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February 27, IMS • THE MERCER CLUSTER • 2
The Credibility Gap; Or
A New Domestic Propaganda
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Working on her art assignment on tree tope ie this week’s Cluster GW R ,
Meri Beasley. She is a freshman and her femininity was created right K
here in Macon.
Just Satire
Recently at o banquet for the Georaia Col
lege Pre»» a prominent senior editor of United
Press International mode several after dinner
remartcs spliced with the usual |okes that are
appropriate on those occasions. He sold that
the Washington D. C. bureou reporters for mo|or
syndicates and press service* hove developed
a way to tell if L. B. J. is lying. They soy If
he puts his hand on your shoulder and rubs It
•lightly, he is not lying; if he pulls his ear lobe
downward with his thumb and Index finger, he
isn't lying; If he peers seriously over hit glasses
he is not lying, out, if you see hit lips move,
then he's lying.
Well at humorous as this is It |utt shows the
feelings of the press and consequently the pub
lic over the much discussed credibility gap of
the present administration. We have gone
through the prospect of victory In Viet Nam
several months ogo to the present sorry state
of affairs today *m that tiny peninsula. And now
the American public is watching a uniquely
American phenomenon in the Fulbright bird-
dogging over the Tonkin Gulf incident In 1964
If the result of this great phantom chase ends
m validating Fulbnghf's suspicions then we will
probably witness a revolt of the Fourth Istote
mat will make the debate over F. D. R s ac-
tons around.Pearl Harbor look like o business
meeting of a garden club
Pick up a newspaper and 'the
first, and under most circumstances,
the only headline that meets the
eye concerns our present fight (or
is it plight) in Vietnam. What has
happened to the rest of the Great
Society? Are civil rights and the
war on poverty so insignificant that
they can be played down in order to
fight an undeclared war in Asia?
I, for one, do not believe so.
Because of the war there has
been serious cutbacks in funds to
the Office of Economic Opportunity
and the war on poverty has been
dealt a serious setback. Project
Headstart and Vista can not sur
vive without finances and they
stand to suffer as long as the war
continues.
Detroit, Milwaukee, Harlem,
Newark—it could be smother long,
hot summer (to the chagrin of the
administration). As Governor Rom
ney pointed out following the dis
orders in Detroit, "Where was the
administration when we needed it?"
A commission in Newark that was
investigating last summer’s riots
SGA Prospectus
by Dave Hudson
The SGA is pleased to announce
that after a successful homecoming,
there is still approximately $4,000
left in our budget and subsequently
the student body can expect some
additional top-flight entertainment
in the spring. In addition plans are
beng made for an INSIGHT pro
gram in the spring on the topic of
"Federal-State Relationships." Al
ready committed to speak are Han.
Charles Welter and Mr. Eugene
Patterson. Other speakers are cur
rently being contacted.
A major project of SGA will be
the Spring Elections. Qualifications
will be received before Spring
Break to allow candidates that
time to plan their campaigns.
Chapel programs on March 4 and
5 will be devoted to explaining the
duties of each office and the elec
tion rules.
Another part of the Spring Elec
tions will be voting on a new SGA
Constitution. One might begin to
compare our SGA with the multiple
Republics of France, but it has be
come impossible to operate the
SGA and abide by the present con
stitution. The only solution is to
change the document.
The reasons for this change win
be specifically stated in chapal on
March 4 and S and in tha Cluster
articles. In addition, tha Cluster
wiU print copies of both tha old
and naw coutitutioas haloes tbs
voting and thereby allow aoch stu
dent an opportunity to judge the
issue. Generally speakng, there will
be no radical rhangsa in the open-
Th# prubUm it, wHtet I* Hi* end of cr#dl-
ilyrgiminT** B * #cloWy
Just lost we«k a m*mb#r of Th* Kfortor'i
itaff in Vi*t Nam told of on* of th* Saigon n*w*
briefings from th* military officials fh*r*. It
%—mt that fh* Army Major in chary* of th*
briefing *tat*d categorically that oil N.l.F.
