SEPT. 3 - SEPT. 8, 2014
VOL. 82 | NO. 2
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PHOTO BY ALLYSON BUSCH |THE SIGNAL Cases of sexual assault are often undisclosed on and off college grounds.
OFF THE EDGE The Atlanta Police Department will further its investigation of a man shot and an officer stabbed on Edgewood Avenue last Wednesday
NEWS | PAGE 6
COSPLAY BUDS With Dragon Con this past weekend, our opinions editor goes into how cosplay brings people closer together
UNDERREPORTED
National statistics applied to Georgia State’s OPINIONS | PAGE 8 student population reveal the potential CON-VERSATION number of sexual assault victims is larger than Take a look at our recap of all the fun that what is actually reported. Two students tell happened at Dragon Con this past weekend their story of sexual assault. PAGE 3 A&L | PAGE 12-13
HIT THE COURT The volleyball team prepares for the season under new Head Coach Sally Polhamus
SPORTS | PAGE 17
DAILY NEWS AT WWW.GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM
News 2
Opinions 8
Arts & Living 10
Sports 17
2
NEWS
last week... Local
Wells Fargo returns checks to city hall Wells Fargo returned nearly 100 bounced Atlanta City Hall checks last Friday, according to My Fox Atlanta. City hall officials say a computer glitch caused the incident. Employees can be reimbursed for penalty fees and are receiving a second check.
National
New California law bans in-store plastic bags
A new law in Sacramento, California is banning single-use plastic bags at grocery stores and large pharmacies, according to USA Today. The law will go into effect for grocery stores in 2015
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2014
blotter
and pharmacies in 2016 and is a goal for lawmakers to reduce the buildup of plastic waste. Two million dollars in loans will go towards manufacturers shifting from plastic to reusable bags.
Aug. 24
Student threats
A report was filed for terroristic threats after a student said another student was verbally threatening her. The Dean’s Office is now handling the case.
Global
U.K. releases thousands of sexual exploitation reports Over 1,400 reports of sexual exploitation in the U.K. were released, according to USA Today. Girls as young as 11 were raped by large numbers of male perpetrators. The amount of service workers were overwhelmed by the number of potential victims when the problem was realized in 2009. Reports state social counselors saw evidence of exploitation early on but did not report it.
Aug. 25
The Book Thief
Library North A student said she left her book unattended at Library North and later discovered it was stolen. The case is being investigated.
Learning Center on Monday and Patton Hall on Tuesday. The males were issued CTW’s and escorted off of the property.
Aug. 26
Aggressive start to the semester
John Wesley Dobbs Avenue Georgia State police arrested a male for being verbally aggressive on John Wesley Dobbs. He was arrested for disorderly conduct, processed and released on a copy of charges.
Under 18
Aug. 25-26 Three strikes
Criminal Trespass Warnings (CTW’s) were filed at Piedmont Avenue Northeast and Aderhold
Piedmont Avenue A report was filed for runaway minors. Georgia State police assisted in the return of the juveniles to their parents on Piedmont Northeast.
Aug. 27
Four strikes
Decatur Street Two non-Georgia State individuals were fighting on Decatur Street SE when university police made contact with them. The aggressor was arrested, processed and taken to Fulton County Jail. A report was filed for battery, affray, drugs and forgery.
More street fighting
Walton Street A report was filed for obstruction and battery after two individuals were fighting on Walton Street. Neither were affiliated with Georgia State.
Photo of the week PHOTO BY ALLYSON BUSCH | THE SIGNAL Crowds gather on the street for a chance to glimpse a part of the Dragon Con parade that marched through the hotel district on Saturday morning.
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NEWS
www.georgiastatesignal.com/news
‘NO’
STILL
MEANS NO: SEXUAL ASSAULT CONTINUES
BUT REMAINS UNDERREPORTED
PHOTO BY RAVEN SCHLEY | THE SIGNAL
Many instances of sexual assault go unreported on college campuses.
CIARA FRISBIE News Editor
W
hen Hannah Lengyel met him in one of her classes, she eventually gave him a chance—despite her friends’ whispers of caution. “When I first met him I thought he was weird; I thought he was a creep, but then I was like ‘No, maybe he’s not that bad,’” she said. Lengyel, a history and pre-law major studying at Valdosta State University, had consensual sex with him once. A week after she returned from a spring break trip, she was raped at a house party minutes away from campus by the same boy. “He got me alone in a shed and I didn’t want to be in there. I didn’t want to have sex with him again,” she said. “... He got very angry.” Lengyel recalls being slightly intoxicated at the party but her rapist was ‘black-out’ drunk and persistent in getting her alone. No one else attending the party noticed anything out of the ordinary. “I don’t know if people heard me screaming or if the music was just really loud or if I wasn’t screaming loud enough, because I was yelling for people and you couldn’t see into the shed,” she said. “But it wasn’t until he collapsed on the ground and completely fell over when some girls came in and said ‘Hey do you need help?’” Lengyel’s physical bruising may
have healed; however, the emotional scarring still remains. “It didn’t even make a difference to him. He was just this monster,” she said. Lengyel reported her rape a week after it occurred to Valdosta University police, resulting in her rapist being advised to do one of the following: get kicked out of the university without the ability to return for five years or drop out—he chose the latter. “Because I waited a week to report it, they couldn’t get a count of rape. So they got him on sexual battery, sexual assault and then one other charge,” she said. “It doesn’t seem like that much, but he only faced three days in jail, he had to do 80 hours of community service, pay a $1,000 fine and go to anger management classes.” Mutual friends of Lengyel and her rapist had mixed reactions after she reported the incident. “[Some] people were very supportive. They always went with me to the police station when the investigations were going on and were always there when I needed a shoulder to cry on,” she said. “But the others completely turned around on me and said that I was a lying slut and even if it did happen, why was I even bothering to report it.” Lengyel is no stranger to sexual assault; she was also raped at the mere age of 14—an incident she would keep secret for four years. During this time, she resorted to cutting as a way of coping. “I can never remember a time during those four years being happy. It was always overshadowed. I didn’t want this
to happen again—I didn’t want him to win again. I just felt like I let this guy off the hook and I wasn’t going to do it again,” Lengyel said on what inspired her to report her second sexual assault.
The barrier to reporting The Campus Sexual Assault Study (CSA) released in 2007 states 13.7 percent of 5,446 (approximately 746) undergraduate women sampled suffered at least one completed sexual assault since beginning college. Completed sexual assault is defined as sexual batteries and/or rape. Note: The CSA 2007 study was conducted by Christopher P. Krebs, Ph.D., Christine H. Lindquist, Ph.D., Tara D. Warner, M.A., Bonnie S. Fisher Ph.D. and Sandra L. Martin, Ph.D. Georgia State’s Safety & Security criminal statistics report indicates eight forcible sexual assaults occurred in 2012. Only four were reported in 2011. Note: The university’s 2013 Safety & Security’s criminal statistics report will be available in October. The Signal will publish a follow-up story as part of an investigative series. The Board of Regents’ University System of Georgia Semester Enrollment report states there were 32,022 students enrolled at Georgia State in the fall of 2011 and 32,087 in fall 2012. Applying the CSA’s 13.7 percentage to Georgia State’s total population of students (male/female/other) for each of those semesters suggests approximately 4,387 students in 2011 and 4,396
in 2012 potentially suffered at least one completed sexual assault since they began college. This suggests sexual assault remains vastly underreported on campus. The U.S. Department of Education will investigate more than 70 colleges and universities on how they handle sexual abuse complaints and Emory University is the only Georgia institu-
uncovered disturbing stories of student assaults,” the website states. A report released by U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill revealed more than 40 percent of 300 colleges and universities surveyed had not investigated a sexual abuse case in the past five years, according to the website. “The state committee will focus on the safety training and performance of
“If we already had sex it’s not rape,” Hannah Lengyel said on recalling her rapist’s words to her before she reported the incident. tion included as a part of a compliance review, according to Security Info Watch’s website. The review was announced by University System of Georgia Chancellor Hank Huckaby and will be a part of the work of a new committee charged with examining aspects of campus safety and security, according to the website. “The review is similar to work undertaken at other colleges across the country and it comes as federal scrutiny has highlighted deficiencies in compliance and reporting at some colleges and
campus officers along with consistency and quality of reporting under the Clery Act. That federal statute requires all colleges receiving federal financial aid to report crimes on or near campuses. The committee will also review alcohol and other substance abuse issues on campuses, as well as mental health issues and policies..,” the website states.
Underreported continued on page 4
NEWS
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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2014
Underreported (continued) ...continued from page 3
In the shoes of a survivor—reasons for not reporting Jill Lee-Barber, director of Psychological and Health Services, said many women don’t take action following their sexual assault because they blame themselves or they believe they will be ostracized by friends, family members or classmates. “It’s a barrier to reporting,” LeeBarber said. “More than half of all women raped in college don’t tell anyone or report it.” She also said students come into the Counseling & Testing Center every week to discuss sexual assaults but not all of those students experienced these on campus. “I really want students to know what they can do to protect themselves so that it doesn’t hurt their education,” she said. “The goal is to help students regain a sense of control. Students who are sexually assaulted may have difficulty concentrating. They may feel depressed or anxious. We don’t want students to lose an educational opportunity.” Nicole Johnson, senior coordinator of Student Assistance (Victim Assistance) at Georgia State, said the exact number of sexual assaults occurring on campus is difficult to determine. Students who come into the dean’s office to talk about the issue aren’t always willing to disclose specifics. She also said the university provides an overview of the criminal justice and student conduct process, what is involved in forensic sexual assault examination and options for seeking both emotional and psychological support. This includes medical referrals and options for withdrawing or completing academic requirements. “Victim Assistance is available for students regardless of where the assault or when the assault occurred. Students may be referred to Victim Assistance from their personal statement for Emergency Withdrawal, the
Counseling & Testing Center, Student Health Clinic or faculty/staff member,” Johnson said. Georgia State students can either schedule appointments at the counseling center or arrive in on a walk-in basis after filling out questionnaires. The students can then discuss and describe the events with a counselor, according to Lee-Barber. Georgia State’s Deputy Chief Carlton Mullis said campus police handle sexual assault seriously. “We always encourage someone to report a crime. There are several different steps involved. The main reason why we want someone to report sexual assault is so that we can provide assistance to the person reporting,” he said. The increase of campus sexual assaults depends on varying factors, according to Mullis. “We go up year to year and usually when there’s a lot of attention on a topic, we’ll get more [reports], which is a good thing especially when we do encourage reports as far as raising of this issue is encouraging people to report,” he said. “We don’t get a lot so it doesn’t take us much percentage wise to get [higher numbers one year to the next].”
The Code of Conduct Georgia State’s Student Code of Conduct (SCC) for the 2014-2015 year states sexual misconduct includes: dating violence, domestic violence and non-consensual contact, sexual exploitation, sexual harassment, and stalking—all violations of University policy and federal law. The SCC’s educational section also states the university engages in risk reduction strategies to reduce the risk of Sexual Misconduct to provide prevention and awareness campaigns for students. Mullis said a survivor of sexual assault can report a crime, but it doesn’t mean they are forced to press charges. “The sooner the report [is filed] the more action is taken,” he said. “There’s evidence to be gathered. That doesn’t necessarily mean the person has to press charges but that evidence needs to be gathered immediately. Once its gathered we can discuss what
action needs to be taken.” The SCC states students considering filing a University Report or Law Enforcement Report are encouraged to preserve evidence of Sexual Misconduct including: clothing worn during the incident (undergarments), sheets/bedding/condoms if used, list of witnesses with contact information, and text messages/calls.
A path of self-healing— overcoming the stigmas of sexual assault Recent political science graduate, Mary MacRae, was sexually assaulted by a non-Georgia State student as she entered the bathroom on the first floor of Classroom South during Maymester 2014. The man followed her, grabbed her from behind and she proceeded to hide in the bathroom for 10-15 minutes hoping he would leave. “...I tried to find the phone number for campus police on the GSU page from my phone while hiding, but I was not able to. I peeked out of the bathroom toward the elevators and I did not see anyone on the floor,” she said. She went to the elevators, and as the doors were closing the man jumped in with MacRae. She screamed, jumped and pushed several buttons to shut him inside. MacRae ran to a stairwell and a maintenance employee gave her the number for campus police. Officer Lewis took her statement and description. “Contrary to what I have heard about campus PD, they were very helpful in my case. They followed up with me anytime there was a change or new development in the case,” MacRae said. Within hours, the man was found, arrested and held for 60-70 days before the trial. The judge placed a restraining order, sentenced probation and required him to undergo therapy. “I feel as though this was an appropriate punishment—he was not violent (although I did not give him the opportunity to become violent) and he seemed like he was on some kind of drugs or alcohol or not fully there
mentally,” she said. “I feel like this process will hopefully get him the help he needs.” Mullis said Georgia State police are responsible for any crime that occurs on campus whether they be faculty, student or visitor. MacRae, much like Lengyel, said she is still shaken up by the incident because it made her feel less safe on campus and would like to see university police’s contact information more prevalent in buildings. “I always try to make sure that I am safe walking in downtown at night, but this happened in a classroom building during the middle of the day...,” she said. “...I would like to see more security in classroom buildings and in the courtyard on campus so that these kinds of events are prevented.” There are over 80 police call boxes located on campus and university police are open for suggetions to make campus safer, according to Mullis. “Looking at it from our perspective is sometimes helpful for someone to say ‘Hey could you put some more signs up?’ That sounds reasonable,” he said. “Maybe we do need to look into getting some more signage that has our number on it.” If there’s an emergency and a person cannot find a call box or the campus police’s number, Mullis said they should dial 911 to go through the Atlanta Police Department and transfer back to Georgia State. “The whole reason we exist as a police department is to serve our community. That’s what we’re here for,” he said. Lengyel said from learning of CSA’s statistics and being a survivor of sexual assault, those who are unsure of reporting rape should do so immediately after the incident. “Definitely report it. I would say 100 percent, because looking back now, I honestly don’t think that I could live with myself if I hadn’t reported it,” she said. “...I didn’t want his friends to be going around thinking they could do this too.” Alex Kugaczewski also contributed to this story. For the full feature story, visit georgiastatesignal.com/news
Student survivors of sexual assault crimes have three options for disclosure and reporting: 1. Confidential disclosure: Reported to the Counseling and Testing Center, Victim Assistance or Student Health Clinic University report: Reported as Sexual Misconduct by students or Sexual Misconduct by faculty / staff
2.
3. Law enforcement report: Reported to campus or local law enforcement agencies If and when these reports are filed by students, the two types of resolutions defined by the SCC are informal and formal: Informal: 1. Discontinuing personal
contact University report: Reported as Sexual Misconduct by students or Sexual Misconduct by faculty / staff 3. Law enforcement report: Reported to campus or local law enforcement agencies
2.
Formal: 1. Administrative conference 2. Administrative resolution 3. Sexual Misconduct Board Hearing
4. Sanctions 5. Appeals
Health
‘All-Nighters’ could hurt students’ grades SEAN TAYLOR Staff Reporter
S
leep deprivation can cause people to have false memories, according to a study published in Psychological Science. Researchers from the University of California-Irvine and Michigan State University conducted the study, according to Psychological Science. Kimberly Fenn, co-author of the study and a Michigan State University associate professor of psychology, said false memory formation is becoming a serious risk, according to a Michigan State University release. “We found memory distortion is greater after sleep deprivation and people are getting less sleep each night than they ever have,” she said. Dr. Heather Kleider-Offutt, chair of Georgia State’s Cognitive Sciences Department of Psychology, said the study’s
results are the reason why students should not cram for exams. “Students who cram are more likely to become confused about what they read for their exam. They are more likely to think they read, saw or heard something they didn’t,” Kleider-Offutt said. There were 104 student volunteers enlisted and divided into four groups, according to the study. Two groups were shown photos of a man stealing a wallet. One went to sleep immediately after seeing the images and the other stayed awake all night. The remaining two groups did the opposite; one slept and the other stayed awake before being shown the photos the following morning, according to the study. The next part of the experiment required volunteers to read anecdotes contradicting the photographs, according to the study. For example, a statement said a thief put a stolen wallet in his pants pocket when the photograph
showed him putting it in his jacket. Results revealed students who stayed awake all night and then looked at the photos were prone to false memories. When they attempted to recall the images, they were more likely to name details of the anecdotes never present, according to the study. Students who saw the photos prior to staying awake all night showed no greater likelihood of false memory than the ones in the groups that slept, according to the study. A National Sleep Foundation survey revealed 43.7 percent of people age 18-25 say they unintentionally fell asleep during the day, according to the Centers for Disease and Control (CDC). The survey also states 18-25 year-olds get less sleep than any other age range. Kleider-Offutt said sufficient sleep is vital for student success in school. “Students must remember what they study. Lack of sleep makes it difficult to remember accurately what they
study and will reduce overall performance in class,” she said. Georgia State student Erin Williams said staying up late to cram definitely affects her performance. “If I’m tired, I won’t do well. So, I don’t do it anymore,” she said. Williams also said although she would not like to suffer from false memory formation, she is intrigued by the phenomenon. “It’s cool but it’s kind of dangerous,” Williams said. Sleep deprivation was named as a public health epidemic by the CDC earlier this year and was linked to motor vehicle crashes, industrial disasters and medical/other occupational errors. Dr. Offutt said students can battle sleep insufficiency by taking time to calm down before they try to sleep. “Most people know that having caffeine too close to bed time makes it difficult to relax, but other things interfere with sleep as well, such as worrying about an exam,” she said.
PHOTO BY RUTH PANNILL | THE SIGNAL Insomnia is a large cause for sleep deprivation.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2014
NEWS
5
Education
State program plans to bring adults back to the classroom FERNANDO MATTOS Associate News Editor
G
len Sutton, 47, returned to school in 2011 in order to better prepare for a career involving his three interests: art, filmmaking and social work. In Georgia, 1.2 million adults have some college credit and an unfinished degree, according to Rosalind Fowler, Public Awareness & Outreach Director of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia (USG). “We have found that many adult students who are interested in returning to school may not know where to begin or who to speak to about beginning the re-admission process. Many adult students are balancing work [and family] along with the interest to pursue and complete a college degree,” Fowler said. State officials announced ‘Go Back. Move Ahead’, a campaign designed to encourage nontraditional students to return to college and achieve graduation, on July 29, according to a news release by the USG. “The initiative hopes to help those adults regardless of age or circumstance gain personal assistance in re-enrolling in either the program they started or consider a different program that they may have interest in based on their current career path,” Fowler said. Georgia hopes to put nearly 300,000 of these students back in college classrooms over the next several years, according to Fowler. “Many Georgians choose not to return to college because they believe it is too difficult, too expensive or simply inconvenient,” Gov. Deal said in the USG news release. “I have challenged our University System to make it easier for these Georgians to go back and I’m pleased with the response. Regardless of individuals’ personal or financial situations, we are committed to making it possible to go back, move ahead and make college work.” The program is part of the state goal to produce 250,000 graduates in the upcoming years. By 2020, an estimated 60 percent of jobs in Georgia will require a certificate, associate degree or bachelor’s degree, according to the USG website.
The Reality at Georgia State In Georgia, less than 60 percent of full-time college students attending college for the first time graduate in six years, according to an article published in 2010 in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The graduation rate for these students at Georgia State was 57.6 percent in the period from fall 2003 to summer 2009, according to USG data. “The ‘Go Back. Move Ahead.’ initiative is the state’s effort to address some of the issues related to those students who have dropped out or stopped out and how we might also assist them in returning to complete the degrees they started in the past,” Fowler said. For Sutton, the advantages and incentives the new program is offering would probably have made no difference in his enrollment process in 2011. “I already knew what to do to apply and what I wanted to do and achieve. However, if they offered more scholarship or grant opportunities for returning and older students, that would have been cool,” he said. However, Sutton also said after nearly 25 years in his career field, it became increasingly competitive and hard to re-enter the work force after he was laid-off in 2010. “...If I was not screened out because of the lack of a degree, I was being told I was ‘overqualified,’ that they couldn’t afford to match my previous salary (even if I was willing to take a pay cut) and so on,” he said. “I put in 500 applications in over an 18 month period (that’s nearly an application a day for a year and a half ) and only had two interviews, and both said I was more than qualified but that they couldn’t afford me.” Michael George, 48, a recent Georgia State graduate in political science, said coming back to school is the only option. “Now everything is competitive. You can’t just settle down with your first degree. To get your dream job, to get something that’s meaningful to you, you have to go back,’’ George said. George thinks about graduate school but said he would like more
PHOTO PROVIDED BY GLEN SUTTON After 25 years as a graphic designer, there were no jobs available, pushing Glen Sutton to return to school. information on scholarships. He is a father of three children and noted the difficulty of balancing work, family and school. Fowler said the state is working to make education affordable and help all students overcome the barriers standing between them and a degree. “Being able to offer affordable and quality higher education options to adult learners across Georgia acknowledges the importance education plays in the economic viability of the state,” she said. “Both the University System of Georgia and the Technical College System of Georgia are committed to helping all students achieve the degree being pursued and will continue to address those areas [that] impede student progress toward degree completion.” Some students still question if the job market will accept them, according to 56 year-old construction major Kenneth Ancrum. He also said it’s difficult to compete for jobs at his age without a degree. “Every time I filled out an application, people wouldn’t hire me,” Ancrum said. Ancrum receives financial
PHOTO BY FERNANDO MATTOS | THE SIGNAL Michael George, who recently graduated from Georgia State, is now looking for opportunities to get his master’s degree. support from Veterans Affairs and plans to start his own company after graduation. However, for Damien Johnson, the same kind of support was cut due to his religion. While challenges for those returning to school still exist, Fowler said she has hope for better graduation numbers and more successful stories in the future.
“We recognize that this goal will require a number of initiatives and efforts on our part to help adult learners re-enroll and succeed. We are committed to assisting these students while maintaining our commitment to helping the students who are currently enrolled complete their degrees as well,” she said.
NEWS
6
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2014
Health
National Institutes of Health confirms hookah is harmful for health LAUREN BOOKER Associate News Editor
D
espite its popularity among young people, hookah smoking has been determined harmful to one’s health, according to the MarchApril Global Health Matters newsletter produced by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Hookah smoking enables users to inhale enough tobacco through its pipe per session to equal one cigarette. Hookah smoke also contains more carbon-dioxide and three to five times more aldehydes than cigarettes, according to the NIH newsletter. Aldeyde is an organic chemical compound and Benzene is a colorless toxic carcinogen liquid. The NIH states aldeydes cause pulmonary diseases and Benzene, a contributor to leukemia, is also concentrated in hookah smoke. Dr. Michael Eriksen, Dean and professor of the School of Public Health, said firsthand and secondhand hookah smoke is no different than cigarette smoke. “If anything, there is more
volume of it that you inhale more of it,” Eriksen said. “Secondhand hookah smoke is the same as secondhand cigarette smoke. It contains carcinogens and it can cause harm based [on] the amount of exposure. The more exposed you are to secondhand smoke, the greater the risk.” The ability for individuals to consume food and beverages while smoking hookah in restaurants has caused a trend, according to Eriksen. “I think part of it is that it’s allowed and that it’s common place. Then people must think its okay,” he said. “But it’s nothing to be farther from the truth.” Eriksen also said hookah use should be monitored and restricted with the same laws applied to cigarettes. “I think I am somewhat disappointed that hookah is not being treated like cigarettes in that there are laws on the books in Georgia in every state restricting smoking in restaurants and other places,” he said. “The same rules should be applied to hookah. There’s no difference and people want to smoke hookahs in their homes and outdoors. That’s a different issue than
smoking it in an enclosed space where nonsmokers are going to get exposed.” Pamela Redmon, administrative director of Georgia State’s Tobacco Centers for Regulatory Science, said there’s a need to increase the understanding of hookah’s harms. “A 2011 study showed that 46 percent of students believed that hookah is less addictive and safer that cigarettes and 33 percent believed that hookah had less nicotine, no nicotine or was generally less addictive,” Redmon said in an email. Redmon also said hookah smokers are at risk for the same diseases caused by cigarettes. “Research has shown that a single episode of waterpipe use is associated with 1.7 times the nicotine, 6.5 times the carbon monoxide and 46.4 times the tar when compared to cigarette smoking...,” Redmon said. Nastassia Bahdanovich, a senior business economics major, is a regular hookah smoker. “I gave up smoking cigarettes. So now I just smoke hookah like once a week and pretty regularly,” Bahdanovich said. “Some friends
tell me it’s bad, but I don’t think so. I never smoked cigarettes regularly, but when I did I would not feel that great the next day. And with hookah there is never an aftertaste. It kind of gives you a little buzz.”
Bahdanovich said she’s worried of the health concerns and effects but will continue to smoke for relaxation purposes. “I think there would have to be serious studies done to get students scared,” she said.
PHOTO BY NADIA DELJOU | THE SIGNAL Students casually gather around hookah at Anatolia Cafe & Hookah Lounge to enjoy a relaxing smoke between classes.
Crime
Shooting and stabbing on 15 Edgewood Ave. under investigation LAUREN BOOKER Associate News Editor
T
he stabbing and shooting on 15 Edgewood Ave. on Aug. 27 is being investigated by the Atlanta Police Department’s (APD) Office of Professional Standards and Homicide Unit, according to Carlos Campos, the APD’s public affairs director. The incident began when a police officer attempted to question a man in Woodruff Park who appeared to be drinking alcohol, according to Campos. “The man continued walking and encountered a Georgia State University Police officer in plain clothes, who was attempting to assist the APD officer in the apprehension of the subject,” Campos said. “The subject produced a large butcher knife and assaulted the GSU officer with it. The Atlanta Police officer witnessed the assault and shot the subject in order to stop the assault.” He also said Jamison Brinkley, Georgia State officer, sustained injuries as a result of the attack. Georgia State sent out a phone call and email alert at approximately 4:20 p.m. after the incident occurred. “University Police is working a crime scene at 15 Edgewood Ave. Please stay away from the scene. The incident is under control. No action is required,” the alert stated.
PHOTO BY RAVEN SCHLEY | THE SIGNAL Police guarded the crime scene as students and reporters walked around trying to figure out what happened at 15 Edgewood Ave. on Aug. 27. Georgia State’s Deputy Chief, Carlton Mullis, said Brinkley was released from the hospital and is recovering at home. Bernard Williams, eye witness at the incident, said the man was shot only once by an APD officer. “He was moving so it looked like he was conscious. So, he had to be conscious,” Williams said. Police arrived within two seconds of the incident, followed by an ambulance six to seven seconds later and a fire truck in four minutes, according to Williams. A video of the shooting was uploaded to Instagram but was taken
down approximately 10 minutes after being uploaded. CBS 46 News later posted the video to their website. Boni Ahamd, a Georgia State sophomore, said she has some safety concerns as a student about the incident. “I feel very unsafe because I have to cross the park to get to Aderhold and get to class every three days,” Ahamd said. “So if that can happen to a police officer, who’s to say it won’t happen to a student?” Campos advised students to be aware of their surroundings because crime can occur anywhere.
“Students, like everyone, should take common sense approaches for their own protection. For example, always be mindful of your surroundings,” Campos said. “Pay attention and be on the lookout for suspicious activity. Don’t talk on your cellphone or text late at night while you are walking on or offcampus. This can distract you from your surroundings and also can offer a valuable target to a criminal.” The APD works with the Downtown Atlanta Improvement District, Georgia State University Police and other agencies to keep Woodruff Park safe, according to Campos.
“Our response to this incident in particular is a testament to our visibility and ability to respond quickly,” Campos said. “We want Woodruff Park to be a peaceful, enjoyable oasis not only for students, but for local residents and workers too. That’s why we were in the park on Thursday and will continue to have a presence.” Editor’s Note: Bernard Williams’ and Boni Ahamd’s quotes derived from a previous story published by The Signal. For additional information on the developing investigation, follow The Signal’s Twitter or see our website.
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OPINIONS
www.georgiastatesignal.com/opinions
Cosplay cuddles: How cosplay and conventions bring people together
C NICOLE MOTAHARI Opinions Editor Nicole is a double major in biology and English. When she’s not writing, she enjoys listening to musical theater and watching British TV with her family.
onventions like Dragon Con this past weekend have long been a place for fellow nerds and geeks (like me) to join with people. However, people who aren’t regular con-goers don’t often realize how conventions bring people together in more ways that simply grouping fans together in the same location. Through cosplay, people mingle and make friendships that can last anywhere from simply the weekend to a lifetime, all because of a simple costume. For those readers who do not know, cosplaying is not simply going to the closest costume shop and picking out a costume. True cosplaying is people going through the effort to either handmake their costume or to order each individual piece of the outfit, down to the buttons on the shoes. These costumes take weeks or even months to create and when people reach the convention, the true fun of it begins. People find costume buddies and take selfies, they get together with groups of people from the same fandom and avidly discuss everything from Disney’s latest on the Frozen sequel or costuming techniques. The costumes make it easy and possible for people to openly show what they have in common with each other and during a convention, all normal bounds of society’s conventions are tossed aside as perfect strangers coo and giggle over cosplays. People bond over their fan groups, spotting others and sometimes
ILLUSTRATION BY JAMAAL HICKS | THE SIGNAL even taking on the personalities of their characters. By doing so, it allows a person to forget their inhibitions and just enjoy themselves. When you don’t have to worry about seeing the people you’re teasing and flirting with at the convention after the event is over, it gives you a reckless sense of freedom to enjoy yourself as much as possible. Oftentimes people make friends from different cities, states and countries. Honestly, conventions and cosplay bring people together the same way social media does. They give people topics to bond over and allow them to meet people they otherwise would never have met. The friendships don’t necessarily end with the convention. Last year at Dragon Con I made friends who lived as close as Alabama and as far away as New Jersey, yet we all managed to keep contact and remain
friends. When you’re dressed up in crazy costumes for Dragon Con, one of the first things you learn is that the more detailed and in-depth your costume is, or the more crazy and flamboyant it is, the more people want to talk to you, to photograph you and put you on their blog. The best thing is that no one judges you for how you are dressed. If you’re a guy dressed in a Princess Leia bikini, people won’t laugh at you; they will laugh with you and embrace the opportunity to snap a photo. There is something freeing about being someone else temporarily, to know that you can get your crazy on with other like-minded people. So next time you see a costume ball or convention coming up, start thinking of a costume for yourself and go have the time of your life!
Dollars and sense with Mitch
Un-CONventional wisdom
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MITCHELL OLIVER Columnist Mitch is a senior finance major and student financial advisor. “My goal is to have more college students financially literate.” Leave your questions for him online at georgiastatesignal.com
Follow him @madmoneyATL
ith Dragon Con descending on Atlanta for a weekend of fun and excitement, it’s interesting to take a look at how these big events are changing in the modern age when the convention culture seems to be dying off. In the past decade, the number of conventions held annually has actually decreased, according to Amanda Erikson of The Atlantic. “Over the last 20 years, convention space in the United States has increased by 50 percent; since 2005, 44 new convention spaces have been planned or constructed in this country alone.” Just in Atlanta and metro Atlanta, there’s the Georgia World Congress Center, AmericasMart, the Cobb Galleria, GA International Convention Center and the Gwinnett Convention Center plus countless hotels like the Marriott, where Dragon-Con takes place each year. With all of these centers and places to hold countless conventions, is anyone really coming? And when they do, are they spending money and pumping it into Atlanta’s economy?
