(
+}i ’i
«;-Li
77ze Battalion
Number 88: Volume 55
COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1956
Price 5 Cents
RE WEEK
Leaders for
Forums and
Discussion Groups
CAPT. ROGERS
Dorms G, 8
REV. BOLIN
Milner, Leggett Halls
REV. CARTER
Walton Hall
REV. DICKINSON
Law, Mitchell, Puryear
HOMER REEVES
Dorms 14, 17
REV. LITTRICK
Dorm 9
RE Week Opens Monday At 11
SDX Initiation
To Be In MSC
At 5:15 Today
The A&M Chapter of Sigma
Delta Chi, professional jour
nalism fraternity, will initiate
11 new members today at 5:15
p.m. in room 3D of the Memor
ial Student Centei\
Present officers of the fraternity
will be installed as another part of
the ceremony.
Those chosen for membership in
SDX were Frank Waddell, Barry
Hart, Dave McReynolds, Jerry
Weatherby, Welton Jones, Jim
Neighbors, John West, Connie Fck-
ard, Joe Dan Boyd, Jim Bower and
Bennie Fichte.
In order to qualify for member
ship students have to have a grade
point ratio of 1.5 or above, work
on some publication and show pro
fessional attitudes.
Officers to be installed are Bill
Thomas, president; Jim Collins,
vice-president; Bill Hollaway, sec
retary; Ed Files, treasurer; Ron
nie Greathouse, publicity chairman;
and Ralph Cole, parliamentarian.
Following the meeting, SDX
members and delegates attending
the Texas Press Association Me
chanical Conference will go to the
Journalism Building for a barbecue
supper.
Rev. Sheridan Will Lead
A&M Catholics' RE Week
The Rev. Edward A. Sheridan,
S.J., member of the Jesuit Order,
will be the Religious Emphasis
Week leader for the Catholic stu
dents next week.
There will be Mass and Medita
tion at 6:80 each morning in St.
Mary’s Chapel; services and in
struction each evening at 7:30 and
Open Foi’um foi* married students
Tuesday and Thursday after serv
ices.
Traffic Course
To Begin Monday
The first annual Traffic Engi
neering Short Course will be held
at A&M next week, beginning Mon
day.
Traffic engineering problems,
organization, laws and regulations,
speed studies and zoning will be
discussed at the course scheduled
to end Feb. 24.
Sponsored jointly by the Texas
Transportation Institute and the
Civil Engineering Department, the
course is offered with the aim of
assisting- medium, sized • cities in
the training of personnel respon
sible for the various traffic func
tions.
D. Grant Mickle, director, traf
fic engineering division, of the
Automotive Safety Foundation,
Washington, will deliver the open
ing address.
Rev. Sheridan is director of Xa
vier Hall Laymen’s Retreat League
in the Diocese of
Natchez, Miss. He
holds a B.A. and
also graduate de
grees of a Licen
tiate in Philoso
phy and a Licen
tiate Degree in
Theology. He is
also a Professor
of Mental Health
at the De Paul Psychiatric Hospi
tal, New Orleans. During his stay
he will have accommodations at
the-MSC.
Rev. Sheridan
Finalists Picked
For Sweetheart
The Sweetheart for the First
Regiment will be chosen from the
following finalists and named at
the Ball to be held tomorrow night
in Sbisa Hall:
Adele Matula, West; Sara Na
dine Haws, Brenham; Virginia Ann
Richardson, Athens; Judy Oakley,
Austin; and Mavis Fries, Fort
Worth.
The Aggieland Orchestra will
provide music for the'dance which
starts at 9 and ends at 12 p.m.
The dance is open to all A&M
students.
Picture Plans
For Seniors
In Corps Set
Corps Seniors will have
their portrait for the “’56 Ag - -
gieland” made according to
the following schedule:
Feb. 20-21, Corps Staff—
first, second and third Regimen
tal staffs; A, B, C, D, Infantry.
Feb. 23-24, A, B, C Armor; A, B
Engineers; A Transportation; A
Ordnance; A, B, C, D Field Ar
tillery.
Feb. 27-28, second Regiment,
first, second, third, fourth Battal
ion Staffs; A, B, C, AAA; A
Signal, A QMC.
March 1-2, A Chemical; E In
fantry; A, B, Composite; A, B,
Athletes; Maroon and White Band.
March 5-6, first Wing, first, sec
ond, third, fourth Group Staffs;
Squadrons 1-12.
March 8-9, second Wing, fifth,
sixth, seventh, eighth Group
Staffs; Squadrons 13-25.
Portraits will be made at the
Aggieland . Studio, between the
hours 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. on the
days scheduled.
