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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 5, 1954)
Page 2 THE BATTALION Tuesday, January 5, 1954 Battalion They Hide in "Innocence’ And Work for Censorship: Hiding behind a cloak of “innocence,” certain people here on the campus are trying their utmost to censor The Battalion. The cloak behind which they hide is the possible establishment of a committee to the Student Life committee to deal with The Battalion. A committee has been appointed to study the need of such a committee, and if this committee finds there is a need for one, members of this group will recommend the functions and membership of the permanent committee. We first learned of an attempt to control The Battalion immediately following the John Clark incident. We were told by Fred Mitchell, colonel of the corps, that the print ing of the Clark story was detrimental to A&M College. Shortly after our talk with Mitchell, we were approached by him, Carroll Phillips of the corps staff, and Leonard (Chubby) Ed dy, commander of the fourth group. These men questioned u£ as to our inter pretations of the statement which we run on our front page each day. It says, “Published Daily in the Interest of a Greater A&M Col lege.” Mitchell and Phillips said they were act ing as members of the Student Life Com mittee and representing the student body. They claimed we had been injuring A&M with some of the stories and editorials we had carried, such as the John Clark story, and such as the editorial on senior boots which we published at the first of the year. These seniors said they were going to try to have us removed from our positions. Spike White, manager of student activi ties and secretary of the Student Life committee, was carrying the ball the next time the incident arose. He placed an item on the agenda of the SLC which involved a standing committee over student publications and yell leaders. White said he put this on the agenda af ter he was visited by “several groups of stu dents” who protested the present Battalion editors. Here’s how we see it: There are several powers on the campus which would like to control The Battalion for their own selfish interests. This committee, if established, would be a foothold. It would give them a basis from which to work. We will not tolerate such a committee, and we feel the majority of our readers would not want us to do so. If this committee is established, no mat ter how limited its powers, it could build from there year after year. After a time, The Battalion would be a propaganda sheet for a chosen group of students and a hand ful of administrative officers. As it boils down, a few people on the campus would like to see certain news stories censored. This censorship would have kept the John Clark story out of The Battalion if these people had been in a position to ex ercise this censorship. We are putting out a newspaper which carries the truth, and this truth is slowly bringing from their holes those people who would like to conceal things they can’t hide with a downpour of facts showering into their comfortable little holes. There is little need to mention the thous ands of our countrymen who died in pursuit of a free press in war after war. There is little need to elaborate on our cold war with Russia in which we are fighting the suppres sion of our basic freedoms. But it’s high time some of us right here at home, at A&M, started thinking about people like this who would sink their power- hungry claws into a newspaper simply so that the paper would print only what they want. However, our printing of the news is not the only part of the paper which has been attacked by various groups on the campus. Our editorials have been viciously at tacked. Some students have told us T h e Battalion’s editorials should “express the opinion of the student body.” This is one point which needs clarifica tion. The editorials in this paper are the opin ions of the editors. We do not try in any way to reflect the opinions of one group or groups on this campus. We have at times editorialized on stu dents, organizations, administrative officials, ideas, rules and regulations, accepted prac tices, unaccepted practices and hundreds of other subjects to numerous to elaborate upon. But always we have voiced our own opin ions. We never have bowed to any special group, and never will. Are we so different in that we print our opinions? Every newspaper in the nation prints its opinions. It is a pity, but some of these papers are controlled by selfish persons who use the printed word for their own selfish reasons. This paper is free from those influences which would have us write our editorials for selfish purposes. And we are fighting a group such as this now which would like to wrap its absorbing tentacles around The Bat talion and suck the life-blood of freedom of the press from this paper and maintain un limited censorship over the editors. The Battalion Wh a 1 9 s Cooking Lawrence Sullivan Ross, Founder of Aggie Traditions “Soldier, Statesman, Knightly Gentleman” 7:15 p. m.