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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 11, 1950)
Page 2 Battalion Editorials MONDAY, DECEMBER 11, 1950 IVs Time to Stop . . . W HY KEEP telling a man he is going to Korea ? What will it benefit him? These questions we ask our Ross Hall military personnel, particularly the instruc tors. Since the Chinese Communists attacked United Nations forces five weeks ago, we have heard nothing but “ you don’t have to worry about a job in June, Uncle Sam is go ing to get you.” “Well, it’s the truth,” you say. So what? Every student knows by now that he may have to go into service almost any time. No other group knows or thinks about it more than Cadet Corps seniors, who are trying to plan their post-college life. They don’t have to be told day after day that all their plans may be for naught. And what about the answers to our first two questions? Does it help him study better ? Does it help him sleep sounder at night? Does it help him concentrate on class lec tures ? It does none of these. And if what var ious college personnel tells us is true, it is hurting him—badly. Some boys, we have been told, have plain ly given up. They have all but quit study ing. Their attitude is “what’s the use.” To us, that is serious. Perhaps military science profs are saying things day after day, unawares of the ef fect their words may have. Indeed, we believe that is so. If it is, then The Battalion asks that they give the matter a deal of thought before pressing the “you’re going to Korea.” issue any further. For Our Welfare, ‘Let Us Pray 66TTOW COULD HE!” moaned many a in. Democratic politician, crying into his beer last Saturday night. “How could he!” moaned American statesmen as they tried to mold this country into a fighting force against world Com munism. The cause of all the groaning was, of • There is, and there always will be, only one answer to brute force. . Auto Death Toll Drops, But Injury List Mounts A MERICA’S death toll from motor vehicle accidents dropped again in 1949. In their 1950 book of street and highway accident data, The Travelers Insurance Com panies record a total of 31,800 fatalities last year, compared with 32,200 in 1948. The decrease is encouraging in view of an in crease of about eight percent in the number of cars on the road and an increase of about five percent in gasoline consumption. A closer look at the accident facts, how ever, is not so encouraging. There were 93,000 more persons injured last year than in 1948. A decrease in deaths in 1949 af fords scant satisfaction with the realization that more than a million and a half Amer icans were hurt during the same period. No one knows how many of these injuries would have been fatalities except for prompt, ex pert medical attention. Nor does anyone know how many of those who were injured will spend the rest of their lives under phy sical handicaps that rival death itself as tragedies. We who drive—and walk—along the na tion’s streets and highways are responsible for the record. We are the record. We must accept this awesome responsibility by driv ing and walking carefully. course, that great leader of the Fair Deal, and incidentally president of the United States, Mr. Harry S. Truman. By writing a letter last Friday to Paul Hume, critic for the Washington Post, Mr. Truman practic ally cinched the title of “Champion of the Ill-timed Speech.” Hume turned thumbs down on Margaret Truman’s music recital last Tuesday night. “I have just read your lousy review bur ied in the back pages. You sound like a frustrated old man who never made a suc cess, an eight-ulcer man on a four-ulcer job, and all four ulcers working,” said Truman to Hume. “I never met you, but if I do you’ll need a new nose and plenty of beefsteak and per haps a supporter below. “Westbrook Pegler, a guttersnipe, is a gentleman compared to you.” Commented Pegler, master of the acid tongue, “It is a great tragedy that in this awful hour the people of the United States must accept in lieu of leadership fhe nasty malice of a president whom Bernard Ba ruch in a similar incident called a rude, un couth, ignorant ham. Let us pray.” Mr. Truman used quite vigorous language in this little gem letter. He proved that if provoked he could get rather nasty. He ev en threatened the use of personal force. But after five days of discussion with Prime Minister Attlee on a topic of so much more importance, the world situation, and what we intend to do about Korea, Truman wasn’t fired up enough to say anything much—just that we will keep on doing what we’re doing now. We agree with Mr. Pegler, “Let us pray.” » Some businesses succeed in spite of the methods and manners in vogue. Defeaiest Philosophy: Doing work ahead of time means that you get more work to do. The Battalion Lawrence Sullivan Ross, Founder of Aggie Traditions ''Soldier, Statesman, Knightly