Newspaper Page Text
itr years doth* old accuracy. In Ngh sch
iwy laugninc and usuaMy tha student whp I
May tha wnJf collafa, If* more oft an ttM
somewhere. But If cornu ou t I n
pawl** rathar than actlva aaara*-
Mon. Thay'ra unaxptalnabty Wick
wlttao and niBfarf to fraqoanl
■dll of lailnaaa. They misread
ample qu act loro, may spend thalr
night* mechanically outlining
history eh apt an whlla mattcutousty
falling to comprehend a word of
•lur* In front of tham.
Tha **dda*t ca*a* among botfi
Mack (lavas and (tudant (lava* ara
tha on** who have *o thoroughly
Introfactad thalr masters' values
that thalr angar I* all tumad Inward.
At Cal Stat* thaaa ara tlw kid* for
whom ovary low grad* h torture,
who itammar and <haka whan they
ipaak to a professor, who go
through an amotlonal crisis ovary
tkn* thay'ra called upon during
elate You can racognUa tham
aadly at final* time. Thalr lac** ara
faatoonad with fr**h pimples: thalr
bowel* bod audibly aero** tha
room. If there ready u a Lett Judg-
iSSSSkm
coat pap 8, eoL 6
burn In hall. •
So itudant* ara ntgoarv If* tkn*
to find out why, andlo do this, w*
have to taka a long look at Mr.
Chart la
■ The taachart I know boat ara
coll**a profawor*. Outtlda the
classroom and taken at a group,
thalr mod ttrlklng characteristic It
timidity. Thay'ra Wort on ball*.
Just look at thalr working con
dition*.. At a time whan avan
migrant'worker* have begun to
fight and win, coll*** profawor* ara
(tfil afraid to make more than a
token effort to Improve on thalr
pitiful economic status, in Califor
nia tut* col lag** the facuttla* arc
screwed regularly and vigorously by
the Governor and Laglslatura and
yat they ttut won’t offer any solid
resistance. They II* flat on thalr
stomach* with thalr pant* down,
mumbling catch phratat Ilk* “pro
fessional dignity* and “meaningful
A Year
Of Promise
'u’DOS Uffl GtLQDgTFBOS
"The South i Most Independent Collegiate Sempuper"
GARY JOHNSON 4, JOHNNY TURNER
member Editor associate Editor
‘hi
'J*
.-fjk-h
• «.t w* *t. v - *
Nigger
CARL BROWN, Businega Manapr ' ’ - v
Executive Editors: Tom Can thorn, Wright Davis, Bobby Phillip*
(Unsigned editorials art the opinion of tna editor* and should not bo confumd with now*
stories Signed columns and cartoon* art tha opinion* of the author* and not tha
editor*.)
From thm Editor
Up From
Waverly
Unlike past years, the fifth annual Waverly
Conference produced and presented a new per
spective for the future of the University. Also
unlike past, years, the participants were few and
select and issues were specific and restricted.
The conference produced thirty-nine resolu
tions — some very meaningful and important.
From the start, participants sensed that the con
ference was not to be a meeting for the presenta
tion of gripes, but its true purpose was for con
centrated thinking, long ranged planning and
development. The University could really sparkle
this year if recommendations are fulfilled. This is
not guaranteed, however, in view of the past
when resolutions have been forgotten, over
looked, or simply ignored and then excuses are
made and approved.
Although the conference had many bright
points of hope, there were a number of inade
quacies and failures. The conference lacked the
bill impact of confrontation that had been forth
coming all year between the administration —
faculty and students. The meeting was a pretty
one with not many blemishes coming to the fore
ground. No one really became upset it seems, but
Johnny Turner
Rehashing
Old Problems
Another year is staring us in the face. Doubt
lessly it will brii)g its own special problems and
challenges, plus a few left-overs from last year. It
should be an interesting year.
For an example let us look at a random
sample of questions waiting for answers.
Federal Aid is now a reality more or less, but
an even more important question lies beyond it.
How will all of those hard earned Federal dollars
be spent? Will the Mercer campus suddenly
sprout forth shiny new buildings to impress
alumni and if so, where will they be placed?
