The Signal Vol. 86 No. 8

OCT. 9 - OCT. 16, 2018

VOL. 86 | NO. 8

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NEWS | PAGE 3 The Gulch is prime real estate in Downtown Atlanta. The only problem? Development may come at residents’ expense.

PHOTO BY AZAM LALANI | THE SIGNAL

AROUND THE WORLD

A BREAK IN THE CHAOS

COLOR CONTROVERSY

PETIT FIELD FOR HOW LONG?

Georgia State and Georgia Tech received a grant to establish a Global Studies Center.

Why we need another break after summer and before Thanksgiving.

Bright hair colors coming up, splat all over Instagram models and celebrities.

No plans to remove Pete Petit’s name from Georgia State Stadium despite federal investigations.

NEWS | PAGE 4 GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM

OPINIONS PAGE 8

News 3

ARTS & LIVING | PAGE 12

OPINIONs 7

Arts & Living 9

SPORTS | PAGE 17

Sports 15

NEWS

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GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM

BLOTTER OCT. 1

Illusion Skill: 100

A Georgia State student reported a theft by deception at 92 Piedmont Ave.

He couldn’t make it

A person not affiliated with Georgia State was arrested on the charge of urinating in public. A trespass warning was issued to the person.

OCT. 2

Kourtney, you’re the least interesting to look at

A Georgia State student reported a verbal confrontation between two or more people at Courtland Street and Auburn Avenue.

Walk in a straight line please

Someone reported a person not affiliated with Georgia State for being disorderly while under the influence.

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Daniel Varitek

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

OCT. 4

This ain’t James Bond

Editorial NEWS EDITOR Will Solomons

Two people not affiliated with Georgia State were arrested at Langdale Hall on the charges of carrying weapons on school property and possession of firearm by a convicted felon.

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

Isn’t that every art student?

living@georgiastatesignal.com

A Georgia State person reported a suspicious person at the Arts and Humanities building at 3:51 p.m.

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

Production production editor Devin Phillips

ILLUSTRATION BY EVAN STAMPS | THE SIGNAL

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Omega Phi Beta hosted the Ray of Hope Walk on Oct. 6 to raise awareness on violence against women.

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

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NEWS TUESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2018

www.georgiastatesignal.com/news

The Gulch: Will Atlanta fund a billionaire?

Currently occupied by MARTA rail and parking lots, The Gulch is part of a $5 billion real estate project by the City of Atlanta.

PHOTO COURTESY OF JOHN YEO

Atlanta’s real estate plan could revitalize Downtown at residents’ expense ZACH SALLING Staff Reporter

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tlanta may drop $5 billion, the largest real estate investment Atlanta has ever made, on a dilapidated parking lot—The Gulch.

The Gulch is a rackety stretch of rail and parking lots between the Five Points MARTA station and Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

The Los Angeles-based CIM Group, headed by Richard Ressler, brother of Atlanta Hawks owner Tony Ressler, touts a project revitalizing the concrete wasteland.

In the proposed development, a cluster of office buildings, apartments, retail space and hotels would overtake the existing area.

Additionally, CIM would invest $12 million into citywide economic development and provide $2 million towards vocational training for Atlanta Public School students.

“At roughly the equivalent of thirty football fields, this will be the largest development of its kind in Atlanta’s history and in the entire Southeast,” said Mayor Bottoms in a press release.

“Our Administration is proud to help make this a reality.”

The Gulch revitalization would pump money into Atlanta’s economy, while The Gulch in its current standing generates almost none.

Most importantly, it baits Amazon’s attention for their second headquarters, which Atlanta has been shortlisted for.

Amazon moving their headquarters into Atlanta would burgeon Georgia’s capital to unprecedented highs.

The proposal also tags a $1.75 billion bill onto the public— and it opens up another debate on gentrification.

The CIM plans to address gentrification by funneling $28 million into a citywide trust fund for affordable housing.

CIM also proposes renting 20 percent of their residential units at a price affordable to those making 80 percent of the area’s median, which is $1,100 per month for a one-bedroom apartment, or $1,350 for a two-bedroom. CIM plans to make 5 percent of their units more affordable than the city policy,

which requires only 15 percent of units affordable at 80 percent.

“On the one hand, CIM using 80 percent is actually going above what the city requires, so a lot of this is on us. That said, I would always hope to push as hard as we can to seek a situation where as many [homes] are as affordable to as many people as possible,” said Matt Westmoreland, Post 2 Atlanta City Council member.

Some have criticized CIM’s proposal as a drop in the bucket considering the $1.75 billion bill hanging over the public’s head.

Julian Bene, a former board member of Invest Atlanta, has been one of those critics.

“The benefits don’t even come to a fraction of what we’re giving up,” Berne said in an interview with SaportaReport. “It’s clearly a ridiculous trade.”

CIM’s proposal considers the lower-income population, but it’s questionable if their consideration alone is enough.

“I think, for a $1.75 billion public investment over 30 years, we need to do better than that,” Berne said. “$1,100 a month for these 200 units is definitely ‘workforce housing,’ but I think it’s a stretch to call it ‘affordable housing.’”

Michael Bond, Post 1 At-Large member of the Atlanta City Council, denies the public will foot the $1.75 billion tax.

“The [$1.75 billion tax] is not really a tax on the public. But what happens is this developer to take advantage of the tax incentives has to build so many units, so many parts to develop, and phases, and if he doesn’t reach those goals he doesn’t get the benefit.”

And that would place a Tax Allocation District (TAD) on the property. This means property taxes generated by The Gulch in the upcoming decades would fund CIM’s project instead of Atlanta’s other infrastructural needs, like the surrounding schools and broken roads.

Though, indirectly, Atlanta citizens will still see their tax dollars feed The Gulch development.

Having Atlanta fund a private developer’s project calls into question their “above and beyond” approach with affordable housing for tax incentives.

“They’re trying to prepackage so they can get a sign-off from the local politicians, ‘Yeah, we like the idea of what you’re doing. It looks like you’re doing good things for the community,’ and the developer hopes that makes [the deal]

go more smoothly,” Dr. Jon Wiley, associate professor in the department of real estate, said.

On Monday, Oct. 1, a proposed audit of The Gulch development failed to pass the Atlanta City Council. But The Gulch proposal itself was not voted down.

“It was a resolution for the city to hire someone to give us a third party. But the Georgia Municipal Association came forward yesterday and said they’re going to do it [instead],” Bond said.

The Georgia Municipal Association as an auditory may not allow for checks-and-balances that a third party could provide for Atlanta politicians.

Despite CIM’s tax incentives and public tax funding of the billion dollar developer, Bond believes the public supports The Gulch’s redevelopment.

“Generally, people favor The Gulch being redeveloped,” Bond said. “I think people are right to pause and [criticize] the nuances of what’s been negotiated thus far by the administration. So, it really kind of depends on where you are.”

Georgia State practically neighbors The Gulch. So if you think traffic is terrible now, wait until The Gulch development kicks in.

“At a micro level, the average student is probably going to see an increase in traffic and if the project is really successful and people move in and property values rise, then it might make it harder to find student apartments,” Wiley said.

With a $5 billion development next door to campus, Georgia State students won’t have to hunt for changes.

“You can have negative spillover like increased congestion, traffic issues, displacement of residents, increased property taxes. People who have lived there for a long time, they can’t afford their property tax, so they become displaced,” Wiley said.

“It’s the gentrification part of the story.”

But with development comes some of the positives the developers have proposed.

“The possible positive spillover effect would have a positive impact on the city, then if the center of Atlanta does better, I would imagine that GSU would become a [richer] place to live.

You might see increased private spending in the parks, places to shop, work and eat,” Wiley said.

“But, you have to pay for some of those benefits.”

NEWS

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GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM

ILLUSTRATION BY DEMETRI BURKE | THE SIGNAL

Georgia State and Tech establish joint global center Furthering education in a globally connected society NATORI SPENCE

Associate News Editor

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eorgia State and Georgia Tech established the Atlanta Global Studies Center (AGSC) with the intention of increasing student interest in gaining a global perspective.

AGSC is a national resource center and a foreign language and area studies (FLAS) fellowship program funded by a $2.25 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education.

“The Atlanta Global Studies Center will provide opportunities for economic and civic partnerships across the greater Atlanta region by leveraging the city’s status as a leading international corporate center and thriving multinational investment hub,” G.P. ‘Bud’ Peterson, president of Georgia Tech, said in a press release.

Peterson said that the state of Georgia’s efforts in bilingual and dual-immersion education demonstrate the ever-growing need for a global workforce.

“All students must engage in international education to succeed during the 21st century, both in the job market and as well-informed citizens,” Risa Palm, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Georgia State, said in a press release.

Overall, a median of 92 percent of European students are learning a language in school, according to a report by Pew Research Center.

But in the United States, only 20 percent of K-12 students are enrolled in foreign language classes, according to a 2017 report

by American Councils for International Education.

Dr. Tony Lemieux, the co-director of the AGSC and director of the Global Studies Institute at Georgia State, said that the center will also focus on increasing language learning from the ground up.

“We will do this through programmatic activities, partnerships, and development of materials and content specifically for K-12 outreach,” Lemieux said. “One of the areas that we’ve targeted is to develop toolkits that support language learning as it relates to specific subject areas (i.e. STEM), which will support the work of educators in the K-12 system.”

They plan to help to provide more opportunities for students from underrepresented backgrounds in the region, focusing on fostering specialized instruction in international education and less commonly taught languages such as Arabic, Korean, Portuguese and Hindi.

“The AGSC is an important step in further innovation of global curriculum, and I am thrilled about the enrichment it will provide to students and community,” Lemieux said.

He said this will be facilitated through robust collaborations in research and instruction with Atlanta universities and with international organizations, consulates, refugee organizations and institutions of public service and higher education in the Southeast and nationally.

“The ability to understand diverse perspectives, and to truly appreciate the value of diversity and inclusion that a global perspective amplifies is something that will be a focus of the center,” Lemieux said.

The AGSC will also focus on enhancing student interest in language learning regardless of their major or concentrated study. For instance, a student may be interested in topics related to security or health and develop interest in particular regions and languages based on their field of study.

“Some of the careers that our students will have don’t even exist yet! But I believe that the future is highly global, highly

“I believe that the future is highly global, highly interconnected, and highly collaborative.”

services that they provide,” Adeboyejo said.

AGSC plans to enhance career readiness by helping students to connect their experiences and learning. “[We] will be not only stressing the importance of how to develop that global perspective and identity, but also actively working on enhancing the skills necessary to put knowledge into action,” Lemieux said.

He is especially excited for the AGSC to explore efforts to better serve heritage language speakers—those who have learned a language in informal settings.

“There are tremendous opportunities to serve them, and to draw on their expertise as well! As a National Resource Center, we are working to create a model and an example that can have a reach that extends broadly,” he said.

He thinks that one of the core strengths of the AGSC is the diversity of both student populations at Georgia State and Georgia Tech, as well as the city of Atlanta itself.

“The ability to think about challenges and opportunities by incorporating multiple perspectives is one of those kinds of skills that will transfer across all sectors, and all types of careers,” Lemieux said.

— ANTHONY LEMIEUX co-director of Atlanta Global Studies Center interconnected, and highly collaborative,” Lemieux said. “What is important, is for students to develop a global perspective and the ability to work effectively on cross-cultural, and crossdisciplinary teams.”

Romat-Abiola Adeboyejo, a graduate student at Georgia State that works in university career services, said that employers prefer to have employees who can adapt to changing situations and who are culturally competent.

“International experience can increase someone’s chances of getting a job, because it shows that a person is willing to explore new things beyond their comfort zone. It also shows that a person is taking the initiative to interact with diverse groups of people,” Adeboyejo said.

With the changing demographics in the United States, Adeboyejo said she foresees the demand for bilingual employees increasing.

“If a company is located in an area with a heavy Spanishspeaking demographic, they will most likely want to hire someone who is bilingual in English and Spanish. Speaking two languages is a hard skill and can help a company improve the

STATS ON LANGUAGE AND CAREERS Demand for bilingual workers more than doubled in five years Employers are increasingly looking for workers who can speak Chinese, Spanish and Arabic Employers posted more than three times more jobs for Chinese speakers in 2015 than they had just five years earlier The number of U.S. job ads listing Spanish or Arabic as a desired skill increased by roughly 150 percent The fastest growth in bilingual listings from 2010 to 2015 was for so-called “high prestige” jobs, a category including financial managers, editors and industrial engineers In 2010, there were roughly 240,000 job postings aimed at bilingual workers. By 2015, that figure had ballooned to approximately 630,000

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2018

NEWS

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Courtland Bridge opened ahead of schedule

NEWS BRIEFS

Traffic delays and shaking buildings over...for now

LOCAL

WILL SOLOMONS News Editor

Georgia woman dies from West Nile Virus

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fter just over five months of reduced traffic flow and the shaking of Sparks Hall, the Courtland Street Bridge construction project was completed ahead of schedule.

On Thursday, Oct. 4, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) Commissioner Russell McMurry and Atlanta Regional Commission Board of Commissioners Chairman W. Kerry Armstrong spoke at the ceremony and congratulated the efforts of the construction workers and administrative staff alike.

“My parents met just down the street which is now the campus of Georgia State … and I met my husband just across the way at the law school so I’m going to call this sacred ground that we’re standing on today,” Mayor Bottoms said.

She said she was proud of the efforts of GDOT and other involved parties during the expedited construction.

“We know that there is lots of discussions in Atlanta about what we are doing about traffic and improving our roadways, and there’s no better example than to have a project of this magnitude completed in the heart of downtown to show that we are serious and we are intentional about improving commutes in our city,” Mayor Bottoms said.

The bridge project designers and other parties involved used a unique construction plan called the Accelerated Bridge Construction plan. It allowed the builders to finish the bridge about a month ahead of schedule.

Slated for November, the bridge actually was completed sooner than other projects of its type.

Normally, it would take close to two years to complete a project of this size and magnitude.

Ramesh Vakamudi is the vice president of facilities for Georgia State. He said they were told the bridge would take two years to complete after an initial 10-year delay.

“We first heard about this project in 2006, and the project got delayed due to some funding

WSAV-TV reported that a 90-year-old woman in Dunwoody has died from West Nile Virus, a viral infection typically spread by mosquitoes. DeKalb County District Health Director S. Elizabeth Ford confirmed on Thursday that the woman’s death is the first from the virus in the county this year. She’s also the second person in Georgia to die from the virus so far in 2018. The Atlanta JournalConstitution reported the case is the second reported in Dunwoody in less than a month. On Sept. 7, a man in his 20s was reported to be infected with the virus.

The Georgia Department of Transportation Commissioner Russell McMurry speaks at the ceremonial ribbon cutting opening of Courtland Street Bridge after months of construction.

constraints at the time. Come to 2010-2011, the City of Atlanta stepped in and installed safety nets under the bridge … and by 2016 the project started moving,” he said.

McMurry said he expects the new bridge to stand in Atlanta for at least another 100 years, which is about as long as the previous bridge stood.

After more congratulations and words of encouragement, the ceremony concluded with Pounce, Georgia State’s rowdy mascot, cutting the ribbon alongside the mayor and other officials. A local high school marched down the bridge to a celebratory array of songs.

On Friday, four days before its official opening, the bridge saw cars and pedestrians alike traverse

PHOTO BY VANESSA JOHNSON | THE SIGNAL

Kavanaugh sworn in as Supreme Court Justice across its newly poured asphalt.

Now that the bridge is completed, Sparks Hall has a bus stop like it did before the demolition began. Students had previously been crowding in front of Langdale Hall between classes and many complained about the difficulties of operating just one stop.

Students had expressed concerns of the overcrowding outside of Langdale, with the Student Government Association and Georgia State’s transportation and parking department taking the lead on how to address those concerns.

As construction ends for the Courtland Street Bridge, Kell Hall’s demolition sits on the horizon so enjoy the peace and quiet while it lasts.

On advice, being a gay man in media and politics Staff Reporter

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cclaimed CNN news anchor Don Lemon spoke to a full crowd of students in Student Center East about his life and the relationship between politics and the media during Spotlight’s second installment of the Distinguished Speaker Series.

Before Lemon addressed the university as a whole, The Signal had the opportunity to interview him directly.

“This is my advice for life and not just journalists: Don’t judge, be curious. Especially about your subject and you can do the same with your neighbor. If your neighbor feels a certain way, why do they feel that way instead of judging them for feeling that way,” he said.

The event opened with a jeering crowd as Lemon graced the stage in his navy blue suit and joyful smile. Professor Donna Krache mediated

the event, asking Lemon a series of questions that gave insight to both his personal and professional life.

Krache began by asking Lemon about his early life and what led him to become a journalist.

From a young age, Lemon was interested in journalism because it allowed him to connect with others and depict a positive image for African-Americans in media. It was while viewing African-American news anchor Gene West when Lemon decided he wanted to embody West’s positivity on his own screen.

Lemon, notorious for his unapologetic voice and opinion, then spoke of how he was able to attain this voice when he spoke of his sexual abuse as a child on live television. He decided to speak out after hearing the accusations against Bishop Eddie Long, who allegedly sexually abused people within his congregation.

Lemon said his experience proved to him that an abuser can have any face and form. He told his story on live television and was apprehensive about whether it would receive praise or hate.

He said he was relieved when he received an

Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh was confirmed to the Supreme Court on Saturday by a vote of 50 to 48. He was sworn in by both Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and the retired Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, whom he will replace, in a private ceremony.

His confirmation sparked protests across the nation due to the sexual assault allegations against him. He will take his place on the bench, as the nation’s 114th justice of the Supreme Court, on Tuesday.

GLOBAL

An interview with Don Lemon ASHARI HANKERSON

NATIONAL

overwhelming amount of support as many others shared similar experiences.

He spoke on his journey as a gay man as well and how he had to accept his sexuality despite his religious background. It was shortly after this acknowledgment when Lemon began to tear up as he expressed his gratitude for the overwhelming amount of students that attended the event.

Krache then asked Lemon how he deals with haters and critics. Lemon stood up and dusted off his shoulder as a display of his response.

Trump tweeted at Lemon criticizing his support for LeBron James. Lemon replied to the president by telling him to watch his show for a response.

Lemon asked, between Trump and James, which person was better with children: “The guy who’s putting them in cages or the guy who is putting them in school?”

Lemon concluded his time with a final comment on racism, noting that it must be addressed with universal accountability. “We are our brother’s keeper,” Lemon said. “There is no such thing as complicitly tackling racism. This nation must stop reaping its benefits.”

Magnitude 5.9 earthquake hits northern Haiti

CNN reported that at least 10 people are dead after a magnitude 5.9 earthquake that was felt across the entire country struck near Haiti on Saturday night, according to Haiti’s civil protection agency.

Another 135 people were injured and are currently receiving treatment in hospitals. Prime Minister Jean-Henry Céant said a crisis cabinet has been created to coordinate all emergency responses to the earthquake.

The earthquake was also felt in the Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Haiti and Turks and Caicos Islands.

NEWS

6

Georgia State’s Styrofoam densifier is located in the recycling center under the Georgia State Stadium.

The densifier can condense a large box of Styrofoam down to one-nineteenth of its original size.

GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM

PHOTO BY VANESSA JOHNSON | THE SIGNAL

These students love digging through the trash Don’t you want to know where your $5 sustainability fee is going?

ADA WOOD Staff Reporter

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eginning this fall semester, Georgia State students’ sustainability fee was raised from $3 to $5. Where exactly is that money going?

For starters, the Office of Sustainability has recycled 32 percent of the university’s waste so far in 2018 and has saved the university $21,437.

The program manager, Jenni Asman, began conducting waste audits in the fall of 2017, where student interns counted items that they found in the trash around the university.

During this process, they found a significant amount of Styrofoam.

“About 30 percent in volume,” Asman said. “We found what is called a Styrofoam Densifier, which we now have at the stadium in our recycling center. It takes Styrofoam, shreds it and melts it to about one-ninetieth of its size.”

Georgia State is one of just three universities in the nation to have the machine. The densifying process is possible because Styrofoam consists mostly of air.

“We can have three big trucks worth of Styrofoam and once it is densified, it comes out to about the size of a small brick,” she said.

This brick is given to Caraustar, a paperboard mills company, which then creates picture frames from the material.

The Center for Hard to Recycle Materials (CHARM) is a center that does exactly what its name suggests: recycle things like batteries and other material that can’t be recycled easily (like paper).

When CHARM lost the ability to recycle Styrofoam, they reached out to Asman for help.

“The entire surface level of the stadium was filled with Styrofoam. We had students and the recycling crew densifying for hours. It was so cool, and the students loved it,” Asman said.

One of the student interns on the project, Jennifer Duenas, said that the experience has taught her a lot about sustainability and a lot about the Georgia State campus.

“It’s really about crunching numbers. Calculating the waste accumulated each month, how much was diverted from landfill and how much money we saved in the process,” she said.

