Central Florida Future, Vol. 11 No. 20, February 9, 1979

              Future
University of
Central Florida
Vol.11
Friday, February 9, 1979
No. 20
Abernathy: Carter forgot blacks
by Joe Kilsheimer
managing editor
Mixing good-natured humor with
the typical style of a Southern Baptist
preacher, the Rev. Ralph Abernathy
said Monday evening that President
Jimmy Carter has not lived up to his
campaign promises to put more
minorities to work.
Abernathy's lecture was the first of a
20-part series he said. It was the first
event for Black Awareness Week, sponsored by the Black Student Union.
Abernathy, who took over as chairman of the Southern Christian Leadership Council after the assasination of
Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968, told
the audience of rougly 150 that the
country's main problem is not. inflation, but unemployment. "Mr. Carter is always talking about how inflation is our No. 1 problem, but when
you ain't got a job, you ain't • got
nothing to be inflated," Abernathy
said, "the struggle is no longer between the blacks and the whites, it is
between the haves and the have-
nots...and the haves are always the
telling the have-nots, Tull yourselves
up by the bootstraps, 'well how can you.
pull yourself up by the bootstraps
when you don't have a boot, much less
a strap."
Dressed conservatively in "my only
good business suit," Abernathy was all
smiles when he told the audience the
reason he rose to national prominence
was not because of his civil rights
work, but because, "I am good
looking...can you see my dimples," he
said pointing to his cheeks.
Abernathy also attacked Carter for
moving too slowly to introduce a
national health insurance plan to
Congress. He criticized the government for spending billions to send
astronauts to the moon, "To bring
back a bunch of rocks," when they
should have spent the money to help
care for the poor.
Orange County's lack of black elected officials also drew fire from Abernathy. "Florida will fool you," Abernathy said. "People will try to give you
the impression that everything is all
right...but in Orlando, only one black
serves on the city council and that is
wrong."
The theme of Abernathy's speech
was "cultural contributions made by
the black Americans." He cited the accomplishments of Crispus Hucks, the
first person to die in the American
Revolution; Charles. Drew, who
discovered blood plasma and George
Washington Carver, who discovered
many different uses for the peanut.
In fact, said Abernathy, if it weren't
for Carver, Jimmy Carter wouldn't be
a famous peanut farmer.
Stephen Jepson at his pottery wheel.
Today's Future
All's Fair
AlTs fair in love and war-and
engineering students competition. The
eighth annual Engineering Fair cranks
up next week with promise of some
unusual exhibits and even better contests.
See story, page 3.
Steve Williams/Future
Tony Torn/Future
The Rev. Ralph Abernathy spoke to about 150 people in the VCAR
Monday night. He said President Jimmy Carter has broken his campaign promise to put more blacks to work. Abernathy's lecture was
part of Black Awareness Week which is sponsored by the Black
Student Union.
Ceramics instructor
doesn't limit interest
to glazing pottery
by Deane Jordan
staff writer
UCF Art instructor Stephen Jepson
molds clay with his hands and molds
lives with his mind.
Eight years ago, Jepson, who holds a
Bachelor's degree in Zoology and a
Master's in Ceramic Design, began his
career as a professional potter with a
goal of becoming a millionaire by the
time he was 45. years old. Two years
ago he began working towards the
goal of becoming a public speaker and
to that end joined Toastmasters International. Today Jepson is a nationally
acclaimed potter and an award-
winning public speaker and although
he is not a millionaire yet, it's only a
matter of time.
Becoming a millionaire, says Jepson,
is not as important a goal to him as it
used to be.
"I felt," said Jepson, "that money is
a measure of certain kinds of progress
and success." And success, says Jepson, is a skill.
"If you listed the qualities of successful people like Edison, Ford, Einstein, or Pierre and Marie Curie, you
would find a-tremendous number.of
them have success skills, and these
skills can be learned."
By any standard, Jepson is successful. From his "Happy Palms"
pottery shop on SR46 just east of
Geneva, he has built a thriving
business and gained national
recognition.
Jepson describes pottery as one of the
most pervasive forms of contemporary
arts and crafts. "I make something
everyone can use," Jepson said. "Using
hand-made articles enriches one's
life." He added that his pottery is not
expensive.
As a financially successful
businessman, Jepson with the help of
his wife Martha, puts approximately
50,000 miles per year on his van going
to   art   fairs   and   making   wholesale
Jepson, page 15
Shakespeare!
A stage, a stage! My kingdom for a
stage! (or something like that) Actually
the Simply Shakespeare troup has no
problem finding a stage to put on their
productions. Thier services are in
demand all the time. See story, page 12.
Knights Roll
It looked mighty tough there' for a
while, but'the die-hard Knights came
through and beat cross-town rival
Rollins. The Knights got a lot of help
from newcomer Gerald Jones who is
featured on page I 7: