V..,
Section Two
The Battalion
PUBLISHED IN THE INTEREST OF A GREATER A&M COLLEGE
Pre Registration
Edition
Volume 49
COLLEGE STATION (Aggieland), TEXAS FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1949
Number 32
New Professor
Added to Dept.
Of Journalism
Durward E. Newsom was
appointed the third full-time
instructor in Journalism at
A&M, with the rank of as
sistant professor, D. D. Bur-
chard, head of the depart
ment, announced recently.
Winner of the Harrington
Award, highest honor conferred
by the Medill School of Journalism
at Northwestern University, New
som has had some nine years of
newspaper and radio experience.
A graduate of Oklahoma A&M, he
received his master’s degree in
journalism from Northwestern Un
iversity last June.
Editor of the Drumwright, Okla
homa, Journal and of the Drum
wright Evening Derrick for four
years, the new professor has also
worked on the sports desk of the
Daily Oklahoman at Oklahoma
City.
His other experience includes
director of continuity and promo
tion for radio station KSPI at
Stillwater, Oklahoma, a period
with the Oklahoma Tax Commis
sion, and instructor and informa
tion writer for Oklahoma, A&M.
He also served as secretary and
publicity director for Congress
man Lyle H. Boren of Oklahoma
for a year and a half. He was’ in
the Navy from August 1942 to
February 1944.
Newsom specializes in the teach
ing of typography and newspaper
business classes. He will also offer
work in radio news processing and
in industrial journalism, Burchard
said.
Addition of a third man to the
Journalism Department gives the
teaching staff an aggregate of 40
years oif newspaper experience.
Department Head Donald D. Bur
chard has 13 years of newspaper
work, Professor Otis Miller more
than 18 years in various aspects
of the field and Newsom has nine
years.
Students who haven’t been on the campus
since the spring semester will notice a decided
change in the growing Memorial Student Center.
During the summer construction crews made fast
progress so that it is now possible to obtain a
good idea of the building’s appearance. It is ex
pected that the building will be completed by the
fall of 1950.
Airplane For Agricultural
Use Will Be Designed Here
Development of the airplane as
an effective agricultural tool is
the aim of a national research
project to be conducted here under
joint sponsorship of the National
Flying Farmers Association,
USDA, Department of Commerce
and the A&M System, the farm
airplane research committee of the
National Fyling Farmers announc
ed at their annual meeting at Fort
Collins, Colorado.
Details of the joint undertaking
Dr. J. P. Abbott, who has been with the college since 1926, will
serve again as Assistant Dean of the College, with offices at Bryan
Field Annex. He first assumed that position in 1947.
To each of you the faculty and staff of the Annex ex
tend a cordial welcome to the Agricultural and Mechanical
College of Texas. We invite you to make full use of the facili
ties, instruction, and guidance which the College exists to
provide.
You will find u,s ready to help you choose a course of
study wisely and to direct your progress effectively. You
may count on us to advise you when difficulties arise. You
may expect us to see that you have every chance to make
your life in college enjoyable as well as profitable. What in
structions, guidance, warning, encouragement, and discipline
can do we will undertake—all to the end that you may de
velop into successful and valuable citizens.
But you must remember that our efforts alone will not
assure your education and development. Your own efforts
are at least as important. You will need to bring a sincere
desire to fit yourself for a rewarding life after college. And
you will need to keep your overall purpose in mind as you
face each day with its schedule of assigned work and its
opportunities for free choice.
For all but a few of you the freshman year will be spent
with us the Annex, where a full program of first year courses
and activities is offered. If you discover limitations, as you
may in any set of circumstances, you will be wise to keep
looking until you find the compensating advantages. The
three classes which preceeded you here have made records
that will challenge your best efforts. But your class may
take comfort from the fact that a record stands only until
it is bettered.
With all of us working together, your freshmen year
should become the sort of solid achievement that lasting
success is built upon.
