VMI Cadet. February 16, 1942

              Basketeers Take Tdc^
In Close Game),
Page 5 l l l l i l & t b c t Former Commandant
Now Promoted
To Brigadier
Page 3
VOLUME XXXV—Z-778 LEXINGTON, VIRGINIA, FEBRUARY 16, 1942 NUMBER 17
Orders Are Released
Containing Details
For '42 Graduation
Finals Brief
No Spring Hike
Exams Dropped
Colonel G. A. D e r b y s h i r e released
t o d a y to the Cadet a special order
f r om h e a d q u a r t e r s p e r t a i n i n g to ac-t
i v i t i e s for the remainder of the
y e a r and p a r t i c u l a r l y in r e g a r d to
Finals. This order in f u l l is given
below:
I. In order to enable members
of t h e g r a d u a t i n g class to be avail-able
f o r active d u t y with the armed
f o r c e s at as early a date as is con-s
i s t e n t with our standards of in-s
t r u c t i o n , the Board of Visitors has
a p p r o v e d the following recommen-d
a t i o n s of the Academic Board:
1. G r a d u a t i n g exercises will be
advanced to a date in May—to be
announced later;
2. T h e following scheduled events
will be o m i t t e d . t h i s year:
(a) The spring march and camp.
(b) The Easter Hops;
(c) The visit of an eminent edu-c
a t o r for a period of lectures and
seminars;
(d) The b a c c a l a u r e a t e sermon,
3. The First Class week-end f u r -
loughs will be discontinued after
t h e c u r r e n t month.
4. Proficiency and r e l a t i v e stand-i
n g f o r members of the F i r s t Class
in s u b j e c t s p u r s u e d d u r i n g the cur-r
e n t semester will be determined
by daily grades—no final examina-tions.
5. F i r s t Classmen with past de-ficiencies
may apply for re-exam-inations
on the same; re-examina-tions
will be held on April 27, May
4th and May 11th.
6. G r a d u a t i o n exercises will be
l i m i t e d to the following:
The day preceding:
G-A Cup Race Institute Is
Results Shoiv Represented
A Co. In Lead In New York
Review for the Board of Visitors
and p r e s e n t a t i o n of prizes.
Unveiling of tablets in Memorial
Garden.
P r e s e n t a t i o n of the Carson Col-lection.
Annual meeting of the General
Alumni Association.
The Graduation Parade.
The S u p e r i n t e n d e n t ' s Reception.
The Final Ball.
The Day of Graduation:
The usual exercises in Jackson
Memorial Hall.
The Formation on the hill, fol-lowing
g r a d u a t i o n exercises arid an-nouncement
of appointments and
promotions.
Suspension of duties in the af-ternoon.
II. The Corps Of Cadets will be
re-organized a&. a battalion of six
companies at the f o r m a t i o n follow-i
n g graduation exercises. Cadet of-ficers
and non-commissioned offi-cers
appointed will assume the
d u t i e s and responsibilities of their
new grades. Each class will be
come entitled to the authorized
p r i v i l e g e s of the next higher class.
f l l . The final examinations of the
Second, Third and F o u r t h Classes
will be advanced about one week.
On completion of t h e last examina-tion
or re-examination and after
o b t a i n i n g a clearance for govern-ment
property and securing per-sonal
effects to be left at the Insti-t
u t e , cadets, unless required for
guard, will depart individually on
summer furlough. The Commandant
will arrange the guard detail to
meet the examination schedule and
m a i n t a i n a guard until completion
of the last examination, allowing
a reasonable period for the last
cadets to secure personal effects.
By Command of Lieutenant Gen
eral Kilbourne.
By R. C. NIE8S
The Garnett Andrew's Cup com-petition
is very strong this month
w i t h the top flight companies striv-ing
for that flrst position and the
lower bracket boys t r y i n g to fight
t h e i r way up. At the end of the
first semester, "A" Co. led by 69
points; "F" Co. was second, fol-lowed
very closely by "D" Co. "B",
"C", and "E" brought up the rear.
