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The Black Mood Revisited
^ By Becky Sima
Mercer University campus sew one of the more pleasant
cenes of the racial-poverty problem this summer as many
.acuity members ana students worked with over a hundred
primarily Negro teenagers in the Upward Bound program, a
project for culturally deprived youths sponsored by Headstart
rid the Office of Economic Opportunity,
rhis example could almost stir
September SO. 1967 * THE MERCER CLUSTER e S
It's great for rush to be over.
iptimtim about the racial problem
White etudenta fivinf up aum-
i re of play or higher pay to work
ong hours in ter from ’uxurioua
idltions. It ia an extunpn of ae-
and seemingly of favorable
•-ulta. -
THE STORY ON GRASS
AND THE POT MIRACLE
Meanwhile, far from this peace
ful mood, young people of the tame
were killing and being killed,
< ting. burning, and rioting in
Vetroit, Newark, and Harlem. The
here woe angry, frantic, det-
erate; Even after the riote it it
till a frightening emirk.
These two seta of young people
is alien to one another as if
were of different countries,
fet both exist in 1967 and they are
rntially concerned with the same
problem. They are both products of
same problem; they constitute
antithesis which is the racial
Btuation of today.
A young white girl applies for a
for which she ia well qualified
turned down because the job
Bust go to the tint Negro applicant
part of the country’s attempt to
ualixe the racial distribution of
employees to a one-third Negro
kuota. She is unaware of the
Down the street a young Negro
girl works for 91.25 an hour as a
ties clerk. She is e college gradu
■te with a major in chemistry and
B+ average. This is the beat job
has been able to find. She ia
■II aware of the reasons.
These two people will probably
be aware of each other’s
problems, yet they are both pro
ducts of the racial situation today
id the black antithesis.
Perhaps the rioters are unaware
the peaceful progress in Macon,
>rgia. But those who are fortu
enough to exists with the
By Gris Grek
Marijuana was once the magic grass of slum areas, or far
eastern cults, or, even in our own times, the hippie community.
But now it has been injected into the bloodstream of modem
American middle class John Doe society, and is rapidly becom
ing an integral part of campus life.
Students of high character and intelligence from the Uni
versity of Florida to Berkeley smoke it as a normal routine to
escape exams, friction with the facility, and the fast pace of
campus activity. But these are for relaxation purposes. Pot is
also smoked to heighten the religious or aesthetic experience.
Marijuana should not be confused with drum — LSD or
heroin. It is not taken internally — it k smoked either in
joints (hand rolled cigarettes) or in small Oriental-style pipes.
It k not addictive, nor does the smoker develop a tolerance and
demand increasing quantities.
The psychological effects of marijuana, depending upon
the user, can be mudly hallucinogenic. As it is inhalled into the
lungs, it immediately enters the bloodstream and takes effect
od this brain control centers within minutes.
Health officials in Washingtonguess that 20 million Amer
icans have tried pot at least once. They go on to say that from
300,000 to 4.5 million smoke it regularly. We can no longer one
close our eyes to the fact that pot has now entered American
society.
In spite of the fact that marijuana is relatively safe, few
physicians believe it should be legalized. They believe that
modem America has enough escape mechanisms to lean back
on, like cigarettes and liquor. Medical doctors forsee that the
legalization of marijuana would bring pot users into their
offices, exactly like alcoholics.
One thing all doctors agree upon is that before the legaliza
tion steps are carried out, much more research must be done.
The reason bo little research has been accomplished is all the
red tape involved in obtaining pot for laboratory use. No one
has yet found where pot acts in the brain, and what it does to
nerve celh. “Advocates of legalized pot,” says National Insti
tute of Mental Health director Stanley Yolles. “are going a
little too fast without any real fundamental information about
its pharmacological effects.”..
For President
By Wright Davit
Editor'* note-. Thit it the fifth in a teriet of articlet on pottible
candidatet for Pretident of the United Statet in 1968. The final article
will appear next week on Lyndon John ton
Business it good in the shiny new red. white, and blue Nixon-for
President headquarters at 1726 Pennsylvania Avenue, located a block
weat of the White House. Headed by Gaylord Parkinson, the Nixon for
President Committee puts great stock in a public opinion survey by
Opinion Research Corporation which shows the former Vice-President
twenty points ahead of Romney as the most qualified man to be Presi
dent; 4 to 1 over Romney as the man who would do the best job for
America in dealing with foreign affairs; nearly 3 to 1 over Romney as
the man if elected would be the most likely to bring the war in Vietnam
to a successful conclusion.
The G.O.P.’s hardest-running non-candidate is playing up his foreign
policy experience to boost his presidential aspirations. Pontificating be
fore the public in his news conferences. Nixon’s remarks drip with
authority as he provides the public with over-simplified answers to com
plex problems in his precise right-wing manner.
However, Nixon’s stalwart backers are not imbued with the intoxica
tion of rosy optimism The rough road is still ahead. The success or
failure of the Nixon drive lies in the preferential primaries to be held
this spring. If Nixon can win the support of enough voters in the pri
maries and stop the Rockefellow-Romney coalition, he can be assured of
the nomination at the convention in Miami this August. If Nixon makes
a poor showing in the primaries, he is through. Should this situation
occur, watch for a shift in the political locii. The conservatives will im
mediately swing behind Ronald Reagan in an attempt to stop Romney.
