GPC The Collegian 2/5 Edition

GPC Tennis Teams' Season Expectations

Page 5 February 5, 2014 VOLUME 29 NO.3 Visit online at www.collegiannews.com

THE OFFICIAL VOICE OF THE STUDENTS SINCE 1987

Around the Perimeter The C

2

Style Spotter General Events Calender

Opinion

3

GPC Clarkston campus Jan. 30 Photo by Justin Beaudrot

Snowed In!

State of the Union Address Response

GPC Shuts Down Campuses for Three Days

By Joy Bratcher Staff Writer

G

eorgia Perimeter College shut down for two days due to inclement weather conditions caused by the winter storm that passed through parts of Georgia Jan. 28.

GPC Public Safety Department decided to shut down campuses at 1 p.m. to allow students, faculty and staff members to arrive home safely before the winter storm hit.

“Alerts were sent out to all of GPC students via texts, phone calls, e-mails, and social media,” Michelle Russell, work-study student for the Public Safety Department said.

Russell said the department notified the public as soon as the decision was made.

In the e-mail sent out to students, faculty, and staff, Chief NT Marinelli said for everyone to stay safe especially with the severe road conditions.

Many students were thankful that the colleges were closed due to the unsafe road conditions that continued well into the weekend.

"The Public Safety Department made the right decision to close down the campuses," Newton Campus Sophomore Melissa Howard said. "They put the safety of everyone first instead of allowing everyone to drive

GPC Newton Campus Jan. 30 photo by Sri Rajasekaran

in the unsafe road conditions."

Sophomore Whitley Stephens agreed with Howard.

“It was better to cancel schools than risk someone getting hurt either trying to get to school or walking on the sidewalks and slipping on ice and getting hurt,” Stephens said.

Since the storm hit during the middle of the day, GPC students and staff were among hundreds of thousands of metro Atlantans who headed home as the snow turned to ice on the highways creating gridlock on the streets and trapping thousands in their cars for hours.

As the traffic snarls engulfed the region, Ga. Gov. Nathan Deal declared Georgia in a State of Emergency and called out the National Guard to assist stranded motorists.

“The city of Atlanta did not do a good job of handling the weather situation at all,” sophomore Sam Miller said. “The governor made the right call to shut down the city so that everyone could return safely to their cars that were abandoned. Hopefully the city has learned their lesson to avoid allowing situations like this happening again.”

Share your winter traffic stories with us! Send all stories to gpc.collegian@gmail.com

4

Student Alerts • Jan. 28 11:57 p.m. GPC notifies students of the early closing on all campuses at 1 p.m.

• Jan. 28 6 p.m.

GPC notifes students of Jan. 29 closing for all campuses via JAGAlert, email and phone calls • Jan. 29 2 p.m.

GPC notifes students of Jan. 30 closing for all campuses via JAGAlert, email and phone calls.

Cars druing snowfall near Dunwoody campus on Jan. 28 photo by Victoria Song

Campus News

Prep Your Car for Colder Temps GPC Alum Finalist for Townsend Award

Features

6

Clarkston Diversity Behind the Student Body at GPC GPC Professor Creates Online Class

Cartoons

7

2

COLLEGIANNEWS.COM

February 5, 2014

Styleotter !

Sp

Put it on the Calender Source: GPC General Events Calender

Registration for Second Half Term Classes.

1/312/21 2/6

Midpoint for First Half Term Classes

2/7

Theatre Arts Guild Production. "Intimate Apparel" by Lynn Nottage. 8 p.m.

Clarkston. Building CF

2/26 2/27 3/1

Class Drop for NonPayment

3/10 -3/16

SPRING BREAK

Documents due for Summer 2014

2/12

Deadline to Petition for In-state Tuition for Spring 2014

4/1

2/25

Mercury Season.

Chamber Ensemble Concert. 1 p.m.

Dunwoody. NC 1100

4/14

Midpoint for Second Half Classes

Editor in Chief Troi Charity Executive Editor Perry Standridge Associate Editor Justin Beaudrot Sports Editor Hope Dickson

Campus news editor Open Campus photo editor

Major: Communcation marketing Campus: Clarkston Photo by Shamsa Haji

#GPCollegian

members photography, photojournalism and photoshop tips.

