The Signal Vol. 86 No. 26

THE 90TH SGA

GREENER PASTURES

AUX SLANGIN’

SPRING GAME HERE

A new president and EVP are declared after an intense election season.

Celebrate Earth Day with Flora & Fauna and make Georgia State greener.

Crafting the next “it” playlist is harder than Spotify makes it seem.

Panthers offense looking to go more up-tempo heading into next season.

NEWS

PAGE 3

OPINIONS

PAGE 7

A&L

PAGE 12

SPORTS PAGE 18

PANTHER OF THE YEAR

JADA LEWIS, LAUREL BOWEN AND JESSICA SIEMER ARE AWARDED THE SIGNAL’S 2019 PANTHER OF THE YEAR TITLES. IT ’S THE FIRST ALL-FEMALE SELECTION IN SIGNAL HISTORY.

@gsusignal

ILLUSTRATIONS AND PAGE DESIGN BY DEVIN PHILLIPS | THE SIGNAL

VOL. 86 | NO. 26

APRIL 9 - APRIL 16, 2019

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NEWS TUESDAY, APRIL 9, 2019

www.georgiastatesignal.com/news

First Latina SGA president wins by landslide Jazmin Mejia and Hamza Rahman will lead the 90th administration ADA WOOD

Associate News Editor

T

he 90th administration for the Georgia State Student Government Association has been officially finalized.

And although it will be led by familiar faces, it brings change to the history of the university’s student body leadership.

Jazmin Mejia, a first-generation student, will be the first Latina SGA president in university history, and the first female university-wide president since consolidation between Georgia State and Georgia Perimeter.

“Being the first Latina president. That means so much,” Mejia said.

As she continued, she began to cry. When asked what was making her so emotional she explained how much this meant to her and a member of the Latinx community. “[In Latino culture] education isn’t really promoted. People come to the states to work and send the money back to their families,” she said. “My mom was always about education, put yourself first, put education first. Education is something that people can’t take from you.”

Mejia said this position was bigger than herself.

“I’m doing this for my mom. I’m doing this for all the women out there, regardless of race. I’m doing this for every first-generation [whose] parents came here … for their kids to succeed. I’m doing this for my community – the Latinx community,” she said with tears in her eyes.

Despite this election bringing the largest candidate pool in over 10 years, Mejia consistently led the race – both in the general election when she pulled 29.41% of the vote against four opponents, and again in the runoff when she dominated with a whopping 74.69% of the vote against Anthony Jones.

Mejia refutes any claims that recent controversy is what won her the election, her reasoning being that she led in the general election as well.

“I don’t want to have to prove to people that I deserve this position. I earned this,” she said. “Georgia State changed my life. It did. Here I am and I’m the first Latina SGA president.”

Mejia isn’t a newcomer to SGA. As a senator for the College of Arts and Sciences in this year’s administration, Mejia has been an active participant behind the scenes. She’s also worked heavily with Spotlight Programs Board as daytime chair, hosting many of the organization’s largest events, all while tripling as Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity alumni networking chair Mejia’s campaign promises focused on providing more opportunity and resources for students. One goal she shared on the trail was boosting financial literacy among students by working with and holding accountable the Office of Financial Aid. She also hopes to provide more campus involvement through inter-organizational collaboration and on-campus events to bring SGA closer to the student body.

Mejia’s first plan is to meet with Franklin Patterson to discuss everything she should know to be successful. Then she hopes to get straight into planning her goals by meeting with all of her executive vice presidents.

The second most powerful position in SGA, the Atlanta campus EVP, also headed to a runoff election after no candidate secured 51% or more of the vote in the general.

Hamza Rahman found himself on top, though not with the same sweeping victory Mejia saw. In fact, Rahman landed in second place in the general election, with just 27.81% of the

vote, behind Jesse Calixte’s 41.32%. However, when up against Calixte again, Rahman won a tight race with 53.35% of the vote.

Rahman is also a political insider to SGA, having served in the 89th administration as a senator for the College of Arts and Sciences. He’s the head religious coordinator of the Muslim Students Association, volunteer coordinator for United Mission Relief and vice president of the Middle East Socio-Political Association.

As a candidate for EVP, Rahman’s platform included two hot topics on campus: transportation and dining. He outlined goals for increasing the number of Blue Route buses and Blue Lot parking spaces for commuter students. Additionally, he hopes to make campus dining options more inclusive with Halal and Kosher options for Muslim and Jewish students.

“I’m still on the ‘I won’ euphoria, that high, but it’s starting to calm down,” Rahman said in an interview the day election results were released. “I’m getting ready to start fighting for the issues.”

Rahman was surprised by his victory, but he credited his multiple endorsements, including both the College Republicans and Young Democrats.

Even though Rahman said he leans left, he knew that this wasn’t about politics but rather the students and what he can do for Georgia State, which is why he thinks both organizations stood by him.

Mejia and Rahman are known for their history closely working together. Just recently, in late March, Rahman introduced an opinion resolution, sponsored by Mejia, in opposition to the Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange.

However, just as Mejia and Rahman have shared in their activism in the Senate, they have shared in their controversies: Both attended a controversial trip to Israel in late December.

Rahman said that despite its controversy, the trip to Israel was a great point in building their relationship.

“Because Jazmin and I have a lot of the same ideas, it will put a united front against any issues that come up,” Rahman said. “Jazmin does not rest until it’s done. Her resilience is something I haven’t seen before.”

Mejia and Rahman have plans to move forward with the teamwork they’ve built over the past year.

“We are great friends. He listens to me, I listen to him. We understand each other, we are on the same playing field,” Mejia said. “If you tell [Hamza] to do something, he will get it done.”

President

Vice Pres.

PHOTOS BY UNIQUE RODRIGUEZ | THE SIGNAL

ELECTION RESULTS PRESIDENT Jazmin Mejia

655 votes 74.69% Anthony Jones

139 votes 15.85%

ATLANTA EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT Hamza Rahman

438 votes 53.35% Jesse Calixte

338 votes 41.17%

“That’s what also makes me effective, because I know what documents we have.”

T

ake the elevator in Library South up to the eighth floor and you’ll be met with exhibits, a room where visitors can search through records and a conference space with expansive windows that look out onto the campus. A narrow hallway leads deeper into Georgia State’s University Archives and Special Collections department, where you’ll most likely find University Archivist Laurel Bowen, milling about the thousands of snippets of history tucked away in a nondescript library corridor.

Bowen has been working at the university “more than [she’d] like to admit,” but that’s what makes her great at her job, she said.

“That’s what also makes me effective, because I know what documents we have,” she said. “I know because I was here when most of them came in. I know what the university’s history is. I know what the university’s administrative structure is and so I can come up with a pretty good guess as to where the records are that could be useful to you.

And if I can’t tell you, then I could probably tell you where in the university to get them.”

As the university rapidly changes and evolves, the archives — and in essence Bowen — serve an important role in capturing the diverse history and ever-changing culture of its students.

other tools on various topics.”

The best part of her job, she said, comes from pulling those records that impact specific people.

In one instance, she had to verify a former employee’s status at Georgia State so he could receive his retirement benefits.

“There was one faculty member who had worked here for a number of years and he went to claim his benefits so he could retire, and for some reason they couldn’t find any record that he had been here,” Bowen said. “We were actually able to prove that he was here and that he had been here for a long time. And I presume he was able to use that to get what he needed because he didn’t come back.”

It’s not just people at Georgia State who she’s helped. She’s also had to pull records for people seeking more information from across the globe.

“It’s amazing what far reach the graduates of this institution have. I mean internationally, it’s not surprising. So, I get requests from Hawaii and Israel and everywhere in the world,” she said. “Some people may have gotten their degree here and their professional license here, and they want to document [because] they’re moving to another state or another country and the other country wants proof that the courses were as rigorous as they have.”

Because she works with such a diverse array of documents from a wide variety of time periods, she said that she never stops learning and that the questions people ask keep her job challenging.

