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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 7, 1947)
Page 2 THE BATTALION FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1947 Veterans Should Vote... The Veterans Students Association has come awake with a bang. Monday night there were more ex-G. I.’s pres ent in Guion Hall than have attended any previous veterans meeting. And the number of men filing for president of the association certainly sets a new high mark. The Battalion makes no choice among candidates run ning for campus offices. We do ask that every veteran bring his yellow slip to the Academic Building rotunda next Tuesday or Wednesday and vote. There are many good men among those running; to choose the best is difficult. So think carefully before you cast your ballot. The right men can make the Veterans Students Association a powerful force on the campus. The Edison Age ... You electrical engineers—yes, and everybody who has electric lights in the house, or a record player, or who goes to the movies — stop a moment and think about the man who brought you these things. A hundred years ago, in February of 1847, Thomas Alva Edison was born. A cen tury later, the world has been made over by his inventions. Life has changed more in that hundred years than in all the previous years of history. Edison didn’t do it all. Men like Tesla and Westinghouse, Marconi and DeForest, also played huge parts in the making of the electrical world. But Edison was the most versatile of all. Change has not come to an end. A few months ago, in 1945, we entered the “Atomic Age.” Here at A. & M. we are getting basic learning — a better education than Edison ever hoped to have. Let’s make the most of it. We may not be Edisons, but every one of us should make some contribution to the betterment of the world. The Aggie Way ... Is the Spirit of Aggieland “crushed, utterly broken,” as suggested by the Daily Texan in their report of the recent ruckus? Nonsense. A major change in Aggie practice has taken place, but the fundamentals of A. &■ M. tradition remain. Dented perhaps, but hardly crushed or broken. The Kappa Goona Goo fraternity has not opened a branch here, nor is it apt to. We still say “Howdy” to everybody we meet. We still thumb rides on the highway according to the Aggie code. To switch an old French proverb, “The more A. & M. changes, the more it stays the same.” Before the recent controversy broke out, the Battalion had prepared an article on the fundamentals of the Aggie Way. Here it is, and it still holds true: Traditions Stem from “Sully” Ross army meaning, similar to what show people mean when they speak of a “good trouper.” The Aggie may grumble about the orders he receives, or the conditions under which he must carry them out, but he always gets the job done and comes back ready for more. This is the oldest tradition of A. & M. for the college has been under military discipline since the doors were opened in 1876. But for the first few years the dis cipline varied from too strict to too lax, and a workable median was not reached for some time. One might say that there were no Aggies in the modern sense of the word until 'G'en. Lawrence Sul livan Ross took over the presiden cy. “Sully” Takes Over “Sully” Ross was the real foun der of A. & M. tradition. During the time that Ross was governor of Texas, the college was in a de plorable state. No satisfactory curriculum had ever been settled upon. The school had the reputa tion of being a place to which troubled parents banished their headstrong sons. Citizens of Tex as were considering abandonment of the whole project. / Ross accepted the presidency while still governor, and at the end of his term came to College Station. Within a few years he had proved the practicability of higher education in the agricultur al and mechanical (engineering) fields. But even more, he had set the pattern of life now known as “the Aggie Way”. Ross had a talent for handling boys. He turn ed the most rebellious individual ists into cooperative, friendly youths. He took a personal inter est in each student, often had long personal interviews with them. . Today “Sully’s” statue stands at the main crossroad of the A & M campus, and on the pedestal these words are engraved: “SOLDIER, STATESMAN, AND KNIGHTLY GENTLEMAN.” Aggies are not expected to be statesmen, but they are expected to carry on as sol diers and gentlemen. Since the days of Ross, Aggies have been expected to be: honest, forthright, brave, cooperative, friendly, loyal, courteous, leaders of men. Does that sound platitu dinous? Maybe it is, for in the modern world these words are giv en little but lip service. On the A. & M. campus, however, they are the rule rather than the ex ception, much to the surprise of cynical visitors. In a short seventy years since 1876, the A. & M. College of Texas has created, absorbed or hijacked more traditions than the ivy-clad universities of the East have col lected in two centuries or more. In this country only West Point and Annapolis have a comparable wealth of tradition. Traveling Texans patronizingly describe an cient