Duenas said it’s a very hands-on experience with recycling, from densifying styrofoam to digging through trash, but there’s more to it than just that. She actually thinks looking through

the trash is cool.

“You get to look at the habits of students and examine your own habits, as a student,” she said. “This is their campus, it’s their second home. This should be a source of pride for students. It’s about a connection to this place and establishing sustainability makes us stand out.”

In 2013, Asman was the only staff member in the office, and the projects focused solely on reducing power usage in buildings.

“Prior to creation, there were initiatives that faculty took on, but there was not a central hub to bring these ideas to fruition,” Asman said.

Asman said moving departments really helped the office grow.

“We were now able to have a better connection with housing, campus services and PantherDining,” Asman said.

Since the move, the department has completed several initiatives but still finds difficulty in management with such a limited amount of funds.

“We run the office on a shoestring budget,” Asman said.

Staff salaries and a majority of the operational costs come from state funding. The remaining funding comes from fundraising, grants and student fees.

Asman said that some schools, like the University of Georgia, use sustainability fees to fund office support and staff salaries.

“We don’t do that here. 30 percent of those funds go toward our recycling programs and operations, like gas for vehicles and equipment,” Asman said. “The rest, 70 percent or more, goes directly to fund student and department initiated proposals.”

One of the recent projects was possible through a $380,000 grant to the office. The result was newly updated LED lighting in T Deck that cut energy consumption and the utility bill in half annually, according to Asman.

Carrie Freeman, a researcher of environmental communications at Georgia State, participated in a $40,000 grant-funded curriculum workshop in 2014 where over 60 faculty members learned how to infuse sustainability concepts into any class.

She said that today, society is facing many problems as a community including mass extinction, pollution and climate change.

“Given the urgency of the current environmental crisis that affects all living beings on our planet, institutes of higher education owe it to students in all majors to raise and engage their environmental literacy skills,” Freeman said.

Freeman said that teachers should include information on

sustainability in course material, and researchers can find work toward environmental problem-solving.

“Every student can choose to do some class projects on eco and animal protection topics, as well as joining student groups to network and take collective action on these issues,” she said.

Several student-proposed initiatives have seen success as well, including the bikeshare program, solar picnic tables and a hydroponic freight farm behind the PantherDining center at Piedmont North that grows lettuce.

Asman said it takes more than just individual effort to achieve sustainability goals.

“I’d like to take all the credit for that, but the thing about sustainability is you can’t. You have to have advocates, partners and teamwork everywhere.”

ITEMS ACCEPTED

Paper Plastic Cardboard Metal ITEMS NOT ACCEPTED

Plastic bindings and clips Food-soiled paper Cartons Food-soiled cardboard Pots, pans and utensils Aerosol cans #6 styrofoam products #6”Clamshell” and brittle plastic packaging #7 “miscellaneous” and rigid plastics #2/#4 plastic bags and film Biodegradable plastics

OPINIONS TUESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2018

www.georgiastatesignal.com/opinions

Kavanaugh-Ford: a test of our progress A trial for Dr. Ford, and a job interview for Kavanaugh

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SHARI CELESTINE Staff Reporter

Shari is a third-year Creative Writing major with an interest in diversity in publishing. In her spare time, she works on her Urban Fantasy manuscript.

Tweet shari!

@shari_celestine

r. Christine Blasey Ford is the second woman to appear in 27 years before the Senate Judiciary Committee to testify against a Supreme Court nominee. Unable to sit quietly, Dr. Ford came forward about a night at a party in the early ‘80s where she was sexually assaulted.

It’s not hard to think back to 1991 when attorney and law professor Anita Hill accused then-nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment. Hill didn’t have the backing of the #MeToo movement; she stood all alone, a black woman testifying in front of a group of white men. The statements made in that room by the Committee were not kind, Hill was not thanked for coming forward, she wasn’t called brave and she wasn’t believed. Hill was the only woman to come forward with accusations against Thomas.

However, Dr. Ford is the first of three women to publicly accuse Judge Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct.

The make-up of the room at Hill’s testimony in ‘91 was only marginally different to today’s. Then, no women sat on the Judiciary Committee. Today, four women sit on the Democrat panel though no women are on the Republicans panel. Still, it’s clear the Judiciary Committee continues to be run by old white men. Of the members present during the Hill-Thomas hearings, three also appeared before the Kavanaugh-Ford panel: Patrick Leahy, Orrin Hatch and Chuck Grassley.

Hill was portrayed as an angry black woman with wicked motives and a questionable background. Thomas’ supporters believed the tables were turned—that Hill was spurned by Thomas and was lashing out in an act of revenge on the largest public scale. Ten years had passed between Hill coming forward and Thomas’ sexual advances while they worked together. Hill stated that she only wanted to come forward because she felt obligated to share her account of Thomas’ character and actions.

Thomas was inevitably confirmed and has since remained a member of the Supreme Court. The Hill-Thomas testimony has gone down in history as a failure, a black mark in U.S. history. The law failed Anita Hill 27 years ago, and the American people were not ready to believe her. Since then, there has been a shift in the country to believe sexual harassment and assault victims’ cries for justice. Without this shift, Americans wouldn’t have come to realize just how badly our justice system failed Anita Hill.

History is doomed to repeat itself.

A member of the United States Supreme Court

DR. CHRISTINE BLASEY FORD SEPT. 30: A second accuser, Debbie Ramirez, comes forward with allegations of Kavanaugh exposing himself at a party in front of her 35 years ago.

OCT. 1: FBI granted ability to question anyone deemed relevant after public pushback.

OCT. 1: An old Yale roommate of Kavanaugh’s, James Roche, surfaces to talk about Kavanaugh’s behavior in college.

OCT. 1: Bloomberg releases report of a drunken bar fight in Kavanaugh’s Yale days.

sits on the highest court in the land. How could a man accused of sexual assault be trusted with the rights of many when there is the possibility that he crossed the line with one?

Dr. Christine Blasey Ford came forward on Sept. 16 in a Washington Post article to accuse Judge Kavanaugh of sexual assault when they were both in high school. On Sept. 27, she testified to this in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee and to millions watching around the country and the world.

In her opening statement, Dr. Ford made a powerful declaration: “I am here today not because I want to be. I am terrified. I am here because I believe it is my civic duty to tell you what happened to me while Brett Kavanaugh and I were in high school.

“My motivation in coming forward was to provide the facts about how Mr. Kavanaugh’s actions have damaged my life so that you can take that into serious consideration as you make your decision about how to proceed. It is not my responsibility to determine whether Mr. Kavanaugh deserves to sit on the Supreme Court.

My responsibility is to tell the truth,” Dr. Ford said.

Dr. Ford’s testimony was painful to watch at times.

Senator Patrick Leahy asked Dr. Ford, “What is the strongest memory you have? Strongest memory of the incident? Something that you cannot forget?”

Dr. Ford didn’t hesitate with her response.

“Indelible in the hippocampus is the laughter. The uproarious laughter between the two and having fun at my expense,” she said.

To some, the missing details of Dr. Ford’s testimony are enough to disprove her credibility.

But why? As adults, there are always those clear memories we keep with us no matter how old we get, and there are always those memories which fade. So why can the same not be said for Dr. Ford?

Patricia Resick, a Duke University professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, said, “She remembers ‘two friends having a really good time with each other.’ This speaks to the humiliation and shame that sexual assault victims feel. The shame and humiliation are often more important than the fear and speak more to why she stayed silent for so long.”

Kavanaugh is a former attorney and current judge who sits on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. On July 9, President Donald Trump nominated Kavanaugh to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Anthony

Kennedy. At the time, Kavanaugh portrayed himself as an independent-minded judge who would rule by the line of the law. But after his testimony, Kavanah looked anything but cool and level-headed.

After a 45-minute rage where he took aim at everyone from the panel’s Democrats to the “national disgrace” of a confirmation process, Kavanaugh’s image of a cool demeanor took a hard right turn.

“This whole two-week effort has been a calculated and orchestrated political hit,” Kavanaugh said, “fueled with apparent pentup anger about President Trump and the 2016 election, fear that has been unfairly stoked about my judicial record, revenge on behalf of the Clintons and millions of dollars in money from outside left-wing opposition groups.”

So while Dr. Ford sat in utter terror, she still managed to speak calmly and politely and answered, to the best of her recollection, all questions aimed at her. But Kavanagh was aggressive, disrespectful and dismissive to every committee member on the panel. It brings into question his ability to stay impartial as he is confirmed to sit on America’s highest bench for the rest of his life.

There was enough lingering doubt after Kavanaugh’s testimony that the Senate Judiciary Committee requested the White House call for an FBI probe into Ford-Kavanaugh accusations.

Surprisingly, Trump agreed to the investigation.

The FBI had one week to interview witnesses on both sides and then the Senate, barring no major revelations from the probe, could move forward with confirming Kavanaugh.

Why is it required for a woman defending herself to be seen as calm and demure, but when a man is defending himself it’s perfectly acceptable to be disrespectful and aggressive? If Dr. Ford went on the offensive during questioning, would she have been seen as a credible witness?

On Oct. 6, the bitter dispute of sexual misconduct against Kavanaugh ended. In a vote of 50-48, Kavanaugh was confirmed and sworn in to be the 114th Supreme Court Justice. Just like 27 years ago, a woman came forward with her truths and the American justice system brushed her claims aside. This system is deeply flawed, and until survivors are believed, we can’t move forward.

I believe Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. I still believe Anita Hill and I will continue to believe any woman who has the courage to step forward.

ANITA HILL OCT. 2: Mark Judge is interviewed by the FBI. OCT. 3: Trump openly mocks Dr. Ford at a campaign rally.

OCT. 4: FBI completes investigation, yet neither Dr. Ford or Kavanaugh are questioned. Mitch McConnell announces Senate will convene on Friday to vote.

OCT. 5: The procedural vote is 51-49, advancing Kavanaugh’s nomination.

OCT. 6: Brett Kavanaugh is confirmed to the Supreme Court with a Senate vote of 50 – 48.

SEPT. 12: Hill first tells the committee of the sexual allegations against Thomas.

SEPT. 20: An FBI investigation is suggested.

SEPT. 23: Hill agrees to allow the FBI to investigate the allegations.

SEPT. 26: FBI completes its investigation, and a report is submitted to the White House and the Judiciary Committee. The report determines the allegation was unfounded.

SEPT. 27: The committee deadlocks 7-7 on whether to

recommend the Senate confirm Thomas’ nomination. The panel then votes 13-1 to send his nomination to the Senate floor without a recommendation.