Plain and simple: No. Not nearly as much as city planners and the operators of these conventions hope for each year. The reason is two-fold. Communication technology is rapidly advancing and the demand for these conventions is just not there. Further, with so much competition for rapidly expanding exhibition venues, there’s simply just not enough convention to go around. Some conventions, such as Dragon Con, ComicCon and the E3 Entertainment Expo, all offer an experience you couldn’t get anywhere else. Still, other conventions offer things you can simply go online to find. So therein lies the glaring issue. People like conventions and video game and comic book culture conventions are huge successes due to an avid fan base. Outside of those, however, attendance is down and the money just isn’t coming in. Unfortunately this realization is not stopping city planners from competing for those conventions still out there. Even here in Atlanta there is a proposed
$200 million project to build a 4-star hotel next to the Georgia World Congress Center. Estimates say it will increase GWCC revenues by roughly $2.9 million annually. That’s great because in just 68 years, the hotel will have paid for itself ! Ridiculously enough, it seems the new strategy of urban development is to make things bigger and more expensive than the next city. Forget whether or not the city actually needs these things or if they are financially viable. All that matters is that Atlanta gives off the image of success, right? Christopher Leinberger, head of the ‘Responsible Real-Estate Coalition’ LOCUS, said these centers require huge investments, money that “could be better used to bolster the quality of life, the parks, the retailing or the homeless situation.” Maybe before the city builds their next convention center, sports stadium or multi-million dollar addition, they could look at the underlying issues more closely. Why is it that our current facilities aren’t meeting projections? I have a feeling the answer isn’t because they aren’t big enough.
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OPINIONS
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2014
Editorial
Take responsibility—report sexual assault
R
ape. This one act—this one crime—is not just something that occurs between a victim and a perpetrator. It involves all of us. Sexual assault and the way it is treated in our society signifies something about the culture we are a part of. Sex is still such a “hush-hush” topic that when sexual assault comes up, it stuns everyone too. Too often, we just hand the responsibility back to the victim as if it is their fault. We will offer self-defense classes, we will give tips on types of neighborhoods and areas to avoid, and we will tell them to not “hang with the wrong crowd.” But what can we do? Simple: When a situation looks dangerous, even if you yourself are not involved, report it. In our news feature this week, national statistics reveal sexual assault cases remain vastly under-reported at Georgia State. Approximately 14 percent of sampled undergraduate students in a national study reported being sexually assaulted since they began college. Take that number and apply it to our fall 2011 student population (32,022), and approximately 4,387 students had the potential of being sexually assaulted since starting college. For fall 2012, out of 32,087 students, the number was roughly 4,396. Only four sexual assault cases were reported at Georgia State in 2011 and
Weekly Comic
eight in 2012. Why is it that these cases go so underreported? Recently, the federal government has been investigating institutions on how they handle their sexual assault cases. Emory University is the only Georgia institution currently being investigated. This week, it came to our attention that Emory University broadcasts and sends out an email alert about sexual assault reports on campus, similarly to how our university alerts the campus system about robberies around campus. The Emory Wheel, the independent student newspaper of the university, released a Facebook post Sunday, Aug. 30 stating a female reported a sexual assault on campus. The suspect was then described as a “perpetrator... approximately 20-year-old white male with brown hair.” Finally—rape being treated like what it really is: A crime. a crime with a perpetrator and a display of transparency on the part of Emory University. Granted, the university is under investigation, but is that what it takes to put light to this crime? In our feature on underreported sexual assaults, a survivor, Hannah Lengyel, told her story to The Signal. After being raped by a male she knew at a party, several bystanders saw her distraught condition. All they could ask was simply, “Do you need any help?”
Sure, help would be nice. But you could do a lot more than just ask. That’s not enough to lessen this stigma of being a survivor of sexual assault. Lengyel courageously ended up reporting the sexual assault herself a week later, but mostly because she had been a victim previously and did not want it to happen again. We need to have that same mentality as a society. We must speak out on it to prevent future cases. We must report what we see as if we witnessed a crime because that’s exactly what it is: a crime. If we spoke out more as both a university and as a society at large, then victims of sexual assault, whether they are male or female, may not be so hesitant to speak out themselves. Certain sections of society often look with disdain at sexual assault victims by trying to find excuses as to if they “had it coming”. After a sexual assault has been reported, we need the institutions we are a part of—our university—to follow up on these cases and to be transparent with us, just as Emory University has been with their students. Let us know when a rape is reported. Let us know how perpetrator looks. Let us know rape is a serious crime. And to the female who reported that sexual assault on Emory campus: Whether you were the victim or a bystander, we commend you. That is exactly the action we all need to take to move onto the next step towards change.
Approximately
14% or 746 of 5,446 undergraduate women sampled suffered at least one sexual batteries and or rape since beginning college.
ILLUSTRATION BY EMILY LASHER | THE SIGNAL
ARTS & LIVING
www.georgiastatesignal.com/artsandliving
MARTA made simple:
A guide to Atlanta’s public transit system
JOHNNY AVERY GIPSON Arts & Living Editor
North Springs
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Buckhead
Arts Center
TIP:
Ce nt er CN N
V in eC ity
W es tL ak e
Fi ve Po in ts Ge or gi a St at e
Midtown
Auxilary and Support Services, located on the second floor of the University Center, provides monthly Breeze card packages for students. Their $61 monthly package costs considerably less money than the $150 fare a rider would spend on round trips for a month.
Train
MARTA’s rail lines may seem like a scary obstacle for the novice traveler, but it’s actually far simpler than the other forms of public transportation in the city. Although MARTA often gets labeled as ‘ghetto’ and ‘unsafe’ by misinformed Atlantans, this assumption is largely overblown and is far from the case. MARTA’s rail line begins at the center-point of Atlanta, the Five Points station. Located across the street from The Underground, this is the congregational hub for all transfers and boards. Five Points is the busiest stop on MARTA because passengers are able to transfer from East/West rail lines to North/South and vice versa. Trains often come within ten minutes of each other, so you usually don’t have to wait too long to get picked up. The rail line even has a station dedicated solely to Hartsfield Jackson Airport, the busiest airport in the world. This makes it easy for Atlantans to leave the city without having to pay for parking or a taxi. Select train stations also have bathrooms, convenient for long trips or a busy night out. Pay attention to the color coded maps located on trains and at stops; they provide vital information about what each stop offers passengers.
TIP: Riding in the front cars of the train will almost always guarantee you more space and a quieter ride. The middle cars are the easiest to get to when the train arrives, so passengers tend to gravitate towards them. Take a few extra steps to avoid the rush.
E S
Buses
Riding the bus is a bit more difficult than catching the train mainly because it’s harder to keep track of schedules and specific route-stops. If you need to ride the bus, it’s recommended that you download the MARTA app or use Google Maps for directions. Both of these applications give you exact locations and times of the next ride and can keep you from standing at a bus stop for long periods of time. Always carry $2.50 in cash for bus fare if you don’t have a pre-loaded Breeze card. Buses do not accept credit cards or big bills and you will be forced to find change on the street if you don’t bring the exact amount with you.
TIP: Many of the MARTA train stations have direct lines for bus transfer on the streets below them. Make note of the route numbers and descriptions atop the buses to avoid confusion and save time. The Arts Center and Doraville train stations also have connecting buses that take passengers to Cobb or Gwinnett County. Cr ee k
Chamblee
De ca tu r
Fare
Before anyone gets on a bus or train, it is pertinent that they possess the funds to catch a ride. The current rate for a oneway trip on MARTA is $2.50, a modest fee for the amount of distance a passenger can potentially travel. This fee also includes any transfers a rider makes, whether it be to another rail line or a bus. Since most riders will need to ride MARTA to get back to their original location, the average price of a trip is $5. Though it may not seem like a lot of money, frequent trips can add up. It’s important that you always save your ‘Breeze’ card, the small blue card that allows you entrance to train stations and buses.
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Dunwoody
In di an
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nyone living in Atlanta has realized that we don’t live in the most walk-able city. For those lacking a car to compensate for this, public transportation can prove to be both convenient and stressful. Atlanta’s MARTA service provides simple transportation by both rail and bus, but for those that aren’t acclimated with the way it works and where to go, it can be a nightmare. The Signal’s MARTA guide is here to help remove any confusion students new to Atlanta may be facing while trying to get around.
Safety
Oakland City
College Park
Airport
Note: Graphic illustrates rail stations on MARTA’s train system. Illustration by Emily Lasher | The Signal
MARTA has a bad reputation with people in the Atlanta community for unknown reasons. Unwarranted concerns with crime are usually the main point of emphasis, but MARTA is actually one of the safer options available for passengers. There’s always a police officer in one of the cars on the train, and they frequently patrol the cars to ensure safety. There’s even an app that riders can download to report crimes on MARTA, making travel far safer than it was previously. When riding alone or at night, always keep an eye out for suspicious people and watch your back. When waiting for a bus, stay somewhere well-lit and filled with people. If a bus driver sees you running towards a stop, they will almost always wait for you. Standing alone at a stop encourages criminals, so staying aware and appearing alert can protect you.
TIP: If the Five Points station comes off as a sketchy place to exit, the Peachtree Center and Georgia State stations are both far more student-friendly and considerably closer to campus housing. Get off at these stops to shorten your walk home.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2014
ARTS & LIVING
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Even today, vinyl is
awesome PHOTOS BY NADIA DELJOU | THE SIGNAL Record albums are typically stored in plastic or wooden bins to protect the fragile vinyls. An entire room is dedicated to storing the hundreds of records WRAS 88.5 FM still has and often uses at the station.
ALEX KUGACZEWSKI
Associate Arts & Living Editor
W
hile shuffling through his newly acquired collection, one record in particular caught his attention. He pulled the old, dusty album from the massive stack on the counter. Remarking how long it had been since he last heard the classic album, he placed it on the turntable with a hint of glee in his eyes. The needle dropped and hell broke loose. David Bowie’s “Five Years” emerged from the speakers, but what should have been a beautiful aural experience was utterly tarnished. The song battled for breathing room against the horrid hissing of scratched, battered grooves. Moments later, the record skipped three times within a ten second interval, ruining one of the track’s pivotal lines. It was a tragedy. Of course, it didn’t have to be. Vinyl records, like most ancient relics from days long past, require very specific care in order to be maintained over the years. There’s nothing worse than hearing your favorite song repeatedly skip because of improper care. Sean Bourne, Manager of Wax n’ Facts record store, has been surrounded by music for decades. He’s been an employee for 36 years and in that time he’s come to know the ins and outs of caring for and selling vinyl records. “At the very least you’ll need a nice neutral solution. You don’t drown it, you just spray it lightly. We use a 100% cotton cloth. It’s more absorbent,” Bourne said. Bourne also went on to note that there are record cleaning machines as well but said that these devices can cost up to and over 1,000 dollars.
