The Signal Vol. 85 No. 9

OCT. 17 - OCT. 24, 2017

VOL. 85 | NO. 9

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STATE SHOWS PRIDE

Pounce marched alongside Georgia State students as they participated in this year’s Pride parade on Oct. 15.

PHOTO BY UNIQUE RODRIGUEZ | THE SIGNAL

NO BIRTH CONTROL

GET YOUR GAME DAY ON

#WRONGNEWS

DIET IS FUNDAMENTAL

Georgia takes on new religious and moral reasons for denied coverage.

Let your fashion flag fly this Homecoming with these new stylish trends.

The media has dropped the ball on covering the most important global issues.

The right foods can make the Track & Field team more successful.

NEWS | PAGE 6 WWW.GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM

ARTS & LIVING | PAGE 10

News 3

OPINION PAGE 12

Arts & Living 7

SPORTS | PAGE 14

OPINION 11

Sports 13

NEWS

2

GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM

BLOTTER OCT. 10

OCT. 11

Kick ‘em out!

Two non-Georgia State individuals were issued a trespass warning by GSUPD outside University Commons. The case has been cleared.

They’ll get you...

GSUPD is on the hunt for a non-Georgia State offender fleeing from police. The incident took place around 4 p.m. and the case remains active.

Simply unacceptable

A Clarkston student reported a simple battery case early afternoon around B. building. The case is still active.

Get out of my way!

A Georgia State student was arrested around 12 p.m. by the Blue Lot for obstruction of police.

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Christina Maxouris

OCT. 12

Editorial NEWS EDITOR Open

signaleditor@gmail.com

executive editor (atlanta) Open executive editor (perimeter) Open

What about the new rule?

signalnewseditor@gmail.com ASSociate NEWS EDITOR Open signalassociatenews3@gmail.com OPINIONS EDITOR Open signalopinions@gmail.com ARTS & LIVING EDITOR Camille Bolos signalliving@gmail.com ASSociate ARTS & Living EDITOr Sophia Marchese signalassociateliving2@gmail.com SPORTS EDITOR Jerell Rushin signalsport1@gmail.com ASSociate SPORTS EDITOR D’Mitri Chin signalassociatesport1@gmail.com copy editors Alaa Elassar, Sydnie Cobb signalcopyeditor@gmail.com

Two Georgia State students were arrested in Atlanta campus’ M Deck for possessing an ounce or less of marijuana.

OCT. 14

Not taking any chances...

A student complained about terroristic threats being spat out at Hurt Park early Saturday morning. The case is still active.

Production production design editor Khoa Tran signalprod@gmail.com

Associate production design editor Salinna Phon

ILLUSTRATION BY ERIK REID | THE SIGNAL

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PHOTOGRAPHY photo EDITOr (atlanta) Vanessa Johnson

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Protestors from the Street and Open Air Preachers of America align outside of Student Center East for the third consecutive day to express their beliefs on issues ranging from homosexuality to feminism to Black Lives Matter.

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photo EDITOr (perimeter) Open signalphoto2@gmail.com

ASSociate photo editor Open signalphotoatl@gmail.com

Digital online EDITOR Danny Varitek

signalmanaging@gmail.com ASSociate Online Editor Open PODCAST EDITORS Caleb P. Smith, Charles Wright

Marketing Marketing MANAGER Open

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

signaladvertisingco@gmail.com STUDENT MEDIA ADVISOR Bryce McNeil bmcneil1@gsu.edu business coordinator Wakesha Henley whenley@gsu.edu STUDENT MEDIA ADVISOr (perimeter) Alice Murray amurray25@gsu.edu

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PHOTO BY VANESSA JOHNSON | THE SIGNAL

NEWS YOU CAN USE

HOMECOMING ISSUE ON STANDS OCT. 24

GET VIRTUAL CAREER READY October 17, 2017 12 p.m. – 1 p.m.

Dahlberg Hall, Room 134 CO-OP INFO SESSION: HOW TO FIND A COOP OR INTERNSHIP CEAR Seminar Room - Robinson College of Business October 19, 2017 12:30 p.m. – 1 p.m.

WINSHAPE CAMPS RECRUITMENT TABLE GSU Library Plaza 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

CAREERS IN ENTERTAINMENT WILL AND JADA SMITH FAMILY FOUNDATION October 20, 2017 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.

COVERAGE REQUESTS

CAREER DROP INS Tuesday- Friday 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Student Center West, Room 270 JOIN HANDSHAKE! Visit GSU. JoinHandshake.com to activate your profile today!

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

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

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NEWS

SPORTS

ILLUSTRATION BY TYPHANIE HALL | THE SIGNAL

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TUESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2017

georgia State’s clinic offers help, but often with a waiting list CHRISTIAN CLARK Staff Reporter

T

he Counseling Center gets 20 new visits on the daily, with numbers spiking during midterm season, but getting help often comes with a wait time.

Associate Director of Psychological and Health Services Dr. Jeana Griffith said the Counseling and Testing Center receives mental health information from students who visit the Atlanta campus, and they all seem to have the same diagnosis.

“We are not provided with the mental health information for all Georgia State students, but we do have the data from those who come into the center. With that being said, about 90 percent of students who come in have been diagnosed with depression and anxiety,” Griffith said.

Throughout the year, 20 to 50 new students visit the clinic per day for mental health evaluations, and those numbers spike during October and March— midterm season.

National Depression Screening day was on Oct. 5, and Georgia State’s Counseling and Psychiatric centers had a table in the Plaza for students to get screened and ask questions. Outreach programs like this one are how the center tries to provide new resources to students and get feedback on different programs or sessions they’d like to see in the future.

A big part of the problem comes from students wanting to seem like everything is fine. Georgia State student Endiya Bivins believes that most students are adhering to that notion.

“It’s okay not to be okay, but it’s not okay to pretend you’re okay,” Bivins said.

Bivins said that college is the time where young adults are at their most pivotal stress point, and that’s why it’s important to keep mental health a priority.

“College is the time in students’ lives where we are faced with many different challenges to handle and battle, oftentimes alone. From grades, jobs, sexuality, relationships, bills, unaccomplished goals, home issues, weight, appearance, acceptance, and the list goes on,” Bivins said. “As that list continues to grow, it also continues to weigh heavy on our physical health as well as mental.”

Griffith noted that on any college campus, there will be about 30 percent of those students that have depression and anxiety.

Furthermore, the worldly events going on outside of school,

work and personal life, are influential in the mental state of college students. This is because, in many instances, these occurrences are both directly and indirectly affecting college students.

“A lot of my paranoia and anxiety comes from the chaos going on in the world. With the police brutality, ruthless killings and everything Trump-related plus everything else I have existing in my life, it tends to weigh heavy on me mentally,” Bivins said.

But even though there are resources to address all students’ concerns, one major hurdle is getting the word out to the student body.

“We try to get the word out in several ways,” Griffith said.

“First what we try to do is talk to students at the New Student Orientation. We also do several outreach programs where our doctors will go out and talk to students in the classroom. The professors, as well as students, request these from our website and I send someone out.”

Georgia State student Khadeeja Rayner can testify to the center’s success in her therapy and counseling sessions.

“They helped me come to terms with coping methods and healing,” Rayner said.

Often times, mental health can get in the way of college success. Rayner explained how she didn’t know she was actually suffering from clinical depression until her first failed class and felt that she no longer had a reason to leave her bed every morning.

“I sought therapy from Georgia State and after checking myself in to get treated, I discovered that I suffered from severe depression, anxiety, and PTSD and my counselor has helped tremendously,” Rayner said.

There is a wait list to begin individual or group counseling, ranging from about two to four weeks. A wait list means that there are a lot more students going in and seeking help, and once schedules are matched with the counseling professionals, students can begin receiving treatment. But Dr. Griffith said students have other options while they’re waiting to be matched.

“We have really neat and helpful online tools for those who are on the wait list and want to start learning getting the help that they need,” Griffith said.

One of those tools is a program WellTrack, which tracks students’ moods and offers helpful ways to manage them.

Griffith said there are also multiple online resources and other meditation programs that you don’t need an appointment for.

“To try to bridge the gap between us and the students, we are trying to use more social media because that’s where most college students are. Through the website, the outreach programs, the events we have, and coming into the center as a walk-in, I believe more students will be more likely to seek help,” Griffith said.

1. Mindful Mondays Meditation This is an opportunity to practice mindfulness meditation. No experience necessary! There is no need to sign up. Just show up. You are not obligated to attend a set number of sessions; however, the more that you practice, the better you are at minimizing stressors. 2:00-2:30, every Monday.

2. Let’s Chill!

Four-Week Free Mindfulness Course. This course is designed to help students learn basic mindfulness practices including sitting meditation, moving meditation practices and awareness activities that help them cultivate a sense of presence, focus and equanimity. Sign up soon for courses starting October 24.

