Newspaper Page Text
2 DECEMBER, 1964
The Panther
The Clark Panther
A journal of college life published from October to June by
students of Clark College, Atlanta, Georgia.
A promoter of school spirit by encouraging projects and ef
forts among student groups and individual students.
A medium through which an opportunity is provided for stu
dents to obtain experience in newsgathering, reporting, review
ing and writing.
An instrument for fostering friendly and constructive criticism
of campus activities.
Leondria Epps
Editor
Robert Holloway
Feature Editor
Jacqueline Bennett
Co-Editor
Gloria Lester
Sports Editor
Patricia Hudson
Secretary
Ellen Magby Ivan Hakeem
Advisors
School Spirit
by Leondria Epps
In the past few weeks, the lack of school spirit on the part of
Clark’s student body has become evident to many people. School
spirit at Clark seems to have hit an all-time low.
If you had taken a walk around the campus during the week
of Homecoming, you never would have known we were about to
celebrate a “big event." The campus was as quiet as a grave yard,
and almost as empty. Where were the students, and where were all
the signs saying “go team go” and "welcome alumni"? There were
a few, yes, but not nearly enough. Where was the air of fun, ex
citement and enthusiasm? Could it be that it never was really
there from the start? Let's hope not.
What happened when Clark was behind in the Morehouse
game? You could not hear a sound from the Clark section—until
we scored. Then, the roar went up, “Yeah! team,” when “fight
team, fight,” should have been echoed all along.
One uninformed individual said, “who can have spirit when
your team has lost three straight games?” If that’s school spirit,
who needs it? The time to show spirit is when we are behind, yet
fighting to catch up. How do you show spirit? One way is by
simply letting the boys know there is still someone behind them.
The thought of knowing there is someone pulling for you up in
the stands can work miracles out on the field.
It is time that we stand up. hold our heads high and show
everyone that we are “Second to None”—in all respects.
Rating With Your Date
by Robert Hollotvay
Fellows, are you really as “hip” to dating as you pretend?
Girls, are you really as attractive and clever as you think?
Your answers will probably be a positive yes. Your experi
ences with dating have probably heretofore been on compara
tively small standards. But now that you have moved up in society,
you will be expected to practice the social grace accepted by
society.
Now that you are college young men and women, you will be
participating in the social life of the college. This is the time to
begin securing “social grace.”
As one matures, naturally he expects more of the person he
is dating. Knowing the correct thing to say and do on dates is the
first step toward "social grace.”
Fellows, ask yourselves the following questions and sec if
you're really in the “lime-light.”
(1) Do you make a good impression when asking for a date?
(2) Do you suggest going to places that you know will bring
out the "wolf” in you?
(3) Do you remember the small courtesies of opening doors,
helping with wraps, etc.?
(4) Do you admire your date for her abstract qualities or do
you focus your attention toward physical features?
These are just four vital questions to consider when you say
"man I really rate with my date . . . ."
Girls, let’s see if you too are in the know!
( 1) Do you dress moderately according to the kind of date
or do you decorate yourselves like a Christmas tree?
(2) Do you agree to go to a "no-man’s island" or somewhere
you can have a nice comfortable and enjoyable evening among
other friends?
(3) Do you remember to let the fellow open the door for
you or do you pull him in the car behind you?
BOOKS and FRIENDS
By Lyn Paladino
Manv times you hear people say, “Oh yes, he perters books to
friends,” then perhaps, let this none too astute observation slip by
unnoticed. This charge is unjust; unjust because the observer does
not make an honest appraisal—winnowing and evaluating the facts
before making a decision.
A bookworm does not shun his friends in favor of books trom
force of habit, but only because he finds books are satisfying friends,
too. Books have an advantage in more instances than one. A book is
available whenever you need one. You can lay a book aside, or pass
one by in favor of another, without the thought turning over in your
mind that you have offended the by-passed book. You need not heap
encomia on books nor do you have to pretend you are glad to see
them when you are too busy for their companionship. You do not
have to be polite to them either.
The decision remains with you, as a reader, as to the subject you
prefer for conversation. When you are in a scholarly mood and wish
to follow the quest of the philosopher, you need not discuss your
neighbor's shiny new automobile. Your friendship and freedom with
books does not discount your friends but merely supplements them.
Good friends are rare, but their rarity is supplemented by the
many good books in libraries the world over which satisfy us. Books
on shelves are storehouses of potential pleasure. A meeting must take
place between a book and a reader before any source of pleasure
can be derived from it. A person who fails to meet a book denies
himself pleasure. Books inspire us. entertain us, inform us, carry us
off to far-away-places and to the land of make-believe.
Socrates' oft-quoted aphorism—"Know thyself”—proves beyond
doubt the integrity of his advice. In our desire lor self-improvement,
we can turn to books w'hich pry into the human soul, uncovering
assumptions and questioning uncertainties. Seldom, it ever, do we
expect our trusted friends to give us the key to ourselves, and were
they as wise as Socrates, or Plato, we would lack the confidence to
accept it. The mind of man must not be overlooked because it can
not be measured like the law's of physics in a nature of external con
stituents.
