March 14, 2019
@vsu_spectator
@vsuspectator
Special Edition
Page 2
The Spectator | www.vsuspectator.com
March 14, 2019
NEWS Alumni Spotlight: KPthewolf Maria Sellers
Staff Writer mlsellers@valdosta.edu Some VSU alumni go on to claim impressive feats, and one alumnus is claiming his in at the South West Music Festival, commonly known as SXSW. Phillip Walton, known to his friends as KP and to his fans and followers as KPthewolf, graduated from VSU in May with a bachelor’s degree in healthcare administration. But because of his musical inclination he knew pursuing a career in music was something he wanted to do. KP reached an easy decision after graduating, moving to Atlanta and working on his own schedule. “I’ve been doing music all my life, [whether] it was singing along to the radio as a little kid, playing the trumpet or writing raps with my friends in middle school, playing guitar on the corner of downtown Athens for gas money, to doing acoustic shows at the Remerton Strip in Valdosta,” KP said. From Valdosta gigs to the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas, KP is an on upward journey in the music industry. Held every March, SXSW is one of America’s most wellknown and largest conferences
and festivals for film, music and arts. It has also been home to many premieres of big films and performances by big name acts. In fact, his performance at SXSW comes just before the launch of his album “War on Cupid,” which will soon be available to stream on major streaming platforms such as Spotify, iTunes and Apple Music. Although his career is still young, KP’s experience starting
“Then, I eventually made some more convenient connections. It was a fun and easy process for me.” out was no harder than his decision to pursue music. “I would drive back and forward to Athens, Georgia, from Atlanta to record at [a] friend’s studio because it was affordable”
KP said. His two previous singles “Across the Room,” a collaboration, and “Love is Poison,” a track he did all the vocals for, are also available on those platforms. His SoundCloud features these singles and some unreleased ones as well. While KP is not currently engineering the beats he uses for his music, he is practicing writing his own music to beats he finds online and receives directly from other local musicians and producers. He hopes to start engineering his own beats soon. Because he grew up listening to many different genres and uses beats from many different places, his music style consists of a variety of influences, genres and styles. This variety is part of why he is a perfect fit for the SXSW festival. It showcases a variety of artists from well-known pop artists, such as Khalid, to lesser-known artists, ranging from alternative bands, singer-songwriters, rappers and many others. KPthewolf will perform at SXSW on March 14, in a block of music that celebrates and highlights artists from the south, specifically the Atlanta area. The festival will run from March 11-March 17 throughout Austin.
Photo Courtesy of KPthewolf KPthewolf will be performing at the SXSW festival in March 2019.
VPD arrests 19-year-old man for vehicle theft Bryce Ethridge
News Editor bjethridge@valdosta.edu A request for police service led to the arrest of a man still in his teens, late March 12. Leonard Shuman, 19, was arrested by Valdosta City Police Department after a caller reported that “he witnessed an unknown subject illegally enter an automobile in an attempt to steal.” The caller reportedly “advised” VPD the crime occurred on the “private property” of an apartment complex nearby. Patrol officers arrived, met the caller, and then proceeded to search the surrounding area for the “unknown subject” (Shuman). After minutes of searching, the officers found a subject matching the caller-given description sitting in a vehicle “that did not belong to him.” VPD identified Shuman, a known resident of Ray City, Ga, and detained him on the 1400
block of North Saint Augustine Road. The officers reported Shuman having stolen property from two different vehicles in the area. VPD took Shuman into custody and, without incident, he was driven to Lowndes County Jail. Shuman’s warrant applications were presented to and signed by the Magistrate Court of Lowndes County. They were signed for two felony counts of theft by entering auto. Lieutenant Adam Bembry said VPD welcomes citizenship and attempts to protect the community. “The Valdosta Police Department is grateful to the citizen for seeing illegal activity and immediately requesting law enforcement assistance,” he said. “Also, the efforts of the responding uniformed officers are recognized as well.” All information is courtesy of the VPD police report.
Bryce Ethridge/THE SPECTATOR According to VSU, the BSRI is a competitive program for VSU faculty and undergraduate students.
VSU prepares summer research program Arelexus Brown
Staff Writer arelbrown@valdosta.edu If you’re tired of lying around like a couch potato all summer while your learning skills dull, it may be time to invest in something new. VSU is offering students a creative and productive way to spend the summer with the launch of the Blazer Summer Research Institute program. Described as competitive, the program is available to faculty and undergraduate students, supporting both in summer research. It runs from June 3-July 26 and is funded by Academic Affairs, University Advancement and private donations.
