Page 2 THE BATTALION Thursday, May 10,1951 Committee Meets Here Tomorrow Good Sportsmanship ‘Organized’ by Students of S’WC By DAVE COSLETT Battalion Co-Editor W HEN members of the Southwest Conference Sportsman ship Committee assemble on the campus tomorrow, they will have behind them a four-year history in the unique undertaking of endeavoring to reward and encourage sports manship in college athletics. That history had its beginning at A&M. More specifi cally, that history began in the offices of The Battalion. The time was Fall of 1947. J. K. B. Nelson, then Bat talion co-editor, first brought up the idea of recognizing good sportsmanship. He proposed giving this recognition in the form of an annual trophy to the school in the Southwest Conference displaying the best sportsmanship. Nelson took his idea to the Student Life Committee which authorized The Battalion to purchase such a trophy, a three-foot high gold cup that would pass each year to the school selected by ballots of other conference schools. The paper also furnished a plaque for permanent possession by each winner of the award. First Trophy Presented The idea first appeared in print on the front page of the April 5, 1948 Battalion which announced presentation of such a trophy at the Conference Track Meet in Houston the following month. Votes were to be cast from each school in the conference as well as from members of the Associated Press and larger papers in the state. Sixteen conference officials, the executive secretary of the conference, the president or executive secretary of the former students asso ciation and the athlptic director of each school also had a ballot. First presentation of the trophy took place in Houston on May 15 of that year with Southern Methodist the original winner. Schools agreed at that time to send representatives to College Station each Fall to discuss plans for improvement of inter-school relations. Consequently, three students from each conference school showed up at A&M on Friday, October 15, 1948, for the first meeting of the Sportsmanship Committee. Voting Procedure Established A&M Football Coach Harry Stiteler delivered the wel coming address to the group. Delegates quickly elected as chairman C. C. Munroe, 1949-50 co-editor of The Battalion. Then the group set to work. Standardization of voting procedure ran high on the list of topics to be discussed. Immediately adopted was a ruling that no school could vote for itself to receive the trophy. Another policy adoption gave two votes to members of each school governing body. Editors and yell leaders retained their single vote in the selection. The Sportsmanship Code adopted at the first meeting is printed in full elsewhere on this page. Others Interested Principle speaker for the first meeting was James Stew art, then secretary of the Southwest Conference. Stewart said in his address: “You students have begun a program that will probably be taken up in each major athletic conference in the country. It was my pleasure to give a report of your efforts to en courage better sportsmanship at a meeting in St. Louis of the officials of the major conferences. They were amazed at the great work you had started. It was the first such student program reported to them and they were interested in it.” During the Spring after this initial meeting, A&M laid claim to the gold trophy on the basis of the second selection of top sportsmanship in the conference. This second award was made on Saturday, April 2, 1949, at the Texas Relays in Austin. Next regular meeting of the committee took place at Rice on Saturday, November 5, 1949. Here a major change in presentation procedure was made by adoption of a plan to award the trophy in the 1951 Cotton Bowl. Introduced at the meeting were policies for yell leaders from each school to join in leading the singing of the National Anthem preceding each conference football game. The possible idea of an all-conference yell was introduced. Rice Is Third Winner Tabulations of votes for third winner of the trophy found Rice declared winner. The Owls accepted the cup at the conference track meet in Austin on Saturday, May 13, 1950. The presentation was followed by a short business meeting to discuss Cotton Bowl presentation of the award. Fall of the present school year found delegates from the schools meeting at Texas for the fourth regular meeting of the Sportsmanship Committee. Unanimous passage was voted the policy of preceding each conference football game with a prayer. And the pre viously considered motion of joint leading for the singing of the National Anthem was adopted. The idea for an all conference yell was tabled. Preceding the Cotton Bowl presentation, the committee held another business meeting on the SMU campus. Main topic of discussion was sportsmanship during the basketball season. On New Year’s Day, Cotton Bowl fans saw SMU reclaim the coveted cup to rank as first repeater in the conference. The Battalion Lawrence Sullivan Ross, Founder of Aggie Traditions "Soldier, Statesman, Knightly Gentleman" Entered as second-class Blatter at Post Office at College Staton, Texas, Under the Act of Con gress of March 3, 1870. Member of The Associated Press Represented nationally by National Advertising Service Inc., at New York City, Chicago, Los An geles, and San Francisco. CLAYTON L. SELPH, DAVE COSLETT.... Co-Editors John Whitmore, Dean Reed Managing Editors Andy Anderson, Bob Hughson Campus Editors Fred Walker Sports Editor Joel Austin City Editor Vivian Castleberry Women’s Editor Today's Issue John WTiitmore Andy Anderson Fred Walker Joel Austin Managing Editor Campus News Editor Sports News Editor City News Editor ■ Tomorrow’s meeting will find committee members eval