THE COLONNADE The Official Student Newspaper of Georgia College
March 7, 2014
www.GCSUnade.com
Volume 90, No. 21
Single copies free
An all-wet commencement again?
Front Campus remains set location for graduation ceremony despite students’ concerns about rain S K. W Student Opinion S r arah enior
ilSon eporter
Since last May’s soggy Commencement ceremony, Georgia College students have been questioning whether they, too, will someday have to graduate outside in the rain. Numerous articles have been written that made a case for a permanent indoor ceremony or taking this into consideration should rain occur, yet to no avail. As of Tuesday, GC officials have decided that Commencement will remain on Front Campus, rain or shine. “I feel like the administration just wants the image of the perfect outdoor graduation,” Edward LaRossa, senior marketing major, said, “but in all honesty, if it’s not nice outside, and you have older family members and kids and parents running around, it’s just not feasible in the rain. In fact, I think it’s pretty insane to keep it outside in that kind of weather.” LaRossa commented on a recent “Our Voice” article which lamented GC placing tradition over the comfort of its graduating seniors and their families. “I believe we should definitely have the option to relocate the graduation to the Centennial Center if it looks like the weather won’t cooperate,” he said in the comment. “I think [this article] raises a great point.” LaRossa’s sentiment is, in fact, one that the University shares. Ac-
What is your academic standing? 4
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Do you want commencement ceremonies to be on Front Campus if it is raning?
WILLIAM DETJEN / STAFF ILLUSTRATOR
cording to GC’s website, May Commencement will be relocated indoors to the Centennial Center on the condition of inclement weather. What the University does not agree on with students, however, is what defines “inclement.” “Inclement weather does not include just rain,” John Hachtel, associate vice president for Strategic Communications, said. “Severe inclement weather is thunderstorms or
Do you think Georgia If yes, do you think they College Administration condiedred it when deciding to is aware of your keep commencement on Front opinion? Campus?
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Commencement page 6
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How important is it to you that commencement occur on Front Campus?
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Kappa Alpha continues fight for home helen harriS ContributinG reporter Kappa Alpha is on a mission to have its house gain the status of a true “fraternity house,” a task that will undoubtedly prove challenging. There are conflicting zoning laws on the street where the house sits. Currently, the residence is home to three men, but fraternity members hope to eventually have nine members in the house. There seem to have been unsettling circumstances surrounding the fraternity’s settling on Liberty Street early on. This coming April, the men will have been in the house for three years, and they have no plans on moving. Richard Brewer, KA president, describes run-ins with the cops for noise and parking citations increasing during the last few months. John Alton, a fellow resident of Liberty Street, is another factor stressing the KA residence, as he actively tries to preserve the historic and residential elements he cherishes which he sees the KA house destroying. Despite everything that has risen between the two parties, Brewer concisely states, “We respect everything that he says and does, I just wish he’d understand that we are not going anywhere, to be blunt I guess. He’s told us many times that we’re not welcome here. It seems like he’s using his influence within the city to try to kind of dampen everything around here.”
This year’s diamond king gets crowned
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Survey conducted by The Colonnade
Yik Yak talk back
sky said. “The second runner-up, the runner-up and the winner get money toward their philanthropies.” The show started with the 15 contestants dancing to “Timber” looking like cowboys with jean shorts (or jorts, if you prefer) and flannel shirts. There were three judges: two professors, Harriett Whipple, the on-campus adviser of ADPi, and Ashley Torrence, a
The recent posting of racist comments on Yik Yak has put the campus in an uproar and uncovered a seemingly darker side of a campus striving for diversity. The controversy began Friday when a number of Yaks were posted degrading children from the surrounding area who come to Georgia College’s campus, many of whom are part of a minority group, whether racially, financially or otherwise. The Yik Yak messages called these students “degenerates” and “monkeys.” One declared, “Someone get up and auction them off.” Another read: “Let’s go enslave these black children and have them pick cotton.” Though these comments are protected under the First Amendment, they violate Yik Yak’s terms of use, which prohibits the “transmission of unlawful, harassing, libelous, abusive, threatening, harmful, vulgar, obscene or otherwise objectionable material of any kind or nature.” App creators Brooks Buffington and Tyler Droll, 23-year-old graduates of Furman University now based in the Atlanta area, have enforced these terms when presented with evidence of violations. “We are aware of the situation that occurred on y’all’s campus, and we do not approve of the content that was posted about those children. We will definitely be looking into account suspension and banishment for the users who posted those comments,” Buffington said. The creators intended for the app to allow individuals to voice their opinions without the reputation that they might earn with their name tied to an account. “The app is not anonymous so that users can attack other people; it is anonymous so that users have a blank slate to work from,” Buffington said. However, the app has been the medium for at least three threats of violence against
King of Diamonds page 7
Racism at GC page 4
ALEX CAFFERY / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER The brothers of the Kappa Alpha fraternity at Georgia College have lived in this house since April 2011.
Alton indeed has a prominent influence in the city of Milledgeville. A retired army colonel of 27 years and teacher of 13 years at GMC, Alton is a longtime member of the Milledgeville community and seems to embody the collective voice of
And the winner is... Jake Thomas. Thomas, a freshman marketing major, was crowned King of Diamonds on Monday. King of Diamonds, the allmale pageant hosted by Alpha Delta Pi each year, raised about $3,000 before the show even
The Southern Circuit of Independent Filmmakers Presents: “Finding Hillywood” by Lean Warshawski. The independent film will show in A&S auditorium on March 9 at 3 p.m.
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marK WatKinS Senior reporter
Sophie Goodman Senior reporter
Free Independent Film
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Racist comments inflame campus
ADPi’s annual male pageant dazzles crowd
NEWS FLASH
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the non-student voices of his neighborhood. Alton extensively clarifies that the issue is not any sort of resentment or problems with the
Housing battle page 6
started - a record total. Most of the money raised goes to the Ronald McDonald house, which is Alpha Delta Pi’s philanthropy. Nicole Krinsky, the philanthropy chair for ADP, planned and organized the show. “It’s everything from making a script to making charts for talent and contestants, and the order, to making sure we [have] the contestants,” Krinsky, a sophomore mass communication major, said. Aside from the thrill of performing, the contestants had some incentive to participate in the pageant. “We basically asked them to participate to support us,” Krin-
QUOTABLE “I involve food and convivial pleasures in a lot of the work that I do.” -Leon Johnson, Newell Scholar
See A&E on page 17
News
Want to hear from Jake Thomas? Check the jump for a Q&A with the king
INSIDE
Understanding Ukraine............................................3 Catch the Lifeline, hear the Voices.........................7
A&E
Vestigial Enclaves.....................................................13 Laugh at the skin you’re in....................................15
Sports
Cheer heads to PBC..............................................21 Senior leads RecSports..........................................21 Community..........................................................8
NUMBER CRUNCH
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The number of photographers that contributed to the campus fashion spread See Leisure on page 10
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THE COLONNADE
TH E . S H O R T . L I S T The top news stories from all over the world as collected, curated and composed by Sarah K. Wilson
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MARCH 7, 2014
My surfing misadventures
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Frightening. Russian President Vladimir Putin deemed his applying military force in
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Ukraine lawful, going so far as to say, “If I decide to use armed forces, it will be in line with international law.” Putin has called the fledgling government in Kiev illegitimate due to the “unconstitutional overthrow” of ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, who had strong ties to Russia. Meanwhile, the U.S. is on the verge of applying sanctions to Russia in a move that President Obama hopes will pressure Putin to pull Russian troops from Crimea. (The New York Times)
Really? It seems as though the memory of Benghazi will forever be used as a political scapegoat in Washington. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina has blamed Russia’s military push into Ukraine on the events that transpired in Benghazi on Sept. 11, 2012. He tweeted on Tuesday: “It started with Benghazi. When you kill Americans, and nobody pays a price, you invite this type of aggression. #Ukraine.” Okay, Lindsey. (MSNBC)
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Trippy, mane. A newly published study in The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease touts that the psychedelic drug LSD has great potential for use in therapy. A 12-person Swiss study that was conducted to measure LSD’s effects on people facing the end of life found that within the test group, there was a 20 percent drop in anxiety upon taking the full dose of LSD (200-micrograms). Even more interesting, those subjects that took a low dose felt more anxiety until they switched to the full dose. This study marks the first time in 40 years that psychedelics are being studied for their use in therapy. (New York Times) Put that in your pipe, D.C. In a surprising move, the Washington, D.C. Council voted 10-1 to decriminalize marijuana. The new law is incredibly lenient, with new laws maintaining that police will not be able to arrest someone just for smelling marijuana, nor will a person carrying less than one ounce of weed have to worry about potentially facing jail time. Instead, they’ll be hit with – get this – a whopping fine of $25. Looks there’s some partying about to happen on the Hill. (The Washington Post) Happy high schoolers. The gloom and doom that comes with studying for the SATs may not be so gloomy anymore. On Wednesday, the College Board released a statement saying that it would drop the obligatory essays of the test, along with dropping “obscure” vocabulary words and points taken off for guessing wrong. The decision comes from a viewpoint that the SATs “have become disconnected from the work of our high schools,” or so says David Coleman, president of the College Board. Where was all this when we were in high school, huh? (New York Times) Resurrected virus. This one is kind of scary. A group of French and Russian researchers have resurrected a 30,000-year-old Siberian virus from the region’s permafrost. Although the virus is not dangerous to humans, the fact that scientists are able to resurrect such a virus brings up the question of what else they can do with ancient diseases. This is the first time an ancient virus has been replicated, and maybe it should be the last. (New York Times) Thanks, Ellen. The Oscars drew in a viewing audience of an estimated 43 million people, breaking the record of a single viewed televised event since the finale of “Friends.” Ellen Degeneres hosted the Academy Awards this year, which some speculate could have been the reason so many people tuned in. The Academy Awards has been pushing to relate to a wider audience the past few years with great success. This is the third year in a row that viewership increased. (CBS News) Old school birthing. According to a newly released study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, home births are at their highest levels in more than forty years. This trend of birthing babies at home began in 2004, according to the CDC. Although home births still only comprise less than two percent of U.S. births, this is a trend that the CDC expects to see continued. Talk about retro. (CDC) Guac no more. Popular burrito restaurant Chipotle has warned its investors that it will cease paying for avocados if prices of the fruit continues to rise due to “global climate change.” Menu items like guacamole or related salsas would be suspended if the chain of restaurants decides to forgo paying for the pricy fruit. Please, God...not this. (Think Progress) Didn’t see that coming. The Georgia House of Representatives backed a bill to legalize medical marijuana on Tuesday, a measure that has parents of sick children in the state hopeful. The form of marijuana legalized would be liquid and non-intoxicating and would be legal to use for patients who suffer from severe seizures. The bill will now go to Senate, where its future remains unsure. (Fox News)
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EMILY BUCKINGHAM / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER It’s at a moment like this when I realized hitting the waves isn’t always as cool as a Hurley commercial.
This is the part where I teach you how not to surf Emily Buckingham Editorial columnist Surfing is hard. Anyone that says otherwise is lying. After two days and eight hours of intense Australian surfing, I feel like I was hit by a car. Every inch of my body screams in agony. I have bruises the size of baseballs covering my hips. I also might have a slight concussion. Despite the emotional and physical pain, it was totally worth it. I can’t remember the last time I had that much fun at the beach. Our weekend started late Friday night with a three-hour bus ride to a small town south of Sydney. We were greeted by the stereotypical Aussie surfers: blond, tan, attractive. They pushed their shaggy unkempt hair out of their faces before sending us straight to bed. Our accommodations were situated in the middle of a trailer park. They had taken trailers and converted them into nine-person bedrooms. It felt like a less exciting version of “Breaking Bad.” We all piled in our rinky-dink caravan nonetheless. With nine people in a very confined space, it always takes a while to get to sleep, especially when you know you’re going surfing the next day, but after three spiders, two roaches and one possible closet demon later (I feel like there’s a story behind this, and I really want to hear it), we finally were able to drift off. The next day we woke to the violent sound of rain pounding on the roof. It was miserable outside, but we were up and ready to go all the same. After struggling for several minutes to get our wetsuits on, we made our way to the beach. The first step in learning to how to surf doesn’t even involve a board. You first have to stretch so you don’t cramp up, then you lay down in the sand and pretend to be surfing. The steps are fairly simple. First step is to get onto the board. Next you have to paddle. When a wave hits you, you’ll feel a push from behind. Once this happens, you take three more paddles before bringing your hands to your chest and pushing up. This glamorous pose makes
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EMILY BUCKINGHAM / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER (Far right) That’s me, hanging ten y’all. At least, pretending like I am.
