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The Panther
April 11,1980
EDITORIAL COMMENT...
The Pint Amendment
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment ofreligion orprohAitjngihefree
exercise thereof or abridging the freedom of speech or of the pressortherightof the people....
AN OPEN LETTER TO THE
CHAPPERALS
Dear UNCF Contributors:
You are to be commended for
the superb BENEFIT CONCERT
which you provided on March
19, 1980, at Clark College in the
interest of the United Negro
College Fund.
It is rare, indeed, that a group
which is in great demand would
sacrifice its time and talents to
promote the educational ad
vancement of so many young
men and women. Echoes from
many who attended the affair
attest to the fact that it was
superb in every sense of the
word. The monetary receipts will
certainly go a long way in help
ing us to reach our1980goal,and
for this we are grateful.
Thank you, Mr. HoraceFlenry,
the conductor, and each and
every member of this dis
tinguished group.
May you continue to
remember others on your road
to national acclaim.
Commendably yours,
THE UNCF STEERING COM
MITTEE
C.D. Gillespie, Chairman
Dear Mesdames Lewis and
Jones:
Please accept my
congratulations for the awards
received by The Panther in this
year’s Georgia College Press As
sociation competition. I ap
preciate the efforts you and your
staff have put into making the
Panther the outstanding
publication it is.
Let’s go for first next year.
Sincerely yours,
Charles R. Stephens
Vice President for Development
Dear Panther Staff:
Congratulations on being
selected a winner in the Georgia
Collegiate Press Association
Newspaper Contest. The Clark
College Panther was awarded
third place in the category of
Best Campus Community
Service; Editorial Excellence and
all of us here at Clark College are
very proud of your ac
complishments.
Your decision to give your
time and talent was a wise and
generous investment, both for
you as an individual seeking
higher goals through education,
and for Clark College as an
institution of higher education
seeking to provide education for
future roles in our society.
Again, congratulations on
your achievement and best
wishes for continued success.
Sincerely,
Gloria Scott
Vice President
Dear Panther Editors,
It was a pleasant surprise to
pick up a Panther and find an
insert full of extra sports
coverage like never before. The
content of coverage and layout
was excellent.
«The insert idea was a good one
by Veverly Byrd, sports editor. In
previous years, ex-editors (not
the sports editors) took a
conservative stance on sports
coverage. They would barely
allow room for one page.
I would like to commend the
Panther staff and Ms. Byrd for a
brilliant effort and display in
covering the Southern
Intercollegiate Athletic
Conference (SIAC) Tournament.
With time permitting, I’d like to
see another insert, perhaps
focusing on baseball and
women’s sports at Clark or the
Atlanta University Center. There
are no limitations.
With Ms. Byrd’s innovative
ideas and willingness to ‘‘get the
news” and “print it", sports will
definitely be a highlight of the
Panther,'if it already isn’t.
Sincerely,
Charles Anderson
Daytona Times Staff Writer
Dear Mr. Anderson:
We are glad that you enjoyed
the insert and hope that this is
an indication of intensive
sports coverage for future
PANTHER issues.
Dear Sports Editor:
At the beginning of the 1979-
1980 school year there were
fifteen devoted cheerleaders,
devoted more than Webster’s
definition of a cheerleader.
Disillusionment set in as the
season went on. Why? because at
Clark, cheerleaders are taken for
granted. One, we are expected
to be at last minute pep rallies,
two, the sponsor is never around
when needed, and three, fans
are non-supportive, critical and
they on ly show their enthusiasm
when the school plays
Morehouse or Morris Brown.
The question that comes to
mind is why was the first article
(Cheerleaders Are No Leaders)
written without the facts? The
sports editor is supposed to have
some facts not assumed in
formation when writing an
editorial. The sad thing about
this editor is that one member of
her sorority is a cheerleader and
she would have been more than
willing to quote our plight to her.
If the reporter could not have
contacted this young lady, there
are eight other cheerleaders
who lived between the courts
and the dorms who she could
have spoken with.
For the last five years Clark
College has had the Number
One Cheering Squad. During
these years Clark Cheerleaders
have received no financial as
sistance from the athletic
department. We also do not
receive meal cards. As members
of Clark's Cheering Squad we
have to furnish the needed
extras that go with our uniforms
like; shoes, socks and shirts.
