The Signal Vol. 86 No. 1

AUG. 21 - AUG 28, 2018

VOL. 86 | NO. 1

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@gsusignal

COVER DESIGN BY DEMETRI BURKE | THE SIGNAL

BUILDING BRIDGES

ON THE PURSUIT OF TRUTH

AT YOUR FINGERTIPS

FALL BALL CALLS

Will the Courtland Street Bridge be completed on time?

We have the answers.

Donald Trump’s rhetoric is dangerous. The Signal has something to say about that.

Save money with these student discounts you didn’t know existed.

Football’s date with Kennesaw State nears as fall camp closes.

NEWS | PAGE 4 GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM

OPINION PAGE 8

News 3

ARTS & LIVING | PAGE 12

OPINION 7

Arts & Living 9

SPORTS | PAGE 18

Sports 15

NEWS TUESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2018

www.georgiastatesignal.com/news

Top donor gifts potentially fraudulent stocks Parker H. Petit’s former company now embattled with four federal investigations WILL SOLOMONS News Editor

“He doesn’t stop until he destroys people’s lives.”

Those were the words spoken by Mary Armstrong, a former account executive from MiMedx, the biopharmaceutical company based in Marietta, in reference to Parker H. Petit, one of Georgia State’s top donors and former CEO and Chairman of the Board at MiMedx until his early July resignation.

In August of 2017, Georgia State announced Petit’s pledge of $10 million to the Georgia State Athletics department. In return, Georgia State branded the new football field with Petit’s name.

Now, Petit’s former company is embroiled in at least four federal investigations, and accusations of poor business practices are threatening the legacy of one of Atlanta’s most prolific philanthropists.

Just months before the investigations began, Petit gifted 325,000 shares totaling over $5 million of MiMedx stock, which has now dropped 74 percent since Petit’s donation.

However, that stock was potentially inflated by channel stuffing, which is the practice of a company inflating its sales and earnings figures by deliberately sending retailers along its distribution channel more products than they are able to sell to the public, according to Armstrong.

She had been working in the Dallas-Fort Worth area with MiMedx when she noticed what she considered was fraudulent behavior.

While attending an annual national sales meeting in early 2016, Armstrong had the opportunity to sit down with members of the executive board, including Petit.

“After complaining for over a year about the different fraud and things going on in the field, I had the opportunity to sit down with all the executives at the national sales meeting,” Armstrong said. “They seemed to be disturbed by the amount of fraud I was describing to them and told me that they were going to implement change to correct them.”

According to Armstrong, those conversations fizzled out over the next couple of months after she consistently asked the board if a change would be made. She said she had a call with another employee at the end of March who also addressed the fraud.

“Five days later I was fired,” Armstrong said.

She believes that she was fired due to bringing up the fraud. “[Petit] very much knew about the fraud,” she said.

Armstrong said that

ILLUSTRATION BY DEMETRI BURKE | THE SIGNAL

the biggest concern for Petit during her time at the company was its stock price.

“That was primary end all be all focus for Pete Petit,” she said. “He just never had communication that didn’t involve the stock price.”

The donated stocks were gifted to the Georgia State Foundation, which is the primary recipient for handling and distributing donations made to the university, at a price of $15.52 per share, according to MarketWatch. That’s almost $7 higher than another donation of the same stock he had gifted to an unnamed company earlier in March 2017. The Foundation cited a state code which protects a donor’s privacy when gifting money to a public institution. This prevented The Signal from gathering information from the Foundation directly.

“[Petit] very much knew about the fraud,” — MARY ARMSTRONG, a former account executive from MiMedx

The Foundation’s policy is to sell stock that has been gifted immediately after receiving it.

Armstrong said that there definitively was channel stuffing that could have inflated the stocks, thus allowing Petit to gift fewer MiMedx shares to the university for the same value.

“Without a doubt, there was significant amounts of channel stuffing. Whether it’s been proven in the court or not, I personally can attest to the amount of channel stuffing both in the VA and in commercial accounts through physician-owned distributors in Texas,” she said.

Whether or not the stock was actually inflated by potential channel stuffing is part of an ongoing investigation by the Department of Justice, Securities and Exchange Commision, Department of Veterans Affairs and the Food and Drug Administration.

Notorious short seller Marc Cohodes has been following the activity of Petit and the stock market for several months

and criticizes him frequently on his website petiteparkerthebarker.com.

“He calls people liars. He calls people criminals. He’s quick to defame anybody and he is guilty of everything people have said about him. He’s cooked the numbers. He’s threatened people. The company has an awful policy towards women,” Cohodes said.

Cohodes had previously been called out by Petit himself, who said that Cohodes’ claims of MiMedx engaging in channel stuffing are “fraudulent” and “illegal.”

“He belongs in prison, and I think he’ll end up there,” Cohodes said.

He also said that the university may be in financial trouble with MiMedx if the company bankrupts from its falling stock prices and present federal investigations.

“If [Petit] donated overpriced stock, which he did, when the numbers were fake, if the company goes into bankruptcy, which I think will happen, the bankruptcy trustees may try to claw back at Georgia State and say they want the money back,” he said.

Petit’s involvement with the Foundation expands beyond just being a donor. He’s also the chair of its Steering Committee, which is responsible for deciding where funding goes and the direction the Foundation wishes to take.

“We don’t have any comment,” Andrew Schmidt, director of communications for Development and Alumni Affairs, said regarding Petit’s resignation at MiMedx and present involvement with the Foundation.

The Signal has reached out to Petit for comment on his involvement as the chair of the Steering Committee and matters related to MiMedx on several occasions by phone, but all calls and subsequent voicemails were not

returned.

Regarding the fate of Petit’s name on Georgia State’s football field and science center, the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia is the only body that controls the naming process of buildings in honor of individuals. If the Board of Regents finds any reason to question Petit’s character, the Board would investigate the claims and potentially decide to remove the titles.

DONATIONS MADE BY PETIT 1. 1985: Donates $1 million to Georgia Tech’s Distinguished Chair in Engineering in Medicine 2. 1996: Donates $5 million to Georgia Tech’s bioengineering and biosciences building 3. 2002: Donates $3.3 million to Georgia Tech’s engineering complex 4. 2010: Donates $1.5 million to create Georgia State’s practice complex 5. 2010: Petit Science Center at Georgia State opens after gift of $5 million 6. 2017: Pledges to donate $10 million to Georgia State’s athletics program

NEWS

4

GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM

Courtland Bridge construction on track for October Students can expect to see the new bridge soon NATORI SPENCE

Associate News Editor

T

he new Courtland Street Bridge is now in its third month of construction, and is expected to be completed on schedule in October.

The project is being built using design-build accelerated bridge construction methods that will allow the new bridge to be completed in just 180 days.

“The contractor has completed all of the foundation, the substructure of the bridge and all the beams have been set in place. 7 of the 12 deck sections have been poured,” O’Hara said.

The work that remains includes the final deck sections, parapet walls, sidewalks, lighting and paving Collins Street under the bridge and general clean-up of the entire project.

“The aggressive schedule that limited the closure of the bridge to only 6 months was the biggest challenge considering the large amount of activity surrounding the project including the GSU campus, the Georgia State Government buildings, MARTA, CSX railroad and the general public,” O’Hara said.

To accomplish this tight timeline, O’Hara said they worked

5 FAST FACTS ABOUT THE NEW COURTLAND STREET BRIDGE

1. The reconstructed bridge will be safer for heavier traffic and vehicles.

2. The new bridge will include a 12foot lane and expanded sidewalks to better accommodate buses and pedestrians.

3. Through design-build innovation, the duration of the project was reduced from two years to 180 days, reducing impacts to motorists and pedestrians.

4. The cost to construct the bridge is approximately $25 million from federal, state, and local sources.

5. The team of CW Matthews and Michael Baker International will design and build the bridge.

The Courtland Street Bridge construction is set to be complete by October, capping off a 180 day schedule.

as a team with the common goal to finish the bridge on time and on budget and to reduce the impact of the project on all the stakeholders in the area.

“To meet the schedule, the contractor had to use detailed planning and phasing to complete the both design and construction of the bridge. The strategy they used has been successful in keeping the project on schedule,” he said.

The new bridge will have three ten-foot vehicle travel lanes, one 12-foot lane that will allow passengers to safely get on and off of busses that stop at Georgia State University and brighter LED lighting that will enhance the safety of both motorists and pedestrians.

As the project moves along, the Georgia State student body still has a couple more months to maneuver around the construction.

“The contractor has been working with Georgia State’s communications office to prepare a Special Edition Newsletter to go out sometime between August 15 and August 20. They have committed to sending this out to everyone with a GSU. edu email address,” O’Hara said.

The newsletter should also contain photos, links to the

PHOTO BY UNIQUE RODRIGUEZ | THE SIGNAL

project website and updated maps showing how to access GSU Atlanta Campus during the remainder of the construction.

“The presence of a new, modern, well lit and safe bridge replacing a 110 year old structure that was showing its age, will itself have a positive effect on the City of Atlanta and the GSU campus long after the inconveniences of a large complex construction project are gone,” O’Hara said.

There will also be a description of what to expect when the bridge is finished, including renderings of the new bridge on Courtland and Collins Streets as well as social media posts with similar information.

O’Hara said, “The contractor and GDOT will be staffing a booth at Georgia State’s ‘Ask Me’ Event near the project site from Monday to Thursday the week of August 20. We will have Fact Sheets, Maps and other pertinent Project information.”

“Overall, I think everyone that crosses the new bridge will appreciate experiencing result of a project that gave the Courtland Street Bridge the modern update that was required while respecting the history of the City and the GSU campus,” O’Hara said.

New Convocation Center in the works

The project gets a new design consultant and program manager NATORI SPENCE

Associate News Editor

T

he design consultant and program manager have been chosen for the new convocation center expected to be built within the next few years.

Kimberly P. Bauer, the Senior Director of Facilities Design and Construction Services at Georgia State, said, “We are waiting for approval from the Board of Regents before the program manager and design consultant are named.”

The total estimated budget for this project is $80 million with $60 million coming from state funding and $20 million from private funding. It is predicted that it will take 12 months to design the building and 24 months to build it.

“The vision is to create a state of the art multi-purpose

facility containing a 6,000-7,000 seat arena designed to host convocations, commencements, conferences, athletic events, concerts and other major events. It will also provide instructional space to support specialized academic programs,” Bauer said.

