The Signal Vol. 82 No. 18

FEB. 3, 2015 - FEB. 9, 2015

VOL. 82 | NO. 18

Coals in the cold

Happy Hookah provides a welcoming environment for the hookah smokers of Georgia State. Read inside for a glimpse of this shop’s history.

A&L | PAGE 9

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY RUTH PANNILL | THE SIGNAL Co-owner of Happy Hookah and Georgia State alumnus Jacob Hansard welcomes students and visiting customers looking to purchase hookah paraphernalia.

Inside Inside on the plate? College? or nah? ‘Super’iority like us! what’s Defending years of culture, the Is “higher education” just a Superman or Iron Man?

facebook.com/gsusignal

follow us! twitter.com/gsusignal

Play ball!

international student council asks the university to allow outside caterers for events.

more fancy way of saying “financial burden”? Hear from the editorial board.

Between Marvel and DC, which brand makes the best movies? Find out inside.

Attention turns to the diamond as Georgia State’s baseball and softball teams prepare for the 2015 season.

News | Page 6

Opinions| Page 8

A&L | page 12

Sports | page 17-18

DAILY NEWS AT WWW.GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM

News 2

Opinions 7

Arts & Living 9

Sports 17

2

NEWS non-GSU affiliate for trespassing after they had already received prior notice. The individual was arrested, processed and transported to Fulton County Jail.

blotter 1.

Cops n’ Robbers

CTW

Langdale Hall

Underground Plaza

A non-GSU affiliate was arrested for obstruction, criminal trespassing, outstanding warrants and robbery after a student said his cell phone was snatched by an unknown male. The student gave a description to officers and the suspect was apprehended afterwards.

He was arrested, processed and transported to Fulton County Jail.

Jan. 26

2.

Theft

27 4. Jan. Snatched Up

Jan. 26

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2015

You can’t be here Library South

A criminal trespassing warning (CTW) was filed after a university officer observed a non-GSU affiliated individual loitering. The person was issued the CTW and escorted off of the property.

27 3. Jan. Multiple Warnings Student Center

Campus police arrested a

A report was filed for sudden snatching and robbery after a student said she was sitting in the hallway of Langdale talking on her cell phone when an unknown black male snatched it and ran out of the building. The unidentified individual appeared to be in his mid-20’s with short black hair, a slim build, wearing a black leather jacket and black pants. He was also carrying a grey backpack with green lettering.

The university’s Investigation’s Division is handling the case.

28 5. Jan. Naps not permitted here

4.

5.

3.

2.

1.

Classroom South

A CTW was issued after a Georgia State officer observed a male individual sleeping on the floor of Classroom South. He was not affiliated with the university. The person was issued a trespass warning and was escorted off the premises.

Photo of the week PHOTO BY RUTH PANNILL | THE SIGNAL Visiting Happy Hookah is never a complete experience without seeing Loki, the dog of one of the co-owners.

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NEWS

www.georgiastatesignal.com/news

Average marks

Georgia’s higher education support gets a C score on its report card LAUREN BOOKER Associate News Editor

according to the Young Invincibles.

“Families and students pay 40 [percent] the cost of educating their student, below the national average. But, this has increased 114 [percent] since the recession,” the report card stated in the comments under ‘burden put on families.’

However, the state earned two A’s with the subjects ‘state aid provided to students’ and ‘education as a state priority.’

“GA ranks high in terms of state budget allocation for higher ed and student aid,” the report card stated in the comments under the final grade. “Nevertheless, funding has decreased and the financial burden on families has more than doubled since the recession.”

How data was recorded

G A score

T

he state of Georgia received 77 percent (or C) on its “report card” for public higher education support. The ranking was based on five subjects factored and averaged into a grading system according to the Young Invincibles.

Young Invincibles is a national organization representing ideals of 18-34 year-olds in places where future decisions are made, according to the Young Invincibles’ website.

‘Tuition,’ ‘spending per student’ and ‘burden put on families’ were Georgia’s three subjects receiving F’s,

Publicly available datasets were used to create each state’s grades which came from College Board, the State Higher Education Executive Officer’s Association, and the National Association of State Student Grant and Aid Programs. Data from the Project on Student Debt was also used, according to the Young Invincibles student impact project grading

What Georgia’s indicates

The way Georgia’s

college funding is determined

Charles Sutlive, Vice Chancellor of Communications for the University System of Georgia (USG), said funding for higher education in the state is determined after the Board of Regents (BOR) submit a budget request to the governor and Georgia General Assembly.

“The request is based on student enrollment and costs to serve students,” he said. “The Governor and General Assembly consider the needs of the University System along with all other state agencies and recommend and provide resources as available.”

The governor, General Assembly and BOR then uses various factors to determine the amount of funding each institution receives. Some aspects considered are enrollment, building space and the specific needs of the institution, according to Sutlive.

Sultive said the average amount of state funds provided per student is $4,000 but the amount of state funding per student also varies among the 30 different institutions within Georgia.

The BOR sets tuition prices using the prior year’s amount plus or

minus any changes, according to Sultive.

“The changes affecting tuition are largely attributable to decisions made regarding state funding and the total need to operate institutions,” he said.

Sutlive also said the BOR has been focused on lowering costs for students and making college as affordable as possible.

“For example, for the past three years, most of the University System’s students have benefited from the lowest tuition increases in a decade,” he said.

How Georgia compares to other states (Georgia is 77%)

Top

states’

3Higher Education report card grades for

Wyoming: New York: Alaska:

96% 93% 93%

Lowest

PAGE DESIGN BY TAMMY HUYNH | THE SIGNAL

states’

3Higher Education report card grades for

Michigan: 45% Oregon: 44% New Hampshire: 17%

(according to the Young Invincibles)

system methodology.

This data was then indexed into more understandable scores of 0-100, according to policy and research manager for Young Invincibles Tom Allison.

Allison said the goal of the report card was to provide context and to simplify a complicated subject.

“Every state in the country reacted differently to the Great Recession and Allison said he has mixed feelings about Georgia’s ranking because the state’s rapid rate of growth is unsustainable. He also said Georgia’s tuition is relatively low compared to the national average.

Georgia’s HOPE programs make college affordable for students but it would be more effective to just offer support to students who meet needbased criteria, according to Allison.

“So Georgia could be doing worse, but I don’t think ‘average’ is good enough for most Georgians,” he said.

He also said legislatures should reinvest in higher education.

“Nothing is more important for the future of the state than an educated and skilled workforce and that starts with post-secondary education,”

cut support and raised tuition in different ways,” he said. “We want these report cards to help stdents advocate their state lawmakers to invest more in public higher education.”

Wyoming had the best report card score with 96 percent. New Hampshire had the lowest report card score of 17 percent, according to the Student Impact Project by Young Invincibles. he said.

Freshman nursing student Regine Thompson said the cost of tuition and fees makes it hard for her to continue attending Georgia State.

“I feel like all this money is coming out of my pocket for stuff I am not even using,” she said. “It makes me kind of want to go to a community college or something.”

Thompson also said she doesn’t receive substantial federal aid based on her parents’ salaries and urges for Georgia to raise federal aid.

“Your parents look at it as once you are 18 you are on your own,” she said. “So, I feel like what my parents do shouldn’t have anything to do with how much money I should be getting.”

She also said she doesn’t know how the specifics about Georgia’s higher education appropriations process.

How can students get involved Jasmine Hicks, higher education campaign director for Young Invincibles, said their organization has tried to serve as a bridge to educate students on details about higher education.

“Sometimes it’s not as simple as it can be and — you know — if you are not a very political student ... sometimes it’s hard to get that information,” she said. “But then also working with organizations like ours who are trying to help students better understand it and really understand, they have a place in this debate because ultimately the cost will fall on students.”

Hicks also said students learn more about what’s going on by engaging with administration and the Student Government Association. This includes talking to other students and reading the local news.

To get involved in the legislation process, students should start with conversations with legislators, according to Hicks.

“When we started the campaign last year we actually brought students to the Capitol to speak with legislators,” she said. “We really hope students try to understand how the decisions that are being made can affect their lives and then how it relates to their story.”

She also said multiple students shared their stories about struggling to obtain affordable college and the costs of student loans.

“And we are able to get these stories placed in like media outlets and gain attention to get the eyes of a lot of people that are making the decisions,” Hicks said.

Students should talk to administrators or lawmakers on the higher education committee or appropriations committee to become more educated about college funding in their state, according to Hicks.

Hicks urges students on campus to create awareness events informing other students about college affordability and student loan debt because it can be complex to understand a state’s practices for higher education funding.

“I think a lot of times it seems like they are so removed from the process.

You have new young adults, folks who are 18 [and] 19 making financial decisions that will ultimately affect their futures,” she said. “And I think the general message in the last 10 years was to just go to school and get an education and you will be fine. That message is really changing because of the student loan debt and the economy.”

4

NEWS

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2015

University

Changing landscape for two-year schools President Obama proposes free community college MATTHEW WOLFF Staff Reporter

I

n light of President Obama’s recent proposal to make community college free, it is still uncertain whether the two-year programs that will be offered at Georgia State via the Georgia State-Georgia Perimeter consolidation will qualify.

Proposed by President Obama, America’s College Promise would pay the full tuition of any student pursuing a two-year degree or certificate program.

Student Fatima Kanu said she spent just her freshman year at Georgia Gwinnett College before transferring to Georgia State but would have stayed another year if it had been free.

“You’re getting the same education as someone here [Georgia State] but for a cheaper price. So you get two years, you get your core classes in, and when it’s time for your major classes, you’re coming to an institution that’s known.”

President Obama said he intends to focus on education in 2015 in a WhiteHouse.gov video released on Jan. 8. “[Education] It’s not just for kids.

We also have to make sure that everybody has the opportunity to constantly train themselves for better jobs, better wages, better benefits,” Obama said in

the video.

Obama also said he desires to make significant changes to tuition at community colleges.

“Put simply, what I’d like to do is to see the first two years of community college free for everybody that’s willing to work for it,” Obama said.

During a speech at Pellissippi State Community College in Knoxville, Tennessee on Jan 9. the president officially marked the announcement of the America’s College Promise Proposal during a speech.

Community colleges are important because they offer flexibility to students that are parents, veterans and have full-time jobs, Obama said during the speech.

“Whether you’re the first in your family to go to college or coming back to school after many years away, community colleges find a place for you.

And you can get a great education,” he said.

Obama also said making this possible will be the result of everyone holding themselves to high academic standards. This includes students, schools and states.

“This isn’t a blank check. It’s not a free lunch. But for those willing to do the work and for states and local communities that want to be a part of this, it can be a game-changer,” Obama said.

Obama said he commends Tennessee and Chicago for recently imple-

menting free tuition programs to community college students.

In 2014, Tennessee began the Tennessee Promise, offering free tuition to recent high school graduates to attend over forty of the state’s community colleges and technical schools, according to the program’s website.

Specifics of the promise

Currently over 40 percent of U.S. college students attend one of 1,100 community colleges nationwide, according to a fact sheet released by the White House website.

The sheet states in order to take advantage of the America’s College Promise funding students must be enrolled in a minimum of six credit hours and maintain a 2.5 GPA while making progress towards a two-year degree.

“These students will be able to earn half of the academic credit they need for a four-year degree or earn a certificate or two-year degree to prepare them for a good job,” the sheet states.

Three-quarters of the average cost of student’s community college tuition will be provided by the federal government. Participating states will be expected to cover the remaining 25 percent, according to the sheet.

The sheet also states community colleges participating in America’s College Promise will be required to provide curriculums with course credits

that are fully transferable to four-year universities or certificate programs with high graduation rates.

The White House estimates that 9 million students would benefit from the America’s College Promise Proposal.

