The Signal Vol. 86 No. 7

VOL. 86 | NO. 7

OCT. 2 - OCT. 9, 2018

The Signal

85

THE 85TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL ISSUE

NEWS

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GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM

BLOTTER SEPT. 22

SEPT. 28

‘Tis but a scratch

What new club is this?

A Georgia State student was arrested on a charge of driving with a suspended license at the Piedmont North parking deck after a hit-and-run accident.

SEPT. 24

Your friends at the library plaza are thinking of you <3

A Georgia State student was arrested on a charge of marijuana possession at T Deck.

Six Georgia State students were reported for suspicious activity at M Deck at 12:20 a.m.

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Daniel Varitek

Coding isn’t just for CIS majors

Editorial NEWS EDITOR Will Solomons

editor@georgiastatesignal.com executive editor (atlanta) Vacant executive editor (perimeter) Vacant

It was reported that a Georgia State student violated the student conduct code at the University Commons.

news@georgiastatesignal.com

ASSociate NEWS EDITOR Natori Spence news2@georgiastatesignal.com OPINIONS EDITOR Vacant opinions@georgiastatesignal.com associate oPINIONS EDITOR Vacant opinions2@georgiastatesignal.com ARTS & LIVING EDITOR Sydney Bloeme

When you forget to get Mom’s signature

living@georgiastatesignal.com

ASSociate ARTS & Living EDITOr Samuel Puckett living2@georgiastatesignal.com SPORTS EDITOR Jerell Rushin sports@georgiastatesignal.com ASSociate SPORTS EDITOR Vacant sports2@georgiastatesignal.com copy editor Vacant copy@georgiastatesignal.com

A Georgia State student was arrested on a charge of forgery in the first degree at Student Center West. A trespass warning was issued to the person.

Production production editor Devin Phillips

ILLUSTRATION BY EVAN STAMPS | THE SIGNAL

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Survivors and supporters walk in the Georgia 2-Day Walk for Breast Cancer in honor of those affected by breast cancer on Sept. 30, 2018.

productions@georgiastatesignal.com Associate production editor Vacant production2@georgiastatesignal.com

PHOTOGRAPHY photo EDITOr (atlanta) Vanessa Johnson

photo@georgiastatesignal.com photo EDITOr (perimeter) Vacant photo2@georgiastatesignal.com Associate Photo editor Unique Rodriguez

Digital DIGITAL EDITOR Angel Nelson

digital@georgiastatesignal.com ASSociate DIGITAL Editor Vacant digital2@georgiastatesignal.com PODCAST EDITOR Caleb P. Smith

Marketing Marketing MANAGER Taylor Dudley marketing@georgiastatesignal.com promotions associate Vacant promotions@georgiastatesignal.com Research Associate Vacant

THE SIGNAL BUREAUS BUREAU CHIEF (CLARKSTON) Vacant BUREAU CHIEF (ALPHARETTA) Vacant BUREAU CHIEF (NEWTON) Vacant BUREAU CHIEF (DUNWOODY) Vacant BUREAU CHIEF (DECATUR) Vacant advertising ADVERTISING COORDINATOR Vacant

advertising@georgiastatesignal.com STUDENT MEDIA ADVISOR Bryce McNeil bmcneil1@gsu.edu business coordinator Wakesha Henley whenley@gsu.edu STUDENT MEDIA ADVISOr (perimeter) Vacant

MISSION STATEMENT

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COVERAGE REQUESTS

Requests for coverage and tips should be submitted to the Editor in Chief and/or the relevant section editor.

PHOTO BY UNIQUE RODRIGUEZ | THE SIGNAL

REMEMBERING A RELIC

LIABLE NOT LIBEL

WHERE TO EAT

THIS IS OUR HOME NOW

Slated for demolition, Kell Hall stands abandoned and dilapidated during its last weeks.

The Signal has the freedom to publish content, even when it goes against the university.

From Pizza Hut to Chick-fil-A, how the food offered on campus has changed over time.

Two Georgia State graduate assistants lived at the GSU Sports Arena to work the ‘96 Atlanta Olympic Games.

NEWS | PAGE 5 GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM

OPINIONS | PAGE 8

News 3

SUBMIT LETTER TO EDITOR

Letters must be submitted to the Opinions Editors via e-mail and must include the text of the letter in the body of the message. Letters should be 200-400 words maximum. The Signal will allow longer letters, but only in rare circumstances. Letters must include the full name(s) of the writer(s) and include their year and major. If the writer is a faculty member, they must include their title and department. Letters will be fact-checked prior to publication. The writer may be obligated to make changes to the letter for publication. Letters will be edited for grammar, clarity, length, factual accuracy and adherence to The Signal’s policy. The Signal reserves the right to modify and/ or reject letters at the discretion of the editorial staff.

DISCLAIMER

ARTS & LIVING | PAGE 13

OPINIONs 7

SPORTS | PAGE 17

Arts & Living 9

Sports 15

Opinions and Letters to the Editor expressed in The Signal are the opinions of the writers and readers. It does not reflect the opinions of The Signal.

OFFICE INFORMATION

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NEWS TUESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2018

www.georgiastatesignal.com/news

Quickies, catcalls and brawls THE CUSTODIAL STAFF HAS SEEN IT ALL ZACH SALLING Staff Reporter

“W

e’re really not meant to be seen or heard,” an anonymous custodian said.

They work behind the scenes to ensure that Georgia State’s facilities are maintained and clean, yet many don’t know who the university custodians are—but they know us.

This is their story.

SHANNON

Shannon is from St. Louis, Missouri and has worked at Georgia State for 14 years, upkeeping Aderhold Learning Center’s second floor.

Outside of work, Shannon dedicates her time to her son and church.

“I have a 20-year-old son that runs me ragged. He gets most of my time. The two days I’m off I go to church. I pray a lot. [It’s a struggle] getting by day by day. I’m really struggling with financial problems right now, but I manage it by prayer and giving back to others. That’s where my blessings come from,” Shannon said.

During Shannon’s 14 years, she has remembered violence and fights between students more than anything.

“The fight was about 2010 on Christmas break. I was in the restroom cleaning like I always do and I look outside and they was on this back hallway right here,” Shannon said.

She pointed to Aderhold’s north entrance.

“It was two girls duking it up. They were like popcorn,” Shannon said.

Shannon has been amused by fights, but she’s also witnessed something traumatic.

“I was here when a guy jumped out the window. He went up [on the balcony] and I think he had a gun on him and he put it in the trash can. And when the guards seen it and came back and told the guy, he

jumped,” Shannon said.

Shannon was performing her normal routine during the incident.

“I looked out the corner of my eye and was going into 229, and when I came back out I thought it was a big bird when it came down. I went out there and saw a man on the ground,” Shannon said.

RICKY

Ricky, an Atlanta native, maintains the library’s third floor.

After graduating from Jobs Corp, he began working at Georgia State in 1984 and worked for the university intermittently over the next 30 years until he finally returned in 2014.

“What I learned was care, and the main thing is learning how to maintain such a structure,” Ricky said. “Once I learned all that, there wasn’t anything else I wanted to know.”

Outside of work, he’s mostly at home as he values his time with his wife and other family members.

“In the ‘80s, Georgia State was still fairly young, and we would see wild out sex acts in the library, the student center, wherever they felt like it at any time,” Ricky said. “We would run across somebody robbing somebody.”

He said his presence didn’t affect the students’ behavior.

“They’ll never change. Unless you might say something and then they’ll think he ain’t there anymore and they just carry on,” Ricky said.

Despite consistent student behavior, Ricky noted a visible change since the ‘80s. “[Students now] are lazy. Back then students cared. They gave an effort,” Ricky said.

Ricky said that the university’s rapid growth has contributed to the students’ attitude.

“The university has grown. In 1984, there were [fewer] students. Now, it’s not just a handful,” Ricky said.

Despite Ricky’s observations, he said he has faith in students.

“I wouldn’t want [students] to give up.

Because giving up isn’t nobody’s plan,” Ricky said. “Kids these days don’t want to be saved. They want to try and work things out themselves, but the thing about that is your always going to need some help. I don’t care who you are or what you do. You’re going to need some help.”

And he said he would offer his support to students in need.

“If I can help them with what they’re grieving about then I’ll give them a hand. I’ll help them as much as I can. And the main thing I’d tell them: ‘Get up off the ground, man. Ain’t nothing down there.’”

ANONYMOUS

One custodian, who requested anonymity, has been at Georgia State for 10 years.

“I love what I do and I can further my education while I’m doing it. Right now, I’m doing building and maintenance. I’m [also] working in accounting,” the custodian said.

Georgia State offers the Employee Tuition Assistance Program, allowing employees up to $5,250 annually in educational assistance benefits.

Another custodian, also requesting anonymity, acknowledged Georgia State students’ stress.

“Students are under a lot of pressure, so we have to understand the things that they go through. You don’t know what type of pressure—parents, whatever they’re putting on them,” the anonymous custodian said. “We have students that really take it to heart if they don’t pass a class. Students will kill themselves.”

The custodian said that the reason people don’t hear about the suicide issue on campus is

because Georgia State has to protect its reputation. “[Georgia State] cannot have bad news.

Bad news is no good news,” the anonymous custodian said.

The source also said that students get harassed on the streets of Atlanta, adding to the stress already caused by classes.

“When students get off MARTA you got people saying, ‘Hey baby, how you doing?’

They don’t see a college student, they see a female,” the anonymous custodian said.

“They don’t even know what [students] got going on. So if [students] seem a little edgy, I don’t blame them.”

When adolescents experience high stress, they often lash out at their surroundings—and sometimes, custodians are on the receiving end of that.

“I’ve had incidents with students here.

[Some students] yell, ‘I’ve got to use the bathroom.’ Some students will get demanding like that while you’re trying to clean. If I don’t [clean the restroom] everybody in here’s getting sick. They don’t think of that, they just think, ‘I’ve paid my tuition,’” the anonymous custodian said.

Considering all of this, the custodian said their view of students still hasn’t changed.

“That’s just a small thing. That doesn’t mean [students] are just bad,” the anonymous custodian said.

“We think younger students are lost, but the students are out [here] doing something. They aren’t lost. They aren’t lost at all.”

ILLUSTRATIONS AND PAGE DESIGN BY DAO NGUYEN | THE SIGNAL

NEWS

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GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM

ILLUSTRATION BY EVAN STAMPS | THE SIGNAL

Those who call Georgia State home While students spend four years at the university, faculty may spend 40 ADA WOOD Staff Reporter

A

student’s time at Georgia State may be just a brief chapter in their lives, but some faculty members have called this university home for decades.

Over the years, they have watched the university evolve into an institution that offers an education to over 50,000 students, and carried with them the responsibility of teaching and moulding the next generations.

“Since 1990, when I first began Georgia State was a commuter school, there were no dorms, no Library South, no student center,” Lynda Goodfellow, professor of 28 years, said.

Georgia State grew rapidly around the time of her arrival.

The Olympics were planning to be hosted in Atlanta, and the city was experiencing a period of growth and global attention.

“You can see the footprint of Georgia State getting larger, deeper, higher. It’s been a really good thing for me to be able to be a part of,” Goodfellow said.

Georgia State has expanded over the years, constructing new buildings and connecting different locations to form one university centralized in Atlanta, and some professors have witnessed the development first-hand.