J. P. Abbott
Assistant to the Dean of the College
and operating agreements were cording to Professor F. E. Weick,
worked out in a conference of rep
resentatives of the cooperating
agencies at College Station, Wed
nesday.
A new plane design suited to
the needs of agriculture and de
velopment of improved methods
af distributing sprays, dusts, seeds
and fertilizers from the air will be
the immediate objectives. The
plane is to be designed to meet
the needs of the average farmer.
Research Underway
Research along this line already
underway at A&M’s Personal Air
craft Research Center, an excel
lent college" airport, wind tunnel,
laboratories and shops, and out
standing personnel available in the
engineering field, plus the close
tie-in here between engineering
and agricultural work led to the
selection of A&M for this project,
it was reported by the Dean of
Engineering H. W. Barlow.
Wide use of the airplane in
agriculture in Texas and 12-month
flying weather in the area were
also factors in the selection, ac-
Architecture Prof
Publishes Article
The lead article in the June
issue of “The Archie,” national
architecture publication, is by
Ernest Langford, head of the De
partment of Architecture.
The article gives praise and his
torical background to Loring H.
Provine, who for 35 years was
head of the Architecture Depart
ment at the University of Illinois.
Langford was a member of the
faculty of the department of arch
itecture at Illinois and holds the
MS degree from Illinois and the
BS in architecture from A&M.
aeronautical engineer in charge of
aircraft research here.
Chancellor Gibb Gilchrist flew
from College Station to Fort Col
lins Wednesday afternoon with a
group from Washington, D. C.,
headed by D. N. Rentzel, Admin
istrator, Civil Aeronautics Admin
istration.
Steering Committee
Steering committee named to
plan and assist with the project
are: Weick, Chairman; E. E.
Brush, head A&M aeronautical en
gineering department; John H.
Burke, National Flying Farmers
Association, Oklahoma City; J. M.
Chamberlain, chief, safety regula
tions rules, C.A.B., Washington;
C. Von Rosenberg, chief, air-
crafi&division and W. M. Berry,
assistant to the administrator,
both from the fourth region CAA,
Ft. Worth; Dr. H. G. Johnston,
head of the department of en
tomology at A&M.
Also E. E. Tullis, Bureau of
Plant Industry, Soils, and Agri
cultural Engineering USDA and
Texas Agricultural Experiment
Station, Beaumont; J. D. Long,
Bureau of Plant Industry, Soils,
and Agricultural Engineering,
Washington, D. C. and Frank
Irons of the same Bureau, Toledo,
Ohio; Dr. Fred C. Bishopp and
Dr. J. S. Yuill, Bureau Entomology
and Plant Quarantine, Washing
ton, D. C.
Barlow and Weick say N.F.F.A.
will continue active support of the
program. CAA will furnish person
nel and money in aiding the pro
ject and USDA will furnish per
sonnel. Development of distribu
tion equipment will be conducted
through USDA and College’s ag
riculturalists on steering commit
tee.
Student Union Grows as Crews
Rush Completion of Masonry
By BILL BILLINGSLEY
Persons returning to the campus
after a short absence, and looking
south acress the old drill field, will
be astounded to see a beautiful new
building of light brick and Austin
stone, looking up over the small
oaks bordering that field. Less
than a year ago the building site,
now swarming with carpenters,
bricklayers, welders, roof workers,
and concrete finishes—was a quiet
area containing only three frame
"houses, a little-used parking lot
and one diffident mulberry tree.
Now the area contains the new,
two million dollar Student Memor
ial Center, the construction dream
of several thousand students, ex
students, and college employees,
Frankie Carle
Hall attraction.
First Town
and touted by its director, J.
Wayne Stark, as “the place where
most students will spend most of
their leisure time.”
