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by Larry Finkl*st«in Letters to the Editor - Dear Dr. Harris: I read with peat unhappi ness the story In today’s Atlanta Constitution concern ing an anti-war rally on the Mercer Campus. As the parent of a Mercer student and a member of a family long con nected with the university, I put the paper down, unable to think beyond what is happen ing to an institution in which I have long had great faith. I am a Baptist but I have been able to part with some of the long held Baptist beliefs. Federsl aid makes sense. Scholarships horn foundations to deserving students make sense. What does NOT make sense is the pressure of “collec tive” thinking advanced to stu dents indicating that they are not capable of thinking indivi dually. I speak of a rally or a riot. What does a rally accom plish? It gains headlines as it detracts from the academic atmosphere for which so many parents are paying dearly. Rallies and riots are bom of a thought, nurtured by an im mature mind but strong in its sophomoric false assurance. They feed upon the intellec tually immature, those too lazy or too unsure to think for themselves. The article I refer to quotes your editor as saying “a list of speakers is being furnished from the Washington office that co-ordinates some 400 colleges and universities. John son said he did not know the name of the Washington office." This is irresponsible re porting to say the least but that is not the point. The point is that this all gives implementation to the theory advanced by many that campus rallies or riots are planned carefully on a national scale. This detracts from the dignity of the individual stu dent and the purpose of higher learning and understanding I had thought better of Mercer. It Is notable that this comes prior to the formal opening of school. The student body may agree but it seems It should be their prerogative to so express themselves before Mercer faces the world as starting its year with a “rally”, contrary to the concepts of its Federal govern ment. My children have been brought up to believe in the democratic processes. When our candidate did not win, we acknowledge vox poputi! Mem bers of our national, state and local governments have been elected to speak for us. Georgia is one of the fortunate states where the 18-year-old can vote. Is the young person using this privilege? I think that the theory of church and state is frequently carried too far. But I question the idea of using a denomina tionally sponsored university for a partisan rally. Having thought of myself as a middle-of-the-roader in Mer cer’s recent controversies, I now feel inclined to cast my lot with the die-hards. One can be only so independent with other people's money. Let Mer cer give some heed to its en- dowers or go it alone! Concerned parent of a Mercer student ONLY STUDENTS CAN SAVE WONDERFUL WEDNESDAY Although not professing to be a reporter or to be associat ed with the Cluster staff for that matter, I have found a danger to our Wonderful Wed nesday that surprisingly few other students have witnessed and that needs to be brought to the attention of all students. Wonderful Wednesday has a good chance of being abolished with the termination of Winter quarter because too many pupils are cutting classes on Fridays Students should remember that Wonderful Wednesday is still in the experimental phase on this campus This 4-day system has been under the in tense preliminary investigation of the faculty since spring quarter and will be until % vote to continue its existence is taken by the faculty during winter quarter when the ex periment ends Yet the same ardent majority of faculty members, who voted ‘yes’ for Wonderful Wednesday and trumpeted its ideals, are now questioning their fervor. A major gripe of faculty mem bers, reported to Dean Trimble spring quarter, was that the number of students attending classes on Fridays was some thing to be desired. Most wise students interest ed in their education will agree that courses, involving lectures, labs, and credit towards gradu ate school eap., demand fall participation on the student's part. And cutting classes on Friday is a ritual of the pre (Cont’d on Page 6) Pro and Con Viet Moratorium Are Draft Reductions A False Illusion • by Larry Finklestein people, or the political consequences would be too much for the Republican party to bear. To this end, a series of unilateral actions on the part of the U. S. must be made to create the illusion of a sincere search for peace. So far the plan has worked something like this. Between January and September of 1969, the Administration has replaced all combat deaths and casualties in Vietnam, sending an “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for what soever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” Epistle of Paul to the Galatians VI:7. Eleven months ago, Richard Nixon knew that he hadn’t the faintest idea of how to go about extricating the United States from the war in Vietnam. He also knew that if he admitted as much to the American people, he would never be elected President So he announced with greatfanfare that he had a master plan that additional 45,000 troops along in anticipation would bring peace to a war weary nation. ofUre troop cut back to be announced by the Almost a year has passed since then and the President. In this way, RMN could temporarily war rtUhragea^ronsuming the lives of hundreds h*ve his cijke and eat it too. Saigon would stay of GFs eThmonth. BufRichard Nixon wasn't l»ppy, because the U. S. prerencewould remain lying. A. acandidate for President, he did have a Intact, and the war w«*ry American public • w . Hraiu consistent would be thankful to see the first detachment of p, « U. S. soldiers come home from the war. For the with hi. of Richard Nixon has accomplish- elevenmonthsj^adsomeU.ing«ketote. id ^ ^ hfe ^ But where cjm ^ ^ from here? made* in*the^course*of the £xf!