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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 10, 1947)
FRIDAY NIGHT VOLUME 46 Texas A&M The B PUBLISHED IN THE INTEREST OF A GREATER A & M COLLEGE COLLEGE STATION (Aggieland), TEXAS, THURSDAY, APRIL 10, 1947 SBISA HALL Number 56 Gilchrist, Walton, Clark, Rollins Subpoenaed Stan Kenton’s Orchestra To Play Week-End Concert, Dance Stan Kenton, who’s band has re cently “cleaned up” in popular ity polls conducted by the nations most read music publications, will make a one night appearance for the All College dance Saturday, April 12. Kenton will give a one hour concert at 7:15 p.m. in Guion Hall before the dance, with the ad mission 60tf for students and $1.00 for non-students. The dance starts at 9:15 and admission is $2.00 for stag or couple. Tickets are on sale in the rotunda of the Academic Build ing. Cute and blonde June Christy, featured vocalist with Stan Ken ton, has in the last two years prov en herself to be one of the bright est new finds in the realm of name bands. Celebrating her sec ond anniversary with the Kenton band this month, she can look back on the fact that she won every major popularity contest this past year, arid has just signed a long term contract with Capitol records. There seems to have been some mix up on whether June Christy or Shirley Luster was to accom pany Stan to A&M, but everything has been straightened out. June Christy and Shirley Luster are one and the same person. Shirley Luster is her real name, June Christy is her stage name. Inci dentally, June, or Shirley, is only 21 years old. “His Feet Too Big for ’de Bed” could easily apply to Stan Kenton. He’s 6’ 5” tall and weighs over 200 pounds, and really has trouble finding a hotel that has beds long enough for him. “His Feet Too Big for ’de Bed” is one of the bands latest record releases for Capitol. “The Pastels,” vocal quintet with the Stan Kenton orchestra, are an unusual group inasmuch as each voice was auditioned and hired in dividually. Stan had gone through so much trouble trying to find a suitable organized group, that he finally decided to organize a group of his own. Thus, “The Pastels”. They have only been with the band for about three months and already have a hit record to their credit. If you think musicians know on ly music, you’re dead wrong. Last year the Kenton orchestra had an undefeated soft-ball team after playing some of the best amateur teams in the nation, not to mention the other band teams. In case you’re interested, Kenton was Bat- boy. Carlos Gastel, personal manager for Stan, has probably the three greatest attractions in the music business today. Besides Stan, he also handles the King Cole Trio, Peggy Lee, and just recently signed the new singing sensation Mel Torme. Kenton will also appear on WT AW at 4:30 Saturday afternoon. Some of his hit records will be played, and he will be interviewed. Clarifying reports in the trade press to the effect that Kenton is cancelling dates for his famed orchestra, the Capitol Information Bureau reviewed conditions with the band leader. Actually, Ken ton’s band is taking an enforced vacation at the insistance of Stan’s personal physician. His grueling Jakkula Circulates Letter Endorsing Gilchrist, Directors An open letter was circula ted among some members of the faculty by Dr. Arne A. Jakkula, executive director of the A. & M. research founda tion this week. The text of the letter follows below: “To whom it may concern: “We, the undersigned members of the staff of A&M College, take this means of endorsing and pledg ing our wholehearted support to the president and the board of directors in their policies of admin istration. “We join with them in being de termined to make this college an outstanding institution of higher learning in all ways. We deplore the recent disturbances which have brought undesirable and unfavor able publicity to this institution. “We strongly resent the pre- sumptious statement of Professor F. B. Clark indicating that a great er part of the staff was opposed to the administration of the college and deplore his unethical conduct and bad taste in alleging to speak for us. “We have neither been intimi dated nor coerced nor have our civil liberties nor academic free dom been abridged by the adminis tration of this cptlege.” road tours, personal appearances and recording dates during six years without rest have so endan gered his health that his doctors warned he must either stop tem porarily or risk a complete col