Surfing is hard. Anyone who says otherwise is lying. After two days and eight hours of intense Australian surfing, I feel like I was hit by a car. you look like a beached seal. From seal pose you bring your knee up into what the instructors call “the ‘Sports Illustrated’ pose.” The final step is the tricky one. It involves kicking your other leg forward into a standing position. There, boom.You’re surfing. In theory it sounds simple. In fact, after all my time practicing on the beach, I thought it wouldn’t be that difficult. Sadly, I have never been more wrong in my life. I fell off the board more times than I can count. Some were innocent little falls, but others... not so much. Those were like falling off a horse into a tornado. I made so many 180s and 360s under water, my middle school geometry teacher would have been proud. Thankfully I wasn’t the only one struggling. I would turn around to see someone else being sucked into the unforgiving waves every few seconds. It was hysterical until it happened to me. Eventually though I did start to get the hang of it. It was totally rad, dude. With the help of my wonderful instructors, I was standing by the end of my second lesson.
Stretch and get onto the board. Paddle until a wave hits you from behind. Take three more paddles before bringing your hands to your chest and pushing up. Bring your knee up into what the instructors call “the ‘Sports Illustrated’ pose. Kick your other leg forward into a standing position. By the third lesson, I was almost a pro. Not really, but it was so much fun. The few times I stood up like an Aussie it was exhilarating. Even when I wasn’t able to stand I had fun catching the waves in to shore. It will definitely be one of my most memorable experiences. My bruises and aches won’t let me forget it for awhile either.
MARCH 7, 2014
THE COLONNADE
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The life and death of the Religious Preservation Act Brice Scott Political Columnist
Following heavy public backlash and faltering support from state and national Republicans, Governor Jan Brewer vetoed the controversial Arizona Senate Bill 1062 (SB 1062) this past Wednesday, citing the “broad wording” of the bill as the main reason for her decision not to sign it into law. The bill is intended to allow individuals or businesses to refuse service to anyone who might create conflict with their deeply-held religious beliefs, though the socially conservative bill was primarily aimed at protecting businesses and individuals opposed to gay rights. While media attention has primarily focused on the Arizona bill, sixteen other states have attempted to pass similar bills, including Georgia House Bill 1023 (HB 1023), deemed the “Preservation of Religious Freedom Act” by supporters. It would allow individuals, private businesses and public government employees to deny services to anyone as long as the act is, as
For now Arizona’s SB 1062 has been defeated, along with similar state bills in recent months. Despite this, supporters of such bills have pledged to rewrite and introduce similar legislation in the future, meaning that the issue may not yet be fully at rest. the bill itself puts it, “substantially motivated by a sincerely held religious tenet or belief whether or not the exercise is compulsory or a central part or requirement of the person’s religious tenets or beliefs”. A version of HB 1023 was introduced to the State House of Representatives last week but later withdrawn on Thursday. However, the bill is still in place for the Senate, though not on the calendar for consideration at the time of publication. For those unfamiliar, SB 1062 was created primarily in response to a 2013 New Mexico Supreme Court ruling which prohibited denial of service based on a person’s sexual orientation. It is an expansion of a current Arizona law which grants religious institutions and assemblies exemption from any law which would “substantially burden” the exercise of religious belief. The bill would add individual citizens, businesses, corporations or any other legal entity to the definition of those protected under the
state law. SB 1062 came under fire from people around the country, as well as gay rights groups and civil rights organizations. Companies such as Apple, American Airlines and Marriott who have planned to open businesses in the state urged the Governor to veto, as well as a massive majority of state businesses who saw the bill as exacerbating the state’s already problematic recession. High profile Republicans such as Senators Mitt Romney, John McCain and Newt Gingrich called for the veto and even a number of GOP state senators who approved the bill came out against it this past week, citing a lack of foresight in approving the bill. The moral and social arguments against these “religious freedom” bills are likely clear to most readers: It promotes discrimination, has the potential to generate a greater number of hate crimes, racial profiling and exacerbate existing cultural divides between diverse groups of Americans. Putting aside how utterly repre-
hensible it is for a person or group to publicly discriminate against others in the name of private freedom of worship, bills such as this are unnecessary and ineffective at what they set out to do from an economic perspective. The bills in both Arizona and Georgia are responses to incidents in other states where caterers, florists and photographers were sued for refusing service to same-sex couples. However, gay marriage is illegal in both states, making the potential for similar occurrences nonexistent. In addition, businesses in these states already reserve the right to refuse service to anyone, including members of the LGBT’ community. Further laws specifically allowing discrimination based on religious beliefs would only draw negative public attention to companies while providing little-to-no extra protection. In fact, Arizona business owners opposed the recent bill cited concerns that under the proposed law they would face the brunt of liability for employees who cost the company business or damaged its reputation by exercising discriminatory religious beliefs at the expense of the company. For now Arizona’s SB 1062 has been defeated, along with similar state bills in recent months. Despite this, supporters of such bills have pledged to rewrite and introduce similar legislation in the future, meaning that the issue may not yet be fully at rest.
Understanding Ukraine: At home, abroad, at GC Q&A with Bill Risch, expert on Eastern Europe Mark Watkins senior reporter colonnade: How did you first get involved with Ukranian scholarship? risch: I became interested in Ukrainian history back in grad school because originally I was interested in Russian history. What really impressed me the most about Ukrainian history was that is was so complicated. Complicated things interest historians, you could say. Actually it was the end of 1991 in grad school, the end of our first quarter as grad students in this one seminar, and we had just heard the news that the Soviet Union had broken up and that Ukraine was an independent country. And one of my friends in the class, who was of Russian
decent, said “I’m sorry. I’m bias maybe, but I think that Kiev is our city.” In other words, it’s a Russian city. That really got me interested in Ukranian history. Well, why didn’t they become a Russian city? ... I became interested in Ukrainian history and issues of nationalism, the cultural basis for it, the political implications of Ukrainian nationalism, and I was drawn to the city of Lviv in the west of Ukraine because it has a different history. It was under Polish rule and Austrian rule instead of Russian rule for many years. … I wrote a book on it: “The Ukrainian West: Culture and the Fate of Empire in Soviet Lviv.” It came out three years ago in 2011 with Harvard University Press. colonnade: You’ve spent your career study-
ing Ukraine and seeing it grow up as a country. risch: Yes. In the past 15 years basically, 1998 was when I started working on my dissertation, which became a book. I came to Lviv, Ukraine in April 1998. - confusing colonnade: You’ve traveled to Lviv a couple times, is that correct? risch: Yeah. I lived there from 1998 to 2000 and then from 2002 to 2004. Then I went to the eastern part of Ukraine because I’d never really experienced it. In January of this year, from Jan. 6 to Jan. 20, I was in Ukraine, mostly in eastern Ukraine. Two cities there: Donetsk and Kharkiv. Those are two eastern industrial cities that I visited. colonnade: So you were there when the first protests started? risch: Well, the protest actually started Nov. 21, 2013 when some students and some journalists protested in front of the independence monument at independence square, what they call the Maidan, commonly, but it spread from there. … I was finding out about these events, and I followed pretty much everything from late November on. The beating of students by special security forces on Nov. 30 at four in the morning. You can follow all that on Facebook basically. An attempt
to crack down on the protest the city on the night of Dec. 11. That was overnight, and they broadcasted the whole thing on independent television stations on the Internet. I decided to go to Ukraine from Dec. 14 to 23 to see what it was like there in the protest city. I was there a couple of times overnight at the tent city. colonnade: What was it like being in the thick of it? risch: Well, it was really something else. It sort of becomes, you could say, almost like a religion there … Hundreds of people singing [the national anthem] all night at the top of the hour and also saying prayers. They had a religious service at the top of every hour with the Orthodox Church and also with the Greek Catholic Church and some others, I believe. I was a guard there. I volunteered as a guard for one night where we were watching for any provocateurs or security forces that would come over, but it was a pretty easy assignment because I was in this back area where we wouldn’t be bothered by any troops anyway. We just watched out for drunks that were trying to cross.
Ukraine page 5
PETE SOUZA / OFFICAL WHITE HOUSE PHOTO President Barack Obama talks on the phone in the Oval Office with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the situation in Ukraine, March 1.
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THE COLONNADE
Racism at GC
Continued from page 1... public schools and the subject of letters from school officials warning parents of how easy it is for cyberbullying to occur in the app. GC President Steve Dorman addressed the comments posted at GC in a written statement emailed to students the following afternoon. “What they did was not funny. In fact, it was appalling and offensive. This behavior is totally inconsistent with who we are as a community. Everything about this behavior is contradictory with our pledge to each other to be a community of reason, respect and responsibility,” Dorman wrote. Though incidents like this have occurred in the past, this is the first under Dorman’s tenure and establishes a hard-line standard for the university’s response to racism. He continued later saying that “providing a campus environment that was
welcoming to all” was critical to becoming a nationally-recognized liberal arts college. This sentiment, of creating a campus environment where minority students feel safe and welcomed, lies near the heart of the uproar surrounding the comments. The issue is not solely that racist comments were posted but that those comments reveal there are people on GC’s campus that do not accept nor value minority students. But this is something that some students have felt long before the comments on Yik Yak. “It’s incredibly scary to me. I don’t like that there’s any person around me at school that has these hateful feelings inside them. I also think this conversation needs to be had because it’s nothing new. [The men’s bathrooms] are adorned with things just as hateful and just as anonymous,” Breon Haskett said during the Times Talk discussing the event held March 5. Students also expressed excitement for how these comments have made
the community realize these attitudes do exist on GC’s campus. Others were sick, sad, resentful, disappointed and outraged, to name a few of the words some chose to sum up their feelings. “I was disgusted and disappointed,” said Chuck Cherry, president of the Black Student Alliance and junior management information and management major. These reactions were propounded by the individuals’ attacks of children specifically. “I don’t believe any college student has a right to insult children that you don’t know. The racial thing came second, first it was the children,” said Jordan Williams, president of Kingdom Impact, a Christian ministry, and freshman management major. Calls were made for punishment of the individuals that made the comments, flyer campaigns against Yik Yak and some asked simply what to do if they hear someone being racist. “People are in varying degrees of response to the comments. I think from
MARK WATKINS / SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER The pathway between Atkinson and Terrell Halls was closed for the beginning of the semester while the heating system in Atkinson was updated to tie it in the central heating system at GC.
Pardon our progress A brief survey of current construction projects Anthony tAnner Contributing reporter The Physical Plant at Georgia College has been hard at work during the last few months with routine repairs and scheduled maintenance on campus. The department inspects buildings and equipment, receives repair requests and then prioritizes its project schedule from an ongoing list of major and minor repairs needed to GC’s buildings and equipment. Some of the routine maintenance recently performed on Terrell Hall revealed additional problems with the roof that were repaired before the matter became a major construction project. “Routine maintenance can reveal hidden damage that needs attention before water leaks can cause substantial damage to the interior structure of the historic buildings on campus,” Michael Rickenbaker, university architect, said. The columns in front of Terrell Hall were on schedule for repainting, but after the paint was stripped away, additional problems were evident. “We were on schedule for a traditional scrapand-paint, but this procedure uncovered existing damage in the columns structure, which are still in decent shape to have been made in 1911,” Rickenbaker said. Maintenance personnel also completed the transition that connected the buildings overlooking Front Campus to the new 10-inch water main that runs under the sidewalk along Hancock Street. “It is good to see a lot of effort going into the proper maintenance of buildings and equipment on campus,” Dylan Penick, senior politi-
“Routine maintenance can reveal hidden damage that needs attention before water leaks can cause substantial damage to the interior structure of the historic buildings on campus” Michael Rickenbaker, University architect cal science major, said. Atkinson Hall received the first of two scheduled maintenance repairs to its heating and cooling system during the first part of the semester. The heating systems boiler was updated to make it more efficient. “The scheduled repairs to the air condition system are set for the summer terms this year in Atkinson Hall,” Rickenbaker said. The Maintenance Department at GC performs a variety of routine repairs and scheduled maintenance tasks throughout the calendar year. These projects include refurbishing the historical aspects of the college campus, upgrading traditional systems to make them more efficient and day-to-day maintenance that makes the campus run smoothly. “Performing regular maintenance on campus buildings and equipment is a good method to preserve the historical value of GC,” Katherine Stratton, junior nursing major, said.
