Volume 100 Issue 4

The Official Student

Post Roe for college students

Jennifer Crider A&L Editor

The Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022 putting the right to abortion in states’ hands allowing them the decision of the amount of access women should have to preven tative healthcare. While this ruling does not en tirely ban abortions, it does take away a wom an’s constitutional right to an abortion and access

to other preventive mea sures. Due to this deci sion, the rate of pregnan cies is expected to rise among college students.

“Roe v. Wade has been criticized as having noth ing to do with the consti tution and constituting a judicial usurpation of the democratic pro cess,” said Adam Lam parello, assistant profes sor of criminal justice.

Drew Oldham Contributing Writer

The red hot Bobcats (4-3-1, 3-0 PBC) ex tended their win streak to three games on Satur day, logging a 2-0 victory at home against Geor gia Southwestern (4-31, 1-2 PBC). This win propelled them to first place in the conference rankings, with nine to tal points and a flawless conference record. This 3-0 start to conference play signifies GC soc cer’s best start in con ference play since 2010.

NEWS |

of Georgia College

The stress of GC’s education cohort

Ridgley Fenters Contributing Writer

Students in the educa tion cohort are expected to teach in a classroom as well as attend classes every week. Every min ute of the day for stu

dents in the education cohort counts. Most stu dents start their morn ings at 5 am in order to drive 30 minutes to an hour to their school dis tricts. On the days they aren’t teaching, those

few hours are used for homework, classroom planning, and more to keep up with the busy schedule of the cohort.

Juniors and seniors within the cohort are required to teach two to

three times a week. For seniors, this schedule changes halfway through the semester, and they go from the expectations of teaching three times a week to five days a week.

See COHORT | Page 8

THE TRAGEDY OF PRINCESS DIANA OF WALES

Hannah Adams Asst. Opinion Editor

On a hot and bright Saturday afternoon at Bobcat Field, both teams were in an offen sive stalemate. Despite a total of nine shots on goal between the two squads in the first half, the score remained un changed from when the competition began.

The first half of play saw several fantastic plays from highly re garded junior goalkeeper Kate Richardson, includ ing a fantastic save with her feet in the 22nd min ute of the half. The Hur ricanes’ offense had an

GC’S FOOD AWARENESS

The Thunder Coalition helps bridge the gap for food accessibility for col lege students.

imposing presence in GC’s defensive third for the majority of the first half, but Richardson’s skillful goalkeeping and a composed defen sive lady Bobcat core ensured that the Hur ricanes came up empty handed even when in solid scoring position.

Late in the first half, the Bobcats alleviated the pressure placed on their defense and flipped the script. GC advanced the ball into their de fensive third repeatedly.

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SPORTS | PG. 7

GC VOLLEYBALL LOOS ES TO LANDER

The Bobcats fought hard against this strong Lander attack in the close first game of the series but fell short 3-1.

The death of the beloved Princess Di ana was a tragedy that struck the entire world. The brutality of her passing still haunts his tory even today as those who witnessed the an nouncement of the ac cident still have vivid memories of that awful broadcast. People con tinue to miss her and the immense effort she put into trying to make a difference in the monar chy. Diana was a light to so many, offering herself as a genuine and com passionate presence to the people, working to make an honest change.

Even before her pass ing, there were many unsettling details of Diana’s relationship with the other royals. From the rumors of

ARTS & LIFE | PG. 9

MORNING GRIND OPENS

the Queen’s disapproval to the blatant affair that Prince Charles engaged in with his now wife, Ca milla, history seems to make it clear that Diana went through extreme emotional turmoil as the princess. It seems that Princess Diana gave all of herself to fulfill a role that ultimately destroyed her. She loved her chil dren above all and pub licly displayed many ex amples of being a loving and attentive mother to her boys, despite her failing marriage. While there will never be a true way to know exactly what Diana was going through at the time, many films and on-screen adapta tions have given their best efforts to portray the hardships of her life.

