Texas AaM
Volume 45
College Station, Texas, Monday Afternoon, May 20, 1946
Number 62
Case of the Missing Profs...
Putting a blunt, but necessary question, bluntly, “Why
do professors siiy away from teaching positions at the
Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas?” It’s a ques
tion that everyone thinks about, and talks about, but sel
dom does anything to help. By means of this editorial, the
Battalion hopes that certain things will be brought into
the open.
The answer to the question is as clear as a well cut dia
mond, but has as many facets, all of which need the proper
attention to get the most out of the well-known gem. It
would be impossible to present an accurate account of each
part of the answer in one article, or even in several articles,
so this today will be a summing up of the parts, with a
sketchy explanation of each of them.
Chief among the reasons given in most instances is the
lack of time, place, opportunity and encouragement for re
search by the teaching staff, Research lifts an institution to
greater heights in the national education outlook. When a
school sponsors no research projects, its status falls ac
cordingly. A&M has an outstanding experiment station in
both engineering and agriculture with several nationally
known investigators, yet the average professor has to let
his research go to grade his many papers, or vice versa.
A second major reason must be, of necessity, the wages.
Wage scales of teachers in the State of Texas are known to
be extremely low as compared to other states. A recent
survey shows that salaries here are much under the Uni
versity of Texas and other comparable institutions of
higher learning. Connected with the low wages paid to A.
& M. professors are the heavy teaching loads that are ex
pected. The same survey shows that in many cases an in
structor here is carrying the load normally carried by two
or three men in other colleges and universities, the size of
the classes of some numbering over two hundred students.
The wage scale and the teaching load should be relative here
just as in any other state institution.
^ The crowded office and laboratory space, the lack of
large technical libraries, both for the benefit of teacher and
pupil, have been considered as factors affecting the reluc
tance of men to come here to teach or to take advanced de
crees. Little attention, both in and out of the classroom
affect the standards of a school in that poorly trained tech
nicians are graduated.
The question of adequate housing space for the instruc
tors to live in has figured in many of their opinions. When
one realizes that A. & M. profs are hired on a yearly basis
with no definite assurance of continued employment, and that
this is coupled with a lack of living space, it is not difficult
to realize why many seek employment elsewhere.
Texas A&M is faced with the problem of finding an
adequate instructing staff to carrying on the next few
years. What should we as students of this college promote so
ihat the education of the men who come after us will mean
much more than ours does now? These are the main needs
of professors: increased salaries, reasonable teaching loads,
opportunity for research and writing of books, an increased
budget for college research, security of employment, acad
emic freedom for all instructors, procurement of a limited
number of outstanding men with nationwide reputations in
different fields, adequate advanced and graduate students
to assist in the laboratories and in the grading of daily
and minor quizzes, educational leaves for the instructors, and
support of the administration in the improvement of our
scholastic standing.
What should we as intellectuals do? We should explain
the situation to our families, friends and members of the
^Legislature. We should ask the ex-students clubs through
out the state to aid in obtaining the increased appropria
tions asked for by the administration, and for the bond is
sue to provide for new buildings. We should also insist that
‘the school and college system be improved throughout the
state.
Just keep these questions in mind as you go along, and
when you find out the answers to them, you’ll also have the
solution to the Case of the Missing Professors.
Singing Cadets End
Season With Trip
To Beaumont Sat.
- The Singing Cadets of Aggie-
land completed their last official
road trip Sunday with an en
gagement at Beaumont where
they sang at the First Methodist
Church. The program was broad-
(See SINGING CADETS, Page 2)
Consolidated High
Symphony Plays
Tonight at Seven
The Symphony orchestra of A. &
M. Consolidated high school will
be presented to the members of
the Mothers and Dads club of the
school at 7:30 o’clock Monday
night at the school gymnasium, it
(See CONSOLIDATED, Page 2)
Campus Politics
Shaping Up for
Student Elections
Campus politics definitely took
an upturn over the weekend with
filings for office coming in fast
at the office of Student Activities.
Filings include the following from
the Corps: Paul Wells, Bill Evans,
Phil Moses and Jasper Jones for
Junior Yell Leaders; Tommy John
of F Infantry for Longhorn Edi
tor; Allen Self of D Battery for
Battalion Editor.
Servicemen candidates include
Vick Lindley for Co-Editor of the
Battalion and Jay Cowan for Co-
Editor of the Longhorn. Lindley
is present a managing editor of
the Batt while Cowan did the art
work on the 1946, Vol. II, Long
horn.
Candidates must file in the Stu
dent Activities Office by 12 noon
Wednesday after which they will
be checked for eligibility by the
Student Elections Committee.
Balloting will be on Tuesday,
May 28 from 8 to 5 in the Acad
emic Building. Considerable inter
est is being manifested in the elec
tion, the first in which Ex-Service
men have participated and the
first in which co-editors of the
two major student publications will
be named.
A&M Press Club to
Receive Awards at
Annual Banquet
The Texas A. & IVT. Press Club
will hold its annual banquet Wed
nesday evening, May 22, in Sbisa
Hall. This affair honors the staffs
of student publications and is the
occasion for presentation of awards
to members of the staffs.
The principal address will be
given by George Fuermann of the
Houston Post. Fuermann was for
several years a member of the
Battalion newspaper and magazine
staffs.
Allen Self, Managing Editor of
the Battalion, will be toastmaster.
Invocation will be by George B.
Wilcox, Chairman of the Education
and Psychology Department, and
J. W. Rollins, Dean of Men, will
make the presentation of awards
to the Battalion and Longhorn
staffs.
Dr. Potter Receives
Honorary D. Sc.