Where to get your records
Before you can actually care for your record collection, however, you’ll need to know where to find your favorite albums. According to a report written by Billboard, vinyl record sales went up 33 percent in the last year alone, accounting for 6.1 million albums sold in 2013. In other words, the physical format is skyrocketing. Vinyl hasn’t
been this easy to find in decades. Bourne said that while he wouldn’t recommend vinyl for everyone, there is certainly a romantic notion to it that many people live by. “Vinyl is awesome. A good pressing of an old record mastered for vinyl is going to sound better,” Bourne said. “Listening to music on records is... you have to turn it over. It engages you in a certain way that CDs and MP3s don’t.” Atlanta has plenty of independent record stores to choose from, each with its own unique personality. Perhaps the best known of these stores is Criminal Records, located in Little Five Points, which specializes in new, independent artists. Wax and Facts, found just down the street, offers its own unique brand by specializing in used, older recordings. Out of the perimeter in Roswell, Mojo Vinyl sports a variety of old and new, used and sealed.
Determining its value
lovers willing to take the plunge, both young and old. “First find what your interest is. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Go to any record store and asks the clerks there. They’ll tell you what their preference is. They’ll tell you what the best record probably is. Don’t be afraid to ask for help,” Bourne said.
Vinyl Care Tips Use a non-static cloth to clean the record before each play. Wipe in circles along the record’s grooves to remove dust, static, etc.
Before venturing out to your nearest store, however, it’s important to keep price in mind. Massive gulfs exist between new, old, used and unused records. Typically, newer albums from current artists run anywhere from 15 to 30 dollars, but records from old artists can vary dramatically in price. The condition of the record itself and the record jacket is a major factor in determining the value of old albums, as is the availability and demand. While a fair number of Led Zeppelin IVs exist, the sheer popularity of the record will command a high price, with new copies running well over the 15-30 dollar mark mentioned previously.
Be sure to keep the turntable’s needle clean as well. Gently rub with a brush away from the arm and with the volume off.
Record bargain hunting
The tone-arm should be calibrated to put 1.5 to 1.75 grams of weight onto the record. More weight will wear out the record more quickly.
Lastly, it’s critical to remember to keep a strict budget. Bargain hunting through the used bins can be an exciting adventure, but it can be just as costly to your pockets. Those old, dusty two or four dollar records will eventually add up to a staggering sum, so always keep balance in mind. This same principle applies to new records as well, which will deplete bank accounts even more quickly. Keeping these guidelines and tips in mind, it shouldn’t be difficult to begin collecting records. Vinyl is more than just an ancient relic from the past – it’s a physical format with plenty of life left to live and there are plenty of music
Don’t touch the grooves with your fingers. Hold the record by the edges and the center sticker only to avoid smudges and scratches.
Make sure that the turntable is level against the surface it’s resting on so that the needle tracks along the grooves properly.
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ARTS & LIVING
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2014
DRAGON CON by Sydney Cunningham
A
few days ago, I met Thor. Except, it wasn’t him really. It was an excited fan who spent money and time to cosplay as the almighty Thor. At this year’s Dragon Con 2014, the 28th overall, thousands of pop culture fans dressed in whatever way showcased their fandom and crowded the downtown district in Atlanta to bask in the fan culture. They spread evenly throughout the five different hotels where the panels, events, meet ups, cosplaying and concerts were held. Take a look inside why fans are drawn to the convention year after year and what the standouts were this year. PHOTO BY ALLYSON BUSCH |THE SIGNAL Dragon Con brings 50,000 convention goers to the downtown Atlanta area for the entirety to Labor Day Weekend.
Different Dragon additions
THIS YEAR
* A space provided for cosplayers to rest away from the spotlight and cameras. The Best in Show Prize for the Friday Night Costume Contest has now been upgraded with a guaranteed reservation at one of the host hotels for Dragon Con 2015. This year, there was a live feed on DCTV of the Dragon Con Parade for those who are prone to staying away from crowds or simply don’t have the time to make it. Another stage was added to the concert venues, with a second stage on the back patio of the Hilton Hotel. There was a new app available for download for iPhone, Android, and a web based version.
CON after hours
“I’ve heard things about the night life at Dragon Con. It makes me nervous. Someone said you better keep your head on straight, cause the nerds can get intense,” first timer, Psylocke, said. David Bowie from Labyrinth loves a certain niche to the Dragon Con night life. “I love to dance, so I love to go to concerts and if I manage to stay awake ‘til the rave DJ stuff, I’ll go there and even though I only started partying in my 30’s, I think it’s a whole lot of fun.” Psylocke explained why she parties seperately from the crazy ‘til dawn parties. “I am looking forward to the later hours where I can get drunk, but I don’t want to get too crazy. We’re not gonna hit the weird parties. We are gonna hang out here with our friends in their safe hotel rooms. I don’t wanna get arrested.”
Cons of Dragon Cons Through the hustle and bustle, testimonies were for the most part all excited and hopeful to take part in the activities. However, that was at the beginning of the day. Throughout the various conversations, it wasn’t hard to pick up on the downsides to the extravagant con, no matter how inconsequential or unchangeable. * The heat. This is unavoidable, but with walking in it for hours, by the end of the day, many don’t have the energy to make certain events or panels. And it was obvious who had been subject to it more than others, with their bodies lining the walls along the hotel floor, resting and cooling down before their second wind hits. * The crowds. Dragon Con is not a local small convention that can fit into a sizable community space. All
the people can be overwhelming and distracting. Where in the beginning, all the sightseeing was a treat to almost everyone, by the end of day, testimonies from people were focused around trying to move pleasantly around the limited space. The under publicized places at the con. Many people spoken to had no idea about the film screening media room and were upset to hear about it being tucked away in the corner. Many other things had been found late and left fans trying to remember to make the next year’s attendance more enjoyable. * The difficulty in seeing panels. For people who have been coming for a long time or attend numerous cons, they know the only way to make it to the panel they’re dying to see is to wait in line as early as humanly
possible. Many conversations with the attendees showed that they had given up on seeing who they would have loved to see because they didn’t know how early they had to begin to wait and the line had already reached capacity. * The vast scale. The con is so large enough to barely be held withineverything spread between the five hotels in the downtown district.People would hustle to the Hilton to make an event or panel, and thenrush as fast as possible to make the other one that was at a completelydifferent hotel. While there are hotels close by with sky bridge access, you could tell this inescapable fact was disheartening to members whodidn’t come with a play by play plan.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2014
ARTS & LIVING
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Why do people
LOVE
DRAGON
CON? Some attendees are first timers, some have come for eight years and running and some have traveled far and wide to make it to the southern convention. A Victorian woman all the way from New York ran into me in the bathroom celebrating her tenth year wedding anniversary. “We figured we’d make the most of it. What I love about Dragon Con and cons like it is the pageantry of it. Everybody likes to dress up and have a good time doing it. To dress up and go out and meet people is really exciting. You know people [go] up to others in costume and [want] pictures together.” Psylocke from Uncanny X-Force was not a stranger to conventions. “I’ve been to quite a few fan conventions. I go to Anime Weekend Atlanta and then local ones in my
area.” Her testimony on the appeal of Dragon Con was a similar one to many others. “My favorite part of any convention is being in costume and cosplaying and hanging out with friends,” she said. “The fact that so many people are coming from different countries and areas makes it all the more cool.” “This is my first experience at Dragon Con,” Thor said surrounded by Bob Ross and Tony Stark. “It’s totally overwhelming. Everybody from all different backgrounds coming together and having a good time is exciting.” Pokemon’s very own Misty is attending for the first time as well. “I’m a little overwhelmed but everything I notice and recognize excites me and I have my eye on the
Harry Potter stuff and the TV panels of shows that I adore.” This year there were Arrow, Stargate, Warehouse 13, Whedonverse and many more panels offered to attend. I even ran into an Celtic group all dressed like sea witches. “We’re an acapella group. We sing about ship sinking and people dying, but we do it very upbeat. Our personas are fay and each one of us comes from a different seasonal court with our very own back story.” Pandora Celtica, the five piece group who sings from traditional celtic music, to covers, to orginal folk music, said. “Lots of begging to get us here. We’ve been here on and off for five years now.” “I love Dragon Con because it draws in all the nerds from the entire South and more down here.
It’s fun to see old friends come here and celebrate,” a vibrantly dressed woman said. It was her birthday that night and was planning on attending the party An Evening at Bree, a Tolkien inspired soiree. “No perfect place other than Dragon Con to party like some hobbits and dwarves.” “It is is Nerdi-Gras, it is a five day Halloween party,” Catwoman said. David Bowie from Labyrinth comes all the distance from Canada to reach Dragon Con, has been doing it for years and is ready for the ones to come. “This is the only one (fan convention) that is really like a party with all of your friends. It’s 24 hours a day, no matter where you are, if you’re in line, in a room, at a panel, or just even walking, you feel like home and you’re having fun.”
