The Signal Vol. 87 No. 26

GA SENATE SEAT

ENTREPRENEURS

PETRA DURAN

His run for senator of Georgia after his run for house representative in 2017.

Georgia State students use their creativity to create successful “side hustles”.

Quarantined in Spain and missing the golfing green a little extra.

NEWS

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ARTS & LIVING

PAGE 03

SPORTS

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MEET THE EDITORS!

Instagram Live @GSUSignal Friday from 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

April 17, Creative : Production, Photo, Video, Digital

Quarantined in Spain

APR. 14- APR.20, 2020

VOL. 87 | NO. 26

WHEN HEAD COACH JESSICA STEWARD TOLD HER GOLF TEAM THE SEASON WAS OVER, MANY WERE DEVASTATED. PETRA DURAN WAS AMONG THOSE INTERNATIONAL ATHLETES WHO CONTINUE LEARNING ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD.

PHOTO COURTESY OF PETRA DURAN ILLUSTRATION BY MONTENEZ LOWERY | THE SIGNAL

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TUESDAY, APRIL 14, 2020

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Jon Ossoff’s continued journey to Congress

His campaign plan to make Georgia a purple state IMANI DENNIS Staff Reporter

J

on Ossoff ’s 2017 bid for the 6th congressional seat in Georgia was the most expensive House campaign in history. But what really made Ossoff stand out was that his campaign represented a glimpse of the progressive movement in Georgia.

Before Ossoff ’s career as a politician, he served as a national security aid in Congress where he witnessed what he described as “corruption and disappointment.”

After Ossoff worked in Congress, he took over Insight TWI, a documentary film production company, in 2013 as CEO and managing director. According to his campaign video, they’ve taken on “contract killers, crooked policy and ISIS war criminals.”

Ossoff said that his career in investigative journalism and documentary filmmaking also showed him how corruption is disrupting progress in the U.S. “It’s lies. The powerful and well connected have extraordinary access to elected officials. Then those elected officials do the bidding of major political donors while leaving ordinary people to fend for themselves,” he said.

Ossoff mentioned his competitor Sen. David Perdue.

“David Perdue, our senator, is the caricature of Washington corruption,” Ossoff said. “This is a man who sells access for cash, who tends to donors instead of doing his official duties and who trades stocks after Congress gets confidential details about an impending pandemic instead of warning his constituents.”

He was referring to the recent reports that Perdue, among other representatives, purchased stock in companies that sell personal protective gear. According to The Hill, Perdue insisted that he has “had outside professionals manage his personal affairs for the past five years and that he doesn’t deal with it on a day-to-day basis.”

Ossoff ’s 2017 special election campaign is regularly touted as the largest campaign in the history of Congress, in which he raised over $23.5 million.

Ossoff has learned many things from the last campaign that has prepared him for the upcoming race against Perdue.

“I learned first of all that the power of ordinary people banding together to organize and make change is massive.

Six weeks before I had gotten into that race for Georgia’s 6th district, [Tom Price] had been reelected by 24%,” he said.

Tom Price had to give up his seat because he was confirmed for a position as the Secretary of Health and Human Services for the Trump Administration.

Ossoff mentioned how the odds were stacked against him.

“No one thought I had a chance at competing, let alone winning. And [it] became the biggest congressional race in history, and I was narrowly defeated by 3%,” he said.

Ossoff said that this was all because of his supporters.

“Hundreds of thousands of ordinary people joined together to fight,” he said.

Because he experienced a historical amount of support in 2017, Ossoff plans on having an even more successful campaign.

“To win two U.S. Senate races in Georgia this year, we will be organizing the most ambitious, most massive, most powerful grassroots ‘get out to vote’ operation in state history,” Ossoff said.

Ossoff also plans on following the same formula from 2017 to raise money, by denying money from corporations and large special interest groups.

“We rely upon individuals and ordinary people giving $5, $10 and $15 to get our message out,” he said. “We will be attacked by shady super PACS. And we will respond with the resources raised from hundreds of thousands of ordinary people who want to build a stronger, more prosperous, more just America.”

Ossoff ’s campaign is also taking place during the COVID-19 pandemic that has already taken more than 20,000 American lives and led to nearly 17 million workers to file for unemployment.

Jon Ossoff smiles as he greets fans before taking a picture.

This also hits close to home for Ossoff whose wife, Alisha, is an OB-GYN in Atlanta.

“This is a public health crisis and an economic health crisis, and millions of people are losing their jobs,” he said.

