The Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 34, No. 14, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 13, 1947 Page: 1 of 4
four pages : ill. ; page 21 x 15 in.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Student Weekly Publication
The Rice Institute
Volume XXXIV
2788
HOUSTON. TEXAS, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 18. 1947
Number 14
; j'i-.s* 'Ai,
Girls Club "Twang"
lo Be Ah Informal
Affair Saturday Night
Hacking their brains for a name for their dance, the Girls'
committee decided on the title "Twang." The word, they say,
which means "a harsh, quick, ringing sound, like that of a bow
string pulled and suddenly released—or like a Rice student being
released from his finals," could-1
n't be more appropos, especially '
since it's the season for Cupid's j
twanging arrows.
The dance will be held Saturday
night at the Houston Light Guard
Armory, 3816 Caroline, with Karl
Doerner's orchestra furnishing mu-
sic. Contrary to advance publicity,
this dunce will be informal.
The Girls' Club is furnishing
everything except the SI.75 couple
or stag.
0
Veterans Bonus
Bills Opposed
By Bracewell
Houston Legislator
Would Give Veterans
Better Roads, Teachers
"I believe the beat thing the state
of Texas can do for her veterans Is
to give them a better state to live
in. I believe most veterans would
fti
man
or better public roads, than to re-
ceive a monetary bonus at this
time," said Searcy Bracewell, rep-
resentative to the Texas State Leg-
islature from Houston, in an inter-
view this week with THRESHER
reporters.
"No amount of money," continued
Mr, Bracewell, "could ever repay
those veterans who had it rough. If
such a bonus were paid to the vet-
erans of this state as is now being
rocemmended, I believe the debt
incurred would offset the immediate
value to the veteran."
Sir. Bracewell said he would ra-
ther hfive Texas spend money rais-
ing teacher's pay, or for expanding
the state health program, than have
Texas pay money to the veterans as
a war bonus. He believes that money
spent in this way would benefit
the veterans of Texas more in the
long run.
Mr. Bracewell, now serving his
first term in the Texas Legislature,
is a vetran of two years overseas
in Europe with 3rd Army Head-
quarters. He graduated from Texas
A&M in 1888, where* he majored in
history. He practiced law in Hous-
ton before he was elected to the
Legislature last November.
Mr. Bracewell said that he was
greatly impressed by the variance
of types among his fellow legisla-
tors in Austin.
This law maker has become iden-
tified as the leader among the vet-
erans in the Texas' House of Rep-
resentatives who oppose passage of
a state bonus act. The main bill that
has been offered before the Legis-
lature is sponsored by Represen-
tative Roger Q. Evans of Denison.
Mr. Evans would pay all veterans
in Texas $15 a month for overseas
service and $10 a month for state-
side service, up to a $500 maximum
for each veteran. It is estimated
thfct such a bonus would cost the
state between $800 and $400 mill-
ion.
Mr. Evans also would pay for
this added expenditure by either a
tax on all natural gas and crude
oil leaving the state or a 10 per cent
luxury tax on liquor and wine; or
a tax (which would in effect legal*
ice them) on slot machines and pari-
mutuel betting on hore racing. Mr.
Evans figures any one of the above
would pay off the bonus in five to
ten years.
Other states are facing the same
(Continued on page 4)
Searcy Bracewell, young fresh-
man slate legislator from Houston,
states his views on the Veterans.',
bonus bill now pending in Austin.
Women's Council
Announces Plans
For Spring Pageant
The Women't Council wishes to
« ■ ■* *■ *
which have been made for a spring
pageant to be held some time in
May. Thirty-nine Rice girls will par-
ticipate in the pageant in addition
to the honorees that will be invit-
ed from other college? and univer-
sities. Elections to select tbe Rice
honorees will be held in April.
Plans call for day long festivi-
ties which will be high lighted by
a reception in the afternoon and a
formall ball in the evening. All
Riee students will be invited to the
reception pL which time they may
meet the out - of - town honorees.
The ball will both climax and bring
to a close the day's events, and will
he the occasion for the presentation
of the pageant itself.