OCT. 11: Hill testifies that Thomas had sexually harassed her while she worked with him at the Education Department and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

OCT. 15: The Senate confirms Thomas in a 52-48 vote.

OCT. 23: Thomas is sworn in as an associate justice of the Supreme Court.

OPINIONS

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GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM

EDITORIAL Give us a break already Georgia Tech and Emory get fall break, so why not us?

Y

ou know the old saying, “You always want what you can’t have?”

Well, students at Emory, Tech and Spelman are relaxing on a fall break, and we want one, too.

Thanksgiving, winter, spring and the obvious summer: four breaks are offered

by Georgia State, one for each traditional season. However, we feel left out and cheated. Other students at universities such as Emory and Georgia Tech headed to the beach and walked mountain trails this past weekend because of fall break. Ever experience fear of missing out? Well, we’re not fearful—we’re frustrated.

The university boasts being there for students, but where are they when we need them the most? All we ask is just two days off. A Thursday and Friday or a Monday and Tuesday would help alleviate the pains of having to go to classes without reprise for

the past seven weeks. We miss out on events like concerts and festivals.

Early October offers opportunities unmatched in other seasons. September’s golden gusts give way to the early fall’s gently waning warmth. The sunset settles into a romantic blanket over the smoky mountains… if we could just get out of the city.

You might say that Thanksgiving break is adequate enough, but you’re not the one studying for the finals that happen once we get back. Thanksgiving is hardly an opportunity for students to hang out with friends since its more family-oriented than a fall break would be.

Breaks are for holidays, you say. We challenge you to show us what holiday tradition scatters passed out, springbreaking students across the beaches of Panama City and Cancun. Breaks aren’t for holidays; they’re for handling stress.

Getting a deeply relaxing break makes you a better student once you get back.

A week-long break would give full-time enrolled, full-time working students a chance to catch up on last month’s laundry.

Might sound silly, but some of our grades would really benefit from a face mask.

And classes getting moved around or cancelled has hardly stopped the university before. A cold, wet day halted them last semester, so what’s the problem with having two days to destress and potentially get some much needed sleep?

Whether we have to ask the Student Government Association or march down to President Becker’s office, we’ll do whatever it takes to get the break in our hectic young adult lives. And don’t come at us with “It’s financially not feasible.” We know how much people are making. Hell, we’ve even written about it a couple times.

ARTS & LIVING TUESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2018

www.georgiastatesignal.com/artsandliving

Professionals of pose The experiences of figure models SAM PUCKETT

Associate Arts & Living Editor

“N

ow, I actually prefer to be in less clothes.”

Emerald Phoenyx is a figure model in Atlanta, now affiliated with the Pangea’s Garden art collective. Emerald Phoenyx is a pseudonym, used here as her artistic identity. “[Starting out] was definitely very strange because I’m scared as f--- and I’m very, very shy,” Phoenyx said.

Figure modeling is to model the live body, often in the nude, for artists to study and render in sketch, etch, painting and photography. It requires an eclectic mix of skills, incredible submission to vulnerability and exploration of confidence.

Phoenyx began modeling through an unexpected source, but to say she has made the most of it is an understatement.

“I was working at a very sh--- Applebee’s in Douglasville, and the first photographer I ever worked with actually sat at one of my tables,” Phoenyx said.

At Georgia State, Ralph Gilbert is the interim faculty coordinator for figure modeling. The professional relationships among figure models and the art and design department appear more peer-to-peer than boss-to-employee. That holds true throughout the surrounding region, where what some might call a “scene” has emerged.

From figure models to artists, the connections are made on relationship and recommendation. Georgia State pays figure models $15 an hour, but Gilbert said he is advocating to have that raised to $20 an hour.

Working in class, Gilbert noticed there are two key elements that make a model good at their job. First, a model needs to know use the body to communicate. It doesn’t do anyone any good for a model to sit blankly. “[Modeling] requires a feel for the body as an expressive medium,” Gilbert said.

An expressive figure can be exciting, but it also comes with challenges. The hot lights and long hours are cause for some discomfort among many models, not to mention grappling with health problems.

“I have rheumatoid arthritis so a lot of contortionism and certain stretchy looks and walking around a lot in heels, I can’t do stuff like that,” Phoenyx said.

Gilbert said the second thing good models do is have input in the artistic process. The more experienced the models are, the more input they usually have.

“They can’t think of themselves as an object,” Gilbert said. “They’re involved, meaningly in the collaborative process.”

That’s a dynamic Phoenyx is familiar with.

She is dedicated to exploring her own process and wants the project to be a collaborative one.

“I tell photographers I’m going to put the look together if I can, I will do my own makeup, I will take care of my grooming, I will get my own transportation,” Phoenyx said. “I really just need you to have your idea up here

and make sure the lighting is right.”

To Gilbert, the conversation and interaction are necessary because of all that is at stake. The rich subject offers much to explore.

“There is so much psychology in the subtlety of the human body,” Gilbert said.

“When you draw objects, you know, a still life doesn’t have an inner life, the model does.”

For many students Gilbert works with, this is their first experience in figure drawing.

There are several things he emphasises to each new class.

“I don’t want you to approach this in default mode, concerned with the outline and form,” Gilbert said. “A gesture drawing illustrates a sense of connections between the forms.”

Jack Michael is a graduate teaching assistant educating printmaking at Georgia State. She worked on her undergrad at Sewanee: The University of the South, where she received experience as a figure model.

“There was not an abundance of people available from whom to choose figure models

“I was walking through the dining hall line with my tray and I said, ‘Hey Mike!’ and this guy, Mike, from the figure drawing class he turned around and looked at me. He looked at me for like two minutes and he goes, ‘Oh, oh, Jack! I didn’t recognize you with your clothes on.’”

— JACK MICHAEL a graduate teaching assistant educating printmaking at Georgia State that were not part of the student body,” Michael said. “Undergraduates were allowed and even encouraged to be figure models in front of their own peers … When I was introduced to figure modeling, it was the norm.”

She sees a stark difference between her experiences during her undergrad and what appeared to be the norm at other colleges in the South.

“It surprised me as I started to figure model at different places around the Chattanooga area after I graduated that most institutions did not have undergraduates posing for the department,” Michael said.

At Georgia State, the Administrative Coordinator of the Ernest G. Welch School of Art & Design, Torie Zoph, said only two undergraduate

students regularly model for the department.

“I was walking through the dining hall line with my tray and I said, ‘Hey Mike!’ and this guy, Mike, from the figure drawing class he turned around and looked at me,” Michael said.

“He looked at me for like two minutes and he goes, ‘Oh, oh, Jack! I didn’t recognize you with your clothes on.’”

Phoenyx said her modeling experiences have almost all been in private practices outside of the academic setting. Much of her art can be seen on her Instagram, @emeraldphoenyx. Expanding into that social space and negotiating with friends and peers was trying for her.

“It’s been challenging and frustrating and interesting and also rewarding in a way but it’s mostly figuring out who’s willing to compensate you, is the theme worth your time and what are you contributing to the shoot,” Phoenyx said.

As she has grown as a professional, she raised her professional standards for who she works with, too.

“I really can’t put that much energy and effort into my going to Alpharetta to take a shoot in the woods and you expecting free tits,” Phoenyx said.

ILLUSTRATION BY DAO NGUYEN | THE SIGNAL

AUGMENTING AUGMENTING REALITY REALITY IN IN THE THE CLASSROOM CLASSROOM What the classroom of the future will look like

JOSH WINSTON Staff Reporter

F

rom green chalkboards to overhead projectors, smart boards to the proliferation of laptops and tablets, the way in which technology is utilized in learning environments has changed rapidly. But, if all of these wild technological innovations have happened in the relatively short time span of 20 years, what incredible breakthroughs will the next 20 years bring us?

Today, educational technology is at somewhat of an inflection point.

Contemporary technologies, such as the laptop and tablet, have reached maturity. They’re now considered utilitarian and commonplace instead of cutting-edge and high-tech. Instead of looking at new ways of innovating and re-inventing these existing product categories, large amounts of research and development are being funneled into new or emerging technologies such as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR).

The push for technology in the classroom Damon Lynch, an information technology specialist at Georgia State, believes this coming technological shift could completely disrupt the way in which we interact with computers.

“I see AR as probably the next computing interface, replacing the traditional GUI [graphical user interface],” Lynch said.

Georgia State professor of practice Candace Lee Alger describes the university’s push into augmented and virtual reality as existing primarily in conversation with previous applications of the technology.

“I would describe what we are doing as ‘leveraging’ emerging technologies as opposed to ‘developing’ them. For example, we are utilizing HMD [head mounted display] devices like HTC Vive, Oculus, as well as HoloLens and Magic Leap goggles to experience VR, AR and mixed reality,” Alger said.

Alger also described Georgia State’s plan to adapt these technologies for classroom use.

“As we experience various content that has already been created, we can use that as reference to help us understand how to develop our own content,” she said.

The philosophical premise of augmented and virtual reality is to liberate computing from behind the confines of metal and glass and bring it into our own physical reality. Where augmented reality overlays computing onto the real world, virtual reality creates its own, welcoming users to explore its new digital frontiers.

It’s easy to underestimate the impact such technologies could potentially have on learning, but the sheer amount of money, time and research being spent on developing them seems to suggest they’ll have revolutionary

Joel Mack, a second-year game design major, showcases augmented reality technology currently being developed at the Creative Media Industries Institute.

implications.

Even Apple, the largest tech company in the world, believes the future of computing lies in breaking down the barrier between the physical and digital world as it continues to develop augmented reality on its iOS devices.

Describing his enthusiasm for the new computing paradigm, Apple CEO Tim Cook said, “We believe augmented reality is going to change the way we use technology forever.”

But Apple isn’t the only company trying to capitalize on the power of augmented and virtual reality. Here at Georgia State, there are many initiatives taking place to get augmented and virtual reality into the hands of students.

One such initiative is being undertaken by the Instructional Innovation and Technology office.

PHOTOS BY VANESSA JOHNSON | THE SIGNAL

New and upcoming technology At Georgia State, VR is being used in both esports and game development while AR is being explored primarily in relation to the Microsoft HoloLens.

Microsoft describes the HoloLens as a pair of mixed-reality smart glasses capable of overlaying 2D and 3D graphics on its users’ physical environments. It’s comprised of an impressive array of depth sensing cameras, gyroscopes, accelerometers and microphones, all working in tandem to produce a natural and intuitive user interface.