“We started going to different locations, with a satellite in Alpharetta and in Henry County. Not only across Atlanta, but in the suburbs. Then of course, the consolidation with Perimeter College took place,” Goodfellow said.

Mary Radford was hired as a professor in 1984, when the College of Law was just celebrating its third birthday.

“At that point in time, we were little children, barely getting on our feet and learning to walk,” Radford said.

She said that when the law school was created, it was essentially unable to compete with other schools, and now it is among the top 50 in the U.S. “It’s been quite a trip,” she said.

At the time, there was only one cafeteria at Georgia State, for both faculty and students.

“It would not be at all unusual to be at the same table as some

of the top administrators from the school. Also, the legislators from the capitol would come down and eat there because it was one of the few cafeterias around,” Radford said.

She said that sometimes she misses the closeness and sense of community that Georgia State fostered back then.

“When I joined the university, it seemed like a large family.

Everybody seemed to know everybody else,” Radford said.

Radford said that over time, in addition to the growth in number of students, faculty growth has steadily increased as well.

“We now have many more young, vibrant faculty, most of whom I don’t know. You’d think if you’ve been at a place for 34 years, you’d know a lot of people but it’s been the opposite because we’ve grown so much and so fast,” she said.

Across the nation and at Georgia State, some newly hired faculty receive higher pay than faculty that have been at the university for years do. This phenomenon is known as salary compression, a situation that occurs when there is only a small difference in pay between longtime and newly hired employees.

“Raises are few and far between at many public institutions.

This has certainly been true at Georgia State. We live in a state that has cut funding to public institutions substantially since the 1990s,” Wendy Simonds, a sociology professor who has been at the university for 22 years, said.

She said that her salary is compressed and has increasingly compressed over time since she received tenure in 2002.

“Many years, we get very little in raises, one or two percent is common or even nothing at all. The administration creatively refers to no raise as a ‘zero percent raise,’” Simonds said.

The problem with compression is that it’s hard to identify and even harder to fix. Oftentimes, it’s not necessarily the institution’s fault, according to an article by Chronicle Vitae.

“Hiring is a matter of low supply and high demand, there are a lot of universities trying to hire but a limited number of people who are qualified. In order to compete, universities need to give them a higher starting rate, which is determined by the job market,” Barry Hirsch, professor of economics at Georgia State for 11 years, said.

James Cox, who has been at Georgia State for 13 years, experienced compression himself while teaching at the University of Arizona, and he said that he has colleagues at

Georgia State who are currently victims to it as well.

“We have a faculty member who was hired in the past and stayed quite a few years and then a new assistant professor is hired and is getting paid more—quite a bit more,” Cox said.

The concept of compression isn’t a problem exclusive to Georgia State; rather, it permeates the field of higher education as a whole.

The American Association of University Professors’ annual report attempts to quantify the prevalence of compression. The average difference between associate and assistant professor salaries was $10,600 for 892 participating institutions in the 2017-2018 academic year.

Of these, 100 institutions have an average difference of $5,000 to $0, which can be representative of compression.

Furthermore, 22 institutions pay their assistant professors more than associate professors on average, a clear indication of pay inversion.

“The university’s plan to address compression is inadequate,” Simonds said.

Solutions to this issue may be out of reach for now, but Jonathan Rees, the author of a Chronicle Vitae article about pay compression, encouraged institutions to work collaboratively to end this practice.

“As individuals, we will never make more than the labor market will allow, but together we can begin to design equitable solutions that cut across arbitrary and unfair employment categories,” Rees said.

KEY TERMS Salary Compression: A shrinking pay gap between newly hired faculty and senior professors.

Salary Inversion: When newly hired faculty receive higher pay than senior faculty.

NEWS

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2018

5

Georgia State demolishing 93-year-old relic Winding corridors and steep rampways soon to be gone

LOCAL

WILL SOLOMONS News Editor

Gwinnett County swears in first black judge

L

ast semester, The Signal featured Kell Hall in its final print issue of the academic year.

Now, with its demolition on the horizon, it’s time to revisit Kell Hall once more before the final send-off.

Converted from the Ivy Street Parking Garage in November of 1945 to a fully functioning science building, the Wayne Kell Science Hall has been no less than iconic for students then and now.

According to the Georgia State University Magazine, the school’s now-defunct yearbook’s name, Rampway, was inspired by the former parking deck’s winding and ever-climbing passageways. To some students now, those mazelike corridors are seen as an inconvenience.

“I’ve had two labs in Kell. The passageways are a pain to navigate, and using the elevator isn’t really worth it. The low ceilings kinda freak me out and everything feels very claustrophobic,” Elizabeth Shuford, a Georgia State student, said.

Shuford wasn’t the only one to have a problem with the building’s layout. Stephanie Salazar also said she had difficulties within Kell Hall’s labyrinthine hallways.

“I got lost trying to find my professor’s office for office hours. It felt like a never ending labyrinth with minimal signs. I felt like I was walking around in circles. I eventually found the office but it wasn’t after having a passing faculty member [give] me direction,” Salazar said.

On a gloomy Thursday afternoon, The Signal entered those steep and spiraling passageways one last time before its promised demise—finally, after two years of planning—in the coming months.

The hallways above the third floor are barren, save for the relics of experiments and decadesold academia. Mysterious chalkboard drawings, towers of pizza boxes and beakers of amber solutions were some of the remnants providing evidence of a once-bustling facility.

The geosciences department, which once housed its expansive collection of rocks and minerals on three floors of the building, has since vacated to Langdale Hall. Some administrative offices still remain, sustaining an eerie perception of activity.

Dr. Brian Meyer, a professor of the geosciences department, said Kell Hall served the department very well over its lifetime.

“Kell Hall served its purpose well, considering the age of the building [Georgia State] definitely saw a return on investment with the facilities [it] offered for over 70 years,” he said.

The building was purchased for $301,000 in 1945 and slated for renovation in October of

A biology class within Kell Hall in 1946.

NEWS BRIEFS

The first AfricanAmerican to be elected to any countywide position in Gwinnett County was sworn in as a state court judge on Thursday, Sept. 27. Ronda Colvin-Leary, a Snellville attorney, won the seat in May. Multiple African-American judges have been appointed to serve on magistrate, juvenile and recorders courts, but Colvin-Leary is the first to win an election for the state court, the Atlanta-Journal Constitution reported.

Kell Hall, which is slated to be demolished this semester, has been rumored to be radioactive amongst geosciences professors.

that year. The building, which initially housed a parking garage, a restaurant and business offices, would cost almost $4.3 million today, when adjusted for inflation. It was further renovated in 1964 to become a science-focused facility for $500,000, which is about $4 million today.

Rumors of potential radioactivity within the walls of Kell Hall have floated around the geosciences department for years. In The Signal’s previous feature of the building, the university’s Sr. Radiation Officer, Quintena Tinson, declined to comment on the matter due to a fear of causing mass panic. So instead, The Signal acquired a Geiger counter, a device used to measure radiation, and set out to find out how radioactive Kell truly is.

Now, it’s important to preface this experiment with a note that The Signal’s staff are not trained experts in using the counter. But those reporters who operated the device were instructed by a radiation science officer on its mechanics and readings. Further research corroborated The Signal’s understanding of the device’s output.

When the Geiger counter was used inside The Signal’s office in Student Center West, a low reading of around 0 to 0.1 mR/hr was recorded.

However, this discovery didn’t come as a concern, as low-level background radiation is found in everything.

The walls of Kell Hall’s fifth floor, where the highest level of radiation was found in a publicly accessible area, only measured about 0.8 to 1.0 mR/hr, which is insignificant according to a PBS radiation dosage guide. So yes, Kell Hall is radioactive, but so are bananas, humans and pretty much everything else.

PHOTOS FROM GATEWAY, 1946

PHOTO BY AZAM LALANI | THE SIGNAL

As Kell Hall is set to be demolished—perhaps even as soon as over winter break—students can expect a new greenway to eventually replace the rampways. The Greenway project is part of the larger renovation of Library Plaza and will provide a dedicated green space for students to lounge and congregate.

One issue that was brought up by Student Government Association Senator Spencer Bivins at the Sept. 27 Atlanta Senate meeting was that of smoking in the plaza. Sen. Bivins said he was concerned about where the smoke circle (affectionately referred to as the “smircle”) would migrate to after Library Plaza is renovated.

Dean of Libraries Jeff Steely, who at the meeting was presenting an update to the library’s renovation, answered Bivins’ inquiry and addressed the topic of smoking on campus.

“It bothers me just as much as it bothers you.

It’s frustrating,” Steely said. “My hope is that if they feel like they need to smoke they find a legal place to smoke off campus.”

From its initial use as an “automobile hotel,” to a general purpose classroom building for 5,000, to a building of the sciences at a burgeoning university, Kell Hall has represented Georgia State’s adaptive growth throughout the past 93 years.

Not only has it grown as an academic facility but also as a time capsule providing a window into the university’s history.

We bid adieu to the involuntary exercise of Kell Hall’s steep rampways and maze-like floor plan, and we invite a new history to be written in its place. Good riddance, and happy demolition.

An abandoned Kell Hall classroom in 2018.

PHOTO BY VANESSA JOHNSON | THE SIGNAL

NATIONAL Senate delays vote on Kavanaugh; Trump orders FBI probe

CNN reported that Republicans and the White House agreed to a one-week delay on the confirmation vote for Brett Kavanaugh, President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court justice nominee, so that the FBI may investigate sexual assault allegations facing Kavanaugh.

Dr. Christine Blasey Ford testified in front of the Senate on Thursday, Sept. 27 and accused Kavanaugh of assaulting her when they were teenagers. Kavanaugh has been accused of sexual assault by two other women and has denied all allegations against him.

GLOBAL Indonesia tsunami and earthquake kills 384

CNN reported that a powerful earthquake hit the Indonesian island of Sulawesi and triggered a tsunami, killing at least 384 people on Saturday. More than 540 people are being treated in several local hospitals amid the massive destruction in Palu and 29 people are missing. The death toll could climb in the coming days, Disaster Management Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho warned.

NEWS

6

GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM

Georgia State’s history through race and blackface From 1957 to 2018, how has our cultural competency improved?

NATORI SPENCE

Associate News Editor

JULY 12, 1957: A DISRUPTION Negroes Ask School Entry Four African-Americans sought admission to the Georgia State College on July 6, 1957 through a federal court action.

The university denied them entrance in an attempt to uphold the standard of segregation.

The Signal’s editorial board of 1957 declared to “fight until doomsday with legal weapons” to maintain segregation in public schools, and they sought to inspire all Georgians to unite behind this cause.

“You will find no haven at Georgia State,” The Georgia State Signal’s editorial stated.

Four years later, Annette Lucille Hall began her first class at the university on June 13, 1962, at the age of 53, as the first African-American to attend Georgia State.

“I remember that [Hall’s] niece stated that even though she did come and there [were] no instances [of violence or retaliation], she didn’t feel welcome,” Lisa Shannon, an African-American Studies professor, said.

Shannon has received three degrees from Georgia State, and she began her journey at the university in 1987 as a student. She said she changed her major to AfricanAmerican Studies almost immediately after seeing Dr. Akinyele Umoja, now the African-American Studies department chair, speak on campus in 1998. She recalled that was the first time she saw a professor on campus that looked like her.

