Newspapers / Bennett College Student Newspaper / Jan. 30, 1981, edition 1 / Page 2
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PAGE TWO THE BENNETT BANNER FRIDAY, JANUARY 30, 1981 SGA position called a mockery Myra Jewel George So many of us have spent the past few weeks rallying for causes. We rallied against the Nazi-Klan trial verdict. We rallied against President Reagan’s election. We rallied to save black colleges and we rallied to make Martin Luther King’s birthday a national holiday. As “tomorrow’s leaders,” we felt that it was our duty to fight against the injustices. Why then did we ignore an injustice on our own campus? That injustice took place when Sharonlyn Jones made a mockery of the SGA presidency and, in the process, made a fool of every Bennett woman who voted for her. It is an outrage that we allowed her to manipulate us for her own gain. Basically, what she did was accept the position of SGA president but spent the first semester practice teaching and left after December. However, it is important to remember that our feelings are not directed towards Jones as a person, but against the manipu lation we suffered at her hands. If anvthing, we might feel a certain respect for her. After all it isn’t everyone who can deceive a whole campus and walk away untouched. No, we should not be against Jones but against anybody who treats us as shabbily and as carelessly as we have been treated. The mockery of the presidency was evident from the begin ning. The elections were held late enough in the year for Jones to have realized that she was incapable of performing her duties. Surely she had already made plans to graduate early and knew that she would be very busy for both semesters. Even if we are to assume that she decided over the summer to accelerate her studies, Jones is still not blameless. Having served as SGA vice- president, she must have known how time consuming the position was. She had no right to accept the position knowing that she would not have the time to devote to it. We would not let a U.S. president maintain his title if he spent half of his administration abroad and then walked away for the last half. A great injustice has been done against the student body. Someone walked in and took a position long enough to get recog nition in the yearbook and newspapers. Then she walked right back out, left us in a bind and no one said a word. The bGA presidency is the highest position that a student can hold. Yet no memorandum was passed out from the administration. No students protested. Those who voted for her must feel the frustration and out rage. But we should all feel cheated as we remember how Jones stood before us and promised to work “with and for the stu- dents” and bring about a healthy relationship between the administration and the students. How did she plan to accomplish that end when she spent all morning and afternoon off campus teaching? Time and time again she deceived us with false oromises and greeted us with a wide smile. We should have learned from President Carter to be wary of that kind of smile. The past SGA administration was one of deception and manipulation. It would be very easy to pass judgement and say that Jones should have stepped down at the beginning of the year and relinquished the position to her vice-president. But, instead of doing that, we should look into ourselves and see how much fault is ours. A majority of us, after all, did fall prey to the manipulation and voted her in. Furthermore, we allowed the SGA to function without provisions for the president. We left ourselves open for someone to come in and take advantage of the situation. Even now, the vulnerability and the opportunity exists for the same thing to happen again. The SGA constitution should be re-evaluated to protect us against this kind of treatment. Perhaps in addition to rallying for causes outside the campus, we should also be aware of problems within. Never again should we be so blind to circumstances that affect us so vitally. And never again should we allow someone to treat us that way. When a vice-president succeeds to a higher position, he or she is usually told that he’s got some big shoes to fill. To Linda Anderson, our new SGA president, I say, “You’ve got some big footprints to cover up.” Much luck. God is as real as our faith proves There are so many times in our lives when it seems that God is so very far from us and that there is no use in trying to convince God to answer a prayer. There will always be times like this, but we must remember that God is as close to us as we let Him be. He is as real as our faith proves Him to be. No matter what kind of sit uations we may find ourselves in, God is always right there beside us to lead and guide us in every phase of our lives, but He can only be that strong when we let Him. God is pleased when we reach out to Him in all honesty and sincerity, seeking truth and refuge when our very soul reach out to touch Him. “For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us there fore boldly unto the throne of gface, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrew 4:15-16) Before God sent his son to re deem mankind, it was ordained that the priest go into the temple that was chosen for the service of God, and burn oil and incense at the altar and make sacrifices to God on behalf of the people. When Jesus Christ came, he became the high priest above all other priests. Man no longer had to burn sacri fices unto God. Christ gave His life that we might receive eternal life through His name, He became that perfect sacrifice. The above scripture tells us that Jesus Christ, our high priest, is touched by our infirmities. He is touched by these infirmities be cause of each of the stripes He received on our behalf. Each of the stripes He took for us was for our infirmities that we might suf fer neither physically, emotionally, or spiritually. We could rest and have peace in all areas of our lives. We don’t have to burn sacrifices unto God anymore; however, our prayers are a type of incense that goes up before God. God is a God that is touched and moved by faith in Him; therefore, we must have faith (belief, trust) in Him to lead us in all areas of our lives because perilous times are at hand. If you do not know the reality of God, or if you need that special strength to help you through a situation in your life, then I invite you to have a talk with Jesus and let Him know that you need Him to help you and give you strength (physical, emotional, spiritual) to live one day at a time. God is real and if you let Him in your life, then you will see that you are able to rise above any situation in your life that causes pain, stress, or confusion. Reach out and touch Him right now. He’ll be as close to you as you want Him to be. By: Katherine Winston 'X Kafc bccQu^e \ ir\ rneoin Letters to tne e 0 nne nn^\ 1980-81 Co-Editor Myra George Co-Editor Lisa Harris Advisor Martha Brown Circulation Manager Karen Heck Business Manager Wanda Dick Cartoonists Venus McDowell Norman Barbee Photographer Shelly Coston Reporters Karen Heck Katherine Winston Denise Wilder Tina Johnson Monica Motley Andrea Burch Veronica McKinney Shelly Coston MLK event disappointing Dear Editor: I think that Bennett College had a really great turnout as far as the student participation in the Martin Luther King event. 1 was really disappointed when I learned that classes were not going to be cancelled by the administration for such a great event. Look at the Ku Klux Klan incident, classes were cancelled just so we could march down the street and we have yet to see justice done. All the colleges in the Greensboro area, including the faculty, par ticipated in the rally. Take a brief look at Martin Luther King Jr., a black Nobel Prize winner, a man placed in jail several times, spit on, beaten, a man that literally gave his life fighting so that we could have certain black rights. And how do we honor him? Think about it! Debra Bailey To the Editor: The Bennett Banner article en titled, “True Liberation Discussed” (December 15, 1980) was well written and represented accurate reporting of the conservative, fun damentalist message of Elizabeth Clare Prophet and her “Great White Brotherhood.” But the mes sage itself includes gross distor tions that should not go unnoticed. First, to tell women that they should first and foremost be mothers, is irrelevant to liberation. Under slavery, women were moth ers (and were given no choice about this). Yet although slave- mothers were excellent, strong and loving mothers, they were still brutally treated, oppressed and enslaved. (They did rock the cra dle; they did not rule their mas ters, and they certainly did not rule the world.) Second, full equality under the law for both men and women would not require co-ed rest rooms. This is assured by the overriding right of sexual privacy. (This differs from the case of integrating restrooms racially, since people of the same sex but different races do not have their (Continued on Page 4)
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