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MARCH 7, 2014 the Times Talk, we can see that we’re in a place where we need to allow the feelings and frustrations to be voiced to the community,” Andy Lewter, dean of students, said. “So for right now, we don’t have plans to address the issue beyond encouraging those conversations to happen.” The administration will remain watchful and willing to step in when necessary. Many of the comments and conversations at the Times Talk ended up as a critique of the overall culture towards diversity at GC, and some students took the administration to task for consistently ignoring the problem. “We put one diverse person on a flyer and pretend we sit in this environment, and it’s completely okay when our minority population here is less than 10 percent. And we do nothing,” Katherine Tapp, a criminal justice student at GC, said. “We all sit here and talk about how we need to get more minority students to come to this college, yet we have administrative peo-
ple here that don’t do anything about the problem.” However, the Diversity Action Plan, commissioned by Dorman when he came to GC, is designed to address the issues Tapp raised. Veronica Womack, the director of the Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity and the leading force behind the plan, took a holistic look at diversity at GC and developed a specified plan to respond. This includes all types of diversity – financial, racial, gender, sexual orientation, religious, etc. – and also suggests methods to attract all types to GC. The uproar on campus comes at a convenient time as well. “It is now ready to be published and promoted and sent out to the institution, and all of the things suggested in [the plan] will be moving forward,” John Hatchel, vice president of strategic communications, said. Efforts were made to contact the individuals who posted the offensive Yaks to comment further, but they could not be found.
MARCH 7, 2014
THE COLONNADE
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Ukraine
Continued from page 3... But that was really interesting because it was all night; I got to meet people from western Ukraine and eastern Ukraine who were taking part in this protest. These men from about their late teens to probably late 50s or 60s, and we would argue about politics, but at the top of the hour when the national anthem came everybody just took off their hats and stood at attention. And there was this screen on the trade union’s building that would show the main stage and everyone singing the national anthem together, so we would always stop for the national anthem every hour. It was really something else. colonnade: Did it feel like this was a place of discussion and debate? Were people trying to figure out how to go forward or was it, more or less, you either agree with us or you shouldn’t be here? risch: Well, see that was the tricky thing. One of the things is that this square is like 91 percent apolitical at least surveys … at the end of 2013, said that 91 percent of the participants in these protests at the square don’t belong to any political party. There were debates privately amongst people, and there were the events on stage, speeches on stage. One of the problems was that people did complain that they didn’t get to speak on stage and say what they wanted to say. That did happen more than once, let’s put it that way. You wouldn’t hear anything from the political left really at these meetings at the square. The political left has sort of been very marginal in Ukraine, and they’ve really been discouraged from becoming a prominent part of these protests. In fact, it’s really the political right that’s sort of taken center stage, and that’s sort of scared some people. colonnade: For the people who aren’t experts on Ukranian history, can you simplify the tensions that have arose between Russia and Ukraine, beyond just the simple fact that Russia has invaded Ukraine? What are the undercurrents at work underneath that? risch: Well one of the problems is that for Russia’s leadership and Russia’s political elite, Ukraine has always been a part of Russian history and a part of the Russian state. They claim that Russia’s history begins with Kiev - just like I mentioned with that friend that “Kiev is our city.” Starts with Kiev back in 988 A.D. and goes from there ... when the people of Kiev accepted Christianity and when the early russian state started. The problem with Russia is that Ukraine for many elites is, Ukraine doesn’t exist as a nation, they just see them as Russians, and so they’ve simplified the problems in Ukraine saying that the far right from Lviv in western Ukraine has stirred up the people and mislead them, that really these are our people, and they perceive the tremendous disorder happening in Ukraine right now with
PETE SOUZA / OFFICAL WHITE HOUSE PHOTO President Barack Obama convenes a National Security Council meeting in the Situation Room of the White House to discuss the situation in Ukraine, March 3.
the opposition seizing power from Yanukovych and everything like that. They also believe that the opposition has been lead by the far right like I said, nationalist extremists. They also believe that these people are inherently anti-Russian, that they discriminate against Russian speakers, are committing violence against russian speakers and ethnic russians and ethnic jews, so that is probably what is driving a lot of this. Also this concern about stability. The leaders of the Kremlin are probably worried that these kind of revolts could inspire something in their own backyards. colonnade: So the situation in Kiev is actually sort of divided from the news reports we’ve been reading. There is a strong presence of people who do feel an allegiance of Russia and do want to be annexed back into Russia. risch: Well, this is the problem. In Kiev, I don’t think that there’s that kind of support at all really.
colonnade: Really? risch: No. In fact, this protest movement, that’s the problem. Russia’s leaders may see it as lead by western Ukraine and by extreme nationalist, but the fact is that Russian speakers and ethnic Russians in Kiev have been supporting this. The central part of Ukraine as well as western Ukraine have been supporting this opposition movement that seized power. You do see that ethnic russian speakers are part of this movement. The problem with the eastern part of Ukraine and the southern part of Ukraine, there is great distrust of the Euromaidan movement. Something like back in February, a vast majority did not support the Euromaidan movement; The polls show this. Sometimes even 80 percent have no support for the Euromaidan movement. A lot of that is fears over these right-wing messages coming from the protest movement, but a lot of it also has to do with economics and the feeling that protestors don’t know what they’re doing really. It’s like the feeling Americans had
towards the Occupy Wall Street movement: that it no purpose, had no practicality. So, there is this great distrust. On the other hand. I think that these separatists movement really don’t exist. The fact is that eastern Ukraine, Southern Ukraine and even Crimea have very weak pro-Russian separatists movements. They exist, but they fight amongst themselves, and they don’t really have much of a structure. The elites of southern and eastern Ukraine, they would rather, it seems to me, go with Kiev because they’re so connected with one another economically and politically. If they come under Russia, they become almost third class citizens potentially.
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6
THE COLONNADE
Housing battle
Commencement
students of GC, but rather an unfortunate placement of Greek organization students on a residential street that established adults would like to remain a peaceful environment. Previously serving on the Historic Council Committee, Alton does have an irrevocable repertoire within the community, and Brewer realizes this. “He’s very well respected with the city, and he’s earned his claim to fame basically,” Brewer said. “It just looks like he’s trying to stop Milledgeville from becoming studenthoused.” Not so favorably for KA, the influence Alton has with the Historic Council Committee may prevent the committee from approving the permit that would allow six more men to live in the house. For Alton, the problem is as simple as the wrong people in the wrong place, as he describes the ordinance the city passed in November that gave Greek organizations the areas on Clarke and Montgomery streets particularly for fraternity and sorority housing. The ordinance simultaneously disallowed Greek housing on Liberty, Green and Washington streets. “It’s about a two block area right around Liberty Street – from Clarke over to Wilkinson and that general area that were not allowed for fraternities and sororities at all,” Alton said. “This was known by the fraternity and sorority that are currently located on the street.” With unwelcomed housing comes problems, with the primary complaints of the fraternity house being illegal parking and noise levels. Each house is allowed three parking permits and two guest permits. Any more than the six allowed total is cause for citation. KA is hoping to have the use of a driveway next year so there will be no need for permits. “The major issue is that it’s a fraternity house, that is by city decree, not allowed to be on that street,” Alton said, “and as far as I know, they have identified it community wide that it is in fact their fraternity house, but it’s not authorized. The students know that and the homeowners know that.” Alton and other residents on the street are not opposed to parties or students, but rather, the problem for the non-student inhabitants comes from noise after 11 p.m. and a densely trafficked area. Two lifestyles are colliding in one small area, and both parties have a different handle on how this issue should resolve. The city of Milledgeville is undoubtedly growing in its student and Greek populations, and Brewer coincides this to the housing issues. “It’s a changing demographic in the street, and I think people are realizing that no single family wants to live on this street because it’s close to downtown and it’s close to campus. They realize they can get a lot of money renting it out to students because it is so close to downtown,” explained Brewer. Oppositely, Alton voices that perhaps more business people of downtown and workers at the college would indeed like to live closer to the heart of the city. This single-family residential ideal for some areas in town plays into the historical preservation the city is trying to achieve, and historical preservation needs to work with the growing needs of the college community to come to an agreement. “It is a problem that the city has got to work with the college to straighten up if we ever want to save part of the city form strictly rental property, to bring at least one neighborhood for families,” explained Alton. “The city is attempting to preserve some of its history and Liberty Street is one of the nicest streets, and very historical as far as Milledgeville is concerned.” For as long as Alton can remember, the house he has lived in during his 20 years in Milledgeville has been a part of a single-family neighborhood, and he has seen his street transform in a way far more drastic than what he naturally expected for student growth in the area. The idea of expanding West Campus to include Greek housing appears to be the answer for Alton, and this is something that has been talked about for quite a while but with little promise of fulfillment. According to Alton, this proposal was an understanding many of the residents had of the fraternity and sorority housing situations.
extreme heat. In that case, yes, we would move the ceremony indoors.” When asked what the temperature needed to reach in order to be deemed “extreme,” Hachtel could not say. “Senior administration would need to get together to decide on that,” he said. “We have looked at a variety of ways we can hold Commencement, and the senior administration feels that Front Campus is the best option for the greatest number.” Although it is true that a Front Campus ceremony
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MARCH 7, 2014 has the potential to be picturesque, many students worry over the chance that their special day will be dampened – literally – like the Class of 2013’s graduation. Rain poured over the ceremony, resulting in a “sea of umbrellas” within the crowd that made viewing graduates walk across the stage a virtual impossibility. Additionally, photos were ruined, and a pair of grandparents even fell ill after sitting in the wet weather. “The graduates of 2013 had to endure a shortened, rain-soaked event that did not give them the credit that was due for all their hard work,” Maggie Finch, senior sociology major, said
in a response to the “Our Voice” article. “As a 2014 graduate, I really hope that if the weather forecast shows rain on the day of graduation, [GC administration] will use [its] brains and move graduation inside to the Centennial Center.” Unfortunately for Finch and other graduates hoping for this option, GC officials are set on their decision to keep Commencement on Front Campus – even in the rain. It appears that all seniors can do is hope for clear weather on their graduation day. And maybe rainproof their caps.
MARK WATKINS / FILE PHOTO The interior of KA’s house.
“It’s a changing demographic in the street, and I think people are realizing that no single family wants to live on this street because it’s close to downtown and it’s close to campus.” Richard Brewer, KA president “I would solicit more support from the college,” explained Alton, “The previous three presidents at Georgia College offered, or at least said they were planning on putting fraternity and sorority houses on West Campus. And they’ve not done it.” The KA house has been magnificently maintained and cared for, with close to $70,000 having been invested in keeping the residence up to code and trying to appease everyone involved in the house’s and neighborhood’s wellbeing; therefore, the notion to group Greeks at West Campus may feel a bit like dejection. Jonathan Brantley, Vice President of KA, cites the benefits of having Greek organizations in the historic houses of Milledgeville, stating, “Students are coming in and are able to afford to remodel the houses in a way that would make them appeasable to the public.” The hope of Brewer and the KA fraternity in efforts to solve the problem is one of union and openness to both the student and local communities. “We’d love to have like an open house in a couple of months and invite neighbors and whoever to come and see the house,” concluded Brantley. “I’d like for not just KA, not just AOII to try to fight it. What I would like to do is for all the students living on this street and all the students living in the historic district to come together and really voice our opinion,” begins Brewer on his proposal for solving the issues, “It seems as if we are very fired up about the cause, but we need the gears in motion and we all need to come together. So I have actually organized a group of IFC presidents, and we all had a meeting about it, and I’m going to try to get all the IFC and the Panhellenic presidents together and just get that started. It’s not just Greek. There are houses on this street that are rented out by non-Greek students.” The problem of situating a Greek-inhabited house on a historically, single-family residential street is certainly a multi-faceted issue with inescapable conflict, but Alton makes certain of his and his neighbors’ attitudes towards students regarding the problem. “Every one of my neighbors, on Liberty, Greene and Washington streets will tell you they don’t dislike students. They don’t,” Alton said. “I personally have sponsored an exchange student to Georgia College. So that’s not the question, the question is why they are where they aren’t supposed to be.”
