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February 27, IMS • THE MERCER CLUSTER • 2 The Credibility Gap; Or A New Domestic Propaganda CtuAtet (fill 1 * Is 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