Oxford, Cambridge and Edin burgh Universities as having “al most as many traditions as A. & M.” What are these traditions ? Where did they come from? What is their significance? It isn’t easy to answer any of those questions authoritatively. For one thing, every Aggie class starts a few “traditions” of its own, most of which are forgotten when that class graduates. So there have been seventy versions of Aggie traditions. When a custom is ac cepted by succeeding classes, the origin is often soon forgotten. Sometimes the customs are dis torted, and the original signifi cance is lost altogether. Three Types But as one checks over the cus toms of Aggieland, a pattern be comes evident. There are basic traditions, long established, never changed, fundamental to all other practices. These are like the Con stitution of the United States, a basic law to which all statutes must comply. But the basic traditions are not the ones you hear most about. The second class of customs is like statute law, designed to put the fundamental principles in effect. These are the traditions that have been followed year after year, and which so impress visitors. Transient traditions—a contra diction in terms!—make up a third class. There is a saying at A. & M. that when two students this year do something that was done by two students last year, a new tradition has been established. That is not a great exaggeration. These stunts are often of the frill variety. They are variations on variations, and sometimes are so far removed from the fundamen tal Aggie ideas that they might be called “unconstitutional.” There is no Supreme Court to declare them so, but in a few years time the custom that does not fit the major Aggie pattern usually is dropped and forgotten. “Good Soldier” First and foremost, an Aggie is a “good soldier”. That phrase is to be understood in its traditional The Battalion The Battalion, official newspaper of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas and the City of College Station, is published semi-weekly and circulated on Tuesday and Friday afternoons. Member Plssoooted Gr>lle6iate Press Entered as second-class matter at Post Office at College Station, (Aggieland), Texas, under the Act of Congress of March 3, 1870. Subscription rate $4.00 per school year. Advertising rates on request. Represented nationally by National Advertising Service, Inc., at New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Allen Self indley Charles E. Murray Uen Vick Lindli srles I David M Seligman Paul Martin Goodwyn jarry Strangest new car is the Com- et which runs 100 miles on a gallon of gas. Essentially a dressed-up motor scooter, it will carry three persons. Engineers Leading Nation Seen By Dallas Consultant “The time is almost upon us when engineers will through ne cessity run this country,” said T. C. Forrest in an address Tuesday night. Speaking before the Student Chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the prominent Dallas consulting engineer, cited the need for engineering in every thing that is done today, and quot ed famous attorneys as expressing a like opinion. Forrest opened his talk with a tribute to the late Dr. J. T. L. Mc- New, former vice-president for en gineering. Texas A & M and all in the engineering profession are indebted to the memory of McNew, he said. “Men of Texas A & M,” said Forrest, “are highly regarded in engineering and other professions, and are to be commended for their part in the recent world conflict. Their showing,” he asserted, “as sures them of a foremost place in the future leadership of the nation.” Forrest attended A & M in 1916- 17. He was chief engineer for the Texas Centennial Exposition in Ft. Worth and a consultant for the New York World’s Fair. Registrar Says . . . Courses for this semester can neither be added nor dropped without a grade after February 10, H. L. Heaton, registrar, an nounced. Any students desiring to add a course must present a writ ten statement from the depart ment concerned, that there is a place in the class for him. This statement must be presented to the Dean of his School. With the Dean’s approval, the Regis trar will be authorized to make the change. Transfers from one section to another in the same subject will be made by the department in volved. Corps Editor Veteran Editor —.Tuesday Associate Editor Friday Associate Editor Sports Editor Assistant Sports Editor iendell McClure, Peyton McKnight Advertising Managers Gerald Monson Circulation Manager Ferd B. English, Authur Matula, J. K. B. Nelson, Franklin Cleland, James Shaffer, Warren Phillips, William Miller, Doyle Duncan, Glenn Ramey, Ben Schrader .Reporters What’s Cooking FRIDAY, February 7th 7:15—Newman Club meets in basement of St. Mary’s Chapel. 7:30—Organizational meeting of Graduate Student’s Club in Y.M.- C.A. .Chapel. Dean Brooks will speak. SATURDAY, February 8th 7:30 — Brazos County Reserve Officer’s As’sn. Dinner Dance. Sbisa Hall. 8:00—Newman Club Dance, K of C Hall, Bryan. MONDAY, February 10th 7:00—A. & M. Camera Club meets in basement of Guion Hall. 7:15—A. & M. College FFA meets in Ag. Eng. Lecture Room. 7:30—Aggie Wives Circle of A. & Methodist Church meets in home of Mrs. Wm. L. Jones, Jr., 220 N. Munnerlyn. TUESDAY, February 11th 7:00—SAE meets in M.E. Lec ture Room, Dean Barlow will speak. 