“Right now, the Senate is taking a month’s vacation. Congress should be back at work remotely if necessary to ensure that Americans have what they need to weather this storm.”

Ossoff also called out Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp for his admission on April 1 that he’d only learned about asymptomatic transmission a couple of hours prior to his press conference.

In a tweet the next day, Ossoff criticized Kemp’s “excuse for late action” and called it “B.S.” “It’s inexcusable for Georgia’s governor who has been indecisive and weak and slow to plead ignorance about asymptomatic transmission of COVID-19 when both the CDC and [National Institutes of Health] leadership have confirmed 6 weeks to 2 months ago that folks who have not shown symptoms can still pass on the disease,” he said.

If Ossoff is elected, he will have to deal with the COVID-19 crisis as a legislator. His plan of attack is based on following medical experts.

“We need to follow the advice of medical experts, and politicians need to follow the advice of medical experts, and politicians need to stop deluding themselves that they are experts,” he said.

Ossoff also said that when politicians ignore medical

PHOTO COURTESY OF JON OSSOFF FOR SENATE

advice, it affects more than peoples health.

“Epidemiologists have studied and are prepared to advise us to respond well to a pandemic,” he said. “It’s when politicians ignore their advice and their warning that we find ourselves in more economic distress and with a much more severe health crisis than what was necessary.”

But Ossoff also sees the importance of holding officials accountable that do not handle this crisis well.

“We have to hold other elected officials who have gone along with Trump’s denialism and delay accountability,” he said. “This is our health we’re talking about. This is our prosperity we’re talking about.”

Ossoff also feels that Georgia State and other colleges need to support their students, especially when it comes to mental health.

“Colleges and universities need to offer students flexibility [and] support, including mental health support,” he said.

“Public health information to help keep students and families safe and have as much online education as possible for as long as needed.”

Ossoff ’s push into politics is the same as his end goal for his campaign: to end corruption in America.

“Political corruption is not an abstract idea that doesn’t affect us, like how hard … and expensive it is to get healthcare and medicine [or] the continued disruption of our planet that we have a major political party that doesn’t accept science,” he said. “All of these are a function of political corruption.”

TUESDAY, 14, 2020 TUESDAY, APRIL JANUARY 15, 2019

www.georgiastatesignal.com/opinions

Common sense will kill you before COVID-19 National lack of basic hygiene and common sense are fatal JANNEYN SIMMONS Staff Columnist

A

n outbreak of a mutated pneumonia-like virus occurred in China, tracing back to a November 17 case. The virus quickly spread throughout the country.

By the beginning of January, the virus —now known as COVID-19 —garnered global attention, as it spread from person-to-person, country-to-country.

The end of February would bring COVID-19 stateside, with its first confirmed case in Washington state. Pandemonium quickly spread, as Americans exposed their lack of common sense.

Racism spread along with the virus. Anyone from ill-informed college students to the country’s president framed the virus as a “Chinese virus.” Some politicians were even accused of referring to COVID-19 as the “kung flu.”

Across the country, Chinese Americans saw a spike in violence, as xenophobic rhetoric became popular among political briefs and public hysteria.

The beginning of quarantine and containment policies created an apocalypse. It began with partially helpful face masks, then became progressively more outrageous. Georgia State saw a peak in hysteria when a student interrupted a Signal meeting cloaked in a botched hazmat suit, cloth face mask and MAGA hat.

Many people went to the most extreme measures to protect themselves from “that ‘Rona,” but few took the time to use common sense.

Media outlets interested in maintaining their analytics relied on sensationalism to cover COVID-19. Few outlets and people were interested in finding and reporting on the facts of the case.

While the virus outbreak began in China, it is not a “Chinese” virus, and it’s not a product of assumed consumption of domesticated or wild animals. COVID-19 is a mutation of a preexisting virus. The reason why the virus is worthy of media attention is because this is the first global outbreak of the virus.

Contrary to hysterical conspiracies, the disease isn’t inherently fatal. The disease has a 2% fatality rate and mostly affects people with compromised immune systems. Children, elderly people and people with pre-existing diseases, specifically respiratory illnesses, are more susceptible to fatalities. Most of the cases are actually mild cases. The disease can actually be prevented by basic cold and flu seasonal precautions.

The CDC recommends washing your hands for 20 seconds, with hot water and soap. People who are sick, coming down with an ailment or recovering from an ailment should practice social distancing and wear masks to avoid the transfer of pathogens to

ILLUSTRATION BY MONIQUE ROJAS | THE SIGNAL

others, and commonly used surfaces should be regularly disinfected.