lapse. Hence, arrangements were made for Stan to finish out the April engagements under direct care of his doctor throughout. He will travel through Texas, Louis iana, Alabama, Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland, winding up April 30 at the Hippo drome Theatre in Baltimore. Kennel Club Dog Show Set April 25 The third all-breed dog show of the Brazos Valley Kennel Club, sponsored by the College Station Recrea tion Council, will be held April 25 on the Animal Husbandry grounds. Kennel Clubs are non-profit or ganizations and as such, The Bra zos County Kennel Club will use the profits of the coming show to further recreation in this area. Harry Boyer has been appointed chairman of the committee res ponsible for making outside ar rangements for the show. Other committeemen are: Ralph Steen, advertising; Dr. J. D. Neal, ticket sales; Francis Vaughn, arena ar rangements; Cecil Womble, child ren training classes; Wayne Long, handlers quarters; Louis Haupt, information and public address system; and Carl Tischler, food concessions. Proceeds of the food will be allocated to the Mother’s and Dad’s Club of A & M Con solidated School. The bench show committee will be composed of members of the Kennel Club: H. C. Stewart, G. B. Winstead, Dr. George T. Edds, Cecil Wamble, and Mrs. D. E. Van Buskirk, superintendent. The show is accredited with the American Kennel Club and is a member of the Texas Circuit. All dogs to be entered in the show must be registered before noon, April 12. Cadet Trials Concluded Trials of cadets charged with disobedience of orders were con cluded Tuesday night. Total pun ishments handed out were: 35 stu dents moved out of corps; 83 cam- pused and rammed; 21 found in nocent. The cadets were charged with failure to report to Ross Hall when ordered to do so after the senior class meeting which voted “no confidence” in cadet officers Ed Brandt and Jack Nelson. Harry J. Auverman, Oliver W. Potter, Dale M. Wilkerson are no longer in the corps. Found innocent were John Spra- gins, James E. Slaughter and E. Slaughter. Given demerits and restricted to campus for various lengths of time were i W.’n. (Country) Higgins, W. J. Mannas, Andrew F. Moore, Ver non Hill, Robert L. Moore, Joe P. Mueller, Joe B. Pettit, Ray L. Port- lock, Fred R. Holste, R. F. Huston, George P. Knox, James E. Morten- son, Jean Nelson, Richard L. Ploch, R. C. Qualls,' J. Tilford Jones. Also Pete Scarmado, Robert W. Spoede, Fred Thurmond, George M. Wilson, Maurice E. Robinowitz, John L. Slack, Burke I. Summers, James P. Taylor, Roy E. Tipton, R. K. Williams, Hershel C. Wood, Heyward C. Hosch, Jack D. Rus sell, Robert P. Swann, Mertz A. Taylor, Arthur D. Werner, William R. Wilson were given demerits and restricted to the campus. Extension Service Agent Killed Tues. Miss Tina Stewart, district agent for the A&M College Extension Service, was killed instantly by a freight train near the Missouri Pacific Railroad station, College Station, shortly before 8 p.m., April 8. Miss Stewart, who had driven to the station to pick up a passenger from the Southern Pacific stream liner, stepped out of her car as the Sunbeam approached the station, directly into the path of a Missouri Pacific freight train. It is be lieved that the noise from the ap proaching Sunbeam drowned out the sound of the freight. Chosen Veterans Duchess for the Cotton Ball and Pageant is MISS GLORIA JEAN STRANGE, 18- year-old, blue-eyed blonde, who hails from Temple, Texas. GLORIA, a native Texan, was graduated from Temple High School, and is a music major attending Junior College there. MISS STRANGE’S picture was submitted by veteran WILLIAM R. HOCHMUTH of Houston, a graduate of San Jacinto High School, and at present a sophomore majoring in mechanical engineering. Agronomy Society Completes Plans for Cotton Pageant Earl D. Hard The Agronomy Society’s annual Cotton Ball which is to be presented the evening of April 18, is to be one of the larg est affairs of the current semester’s social calendar. There have been approximately ^.30 duchesses elected and sent in to the Agronomy Society, it has been announced by J. S. Mogford. Approximately 20 more clubs have notified the society that they would elect duchesses and send them in soon. The Aggieland Orchestra wilH open the affair with a special ar rangement of “Old Man River.” The scenery, which is to be a “Showboat”, is being made by ar tists from Sanger Brothers’ force of decorators and display adver tisers. Immediately following the open ing of the