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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.
For Your Child's Entertainment
During the Summer Months . . .
Children’s Electric I’honogniph 1‘layer*
T /M
We have a wide selection of albums of
records for children only. . . . Favorite
children stories on unbreakable records.
JOYCE’S TOY HOUSE
1)1. , i '. | r /
College Road. Bryan Phone 2-2H64
AIR CONDITIONED
Optna 1:00 p.m. Ph. 4-1181
FRI
DAY - SATURDAY
CARNIVAL
— IN —
COSTA RICA
IN TECHNICOLOR
— With
Dick Haymes
Vera-Ellen
Cesar Romero
Celeste Holm
GUION HALL THEATER
,
FRIDAY and SATURDAY
— Double Feature
“HOME SWEET
HOMICIDE”
—• ^Hth —
RANDOLPH SCOTT
PEGGY ANN GARNER
>LVL
SUNDAY and MONDAY
/
i VA
<7.1
CARY (RANI
INGRID RiRCMAN
IS Uflll IllCICtttl
cuiwmiis