Two-year degrees at Georgia State

The University System of Georgia (USG) sets student tuition and fees for higher education institutions in the state and will most likely be responsible for qualifying the state of Georgia for the America’s College Promise Proposal, according to Associate VP of University Relations Andrea Jones.

Vice Chancellor of Communications for the USG said in a media response that under the Complete College Georgia initiative the USG is committed to increasing the number of students earning degrees.

“We are constantly exploring ways to help support students through college completion by expanding access and keeping costs down,” Sutlive said.

“We anticipate learning more about the proposal, the specifics and what it may entail.”

If current students had the option

Junior Wilma Elliott started at Georgia State as a freshman and said she has enjoyed coming out of high

ANDREW YOUNG SCHOOL OF POLICY STUDIES

Learn.

Live.

Become…

school and going straight to a four-year institution but would have considered attending a community college if it had been paid for by the government.

“I might have went to community college because I feel like even after coming to Georgia State, it’s really expensive,” said Elliott. “You get a different experience but you get the same information that you need.”

Elliot also said it would be difficult for her to weigh the benefits of two free years of schooling against missing out on the four-year college experience.

“On the other hand, I think it’s a great experience though, coming out of high school and coming to a university,” she said.

Jessica Lewis, also enrolled at Georgia State as a freshman, said she most likely would have gone to a free two-year institution.

“I probably would have gone to a community college because Georgia State is a little bit more expensive than being free,” Lewis said.

She also said if a free school had been an option available to her at the time, her family would also have encouraged her to be financially responsible.

“My parents are all about wanting me to not be in debt whenever I get out of college, so they definitely would have said stay home for two years and then go to the school that you like,” Lewis said.

A Top 25 School of Public Affairs that is “Changing the world – one student at a time, one idea at a time.” ~ AMBASSADOR ANDREW YOUNG

the Legacy.

Located in the heart of downtown Atlanta where the history of social justice inspires the advancement of economic opportunity.

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5

NEWS

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2015

University

$82.5 million funded law building to open by fall 2015 JOSH RUBY Staff Reporter

A

lmost two years after construction began, Georgia State’s new law building is scheduled to open for classes by fall of 2015.

The building will have a variety of features available to students and faculty including a welcome area, community conference center and state-of-the-art technology in classrooms and courtrooms. Student workspaces, in the form of a library and meeting spaces, will also be offered, according to the project’s website.

Chip Hill, assistant dean of finance and administration at the College of Law, said the building will represent the caliber of Georgia State’s law program.

“The new building reflects the excellent quality of legal education available at Georgia State Law. One of the main goals of the building design was to provide space that can be used to showcase our research centers, clinics and faculty scholarship,” he said.

Hill also said the new building will not only benefit students but also Georgia State’s international image.

“Going forward, we will be able to host conferences, events and programs

that will at“The State tract the leadof Georgia ing minds in has provided both legal ed$70 million ucation and in funding. practice,” he The college said. “Addiand university tionally, part have worked of the buildto secure the ing will be additional dedicated to $12.5 milhosting interlion in donanational artions so that bitration and all of the exmediation penses associproceedings. ated with the In addition design, conto providstruction and ing wonderfurnishings ful learning are fully covopp or tuniered,” he said. ties for our AssociPHOTO BY NADIA DELJOU students, our ate professor | THE SIGNAL hope is that of law Ellen Construction men, in the process of these types Taylor said of programs creating a new law building, estimate she thinks the will increase it will be ready toward the end of the new buildour visibility semester, close to May or April 2015. ing will have a around the positive effect globe.” on attracting The building was paid for by the potential students.

State of Georgia as well as donations “I think potential students will think secured by the university, according the school is a more attractive option to Hill. with a state-of-the-art building. We will

have more room to house legal clinics and conferences, so we will be able to provide more opportunities to our law students, to the Georgia State community and to the larger legal community,” she said.

Cassady Brewer, assistant professor of law, said the building will add to the College of Law’s reputation.

“It will impress potential students, potential faculty, members of the Bar and members of the public. Georgia State’s College of Law has never had its own building. Virtually all law schools across the country have their own buildings. Georgia State’s College of Law has built a great reputation without having its own building. Imagine what Georgia State’s College of Law can accomplish now,” he said.

Georgia State student Noah Nelson said he thinks the new building will not only benefit the College of Law but also the university as a whole.

“I believe as a whole, people will see GSU as a school striving to improve,” Nelson said. “We have made constant improvements each year to better education for us students and it has shown every time. Students in the program will be better prepared for the real world with more resources and more leaders will come out of our campus.”

$

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Georgia State takes further steps in saving bat species from disease SAMUEL ROTH Staff Reporter

W

ith the aid from the U.S. Forest Service, Georgia State’s post-doctoral researcher Chris Cornelison said his efforts have come the furthest in North America to finding a cure for white-nose syndrome (WNS).

WNS, a disease causing white fungus to grow on the muzzle or other parts of bats, is responsible for the mortality rate of the animals in eastern North America, according to a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service fact-sheet.

“First documented in New York in the winter of 2006-2008, WNS has spread rapidly across the eastern and midwestern United States and eastern Canada, and evidence of the fungus that causes WNS has been detected as far south as Mississippi,” the fact-sheet states.

Cornelison said his research team has been the most successful demonstrating a WNS treatment option.

“There have been other groups that have investigated treatment options but they have not been able to demonstrate experimentally the success that we have,” he said. “In some cases the treatments have killed more bats than white-nose syndrome and if more successful they were about the same, so there was no real benefit.”

The research is also important because it can lead to positive publicity and financial benefits to treat

the animals, according to Cornelison.

“While there is not a lot of financial benefits to treating bats, there are a lot of other things in our world that suffer from disease from fungi and molds and so we are continuing to investigate commercial options for this technology,” he said.

Cornelison said his work is important to not only preserve the species in North America but to also negate any economic problems that would arise if bats are to be placed on the U.S. Federal Endangered Species Act. “The potential listing could have big financial consequences for North American industries including mineral extraction, forestry management and infrastructure development since they would need to avoid disturbing the listed species,” the report states.

Cornelison said he is currently in the midst of field trials after having conducted controlled experiments in labs.

“We started out slowly moving towards the real world scenario by bringing bats in, putting them in essentially a refrigerator as an artificial hibernaculum and have been treating them in that scenario. So, live bats infected naturally with the disease are treated in this refrigerator and we showed tremendous success at increasing survivorship,”he said.

This trial was vital after experimenting with the mold in proving Rhodococcus does not have negative effects on the bats.The experi-

“

While there is not a lot of financial benefits to treating bats, there are a lot of other things in our world that suffer from disease from fungi and molds and so we are continuing to investigate commercial options for this technology.”

ment has now transitioned from lab testing to field testing in sites (two in Missouri and two in Kentucky), according to Cornelison.

“We don’t have any conclusive findings yet, but the reports from collaborators are that there are already a significant difference in the level of disease between treated and untreated showing out treatment is being successful in the field,” he said. “This is the last threshold before actually doing disease management and no longer experimental but actually providing this to resource managers to go into the field and to mitigate the disease.”

The bats will remain in hibernation for the treatment trial until spring. The trial will then lead to further evaluation of application methodologies in the summer and expansions of field sites in winter, according to Cornelison.

Aside from preserving a species,

-Chris Cornelison

post-doctoral researcher bats act as an economically direct value in agricultural practices as a natural and free insect control, according to Cornelison. Without the presence of the animals, farmers are more in inclined to use heavier pesticides.

“White-nose syndrome is as far west as Missouri and as far south as Georgia. It is estimated that the disease has killed about eight million bats since 2007, which is made worse by the fact that female bats generally only birth one pup per year, so their ability to recover from population loss is very limited,” he said.

The disease has spread across 26 different states and five Canadian provinces, according to Cornelison.

In Cornelison’s most recent reports, updated on Jan .12, he said the disease is also affecting bats by damaging additional tissues needed for hydration purposes.

“[White-nose syndrome] is believed to kill by damaging the wing tissues that normally allow bats to regulate water loss during hibernation. The fungus also repeatedly wakes bats from hibernation, causing them to burn crucial fat reserves, leading to dehydration, emaciation and exposure,” the report states.

Cornelison said he looks forward to seeing how his research develops and what his federal agency partnership might expose the university to.

“It’s always beneficial for a university to be engaged with federal entities that need research done and provide access to research funding that is generally much more difficult to get to. I have seen that people I collaborate with had no idea what Georgia State was before this and now this is spreading the name in the field of wildlife disease research,” Cornelison said.

6

NEWS

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2015

SGA

SGA President Lanier Henson leads committee to amend SGA regulations SEAN KEENAN Staff Reporter

L

anier Henson, president of Georgia State’s Student Government Association (SGA), led a discussion regarding changes necessary to amend the organization’s constitution and bylaws on Jan. 24.

Henson said the constitution had not been amended since 2010 and the previous authors and editors made it very difficult to alter.

“All the changes [previous SGA members] made were purposely made really hard to fix. They wanted their changes to stay permanent,” he said.

SGA Advisor and Director of the Student*University Center Boyd Beckwith said adjusting and repairing the constitution is a slow process, but it is necessary to keep the SGA running at full capacity.

“In order to change the constitution, it has to go before the entire student body, so it will be included in the spring election,” he said.

Beckwith also said he is excited for the upcoming election as the SGA has been working towards doubling the turnout of voters this year.

However, he also said he is concerned the constitution does not yet adequately elaborate on the protocol of an election.

“Right now there is almost nothing in the constitution about how the elections are to be run,” he said.

Beckwith proposed a digital method of voting which entails the display of candidate information on the ballot.

“The ballot will be shorter and hopefully more people will actually fill out a quick ballot and instead of the path where it just has your name, it will show your name, your major and your platform,” he said. “There will be much more information pro-

vided to the people who are voting about why you should be elected over someone else.”

Henson said he and the officers of the SGA noticed the current constitution could yield the executive branch excessive power.

“The way it is written produces a potential for corruption among the executive staff,” he said.

Henson also said the voting protocol in the current constitution allows the president to take part in every step of the process which would lead to excessive leverage.

“The President and the EVP get to view legislation and say whether or not it goes to the Senate then vote on whether or not it passes. Then they have veto power over whether or not it passes,” he said.

Henson also said the SGA should amend the constitution so the executive board members need only take part in one phase of passing legislation.

“This way one person approves it, another group votes on it and the president can veto it, but none of those parties are involved in more than one part of the process,” he said.

SGA Executive Vice President (EVP) Sebastian Parra said it is important to identify the exact powers of each executive board member and distribute them appropriately.

“I want to specify that the president is in charge of the EVP, but the committees [for SGA actions] report to me,” he said.

Vice President of Student Services Teara Mayfield said the distribution of executive power stems from the president but he does not address all SGA matters.

“All committee related issues should go to the EVP while the President oversees the executive duties carried out by those committees,” she said.

Currently, members of the press cannot be denied access to any SGA

meeting, according to the SGA constitution’s bill of rights.

Associate Chief Justice of the Student Judicial Board John Powell (SJB) said the bill of rights should grant exception to the SJB when reviewing confidential business records protected by the Family Educational and Privacy Act (FERPA).

“The Student Judicial Board is classified under the Student Government Association.

There are some of our business records that cannot be pubPHOTO BY BRITTANY GUERIN | THE SIGNAL lic due to FERPA …

We will have closed SGA President Lanier Henson leads the student door meetings at government meeting, introducing issues to the times and those are SGA senators and student body Jan. 24. for FERPA reasons,” he said. of paid and unpaid hours can be a Parra said he would like to see a two-thirds vote daunting task for executive board requirement when reviewing finan- members.

