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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 27, 1984)
Page lOD/The Battalion/Monday, August 27, 1984 i lH0r Aggies at Fish Camp enjoy a square dance as part of the many activities. Cadet Slouch, cartoonist show humor of Aggie life One student has been at Texas A&M University for 31 years and still hasn’t come close to graduating. But, he doesn’t seem too concerned about the delay. The student is Cadet Slouch, the cartoon figure who has graced the pages of The Battalion since 1953, when his creator, Dr. Jim Earle was a senior at Texas A&M. Earle is now head of the Department of Engi neering Design and Graphics. “Probably more humorous situa tions exist at Texas A&M than at any other college or university,” Earle said in the introduction to his book, “Slouch — The Aggies’ Aggie.” “No one enjoys this humor more than the Aggies, who are all blessed with an avid sense of humor. Whether the joke is on the prof, the teasip, their roommate or even themselves, the Aggies enjoy a good laugh.” And Earle gives the Aggies plenty of opportunities to laugh at them selves. Whether he is portraying the life of Slouch and his friends Simp and Fish Jethro, or comparing life at the then-all male Texas A&M to the fictitious Coed U., he catches the fla vor of life at Texas A&M and puts it into situations the Aggies find hu morous. Earle said the early Slouch fre quently took stands on campus is sues. “But, I never received any crit icism, even when I was younger and less responsible. I would use people’s faces tnat they could recognize but never with a great deal of hostility, and I never would hit below the belt.” “Even though some of the teach ers I had would hint that thev felt they should be in the strip, I still had reservation about whether people would like it. But no one ever com plained, probably because I tried to do the strip in such a way that they didn’t have anything to complain about.” Today, Slouch’s opinions have lay, changed and he rarely takes a stand on controversial issues. His appear ance also has changed dramatically over the years. Only the Corps of Cadets uniform remains the same. “Slouch wasn’t modelled after anyone,” Earle said. “A cartoonist expresses himself — anything he does reflects himself. I never thought 1 looked like Slouch but maybe I do. “My lack of time is frustrating,” Earle said. “There’s no time to be a good teacher, cartoonist, author and department head. None of these areas receive the time they deserve.” A “Slouch Award” is given an nually to the outstanding member of The Battalion staff. Members of the staff choose the winner and Earle provides the funds. Earle, a native of Jacksonville, started drawing cartoons when he was a senior in high school. Four years later, Cadet Slouch made his first appearance in print. “There’s not much of a romantic story concerning the evolution of Slouch,” Earle said. “I just started drawing cartoons and decided it would be fun to have a continuing character.” “The Slouch of today is rounder, less angular, His hairstyle has changed over ten years from an ex aggerated military cut to a regular cut. He still isn’t up-to-date—I usually have his running about 10 years behind the time.” The evolution of Slouch can clearlv be seen in the four books of Slouch cartoons that Earle has com piled: “Slouch vs. A&M” (1954); “We is the Aggies” (1955); “The “I worked on the Batt as a cartoo nist for a long time and just decided to give the money. It (the Slouch Award) might give them an incen tive to work harder.” Earle received his bachelor’s de gree from Texas A&M in 1955, his master’s degree in 1962 and his doc torate in enucation in 1964. He and his wife, Theresa, and his two daughters, Elizabeth, 19, and Susan, 17, live in College Station. Fish camp still popular among A&M freshmen By MARK SPICER Reporter tended the camp as a freshman. Fish Camp celebrated its 31st year this summer, and it’s still growing. “Next year another camp may have to be added to the four already scheduled in order to accommodate those who otherwise would be turned away due to lack of space,” says camp director “Phillip Rosen- feld. Fish Camp is a student-run activ ity that caters exclusively to fresh men. Counselors are uppeyclass stu dents who are “pretty well-rounded individuals,” Rosenfeld