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Page 2 THE PANTHER December 18, 1979 EDITORIAL COMMENT... The First Amendment Congress 8hall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom ofspeech or of the press or the rightof the people... Facilities Needed at Clark j^e Other Side of FAO BY MARCIA E. JONES Panther Editor Clark College — your school and my school — has its positive and negative aspects. Many feel that the Panther staff has been harsh with their opinions concerning issues that affect us as students. The administration and the systems that they have set up to process various activities are of a primitive nature. The main system that I would like to address a segment of this editorial to is the financial aids office. To many, it may seem that this is a stale subject, but the views that I would like to convey are of significant im portance. It disturbs me as a student to enter fall regis tration and not be aware of my financial status. By financial status I am referring to whether I am to receive the funds that I had previously received in past years. I must admit that I have been more fortunate than many of my counterparts. However, it is quite upseting to enter registration without any prior knowledge as to where or how much financial aid will be allocated to you. The rationale for this lack of knowledge of financial funds is often times due to the primitive methods of manual processing. What’s the problem Clark? I am sure the costis expensive to install a computerized system to process forms. However, the investment towards such a system would be beneficial for the financial aids personnel as well as the students. Proces sing of applications and correspondence to students concerning financial awards would be tremendously quicker. Often I have spoken to some of my peers who attend larger, white institutions. They speak of a computerized system that hastens procedures and eliminates some of the con fusion that occurs at Clark. I could elaborate further about the financial aids situation, but it would only be repetitious of what has already been said. I would like to expound, however, on another situation that perplexes me. I feel very perplexed at a situation involving our own school publication — The Panther. Clark installed their own typesetting equipment last semester and the Panther is not permitted to use it. Why not? Continued on page 8 BY BERLAINE SMITH The article “Students Dis satisfied With Financial Aid Office,” in the December 3 is sue of the Panther, is not an accurate report of the ef ficiency of the Financial Aid Office (FAO) of Clark College. The writer poses the question about the office’s daily hours. The official office hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Friday, with an hour for lunch and two fifteen (15) minute breaks which are never taken by the staff. There is an extensive amount of paper work which must be done in FAO; therefore, the office is closed all day Wednesday and Friday afternoons. It has been brought to my attention, that in the past, the FAO was open on Wednesdays (a more convenient day - for most students), but very few students came to the office on this day. In response to Ms. Ford’s assessment of the FAO ability to serve 2000 students, I want to inform her about the in sufficient number of four (4) FAO staff members. Ms. Ford states that the “standards have not changed any since my freshman year”; consequently, Ms. Ford, the FAO’s personnel number has not changed either, even though the enrollment has shown a substantial growth in population. Before I became a student worker in the FAO I expressed some of these same grievances. Since I have been employed in the Office, I have observed many mistakes made by students,mistakeswhich result in discrepancies in their finan cial aid awards. Students fill out forms improperly. Their signatures and social security numbers are illegible; wrong addresses and/or no ad dresses are given; and dates are oftentimes missing. There is an enormous lack of responsibility on the part of the student body. They do not report to the FAO when they are asked to do so, and they do not provide the proper in formation requested. There are many students who are dissatisfied with the Work-Study Payroll system. Instead of accusing the FAO of poor organization, ask yourself these questions: Is my contract signed? Did I fill out my time card properly? Are my signature and social security number present? Did my supervisor submit my time card by the 12 noon deadline? If the FAO strictly abided by the 12 noon deadline rule, how many students do you think would receive checks? I am not trying to totally dis credit the Clark College student body, but am only giv ing an inside viewpoint of the FAO. I also want to tell the students how hard the Finan cial Aid Office staff works; for your benefit some of the staff are there until late evenings, 8 p.m. and after, and even on Saturdays. Were it not for the compassion and dedication of these staff members, some students wouldn’t have any aid or work-study jobs. Students, how many of you remember the special efforts put forth in order for you to participate in the work-study program? How many of you remember the special con sideration given you so that you could participate in the grant programs? No, the Financial Aid Office is not perfect, but consider some of the facts pointed out here, and let us all account for our own inhibitions. I invite Ms. Ford to work in the FAO for one day and then ask her to write a second article. I should love to read about her discoveries. The PANTHER is published twice monthly by the students at Clark College. Editors Marcia E. Jones Lillie M. Lewis News Editor Michael H. Cottman Feature Editor Beniamin S. Lumpkin Entertainment Editor Rozell Clark Sports Editor Veverly Y. Byrd Photography Editor Tyraun Patterson Copy/layout Editor Charles D. Anderson Business Manager - •. • Jack Jenkins Faculty Advisors Denise Johnson Osker Spicer All articles, poetry, photographs and other contributions to the newspaper may be dropped off at our offices in Thayer Hall. Address all correspondence to: PANTHER Newspaper, Box 154, Clark'College. Atlanta. Ga. 30314. Driving on the Rocks — ‘Dangerous’ BY LILLIE M. LEWIS Panther Editor As the holiday season ap- praoches us many persons exchange gifts, attend Christmas festivities, hang their wreaths, mistletoe, and renew old acquaintances. Some people plan to travel to various cities to visit other relatives and distant friends. In addition, others want to get away from the congestion of city life to the warmth and friendliness of a smaller town. Many persons who venture into various social at mospheres where alcoholic beverages are served, sometimes have a tendency to overindulge. As a result of this situation, it may eventually lead to uncontrollable mis conduct and prolonged em barrassment. Did you know that one drink can actually impair the capacity of a person especially if this person is inexperienced both as a driver and a drinker? In the state of Georgia there are an estimated 265,000 alcoholics and persons with serious drinking problems. Based on national figures, an estimated 100,000 of these people are women, and about 13,000 are children and 45,000 are elderly. In reference to a national study of teenage drinking behavior, the number of adult alcoholics is estimated at between five and nine million. The annual societal cost of alcohol is estimated at over 25 million dollars. Continued on page 8