Executive officers and seniors
on staff will also need to have a
portrait made in garrison cap.
Seniors desiring to have full
length (boot) portraits made,
should make an appointment with
the studio. Annual portraits may
be made at the same time as the
full length portrait, but by ap
pointment only. No unscheduled
full length sittings can be accepted.
Saucier, Proctor
Will Speak Friday
Two speakers will be featured
at the meeting of the Oceano
graphic Society at 7:30 p.m. Fri
day in room 3B of the Memorial
Student Center.
A topic of interest to biologists,
chemists and physicists, “The
Measurement of Ocean Salt,” will
be discussed by Charles Proctor,
research scientist.
Dr. Walter J. Saucier, author of
the textbook “Principles of Me
teorological Analysis” will speak
on “Thirty Minutes on the Jet
Stream”. Both speakers are staff
members of the Oceanography De
partment.
Services Set in Guion;
WTA WPlans Broadcasts
By JIM NEIGHBORS
Battalion Staff Writer
The fourteenth annual Religious Emphasis Week at
A&M will begin Monday morning at 11 with services in Guion
Hall with Dr. Morris Wee as the main convocation speaker.
Tuesday’s program is at 10 a.m.
Special forums and discussion groups will be held each
afternoon and evening in the dormitories where the Relig
ious leaders are staying. There are sixteen counselors for
the dormitories, the married students, and faculty members.
Radio Station WTAW will broadcast the Religious
Emphasis week programs from Guion Hall each day
Monday through Friday from 5:30 to 6:15 p.m. Those
unable to attend the programs will be able to hear them
at this hour.
Here is the last of the se-+
ries of biographical sketches
on the religious leaders.
Rev. Carlos W.
D a v i s. First
Methodist Church
Atlanta, Texas,
will live in Hart
Hall and will lead
the forums and
disucssion groups
for Hart and Biz-
zell Halls. ‘v
He has worked
in Texas . Confer- Rt * v - I>avls
ence Summer Assemblies and youth
camps, and is a member of the
Commission on Christian Vocations
Texas Conference. Rev. Davis was
director of the Wesley Foundation
A&M Methodist Church for two
years.
Chaplain Gregory J. Lock, div
ision chaplain. Fourth Armored
Division, Fort Hood, will live in
Dormitory 5 and
lead the forums
and discussion
groups for Dorm
itories 5 and 7
and be available
for conferences
during the week.
A native o f
Ohio, Lock re
ceived his degree
in Electrical En
gineering from University of Cin
cinnati, and his B.D., Cuni Laude,
Virginia Theological Seminary. He
Chap. Lock
Deadline Saturday
Saturday is the last day stu
dents may drop courses with
no grade. Those wishing to
drop courses must do so be
fore then or receive a grade
of ‘F”. Last Saturday was the
last day for adding new cour
ses. No new courses may be
added after dropping others.
served overseas from December
1942 until Noverber, 1945, in Med-
iterranian Theater of Operations.
Rev. Kenneth L. Mauldin, Saint
Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in
Dallas, will live
in Dormitory 16
and lead the for
um and discussion
groups for that
dormitory and be
available for con
ferences during
the week.
A native of Dal- Rev. Mauldin
hart, Texas, Mauldin attended
Trinity Univei’sity, receiving his
B.A. degree there in 1940. He re
ceived his B.D. degree from Mc
Cormick Presbyterian Theological
Seminary, Chicago. Mauldin re
turned to Trinity University in
1951 to receive his Doctor of Di
vinity.
He has been a frequent partici
pant in Religious Emphasis Weeks.
Presently, he is chairman of the
Committee on Presbyterian Stu
dents at S.M.U., member of the
Board of Trustees of Trinity Uni
versity, member of the Board of
Directors of Westminster Founda
tions for Synod of Texas, Presby
terian Church, U.S.A.
Students Urged
To Pick Up $4.
Those students who wish to
get their refund for the Gym
nasium Clothing and Laundry
Service fee must do so by Fri
day, Feb. 24.
The refund of $4 on the $8
fee can be picked up at the Re
quired Physical Education Of
fice in the new addition to G.
Rollie White Coliseum.
Pest-Control
To Be Featured
At Conference
Aerial applicators from all
over Texas and adjoining
states will be in College Sta
tion Feb. 26-28 for the Fifth
Annual Texas Agriculutral
Aviation Conference and Short
Course on Pest Control.
