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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 24, 1947)
Battalion |< EDITORIALS antis Comes Home To Roost Pag« 2 TUESDAY. JUNE 24. 1947 Living in the Past Is Not Enough... if Mr* on mi arttrlr by H#nry WrirU.n, frMkWnt, Brown l| (Unirornlty) Experiment is the life of science. Is A. & M. ready for a major experiment in the science of collegiate living? The military system of housing has been in use at this college for seventy-one years. Sometimes it has worked well. At other times it hasn't. Right now is one of those times when it hasn't. Last year the corps included only one out of every four Aggies. The proportion of cadets will undoubtedly increase slowly during thwnext few years, but it will be some time before cadets again outnumber veter ans. It will be quite a while before all vet erans are gone. If the corps' own definition is used, every one not a cadet is, in some measure, an “out sider.” We have a whopping number of out- sidders now. This list includes veterans, transfers from our own junior colleges, trans fers from other colleges, and the non-vet eran—non-military group. What about these "■MAM”?' ji Most veterans are ex-cadets, and will readily support the corps in any dispute. A few veterans have returned to the corps. Most, however, have taken the position, VWe approve of the corps, but 1 darned if we’ll go back in it." The questionable treatment given transfers from A. A M.'e own junior . colleges has already been discussed here. Transfers from outside the A. A M. system seldom have much to say, but there are quite a few here. The non*vet«non*reg group is small. ^ The school, however, still operates many of Its activities orlmarlly for the Cadet Corps, The senior and junior classes-—which Is to say, the seniors and juniors in the corps - are the final authority of many matters which are the concern of the entire student body. The veterans have been “cut In" on certain activities, such as the co-editorships of The Battalion apd the Longhorn. But in • most cases, it is a fifty-fifty cut. For instance, in the case of the Exchange Store committee, representatives of the ap proximate 6,000 veterans had the same vote as the committeemen representing 1.500 ca dets—and at the last meeting of the commit tee, the corps representatives were actually no longer in the corps! Does that make sense? / The ex-cadet veterans have had no desire to upset the apple-cart so far a# the corps is concerned. But the fuaaes of kst semester, on the part of both corps and veterans, have made it necessary to review ti>e whole phi losophy of life on the A. A M. campus. Corps leaders have said that the corps cannot get back to normal, cannot enforce military dis cipline, aa long as the college is crowded with veterans not subject to the same discipline. If this is correct, might it not bf wise to sus pend the military-college rating and change temporarily to a civilian-college ROTC basis? That's a big question, and a disturbing one. It is not answerable by the protest, “We’ve always been a military college!” If such a step would improve conditions on the A. A M. campus, even temporaifly, it should be taken. The reply might be made. "If the mili tary-school system were dropped even tem porarily, it would never be restored! No school has ever gone back to military system ^fter dropping it!” If that is true, one must ask “Why not?” If experiment proves the civilian school basis to be better, then it should be kept. If experiment indicates that the merits of the military' system outweigh the demerits, then the change*back should certainly be made. The protest might also l>e made. “Why, if the military system were dropped, even temporarily, next thing you know they would allow co-eds on the campus!" We have never been able to understand why ink presence of co-ed* should be looked upon a| such a dis- aster Other schools have thejn, and seem to do alt right, Aggies take off every week end to visit Austin or Huntsvlllr or Houston where co-eds are to lie found. The only rea son A. A M.'e main campus Is pot ro-educa- tlonal now Is that there was no qlitce for girts under the military system. (l|>w drab this campus will look "after the veteran's wives leave!) During the years to come, tgany changes will have to be made at A. AIM. A more liberal curriculum is necessary| if our grad uates are to compete successfully with men Who have had a broader educatmn. To broad en our educational basis and still not reduce technical training, it may be necessary to increase the number of five-ypars courses. Will the military basis help or hinder these changes? Like all other institutions, A. A M. must constantly improve, or slowly die. We must not be afraid to break with thq past, if that is the only way improvement can be made. Degree Value Goaf Skins Too Odoriferous, Down, as Mass Says Bedraggled Mountaineer Education Ups Future Depends on August 23... A light vote among the people of Texas on August 23 may mean the difference be tween new and old facilities on the A. A M. campus. Oh that day Texans will have their say about the $60,000,000 building amend ment to finance a 30-year building program for A. A M., the University of Texas, and 14 other state-supported schools. There is some opposition to the measure, and a matter of a thousand votes might mean a downfall of the bill for which 16 Texas colleges are awaiting the “go" signal. The building program, Senate Joint Reso lution 4, was passed by the senate during the past legislature. Neither a new nor an . additional tax it called for under the amend ment. It is merely a reallocation of an ex isting tax, under which the 16 state-sup- ported schools will continue to progress. If the vote is unfavorable, the schools will deteriorate for lack of buHdlng and InstruHlonal facilities. A. A M, would tie permitted to issue, $5,000,000 In bonds, and the University of Ti’xai $ l n.ooo.ooo In bonds, payable out of Income from the Invested portion of the per manent university fund, an Income which the two school* snare. Aa for the other 14 iirhool*, the proposed amendment assigns from the presently *n thqrlied 7 cents per $100 valuation property tag for Confederate pension nurposes a 5- rent portion for a special funo to finance a 50-year building program. They would share In revenue from the special 5-cent tax which would be used to amortise a series of three ten-year bond issues at each institution. The revenue would be distributed proportionately among the 14 colleges according to enroll ment. and it is estimated that at least $45.