Newspaper Page Text
The Panther
MARCH-APRIL, 1968
5
SUCH A WASTE! Into The Future
HAIR-CRAZY
by Joe Louis Tucker
On Thursday morning (February 29) I awoke to the joyous
cheers of my three children (ages 7, 4, and 3) exclaiming that,
“it’s snowing, it’s snowing.” Upon observation I discovered a light
snow. The television came on for the news report. What did I
hear, one or two hundred Americans killed in Viet Nam last week.
The death toll of the Viet Cong was in the thousands for the same
period. I wonder, since George Washington couldn’t tell lies are
they telling them now. The news my children heard and students
at Georgia Tech, Mercer, Georgia State and Clark College, “no
classes today” how absurd!
On to my humble office, the Administration building was like a
tomb. But outside on the campus, a raging snow-ball fight. Such
a waste! Seemingly some of our atheletes are prime snow-ball
makers and throwers. They threw at inquisitive coeds in the win
dows of Phieffer Hall, the coeds squealed in blood-curling fashion.
What about the wise student who wants to use this time wisely.
Where? Georgia Smith Kenney Library was “up tight” (for the
uninitiated-closed) The coeds slept or talked most of the day. A
few brave ones joined the snow fights. Wonder how many studied
in their rooms.
Good students study every chance they can, they study while
others slepe. While the white students at Georgia Tech, Mercer,
and Georgia State were, I suppose, frolicking in the snow (but I
doubt it) Negro students should have been studying hard to pre
pare themselves for competative jobs where possibly the time
they spent studying will mean more to them than a frolic in the
snow. From the number who played in the snow, undoubtedly,
there will not be a shortage of “snowball makers” but scholars
and leaders of mankind—yes.
What is wrong when classes are not suspended at the time a
great teacher, alumnus, and friend was funeralized, but yet, get
two inches of snow on the ground and classes are suspended so
the students can play in the snow — such a waste! A few weeks,
months or years from now these same students (if fortunate
enough) will have to slip and slide to somebody’s job unless they
teach in the public schools of Atlanta or some of its colleges, then
they will have a snowy holiday!
Clark College is fortunate to have some faculty and staff who
braved Thursday’s little snow to be on the campus in their offices
preparing themselves to better teach our students, unfortunately
some of the students lacked the insight to use this day wisely —
such a waste!
Supreme Court
WASHINGTON (CPS)—In two major decisions today, the
Supreme Court overturned a Maryland loyalty oath for state
employees and refused to consider the case of three Army privates
who have said they will not serve in Vietnam because the war
there is illegal.
The decision in the Maryland
case, as in past loyalty oath
cases, dealt only with the word
ing of the oath and not with
the concept of loyalty oaths in
general. It therefore does not
set a precedent for the invalida
tion of all government loyalty
oaths.
In the case of the three sol
diers, the court ruled by a 7-2
vote that it had no jurisdiction
over the question of the war’s
legality. Justices Douglas and
Stewart dissented, suggesting
that the court should hear the
petition from the soldiers.
In the loyalty oath case, the
court, by a 6-3 majority, ruled
that the wording of the oath was
too broad. Justice Douglas, who
wrote the majority decision, said
of the oath that the “lines be
tween permissible and impermis
sible conduct are quite indistinct.
Precision and clarity are not
present. Rather we find an
overbreadth that makes possible
oppressive or capricious applica
tion as regimes change.”
The justice raised the possi
bility that a person who believed
in “peaceful revolution” might
unwittingly become a member
of a “subversive” organization.
If he had taken the oath, ac
cording to Justice Douglas, he
might then be subject to the
charge of perjury. The oath
states that all signers are sub
ject to the Maryland perjury
statute.
The loyalty oath had former
ly been required of all state em
ployees in Maryland, including
faculty members at the state’s
colleges and universities. The
state can no longer require em
ployees to sign this oath, but
it may draw up another one
that will not be as broadly
worded as this one.
by Desdimonia Jones
The Clark College band di
rector, Mr. Rowland, has been
fully occupied during the year
with the recruitment of students
for the band. Mr. Rowland’s
traveling has included North
Carolina, Florida, and Tennes
see. In addition to extensive
travel in the states, Mr. Row
land has a great deal of inquir
ing letters from New York and
Chicago.
Mr. Rowland stated that “the
future of the band will depend
somewhat on the success of re
cruiting.” The problems con
fronted with recruiting are few
but serious. The most serious of
the problems is the war in Viet
Nam. Many young men who
had intentions of entering Clark
will either be drafted or will
volunteer the arm forces to re
lieve themselves of future mili
tary obligations. Another prob
lem with recruiting seems to be
getting “good” future bands
men to come to Clark.
Thirdly, there is a problem of
finding a reasonable amount of
talented musicians. One interest
ing fact cited by Mr. Rowland
was that all participating band
members will be on scholarship
next year, therefore the stand
ards for band members will be
heightened. He also stated,
“while visiting different schools
recruiting, I let the individual
members in the band audition.”
