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The Organ of Student Expression Since 1925
The MAROO
Morehouse College • Atlanta, GA
September 29 - October 5, 2010
Volume LXXXV, issue 6
Morehouse Gets $50,000 Grant To Start Film Program
Nicolas B. Aziz
Editor-in-Chief
nickbaziz@ yahoo .com
D espite the fact that More
house College boasts
world famous filmmaker
Spike Lee as an alumnus,
ironically, the institution has
yet to offer any classes in the
area of film. To the benefit of
those students seeking these
classes, Morehouse was re
cently awarded $50,000 by
the Andrew W. Mellon Foun
dation to begin developing a
curriculum for aspiring film
makers.
The program, which will be
entitled the “Cinema, Televi
sion, and Emerging Media
Studies Program” (CTEMS),
will initially begin with 10
courses. Some of these cours
es include “Film History”,
“Pre-production”, and “Digi
tal Storytelling”.
Terry L. Mills, Dean of the
Division of Humanities and
Social Sciences, has spear
headed the push for the pro
gram. He said that the idea for
this program has been talked
about for several years and
is now finally being put into
fruition.
“Last April, during the
Board of Trustees meeting...
[I] met with several students
and Spike Lee,” Mills said.
“Spike also talked to Presi
dent Franklin about the im
portance of having a film pro
gram at Morehouse.”
Once the idea of the pro
gram was settled upon, Mills
said that Provost Weldon
Jackson and President Frank
lin advised him to draft a pro
posal for the program.
“Last week, the Mellon
Foundation called and told us
that they were going to fund
the proposal,” Mills said.
The funds are currently des
ignated as a “one-year plan
ning grant” and they will go
toward the development of
the program’s curriculum and
foundation.
Morehouse alumni Avery
Williams (Class of 1986) and
Adisa Iwa (Class of 1995)
will be in charge of develop
ing the courses.
Williams also graduated
from NYU’s Tisch School of
Arts and has written and pro
duced several films, includ
ing “Direct Eddie” which was
voted “Best Comedy” at the
2001 New York Independent
Film and Video Festival. Iwa,
who was known as Eric Baker
during his time at Morehouse,
has written for several popu
lar television shows, includ
ing “Law & Order: Special
Victims Unit.”
In addition to the devel
opment of the curriculum,
the funds from the Mellon
Foundation will also go
toward: the recruitment of
new faculty, site visits to
relevant institutions with
film studies programs (i.e.
NYU Tisch Film School
and University of Southern
California School of Cine
matic Art), the creation of a
website where students can
post their films, and the de
velopment of an infrastruc
ture and production studio
design.
Aspiring filmmakers at
Morehouse are very excit-
See FILM, page 2 ►
Exclusive Chat With SGA President Randle
Nicolas B. Aziz
Editor-in-Chief
nickbaziz@ yahoo .com
Gerren K. Gay nor
Managing Editor
gerren.gaynor@gmail.com
S GA President Travis Ran
dle sat down with The
Maroon Tiger to discuss his
documented agenda “A Tri
umphant Era of Student Gov
ernance.” In the document,
Randle highlights his goals
in the following categories:
communication and transpar
ency, student concerns and
advocacy, reform of the stu
dent government structure,
initiatives and other staple
events. Randle shared hon
est thoughts on the stresses of
leading the student body, the
senate initially rejecting the
now confirmed attorney gen
eral Maxton Allen, and the
dynamics between the SGA
and CASA. This sit-down ex
clusive illustrates a more ap
proachable side of the SGA
president and the reality of
being a student leading oth
ers.
MT: What were your first
thoughts when you were no
tified that you had won the
SGA presidential office?
Randle: I was tired. I had
spent three weeks in this cam
paign. I had tapped myself
out. I was happy but it hadn’t
really hit me. The day it hit me
was a week later. I got a text
message saying ‘Good Morn
ing Mr. President.’ I was like,
‘Wow, I forgot about that,
I’m SGA President.’ Gener
ally when you’re in the race
you’re so invested in that.
That week I felt like a million
bucks.
MT: Do you feel you have
something to prove as a ju
nior being SGA president?
