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VOL. XXXIII, NO. 4 Atlanta, Georgia December 18,1979 AUC Receives Crime Grant Photography by Colette Deviolet Jean Young Visits Spelman Mrs. lean Young, who heads the U.S. Commission on the International Year of the Child, spoke at Spelman’s Sisters Chapel at a special convocation held last Thursday, December 13. Mrs. Youn^irged black Americans to become involved with solving the problems of children throughout the world as well as in America. A Look at 1979 By Cynthia Williams As the Christmas season slowly approaches, it also brings with it the realization that the year 1979 is about to close and yet another decade in our lives will come to an end. Somehow the year ending a decade causes one to take time to pause and reflect. Some important firsts close and far from home include the legalization of sororities on the campus of Spelman College. For the first time the J unior Class of Spelman held its Mr. J unior Pageant off campus at the Apothecary Lounge in Un derground Atlanta. At Spelman’s recent Board Of Trustees’ meeting, the first black Spelman graduate was elected President of the Board. Further away from home Margaret Thatcher was elected as Great Britain’s first woman Prime Minister. The year 1979 was a year full of significant international travel. Pope John Paul II “prilgrimage of hope” to Mexico and his homeland of Poland provided a religious inspiration to millions of the world population. Here in America, Pope Paul II drew adoration from nearly all the American people and became the first Pope to visit the White House. In an historical trip to the Middle East, Southern Christian Leadership Conference President Reverend Joseph Lowery and other key members of the SCLC met with representatives of the Palestine Liberation Organization and called for an end to the senseless killing of Israeli and Palestinian citizens. International turbulence was prominent in 1979. The Shah of Iran left his kingdom and the exiled Ayatollah Knomeini retur ned in triumph to proclaim an Islamic republic. This turbulence has been further developed by the taking of American hostages in the United States Embassy in Iran by militant Iranian students. The holding of American hostages has the support of the Ayatollah Khomeini and is a direct consequence of the exiled Shah being in America. The Ayatollah Khomeini is deman ding the Shah be sent back to Iran to face revolutionary justice. Here in Atlanta, 1979 brought the coming home of former U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young. Af ter thirty-one months as the first black U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Andrew Young resigned under controversy con cerning meetings with an official of the Palestine Liberation Organization. Speaking before and overflow crowd at the Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial Chapel on the Morehouse cam pus former ambassador Young referred to his career in the United Nations as being one in the tradition of black Americans. While reflecting on the past happenings of 1979, one cannot help but also look to the future. The year 1980 marks the begin ning of a new year and decade. Certainly the future events to come will in some way shape all our lives. Students from the Atlanta University Center ex press their expectations about 1980 in a variety of ways. Eydie Edwards, a junior at Spelman, feels the year 1980 will bring about many economic and cultural changes. Eydie expresses these changes by saying, “I think more test tube babies will be bom and that most of the movies and television shows will move towards space age themes. I also think clothing styles will reverse in terms of earlier fashionable styles and inflation is definitely going to kill us.” Morehouse sophomore Gregory Clinton hopes 1980 will bring peace for the country in that the situation in Iran won’t develop into a war. Gregory also states, “I’m hoping a black person will get nominated for the Vice Presidency and as for myself I’m hoping for a scholarship to Europe and just for happiness in general.” By Young, Robert The Atlanta University Center, under the leadership of Dr. J ulian Debro, has received a $409,000 grant from the Law Enforcement Assistance Agency (LEAA) to conduct a four-city study which will examine the relationship bet ween race and crime. Dr. Debro, who conceived the program, says, “We are fairly sure of the causes of crime..., most are socio-economic..., but our concern is why some people succeed in those communities and others fail.” The grant is funded over an 18 month period and will employ seven people. However, Dr. Debro is confident of a six month extension of the program from LEAA. The four cities chosen for the study are Atlanta, Ga., Compton, Calif., Philadelphia, Pa. and Washington D.C. These cities were chosen because of their high concentration of blacks and their high crime rates. “We will select one community in those cities,” explained Dr. Debro, “spend maybe a summer there with a research assistant...interviewing every family in those communities and observing behavior.” The objective is to uncover new information which will an swer the question why some people succeed and others fail from the same community. Personel are now being selec ted for the study which is ex pected to commence the first week in J anuary. The announcement comes on the heels of a press conference held by the chancellor of the AUC and the six presidents of the center. The group is currently Inside Today Students polled on Iran p. 3 Trustee Meeting p. 3 Sterling Brown Interviewed p. 7 Two Spelman College Faculty members edit anthology on black women p. 7 Christmas Stories p. 8 conducting a six-weeks study of the ’’causation” of crime in Atlan ta. The center has received $4,000 from the federal government to help finance the probe whose, ob jectives are: •To study the impact of courts and the correctional system upon crime in Atlanta. •To commence work on the new program which will study the relationship between race and crime initiated by Dr. Debro. •To expand the existing un dergraduate criminal-justice program to the graduate level. •To establish an institution for the study and reduction of black- on-black crime. Dr. Debro has requested $500,000 from the J ustice Depart ment to establish the Criminal Justice Institute on the AUC campus. A reply is expected next month. The institute will have three components: •A graduate program for students seeking a masters de gree in criminal justice. Currently there are three full time professors teaching and 26 students enrolled in the program. The AUC is hoping to get three more full-time professors and ex pects enrollment to increase to 72 students in the next 18 months. •Research of the Atlanta and Southeastern area for the causes and solutions to black-on-black crime and the issue of crime it self. •A community component which will educate and involve the community in the problem of crime and locate their needs by this problem. Dr. Debro feels that there are not enough blacks in criminal justice. The institute will be designed to increase the black manpower pool in the field. “Ad ditional blacks in the field will help in prevention, the amount of violence, and the administration of the correctional system,” said Dr. Debro. Currently blacks make up 49 percent of the inmates on the state level and 40 percent on the national level. The majority of them range from 18 to 24 in age. Is it any wonder that our country and black women suffer from a shortage of black men.