This is so that I will know the
type of musician I am offering
a scholarship. I have to know
what I am getting.” In conclu
sion, Mr. Rowland stated that
“in the near future the March
ing Panthers will be an all male,
one hundred piece band.”
Newman's Still Champ
(ACP)—Rest easily, girls.
Paul Newman’s still the champ
—at egg—eating, that is.
Newman’s imaginary record
of 50 eggs was threatened, how
ever, when Louisiana State Uni
versity sophomore Mike Patter
son, in an heroic attempt, gob
bled 41 in an hour, the Daily
Reveille reports.
Patterson took his run at the
record, established by Newman
in the movie “Cool Hand Luke,”
before a cheering crowd of 66
men on the basement floor of
Hodges Hall.
The psychology major appar
ently had claimed he could
down the eggs and received ap
propriate challenges from men
on the floor. About 15 of them
were said to have a special in
terest in the event.
Patterson, of medium build
and weighing about 180 pounds,
started fast, swallowing more
than 30 the first half hour. But
then the pace slowed.
“The turning point was at 25,
halfway,” he said. “Then I
started feeling real full.”
He walked around the room
Newman-style, listened to ad
vice from trainers, and attempt
ed to open up some room by
burping. But with one minute
to go, he had downed only 40.
He decided then to try to gulp
them all but gave up the at
tempt for fear of chocking.
Any regrets- “I’ll try again
about a month after the second
semester begins,” Patterson
said.
CAREER WEEK—Left to right: M. C. Mel Smiley, Donald Fletcher, and Hazel
Breland.
by James Mays
Would you believe that in 1968 students are being fired at
Clark College from tutorial jobs if their hair is a little longer than
is accepted by the faculty? Would you believe that athletes are
threatened with scholarship losses if they do not cut their hair?
Why is it more important to judge an athlete by the length of his
hair than by his athletic power? All three of the Black basketball
stars at U.C.L.A. wear natural hair cuts and it does not seem to
bother them. Both Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain wear goatees
and they still play like champions. What is the connection?
One of my closest friends and one of Clark’s best students was
removed from a math tutoring position because he refused to let
the faculty dictate to him regarding the length of his hair. A science
student friend of mine who needed the money more desperately
was forced into cutting his hair. Frequently I have heard athletes
discuss the pressure that is applied to them to get their hair cut.
The thing that is paradoxical about the entire situation is that
the very same people who are applying the pressure to our students
and making it practically impossible for them to go to school are
the same ones who go to church on Sunday to worship a man who
wore his hair to his shoulders. They are the same ones who think
of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and
Albert Einstein, all of whom wore their hair long, as some of the
greatest thinkers America has ever known.
What’s wrong with a school that will dismiss many of its ex
ceptionally gifted people from needed jobs just because they choose
to wear their hair long? What’s wrong with a school which is more
worried about what’s on the outside of a student’s head than what’s
on the inside? When are we as students in our late teens or early
twenties going to start letting the faculty know that what they like
as fifty and sixty year olds is not necessarily what we like and stop
them from hurting some of our best students who would rather
lose a job or scholarship than lose their manhood?
AAUP ok's Joint Statement
WASHINGTON (CPS)—The American Association of Uni
versity Professors has become the second of five national organiza
tions to go on record in favor of a joint statement on the rights
and freedoms of students.
The statement endorses such rights as a student role in policy
making and due process for students in disciplinary cases.
The National Student Association was the first of the five
organizations to endorse the statement. This action came at the
NSA Congress in August.
In addition to AAUP and NSA, the statement was drafted by
representatives of the American Association of Colleges, the Na
tional Association of Student Personnel Administrators, and the
National Association of Women’s Deans and Counselors.
The statement is considered significant because the bodies
which drafted it represent administrators, faculty members, and
students.
Some of the major provisions of the statement include:
* A long list of due process requirements in major cases, in
cluding putting the burden of proof on the college and guaranteeing
the student’s right to defend himself.
* The right to attend college without regard to race, to invite
speakers of students’ own choosing, and to have complete freedom
of off-campus action without fear of university punishment for
the violation of civil laws.
* Protection of students from “arbitrary and prejudiced” grad
ing by professors.
* A free student press. Whenever possible, the statement says,
student newspapers should be legally and financially autonomous
from the university as a separate corporation. When this is not
possible, the statement urges a student press sufficiently autono
mous to remain a vehicle for freedom of inquiry and expression.
The statement has come under some criticism from student
leaders because portions of it are vague. These leaders think these
portions may give administrations too much leeway. However,
NSA President Ed Schwartz, who sat’on the drafting committee,
said this summer that these statements, which were often com
promises between NSA and the other groups were better than
what some of the groups had proposed.
“Well! Did you see the way she looked at you, George