During J a n u a r y "D" Co. took two
firsts and a second in Guard, Intra-murals,
and Parades respectively.
With a good competitive drill score.
"D" Co. will pull up into first. "A"
Co., which led the flrst semester,
dropped behind during January,
t a k i n g at best a f o u r t h place. "C"
Co. has pulled up f r om fifth, taking
a first, a second, and a third place.
F" Co. dropped out of second
place, having taken at best a second
place. "B" and "E" Co's. will re-main
in t h e rear, both having made
no good score d u r i n g J a n u a r y.
Upon the coming competitive drill
r e s t s final line-up with each com-pany
w o r k i n g to c a p t u r e the covet-ed
first place. Competitive drill this
month will probably be of partic-u
l a r interest since routine funda-mentals
of the close order drill will
be supplemented by platoon drill
in which a g r e a t e r m e a s u r e of flex-i
b i l i ty and adaptability will be
sought.
NOTICE
The examining board of officers
for the Third Corps Area will be
at the Institute on Wednesday,
February 18, to examine those
first classmen who have applied
for regular commissions in the
United States Army.
By C. F. BALMENTI
Loyd Leech and Dick Baldwin
will represent VMI at the Council
on Foreign Relations Conference for
University men which is to be held
in New York next week.
Held In February
In F e b r u a r y of every year, the
Council of Foreign Relations holds
a convention of students f r om cer-t
a in colleges during which time
discussions are held concerning
foreign affairs. This year the main
subject will be "United States and
t h e War." During the course of the
convention the students will take
part in discussions and will be ad-dressed
by c e r t a i n distinguished of-f
i c i a l s of the State, War and Navy
Departments and men from the
business and newspaper worlds.
Two Countries
Two conventions will be held and
invited to this conference. The pur-pose
of these conferences is to give
t h e men in academic life an oppor-t
u n i t y to discuss some important
problems in America's r e l a t i o n s with
t h e world with a group of older
men who know those problems f r om
practical experience. .Whereas at
other conventions representatives
f r om West Point were invited to
uphold the military point of view,
t h e VMI r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s a r e expect-ed
to f u l f i l l the responsibility of
that task at the convention.
The subject in its broadest as-pect
is threefold: 1. The psycholo-gical
preparation, or lack of it, of
most Americans f o r war and an in-troduction
to m i l i t a r y thinking. 2.
Our political and ' m i l i t a r y policy
in the Pacific (Asia); 3. Our poli-tical
and military policy in the
North Atlantic (Europe).
Smith, and Van Landingham
Given Responsible Positions
On Hop Committee for 1943
Growing Army
Eliminates
ROTC Camps
S e c r e t a r y of War Stimson in a
r e c e n t press conference said that
as a part of the urgent war ex-pansion
of the land forces q u a l i f i ed
g r a d u a t e s of college reserve offic-e
r s t r a i n i n g courses would be com-missioned
and ordered to d u t y with
a minimum of delay.
Summer training camps have
been ordered discontinued until
six months after the war ends.
T r a i n i n g given in these camps
last y e a r to more than 11,000 young
men will be given instead in the
Army's own special service schools.
All graduates of college ROTC
u n i t s who h a v e completed t h e i r mil-i
t a r y training, included camp serv-ice,
this year, will be commissioned
on t h e i r graduation, the war secre-t
a r y said. Last J u n e some 8.000 were
commissioned.
College Degree
The r e q u i r e m e n t of a college de-gree
before appointment as an of-ficer
may be waived in the case of
s t u d e n t s who have completed all
m i l i t a r y t r a i n i n g requirements.
ROTC Graduates
I n addition, a number of quali-fied
ROTC graduates of j u n i o r units
in m i l i t a r y schools will be permitted
to undergo the summer training at
Army service schools, and if above
t h e minimum age limit may be
commissioned.
Lieutenant Joe Shomo9'42
Writes Classmates From Post
The following excerpts are f r om
a letter recently received by the
Commandant f r om L i e u t e n a n t Sho-mo,
I n f a n t r y , '42, now stationed at
Camp Wheeler, Georgia.
