Vol. 89, No. 24

VOL. 89 | NO. 24 04 / 09 / 22 EST. 1933

Independent, Impactful & Impartial

In Opinions:

When does “woke” justice go too far?

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IN THIS ISSUE : In News: Blue lights come to the panther campus Pg. 05 Rob Lanier named Finalist for Ben Jobe Award Pg. 13

georgiastatesignal.com @gsusignal

Editor’s Note Thank you so much to all of our readers and supporters, please enjoy the eleventh issue of the semester!

-Deena

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THE BLOTTER

April 12, 2022

WWW.GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM/NEWS

CRIME BLOTTER

APR 6TH

“I Got Lost, I’m New Here”

GSU PD arrived at Patton Hall on April 6th in the early afternoon, after reports of suspicious activity happening at the residential facility. GSU PD is still investigating the case and has a suspect that is affiliated with GSU.

“Sorry, Wrong Building”

On Apr. 6th GSU PD reported to the Student

NEWS BRIEFS

Center East at 55 Gilmer Street in the afternoon for reports of Criminal Trespass. The perpetrator was not affiliated with GSU and was arrested at the scene of the crime.

“You Paying For That?”

Wednesday evening GSU PD responded to a call at the Walgreens on 25 Peachtree Street SE for reports of theft and larceny. The suspect was arrested at the scene of the crime and had no affiliation with

Georgia State.

APRIL 8TH

“Just a Late Night Stroll”

At 2:15 am, Friday morning GSU PD came across a trespasser in the N Deck. The suspect was cleared to leave the scene of the crime under undisclosed circumstances.

The suspect was not affiliated with Georgia State.

LOCAL

NATIONAL

INTERNATIONAL

Hartsfield Jackson Airport is Back on Top

Historic Confirmation for Justice Kentaji Jackson Brown

NATO Prepared to Add Two Countries This Summer

After taking second place to China’s Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport last year, Hartsfield Jackson is once again the World’s Busiest Airport boasting an astounding 76 million passengers last year.

Hartsfield held the title of busiest airport for 22-years before 2020; the streak was broken during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The Airports Council International stated that Hartsfield growth in passengers was roughly 77% more than what was done in 2020. The ACI also supplied data that there could be a much bigger uptick in travel in the back half of 2022.

On Thursday, Apr. 7th Judge Jackson was confirmed as the first Black woman to the Supreme Court. Justice Jackson will take her seat on the bench this summer after the retirement of Justice Stephen Breyer.

United States officials stated that NATO memberships are open for Sweden and Finland for this summer.

Since the Ukraine Invasion there have been NATO troops deployed through Eastern Europe and a rise in public support for the Nordic countries to gain membership to NATO. Conversation is going on and expected to end in June to decide whether Finland will accept a membership into NATO. Sweden has been against joining NATO for many years however they have changed their position due to recent events.

NEWS

April 12, 2022

WWW.GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM/NEWS

The three SGA Presidential Candidates taking audience questions on April 6, 2022.

PHOTO COURTESY OF PRN BROADCAST.

Student Government Association debates Student Government candidates speak on campus issues TARA WOODIN Staff Reporter

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n Tuesday night, 2022-23, Student Government hopefuls gathered on stage to debate topics ranging from accessibility of the Student Government Association (SGA) to campus safety and inclusion of international, commuter and Perimeter-campus students.

The debate included three Speaker of the Senate candidates, one uncontested Executive Vice President and three President hopefuls of varying experience, moderated by Panther Report News Director Melissa Perez and The Signal Editor-in-Chief Deena Kayyali.

other candidates by her extensive experience. She said as Speaker that she plans to be present at events to bridge the gap between the SGA and the students.

She will also have a specific GroupMe where students could issue their questions to her directly and immediately. She said she aims to be an ear and voice for the students to allow them to communicate their thoughts on safety, resources and access.

“I will have access to the larger university community,” she said. “I will be able to transmute the information and effect change as I already have on campus.”

Speaker of the Senate:

Executive Vice President:

Jordan Madden is a 17-year-old freshman speaker candidate.

His campaign slogan is ‘together we can make a difference.”

Madden said he wanted to revitalize Panther Involvement Network (PIN) to make finding organizations more userfriendly. He plans to create opportunities through SGA social media to let students know about SGA and the events.

He would like to get Atlanta Police Department (APD) and Georgia State Police Department (GSP) in a forum with the students so they can hear that the students do not feel protected when they’re around.

“We don’t feel like they have our best interests at heart,” he said, “and so I believe that it’s a crucial key to [prosper] those relationships for students.”

Qayla Shipp is a freshman criminal justice major. She wants to bridge the gap between the senators and fellow student government.

She said many commuter students might struggle to make events that happen on the same day every week. She wants to implement a mandate that moves events to a different day of the week each time to give all students a chance to be involved.

She also plans to create a student questionnaire and a more significant social media presence for SGA. “Most of us are on Snapchat, Instagram,” she said. “I think SGA should take the time to revamp their social media because [that’s] how we’re reaching our fellow millennials and Gen-Z people.”

Tanjanae Walker is a senior and says she is set apart from her

Freshman Devi Patel is the uncontested candidate for Executive Vice President.

She promotes trash pickup, increasing the number of recycling bins and working with Georgia State’s environmental science department to incorporate compost from the dining hall’s organic food waste.

She proposed establishing communication with GSP to make them aware of the safety concerns of the female students.

She also wants to provide students with the tools to protect themselves by providing a helpline for students to call to get a ride to their dorm or car and panic whistles.

Patel wants to strengthen the connectedness of commuter and international students through club fairs. She also wants to collaborate with students on their needs through social media and student questionnaires.

President:

Anthonio Prince is an international student majoring in Biology and recently holds a position on SGA. He wants to focus on getting general feedback from the students instead of pushing out a preconceived agenda.

“I will put a tablet in each library on campus to [ask] for feedback,” he said. “I want to rebrand the SGA website, so it’s easier to put ideas and thoughts. Also, I will go to the students to increase accessibility and, of course, active listening.”

He said he would create events to bridge the gap between athlete and non-athlete students and bring more awareness to

Greek organizations.

Prince’s top concern is expanding mental health resources by increasing counselors and working with companies willing to offer extended trials to students.

Kirsten McManus is a freshman with no previous student government experience.

She believes that her experience as a leader on projects and with her organizations in high school have solidified her leadership qualities well enough for her to learn the duties of SGA president quickly.

“A student in college is not going to have all the experience immediately,” she said. “A leader does not need a list of experience to be somebody who can lead a group, guide people and lead them toward greatness.”

She hopes to extend the hours of the restaurants on campus and work with campus police to increase security by adding patrol officers and stations placed around campus to alert the police if someone is in immediate danger.

She plans to increase student involvement and promote accessibility of the SGA and inclusion of perimeter, international and commuter students by creating more events.

Ira Livnat is a fourth-year undergraduate, first-year at Georgia State College of Law and current House Speaker. He has been active in the student government for most of his time at Georgia State and has a list of past and current projects he’s involved in.

As President, he said he would still have much to do.

“We have to get the Fair Fund Act passed, Standards and Reviews sent out, get the blue lights (security cameras) installed and ensure the student organizations on the fourth floor do not get evicted and not get charged $4,000 per year. We need stamina, endurance and someone who can adjust and work on something they didn’t know they had to work on.”

He said the most pressing issue is engagement, but the student government is not a catch-all. He said the United Students Organization could increase the funding so the organizations can have the resources to market for themselves.

“Nobody knows how to market the organizations better than the organization,” he said, “so we need to give them the ability to do that, and that’s what we’re doing.”

Voting is open on April 11-14 and is available on PIN.

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THE SIGNAL

TUESDAY, APRIL 12, 2022

Worker solidarity comes to Amazon Staten Island warehouse unionizes, more file for elections.

ADAM DUFFY News Editor

O

n Apr. 1, Amazon warehouse JFK 8 on Staten Island tallied the final votes from their recent union election.

The union won with 70% of the vote.

This victory for the workers at JFK 8 is a historic moment in the realm of labor movements of the 21st century.

The union involved in this election is one created solely by Amazon workers.

Christian Smalls started it at the beginning of the pandemic to combat what he saw as unethical working conditions within Amazon’s warehouses.

Smalls was fired shortly after starting the union.

While it is illegal to fire a worker for trying to create a union, an investigation into Smalls’ firing couldn’t prove beyond a reasonable doubt that it was the cause for the firing.

The firing would not deter Smalls, who would continue to fight for unionization for the next two years. These efforts were heavily pushed back

by Amazon.

The e-commerce giant poured millions of dollars into an anti-union campaign that they spread to all of their warehouses in the U.S. Amazon sent corporate representatives to hold seminars on the detriments of worker unionization.

Talk of unions in the workplace was banned and was punishable by suspension or termination.

Amazon banned certain union-related words from being said on the internal Amazon worker chatting app. Some of these words included “union,” “restroom,” and “freedom.”

Internal messages from the highest levels of Amazon corporate also portrayed a grim picture.

The company intentionally wanted Smalls to be the face of the union movement because they thought he was “not smart or literate.”

Amazon believed that if Smalls were the face of the labor movement, it would fail. They were wrong.

A supermajority

of workers at this key distribution center has voted to unionize. Amazon has filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, and they say the votes are fraudulent and demand a recount.

The NLRB complaint is likely to go nowhere, and if the union vote does maintain, it may change the landscape of blue-collar work forever.

The impact of a single location unionizing can be felt in every warehouse.

This month, another contentious union election will happen in a Bessemer, Alabama location. Several other locations have begun the initial steps of filing for elections.

There is a precedent for this domino effect in recent memory. At Starbucks, what started as a single location in Buffalo, New York, voting to unionize has turned into over a hundred locations nationwide, including one in Atlanta.

If Amazon warehouses around the country can unionize to the same or greater extent as Starbucks, it could have massive implications for the country.

The Amazon Labor Union seeks to improve the pay and working conditions of Amazon warehouse workers.

Amazon warehouse workers start at a base pay of $19/hour for reference.

While this figure is very high compared to the average minimum wage in a field like food service, it is far lower than the national average for all warehouse workers, which sits closer to $30/hour.

Also, a recent study has shown that the level of workplace injuries at Amazon, both minor and significant, is far higher than that of other warehouse workers.

These are the types of things this union effort is trying to help. If they are successful, it will lead to a drastic improvement in the lives of the near one million people working for Amazon and millions more around the nation.

The Georgia State University Police Precent on campus. Located near Woodruff Park.

PHOTO BY HARRY WYMAN | THE SIGNAL

Blue lights come to the panther blue campus Police called on tardy students, blue light initiative ADAM DUFFY News Editor

P

olice called on tardy students:

On Mar. 30, two students at the Newton campus were late to class.

Their professor called campus police on the two students in response to this.

Against what the professor may have hoped for, the students did not receive any disciplinary action against them.

The professor has since been removed from teaching in-person classes.

While the students faced no unjust disciplinary action from the professor or campus police, this incident points to a more significant issue between faculty, students and safety measures at Georgia State.

Since this incident, meetings between the Dean of Students Michael Sanseviro, Chief of Georgia State Police Anthony Coleman, Georgia State Provost Nicolle Parsons-Pollard and Speaker of Atlanta Campus Senate Ira Livnat have occurred to rectify this situation and discuss improvements in campus safety.

In response to the Newton campus incident, Chief Coleman will develop a training video for all Georgia State faculty on properly using Georgia State safety measures such as campus police.

The Office of the Provost will mandate this training university-wide.

Blue Light Initiative:

While this incident may be over, there is still an extended conversation

about the safety of students on Georgia State campuses that people need to have.

Each week on the Atlanta campus, there are two to three reported cases of students being the victims of physical crimes such as theft, assault or sexual harassment.

GSU PD and Speaker Livnat are spearheading a new initiative to install blue light security boxes around campus.

The GSU PD designed these blue lights are designed to deter crime before it happens. These lights will be placed all around campus, allowing students to be in touch with authorities at the press of a button.

Blue lights are also placed near security cameras, letting everyone know that things done within their light are recorded.

This factor is used in tandem with increased GSU PD patrol cars shining the same blue lights as these boxes.

This fact is intended to create an atmosphere where would-be criminals are deterred by the blue lights, believing a law enforcement officer could be just around the corner.

This initiative’s intention to create both a reality and a perception of safety is an important matter for Speaker Livnat.

