Thursday, February 20, 2020 Edition of The Red & Black by The Red & Black

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A 9 N O RM A LT OW N B RE WI NG

Georgia baseball’s Tucker Bradley and Chaney Rogers’ time as teammates spans from childhood.

Athens’ fifth brewery, the city’s smallest, opens up its first taproom in Normaltown.

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Vol. 127, No. 23 | Athens, Georgia T H U R S D A Y, F E B R U A RY 2 0 , 2 0 2 0 redandblack.com

2020 SGA

A 8 W H AT D O E S S G A D O ? Learn about the three branches of the Student Government Association.

ELECTION GUIDE

FORWARD BEYOND PRESIDENT Dyer Whitehurst

PRESIDENT Briana Hayes

UNITE

VICE PRESIDENT Grace Green

VICE PRESIDENT Hannah Payne

VICE PRESIDENT Cheryl Kwapong

TREASURER Kristen Dunning

TREASURER Matthew McDaniel

TREASURER Carson Kuck

Gabriela Miranda Campus News Editor

Samantha Perez Staff Writer

Megan Mittelhammer Staff Writer

Forward, the only executive ticket for the 2020 University of Georgia Student Government Association with no prior SGA experience, plans to focus on promoting inclusivity if elected. Dyer Whitehurst, Forward’s presidential candidate, said one of the ticket’s goals is to diversify student input and educate students on how SGA can help and represent their wants and beliefs. Whitehurst, Grace Green, the ticket’s vice presidential candidate, and treasurer candidate Kristen Dunning are leaders in their respective colleges and plan to target other leaders to funnel the needs of students campus-wide. Each member represents a different college on campus. Whitehurst is a junior finance major, Green is a junior human development and family science major and Dunning is a sophomore agricultural communication major. “A lot of people will probably identify us as anti-establishment or the ‘outsider’ ticket, but we’re just trying to provide perspective to SGA,” Whitehurst said. As of press time, Forward has 30 endorsements, more than the other two tickets combined. They include UGA Miracle and 21 fraternities and sororities. Beyond has one endorsement and Unite has eight. One of the ticket’s concerns is low voter turnout during SGA elections — only about 8,000 participated in last year’s election. Through promotion in the majority of colleges on campus, the ticket hopes to increase student body voting. If elected, they hope students realize how “accessible” SGA is and what it can offer them. The Forward ticket is also running on diversity — Dunning helped create a diversity outreach panel for the ticket. The panel includes college and minority group club leaders. “I don’t want to win without the minority vote,” Dunning said. As vice president of the organization, Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences, gaining the trust and opinion of minority students across campus is important to Dunning and the rest of the ticket. Despite the possibility of others discounting them for their lack of SGA experience, Whitehurst is confident their platform of inclusivity, accessibility and a fresh perspective will resonate with students. “Working with them two, I know that they truly care about UGA. They care about the students here. They care about us as more than just the undergraduate body. It’s more than that,” Green said.

Beyond, the 2020 UGA SGA executive ticket with the most SGA experience, wants to create, uplift and engage with the UGA and Athens communities if elected. Briana Hayes, the Beyond presidential candidate, said the ticket name comes from the idea of SGA going “above and beyond.” She said it applies to the ticket’s goal of going “beyond the Arch” to extend resources to the larger Athens community outside of UGA’s campus. The ticket said it has a combined nearly seven years of SGA experience. Vice presidential candidate Hannah Payne is the legislative communications director, and Matthew McDaniel, the treasurer candidate, serves as the SGA Senate president pro tempore. Hayes served as a first-year senator and an at-large senator over the course of two years before becoming 2019 Miss University of Georgia. That non-SGA role enabled her to speak with administrators and students with different backgrounds, which Hayes said helped her realize she wanted to be more involved in UGA’s community. “I wanted to help students in the greatest capacity that I could and I realized that that was through Student Government Association,” Hayes said. When Hayes started Rural Students Igniting Success in Education, an organization that recruits and retains rural students to UGA, she said there were financial obstacles that could have been prevented. Hayes said Beyond wants to create an organization resource bank to provide information for students looking to start an organization. “Our organization has such a powerful voice but we fail to speak sometimes, and so I think it’s time to step up and speak about the things that are facing this campus,” McDaniel said. McDaniel said the ticket, if elected, would create a “new org fund” to retain the remaining money in SGA’s budget at the end of each fiscal year instead of the excess returning to the university, McDaniel said. When considering how to engage with the surrounding community, Payne referred to SGA’s What to Fix UGA campaign, which, if implemented, would put iPad kiosks in accessible locations around campus for students to voice their concerns. The ticket would also create a University Community Roundtable where students can sit down with administrators to share perspectives.

Unite, one of the three executive tickets for the 2020 UGA SGA election, aims to be visible, accountable and sustainable by inviting students from various groups and backgrounds into conversations on campus if elected. Asim Ahmed, Unite’s presidential candidate, Cheryl Kwapong, the vice presidential candidate and Carson Kuck, the treasurer candidate, believe their strengths lie in their diverse backgrounds. All three are first-generation college students; their parents came to the U.S. from Pakistan, Ghana and Germany, respectively. They said their understanding of their parents’ sacrifices will help them listen to the needs of the student population. “It’s about getting to the table and pulling up more chairs so that students can advocate on behalf of themselves,” Ahmed said. “We very much acknowledge that three individuals cannot represent 38,000 students.” Ahmed and Kuck are no strangers to the world of SGA; they started out as first-year senators together and served as orientation leaders last summer. Kuck currently co-chairs the First-Year Senators, and Ahmed serves as a peer leader. Ahmed previously ran for president on the ACT ticket in the 2019 SGA race. In 2018, Ahmed was director of engagement under the Believe administration. Kuck cited SGA’s current initiative to combat sexual assault on campus, It’s On Us, as an opportunity to improve the visibility of resources like the Fontaine Center. Unite wants to interact with students in person and make them aware of these resources. Kwapong is new to the SGA scene. She said her strength lies in her ability to represent the larger student community that is curious about SGA and what it has to offer. Kwapong also wants to increase representation in SGA positions. The Unite ticket said the same people occupy leadership positions within “the involvement network bubble.” They’re afraid other student voices will keep getting lost in the process. “One of the biggest things that we want to do is pop that bubble and to make sure that SGA goes out to the everyday student,” Kwapong said. The trio prides itself on having already met with student and university organizations to understand what possible changes they can feasibly fund, promote and implement if elected.

PRESIDENT Asim Ahmed

Election Timeline FEBRUARY

APRIL

Tue 4

Sun 16

Mon 17

Wed 19

Sun 23

Mon 24

Wed 26

Thu 27

Fri 28

Fri 6

The three executive tickets were announced.

Candidates had to submit final financial disclosure forms.

Campaigning began at midnight.

Candidates debated in the Chapel.

Executive tickets must finalize staff rosters.

Voting opens at 8 a.m. on the Involvement Network.

Campaigning ends, voting closes at noon. Results are announced at 5 p.m.

In the case of a runoff, voting opens at 8 a.m.

In the case of a runoff, results are announced at 5 p.m.

The new administration will be inaugurated at 6 p.m.