7:30—Business Society meets in Pet. Lecture Room. J. F. Florian of Houston will speak. 7:30—M anagement Society meets in M.E. Lecture Room. C. H. Elliott, Reed Roller Bit Co., Houston will speak. 7:30—Accounting Society meets in Ag. Engineering Lecture Room. Dr. F. F. Tannery, Humble Oil Company will speak. PENNY’S SERENADE W. L. Penberthy In the teaching of sport skills a great deal of emphasis is placed on “follow through” which is that continued motion, in the direction of the effort after the object has left the hand, bat or racquet. This follow through makes it possible for the performer to be much more accurate and also gives his effort much more power. In order to develop a good fol low through one must first have good balance—in fact, I feel that a good sense of balance is one of the prime req uisites for good performance i n any sport, and he who lacks it has no hope for success. Some time ago I read an article by a prominent psy chologist who stated that for an individual to function to his fullest capacity he must main tain the proper New Drug Hailed As Malaria Cure More than 300,000,000 annual suf ferers from malaria will receive relief as a result of successful war time experiments with a revolu tionary new toxic compound. The experiments, involving 445 Illinois convicts voluntarily infect ed with the disease, were carried on at Stateville Prison in Spring- field over a period of three years, during which time not a single fa tality was recorded. In many in stances, long-standing cases of a form of relapsing malaria were cleared up completely. According to Dr. Alf S. Alving, project su pervisor, the results of the studies “exceeded all hopes or expecta tions”. The toxic compound, a drug named “Pentaquine”, was produced after more than 13,000 experi ments at various universities and private laboratories throughout the country. The drug was first made by Dr. Nathan Drake, chemistry professor at the University of Maryland. Tests similar to those at State ville, were conducted on a smaller scale at New York University, and the federal prisons at Atlanta and Seagoville, Texas. The entire mal aria project was undertaken with federal funds under the direction of the Office of Scientific Re search and Development following Japanese siezure of the East In dies in 1942, which cut off the nation’s quinine supply. Boom! It’s a cannon that shakes Ag gies out of bed these mornings. The 75mm. gun, recently install ed at the entrance to the New Area, between Dorms 1 and 2, was put in use this week. Blank ammunition is used. The piece is fired twice a day; at reveille and at simset. Newmans to Elect Officers Friday Election of officers will be held by the A & M Newman Club Fri day night, February 7, according to an announcement bjt. Herman Neusch, president. Refreshments will be served at the meeting, which will be held in the basement of St. Mary’s Chapel at 7:15 p. m. All Catholic students are invited to attend. The club will open its social calendar for this semester with a dance at the K. of C. Hall in Bryan, Saturday night at 8 p. m. This social is expected to surpass all others previously held by the club, according to the dance com mittee’s report. Catholic students are invited to participate in the many varied activities of the Newman Club, in order to share in the many bene fits derived from a balanced pro gram of religious, intellectual, and social activities. PALACE ■T P H O E 2-S879 BRYAN, TEXAS FRIDAY - SATURDAY Jeanie Crain in “MARGIE” Farm wage rates for the entire country on January 1 were 10 per cent higher than a year ago, and more than three times the Janu ary 1935-39 average. Penny balance between his work, worship, home or love life, and his play. He went on the State that whenev er the individual emphasizes one of these phases to the neglect of the others, his life is out of bal ance and he does not function to his fullest capacity of efficiency and does not put into or get out of life what he sould. I feel that balance is just as hard to maintain in life as in sports, and when we get off bal ance in either we usually get some bumps, and they may be pretty hard ones. Most of us have a tendency to place too much em phasis on some one phase of our life to the neglect of others. Our worship is the phase most of us are probably guilty of neglecting. If this is the case, we will have an opportunity to get back “on the beam” as next week has been designated as Religious Emphasis Week, and a fine program has been prepared. I believe we will get a blessing from attending the serv ices at Guion Hall and those of the church of our choice. Atom Bomb Movie Premiere Feb. 20 World premieres, with simultan eous openings in Washington, Lon don, New York, Ottawa, and Syd ney, will unveil on February 20 “The Beginning Or The End”, M. G. M.’s dramatization of the story of the atomic bomb. Among the characters to be por trayed in the film are the late Franklin D. Roosevelt, President