The multi-level, 200,000 square-foot facility will be built on the corner of Fulton Street and Capitol Avenue.

“The new convocation center will connect the south campus (GSU Stadium) with the north campus and provide a new state of the art multi-use Convocation Center which will greatly enhance the student campus experience and functionality of Georgia State University especially with its location in downtown Atlanta,” Bauer said.

The proposed project comes at a time when Georgia State is expanding more and more to compensate for its constant need for space to host different types of events. The convocation center would be the future home of all Georgia State women and men basketball games and could possibly be used for

commencement ceremonies and other large assemblies.

Ramesh Vakamudi, Georgia State’s Vice President for Facilities Management Services, told The Signal back in February that “the proposed facility will provide much needed relief to other campus buildings, which are struggling to meet the daily demands of a growing university community.”

Georgia State relies on renting buildings off campus for major programs and events due to lack of space, according to the university’s Master Plan. The Georgia Dome used to be rented out for commencement ceremonies before its demolition.

Now that the design consultant and program manager have been chosen, the project can continue to move along.

“The next step is to conduct a kick off meeting with the program manager, design consultant, and select Georgia State committee members and user groups to determine more specific information about the program before moving into design,” Bauer said.

NEWS

TUESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2018

5

Who’s earning the most at the university? SHOTS FIRED About Becker: “Do you think he’s worth it?”

Hours before semester begins, Georgia State faces second shooting in two weeks

ADA WOOD Staff Reporter

1

52 staff members at Georgia State had salaries over $200,000 in 2017. In addition to this salary, 10 staff members were reimbursed over $30,000 for travel expenses. This data was acquired through Open Georgia, a database for public records of employees of the state.

The average salary for university presidents is $287,143 and the maximum is $600,000. Georgia State President Mark Becker’s salary is closer to the maximum, at $578,639.

Becker was one of five university presidents to top $1,000,000 in pay in 2015, due to a salary bonus of $500,000 which doubled his pay according to an article published previously by The Signal.

One Georgia State professor, who requested to remain anonymous, commented on pay inequality at Georgia State specifically.

“Becker received a 100% raise when faculty received 0% for years. Do you think he’s worth it?” they said.

“This is a president who throws students out of meetings because their questions were not ‘vetted,’ puts his fist ‘thumbs down’ in the face of his Business School dean, who had the temerity to offer a view contrary to Mark’s in front of university chairs and wants to be addressed as ‘Mr. President.’”

In 2017, Ron Hunter, the head coach of the Georgia State Men’s Basketball Team, topped Becker slightly in salary.

At the top of the list, nearly breaking the $1 million mark, is Kumar Viswanathan, a regents professor at Georgia State, who procured $984,580 in the 2017 year.

Jenifer Shockley, the Assistant Director of Communications for the Robinson College of Business, gave a statement regarding Kumar’s compensation.

“Dr. V. Kumar was recruited to join Georgia State University in 2008 due to his standing as one of the world’s most prominent marketing researchers and his track record developing future scholars. In the decade since, his stature has

BY WILL SOLOMONS

The top one percent of Georgia citizens earns about $300,000 a year, while the top paid professor at Georgia State earns about $900,000 a year.

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY AZAM LALANI | THE SIGNAL

risen even more and his presence on the faculty has attracted additional top researchers in other business disciplines,” Shockley said.

Marketing, as defined by the AMA, is Kumar’s expertise, demonstrated by his skill in creating value for himself and exchanging this for a high income at Georgia State.

“For the past four years he has ranked first worldwide among marketing scholars for productivity. Robinson’s Marketing Department is now ranked among the top 10 programs in the world for research productivity,” she said.

The top three earners at Georgia State had a combined salary of $2.1 million in 2017.

According to Andrea Jones, spokesperson for Georgia State, all three salaries are financed from different sources.

“Neither Coach Hunter nor Dr. Becker’s

salaries come from tuition,” Jones said. “Hunter’s is 100 percent from Athletics funds. Dr. Becker’s compensation is a combination of state funds and Georgia State University Foundation funds. Dr. Kumar’s compensation is a combination of tuition funding and sponsored funding.”

In Georgia, the annual income required to be in the top one percent is $345,876. This puts all ten of Georgia State’s highest paid faculty well over the minimum.

“You should know that the first thing grantgetters do is to ‘buy’ themselves out of teaching,” the anonymous source said. “If the logic is that grant-supported research increases the knowledge of the faculty doing the research, but then they buy themselves out of teaching, how is this beneficial to students, other than the ones they hire to do much of the work for them?”

New beginnings for Summerhill

Georgia State works to reinvent the area around its stadium ASHTON PACKER Staff Reporter

A

brand new semester is here and Georgia State has more in store than just academics, as development around Summerhill promises new places to eat, shop and live.

Carter, the development company working on the private aspects of the renovation, partnered with Georgia State to round-out the area around the new Panther Stadium with restaurants, shops and student housing.

With several steps in the works, students can expect new happenings every few months. The first step, according to a statement released by the university is revitalizing Georgia Avenue as a bustling hotspot.

“Once re-energized by eateries, shops and community staples, that strip, a stadium cross street and a main drag in the area, will be an anchor for a larger vision: A mixed-use reinvention of Summerhill,” the press release

stated.

According to Carter’s Senior Vice President, David Nelson, everything is going according to plan and both teams are working to ensure smooth transitions.

A barbecue restaurant, an ice cream shop, and a brewery are already set to open once construction is finished.

“We’re under construction on it. We’re expecting to be done with construction within the next couple of months and that way people will be able to visit by the spring,” Nelson said.

The project is intended to highlight the potential for collaboration within the community and bring the university and the city closer together.

Krystle Rodriguez, a Georgia State graduate from the class of 2006, is helping to solidify the relationship between the two.

“She wanted to be near her school and to be a place where students to go to hang out,” Nelson said.

The area is said to be designed with students in mind, with bicycle lanes, plenty of opportunities for work or internships within the retail and business districts and student housing slated to be

move-in ready by Fall 2019.

After Georgia Avenue “neighborhood retail” facelift, Nelson says Hank Aaron Drive is next on the docket.

“As we go up Hank Aaron drive, it’s a bigger, more urban feel. On that street, we have the potential to do a grocery store or a movie theater or a fitness center. Ultimately, for the full project, we could have a little bit of everything,” he said.

Traffic and safety are also expected to be reduced, as the plan already includes $12.6 million in federal funding to bring the Bus Rapid Transit Line from downtown to within Summerhill’s center by 2024.

“That would help move students or people that are staying downtown to businesses or residences,” Nelson said.

According to the Atlanta Police Department, Summerhill’s crime rates have declined, and the implications are significant.

“We hope that this project will appeal to students; undergraduates, graduates, or people that have graduated and call Atlanta home. We want to be a place that they choose to live or shop or hang out,” Nelson said.

Late Sunday night, just hours before the first classes of the fall semester, Georgia State University Police Department (GSUPD) officers confronted a group of individuals in the University Commons parking deck that led to a foot chase and subsequent gunfire.

GSUPD said there were two men and a woman engaged in potential drug activity when the officers approached them.

The individuals ran and one of them opened fire on police around Ellis St. and the university’s Piedmont North dorms.

According to Channel 2 Action News, two women were in a car when a man came up to their vehicle with a gun and tried to pull one of them out.

The man exchanged gunfire with GSUPD near the University Commons and Piedmont North dorms.

According to a witness and guest at the Sheraton hotel, which is across the street from the incident and Piedmont North, there were between 10 and 12 shots fired.

The police said they tracked the man to the interstate, but then the K9 unit lost track of his scent.

The man is still at large.

A lockdown was issued to students in university housing.

A campus broadcast via students’ emails was also issued stating that there had been a carjacking attempt and shooting.

This story is still developing. The Signal is in contact with GSUPD and will have more information soon.

NEWS

6

GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM

$200 million

marta bus route improvements $100 million

atlanta streetcar

MARTA’s upkeep of the Atlanta streetcar flop costs half of all MARTA bus route improvements in Atlanta.

Commuters’ grudge with MARTA’s proposal MARTA expansion excites commuters but raises questions ZACH SALLING Staff Reporter

T

he More MARTA Atlanta Program, a partnership between Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) and the City of Atlanta, slated a $2.5 billion transit investment over the next 40 years, the largest transit investment in four decades, though, their expansion blueprint has underwhelmed commuters.

The More MARTA Atlanta program expansion includes Light Rail Transit expansion (LRT), Bus Rapid Transit options (BRT), Arterial Rapid Transit (ART), frequent bus service and the addition of new transit centers and station upgrades.

Commuting Georgia State students may want to provide feedback in More MARTA’s survey, available on MARTA’s website, if they’re concerned about how the program will implement their tax dollars over the next four decades.

GWINNETT MARTA EXPANSION

Georgia State commuters may deal with more traffic depending on a vote on MARTA expansion in Gwinnett County on March 19, 2019.

Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners held a Special Called Meeting on August 1, 2018, at the Gwinnett County Justice & Administration Center.

Roughly 60 people attended, not including Republican county commission.

Gwinnett’s Republican county commission voted 4-1 (Tommy Hunter voted against it), approving a contract with MARTA for transit service.

The contract proposes expansion of MARTA Gold Line to Jimmy Carter Boulevard, installing dedicated bus lanes to county roads. MARTA’s long-term objective will provide rail service to Gwinnett Place Mall. The contract spans 30 years and taxpayers will possibly fund the project.

If Gwinnett voters approve the contract in March, officials will enact a 1 percent sales tax on July 1, 2019.

Many Gwinnett voters were satisfied with the approval for Gwinnett citizens to vote on the ballot but uproarious at having the issue on the March election ballot instead of the upcoming November ballot.

Jim Taylor, Buford resident in Gwinnett County, said, “For us to not have the referendum on the November ballot would be a de facto form of voter suppression.”

March is in an off-cycle year and voting period, suggesting low voter turnout.

“It is a travesty that just a week ago, you allowed a question over alcohol sales to be added to the November ballot, but not this?” County commission candidate Marlene Fosque said.

“This is far more important.”

Penny Poole, Gwinnett NAACP president, said, “We are constantly told about the budget and how additional elections are costly. I’m not understanding, this morning, why this referendum is not attached to the Midterm elections and then placed in March 2019.”

