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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 24, 1947)
# Page Two z . ~ THE BATTALION, College Station (Aggieland)., Texas, Thursday, April 24, 1947: HEART ACHES is the | Number One song hit this week. . . It’s an oldie writ ten some 15 years ago. . . THE RITZ BROTH- ERS and the Marx Broth ers will be teamed up soon to do a picture about the hill-billy feudin’ families. THE HATFIELDS AND THE COWBOYS, which should prove very funny. The reconciliatory ef forts of the MICKEY ROONEYS didn’t get any place and they’re further away than ever. . . MEL TORME, originally of the MEL- TONES, is solo-ing it now and doing plenty okay. . . with studio commitments, recordings, and ra dio and night club engagements, this diminuative song stylist ought to go places—if he keeps a level head. . . former band leader ABE LYMAN is now a producer and is going to turn out musical movies- at Republic Studios. . . Speaking of bandleaders, PAUL WHITE- MAN’S son, PAUL, JR. is fronting a new band in New York City, and doing okay. . . under the guidance of POPS. FRANKIE LAIN’S recording of STAY AS SWEET AS YOU ARE for Mecury Records looks like a smash hit. . . FRANK SINAT RA’S first role as a dramatic ac tor will be THE MIRACLE OF THE BELLS, for RKO Studios, in which the swooner-crooner boy will play the part of the priest. WALT DISNEY’S newest cartoon epic is called FUN AND FANCY FREE and DIN AH does the commentating off screen. BING CROSBY, his wife DIXIE and theif entourage of four Cros- byites leave for an extended tour of the hinterlands soon. . . which will also include a stay at the Crosby Ranch in Nevada. Famed columnist LOUELLA PARSONS planed to NYC after her last week’s broadcast to be at the bed side of her ailing husband DOC MARTIN. Two of Hollywood’s wealthiest comedians, who made their millions long before talkies made its bow, are about to appear in two great comedies just completed. . . CHAR LIE CHAPLIN in MONSIEUR VERDOUX and HAROLD LLOYD in THE SIN OF HAROLD DID- DLEBOCK. New Photo Course Offered in Fall A new course in photography will be offered next fall according to J. G. Potter, head of physics department. Since an estimate of the number of students is neces sary before arrangements can be made, Dr. Potter has invited those interested to attend the next meet ing of The Camera Club to be held Monday, April 28, 7 p.m., in Room 35, Physics Department. At that time those present will advise the Physics Department of the nature and scope of instruction for which there is a demand. —HEARING— (Continued from Page 1) college catalog into separate pamphlets. Asked if he didn’t believe the board should have final say on how the catalog should be printed, Clark replied that he did think so, but he still resented their order. Clark didn’t recall ever being ov erriden by the board, but he did know that Dean T. D. Brooks had on occasion objected to many things he had been forced to do by the board. Lack of Confidence Summing up his attitude to ward Gilchrist, Clark stated that he would pot mind Gilchrist’s dic tatorial attitude if. he just had confidence in the man’s judgment. Senator Harris began interro gating Clark rather vigorously at this point. Q. Do you think the board should run the school, or you as head of the Economics Department should run the school? A. I think the board should manage the college. Q. Whom do you think the board should consult on matters pertain ing to the operation of the school? You? A. It depends on the matters at hand. Q. Should the board interrogate each member of the faculty before taking action? A. No. Q. Do you think the Board should have consulted the faculty before taking action on the hazing problem ? A. Yes. I believe the faculty is better able to deal with hazing through counciling with the in dividual students. This prompted Harris to make the following statement: “Dr. Clark, I think you know less about anything than any witness this committee has yet had before it. You have been issuing statements all over the state of Texas that you have some facts to present to this board, but as yet we have not se cured fact one from you. Now just what do you wish to leave as your opinion of what is wrong at A & M?” Clark replied that he wanted the committee to know that Gilchrist and the board had used coercive and repressive tactics in enforcing the state law against hazing, and that he personally held no hard feelings against any member of the investigating committee. ★ Reconvening Tuesday night at 8 p.m., the committee resumed the questioning of Delbert V. Schultz. Sen. Fred Harris was not present at the opening of the session and Sen. Dorsey Hardeman began an interrogation of the witness. Leading off with a list of eight “facts” Schultz stated he wished : to give the statements and then elaborate on each. They were as follows: 1. The faculty and the presi dent do not work in harmony and neither do the students and the prexy. 