The president recently held the annual State of the Union address; we would like to know your thoughts.

If you have any photos or would like to tell your story about the recent weather please tweet or email them to The Collegian and it could end up on our website.

As always to you the reader I thank you for picking up an edition of your student newspaper and hope that within its pages you find something that will help you in your personal and academic life.

MANAGING EDITORS Victoria Song Farhin Lilywala Sri Rajasekaran

Name: Sabrina Jamil

Tweet Us!

Letter from the editor

M

“Skate boarding, and music.”

Got an upcoming event? Send us the date and we will mark it for you.

Student Study Day

oving into February the staff has become more productive working together. The main office is full of students working on a single project and I haven't seen that since joning back in Fall 2012.

I would like to thank my staff for their hardwork and dedication on this edition. even after the college was shutdown.

I would also like to thank The Collegian cartoonist Brester and Brewster on a job well done with the special projects that were assigned.

I would like to also thank the contributors whetther student, faculty or staff outside for your support.

The photographers and editors here at the paper recently had a workshop with Bill Roa, GPC Associate Director of Photography . I would like to thank him for his time in showing the new staff

Photo by Shamsa Haji

Graduation Application Deadline for Summer 2014 Midpoint for Full Semester Classes

Withdraw (WF) - First Half Classes

Major: Computer Science Campus: Clarkston

3/6

2/72/21

Name: Richard Mcgee

Last Day for First Half Classes

#GPCsoapbox #GPCpublicsafety

“Conservative yet staylish and girly with an edge.”

Troi Charity Editor-in-Chief

Hana Bekele Copy Editor Open

CollegianNews.com

/collegiannews

@GPCollegian

DISCLAIMER The Collegian is the student newspaper of Georgia Perimeter College, and is a designated public forum for students, faculty and staff to share their opinions. Comments and views expressed herein are those of the individual writers, and not those of the college or the Collegian as a whole. We strongly encourage students to submit articles and artwork for publication. Single copies are free. More than three copies per person are $.50 each.

Editors reserve the right to edit for grammar, space, appropriateness and length.

Not all submissions will be published. To speak with a staff member, please call 678-891-3380 or e-mail us at gpc.collegian@gmail.com.

staff

February 5, 2014

COLLEGIANNEWS.COM

Our Voice

3

The State Captitol Illustration by Brewster and Brewster

State of the Union Response Inside

By Justin Beaudrot Collegian Staff resident Obama takes the podium, facing the collected Congress of the United States of America with John Boehner, Speaker of the House, and Joe Biden, Vice President, at his back. He begins his speech by contributing the success of better education and business stats to those middle-class teachers and small business entrepreneurs whom helped the nation achieve these end.

Starting off this way lets the nation know that the middle class has a high place in President Obama’s workings. He continues this type of introduction citing an auto mechanic, a farmer, a rural doctor, and a general graveyard-shift worker. Attributing the nation’s successes to its majority population gives strength to the Democratic political party and may gladden those who may otherwise feel they have gone unnoticed. Obama’s introduction ends in applause after he comments on soldiers coming home from a war lasting 12 long years, and it finally coming to an end.

President Obama lists many positive successes, attributing these to Congress; making sure to remark that they represent the citizenry on the United States. After announcing the success, he quickly goes on to plead for progress in spite of the government’s debate over its own size and authority. The argument over the size of the government is one that has remained in the foreground ever since the founding of this nation; a major aspect of the views dividing the Republican and Democratic parties. By asking for progress

P

•

through this argument, • President Obama is inviting • bipartisan collaboration and • cooperation. Obama cites the wills and wants of the people and the American Dream as reasons for needing Congress to act wholly and together; Congress needs to act, and President Obama makes it clear that 2014 is a year of action. He also informs Congress, that if he can act without them, he will. This may be construed as too much use of his powers and authority, however, in a nation fraught with inaction, perhaps that is what’s needed.