“I think that’s my most interesting part of the job because I’m always learning something new.

Some of those questions are not that easy and I’ve got to put together what I know about the university’s history and what I know about the records and where they are … and try to match that to the specific question that I’ve been given,” she said.

BOWEN’S PURPOSE WHAT DOES AN ARCHIVIST DO?

Bowen is tasked with “a variety of job duties” that allow her to serve the university but also anyone curious enough to come to her for questions about its history or for specific records.

“One [duty] is to acquire records from university offices and campus groups. Second, I arrange and describe them so people can use them,” she said. “Also prepare them for digitization, but the digitization is only a tiny, tiny fraction of the thousands of boxes of records we have. Third, I prepare research guides and

Bowen said that students would be surprised by what is held in the archives, and that by maintaining these expansive records, she and her team are preserving written proof of the past.

“Essentially what records do is they’re an extension either of a person or an institution’s memory. And things that are important to us we write down and create records about,” she said.

One of the challenges that comes with keeping these records, however, is that electronic records are the most vulnerable.

“The electronics records and the fragility of those records and the difficulty of preserving them. I’m just kind of stunned. Have you ever

had the experience [where] you’ve sat down at a computer and you’ve spent hours writing out a paper or something like that and then you accidentally hit the wrong key and the whole thing disappeared? That’s a good example of what could happen,” she said.

Throughout her time working in the university’s archives, Bowen said she only has one thing she regrets.

“I regret when I cannot come up with the records. That’s true sometimes. As much as I’ve used them and as well as I know them, sometimes they haven’t been given to us, sometimes they haven’t been preserved which is the whole point of an archive to make sure they’re available and they’re preserved. And if people haven’t given the records, we can’t help them find what is their looking for,” she said.

Bowen encourages people to use the archives because they just might be surprised by what they hold.

“The only way you’ll know is if you come and ask.” is the whole point of an archives, to make sure they’re available and they’re preserved. And if people haven’t given the records we can’t help them find what is their looking for,” she said.

Bowen encourages people to use the archives and that they just might be surprised by what they have there.

“The only way you’ll know is if you come and ask.”

ARTIFACTS INSIDE THE UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES Bible from 1640 17th century monk manuscript 60-year-old faculty trophies Georgia State coat of arms and official documents Labor records from factories from the 1890s

LAUREL BOWEN

PHOTO BY JULIAN PINEDA & PAGE DESIGN BY DEVIN PHILLIPS AND AMBER KIRLEW | THE SIGNAL

NEWS

6

GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM

The U.S. Pakistan Knowledge Corridor Pakistani scholars trained at Georgia State BEN COLETTA Staff Reporter

T

he U.S. Pakistan Knowledge Corridor is a scholarship program aimed at providing Pakistani professors with Ph.D.s at American universities. The program was first proposed in a meeting between President Barack Obama and the prime minister of Pakistan in October of 2015.

According to the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan, the program serves to increase the levels of cooperation between the Pakistani and U.S. governments; as well as, “to achieve the ambitious priority targets of developing high level human capital envisioned in Pakistan’s policy document Vision 2025.”

After the initial meeting proposing the program, there was a second meeting held in February of 2016 discussing the ins and outs of how to implement the program. The program was finally implemented and 1,500 scholarships were offered to Pakistani students in January of 2017.

So, what role does Georgia State play in this program and how does the scholarship work?

Associate Provost for Graduate Programs Lisa Armistead has the answers.

“The Pakistani Government is interested in supporting current Pakistani faculty at their universities, who primarily have a masters and not a Ph.D. degree, to come to Georgia State and other U.S. based institutions and get a Ph.D. and then go home to elevate the profile of their universities,” Armistead said. “So, they’re looking to better educate their current faculty and bring them home to teach.”

While Georgia State currently has a small number of students from this program, the number is expected to grow dramatically in the coming years.

“We actually have one student enrolled in the political science Ph.D. program,” Armistead said. “And, I just got a list of another 90 plus interested in Ph.D. programs across the university and I’ve reached out to each of the deans of the colleges.”

So, how is Pakistan paying Georgia State students? For nine months these students receive a stipend, deposited into a Georgia State account.

“They [Pakistan] are depositing money into a Georgia State account that pays a stipend for nine months of around $16,000 USD,” Armistead said.

The Pakistani government is also providing funds for several other things to assist the students while they live in America.

ILLUSTRATION BY AMBER KIRLEW | THE SIGNAL

“They also pay some moving fees and health insurance,” Armistead said. “[Georgia State] then distributes those stipends to the students in the form of a graduate research assistant. They work for up to 13 hours a week in a research lab and they get a tuition waiver associated with that research institute.”

However, the Pakistani government will not pay the university or the students indefinitely. The financial support and the stipend has a time-to-degree limit of four years and

a monetary cap of $106,000.

“Four years, I believe, is how many years they pay for it — $106k total per student,” Armistead said. “They don’t fund the students for the summer but we can choose to do so or not. Any graduate program can say I want to pay them an additional $5,000 and get 20 hours of work a week out of that student. So, they aren’t limited to the stipend that comes to them from Pakistan but we aren’t required to pay them more than that.”

Up debt’s creek without a paddle

Rising tuition and interest rates take their toll on students BRIA SUGGS Staff Reporter

T

he total student loan debt in the United States is $1.56 trillion. As degrees are growing in necessity, entry level positions and universities continue to raise tuition which means students have to take out more and more loans to get through school. Interest rates on these loans also continue to rise, making it even harder for students to pay back.

On Georgia State’s Student Financial Services website, the in-state nonguaranteed tuition and fees rate per semester for twelve credit hours increased from $3,646 in 2011 to $4,487.24 in 2017, a 1.2% increase.

Based on a 2017 study conducted by The Institute for College Access and Success, the average amount of student loan debt for the state of Georgia was $28,653 – giving it a rank of 25 out of the 50 states.

For the 2016-17 academic year, the in-state tuition and fees was $8,974, and the average total cost of attendance was $27,088. The average debt of 2017 graduates was $30,167.

Of the 2017 graduating class, 69% of them left Georgia State with debt.

According to the Georgia Student Finance Commission, in 2018, 13,219 Georgia State students were awarded the HOPE scholarship, and $68,196,290 was split among those students. The Zell Miller scholarship was awarded to 1,248 students, amounting to $8,248,943. in total.

Kevin Hernandez-Magana is a freshman at Georgia State who receives both HOPE and the Pell Grant.

“Why does it cost so much to achieve a higher degree of education that is expected of us to have?” HernandezMagana said. “There are scholarships and loans, but even with that some still can’t afford it.”

He’s dependent on these programs to get an education.

“If I didn’t have the help [of HOPE and the Pell Grant] I wouldn’t be here right now. It’s just not possible for someone whose family is at the very low end of the middle class,” he said. “My father barely makes $40,000 a year and has to support a family of five.”

Although Hernandez-Magana receives state and federal aid, it’s still not enough to cover both his tuition and housing.

“After this first year, I will have to look for student loans

unfortunately, because the price of just housing took a huge toll on my father’s income and savings,” he said. “These student loans will follow me for years and years. I would be paying $15,000 after 12 years for a $3,000 loan. Make that make sense.”

Hernandez-Magana, who is taking a full-course load, also has to work in order to pay for textbooks, toiletries and the other basic essentials of a college student.

“Even working 30 hours a week I still find myself living paycheck-to-paycheck paying for basics,” he said.

But would Hernandez-Magana have still come to college if most entry-level positions didn’t require a bachelor’s degree?

“In my personal opinion, yes I would still have come to college just to have a security net in case anything happened to a job I was [working] at,” he said. “Especially as a gay man of color, I have to work and present myself a lot more than others in the workplace. Not only because of societal standards, but legally, since as a gay man I can be fired for being gay.”