2. A refusal of the president to converse with the students on problems. 3. The continuance of an in creased room rent fee in spite of an increase in enrollment. 4. The administration has been questioned consistently. 5. The senior court has been abolished, thereby taking away the responsibility of the senior class the presence of which is essential to leadership. 6. A. & M. does not fulfill the requirements in Basic R O T C Manual as a Military College. 7. The presence of Gilchrist on the campus threatens the en trance of prospective students. 8. A. & M. spirit is low. Seeking to substantiate these statements, Sen. Hardeman ques tioned Shultz on each individually. The results were that “fact one” was based on an observation of Shultz after a visit to Gibb Gil christ in the president’s office in February of 1946. In a “one sided” conversation, Shultz stated that all Gilchrist would say was, “Yes, I am changing A. & M”, and in answer to a question on the assumed objection by the students on the new policies, “I’m sorry.” Shultz added that under the Basic Policy endorsed by the Board of Directors and Gilchrist, the stu dents have no voice in the govern ment of the school. For the proof of “fact two”, re fusal of president to council with students on problems, Shultz of fered no specific instances. In trying to find a reason why Shultz believed that the amount collected as room rent was too much, Hardeman, asked if Shultz thought the money was misap propriated. He didn’t know. He believed if the dorms once had been operated on a certain a- mount, then that need not ever be raised. T o substantiate his charge that the administration has been consistently questioned, Shultz simply said, “The questioning was evident.” Referring to the Basic ROTC Manual p.39, Shultz stated that the requirements of a MC (Military College type of ROTC training as opposed to CC, civilian college type of training) institution was that the students be administered by military officers and that the stu dents be on a constant military standing. He said that when Gil christ put the control of student affairs in the hands of the civil ian personnel of the Office of the Dean of Men, A. & M. was no long er MC, but came under the classi fication of CC where students were on a civilian status, except in mil itary classes. Hardeman asked if a CC type of ROTC training was as good, to which Shultz answered, “Yes”, but when asked if A. & M. was as good as a CC school he said, “No.” For evidence of students not com ing to A. & M. because of Gil christ’s being president, Shultz mentioned two men who were re gional track champions in high school. They said, according to Shultz, that they would not come to A. & M. unless Gilchrist was removed. The two boy’s names were not given. At this point Shultz stated that the enrollment had dropped from 9200 in February 1946 to 7500 in February 1947. The decrease was attributed to Gilchrist. The first was supposedly gotten from the B' talion and the second from the Registrar’s Office. Batt. Note: The Battalion shows that there were 4199 stu dents enrolled in Texas A. & M. February 6, 1946.) Reverting then to the morning discussions concerning the letter written by Shultz and paid for by Travis Bryan, president of First National Bank of Bryan, Harde man asked how many copies were printed. Shultz said 9 in all. From further questioning it was learned that the cost of printing was as sumed by Bryan after a phone conversation with Shultz, and that the amount was “about eight dol lars”. Also stated by Shultz was that the financial figures of the let ter were gathered from Dr. T. O. Walton in a meeting the day be fore the letter dated February 6 was written. Walton supposedly investigated on February 5 after their conversation and Shultz went back for the information. No auditor’s report or copy of figures were seen by Shultz; the data was given him orally. Walton was said to have stated that Gilchrist had violated the law. In final questioning, Hardeman asked if Shultz would appear be fore a