Throughout the body of the speech, President Obama touches enthusiastically on subjects such as tax code reform, improving infrastructure, growth in the tech industry and government research into new technology, small businesses and trade, energy independence and natural gas and solar power, the nation’s reduced carbon footprint, that climate change is a fact (he points this out strongly) and that Congress needs to begin addressing its intended concerns, immigration reform and how this reform should happen this year, and many other things. Obama announced Joe Biden as leader to head reform and progress in job training. This will help give many uneducated and untrained Americans the knowledge and ability to fill needed jobs and become employed by companies expanding into new industries and technology. He announced the creation of a coalition to improve education and education reform.

Student loan debt was addressed; as this concerns many students and

"

Women's Rights and equal pay New Savings Bond program U.S. in Iraq Guantanamo Bay

citizens the nation over, it is very important that this particular dilemma be addressed.

The speech addressed women’s rights and equal pay.

Women should also be given better maternity leave and care. In general, more parental rights for the care of their children as far as the workplace is concerned is very much needed across the nation.

The time for equality is now, and

There is still the ongoing defense against terrorism.

There are new ongoing threats from cyber-attacks. The defense budget will remain high in order to support defense of the nation.

Obama makes a stand to increase regulation on the use of drones and drone strikes, and also on surveillance to protect the values of America on morality and privacy.

He also remarks, again, on closing the Guantanamo Bay Detention Center. Military defense of this nation is paramount to the safety of its citizens, and the U.S. government is charged with protecting its citizens, so, it is their responsibility to utilize that strength and authority that is the U.S. military a p p r o p r i a t e l y, efficiently, and morally.

With resounding applause from everyone within the chamber, the Olympics are mentioned as saying that Team U.S.A shall express the values of equality in Sochi. The values of equality may be unbalanced here at home in the nation, however, the lines of inequality from one human to the next are much clearer, and in some cases deadly, abroad. When each person can stand equal, then progress and peace take a strong hold in communities and societies.

Pushing for the values of equality at an event as prominent and widespread as the 2014 Olympics shows that the United States holds true to the core of peace and progress and will not be brought down by discrimination and segregation.

The 2014 State of the Union is a ceremonious proceeding where the President of the United States of America informs his represented citizens of the nation’s progress. that should be clearly understood by all. Legislation to affirm equality is unfortunately necessary, and so this Congress needs to act on that legislation and the President is right in speaking on it.

President Obama announced the creation of MyRA. MyRA is a savings bond allowing every citizen the ability to purchase savings for the future. This should allow added income for the government to act on the previously announced changes and reforms.

President Obama also touches on the state of the United States military. All U.S. troops are out of Iraq. Sixty thousand troops have left Afghanistan. The lessening military deployment abroad does not lessen the strength and cause of military might, however.

"

Ignorant hate has no place in a nation looking to rebuild its trust in the government and expression of the values on equality at the Olympics is a great step forward in this honorable endeavor.

Ending his 2014 State of the Union address, President Obama tells us the moving story of Cory Remsburg. Remsburg is an Army Ranger who was nearly killed in an Afghanistan roadside bombing. After this terrible occurrence, Remsburg continuously works hard toward recovery from severe injury and months in a coma.

Obama relates this tale to the will of the American people and how each of us, and the nation as a whole, has had a hard time making progress work, however that does not stop us from working hard to make a difference in our personal lives, the nation, and the world.

The 2014 State of the Union is a ceremonious proceeding where the President of the United States of America informs his represented citizens of the nation’s progress, of Congress’s contributions, and makes promises of action and legislation. We can stand strong as a nation and hold our elected officials accountable for the things said in this address.

Be aware of your local politics and make sure to vote. The government is a group of men and women representing the ideals and values of those who are knowledgeable of their proceedings, are up to date with current events, who make their voices heard, and VOTE. So again, I say be aware of your local politics and make sure to vote.

4

COLLEGIANNEWS.COM

February 5, 2014

Campus News Bestselling Novelist and GPC Alum Named Townsend Award Finalist Staff Writer

G

PC Alumni Joshilyn Jackson is a New York Times Bestselling novelist whose books are highly recommended by New York Times, U.S.A. Today, Amazon and Indie Next Pick.