Gabe Okoye, chairman of the Gwinnett County Democratic Party, further elaborated on commissioners’ ambiguous motives.

“We cannot stay rural anymore. We are losing businesses and we need to attract businesses. Frankly, this is politics. We have an election this November. There’s still enough time to get it on the ballot, so we can vote on it,” Okoye said.

Deanne Cox, a Lawrenceville resident in Gwinnett County, said, “I’m very concerned that [Gwinnett’s] success is being thwarted by our lack of options around transportation.”

“You have agreed to create a $900 million dome at Infinite Energy Center,” Cox said. “You are going to congest my neighborhood even more.”

Gwinnett county officials and North American Properties recently green-lit Revel, a $900 million entertainment complex around Infinite Energy Center.

“I need [MARTA] to be at Infinite Energy Center when you build [Revel],” Cox said.

If MARTA expansion in Gwinnett County falls-out due to low turnout, commuting Georgia State students could encounter more traffic due to increasing entertainment construction.

ATLANTA MARTA EXPANSION

The first forum was hosted by Atlanta City Councilmembers Joyce M. Sheperd (District 12), Marci Collier Overstreet (District 11) and Cleta Winslow (District 4) at Fort McPherson August 2, 2018.

The crowd estimated 50 people, including nearly 20 seniors from senior living communities, despite heavy rain.

Keahey planned a breakout session, but the council prompted a Q & A, which provoked heated discussion, focusing on MARTA’s priorities instead of the project’s technicalities.

Sherry Williams, native Atlanta resident and MARTA rider, said, “[route] 83 is a high-volume bus route in the MARTA system... If we can’t get at the top of the list [for development], something’s wrong with that picture.”

More MARTA’s proposed program map rendered northwest and southeast regions vacant.

More MARTA hosted a second forum at MARTA headquarters August 9, 2018.

Around 30 people attended.

Attendees partook in break-out sessions, dividing the community forum into four stations: program overview, modes of transportation, general MARTA information and public input.

Kyle Keahey, the More MARTA program manager, said, “beltline connectivity and investments on Hamilton road” were the major themes germane to District 12, 11 and 4 at the Fort McPherson forum.

More MARTA utilized their online survey for project feedback.

Keahey said district consensus prioritizes BRT because it’s lower cost, but “the problem is you got to tear everything up again” with impending development.

Some attendees clashed altogether with More MARTA’s logistics.

Loren Heynes, PhD student in civil and environmental engineering at Georgia Tech, said, “[Auburn Avenue] has this great opportunity to take National Park and make it bikeable space.” Heynes, said, “But what we’re currently focused on is making Edgewood avenue the light rail route. We’d be combining rail with traffic.”

The clunky $98 million Atlanta streetcar clogs traffic and cycles less than 1,000 trips.

Free Drive, an emerging mobile technology, guts superfluous overhead wires.

“Free Drive allows you to replace the existing street car with either a lithium battery system or ultracapacitors,” Heynes said.

“An ultracapacitor can charge a train in twenty seconds. It was created in Spain and used in Germany, Australia, and England very successfully.”

Greentech Freedrive, developed by CAF Power & Automation, pump out 6 miles between charges.

Other than streetcar reform, Heynes foresees current Beltline structure as a looming issue amid growing e-bike and e-scooter use.

“The Beltline trail is the only multi-use trail where e-bikes and e-scooters are forbidden. Every other multi-use trail allows e-bikes and new bird-type e-scooters,” Heynes said.

Inefficient Beltline structure bullies e-bike and e-scooter riders into Atlanta traffic gridlock. Heynes suggests Beltline planners could provide an individual path for bikes and scooters.

“Southside of the beltline hasn’t cement board yet, so it’s a crucial time to separate the bike path,” Heynes said.

More MARTA forums continue until the end of August while commuters remain unmoved.

OPINIONS TUESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2018

www.georgiastatesignal.com/opinions

DANIEL VARITEK Editor-in-Chief

@dannyvaritek

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Dear reader, This year will be a transformative one.

We are less than four months away from a defining moment in our state and nation. On the state level, a gubernatorial race promises to redefine the optics of the South. Will Georgia align itself with the Trump-esque “politically incorrect” rhetoric of Brian Kemp? Or will Georgia support Stacey Abrams, a vocal supporter of gun control and immigration reform and Georgia’s first black female nominee for governor?

At the same time, our nation faces a bare-knuckled contest for the direction of this country amid an immensely polarizing administration. At stake are major policy changes, Robert Mueller’s investigation and the millions of lives of everyday Americans.

Closer to home, students remain concerned about a myriad of issues that have plagued the university for years.

Should Georgia State continue paying out millions to our esteemed Regents professors while continuing to buckle under the load of students frequenting the financial aid phone lines? Will Georgia State’s rapid urban development continue to adversely affect local real estate, effectively pricing out large parts of the Downtown, Summerhill and Mechanicsville communities— communities with residents that have lived here for decades?

Or the communal frustration over the lack of MARTA and BeltLine development. As a former Gwinnett resident, I’ll be the first to admit I am immensely proud of our Board of Commissioners approving a MARTA referendum. I was there at those board meetings—I saw our community’s outcry for better transit (students from many Atlanta colleges and older commuters had packed the June 26 meeting). But pushing the vote to March instead of November seems like a poor attempt to limit voter turnout.

And, as Ryan Gravel, father of the BeltLine, has been so vocal about, “MARTA is only committed to one third of the long-promised project in the current More MARTA plan…” Our city, as a hub of rapid community development and rising population, deserves more than concrete parking decks and undeserved transit areas.

Lest we forget the second on-campus shooting in just over a week, this time involving active gunfire between Georgia State police and the suspect.

I can’t help but be reminded of the drug-deal-gone-bad shooting that took place in March of 2016, which ultimately led to the demotion of Chief of Police Connie Sampson by an “outraged” Mark Becker. Who will the university throw under the bus this time? And more importantly, what is the university doing to curb this violence?

Long story short, we have a lot on our plate.

of news and community. Whether it’s getting the week’s latest news in your inbox every Friday, browsing Atlanta’s budget-friendly events on The Signal or networking with other student organizations to create never before seen experiences, we want to be where you are when you need us.

“MBDM is very excited to work with The Signal this coming year,” Julie Thompson, junior account executive at MBDM, said. “We intend to develop a structure of autonomy and financial independence within the paper for years to come. Additionally, we hope to benefit the entire campus by facilitating communications between administration and student organizations within the framework of The Signal. Together, we build.”

I’m confident in MBDM not just because of their previous work but because they understand our perspective; Julie was previously a writer for Georgia Gwinnett College’s student newspaper, The Globe.

As we enter the 2018 school year with a reinvigorated strategy and a keen focus on the sustainable development of our business and community, our sights aim high. And if you want to be a part of the picture we’re painting...

BUILDING A MODERN MEDIA ENTERPRISE

...We’re always hiring. For 84 years, The Signal has been known as the spot to kickstart a successful journalism career.

The (amazingly talented) alumni of The Signal have spread across the country and landed in the offices of Time Magazine, Vice Magazine, CNN, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Creative Loafing, Atlanta Magazine, Curbed Atlanta, WSB-TV, WABE, 11Alive and so many more.

But what if The Signal was also the place to kickstart a career in graphic design, web development, video production and photojournalism? Well, it is.

Our reporters and their stories are the lifeblood of The Signal. But without our marketers, our illustrators, our web devs, our video producers and our photographers, The Signal’s storytelling would suffer.

That’s why this year we’re making it more clear that even if you’re not a journalist yourself, you can find a place at The Signal.

As I write this, I am surrounded by a flurry of fingers on keyboards as our editors come to a close on our first issue of the year. Through this team, The Signal will facilitate the discovery of truth, the process of discussion and the evolution of change on Georgia State’s campuses. We are a voice for and of the students, and that will never change.

As we have been for 84 years, we are deeply ingrained in this community.

Wherever you are, we will be. Whenever there’s a story to be told, we will tell it with integrity and objectivity.

Your support means the world to us, but we will never beg for it, only earn it.

“Your support means the world to us, but we will never beg for it, only earn it.”

— DANIEL VARITEK

A NEW VENTURE

On Aug. 10, The Signal entered into a partnership with MBDM Group, LLC, an Atlanta-based boutique marketing agency. MBDM first approached The Signal in May with an intent to change the narrative of the “digital crisis” that student newspapers are facing across the country.

At this partnership’s core, we are focused on building a sustainable network

Daniel Varitek Editor-in-Chief

OPINIONS

8

GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM

Has censorship gone too far?

Alex Jones’ ban signals a turn against Free Speech

O

JAMES FOX Staff Reporter

James is a journalism major on the Downtown campus. He likes MMA and being outdoors.

When he can’t get outside he spends his free time reading and writing. He grew up in East Atlanta and loves his city.

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n Aug. 5 and 6, Alex Jones was booted off of Facebook, Apple, Spotify and YouTube. Soon after, LinkedIn, MailChimp, Disqus and even Pinterest banned Jones as well. Whether you like Jones or not, this is the first time several multimedia giants have almost simultaneously banned someone for what are clearly political reasons.

Facebook claims Jones was banned for hate speech. But on Aug. 9, Richard Allan, Facebook’s Vice President of Policy, wrote a blog post that clearly shows Jones’ banning was politically motivated. “Baseless conspiracy theories, offensive ideas, bald-faced lies…the question is whether people should be allowed to express such views,” the blog stated. “Do posts like these constitute free expression or should they be erased entirely?”

Why, then, did Facebook decide that Alex Jones’ content is not protected speech? Because it, as Allan puts it, is “fake news and rumors that will have violent, realworld consequences.” Well, then if that’s the case, CNN should be banned, too.

In 2002 , CNN reported fake news that there were “weapons of mass destruction” in Iraq. This was part of former President George W. Bush’s narrative to rally public support for the Iraq War. To Facebook, Jones may have reported a false and offensive story, but CNN’s false reporting helped push Americans into an unnecessary and ungodly war, which is considerably worse than any consequence Jones may have fostered.

To decide if someone should be banned for “offensive ideas,” Allan and Facebook completely throw out the First Amendment. Instead, they “look for guidance in documents like Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which set standards for when it’s appropriate to place restrictions

on freedom of expression,” according to Allan. But unlike the U.S. Constitution, the ICCPR makes plenty of room for restrictions on our nation’s right to Freedom of Speech. According to the ICCPR, speech can be stifled in consideration of “the respect of the rights and reputations of others [and] for the protection of national security or the public order, or of public health and morals.”