“Stipends are a touchy issue as cial legislation. the defining line between work and “Money is a sensitive matter,” he educational experience can be very said.

Parra also said the SGA should thin,” he said.

Parra said he agrees it can be aim to build a constitution appealdifficult to determine when he has ing to the average Georgia State stuworked his allotted hours but he is dent.

“A lot of schools require fresh- happy to serve his student body.

“Everything else is just extra men to live on campus. We choose work because you love your school,” not to because we want to accommodate those who cannot afford on- he said.

During the five-hour meeting campus living,” he said. the committee edited through their In the same monetary vein, the entire constitution as well as most committee also discussed the payof the bylaws. The majority of the ment regulations of SGA members.

Henson said it can be difficult alterations served to rid the texts of to discern which hours to log as redundancies and technical errors.

The proposed amendments were worked, especially in the instance of reviewed during the Jan. 29 General SGA conferences.

Beckwith said the differentiation Senate Body Meeting.

Georgia State’s ISAC organization asks SGA to review the university’s food policy CIARA FRISBIE News Editor

D

uring the Jan. 29 Student Government Association (SGA) General Senate Body meeting, Georgia State’s International Student Associations Council (ISAC) proposed a resolution to address the university’s new food policy.

Resolution 1501, written by ISAC President Joe Majica and submitted by Senator Hilda Dwumfour, states ISAC as a collective group of 15 international associations is requesting to bring back multicultural food from non-catering companies in Veterans Memorial Hall during their events.

A newly enforced Georgia State policy requires that all food at student organization events must come from licensed catering companies or through Panther Dining, according to the resolution.

“The International Student Associations Council sees food as a fundamental part of all cultures and a fantastic way to promote multiculturalism at Georgia State and ordering authentic traditional food from various countries throughout Panther Dining is virtually impossible since they do not have the expertise to properly prepare dishes,” the resolution states.

Majica said he and other ISAC members are trying to defend years of culture and tradition the council has brought to Georgia State.

“So I went up to a lot of people with the bill as we were defending a lot of years of culture and a lot of years we have established of tradition,” he said.

“We have always used Dahlberg Hall as our main location for these events so we could bring outside food because other places like the Student Center really restrict that on us.”

During the reading of the proposal Majica prompted SGA by asking, “Why fix what’s not broken?”

“We [as an organization] have never had any incidents of foodborne illness; we’ve never had anyone complain about the food and everyone enjoyed the meals and the programming,” he said. “So with the proposal of taking the outside food away it’s like they [the university] is fixing something as if there’s something wrong with it when there’s really nothing wrong with it. It’s something that we’ve been doing for years and all of a sudden we have this policy put forth.”

SGA Executive Vice President (EVP) Sebastian Parra said this was the first time he saw an outside organization reach out to senators in order to sponsor a bill.

“I loved when ISAC individuals stood up to support it [the resolution],” he said. “It shows a level of engagement that we are really hoping for. We have been hoping for a level of engagement from students with SGA.” SGA resolutions are not binding but it opens the door for conversa-

tions between the organization and administration for students, according to Parra.

“If we can continue this it would be great for things like the merger, for SaveWRAS,” he said. “This is what we [SGA] are for.”

SGA Advisor and Director of the Student*University Center said the proposed resolution would be discussed at the Feb. 5 Student*University Center Advisory Board meeting.

Majica said there will be various members of SGA in the following weeks to discuss the resolution and make any necessary changes if needed.

“In the event that this does not go through [and] in terms of the reaction from the students, they will definitely be upset about it because as I mentioned in my speech it [the new policy] took away a lot of the essence and soul that a lot of the students put forth into making the event and making the food,” Majica said.

last week Local

Georgia ranks high in top 10 most wanted sex traffickers

Four out of the top 10 most wanted human traffickers committed their crimes within the state, according to CBS46. Eugenio Hernandez-Prieto, Jose Isidro Gutiérrez-Marez, Severiano Martinez-Rojas and Saul Romero-Rugerio were identified by the U.S.Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations division and are wanted for sex trafficking.

ICE said in 2014 they identified 440 victims or more of human trafficking. They also arrested 1,770 perpetrators of the crime. More than 36 women have been rescued and ICE has also investigated more than 1,000 crimes.

National

Obama proposes a 10-year deficit budget

President Obama proposed a budget on Feb. 2 to stabilize the federal deficit by focusing on policies to address income inequality, according to The New York Times. The $4 trillion 2016 fiscal would affect corporations obtaining overseas profits, raise taxes on richer citizens and increase middle-class incomes through new spending and tax credits. The president’s spending-and-taxes plan foresees a $474 billion deficit. This would be 2.5 percent of the gross domestic product.

Global

Court rules in favor of books for inmates

A rule that was set in place stopping English and Welsh prisoners from having access to books has been deemed unlawful, according to BBC News. Books may now be sent to the inmates via retailers approved by the Prison Service. The previous restriction, introduced in November 2013, was set in place to limit items prisoners could receive in packages and to stop drugs from getting into the facilities.

OPINIONS

www.georgiastatesignal.com/opinions

Augmented Reality:

Dollars and sense with Mitch

Boost your grades this semester without spending a dime!

A MITCHELL OLIVER Columnist

Mitch is a senior finance major and student financial advisor.

“My goal is to have more college students financially literate.”

Leave your questions for him online at georgiastatesignal.com Follow him @madmoneyATL

PAGE DESIGN BY TAMMY HUYNH | THE SIGNAL

re you dreaming of that 4.0 GPA this semester? Is that upper level statistics class getting in the way of that dream with no SI session in sight? With the semester underway, I’m here to drop some innovative ways to help you get the most out of your

classes this semester.

With such a wide variety of information online, it’s hard to weed out what’s useful — but I’ve got four great ways to help you get a better grade in all of your classes this semester.

The best part? They are completely free*!

*(Nothing is free. Internet connection and computer required.)

1.

First and most importantly is the criminally overlooked iTunes University. Anyone with an iTunes account can access this portion of the iTunes store and download hours and hours of free lecture material.

The lectures range from Intro to Game Theory to upper level Cooking with Physics which teaches you the science behind liquid nitrogen and its use in many popular modern dishes. One of the best parts of iTunes U, besides it being free, is that many lectures are recorded at schools such as Harvard, UCLA and Cal Tech. Some of the best, brightest and most innovative minds are sharing more information than you can imagine — and you’re missing out!

2.

Next up is Michigan Institute of Technology and their awesome OpenCourseWare program they started a few years ago. Their idea was that public education should be free to anyone wanting a more advanced understanding of many fields of study. You can find over

3.

Similar to MIT’s program, the nonprofit organization Khan Academy, started in 2006

by Salman Khan, has set out to “provide a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere,” according to their company mission statement.

Khan academy covers such a broad range of subjects and for this reason you’ll find many lectures

weekly comic by Darian Mathews: “Marvel vs. DC”

three thousand videos on their YouTube channel with full lectures from some of the brightest professors in the nation.

One of the things I have found most effective in watching an introlevel class or ‘principles’ class through MIT is: It’s a lifesaver in those classes where I took the intro class so long ago that I forgot the basics! The best part is you can do it when you want and where you want so it’s convenient — unlike many tutoring options. that are not as in-depth or lengthy as MIT and iTunes U’s material. This can be useful, however, if you just need a quick reminder on a specific topic. I use it to brush up on very specific topics before attending lecture here on campus. Khan Academy also offers practice questions and answers to help further your understanding of material you might be struggling with in your classes.

4.

Lastly, I’d like to talk about the peculiar concept of TED talks rather than completely recommend them. TED talks have become increasingly popular in academia in recent years because of the way the speakers present innovative new ways of thinking about issues in society.

I’d love to say that TED talks are a good way of augmenting one’s education, but I have to approach this method of “learning” with a few conditions. First, I feel that if you get caught up in TED talks, you might fall into the category of people who watch a talk, take everything it presents at face value and hold an opinion on the topic strictly from what you took away from that one talk.

This can lead to a very onesided opinion and a lack of depth of knowledge on a subject. For me, I take TED talks with a grain of salt.

At face value, they are simply entertaining speeches where an argument is being made. They work and I love them when they inspire you to learn more about something or bring up a problem that

you hadn’t thought of before. They don’t work, however, when they become the entirety of your knowledge on a topic or the first and last stop on your understanding of an issue.

Further, they offer an ‘easy way out’ of thinking since they do most of that for you too. If you are unable to form your own opinion about a subject because the TED talk you’ve watched already did that for you, that starts to become an issue. So if TED talks were a food group, I would put them with the fats, oils and sugars- watch sparingly, they might fill you up with empty calories!

So there you have it.

While many out there are shooting for A’s this semester, using some or all of these resources will be sure to help you get closer to that goal. Paying for a tutor or attending study sessions on campus are not viable options for many of us, but there are alternatives out there. So make the most of your time and try what I like to call ‘mindful entertainment’ with a class at MIT, iTunes U or Khan Academy — instead of mindlessly marathoning Friends on Netflix.

8

OPINIONS

Editorial Higher education is not actually ‘free’

W

hile in college, almost anything with the word “free” can send students running in that direction. When President Obama mentioned having free community college, many celebrated. But it’s only free if you are “willing to work for it.”

We all know how hard it is to keep your GPA high enough to stay afloat, juggle several part-time jobs at once just to pay for tuition and still have time for a social life to keep verbal skills in check.

Some students struggle to pay for college without borrowing any loans and others need financial stability from multiple jobs to pay for a full course load.

At first glance, free community college seems like a fantastic idea. We can now wipe our hands and say, “Well, the job is done. We made education more affordable.” Right? Wrong.

Georgia recently earned an average 77 percent for its “report card” for higher education, according to the Young Invincibles. Georgia failed in the areas of tuition spending per student placing the burden on families to pay for higher education.

While Georgia earned A’s in state aid provided to students and education as a state priority, the Young Invincible’s information shows funding has been on the decline.

Other states like Michigan and Oregon received grades in the measly 40s for its higher education.

New Hampshire earned 17 percent.

If we offer community college for free, sure, some students won’t have to pay as much for higher education. But that leaves out the many students who want to go straight into four-year universities.

But those who have already racked up loans from a community college have moved to continue their four-year degree. The feeling of being “left out” can come to mind since the money spent will still need to be paid back even if they had qualified.

However, that’s not the only problem. Associate degrees are becoming obsolete. Nowadays it’s stressed that in order to get hired, you need a Bachelor’s degree.

Type in “Entry Level” into job search websites like Indeed.com and you’ll find that the majority of the results will likely require you to have some kind of Bachelor’s degree. In some cases that’s nonnegoitable. No one asks for an Associate’s anymore.

President Obama didn’t finish making it possible for working students to obtain a college education without having to struggle. He only made the first step.

In this era our society perceives that without a Bachelor’s degree, obtaining a respectable job that carries financial stability is not in your future.

Children at a young age are pushed into job ideas that require higher education. Job titles like doctor, lawyer and scientist require formal forms of education which includes the notion of a “phat” paycheck. No one ever tells their kid: “Honey, I want you to become an electrician when you grow up.”

Instead, we are duped into thinking that unless we attend a four-year institute, we are losers, bums or low-lives.

The value of an Associate’s is already diminishing. Instead of making a four-year degree attainable, Obama’s plan to make community college free will decrease the value of a two-year degree even further.

And perhaps that just means our government is finally catching up to the attitudes of our society: that we don’t value Associate’s anymore.

The government now has to follow the classic law of supply and demand. But we shouldn’t be looking at these actions through rose-colored glasses. We’ve only made the first step; this deserves a quick pat on the back. But let’s move on to the bigger issue: that obtaining a four-year degree is still incredibly burdensome to our wallet and our wellbeing.