These are tips commonly suggested during the cold and flu season and the beginning of an elementary school year.

If the U.S. president had taken the virus seriously —before the CDC was warning that the virus was likely to spread stateside — and restricted air travel and mandated an increase in public sanitation, we could have contained the virus much sooner.

If Americans regularly practiced basic hygiene and sanitation, instead of waiting until a pandemic to verse themselves in hand-

washing, disinfection and the necessity of paper products, we could have contained the person-to-person spread.

Before making xenophobic jokes about bat soup and eating cats and dogs, think of your contribution to the COVID-19. We are having virtual parties, meetings and classes — not because someone ate a bowl of soup three years ago but because we decided to go to Miami this spring break. We decided to ignore explicit CDC advice and try to find a conspiracy in hygiene, rather than slowing down, washing our hands and socially distancing ourselves.

Why I didn’t choose an online college

Online education is an inferior product GSU students didn’t ask for BRONSON THARPE Staff Columnist

A

t the height of the dot-com bubble, many influential people in education thought that remote learning was going to be the next revolutionary invention. Twenty years later, it’s become increasingly apparent that online education is an inferior product.

The best institutions still stick to a majority of physical classes because it is what students want. Year after year, we saddle ourselves with debt, pay the higher prices and take cars, trains and buses to class.

Wouldn’t it be so much more convenient to sit at home all day, crouched over an outdated laptop for the sake of saving a few bucks? Sure, the convenience of online classes is tempting. But when it comes to undiluted quality of the

product, nothing beats being physically in place to learn.

You can go to the Georgia State website at any time and calculate the estimated cost for a four-year degree. Right now, for a full-time student living off-campus with no financial aid (all expenses included), this figure stands at about $105,000.

There are reasons that this number is so high, including the vast amenities that a physical college has to offer, such as well-furnished gyms, Olympic-sized swimming pools, enormous classrooms and common places for students to hang out, as well as the educational benefits.

If you’re struggling in a class, you can go talk to that professor in person. If you like, you can stay on campus all day, taking advantage of well-staffed tutoring services between classes. If you’re so inclined, you can make valuable connections with your peers, who are often willing to help if you ever need it.

Many students around the world who chose to pay for the physical experience of a university are now left paying

the equivalent of in-person tuition but with only the benefits of a free Khan academy video on YouTube.

New York University students recently demanded partial tuition refunds as a result of the degraded quality of their education, but leadership responses at even wealthy, private colleges have not been promising. It seems highly unlikely that we’ll ever see tuition refunds from Georgia State, even as the economy tumbles and it becomes impossible to argue that online classes are not objectively worse.

The underlying irony in this situation is that online classes are exactly what Georgia State students were pushing for in response to our current crisis. In March, tens of thousands of students signed an online petition to move classes online, and it seemed like the only right solution at the time.

But now that we’ve made our bed, we have to lay in it.

I predict that many students are in for a restless month of sleep as we try to navigate the hurdles of self-teaching in an online environment.

ARTS & LIVING TUESDAY, APRIL 14, 2020

www.georgiastatesignal.com/artsandliving

Balancing homework and entrepreneurial ventures How Georgia State students started their own businesses JADA JONES Staff Reporter

B

eing a full-time student is hard enough, but being a student entrepreneur adds an extra layer of stress.

Many college students have a “side hustle” while they are in school for a few reasons: to aid in expenses, to build a portfolio or simply as a hobby.

Everyone’s journey is different, but most student entrepreneurs share some of the same characteristics, such as a strong passion for what they do and a strong support system.

Although these students have found some success in their businesses, they do not have it all figured out, but that is only part of the journey.

FROM SERVING PANCAKES TO SERVING LOOKS

Coby Mack is a second-year student studying film and media. He began his photography business Macklenss in 2017 out of his house in Lawrenceville. He always had an affinity for photography, but he did not always have confidence in his work to start photographing people.

“I had a camera; I had bought all this equipment,” Mack said.

“I just wasn’t doing anything; I really wasn’t inspired.”

To support Macklenss in its early days, Mack worked at IHOP and O’Charley’s to afford his camera equipment and materials for his photography sets. He has since quit both jobs.

“No more pancakes, no more holding those hot plates. It feels so good,” Mack said.

Mack shoots around the Atlanta campus, usually around Broad Street. He also shoots from a photography studio he built inside his home.

“My favorite spots are definitely anywhere around Aderhold.