—Rodeo club meeting, A&I building. The Battalion, official newspaper of the Agricultural and Mechan ical College of Texas, is published by students four times a week, during the regular school year. During the summer terms, and examination and vacation periods, The Battalion is published twice a week. Days of publications are Tuesday through Friday for the regular school year, and Tuesday and Thursday during examination and vacation periods and the summer terms. Subscription rates $9.00 per year or $ .75 per month. Advertising rates furnished on request. Sntered as second-class oaatter at Post Office at CoUege Station, Texas under the Act of Con gress of March 3, 1870. Member of The Associated Press Represented nationally by National Advertising Services, Inc., at New York City, Chicago, Tide Angeles, and San Fran cisco. The Associated Press is entitled exclusively to the use for repabli- cation of all news dispatches credited 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 are also reserved. News contributions may be made by telephone (4-5444 or 4-7604) or at the editorial office room, 202 Goodwin Hall. Classified ads may be placed by telephone (4-5324) or at the Student Activities Office, Room 209 Goodwin Hall. JERRY BENNETT, ED HOLDER Co-Editors Chuck Neighbors Managing Editor tiarri Baker Campus Editor Bob Boriskie ......Sports Editor Jon Kinslow City Editor Jerry Estes Basic Division Editor Bob Hendry Feature Editor Barbara Rubin Society Editor Jerry Wizig — -....-Associate Sports Editor Frank Hines, Jerry Ntighhors Bob Bossy, Jim Collins, Ray Wall, A1 Eisenberg, .^.rnold Goldstein, Bill Parsons, Bill Warren, Jack Farley, John Einton, King McGowan, Jay Ireland, Charles Kingsbury, Georgs Manillas, E. B. McGowan Staff Writers Gardner Collins .' Exchange Editor Bob Painter, Toth. Skribausk .Advertising Staff James Earle Stiff cartoonist Seymour Smith, Will Ho’.laday, John Mcacker ...Staff Photographers Larry Eightfoot . . Circulation Manager Poland Baird, Eayii-ii, Moadoa Go-co. a'on Syifcr, Suday w..:. ims, Raeeeii Eeec, G**ca*awoa o-a-f Saddle and Sirloin club meeting, A&I lecture room. Election of of ficers. Kream and Kow Klub meeting, room 3C, MSC. jrt CVEAN//y 0 Save Your Money! Save Your Clothes! CAMPUS CLEANERS Editorials r i We Must Hare All of News If News Is To .Be Goo#! Newspapers and electronic devices offer us a variety of news. We may read or be told about the hero who has rescued people from a burning- building. Or of a medical discovery that has won another battle in the long war against disease. A little later we may become enthused over the story of a business success or a sports victory. This is good news. Nice news. Encour aging news. On another page or station we might be told of distressing occurrences: shocking crimes, shady deals, disasters, neg ligence—unpleasantness of many kinds. This is not nice news. Because it is not, we may feel that some of it should be played down or omitted. Our reasons may be the best: To prevent heartaches. To protect young, impression able readers or listeners. To save innocent people from undesirable publicity. Charitable motives, yes. But if trans lated into strict news policies they might do as much, or more, harm than good. Take away the fear of the cold, revealing light of news publicity, and a lot of persons would immediately lose interest in maintaining their honesty, uprightness and efficiency. Imagine, if you will, how much greater would be the abuses of power and position if wrong doing in high places were never published or aired. If we are to benefit from the news, or make corrections as a result of it, we must have all—not part—of it. Good news only would not be good news. It would be bad news. Only all the news is good news . . . even if, unfortunately, some of it is bad news. —Phoenix Flame. Kremlin Wants Good Toys Rain Hampers Remodeling Of Camp us Remodeling- the besement in