Newspaper Page Text
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Editorial
Goodbye To All
They *»y the beet laid plana of Mice and Men often don't amount
to a hill of beans when it comes to crossing the river. And so it is
with this editorial and the subject of this editorial.
Originally this was to be the traditional end-of-the-term editorial
of an out-going CJaster editor in which I describe who should jump
in what lake, walk off which plank, hit which road, kiss what parts
of my anatomy, eat ine, and go to various subterranean caverns
containing above-room temperatures. But alas, more important
things have surfaced, to if you haven't liked the Onater this year,
refer to Nancy Creech's final issue, or Linda Pew'a, or Steve
Causey's, or etc. to find out exactly where you can teick what for
not coming forward to help out. If you're a freshman, sorry, you'll
have to wait until next year (things don't change all that much at
Mercer).
Looking beck over 19 other editorial*, if there is a motif present
in my words of wisdom, it would have to be my recurring plea for
students to at\east begin to realize that WE ARE THE WORLD OF
TOMORROW. Pretty soon, within one to three years, that great
big mess oqt there will be ours and ours alone, probably to worsen,
but maybe th repair.
My second editorial last year referred to "Sun Day”, and
concerned our responsibility to encourage government officials to
pay a Httlt less attention to big industry and allocate more funding
for research and development of noo-petro, non-nuclear energy
sources such as solar power. This editorial is even more specific.
After two years at Mercer, after a full quarter of F.3.P. ^
«««Tninmg the present energy problems, after research on my own.
after meeting and talking with proponents of nuclear energy, and.
finally, after watching the still uncertain occurances in Harrisburg.
Pennsylvania, there is no doubt in my mind that human beings are
incapable of building safe fission reactors, that the time has arrived
to say “No Nukes" once and for all, to stop building nuclear
reactors, to close down every single one still operating.
People are dying in Harrisburg. Pennsylvania. People, fiah,
animals. “Official sources” say. have always said, there is no
danger. But radioactive water, once part of the plant's cooling
system, has been flowing into the Susquehanna River since trouble
first began at the plant. The Susquehanna River flow* into
Chesapeake Bay. One day a small child, or a pregnant woman will
eat an oyster or a fish from that river. No one can predict what will
happen next.
Everything causes cancer. We're finding new causes daily.
We’ve always known about radiation. There has been a lot of
radiation leakage from that nuclear power plant. People will get,
are getting cancer. People will die. are dying.
_ _ a . . ■ a .a a, *..4 .ia — t a J .La.
This fail I had the opportunity (aa did everyone reading this) of
.peaking with Mr. Hariea Branch, a well-known proponent of
nuclear power, and ona of the more powerful men in the country
particularly in the business field (the Clueter article announcing
Mr. Branch avia* waa aptly entitled "Director of Everything Visits
Mercer"). Aa one of the very few students who took advantage of
this opportunity, i spent an afternoon eating lunch with Mr. Branch
and discussing the energy problem in the United States at that
time. After e bit of haggling between the two of ns over the
“Techn6logy-Teaching”Response
oents. .—
i and declining
threaten the
Dear Editor.
With reference to the article
"New Breaks Help Colleges"
which .ppearUdjn the February
16 Claater, I would like to nake
a couple <)f comments.
Spiraling costa
enroUmema do
survival of colleges as wa know
them, but the quality of
teaching is not an issue except
in the sense that standards
cannot be maintained aa the
percentage of students willing
or able to meet them diminiahee.
Remember that the people who
put men on the moon were
educated years ago before
calculators, computers, and
electronic gimmicks entered the
educational world. Aa they have
entered the elementary and
secondary schools the quality of
performance has dropped
steadily—perhaps only a coinci-
matarial development would be
needed and all the undergradu
ate colleges could be doeed.
None of this will happen.
pie are not cooperative ma
chines eagerly waiting to be
efficiently programmed. Re
cently I visited the Navy's
educational installation, in Pen
sacola. Florida. Thay have more
money than moat educational
systems and tbeir's is one of the
largest in the world. I was vary
interested in their individualiz
ed instruction and its problems.
It appears that for detailed
well. Moat college students
(add a lot of Navy students I
might sddl-doo't fall into this
mold.
People like people; and mod
of ua loam beat when someone
is watching over ua, breathing
down our necks, and demon
strating a personal love for the
subject which we are reluctantly
having to taka time out from
our social fives to ingest. As
long as that is fhe case the
machines will only be used
supplemental^ and the cote,
will remain high. We also will
hold on to our humanity a little
longer-st least until machines
develop personalities.
James Edmonds
Government subsidies to help
keep tuition within reech would
certainly help private college,
survive. But then justification
must be found for the private
colleges to survive. It is one
thing to allow the freedom in
our culture far special interest
to
might be on the order af "losing the City of Detroit"
Wefl, Mr. Branch. 1 hope this week’s occurances in Harrisburg
have done something to at least change your opinion of the
inuniliiHaj of nuclear cataatropby. For soma reason, I doubt it.
Unfortunately, faoas my experiences with them, moat people who
favor nuclear power cannot Me very wefl for the dollar signs
blocking thaw moo. This extqbds from buameas executives to the
taxpayer trying to mve • few dollar, each year. Hopefully, those
affected by this week's occurences in Harrisburg. Pennsylvania wifi
don't care ona way or tbs other about
t than who the Hawks bate late night.
I My fa tens fa open our months, fa vole lor antirnorlaar
to ask taxpayer, to
robeidixe their operteiocu.
The technological break
throughs do not offer any real
education is
. I hope there is something left lor us fa
fen page 3
is true that
also be sent to ti
with the work-books, and soon
every boaoe wiB bare a video
recorder beside one of the two
or Ones TVs in the house. One
Cluster
Hal Brodsky
Editor-ie-Chief
Donne Gray
managing Editor
THE MERCER CLUSTER is pufakaked weakly except
dariag exam period, by the .iadetea of Mercer University.
Macau. OmOpialaao icpimH are ate a.reaaarfly thane of
Mercer Uairerrity or The CLUSTER. Printed by KEEN
AND JUDD PUBLISHERS. Macao.
STAFF REPORTERS
. Annette