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THE PANTHER
November, 1971
Panther editor quits,
blames lack of help
If you are wondering why the first edi
tion of The Panther is appearing so late in
the semester — it’s because no Clarkites
wanted to work to produce a regularly pub
lished newspaper.
So far this semester there have been
many students who said they wanted to
help produce the newspaper. When the time
came to work toward attaining this goal,
however, none of these students were will
ing to do the required work.
It is a policy of The Panther to give
Clarkites in-depth reporting on events, peo
ple and informative outside news. In order
to measure up to this policy it is necessary
for students who desire to work as staff
members to realize that:
• Producing a newspaper calls for a lot
of hard work. Staff members must go that
extra mile to make sure Clarkites read facts
and not a paper filled with opinions.
• A lot of time must be devoted toward
producing a newspaper. Staff members
must be willing to give more than two hours
of their time five days a week.
• The Panther’s reading audience de
mands something better than high school-
level writing. Clarkites are more interested
in being informed of the latest decisions
that are made on matters that will affect
them rather than reading the latest poem
that John Henry has written.
The absence of The Panther demonstrates
the unconcern by students for a newspaper.
For some reason Clarkites apparently can’t
imagine the importance of a newspaper.
Undoubtedly they don’t give a damn.
Clarkites need a newspaper because the
other important source of campus commun
ication — the occasional mimeographed
publication called “Your Mama Is Black”—
is not appearing this year. Earlier in the
semester the SGA, which published “Your
Mama” last year, announced that it would
not produce it this year.
Very seldom do Clarkites know the ac
tual reason an event occurs or action is tak
en on a measure. Many students make accu
sations against the administration, faculty,
SGA or students and have no idea why
something was really done.
Until Clark can get at least three students
who are interested in producing a news
paper and who will work full-time to have
it appear, there will never be a regular news
paper at Clark, and students will be the
losers.
We may never know of the many news
worthy events and actions that take place at
the college, and we may never know of
Clark’s important and prestigious accom
plishments. And we won’t have a publica
tion in which opinions and commentary on
developments can be presented.
Because I have realized that one person
working full-time cannot produce a news
paper, I am resigning as editor of The Pan
ther. I feel that there is no point in wast
ing your money and my time.
Until now I have been the only student
working full-time to produce The Panther,
and it seems useless to try to continue this
losing battle.
Tethel White
THE PANTHER
Clark College — Atlanta, Georgia 30314
Editor Tethel White
STAFF
Raymond Black, Linda Daniel and Deirdre Norman
Adviser Alan Bussel
The Panther is published by students of Clark College. Letters
to the editor are welcome but
withheld on request.
Sports prizes
gather dust
on campus
Hidden in one of the women’s
dormitories on campus and in
the athletic department’s equip
ment and storage rooms are re
minders of Clark’s history in
athletics
Some tarnished and broken,
some in good condition, are me
mentoes of Clark’s athletic ac
complishments.
Six years ago, the trophies
were in HaVen-Warren Hall,
Clark’s administration building.
“Wiley Bolden, then dean of
the college, ordered the trophies
removed from the display cases,”
said Leonidas Epps, head of the
athletic department.
“The administration felt that
since the glass enclosures on the
second and third floors in the
administration building were not
trophy cases but display cases,
it didn’t look academic to display
the trophies there,” Epps said.
must be signed. Names will be
Pro scouts may look in
on Turkey Day Classic
Pro football scouts are expect
ed to be on hand for the Thanks
giving classic between Clark and
Morris Brown.
Leonidas Epps, Clark athletic
director, said “there are always
professional scouts at most of the
college's games.”
Two former Clark players who
played in the cla'ssic are now
playing professisonal football.
They are Morris Stroud, a tight
end for the Kansas City Chiefs,
and Elizah Nevitt, a defensive
half-back for the Oakland Raid
ers.
“When the trophies were re
moved, we were told that a bet
ter place would be found for
them to be displayed,” he said.
“That was six years ago. We
ha've taken some of the trophies
out of the equipment room now,
and they are on display in my
office in Tuimer-Tanner Hall.
Many of these trophies have nev
er been displayed.”
Survey explores student views on apathy
At a time of wide concern that
apathy is increasing at Clark,
a recent Panther newspaper sur
vey showed that the majority of
Clark students feel that apathy
exists, but most students survey
ed said they themselves were not
apathetic.
32.1 per cent of the students
said apathy at Clark exists
among more than 75 per cent of
the student body. Some 31.2 per
cent indicated that apathy exists
among 90 per cent or. more of
the students.
Asked “Do you consider your
self apathetic?” 59 per cent said
that they were not apathetic.
This implies that while Clark
ites do feel that apathy is a ma
jor problem on campus, many
do not believe themselves as a
cause.
40.8 per cent of the students
said the student body is the “one
group at Clark that can end ap
athy.”
“The majority of the students
at Clark are apathetic,” a senior
sociology major said. “This feel
ing is caused by the tired situa
tion here. It is a result of col
lege conditions, and no one per
son or small group of students
can change it significantly. The
change has to come from the en
tire student body.”