PHOTOS
Dragon Con, the science fiction and fantasy convention based in Atlanta, took over the hotel district for the entirety of Labor Day weekend. Cosplayers, convention goers dressed as characters from their favorite television shows, wander downtown during Dragon Con weekend. PHOTOS BY ALLYSON BUSCH | THE SIGNAL
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columns
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2014
Atlanta life column
A conversation on the homeless BECCA LONG Columnist
A BECCA LONG Columnist
Becca is a junior who enjoys indulging the art communities around the city while interacting with fellow Atlantans Follow her @becclong
question people often ask me when I tell them I live downtown is, “Aren’t there a lot of homeless people in At-
lanta?” When formulating an answer, I foremost establish that not all individuals who are homeless sleep on the streets. There are people who do not have a permanent address but have access to shelter and necessities. These are not the individuals who are referred to as “homeless people” around campus. Unfortunately, there are a large amount of people living on the streets in Atlanta. Due to our downtown location, Georgia State students regularly intermingle with this population. How to interact with the homeless around Georgia State is a popular conversation among our students and everyone has a different opinion. I urge you to form your own and guarantee that you will by the end of your first semester here. The main concerns new students have in regards to the homeless people on campus are safety and panhandling. While they are both related, panhandling is not the only situation that may be uncomfortable. It is important to practice safety precautions in order to try and avoid these situations. The perception is the highest concentration of homeless people on campus is at Woodruff Park across from the Aderhold Learning Center. Although traveling through this park is unavoidable with a schedule at Georgia State,
I would not worry that an uncomfortable situation might turn into a dangerous one during class hours. I have walked through this park countless times during my years at Georgia State and have never been in a situation that felt threatening. Georgia State Police, students and faculty have a strong presence in Woodruff Park and throughout downtown in general. This presence has been of great comfort to me as I have noticed there is almost always at least one other Georgia State student in the same area. In light of the shooting that took place on Aug. 27, it seems as though the presence of Georgia State police around Woodruff Park has grown even more. Due to the amount of homeless individuals on campus, students deal with panhandling often. When I first moved into University Housing as a freshman, I was in awe at the amount of times I was asked for money during the simple trip of going to buy textbooks just a couple of blocks away. Now, it seems as though I have become numb in these circumstances, as ruthless as that sounds. I would advise you to use your best judgment when asked for help by the homeless. There are times when I have a little change and make the effort to give what I can, but every situation is different and so are the individuals who live on the streets. There are ways you can help the homeless besides donating money. Respecting them as members of humanity is a good place to start. Volunteering with an organization that brings food to the homeless community is another available opportunity.
Safety tips for downtown living · Have the Georgia State emergency number (404-413-3333) and Georgia State Police escort service number (404-413-3234) plugged into your phone. · Familiarize yourself with the location of the Emergency Call Boxes throughout the city. · Use wisdom in uncomfortable situations and don’t be afraid to ask for help. · Be alert in your travels and make mental notes of areas that you do not feel safe in for future reference. Look up alternative routes or only go there during the day. · Make friends. There is safety in numbers and comfort in companionship.
Sex column
My journey with fisting One finger at a time
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RACHEL KINGSLEY Columnist
Rachel believes even though society has become more open about sex, it’s still a highly taboo subject. To become more open and accepting, she believes we need to start with education. Rachel shares her experiences. Follow her
@rachelkingsley
’m always exploring new sexual fetishes. When I hear of something I haven’t tried, I usually want to give it a go. I believe that you don’t really know what you like sexually without trying something new. Recently, I’ve started to explore ‘fisting’. ‘Fisting’, also called “fist-fucking”, is when an entire hand is inserted in either a vagina or anus. Once inside, the hand can be clenched in a fist or the fingers can remain straight. When my partner first mentioned wanting to fist me, I was terrified. The thought of an entire hand being in me was a bit daunting. I was confused about how that could even be physically possible. However, I’ve been into S&M for years, so I wasn’t worried about that aspect of it. My partner started out slow, fingering me with the normal two fingers. When I relaxed he would stick another finger in slowly, giving my body time to adjust, and adding more lubricant to his hand to make it easier to slide in. Once the fourth finger was sliding in, the pain started. My vagina had never been quite this stretched before. He stopped and let me body adjust once again.
Fisting can be potentially dangerous. It can cause laceration and even fatal embolism, which is when air enters the vagina and blocks veins or arteries. Although both of these situations are fairly rare, I suggest trying fisting with a partner who has had previous experience. Silicone-based lubricants are also good to use because they are thicker than water-based lubricants. The thickness of the lubricant makes the insertion of the hand easier and less painful. I also suggest using latex gloves to protect you and your partner from sexually transmitted infections and to give the hand more of a slippery glide into the vagina or anus. But for me, the benefits of fisting outweigh the cons. Being fisted gives me the most intense orgasms, and in my opinion, makes sex better. If fisting is something you’d like to try on your partner, talk to them about why you’d like to try. For some men and women who like to fist their partners, its a very visual sexual act. You’re able to see your partner taking your whole hand into them. It can be very erotic. If you’re skeptical about trying it, talk to your partner about how you want to explore the fetish.
Take your time when you’re starting out. Always communicate with your partner about how you’re feeling while you are fisting or being fisted. Communication is the key to great sex. Start with a few fingers at first and see how your body or your partner’s body reacts. If you’re both turned on, put another finger in, then eventually slide your hand in. Fisting has now become a part of our sexual activities, usually about once or twice a month. Each time, my body has the strongest orgasms—much stronger than just having sex. Limiting your sexual experiences may limit your chances of having mind-blowing orgasms—which is something I don’t recommend.
NSFW:
For a more comprehensive recount of Rachel’s fisting experience go to www. georgiastatesignal.com/artsentertainment
reviews
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2014
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ALBUM REVIEW
Take a trek into winterland with Low Roar’s ‘0’ ALEX KUGACZEWSKI
Associate Arts & Living Editor
I Release Date: 2014 Grade: A Verdict: Low Roar has crafted the aural equivalent of a majestic winterland, an emotional tour de force that demands attention.
t seems increasingly common that the word “slow” is used as a derogatory comment in the context of music criticism. Often used as a catch-all term, the word can deride anything from the actual tempo of a song to the overall pacing of the record’s track listing. Slow, however, doesn’t need to be a negative descriptor— especially not in the case of Low Roar’s second album, “0,” whose pristine, glacial beauty succeeds in crafting one of the year’s most startlingly beautiful records. As the album unfolds through its glacial atmospherics and eerily-chilled acoustics, the sheer weight of the music becomes increasingly apparent. “0” certainly feels like a record born of winter and that frigid aesthetic effortlessly conjures visions of a vast, breath-taking tundra. It’s easy to imagine the grandiosity of the life-affirming sights passing by as album opener “Breathe In” unfurls over the delicate plucking of guitars and string-laden ambiance. When the track comes to a close, layered vocals flow like rivers of ice over the mournful lament of a violin and the vast landscape is gone—but only for a moment.
Of course, “0” isn’t a record that operates on emotion alone. The band is far too smart to keep such an effective aesthetic under wraps and it’s immediately resurrected by the pointedly confessional “Easy Way Out.” Instead of weaving deliberately through minimalist progressions, however, the track builds to a propulsive beat and disarmingly simplistic vocal melody. The wintry, otherworldly aesthetic has been re-contextualized to stunning effect as a five-minute piece of Icelandic pop and, ultimately, an utterly gorgeous piece of music. This is all to say that Low Roar’s sophomore album doesn’t rely on any one trick for too long. Even when certain motifs and techniques are repeated, they’re refocused into unique, engaging experiences. Take the pure indie folk of “In the Morning” against the electronic bend of “I’ll Keep Coming” for instance. Both tracks shouldn’t work together on paper, but each song fits snugly within the record’s deliberate pacing and serves to alleviate all concerns regarding the album’s lengthy run-time. Make no mistake, the record is certainly a trek, but it’s unquestionably one worth taking. With “0,” Low Roar has crafted the aural equivalency of a majestic winterland—a sprawling, pristine collection of songs that demand both the listener’s heartstrings and attention.
MOVIE REVIEW
‘When the Game Stands Tall’
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Rating: PG Running time: 115 mins. Grade: A+ Verdict: “When the Game Stands Tall” shows that honor can be maintained even in the face of defeat.
Cinefest
PEDRO ALVARADO Staff Reviewer
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hen the Game Stands Tall’ shows what happened to a football team, its players, school and community when a 151 game winning streak is finally broken. Scott Marshall Smith’s screenplay, based on the novel by Neil Hayes, is as close to perfect as a screenplay can get. With 15 major characters and even more minor characters, it would be easy for the script to get diluted telling everyone’s story or to focus on one or two characters so that the viewer forgets the movie is about a team and not an individual. Fortunately, Smith masterfully balances multiple story lines while providing enough information about each main character to let the audience know who they are and why they’re relevant. More importantly, he gets the audience to care about the characters. What makes the audience feel for these characters is the way they care for each other. In most sports movies, the bond that players and coaches have between them is rooted in duty and responsibility to the team. For the De La Salle Spartans,
however, that bond is love for one another; more as human beings than as teammates. The demonstrations of love that these players displayed to each other were the ties that bound and continue to hold this team together. Screenplay notwithstanding, the performances delivered by the cast certainly make the film come to life. As with the football players, the actors appeared to share a similar camaraderie. Obviously, actors who work together on a project for only a short while are not going to get as close to each other as teammates who have played together for years. Nevertheless, these actors display a genuine kinship and make the audience believe the way they feel about each other is sincere. Jim Caviezel as Bob Ladouceur portrays the head coach as a decent man who has not allowed his ego to run amok on the heels of 151 consecutive wins. Caviezel’s presentation of an honest and humble man sets the tone for the rest of the ensemble
cast. Michael Chiklis as assistant coach Terry Eidson is the perfect complement to Caviezel. Chiklis’ performance works in tandem with Caviezel’s in similar fashion to the way the characters they play coach the football team. In other words, Chiklis’ performance serves to strengthen and support Caviezel’s. Thematically, “When the Game Stands Tall” shows that honor can be maintained even in the face of defeat when humility is displayed during victory. It’s easy to understand how the players and fans were disappointed by having a win streak such as theirs broken, but the film shows that every win is not a victory and that every loss is not a defeat. Most films that are as full of anecdotal life lessons as this come across like an ABC after school special. But what makes this movie so different from the others is that these lessons were not taught by Bob Ladouceur; they were lived by him.
The Neighbors Synopsis: A couple with a newborn baby face unexpected difficulties after they are forced to live next to a fraternity house. Showtimes: Wednesday- Friday 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 5 p.m., and 7 p.m. Rated: R Running Time: 97 minutes
calendar&games
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Campus & Downtown Events
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Sept. 4 12 p.m. – 1 p.m Centennial Park Music at Noon is the perfect lunchtime getaway! Get out of the office for a midday break filled with sunny skies and great entertainment every Tuesday
and Thursday from noon to 1 p.m. May through October.
Jazz Beats of Myles Brown
Sept. 5 7 p.m. – 9 p.m. Norcross Cultural Arts and Community Center Talented guitarist/songwriter Myles Brown and his band play an exciting mix of funky dance music, rock and jazz at Norcross Cultural Arts and Community Center’s First Friday Music series. Come enjoy a night of jazz in the intimate atmosphere of a jazz club in the Community Center’s Ballroom.
Great Atlanta Beer Fest 2014 Sept. 6 3 p.m. – 8 p.m. Turner Field Turner Field will provide an
outstanding atmosphere for what will soon be the biggest beer event in all of Atlanta. We will feature 150+ different beers to sample from Atlanta, the Southeast and all over America. We are adding a small selection of wines this year and we’ll also have a healthy list of ciders available.