Recently, Jackson's latest novel, "Someone Else's Love Story," was nominated for the 2014 Townsend Prize award for fiction, sponsored

by Georgia Perimeter College. The award ceremony will take place April 24th at the Atlanta Botanical Garden’s Day Hall from 5 to 9 p.m.

"It is a novel about faith, miracles and ideas. It examines the scientifically explained miracles like the virgin birth and resurrections. And then showcases the very tiny broken human miracles that can personally change everything," Jackson explained. "A book that is looking at what a miracle looks like in a post modern and ironic world where faith is rarely found."

The protagonist of the novel is Shandi, who attends Georgia State University and embarks on an exploration full of life’s surprises.

"Shandi is a non traditional college student who is 21 years old and has a three-year-old son."

Photo courtesy of Joshilyn Jackson

By Victoria Song

Jackson continues, "I relate with her because she's not a perfect person, but she wants to be and she tries."

Like Shandi, Jackson's success after graduating from GPC was a life full of unforeseen miracles.

"Becoming a No.1 Bestselling Author is what you dream of, but it didn't seem realistic,” Jackson said.

After attending three different colleges and dropping out, then working at a miserable job, Jackson decided to give college another try by attending GPC at the Decatur Campus.

"I thought to myself, I don't want to spend my life this way, and I knew if I wanted to do anything interesting, I needed an education.

My track record was very spotty so I did not know if I could get into school, but GPC accepted me,"

said Jackson.

While majoring in communication and theater at GPC, Jackson figured out her calling with the help of the faculty.

"I knew I wanted to be a writer, and I had a wonderful theater professor who was great and encouraging," Jackson said. “I always had a mentor at GPC which was very helpful.”

Jackson graduated from GPC with an Associate of Arts degree in communication and theater.

She then continued her education at Georgia State University and graduate school.

"My early goal was to obtain a PhD and become a college professor," said Jackson. “I knew I had a long way to go, but I didn’t get discouraged."

Jackson advises, "Take college seriously and get more than just a piece of paper."

"Write, write, and write. Writing is what really matters. Write the best freakin' book you can humanly possibly write and worry about publishing later,” Jackson recommends to GPC writers.

Jackson’s achievements of becoming a well-established novelist, undoubtedly awakens the power of miracles within us.

GPC Student Desiree Hines checks her car before heading out. Photo by Devante Franklin

Prep Your Car for Colder Temps

By Devante Franklin Staff Writer

M

onday morning; you wake up and start preparing for that early class that everyone dreads.

Like most college students, you probably wake up with just enough time to get ready. You do your hair, brush your teeth, check your hair again, and go outside to get in the car and realize it is one of those strange Georgia days where it drops to 27 degrees over night. You have ice all over your car. When you try to crank it, there’s a slow churn in the engine, and it doesn’t turn over.

“The best thing to do is to check your fluids, warm your car, and check your tires,” said Public Safety Officer, Sgt. Michael Ware.

Kristopher Schmetzer, Business

Administration Major, and Desiree Hines, Sign Language Major, said, “Warm up your car before you drive.”

The best way to learn how to prepare your car is from the Public Safety Office. They can give you plenty of information on what to do if you are having trouble with your car.

Checking your fluids means ensuring your anti-freeze coolant is at a sufficient level. If you don’t have enough or you put too much water in the mixture, it could result in frozen pipes, leading to costly repairs. Like most college students, having a broken down car is one of the worst things that could happen.

Even if you succeed in getting the car to crank, pay attention to the tires and the tire pressure by looking at your tires before you drive and getting a tire pressure gauge. As the temperature drops, rubber contracts and squeezes the air on the inside. As you drive, the air begins to heat up and expand and could possibly cause a blowout.

A good way to avoid all of these problems is to park in a garage if you have one. This way you can check your car and get it started with minimal worry of a frozen pipe or popping a tire. If you don’t have a garage, use a bright-colored car cover so ice doesn’t accumulate on the windshield.

