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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (May 15, 1953)
Page 2 THE BATTALION Friday, May 15, 1953 Battalion Editor Originated Committee for Sportsmanship Lawrence Sullivan Ross (Editor’s Note: City Editor Hand Baker is executive secre tary of the Southwest Conference Sportsmanship Committee, a po sition always held by a Battalion staff member.) By KARRI BAKER The Battalion was responsible for the organization of one of the most outstanding intercollegiate organizations in the country, the Southwest Conference Sportsman ship Committee, which has gained national recognition for its active part in the promotion of better re lations between conference schools. Six years old this year, the Sportsmanship committee was de veloped here in 1947 by Jimmy K. B. Nelson, then co-editor of The Battalion. Working through the Student Life Committee, Nelson got au thority for The Battalion to ap propriate from its funds enough money to buy a three-foot trophy to be presented annually to the Southwest Conference School that showed the best sportsmanship each year. Basis for Award In a Battalion story in the spring of 1948, Nelson explained the basis for awarding the trophy: “The trophy will be given as recognition for the conference school whose student body and ath letic teams display the best sports manship in connection with inter collegiate athletics and their asso ciated activities.” Editors of other student news papers and athletic directors of the conference schools were consulted in forming the committee’s consti tution and Sportsmanship Code. Since the beginning, the consti tution has been changed slightly, but its purpose remains the same— “ . . . the furtherance of sports manship and good relations in eve ry field of student endeavor.” The first presentation of the trophy was in Houston on May 15, 1948, when Southern Methodist University was named winner for the year. That year, votes were SWC Sportsmanship Trophy Winners 1948— Southern Methodist University 1949— Texas A&M 1950— Rice Institute 1951— Southern Methodist University 1952— University of Arkansas 1953— Rice Institute SWC Sportsmanship Trophy ★ cast 'by the conference schools, members of the Associated Press, 16 conference officials, the execu tive seci’etary of the conference, the secretary of each school’s alumni association, and each school’s athletic director. The vot ing px’ocedure has remained essen tially the same. Publications’ Program (Continued from Page 4) Student Publications operates on a budget of about $100,000 a year. More than half this amount is gained through advertising carried by the publications and the rest is supported by student and outside subscriptions. With about 100 students on its payroll, Student Publications dis tributes about $12^500 yearly. Many of th§ students could not at tend college without the small compensation they receive from these salaries. Completely self-supporting through its advertising and sub scriptions, Student Publications pays the full salaries of its man ager, assistant manager, and the student employees. It pays part of the salaries for two secretaries and a bookkeeper who also work for the Student Activities Office. Students responsible for the pub lications are: The Commentator—Editor Arvis Noak, Art Editor Bob Bynes, Bus iness Manager Bob Travis. The Engineer—Editor James E. Richardson, Associate Editor E. L. Walker Jr., Business Manager C. H. LeBlanc. The Southwestern Veterinarian —Editor-in-Chief J. G. Goodwin, Associate Editors E. D. Besch and J. E. T. Laningham, Business Man ager J. E, Allison. Aggieland ’53—Co-Editors Har vey (Spider) Miller and Guy De laney, Business Manager Phil Tun is. The Battalion—Co-Editors Joel E. Austin and Frank N. Manitzas, Managing Editors Jerry Bennett and Ed Holder. The Agriculturist, which quit publication earlier this year be cause of lack of funds, was edited by O. C. (Putter) Jarvis and As sociate Editor Herb Harkrider. After this first presentation, students of the conference schools wanted to get together and talk the thing over. The first meeting was held here Oct. 15, 1948. Speaking to this group, James Stewart, the SWC secretary, said, “You students have begun a pro- gram that will probably be taken up in each major athletic confer ence in the country. It was my pleasure to give a report of your efforts to encourage better sports manship at a meeting in St. Louis of the officials of the major con ferences. They were amazed at the work you had started. It was the first such "student program reported to them and they were interested in it.” The membership of the Commit tee is now composed of the student government president, the student newspaper editor, the head cheer leader, and an athletic representa tive from each of the seven SWC schools. The executive secretary of the organization is always an A&M student, since the permanent files of the Committee are kept in The Battalion office. The Committee meets three times a year to coordinate their work and discuss methods of im proving sportsmanship. The trophy is awarded at the Cotton Bowl game in Dallas each year. Since the trophy is x-otated fi'om year to year, a peimanent plaque is pi'esented by The Bat talion to each school that wins the tx-ophy. Voting for the ti'ophy is done twice a yeaiy once in the spx'ing and once before the Cotton Bowl game. Results of the two ballot- ings are added. together, and the school with the most votes is de clared winnei - of the ti'ophy. Vote^ From 63 The 63 votei*s judge the behavior of each school’s teams, students, alumni, and fans. The Spoi-tsmanship Committee has been x-esponsible for many oth er things besides the ti'ophy: the saying of a prayer before each game, welcoming committees from the schools making visits befoi’e games, editors of school paper’s exchanging articles, giving infor mation about the schools, and es tablishing sub - committees f o r sportsmanship on each campus. In 1951, the Faculty Committee of the Southwest Conference una nimously passed the following res olution: “That the president of each con- SHEET MUSIC — Order From — Southern Music Co. 1100 Broadway SAN ANTONIO 6, TEXAS 66 Shaffer Tool Works Manufacturers of High Pressure Oilwell Drilling Control Equipment" ference school be written and ad vised of the fine contribution which the Southwest Conference Sports manship Committee is making to the athletic program of the con ference; further, that the presi dents of the schools be requested, in the name of the Faculty Com mittee of the Southwest Confer ence, to encourage and further the work of this committee during the coming years.” Famous A&M President Founded Aggie Traditions By JERRY BENNETT The founder of Aggie traditions had one of the most violent lives in the history of college adminis trators. Few college presidents ever kill ed Indians in hand to hand combat or had seven horses shot from un der them during pitch battles. Lawrence Sullivan Ross, whose name is revered in The Battalion masthead as “Soldier, Statesman, and Knightly Gentleman, Founder of Aggie Traditions,” lived these experiences and many more like them before becoming governor of Texas and subsequently president of A&M. Baptism of Fire Born in 1838 in Bentonport, la., Ross had his baptism of fire in 1858 when he left Florence Wes leyan University of Alabama to fight the Comanche Indians. Dur ing this campaign, Ross took part in a desperate battle in which 95 Indians were killed. In addition to winning the battle, the soldiers freed a little white girl which the Indians were holding captive. Since her parents could not be found, Ross raised the child and named her Lizzie Ross. In 1859, Ross was put in charge of Texas' frontier army. Under his command the army destroyed a Comanche stronghold and res cued Cynthia Ann Parker, the fa mous Indian white captive. Dur ing this battle, Ross killed the chief, Pete Nocona, in hand-to-hand combat. When the Civil War started, Ross entered the Confederate Army as a private and quickly rose to brigadier general. He was 25 years old at the time. He took part in 135 engagements of im portance and had seven horses shot down from under him. In the battle of Corinth, he lost 50 out of 350 men in a charge on an enemy battery. Ross was cited for showing the most distinguished gallantry durJr ing this battle. After the war, he returned to Texas where he started farming for a livelihood. In 1873 he be-* came sheriff of his county. Six years later, he was elected to the state senate, where he served as chairman of the finance committee. From that position, he moved to the governorship in 1886. Upon his retirement, Ross carried with him the plaudits of friends and op ponents for having given the state one of the most popular adminis trations in its history. 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