It gives me that real city vibe I like to sometimes capture,” Mack said. “There’s always so many fun little spots, so it’s like it never gets boring.”

DESTINED FOR THE EXPLORE PAGE

Mack uses his social media platforms only to promote Macklenss and to network with other upcoming photographers in the metro Atlanta area.

“I feel like my work is what it is because of social media.

Without it, I feel like no one would see my stuff. I get inspiration from other photographers seeing the stuff they do on Instagram and Twitter; it fuels my creative drive,” Mack said.

“Without social media, there would be no Macklenss.”

Mack recognized that he has come a long way since his first shoot in 2017.

“With each shoot that I’ve done, I feel like I’ve learned something new. Looking back on my old work, I really didn’t know anything. Now, I’m still learning stuff, but I know enough to get what I want done,” Mack said. “I love seeing it flourish [over] time. Now I’m seeing myself and I actually love the work I’m doing now.”

Mack says he finds a balance in managing his business and staying on top of his schoolwork by creating minute by minute daily itineraries for himself, including times for breaks.

“It’s all about balance, but it’s also about taking the time to breathe. Taking a mental break and just relaxing is really important,” Mack said.

Mack created a YouTube channel where he creates vlogs and films behind the scenes footage of the photoshoots he creates to further promote Macklenss.

ARTIST GONE ENTREPRENEUR

Nathan Maina is a first-year student at Georgia State studying media entrepreneurship. He owns his own clothing brand SCHMUT. Inspired by a friend in 2017, Maina started creating T-shirts, sweatshirts and stickers all with his original artwork on them.

Recently, Maina he has tried to incorporate video editing, music and accessories into his brand. He has also investigated learning more about the business side of his brand.

“One of the hardest parts would be, ‘How can I not make [SCHMUT] just art-based?’ Maina said. “I wanted to know the business side; I have the art part down.”

ILLUSTRATION BY MARCUS JEFFERSON | THE SIGNAL

STAGE FRIGHT

Maina began promoting his business by throwing the t-shirts he made onto stages of concerts he attended, with hopes someone would notice his talents.

He created a shirt depicting the members of alternative hip-hop group BROCKHAMPTON, inventing his own take on the band’s merchandise. After tossing the shirt on stage at the band’s 2018 show in Atlanta, frontman Kevin Abstract posted the shirt to his Twitter, giving Maina recognition for his work.

However, Maina quickly found that this method of exposure was not air-tight and proved to be quite stressful.

“I wasn’t enjoying myself the way I should’ve been,” Maina said.

Maina has since moved to social media to help him promote his business. Maina hopes to reach the point where he does not need social media as a marketing medium for SCHMUT but realized that it is not happening anytime soon.

SCHMUT’s success became a bit overwhelming, but the unwavering support of Maina’s friends turned collaborators allowed him to take some pressure off himself to effectively manage his business and succeed in school.

“I really started to value teamwork,” Maina said.

Maina hopes to continue the expansion of SCHMUT by using his degree to deepen his understanding of entrepreneurship while keeping his art skills polished.

“Learning moment by moment and being led by God, I try my best,” Maina said.

SOCIAL MEDIA NFLUENCER

Xavier White is a second-year student at Georgia State

studying psychology. He started his brand, NFLuence, in 2019.

The first half of the name stands for “Never Forgetting Loyalty,” while the last half is the influence of doing so.

White launched his brand on Instagram, and he keeps his followers up to date on releases and any other updates he has regarding his business via Instagram.

“I love fashion, and I love taking pictures, so I thought to myself, ‘I might as well model my own clothes the way I want,’” White said.

Many of White’s followers attend Georgia State, and every now and then, he sees someone on the street with an NFLuence shirt.

“The most rewarding part of owning my brand is going on campus and seeing people wearing my clothes,” White said.

A PIECE OF ADVICE

Jennifer Sherer is the director of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Institute at Georgia State. She weighed in on the role of social media and how its use by entrepreneurs can expand their business.

“I think it [social media] has broadened the definition of entrepreneurship and enabled it by providing a new path for individuals to establish themselves as entrepreneurs regardless of background,” Sherer said.

The director of the ENI had a piece of advice to give to students who want to start their own business or already have.

“You don’t need to have it all figured out before you start something, but you need to be passionate, resourceful and motivated to work hard,” Sherer said. “And don’t underestimate the power of being part of a community of entrepreneurs.”