The Signal also reached out to the Associate Vice President of Student Financial Services, James Blackburn, who asked to be sent questions regarding student debt. As of publication, The Signal has not received a response to those questions.

OPINIONS TUESDAY, APRIL 9, 2019

www.georgiastatesignal.com/opinions

Too disabled for disability services

Shouldn’t all people with disabilities receive services?

JIMMY FREELS Staff Columnist

I

’m in a power wheelchair, and because I cannot use my hands effectively, I drive with switches located in the headrest of my chair. I can’t hold a pencil or a pen in either hand, I can’t get my books out of my bookbag, I can’t turn pages in a textbook, I can’t open a door and I can’t even press the big buttons with the handicapped symbol to open doors electronically. Clearly, I need help.

I’m a Panther through Georgia State’s Inclusive Education program, known as IDEAL. Inclusive Education was created to allow students with different ability to receive a college experience without going through the traditional admissions process.

There are eight other IE programs in the state of Georgia

besides IDEAL, including the Excel program at Georgia Tech, the Academy of Inclusive Learning at Kennesaw State, GOALS at Columbus State, Eagle Academy at Georgia Southern, DestinationDawgs at UGA, CHOICE at East Georgia, LEAP at Albany Tech and Project Wolves at West Georgia.

The Georgia State’s Center for Leadership in Disability – located in the 75 Piedmont Building – has oversight responsibilities for IDEAL and all of the other IE programs in Georgia.

IE programs provide their students with the support that they need to help them succeed. These programs teach students how to manage their study time, manage their assignments and manage their extra-curricular activities. IE programs also provide peer mentors who attend classes with IE students to assist them according to their needs.

But there are other needs disabled students that might require such as a note taker or someone to read their tests to them. Usually, the IE program itself can find a way to provide the assistance needed for each of their students. When they

cannot, most IE programs will ask the Office of Disability Services on their campus to step in to fill the gaps.

That is how it works at West Georgia, Georgia Tech, UGA and Kennesaw among others. But not at Georgia State.

The Office of Disability Services at Georgia State is not allowed to help IE students on our campus because the students are non-matriculating students who are auditing classes.

Ironically, IE students still pay for tuition and student services fees –just like matriculating students. Yet we are unable to access the services we pay for.

At the beginning of this semester, IDEAL was unable to find a peer mentor to assist me during one of my classes. After several attempts to get this resolved, I went to the Office of Disability Services. Although they wanted to help me, they were not allowed because I am not a matriculating student.

I am so disabled that the Disability Services office was not allowed to help me even though I have paid for my student services. This is far from equal access as mandated by the Americans with Disabilities Act.

A cleaner, greener future for Georgia State How students are taking greener initiatives around campus MYA GRANT Staff Columnist

A

ccording to a Twitter post from the Weather Channel India, by 2050 water pollution will be the number one cause of death across the world. The post is linked to a report about premature deaths in Asia and Africa due to environmental inconsistencies. Today, we see the same issues in our country.

Students and student-led organizations at Georgia State are playing their part in ensuring sustainability around campus.

With information sessions,

environmentally conscious driven clubs and personal contributions, Georgia State is working on becoming a greener campus.

Although Georgia State is located in the middle of downtown Atlanta, this doesn’t push away the idea of saving the earth and reducing individual carbon footprints.

Many student-led organizations around campus focus on sustainability and what students can do to make sustainability a priority in their lives. Organizations such as Flora & Fauna, People for the End of Animal Cruelty and Exploitation Club and Green Team are always spreading awareness of environment through events on and off campus in hopes to reach more people.

Steven Santoni is a member of PEACE Club and works as a field organizer for Environment Georgia, a citizen-based environmental advocacy project that works toward making changes for clean air, clean water and green spaces.

“We research the challenges confronting our environment,” Santoni said. “And educate the public about what’s at stake.”

Organizations who don’t focus much on environmental issues are also getting involved by doing trash pick-ups, recycling events and other community service events aimed at greener living. This is good because it shows that even people who don’t put environmental consciousness as a number one priority are contributing and making the necessary steps to become conscious and inform others.

“I think students do take environmental awareness into consideration,” Santoni said. “Whether for environmental reasons or economic reasons (financial cost of using electricity and water), I think sustainability is something that is increasing in the collective conscious.”

With Earth Day in a few weeks, the Student Government Association and the Office of Sustainabillity have prepared initiatives of their own to increase student involvement and awareness of sustainability on campus and in the community. SGA will be having a sustainability

resolution vote on April 18 which will advocate for more sustainability in the strategic plan and get more of the campus’ energy from renewable resources.

Georgia State’s Office of Sustainability will be hosting an earth week festival on the April 18 as well as other events throughout the month on all campuses.

“GSU is making small efforts to become more environmentally conscious,” Tahira Simpson, treasurer of Flora & Fauna, said. “For example, adding recycling areas in on campus housing and building sections of the school that are meant to be more eco-friendly.”

Georgia State and the Office of Sustainability have made progress with sustainability being an important factor of the university but they could always do more. With Georgia State being a large campus that stretches to other parts of Atlanta, conserving energy and being conscious of how much energy is being used can be something taken into consideration.

Investing some of the money the university gets into more sustainable gadgets around campus and implementing the goals of these earth week events into the goals of the university are just small things that can bring in a huge turn around.

ILLUSTRATIONS BY EVAN STAMPS | THE SIGNAL

OPINIONS

8

GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM

letter TO the editor EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Daniel Varitek

Dear Editor, Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) is a transnational, nonviolent movement established in 2005 by over 170 civil bodies in Palestine, after Israel’s incessant occupation of Palestinian land. Inspired by the South African anti-apartheid movement, BDS is seen as the current and primary nonviolent method to pressure Israel to comply with international law and respect the right of Palestinians to return to their homes, from which they were forcibly expelled from, as stipulated in UN Resolution 194.

Since its creation in 1947, Israel has ethnically cleansed indigenous Palestinian land and illegally settled in it, thus creating one of the largest refugee crises in modern history — the reason many of our Palestinian students are studying here today. Moreover, the Gaza Strip, an area of land roughly 140 square miles with over 2 million Palestinians blockaded by Israel, has been deemed as unlivable by 2020. Our Student Government Association has proverbially agreed to this treatment.

Over winter break, various members of the SGA at GSU accepted funding from the Maccabee Task Force in order to attend a Hillel-sponsored “free trip”

to Israel. By accepting this funding, the SGA is dismissing several human rights violations committed by the apartheid state of Israel and is complying with the plight of Palestinians within the occupied territories, Palestinian refugees, and Palestinian students at GSU. Perhaps the SGA members accepted the funding believing that they would experience the Palestinian narrative, but why would a settlercolonial state expose its treacherous underbelly?

It is pertinent that Georgia State support the BDS movement. Student activism on college campuses has historically been an influential and effective means of political and social change for many generations — challenging dominant narratives and shedding light on subaltern discourse.

We can see this from the ‘60s and ‘70s with the Civil Rights Movement, especially in the context of Atlanta.

The U.S. government fails to hold Israel accountable, and 26 states have enacted some form of legislation to criminalize the nonviolent boycott of Israel. The United States has a particular relationship with Israel, providing it with over $10 billion in military aid every year.

The first step that Georgia State needs

to take toward the BDS movement and supporting the human rights of the Palestinian people is to divest from the Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange program, also known as GILEE. The GILEE program is housed

by GSU and directed by former GSU professor, Robert Friedmann. Aside from the fact that GILEE sends GSUPD to a country that is accused of countless international human rights violations, police are trained in military and “counter-terrorism” tactics, and use these tactics on GSU students and Atlanta community members.

On Thursday, April 18th at 7:15pm, the SGA will be voting on an opinion resolution that would encourage GSU to divest from GILEE. GSU students have the opportunity to attend this university-wide meeting and speak in support of the resolution. By doing so, students would contribute to GSU taking a step in the right direction by pushing for an end to the university’s partnership with a state that is systematically enacting a genocide against its indigenous Palestinian population.

