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I hi s,,uih \ Musi Indr/ii’inJint ( ollffiwlc \vn s/Hi/wr'' 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.