The Signal Vol. 86 No. 4

SEPT. 11 - SEPT. 18, 2018

VOL. 86 | NO. 4

/gsusignal

@gsusignal

the boba bubble

ARTS & LIVING | PAGE 10 The boba bubble is here and it won’t be bursting anytime soon. Thanks to the rapid popularity of the Taiwanese tea, this trend has found its way into Downtown Atlanta.

SHAKING OFF THE HATERS

WE NEED PROTESTS

NOT A STEREOTYPE

NIKE HAS NATION’S EAR

The Crown Jewels Dance Team fights for recognition and mutual respect from the athletics department.

This country was founded on protests. Now, many are advocating to remove that right.

How dating apps like Tinder promote the dehumanization of Asian women.

With Colin Kaepernick at their ad’s forefront, Nike put on a mutually beneficial marketing marvel.

NEWS | PAGE 4 GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM

OPINION PAGE 8

News 3

ARTS & LIVING | PAGE 13

OPINION 7

Arts & Living 9

SPORTS | PAGE 16

Sports 15

NEWS

2

GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM

BLOTTER SEPT. 1

That’s not NyQuil...

A Georgia State student was arrested for underage alcohol possession in the University Commons at around 3 a.m.

SEPT. 4

What’s yours is mine

A theft of less than $500 was reported in the Urban Life building.

Back to driver’s ed

A non-GSU person was arrested for driving on a suspended license at Piedmont Avenue and John Wesley Dobbs.

Care to share?

A non-GSU person was arrested for drinking in public in Woodruff Park.

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Daniel Varitek

SEPT. 5

Can you lend a hand?

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

off campus in the afternoon following

Editorial NEWS EDITOR Will Solomons

GSUPD performed an agency assist a student’s complaint.

news@georgiastatesignal.com

ASSociate NEWS EDITOR Natori Spence

Unsportsmanlike conduct

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

A student reported a theft of less than $1500 at the GSU Sports Arena.

living@georgiastatesignal.com

ASSociate ARTS & Living EDITOr Samuel Puckett

SEPT. 6

living2@georgiastatesignal.com SPORTS EDITOR Jerell Rushin sports@georgiastatesignal.com ASSociate SPORTS EDITOR Vacant sports2@georgiastatesignal.com copy editor Vacant copy@georgiastatesignal.com

Febreze won’t help here…

The odor of marijuana was reported

in the University Commons Building A just after midnight.

Production production editor Devin Phillips

ILLUSTRATION BY EVAN STAMPS | THE SIGNAL

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

The Office of Latino Student Services and Outreach welcome new and returning students to campus at their Bienvenidos event in Dahlberg Hall on Sept. 6, 2018.

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

PHOTOGRAPHY photo EDITOr (atlanta) Vanessa Johnson

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

Digital online EDITOR Vacant

digital@georgiastatesignal.com ASSociate Online Editor Angel Nelson digital2@georgiastatesignal.com PODCAST EDITOR Caleb P. Smith

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

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

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

MISSION STATEMENT

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COVERAGE REQUESTS

PHOTO BY UNIQUE RODRIGUEZ | THE SIGNAL

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

SUBMIT LETTER TO EDITOR

SUBMIT YOUR STORIES! Be anonymus or let people know who you are. : signalliving@gmail.com : @gsusignal : @gsusignal

Are you sad? Frustrated? Having an existential crisis?

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

DISCLAIMER

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

OFFICE INFORMATION

The Signal Student Center West, Suite 250 P.O. Box 3968 Atlanta, GA 30303 Phone: 404-413-1620 Fax: 404-413-1622 Web: www.georgiastatesignal.com

NEWS TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2018

www.georgiastatesignal.com/news

A bad reputation for Financial Aid Blame flies both ways as the semester gets a rocky start WILL SOLOMONS & NATORI SPENCE News Editor & Associate News Editor

I

t’s safe to say students don’t have the best opinion of the financial aid office at Georgia State. For years, complaints about the efficiency of the Office of Financial Aid have plagued the university.

In a recent Facebook poll in the GSU Book Exchange group, The Signal asked students for their experiences with financial aid wait times in the days leading up to tuition deadlines.

“Called, waited two hours, they answered, got disconnected. Called again, they answered, I panicked and told them to call me back if I got disconnected again. Went to give them my phone number. Got disconnected right before saying the final number,” recent graduate Lexi Perez Lane said.

“When I was in school, I called as soon as they opened at 8 a.m. and I waited until 1 p.m. One of the worst experiences of my life,” graduate James Nehemiah Nunnally said.

“Two hours, someone answered, pretended they were gonna help me, then put me back on hold and I gave up at that point,” Georgia Zdanowicz said.

“Three hours and I legit called 10 minutes after they opened, so I went up there,” Enya Barnes said.

James Blackburn, the associate vice president of student financial services, said that these wait times can be avoided if students simply work to solve their problems in advance.

“We had more than 40,000 students apply for financial aid this fall, and the majority of students did not complete all of the steps by the priority deadline,” Blackburn said.

According to Blackburn, the review and awarding of financial aid requests for new academic terms begin much earlier than most think.

“Our focus this year is finding the best way to communicate and assist students with completing their financial aid requirements before the priority deadline. We believe success in this area will improve the overall student experience,” Blackburn said.

He said that administrative resources are not an issue, and in fact there are several methods through which students can get help on their own without calling into the office.

“The Office of Financial Aid does have adequate resources for the population of students. We leverage technology to automate many of the processes. We also offer several self-help tools to answer questions,” Blackburn said.

He also said that Financial Aid TV, one of

Georgia State’s in-house production teams, has created short videos that explain the financial aid process and provide other information on financial aid topics.

According to Blackburn, Panther Answer is another helpful option. Students can explore frequently asked questions or submit their own question without waiting on the phone.

“The student experience surrounding financial aid is very different before and after the priority deadline,” Blackburn said.

For the period prior to the priority deadline, the Office of Financial Aid’s average response time for calls was eight minutes. After the priority deadline, the wait times averaged 30 minutes. In August, despite a 319 percent increase in call volume, the average wait time was only 24 minutes.

However, these data, directly obtained from the Office of Financial Aid, contradict student experiences with the office.

“Waited 2.5 hours in [the] office on a Thursday at 1 p.m…in the summer,” Facebook user Evy Vo said.

“I called at 8:32 a.m...two minutes after opening and still had to wait 1+ hours,” Moonjun Chung, a student at Georgia State, said.

It’s obvious that an hour-long wait far exceeds the average of 24 minutes. But to Blackburn, these student anecdotes don’t seem to be the fault of the Office of Financial Aid. “The key to students avoiding long waits for service and the stress of the drop is for them to take care of their business early when wait times are only a few minutes,” Blackburn said.

Making sure that students are able to achieve their academic goals in spite of financial insecurities remains the number one priority for the office.

“Many of our students are able to pursue their education and career goals because of the team of dedicated financial aid and student account professionals that assisted them with the process,” Blackburn said.

Blackburn said that the financial aid process isn’t difficult, but it can be confusing for some students. Getting ahead of schedule remains students’ best bet to get a good experience during the semester.

“Our strategy is to continue to help as many students access the financial aid needed to accomplish their goals,” Blackburn said.

The constant barrage of negative student opinions continues to raise questions regarding the office’s effectiveness in administrative processes.

Time will tell if the office will continue to see students’ lack of proactiveness as the cause or if it will look internally at its own operations for a solution.

“The key to students avoiding long waits for service and the stress of the drop is for them to take care of their business early when wait times are only a few minutes.”

— JAMES BLACKBURN the associate vice president of student financial services

USEFUL INFORMATION ABOUT FINANCIAL AID Students have two options to receive their refunds:

1 2

THE SCHOLARSHIP RESOURCE CENTER They offer free resources to assist you with locating scholarships:

Browse through the print listings in the scholarship library

Conduct online scholarship searches and review internal catalogs

Electronic deposit to an existing bank account Electronic deposit to a BankMobile Vibe account

A refund preference must be selected with BankMobile.

Students can select this preference by logging on to PAWS. Under the My Bill Section, click the Refund Options link.

Click on the BankMobile button to make your refund preference.

If you do not select either electronic refund method above, it may cause a delay in the delivery of your refund.

Sign up to receive email alerts of scholarships with impending deadlines

Attend workshops on how to become more competitive Receive personalized writing

Assistance by appointment for personal essays See scholarship packets page to find useful handouts Information from https://sfs.gsu.edu/ ILLUSTRATIONS AND PAGE DESIGN BY SHANCHEZE JOHNSON | THE SIGNAL

NEWS

4

The Crown Jewels Dance Team after a showcase outside of Student Center East on Aug. 23, 2018.

GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM

PHOTO SUBMITTED BY TATEANNA RUSH

The Crown Jewels fight for respect and recognition A majorette-style team faces pushback from athletics department NATORI SPENCE

Associate News Editor

O

n Thursday, Aug. 30, Georgia State’s Crown Jewels Dance Team said security guards directed by the Georgia State Athletics Department told them that they could not dance in the student section at the first home football game of the season.

This came as a surprise to the team as prior to the game they believed there to be a mutual understanding between their team and the athletics department.

In a WSB-TV article about the incident, Mike Holmes, associate athletics director, said, “We needed to fill that space in. We asked about four or five times. We continued to get, ‘We’re going to do what we wanna do.’ That’s the point where we got our security company involved.”

The girls on the team said that they never said anything close to those comments, but that they repeatedly explained that they were cleared to dance in the section.

The Signal reached out to Mike Holmes for comment, but he declined to speak any further until the athletics department is able to meet with members of the dance team alongside their faculty advisor.

THE TEAM

The group, which is officially chartered with Georgia State, is comprised of 12 students, seven of whom are dancers.

Danielle Holmes, the founder of the team, attended a high school with a majorette-style dance team. She wanted to continue to perform and decided to bring this style of dance to Georgia State.

“It’s pretty much the type of dance styles you’ll see at urban high schools, the type you’ll see at [historically black colleges and universities], dancing with the marching band. It’s very fluid, up-tempo and on beat,” she said.