Start with fresh

A2 THE RED & BLACK

Debriefing

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2020

Quick takes on stories you might have missed this week

G E T ALL T H E DE TAI LS AT R E DANDBLAC K.COM

Hedges, 100 Proof owner was indicted on rape charge

Vision Clinic employees were arrested for theft

Baseball began season with series sweep

Women’s basketball secured onepoint overtime win

Colony House played Valentine’s Day show

David Ellis Ippisch, the owner of Hedges On Broad and 100 Proof bars, has been indicted by an Athens-Clarke County grand jury on charges of rape and kidnapping, according to an indictment filed in Superior Court on Feb. 11. Ippisch was arrested in November 2019 on charges of kidnapping, sexual battery, rape and two charges of battery. The alleged incident occurred at Hedges On Broad on Nov. 24, 2019.

Three employees in the University Health Center Vision Clinic were arrested on charges of bribery and theft by conversion, according to a Feb. 12 University of Georgia Police Department report. Arrest warrants for Amy Stowers, Janice Coley and Rita Melville were filed on Feb. 12. Stowers and Coley are no longer employed and Melville was placed on administrative leave, UGA spokesperson Rebecca Beeler said in an email.

The Georgia baseball team won all three of its games on opening weekend against Richmond from Feb. 14-16 at Foley Field. Preseason All-American pitcher Emerson Hancock had a rough first start on Friday, allowing six earned runs and nine hits in only four innings pitched. Redshirt junior Tucker Bradley finished the weekend with a team-leading batting average of .600, five RBIs and three stolen bases.

The Georgia women’s basketball team surged to a 22-point lead in the third quarter of Sunday’s contest against Alabama only to watch the lead evaporate in the closing minutes of regulation. The Bulldogs pulled ahead after two straight free throws by junior Gabby Connally with 51 seconds remaining in overtime to win 76-75. The win was Georgia’s first in Stegeman Coliseum since defeating Auburn 61-50 on Jan. 16.

Franklin, Tennessee-based alternative rock band Colony House made a stop at the Georgia Theatre on Feb. 14 in support of their newest album “Leave What’s Lost Behind.” Singer/songwriter Tyson Motsenbocker from San Diego opened for the band. Colony House performed both love -laden, gushy songs in the spirit of Valentine’s Day and some of the band’s grittier tracks from past albums.

CAMEREN ROGERS/CONTRIBUTOR

Police Blotter ¼ Column

damaged at Phi Delta Theta fraternity house The president of Phi Delta Theta found a large hole in one of the porch columns of his fraternity house on Feb. 8, according to a University of Georgia Police Department report. He alerted the coordinator for Greek housing management, who then contacted police on Feb. 10 around 8:30 a.m. The fraternity president told the coordinator he arrived at the Greek Circle house around 10 p.m. on Feb. 8. He noticed the hole about 30 minutes later as he was leaving the house, according to the report. The hole in the column measured approximately 14 inches wide and 40 inches in height. The total damage was estimated at over $1,000, according to the report. The housing coordinator said the fraternity president implied none of the fraternity members heard the cause of the damage. According to the report, UGAPD officers were unable to talk with the president of the fraternity because he was in class at the time of the report. ¼ Burger

King manager steals bank deposits

VA L E N T I N E ’ S

YOGA WITH THE GALS Shakti Power Yoga hosted its own version of Galentine’s Day on Feb. 12 at The Foundry. The third annual Galentine’s Extravaganza allowed attendees to get makeovers, including hair styling and body glitter, participate in photo booths, drink healthy juices and create their own Valentine’s Day cards. Afterward, attendees participated in a yoga session with music provided by a live DJ, then had snacks provided by the Graduate Athens hotel. — Ryan Cameron

The former store manager of Burger King on U.S. Highway 29 North allegedly stole bank deposits totaling $7,699 between Jan. 17 and Jan. 21, according to an Athens-Clarke County Police Department report. The manager has since been fired from Burger King. When confronted, the manager admitted to taking the deposits and said her son had recently died, yet the reporting person said the manager’s son is still alive, according to the report. The re-

porting person filed the report with the police department on Feb. 6. The report did not specify if the money had been returned to Burger King. ¼ Man

stuffs steaks down pants in attempted theft at Walmart A man attempted to steal eight steaks worth a combined $153 from Walmart on Lexington Road on Feb. 5 around noon, according to an ACCPD report. Officers searched the area but were unable to find the man. The Walmart loss prevention employee said they would like to have the man prosecuted and barred from the store, according to the report. The man “stuffed the steaks into his pants” and ran away as the co-manager tried to stop him. He dropped the steaks and his phone as he ran, and the steaks were recovered. His phone was entered into evidence. ¼ Drunken

man stopped after stumbling in middle of road A man was seen stumbling in the middle of Sanford Drive near Snelling Dining Commons and walking into bushes on Feb. 8 around 2 a.m. A resident assistant saw the man and told police about him, according to a UGAPD report. The man said he went downtown and had “one or two beers to drink.” The man said he did not feel the need to go to the hospital and was escorted back to his dorm by emergency medical technicians, according to the report. Medical amnesty was granted in this case. According to the report, the officer spoke with the man and believed he was intoxicated due to his slurred speech and swaying. The officer confiscated a fake ID from the man.

Thursday Crossword - Answer Online February 20th ACROSS 1 Four-yr. degrees 4 Caesar's "I __ saw, I conquered" 9 Big party 13 Night birds 15 Sir __ Newton 16 Unpleasant 17 Radar screen image 18 Where, in Spain 19 Sailing vessel 20 Cowardly 22 Actor David __ Pierce of "Frasier" 23 Bookish fellow 24 Siesta hour 26 Valuables 29 Meddlesome folks 34 Breath fresheners 35 Task 36 Motorists' assn. 37 Eras 38 Public meeting place 39 Tomorrow's shout 40 Feminine pronoun 41 Obama's VP 42 Untrue 43 Overexerted 45 Occupation 46 J. Edgar Hoover's agcy. 47 Sudden loud noise 48 Surgery memento 51 Oddest 56 Ripped 57 Lift something heavy 58 Warty amphibian 60 __ up; misbehaves 61 Shed crocodile tears 62 "Oh, for Pete's __!" 63 Long deep cut 64 Dissuade 65 Animal enclosure DOWN 1 Hope or Newhart 2 Hole-making tools 3 Undergarment 4 Apple drinks

HIGH-ACHIEVING STEM STUDENTS: Created by Jacqueline E. Mathews

5 __ as the hills 6 Lion's neck hair 7 Actor George 8 Wicked winter weather 9 Chess piece 10 Sore 11 Fail to grip the roadway 12 Excessive publicity 14 Small pianos 21 NBA team 25 Misery 26 Pile up 27 Vision 28 Derisive smile 29 Tear to bits 30 Part of speech 31 Two strokes under par 32 Employee's delight 33 Not as risky 35 Word after area or zip

2/20/20

38 Done 39 Dartboards 41 High chair accessory 42 Long sharp tooth 44 Anew 45 Horse's gait 47 Sew lightly 48 Male animal 49 Comic actress Imogene 50 __ and crafts 52 "It's all Greek __" 53 Hilarious person 54 Daytime serial 55 __ away; subtract 59 TV room, often

GAIN THE BUSINESS SKILLS NEEDED FOR CAREER SUCCESS WITH THE STEM MBA GeorgiaSTEMmba.com

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2020

THE RED & BLACK A3 The University of Georgia currently has eight electric Proterra buses. ERIN SCHILLING/ S TA F F

It’s electric! UGA to have more electric buses than any university in the country Erin Schilling Staff Writer A plan to add more electric buses on campus adds another superlative to the University of Georgia’s reputation — the largest fleet of electric buses of any university in the nation. Director of UGA Transportation and Parking Services Don Walter couldn’t contain his excitement when talking about this sustainable initiative. “This is really cutting-edge technology,” Walter said. “We have people from all over the country calling us and visiting us.” The university currently has eight Proterra buses at its transportation facility along with 12 charging stations. Thanks to federal and state grants, UGA will have 33 zero-emission electric buses by 2021. This will account for a third of the total fleet, and the university will start phasing out diesel predecessors, Walter said. “We don’t ever plan on buying another diesel bus,” Walter said.

