Newspaper Page Text
SOPH. SENATORS
(Continued from Page 3)
err vices as the cafeteria and the
infirmary should be improved
I believe the sophomore
class should be the key element
in the organization and actual
performance of the fresh man
orientation program. Since the
sophomore class is more alert
and closer to freshman situa
tions, the freshman orientation
can be made more successful
by their more intricate involve
ment. Obviously, there are
other problems here at Mercer,
a nd inevitably more will
develop in the future. 1 want to
help alleviate these present and
perspective problems at Mercer
by becoming involved in SO A
as sophomore senator.
Heth Turton
Reed Smith
If elected to the Student
Government Association my
principle effort will be to get
the average Mercer student in
volved in the affairs of the uni-
versity. It seems T
today that most!
problems arel
blamed o n|
either the ad
ministration
the curriculum, I
and though
some of these
complaints are well-founded, I
believe the basis for these pro
blems is the disinterest of the
uninformed majority of stu
dents. Any institution which is
significantly and constantly
affected by the words and
efforts of outspoken minorities
cannot be a success, and our
university is no exception.
Thus far the SGA has been
an organization whose actions
were generally ignored or un
known by the average studpnt.
The SGA will never be success
ful until it begins to operate on
ideas fostered by an interested
student body. My goal is to
strive to solve Mercer’s prob
lems, but this goal will never be
achieved unless the students
become involved and informed.
So I will first do my utmost to
keep the students I wish to re
present concerned and know-
legable of all issues facing the
SGA and through this involve
ment perhaps an effective and
highly successful representative
body will become a reality.
(Continued from page 1)
sotrenrs to the Cooperative
will hi Mnstructed above the
area whan the steps bow an
The space now occupied hr
the post office and the supply
room next to It will be convert
ed into a recreation awn whan
will be located five pool nd
Mttiard tablet and ping pong
tabiee, Haywood said.
President Harris raoom-
the changes to the
Committee stating
‘it is hmunbant upon the Uni
versity to provide as ade-
for the
Rob Scherini
Having previously been a
candidate for the SGA Senate 1
maintained my interest
throughout the first quarter,
attending a vast majority of
'Senate meet
ings. During this
time I felt that
SGA was n5t
touching upon
the matters that
seemed to pro-
d ut e much of
Scherini the discontent
on campus.
Last quarter 1 became one
of six who founded a group of
concerned freshmen. Our main
objective was to find out why
68^ of the Freshman Class
have requested transcripts sent
to other schools. Efforts
through our “Statement of
Concern,” which many of you
signed, a freshman survey, a
faculty survey, and a large
group meeting with faculty and
administrative officers brought
attention and action leveled at
three important areas. First
was social life, (cafeteria, re
creational facilities, open hous
ing, etc.) The second area was
community life (relations
between Greeks, unaffiliates,
Blacks and faculty). And lastly,
curriculum. Opinion in this
area varied but concern was
shown where it counts and as
stated by our new University
Vice President, Dr. Phelps:
“The curriculum in certain
areas is pre-Victorian.”
It’s time for SGA to get
moving. It's time to elect
people who have shown con
cern and action in improving
Mercer. I intend to spend four
productive years here, but
without your support we may
keep on loosing over half of
each entering class. If elected
my fust objective is to correct
this situation.
I ask your support but fust
I ask that you care enough to
voice wiaely. If you have any
questions concerning my plat
form I may be contacted in
room 304 Sherwood or
through box 1330.
Yours very truly,
Robert A. Sherini
Bob Jackson
Fellow Freshmen,
During the past year I have
had the privilege of serving you
in the Student Senate. In ob
serving and weighing the prob
lems which the S.G.A. faced
this year, I
know that next
year's student
body will de
mand quite a
few reforms!
The S.G.A.
often exercises a
tremendous in-
administrative
policy in initiating campus re
form. The Senate was largely
responsible for intramural
athletic reforms as well as open
dormitories. A student radio
station operated by Mercer stu
dents will aerve our campus
next year.