£lve months. Eventually, the public will grow impatient for This fact must be kept from the American to p££ *£* l ITTI C a a ▲ kJ r\W r A kSDI 1C Now the Administration has announced a LIT I Lb MAN UN LAMrUj _ Induction in draft calls for the remainder of this year. Not surprisingly, serious questions have been raised about the validity of these draft call reductions. It appears that for the first ten months of this year, draft calls have been | running considerably higher than they were for the similar time period of last year. In fact, the average monthly draft call last year was 24,667 wa opposed to 29,040 this year. That comas to over 4000 men per month more than were being drafted last year. Small wonder, then, that the Administration has been able to announce “cuts” in the draft calls for the two remaining months of 1969. Cause the fact Is, the Govern ment has already inducted the necessary men to sustain current combat levels in Vietnam. In the words of a leading Southern Senator, “If these developments indicate any sort or trend in the way this administration intends to deal with the American people, they are perpetrating a cruel hoax on this nation for which they wM be held accountable.” As a student of the great Rabbi ■liel once observed, “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” Richard Nixon’s harvest is beginning to ripen. Let’s all watch it rot. Ths portions of our nation's Isadart on the issue of the moratorium are predictable on the basis of their post tions on the war policies Of ths Nixon Administration. Ths views represented hare are those of (a) the leaden of the "hawk" and "dove" factions, and (b) those which seem most representative of those factions. The readers' comments are invited on any of the questions raised here in. PRO I: SENATOR J. W. FUL- BRIGHT OF ARKANSAS. The following is taken from the proceedings of a debate between Senator J. W. Fulbright of Arkan sas, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Senator Hugh Scott of P snnsy Ivania, Senate Minority laeder The more- torium on normal activities planned by students on campuses across tha country for Octobar 15 it in American tradition pf peaceful protest for the redress of grievances. Rejecting the crude chauvinism of "my country - right or wrong," the participents in this Vietnam moratorium are doing their country tha honor of setting a high standard, and of settling for nothing less. They seek to sat it right. When tha United States invaded Mexico in 1846, two former Presi dents - John Quincy Adams and Martin Van Bur an - and one future President - Abraham Lincoln - denounced the war as a violation of American principles. When the United States fought a war with Spain and then suppressed tha patriotic resistance to tha imposi tion of American rule in-the Philip pines, tha ranks of the opposition included two former Presidents, Harrison and Cleveland, as well as Senators and Congressmen includ ing the Speaker of tha House of Representatives, and also such dis tinguished individuals as Andrew Carnegie and Samuel Compare. In their peaceful but determined pro tests against the stupidity and immorality of Vietnam, tha stu dents who participate in the mora torium of October 15 will be up holding one of our country's best democratic traditions: the refusal of responsible citizens to acquiesce in silence to a war they deem up just. One may hope that President Nixon will reconsider his assertion of September 26 that "under no circumstances" will he be "affect- Corrupt Thieu? ;*«K»WRMS8!aW prupeNw; According to Time Maga zine (Oct. 3, 1969, p. 14), “The Thieu government ... holds power under a demo cratic constitution.” To study the religious and political freedom of the South Vietnamese people, an eight- member group of clergymen of all faiths spent eight days this summer in South Vietnam, in terviewing both the political leaden of the country (includ ing President Thieu) and many of the 35,000 prisoners in South Vietnam’s jails. Their re port is discussed in the Septem ber issue of Together Magazine, a Methodist publication. Among the prisoners inter viewed were, Truong Dinh Dzu runner-up of the 1967 presi dential elections, Nguyen Lau, publisher and owner of the Sai gon Daily News, and Thich Thien Minh, head of the Bud dhist youth movement None of these men are communists, but all criticized the Thieu regime. Such is the nature of Thieu’s “democratic govern - . ment” that over 500,000 American troops are support ing ... and for which almost 46,000 Americans hare died. •d" by opposition to ths war in Vietnam on tha campuses and in the country. If tha President is going to close his mind in advance to the peaceful, orderly expreesions planned for October 15, the likely result will be disillusionment on the pert of the majority of young people who still have faith in their country's democratic procedures and tha swelling of the ranks of that dissidant, violent minority whose excesses the President him self has so frequently and so elo quently deplored. PRO II: CONGRESSMAN WILLIAM F. RYAN OF NEW YORK. The following comments were mede on the floor of the House during the session of September 19. 