3. Relaxation Room The Relaxation Room is designed to help students improve their emotional and physical health, and currently features audio and

video instruction on a variety of topics such as relaxation and meditation. To reserve the Relaxation Room, call the Counseling and Testing Center at 404-413-1640 or come to the Counseling and Testing Center 4. Nutrition Counseling Services include: Diet and food record analysis, healthy nutrition, preventing and overcoming disordered eating and weight management 5. Biofeedback Biofeedback is a tool that helps individuals visualize how their biological systems work. For example, software can show individuals what their heart is doing and how basic changes in their breathing can influence their heart beat and overall health. At the Counseling and Testing Center, students can learn how to physically lower their stress levels and achieve a better state of being.

PAGE DESIGN BY SALINNA PHON | THE SIGNAL

NEWS

4

GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM

That one last (failed) attempt and its effects With its last healthcare defeat, Trump administration turns to executive order NOAH BRITTON Staff Reporter

R

epublicans have attempted to revise several aspects of healthcare laws since the beginning of the Trump administration, and Congressional stalemates are giving way to executive actions.

President Donald Trump campaigned on promises to swiftly repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), but after seven failed attempts in Congress, the President has turned to the executive branch. The administration released new rules which allow employers to stop offering contraceptives through health insurance plans for religious or moral reasons.

Shortcomings of Graham-Cassidy bill The Graham-Cassidy bill was Congress’ most recent attempt to reform health care legislation, introduced by Republicans on Sept. 13, days before their deadline. The bill proposed state control of healthcare with discretionary block grants allocated to each state.

Graham-Cassidy would not have required employers to provide healthcare to workers, or to meet minimum-coverage provisions, according to Time. Under the bill, Americans would not be required to buy health care.

The urgency of the Graham-Cassidy bill remained a source of contention as Republicans tackled their deadline. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) did not have time to release estimates on the long-term effects of the new healthcare system, and Georgia State professor Erin C. Fuse Brown said that a vote without the projected effects would be “completely unprecedented.”

“They [senators] didn’t know what it was going to cost because they didn’t have a CBO score. It is a terrible way to make policy in an area that is as complex as healthcare,” Brown said.

Graham-Cassidy was opposed by healthcare experts and hospital associations and was condemned by patient advocate groups like the AARP, according to Time. The bill ultimately lacked the support necessary to garner a simple majority in the Senate.

The defeat of the Graham-Cassidy bill marks a temporary end to Congressional attempts to repeal and replace Obamacare. Dr. Jeffrey Lazarus, associate professor of Political Science at Georgia State, attributed the failure to partisanship.

“Republicans have locked Democrats out of the decisionmaking process, and [are] pushing bills which Democrats will not and politically cannot support. This leaves Republicans with a very slim margin of error, because there are only 52 of them in the Senate,” Lazarus said. “At least 50 of them are needed to pass any bill. So once three Republican senators are opposed to a bill, it’s dead.”

While Lazarus said he does not believe the ACA will be repealed in current Congress, he believes healthcare will remain a priority within the legislature. “[Everyone] uses health care at some point and it’s expensive, so it’s a very salient issue among voters. Republicans have spent the past seven years promising their voting base, and perhaps more importantly, promising their donors, to repeal Obamacare. Failing to do so makes them look ineffective,” Lazarus said.

Fuse Brown said that voters’ main concerns remain to be more affordable and accessible health care.

“The Republican proposals would have made insurance cheaper for those who are healthy and young, but that’s not the people who really care about coverage,” Brown said.

She added that cuts to Medicaid, which provides health insurance to low-income Americans, remains the most catastrophic provisions of the repeal and replace legislation.

“It was easy to vilify the ACA before the election, but I think poll takers are finding that public opinion has swayed—for the first time since the passage of the ACA, the majority of people approve of it,” Brown said. “Even among Republican voters, the number of people opposed to repealing the law has crossed over to the majority, which is very telling.”

Georgia Senators on healthcare Both Sen. Johnny Isakson and Sen. David Perdue have voted in favor of each repeal and replace bill posed to the Senate, according to The New York Times.

Representatives for Sen. Isakson said that Obamacare is quickly collapsing, citing new data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), part of the

Students visit the Student Health Center at the University Commons.

Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Isakson’s office said that block grants under the GrahamCassidy bill would have given states the necessary flexibility to provide for the unique needs of their citizens while allocating funds more equitably to lower-income individuals in each state.

His office said that the same process of reconciliation applied

by Republicans to repeal and replace Obamacare was used in 2010 to finalize the Affordable Care Act. Marie Gordon, Press Secretary to Sen. Isakson, cited the new CMS data to dispute the accuracy of CBO scores. While these scores remain the “gold standard in Congress”, their estimates are not reliable, according to Gordon.

“This is partly because CBO uses a model of the health insurance marketplace that assumed that Obamacare’s requirement for all individuals to purchase coverage or pay a tax would be much more effective than it has proven to be in practice,” Gordon said.

While Sen. Isakson expressed disappointment that the Senate has not yet resolved healthcare issues, he is working to create more affordable policies for Georgians in 2018. His office said that affordable healthcare that guarantees coverage for people with pre-existing medical conditions remains to be Isakson’s priority.

Sen. Perdue said that a stronger health care system remains a priority in Congress. On the Senate floor, Perdue said that steep fines and high costs of coverage harm middle-class American families. Perdue mirrored the phrasing of his senatorial colleague, saying that current health care rates create a system “collapsing under its own weight.”

Perdue attributed the failure of the Graham-Cassidy bill to a “complete lack of Congressional leadership.”

“From the get go, three Republican Senate Chairmen failed to support our efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare as we have all promised to do. Today, political interests have again outweighed our national interest,” Perdue stated.

His support for the Graham-Cassidy bill did not hinge on CBO scores, which the Senator dismissed as unreliable.

“I haven’t seen a number come out of the CBO that I would depend on yet,” Perdue said.

New executive actions Trump issued an executive order on Thursday, Oct. 12, that ends federal subsidies to insurance companies. These subsidies include $7 billion a year that support low-income individuals, according to The Hill.

PHOTO BY VANESSA JOHNSON | THE SIGNAL

QUICK FACTS: • In 2010, the US spent $8,233 a year per person on health care.

• That’s more than 2-½ times what most developed nations in the world pay.

• Norway, the Netherlands and Switzerland are the next highest spenders, but in the same year, they all spent at least $3,000 less per person.

• The average spending on health care among other developed countries was $3,268 per person.

According to PBS

The order also promotes association health plans which allow small businesses to band together in purchasing healthcare. Trump’s order undermines policies in the ACA and is meant to increase competition among insurance companies while decreasing the costs of coverage. Insurance companies experienced decreases in stock in the days following the order.

NEWS

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2017

5

The $2.3 million bilingualism grant The work of ESCUELA and its future impact on students

LAST WEEK LOCAL Morehouse College names new president

Students work and relax in the Latino Student Services and Outreach office.

DIAMOND JONES Staff Reporter

G

eorgia State has found a way to better accommodate bilingual students and teachers with a new program that carries multi-million dollar weight.

A team of four researchers from Georgia State’s College of Education and Human Development have received a shared five-year $2.3 million grant in order to train and prepare bilingual educators.

“We value multilingualism as a way to engage an increasingly connected world,” Director of the Center for Transnational and Multilingual Education, Sue Kasun said.

Kasun, joined by Laura May, Cathy Amanti and Gary Bingham will work amongst dual language immersion teachers within the Equipping Schools, Communities, and Universities for Excellence in Language Acquisition (ESCUELA) program, which will develop activities funded by the grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of English Language Acquisition.

The research team will provide tuition support

for future college attendees, who can show a certain level of Spanish language proficiency and career help for students in high school and their families interested in becoming dual language immersion teachers.

“The primary goal of this project is to bring together groups of people who are interested in growing the number of dual language immersion teachers in elementary schools and in the metropolitan area,” Laura May, Associate Professor of the College of Education and Human Development, said.

May said the biggest problem addressed by ESCUELA is the inability to staff the classrooms of foreign language instruction.

In order to staff dual language classrooms and allow the programs to grow, the ESCUELA project allows the faculty from the College of Education and Human Development to team up with four school districts, the Latin American Association, Georgia State’s Latino Student Services and Outreach (LASSO), the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs and other partners to come up with better recruitment techniques “We’ll be working with undergraduate advisors

PHOTO BY VANESSA JOHNSON | THE SIGNAL

and LASSO to help match people who need support and people who have the capability and interest in becoming a teacher in dual language immersion classrooms,” May said.

The training process of the educators guided

by Georgia State’s four instructors, will focus on providing additional support toward students who haven’t had proper schooling in the language they speak orally.

The major focus of the immersion program is Spanish.

Kasun, who is currently on a Fulbright Award in Mexico, has been a multilingual teacher at both Mexican and U.S. schools.

“We have an excellent program at [Georgia State] that speaks to the contextual needs of students and local populations in terms of how to best work with these populations’ rich backgrounds,” Kasun said.

Kasun said being able to engage people in other languages and cultures have allowed her world to grow. Based on Kasun and the faculty’s research, students will also be able to develop these rich, cross-cultural skills and enjoy dynamic experiences that cross cultural boundaries.