The number of zero-emission electric buses UGA will have by 2021 The campus transit facility has 12 charging stations which can handle up to 48 buses. This past week, Walter said they had electric buses on the Orbit route and campus tours. Hiccups occurred on Feb. 11 and 19, when two different buses had the same problem — a loose bolt on their doors. UGA is the first system to test the Proterra Catalyst E2 buses, and Walter said UGA maintenance has helped recommend modifications on the new model. The funding for the buses comes from a $10 million Georgia State Road and Tollway AuthorThe campus transit facility has 12 charging stations which can handle up to 48 buses. ERIN SCHILLING/ S TA F F

ity grant and a $7.56 million U.S. Transit Administration grant. UGA matched 30% of this grant funding. The first state grant was announced in 2016, and Walter said UGA spent time researching the options before purchasing. “Electric bus technology was also evolving rapidly — the longer we researched, the better the buses were becoming,” Walter said. The electric buses cause an enormous cost savings for the university in addition to their environmental benefits. Diesel buses cost $100 per day to run because of gas, while the electric buses cost $5-10 per day to run, Walter said. The electric grid will power the buses at the Riverbend Road Campus Transit facility. Walter said UGA receives reduced electricity rates from Georgia Power because they charge the buses at night when electricity is in less demand, so it’s cheaper. Because the electricity comes from the grid, the zero-emission buses aren’t powered by renewable energy. In Georgia, natural gas generates about 40% of electricity and coal generates about 25%. Renewable energy generates only about 8%, according to Georgia’s 2018 profile in the U.S. Energy Information Administration. “While there is still that connection to the grid, it is a lot more efficient compared to standard diesel coming directly from the buses,” said Blake Ginn, a senior environmental engineering major working on his engineering capstone with transit. “There is still significant greenhouse gas and overall pollutant emissions that are being reduced by the buses.” Ginn and four other engineering students are redesigning the campus transit facility to add solar panels and increase safety and efficiency as part of their year-long capstone project requirement. Walter plans to use these designs, and Tala Sidawi, a senior environmental engineering major, said he always tells them to think “big picture.” “He really, really meant ‘big picture,’” Sidawi said. “They want to go the whole nine yards on this project, so we’re really lucky as well to have this unique situation where the client is so open and really wanting us to take it even farther than we thought.” When solar power is implemented at the facility, the solar energy will go back into the grid, the engineering students said. UGA will add more energy into the grid than it takes out by charging the buses, meaning they would make money to charge the buses instead of spending it. Already, maintenance costs from diesel to electric are expected to decrease from $22,500

per bus, per year, to $7,500 because there are no transmission repairs, exhaust problems, oil changes or brake strain, Walter said. The difference between driving diesel and electric buses mostly comes from how drivers should handle the brakes. Electric buses have a regenerative brake system, so the inertia from the bus coasting recharges some of the battery. Walter said training for driving an electric bus focuses mostly on how to brake less, since drivers are used to hitting the brakes a lot on diesel buses. Walter said about half the drivers are trained and once they train all 150 of them, they’ll be able to start regularly running all the electric buses they have.

This is the best bus ever built. We don’t ever plan on buying another diesel bus.

D I R E C T O R O F U G A T R A N S P O R TAT I O N A N D PA R K I N G S E R V I C E S D O N W A LT E R

“We want every driver to be completely comfortable when they get on that bus,” Walter said. Drivers have some classroom and operation training, which takes a couple of hours. UGA students should see more and more electric buses in the coming months. The buses can last a full day on one charge and possibly two days depending on the driver’s braking habits. For the first route test on Feb. 10, the Orbit electric bus operated all day and used 49% of its power, Walter said. The bus has about a 320-mile range, according to Proterra, and fully charges in about three hours. Walter said drivers and students will probably enjoy the ride on the electric buses more, too. The bus is much quieter than its diesel counterpart, and it produces an external beeping noise when the turn signal is on to alert pedestrians. The outside is made of a strong composite fiberglass and carbon fiber material and has two motors behind the back wheels. Its 500 horsepower engine is twice that of a diesel bus, and it’s five times more efficient, according to a UGA press release. “This is the best bus ever built,” Walter said. The electric fleet will be a step toward meeting UGA’s Campus Sustainability Plan, which aimed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20% in 2020. According to the plan, 14% of emissions come from campus transportation.

A4 THE RED & BLACK

Opinion

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2020

Social Work students protested Board of Regents policy preventing DACA recipients from paying in-state tuition at their commencement ceremony in spring 2019. F I L E /

The Red & Black has covered the University of Georgia and Athens communities since 1893. Independent of the university since 1980, The Red & Black is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit company with the dual missions of providing excellent news coverage and journalism training for students. We receive no funding from the university and are self-supporting through advertising.

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Publishing online daily at redandblack.com and in print each Thursday, except holidays and exam periods, by The Red & Black Publishing Company Inc. Subscriptions: $84. All rights reserved. Reprints by permission.

Let immigrants succeed Georgia should allow immigrants with temporary status to pay instate tuition Jack Scott Contributor On Feb. 5, five Georgia House Democrats proposed House Bill 896 that would allow immigrants with temporary permission to stay in the U.S. to pay in-state tuition at Georgia’s public universities. Without any Republican co-sponsors and flying in the face of typical GOP stances on immigration, the bill is unlikely to pass. That’s a shame, because there’s virtue in the idea of pursuing such changes in our immigration laws. Immigrants should be able to come out of the shadows and take advantage of opportunities to improve their livelihoods and become more productive contributors to the U.S. economy. Immigrants with temporary permission to stay in the U.S. that live in Georgia must pay out-of-state tuition to attend University System of Georgia schools. If passed, HB 896 would make it easier for them pay in-state tuition. As it stands, our immigration system serves to deny immigrants access to public and private services. As voters, we can

and should aim to restructure our laws so as to give migrants access to all the levers of American prosperity. Consider the case of the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act, which gave amnesty to 1.7 million workers without legal authorization in order to give them better access to the labor market. A 2002 study shows that those workers’ unauthorized status had decreased their earnings by 14-24%. The situation addressed by HB 896 is different than the one addressed by the IRCA. The IRCA dealt with legal status in general, while HB 896 focuses its attention on higher education. But both bills address the same overarching failure of the U.S. immigration system — its propensity to deny immigrants the ability to access the tools to better their lives. Barriers preventing migrants from accessing education and the job market only serve to push them into poverty and keep them there. While it is true that some immigrants earn less and have fewer skills than the average native-born worker, the mere virtue of living and working in the U.S. means they are far more productive than they were back home. All else held equal, immigrants on average earn tens of thousands of dollars more every year in the U.S. than they do in their home countries. When immigrants come to the U.S., they become more productive. When they get an education and learn new skills, their earning potential increases even further. Our laws should encourage immigrants to invest in themselves and their future. Immigration has a positive impact not

only on the immigrants’ own well-being, but also on the wider society. A study at the University of California-Davis shows that an increase in the population of immigrant workers of 1% of employment is correlated with a 0.34% increase in native wages, on average. Immigrants offer complementary skill sets, educational backgrounds and services to American-born workers, increasing the variety of services offered and the productivity of workers. Immigrants with access to financial, educational and vocational resources also benefit the economy by starting their own businesses. According to a 2012 study conducted by the U.S. Small Business Administration, 10.5% of the immigrant workforce owns a business compared to 9.3% of the U.S.-born workforce. Higher education would give immigrants the skills they need to start these businesses, which are vital to our economy. Immigrants with higher earnings demand more goods and services offered by the rest of society. More productive workers supply new goods and services for widespread consumption. Helping immigrants succeed is a worthy cause in its own right, but there’s a larger benefit for all Americans, too. When immigrants are allowed to make good lives for themselves, everyone benefits. For the rest of the U.S., helping immigrants succeed isn’t charity — it’s profit. Jack Scott is a junior economics major, the finance director of the Young Democrats of UGA and outreach director of College Democrats of Georgia.

