Newspaper Page Text
January 28, 1068
Volume XLIX, No. 10
SoUtoziafo
Atlanta Baptists
Vote For Federal Aid
The course of money changes as
does that of other things less raa
terial This new year has brought
mummerings of dropping the gold
backing from the dollar and at the
same time positive suggestions in
how to improve the United States'
balance of payments deficit Just
as the nature of the national mone
tary status changes so does that of
colleges.
Lust week on Tuesday, January
16 the independent Atlanta Baptist
Association voted 487 to 370 to ap
ply for federal aid for the new At
lanta Baptist College. This progres
sive and intelligent step should not
surprise anyone who has kept his
ear to the ground in college endow
ment The horses of doom can be
heard trotting near for those insti
tutions that will not or cannot ac
cept federal dollara.
Dr. Monroe F. Swilley, pastor of
the Second Ponce de Leon Baptist
Church and chairman of the Atlan
ta Baptist College board of trustees
(also past president of the Georgia
Baptist Convention), expressed his
delight in the progressive outlook
of the Atlanta ministers over this
controversial issue. He also stated
he hopes the Georgia Baptist Con
vention will follow suit in dealing
with its own component institu
tions.
The federal monies sought by the
Atlanta Baptist College, in the
words of Dr. Swilley, will be used
for buildings and equipment “pro
vided that no such action shall be
taken which in any wise limits the
freedom of the college in the con
duct of its operation in respect to
faculty, curriculum or other mat
ters.” Thus, the problem of church-
state separation is not an issue but
a stated fact in the College's be
ginning.
This paper has in the last year
strongly counselled the acceptance
of federal dollars along the guide-
United States Foreign
Policy In Current Review
lines of the Southern Baptist Con
vention’s BEST Report We see tW
Atlanta ministers action as the only
intelligent reoourse in denomina
tional education. If this course is
not adopted by the Georgia Bap
tist Convention we again ask that
it follow the Southern Baptist sug
gestion affd release Mercer so that
she may And help elsewhere.
The acceptance of federal aid is
an in in gaining foundation grants
and approaching faculty members.
Dr. Clarence Sessions, pastor of
the Beecher Hills Baptist Church,
has said concerning the subject:
“We're talking about your tax dol
lar. Whether you like it or not, you
are in the business of supporting
Catholic, Methodist, Presbyterian
and other denominational schools
and colleges. "We consider the
GBC's action or inaction to be like
an ostrich with it's head buried in
the sand; the federal government
will not go away. We ride to church
on government highways, eat fed
erally subsidized agricultural prod
ucts in the Mercer cafeteria and
enjoy a tax free institutional relig
ion: Why not enjoy the further eco
nomic fruits of our democracy in
stead of thinking that if we bury
our heads it will all disappear and
we will remain in our impoverish
ed abyss.
By Wright Davis
The U. S. Ambassador to the
Dominican Republic, John Hugh
Crimmins was among the featured
speakers at the State Department
Foreign Policy Conference held at
Florida State University Thursday
January 18.
Mercer delegates who attended
the conference were Tam Cauthom,
Wright Da vs, and Becky Sims, all
representing the Mercer Cluster.
The conference was a joint effort of
the Department of State, the F.S.U.
Union Forum Committee and TKE
fraternity, and was conducted by
important policy-making figures
from various areas of the State De
partment
Mainland China, Latin America
and the U.S., Political Develop
ments in Vietnam, The Middle
East, and Trade and Aid were the
topics discussed in the sessions.
Ambaisa-
dor Crimmins,
the keynote
speaker at the
confer-
ence, spoke on
the topic o f
“Latin America,
Today and To
morrow”. He is
Crimmins well experienced
in the area of Latin America, hav
ing spent the last ten years working
in Mexican, Brazilian, and Cuban
affairs.
Ambassador Crimmins in sum
ming up his views on Latin Ameri
ca stated, “Latin America in short,
is . - . and has been for the better
part of a generation in the process
of revolution, a revolution whose
goal is the establishment and en
thronement of the principle that
every man has the right to develop
his talents to the limits of his ca
pacity and without artificial bar
riers. The central issue in Latin
America is . . . whether it will come
about in peace and freedom or in
bloodshed and violence and despo
tism”.
Moderator for
the one day con
ference was
Richard I. Phil
lips, Deputy As
sistant Secretary
of State for Pub
lic Affairs. Mr.
Phillips has
served in the
Phillips State Depart
ment since 1946, and has repre
sented the U. S. in several interna
tional conferences.
“Basic Prob
lems in the Mid
dle East” was
the topic dis
cussed by Stuart
W. Rockwell,
Deputy Assis
tant Secretary of
State, Bureau of
Near Eastern
and South Asian Rockwell
Affairs. Mr. Rockwell has worked
with the State Department for
many years and has served in Iran,
Turkey, Israel, and Spain. He has
recently been responsible for U. S.
relations with Israel and the Arab
States.
John Hold-
ridge, Deputy
Director of the
Office Of Re
search and An
alysis for East
Asia and the Pa
cific spoke on
the topic of “Re
cent Develop-
Holdridge monte. Mainland
China”. Mr. Holdridge who has
served in Bangkok, Hong Kong,
and Singapore discussed the cul
tural revolution now taking place
in Red China with particular em
phasis on the Red Guard Move
ment, and the future of communism
in mainland China.
“Foreign Aid
in Relation to
the Food and
Population Prob
lem” was dis
cussed by Frank
R. Ellis, director
of the AID Food
for Freedom Ser
vice. Before as-
suming his re- EDis
sponsibilities as director of the
AID program, Mr. Ellis served for
24 years in the U. S. Department of
Agriculture.
The afternoon session of the con
ference was devoted entirely to "Re
cent Developments in Viet Nam,”
and was led by Phillip C. Habib,
Deputy Assistant Secretary of
State for East Asia and the Pacific.
Mr. Habib has served in Trinidad,
Korea, and most recently in the
U. S. Embassy in Saigon.
Following the seminars, a panel
discussion and question and answer
session was held by the Stats De
partment officials. Some 600 educa
tors, students, and prominent fig
ures from the Southeastern United
States were in attendance at the
conference.
C(u6tet CjitC
Carrie Reid, this week’s Cluster girl, sports a winning smft
as she goes indoors for the winter months. Carrie is a Junk
Chi O from Athens, Georgia majoring in Sociology. Blue ejs
and blonde hair are the watch words for January 23.
Fraternity Averages
Exceed All-men’s
Scholastic averages of college fra
ternity members in three-fifths of
reporting institutions throughout
the country again exceeded the
respective All-Men’s Averages for
the academic year of 1966-66, an
analysis just released by the Na
tional Interfraternity Conference
reveals.
With 288 colleges and universi
ties submitting comparative figures,
slightly over 60% showed the AU-
Fratemity Average above tfre All-
Men’s average. This continues the
upward trend in fraternity stand
ings that has been evidenced in re
cent years, according to Neal R.
Berte, Skoike, Illinois, Chairman of
the Conference Scholarship Com
mittee, and Assistant Director of
the College Entrance Examination
Board.
Since 1964 the number of insti
tutions where fraternity averages
exceed those of all male students
has increased from 110 to 174.
When compared on an individual
chapter basis, the number above
the All-Men’s Average is exactly
half: 1,636 out of a total of 3,070
chapters covered.
“This clearly indicates that fra
ternities are succeeding in their
continued program of emphasis on
good scholarship,’’ said Dr. Fred
H Turner, retiring president of
the National Interfraternity Con
ference and retiring Dean of Stu
dents at the University of Illinois.
“It should be borne in mind that
the vast majority of fraternity men
participate in campus activities.
4®{ercEr Cluster
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Tssa C—thsni
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Wright Davis
Roger Poston, Haywood Turner
— Bob Johnson
> MANAGER MANAGING EDITOR
Bob LaMar Stove Darby
Waxdtyn Mills, Deri Ripley, Chris Grets,
Gary Johnson, Cathy Geren, Dianne Downer,
Goolsby, Shsren Young. Cornelia Bansistt, Gtnny
r, Anns Rougman. Linda Poe. Ed Ward,
Mary Riddle, Carolyn Braun. Anna Dixon
Prof.
Bm Wafaunt, Ed Bacon
j. a
.... Paul Kirk
, Ed Beckwith
Christy Tyler
student government, athletics,
lications, and other extra-cumcul
undertakings to a much greater
tent than do the nonfraternity ms
We recognize the value of these a
tivities as an important part of
college experience, even thoq
participants may not achieve
grades as a result”
“Most frequently chapters
quire a standing equal to or abn
the All-Men's Average for a pled
to be eligible for initiation,” Tni
er stated. “Incentives and awai
for superior scholarship, couruul
upperdaas members, enforcens
of ‘quiet hours' and other meths
of encouraging study all contrikl
to the rise in fraternity grade
ages.”
One significant result of
scholarship drive is the high
centage of fraternity men who
plete their college work, aecoidi
to Dean of Students James C.
Leod of Northwestern Univer
Educational Advisor of the Coi
ence. “An impartial survey by
U.S. Office of Education found
only 47% of college students
non-fraternity institutions 'psa
to graduation’ as compared to S
of those in national frateri.ita
McLeod declared.
The Poses Corps
Washington. D. C 20SJ5
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