According to a college report by Forbes, Georgia State has a 37.4 percent population of black or African-American students.

Danielle Holmes said she doesn’t see race and diversity as part of the problem at hand. Instead, Holmes takes issue with what she believes to be the university attempting to uphold an image that doesn’t align with the reality of its student body.

“They don’t want to accept the culture that comes with the people,” she said. “I don’t think they want to display that type of dance style on such a grand scale. I think they don’t want people to see that and think negatively about that because they don’t understand it. They are not culturally competent about that.”

Historically, majorette performances accompanied marching bands. But as time went on, the popularity of the traditional style of majorettes declined in favor of hip hop-influenced dance at historically black colleges and universities.

Danielle Holmes said that the Diamond Dancers from the Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University (FAMU) were her motivation for starting the Crown Jewels because they created a majorette dance team at a school that she said didn’t originally want a dance team. Holmes wanted that college experience that she could have gotten at FAMU. “I do look at it as a career. One of the girls from the FAMU Diamonds went on to dance professionally, as do many majorette dancers. For us, it’s a passion,” she said.

A CHALLENGING JOURNEY

According to Danielle Holmes, forming the team was a long, tedious process due to her phone calls and emails going unreturned.

She said she went to Jeff Benson, the assistant director for leadership programs, to get the ball rolling on her organization charter but faced pushback from the university’s band.

“The band director said that he didn’t see the band going in that direction, and the athletics department said they didn’t want to be a part of it. From there, Jeff Benson said that if the band already does not want you all to be a part of it, then we don’t want to disrespect his wishes,” she said.

Despite this, she still went on to officially establish the team on Jan. 23, 2017, and the team danced in the stands the entirety of that spring basketball season. They even did a halftime performance, but there was still tension in their relationship with the athletic department.

“During our halftime performance, the band boo’d us, and we have that on video,” Holmes said.

The issues escalated when football season began later that year.

“Jeff Cheek came out and said that we wouldn’t be able to dance in the stands [during football season] and that they have their own dance team. He was a part of the athletic department during basketball season, and was aware that we were dancing during basketball season,” Danielle Holmes said.

The team, respecting his decision and taking advice from their advisor, went to the first home game of 2017 in full uniform, but they did not dance in hopes that they could resolve the issue and come to a mutual agreement with the department.

“I went through several emails and several phone calls that went unreturned. I had to go through mediation, and they were able to get a response from the athletic director, Brian Kelly, and that’s when we were told that we were able to dance as long as they weren’t at capacity and we weren’t doing disruptive things like throwing items.”

Danielle Holmes maintains a record of this email as proof of their agreement.

After this, they danced in the stands that football season but Holmes described a lingering unwelcome feeling.

When the new 2018 basketball season came around, they began to have more issues with people asking them for proof of permission to dance in the stands.

“I requested to get something in black and white, but I was told that the email would suffice. I would show them the email, and they would still come up to us and tell us, ‘Oh you all can’t do this, you can’t do that, you can’t sit here.’ It was very chaotic,” Holmes said.

“It’s seems like every season we have to start from scratch,” she said.

CONTINUED TENSION

Over the summer of 2018, Danielle Holmes reached out to the athletic department to inform them that her team planned on dancing at the first football game, and the department emailed back informing her of a new policy.

The policy was intended for organizations that wanted to be involved on the game floor or the field.

“To me, that did not apply to us because we dance in the stands. However, we did put in that request on July 27. I didn’t hear a response back until the day after the game, and they said they were denying our request and that we will not be able to dance in the stands,” she said.

Because the team had danced in the stands last football and basketball seasons, they assumed there would be no issues.

“One of the guys, I think he works for the school, he was telling us that if you guys don’t leave, they are going to call the police on you all,” Amanda Jenkins, one of the dancers, said.

“We were just like, ‘We are just going to dance because they are not giving us a reason to why we can’t dance.’”

Further into the game, the girls said that two officers came up to them and told them that they either had to move to the away side or they would be escorted off the premises.

“By the beginning of the second quarter, we went to the away side and we were just dancing over there for the rest of the game,” Jenkins said. “It is so embarrassing. Deep down, we wanted to cry.”

AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE

“We want to be able to have a secure section in the stands, whether it’s capacity or not. We would like the same mutual respect that other organizations have because we are supporting the school, we are supporting the athletic department and we are supporting the football team,” Jenkins said.

As of now, the Crown Jewels Dance Team is not officially cleared to dance for the next game, but they have a meeting set up with their advisor and the athletics department to discuss what transpired and future arrangements.

“We did everything by the book, following policies, following procedures, going through mediation. We’ve done nothing wrong. We are going to let everyone see how you [the athletics department] have been treating us for the past two years,” Danielle Holmes said. “Now we are going to get the respect we deserve.”

As for the next football game, she’s certain of one thing.

“We will be there at the game,” she said.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2018

NEWS

5

SGA’s ambitious university-wide agenda Major topic of discussion: $3,000 purchase for new polos

LOCAL

WILL SOLOMONS News Editor

Ex-cheerleader who knelt for national anthem sues KSU after failing to make new squad

S

tudent Government Association (SGA) President Franklin Patterson opened the first university-wide senate meeting of the year on Thursday, Sept. 6 with a simple icebreaker to liven up the room before business began among the senators.

The meeting began with 11 of 26 members missing, but throughout the first hour of business the rest trickled in.

A considerable talking point for the senators was the College Transparency Act (CTA) presented by Elena Sakopoulos from Young Invincibles, an organization that serves the student voice on issues such as “healthcare, higher education and economic security,” according to their website.

The CTA wasn’t favorable among some senators due to nalwhat it seeks to accomplish relating to the privacy of students. Under the act, students would have their demographic information published alongside their income and major in aggregate and without any personal identifiers.

The act’s intent is to better connect the workforce with university students and to publicly monitor primary demographic trends at a university. Patterson encouraged the senate to vote when they reconvene to officially support the act as a university.

A senator addressed that students may now change their preferred name at the university, which will take effect on all university-wide documents, such as transcripts and PantherCards.

Students may do so at the registrar’s office.

Senator Kaelen Thomas had previously broached the topic of the university’s tobaccofree policy at the last Downtown campus SGA meeting. The university’s Annual Security Report states that it falls in the hands of faculty, staff and students to “professionally and courteously” remind students of the tobacco-free policy of the campus.

The cabinet reports opened with Ayesha Iqbal from the Downtown campus discussing her concern regarding on-campus bus transportation that she brought up at the previous downtown meeting. Currently, crowds of students frequently congregate in front of Langdale Hall in an attempt to board Panther Express shuttles. Iqbal met with

The Student Government Association (SGA) met for the first university-wide meeting on Sept. 6 in Urban Life Building to talk about new agendas for the upcoming academic year.

the parking and transportation department to discuss solutions.

The department said it wouldn’t be possible to purchase a new shuttle due to the significant costs associated with it. According to Iqbal, the shuttle system costs $150,000 a month to operate. One plan the senators proposed is to adopt a queue system so that students may line up to board the shuttles in a more organized fashion.

The Clarkston campus has completed nine senator interviews and hopes to accept and swear in all of the applicants in coming weeks.

The Decatur campus plans to host a voter registration drive soon, as well as establish a new series of events called SGA Talks which hope to engage students every week with a member of SGA. The Dunwoody campus is testing lengthened library hours to see if it benefits students.

The Newton campus is presently attempting

PHOTO BY CHRIS YOUNG | THE SIGNAL

to get their recreation department to install a basketball court on their campus.

For new business, the senators debated for nearly 20 minutes on whether or not SGA would purchase official polos again this year. Last year, it was reported that SGA spent roughly $3,000 on the clothing. Senators voted for the purchase again, with 12 in favor, 3 against and 4 abstaining for purchasing the shirts.

SGA also discussed forming various committees, such as those for sexual assault and sex trafficking, homelessness and homecoming.

The meeting concluded with Patterson delivering a speech on carrying the vigor of the debates into their work outside the meeting.

He went around the room thanking the campuses for their involvement and their achievements in the beginning weeks of the semester.

City launches municipal services app You can now report a pothole with the click of a button ASHARI HANKERSON Staff Reporter

A

tlanta launched ATL311, a new app that provides increased efficiency and communication between residents and the city, on Aug. 24.

Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said, “The creation of this app is about making it more simple to receive and respond to the concerns of our residents, business owners and visitors.”

Features of the app include being able to create service requests for a variety of issues such as potholes, missed residential garbage or recycling, dead animal removal and graffiti removal.

From there, users can view their current service requests along with its current status.

Residents of the city of Atlanta will also be able

NEWS BRIEFS

to pay bills for water and sewage as well as check their balance for these services or establish new ones.

The app also provides a “My City” feature in which users can locate their local fire stations, police precincts, MARTA stations, parks and recreation and Atlanta Streetcar stops.

Don’t know when garbage day is? The app also provides a waste schedule for residents with just the simple input of their address.

John Travis Marshall, an assistant law professor at Georgia State, said, “I think it’s great that the city is rolling out an app that taps the public’s interest in helping support a cleaner, safer and more efficient city.”

Another convenient feature of the app is “Bike Share.” Through this feature, users, especially those who find themselves in the downtown area or BeltLine often, can reserve a bike to use throughout the day more efficiently than before.

Users can pay parking tickets, municipal court

tickets and other permits with the “ATL Pay” feature.

“I think it is needed even for students because we are also residents of the city and should feel heard too. The only thing is that it has to be used,” Georgia State student Jeremy Allen said.

As for marketing purposes, ATL311 takes to social media outlets such as Twitter and Instagram where they post alerts and upcoming events for students, residents and guests to follow.

It also features a Facebook feed within the app so users can view live updates and alerts. City council has their own spot on the app which hosts their portraits and bios.

The ATL311 app is currently being offered as a beta version for a limited time to allow for users to try out its features and offer any critical feedback.

Feedback will be used to update and improve the app before it’s officially released by the city.