- 000,000 would become available to these schools in 30 years. For instance, North Texas State College, s school of more than 4,500 students, will receive approximately one-eighth of the $46,000,000 set aside for the 14 schools. Voters of Texas students, faculty mem bers, ex-students, and residents of the com munity—support this amendment on gust 23. A. A M. is YOUR echool! future of A. A M. depends on YOU! Understatement The following exchange of letteijk ia self-explan atory We think the second letter takes the prise for understatement, i These letters Appeared in the London, England Express.) I wrote to the Minister of Fuel Power: “Al though not a Socialist I must congratulate you ami C r colleagues on a remarkable achievement. In than two years you have redua-d this country to a state of coldness, starvation. aijM misery which the submarines and armed might of Germany could not do in aix years. ..." I received this acknowledgement! “Mr. Shinwell is very grateful for you kind message of encourage ment, which ta much appreciated, fie has received hundreds of similar letters from all (fver the country. The rriais la severe, hut wv shall win through. Mary Hughes, Little Ridge, Bilverstone, Ti)wrester, North ants.'' — ■W 11 ■ « 1 " ■■■ ' wA »■ '■■m Onr Muir* Creed . • . The value er the importance at tached u»tg 4afrn has reached ridiculous stage in many fields Thousands of students now attend school solely for the pur- poae of obtain- ing two or three letters to attach to the end of their name and thereby serve as the magic past to the better jobs. This Is a threat to real Brace education since it tends to convert colleges into mass production industries turning out degrees instead of in stitutions where minds are en larged, where real thiaking takes place instead of rote memorisation, and where desirable qualities of character are developed. The qualifications for the suc cess in a given job cannot be mea sured by a college degree. It does n't even indicate that its possessor has an adequate education. People with determination and self-disci pline get better educations than those who cheat their way through, or those who graduate and then fail to follow up their education by reading or practical work to devel op their minds there after. The value sn individual gets out of a college rduostton is directly pro portional to tha effort he puts Into getting it. Kduoatlousl esperienee means a definite change In the whole out look sml mental structure of a pereon's life, A truly educated msn lines not took wttn contempt upon the msmisl laborer Bui the man who seeks a degree eoiely be- cause he wants to he a white eo|. lar worker and" have callouses on nieces Other than his hands, Is headed for snobbery rather than real education. This snobbery may make a potentially skilled mechanic into a very poor “engineer", a com petent Into a had ranch-manager. A It la naive to believe that the Bachelor of Arts degree or the Bachelor of Science degree stands for something specific, notwith standing the specialized type of work done ia colleges and univer sities. The prestige of the Bache lor of Arts degree is so great that other more specific degrees tend to disappear, and an A.B. is award ed in many institutions for work which has few or none of the ele- | ments of s liberal art* education. The situation ia similar for the | Bachelor of Science degree. ft is equally foolish to think that degrees from all institutions are fairly comparable, in spite of the | fact that all may be "approved”, ‘certified”, or “accredited". A mul titude believe that a degree is the I result of 120 to 160 “semester hours" of instruction. However, this criterion only measures the | number of time* that a student i physically attended class and in no way measures what entered | his head. People of marginal men tality and people of genius receive | the same degrees, and the stan dards of instruction vary so much from one institution to another I that, by itself, the degree means absolutely nothing. The difference | between the competence of a per son who graduates at the bottom of I his class in a poor institution and that of a man who graduates at the top of his class in a good in stitution is so pronounced that the degree gives no index of capacity. One might **y with complete safe ly that as the pursuit of college do- j frees far the prestige they bring becomes more general, the number at degrees representing inferior | By Ivsa Tsatia Tourista riding along UB 64 between Tsoa and Raton New Mestea art startled to see a shaggy, bearded creature clinging to the side of a mountain. He chews vorariouely on dmimticka carved from living bears, and when approached, snarls wild ly and lumbers up the mountain till the craws block him froi He was not always thus. Only last semester he attended A. A M ami lived a quiet, sober life. For The Bstuhon he turned out copy that the editors used when in a pinch. Then something snapped within hi Ivan Yantis began winking at Casey's waitresses. He took to driak and squan dered his 666 on cards. His grades las proved remarkably, but his refusal to bathe made him a persona non grata at social gatherings. • Taking the