The Panther. (Atlanta, Georgia) 19??-1989, October 01, 1973, Image 1

The Panther., October 01, 1973, Image 1

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Newspaper Page TextOctober 1973 V0L.XXXVI1 NO. 1 Clark College Political Apathy Plagues Students By Donald Jenkins Political apathy is one of the most distressing diseases at Clark this year. This disease does not limit itself to any distinct group of students, but infects all ranks of Clarkites. A large number of Clark students were eligible to vote in the upcoming elec tion. And, while others were calling it the most impor tant race in Atlanta’s his tory, the students hardly seemed to notice. Political campaign dot the trees all over cam pus and several of the can didates made personal ap pearances to entice the students to vote. By FANNIE FLONO Dorris Wright, a 26 year- old junior political science major at Clark College, takes her job as the Presi dent of the Student Govern ment Association (SGA), se riously. Miss Wright is the second woman in Clark’s 104-year history to be elected presi dent of the SGA. “Clark College students are sophisticated students and they were looking for someone who could get the job done.” Miss Wright said, explaining why the students elected a female president. “They felt I could do it.” “It’s a hard job and takes a tactful, determined person to handle it,’’ she said. “In fact, it takes all kinds of positive things,” Miss Wright said. According to Miss But many of the almost two dozen students inter viewed, expressed a lack of interest and a distrust of politics. A nineteen-year-old out- of-state freshman stated, “Man, I just don’t have time to be interested or even to look into politics now.” “With this being my first year and all the changes I’m going through. I don’t know. Maybe next year,” he ad ded. A female freshman from Atlanta asked, “What’s the use of voting? They aren’t going to do what you want them to do any way. ’ ’ Wright, this year, the SGA is “trying to keep up with the changing Clark Col lege.” “We want the students to know that they attend one of the most prestigious col leges in the nation with top notch professors and pro grams, she said. “If the students will take full advantage of these pro grams, it will better pre pare them to compete and it will bring unity to the school.” She hopes to involve stu dents on three levels of par ticipation. “First of all, the stu dents should become involv ed with other students,” Miss Wright said. “Secondly, these students should become involved with the faculty and administra tion. “Finally, the student should become involved with Most freshmen register ed to vote, but many did not know the candidates nor the platforms associated with them. A nineteen-year-old sophmore said, “I don’t know but two of the candi dates and I don’t know much about them,” There were, however, a few students at Clark who actively campaigned for various candidates. One of these was Barbara Ross, a senior. She says that she did not specifically ask the students to vote for Leroy Johnson, her choice for ma yor. But by campaigning she said she felt she was sim ply educating the students and making them aware of what Johnson is for and about. “If a student is educat ed about the candidates he can make an intelligent de cision,” said Miss Ross. This is one of the rea sons she sponsored the po litical arena last month. This event was held on Sep tember 19, 1973 on Clark College’s athletic field. Two mayoral candidates attend ed the affair, hoping to ob tain more college student’s votes. Only a few stu dents showed up to hear them. The mayoral candidates, Maynard Jackson and Le-' roy Johnson, spoke briefly to the students who attend ed. James Bond, Malcolm Dean, Mildred Glover who are running for the fourth district city council seat and Doctor Napper, who is running 'citywide from' tenth district, attended the affair the community at large,” she added. Although the SGA does see specific problems that need handling, Miss Wright says that the SGA has not taken much action yet. “Right now, we are ana lyzing present practices .and proposed changes.” Presently, a petition con cerning the lack of suffi cient housing on campus for students is being circulat ed by the SGA, some gene ral things are being plann ed in relation to the opera tion of the business office, and a study of how to get students involved with the community is being con ducted, Miss Wright said. “The most pressing is sue facing the SGA con cerns the administrative of fices and their lack of ef ficiency,” she said. Miss Wright said the SGA is planning some things Beverly Engram, a junior from Jacksonville, Fla., will hold court during Homecoming as she dons the title “Miss Clark.” The colors red, black, and white are reserved exclu sively for Miss Clark and her attendants, Jennifer Butts and Patricia Odum. Coronation of the queen will be held in the John F. Kennedy Center at 225 Chestnut St. on Oct. 11. It is a semi-formal affair and commences at 8 p.m. The Red and Black Ball will be held the evening prior to the homecoming game at the Atlanta Inter nationale Hotel. The ball will feature the Temprees and the Soulful Brass. It will start at nine. The homecoming parade and game are slated for Sat., Oct. 13. The parade is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. at the corner of Greensferry and Lawshe. The Panthers play host to Knoxville College at Herndon Stadium. Miss Wright cites herself as only one of the women qn Clark’s campus in a major leadership position. “Just look at the elec tion of class officers this year,” she said. “Three of the four class presidents are women and the other class ^offices are held predominately by wo men,” she said. Miss Wright’s own cabi net is predominantly fe male. So far, Miss Wright feels that she is achieving some success in her attempt to alleviate campus apathy, a major concern of many students last year. “Apathy is lifting on cam pus. However, we are not totally apathy-less yet,” she said. “We’ll have to work on that.” Photoby Patrick Spencer ’ Mayoral candidate Leroy Johnson (r) talks with SGA President Dorris Wright (1) at a political rally held on Clark’s campus last month. SECOND WOMAN HEADS SGA Oct. 13th Promises Gold By BRENDA L. CAMP Rainbow ‘73--this year’s homecoming theme -- pro mises Clark a colorful ar ray of festivities. The theme is a refresh ing change from the African motif that has dominated Clark’s previous home coming activities. This year’s theme goes “back in history” says Miss C1 a rk, Beverly “Snake” Engram, and it examines beliefs about the colors of the rainbow and what they mean to different countries. The fraternity, sorority, class and club queens will symbolize raindrops that contribute to the “pot of gold”--Miss Clark. Cus tomarily, these queens wear the colors of the organiza tions they represent. This year they will wear an as sortment of rainbow colors. concerning this, but she did not eleborate. Many of the campaign is sues of last year are not being dealt with this year because they involve revi sions in the college’s con stitution, she said. According to Miss Wright, no constitutional re visions can be made unless they are submitted two years prior to the year the proposed changes will be instituted. The SGA has taken ac tion to get a reading pe riod set aside this year, (a reading period is a length of time set aside at the end of each semester for exam preparation). “I have submitted to Dean Knight and to the Council of Deans a letter requesting a reading pe riod,” Miss Wright said. “We should have it by the second semester.”