CBS46 reported that Tommia Dean, a former Kennesaw State cheerleader, filed a lawsuit on Sept. 5 against her university. She alleges that Kennesaw State violated her first amendment rights and that members of the university were participating in a private conspiracy actionable under the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871. The ex-cheerleader is one of five to take a knee during the national anthem last season. Dean’s filing claimed the experience caused her to suffer an increase in migraine headaches and emotional distress.

NATIONAL Separated families suing the Trump administration for the cost of mental health

CNN reported that a classaction lawsuit was filed by a group of lawyers in federal court that seeks to hold the Trump administration accountable for the children affected by the now-reversed zero-tolerance policy at the border. The lawsuit argues that the U.S. government should cover mental health treatment costs for the children they separated from their parents.

GLOBAL Death toll rises to 37 after Japan earthquake

A magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck Japan on Thursday, Sept. 6. Reports from CNN stated that Japan’s Fire and Disaster Management Agency said the death toll has risen to 37. Two people remain missing, and at least 401 people were injured, according to the agency.

Evacuation centers are still holding 5,788 people. As many as 40,000 people, including 22,000 troops from the country’s Self Defense Forces, have been involved in the rescue efforts.

NEWS

6

The HOS seeks to improve coordination between all patient care areas: nursing units, the emergency department and surgical and procedural services.

GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM

PHOTO BY AZAM LALANI | THE SIGNAL

New Grady-Care Logistics merger may create jobs Operating system improvements pave way for better patient care ZACH SALLING Staff Reporter

G

rady Health System and Care Logistics, a leader in care coordination and patient progression solutions, announced a five-year contract to improve greater efficiencies in patient care delivery through a premier Hospital Operating System (HOS), according to a press release.

“We look forward to our partnership to improve patient experience and build upon the strides Grady has already made in our financial well-being, investing in new services, and improving the quality of care for our patients and community,” John M. Haupert, CEO of Grady Health System, said. “With its focus on well-defined roles and responsibilities, the partnership also reinforces our commitment to employee engagement and retention.”

Care Logistics is a health care service company founded in 2008 and is based in Atlanta. They boast that their technology, the HOS system, results in increased revenue, higher reimbursement and reduction of unnecessary patient stay, while setting standards for safety and quality.

“Hospital leaders and care providers are faced with enormous challenges today,” Karl Straub, president of Care Logistics, said.

“We are pleased to partner with Grady in transforming their operations to meet those challenges. By focusing on delivering efficient, reliable, and predictable care across their organization, Grady is ensuring a high-performance environment that delivers positive outcomes for patients.”

Yet, Grady Health System and Care Logistics have not begun the HOS merge despite it being five months after the contract’s approval.

Denise Simpson, Grady Health System media relations manager, said, “The system is in the planning stages at this point.”

Care Logistics was slated to implement its proprietary HOS at Grady this summer to face the challenge of one of the nation’s largest safety net hospitals.

With summer waning, one may question Grady Health System and Care Logistics’ promptness.

The challenges of Grady’s massive amount of patients and sizable faculty and staff could contribute to the delayed operating system adoption.

The patient load bears the weight of millions of dollars in indigent and charity care, and the HOS delay could further complicate management.

Once implemented, Grady expects to experience a year-overyear savings that directly feeds back into patient service and community. But, lack of promptness could delay any potential savings and benefits.

The HOS seeks to improve coordination between all patient care areas: nursing units, the emergency department and surgical and procedural services. Care Logistics aims to create a more standard patient progression plan and length-of-stay target shared hospital-wide, so the patient’s care team adheres to a targeted treatment and recovery plan.

Grady Health System and Care Logistics seek to manage patients’ length of stay, in addition to appropriate discharge.

Research suggests extended hospital stays risk more negative outcomes including higher chances of mortality and contracting other illnesses.

Despite Grady Health System and Care Logistics’ sluggish HOS merge, Grady Health System earned Stage 7 designation last year, the top level granted by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society’s analytical model. This earned Georgia’s first adult acute care hospital the highest rating for improving patient care and safety through health information technology.

Grady Health System’s sheer size attests to the feat of the achievement.

Grady Health System is one of the largest health systems in the United States, containing the 953-bed Grady Memorial Hospital, six neighborhood health centers, Crestview Health & Rehabilitation Center and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Hughes Spalding.

The HOS could drastically simplify the complexity of a highvolume Level 1 trauma center such as Grady’s.

Grady has nationally acclaimed emergency medical services and is metro Atlanta’s only nationally verified level 1 center.

The Grady Health System and Care Logistics merge may offer new job opportunities.

Grady Hospital is the oldest hospital partner of the Lewis

College of Nursing and Health Professions at Georgia State. As early as the 1950s, Grady’s nursing students took core science classes at Georgia State.

The HOS utilization can change current and future methods for healthcare services, in addition to providing entirely new career opportunities.

“As a former graduate of the Georgia State myself, I would tell anyone interested in healthcare related careers that there are a lot of fantastic hospitals and health systems in and around Atlanta, including Grady,” stated Chris Feagin, director of product management and marketing at Care Logistics. “And I would encourage upcoming graduates to reach out directly to the hospitals to see what opportunities they have available.”

CARE LOGISTICS’ HOS CASE STUDY: HOLY CROSS HOSPITAL

11 percent improvement in acute inpatient length of stay (LOS) 19 percent improvement in observed LOS resulting in over $6 million in savings over 5 years 13.7 percent growth in outpatient diagnostics resulting in $5.5 million in financial impact over 5 years 5 percent improvement in patient satisfaction Total financial impact over 5 years: $16 million

OPINIONS TUESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2018

www.georgiastatesignal.com/opinions

You won’t see this policy up in smoke The pro- and no-smoking arguments aren’t that great

F

DANIEL VARITEK Editor-in-Chief

Daniel is a third-year marketing major with interests in politics, law and journalism. When he’s not being hit by wafts of secondhand smoke, he’s trapped inside The Signal’s office.

Tweet danny! @dannyvaritek

Do you have an opinIon on this or any other topic?

Send an email to: editor@georgiastatesignal.com

orget enforcing the no-smoking policy. And forget creating a designated area, too. The discussion of smoking on Georgia State’s downtown campus requires a more nuanced approach than you might think.

In September of last year, The Signal ran a frontpage story on the apparent importance of creating designated smoking areas on Georgia State’s campuses. This was, of course, in response to frequent disregard for Georgia State’s tobaccofree policy by a consistent crowd of smokers in the Downtown Library Plaza.

On any given weekday, a centrally located nook of the plaza is populated by no fewer than 10 students smoking cigarettes. Students walking to and from the library and Sparks Hall are often hit with wafts of secondhand smoke, a point of contention that has gone unsolved by the Student Government Association (SGA) and the university itself.

“I’m not going to lie, it was not the easiest process,” then-candidate for president Franklin Patterson said of his efforts to address the smoking problem at the 2018 SGA debate.

Franklin, you’re right. On one hand, students and faculty want the university to actively enforce its tobacco-free policy. On the other, students simply want a designated smoking area where they are free from ridicule and attention. Here’s why both won’t work.

A POINTLESS POLICY

Georgia State’s tobacco-free rule, which was implemented by the university in 2012, has been described as a “community policy” by university spokesperson Andrea Jones, meaning it isn’t— and can’t be — actively enforced by the university.

Legally, smoking on campus isn’t breaking any laws. So, how exactly does Georgia State intend uphold this policy?

“We recommend that community members remind each other of the smoking ban on campus and if they see repeated offenders, let the dean of student’s office or Human Resources know,” Jones said.

The university must know this is bogus. Who actually thinks students are going to request identification from each smoker they see in the plaza and report them to the dean? It’s a ridiculous amount of effort that won’t ever actually quell the problem, and it’s a laughable punishment (if you can call it one at all).

Brett Reichert, associate director of international student and scholar services, wrote a brazen rebuke, published as a letter to the editor last year, of the university’s apathy towards enforcing its own policies. Reichert

then reached out to me recently to rekindle the discussion on this issue.

“I hope that the multi-million dollar plans to create a green space and renovate Library Plaza over the next years will protect the smokers, too.

As for the non-smokers and their lungs, well, that’s why we have health insurance, right? They can always walk around the block or transfer to a school with a backbone too if they don’t like it,” Reichert said.

A LOST CAUSE FOR DESIGNATION

And for those who are holding out hope for a designated smoking area, you’re out of luck. To officially carve out a designated space for smokers on Georgia State’s campus would effectively walk back a six-year public health policy.

Think about it: Can Georgia State really tout itself as a “tobacco-free” campus if it has a designated smoking area? No, it can’t.

And consider the practicality of such an area, too. An appeal of smoking in Library Plaza is that it’s a centrally located area on the downtown campus. Whether you’re walking to class, to your dorm or to the student center, the Library Plaza is the perfection location to enjoy a dose of nicotine and peoplewatch.

If Georgia State were to create a designated smoking area, they obviously would not want it to be a highly visible area. That wouldn’t be good for the student tours. Instead, it would need to be in a tucked-away location that would be far too inconvenient to use practically.

WHATEVER SHOULD WE DO?

During SGA’s first convention of senators on Aug. 30, Senator Kaelen Thomas broached the topic of smoking on campus, as I’m sure at least one senator does each year.

Sen. Thomas noted during the meeting that he did not want to “ostracize a portion of the student body” by taking a hardline stance and removing smokers from the plaza. But Thomas’ outlook on the issue couldn’t have been more clear.

“I’m thinking about drafting a resolution—that hopefully gets passed—that [states that] Student Government definitely condemns the actions of students who choose to smoke in non-smoking areas,” Thomas said after the meeting.

When asked when we could see concrete initiatives from SGA on the issue, Sen. Thomas said, “Before the end of September.”

Kaelen, I admire your ambition. And if you can make that happen, I will personally dress up as a giant no-smoking sign and stand in support of you in the plaza. I say this

sincerely, and only because I worry this issue on campus will continue to remain ignored by the university for years after we are both gone.

As you can now see, this topic isn’t as straightforward as many would like it to be. It’s not as simple as enforcing the policy. We can’t just make the police arrest smokers—that would be illegal. And it’s not as simple as creating a designated smoking area. That’s not practical and it would directly contradict the university’s sixyear standing policy (no matter how bogus that policy may be).

