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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 20, 1947)
I * m j * 49 i in 1 Battalion EDITORIAL Pit* 2 FRIDAY, JUKE 20. 1947 Are We Blinded by Tradition?... W«* are proud people at A. A M„ and we have much to be proua about. But eometlme* pride blind* our eye*, and we fall to nee or recoirnlae our own nhortcomlnr*. For thia reaaon, the Rtatic of laat uprlng had not been without conatructive value. We have been critically examined by the public, the newapapera, and the leglalature. What they aay they found la not all to the good. Perhape it ia time for ua to look our> aelvea over in aa detached a manner aa po«- aible and aee if we have been perpetuating bad along with the good. 4 A. & M. waa net up by two legialative acta. One ia the Morrill Act of the national jCongreaa; the other ia the charter in the Texaa State Conatitution. Both document* state that the purpose of the school shall be “without excluding other scientific and class ified studies, and including military tactics, to teach such branches of learning as are re lated to agriculture and the mechanical arts, in such manner as the legislature shall pre scribe, in order to promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes in the several pursuits and professions of life.” How well are we fulfilling this charter? Let us take it up point by point. We have not excluded other scientific studies; the phase “classified studies” is rather ambiguous today, and wte cannot com ment on that. We have most certainly in cluded military tactics. Our major lines of study are along agricultural and mechanical (engineering) lines. We most definitely promote practical education; our success in “liberal education of the industrial classes” is doubtful. Despite increases in cost to stu dents in recent yearn,' we are still a “poor man’s school;” if you doubt that, just get ex pense schedules from other institutions. So much for these basic points. Now let’s take a critical look at details. Texas A. A M. has differed in its develop ment from other land-grant schools. Most of them are now less technical than we are; they are coeducational and their military ROtC program Is on the so-called ’’civilian school” luisis. Examples of such schools are Oklahoma A. A M . Purdue, (Indiana land- grant college) and L.H.U. The only other land-grant college we know of that follows the A. A M. pattern is Clemson A. A M. in South Carolina. We often proudly say that we do not want to be like Oklahoma A. A M. or Purdue or L. S. U. When we say this, are we just taking a prejudiced "my way is best, because it’s my way” point of view, or do we base this opinion on comparative studies of our work with that of those other institutions? Most of us will have to admit that we speak from prejudice and not from comparative study. Our military system of life has come in for some heavy criticism during the recent investigation. The defense usually is that we turned out 29 generals, so we can’t be wrong. We are certainly proud of those ^generals—who, however, were mostly pro duced by a small Texas A. A M. College that was quite different from the giant university that occupies our acres today. Charges have been made by older gradu ates that hazing in their days was much less severe than today, even though hazing was more tlken for granted then in all schools than it is today. Is this tpje? Have we piled one traditional form of hazing on an other until the load has grown too great? It is not an adequate answer to say “If any body doesn’t like hazing, let him go some where else." This is a state school, and the boy who doesn’t want to be hazed has just as much right here as the ones who loveit— in their upper class years. The Battalion believes that cruel forms of hazing have become rare, despite lurid copy in the newspapers during the past se- !>o Overproduction? Potatoes To Bum Druids Probably Responsible 'Sack Is Man’s Best Friend, But It Threatens Civilization ;r points ring >me of them ihly following mt drawing a we say that tanization at rnity, in other mde by many term. What master. Freshmen In all colleges are sub ject to some form of belittlenAmt, and It is reasonable to expect that somd form of ”or- Inflation’’ will kw practiced h^re as long as there is a school. One undeniablv unpleasant practice In our preeent condition is the tn atment given students who transfer here fre m the two ju* nior colleges which are part o' the A. A M. system. Two-year graduates < f John Tarle- ton and North Texas Agricultgral are treat ed, not as brothers, but as outsiders, all dur ing their two upper class yeafs here. This is snobbery, and is indefensitle. It It one reason why those two schools age now asking for four-year ratings. We have often proudly compared our selves to West Point and Annapolis. Yet those two institutions are themselves under fire as being a hundred yearstbehind times, educationally. Latest blast ^t the service academies was in a May issuelof Look mag azine. The author is the wife of a graduate and mother of a son in one of (the academies