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SPECIAL EDITION
Spelman
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September 1, 2010
SPOTLIGHT
Volume 47, Issue 2
Don’t Call it a Comeback: The Return of The Spotlight
Jasmine Leal-Taylor
Editor-In-Chief
Greetings my Spelman Sisters! I am
writing to bring you some exciting news about
the Spelman Spotlight. I hope you’re ready
because WE ARE BACK!
The Spelman Spotlight has finally been
resurrected from the dark pits of chaos and
despair and is back in business... FOR
GOOD.
While we are delighted that the Spelman
Spotlight is up and running, we cannot stress
enough that without our dedicated staff, we
would inevitably fail. To the staff that has
stayed with us during our renovation, I would
like to thank and commend you on your hard
work and patience. To those who quit, we wish
you the best in your future endeavors.
I also want to thank, Rebecca M. Clayton,
our former Editor-in-Chief, who restructured
everything within the Spelman Spotlight and
provided us with tools necessary to make this
“comeback.”
At this moment some of you may be
in disbelief that Spelman College has its
own newspaper, others may be relieved to
hear that “The Voice of African-American
Womanhood,” has returned, better than ever,
willing to cater to your every need. Regardless
of your initial reaction, trust and believe that
we are here to stay.
Contrary to rumors, the Spelman Spotlight
has always been here, but we took the time to
restructure our paper, so that we can produce
quality work. Four years ago, the Spotlight
had some management issues and inconsistent
leadership, which ultimately caused us to print
infrequently. While we were successful in
producing a few issues in the fall of 2009, we
waited until May 2010, to reveal our new look
with our Commencement Issue.
Nevertheless, we are enthused to announce
after a long summer, we are back in action.
With our setbacks behind us, we are happy to
bring forth this Special Edition announcing
our return to the AUC community.
Our vision is that the Spelman Spotlight
will once again serve as the medium in
which students may express their thoughts
and concerns regarding whatever matters
are pertinent to them and the broader AUC
community. We welcome artists, writers, poets
and photographers to share with us their
creativity, so that we can share them with the
AUC.
While we have received numerous
applications from students from Clark Atlanta,
Morehouse and Spelman, we still have a few
positions available. Thus, if you have always
been interested in joining the newspaper
staff, we encourage you to apply! We do not
require that our staff members have any prior
journalism experience, as we are willing to
train any member on our staff.
In the upcoming month we will be
launching our new website and will be
increasing our presence in the Atlanta
metropolitan area. Inside this issue we have
some exciting new features that we are thrilled
to share with you.
To those of you that are weary about how
much autonomy that is within the newspaper,
so that you are able to express your content
or discontent with Spelman, we assure you
that the Spelman Spotlight will NOT and
is NOT required to censor it’s submissions.
After all, we are the “Voice of African-
American Womanhood,” and women keep it
real. ENJOY!
Geo-Tagging: Has Social Networking Now Gone too Far?
Ariel Smith
Staff Writer
Twitter allows users to comment on your
Twitpic and track your home address too.
Though many would never dare hand out
this personal information to any stranger on
the street, many account holders unknowingly
provide this same vital information via social
networking sites.The geotagging capability on
many of these sites allows users to see the exact
location of others whether they are uploading
a photo or tweeting. It is even more shocking
that geotagging is not limited to cities, but can
also provide the exact longitude and latitude
points of the device being used.
Geotagging has become one of the major
controversies associated with online privacy.
Google, Facebook and Twitter have already
added service.
Despite geotagging’s popularity,
sophomore Daryl Foster refuses to allow
geotagging on her social network accounts. “I
think they come up with these features with
good intentions, but [on a larger scale] it’s
dangerous,” Foster comments.
There are several probable “good
intentions” to geotagging. For example, police
forces would be able to track a missing victim or
criminal because the Stored Communications
Act grants access to locational data from cell
phones and social networks. The agencies
must provide “reasonable grounds” to tap into
the locational data before they are allowed to
do so.
Additionally, geotagging programs such
as the phone application Foursquare, allows
users to update tneir exact location enabling
friends to meet for gatherings with no direct
communication. However, the information is
available to friends as well as strangers, making
it easier for stalkers and other criminals to
track potential victims.
In her article “Privacy: Geotagging
Highlights Safety, Risks Of Mobile
Technology,” Lisa Riordan Seville of the
Daily Beast discusses the tech savvy Carrie
Bugbee who “checked in” and shared her exact
location with her friends on Foursquare. Later
that night she received a phone call from
an individual who tracked her down from
PleaseRobMe.com, a site devoted to warning
people of the dangers ofgeotagging. From that
day on, Bugbee deleted Foursquare and started
taking necessary precautions to prevent being
tracked again.
Similar to Bugbee, Daryl takes the better
safe than sorry approach when it comes to
internet privacy. Although she considers herself
a rather open and outgoing person, her Twitter
remains private.“If they’re not close [friends]
then they shouldn’t know what I’m doing,”
said Foster. Also, strangers on Facebook only
get the limited profile view and she does not
own any other Geotagging programs such as
Foursquare.
These types of cyber precautions may be
necessary in light of the recent stalking report
from the US Department of Justice. The
report states that, “During a 12 month period,
14 in every 1,000 persons of age 18 or older
were victims of stalking and approximately 1
in 4 stalking victims reported some form of
cyberstalking such as email (83%) or instant
messaging (35%).”
The recent trend of Geotagging can make
this even worse. Seville proposed the point
that many of those “exposed to location-based
tracking will not even know they are being
watched.” Therefore, stalking statistics may
be higher than realized. “Geotagging and
other location-based tracking programs may
not directly cause stalking, but it can make it
easier,” writes Seville.