Truman, General Leslie R. Groves, Albert Einstein, Jean O’Leary, sec retary, who kept the world’s great est secret, Admiral William S. Par sons, Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer, and other prominent figures asso ciated with the atom bomb project. More than a year in the making, the film was screened with the cooperation of the government and other nations allied in the produc tion of atomic power. The film tells the drama behind the vast under taking. Purchasing Agent to Speak To A. & M. Business Society F. J. Florian, purchasing agent for a major business concern in Houston, will speak to the A & M Business Society February 11. The meeting will be held in the Petro leum lecture room at 7:30 p. m. Florian has been affiliated with the National Association of Pur chasing Agents in Houston for around eight years. The Accounting Society will hold their regular meeting jointly with the Business Society in charge. Place Orders Now! Orders for senior ring fav ors will be taken in the Stu dent Activities Office prior to Wednesday, February 12. The favors cost $2.50 each, and seniors are reminded to place their orders before February 12. BETWEEN THE BOOKENDS . . . Not All Hollywood Agents Are Like Benny Greenspan by J. K. B. Nelson “That Man Is Here Again”, by Arthur Kober, describes the many and varied adventures of a Hollywood agent in the person of Benny Greenspan, a man with an extraordinary ability to butcher the,English language. Benny says he’s “a human being, the same like any other normal person,” but he knows he isn’t. He is an agent, a flesh peddler, a parasite without soul or sensiti vity, who is of no more use to an actor than the actor’s voice or profile or right arm. Let any man say a good word for Benny and Benny himself will remark that maybe the gent had better be “mounding” his own business. Ben ny knows where he stands, which is behind his clients to hold them up. A picket fence could do the same thing. Yet something should be said Reveille Memorial Contract Settled By Class of ’47 The Class of ’47 decided to con tinue their contract with the Hous ton Memorial Company for the building of the Reveille Memorial at a meeting held in the Petroleum Lecture Room Wednesday night. Erection date of the memorial was set for April 21, Muster Day. Or iginally the memorial was sche duled to be erected during the fall of 1946, but material scarcities necessitated postponment. Also discussed were plans for having a class dance in Houston sometime in March. Final plans for the dance will be made at their next meeting, which will be held Wednesday, February 19. The meeting place is to be announced. for Benny, even though it be but a polite agology. Benny hires out to be an actor’s lower self. He is proud, covetous, jealous, glutton ous, and all for his client, who gets this devilish service for ten per cent of the take. An actor need not brag about himself; Ben ny does it for him. On occasion, Benny commits other sins for his clients; he is humble, he cringes, he begs, he lies, he deceives. All this goes on his soul, not the soul of his client, for a measly ten per cent. Mr. Kober has written a fore word in which he says, “Don’t get me wrong. I like Benny Green span.” His readers didn’t get him wrong from the start. They always liked Benny, the man denied his natural right to “hustle a fast buck”. They will like him now in his full-dress regalia, with all his misfortunes intact and all his grief unassuaged. There are eighteen stories in the collection, all genuine Green span. Only a “first-class nincom poop” would want more for his money. Records and Players, Paints, Varnishes, Wall Paper. CHAPMAN’S Next to P. O. Bryan Industrial Engineer Will Address SAM Tuesday Night C. H. Elliot, Chief Industrial Engineer of Reed Roller Bit Co., of Houston, Texas will speak to the members of the Society for the Advancement of Management at 7:30 p. m. Tuesday, Feb. 11 in the ME Lecture Room. Elliot’s subject will be “Methods Improve ment, a branch of Time and Mo tion Study.” Open 1:00 P.M. - - 4-1181 FRIDAY - SATURDAY isfif/ Joel Edward Andrea McCREA* ARNOLD-LEEDS Frances Farmer—Walter Brenr Mady Christians Directed bv Howard Hawk% and William — Plus — Disney Cartoon — Short SATURDAY PREVIEW (11:00 p. m.) SUNDAY - MONDAY COMING: Preview Sat. Night Sun., Mon., and Tues. Ida Lupino in “THE MAN I LOVE” Edward G. Robinson Loretta Young; Orson Wells Released by RKO RADIO PICTURE •lit nmir ittivm • iichud tone • imr house ttmM hr ORSON WELLES * >• INTERNATIONAL NCTUH frftNuced b, S. f EAGLE • Storr br VICTOR TIIVAS Md UECLA RUNNINC • Somplo, b, ANTHONY VEIUER The A. & M. Methodist Church — and the — Wesley Foundation — Presents — Dr. Joe Z Tower First Methodist Church Wichita Falls, Texas GUEST SPEAKER FEB. 9-14 7:15 p. m. RELIGIOUS EMPHASIS WEEK First Methodist Church, College Station m : l '/ J —Friday and Saturday— DOUBLE FEATURE “Breakfast in Hollywood” —with— Tom Brenaman —Plus— ttarrl.9 ^rmhbohe Ttfyet BRUCE "I SUNDAY AND MONDAY Tft fot fyerytfoy , WARNERS’ TECHNICOLOR MUSICAL MARVEL TUESDAY AND WEDNSDAY Jane Russell and Louis Hayward “YOUNG WIDOW”