Or, will the money go where it will most bene
fit the students; that is, will it be applied for new
professors and stronger departments? If you do
not believe in this need, ask a Political Science
major or Economics or Math major about it and
then make yourself comfortable. It will be a long
answer.
Another perennial thorn in the aide of stu
dents and the administration is the chapel issue.
The question here seems to' center around
whether chapel can be made interesting enough
to overcome the natural distrust of the students
toward required attendance. The program was at
one time interesting and stimulating.
A problem which has lain relatively dormant
for a year Is now threatening to explod*. This
concerns our good Mend Mayor Ronnie Thorap-
son’* decision to block Mercer’s expansion plans
by re Curing to permit the uw of Urban RentwaL
Avid newspaper fans might have followed the
running battle between Mercer officials and
Mayor Thompson. It endad with the good mayor
pronouncing a plague upon our collective heads
Unfortunately that was only one more round
of what promiaea to be a treated debate in- tlw
future. ,
And that tl mates* question of separation
church and riate still twitches occarionaUy.
Governor Lester Maddox and Major Thompson
providad avidanca far thl* whan aariy in the sum
mar they both officially Masted Mercer
THE MERCER CLUSTER • September 21,1969 « 2
ivA-AlfcSt-El ‘ •
accepting Federal Aid; thereby violating the very
principle they sought to uphold.
Another annual problem is that of Freshman
retention. Look in the 1967 and 1968 Cauldrons
and see how many Freshmen faces are miming
now if you need evidence. This problem is very
complex and very serious.
One of the solutions to the retention problem
can be found in the concept of a comuniversity.
Mercer is small enough to sxrit as both a com
munity and university rather than a collection of
small groups aB squabbling among themsehrea. At
least it is according to tire theory.
It should be bitereating to observe the pro
gram of the S.G.A. this year under the new con
stitution. Its members have a host of problems to
tackle that range* from student apathy to paifc-
•u* wigBaiwi.
This short survey is by no mams complete but
it indicates what may be waiting for us Thorn
who still
ft — * OA
o®pi. iV.
Students ate nttears. Whan you
gat that straight, our school* begin
to make Sanaa. It'* more Important,
though, to untf *
nlggar*. If wa ■ —
seriously enough. It i
■ —are or acre
u) Into tha nitty-grkty of human
sad* and hangups And from
■at* w* can so an to conildar
I was disappointed. One reason was that debate
was mostly philosophical and idealistic and not
practical; mostly long ranged and no immediate
plan of action; situations of inadequacies and in
justices prevailing over half a century were left
intact; and the inadequacies that had thrived dur
ing the academic year were usually trounced and
concealed with excuses which were accepted by
the body. An overriding tragedy of the confer
ence was the over creation of investigating com
mittees to study the feasibility of recommenda
tions — thus delaying issues a year and finding at
the next conference the same situation in the
same state again.
This year I urge SGA to act on each recom
mendation to assure the student body of their
fulfillment. SGA cannot let these recommenda
tions die because of administrative manuevering,
bad memory, or a simple case of oversight. I feel
very confident of SGA President Potter and the
Senate this year. It is a potentially important
year of transition and the active functioning of
this body is most essential. This promises to be a
great year.
.. It might avar b* poMM*
tor rtudant* to com* up from
■apery-
Ftr*t, tat'* tea what** Happening
now. Let'* look at ttia role (tudant*
play in what w* Ilk* to call educa
tion.
At Cal Stat* L.A., where I
teach, tha >tudant*. have separata
and unequal oinks* facilities. It I
taka them Into tha faculty dining
room, my colleague* gat uncomfor
table, a* though theta war* a bad
•mall. It I eat In tha (tudant
cafeteria, I become known a* the
educational equivalent of a nlggar
lover, in at least on* building mar*
are avan ran room* which itudant*
may not u*a. At Cal Stat a, ai*o,
thorn l* an unvwlttan law barring
■udant-facutty love-making. For
tunately, thh antt-ml*c*g«natlon
law. Ilka It* Southern counterpart.
I* not 100 par cant affect tv*.