Currently scheduled to open some
time in the vicinity of September,
1950, the building won’t lack for
facilities to make Stark’s boast
become reality. It is divided into
three main units now under con
struction, and a fourth theatre unit,
now on the drafting boards, which
will develop when, and if, appro
priations are made for it.
Unit One
Unit number one will contain
the three main lounges, a dining
room, coffee shop, a fountain, the
U. S. Post Office, a barber shop
and a gift shop. From ten to fif
teen meeting rooms will also be
housed in that unit, all of them of
varying sizes and outfitted in a
condition which Stark described as
“flexible.”
Enlarging on his terminology,
Stark said the rooms would be
lightly furnished, with removable
tables and folding chairs, so that
by moving in various-sized booths
and tables, the rooms could be used
for banquets, shows or exhibits,
meetings, and any number of other
functions requiring that space. A
main ball and banquet room with
a capacity of 350 to 400 persons
is also housed in unit one. It is
adjoined by an outside terrace
where from 500 to 600 people can
dance, Stark added.
Four dark rooms have been in
cluded in the first unit for the
benefit of camera enthusiasts, and
a small workshop will also be open
to wood and metal workers.
Baptist Church Fall Schedule
Announced by Reverend Brown
The fall activity schedule for the B.D. degree. After graduating
First Baptist Church of College
Station was announced today by
Rev. R. L. Brown, pastor. Follow
ing the pattern set by, the services
in preceding years, jRev. Brown
statpd'' that Sunday school will be
gin at 9:45 a.m. and the regular
morning worship at 10:50 a.m.
The Sunday training union will
be held at 6:15 p.m. and evening
worship at 7:15.
Services for Wednesday include
prayer meeting at 7:25 p.m. and
choir rehearsal at 8 p.m.
A weekly social and recreation
program will be announced at a
later date.
The church is located at Main
Street and Church Avenue, one
block from the North Gate.
Rev. Brown, who has been with
the First Baptist Church for 29
years, was born in Marlboro
County, South Carolina.
After receiving his A.B. degree
from Wake Forest College, Rev.
Brown served as superintendent
of a state high school near Raleigh,
North Carolina.
He went from there to the
Southern Baptist Theological Sem
inary and thence to Crozier Theo
logical Seminary i n Chester,
Pennsylvania where he received his
from Crozier, Rev. Brown attended
the University of Pennsylvania,
graduating with an M.A. degree in
1919.
He then served one year as pas-
tof'of the First Baptist Church in
Ridley Park, Pennsylvania moving
from there to College Station.
The intervening years have seen
many changes in the growth of the
Baptist Church here. It is now
being enlarged with a new addi
tion, an educational building.
“New and old students,” Rev.
Brown said, “will find the two
story Education-Student building
nearing completion when they re
turn to school. It will meet the
urgent need for a great educa
tional and social program.
“There will be a large recreation
room, two assembly rooms, a well
equipped kitchen, a lounge and
22 class rooms.”
Completion of the building is ex
pected early in the fall term, he
announced.
“We have no children,” Rev.
Brown stated, except the thousands
of students who have attended
A&M since we came here in 1920.
We welcome the newcomers, and
with their help are looking for a
still greater A&M.”
Freshman, You Never Had It So Good
Blood, Sweat and Tears Are Normal
In Freshman’s Life At Bryan Annex
BY FRANK CUSHING
Class of '53, this is for you. No
doubt, freshmen, you are dis
couraged by your surroundings.
Then, take heart and listen to the
story of one who has successfully
undergone the battle of the An
nex.
Yes, I too was once confined to
the Aggie Proving Grounds known
as the Bryan Air Field. It seems
like only yesterday, although it
has been several years now, that
I was in your shoes entering the
portals of college. However, I real
ize that it was five years ago that
I was a newcomer since I am now
a sophomore.
Perhaps by reading the account
of my initiation you may gain the
confidence and courage necessary
for your new life.
