page 2 the battalion •tuesday, jan. 16, 1940...
TRANSCRIPT
THE BATTALION •TUESDAY, JAN. 16, 1940PAGE 2
The BattalionSTUDENT TRI-WEEKLY NEWSPAPER OP
TEXAS A. & M. COLLEGE
The tsattalion, official newspaper of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas and the city of College Station, is published three times weekly from September to June, issued Puesday, Thursday, and Saturday mornings; and is published weekly from June through August.
Entered as second-class matter at the Post Office at College Station, Texas, under the Act of Congress of March 8, 1879.
Subscription rate, $3 a school year. Advertising rates upon request.
Represented nationally by National Advertising Service, Inc., st New York City, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.
Office. Room 122, Administration Building. Telephone1-6444.
1939 Member 1940
Dissociated Golle&iate Press
BILL MURRAY_____LARRY WEHRLE ____lames Critz ........... ........E. C. (Jeep) Oates -----H. G. Howard -------------‘Hub" Johnson ______Philip Golman------------John J. Moseley ——
_______EDITOR-IN-CHIEFADVERTISING MANAGER__________ Associate Editor______________Sports Editor______ Circulation Manager________ Intramural Editor_______Staff Photographer_____________ Staff Artist
TUESDAY STAFFCharlie Wilkinson ___________________________ Managing EditorRam Davenport ___________________ Asst. Advertising ManagerC. A. Montgomery __________________________ Editorial Assistant
Junior EditorsEarle Shields ____ _______________ _____ __________ Don Andrews
Senior Sports AssistantsJhnmie Cokinos ........................................................... ...... Jimmy James
Junior Advertising SolicitorsK. W. Hubbard ..................................................... ................ J- D- Smith
Reportorial StaffBill Fitch, H. S. Hutchins, W. D. C. Jones, Joe Leach, J. L. Morgan, Jerry Rolnick, J. C. Rominger, E. A. Sterling, __________________ W. P. Walker. R. J. Warren
Vanishing Sportsman?We have all read stories about the “Van
ishing American". Here at A. & M. is something that is vanishing too rapidly, and that is sportsmanship.
The action of the corps at the basketball game Saturday night was one of the poorest exhibitions of “sportsmanship" that we have ever witnessed.
It is true that some fouls go unnoticed, and that A. & M. is sometimes penalized unfairly ; ■ but the referee, like anyone else, is not perfect and occasionally makes mistakes. Mistake or not, his decision should not be a signal for the corps to break into a chorus of loud “boos" every time it does not favor our team.
Perhaps the worst feature of all was the attempt to disturb and upset a boy on the other side who had a free toss. Aggies, ask yourselves—do you consider that true fairness?
During an exciting game, it’s easy at times to forget ourselves. But after the game, on due reflection—would you decide to repeat such actions?
The yell-leaders who were at the game did their best to restrain the booing, but it even grew so bad at times that Woody Varner, cadet colonel and captain of our basketball team, tried to wave it down from the floor.
We have heard many outsiders complain about lack of sportsmanship at A. & M., but sometimes we’ve thought they were just “sore" because their team lost. Now it becomes painfully evident that at least a part of what they claim is true.
The team representing A. & M. always does its best and always plays clean games. But the good the team does will be lost if the boys in the stands fail to do their share in showing the best sportsmanship possible.
We have always had some boys that “boo" the decisions of the referees, but on the whole, this used to be kept to a bare minimum. It has just been during the past two years that “boos” have begun to take the place of “Farmers, fight!” and “Yea, Army!”
It is time that some students should realize that they are in college and not in high school, and should try to act like college students.
We, as individuals, may not be affected 3by the action of the corps, but the team and the school suffer. It’s up to us,. Army, to ^eliminate the unsportsmanlike attitude that Jias invaded the campus. This will take the fun cooperation of all students.
Instead of the “Vanishing Sportsman” let’s make it the “Return of the Sportsman” and the return of the true Aggie spirit!