For those interested, the application process must be completed by a faculty member, and students involved must be selected by a respective professor. The process includes a project narrative, cited references and a justification of budget and resources. All applications must be submitted to Dr. Dereth “Jan” Drake, co-coordinator of undergraduate research, by March 15. Dr. Drake describes the program as “very open” and encourages students and staff of all disciplines to apply. “We want students to have the opportunity to pursue research during the summer,” Dr. Drake said. Students may take on any research they desire, as long as
it is safe and deemed appropriate by the moderating professor. This allows for a diverse range of research from the sciences to the arts. A $1,000 scholarship is allotted to each faculty member with one student, and a $1,500 scholarship is divided equally among professors with more than one. A $4,000 stipend is given to all faculty members for compensation and travel needs. Undergraduates will give a presentation of their work on July 26. Since the program is in its premiere year, Dr. Drake hopes it will be successful enough to continue. “It’s a pilot program to see how it works in the future,” she said. For more information, contact Dr. Drake at djdrake@valdosta.edu.
March 14, 2019
The Spectator | www.vsuspectator.com
Page 3
Entertainment
Something to be Marveled: The captain arrives Kyle Grondin
Staff Writer kpgrondin@valdosta.edu Here we are now. Entertain us. Marvel’s latest 1990s-biopiccrossed-with-origin-story installment, “Captain Marvel,” lacks the substance and depth needed for its first female stand-alone movie. Laced with overly forced humor and obscure ‘90s references, it left me asking, “What is the point of this?” Evidently, the movie culminates with its only important detail: uniting Carol Danvers with the Avengers in modern times and connecting the Tesseract to S.H.I.E.L.D. All the moments before that seemed rudimentary and uninspiring. The movie begins with Carol Danvers (Brie Larson), named Vers on the planet of Hala, living as a believed to be Kree intergalactic alien hunting down the Skrull forces with her mentor, Yon Rogg (Jude Law). She has been plagued with memories of a past life, a human life, she cannot remember. She is swayed by Rogg and the Supreme Intelligence, an artificial intelligence machine that is the Kree religious and political leader. When she escapes captivity from Skrull forces and ends up on Earth, she finds the help of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Nick Fury
(Samuel L. Jackson) and Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg). Vers begins to uncover the secrets of her past and set the fate for herself and the Skrull future. Intertwined throughout this entire movie is a blast from our ‘90s grunge past, with pop culture references a-plenty. As someone who has followed the development of MCU from the beginning and is a comic book fan, it’s fair to ask one question: Has MCU replaced creative writing with feelings of nostalgia? One of the biggest scenes in the movie is where Danvers is listening to the truth about her past and remembers who she was. The emotionally gripping part of the scene and the intensity of it is ruined by watching them all stand around an old Windows computer, waiting for the disc drive to load the audio. Audience members who remember slow computers and dial-up internet don’t need to remember how annoying it was, and audience members too young to live through it don’t care. The reference means nothing to them. The most frustrating thing about “Captain Marvel,” and the MCU as a whole, is the millions of dollars brought in on A-list actors and actresses, for scripts that seem too safe for the grandiose of the universe. Larson had moments of bril-
liance, but awkward jokes in the middle of fight scenes seemed to throw off the entire mood of the movie. For a character into so much grunge music and fashion of the time, Danvers’ loss of her inner-self and desire to find her purpose almost presents the perfect ‘90s character. But her temperament makes her feelings seem unimportant. Samuel L. Jackson brings back his professional Nick Fury to the MCU, albeit with a younger, CGI-enhanced face. He and his late movie side kick, the Flerken, played by an adorable gingerhaired cat, seemed to be the highlight of an otherwise dull performance from most involved. Overall, the previous bunch of lackluster Marvel movies, excluding “Black Panther,” made its latest installment seem much less anticipated. But it was supposed to mean much more. The first female lead was supposed to be revolutionary, powerful and inspiring. However, I couldn’t have left feeling any more mundane. The movie felt exclusively driven to build the hype for the men in “Avengers: End Game” and less about Danvers herself. If I had to offer my own obscure ‘90s reference for “Captain Marvel,” I would have to use Radiohead’s cult classic and say, “What the hell am I doing here?”
Captain Marvel released on Mar. 8 .
Photo courtesy of MCT Campus.