It was a typical Brazos Day
that I staggered through the gates
leading to the Bryan Annex. I was
slightly warm carrying my trunk,
suitcase, three boxes, four bags,
one set of golf clubs, tennis racket,
and checker board. The tempera
ture was 105 degrees. Someone
had told me that the Freshmen
College was just "over yonder”,
so I had walked from town.
Once through the gates I saw
the unbelievable spectacle of my
new home. There before my eyes
lay “Little Aggieland.” My eyes
watered and my throat choked
up. After I had wiped the dust
from my eyes and swallowed the
clod of dirt in my throat, I
stared before me.
Immediately I decided that
Uncle Sam was trying to trick me
me into uniform again. I turned
to run and was halted by a dis
tinguished looking individual who.
turned out to be the Warden. He
assured me that I was not in the
Army, nor was I seeing mirages. 1
With a look of justifiable pride
he exclaimed, “Lad, that tree stud
ded campus is your future alma
mater. Those fine concrete, all
modern dormitories you see before
you will house you and your class
mates. The ivy covered buildings
ahead will shelter you as your pro
fessors lead you into the paths of
knowledge.”
I thanked him for his informa
tion, patted his seeing eye dog
on the head and resumed my
trek towards the area.
I would rather not tell you about
my registration experiences. There
are some things that are best for
gotten. I will state that I wake up
in the night screaming, “No! No!
Not another card to fill out. I can’t
stand it!”
My first morning of classes was
one I looked forward to with vast
anticipation. I woke with the dawn
and leaped from bed intending to
start my day with a bang. My in
tentions were completely fulfilled
since I had forgotten that I was
reclining on a top bunk. I spat out
some teeth, which I had no further
use for, straightened my nose into
a semblence of its former shape,
and started for breakfast.
Thirty minutes later I reached
the mess hall. (I had been an ace
track star in high school.) There
delicious smells were wafted
from the kitchen to me. I later
learned that the cooks were pre
paring their own breakfasts.
I ate the provided food. This
consisted of oatmeal that had been
saved from the previous semester,
one piece of toast that had been
burnt the night before and placed
in the freezer to keep fresh, and
one cup of coffee made from the
traditional recipe of one coffee
bean to three gallons of water.
I stuffed myself like a pig. By
that I mean I consumed the chow
and went to class. Classes were
brief. The instructors merely
pointed out the books to get and
the hundred pages to be read for
the following day’s class plus the
assignment problems to be worked.
, I was extremely fortunate in
obtaining my books. It took only
the remainder of the day. A friend
of mine allowed me to step in his
place while he went out and ob
tained some sleep. He was so ex
hausted since he had been in the
line for two days and a night that
he failed to return.
Having secured my books I
decided to enjoy the pleasures
offered by the place. Rumor had
it that the snack bar was using
two beans in their coffee ration,
so I started my evening with a
bracing cup.
I put my name on the list for
the ping-pong and pool tables and
was informed that my application
would be considered, and that a
post card would be mailed to me
when it was my turn to play.
I then took in the free movies
that were being shown at the
theater. (I use the noun loosely.)
The first show was an exciting
picture entitled “The Great Train
Robbery.” It was excellent but
might have been improved with
sound. The other feature was an
Academy Award winning movie
named “We’ve Never Been Licked.”
A hot shower was next on my
schedule. At first I was slightly
disconcerted by the crowd under
the taps. I watched several others
gain admitance to the shower
room so I successfully followed
their technique of running at full
speed and slamming into the con
gested bodies.
I left the shower much re
freshed only to find that I was
not wet. Rather than undergo
the ordeal again I put on my
Denton Sleeper’s and plodded
wearily to bed.
Having read this, freshmen, you
must now realize that the path
before you is hard but it has been
conquered by others. Yours is a
bleak future, but others are suf
fering too. Why, just think of all
the poor unfortunates who must
attend other schools that have
coeds.
On the second thought, you’ed
better not think about that after
all.
A sixty-six room hotel is the
main feature of the second unit.