And after the studying, classes and all-nighters have ended, we sometimes gain a high-paying job, only having our government knock on our doors six months later, hands out and ready to collect.

The fun is over and welcome to the real world.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2015

How do you prepare for life after college?

SENATRA RICHARDS Guest Columnist

S

eniors, you’re finally at the end of your college career (feel free to do a happy dance) and you have probably had enough of the daunting question, “So, what are you going to do next?” It is almost equivalent to someone clicking a pen in an entirely silent room.

If you have the answer figured out, may the odds be ever in your favor. However, that is not always the case for a good number of students. I will use my reaction from last semester as an example: “What do you have planned after college?” (Cues in crickets sound effect.)

In all honesty, I would have loved to respond with a pageant-like statement such as, “Travel the world, create innovative projects and save mankind.” It was not until this semester — a few weeks ago to be precise — that the light bulb inside my head went off. What can I be doing now that will prepare me for life after college?

A concept — more like a skill — I never fully grasped while in college is saving finances. Spend, spend, spend! Recently, I realized how important having a budget truly is. The search for apartments quickly opened my eyes and the word ‘budget’ became my vocabulary’s best friend. One of the first steps to saving is calculating

“

If you have the answer figured out, may the odds be ever in your favor.

exactly how much you would like to put aside. It is vital to limit your amount of consuming to maintain this plan. Is that $4 Starbucks venti caramel macchiato coffee actually a daily necessity?

Another step to bracing yourself for the life after college is putting thought into where you are going to reside afterward. Yes, I know life on campus is memorable. You are probably going to be devastated to depart from your beloved dormitory. As the bearer of bad news, I must tell you the housing department will find someone to fill your empty nest with little to no remorse. For this reason, it is never too early to start the search for living arrangements. If you have an area in mind you would like to relocate to, check it out. You will be packed and ready to go when the time nears. Lastly, make sure it follows your financial budget.

The final way to prepare is by working towards your goals while you are still

in college. If you want to travel the world, add a course to your schedule that teaches about various countries and cultures. That way you will be a well-informed tourist.

If you want to create innovative projects, learn about what it takes to be an entrepreneur or what is needed to be a fruitful creator. If you want to save mankind, well, just get out there and do it!

Take full advantage of what Georgia State has to offer while you are still a student. Go to the resume workshops, career and organization fairs. Those emails you think are flooding your inbox may actually have substance and offer a learning experience. The time to make the most of your resources is now.

I have noticed that I no longer feel compelled just to give one answer that usually followed behind a blank stare.

So next time someone asks you, “Are you ready to graduate?” reply with confidence in yourself and your future.

Our campus: Is it full of irritation or fascination?

JOHN MILLER Guest Columnist

H

ave you ever been walking through campus on an average, bitter-cold winter day, found yourself stopped in your tracks by a crowd and asked yourself — cursing — why you were forced to a full stop on your way to class?

If you’re like most people on campus, this thought might be followed by a curious roving of the eyes to find out what the holdup is. Then there will be a recognition that what is causing the full stop is not some sort of horrible accident or a crime scene but is in fact a perfectly benign congregation of students around a booth, a public speaker or someone playing music.

When this happens, it’s easy to allow one’s surprise to transform into annoyance and then into indignation, but if one pushes away those unpleasant kneejerk reactions, one realizes the wealth of strange and fascinating obstructions

Now hiring columnists

Georgia State has on its well-worn and labyrinthine pathways.

Any student reading this will recognize the hip-hop music that plays outside of the library every Tuesday morning like clockwork and some will recall with chagrin, but others will marvel at how deftly the musicians succeed in attracting a crowd.

Nearby, there is the lone evangelist armed with megaphone and picket sign, delivering grim messages to passers-by about the unfortunate fates their souls might have. Readers will recall the ubiquity of this man’s voice echoing through Courtland Street and some will take a moment to think, regardless of whether they agree with him or not, that kind of tireless routine takes immense dedication.

Then, patrons of the library will sigh to recall the experience of walking through the aisles in search of a book and having to step over an exhausted student taking a nap amongst the Greek mythology. Or perhaps they’ll recall walking through the third floor of the library in search of a place to read said book and finding

not one single available chair on the entire floor, forcing oneself to continue the search on the fourth floor.

Perhaps students who don’t darken those corners of campus so often might brighten at the mention of the renegade cowbell musician near Aderhold. He just seems to have the supernatural ability to play the exact same tempo on the exact same instrument for hours on end, never once tiring of or straying from his syncopated rhythm.

Yes, Georgia State’s campus is a place of fascinating, attention-grabbing happenings, not one of which is inherently bad or good but rather open to the subjective interpretation of the person experiencing them.

Perhaps these phenomena are not so much obstructions or distractions as much as they are totems of the institution of education itself, serving as puzzling and unique eddies in the tide that directs us toward the higher knowledge we are all here to acquire. After all, there is a reason that we come here in the flesh: to see and to be seen.

You’ve got the opinion.

We’ve got the soapbox.

To be a guest columnist, send in your thoughts to signalopinions@gmail.com. To be a (paid) staff columnist, download an application from georgiastatesignal.com/ employment and turn it in to Dr. Bryce McNeil at 405 University Center.

ARTS & LIVING Smoke and

www.georgiastatesignal.com/artsandliving

MIRRORS The saga of 66 Peachtree ZACH ITZKOVITZ Staff Reporter

H

appy Hookah wouldn’t be hard to miss on a brisk stroll to a class that started five minutes ago. Despite its neon veneer, the shop seems rather plain visually — as if it were a person, with flesh and blood just like anyone else.

Twenty-six-year-old Thomas* is the co-owner of Happy Hookah as well as a Georgia State alumnus. As he explained, Happy Hookah stands out not by appearance but by products.

“A friend and I got together and we decided that there was something that was needed on the campus of Georgia State,” Thomas said. “A smoke shop seemed the appropriate way to go since there was really no retail here other than the previous tenant here which was a clothing store.”

He and co-owner Jacob Hansard observed a demand and wisely created a supply.

“We started here in August of 2012 — that was our first month open,” Thomas said. “So we got the place in April of that year. It had been closed for about two years previously, give or take a couple months.

The previous owner actually lived in the basement — closed it down, sold it. We don’t know. Supposedly, as the story goes, he moved to the Bahamas.”

Dank, inside and out

The Bahamas sound pretty great right now, in light of Atlanta’s recent cold gusts and dank, humid air.

Students can run from the cold and rain in Happy Hookah’s heated interior. Should they look around the store, they would observe a different kind of dank.

Trinkets for sale include water pipes, hand pipes, acrylic pipes, vaporizers, herb grinders, and the always handy, scales, “for accurate weigh-ins.” These don’t seem to have much to do with Hookah smoking despite the smoke shop’s name.

It doesn’t take a detective to disclose the marijuana habits of college students. In relevance, Happy Hookah is doubtlessly Georgia State

students’ most convenient and abundant source of paraphernalia. When these observations are combined, along with data on college drug use, it’s challenging to deny that marijuana catalyzes the business.

This leaves Happy Hookah in a delicate pose, between sustaining itself responsibly and legally and simultaneously distributing products that students use to consume cannabis. Supply and demand dictate that more marijuana means a greater demand for paraphernalia.

Could anyone prove that students use Happy Hookah’s products illegally? No. Would employees of Happy Hookah be inclined to speak publicly on the matter? Probably not.

The bind is similar to a puzzle — all the pieces are accounted for and fit together — but the existence of any puzzle is casually denied.

This doesn’t negate the business nor culture of hookah smoking surrounding the store. Most people probably notice that Anatolia Cafe and Hookah Lounge is only a few stores down from Happy Hookah at 56 Peachtree St. Northeast.

The Crystal Palace

PHOTOS BY RUTH PANNILL | THE SIGNAL Located in the center of Georgia State, Happy Hookah compiles history, culture, and social activities into one experience. it out. If you’ve ever seen the very first episode of ‘The Walking Dead,’ the opening sequence when he’s riding a horse down into the city and he’s got the shotgun on his back.

That’s what it represents. I wouldn’t say it’s like Atlanta is burning, but it’s pictures of hookahs and water pipes in there with hookah UFOs and what not.”

Thomas may not have a shotgun on his back or a horse to ride, but he does look forward to his future.

“I’d like to go back to grad school,” Thomas said. “Whether it’s law school or business school I’m not sure. I’d like to open more locations if possible and do other things.

My grandfather sailed around the world for about 10 years, so I do have a love for sailing along with my father — one day maybe.”

The shop has its fair share of smoke and mirrors. Despite this, Thomas continues down this road more assuredly than ever; his passion laid its cement and sustains it even now.

When Thomas opened up Happy Hookah, he knew the historical significance of 66 Peachtree St. Northeast.

“It used to be a Confederate armory,” Thomas said. “The landlord didn’t provide Alonzo Herndon was born into slavery the information, so we in 1858. When he was freed, he spent don’t really know othtime as a sharecropper, and eventually er than what I’ve been came to own a series of barbershops. One told, which was that of these shops was called “The Crystal it was Atlanta’s first Palace” and was located at 66 Peachtree black millionaire, the St., now occupied by Happy Hookah. home for him. It was a barbershop, and it was Alonzo Herndon.”

Happy Hookah’s “[Hookah] is the only thing I actuspecialized paraphernalia indeed ally use,” Thomas said. “A lot of people attracts customers, but the store’s charm can also be attributed to its think I smoke [marijuana] and I can aesthetic and design. Any patron of say this for the record: I don’t. My the shop would notice the dystopian thing is hookahs. I’ve been doing hoomural on the store’s right wall from kahs for about 10 years now. I try to the entrance. Thomas explains its have the best knowledge I can about origin and depiction. them: where they come from, where “That was a friend of ours that they’re made. It’s sort of my reason for did that,” he said of the mural. doing this. It’s a passion of mine.”

“There was a hole in the wall when *Thomas asked that The Signal we got the place, so we just squared not disclose his last name.

On the Walls

On marijuana use The University of Michigan conducted a study in which college students nationwide were asked about their drug use. The following percentages come from this study.

Thirty-six percent of college students in 2013 said that they had used marijuana in the past year compared to 30 percent in 2006. In 2013, 5.1 percent of college students had used at least 20 times in the past month, up from 3.5 percent in 2007.

Those figures reveal an upward trend. If extrapolated, 2015 sees roughly 38 percent who have used marijuana in the past year and 5.6 percent who have used marijuana at least 20 times since New Year’s Day.

Assuming Georgia State’s student body of roughly 32,000 is representative of the national student body, around 12,160 students would have used marijuana in the past year and 1,792 students at least 20 times since New Year’s.

A Georgia State student who wishes to remain anonymous shared their experience at Happy Hookah. He or she responded to the question, “If you could have anything in the store for free, what would it be?

“Probably their most elaborate water pipe,” the student said. “They have a lot of hookah stuff in there; I don’t really smoke hookah anymore. I used to smoke hookah way more than I do.

So, in the past I would have bought shisha or coals.”

10

ARTS &

post mortem: visions

PHOTO BY BRITTANY GUERIN | THE SIGNAL A Georgia State student observes projected videos of the perception of the afterlife, one of many art experiences displayed in art gallery Post Mortem: Visions of Life After Death.

of life after death

L

Written by taylor josey

Life after death is housed in the Georgia State Arts and Humanities building in the form of the Post Mortem gallery.

White sheets of cotton hang from the ceiling, separating the space into three sections. Videos are projected on each wall where individuals can sit and watch in the second section.

The last section has a flower arrangement sitting under a candle. Testimonies about life after death are framed in the room. The room smells of flowers with an uncanny atmosphere.