The strength of a Nixon candidacy rests in three primary areas.
First, in New Hampshire, a most important primary state, the opinion
polls show the G.O.P warhorse leading 2 to 1 over Romney. Should
Nixon carry the Granite State he will gain an added advantage.
Second, Richard Nixon's party loyalty is unquestioned. He did not
refuse to campaign for Barry Goldwater in 1964 as did Romney and
Rockefellow. This has been a source of irritation to the more conserva
tive members of the party since the 1964 Republican fiasco. Goldwater
has now publically endorsed a Nixon-Reagan ticket to the surprise of no
The third factor in Nixon's favor is that the delegates to the 1968
Republican Convention will be composed primarily of that same group
of conservatives who knew in their hearts they were right in 1964. The
conservative wing of the party will never let Romney forget the stab in
the back in 1964.
If Nixon predominates in the primaries, he must still overcome the
astigma of a two-time loser, a magnanimous job for any public relations
firm. The added headache of the young conservatives who are passing
out Reagan for President stickers and the Eastern liberal members of the
Party who are pushing a Rockefellow Reagan ticket pose an additional
dilemma for Nixon. Both groups, worlds apart in their philosophies, are
intent upon eliminating Nixon.
Can Richard Milhouse Nixon overcome these obsticles? Will he be
able to capture the Republican nomination on August 6? Politics is the
art of the possible. Richard Nixon may be the next President of the
United States.
NEXT WEEK: Lyndon Baines Johnson
tm looting and theivery plagued stu
dent apartment* only a block from
cefol mood cannot afford to be «■!»■ bo, ? e ™* M • con ’• own
wart of the rioters The “Hard- N,efr0 * ium d “ tnct
The crisis it not at distant at it
may teem and if we are to deal with
it successfully we cannot be nudged
>* infectious and unpredictable., itUo complacency by the tweet
' picture of the peaceful mood.
Ghetto Mood" described in
liwsweek magaiine recently may
that of an angry minority, but
Near-riota threatened both Ma-
i and Atlanta this summer and
minor storms accompanying the
<al hurricane actually affected
ftreer students in summer school
„ ,,
S.GA Changes Book
Mercer's Women’s Student Gar
ment Association, along with the
Ipful —istaarr of Mica Sandra
-ivaa and the Raeident Advi-
i. haa begun the procees of ro
usting the “archaic’* and igno-
rulm in the W-&G.A- Hand
»k in an effort to clarify the n»-
of inf or
•non. The lint official meeting,
M Sept. 25, dealt primary with
clarification and many rules
• discarded.
For exronpla, rather than having
finite hours for ruaniag water
for having lights out, conaide-
Af-
the
• »dvteo»,te tew rite or te
•e of tea ignored rules
Freshman . . .
(Continued from page 1)
be used in the calendar year follow
ing graduation from high school.
These 48 students come from Geor
gia, Florida, and Kentucky.
In addition to this honor many
members of the class received aca
demic recognition while in high
school: S National Merit Scholars,
6 National Merit Finalist*. 10 Re
cipient* of Letters of Commend*
tiaa, 22 Governors Honors Partici
pant* or Nominees. 93 Beta Hono
rary Members, 62 National Honor
Society Members, and 1 Runner up
in the State Star Student Competi
tion.
Many fraahman were involved in
extra curricular activities while in
high school; 100 Vanity Athlete*
(mea), 54 CLu* Officers, 77 Stu-
deat Council Members, 85 Publica
tion#, 40 Kay Chib Members (men),
5 Girl’s State Representatives, 4
Boy’s State Representatives, and 1
Governor of Florida Bay's State.
Al) of this is a pretty remarkable
record; yet our fimhmen accom
plished every single item of it Con
gratulations are issued and the best
of luck te the whole dam in the
The Clust
☆ Pleas
er Needs Help
e Respond ☆
Organizational Mee
iting Monday October 2
Miss Sandra Sullivan
New Assistant Dean
By Karen Rivers
This week the Mercer Clutter is
featuring Mia Sandra Sullivan,
assistant to the Dean of Women.
New on the Mercer campus this
year, she was graduated from Vir
ginia Polytechnic Institute and
continued her graduate work at
Georgetown University in Washing
ton, D. C.
. Amongst the first duties assigned
to Mias Sullivan upon her arrival
at Mercer waa the formulation of
an ID. card system, orientation,
and the administration of a pro
gram for rmid ssit advisors for wo
man. Ths dogma of her suopeas in
them directions, aha fait, depended
entirely on student cooperation.
Exp rearing an eagemsss to co
ordinate a more relevant program
for the upper-clem nen and fresh
man woman through the resident
advisors, Mias Sullivan believes that
the key to good women’s student
government ia to get the new wo
men students interested and in
volved. With regards to orientation
this year, she harbors nothing less
than praise for the students who
assisted. Seeing the students fill
responsible positions and take pride
in a job well-done, she was over
whelmed by the results. “It’s like
finding a gold mine,’’ she said
When asked if there were any
changes that she woulld like to see
made. Miss Sullivan replied that it
might be appropriate to talk with
the women students about the
handbook. She stated that any
changes would, of needs he. con
sistent with the change of pace on
campus and also with the policies
of the school.
Even though not a Mercerian,
she feels that we have one of the
finest Dean of Women, and is
eagerly looking forward to working
with the students as well as with
Dean Glenn.