here. Just the Longhorn has been pleading looked up.” this feat, his profession will become Christmas and Thanksgiving we think, this time next week pre fer two or three weeks now, and Dewdrop: “Well, who was it?” one of nobility, for he will be raised think about it more, but at any holiday themes, notebooks, quizes, still very few pictures are in. It is Fish: “You, coming down for ab °ve the level of the hoys who rate, this is the year for us at and troubles will be over, or prac- viciously rumored that these two more chalk.” rent rickshaws from Fourth Master TSCW as well as College students tically at least. (We leave Friday —— : — Lin at Human Harmony shed. To over the nation to define their pur- noon of the 21st.) Then will come Good Neighbors: Costs, Rica, own a rickshaw, he must have a pose. the inevitable packing and scramb- hundred dollars; for that he saves Christmas at TSCW has always for buses. Why doesn’t some- , . year after year, a dollar at a time, meant looking forward to special one write an article on “how to Columbus' Rich Shore" Still Holds Tte loss of tl,erict8bawis almost f n a te s ro t„TJ a t ndY?S fi- i«“ s 1j 11/ / I A A * I \ A/ 111 becoming totally independent in worship at vespers and in the Lit- kee P one ’ s appearance and reach V UST Unaeveloped /VlinGrOl VYGOlth 1830, it was a member of the Cen- tie Chapel, but even more so now, one ’ s destination whole?” tral American Federation, with- we realize this extra meaning of By this time you must think By Ruben R. Caro-Costas covered with virgin forests where drawing because of the frequent Christmas. Strains of “White it’s around Christmas time. So do Costa Rica, meaning “Rich civilization has been unable to pen- internal disputes among the fede- Christmas” and “Silent Night” we, and believe me, we are looking Shore”, was the name bestowed by ctrate the density of the vegeta- ration members. may be heard as Tessies stroll up forward to it. Christopher Columbus when Jifi H 011 - ' The country’s population of and down the hill, beginning next Sue Jones , discovered -gold upon first setting The climate is predominantly 623,000 is almost entirely white, week the Chapel bells will ring TSCW correspondent, foot upon the eastern shores of healthful, but varies according to the majority of the people being that Central American republic, altitudes. On the coasts the high 0 f Spanish and other European The name still holds significance, temperature makes life rather un- descent. A small percentage is for the country is still rich in mine- comfortable, while the moderate ma de up of negroes imported from ral resources, with deposits of climate of the uplands is offset Jamaica to work on the banana gold, manganese, sulphur, copper, b Y the constant discomfort of the plantations. and silver still lying in wait for wind s which blow during the dry S an Jose, the capital, has a popu- the developing touch of man. season of December until May. lation of approximately 76,000 and The economy of Costa Rica is Constitution Dates to 1871 is a colorful and gay city where now, however, a basically agricul- Costa Rica is governed by its the new ideas of civilization blend tural one. Coffee is the chief money Constitution of 1871, one of the in contrast with the older methods crop, with most of the coffee plan- oldest in Spanish America. Before of life, tations under the operation and ownership of native Costa Ricans. Bananas, the second product in im portance, are on the other hand grown mostly under foreign enter prise, while cacao is a third im portant export. Maize, sugar cane, The Battalion STUDENT WEEKLY NEWSPAPER Office, Room 5, Administration Building, Telephone 4-54444 tobacco, rice and other vegetables LI tte te c?ty’of'colors 1 are also grown, while forest pro- afternoon - ducts such as cedar and balsa ac count for much of the country’s livelihood. Texas A. & M. College er of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas ion is published weekly, and circulated on Thursday 'pedi nfeeed ahead NEW TELEPHONE EQUIPMENT Member PLsoaoted Cnlle&iate Press Forests Defy Civilization , ,. „ „ Entered as second class matter at the Post Office at College Station, Texas, under I he larger portion of Costa Rica the Act of Congress of March 3, 1870. is an elevated tableland. The coun- Subscription rates $3.00 per school year. Advertising rates upon request. !7J S t f aVei ' Se(i by tW ° ra ° Unt f in Represented nationally by National Advertising Service. Inc., at New York City, ranges Having a wide plateau be- Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. tween them. The lowlands are nar- Sam A. Nixon, Jr. ^ Editor-in-Chief row on the western Pacific shore, Sift Withers ..L ,...: Corresponding Editor and broader on the Caribbean editorial’staff I sports staff P ° coast on the northeast. The re- Marlt Kury, James Davis, J. A. Anderson, H. A. Pate, R. B. Cawthon, Harold Borofs- maining area of Costa Rica is T S Turner ’ ky ’ Hey Army- SEE THOSE AGGIE MUFFLERS Three Designs to Select From $1.75 - $2.75 - $3.50 The EXCHANGE STORE SERVING TEXAS AGGIES WHEREVER YOU GO FOR THE HOLIDAYS YOUR TRIP BEGINS WITH...TOUR BAGGAGE. SEND IT BY RAILWAY EXPRESS NATION-WIDE RAIL-AIR SERVICE One of many giant presses which apply lead sheathing to telephone cable. OINCE the war ended, thousands upon thousands of new telephones have been produced and installed. Hundreds of miles of telephone cable have rolled out Western Electric plants to provide more circuits for you. Central office switchboards and other equipment are being manufactured with all possible speed. Much of this equipment is extremely complex — not oaif to make but also to fit into the Bell System network. Naturally shortages caused by four years of war cannot be made for overnight. Supplying materials and equipment for the Bell System’s $2,000,000,000 construction program promises record peace- time volume and a level of employment at Western Electoie higher than in the years immediately preceding the war. I Huy all the Victory Bonds you can— and heep them! Western Etectric SOURCE OF SUPPLY FOR THE BELL SYSTEM