“I was just so glad to see a black professor, and not only did I see one, this man was amazing. I took everything he taught whenever I could take his class,” she said. “I never once thought that I would be doing this now. Now I get the privilege to see that in other students.”

It’s been nearly 62 years after the prosegregation editorial was published, and now in 2018, Georgia State is leading the U.S. in black graduates and is one of the most diverse universities in the nation, according to The New York Times.

JULY 28, 1992: A TEST OF COMPETENCY BSA president wants fraternity punished A published letter written to Georgia State University President Emeritus Carl V. Patton on July 23, 1992, called for “sensitivity and support” in response to a photograph of fraternity members of Pi Kappa Alpha in blackface and curly wigs that surfaced in the University Center.

“Although the photograph was removed promptly, its message of careless disregard for African-Americans was viewed by many individuals, including incoming freshmen, transfer and transient students,” Lawrence Philpott, Black Student Alliance (BSA) president, said in 1992.

He wrote that he expected a written apology to be published in The Signal by the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity, as well as sanctions — as a punitive measure — that suspended their rights as a student organization on campus.

Patton later suggested that the fraternity close their doors until “things cool down,” and he implemented a university hotline to handle discrimination complaints.

PHOTO FROM RAMPWAY 1968, VOL. 41

“This type of insensitivity has absolutely no place within the Georgia State University community,” Lawrence said.

NOV. 17, 1992: A SPARK OF UNITY Students committed to change “We want a coalition of oppressed students trying to rid the university of racism, sexism and homophobia,” Felix Brown, a student organizer, said in 1992.

Serge Medjo-Akono, the Student Government Association president, held an open dialogue titled “Concerned Students.”

According to “Concerned Students” organizers, their work was aimed at helping all Georgia State students, not just black students. During the press conference the organizers said insensitivity is a problem that white students have, not black students.

At this dialogue, the implementation of the African-American Studies department was discussed.

“I do like the fact that we still have an African-American Studies department when many other universities don’t have them anymore,” Shannon said. “It’s still here, it’s still doing well, but it’s not growing.”

“Where I came in [1987] as a transfer from two other institutions, I feel a place that has changed but has changed because people, students have addressed issues.

The change that has occured didn’t just happen, but starting when the protests of the student, the sit-ins, from [1992] until now,” Shannon said.

She believed then and now that students determine what needs to be done for them.

“The African-Americans and other students protested on this campus in 1992,” Shannon said. “You write your agenda and

you make sure you give that particular agenda to the administration.”

SEPT. 1, 2018: TODAY Georgia State’s faculty diversity problem

SEPT. 8, 2004: A DECLARATION OF CHANGE Black Student Alliance and Pi Kappa Alpha resolve issues

“As of the fall semester of 2018, according to IPORT, a Georgia State database, 64.7 percent of faculty members are white,” The Signal reported in an article earlier this month.

“Diversity doesn’t just stop with students.

Diversity is for every level,” Shannon said.

“You can look at the actual pyramid, a bureaucracy is a pyramid, which Georgia State is. So, who’s holding up this pyramid, and then look at who’s making decisions for this pyramid.”

Shannon said the perspective of a decision maker must equal the perspective of the students in order to truly be an egalitarian society—or university.

“What I hear is, ‘Can I get professors that look like me?’’ and I say, ‘Well what are you gonna do about it?’” Shannon said.

Shannon described diversity as an issue that keeps growing and getting more inclusive as time goes on.

“Where are the women? Where are the disabled? You have a student in a wheelchair, how many professors do we have in a wheelchair? That’s real,” she said. “How do your Chinese friends feel? If you have a lesbian friend, do they have professors, do they feel welcome?”

“Your generation, y’all are brilliant. I need y’all to see that racism, ageism, genderism, classism, especially racism is alive and poppin’,” Shannon said. “And we don’t even want to talk about the amount of debt students leave with. That’s real, too.”

Shannon concluded with a quote from Frantz Fanon, with hope that this generation’s students will find their calling.

“Each generation must discover its mission, fulfill it or betray it, in relative opacity.”

In January of 2004, Pi Kappa Alpha held a “hip-hop theme party” titled “Straight Outta Compton,” where members of the mostly white fraternity showed up to represent every “hiphop” stereotype.

BSA retaliated with a flier that used the fraternity’s name on a picture depicting a Ku Klux Klansman and a man in blackface with a noose around his neck.

Both organizations were temporarily suspended until they reached an agreement on Aug. 19, 2004.

“Pikes will incorporate diversity and sensitivity awareness into their pledge training program so that something in poor taste like the black face matter will not occur in the future,” the agreement stated.

BSA accepted the proposal of the Pikes and agreed that they should be placed back on campus immediately and conditionally with full implementation of their charter and ability to carry on their organization’s activities normally.

Shannon said that people think it takes a lot to make a difference, but in reality it only takes five to ten percent of a population to demand change and see results.

“They came together, they wrote an agenda, and they sent it to the president [of the university] and they demanded this. It’s the same strategy that African-Americans had to use in ‘62, Georgia State students had to use in ‘92. If y’all want a change you have to use [this strategy] now.”

OPINIONS TUESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2018

www.georgiastatesignal.com/opinions

Georgia State is a Panther of a different color 30 years ago to now, from the perspective of a former editor-in-chief MIKE BILLIPS

Editor-in-Chief, ‘89-’90

I

spent three years working at The Signal from 1986 to 1989, the last year as editorin-chief, and aside from the fight we got into with the dean of communication (more on that), the biggest controversy we saw was over the basketball team’s uniforms. Rather than use the official red and gray, the athletic director at the time thought plain blue on white would help distinguish Georgia State from the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech.

He didn’t account for the alumni and the school administration, though, and after considerable wrangling, a compromise was reached. The uniforms stayed blue with a little red pinstriping, and the team name was changed to the Crimson Panthers. A new panther mascot was created, dubbed Urbie (for The South’s Premier Urban University, as the school styled itself). Urbie made it to Georgia State’s first NCAA Tournament game in 1991 (a shellacking by Arkansas in the old Omni

Arena), before he and the Crimson Panther name were quietly dropped in 1993.

It’s not that there weren’t more important issues. It’s just that the late 1980s were an apolitical time for U.S. college students, and at Georgia State in particular. There were no dorms then, and virtually no downtown apartments. I lived in Ormewood Park and drove or took the bus. The campus stretched from the Urban Life Building to Langdon Hall (then called the new science classroom building). Edgewood Avenue was the north boundary, and the GSU Sports Arena (then doubling as the student gym and rec center) was the south.

Georgia State’s main identity was the College of Business, with its celebrity dean Michael A. Mescon. Culturally, the place was closer to its origin in 1913 as the Georgia Tech Evening School of Business than to today. The average student age was about the same, but there were fewer teenagers and no one over 40 who wasn’t taking MBA night classes. Most undergraduates were transfers or returning to school after working.

And while Georgia State was then the most diverse of Georgia’s four research universities,

“diverse” was a relative term. Only 16 percent were African-American, less than 15 percent combined were Latinx or Asian, and nearly three-quarters of the students were white. This was when the city of Atlanta was about 70 percent African-American. There were creepy, lingering ills on campus associated with that imbalance, such as a segregated sorority rush (until The Signal interviewed some women, who objected to being racially sorted and got it abolished).

Georgia State was making efforts, like hiring a black woman as Dean of Communication.

She stepped into a row between the students who paid for the Drama Club with their activity fees, and the long-time theatre director who wasn’t interested in it being a democracy.

The newspaper (me, basically) came down on the side of the insurgents too heavily and considerable feelings were hurt before the feud blew over. At one point, I think she called us “uppity.” The newspaper advisor, George Greiff, stuck with us even when we were wrong, and the dean, to her credit, didn’t pressure us.

Greiff was a former copy desk chief at The Atlanta Constitution and was typical

of the journalism faculty in having a long professional career before turning to academia. There were very few Ph.D.s teaching my journalism classes, but you couldn’t get better practical training. That’s one thing that seems much the same among the instructors teaching me to make films and TV now. There are a lot of years on set among my professors.

The students today seem more distracted, but more sensitive than I remember—more politically and socially aware, but a bit less permitted to take charge of something without an “adult” around. Far more networked (I got my bachelor’s four years before I had my first email address), but with a less opportunity to land a full-time job upon graduation the way I was lucky enough to do.

And Georgia State seems a lot more connected to its urban footprint today. One last example from 30 years ago: We had an argument at the newspaper about comedian Jay Leno coming to campus to perform his standup act. One of our black staffers, columnist Hank Ernest, said that musician Bobby Brown would be a more popular act.

He’d win that argument easily today. But, Leno was the one who came.

readership are increasingly innovative (and largely digital).

For the layperson at Georgia State, the work our student journalists, photographers, designers and developers do may seem miniscule. But when you look back at the key transformational points in Atlanta and Georgia State’s history, you’ll notice one important feature: The Signal was there for it all.

The reality is that without The Signal, most stories at Georgia State would go untold. And that truth is made abundantly clear within the pages of our dust-covered archives.

The nature of independence that The Signal employed over its 85 years was critical to our success. Many of the largest stories we chased were unfavorable to the university, which would not have been possible without editorial independence.

For example, we frequently travel to national conferences and are praised for our bold coverage.

“Our school wouldn’t even let us think of covering that!” the editor of one conservative, Christian university’s paper told me last year.

What strikes me as most interesting is that these journalists over the past 85 years had no idea they were making history. But we do.

In 15 years, the staff of The Signal will open the door to our archives once more and embark down a celebratory trip of 100 years of independent student journalism. Perhaps they will land on this issue and experience a glimpse into our lives today, suspended forever in time.

The Signal, beacon light of students affairs.

May we shine forever bright.

The Signal, beacon light of student affairs

Making history, eighty five years and counting DANIEL VARITEK

Editor-in-Chief, ‘18-’19

T

oday, The Signal celebrates not just 85 years of existence but 85 years of independence.

Daily, we are ever focused on the present and the future, assigning stories weeks in advance and networking with our sources for news of interest to you. But today, we welcome the rare occurrence of looking backward, reflecting on and appreciating the countless hours of journalistic discovery that propelled The Signal to national recognition.

In 1926, what is now our university was an evening school of Georgia Tech. The Signal’s first manifestation was as The Technite, both a pun and a sister to Georgia Tech’s day paper,

The Technique.

However, our present identity wasn’t seen until seven years later, on Oct. 2, 1933. After a transfer of university control to the University of Georgia in 1931, Vol. 1, No. 1 of The Evening Signal was published.

Our paper was, in every sense of the word, humble. We published a black-andwhite, four-page paper only monthly, and our coverage was strictly confined to intracollegiate affairs.

“The paper will be published by the students, for the students, and about the students,” Ray Brandes, editor-in-chief, said in the first issue.

In many ways, that has not changed. But today, our modern coverage spans not just the school but the city as a whole. We are keenly aware of the decline in interest of the print product, so our methods of reaching our

OPINIONS

8

GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM

The Atlanta Streetcar of yesteryear

What once was a sprawling network is now a measly loop

C

SHARI CELESTINE Staff Reporter

itizens of Atlanta look down on the Atlanta Streetcar. Early last year, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that ridership is a fraction of what the city expected, operations costs are higher than projected and the system costs forty percent more than the city said it would. The streetcar is hemorrhaging money.

The Atlanta Streetcar cost the city’s residents $98 million for 2.7 miles of a simple loop around Downtown, connecting tourist sites.