Paige Taylor, assistant professor in graphic design and curator of the Post Mortem gallery, says she found herself trying to unite people who are at odds with their beliefs over the afterlife.

“I thought, ‘OK, what is the thing amongst all belief systems that is a normalizing factor? The thing that brings us all to this equal playing field.’ All

spiritual factors and even if you don’t subscribe to one, we all have this inevitable end of death,” Taylor said.

Taylor says she thought if she could bring together different viewpoints about death into one space where they’re shown contrasting and comparing belief systems, it would translate well.

“It would be a way of seeing that we’re more alike than different. These beliefs can coexist and it’s that diversity of these beliefs that really can make a beautiful thing. As far as the whole installation, I wanted to create this simulated afterlife space, something very ethereal and dream-like,” Taylor said.

Taylor started out by making a blog post asking her audience to explain life after death in their own words.

“You’ll notice some of the answers are very short but some really thought about it and I was able to construct visual from their testimonies,” Taylor said.

& LIVING

11

ELEMENTS OF POST MORTEM There are 30 framed testimonies which include only the responder’s age, gender, birthplace and belief system. There are also quotes on the walls that can each be found in one of the testimonies. “‘We don’t know what we don’t know.’ I really like that particular quote because you read on two levels. I thought that was pretty interesting,” Taylor said.

Each element inside works together to create an ethereal life after death atmosphere. There is a live camera taping visitors at the entrance. The live feed projects a ghostly image of the visitors on one of the walls.

“It gives the image of a ghostly presence and it also plays into the fact that we all have this energy about us, so wherever we are we kind of leave traces of ourselves behind,” Taylor said.

In addition to the live camera, Taylor created video stills that compliment the testimonies on the walls. There are images from the videos she made mounted on the walls throughout the space.

“I wanted to have some stills of the videos for people who couldn’t stay for an extended period of time,” Taylor said. “You can kind read the testimonials, look at the stills and see which matches with which.”

One of the video stills is of a

steaming kettle on a stove. Taylor says this specifically came from one of the testimonials because someone mentioned whenever their mother was in the process of passing, she started to have these disconnected visions. As she was talking, she asked if someone left on the kettle. Taylor was able to give the kettle more meaning to life after death.

“When I filmed the kettle image, the kettle starts letting off the steam. When I was playing with the video you’ll notice I reverse the kettle so it starts sucking the steam back in,” Taylor said. “It’s almost like breathing in a way too. Throughout our whole life we’re breathing and it’s the thing that sustains us through life.”

There are real flowers under a video of a candle in the back of the room. Even the smell of the flowers adds to the unearthly feeling of the gallery. Taylor says she knew the lilies were fragrant but she had no idea that the scent of the flower arrangement would add to the experience.

“It didn’t occur to me that people would have a strong association with the smell. Some have told me it reminded them of a funeral home and a cemetery,” Taylor said. “I knew over the course of time they were going to die. They were very fresh and perfect when I got them and by the end of the show they

would be brown and wilted. It’s just more symbolism of the passage of time and how life transitions.”

Finally, calming music plays in the background giving the space a final spine-chilling touch.

“The last thing I added for the show which helped make it more of a meditative space was the soundtrack,” Taylor said.

“People have told me they like to come here in the midst of a busy day when they need some quiet and some solitude. It has been successful in the fact the people have felt like it’s a meditative place and a solace for serenity and reflection.”

Taylor says she would have liked to add more interactivity throughout the space, making each individual experience unique by adding more sensors.

“The webcam was the only thing I could get. Instead of these videos playing in static order, there would be sensors or some sort of monitoring of people in the space triggering what videos play, making it less of a linear flow and making it more dynamic,” Taylor said.

There are currently 20 pictures of people’s lost loved ones in the space. Visitors can send pictures of their lost ones to Professor Taylor to be added to the installation.

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BY E a m N f o G m t e I t d th DES but eant a lo it woul EAD w m R o y l P h l a ES ipate PAG antic

STUDENT FEEDBACK

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ARTS & LIVING

feature column

WHO’S TEAM MARVEL?

Marvel vs. DC One thrives while the other strives Written by Inga Masic, Associate Arts & Living Editor

Iron Man

Captian America

The Hulk

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2015

WHO’S TEAM DC?

Batman

Wonder Woman

Green Lantern

C

hildren all ‘round the world dream to see their favorite superhero come to life and their story told to the greatest measure. This hope originates from reading comic books such as the Marvel and DC comics. The question now remains: which one of these franchise managed to deliver what everyone hoped for and which killed the dream?

Superman, Batman, Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, The X-Men and many more have all had their moments in the Hollywood spotlight; each original superhero story has been created for a big-budget blockbuster film.

I tend to lean towards the Marvel Comics. Not only has Marvel done a fantastic job of choosing the cast for each film, but they have also chosen directors that have created films that legitimately captivate you and take you on a journey of exhilaration.

Let’s look at the blockbuster “Iron Man.” The creator’s first exceptional decision was casting Robert Downey Jr. as the witty, narcissistic and stubborn Tony Stark. Downey does an excellent job of embodying Stark’s movements and essence — and not to mention some fantastic one-liners.

Also, Jon Favreau’s fantastic job as director kicked off from the first scene in the Afghanistan desert.

Some would argue that DC has made some good choices in casting as well. I won’t deny that “The Dark Knight” films did hit the money maker with Christian Bale, whose performance as Bruce Wayne/ Batman was stoically mesmerizing.

On the other hand, however, it’s not that difficult for DC to find a hunky, darkhaired man in Hollywood to play the charming yet nerdy (referring to his alter ego Clark Kent) Superman.

I’ll hand it to DC for making millions off their movies, but did they really have a challenge at conveying the comic book characters on screen?

Moving away from the topic of casting — audiences thrive for seeing the greatest cinematic effects right there in front of them, so who has truly delivered?

Well, when looking at DC films like “The Dark Knight Rises,” some would say that the cinematography and the film noir setting are what entrances viewers. The dark lighting, the over-thetop scenes that can only be thought up in one’s imaginations, are brought to life.

That’s all thanks to director Christopher Nolan.

When comparing the two companies, however, Marvel has got their act

together when it comes to cinematography. The ability to create Thor’s home world Asgard is a clear indication of the amount of skill put in when forming the Marvel flicks. Yes, the DC movies have their explosions and their enormous football fields that perish in an epic manner, but Marvel had endless amounts of worlds being created, creatures being born and cities being destroyed oh-so-sweetly.

Naturally when making the debate between the two, one movie needs to be mention: “Guardians of the Galaxy.” This film alone grossed over $94 million opening weekend and over 300 million in overall revenue (talk about cha-ching). When this movie debuted in theaters, it became extremely evident the rules have changed.

There’s no way to not make a fantastically comedic action film that will blow the audience’s minds when you put together a witty raccoon, a badass rebel woman, a sweet but deadly tree and a handsomely bright felon all on the same side.

I would honestly be surprised to see DC create something that will achieve the same hysteria that “Guardians” managed to brew up. They might have a chance in the year 2016 with the most anticipated collaboration since “The Avengers,” that being “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.”

This movie has caught the eyes of most movie-watchers and has been an epic battle long over-due. So fingerscrossed that DC Entertainment brings out the big guns and proves my thoughts wrong.

My intentions are not to bash DC Entertainment by any means. I was extremely entertained while watching Christopher Nolan’s Batman films and the newest Superman film “Man of Steel.”

However, the quality of the superheroes and the amount that Marvel Enterprises has to offer is what sways me to their side. They have the amazing franchises like “Xmen” and “The Amazing Spider-Man” to provide to the public. Let’s be honest; who would get tired of seeing some insane mutations used to the greatest extent?

So, all in all, my decision is that Marvel is the dominant company. It thrives today when it comes to the development of films with the choices of directors and the kinds of super heroes it offers. Marvel has created projects that incorporate all the desired elements: humor, darkness, action and sweet superpower moments.

DC Entertainment still has the chance to step up their game and convince me otherwise, but as of right now I’m a Marvel girl.

SHAKY

KNEES MUSIC FESTIVAL: SYDNEY CUNNINGHAM Staff Reporter

I

n 2013, thousands of people arrived in Masquerade Park. Last year, thousands more came to dance and jam in Atlantic Station.

This time, Shaky Knees Music Festival 2015 is setting up shop in Central Park. With this new location, Shaky Knees is bringing a new lineup and more people than any year before.

Going on from May 8 - 10, the three-day festival begins every day at noon going in order from smaller acts to headliners.

Of 69 acts, the main headliners include The Strokes, The Avett Brothers, Wilco, Pixies, Social Distortion, Interpol, Manchester Orchestra, Tame Impala and Ryan Adams. The lineup is subject to change at any notice.

Tickets initially went on sale Jan. 16 with opportunities to get “Early Bird” tickets. Tickets range from a single-day ticket, three-day ticket and VIP tickets with both day options. The VIP access includes special viewing areas for all stages, cash liquor bars, complimentary beer, water, lunch and dinner appetizers. Also, VIP tickets allow purchasers to avoid the Portapotties in favor of private restrooms.

On both previous occasions, festival-goers had to deal with heavy rain. Tim Sweetwood, the founder of Shaky Knees, advises caution.

“Considering the first two years, it is probably going to rain,” Sweetwood said.

As for food, Sweetwood has received tons of requests from the site from the food truck vendors wanting business at Shaky Knees.

“We will do our best to support the local trucks and vendors,” Sweetwood said.

It isn’t unusual for a new festival to switch locations to work with the changes in growth and popularity, according to Sweetwood.

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ARTS & LIVING

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2015

Bringing the festival circuit down to ATL

“We have switched locations each year because we have grown and are becoming a more popular festival,” Sweetwood said. “We want to make sure that we can accommodate everyone who wants to come. Central Park is very accessible.”

Bonnaroo, another popular southern music festival, and Shaky Knees share more than a region. Mason Jar Media specializes in publicity and marketing for music events and groups. The ties from on high begs the question if Shaky Knees has any plans to become the next Bonnaroo.

“I don’t have any plans to be as big as Bonnaroo. That is altogether and one of the best,” Sweetwood said. “I just want our festival-goers to always enjoy the music and look forward to the lineup as a whole.”

From 2013, the line-up has gotten larger and larger. Ranging from indie bands who are working their way up the ladder to established crowd favorites. Highlights include: The National, Modest Mouse, Violent Femmes, Cage the Elephant, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.

This year, the list is variously crafted.

“From a musical standpoint, not too much has changed. It is still true to the bands I love and the bands I wanted to book,” Sweetwood said.

“There are a handful of bands on the roster that are bigger than last year for sure.”

His personal favorites to watch out for include Tame Impala, Ryan Adams, Steve Gunn, The Bronx, Dr. Dog and a couple bands yet to be announced.

“Booking the bands is my favorite part outside of watching the sets.

I’m always seeking out new bands through a number of different sources,” Sweetwood said.

“Advice? Get there early and stay late. The bands are fantastic from beginning to end.”

PHOTO CREDIT: SHAKY KNEES MUSIC FESTIVAL

TIPS FOR

MUSIC FESTIVALS

YOUR TICKET CLOSE STAY HYDRATED 1. KEEP A lot of people want to get into 3. The first show begins at noon festivals, and with the abun-

dance of people there, Shaky Knees is not a good place to lose your ticket. Not only will someone pick it up, the festival’s policy is that all tickets that are lost are non-refundable, and there are no replacements. Keep it smart and keep it close to you.

2.

GET COVERED Shaky Knees is taking place in the opening stretch of summer, and the last you thing you want to deal with at the end of the day is a nasty sunburn. Stay SPF-covered and bring some with you for touchups.

and the last show begins at 11 p.m. Staying hydrated is essential to avoiding a heat stroke with the big crowds. If you bring a clear bottle, you can fill it with water on the premises. There will also be water for sale at the food trucks.