Healthy Living Day
Sept. 7 12 p.m. – 6 p.m. Atlanta Ballet’s Michael C. Carlos Dance Centre The Atlanta Ballet Centre for Dance Education will host its third annual Healthy Living Day, an all-day healthy living celebration at the Michael C. Carlos Dance Centre in West Midtown Atlanta. Kids and adults can participate in a variety of free activities such as arts & crafts, dance classes, food demonstrations and healthy living and nutrition seminars.
Word Search
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Sept. 3 5 p.m. – 6 p.m. Sinclair Suite, Student Center How much trust do we place in the United States government? The power the government holds, whether through weapons or influence, affects people in the United States on a daily basis. Looking at examples of governmental power, we will examine the trust we place in the government.
MUSIC AT NOON
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AIRPLANE BIG DIPPER BIRDS BLIMP BLUE SKY CHIMNEY SMOKE CLOUDS COMET DRONE FIREWORKS GALAXY HAZE HELICOPTER
HOT AIR BALLOON JET EXHAUST JUPITER KITE LIGHTNING MARS MERCURY METEOR SHOWER MOON PLANETS POWER LINES RAINBOW SATELLITE
SATURN SKYDIVER SKYSCRAPER SKYWRITING SMOG SOLAR ECLIPSE STARS STREET LIGHT THE SUN TREETOP UNIVERSE VENUS
SPORTS
www.georgiastatesignal.com/sports
? T I G I D U O Y N CA
New coach has volleyball team preparing to hit the court Each player on the volleyball team took turns practicing their spikes at practice before their first weekend series. AKIEM BAILUM Sports Editor
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fter finishing the 2013 season on a low note, Georgia State volleyball enters a new season. The Panthers hope that the return of all but one of last year’s players and the hiring of a new head coach will put them in position to be a force this year in the Sun Belt. Last season, Georgia State finished the season with a 9-23 record along with a 4-14 record in the conference. The team finished with a six game losing streak to put them on the outside of the eight teams that qualified for the conference tournament. The Panthers bring in a new coach, Sally Polhamus, who coached for three consecutive years for NCAA tournament teams as an assistant for Florida and formerly coached at Georgia Tech. “We love Atlanta. We love the volleyball that is in Atlanta,” Polhamus said. “And we feel Georgia State has something special here.” Among this year’s notable players include junior offensive hitter Deidra Bohannon who received Second Team All-Sun Belt honors last season. Bohannon was also the Panthers’ leading scorer with 388 kills, putting her at fifth in the conference in scoring. “I’m just looking forward to playing with my team. We’ve been training really hard in the offseason and this is how we get to show everyone what we’ve been working towards. We want to get back on the court and put together the systems we’ve been learning to use,” Bohannon said. According to Bohannon, Polhamus
stresses how there is more than one leader on the team and that she is embracing her particular role. “As an underclassman, you had to take a step back and get a feel for everything. Now, being a junior, I feel I have to step up now. If anybody is going to teach the ways and traditions of how to work hard and lead by example, it’s going to be us,” Bohannon said. Her teammates also have high praise for her, including one who has known her prior to them becoming teammates at Georgia State. “I’ve known [Bohannon] for years since I first started playing volleyball and I’ve always looked up to her,” Outside Hitter Brianna Jones, a transfer student from Pfeiffer University in North Carolina who attended Dunwoody High School, said. “She’s a very smart athlete and she helps each person on the team with things inside and outside of volleyball.” Another one of the notable upperclassmen on this year’s team is junior Setter Natalia Nieto who once played for the Voleibol Vaqueros Bavamon club team in Puerto Rico. Last year with the Panthers, she was second on the team in digs with 291 and led the team in the assists category. “We just want to start getting to know each other on the court and get the system out there because we’ve been practicing it for quite a while,” Nieto said. “They’ve included two practices a day. We just want put it all out there on the court.” Nieto says she is focused on being the best player she can be for the team and that every one of her teammates has the same focus instead of focusing on individual accomplishments. “I want to see the level we can reach
as a team,” Nieto said. “I think we’re getting together very well. The pieces are getting there with a new staff and new coaches. I’m just really excited to play with my teammates.” Also joining the squad are four newcomers that are either freshmen or transfers. In addition to Jones, they include sophomore Setter Annie Ellis who played for UC-Riverside last season and a pair of true freshmen, sophomore Sydney Mauer and Middle Blocker Kaylyn Torain. “The four newcomers have been great,” Bohannon said. I love Brianna [Jones] and Annie [Ellis]. They fit right into our little sisterhood and family. The two freshmen are amazing too because they have fit right in as well. I couldn’t ask for a different group to come in because we’ve already become so close in such a short amount of time.” Nieto echoed Bohannon’s sentiments about the team’s four new additions. “They’re really great assets for our team. They all play different positions, so they’re just filling up really good spots on the team,” Nieto said. Polhamus knows that one key element of molding any newcomer onto a team playing against other upper-echelon competition like Georgia State will be to get them adjusted to the frenetic flow of the game. “With any newcomer, it’s all about getting into our system’s speed,” Polhamus said. “That’s the biggest thing between the college game and the high school or club game is the difference in the speed and the physicality of the players and making those adjustments. All of our incoming players have made impacts in certain ways and we’re excited about the continued growth of those
PHOTO BY RAVEN SCHLEY | THE SIGNAL
steps forward.” side as well as being able to execute As a first-year head coach, adjusting soundly in one of the fundamentals of to a new team and new players can take the game. some time. Polhamus said her players “Passing and serving is foundation have brought in the system she wants to of volleyball,” Polhamus said. “If you implement. can pass and serve, you can control the “I feel like we’ve won the lottery be- game. We’re continuing to develop our cause the buy-in from our players has technique and our execution of both been so great from the moment our passing and serving.” staff got here. From the work ethic, to Another attribute that has been their ability to abstressed plenty of sorb the knowltimes to the Panedge we’re giving thers is to always them, to the techgive maximum nique, they have effort regardless really bought in of what the scoreand wanted to board says. learn the system,” “Coach [PolPolhamus said. hamus] always The Panthers will play The team belets us know to its home opener on lieves a goal of keep pushing. understanding Don’t let down Wednesday, Sept. Polhamus’ sysor let up,” Bohan3 against Western tem is knowing non said. “Don’t their strengths Carolina at 6 p.m. change your atand weaknesses titude or your at the Georgia State through the corgame because Sports Arena. rect combination the other side is of players. Knowdoing something ing how an opdifferent. It’s all ponent sets up an about staying in offensive or defenour system and exsive play also can play a key role. ecution, basically.” “We want to look at a play before it Jones gave similar sentiments on happens. We’ve been working a lot on Coach Polhamus’ emphasis on effort eye sequencing and understanding the and also praised her for always maingame of volleyball,” Polhamus said. “If taining an optimistic tone with the there’s one play our opponent seems to players. be setting up for, we want to be able to “We’re going to try to give total efread and respond to that. A lot of em- fort no matter what. She says we could phasis is put on anticipation and volleyball I.Q.” In the preseason, Polhamus is obVolleyball serving that the team is also immersed continued on page 18 in sharpening its play on the defensive
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2013 18
SPORTS
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2014
Different roads, same destination Despite different backgrounds, the Georgia State women’s cross country team has a united goal: A Sun Belt Championship JEREMY JOHNSON Staff Reporter
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he 2014 Georgia State women’s cross country team will have an international presence this season as there are now three members of the team that come from outside the United States. This includes freshman Nuria Ramirez as well as seniors Stella Christoforou and Niamh Kearney. Ramirez comes into her first season at Georgia State from Palma, Spain where she attended the Institut d’Educacio Secundaria, Centre de Tecnificacio Esportiva de les lles (IES CTEIB). While in Spain, she was a first-team runner in the National Cross Country Junior Championship. Christoforou is from Limassol, Cyprus, Greece where she is the national record holder in the 800-meter and 1500-meter runs. The University of Georgia transfer ran three seasons with the the Bulldogs’ cross country team and has one more season of eligibility left with the Panthers. Kearney is an experienced and
versatile senior with four successful seasons under her belt. She came to Georgia State from Greystones, County Wicklow, Ireland. Kearney has been named AllSun Belt five times in her college career: twice in cross country in 2012 and 2013, twice for outdoor track and field and once for indoor track and field. Kearney has had a good bit of time under her belt to adjust to the United States. But she thinks the difference in Ireland and the United States is the size of things. Overall, though, things are mostly similar. “We’re pretty similar, kind of. But we’re also somewhat a bit behind. Here, everything is bigger— even the stores. We have big grocery stores, but even here it’s just even bigger. If you go to Walmart, there’s everything there, where at home you kind of have to go to three different stores,” Kearney said of the differences between her home in Ireland. These three make up one-third of the Georgia State roster; one which has welcomed newcomers Christofourou and Ramirez with open arms and accepted and helped
guide Kearney for four years. The Panthers are a tight-knit group that have mingled together no matter the nationality. “I like the way we’re all kind of intermingled. It’s not like it’s, ‘Oh, there’s the internationals and there’s the Americans,’ because we have a small, compact team. We all mingle together and everyone tells stories of their own upbringing and everything like that. You wouldn’t really know that we’re international because we kind of just blend in with them,” Kearney said. The Panthers have embraced their diversity and look to mold together to accomplish their ultimate goal, the Sun Belt Championship. “I can already feel like this team is willing to work for each other and they all want the best for this team,” Christoforou said. “So, since it is so diverse with people coming from all over the United States and the world, it makes you connect with each other in very positive way. We’re all different girls from different backgrounds with one goal. That’s to get better and win the conference championship for ourselves, for our coach and for the school.”
Shooter of slain Georgia State soccer player convicted BRYAN JOHNSON Staff Reporter
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his past Friday, a man was convicted in the shooting death of former Georgia State men’s soccer player, Ayokunle Lumpkin. Fulton County District Attorney Paul L. Howard, Jr. announced the conviction by jury of Emery Parrish, 32, who was sentenced to 47 years for voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, hit and run and possession of cocaine. Lumpkin was shot and killed on Aug. 19, 2012 while he was attending a late night, off-campus party on Milton Avenue. The defendant, Parrish, was driving in the vicinity, drove through two fences and then crashed into a car of another party-goer. When confronted by the vehicle’s owner, Parrish and the vehicle owner got into a physical altercation when Lumpkin, 23, intervened to pull Parrish off the vehicle owner. After the altercation escalated and more party-goers became involved, Parrish reached into his nearby vehicle and pulled out a gun, which he then fired into the crowd. Lumpkin was shot and fatally wounded in the chest. The party-goers had been attempting to subdue Parrish and call 911 when the shooting occurred. Parrish then fled the scene and later turned himself into the police after warrants for his arrest were issued. The investigating detective for the case was Detective Scott Demeester of the Atlanta Police Department. The prosecution was led by Chief Senior District Attorney Pat Dutcher and included Assistant District Attorney Durante Partridge and District Attorney Investigator Tommy Davis.