During its first year, the Atlanta Streetcar exceeded projected ridership, but after a fare was introduced, numbers dropped. Its unpopularity is compounded because riding the streetcar is no better than walking to your destination.

In a previous interview, critic Simon Berrebi of Atlanta Magazine said, “To relegate expensive transit infrastructure in mixed traffic means that trains will only go as fast as the cars around them. It’s profoundly unfair that transit vehicles, which can carry a hundred times more people than private cars, can get stuck in the same congestion...”

If anything, it’s more of a tourist attraction than a remedy for Atlanta’s regional transportation mess.

Let’s go back to a time when Moreland Avenue was a little dirt path along the county line and Flat Shoals and Glenwood Avenues were major

highways. How about a time when you could jump on a train and ride from College Park straight across to Buckhead or from Decatur to Grove Park? It sounds like a city planner’s fantasy, right? Well, this was possible back in the early 1900s thanks to a sprawling network of (at the time) modern electric streetcars, but our Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) cannot do this today.

Our current streetcars are a throwback to the electric streetcars of yesteryear when every major city in Georgia had them. In 2014, a Georgia State history professor, Clifford M. Kuhn, said in a New York Times article, “They were hugely significant in the physical growth of Atlanta.

They were widely used. The mayor of Atlanta in the early 20th century would ride to work in the streetcar.”

Dr. Gerry Neumark, a Georgia State professor of Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, said he still believes in the streetcar. Prior to sitting on the City of Atlanta Board of Ethics, Dr. Neumark was vice chair of Neighborhood Planning Unit F and president of the Atlanta Planning Advisory Board. “The current problem with the streetcar from the perspective of Atlanta citizens is that it doesn’t go anywhere. It has become essentially a ‘tourist trolley,’ although I am not so sure that is a bad thing. Once the rail lines are expanded, I really believe it will be used much more

frequently,” Neumark said.

As of July 2 this year, the Atlanta Streetcar has been under MARTA’s control in the hopes that its ridership will grow with the 2.6 billion TSPLOSTfunded MARTA expansion program announced over the summer by then-Mayor Kasim Reed.

Reed wanted to link the streetcar to the Atlanta BeltLine, adding 21 miles to the line.

When questioned on his thoughts of the TSPLOST fund, Dr. Neumark said, “As with all major policy decisions, it constitutes a significant dilemma. If you please the Clifton Corridor supporters with a light rail system out to Emory University, you anger the BeltLine advocates. If you run the streetcar on the BeltLine to fulfill a political promise, you lose the economic benefits of the line to Emory, but you make the BeltLine advocates happy. Do we put economic development ahead of political promises or the other way around? [...] Whether or not I agree with their ultimate decision, they need to make it perfectly clear why they came up with the decision that they did and be able to justify it.”

The future of the Atlanta Streetcar is up in the air. The project has a lot of money being funded into it for expansion yet the people of Atlanta think it’s a waste of time and money. And I’m inclined to agree.

EDITORIAL The signal of independence Celebrating our freedom to publish content

“W

e are the physical manifestation of independence.”

That quote comes from our editor-inchief, Daniel Varitek, who doesn’t write this editorial or contribute to it at all because he’s not on the editorial board. In fact, because we’re independent, we have the freedom to say whatever we want about whomever we want, barring any defamatory or libelous statements. We can say, “F--- Daniel Varitek,” if it’s well deserved, but journalist decorum requires we censor the curse.

Being independent from the university editorially has its perks. If there is ever an incident or issue that the university wants to avoid, like flies in PantherDining’s food, understaffed academic departments or inadequate fact checks before presenting someone with a service award, we’re there to report it, rain or shine. There is virtually nothing the university can do to stifle our voices. We do not suffer prior review from any outside source. We review amongst ourselves, even in this editorial, but we don’t ask for permission from the school before we publish anything.

There is one thing the university does have control over, and that is part of our finances. So that’s where you, the reader, comes in. We don’t necessarily rely on the

university fully for funding, but they do provide us with a space to work in and some other financial safety nets.

That’s why we depend on advertisements for the majority of our revenue, and advertisements depend on readers like you.

When you pick up the paper, we get some paper too. We pay for our own equipment, liability insurance and legal counsel entirely from the strength of our work.

Financial independence is beautiful, but it only matters if we make quality work.

In the newsroom, decisions are often made in terms of critiquing and providing constructive criticism to one another to constantly expand on the quality of our writing.

Our integrity to each other comes from our loyalty. Our simple friendships among The Signal’s staff inspire us to care for each other, and in turn to care for the publication.

As a completely student-run organization, The Signal has duties and responsibilities of its own. News needs to be relevant and important, and most importantly truthful, no matter the cost. We are responsible to our audience, to report without personal attachment the events and moments that are important to our audience.

Independent reporting requires an objective perspective. Like processing stress,

gaining objectivity does not require you to repress your individual perspective, but acknowledge it.

At The Signal, we all come from different backgrounds and walks of life with different intrinsic biases. However, when we cover stories, we push those biases aside and avoid letting them interfere with objective reporting.

When we research a story, we are resilient. Random sources turn us down, PR representatives feed us spin and fluff with the hope that we’ll go away. But guess what? We won’t. Persistence is what drives us forward. It’s what uncovers the truth and holds people accountable.

Whether it’s rushing to protests, identifying trends or interviewing coaches, we are there on the scene, not on our schedule but on the schedule of the people. We sacrifice our sleep schedules and social lives to ensure that you know what’s happening. We wipe the crust out of our hazy morning eyes and resist falling asleep during our hours-long meetings. For example, we are all still in the office finishing this piece at 2 a.m.

And to think that we are just an editorial board of 10 students with internet access, a thirst for information and an undying dedication to the truth.

ARTS & LIVING TUESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2018

www.georgiastatesignal.com/artsandliving

A nod to Georgia State’s racist past Looking back at The Signal’s archives

SARA ABDULLA Staff Reporter

G

iven Georgia State’s reputation as an “engine for social mobility” and a diverse university that propels black and minority students to graduation, it is valuable to put the university’s current state in context with its cultural history.

In October of 1956—62 years ago— The Georgia State Signal ran an editorial denouncing racial integration, titled “Four Negroes Acting Unwise?” The writers derided the black students attempting to attend Georgia State as impetuses to damage Georgia’s social system: “So, in the first place, you have set about to excite, perturb. You seek to equate socially across a color barrier not created by, but observed by the white race in Georgia ...

Secondly, you are attempting to ‘artificially force’ your way into an institution that you have no need for, and you have not followed [Booker T.] Washington’s advice to ‘struggle constantly and severely’ for your goals ...

You are using an organization [the NAACP] that is a contribution seeking, tax-exemption seeking, minority organization that is utterly biased in its attempts to gain ‘social rights,’ not civil rights as it claims, for the Negro. Civil rights are fundamental and can be legislated.

However, no group can legislate a social right, it has to come because the majority of the people want it.”

This gem—by no means the only one of its kind, for there were several editorials in support of segregation—comes nestled between other relics, like advertisements for Camel cigarettes, articles protesting the Vietnam War, support of voter literacy tests and comics of Colt 45.

“To place the articles in context, we must remember that the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Brown v. Board of Education was handed down in 1954. (There was a follow-up ruling also in 1955.) Brown v. Board of Education ordered that schools be integrated, but many schools in the South purposefully delayed the implementation of the ruling. Georgia State appears to have been one of the schools to try

to do that,” Ralph LaRossa, professor emeritus in the sociology department, said.

Writers for The Georgia State Signal used Booker T. Washington, a black activist who is sometimes referred to as a “sellout” for his concessions to white Americans, to support their argument. Washington believed that black Americans wouldn’t fight for the right to vote or to the same facilities that whites used as long as they were “left alone.”

The Georgia State Signal frequently commented on the civil rights movement, though, as in the excerpt above, they didn’t always call it the civil rights movement; writers regularly denounced groups like Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and Black Power movements for being “extreme,” and urged activists to be more like Martin Luther King Jr. and peddle a philosophy of pacifism.

To their credit, and perhaps explaining why The Georgia State Signal billed itself as the “Newspaper of the South’s Progressive Urban College,” they also condemned the Ku Klux Klan, who found their home in Stone Mountain.

Georgia State’s first black student was Annette Lucille Hall, who attended classes in June of 1962, a year after the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech integrated. Upon integration, there was little backlash or fanfare; the city’s attitude had already begun to shift, in part due to Judge Boyd Sloan’s rulings that black students must be allowed to attend Georgia State.

Minority students still did not feel welcome thirty years later, though, per the 1991 Georgia State yearbook. Over 75 percent of students were white and informal social segregation was common in cafeterias and between student organizations, including The Signal.

“No one wants to or likes to be places where they don’t feel welcomed. Album 88, Signal and organizations like the concert committee are places where blacks don’t feel comfortable,” Ricardo Fludd said in 1991.

Over the next few decades, Georgia State learned to better cater to minority students.

Since then, Georgia State has become a “national leader in the success of all students, closing a number of gaps,” Jonathan Gayles, a professor in the African-American Studies department, said.

“The distance that Georgia State has travelled since that time to the present is very impressive and we’re being recognized nationally for that,” Gayles said.

The significance of nodding to a racist past is to note the rationale used to morally justify racism and other discriminatory, unjust practices. Indeed, there are strong parallels between The Signal’s old journalism and current rhetoric by politicians, pundits and social media users.

For example, Tucker Carlson of Fox News disparaged immigrants by characterizing them as mostly “nice” individuals, but comprising a demographic change that is fundamentally harmful for particular people’s psyches. “How would you feel if that happened in your neighborhood?” he asked viewers.

Alluding to white nationalist rhetoric, Laura Ingraham, also from Fox News, said, “In some parts of the country it does seem like the America we know and love doesn’t exist anymore …

Massive demographic changes have been foisted upon the American people.

And they’re changes that none of us ever voted for and most of us don’t like.”

Indeed, the claim that integration and representation are “social rights” that can only be granted by society and not legislation is precisely what some politicians and conservative social scientists are claiming today. “[P]rograms or efforts including legislative efforts, to respond to injustice or equality, to the extent that they ‘create racial resentment’— it’s not that they create racial resentment.

It’s that they bring to the fore preexisting resentment,” Gayles said.

“The suggestion that somehow inequality will resolve itself with time is an argument in favor of continued inequality.”

To avoid falling for seductive, subtly racist rhetoric, Akinyele Umoja, an African-American Studies associate professor, recommends that people

thoroughly educate themselves and surround themselves with people of diverse identities.

“People have to study and just as there’s socalled scholarship that promotes racist ideas, [there’s] scholarship that affirms the humanity of people of color and women and LGBTQ people,” Umoja said.

He also noted that students have a voice when it comes to issues like racial equality.

“Students have always played a role in changing things. Of course, our department would not have been here, had it not been for activism by students.”