Shell Oil Refinery
Visited Recently
By Chem Engineers
Rice Senior Chemical Engineers
were given a tour of inspection of
the Shell Oil Refinery at Deer Park
recently. The tour, which was ar-
ranged by the Technological and
Research Department of the re-
finery, included an extensive in-
spection of the topping, cracking,
and Gas Departments with detailed
explanations of the machines and
processes involved.
Most impressive of the installa-
tions at the refinery was a newly
and beautifully designed catalytic
cracker. Of the latest design the
cracker was designed and developed
in the Shell Engineering laborator-
ies.
Diagrams and printed explana-
tions of the machines and processes
of each department were provided
the group together with an oral ex-
planation by William Brades, a
technologist for Shell. Professor
Hartsook head of the Chemical En-
gineering Department at Rice sum-
med up the tour saying that it was
one of the best planned and exe-
cuted tours that he had made.
-fl
NOTICE
Announcement was made that the
Bgnd will hold practices each Tues-
day and Thursday afternoon at 6
o'clock.
Freshman to Elect
Class Officers on
Monday, March 3
Election of Freshman class offi-
cers will be held Monday March
3 the Student Council decided Tues-
day. Officers to be filled are Presi-
dent, Vice President and Secretary-
Treasurer.
Candidates are required to present
u petition signed by at least ten
members of their class who are not
on probation. No one who Is on pro-
bation will be allowed to be a candi*
date for office.
Petitions are due not later than
noon February 21 and should be
presented to either Anne Bray,
Martha Jameson, Ava Jean McDan-
iel or Bob Wilkins. A fifty cent fee
to cover election expenses should ac-
company each petition.
O
Scotch University
To Open Summer
School for Yankees
Marking u return to pre-war
practices, Aberdeen University,
Aberdeen, Scotland will hold a sum-
mer school this year for American
university graduates interested in
History, Economics and Education.
The sessions will be held from July
7 to August 19, 1947;
The courses in History to be of-
fered are: "Pre-historic and Early
Medieval Scotland," which includes
excursions to ancient dwellings and
medieval castles, churches and ab-v
beys in the neighborhood; "Factors
in Scottish History"; "the British
in 1 Q*l\. .nn4 .ftQtk . -aaay.
turies:" In the field of Economic
(Continued on page 4)
A Sizable Number, Too
New Constitution
To Be Discussed at
Meeting of ASME
The Rice Student Branch of the
American Society of Mechanical
Engineers is sponsoring the movies
of the widely discussed Orange Bowl
"lash between Rice und Tennessee
Monday evening, February 17. The
"ilni will be shown at 7:30 p.m. in
he Chemistry Lecture Hall. Invi-
ation is extended to all members of
he various professional societies.
Immediately following the movie,
he ASME will hold its first meet-
;ng of the spring semester. The
meeting will lie presided over by the
-oeiety's newly elected officers,
•hairman Raymond VanWhy, vice
'•hairman, George Cook, secretary
Toe Cook, and treasurer William
Orisham. The main business of the
meeting will be the adoption of the
new constitution; thus, it is desired
I hat all members be present .
0
Crossman Chosen
As Representative
To Coronation Ball
James B. Conant
To Speak Here
February 20 th
Margaret Crossman has been
chosen to represent the Rice Insti-
tute at the Coronation Ball at Sam i
Houston State Teachers College. e0U8ly- he °'ie,'flted n hu«e wai eal"
The Ball, an annual celebration of
the school, will be held March 8 at
Huntsville with representatives of
most major schools in Texas in-
vited.
Miss Crossman who is a senior
and a member of the Owen Wister
Literary Society was selected by the
{iUuMlanK £VM«« AU a* TiiAa4ow<-
ing. Her escort for the Coronation
Ball will be provided at Huntsville.
Houston Reds Say Texans
Are Very Radical Minded
The THRESHER has recently
been honored by being placed on
the mailing list of the newly or-
ganized Texas "Spur," publication
of the Texas State Communist Par-
ty.
After examining this amazing
bit of a newspaper, two intrigued
and curious THRESHER reporters
journeyed to room 305, Hermann
Building in downtown Houston.
Room 306 turned out to be the of-
fice of the "Progressive Book Dis-
tributors," local sales firm of na-
tional Communist Party publica-
tions.