4.

BRING A BACKPACK If you are planning on staying all three days, you will need supplies with you and in the most convenient form as possible. A backpack is the easiest carry and doesn’t take

up your hands. Good things to have on you are your I.D., debit card, cash, sunscreen, sunglasses, phone, and water. Also, the public toilets run out of toilet paper really fast. Bring your own roll, and it won’t be a problem.

THE FAQ PAGE 5. READ At music festivals, there are cer-

tain things that — while allowed in public — are not permitted once you are on festival grounds. On the Shaky Knees site, there are disclaimers and information that inform your festival experience so you don’t have any problems once you get there.

FOR THE OCCASION 6. DRESS As far as footwear goes, you’re

going to spend most of your time on your feet. Festival wear needs to be about comfort and walkability.

If you can walk and dance in a pair of shoes without serious pain or discomfort, those are the ones you need to wear. Shaky Knees is lasting from the day until the late night, for three days straight. Weather is subject to change. Bring an outfit that can be versatile: One for hot weather and then something to go over when the air is crisp out.

columns

14

Lifestyle column

Vote,

campus life column

Nichole is constantly crafting and is an avid re-decorator.

Not only does she have a love of bright colors and patterns but she also is a pug fanatic.

Nichole is the writer of the Lifestyle column and the creator of Sunshine-Somedays, a lifestyle blog.

Tweet at her @GSUSignalAandL

Have Fun A night spent in the living room with the Grammys

A

ward shows are nights full of judgment and jealousy.

They are the few nights out of the year when you become a fashion expert, movie critic, a musicologist, and yes, that is a real thing. It’s a chance to gather around the TV with friends and become a very unknown version of “Fashion Police.” This year, instead of enjoying the Grammys and other award shows with a bag of stale cereal, make a night out of it and throw a Grammy Party!

1. Food How To make Glitter Cupcakes:

The first thing you do to make these is pick your favorite kind of cupcake (mine personally comes from a box).

Once they are baked and iced, it is time to make the gold glitter.

Take ¼ cup of regular sugar and ½ teaspoon of food coloring.

Mix them together and lay them on a baking sheet--bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

Voilà, edible glitter.

You’re welcome.

This year, don’t eat your chips out of the bag. Instead, throw them into a bowl. It’s not a big change, but a little bit of effort can make all the difference. You can also decorate a table specifically for snacks by covering it with cut out music notes and gold paper. As a dessert, try making glitter cupcakes.

2. Decorations When decorating, balloons are a must. They are the best distraction during commercials and categories that you don’t care about. Instead of buying boring plain balloons, try painting the bottom half of a white balloon gold for something different.

Another way to spice up a room is writing out music lyrics from nominated songs and hanging them on the walls.

3. photo booth Yes, they are overdone, but yes, they are still fun. The great thing about a photo booth is that you can make any props you want to go with it. You can go for the classic mustache and kissing lips or you can make it your own.

Try making your props fit the theme by creating a paper cutout of Ed Sheeran’s fiery hair or Pharrell’s hat — you know the one. For the background you can make cutout flashes from printer paper and cover them with glitter; this way, it looks like you’re standing in front of really fake paparazzi.

4. voting ballots My friends and I always have strong opinions of who should win what categories.

So instead of trying to tone down the competitiveness, enhance it. Make voting ballots. To make them, take a piece of printer paper and cut it into fourths. You can use crafting scissors to make the edges wavy. Then put the name of the category at the top and list all of the nominees underneath it. All that’s left is to hand out the ballots; I suggest before the show starts and see who picks the most winners. But no one really wins anything other than the feeling of being the best guesser.

Award show nights are supposed to be full of excitement and judgment. However, they should also be full of parties. So try throwing your own party! It’s basically the same thing you do every year, only more food, more fun and more people to yell at the TV with.

Art of the city: Admire Downtown

O

Judge,

NICHOLE PLACE Columnist

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2015

MIA MCDONALD Columnist

Mia does amateur photoshoots, maintains the title of bookworm and hangs out with friends and family.

Follow her @MiaMore09

ften people say that Georgia State doesn’t have a real “campus.”

Though it may not be the traditional campus, Georgia State has something better. Our school is smack-dab in the middle of downtown Atlanta.

It doesn’t matter where you are downtown, you’re bound to experience some form of artistic expression. Whether you’re an artist or an admirer, there’s something for everybody.

For those who are interested in theater, you have options. You have the Fox Theatre, the Alliance Theatre, True Colors Theatre and 7 Stages just to name a few. Also, they are all within 15 minutes of campus and not to mention there’s a student discount option. It’s even better when you go with a group.

So theater isn’t really your style of art? No worries, there are other places with more options.

For all visual artists, you have the Woodruff Arts Center, the High Museum, Eyedrum, etc. We’re just in time for Georgia State’s Night at the Woodruff Arts Center sponsored by Campus Events. Again, flash your student I.D. and receive a monetary perk.

Now I understand that we all can’t afford to always go out and spend money — especially on items that aren’t exactly beneficial to our classes — but that’s why there are artistic opportunities that don’t do much damage to your wallet. The faculty, staff and students of the Welch School of Art and Design occasionally have art shows to

showcase their work, and there’s always free. Also, the performing artists on campus, the GSU Players, the different dance troupes and the Georgia State choirs, concerts are reasonably priced. All of these events are an excellent way to expose you to different creative works and the chance to meet new people.

We’re surrounded by a lot of amazing architecture. Structures are so intricate it can make the most amateur photographer (me) look like a pro behind the lens. You should see the way the Aderhold area looks at night, especially when there are seasonal decorations.

Another way to experience individuals using the arts as an outlet is the group Obscure Goods and their continuous event ‘Blissful Friday’s.’ I’ve attended their event at least once and must say I loved every second of it. There’s no pressure to speak, think or be a certain way; you come as you are and just live. The vibe, the atmosphere, the aura and everything about Obscure Goods is awesome.

Attending any of these events or places is a good way for you to learn more about the city we study in and for some, live in. We spend enough time in a room with four walls, two doors and maybe a window if we’re lucky. We’re basically boxed in. Experiencing the art of the city is a good way to get out of that box.

Being in the heART of the city allows the chance of exposure to beauty in multiple ways.

Make sure you’re able to enjoy it.

and

INVITE YOU AND YOUR BESTIE TO A SPECIAL ADVANCE SCREENING OF

Thursday, February 12 7:00PM Regal Atlantic Station

Stop by THE SIGNAL office today at 33 Gilmer Street, 200 University Center to receive a ticket (While supplies last).

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED OR RESTRICTED BY LAW. Limit one admit-two pass per person. While supplies last. Employees of participating sponsors are not eligible. This screening is overbooked to ensure capacity and seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis.

The film has been rated PG-13 for crude and sexual material throughout, some language and teen partying.

IN THEATERS FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20! #THEDUFF THEDUFFMOVIE.com Facebook: THEDUFFMOVIE Twitter: @TheDUFF

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mech01

reviews

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2015

15

ALBUM REVIEW

The Decemberists make progress uniting their split fanbase with ‘What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World’ ALEX KUGACZEWSKI

Staff Reviewer

J

anuary is probably an odd time to make such bold proclamations, but odds are slim that there’s going to be a more cognizant, witty introduction than: “We’re aware that you cut your hair in the style that our drummer wore in the video, so when your bridal processional is a televised confessional to the benefits of Axe shampoo, you know we did it for you.”

Granted, Decemberists’ frontman Colin Meloy has always been a gifted lyricist, but there’s a crackling poignancy in these remarks given the lukewarm reception dealt to the band’s previous album, “The King is Dead.”

Thoroughly cutting away any trace of grandiose theatrics, The Decemberists’ first venture into modern Americana marked new territory — and betrayal to those expecting another slab of eclectic excursions. By splitting the fanbase in this manner, “What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World” is immediately saddled with unenviable expectations. Uniting such opposed factions of followers is never easy, but then again, the Decemberists have never been ones to take the easy way out. Remarkably, and almost impossibly, the band’s seventh album expertly plays on both sides without

splitting at the seams.

Marking a welcome return to the bombastic instrumentation threaded throughout 2005’s “Picaresque,” half the record plays like an endearing ode to the Decemberists’ legacy. “Cavalry Captain,” for instance, compliments the galvanized bounce of its chorus with swelling horns and pounding percussion. This not only makes for an excellent kick start, but also a return to the energized songwriting legions of fans have come to expect from Meloy and company.

Delving deeper into the track list takes listeners into the oral sex hymn “Philomena,” a retro-style ditty replete with accentuated feminine vocalizations coursing throughout. Songs such as these would feel right at home on the band’s earlier, more audacious and ambitious albums. It’s a welcome return

to hear this side of The Decemberists indulgences and arcane references. once more, even if it’s only for a while.

Elsewhere, “Easy Come, Easy Go” While much of “What a Terrible finds the band comfortably settled into World, What a Beautiful World” dedi- a rural romp of bluesy guitar licks and cates itself to reverent throwbacks, the countrified lyrical turns. album also spends considerable time Setting these multiple, disparate expanding upon the pastoral aesthetic elements of the Decemberists’ sonic debuted on the band’s previous record. pallet side-by-side might seem like a Naysayers may raise initial objections venture doomed to failure. After all, to revisiting if debate among the rustic, barethe band’s folbones aesthetic lowers can’t “What a Terrible World, of 2011’s “The single out a parWhat a Beautiful King is Dead,” ticular album but these songs as the discogWorld” stand shoulraphy’s cornerders above stone, how could The Decemberists their predeany of them Grade: B+ cessors, better fall in line for written and an album playVerdict: Despite lacking more affecting. ing to each with much sense of cohesion, No song betlittle regard for ter exemplifies sense or coheThe Decemberists’ seventh this thorough sion? Somehow album is yet another improvement though, they impressive entry in the than “Lake just might. On Song,” which “What a Tergroup’s storied catalogue. quickly posits rible World, itself as one What a Beautiof the band’s ful World,” the most emotionally draining cuts to Decemberists have crafted a stark redate. Meloy’s lamentation of “and you, minder of just why they’re so admired all sibylline, reclining in your pew, you in the first place. This is a band that’s tattered me, you tethered me to you” cherished not for its consistency in is a wrenching ode to young love, a stylistics, but for its seemingly effortrare side of the band not often peeked less penning of great songs. Fortuthrough the thick curtains of literary nately, that shows no sign of stopping.

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JAGA JAZZIST Jaga Jazzist ‘94 - ‘14

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TANYA TAGAQ Animism

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UNTIL THE RIBBON BREAKS A Lesson Unlearnt

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FAZERDAZE Fazerdaze EP

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NOLLORES Never Leave

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VIET CONG Viet Cong

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KID MOXIE 1888

FILM REVIEW

Eastwood tackles the war genre in his new movie ‘American Sniper’ 8 FERNANDO MATTOS 9 Staff Reviewer

I

t is always exciting to see new work from directors, such as Clint Eastwood, with extensive experience and the accolades to match. His latest movie “American Sniper” tells the story of army sniper Chris Kyle, one of the most deadly men in the history of the U.S. military, and the time he served in the Iraq war. American Sniper is a good movie, containing some excellent photography and character development, but it is unnecessarily long and does not bring anything new to the genre.

Eastwood searches for Kyles character before, during and after the war.

This investigation of character is probably one of the film’s best qualities, along with Eastwood’s ability to bring emotion out of almost every image. Showing Kyle’s life outside the war brings to “American Sniper” the human element that is missing in movies like “The Hurt Locker” and “Zero Dark Thirty.”