Gentleman” , The Battalion, official newspaper of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, is published five times a week during the regular school year. During the summer terms, The Battalion is published four times a week, and during examination and vacation periods, twice a week. Days of publication are Monday through Friday for the regular school year, Tuesday through Friday during the summer terms, and Tuesday and Thursday during vacation and examination periods. Subscription rates $6.00 per year or $.50 per month. Advertising rates furnished on request. The Associated Press is entitled exclusively to the use for republication of all news dispatches cred ited to it or not otherwise credited in the paper and local news of spontaneous origin published herein. Rights of republication of all other matter herein arc also reserved. News contributions rnay be made by telephone (4-5444) or at the editorial office, Room 201, Goodwin Hall. Classified ads may be placed by telephone (4-5324) or at the Student Activities Office, Room 209, Goodwin Hall. Entered as second-class matter at Post Office at College Station, Texas, under the Act of Congress of March 3, 1870. Member of The Associated Press Represented nationally by National AdJ vertising Service Inc., at New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. DAVE COSLETT, CLAYTON L. SELPH._„ Co-Editors John Whitmore, L* O. Tiedt Managing Editors Frank N. Manitzas.. ! Sports Editor Bob Hughson, Jerry Zuber..... Campus Editors Joel Austin City Editor Today’s Issue John Whitmore Managing Editor Jerry Zuber Campus News Editor Frank N. Manitzas Snorts News Editor Leon McClellan City News Editor T. M. Fontaine, Carter Phillips Editorialists liob Hughson, Andy Anderson, George Charlton. Tom Rountree. Allen Pengelley. Leon McClellan. Wayne Davis. Bob Venable. Bill Streich, Norn»an Blahuta, .fob's Hildebrand, Bryan Spencer, Bay Williams, Herb O’Coimell. Jim Audyrspn. Ori James, J. P. Stern. Kaymoii Swan, Robert Ball. Bert Hardaycay. Edward Holder, Richard Ewing. News and Feature Writers Roger Coslett Quarterback. Club P.osa Maiia Zuber : .Society Editor Jack Fontaine, Jerry Fontaine Special Assignments Sid Abernathy L Campus News Editor Sam Molinary 1 Chief Photographer Herman C. Gollob Amusements Editor Ralph Gorman. Ray Holbrook, Harold Gann, Joe Blanchette, Pat LeBbanc, Dale Dowell. Jimmy Curtis, Qhuck Neighbors. Fred Walker Sports Writers Bob Hancock, John HoMingsbead, Tommy Fontaiue, James Lancaster Photo Engravers Emmett Trant. Jerry Clement, Bob Hendry Cartoonists Autrey Frederick Advertising Manager Kuioell Hagens, Frank Thurmond Advertising Representatives WANTA MAKE SOMETHING OF IT ? Flip of the Wrist . . . Jet Fighters Get Into Act With Push Button Flying tno8.fi/. Letters To The Editor Breach of Etiquette? Not Us. Look Closer Editor, The Battalion: I refer to the picture on page one of the Friday December 8 Bat talion in which Alice Bauer is putting the ball while Marlene Bauer looks on. One item of golf etiquette is that no player cast his (or her) shadow across the path of the ball being putted. Was your photographer at fault, making us think Marlene is. so thoughtless, or was it just too cold that day for anyone to think? Jerry P. Breen, Jr. ’51 (Editor’s Note: There was some thing wrong with our picture of the Bauer sisters, but the breach of etiquette you noted, we had nothing to do with. First, the pic ture was not posed. Second, our photographers have no powers by which they can make the sun cast shadows in any given direction. So Mariene must have been at fault. (You may have noted, however, that Alice was putting left-handed. She is right-handed. The picture was reversed accidentally in the engraving process.) Aggieland Advertising Editor, The Battalion: Seniors, Are you ashamed of your woman ? Do you walk her along Jark alleys so your friends won’t sec her?? NO? Then show her off! Prove to your friends she is a queen. Enter her in Vanity Fair and Senior Favorites, and show how proud of her you are. The deadline for Vanity Fair and Senior Favorites has been extend ed to Jan. 20 so that gives her plenty of time to get those pic tures taken. All you need- are three pictures. One in formal dress full length. One bust shot in informal attire— sweater, suit, blouse, etc. And one full length shot in sports attire— bathing suit, play suit, etc. All of these pictures should be 5x7 glossy prints. There is a slight fee of $1.50' for every entry in Vanity Fair and Senior Favorites. This is a small sum compared to the happiness you will give the little woman Win fame, fortune, and a two page spread in the Aggieland for your best gal. Have her presented at the Military Ball, the biggest ball of them all. Enter your woman now in the Vanity Fair. Remember the absolute dead line is Jan. 20. Jim Modlin Associate Editor Aggieland 1951 (Editor’s Note: Be it known