In an interview with the Signal, Livnat explained this dynamic. “We need to make sure students are safe, but they also need to feel safe. We get into

a big issue with mental health when students don’t feel like it is safe to go out somewhere.”

A supply chain shortage of the necessary technology and a lack of personnel are cited as reasons why more blue lights and cameras haven’t been set up around campus by GSU PD. This lack of personnel has led GSU PD to hire private security firms to fill the gaps in their duties.

Livnat takes issue with these reasons.

In the interview, he stated.

“It’s a simple thing they can do to increase the safety environment. It’s a bad situation, but it doesn’t excuse us from addressing the problem. If the University can spend thousands of dollars on stadiums and parking garages, they can put money towards safety.”

Livnat believes that this blue light initiative would serve as an excellent first step toward repairing the strained relationship between campus police and the student body.

Suppose you would like a way to have your campus’ first responders available in your pocket. Download the Live Safe app and use your Georgia State login.

While the blue light initiative may not eliminate crime at Georgia State, its completion would serve to better students’ lives on all Georgia State campuses.

OPINIONS

April 12, 2022

WWW.GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM/OPINIONS

The reality of dating in college The good, the bad and the not so ugly

A

ALANNA JACOB Staff Columnist

fter 19 years of living a single life, I spent every waking moment of May through July of 2021 with my first boyfriend.

We were good friends for years and finally decided that we wanted more. These three months were arguably the best three months of my life. I was in a new relationship.

It was summer. It was hot, and it was perfect.

The dreaded month of August rolled around, and reality hit us both. We would be leaving for college: 8 hours, 15 minutes and 510 miles away from each other (cheesy, I know).

I had no positive expectations for our relationship. How could you blame me?

Going into college, the most repeated warnings I received were: do not take an 8 a.m. and do not get in a relationship. People always told me that the stage of life I was in at the time was the wrong time to be in a relationship.

It’s the freshman year of high school, and you can’t get in a relationship!

We’re only sophomores, and there’s no need to commit to someone that way.

Junior year is the hardest year of high school, so you shouldn’t focus on dating.

It’s senior year, and we’re leaving for college. Do not get in a relationship.

That pattern continues into college.

I defied rules and got into a long distance relationship as a college athlete and with a college athlete. A terrifying predicament to be in emotionally.

The truth is, there is no wrong time.

College is the best time for dating. It’s real. Unlike high school, you’re not in an environment where you see your significant other every day.

One of the hardest transitions from high school to college is mastering time management, which is also one of the most complex parts of being in a relationship. Like anything else, practice makes perfect.

You’re building communication skills, learning about what you want, and growing from the experience. We are supposed to connect with people and learn from them, whether or not the relationship flourishes.

We can’t ignore the reason college relationships are out of style: hook-up culture.

We all hate it but somehow cannot seem to escape it. We are stuck in a cycle of uncommitted and usually unfulfilling sexual encounters due to our lack of honest communication.

We overestimate our peers’ participation in hooking up, which averages two hookups per year, but we also over-emphasize our own experiences.

Although we consider ourselves against it, we are more likely to discuss positive sexual experiences and avoid talking about bad ones, reinforcing our peers’ perception of our sexual behavior.

The dissatisfaction and false realities of hookup culture are evident.

Why continue to let it consume us?

In opposition, when dating in college, you reap the benefits. You are less likely to experience feelings of depression and loneliness when you have a romantic partner to go through college.

You also learn a lot about yourself in relationships while having emotional and financial support and guidance. Not to mention the sexual health benefits that come with having one partner.

Now, I am not saying you should throw away your plans of self-discovery and spend your college years seeking a partner.

You still need to focus on yourself, but dating in college is fun. If the opportunity comes your way, don’t run from it.

Building meaningful relationships is an integral part of our college experience. So go on that dinner, slide in that DM and start dating.

PHOTO BY JONATHAN BORBA ON UNSPLASH.COM

Remember the women who came before us Powerful women are put on the backburner in our classrooms.

W

LUIZA DE ABREU

Staff Columnist

omen like Rosa Parks, Maya Angelou and Harriet Tubman are familiar to us. We know these women’s names and stories, but what about all the other women left out of the narrative?

Powerful women of color built this country, yet we can only name a handful. Schools teach us about the men who built the patriarchal society we live in today in school.

Powerful women are put on the backburner in our classrooms. It is up to us to educate ourselves on these incredible women.

I’m sure you have heard of HeLa cells. These “immortal” cells have single-handedly changed the face of modern science. Scientists use these cells to further unprecedented scientific research.

Without her consent, doctors took these HeLa cells from a cervical cancer patient, Henrietta Lacks. Neither Lacks nor her family has ever received any reparations or financial compensation for a doctor stealing her DNA and using it without her knowledge.

Martha P. Johnson was a black transgender woman living in New York in the 1960s.

At this time in history, it was illegal for people of the same sex even to dance together or wear clothing that didn’t match one’s biological gender. So basically, it was illegal to be gay or trans in public.

Johnson was tired of being harassed by police for simply being who she was. She was a massive force in the Stonewall Riots of 1969 and helped start the first big wave of LGBTQ+ activism.

Due to people like Martha P. Johnson that the LGBTQ+ community has made such

huge strides, Martha P. Johnson walked the Black-Queer community could run.

Another incredible woman you might not know about is Rosalind Franklin. Franklin discovered the double helix. This groundbreaking genetic discovery was made mainly due to her extensive data research. Yet, all credit for the discovery went to her three male counterparts.

Still, it gets worse.

After she died of cancer at 38-years-old, one of the three male scientists published a book about “his” discovery of the double helix, in which he made many personal insults about Franklin.

Countless powerful women have been taken advantage of and completely forgotten in our country’s history. These three are just a few examples.

Women have been taught to be quiet and submissive. We’ve been taught that our accomplishments don’t mean as much as a man’s.

No more.

We must do everything we can to remember these women and amplify their stories.

We must use our voices to shout the praises of the women that came before us.

I will end with the words of Audre Lorde, a Black, LGBTQ+, feminist, author and poet.

“I write for those women who do not speak, those who do not have a voice because they were so terrified because we are taught to respect fear more than ourselves. We’ve been taught that silence would save us, but it won’t.”