The movie has good and bad moments in its editing. The opening scene shows Kyle (Bradley Cooper) aiming at a child who seems to be holding an explosive. As he is about to pull the

trigger, there is a cut to another trigger in a scene where he, as a child, is learning to hunt with his father. Eastwood makes this flashback seem natural — the match cut, from trigger to trigger, pleases aesthetically and displays excellent editing.

The flashback, however, feels rushed during its first sequence. In one conversation scene where Kyle rides on a truck with his friend, Eastwood uses four or five different camera angles inside the vehicle in close succession.

At no moment does the scene seem to justify all these angles and cuts, and the viewer is left wondering what Eastwood is trying to do. This confusion takes the focus away from the scene and the story. The quick and irregular cuts that plague the first minutes of the movie end soon and Eastwood seems back in control of the film. Nevertheless, these poorly edited sequences hurt the movie as they are in a complete mismatch with the rest of the film.

On the other hand, there are scenes that shine. The last combat scene features an unlikely, yet powerful example of excellent photography and editing.

The dust fills the screen for several long minutes and all soldiers look alike. To hold viewers in a cloud of dust for such a long time is nothing short of courageous; it adds incredible tension. War

can be this deep and long cloud. It is ture and dedicated to bringing out the impossible to see the forces acting on it. deepest feelings and emotions of his All men are suddenly alike: Victims of character. It will be exciting to see how decisions made by their governments. this role shapes his career in the future.

In scenes like this, Eastwood gives a Despite its merits, “American true class on filmmaking.

Sniper” falls short of being great. EastIn terms of characterization, it is wood never shows a critical scene at refreshing to see that Kyle also has a life the end of the film, preferring instead outside war and to use words on that war directly a black screen impacts it. This like most tradi“American Sniper” psychological eftional biopics. fect is handled well It is disappointRated: R in the film. In one ing to see the scene, the cammovie conclude Grade: B era circles around without the key Verdict: Better than Chris while he element of film: sits in his living images.

This recent war films, room, and sounds choice makes “American Sniper” of war helicopthe ending a cliters torment him. ché — an appeal reaffirms Clint The scene shows to emotion that Eastwood’s prowess, but almost never that war leaves its marks on everyseems to work still disappoints in some one who takes part when words are aspects. in it, often absent used on screen. in war films. One W h a t could hardly call it comes after a glorifying war portrait. these words are real and controverCooper supports this well-written sial images. It is an ending that seems character with a performance unlike forced in the film, trying to impart a any other in his career. Previously the message already delivered. The rest of actor who always seemed on the verge the movie carries enough power and of smiling, Cooper now seems ma- food for thought on its own.

now playing at “Dear White People”

V/A - GHOSTLY SWIM Ghostly Swim 2 DIODE MILLIAMPERE Psychic Pizza Connection

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GHOSTFACE KILLAH 36 Seasons

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TY SEGALL $ingle$ 2

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FUTURECOP! Fairy Tales

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LIA MICE I Love You

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LORD RAJA A Constant Moth

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SCIFLYER They Only Believe In The Moon

SYNOPSIS:

SHOWTIMES:

A campus culture war between blacks and whites at a predominantly white school comes to a head when the staff of a humor magazine stages an offensive Halloween party.

Wednesday - Friday 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 5 p.m., 7 p.m.

Rated: R Running Time: 108 minutes

calendar & games

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Name:_______________

Puzzle 1 (Medium, difficulty rating 0.54)

Campus & 3 9 6 Downtown Events8 1

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7 5 8 Distinguished speaker Laverne cox 9

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Feb. 4 3:30 p.m. - 5 p.m.

Speaker’s Auditorium Well known for her transgender advocacy, cox is the first trans-woman to have her own television show called TRANSform Me, which she is produces as well. She is best known for her leading role in Orange is the New Black. She is taking her movement to be able to move on from gender expectations in the world and to live naturally in the world.

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For the committed juggler, or anyone who enjoys it, the Groundhog Day Jugglers Festival will take place this weekend at the Yaarab Shrine Center on Ponce de Leon Ave. The festival features a juggling competition, a “light extravaganza”, and a cabaret at night. It’s $30 for participants to register, but the competition is free for anyone to go to.

Tickets to the cabaret are $10 per person.

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37th Annual Groundhog Day Jugglers Festival Feb. 6 - Feb. 8 Yaarab Shrine Center

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Ringling Bros. and 2 & Bailey 9 4 Barnum Circus: Legends

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Feb. 11 - Feb. 16 Philips Arena “The Greatest Show on Earth” displays the strength and courage of performers from around the world. For those who crave a certain fantasia or a break in routine, come on down to Philips Arena. This show has a focus on legend, bringing to life mythical creatures in a blur of magic and daredevils. The

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Puzzle 3 (Very hard, difficulty rating 0.80)

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SPORTS 2015 GEORGIA STATE BATTER UP! BASEBALL PREVIEW www.georgiastatesignal.com/sports

BRYAN JOHNSON Staff Reporter

W

ith the spring semester upon Georgia State, the baseball team is beginning intensive practices to prepare for the 2015 season.

Georgia State is coming off its first year in the Sun Belt Conference last year in which they posted an overall record of 25-31 and a conference record of 11-19, finishing ninth in the conference standings.

The Panthers are looking to improve on that record this season, buoyed by the strong offense they showed last season. This season they are led by All-Sun Belt Conference Preseason team members Matt Rose and Joey Roach.

WHERE THE TEAM STANDS

Georgia State had a rough introduction to the competitive level of the Sun Belt Conference, being swept in their series against eventual Sun Belt Conference champs Louisiana-Lafayette and failing to put together any significant winning streaks.

While the Panthers posted a respectable 18-15 home record, their away record was an abysmal 7-16, a problem that must be rectified if Georgia State wants to make a push to be in contention.

“We had a lot to learn about the conference being the new kid on the block and we still have a lot to learn.

The competition is fantastic and when we played well, we put ourselves in position to win,” Head Coach Greg Frady said in a press release. “We handled ourselves pretty well at home, but we’ve got to play better on the road. We’re looking forward to putting ourselves in a better competitive situation.”

Georgia State is hopeful of making more of an impact with a returning core of players but expectations are still high among the coaching staff.

“I think this time of the year, every coach is talking about how can we win the league. I don’t think there’s a coach in the conference talking about how can we just play well, but we had a lot to learn about the conference. When we played well on the field, we put ourselves in a position to win. When we didn’t play well, obviously we didn’t win,” Frady said in a video released through Georgia State Athletics.

PUSHING THE SEASON AHEAD

SUBMITTED PHOTOS | GEORGIA STATE ATHLETICS The Georgia State baseball team hopes to improve this year after failing to reach the Sun Belt tournament in 2014.

While the coaching staff may be warily optimistic, Georgia State is expected to finish eighth, according to the preseason coaches’ poll. The poll is voted on by every coach in the conference, according to the Sun Belt Conference’s website.

That may very well be the case for the Panthers, as their schedule for the season doesn’t pull any punches. The Panthers will open their season with the Atlanta Challenge tournament, played at the GSU Baseball Complex Friday, Feb. 13 - 25 in which they’ll play Fordham, Liberty and St. John’s.

The first major series of the season will open at home against Ohio on Feb. 27 and conference play will

commence against Arkansas State on March 13.

The Panthers will then face reigning conference champions UL Lafayette at home on Mar. 20. The Ragin’ Cajuns led the coaches poll to retain their title. This year the Ragin’ Cajuns will be led by All-Sun Belt Conference Preseason Player of the Year Blake Trahan, a shortstop who hit a batting average of .355 last year with 12 doubles, two triples, four home runs, 49 RBIs and 58 runs, according to the Sun Belt website.

Georgia State will continue conference play before playing their last series of the season against perennial rivals Georgia Southern. Every Georgia State sports team tends to bring their game to the next level when facing the Eagles, but at such a late point in the season, it may not matter at that point.

RETURNING PLAYERS GIVE TEAM HOPE

One of the bright spots in last season were the performances of Matt Rose and Joey Roach, both players who have been named to the All-Sun Belt Conference Preseason team.

Rose has made the transition from playing as a primarily right-handed pitcher to an excellent infielder. He was named as the starting third baseman on the Preseason team. Rose has a career batting average with the Panthers of .299, with 15 home runs, 20 doubles and 66 RBIs. Joey Roach plays at catcher for Georgia State, starting almost every game last season, who hit with a batting average of .301 and collected 23 RBIs last season. Coach Frady was quick to emphasize the importance of both players to the team offensively as well shining a particular light on senior infielder Caden Bailey, a left-handed batter with a career .317 average.

“Those guys are in the middle of the order and there are others … So I think we got a really good core of positional players with the potential to score some runs, yet I think we’re much better on defense with that group,” Frady said in a video released

by Georgia State Athletics.

DEPTH IN THE BULLPEN

Georgia State baseball has beefed up their pitching staff in the offseason and will look to lefthanded pitchers Kenny Anderson and Wayne Wages to anchor the team.

With Rose making what looks like a permanent move to the infield, it will be the responsibility of these players to do most of the weekend rotation work with righthanded pitcher Kevin Burgee closing, according to a press release.

Nathan Bates, a right-handed pitcher who saw a lot of game time last season, will also be expected to come back in a big way this season.

Coach Frady spoke highly of Anderson in particular.

“I think his aspiration of wanting to become a professional player is evident for all of us to see,” said Frady in a video released by Georgia State Athletics.

The Panthers will start their season against Fordham in the Atlanta Challenge on Friday, Feb. 13 at the GSU Baseball Complex.

SUN BELT PRESEASON RANKINGS

Q Georgia State

2014: 25-31, 11-19 Sun Belt

i

Louisiana-Lafayette

2014: 58-10, 26-4 Sun Belt Panthers: 0-3 vs. Cajuns

S Texas State

2014: 30-28, 16-14 Sun Belt Panthers: 0-3 vs. Bobcats

L

Arkansas State

2014: 32-26: 18-16 Sun Belt Panthers: 2-1 vs. Red Wolves

E UT-Arlington

2014: 32-26, 19-11 Sun Belt Panthers: 1-2 vs. Mavericks

T Troy

2014: 25-32, 11-18 Sun Belt Panthers: 2-1 vs. Trojans

G

Georgia Southern

2014: 40-23, 15-12 SoCon Panthers did not play Eagles in 2014

N

South Alabama

2014: 22-33, 11-18 Sun Belt Panthers: 2-1 vs. Jaguars

X

Louisiana-Monroe

2014: 23-36, 11-19 Sun Belt Panthers: 1-2 vs. Warhawks

B

Appalachian State

2014: 21-34, 12-14 SoCon Panthers did not play Mountaineers in 2014

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2013 18

SPORTS SPORTS

EYES on the

PRIZE

2015 Georgia State softball preview SUBMITTED PHOTO | GEORGIA STATE ATHLETICS After finishing third in the conference last season, Georgia State softball expects to be better prepared for its conference rivals as they look to win the Sun Belt.

AKIEM BAILUM Sports Editor

A

fter a 2014 campaign that saw Georgia State softball finish third in the Sun Belt’s regular season standings, the Panthers look to build on what it accomplished last season to win the conference this year.

Last year, Georgia State’s season concluded with a first round, extra-inning, 2-1 defeat to the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks in the first round of the conference tournament. The loss occurred despite the Panthers being seeded third and UL-Monroe finishing sixth in the regular season standings.

Now, there is a new season with increased expectations for head coach Roger Kincaid and his team.

“We’re extremely excited to get started and to start playing games,” Kincaid said. “There’s a lot of preparation. We’ve been preparing for a long time and have had a lot of practice.”

The Panthers saw the departures of three seniors from last year’s team in all-time winning pitcher Kaitlyn Medlam along with infielder MeQuilla Franklin and infielder Jessica Clifton.