affair by the orchestra, the crowning of the Cotton King, Eugene J. Vacek, will take place. The crowning of the Cotton Queen, Joann Dobbs, will follow the crowning of the king by Govern or Jester. In conjunction with the crowning of the queen, her 8 maids of honor will also be pre sented. There will be two num bers by the TSCW Caperettes and the magician “Christy the Great” who has built a reputation as an entertainer among children as well as grown-ups. These numbers will be followed by the style show which is sponsored by Sanger Brothers of Dallas. Mrs. Manning Smith has announced that the girls from Sanger’s will all be profes sional models and will be wearing “all that is new in cotton.” In connection with all this there will be a number of girls from outside the continental United States who will be presented. These girls will be dressed in native cos tumes. The grand finale will come when the TSCW Caperettes and Christy the Great” will perform a number in conjunction. This is the tentative order in which the program will be presented. There will probably be some more chan ges as Mrs. Wedell, director of the style show, has a few surprises in store. The duchesses from the South western Conference schools will be presented with the other duchesses, but will have their school song played when they are presented. The dance which is to follow the ball will begin at 10 and continue until 2. The music for the dance will be furnished by the Aggieland Orchestra. A&M Receives Housing For Classes, Labs Maybe you’ve been wondering what the buildings across from St. Mary’s Chapel are! They are part of the $75,000,000 expenditure ap propriated by Congress for emer gency educational facilities at Am erican Colleges and Universities in connection with the Veterans Edu cational Program. Out of the appropriation A&M will receive 10 classroom buildings. The buildings will be so construct ed as to provide for 38 classrooms, one lecture room, four laboratories, and 43 offices. $192,000 has been allocated the Federal Works Agen cy for cash outlay in connection with the buildings. Aside from that, the College expects to spend $15,000 for sidewalks and utilities. Also in connection with the ap propriation, A&M will reveive a one story field classroom to be con structed between the Horticulture and Poultry farms for the use of these two departments. Easterwood Field will also profit by the addi tion of a 147 ft. by 210 ft. hangar which is now being dismantled at the Corsicana Airport for ship ment here. Two small equipment sheds will be built on the College Plantation. According to T. R. Spence, man ager of construction program at A&M, the buildings will be com pleted sometime this summer and should help alleviate the crowded classroom conditions. OrganizationalMeetingMonday For City Chamber of Commerce An organizational meeting of the new College Station Chamber of Commerce will be held Monday night, April 14, at 7:30 p.m., in the A.&M. Consolidated School Gymnasium. The sponsoring committee (the Business and Civic Development Committee of the Kiwanis Club) met Monday, March 31, and estab lished the time and place of the future meeting. Invited to meet with the sponsoring committee were the following individuals and groups: the mayor, city manager, holdover members of the city coun cil and the prospective members; the president of the board of the A. & M. Consolidated Independent School District and the local mem bers of the board; the school sup erintendent; the president of the Mothers’ and Dads’ Club; the pres ident of A. & M. College; the im mediate past president and the next immediate past president of the Bryan-College Station Chamber of Commerce; the past-president and representative members of the Lions Club; representative mem bers of the Rotary Club; local real estate men; the president of the Kiwanis Club; representative mem bers of the Recreation Council; and members of the proposed or ganization who submitted sugges tions for the working program of the organization. Progress- Report A report of the progress being made in the signing of the charter members was given, stating that all business houses, with the ex ception of one small concern, had signed the charter. The report also stated that the total charter membership is approaching the 200 mark, with some 35 petitions still in the hands of workers not yet heard from. After some discussion, it was de cided that the name “College Sta tion Development Association and Chamber of Commerce” was more