TUESDAY, APRIL 12, 2022

OPINIONS

7

The issues with finding justice Justice is a figure of speech

S GABBY MILLER Staff Columnist

ome of us might think about the police whenever someone thinks about our justice system. Police have a significant role in this system because they are the ones that have the authority to make an arrest when someone breaks the

law.

On the other hand, some people might think about corrupt cops or the pushiness of some journalists who want the latest scoop on a case. It is sad to say no one truly gets justice in the end.

Unless someone gets murdered, our justice system doesn’t care. What about if a woman gets assaulted? Nine out of ten times, the courts would blame women for the assault. Yet, most of our justice system allows violators to walk free before incarceration.

This fact is a significant problem with sexual assault cases. According to RAINN, our justice system, out of 1,000 sexual assault cases, 975 of them would walk free.

However, when talking about sexual assault, only 310 people report it, with only fifty reports resulting in an arrest and only 25 resulting in incarceration.

This fact proves that most who report sexual assault incidents are likely to be ignored according to other people’s beliefs about sexual assault.

Our justice system fails to see those who commit such crimes as a danger to society, especially those who are part of the rich and powerful.

Those who come from money tend to get better treatment than those who do not. Most of these offenders get a free pass when they flash their wealth around the poor and the desperate.

No one seems to care about a crime until it becomes a homicide case. However, people are only looking after themselves at the end of the day. So, when a murder takes place, people start to become worried about the possibility of being the next victim in a case.

It is human nature to be more concerned with yourself, especially if your life might be in danger. Because of this fear, murder cases tend to make more publicity than assaults, robberies, and other crimes that did not result in murder.

Most of the time, our justice system does not deliver justice. After a long list of crimes, the most charming characters tend to avoid punishment.

These people usually end up receiving bail or being let off the hook.

These acts could be dangerous because the person could hurt more people after getting bailed out or receiving a not guilty sentence in court.

These people could end up hurting more people. Moreover, by giving them this short period of freedom, they could keep harming

others, whether by murder, assault or even robbery.

This little window of opportunity could indeed mess someone’s life up.

Unfortunately, not everyone is willing to face the music of their punishment.

So if they get off on bail, do not expect them to visit court to face their punishment head-on.

Getting justice is a nice thing to think about, especially in how people are today.

However, true justice does not exist. Justice is just a fancy term to accept the bad things that happened to a person. The person is paying for their action, so that does their act okay in the eyes of the law.

But it does not make anything better even after that guilty sentence. No one ever wins when someone is trying to find justice.

GRAPHIC BY LAURYN JOHNSON | THE SIGNAL

Poor costuming

The rise of working-class aesthetics

C TERRANCE DAVIS

Staff Columnist

ultural appropriation is, at this point, a commonly understood practice in which members of a dominant culture adopt the images, motifs, and styles of another culture, typically with no, or very little acknowledgment of the community from which it came.

The different cultures in a country as diverse as the United States have always served as inspiration for fashion designers.

Over the past few years, the pieces and clothing styles from working-class subcultures have been appropriated and celebrated by runway designers and other fashion elites.

While fashion draws inspiration from various sources worldwide, there are a few eyebrow-raising aspects to this type of appropriation.

The practice of very wealthy individuals dressing down is nothing new, and very simple, plain clothing styles have more or less constantly been a part of the “old money” idea.

A glance at any Kennedy family photo will feature nothing but plain-looking Brooks Brothers shirts and sweaters adorned with the family crest.

Much of this has to do with the culture surrounding the multi-generationally wealthy, as ideas of status and heritage are of great importance in their social spaces.

Outside of these prestige groups, other very wealthy individuals have opted for simple clothing styles, especially American billionaires such as Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs. They committed themselves to the same ensemble for every Keynote.

What separates recent trends from these performances of wealth is a clear and intentional inspiration from and co-opting of working-class emblems, such as workwear, pre-distressed clothing and oversized fits.

The problem with this lies in the fact that while poverty is not necessarily a culture, those who live in poverty often have limited choices in what they can wear.

There is plenty of evidence to suggest that high fashion brands consider the looks being served by the economically disenfranchised are very exciting.

I live in a city with an endemic number of homeless people, and I must admit that I have been jealous of the outfits I have seen them wear.

The treatment of these conditions that real people must face daily as what is effectively a costume does a lot more to trivialize the experience of poverty than to celebrate it.

The ever-growing class divide throughout most liberal democracies fans the flames on both this trend and the backlash supporting it.

The practice gets even more problematic when considering that wealth and race are inextricably linked in America, and because of this, cultures end up being appropriate.

This is seen in the recent trend of Chicano makeup and styles on TikTok. This fact becomes even more alarming when we consider that the Chicano movement, in general, has its roots in Mexican-American anti-assimilation.

Social media posts by famous and wealthy celebrities have turned many people off to celebrity culture as the dire conditions of the pandemic exposed the truly out-oftouch nature that many of the world’s elites hold towards those who make less money than them.

It can be effortless for them to see someone who looks “cool” or “edgy” not considering that maybe those without homes don’t prefer to have deconstructed shoes.

It almost seems pointless for the rich to be indulging in such styles. Perhaps it’s a bit of a tease to say, “I can afford to dress how I want, but I’ll take what you have.”

While the complaints may not seem that deep, the trend does show a clear fetishism for the working class that many wealthy people have.

While a distressed pair of Golden Goose sneakers may be exciting for someone with an unlimited disposable income, the mindset behind these trends largely ignores the desperate circumstances from which the pieces that inspire homeless-chic arise out of.

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Mr. Michael Shapiro removed as CASA’s Pre-law coordinator When “woke” justice goes too far Kalin M. Williams - Staff Columnist

W hen an organization chastises honest people for performing their duty in good faith, there is a problem.

The Georgia State University office of provost recently removed long time-distinguished clinical professor in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, Michael Shapiro, from his position as Georgia State’s Pre-law Faculty coordinator for the Center for the Advancement of Students and Alumni program (CASA).

CASA’s stated goals are to inspire students to pursue advanced degrees and professional careers, support the concrete steps required to enter into graduate and professional programs and sustain relationships with alumni.

As CASA’s Pre-law coordinator, Mr. Shapiro, who has taught on the collegiate level for over 20 years and has been a prestigious member of the Georgia bar since 1981, has provided access to various immersive law school initiatives for current and prospective law students.