L i e u t e n a n t Shomo r e c e i v ed
a commission at Augusta Military
Academy, before e n t e r i n g VMI. He
was called to active duty last Feb-r
u a r y 2, and because of the present
emergency, he was not allowed to
r e m a i n for graduation.
"Upon arriving, I reported to the
commanding General, f r om t h e r e I
went to the Personnel Office a n d re-ceived
my assignment. Then, I re-p
o r t e d to Regimental, Battalion,
a n d company h e a d q u a r t e r s respec-t
i v e l y . I believe that if a new of-ficer
finds the opportunity, he
s h o u l d try to get a general v i ew of
t h e set u p b e f o r e r e p o r t i n g . He may
find then, that by asking at the
p r o p e r place, he may get a good
assignment."
"One of the things that I would
suggest stressing to the first class,
is Military Courtesy. Even in the
short time I have been here, I have
f o u n d that it is very important. In
fact, when y o u flrst report in you
should make as good an impression
as possible for it is usually a last-ing
one.
The way to m a k e this impressive
is by giving a good salute, standing
a t attention, and being courteous."
"Another important thing is*-get
a minimum of u n i f o r m s and watch
your debts. All that I needed on
r e p o r t i n g was a blouse, pinks, non-s
t a n d a r d brown shirt, cap, and
shoes. All the others you may get
at the Commissary: for officers are
now wearing enlisted men's cloth-i
n g w i t h a f ew minor changes. This
can all be obtained on the post and
one can save a l i t t l e money.
Finance Committee Keys
Members of the Second Class
F i n a n c e Committee received their
keys last Jan. 30, in Room 213.
Members who received their
keys are: J. G. Smith, chairman;
Emory, W. H„ treasurer; M. F.
J e n n y , W. C. Andrew, C. S. Will-cox,
L. M. Sensabaugh, J. S.
Gillespie, E. H. Wahlert, P. L. W.
Thompson, J. A. Demmler, P.
Rice, F. B. Williams, T. C. Mc-
Leod, D. M. Thompson, V. J.
Thomas, F. N. Bilisoly, W. F.
Byers, J. F. R. Scott, J. A. Min-ton,
C. L. McCord, M. M. Brantly,
M. I. Forbes, H. T. Birchett, G.
L. Jacks, R. H. Catlett, W. H.
Romm, and J. H. VanLanding-ham.
Last Hop Set of the Year to Draiv
More Than 250 Girls as Institute
Prepares to rrDig In" for Duration
J E F F SMITH
Flowers For Mid-Winter Hops
The American Red Cross is being called on with ever increasing
demands as the World War II progresses day by day. To fill their coffer
so that they can carry on the valuable work, is a job that depends on
every citizen in the United States to do their share. The editorial of last
week's issue of THE CADET was devoted to this subject with a sugges-tion
that the coming Mid-Winter dances would afford a fine opportunity
to put forth some plan whereby the cadets could do their share in help-ing
this vast Red Cross movement. Several cadets who were interested
in this editorial and the object that it had in view, got together and
decided on a method that would be acceptable to the Corps. This
plan was to give the dates of the cadets attending the Mid-Winter Hops
a gardenia corsage trimmed with a red, white and blue ribbon, to wear
in their hair. Approximately half of the money that is paid for the
gardenia will go to the Red Cross as the contribution of the Corps of
Cadets at VMI.
The Second Class Finance Committee, to see if this plan was accept-able
to the cadets, took a consensus of opinion on this matter through-out
barracks. The results of the consensus were:
In Favor—514.
Opposed—116.
Undecided—6
Some of the other colleges and universities have already had dances
at which the young ladies were given corsages made of defense saving
Stamps or Red Cross pins, showing that their escarts had contributed.
»ii>ui\oing to inaugurate a new idea which is distinctive and lt is
of social
F r i d a y and S a t u r d a y of this week
ushers in the Mid-Winter Hops and
t h e last of t h e m a j o r hops to be giv-en
at VMI for the duration in all
probability.
