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2 MERCER CLUSTER ZdlitosUali What are the results of the JAN. 31, 1H9 RWGA Poll? finally ready to take a stand and find out just what RWGA is doing? Mercer's President has said on several occasions that the women that live under the rules at Mercer should make them. This should illustrate that it is not the President that makes women's rules at Mercer hut RWGA. The Cluster has liecn given such excuses by RWGA as that they can not see the right jieople and that they only meet lor one hour each week and that there is just so much that they can do in one hour. Other jieople on campus do not have this , great difficulty in see ing |>eople; why should RWGA? In answer to the only one hour a wpek meeting, the SGA and several other organizations only meet an hour or so a week hut still get things done Ixtween meetings. With excuses like these we have only the recourse to Ixdieve that RWGA is try ing to do something lie- hind our hacks. If RWGA is interested enough in women's lights they should involve as many women as jMissihlc through ojx-n in vitation meetings to all girls and the publication of all the deliberations of RWGA. The Cluster would like to publish the results of this poll so that if visitors want to go to RWGA they will know the over all opinion of the resident women and w h a t the RWGA is doing about it. The Cluster is of the opinion that mai>v women are not happy with the hours hut liecause the RWGA will not release the result of the poll, for as far as we can determine invalid reasons, we can not take a jiositive stand nor tan any of the women on campus. The Cluster realizes that the RWGA has many, problems con cerning hours, such as dif- leient hours for house mothers, more senility guards, more desk girls and salaries for these extra ixuple. The Chister recog nizes these difficulties but it feels that the RWGA would report its progres sion or lack of progress to the students. The Cluster feels it is the DUTY not the privilege of RWGA to re|>ort the results of their meetings and (Mills to the students. The Cluster wishes to tiling this matter to the attention • of the resident women so that the women will know that the poll did not just disap|>ear but rather that RWGA wishes to keep the results of the |xil! a secret. and Credits in Viet Nam Some two weeks ago the women in all of Mercer’s dot ms were called into their res|xctive halls to take an opinion poll. The pin pose of this (Mill was to determine the over all siew of the icsident wom en on such malleis as go ing to apartments and women’s hours. A lew class after the |xill was taken it was requested that The Cluster put a hold on lesults. It was agreed. The Cluster now feels, however, that RWGA has had time to start work ing on the problems at hand and we feel it is time that the RWGA re|xirted its findings to the student bcxlv. Although The Clust er realizes that RWGA stands lor Resident Wom ens Government Associa tion and that RWGA should lie res|ionsible to the resident women, it also feels that RWGA should lx res|xinsible to a few -other—people on campus who would like to know what is going on. The Cluster would like to know just what RWGA is afraid of? If they publish the jxill are they afraid that women are going to start asking questions; start taking an interest in what RWGA is doing? Since the RWGA is the voice of resident women on campus arc the women at Mercer Debts Where are the realities and where are the assur ances tcxlav as our govern ment Ix'gins peace nego tiations with the VC and the North Vietnamese? T h e s e negotiations arc over a war that has never been declared and is with an enemy that one cannot see nor derisivciv defeat but with an enemy that our govrmment claims to lie the spearhead of world communism in Southeast Asia. How will these, confer ences adequately deal with the National Liberation Front which carries on the breadth of the war within South Viet Nam? One suspects that the realities of this peace con ference are somewhere be neath the propaganda and Iximbast of the opposing sides. And as the confer ence drags on from inde cisive to indecisive day the American college youth realizes more and more that those individuals that we knew that fought and died on that tiny nation’s soil have probably died in vain. We can see no real results for the blood of countless thousands of American men. Each spring across this nation thousands of men graduate from college only to lie carried away to boot ramp and prepared to fight in this long and meaning less conflict. The college graduate who for four years has been taught never to accept anything without adequate reasons is immediately ordered to lay his life on the line for something that has no clear reasons and no apparent solutions. Tlie questions at stake to the youth of today over Viet Nam are not questions of