Opinions expressed are those of contributors and not necessarily those of The Red & Black Publishing Company Inc.

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Spring 2020 Staff EDITORIAL

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EDITOR IN CHIEF Hunter Riggall MANAGING EDITOR Henry Queen DIGITAL MANAGING EDITOR Stephen Barr NEWS EDITOR Spencer Donovan CITY NEWS EDITOR Jacqueline GaNun CAMPUS NEWS EDITOR Gabriela Miranda SPORTS EDITOR Augusta Stone ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITORS

Austin Roper, Andy Walsh CULTURE EDITOR Savannah Sicurella ASSISTANT CULTURE EDITOR Anna Thomas OPINION EDITOR Stroud Payne ENTERPRISE EDITOR Anila Yoganathan ARCHIVES EDITOR Natalie Robinson ENTERPRISE REPORTER Sherry Liang STAFF WRITERS Griffin Callaghan, Raveena Chaudhari, Victoria Heck, Sydney Kohne, Samantha Perez, Foster Steinbeck DIGITAL DIGITAL STRATEGIST Erin Schilling SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR Megan Mittelhammer NEWS ENGAGEMENT EDITOR Jake Strickland DIGITAL PRODUCERS Luke Guillory, Kyra Posey PHOTO & VIDEO PHOTO EDITOR Ryan Cameron CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER Kathryn Skeean STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS Jason Born,

Taylor Gerlach VIDEO EDITOR Julia Garner STAFF VIDEOGRAPHER Kate Sullivan, Danielle Urban DESIGN ART DIRECTOR Zakk Greene ASSISTANT ART DIRECTOR Mary McKean STAFF DESIGNER

Delaney Williams

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Cutting a lifeline

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Cuts to dual enrollment, other programs would hurt rural Georgia

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Professional Staff

Stroud Payne Opinion Editor CLAIRE BUCHANAN/

Rural areas of Georgia have struggled for a long time. Faced with high rates of poverty and declining or stagnant populations, many rural counties need help from the state government. Despite the clear need, however, rural Georgia could take another blow from a new bill that would limit student participation in dual enrollment. Cutbacks like the ones proposed for dual enrollment highlight a growing policy failure in Georgia. The state’s inability to fund programs that could be a lifeline to rural communities is a travesty and something the state needs to fix immediately. Republicans campaigned on helping rural Georgia. The Georgia Republican Party depends on rural voters. While Democrats saw gains in suburban counties like Gwinnett, rural voters powered Gov. Brian Kemp to the governor’s mansion in a race that was much tighter than the previous few gubernatorial elections in Georgia. To some extent, they’ve delivered for these supporters. For example, Kemp and Republicans passed bills to give doctors incentives to serve rural areas and expand Internet services in rural areas. However, the dual enrollment bill would be a major strike against their efforts to help rural Georgia. According to the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, nearly a fifth of high school students living in school districts not adjacent to metro Atlanta take advantage of dual enrollment programs, compared to only 6.8% of high school students in metro Atlanta. The bill would limit the number of dual enrollment hours a high school student can earn to 30 and the types of classes available. Given Georgia’s budget problems, and the fact that dual enrollment are free and funded by the state, this might be reasonable.

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CONTRIBUTER

PUBLISHER Rebecca Burns

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According to the GBPI, Georgia’s income and sales tax revenue in the first quarter of fiscal year 2020, which began on July 1, was anemic, falling below estimates. Kemp is also eager to deliver on his promise to raise teacher pay, which requires funding. Since Georgia is constitutionally prohibited from running a deficit, the government’s efforts to reduce spending in other areas make sense. But it didn’t have to be this way. Questionable policies like last year’s tax cuts have caused unnecessary problems. It’s also unlikely the tax cuts will generate the economic growth needed to sustain healthy amounts of tax revenue. The University of Georgia Terry College of Business predicts that, despite the tax cuts, Georgia’s gross domestic product will grow only 1% in 2020, lower than the U.S. economy’s 1.2% predicted growth rate. This comes at a time when several of Kemp’s actions threaten much of the progress rural Georgians have seen. His budget cuts for every state agency could undermine many of his programs designed to help rural Georgia, including loan forgiveness program for doctors who go to rural counties and funding for public health departments. Some rural communities were already struggling because of President Donald Trump’s costly trade war, and these budget cuts will only increase their pain. Though state Republicans have made some progress in helping rural Georgians, these actions reveal serious shortcomings in their policies. Stroud Payne is a sophomore economics and political science major.

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Corrections If you spot a factual error, please let us know by sending a correction to editor@randb.com. Corrections for print articles will be published in the next print edition. Corrections for online-only articles are posted at redandblack. com/corrections.

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2020

Sports

THE RED & BLACK A5

Bandits, Trojans and Bulldogs Outfielders Tucker Bradley and Chaney Rogers play 11th season as teammates William Newlin Contributor When redshirt junior Tucker Bradley tore his lower labrum last February, a familiar face helped fill his season-long absence in right field. Georgia junior Chaney Rogers has been Bradley’s teammate since second grade, and the two played for the Gordon Lee Trojans in Chickamauga, Georgia. In Bradley’s absence, Rogers saw his number of appearances increase from his freshman year. Half of Rogers’ 38 starts in 2019 were in right field. “Seeing him get the chance was awesome,” Bradley said. “And that’s only going to help our team this year. I believe having guys step up … I think it made us deeper this year in the long run.” Along with sophomore pitcher Cole Wilcox, another Chickamauga native who played at neighboring Heritage High School in Ringgold, Georgia, Bradley and Rogers

DIAMOND DETAILS ¼ Four players on Georgia’s baseball team played in GHSA Region 6-A. ¼ Tucker Bradley and Chaney Rogers’ high school baseball team went 19-9 and won its region in 2015. ¼ Bradley and Rogers are both majoring in Sport Management.

form a core of Bulldogs that hail from the northwest corner of the state. Bradley stole the show in Georgia’s opening series against Richmond Feb. 14-16, announcing his return with a team-leading .600 batting average, .714 on-base percentage and five RBIs in Georgia’s first three games. He also closed out Sunday’s sweep-clinching victory on the mound, recording four outs in four at-bats. Meanwhile, Rogers capitalized on six atbats with two hits, and Wilcox struck out eight in a five-inning start on Saturday. Unlike the familiarity that eased the transition from rival to teammate with fellow Georgia High School Association Region 6-A competitors Darryn Pasqua (Christian Heritage) and Ryan Suppa (North Cobb Christian), Bradley and Rogers have a longer history with Wilcox. “I grew up with Cole,” Bradley said. “We have baby pictures together. Our parents were best friends growing up, so I’ve been with him forever.” Throughout middle and high school, Rogers played against the 6-foot-5 Wilcox in baseball, football and basketball. Now, with past records buried, the lifelong opponents moved forward with a shared foundation and a common goal. For Bradley and Rogers, however, sharing the dugout wasn’t anything new. The duo first competed together at age 7, “picking up” with Rogers’ 9-year-old brother’s team. From 2008-12, their travel squad, the Georgia Bandits, went 162-14, according to the United States Specialty Sports Association.  S E E T E A M M AT E S PA G E A 7

