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mas GfflSKGse gq,qd© c o’SD3 '77m Pacesetter of the Seventies" MEMBER GARY JOHNSON Editor JOHNNY TURNER Associate Editor Citizen Soldier Is American Tradition CARL BROWN, Buiinass Manager LYNDON MAYES, Managing Editor Asst. Editor*: John Tyler Hammett Ron Child* Executive Editor*: Tom Cauthorn, Bobby Phillip* (Unsigned tditonals ire tht opinion of the Clutter end thould not be confuted with newt ttpritt Signed columns end cartoons art the opinion* of the author* and not the Cluster I Is Money The Answer ? by Johnny Tumor Ever since the moon landing this summer, there has been much debate around the coun try over the vast amount of money spent on the space program. Since John P. Kennedy set the target date for the moon, many people have argued that the money should have been used to settle the problems on earth rather than send two men to the surface of the moon. Mo6t of the supporter* of this argu ment come from the ranks of the poor and disenfranchiaed people who have been ignored for so long. These people are right to point out that there is a desperate need in America for massive attention to our social ills. And they are right when they contend that these problems could be fatal if they continue much longer. However it seems that many of the more vocal people who oppose the space program on these grounds have been taken In by the Great American Delusion — If enough money is poured over a problem for a long enough period of time, the problem will wash away. It does not quite work that way. Early in the sixties John F. Kennedy gave America a goal to reach for and most Ameri cans accepted it. The problem was to get a man on the moon and bring him back before 1970. The basic theories that were needed were already in existence. The industries and technicians were available. The only thing left to do was design and build the hardware and the execute the mission. The taxpayers provid ed the money and American technology tri umphed right in front of our eyes. Now look at our social ills. If President Nixon set 1980 as the target date for the era dication of crime, poverty and slums, segrega tion and racial tension, pollution and Infla tion, and Congress provided the necessary amount of money, how would the problems be solved? If the leading sociologists and edu cators were asked to solve these problems the odds are very good that they would provide many different answers. The theories needed to solve these problems are in their Infancy. All of this boils down to the fact that It is not hard to agree on how to get a man to the moon. The problem is a technical one exclu sively. But the problem of crime or proverty is a sociological, psychological, political, eco nomic, educational and historical problem. It is infinitely more Involved than Apollo 11 was. But It involves such things as changing deep rooted attitude* and ways of life. It means building such things as pride and inte grity. It means convincing politicians, indus tries and landlords to change radically. AD this must be done and It must be done now. But to believe that all that is necessary to eradi cate these problems is a few well placed bil lions is to dream. Within the mushroom cloud of disaant that has arisen In protest of the war In Viet Nam, than is a little billow which Is calling for the immediate re moval of the ROTC “war m achine” from the col lege campus. Fortunately, the segment Sr h I c h e n- doraes this proposal is small and hopefully, It wUl remain so. The war in Viet Nam Is dif ficult to justify. I, for one, feel that we should get out as quickly as possible. However, this Is not the issue that wa are dealing with here. The issue, sa I see it, con cerns America’s contingency for defense. This contingency is necessary and will be neces sary until man can find and effect some other solution to his problems than force. Whether we are Involved in a major war oversaw or not, it la necessary that the officers who guide our military estab lishment be well trained. Indeed, the concept of the ctthen soldier is baalc to the American tradition. And this is good, net only bacauaa it helps to preclude the poaribi- ttty of a recalcitrant military eatahiWunent, but also be cause it plaeee the responsi bility for the defense of this country in the hands of thorn who are most eonosrned with this country ... Its citizen*. But going a little further, It Is necessary to look at the potential backgrounds of these reserve officers. One amply does not have the opportunity in baric training or Officers Candidate School that one has on the college campus to come to gripe srith moral issues. Time and the discipline required does not foster this Dy iyam rramiuwsi ft LITTLE MAN ON CAMPUS An Unpopular Man — Gatch by Ron Childs Hunger and malnutrition became the target _jof Donald Gatch, for he was determined to speak out against them even in the face of harsh repression. In 1967 he testified against hunger before the Citizen’s Board of Inquiry into Hunger and Malnutrition in the United States, using ten years of experience as a gen eral practioner In Beaufort and Bluffton, S. C. as his credentials. He told of widespread malnutrition, scurvy, rickets, pellegra, and intestinal parasites, which he said were responsible for eight deaths in the area. He told of one Black child who was brought in for a ruptured appendix. The child was rushed into the emergency room, where one of the other surgeons noted that the child had rickets. When the surgeon reached the abdomen in doing the appendectomy, he found some round worms. One surgeon noted, “Of course, In these colored children the closer we get up to the ilium in the stomach the more worms we will find because these kids don’t have much to eat,” “And this is where they head, they get the food before the When Gatch returned from the hearing* he found that he was an unpopular man. His white patients left him, his rent doubled, the town newspaper wrote editorials about him, charging him with a disservice to the commu nity. He suffered open assault by five whit* men, and his wife suffered a miscarriage Re fusing to move out of town as he Was asked to do, he was charged with violating the state narcotics law. Gatch turned himself over to the authorities voluntarily to answer the charges which he labeled “without foundation and politically motivated.” Gatch also noted that he was told that if ha would leave the state there would not he any prosecution. These charge* could bring him up to six and one-half years in prison, and a fine of $6,500. An unpopular man, out of place and lonely, soon to pass Into oblivion. ' Ju4T m I re*** From The Editor confrontation.■ officer who volunteers selected for OCR smm from his training with much the same preconceived pate ljudtoes that he bald whan he entered the ptoeam. This Is not (me of the-eob lap ROIC student .. „ or at doaan’t have to be. WheoHH place on the military student is] to think^HHH both military andH subjects And In (he academic | atmosphere, he hat dare to re flect on the alternatives offer ed by each discipline, fa there any better piece for such re flection? And when at last the ROTC student shoulders the responsibility for the defense of bis country as he goes on active duty, he does so with a much deeper par appetite than he could probably haw achi eved had he not taken his mil itary course* at the same time that be took hk othsr college courses, especially if he has taken courses In the Liberal Arts. Hopefully, after careful conridsration of the Issues, the potential officar white committing himrelf to defend his country hi time of war, can become an advocate of peace. Indeed, them should bo no greater advocate of peace than the officer who shoulders his rifle, looks back at his men, and says “Follow Me”. Cluster Policy Signed tettess and columns are the opinions of the respec tive rignee or columnist and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Ouster. Un signed editorials reflect the opinion of the majority of the editorial staff The Chtster welcomes tet ters from Individuals express ing their views and opinions on any subject The tetters (1) must be 500 words or leas, (2) must be typed double pace, (S) must be aipaed by author, name isn ho aHhheld hum publication upon coneant of the editor, f 4) once tetters are received, tbay become Ouster property. The Ouster reserves the ri^ht to re edit or not to publish any tetter not ka good journalistic form and style. Educational Complex Must Become "Life" A Message From President Nixon Within I've The following message from President Richard M. Nixon was sent to the 1969 gra duating class of Columbia University. Each generation, shaped by forces outside and within it, asks the question it must ask. Some generations, concerned with the building of a nation, ask “How?” Other generations, needing tc set priorities for the future, ask “What?” Your generation has asked “Why?” As Americans we must together ask all of the big question* and seek to find answers. How we build a better America, what kind of nation we want, why we pursue certain gosh Instead of others — these am not problems to be faced by one generation and Ignored by an other. All of us must fece them. education in the humanities and teaches ua that the reel power to deal endure: he will pmvaiL with theee problems comes out of the human mind and the human heart. AU power must be disciplined by trained intelligence and tempered by compassion. Each of you tea'" * professional or social or activity wiD determine tin of your nation and of the The question asked by your Why? — is one that muat be only by the quality the quality of your leg* years that we those “people people hewing without What you have to bring to American me is not use sou no or silence, but the sound of a pnengine which win work to ensure that, la the words of William Faulkner, THE MERCER CLUSTER * January 20,1970 • 2