Newspaper Page Text
The Organ of Student Expression Since 1925
Spike Lee’s Vision Meets Fruition:
Journalism and Sports Program becomes a minor
Spike Lee signs autograph for Spencer Greene after previewing “Kobe Doin’ Work” movie for Morehouse students
Gerren K. Gay nor
Managing Editor
gerren .gaynor@gmail .com
A fter three years of
groundwork, Morehouse
College has introduced a new
minor to the student body. The
Journalism and Sports Pro
gram has finally received the
green light to permute from
a concentration to a minor.
The program now requires
18 credit hours for the minor,
and it is offered for students
of any major.
The minor provides a vi
able foundation in the prin
cipals of news writing, with
a broad emphasis on sports.
In the past, students mistak
enly tagged the program as a
sports journalism concentra
tion, however, the concentra
tion turned minor focuses on
all facets of print journalism.
Under the English depart
ment, the Journalism and
Sports minor offers four re
quired courses (12 credit
hours in total): ENG 258
Basic News Writing, ENG
378 Sports Reporting, ENG
388 New Media Technology
and Kinesiology 100 History
and Principles of Health and
Physical Education.
The remaining six credit
hours can consist of a jour
nalism or sports-related in
ternship and any journal
ism elective. In place of the
aforementioned, students
may choose between ENG
368 Advanced News Writing:
Crafting the Complex Article
and any of the remaining nine
journalism electives.
Space is still available in all
of the journalism courses this
semester. Spelman and Clark
Atlanta students are strongly
encouraged to enroll as well.
Considering the program’s
unique inception, adminis
trators and students find this
advancement significantly tri
umphant. A mere demograph
ic observation gave rise to
what the Morehouse commu
nity knows today as the Jour
nalism and Sports Program.
The late Ralph Wiley, a
sports columnist, and famed
filmmaker Shelton “Spike”
Lee ’79 were perplexed by
the scarce amount of Black
sports journalists. Research
shows that only six percent of
newspaper sports journalists
are Black. This bewilderment
compelled Lee and Wiley to
galvanize the college to birth
a program that would breed
competitive and flourishing
Black sports journalists.
In 1999, Lee and Wiley pro
posed the idea of a journalism
program to Morehouse. After
being approved by the col
lege, Lee raised $1 million
to fund the program. A few
years later Morehouse be
gan a nationwide search for
a program director. In 2006,
Kathleen Johnson, special as-
See SPIKE, page 2 ►
Woodruff Library Unveils New Revision
Alfred Chambers Jr.
Contributing Writer
alfred .chambers @ gmail .com
A fter a year of renova
tions, the Robert W.
Woodruff library opened its
doors once again to students
of the Atlanta University
Center. On Thursday, Aug. 26
the library hosted "A Ribbon
Cutting and Celebration,” in
commemoration of its “Phase
I” of a two-phase renovation
cycle. Woodruff, affectionate
ly known as “Club Woody”
to the AUC, had recently shut
down parts of its building for
the renovations, a plan which
was developed in 1995 by the
library’s board of trustees and
staff. Their goal was to “trans
form the space into a dynamic
and technologically advanced
learning center.”
Thursday’s unveiling saw
steps closer to that goal, as
students received access to
new computer equipment,
wireless print, new and ad
ditional seating, and a cafe
dubbed “Woodies.”
There were over three hun
dred guests that attended the
afternoon ribbon cutting cere
mony. Guests included Atlan
ta Mayor Kasim Reed, presi
dents of the AUC institutions,
representatives of the Coca
Cola Foundation and Bank
of America corporation, the
Robert W. Woodruff board of
trustees, AUC staff members
and students.
“It makes me proud to see
so many people involved
and excited about our new
library,” Clark Atlanta crimi
nal justice sophomore Bianca
Rodgers said.
The library plans to spend
$16 million on the redesign
ing plan for the new learn
ing center. The Woodruff
library was named in honor
of the late Robert Winship
Woodruff, former CEO of the
Coca Cola Company. “This
See LIBRARY, page 2 ►
CFO of
Boeing Visits
Morehouse
Boeing CFO James A. Bell
Kevin Mallory
Campus News Editor
kevincmal lory ©'gmail xom
J ames A. Bell visited
Morehouse College this
past Monday in the Bank of
America Auditorium. Bell,
Chief Financial Officer of
Boeing, the world’s largest
aerospace company, spoke in
front of hundreds of students
and faculty that filled the au
ditorium with hopes of hear
ing the highest ranking Black
male at Boeing impart words
of wisdom and encourage
ment.
“I think it was a tremen
dous opportunity to see an
African-American in such a
high position as the CFO,”
Aaron Brown said. Brown, a
senior accounting major from
Woodbridge, VA, believes
that an individual like Bell
could serve as an inspiration
to young black males.
“It’s definitely inspiring be
cause when you go to corpo
rate America as a Black male,
you really don't see a lot of
African-Americans out there.
Just to see someone coming
from the bottom to reaching
the top as the CFO is really
inspiring.”
James Moss, a senior ac
counting major from Wash
ington, D.C., agreed that
a figure like Bell could do
wonders for galvanizing the
efforts and spirits of younger
people.
“I’m glad that he has taken
the initiative to come back
and to reach out to students
at places like Morehouse be
cause his presence as a role
model has the ability to in
spire others to go to the places
where he has been during his
career,” Moss said.
The event, part of the Lead
ership Lecture Series, was
titled “A Conversation with
James A. Bell.” It included
a student-led panel question
and answer with Mr. Bell and
questions directed to Mr. Bell
taken from the students in the
audience.
Key points touched upon
during Bell’s talk were ethics
and diversity, and Nicholas
Fisher appreciated the atten
tion to corporate subjects.
“I thought it was very in
teresting that corporate issues
like ethics were discussed,"
Fisher, a senior accounting
major from Baton Rouge, La.,
said. “I think it is important to
our professional development
and also to our character de
velopment.”
During his address, Bell ex
plained that a person is their
brand and that how one acts
goes into determining their
See BOEING, page 2 ►
inside track
News.
.1 World & Local 3 Business & Tech 4 Features 6 Opinions 8 A&E 11 Sports.
,12
Has Photoshop Killed Photography? p. 5
The Plausibility of AUC Unity p. 6
Bryson Green: AUC Artist Spotlight p. 11
on the web %
www.themaroontiger.com
www.twitter.com/themaroontiger
friday
86°
58°
^ Recycle The Maroon Tiger