Grand Jury to give evidence to indict Gilchrist on a charge of this sort. Shultz said he would. Harris took over the interroga tion at this point and kept up the line of questioning started in the morning session. Shultz was asked repeatedly to name more members of the* Star chamber. Finally he thought of a boy of the name of Gilbert—the younger of two broth ers, but didn’t know where the boy was from. He was probably refer ring to Boots Gilbert of Dallas. ★ Shultz’s conversation with Ar thur B. Knickerbocker, state ad jutant general and Aggie-ex, was then discussed. At the meeting in the general’s office, it was testi fied that the dissatisfaction and uneasiness of the students at that time (November 1945) was brought up. Shultz said he wanted the exes to know about it. A plan for the cadet corps to make'‘'an indig nation march on Austin was dis cussed and the general was asked what he thought about it and could he arrange for the students to stay somewhere—perhaps at Camp Ma bry. Knickerbocker was not in fa vor of this action and Shultz said he dropped all thoughts and plans of the venture. He phoned Travis Bryan to tell him of the result of the interview with Knickerbocker. During his two week stay on the campus in 1945 to investigate the situation the school was in, Shultz says he spoke to 40 or 50 students privately to find out their opinion. All were against Gilchrist he stat ed. He could not think of any friends’ names for the record. He mentioned several business men of the North Gate Area, however. These were Smith of the Aggie land Pharmacy and Mausner, Class of ’41, of W.S.D. Senator Moffet asked witness Shultz that if General Knicker bocker had been in favor of a “march” on Austin, would the ca det officers have been willing— Shultz said the 10 members of the group would contact the company officers to lead their organizations to the capital city. Asked why he hadn’t interviewed the governor instead of Knicker bocker, Shultz replied that he did n’t think O’Daniel was an ex. When asked who would pay ex penses of the trip, Shultz said that since the Aggies would pre sumably “thumb” over and stay where Knickerbocker provided, the cost would be small. Bryan had told Shultz, “Don’t ever wor ry about expenses; you get ’em hopped up and I will pay for it.” Representative John Cox then asked Shultz if he doubted the integrity of Dr. Walton. Shultz said “No”. Then Cox asked Shultz if he knew that Dr. Walton tes tified before the investigating committee that Shultz was known to him only as a student and no meeting or visit concerning the letter written by Shultz was held. Harris continued his queries. He asked Shultz how the letter was presented to the senior class for adoption. Shultz answered that the letter was read at a mass meet ing (at which he was not present but others of the group of 10 were). Shultz met with McCormick in the latters’ room after the meeting at which the letter was read. Shultz said that H. C. Huddleston had carried the letter to Ft. Worth. In all Shultz had met with the group of 10 in private session once, with Walton twice, and with Bry an 4 times excluding one phone call —this by his own testimony. As a concluding question, Harris asked Shultz if he was either dir ectly or indirectly related to Dr. F. B. Clark, Shultz said that he had never met him. ★ Shultz was dismissed and Byron Winstead, Director of the College Dept, of Information was called to the witness stand. Several spe cific questions were asked of Win stead. They were as follows: Does Gibb Gilchrist discuss in formation for public distribution with the Publicity Office? To this the answer given was “no” if the inference was to censor ship or coercion. It was added that twelve hours after Gilchrist had assumed office, he had in structed the Publicity Director not to play up the president’s name but to give credit to the people who do the work dis cussed. Winstead stated that 90 per cent of the material issued from his office was written by four vet eran student assistants. They covered the four fields of engi neering, agriculture, sports, and liberal arts and sciences. He told the committee that he had his “re sponsibility to the institution”, but all the information “requested by state papers” was given out. “No member of the Board of Directors or Dean tries suppression”, Win stead said. He added th#t he would not keep the job if it was un der conditions of censorship. It was stated that the College Office issued only “news” and no “propaganda”. The