SGA votes on campus-wide student engagement Senators talk about athletic support, GSUPD communication KIRSTEN WINSTON Staff Reporter

T

he Student Government Association (SGA) spent their Oct. 12 meeting voting on formations of committees and calling all students to vote.

Sen. Alondra Cruz-Hernandez presented an Atlanta campus special order to form an ADHOC safety advisory committee, which would be made up of students, senators and liaisons to talk to and work with the Georgia State police department, escort service and panther ambassadors.

The committee’s aim will be to assist in creating a bridge of communication between the students and Georgia State University Police Department (GSUPD) as well as improve overall campus security.

Georgia State students will be able to reach out to the safety advisory committee and express how they feel about what’s going on around campus, what they like and what they think needs

improvement. The committee’s job would be to then pass those concerns down to GSUPD. “It just kind of makes a bridge between the students and these departments so that there’s not a rift between the students and police department.

Sometimes students feel like the [Georgia State] police aren’t easily accessible or kind of intimidating and so we want to form this to kind of ease that intimidation that students may feel,” Sen. Cruz-Hernandez said.

An athletic committee was also voted on to help the athletic department gather more support and student involvement at different events. Sen. Joshua Akinola-King, Sen. Noah Samuelson, and the athletic team will be working closely to find ways to increase student attendance and engagement at events.

“There have been concerns that not only student-athletes are not represented among student communities but also student engagement in the actual athletic events such as games and tailgating are not represented by students,” Sen. Samuelson said.

Georgia State student ambassador Evan Mailbrough of the Andrew Goodman foundation

also presented the Vote Everywhere, a partisan voter registration and civic engagement organization promoting voting for students, especially on college campuses.

It is Vote Everywhere’s first year on campus and they have partnered with the African-American studies and the political science department to go around classes and register students to vote. They also want to set up polling places around campus year-round instead of just during the major elections.

“We will like to expand and work with student organizations with things like having voter registration polls at events and having voter registration at orientation,” Mailbrough said.

Lastly, SGA tackled the Quality Enhancement Planning Committee (QEP), a committee ran by faculty that sets up a 5-year guideline to help improve the quality of higher education.

Students have received applications in order to start advancing Georgia State. The QEP is a part of Georgia State’s accreditation process, without which the university could lose their accreditation.

Atlanta-based Morehouse college has named David A. Thomas as their 12th president.

The college’s board members voted on Sunday, Oct. 15 for the 61-year-old to take office starting Jan. 1, 2018.

Thomas was the former dean of the Georgetown University McDonough School of Business through the years of 2011 to 2016, where he led a campaign that raised over $130 million in five years.

He told the Atlanta JournalConstitution that his main goal for Morehouse College is increasing enrollment from 2,200 to 2,500 students, as well as providing more schollarships, study abroad opportunities, and facilitatin faculty research. According to The Washington Post, the hire comes amidst a tough time for historically black colleges, which are facing competition with other institutitons for top students and faculty.

NATIONAL 5,700 victims in California

According to the Los Angeles Times, the death toll in the Northern California wildfires has increased to 40 as of Sunday, Oct. 15.

Evacuations in Napa city were lifted on the same day, as the wildfires are expected to die down, and the weather is starting to cool. Firefighters have expressed optimism as far as keeping the fires under control. So far, the 15 branches of fires, which have been going strong for a week, have destroyed over 5,700 buildings, and burned through 220,000 acres.

GLOBAL Portugal fires kill 31 people

Civil defense authorities reported that the 145 fires blazing around central and north Portugal have left more than 31 people dead.

The victims were in the Portuguese areas of Coimbra, Guarda, Castelo Brance, and Viseu. Fires broke out in the Galicia region of Spain but were worsened by Hurricane Ophelia, which is now approaching Europe’s western coast. According to BBC, Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy travelled to Galicia to meet with firefighters and stand in solidarity with the victims.

NEWS

6

GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM

Trump rolls out birth control regulations

Birth control and other contraceptives may become less affordable and accessible due to new rules put forth by the Department of Health and Human Services.

NOAH BRITTON Staff Reporter

T

he sugar pill just got some not-so-sweet news.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released new rules on Friday, Oct. 6, that allow religious employers to stop offering contraceptives through health insurance plans. A separate set of regulations also made that possible for organizations with “sincerely held moral convictions” to deny birth control coverage.

However, health plans offered by public universities like Georgia State are not eligible for exemption.

Erin C. Fuse Brown, Georgia State College of Law professor, said that previous Supreme Court rulings allowed closely held corporations and religiously affiliated nonprofits to deny contraceptive coverage on religious grounds. The new rules issued by the Trump administration allow these and other businesses to deny coverage on both religious and moral grounds.

“These exemptions are broader than the prior rule, which did not allow for “moral” objections,” Fuse Brown said.

These rules, effective immediately, cater to organizations that object to Obamacare coverage for healthcare services like contraception. But HHS said the rules would not affect an overwhelming majority of the American population, according to CNN. Following the department’s new rules, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit the day of the rules’ release, and other advocacy groups plan to legally challenge the law. The regulations come months after the Women’s March, where thousands of women across the nation took to the streets warning the administration to stay away from their rights to birth control.

Fuse Brown said that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) does not explicitly require coverage for contraceptives. The contraceptive mandate is based on HHS rules that can be changed by the Trump administration, according to Fuse Brown.

“The ACA requires health plans, including employerbased plans, to cover a list of preventive services identified

by HHS without cost-sharing for the individual,” Fuse Brown said. “Under President Obama, HHS issued a rule that these preventive services include all FDA-approved contraceptives and contraceptive devices.”

MORE EXEMPTIONS

Under President Barack Obama, a limited number of employers could cease paying for contraception for religious reasons. However, health plans would still be responsible for the costs of covering contraception.

The rules issued by the Trump administration create broader exemptions that grant more employers the right to deny coverage on both religious and moral grounds.

New HHS provisions mean private colleges and universities can withhold birth control coverage in their student health plans.

Decreased coverage would require women to pay more out of pocket for effective contraceptives like Intrauterine Devices (IUDs)IUDs. These expenses would make contraceptives out of reach for many individuals, according to Fuse Brown.

Georgia Sen. Johnny Isakson released a statement to The Signal on the Trump administration’s decision to exclude birth control coverage: “The Trump administration’s decision reverses a purely political mandate implemented by the previous administration that regularly chose to legislate by executive order rather than through the Congress,” Isakson said. “Our nation was founded on religious freedom, and the Obama administration’s rule directly conflicted with the basic principles established by our Founding Fathers in order to advance a political agenda.”

‘THE CHILDREN OF THE MISSED PILL’ EFFECT

The Washington Post took a closer look at what happened in Chile when birth control prices saw sharp increases. In an October 2017 research paper, Tomás Rau, Miguel Sarzosa and Sergio S. Urzúa looked at the impact the price jump had on the country’s population. The result was that the weekly birth rate increased by 4 percent.

“Moreover, we find evidence on significant deterioration of newborn health as measured by the incidence of low birthweight and infant mortality,” the report states. “In

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY VANESSA JOHNSON | THE SIGNAL

addition, we document a disproportional increase of 27 [percent] in the weekly miscarriage and stillbirth rates, which we interpret as manifestations of active efforts of termination in a country where abortion was illegal.”

Furthermore, the research pointed to more children born to unmarried mothers.

DID YOU KNOW? • Many celebrities, like actress Sophia Bush, took a stand on contraceptives accessibility for women in the U.S. Bush released a video on Twitter that highlighted some of the common uses of the pill, which has gone viral since its Oct. 12 publication.

• 28% of pill users use the pill to regulate flow of periods.

• 14% of women use the pill to control chronic achne, which impact your chances of earning a job.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2017

THE ROAD TO AFROPUNK

TRAVIS ARNOLD | VOCALS master freestyler

MASON DOMINEY | BASS

general brainiac sneakerhead

JALEN JENKINS Staff Reporter

CURTIS CALLIS | DRUMS

O

n Oct. 15, my band Pay to Cum played at Afropunk in Atlanta. This festival puts emphasis on the creativity and culture of African Americans in the punk community, while promoting a safe environment for the people performing and attendees alike.

The festival has had some pretty big headliners like Solange, SZA, Tyler the Creator, Flying Lotus, Lauryn Hill, just to name a few. So we felt lucky this year to play both Brooklyn and Atlanta, and this is the road to how we got there.

THE WAY THERE

Pay to Cum has been an idea longer than it has been a band. My friends and bandmates, Travis Arnold and Hunter Pinkston, toyed with the idea of starting a punk band like Bad Brains with Travis on the mic. I came into the picture after I met Hunter and booked his band, Dope Fiend, at a venue in Columbus, Georgia.

We all hit it off quickly and became good friends. After high school, Hunter went to the University of Georgia, and Travis went to Georgia State. The idea of us being in a band started as a joke amongst friends - until it actually came into fruition when Hunter’s older band came to an end.

Hunter was itching to start another band, so he approached me to perform a Bad Brains song with Dope Fiend playing and Travis on vocals. This was the first Pay to Cum show.