which she roasted. Many of uncomfortably true . . . and hit A. A M. too! Are we slav an outmoded model? We are conclusion: we ask you to thiijk about it. The Cadet Corps is often spoken of as a military organization—whefi it is to our advantage that it be thoughtj of that way When it is not to our advan the corps is not a military all, but a social one. A fra words. That statement was cadets to the panel board i is the truth—is the corps miliUry, fraternal, or an indeterminate mixture? It is rapidly becoming impossible to press the full amount of technical t aining offered by A. A M. into four years. ’Tet the obvious step, now being taken by many other technU cal schools, of adopting a fivp-year curricu lum, ia not easy to put into pi actlce here be cause of the four-year military system, and the desire of cadets to stay ilth their class regardless of edvk'ational prol lema. The five- year courses will probably have to be adopted anyway, but they will be a n«Av strain on the already-strained ’’system.” The four -> year systeml backfired, of course, this year, when only four cadets graduated with almost 700 Keterans. The other seniors are coming ImmA to earn their commissions. A worthy gual, but it empha sizes what strange things th* military basis does to the educational prognm. Today A. A M. is divul. J against itself. Students are divided, ex-students groups have split, even Aggie mothers have started pulling each other’s hair. Plenty of ex planations have been offered! and fought ov er, but an imt>ortant one has peen pretty well overlooked—"growing pains A. A M. still has the skeleton of a fresh water school with 800 pupilf. on which has been superimposed the flesh)of a giant uni versity. We have become big in size, and there isn’t much we can do about it except become bigger in mind andi concept. If it becomes necessary to break bway from tra dition, we must do it, painfid though such a step would be to many. As Jong as A. A M. appeared to be getting aloqg all right, no one would dare make such a Suggestion. But something collapsed at A. AIM. last season. It now appears that traditim alone is not enough on which to run a college. Some of the world’s most tradition-filed universities are actually some of the mpst advanced in their educational programs. Tradition is allowed to give color, but not to hamper ’ growth. We might look to the example of such schools as Cambridge n England and Harvard in America. The r traditions go even deeper than ours, yet tfiose schools are among the most progressive in the world to day. If they can do it, so cin we. By H. W. Sprnrrr Bom* ccoaomiaU contend that there Is no aneh thins as overpro duction. Yet today, tons of pota toes are being destroyed on U. 8. farms while hou»« wives In cities pay high prices and people abroad continue to starve. Potato surpluses have resulted from favorable weather, a shift to Irrigated laitli. and better Insecti cides. Yet emtd scarcities In some scarcities In same areas ami high prices we literally seem to have potatoes to bum. This case of maldistribution, particularly In tbe South Is due to tbe fact tbnt tbe potatoes caij't be dehydrated and stored because of the lack of pro cessing plants In the areas where they are rroera;. that they can't he shipped north to processing plants because of high freight coats; and that they rant he ex ported because new .potatoes have high water content and thin By Ivan Yaatla Your beat friend la your bod. Letters skins, which makes spoilage almost certain. Of last year’s yield of almost 100 million bushels. 22 million were chrstroyed; 30 million were sold at a loss to alcohol distillers, 10''• million went to starch factories. 10VJ million bushels into "ex- 1 -ports. 11 million bushels for live- | stock feed, snd 3 millions into free ( school lunches. While this year’s surplus is somewhat less, due to That ia a goansl truism which will bscoms mors svldsnt as the sumaner terms toll on. Loss snd loos will you sasociato with tbs sack, and more and mors will your heart long for that happy reunion. * Only In the past decade have beds bscoms the center of so much controversy, la England at present movies can show bads no eloner Ulan twelvs Inches to each other And for cinematic purpose* th* old double bed Is obsolete. Bed, from th# Anglu-ftaxon Beddlam, la really of uncertain origin. The clent Druids, a thrifty hunch, had on the three-lagged st«>ol |irinci|4e which war* always and forever tipping over. Bo many people were fatally Injured from falling bed accidents that the Druids now extinct. Perhaps It’s all Yantis best, however; they revelled pastimes and would have become extinct anyhow. Whilo the Druida were climbing bock Into their three-legged beds and nursing their abrastona, Inca engineers strove .to overcome th* three-legged problem. They leaped In the wrong direction and ex perimented with a two-legged bed. which, aa we enlightened ones know, will not work. They are also extinct. Today, In a frentied school where studies require never-ending at tention. the bed might as well have never been invented. It fills a corner