Newspapers / Mars Hill University Student … / April 15, 1974, edition 1 / Page 2
Part of Mars Hill University Student Newspaper / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
editorial Will Rogers once said, “they tell me that Rome had senators— now 1 know why it declined.” Considering the way our represent atives have handled the energy crisis, there is little reason to disagree with the late humorist. And since most of the attention has focused on the gas shortages, the type of auto we drive is a pertinent item in solving our problem. You can count Detroit out when considering possible solutions, however. They will build small, new power source automobiles only when the profit goes out of big, con ventionally powered cars. It’s that simple with the automakers. If you doubt it, pick up a current issue of nearly any slick magazine and count the number of luscious, full color ads of Cadillacs, Lincolns, and Chryslers. The big cars are still the money makers as well as powerful totems of status in our society. “The point is,” comments Brock Yates, writing in Car and Driver Magazine, “your congressman and mine are sitting on their asses doing next to nothing about the silent issue relating to the auto mobile—how to maintain its effect iveness without destroying us.” Yates goes on to say that, “It must be some sort of cruel joke. You’ve got to know that they’re fooling around, waiting for the American people to come unglued listening to all of the bureaucratic hacks spouting their pious-plan- of-the-day.” Some of those plans are plainly ridiculous. Consider if you will. Sen. Lowell Wicker’s plan to nationalize every citizen’s car.' He seriously proposes a program which would require a sticker on every automobile indicating one day a week that the car couldn’t be used. If the family owned two cars, the second car would bear three stickers, and a third car could not be used five days of the week and so forth. Aside from the obvious impracticalities of the program, for example a family with two or more family members who can get to work only by driving their own cars, a situation we all are familiar with here, there is something frightening in the idea that the government can nation alize a private citizen’s car even ond day a week let alone three or five or—in the case of the occas sional family with four cars, to outright confiscate one vehicle without compensation. Perhaps the seriousness with which our representatives are treating the issue can be answered by another question, what kind of car does your congressman drive? You can bet your tax dollar he’s still humping around Washing ton in the same Caddy-Lincoln- Chrysler-255 that he’s accustom ed to, despite his public state ments to turn down the thermostat, keep your speeds under 55, and get a tune up. A serious reconsideration of the old bigger-is-better American 1#, UK I^SIDSNIIM'APjPOINH) WT Oeffcf/V£'. tor As V\ Trio«! '9ff^ tffCi 'f(f ^f/i =«ILLT0P STAFF L Way of Life is clearly at hand. There seems to be three things we need to accomplish in this country. A practical method of mass transit, developing our own resources to a point where we can be independent of other oil producing nations, and smaller cars with new power sources. Only when our automotive con sciousness is changed will things improve. And unless it is changed in the minds of the politicians, businessmen, and civil servants who really run this nation, under neath all the rhetoric and BS you’ll find it’s business as usual. EDITOR ERIC GARNER THE STAFF TONI WHITE, JIM BAKER LARRY PIKE, JUDY SMILEY BEN SPROUSE, GENE HOLDWAY DIANE KING, CONNIE MONTAGUE JON RIDDLE, ANDY STEFANIK ANGIE STEPHENSON, BELENDA SCALZO VERNON THOMASON, SARAH TRAYLOR ADVISOR JOHN CAMPBELL The HILLTOP is published on a fortnightly basis by the students at Mars Hill College. Mailing address is Box 1148-C Mars Hill College, Mars Hill, N. C. 28754. Entered as Second Class mailing at Mars Hill, N. C. Rates for subscription are calculated at $2.00 per year and advertising rates at $1.50 per column inch. 7/'- . / -■. ' ^ r ■f CM tlTi 7S-. COHM(Tr££~ -^1 ‘Yes, Mr. President, we did get the tapes you sent...’ LETTERS Dear Editor: As the presiding official over the recent SGA elections, it was my obligation to remain impartial and fair throughout. At no time did 1 publicly endorse anyone or treat anyone more favorably or disfavorably than the other. For that attitude I was rebuked, and also for not letting each side have the way it wanted and for desiring that things be done right for all concerned. Now that elections are past, I will have my say. 1 wish to commend the Elect ions and Open Forums Committee for doing the best job possible under demanding circumstances and enduring personal injustices. Thanks to all of you. 1 am very glad that there were enough stu dents on this campus who recog nize true leadership and were not brainwashed by campaign- slanted accusations. There are so many gullible people on this campus that never think but only repeat criticism they hear. The entire election proceedings were nothing short of farcical, from the student body’s ignorance in necessitation re-petitioning to the cheap, innacurate endorse ment by a misguided individual. People assumed that since one candidate did not bring another’s disciplinary history into the cam paign that that candidate had something to hide, but if he had even mentioned it, guess what would have occurred. I will be to say that there is a need for more stringent election guidelines, but no organization can foresee all the incidents that happen or are created. To the students who found it necessary to stuff the ballot box, you did nothing but degrade yourselves and the candidates concerned. 1 truly hope your man won; nothing is so important as to necessitate such petty be havior. To the cheerleaders: the money you need to operate each year amounts to over one-fourth the total SGA budget. You have no right to expect such extravag- anty generous allotments. How ever, that same amount of money is less than one-hundredth of the Athletic Department budget. Your work is primarily to develop pride and interest in the school through athletics; 1 would demand to be funded and supported by that department. In my year as presiding officer to the Senate, not once did the cheerleaders Dear Editor the In response to an editorial m March 21 Hilltop, the followi™ facts are relevant: . *hC 1. The major changes m sign-up procedure this year A. Sign-up was conducted the residence halls by hall members CResident Directors a'* Resident Assistants), instead of in the Housing Office by central office staff, in an atteifP^ to speed up the sign-up proceda and to avoid having studea wait in long lines. , u B. When students ^ different classifications siga^ 'up to room together, the und^'^j d class roommate was perntid^ to sign up with the uppera'a roommate instead of the at way around, as had been the cas^ in the past. C. Returning women up permitted, this year, to siga for spaces in Edna 2. Freshman rooms were sp ifically “blocked off’ in ^a six of the twelve residence ha*', and this was done in the beff relatively that mixing a percentage of freshmen /itp upperclassmen is beneficial to see SGA letter page 4 see SIGN UP page 4 SK\ Fad m III
Mars Hill University Student Newspaper
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
April 15, 1974, edition 1
2
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75