- John J. Radcliffe TwoTowns cont. for others (busi nesses) to locate in Searcy. " Lott Tucker, Harding's v ice president for finance said, " Although Hard ing is probably the leading industry in the community, the community has worked ve ry hard, and some at Harding have worked very hard, to attract industri es to the town so it would .have a broad base from which to operate. This has been accomplished to some extent. Agriculture is a big industry in Searcy, and t hat continues . Searcy does not depend comp lete ly on Hard ing, although Harding is probably the biggest industry in the c ity." Floyd Daniel, Harding's vice president for development, commented on what it would be like if Harding we re not in Searcy. "The economy wou ld be strong becalJse Searcy is highly diversified from an employment standpoint. However, Harding is Searcy' s largest emp loye r. Without Harding the economy would be less stable." Searcy would impress t he average tou ri st as being a ni ce quite town w ith heavy traffic and friend ly citizens. Zac Muncy, Harding' s Student Associat ion president and a c i t izen of Searcy nearly all his l ife sa id, " I fee l Harding has a good and bad influence on thi s area - good in that H.U. has done many wonderful things for the area such as help ing storm victims, clea ning up the town with civic projects, hold ing lectures for Searc ians to attend, et c; bad in that some peop le j ust don ' t li ke us and our Christian att itudes, some say we are pushy, others say we don't a lways act Chri stian. I agree - we are not perfect. Fa r from it ! 'We all fall short of God's glory,' and when we do fall , the people tend to be more critica l of us. I have li ved here for 18 yea rs, and have seen this clearl y. But, it is good to be c riti cized so that we can change our wrongful ways . 36ITwo Towns In One _ Darrell L. Truitt Our attitudes do sometimes give a bad influence on the community." Dr. Jimmy Carr, Harding's assistant to the president said, " I am most impressed with Searcy and its residents. My fami ly and I have li ved in severa l commu nities but have not found one we enjoy more. Searcy is a community of law abiding citizens who are unselfish in t heir cont ri butions to help make this a great city in whi ch to l ive and rea r a family. Harding has had a great impact for good on the community. Many of its residents do not understand us reli gious ly but readil y admit that Searcy is a better c ity in which to li ve because of Harding. There is not a gul f here between ' the town and the gown.' The Harding community has had an impact upon Searcy economica ll y, reli giously, soc iall y and morally. I see Searcy as b lending we ll between t he educational, indust ri a l and bus iness commun iti es." In short, Searcy and Harding are working together il") a ve ry ni ce way. ~ - Suzanne Johnston
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