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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 28, 1950)
* Battalion Editorials Page 2 THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1950 Some New Year Resolutions Price Control Branch of ESA Is Small, Weak [EW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS are usually made on New Years Day. Since these resolutions are made in one day, they usually are kept for about the same length of time. This New Year we would like to propose some resolutions to be kept. Some resolu tions that need to be kept by every American citizen, old and young, rich and poor, alike. '" As a nation we have dedicated ourselves to the support of the principles of freedom all over the world. We have said that any form of government which is in opposition to the freedom of the individual is also in opposition to the American people. Too long the American people have lived upon the heritage handed down by their fore fathers and have spent too little time study ing the many advantages that we today take for granted. In keeping with this idea of taking bless ings for granted we seem to have been unable to sell the democratic way of life to foreign nations. We have been unable to make it more appealing than totalitarianism. This is so largely because we have never even tak en the time of the effort to do any selling or it may be that we do not regard people of other nations worthy of selling on the idea of Democratic government. We seem willing to pour millions of dol lars into foreign countries for material aid, but we are not willing to do anything to fos ter democratic concepts in these same coun tries. We have been able to feed and clothe them but we have been unable to do anything for them in the field of ideas and understand- mg. It is past time that every American resolved to: 1. Learn everything he can about the workings of democracy and the demo cratic form of government. 2. Assume civic responsibility for the operation of his local government, and keep competent officials in office by exercising the right of the ballot. 3. Assume responsibility for telling the story of America to people in for eign lands and to those people in our own country who are recent arrivals. The Privilege of Education T HE PRIVILEGE of a university educa tion is a great one; the more widely it is extended the better for any country. It should not be looked upon as something to end with youth, but as a key to open many doors of thought and knowledge. The uni versity education is a guide to the reading of a lifetime. We should impress upon those who have its advantages the importance of reading the great books of the world and the literature of one’s own country. One who has profited from university education has a wide choice. He need never be idle or bored and have to take refuge in the clack and clat ter of the modern age, which requires some thing new, not only every day, but every two or three hours of the day. . . . I would like to say that I have changed my mind about the classics. I had very strong views about them when at Harrow; I have changed my mind about them since. Knowledge of the ancient world and of Greek and Roman literature was a great unifying force in Europe which is now I fear rapidly becoming extinct and I should like to say that university education ought not to be too practical. The duty of the university is to teach wisdom, not a trade; character, not technicalities. We want a lot of engineers in the modern world, but we do not want a world of engineers. We want some scien tists, but we must keep them in their proper place. Our generation has seen great chan ges. We have parted company with the horse; we have an internal combustion en gine instead, and I wonder whether we have gained by the change. . . . The light of Christian ethics remains the most precious guide. Their revival and ap plication is a practical need, whether spir itual or secular in nature, whether to those who find comfort and solace in revealed re ligion or those who have to face the mystery of human destiny alone. And on this foun dation alone will come the grace of life and reconcilliation of the right of the individual with the needs of society from which the happiness, the safety and the glory of man kind may spring—From “Europe Unite,” Speeches in 1947 and 1948 By Winston S. Churchill. Even as late as the summer of 1!)42, half a year after Pearl Har bor, OPA was swamped with work which it wasn’t equipped to han dle. But the problem of controlling prices and wages alone in such an economy as this—a free enterprise economy — meant endless see-saw ing throughout the war. And it probably will mean the same again. An example, take steel: It’s a basic product that gbes not only into tanks and guns, but into autos, street cars, trains, and farm equip ment. Unending Circle When the price of steel rises, the farmer has to spend more for his equipment. To break even, he has to charge higher prices. If the price of food goes up, the cost of living is pushed up. The worker in the steel mill feels the pinch in his food bill ahd wants higher wages. But if the steel worker gets higher wages, be cause higher steel prices have made living costs higher, then what of other workers. Living costs have been higher for them, too, and if they want higher wages, and can get them, and if their employers find they’ll lose money by paying those higher wages, they’ll want to raise their prices. The great hope in the govern ment program, of course, is that somehow—at least