CUMING TOGETHER

The name Pay to Cum strikes people hard.

Maybe its because of the context, but it’s not as graphic as people take it. The name comes from the first Bad Brains record with the song “Pay to Cum” on one side and “Stay Close to Me” on the other. This record began the legacy of what people might say is the greatest punk band of all time.

Combining lightning fast guitar work with vocalist Paul ‘H.R.’ Hudson’s almost primal vocal delivery, there was something unbelievably raw about the Bad Brains. Every member of Pay to Cum relates to each other in our love and admiration for them.

musical childhood prodigy

Pay to Cum warm up for their set at Afropunk 2017 in Atlanta.

In the spirit of Bad Brains’ rawness, we thought it would be a good idea for Pay to Cum to be the name of the band. We set out to make music in a similar style because nobody in the punk scene was doing that at the time.

So we started writing songs.

Travis had two ideas and as we hashed them out, we tried to make them sound like our influencers. We started recording on Travis’ iPhone and sent them to Hunter where he went on to format them in his home/practice space in Athens. Then, we recorded the demo and released it early September.

After our first couple shows things were looking good. Everyone seemed to dig our music and enjoyed coming out to our shows.

We made a lineup change and took Hunter off the kit and into his natural habitat with a guitar in hands.

Curtis, who actually recorded our demo, started playing drums. The shows got bigger, and we started getting noticed by people outside of Atlanta, most notably by Afropunk.

They featured us on their website early on, and would write about us as we would put out more music.

Then we got an email that rocked our world.

ON THE ROAD TO BROOKLYN

Afropunk wanted us to play in Brooklyn.

We were insanely excited because there’s an Afropunk in Atlanta yet they wanted us to play the festival in Brooklyn. We would also be playing a festival that Solange, SZA, Gary Clark, Jr., Princess Nokia, and all these other great, effortlessly cool, talented artists were to perform at.

By this time, we had an LP out called “Band in Atlanta” and a live tape of a session in Athens. We also had a single, off the LP, titled “Moonlight You.” We had the songs, we had the attitude and

PHOTOS SUBMITTED BY PAY TO CUM

we were ready to go and show them what’s up.

We (a.k.a Hunter) drove the 15 hours to Brooklyn from Atlanta in one straight shot, all packed in a Honda Accord. We were so excited that we didn’t even complain bout how uncomfortable we were.

We had no home base once we arrived. We had a lead on a place to stay but as life goes, that fell through so we had to get crafty. Five of us all threw in money and squeezed into one hotel room.

JALEN JENKINS | GUITAR he ain’t so bad

LOOKS LIKE WE MADE IT

The festival was a thing of beauty. A cultural melting pot filled with incredible people from all walks of life. Everyone had a smile on their face, even with the sold out festival being packed to the brim. We played early so we sound checked, waited a bit, got on and did our thing. We were a little nervous before we went on, but once we were up there it was just another show.

After playing and going through an interview, we were totally spent. We were worn out from the day and the hotel fiasco the night before, so a couple of us just chilled out in our tent. We caught a bit of Sampha and SZA and then headed to a hardcore punk show (not affiliated with Afropunk) that just happened to be in town that same night.

After coming back home, we saw online that they were using our music to promote the Atlanta Afropunk so we emailed them to see if we could play the festival in our home town as well. To our surprise, they responded and welcomed us back to the festival for Atlanta.

The road to Afropunk has been a crazy journey that none of us expected. The festival fully embraced us and our sound, and we’re thankful for the opportunity to get up on stage and represent the Atlanta punk scene in a different medium.

HUNTER PINKSTON | GUITAR wearer of the finest Polo

UPCOMING SHOWS October 31 with Abuse of Power, Slowfire Pistol, Except, and more.

Marlons Mansion 559 Winton Terrace NE

PAY TO CUM DISCOGRAPHY • • •

•

“Demo” - 3 tracks and a cover “Moonlight You” - Single promoting new album “Transmitting Live from Athens” - live tape recorded live on UGA’s WUOG on February 14th, 2017 “Band in Atlanta” - Full length LP

All music available at paytocum.bandcamp.com Disclaimer: Jalen Jenkins is a member of the band and also a staff reporter for The Signal.

WHERE CAN I BE ME? ATLANTA PRIDE FESTIVAL 2017

The LGBTQIQA community at Georgia State CAMILLE BOLOS Arts & Living Editor

G

eorgia State is a melting pot of students. People can find races, ethnicities, cultures, religions and faces from all over the world here. Within all of that, students can also find an ever growing LGBTQIQA community full of open-minded peers and faculty. LGBTQIQA stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, questioning and asexual.

QUEER ON CAMPUS Cassidy Ryan is a second-year English major at Georgia State who identifies as an agender queer person and uses they/them pronouns.

“I don’t really identify as male or female or a combination of the two, it’s more of just an absence of.

Queer for me is both a political statement and something that marks fluidity in my orientation,” Ryan said.

When Ryan was wading through colleges, their main

concern was, “Where can I be queer on campus?” They looked at multiple campuses across the state and Georgia State seemed to have the largest LGBTQIQA community.

When Ryan narrowed it down she was thinking, “Okay, where can I be gay? Cool, Georgia State.”

“I definitely think that we [Georgia State] are the apex of queer representation in Georgia on a college campus. I do think that other schools are very much lacking,” Ryan said.

Now, Ryan is the event coordinator for the Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diversity, is the chair of recruitment for Georgia State’s Pride Parade Planning Committee and is also a member of a new organization on campus called Caring Colors. These groups have provided them with an extraordinary support system and safe place to call home for the next few crucial years of their life, and the experience will continue to shape them as a person for years to come.

“I came to Georgia State because of the diversity, I came because I knew that I could be queer on campus.

Being a part of all these organizations has just shaped that and given me new friendships that I feel like will last forever and given me new opportunities,” Ryan expressed.

Adele Petitpre-Harris is another student who

identifies as a part of the LGBTQIQA community. She started coming out to people on campus about a year ago when it would come up in conversation that she had a girlfriend.

“It felt like it was more normal on campus to talk about it than anywhere else in Atlanta… Unless you are within the gay community—in bars or something like that,” Petitpre-Harris said.

In the past year or so, Petitpre-Harris has noticed professors asking students what pronouns they go by on the first day of classes. “At least some of them are trying to be more inclusive,” Petitpre-Harris said.

The conversation is what matters and some of our professors are sparking that and opening the door for inclusivity.

College is a time to learn, it’s a time to expand one’s definition of life and the classroom is a safe place to do so. Petitpre-Harris experienced this in her applied linguistics class where the floor was cleared for a discussion of sexist language which lead to students asking questions like, “What is transgender, what is non-gender?” and other inquiries of gender identity.

“I think that there is still a lot of people that are clueless about it and that maybe don’t know where to

get answers from, or when the ri how to ask or who to ask. But th that are accepting and that are o know a lot about it,” Petitpre-Ha However, there are always two story and not everyone is going experiences like Ryan and Petitp “As an agender person I still v as feminine and female. I know t lot of students who are gender n trans[gender] that do not have t experience that I do. Also, some on campus breed a little bit of tr non acceptance so I do think tha isolated,” Ryan said.

INCLUSIVITY

There is never a perfect time t there are people out there who w another and lift them up. Colleg should strive to be—inclusive. It make sure that no student is disc

to be a human, but want to support one ges strive to be—or t is the school’s duty to criminated against for

“What is the best

way to provide the best things and the best resources for our students.

That’s what we’re here for.”

— TONYA COOK

Program Specialist for the Multicultural Center at Clarkston and Decatur campus can to find the best fit programs for the students.

“Per semester, for the Atlanta campus they are probably reaching more than 100 or 150 or 200 [students] because it’s larger… But at the Clarkston campus, when we had this event last week it was 38 students who came to our table. Right now, we have about 10 [on the Decatur campus], that’s not bad. It’s not bad, we have to start somewhere,” Cook said.

Cook is right, everyone needs to start somewhere.

The Downtown campus also has a LGBTQIQA Library that is full of resources and archives of literature and past articles on the subject. Keep an eye out for The Gay Pages coming to the library soon, courtesy of Cook.

“I am a big component of ‘If you can find the resources and share the knowledge people can be

empowered to make decisions and to enhance their lives.’ And sometimes people just don’t know the info or know where to go to or are not aware of the resource,” Cook said.

SUPPORT FROM FACULTY/STAFF Support of the LGBTQIQA community from faculty and staff on campus is a difficult thing to measure.

However, based on the support of the school one would say it is safe to assume that support of the faculty would follow suit.

“I hope they would be supportive and be willing to get to know the students and the students be willing to share so it can be a two-way street of good, solid, viable communication. Because we are all a part of humanity, we all can learn from each other,” Cook said.

But alas, that is not always going to be the case. “Staff support for LGBT students in general is kind of wishywashy. I feel like I can get a pretty good vibe and know whether or not to tell a professor my pronouns or just let them make me suffer. There are definitely some that seem better than others and there are definitely some that I would not open up to about it. There are some departments that are better than others,” Ryan said.