Offense

Georgia State still is returning a bevy of players from last year’s team, including junior infielder Taylor Anderson, who hit 14 home runs in 2014 and was named to this year’s Preseason All-Sun Belt Team.

“I’m honored to be named to the Preseason All-Conference team,” she said.

The Panthers are also represented on the Preseason Sun Belt team by Lauren Coleman, a senior infielder. As a junior last season, Coleman had a .389 batting average and a .643 slugging percentage — both of which put her in third in those categories for the conference.

As a team, Georgia State presented one of the most proficient

offenses in the Sun Belt last season.

The Panthers hit .288 as a team — second in the conference. Along with Anderson and Coleman, senior outfielder Ashley Christy and senior third baseman Callie Alford also notched averages of over .300. Sophomore infielder Kensey Caldwell also hit near .300 with a .292 average in 2014.

Kincaid said Alford will likely move to third base as freshman Ivie Drake will likely see playing time at the catcher position this year.

Pitching

Filling the shoes of Medlam, the pitcher with the most wins in school history is a tall task but one Kincaid feels can be done. There are six pitchers on Georgia State’s pitching staff this season, including sophomore Taylor Thorpe, junior Katie Worley and seniors Emily Clay and Eron Milton.

“We all get along and pick each other up,” Milton said.

Milton was second on the team in 2014 in ERA behind Medlam with a 4.95 mark along with a 7-7 record. She, as well as Worley, are both recovering from injuries.

Thorpe appeared in 21 games as a freshman and had a record of 3-4 last season.

Along with the four freshmen also come two newcomers. One is Randee Bettis who comes to Georgia State from Madison County High School where she received First-Team All-State honors as a senior. Another is Chelsea Stanfield, a junior who is transferring from North Carolina State.

“She’s left-handed, has two years under her belt coming from the ACC. Stanfield will give us a lot of experience in the circle for us this season,” Kincaid said.

Kincaid said the Panthers will use the full staff of six pitchers to take the burden off one person to carry the load for the team’s arms.

“With our six pitchers, it will give us a good look against other teams,” Anderson said. “Eron [Mil-

ton] is the fastest one we have while Katie and Chelsea are more finesse.”

Fielding

The Panthers finished fourth in the Sun Belt last season in field percentage with a mark of .963 behind Texas State, South Alabama and Western Kentucky which has since departed the conference and are now a member of Conference USA. Among position players, sophomore catcher Mandy Blackwell had a 1.000 fielding percentage. Coleman and Alford were second and third on the team in fielding with percentages of .987 and .978 respectively. Both only committed five errors last season.

Milton says one of the keys for a successful 2015 season will be to cut down on errors.

Outlook for the Sun Belt

The Panthers are picked to finish third in the Sun Belt this season behind Louisiana-Lafayette, last year’s conference champions, and South Alabama, who made the NCAA Regionals along with ULLafayette last season. Both the Cajuns and Jaguars are ranked in the top 25 this season, presenting robust tests for Georgia State.

Two new teams will also enter the Sun Belt this year in Appalachian State and Georgia Southern. The Panthers did not face the Mountaineers last season but did play vs. the Eagles last April, resulting in a 5-2 loss.

The team feels that with this being its second season in the Sun Belt, they are better prepared to face the rest of the conference, including UL-Lafayette and South Alabama at the top.

“Last year, it was a challenge being new to the conference, but this year we have a sense of what to expect and what we’re up against,” Milton said.

Two new teams will also enter the Sun Belt this year in Appalachian State and Georgia Southern. The Panthers did not face the

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2015 Mountaineers last season but did Kincaid has set a goal for the team of either sweeping or winning every series. He says maintaining focus on its competition will be critical in earning a top spot in the tournament in May and winning the conference crown.

“We can’t just focus on those two [Louisiana-Lafayette and South Alabama], but we have to take care of business in the Sun Belt this year again, including taking care of business vs. UL-Lafayette and South Alabama,” he said.

The ultimate goal for Georgia State in 2015 is clear — win the Sun Belt.

“We want to win the tournament and hopefully advance to the Women’s College World Series,” Milton said.

The Panthers’ season begins with a series of games against a variety of teams in Auburn, Alabama from Feb. 12-18 before their home opener on Feb. 20 vs. Savannah State at 5 p.m.

Sun Belt Preview Georgia Southern 36-20, 15-6 SoCon (Panthers: 0-1 vs. Eagles in 2014) After reaching the semifinals of the SoCon tournament the previous season, the Eagles are another newcomer into the Sun Belt conference. Annie Smith has been the team’s head coach for three seasons in which Georgia Southern has compiled an 110-71 record along with two SoCon titles.

The Eagles will need a replacement for Kourtny Thomas, who was tied for third in SoCon with 14 home runs in 2014. Among those returning is sophomore infielder Taylor Rogers, who hit .381 and stole 25 bases last year.

Louisiana-Lafayette 49-10-1, 19-1-0 Sun Belt (Panthers: 0-3 vs. Cajuns in 2014) After winning the conference last season and making their sixth Women’s College World Series in its history, the Ragin’ Cajuns are once again the team to beat in the Sun Belt. Michael Lotief begins his 13th season at the helm for ULLafayette and has advanced to the NCAA Tournament in all of those years.

When facing the Cajuns, teams will have to contend with Preseason Player of the Year, junior catcher Lexie Elkins, who hit .388 last year with 24 homers and 74 RBIs. Also returning is redshirt senior pitcher Christina Hamilton, who finished third in the conference with a 1.56 ERA.

Louisiana-Monroe 25-27, 6-14 Sun Belt (Panthers: 2-2 vs. Warhawks in 2014) The Warhawks was the team that upset Georgia State from last year’s Sun Belt tournament. ULMonroe enters the new season with a new coach in Corey Lyon who had a record of 37-26 in 2014 in his last year at Southern Arkansas.

Among the premier players for the Warhawks include redshirt se-

nior second baseman Miyuki Navarrete who hit .348 last season and stole 42 bases. Also returning is sophomore outfielder Christina Roberts, last year’s Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year.

South Alabama 42-14, 15-6 Sun Belt (Panthers: 1-2 vs. South Alabama in 2014) The Jaguars finished second in the conference last season behind UL-Lafayette and are nationally ranked No. 23. In eight official seasons at South Alabama, head coach Becky Clark has put together a 274163-1 record along with winning at least 40 games the last three years.

Senior pitcher Farish Beard was one of the two Jaguars selected to the Preseason All-Sun Belt Team.

In 2014, Beard had a record of 22-7 along with an ERA of 1.22. Junior outfielder Stephanie Pilkington led the team in hits last year with 54 along with a batting average of .292.

UT-Arlington 21-33, 5-13 Sun Belt (Panthers: 3-0 vs. Mavericks in 2014) Despite a season that saw the Mavericks win only five games in conference last year, UT-Arlington advanced to the semifinals of the Sun Belt tournament. This will be the fourth season for head coach Kristie Fox, who has led the Mavericks to postseason appearance the last two years.

After losing only one senior from last year’s team in pitcher Callie Collins, UT-Arlington returns the majority of their team. Among the returnees is senior infielder Nina Villanueva, who hit eight home runs along with a batting average of .348 last year.

Texas State 26-30, 9-12 Sun Belt (Panthers: 3-0 vs. Bobcats in 2014) Texas State is picked to finish fourth in the conference this season. Ricci Woodard is entering her fifteenth year with the Bobcats in which she has been to five NCAA Regional Tournament appearances along with a record of 484-319-1.

Senior third baseman Courtney Harris, who played all 56 games for Texas State last year and batted .313, is returning from last year’s team. Senior designated player Kortney Koroll was the team leader in home runs last year with nine.

Troy 22-30-2, 5-13 Sun Belt (Panthers: 3-0 vs. Trojans in 2014) The Trojans suffered an early round exit from last year’s Sun Belt tournament after a loss in the first round to South Alabama. Troy also has a new coach in Betsy Mullins who is only the second coach in the softball program’s Division I history.

Pitcher Jaycee Affeldt, who led the Trojans’ pitching staff with a 2.77 ERA, is returning for her senior season. The Trojans will need someone to fill the void left by Ebony Wright who was the only player on last year’s team with a batting average above .300.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 201510, 2013 TUESDAY, DECEMBER

PANTHER OF THE WEEK

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SPORTS

SPORTS CALENDAR

*conference games

Saturday, Feb. 7

Georgia Southern*

DePaul

Women’s Basketball

Stateboro, Georgia 5 p.m.

New Orleans, Louisiana 1 p.m.

South Alabama*

Ryan Harrow Men’s Basketball

The senior point guard from Marietta reached 1,000 points for his Georgia State career in a 7443 blowout victory against the Arkansas State Red Wolves on Saturday afternoon at the Sports Arena.

Harrow reached the millennium mark in only 54 games as a Panther — the second fastest in the program’s history.

He played his high school basketball for Walton High in Marietta, in which he reached 2,000 points in only three years.

Harrow began his collegiate career with North Carolina State as a freshman before moving on to Kentucky. He sat out his first year with the Wildcats but in his second season at Kentucky had double-digit point performances in the majority of his final 24 games.

Last year, in his first season as a Panther, Harrow was named to the All-Sun Belt First Team and to the All-Sun Belt Tournament Team. He scored 604 points in his first season with Georgia State.

Men’s Basketball

Georgia State continued its winning ways as of late when the Panthers blew out the Arkansas State Red Wolves by a final of 74-43 on Saturday afternoon at the Sports Arena.

Leading the way for the Panthers was Ryan Harrow who scored 21 points for the game and also reached 1,000 points for his Georgia State career.

Markus Crider also earned his third double-double of the season with 14 points and 11 rebounds.

The Panthers’ next game will be Thursday on the road at 7:30 p.m. vs. conference-leading rival Georgia Southern.

Saturday, Feb. 7

GEORGIA STATE ATHLETICS

THE FINAL SCORE

Mobile, Alabama 5 p.m.

MEN’S TENNIS Friday, Feb. 6

1340 The Fan 3

UL Lafayette* Lafayette, Louisiana TBA

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL Thursday, Feb. 5

Saturday, Feb. 7 South Alabama* Mobile, Alabama 3 p.m.

WOMEN’S TRACK AND FIELD Friday, Feb. 6

WOMEN’S TENNIS Saturday, Feb. 7

ETSU Bucs Invite

Winthrop

at Johnson City, Tennessee 1 p.m.

Raleigh, North Carolina TBA

MEN’S BASKETBALL Thursday, Feb. 5

Saturday, Feb. 7

Sunday, Feb. 8

Georgia Southern*

ETSU Bucs Invite

NC State

Stateboro, Georgia 7:30 p.m.

at Johnson City, Tennessee All day

Raleigh, North Carolina 10 a.m.

1340 The Fan 3

Shorthanded, the women’s team came up short vs. Arkansas State earlier this past Saturday. The Panthers lost for their seventh time in eight games with a 61-47 defeat to Arkansas State.

Georgia State did not have a player in double-digit points for the game. In addition, the Panthers were also playing without their two leading scorers Brittany Logan and Makeba Ponder.

The team looks to turn things around on Thursday afternoon at 5 p.m. vs. Georgia Southern.

Men’s Tennis

On Saturday, Georgia State attempted a comeback against Troy but came up short in a 4-3 loss.

The Panthers won the first doubles match, but the Trojans claimed the doubles point after winning the final two doubles matches. Troy went ahead 3-2 before a victory from Andrei Andrukhou kept the match alive for the Panthers.

The Trojans’ Giovani Samaha defeated Joseph Bishop in straight sets to win the match for Troy. The Panthers’ next match is on Friday on the road at Louisiana-Lafayette.

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