—Don Corley
Senior-Want a Job?The Ex-Students Association has begun
this year with a program that promises to be the biggest aid for graduating seniors in the history of the school. The Association hopes that by keeping a complete personnel record of all seniors and graduates, a greater number of prospective employers may be contacted than is possible by the student’s own personal efforts or even through departmental channels. Already a mailing list of hundreds of employers has been made up and new concerns are being contacted every day.
The Association is offering “free, gratis" to every senior and to every ex-student the opportunity to find employment, first jobs for the graduating seniors and then new and better jobs for the exes. The entire service, except the printed folders which are entirely optional, does not cost the student a single penny. The only cost is that of the energy expended in filling out the personnel record blank and in the effort of taking it to the Former Students’ Office in the Administration Building.
With this set-up, it is surprising that there are still over 200 seniors, almost 25% of the senior class of ’40, who have not availed themselves of this opportunity. Even you who are already assured of employment upon graduation cannot go wrong in at least turning in the personnel record. There may come the day when a new job, even the
chance for a change of scenery, will be welcome. It is in this case that your having kept in touch with the Personnel Office will make itself felt.
Therefore, we urge those of you who have as yet not done so to turn in the complete personnel record, both out of spirit of pure cooperation and in the hopes that it may be worth $’s and fs.
—Max McCullar
Newspaper FactsSome interesting facts concerning newspapers
and advertising are contained in a book by Fred J. Haskin, veteran syndicator of information from which the following are condensed:
Egyptians used advertising 4,000 years ago. Most early advertising was pictorial in character. The first newspaper advertising is said to have appeared in Germany in 1591.
It is estimated that about a billion and a half dollars is spent annually for all kinds of advertising in the United States. More than 360 American daily newspapers are equipped to print advertisements in color.
The fastest modern newspaper presses can turn out about 34,000 24-page papers an hour, and a somewhat larger number of 12-page or 16-page papers.
The first newspaper agency in the modern sense is believed to have been that organized by Charles Havas of Paris in 1835. In 1840 he established a news service between Paris, London and Brussels, using carrier pigeons.
James Gordon Bennett began the publication of the first review of financial news in the New York Herald in 1935.
Newspaper editorials were originated by John Dillingham, an English journalist, and one of them got him into jail in 1645. Some times justly and sometimes unjustly, other editors have met a similar fate many times since.
Maybe the taxpayer ought to be taxed more to subsidize his taxes.
When it comes to footing the bills, so many of us are out of step.
A writer wonders how women can enjoy a conversation when all are talking at the same time. That’s easy to understand—each is listening to herself.
Optimists who pretend to believe the worst never happens will have some trouble classifying Stalin.
What is this mad new Europe, in which the only peaceful spots are Ireland and the West Front?
The President of the Carnegie Corporation says that the creation of academic degrees has increased to a preposterous point. Well, the surplus of sheepskins has to be used up somewhere!
It looks as if the government had found the ideal solution of the problem of what to do on reaching one’s debt limit. Simply refuse the limit.
It’s a surprising thing some food manufacturer hasn’t come out with an alphabet soup to take care of all vitamin requirements.
You can tell when you are approaching the center of culture. The traffic, gas fumes and billboards get thicker.
As the World Turns...
Steen
By DR. R. W. STEENThe Russo-Finnish war—or from the Soviet
point of view, Russia’s desperate effort to protect her territory from Finnish aggression—continues to produce more actual fighting than the war in West
ern... Europe. All reports indicate that the advantage to date lies definitely with the Finns. Many observers are beginning to wonder whether or not Russia is a first-class power, or the same thing that Russia has been for centuries—that is, an area with enormous resources and countless men so handicapped by poor leadership and antiquated systems of industry and transportation as to be of little actual worth in battle.
In view of the fact that Russia has met with little success in “defending herself” it is difficult to understand the dropping of bombs on Swedish territory Sunday. It may have been intended to warn Sweden that it would be best if she extended no more aid to Finland. Or it may be that the Russian fliers who have never been described as first-class navigators, thought they were over Finnish territory. After all, they were only sixty miles from Finland, and what is fifty miles to a man who understands the operation of a bomb trigger better than he does the use of navigation instruments?