1969 in his press conference last Fri day, President Nixon, in response to e question asking his view of the student moratorium against tha war in Vietnam planned for October 15. said, "under no circumstances will I be affected by it." That was a rather appalling statement from tha President of tha United States, and I hope he will reconsider. If the President really means he will not be affected by campus opposition to the war, then there is very little hope that he undemands what is happening in America The October 15 moratorium is intended as a peaceful expression of student opposition to the war which will extend beyond the campuses, for it has the support of Americans all over the country who went an end to the war in Vietnam. Both the primaries and the general election of 1968 should have convinced the President, who was the principle beneficiary of the tide running against the war, that ha had a mandate for the American paopta to bring the war to a prompt conclusion. In the winter of 1968 presi dential candidate Richard Nixon said he had a plan to end the war Now. 9 months after his inaugura tion, Preaident Nixon not only hat not dona so, but it bogged down in the same quagmire as his predeces sor; and his latest press conference revealed that the rhetoric has not changed either. The President's seemingly in flexible attitude toward opposition to the war will only make it more difficult for him to extricate him seif from the Vietnam policy which he inherited and which he is per petuating It is time for the President and the Congress to realize that pallia fives and ploys will not make the wer eny more acceptable to the American people. And It is time for both to be very much affected by public opinion - on and off the campus CON I: WILLIAM 8. SAXBE OF OHIO I have been invited as have other Senators, to join in the Vietnam moratorium. As one who has been especially critical of the failure to respond to what I think is justified national pressure in regard to the war in Vietnam, I want to state unequi vocally that I want no part of such an effort as this. No one has been more critical than I of the war in Vietnam. My criticism has bean baaed primarily on the belief that any hope of mili tary victory was abandoned when we failed to isolate the battle field - one of the basic rules of combat - and destroy the enemy. Whet we have been engaged in since that time is a losing operation, because we cannot do that effec tively, end because we are fighting against a well supplied enemy who (Cont'd on Page 6) Rocky Wade n In The Right An old adage in political theory states that violence breeds violence. In the caae of the new trend of social democracy to expand from non-violence to the desperate means of violence, the new right under the auspices of the Young Americans for Free dom has found it necessary, in their opinion, to bear arms. This concept frightens the not through active violence. He hardline conservative ideologist — he questions the validity of such an advance into the modem scene under a disc ip line that ration alizes restraint. Is conservatism to be marshalled off to die by the zealots who find reciprocation in action neces sary? Another tenet of conser vatism is the belief in placing one's principles above that of political expediency. Recent demonstrations query the aver age conservative — should he retain his cool state as a peace ful but also principled observer, or should he be ex pedient and rid himself of his problem by activism? We find ourselves faced with a dilemma of identity. The New Left has evolved to the state of neo-Nazi ism that fol lows the ultimate dogma of having rule of the collective mass over others in the society. The New Right has evolved to a state of quasi-liberal ism that advocates change of the world now, not tomorrow. The indi vidual must seek to find him self in a cumulative mess or try to keep his identity without getting involved. The poor lost man in this whole changing cosmos of political activism is he who seeks change through the con ventional modus opemndi and is the only one with aloofness enough to analyze the problem from afar, and the noncom- mital attitude necessary to see the solution to the problem dearly. Yet he Is going to be consistently damned by both sides as a shirker who neglects his beliefs when it comes down to putting your beliefs on the line — the battle line. The college student 1970 has found himself faced with this agony and this ecstasy He wants to be active and yet there ’is the necessity of his gaining an education to serve his society, if it survives the violent turmoil, to bring forth social advances. He is secondly faced with an ego problem, either he must serve himself and then others or surrender all to others. Serving others is an ideal grace but the average stu dent must take Care of his whims first. Polls, buttons, speeches and marches, and even an occasion al prong on the seat can moti vate some people, but regret fally not all. The college stu dent 1970 has a commitment to tomorrow not today and so he will allow himself not to be an activist and not to get vio lent. The college student of 1970 will keep his occupation as a fall-time student and as such, will serve his country at a later date with better succere than as a makeshift activist of either the left or right. THE MERCER CLUSTER • October 14.1969 • 3