He has been responsible for organizing tours to highly esteemed law schools such as Emory University. He regularly facilitates educational conversations with law school students, graduates and legal field experts.

In addition, Mr. Shapiro has shown a demonstrated capacity for motivating students to enroll in LSAT programming to increase their likelihood of being admitted into U.S. law schools.

His removal comes as a shock especially considering how it occurred. In good faith and in his desire to provide a great learning opportunity for Georgia State’s current and prospective law students, Mr. Shapiro sought to have, as a guest, defense lawyer Robert Rubin for a 25-minute virtual conversation.

In this conversation, Mr. Rubin would answer students’ questions about his recent high-profile case in which he defended Travis and Gregory Michael, Ahmaud Arbery’s now convicted killers. Both Travis and Gregory Michael are currently serving life sentences.

After Mr. Shapiro posted the flyer for the meeting with Mr. Rubin publicly aired, some students felt the flyer, which juxtaposed a picture of Mr. Rubin and Ahmaud Arbery, was racially insensitive, given the freshness of the case.

These students pressed Mr. Shapiro to remove or alter the flyer.

Students then called for an apology from Mr. Shapiro for being racially insensitive. Mr. Shapiro told the students that he would if the university asked him to apologize.

I assume this is because he felt he had done nothing that required an apology. Frankly, I’m inclined to agree.

Apologies given for dubious claims of wrongdoing rarely satisfy those demanding the apology. At this, the university provost removed Mr. Shapiro from his position as CASA’s pre-law director.

Some students expressed that they would have preferred if Mr. Shapiro had instead brought the prosecutor from the Arbery case to speak

or only used Mr. Rubin’s face on the flyer.

Perhaps the student body might not have been so upset if Mr. Shapiro had implemented these ideas.

However, we don’t know this to be true. Maybe there would have been as much pushback if the flyer only contained Mr. Rubin’s face.

After all, many students felt that simply having the defense attorney for Arbery’s killers address the law school was foul play. This situation is where we must separate emotion from rationality, painful though it may be.

The simple fact is that Mr. Shapiro arranged for an overwhelmingly experienced criminal defense attorney to speak to those in the CASA cohort about a high-profile case.

This fact exemplifies his role as a clinical professor in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology. Organizing this meeting is what one would expect someone in his position to do.

His removal was uncalled for; certainly not a total expulsion from a position he has held and excelled in for a considerable time.

While there is nothing wrong with asking someone to change or alter a flyer, it is wrong to pressure them to do so under the pretense that their intentions are racially motivated. Mr. Shapiro has never demonstrated, at least in his capacity as CASA director, racist tendencies.

There is no way to tell if Mr. Shapiro has a preferential predisposition towards the white race. If he does, would his use of both Mr. Rubin’s and Ahmaud Arbery’s faces on the marketing flyer prove this? No. Most of the students who protested Mr. Shapiro most likely did not know that Mr. Rubin defended Dana Evans, a Black Atlanta principal and educator accused and convicted of RICO and making a false statement.

Mr. Rubin has defended people accused of serious crimes as a former public defender. His job is to represent them respectfully, no matter their crime.

This fact is what the students overlooked when they fought against Mr. Rubin’s forthcoming.

Several prospective law students privately wrote to me that Mr. Rubin’s virtual meeting with students was a rare learning opportunity and would have been highly beneficial.

These students felt the fleeting emotions of others sabotaged their legal education. Valid emotions? Yes. Nevertheless, students who wished to further their legal education through Mr. Rubin’s trial wisdom were robbed.

In addition, those students offended by the flyer and Mr. Rubin’s scheduled meeting could have protested simply with their absence and chosen not to attend.

To rob one’s fellow students of a prime educational opportunity demonstrates selfishness and disregard for others’ preferences.

I would see the office of the provost return Mr. Shapiro to his position as CASA’s coordinator, assuming he would take it back and that the university step in next time to change the flyer themselves.

There are certain advantages conferred upon the office of the provost. It should utilize them.

PHOTOS BY HARRY WYMAN AND LAYOUT BY EVAN KOENIGS | THE SIGNAL

ARTS & LIVING

WWW.GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM/ARTSANDLIVING

“OLIVIA RODRIGO: driving home 2 u” debuts exclusively on Disney+ on March 25, 2022.

April 12, 2022

LIVIA RODRIGO: DRIVING HOME 2 U (A SOUR FILM) - INTERSCOPE RECORDS

“Driving Home 2 U” released on Disney +

Olivia Rodrigo’s film “Driving Home 2 U” gives an intimate look into the making of “Sour” GRACE BRASWELL Associate Arts & Living Editor

S

ince the release of her debut album “Sour” last May, Olivia Rodrigo’s heartfelt lyrics, versatile sound and sweetly seventeen demeanor has taken the world by storm.

A year after its release, Rodrigo still blew the music industry away with her album continuously being ranked on the Billboard 200 chart. The album most recently made Rodrigo a Grammy winner.

Months before the release of her album, Rodrigo released her single “Driver’s License,” a melodic ballad about a heart-wrenching breakup that does the job to capture just what it’s like to fall in and out of love as a teenager.

In “Sour,” Rodrigo perfectly describes what it is like to feel heartache at such a young age, keeping her emotionally gutting lyrics relatable to her audience, while keeping her story authentic to herself and her situations.

Now, almost a year since Sour dropped, Rodrigo has continued to tell her story with a documentary that can be found on Disney+ called “Olivia Rodrigo: Driving Home 2 U (A Sour Film),” where Rodrigo takes audiences on the road from Salt Lake City, where she first began to write “Sour,” to Los Angeles.

“I’ve done this road trip so many times between LA and Salt Lake,” Rodrigo said in the film’s trailer. “I just wanted to tell people what was going on in the back of my head and that I was proud and not ashamed.”

Throughout the film, Rodrigo explains the processes she experienced while writing and recording her tripleplatinum debut album that made the Disney star rise to the amount of fame she currently holds.

The story is told through a series of intimate interviews with the teenage artist, memories of writing and creating “Sour,” several live arrangements of the songs from “Sour,” and clips of the recording process that have never been shown until now.