descriptive of the broad objectives of the organization; the by-laws committee was then instructed to submit this as one of the possible names of the proposed organiza tion. Membership In discussions concerning the broadening the scope of the organ ization, the question was raised as to whether it would not lend strength to the organization to in vite members from among the non business ladies of the community, inasmuch as the business member ship is mixed. This suggestion was adopted by the sponsoring committee, and a committee of la dies was named to conduct a mem bership drive. Committees already named were expanded to include lady members. The concensus of those present was that a membership fee of five dollars per individual member, or six dollars annually for a husband- and-wife membership would be suf ficient, with a drive to be conduc ted among the business members for any additional funds needed to meet budget requirements. Committees Temporary committees named to function until permanent organ ization is -completed were as fol lows: Organization: Lamar Fly, chair man; Ewing Brown, A. M. Whitis, L. P. Gabbard, Mrs. Manning Smith, Mrs. Ralph Steen. By-Laws: Ralph Steen, Chair man; Joe Sorrels, Dan Davis, Mrs. G. W. Schlesselman. Ladies Membership: Mrs. Frank Anderson, Chairman; Mrs. Hershel Burgess, Mrs. Tom Harrington, Mrs. Cecil Culpepper, Mrs. Joe Woolket, Mrs. W. L. Penberthy, Mrs. Howard Barlow. Program: Frank Anderson, chairman; Bill Turner, Music; Ray Hickman, Gene Brock. Publicity: Ray Oden, chairman; Mrs. Norman Anderson, and a staff to be named for assistance in tele phoning. It was emphasized that these committees were temporary, and that alternative sets of by-laws and organizational set-ups were to be drawn up for submission to the entire body for consideration. Re jected was a suggestion that this meeting authorize the temporary chairman to appoint a nominating committee. Veterans Heard by State Committee BULLETIN Summoned to appear before the Senate-House investigating committee are President Gibb Gilchrist, former president T. O. Walton, Dr. F. B. Clark, head of Economics Department, Dean of Men J. W. “Dough” Rollins, Allen Self, Corps Editor of The Bat talion, Byron Winstead, head of the College Information Depart ment, Dean of the College F. C. Bolton, George B. Wilcox, head of the Education-Psychology Department, and Shannon Jones, a stu dent whom VSA treasurer Sam Williams said was “just dying to testify before this committee.” Scheduled to appear before the committee tonight are six board members: Tyree Bell, Dallas; E. W. Harrison, South Bend; C. C. Krueger, San Antonio; John W. Newton, Beaumont; Rufus Peeples, Tehuacana; and Roy C. Potts, Belton. WALTON FILES INVOLVED Secret files of Dr. T. O. Walton, former head of A. & M. College, will be subpoenaed by the investigating committee, chair man Fred Harris said as the committee recessed yesterday. The group heard Bill McCormick state that the “midnight march” was intended as a slap at the president rather than a protest against new rules. Also heard were Ed Brandt, Bob Poison, and Sam Williams. Williams claimed that “gestapo methods” of the administration were demoralizing the school. In the course of his testimony he mentioned Dr. T. O. Walton, former president of A. & M. College. As an example of the close watch on students, the VSA treasurer cited the case of campus police who “snoop around and eavesdrop” near groups of persons. by Vick Lindley Texas A. & M. should have an educator on its board of directors, even if it requires rewriting present statutes, the house-senate investigating committee was told in Austin Tuesday night by Ed Fisher, secretary of the Veteran Stu dents Association. Fisher’s suggestion was made in reply to a question by Sen. George A.-4——— —— Moffett, Aggie-ex, “What is your objection to the board of direc tors ?” Fisher and W. S. Andrews, pres ident of the VSA, were the only two witnesses heard Tuesday night. Andrews was on the stand for two hours and 45 minutes, of which 45 minutes was taken up by a pre pared statement which Andrews read. Fisher told the committee, in re sponse to questions, that the first evidence of student unrest he en countered on his return to the cam pus after the war was in regard to the mess hall. A steady diet of beef and potatoes, served cold, at prices that seemed high, was the root of that dissatisfaction, Fish er said. When the mess hall com mittee was told that high over head made low prices impossible, the