NEWS • 03
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SPORTS • 11
ENTERTAINMENT • 15
PERSPECTIVES • 19
As student body grows, Former Chief Justice Sears Football loses to Lambuth in Black Box Comedy Festival Studies show that alcohol class availability dwindles. headlines Constitution Day. second game of the season. promises huge laughs. could prolong your life.
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SIGNAL
VOL. 78 • ISSUE 4 • SEPTEMBER 14, 2010 REGISTER ONLINE FOR BREAKING NEWS AT
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Georgia State student, roommate killed By LASHONDA EDWARDS Staff Writer Samuel Blizzard Jr., a 21-yearold Georgia State student., and his roommate, 26-year-old Calvin Streater, were both shot and killed in their apartment complex over Labor Day weekend. WSB-TV reported that a friend found the two men dead in their apartment home in the Station’s Richmond Hill apartments at the 1700 block on Richmond Circle. Fulton County Police told WSBTV that witnesses said the two men were last seen attending Atlanta’s annual Black Gay Pride event that evening before the double homicide occurred. Despite witnesses’ observations, Blizzard’s father, Samuel Blizzard Sr., told R2O off-camera that his son did not attend any of the Black Gay Pride events and that he may have been studying when the fatal shooting happened. “The men were shot execution style. Streater had a gunshot wound to the head. Blizzard’s body is still being investigated. Autopsy results have not come in,” said Mark Guilbeau, senior investigator for the medical examiner’s office. “After observing the crime scene, police did not find any evidence of possible forced entry, therefore the victims may have known their killer.” Police are still working on the investigation, but no arrests have been made. Blizzard, originally from Spring Valley, Va., was a senior finishing his last year at Georgia State. He had plans to pursue a master’s degree. “This is not the first student to die while attending Georgia State University. In fact, not too long ago an athlete died after being hit by
a fallen light pole on the school’s campus,” said Elisha Jarrett, Blizzard’s academic advisor. “Although several students have died I am not aware of how the school handles student deaths.” Anitra Y. Patrick, Georgia State’s Student Assistance Coordinator, would not say much about the incident. “We don’t have permission from Blizzard’s parents to release any information regarding the details of the shooting or his funeral,” she said. However, Patrick’s secretary did admit that Georgia State has hosted memorials for students in the past and usually will send a school official to student funerals to pay the school’s respects. Earlier this year, 20-year-old Georgia State Student Maxwell Fiandt was shot outside of his Pencil Factory apartment on Decatur St. Lt. Keith Meadows told Fox 5 News, “One of Fiandt’s roommates heard a scuffle outside their apartment seconds before Fiandt was shot by two males,” said Lt. Keith Meadows, talking to Fox 5 News. “They discovered a stash of marijuana in Fiandt’s bedroom… he had been selling drugs out of his bedroom to an unknown number of people.” Georgia State also remained tightlipped about Fiandt. Family and friends held a candlelight vigil in his memory. Georgia State has not yet said if they will send a representative to Blizzard’s funeral or if they would host a memorial. According to R2O, his funeral took place on Sept. 11. The location of the funeral is unknown. Streater’s funeral information also has not been released.
Rod McCullom Georgia State student Samuel Blizzard Jr. was killed over Labor Day weekend, along with his roommade.
Kayla Rand Money just doesn’t go as far these days with more and more budget cuts going into effect.
The price keeps rising By DANIEL BEAUREGARD News Editor Over the past few years, Georgians have seen a drastically dwindling budget, and in order to deal with the shortfall, the state legislature has been forced to make cuts in several areas, including education. This past year alone, the legislature cut $227 million out of the higher education budget, which in turn forced many higher learning institutions to raise tuition, in some cases up to $500 more. According to the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit think-tank, as the state begins its 2011 fiscal year, it is facing a potential budget shortfall of between $413 million and $613 million. This shortfall is on top of the $2.5 billion in budget cuts already implemented since fiscal year 2009. Among those cuts is the $227 million slashed from the higher education budget. Georgia State was one of the schools that saw its tuition rise by around $500 this year, and it is likely that students may see it rise again over the next few years unless legislators are able to make up for the budget gap. The Georgia Board of Regents, the group that manages Georgia’s colleges and ultimately makes decisions about tuition hikes, has submitted their budget for fiscal year 2012, along with reduction plans of 4 percent, 8 percent and 10 percent for the current fiscal year as well as a 10 percent reduction plan for the next year. “We don’t really know what our tuition will look like for fiscal year 2012 because the tuition process is integrally tied to the budget process, and we will not have
a state budget appropriation until April of 2011,” Associate Vice Chancellor for Media and Publications for the Board of Regents John Millsaps said. According to a study done by the Georgia State’s Fiscal Research Center, a branch of the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia is expected to face an estimated budget shortfall of around $1.8 to $2 billion dollars, up from the $1.6 billion shortfall faced for this fiscal year. Georgia’s federal stimulus dollars also expire in 2012 and many speculate that fiscal 2012 could be the toughest year Georgia has seen in quite some time. 2010 is an election year and it’s likely that the election of a new governor will play an important role in how the budget is decided. “Many, including legislators and the media, are saying that 2012 is going to be Georgia’s toughest year yet…While the University System has already phased out most of the stimulus funding from its budget, we can still expect additional reductions in fiscal year 2012, including potential reductions to help offset the loss of federal stimulus funds in other areas of state government,” Millsaps said. Students at Georgia State have been voicing their concerns. Among them are members of the Georgia Students for Public Higher Education. The group, formed in late 2009 to protest fee increases by the Georgia Board of Regents, came out in force this past May to protest at the Capitol. Also at the Capitol to protest the tuition hikes this past May was James Dutton, President of the Georgia State Student Government Association. Instead of standing outside
and protesting, Dutton and several other students went in and met with legislators. “We spoke with them as votes, the future leaders of the state and as serious, professional adults, and told them our side of the issue,” Dutton said. Dutton said that even though he disagrees with the tuition hikes he knows that they’re a necessary evil in some cases, but he prefers to take a more diplomatic line and try to explain how such moves would be bad for legislators politically. “Of course, protesting in front of the building seemed much more fun than sitting in high-backed chairs wearing suits, but someone has to do it…that isn’t to say we’re against people protesting,” Dutton said. “When [the legislators] could see the ‘less civil’ response they were going to get, and could compare it to the ‘civil’ response they were getting from us, they were much more inclined to speak openly to us.” More and more people are voicing their concerns about the problems facing Georgia’s higher learning institutions. As funding is cut, Millsaps said that part of the problem is how to maintain academic quality. “After all other measures have been taken including hiring freezes, layoffs, cutting travel and operating expenses, increasing employee healthcare costs, finding efficiencies, the remaining source to help offset reductions and maintain academic quality is through tuition,” Millsaps said, also making a point to explain that currently state funding for each individual is around $6,000, down from around $8,000 in fiscal year 2001.