With the announcement by the
Hop Committee that Easters and
F i n a l s would not be the gala occa-sions
of old the interest in Mid-
Winters has tripled almost over-night.
Plans for bigger and better
week-end dances this spring had
to be revised suddenly and made to
fit this dance set. As a result the
list of dates for Mid-Winters of 1942
has leaped far above the average
as the partial list of dates collected
last week shows. The interest in
t h i s set of dances exceeds any for
t h e year and the attendance is ex-pected
to show just how great the
i n t e r e s t is.
For the First Class this is an es-p
e c i a l l y important hop as it repre-sents
their last week-end set while
at the Institute. Plans for Easters
und Finals are still i n d e f i n i t e but
it is c e r t a i n that there will be no
more of t h e t w o night sets f o r a long
time.
who will supply the vocals but
P r i t c h a r d is almost certain to be
among those selected.
P r i n t e d below is a list of dates
who will attend:
Helen May Carlton, Richmond;
Mary Louise Taylor, William and
Mary; Margaret Harrell; Becky Ma-jor,
Hollins; Francis Haan, West
Va.; Joan Thompson, Vanderbilt;
Dot Perkins, Lynchburg; Mimi
Stephens, Randolph-Macon; Mary
Durkin, Washington; Martha Bran-don,
Smith College; Becca MacMil-lan,
St. Louis; Thelma Jennings,
New York; Dorothy Crews, Basker-ville,
Va.; Elizabeth Williams, Bas- ington
kerville, Va.; Bets Woodward, Ran-dolph-
Macon; Louise O'Ridy, Rich-mond;
Geline Bowman, Richmond;
Anne Milburne, Randolph-Macon.
Virginia Coleman, Rand-Macon;
Anne Folks, Hollins; Kitty Bland,
Boykin, Va.; Nancy Stone, Salem
College; Norma Rose, Richmond;
J e a n n e Wolfe, New Jersey; Suzan
Long, Brennan; Kitty Baker, Win-chester;
Helen Mcllwaine, Peters-burg;
Ruth Hensley, Sweetbriar;
K a t h e r y n e Howerton, Suffolk, Va.;
Elizabeth Eggert, Ohio; Helen Kind-ler,
Duke; Olivia Toiturlington,
Rand-Macon; Norma Smith, Mary
Baldwin; Charlotte Sinnons, Mary
Baldwin; Jeanne Cox, Mary Bald-win;
Anna Winslow, Mary Baldwin;
Lillie W. Harwell, Petersburg.
Mary Wark Erskine, Centre Col-lege;
Daphne Crump, Mary Wash-
College; Betty M a u r y,
VMI Blackout
Noteworthy
In Many Ways
By BOB AUSSICKER
G r a n t e d that the observation is
q u i t e trite, but still it never rains,
but it pours, as evidenced by last
Friday. Picture a cadet corps de-votedly
tending to its studies, cut-t
i n g out e x t r a - c u r r i c u l a r activities,
t h e very pleasures of life, and stick-ing
right to the job at hand, and
you have a perfect mental picture
of the VMI Corps of Cadets. But
what happened ^ast Friday night
you ask? First of all it should be
pointed out that there were not
one but t h r e e blackouts on that me-morable
night. At approximately
7:30 and on until 9 p. m. the corps
was engaged in blacking out a very-r
e s o l u t e Tech quintet by a 43-42
score, despite the first ten minutes.
This brings up the only sche-duled
blackout of the evening. At
9:45 VMI became the first academic
unit in this part of the country to
hold a practice against air aggres
sion, and from all sources of in-f
o r m a t i o n the whole a f f a i r was con-ducted
in a very successful man-ner.
The actual blacking out was
scheduled to last for approximately
15 minutes, and all men rooming
above the first stoop were advised
to go q u i e t l y down to ground level
as soon as lights had been com-p
l e t e l y extinguished. In a m a t t e r of
t e n or f i f t e e n seconds every light
in barracks was put out, and a
groan of disappointment was heard
f r om t h e OD's House as a chagrined
Officer of the Day was deprived of
t h e f u n of p u l l i n g the main switch
which would d e f f i n i t e l y have elim-i
n a t e d any light which might have
been shed on the situation and a
f ew individuals failed to comply
w i t h the 'Lights Out' command. (He
pulled the main switch anyway,
but back to that later, for therein
lies yet another story).