that the Aggieland 1951 shall be limit ed to just one such free advertise ment, via the Letters to the Editor column, per semester.) Lost Letter Denounces Battalion Editors (Editor’s Note: We have to apologize again today. We found another letter last night that is almost three weeks old. We found it in our desk drawer among other ancient items while hunting for something else. Ap parently, someone had put it. there some time ago for our at tention, not knowing that we didn’t take lime out every day to read our old fan mail.) Editor, The Battalion: About 19 years ago I learned how to read. During this; interval and during the six years, off and on, that I have been on this cam pus, I have read countless articles iu magazines, in newspapers, in books, in all kinds of publications, and in The Battalion. Although many, many times I have thought of writing to the au thors of some of these articles, either to express my complete agreement or my violent dissent, I have felt that my efforts would not be rewarded in a manner that would justify the time that I have taken to make my sentiments known. 1 am informing you of this fact so that you may explicitly bear in mind the greatness of the motivat ing force, which, at long last, fur-. nislied the necessary stimulus to prompt me to waste my valuable time ant], write, to you. that force. Gentlemen, was your “editor’s note” to Mrs. York, whom I am certain you remember. How the present editors of The Battalion, who arc occupying what supposedly is a coveted post, could have manufactured such an asi nine, prosaic, trite, and insiped re ply to that lady is beyond my pow er to comprehend. It is also beyond my mental ca pacity to fathom how you ascended to the position of editors, because the journalistic capabilities that you have not yet shown are the greatest 1 have ever had the dis pleasure to perceive. If you wrote that reply to Mrs. York because you lacked material with which to fill the pages of the Batt and so wished to cause some letters to be written to you, then you were successful, for mine is only one of several you have re ceived regarding Mrs. York. If you did it merely to emulate the editorial comment of Life, then I believe it is to your advantage to take up journalism for fifty years and try again. If I were remotely interested in your type of endeavor and had the necessary time, I would go down to the Batt office for a week and show you boys how to produce a good paper. My suggestion to you is that you exhibit a little respect and a little less stupidity in making editorial comments by letters directed to you, particularly those from well- meaning Aggie mothers. Washington—fd?)— Push button flying has caught up with the jet era of aerial warfare. A new automatic pilot, already in production, will take the “swoosh” planes smoothly through good or bad weather, guide them safely through “soup” to the run way, and may even fire their guns aimed by radar. The Air Force Air Materiel Command (AMC) said in a state ment the new F-5 autopilot “is the first mechanism developed which which can meet the high speed and maneuverability re quired to fly today’s jet fighters.” The device was developed by Lear, Inc., Grand Rapids, Mich., in coordination with the AMC, which has headquarters at Wright-Patterson Air Base, Dayton, Ohio. The autopilot has won the Robert J. Collier trophy, rated aviation’s top honor, for William P. Lear, chairman and research director for the com pany. The award will be present ed next Saturday. Automatic pilots are customary in bombers and transport planes, but not in fighters. Problems of size and weight, combined with high sensitivity of control and relatively short endurance of fight ers, has delayed autopilot applica tion to single-engine planes. The Lear device meets all the requirc- G. S. Trevino, ’|6 WhaFs Cookin’ A&M FILM SOCIETY, Monday, 7:30 p. m., YMCA Chapel. BELL COUNTY CLUB: Mon day, 7:30 p. m., Room 123, Aca demic Building. Christmas dance will he discussed. CAMPUS STUDY CLUB: Tues day, 3 p. m., YMCA. Arthur Ste wart, Department of Business Ad ministration, to. speak. Scholarship loan fund to be discussed. COLLEGIATE 4-H CLUB: Mon day, Room 2-A MSC, 7-15 p. m. Bruce Gibson to make talk on his recent trip to Chicago. INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION WIVES CLUB: Tuesday, 7:30 p. m. South Solarium YMCA. Christmas gifts to be exchanged. RURAL SOCIOLOGY CLUB: Tuesday, 7 p. m. Room 208, Agri culture Building. Program: Report on White House Conference. TAU BETA PI: Wednesday, 5 p. m. Initiation in Chem Lecture room. Banquet 7:15 p. m., Sbisa Hall. Hume May Sell Truman Letter to Aid Charity Washington, Dec. 11 — UP) — If music critic Paul Hume sells the letter in which President Truman threatened to beat him up for writ ing a “lousy” review of Margaret Truman’s singing, the proceeds may be turned over to charity. Hume disclosed