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Letters To I
The Editor
becautt they felt that the ttane
Dear Editor:
At the October 8th meeting
of the Student Bar AmocUUoo
of the Walter F. George School
of Law, Mercer Univenity, a
rote was taken of the approxi
mately 140 students in atten
dance (total membership 212
students) as to the question
whether or not the law stu
dents should endorse the War
Moratorium. Three fourths of
the members present voted
against the endorsement.
It la my opinion that the
law students’ reasoning must
not be overlooked, and the stu
dents themselves should not be
condemned as conservative,
tired old men with old books
full of cobwebs with dull per
sonalities. To the contrary, the
law students are ambitious
yound men full of vigor with
dynamic personalities, who
have dedicated themselves to
the study of law, a process
which encomben approxi
mately 50 hours per week of
study, and the analyzing of the
factors of human behavior that
influence our actions, and
manifest norms concerning
how we ought to act, what
types of responsibilities are due
towards persons and things, the
reasonable manner of aettling
disputes, the logical methods
of reasoning...
Many of the law students
voted against the Moratorium
(which is defined by Black
Legal Dictionary as a “term
designating the suspension of
all or of certain legal remedies
against debtors, sometimes au
thorized by law during finan
cial distress ... a period which
an obliger has a legal right to
delay meeting an obliga
tion. ..”) not because they are
in full agreement with the steps
taken by our military complex
in solving the present crisis, but
consumed by the rally could be
better spent in a more produc
tive manner, as for thsmaahraa
as law students who are hungry
for knowledge. Many have
questioned the purpose that
this rally will accomplish,
which could be accomplished
just as well by the polls, unlsas
the purpose of this type of a
rally is to cause fear in thorn
who do not agree with the so
called liberal viewpoint.
1 am sure that there were
other reasons that contributed
to the law students rejecting
the Moratorium. And one of
the groovy things that goes on
in our country is that the right
to disagree is a natural one, and
you may diaeent if you like,
you may talk if you like, you
may listen if you like, and you
may turn a deaf ear if you like.
And if you want to know why
the other law students voted
the way they did, you can ask
them, if you like, and they will
answer if they like; but if they
do answer, it will be one of
good reasoning, and you may
not agree, but that is your
right, and any law student can
tell you that and why.
The Student Bar Associa
tion did listen to some of the
opinions concerning the Mora
torium. A vote was taken and
one side had more votes than
the other side. But the
majority did not supress the
right of free speech as to those
who were not in agreement
with the majority. Each stu
dent present was able to ex
press his own views by his vote.
The vote merely reflected the
feelings and thought of those
who were in attendance at the
meeting concerning the pro
posed Moratorium and no one
else.
(Continued on Page 6)
Open Letter To Students
'I THOUGHT YOU MOULP fVOffrffLY <HO\N — YOUR.
MAAAg HA* JU*T CONE Uf» "
"The Reach
Must Succeed
The Grasp..
by Allen Wallace
that we shall live forever in the
minds of men. Nothing can
deter our thinking, for the
world is ours.
But we grow older, and
most of us have now reconciled
ourselves to the fact that we
will not be great. When our
names are mentioned, no bells
will chime, no multitudes will
applaud. Our “niche in the
edifice of Time” has become a
pidgeon-hole, and we are
doomed to a routine. We have
learned that the silver lining of
our clouds was merely the glare
from the suns of our hopes,
ideals, and aspirations—suns
that have become less and less
bright with the passage of
years. Disillusionment and
pessimism become common
place.
Newspapers are filled with
articles about people who have
succeeded, succeeded in vari
ous areas of endeavor; they
have won championships, set
new records, climbed to newer
heights. These are the people
we idolize, the ones whom we
seek to emulate.
Almost every youngster
dreams of be
coming Presi
dent or First
Lady or a
famous movie
star or a great
scientist. We
have thoughts
of greatness, of
by Alien Wallace P e0 P ,e asking
for our autographs, of knowing
Greek System
by Jim Bray
On The
Today, the Greek system
has been wffering attack and
criticism on college campuses
throughout the United States.
This attack has come from
faculty, administrators, and
campus leaden. My purpose
here is not to answer these at
tacks, but merely to raise a
feeble voice in its defense.
Since being here at Mercer, I
have tried to pursue a liberal
education by being a part of
and experiencing everything
that I can. To be liberally edu
cated, one needs to be open
minded about all things, and to
be aware of what is going on in
the world. By experiencing a
little something of everything,
then and only then can an
opinion Be formed as whether
or not one thing or another is
good or bad. Only until one
has associated himself can he
reach a fair and honest opin
ion.
