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SPELMAN
Lk Our whole school
for Christ”
SPOTLIGHT
VOL. XXVI, No.
SPELMAN COLLEGE. ATLANTA. GEORGIA
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WELCOME am OF
1979
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NOW DEARIE DON'T CRY, YOU THINK TEN DA YS IS
BAD-I'VE BEEN HERE FOR TEN YEARS TRYING TO
REGISTER!
Student Bank Begins
By Gwendolyn Solomon
The Spelman Student
Government Association (SSGA),
has established a student loan
fund called the SSGA Student
Last summer, SSGA president,
Yvonne Bryant, along with other
students, recognized the need for
such an organization and wasted
no time in setting it up. President
Bryant feels that there is a
growing necessity for a student
loan fund. “There’s often times
when students are desperately in
need of money but have no way
of getting it. With the formation
of the student bank, we hope to
minimize this problem,” she said.
As participants in the SSGA
bank, students will be required to
pay a membership fee of $1.
They will be allowed to borrow
as much as $5 with a five percent
service charge. If at the end of
two weeks, the money is not paid
back, the service charge increases
to one percent per day.
For instance, if $5 were
borrowed and kept out for two
weeks and three days, the rate of
interest would be eight per cent
instead of five. Therefore, the
amount to be paid back would be
$5.40 instead of $5.25.
The bank which will be
subsidized by donations from the
faculty, staff, administration,
etc., will be located in the SSGA
office. It will be open several
hours each day. Brenda
Hendricks is the auditor.
UNWED
Blue-ribbon Committee
Ties Loose Ends
By Beverly Head
A blue-ribbon committee has
been formed to investigate and
offer solutions for tough campus
problems.
The “Four-Way Committee”
(so called because it has student,
faculty, administration and
trustee members) got going this
summer. Its next meeting is
scheduled for Nov. 1-2.
According to Gwenell Styles,
one of the two student
representatives, the committee
will deal with “urgent problems”
on campus.
The other student committee
member is SSGA President
Yvonne Bryant. She said the
committee was necessary to
“keep Spelman abreast of the
times .”
Topics the committee will
concentrate on are faculty,
curriculum relevance, physical
environment, sororities and the
board of trustees.
Yvonne Bryant Dr. Grace Smith
The group will look into
faculty problems first because, as
SGA President Bryant said
“really good faculty members
can’t be hired because Spelman
can’t afford to pay them the
salaries that they want.”
Another big problem area was
that of curriculum relevance. It
was the feeling of the student
representatives that the new core
curriculum has been instramental
in providing courses that were
relevant. However, they noted
that the lack of qualified blacks
to teach these courses takes away
from the total success. It does
live up to its aim; keeping
students from being ‘stifled’ with
unnecessary courses.
Dr. June A Idridge Dr. Oran Bagleson
The question of having
sororities on Spelman’s campus
has been a controversial one since
Spelman’s founding ih the early
1880’s. It came up last spring and
this time interested persons asked
that immediate action be taken.
Most members of the
committee were of the opinion
that the SSGA sponsor a poll to
get a sample of the various
opinions of the Spelman women.
One of the four problem areas
that brought knots to the stomach
and corns on the foot, was that of
physical environment. The
discussion centered around such
areas as the dining hall, the snack
shop, the library and a Spelman
bookstore.
Many students complained
about the food they were given in
the dining hall. After looking into
their complaints (many of which
were legitimate) the committee
recommended that if the quality
of the food in the dining hall is
not improved, the contract with
Campus Chefs be cancelled.
From this meeting also came
the suggestion that new furniture
and a juke box be placed in the
snack shop. “Our food would
digest a little better if the
surroundings were more
appealing. New furniture could
do a lot for that nlace
and having soul music to eat our
soul food by would make the
whole scene uptight,” President
Bryant said.
The last area discussed was the
board of trustees. Those student
representatives at the meeting
wanted to know what the
function of the board of trustees
really is and its relation to
Spelman.
Dr. June Aldridge, Spelman
College English professor, was a
faculty representative at the
meeting. Her comments about
the board were most informative.
“The board is a policy-making
body, but it usually handles the
financial affairs of the school. It
handles the college’s endowments
and decides how to increase and
invest the money...They vote on
new faculty members in October
even though they have been
appointed at an earlier date,” ’
Dr. Aldridge said.
It is obvious then that little is
known about Spelman’s Board of
Trustees. Most students do not
have any ideas about the
functions of the trustees. It is
obvious too that very few
administrative officials are willing
to discuss the duties and
responsibilities of the board.
Coed Faces Toughest Decision of
By GLENDA L. CLOUD
Despondent and weary,
Student X didn’t wear make-up
today.
She didn’t even bother to fix
her hair and use the dainty
ribbon that usually gives her that
“together,” alive look.
Student X is pregnant. And
unmarried.
She must soon make a choice,
and the choice will be a tough
one. There are three legal
alternatives.
. Student X could have her
baby and let the child be
absorbed into her family (that is,
some relative could adopt the
dhild.)
. She could have the baby and
put it up for adoption.
. She could have the baby and
take the responsibility for raising
the child herself.
Spelman Dean of Students
Naomi Chivers has counseled
many girls in Student X’s
dilemma.
“Under no circumstances do I
recommend abortion,” the dean
said. “I would not even if the
present, liberalized abortion laws
were abolished.”
Abortions are risky and can
cause not only physical but
emotional problems, Dean
Chivers said.
“If I found out a Spelman girl
had had an abortion, I’d expel
her,” she vowed.
Repeal of abortion laws would
lead only to unhappiness, the
dean continued.
“In Sweden, where virtually no
moral laws are enforced, the
suicide rate is one of the
highest,” she said.
But what about Student X? If
the legal alternatives don’t seem
right, what can a girl do?
The unwed mother risks
expulsion, rejection, the end of
her academic career. If she has
the child she’s carrying, what
about its future?
“Unwanted children are a
social danger,” according to the
National Association for Repeal
of Abortion Laws. “They are
more likely than others to
become delinquents, to be poor
parents and breed another
generation of unwanted
children.”
Chances are, according to the
association’s statistics, student X
will decide-along with many
others~to seek an illegal abortion.
The association says abortions,
when properly performed during
the first three months of
pregnancy, are safer than
childbirth or tonsillectomy.
But since abortions are illegal,
Student X can’t be assured of
coming through the ordeal
without serious injury. She may
even risk death at the hands of a
back-street abortionist.
But Mrs. C o n r a d y ■,
administrative director of mental
health at Morehouse, doesn’t
think a girl should be punished
for having an abortion.
“An abortion doesn’t change
the needs of a student,” Mrs.
Conrady said. “But the decision
to have an abortion is a very
serious one.
Her Life
“The unwed mother should
weigh the alternatives and
remember that her decision is not
just for now. If she decides on an
abortion, she must consider the
possibility of sterility or other
physical or mental damage.
‘,If she decides to have her
baby, she should consider the
future effects on herself and the
child.
“My main concern,” Mrs.
Conrady said, “is what’s best for
the individual. The final decision
should be the student’s own.”
For Student X that “final
decision” must come soon.
Meantime, she agonizes over a
pregnancy she never wanted and
a choice that will be one of the
hardest she’ll ever face.