The two reporters were given the
big hello by James J. Green, one of
the editors of the "Spur." Some-
what overcome by at last meeting
a real communist, the two reporters
were unable to begin their inter-
view with any comprehensive set
of questions. However, it soon be-
came clear that Mr. Green would
be only too willing to answer ques-
tions put to him on any subject.
Asked what the approximate size
of the Communist Party in Hous-
ton was, Mr. Green at first re-
plied "A sizeable number." Pressed
for a more definite statement he
said: "We have over 100 members
and expect to have 200 soon."
When Mr. Green was advised by
one of the reporters that he, the re-
porter, believed that the Communist
party had a long row to hoe in
Texas, Mr. Green stated, "Texans
are more radical than most people
imagine. In fact I believe that the
people of Texaq are more liable to
such a radical social change as we
advocate than people up north." In
support of this somewhat amazing
conclusion, "Comrade" Green of«
fered the "fact that people in this
end of the country are so bitterly
anti-monopolistic."
The THRESHER reporters qu«r
ied Green on topics ranging from
Secretary of State Marshall's flf
cent report on the Atiiation in 1
to rent control bills now pend
in Congress. Mr. Green, while
making much of an impression on
the reporters with his analysis of
current events, did impress the re-
porters with his ready-made and
pre-fabricated answers on every
conceivable topic.
For instance, Mr. Green's opinion
of Trotsky ("that traitor") was
very emphatic. At one point in the
interview Mr. Green made with his
hands like a pistol and said "Bang!
That's what they should have done
to him instead of fooling around and
letting him get away."
The weakness of "Comrade"
Green's party was strikingly dem-
onstrated by one simple question
asked him. The THRESHER news-
men had noticed on their way up
to the Herman Building that a cer-
tain "Comrade" Eisler had refused
to testify before a Congressional
Committee that same afternoon.
When asked what he thought of
Eisler's refusal to take the oath
before swearing, "Comrade" Green
launched into a long heart-rending
story of how Eisler was in this
country against his will, never had
wanted to come here, had come to
these shores only through an un-
fortunate accident, and other such
tripe. Undoubtedly "Comrade"
Green's lack of a ready made an-
swer was the lack of a "Daily Work-
er" to quote from. Without his pre-
fabricated opinions, Green had none.
Asked whether he believed in per-
secution of religion as it Had been
practiced in Russia, Green, after
hotly denying that Russia had ever
persecuted religion, gave an em-
phatic "Nol" to the question. He
explained that Communists realize
that the best way to make people
go to church is to persecute them.
Said "Comrade" Green in continu-
ing: "But since Marxism is a ma-
terialistic doctrine, naturally reli-
gion would die out itself if ever w«
'{gained control of this country."
On such a note the two reporters
left, but not before Mr. Green had
. (Continued on page 8)
COM Mil T EE WILL
CHOOSE STAFF OF
NEW MAGAZINE
The Committee for the Publication of RI, The Riee In-
stitute Magazine, announces that an editor ami a business
manager will be chosen the last part of this week. Anyone in-
terested in applying for the jobs should sec either Dr. A. I).
McKillop, Mr. George Williams, Weston Fairchild. France Frank.
Stanley Young, or Eugenie Mut.
The constitution of the new
magazine was approved Tues-
day by the Student Council, and
as soon as an editor and busi-
ness mnnagei van. be named a
staff will be assembled.
According to the constitution the
magazine will be designed with ar-
ticles to interest not only the stu-
dents of Rice, but also Riee Alumni.
Riee faculty, and the general pub-
lic. Tentative plans call for short
stories, stories on faculty research,
stories on student activities, ar-
ticles on Current interest, and ar-
ticles on prominent graduates of
Rice,
An editor and a business mana-
ger will be selected each year by
a committee. This committer will
be composed of two faculty mem-
bers, two students appointed by
the student council, and two stu-
dents appointed by those first four.
Although the magazine will lack an
experienced-staff this year, it is
One of the nation's most out-
standing men, Dr. James Bryant
Conant, president of Harvard Uni-
versity, will deliver a lecture Febru-
ary 20 at 8:15 p.m. in the Physics
amphitheater on the subject, "Uni-
versity Traditions in the Changing
World."
Dr. Conant's work in the war is
well known. He led what lie called
a "triple life." Virtually simultan-
t h a t a competent staff
<t.
toun>
-0-
lege for the Army and Navy, plan-
ned for post-war reconversion of
Harvard, and as chairman of the
National Defense Research Commit-
tee, he advised and assisted the gov-
ernment on such top-secret matters
as the development of the atomic
bomb. z
, nAwt/ML Wrt fnnnrl
time for a trip to London in 1941
to establish liasion between the work
of his committee and the corres-
ponding British group. His work in
this field was instrumental in de-
veloping close coordination between
the two countries on technical mat-
ters relating to instruments of war.
Scientific Research
On his own, a widely recognized j
leader in the scientific field, Dr. Co- Those modest, charming, unas-
nant is noted for his research oncoming architects have taken on n
chlorophyll and on hemoglobin, the! mysterious glint in their eyes ah*ng
ied corpuscles of the blood. Be-] with their hammering and nailing
Architects Amass
Large Art Display
For Their L'Aveidem
sides holding , numerous member-
ships in scientific societies, he was
one of the directors of the Rocke-
feller Institute. He has also served
as a member of the governmental
atlVisory committee on cancer re-
search. Dr. Conant is author of muny
standard texts on organic chemis-
try.
Never an ivory tower dweller,
despite his many years of laboratory
research, Dr. Conant was active in
his undergraduate days at Harvard
^ts an editor of the Harvard "Crim-
daily student newspaper.
A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of
Harvard, he was appointed to the
faculty there in 1916 after receiving
his doctorate. During the first war,
he served with the government's
Bureau of Chemistry, working on
war gases. Commissioned a major
in 1918, he helped establish a large
scale war gas production plant in
Cleveland for the Army Chemical
Warfare Service.
Returns To Harvard
After the war, he came back to
Harvard as assistant professor of
chemistry. By 1926 he had become
professor of organic chemistry. He
was also visiting lecturer at the
University of California in 1924 and
a research associate in 1927 at the
California Institute of Technology.
Elected president of Harvard in
1933 shortly after his 40th birthday,
he was the youngest president and
the second scientist to be honored
by that office.
Agreeing with Dr. Houston's
views on education, Dr. Conant is
opposed to too narrow a field of
specialization in education. In this
respect, he appointed a university
committee in 1943 to study the prob-
lem of general education in the
college. The report from this com-
mittee, "General Education in a
Free Society," is considered by edu-
cators to be a landmark.
Dr. Conant's lecture will be open
to the public.
these days in their Shangri-La on
the second floor of the Chemistry
Building. Various a e a d e m s have
caught glimpses of garish banners
and sets amid the while voluptious
statues in the freehand labs. There's
really no mystery; these elaborate
preparations are for the best Archi-
Arts since before the war, they say.
L'Aveidem will he the architects'
attempt to prove that the Dark
Ages were not so dark after all.
For the information of the Rice
students who have been wondering
what to wear, Arthur Koteh, cos-
tume committee chairman has var-
ious sketches and suggestions. For
source material he has been draw-
ing from the 12th to the 15th cen-
tury of western Europe, when a
gentleman of any self respect wooed
his fair lady with deeds of valor on
the jousting fields. Suits of armor
are more difficult to come by now
than in those days, but are by ho
means 'the limit of costume possi-
bilities, says Kotch.
The concept of this year Archi-
Arts, says Stayton Nunn, presi-
dent of the Architectural society,
will revive the traditions of the
grand ball, with pageant, grand
march, D I N N E R and subsequent
dancing till all hours. In fact, he
says, "While Paris has its Qua'tz
Arts, London has Chelsea Arts.
Rice has Arehi-Arts."
0
Art Exhibit Will
Be Held Here Soon
In Faculty Rooms
The French department announ-
ces that an exhibition of French
masterpieces will be held February
13th to February 2lst. On display
will be the works of the Fifteenth,
Sixteenth, and Seventeenth Centur-
ies. These paintings will be shown
in the Faculty Chamber which will
be open between 2:00 and 4:00 p.m.
?€:
\r
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
The Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 34, No. 14, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 13, 1947, newspaper, February 13, 1947; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth230711/m1/1/: accessed July 1, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.