Student* at Cal Stata ara politi
cally disenfranchised. They ara In
an academic Lownda* County.
Most qf tham can vot* In national
•taction* — thalr average aga la
about 26 — but they have no Vole*
In the dacMonc which affect thalr
academic live*. Tha itudant* ara It
I* true, allowed to have a toy
government of thalr own. It I* a
government run for tha mott part
by Uncle Tom* and concerned prin
cipally with trivia. Tha faculty and
administrators dacld* what couraa*
will b* offered I tha itudant* aat to
choo*a thalr own Homacomlng
Quran. Occasionally, whan itudant
laadan gat uppity and rebellious,
thay'ra either ignored, put off with
trivial concessions, or maneuvered
•xpartly out of position.
Student at Cat Stat* I* expected
to know hi* ptaca. H* call* a faculty
mam bar "Sir' or “Doctor* or “Pro
fessor" — and h* imlle* and (hufflas
tom* at ha (tand* outside tha pro
fessor's office waiting for permis
sion to an tar. The faculty tall him
what couraa* to taka (In my depart
ment, English, avan atactfva* have
to b* approved by a faculty mam-
bar): they tab him what to read,
what to writ*.
where to sat tlx
typewriter. They ....
true and what Isn't Soma teachers
must that they encourage dissent
but thay'ra almost always living and
•vary student knows It. Tall tha
man what ha want* to hear or ha'll
fall your ass out of tha course.
Whan • taachar says, “tump,"
(tudant* lump. I know of ona pro
fessor who refused to taka up etas*
tlma for exams and required stu
dents to show up for tests at 6:30
In tha morning And they dkf, by
Qodl Another, at ax am tlma, pro
vides answer cards to be filled out
- each ona enclosed in a paper baa
with a note cut in tha top to *••
through. Students stick thalr
writing hands In tha bags whlla
taking tha tart. Tha taachar Isn't a
provo: I wish ha war*. Ha does It to
prevent cheating Another cot league
once caught a student reading dur
ing ona of his lecture* and throw
bar book against tha watt. Still an
other lectures his students Into
stupor and than screams at tham In
a rag# whan they tall eslaap.
Just last weak, during tha first
maatlng of a class, ona girl got up
to taava after about tan minutes
had gone by. Tha taachar rushed
over, grabbed bar by tha arm, say
ing “This class is NOT dismissed I
and lad bar back to bar seat. On tha
same day another taachar began by
informing his class that ha doat not
Ilka beards, mustaches, long hah on
boys, or capri pants on girls, and
will not tolarata any of that In his
class. Tha class, inddaotally, con
sist ad mostly of high school taach
ar*.
Evan more discouraging than
thl* Auschwitz approach to educa
tion is tha fact that tha students
taka It. They haven't oona through
twelve years of public school for
nothing. Thay'va learned ona thing
ips only ona thing during
i nim wnai so raao,
ita. and frequently,
tha margin* on his
hay tall film what's
all
mantary
true bacauaa tha i
re true. At a vary
team to accept . ,
did certain mad lav at
, ... _ haven't gore
t waive years of public school for
nothin*. Thay'va warned ona thtn*
and par haps only ona thing during
twfv Y** r * Thty'vt foroot
ttn th«lr algebra. They're hop«l«w
ty vagua about chemistry and
physics. Thay'va grown to faor and
rasant literature. They writ* Ilka
thay*«n baan lobotomlzad. But.
Jasus. can they follow ordarsl
Freshman coma up to ma with an
assay and ask If I want R folded and
whether thalr name should ba In
tha upper right hand corner. And •
want to cry and kiss tham and
caress thalr poor tortured heads.
Students don't ask that orders
make Sanaa. They give up expecting
things to make sans* Ion* before
yisy taava alamantary school.
s^nTYhaYi
Professors ware no different
whan I was an undergraduate at
UCLA during the McCarthy arai It
was Ilka a cattta stamped* as they
rushed to cop out. And In more
recant years. I found that my being
arrested In sit-ins brought from my
cotlaafuas not so much approval or
condemnation as open-mouthed
astonishment. “You could losa
*Wof couraa, there's tha viat-
namasa war. It gats soma opposi
tion from a faw teachers. Soma sup
port K. But a vast number of pro
fessors who know perfectly wall
what's happening, ara copping out
•gain. And In tha high schools, you
can io r gat IL Stillness rsigns.