Events Took Their Course
This brings the hour to 9:50, and
all nine of our buddies f r om the
'06 tier consisting of rooms 206,
306, and 406 were, assembled on
t h e t h r e e groaning cots in 106. Too,
a few of the more democratic in-dividuals
f r om the '04 t i e r dropped
in r a t h e r t h a n to i n v a d e t h e Execu-t
i v e Office as was expected since
t h a t room of all evil is the basic
room of the '04 tier. Also about this
time some u n f o r t u n a t e individual
sat on a very a t t r a c t i v e young lady
who was ensconced on my hay. In
fact, when I looked at her the next
morning, it seemed that someone
had stuck his foot in her face. Luck-ily,
the f r a m e wasn't bent; only the
glass was broken. You understand
e v e r y t h i n g was quite orderly and
quiet all this time—considering all
Bill Emory,
V. Thomas
Also Picked
At a meeting of the Second Class
F i n a n c e Committee last Thursday,
t h e members of the Hop Committee
for next year were elected. Each
year, the officers of the Hop Com-m
i t t e e are elected by the Finance
Committee, which also elects new
members of the Hop Committee
and selects members to t a k e charge
of the various responsibilities of
p r e p a r i n g the gymnasium for a hop.
The new committee will assume its
responsibilities at the Final Hops,
and will be in charge of all VMI
Hops until the following finals.
The men elected for office were:
Jeff Smith, president; Johnny Van
Landingham, vice-president; Bill
Emory, t r e a s u r e r ; and Vince Thom-as,
business manager.
Jeff Smith, of Fort Clark, Texas,
is the first sergeant of "C" Com-pany,
a star man in the Civil En-g
i n e e r i n g Department, chairman of
t h e Second Class Finance Commit-tee,
and a member of the Horse
Show Team.
J o h n n y VanLandingham is f r om
P e t e r s b u r g , Virginia. He holds the
r a n k of sergeant major, and is a
member of the varsity swimming
and tennis squads. He is also a star
man in the Electrical Department,
a member of the Ring Committee,
and a member of the Finance Com-mittee.
The treasurer, Bill Emory, of
Warrenton, Virginia, is also a star
man, but in the Civil Engineering
Department. While at VMI, Bill has
served as t r e a s u r e r of the Second
Class Finance Committee, as sec-r
e t a r y of the student chapter of the
American Society of Civil Engi-neers,
and is a member of the Ring
Committee. He is also a member of
t h e Polo Team and a sergeant in
"F" Company.
Other members selected to serve
on the committee were Bill Mc-
Clure, Bev Cass, Bob Reeves, and
Billy Clark.
ASC Meets Today
Arose A New Problem
Came the end of our first bluck-t
out . . . supposedly. Now was the
time when the powers that be saw
On Monday, February 16, the
members of the VMI student
c h a p t e r of the American Chem-
The Commanders, who will f u r - ' ical Society will attend a lecture
nish the music for both nights, have
been busy p r e p a r i n g a selection of
music that they know f r om experi-ence
will please the corps. They
have a r r a n g e d a group of fast and
slow selections and their arrange-ments
of the present popular hits
a r e g u a r a n t e e d to keep things mov-ing.
Several new members have
ry b e e n a d d e d to t h e o r c h e s t r a to t a k e at this movement to give some of the proceeds
fcltalrvi) c-^he Red Cross will spread throughout the colleges and univer- the place of several members who
sltles ol Vfs United States. left recently. It is not yet decided
to be given by a member of the
Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The subject will be, "Chemistry
in Crime Detection. The lecture
will take place in the a u d i t o r i um
of the P r e s t o n Library at 8 p. m.
and members of the faculty and
t h e i r families a r e invited. All flrst,
second, and third class chemists
will be excused f r om reciting in
t h e first period class an Tuesday
morning.