Much dissatisfaction has
been expressed by the Fresh
man Class this year. R Is my
sincere desire that, through the
S.G.A., constructive attempts
can and will be made to pro
duce concrete answers. A
school of Mercer’s caliber re
quires a capable faculty as well
as progressive student leader
ship. I hope that you will con
sider this election carefully,
especially concerning the elec
tion of the president and vice
president of the Senate.
Good leadership in these
positions would lend itself to
ward a strong student voice at
Mercer. And students must
continue to make themselves
known concerning vital issues
such as the retention of Won
derful Wednesday and estab
lishment of improved recrea
tional facilities. If re-elected, I
promise you that I will do my
best to work out solutions to
problems which Mercer will
face. I have worked hard for
you these past few months and
MERCER CLUSTER
STAFF 1969 70
Managing Editor . . . Lyndon Mayes
Newt Editor .... Don Nottingham
News Staff E. Lightfoot.
K. Shaw, K. Bryant, M. Wain
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 Wriaht,
Vivian Southwell. Marsha Mat
thews, Gene Williams
Columnists Ron Childs
Joe Hobbs. Larry Flnklestein.
Alien Wallace. Rocky Wade
Sports Editor Lou tohnson
Sports Staff B Owens
B. Nottingham
Artists G. Middleton
B. Stanley, E. Hammonds, P.
Campbell
James Boykins
Campbell
Advertising Mgr.
Advertising Staff . . Anne Gulley.
Susan Phimley
Asat. Business Mgr.Mary A. Buckner
Typists L. Pleas
Y; St. Denis. E. Poole. B. J.
Bandlow, T. Uraery
Copy Editors Tyler Hammett
Glenda Tully
Photography Bob Johnson
Public Relations Mgr Renats
Williams. Jamie Dawson. Nadine
Sherman
Layout J. Camp
A. Cooper. J. Hat ten. K. K ron
quist, A. Stanton, B. Stanton,
Ed Fisher
Political Editor .
Advisors
A. Stansfield
The Mercer Cluster is a weekly stu
dent publication published by the
students of Mercer University The
phone number is 745*1 S11, exten
sion 221. The address is Box 29,
Mercer University, Offict room 326
and 328 CSC. Office hours arc
9:00-S;00, Monday through Frida v
Subscriptions are $5.00
Larry Finklestein
J. Paint
Brogdon
(Continued from page 1)
you to find out the platforms
of each candidate and take the
time to discover if he will re
present you and work to move
Mercer in the direction that
you want. I hope that I will
have the opportunity to speak
to aach of you personally, if
not, please remember to vote
on April 10, and I challenge
you to put your confidence in
a candidate that will represent
your views and will work to
make Mercer a better place in
which to live and study
Wade
(Continued from page 1)
possibly to a profit. Secondly,
I feel that I can make inroads
as to the community tension.
I plan to continue with new
innovations such as the maga
zine, the newsletter, and the
news service. Also, I am pre
sently working with WCWB-TV
to establish a local Mercer TV
show. 1 feel that expansion as
mentioned above will help the
Mercer Cluster to truly fulfill
its’ goal.
As the only constitutionally
approved candidate for Cluster
editor, I welcomed the en
trance of a challenger into the
race, it will help to stimulate
Merreruns into talking about
the role of their school paper.
And that la my ultimate goal —
to aee the Cluster as an integral
part of the school life of all
Mercerians.
MERCER CLUSTER • April 10, 1970 • 4
Robinson
(Continued from page 1)
and Administration. At the
Waverly Conference last sum
mer he was commended by all
parties for hit beneficial parti
cipation in a broad spectrum of
taues. This past year Ernie
went directly to the proper
Administrative authorities to
obtain permission for Open
House during Homecoming.
Although the hours of co-ed
vWtation were meant only as
an introductory taste of open
dormitories, the achievement
art a brave new precedent.