of the room snd gives that lived-in look, but serves no practical purpose. There is. however, one saving grace. The bed need not loee all self-respect. Let ua consider how far modern literature would have succeeded without a bed. BUM MSB INERTIA Dear Editor: ; / , JT/ III aeems a pity that during the recent election of officers for the Veteran Students Association only / 1«7 votes were cast for the presi dential candidates; surely • few more of the remaining 1.9*7 vet erans currently enrolled In MRmc could have taken the time and the >ery little ptRK-'MHHp 1ft Mm/ a ballot f • ^ A rota ty l** of tha eligible voters of a school election, local election, of any type of/qUction Is hardly Imlleative of the will of Is Mtlfc tnartMt the majority. Is there n* ini In electing the moat capable tp the most Importsoi office c • great and ths Portrait of an -Editor of the Veteran Attdent* Association T Are not the veterans interested In good government? Aa was shswn In th# recent dlstarhsnces concerning the Administration, an able and Influ ential spoke*man can he asset to tiOth the school organisation. This fall will see soother elec tion of officers for the Veteran Students Association. Let us hope that each of the Incumbent ofri- errs and each nu mber of the As sociation will do his share in turn ing out thb vote on that election day. I ]/ / J. T. MILLER A QUIET! 1 Dear Edits* It is bad enough to he stationed By Mark T. Nolen , - , Charlie Murray, new supreme reduction in the number of acres 0mn ip 0t ,. nt ma ter of the BatUl planted, the skme problem prevails am and it* sattelite*. wss born in Raised again ia the issue over the 1925. He has no other claim to Government policy of guarantee- f * mo fwr » * ll K ht ! ‘ tr#,n of ing prices for many food products. Farmers are promised a price which is 90^ of parity—that it,,.. „ . , a price that would guarantee tlJ^ W^he at every oppor- farmer 907, of the purchasing ’“r,' 1 ?* J*/ 1 l ’' Hkr ' .!‘"I* ° n w * power he realized from his crops rail ,n !' 4 T for w’ "m * during a favorable base pSgd.\* for Idm^lf Scveral iramsa Thus, when the farmer’s expenses h * v ’' ’f itK T.w, rise because of higher pricra. his ruw *- support rise. too. HE, brother. Bill Murray (they In 1946 the potato-price supports have the same last name, isn’t that cost IH0 million. While the current odd?), had a fling at managing supports are not expected to run the neurotic staff of this rag in into such a .large sum of money, 19W and 1940, hut gave up in de- the support, price has advanced yialr to devote his talents to the 35 rents pet 100 pounds because Eagle Haas International News- of the general rise in prices. While Guide, of which he ia now assis- rialng prices are being deplored by I tant-editor. one branch pf the administration, (’harlle ami his brother BUI dlf Murray declares his editorial pol icy “a front for the vested inter- eat*. He promises to keep all three eyes peeled for any liberal trend which he Will oppose vehe mently. To the accompanying drone of typewriters Charlie Murray looks A rotund, enigmatic chap ahrad. With hi» neck in a cast Hike, to remove his shoe, and let | ht . ^ Iook no ^ Quality Cleaning MODEL CLEANERS 112 South Main. Bryan Phone 2-14H0 on the outskirts of Navaaota (the New Area, that ia) but why must we suffer along with fhose people attexiptiag to sing over in the Mu sic Hall? Not that the females squalling is not bad enough, but the two-fingered pianist really has a gay time on that two-note key board. You could begin a drive to move thia Music Hall out to the out skirts of the college along with the cow-barns near the A. A I. Building. Deliver us from this so-called music stuff. Sincerely yours, LAWRENCE W. BRUN- - SON Dorm 4. another branch la committed to keeping them up. While the potato situation af fords the main hone of contention, fer Ih that respect: Bill Is allowed within the city limits of Eagle 1*11*11, During the (Jreat War Charlie guarded rear echelon road Inter' I’ailhament). Ills Judo |r««on* will serve him in goml stead in his forthcoming wrestling bouts with the irate eltitenry. With a thick Swedish accent, laat year'* corn, iurkey and egg ^tlons as an M.IV (Member of market* received auppnrl. Current ly, along with potatoes, the Im portant wartime exhort product, dried skim milk, presents a pro blem as expanse shrouds It* de mand The Indicated surplus of citrus fruit* may also require as sistance. The Department of Agriculture is committed by law to support, where necessary, farm prices for 20 specified food items, and farm policy calls for aid to other crops. That law isn't to expire until the Sliderule Enters Field of Music By Bill Galbreath Future Beethoven* and Irving end of 1948. What has happened Berlins may ait down with a slide Study of a College Prexy... compromise in the college almtmt the college’s undoin The man: Woodrow Wihqm! The college: Princeton! The critic: Prof, Arthur S. Link! Don’t jump to conclusion* until you have finished reading this criticism of a college president: . ‘‘Cold, ruthless and stubborn, something about him inevitably engendered controversy Oodm* My Mintake . . . when, he occupied positions of power. r ^ “His refusal to compromise ... his re fusal to treat tolerantly those who oppoaed him . . . were among the major mistakes of his career. ontroversy was with potatoes is indicative of what may happen with other mhjor crop*. Continued* support of potato prices at present level* promises bumper crops year after year be cause the cost of production has been greatly reduced. The long- range potato problem thus calls for price that will produce a small er crop. Production controls are being used this year for potatoes and may be used elsewhere if surpluses threaten. Product!