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Page 2 - Spelman Spotlight Editor-In-Chief — Avy D. Long Associate Editor — Malrey Head Development Editor Pamela D. Moore Reporters Angela Alexander Sheron Covington Pamela Johnson Shelia Poole Vallta Sellers Nancy K. West Dorothy Williams Contributing Writers Elayne Walker Adele Newson Photographers George Balams Ruth Cauthen Advisor Christopher Reynolds A Source of Black Hope by Malrey Head Morehouse Medical School, the only black medical school to be opened this century recently got underway. Although it has a very small enrollment, it is a step toward producing more black doctors. Statistics show that black doctors are a great minority in the city and an even greater minority in the rural areas. If Morehouse is successful, and it is sure to be, measures can be taken to help increase the number of black doctors and black medical care. Morehouse and its establishment of the Medical School is proof that it is trying to live up to its responsibility to black people. It is allowing more persons, and especially those who may not have made it into white institutions, the opportunity to make it in this society. There is often talk of the demise of black institutions, but without black institutions, many black people would not be where they are today. It seems that we as a people should be grateful to black institutions and feel a responsibility to make them and their programs work. Despite integration, black institutions in this country and including those in the Center are continuing to make their contributions to society. Morehouse is only an example, but a good example of what black institutions can mean to black people. Of course much of the talk about the loss of black schools applies to public schools, but private institutions have their problems too. Private schools are very hard to finance and because they sometimes use federal funds they are faced with the threat of possibly having to integrate. But black institutions, public or private, should strive to maintain their place in society. For many individuals, black institutions are their only source of hope. This is to say that black institutions take only those persons considered to be the bottom of the barrel. It simply means that black institutions are a means of giving students that are pushed out of larger crowded institutions and those that just need that little extra help, the opportunity to move on in society. So, like Morehouse, black institutions should continue to expand their resources and strive to remain so that black people can continue to take advantage of what they have to offer. And we as black people should applaud and encourage black institutions and their programs as a means of helping ourselves. Cafeteria Receives Comment Dear Editor, I would like to commend the cafeteria staff for their courteous and polite attitude toward the students this year. It is certainly something that we are not use to, and I hope they will maintain their present attitudes. Even though the cafeteria food doesn’t seem to show much improvement, their positive attitudes make eating a more pleasant experience. Also, the snack bags on Sunday is a very good idea. Sometimes the food in the bags is more appetizing than Sunday dinner. However, I do have one complaint. Will someone please replace the front cover on the water fountain? Having exposed wires not only looks bad but it may not be safe. Pam Demse Moorg Sophomore Apathy: How Much Does It Cost? by Avy D. Long Yes, here it is again—that ugly word called apathy which has plagued this and other campuses year after year after year. Only this time, it has a dollar sign ($) attached to it. Have you ever wondered exactly how the $30,000 or $40,000 Spelman Student Government Association (SSGA) budget is spent? Do you think you’re getting your money’s worth from the $30 activity fee that you pay each year? Would you like to have a voice in how this money is spent? If you have not asked yourself these questions before, it is time to start thinking about them. This school is no different from any other governmental structure in which the leaders are accoun table to their constituents. Students have a responsibility to see that student leaders are serving in the best interest of the student body. If you think that student leaders are doing their jobs well, then compli ment them. In the same respect, if student leaders are not doing a good job, they should be constructively criticized. The time to become involved and informed is now. Don’t make the mistake that some of us have made by getting involved too late. For instance, last year’s SSGA has left this year’s administration with a $7,000 deficit which affects each and every one of us whether we realize it or not. But what can be done about it now? From what I’ve been told— “nothing.” Those who are responsible for this deficit are no longer among us. At this point the best thing to do is to make sure that this mistake is not repeated by the 1978-79 administration and to put what’s left of our budget to the best possible use. In order to do either of these two things, it is important to have a certain amount of infor mation. However, if one does not have a sufficient amount of information, she cannot accu rately assess the situation. She cannot tell if the SSGA is spending too little money in certain areas or too much in others. This has been my experience while trying to obtain certain information from the SSGA. Ms. Kathy Carter, SSGA president, has been quite unwilling to disclose information concerning the budget that I feel should be available to any student who is interested in knowing it One reason she gave me for not disclosing this information is because she does not want any “malicious or fallacious state ments” to be circulated through out the student body. Instead of letting it seep through the grapevine, she prefers to inform the entire student body at one time so that we can all hear it from the same source. This is all well and good except for the fact that she has continuously postponed student body meet ings in which this information is to be disclosed. I, for one, am getting quiet restless. Hope fully, by the time you read this editorial, the long awaited student body meeting will have taken place and we will know exactly how our SSGA budget is being utilized. The student’s responsibility does not stop after the cam paign speeches and election of SSGA or class officers. We must all keep abreast of what is happening on our campus and determine if these events are in keeping with the total Spelman image that we would like to project. And just what is the image that we would like to project? Do we want to create a new image of involvement, awareness, and responsbilility or do we want to continue to project the traditional image of superficial concerns and elitism which encompasses such things as parties, fashion trends, and Morehouse men??? This strange face has suddenly popped up in odd places throughtout Spelman and Morehouse —on the sidewalks, on bulletin boards, on walls, in buildings. Have you seen it? No one has yet caught the culprit-artist at work.