Zainab Khan Senior, political science major

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ARTS & LIVING TUESDAY, APRIL 9, 2019

www.georgiastatesignal.com/artsandliving

The kid from Kemp’s commercial Georgia State alum “Jake” speaks about his time on screen SYDNEY BLOEME Arts & Living Editor

L

ast year, in the spring and summer of the gubernatorial election, one of Georgia State’s very own became the recipient of statewide attention as he appeared next to Brian Kemp — on the opposite end of his shotgun.

Jantzen McDonald is a Georgia State alum who majored in communications and minored in journalism while working for Album 88. McDonald first appeared as “Jake,” a southern conservative boy looking to date Brian Kemp’s daughter, in April for Kemp’s controversial campaign ad against Casey Cagle. It was so controversial, in fact, that one TV station received complaints and demands to stop airing it.

In the commercial, McDonald delivers lines summarizing Kemp’s campaign through a moderately thick southern accent, and that’s no acting. He’s from Jackson, Georgia, and his accent on the ad is true to how he naturally speaks. But in acting, casting companies are more interested in how the actor looks than anything.

“In both scenarios, this is our true accents,” McDonald said.

“This is how I was born and raised.

When it comes to acting, they pick based on what you look like. It comes down to the look, and you gotta have the look.”

McDonald said his agent notified him about a casting call, to which he sent in a taped interview of him reading the words from the ad.

Were they searching for a specific look? Mcdonald said the only thing they asked for was a “fresh face.”

“They were kind of just looking for the American boy look if you may — like what the typical American looks like,” McDonald said. “A fresh face is what their description was.”

The ad was filmed at Kemp’s estate in Athens, Kemp’s hometown. The first commercial was released during the runoff election between Kemp and his Republican rival candidate Cagle. Then, they filmed again for the race between Stacey Abrams and Kemp.

The ad received significant attention from the public and media outlets because of both Kemp’s language (think his initiative to round up all the “illegals”) and his brandishing a shotgun next to McDonald. And while many argue that the

shotgun is pointed at the daughter’s suitor, McDonald said he wasn’t in any actual danger.

“I know the shotgun was not aimed at me but it may look that way.”

Regarding the context of the ad — namely, a father threatening violence toward one of his daughter’s suitors — McDonald said it was perfect for the audience Kemp was hoping to attract.

“Most people from the South know that it wasn’t, ‘Oh, we want to intimidate people with guns,’” McDonald said. “They get it as this is how it was back in the day and some people still do it to this day. It’s to make the boyfriend understand, ‘You’re not going to break my little girl’s heart.’”

McDonald said he wasn’t surprised with the context of the ad as it followed the script he read in his tape. The whole thing really only took about an hour for each commercial and he was able to spend quality time with Kemp, listening to what he had to

“Pretty much, they know that I did it for the money. Nobody picks on me or anything,” he said. “They get it.”

And although McDonald didn’t want to disclose finances directly, he did say it was “reasonable pay for the work given.”

“It’s good pay. I’ve been paid more but overall getting a double dose was good because it’s two times the airtime and two times the pay,” he said.

McDonald said that because the commercial was only run statewide, it was less pay than it would have been for nationwide distribution.

“For a national commercial, you’ll get paid much more. And this was more statewide so you won’t get paid as much. There’s a substantial gap between the two,” McDonald said.

Despite playing an important role in Kemp’s victory, McDonald doesn’t consider himself a conservative because he doesn’t like to label his beliefs.

“I don’t consider myself anything. I know my beliefs but I don’t put myself in a particular category,” he said.

At Georgia State, he said he learned a lot from the diverse campus, although it was a tense time during the 2016 election.

“Some classes were very interesting especially with the 2016 results,” he said.

“It was an experience that gave you a different perspective.”

McDonald said that aside from a few Facebook direct messages every now and then, he hasn’t received much negative attention from the ad, but people do recognize him in public.

“I went to a Braves game once and a lady recognized me,” McDonald said. “Then ILLUSTRATION BY DEVIN PHILLPS | THE SIGNAL I was at a MARTA station once and one guy stopped and said, say about his career and history living in Georgia.

‘Were you in that commercial?’”

“I’ve never met someone as big as him. [Kemp is] over all a Today, McDonald works as a public communications very cool and calm guy. What he says is what you get. Very nice,” coordinator at a private company and while he does still pursue McDonald said. “[Kemp] told me stories about how he got into acting on the side, he doesn’t get many opportunities for roles — politics and why and how his career has changed over time.” he thinks it’s based on his look.

Because of the initial commercial, McDonald not only was “Not a lot of auditions come up,” McDonald said. “They say invited back for a second shoot, but he also joined the Kemp Atlanta is the hotspot for acting right now, but right now I don’t campaign for the election watch party and was later also invited have the look they’re looking for. To be honest, to me, I have to the gala where he met top government officials and was more like a standardized look in my opinion and they want more recognized from the commercial. diversity. So they’re not going to always look for the white man.

“You get a lot of energy toward the candidate they’re voting They’re expanding out of that.” for. It was a great experience,” McDonald said.

And for the record, no, McDonald did not get the chance to Today, McDonald said he doesn’t receive any bad attention because of his participation in the commercial. meet or date Kemp’s daughter.

...it’s not necessarily creating a seat at the table for students. It’s students being aware that there is a seat for them already. You’re going to be your best advocate.”

J

essica Siemer stands out among her peers because of her dedication to research in biochemistry, student leadership and a drive to stay involved in student affairs.

Director of Student Affairs Administration Shantavia T. Reid-Stroud describes Siemer positively.

“Jessica is an exceptional student leader,” Reid-Stroud said. “Throughout my experience with the Student Activity Fee Committee, Jessica has proved to be one of the most dedicated students to serve on the committee. She is not afraid to ask questions. She has the respect of her peers and fellow committee members.”

Siemer’s impact at Georgia State began in the fall of 2014 after earning her undergraduate degree at Georgia Tech. While searching for her next move, she stumbled upon a job opportunity at Georgia State. Today, she’s pursuing a Ph.D. in biochemistry at the university.

“I didn’t know what I wanted to do when graduating from Georgia Tech … I started applying to grad school, granted, a little late, past most of the applications were due, and I was scrambling and this professor was coming down to start a lab at Georgia State and posted a job posting,” Siemer said. “I knew I wanted to work in a lab … Georgia State has some really good research opportunities.”

Siemer studies the interaction of human

proteins and the genomes of viruses such as West Nile and Zika, among others.

“If you can look at interactions between where the viruses have to interact with the host, those are very good therapeutic targets because your host proteins wont change but the virus will mutate,” she said.

Siemer is an adviser for Georgia State’s International Genetically Engineered Machine club. IGEM is a worldwide synthetic biology competition where competitors use molecular biology techniques such as DNA restriction digest, ligation, mutagenesis, PCR, bacterial transformation, protein purification and Western blotting.

During her tenure, Georgia State won the iGEM Chairman’s Award, an award that only three teams in history have ever received.

POLITICAL

Alongside with her academic involvement, Siemer got her start in the Student Government Association as one of the first graduate student senators.

“I got involved in SGA two years ago, right after they had established graduate senators,” Siemer said. “For a while, I was one of the only graduate students. This year, we were pleasantly surprised that we had a graduate senator in public health, so we’ve seen a lot of participation as the years go by.”

Siemer said that because of her loose schedule being a graduate student, she is able to take advantage of faculty-student meetings, which normally revolve around faculty availability. By being a prominent representative of SGA and attending these meetings, she is able to actually implement change that can make its way to the top of university administration.

“What people don’t understand is that there’s a lot that happens behind the scenes,” Siemer said. “People don’t realize that there are university senate committees comprised of faculty and staff that make policies that make their way up to Dr. Becker.”

This year, Siemer is involved in the Budget Committee and Student Life Committee; last year she was in the Academic Programs and Standards Committee. She also oversaw this year’s SGA election as chief election commissioner.

