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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 12, 1954)
Page 2 THE BATTALION Friday, March 12, 1954 The Responsibility Of A Newspaper What is the responsibility of a newspaper? This is both a difficult question and one that is of concern to every news paper in the United States. It is difficult because there is al most no problem in journalism which can be usefully sepa rated from the profoundest and ultimate questions of man’s fate. The problem concerns every paper although newspapers differ in technical aspects and policies. These are only con trasts in character. And character is destiny—both for a nation and for its press. From a general view point, the first cannon that must be fired by the newspaper is to tell the truth. This raises the questions; are the American people capable of receiving the truth; and what is the truth? In times of peace, there should be absolutely no restraints on freedom of the press. In times of a hot war, there is no problem. Everyone, including the press, is directing his efforts toward winning the war, and certain liberties are temporarily given up. We feel sure of getting those liberties back—and we are not afraid of for getting what those liberties are. But what about a situation of cold war? A cold war is different. During a cold war for freedom, it is urged that by failing to practice freedom we may lose the art of it while fighting for it. So, in a cold war there should be no restraints and anything goes. Now, what are the limits to freedom on newspapers? Were the courts right when they refused to admit the press to trials involving prostitution? By listening to the outraged screams of the large papers, it would seem they were being run out of business and taken over by the government. But it seems as if the freedom we so uncritically demand is so often nothing more than the freedom to pander. To pander to sensuality is bad enough. But there may be an even greater danger in the fact that freedom of the press is freedom to pander to ignorance, to pander to mediocrity, to pander to prejudices, to pander to all that is bad in a democracy. I can see no one solution for this problem of the press except personal, individual responsibility — and more re sponsibility. There can be no strong written code such as the doctors or the lawyers have to guide the editors. They must take it upon themselves to set their own standards and print their own ideas of what is truth and right. As it is, too many adhere to the principles that seem popular to the public or large papers at any certain time. There are four main responsibilities of the newspapers. First, is the reporting and discussion of those matters which bear clearly and directly on the business of the Republic. This refers to political organs of a free society. The newspapers job is to tell the public what these matters are as effectively as possible, and what the rational debates on those subjects are. Second, the newspapers must keep reminding its readers of their environment, their heritage, and their goals. This is important because people tend to become lazy and take their freedoms for granted. There is altogether too great a short age of reporters who can give a truly sensitive account of life in the community. Thirdly, the newspaper must be an educator to respond to the American desire of self-improvement. Since the American citizen is bombarded constantly on the material things in life by advertising, T. V., and radio, the newspaper should put material for improvement of intellectual virtues in their well read editorial columns. The American mind is starving for intellectual foods. Fourthly, the function of newspapers is to be a vessel of truth. As I said before, every editor and publisher is responsi ble for printing his own ideas of what is truth. There is no one else to dictate this policy to him. Therefore, an editor should equip his staff with men who represent what he be lieves to be the truth. This is because the editor or publisher cannot be responsible for every bit of news that goes into his paper. The stories must be presented so that the farmer will see beyond present farm prices to the Republic as a whole. The businessman must see far beyond a tariff advantage to the whole of the Republic. The college professor must also see beyond his academic business to the country as a whole. All this means making every newspaper a vessel of truth. One point to be stressed in connection with presentation of news is clear writing. The reader must be able to under stand and be interested in a story if he is to give the above mentioned benefits from the newspaper. The whole purpose of the newspaper is defeated and it falls flat on its mission if no one reads what is printed on the pages. It is the responsibility of the writer to present his infor mation in an easy to read, easy to understand manner. It is not the readers place to dig for facts buried in the compli cated writing of an egotistical or unthinking reporter. If a man is being paid to collect news and present it to the people, he should at least learn to write to be understood by people with a ninth grade education to a college professor. Let me stress again the importance of interpretative news writing. This does not mean editorializing but merely telling the reader how events will affect him. A man may or may not be interested in