At Georgia State, specifically in the Creative Media Industries Institute (CMII), adoption of the HoloLens is still in its infancy, with development mainly focusing on how to support the futuristic device and build a foundation on which its development can thrive.

“We’re very much in the nascent stages, looking at making things available for development,” Damon Lynch said.

He also sees VR and AR implementation eventually “creating a culture in which innovation occurs and students have the opportunity to really delve into that as a communication medium.”

One way students can do this is through

the CMII. The CMII is also home to the development of several other virtual and augmented reality initiatives.

Joel Mack, a VFX-Technical artist at Georgia State, is currently helping to develop several educational softwares that he believes will help create a more impactful learning environment.

One project’s aim is to combine financial literacy with VR to create a simulated realworld experience that’s more demonstrative and tactile than using a keyboard would be.

Mack believes these technologies have the power to fundamentally change the way we learn.

“When people are completely immersed inside the environment, the brain thinks differently,” he said.

Mack is also currently working on an AR application that scans both business cards and IDs and overlays helpful personal information onto the surface of the card.

He further anticipates AR and VR eventually breaking down the barriers of traditional technology and becoming more infused into people’s day-to-day realities.

“The far future of VR would be integrating that as a daily part of daily lives where people live,” Mack said.

The Future of Tech Today Apple and other tech companies seemingly share this vision as they, in recent years, have helped foster consumer-grade VR and AR as accessible public platforms. One strategy that Apple has pursued to get these technologies into the hands of consumers is to simply make it available on devices people already own.

Google launched Project Daydream, an initiative bringing first-party VR to Android devices. Apple also has its own AR platform, ARKit, which it released in 2017 as a headline feature of iOS 11, placing AR capabilities into the hands of millions people who already own Apple devices.

Today, some examples of apps making good on AR’s promise to reinvent the modern classroom are GeoGebra and Free Rivers.

GeoGebra combines math and AR, allowing students to solve math problems in 3D, and Free Rivers, from the National Wildlife Federation, allows people to explore natural environments from their classrooms.

What these technologies promise is nothing short of a complete revolution in the way humans learn and grow. Even in their nascent stages of development, AR and VR are inspiring all sorts of new and novel programs and applications.

How Classrooms Will Change One target audience for these emerging technologies is students, who will undoubtedly be instrumental in furthering their adoption into mainstream applications.

“We believe that if we can reach our students to tell their stories using these emerging technologies, that they will be able to find jobs in any sector,” Alger said.

Alger thinks these technologies will allow students to be more competitive in today’s rapidly evolving digital landscapes.

“As the world we live in is becoming more digital every day, students need to understand how rapidly technology is evolving, and how to best determine what resources are applicable when trying to design an appropriate solution.”

However, AR and VR aren’t the only forms of technology being leveraged in classrooms.

New developments in cloud computing and 3D printing also promise to make classroom learning more robust and hands-on. If VR and AR offer the digital simulation of threedimensional space, 3D printing goes one step further in making that simulation a reality.

Being able to print models and replicas out of cheap and accessible materials enables teachers and students to bring their ideas into the physical world in a cost effective and relatively easy way. Students at Georgia State have access to 3D printing in the EXLAB, located in the Arts and Humanities building.

Similarly, the advent of cloud computing promises to democratize the access to

information. Instead of storing data on hard drives limited to specific physical locations, cloud computing allows the large-scale dissemination of information to anyone with an internet connection.

Cloud computing is already being utilized in many ways, such as Amazon Web Services, but its full-scale adoption could make the need for physical classroom spaces obsolete.

What unites all of these technologies is their implicit desire to blur the lines between physical and digital realities. AR and VR strive either to free computing from its rectangular prisons or completely immerse its users in a computing world of their own.

Cloud computing liberates information and processing power from singular physical locations and makes it omnipresent while 3D printing, like AR, allows once-digital creations to cross over into the real world, albeit in a much more tactile way.

While the enormous potential of these technologies is not fully understood, the wealth of developmental resources being expended on their behalf is heavily indicative of their future importance. In other words, if computing is presently limited to boxes of glass and metal, the future of technology will see computing freed from its boxes to inhabit all the spaces around us.

Whatever the future of technology may be, let’s hope it more closely resembles “The Jetsons” than it does “Black Mirror.”

Using a phone app, Joel Mack is able to scan his PantherCard and display an AR figure of Pounce atop it.

PHOTO BY VANESSA JOHNSON | THE SIGNAL

ARTS & LIVING

12

GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM

From yesterday’s hairdon’t to today’s hairdo How bright and bold hair color entered mainstream popularity SYDNEY BLOEME Arts & Living Editor

The past four years have seen a rise in popularity of bold and bright hair colors. This new form of self expression and counterculture deviates from the norm of dress codes and corporate America’s demanded “natural colors,” in turn leaving us with both bleach burns and detention slips. Today, this trend has climbed its way into the mainstream and while some attitudes have changed, the acceptance hasn’t been universal.

“Nicki Minaj did colored hair before Kim Kardashian, but when she did it, it was seen as hood, ghetto ... Once white celebrities do it, it becomes a trend,” Victoria Hibbert, a student sitting in the plaza browsing Instagram, said while pushing her bright green-toned locks behind her shoulder.

Hibbert is no stranger to hair color. She has been rocking brightly dyed hair since high school. She said she notices more people today experimenting with their hair color than there was when she first started.

She thinks because of Instagram influencers such as Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner adopting bold hair, Hibberts said, “Now it’s a trend.”

Jamille Bell, president of Black Student Achievement, explained that bright hair color gets its origins from the black queer community. What we call trends today, such as colorful hair, wigs and acrylic nails, have been an integral part of self expression in the black community long before social media.

“It’s something that started in the hood,” Bell said. “It’s the same with like very long acrylic nails, colored hair, extensions, like we just didn’t get the credit for it. Black women have been wearing wigs since the early ‘50s.”

Bell pointed out that while these forms of self expression are celebrated within the black community, the outside world hasn’t always been accepting. Sitting next to Bell was her friend Storm Harrison, who raised the question: On whom is it celebrated?

“Under this [wig], I have orange hair. But someone like [a white woman] can go [into a job interview] and they won’t think twice, they’ll give you a job,” Harrison said.

Harrison loves her orange hair but feels frustrated by the pressure to tone herself down in her field of work.

“When I go to pre-med conferences, I always wear wigs. I can never wear hair color,” Harrison said.

One of Harrison’s friends recently experienced a similar problem. The friend sported brightly dyed pink hair. When she went in for a job interview, she donned a black wig to help her chances of getting the job.

After she landed the job, she decided to come in “bare headed,” displaying her new favorite look. And while she felt confident and acceptable in her new look, the same couldn’t be said for her employer.

“They tried to look in the handbook to see if they could say something about it but they hired her like that,” Harrison said.

Morgan Davis said she has never faced discrimination because of her lilac hair. She thinks it could be due to her race as a white woman, because she said when it comes to people’s acceptance of bold hair color, depending on race, there’s “definitely a difference.”

“Nobody thinks anything of it if I do something like this to my hair,” Davis said. “Being a white girl, I can do whatever I want pretty much and I hate to have to say that out loud but a lot times it’s the case.”

Davis has seen wigs become more mainstream and while she thinks it’s a great way for hair dying newbies to be able to change their look, she feels the new acceptance of it as inconsistent.

“Black women have always worn wigs, but I definitely see more white women doing it, myself being one of them.”

From humble origins of dip dye and ombre, long gone are the days of subtle color. As more and more people commit to slathering their scalps with bleach and flooding their follicles with dye, we must stop and ask ourselves how we got here.

Social media mogul and born billionaire Kylie Jenner first dipped her hair into color at the 2014 Billboard Music Awards when she was 16 years old. Around this time, Kylie began changing her look. She gained lip fillers and started experimenting with a new and previously uncharacteristic

approach to style. Something else new during this time was her then-affiliation with hip-hop artist Tyga.

Kylie continued to alter her look throughout the years, such as developing a curvier silhouette, larger breasts and increasingly plumper lips, leading many people to claim both plastic surgery and appropriation. Tyga recently said in an interview with Nicki Minaj that he feels responsible for much of Kylie’s shift in character and eventual popularity.

“When I stepped in, there was a lot of codes being taught.

It was like, you could do this, you should start this, you should start doing your hair like this…you should add that because you need black people to f*ck with you ‘cause you need culture,” Tyga said. “If you ain’t got black people behind you, you ain’t got nothing...

You can’t influence nobody.”

Kylie soon began diving into the world of what was previously exclusive to black culture. She started popularizing long acrylic nails, plump lips and various wigs on her social media, something previously out of her character.

And her audience loved it.

Kylie’s audience and influence is massive. On her Instagram, Kylie has an average of 49,951 new followers per day and 1,498,543 followers per month. Her online shops sell out in seconds and at a current net worth of $900 million, many speculate she may soon be the youngest “self-made” billionaire at only 20 years old.

The popularity of acrylic nails with nail art, gems and charms skyrocketed. Women are now trading out their naturally slender lips for something plump and large that resembles those naturally on black women, who for decades have been made to feel insecure through ridicule and oversexualization.

Mainstream culture has been able to profit on what previously held a negative connotation in order to play dress up without second thought— intentionally erasing its origins for brand building and social media hits.

For the black community, this is nothing new as items with deep cultural significance, such as Dashikis, dreads, hip-hop, baby hairs, cornrows, twerking and slang (to name a few) have been reduced to trends.

“Within the black community, it’s all in the background, instead of the forefront.

We don’t get as much

Georgia State student Ariel William shows off her hairstyle featuring red cornrows and braids.

representation of our culture until later on and then it is manipulated so it is not given the full credit,” Bell said.

So the next time you browse your social media and discover a new “trend,” be mindful about what’s happening behind the feed.

PHOTO BY DAKOTA SMITH | THE SIGNAL

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2018

ARTS & LIVING

13

Independent music kids memorialize Mac Miller A Mac Miller tribute connects eclectic local artists SAM PUCKETT

Associate Arts & Living Editor

Celebrating the life and music of late rapper Mac Miller, the Masquerade put on Self Care: The Mac Miller Tribute.

Proceeds were announced to be donated to The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration. The lineup included local artists such as Forest Isn’t Dead, Sonny Bamboo, HanVader and more. Each set followed a format: they alternated Mac Miller covers into their original work.

Nicx Alexander is member of the hip-hop collective Brown Paper Bag. The collective began when Nicx Alexander met producer Yolanda Weathers in the dorms at Kennesaw State.

Because of this collective, he was able to form a band he thinks of more as a team.