Of interest to students accustom
ed to standing in line waiting for
a cramped phone booth, will be the
eight long-distane phone booths,
complete with a long distance op
erator at the building’s own switch
board.
The second unit also contains
three small record rooms,' a brows
ing library, a music library, and a
rack of late magazines and news
papers. Offices for the building’s
student government, a planning
room to be used as temporary of
fices for various clubs (such as the
Agronomy Society for its yearly
Cotton Ball), offices of the build
ing management, and offices of
the Former Students Association
(which will move from the Admin
istration Building) will be housed
in the second unit.
Two other facilities will be a
game room and a piano room, both
open to all students at all times.
Recreation Unit
The third unit; projecting east
from the other two units toward
Guion Hall, will be the recreation
unit; housing eight bowling allays
and eleven billiard tables. Locker
space is also being constructed so
students may keep their bowling
balls, shoes, and other equipment
at the alleys and not be forced to
carry them back and forth to their
rooms, Stark added.
The cavernous basement of the
Memorial Center wil house storage
space, dressing rooms for employ
ees, and the large amount of tem
porary equipment and supplies
necessary to operate the huge
building. A room has also been
provided in the third unit for Col
lege Station’s budding art colony.
Potential artists may bring their
oil paints and easels there to sketch
in their free hours. ,
Although the building is far
from complete, the management
work of the Memorial Center is go
ing at top speed, Stark said. He
and the Center’s assistant director
and business manager, C. F. Gent,
have temporary offices on the; first
floor of Bizzell Hall where most
of the purchasing and planning for
the new building is being done.
Stark and Gent estimate the com
pleted Center will require from
100 to 250 employees to keep it in
operation, with approximately 100
of these to be students on part time
employment. Many of the students
who will work in the building are
already working for the Memorial
Center and more are being hired all
along, Stark added. Unlike other
student wages, the Center’s em
ployees are paid on a sliding merit
scale of from 45c to as much as
90c or a dollar an hour, depending
on their ability and willingness to
work.
Governing Body
The Center will be governed by
a board made up students, ex-stu
dents, and faculty members, and
Stark said he anticipated President
Bolton’s naming of the first gov
erning body early in the fall se
mester.
Even though the Student Me
morial Center is actually only an
unfinished shell at the present
time, the outside finishing work
has shown students what their
Center will look like upon its com
pletion. ,
It is no longer an entity merely
discussed, seen on a blue print, or
represented by a disorganized pile
of steel girders. The A&M Me
morial Student Center is well along
the way, both in construction and
planning, to being one of the fin
est, if not the best, in the South
west, Stark added.
Dr. M. T. Harrington is Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences,
and also serves as Acting Dean of the College. A 1922 graduate of
A&M, Dean Harrington has been Acting Dean of the College since
the creation of the A&M System.
On behalf of the staff and faculty of the College, I am
indeed glad to extend to each new student a cordial welcome
to the A. & M. College of Texas, and sincere greetings to each
returning student. Our sincere wish is that this will be the
most successful and enjoyable year of your college career.
This wish can be realized by the cooperation of each student
and staff member.
Each faculty member is happy and willing to assist you
in any manner possible and hopes that you will feel free to
call on him. You can add to the richness of your college year
by making acquaintance of your instructors and they in turn
will gain from your friendship.
You will measure the success of this school year by the
academic records which you will have attained in your
courses of study. Remember that the best preparation for a
final examination is to start studying with the first assign
ment the first day of the semester. Never have a feeling of
satisfaction in a grade unless it represents your very best
efforts.
I am sure that I can speak for each faculty and staff
member and former students when I say that we are indeed
happy that you are enrolling for this school year and may it
prove to be a great year, even more successful and enjoyable
than any of us could anticipate.
Sincerely,
M. T. Harrington
Acting Dean of the College
and /
Dean of the School of Arts and Scie’
n
m