©* controls, however, are unpopular not only with far mers but also with present Con gress, so spme other method of supporting farm incomes without resorting to price supports and acreage control* is being sought. One suggestion is to guarantee farmers' incomes without guaran teeing farm prices. Under thia method, crop prices would be det ermined in {he market place, with out GovernSient support or inter ference. If market prices failed to yield a “parity income”, farmers would get ' a direct Government subsidy. This proposal has yet to find favor with farmers, who dls like the iden of direct Government handouts. "He drove through a magnificent reform program .. . his accomplishments were great and enduring. Yet he drove so hard, so flatly refused to delegate authority, and broke with so many friends that when the inevitable reaction set in, he wa* unable to cope with the new situation. His refusal to Senator O'Daniel in his filibuster campaign a gainst OP A last year introduced several hundred telegrams approving hia campaign into the Con gresslonal Record. A few of the other kind sneaked in. For in stance, W. D. King of San AntoiJo wired, "You have been raised in a nut patch; QPA must aurvive. From T. L. Todd of Monahans. Texas, came this “If you are talking for me, you) can shut up. Two people saved England-J Joan of Arc and George Washington. If it hadnt been for the first, the capital of England would have been in France if it hadn't been for the other,jit would have been in America. ; —Alfred Whitehill • • • If The Battalion The Battalion, official newspaper of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of College Station, Texas, is published tri-weekly and circulated on Tuesday, Thursday, noons, exeept during the summer when it is published semi-weekly. Subecription rat Advertising rates furnished on request. and the City ol Saturday after 14 per school year. Offtr* at CSlbe* Ststtoa. Ttaas. <m Art of Csserni U .March S. *07*. L — K«pc—tod MgcMlty Vy Nation.) A4- ffesodeted GbMkfe (*«« wrttein* Sarrfc*. W.. at New York Ctty. Ckhw**. La* A*^ln. mm4 So* Fraartoao. Charttc Mortar OscM M. a#Me»s» S hart t Altrrwan — . !<■ Iiunirs. X. C. Bsrt D W. Sprtssn tvsa Tsatis Ibsorvatory Move n Capital Same A* Huntin'* Hou*e The nation’s strangest real ei tate deal ia brewing at Washing ton. An advertisement might read like this] WANTED: One-hundred acres of land. Mast be at least 25 miles from nearest city. Must be certain city will stay at least 25 miles away. Mast not be too far north or too far soath. The weather not subject to quick change. Must be Meal for see ing heavenly bodies. Write or call the U. §. Naval Observatory, Washington. D C. The observatory with its 55 buildings must be moved. The rea son. a*tronomeni explain, ia that the view from Washington just Isn’t what It used to be. The na tion's capital has grown up in the 103 years since the observatory was founded. Smoke and dust from the city mar the view of the heav ens. City streets and buildings radiate heat which “upset” the at- mosphera. i If you think R’s hard to find a home, you should try finding s place to put an observatory. rule as necessary equipment when they compose new pieces of music. Even musicians may pull out s slide-rule and make hurried cal culations before starting to play. L. E. Waddington, of C. G. Conn, Ltd., Elkhart, Ind., presented the slide-rule for music idea at a meet ing of the Acoustical Society of America. Waddington said, “mu sicians are seldom concerned with the mathematical background of their art, but an understanding of the underlying physical principles of music can be very helpful to the student in considerations of problems related to harmony, inton ation and general band instrument design.” Musical information adjusted on the slide-rule includes chord struc ture, scale building, instrumental transposition, interval relations and degrees of scales. Music of the 17th and 18th Cen turies was played as it actually sounded for scientists at the meet ing. W. B. White of th* School of Pianoforte Technology, Chica go, explained the difference be tween the two systems of key board instrument tuning and then demonstrated the difference by playing muaic as it was composed in the 17th Century when tuning was done by the mean-tone system. Sebastian Bach introduced the *• qual temperament system of pia no tuning that is used today. 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