Remember, if you are going to be late for class notify your professor and drive safely out there.

February 5, 2014

COLLEGIANNEWS.COM

5

Sports

Jaguars Look To Claw Toward Early Season Success

By Hope Dickson Collegian Staff he GPC Men’s and Women’s Tennis Teams are hoping to have a successful season with a majority of their players new to the team.

The Men's roster consists of six freshman players and two sophomores, while the Women's roster consists of five freshman and two sophomores.

Mohamed “Coach Reda” Omar is the head coach for both men’s and women's teams with seven to eight years at GPC. David Bennett is the assistant coach for the women and Terrell Olagbegi as assistant coach for the men’s team.

Every season comes with challenges, however, and Coach Reda can be the first to tell you about some that players and teams have to face.

“Well, first of all, this weather,” said Coach Reda. “I want my players healthy and not get injured this season. Another challenge will be the fact that this season we have new players; so, it will be interesting to see how much they will benefit the team this season.”

It’s not just the passion for the game, but according to Coach Reda, one of his favorite things about coaching is, “working with the athletes and transitioning them

T

Photo courtesy of GPC Marketing and Public Relations Department

from playing at a high school to a college level.”

Both teams have a streak of wins at the National Tournaments over the years with a 2012 win at the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) National Tournament for the men and a 2013 win for the women.

“This season the team has a lot of depth in the players, and I’m looking forward to working with them,” said Coach Reda.

The season starts Feb. 12 for both teams with matches at Middle Georgia State College.

Be sure to make it out to the GPC games in softball, baseball, and tennis! Come out and cheer for our players as they start their seasons! Go Jaguars!

For more information on GPC's tennis teams and other sports scan the code above.

February 5, 2014

COLLEGIANNEWS.COM

6

Features

GPC Clarkston Diversity

By Tammara Green Staff Writer

I

nternational students have a fresh take on GPC and the education offered here.

Walk into any class on campus, and you are guaranteed to find at least one international classmate. Georgia Perimeter College has several campuses, but Clarkston is the most diverse. The teachers, advisors, and student body form a plethora of different nationalities.

As of Fall 2012, there were 2,600 international students representing 147 different countries. According to Veronique Barnes, director of International Students’ Admission and Advising, the top five countries these students came from were South Korea, Vietnam, Mexico, Ethiopia and India.

Allen Mien, a current student, originally is from Laos. He will participate in the Movie Fest this year here on campus, and feels being a part of GPC is an advantage.

“There are more choices at GPC, the students and teachers are friendly,” said Mien.

According to Salma Hussien, Ethiopia doesn’t have the resources for students to attend college freely. Hussien is originally from Ethiopia, and she has experienced this first hand. In her home country, education is almost impossible.

“There is a lot of poverty, so there is a lack of schools,” Hussien said.

“People have to pay for public schools.”

Hussien is studying political science, and she plans to earn her degree so that she can contribute efforts into educating students in her home country. She also agrees GPC is very accessible for international students.

Here in the United States, it’s hard to imagine not having the opportunity to receive some sort of higher education. We are free to choose what career path is best for our futures. GPC provides several different sources of information, clubs and activities for international students as well as the whole student body.

GPC Instructor Creates Online Only Film Class Special to The Collegian

T

the

he new FILM 2900 Online class designed

by Instructor Thomas Anderson adds the Film Program to the long list of programs at GPC that students can now complete fully online. Anderson was previously an entrepreneur who, after operating a media equipment business and a video production company in the ‘80s and ‘90s, made the shift to academia. He was the Department Chair for Media Production at American InterContinental University (AIU), where he developed numerous hybrid classes and taught other instructors how to take their classes online, before joining Georgia Perimeter College (GPC) in 2012.

FILM 2900 is the second fully online class Anderson has developed for GPC; it provides a case study for the steps involved in creating an effective online course, and illustrates some of the hurdles one encounters moving from the classroom to the online environment.