LET THE SCIENCE SPEAK

I often wonder if the university is doing everything it can. A 2011 study by researchers at the University of North Carolina found that community colleges with a 100 percent ban on smoking saw significantly fewer cigarette butts at doors than did campuses with no restrictions.

Perhaps the same can be said for Georgia State’s campuses. If Georgia State were to rid itself of the no-smoking policy, it’s likely that even more students would smoke, and in significantly more public spaces, at that.

However, this still doesn’t escape the fact that nearly 25 percent of students are initiated to smoking in college, and secondhand smoking plays a considerable role in convincing students that smoking is acceptable.

In a 2017 study, college students who reported having been exposed to secondhand smoke were nearly 150 percent more likely to indicate susceptibility to smoking in the future. The study later noted that an estimated 80 percent of college students report secondhand smoke exposure in general.

Cigarettes are becoming ever more socially unacceptable, but as long as our consistent crowd of students propagate their smoke in Library Plaza, non-smoking students will continue to be negatively affected. It’s a health risk, through and through.

OPINIONS

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GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM

EDITORIAL Just say it. The right to protest.

We the press advocating for freedom of speech

F

ollowing Nike’s feature (and implicit endorsement) of Colin Kaepernick in a recent advertisement, public backlash was severe. The Nike advert sparked a range of feelings, even provoking some concerned citizens and political activists to destroy their previously purchased Nike gear.

Being patriotic isn’t about kissing up to those in power. Being patriotic isn’t about watching the news and brigading against whoever the media tells you to. It isn’t about calling people animals or degenerates just because they want a shot at a better life. It’s about upholding the values in the constitution and the rights of our fellow humans.

Some in positions of power have recently claimed that people are acting unpatriotic.

That they don’t love America. That they hate veterans. But, if anything, someone expressing their freedom of speech is the most patriotic thing someone can do. The truth is, activists like Colin Kaepernick are speaking out on their genuine feelings.

Colin Kaepernick told the truth. Now, Nike has attached his image to their brand to sell apparel.

Recently, President Trump has told people that they shouldn’t be allowed to protest.

“I think it’s embarrassing for the country to allow protesters, you don’t even know which side the protesters were on. But to allow someone to stand up and scream from the top of their lungs and nobody does anything about it is frankly — I think it’s an embarrassment,” Trump, the person sworn to uphold the constitution no matter what (which includes the freedom of speech protecting peaceful protests), said.

At The Signal, we think it’s embarrassing to have leaders who don’t allow for dissent.

We have written editorials before about freedom of the press, but it is especially frightening when words of dissidence are disregarded as “just … screaming.”

Just the other day, a high school student was removed from a Trump protest, albeit legally, because of his facial expressions. In George Orwell’s 1984 (which has become

increasingly relevant the closer we get to midterms), there is a passage addressing this concept: “It was terribly dangerous to let your thought wander when you were in any public place or within range of a telescreen.

The smallest thing could give you away. A nervous tic, an unconscious look of anxiety, a habit of muttering to yourself - anything that carried with it the suggestion of abnormality, of having something to hide.

In any case, to wear an improper expression on your face (to look incredulous when a victory was announced, for example) was itself a punishable offense. There was even a word for it in Newspeak: facecrime, it was called.”

America was not founded on protecting the image of a president, or on complimenting actions of an official or even supporting the person in power. Being American is about exercising every damn right that we have until we physically cannot exercise those rights any longer.

ARTS & LIVING TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2018

www.georgiastatesignal.com/artsandliving

The poison R E T S in your brain: S S Your long work hours are killing your IQ

with stress. Damage your brain with Staff Reporter stress, and you hinder your ability to study.

This is decidedly oung adults are stressed out. Well over 40 percent of counterproductive for young adults had a clinical psychiatric disorder, often most students in college. resulting from stress, in the past year. Mental disorders Fortunately for resulting from elephantine levels of environmental stress, the students everywhere, the sum of massive debt, high performance expectations and hyperhippocampus is also one of awareness of national and global issues are a national epidemic, the most resilient parts of the brain and is known to and the effects can be seen as locally as Georgia State’s campuses. regenerate when the source of damage is removed. For example, “We’re forced to busy ourselves to exhaustion to get just an inch though depression can lead to shrinkage of the hippocampus, ahead of our peers...So I’m forced to spread myself super thin antidepressants and remission from the illness can help restore the with many different organizations and underpaying jobs in order hippocampus to its original size. to gain as much experience as possible and fill up my resume.

Less resilient, however, are other cognitive processes.

It’s gotten to a point where I am looking at about 10 different Elevated stress levels can cause long-term cognitive deficiencies, calendars between them and I can’t keep even one straight,” including reduced IQ and cognitive disorders. Stress may disrupt Tristan Fernandes, a student studying political science at Georgia cognitive processing by activating the autonomic nervous system, State, said. referred to as the “flight or fight response.” These adverse effects The effects of stress aren’t exclusive to the development of are typically seen only at steep levels of stress, including traumatic mental disorders; chronic stress can result in subtle deficiencies stress and chronic stress. in the brain and damage to the body that shouldn’t be ignored, in Again, the cognitive-suppressing effects of severe stress are spite of societal pressures. counterproductive not only to studying but also other forms of When you’re overwhelmed and anxious about looming work and extracurriculars. Trying to cram 17 credit hours of deadlines or long work hours, your brain releases the stress coursework, an internship, a part-time job, volunteer work and hormones glucocorticosteroids, among other neurotransmitters. emotional support to your friend who went through something Over time, stress leads to a decrease in brain volume and mass that heartbreaking, for example, can result in your not being able to is suggestive of underlying damage to other parts of the brain. accomplish any of these tasks because you literally don’t have the Memory is the brain function most sensitive to stress because mental resources to do so. the brain region responsible for memory has the highest “My mind has been trying to keep track of so many different concentration of these stress-related receptors. Due to stress things that I’ve become more forgetful than I have ever been hormones’ potentially toxic effects, when our brains are exposed in my life … I have found myself losing my train of thought to them for extended periods of time, our ability to recall events, consistently when talking to my friends and I only know how remember locations and even learn are impeded. to talk about work. It sounds ridiculous but I have even had Thus, there seems to be a case of recurring nightmares about failing at all these responsibilities,” diminishing returns when it comes Fernandes said. to taking classes. Study too Janavi Ramesh, a master’s candidate in neuroscience, echoed much and too long, and Fernandes’ sentiments. She said that when she is overwhelmed you damage your with her coursework, extracurriculars and research, she has brain difficulty completing basic tasks for her jobs.

“Stressed mind forecast: cloudy with Squashing social factors may prove more a chance of tears,” is how Ramesh worthwhile than just lifestyle factors. described her current mental outlook.

The damage Here are some of the most significant that stress

SARA ABDULLA

Y

Future of the nation: society and economy

sources of stress for youth:

Money or wages

63%

inflicts on your body is no myth either: The gut is often described as “the second brain” for its close relationship to nervous system processes. The human gut is full of bacteria that seem to play a role in cognition. The gut also uses the same neurotransmitters that the brain does, impacting digestion and even—neuroscientists hypothesize—behavior. Studies have shown that changing the makeup of the bacteria in your gut by taking probiotics or eating different prebiotic-filled foods can cause positive, demonstrable brain changes like increased network connectivity.

Other early studies have illustrated that stress can cause changes in the gut microbiome. Moreover, stress can cause gastrointestinal disruptions like constipation, diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome, colitis and a whole host of other unpleasant-sounding illnesses.

Short of changing policies and institutional systems of how people must work in order to be successful and financially stable, there may be lifestyle changes available to some individuals that can help mitigate the physical damage of stress.

At the individual level, alcohol and other substances like tobacco aggravate inflammation in the brain and body, so people would be wise to avoid binge drinking on the weekends to blow off steam. A healthy diet and exercise promotes sharp cognition, positive sleeping habits and overall bodily wellness. For some people, lifestyle changes can even alleviate stress as well.

There is also something to be said about a work-life balance: hobbies, like painting or playing instruments, can help people cope with stress and manage their time. At the end of the day, however, all the broccoli and carrots in the world won’t halt the root of the problem: that standards for young people are sky-high during a time when wages are minimal and security—politically, economically and socially—seems distant.

“I’m a senior and almost everyone I know is working themselves to death and it is hard for us to feel anything except exhaustion. Once you see how pervasive this disease of business has become, you can see why so many students are depressed, alcoholics, and addicted to drugs,” Fernandes said.

Work Physical health and access to healthcare

62% 61% 60% 57% 51%

PAGE DESIGN BY DAO NGUYEN | THE SIGNAL

Political climate

Violence and crime

Source: American Psychological Association, November 2017

Bubble tea is here to stay The Taiwanese tapioca tea has made it downtown

Boba tour: 1. Boba Mocha:

56 Peachtree St. NW

2. Kung Fu Tea:

42 Edgewod Ave. SE

3. Grab N Go:

43 Decatur St. SE

4. Sweet Hut:

933 Peachtree St. NE

5. Honey Bubble:

798 Ponce De Leon Ave. NE PHOTO BY VANESSA JOHNSON | THE SIGNAL PAGE DESIGN BY DEVIN PHILLIPS | THE SIGNAL

SAM PUCKETT

Associate Arts & Living Editor

B

ubble tea is on the rise. Look no further than Google Maps and you’ll be sure to spot countless swirling, colorfully named tapioca bars that weren’t there only a year ago. It can feel like every other post in your Insta feed features that bright pastel straw and milky cup filled with balls of tapioca.

And tell your mom that it’s not just a phase. Researchers for Allied Market Research are confident boba tea is more than a trend and it won’t be going away anytime soon. Metaphorically, it’s everywhere. But if the news is true that Starbucks is including boba on its menu, it would soon be quite literally everywhere.

In case you somehow don’t know what bubble tea is, it’s a milk tea with tapioca pearls originating from Taiwan. Bubble tea can be made with any variety of tea but most popularly comes in black, green, white or oolong.