Unfortunately, that is not surprising. Georgia State is a progressive college and the amount of student diversity is overwhelming, but the diversity within our staff and faculty is not. This is just one reason why Ryan wants to stay here after graduation, in hopes of being an English professor under the trans umbrella on campus. Students need to see people like themselves holding positions they want to hold one day to know that that goal is attainable.

“Coming to Georgia State really changed my life in a million amazing ways. I really do want to stay here and breed those changes and growth in other students,” Ryan said.

PRIDE WITH GEORGIA STATE Atlanta Pride Parade happens each year in correspondence with National Coming Out Day. This year Georgia State had its own spot in the parade and over 100 students marched alongside in solidarity with pride.

Georgia State dancers were bubbling with pride as they skipped and boogied their way down 10th St. behind the cars that were colorfully decorated with Georgia State pride. Our band lead the way in front of the cars and dancers, hyping up the crowd for the rest of the students marching. Pounce proudly paraded and showed off some moves of his own as everyone marched in unison showing support for our LGBTQIQA community in the city and on campus.

The love and support was inescapable in Midtown on Sunday. The overwhelming feeling of pride in our community flooded in and washed over every single person who attended, whether they marched in the parade or not.

LGBTQIQA ORGANIZATIONS TO SEEK OUT: ALLIANCE FOR SEXUAL AND GENDER DIVERSITY

— Fee: $30 — Members: 696

FACES OF FEMINISM

— Fee: None — Members: 250

OUTLAW

— Fee: None — Members: 30

DELTA LAMBDA PHI FRATERNITY

— Fee: $60 per semester — Members: 23

CARING COLORS

— Fee: $10 — Members: 10

SPEAK

— Fee: None — Members: 11

DUNWOODY FEMINATI

— Fee: None — Members: Unknown

People cheer on the annual pride parade as it makes its way down 10th Street toward Piedmont Park. PHOTOS BY ETHAN MITCHAM AND UNIQUE RODRIGUEZ | THE SIGNAL

ight time to ask is, or here are a lot of people open but that don’t arris said. o sides to every to have fortunate pre-Harris. very much present that there are a nonconforming or he same positive e of the organizations ransphobia and at my case is a little

their race, religion, ethnicity, gender, sex or identity.

A big resource for the LGBTQIQA community on campus is the Multicultural Center. The office used to be on the Downtown campus, but this year the center is spreading its wings to the Clarkston and Decatur campuses and will eventually make it to Dunwoody, Alpharetta and Newton.

In honor of LGBTQIQA month, the Multicultural Center hosted program awareness events on the Decatur and Clarkston campuses. Tonya Cook comes from the Downtown campus but is the Program Specialist for the Multicultural Center on the Decatur and Clarkston campuses. Her main goal right now is to spread awareness and set up safe zone training for those Perimeter campuses.

“What is the best way to provide the best things and the best resources for our students. That’s what we’re here for,” Cook said.

Since the center is new, getting the ball rolling is tricky. Student involvement is high on the list for Cook and she is trying to gather as much information as she

ARTS & LIVING

10

GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM

Don’t dress drab, dress Panther fab

Rock your Homecoming game day outfit this football season Staff Reporter

A

thursday, oct. 19 LGBT Film and Music Celebrate LGBTQIQA heritage month at the Atlanta LGBT Film and Music Festival. See independent films, art and music from the LGBTQIQA culture and listen to some panel discussions!

THE CUT-CHOKER T-SHIRT

Even though Georgia State hasn’t quite adopted the trend, the retro cheerleader skirt is growing in popularity at schools like the University of Georgia.

This developing trend is a unique edition to an average game day outfit. This style can be tweaked by choosing colors specific to your school, using iron-on Georgia State patches you can order from Uptown Stitch Girl and adding matching knee-high

FRIDAY, oct. 20 Get Spooked

Georgia State students show off some Homecoming spirit with Pounce in their Georgia State spirit wear.

socks for an old-school vibe. Although this clothing piece is still developing among Southern colleges, there is no doubt this look will be the go-to classic choice for football seasons to come.

JERSEYS WITH A FEMININE TOUCH Throwing on a football or basketball Panthers jersey from the bookstore is a timeless option for game day attendees. This look is effortless and can be tailored to fit your personal style by adding a

PHOTO BY UNIQUE RODRIGUEZ | THE SIGNAL

skirt or high waisted shorts. If you prefer the edgy vibe, wearing distressed denim shorts is an ideal choice for this outfit. However, if you favor a girly look, try tucking the jersey into the skirt. If you pair it with a chic belt or a royal blue statement necklace it will create a picture-worthy outfit with a touch of Panthers personalization.

Just because it’s a football game doesn’t mean you can’t let your fashion-flag fly this homecoming season! Express your Panther spirit with your own touch of flare at the Homecoming game Oct. 21.

The Kalief Browder Story Staff Reporter

K

alief Browder’s documentary, Time: The Kalief Browder Story, is a remarkable film that recounts every dark, depressing detail of Browder’s arrest at 16-years-old and his threeyear stay at Rikers Island. Though Browder’s story was and still is a topic covered often in news as it relates to police brutality and mass incarceration, this documentary shared his story with an unparalleled sense of honesty and vulnerability.

With footage from Venida Browder (mother), Paul Prestia (lawyer), and Browder himself, it was the real, raw truth.

After being stopped late at night as he was walking home from a party, Browder was arrested on the allegation that he had robbed a man two weeks prior. Without any evidence or arrest warrant, Browder was taken to Rikers Island, arguably the country’s toughest prison. He would stay there for three years because he could not afford bail and refused to take a plea bargain for a crime he did not commit.

In prison, he faced relentless abuse from the other inmates, who were mostly in their 20’s or 30’s, as well as torture from correctional officers who would sentence him to solitary confinement and leave him there for months at a time. At one of the most chilling points of the docuseries, Browder

remembers a guard only serving him one meal a day and that meal was the half-eaten leftovers from another inmate. Giving unfathomably torturous details from Browder himself, the docuseries went into great depth about his unjust experiences at Rikers as a teenager and their debilitating consequences.

Venida Browder also gave her account of what happened to her son. Sitting in her long-time home in a humble neighborhood in Brooklyn, Ms. Browder resiliently shared anecdotes of the struggles her son had even after leaving Rikers Island. She remembers his paranoia, how he believed “they” were listening to conversations in the house or still plotting against him. In probably the most difficult scene to digest, she relives seeing her son hanging outside of his window after the mental strains from his experience in prison finally overtook him and led him to suicide.

Providing a rawness and attention to detail that is too often neglected in telling disturbing stories like Browder’s, the docuseries was very well directed.

Even further, this story is articulated in a way that speaks to young people all across the country about our justice system. It shines a blinding light on just one of millions of stories where mass incarceration ruins lives, with absolutely no justification. It implores this generation to unabashedly grapple these difficult stories and have the chilling conversations about injustice in our country because without them, change will never come.

Oakland Cemetery is alive this time of year with one-hour tours through the cemetery telling ghastly tales of the famous residents in eternal sleep.

Get your tickets now, they are known to sell out!

saturday, oct. 21 Little 5 Points Parade Get yourself in costume and down to Little 5 Points because the annual Halloween Parade is back! The parade starts at 4 p.m. but there will be live entertainment and pumpkin carving before.

sunday, oct. 22 Art in Brookhaven

Docuseries shines the light he deserves VICTOR SLEDGE

Wednesday, oct. 18 France is coming to our backyard and it’s bringing with it delicious cuisine, french films, performances, exhibitions, talks and workshops to fuse the Southeast. Majority of the events are free!

t Georgia State, the fall season calls for tailgates with friends, football games at the new stadium and the opportunity to express your school spirit through game day fashion.

Over the years, game day attire in the South has evolved into an outdoor fashion show every Saturday afternoon. While still incorporating individual college spirit into the apparel, students follow and tweak trends to look their best on game days.

THE CHEERLEADER SKIRT

calendar of oct. 23 - 24

Paris Meets ATL

AUTUMN BOEKELOO

When a new fashion trend hits Twitter or Instagram, it does not take long for businesses and universities to recognize the hype and jump on the bandwagon. At Georgia State and surrounding schools in Georgia, the T-shirt trend where you cut a triangular keyhole look at the top to make a “choker” by leaving the collar is currently one of the most popular. Sold at favored clothing stores such as Victoria Secret, PINK and Forever 21, the cut T-shirt look has become an essential clothing piece for game day. If you want to add extra edge to your shirt, a no-sew lace-up look is also achievable.

Cutting the T-shirt is simple when following the instructions provided from Revenge Bakery. You can pick up a large or extra-large men’s T-shirt in the bookstore for $12.95 to create this over-sized T-shirt choker for an inexpensive price.

events not to miss

Brookhaven is having their arts festival and invited over 100 artists to come showcase their work. Vendors, food truck and live music will be there along with a kids’ corner! Free to the public.

monday, oct. 23 Nightmare on Auburn Ave.