»nip*r» hod b**n d*ar*d from th* downtown
Saigon district. But, th* wrlt*r of Th* hfsrtir
articl* says that at that mom*nt a lon*ly *nlp*r
op*n*d up on th* v*ry tom* building that th*
briefing was b*ing giv*n in. Th* *ff*ct was ob
vious: All th* tniport were not dear of th*
downtown district, but th* Major continued In
sisting that the area was clear as th* slugs
thodd*d quit* disr*sp*ctfully Into the sid* of
th* building and surrounding objects.
Th* question do*s not s**m to b* wh*th*r
we or* justified in being in Viet Norn but rather
whether we will ever be privy to any truth
concerning oOr involvement there No wonder
there are hawks and doves, no wonder there is
o credibility gap but more pitiful than all the
debate is the foct that no one except th* high-
ranking few even know what is fact ond what
is fiction^ The great tragedy will be wh*n the
propagandists begin to believe their own prop
aganda and it becomes too sacred for a Ful
bright to question
Letters to the
Editor
Dear Editor,
After reading Steve Darby’s ar
ticle, "Education in the Modern
University," I was impelled to pen
my ledingt regarding your attitude
toward the University System as ex
pressed on page 2 of the Cluster,
February 13.
Mercer, like most of the univer
sities in the U. S.. is basically a
liberal arts college. The purpose of
a liberal arts education is to expose
the student to a diversity of scholas
tic disciplines, primarily English,
history, social sciences, and some
basic applied sciences. The liberal
arts students should attain a firm
grasp of the scientific method of
analysis, a basic understanding of
the more important events and
trends of world history, a clear con
ception of at least some of the phe
nomena of society, and an apprecia
tion for literature, as well as an
ability to use the English language
correctly. And Religion is part of
going to a Baptist school.
By your phrase, “courses taken
for the sole satisfaction of the uni
versity,” I suppose you meant the
non-electives commonly taken in
the first two years. These non-elec
tives are the very heart and marrow
of the liberal arts education. One
who chooses to go to a liberal arts
college must take these courses to
attain that liberal arts education
that he decided he wanted. Indeed,
the curriculum of Mercer and other
liberal arts colleges is “tailor fitted"
—tailor fitted to the student who
wants a liberal arts education with
the added attraction of partial
specialization in the last two years.
If he really wants that education,
he will not “count pages down to
zero" and be bored; rather, he will
become an increasingly motivated
and interested student
But if you and the other “Stu
dents” to whom you refer do not
want this kind of education, if you
would rather pursue your own nar
row interests, then I suppose that
rather than criticize the liberal arts
curriculum, you abandon it for the
trade school or engineering school
or whatever that you apparently
prefer.
These bored students to whom
you refer are not bored because of
the curriculum of the university;
they are bored because they have
no place in the university, or at
least are not yet mature enough to
benefit from it In the words of the
great French philosopher, sage and
wit, Milo Tremblee, “Education is
for those who want it and aspire
after it not for those who fancy it
and dream of it, and die in igno
rance.”
But, Mr. Darby, before you leave
Mercer for that institution with a
curriculum tailor fitted to your own
educational whims you might do
yourself a favor and take or review
one of those horrible non-electives,
the basic course in English gram
mar, spelling and rhetoric. With
better spelling and grammar you
might at least be better able to ex
press your dubious opinions con
vincingly.
by 4. Garfield Goldstein
Two students were casually re
marking in chapel last Friday as
the speaker finished his remarks at
the sound of the fifth period belL
They had read in the Murdered
Clutter that since the installation
of the St Petersburg lights on cam
pus the rape-rate had declined radi
cally.
One of the students was a frater
nity man and the other a very thin
Gamma Delta Iota. It seemed very
obvious that the larger and more
wise frat man was psychologically
persecuting the downtrodder GDI.