PINS AND POINTS

Rachael Lukacs has posted team-best scores on vault (9.9) and floor (9.95) in 2020. K A T H R Y N S K E E A N / S T A F F

Tucker Bradley leads the Bulldogs with a .600 batting average, five RBIs and three stolen bases as of press time. T A Y L O R G E R L A C H / S T A F F

Chaney Rogers played in 53 games with 38 starts in 2019, batting .256 with eight doubles, 13 RBIs and a home run. G A B R I E L L A A U D I / S T A F F

GymDog Rachael Lukacs merges the worlds of wrestling and gymnastics Gillian McIntyre Contributor At the World Olympic Gymnastics Academy Classic in Frisco, Texas, 9-year-old Rachael Lukacs gazed at her outstretched hand to view the gleaming Georgia gymnastics championship ring sitting elegantly on her finger. “That was it,” said Lukacs’ mother, Laurie. “That’s where she was going.” The daughter of a high school wrestling coach, Lukacs grew up watching athletes compete for a position on a podium. That day in Texas, she caught a glimpse of how she could earn her own spot as a champion. Then-Georgia gymnastics head coach Jay Clark attended the WOGA Classic to recruit. He noticed Lukacs peeking at the jewelry before he asked if the young gymnast wanted to try it on. “I remember thinking that hopefully, one day, that dream will happen to me,” Lukacs said. “Hopefully they’ll be interested in me.” Now a sophomore, Lukacs is one of Georgia’s two all-around gymnasts. The GymDogs sit at No. 11 at the halfway mark of the 2020 season. The team looks to make another postseason run after reaching the 2019 NCAA semifinals. Before competing at Georgia, Lukacs shared her time between wrestling and gymnastics mats. “[Rachael] grew up with the best wrestlers that I ever had,” said Lukacs’ father, Steven, who coached Bound Brook High School wrestling in New Jersey for 30 years and won four state titles from 2012 to 2016 with nationally-ranked teams. “She got to see how they competed and how they worked.” Lukacs helped with concession stands and 50/50 raffles. Sometimes she would just stand by her dad to witness the action. The Bound Brook wrestling team would clear off the mats so Lukacs could perform tumbling passes after the matches. “I have a brother, but I also had a team of brothers, too,” Lukacs said. “Going to wrestling was always the highlight of my day.” The wrestling team showed Lukacs the dedication it took to be an elite gymnast. “The way my dad trained them, it was very disciplined,” Lukacs said. “I feel like I took that on in my life and in gymnastics.” One Bound Brook wrestler, Mekhi Lewis, is a reigning NCAA champion

at Virginia Tech. He recently qualified for the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials. The 2019 NCAA wrestling championships happened at the same time as the SEC gymnastics championships. As Lukacs prepared to march out with Georgia, she asked the team to stop and watch Lewis on a nearby television. “Seeing him progress in his wrestling has influenced me to keep going, too,” Lukacs said.

Wrestling and gymnastics are two of the hardest sports. They’re a constant battle. You need to be able to react quickly and fix mistakes.

RACHAEL LUKACS, SOPHOMORE GYMDOG

Lukacs’ father spent the SEC championships running back and forth from the gymnastics meet to the concourse area televisions to keep track of both athletes. “Wrestling and gymnastics are two of the hardest sports,” Lukacs said. “They’re a constant battle. You need to be able to react quickly and fix mistakes.” The GymDogs started 2020 in Orlando, Florida, at the Critique Classic Invitational, which turned out to be a difficult meet for Georgia. Right before Georgia started its last event on beam, Lukacs asked head coach Courtney Kupets Carter for a push forward. “Just get on me,” Lukacs told Kupets Carter. “Just tell me I can do it.” In such moments, Kupets Carter sees wrestling’s influence on Lukacs. “Her personality overall is just like what her dad’s is — just that rough and tough,” Kupets Carter said. “A we’re going to get this done mentality. Let’s get on each other.” Now, Lukacs said she hopes to help lead the GymDogs to another postseason run. The image of a Georgia gymnastics championship ring on her finger is still etched in her mind. “It’s awesome to look back,” Lukacs said. “I never thought that I’d be where I am. It’s the best place in the world.”

A6 THE RED & BLACK

Playbook

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2020

SPORTS THIS WEEK

Freshman Sydney Kuma has a batting average of .452 through Georgia’s first 11 games. JULIAN ALEXANDER/ S TA F F

THUR

FRI

SUN

MON

W BB v. TAMU 7 p.m.

Baseball v. Santa Clara 3 p.m.

Softball v. Austin Peay 1 p.m.

M TEN v. FAU 2:30 p.m.

COLUMN

Lack of size dooming men’s basketball in losing season Griffin Callaghan Staff Writer

Stepping up to the plate Softball freshmen start off with early success Larry Meisner Contributor The veterans on Georgia softball’s roster generated preseason attention, but a significant amount of the Bulldogs’ production early in the season has come from the talent of their freshman class. Sydney Kuma, Sara Mosley and Jaiden Fields have all proved their worth at the plate, combining for a batting average of .436 through 11 games. The three freshmen alone have more than a quarter of the team’s hits, with 28 as of Feb. 18. Head coach Lu Harris-Champer isn’t surprised by the performance of Georgia’s freshman class. “I knew they could hit,” Harris-Champer said. “They’ve been coming out and competing every day in practice and really doing a good job of fitting right in.” Fitting right in is exactly what they have done. In her first four college at bats, Fields collected four hits, includ-

ing an RBI double and a three-RBI triple. She said she isn’t interested in personal stats, though. “It’s all about a team effort,” Fields said. “Doing things for the team, being selfless, doing whatever I can just to score runs.” In the Bulldogs’ game against South Florida, Mosley was the first Bulldog to record a hit against opposing pitcher Georgina Corrick and one of only three to do so the entire day. Mosley further established herself as one of Georgia’s toughest outs. “[Mosley] doesn’t play like a freshman at all,” Fields said. “She’s just killing it out there, and I couldn’t be more proud of her.” Kuma is playing her part as well. Georgia had big shoes to fill coming into this season with the loss of superstar shortstop Alyssa DiCarlo. Fortunately for the Bulldogs, Kuma has been a fine replacement, starting in all 11 of Georgia’s games and scoring 11 runs over that span. Harris-Champer praised her freshmen for their early successes and said they aren’t intimidated by the collegiate stage. “It’s exciting to see them just get out and play softball,” Harris-Champer said. “They didn’t make too much of it, just played the game the way they love to play the game.”