When w'e talk w'ith our friends we do not wish to flaunt our deep
est thoughts or pompously reveal our literary talents in every casual
conversation. Despite the variety of fields our minds may encompass,
we often talk trivialities with our friends. This is simply human.
Hardly ever do we scratch below the surface events and, failing
to do so. our talk is confined to common events and not soul-satisfy
ing insights. During the serious moments in our lives, we do not
look for a nourishing diet in idle conversations. We fail to realize
this, though we know it occurs. We scorn idle talk in these serious
moments for an inexplicable reason—as if we were prodded by a
secret, inner force within us. Books always say something. Consider
a book full of routine, daily talk. Would you read it? Would a pub
lisher buy it?
Serious literature influences people, possibly more than people in
fluence people. Any reader of serious literature can recall a book
which has influenced him more readily than his friends because we
judge a book on its face value, and not with the personal faults of
the writer primarily in mind.
Within our own limits and world of living, we are, by nature,
restricted. We may never have the opportunity to meet a genius, or
even to live in the same epoch, yet we can meet geniuses in books.
Too many of us pull in our heads like the little snail and retreat to
the ego-world of our shells. We are content to live in a void and
ignominiously maintain this as living.
Only after we pierce the smooth, polished veneer of sophistication
behind which we all hide is there a modicum ot hope that we will
find greatness to satisfy us in people about us. We are too dogmatic,
too fixed in our ways to set our sights on new vistas.
Though we may see and hear history in the making through mod
ern communication, ninety per cent of our knowledge is achieved by
the printed word—the remaining ten per cent combined among the
other senses. Television may not always be satisfying— as a book
may be. Sometimes we are over-entertained with a superfluity of
television and radio programs. To discover and achieve the satisfac
tion of fulfillment we must do something creative. We may load
ourselves down with too much reading, but it will never bore us
like the interminable soap operas aired on television. A thoughtfully
written book of our own choosing and a quiet place are all that is
needed to furnish something toward our own entertainment. We
must do a minimum of thinking, at least, as we read a good book,
or fail in our endeavor to learn anything. If this book does not evoke
an emotional and intellectual response at least somewhat original
with you, it does not impinge in any significant way on your con
sciousness.
Many people think that the larger their acquaintance, the more
friends they have. If we do not profit by our circle of friends with
whom we share our spare moments day after day, of what use are
they to us?
Books do not keep up such a specious relationship with readers,
nor will every hook be a devoted friend, but after we find a good
book, it will remain a faithful friend.
There are no obstacles between books and ourselves—except our
selves.
(4) Arc you afraid to sit at a safe distance from the door and
driver, or do you insist on sharing his driving cushion?
(5) Do you agree to talk about some of the things he likes
or do you take the conversation hv discussing what you and Max
did on your date?
There are many other questions we could ask to see if you
really ratc-with-your-date, but I’m sure we would all be surprised
to know how great our ignorance unfolds when it comes to dating.
Young men and women, let’s resolve today to check ourselves
and start having “wholesome social and dating grace.” Let’s
really rate with our date.
Alumnus George Smith
Clark Represented
In Labor Program
Clark College was officially
represented in the U.S. Depart
ment of Labor this summer by
Mr. George Smith who was ap
pointed at the nomination of
his department and the place
ment office as a Student Repre
sentative GS-5 (S3,000 per
annum). Mr. Smith's appoint
ment was the result of the De
partment's invitation to have
Clark College participate in its
summer Student Representative
Program. Under this program,
one junior year student or a
graduate who plans to enter
graduate school in the fall,
whose academic background is
commensurate with the Depart
ment's work is selected and
given professional level assign
ments during the summer. It is
hoped that by gaining an in
sight into the work carried on
by the Department, the repre
sentative will be interested in
returning for permanent em
ployment upon graduation.
Mr. Smith was assigned to
the Labor-Management Services
Administration where he was
engaged in research work in
the bureau's Division of Com
pliance Operations.
Mr. Smith is a member of
Alpha Kappa Mu and was
President of the student body
during 1963-64 school term.
He was selected to be listed in
Who’s Who Among Students
in American Colleges and Uni
versities. He is enrolled at
Atlanta University graduate
school this fall where he is
beginning work on his Master's
degree.
Dr. Sweat Elected
To Editorial Board
At the Annual Meeting of the
Association for the Study of
Negro Life and History held
this year in Detroit, Dr. Ed
ward F. Sweat. Chairman of the
Social Science Department, was
named a member of the Editor
ial Board of the Negro History
Bulletin. Published in Washing
ton, D. C\. the Bulletin special
izes in scholarly articles of spe
cial interest in the area of Negro
history.
Dr. Sweat has contributed
numerous articles and reviews
to historical journals. His re
view of the book Mary McCleod
Bethune: A Biography appeared
in the September issue of The
Journal of American History.
His most recent review is of the
volume Following The Color
Fine which is scheduled for
publication in the winter issue of
The Journal oj Negro History.
Visit and use the Library
DON’T carry it away.