They will attend a two-day pro
gram, designed to get better re
sults for both the applicator and
the farmer. Subjects to be dis
cussed on the program 1’ange from
“Problems of Insect Control with
Airplanes” through “The Effect of
Herbicide Droplet Size and Other
Variables on Mesquite Control” and
“A Rice Farmer’s Experiences with
Aerial Application” to “Sales Meth
ods and Customer Relations.”
This annual conference and short
course is sponsored by the Texas
A&M College System, the Texas
Aeronautics Commission, the Tex
as Flying Farmers and Ranchers
Association and the Texas Aerial
Applicators Association.
It is designed to bring aerial ap-
plicatoi’s and other interested per
sons together during what is usu
ally a slack period to hear special
ists describe developments in both
the flying and the pest control
phase, and to facilitate discussioius
among themselves of their prob
lems and solutions.
Wilkins May Start
Studies Monday
Bobby Wilkins is making fine
progress after his attack of spinal
meningitis Feb. 2 and, if he con
tinues to improve, will be allowed
to resume his studies Monday.
A membe^• of D Infantry and
the son of Lt. Col. Taylor Wilkins,
assistant commandant, Wilkins was
released from the Bryan Hospital
earlier this week. He is up and
around the house and is doing fine
according to his father.
Young Wilkins was taken to the
Bryan Hospital Feb. 2 and was in
a coma from 2 that afternoon un
til early Monday morning. Doc
tors at the hospital tapped his
spine several times to remove fluid
collected there as a result of the
disease.
Readers Express A Few Views On Segregation
Dear Mr. Editor:
I fully realize that it is an edi
tor’s privilege to tack on any
snide, degrading, or smart aleck
comment to letters to the editors
to cover the editor’s ignorance or
lack of interest in examining and
observing both sides of a case. Ob
viously you took advantage of this
privilege when you added your ir-
revelent remark to Mr. James P.
M. Syler’s letter — The Battalion
Wednesday, Feb. 16, 1956—which
bad a much stronger argument for
his side of the case than your ill-
written editorial. Mr. Syler should
be congratulated for his clearness
of thought while it should be rec
ommended that the editor write an
editorial that appears to be other
than hastily written.
Charles Beyer, ’58
James Blackmon, 58
Editor, The Battalion:
I’m directing this letter toward
James P. M. Syler, who seems to
have Communism confused with
the basic Christian principles. To
begin with Mr. Syler,' you state
that the recent integration move
ments has produced “nothing but
a chain of bloody racial riots and
a few mixed marriages, the off
spring of which are the beginning
of a mongrel race.” If you will
open your eyes for a moment you
may see some of the gratifying re
sults of integration here in Texas;
San Antonio has desegregated their
schools without “bloody riots” or
any organized opposition. Num
erous other Southeim communities
have done likewise. Mixed mar
riages are a matter of individual
concern; therefore if you feel that
you can’t go to school with Ne
groes without marrying one, I can
understand your personal problem.
However, I don’t believe that even
you, if you pause to consider the
facts, can foresee the great num
ber of mixed marriages necessai'y
to produce a so-called “mongrel
race” capable of presenting a social
or intelectual problem.
“There have been only three Ne
gro governments in the history of
the world—all three were dismal
failures,” you state. I’m sure the
governments of Liberia, Ethiopia
and Haiti would find this quite a
surprising revelation. How many
Caucasian governments have been
“dismal failures”? How many will
fail in the future ? As a 1’ace we
have not been entirely successful,
and the Negro has contributed
greatly to the government of the
United States. Color or other rac
ial characteristics have no effect
on the ability to govern.
If we are to have segregation,
why not have it complete ? Why
should Orientals or American In
dians be allowed the privilege that
are ours by right of our general
superiority? Because our nation
realizes that there is no superior
race, and that each race contrib
utes to the general welfare. If,
during our history, evei-yone had
associated entirely with their “own
kind” we would be a country di
vided into sections, each section
speaking its own language, observ
ing its own cvistoms, and defend
ing its own independence. It is
the intermingling of people and
the pooling of ideas that has ad
vanced us. You say that “it has
long been the dream of mankind
to make all men equal—IN SPITE
OF NATURE”; it is a fundament
al of Christianity that nature
makes all men equal—in spite of
mankind.
If this integration movement was
originated by the Communists, then
I’m sure they welcome your type
of publicity, Mr. Syler, just as they
welcomed the Alabama U. riots.
It is you and your kind that are
providing the material that makes
their propaganda possible. Were
you of any importance nationally,
your letter would be front-pag'e
news throughout the world. It
would not be a praiseworthy thing
either, but an example of bigotry
that would shame all freedom-lov
ing- people. Yours is the cheap,
“pseudo-intellectual article” based
on phoney facts and careless rea
soning. The first two paragraphs
of your letter are a shameful ex
ample of prejudice in its lowest
form; the remainder is melodrama
tic nonsense, probably derived
from too many movies and paper
back novels.