Banning speech for the protection of morals?

Ridiculous. Just imagine for a second that President Donald Trump was one of the dictators that the mainstream media and some democratic politicians claim he loves so dearly. What if Trump decided that any speech against himself was immoral and therefore was banned from being published on the internet? Then The Washington Post, The New York Times, NBC and USA Today would’ve never been published and their reporters would’ve been executed.

Facebook and YouTube both essentially hold monopolies over their respective services. Facebook now owns its top competitor, Instagram. YouTube’s three largest competitors are DailyMotion, Vimeo and DTube.

How many of you have even heard of DTube? Let’s be honest, no one is switching from YouTube to DTube or from Facebook to Google+.

We must ensure social media services with as much influence on public opinion as Facebook and YouTube are protecting the values of freedom of speech, freedom of association and rights to privacy. These international corporations controlling what content we see are playing a dangerous game. And to those who believe we can just jump ship to another platform, look me in the eyes and tell me you’re going to watch Fox News on DTube. Get a clue.

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EDITORIAL

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

On the pursuit of truth

MISSION STATEMENT

Trump’s dangerous assault on journalists nationwide To those whom we serve: we are not the enemy. We do not aggressively pursue people for the next scoop. We are not uprooting the values of democracy. We strive to inform you, the public, of the truth wherever it may be hiding. Your support of a free and independent press is more important now than ever.

Over the past two years, President Donald Trump has relentlessly attacked the media. He has called them “fake news.” He has ordered that major news organizations be removed from press conferences. He has tried to devalue and diminish the influence that news publications have on the American people.

While President Trump has also made some legitimate criticisms reflecting many Americans’ feelings about the press (for example, the distrust in the corporatecontrolled television news media), The Signal vows to uphold journalistic integrity and to practice due diligence at all times.

We at The Signal firmly support the First Amendment and Freedom of Speech. In his book “On Liberty,” Enlightenment author John Stuart Mill wrote, “The peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is that it is robbing the human race...those who dissent from the opinion… If the [dissenting] opinion is right, [we] are deprived of the opportunity to exchange error for truth.”

United Nations Human Rights officials have said that Trump’s attacks on the media “run counter to the country’s obligations to respect press freedom and international human rights law,” and that they “are strategic, designed to undermine confidence in reporting and raise doubts about verifiable facts.”

Thomas Jefferson, founding father, third president and author of the Declaration of Independence, once said, “Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost.”

A democracy is fruitless without the ability to check the people in power. Without a free, independent and trustworthy press, American citizens are left in the dark, vulnerable to a government that might not always have their best interests at heart.

A nation without access to true, fair reporting will follow behind its leader blindly and eagerly. History has proven countless times that leaders against free press use the media to sway public opinion in their favor and conceal controversial behavior.

Trump’s attacks on the media aren’t the only concern. The blur between television political commentators and journalists is also clouding the public’s perceptions.

Since the move to a 24-hour news cycle, it is more vital now than ever that people turn to those who are actively working to tell other

people’s’ stories and inform the public in the most unbiased and objective way possible rather than the political commentators who may hold their own agendas. To fill air time, studios employ political commentators who tote the title of “journalist” and people trust them to report accurately, despite their obvious political alignments and opinions.

Focus has moved off of content and instead onto the figures presenting such content themselves. In this, we see journalists glorified as celebrities, and instead of delivering unbiased information, they push their own ideologies as part of their bigger brand.

The Signal works tirelessly to actively supply its readership with accurate, objective and timely news. We are not the political commentators mentioned above. We are citizens who strive to know and tell the truth regardless of who it may offend or call out.

So today, The Signal is taking a stand.

Not just against Trump’s remarks regarding distrusting the media but also against fake news or anyone who doesn’t like a story just for the truth that it holds. We are taking a stand against anyone who opposes our constitutional right to serve the public through journalism and to counter the authoritarian view of stifling that right.

The Signal shall provide, in a fair and accurate manner, news of interest and significance to the Georgia State University community and serve as a forum for the expression of ideas of members of that community. Furthermore, The Signal shall provide an opportunity for students to pursue experience within a professional newspaper environment. The Signal shall also provide truthful and ethical advertising of interest to the Georgia State University community.

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ARTS & LIVING TUESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2018

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What about the 60 percent without college degrees?

Our generation is rejecting high-paying trade work SARA ABDULLA Staff Reporter

C

ollege enrollment and degree achievement have increased almost every year for decades. PBS reported that nearly 40 percent of Americans hold at least a two-year degree. As Georgia State students dish out thousands of dollars in tuition and student fees this fall, some may wonder whether vocational school, colloquially known as trade school, could have been a better option.

“We cannot find traded people to fill our maintenance positions.

Our tradespeople make [$50,000] a year with very little experience.

Just had a high school senior start out as a welder with a high [s]chool certificate making [$18] an hour,” Steve Conrad, who works in HR at a factory, said.

— STEVE CONRAD HR FACTORY WORKER

Recent studies have shown that bachelor’s degrees are no longer giving graduates an edge in the job market. When considering the swelling cost of enrollment, four-year universities may not always be a better financial investment than trade schools. Lucrative jobs that don’t require a college degree are sitting vacant while students rack up debt and pursue controversial unpaid and underpaid internships.

One year of college will set a student back by an average of over $20,000. The typical graduate from a four-year college will garner over $30,000 of student debt, not including the students who enter universities but don’t graduate. This figure also doesn’t include students who incurred debt from universities besides the one they graduated from.

In comparison, the mean cost of trade school in Georgia is approximately $8,000, with programs typically lasting one to two years.

In conjunction with the lower costs of vocational programs, the wages for the jobs they yield are increasing, possibly due in part to an aging workforce. Fewer young people are vying for positions in construction, electricity and other forms of blue-collar work.

Jobs in construction—with the number of slots available projected to increase 11 percent by 2026—pay more than the average occupation with salaries ranging from $39,000 to over $80,000.

And a significant advantage of blue-collar jobs, like emergency medical technicians, electricians, ironworkers, etc. is that they can’t be easily outsourced to less-developed countries where employers could pay their personnel significantly lower wages. In contrast, computer programming positions and tax preparation jobs are being sent overseas.

The downside of trade work is that there may often be less room for wage growth. For most jobs, unless you end up in management or start your own business, the median wage doesn’t go above six figures. That being said, the work is steady and salaries are guaranteed, especially compared to those who go into esoteric fields like film or art history.

“The cool thing about going to trade school is you’ll never lose that experience. You could potentially go to a trade school, get your license, then go to college and have a career during college if you really wanted to!” Amber Millitello, a cosmetologist, said.

Traditionally, trade schools and the companies they send graduates to have actively recruited students from low-income families. Since the 1980’s, there has been a strong push to send children from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds to four-year colleges in hopes of narrowing the income gap, an initiative that experts are not sure is effective.

Another reason why fewer students are enrolling in trade schools is a persistent stigma surrounding blue-collar work. It can be wrongly stereotyped as a route people turn to when they aren’t intelligent enough for a four-year degree.

Yet, blue-collar jobs often require a high level of technical knowledge and a strong work ethic.

For example, paramedics aren’t required to have college degrees, but few would question the intensity of their work or the depth of their medical comprehension. There’s no doubt that other occupations often require workers to be

intelligent; electricians and technicians must have robust foundations in math and physics.

Furthermore, this essential blue-collar work shouldn’t be looked down upon even if all it requires is training and tenacity.

Indeed, some employers have said that they simply want hard workers with the drive to learn. “[T]here’s no shame in factory work. That’s at any level of the workforce. It’s all needed. From someone to clean the floors up to running the company. Good help is hard to find,” Chuck Carrier, a former plant manager, said. The company that Carrier works with has been seeking workers for months without luck.

“I could see during my time as plant manager that there weren’t as many younger people getting into fabrication. Applicants were mostly in their mid-thirties and up. Lots of people in their late 40s and early 50s were taking classes in skilled trades,” Carrier said.

Others echoed Carrier’s sentiments.

“We cannot find traded people to fill our maintenance positions. Our tradespeople make [$50,000] a year with very little experience. Just had a high school senior start out as a welder with a high [s]chool certificate making [$18] an hour,” Steve Conrad, who works in human resources at a factory, said.

Besides the persistent stigma, there may be other hidden costs in trade work. Some skilled workers in construction and manufacturing worry about the possible deterioration of their physical health when the work involves heavy labor.

Still, it’s unclear if physical work is worse for people than sitting in an office all day. Indeed, studies show that Americans’ sedentary lifestyles are one of the most significant risk factors for long-term illness and disability. Even regularly exercising doesn’t counteract the adverse effects of sitting down for hours on end.

The workers who spoke to The Signal emphasized that at the end of the day, it was important to them not to pursue a career they didn’t care for in the quest for money. There are jobs that don’t require a degree but that require skills—skills that can be self-taught (like Information Technology). At this point, many college degrees don’t actually lead to better jobs but may be fulfilling in other ways for those who desire to take classes for the education, not the careers they lead (or don’t lead) to.

“Trade work” is a broad term that encompasses several different occupations and careers. Here are a few of the many jobs you can find without a Bachelor’s degree: Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) Licensing required (can be found at technical institutes, some hospitals, and community colleges)

$33,800/ year

Electricians Apprenticeship, licensing usually required

$54,110 Carpenters Apprenticeship and on-the-job training

$45,170 Cosmetologists State licensing through a cosmetology program

$24,900

Morticians and other funeral service workers (but not managers) Associate’s degree

$56,850 Fitness Trainers and Instructors On-the-job training

$39,210 Licensed Practical Nurses and Licensed Vocational Nurses Certification required, usually a 1-year educational program

$45,030

Source: U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics

PAGE DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION BY SHANCHEZE JOHNSON | THE SIGNAL

Get your Sheet Together!

The laundry guide for the new adult SAM PUCKETT

Associate Arts & Living Editor

F

ew students come to college totally prepared. When you’ve just moved out, chores and responsibilities become intimidating, monstrous piles on the floor, quite literally. A new adult who’s not careful can easily become overwhelmed and unsorted.

One of the most effective ways to manage an issue is to divide it into smaller problems. For laundry, this is called sorting. You don’t have to do it all at once, and the responsible adult can do several small loads a week.