SPORTS TUESDAY, APRIL 14, 2020

www.georgiastatesignal.com/sports

Quarantined in COVID-19-stricken Spain

Petra Duran shares her story and the moment the season ended MEADOW BARROW Staff Reporter

D

ue to the unfortunate events that have been unfolding in this country since March, many athletes across the country are having to sadly say goodbye to their seasons and return home with their families.

Petra Duran, a junior at Georgia State from Barcelona, is in quarantine with her sister back in her home country.

This was definitely not something that Duran thought she would have been doing for her third season at Georgia State.

Last year, Petra played in all ten tournaments, scoring an average of 78.6 points. This year, she only got to play in one.

Her reaction when she found out her season was over was heartbreaking.

“I just wanted to cry,” Duran said. “I’ve only played in one tournament this semester, and I was really excited because we were heading off to Arizona one week from the day we were told everything was canceled.”

Duran was also upset that her family would not get to see her play in 2020.

“We had Arizona and our home tournament, which my mom was coming to watch me play all the way from Spain, and then we had [the Sun Belt Conference Championships],” she said. “I was feeling better with my game. I just wanted to go out there and play and I feel like I didn’t get a chance this year.”

Georgia State later announced that its campus was going to be closing down for two weeks, before moving all classes online for the remainder of the semester. All students had to vacate their dorms. So, Duran decided to stay with one of her teammates, Courtney Lewis, and her family for four days.

It was up in the air whether or not she wanted to stay in the U.S. or return home. But after hearing rumors that conditions were going to get worse in the U.S., on top of the fact that her parents got a message from the Spanish government requesting all Spanish students in the U.S. to return home, she flew back to her home in Spain.

Making this decision was one of the most difficult things that Duran experienced during this event. “[It was] hard because in the states, I could still play golf.

But here, it was knowing that as soon as I landed, I could not see my family and that I had to do a complete lockdown. You cannot even go on community areas,” she said.

As soon as Duran made her choice, she packed up all of her belongings and headed off on her flight back to Spain the very next day.

She experienced surprising events on the flight.

“It was a bit weird,” Duran said. “I knew the consequences of flying without protection was going to be getting sick or getting someone in my family sick. I was wearing gloves, a hoodie, and a mask.”

While she came prepared to fight COVID-19 scares, others on the flight proved otherwise.

“Maybe 80% of the [people on the] flight was wearing nothing,” Duran said. “No one was wearing anything, and I didn’t get that. I was just so cautious of not touching anything or putting my hands on my face. I just didn’t understand why people didn’t know or didn’t understand what was going on, although everything was canceled and people were staying home because of this virus, like there must be something going on. They didn’t take any precaution.”

As anyone would feel when returning home after being away from their family for so long, Duran was happy when she landed back home in Spain. But she was also saddened by the fact that she could not see her family for a while.

“I was happy, and I am happy I’m home,” Duran said. “But I haven’t seen my family yet.”

When Duran landed in Spain, her dad was there to guide her with instructions on where she would be staying.

However, the very same day she landed, Spain’s government announced a rule that there could not be more than one passenger in a vehicle.

“I had to just say, ‘Hey’ and ‘Bye’ in a matter of two minutes,” Duran said. “We couldn’t even touch each other.

There was a lot of police officers everywhere because you’re not allowed to have more than one person in a car. So, he just

Petra Duran discusses her time in quarantine while being in Spain.

dropped off the car. I took the car, and then I drove to our house on the beach.”

For safety reasons, Duran had to quarantine away from her family for at least two weeks. Thankfully, she was never in this situation alone.

“I am in quarantine here with my sister, who landed from Michigan a day after,” Duran said. “She took a cab [from the airport] and came here.”

Duran says that she is still in contact with her parents and the rest of her family, but she has not seen them yet.

As unfortunate as this may be, Duran still tries to keep a positive thought in her mind.

“I feel like it was the best decision,” Duran said. “Because first of all, you had to be careful and wait two weeks just to make sure that we didn’t catch anything. Also, with online classes, and [being that] we’re a family of six, it would have been crazy [with] all of us in that apartment.”

While quarantining on their family’s beach house, Duran and her sister have found ways to keep themselves occupied while being on lockdown.

“I just started online classes yesterday,” Duran said.

“Last week, I was just waking up at 9 a.m. [every morning] to make sure that I at least kept a decent schedule. Then

PHOTO C0URTESY OF PETRA DURAN

we would cook, clean, do some studying and do some workouts. I also did an hour of yoga with my sister. Then at night, we would just play games or watch a movie.”