when the gov ernment is able to slap general controls on prices and wages — the whole economy will move even ly without bumps or hitches. That would be a miracle. From A Woman’s Point Of View F ood, F amily Brighle n Holiday By VIVIAN CASTLEBERRY Stuffed as I am with Christmas dinner as I sit here trying to make the mind function sufficiently to jot off a readable piece, it is high ly conceivable that nothing intel ligible will get “writ.” The very thought of food, at the moment, is slightly nauseating, but some two hours ago I sat myself down to a dressing for chicken that I’d like to pass on to the good cooks among bur readers. It’s called Potato Dressing, and it came into our family via my sister-in-law who married a “Damn Yankee.” Maybe it’s already a part of your collection of food spe cialties. If so, good. If not, try it. 1 know, I know. It couldn’t be as good as the old favorite your mother used to make. I said so, too, but it is a treat, so here ’tis. Half large loaf white bread (soak in quart chicken broth) 1 tablespoon sage ‘.Salt and pepper to taste I lb. pork sausage Gizzard and liver of fowl. Cook potatoes in jackets, cool, peel and run through food chop per along with celery and onions. Mix with soaked bread and add chopped raw sausage, gizzard and liver. Add seasonings. Bake in a medium oven until done, but not dry. That resolution was to learn to drive. We accomplished it in, the. two weeks just past when the lord and master was hospitalized with an appendectomy. He went into the hospital with no misgivings, about my driving ‘cause he knew I couldn’t, While he was lying up there and couldn’t help himself, I begged and bribed our friends into letting me chauffeur them around a bit. ly wrecked one flower bed as I came to a sudden stop a hair’s- breadth from the front door. Thanks Expressed Polato Dressing lb. potatoes Half stalk (medium size) cel ery 3 large onions Next comes New Year’, and while at the moment it seems ages off to yours truly, by the time you read this, it will be just over the hill, and you’ll be making your preparations for the New Year’s Eve party. Years ago we resolved not to make any more New Year’s resolutions, but every year We come up with one or so, and as ’50 draws its curtains, we can’t ftelp but be a little proud that we’ve made come true (almost) a reso lution we’ve made over and over every year for the past many. No\v again able to manipulate the family bus, husoand has taken a slightly antagonistic attitude to ward my new-gained ability. He claims there are 22 and six-sev enths inches of new scratches on the jitney! I even had the nerve to drive out to see a couple of our friends in Bryan (he’s state high way drivers’ license examiner) and they didn’t have such a fit when they saw me coming—just grabbed the baby out of the yard, quickly pulled there own car behind the house and then both hid their faces. But I fooled ’em—just slight- Wonder how many of you re member those who serve you with a special Christmas greeting? At holiday time, more than any other, I am especially grateful to those to whom Christmas day is as any other day—the tnilkman . . . the paper boys ... the firemen . . . the doctors ... the publishers . . . the electricians, and all those who give their continued service that our lives may remain safe. Sometimes the fact that Amer icans are not aware of the bless ings that this country has to offer hits one with such impact that it is frightening. The paft of the coun try in which we have spent part of our holidays 'is a farming com munity wham people are chiefly concerned with the fundamentals of living: how will I feed, clothe and house my family? The Battalion Lawrence Sullivan Ross, Founder of Aggie Traditions "Soldier, Statesman, Knightly Gentleman’’ Few of them are aware of the great blessings that exist in the country of which they are a pail. One actually asked me what was so bad about Communism. Stunned into silence, I stood without an swering until he was convinced that I could not begin to answer his question. 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. 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 Ad vertising Service Inc., at New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Mine was the fallacy that is a part of the lives of many of us: I thought everybody 1 knew was a loyal American with no color ing of the Red about him. But I had never stopped to consider just what is good about my country, or to answer just what I opposed about Communism. I thought it was sufficient that I did oppose it. 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 L. 0. Tiedt Sid Abernathy Fred B. Walker, Jr. R. F. Bing Managing Editor Campus News Editor Sports News Editor City News Editor This is a year coming in which all of us might take stock to find what we believe in about cur own country and what we are opposed to in others. Then, let us mend our mistakes at the ballot box, not at gun point. This may be editorializing, but. I have been stunned into asking myself a few questions. Perhaps, you might well do the same. Happy New Year! Be cautions today ami you’ll be conscious tomorrow. A $200,000 Cinema for $50,000-Why Not? Low Cost Movies Are Possible By JAMES MARLOW Washington, Dec. 28—— It’s like building ,an automobile. If you start with the horn first, you’ll attract attention and maybe make some people back up. But to make the whole thing run, you have to put dll the parts to gether. It’s that way with the government’s program to stabilize the economy by keeping down prices and