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GARY JOHNSON
MEMBER Edltor
JOHNNY TURNER
associate Editor
From ttw Editor...
Students Center?
CARL BROWN, Business Manager
Executive Editors. Tom Cauthorn, Wright Davis, Bobby Phillips
(Unsigned editorials are the opinion ot the Cluster and should not be contused with
news stpnes Signed columns and cartoons are the opinions of the authors and not the
Cluster |
Eyes of Georgia
Watch Students
The Mercer Cluster feels it necessary to assert
a collective opinion about .the Moratorium
against the war in Viet Nam. The Cluster Is com
posed of persons whose basic political beliefs
vary greatly and a consensus of opinions on an
issue of this magnitude would insure you, the
reader, that there has been a great deal of
thought, debate, and dialogue behind it.
Now, in reference to the War Moratorium,
the Cluster sees a basic need for pro and con
views presented to the public for analysis. We
have heard from the Administration by way of
the news media and other sources, but we have
not heard from the forces in this country who
are opposed to the war in a collective manner.
The Cluster feels that the Moratorium can be
the instrument that can gather the consensus of
opinions from those persons who are actively
opposed to the war in Viet Nam and present
those organized ideas to the public. The Cluster
does not assert one way or the other about the
validity of the war because of varying opinions
of the writers, but feel that such informative
facts and ideas which can be brought to the
public by way of a movement like the Mora
torium are important to us all. This is especially
true for those of us who have heard only one
side of the storv. This type of information will
give the individual a chance to begin to formu
late some valid opinions.
The effect of the Moratorium will be nation
wide. The President operates by the will of the
people and the size of the turnout by students
supporting the Moratorium will be valuable in
formation to the Nixon^ Administration as to
how satisfied Americans'’ are with his foreign
policy. The role of the president is to fepresent
the people, a large turnout and open disapproval
of his policy would show Nixon that he is not
living up to his role as president and a small
turnout would assure him that the majority of
Americans agree with his present position.
The Cluster does not feel that the Mora
torium will be detrimental to the stability of our
international politics, but will be informative to
our national leaders about the ideas of some
young Americans.
The Cluster feels that this segment of student
life must voice its opinion in order that It be
heard and properly represented. This need for
open discusion of this vital issue on both sides
is why the Cluster openly supports the Viet
Nam Moratorium call.
Nixon's Nomination
Stirs Hot Debate
The recent nomination of President Nixon of
Clement Haynsworth to succeed Abe Fortas has
stirred up much controversy. The main attacks
against this man have come from two angles, his
■ dealings in the Brunswick Cor-
I potation with 1000 shares of
[stock, and his strict conservatism,
'it appears from my readings that
Haynsworth purchased 1000
shares of stock after a case in
volving the Brunswick Corpora
tion. He explained this by saying
{that his decision in the case had
'already been made before the
cniias purchase of the stock, it had not
been formerly announced. In the other respect
of conservatism, Haynsworth has suffered great
criticism. Eight members of the House have said
that this nomination was a mockery to justice,
and William Pollock, general president of the
Textile Union of America, has said that Hayns-
by Ron Childs
for integration. I could support this objection if
all of the Supreme Court Justices were from
South Carolina and supported George Wallace
for President, but, the Supreme Court has a
liberal nature, and this injection of conservatism
cannot kill the Court, only widen the scope of
its vision. The Supreme Court has been a great
defender of individual’s rights, even though
some of the appointed justices began their
career as conservatives also. In reference to the
black man’s opinion of Haynsworth, I hope that
the Court will continue to protect all men's
rights, and that President Nixon will enforce the
Court’s rulings, for the ruling of the Courts is
powerless without enforcement In view of these
qualifications I support the nomination of
Haynsworth, with great hopes for the Court and
the enforcement of its rulings.
For eight years, the building bearing the
name of George Boyce Connell Student Center
has not fulfilled its name and purpose. The
building opens at 7:00 a.m. and closes at 11
p.m. At a previous Waverty Conference, It was
recommended that CSC be open longer to com
plement girls’ curfew hours. As of yet, this has
not been effected. Even if it were, the full pur
pose of the building would not be yet accom
plished.