A recent film called Spencer, tells the story of Princess Diana spending Christmas with the roy

A new coffee shop is coming to Milled geville: Morning Grind. Located just of campus, it will add more variety to Milledgeville’s dining scene.

als while staying at San dringham estate. It goes through her battles with bulimia and depression while she simultaneous ly feels the pressures of the royal family’s expec tations weighing down on her. The film also explores her tender re lationship with her sons as well as the tense and almost bizarre relation ship with her then-hus band, Prince Charles. Movie blogger, Mary Lou Driedger, expressed her feelings that the film por trayed Diana as a “tor tured soul” and showed her presenting worrying behaviors. This film de picted its story based on Diana’s statements in the famous audio tapes re leased in 1991, exposing her issues with the roy als and confessing to her mental health struggles.

OPINION & MISC. | PG. 10

ARE COLLEGE DIETS SUSTAINABLE?

The pressure and comparisons that arise in college are no joke. Oftentimes, it leads to a much more serious issue with body image.

Marissa Marcolina | Digital Media Editor

The hub is home to GC’s Women’s Center that provides support to college students going through unprecedented times.

See POST ROE | Page 4

Courtesy of Dani Mathis

A middle grades education cohort group picture

Second half scoring burst propels GC women’s soccer to a win against Georgia Southwestern extending the bobcats three game win streak

GC 2-0 soccer victory

The Governor’s Mansion, not a sorority

Emily Williams Contributing Writer

The Governor’s Man sion recently received a spike in interest as scaffolding encom passed the building and the construction noise echoed through front campus; speculation murmured throughout campus about what this meant for the mansion and the community.

“To quash the rumor mill and getting it from the direct source, we [the Governor’s Mansion] are a part of the department of Historic Museums here at Georgia College,” said Director of Histor ic Museums Matthew Davis. “This is not be ing turned into a soror ity or a fraternity house. This construction is all a part of maintenance.”

The mansion’s initia tive is to preserve, inter pret, and collect materi als and items and further information that tells the story about not only the Governors and their families but the enslaved persons that can be doc umented at the house during the time that the building was used as the executive man sion from 1839 to 1868.

“We use this as a lab oratory to talk about that period [The ante bellum, civil war, and

reconstruction era] to bring understandings and look at full inter pretations as we are very open about issues with enslavement, women’s history and also general politics during this his tory as well,” said Davis.

The building must undergo an exterior con servation every 10 to 12 years to maintain good building maintenance. In 2012 the Mansion under went the same work. The exterior conservation is a $600,000 project funded by the general assembly through the budget for maintenance on campus.

This particular project is a repair in paint job to all the exterior wood trim, which is original to the house which was built in 1839,” said Davis.

“We also have on the ex terior what is called stuc co, but over the years, rain and weather will washout the colors, so what we are doing here is also recoloring the stucco through a pro cess called a limewash which will apply all the colors back to the work.”

The project is set to be finished at the end of the calendar year and the scaffolding will come down in early January.

“This project ensures that for all staff, facul ty and students here on

campus that this educa tional laboratory is avail able to them,” said Davis. “This is all a part of our ongoing commitment to put in the effort to pre serve and protect this na tional historic landmark.”

Despite the construc tion, the Mansion is still open to visitors, and for students and staff, the tours are free. The Man sion is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 to 4:00. Sunday, they are open from 2:00 to 4:00, with all tours beginning on the hour.

“I do believe the con struction has maybe made some people shy away from coming in,” said English major Grace Jones. “I know just talking to friends and classmates

they are always shocked to hear it’s still open right now because the con struction looks so crazy.”

Once people visit the Mansion for the first time, they will find that it leaves them in awe and wanting to visit again.

“I think Georgia Col lege has gems both in the mansion and in An dalusia, and I think our efforts to preserve them are really worth praise,” said junior English ma jor Charlotte Axel. “I visited it last year for the first time because I was genuinely inter ested. I honestly must have gone more than three times after that.”

The mansion lies not only in the hearts of vis itors but of its employ

ees, too, as the home allows for people to learn and grow together.

“I never thought I would love working somewhere but the man sion is very special,” said Jones. “I love getting to talk to the people who come in. They’re always so curious about what my major is and what the governor mansion means to us. It’s very special and I could not imagine a more comfortable work environment. The man sion creates a space to learn history and develop connections as a student.”

Many students pass the Mansion, never ven turing in to learn more about the historical home.