wages. The economic stabilization ad ministration (ESA) has two main branches, one to sit on wages, one on prices. But it’s the price con trol branch which is still too small to do a real job. The ESA did blow a horn: It told the automakers and the autowork ers to keep down their prices and wages and it asked all business men and workers to do the same, voluntarily. System Voluntary The horn and the voluntary sys tem are about all the price control office can show yet. It can’t order the whole country under price con trols because it doesn’t have enough people working for it to carry out such orders. It takes months to assemble such a staff, just as it took OPA months after Pearl Harbor. The present price control office may have 200 or so people now. At its peak OPA had 60,000 paid employes around the country, plus 200,000 volunteer workers. By PAUL PETT (For Hal Boyle) New York, Dec. 28—/—Think of all that goes into a Hollywood movie. Think-of the acres of studio lots, of the huge sets and the actors, writers, directors and army of technicians. Of the producers and assistant producers and assistant assistants. Of the story confer ences and swimming pools and the assistant swimming pools. Now think of Stanley Kubrick. He makes movies, too. Profession al movies. He’s bnly 22. He doesn’t own a swimming pool or a studio or a home or an office, He lives in a one-room Greenwich Village apart ment, which is his office. His only permanent staff is his wife. He doesn’t even own a camera or a single spot light or an ulcer. less money. So he saved his money and learn ed the movie business by watching movies. Some pictwes lie. saw as many as 10 times, .studying them carefully. “I bad always been interested in movies,” he says. “I wanted to get into' it. It sepmed like the most direct way was to make one my self.” “But he made the fight itself too short. He finished the other guy in the second round. So, much later, we had to reshoot some of the fight scenes and it took some persuasion to get. the other boxer and. the referee and handlers back for a retake.” Picture Profitable Writes Script Movie for $50,000 Kubric‘k is working on a full- length movie which he insists can be done for only $50,000. He does n’t own that either. Very few non- western full-length pictures have been made for less than $200,000. Less than a year ago, Kubrick was a staff photographer on ■ a picture magazine. His obsession was movies. He thought they could be made more artistically for While still employed at the mag azine, he spent his nights prepar ing a shooting script. A friend in the Bronx composed background music. With $3,000 which he had saved and $2,000 which he borrowed from a bank, he went to work. His cast was made up of real people, not actors. He did every thing else himself from directing to arranging the lights, stands and reflectors. Within six shooting days, he had himself a 12-minute short titled “The Day of the Fight.” Dram atically, it tells the story of the rising tension that plagues a box er as a bout approaches. The fighter in this case was Walter Cartier, a club performer whose performance almost ruined the pic ture. “Walter was fine in the scenes before the fight,” Kubrick recalls. The. picture cost $5,000 and Ku-' brick sold it to RKO “at an im pressive profit.” RKO liked his work so well they had him direct a documentary -short about a fly ing priest in New Mexico. That was last October, About the same time, Kubrick and a poet-friend, Howard O. Sackler, wrote a full-length script about four soldiers caught behind enemy lines. It is an allegory full of action and symbolism concern ing man’s search for his own iden tity. “I’m certain we can do it for $50,000,” Kubrick says. “The an swer is careful planning. We have worked out on paper every scene, every shot. There will be no writ ers, producers, directors or art di rectors to contend with. There won’t be any time lost in argument or discussion. There will be only one boss—me. shoot the whole thing outdoors. We’ll have only four principal act ors and 10 extras. . We.’ll use pro fessional cameraman and grips and electricians and sound engineers, ( but we’ll only need them for 15 or 20 shooting days. We’ll rent all the equipment.” Kubrick plans to start shooting either this winter in. California, or next spring in the East. “All we need,” he says, “is some forest and hills.” And the money? A bank is putting up half, Ku brick says, and a business man is putting up the rest. “It’s a nice way,” he adds, "to make a movie, to make some mon ey, to have some fun and creative * satisfaction.” Are you listening, Sam Gold- wyn Sl’EOIAI, NOTICE Deviating from the usual custom, Hie New Years Open House at the home of Ihe President of A&M Collgc will this year bn held on Sunday afternoon January 7, 1951 from 3-5 p.m. President and Mrs. Harrington extend a cordial Invitation to members of the college family and all friends of the col lege in Bryan and College Station to at tend. Outdoor Scenery “There will be no sets. We’ll Smile and the world smiles C with you. Get hurt and you groan alone. LI’L ABNER The Grass Is Always Greener By A1 Capp *Ll'L ABNER ARRIVES IM TME NEXT TOWN-NORTH NOSE-TOO late:, again/:'' GULP/'- TH' WATCHMAN SAID ■ th'show's over THEY'S GONE-?? u:.,-o. r o rT <f~ IftSoB'dVSAW THEM DO THAT- WONDERFUL "SABER DANCE' TONIGHT'' I FELL IN LOVE WITH THE s'GW-' "PRINCE"-THE ONE WHO IS SUPPOSED TO HAVE HIS HEAD CUT OFF IN TH'GRAND I WAITED HERE, FOR HIS AUTOGRAPH. THEY ALL CAME OUT and left IN-TH'BUS- ALL BUT FINALE ZTj-hjii. 1 f