In the short year that I have
been here, 1 have been
educated by many things and
many people. Being a Greek
hat definitely been a pari of
that education, because being a
Greek la to experience many
(Map not taught in the
classroom or in the Free
University. Remembering back
to the days of the first frater
nities and sororities, these or
ganizations were founded for
the purpose of furthering
scholastic endeavors and per
petuating the ties of brother
hood and sisterhood. Today,
the fraternity and soqprity
pursue these same interests and
have broadened their scopes to
include other things as intra
mural sports, social activities,
and community service. And it
is with these interests that the
Greek system thrives.
To those who say that
Greeks lose their identity and
become stereotyped according
to the fraternity or sorority in
which they belong, I will have
to say that in some cases this is
true. But an overwhelming
majority of students seek and
find themselves only by being a
part of everything they can, by
experiencing and associating
with many different people
and experiences, and then real
izing and discovering their
identity. Those who limit
themselves to just one aspect
of life are the ones who have
limited identity and are identi
fied with only that one aspect.
This Is compared to those who
are known for their interests in
things such as campus life,
student unrest, the Black
Movement, Viet Nam and the
social organizations we call fra
ternities and sororities.
' Finally, to quote a passage
from the PHEONIX, the pledge
manual of Sigma Alpha Epsilon
Fraternity, “Students often
have a false notion that char
acter is something which can
be assumed at will when there
is a demand for it, and that it
lies in great deeds. One or both
of these fallacies have wrecked
millions of potentially great
men, for character is not char
acter unless it is lived all the
time. It is not judged by out
standing and rare great deeds,
but by what you can count
upon as a certainty in every
day life. The college cannot
make such characters; it can
only give each individual like
yourself an opportunity to do
his share.” Part of this oppor
tunity for myself has come
through being a Greek, and the
education that I have received
has come not only from
faculty, student landers, admin
istration and many frienda, but
also from that faction of cam
pus life known as the Greek
system.
Look around here at Mercer
and reflect on what you find.
Seniors about to face that
“cold, cruel \yortd” have lost
much of their idealism; they
accept the fact that it will take
more than a couple of years to
make that first million they
had been looking forward to.
But this is not limited to
seniors; freshmen too are
gradually having their dreams
disappear. Dean's List is just
barely beyond reach; the title
of Big Man on Campus is limit
ed to only a few, and these
hold very select offices; and
they find that college is asking
more questions than it is ans
wering.
The distinction between
“accepting reality" and becom
ing complacent in the world is
subtle. Too many people at
tempt to conquer the world
only to find themselves defeat
ed. Unsuccessful in this ludi
crously impossible task, they
never try to accomplish any
thing ever again. For these per
sons the stage of the world
turns into a prison.
I saw the wonder in a little
boy’s eye as he watched the
astronauts of Apollo 11 land
on the moon, and I saw this
wonder turn to anxiety as he
suddenly realized that his
dream of being the First Man
on the Moon could never be.
realized. His world crumbled,
and I wonder If it can ever be
rebuilt.
On
Capitol
Hill
“The intention of a government and the operative purposes of a
nation are accurately measured by the way public monies are
allocated.” — Seymour Melman
The following is excerpted and
adapted from articles which appear
ed In "The Nation'' (October 20.
1969. pp. 394-396! and "The New
Republic" (October 2S, 1969. p
9). -Editor
The Senate debate this sum
mer on military spending lasted
more than two months; in the
end, leas than $200 million was
cut from a $20 billion bill au
thorizing military procurement
and research. The House dis
posed of the same bill in the
first three days of October,
adding another $1.3 billion for
new ships, bringing total appro
priations to nearly $500
million more than the Depart
ment of Defense requested.
Following are several features
of the House debate:
The House Armed Services
Committee, having conducted
hearings on military posture
since March 13, did not release
its hearings (2,666 pages) to
the House until three days be
fore the debate began. A report
explaining the $21.3 billion bill
on which the Representatives
were to vote was not available
to them until two days before
the bill was brought up on the
floor.
Early in the proceedings.
Rep. Mendel Rivers, Chairman
of the House Armed Services
Committee, questioned the
propriety of “dignifying these
amendments with debate."
When Rep. Jonathan Bingham
(D., N. Y.) attempted to dis
cuss an amendment to delete
production funding of the
Navy’s F-14 airplane, Rivers
said: “We cannot be serious
about this. Why do you want
to take any more time on this?
Why not just vote on this and
get it out of the way?”
Rep. Richard L. Leggett
(D., Calif.) introduced an
amendment to decrease funds
and slow progress on the ad
vanced manned strategic air
craft (AMSA) because Defense
had admitted that the Soviets
were not building long-range
bombers. Rivers produced his
own Russian threat, but refus
ed to discuss it. He stated: “I
will not discuss the AMSA. I
will not discuss with you what
the Russians have. On my own
responsibility I tell you the
Russians are building a
bomber. You can take it or
leave it.” On the question of
further procurement of the
Cobra armed helicopter. Rivers
said, “We need those Cobras
more than we need breath
itself.”
During debate on the
amendment to trim back to the
Senate level a new continental
air defense system. Rep. Henry
Reuse (D., Wts.) was allotted
45 seconds in which to explain
his amendment. If this program
is funded, it will mean tens of
billions of dollars in future ex
penditures. Rep. Otis O. Pike
(D., N. Y.) later attempted to
introduce an amendment
which will remain lost to his
tory because his whole 45-
second allotment was spent at
tempting to find out how
much time he had.
The C-5A program, which
had for a year gained national
notoriety, was voted on with
unusual dispatch.
Rep. William Moorhead (D.,
Pa.), who had studied the C-5A
for a year as a member of the
Joint Economic Committee,
was given 75 seconds to ex
plain why additional planes
should not be acquired.
A number of amendments
that had been passed over
whelmingly by the Senate-
amendments dealing with de
fense contractor reporting to
the government and studies to
determine contractor profits—
were defeated by the House.
(Continued on Page 5)
A Rgyigw
Sock It To
The Left
by Roger Bell
Two weeks ago at Mercer,
the campus body viewed an ex
traordinary thespian produc
tion, the anti-Moratorium play.
Sock It to the Left. The play
itself was written locally, but
its basic plot was stolen from
the 1964 Republican Party
Platform. Yet, the production
was a great success. (Never in
my years at Mercer have I view
ed such high comedy.)
Not only was the acting
very good (thanks to the law
students), but the props were
outstanding, also (thanks due
the art department). The Mer
cer Players and the drama de
partment- would do well to
study this great success staged
by amateurs.
Furthermore, the publicity
people working for the play are
to be praised for their part in
making the production such a
great success. It is doubtful
that any Mercer dramatic pro
duction has had as much publi
city as Sock It to the Left
Many thanks also go to the
play’s sponsor, the swashbuck
ling new organization. White
Americans for God, Inc.
After the play, a cast party
was held at the Mable White
Baptist Church where apple pie
and milk were served. Friends
and bigots were invited.
MERCER CLUST
Managing Editor . . . Lyndon Mayes
Newt Editor .... Don Nottingham
Newt Staff E. I ightfoot.
K. Shaw, K, Bryant. M Wein
stein, G. Copeland, J. Parker, M.
Swent, D. Wood, E. Vance, L.
High note
Feature Editor .... Chuck Jackson
Feature Staff E. Robinson
B. Davies, D. Brown, T. Kind
ler. Alice Burns, Judy Wright,
Vivian Southwell, Marsha Mat
thews. Gene Williams
Columnists Ron Childs
Joe Hobbs, Larry E'inkleatein,
Allen Wallace. Rocky Wade
Sports Editor Lou lohnaon
Sports Staff .......... B. Owens
B. Nottingham
Art lata C. Middleton
B. Stanley, E. Hammonds. P.
Campbell
Advertising Mgr. . . . James Boykins
Advertising Staff . . . Anne Gulley,
Susan Plumley
Aaat. Bud new Mgr Mary A. Buckner
THE MERCER CLUS
STAFF 196V 70
Typists 1 Pless
Y. St Denis, E. Poole B J
Band low. T. Ursery
Copy Editors Tyler Hammett
Glenda TuHy
Photography . Bob Johnson
Public Relations Mgr Renata
Williams. Jamie Dawson, Nadine
Sherman
Layout J. ( amp
A. Cooper. J. Hatten, K. Kron
quist. A. Stanton. B. Stanton.
Ed Fisher
Political Editor . . Larry E'inkleatein
Advisors J. Paine
A. Stansfield
The Mar car Cluster is a weekly stu
dent publication published by the
students of Mercer University. The
phone number is 743-1 SI I, exten
rion 221. The address is Box 29,
Mercer University, Office room 326
and 328 CSC. Office hours are
9:00-5:00, Monday through Friday.
Subscriptions are 55.00
ER • October 28, 1969 • 3