GRADE

A+ VERDICT

The docuseries tackles the complex issue of mass incarceration with unquestionable honesty and dedication to the truth, which is a skill exhibited too rarely. Capturing Browder’s story so well and expressing it without reservation made for a rich docuseries that will be referenced often in his legacy for years to come. A definite must-watch.

There’s a new escape room in town and it’s only staying for a little while! From now until Nov. 6 you can outsmart Jigsaw, escape a ghost in a Paranormal room or take on a zombie.

Reserve rooms today!

tuesday, oct. 24 The Color Purple It’s opening night for the 2016 Tony Award Winner, The Color Purple, at the Fox Theatre. It’s only here until Oct. 29 so get your tickets to experience the movement that it will bring to your heart.

More events and info at georgiastatesignal.com.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2017

IS STEPHEN PADDOCK

A TERRORIST?

AVERAGE JOE TO MOST LETHAL GUNMAN IN US HISTORY

T

NOAH BRITTON Staff Reporter

Noah is a journalism major with a Spanish minor. A small-town native, Noah likes kindof-running on the Beltline, and working towaards a stable future for his dog.

Tweet noah! @brittonnoah

wo weeks after the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, officials have not been able to determine the motives of gunman Stephen Paddock.

Paddock was not affiliated with any religious or political groups, and his family members seem genuinely stunned by the attack. The deceased gunman had no history of mental illness or patterns of erratic behavior.

Major news outlets humanized Paddock as a common, smalltown native who coincidentally doubles as the most lethal gunman in the country.

For example, headlines in The New York Times described Paddock as a “Nondescript ‘Numbers Guy’” “Who Drew Little Attention” in the days following the shooting.

While the nation expressed its grief, Twitter users denounced the blanketed headlines as racist and Islamophobic. If the shooter had been a person of color or a Muslim, some argued, the shooting would have quickly been labeled as terrorism.

WHAT IS TERRORISM?

Dr. Mia Bloom, professor of Communication and Middle Eastern Studies at Georgia State, teaches the definition of terrorism provided by the U.S. Department of State. “[Terrorism is] the deliberate targeting of civilians in order to disseminate or spread a political message,” Bloom said.

The political message is not bound to a particular party or religion, but must be present to distinguish terrorism from some mass casualty attack, according to Bloom.

“By focusing on tactics rather than ideology, we just look for what they did. Regardless of who did it and regardless of who they did it against,” Bloom said.

“Terrorism” was first used during the French Revolution to describe actions committed against a state or state officials. Vera Zasulich was the first person tried for terrorism and prosecuted in 1877 for an assassination attempt on a local governor.

“She was accused of attempted murder,” and she said, ‘I’m not a murderer, I’m a terrorist.’ A terrorist was a good thing,” Bloom said.

“During the course of the trial, she was found innocent, and the crowd lifted her onto their shoulders and marched her out of the courthouse.”

MOTIVATION FOR JOINING TERRORIST GROUPS

While the gravity of the term has evolved, the reasons for terrorism are relatively commonplace.

Terrorist organizations provide members with meaning in life. These groups

very similar to what makes someone join a fraternity,” Bloom said.

“That’s the part that’s really hard to comprehend, because then it makes joining a terrorist group seem far less exotic and weird and different.”

Bloom identified push and pull factors that move potential members towards terrorist groups. Push factors include discontent with a culture, social immobility, or mistreatment. Pull factors include the perceived benefits of joining a group, like the street credibility members gained in the Irish Republic Army, according to Bloom.

There are two ways people initially become involved in terrorist groups. First, nepotism extends to terrorist circles. Families often join together through their connections with existing members.

Second, terrorists identify lone-wolves who are usually isolated and lonely. Organizations recruit these individuals through a process called love-bombing, where members of an organization will overwhelm an individual with positive feelings and a sense of desire.

“You isolate the person from the realization that the terrorist group is terrible, and now they have all these positive associations with the group,” Bloom said.

Religious converts join terrorist groups at the highest rates, according to Bloom. Groups like ISIS are attracted to converts because these individuals provide better access to their homelands.

“Terrorist organizers and leaders, they look for these people because they look like you, they’ve got blonde hair and blue eyes, they blend in, and [terrorists] find [converts] very useful,” Bloom said.

Although Paddock was not politically motivated, he would have made the ideal terrorist, which explains why ISIS has tried to claim responsibility for the shooting multiple times.

“It conveys the message of ‘Here’s someone who looks like you, from your culture, he’s with us now,’” Bloom said.

Paddock’s motive would determine his qualification as a terrorist. While politically motivated groups like the Ku Klux Klan are absolutely considered terrorists groups, according to Bloom, Paddock is not a terrorist.

“Since his father was on the FBI Most Wanted list for awhile, he wanted to outdo daddy. Like he could just have daddy issues,” Bloom said. “We really don’t know. Sometimes crazy is just crazy.”

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

exploit a vacancy or dissatisfaction felt by members, and provide them with a renewed purpose.

“The kind of thing that motivates an individual to join a terrorist group may be

I think the discussion on race and religion is definitely warranted. Any sign of an awrah or a hijab might have led to declarations of war. But I think the obscure headlines characterize our inability to process the tragedy in Las Vegas.

We can’t rationalize the shooting in our minds. Paddock wasn’t a political extremist; he didn’t subscribe to some cultish religion; he wasn’t even officially crazy.

Paddock was a human being like you and me. Obviously, there was some disconnect between that shared humanity and his actions. But I think Paddock is a reminder that, as humans, we’re capable of great evil.

Debates on gun laws, politicians’ thoughts-and-prayers tweets, even the ways we classify Paddock are attempts to distract from that reality.

We look at Paddock, an average guy who did something unthinkable, and we’re afraid of seeing ourselves.

PAGE DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION BY KAREN KOSASI | THE SIGNAL

EDITORIAL

12

GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM

editorial

‘Wrong News’ is the term you’re looking for Is the media turning its head in the wrong direction?

L

ast Wednesday, Georgia State’s Center for Global information Studies (CGIS) hosted a panel of five ex-journalists, and university professors to spitball on the reasons of the media’s downhill reputation ever since the Trump administration kicked off its reign.

In a panel consensus, the term ‘fake news’ was defined as the propaganda, prompted by “cultural differences, geographic differences, demographic differences,” a “completely different empirical reality” made up by the president. Indeed, it seems to be a term coined by the recent administration to describe anything that might not fit a party’s agenda, even if the reporting is nothing but accurate.

It has been a good opportunity for journalists to reflect on their work and realize that breaking the news might not be as important as accurately reporting it, and getting different points of views in a story is as valuable now, as ever. But it seems that a rising concern now (at least by us) is not fake news, but wrong news. Is the media dropping the ball by reporting on all the wrong issues?

Let’s take the Puerto Rico disaster. Three weeks after Category 5 Hurricane Maria, the forgotten U.S. territory

is sitll a disaster zone. More than two-thirds of the island remains power-less, without water and no way of communication. Yet, right as the hurricane had struck, and American citizens were on their knees, media has turned its attention to President Donald Trump’s feud with the NFL. Sure, counting the number of football players taking a knee is important, but maybe not as important as an entire island going underwater, with no assistance from the federal government. Just a thought.

And it would be a lie to say that the worst terror attack in Somalian history, with over 300 people dead, has been underreported. It has not been reported at all. What’s headlining currently in CNN.com? “The Private Worries Among Trump Allies.” New York Times website? “Once Mocked” North Korean Cyberpower is a Global Threat.”

Can we get Trump to tweet out something like #Somaliansareexaggerating? That should get everyone’s attention.

The president will host his daily one-man circus, but that does not mean the media should be turning their heads in the same direction. What is a journalist’s job after all, than to provide citizens with the issues most

important, most essential to bettering the public -- and what a better way to do it than opening their eyes to the rest of the world. There’s no other way America will pop its self-absorbed bubble if not prompted to do so by the media.

We want to read about those less able, less fortunate, in war zones, in crises, so we can realize our own privileges and mobilize as a country to aid our fellow global citizens -- that’s what the world’s most powerful nationis responsible for and looked upt to anyway, no?

Come on, journalists. Be better. Tell us about the Rohingya, a Myanmar minority fleeing their homes after being raped, killed, burned, and targetted indiscriminately by the government in their home country. Let us know about the people wondering nation-less, homeless in bordering countries and Bangladesh -- who don’t want them anyway.

Tell us about the California fires, about the natural disasters, and pick and choose your stories that will overwhelm and stun us, not that will spark fruitless conversation about the President’s hashtag list, and pile of birth certificate jokes.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2017

Records broken during 47-37 win at ULM Offense’s 670 yards leads Georgia State to victory before Homecoming vs. Troy

JERELL RUSHIN Sports Editor

G

eorgia State (3-2, 2-0) defeated Louisiana-Monroe (33, 3-1) 47-37 to remain atop the Sun Belt Conference standings. The Panthers set both program and individual records Saturday evening.

The win at Louisiana Monroe makes a 3-game road winning streak, the longest such streak in program history. The Panthers set school records for total offense in a game with 670 yards.