Spring will probably bring increased activity to the western front. Both Belgium and Holland called additional men to the colors Sunday. It is reported that German troops have been massed along the frontiers of the low countries, and their governments are taking no chances on being unprepared to meet an invasion. A rumor, probably unfounded, continues to float around. It is that Holland has recently agreed that a German thrust will not be resisted, and that Germany can gain bases on the sea without opposition from the Dutch. Such a rumor seems a bit fantastic, and is no doubt nothing more than wishful thinking on the part of the Germans, or perhaps artful propaganda on the part of the Allies.
Uncle Sam’s census takers will assemble this year a great mass of material about the number, habits and possessions of the American people. A great deal of most valuable inormation will be obtained, and from it will come a political argument of some magnitude, that of reapportionment. All of the states entitled to more representatives will want the representatives—or the seats in Congress—immediately reapportioned, while those states losing members will do all in their power to delay reapportionment as long as possible.
Off the Record
Dob N?sbe!
Beginning Wednesday at the Palace is a show that is definitely top notch as far as classification goes. It is “SWANEE RIVER,” produced by Darryl F. Zanuck of Twentieth Century-Fox and filmed in technicolor.
The cast includes such names as follows:
Stephen Foster___Don AmecheJane.....................Andrea Deadsp. P. Christy............A1 JolsonAnd the Hall Johnson Choir.
Don Ameche, who made a great success of the life of Alexander Graham Bell, has not tried his hand at the life of Stephen Foster. In truth, Stephen Foster’s life is probably more suited to the making of a picture show than was Bell’s. By the process of elimination “Swanee River” should be better than was “The Life of Alexander Graham Bell,” and the latter was picked by many as one of the ten best in 1939. Foster’s life was filled with both joys and hardships, and furnishes enough crises for a strong plot. His songs are untold value to the entertainment. Then with the Hall Johnson Choir to sing them, it should be a box- office hit. There are some, however, who do not like Don Ameche nor his acting; I admit there are times when his acting is overdone, but I don’t see how anybody could dislike this show.
The story deals with Foster as a down-and-out song writer trying to sell his music, knowing that until he does he cannot marry the gently-reared Jane, with whom he is desperately in love. E. P. Christy comes along and the two
make a small fortune in no time with his songs of the South. However, the Civil War puts a stop to his songs, and soon he is broke again. He turns to drink and loses Jane. Just before his death he writes perhaps the most famous of all his songs, Swanee River, but never lives to see its tremendous success.
Charles Boyer and Irene Dunne star in “WHEN TOMORROW COMES,” playing at the Assembly Hall Tuesday and Wednesday nights. It is a story with somewhat of a tragic ending. Boyer, married to a woman who at times is greatly demented, meets Irene Dunne, a concert pianist. The two have two short days together when they are caught in a storm, but Boyer leaves for Europe with his wife at the end of the show with a promise to return “some day.”
WHATS SHOWINGAT THE ASSEMBLY HALL
Tuesday and Wednesday— “WHEN TOMORROW COMES”, with Charles Boyer and Irene Dunne.
AT THE PALACEBeginning Wednesday—
“SWANEE RIVER”, with Don Ameche, Andrea Leads, and A1 Jolson.
AT THE QUEENTuesday, Wednesday, and
Thursday — “NIGHT OF NIGHTS”, with Pat O’Brien, Olympe Bradna, and Roland Young.
M ECENT mM ECORD
1 | ELEASES
Tommy cut a swingaroo and a medium fast rhythmic ballad for Victor record 26429. EASY DOES IT was written by Sy Oliver and Trummie Young when they were members of the Jimmy Lunceford Orchestra. Sy Oliver, as you know, is now arranging for the Dorsey crew and has already turned out some startling manuscripts. AM 1 PROUD? was written by Teddy Powell and Leonard Whitcup. It features Anita Boyer as vocalist and Johnny Mince on clarinet. As usual, Dorsey gives us a bang- up record of diversified appeal.
