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The Panther
February 5, 1980
EDITORIAL COMMENT...
The First Amendment
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free
exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press or the right of the people...
ERA Denounced
In Georgia
BY LILLIE M. LEWIS
Panther Editor
Despite the prolonged
heated debate over the Equal
Rights Amendment (ERA), it
was still defeated in the
Georgia Senate last week.
Most of the ERA supporters,
such as, the National
Organization for Women
blamed President Carter for
failing to influence the
Georgia State Legislature to
approve the ERA during his
tenure in the White House.
It was not President Carter’s
fault because the Georgia vote
came a few hours before the
first presidential preference
contest of ratifying the ERA.
Rep. Cathy Steinberg (D-
DeKalb) complained to the
White House about the
publicity surrounding its ERA
efforts, and was even informed
that unless the Carters made
their voice public, they would
be blamed for poor efforts.
Many Georgians are also
blaming Lt. Gov. Zell Miller
and Gov. George Busbee for
not seeking moral support for
the passage of the ERA.
Usually, whenever any type
nf an amendment is proposed,
it is unlikely that it will reach
the floor of the state
legislature, or the senate,
because ratification may take
anywhere from one to five
years depending on the issue.
In 1 975, the ERA
Amendment failed in the
I Senate by a 33-22 vote, and
was killed in 1974 by a House
vote of 104 - 70.
Five years later, the ERA is
finally axed by the Georgia
legislature. Georgia women
face it, it may be another 10
years before the ERA even
reaches the floor again, if then.
Think about it women,
although the ERA was
defeated in the state of
Georgia, if the draft is actually
reinstituted in the U.S. you will 1
have to enlist, and go through
basic training.
Although many women were
for the ratification of the ERA
Amendment, think of it this
way, you haven’t really lost
anything in the process, and
you may still apply for various
hard labor positions, if you can
handle it.
In my opinion, since there
are so many senators, and
legislators who are opponents
of the ERA, why are some of
these same people proponents
when it comes to enlisting
women in the service.
The entire issue to me, seems
totally unfair — We have
access to the First
Amendment, but it seems as
though women’s rights are
definitely being censored by
our society.
Where
Do We
Go From Here?
BY MARCIA E. JONES
Panther Editor
Attention! At Ease! These
familiar words characterize
drill exercises in the army or
other branches of the service.
Many times, we tend to laugh
at military comedies shown on
television such as “Corner
Pyle,” “Hogan Heroes” or
“MASH." Well fellow
classmates our laughing days
may be over because reality is
beginning to create a gloomy
picture for us all.
According to President
Carter in his Jan. 23rd speech,
the draft registration may be
re-imposed for men as well as
women, between the ages of lb
and 26. So now many of us,
both men and women, may
have to register for what some
may term as a “death
certificate.”
What provokes me and
probably many others is that
old men start the wars and the
young ones are sent to fight
them. It is difficult to
understand American politics
and the men who comprise our
decision—making body. We
have seen our men succumb to
death in World War II, the
The PANTHER
is published twice monthly by the students at Clark College
Editors
Marcia E. Jones
Lillie M. Lewis
News Editor
Feature Editor
Benjamin S. Lumpkin
Entertainment Editor..
Sherry Jones
Sports Editor
Veverly Y. Byrd
Photography Editor
Tyraun Patterson
Copy Editor
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.
Life In Spain
Every year for 5 weeks of the
summer, a program is offered
to students in the U.S. and
Canada to travel and study in
Spain. Last summer, 100
students from 25 states,
Canada and Puerto Rico
departed from Kennedy
Airport in New York and flew
to Madrid.
The group was then bussed
to the campus of the Ciudad
Universitaria of Madrid where
they lived and attended
classes. The living quarters
consisted of one room per
student. Each class met five
days a week and courses
ranged from Elementary
Spanish to Literature and
Culture. Students toured La
Mancha for two days, visiting
all the interesting places
related to Cervantes and Don
Quixote. Sixty students made
a four day tour to Santiago de
Compostela and Leon.
Once or twice a week a group
was scheduled to visit such his
torical places as Valle de los
Caidos, El Escorial, Segovia,
Avila, Toledo, Museo del
Prado, Palacio Real etc.
Students found that they
had also more than enough
time to do, see and learn what
ever they chose.
As part of the program, a trip
was taken to Southern Spain,
visiting famous cities as
Cordoba, Sevilla, Granada,
Malaga, and two days were
spent in the beautiful
Torremolinos Beach.
Plans are already in
progress for the 16th Summer
School Program in Spain 1980.
Students may earn 9 quarter
college credits.
All persons interested
should write to Dr.
Doreste, Augustana
College, Rock Island, Ill.
61201 as soon as possible.
SDace is verv limited.
Korean War and the Vietnam
War. Now it appears
imperative and inevitable that
another war could develop.
Men will be giving up their
lives for their country and now
women must join these ranks,
too.
The question is: Where do we
as young adults go from here?
Are we going to allow the
government to enforce the
draft registration? And how
about the women? Regis
tration for the draft will be a
new experience lor them.
The draft is ah experience
that none of us would like to
partake in, but the time has
come. Are we going to take the
initiative and challenge
President Carter’s decision?
Or shall we be submissive and
allow ourselves, the future
generation, to “sign our lives
away.”
Black vs. Black?
BY VEVERLY Y. BYRI)
On February 5, Atlanta
voters will be called upon to
elect a new City Council
President in a special election.
Once again we find blacks
pitted against blacks causing
us to split votes two ways,
sometimes three ways and as
in this election. We also find
our black candidates cutting
each other’s throats and
dragging each other’s names
through the mud.
Why is it that black officials
can’t unite and be more
together? Surely everyone can
not win. And before you know
it, some unknown white can
didate will slip in and run
away with the victory as in
previous elections.
Many well qualified black
candidates have been defeated
because too many blacks were
in the race and caused black
support to be divided.
One perfect example of this
was the race for 5th District
(Congressional seat when An
drew Young retired to take a
position on President Carter’s
cabinet. Wyche Fowler was the
victor as several black can
didates battered away at each
other.
We can also largely con
tribute the fall of black of
ficials to the negligence of
black voters who fail to show
their concern in just voting.
Each election proves blacks
to be less concerned than ever.
Even in the Atlanta
University Center there are
enough votes to almost assure
any candidate of a victory. But
we seem to see voting as
trivial.
Our future lies in our hands.
Until concerned citizens
register to vote and carry out
our duty and black officials
stop dividing the black vote,
Atlanta’s empire will fall.
An out of state student can
register to vote in Atlanta for
the time he or she is a
registered student and renew
the hometown voting rights
after graduation.