1955

1962

2011

TIMELINE 1913 Georgia State is founded as an extension of the Georgia Institute of Technology

1947

Georgia State becomes an extension of the University of Georgia

1954

Brown v. Board of Education makes racial segregation illegal in public schools

Georgia State becomes an autonomous college

1956 Barbara Hunt, among five other black Americans, sues Georgia State for the right to enroll

1959 Judge Boyd Sloan rules that extra application requirements for black Americans are unconstitutional

Annette Lucille Hall becomes the first black student at Georgia State

Georgia State begins an initiative to promote faculty racial diversity

1962

2017

Marybelle Warner becomes the first black full-time student at Georgia State

Georgia State becomes No. 1 in nation in conferring degrees to black students

1992 Georgia State AfricanAmerican Studies department is created after a racist incident and a subsequent protest

ILLUSTRATIONS BY DEMETRI BURKE | THE SIGNAL

“

Atlanta is a true national city. Not one city, but a community of towns, cities and counties. Yankee style skyscrapers rise along a romantic street of legends called Peachtree. Industrial districts intermingle with home sprinkled green hills.

“

PHOTOS COURTESY OF PAUL CASTELL | THE SIGNAL

Still, but changing The history of visual storytelling in student media SAM PUCKETT

Associate Arts & Living Editor

M

ediamakers have an uncomfortable responsibility to the primacy of a primary source. In the digital age, the contemporary critique of “fake news” accuses the news media of imparting the platform of truth to biased experts, advertisements and indebted despots.

We are taught to read history as stale discussions of discussion, so much so that history is buried under the historians gossiping about it. But somewhere behind the “expert opinions” is a primary source. All writing is a letter addressed to history—it’s only a matter of how long it takes to arrive.

Today, The Signal is representing life as it currently is. To read a dusty, decades old yearbook is to read life as it was.

PAGE DESIGN BY DEVIN PHILLIPS | THE SIGNAL

CULTURE ON THE CONCRETE CAMPUS Always building, always moving, Georgia State has a restless campus. In a way, that reflects the city it calls home. Much of Georgia State’s campus has changed over time, but some gems remain unweathered.

We can see, from the benefit of the 1995 Rampway, that students in the late ‘50s once gathered on the rooftop lounge of Sparks Hall to enjoy a bite to eat or cigarette to smoke. In the photo, students wear clothing popular in the 1950s. The women are in midi dresses and demure cardigans, hair in the curled bouffants and pageboy cuts of the post-war decade.

The men wear their hair in closely cropped side parts and quiffs, in polo shirts or white T-shirts. The roof of Sparks Hall remains visible today from the studio windows in the Arts and Humanities building.

In the left corner of a brick wall centerframe, a sign advertises the “Trust Company of Georgia.” The Trust was founded in 1891 by Joel Hurt, noted Atlanta developer.

In 1985 the Trust Company of Georgia and Sun Banks merged to form SunTrust Banks.

A group of young women stand on a plantation-style twin staircase. Their gloved hands steady their perfect posture against a pearlescent bannister. From the 1964 Rampway, a section titled “Traditional Beauty” begins. The following pages feature selected

PHOTO FROM RAMPWAY 1995, VOL. 68

images showcasing each girl individually, outfits and locations curated to create characters and interest for each posed woman.

An eerie silence from the authors accompany the posed stills—the only text is the name of each woman and beauty titles she has won. They pose, sometimes looking just off camera, sometimes responding to the viewer’s gaze with their own. Some wear modern ‘60s fashion, some make longing antebellum references. This is what it was like as a woman to compete for status in 1964.

“Why didn’t I go to a traditional campus?”

This question opens an article from the 1983 Rampway. The question is about the stress of commuting, sympathizing with the many students for whom it was a daily necessity. The unnamed author offers a silver lining: Commuting brings adult lessons of responsibility, along with a sense of adventure.

In the middle of a campus that won’t stop moving, student media was one of the best ways to become involved and informed.

Castell remembers fondly the relationship between The Signal and other student media.

“We used to be right across the hall from [Album 88 (WRAS)],” Castell said. “Those guys were a little more cool than us.”

Some things, at least, have changed.

PHOTO FROM RAMPWAY 1983, VOL. 61

STUDENT MEDIA THROUGH THE LENS The first yearbook was published in 1934 as the Nocturne for the thenEvening School. After an eventual merge with the day school’s yearbook, the Gateway, it continued as the Rampway in 1947 until it ceased publication in 1996. The work of the Rampway was a celebration as much as a record of each year it was published.

To its contemporaries, the Rampway was a trophy to return to those at home, showing the year on campus each student shared. To the present, it is a historical document, a time and place told to us in its own words. The 1964 Rampway writers offer a photo essay and accompanying prose: “Atlanta is a true national city. Not one city, but a community of towns, cities and counties. Yankee style skyscrapers rise along a romantic street of legends called Peachtree.

Industrial districts intermingle with home sprinkled green hills.”

The writer continues, covering transportation, finance, sports and education capital that made Atlanta relevant and desirable nationally at the time. Funny that some things don’t change.

Paul Castell is a Georgia State alumnus who worked at The Signal for three years in the early ‘80s. As a show of how much times have changed, he said during his time, the newspaper’s office smelled so strongly of cigarette smoke, it earned the nickname “The Smoke Signal.” We at The Signal today speculate that it must have been

from the stress. Now, Castell is the president of Dove Studio, a kitchen interior design firm. According to him, The Signal was his main social outlet during undergrad.

“It was a great way to meet people,” Castell said. “You’d ask them about anything, their majors, how they liked Georgia State. They loved to be in the newspaper.”

Castell joined The Signal because photography made him feel special.

At a time when students “just came in, went to class and left,” there was a secret pleasure in staying informed.

On a campus that was constantly moving, Castell loved to capture small moments of action. Whether it was a crew of painters or a wistful stranger through Library Plaza, it excited him to share his vision, humble as it seemed.

“It was a way to practice my hobby,” Castell said. “You were one of hundreds with a camera. Not like now, where everyone has one.”

The Signal encouraged Castell to develop social and professional skills he would take with him. Sharing a goal with a team has a way of driving the best work out of some people.

Castell saw his editors stressing to publish and it encouraged him to have his work in on time.

“It helped in time management, meeting deadlines,” Castell said.

But it wasn’t all hard work for Castell, as the job came with perks.

“I got out of class early to get some shots a couple of times,” Castell said.

PHOTO FROM RAMPWAY 1964, VOL. 37

ARTS & LIVING

12

GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM

The student commonalities of 1933 and 2018 Eighty five years of observatory student journalism JOSH WINSTON Staff Reporter

F

or many reasons, 1933 was a landmark year in American history. The country, in the grips of the Great Depression, had just witnessed the first world war and was sliding uncontrollably toward World War II. The American people had seen the end of prohibition and the attempted assassination of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. In Europe, Hitler was quietly gaining power. The first radio waves from the center of the Milky Way Galaxy were detected and the loch ness monster was allegedly spotted for the first time.

In Atlanta, the Evening School (the predecessor of Georgia State) had just become autonomous as the University System of Georgia Evening School, taking it one step closer to it eventual incarnation as Georgia State University. To match this new collegiate designation, the school newspaper rebranded itself as the The Evening Signal. The first issue under the new title was published on Oct. 2, 1933.

In a later edition of the paper, one anonymous reporter wrote, “Few of us realize we are making real history. Only a few of us stop to think that day by day, we are molding the framework of a great university.”

The Evening Signal, like most things before the broadening reach of the internet, had a much more narrow field of reporting. Coverage centered on the activity of student body clubs and organizations, with a large amount of journalistic attention being paid to its fraternities and sororities.

It’s worth noting that these sororities and fraternities commanded a large amount of journalistic attention because, to the student of 1933, this was their social media; it’s the counterbalance to their rigorous school day.

Likewise, its political investigations never ventured past the school’s doors and often focused on the various student elections happening at any one time. The Evening Signal was a much more insular publication, often choosing to look inward for news—a striking difference from the broad range of topics covered by The Signal today.

In lieu of an Arts and Living section, written observations of collegiate culture were interspersed throughout several opinion columns documenting the social events and happenings of students on campus. However, the absence of a dedicated Arts and Living section within the pages of The Evening Signal did not exclude arts and living topics from being explored in its publication.

One column, appropriately named, “Walton St. Smut,” chronicled the day-to-day social interactions between students at school sponsored events, such as the fall banquet of 1933.

Through the thick haze of cigarette smoke, the anonymous columnist pulled back the journalistic veil to observe his subjects and reflect on what it meant to write both for and about them.

The columnist said, “The room is full of cigarette smoke and chattering people, holding their cigarettes out from them so that the smoke curls up before me dancing into my eyes. And here I sit with pen in my hand trying to collect scattered notes for this column. Faces of my victims curl up in the smoke and I

anticipate their expressions as the ‘smut’ of this column settles on their countenances.”

Even early on in the paper’s history, there is a considerable amount of reflection on what it means to be responsible to one’s audience. This section of the column presented an usually inaccessible perspective of culture writing and the intricacies that often plague writers.

Much of this self-reflective writing does not exist within the pages of The Evening Signal, especially not when compared to today’s publication. But, enough of it exists to begin to trace its journey from being crammed in between sorority headlines and school events, to its maturation in later publications.

Eighty five years is obviously a long time, and while one might expect the concerns and opinions of students from 1933 to be vastly different from those of 2018, there remains considerable similarities between the young writers. It’s heartening to know that even in the 1930s there still existed a tradition of young writers espousing the evils of materialism.

In December of 1933, Jean Burnett Cobb wrote “The Old and New Christmas,” a column lamenting the increasingly commercialized nature of the Christmas season.

“For the most part, immersed in the welter of ribbons and tinsels, cards and gifts-caught in this commercialized, mechanical age,” Cobb said. “We’ve lost our true sense of value.”

The Evening Signal’s foray into social commentary is notable for its prescience at a time before the widespread commercialization of mass culture that came in the ‘50s and ‘60s.

Often relegated to the literal sidelines of The Evening Signal, the “Spectator” column chronicled the daily social interactions of students and professors. In its March 19, 1934 edition, The Evening Signal published a column on the unfair and possibly misogynistic treatment of a female student by her male professor.

This emphasis on social commentary in the early days of The Signal was slight but not completely non-existent. Again, The Evening Signal displayed interest in journalism outside of straight news reporting with a story that seems progressive for its time.

In the January 22, 1934 edition of The Evening Signal, the headline “Are We Making History?” appeared. The article questions whether the current student body was living through a collegiate golden age. The school was in the process of becoming an institution capable of competing with Georgia Tech and other more traditional universities.

In retrospect, it’s easy to say that this was a formative time for Georgia State, with its new independent designation as The University System of Georgia Evening School and its classroom building expansion. But, what’s most interesting is the attempt of The Evening Signal to anticipate that change and investigate it in their writing.

Eighty five years represents a lifetime of change and development, especially in the fast moving environment of student journalism. You could assume the differences in writing would be night and day. But it’s actually more the difference between day and evening; a subtle but distinct difference.

And while the depth and intensity of reporting may differ, The Evening Signal still essentially contained within its pages the voices of students trying to make sense of their particular historic moment through writing, just like we are today.

CLIPPINGS FROM SIGNAL ARCHIVES

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2018

ARTS & LIVING

The B&D, a cafeteria in the Student Center, in 1981.

13

PHOTO COURTESY OF GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

The lost food options on Georgia State’s campus From Mary Lou’s broccoli casserole to Pizza Hut SYDNEY BLOEME Arts & Living Editor

W

hile we all know packing lunch is the most frugal food option, traveling around campus clutching your wallet is no easy task. Under the Courtland Street Bridge lives a constant, thick aroma of peanut oil and waffle fries, pillaging the underground, soaking your clothing and assaulting your nose. The air is thick with the smell of Chick-fil-A. But it wasn’t always this way.