“I would tell students to go to the mansion be

cause it’s a steppingstone in understanding the history of their college town, which is actually very interesting and in volved in larger scale na tional history,” said Axel.

“Visiting the mansion can also help students find out about ways to get involved at GC, be cause there are a lot of events there, hosted by the museum itself but also by Greek Life and The Honors College.”

The Governor’s Man sion belongs to the community, faculty, staff and students. The preservation of this im portant Milledgeville building ensures that all will have a place to gath er together to learn and grow with each other.

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Hannah Adams...............

Anjali Shenoy................

Marissa Marcolina......... Connor Patronis............. Robert Trotter................... William Burke..................

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Anjali Shenoy | Digital Media Editor

Officer involved shootings in GA is a rising problem

Lily Pruitt Asst. News Editor

Georgia was ranked number 3 out of US states for killings of law enforcement in 2021, which was tied with Florida for the number 2 ranking. On September 2nd, an officer in Bald win County was involved in a shooting, but thank fully he was not injured.

On September 8th, two officers died in the line of fire while serving a police warrant in Cobb County. Police officer-in volved shootings are be coming more frequent and more dangerous for law enforcement.

Thankfully, GC police have not been victims of any fatal interactions with armed suspects, but that is not true for Baldwin County Po lice or the GBI. Just this month, the GBI has been investigating 9 officer-in volved shootings. The local office for the GBI, as well as the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office, works closely with the school when events like an armed suspect are on campus, or a poten tial threat is induced.

Director of Public Safe ty for GC and Chief of Police, Brett Stanelle refers to all threats as the same. It could be anything from someone with a knife to someone with a firearm, but their

priority is to stop the threat so that the heal ing process can begin.

The numbers for of ficer-related shootings in GA have differed ev ery year, just as it has in Milledgeville. There is no rhyme or reason as to how, when, or how of

pect the number of law enforcement deaths to continue rising because of the risk incurred by of ficers responding to dan gerous calls,” said a GBI intern. “Some risks offi cers face on a regular ba sis is unavoidable. I think with emphasis being

such as the shooting at Columbine High School, Virginia Tech, University of Oakland, Sandy Hook Elementary School, Stoneman Douglas High School (known as San dy Hook) and so many more, have opened the eyes of law enforcement

see new constructions like the new science cen ter, you’re seeing more security technology go into those buildings. Doors are more auto mated but depending on the nature of the build ing that may dictate what type of technology goes

lation techniques. Time is not on any officer’s side. They have to go directly to any threat as fast as they can and as sess and stop the threat.

Many officers in law enforcement have fre quently been training for potential threats us ing web-based training, which serves the pur pose it is intended for, but when officers have to respond to a threat of violence, Chief Sta nelle would like to see more officers training their de-escalation skills through scenario-based training. Many officers must react in an instant when put in dangerous situations and putting them through real-life scenario-based train ings for these types of situations helps their levels of thinking and processing information faster, which in the long run would help them in a real-life situation.

ten they occur. However, there are many different perspectives to on the number of law enforce ment deaths and if they are to continue to rise in the future months.

“There is some truth to the ‘greatest predictor of future behavior is past behavior’ but it’s been my experience during my ca reer that those numbers fluctuate,” said Brett Sta nelle, GC Chief of Police.

“I do personally ex

placed on training for of ficers’ de-escalation tech niques and abilities that the number of shootings has the potential to de crease. Training will pro duce more competent of ficers and over time can help restore public faith in law enforcement.”

Protocol all over the country differs when it comes to law enforce ment being in dangerous situations with a person with a firearm. Situations

and what kind of mea sures they need to take to ensure the safety of students and themselves.

Some have initiated dif ferent protocols such as double entry doors to schools, automated locked doors with the push of a single button, student drills, and officer training. Many are work ing towards these proto cols as soon as possible.

“As buildings are be ing renovated or as we

GC’s rising in mental illness

Drew Oldham Contributing Writer

It has been conclud ed in recent studies and in the CDC and WHO that mental health dis orders are increasing in prevalence among col lege-aged students. The results concluded that over 60% of the col lege students sampled met the criteria for at least one mental illness in 2021, which is dou ble the amount it was in previous years. Howev er, a good finding was that the results clearly indicate that difficulties with mental health are pointing to a more latent

positive shift in social paradigms. It appears that college students are becoming more willing to discuss the issues that plague their minds with certified health profes sionals and receive much needed, and potential ly life-saving treatment.