A sophomore mathematics ma
jor expressed a similar sentiment,
“No one person can end the apa
thy at Clark. It will only end, if
and only if, the entire student
body, faculty and administration
become unified as a college
should be.”
The student replies showed that
the primary factor keeping Clark
ites from participating in extra
curricular activities is the num
ber of subjects they are taking
and the amount of studying that
is required for these subjects.
Employment and lack of rele
vant activities were the other
frequent answers to this ques
tion.
Asked, “Which do you think
Cla'rkites are interested in most?”,
the majority of the students said
that their peers were interested
in (1) socializing, (2) getting a
degree, and (3) complaining.
38.1 per cent said that com
munication between students and
faculty should be improved.
Clarkites listed the absence of
co-ed visitation privileges and
curfew hours for some female
students as the most antiquated
administrative policies.
47.5 per cent of the students
answered that attempts to change
administrative policies would not
be frivolous, and surprisingly
47.5 per cent said attempts to
change administrative policies
would be frivolous. On the whole
students responding positively to
this question made no comment,
many of which were similar.
Typical of these opinions was
one expressed by a junior polit
ical science major. The student
said, “Most people at Clark are
apathetic because they learned
long ago that their progressive
ideas are ignored or suppressed
by the administration. The ad
ministration sees students not as
individuals but as more money.”
According to Beverly Frierson,
secretary of the Student Life
Committee, “The administration
is not responsible for Clark’s
policy of no coed visitation. At
present a proposal for visitation
privileges is being written by a
Student Life sub-committee.”
Miss Frierson said, “When the
proposal is completed it will be
presented to the administration
for a ruling.”
Response to the survey was
poor. Out of the 500 question
naires distributed to students,
The Panther obtained only 112
completed. This may mean that
most students at Clark feel the
same as a junior who felt the
survey was a waste of time but
replied anyway.
“This questionnaire is not rel
evant,” the junior said. “It is a
waste of my time and your pa
per.”
More importantly, the students
not responding and the answers
given by those who did respond
may demonstrate a developing
tendency for Clark students to
be unconcerned with college
practices and activities and more
concerned with involving them
selves in private interests.
New proposal may help solve
campus publications problem
For the past several years stu
dents have been disappointed by
the infrequency and tardiness of
campus publications, but a new
plan may help solve the prob
lem.
The plan, in the form of a
proposal, calls for abandoning
the present system of selection
of editors by a popular vote. It
proposes establishing a Publica
tions Board to choose the editors.
The idea of a Publications
Board resulted from a Sept. 16,
1971, meeting called by Dr. Vi
vian W. Henderson, president of
Clark, and Faite Calhoun, pres
ident of the Student Government
Association.
Other persons attending the
meeting were Mascelia Shannon,
yearbook editor; Tethel White,
newspaper editor; Alan Bussel,
assistant professor of journalism;
Curtis Gillespie, dean of students;
and Victor G. Backus, director of
college relations.
Henderson told the group that
the meeting was called to learn
each person’s views of the Pub
lication Board idea.
The group’s concensus was that
a Publications Board could do a
better job of selecting student
editors than the popular vote
method.
The next step in making the
Board a reality is to write a
proposal. Calhoun, Miss Shannon,
and Miss White are writing the
document.
Asked the purpose of the
Board, Calhoun answered, “We
don’t have a final purpose yet.
Right now we are discussing
several purposes, but it would
be the Board’s responsibility to
select editors on the basis of
qualifications.”
Calhoun speculated that the
main qualification for editors
would probably be the experi
ence applicants have in working
with newspapers or yearbooks.
Other qualifications, he said,
“may be the applicants’ involve
ment in organizations and their
desire to be editors.
“We want a selection method
that would choose the most
qualified person among appli
cants,” he continued. “We are
also looking for a method that
will enable us to avoid a situ
ation in which no one runs for
editor.’’
In the student elections held
last semester, no one ran for
yearbook editor. Calhoun ap
pointed Miss Shannon editor in
September. She also edited the
1970-71 yearbook.
The Publications Board pro
posal will be presented to the
SGA’s Student Council immedi
ately upon its completion, Cal
houn said. He said he did not
know when the proposal would
be completed but said the date
of the proposal’s presentation to
the Council would be announced.
The Council must approve the
proposal.
The Student Council, according
to the student handbook “Guide
to Wholesome Living,” “serves
as the medium through which
the SGA is governed. The group
is composed of presidents of the
Men’s Association and the Wo
men’s Resource Center, along
with the heads of all chartered
organizations.”
This will not be the first time
a Publication Board proposal has
been presented to a SGA Student
Council.
Lillian Andrews, 1970 Panther
editor, presented a Publications
Board proposal to the Student
Council of the 1069-70 SGA ad
ministration. The proposal was
presented during the Spring of
1970. The Council, at that time,
rejected the proposal ahd estab
lished the present system of se
lecting publication editors by
popular vote.
Teacher exams set
for 1972 dates
Clark seniors preparing to
teach school may take the Na
tional Teacher Examinations
Jan. 29 and April 8, 1972.
The results of the test are
used in many school districts as
a primary factor in deciding the
qualifications of a prospective
teacher.