Album review: Nothing shallow about this soundtrack Patrick Barry
Staff Writer pjbarry@valdosta.edu The average lifespan of a star is 10 billion years, and if that’s anything to go by, Lady Gaga isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. The hyper-dynamic artist’s newest endeavor is the Academy Award-winning film “A Star Is Born,” the third remake of the 1937 film of the same name. Although the film is beautifully produced, mysteriously sentimental and painfully genuine, it wasn’t any of these factors that ultimately won it an Oscar. What makes “A Star Is Born,” and indeed its actors, unique is that the film has an entire album’s worth of legitimately good music
embedded within. The Oscar was awarded not for its production or acting, which were spectacular throughout, but for its music. One particular song, “Shallow,” played a role as big as Gaga’s own in winning the award. It has stayed on the Billboard Hot 100 since October, and it remains at number one as of March 9. The chart topper is an impressive feat, for sure, and a testament to the talents of Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper. Cooper endured 18 months of vocal training at five days a week to obtain his deep, gravelly voice. Considering his limited musical experience, Cooper does a phenomenal job, producing a bearable voice that belongs not to him but to his character, the tortured Jackson Maine.
Gaga didn’t exactly dip her toe in the shallows either, opting instead to dive headfirst into the film industry. But acting is nothing new to such a fluent artist, who is widely known for her bizarre and extravagant performances. The soundtrack intersperses dialogue from the film throughout its one-hour-and-ten-minute runtime, rolling out a tragic story of love, loss and fame. It opens with Maine’s “Black Eyes,” a rollicking country jam that, upon closer inspection, reveals the chip on Maine’s shoulder. Gaga’s smoky rendition of Edith Piaf’s “La Vie en Rose” will leave tears in listeners’ eyes and the taste of dark chocolate on their tongues.
“Maybe It’s Time” is Maine’s intimate and deeply cut expedition into his unrealized trauma and uncertainty. The narrative weaves intricately from dialogue to music and, finally, to “Shallow.” Now the most awarded song of all time, “Shallow” beats out the previous record of 27 awards for Beyoncé’s “Formation” by five. The song has become a totem of the entire film—from the song’s inception in the film, by Maine and Gaga’s character, Ally, as they sit in an abandoned parking lot, to Ally’s subsequent first live performance and, finally, to Cooper and Gaga’s intimate piano-driven performance at the Oscars. The album, and the film, conclude with [spoiler alert] Maine’s tragic suicide. The final song, “I’ll Never Love Again,” is a heart-
wrenching eulogy to the impact Maine, and Cooper, made in Gaga’s life. The film and its soundtrack are some of the most impressive artistic endeavors to grace the world stage lately, and the result is a timely, cohesive and graceful depiction of the human experience. It’s something that I personally would send to a distant star as an offering to an alien civilization.
until there is hard, cold truth. Period. Notice how now there’s not around-the-clock coverage of the incident. Also, he is facing 64 years in jail for the ordeal if it turns out to be true. That’s insane. There are people in the government and multi-million-dollar companies that are laundering money, and when they’re caught, they spend two to five measly years in jail. Get real. Be ready for whatever the judgement is. I’m over it. Check back for updates. Lori Loughlin, famously known for playing Aunt Becky on “Full House,” is caught up in a bribery scandal. She’s not the only one, but the only one that I care about for all intents and purposes of this story. She bolstered her two daughters’ chances of getting admitted into the University of Southern California by paying a sum of $500,000 to the school. What makes this story really interesting to me is the fact that one of her daughters—or both to be honest, I don’t care—said on twitter that the best thing about
college was the parties. Like, sis didn’t even want to go to school. She’s popular on social media, and honestly, that could’ve been a better venture for her than traditional schooling. But, to my point, there are thousands of high school seniors who apply to USC every year and get turned down, and they are above average, superior even, applicants. Loughlin bribed admissions because her children produced subpar scores and results in every category, therefore making them mediocre. This upsets me. Let your mediocre kids go somewhere that fits their aptitude. As I previously stated, there are kids who bust their butts to get into top schools, and they deserve those spots. Loughlin isn’t the only one that bribes schools and admissions committee, but she’s one that didn’t do it in an underhanded manner. Boohoo, moving on. Solange released her album “When I Get Home,” and this album feels just like its title: comforting, relaxing and efferves-
cent. The visuals for the album? EXCELLENT. The concept? SUPERB. Solange really gave the folks something that we can use. But I will say that this album isn’t for everyone. If you listened to “A Seat at the Table” and thought that this project was going to sound anything like that, I’m sorry you thought that. None of Solange’s projects have sounded alike in the past, so why expect that? Either way, I enjoyed it. At the table, we stan taste and talent! Be on the lookout for a full album review. SHE DID THAT! There has been more evidence formed against R. Kelly. We already knew he was nasty, but now there’s proof. And to all the BLACK women that keep bailing him out, why won’t y’all leave him in there? He literally preyed on NOTHING BUT black girls. Y’all need to step in the name of love THAT bad? R. KELLY, JUST GO TO JAIL! “Leaving Neverland,” the documentary of Michael Jackson and the people he allegedly
abused, aired on HBO. I think it’s crazy that it’s airing now that Michael is dead and can’t defend himself. With that being said, as the information is revealed, and if he is guilty, he can get cancelled, too. This is coming from someone who was a super fan since they were 11 years old. Right is right, and fair is fair. I wish that they had people to speak for Michael, who can vouch for his character and likeness through his fundamental years and even his adolescences. That’s why—I, me, myself—I think that the documentary is biased, but that’s a story for another day. Moving on. Megan Thee Stallion. She’s simply iconic. Get into her. DO your Googles, kids. Chance The Rapper got married this past week, and the ceremony was beautiful. Congrats, Chance. So happy for y’all! That’s all the tea that I have for this week. Remember to check back here next week to get your teacup filled with more piping hot tea!