“It was just fun back then, we were just trying to figure stuff out and everything but now I feel like I have a team, a base of people who are here to make things go right,” Alexander said.

Rapper and Brown Paper Bag member HanVader is excited for the recent success Brown Paper Bag has seen. His set was crisp. He beamed onstage, enjoying every moment of performing his newer releases and Mac Miller’s “Wear My Hat.” He said Brown Paper Bag has had recent luck frequently landing gigs and takes it as a sign of growing momentum. One of their more recent shows was last Sept. 1 with popular Los Angeles rap collective Seshollowaterboyz.

“Brown Paper Bag, or BPB, we been doing a lot of shows at the Masquerade recently,” HanVader said. “Between one or two a month for about five or six months. It’s been for a minute.”

Joe Warren is a talent buyer for the Masquerade and was the contact point for all the acts in the lineup. He has been there for three years, and many local acts feel like he has their back. “[Joe Warren] booked me for my first show ever,” Alexander said. “I got kicked off stage. It was for some like Christian rapper or whatever and I was cussing. I didn’t know, so I was cussing and they kicked me off stage. And [Joe Warren]

HanVader and other local Atlanta musicians performed at Self Care: The Mac Miller Tribute at The Masquerade on Thursday, Oct. 4.

booked me for another show within the month, he felt really bad. And it went really well.”

Nicx Alexander performed his set backed by Family Recipe Band, a jam band from Athens. They met Alexander at a house show, the vibe was right and the rehearsal went without a hitch.

“It was interesting, we’d never done any work with any hiphop artist or anything like that,” the lead guitarist for Family Repice Band said. “Obviously the instrumentation wasn’t the

PHOTO BY UNIQUE RODRIGUEZ | THE SIGNAL

same. “We did our best to pull everything apart and try to make everything coherent and also make sense as a band.”

Alexander was very impressed by how well their different styles came together.

“It was weirdly effortless … They’re just great at what they do.”

The event was an interesting opportunity for local independent music. Fitting, in the memory of Miller.

The perils of having a common name

How the university handles students having the same name SYDNEY BLOEME Arts & Living Editor

T

he 1990s gave our society the hit movie “Titanic,” Furbies and, according to Social Security card application data, approximately 303,086 Jessicas.

Alongside all the Jessicas, society gained 462,314 new Michaels. Within the next decade, Jacob would rise to 273,793 and Emily would climb to 223,658. From 2010 to 2017, Emma took the lead at 158,573.

Common names have many benefits and drawbacks. You may perk up in public places unnecessarily every time you hear your name, but at least you can always find your keychain at beachside stores. You may meet so many other people with your name that it feels no longer yours, forcing you to resort to a middle name or, in student Rachel Anderson’s case, your last name.

“Once I got in high school, I met a few more [Rachels], including one of my best friends. Our friend group used to differentiate by calling us by our last names,” Anderson said.

Anderson thinks her name is so popular with people her age because of mainstream television during the time. Popular TV during the 90s included “Friends,” a global smash hit about six friends living in New York. On the show “Friends,” Jennifer Aniston plays a character named Rachel Green.

Rachel Green was such a big hit with fans, her signature hairstyle was dubbed “The Rachel” and women everywhere rushed to mimic her golden, face-framing layers.

Anderson thinks the popularity of “Friends” is the main reason for her name.

“I was born in 1998 and my parents named me (somewhat subconsciously) after the character Rachel Green on the TV show Friends, of which they were huge fans. I think a lot of babies that year and similar years were named Rachel, as well as other characters names, for that reason,” Anderson said.

Often, having a common first and last name gets frustrating in situations requiring the use of name identification. When attempting to open a tab, Emma Smith often finds she is not the only Smith at the bar that night.

“When I use the last name Smith for a tab, sometimes I also have to give them my first name as well because there’s already another open Smith tab,” Smith said.

Smith said it sometimes gets so bad that she has to go by not just her first and last but also her middle name.

Emma Smith is registered as a student under the campus ID of esmith155. That means she has shared the campus with 154 other E. Smiths.

Smith is the No. 1 surname in the U.S. with a prevalence of 2,501,922. Coming in second is Johnson with a popularity of 2,014,470. A quick search of the campus directory for “A Johnson” displays A. Johnsons up to number 405.

Georgia State attempts to navigate through identical names by assigning each student their own CampusID, the username of each student’s PantherMail. The process begins with admissions and from there students are assigned a number by the Instructional Innovation & Technology office.

A Georgia State IT specialist, who asked to remain nameless due to policy, said that there was only ever an issue during Georgia State’s Perimeter consolidation.

“When we did the first initial merger, there was a problem where a student applied to Georgia State and Georgia Perimeter. They had the same campusID. That caused some

problems and was addressed immediately,” the anonymous IT specialist said.

And name mix ups aren’t only common for students. A quick google search of “GSU” displays both Georgia State and Georgia Southern sharing the same acronym. This has led to the infamous rivalry or the battle for the “real GSU” and the #StatenotSouthern hashtag.

Georgia State joined Georgia Southern in the Sun Belt Conference in the 2013-14 academic year, leading to the rebranding of Georgia Southern to “GS” in 2014. According to the Conference reference guide, this change aids consistency in the media and with the announcers during the game.

On Georgia Southern’s Football Game Notes, they mention the change of name: “We are Georgia Southern With no disrespect to our colleagues in Atlanta, we are Georgia Southern, not Georgia State. We don’t ask for much; heck we think we’re pretty easy to deal with. All we really ask is for media covering the Eagles to get our name right. You can call us Georgia Southern, GS or the Eagles, just please don’t call us Georgia State!

- Sincerely, Eagle Nation” The Georgia State athletics department often forwards a screenshot of said quote to the tweets they recieve boasting Georgia Southern as the real GSU. Our names, alongside our first breath of life, are the first gifts given to us. We continue to grow throughout our lives under their influence. While you are the most special shining star, to the school you may just be Emma No. 155, or to the internet just another GSU.

ARTS & LIVING

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things you don’t want to miss

More events and info at georgiastatesignal.com

thursday

wednesday

tuesday

saturday

friday

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sunday

Terrific Tennis and Terrible fun

Drunks and Dragons

Pride Brewery

Fernbank After Dark

Run Like Hell

West Coast Taste Test

Photography Exhibit

October 9

October 10

October 11

October 12

October 13

October 14

October 15

Atlanta Tennis players of all levels have planned a meetup at Candler Park at 5:45 p.m.

They will play it by ear: the night is open to practice, singles, doubles or round robin.

Enjoy role playing? There will be Dungeons and Dragons at Noni’s Bar & Deli from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. All experience points are welcome.

Local queers drinking local beers with Sweetwater Brewery’s $1 pints.

This fun event is a great way to splash into Pride weekend.

Let’s get messy, girls.

You will be scared out of your pants at Forensics Night at Fernbank. Events last from 7 p.m. until midnight and range from science exhibitions to live music.

Exercise! Are you scared yet? A 5k race will scream through Oakland Cemetery.

Registration opens at 7:30 a.m. Bring a spare pair of underwear.

We all love it.

California’s got farms covered in it. Wine is one of the region’s chief exports. Dunwoody will host Discover Napa Valley. Tickets are $69 (nice).

Mason Fine Art will host an art exhibit from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The event showcases Atlanta photographer Lucinda Bunnen’s new book, “Gathered.”

games

SuD0KU medium

easy

games

crossword

HARD

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this week’s theme:

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Superheroes This week’s theme is superheroes! With the release of the new Captain Marvel trailer, what could be more fitting? See if you can name all of these heroes.

We hope you enjoy!

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

across

3. The god of chaos and brother of one of the Avengers.

6. The alias of Dick Grayson, Tim Drake, Jason Todd and Damian Wayne.

7. This vigilante is the hero of Gotham.

8. “Honey, where is my supersuit?!”

9. Before she was known as Mrs. Incredible, Helen Parr’s alias was _______.

13. This teen fights crime using his electromagnetic powers.

14. “With great power comes great responsibility.”

16. He’s the man in charge of the Avengers.

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17. This Amazonian princess was born and raised in Themyscirsa.

18. This childhood hero can be seen sporting white underwear and a red cape.

20. “Azarath Metrion Zinthos!”

21. This anti-hero is notorious for breaking the fourth wall.

DOWN 1. This school for heroes and sidekicks sits in the clouds.

2. This intergalactic assassin is the adopted sister of one of

the Guardians.

4. This superhero has the power to control weather.

5. He is the founder and leader of the X-Men. 7. She is a trained assassin who fights alongside the Avengers.

10. This sorceress is the twin sister of Quicksilver.

11. This ninja turtle is the goofball of the bunch.

12. This Avenger is a master marksman and archer.

15. This Marvel hero is a billionaire industrialist and genius inventor.

19. This rock-covered hero is a member of the Fantastic 4.

SPORTS TUESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2018

www.georgiastatesignal.com/sports

Stout defense leads charge for men’s soccer Georgia State plays some of the best defense in the country

Georgia State men’s soccer goalkeeper Paul Tyson reaches for a save during practice on Oct. 2 at the GSU Soccer Complex.

CHRISTIAN CRITTENDEN Staff Reporter

In sports, one thing is certain: defense travels. And for the Georgia State men’s soccer team, that has been their calling card this season.

The Panthers are one of the best teams in the Sun Belt Conference and are at the very top on the defensive end.

Offenses sell tickets, but defenses wins championships, unless it’s against the Golden State Warriors. Fortunately for the Panthers, they won’t face an offense like that. But even if they did, there is a good chance they would fair well with the defense they have.

Leading the charge in the back is Kyle Clinton, Alex Summerfield, Liam Fitzsimmons and a list of other defenders who help the team go.

“I put myself in a position that’s going to help me, and I’d like to think the guy next to me does the same thing, just to help out his other teammates around,” Clinton said.

“I don’t get scared if I pass them the ball, I trust that they’re going to do something with the ball. If they do end up missing a tackle or something, they know that I’m there and I’d want the same. If I get beaten, I’d want my teammates there.”

That kind of trust has allowed the team to have success over the past few years and even this season when they ripped off six wins in a row before dropping a match to Santa Clara.

The stingy defense allowed two goals in the loss, and it was not happy about it.

The Panthers pride themselves on getting what they call cleans, sheets and shutouts.

So far this year, the Panthers have pitched

three shutout performances and have allowed one run in two of their losses. With more performances like that, it will be easy for the Panthers to make it back to the Sun Belt Championship.

This season, the Panthers are allowing .78 goals per game, which is tied for first in the conference. Goalie Paul Tyson has saved 28 shots while only allowing 7 for a .800 save percentage.