Stat of the Week Through the first five events of the 2019-20 season, the Georgia men’s golf team is hitting below last year’s scoring average. Georgia has had more 70-shot rounds than any other total. Five different golfers have shot a 70, and Georgia has shot a 70 on 11 of the 75 rounds in the first half of the season. This trend has helped the team to win at two events and two individual wins. Sophomore Trent Phillips and senior Spencer Ralston (pictured) logged a 70 in the second round of the Puerto Rico Classic. Georgia finished third when the tournament wrapped up on Feb. 18. — Alex Miller

F I L E / S TA F F

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The average Georgia men’s basketball player stands at 77 inches — 6-foot-5 — in a league where there are nearly 7-foot tall giants patrolling the rim. Georgia is frequently the undersized team, and it’s proving detrimental to the program’s success. The tallest player on the Georgia roster this season is freshman Rodney Howard, who averages just 7.4 minutes per game and has played in 21 of the Bulldogs’ 25 games before the Auburn on Feb. 19. Howard is not often a big part of the game plan, leaving the frequent starting front court of junior forward Rayshaun Hammonds and freshman Toumani Camara to match up with larger opponents. When head coach Tom Crean was asked if he will be putting an emphasis on recruiting a big player for next season, he said, “Bigs — I think you mean bigs.” Teams in the SEC have been especially tough for Georgia to contain on the interior. Through 12 conference games before Auburn, the Bulldogs were outrebounded by 22 (433-411). The largest deficit came in the road loss to Mississippi State at minus-18, and the second largest was in the Bulldogs’ loss at home to South Carolina at minus-12. To further complicate the Bulldogs’ size conundrum, 6-foot-9 forward Amanze Ngumezi transferred to Jacksonville State after being suspended for an “indefinite period of time” earlier this season. Ngumezi played less than a season and a half with Georgia and was tied for the second-tallest player on the roster behind Howard this year. Ngumezi was a promising prospect in his first year with the Bulldogs. He played in 31 games in 2018-19. In his debut, he scored 10 points in 11 minutes and flashed range from beyond the 3-point line. He opened the 2019-20 season as a starter. Hammonds is also 6-foot-9. Hammonds has grown an inch since entering the program listed at 6-foot-8 in the 2018-19 season. Crean adjusted his expectations for Hammonds this year, featuring more interior-focused play. The role change for Hammonds was not necessarily because of his own size, but more due to the lack of the size around him. Hammonds was Georgia’s leading rebounder at 7.2 per game, almost two full rebounds ahead of Anthony Edwards’ second-place number before the game against Auburn. In the 2018-19 season, Georgia finished 11-21 overall and 2-16 in the SEC. This year’s group has already eclipsed 11 wins but is experiencing similar struggles within conference play. The Bulldogs’ tallest player last season was 6-foot11 Nicolas Claxton, a 2019 second-round pick of the Brooklyn Nets in the NBA. Claxton was tall but lean and struggled to compete with bigger SEC bodies. He averaged 8.6 rebounds per game for Georgia last season, but his group also struggled on the interior and with rebounds. Georgia has been undersized through much of recent memory. Crean recognizes the problem and knows there is work to be done. “We don’t have the physical size, necessarily, some of these teams have,” Crean said. “But that’s not an excuse to not have a fight, and we’ve got to regroup quickly on that.”

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THE RED & BLACK A7

TEAMMATES: Reunited in Athens

Tucker Bradley was originally signed with Auburn but committed to Georgia in July 2016. F I L E / S TA F F

 F RO M PAG E A 5

“As far as travel ball goes, I don’t know if there’s been a better team,” Gordon Lee High School head coach Mike Dunfee said. “Everywhere I go they talk about how awesome that team was.” When Bradley entered Gordon Lee High School in fall 2012, eighth-grader Rogers looked to him for advice on the transition. Once reunited on the Trojans in 2013, their competitive drive and ability to feed off one another proved to Dunfee that their careers had legs beyond Class A high school ball. In three high school seasons together, they peaked — to Dunfee’s chagrin — with a second-place finish in the 2014 GHSA State Championship. “I guess I lost it for them,” Dunfee said. “I feel bad. I don’t wear my [championship] ring around much because those guys should have got one. They were a talented bunch.” While both Rogers and Wilcox committed to Georgia in 2015, Bradley was originally set on attending Auburn. Dunfee cited an Auburn coaching change for Bradley’s switch, but the Georgia redshirt junior simply said “things fell apart.” Around that time, Bradley once again found

himself teamed up with Rogers in the summer baseball circuit. Accompanying his friend was attention from Georgia head coach Scott Stricklin, who saw Bradley and Rogers in action together and worked through Rogers to secure Bradley as a Bulldog. “They were excited together about that,” Dunfee said. “Their families were excited because they got to play ball together more.” Bradley didn’t see many scouts at high school games, something Dunfee attributed to both the small size of Gordon Lee and the growing importance of summer leagues and school camps, like the Scott Stricklin Baseball Camps hosted each summer at Foley Field. As the high school season coincides with Georgia’s, much of Stricklin’s recruiting occurs over the summer, when offseason activities provide a hotbed for young, year-round athletes to get noticed by Division I coaches. The Stricklin Summer Camps’ website advertises its program as “one of [Georgia’s] greatest recruiting tools.” “Travel summer ball has grown by leaps and bounds over the last 15 years,” Stricklin said. “So, if you’re a good high school player, you’re going to play summer baseball, and college coaches

Their families were excited because they got to play together more.

MIKE DUNFEE, GORDON LEE HEAD COACH

are going to see you.” Dunfee said prior to Bradley and Rogers, some of his more promising athletes struggled to garner collegiate attention. After Georgia “took a chance” on the Gordon Lee alumni, Dunfee said his program and his players earned greater recognition. Current Trojan junior Jake Poindexter verbally committed to Georgia back in 2018. Both Chickamaugans maintain relationships with their former coach, returning home over breaks and occasionally speaking with Dunfee’s new pupils about their experiences with the sport. Dunfee said he hopes they can infect upand-coming northwest Georgia ballplayers with “the bug of ‘Hey, baseball is awesome.’”

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A8 THE RED & BLACK

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CLASSIFIEDS

(Left to right) President Rachel Byers, Vice President Melissa Hevener and Treasurer Nav Singh lead the 32nd executive administration of the Student Government Association.

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Everything you need to know before you vote Megan Mittelhammer and Samantha Perez Staff Writers Less than 1 in 5 students voted for an executive ticket in last year’s University of Georgia Student Government Association election. For those of you who may not know why SGA matters, here’s a breakdown of its powers and responsibilities. SGA is made up of three branches: executive, legislative and judicial. The organization, comprised of 237 members this year, according to SGA spokesperson Maggie Cavalenas, attempts to represent all students and serve as a connection between students and the UGA administration. The primary governing document is the SGA Constitution. The student body elects the three executive officers: president, vice president and treasurer. These officers appoint other executive members such as attorney general and platform or programming directors. This branch meets weekly to discuss their progress and plan tabling events to promote on-campus resources and specific SGA initiatives. The president works on initiatives with student, university and community organizations and makes appointments to university-wide committees with student representation. The president creates committees, signs or vetoes legislation from the legislative branch and reports on SGA activities to other SGA members. They also serve as UGA’s representative to the Student Advisory Council of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia. The vice president assists with the president’s duties. Previously, the vice president oversaw senate meetings. However, that role changed after a 2019 amendment created a president of the senate, who now presides over meetings. Current Vice President Melissa Hevener said she “transformed the role” of vice president by incorporating “more

standing responsibility.” The treasurer is responsible for the finances, records and financial transactions of SGA. In addition, the treasurer gives a report on the budget at each senate meeting. The treasurer chairs the Small Club Allocations Committee, which is composed of senators and university staff in the UGA Student Affairs Division, current treasurer Nav Singh said. Small Clubs recommends the distribution of funds from its budget, and the recommendations are approved by UGA Vice President for Student Affairs Victor Wilson, Singh said. In the legislative branch, a mix of elected and appointed senators sponsor and propose legislation for voting at bi-weekly meetings. Legislation typically expresses support for university initiatives on behalf of students or encourages new programs. The president can veto legislation up to one week after its passage in the Senate. The SGA judicial branch, comprised of a Supreme Court with one chief justice and a group of associate justices, confirms that all legislation passed by the Senate falls in line with SGA’s constitution. There’s no registration required to vote in an SGA election — you simply have to be a UGA student, according to SGA Attorney General Ethan Pender. Voting begins on Feb. 24 at 8 a.m., when students can access a ballot form on the Involvement Network at involve.uga.edu. Voting closes at noon on Feb. 26. A runoff will occur if no ticket achieves an absolute majority in the general election. The top two tickets would advance in that case. Pender said all students are entitled to one vote. The digital ballot allows each student to vote for an executive ticket, at-large senators and campus-life senators and then a specific school or college senator, Pender said. Each student can only vote for the representative for their respective college. Pender said no physical ballots are available, but the digital voting allows for a “correct, accurate, exact count of the votes” in a way that is “safe and secure.”