I'm not sure why taachars are so
chlckanshlt. It could ba that
academic training Itsalf forces a
split bet wan thought and action. It
might also ba that tha tenured
security of a teaching Job attracts
timid parsons and, furthermore,
that teaching. Ilka police work,
putts in parsons who are unsure of
thamtalvas and naad weapons snd
the other external trappings of
authority.
At any rata taachar* ARE short
on balls. And. as Judy Elsanstaln
has aloquantly pointed out, tha
classroom offers an artificial snd
protected anvironmant In which
they can ax arc Isa thalr wMI to
power. Your neighbors may drive a
battar car. gas station attendants
may Intimidate you: your wife may
domlnata you; tha Stata Legislature
may shit on you: but In tha class
room, by Ood, students do .what
you say — or atsa. Tha wad* M a
hail of a weapon, it may not rest on
your hip, potent and rigid Hka a
Cop’s gun, but In the long run It's
mar* powerful. At your personal
whim — any tlma you chdosa —
you can kaap 39 students up for
nights and have tha pies sure of sa»
Ing tham walk Into tha claseroom
Tha ganarat timidity which
causes taachars to make niggars of
thrtr students usually Include* a
more (pacific fear — faar of tha stu
dents them salves. After all, students
are different. )uat Hka Marti people.
You stand exposed In front of
tham. knowing that thalr interests,
thalr values and thalr language ara
different from yours. To make
matters worse, you may suspect
i youreatf ara not tha moat
way. Mbs Wlsoamayar tails you a
noun Is a parson, ptaca or thm*. So
tat It ba. You don’t gkre a rat's aro
sha doesn’t *tva a rat's ass.
Tha Important thine I* to pi****
her. Back In kbidaroartan, you
found out that taachars only (ova
chHdsan who stand In nlea straight
lines. And that 1 * what* it's baan
how to ba Havas.
net snd parsds a usndsr laarn
P" 9 You might also wan: to ksap in
mind that hs was a niggsi ones htnv
laif and has nava. realty gotten ovar
It And there ars more cauiav soma
of which ara battar described In
roclolo o/cal than pr reboiogteal
farms, work tham out. It's not
hard But in tha meant ima what
wa'va got on our hands is a wigjjg
lot Of nljfwr. And wh.t m.kas
■■MM
KIHSs
In i fraabman cleat/ T
mMtMKyi
'reSwTu
Instda class, things are true by roa-
son of authority. And that’s just
fin* because you don’t —
Once again Macon opaaa Ut
arms for the Mnrcar Ma—i to
ratum to College Street for an
other year of Chicheatar and
the paper mill. Than were
times this wmmer whan It
teemed that the Unlverrity
might move from its pleasant
setting to Atlanta. However, at
least for this year, we’ll remain
with Mr. Thompson.
There have been several
changes within the Univerrity
during the summer Including
the faculty, curriculum, and
housing. There were also
several resolutions from the
Waverly conference that will
affect every student, la order
that the student body be aw—
of tbeaa changes there will be a
convocation early fell quarter,
in which we wiU discuss the
university and ita present state.
The student senate, eeriy
last spring quarter, Joined the
United States National Student
Association (NBA). Through
this organisation, we wBl be
provided membership services
including a record dub and
travel opportunltiM.' Also,
early la November, will start a
book dub handling mostly
textbooks - which could save
scarnf Respect for Authority.
That's wtvat. It's tha poMc*ma£s
RalmeP SoySu haunt ‘thSTaJtlw-
Ity. You wither rrfilspsrart with a
murderous stance. You cruet oMac-
tors with anidftSpn and heavy
Irony. And went of *N. you make
your own attain manta seam not
— but awesomely remote.
opportunities trill also be db-
caarod at the convocation.
Students wll he
throughout the
of
educational