Newspaper Page Text
Page 2
Spelman Spotlight
October 12, 1983
Editorials and Other Thoughts...
Karen’s Komer P ~7
I WANT PM MEAT FOR DINNER!
JoMSbH iD-n-Zi
Letters To The Editor
by Karen Burroughs
Dear Spelman Sisters,
I devote this week’s column to
the appalling incident that oc
curred on Monday, September
26, during a blackout of the West
end area. The incident, which
involved Spelman students and
Atlanta University Center securi
ty gurads, took place at
Spelman’s front gate.
The two Spelmaites involved
were verbally and physically
abused for doing little more than
“walking too slow” to get back to
their dormitory. The students
were pushed, kicked and verbal
ly harassed by the guards, who
obviously had no control over
the chaotic situation caused by
the blackout. One of the
Spelmanites suffered injury to
her throat when she was grabbed
by her neck (by a guard) and
hauled off to the police car for
calling the guard a name. Both
students were taken to the
A.U.C. security headquarters at
Morris Brown, and charged with,
among other charges, “incite
ment to riot,” and “endangering
the health and safety of students
and college officials.”
I fail to see, first of all, how the
students were endangering the
health and safety of anyone. And
even if they were guilty of this
charge, is this just cause for
physical abuse? It occurs to me
that the real problem is that the
A.U.C. security were unable to
cope with such an unexpected,
potentially dangerous situation.
Their conduct towards the
students was both' unnecessary
and unfounded.
In looking at this unfortunate
incident, I have tried to be
objective, but I have found that
this is an impossible task. There is
only one way to view this out
rageous example of police
brutality.
The fate of the students in
volved is now left to the
members of theSpelman Judicial
Board and Dean Carmen Jordan-
Cox. At press time, the judicial
board’s decision had not yet
been disclosed, but it is beyond
me why there would have to be a
hearing at all. I fail to agree with
the opinion of Spelman officials
that the acts committed by the
Spelman students were serious
enough to merit such a hearing.
It occurs to me that the only
crime that the students are guilty
of is exercising their right to
freedom of speech.
In my opinion, this entire
situation is ludicrous and merely
serves to once again exemplify
the ineptitude of the Atlanta
University Center security. It is
my fervent hope that this matter
will not pass unnoticed, but that
the students of Spelman will rally
behind their sisters and do
everything in their power to
prevent an incident of scuh
magnitude from ever occurring
again.
Dear Editor-in-Chief
This letter is in reference to the
incident that happened
September 26, 1983, at ap
proximately 10:30 p.m., when
the power in the West End area
went out. I think that it was very
appalling the way the Atlanta
University Police conducted
themselves in an emergency
situation. Rather than the police
protecting the students of
Spelman College, they were
physically abusing and man
handling the students. One
officer, a man, struck a young
lady as if she were a man which I
was eye-witness to and literally
dragged her to the patrol car. No
one on Spelman’s campus
should be treated in this way by
the AUC police. When a police
officer begins to threaten rather
than protect individuals he
should be extracted from
Spelman’s limits and the police
profession.
Sincerely,
Audrey D. Porter
Dear Editor,
I would like to complain about
the rule which prevents com
muter students from bringing
theircarsoncampusatanytime. I
am a commuter student and I
have work study hours from 9
p.m. to 12 midnight. I don’t see
how we commuters that are
working late hours on campus
would cause such a problem by
parking our cars on campus and
in a safer environment than that
unprotected parking lot.
Anybody is allowed in that lot at
night when it isn’t supervised. It
has become dangerous enough
that we can’t trust our own
security inside of Spelman
College. Why should we trust the
people on the outside? It would
be different if I had an escort that
late at night, but who can I trust?
Our own security guards are
fighting the students and killing
their lovers’ husbands. This is not
just a complaint, but a question
seeking an answer.
Dear Editor,
I am writing you this letter
concerning the lack of prepara
tion that the Spelman students
receive in order to achieve on
standardized tests especially the
G.R.E. since it is required for all
Spelman students to graduate. I
took the Biology subject test and
it consisted of exology, evolu
tion, botany, classification, etc.
The curriculum in the biology
department is more medical
school-oriented. The subjects
covered on the G.R.E. were
taught for only a few weeks in
freshman biology.
I would also like to comment
on the apathy of some of the
teachers at Spelman toward the
students concerning
professional schools. One
teacher in the biology depart
ment recently remarked, “Only
one person is going to get into
professional school and
everyone else is fooling
themselves.” Another teacher
told a class, “Most of you won’t
get into medical school anyway.”
These teachers are supposed to
give students encouragement,
not discouragement. The
percentage of people who get
accepted into professional
schools, especially medical
school is not very high. That fact
already disillusions me and
makes me wonder if I will get
into medical school. The only
support I feel I am receiving is
from my family and friends. I
honestly feel that my institution
is not supporting me. What ever
happened to the Spelman fami
ly?
Karyn Smith
Senior
Dear Editor,
On Monday, September 26,
1983,1 witnessed what I felt was a
disgraceful act by the Atlanta
Police. First of all when the
blackout happened my friends
and I decided to go to the
guardhouse to see what happen
ed. When we got there, I saw a
bunch of Morehouse “men”
acting like fools in front of the
gate. Police soon arrived to make
sure none of them came inside
the pearly gates of Spelman.
What then happened was mass
confusion but what was the
worst part was my seeing an
Atlanta Policeman hitting on a
fellow Spelmanite. He was for
cing her into the police car by
hitting and pushing on her head.
Then for some reason the police
released the young lady and she
joined the horrified witnesses
inside the gate. The young lady
then turned (obviously very
upset) and shouted something
towards the crowd of policemen.
I was not very far from her but I
couldn't hear what she said so
how the police heard her from
an even further distance is
beyond me. If all this wasn't
enough, one officer ran through
the crowd of Spelman students
and grabbed the young lady,
pulled her to the police car and
quickly sped away. This was very
hard for a lot of us to understand
and when the police came
towards the crowd we all began
asking why they were doing this
to her. Well, we were all greeted
with “Get your ass back to the
dorms.” (With the exception of
one officer who tried to be as
nice as possible under the cir
cumstances).
There is no justification for
the actions of that Atlanta
Policeman. I hope that the
appropriate measures will be
brought against the officer who
is responsible for this vicious act.
MimiForbes
Sophomore
Editor-in-Chief
Karen M. Burroughs
Public Relations Manager
Evette Brown
Copy Editors
Adriehne Bradley
Ronda Killens
Associate Editor
Veronica P. Green
Advisor
Judy Gebre-Hiwet
Fine Arts Editor
Kimberly Harding
News Editors
Lynn Lawson
Jasmine Williams
Business Manager
Martha Eaves
Photographers
Jo Anna Griffin
Layout Editors
Art Editor
Kim Davenport
Lynette Glover
Debra Johnson
Reporters
Managing Editor
Giselle McKinney
Office Manager
Monnie Koonce
Feature Editors
Layli Dunbleton
Carolyn Grant
Health Editor
Photography Editor
R. Melvin Jones
Circulation Manager
Stephanie Wilks
P.M. Berliner
Adrienne Bradley
Kimberly Collins
Stephanie Grant
Teri N. Lee
Lovette Love
Angela McCormick
Delphia Simpson
Deanna Wallace
Lori Williams
The Spelman Spotlight is a bi-monthly publication produced
by and for the students of Spelman College. The Spotlight
office is located in the Manley College Center, lower
concourse, of Spelman College. Mail should be addressed to
Box 1239, Spelman College, Atlanta, Georgia 30314. Telephone
numbers are 525-1743.