Senior Director of the Student Center Boyd Beckwith described some of the accomplishments Siemer has made in SGA. “She has been the author of a significant number of pieces of legislation that have come before the Atlanta and University-wide Senates,”

Beckwith said. “When she was the chair of the Academic Affairs Committee last year, her committee established the ‘Review, Refresh, Recharge’ program to assist students in their preparation for final exams. As the current chair of the Student Services committee she has spearheaded several initiatives to improve the services available to [Georgia State] students.”

SOCIAL

If that isn’t enough, Siemer also works as a referee for the university’s Recreation Center.

“I referee intramurals and work in the intramurals here, and getting involved in sports has really helped. I wanted to exercise, and why not get it running up and down the court?” she said.

Her involvement in sports exemplifies her final message to students: Get involved and utilize the resources offered.

“One thing that I would really like to change about the student body here, and I see it a lot more here, is that because we are a commuter school, you tend to go to class [and] go to work,” she said. “I want people to be more educated on what decisions can they make that will improve their experience and their outcome after they graduate.”

And while using resources is great, Siemer argues that students need to know how to advocate for themselves in order to use these resources fully.

“One thing I’ve found at Georgia state is that it’s not necessarily creating a seat at the table for students. It’s students being aware that there is a seat for them already,” Siemer said. “You’re going to be your best advocate.”

This means utilizing office hours to talk over a grade or voicing your opinion to your SGA officials. The resources are there already.

“I was never the student to bring my test up and ask for extra points, but what I came to the realization is that no one is going to advocate for you unless you either ask or you’re an advocate for yourself. I missed so many opportunities, and it was really just as simple as asking a question,” she said. “And I did this in undergrad.

I kind of kept my nose down and tried to push through to graduate and because you do that, you miss a lot of opportunities that you would have had.”

Siemer wants to thank her advisors, her peers and most importantly her father for her successes. Siemer’s father retired from a 20-year career in the military to raise her on his own.

“He’s always been amazingly supportive of me,” she said.

PHOTO BY UNIQUE RODRIGUEZ & PAGE DESIGN BY DEVIN PHILLIPS AND AMBER KIRLEW | THE SIGNAL

ARTS & LIVING

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GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM

If there’s a will, there’s a DJ

How designing playlists is harder than yielding the aux cord EUGENE RUBINCHIK Staff Reporter

W

ielding the aux cord is a responsibility that friends will stick a knife into each other’s throats for, but how are many creative Atlantans are turning the privilege of music selection into rent money?

While powerful music selection is key to any DJ, putting on a show requires gut-busting preparation. Developing mixing techniques and assigning endless options to knobs is quite a step away from plugging in a chord and opening up Spotify.

“I’ll usually practice everyday for up to month. Most DJs practice every day period,” local DJ PrimativeBanana said.

Local DJs constantly create innovative new ways to move audiences, but how do you graduate from being car DJ to having live shows?

SO YOU WANT TO BE A DJ?

In the loosest form of its definition, everyone is a DJ. Streaming companies such as Spotify allow unique playlists to be created for endless purposes.

The average American in 2017 spent almost five hours a day listening to music, over an hour more than 2016. With streaming services’ popularity only increasing more and more every year, a greater need for people curating playlists on these services for genres or activities like cooking or exercising is necessary.

“Every set has restrictions and it’s a big part of what makes it fun,” Album 88 Electronic Music Director and DJ Max Calderon said. “Some shows are restricted to genre like our jazz

show, the left-field pop show and the country show. [Album 88] also has a Jewish show, a Japanese show, a French show and one that features female musicians.”

How does one begin creating these playlists, and even more importantly, how does one begin to get recognized for their work?

CREATING YOUR DJ-READY PLAYLIST

While Spotify makes it seem easy, discovering music and formulating playlists isn’t as simple as clicking your discover weekly.

“Finding music usually comes from working with other DJs, playing them music I like and that I’d DJ,” PrimativeBanana said. “They then show me new stuff based off what I present or show me how they’d mix that stuff. As for the audience, you get prepared by working on a tentative setlist based off how you think the crowd is. I usually play by my gut, like I have an instinct that will tell me what will work.”

There really is no set formula for picking music. Afterall, what makes a DJ unique is his ability to play music that anyone can get into regardless of its obscurity or genre. Finding universal music is a formidable challenge though.

An upbeat song may be written in a major key or feature positive lyrics. DJs can then find songs similar in theme, key or energy to match previous songs and create a cohesive playlist meant to get across a specific emotion.

A song’s key is the group of notes used in its composition.

The first or “home” note in a key as well as whether it is in minor or major denotes the name of the key. Similarly to a color wheel, a camelot wheel shows different keys that fit well back-to-back with each other on a basis of them being adjacent.

This wheel is effective in showing songs that are technically

similar, and websites such as Tunebat will provide this information for most songs. Tunebat also provides other technical information important to matching songs such as tempo and less technical information such as a song’s energy level.

When setting up a playlist, song placement is as important as the song choice itself.

“Once you’ve picked enough music for the set, you want to try and figure out which song would be the best song to kick off the set,” Calderon said. “Then you listen to the end of that song and try and find the start of another song that sounds good against it. Songs that come from well connected albums are much harder to use.”

SEEING THE DJ SCENE IN ACTION

Atlantans can find DJs such as Babysp1der, Dylan Elliott, PrimativeBanana and a growing list of others performing across numerous venues in the Atlanta area. MJQ, the Bakery and Edgewood bars such as Corner Tavern and the Sound Table are notorious for housing such events, and essentially every Friday or Saturday is a perfect opportunity to trade your typical bar experience for one of these DJ’s events.

Of course you can usually find a concert happening somewhere in Atlanta on one of these days, but a DJ show usually consists of a cheap cover charge and the opportunity to be exposed to numerous new songs and a community filled with positive energy and devotion to any form of music.

“At a show I’m filled with adrenaline so I tend to chill and just talk to people until I go nuts,” PrimativeBanana said.

Make sure to check out PrimativeBanana’s upcoming set at the Bakery on May 9 and experience the underground DJ scene that puts barhopping to shame.

WHERE TO SEE DJ PERFORMANCES IN ATLANTA: Tongue and Groove

Sound Table

Twist and turn up the volume when making a new playlist with Spotify.

MJQ

The Drunken Unicorn

Opera

Corner Tavern on Edgewood

PHOTO ILLUSTRATIONS BY MATT SICILIANO-SALAZAR | THE SIGNAL

TUESDAY, APRIL 9, 2019

ARTS & LIVING

13

Don’t get stuck with a $200 textbook And other things to consider when picking classes DANIELLA BOIK Staff Reporter

W

ith summer classes approaching and fall schedules being made, it’s about that time to log onto PAWS and choose your classes – time, professor, location and textbook cost included.

TIME

“The most important factor for me in choosing a class is the time. I can’t do those early classes,” Georgia State student Yves Ishimwe said.

While dragging himself out of bed, Ishimwe’s only motivation to go to class wasn’t so he could do well in the class, but so he didn’t do bad in in the class.

LOCATION

Scheduling the times of your classes to meet your needs could add for a couple more minutes to sleep in, but so can location.

“I tore my ACL last year and I had to hop to my classes at Arts and Humanities, Aderhold, Langdale, Petit Science Center,” student Kaitlyn Crosby said. “I mean basically all over, which required me to get up like half an hour earlier because all the buildings downtown are so spread out.”

RUSH HOUR

As for the many commuters attending Georgia State, being mindful of peak traffic times is an absolute must to avoid the Interstate -85 in-car panic attack.

“My lab on Mondays starts at 9 a.m. and if I’m not there by then I automatically fail the pop quiz,” student Paul Bourlet said. “Traffic has only made me fail once, but even that made me upset just watching the minutes tick past in my car knowing there was nothing I could’ve done about it.”