As they discussed the diminishing
rape rate, the GDI said he had
heard that the Lightenin’ Authority
intends to import seventeen men
above the age of 90 to sit on special
ly constructed benches (donated by
a leading Georgia Baptist) and
feed pigeons with corn. ,
The frat man, obviously irri
tated that any GDI should know
anything new and of import, asked
where the pigeons were to come
from. The GDI said he has heard
that the birds are being brought es
pecially from New Orleans which
seems to grow the most virulent
strain of pigeon.
Asked if be did not Blink Bus was
an improvement, the frat man said
he felt that any addition to the
campus would be refreshing but be
hoped that the pigeons would all be
white because they are so pretty
and are cleener than the darker va
rieties. Of course the GDI disagreerl
receptive and anxious to partici
pate.
As we filed out late to fifth pe
riod, having missed third am
fourth periods listening to a stuns
la ting talk on perfume odors givti
by an ex-Anal£ptist from Galilat
Georgia, the GDI fell on the cos-
cave steps and broke his jaw. AJ
this instant up rushed a high rank
ing Mogul and demanded that tls
frat man help him with the poo
GDI. The frat man didn’t hear th
good Mogul because he had not yel
removed his grey flannel ear plup
styled by Gant
The Mogul screamed after th
frat man that he would help hii
with the GDI, who already ling
with pain, was crawling toward i
placard that read “President Jobs
son is a Methodist’’ The Mop
muttered something about liberal
and that all those who are not lib
erals, as he is a liberal, should k
exterminated.
As I walked past the Administn
tion Building I wondered why th
pigeons? And, where would th
corn come from? The solution e
provided me by a very logical stalk
tician who said that all old building
like the Ad. Buildiim have thd
pigeons and if these birds are to I
kept happy then they should be k
only the most succulent ears of col
which could be easily purcb ai L-
from the market after the M« rci
Food Services had made their i*n
cheese appropriate for the student
Everything seemed to fit kfi>4
in place aa I strolled through th
Student Center pest a Marine R»
(Continued on Page 4)
Vietnam - Yes; Civil rights, war on
poverty, crime in the streets... ?
and liberated by the new Constitu
tion. Absent from it will be a state
ment of student rights which has
become fashionable in many stu
dent constitutions. We feel that
Mercer has certain unwritten un
derstandings about student rights
much like the unwritten constitu
tion of Britain and that they will
continue to be upheld and honored
without the ornament of written
elaboration.
Any suggestions concerting the
new Constitution should be given to
any SGA member and we shall be
grateful for them.
SUPPORT
THE BEARS
Sincerely,
Jeff Talley
because he had worked in psycholo
gy lab with the dark varieties and
had found than to be much more
Hlje Cluster
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Toro Cauthon
Cartoons
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Wright Dark
Ropr Poston, Haywood Turner
— Bob
COPYEDITOR
Paul Kirk
BU8INK8S MANAGER MANAGING EDITO*
Carolyn
WanBya Mills, Dari Ripley,
Gary Johnson, Mary Riddle,
, Ed Backol
Christy Ty»
Goo. Willi-
Staff
John Kidd.
Y«
Bari
Dan No*
Gary B.
—
states that “law enforcement in o
country is neither designed nor
equipped to deal with massive un
rest Mayor Addonizio of Newark
summed up their predicament by
saying that “the commission offers
some worthwhile ideas although
most of them hinge on money,
which is not available and is not
likely to be.”
And what about the rising crime
rate? President Johnson recently
uncovered his Safe Streets program
which he has placed more respon
sibility on the local government He
further took the load off his shoul
ders by declaring to the local police
forces, “You do not have to remem
ber any name except Clark Ram
sey Clark. He is the man to phone.”
(He was referring to his Attorney
General). There is no tune like the
present to implement steps that
should have been begun last year.
Maybe by election time the voter
will forget the President Johnson
and see just the candidate Johnson.
(It is an election year, you know).
tteu and i—fits rim a of
enunent, but they will I