“I didn’t start playing soccer until I was 16 …

Although it was late, I dedicated my life to it and just applied myself to be best of my abilities and tried my best to make the best of what I had.”

— PAUL TYSON Starting Goalkeeper

Those are good numbers, especially from the anchor on the defensive end. Tyson has only played goalie five years. He began at the age of 16 when his high school coach asked him to play on a serious level. At that point, Tyson only played recreationally.

“I was more of a track athlete and a cross country runner, and a kickboxer. It’s quite unusual,” Tyson said. “Obviously, I worked

very hard as soon as I knew I wanted to play in goal. Although it was late, I dedicated my life to it and just applied myself to be best of my abilities and tried my best to make the best of what I had.”

Prior to attending Georgia State, Tyson attended Saint Jacinto College, but he only ended up there because of a delayed decision to attend Georgia State. He was sent to the junior college for a year where he played and developed. Now, he is a force for the Panthers at 6 feet, 7 inches tall.

It also helps to have well-experienced defensemen on the backend. Fitzsimmons and Clinton are two of the best in the conference at their position. Both of them have been named to the All-Sun Belt team before.

“We know how each other play,” Clinton said. “We’ve been playing together for like some time. Liam has been here for three years, so we’re pretty experienced at the back.”

But also making impacts this season are George Proctor, Alex Summerfield and Tyson.

All three have been named the Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Week this season.

In the week that Summerfield won Defensive Player of the Week, he scored the game-winning goal to help the Panthers secure a 1-0 victory of Mercer.

“It was good; it always feels good to get recognized for what you do,” Summerfield said. “It was nice to get the goal that ended up being the game winner.”

During the preseason, Clinton was one of 32 Division I players named to the Missouri Athletic Club (MAC) Hermann Trophy watch list. The MAC Hermann trophy is awarded to the top men’s and women’s soccer player in the country.

“I’m probably most proud of my nomination

PHOTO BY CHRIS YOUNG | THE SIGNAL

this year,” Clinton said. “It’s 32 people out of every men’s soccer program in the country.

I’ve got to be impressing other countries around the country.”

Along with being named to the watch list, Clinton is a two-time All-Sun Belt First Team member. He was also the 2017 Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year.

“I’m not the quickest of players, so I kind of try to use my head more in the game,” Clinton said. “I try to learn cues of what the attackers are going to do so that I can put myself in a position where I’m not running against them. I can win the ball or slow them down to help my teammates get back.”

Aside from just having good players, the Panthers are also smart when it comes to the game of soccer. They know that they aren’t always going to be the best athletes on the field, but they help make up for that in other ways.

“We work a lot on shape; we work a lot on preparing for what our opposition is going to be like,” Tyson said. “We’re always prepared going into every game. Each person knows their role, and we perform to the best of our abilities. We work as a collective unit very well, so it works out nicely for us.”

For several years now the Panthers have prided themselves on clean sheets and playing excellent defense, and things are no different with the current group.

“I don’t think we’ve been our best, but we’ve got results when we needed them, we’ve found ways to get wins,” Summerfield said.

“We’ve been a hard team to break down for opponents, but I think we’ve still got a lot more to give and I think as the season goes on we can still play better and still get better as a team.”

SPORTS

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Trojans roll past Panthers 37-20

Too little too late from Georgia State; now 1-1 in Sun Belt JERELL RUSHIN Sprts Editor

The Georgia State Panthers (2-4, 1-1) lost 37-20 to the Troy Trojans (5-1, 3-0) in their first road Sun Belt Conference game of the season and never had a shot at taking a lead. Explosive plays by Troy were too much to overcome for a Georgia State offense that failed to score a touchdown until the fourth quarter.

Troy quarterback Kaleb Barker gave Georgia State fits from the first play from scrimmage when he ran 75 yards to the 4-yard line. B.J. Smith punched it in the endzone to give the Trojans a 7-0 lead.

Georgia State began to put together a good looking drive in response, but Trojan Tyler Murray forced freshman Cornelius McCoy to fumble after a catch. Troy took over inside its own redzone, and Barker threw a 50-yard deep touchdown pass to Tray Eafford on the next possession. Heavy pressure was on Georgia State as it was down 14-0 less than five minutes into action.

The 14-point deficit only continued to grow for Georgia State as the game progressed.

“We kept fighting,” head coach Shawn Elliott said. “We took a lot of blows in the first half. The first two drives they had bigyardage plays and scored both drives. Then we take our first possession down to, what, the 12-yard line and we fumbled.

That really took the wind out of our sails.”

TOO LITTLE TOO LATE

Georgia State played much better once Barker left the game early in the second quarter due to injury. The Panthers outscored the Trojans 17-16 after Barker sustained his injury.

The Panthers’ most impressive sequence was when they forced Troy to turn the ball over on downs after having firstand-goal from the 5-yard line in the second quarter. The Panthers ran shotgun in their own endzone on the next play, and quarterback Dan Ellington was tackled for a safety.

A 32-yard Brandon Wright field goal gave the Panthers their first points of the game right before Troy took a 23-3 lead into

halftime.

“Our defense recovered a little bit late in the first half, and then we stopped them on four straight possessions,” Elliott said. “We had that goal-line stand and I thought we’d come out in the second half and have a chance to get back in it, but we couldn’t do anything offensively to start the half. We just ran out of time, but we certainly fought.”

Panther wide receiver Penny Hart logged 128 yards on six receptions, his first time exceeding 100 receiving yards this season. Ellington finished 20-36 for 272 yards with one touchdown.

“We’ve got to go regroup,” Elliott said. “We’ve played a lot of ballgames in a short amount of time. Maybe that was a little bit of it today, but Troy has a good football team. Coach Neal Brown does a great job and they’ve got some good players on that team. We’ll regroup, and this will be a much-needed break for us.”

Georgia State was 3-13 on third down on offense and allowed Troy to go 10-15 on third down on defense. The open date this upcoming Saturday gives Georgia State two weeks to practice and rest until it faces Arkansas State on Oct. 18 on ESPNU, its second straight nationally televised game.

WHAT TO THINK OF GSU?

The last close game Georgia State played in was its season opening 24-20 win over Kennesaw State. The average point differential of the Panthers’ last five games is 27.8.

Their lone win over that stretch was a 46-14 domination over ULM the week before facing Troy, but that same ULM team gave up 70 points to Ole Miss last week. ULM’s two wins came in 34-31 and 21-20 games over FCS opponent Southeastern and Southern Miss respectively. The ULM defense allows 41.7 points per game, so the Georgia State offense hasn’t performed well over a strong FBS defense yet this season.

The offense did its job, however, and set several schools records that game, such as most rushing yards (308) and longest run from scrimmage (82-yard touchdown by Seth Paige).

Elliott said in the ULM postgame press conference that a fast score, a defensive stop and another fast score changes a team’s mindset. The Panthers were on the good end of a quick start that game, and they were on the bad side of it against Troy.

The Georgia State Panthers lost 37-20 to the Troy Trojans on Thursday, Oct. 4.

Georgia State ranks 105th in the country in scoring defense by allowing 34.2 points per contest. They’ve also proven to be much better at slowing teams down in the second half.

Three underclassmen, Victor Heyward, Chris Bacon and Tyler Gore, intercepted passes in the last two games.

REQUIRED MINDSET FOR REST OF SEASON

The young Panthers have to keep a leveled headspace to improve upon their 2-4 record with six games remaining and keep their conference title hopes alive.

The tough-sledding for Georgia State is just getting started.

Two of the Panthers’ next six opponents are Arkansas State (Oct. 18) and Appalachian State (Nov. 17), the two teams predicted to face each other in the Sun Belt Championship by conference.

Arkansas State lost its conference opener 28-21 to a Georgia Southern team that is 4-1 overall and 2-0 in conference.

Georgia Southern is much better than expected, and its annual regular season closer will be another challenging game for the Panthers.

The large amount of young players the Panthers play is welldocumented. Their success and shortcomings have played a role in each game so far, and it will continue to.

Coastal Carolina, Texas State and Louisiana are the other remaining opponents for Georgia State. Both the youth and veterans must have solid performances against them. Winning those three games and one against the teams playing at a higher echelon could be the recipe for Georgia State to finish bowl eligible at 6-6.

NUMBERS TO KNOW 6 games left on Georgia State’s schedule 4 wins needed to be eligible to play in a bowl game 0-3 on the road 2-1 at home Opponents average 11.9 more points per game than Georgia State

PHOTO SUBMITTED BY GEORGIA STATE ATHLETICS

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2018

SPORTS

“Pete” Petit Field at Georgia State Stadium is facing scrutiny due to recent controversies surrounding Georgia State donor Parker H. Petit.

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PHOTO BY CHRIS YOUNG | THE SIGNAL

No plans to change name of Parker H. Petit Field Board of Regents watching top donor’s controversy closely DANIEL RICHARDSON Staff Reporter

Georgia State named its year-old football field after one of its alumni and largest financial donors, Parker H. “Pete” Petit.

Petit’s former pharmaceutical company, MiMedx, is now under federal investigation for allegations of stock fraud. Petit Field is a tangible reminder of that ongoing controversy.

Whether or not the Securities and Exchange Commission, the FBI and the Department of Veterans Affairs find any wrongdoing against MiMedx, the field where the adolescent football team will build its legacy may be fraught with controversy if the agencies find any conclusive evidence of fraudulent behavior.

The process by which Georgia State selected the field’s official name was entirely independent of the student body’s influence.

The Georgia State purchase of what was once Turner Field benefitted the university in two ways: the facility has close proximity to the university, and it has the ability to attach itself to the nostalgia of an Atlanta relic.

Georgia State’s students, save for the avid supporters of the Panther football team, are not readily aware of Petit’s potentially fraudulent affair. “Turner Field” is still a common misnomer for what is now Parker H. Petit Field.

THE ISSUE

Petit pledged to donate $10 million to Georgia State in 2017, resulting in the naming of the football field in the new stadium.

A year later, Petit was accused of gifting fraudulent MiMedx stocks to the Georgia State University Foundation. Despite the 78-year-old being one of Georgia State’s top public donors, the allegations facing Petit have been largely under-discussed in the athletic department. Yet, as the Panthers play football on a field with Petit’s namesake this season, the situation facing the university is growing unavoidable.

So, what exactly is Petit under investigation for and how does it potentially affect Georgia State?