Degree from Ottawa
Dr. George E. Potter of the
Biology Department at A&M Col
lege has been selected for receiv
ing the honorary Doctor of Science
degree from his Alma Mater, Ot
tawa University, Ottawa, Kansas
at the forthcoming commencement
exercises.
Dr. Potter is professor of zoology
and premedical advisor at Texas
A&M College.
He received •‘his Bachelor Science
degree in 1921 at Ottawa Univer
sity at Ottawa, Kansas, majoring*
in Biology, his Master of Science
in 1923 and a Doctor of Philosophy
in 1927, both at the University of
Iowa and majoring in Zoology in
both instances.
LIBRARY NOTICE
All
faculty members
and
students are asked to please
return
all books to the library
which
are charged on
two
weeks
loan.
Lightnin’ Strikes
But Once but
That’s Enuff
Something new in a Sunday
summons to Sunday School hit
with Atomic fury on the top
stoop of No. 15 yesterday at 8:30
A. M. A bolt of lightning with
force enough to break off a con
crete block one foot in diameter
crashed against Room No. 432 oc
cupied by P. E. Godfrey and Bill
Huddleston, both fortunately ab
sent for the week-end. The force
of the bolt, in addition to loosen
ing the large block of concrete,
split the wall a distance of sev
eral inches, exposing the steel
supporting beams.
Residents of Number 15 made
haste to hurry along to the
churches of their respective, if not
suddenly elected choice, firmly
convinced that while lightning
never strikes the same place twice
it might move down a floor next
time.
As one resident said following
the crash, “Nothing like a good
bolt of lightning to refresh a
man’s religion.” As for Godfrey
and Huddleston both have signed
the pledge and are happy about
the “hole” affair.
Budget For Next
Biennium Will Be
Discussed Tomorrow
The finance committee of the
Board of Directors will meet in
Beaumont tomorrow for a discus
sion of the Texas A&M budget
for the next biennium and to make
plans for the general budget meet
ing of the entire board to be held
on May 30.
Administrative officials attend
ing the meeting include President
Gilchrist, Dean F. C. Bolton, Bus
iness Manager W. H. Holzmann
and E. L. Angell.
Graduating Seniors
Meet Again Tonight
Graduating seniors will meet to-
nigh tat 7:00 in the YMCA for the
purpose of naming a valedictorian
from the 10 highest scholastics in
the class, it has been announced.
Two previous meetings that were
dismissed of small attendance fail
ed to name the traditional gradua
tion day speaker and the meeting
tonight will be the last attempt,
it was stated.
New Vet Group to
Be Discussed at Ex-
Servicemens Club
The Board of Representatives
of the A&M Ex-Servicemens club
has announced that Mr. Fred
Schmidt, Field Secretary of the
Texas chapter of the American
Veterans Committee will be pre
sented at the clubs meeting Mon
day night, May 20, 1946, at 7:00
PM in the Assembly hall. Mr.
Schmidt, who was a Master Ser
geant in the Ordinance Dept, and
served in the Phillipines, will dis
cuss the organization of the A VC,
how it started, what it offers the
World War II veteran and will
take part in a free for all discus
sion on veteran’s organizations.
At present the A VC is organ
ized on the A&M campus and has
drive to begin with Mr. Schmidts’
address. Due to the consolidation
of veterans on the A&M campus,
(See VET GROUP Page 4)
Grove Dance Area
To Be Tripled Soon
Bids have been asked for a pro
posed $15,000 improvement in The
Grove, popular out-of-doors dance
spot on the campus and construc
tion is expected to get underway
soon, it has been, announced.
The proposed improvements in
clude enlarging the dancing area
of the park by at least three-fold,
constructing a new band shell large
enough to accommodate large mus
ical groups, building rest rooms
and the erection of a new fence.
The present facilities were con
structed in 1942 with funds made
available by the college. It was ap
parent from the first that the area
was entirely too small but war
time restrictions have prevented
any increase in the park until now.
It is expected that constructon
work will be completed in mid
summer at which time a full pro
gram for the utilization of The
Grove will be launched.
The new dancing area will be
treated with a special finish to in
sure smooth surface for dancing.
If rubberized skate wheels can be
obtained, it is expected that skat
ing will be introduced on a wide
scale at the new park. It is hoped
that a projection booth can be in
stalled to permit out-of-doors mo
tion ^pictures.
The improvements are being
financed from the special funds
made available by the Board of
Directors upon the recommendation
President Gibb Gilchrist for the
improvement of campus receational
facilities.
Vets Own Books i
If Course Grades
Are Satisfactory
May Sell Texts to Book
Stores Under Certain
Conditions, Birdwell Finds
Who owns books used by veter
ans this semester? According to
Carl Birdwell, manager of The Ex
change Store, a student who has
satisfactorily completed a course
becomes the owner of books and
equipment used in that course. A
recent clarification of conflicting
directives from the Veterans Ad
ministration clearly establishes the
conditions of ownership.
According to Mr. Birdwell’s in
terpretation of the new directive,
any book or piece of equipment is
sued to a veteran student becomes
the personal property of the stu
dent when he has satisfactorily
completed the course in which the
book or piece of equipment was
used.
On this basis, the Exchange
Store and the privately owned book
stores in this community will, ef
fective at once, offer to buy such
books and equipment from veter
ans, subject of course to the re
spective stock needs of the stores.
However, before a veteran of
fers books or equipment for sale
he should be sure of the follow
ing:
1. That he has satisfactorily
completed the course.
2. That the book or equipmeint
will not be needed or required in
any subsequent course he may
take.
No replacement order will be is
sued by the office of Veterans Ad
visor for any article sold and later
needed in another course.
One of our soldier-boy friends
tells us he likes the shy, demure
type of girl—the kind you have to
whistle at twice.