students came to the conclus ion that the entire school was in need of investigation, he reported. Still speaking of the mess hall Fisher said, “When I first came to A. & M. you could get along on practically nothing. Now it is the same as the university.” Laughter was stilled by a warning from Sen. Fred Harris, chairman of the com mittee, who several times warned that the committee would go into closed executive session if demon strations were made. “Politics is a wonderful thing for running a state, but out of place in an educational institu tion,” was another of Fisher’s re marks. Fisher stated that he per sonally had no grievance against the administration, but that when he became a dormitory representa tive last fall, he was presented with many complaints of intimida tion. “Most of these things were unknown to me, and I didn’t be lieve them until we made our in vestigation,” Fisher stated. Clark Letter A letter from Dr. F. B. Clark, dated May 1944 and charging the administration with intimidation of faculty members, was read into the record. Fisher certified the copy he read to be a true copy of one signed by Dr. Clark which Fisher himself had carefully cop ied. The original is still in Dr. Clark’s hands, according to Fish er. The Clark letter did not cite specific instances. At one point in the proceedings, Fisher was assured by Sen. Harris that his “head would not be chop ped off” for answering questions. The Six Questions Andrews was questioned for two hours about the six questions which the Veterans Association had ask ed in their mass meeting last month. Highlights of the dialogue be tween Andrews and Sen Dorsey Hardeman follow: Q. Are you satisfied with Pre- ident Gilchrist’s answer to your first question? (Note: about funds for new Science Hall.) A. These facts were given to me and I present them as head of the Veteran Students Association. Q. In regard to Question 2. (Price of Brazos Bottom Farm.) Have you made any investigation of the price of land there? A. No, but Sam Williams and Bob Poison did. Q. In regard to Question 3. (Ex change Store profits.) Don’t you think that is a reasonable profit on that much business? A. I am not qualified to ans wer that question. We are not asking what they did with the money, but why a “non-profit” store should make any profit. Q. Are you satisfied with Pres ident Gilchrist’s statement, in re gard to Question 4 (wind tunnel) that Dean Potter made no such recommendation ? A. We have proof that Dr. Pot ter did make such a recommenda tion. At the end of the discussion of the six questions Andrews stated, “These facts were given to me and I present them as head of the VSA.” Question on Clark Andrews was questioned in some detail as to how the veterans came to get the Clark letter. Q. Were charges or statements by Mr. Clark submitted to vet erans ? A. They were read to us. Q. By whom? A. I do not wish to name the person. Q. You are under oath! A. Mr. Clark read them to me. Q. Where was he? A. We went by. Q. To his house? A. To his office. He read them to the committee. Q. Who was present? Members of the committee. Who appointed the commit- A. Q. tee? A. Q. A. I did. Who were they? Sam Williams, Dave Elliott, and that’s all I remember. Q. How did you know that Mr. Clark had made this statement? A. We knew how Mr. Clark felt about matters, and asked for a statement. Q. What other members of the faculty were approached? A. Dr. Wilcox. Q. Do you know of any finan cial corruption — embezzlement or theft—as mentioned in this letter? (Note—senior class letter) A. That has nothing to do with the VSA. Q. I’ll close the letter up and ask that question again. Is any body stealing anything? A. I personally don’t know. Q. You have no specific facts on which to base your opinions? A. Yes sir, we took a poll of 2,200 veterans. Q. Did anybody give you any information? A. 5,813 veterans asked ques- You only asked 2,200. That’s pretty representa tions. Q. A. tive. Q. Do you know of any student who did not graduate because he talked? A. No, but Buddy Brennan was told to keep quiet, and so was a boy named Cooper. Q. Who told them to keep quiet? A. The Dean of Men, Dough Rollins. Q.- At the mass meeting, were any specific charges made? A. After my speech, some of the boys made charges. A photo grapher made charges against Student Activities. Q. Who is in charge of Student Activities? A. I don’t know, but a guy named Elms works there. Q. Do you have the names of those boys? A. Yes, I will give them to you. See HEARING, Page 4