“I can tell you one thing: we’re pleased to death with this win.

We never take winning for granted,” head coach Shawn Elliott said. “I’m very proud of the effort - our guys fought hard. We made it interesting in the fourth quarter, but we’re 2-0 in the conference, and someone has to come knock us off. We’re going to continue to work to see how good we can be.”

The Panthers set school records for total offense in a game with 670 yards. Conner Manning finished 26-35, 446 yards and four touchdowns through the air. Penny Hart tied the Georgia State single-game receiving record with 11 receptions, and amassed 190 yards and three touchdowns to break those records as well.

The rushing attack caught fire to the tune of 224 yards on an average of 5.5 yards per attempt, despite losing their top two backs, Taz Bateman and Glenn Smith.

“Everybody took a turn at running back. Kyler Neal and DeMarcus Kirk came in and gave us a great effort,” Elliott said.

“Who knows who’s going to show up at running back next week!

Hats off to the offensive line; they did a good job of moving their front.”

Penny Hart reeled in a deep 50-yd touchdown with one hand on the game’s opening possession. Brandon Wright would have his extra point blocked the second consecutive week the special teams unit left a PAT on the board.

The Warhawks promptly responded with a 93-yd return by Marcus Green to take a 7-6 early in the first quarter. Georgia State regained the lead in just three plays by way of a 69-yd pass from Manning to Devin Gentry, who did most of the work after the catch.

Kicker Barry Brown kicked the ball short in an attempt to avoid another long return, but Duke Carter IV returned the ball to the Panthers’ 40-yd line. The cover unit on the kickoff team allowed four returns of 35 yards or more, and recovered one of Louisiana-Monroe’s two onside kicks.

Possibly anticipating a shootout, ULM went for fourthdown on the drive, but the Panther pass-rush forced Louisiana-Monroe quarterback, Caleb Evans, to throw the ball

away. Evans, who threw for over 400 yards and scored four total touchdowns in a win over Texas State last week, was held in check

by Georgia State’s defense. ULM backup quarterback, Garrett Smith, played the entire second half besides their first possession.

The Panthers didn’t move the ball much on the following drive, but Wright responded to a missed PAT with a punt downed at the Warhawks’ 1 yd-line. Louisiana-Monroe would hold their first sustainable drive of the game when they moved the ball deep into the Panthers’ territory, but settled for a field goal.

Tight end, Ari Werts, caught a 32-yd strike from Manning to put the Panthers in the redzone. Wright was 1/5 on field goal attempts coming into the game, but made a 27-yd field goal with ease, his first make since a 20-yarder during the Aug. 31 seasonopener against Tennessee State.

A 10-yd scamper by Manning began on the Panthers’ many efficient, methodical drives. Sophomore receiver, Devin Gentry, took a slick reverse for a 15-yd touchdown near the end of the second half; however, a quick three and out by the Warhawks’ offense allowed for one more Georgia State possession before halftime.

Manning led the offense to the Warhawks’ 29-yd line in less than a minute, positioning right for a field goal attempt. Wright drilled the 46-yd field goal as time expired in the first half, and many teammates ran to him and not the locker room to show their support for the Atlanta, Georgia, product.

The Panthers’ Marterious Allen recovered a fumble on the Warhawks’ first possession of the second half quarter. Allen finished the game with five tackles and three sacks, a Panther season-high.

Hart scored his second

spri ny Hart iver Pen e c re e State wid isiana Monroe.

Georgia Lou against h a catc

and third touchdowns in a third quarter, featuring two touchdowns by each team.

Georgia State began the next possession inside their own 5-yd line, following a block in the back on the kickoff and false start on the first play.

Third and fourth starting running backs, Kyler Neal and Demarcus Kirk, were the stars of the next drive. Neal took the Panthers’ backs off the endzone with a 19-yd gain.

Neal compiled 55 all-purpose yards on the nearly eightminute drive and, capped it off with a short touchdown run, for a 47-24 lead. Kirk ran for 38 yards on the drive on five carries.

Smith led Louisiana-Monroe to two late touchdowns drives in the fourth quarter, but they were not enough to win, falling to Georgia State 47-37.

“I wasn’t too pleased with the points. We spotted them on special teams, and the fourth quarter was a little disappointing, but our defense played well for the most part,” Elliott said.

Georgia State returns to Atlanta for their first home game in 51 days next Saturday against Troy (4-2, 1-1). At Troy last season, Georgia State led 14-6 as the third quarter winded down, but the Trojans scored 24 points within the next minutes, to win 31-21.

Georgia State turned the ball over three times in last season’s matchup. Besides an intercepted hail mary from Manning on the final play of the first half at Coastal Carolina, the Panthers haven’t had a turnover since their mid-September meeting with No. 5 Penn State.

Troy defeated No. 25 LSU on the road 24-21, making this matchup LSU’s first home loss to a non-SEC opponent since 2000. Surprisingly, Troy fell 19-8 to South Alabama last Thursday, after being held scoreless in the first three quarters.

The must-see matchup will be Penny Hart against Troy’s lanky secondary led by safety Cedarius Rookard (37 tot. tackles). The Trojans play the best redzone defense in the Sun Belt, limiting opponents to score just 58.8 percent of the time, an area where Georgia State has not excelled.

Georgia State’s offense, which completes 49.3 percent of their third down attempts, faces Troy’s ninth-ranked third down defense. The Homecoming matchup kicks off at 2 p.m. and is available on ESPN3.

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SPORTS

GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM

Great food, great results for Track & Field The right diet makes all the difference for the Georgia State team JERELL RUSHIN Sports Editor

N

ot many things are more satisfying than working a job you truly love. The Georgia State Track & Field team must alter their diet to do what they love. Being an athlete in 2017 is a full-time job, which begins with taking care of your body year-round to maximize results.

After all, the body is the source of performances that fans admire, so maintaining a great physique and diet for success should not be shocking. The days of athletes indulging in alcohol and finger foods at bars following games are long gone.

Eating the right foods for runners is “just like putting performance tires on a race car,” according to Assistant Track & Field Coach Kyle Stevenson. No matter what’s under the hood of a car from a NASCAR race, the vehicle will not finish in first place with the spare tires laying in the back of your trunk.

Coach Stevenson is not a registered dietician, but he is a stickler in regards to his athletes’ recovery following workouts. He recommends his players eat a wholesome variety of the three macronutrients (carbohydrates, protein and fats) to stimulate proper recovery.

Stevenson, the coach for track events such as sprints and hurdles, prohibits fried foods and frowns upon the consumption of sugary drinks. Rashell Reid, a senior thrower, says meal prepping at the beginning of every week helps her stay on track with eating healthy.

Sleeping, eating, relieving stress and even stretching properly are all vital to complete the tasks Stevenson demands on the track. Despite this, in terms of its importance, recovery is often neglected in favor of activities unrelated to sport.

For instance, for the majority of their history, teams in the NBA exclusively traveled to visiting cities during the mornings of game days, which enabled players to parley in The Women’s Track & Field athletes share their workout and dieting techniques during their offseason in order to prepare for the upcoming season.

streets and clubs just hours before departing on flights.

During the 21st century, NBA teams began to fly players to their destination city only hours after completing a game, believing alcohol consumption had harsh effects on performances and healing.

“I think that hands down, track is maybe top three in most difficult sports in the world because it is solely dependent on your body,” Stevenson declared. “I can not feel 100 percent but still shoot over 50 percent [from the field in basketball]. As opposed to, I may not feel 100 percent and I can’t run all out for a certain distance.”

Once the outdoor track & field season comes to an end in May, student-athletes don’t report back until September. Under their own discipline from June through August, athletes must sustain the level of fitness in which they ended the season.

Only in his third month at Georgia State, the newly hired Stevenson was not able to compare the shape that the women were in at season’s end to their September form.

However, Stevenson, whose last stop was at Saint Martin’s University in Lacey, Washington, is highly impressed with the strength and speed of the Panthers in comparison to his previous stints.

Senior Ashlan Rosier said she and her teammates are still improving their strength and speed by hitting the weight room and running longer distances than usual.

The short indoor sprinters who usually compete in 60 meter races are currently running 180, 120 and 90 meters, while the long sprinters are running distances of 250 and 150 meters.

Stevenson has the women complete wall drills and push sleds up inclines to practice foot placement technique.

“When technique starts to break down, I will stop a workout because, at that point, it’s a loss of power output,” Stevenson said. “So when the quality goes down, I’ll shut it down, and we’ll come back at a later time and do better.”

Despite LaPorsha Wells becoming Georgia State’s first All-American in female track and field, the 2017 season was a down year for both the indoor and outdoor teams. The Panthers return eight seniors and five juniors, which makes the 2018 team extremely veteran heavy.

“In my freshman year, we got second [place in the Sun Belt Conference Championships], but I feel we can be top three [again in 2018] with how many people and the power we have,” Rosier said.

Rosier can contribute to Georgia State’s return to being a podium team. The senior competes in the long jump and 4x400 relay for outdoor track, and the 300, 300, and 400 meter relays for indoor track.