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Jake Drukman Contributor The Athens-Clarke County Mayor and Commission accepted two related agreements setting up the process for the Classic Center arena and other developments and future leasing with the Classic Center Authority with a 7-2 vote during a Feb. 18 special session. The intergovernmental agreement sets up the process for providing the CCA with Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax funds to construct a new 5,500-seat arena, a hotel, a senior living development and a parking deck around the existing Classic Center. It also details the planning process for the new developments. The lease agreement renews all property the CCA leases through a 2002 agreement for 50 years. The $34 million in funding for planning and construction will come from the SPLOST 2020 Classic Center Arena project, which voters approved in November 2019. Additional funding for the project will come from “a variety of sources,” according to the intergovernmental agreement. Under the agreement, the CCA will develop a master plan and provide the county with regular updates. The plan and its costs must be approved by the local government, according to the intergovernmental agreement. At least 25% of the arena’s energy use must come from renewable ener-

gy sources and the parking area must include equipment to charge electric vehicles, according to the lease agreement. The lease agreement also requires the CCA to pay its employees a living wage as determined by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology living wage calculator. According to the calculator, the living wage for two working adults with one child in Clarke County would be $12.79 per hour per adult. The CCA will pay ACC $1 per year in rent to use the ACC-owned land, according to the lease agreement. District 3 Commissioner Melissa Link voiced concern that there has not been enough time for public input on the project. Commissioners previously put the matter on hold at a Feb. 4 voting meeting. “I feel like the work’s not complete. Having a proper agenda session to discuss it gives more opportunity for public input. This is a huge project,” Link said. “It’s not just an arena. This is multiple buildings, basically remaking the entire eastern portion of downtown.” Link also said she worried the project would create an “exclusive playground for the wealthy” that would “line billionaire corporations’ pockets” instead of benefitting the Athens community as a whole. District 6 Commissioner Jerry NeSmith started the motion to accept both agreements in one vote.

“I don’t think this is a playground for billionaires,” NeSmith said. “It’s a playground for me, and I’m not a billionaire, that’s for sure. And it’s gonna create 600 new jobs, or more.” Link and District 2 Commissioner Mariah Parker voted to not accept the agreements. District 7 Commissioner Russell Edwards was not present at the meeting. All other commissioners voted to approve the agreements. District 5 Commissioner Tim Denson said the requirement for the arena to run on 25% renewable energy was not enough, saying ACC needed to be more bold in pursuing its plan to run on 100% renewable energy by 2035. ACC attorney Judd Drake noted the 25% goal was only a minimum requirement, and the CCA could use a higher percentage of renewable energy. Mayor Kelly Girtz said there was still more planning to do regarding the specifics of the construction. During an agenda setting session immediately following the special session, the Mayor and Commission briefly discussed adding solar panels to a fire station on Oglethorpe Avenue, increasing the current budget for the Animal Services Department and establishing a community energy fund. The Mayor and Commission will discuss these items at a later date. The Mayor and Commission will hold a public review of the fiscal year 2021 budget by an independent agency on Feb. 25. The next voting meeting is March 3.

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Culture

THE RED & BLACK A9

The brewery is the fifth to open in Athens and the smallest in the city.

NEW BEERS ON THE BLOCK

JULIAN ALEXANDER/ S TA F F

Normaltown Brewing Company opens on Oneta Street Savannah Sicurella Culture Editor Three years ago, the 1,000-square foot Oneta Street space where Normaltown Brewing Company now operates was a woodwork shop. There was no air-conditioning or central power. The floor was half-dirt, half-asphalt, and the only furnishings to the barebones space were two-by-fours screwed into the wall and international flags that hung from the ceiling. It’s still pretty bare-bones — clean and empty, with 80-gallon beer fermenters from China to the left and a 14-seat bar to the right — but it’s exactly what the brewing team envisioned for their first space. After nearly a year of supplying kegs to restaurants in and around Athens, brothers Phil Fortson and Scott Fortson, along with Athens transplant Heath Yarbrough, opened up the doors to Normaltown Brewing on Feb. 8. The brewery, adjacent to the Athens Cotton Press, is the fifth to open in Athens, the first in the Normaltown neighborhood and the smallest in the city. Specializing in small-batch, $6-a-pint New England-style brews, the brewery is not trying to operate on a large-scale; it has 14 seats at the bar, four tap lines installed and operating hours only on the weekends. They did so intentionally — the smaller facility allows them to brew bigger batches for distribution without having to invest a significant amount of money in new equipment, brewmaster Phil Fortson said. “At 80 gallons of beer, we’re not super committed in terms of the cash situation, so we can play around and have fun with making a lot of different styles,” Phil Fortson said. “It’s not far-removed from homebrewing; it’s just with expensive equipment, business licenses, and the expense of putting in renovations.” It’s not the team’s first foray into brewing. Naturally fascinated with beer, Phil Fortson began homebrew-

ing in the 1990s as a hobby. He had no intentions of making anything of it until he began “waking up in the middle of the night thinking about it.” Homebrewing overtook him. Yarbrough, a childhood friend he grew up with in Elberton, asked Phil to teach him how to homebrew around three years ago. They drank beer, brewed beer and dreamed about beer. Phil and Yarbrough wondered if they could do it professionally. “We talked about it, but I never thought we’d do it, and it just sort of happened,” Yarbrough said. “We found ourselves buying equipment from China and realized ‘Well, shit. It’s real now.’” Scott Fortson, his younger brother and independent financial advisor, was looped into the mix when “we needed someone who was smart,” Phil Fortson said. After Yarbrough, who served as a general contractor for the project, went on a “mad hunt all over Athens” to find a space, Scott Fortson was recruited to handle the “shoestring budget” the team set for itself. He has nothing to do with the brewing operation. The team secured its location from a Craigslist ad in November 2017 and spent more time than they had hoped renovating the space and subcontracting plumbers, electricians and other repairmen to get the building up to code. All three men were maintaining full-time jobs while trying to get the brewery off the ground, and they were staunch in sticking to their tight budget — they wanted to take their time and complete the space without loans from banks or owing anyone money. After a soft opening in January, the team received a notice from the county stating that additional work

“I never thought we’d do it, and it just sort of happened.”