)Sammy Kaye has recorded two songs of the bubbling melody school. CHATTERBOX is an Al- Ihn Roberts-Jerome Brainin composition dreamed up for RKO’s “That’s Right—You’re Wrong.” “The Three Kadets” and the orchestra’s glee club present the lyrics to this entertaining musical tid-bit. Johnny Mercer and Walter Donaldson tailored SMARTY PANTS with the usual Mercer verve and Donaldson melodic skill.
Stanley Adams and Carmen Lombardo, both song writers with a long list of hits to their credit, collaborated on a new “kid” ballad, LITTLE SHEPHERD OF MY DREAMS. Harriet Hilliard sings this lovely medium slow tempo song. FLOWER OF DAWN, and Eddie DeLange, Russ Morgan and Carl LaMagna composition, appears on the opposite side of the record B-10516 recorded at a slightly faster tempo. Ozzie is vocalist for this love-song in an arrange-
Good Posture Is Aid To Energy According To College Doctor
MADISON, Wis.—Maintain good posture and you’ll feel better.
That’s the prescription of the University of Wisconsin’s Dr. Frances A. Hellebrandt, a member of the medical school staff.
“To stand correctly is extraordinarily cheap from the viewpoint of its energy needs,” she said.
“If the posture is relaxed, standing is practically indefatigable. It costs little more energy units to stand properly than to beat an egg, although nearly three- fourths of the muscles in the body are being used,” Dr. Hellebrandt continued.
No person can stand without swaying, she found. “A person's center of weight falls remarkably close to the center of the base of support between the two feet,” she said. “Although nature is a good engineer, the center of weight dances to and fro as we stand, producing gravitational stresses which must be met by the muscles of the legs to keep us from tottering.”
Experiments with high heels showed that the higher the heels the more pronounced was the oscillation of the body. Although not apparent to the naked eye, the swaying was detected by instruments constructed for the experiment by Prof. L. E. A. Kelso of the engineering department.
“Good posture can’t be achieved by the application of a blanket rule," Dr. Hellebrandt warned. “It is something the individual must strive for.”
ment that also features the brilliant alto and baritone sax soloists, who are becoming instrumental specialists in the Nelson Orchestra.
BACKWASH ByGeorge fuermann
“Backwazh: An agitation resulting from soma action or eccnrrcnca."—Webstar.
Down Military Walk . . . WTAW manager John Rosser, recently declared that “We broadcast everything from the North Bryan Jubilee to a Chopin Etude.” . . . Senior
Court cases hit a new high last week when 34 offenders faced the committee. As a matter of fact, there were so many cases that it was necessary to hold two sessions of the thoroughly re
spected student-administered disciplinary body. A. W. O. L. was the most popular offense, being caused by cadets leaving before the Christmas holidays officially began . . . Two claims to out-of- the-groove recognition has Aggie Calvin Cock. He’s one of the few Aggies who have attended the United States Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, and, what’s more, Calvin represents the third generation of Aggies in his own family. . . . Number one request of the week is the one handed to the writer by Don Gabriel and “Jay” Saunders who would like to have Johnny Mes- sner’s recording of “She Really Meant To Keep It” played at meal times in the mess halls. If you’ve ever heard the number you’ll understand why . . . One of the Los Angeles newspapers, than whom there is none whomer when it comes to making a big story out of a little one, recently carried a not-too-factual item wherein it was disclosed that, “When mighty Texas A. & M. plays U. C. L. A. next October 12, the national champions will be followed by their 220 piece military band and the 6,000 members of their all-male student body on annual corps trip leave.” . . . Hou|fc>n Chamber of Commerce president Wright Morrow pointed out in a recent address at the annual banquet of nearby Bryan’s C. of C. that, “A & M. is to be congratulated. Not only is that great institution thoroughly respected in military and civil circles alike throughout the nation, but its graduates carry, a certain prestige because they ARE graduates of Texas A. & M. College.”