Llkewtae, Ernie has quietly
done as much as anyone to
acquire recreational equipment
for the campus, not by talking
or writing, but by making
serioua prnpreah to prop*
people and folio wing-up on the
answers. Pool tablet are being
provided for at this moment
Maddox
(Continued from page 1)
most effective faculty or ad
ministrative committees or per
sonnel. The Senate alio has a
terrific organizing powef for
getting interested students
together.
2. Weaknesses — In many
areas the student government
suffers from a lack of confi
dence and support from the
student body.
This can be traced to the
often slow process of working
proposals through this commit
tee or that. The university is
now swamped with a complex
bureaucracy fo faculty and
administrative committees. Hie
SGA should try not to let its
own bureaucracy of commit
tees hinder its effectiveness.
One weakness in the philo
sophy of committees is that
many insists that most of the
work be done by elected repre-
sentatives. Therefore many
committees suffer because they
a re chaired or controlled by
uninterested or uninformed
Senators.
There are a great many stu
dents both willing and capable
to work with the various pro
jects for which committees are
aet up.
With a little effort the
Senate can find those students
willing and capable of com
pleting the report or project
without the additional duties
of keeping up with the entire
actions of the Senate.
For instance the Auxiliary
Services committee could be
largely composed of students
who have previously worked in
cafeterias or cafes, students
who now serve in our own
cafeteria and other interested
senators and students.
Since all committee actions
must be approved by elected
senators the representative
body would maintain final con
trol.
Another failing of the SGA
has been the lack of communi
cating to the student body not
only what the SGA is doing
but why and if Its actions are
important to the student.
This could be accomplished
by delegating to the Publicity
committee the responsibility
for seeing that every effort is
made to communicate to the
student body what is done and
why. This would alleviate
much of the prewnt misunder
standing. Persons willing to be
responsible for these write-ups
could be given priority for the
committee.
FUTURE
We would hope that with its
power and influence controlled
by responsible senators the
SGA could begin to assume the
role of leadership not only in
completing THIS project or
that but also in being sensitive
to campus trends, meeting
campus problems and speaking
to campus discontent.
and will be installed as soon as
apace Is available.
Hie list of accomplishments
is enormous — a proposal for
changing grades. Producer of
the 1969 Miss Mercer Pageant,
Co-Chairman of last fall’s
Academic Orientation, Co-
Author of the current SGA
Constitution, feature writer for
the Cluster, deiepte to the
NSA Convention. In high
school Ernie was Editor of the
Georgia Association of Student
Council Journal and twice an
instructor in the GASC Sum-
mar Workshop. He was Presi
dent of hit student body, num
bering as many as Mercer, and
Mad In a large number of extra
curricular fields. At Mercer he
has been able to participate ip
a variety of activities while
maintaining a superior aca
demic average.
If a responsible group does
not take this leadership respon
sibility we esn only hope that
those who do amuroe leader
ship will be responsible.
POLARIZING THE CAMPUS
We must all become con
cerned that our campus not
become more polarized.
In our present situation
where members of social or
ganizations distrust those who
are not members, unaffUiates
distrust and often dislike
members of social organiza
tions, black and white, conser
vative and liberal, each group
has some claim to injustice and
persecution. The trouble is we
can understand why it began
but it makes no sense that it
has to continue. Thoee groups
that have really suffer*.' should
be the last to wish that others
would suffer.
As long as each group stands
and irresponsibly demands
their rights disregarding the
suffering it could cause others,
there is no way to confront the
Issue directly.
Though some area of evi
dent wrong demand much of
our immediate attention they
can be improved only by get
ting beyond them to some
common concern of impor
tance such as faculty, cafeteria,
recreation and future of the
university.
CAFETERIA
Since the problem of
cafeteria and food services Is an
eternal complaint among stu
dents there seems to be a very
real need for a strong commit
tee, with members free to give
a lot of time to keep In con
stant touch with the cafeteria
and the student body
A committee comprised of
those who have some know
ledge of cafeteria operations
would be able to compile sug
gestions, which past experience
has shown, would be welcomed
by Mr. Krakow and the admin
istration.