S w e e t b r i a r ; Anne Parker, Hollins;
Grace Leininger, Bellevere Univer-sity;
Peggy Jenkins, Griton Con-vert;
Helen Louis Anderson, Buena
Vista; Sue Hecper, Farmville; Dor-1 " " " " " "
, that was going on.
othy Clevelard, Mary Baldwin;
Marjorie Hildebrand, Bellevere,
Ohio; Bettie Lea Norton, Richmond;
Frances Kay, Washington, D. C.;
Helen Jane Young, Madison; Mary 1 ^ ^ r u e t h e d a y l h e y e v e r p l a y ed
j S h u r t z , Washington, D. C.; K a t h r y n , a r o u n d w U h t h e m a i n g w i t c h T h ey
Lee Rucker, George Washington L h o u l d h a y e r e a U z e d t h a t .A , C o m .
University; Dorothy Ann Doughal, j p a n y ,o s l tWQ g u p e r i o r g u a n J rat.
Mary Washington; Rives Pollard. i n g s l a s t y e a r j u g t b e c a u s e t h at
Mary Baldwin; Rachel Trexler, | c o n f o u n d e d m a i n s w i t c h w e n t on
Randolph-Macon; Priscilla Clark, s t r i k e T o m a k e „ b r i e f b u t n o t t oo
Boston; Betty Gore, Vassal- College, j r a s h a s s u m p t i o l l i i t w a s r e a l i y d a r k
J a n e t Jackson, Petersburg; Irene all this while. Still the main
Robinson, Richmond; Mary Meek switch wouldn't shed a bit of light
Brown, Richmond; Virginia Lewis, i o n the problem. A f t e r t e n or f i f t e en
Columbia University; Charlotte minutes of this unscheduled black-
Hall, R. P. I.; Marjorie Christian,
Saint Catherine: Elizabeth Lanea-ger,
Lynchburg; Terry Orr. Edge-
(Continued On Page 6)
out, hope begun to rise that per-haps
the excusing of the corps
f r om Saturday's recitations would
(Continued On Page 6)
Marine Corps
Consults Men
For Entrance
A rapidly expanding Marine
Corps e a r l y last week offered non-
ROTC cadets here at VMI the op-p
o r t u n i t y to obtain a commission
in the United States Marine Corps
Reserve or a possible commission
in the Regulars.
T r a i n s Graduates
It is the c u r r e n t wish of this
b r a n c h of our armed forces to
t r a i n a sufficient n u m b e r of college
g r a d u a t e s for commissions, and on
finding that the ROTC quota here
l e f t some dozen men without ap-pointments
in t h e ROTC, a liaison
officer was sent here for the flrst
p a r t of last week to explain the
training, conditions of e n t r a n c e , and
other p e r t i n e n t f e a t u r e s of t h i s pro-gram.
At this time some t h i r t y men
consulted with Lt. Henderson with
a view to e n t r a n c e into t h e Marine
Corps. Applications were received
f r om eligible men on Tuesday last,
and Lt. Henderson indicated that
he would return here early in
March with a Naval medical ex-amining
board to give all appli-cants
the p r e l i m i n a r y physical.
Similar To V-7
The desire of Marine Corps com-m
a n d e r s to commission college
g r a d u a t e s makes enlistment for col-lege
juniors and seniors very sim-ilar
to t h e Naval V-7 r a t i n g since all
men enlisted for officer training
will be allowed to graduate, or at
least given 6 months notice in the
event of extremely urgent needs
f o r men, before being sent to
Quantico to the Marine Officer!-'
T r a i n i n g School.
Two Periods
The t r a i n i n g of the college grad-u
a t e will divide itself into two 12-
week periods. The flrst period will
be served with each candidate a
first class private learning the
f u n d a m e n t a l s of military drill in
p a r t i c u l a r and Marine life in gen-eral.
The conclusion of this period
b r i n g s recommendations from the
commandant of the Marine Reserve