While staying in shape for athletes is not a priority during this time, Duran’s sister has been helping her maintain her health.

“It’s been hard,” Duran said. “[But] my sister is a field hockey player, so she helps me with her [workout] routine.”

Being over 4,500 miles away from a place she once called home, her teammates, friends and coaches are among those who keep her fighting.

They have played a huge factor in her golf career and being away from them is something that is not easy for Duran.

“We do [still] keep in touch,” Duran said. “We’ve done a good job to make sure that everyone is safe and that they have everything. I never felt alone at all.”

She wishes that everything that the world is going through will soon pass by so that she can get back to being with her teammates.

When asked how eager she was to get back and be with her teammates again, Duran made no hesitation.

“Wow,” Duran said. “From 1 to 10, a thousand. Can’t wait. Can’t wait.”

NEWS

6

GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM

How presidential candidate Nigel Walton was disqualified IMANI DENNIS Staff Reporter

T

he Student Government Association Election Commission’s investigation into presidential candidate Nigel Walton’s actions resulted in more than just his disqualification. It also raised questions about how those investigations are conducted and if they are impartial.

Both complaints submitted to the Election Commission against Walton that resulted in his disqualification were submitted by his opponent in the runoff race for university-wide SGA president, Kaelen Thomas, though it isn’t uncommon for competitors to file complaints.

As mentioned in a previous article by The Signal, the first complaint reported that Walton did not divulge the names of every member of his campaign staff.

Walton admitted in his GroupMe, “#WaltonfortheWin” that he would not give up names to the Election Commission.

“Also, I have to provide names … I’m not giving them everyone’s tho [sic],” he said in screenshots provided by Thomas in the complaint.

In an interview with The Signal, Walton explained that he did not want to give everyone’s names because his GroupMe is filled with supporters as well, and he only felt it necessary to give the Election Commission the list of people who are actually working on his campaign.

According to emails between Walton and members of the Election Commission, the Election Commission requested direct access to the GroupMe, to be added as members, instead of screenshots.

Walton replied that he did not want to allow them access, for his “privacy and that of his campaign staff.”

Walton received in response an email from Speaker Pro Tempore and Election Commission board member Terry Fye, that Walton “[could not] interfere in any way with the election commission investigating a complaint.”

Walton said that he also received a call from Fye, in which Fye told him, if he did not give him access to the GroupMe, he could be completely disqualified from the race.

In an interview with The Signal, Fye verified that this phone call did occur, and that he did tell Walton that if he did not give access to the GroupMe, it would be a violation. “[Walton] told me that he was concerned about his privacy, so I did tell him I would minimize my involvement,” Fye said.

Walton gave the Election Commission access to his account on April 2.

Cassie Turner, SGA Election Commission Chair, said that the Election Commission did not ask Thomas how he received the screenshots submitted with the complaint from Walton’s GroupMe. “The information from [Thomas] was submitted via the Election Complaint form and later authenticated by the Election Commission,” she said.

According to SGA Atlanta Advisor Gail Sutton, candidates must comply with any request from the election commission, including allowing them access to a GroupMe. The second complaint alleged that Walton attempted to bribe one of the other two presidential candidates who did not make it to the runoff, Carlos Porter, for his support. The complaint mentioned that Walton was offering Porter the opportunity to work with him on a “pseudo-cabinet” in next year’s administration.

The Election Commission found that Walton violated Article 12, Section 2 of the SGA Election Code which prohibits candidates from falsifying campaign documents.

They also found in reference to the second complaint that Walton violated Article 6D of the SGA Election Code, which states that “No person shall offer anything tangible or intangible of value … to any voter to affect the student’s vote.”

Walton said that he was not offering Porter a seat on a “pseudo cabinet.”

“I asked him ‘Will you join me?’ not, ‘Will you join the cabinet?’” he said.

A screen recording of Instagram messages shows Porter asking Walton, “How would you specifically need my help? I’m still deciding if I am going to support a candidate.”

Walton responded, “To be honest, I just don’t need Perimeter students to vote for me, I need their perspective in the room. I don’t have the experience as a Perimeter student, but I need their voices in the room.”

Nigel Walton at this year’s annual SGA debate hosted by The Signal.

Although the complaint alleges Walton bribed Porter, Thomas filed the complaint, not Porter, according to the SGA complaint journal provided by the Election Commission.

When asked if Turner or any other commission members asked Porter why he did not report Walton’s accused bribery himself, she responded, “No information regarding Carlos Porter was provided in the Election Complaint form submitted by Kaelen Thomas.”