To see this trend up close, look no further than Georgia State’s Downtown Campus. Within the past year, one boba place, Eastwave, closed down and before you could blink, two sprung up in its place. And it’s getting closer. Kung Fu Tea just recently opened at the corner of Park Place Avenue and Edgewood Avenue.

Chris Nguyen is an owner of Kung Fu Tea, Downtown’s newest boba tea shop. Kung Fu Tea is a popular American boba chain, controlling over 20 percent of the American boba market. Nguyen’s franchise owns locations in Duluth and Buford Highway. Nguyen has been to business and networking

Patrons of Kung Fu Tea, the newest addition to campus boba restaurants.

conferences for the restaurant industry and said he’s seeing boba more and more lately.

“There’s places in New York or Houston with multiple boba stores competing on the same block,” Nguyen said.

The reason for its success is fairly simple, Nguyen explained.

He sees Georgia State students and faculty through his store daily and notices boba sells like any other traditional western treats.

“Do you like cake? Everyone likes dessert,” Nguyen said.

Doris Kung, president of the Taiwan Student Association at Georgia State, has noticed similar parallels between the Taiwanese boba and American coffee cultures. She said in Taiwan, boba is often a daily indulgence. The sweet syrup and tapioca balls are a wonderful way to get caffeine with a chewy little snack.

“Boba tea is a treat or even a daily necessity,” Kung said.

“Different stores have different strengths, and everyone has their top stores to get boba.”

Nguyen said boba definitely has that daily coffee shop feel— it’s just newer to the game.

“People drink it just like their morning coffee,” Nguyen said.

Like American coffee culture, boba tea is easily customizable—even more so than coffee. When you place your order at Kung Fu Tea and many other stores, cashiers will ask you how sweet you want your drink on a 25 to 120 percent scale. While traditional boba comes in recognizable tea flavors, it can also feature more adventurous fruits such as green apple, mango or pineapple. And, while it may be milk tea, it’s not required to be cow milk; most boba stores are more than happy to serve soy and almond milk substitutes.

Nguyen said that while Asian-Americans may have helped to spread the popularity of boba in the U.S., at this point they are no more significant to his businesses than any other

demographic. At Kung Fu Tea, they use a consumer data service to collect data on customers. What they have found is that when compared to the demographic of the areas they serve, their customer base is fairly representative. Nguyen takes it as encouragement that they seem to be successful among many groups.

“The store is pretty diverse. The Asian population only makes up 30 percent of their business,” Nguyen said.

While boba tea might be making headway in the United States, it is still strongly associated with Taiwan. Despite having only been invented in the 1980s, Kung said that in the region of east and southeast Asia, boba remains iconic to Taiwan. People from surrounding countries appreciate boba and celebrate its success. According to Kung, the attitude is that it is nice to see neighbors prosper. The milky tea drink is so identified with the country, it has become a part of the tourist experience.

“Travelers and visitors have to try boba to [prove] that they have been to Taiwan,” Kung said.

Joan Chen is a recent Georgia Tech graduate born in Taiwan.

She feels excited that boba has spread to the United States.

Because she’s so far from home, she finds it comforting to be able to grab a quick piece of home in her new Atlanta residence.

“I find it really interesting to see that such a big part of Taiwanese culture is now taking on a bigger role in the world too!” Chen said.

Cultural exchange is also exciting for Kung. As the president of the Taiwan Student Association, it makes up much of the work she does as a student leader.

“I appreciate that as boba is getting more popular, more people know about Taiwan. Taiwan is a beautiful island country,” Kung said.

So when the newest boba shop comes to Woodruff Park, let yourself get curious. It’s not going anywhere anytime soon.

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY UNIQUE RODRIGUEZ | THE SIGNAL

ARTS & LIVING

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GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM

Quick, easy and healthy? That’s a triple threat The at-home meals that don’t sacrifice quality for convenience SAM PUCKETT

Associate Arts & Living Editor

F

rom working, studying and participating in both internships and student clubs, we college students have a lot on our plates. Except a home-cooked meal, that is.

Skip your daily Subway sandwich and use these easy recipes to prep foods on limited time, supplies and money before your stomach demands another six inch tuna salad and it’s too late.

LUNCH: FRITTATA One dish for a weeks meals, that’s a sweet time management deal. No, it doesn’t say frat-atta.

Ingredients: 6 eggs 1 cup broccoli crowns 1 cup spinach ½ cup shredded cheese of your choice (Gruyere will rock your world but cheddar works just as well) 2 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs, such as parsley, basil, thyme or fennel (or herbs you stole from your mom’s pantry) Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper (optional) 1 tablespoon any cooking oil First thing’s first, preheat the oven to 420 degrees. Then, preheat a skillet on the stove and pour in your favorite cooking oil. Preheating a pan is vital because it prevents sticking by closing up the pores of the pan. Don’t skip this if you want your crust-free quiche to come out smooth.

Whisk the eggs together in a bowl with all of the ingredients. The consistency of the eggs will not affect how they cook, and some people even leave the egg whites and yolks vaguely separated for a bit of color.

Pour the mixture into the skillet and spread the egg evenly across the bottom. Let it simmer until the edges are golden brown. When your oven is at the ideal temperature, put the pan in and set a timer for 25 minutes.

Cut the frittata into squares and eat a couple each day for lunch.

BREAKFAST: NO-BAKE BREAKFAST BARS Sometimes, all you have is a bowl, a microwave and a minifridge. That’s fine. A batch of this wholesome breakfast can last you through the laziest or most hectic of mornings this semester.

Ingredients: ½ cup maple syrup ½ cup peanut butter ¼ cup your favorite cooking oil ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract ¼ teaspoon salt 2 cups rolled oats ¼ cup cocoa powder (improvise with hot cocoa mix) Begin by melting the maple syrup, coconut oil and peanut butter in your bowl. With a fork, whisk in vanilla extract and salt until no bubbles remain. Next, stir in the oats and cocoa powder.

Lay out wax paper over a tray at least 2 inches deep. Pour out that delicious mixture into the pan and set it in the freezer.

Once your dish is solid, you can cut it into whatever sized pieces you deem appropriate. Store in the freezer in the tray, or put your cut-up bars into a zip-close bag.

DINNER: RAMEN STIR FRY Ramen has a reputation in college cooking, and not as a healthy, wholesome meal. Avoid the MSG-heavy flavor pack by adding in your own miso paste and veggies.

Ingredients: 1 clove garlic 1 shallot (or green onions, or leeks, or just improvise with a regular onion) 4 tablespoons miso paste (you can find this at any grocery store) 2 packs ramen ½ half Nappa Cabbage, shredded finely (the finer you cut, the faster it cooks) or improvise with any other veggie you have on hand.

1 large carrot, thinly sliced (julienned) 1 cup vegetable stock (try the low-sodium kind) As with the Frittata, you’ve got to preheat the pans to prevent food from sticking. If you prefer a sweeter and darker flavor, brown the onions and garlic first. If you like brighter, green flavor, cook it all at once. Because you will add it to the soup, it’s better to keep a lid cockeyed on the pan to let the veggies steam instead of crisp.

In a second pan, boil 1 cup of water and 1 cup of vegetable stock. Once it is at a rolling boil, add in the noodles. For extra protein, you can poach an egg in the same pan while the noodles cook. Once everything has cooked down, add the veggies into the noodles and broth, and bam! See, you’re not doing as bad as your mom thought after all.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2018

ARTS & LIVING

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Typecast on Tinder: an Asian experience

Asian women on dating apps are disproportionately stereotyped SYDNEY BLOEME Arts & Living Editor

“A

re you submissive?”

“Are you one of those Asian girls that likes white men?”

These are the kind of messages Angela Besso, a KoreanAmerican student at Georgia State, regularly receives on Tinder. She said she is constantly barraged with the assumptions people make after seeing how she looks.

“An overwhelming amount of men that I do match with, very often point out the fact that I’m Asian and stereotypes that go along with my race,” Besso said.

Besso feels as though she isn’t seen as herself but instead for her race. She doesn’t have much success on Tinder; out of every 10 matches, she gets harassed in “at least four … it’s not like half but it’s about there.”

As for those who aren’t explicitly vulgar, Besso said most men can’t seem to move past her ethnicity, often steering the conversation back to things they assume she’d like, be it bubble tea or Korean barbecue.

“They’re always like, do you like Korean food or Japanese food or do you like this kind of tea or do you know of these restaurants on Buford Highway or in Duluth. Like dude, I’m from Decatur. I don’t know,” Besso said.

This phenomenon has a name: “yellow fever,” also referred to as Asiaphilia. Webster’s New World College Dictionary defines an Asiaphile as a derogatory term for a “Caucasian male with sexual interests in Asian women.”

Gerrick Huang, a Georgia State student, feels it’s due to how Asian people are portrayed, especially in the media.

“I’d say the media definitely represents a lot when it comes to attraction to different kinds of people,” Huang said the Asian women he knows don’t like being on Tinder, so seeing one on the app feels like a magical experience.

“On Tinder you don’t really see a lot of Asian girls. They’re like a unicorn,” Huang said.

Huang thinks this might be due to lack of experience with Asian families in general and the lack of proper Asian representation in the media.

“Since this is America, if they see an Asian, they’ve probably never hung out with an Asian when they were little. They probably can’t relate to us,” Huang said.

A recent example of this media misrepresentation of east Asian women and culture is seen in Nicki Minaj’s music video, “Chun Li.” Minaj poses as “Chun Li,” a character in stereotypical east Asian attire with “Chinese ink on,” “Siamese links on” and “chopsticks in [her] bun.” Minaj used traditional east Asian dress and east Asian people while provocatively dancing and singing in overtly sexual costumes and positions.

With this kind of media representation, “yellow fever” is

“Yellow fever,” also referred to as Asiaphilia, defined by Webster’s New World College Dictionary, is a derogatory term for “a Caucasian male with sexual interest in Asian women.”

spreading fast through TVs and computers, infecting the lives of east Asian women just trying to find love (or lust) on dating apps.