There also seems to be con
stant conflict over the queation
of mandatory meal tickets.
Too often we conclude that
the only answer is to do away
with the mandatory meal
ticket. Although the unimp-
tion that the university has
little right to require that stu
dents purchase meal tickets
and that students have the
power to do away with this re
quirement the problem Is not
so simple.
The complete abandon of
the mandatory meal ticket
would have these results:
1) Because of freeloaders
the cafeteria would have to be
divided into two areas, one for
those with tickets and one for
those without.
2) We would lose the only
remaining place where students
get together regularly.
3) And most important
those students who, because of
scholarships, parental pressure,
or lack of transportations,
must eat each meal in the
cafeteria would suffer. The
Behind action there should
be reason. Those who know
him bast, students and faculty,
respect Ernie for his capacity
to think thoroughly through
various sides of a problem. He
does not hesitate to ask for
opinions and to weigh public
sympathy. The product of his
dialectic always has a Ann
foundation. Often his acts have
behind them a huge volume of
data. The process for Ernie it
swift, however, not MqaMng
long lapses Into iaactioo. Ask
him a question and Mateo for
an engagingly bank response
Measure the reason. Tart the
catalogue of Information. With
out sense, how else would
Era* have been so successful
in resolving controversial
issues?
quality of the food would be
pooter and the price per meal
greeter.
So to whom are we respon
sible? After considering the
problem there seems to be
another pomibiUty. Talking
with Mr. Krakow we have
negotiated a plan by which stu
dents might purchase a ticket
for say 10 meals per week out
of the 20 served. Those pur
chasing fewer tickets would
pay a little more per meal than
those buying more. Although
some con cessions would have
to be made and work done by
students fewer students would
be likely to suffer.
BLACK STUDENT ALLIANCE
Hie BSA has become an
active and well defined force
on Mercer campus. We can sup
port any student effort to
better the community and
world we all must live in. One
real effect of the BSA has been
to place us all in a position in
which we must all recognize
the unique situation of being a
black student on Mercer’s
campus and in the world and a
situation in which we all feel
and understand the widespread
mistrust. We hope that the
BSA In Its efforts to better the
black student at Mercer would
not become Insensitive to the
effect its actions may have on
the betterment of all con
cerned.
SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS
Because of peer pressure
and common group ideals
Social Organization are capable
of maintaining a great deal of
influence over its membership.
Although it is not the purpose
or the duty of • Social Organi
zation to be a service organiza
tion, it is the responsibility of
each of its members as students
at Mercer to be aware not only
of his own rights but also
aware of the entire student
body. With this tremendous
potential for unity and in
fluence Social Organizations
are in a pod tion to promote
campus spirit and to help
trouble shoot campus prob
lems.
COMMUNITY IMAGE
In past years Mercer has suf
fered a decline in influence and
respect with Macon and the
state in general. Much of this
decline Is in fact due to the
changing philosophy of educa
tion and university policy. Hits
the university must be pr
epared to accept. Some decline
Is however due to a lack of
communication with the out
side world. People hear moat of
what we do, yet very little of
why we did it and how we fael.
They are left to form condu-
skms for themselves.
The Student Government
could take the raspoaribiUty
for communicating to the
world through the papers
a nd/or radio what is taking
place at Mercer. It could also
look into maam of creating
some understanding and a
better relationship with the
Macon Community.
Active participation that
defines specific goals needs to
be a key in electing a Prerident
of the SGA. Eknie Robinson
has proven in countless situa
tions that he is capable of
determinative leadership - a
leadership that defines worth
while goals and that encouragM
many to participate in attain
ing the aims. Ernie Robinson
believes in the potential of
Mere and rincereiy desires to
am In a manner to farther
the general Interest Ernie
nee* your help. You ate the
one who can allow Ernie to
continue his work. He asks for
you to *oak with him per
sonally or to talk with one of
his several representatives.
They can tail you much, much
more of why frnie Robinson
should be our SGA Prerident