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MARCH 7, 2014
THE COLONNADE
7
Catch the Lifeline, hear the Voices
Up with the understanding, down with the stigma of mental illness one conversation at a time AmAndA morris Contributing reporter
Lifeline Voices is a new group on campus that meets downstairs in Blackbird Coffee to discuss mental health issues Thursdays at 5:30 p.m. The group’s focus is to bring down social stigmas about mental health and to invite members to share personal stories in a relaxed yet respectful atmosphere. Lifeline Voices’ co-founders Bri Neves and Jordan Butler are also accepting submissions for an anthology of creative nonfiction, fiction, poetry and art that reflects students’ experiences with mental illnesses. The Colonnade sat down with Lifeline
Voices president Bri Neves, senior creative writing major, and vice president Jordan Butler, sophomore mass communication major, to find out more about the group and their goals. colonnade: What is Lifeline Voices about? butler: We are a mental health organization, and we have two main goals. One is to eliminate the stigma of mental illness, and the other is to open a dialogue with the community about mental illness. colonnade: Why did you to create Lifeline Voices?
neves: At my old school, a friend of mine committed suicide and, very shortly afterwards, two people from the school also committed suicide, and each of those people was in some sort of artistic field. Two of them were music majors, and one was a theatre major. After all that happened, I’m a creative writing major, so I’m obviously very drawn to writing, and I thought, “What is a way I can improve the community around me that encompasses the artistic talents of people that I know?” My first idea was, “How about a literary magazine? We could accept poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction and art. We could have it all together and put out issues.” Then I went to a conference in Minnesota where I met somebody that has an anthology out. I pitched him my idea – because that’s what I was there for – to pitch the idea about the literary magazine. He said, number one, that it should be an anthology, not a literary magazine. Two, “If you can get enough submissions worthy of being published, then I can be your mentor in this process because I have connections to publishing companies. I have published a similar project. I’m going to help you.” So we changed it to an anthology, and we have been soliciting submissions ever since. colonnade: What are you hoping to achieve with Lifeline Voices? neves: There’s two main things. Within this community, I would love for there to be an open dialogue on mental illness. I notice that there are some issues that are more widely talked about and known other than mental illness. For example, I think it’s amazing that there are events for domestic violence like every year. They do Clothes Line Project – that’s a huge event – and it’s on front campus and everyone knows about it. They also do the Vagina Monologues. I would love for this campus to see huge changes like that and for everyone to know and talk about mental illness. The anthology itself, I would want it to get published and distributed across campuses. If I want to have a pipe dream, worldwide would be great, offered in counseling centers and available online for purchase, and maybe even for free. If we could find funding to just give everyone a free copy that would be great. butler: It’s about creating a more open mind, collectively, relating to mental illness. It’s about creating a place where mental illness is not this scary, dark monster that people never talk about, and it just hides in the shadows. neves: And using art and writing and music,
King of Diamonds
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Continued from page 1...
mass communication professor. The third judge, Amber Ivey, was a representative for ADPi.The judges critiqued three categories: “Throw what you know,” talent and a questionand-answer portion. The question and answer portion contained questions about pop culture such as, “Can you twerk like Miley, and will you show us?” Although the Q & A portion was straightforward, the other two categories were a bit more difficult. Most of the contestants had no experience in the pageant world. “The closest I’ve been to pageants is probably ‘Toddlers and Tiaras’ on TV,” Jacob Zawoyski, freshman mass communication major, said. “My mom made me watch it a lot, so I got a few helpful tips from that.” ADP gave each participant their own contestant coach to help plan outfits and, most importantly, the talent portion of the event. The talents ranged from Kung Fu fighting to dancing and singing to stand-up comedy. Thomas, the winner of the event, lip-synched and danced to Aaron Carter’s “Party.” “I knew that I look like Aaron Carter, people have told me that before, and I knew the whole song to Aaron’s ‘Party,’” Thomas said. Even though Thomas was crowned King of Diamonds, he was actually a fill-in. “My friend was supposed to be the lead contestant, but he broke his leg last week,” Thomas said. “So I had to step up and come in last week and meet and go over the talent. I decided it would be fun, so I might as well do it.”
AMANDA MORRIS / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER (Left to right) Jordan Butler and Bri Neves, the founders of Lifeline Voices.
and all of these other things. All of my majors and minors are in these creative areas, so it’s really easy for me to relate to creative people. I think that a lot of people with mental illnesses have creativity about them, and encouraging a healthy coping mechanism is really important. colonnade: Did you start at your old school and then bring it to GC, or did that start here? neves: I got the idea for it there and then dealt with my own stuff, and then a year later [Jordan] actually brought the idea back up. That’s why we are very much 50-50 partners. I was in Milledgeville when I decided to do it. A very good friend of mine designed our website and flyers for free and coded most of the website. Another friend finished coding the website for free. I have all these friends that really believe in the cause, and we are ever so grateful to everyone that’s been helping us. If anything, this club has strengthened my faith in others and brought the community together. colonnade: Who can join Lifeline Voices? neves: Anyone can submit or join. We come here and discuss, and we make sure to encourage everyone to submit and [to know that] the deadline is Aug. 20, 2014. We keep reiterating because it seems like new people keep popping up to see what the group’s about. We are definitely not just about promoting the anthology but giving people a place to talk about their issues. butler: The current issues that we have for the anthology is going to be focused mainly on suicide, but any mental-health-related works will be accepted. The theme of this anthology will be “purpose.” We will have everyone that submits to us include a sentence that begins with the words “I have purpose because…”
Q&A with Jake Thomas colonnade: How did it feel when they called you name? thomas: It was a shock. I didn’t expect to win coming in, but after the talent portion, I felt good. It was a shock but it was also kind of a relief. [I was] hoping that I could pull through. colonnade: How did it feel when they called you name? thomas: I was so nervous all day today. I woke up this morning and was thinking about it all day. I was really, really nervous. Then once you got out here, you just had to go with it. So it was fun. colonnade: How did it feel when they called you name? thomas: Spring break coming up will be nice and finishing the semester strong. Got to give the crown away next year to someone deserving.
Preparation for the event began in December. “This is a heck of an experience, and I’d recommend anybody to do this,” Zawoyski said. “It was really fun, even though I had no idea what it was; it turned out to be a really great experience. I’m really happy that [Alpha Omicron Pi] nominated me.”
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The arts have been an inseparable part of the human journey. –NATIONAL STANDARDS FOR ARTS EDUCATION
Community W H A T ’S w
March 7, 2014 • Editor, Kelly Mainor
H A P P E N I N G
Friday, March 7
Tuesday, March 11
2 p.m.
GC softball vs. Barry (West Campus)
7 a.m.
Junior registration
4 p.m.
GC softball vs. Newberry (West Campus)
2 p.m.
Intern 101 (113 Chappell Hall)
8 p.m.
Public observatory night (Herty Hall 405)
Wednesday, March 12
Saturday, March 8 All day
Spring Fest
Noon
GC softball vs Newberry (West Campus)
4 p.m.
GC softball vs. Barry (West Campus)
7 a.m.
Sophomore registration
Noon
Times Talk (Library 2nd Floor)
6 p.m.
Mansion Lecture Series: Dr. Rachel Shelden (Old Governor’s Mansion)
Thursday, March 13 Monday, March 10 7 a.m.
Senior and graduate student registration
7:30 p.m.
Guest Artist Series: Jeanna-Michele Charbonnet & Deborah Ayers (Max Noah Recital Hall)
7 a.m.
Freshman registration
9 a.m.
Spring Health Fair (Magnolia Ballroom)
7:30 p.m.
Student Performance Series: Jazz Band Concert (Russell Auditorium)
NOTE: If you would like to see any events on the calendar, please send them to colonnadenews@gcsu.edu.
Tune in to gcsunade. com/podcasts for more Public Safety Reports. 1 1
The girl who cried wolf
Feb. 14, 1:23 a.m. Sgt. Smith responded to a call near Parkhurst Hall about a couple, a boyfriend and girlfriend, who’d had a fight. After the spat, the guy left to go home. Later, the girlfriend sent the boyfriend text messages, saying she was being chased by someone while she walking over to his place. Sgt. Smith talked to the woman, who was visibly upset, and she admitted to fabricating the story because she was upset with her boyfriend. She apologized and said she did not mean for the police to get involved.
2
A pockeT full of brewskis
Feb. 14, 3:09 a.m. Sgt. Smith happened upon a guy who seemed to be lost outside of Napier Hall. He said that he wasn’t a student and said he was just visiting. The guy allegedly smelled of alcohol and was carrying two full beer bottles in his back pockets. He couldn’t remember which dorm his friend lived in. His blood-alcohol level registered .12. He was arrested and taken to jail.
21
31
*Incident does not appear on map
3
Reports obtained from GC Public Safety
smells like weed, TAsTes like beer
Feb. 15, 11:40 p.m. Officer McKinney responded to Foundation Hall after someone reported smelling the aroma of fresh weed. When he got to the second floor, he noticed the smell coming from a student’s room. The student gave McKinney permission to enter his room. The room reeked of alcohol, but no weed was found. The two male students in the room admitted to underage drinking. They were both cooperative and poured out the alcohol in the sink. The students were referred to the Student Judicial Review Board.
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Opinion Our Voice
March 7, 2014• Editor-in-Chief, Constantina Kokenes
All was well until the chocolate nation attacked...
Response to Yik Yak strife Racial slurs. Dating ads. Boredom. These are what consume the message boards of Yik Yak – at least in the Georgia College region. Recent events at GC have made this app a hotbutton issue. If you haven’t heard, derogatory racial comments aimed at children from the surrounding area were posted over the weekend. They were called “monkeys” and there were encouragements to “get up and auction them off.” Those who wrote these comments are protected by the First Amendment to say these things, which gives The Colonnade some conflict: We, not only as a newsroom but also as individual journalists, wholeheartedly advocate American’s right to exercise freedom of speech. However, we do not, in any way, condone what has and what continues to be said on Yik Yak. In fact, we support the exact contrary. We strive for equality for all, and we believe the types of speech on Yik Yak are regressive to the overall discourse at the this university because it isn’t true conversation.
However, we do not, in any way, condone what has and what continues to be said on Yik Yak. It’s half-conversations, things where any body can be anyone behind the veil of anonymity. A blessing in some eyes, but to us the opposite. The most troubling part of this issue is that these kinds of posts are still occurring. Although some have spoken out against these comments, others do not seem to care that they have and continue to offend others with these types of posts. Unfortunately, there are no repercussions for individuals who post offensive messages. The posts are made anonymously, and the page is constantly updated, which makes it a challenge to locate a specific post without taking a screenshot of it. Apps like Yik Yak, although funny at times, allow hate speech to spread without consequence. This further instills the idea that you can say whatever you want without being held accountable. We support your ability to say what you want to say, but not necessarily the things you say with that privilege. But that’s not the only thing to arise on Yik Yak’s board. Multiple posts looking for that special someone have frequently come up. There are unrequited folks: “To the girl walking into Herty with a grey sweatshirt and cream scarf. You’re stunning please date or talk to me!” Then there are others: “Can someone please tell me the name of the blond at the gym todayShe there all the time and no one knows her name with the f**king nose rign@” Some of the posts aren’t so clean. One post even mentioned a couple having sex in the Den’s women’s restroom. Others are crudely asking for someone to show them a good time. “I am one of the best p**sy eaters on the planet…I will take applications below.” Yik Yak was created to anonymously vent about their issues, not to degrade another ethnicity or try to elicit sex from other people. We are taught the three R’s for a reason.
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editoriAl BoArd
by: William Detjen
Letter to the Editor Student responds to GC Coalition letter To the Georgia College Coalition,
Don’t make fun of those at the gym Alex pAtAfio AssistAnt Ad mAnAger In light of the recent drama associated with Yik Yak, I reluctantly downloaded the application a few days ago. What I saw didn’t surprise me much. “All I want is a baked potato.” “If you wanna get down, meet me in the library second floor girls’ bathroom at 6 pm.” “F*** you, GC wireless! F*** YOUUUUU!” And, amidst all the asinine and hateful comments calling out “slutty” girls, “douche-bag” guys and the occasional professor, I saw a Yak that really hurt my heart. I’ve accepted that anyone who gets on Yik Yak and anonymously bashes their peers is cowardly, insecure and probably a really horrible human to interact with. If you have something to say, hiding behind the veil of anonymity is just depraved, but that’s neither here nor there. This particular Yak read: “To the guy benching with fivepound weights on each side, just accept the fact that you’re going to be scrawny for spring break and stop trying.” As an avid fitness enthusiast and someone who has had one hell of a journey in the gym, this really diminished my respect for the community of gym-goers I used to admire. The most common reasons
• names • address/ e-mail address • telephone number • year of study • major Only your name, year of study and major will be printed. • Unsigned letters will not be printed. Names will be withheld only under very unusual circumstances. • Letters may be condensed. • All letters will be edited for grammar, spelling and punctuation errors. • All letters become the property of The Colonnade and cannot be returned. • We are not able to acknowledge their receipt or disposition. Letters will be printed at the discretion of the editor-in-chief.