For more reviews visit www.vsuspectator.com
Pop Addict: Jussie Smollett, Lori Loughlin, Solange Jacorey Moon
Special Projects Manager jxmoon@valdosta.edu Hey y’all! Long time, no see… or write… speak? Either way, how are y’all? Welcome back, my pop addicts of VSU. I’m serving up a nice cup of chai black tea. So, let’s get into it! Jussie Smollett. A little while ago, I wrote a pop addict pretty much chastising the Chicago Police Department and the country as a whole, as it relates to hate crimes. Now, throughout the proceedings of this case, the “evidence” was released sporadically, and new updates were released that counteracted what was previously released. Therefore, I just find it funny that everybody can just write-off Jussie as a liar. Even the “brothers” the courts said he got to stage the attack said that they weren’t paid, so what’s the truth? I, me, myself—I won’t say that Jussie is lying and drag him like he properly deserves
Page 4
The Spectator | www.vsuspectator.com
March 14, 2019
Outgunned: Blazers Timely shots, foul trouble In Semifinals costs Lady Blazers GSC title Lose Gerald Thomas Gerald Thomas
Engagement Editor gdthomasiii@valdosta.edu
Engagement Editor gdthomasiii@valdosta.edu Outnumbered. The Lady Blazers missed out on being crowned the Gulf South Conference champions after losing to Lee University 81-73 in clutch, but questionably officiated game. The game began with the Lady Blazers up 17-10 at the end of the first quarter. A weird turn of events happened as the referees reviewed two plays in the first quarter. One play was for sending the wrong player for Lee to shoot two free throws, despite not being fouled. They took the two points off the scoreboard and gave the new shooter the two free throws. Next, they went to the review screen and assessed a technical foul on the Lady Blazers for an unnamed reason. Shon Kitchens came off the bench and gave the Blazers their early push, knocking down two three-pointers. Then coming into the second quarter, the Blazers froze. They shot 2-11 in the second quarter and allowed the Lady Flames to shoot 9-16 from the field. Altogether, they were outscored 25-10 in the second period and went into the half down 35-27. Lee’s Abby Bertram was the biggest problem for the Lady Blazers. VSU couldn’t stymie Bertram’s shot creating ability. The twelve turnovers they committed in the first half didn’t help them either. After going scoreless in the first quarter, she tallied ten points in the second. The third quarter was even with both teams scoring 21 points. The Lady Blazers began locking in on defense and began hitting their shots. They kept Lee at 40 percent from the field while their percentage was at 50.
Photo Courtesy of VSU.
The Lady Blazers may have lost their chance at a GSC title, but they leave the running with a plethora of accomplishments.
Bonilla began to show life for the Lady Blazers in the third quarter. Bonilla went for 10 points in the third quarter on 3-3 shooting. “I don’t look for the shots, I let them come to me,” Bonilla said. “My teammates trust and wants me to take them.” This was Bonilla’s second straight game with her biggest scoring total coming in the third quarter, while not missing a single shot. Saturday, against Union, she had fifteen points on 5-5 shooting. The game began to get interesting in the fourth quarter. The Lady Blazers stormed back to tie the game twice, but timely shots and costly fouls allowed Lee to wiggle out with the win. “They capitalized on every mistake we made, whether it was a turnover or a defensive miscue,” Head Coach Carley Kuhns said. “They hit the shots that were back-breaking.” Lee shot 18 free throws in the fourth quarter and 44 in the entire game, compared to the Lady Blazers’ 22. “You never want to blame things on officiating but when the foul shots are 44 to 22, that’s a pretty blatant difference, especially when we’re a team that attacks the rim,” Coach Kuhns said. Bonilla scored 22 total points for the game.