•Concerning WTAW’s Friday aft
ernoon Clambake:The 45-minute program, which
precedes The Battalion newscasts, is a comparatively new inauguration at the college which seems to be gaining—and warranting—the interest of the student body.
The program is turned over entirely to Aggies, and some of the talent unearthed each Friday afternoon borders on the professional. Among the campus orchestras which have sprung up as a result of the Clambake are the “Coon Chasers” and “Wittenbach’s Merry Mellow Melloncholly Mellodious Mellodeers.” The former group is composed of Jim Perry, Bill Beasley, Ben Ivey, and Otheil Erlund— the latter three being freshmen. A. J. Wittenbach heads the latter group which includes Harold Hickman, Jake Fritsch, and Ken Garvin —again the latter three being freshmen.
Letters from Mr. and Mrs. Aggie public indicate three very popular Clambake favorites: Jack Rudy at the organ, Harry Springfield, guitarist, and one of the best amateur accordionists the writer has heard, E. B. Patterson .
It’s different—but it might work:
Lee Beeson and Gunter Koettar have announced the organization of a closed corporation—a cabaret of a sort. Not particularly unusual in itself, the incorporators all of A Engineers, have instituted an idea which definitely make for the very unusual. Four so- called bouncers will be employed to throw out—of all things—boisterous women: Gordon Sibecktaking care of large women, George Steurer being responsible for middle-sized women, Don Peterson handling the behavior of small women, and C. E. “Buddy” Williams being assigned children under three years of age. On being interviewed by a Battalion reporter, Buddy’s only comment was, “I’ve been framed!”
•Wherein your columnist is pro
posed to for the first—and probably the last—time in his life:
An item in the writer’s T. S. C. W. column of the past week pointed out that Aggies in general are open to any suggestions our sister school coeds may have in respect to Leap Year. The morning mail brought the following gem, which with a few omissions, is quoted exactly, but you would have to read the original to really appreciate the thing:
aint got no calendar jist a sittin’
dear george,i shore war tikled when i
heerd yo war entrested in this hyra bein leap yar. I yam awful bashfulf and I war sure hatin tar ax a boy to be a git- tin hitched wit me this yar, and bein as how Ise gittin purty old, i figgered as how I’d best git me a man this yar cause it’ll be four more yars fore I get the chance again.
i aint particklar what yore age are or whether your one of them thar big hansum brutes—all i want is a home and some hogs ter slop and chikkens ter feed, i heerd that thar skool of larnin relly did put out some good farmers, and I garantee ya i’ll do all the house work like cuttin the wood, haulin the water and milkin the kows. We shore should make a good happy pare.
I aint a gittin much larnin in this hyar kollege sose if u wants ter git hitched right away, i’m ready. Be shore to let me know when and i’ll rite pa to send the wagon. Aint love jist the most wunderful thing!All further offers of this nature
will be thoughtfully and carefully considered.
•Howard Wilson was first:The first entries on Backwash’s
“What I Like (Or Don’t Like) About T. S. C. W.-ites” contest are coming in. The contest closes on February 15 and all you have to do to enter is write one hundred words or less on the above subject. Then send your entry to the writer, Box 2279, College Station. The winning entry will be published in The Battalion and the T. S. C. W. newspaper, The Lass-O. Runners-up will be published in a future issue of The Battalion Magazine. The judging committee, composed of ten cadets and one graduate assistant, was announced in last Saturday’s paper.
Texas refines 80 per cent of all crude oil produced in the state.
Get That Attractive White
Dance Uniform
NOW
R. V. UNIFORMS
LOOK FOR THE SYMBOL OF DISTINCTIONilUl
“Made by Mendl & Hornak”
UNIFORM TAILOR SHOPNorth Gate
t
4
*
f
A
«-
♦
y
►
*
*
*
w
»
*
V