Parrish was convicted to 47 years in prison without the possibility of parole by presiding Fulton County Superior Court Judge T. Jackson Bedford. In a separate trial, Parrish’s brother Tyrone Jackson had been indicted on charges of theft by receiving stolen property, hindering the apprehension of a criminal, false reporting of a crime and weapons offenses. He was cleared of all charges. Ayokunle Lumpkin, was born on Oct. 5, 1988 in the Bronx, New York. His father Emmanuel Lumpkin played professional soccer in Nigeria. Ayokunle, known affectionately by his teammates and fans as “Kunle,” wore the number 22 during his time as a Georgia State Panther from 2008-2011 and had a career total of 10 goals and 3 assists. He was a four-year player who started all 22 matches in his last year. He attended Sprayberry High School where he received three letters in soc-
cer and was named Offensive MVP his junior and senior year. Lumpkin started all 18 games his freshman year where he recorded two goals, one a game-winner, one assist and 30 shots. In his sophomore year, he was a cornerstone of a defense that had two shutouts against North Florida and Drexel. He returned to his natural position as a forward for the 2010 season where he became a major offensive threat for the Panthers, being the joint leading goal-scorer for the team, including the game-winner in overtime against James Madison. He was a beloved member of the team and after his passing, the men’s soccer team and Georgia State fans honored him with with black shirts with his name and number on the back. Men’s soccer Head Coach Brett Surrency and members of the men’s soccer team declined to comment on the conviction.
PHOTO BY TODD DREXLER | THE SIGNAL ARCHIVES Ayokunle Lumpkin was shot and killed in 2012 while a member of the Georgia State men’s soccer team.
PHOTO BY RALPH HERNANDEZ | THE SIGNAL Trio of cross crounty runners (left to right: Nuria Ramirez, Stella Christoforou and Niamh Kearney) add international flair to this year’s team.
Volleyball (continued) ...continued from page 17 be losing in a set twenty to one and she still wants to see effort from us,” Jones said. “She’s an amazing person. She’s very positive and optimistic all the time. We rarely see her have any negativity in practices or on the court. She’s very influential. We listen to everything she says and respect everything she says.” The Panthers enter 2014 as their second season in the Sun Belt. The University of Arkansas-Little Rock is currently picked to win the conference this year with Georgia State ranked tenth out of eleven teams. “We’ll improve from last season based on our attitude and the way we come on the court,” Bohannon said. “We were so close in some games last year, but this year it’s different. We’re a totally different team.” The team has not done a great deal of scouting other Sun Belt teams at the moment as they say that will occur as they continue to go through the season. Polhamus said she has done some scouting of Georgia Southern whose team won the Southern Conference championship last season and has been ranked third in the preseason standings. “The level of the Sun Belt is very high. We have teams that are ranked in the top 100 all throughout the RPI. It’s going to be a test for us every match,” Polhamus said. The Panthers recently took to the court competitively for the first time in 2014 in their annual intrasquad BlueWhite scrimmage that also featured a pair of Georgia State alumni. Sam Holowka was on the team from 1995 to 1998 and became the first Panthers player to record 1,000 career digs and kills each. Carol Mattos played from 2003 to 2005 and was named for two All-Conference Academic Teams throughout her career. “The two alums did a great job,” Polhamus said. “Both of them are just excellent players and really made
impacts in the game.” After the scrimmage, Georgia State volleyball went on the road for its first regular season tournament of the year when it played Samford, Jacksonville State and UAB in Birmingham, Alabama over the weekend. The team lost to Samford in straight sets but defeated Jacksonville State in four sets on Friday. They lost to UAB on Saturday. The Panthers will play its home opener on Wednesday, Sept. 3 against Western Carolina at 6 p.m.
PHOTO COURTESY: GEORGIA STATE ATHLETICS
On Sally Polhamus:
Sally Polhamus was a three year letterwinner at Xavier from 1993 to 1996. Her first coaching job was as an assistant at Georgia Tech from 2002 to 2006 where the Yellowjackets reached the NCAA tournament three consecutive years. She then became head coach at Winthrop from 2007 to 2011 where she compiled a 64-59 record. Polhamus then spent three years as the offensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator at Florida before arriving at Georgia State.
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GEORGIA STATE ATHLETICS
Wil Lutz Football Wil Lutz kicked a 26-yard field goal through the uprights to give Georgia State football its first win since October of 2012 when the Panthers defeated the Abilene Christian Wildcats by a final score of 38-37. He also had seven kickoffs for a combined 414 yards to average just over 59 yards per kickoff. Three of Lutz’s kicks resulted in touchbacks. Lutz is listed at 6 feet and 190 pounds and arrived at Georgia State prior to the 2012 season. He was a two-time all-county place kicker by the Newnan Times-Herald while at Northgate High School. In his senior year in 2011, Northgate finished the season at 11-1 and won a regional championship. He was also an all-county soccer player in Coweta County. As a true freshman in 2012, he converted four out of his seven field goal attempts and was made all eighteen of his extra point attempts. Last season, he made 25 out of 26 extra attempts and was the second-leading scorer on the team with 49 points. Lutz set a school record in 2013 by converting on a 53 yard field goal against Alabama.
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SPORTS
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2013 WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2014
FOOTBALL
NATIONAL Sept. 6 USC √ vs. Stanford √ √ √ √
Sport: Football Team: Kansas City Chiefs College: Georgia State
Class: 5th year senior Major: Journalism Minor: Film and Video
Basketball Former Georgia State point guard Devonta White has agreed to a deal where he will play for the PVSK Panthers team part of the Nemzeti Bajnoksag I/A League in Hungary. White first announced the news via
his Twitter account with a picture with a pinpoint on Hungary. White graduated from Georgia State as the third-leading scorer in school history.
Football White was not the only former Panther to successfully enter the pro-
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Michigan vs.
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New Mexico State Georgia State
Notre Dame
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STAFF:
BRIEFS
South Alabama Kent State
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Daniel “Blue Man” Wilson
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Michigan State vs.
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Albert Wilson
SUN BELT Arkansas State Tennessee
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Akiem
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Bryan
Jeremy
fessional ranks. Albert Wilson, who graduated from Georgia State as the leading receiver and leading scorer in the football program’s short history, made the final 53-man roster of the Kansas City Chiefs. He is currently listed as the fourth receiver on Kansas City’s depth chart.
GUESTS:
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Blue Man Albert
Volleyball The Panthers kicked off their season at the UAB/Samford Challenge in Birmingham, Ala. Georgia State lost to Samford in straight sets before defeating Jacksonville State in four on Friday. On their final day of the weekend series, the team in four sets to UAB.
The sweet taste of victory Panthers’ win over Abilene Christian snaps sixteen-game skid AKIEM BAILUM Sports Editor
G
eorgia State football picked up its first win since 2012 with a 38-37 victory over the Abilene Christian Wildcats on Aug. 27 at the Georgia Dome. The victory ended a 16 game losing streak that dates back to two seasons ago. The Panthers won the game late in the fourth quarter when junior kicker Wil Lutz nailed a 26-yard field goal with four seconds left to put his team ahead by one. “Being able to pull out a win is just awesome,” Lutz said. “I was just hoping that our offense would be able to get me down there.” It was also the Georgia State debut of Quarterback Nick Arbuckle, who is in his junior season after transferring from California. Arbuckle completed 31 out of 47 passes with 413 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions. “Anytime you can start the season off with a victory is huge,” Arbuckle said. “It gets the monkey off our backs. We knew that we were winners coming into this game.” He finished the game one yard shy of tying the school record for passing yards in a single game when Drew Little threw for 414 yards against Old Dominion in 2010. “I guess I’ll try to throw for 415
next time [chuckles],” Arbuckle said. Panthers Head Coach Trent Miles remarked after the game that the game served as a testament to the perseverance of his team and that it was a great day for Georgia State. “Our kids never quit believing. The whole time they believed in themselves,” Miles said. “They believed in the fact that we were going to win the game no matter what.” The team jumped out to an early 14-3 lead before Abilene Christian surged ahead to score 27 of the game’s next 34 points to go ahead by a score of 30-21. At that point, many in the stadium began to head for the exits, feeling another Panthers defeat was within sight. “It is how it is,” Linebacker Joseph Peterson said. “We were happy to at least see the ones that remained in the stands. When they headed for home in the past when we were down, they did that because they knew we’d give up. But this is a different team than last year.” All of the momentum was on the Wildcats’ side of the field before Peterson picked off Abilene Christian Quarterback Parker McKenzie in the fourth quarter. The team also received a boost in the same frame when redshirt senior Linebacker Jarrell Robinson returned to the game after being injured and taken to the locker room earlier.
PHOTO BY RALPH HERNANDEZ | THE SIGNAL Football players celebrate as Georgia State wins first game since October 2012 against the Abilene Christian Wildcats Aug. 27. “We’re a brotherhood,” Robinson said. “When one goes down, another one steps up. Looking at my teammates’ faces when I got back on the field was fuel to my fire. They’re the reason I could return.” Two more touchdowns and a field goal later, the Panthers were celebrating a victory in the Georgia Dome. “I loved it because it was the first home win for me in my college career,” Peterson said. “It was great seeing everyone there. We had a lot of noise in the stands. I loved the atmosphere and
appreciate everyone who came out.” Peterson feels this victory will lift the team’s morale and will further motivate the players. “This will be a major confidence booster for us,” Peterson said. “Getting that taste of victory is good and we don’t want to go back to losing.” One of Georgia State’s key playmakers was senior Wide Receiver Lynquez Blair who caught six passes for 103 yards and a touchdown in the second half. “I couldn’t make those plays with-
out the offensive linemen and Nick [Arbuckle],” Blair said. “I was just playing my role.” The team’s next game will be this Saturday at home when they play New Mexico State at 2 p.m. Miles remarked that he would enjoy the win over the Wildcats for “about an hour” before beginning to prepare for the Aggies. “We need to cut back on turnovers and do the little things if we want to keep winning,” Blair said. “Let’s not try to be superheroes.”
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