Clothing and linens should be sorted by fabric type, color and weight. Dark colors or new clothes with fresh, heavy dye should be separated from lighter colors and whites. Remember “wash-before-wearing” designer jeans? same principle. Dyes can bleed if you’re not careful, so separate your Calvin jeans from your Calvin briefs. Heavy items, like blankets, sweaters and especially towels should be separated from your lighter garments, as their weight is likely to wrinkle or damage smaller items when washed together.

Sorting by fabric can be tricky, but you should always separate out wool and silk. They both react poorly to heat and will shrink in the dryer. Wash cold. Cotton is the standard option and can shrink mildly but not as severe as wool or silk. However heat does degrade the fiber over time, making it less soft and age faster.

Synthetic fabrics (polyester, nylon, acrylic and spandex/ elastane) degrade severely in heat and should be washed as delicates (cold). Remember, when in doubt, wash cold and don’t toss these in the dryer either. The high heat weakens the material. So the next time you do a load of sports bras, leggings, or even swimsuits, hang them up to dry instead. Lulu will thank you herself.

Are you sensing a trend? In general, cold water prevents color bleeding and should be used to maintain the softness and integrity of a garment. Hot water removes stains and dirt more effectively, but at the cost of the longevity. It’s good once every week or two to do a load of only whites, using hot water and bleach to really make those whites shine.

Meg Schurmann is a Georgia State senior and she uses her time sorting to make sure the clothes are ready to be washed. That means checking pockets, zippers and buttons and bras so they don’t damage in the wash.

“Make sure anything with strings is tied off so it doesn’t get tangled,” Schurmann said. “Make sure hook and eye closures are closed.”

Where you put your laundry can be important too. The laundry hamper becomes a decor item much like a rug or lamp and informs your guests to the care or lack thereof you take in your surroundings. The best hamper is one with a removable, washable inner bag. Throw that in the wash once a week to avoid an offensive room smell and earn extra points if it has wheels, especially in the dorms where the washer and dryer are several floors away.

LAUNDRY TIPS

If you live in a dorm or apartment with communal laundry, it can cause a lot of stress, or cause you to avoid it as much as you can.

So how often do our clothes need to be washed?

Knowing what we know, how best do we balance our time, energy and water consumption? It depends!

Let’s start with an easy one, athletic clothes. Athletic clothes should be washed after every wear. The same goes for t-shirts, socks and other undergarments. Bras are slightly different, and can be washed every two to three wears. It’s best store them with the hooks fastened to prevent them snagging other delicates in the drawer and look into using garment bags for even more gentle washing.

Sweaters benefit if washed sparingly, every three to four wears, barring a serious stain. Jeans should follow the same schedule as sweaters. There’s a myth floating around that jeans don’t need washing. Do not be fooled.

Clothes that go without washing warp, deform and lose their fit over time, and you don’t want every pair you own to look like mom jeans.

You probably need to wash your bed sheets and pillow cases more often than you are, about every week or two.

This is an easy one to forget, so make a note. Those who struggle with body or face acne might want to wash their sheets or pillow cases more frequently, as this will discourage acne (doing chores can be self care too).

Duvet covers and pillowcases are a once a month thing but you might want to launder them more often if you have pets.

TIPS AND TRICKS

We’re mature enough now to know that ‘Lifehack’ journalism is just the old wives’ tales of the internet age, but old wives know what they’re talking about.

PIT STAINS:

If you’re facing permanent pit stains, first of all it’s more likely to be buildup from your antiperspirant than sweat. Second, to remove the yellow marks, soak the area in lemon juice. After it has soaked, scrub the area with

baking soda, rinse and wash normally.

Most food stains result from oil and the key here is not to panic. Washing, rubbing and scrubbing the stain are all a recipe to set the stain into the fabric. Instead, apply baby powder or cornstarch over the oil stain until it is covered. The powder will absorb the oil, lifting it from the fabric. Dust it off and wash normally.

GRAPHIC TEES:

Many clothes have precious real estate on the front.

Got a sick graphic or a cool patch? Turn it inside out.

This prevents wear to the parts that matter and is a great way to prevent fading on all your clothes, from t-shirts to jeans.

PILLOW CASES & SHEETS wash every 1-2 weeks

WRINKLES BE GONE:

If you let your clothes sit in the dryer and the wrinkles set into the fabric, don’t worry. Set the dryer for a hot spin after putting one or two ice cubes in with the clothes, and the steam they create will loosen any wrinkles and leave you to fold and hang your clothes in peace.

SPEED UP DRYING TIME:

It happens sometimes that you need a shirt clean NOW. Maybe you meant to do laundry last night and you’ve got a job interview in an hour. Maybe you need your lucky shirt to go on a first date. In these dire times, save time in the dryer by putting a dry towel in the dryer with your emergency clothes.

MAKE YOUR CLOTHES FEEL SOFTER:

The Georgia State dorms have famously hard water, which is a pain for many new residents to get used to.

You can restore some of the smoothness and shine to your clothes by adding liquid fabric softener to your routine if you hadn’t already. Don’t use fabric softener on towels or sport clothing, as the conditioner coating these fabrics will cause them to perform poorly for their moisture-wicking tasks.

With these tips, you can walk through the communal dorm laundry room lording your skills over your less well-read peers. Or don’t do that. Yeah, don’t do that.

ATHLETIC WEAR wash after every wear

JEANS wash every 3-4 wears

PHOTO ILLUSTRATIONS BY UNIQUE RODRIGUEZ | THE SIGNAL

PUT IT ON THE CALENDAR!

PAGE DESIGN BY DAO NGUYEN | THE SIGNAL

SWEATERS wash every 3-4 wears

Bernabe Becerra, a junior at Georgia State, washes her clothes at her local laundromat. Photo illustration.

How often should you wash these items?

ARTS & LIVING

12

GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM

Discounts and deals just for being a student Your student ID and email have got you covered AUTUMN BOEKELOO Staff Reporter

B

ack to school season means spending a vast amount of money on supplies, textbooks and clothes. Luckily, many companies acknowledge that some students are living on a budget and need an additional discount.

Believe it or not, as a student, you have two secret weapons at your fingertips: your student ID and your student email.

Can’t afford that shirt you love at Topshop? Don’t worry, your student ID has you covered, instantly granting you 10 percent off. Similarly, your student email can be used for a lot more than just receiving messages; it opens doors to online discounts you wouldn’t have access to otherwise.

Your parents were right—going to college really does benefit you, huh?

BACK-TO-SCHOOL SUPPLIES

Before you can think of buying a new wardrobe for the semester, let’s be real—focusing on your school success is most important. These student discounts will get you through your semester with ease and make back-to-school shopping as inexpensive as possible.

1. APPLE

In college, a laptop is a necessity. It’s one of the most expensive school essentials, but you will use it for the rest of your college career, so you might as well cross this one off your list now.

Apple is currently running a student discount of $200 off Macbooks plus 20 percent off AppleCare (not a bad idea if you are prone to spilling your coffee on things). With the purchase of a Macbook, you can kill two birds with one stone and receive a free pair of Beats Solo3’s.

2. AMAZON

Amazon has taken the world by storm with its endless quantity of pretty much anything you need. Best of all, it gives students an amazing deal on six free months of Amazon Prime, which includes free two-day shipping.

Forgot to order that textbook you need on the first day? This student discount has you covered.

Not to mention, you also get free Prime Video (hello Spongebob Squarepants episodes!) and Prime Music.

3. BEST BUY

Best Buy currently has a number of back-to-school discounts for students. From 10 percent off Texas Instruments calculators to 15 percent Epson printers, Best Buy is your best bet for electronic supplies. Just keep in mind you can only use one offer at a time and they are only available until Sept. 1.

Best Buys around Georgia road trip anyone?

CLOTHING

In college, begging for back-to-school clothing money from Mom won’t work anymore. Luckily, your student ID or email has you covered. With your student perks, you can shop at the name-brand retail stores you love and avoid living off of ramen for a month.

1. TOPSHOP

For that modern-hipster vibe, check out Topshop. When you shop their online store through Student Beans, you will be given a student discount code granting you 10 percent off your entire purchase.

It may not sound like much at first, but back-to-school shopping adds up and any price reduction is helpful.

2. VICTORIA’S SECRET & PINK

Everyone needs underwear, right? Victoria’s Secret & PINK just jumped on the student discount bandwagon, just in time for the new school year. While PINK is known for adorable lingerie, they also have comfy sweats, baggy shirts and leggings—you know, just the perfect collegiate campus look.

Score 15 percent when you show your student ID at PINK stores.

3. H&M

PINK isn’t the only one realizing students are their largest consumers. H&M recently added a generous 20 percent

Using your PantherCard at your local stores can get you many student discounts.

PHOTO BY AZAM LALANI | THE SIGNAL

discount for their online student shoppers. H&M has an enormous selection of clothing for men, women and children.

From leisurely clothes to internship-ready outfits, H&M is your go-to for back-to-school shopping.

H&M gives one of the highest percentage-off discounts with clothes at an already decent price.

While you might miss Mom at your side cutting coupons from Kohl’s catalogs, you are a step ahead with your student ID. No more searching for a discount on Groupon in the checkout line!

you can receive a Spotify Premium and Hulu bundle for only $4.99 a month.

Listening to music ad-free plus binge-watching all of “Family Guy” after a long day of classes? Sign me up.

FOOD

After a few months, the meal plan can get repetitive. But, treating yourself to dinner at your own expense can get pricey (especially if you are an avid midnight snacker).

It may be surprising how many of America’s favorite restaurants offer student discounts. Spoiler alert: you’ve been paying way too much for Waffle House.

1. WAFFLE HOUSE

Located conveniently underneath the Petit Science Center and next to Courtland 112 Student Apartments, you can now enjoy a juicy burger and hash browns smothered, covered and chunked for less. WaHo offers 10 percent off when you show your student ID. Anyone up for breakfast at 2 a.m.?

2. HELLO FRESH

If you are looking to eat a little bit healthier, Hello Fresh offers delicious choices with a 15 percent off student discount through Unidays. Hello Fresh gives you the ingredients already sectioned into perfect proportions, so all you need to worry about is cooking the meal. Rachael Ray who?

ENTERTAINMENT AND ACTIVITIES

Finally, it’s time for some relaxation. After moving in and settling down in your new dorm, take a load off with these student discounts.