uating sportsmanship since their last meeting and looking for ways to further the job of good relations between schools. Specific problems include such topics as how to handle the dilemma of Arkansas, a conference member who has ranked consistently last in sportsmanship ratings. Committee members realize that the low ratings are no reflection on the school. Quite to the contrary, Arkansas’ Bill Robbins, president of the student body there, has been day relations, one of the most zealous members of this year’s committee. The Committee is faced with several challenges. Pri mary among these is the institution of a positive program And the problem of non-conference schools is beginning that tends to be felt. Some of these schools have been guilty of mis- to better relations. Of secontc y conduct for which conference schools have been blamed. Progress in good relations since the introduction of the sportsmanship program has been notable. Much, though, remains to be done. The Sportsmanship Committee is potentially a strong force for better understanding between conference schools, both in the field of sports and in every- Southwest Conference Sportsmansh ip Code i Preamble The purpose of the Sportsmanship code is to further good relations between Southwest Conference Schools. I. Team A. Each member of the team shall: 9 Participate in the contest to the best of his ability, abiding by fair and proper means of conduct determined by the rules of the contest. • Treat contest officials with due respect and courtesy and shall accept the official’s decision in good spirit. • Accept victory or defeat in a gracious man ner. II. Student Body' A. Pre-Game Courtesy. • The host school shall: h. Write a letter to the visiting school and team prior to the game. This letter should be published dur ing the week prior to the game in the visiting school’s paper. The letter should list the activities of the weekend, i. e, banquets, dances and receptions. b. Provide receptions and directions for visiting students and team. c. Provide a means of information booths or ushers to provide information about tickets, sections, seating, etc. B'. Game Courtesy: • There shall be cooperation between yell lead ers, band, other student organizations and student body, i. e., yell leaders cheers will not coincide, and student bodies will not yell while teams are in a hud dle or calling signals. • The student bodies shall avoid misconduct such as fighting and overt demonstrations, use of in toxicating drinks, desrespect and discourtesy, toward teams and officials, and general discourtesies during the halftime period. C. Post-Game Courtesy: • Each student body shall demonstarte: a. Respect to both teams after game. b. Despect to each other and to spectators. c. Mutual respect for school songs when they are played. (Adopted October 15, 1948) tempts to prevent poor sportsmanship. Another challenge—perhaps the key to ail the rest—is that of recognition. Members are going to have to impress their goals and their work on each student body and m the| minds of athletic officials, coaching _ staI I s, newsmen and spectators over the state. Only in this way will their voic{}| in urging better relations be heard. The Southwest Conference is leading the nation m this undertaking. It can set a pace that will be haul to equal. See the Gifts Especially For MOTHER’S DAY at your EXCHANGE STORE “Serving‘Texas Aggies” (See Page 6) m Si at: YOU GIVE MOM HOSIERY But Arkansas, remotely located from other conference schools, seldom, if ever, gets a chance to demonstrate student body sportsmanship. Large student bodies have been recognized as another detriment to the sportsmanship program. Unsportsmanlike conduct seems to be more prevalent where offenders can commit their deeds in the shelter of obscurity. C of C Asks For Aid to Boy’s Schools The East Texas Chamber of Commerce at its Waco convention recently approved a resolution, pro posed by Ernest L. Kurth of Luf kin urging the State to build four schools to take the place of the present facilities of the State School for Boys at Gatesville, thereby eliminating the present crowded facilities and inspiring proper segregation and training of these boys, Hubert M. Harrison, general manager, announced. Kurth points out that the State Youth Development Council which has made a survey of the condition and needs of the Gatesville insti tution reports that it would take more than two million dollars to modernize the Gatesville plant but that it believes four buildings de signed for proper segregation, training and rehabilitation could be constructed for approximately the same amount. The resolution revealed that 54% of repeaters and 25% of the entire population of the Texas peniten tiary come from the State School for Boys at Gatesville. The proposal for four new build ings will aid in correcting the pre sent crowded situation at Gates ville as well as make possible the permanent rehabilitation of the large number of boys who enter this school, officials of the regional chamber believe. Malemute Is Mute, One Jeep Missing Fairbanks, Alaska—(A’)—Steve Losonsky parked his jeep with the keys in it, but wasn’t worried about the jeep being stolen. He had left his huge Alaskan malemute dog to guard it. Today police were searching for an unidentified man who stole both the jeep and the malemute. Bible Verse SANCTIFY yourselves therefore, ^ and be ye holy: for I am the Lord your God. —Leviticus 20:7. Don’t Be Caught With . . . "YOUR APPLIANCES DOWN' for MOTHER’S DAY is practically here CAN’T AFFORD TO GET APPLIANCES ? ? ? Oh, but you can . . . . have you been by and seen the many LOW- PRICED yet WON DERFUL household gifts ? 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