Panthercards will be free for

11 Days

Landmark deal with Panthercard office gives amnesty to the students.

ADAM DUFFY Editor-in-Chief

In a historic deal with Georgia State’s Panthercard Office, replacement panther cards will be free from Nov. 7th to Nov. 18th. This deal comes after the increase in price for new cards from $10 to $25, a 150% increase.

In communications with the Panthercard Office, the department stated that the increase came as a result of the new parking and card systems instituted this year, the cost of which they want to offload onto the students through the increased price. Forcing the student body to foot the bill for something we are already paying for through the money we spend to attend Georgia State.

The new parking system involved the retrofitting of every university parking deck on campus, doing away with the old budget card system to instead have charges be made through your Panthercard. The new Panthercard system went hand in hand with parking. The new cards have a different format and can be used for parking, dining on campus and other kinds of on-campus payments.

This issue first came to the forefront when Ira Livnat, the EVP of the Atlanta Campus SGA, was approached by multiple students complaining about the increased prices. A $25 expense to college students living penny to penny could mean the difference between eating and not eating their next meal.

After a few weeks of talks between Livnat and administrators, a deal was settled to create an amnesty period between Nov. 7th and Nov. 18th. During this period, replacement Panthercards will be free to all students. Also, the university has “committed to exploring the reduction of the cost of replacement cards” going into the spring semester.

This tension with auxiliary services, the department that contains the parking and Panthercard offices, dates back over a year ago. Back then, Livnat reached a deal with the parking department to reimburse students who had been spending extra money to park, unable to get their budget cards due to delays within the parking department.

After that battle, the need for a new parking system was made clear. This event expedited the process that would install this new system.

In a quote from Livnat, where he talks about this success and his continued advocating for the student body, he had this to say. “ I think victory is earned through tenacity. We persisted and so we came out victorious. Many people are afraid to ask, we see the injustices, we see the problem, but many people are afraid to ask. But at SGA that is our job. We succeed because we have no other choice. There’s absolutely nothing spectacular about what I did, anybody could have done it. I hope they see this as an invitation to start.”

As student leaders like Livnat keep fighting for students, it is important to become active participants in these events. Don’t allow injustices to go idly by, reject the notion that you have no control over your university and say something.

If you wish to replace a lost or damaged Panthercard, you may do so for free until Nov. 18th. Go to the Panthercard Office on the 2nd floor of Student Center West to get your replacement.

Why are some Georgia State students sitting out this election?

Even

with a lot of eyes on Georgia, some students still won’t slip their vote into the ballot.

TONI ODEJIMI Staff Reporter

The narrative that comes out during election season is that young people don’t vote. Wherever that be for laziness or a lack of faith in the current candidates, young voters are historically the smallest group of the voting population, and data from the New York Times supports this. With candidates Stacey Abrams and Raphael Warnock visiting the school, Georgia State University still has a population of students sitting this election out. Here’s what these young people who aren’t voting are saying about their choice:

“I just don’t see a reason to. I don’t believe in our government. I think that the systems they have in place, make it to where even if you vote and even if the person you want to get elected gets elected, nothing’s going to happen.” - Timothee

“I’m a permanent resident, so I can’t vote in local elections. I can only vote in presidential elections… I’m not a citizen… but at the same time, it affects me too, because I’m living here so I kinda think it’s pointless that I can’t vote for local elections.”Ana

Oliveira

“I don’t feel like there’s anybody out there that really represents my values that I have so far. Nobody really has caught my interest… I want to vote for somebody that kind of rolls with the times.” - James James

“I think I haven’t really had enough time to research as much as I wanted to into it. And the semester has just been really so busy for me so I wasn’t able to look at it.” - Althea Llena

“Just didn’t think of it. ‘Cuz the people around me, nobody really vote, you know? … I just follow them.” - Joe

There were two underlying currents in all the students interviewed. They felt like they weren’t represented by either candidate or they didn’t have enough time. The early voting window was opened from Oct 17 to Nov 4. Georgia State University set up voting booths on campus so that Fulton county registered voters could vote. The non-voters also had some words on this effort and what GSU can do more:

“...I would advise them to maybe spread a little bit more information about it and… make people more aware of it happening really.” - Althea Llena

“ Well, I spoke to people on campus to register because they were going around. And then I never got any information from them at all. I gave, like my email, my address and everything. Well, and then it [the date] was like really close to the point where I couldn’t register. Then it passed… So I wasn’t able to at the end.”

- Sophie Hart

“I don’t think there’s any way to…incentivize because I feel like with the current state we’re in right now… there needs to be a big change. But the fact that young Americans like us don’t rec- ognize stuff… is kinda a bad thing.” - Saran Punmaneeluk

Young non-voters aren’t a monolith. James doesn’t believe that either party truly represents the policies he supports. He’s trying to find a place to lay his head, he can’t afford his rent. James is living paycheck to paycheck while dealing with the pressure of student loans and doesn’t think that voting will truly support his values.

What about Llena, who didn’t have enough time within her busy schedule to sit down and do the research to make the most informed decision about this election?

Hart fought to cast her ballot in, but with poor communication from the organizers, missed the early voting sites that were on campus. Difficulties with casting ballots have been recorded with SB 202 put into place, a Republican-backed bill that restricted ballot boxes to just office hours and criminalized handing out water to voters.

Young non-voters aren’t just sitting out because they’re uninterested. Sure, some of them are. But others are fed up with the current justice system. Some of them can’t find time to carve away to vote in an election. It’s not just one issue that’s causing young nonvoters to sit out in critical elections, it’s a multitude of them.