1. SPOTIFY AND HULU

Only the most dynamic duo ever. With your student email,

2. AMC Thursdays are known as college night. But hey, if a shot of tequila isn’t on your Thursday night plans, no problem. AMC offers a student discount at all locations. The theater determines what the student discount is, so make sure to call ahead. The closest AMC theater to Georgia State is the AMC Camp Creek 14.

Treat yourself—you know you’ve been dying to see that “Dog Days” movie.

WHAT IS MY STUDENT ID? While commonly referred to as your “student ID,” the school refers to this piece of plastic as your PantherCard. Your PantherCard is an identification card, so your name, Panther number and picture appear on the front. You will mostly likely have to present it to a cashier when asking for a student discount.

Note: Don’t confuse your Panther number for your “CampusID,” which is the first letter of your first name, last name and number you use to log into the school wifi (for example, jappleseed1).

WHAT IS MY STUDENT EMAIL? Your student email is the email given to you

by Georgia State. As a student, it ends in student. gsu.edu (for example, jappleseed1@student.gsu. edu). For most online discounts, you will have to provide an email ending in .edu to prove you are a student. Other emails, like jappleseed1@gmail. com, will not work.

ARTS & LIVING

TUESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2018

13

How do you commute?

What happens between your morning coffee and your first class SYDNEY BLOEME Arts & Living Editor

T

he hardest part of college often isn’t the classes or the independence, it’s what happens between your first cup of coffee in the morning and your first class– commuting.

Nyeta from Parking and Transportation said that for most people visiting the office, half request budget cards for parking at the Georgia State lots and the other half request Turner Field parking permits, but many people still use the other options such as the discounted MARTA cards.

She says the Parking and Transportation office gets the most busy in the fall semester before classes start and most of the information can be found online or on the handouts displayed at the office.

For many students, commuting to school can mean walking, taking MARTA or finding parking. The Signal asked some panthers how they get to school.

ROBBY GREER, JUNIOR, GEORGIA STATE LOTS:

“Right now I’m driving from Macon,” Greer said, “The drive is an hour fifteen-ish.”

Greer said that because this is her last semester, she only has one class and if she was full time, she would “be a little more worried” about parking.

“I think I’m fortunate to have a car and the way nursing is set up, I only have to come up once a week. So I’d rather worry about gas then how to get here,” Greer said.

Greer currently parks at the Georgia State lots. She said she was coming to campus everyday and “at the time, it made sense.” Greer said because of her class schedule being so bare this semester, she is going to look into parking at Turner Field.

MIKAYLA TAYLOR, JUNIOR, TURNER FIELD:

Mikayla Taylor lives “an hour away on the dot,” because she said, “It’s pretty expensive to live [on campus].”

Taylor said that “it’s not that bad of a drive,” but traffic impacts her commute more than anything. She said she has to worry about leaving on time because it can quickly get congested, especially in the afternoons.

Taylor started parking at the public parking garages around campus but now, thanks to word of mouth, saves money each day by parking at Turner Field.

“I started out parking at one of the public parking places over

by Kell but then one of my classmates told me about Turner Field and I love it,” Taylor said, “I really can’t afford the seven dollars a day.”

And while Parking at the student lots is $7 each day, equaling

Students find different ways to commute to campus, such as taking MARTA, using the Panther Shuttle and driving to nearby parking lots.

to $35 each week and $140 each month, Turner Field parking is absolutely free for students.

JESSICA, FRESHMAN, DORMS:

Jessica dorms because her parents wanted her to have the full college experience without worrying about a car and without a car, she commutes each day by walking.

Jessica hasn’t tried a different way of getting to school but she said she’s “familiar with the commute and with traffic and the expense of parking,” she said, “it wasn’t ideal for me.”

Jessica said she likes walking because she said she “love[s] the city, even if it smells like urine and gasoline sometimes,” and that walking is a “nice and cheap way to see the city.”

DANA DELLAPI, JUNIOR, MARTA:

Dana Dellapi uses MARTA to avoid parking downtown and dealing with traffic.

She simply walks to the station close to her apartment and takes that to school each day.

PHOTO BY CHRIS YOUNG | THE SIGNAL

“It’s super convenient to where I live, and there are two different MARTA stations that I can get off at depending on where my classes are,” Delapi said.

And because she takes MARTA, each commute stays the same, never elongating during high traffic times such as in the morning and in the afternoon, so Delapi doesn’t have to worry about any surprise traffic jams barring her from getting to class on time.

“MARTA is dependable [because] the schedules are pretty set in stone,” Delapi said. “[I] can plan exactly when to leave and get to school on time every time.”

Delapi said she saves a lot of money because Georgia State offers a semester pass with unlimited rides. She is able to utilize MARTA as her main form of transportation around the city, never worrying about feeding hungry parking meters or mysterious men in vests booting her car.

And as for safety, Dellapi said she “never really had a bad experience on Marta” because “people mostly keep to themselves.”

Coming to a Cinefest near you

Your local movie theater is back with some great titles TIFFANY RIGBY Staff Reporter

C

inefest is Georgia State’s very own student-run movie theater. This semester, the theater has some great movies, some of which did great in the box office.

Structured like other traditional theaters, Cinefest sells an assortment of snacks ranging from popcorn, candy and cold beverages at the concession stands and doesn’t allow any outside snacks.

Admission for downtown campus students is free with a valid PantherCard, and admission for faculty, staff and Perimeter students is priced at $3. General admission is an affordable $5, perfect for any non-Georgia State friends on a budget-friendly date night.

And now … Ladies and gentlemen, please turn off all cell phones and enjoy the show.

AUGUST:

“Avengers: Infinity War” Aug. 22-24, 1 p.m., 3:40 p.m. and 6:20 p.m.

“Tag”: Aug. 29-31, 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.

SEPTEMBER:

“Solo: A Star Wars Story” Sept. 5-7, 1 p.m., 3:20 p.m., 5:50 p.m. and 8:20 p.m.

“Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” Sept. 12-14, 1 p.m., 3:15 p.m., 5:30 p.m. and 7:45 p.m.

“The Incredibles 2” Sept. 19-21, 1 p.m., 3:05 p.m., 5:10 p.m. and 7:15 p.m.

“The Spy Who Dumped Me” Sept. 26-28, 1 p.m., 3:05 p.m., 5:10 p.m. and 7:15 p.m.

OCTOBER:

“The First Purge” Oct. 3-5, 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.

“Sorry To Bother You” Oct. 10-12, 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.

“Ant Man and the Wasp” Oct. 17-19, 1 p.m., 3:05 p.m., 5:10

p.m. and 7:15 p.m.

“Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation” Oct. 24-26, 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.

“Breaking In” Oct. 31 to Nov. 2, 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.

NOVEMBER:

“Christopher Robin” Nov. 7-9, 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.

“BlacKkKlansman” Nov. 14-16, 1 p.m., 3:20 p.m., 5:50 p.m. and 8:20 p.m.

During the week of Thanksgiving Break, Nov. 21-23, there will be no movie showings.

“Crazy Rich Asians” Nov. 28-30, 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.

All movie times and show titles are subject to change at any time.

Cinefest is located in Student Center West, Suite 262.

ARTS & LIVING

14

GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM

things you don’t want to miss tuesday

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More events and info at georgiastatesignal.com

thursday

friday

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sunday

monday

Step up to Dance 411

Bronze Lens, Silver Screen

got wood?

Find Your Spark

Oh, It’s magic

Play to Connect

walking through history

August 21

August 22

August 23

August 24

August 25

August 26

August 27

Drop in for Hip Hop Dance at Dance 411! This intermediate level class teaches fundamentals and flair from east and west coast styles.

Dress comfortably and come to have fun. Walk in tickets are $20.

The Bronze Lens Film Festival runs from Wednesday, Aug. 22, to Sunday, Aug. 26 at the Marriott Marquis.

Bronze Lens is a nonprofit organization which promotes the film production of people of color.

Highland Woodworking is hosting an afterhours meetup at 7 p.m. Come and learn a skill—maybe you can even compare flannels. On the corner of Highland and Virginia Ave., there’s lots of afterafter-hours eats.

Every Friday, Suite Food Lounge will produce She Smokes Too, a social event with cigar expert and culture blogger Herficianado. Enjoy drinks, smoke and dance at one of the hottest restaurants downtown.

Professional trickster and magician Peter Morrison will perform at the Atlanta Magic Theater at 6:30 p.m. and again at 9:30 p.m. For $18 on Groupon, get dinner and table-side tricks.

InterPlay Atlanta is hosting an allages playdate at Sevananda Natural Foods Co-op at 3 p.m. Activities include improv and arts-based techniques to celebrate joy, life and fun.

Located over four miles of the BeltLine Eastside and Westside Trails, historian Karcheik Sims-Alvarado, Ph.D. presents a photography exhibit on Atlanta’s contribution to the Civil Rights Movement.

games easy

SuD0KU medium

HARD

SPORTS TUESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2018

www.georgiastatesignal.com/sports

Price of the Panther is going up Georgia State Athletics rides the wave to the next destination The Panthers’ first home game of the season is Aug. 30, 2018.

JERELL RUSHIN Sports Editor

R

iding the momentum of arguably its greatest year to date, Georgia State Athletics enters the 2018-2019 season with a chance to climb higher. In the last academic year, three Georgia State teams won conference championships, and for the first time, the Panthers made both the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament and a football bowl game.

Only 13 programs in the country accomplished this feat and Georgia State was the only Sun Belt Conference team to do do.

The bowl game victory and men’s basketball conference tournament championship earned Georgia State the No. 1 athletic program ranking in the Sun Belt by CBS Sports.

Georgia State is retaining plenty of personnel from those teams to improve upon the success from last year. This puts them in a position to bring more hardware to the trophy cases across the campus.

“From a competitive standpoint, [the way to improve] is winning more championships.

I think part of that comes with facilities as I think the stadium can attest to in time,” athletic director Charlie Cobb said. “Facilities speak commitment. It’s nothing different than the way the science program on this campus has really grown over the last several years.

I don’t think there’s any doubt that the new facilities and new science centers have helped attract faculty, helped attract students.”

Georgia State Stadium opened just before the 2017 football season began and the program reaped the benefits immediately.

Looking forward, there are two more facilities slated to emerge within the next handful of years.

The convocation center is first on the horizon, which will host men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball. A baseball stadium will be built across the street from Georgia State Stadium where Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium stood before its 1997 demolition.