said. To qualify as counselors, potential candidates "go through an extensive interview process” which evaluates their knowledge of University life, their familiarity with the school, and especially their desire to help fresh men, said Rosenfeld, a senior man agement and marketing major from Baltimore, Maryland. Many counsel ors, Rosenfeld said, are student lead- *1? “It’s outstanding,” Ramsey said. “I would say that it’s a mistake for an incoming freshman not to know about it or to know about it and not g°- Casey Ramsey, a senior journa lism major from Brownsville, has been a counselor for the last three years and regrets not having at- He said that being a counselor gives him the opportunity to pass on his knowledge of what it means to be an Aggie to the next generation of students. Fish Camp started in the early 1950s when Gordon Gay took some freshmen camping and it has be come an Aggie tradition. This year’s camp had about 2,450 freshmen and 616 counselors. Rosenfeld said, 80 to 85 percent of the counselors went through the program as freshmen. During the four-day camp, Uni versity faculty members and staff members speak to the students on topics including traditions, personal goals, study habits, and career devel opment. The primary objective of the camp is to help freshmen make the transition from high school to col lege as smooth as possible. “I thought it was great," said Markham Jones, a recent A&M graduate from Sweeny. “They teach - you all the traditions and basically|j| you know what A&M is about." Jones said more people go in school here than live in his non town and that he was overwhelmd the first day of class his freshmai; year. But, he added, "GoingtoFe!; Camp enabled me to meetaloto! people and I had a lot of these peo pie m class later.” Struggles of Slouch” (1956); and “Slouch—the Aggies’ Aggie (1961). Earle said tnere are very few brainstorms connected with drawing a continuing cartoon. “It’s usually a matter of deciding to do something and plotting away. Once the think ing for a strip is done, it only takes about eight to 10 minutes draw it.” In addition to the daily cartoon, Earle is the author of engineering design and graphics textbook and il lustrates textbooks and technical works. He also provides drawings for campus organizations such as the Singing Cadets. “There’s an endless line of clubs and groups who need work done,” Earle said. He does this work free of charge because “they can’t afford to pay me so I don’t ask them to.” Mike Marino, a junior indiist distribution major from Houston! said “It gave me a headstart in meet! mg a lot of people and having a loti of fun." He had heard about tkI camp through friends who wertl going ro school here and said thl both his father and two sistersgral! uated from A&M. #1 M/ua Texa Marino said that going to FitlLii mayor Camp gave him an opportunitymfcaiv Halter only to meet a lot of oilier freshmMmacy and who were getiing ready to joBHalter is ; through the same thing he was,botlas mayor. Ht it also gave him the chance to tnttiBsor of pol some upperclass students whorei|ei''itv. wanted to help him. M "It helped me set some goalsfoB m n V myself," Marino said. “I learned tint ! x [ v ' een 1< M I could really do whatever 1 wantd * s 1 1 / . to or be w hatever I wanted tobe." ■kf rea,e .‘ feed some in “■jllHowever, He that st i ■liege Slat Biblems, he •‘They (sti ,^tn they an H says. Stu pulation ] sis for rev ■iding and ■“Students le city of C ■ice stride liount of c Ho pay a l< > H says. ■The city c di :ik in liqt J3,000 per IHiates that IBs comes fr ■“Some pec if it weren't Bn would I) »d,” he say ■"That's tn fot the city r jHmld be a I Bout 6,000 jlimldn’t be; IHidents to li IH'The poii lind of in thi Li versity t Photo by MICHEL CHANG A freshman learns the proper gesticulations for an Aggie at a Fish Camp session. LIMITED LEASING AVAILABLE GREAT LOCATION SUPER PRICES LUXURIOUS AMENITIES EFFICIENT MANAGEMENT Open 8 to 6 M-F Saturday 10 to 6 Sunday I to 6 (409) 764-0504 (409) 846-5745 904 University Oaks //56 College Station, TX 77840 Sell it in Battalion Classified 845-2611 One Bdrms. from $325 Two Bdrms. from $405 FREE Cable and HB0 • Pool • 24-Hr. Emergency Maintenance • On Shuttle Bus Route • Laundry Rooms Large Walk-In Closets 1001 Harvey Rd. 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