patriotism but questions of value. Have we now reached that dynamic level in civilization that we can demand that our youth be slaughtered with no appar ent reasons or justifications in mind? Our grandfather* fought to keep the world safe for democracy in a war to end all wars. Our fathers fought in a global conflict to save the world from inhumane dictators; but what is our generation fighting for in Viet Nam? The answers have ranged from the sublime to the ridiculous but none of the reasons over the past five years have had even the slightest suggestion of va lidity. Perhaps the reason is a compilation of thou sands of secondary reasons; but if this is the case no one in the United States’ government has made it a |ioint to elucidate this conglomeration of reasons. One could ask; why is it necessary for our govern ment to justify its conflicts with other systems? The answer to this question is pitifully obvious: It always has before. The debits of Viet Nam far outweigh the credits. We ask why is this so we demand that this never be the case again. 4ftercer Cluster Editor-in-Chief s- — Linda McNeal Associate Editor 1—Tom Cauthom News Editor _. Marie Agglcson Business Manager Bob Lanier Managing Editor Gary Johnson Cartoons Roger Poston Photographer —Bob Johnson Circulation Joanne Hoinowslu Carol Ison News Staff Peggy Sullivan, Elijah Lightfoot, Angie Hayes, Nancy Andrews, Debbie Hewell, Anna Dixon Advertising . , .Cornelia Benneit Editorial Staff John Guthrie MEMBER Layout ..._ Proofreading Claire Jordan Bob Staunton, Judy Irving Exec. Editors _ Bobby Phillips, Wright Davis Sports Editor . Louis Johnson Sports Staff Jo tin Kidd Feature Editor .— Jeffrey Salter Feature Staff Julian Gordy, Andrea Frost, Debra Rogers, Johnny Turner, Lyndon Mayes, Tyler Hammett, Lochlyn Kennedy Social Editor Jarl Baugh Jeffrey Salter, Debra Rogers, Lyndon Mayes, Tyler Hammett, Kay Rhodn Letters to the Editor Dear Editor, The Student Appropria tions Committee has pro- |ioscd to increase each stu dent's tuition fee by five dollars. This would do away with the need for extra season tickets to pay for certain portions of the entertainment program. The present design offer ing a separate season ticket purchased from the student government fulfills the needs of those students de siring additional entertain ment. Yet those students not wishing to attend the supplementary entertain ment are not penalized for having other interests. However the new pro posal would remove the student's option and fur nish entertainment for some at the expense of those not wishing to at tend. Such a required fee would make little differ ence if everyone attended. But not everyone wishes to do so. The separate program for season tickets was ini tially installed as a free option. The small admin istrative details necessitat ed by the program have found positive vindication in the program's benefits to the students. After all, that's what the administra tion is for! The personal likings, the sanctimonious cravings, and the job and monetary aspirations of any particular administra tor should not penalize those students who through choice or through a lack seats may wish to stay at home. Jerry Holder Apartment 71 5721 Gulf ton Street Houston, Texas January 25, 1969 Dear Sir: I am a junior at the University of Houston and also one of several hundred thousand college students who hold an Airline Youth Fare Card. I am writing you and many other college new paper editors in the hoje that fellow students may be alerted through the edi torial column of their newspaper about the re cent happenings concern ing youth fates. Several days ago a Civil Aero nautics Board examiner ruled that "youth fares should be dropped.” I am enclosing a copy of the article. UNLESS THE BOARD DECIDES TO REVIEW THE DECI SION, IT WILL AUTO MATICALLY BECOME EFFECTIVE IN 50 DA^ I don’t think that many students know of this and I urge them to rise to pio- tect their youth fares. Most of us have limited budgets and receive our spending money from part-time join I URGE EVERY STU DENT TO CONTACT THE CIVIL AERO NAUTICS BOARD, 1825 Connecticut Avenue, NAV, Washington, D.C., 20009 and voice their protest against this unfair deci sion against youth fares. It is important that this I* done within the next 90 days so that a new he.tr ing will be set, otherwise the ruling will automatical ly become law. I am told that Western Union has a new opini-a telegram and for 90c which can be charged to i student’s telephone, a I! word telegram could bi sent from anywhere in tht U.S. to your own congress man, the f>residem ant J VicePresident. , I hope that you wil j print the above letter it j the editorial section a I your paper, since I fee 1 students should be in ‘ formed of this injustici * and that this issue is on that you are obligated ti « present to your readers. j Sincerely yours, c Stephanie Southgai j