Each of the live arrangement performances from the documentary has a different vibe based on what song Rodrigo is performing from the album.

She lays out the scene for each performance in a way that enhances the music, creating an intimate and

exclusive feel for audiences.

Each performance strips down the original song to just instrumentalists and Rodrigo, making it seem like viewers are sitting in a small and intimate listening room with Rodrigo or attending something similar to a tiny desk performance.

While the songs are still the same as on the album, Rodrigo gives each of them a twist, performing with that same raw vulnerability that made the world fall in love with her.

“

“Driving Home 2 U,” is personal and emotional, diving into the sentimental, dramatic and heartrending rollercoaster of emotions that Rodrigo felt as a heartbroken teenager — GRACE BRASWELL

”

Associate Arts & Living Editor

Throughout the film “Driving Home 2 U,” Rodrigo pours an authentic version of herself into living rooms, telling stories throughout the film, joking with her

bandmates, recounting heartwarming moments from the making of the album and unfolding emotive stories that make “Sour” even more personal than it was before.

“I’ve always been so attracted to music,” Olivia Rodrigo states in “Driving Home 2 U.” “I think being a songwriter is actually, like, the best job and the best craft. There’s nothing that connects people, and there’s nothing that’s like, a truer window into human emotion than music.”

“Driving Home 2 U” is personal and emotional, diving into the sentimental, dramatic and heart-rending rollercoaster of emotions that Rodrigo felt like a heartbroken teenager with a passion for writing music and telling stories.

Rodrigo does things throughout the film that seem so personal, and it feels as if you’re there with her.

Rodrigo reads from her journal at the beginning of the film, explaining the day she got her driver’s license and why this moment in her life impacted her enough to write what would become an insanely popular and successful song for Rodrigo.

“Jul. 13 , 2020. I got my driver’s license today, a very highly anticipated achievement,” Rodrigo read.

“All my relatives called to congratulate me. I realized part of the reason I wanted to get my license so bad was because of… this boy. I always felt bad about being too young to be able to drive over to see him. Too young to have any real freedom.”

“I always thought he should be with a girl who had those liberties. I feel his hold on me loosen more and more lately. That’s a lovely feeling. I’m still [unable] to fall for anyone else, though. I can’t even fathom it at the moment.”

“Driving Home 2 U” is overflowing with a vulnerability that very few can share how Olivia Rodrigo shares.

While “Sour” contained the perfect mix of emotion, “Driving Home 2 U” adds a softness to these songs that continue to let Rodrigo’s stories live, move and breathe throughout those who listen and understand exactly what it’s like to experience heartbreak at such a young age.

ARTS&LIVING

TUESDAY, APRIL 12, 2022

11

New CROWN Act aims to prohibit hair-based discrimination This bill prevents discrimination based on hair.

KARA MARTIN Staff Reporter

O

n Mar. 18, the House passed the CROWN Act of 2022, prohibiting discrimination based on the style and texture of someone’s hair.

The acronym “CROWN” stands for Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair and aims to dissolve bias against natural hairstyles.

The CROWN Act was initially introduced in January 2019 in California by a coalition of Black women with hopes of ending hair-based discrimination nationwide.

After being signed into law later that year on Jul. 14, other states would prohibit discrimination based on the texture and style of someone’s hair.

Although many people are satisfied with this new bill, having this ban from the start would have been even better. Throughout history, traditional hairstyles worn

by Black people have always been the topic of discussion or a trend.

“Racial and national origin discrimination can and do occur because of longstanding racial and national origin biases and stereotypes associated with hair texture and style,” according to the bill.

“For example, people of African descent are [routinely] deprived of educational and employment opportunities because they are adorned with natural or protective hairstyles. [Their] hair is tightly coiled or tightly curled, or worn in locks, cornrows, twists, braids, Bantu knots or Afros.”

From wearing cornrows to dreadlocks, non-Black people have gotten away with wearing these styles, and people praise them for being different.

On the other hand, many have forced Black people to modify or eliminate a specific style as it has been deemed inappropriate and distracting at work, school and sporting events.

Many witnessed hair-

based discrimination at a New Jersey high school wrestling match in 2018, where a young player received an ultimatum to either cut his locks off or forfeit the game.

Although he won the match that day, he looked visibly upset before and after, given the blatant discrimination he faced.

The referee who made this call claimed the player did not satisfy the rules regarding long hair.

Following this incident, authorities banned the referee for two years, and the school was required to provide bias training to all coaches, trainers and administrators.

Jacob Rush III is another student who has faced discrimination due to the texture and style of his hair.

His mother homeschooled him, but he later decided he wanted to attend public school to have a traditional graduation ceremony.

After his mother applied to move forward with Jacob’s ceremony, she received a rejection email from the school.

The school claimed his hair did not abide by their guidelines, and he would have to cut it to move forward with his graduation process.

Rush’s mother would swiftly create a petition online that brought a lot of attention to the school, Abeka Academy.

After facing backlash from the public, the Christian school would later apologize and vow to remove the dreadlock style from its discriminatory policy.

These policies, guidelines and rules at jobs, schools and sports are often created with Eurocentric standards and features. Often these strict policies are rooted in systemic racism to keep Black people out of whitedominated spaces.

With this new bill, humiliating moments such as these will not end all at once overnight, but it is a positive step in the right direction.

Many love the intensity of acting in front of an audience

ILLUSTRATION BY SHEMAR DEBELLOTTE | THE SIGNAL

The Improv Club

Expect live performances of this daunting and hilarious form of comedy DARREN LANG Staff Reporter

F

our people stand upright in front of a crowd of onlookers. “Blah blah blah BLAH,” exclaims the first person while maintaining a serious demeanor.

The second person interprets, “The duck goes quack. My name is Jack.”

Immediately person three begins their analysis, “What the poet is talking about is our function in a capitalistic society that places arbitrary values on individuals’ worth.”

Finally, person four drops to the ground and does “The Worm’’ dance.

The onlookers explode into laughter and applause.

The scene described is not a scene out of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest but the Improv club at Georgia State.

The game is called Gibberish Poet and involves people translating gibberish into poetry and then performing an interpretive dance.

Many will see this as quite bizarre, but improv has been a powerful force within the media, training many comedians to perform the comedy we consume today. Many define improve as a form of theater, usually comedic, that involves actors performing spontaneously

without a script.