“On a more positive note, I think the fact that students are becoming more willing to come in and seek profession al counseling has to do with mental health be coming less stigmatized than it used to be,” said GC counselor Pamela Jones. “People are more comfortable coming in and are willing to seek

help for the problems they are encountering.”

The month of Sep tember is National Sui cide Prevention month, which creates an esca lated sense of impor tance around the topic of mental health. It is only natural with the in crease of mental illness among students, that the month’s events in favor of prevention have become increasingly popular.

Despite the grow ing frequency of mental health disorders among college aged students, GC counseling services offer a diverse array of effective resources for students. These include

cognitive behavioral in tervention where talk therapy and medicinal treatment are both em ployed in an effort to treat students. Standard talk therapy is a therapy which utilizes traditional one on one counseling. Crisis services are also offered, which allows the university to handle students that pose a po tential danger to them selves or those around them. These resources allow students to flour ish both academically and emotionally and emerge from therapy improved in many fac ets of life in comparison to the day they started.

Many students seem to praise the resourc es available to them.

“I think the GC men tal health resources are very adequate, my ther apist and psychiatrist are easy to contact, and I think that having a diag nosis helped me under stand myself better,” said sophomore political sci ence major Kylie Rowe.

GC counseling ser vices are fully staffed with certified profession als including licensed

in there, even if you’re talking about access control,” Stanelle said.

The intern agreed that mandating training for officers to make them better equipped to han dle dangerous situations could help lower the frequency of shootings. Training law enforce ment could increase their knowledge of all situa tions, increase the depth of training they go into, and help with de-esca

“Training is a huge part of being more efficient and effec tive,” said Stanelle.

Overall, it is import ant to be prepared in any way possible for any potential situations that could end up being dangerous. GC police work alongside Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office and the Milledgeville of fice of GBI to ensure that all students are safe on and off campus, and are on our side at every cost.

counselors, a Doctor of Psychology, and a fulltime psychiatrist to en sure the university is capable of providing a wide variety of treatment options for students with diverse needs within the university. Pamela Jones encourages students to pick up a Mental Health Resource Handbook published by GC coun seling services. This handbook provides crit ical details and contact information for a variety of mental health resourc es provided on campus, locally, and even access information for several national crisis hotlines. This will give students access to all possible re sources to ensure they get treatment and care that is right for them.

“Students need to un derstand that a variety of communal and na tional resources exist be yond just what is offered by counseling services, there are\resources such as Rivers Edge and (if a situation is urgent) the ER at Atrium,” said Jones.

Although the services provided here at GC have clearly helped students,

Jones recognizes that not all people respond equal ly to the same method or style of treatment or counseling. She outlines a variety of options and providers students can seek help from to find a method of aid that is optimal for them.

“I was recently di agnosed with ADHD and have worked with a school therapist and the school’s psychiatrist on ways to improve my academic performance and day-to-day life,” said sophomore account ing major, Alyssa Bak er. “I have seen good results so far and have not had any negative ex periences to speak of.”

Many students have seen the many methods the GC counseling ser vices offer for mental health and have utilized the methods of interven tion provided by GC. The issue of mental health among college students is not going away, but it is important to know that apt resources are avail able free of charge to any GC student who is strug gling and in need of help.

Claire O’Neill | Art Director

POST ROE

Continued from page 1

“What the court did in Dobbs v. Jackson Wom ens health is it overturned the choice of abortion to the states. Now, the states will decide on an indi vidual basis. The court also decided that limita tions on abortion will be subject to a rational basis test. Meaning, is there a rational relationship be tween the objectives of the law, the means and uses to obtain these?”

Conservative states, including GA, are pass ing laws that make it more difficult for wom en to access abortions.

About two weeks ago, Sen. Lindsay Grahm, re publican SC senator, pro posed a law that would create a nationwide ban on abortion. This law would ban abortions af ter 15-weeks of pregnan cy with the exception of rape, incest or if the life of the mother is in dan ger, and doctors that perform abortions after 15-weeks will be charged and arrested. This plan would also allow states to create more restric tions on top of this ban.