in reply to a re porter’s inquiries today that he has received a number of offers for the letter At Mount Holly, N.C., Henry H. Ryan, a cotton broker, said he had phoned Hume last night •suggesting that the note he sold for charity. Ryan said he be lieved that it would bring a big ger price if it were sold for some such charity as the Damon Runyan Cancer Fund or the Gold Star Mothers of the Korean War instead of privately—if Hume decided to sell. Hume said he and his wife had already thought that they would give the proceeds to charity if they sold the letter. Hume had not yet received a “substantial” offer which Jake Zeitlin, a Los Angeles dealer in rare books and manuscripts, an- DVER5-FUR STORAGE HATTERS [DIALJ 2-1584' ymmmvvLKms Loupot’s Trading Post—Agents ments, however, and has been built in a small model used even in personal aircraft. AMC said the F-5 “brain” is a system of gyroscopes and electri cal (circuits which automatically cjompensate for over-controlling; due to the high speed of the plane; major elements have been reduced in number, made simpler and smaller, and adjustment in flight has been eliminated. It added the control can be installed in almost any airplane. Once off the ground, the pilot can point his plane toward his goal and relax—straight and level flight will be maintained no matter how rough the weather, the AMC said. To turn right or left, climb or descend, the pilot needs only two tiny controls. By moving the two together, using only one hand, he can perform all simple flying maneuvers, such as “fig ure 8’s.” The pilot can over ride the autopilot with his man ual controls at any time. An accessory known as the auto matic approach coupler permits the pilot to link the F-5 with the electronic “blind flying” aid known as the instrument landing system (ILS) and be guided accurately to a runway he cannot see. The Air Force avoided mention of the prospects of tying in the F-5 with the Sperry A-1C radar gunsight, but it is no secret that such a step is in prospect. The A-1C solves all the fire control problems for the jet fight er pilot. He needs only to keep a circle of light appearing on his windshield over a target. The gun- sight—it works also with bombs Maim Street and rockets — tracks the target automatically, figures the angles of deflection and prediction and fires when the target is at the proper range. By coupling the radar sight and the autopilot, the human pilot will need only to flick a switch to make an attack. Development of the F-5 began in 1945 when Air Force officials sought a means of relieving pilots during the strain of high speed flight and providing highly depend able guidance for flights through ♦ turbulence and low visibility. The device was proved satisfactory last year and has gone into produc tion. in recent months. F ; It will be used primarily in all- weather fighters used for night and bad weather operations. Such planes carry a two-man crew, one being assigned to radar and navi gation. Lear is one of aviation’s most colorful personalities. He was born at Hannibal, Mo., June 26, 1902 showed an interest in elec- ' tricity at the age of 5 and set up a telegraph line to a friend’s home when he was 10. Lear has continued his interest * in radio since childhood and has invented numerous devices used in aircraft. Having left home when he was 14, his only formal school ing was two years in high school- one at Chicago and one at Tulsa, t Okla. He learned to fly in Quincy, Ill. Since then he has had businesses in Chicago, New York, Piqua, Ohio, \ and Grand Rapids. Lear, Inc., has a research center at Los Angeles as well as at Grand Rapids. by Ralph Stelr nounced he had telegraphed. The critic presumed that it probably is waiting for him at the office of the Washington Post. He had a couple of concerts to attend and didn’t plan to go into the office during the day. Hume said he hasn’t made up his mind whether he will sell the letter. The letter, signed “H.S.T.,” fol lowed Hume’s review of Miss Tru man’s concert here Tuesday. Hume wrote that she sang flat. Hume was accused of bring “autocratic” in a letter addressed to him bearing the name of Irl Allison of Austin, Texas, presi dent of the National Guild of Piano Teachers. A copy also was made public. “President Truman yielded to his parental instinct,” this letter said, “but the public too resents such attacks upon defenseless people who propose to entertain. Yours is but an example of the tendency nationwide for critics to pan the artists. It is an autocratic status that the unsympathetic music crit ic has reached much out of pro portion to his importance.” Give Citrus for Christmas Get your package TODAY at the Free Horticulture Show in the Banquet Room of Sbisa Hall or call the Horticulture Department, 4-7614. Prices from $1.95 to $8 fier Package (F. O. B. McAllen) IJ’L ABNER The Eyes of Fleagie Are Upon You By A1 Capp