Both complaints are considered Class A Violations, or serious offenses, which resulted in Walton’s disqualification from the run-off election.

When Walton appealed the Election Commission’s decisions with the Student Judicial Board on April 3, the appeal was denied the same day.

SJB Chief Justice Gavin Hall said that the hearing for the appeal happened so quickly because everyone’s schedule allowed it.

“There is no exact formula or requirement for how quickly the hearing panel can/must review the appeal,” Hall said. “In most cases, we ask for up to three days to review … In this case, the justices’ schedules allowed them to review the case that day, allowing for SJB to provide a more timely response.”

The panel consisted of Dawnyale Allen, Richard Charles and Nicole Gipson.

Allen, as a reviewer of the case and the Student Judicial Board SGA Liaison Chair, supported the decision by the election commission to disqualify Walton in his appeal case.

According to sources, Allen and Thomas have a close relationship.

Allen posted a photo of herself with Thomas, on September 26, 2019 on her public Instagram.

The caption reads, “Happy escape the womb day to my better working half. Mister Speaker (Atlanta Campus) it’s been a pleasure working alongside you thus far and I look forward to this year whatever the future has to entail.”

Allen also used to work for SGA as the office assistant. An SGA official from the Atlanta campus said that during her time there, she spent much of her time in the office with Thomas.

“Their relationship was close to the point that I would consider them very close friends,” an SGA official said.

Hall said that he “did not personally know the extent of any relationship that student justices may or may not have with members of SGA or any other students/student organizations.”

He also added that “student justice training includes information about impartiality and objectivity to ensure that the facts of the case

PHOTOS BY SHEL LEVY | THE SIGNAL

are accurately applied to the policy.”

According to Hall, justices do have the ability to recuse themselves and remove themselves from a case and they are aware of that option if they feel they have a relationship that will affect their decision on the case.

“Every student justice has the opportunity and is encouraged to recuse themselves if they feel that they cannot make a decision without bias. Additionally, no single justice makes a decision on the appeal,” Hall said.

When asked about the case and her relationships with SGA candidates, Allen declined to comment.

“Unfortunately due to my own code of conduct, FERPA, and a few other things that regulate myself and the board I can’t make any comments,” she said in an email.

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA, is a federal law that protects the privacy of student education records.

However, this case did not pertain to student records and therefore does not apply to FERPA regulations.

The Signal attempted to speak with Thomas directly and though he was not available, Ira Livnat, Thomas’ campaign manager, said he could speak on his behalf.

Livnat said that Walton’s GroupMe screenshots were provided to them by someone from Walton’s campaign that did not feel comfortable submitting the complaint themselves due to fear of being attacked online.

“Someone from Nigel’s campaign saw what exactly happened and what was said, and then sent it over the campaign because they realized that something suspicious was going on,” Livnat said.

When asked why Porter chose not to file the bribery complaint against Walton, Livnat said that he could not speak on what exactly Porter told the campaign or Thomas, but that “there was a sentiment of private support between one student to another.”

After that, there was conversation between Porter and Thomas about the messages that Walton sent.

“When that was mentioned, it was decided that someone should file a complaint [against Walton],” Livnat said.

He said that Porter expressed that he was “on the road” and could not file the complaint himself but ultimately “it was decided that someone should file a complaint [against Walton].”

Despite attempts by The Signal, Porter did not respond to a request to comment.

TUESDAY, APRIL 14, 2020

THE SIGNAL

7

SGA Election Commission and Student Judicial Board mismanage election BROOKLYN VALERA News Editor

A

week ago, Georgia State’s Student Government Association reported an election disqualification, but what happens when another candidate is accused of the same infraction?

April 3, two complaints filed by SGA President-elect Kaelen Thomas against SGA presidential candidate Nigel Walton — both resulted in Walton’s disqualification from the run-off election.

According to the SGA complaint journal, Walton committed two class A violations: bribery and falsifying campaign documents. The Election Commission made the decision to disqualify Walton for each violation separately.

April 6, The Signal released an investigation into Walton’s disqualification. The Election Commission demanded entry into Walton’s campaign GroupMe to prove he didn’t divulge the names of all his campaign members and the Student Judicial Board denied Walton’s appeal on the bribery the same day he filed it without speaking to him.

The SJB violated Article 7 Section 4(A)(2) of the SJB Bylaws that state, “Justices are responsible for hearing the facts of the cases and listening to both sides carefully, so that they may understand the situation.”