Before the overturn ing of Roe v. Wade,

women in GA were al lowed to have abortions until they were 20-weeks pregnant. Although this law was previously found to be unconstitutional in 2019, in July of 2022, GA passed a new law that allows abortions until six-weeks of pregnan cy since the state deems a fetus with a heartbeat as a person with legal rights due to an embryo developing a detectable heartbeat at six-weeks.

“GA’s heartbeat law will probably stand and that’s gonna make it re ally difficult for women to get abortions,” Lam parello said. “The reason for this is that women do not know they are preg nant often four or five weeks into a pregnancy.”

In the cases of rape or incest, women in GA are allowed to have an abortion after six-weeks as long as this crime has been reported to po lice. The state law also permits an abortion lat er in the pregnancy if the pregnancy is risk ing the life of a mother.

GA law still allows women to purchase emergency contracep tives such as Plan B and women can still receive contraceptives

such as birth control pills or IUD’s. Howev er, these contraceptive methods are expen sive making them not as easily accessible for low-income women.

“My birth control pills are $15 a month without insurance,” said Dani Mathis, a senior early childhood edu cation major. “If I had insurance, it would be free or $1 at most. When I used to use the birth control shot, it was $120 every three months at Planned Parenthood.”

The rise in pregnancies among college students is likely to increase in the post Roe v. Wade Amer ica due to the fact that this age group typically sexually active. Because abortions are no longer as readily available, sex ually active students who do not want to experi ence pregnancy should consider using some form of birth control. The GC Student Health Services provides free condoms but does not offer students any type of emergency contracep tion or contraceptives.

“Women though have to bear the financial and emotional burden of pregnancy,” Lamparello

said. “Imagine a fresh man at GC gets pregnant, the guy can just walk away. She might have to drop out of college which may impact her financial condition for a number of years, if not permanent ly. In that regard, I think this relegates women to second class citizens.”

Some students are ter rified of what the future might hold for them be cause of this overturning.

“When I first heard the news, I felt existen tial dread,” said Greer Flint, senior manage ment information sys tems major. “It felt apoc alyptic. Almost like I was in the Handmaid’s Tale. I was really wor ried about having ac cess to my birth control. It made me feel hope less about the world.”

The Supreme Court’s ruling has generated a lot of conversations about reproductive rights on social media and a lot of users have been spread ing false information. This is dangerous and not only causes widespread panic but it can also put women in danger. People have been posting and spreading posts about methods to induce abor tions that are not medi

cally approved. Although many of these users are spreading this infor mation with the goal of helping women, these methods could potential ly cause injuries or death.

According to an arti cle written by CNN, Dr. Jody Steinauer, director of the UCSF Bixby Cen ter for Global Reproduc tive Health, commented on the dangers of spread ing misinformation.

“I feel like nowadays, we are lucky that we do have very safe medica tion abortion options for people, and I’m worried that if people are circu lating misinformation, then people will not know that there are ways that they can access safe methods,” Steinauer said.

There is no legal ac tion that can be tak en against people who spread dangerous misin formation due to social media companies hav ing sole control of their application because they are private corporations.

“The social media companies can regulate misinformation because they are private compa nies therefore, the first amendment does not apply to social media,” Lamparello said. “The

only way to combat mis information is through the policies that each social media adopts.”

TikTok has pledged to remove videos about abortion that violate their misinformation policy. Similarly, Facebook has said that they posts about abortion will be re viewed by fact-checkers.

Rather than spread information about abor tion on social media, people should use their platforms to encourage people to participate in the democratic process.

It is imperative that peo ple in GA vote because the only way to ensure citizens’ ideas are rep resented by the govern ment is for everyone to participate in elections.

“I think that the peo ple of Georgia should vote out these legislators who support this, and they should support a law that gives women reason able access to abortion so that marginialized communities and wom en in poverty don’t suf fer,” Lamparello said. “If you’re interested in pro tecting abortion rights, you would probably want to vote for Raphael War nock or Stacey Abrams.”

Claire O’Neill | Art Director

Thunder Coalition helping food accessibility at GC

Cara Radosevich Staff Writer

According to a study done in 2018 by the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, 37 per cent of college students in GA deal with food insecurity, identified in research by the Hope Center for College, Community and Justice at Temple University.