FILM 2900 is a class about Film Genres, the categories or dif-

freedom to ferent types of study when films that we all and where like to see – from it works for mystery, to rothem with mantic comedy, the college’s film noir and commitment horror movies. to motivate But Anderson and connect initially could them to the not find an aclearning. “We ceptable textare getting book for a onebetter with term class. He each class dealso found a lack of agreement Photo Courtesy of Thomas Anderson sign at pinamong academics pointing how to and critics about what is a genre engage, motivate, and how to supand what is really a sub-genre. port the success of the students,” he The best solution seemed to be said. to research and develop unique Anderson’s class design is built materials for this class. An ad- around 13 Learning Modules, each ditional reason to proceed in this with a weekly discussion forum way was to support the initiative and a weekly quiz. All the asproposed by GPC Interim Presi- sessments in the class total 1,000 dent Rob Watts to help address the points, making it easy for students high costs of textbooks – costs that to understand how their grades are are a problem for so many students calculated, encouraging them to regularly participate, and reducat GPC. Students who register for online ing the number of panicked emails classes at GPC have unique needs. from students at mid-term wonAccording to Anderson, when de- dering how they are doing.

The weekly discussion forums signing an online class, it is crucial to balance students’ desire for are worth 15 points, and the week-

Soapbox

ly quizzes are each worth 15 points.

A Midterm Exam and Final Exam are each worth 100 points. The students write four term papers, which are worth 100 points each.

The No Show Quiz makes up the final 10 points required to equal exactly 1,000 points.

Each of the 13 Learning Modules is based around one genre, or sub-genre. After research and careful consideration, Anderson chose these for the course: Film Noir and Neo Noir, Gangster Films, Crime Thrillers, Mysteries, Horror Films, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Westerns, War Films, Action Films, Slapstick Comedies, Romantic Comedies, and Coming of Age Films.

The class has a full enrollment of 30 students and is off to a good start. Anderson has already started authoring his next online class, a version of PRSP 1010: Critical Perspectives. Though it will use the identical organizational framework, the new class will be very different in content. Film and Culture will explore how films express and help us understand different cultures around the world.

Behind the Student Body at GPC

By Sri Rajasekaran Collegian Staff hen it comes to diversity in its student body, GPC stands out among other University System of Georgia institutions.

Compared with the statistics of Georgia Institute of Technology and University of Georgia, GPC is overall up to ~12 percent more diverse.

The USG’s Semester Enrollment Report for Fall 2013 shows a total of 21,123 students at Georgia Perimeter College, of which 8,647 are male and 12,476 are female. In fact the female student population has increased from last semester by 4.1 percent.

When further classified in terms of ethnic diversity among students: 41.2 percent are African American, 32.6 percent are White; 11.2 percent are Asian; 9.3 percent are Hispanic/Latino; 0.3 percent are American Indian or Alaskan Native; 0.1 percent are Hawaiian Native or other Pacific Islanders; and the rest of the 5.3 percent are of either mixed ethnic backgrounds or ethnicity unknown or undeclared.

“It feels great to be a part of this widely diverse student body,” said GPC Student Alexis Deffey. “ The best thing is that, since we have fairly small campuses compared to other colleges, I find it easier to meet and communicate with people.”

W

Classified

2 Day Meditation Retreat at the Georgia Meditation Center on March 1st and March 2nd from 9:00am-5:30pm for more information and to register please visit www. meditationcircle.org

Q: How has the recent snowy weather affected your days?

Soapbox

the

#GPCsoapbox

Name: Elbert Ivory Major: Business Campus: Clarkston

Name: Erika Radcliffe Major: Pre-Veterranrian Science Campus:Clarkston

"It has not put a hinder in my life besides going to school. Ive been having a great time on my days off."

"Felt like the traffic and the problems with the cars could've been avoided but I felt kinda relaxed."

Photos by Shamsa Haji

Photos by Shamsa Haji

?

Want to know what students are thinking? Send us the next Soapbox question.

February 5, 2014

COLLEGIANNEWS.COM

Cartoons

By Brewster & Brewster

Want to see your work printed?

Submit your Opinion,News, Photographs,Tips and Cartoons!

Submit All Material gpc.collegian@gmail.com

7