- LI’Li ABNER ^ Battalion Editorials Page 2 THE BATTALION TUESDAY, AUGUST 10, 1954 Dallas A&M Club Doesn Like Changes The following letter appeared in the Dal-Aggie, official newsletter of the Dallas A&M ckib. We thought it deserved wider circulation. Mr. G. R. White, President Board of Directors Texas A&M System Brady, Texas Dear Mr. White: The membership of the Dallas A&M club at its Friday meeting in structed the undersigned to convey to the A&M board through you its attitude toward the recent action of the A&M Board in making mil itary training optional for enter ing students. We have the highest respect, Mr. White, for the integrity and com plete sincerity of each member of your board, whether he approved or opposed this move. Although those at our meeting appeared unanimous in thinking the move would px - ove exceedingly detri mental to the A&M College and therefore to Texas, there was no word uttered in criticism of the motives nor intentions of any board member. Further, we rec ognize fully that complete respon sibility for running the school is that solely of the Board. We readily concede that mem bers of the A&M Board are in a position to have first hand facts of the problems presented in running the school, which facts could not be widely known in detail bu us. (We feel that the facts which prompted the Board action, how ever, may have been emphasized here and minimized or ignored there because of having been pre sented by people prejudiced against our full-time military system.) But the school’s objective' is to produce ex-students, not students. And WE DO NOT CONCEDE in any degree that a member of the A&M Board is necessarily any better qualified than we or any other interested citizen of Texas to JUDGE THE QUALITY OF THE SCHOOL’S FINISHED PRO- D U C T. The full-time military system primarily, and the non co-ed system secondarily, have been the two most distinctive and produc tive features of the school while its FINISHED PRODUCT has been making an unparalleled con tribution to the life and welfare of the state. The apparently uniform opinion of ex-students in Dallas is that the move, if carried through, will be followed by turning the school into one of Civilian Cadet status, and this will finish destroying the prime attribute which has made Texas A&M distinctive, and made most of its graduates outstanding ciizens in peace and war. To have made the school co-educational would in our opinion have been most harmful, but nor nearly so much as this move to weaken its military system and provide a broach schism and source of con flict between military and non military students. It is not reasonably to suppose, we feel, that either our curriculas or our faculty, although both may be very good, will continue to at tract a substantial number of stu dents, after A&M has attempted to copy the student life of other schools of the state, which almost without exception are in localities much more attractive to the high school senior than is the drab ter- rain of Brazos county or the en tertainment facilities of a small town like Bryan. The Board is not the first upon which pressure has been exerted to abolish the full-time military System. For fully fifteen years this has been going on. We regret exceedingly that the present Board has yielded to this pressure to abolish the system which for 78 years has been so fruitful. We further respectfully submit, gentlemen, that the school’s ex students have made the mark they have, in spite of the weakening of its military training because it has been administered in recent years by officials who were of a school of thought opposed to it. We would urge you to give the full time military system a chance to regain the effectiveness it dis played for 50 years or longer, and the first fair chance it has had in some years, by emphatic and explicit instructions to administra tive officials that their continuing in their px^esent capacities was con tingent upoix their complete com pliance and aggi'essive coopera tion with the spirit and letter of the Boax-d’s ordered policies. Very x-espectively, THE DALLAS A&M CLUB Of course, the Dallas A&M Club, as well as anyone else, has the right to express their opinion on any matter. But there must be a more tactful way of doing it than an illogi cal letter like this, full of accusations and false conclusions, based on scanty knowledge of the facts. We have the fullest confidence in the over-all ability of the board of directors and the college administration to run the school, and we also believe that A&M should con centrate on educating students, who will be come ex-students in due time. We do not be lieve, as the Dallas A&M club seems to believe, that the primary function of the school is to produce ex-students. Perhaps the Dallas Aggies are afraid that the Corps of Cadets can’t stand by itself, without students being forced to take military. Or perhaps they just aren’t sure what they want. Cadet Slouch . . . fry James Earle ^IDOKi’T K.MOW VA4ETWEE? For. mot tw mvcvieS ; betterjm ever.,but LTWEY'S T14’ COOUE.€»T PLACE Tar c.rm.s.iMP! 69 99 w- ’Y.r -.v. • vm >' ;>• i&'V-• y;A-:,> 4* v • . V .V 'V/,'- V--'H* M-Ax ' -‘V yv*vu ** - Hsf vS’.ViA r , • > -STii- 4 ' .. ■ ^ The Battalion Lawrence Sullivan Ross, Founder of Aggie Traditions “Soldier, Statesman, Knightly Geixtleman” 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 $ .76 per toonth. Advertising rates funxished on request. Entered as second-class matter at Post Office at College 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, Los Angeles, and San Fran 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) 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. Harri Baker-..-... *. Editor, Advei’tising#Manager Kerstin Ekfelt Woman’s Editor- Larry Lightfoot.. Cii-culation Manager New Organization (Continued from Page 1) organizational set-up, under its own board, repox-ting directly to the px-esident. Minor details of the new organi zation have not yet been worked out, Shuffler said. “This is just the ovex-all plan,” he said. “This move,” Mox-gan said, “is an adjustment of our ox-ganization to our new policy of placing mili tary training on an optional basis for all students. It pi’ovides for the development of ox-ganized ac tivities in the civilian student body comparable to those developed fox- military students. “We recognize that in many ax-eas of student activities our pro- gx-ams should be developed simply for A&M students, with no dis tinction between the military and civilians. In other activities the two will be separate, with a spe cial program developed to meet the needs of each group.” 6 Young Mr. Pitt’ At Film Society The Memoi'ial Studexxt Center Film society will px*esent “Young Mix Pitts” Thui-sday at 7:30 p.m. Stari*ing Robert Donat, the film is a bibliogx-aphy of William Pitt jr., who was pidme minister of England dui'ing the Napoleanic war. The film includes i-eadings of Pitt’s speeches befox-e England’s Parliament. Ashlock Named Program Editor Jim Ashlock, senior journalism major fx-om Pecos, has been ap pointed editor of the 1954 football programs. Calvin Dodd will be business manager and Oscar Garcia will assist Dodd in advertising selling. MAH e>AE>V DISAPPEARED ON OKIE O' >■ THEM DOORSTEPS- E>UT- STOOPID MEL//-AH JEST CAIN'T REMEMBER WHICH —AND » WISH HE'D TAKE TH' LI'L STINKER BACK.':'— I SA/D, A THOUSAND TIMES, I WANTED / CATC.HE.RS MITT, BUT THAT DU Ml BIRD--- BIN A < BABN LEFT HERE LATEl\ MLV ' -v by Mrs. ^ te: r l Ixis id. Her t a * r . (y YE °f B a w: .i " ir c LI’L ABNER coh ) iTu; {ome is vi y cooked f the lx on S cpxorot is is the ese I’ooi our d h ^ n x-ici l) ^ -he pot o » goes 11 < dy to )> putti M e fide tie Umoni ,, //Ui let’s I teasp' > i > i e ingredi taxxd' tor ^ _ sugar ^ melt sug >S oil, gii Add Wine, gredient s Venly. eak into Chop % Clip r xtux-e ov fry in hi AN OLD ash 2 WHEN SUR;i oul . SOFT, CUD; , THINGS,'.’ e at a tl1 lbs Be Won P O G O ed thm •OlYl Slice* hoot d h ess exit i ths melt tin previ ni ver v i Add Ik last. delh the ten hop in i AU.fl0HT h lush i '- 7SU, USyqpur hat i(3ON0Dslivore you, ( -vn> of, u