For many with stage fright, acting in front of an audience expecting to be funny is terrifying, yet many love the intensity.

“I love the randomness of it all. There’s a sense of excitement with going into a scene having NO CLUE what [will] happen in it,” explained Zac Callisto, a member of the new Improv club.

“I wanted to create an outlet where people with shared interests could have a place to create and have fun. I am now glad to say we now have two.”

The newest mainly focuses on performance,” Hunter Regelski, the club’s President, said.

Compared to the original, this improv club is smaller, with a greater focus on honing one’s craft. “One advantage to the smaller group is communication. It’s a lot easier keeping up with 10 people rather than the 40 or so who are on the original Groupme,” Regelski explained.

They meet up one day a week for an hour-long period, playing improv games emphasizing rhythm and stamina.

“The games we play can range from fairly easy to very difficult. It all depends on everyone’s experience with the game

and the situation we decide to go with.

The more we practice a game or similar ones, the better we get at it,” member Ginette Samu said.

This practice is all for the goal of performing live in front of an audience.

Herein lies the theatrical aspect of this randomness happening live, a challenge that comes with a reward for many actors.

“I see it as a way to improve and grow as an actor. Sure it’s scary and a little stressful but pressure makes it more exciting,” Zac Castillo explained.

However, what does an audience get from this experience?

“I think that nowadays people need a good laugh. Sometimes, life can be hard, and just a simple joke can make things easier,” Zac Castillo explained.

Sometimes, we all need a good joke, and the Improv group has more than enough to offer. The members are talented, hard-working and all for cracking jokes.

Details are currently up in the air about future performances but expect to see them be a part of Atlanta City Theater’s Night of Sexy Shorts.

SPORTS

April 12, 2022

WWW.GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM/SPORTS

Best current college basketball players from Atlanta.

Atlanta’s best college basketball players.

JASON RICHBURG Staff Reporter

I

n honor of this year’s NCAA Tournament, we compiled a list of the college hoopers who played the best basketball out of Atlanta this season.

As of late, there have been discussions on what is considered Atlanta ever since rapper Omeretta The Great dropped her popular hit song ‘Sorry NOT Sorry’ where she states all the areas that she considers not Atlanta.

Don’t worry, though. This list will include everyone’s Atlanta.

So, let’s dive in.

KD Johnson - Guard--Atlanta:

Johnson was rated a four-star prospect in high school and was ranked no. 97 by 24/7 sports back in 2020.

Johnson played his high school basketball at Southwest Dekalb for three seasons. He would play his final year at the Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, VA, where he averaged 26 points, seven assists, five rebounds and three steals per game.

In his junior year, he was named Georgia’s Class 5A Player of the Year in 2019.

In his freshman year of college, he played at Georgia, where he averaged 14 points, two steals, and shot 44% from three on six attempts.

After his spectacular freshman season Johnson would shockingly transfer to Auburn, and average 12 points.

Johnson would help the Tigers become one of the best teams in the nation this year, as they secured a second seed in the NCAA Tournament.

In the two tournament games, Johnson averaged 11 points for the Tigers.

Expect the Atlanta native to take a giant leap in his game next year for Bruce Pearl’s Tigers.

Eric Gaines - Guard--Lithonia:

Born in New Jersey, Gaines would become a basketball star in the Dekalb area.

Gaines was ranked as the number 102 prospect by 24/7 sports for the class of 2020.

Gaines would average 19 points, four assists and three

steals per game during his senior year at Lithonia High.

Also, in his senior year, he would become Atlanta JournalConstitution All-Metro Dekalb County Player of the Year and Georgia Coaches Association 5A North Player of the Year.

In his freshman year at LSU, he averaged three points per game in 13 minutes while shooting 22% from the field, but tripled that his sophomore year, averaging nine points while shooting 39% from the field.

This season, Gaines was also the SEC leader in steals per game with 2.1.

Gaines is currently the ninth LSU Tiger to enter the transfer portal after the firing of head coach Will Wade due to NCAA violation allegations.

Wherever Gaines ends up, he will bring a spark to their team and contribute immediately.

Adam Flagler - Guard--Duluth: Seeing a player from Duluth is a shocker for some, but it’s in Gwinnet County, so we’ll count it.

Flager earned first team 6-7A All-region and All-County out of Duluth during his junior and senior years in high school, and is Duluth High School’s all-time leading scorer.

Flagler played his freshman year at Presbyterian, where he averaged 16 points and was named Big South Rookie of the year in 2018-2019.

Shortly after the season, Flager would then transfer to Baylor.

After his redshirt season, Flager played a big part in Baylor’s 2020-21 championship run.

He averaged nine points off the bench and scored 13 points in the championship against the Gonzaga Bulldogs.

Flager would average 14 points and three assists in a full time starting role for the Bears while shooting 44% from the field and 39% from three.

This year, Flager averaged 12 points in the NCAA Tournament, and scored 27 against the North Carolina Tar Heels.

Matthew Cleveland - Guard-- Alpharetta:

Cleveland was named the 2022 ACC Sixth man of the

In honor of this year’s NCAA Tournament, we compiled a list of the college hoopers who played the best basketball out of Atlanta this season.

year in his freshman year after averaging 12 points and five rebounds while shooting 45 percent from the field.

Cleveland was ranked 30th in the nation by ESPN and second in the state of Georgia.

At Pace Academy in 2021, Cleveland averaged 23 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and two steals per game.

Cleveland has a chance to become the next big thing out of Florida State, just like other notable Seminole players such as Jonathan Isaac and Terrance Mann.

Darius Perry - Guard-- Marietta:

Perry is a guard out of Marietta by way of Joseph Wheeler High school.

In high school Perry was ranked 52 nationally by ESPN and averaged 20 points, five assists and four rebounds his senior year.

Perry would then go on to play his first three years of college at Louisville but eventually transfer to UCF. At UCF, he averaged 13 points, four rebounds, four-assist and two steals for the Golden Knights.

Alex O’Connell - Guard-- Roswell:

O’Connell was a former 2017 four-star recruit out of Milton High School.

O’Connell was named Atlanta/North Fulton Player of the Year in his senior year at Milton for basketball.