broad hints offered him, he rode his bicycle to New Mexico and began scaring the be jabbers out of todriata Every fortnight or so Ivan Yantis suffer* a lapse into normalcy Oh freshly peeled and highly Odoriferous goat skins he scrawls some more of what he considers deathless prose. The editors have a soft spot in their hearts for Ivaa, knowing the same can happen to any budding journalist, so they print the tripe hoping he may see it and return to the drab, uneventful rut of life of before. The articles he ■ends, you will agree, smell as badly aa the goat skins, but we beg your indulgence. It’s in a good cause. In future issues of The Battalion Ivan Yantis’ articles- will ^ „ . lined in order that wives of nervous caliber may avoid them, any responsibility for the effect. Yaatia tion leng after forma! schooling la • On* of the curse* of the de- RMMrts ki that it tends te pat an end to growt t. If “education" with schooling, it rapidly ris cannot supply InteUL snd are Malted In their #f. t unless the student ha* ver bal aptIMM and Mams roatfMr*' snd practically—/Toss baths. lair, moos amounts t# expert mentation dwrtag the war showed that some MipS) nmh aa M^dMlARmim Una. do not tofajk In symbols Hh* words or nsmbsva, but <Mal very effectively with con. n-te situations The whole thbig bofla down te Ate fhet that certain people should bo training la college and othors training In different wim. / Those who are in college will get out of It what they put in it( they won't rain much if Qm* are alphabet ■palMg.t •FH The Battalion refases to accept sonal qualifications pertinent to success. Such qualities as indus try, integrity, adaptability, and capacty to get on with people do not come automatically with a de gree. Neither do courses in class rooms offer a cure for laxiness, slackness, inattention, or careless ness. The first mentioned quali ties are frequently more important than the quantity of knowledge a person carries in hie head. Daspita the fact that a degree can mean much or absolutely noth ing, the requirement of a collage degree is becoming so general aa to stimulate a rush te college ia or der to aequire the label. This headlong rush ia not entirely the fault of the Individual| the Feder- al Government ia forcing many through the eduoatlonal mill by using the degree aa a yardstick by whlen applicant* for the more tm nt positions are measured, re ia no surer way to make bureaurrary a burden upon the public than te put aymbola In ptar* of realitr aa an indication of fit- ncaa and to aet up formal require ment* in place of aubotantiv* achievement Government agen cies are not unique in their In sistence upon degrees. Journal ism and banking are outstanding examples of fields that make a fet ish of letters after a man's name. Teaching is one place where de grees may be regarded as a proper requirement, but even in this field WATCH BAND SALE r 50f allowance for your old metal watch band on a new Expansion Band. m the fetish of degrees has sometimes been carried to extremes. In many colleges attainment of a master’s or doctor’s degree results in an in crease in pay; the outcome has been such pressure on these de grees that they have been virtually destroyed as meaningful symbols. ★ Some learn more rapidly by «k perienc* and observation, some the us* of books, and some laboratory techniques. Each od la valid in particular cases, but a general proscription la like a un iform dtet for everybody, TH# e*a- loot advtee to give anyone Is te toko further tramlng, Though ex perience ia * hard teuehgr, it M s very offoctive one, and it has the advantage of contisuing instrue* YELLOW PINK WHITE % y oy ox- some by through ch meta- SEE OUR WINDOW SANKEY PARK JEWELER 111 N. Main BRYAN /J twrtsr There Announcing <■* Jf // of the opening of Ray’s Snack Jkr For Your Summer Refreshments Soda Fountain^Sandwiches Swift"s Ice Cream • fr i .i' • • t j NEW MODERN EQUIPMENT PROMPT and COURTEOUS SERVICE R. A. BROERMAN, Prop. North Gate r. tegrlty snd the culprit who chested hi* way through As said before, the possession of ] a degree Is no indteation of ps Ming Crosby was guesting on thp Vos I'op pro gram several weeks ago, hut the ! performer who . really stele the *how was an *4 y**# <4d gent from —halaillto aeeomplishment will In- way down Mateo, s t>r roomte Forks Johnson crease, ami Warren Moll, Interviewing the eountry doctor. Is addition, a degree h no hot finally asked Mm to espialn hi* i>h|to»ophy of life ter moaaure of the character of the "Well, M the old-timer started, real sehmaltsy pereon who receive# It then of Mfl and t hit tie (this is not 100'* verbatim but It's close cumtwlenee the same degree ta enough), "1 want te live my days I* such a way ao given to the oritolar and the social that when 1 set the call to join, thq great majority climbs*, to a man of highest in in the for beyond, t will he able to face my fellow men and nay te each and all: 'You te Heir " B. O. or A. A.? > I Until last week, life waa a fairhr simple affair. I All we had te worry about was Pigk Tooth Brush, the United Nations. Being Talier Than She Is, taxes. Gingivitis, the recession, Five O'ClOck Shadow, the Federal Budget. Queasy Stomach, tfie price of but ter. dandruff, a new car, Halitosis, the new gress. Clothespin Nose and 1946. Then, one morning we picked ua the paper and I there it was—Athletic Aroma. Wenelt a little bet ter after reading the copy, though, for then we dis covered that all we have to do to |>ok athletic and) feel athletic (without smelling athletic) is to Barbasol'a new Lotion Deordorant —Printers Ink I The Battalion The Battalion, official newspaper of the Agricultural aad Mechanical College of T* College Station. Texas, M published tri-weekly and escalated on Tuesday. Thursday, and'Saturday noons, except during the summer when It te published eemi-weokly. 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