Facebook’s dating app, “Are You Interested,” analyzed 2.4 million heterosexual interactions and found that all men except Asian men preferred Asian women. The response rate to Asian women on the app was as follows: • Black men: 26 percent • Latino men: 15.8 percent • White men: 17.6 percent Chelsea Hawkins, an Asian-American writer for Mic, wrote, “The tendency of non-Asian men to fetishize Asian women, lusting after their ‘exotic’ appeal or assigning them offensive stereotypes, has turned online dating for Asian women into a minefield of unwanted sexual advances and problematic questions.”

Bella Wilson, a Chinese-American transfer student from Young Harris, said she doesn’t feel comfortable using Tinder.

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY CHRIS YOUNG | THE SIGNAL

“Tinder is a scary place. In terms of romantic relationships or even potential hookups, I usually don’t go anywhere near it,” Bella said. “It’s a lot of guys asking if I’m into anime or will dress up for them … It makes me feel pretty apprehensive about dating in general, especially online dating.”

Some online dating apps like Grindr allow users to sort by race and display biographies such as “whites only” and “no Asians.” And while Grindr has attempted to resolve criticism by launching an initiative called “Kindr” earlier this year, many are still upset, like Sinakhone Keodara, an Asian man currently suing Grindr for racial discrimination.

With 50 million users on Tinder and countless new dating sites popping up, the conversation on racial preference in the online dating sphere has grown immensely. Many new apps are moving toward a “person first, photo last” approach, using interests and values to help match people before they can use the other person’s race to decide for themselves.

Narrating the gentrification of historic Vine City Photographer captures redevelopment through series at Rialto TIFFANY RIGBY Staff Reporter

A

s each day passes, more and more of Vine City, the historic African-American community where Martin Luther King Jr. sought refuge during the civil rights era, is gone, taken from the hands of its residents through a process called urban redevelopment. Artist C. Rose Smith, in a recent installment at the Rialto Center for the Arts, displayed a frozen-in-time remembrance of the community in her photo series, “Through the Ground Glass: Vine City.”

Vine City is most famously known as the location Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. relocated to during the civil rights movement after his home in Alabama was bombed with his wife and 10-month-old baby inside. As Vine City currently faces urban redevelopment, C. Rose Smith’s work serves as a protest piece to comment on the historic value of black communities while

advocating for affordable housing.

“I became passionate about telling a true narrative of their community and what it means to them,” Smith said.

While in Vine City, Smith became inspired by its rich history.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s former home, the Paschal brothers’ former restaurant and the Herndon home left her with a desire to explore how they were all connected to the civil rights movement.

Witnessing the present-day transition of the neighborhood influenced her to use photography as a visual narrative method to discuss the social issue of gentrification that affects the working class. Because Smith is in the process of developing additional visual narratives for other communities along the east coast, the final title of her series is still in transition.

The Vine City narrative is part of Smith’s broader “Inner City Urban” series where she integrates herself into working-class communities to illuminate their history and show the truth behind neighborhood redevelopment.

The title, “Through the Ground Glass: Vine City,” was based

upon her use of a large format 4x5 camera. The camera uses a ground glass, which is a piece of frosted glass in the camera’s viewfinder, that scatters light. Smith noted that the term doubly reminded her that she is “grounded.” She is quite literally on the ground, taking to the streets to serve and share true narratives about communities that are treated unjustly.

Smith’s art installment was open to the public from Aug. 2 to Aug. 27, with her opening ceremony as a part of Downtown Atlanta’s First Thursdays ArtsWalk.

Although Smith is a Memphis native, the artist is no stranger to Atlanta. She calls Atlanta home and moved to the city when she was 11 years old. She was initially inspired to take a stand against urban redevelopment while seeing the changes firsthand in her cousins’ neighborhood located in the West End. Once Smith visited Vine City, she knew she had something to say—whether that be through a single art exhibit or several around the country. Smith knew she couldn’t walk away from the history and wanted to show what is happening to the community, as transparent as glass.

ARTS & LIVING

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GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM

things you don’t want to miss

More events and info at georgiastatesignal.com

thursday

wednesday

tuesday

saturday

friday

monday

sunday

Songs by AfricanAmericans

Laughing Skull Open Mic

Midday Meditation

Spectacle and Sound

Cool Japan

Conversations and Kink

Figure Drawing

September 11

September 12

September 13

September 14

September 15

September 16

September 17

The Festival of Arts at Perimeter welcomes tenor Timothy Harper and pianist Jakari Rush.

They will perform work they have collected by AfricanAmericans.

Enjoy the thrill of the open mic, its highs and lows, in this 15-set act.

Enjoy a night at the Laughing Skull in Midtown, just a short walk from the Downtown campus.

Got a break from work or class at noon? Maybe try meditating at the Phoenix and Dragon bookstore on Roswell Road. They welcome all levels of experience.

A conversation between artist Zanele Muholi and curator Renee Mussai. Muholi will speak on their work as a dark skinned artist and the role of the artist in political discourse.

This year, Japan Fest at the Infinite Energy Center covers changes in Japanese culture.

A profound theme in a world where, from streetwear to gaming, Japan is impossible to ignore.

Nouveau Atlanta is a social club for introducing people to kink. They are meeting at Joystick Gamebar for a lowkey social event. Get ready to play.

Apache Cafe welcomes you to their nude figure drawing event. The session begins with brief gesture poses followed by sustained drawing.

games

SuD0KU medium

easy

games

crossword

HARD

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this week’s theme:

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Rappers and Hip-Hop artists from around the world

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This week, we created a puzzle themed around hiphop, which is now the most listened to genre of music in the U.S. We have included artists from different eras and nationalities. We hope you enjoy!

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

across 1. This rapper has a cooking show with Martha Stewart 5. He’s different, yeah, he’s different 6. This rapper married Keyshia Ka’oir in October 2017 9. This rapper stays in his feelings 11. The first rapper to win a Pulitzer Prize 14. Cardi B threw her shoe at this rapper 17. This rapper is the father of Stormi Webster 19. So you’re just gonna bring him a birthday present on his

birthday to his birthday party on his birthday?

20. “Okurrrt” 21. He just released his 9th number one album, Kamikaze 22. This rapper named is daughter after the city he’s from 25. This rapper earned the title “King of K-pop”

DOWN

2. She’s a cow. She’s not a cat and does not say meow.

3. This rapper has a “Good A-- Intro” 4. This rapper hails from Stone Mountain but reps Atlanta

7. She’ll put her thing down, flip it and reverse it 8. This rapper was featured in Louis Fonsi’s “Despacito” 10. “Now watch me yuuuuuuu crank that ____.”

12. Rest in peace to this Pittsburgh-born rapper 13. Mr. Worldwide 15. This rapper recently performed in Atlanta with his wife 16. Who wore a dress on the cover of his album?

18. This rapper is “Straight Outta Compton” 23. This rapper starred in a movie alongside Janet Jackson 24. This rap trio enjoys stir fry

SPORTS TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2018

www.georgiastatesignal.com/sports

Esports: a hobby no longer Georgia State’s official team takes on the big leagues Georgia State is the 34th American university to sponsor esports.

JERELL RUSHIN Sports Editor

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eorgia State was the 34th American university to sponsor an esports team when they did so in the fall of 2017.

The team has backing from the university and a designated building to call home in the Creative Media Industries Institute (CMII).

This backing gives the team confidence to grow as an asset to the university.

Georgia State and Georgia Southern have the only university-sponsored esports programs in Georgia, but Cole Gibson, digital media producer for Georgia State esports, believes without a doubt that they are the state’s best. With its potential, Director of CMII, David Cheshier thinks the esports team can become absorbed by Georgia State Athletics in the future.

Brawlhalla, League of Legends and Smite are the games the Georgia State esports team competes in within the National Association of Collegiate Esports.

Georgia State esports previously existed as the Panther Gaming Club and played in the same tournaments before being officially sponsored by the university. Panther Gaming Club is still an active organization on campus, but today it serves more as a development team for new players.

“What I’m trying to establish as the esports direction of the Panther Gaming Club should just be that pipeline [to the sponsored team].

It’s what I wanted to happen for the esports program like most college programs. That’s

gonna be our prerogative; we get the people in, we get them a place to play until they’re good enough to take a starting spot in the esports program,” Gibson said.

Georgia State esports scholarships differ significantly from Georgia State Athletics’ teams. When a men’s basketball player is brought in on scholarship as a freshman, tuition is free until the player graduates.

On the esports team, nothing is guaranteed.

Open competitions for scholarships are held on a year-by-year basis for every position on all three teams. This keeps players on their toes and adds pressure to improve their skill over the summer.

If someone loses their position on the sponsored team, they’ll typically rejoin the Panther Gaming Club rather than join another amatuer team because of the familiar faces on campus.

“For our Overwatch team, before they got picked up and our Smite team as well, it was, ‘I’m good, and my team—everyone I know is a student here so I see them all time … We have that chemistry and that synergy and we’re all good to go,’” Gibson said.

MISCONCEPTIONS

From the outside looking in, esports can be played without practicing in-person with teammates, but the same principles that apply to a contact sport apply to esports.

In 2017, Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell skipped training camp and only practiced with the team for one week before the season began. It was clear that the team’s rhythm was out of sync and it took a few weeks to get back to normal.

“They think, ‘Why does it matter if they see

PHOTO SUBMITTED BY GEORGIA STATE ESPORTS

each other in person? Everything is online.’ It’s because you want that chemistry, that synergy,” Gibson said. “We coexist all of the time, and that really does come up in games. Getting that synergy outside of the game can have a positive impact inside of the game, which is something that people don’t see a lot.

A lot of people would rather play with people at school, rather than people just online in Wisconsin,” Gibson said.

Esports is not a whole-body sport like volleyball or soccer—players sit in chairs for long durations and solely use their hands. Any upper body injury can be a huge disappointment for a team.

Asim Baghadia, who plays the attack damage carry position on Georgia State’s League of Legends team, has been injured for an entire season due to a cyst on his lower back.

“It was infected so I had to get surgery.

Then it got infected again so another surgery,” Baghadia said. “It is almost healed now but to help it heal faster I had to limit my sitting on the chair so I had to fall back on some classes in college and even miss some LAN tournaments. Since I had [stitches and surgery] I am still unable to workout since a year now and I was very stressed out.”