Today, you have the honor of sharing campus with this Chick-fil-A as there are now more dining options then there ever were 85 years ago. So jump out of your Pontiac and let’s take a trip through time and food courts.

Named after the men who started it, Emory Brooks and Carl Dixon, the “B&D” was campus’ main cafeteria in the Student Center. It originally started in the basement of Kell Hall, relocated to Sparks Hall and finally found its home in what is now the Panther’s Club located in the Student Center East in 1964.

Because of Georgia State’s humble origins as a night school, there were few options for food on campus. Some of the most affectionately remembered are the B&D and the Refectory, a small snack bar on the bottom floor of Kell Hall.

The B&D was one of the only places that offered a variety of hot food options on campus, and it was widely liked by both students and professors. An excerpt from the 1986 Rampway, Georgia State’s late yearbook, reads: “Menus are based on certain basics such as providing a choice between poultry, fish and beef dish everyday...Regulars at the cafeteria will remember Mary Lou’s broccoli casserole.”

The joint was so popular and the scarce seating was so valuable, the owners had to place a sign enforcing “no studying between 10 am and 2 pm.”

It was so good and inexpensive, for example, that people from all around the offices downtown would commute to the university for their lunch. The school began to make students

present their student ID when buying food, a practice they still enforce to this day.

The Assistant Director for Recreational Facilities, Allen Wilbanks, remembers that the food was so delicious, former President Noah Langdale Jr. indulged himself with two milkshakes every day.

“Dr. Langdale had the brothers send 2 milk shakes every day at 2 to his office,” Wilbanks said. “Friday was a dozen fried shrimp or flounder and fries for $2.00 at lunch and dinner.

It was said that their deserts, especially the cheesecake, were wonderful.”

Dr. John Burrison, regents professor of folklore in the English department, first came to Georgia State in 1966.

At the time, the university’s campus consisted of just three buildings: Kell Hall, Sparks Hall and part of what is now the library.

Burrison said the B&D was no exception to student ridicule.

Students colloquially renamed the B&D as the “Bite and Die” or, better yet, the “Botulism and Dysentery.”

Burrison remembers the snacks offered in the Refectory, a snack bar at the bottom of Kell Hall. Students began affectionately referring to the Refectory as the “Rat Factory” after one incident in which its floors were replaced and a nest of rats was discovered residing underneath.

But this business wasn’t without controversy. Behind the excellent food of the B&D was the staff that worked diligently to prepare it and in the 1990s, a group of students recognized that the cafeteria staff of the B&D, all people of color, were lacking the proper benefits they deserved and instituted a protest.

Another issue came to light when The Signal’s then-editorin-chief, D.W. Pine, uncovered the near-monopoly that Brooks and Dixon had on the cafeteria by preventing external bids on the space since 1948. This article sparked an uprising that would ultimately lead to the eventual sale of the business.

“These protests forced the administration to put it out to bid,” Wilbanks said.

The competition of new dining facilities on campus forced the B&D to “modernize,” leading to an overall change in food

choices and quality. Notably, the past’s southern, home-style meals, like veggies and casseroles, were replaced with more streamlined and savory options, like wings, pizza and cookies.

But this change didn’t sit well with everyone, as the new options lacked a certain comfort and nutrition that the B&D provided. Burrison was one of those people.

“The last time I ate there was just after they converted the hot food area to something with wings,” he said. “In fact, I wrote a letter to the food service complaining that you couldn’t get a nice healthy, well-balanced and inexpensive meal there anymore.”

PantherDining works to satisfy the students as best they can, evolving the restaurants to fit the students’ wants and needs over time. With a changing student body, the oncampus restaurant options must follow suit.

“When the university was a commuter school, there wasn’t a need for a variety of dining options, but as the university continued to grow and transform into a traditional university, the need for variety grew, as well,” Amanda Shoff, a public relations specialist for PantherDining, said.

In Student Center East, changes included the arrival of a Pizza Hut, which was eventually replaced by Ray’s New York Pizza. Einstein Bros. Bagels eventually became a Burrito Bowl, and the previous Burger King soon became Far East Fusion.

Shoff said, “While the traditional cafeteria style was popular in the 1960s, as branded concepts became more popular, the students’ desire to have them on campus increased, and when students started living on campus, their desire for 24-hour service became prevalent.”

In 2017, PantherDining assumed control of the entirety of dining facilities on campus, including The Courtyard, Panther’s Club and Centennial Café. They are responsible for the rehoming of the Chick-fil-A from a smaller, shared space in the Panther’s Club to its present residence today, beneath the Courtland Street Bridge which assaults your nose with every passing by.

You can thank them for the $25 you shell out every week in the name of golden nuggets and polynesian sauce.

ARTS & LIVING

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GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM

things you don’t want to miss

More events and info at georgiastatesignal.com

thursday

wednesday

tuesday

saturday

friday

monday

sunday

Dior! A discussion

Black Theatre

Sleepy Hollow Experience

Night Market at North Point

Hip-Hop fest in Woodruff Park

Terror on the Trail

Free pin-up exhibition

October 2

October 3

October 4

October 5

October 6

October 7

October 8

The Atlanta Francophiles meet to discuss the legacy and impact of Christian Dior.

Meet at 5 p.m. at The Shops in Buckhead for champagne and conversation.

The Atlanta Black Theatre Festival will take over the Porter Sanford stage in Decatur.

It is the nation’s largest collection of black theatre. They collected plays of a variety of styles and scope.

At the Serenbe Playhouse, enjoy the thrilling, terrifying potential for outdoor theatre. Explore the grounds as actors create the rich world of Sleepy Hollow.

At the Alpharetta North Point Mall, the International Night Market will bring vendors from all over. Local crafts, diverse and delicious food and international goods will fill your dreams for days.

Atlanta Hip-Hop Day Festival is this weekend, filling Woodruff Park with bumping beats and tasty treats. Music artists and street food vendors will take their place and blow up our favorite spot.

Fear the Woods is an outdoor halloween horror show. Over 70 percent of the attractions are outdoors, so bring your stomping shoes to walk through some awful muck.

The only free thing you’ll see at Ponce City Market.

There will be a photo exhibition open to both contributors and participants.

Participants are encouraged to bring any two unframed photographs.

games

SuD0KU medium

easy

games

HARD

crossword 1

3

2

5

6

7

8 9

12

4

10

11

13

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15 16

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this week’s theme:

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Vines

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This week we highlight some of the most iconic Vines out there. Whether they cure your depression, toast your buns or remind you of the time your father left, we have them all. We hope you enjoy!

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To suggest a topic, email us: signalprod@gmail.com

across

3. Adrian ____ I’m gonna beat your a--!

5. I love you ___. I ain’t gon never stop loving you ___.

7. Its an ______. Thaaaanks.

10. On all levels except physical, I am a ____.

13. I eat ____. Shout out to all the ____.

14. This b---- empty. _____!

15. Hurricane Katrina? More like hurricane _____!

16. Two bros chillin’ in a _______ five feet apart ‘cause they’re not gay.

18. I think I know more about ______ than you do genius.

19. Aaah. Stop. I could’ve dropped my ______.

20. Look at all those _____.

22. And they were ____!. Oh my god they were ______.

23. Hey I’m a lesbian. I thought you were an _____.

25 You spilled whaawhawah lipstick in my _____ white bag!?

26. Four female Ghost Busters? The feminists are taking over!

I’m an adult ____.

DOWN

1. Kevin! Stop! Don’t! Kevin watch the ____ dude!

2. What up. I’m ___. I’m 19 and I never learned how to read.

4. I’m washin’ me and my ____.

6. I wanna be a _____ baby!

8. Go to _______ they got a new thing called Fr e sh voca do!

9. Look’t. Its fricken bats. I love ______.

11. _____ ya chicken strips!

12. You lousy no good duck. You’re just like your ____.

17. It is ____ my dudes. aaaAAAAAHHHHH! 21. Happy birthday ___! I can’t swim.

24. Hi welcome to ______.

SPORTS TUESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2018

www.georgiastatesignal.com/sports

What’s that green thing on top of Georgia State Stadium?

Georgia State Stadium is a sustainability marvel JERELL RUSHIN Sports Editor

S

anford Stadium on the University of Georgia campus has its hedges. Georgia State Stadium on Georgia State’s campus has a garden sprouting on its rooftop.

The Panthers play in one of college football’s leading stadiums in environmental sustainability. The year-old stadium made Georgia State one of three finalists for the United States Gypsum Corporation (USG) NACDA Sustainability Award, given by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and USG. The award is given to universities who incorporate “sustainable practices and materials into their athletics facilities.” Georgia State did not win the award but still received $10,000 in USG merchandise to put towards athletic and academic buildings.

One of Georgia State’s student organizations, the Student Environmental Team (SET), is building the garden and has optimistic goals for the future. SET member Gina Sheridan said the club will use the garden to provide educational opportunities for students and the Georgia State Athletics staff. It will engage the community by letting them grow in the garden, providing them the opportunity to improve their agricultural literacy.

“It could allow people who work in this building to have their own part of the garden if they’re interested in that,” Sheridan said.

“It could possibly inspire them to take more sustainable approaches to their building as well and perhaps recycle more, compost food waste more. Anything like that to get them thinking more.”

The garden isn’t bustling like New York City’s streets on a Monday morning yet, but Sheridan said having a garden space has been a goal of SET’s for more than four years. SET finally broke through in 2018, and though it was a strenuous, it was well worth the wait.

Sheridan expects to start growing this fall.

“It involved a lot of going from person to person and finding out where’s a good space

The Student Environmental Team (SET) meeting with Urban Agriculture Director of City of Atlanta’s Mayor’s Office of Resilience Mario Cambardella about SET’s gardening plans at Georgia State Stadium on Sept. 12.

for us, who’s in charge of this space,” Jessica Jones, acting SET president in 2017, said.

“Then after that, we petitioned with the Office of Sustainability and whoever would listen as to why we should have this space and what we would do with it.”

Mario Cambardella, urban agriculture director of the City of Atlanta’s Mayor’s Office of Resilience, met with SET on the past three Wednesdays. He provided the organization with free consulting to help them plan a successful blueprint and think through logistical problems that could arise.

Cambardella previously worked on the Woodruff Arts Center’s green rooftop.

The downtown location of Georgia State’s campus made finding a space challenging.

Georgia State doesn’t have the green spaces that a traditional college campus has. The stadium sprouted up at the perfect time and provided SET an ideal location to build a garden.

Manager of Sustainability Initiatives Jenni Asman worked hand-in-hand with SET to help it find the right place. Sheridan said the office genuinely a to see SET succeed. One day, Asman suggested SET look into gardening at the stadium, and SET ran with the idea.

“This is the only [possible garden] space that’s truly owned by Georgia State,” Sheridan said. “Being a urban campus, there’s not a fine line between what is the city of Atlanta and what is Georgia State University.

“So this is a place that we know Georgia State is going to own for a while, and there is a lot of security in that … We thought about putting it on the rooftop of certain buildings [on campus], but that is also a safety hazard and we didn’t know how long that would sustain.”

Georgia State Athletics was proactive in using the stadium to help the university be sustainable immediately after the school purchased Turner Field. Athletics requested to lend a hand in the university’s environmental initiatives.