Once Phase II of Georgia State Stadium is completed next summer, the football program will leave the GSU Football Practice Complex for good. The athletic program is considering a few concepts to turn the space into a new soccer facility, according to Cobb.

Before Cobb took the Georgia State job in 2014, he was Appalachian State’s athletic director from 2005-2014. The brightest moment from his Mountaineer tenure was the then-FCS football team’s historic win over No. 5 Michigan in 2007, arguably the biggest upset in college football history.

Georgia State’s bowl win and NCAA Tournament appearance do not compare to the impact of that 2007 win, but they can have similar effects in Atlanta to that of the upset at Appalachian State.

“It set a course that athletics was a pretty positive asset for the university. You go through some metrics or some data points from an admission standpoint. You certainly can’t buy the PR for what a monumental event like that does for a campus,” Cobb said.

“There’s a reason Atlanta United has had the success that they’ve had. People are going to

PHOTO SUBMITTED BY GEORGIA STATE ATHLETICS | THE SIGNAL

their games and it’s a little bit of chicken and egg. That builds on itself and becomes a cool thing to be at and to attend. It’s no different for our games,” Cobb said.

Divisions and an inaugural championship game are part of Sun Belt football in 2018.

The East (Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Troy) and West (Arkansas State, Louisiana, South Alabama, Texas State, ULM) division winners will play the championship at the home stadium of the team with the highest conference winning-percentage.

The Signal featured wide receiver Penny Hart in the 2018 summer magazine. He was unaware that he led the FBS in receiving yards and touchdowns with 2,281 and 17, respectively. A scenario that he was well aware of is the Sun Belt Football Championship Game being at Georgia State Stadium.

“That’s exciting. It’s that much more motivating to get there,” Hart said.

Cobb said the Panther Athletic Club wrapped up a record-breaking 2017-2018 in his mid-August State of the Panthers address.

The more the club succeeds, the more Georgia State gains opportunities to try new ideas.

“If you’re not growing, you’re falling behind and that’s our challenge. We certainly think that we’ve got the ability to do some great things and I’m incredibly proud of our staff,” Cobb said.

Although the 2017-2018 year saw unprecedented good fortune in both men’s basketball and football, many fans missed the action in-person. Average attendance was well below the capacity in both sports’ facilities.

The talent is on the field, but more people

in the seats can push Georgia State into the another atmosphere the program has never seen.

“At the end of the day, it’s going to come down to people investing in our program both from a donation standpoint and ticket sales standpoint to really make us the program that we all want to be,” Cobb said.

A home win on opening day on Aug. 30 against Kennesaw State, less than an hour away, could be a huge step towards reaching that goal. Georgia State fans, especially students, seem to put lots of emphasis around the first home game to determine the amount of support they give the football team the remainder of the season, and rightfully so.

On the cross country side of things, Lotte Meyberg looks to lead her team again. It was hard for opponents to keep up with her AllSun Belt freshman campaign in 2017. And for men’s soccer, the chance to reach its fourth consecutive Sun Belt championship game is very likely. However, a win in 2018 would be their first in that stretch.

Chloe Howard of women’s golf was the team’s highest finisher in seven of the nine competitions last year, while Harmanprit Kaur logged the other two top finishes. They look be at the forefront of the Panthers’ first conference title since 2010 under the direction of head coach Cathy Mant.

As Georgia State Athletics eases back into another promising year, The Signal will continue to have our eyes on the trajectories of the programs.

SPORTS

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GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM

Can women’s soccer catch up to men’s this year?

Youth and experience to play big roles in both programs CHRISTIAN CRITTENDEN Staff Reporter

T

he soccer programs at Georgia State have drifted in opposite directions over the past few seasons. The men have been very successful, playing in three straight Sun Belt Conference Championship title matches. And on the other end of the spectrum, the women’s team has struggled

PHOTO BY UNIQUE RODRIGUEZ | THE SIGNAL

immensely, winning just eight games over the last two seasons.

Even with such polar opposite performance between the two teams, women’s soccer head coach Ed Joyce is confident his team can rebound this season.

FOURTH TIME’S THE CHARM?

The men’s team will have one of the best teams in the Sun Belt this season, capping off last season with a record of 12-7-1.

They return 15 players from the 2017 team, including seven starters.

Although they lost Rashid Alarape, who was the team’s top goal scorer, and Yannic Horn to graduation, the Panthers bring back four AllSun Belt Conference performers from a year ago. Kyle Clinton, Liam Fitzsimmons, Max Hemmings and Hanes Burmeister each received all-conference recognition at the end of last season.

All four except

Fitzsimmons were in the team’s top five for goals scored last season. Clinton was named the 2017 Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year. He, along with Burmeister and Hemmings, was named to the 2018 preseason allconference team.

This team is very capable of reaching any goals they set out to accomplish this season.

“We’ve got a really good group of returning guys that have excellent experience, and a handful of those guys have been in all three of those championship games,” men’s soccer head coach Brett Surrency said.

“So I think we’ll lean on their experience a little bit. We’ll probably need to have a little bit of luck along the way, but that’s just the way it goes. I think we’ve got a team that should be able to compete for [the Sun Belt Championship title] for sure.”

The 11 new players who entered the program this year have impressed Surrency and added to the overall strength of the team.

“I think collectively they’re very good. They all came in incredibly fit,” Surrency said. “A lot of them just bring some different things to the table, but they fit in with our ideologies.”

The Panthers kick off their

season with two games on the road against Central Arkansas and Louisville. Georgia State looks to take down Louisville after a close 1-0 loss last season to the No. 11-ranked team. Also on the non-conference schedule are matchups against South Carolina and Mercer. The Panthers kick off Sun Belt play at Appalachian State on Oct. 6.

There’s no doubt this team is deep and talented, but time will tell whether or not they can finish at the end of the season and send the seniors out on top.

FRESH START The women’s team is coming off a very rough 2017 season.

The team’s overall record last year was 3-11-3. And despite such a down season, the women’s program seems to be teeming with optimism.

Georgia State returns seven starters from last year’s team, including Monique Hundley, the lone Panther selected to the preseason all-conference team. The 15-freshman 2018 class is the first that Joyce and his staff recruited, and they are excited about the potential of the young players.

“This is the first recruiting class that we’ve worked on really because our recruiting is very longitudinal,” Joyce said. “A lot of kids were already committed when I got the job, so this will be the first class that we’ve brought in from our staff working from 2016 until now.”

In addition to the returning players and freshmen, the Panthers added five transfers to the mix, two of which come from Power 5 programs in Georgia and Tennessee. Those two players are Hannah Davis and Lexi Know, respectively.

Also joining is goalkeeper Madi Card, a graduate transfer from Butler. In 2015, Card set both Butler’s single-season record with nine shutouts and 1,968 minutes played.

Although Joyce did not recruit much of the roster, he was able to get the recruits to buy into his coaching style, and that will be key to the team’s success this season.

“I think that he really just took it to another level,” Hundley said. “He came in automatically, and it was intense.

So as a first-year coach, you come in and try to see which players are bought in and which players aren’t. So I think that having him come in and set a professional tone here kind of made people realize that it’s not to mess around. You’re either in or you’re out.”

Along with Hundley, there are six returning starters: Alex Addington, Lily Barron, Isabelle Grest, Caitlin Ray, Mikella Rodriguez and Brooke Shank.

The team had several exhibition matches before the season started, giving Joyce some indication of what the team’s identity will be this season. And according to Joyce, he was pleased with what he saw.

“We’re going to be young, enthusiastic. We’re pretty athletic overall in terms of where we have been in the past. I think it’s going to be a hardworking style of play, which hopefully leads to creating a lot of opportunities for us as well.”

Georgia State (0-2) fell on opening day to Tennessee Tech despite shooting more two more shots on goal. The Panthers will have two more games against in-state competition this year after losing 1-0 to Kennesaw State on Aug. 19.

They host Mercer on Aug. 24 and play Georgia in Athens on Sept. 7. The Sun Belt portion of the schedule kicks off with a matchup against archrival Georgia Southern on Sept. 14.

“Non-conference slate for us is about developing an identity within the group, finding what we’re good at and what things we need to get better at and then roll into conference play ready to go,” Joyce said.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2018

SPORTS

Carley Eiken (7), Jha’Meishei (12), and Sydney Stroud (16), shown celebrating with their teammates, are among the Panthers returning for the 2018 season.

17

PHOTO SUBMITTED BY GEORGIA STATE ATHLETICS | THE SIGNAL

Volleyball in-sync and improved

Panthers back with better chemistry and more experienced roster JOSHUA FIFE Staff Reporter

G

eorgia State volleyball has returned to the court.

This year’s team brings experience was missing from last season’s roster, which had no seniors and five freshmen. The team has fi Georgia State volleyball has bounced back to the court.

This year’s team brings experience that last season’s roster lacked. A year ago, there were no seniors and five freshmen on the roster. The team now has five seniors, three juniors, five sophomores and three freshmen, making it a much smoother transition.

With 13 of 16 players returning, most of the team is already familiar with the system and the competition. Practice started on Wednesday, Aug. 8, and the team was able to hit the ground running.

In a statement to Georgia State Athletics, head coach Sally Polhamus said that the team is “in a very different place” than it was this time last year, and some of the players agree, too.

“It’s honestly a huge difference, our team chemistry is so much better this year,” sophomore middle hitter Meisheia Griffin said.

Griffin is coming off a great freshman season with 25 starts and 28 games played. She put up a team-best attacking percentage of .210. She finished the season with 176 kills and led the team with 76 blocks.

Three players who finished last season with over 200 kills are returning: senior Crystal Lee and juniors Sydney Stroud and

Morgan Hash.

Lee, last year’s leader in kills, said that one of her goals as a team captain is bringing the team closer as a unit.

“I’ve been [working] on being a better leader for every person on the team, because everyone’s different, so just doing team bonding exercises and really getting to know who you’re playing with makes us a better team,” Lee, the Panthers’ active leader in kills, digs and service aces, said.

Senior setter Sarah Renner also mentioned the benefits of team bonding and spending time together.

“We try to get together outside of the court at least once a week and make sure that we spend time and get to know each other,” Renner said.

Renner led the team in assists last season with 549. She had 19 matches with double-digit assists, including 13 with over 20, six with over 30 and five with over 40.