H E AT H YA R B R O U G H , G E N E R A L M A N A G E R

needed to be done to the space. A month later, the team received its occupancy permit in the mail on Feb. 7 and, amid Athens’ first snowfall of the season, officially opened its doors the next day. They had only one brew on tap — Normaltown’s second commercial beer, a 7.9 ABV hazy New England IPA called “Summon the Fog.” The team will organize a “grander grand opening” once the space is perfected and has the “best choice of beers on tap,” Phil Fortson said, but they’re just happy to be off the ground for now. Both Phil and Scott Fortson maintain full-time jobs in Lawrenceville, so with only Yarbrough in town, they envision the space to be a “weekend thing” for the foreseeable future. They plan to install four more tap lines by the end of this month, collaborate with local food vendors to sell bar snacks and will represent the brand at Atlanta’s Day of the Juice beer festival and the 25th annual Classic City Brewfest in April. “We just want to have some fun. None of us are young anymore,” Phil Fortson said. “We want this to be a successful business, but at the same time, we don’t want it to be stressful. If we make money, great, if we break even, great. None of us are going to die if this place went the other direction.”

A celebration of the hip-hop community

The compilation album features 12 tracks from 12 Athens-area hip-hop artists.

‘Classic City Wax: Vol. 1’ highlights prominent Athens musicians

COURTESY/ MONTU MILLER

Nina Bayani Contributor It’s taken a year to arrange, record and release, but “Classic City Wax: Vol. 1,” the first of many planned vinyl compilations to spotlight the Athens hip-hop community, will see the light of day on Feb. 22. Featuring 12 tracks from 12 prominent local artists in the hip-hop community, including Kxng Blanco, Lingua Franca, Motorhead 2X and Squallé, the album was produced and funded on a local level. The Athens Cultural Affairs Commission awarded one of its three 2019 Arts in Community grants to help fund the city’s first hip-hop vinyl compilation. Exactly 250 copies of the vinyl were pressed by Kindercore Vinyl and mixed and mastered by sound engineer Jesse Mangum from The Glow Recording Studio. The album’s artwork was created by local graphic designer Larry Choskey and features a hodgepodge of artists who lent tracks to the compilation. The album will come out on Feb. 22 with an album release show at Caledonia Lounge. The show will feature 15-minute sets from 11 artists featured on the album and a “grand finale cypher” with all performers. The featured artists will also receive their first copies of the final version of the album at the release show, according to a press release. Montu Miller, executive producer of the album and co-host of the release show, said collaboration with lo-

cal music businesses was tricky when it came to navigating multiple “moving parts.” He considers these partnerships an important catalyst to the growth of the hip-hop scene in Athens. Miller said focusing on the business aspect of the music scene is crucial to continuing this growth and making sure that the music is “getting in the right hands.” Miller said arranging the first vinyl compilation album of hip-hop artists in the city was a “quintessential Athens project” and hopes the album will showcase how serious the hip-hop community is. “It’s what I call a pot of gumbo,” Miller said. “It’s got all these different ingredients from all over Athens, and we’re putting it all together.” Jeffery Blakely, an artist featured on the album under the stage name Kxng Blanco, said promoting the Athens hip-hop scene has been done before, but doesn’t know if it’s been done on such a big scale. After solidifying his place as a rapper and earning the title of “King of the Youth” in the Athens hip-hop scene, being featured on the album made Blanco, 20, realize how much he has grown as a rapper along with the hip-hop scene. Miller said he has already started to plan for a “Classic City Wax: Vol. 2” and hopes the project will result in an annual compilation. Miller said he already has a good idea of artists he wants to feature in the second volume, especially since he was unable to feature all the artists he wanted to on the first.

Once he is able to solidify the list for the second volume, Miller hopes to preview that list by this summer. While he is excited to debut the work of all the artists featured, Miller said he was especially excited for Blanco’s music on the album, especially since he has been in the hip-hop scene since he was 16 years old. Blanco chose to include his single he released this past summer, titled “Woah!” featuring MackMallyMann on “Classic City Wax: Vol. 1.” The single was originally from his sophomore album “Skee Yee!” Blanco said he decided to include a song he had already released on “Classic City Wax: Vol. 1” because of the memorable audience reaction to the song during his shows. Blanco said he hopes the people who heard the song at his shows will get the same feeling when they hear the studio version of his single on the album. Miller also approached Davonta Appleby, better known by his stage name Motorhead 2x, to contribute a track to “Classic City Wax: Vol. 1.” Appleby produced a new track titled “On Ya Beat,” for the album. Miller was in the studio with Appleby during the making of “On Ya Beat” and after the song “came to him,” Appleby said the choice to include the track on the album was a “joint decision” between him and Miller. Other 2019 recipients who also received the grant included LatinxFest and the Athens Rising: Panel Series. This was the sixth year of the Athens Cultural Affairs Commission awarding the Arts in Community Grant.

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redandblack.com

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2020

A10 THE RED & BLACK

Weekend Preview

SO MUCH TO DO!

Check out our online calendar for hundreds of other listings — or post your own event redandblack.com/calendar

VOTE FOR PEDRO

DYNAMITE NIGHT Stars of ‘Napoleon Dynamite’ will hold discussion about the film for its 15th anniversary Kyra Posey Staff Writer The stars of the indie sleeper hit “Napoleon Dynamite,” known for its bizarre, deadpan comedic moments, will moderate a discussion about the film after a screening at The Classic Center on Thursday, Feb. 20. Jon Heder, who played Napoleon Dynamite, and Efren Ramirez, who played his best friend Pedro, are touring the country to celebrate the film’s 15th anniversary. Napoleon Dynamite follows the titular socially-awkward 16-year-old through his adventures in high school and features a quirky cast of characters, including his chatroom-obsessed older brother, a burnout former athlete and Pedro, who enters the running for class president. Originally shot on a shoestring budget of $400,000, the film became a commercial success after experiencing a limited initial release. The event will also feature a sold-out meet and greet with Heder and Ramirez from 5:30-6:30 p.m. No cell phone photos or selfies will be allowed, but there will be a professional photographer, with photos available for download. For those who missed their chance to attend the meet and greet, there will be a Q&A session with Heder and Ramirez after the screening, moderated by Shawn Butcher, an account manager from Eagle Rock Distributing. The Classic Center hosts a variety of different events, from musicals such as the Tony-award winning “Waitress” to a talk from David Sedaris. It’s not often the venue hosts moderated screenings. Kylie Hutson, director of marketing at The Classic Center, said in an email that this event is meant to bring a variety of audiences together. “One of our trusted agents brought this opportunity to our attention and we felt it was a wonderful chance to do something totally fun, exciting and different that has a wide demographic reach,” Hutson said an email. As an homage to the movie, tater tots will be available for purchase as well as popcorn and candy, Hutson said in an email. There will also be a full bar. In addition to refreshments, the planned preshow festivities will include a curated playlist and a specialty photo Feb. 20, 7 p.m. booth Hutson refers to as “Deb’s Photobooth” $23-87 to take stylized group photos with friends. Classic Center

IF YOU GO

UGA Miracle will present its 25-hour long dance marathon fundraiser on Feb. 22. F I L E / S T A F F

The Rook & Pawn will host free rounds of Harry Potter-themed trivia on Feb. 20. C A R O L I N E B A R N E S / S T A F F

Event Listings

COMPILED BY CONTRIBUTOR JANELLE WARD

Thursday, Feb. 20

Friday, Feb. 21

Saturday, Feb. 22

Sunday, Feb. 23

LEGALLY BLONDE

SHEHEHE

DANCE MARATHON

Film: The University of Georgia’s University Union will host a screening of Legally Blonde. Where: Tate Theatre When: 8-10 p.m. Price: Free

Live Music: 1970s punk-influenced trio Shehehe will perform with local openers. Where: 40 Watt Club When: 9 p.m.-midnight Price: $7-10