There are cheerleaders at
Clark, because we are dedicated
Clarkites, we enjoy cheering,
and we have a lot of school spirit,
which a lot of Clarkites lack. We
are devoted to both football and
basketball season despite what
anybody says. During the foot
ball season, Clark Cheerleaders
are left on their own to practice,
but once the season change we
are required to have a sponsor
present. This is a frustrating time
for us, because we want to prac
tice, but due to our sponsor’s
lack of responsibilities and
priorities we have to cancel prac
tice and miss out on road trips.
In 1975-1976, Clark
Cheerleaders were presented
with new white uniforms. This
year in January we were
presented with new black
uniforms. In no way did we
receive three new uniforms dur
ing this year’s basketball season.
The red uniforms that we wore
for a short time have been at
Clark for more than ten years.
Clark Cheereaders have en
dured many things. It’s just a
shame, for some unknown
reason, we are always left out of
the sport section of the
newspaper, and we are sup
posed to be a contributing asset
to the athlete’s victories. We are
excluded from the yearbook,
what is the reason for this? This
year we did not go on any
Basketball road trips, but we
expected to go on last minute
trips. Clark cheerleaders are
tired of the fans and our spon
sor’s non-supportive attitude.
We might have continued the
season, but with constant fric
tion, with our sponsor, we
retired from cheering with not
regrets.
Dear Cheerleaders:
First of all, you ask why this
article was written without
facts. In journalism, an
editorial is an expression of
opinion on some issue. I do not
need facts to express my
opinion and you may consult
any professional journalist to
verify this position.
Secondly, you say that it is
“sad”thatlhave a sororon the
squad and did not consult her.
This is true, it is not a matter
which concerns me and my
soror, or me and the
cheerleaders - but that of the
cheerleaders and the public’s
rightto know what is going on.
For this reason and this reason
alone did I attack the
cheerleaders.
All I wanted to do was get to
the bottom of your inac
tiveness and get the bare facts
in the open. I am no t concerned
with the issue on a personal
level but rather as sports
editor, for it is my duty to get to
the bottom of it.
Again, 1 notice you accused
me of saying that you received
three new uniforms this
season. If you would consult
the March 10 issue, you will see
that I said you “changed”
uniforms — there is a
difference.
I also agree that the
cheerleaders are due coverage
on the sports pages. This is
basically why I tried several
times to get an article on the
cheerleaders at the beginning
of the year. And by the way,
this time I did consult my
soror, only she was an ivy
then.
I also approached Ms.
Conner, but I guess it didn’t
matter to you what went on in
the paper. If you were so ap
palled at not getting coverage,
you too have the right to
criticize me.
I hope that all your problems
will be solved and that you
now understand my reasons
for the editorial. I am pleased
that you responded - for this
was the ultimate goal of the
article.
Sincerely
Veverly Y. Byrd
Panther Sports Editor
Dear Editor,
My name is Kevin C. Frederick
and I am currently incarcerated
at the London Correctional
Institution in London, Ohio. I
wou Id greatly appreciate it if you
could place this request in your
college newspaper in hopes that
some of yourstudentswould like
to correspond with me .
I am 23 years old, 5 feet 10 in
ches tall, and weight 175 lbs. I
have been at London for over a
year. I am very lonely and would
like very much to meet some
college people through corres
pondence.
Thank you very much,
Kevin C. Frederick No. 155-444
P. O. Box 69
London, Ohio 93140
Dear Editor:
Don't you think that it is a
ridiculous shame that the Clark
College Chapter of the NAACP
cannot maintain an annual
membership of at least 250
people at a predominantly black
institution which has an
enrollment of approximately 2,-
000 students?
I guess some of us did not learn
our black histgry well or else we
have seemingly forgotten the
very significant role that the
NAACP played in the early
struggle for black equality in
America.
If that is the case, then let me
share with you information
Continued on page 12
<♦>
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.
Entertainment Editor.
Sports Editor
Photography Editor....
Copy Editor
Business Manager.
Faculty Advisors
••••••a••••••••••••••••••••••••••«•#*•••••••••■•■••••••••••••••••••*•••«•>•• i
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••a**•••«•••••••••
Benjamin S. Lumpkin
——-- Sherry Jones
.Veverly Y. Byrd
Tyraun Patterson
Katrina Jones
— Jack Jenkins
. Denise Johuson
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.