Commuter students like Bourlet now try to pick classes starting after 10 a.m. so they don’t hit morning rush hour.

But if later classes fill up too quickly and rush hour classes are the only option, commuter students can work around their schedule and take advantage of the opportunities on campus to keep them from sitting in their car for over an hour.

“I couldn’t get a class that ended before rush hour so I just hit the ab blast and cardio kickboxing classes at the rec center to kill the time and get in shape,” Georgia State student Cam Hairston said.

TEXTBOOK COST

If students can’t get their ideal class time, they at least can try and shoot for a textbook-free class.

“I get annoyed by the fact that a professor tells us to buy a book and doesn’t even teach from it,” Georgia State student Elizbeth Phillips said. “I feel like it’s a waste of money.”

Several students agree that if the textbook is required for a lower level or elective class then they’re definitely not taking it.

“For my Intro to Weather and Climate class, the book was close to $100, and we are only going to use half of it,” Bourlet said.

ATTENDANCE POLICY

Not splurging on textbooks is an obvious appeal to students when it comes to choosing a class, but so is the attendance policy. And with the freedom of being in college and not having your parents force you to go to class, students look for optional attendance.

“I will usually try and avoid choosing professors who have mandatory attendance with a limit for amount of excused absences as I like having the possibility of flexibility,” Phillips said.

PROFESSOR ACCESSIBILITY

As far as professors, students pick and choose which ones will aid them with advice from previous students or friends, which in return helps them choose a class. Students even added their input on qualities of professors they’d “swipe left or right on.”

“I’d swipe right if the professor seems easygoing, nice and actually cares about their students and how they interact with them,” Bourlet said.

And not answering emails can be a huge deal breaker.

“I wouldn’t be interested if a professor was too difficult,

Don’t get stuck with an expensive textbook this summer semester. Researching your professor before picking a class is a common to-do amongst Georgia State students.

didn’t respond to emails and wasn’t understanding,” he said.

PROFESSOR ATTRACTIVENESS

Students like Bourlet and Ishimwe may look for valuable qualities in a professor when choosing a class, but other students may be choosing a professor and class based solely on the potential of them having some eye candy.

“One time I signed up for a class just because I heard the professor was hot,” former Georgia State student Elise Makaynach said.

Even graduate student and teacher assistant Matthew Toro admitted to picking a professor just because he wanted to score some.

“One time I picked this professor for chemistry just because he had five chili peppers on RateMyProfessors.com,” he said.

“I got to class and he was so hot it was great, but he had a girlfriend at the time so no room for me.”

However, some students weren’t all that impressed with the chili pepper rating on RateMyProfessors.com “The chili pepper wasn’t always accurate. I can say that much,” Georgia State student Brianna Avant said.

Not all students look to getting lucky with their professor, but student Jamie Nguyen chooses a class based on if the professor is a hard grader or if the lectures are straight from the Power Point slides, because then there’s “no point in taking them,” she said.

DON’T RELY ON PAST REVIEWS

However, Nguyen doesn’t fully rely on previous students’ comments to be the judge of someone.

“I take other student’s experiences and ratings on Rate My Professors with a grain of salt,” she said. “If a student’s comment is so opinionated like ‘I don’t like this professor cause

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY UNIQUE RODRIGUEZ | THE SIGNAL

he’s a d*ick’ then that’s too biased and probably not accurate or helpful in me choosing a class.”

Georgia State philosophy professor Auj Kausar agrees with Nguyen when it comes to choosing a professor based on a student’s biased opinion and that it isn’t always helpful for students trying to choose a class based on that.

“Sometimes students just give a professor a bad rating because they found the class difficult, but really they didn’t make any personal efforts to do better in the class,” Kausar said.

So for this upcoming semester, be mindful of other student’s shortcomings when picking classes and please do not forget to schedule a lunch break for yourself.

IMPORTANT THINGS TO CONSIDER BEFORE COMMITTING TO A CLASS Atlanta rush hour: Morning 6 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.

Lunch 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.

Afternoon 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Time it takes to walk from Aderhold: To Petit Science Center: 11 minutes To Langdale: 7 minutes To Commons: 11 minutes To Student Center: 10 minutes Source: Google Maps

ARTS & LIVING

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GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM

things you don’t want to miss wednesday

tuesday

More events and info at georgiastatesignal.com

thursday

friday

saturday

monday

sunday

Women’s career fair

Farmers market

Comedy show

Dogwood Festival

Grilled Cheese Festival

Bow Wow Brunch

The GREAT Debate

April 9

April 10

April 11

April 12

April 13

April 14

April 15

This career fair gives women a unique opportunity to meet with the people that are potentially going to be hiring in your field. The fair starts at 11 a.m. and is held at 590 West Peachtree St.

Shed the weight of corporate grocery chains and visit the mecca of local growers, chefs, and seasonal garden-artisans.

Fun for the whole family, including an educational nutrition booth!

Just two streets down from the campus, Sister Louis’s offers a sidesplitting, rip-roaring comedy show in everyones’ quirkiest neighborhood bar (Papal Robes not included).

The classic Atlanta at festival kicks off it’s three day art event with numerous family friendly events in the park. See the live entertainment from local musicians as you embrace the coming of summer.

Regardless on your stance as to what is and isn’t considered a grilled cheese vs a melt, this festival seeks to excite the mind of any and all melted-cheese lovers.

Hosted by the Atlanta humane society, this brunch features auctions, puppies, and the general encouragement of garden hats.

Certainly an event any dog lover wouldn’t want to miss.

Vote Everywhere will host a debate between the Young Democrats and Young Republicans on April 15 in Student Center East Senate Salon. Food will be provided.

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By Amanda Dixon-Shropshire Staff Cartoonist

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Email: signalgamespage@gmail.com

SPORTS TUESDAY, APRIL 9, 2019

www.georgiastatesignal.com/sports

GSU drops ULM series, loses past nine in Sun Belt Defense continues to struggle in third-straight conference sweep

Hunter Gaddis pitches for the Panthers against ULM on Friday at the GSU Baseball Complex.

JULIAN HARDEN Staff Reporter

G

eorgia State’s baseball team was swept by Louisiana Monroe (14-18, 5-7) this past weekend at home. In total, the Warhawks outscored Georgia State (9-23, 2-10) 35-14 during the series.

The Panthers have now lost lost nine straight conference games, and the competition will only get tougher as the Panthers face a 5-7 Troy team in the Sun Belt Conference.

Louisiana- Monroe was 2-7 heading into the series with Georgia State.

Let’s take a look at what went awry for the Panthers.

GAME 1, L, 16-8

Georgia State was routed by Louisiana-Monroe in a 16-8 final at the Georgia State Baseball Complex on Friday. Hunter Gaddis started the game for the Panthers and was hit hard in the first inning by the Warhawks.

Trent Tingelstad of the Warhawks doubled in the first inning and was driven in by a homerun by Blake Buckman, giving the Warhawks an early 2-0 over the home team.

The Warhawks continued their barrage in the second inning as they added four more runs to open the game up 6-0.

The Panthers kept fighting, and with two men on base, Luke Leonard doubled to right center, scoring Brandon Bell to put Georgia state on the scoreboard. Rhett Harper then advanced to third and scored due to sacrifice by Ryan Glass.

Dalton Davies would single scoring Leonard, cutting the Warhawks lead in half heading into the third inning. Both teams would go scoreless until the fifth as the Warhawks began to pull away from the Panthers.

From the fifth to eighth inning the Warhawks would score a combined 10 runs, and each of the innings they scored at least two runs in the top of the inning.

In that span the Panthers only scored one run, which came in the seventh due to an RBI single by Josh Smith scoring Elian Merejo. By the bottom of the eighth inning the Panthers were down 14-4 as the lead that was initially cut in half was now more than doubled.

The Warhawks tacked on two more runs in the eighth, making it 16-4. However, the Panthers put up a four-run spot in the bottom half to cut the lead to 16-8 heading into the ninth.