In an interview with The Signal, when Walton was asked if he heard from the SJB, he replied, “I have not.”

That same day, April 3, two complaints were also filed against Thomas, exactly 1 hour after Walton’s disqualification.

Kaelen Thomas at this year’s annual SGA debate hosted by The Signal.

The first complaint against Thomas was filed by Tyshawn Tucker. Thomas was accused of campaigning while suspended due to a class B violation.

According to the SGA complaint journal, Thomas was charged with a class B violation as a result of committing two class C violations.

The Election Commission prohibited Thomas from campaigning for 92 hours even during the appeal process.

The next day, the commission told Thomas he was free to campaign during the appeal process.

After submitting the violation as an appeal to the SJB, they found Thomas responsible for the class C violation but pointed out that the Election Commission made an error in giving him the class B violation.

According to the SGA Election Code, “Three class C violations shall constitute a class B violation and are then subject to class B penalties.”

The SJB reported that Thomas only deserved a 48-hour suspension rather than the given 92 hours.

SGA Advisor Boyd Beckwith asked the commission “whether both class C offenses were to still stand since the SJB accepted both class C violations as valid.”

The Election Commission realized that Thomas only served one 48-hour suspension out of his two class C violations before they gave him the green light to continue campaigning — when he should have served a second 48-hour ban on campaigning.

Due to the Election Commission’s decision to allow Thomas to continue campaigning after only one suspension, they found him not responsible for this complaint because Thomas was under the impression that he was clear to do so.

Therefore Thomas suffered no penalties because of an error by the Election Commission.

The second complaint was submitted by Makeeda Winkle, a Georgia State student.

Winkle reported that “Thomas neglected to inform the board of all his campaign members, including having his link sent to multiple group chats among Georgia State students.”

A lack of notification of campaign members was the same violation Walton was disqualified for.

“Tyshawn and Makeeda [are being contacted] for further information and the election commission is investigating the matters,” SGA Atlanta Advisor Gail Sutton said on April 6.

According to the complaint journal, Chief Election Commissioner Cassie Turner responded to the complaint on April 6 through the Panther Involvement Network where it was submitted. This response reportedly notifies the complainant’s student email, according to Speaker Pro Tempore and Vice-Chair of Marketing Terry Fye. “Cassie contacted her via her student email as well as submitting a comment on the election complaint asking for more evidence. That comment normally sends an update … so she should have been able to see it,” Fye said.

However, in an interview with The Signal, Winkle said that she was not contacted by the Election Commission.

It was then proven in an email shared with The Signal by the Election Commission that they mistakenly emailed Winkle’s Georgia State work email rather than her student email.

“I see that now … But still, that shows we contacted her on both ends,” Fye said.

Due to this miscommunication, “The Election Commission has determined through this investigation to rule this complaint as inconclusive due to lack of evidence and clarity from the [complainant],” the complaint journal states.

According to Fye, if they did receive the evidence from Winkle in time that showed Thomas did in fact lie about his campaign members, Thomas would’ve been given the same treatment as Walton.

Thomas would’ve received a class A violation and would’ve been disqualified from the race.

According to Article 12 Section 3B of the SGA Election Code, “In the case of disqualification or failure to accept a position by the elected candidate any time prior to taking office, the candidate with the next highest number of votes will be declared as the elected officer.”

If Walton and Thomas were both disqualified, Nahom Taye would have become the SGA president-elect, according to Fye. Thomas won’t have to appeal the second class C violation to the SJB because he didn’t receive any sanctions based on the Election Commission’s decisions.

However, in Walton’s cases, the SJB and the Election Commission violated the SGA Bylaws when they allowed the Atlanta campus SJB to decide on the appeal.

According to the SGA Bylaws, “Appeals to Election Commission decisions shall be made to the Student Judicial Board on each campus for campus-specific elections, and the SJB on the campus of the Chief Election Commissioner for the president’s seat.”

Chief Election Commissioner Cassie Turner is a student on the Georgia State Newton campus. Therefore, the Perimeter SJB has jurisdiction over all appeals made by the SGA presidential candidates during this election.

As a result of this investigation, The Signal finds that the Election Commission made errors to Thomas’ advantage and the SJB made errors to Walton’s disadvantage.

However, the SJB’s violation of the bylaws extends even further, since all appeals have taken place under this violated standard — throughout the election.

Despite all of this, the Election Commission has confirmed that the race is now over and Kaelen Thomas PHOTOS BY SHEL LEVY | THE SIGNAL is the president-elect for the 91st administration.

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