The indoor season begins Jan. 12 in Birmingham, Alabama, at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Invite. Outdoor track & field begins their season in mid-March following the Sun Belt Indoor Championships.

PHOTO BY JULIAN PINEDA & PHOTO GRAPHIC BY PHILIP DURAL | THE SIGNAL

SPORTS

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2017

15

Shae Chapman’s life outside gym

panther of the week

Q&A with Georgia State’s vegetarian volleyball player D’MITRI CHIN

Associate Sports Editor

G

eorgia State junior volleyball player Shae Chapman is mostly known for being the 6-foot middle blocker who is accustomed to tallying up blocks and kills on the court for the Panthers—and rightfully so. Last year, she collected 40 kills and nine digs, while also ranking third on the Panthers’ team with 32 blocks.

However, many may not be familiar with how Chapman utilizes her time away from the game of volleyball. While every student-athlete’s personal life may differ from the next, Chapman moderately incorporates her fellow teammates into her life outside of being a Panther volleyball player.

In fact, The Signal was able to conduct a Q&A with Chapman and she answered questions about herself as a student more so than a volleyball player.

PENNY HART

FOOTBALL

HOW DO YOU BALANCE THE CHALLENGE OF BEING A STUDENT-ATHLETE?

Chapman: For me—well for the whole team really—we have to get a planner and really just write it down and [have] our schedules out to see exactly what we have to do for each day. It kinda helps you to be organized and make sure you’re getting everything done—it’s pretty easy that way.

HOW DO YOU SPEND YOUR SPARE TIME AWAY FROM PLAYING THE GAME OF VOLLEYBALL?

Chapman: My spare time is usually still spent with my teammates—most of the time at Bible study with them, or a lot of us go to church with each other. It’s usually volleyball, school or church.

BESIDES VOLLEYBALL, WHAT OTHER SPORT DO YOU ENJOY TO WATCH AND PLAY?

Chapman: I really like to watch basketball, but I can’t play basketball at all. But I really like swimming other than volleyball.

WHO’S YOUR FAVORITE ATHLETE OVERALL?

Chapman: I’m from Houston, so James Harden.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE PROFESSIONAL TEAM?

Shae Newman, a volleyball player and junior at Georgia State, encourages her teammates during a match against Troy University.

Chapman: The Houston Rockets.

WHAT MUSIC ARTIST DO YOU LISTEN TO THAT REALLY INSPIRES YOU BEFORE A GAME?

Chapman: It’s probably a basic answer for me, but being from Houston, it’s Beyoncé and Travis Scott. Both of them, they just get me super pumped before a game. I don’t know what it is.

HOW DO YOU MAINTAIN A HEALTHY DIET THROUGHOUT THE SEASON?

Chapman: I’m actually a vegetarian, and one of my other teammates (Anna Rantala) is also a

PHOTO BY ETHAN MITCHAM | THE SIGNAL

vegetarian, so we kinda just meal prep. We just bring our own food, and we make sure we have food all the time, and we’re getting time to eat to fuel our bodies before practice.

ALTHOUGH THE SEASON HAS STARTED, WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS FOR YOURSELF AS THE SEASON PROGRESSES?

Chapman: Just going all the way. We want to get all the way through that championship, all the way through the NCAA; we’re trying to get all the way to the tournament—all of us together doing it as a family, that’s what we’re ready for.

Coach Chad Wilson is young but ready

Wilson aims for new heights for Georgia State men’s golf team CHRISTIAN CRITTENDEN Staff Reporter

C

had Wilson is the new leader of the Georgia State University men’s golf team. Wilson is not only new to Georgia State, but he is also new to being a head coach as well. Wilson served as the interim head coach at Coastal Carolina University for one year before being hired at Georgia State over the summer.

Wilson has been around the game since he was four years old, and has always had a love for the game.

Wilson played his college golf at Kennesaw State University, and was very successful there as a player. Wilson was a part of some very successful teams during his time at Kennesaw State. In 2011, Kennesaw State advanced to its first NCAA Regional and its first NCAA Championship.

Wilson’s best moment of his career came in the 2011 season when his team had a chance to advance to the NCAA championship, and they were

in the top-6 but fought their way into the top-3.

“We were fortunate enough to go from 6th to 3rd place in those 18 holes and qualified for the national championship, and we were the first ones of any sport at Kennesaw to do that,” Wilson said.

“To do that in your senior year was really special.”

The 2011 season was Wilson’s senior season, so he was out of eligibility, and he didn’t know what he wanted to do. Wilson graduated from Kennesaw State with a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education, but he knew that he didn’t want to be a teacher. He was given the opportunity to be a graduate assistant at Lee University. After that, an opportunity opened up at his alma mater, and he jumped at it.

In Wilson’s two years at Kennesaw State, he helped lead the golf team to another NCAA championship, and in the next year, lead the No. 24 ranked Owls to the NCAA Regional, where they missed the final by one shot.

After his two years at Kennesaw State, Wilson moved on to Coastal Carolina where he spent two years there as well. In his first year, he was an

assistant coach, and in his second year, he was the interim head coach.

Although Wilson served as an interim head coach at Coastal Carolina, he still feels like a firsttime head coach.

“I’ve only known the team for such a small amount of time, and I’m doing my best to learn about each individual and kind of gain their trust,” Wilson said. “It’s been a little eye-opening to see how Georgia State does things, because they’ve done things a little differently from the other programs that I’ve been at, but their way of going about it works.”

Wilson feels his success as a player at Kennesaw State has helped him as a coach. He credits most of that to his coach, Jay Moseley.

“He’s a great leader,” Wilson said. “And to see him serve his players in the fashion that he is probably... contributes the most [as to] why I fell in love with coaching.”

Wilson hopes to take his experiences as a coach and combine it with what the school has to offer, in hopes that they can win a national championship.

Redshirt sophomore wide receiver, Penny Hart scored three touchdowns, a new schoolrecord during Georgia State’s 47-37 win at Louisiana-Monroe.

The highlight of the game may have been Hart’s one-handed 50-yd touchdown reception on the Panther’s first possession.

After breaking the Georgia State single-game record for receiving yards in the third quarter, Hart finished the game with 190 yards. He tied his own school record for receptions in a game with 11. Hart, the 2015 Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year leads the conference with 8.4 and 111 receptions and yards per game respectively. His 42 receptions on the season tie him at 18th in the nation.

SPORTS BRIEFS volleyball — Lost to Troy by two points in the fifth set.

— Crystal Lee and Sydney Stroud passed 200 kills on the season against Troy.

— Fell 3-0 to South Alabama.

men’s soccer — Defeated Howard 3-0 to move to 9-4 overall, 2-0 in Sun Belt.

Lukas Joyner scored first goal just 34 seconds into the game.

Panthers are 5-0 at home.

women’s golf — Finished 12th at the Pinehurst Challenge after shooting 303 in the final round.

— Chloe Howard finished 3-over par, good for a top-30 finish.

SCAN HERE TO JOIN US!

SPORTS CALENDAR GOLF

STANDINGS SOCCER

OCT. 17

SUN BELT FOOTBALL

OCT. 17

MEN'S golf

school

Conference Overall streak

MEN'S soccer

AUTOTRADER COLLEGIATE CLASSIC

ALL DAY

UNC ASHEVILLE

Asheville, North Carolina

7 P.M.

Duluth, Georgia

OCT. 22

OCT. 20

WOMEN'S golf

woMEN'S soccer

PAT BRADLEY CLASSIC

Lakewood Ranch, Florida

ALL DAY

ARKANSAS STATE

Atlanta, Georgia

OCT. 23

OCT. 21

woMEN'S golf

MEN'S soccer

PAT BRADLEY CLASSIC

Lakewood Ranch, Florida

ALL DAY

3-0

4-2

W2

ARKANSAS STATE

2-0

3-2

W2

GEORGIA STATE

2-0

3-2

W3

UL MONROE

3-1

3-3

L1

LOUISIANA

2-1

3-3

W2

SOUTH ALABAMA

1-1

2-4

W1

TROY

1-1

4-2

L1

IDAHO

1-2

2-4

L2

NEW MEXICO STATE

1-2

3-4

W1

COASTAL CAROLINA

0-3

1-5

L5

GEORGIA SOUTHERN

0-2

0-5

L5

TEXAS STATE

0-3

1-6

L6

woMEN'S soccer

OCT. 21

LITTLE ROCK

TROY

2 P.M.

Atlanta, Georgia

VOLLEYBALL OCT. 20 UT ARLINGTON

7 P.M.

OCT. 22

FOOTBALL

Arlington, Texas

APPALACHIAN STATE

Atlanta, Georgia

7 P.M.

APPALACHIAN STATE

1 P.M.

Atlanta, Georgia

TENNIS OCT. 19 woMEN'S tennis

6:30 P.M.

ITA REGIONALS, DAY ONE

Athens, Georgia

12 P.M.

COMIC of the week:

COMIC BY ALEX BROOKS | THE SIGNAL