The Spotlight. (None) 1980-201?, October 01, 1980, Image 2
Editors Present Plans for 1980-81 Year
by Pamela Moore
Editor*in-Chief
Dear Friends of the Spelman Spotlight,
This year marks the beginning of a
new era for the Spelman Spotlight Like
the rest of the Spelman College Com
munity, the Spelman Spotlight has been
undergoing a period of intensive exami
nation in an effort to prepare for a new
century of growth and improvement
This period of examination has been
necessitated, 1 think, by the emergence
of black women, Spelman women in
particular, into new fields of endeavors
as we seek to broaden our horizons, ex
pand in knowledge, and prepare for
leadership roles in today’s society.
Very little consideration has been
given to develop the Spotlight into a
quality publication capable of preparing
students for a world of work in the print
media.
Even though in past years, we have
been able to produce issues of fairly
good quality on a regular basis, the Spot
light had never been organized for effec
tive and efficient management Policies
were not clarified or either nonexistent,
and very little emphasis was given to
leadership development Within the
school, proper mechanisms for guidance
and support were lacking and students
in general still have low expectations of
what the Spelman Spotlight should as
pire to be. The paper is viewed as “just
another extra-curricular activity;” with
little interest in its capability to be a real
mechanism for personal development
and career preparation as well as a voice
for college and community concerns.
Indeed, the whole concept of women
journalists is a rather new concept not
only at Spelman and the Atlanta Univer
sity Center (AUC) but in society in
general. Of the relatively small number
of women in the media, one can bet that
the percentage of black women is very
smalL Thus, it is only natural that con
sideration be given to producing quality
women journalists as Spelman emerges
from a history of preparing teachers, li
brarians, singers, dancers, and actresses
to a future that promises leaders in the
fields of politics and business as welL
In an effort to spearhead this process,
1 have instituted the following changes
through my role as editor-in-chief of the
Spotlight:
1) Spotlight Handbook. A
handbook outlining policies and respon
sibilities of staff members has been writ
ten and is in the process of being printed
This useful book will clarify roles and
procedures and will help maintain sta
bility after staff turn-over periods.
2) Election Procedures and
Accountability. Two constitutional
amendments have been sent to the SGA
By Kiron Kanina Skinner
Associate Editor
Dear Spelman Sisters,
It seems to me that this year, for some
strange reason or another, there are so
many things to do, and so little time to
do them in.
I’ve talked with many members of the
class of 1981, the senior class, and they
strongly concur. We have all those ap
plications to pass, GPA’s to maintain,
graduation to comtemplate and sanity to
hold on to.
But I’ve also talked to some members
of the other classes, and they are
working hard too. I would like to make
special recognition to the freshman
class. I was here during freshman week.
They came and got immediately in
volved in Spelman college.
Although I feel I am working hard, and
perhaps suffering from “senior anxiety”, I
am very excited about The Spotlight this
year.
As associate editor I would like to tell
you my goals for our paper this year.
This year the position of Associate
Editor has been, for the most part,
redefined to meet the special needs of
the Spotlight and the Spelman
community. As usual, my job is one of
execution. The editor-in-chief formulates
policy, and I implement it.
But aside from this function, the
position of associate editor will include
- personnel and staff development. It is
my job, in light of the fact that we do not
have a journalism department, to see
that our staff is educated in all areas of
journalism.
To do this, each month I will host a
workshop covering some areas-of
journalism. For example, the workshop
to be held in October will be on
journalism in politics. Hopefully, we will
have guest speakers from the city
government and specialists in the area
from major newspapers. I am working
on a workshop program for the rest of
the semester and year, and interested
students are urged to participate.
As far as other salient goals for this
year, I hope to execute the goals of the
editor-in-chief, sponsor a worshop per
month, greet you with an editorial in
each issue, establish an effective
evaluation system for our staff, and
further develop our staff in all areas of
journalistic endeavors and finally, and
most important of all, I plan to graduate
in May of 1981
It seems like guite a voluminous
amount to accomplish in the short span
of the academic calendar. It is. But
because the editor-in-chief and I want to
present you with a quality paper, we are
willing, and will, get the job done.
Good luck to all
Spelman students
(especially the senior class)
Kiron Kanina Skinner
Associate Editor
by me that will require student ap
proval. One amendment outlines an
election process that will more fully
guarantee qualified and prepared per
sons for the positions of editor-in-chief
and associate editor. The other amend
ment requests the establishment of a
publications review board to enable stu
dents to have a mechanism through'
which to voice their concerns of news
paper or yearbook related matters.
3) Staff Organization. In order
to facilitate a more efficient process of
news-gathering and in order to produce
a paper on a more regular basis, new
roles of specialization have been created
and assigned In order to enable the
editor-in-chief and associate editor to
more effectively deal with matters of
administration and development, the
position of managing editor was created
to oversee the newspaper production
process. The positions of sports editor,
arts editor, religion editor, etc. were elimi
nated and their responsibilities have
been taken over by our two feature
editors. Reporters are ranked according
to experence and are being assigned to
beats in order to be effective.
4) Staff Development. Each
month the associate editor will sponsor
workshops or seminars designed to en
hance staff exposure and capabilities.
Efforts are being made to get a visiting
journalist advisor who will also teach
journalism courses. However, it may
take a year for this process to be com
pleted
5) Newspaper Quality and
Attractiveness. Efforts are being
made to sharpen our reporters skills in
order for them to produce a greater
variety and a higher quality of stories.
The type of the paper has been changed
to a different style and a larger point size
to enhance the appearance of each page.
In addition, we have increased the num
ber of pictures per page. The masthead
of this issue will be the masthead that
will be used for the remainder of this
year and hopefully years afterward for
purposes of consistency.
6) Frequency of Issues. This
year we hope to produce 12 issues of the
Spotlight which is a small increase over
the number produced in past years. This
semester the paper should come out
twice a month. Next semester, however,
the paper will be coming out once a
month for the most part due to vaca
tions and exam periods.
We at the Spotlight encourage your
comments concerning this school’s
paper. Our office is open from 9 am. to
6 p.m. daily. If you need to inquire about
deadlines, ads, stories, etc. feel free to
drop by.
Voice of Black Wi
Editor-in-Chief - Pamela D. Moore
Associate Editor - Kiron K. Skinner
Managing Editor - Michelle Dacus
Asst Managing Editor - Rosalyn Cary
News Editors - Bridgette Davis
Vivian fannings
Feature Editors: Lisha Brown
LaRhonda Morris
Photography Editor. Whitney Young
Art Editor. Mary Barkley
Advertising Manager Janice Tillerson
Asst Advertising Manager Elaine Terry
Business Manager. Betty Jackson
Circulation Manager Lisa Vaughn
Office Manager. Susan Hart
Public Relations Manager. Sonja Washington
Staff Artist. Mary Barkley
The Spelman Spotlight is produced regularly by the
Spotlight Staff, composed of students from Spelman and
Morehouse Colleges. Primary control, however, is vested in
Spelman students. All questions and concerns from the
public concerning this paper should be directed to the Editor-
in-Chief, Spelman Spotlight, Box 50, Spelman College, Atlan
ta, Georgia 30314. The office phone number is 525-1743.