I realize that integration pre
sents problems, but they are prob
lems that must be solved in keep
ing with our ideals. They must be
solved in such a way as to show
the world that we mean “all men
are created equal”. We of the
South have failed to give equality
thi-ough a “separate but equal”
doctrine, and if integration is the
only path to complete equality,
then we must integrate. The soon
er our so-called “fellow Americans
at Alabama U.” realize this the
sooner we, as Americans and
Christians, will be able to claim
another victory in this war of
words.
Sincerely,
A. O. Hilgers, ’56
Editor, The Battalion:
In reply to James Syler’s letter
to the Editor of last Wednesday,
I would like to bring out some
points that clear thinking- people
Weather Today
SHOWERS
Thunderstorms in the northwest
will bring scattered rain showers
for College Station with no dras
tic change in temperatures. Yes
terday’s high of 81 degrees drop
ped to 69 degrees last night. Tem
perature at 10:30 a.m. was 72 de
grees.
should not overlook. First, I would
like to say that Syler’s letter is
nothing- but a biased, one-sided,
bunch of “baloney” stuffed into
sentences. Is suppression of any
moral person with an ethical char
acter, because he happens to have
dark pigment in his skin, the true
democratic way of life? Was it
not Hitler’s Fascist government
that believed that one race was
superior to another?
Syler insinuates that Negroes
should go to separate schools and
be segregated in other ways. Seg
regation is causing and will con-
tine to cause a less unified Amer
ica. Is disunion what Americans
want or is this what Communists
want ? A team .that does not play
togethei- does not win many games.
I would like to challenge James
to prove, according- to scientific
facts, that Negroes are any more
inferior than any other race of peo
ple, either in inherent intelligence
or physical body structure. Ne
groes, in general, ai-e not as well
educated as some other races be
cause they haven’t had as many
opportunities as other American
races. That 'is because of the tre
mendous bans placed on them by
white people in America.
One of the reasons Syler gives
for his conclusion that the Negro
race is inferior, is that there have
been only three Negro govern
ments in the history of the world
—“all three were dismal failures.”
This statement defeats itself. How
many governments of other races
have been failures ?
Under what conditions did the
Negro governments operate ? What
types of governments were they?
I believe that all of these ques
tions would have to be answered
before a conclusion could be drawn
from the above statement.
He, Syler, says that desegrega
tion is all a Communist plot. I
think that desegregation is exact
ly opposite to what the Commun
ists want.
The fact that Negroes and other
minority groups are discriminated
against in America is one of the
major propaganda weapons of the
Communists. When integration is
accomplished it will help stop such
propaganda.
I would like to congratulate you,
Bill, on the outstanding- editorials
you have published.
Sincerely,
Dale Harvill, ’57
Editor, The Battalion:
To Mr. James P. M. Syler,
It is a shame that a man like
you with some colleg-e education
can’t think or just don’t want to
accept'the fact that Negroes are
equal to whites and always \till
be. The only difference is in the
pigment of their skin, for they
have as much intelligence as you.
James, you say that the Negro
race is not ready even for the sha
dows. I say that you are wrong.
Why neglect them; they are hu
man beings and should be given a
chance and a helping hand. I
would not deny help or encourage
ment to a person because he has
a different colored skin. To me,
all men are equal. You can read
this in the Bible. Why disci-imi-
nate between men because of their
race ?
Have you ever remembered that
many Negroes died fighting to
keep that home of yours safe ? Have
yovi ever thought of them as your
fellow citizens ? Have you ever as
sociated with them and tried to
give them a helping hand when
they needed it ? I’m sure they
would help you if you needed it.
James, you are a century be
hind times, like many others. You
are living in a democratic and
Christian country. Do you think
Jesus Christ would discriminate
between people because of their
color? You know very well He
would not. He loves whites, Ne
groes, Indians and all the others
just the same.
I’m not a Negro-lover; I just
respect the laws of human kind.
And I’m a Christian.
You described the editor of The
Battalion as being blind, stupid
and naive. I think your nai-row
mind needs to be widened and your
eyes opened to the world of real
ity.
You are still living in the age
of slavery; you still think Negroes
are low and no good. I don’t know
how, with such a narrow mind,
you consider yourself capable of
criticizing the truth.
People like you are the ones
that are causing America to be
criticized. I doubt not at all that
you would be opposed if a Negro
tried to enter A&M. It’s people
like you that are rioting up north.
(See SEGREGATION, Page 2)