the military science building and new floors for the classrooms of Bolton hall were the only construction jobs not hampered by bad weather dur ing the holidays, according to Howard Badgett, manager of the physical plants department. Scheduled construction of curb ing and gutters in the Hart hall parking lot, completion of side walks around the Academic build ing, and laying of a sidewalk around Bizzell hall were all held up by rain and continued bad weather. Curbing and gutters are now be ing constructed on the Hart hall lot, and other work will be resumed within a few days. The basement of the military science building was remodeled and partitioned to allow the publi cation section of the department to move from its present location in the basement of the YMCA. Installation of new floors in Bolton hall was completed in only the class rooms. Offices will be done at a later date. The floors were laid by putting plywood and tile on top of the old wooden floors. This enabled work men to do the job quicker and without tearing out the old floors. MOSCOW—OP)—Old Grandfath er Frost is getting some pretty strict orders these days. He’s be ing told to pack mama dolls that really say mama and boys’ games that won’t fall apart when he makes his gift-bearing rounds in Russia on New Year’s Day. Grandfather Frost is the Soviet version of Santa Claus. He ar rives a week before Christmas in the Soviet Union, which is ob- Publications Group (Continued from Page 1) and Bennet voted against the mo tion because they felt it might lead to censorship of the pj-q^s. C. G. (Spike) White, director of Student Activities and secretary of the Student Life committee told the December meeting that he had received complaints from people hei-e concerning Student Publica tions. Later it developed that the complaints had concerned only The Battalion. White indicated t h a t some people did not think The Bat talion co-editors were working to- wai’d a greater A&M college. Student Publications, the yell le^tkyjs the ^ st lidenf cn fei&sw n - - *t o.-hs«« .th.hr-r-q.j.'lec ted i H»-l^t;le>XMa4< merit' manag-er are supervised by Student Life. A committee is set up on student entertainment. Pub lications and yell leaders have no special committees. The Battalion noticed the first definite action to set up a publi cations committee after it pub lished news stories and editorials on the November student ousting of Odessa junior John Clark. the the served Jan. 7 in accord with old Julian calendar used by Russian Orthodox Church. But day after tomorrow millions of Soviet children will gather around fir trees to r-eceive gifts and sweets. The grownups ex change gifts too—and this year the cry is for quality goods. Premier Georgi Malenkov’s gov ernment has promised more and better consumer goods. Letter col umns of Soviet newspapers disclose that the Russian consumer wants gifts now that holiday buying in full swing. A parent who bought a doll for his daughter hail this indignant comment: “The instructions said that this doll could walk, roll its eyes and say ‘mama.’ The doll looks very nice—if you ignore the fact that its wig is made of rags and cotton (See ‘KREMLIN WANTS, Pago^l) LPL ABNER By A1 Capp SPENT 30 /EARS LEARNING MAT OPERATION- AND TMEY'ISE, T© FOR iTff By Walt Kelly P O G O YC’U 73L£ MS TH AT you m$HT HOMS SUTTMgeg you IS, PLAIN AS AIN'T Afg... S&SIPS3. SiN AWT PLAIN. By Walt Kelly HOW cam. m tmm r iA§r> AN AN * g>V LU U T'J ' CLAIM HI AIN'T HOMi / ©VgS A NfW ‘ AN’ ip He IS HOMS, MS f l£AP>»Hg'MY mr hs's Amw AW# i.N £ 54. Hr you is a V m NSWAWJ.YCi! ? 1 Slifg AiPf QOHB WITH 7i|!6> KW; ToM%r ms, [mmmuvm Ttig. FgpuA YOU OP M#, t | WAS U%r Yf Ag INHg&lTSPA TgeuStB J TDD, 7&£>Ay SsC LOOK AT rli/u Y //' f I Livestock Judgers To Compete Iasi. 30 The A&M junior livestock judg ing team will compete Jan. 30 in the national livestock judging con test at Fort Worth. Team members will be selected later from a group of 32 now work ing out for the team. Any student with junior classifi cation and certain other qualifica tions may judge on the team. Hf must also have taken Animal Hus bandry 315, not be on scholastic proha'tmn, an i 'ir-var 'judged in a major livestock judging contest re presenting A&M. The contest has 12 classes of livestock. Each member will judge the 12 classes and give oral reasons on eight of the 12 classes. Awards will be presented at a banquet Jan. 31. The trip is sponsored each year by the Saddle & Sirloin club and student' activities office. ► -4 # * i i: