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■ ELECTION SPECIAL MERCER CLUSTER Volume U "The Pacesetter of the Seventies" MERCER UNIVERSITY, MACON GEORGIA. APRIL 8. 1970 RumCSr 16 SGA President Ernie Robinson, Tommy Maddox Danny Brogdon (The Mmmv Cluster Canqislgn Platform for Ernie Robinson, Candidate, SGA Pretitont March 31,1310.) SOME PEOPLE CAN GET THINGS DONE! Ernie Robinson can. He doesn’t work amid a lot of publicity, but rather aeeks dlli gently to diecem the tore* and apply salve immediately, thoroughly and finally. At Mercer, and long before, Ernie has bean a hard worker who tries to do the bast without regard to personal gain. This past year while a Senator be has endeavored to represent the students in diverse fields of campus activi ties. Ernie’s accomplishments have been astonishing. Looking backward, Ernie has most re can tty originated the idea turd chaired a committee to provide for a student radio station. His efforts promise to bring to gether the various facets of stu dent life in communication and entertainment The station will begin broadcasting in a profes sional manner by next fkdi with equipment valued at approxi mately $2,000.00 - yet not one dime of the cost will come from the University or the stu dents. Ernie has promised to raise the funds off campus, as he did for the Mias Mercer Pageant And he wUI too! Not only will students have a new point on their radio dials, but interested students wil have an opportunity to work directly with the station as announcers, technicians, programmer*. and many other capacities. THor to ads, Ernie Robin son aided in a petition for voluntary mealtickata. He has mpuees to food services and private corporations who haadte cohage cafeterias. Ernie has made suggestions for vending machines, buffet nt poll utilixa- antertalament, sanitary Im provements, and other con crete proposals to enhance dfcire* Still than is a con- aldanhla amount to be done in the Gafstnpa and Co-op. Ernie can do R. As Chairman of fiscal Reviaw le has had ideas that heretofore could not be enacted. Shortly, at the Waver ty Conference, die tide will turn on poor food service. cheek «a food quality, a right that should be thain under the American free enterprise Bl Brule has pssltlee argu- j favoring a return torstu- dticretion In purchasing i hsa proven that ha can (Continued an pegs 4) Dear Folks, This paper is a statement of position and concern prepared by me and some of those folks who are responsible for my feelings about Mercer and stu dent life here. 1 would hope that this may answer any of your questions and present an accurate picture of our feelings on what student rights and stu dent responsibilities are and how student government can get it together. GENERAL POSITION „ We feel that It Is important that each Mercer student understand what Mercer is and what Mecer can and should be. Affecting each of us is the philosophy that Mercer is and should remain a snail liberal arts college more Involved in a quality educational experience and less Involved with thoughts of expansion, more involved in the acquisition and retention of a high quality faculty and Ism involved with building and profit. The very university must be prepared to accept its students as individuals recognizing their rights and allowing for their steady growth as responsible citizens. The student body must be prepared not only to work for their rights as students and Individuals but also to be sensi tive to the needs of the entire university and especially to the needs of the student body. We feel that because of car tain circumstances within the university the students must take much of the initiative and responsibility for making Mercer a great place to go to school with the best learning experience, the best faculty, the best food, the best rules and regulations for all concern- ad, and the bast entertainment Understanding our dif farences and the problems they create we can work together for the needs that are common to us all as students at Mercer. We can be patient when patience is the best course yet firm and unwilling to allow riu- dent proposals to die in the complex of faculty- administrative-student commit tees. We all should understand that we will never be free from one another but that we can laara to be free with one another. PLANS AND THOUGHTS ON STUDENT GOVERNMENT 1. Strength - the peat pos abilities for strength He In the fret that actions by the Senate command a great deal of in- fruoce with the faculty and administration. The channels that have been opened by past asnatas can be used to direct moat student proposals to the (Continued on par 4) Ouster Editor Johnny Turner Dear Students, It is a pi assure and a priri- iege to announce my candidacy for Prasident of the Student Government Association. I have been very fortunate in being able to serve as your Representative in the pest two years, and it is through this axpariance and with a vision of what the S.G.A. can become under the right leadership, that 1 seek this office. My platform consists of pledging to you my efforts and my abilities to create a student government which is open, frank, and sensitive to the many needs of the students. It is. In my ppinlon, the duty of every member of the Senate to find out how their constituents feet toward the many issues that they will be voting on and begin to stand up and represent these people. At present, there is much apathy and unrest on this campus. Hie causes are pretty evident but solutions are few and far between but I feel that the S.G.A. could truly become the voice of the students and the medium by which things can be debated and differences settled. If elected, 1 will work toward this end; the Student Government Association is or should be, a sample of Mercer's most responsible and mo6t con cerned students, and it is in this body that I place the con fidence and hope of a better Mercer. In the way of campaign promises I fee) ae though I can speculate that the atmosphere at Mercer necessitates more student involvement in every area. The spirit of self- government is seen through the open dorms, the new policy concerning women’s rules, and the creation of the university judicial committee, which is now composed of students. These are the results of many hours of hard work and planning by the students and it is with these experiences that I see the challenge and the need to continue such work in the areas of a voluntary meal ticket, a wider curriculum which meets the needs of more students, and in providing more recreational activities for the benefit of Mercer students. There are many other anas that I could list, but let me just simply say that, if elected, I will be sensitive to the needs of all the Mercer students and I will be working with you and for you to accomplish than goals. On April 10, you will have a choice to make. Realising the time and the work that this office demands. I am asking for your support and for your vote. In the meantime, I urge (Continued on page 4) It has always seemed to me slightly unfortunate that aspiring editors of Mercer’s publications must become poli ticians for a few brief days in order to become editors for the list of the year. This is s situa tion not found on many uni versity campuses. Usually edi tors are selected on the basis of prior experience, and campus popularity has little to do with such s selection. Your Kiection of an editor for the Cluster should of course take into consideratin such things as experience and ability to perform the many different aspects of producing week after week, a consistently good newspaper. My ex perience on the Ouster staff is a matter of record. I spent one year as a feature writer cover ing campus events. This past year I have served as Asaociate Editor and in that position l have been involved in just about every single aspect of the production of the Cluster. I fully realize that being the editor Involves more than writ ing a column once a week. Very few people have a com plete picture of the demands of the position of Cluster editor - I do. As editor one of my first priorities shall be to balance the Cluster with material from every facet of the Mercer campus. Any student familiar with the history of the Cluster must realize that this has been a consistent failure in the past. My editorial policy shall also center around balance and flexibility. Most of all the Cluster must continue to be the student’s newspaper. Rocky Wade The office of Cluster Editor requires a most complex in dividual — be must be ex perienced enough to operate the paper and get it out. he must be able to represent all facets of the Mercer community, and he must be forward looking enough to help Mercer progress In the 70’s. I think that some facts speak as to why I feel that 1 am the candidate able to bridge that complexity: I have had more experience than my opponent in the field of news and mass media. I am not restricted to just the jour nalistic field arid therefore, 1 will be able to add new per spective and insist to the Cluster and its' philosophy. I can reunite the Mercer campus by mvetal concepts I plan to initiate such as advisory boards, referendum*, new ways to select division editors, seminars, and such. I have just finished managing a multi-thousand dollar pageant that has proven my ability to manage a sound fiscal budget and to reunite the straining ties between the Macon community and Mercer Univertity. Due to these facta, I feel that I can operate the paper financially rtabe and (Continued on page 4) Turner Wade Freshman Advisor Paul Howoll Oreintation Week for the Freshmen has become an integral part of thair first year at Mercer. Very few of us for get the experiences we had dur ing that first week. That week is s time of meeting college free to free for the first time, for making new friends and becoming adjusted to life at Mercer. Because of Orientation Week’s great importance and because the Freshman Advisor is largely responsible for what goes on during that week his job is of great importance. i understand the importance of his job and the great respon ■ability that accompanies it and if elected 1 will put all my effort into making Orientation week next year a meaningful experience. This can not be done by me alone, so I ask that if I am elected that each one of you will lend your assistance to me If elected the first thing I will do is form a committee of Freshmen and some of last years workers to iron our prob Lems we might have encounter ed last year. From there we will begin to plan for next years orientation. Thank Yoi Joe Cook The purpose of any Flash man Orientation program must be to acquaint new students with the environment which they are about to enter. In the past the scope of this acquaint ance process has been limited. Freshmen are faced with a host of decisions to make and prob lems to solve individually. Their decisions concern their roles In the Mercer environ ment. An effective orientation program must encompass all the major aspects of this environment. First, Freshmen must be introduced to the academic community, the main reason for Mercer’s existence. Second, they must be intro duced to the social aspects of the Mercer community. Third. and encompaaring the other two, they must be oriented to the problems that they will have to solve — problems such as the lack of unity on campus, the changing role of social organizations, curriculum reform, faculty and student retention, and even the cafeteria. Mercer is no “peaches and cream” situation. Tbase prob lems, and others, are a very real part of Mercer. We cannot show only the sunny side of Mercer. If Freshmen ve to know Mercer, they must do two things: (1) meet the people who make up the Mer cer community, and, (2) meet the Mercer community as a whole, with its strengths and weaknesses. Therefore, I propose a pro gram of PREPARATION FOR PROBLEM SOLVING whereby new Merceruns can become acquainted with Mercer as a whole, and can be given & chart and compass by which to steer their own couraes through their college experiences Respectfully yours, Joe Cook A recreational area provid ing hlltard and ping pong tables wil be constructed on the pound Qoor of the Connell Jan ter in space now by the U. S. Post OOlce. WBMant T. Haywood, vice president tor business and finnnas, aid the Euonttwe Oirandtiii of the Hoard of of the in «■ to sanity for nw by the npanlng of «to ooHapa for tto M quarter - Haywood toM tto port odBea wH to rae—4 to tto Howoll