I believe that the building should be open
all night all the time. It is really odd to see the
guard lock the bulding, keep over half the lights
on for security, and place three or four police
men around to protect the student center. In
stead, why not leave the building open for late
studiers, for those who want to converse, and
for students who want to listen to the juke box.
Okay, close the snack bar, the cafeteria, and the
administrative offices, but what is the purpose
of closing the whole building and spending
money to guard it? This is ridiculous.
This is a student center. We would like to see
a student takeover of the building, to the extent
even of moving the administrative offices. How
ever, being realistic, we realize Mercer’s financial
strain and that right now moving these offices is
On Capitol Hill d
by Larry Finklnstnin
lilt'll lUml!
The sale of American weapons by South
Vietnam continues. This week’s report comes
from Senator William Proxmire of Wisconsin, in
a speech delivered on the floor of Congress on
September 25th, 1969.
Mr. President, It (is) an outrage to the tax
payer (that) U. S. arms Intended to be used
against the Vietcong are instead being sold by
the South Vietnamese.
I am informed that the South Vietnamese
Embassy in Washington has confirmed the fact
that these sales are occurring.
My understanding is that the arms offered to
private arms dealers include over 5000 M-16
rifles, as well as grenade launchers, Browning
automatic rifles, submachinguns, and pistols
The M-16 is our latest rifle and In the recent
past we have had shortages and difficulty in
getting them into the hands of our own troops.
I also understand that under an agreement
between South Vietnam and the United States
all surplus arms in the hands of the South Viet
namese army which were orginally provided by
the United States are to be turned over to self
defense units in the South Vietnamese hamlets.
If instead they are being sold on the interna
tional arms market, there may be a serious viola
tion of our agreement.
The American people are entitled to know
whether its tax dollars are being used to provide
arms to a government which is selling those arms
on the open market
i Johnson
an impracticality. It remains, though, that if we
are truly to utilize Connell Student Center to Its
fUUest potential, Metoerians must ham more
i to It
Think
Well!
by Allen Wallace
.„.. „Go vernment Wakes Up ?
conspiracy against the workers. b y Johnn y Turner
In examining the record of Haynsworth, it
must be said that he is fully qualified in his
judicial career, and has established a reputation
of honesty and integrity. One.must respect his
record and from this it is hard to draw a con
clusion of dishonesty in the Brunswick Corpora
tion stock dealings. In reference to his conser
vatism, when one reads over some of his deci
sions one notices a genuine conservatism, but
not to the extreme, say as George Wallace. The
only criticism against him that is defendable,
however not justifiable, is that in taking his
conservatism to the Supreme Court, he stifles
the one last hope of the black man in America.
Nixon has a lot to do with this attitude, for he
has turned over integration and enforcement to
the courts, taking the pressure off of the local
school districts that have rejected HEWi plans
MERCER CLUSTER • October 14,1969 • 2
Most people took little notice of the Wood-
stock and Atlanta Pop Festivals which “happen
ed” this summer. These two events were signifi
cant because they probably mark the beginning
of something new. This did not pass totally un
noticed; Time magazine featured it and even
made it the subject of their weekly essay. Their
treatment of the matter was thorough as might
be expected.
One thing deserves repeating however. There
was no violence at either festival. 100,000
people crammed in the Atlanta International
Raceway and left no blood staining the ground
when it was all over. So what? WeU, it seems
that this is a rare occurance In America today.
More importantly however, there was no
violence because some officials finally started
using their heads rather than their emotions.
At both Atlanta and New York there was no
violence, not because the participants were all
little angels, but because there were no police
around. Thus, there were no shouts of “pigs!”
nor were there swinging billy clubs And obvious
ly this la a healthy trend.
Officials are finally realizing that they can
permit groups of young people to congregate
without sacrificing the moral fiber of America.
This live and let live policy is the sensible aolu
lion to a lot of problems, one of which Is the
Atlanta hippie colony around 14th street.
For the most part, the hippies do not bother
anyone and are content to exiat peacefully.
They occasionally feel they must be seen and
heard but moat of the time they are happy just
to sell their wares, smoke their pot and contem
plate their society.