A third of college stu dents in GA struggle to afford food due to other significantly large ex penses, such as rent and bills. The study reported students having to eat smaller meal portions to make ends meet or sim ply not eating the meal.

In surveys conduct ed by the Universi ty of PA, they found that “more than half of Georgia students faced food or housing inse curity in the past year.”

Lori Hamilton, chief sustainability officer at GC, said that the Thun der Coalition united Campus Kitchen and Swipe Out Hunger so that the organizations could share their re sources and improve the lives of students.

“Campuses are not immune to food insecu rity and having organiza tions like these provide

additional resources to students is very import ant,” Hamilton said.

Jenesis Harris, student representative of the Thunder Coalition and a junior mass commu nications major, shared that the organization is relatively new. Harris said that when the two organizations began to collaborate in the fall of last year when the co alition became official.

“It’s important for col lege campuses to have access to these types of resources because col leges make up a vari ety of students coming from all walks of life,”

said Harris. “It’s crucial that no student feels illequipped or unprepared to succeed in college be cause they lack the funds to pay for necessities like food and toiletries.”

Hamilton shared that Campus Corner has necessities such as clothing, personal hy giene, cleaning sup plies, non-perishable foods and other items that students donate. It operates on a ‘firstcome, first-served’ basis.

According to Harris, students most often use toiletries and non-per ishable food items com pared to the other goods

that they offer to students.

“Those items are usu ally the fastest to go in our campus closet so we al ways try to keep the clos et stocked and replen ishable with those types of items,” Harris said.

Hamilton said Cam pus Corner is sustained by a grant from Swipe Out Hunger, which is in San ford Hall beside the mail room. Swipe Out Hunger will be stationed there through 2022 but will eventually be relocated by the Office of Sustain ability, coordinating this move with Campus Life and Facilities Planning.

Harris shared that

the Thunder Coalition’s headquarters will be moved towards the end of this semester. The new area will serve as a loca tion for students to leave donations, take sup plies and provide room for volunteers, who will be welcomed soon into the organization.

Harris emphasized the importance of vol unteers in the growth of the Thunder Coali tion, including Cameron Skinner, the organizer of Campus Kitchen, and Kendyl Lewis, organiz er of Swipe Out Hunger, two GC graduates who have worked tireless

ly to support their re spective organizations.

Hamilton included that the support that the Thunder Coalition provides will help stu dents to focus more on earning their degree than being concerned about where their next

meal will come from.

The Office of Sustain ability receives student donations on behalf of Campus Corner every year and the depart ment can be contact ed at sustaingc@gcsu. edu to make non-mon etary donations.

Anjali Shenoy | Digital

Editor

The Thunder Coalition setup in Sanford Hall.

Anjali Shenoy | Digital Media Editor

Non-perishable items donated to the Thunder Coalition.

SOCCER

Continued from page 1

With ten minutes remaining in the half, sophomore midfielder Morgan Amrozowicz laid a great shot on goal, only for it to narrowly miss on the right side.

The first half conclud ed still tied 0-0, an out come made certain by a save from Richardson coming with four min utes remaining in the half.

The Bobcat offense emerged from the break much more aggressive towards the Hurricane defense. In the 50th min ute, a Bobcat goal was

called off as the result of a questionable offside call from the official. Thus keeping the contest 0-0.

The aggressive Bob cat offense produced yet another look for Morgan Amrozowicz who took a lovely shot on goal that was defended success fully by the Hurricane goalkeeper. The surge responded to the Bob cat offensive aggression with fire of their own.

The Hurricanes estab lished a presence in the GC defensive third that produced a clean shot on goal that was successfully defended by Richardson.

The 71st minute saw

the first score of the competition, pushing the Bobcats ahead in a match that was even up to this point. Although statisti cally unassisted, a wellplaced cross pass from sophomore forward Ara lyn Everett gave forward Sarah Mason the ball in scoring position, where she shook the Hurricane defenders and scored.

“We worked on a lot of passing and finish ing crosses in the air at practice this week which helped us,” Mason said.

The Bobcats used the momentum gained from this score in their defensive effort, thwart

ing all Hurricane attacks from that point on with the Hurricanes only re cording one more shot on goal in the contest.

