cTariioo n i n g : a job an cl bobby
forartists of the Battalion
Cadet Slouch: a university
tradition for three decades
by Ann Ramsbottom
Battalion Staff
Having a good sense of
humour has become one of the
trademarks of a good Aggie.
And Cadet Slouch has become a
tradition in illustrating humour
at A&M.
For 30 years, Dr. Jim Earle,
creator of Slouch, has illustrated
the Aggie way-of-life. Through
Cadet Slouch, he relays editorial
messages and forces readers to
see the lighter side of life.
“Humour is sometimes the
only thing that keeps us going,"
Earle said, "and nobody can
iake a pke Yhe Yne Texas
Aggies."
Earle, head of the Depart
ment of Engineering Design and
Graphics, became interested in
cartooning as a Jacksonville high
school senior. Cadet Slouch
made his first appearance in
print in 1953 when Earle was a
senior at A&M.
"I had drawn funny pictures
before and I thought that I'd like
to do something of a cartoon na
ture," Earle said.
"In the beginning, Slouch
was somewhat more crude and
empathetic in order to get a
point across — young people
tend to overkill," Earle said,
"and sometimes not in good
taste."
In addition to "Cadet" being
dropped from Slouch's name,
he has also undergone some
changes in views and opinions
over the years. He has become
less subtle and less rough
around the issues.
Slouch has gone through
some physical changes over the
years as well. "The Slouch of to
day is rounder and less angu
lar," Earle said. "His hairstyle
has changed over the years from
an exaggerated military cut to a
regular cut. He still isn't up-to-
date — I like to keep him about
10 years behind time.”
Earle used to prepare his car
toons well in advance of publica
tion, but now draws them up
shortiy before bearihne.
"I've had a subconscious
deadline for 30 years now,"
Earle said. " You have to be able
to belch up ideas every day."
Most of Earle's ideas come
from things he sees on campus
that students can identify with.
"I never intentionally try to
take advantage of people," he
said, "and I seldom take a stand
on controversial issues any
more.
"At first I used to poke fun at
people. Some said that they felt
left out that they weren't used in
my strips."
Once an idea has been
thought out, the cartoon comes
easy. It takes seven or eight —
maybe ten minutes to do a car
toon. The character's form stays
basically the same from strip to
strip, but the expressions vary.
Expression is manipulated
through the eyes, mouth, and
eyebrows.
Slouch's history can be fol
lowed in Earle's four books of
Slouch cartoons: "Slouch vs.
A&M" (1954); "We is the
Aggies" (1955); "The Struggles
of Slouch" (1956) and "Slouch —
the Aggies "Aggie" (1961).
In addition to these publica
tions, Earle has been instrumen
tal in writing an engineering de
sign and graphics textbook and
has illustrated textbooks and
technical works. He also pro
vides drawings for campus
organizatons such as the Sing
ing Cadets.
He does much of this work
free of charge because most of
the organizations can't afford to
pay a fee.
For the past 10 years Earle has
presented an annual "Slouch
Award" to the most outstanding
Battalion staff member for the
year. The recipient — voted on
by fellow-staff members — re
ceives a scholarship.
Earle received his bachelor's
degree from Texas A&M in 1955,
his master's degree in 1962 and
his doctorate in education in
1964.
RfW
Ever since I started wearing
this shirt, I've been getting
these spooky feelings.