The Warhawks closed out the Panthers in the ninth, leaving Bell, who singled on first. The key to this game was the Warhawks hitting an outstanding .400 (10-of-25) with runners on base.

The Panthers – while also hitting .400 – found themselves down early and scored most of their runs late.

GAME 2, L, 10-3

Georgia State once again fell to Louisiana-Monroe in a 10-3 affair which had a controversial call against the Panthers.

Down 7-3 in the bottom of the eighth, a glimmer of a comeback disappeared for Georgia State right when the Panthers got to the Warhawks’ pitching and loaded the bases with one out.

Panthers’ center fielder Leonard stepped up and hit what looked like a double that Warhawks right fielder Tingelstad trapped off the wall was called a catch instead. This was made worse for Georgia State because Tingelstad also threw to first base to double up the runner for a double play, ending the inning.

“I disagree with the call, it’s a crucial part of the game an I thought I saw the ball hit the wall.” head coach Greg Frady said.

Fans at the GSU Baseball Complex were in shock, yelling at the umpires for missing the call. If the catch were to be reversed, one or two Panthers would have scored, cutting the deficit to two with runners on first and second base with one out.

This call had a large impact on the game.

“I think if you look back, at minimum, we have at least one or two runs in and have the tying run on base with only one out,” Frady said.

This game, like the previous one, saw the Panthers fight back from an early deficit only to not just let it go, but have the opposing team open up the game.

Panthers’ starting pitcher Tyler Koch got himself into trouble early as the Warhawks scored three runs in the second inning.

Warhawks leadoff Joey Jordan had an two-RBI double to make the game 3-0 and then Chad Bell brought in another run with an RBI single to make increase lead to 3-0 in the second inning.

PHOTO BY NADIA MOHAMMED | THE SIGNAL

The Panthers fought back and in the bottom of the third tied the game at three a piece. Panthers leadoff Daino Deas leadoff with a triple to right field and after was brought in by a double from shortstop Griffin Cheney.

Eventually, the bases became loaded for the Panthers with the score 3-1 in favor of the Warhawks. Panthers third baseman Chase Frady came up with a clutch two-RBI double to tie the game up at three.

The Panthers are now facing a sweep at the hands of the conference rival Warhawks and a possible three game losing streak. In the fifth inning Koch was replaced by Seth Clark. The move proved to be one of the turning points of the game as the relieving core would give up seven earned runs from the fifth inning onward.

In the sixth, the Warhawks took back the lead (5-3) at the hands of a two-RBI single by Warhawks third basemen Chad Bell.

Things would only spiral for the Panthers as in the seventh the Warhawks tacked on two more runs making the game 7-3, and the two additional runs came from a throwing error to third by Panthers relief pitcher Ryan Watson.

After the controversy, the Warhawks put the Panthers out of their misery, adding three runs to raise their lead to 10-3 heading into the last inning. That final score held, and the Warhawks clinched the series win on Saturday.

GAME 3, L, 9-3

The Panthers mustered three runs on five hits in their seriesfinale 9-3 loss. Louisiana-Monroe scored three runs before Georgia State scored its first.

Junior Elian Merejo’s fourth inning single brought home Griffin Chenney from second to make the score 3-1.

Starting pitcher Trey Horton left the game after the Warhawks scored four runs while he was on the mound during the fifth inning. He allowed six earned runs, struck out four and walked two.

The pitching unit struck out eight batters but walked 10 during Game 3, seven more than the Warhawks did. Georgia State pitchers walked 30 batters in the three games and was a major theme in each Louisiana Monroe big wins.

Mercer (15-17, 4-5) visits Georgia State on Wednesday at 6 p.m. First pitch against Troy is at 6 p.m. on Friday.

A

fter finishing this season leading the Georgia State women’s basketball team — averaging 13.9 points and 2.6 assists — Jada Lewis has been named Athlete of the Year.

She made the All-Sun Belt Conference Second Team and thinks she could’ve been much better.

“When I look back on this past season, I felt like it was one of my worst seasons on the court,” Lewis said. “Just me personally how hard I am on myself, I thought it was not good enough.”

Although Lewis is hard on herself, her hardwork has paid off .

“The lesson I learned was live in the moment, and everything is not as bad as you make it seem sometimes,” Lewis said.

Her journey to having a good year was a year in the making.

Lewis injured her ACL, causing her to miss all but two games during the 2017-2018 season.

But that didn’t stop her from bouncing back and helping the Panthers finish fourth in the Sun Belt.

“Instead of thinking about myself or just feeling sorry for myself, I thought about my team,” Lewis said. “Everyday when I went to practice, I made sure I was vocal [and] I still tried to get better every single day.”

Being vocal helped Lewis through her time off. It also made her look at things from a

JADA LEWIS

JADA’S STATS FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE 39.2

2018 - 19

46.2

2017 - 18

40.5

2016 - 17

ASSISTS PER GAME POINTS PER GAME

“Not looking at the bad part and saying, ‘Oh, I’m sitting out for a year, why is this happening to me?’, I just looked at, ‘This is apart of the process, a minor setback for a major comeback.’”

different perspective.

“I think [by] doing that, it helped me become a better basketball player,” Lewis said. “Not looking at the bad part and saying, ‘Oh, I’m sitting out for a year, why is this happening to me?’ I just looked at, ‘This is a part of the process, a minor setback for a major comeback.’”

It was a great comeback for Lewis nonetheless.

From being the Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year to being injured and now making Sun Belt All Second Team, Lewis’ career came back full circle.

Along with her great season, the basketball team also had a historic season.

Under first year of head coach Gene Hill, the Panthers went from 8-22 to 17-14, automatically qualifying them for the quarterfinals of the Sun Belt tournament.

Their run for an NCAA Tournament appearance ended at the hands of the Appalachian State Mountaineers when guard Madi Story hit a game winner to end the Panthers’ hopes.

Lewis finished the game with five points on 1-of-9 shooting. She struggled the next game against North Alabama in the Women’s Basketball Invitational, scoring only four points.

“I think it kind of hurt us a little bit, but it was definitely a teaching moment,” Lewis said. “You go into [the tournament] playing an App State team that we just beat by 10 points a few weeks ago. Definitely a teaching moment, but the next time we go into the tournament, we are going into it to win. We’re not going just to win a game or to go to the semifinals.”

After this extraordinary season, much will be expected of the Panthers, but mainly of Lewis.

“My expectation for next year is being a better leader. That’s been my expectation since I’ve been at Georgia State even coming in as a freshman,” Lewis said.

Leadership is one of two expectations she has going into next season.

“Another expectation I have for myself is I need to get stronger,” Lewis said. “I noticed coming back from injury, I wasn’t as strong as I may have been or I probably wasn’t strong at all, so this summer I’m working on my strength and getting better on my all around game. I know when I’m at my best, my team is at their best.”

As a rising junior, Lewis is going to be the top returner of a team that will have just six players.

“Our goal is to get to the NCAA Tournament and be the best team in the Sun Belt,” Lewis said.

“Next year, we do not want to settle for good, we want to be great.”

2018 - 19

13.9

2017 - 18* 2016 - 17

15.5 11.6

2018 - 19

2.6

2017 - 18*

1

2016 - 17

1.9

2018 - 19 STANDOUT GAMES 30 POINTS AGAINST NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL 9 REBOUNDS AGAINST FLORIDA ATLANTIC 6 ASSISTS AGAINST NORTH CAROLINA GREENSBORO 4 STEALS AGAINST FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL

* Jada Lewis played in only the first 2 games of the 201718 season due to injury

PHOTO BY UNIQUE RODRIGUEZ & PAGE DESIGN BY DEVIN PHILLIPS AND AMBER KIRLEW | THE SIGNAL

SPORTS

18

GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM

Panthers refining offense; Spring Game Saturday New OC Brad Glenn has brought fresh ideas to the sideline CHRISTIAN CRITTENDEN Staff Reporter

A

fter a forgettable 2-10 campaign in 2018, the Georgia State football team has put last season behind them and started working toward next year.