The university’s recycling center is located inside the stadium. It includes an expanded polystyrene densifier, a machine that reduces

styrofoam scraps to “1/90th of their original size,” according to the Georgia State University Magazine, and it makes Georgia State one of just three universities to have a densifier.

For the 2017 fiscal year, the athletics program received $11,250 for recycling and composting efforts at the stadium and GSU Sports Arena.

“Athletics reached out to us as soon as GSU acquired the stadium,” Asman said. “They wanted assistance in creating a more ecoconscious waste plan for stadium events.”

“Sustainability Initiatives was very excited about this as it’s relatively rare for collegiate athletic departments to work so closely with sustainability departments,” said Asman. She said they saw great opportunity in reducing waste and incorporating student learning in the joint effort.

On home football game days, “Trash Talkers” advise fans to place their trash in the proper bins inside the stadium and at tailgating areas. Trash Talker and freshman Elijah Stephens said he needed volunteer hours for his new student orientation class, but he views it as an opportunity rather than a chore.

“You tell them [fans] what you can recycle and what you can’t … I don’t mind because I think I have a environmental mind, so I’m conscious of global warming,” Stephens said. “I just like to help out. I think it’s fun.”

Environmental scientists believe that people have the power to change trends if they act together. Getting the younger generation involved and invested in battling environmental issues is important because the issues will be theirs to handle in decades to come.

“I think having students volunteer at events such as the football games and the zero waste basketball game that is hosted during recyclemania, really raises awareness around the fact that people can always act in a more eco-conscious way, no matter where you are,” Asman said.

“It also gives students a behind the scenes view on how wasteful typical sporting events can be and the damage that does to

PHOTO BY JERELL RUSHIN | THE SIGNAL

the environment as well as the university’s bottom line,” Asman said. “Typically, after volunteering, students feel much more empowered to spread the word to their peers on the importance of certain environmentally friendly behaviors such as recycling, which in the end, elevating that awareness makes an even larger impact.”

By deciding not to build a new stadium, the university saved $20 million, according to a press release from Sustainability Initiatives.

Georgia State Stadium is essentially Turner Field with about 30,000 fewer seats.

“We were extremely pleased that we were able to transform a stadium for a third time and convert Turner Field into Georgia State Stadium,” Patrick Hatcher, assistant athletic director for facilities and operations, said in the press release.

“When we first viewed the property, we knew we could reuse, recycle and make the stadium more efficient in so many ways, just like they had when the stadium was built for the Olympics in 1996,” Hatcher said.

“Although the first stages of the transformation are complete, we will continue to look for ways to repurpose the iconic stadium for years to come.”

Before SET took control of the garden space, it was where marble rock, overgrown weeds and peeling paint stood. The Atlanta Braves’ miniature path where children could run the bases occupied the area before they moved to SunTrust Park.

Next to the garden is an amphitheater where environmental groups in Atlanta can visit and speak to students during SET general body meetings.

SET expects a lot of trial and error because it doesn’t have experience doing anything like this, but they want to leave a legacy so future SET members can serve the Panthers for years to come.

“We have really good intentions,” Sheridan said. “We really want to make something that we’re proud of so that way it can be beneficial to students and faculty. It’s something that’s never been done at this school before, so we really are proud to be taking on this project.”

SPORTS

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GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM

Sebastian Acuna returns to serve tennis team Georgia State tennis hires former player Sebastian Acuna JOSHUA FIFE Staff Reporter

F

ormer tennis star and now graduate assistant Sebastian Acuna is back on the Georgia State tennis courts this year, this time as a member of the men’s staff.

Acuna was one of the motors that helped propel the team to a second place finish in last year’s Sun Belt Conference tournament.

The Miami native enjoyed a successful career as both a player and a student. He received All-Conference Second Team honors for doubles in 2016 and for singles and doubles in 2018. He also earned Sun Belt All-Academic honors for his senior year.

Head coach Jonathan Wolff had to pick a new member of the team when the assistant coach position turned into an unpaid graduate assistant position. Luckily, it didn’t take long for him to find the right man for the job.

“I immediately had a rough idea of the demographic I wanted to target,” Wolff said. “Someone who recently graduated from a top program looking to obtain a masters degree as well as an individual who could compete and [who played] at the highest level of collegiate competition.”

Acuna couldn’t contain his excitement when he learned that he got the position.

“I had to run back to the car before walking into the store to let out a huge yell after I got off the phone with Jonathan.

I couldn’t have been more ecstatic when I received the good news.”

Acuna spent his entire college career playing for Georgia State tennis and has already played alongside seven of the 10 players on this year’s roster. His experience with the team certainly works in his favor and has helped him quickly

mesh into the new role.

“After playing at Georgia State for four years, I believe I have a good sense of what affects the team internally and externally,” Acuna said. “I’ve been with the team in its highs and lows and I’ve built strong chemistry with my former teammates, being able to speak to them on just about anything which creates a good bridge between the coaching staff and the players.”

His love for his teammates is easy to see, and the chance to continue helping them grow and develop was not an opportunity he took lightly.

“It truly means a lot to me,” Acuna added. “I have great respect for my former teammates and know what they can potentially achieve, giving their best effort. I’m physically and emotionally invested in the process of development in this team and I see this as an opportunity to do everything I can to improve the program that I’ve been a part of and worked so hard in.”

Acuna undoubtedly has worked hard to help the team be successful over the past few years. He had an integral role in helping the men’s tennis team win a Sun Belt Conference championship in the 2016-17 season and finish second in the 2018 conference tournament. Acuna finished with a doubles win against Troy in the semifinals of last season’s conference tournament to help advance the Panthers to the finals.

Acuna has won 10 or more singles matches in three of his four years at Georgia State. His highest single-season mark was when he notched 16 singles wins in the 2017 spring season.

He went 9-6 in doubles play as a senior, mostly accompanied by Andrei Duarte. His former doubles partner was excited to see his old teammate coming back to help the team.

“It’s awesome to have Seb back out there,” Duarte said.

“He has been a leader since day 1 and someone that I’ve

Sebastian Acuna is returning as the graduate assistant coach for the 2018 -2019 season.

looked up to for a while now so having him back out there is definitely something I’m looking forward to this year.

Although I wish he were still playing next to me, having him on the bench is going to be very beneficial for me.”

The sophomore added that Acuna’s playing experience gives him a respect from the team that sets him apart from other candidates.

“Being a former player gives him a whole other dimension now that he’s back with the team,” Duarte said. “Having someone who understands the struggles and who has been there in the trenches with us gives him a whole other level of credibility.”

Acuna was a leader and team co-captain while at Georgia State. He’s someone who bleeds blue and has a genuine love for the program. “[Sebastian] brings passion above all things to the job,” Duarte said. “The guy loves tennis and loves Georgia State.

He will keep us motivated and passionate not only for the sport but also for the school that has done so much for us.”

ACHIEVEMENTS ON THE COURT: Two-time Sun Belt Player of the Week 16-4 singles record in 2017 Undefeated in singles at No. 1 position in 2018 All-Conference Second Team Singles and Doubles in 2018 Ranked the No. 8 player in Florida in high school by TennisRecruiting.net

PHOTO SUBMITTED BY GEORGIA STATE ATHLETICS

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2018

SPORTS

17

The GSU Sports Arena was the site of the badminton events in the Atlanta 1996 Summer Olympic Games..

PHOTO COURTESY OF MARTIN HARMON

How GSU hosted an A+ badminton tournament The ‘96 Olympics left an impact on Georgia State forever CHRISTIAN CRITTENDEN Staff Reporter

T

he Olympic Games are without a doubt the pinnacle of all sporting events. And for a few weeks in 1996, Georgia State helped the city of Atlanta be the hottest place in the world.

At that time Georgia State was nowhere near the university that it is now. For starters, Georgia State was a commuter school and didn’t have any campus housing.

Furthermore, there was no football team or stadium to host large events.

In preparation for the Olympics, the university would have loved to host one of the more popular sports like volleyball because of the popularity it held in the country.

But with such limited resources on campus, Georgia State was forced to host a smaller event in the GSU Sports Arena.

“Georgia State was really not on the list early on to host anything,” Martin Harmon, who was the school’s assistant athletic director for communications at the time, said.

Even so, hosting volleyball in the GSU Sports Arena wouldn’t have been a possibility due to Olympic regulations which required a certain roof height. The next best option for Georgia State was badminton. Yes, you read that right.

“Everyone focused on the high profile competitions and where they were going to take place,” Harmon said. “But also, they had to find venues for the other sports that weren’t quite as high profile in this country, so badminton was one of those.”

With Georgia State being in the heart of downtown and one of the largest universities in the state, it was seemingly a perfect fit.

Harmon, along with Peter O’Reilly, one of his graduate assistants at the time, oversaw the media operations among other things at the GSU Sports Arena, a task that both of them thoroughly enjoyed.

Harmon acted as a venue press chief, so he was tasked with ensuring the venue was appropriately set up to host each day’s events and ensuring various press-related matters.

Harmon and O’Reilly operated with 40 volunteers in the media center, which included both college students and adults who gave up everything to work the Olympics for a brief three weeks.

Due to the high stress and long hours associated with such an important job, both Harmon and O’Reilly found only one

option to accommodate this: sleeping at the sports arena.

“There was really no time to leave. For two weeks you really couldn’t leave the venue, one of us always had to be available,” Harmon said. “We actually slept down in what was our office area at the time. We brought in stuff to where we could sleep there in the facility, so we never left. For two weeks we were there around the clock.”

While those two were running the operations, the actual game of badminton was becoming one of the big-ticket items in the city, believe it or not.

“When it got halfway through the event, and certainly through the semifinals and finals it was as raucous a crowd as we’ve ever seen that arena. And it rivaled not only Georgia State basketball, but it could have been an ACC basketball game, it was that intense in our arena.”

— PETER O’REILLY Georgia State graduate assistant in 1996 “Badminton is not well known in the United States, but it’s huge in Europe and Asia so those tickets became some of the prized tickets to any competition in the city because the number of people who were allowed in,” Danny Weipert, a staffer in Georgia State’s physical education department, said.

When the Olympic Committee took over the GSU Sports Arena, Weipert found a temporary job working with the housing department.

With such tight ticket sales and competitive matches, the atmosphere at Georgia State was unmatched.

“When it got halfway through the event and certainly through the semifinals and finals, it was as raucous a crowd as we’ve ever seen that arena,” O’Reilly said. “And it rivaled

not only Georgia State basketball, but it could have been an ACC basketball game. It was that intense in our arena.”

One of the most significant issues that came up was the air conditioning system in the GSU Sports Arena.

“The air control had to be shut off during the competition because they could allow any gusts of air from up above to affect the flight of the birdie,” John Krafka, the public address announcer for the badminton events, said.

Krafka was an employee at Georgia State who played many roles during the Olympics, but his main gig was as the announcer for the badminton events.

“Probably one of the biggest thrills for me was being in the Sports Arena with a capacity of 5,000 people, and we were introducing the gold medal winners, and we had heads of state from several different countries that I had to introduce, and at one point for a solid minute, everyone in the arena was quiet—so quiet that you could hear a pin drop,” Krafka said.

During that time, Georgia State was just beginning to improve its housing department, and two buildings on the campus of Georgia Tech on North Avenue were a part of the Olympic Village. Afterward, the Olympic Village evolved into dorms for 2,000 Georgia State students. However, during the actual Olympic games, the two buildings housed close to 4,000 athletes.