knowing that congress passes the Blank Act after four weeks fight on the floor. But he will certainly be interested if you tell him that this bill will cost him twice as much in taxes the next year. This has just started to cover the responsibilities of a newspaper. But no one can see them all or appreciate them until he has begun work on a newspaper and bears the title “newspaperman.” —Jerry Estes Dairymen to Short Course Hold Here About 100 persons from all parts of the state are expected to at tend the annual Dairy Manu facturers’ Conference at Texas A &M College March 17-18. Dr. A. V. Moore of the Dairy Husbandry Department at A&M College will serve as chairman of the conference, which is sponsored by his department. Speakers for the conference and their subjects will include It. J. Ramsey, president of Ramsey Laboratories, Cleveland, Ohio, “Current Problems in the Manu facture of Dairy Products,” and “Selling Dairy Products Through Grocery Stores;” J. J. Sheuring, professor of dairy manufacturing at the University of Georgia, Athens, “Soft Ice Cream,” and “The Vanilla-Sweetener Re lationship in Ice Cream.” Ed Nelson, plant superintendent for The Carnation Company at Houston, “The Control of Milk Flavor;” Mark Soderquist, plant superintendent for The Borden Company at Texarkana, “Sanitary Inspection Ratings.” Bernard Weinstein, research food chemist for the Crest Foods Com pany, Ashton, Ill., “The Future Importance of Milk Proteins,” and “Frozen Dessert Stabilizers and Emulsifiers;” J. B. Maury, Quality Control Division, The Borden Com pany, Houston, “Methods of De termining Solids in Milk;” Oscar Stauder, refrigeration engineer, The Creamery Package Mfg. Co., Chicago, Ill., “Multi- Cylinder vs. Two-Cylinder Com pressors,” and “The Booster Sys tem;” E. L. Williams, assistant di rector of the Texas Engineering Extension Service, “Problems in Training Plant Personnel;” R. A. Wait and D. S. Austin of the Bulk Products Research Dept., Proctor and Gamble Co., Cincin nati, Ohio, “Food Fats—Their Use in Frozen Desserts;” J. R. Street, Safety Engineering Dept., Texas Employers’ Insurance Association, Dallas, “Accident Hazards in the Dairy Plant; and Paul Irwin, man ager, Vandervoort’s, Inc., Fort* Worth, “Hints to Plant Operators.”! During a dinner meeting March 17, Dr. I. W. Rupel, head of the Dairy Husbandry Department at A and M College, will speak on “Current Dairy Products Re search,” and Foster Wick and Jack Howard of the Humble Oil and Re fining Company, of Houston, will speak on “The Magic Barrel.” Scoring clinic subjects and judges of each event will be: Milk, Soder quist and Nelson: Cottage Cheese, Dr. I. I. Peters of the Dairy Manu factures staff at A&M College and Maury; Buttermilk, Ramsey and Dr. Moore; and Ice Cream and Mellorine, W. C. Vanderzandt of the college’s Dairy Manufactures staff and Sheuring. Dean C. N. Shepardson of the A &M School of Agriculture, will be the first conference speaker. His subject will be “Our Responsibility to the Dairy Industry.” The Battalion Lawrence Sullivan Ross, Founder of Aggie Traditions “Soldier, Statesman, Knightly Gentleman” 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 Jnonth. Advertising rates furnished on request. Soil Scientist Speaks Here On Water Effect Principal Soil Scientist and Physicist of the U. S. Salinity Laboratory, Riverside, Cali fornia, Dr. L. A. Richards, spoke Tuesday, March 9, on “Soil Water and Plant Growth” in the lecture room of the Biological Sciences Building. Dr. Richard’s talk is. eighth in a series of talks being presented for the faculty, staff, and graduate students. The thesis of the talk was a general discussion of the effect of water availability on plant growth. Worked, into his discussion were several sets of highly impressive data supporting his argument that soils kept very wet, up to as high as 75% moisture content, will cause plants to produce more total dry matter more economically than if the water is applied by the con ventional method of watching for signs of wilting. Dr. Richards is a widely known figure in the field of soil science and soil physics. He is a member of Phi Kappa Phi, Sigma Xi, Soil Science Society of America, (Na tional President in 1952), American Society of Agronomy, American Geophysics Union, International Society of Soil Science, and West ern Society of Soil Science (Presi dent in 1950). He was Lecturer' at the International Symposium on Desert Research at Jerusalem, Israel, in 1952. Job Calls @ March 18—Phillips Petroleum Company will be interviewing stu dents majoring in Chemical, Me chanical, Electrical, Civil and Pet roleum Engineering. ® March 18—Eastman Kodak Com pany will interview B. S. — M. S. students in the field of chemistry, chemical engineering, mechanical engineering and industrial engi neering, for their operations at Longview, Texas. In addition, they are seeking mechanical, industrial, chemical and electrical engineers, chemists and physicists, business administration and industrial edu. cation majors for their headquart ers at Rochester, New York. ® March 18—The Aluminum Com pany of America will be interview ing mechanical, industrial, chemical, civil and electrical engineers for plant production and engineering work. In addition, they will inter view any kind of engineering stu dents for sales work, and students majoring in accounting who wish to follow this field. ® March 18—The Philco Corpora tion