The Panthers’ spring practice started four weeks ago and will conclude on April 13 with the Blue-White Spring Game.

Head coach Shawn Elliott made some changes to the coaching staff after the 2018 season ended.

Most of these changes came on the offensive side of the ball, bringing in a new offensive coordinator in Brad Glenn, offensive line coach Thomas Austin and running backs coach Jimmy Smith.

Glenn was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Western Carolina for the previous seven years.

He will have a full arsenal of players to work with during the Spring Game as the Panthers bring back the majority of their positions players except receiver Penny Hart, who left early to declare for the 2019 NFL Draft.

Glenn has been impressed with the offensive players and how they entered spring practice in great shape.

He also likes quarterback Dan Ellington, who will have to learn another new system in his second season at Georgia State.

The senior signal-caller doesn’t think it will be a problem.

“It’s kind of similar in some ways, but this year he wants us to push the tempo a lot more than we did last year, and I’d say I have a lot more control in this year’s offense,” Ellington said.

“It hasn’t been hard to adjust to some of the things I ran in high school and some of the things I ran in junior college, so when he put in the stuff I knew what he wanted to be done.”

Glenn wants his ideal offense to be a spread, but he’ll also take what the defense gives them. If that means running the ball 50 times or throwing the ball 50 times per game, he is okay with either. Ultimately, a balanced attack is what he desires most.

Under Glenn’s direction last year, Western Carolina averaged 31 points per game and 464 yards of offense per game, which ranked second in the Southern Conference.

Glenn has been impressed by what he’s seen from running backs Seth Paige and Tra Barnett and hopes to bring that same sort of production at Georgia State. Offensive lineman Malik Sumter and Hunter Atkinson have also performed well for a young unit that was depleted last year.

“Some things that you like and that stand out is the effort and intensity during practice,” Glenn said. “Practice moves along quickly, and it’s fast-paced, and they came into spring practice in great shape. That’s one thing you worry about is guys being in

Vazha Shubladze’s magic touch flares new team record for Georgia State’s men’s tennis.

shape and guys being able to come out here and go hard for two hours. I haven’t seen any drop off in our ten practices.”

With spring practice set to wrap up soon, Glenn hopes that his players to continue to adjust to the new system and learn the offense. He aims for them to become more comfortable with

PHOTO BY MATT SICILIANO-SALAZAR | THE SIGNAL

their assignments and to get 2% better every day. It’s a marathon, not a sprint, to the first game of the season: a trip to Tennessee in front of 103,000 fans.

The Blue-White Spring Game will begin at 1 p.m. at Georgia State Stadium. Parking and attendance are free.

Vazha Shubladze: from Georgia to Georgia State The freshman’s journey from eastern Europe to the Peach State ESPEN INDRISANO Staff Reporter

W

ith a team-best record of 9-6, freshman star Vazha Shubladze has been a standout on this year’s men’s tennis team. Hailing from Georgia – the country, not the peach state – his story is the kind that makes us all proud to be Georgia State panthers.

Maybe you are unfamiliar with his home country.

Geographically speaking, it is an eastern European nation located on the Black Sea, sharing borders with Russia, Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Situated in a vital crossroads between Europe and the Middle East, it is a world away from Shubladze’s new home in Atlanta.

Culturally speaking, it is a former Soviet republic with an ancient history, a proud people and as Vazha describes, great food.

“Food is the first thing I miss from my country,” Shubladze said. “One of the best dishes is Georgian dumplings, everyone loves them.”

Currently in his freshman year, Shubladze arrived in January.

“I was actually talking to quite a few schools,” he said. “[Georgia State] offered a really good scholarship, and I really liked the program, so I thought it would be a good school for me.”

His parents, Zamiri Shubladze and Maka Simchikori, watched as their lone child travelled over 6,000 miles to continue his tennis career and further his education. The reality was not easy at first.

“I don’t have any brothers or sisters,” he said. “I am the only child. They were a little bit sad, but they knew it was best for my future.”

For Shubladze, tennis has always been an important part of his life.

“I started playing tennis when I was seven,” he said. “Tennis is not great in Georgia, so you have to put in a lot of work and finances to make it.”

He credits much of his success to his parents and their willingness to let him follow his dreams. Head coach Jonathan Wolff was quick to praise his freshman star.

“As a coach, I really couldn’t ask for more,” Wolff said. “He’s been kind of the glue that has held the team together.”

With a number of stellar victories against tough players this season, including three-set wins over a nationally-ranked opponent from Georgia Tech and a conference rival from Texas

Arlington, Shubladze has “Here, tennis is completely different,” Shubladze said. “You are playing for a school, for a team and for your coaches, so there is a lot of pressure. It is hard to get used to, but when you win it is a completely different feeling than when you are playing just for yourself. It is a really good experience.”

Today, Shubladze needs the support of crutches to walk, as a result of a recent torn meniscus injury picked up against Troy in March. His outlook, however, continues to remain positive.

“It is just part of sports,” Shubladze said. “I have to cheer for my teammates now, unfortunately, but I believe in them.”

He’ll undergo surgery, and, depending whether it’s a partial tear or complete tear, the recovery time could be anywhere from six weeks to six months.

But there is much more to Shubladze than his tennis swing.

The man has a bright personality with a smile that can capture the room. He is proud to talk about his life story, making sure to include a joke or two for good measure.

“He is always in a friendly mood,” Wolff said.

And like so many of us, Shubladze is a big fan of food, all things Game of Thrones and basketball.

“I will have a lot of time to watch Game of Thrones since I do not practice anymore,” Shubladze said.

SPORTS

TUESDAY, APRIL 9, 2019

SPORTS CALENDAR BASEBALL

TENNIS

APRIL 10 MERCER

GSU Baseball Complex

APRIL 13 6 P.M.

GSU Baseball Complex

6 P.M.

TROY

TROY

2 P.M.

APRIL 14 women’s tennis SOUTH ALABAMA

APRIL 14 GSU Baseball Complex

women’s tennis EMORY

8 P.M.

10:30 A.M.

APRIL 13 GSU Clarkston Campus

APRIL 13 GSU Baseball Complex

TROY

GSU Clarkston Campus

APRIL 12 TROY

women’s tennis

GSU Clarkston Campus

1 P.M.

10:30 A.M.

19

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APRIL 13 men’s tennis GEORGIA SOUTHERN

SOFTBALL

Statesboro, Georgia

Tuscaloosa, Alabama

7 P.M.

men’s tennis MIDDLE TENNESSEE

GSU Clarkston Campus

APRIL 12 SOUTH ALABAMA

Robert E. Heck Softball Complex

Robert E. Heck Softball Complex

APRIL 15-17 women’s golf 1 P.M.

SOUTH ALABAMA

SUN BELT CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP

ALL DAY

Daytona Beach, Florida

APRIL 14 Robert E. Heck Softball Complex

12 P.M.

GOLF

5 P.M.

APRIL 13 SOUTH ALABAMA

UNIVERSITY OF WEST GEORGIA

APRIL 14

APRIL 10 ALABAMA

1:30 P.M.

APRIL 15-16 1 P.M.

women’s golf SHOAL CREEK INVITATIONAL

TRACK AND FIELD

ALL DAY

Shoal Creek, Alabama

APRIL 13 GAMECOCK INVITATIONAL

Columbia, South Columbia

TBA

BEACH VOLLEYBALL APRIL 13 LINCOLN MEMORIAL

Clarksville, Tennessee

11 A.M.

APRIL 13 CARSON-NEWNAN

Clarksville, Tennessee

1 P.M.

APRIL 13 AUSTIN PEAY

Clarksville, Tennessee

5 P.M.

APRIL 14 SOUTH ALABAMA

Robert E. Heck Softball Complex

1 P.M.

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