Gibson is very impressed that Baghadia tried to fight through his injury and play some matches. Baghadia ultimately had to sit out, but Gibson plans to work out so he can build his endurance and strength to play longer hours.

“It was a feat. Esports is different from any other sports, where you can leave and come back and almost be the same skill level depending on how well your rehab is. But

for esports, if you take too long away from the game, that muscle memory, you start to lose it. And that rank you start to lose that as well. Getting back to where you were before is not as easy as it is in [traditional] sports. For him to do that, I was proud of him because there are some people that would’ve given up playing competitively.”

PROFESSIONAL LEVEL

Much like the saying goes for America’s three biggest professional sports, esports is a business first. The year-to-year change in games bring uncertainty to its athletes.

Nameless, the gamer tag for a well-respected Call of Duty player in the gaming community, was pushed out of professional leagues because of changes in a new version of the game.

Gamers in the community wondered why teams didn’t pick him back up, but he simply wasn’t performing at a high level anymore.

“As long as you can play the game well and show you have value, you’re on a team. Once that’s over, it doesn’t matter how long you’ve been in the game. If you can’t show value to a team, then you’re on your own again,” Gibson said.

Withdrawals are a real problem for athletes when their careers end. Practice for amatuers can last nearly 14 hours per day and even longer for professionals. Professional esports leagues are expanding the industry from just gameplay to other avenues in order to help their athletes as they exit the leaderboards.

Nameless landed a broadcasting job after his final season, and seems to have found his niche in post-gaming. Gibson speaks with the University System of Georgia Board of Regents on Sept. 11 to discuss esports’ future.

SPORTS

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GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM

Nike made Colin Kaepernick the face of the company’s 30th anniversary of the “Just Do It” campaign.

SCREENSHOT: COLIN KAEPERNICK TWITTER

No Kaep: Nike stirs national buzz

How one ad campaign has the whole country talking JOSHUA FIFE Staff Reporter

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ultinational shoe company Nike has been at the center of discussion across the nation after announcing Colin Kaepernick as the face of their 30th anniversary of the “Just Do It” campaign. The caption of the advertisement states, “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything.”

The image of Kaepernick and the commercial that followed were both released days before the start of the NFL regular season, and that certainly wasn’t by coincidence. What better time to rekindle a discussion on the former NFL player who shook the league and brought about a new anthem policy, which was subsequently removed this summer?

Nike’s new campaign brought both negative and positive responses but as the saying goes, there’s no such thing as bad publicity. From a marketing perspective, if you can get the national spotlight, you’re doing great. Being the center of attention was Nike’s main goal in this ad, and it worked.

Reporters, politicians and celebrities across the country are voicing their opinions on the ad, and even the President of the United States broadcast his opinion on Twitter.

“Just like the NFL, whose ratings have gone WAY DOWN, Nike is getting absolutely killed with anger and boycotts. I wonder if they had any idea that it would be this way? As far as the NFL is concerned, I just find it hard to watch, and always will,

until they stand for the FLAG!” Trump’s tweet stated.

Memes about the advertisement have spread across the internet, too, often replacing the photo of Kaepernick with images of veterans with the same accompanying caption.

Many people, like the wife of Pat Tillman, have publicly asked for these images to not be used to attack Kaepernick. Tillman is a former NFL player who left the league to join the Army following the Sept. 11 attacks. He was killed by friendly fire in 2004.

Using her husband’s image to deepen the divide in the nation is the opposite of what Marie Tillman wants for her late husband’s legacy.

“Pat’s service, along with that of every man and woman’s service, should never be politicized in a way that divides us,” she told CNN. “We are too great of a country for that.”

Tillman’s biographer even said that Pat “would have been the first person to kneel” and that he would’ve found Kaepernick “an extremely admirable person for what he believed in.”

Kaepernick has been on Nike’s endorsement roster since 2011; they’ve just had him shelved until now. Since Kaepernick was already on Nike’s payroll, it was only logical that they use his image for what the endorsement was designed to do: garner attention for the company.

The media coverage Nike has received across social media, television news and talk shows is a marketing homerun. Even those who disagree with the ad and manipulate the backing image still keep the essence of the campaign; the Nike logo and the “Just do it” slogan are mostly maintained at the bottom of the ad.

Nike is also looking at the bigger picture and seeking to establish themselves on the right side of history by standing behind a man who sparked a national discussion on freedom of speech and policing in America. This isn’t the first time the company has been under fire for supporting controversial athletes. For example, Nike capitalized on Michael Jordan’s controversy surrounding his colorful Air Jordan 1s that were banned on NBA courts in the 80s.

Kaepernick’s protest has never been aimed at the military, nor has he mentioned the military in any negative light. He has openly stated that his protest was centered around police brutality and the killing of unarmed black men in America. He switched to kneeling instead of sitting as a sign of reverence for the troops, which was suggested to him by veteran Nate Boyer.

“The men who have followed in Kaepernick’s footsteps say they are not protesting the anthem itself, they are demonstrating during the anthem,” Boyer said. “It’s an important distinction to understand. Personally, I do not endorse Kaepernick’s method of protest but I absolutely support his right to do so. That is an unpopular place to stand these days, in the radical middle, defending someone you somewhat disagree with. It’s OK to be different, it’s what makes us the same — embrace it and remember that nobody’s a perfect patriot, especially not me.”

The bottom line is, Kaepernick and his followers are not anti-American and they’re not anti-military. They are simply advocating for change in a country where people struggled for their right to do so. Nike recognized this and used this peaceful protest as a way to catapult their brand into a national discussion.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2018

SPORTS

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New venues match Atlanta’s hand of influence The freshness of the Atlanta sports scene has everyone excited CHRISTIAN CRITTENDEN Staff Reporter

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tlanta has emerged as a king in sports development.

Considering the new and renovated venues that have popped up every other year, the capital of the South is excelling at bringing itself the national sports spotlight.

Atlanta’s sports scene is in an excellent space right now— several teams are presently capable of competing for a championship, and a few more will be able to in the coming years. And of course, when our teams are playing at such an elite level, they require top-notch homes.

Philips Arena, the home of the Atlanta Hawks since 1999, will have a new look this coming season. On Aug. 29, the Hawks announced a naming rights agreement with State Farm, unveiling the renovated venue as State Farm Arena. It will certainly take some time for people to get used to saying State Farm instead of Philips, but the deal will last for at least the next 20 seasons.

“I think it speaks to the potential of Atlanta,” Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said. “We have such a significant imprint in the sports industry and as an entertainment center, to have a company like State Farm, which is very protective of its brand.

To attach its name to the Hawks and to attach its name to the city of Atlanta speaks to [the] respected regard that our city has across the world quite frankly.

I’m very excited to celebrate with the Hawks and State Farm.

I’m looking forward to all that will happen in and outside the arena with this partnership,” Bottoms said.

A new name isn’t the only change coming to the arena; the

Hawks have sought to upgrade their home and bring a new twist to the game experience. Beginning this season, there will be two Top Golf simulators in the arena along with a lounge equipped with televisions for casual viewing of the game.

Fans will be able to get a haircut at The Swag Shop, owned by Atlanta rapper Killer Mike. The Zac Brown’s Social Club will also bring a southern food flair to the arena.

“Going to an arena all of my life, I look forward to food and beverage as an experience not as a disaster, risking my life hoping that I can survive the evening,” Hawks owner Tony Ressler said. “Our food and beverage are going to change dramatically where people will be excited to eat and drink here.”

Renovations will also be made to lower bowl seating by adding more suites, and new electronics will seek to improve the viewer experience.

“The scoreboard and the whole digital experience is going to put us into the 21st century, that I promise,” Ressler said.

“And the whole concept of having a series of boxes on one side with fancy seats and no boxes or no fancy seats on the other has been eliminated. And that somewhat offended me from the beginning, from the moment that I walked into the arena.”

The Erie Bayhawks is the Gatorade League affiliate of the Hawks. The team currently plays in Erie, Pennsylvania, which is roughly 12 hours away from Atlanta. That is set to change soon, as the team is slated to get a new facility in College Park, just 20 minutes away from State Farm Arena.

NBA teams are now trying to use their G League system as a sort of minor league, and having a team so close will give the Hawks the ability to work with developing players much more.

The Hawks coaching staff will be able to work more closely with its G League roster in hopes that it will lead to those players playing a role in the Hawks’ future.

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, Atlanta Hawks owner Tony Ressler and Hawks first overall 2018 NBA Draft pick Trae Young appeared at the announcement of the newly named State Farm Arena, formerly Philips Arena.

“It’s another phase, every team has a G League affiliate, we have one that’s now in Erie but its transitioning to College Park next year,” head coach Lloyd Pierce said. “Proximity helps out a ton, we can send players and coaches and our front office can go back and forth, so the better we’re aligned, the better our chances are of just growing and developing together.”

The Gateway Center will not only be home to the BayHawks, but it will also host concerts and other events. G League games will host around 3,500 people, while other events will host around 5,000. Not only will this benefit the Hawks, but it will improve College Park and its surrounding community.

Along with these renovations, Georgia Tech just renovated Bobby Dodd Stadium’s locker room. The Yellow Jackets spent 4.5 million dollars on the new additions in large part to keep up with the Jones’ in college football recruiting.

Each locker now has a 15-inch screen that will be used as a nameplate and highlight display. Additionally, there are large screen televisions, slushie machines, a hot tub and a cold tub.

Two brand new venues popped up within the past two seasons: the Mercedes-Benz Stadium and SunTrust Park. While SunTrust Park isn’t in the heart of Atlanta, it’s now home to the Braves, who are fighting for a playoff spot and may very well host a playoff game or series soon.

Mercedes-Benz Stadium is home to the Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta United FC, and both teams have recently played for championships. Atlanta United are in just their second season and have one of the best teams in the MLS. Super Bowl LIII will be played here in Atlanta in February 2019, and the Falcons are looking to become the first team to ever play in the Super Bowl at home.

Atlanta’s sports—and their accompanying cultures—are on the rise in the South. But now, for the first time, they have the venues to match.

PHOTO BY CHRISTIAN CRITTENDEN | THE SIGNAL

SPORTS

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GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM

Beyer teaches Panthers to play for each other

Assistant coach Ashley Beyer sets up GSU volleyball for strong strides JOSHUA FIFE Staff Reporter

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hether she’s wearing knee pads or holding a clipboard full of scouting reports, Ashley Beyer has always found success in college volleyball.

Former Marquette University outside hitter Ashley Beyer recorded 1,214 kills during her three years with the team, fourth in school history. She began her professional career in 2012 and played until 2016 when she joined the Hartford as an assistant coach. Beyer then joined the staff for Georgia State volleyball prior to the 2017 season.

Beyer works with the other members of the staff on various tasks for the team, including watching film, scouting opponents, recruiting new players and handling equipment.

As an assistant coach, Beyer helps with drills and serves as an extension of the head coach, offering one-on-one help to improve individual skills.

A large part of Beyer’s motivation for coming to Atlanta was her history with head coach Sally Polhamus.

“I was ready to find a university where I was going to be challenged as a coach and learn how to be the best person I could be. Sally recruited me as a player when I was in high school. I loved her determination and passion for the game. I knew coming here and working for her, I would grow and be challenged,” Beyer said.

“Ashley is a game changer,” Polhamus said to Georgia State Athletics shortly after hiring Beyer. “She is a proven competitor with incredible experience and knowledge of both the college and international game. It is easy to see Ashley’s passion shine through in her character, ambition and work ethic.”

Not just anyone could serve in this role effectively.

Background and personality are important factors in selecting a good assistant coach. Assistants require a strong knowledge of the game and a good attitude. Prior to Georgia State, Beyer had tremendous success as a player and a coach, making her a standout candidate for an assistant position here.

While playing at Kishwaukee College in Illinois, Beyer was part of a 56-3 team that won the NJCAA national championship. She was also a star at Marquette, leading them to their first ever NCAA Tournament victory and received an AVCA All-America Honorable Mention in 2010. She played professionally from 2012 to 2015 in Sweden and Switzerland, as well as Premier Volleyball League teams in Wisconsin, Illinois and Ohio.

Beyer understands that one of the keys to success in volleyball is working together. An average play in volleyball only lasts seconds, so the game is played at a fast pace and can swing and change direction quickly.

“The best teams are made up of players who play for each

Assistant coaches Taylor McColskey and Ashley Beyer during practice in the GSU Sports Arena last Thursday. Beyer came to the Georgia State volleyball team prior to the 2017 season.

other. Volleyball is such a roller coaster sport emotionally. If your team is emotionally stable and willing to work together, they will most likely be successful. As we call it here at Georgia State, being selfless and giving to your team,” Beyer said.

Potentially the greatest responsibility for coaches is watching film. The head coach and assistant coaches spend much of their time assessing strengths and weaknesses for both their team and their opponents.

“I would say I spend the most time watching film on ourselves finding areas that we need to improve or on other teams finding ways to beat them. In scouting, we look to see

PHOTO BY CHRIS YOUNG | THE SIGNAL

who their best players are and what each player’s tendencies/ weakness are. We also look at the best offense and defense for us to run to put ourselves in the best position,” Beyer said.

Beyer also works closely with fellow assistant coach Taylor McColskey. McColskey came to Georgia State in 2017 from an assistant coach position at Georgia Tech, working closely with recruiting before moving into scouting and individual training.

You can find both head coaches cheering the team on from the sidelines. The Panthers return to the GSU Sports Arena on Sept. 21 to take on Coastal Carolina in their opening Sun Belt Conference matchup.

GSU scores first, but not again in 41-7 drag

Mistakes against NC State could haunt Panthers against Memphis JERELL RUSHIN Sports Editor

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eorgia State (1-1) was unsuccessful in its first road game of the season as they were dominated 41-7 by North Carolina State (2-0). Head coach Shawn Elliott and the Panthers had eight days to prepare for their second game; nonetheless, North Carolina State was more effective in almost every element.

The Panthers had a multitude of chances to pull closer to the Wolfpack, yet they squandered their opportunities, and it showed in the final score.

“You go into the halftime down 13, but it could have easily been a doggone seven-point ballgame,” head coach Shawn Elliott said. “Then in the fourth quarter, the game got a little bit away from us. They’ve got a little more depth at some positions.”

The game did not look to be a blowout in the first moments—Georgia State running back Destin Coates ran in an 8-yard touchdown in less than three minutes to score the

game’s first points.

However, the biggest downfall for the Panthers may have been their pass rush, or lack thereof. They did not record any sacks, a regression from their season opener, where they recorded just one.

A poor pass rush typically causes trouble for defenders in pass coverage, and that certainly seemed to be the case against North Carolina State. Ryan Finley passed for 370 yards and two touchdowns on an 82 percent completion rate, and two Wolfpack receivers gained over 100 yards.

“To tell you the truth, we played sound run defense, but we’ve got to get better pass rush and better coverage,” Elliott said. “We’ve got to get better in all phases of it. This is the typical time when you are going to start getting better.”

When facing most Power 5 opponents as a Group of 5 team, having turnovers can be a death sentence, especially on the road. With one fumble, two missed field goals and two turnovers on downs, Georgia State effectively gave the ball away to North Carolina State five times.

Their game against Memphis can very well go the same direction if they spoil as many opportunities.

The Memphis Tigers (1-1) have been one of the best Group of 5 programs in the past four seasons, winning 37 games over

the period. They blew a 12-point lead to Navy last Saturday, so both Memphis and Georgia State will look to bounce back.

Taking better care of the ball will be a huge priority for the Tigers after losing three fumbles to Navy. Both Georgia State and Memphis were minus-two in the turnover department last week.

A positive that Memphis will want to take into the game is creating big plays in the running game. Sophomore running back Darrell Henderson had long touchdown runs of 78 and 59 yards.

Luckily for Georgia State, their run defense has been a strength. They held Kennesaw State and North Carolina State to 181 and 115 rushing yards respectively in their first two games.

The Tigers have had more yards of total offense than their opponents in both games, something the Panthers have failed to do once this year.

This is the first ever meeting between the two teams. Memphis cancelled their road trip to Georgia State last season due to American Athletic Conference rescheduling.

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. on Sept. 14, and the game is the first time Georgia State plays on ESPN in program history.

SPORTS

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2018

SPORTS BRIEFS men’s Soccer The men’s soccer team is 3-2 after picking up wins against UNC Asheville and Winthrop.

Georgia State defeated Asheville 1-0 behind an Aris Briggs goal assisted by Max Hemmings. Winthrop lost 3-1 to the Panthers after they gave up three second half goals. Panthers goalkeeper, Paul Tyson, leads the Sun Belt Conference in saves.

women’s Soccer A 2-0 loss to the Georgia Bulldogs kicked off the Panthers’ weekend. Georgia outshot Georgia State (2-51) 18-6, including 8-1 in the second half. Two days later, the Panthers were shut out 3-0 by Vanderbilt at home. Monique Hundley and the Panthers are on a three-game losing streak entering conference play.

Georgia State aims to improve upon their 1-7-2 Sun Belt record in 2017.

volleyball Georgia State is 2-7 after going winless in the GSU Invitational, hosted at the GSU Sports Arena. The team lost 3-0 to each invitational opponents, Sam Houston State, Chicago State and Ole Miss. A 3-1 win over Mississippi State on Aug. 25 was the Panthers’ last win.

Sarah Renner is now the ninth Panther in volleyball history to reach 2,000 kills.

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SPORTS CALENDAR GOLF

SOCCER

SEPT. 11

SEPT. 11

men’s golf

SEPT. 14

men’s soccer

THE INVITATIONAL, HOST: THE COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON

ALL DAY

BELMONT

Nashville, Tennessee

6 P.M.

Kiawah Island, South Carolina

SEPT. 15-17

PRESBYTERIAN

USA INTERCOLLEGIATE, HOST: SOUTH ALABAMA

7 P.M.

Mobile, Alabama

GSU Soccer Complex

7 P.M.

GEORGIA SOUTHERN

SEPT. 14 MEMPHIS

Memphis, Tennessee

SEPT. 15

women’s soccer GSU Soccer Complex

7 P.M.

7 P.M.

Atlanta United FC COLORADO

SEPT. 16

women’s soccer

atlanta falcons

SOUTH ALABAMA

3:30 P.M.

Commerce City, Colorado

SEPT. 16 GSU Soccer Complex

11 A.M.

Clinton, South Carolina

ATLANTA SPORTS

SEPT. 14

FOOTBALL

7 P.M.

DAVIDSON

men’s soccer

women’s golf

PRESBYTERIAN

Memphis, Tennessee

SEPT. 15

SEPT. 15

1 P.M.

CAROLINA

1 P.M.

Mercedes-Benz Stadium

SUN BELT CONFERENCE FOOTBALL STANDINGS

COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREDICTIONS

EAST DIVISION

JOSHUA FIFE

school

Staff Reporter

overall

opponent

GEORGIA SOUTHERN

2-0

CLEMSON

APPALACHIAN STATE

1-1

SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI

COASTAL CAROLINA

1-1

CAMPBELL

GEORGIA STATE

1-1

MEMPHIS

TROY

1-1

NEBRASKA

WEST DIVISION

SCAN HERE TO JOIN US!

VOLLEYBALL

school

overall

GEORGIA STATE V. MEMPHIS

MEMPHIS

LSU V. AUBURN

LSU

WEST VIRGINIA V. NC STATE

WEST VIRGINIA

BOISE STATE V. OKLAHOMA STATE

BOISE STATE

TEXAS STATE V. SOUTH ALABAMA

TEXAS STATE

OHIO STATE V. TCU

OHIO STATE

USC V. TEXAS

TEXAS

opponent

ULM

2-0

OPEN

LOUISIANA

1-0

MISSISSIPPI STATE

ARKANSAS STATE

1-1

TULSA

TEXAS STATE

1-1

SOUTH ALABAMA

ALABAMA STATE

0-2

TEXAS STATE