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why people ages 18 to 25 do not go to the gym involve fear – fear of looking stupid, fear of being judged and fear of others seeing them attempt new workouts for the first time. I’ve responded like a broken record that the gym is a place that accepts all kinds. That we all recognize that although we’re in a different place in our journey than the new guy benching 55 pounds…we were there once. And we were probably nervous, just like he is right now. And we relied on the compassion and assistance of those wiser and more experienced than us to guide us to our goals. To the author of that yak: Why were you standing around on Yik Yak making fun of people working out, when you were supposed to be working out? Where’s the logic in that? I want to send a public memo out to all the people who won’t come to the gym for fear of being judged: Leave your worries at the door. The majority of us at the gym are happy you’re there. Especially me. Lift on, spring break guy. We’re proud of you.
l etter to the editor poliCy The Colonnade encourages readers to express their views and opinions by sending letters to the editor at: CBX 2442; Milledgeville, GA 31061 or by e-mail at colonnadeletters@gcsu.edu.Readers can also log onto GCSUnade.com and post comments on articles to voice opinions.
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If you have something to say, hiding behind the veil of anonymity is just depraved, but that’s neither here nor there.
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In the email that went out to students through Bruce Harshbarger, it is mentioned that it is, as students, always our position to say “no” and admit and account for wrongdoing. With that in mind, I am writing to inform you what I believe you’ve done wrong. In your resolution, you bring forth the “Our Voice” section of the previous issue of The Colonnade. You use a quote to emphasize your message to students to act up and not shrug off intolerance; however, you’ve misused this quotation, taking it out of context to create a support for your argument. The “Our Voice” section of The Colonnade is a way for The Colonnade staff to voice its opinion on happenings involving their campus. Although at times they may be speaking as representatives for the entire college, in this instance they are speaking for themselves in relationship to a letter and situation they have dealt with. The situation, as I’m sure you’re aware having read the editorial, was focused on journalism versus support and freedom. The Colonnade staff had to make a difficult decision on whether or not to respond to and report offensive language used on social media that was brought to its attention by a student. In the end, it was the decision of the staff not to report on the incident for several reasons; most notably that it is not its position to stifle the voices of others. The quotation you selected, “We are all striving to better the future for the gay community, but hate
The men’s bathroom across from A&S 3-59 is terrorism. I don’t feel welcome here.
At first I thought I’d take my vents to Yik Yak but after all that’s going on I’m happy to have the Litter Box. How hard is it to swipe in at the library? Honestly, how many times have you people even been there? Dear Econ Kid, I miss you. I guess you think you are SOOOO cool making racist comments about ELEMENTARY STUDENTS on an anonymous website. All you are is a bunch a ignorant, pathetic, RACIST idiots who just happen to have been granted access to this school. Go look up the definition of white privilege. I’m tired of seeing all the racism that still exists in this world and people saying “oh, but we’re past that” or “we have a black President..we can’t be racist”. Grow up you morons! Text your message to (708) 949-NADE / 6233
Corre orreCtions orreC Ctions
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will always be abound, and sometimes, it’s not our place to say no to it,” is in response to the nature of reporting and journalism. The Colonnade does not suggest that it supports these actions nor is it ignoring them. The Colonnade staff believes that it is its responsibility to present information to the students and support their rights to speak. As evident by other pieces related to the subject and countless other articles on diversity, culture and inclusion, The Colonnade does not always agree with the ignorant statements of others. The context of this point, which you removed, is to say “no” when the question is to whether or not to report every offense that is ever made and whether doing so would support the First Amendment rights of the individuals. I do not mean to diminish the efforts of your group, the Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity or the Office of Student Affairs when dealing with these issues on our campus, but I will not stand idly by as a group, The Colonnade, is misinterpreted to make a point. You asked the GC students to say no to ignorance, no to offense and no to discrimination. As a proud student of GC, I will do nothing less than that. So if the question is, “Do you agree with the way the resolution was presented?” I will say “no.”
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Leisure
March 7, 2014• Editor, Lauren Corcino
Three student photographers set out to capture facets of GC campus fashion
Fashion, for me, is about context. Wearing meat on your body was fashionable for Lady Gaga, yet most couture items would look ridiculous if we saw people walking to class in them. To contrast and, in a way, incorporate this into my series, I focused on specific items that seem normal yet illuminate some sort of context of the person, setting, narrative or other item about the human experience. As can also be seen, all of my photos are candid with the person in the middle of doing something – walking, sleeping, eating, resting – because I think this also gives greater context to the specific item in their daily lives. Their context, and in turn the item’s, is not created, but rather captured and thus, more true. Further, I looked for motion in my photos as the nature of fashion is that it is always in motion. This parallel moves toward something more transient in that it leads us to wonder within the context of each image, the series and fashion as a whole, how we have come to where we are, and where we will go next.
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MARCH 7, 2014
THE COLONNADE
11
The word ‘fashion’ is a very broad, loosely defined term. It’s a matter of opinion of what’s hot and what’s not. That being said, taking a glance around campus, one might see anything from pajamas to business attire. The Georgia College community provides a unique view into the fashion of 2014. When asked to photograph fashion, I looked for people with unique style; someone who is wearing something that is casual yet stylish and characterizing. I enjoy people who wear clothes that sum up their personality.
After working two years in a high fashion shoe store, spending countless hours in H&M and comparing various fashion magazines with each other, it’s safe to say I have developed an eye for what works. Yet with all this background, I tend to use the runway as a guideline, and I’m always open to experimentation. The high fashion artists have to experiment in the first place to get the look they want, so why can’t the run-of-the-mill civilian? Georgia College, although not an inner-city school, has its fair share of styles that are sure to turn heads. As a photographer, I look for various modes: color, form, pattern and, most importantly, the person themselves. Certain styles look better on people with different complexions, body types and even facial structures. Two identical outfits will have completely different looks depending on the person. With this diversity in mind, I photographed two subjects in attire that is timeless yet beautiful because of the person wearing them. In my mind, the person makes the outfit.
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A&E
March 7, 2014• Editor, Scott Carranza
MARK WATKINS / SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER (Above) Elissa Auerbach takes a passing glance at the centerpiece of Visiting Newell Scholar Leon Johnson’s gallery, “The Deposits:Vestigial Enclaves.” Johnson used Milledgeville locals and Georgia College students to pose with mouthpieces for the photographer and professor Clay Jordan. (Below) The model, English major Mykel Johnson, is depicted with a mouthpiece shaped like an aeriel view of a 15th century fortress.
Newell Scholar, Leon Johnson, exhibits artwork created with the help of the Milledgeville community, GC art professors AmAndA morris Contributing reporter The music from a retro jukebox filled the air as students, alumni, faculty, staff and community members crowded the two gallery rooms of Blackridge Hall as the newest exhibit was revealed on the evening of Feb 27. The exhibit, “The Deposits: Vestigial Enclaves,” is by the Visting Newell Scholar Leon Johnson. “The Deposits,” which is is still on display, features two separate rooms housing a range of works such as photography and prints. All of the artwork was created in Milledgeville within the last four weeks and involved the community and surrounding areas in the creation process. “Leon’s really passionate about community building and really connecting people,” said Emily Strickland, a senior museum studies student and the curator of the exhibit. “It was a cool way to include Milledgeville and the surrounding areas into Georgia College and that’s something we’ve been struggling with since I’ve been here and I’m sure before.” In the smaller room of the exhibit, photographs of local community members, including some from
SARAH DICKENS / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
(Above) From left to right: senior studio art major Elena Henson points at the jukebox while sophomore political science major Carly Davis, stares at the jukebox with amazement at the Leon Johnson Gallery Feb. 27. (Right) White cups and plates glisten in the light that were crafted by the ceramic classes.
“I believe we can follow alternate scripts. I don’t believe we have to be driven by art’s understanding of priorities and materials.” Leon Johnson, visiting newell scholar Georgia College, line the walls. Each photo, taken by GC faculty member Clay Jordan, is of the person from the collarbone up staring directly into the camera, biting down on a mouthpiece. The mouthpieces, created by Johnson, are aerial views of 15th century fortresses. A correlation between the fortress landscapes and the body as a fortress is part of the artwork’s purpose. The description for each of the photographs says “Fortress” and then the model’s name, which further represents how the buildings of the fortresses are transitioned onto the body of the models. “It’s interesting, the fear and the fortress of the body, that he pulled
those shapes and shrunk them down and was talking about an individual verses a community and how that relates to his higher desire to involve a community in his artwork,” Greer Sims, a senior pre-law major, said. “I think that the relationship between the individual and the community with art is really cool and breaking down boundaries of language is rad.” The concepts of the art may not follow directly along the lines of what some art critics follow based on what the symbolism of art history has taught them. “I believe we can follow alternate scripts,” Johnson said. “I don’t believe we have to be driven by art’s understanding of priorities and materials.” These images serve as a sense of empowerment for the models. “Listening to what he had to say is relieving and just a peaceful feeling of not being alone,” Cynthia Stone, a senior art major, said, “There is community that comes in all different forms that you have to be open to. It made me happy - a really really good feeling.” Within the larger of the two rooms,
Vestigial enclaves page 19
MARK WATKINS / SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER (Above) A gallery onlooker listens to Leon Johnson’s artist lecture on Feb. 27. Behind him, assortments of prints and empty books line the walls. (Left) The mouthpieces used in the galleries photos are displayed, representing the fortress of our bodies and the fear we contain.
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THE COLONNADE
MARCH 7, 2014
by Sophie Goodman
Evan Ivey, junior rhetoric major, spoke about crime rates in Milledgeville during the Patty Cakes Performance Festival
CLAYTON ROPER / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER Clayton Roper transformed himself into Tabi, his cross-dressing identity, for an evening in Millyvegas.