In 2007, Georgia State sold the buildings to Georgia Tech, and the funds were used to help construct the University Commons.

At the time, the Olympic Village had just been built, so there were a few hiccups here and there. Weipert was in charge of handling issues that arose within and around the village, and sometimes addressing those issues was difficult due to the language barrier between him and the athletes.

The badminton events at Georgia State ran relatively smoothly, and there were no real problems that occurred during the games.

“The Olympics themselves went off without a hitch,” O’Reilly said. “So, did anything go wrong? No, I’d say Georgia State as a whole got an A+ for this event.”

While it will be a long time before Atlanta hosts another Olympics, if they ever were to, many people would volunteer to work the events again in a heartbeat, if given a chance.

“It was one of the greatest experiences of my life, it’s part of what drew me to Atlanta,” O’Reilly said. “I moved to Atlanta to become a graduate assistant in the department, and when I did I knew the Olympics were coming, and I had to be a part of it somehow.”

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GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM

The ‘80s Panthers were searching for history As the budget grew, GSU’s basketball program steadily evolved DANIEL RICHARDSON Staff Reporter

S

ince Georgia State basketball joined the ranks of Division 1 athletics in 1963, the school has had an ambition to one day be recognized as a premier program. Through the decades, the Panthers have defined and redefined their identity as their quest for prominence—and their support from students— has grown.

Georgia State’s basketball program began in 1963 as an independent program; that is, the team didn’t belong to a collegiate conference.

In 1976, the Panthers joined the original Sun Belt Conference with seven other programs.

The Panthers—or the Crimson Panthers, as they were known from 1988 until 1993—were a burgeoning team who were searching for ways to create an identity of their own.

The Panthers played in the Sun Belt for five seasons before leaving the conference in 1981 to once again play as an independent team.

Leaving the Sun Belt Conference was possibly fast-tracked as a result of the ill effects of a conference rule introduced by then-commissioner Vic Bubas which mandated that teams must play in the largest arena in the program’s city.

For the Crimson Panthers, that meant having to play in the home of the Atlanta Hawks, the Omni Coliseum. Even student representation of up to 500 students per game did not make a dent in the spacious Omni, giving Georgia State games a desolate feel.

It was when the Panthers joined the Trans American Atlantic Conference (TAAC) in 1983 that the program began to find its footing.

“There wasn’t as much support from the university for athletics back then as it is now,” Dave Cohen, Georgia State’s radio play-by-play announcer since 1982, said. “The first significant move from the university that they were serious about being a competitive basketball program was when [Georgia State] hired Bob Reinhart.”

Reinhart was hired in 1986 after the Panthers had one of their worst seasons up to that point, going 2-26 overall and 0-14 in conference play.

Before arriving at Georgia State, Reinhart coached Decatur High School to three state titles and spent time as an assistant coach with the Atlanta Hawks for two years.

Reinhart’s role as head coach helped with recruiting, as his reputation with high school coaches was solidified by his time at Decatur.

Reinhart, now an Atlanta Sports Hall of Fame inductee, led the Panthers for nine seasons, winning the first TAAC Conference Championship in school history and also making their

PHOTO FROM RAMPWAY 1977, 5OL. 52

first NCAA Tournament in the same season in 1991.

The team often had to overcome the challenges of being a lower funded program at a school without support from student fees.

“We didn’t have an athletic fee at that time,” Dr. Rankin Cooter, Georgia State athletic director from 1984 to 1990, said.

“There was a student activity fee, and we got a portion of that.”

The athletic department would schedule games known as “guarantee games,” where a major program would pay lower budgeted programs to play in nationally televised games.

“Our budget was really low, and we didn’t have a good budget,” Dr. Cooter said. “So, as a result, we had to play guarantee games against Iowa and Maryland and schools like that. We had to play for guaranteed money in order to supplement our athletic budget.”

In a 1988 interview with Sports Illustrated, Reinhart gave his

perspective on the program.

“When I came here two years ago, this place was in total shambles,” Reinhart said in the interview.

Reinhart also said that during that season, the Crimson Panthers received “$9,000 from Wyoming, $11,000 from Oklahoma and $8,000 from Georgia Tech.”

Georgia State adopted its first athletic fee in 1990 when then-President Dr. John Palms introduced it to the student body. The addition of the athletic fee, according to Dr. Cooter, helped to provide stability to the program.

The program is now entering its 55th season, and with more funding and head coach Ron Hunter, the team has an even higher ceiling. Dr. Cooter posited that Hunter’s dedication to the program is one the main reasons he has been successful (two NCAA Tournament appearances in seven seasons). Dr. Cooter also said it doesn’t hurt to have a much larger athletic budget than that of his predecessors.

Panthers run past ULM in conference opener Georgia State snaps three-game skid, 1-0 in Sun Belt JERELL RUSHIN Sports Editor

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eorgia State (2-3, 1-0) scored a touchdown on its first possession to start its Western Michigan game and ended up losing by 19. The Panthers began their game against the University of Louisiana Monroe (ULM) the same way, but stopped ULM (2-3, 0-1) on its opening drive and scored another touchdown immediately. They kept applying pressure and went on to win 46-14.

True freshman Seth Paige and Dan Ellington led the Panthers to a program-record 308 rushing yards with 145 and 108 yards respectively. Paige’s 82-yard touchdown run is the school’s record for longest run from scrimmage. Paige had two rushing scores and Ellington and Tra Barnett each had one.

Paige is the first Georgia State running back to eclipse 100 yards rushing in a game since Glenn Smith did against Texas State on Nov. 17, 2017.

“You always want to get off on a fast start, but it does not

always mean the ball game is going to go your way … When an offense and defense can go back to back and then you get up two scores on them, you feel like you are on to something,” head coach Shawn Elliott said.

“The whole mindset changes. It fuels us a little more, and it takes a lot out of them. I do love the fast start, but it continues more after that first drive,” Elliott said.

The defense definitely played off the early energy built and allowed just two scores, none being in the second half. Georgia State’s second half defensive performance was much better than it was in their last three games, and the team had much more energy.

The four takeaways are twice as much as the previous seasonhigh of two against Kennesaw State.

“It was a conference game so we got to come out strong,” sophomore linebacker Victor Heyward said. “Coach Elliott said draw a line in the sand; we just lost three games in a row … let’s go out and get it today. So our focus was a little more [inaudible].”

Early in the second quarter, Ellington threw a pass behind intended target Roger Carter, but Carter focused and grabbed it

with one hand, walking in for a four-yard touchdown.

Another Panther who made an impressive play was freshman Chris Bacon, who out-jumped a ULM receiver to make an acrobatic fourth quarter interception.

After the Western Michigan game, Hart said the team needed to demand more out of each other, and he made Ellington think about that last week. The message followed the team and helped them against ULM according to Ellington.

During a team meeting the day before the game, Elliott told the team they need to believe in one another despite the fact that lots of transfers and freshmen make up a bulk of the roster.

After he left the room and locked the door, he said to himself, “no way we’re getting beat tomorrow.”

“He talked about trusting each other,” Hart said. “It was pretty evident through the past few games that trust, it wasn’t there as much as it could have been … He just saw it, we all saw it, we all felt it and he just spoke on being able to trust each other.

The Panthers play Troy on Thursday, Oct. 4 in their first road Sun Belt game of the year. Kickoff is at 7:30, and the game will be broadcast nationally on ESPNU.

SPORTS

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2018

SPORTS BRIEFS Women’s Soccer Won its first Sun Belt Conference game of the season defeating Troy 3-2 Brooke Smith broke the tie in the 87th minute on a free kick to lift the Panthers to victory Brooke Shank and Lily Barron scored the Panthers first two goals

SPORTS CALENDAR GOLF

Had its six-game losing streak snapped when they lost 2-1 to Santa Clara on Sept. 29 Panther Max Hemmings’ cross set up Lukas Joyner for a header to score the match’s first point in the 57th minute The match is the first that Georgia State allowed more than one goal in a match

Women’s Golf Went 1-1 on the weekend to move to 4-9 overall and 1-2 in the Sun Belt Conference match The Panthers overcame a 2-0 set deficit to defeat Troy 3-2. It was their first conference win of the season Lost 3-0 to South Alabama in convincing fashion

OCT. 2

OCT. 4

men’s golf

Troy, Alabama

OCT. 4

TROY

WOLFPACK INTERCOLLEGIATE, HOST: NORTH CAROLINA STATE

7:30 P.M.

TBA

VOLLEYBALL OCT. 5

men’s golf

GSU Sports Arena

Pinehurst, North Carolina

OCT. 7 OKC THUNDER

UT ARLINGTON

ALL DAY

6:30 P.M.

TEXAS STATE

GSU Sports Arena

6:30 P.M.

ULM

7 P.M.

GSU Soccer Complex

SMU INVITATIONAL

OCT. 6

OCT. 5-7

men’s soccer

men’s tennis

APPALACHAIN STATE

7 P.M.

MERCER GRIDIRON CLASSIC

Macon, Georgia

EAST DIVISION school

conference

overall

streak

TROY

2-0

4-1

W4

APPALACHIAN STATE

1-0

3-1

W3

GEORGIA SOUTHERN

1-0

3-1

W1

GEORGIA STATE

1-0

2-3

W1

COASTAL CAROLINA

1-1

3-2

L1

WEST DIVISION conference

overall

streak

ULM

1-1

1-4

L2

LOUISIANA

0-1

3-2

L1

ARKANSAS STATE

0-1

1-3

L3

TEXAS STATE

0-1

1-3

L2

ALABAMA STATE

0-2

2-3

L3

3:30 P.M.

atlanta falcons PITTSBURGH

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

1 P.M.

women’s tennis Dallas. Texas

Boone, North Carolina

NEW ENGLAND

OCT. 7

OCT. 5-7

women’s soccer

3 P.M.

atlanta united fc Mercedes-Benz Stadium

TENNIS

OCT. 5

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

OCT. 6

OCT. 6

SOCCER

TBA

atlanta hawks (preseason)

OCT. 8-9 PINEHURST CHALLENGE, HOST: COLLEGE OF CHARELSTON

atlanta braves LOS ANGELES/COLORADO

ALL DAY

SUN BELT CONFERENCE FOOTBALL STANDINGS

school

ATLANTA SPORTS

FOOTBALL

Raleigh, North Carolina

Men’s Soccer

19

TBA

SOFTBALL OCT. 7

TBA

EMMANUEL COLLEGE

Robert E. Heck Softball Complex

7:30 P.M.

THE 85TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL ISSUE T h e S i g n a l s h a l l p r o v i d e , i n a fa i r a n d a c c u r at e manner, news of interest and significance to the G e o r g i a S tat e U n i v e r s i t y c o m m u n i t y a n d s e r v e a s a f o r u m f o r t h e e x p r e s s i o n o f i d e a s o f m e m b e r s o f t h at c o m m u n i t y. F u r t h e r m o r e , T h e S i g n a l s h a l l p r o v i d e a n opportunity for students to pursue experience within a p r o f e s s i o n a l n e w s p a p e r e n v i r o n m e n t. T h e S i g n a l shall also provide truthful and ethical advertising o f i n t e r e s t t o t h e G e o r g i a S tat e U n i v e r s i t y c o m m u n i t y.

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