only editing of news items was on “choice of words”, Winstead said. The first he had heard of the Shultz letter was when it was read to him over the phone by a member of the staff of the Hous ton Chronicle five hours after it was received. Charges of censorship of Col lege Publicity by Gibb Gilchrist had been made in the letter writ ten and issued by Delbert Shultz and also in a statement given by Bill Andrews to a meeting of Veteran Student Association on March 28. General Knickerbocker Next to testify was Adj. Gen. Knickerbocker. The General re called tiie meeting with Shultz and dated it as shortly after the first of January 1946. He said Shultz wanted to talk about the “situa tion at A. & M.” The latter be gan giving the grievances of the students to the General and brought up ways and means of getting rid of Gilchrist. Some of the methods cited by Knickerbocker as told him by I am the Candy Kid, an Effanbee at Joyce’s Toy House for You to See. Durable, lovable, from head to toe. If you onpe hold me, you won’t let go. 508 S. College Ph. 2-2864 Shultz were the publishing of a sheet of changes needed and dis tributing it to the newspapers and to A. & M. Clubs and a march of the Cadet Corps to Austin to talk to the Governor or other officials. Shultz inquired if the General could house the Aggies during their stay, perhaps at Camp Mabry—out side of Austin, quarters of the Dept, of Public Safety. Gen. Knickerbocker told the committee that he did all he could to dissuade Shultz because he believed that the publicity would hurt the College more than help it. He said ‘we must do the dirty work ourselves if need be but keep it out of the papers’. Wanting other A. & M. men to hear the plan and get their opin ion, Knickerbocker called in Clarence M. Elwell and Colonel Black and then all three attemp ted to talk Shultz gut of the scheme. The General told Shultz that it was evident that he (Shultz) did not know what was wrong, that he should keep personalities out, and do all work in a “constituted” manner. It was brought to the attention of the General in the meeting with Shultz that the latter had not spok en to Gilchrist concerning his views and then Knickerbocker advised him to pay the President a visit. Shultz protested that he would not be able to get to see Gilchrist. Gen. Knickerbocker said he would guar antee that Gilchrist would grant an audience to him. The General said that contin ually throughout the interview Shultz referred to the statement “We all want this” (speaking of the ousting of Gilchrist). Knick erbocker said that both he and Elwell attempted to find out who constituted “we”. Shultz offered as explanation a mention of Walton and Bryan, but he did not say why they were in terested in this affair. The General tried to find out who Shultz wanted in the presi- BOWLES-DAVIS FLYING SERVICE Plane Rental and Rides at Reasonable Rates Timberlake Airport 3/4 M. N. of North Gate . While They Lo_. BETTER HOMES Appliances and Records 314 N. Main Bryan —HIM HI 'I ... The Battalion The Battalion, official newspaper of the Agricultural and Mechanical College Texas an d the City of College Station, is published tri-weekly and circulated Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday afternoons. Member Ptssooded CpHeftiote Press Entered as second-class matter at Post Office at College Station, (Aggieland) Texas, nnder 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 Ci Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Allen Self Vick Lindley Charles E. Murray . J. K. B. Nelson David M. Seligman Paul Martin Corps Editor — Veteran Editor —Tuesdar Associate Editor Thursday Associate Editor .Saturday Associate Editor Sports Editor Larry Goodwjn^ Andy Matula, Jack Goodloe, Dick Baker, Earl Grant......Sports Writers ^ Advertising Manager Wendell McClure D. D. W. Springer Ferd B. English, Franklin Cleland, Willia u .. e ,K>u, A-Acumnu ^isiouu, tv niiam Miller, Doyle Duncan, Ben Schrader, Wm. K. Colville, Walter Lowe, Jr., Lester B. Gray, Jr., Carl C. Krueger, Jr., Mack T. Nolen Circulation Manager -Reporters Some Predictions ... The legislative investigation of the A. & M. situation has lately been out of the public eye, for several reasons. The Texas City disaster crowded it off the front pages, and suspension of testimony for a week brought some people to believe that the investigation had been closed. Then, .too, most of the sensational charges have already been hurled, with little prospect of any more worthy of note coming to