She had big help in Crystal Townsend, who scored 10 points and snagged seven rebounds (four offensive). “You can count on her every night. She’s played all season hurt, and is still doing that,” Kuhns said. “It would be scary to see what she could do on two good legs.” Germani Abram also saw extra minutes with 16. She hustled, tumbled, and put it on the line to get seven points and seven rebounds (five offensive) off the bench. “She stepped in stepped and stepped up,” Coach Kuhns said. “This game is huge for her going forward, knowing what she can do and stepping into a bigger role next season. The containment of duo of Abby Bertram and Haley Schubert was an issue for the Lady Blazers as the combined for 38 points on 11-27 shooting and 13-16 from the charity stripe. The Lady Blazers season comes to an end as the will miss the NCAA National Tournament. Kayla Bonilla and Crystal Townsend made All-GSC tournament team. Since the arrival of Coach Kuhns, they have been to three straight GSC Championships, winning in 2017.
Imitation is the highest form of flattery. On Saturday, that imitation turned into a loss for the third straight season in the conference tournament. Delta State simply outgunned the Blazers in their semifinal matchup. VSU shot 22.2% from deep to Delta’s 46.7% in their 70-69 loss in Birmingham, Ala. The game went wire to wire but it came down to the last possession for VSU. Clay Guillozet inbounded the ball to Beau Justice who faded towards the corner of the gym as he hoisted a three-point attempt towards the bucket. It hit the front of the rim and the tip in attempt failed as time expired. “[The shot] felt great,” Justice said after the game. “I shoot that shot every day in practice. It goes in nine times out of ten. If you run that shot for me five times I’m going to hit it four. That was just the one that wasn’t going in.” The loss marked the third consecutive year that the Blazers have fallen in the conference tournament and second consecutive semifinal loss to Delta. The Blazers are known for their all-conference backcourt tandem of Beau Justice and Winston Morgan, however the duo was limited to 19 points on 4-15 shooting from the field. Delta’s Matthew Wilson and Rasheide Bell combined for 44 points on 17-28 shooting and often running off of screens to get free, similar to the Blazers typical game plan. “That’s the key to winning in March, you have to make shots and if you don’t make shots you’re not going to win,” head coach Mike Helfer said. “We just didn’t tonight and they did. The fact that as a group we shot it so poorly that’s surprising.” After maintaining the lead all game the Blazers found them-
selves down by five with two minutes remaining in the contest. The resilient Blazers battled that deficit away with a six point swing and sat with a one point advantage with less than a minute left in regulation. Delta inbounded the ball to Bell, who stumbled and possibly stepped out of bounds in front of the Blazers bench. Once he regained his balance he drove down the court past all opponents and made what would be the gamewinning assist to Cedric Harper. Now the Blazers will wait for the region rankings to be released on Sunday at 10:30 ET but wherever they fall they hope not to repeat the past. In the last two seasons the Blazers have won the regular season championship before bowing out of the conference tournament and the first round of the region tournament.
“Despite the troubles that the GSC tournament has provided, Helfer still holds the regular season championship to a higher standard.”
“We’ve won the regular season three years in a row,” Helfer said. “It seems like in Valdosta everyone wants this tournament but the regular season is 10 times harder to win because it’s over 20 games...This is a three game window and I know there is big focus at our place on this tournament. I’d like to keep the focus on the regular season because that’s a tremendous accomplishment. To do it three years in a row is phenomenal.”
Bonilla, Townsend take GSC tournament honors Gerald Thomas
Engagement Editor gdthomasiii@valdosta.edu The Lady Blazers couldn’t take the Gulf South Conference Championship, but they left the tournament with two of their players making the All-Tournament Team. Sophomore Guard Kayla Bonilla and Senior guard Crystal Townsend made the all-tourney team for their efforts. Bonilla’s biggest effort came in the semifinals against Union when she scored a career high 30 points in route to the Lady Blazers’ victory. Bonilla ended the tournament with averages 19.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 2 assists per game.
Townsend also received alltournament honors. Along with Bonilla, Townsend’s best performance also came in the semifinals against Union where she tallied six points, 12 rebounds, and three assists. Townsend’s ended her Blazer career in the GSC tournament where she posted averages of 8.7 points, nine rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game. Altogether, the Lady Blazers ended their season 21-10 (13-7) and were the GSC tournament runners-up.
For more on our GSC coverage, visit vsuspectator.com
Kayla Bonilla goes into the lane against Lee University.
Photo Courtesy of VSU