How to girl
fresh Colonnade reporter takes a walk on faces the wild side as a Milly drag queen Clayton RopeR SenioR RepoRteR A middle-aged woman rushed out of the Golden Pantry in Downtown. As the door shut behind her, the woman stopped for a second and looked over her shoulder. The woman couldn’t comprehend what she was seeing. Standing at the counter was a drag queen. “Lord have mercy!” she said, opening the passenger-side door to an idling car. “Did you see that?” Inside Golden Pantry, the shocked employees were paralyzed with confusion, unsure how to handle such an atypical customer. “I’d like a spicy chicken biscuit, please,” the cross-dresser said, taking no effort to disguise her overtly masculine baritone. “Uh, what’s your name?” the cashier asked. The drag queen smiled. “Tabi,” she said, turning away to chat with her friends. That drag queen was me, Clayton Roper, but for one night, my name was Tabitha Piper. Before I go any deeper into my genderbending exploits, there are a few points I need to clarify. First of all, I consider myself a straight man, and I’ve had no inclinations toward crossdressing until I started this piece. Second, what follows is what I consider a social experiment in how a heterosexual man can experience femininity first hand. My dad was a Methodist master mechanic. My mother was a diligent clerical worker and the daughter of a Baptist preacher. For most of my life, I’ve felt like a jackass trying to blend in with a herd elephants. Girls are pretty. Boys are handsome. These were the gender axioms of my childhood. When I donned my fishnet stockings and tightly padded bra that night, I was violating deeply programmed gender standards that I learned as a little boy playing with Hot Wheels. Throughout this gender experiment, I held one fundamental rule: I would approach crossdressing with the utmost respect, reaching for as much realism as possible. While researching this project, I realized that cross-dressing is an honorable tradition, that has altered the tracks human history. During Moa’s rise to power during the early 20th century in China, a male spy named Shi Pei Pu fed vital information to the Communist element by seducing a French diplomat while posing as a female opera singer for more than 20 years. A critically acclaimed play called “M. Butterfly” is loosely based on Shi Pei Pu’s astounding ability to cross-dress. In the late 1800s, venerated stagecoach
“Throughout this gender experiment, I held one fundamental rule: I would approach cross-dressing with the utmost respect...” Clayton Roper, mass communication major driver Charley Parkhurst shocked the Wild West when, upon his death, was discovered to be anatomically female. I could’ve easily cheated by wearing the ugliest dress at Wal-Mart and prancing around campus like a Monty Python sketch, but what would I learn by mocking such a celebrated tradition? For advice, I contacted one of GC’s alumni and drag enthusiast, Steve Hulbert. Hulbert gave me one essential piece of advice: As a straight man, womanhood is beyond my grasp, and I can’t speak for transgender individuals after one night of cross-dressing. No matter how hard I try, I cannot speak from the role of a woman, and to do so would be disrespectful to my feminine peers. With this fact in mind, I called every openminded woman I knew and bluntly asked them to help me “be pretty.” I was answered with an overwhelming stream of support. In the end, a handful of my friends made my project a reality, and I spent more than $200 on supplies, enduring extended periods of physical discomfort and obtained a newfound respect for women and transgender individuals. Apparently, the first step was to purchase more than $50 worth of makeup, lotion and perfume. It wasn’t long before I was sitting on my friend Allie Banks’ floor, eating chocolate and sipping wine as my friends chatted idly about the best way to transform my square mug into a more delicate complexion. Eventually, we found Tabitha’s look, and with makeup complete, we moved on to outfits. “Be the girl that you would be,” Hulbert said. Following his advice, I looked for a punk ensemble that would reflect my normal stylistic tendencies. With matching black top, skirt, flats and leather jacket, I have to admit the final product was satisfying considering my lack of experience and resources. For two weeks I practiced my feminine grace, keeping my knees together and sticking
Cross-dresser page 18
Q: Where did you perform? A: The festival; it was called the Patty Cakes Performance Festival. [The festival] is a conglomeration of efforts by various universities around the nation. They bring whatever type of performance they want. Then one of the professors from another university will go down and provide commentary. It’s [a] very open forum. There was everything from interpretive dance to poetry to storytelling to puppetry arts. That performance conference reminded me of how much is love performance. Q: What did you perform? A: I did something a little different. One of our performers did a song that he wrote himself, and two others did a poem. I did an informational speech. I talked about Milledgeville as a community, and I talked about the crime rate here. I think the core of it is [that] I talked about personal responsibility in the communities where you live. Q: How did you prepare? A: The people who ended up going were myself, Mark Diamond, Logan Cook and Bonnie Queen. The four of us didn’t really prepare at all. That’s the funny part of it. We knew the performances we were going to do; we just took them out of [a] performance studies class and then put them together, drew common lines and practiced the night before we had to perform it. We were backstage about to go on when one of us was like, “Hey, you want to do it like this?” and [someone else said,] “Yeah, let’s do it like that.” It worked out beautifully. Q: Why do you like to perform? A: Because it provides a very unique window for other people to see me. I
SOPHIE GOODMAN / SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
do like attention, but I like it on a level that matters. I want people to see experiences that I’ve felt, things I’ve gone through [and] lessons I’ve learned. I want them, if they can, to learn from those things themselves because that’s how I’ve gotten to where I am. I want to share that with everyone. Q: Why did you decide to go? A: I remember several instances throughout my life where I had an opportunity to go somewhere and I backed out because I was afraid and I regretted it afterwards. So Dr. Dillard said, “Who wants to go?” and in that moment I decided [that] I’m going to go. There’s a quote that I really like, I can’t remember who said it, but it’s “Life begins where your comfort zone ends.” I fully believe that.
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MARCH 7, 2014
THE COLONNADE
15
Laugh at the skin you're in Underwear comedy group performs with birthday suits up front
BECKY SLACK / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER (From left to right) Comedians Joe Pettis, Andrew George and Justin Blackburn stripped down to their underwear during their stand-up acts at Buffington’s last Friday night.
William Detjen Contributing reporter The underwear-themed stand-up comedy show at Buffington’s last Friday night can be described as nothing else but sensual. Nothing was left to imagination as comedians hopped cheerfully on stage one by one with only a few scraps of cloth covering their bodies. It’s pretty hard not to spout a few bits of laughter when a fully grown man (complete with a thick beard and a soft layer of pudge) says with a deep, deadpan voice that he’s wearing women’s underwear and may or may not have just pissed in it a bit. Obviously, not everyone can laugh at the sheer ridiculousness of underwear jokes forever. This type of humor might not have quite clicked with every member of the audience, and admittedly, a few stale jokes left this reporter hoping for just a little bit more creativity. A few of the comedians had everyone consistently roaring with laughter, while others elicited a
few stifled chuckles at best. As the lengthy show wore on, these flops became more and more prevalent, and as the comedy drew to a close, it felt like everything had gone on just a bit too long. Despite this, the powerful gems of comedy gold scattered throughout the show made the viewing more than worth the time. One surprising aspect of the show was the amount of diversity among comedians. Men and women of various ethnicities took the stage without skipping a beat, and played around with their stereotypes to garner a few bits of extra laughter. The raunchiness didn’t stop just because a girl hopped on stage, and this definitely resonated with the audience. Kevin Hall, a stand-up comedian and member of the show, explained the reasoning for this. “We wanted to get a big variety of people,” Hall said. “It sounds kind of cliché, but that’s why we got two girls and a black guy for the show, because there are certain jokes that only girls and a black guy can tell, you know?”
“An audience member has to be able to laugh at these comedians’ crudeness and eccentric observations as well as appreciate the fact that they are doing their piece in just their underwear in a small bar in Middle Georgia.” Clay Garland, freshman theatre major The venue was pleasant enough, barring the terrifying moose head mounted on the wall that had multiple japes aimed at it throughout the evening. The kitchen was open until the show started, so many crowd members got to enjoy a meal with the entertainment. The bar was buzz-
ing with activity throughout the show and comedy fans could laugh as loudly as they wanted without a second thought. Caroline O’Neil, a freshman mass communication major, expressed her pain from laughing so hard. “While some of the jokes were really raunchy, the underwear was really funny, and I left with my stomach hurting from laughter,” O’Neil said. Her date for the night, freshman theatre major Clay Garland, was well-versed in the performing arts and comedy. “I think for someone to enjoy this show, [it] takes a specific type of humor,” Garland said. “An audience member has to be able to laugh at these comedians’ crudeness and eccentric observations as well as appreciate the fact that they are doing their piece in just their underwear in a small bar in middle Georgia. I really enjoyed the show and I hope that more stand-up comes to Milledgeville.”
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STAND to make their everyday KNOWN. www.facebook.com/GCSUFreedomFighters fight4freedomgc@gmail.com
16
THE COLONNADE
MARCH 7, 2014
Newell Scholar Leon Johnson values community art Mark Watkins senior reporter
and the job is symphonic almost, getting everybody together.
colonnade: How has your experience been as the Newell Scholar thus far? johnson: I’m benefiting from the luxury of really attentive support from the art department and Bill Fisher before the scholarship actually began. I was actually able to set the template in place during the interview process. Soon after, a decision was made, and we worked out an agreement. I was then the beneficiary of pre-planning with the art department, my host department. A lot of the lay lines were set before arrival. Part of what I consider the biggest chunk of creative labor is preparing for conversations, being prepared in terms of very clear proposals and a way of translating them to a range of potential stakeholders. I have to have a kind of economy about it if there is a hope to initiate with some urgency, so that there is enough time to incubate and then apply. I’ve got no hesitation to say that the engagement, one with the town, is complete – incredible generosity, willingness, eagerness, curiosity. I was able to start initiating and incubating relationships immediately. colonnade: It is sort of twofold, your experience at Georgia College and also in Milledgeville. johnson: I never understood that my primary responsibility in terms of the kind of work I was going to make was with the college. The college was a partner. The town of Milledgeville was a partner. Part of my responsibility was to be inclusive. It’s the easiest thing in the world for artists to partner with other artists, but I’ve got no interest in limiting my engagement with artists, at all. The degree to which the work might now be perceived as successful or rich or interesting is based on the inclusivity – a chorus, as opposed to a dialogue or a monologue, certainly. I’m talking to farmers, urban gardeners, metal smiths, wood workers, hunters. All our suppliers of everything we cooked with last night was local. … And then I’ve got the incredible support team that is the art department – Bill Fisher and his faculty. And then I’ve got my own team,
colonnade: I’ve noticed that you are incredibly collaborative, and a lot of the people that you collaborate with are younger. I’m wondering what’s been your experience collaborating with younger voices versus older? johnson: The oldest person I’ve collaborated with in Milledgeville was Fielding Webber, at the typewriter store, and what’s he? 91? 92? He’s represented in the images. Leander, my son, is 17. Most of my students are in their 20s. When I spoke earlier that I’ve got to have a tool kit, and included in the tool kit are translational
“I suppose I’m engaged in creative labor. I position myself as a sort of creative citizen ... To get closer to working with communities and systems.”
are led by the people that have been making lives uninterrupted. It might be described as a city in transition or reimagining, but there a people that have been living there making creative [work], raising families uninterrupted; they lead. Then it’s a question of identifying problems worth having as opposed to bringing your prefabricated art problems. You listen, and you partner. colonnade: So your role as the artist is— johnson: I don’t really think of myself as the artist. colonnade: As an artist then? johnson: No, I don’t. I don’t use the word. colonnade: So, what’s your— johnson: I suppose I’m engaged in creative labor. I position myself as a sort of creative citizen. But I tend not to use that [term] even though I’ve spent 25 years teaching in art schools, but theres a reason I don’t anymore. There’s a reason I quit doing that: to get closer to working with communities and systems.
strategies around making an inclusive team. There’s no special skills to work creatively with a 17-year-old or 91-year-old.
colonnade: So you feel you were separated in the Ivory tower? johnson: No. For the most part, I feel like it is a regressive system tied to eurocentric art history narratives and materials and practices. I found the art academy to be in many ways the most regressive, resistant system to public engagement.
colonnade: Could you talk a little bit more about what you are doing in Detroit? The idea of entering this city that is in a rough spot and trying to turn that around through collaborative initiatives? johnson: Very much in the same descriptors that I’ve used in response to your first question; the arrogance of artists coming to Detroit thinking they can save it I think is perniciously toxic if it is done in the absence of deep alliances with the community and the history of Detroit – the political history of Detroit, social history of Detroit. The strategies are much the same. It’s slow. You don’t arrive with some blueprint for art boutique. You enter with humility. You follow and
colonnade: Switching gears a little bit. So much of your work is through the medium of food. What brought you there to begin with? johnson: You know, when Dillinger was asked why he robbed banks, he said “It’s where the money is.” To feed ourselves and to feed each other, it’s a core principle. It’s a core legacy. I certainly learnt a lot at the table of my mother. This was in South Africa. There she was, a woman raising three boys alone, having to survive her husband, having to survive her father and having to survive the white patriarchal society of South Africa as a single mother raising three boys. So much of a sense of safety and wellbeing was the kitchen table. The im-
Leon Johnson, visiting newell scholar
MARK WATKINS / SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER Newell Scholar Leon Johnson doesn’t consider himself an artist but a creative laborer.
pulse to eat together – it’s ancient, it’s DNA level. I don’t see it as a special way of thinking about art or thinking about “How can food be manipulated?” It’s there for us in our DNA. And I believe, as I mentioned earlier, this idea of problems worth having, we’re facing ecological crises. We’re seeing corporations monopolize food production. We’re seeing corporations like Monsanto, in fact, poisoning and controlling. Again, it’s not just feeding, it’s political. colonnade: So how do we react against things like that? johnson: We grow our own food. Food sovereignty is critical and food
justice. We feed each other, and we grow the food ourselves, and by doing it we somehow protect a small parcel of our global territory. colonnade: I’m curious to hear your reaction to Norman Rockwell and the American idea of the kitchen table. Is it ubiquitous – the idea of the kitchen table? johnson: I think it’s been obliterated. I think it’s slowly been stripped as a right, as a birthright. I fully believe in it. I don’t think of it as sentimental. I think of it as a crucial birth
Newell scholar page 18
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MARCH 7, 2014
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SOPHIE GOODMAN / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER Jonathan Kung was the guest of honor at Newell Scholar Leon Johnson’s seminar about all things chocolate. Kung collaberated with Johnson to create two different chocolate dishes to accompany the seminar lecture.