will interview graduates in Electrical Engineering and Me chanical Engineering, at the B. S. and M. S. levels, for work in re search, development or design of electrical equipment and products. All positions will be in their Main Laboratories located in Philadel phia, Pennsylvania. Farm Real Estate Risen Over 1953 Farm real estate activity now is above the level for the same per iod in 1953, according to recent re search findings. J. H. ‘Dixie’ Southern of the Agricultural Research Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture, and W. G. Adkins of the Texas A. and M. College Department of Agricul tural Economics and Sociology, an nounced this finding after a two- week survey of farm and ranch real estate market transactions and other factors. The report is based on findings of this survey, conducted in the southern and western portions of the state. . “It is probably true that drouth and other water considerations dominated this picture in 1953,” Adkins said. But the market “Be gan to pick up in December at least in many areas, and now is above the level of activity for this time in 1953.” “I doubt that acreage allotments alone, in the absence of the drouth and the general economic outlook would have had much effect on the overall picture,” he added. In the survey, Adkins and South ern contacted farm and ranch real estate brokers, county clerks’ re cords, other public oficials, and the farmers themselves to deter mine their estimate of their own positions as related to the general economy. Experiment Station Gets Several Grants Research in several d i f - ferent fields will benefit from re newals and new grants made re cently to Uie Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, says Director R. D. Lewis. Included in the listing is a re newal of a $4,700 grant from The Research Corporation, Williams- Waterman Fund of New York City for use in continued support of re search on the effect of feeding antibiotics on the growth, repro duction and intestinal microflora of the domestic fowl. These studies are conducted under the super vision of Dr. J. R. Couch of the departments of biochemistry and nutrition and poultry husbandry. The National Cottonseed Pro ducts Association, Inc. of Memphis, Tennessee, has renewed a grant for $1,600 to be used for employing a half-time graduate assistant in se same breeding research work. Dr. Murray Kinman of the department of agronomy will be in charge of the project. The Lederle Laboratory Division of the American Cynamid Com- When an American husband and wife are the same age, the chances that the wife will outlive the hus band are 60 in 100. pany of Pearl River, New York, has renewed a grant-in-aid of $2,500 in support of studies being conducted under the direction of Dr. H. 0. Kunkel of the department of biochemistry and nutrition on the effect of feeding an animal protein factor Supplement containing aureomycin to lambs and the effect of the supplement upon wool growth. The Geigy Agricultural Chemi cals, Division of Geigy Chemical Corporation of New York has made a grant-in-aid of $300 in support of studies on the evaluation of diazin- on and phosphorus compound 24483 for insect control. Dr. J. C. Gaines, head of the department of ento mology, is directing the studies. The Perry Company of Waco has loaned to the Station a rotocycle cutter “66” series for use by the department of agricultural engi neering in field work being con ducted in connection with pink bollworm studies. The United States Golf As sociation, Green Section, has made available $2,000 to support the Green Section assistantship. Ray mond Kuntz has been chosen as the graduate assistant to conduct studies on the physical properties of soild. He will work under the direction of Dr. J. B. Page of the department of agronomy. Now Open For Business MEAD'S STEAK HOUSE Grand Open House Saturday, March 13lh, 1 to 5 p. in. C O F F BE ON THE HOUSE COME OUT AND MEET US MEAD’S'STEAK HOUSE 701 Hwy. 0 College Station Phone 6-4916 LI’L ABNER By AI Capp W-Vsi'E HAIN'T '-1 LETTERS Holered as eecond-clasa matter at Post Office at College Station, Texas under the Act of Gon- sresa of March 3, 1870. Member ot The Associated Press Represented nationally bj National AdvertlalnH Services, Inc., at New York City, Chicago, Lo« Angeles, and San Fran* I cisco. The Associated Press is entitled exclusively to the use for republi- 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) of at the editorial office room, 202 Goodwin Hall. Classified ads may be placed by telephone (4-53214) or at the Student Activities Office, Room 209 Goodwin Hall- CK r< A- Acting Editor Editors, The Battalion, To the new coaching staff: We’ve watched you work—we’re proud of you. And a word about Tom Tip’ps, ex Pampa High School coach. You’ve got a producer of athletes that fight to win. He gives them the rare “fighting heart”. Tipps is twenty-one jewel. And that’s what we want, isn’t it, Ags ? Howard F. Childers, ’55 College Classroom Teachers To Meet The College Classroom Teachers Association will meet next Monday at 7:30 part. March 15 in the as sembly room of the YMCA. The proposed draft of the brief to be submitted to the Texas commission on higher education by the State GCTA will be discussed and voted upon. Visitors and especially AAUP members are welcomed to attend. P O G O POCsOAIN'T RQMH,HUH ? GOT YOU Ti&P UP— 6US5G I'M- THS LOANC? A BAG MeANWWll.es. By Walt Kelly