So far, Mayor Ivan Allen has tried to please
both sides of the controversy concerning the
hippies. There have been occasional pot raids
and so forth but most of the time the hippies
have been left alone. However, the recent
Atlanta mayoral race contained two candidates
who would remove the precent resident from
the area. They never specified exactly how this
was to be accomplished
And on top of this, a few weeks ago Gover
nor Lester Maddox voiced his view on the
matter. Referring to the colony he stated among
other things, “Should Atlanta officials fail to
take immediate action ... I may be faced with
no other alternative than to take whatever
action is legally available at the state level to
protect the citizens of this city.”
Maddox and others are demanding a gat
tough policy that is both sense leas and ridicu
lous. His reaaonlng la this. “Atlanta officials
have created another Island of immunity for
those who will to proceed with their sexual Im
morality, drug abuaa and other lawless acts and
to spread from there to other crimes against the
people of Atlanta.’’
It is fortunate that Lester la a man of words
and not actions, otherwise he might actually
carry out hia threat to send state patrolman to
“dean” Atlanta. Such action would not only
negate the good start Georgiy officials have
mode In handling such problems, It would
blatantly violate the rights of the residents of
14th 8treet. It possibly could todbactiy effect •
the Maoon community. For once such a prece
dent war set, what would keep Lester from
“rleaning” other parts of the state?
War is a horrible thing People do not have to
believe in hell if they know of war, for they are
the same. War Is aenaeleas; war to insanity that
grips the minds of normal men and wreaks a
demonic change. There to no place for the in
nocent In war, for the saber to indiscriminate in
its slashings; and war exacts its price in terms of
weak and strong, young and old. No one
escapes.
Tomorrow Mercer will participate in a na
tion-wide moratorium aimed at focusing atten
tion on the war in Vietnam. The Clutter has
endoreed this movement as has the SGA Senate.
Since tomorrow to a Wonderful Wednesday, It
cannot be known to what extent students (and
perhaps profeasors) would have cut classes to
protest Vietnam. Undoubtedly many people
breathed a sigh of relief when they looked at
their calendars and saw this.
If cutting claaaea one day in October, two
days in November, three in December, etc.
could possibly end the war in Vietnam, I would
have no reservations at all about participating
But President Nixon to already under pressure;
he wants to be re-elected, and he knows that the
war to costing him votes daily. Many persons
have a misconception of our government and
the Presidency; President Nixon cannot simply
wave a magic wand and bring the troops home.
Regardless of what many naive people would
like to think, thing! are seldom that simple,
especially in dealing in international relations.
Too many people (both “pro” war and “anti”
war) have deluded themselves into seeing Issues
in terms of only black and white: members of
one faction are labelled war mongers, fascist
pigs; the others are called Commies, traitors,
cowards. Nothing productive can come from
such simplistic thinking.
The opinion poll conducted last week to a
good example of simplistic reasoning. The ques
tions in the poll were poorly worded, and the
range of opinion selection was inadequate. Many
people who disapprove of war but feel that the
United States must meet its commitment in
Vietnam could not properly answer “Do you
approve of the Viet Nam war? Yes No—
—Questions which are clearly slanted have no
place In a supposedly impartial polL The SGA
Senate should apologize to Mercer students for
insulting their Intelligence with such an asinine
poll.
Take a few moments tomorrow and consider
the fact that persons not in a position of
authority in government (college students, for
example) And it much easier to make pro
nouncements and find “aohitions" than those
who do possess such authority. A student can
say “Bring all the troops home tomorrow" or
’Bomb Hanoi”, but he does not have to tyre
with the consequences of such a declaration,
since he can never implement such policy.
Instead of screaming that President Nixon
has done nothing to end the war In the nine
months that he has been In office (and remem
ber that it took the previous administrations
about six years to raise the number of troops to
the level it was when Nixon assumed office), 1st
us attempt to ase the situation as It to. Let us
start thinking for ourselves Instead of letting a
group in Warirington do our thinking for us,
whether that group be catted the Vietnam Mora
torium Committee or the Pentagon.
Peace must come to be eomething more than
a mare time out between wan; pence must be
eternal, never ending. Peace to a precious com
modity desired by all rational assn. But pence
will never be achieved by shouting, rioting (how
Ironic that action to), «with«g names, os pith
nn—ring absurd judgements.
Tomorrow, think seriously about your posi
tion regarding the war, and for once, no matter
how difficult, try to nnitewtand the position of
thorn who take a different view.