Newell Scholar pop-up kitchen features Jonathan Kung as international chocolatier Michael Gillett contributinG reporter In conjunction with the Theatre Department’s production of “Roald Dahl’s Willy Wonka,” the endorphin-pumping world of pure imagination, Georgia College’s visiting Newell Scholar, Leon Johnson, hosted an event focused almost entirely on chocolate. The Brown Bag Seminar on Wednesday featured two chocolatey creations of Jonathan Kung, a Detroit pop-up chef originally from Hong Kong, served on more than 300 pieces of porcelain hand-crafted by GC art majors. “I involve food and convivial pleasures in a lot of the work that I do,” said Johnson, a native of South Africa who now lives in Detroit and is spending this spring semester in Milled-
geville. “My colleague Jonathan Kung was already headed out here so it was a natural opportunity for collaboration.” Kung and Johnson prepared a popup Chinese meal at the Brown-StetsonSanford House Thursday night following the reception for Johnson’s exhibit, “The Deposits: Vestigial Enclaves,” and an eight-course feast at Andalusia Farm on Friday night. Johnson discussed Dahl’s role as an avant-garde writer, an experimental form of literature that surfaces in many of his works. Johnson also showed video clips of American vaudeville performers he considered to follow Dahl’s model of avant-gardism. In this same spirit of experimentation, Kung created two chocolate dishes to accompany Johnson’s discussion — each featuring
Chocolatier page 19
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THE COLONNADE
Cross-dressing
Continued from page 14... out my chest to, as Allie put it, “Show off those boobs, girl!” Then came the most physically taxing practice of men’s cross-dressing: tucking. For the sake of taste, I won’t go into detail about this practice, but I will say that when all is said and done, I was flat-fronted as a Ken doll. Nothing remained but a constant pressure as my maleness was kept in place by a homemade apparatus called a gaff. If you must know what a gaff is, Google it. Finally, with the illusion complete, the time came for Tabitha to make her first public appearance. My first steps into Buffington’s were tentative. To my dismay, the place was playing host to an older audience that night. All at once, the reality of my situation fell upon me. I was standing in a sports bar in the middle of the Bible Belt with my legs shaved, nails painted and my boys tucked. My mind pulsed with terror. Weathered old men in camouflage crossed their arms and glared at me.
Newell scholar
Continued from page 16... right. I think we might be involved in different types of acts of reclamation. We’re going to take back the kitchen table. I’m coming from a city where 97 percent of the youth are eating microwavables and fast foods from gas stations and liquor stores. colonnade: I think the same could be said about Milledgeville, in many degrees. johnson: Poverty here is comparable. colonnade: You work through so many different mediums. I’m wondering if there is a lesson in that, of not working in a single medium? johnson: But again, your question comes from an academic template, doesn’t it? colonnade: It does. It does. johnson: I’ve spoken about why I’ve resisted that academic template and why I left it. By nature, we aren’t that. By nature. The man who fixes cars and bakes bread and builds a garden or fixes a roof – the mosaic of a good life, again, is a birthright.
Women old enough to be my grandmother looked me up and down and whispered to one another. Avoiding eye-contact, I quickly followed my friends to a booth, sat down and tried to ignore the scene I was making. Eventually, a waiter came to take our orders. I ordered a Cosmopolitan and handed him my ID, which clearly documented me as a man. When the drink came, my hands were shaking so hard, I couldn’t lift the glass an inch off the table without spilling it. Patrons continued to stare, some craning their necks or leaning back on their stools to get a better look. I never expected to be loved, or even accepted, but I had hoped for tolerance. Luckily, strange looks and confused mumblings were the worst I received. With the help of my friends and a few drinks, even these hostile gestures became laughable. After half an hour, the tension in the bar began to wane. A persistent handful of folks – old men mostly – continued to glare, but by this point, Tabitha had become a fixture in the moment. Like LGBT’ rights, I was here to stay, even if a some refused to acknowledge my validity. Thankfully, the Buffington’s employees
It’s not an affectation or a pose. Art schools benefit from those divisions economically. It just makes economic sense in a lot of ways – in terms of recruitment, in terms of homogenized faculty, in terms of feeding art markets, galleries, museums, curatorial practices, all that nonsense. It’s a good economic model. Every year art schools send hundreds of thousands of debtors into the world. Kids from Milledgeville or Michigan with $80,000 worth of debt and a toolkit I’m not convoked is the tool kit the 21st century needs. I think it’s a racket. A direct answer to your question is I firmly believe it’s fraud. colonnade: Do we find our own tool kit then? Do we create it? johnson: I believe you’re right. I believe to some degree, many of the tools we have to make, reinvent or invent. I believe we’re surrounded by teachers. I’m getting an apple pie recipe from a friend of Flannery O’Connor’s. We should take our lessons more vicariously, and I think it’s an honorable way of being a citizen. colonnade: The world is a classroom, and there is no classroom. johnson: I believe the current idea of the classroom is impoverished.
MARCH 7, 2014
served me with the same level of respect as any other customer. They, too, exchanged looks, but their eyes held no malice. To them, I was merely a docile anomaly who’d sashayed in off the street. After a few drinks and some encouraging laughs between friends, I was prepared to hit my next location. A Huddle House waitress’s eyes bulged when she caught sight of me. I wasn’t even through the door before my appearance turned the restaurant into a freak show. Sitting cross-legged at a table near the door, I inspired fantastic levels of internal conflict in the minds of everyone in the diner. A polite waitress approached our table and, with an anxious stutter, asked what we wanted. I ordered coffee. It was at Huddle House where I attracted the most negative attention. Customers scowled, not even attempting to hide their disgust as they pointed and mumbled. The complete disregard for tactical judging sparked another surge of fright. Unlike Buffington’s the strain on social norms did not lessen over time, but at the same time, the silent disdain did not build. The wide-eyed oglers seemed happy to keep
colonnade: In the sense that the average college student imagines, “If I’m not in the classroom, I don’t have to be learning.” johnson: Correct. And just look at the physical space of the classroom. It’s appalling. Why would anybody want to spend any time in there? They’re ugly. Fluorescent-lit holding chambers. They’re appalling. They’ve certainly not been considered as places of discovery and curiosity. They’re awful. They’re one step removed from Wal-Mart. Just look at them, they look alike. You walk down the hall, you know what I mean. Administrative offices not so much though; they’re prettier. colonnade: They’re very pretty. johnson: They’ve got things like wood conferences tables and books. colonnade: Nice mahogany desks. johnson: Nice mahogany desks. Power loves aesthetics. Apparently they don’t like it enough to give it to their students. colonnade: When I imagine a college classroom in my mind or a hollywood college classroom, it doesn’t look like the classroom that
their distance. I made it a point to thank the waitress for her excellent service, which earned me a reluctant but ultimately warm goodbye. After that, we were off to Golden Pantry, and you already know how that went. At the end of the night, I sat in the back of my friend’s car nearly laughing my wig off. My initial fears were gone, and I finally felt comfortable with myself, gaff and all. At that moment, I learned how a man can beat back the self-imposed tyranny of hypermasculinity and embrace femininity. With the support from a multitude of friends, colleagues and mentors, I scratched the surface of my own feminine side. Basically, I learned what social science has been telling us for years: Gender is whatever we – as a community – agree upon Hell, in one moment of sincerity, a friend even called me “almost hot.” All things considered, what more could a girl like me want? Riding down the street with my friends, I smiled quietly to myself and thought, “It’s fun to pretend.” Then, as if to punctuate my epiphany, the song “Pretty Woman” came on the radio.
I sit in. johnson: No. And we all sit in, have sat in and teach in. The classrooms that I’ve encountered in Milledgeville are like the classrooms that I’ve encountered in a hundred other places. They’ve not been really considered. However, every single provost or president’s office I’ve visited– different priorities. Anyway. I hope you print that.
a farm. We’re surrounded by farms. I’ve been here five weeks, and I’m cooking exclusively with locally produced. Why is Sodexo given a ten-year contract at Georgia College? That’s not a problem worth having, that’s efficiency, and that’s money. Why is there not a council of local farmers to feed the students? Why Sodexo trucking stuff in?
colonnade: I will. I definitely will. johnson: That for me is a glaring problem. I want the administration to be comfortable, but I’m much more concerned about the welfare of students who are paying fees being put in ill-considered environments for human bodies and intellects. It’s a real problem. It’s also cynical.
er.
The interview was over at that point, but as we were wrapping up, Johnson had one more comment to add. johnson: Something else I would add, and it also goes along with our conversation about the classroom. We are surrounded by land. We are surrounded by an incredibly rich history of self sufficiency by growing in Georgia and Milledgeville. This is
colonnade: Because it’s cheap-
johnson: And a corporate model loves the company of other corporate models. That’s important for me. Another omission when I look at how does a place of learning welcome its people and how does a place of learning build inclusivity. For me, every time I walk to my classroom, and I’ve passed the Sodexo truck unloading I ask that question, and I’m wondering why other people aren’t asking that question. Also from my classroom, I can see students streaming in to eat. This is not a critique of the cooking staff or the chef or the quality really, but it does seem to me a glaring opportunity that’s not been considered by leadership. Where’s the student run urban garden? We don’t need another bloody sculpture on a beautiful open plot of land.
MARCH 7, 2014
THE COLONNADE
19 Chocolatier
Continued from page 17...
SARAH DICKENS / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER (Above) Sophomore history major Lindsay Tallman gazes deeply into untitled artworks hanging on the wall. (Below) Printing outakes are hung in the gallery for all to see.
Vestigial enclaves
Continued from page 13... all of the pieces of art that have been created in the weeks since Johnson arrived line the walls and tables. Some of these include candid photos of the models. An impressive 500 pieces of porcelain dishware rested on a low-lying table at one end of the room. They were created specifically for the pop-up dinners that Johnson will be putting on during the rest of his time here. Highly creative, multiple course meals will be prepared by Johnson and his associate, Jonathan Kung from the Detroit pop up restaurant Kung Food. His appearances around Milledgeville have been dubbed Kung Food South and the dinner that was also on Feb. 27 was a success. Mobs of people flooded the dining location and vied for the opportunity to taste a unique cuisine. “Since I’ve arrived in Milledgeville I’ve found a real willingness to collaborate, share ideas, to make things together,” Johnson said. “I love the fact that
we were able to do this at the midpoint of my residency. I’m hoping that tonight there are a few more collaborators in the audience.” Johnson hopes to continue the community pop up dinners, specifically in the downtown area. “I would love for anyone that has any downtown real estate, like a storefront, that they would want to lend us for a night we’d welcome it,” Johnson said. “I’d just love collaborators downtown.” Johnson will also offer various workshops on bookbinding during his stay in Milledgeville. These workshops are free and open to the public, and all of the supplies will be provided to those that attend. Despite the tremendous amount of work that he has been doing since he got to Milledgeville, Johnson views it all as a worthwhile adventure. “It’s been an incredible labor of love.” “The Deposits: Vestigial Enclaves” will be open at Blackbridge Hall until March 28. For more information on the workshops, or about other possible collaborations, contact Carlos Herrera, Gallery Coordinator at 478-445-7025.
a touch of his own cooking style. “I decided on Moroccan-spiced French truffles and then I also did a French drinking chocolate with cardamom and chili,” Kung said. “I like to spice things up a little bit because my roots of cooking are based in Asia. So I have a little bit of Chinese, Indian and even South American influence in the drinking chocolate.” Following the discussion and a brief history of chocolate provided by associate professor of Spanish Myron Avila, guests were invited to try Kung’s culinary creations. “It’s really good,” junior theatre major Maria Barber said. “It’s like this weird mixture of the regular chocolate but then it has this spicy aftertaste.” “The chocolate today was absolutely fantastic,” Martin Lammon, director of GC’s creative writing program, said. “And to wash it down with more chocolate, you couldn’t get any happier than that.” Lisa McCollum and Baneza Munoz were two of the five art students who helped craft pottery for the event. With the help of their professor, Sandra Trujillo, the students spent more than 70 hours over the course of a week molding the porcelain pots and plates. “[Johnson] had wanted all handheld,” McCollum said. “We all just sat with some clay and started playing and came up with some products and we decided that was what we were going to make molds of.” The students crafted more than 500 pieces of pottery, 300 of which were selected to be showcased during the presentation. The dishes were then washed and used for the pop-up meal and the Andalusia feast on Friday. Kung explained what he meant by a pop-up kitchen. “We pretty much have these guerrilla restaurants,” Kung said. “I guess if a restaurant and a ninja had a baby, you’d have a popup chef. We serve either a meal or a day’s worth of food, depending on what the chef wants to do, and then literally clean up and disappear.” For Kung, pursuing the culinary arts was what he always wanted out of life. “I made the whole determination a long time ago that all I wanted to be when I grew up was happy,” Kung said. “And chocolate just happens to be a huge part of making me happy.”
