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Page 2 « SPELMAN SPOTLIGHT September, 1986 Editor’s Notes By Jennifer Satterfield I believe this is the first issue that has ever been released so soon. It is our intention to produce a “regular current newspaper” which will be released every first Friday of the month, with the exceptions of the September and February issues. So far we have a dyn-o-mite staff and we are continuously looking for more dedicated people. You don’t have to have an English major nor a journalism minor to be a part of the paper. What you need is a desire to help. Our motto this year is “If a problem exists and you aren’t part of the solution, then you are part of the problem.” If you look on past issues as well as on this one, you will find five very important words under the heading. Those five words are, “The Voice of Black womanhood.” Flow can the voices of the freshmen, sophomore, junior and senior classes be heard if no one is speaking up? We need your ideas, opinions and time to this paper a success. We have been working on the organization as well as the quality of the paper. We are planning entertainment sections, creative articles, coupons, cartoons, crossword puzzles and a personal and section just to name a few. As you can tell we have made many adjustments! It is our goal to produce a good paper that is as in teresting as it is informative. The paper is “centered around” Spelman because this is our paper. Yet “centered around” and “isolate” are two different things. We don’t want to isolate Spelman from other schools. It is important to broaden the awareness of events and issues that occur on other campuses. So we are encouraging writers from other schools to join our staff. This will hopefully increase our knowledge about the other schools. So if you want to become “part of the solution,” stop by the Spotlight office (located on the lower level of Manley Center at the end of the hall next to the S.G.A. offices), pick-up an application, give a suggestion, share an idea, voice a concern or buy a personal ad and make our day. Join up! By Julie Alexander Do you see people in your classes that you don’t know? Do you wonder why your Spelman sisters come to class and then go immediately to their dorms or home? Are you a senior and know classmates who have never voted in schoolwide elections since they entered Spelman as freshmen? These questions may sound strange but they are issues of concern. There are too many students who do not get involved in our school. Spelman offers so much as a strong Black woman’s college but some of us are not taking advantage of it. When a freshman, I can recall not really getting involv ed in activities. Maybe it was because I was working or commuting. Nevertheless, there was no excuse. Now when I meet my fellow up perclassmen, they say they’ve never seen me before and wonder if I’m a freshman. True enough, academics take priority over everything else, but we must be women who are versatile and not monotonous in our talents. Spelman has many organiza tions for us regardless of our classifications or if we’re on or off campus. There is one stipulation. The organizations will not come to you — you’ll have to take the initiative. Go ahead, exemplify your creative abilities on the year book staff. Use your writing talents for our newspaper, The Spotlight. Flaunt your leadership capabilities in the Student Government Association. Give support to future Spelmanites as a freshman orientation leader. See Join Up, p. 7 Message From The President By President Donald M. Stewart Dear Returning and new students: It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to Spelman College following what I hope was an enjoyable and produc tive summer. To those of you who are new to the campus, I can promise that you will have an exciting and challenging set of experiences before you. As the up perclassmen will attest, Spelman expects a great deal from the young women who come from around the world to this unique institution, which for more than 100 years, has prepared women to be leaders in the com munities and in the larger society. I strongly recommend that freshmen make it a point to meet and talk with their up- perclassed sisters in order to begin the process of becoming involved in the learning com munity that is Spelman. These are not easy times for Black America or black col leges, but Spelman is strong and along with Morehouse College and the other distinguished institutions of the Atlanta University Center, we promise an educational, cultural, spiritual and social experience for each of you that will be second to none. To the upperclassmen whom we are so happy to welcome back again, I say that we are glad you are back and hope that Spelman con tinues to meet all of your ex pectations. As administrators, professors and professionals throughout the college, we stand ready at all times to work with you and to be sup portive of your efforts in all that you choose to do. Spelman is truly a family and we who are fortunate enough to be members of it, embrace the ideals and values that have made this institution one of the foremost liberal arts col leges in America and certainly the preeminent institution of higher learning for black women in the world. May the 1986-87 academic year be rich and rewarding for all members of the Spelman family. It is important to go to class. It is important to com plete assignments on time. It is important to know yourselves and to give of yourselves to others. Mrs. Stewart joins me along with my faculty and staff col leagues in wishing all of you happiness and much success. Walking Away By Mike Weaver Recently, there has been a great deal of attention given to the plight of the black female-black male relation ship. We have all read about most of the diagnoses and some of the hard-to-find pro gnoses. Even in some of my writings, I’ve tried to tackle some of the questions and answers. I have found it to be a relationship that is both delicate and complicated. In talking to some of my peers, I have also realized that we all find ourselves as con tributors to the problems. The contributions we make vary on the complexity of the en counter, whether it’s confron ting society’s ol’ double stan dards or trying to make head way in career advances. In each circumstance, however, we find that experience is the best teacher. One facet of the problems we have to deal with is what man has deemed as the “sex ual revolution.” From the promiscuous sexual activity derives the heightened pro blem of unwanted pregnan cies. There is an alarming statistic that in 1983, 86 per cent of all black babies in America were born to unmar ried women under the age of 20 (Ebony, Aug. 1986). Here we should hope that ex perience is the best teacher for both parties involved. Let’s take the case of Xavier, a college student, and Mary an underclassmen. Let me note here that this exam ple could happen to any cou ple of any race. Xavier and Mary met one weekend at a college party. The next night they had sex. The following weekend they had sex again. During the first sexual experience, Xavier had taken precautionary measures. The next weekend, however, no con traceptives were used. Four weeks later, Mary found out she was pregnant. Mary told Xavier and he walked away from the whole situation. Let’s examine the view from Mary’s standpoint: Xavier was an amiable per son. Mary also thought his physique complemented his personaliaty. That same evening, they conversed on the phone for nearly three hours. This gave Mary the im pression that “it must be something there.” The next evening when she went to Xavier’s dormroom, having sex was only a slight thought in her mind. After the encounter took place, she figured that she probably wouldn’t hear from him again. On the contrary, Xavier continued to call through out the week. He in vited her over that weekend. She decided to go because the first experience left her pleased and satisfied. At the height of their passion, she saw that Xavier hadn’t used any protection. They were so aroused that she didn’t men tion anything. After this par ticular escapade, the phone calls, not nearly as long at first, continued. Four weeks later, Mary went to the doc tor. The doctor informed her that was pregnant. Mary always felt that she was a pro abortionist. She decided to talk it over with Xavier. Upon the news, he pretended that it was Mary’s problem and not their problem. Mary couldn’t believe that he reacted in such a manner. He left her to “bear the cross alone.” Xavier, from the beginning, viewed Mary as just another quarry to claim. He did find her attractive as well as in telligent. By confabulating with her, he said only the things he thought she wanted to hear. The relationship to him was only physical. During the four week period Mary found out she was pregnant, one of her friends told Xavier that Mary was flirtatious and sociable. Xavier didn’t care whom Mary dated, he only cared that she was there when he “needed” her. About a week later their sexual encounter without contraceptives, Xavier started experiencing a burning sensa tion while urinating. He want to the school’s physician and was told that he had a mild form of gonorrhea. He was highly upset. He knew that Mary was the only person he had sex with. He thought since whe was so sociable—according to her friend—she could have con tracted it from her partners and transmitted it to him. He See Walking Away, p. 6