Randle: I think I do. A lot of
people say we need to rack up
wins, that we need to do stuff
so people know we’re active.
I have to prove to students
that I actually am listening
and that I actually care.
MT: Describe your first
month in office.
Randle: Is hell a good word?
(laughs). I think it was the
most challenging month. Be
ing president you come into
contact with a few things: op
position to your method, try
ing to find a focus message
and knowing how to balance.
MT: Explain your thoughts
on the senate originally re
jecting your nominee, Max-
ton Allen, for attorney gen
eral.
Randle: The student senate
disagreeing with one of my
nominees is fine. One thing
I want to caution with all of
us in the SGA is while we are
trying to live up to our consti
tutional duties, we can’t over
politicize the process.
MT: What are your plans
to address Franklin’s docu
ment, which was a response
to last year’s student griev
ances?
Randle: In the agenda I want
ed to basically do what Dr.
Franklin did. He produced a
document addressing the stu
dents’ concerns and grievanc
es. I respect the fact that he
gave the students something
tangible to look at, that they
can hold him accountable for.
I think some of those recom
mendations are a little bit
weak. I want the SGA to sit
down and go through it line
by line. We want to make sure
we follow up on that.
MT: What do you say to
criticisms about appointing
sophomores on your board?
Randle: This organization
was not meant to be senior-
upperclassmen dominated. I
think one of the failings of the
SGA is that you have seniors
who occupy most of the roles
on the board and then they all
graduate and there’s no con
tinuity, there’s no flow. There
needs to be those who remain
to carry on the tradition of
the organization. There might
be somebody young who has
a different perception that
might benefit the SGA. Every
class needs to be represented
on this board. At the end of
the day when I leave, I know
that they will be good lead
ers and will take the SGA to
a new level.
MT: Have there been any
changes you've had to make
as far as habits and routines
since becoming SGA presi
dent?
Randle: I’ve had to be more
stern. How do you as a presi
dent exert your power without
turning somebody off? Hon
estly, it’s something I have
See RANDLE, page 6 ►
inside track
News 1 World & Local 3 Business & Tech 4 Features 6 Opinions
r
W "ST 1
Technological Must-Haves p. 6
I on the web fgg|
The Mold or Martin Luther King Jr. p. 8
1 ww vv. t h e hi a roontigcr.com
Creating Successful Relationships p. 9
1 w ww. t witte r. com/them aroon tiger
Recycle The Maroon Tiger
Morehouse Student
Held Up at Gunpoint
Kobi Ansong
Contributing Writer
kobi .ansong@ gmail .com
A Morehouse student was
the victim in an armed
robbery last Saturday.
Dave Foy, a sophomore his
tory major from Boston, was
held up at gunpoint by two
young unidentified males early
Saturday morning as he waited
for someone to let him into the
Otis Moss Suites.
Since school started he’s
been staying with different
friends on and off campus
while waiting for financial aid
to release his refund.
“All this happened to me be
cause I have no place to stay
right now,” Foy said.
He said that around 3:30
a.m., two males approached
him and one asked for the
time. When Foy said he
didn’t know, they continued
to approach him.
“They told me to relax and
pulled the gun out,” Foy re
called. They asked him what
he had in his pockets, so Foy
gave them his cell phone. Un
satisfied with the phone, they
asked him to open up his book
bag, but when all they saw
was a Bible, they declined and
walked away.
Even in the midst of be
ing held up at gunpoint, Foy
stated that he was not afraid
because of his faith.
“I wasn’t afraid to die be
cause I’m baptized, and I’m a
disciple of Jesus Christ,” Foy
said. “I wasn’t afraid to die; 1
just didn't want to get shot.”
Two on-duty officers were
in the area, but both failed to
notice the robbery. Foy. how
ever, declined to blame the of
ficers for what took place.
“They did every thing in their
power, but they still couldn’t
find the guys,” he said.
The next day, campus po
lice contacted Foy and told
him he was no longer permit
ted to stay in the suites, forc
ing him off campus with no
place to stay.
According to Foy, cam
pus police made this deci
sion because non-residents
are prohibited from staying
in the suites. Currently, he is
staying with members of his
church family.
8 A&E 10 Sports 12
Saturday
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