After high school, O’Connell took his talents to Duke. He was part of one of Duke’s best recruiting class ever, featuring Trevon Duval, Gary Trent Jr, Marvin Bagley III and former Atlanta high school basketball standout Wendell Carter Jr. After three years at Duke, where he averaged four points in 13 minutes, O’Connell transferred to Creighton in 2020.

This year he was an essential piece for the Bluejays averaging 12 points and helping them advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, where he averaged 16 points and shot 45% from the field.

Atlanta has lots of talent in the college ranks, and a lot of them are waiting for the opportunity to display their talents for the rest of the country to see.

PHOTO BY MARKUS SPISKE ON UNSPLASH

SPORTS

TUESDAY, APRIL 12, 2022

13

Men’s

Upcoming Games

VS. Georgia Tech

Women’s

Away Game @ Georgia Tech 04 / 12 / 22 6:00 p.m.

The Georgia State Basketball Coach Rob Lanier.

VS. Texas State

Beach

Away Game @ Texas State University 04 / 12 / 22 7:00 p.m.

VS. South Carolina

Away Game @ University of South Carolina 04 / 15 / 22

11:00 a.m.

PHOTO COURTESY OF GEORGIA STATE ATHLETICS

Rob Lanier named Finalist for Ben Jobe Award

Jobe award named to the top Div. I minority coach ADEBANJI BAMIDELE Staff Reporter

F

ormer Georgia State head coach Rob Lanier was named a finalist for the Ben Jobe National Coach of the Year Award.

The Ben Jobe Award, presented annually to the top Division I minority coach, is named in honor of one of the best men ever to coach college basketball.

Ben Jobe coached in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, at Southern University for 12 seasons. He held a 209-141 record and made four NCAA Tournament Appearances.

Many still regard Southern’s 1993 upset over two-seeded Georgia Tech as one of the greatest upsets in tournament history.

Coach Jobe’s impact was not only on the players on the court but the people off the court in the Baton Rouge community.

Former Alabama men’s basketball coach Avery Johnson, a player under Coch Jobe, had nothing but kind words to say about his impact on him as a man.

“He taught me a lot about [being] a man,” Johnson said. He promised my mom that I would get my degree.”

Coach Lanier embodies everything that Jobe represents.

He was one of the four minority coaches in the Sun Belt Conference and led the only

school out of Georgia to the NCAA Tournament.

The journey to the big dance did not come without many bouts of adversity. The Panthers were plagued with nagging injuries and had several COVID-related game cancellations throughout the season.

When conference play began, the Panthers had their first two games canceled because of COVID; they then hit a roadblock losing all four of their opening conference games.

Lanier kept a calm presence with many disadvantages and everything going against him as the team turned things around and rode a seven-game win streak into the conference tournament.

In the tournament, the Panthers defeated the Arkansas State Red Wolves in the quarterfinals, which set up the revenge game against last year’s champion Appalachian State in the semifinals.

The championship game was nothing short of spectacular as Lanier coached his players into a complete dominance of the Lousiana Ragin’ Cajuns, capturing Georgia States’ fourth Sunbelt title and sixth NCAA tournament appearance.

Since their 0-4 start in conference play, the Panthers flipped a switch and were reeling

on a 10-game win streak as they led the Sun Belt in rebounding, turnover margin and steals.

Lanier’s effect on the Panthers did not go unseen as he was among the 25 coaches named as finalists for the Jobe Award. Memphis head coach, former Orlando Magic star Penny Hardaway and fellow Sun Belt coach Richie Riley of South Alabama were also finalists.

Ultimately, University of Houston’s head coach Kelvin Sampson received the prestigious award as he led the Cougars to a 32-6 overall record and repeated as American Athletic Conference Champions.

Sampson has spent 29 seasons coaching Divison I basketball as he was named AP Coach of the Year in 1995 and has achieved two final four appearances with two different programs.

He also broke down barriers, as when he joined the University of Indiana, he became only the second minority coach in Hoosier history.

As Rob Lanier transitions to his new stage in coaching at Southern Methodist University, it would be to no one’s shock if he is named a finalist once again and ends up even winning the award.

The Kickback

April 12, 2022

WWW.GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM/SPORTS

UPCOMING EVENTS FRIDAY

GSU’s Collegiate Recovery Community Coffee Connection 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.

CRC room

Volunteer Hotline 12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.

Virtual

Arcade Charade 7:30 p.m. - 11:00 p.m.

Student Center

16th Annual Undergrad Math Competition 1:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Aderhold 304

APR 17

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

MONDAY

Easter Sunday

Promotional Table 12:30 p.m. - 1:30p.m.

Unity Plaza

APR 18

Michael Feinberg Jazz Performance 12:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.

Rialto room 150

All-Campus Intramural Basketball Game 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.

GSU Sports Arena

APR 15

THURSDAY APR 14

WEDNESDAY APR 13

TUESDAY

APR 16

APR 12

THE KICKBACK

Sex Education:Sex in the Dark!

7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.

Urban Life 220

TUESDAY, APRIL 12, 2022

THE KICKBACK

GAMES SUDOKU

GAMES CROSSWORD

USE THE CLUES TO FILL IN THE WORDS PUZZLE. THIS WEEK’S THEME IS: STATE CAPITALS Words can go across or down.

Letters are shared when the words intersect.

ACROSS 1. Michigan 5. Alaska 7. North Dakota 8. California DOWN 2. Maine 3. Vermont 4. Olympia 6. Delaware 9. New York

15

Georgia State Visa® Rewards Credit Card Now students, family and alumni can enjoy the benefits of a Georgia State Visa Rewards card, with the convenience and service you’d expect from Center Parc Credit Union. As you responsibly build credit, you’ll also earn points toward purchases including school supplies, gas, dining, online shopping and more!

Apply Today!

New Account Intro Offer: 0% intro APR for 6 months on transactions made in the first 2 months after account opening (excluding cash advances) • • • • • •

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APR = Annual Percentage Rate. APR is 9.25% – 17.25% and will vary based on the Prime Rate in the Wall Street Journal.

Accurate as of June 21, 2021. *Georgia State Visa® Rewards credit cards earn one (1) Reward Point for every one (1) dollar spent on all purchases. Reward Points may expire and can only be earned on signature-based transactions.

A portion of the proceeds supports the GSU Athletics Department.