In August, The Signal reported that Petit donated stock to the university at a potentially inflated price. The particular process alleged to be used to inflate the stock, as noted by The Signal, is called channel stuffing. Channel stuffing is the act of inflating sales and earnings by sending retailers more product than is in actual demand, leaving the retailer with a surplus of product.

According to the report, Petit donated 325,000 shares totaling close to $5 million.

MiMedx, now operating without Petit, who was removed from the company’s board of directors in late September, is under at least four federal investigations involving fraud. There is a possibility that MiMedx could attempt to recoup Petit’s donations made to the Georgia State University Foundation, according to The Signal.

PETIT FIELD, BUT FOR HOW LONG?

Georgia State has used the slogan “The State Way” to help to brand the school’s “innovative” approach to athletics, education and many more facets of the university.

One student believes that the school’s marketing of the phrase should influence the outcome of the Parker H. Petit Field controversy.

“If the allegations were [found to be] true, I think more people would be concerned because I think there’s a reason why on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, they use the hashtag #TheStateWay,” Georgia State senior Garrett Brown said. “I think they use that as a representation of the school. They want people to recognize them in a positive way.”

The announcement of the field’s naming came in August of 2017. Georgia State University President Mark Becker marked the occasion as a moment of pride for the school and its legacy.

“Pete Petit has been a long-time generous benefactor of Georgia State,” Becker said. “And his impact on our university cannot be overstated. We are extremely proud to name the playing field in Georgia State Stadium in his honor.”

A year after the announcement of the field’s name, the university seems to have been blindsided by the allegations.

What began as a momentous occasion in the purchasing of the old Turner Field and the subsequent renaming of the field could soon become a highly scrutinous scenario. “[The university] is kind of looking at it and saying, ‘Well, what do we do?’” Georgia State alumnus Ben Moore said. “This is not a complete investigation and it’s not run its course. There has been many, many business leaders contribute to Georgia State in positive ways every day.” “[Georgia State] is in a precarious spot; the difficult part about it is what do you do?”

The University System of Georgia (USG) policy states that schools work with the USG to make all decisions regarding universities’ “real estate, facilities, and property owned or leased by the USG.”

“Naming of colleges and schools of all USG institutions and all real estate, facilities, and property owned or leased by the USG, including facilities constructed, donated, or acquired by affiliated organizations of the institutions, requires prior authorization by the Chancellor, the USG Chief Administrative Officer, and the Board of Regents,” the USG policy manual states.

The Board of Regents at the USG stands as the singular entity who has control over the addition and removal of its schools’ buildings’ names. In a request for statement, the USG said it is closely monitoring the situation involving Petit and MiMedx and will pursue any action the Board of Regents sees best fitting.

“We are aware from public reports of the current investigation MiMedx is conducting regarding restating its financial statements and the resignation of Parker H. Petit as the company’s chief executive officer,” the USG said to The Signal.

“The Board of Regents policy 7.4.1 stipulates that a building naming authorized by the Board of Regents can only be modified with approval of the Board in consultation with the Chancellor, and we will continue to monitor the situation for any information from MiMedx’s investigation relevant to Board action,” the statement continued.

What exact development would prompt the Board of Regents to conduct a meeting that would result in the removal of the name is currently unknown.

“From an athletics side of things, the naming [of the field] was a portion of looking to grow athletics itself, including football,” Moore said. “[The allegations are] something that gives folks pause,” Moore said. “You certainly don’t want your top donor and someone whose name is on the field to be involved in illegal activity that’s not a positive thing for the university as a whole.

I think it’s something, from the university side of things, they will have to evaluate long-term. And truthfully, removing something off the field is not a positive act, it’s just not.”

There is no timetable on the university to act to remove Petit’s name. Any action regarding the name of the field could result in a limited response from the university’s population, Moore said.

Parker H. Petit Field, to this point, is just over a year old, and few monumental moments have been made on its turf. How the school continues to manage such a developing situation as continued reports surface will be watched closely.

SPORTS

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GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM

Women’s soccer tops ULM 2-1 on Senior Night Senior Caitlin Ray scores twice to secure the Panther win JOSHUA FIFE Staff Reporter

The Panther women’s soccer team defeated Louisiana-Monroe 2-1 on Senior Night last Friday at the GSU Soccer Complex. The four seniors on the team were honored in a small ceremony before the match. The seniors received plaques and flowers with their friends and family accompanying them onto the field to be recognized. Just a few matches away from their final home game, the emotions on the field were high before the match even started.

The Panthers had a beautiful first half, dominating the possession game and getting off 17 shots with 11 of them on goal, while Louisiana-Monroe had only two total first half shots. Georgia State entered the game ranked third in the conference in shots taken with 147. They also had nine corner kicks and some great looks that were nearly converted into points.

Georgia State was finally able to jump onto the board when senior Caitlin Ray found the back of the net in the 23rd minute. After a shot by Monique Hundley was deflected by the Louisiana-Monroe keeper, Ray slipped in and scored before the keeper could fully collect the ball.

“It was all very hype when we came in because of course it’s Senior Night, so we were all really excited, all of the seniors,” Ray said. “We just really wanted to put our best effort in and our best foot forward going into this game, and I think we did so.”

What looked like a beautiful second goal for the Panthers in the 31st minute was called back by officials for being offsides. After an uneventful half from Louisiana-Monroe, the score was 1-0 at the break.

After halftime, the Warhawks came out with a new intensity and began to even the game out. The momentum shifted after Louisiana-Monroe knocked in the equalizer in the 64th minute off a set play from around 25 yards out. The shot from Maelwenn Gaiffas got a friendly bounce off the top of the post and found its way into the net.

The Panthers continued to test the Louisiana-Monroe goalkeeper, adding seven more shots on goal in the second half, which was Ray’s second goal of the night. That game-winning score came off a well-placed lead pass from midfielder Alex Addington, which put Ray in open field with one defender to beat in the 78th minute.

The Georgia State seniors certainly shined on Senior Night, with Hundley and Ray both finishing with four shots on goal, the match high. Ray now has three goals on the season.

The Warhawks sit at 0-12-0 and are 0-6 in the Sun Belt Conference, while the Panthers improved to 4-9-1 overall.

Lily Barron of the Georgia State women’s soccer team defends against University of Louisiana Monroe during their game at the GSU Soccer Complex on Oct. 5, 2018.

The match was very physical, and two Louisiana-Monroe players received yellow cards. One player was ejected after receiving two yellow cards within one minute.

Georgia State has now won back-to-back games for the first time since 2015. The streak started with a 3-2 victory over Troy on Sept. 30, breaking a seven-game losing streak.

PHOTO BY UNIQUE RODRIGUEZ | THE SIGNAL

A Brooke Smith free kick in the 87th minute put Georgia State ahead for good.

The Panthers next face Appalachian State in Boone, North Carolina on Oct. 12. The Mountaineers are in third place in the Sun Belt, but they are coming off a 1-0 home loss against Texas State.

It’s your turn: softball seniors step up Fall will be measure for how seniors play in spring TAJ STRICKLAND Staff Reporter

Georgia State softball is gearing up for another season that could be somewhat of a challenge for some of the players on the team. With last year’s stars, Ivie Drake and Megan Litumbe, gone because of graduation, the returning seniors look to take over as the new leaders of this team.

Head coach Roger Kincaid described it as an “it’s your turn” mentality when talking about who is next up in the leadership role.

“It is everyone’s responsibility to step up and provide leadership first for themselves and then their teammates,” Kincaid said.

Although softball only plays four exhibition games this fall, he trusts that his team will be acclimated with one another.

Frady also believes that these games are a great thing for the

players to get back into the swing of things.

“The fall games give us the opportunity to integrate the newcomers into our new system as well as see how they will react to game situations,” Kincaid said.

Senior outfielder Reagan Morgan also believes that the fall games mean a lot for the team.

“It is especially important this year because we have seven freshmen who are new to the team, so these games are a way to get comfortable playing with each other and to build team chemistry,” Morgan said.

She also recognizes that Litumbe and Drake were respected because of them leading by example on the field.

Litumbe was an outfielder and left an incredible mark in the Panthers’ record books. Last season, she finished second in Georgia State history with 53 home runs, only behind Drake.

Litumbe’s 2017 season was an amazing campaign. She set the Georgia State single-season record for home runs with 22, had the highest slugging percentage in a single-season with .826 and recorded the fourth most RBIs in a single season with 60 in both 2017 and 2015.

Morgan knows that being a senior on this team is very important because seniors set an example for the younger classes. Another senior that will have to lead by example is catcher and infielder Arden Jobe.

Jobe is not only one of the leaders of this Panthers squad, but she’s the one to fill the void left by Drake. She has no problem stepping in after the generational talent.

Drake had an even more illustrious career in her four seasons at Georgia State than Litumbe. Only Drake hit more home runs, 65, than Litumbe did in Panther history. Drake completed her career first in the Georgia State record books with a .408 batting average and also in hits with 285.

“I do not think that we will have a problem filling their shoes from a leadership standpoint … Each senior brings a little something special to our team this year,” Jobe said.

With the season coming soon and the Panthers preparing early for it, they look to conquer their conference and get what is most important to them, a Sun Belt Conference championship.

SPORTS

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2018

SPORTS BRIEFS volleyball Went 1-1 last week with a 3-1 win over UT Arlington and a 3-0 loss to Texas State Has a 5-10 overall record and 2-3 record in conference Hosts Coastal Carolina, South Alabama and Troy at the GSU Sports Arena this week

Men’s soccer Had a 0-0 draw with Appalachian State to begin its Sun Belt Conference opener Is 6-3-1 overall Goalkeeper Paul Tyson now has four shutouts on the season Plays Stetson this Tuesday and Howard on Friday at the GSU Soccer Complex

men’s golf Placed 12th at the Wolfpack Intercollegiate Juniors Josh Edgar and Egill Gunnarsson both shot 71 in the final round Shot 1-over in the final round after shooting 17-over on the previous day Has yet to finish higher than 10th place in a tournament

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SUN BELT CONFERENCE FOOTBALL STANDINGS

EAST DIVISION school

conference

overall

streak

TROY

3-0

5-1

W5

GEORGIA SOUTHERN

2-0

4-1

W2

APPALACHIAN STATE

1-0

3-1

W3

COASTAL GEORGIA

1-1

3-2

L1

GEORGIA STATE

1-1

2-4

L1

WEST DIVISION school

conference

overall

streak

LOUISIANA

1-1

2-3

W1

SOUTH ALABAMA

1-2

1-5

L3

ARKANSAS STATE

0-1

3-2

L1

ULM

0-2

2-4

L4

TEXAS STATE

0-2

1-4

L3

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