Sports
March 7, 2014• Editor, Bethan Adams
Hamp’s Huddle
Crunch time for USA
ELLIE SMITH / SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER The GC cheerleaders perform lifts and flips during GC’s basketball homecoming conferencematch on Feb. 15. The squad competes in the Peach Belt Championship tournament March 8.
Cheer heads to PBC
The U.S.’s performance, overall, was subpar.
The 13-member cheer team competes in championship Derek roberts staff reporter
ELLIE SMITH / SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER (Top-left) Two GC cheerleaders encourage the GC basketball team during its homecoming match. (Top-right) Two cheerleaders flip during a time out. (Bottom-left) The 13-member cheer team finishes its performance with a collective lift.
The Georgia College cheerleading squad is preparing for its first competition of the year. On March 8, the Bobcats will travel to Columbus State for the Peach Belt Conference tournament. The GC squad placed first in 2012 and finished second in 2013. CSU, last year’s winner, has emerged as GC’s biggest opponent. Aiming to improve from last year’s performance, the squad is eager to compete for a chance at reclaiming the title. First-year head coach Amber Collins has confidence in her team and appreciates the extra work it is putting in. “They’re doing great at practices, they’re putting in extra practices, and at this point that is all I can ask. They’re giving me what they can with the time that we’ve got, so I’m just ready to see how they execute,” Collins said.
Cheer squad page 22
Senior leads RecSports, smashes records amanDa morris Contributing reporter If the thought of playing on five intramural teams, working at the intramural fields, teaching special education at an elementary school as well as finishing the last rounds of work in order to graduate–all on top of only five hours a sleep each night–sounds nearly impossible, meet senior special education major Lindsay Kate Hines. She is doing all of this and more. Hines is currently on five intramural teams that have collectively won 21 games this season: women’s basketball, co-ed basketball, co-ed dodgeball, women’s volleyball and inner-tube water polo. Hines co-ed basketball, women’s basketball and women’s volleyball teams competed in championships this week, and Lindsay plays an important role for each. “[She] is an incredible teammate, person and friend. She brings an upbeat attitude, fun and laughter to every team she plays on. She is COURTESY OF LINDSAY HINES Hines and her intramural team proudly exhibit their newly-won championship T-shirts. dedicated and always reliable to be at every practice and game,” senior
The Short Stop
USA, upon losing 2-0 to Ukraine, walked off the pitch at the sound of the final whistle on March 5. The match was hosted in the neutral location of Larnaca, Cyprus, located below Turkey and above Egypt – the easternmost point in the Mediterranean. Unable to answer Ukraine’s attack, the Americans fell before a miniscule crowd of 1,500 while their homeland watched from 6,500 miles away. The match was a friendly, a preparation match for the upcoming World Cup that is now less than 100 days away and has no bearing on the U.S. team’s Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) world ranking, but it certainly shows implications of USA’s potential, upcoming performances in Brazil this summer. The U.S.’s performance, overall, was subpar. Its effort was particularly surprising due to the side chosen byJurgen Klinsmann, coach of the USMNT.
Upcoming Games
Softball
Sat. March 8 vs. Newberry @ home, noon
Women’s Tennis
Sat. March 8 vs. Montevallo @ home, noon
Baseball
Sat. March 8 No. 26 GC @ Ga. Southwestern, 1 p.m.
Lindsay Kate Hines nursing major Callan Bennett said of Hines, who is her teammate on the women’s volleyball team and women’s basketball team. One of the reasons behind Lindsay’s love for playing intramurals comes from the opportunity for unique friendships that are open to her. “Tons of different people play intramurals during their college career so I get to meet all of these different people that I would have
Hines page 22
Quote of the Week “Truthfully, the team has taught me so much. ...‘Together, we’re all champions.’” – Erin Breedlove, GC alumni
Ukraine’s roster, instead of superstars, consists of an evenly balanced team. Although the Ukranians have been good for many years, they not have been able to produce enough substantial wins to earn a reputation of being considered an excellent team. The Americans, playing their top players and a second-string defenders, matched up with the Ukrainian side in a physical battle that cost the U.S. an early goal. America’s defense was drawn too far up into the middle of the field, allowing for a Ukrainian through ball past the backline. After a clutch save from Tim Howard, Andriy Yarmolenko shot the rebounding ball into the goal, exposing how poorly the U.S. recovers. Responding swiftly, the U.S., with the help of Clint Dempsey and Aron Johannsson, took control early in the second half with good possession, allowing Jozy Altidore multiple chances to score. Nevertheless, Ukraine regained its footing for its second goal. Howard made another brilliant save, but the attempt was followed up and capitalized on by Ukraine. The U.S. ended the match proving that its starting defenders are desperately needed and team-cohesiveness/offense needs to be improved. If the U.S. could not put a dent in Ukraine, a team that is not anywhere close to a soccer powerhouse, how is it supposed to make a valiant effort to make it out of the “group of death” (consisting of Ghana, Germany, U.S. and Portugal) in Brazil? Portugal and Germany possess unrelenting offenses with star-studded players who compete at the top international levels. Ghana, arguably U.S.’s kryptonite, is not to be trifled with as well, stifling the U.S. previously. Without its starting side and further training, it may very well be a painful process to watch the U.S. compete in Brazil in three months. Upon finding fluidity in its style-of-play and once its starting defense returns, the U.S. will be a formidable team, but until then, this team is not ready for the trials that lie ahead.
Notable Stat
21
The collective amount of games that Lindsay Hines’ five intramural teams have won this semester.
22
THE COLONNADE
MARCH 7, 2014
Tennis splits against Flagler
Hines
Continued from page 21... never been able to meet otherwise and plus I get to play with more friends,” Hines said. Outside of playing on these five teams, Lindsay also works as a supervisor for the RecSports program. She said she dedicates a large amount of her time to this program because she loves being able to work with people, take care of the players and make sure that everyone is okay. “[She] is a big part of what we do as a whole. It is very evident to everyone that she genuinely cares about the program,” co-worker Mitch Ward, a senior history major, said. “Everyone can always count on her to get her work done and can pick up the slack in other areas if she needs to. She is also a great ambassador for our program when she is playing.”
“Being involved in intramurals is one of the biggest blessings and being able to work for intramurals has been an even bigger blessing, honestly.” Lindsay Hines, intramural player
These experiences also have a profound impact on Hines, as well. “Being involved in intramurals is one of the biggest blessings and being able to work for intramurals has been an even bigger blessing, honestly,” she said. “I don’t think it gets enough credit.” Hines also student-teaches
third-grade special education at Putnam County Elementary School in Eatonton Working with children, especially those with special needs, is where Hines sees herself in the future. “It’s been a really awesome experience to be able to see how far a kid comes, even in the course of a few weeks,” she said. “To other people it may seem like something so little, but for them it’s a really big deal and since I do have so much energy and am really excited all the time I do get really excited for them so it’s a really great thing.” This year Lindsay was also accepted into a nationwide mentorship program through the Council for Exceptional Children. This program matched her with a special needs education professional that offers her advice on how to find a job or on the different special education laws or new issues that pop up, all through email correspondence and the occasional phone call or webcam chat.
EMILY WALLER / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER (Above) Freshman Macy Polk competes in a doubles match. (Bottom right) Senior Alex Schubert readies himself against his opponent.
GC women’s third loss, men’s fourth win No. 27 Georgia College women’s tennis team fell to the Flagler Saints 6-3 on March 2 while the men won against Flagler going 2-1 in doubles and 42 in singles. Womens’ doubles team senior Ivana Marevic and sophomore Katie Krupp won their match, making it the only doubles point for the Bobcats. Sophomore Taylor Powell was named the Peach Belt Conference Men’s Player of the Week after being one of the two GC players to win both his singles and doubles matches. The Bobcats were scheduled to play Armstrong Atlantic State University on March 5 but the match was rained out for the second time and pushed back to April.
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ELLIE SMITH / SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER GC cheerleaders put on a show during halftime of the homecoming basketball match against Columbus State.
Cheer squad
Continued from page 21... Members of the PBC only get to compete twice a year. Collins said the PBC tournament is good practice for nationals, the final tournament. “For some of [the squad], it’s their first exposure ever, so it’s good for them to get the competition jitters out,” Collins said. Instead of having captains on the cheerleading team, GC has four veterans who have all cheered for at least four years: Jacob Bloodworth, Michael Clanahan, Misty Heath and Kirstie Murner.
Even though GC has established itself as one of the top squads in the PBC, it is competing with a large disadvantage. Each squad can have up to 20 cheerleaders, and GC will be competing with only 13. Veteran cheerleader and graduate student Misty Heath said, “It’s a big disadvantage, [other squads] will be able to hold up more stunts than we will, they’ll have more tumbling, and they’re obviously going to be louder in their cheers.” Bloodworth isn’t worried about GC having fewer cheerleaders than the other schools. “I’m not nervous. I’ve been here before; I’ve had to do it multiple times. We’ve won before and we have a lot of experience,” he said.
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23
PBC pendant of honor GC Baseball team gave No. 1 fan Erin Breedlove pendant for unfaltering friendship and support Caitlin Carpenter Contributing reporter Tight muscles. Stiff joints. Muscle spasms. For Erin Breedlove, cerebral palsy is the best thing that ever happened to her. “It only enhances my interactions with the sights, sounds, and faces around me,” the Georgia College alum said. While she was in college, Breedlove went to as many baseball games as she could, treating them as weekend study breaks. The players, their families and coach Tom Carty welcomed her into the baseball family, and she quickly became one of the team’s number one fans. Breedlove said if it wasn’t for being “blessed with a few bumps in the road,” she wouldn’t have found GC or the baseball program. The players became some of her best friends, and she followed the team’s success as it made its way through the season last year. Breedlove said that every time she’d catch one of the player’s eye on the field, they’d grin at each other, and she would always promise them hugs at the end of every game. Two of her closest friends on the team, senior pitcher Justin Blue and junior right fielder Jake Sandlin, went even further out of their way to get to know Erin, and along with the team, Carty and the parents of the players, decided to reward Erin for her dedication and friendship. After winning the 2013 Peach Belt Championship, the team decided to present Erin with a pendant on Valentine’s Day last year that resembled its PBC rings. “[Breedlove] was always in our hearts while we were playing at the PBC tournament,” Blue said. “She was always tweeting us saying, ‘Win for me!’ and was at the bus at 8 a.m. when we left for regionals.” Erin was overwhelmed when the baseball team surprised her with the pendant. “It’s not often that a team is selfless enough to share in their championship rings with someone who didn’t take even one swing of the bat,” she said by email correspondence. “It’s pretty rare to have a squad of nearly 40 guys hand you a necklace on Valentine’s Day weekend, so I was certainly flattered.” To Breedlove, the pendant meant more than the baseball players could ever know. Although she will never be able to swing a bat or run the bases, her support of the team made her feel
“No matter what I needed, whether they knew it was a need or not, they met it, I was taught that the biggest support that anyone needs is to belong. I was always just one of them and that means more to me than any of them will ever know.” Erin Breedlove, GC Alumni
valued and as much a champion as they were. The team also signed a PBC T-shirt and gave it to Breedlove. Sandlin said Breedlove always let the team know how much she loved them, regardless of how well or bad the team was doing. The Tshirt was a way to express the team’s thankfulness. “I literally jumped out of my skin [when I received the shirt],” Breedlove said. “I’m so proud of this team and to have played even a small part in the success that they have and will continue to experience.” During her first three years at GC, Mike Chambers, the former director of Disability Services, served as her mentor, but during the latter part of her time at GC, Carty and the players were her consistent support. “No matter what I needed, whether they knew it was a need or not, they met it,” Breedlove said. “I was taught that the biggest support that anyone needs is to belong. I was always just one of them and that means more to me than any of them will ever know.” Although Erin graduated from GC in December 2013, she plans to continue to support the GC baseball team and attend games. “Truthfully, the team has taught me so much, but I think only a few words would sum it up nicely: ‘Together, we’re all champions,’” she said.
PHOTO COURTESY OF ERIN BREEDLOVE Erin Breedlove beams while sitting with GC baseball’s junior right fielder Jake Sandlin (left) and senior pitcher Justin Blue (above). Breedlove said the two baseball players are two of her closest friends on the team.
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