light. It now appears that the investigation will last for about a week more, with perhaps a two-day session on the cam pus. But after the farce of Dr. Clark’s testimony and the damaging contradiction of Shultz’s and Walton’s testimony, little sympathy can be expected from members of the com mittee. The investigation has continued long enough that some predictions may safely be made. The most obvious pre diction, which requires no trance or crystal gazing to con jure up, is that a “clean bill of health” report will be forth coming. Some people will call it a “whitewash.” There will naturally be some gentle remonstrance of the administration for assorted bungling of student relations, but this will un doubtedly be couched in such terms that it will go unnoticed by newspaper readers. Charges of financial mismanagement or misappropria tion of funds will be declared unfounded. This is only na tural, as no conclusive evidence has been introduced which will prove such skullduggery. Outside influence, in the person of the local postmaster and others, will be held guilty in large measure for inciting the student uprising. The report will probably hold that no concerted “Oust Gilchrist” movement would have exploded were it not for non-student aid, comfort, and advice. Charges of faculty intimidation will be dismissed as un- supportable. The President and the Board of Directors will be com mended for their courageous stand on the hazing issue. Long Range Assumptions concerning the long range effect of all this mess are more difficult to reach. The whole contro versy and investigation has disgusted everyone who has fol lowed it. The students are bitter because the investigation appears prejudiced. Those interested in the future of high er education in Texas are disgusted because of the reverbera tions which will still be heard long from now. Many people are repelled by the part outsiders have played in the contro versy, seemingly to further their own personal ambitions. This one conclusion is indisputable—Gilchrist has made no friends among the students as a result of the ruckus. Their animosity toward him will remain. He can probably never have the 100% support of the student body. Perhaps he will even lose the 100% support of the Board of Directors. The investigation of the college has proved that it is not an auditor we need here, but an experienced, capable, and skillful “human relations” expert. Another such expert should be employed as personnel director of the faculty and staff. An attempt was made to improve student relations through the establishment of a new officer, but this has proven largely ineffectual, as evi denced by the recent explosion. If content and happiness are to prevail again at A. & M., some kind of organizational change will have to be made. A “clean bill” report from the investigating committee may put salve over the sore, but it will not cure it. Hollywood Revel-ations By Harry Revel Hi’ya Aggies. . . Here’s some more Movie Mecca Musings. . . Rita Hayworth, footloose and fancy free once more, is becoming more and more TONY MARTIN conscious. . . IRVING BERLIN has already completed the new score for EASTER PARADE which MGM will produce this year as a super-duper* —— Musical. Harry Revel dent’s chair after Gilchrist was ousted. He stated that Shultz said that there were “lots of good men”. Walton was thought to be one of the “good men” by Shultz. Knick erbocker told the committee that he informed Shultz that was not in favor of returning Walton to the administration—in fact, not in fa vor of the whole idea of a march or published letter. Summer Styled r* 1 ^ i • j Yes, your summer will be pleasant when you begin it with NORRIS CASUAL Sport Shirts. Full cut, and "custom tailored", they as sure comfort with good looks. The washable, cotton end rayon fabrics in NOR RIS CASUALS are presented in many attractive colors and patterns. Choice of long or short sleeves. Choose yours today. THE EXCHANGE STORE Opens 1:00 p.m. Ph. 4-1181 THURS., LAST DAY A HEART-WARMING, / V-iMIENCE! / f WALT VtSNEY's\~-£^Lr \FIRSI UVE ACTION [V MUSICAL i ;^W0RAMA' SONG of the SOUTH : "? Jecha(/co£ok, - INCLUDING ANI MAUD DH.ES OF UNCLE REMUS Distributed t> fiKO RADIO PICTURES, tat FRIDAY-SATURDAY “13 RUE MADELEINE” Starring JAMES CAGNEY pens 1:00 p.m. Daily THURSDAY ONLY! DANA ANDREWS RICHARD CONTE “A WALK IN THE SUN” FRIDAY-SATURDAY Double Feature “THE BLACK ANGEL” with DAN DURYEA and JUNE VINCENT — Plus — SONS OF THE PIONEERS And Introducing _ RICHARD KORBEL