The other three seniors on the team are Shae Chapman, Anna Rantala and Carley Aiken.

Chapman, the middle blocker and right side hitter from Houston, started her Georgia State career with 107 kills in her freshman season. Unfortunately, injuries through her sophomore and junior seasons forced her to miss several matches. When she is on the court, her presence is certainly felt, and she still leads all current Panthers with 104 career blocks.

Rantala came to Georgia State in 2015 from Jyvaskyla, Finland. The outside hitter played in 23 matches her freshman season and accumulated 50 digs and 54 kills. She improved to 241 digs and 125 kills in her sophomore season where she saw action in all 28 matches and started in 21. She also led the 2017 team in service aces with 36.

Aiken is a redshirt senior who transferred from Armstrong

State prior to the 2017 season after the university merged with Georgia Southern and disbanded its athletic program. She is originally from Dacula, Georgia about 40 miles northeast of campus. The setter played in 27 matches in her first season as a Panther, starting in 13. She finished 2nd on the team in assists with 439, 5th in service aces with 17 and 6th in digs with 128.

SCHEDULE

The Panthers have 12 home matches this year in the GSU Sports Arena, nine of which are Sun Belt Conference matchups.

They host the GSU Invitational on Sept. 7 and 8 and the Sun Belt Conference Tournament in November.

The first match of the season is on Friday, Aug. 24 against Mississippi Valley State in Starkville, Mississippi for the Starkvegas Classic. Then, they play two matches on Saturday against California Baptist and Mississippi State.

A week later, the team will travel to Chicago for matches on Friday, Aug. 31 and Saturday, Sept. 1. This tournament features three matches against Marshall and Loyola-Chicago on the Panthers’ first day and Furman on the next.

Their home debut is a non-conference game against Sam Houston State for the annual GSU Invitational on Sept. 7. Sun Belt competition begins on Sept. 21 against the 2017 Sun Belt champion, Coastal Carolina.

Two weeks later, the Panthers return to the GSU Sports Arena to host four straight home matches. The team travels to Louisiana to play ULM and Louisiana-Lafayette in midOctober.

The Panthers ended last season with a pair of wins against Georgia Southern, a feat many on the team consider a highlight of the season. This season also ends with a pair of games against the inner-state rival.

SPORTS

18

GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM

Mo Hundley is chasing a breakthrough

The senior was named to the preseason all-conference team CHRISTIAN CRITTENDEN Staff Reporter

M

onique Hundley is coming off the best season of her college career, and she has been rewarded for it by being named to the preseason All-Sun Belt Conference team. Hundley is the only Panther to be named to the conference team.

“I was honestly very surprised,” Hundley said. “I didn’t expect to get awarded something like that so early in the season. I knew that last season was probably my best season out of all four years, and I know I worked really hard. I’m super thankful for that, and I couldn’t have done it without my team, truly.”

Last season, Hundley shot a team-high 45 shots, with 19 being on goal. She also played over 1,500 minutes and feels that is why she had her best season in a Georgia State uniform.

Hundley switched positions last year from an outside midfielder to a holding midfielder, and she was a big fan of the move.

“I preferred to play there because I can see the field more,” Hundley said. “I’m able to see the field more and give instruction to other people, whereas [while playing at] outside mid, I was just kind of restricted to a certain area. So I think just moving me into a position where I can see the whole field and give instruction to everybody else has helped me to understand the game a little bit better.”

The switch should continue to work well for Hundley and the Panthers this season because of her strengths as a player. She is a very technical player and communication is a big part of her game. Hundley likes to talk a lot on the field and admits to a little trash talk here and there.

The senior came to Georgia State back in 2015 from Scott, Louisiana. Since she arrived in Atlanta, she has grown tremendously, both on the soccer field and mentally.

Before her junior season, Hundley would doubt herself even to the point where she would think that she wasn’t good enough to play with the other 21 players. She recognized that her mental game was the weakest of her skills, but instead of letting it continue, she worked until she corrected the problem.

“I think the mental side of things really set me back my first two years,” Hundley said. “I was always hard on myself, and it took time for me to realize that I have potential that everyone else had, and I think working my way into the starting 11 from my freshman year until now has really made me realize, ‘You’re just as good as anybody else.’”

Hundley was not recruited by head coach Ed Joyce, but he has helped her a lot since he took the job in 2016. She bought into his system, and now she is one of the leaders in the program.

With her senior season underway, Hundley hopes to make it a memorable one.

Monique Hundley plays against Tennessee Tech Aug. 7, 2018.

PHOTO BY VANESSA JOHNSON | THE SIGNAL

Prep ends, sights set on new season

Georgia State’s football game with KSU will set season’s tone JOSHUA FIFE Staff Reporter

T

he Panthers held their second scrimmage after practice on Saturday, Aug. 18 and had a chance to look at the entire team and create some game-like situations before the season.

“Today was very situational for our offense and defense and in our special teams,” head coach Shawn Elliott said. “We put them in various positions where they have to think a little more, and they responded well. Both groups came out and did their jobs. There weren’t a lot of penalties. All in all, I’m pleased.”

A team’s strength lies in the trenches and Georgia State has four out of five starters returning on the offensive line. The Panthers are bringing back left tackle Hunter Atkinson and left guard Shamarious Gilmore, both preseason All-Sun Belt Conference selections. Seniors Jamal Paxton and Gabe Mobley are also coming back at center and right guard.

“Experience is the best teacher,” Cedric Williams, the

Panthers’ offensive line coach, said on media day back in July.

“And we have five guys who have played a lot of football.”

The linemen work with the coaches to develop young players mentally and physically for the challenge of being a studentathlete. The rest of the linemen are redshirt and true freshmen.

“We do extra film work with them,” Atkinson said on how the leaders prepare the next generation of Panthers. “Our freshmen as an O-line coming in are really good as far as they know the plays really well and they understand them. The main thing we do for them is show them how we like to work. We can’t come out there and slack. The main way we show them is ‘Hey, when it’s practice, you’re here to work,’ and it makes game day a lot easier.”

Last year’s defense was exceptional as well, arguably the best in school history. They set records for most sacks (24), fewest rushing yards per game (136.4) and fewest points allowed per game (24.75).

Two starting linebackers, Michael Shaw and Chase Middleton, are returning for their senior seasons. Their experience on the defensive end will create balance with great leadership on both ends of the ball.

Shaw made the All-Sun Belt Conference team last year and

led the Panthers in tackles for loss with 25.5. He is also 3rd in career sacks at Georgia State with seven and 5th in career tackles with 159.

Middleton returns for his third season as inside linebacker.

The senior out of Lilburn, Georgia was 2nd on the team in tackles last year while also accounting for an interception and a fumble recovery.

The goal for the team remains the same as last year’s: win the Sun Belt championship and hopefully a bowl game. Right now, they are just focusing on getting their bodies prepared for the season.

“In the third and fourth quarters, you really have to lock in, even when you’re tired. Just focusing on doing your job and not letting your brothers down is the biggest thing for us,” Middleton said.

On the offensive end, there is still an ongoing battle for the quarterback position. The players competing for the job are redshirt junior Aaron Winchester, junior transfer Dan Ellington, senior Jaquez Parks and redshirt freshman Jack Walker. The final decision may not come until opening day against Kennesaw State on Aug. 30 at Georgia State Stadium.

SPORTS

TUESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2018

SPORTS CALENDAR

DID YOU KNOW GEORGIA STATE...

•

•

•

19

VOLLEYBALL

SOCCER

AUG. 24

was named the No. 1 athletics program in the Sun Belt Conference in the 2017-2018 year by CBS Sports was one of only 13 programs to make both a bowl game and the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament wide receiver Penny Hart is the active college football leader in career receiving yards (2,281) and touchdowns (17)

ATLANTA SPORTS

AUG. 24

MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE

5:30 P.M.

AUG. 26

women’s soccer

atlanta dream (playoffs)

MERCER

7 P.M.

TBD

Starkville, Mississippi

GSU Soccer Complex

AUG. 25

AUG. 26

AUG. 24

women’s soccer

atlanta United

CALIFORNIA PAPTIST

1 P.M.

Starkville, Mississippi

JACKSONVILLE STATE

GSU Soccer Complex

1 P.M.

AUG. 24

AUG. 25 MISSISSIPPI STATE

5:30 P.M.

starkville, Mississippi

3 P.M.

Atlanta, Georgia

ORLANDO CITY SC

3 P.M.

Orlando, Florida

AUG. 25

men’s soccer

atlanta falcons (preseaon)

CENTRAL ARKANSAS

Conway, Arkansas

8:30 P.M.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS

Jacksonville, Florida

7 P.M.

SPORTS BRIEFS Women’s Soccer The Panthers’ (0-2) three shots on goal compared to one by Tennessee Tech was not enough to avoid a season opening 1-0 loss. Georgia State loss another 1-0 match to Kennesaw State on Aug. 19. The Owls lone goal was scored in the 82nd minute off a header.

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2018 SUN BELT PRESEASON FOOTBALL TEAM

FIRST TEAM OFFENSE position

player

QB

JUSTICE HANSEN

RB

JALIN MOORE

RB

WARREN WAND

WR

JUSTIN MCINNIS

FIRST TEAM DEFENSE

school

position

ARKANSAS STATE APPALACHAIN STATE

player

school

DL

RONHEEN BINGHAM

DL

LOGAN HUNT

DL

HUNTER REESE

TROY

DL

TREVON SANDERS

TROY

LB

ANTHONY FLORY

APPALACHAIN STATE

LB

MICHAEL SHAW

GEORGIA STATE

LB

TRON FOLSOM

ARKANSAS STATE

GEORGIA SOUTHERN

ARKANSAS STATE ARKANSAS STATE

WR

PENNY HART

GEORGIA STATE

WR

MARCUS GREEN

TE

COLLIN REED

APPALACHAIN STATE

OL

VICTOR JOHNSON

APPALACHAIN STATE

OL

LANARD BONNER

OL

KEVIN DOTSON

OL

TRISTAN CROWDER

OL

DEONTAE CRUMITIE

ULM

DB

CLIFTON DUCK

DB

JUSTIN CLIFTON

TROY

DB

MONQUAVION BRINSON

TROY

DB

BLACE BROWN

ARKANSAS STATE LOUISIANA

TROY

APPALACHAIN STATE

ARKANSAS STATE

GEORGAI SOUTHERN

TROY