In the 83rd minute the dagger was delivered by the Bobcats to the Hur ricanes, coming in the form of a goal from Mor gan Amrozowicz that was assisted by Sarah Mason, this goal wrapped up the 2-0 conference victory.

“Although it certain ly was not our best day at the office, good teams find a way to win when they don’t play well,” said GC head coach Jack Marchant. A bit of grit and determination and a

little bit of quality made the difference in this one.”

With a goose egg on the Hurricane score sheet, goalkeeper Kate Richardson recorded her third shut out on the sea son. These three shutouts have propelled Richard son past Michelle Parr for the most shutouts in program history with 11. In addition, she recorded an impressive six saves.

“Coming in as a fresh man goalkeeper I knew I had high expectations to reach,” Richardson said. “Reaching even tenth in the record books for any record is a great achieve ment and I am beyond

Conclusion of week four in college football

Hayden Flinn Sports Editor

The top four teams in college football re main the same after the conclusion of week four.

The Georgia Bulldogs still hold the number one spot, the Alabama Crimson Tide sit in second, the Ohio State Buckeyes are in third and the Michigan Wol verines remain in fourth.

A couple of the top four teams struggled in week four. UGA played Kent State in a game that was a lot closer than many expected. UGA came out with the win 39-22 but looked human for the first time this season after decimating their last three oppo nents. Three early turn overs by UGA in the first half allowed Kent State to keep the game closer than it should have been.

For the Bulldogs, they did not play horribly, they just did not play to their standard. The of fense accumulated over 500 yards of offense, and they did not have to punt one time. It wasn’t the best day for Geor gia, but in the end they

stuck with it and pulled out the win, beating Kent State by 17 points.

The Alabama Crim son Tide took care of business against Vander bilt, where they domi nated the Commodores 55-3. There was no sign of weakness from the Tide in this game.

The Ohio State Buck eyes had an interesting matchup against the Wis consin Badgers on Satur day night. This was an ticipated to be somewhat of a test for the Buckeyes as they hosted one of their first real conference matchups. The Badgers stood no chance from the beginning as Ohio State routed Wisconsin 52-21. The Buckeyes are making their case known as one of the top three teams in the country and are trying their best to slide up a spot to num ber two in the rankings.

Fourth ranked Michi gan, like Georgia, strug gled with their matchup against Maryland more than expected. The Wol verines narrowly escaped the Terrapins 34-27. Most of this victory can be credited to Wolver ine running back Blake

Corum as he rushed for over 200 yards and two touchdowns. The Wolverines trailed in the second quarter but fought their way back to a two-score lead before Maryland’s final drive to cut the lead to seven.

Perhaps the most outrageous upset of the weekend was Kansas State knocking off sixthranked Oklahoma 4134. The Sooners are in their first year with Lin coln Riley as their head coach. Former Clemson DC Brett Venables has now stepped into that role. The Sooners lost a lot of players due to the departure of their head coach and this loss takes the program a step backwards. Every first-year head coach always has that one loss that they shouldn’t have lost and for the Sooners it was Kansas State, an opponent they have been dominating for the last few years.

As teams get into the midst of conference play, tensions begin to rise for every team as these next couple of weeks will determine who’s season will still be alive.

happy and grateful to have reached third in most of the goalkeep ing records. I wanted to come in as a freshman and make a positive im pact on the GC wom en’s soccer program.

The Bobcats came up short in their most recent match against ri val Flagler. GC lost 3-0 this past weekend and they currently sit in sec ond place in the PBC.

The Bobcats grit and determination that al lowed them to prevail against the Hurricanes will surely play a piv otal role throughout the rest of this season.

Courtesy of GC Athletics

Sophomore midfielder Morgan Amrozowicz fights for the ball with GA Southwestern defender on Saturday Sep. 17

GC volleyball comes up short versus Lander 3-1

Emily Henderson Contributing Writer

GC volleyball host ed Lander University in a two-game series this Thursday and Friday. The Bobcats fought hard against this strong Land er attack in the close first game of the series.

Set one was filled with many highs and lows from both teams. GC started the set on the right foot leading 4-0 before it became a neck and neck set. Lander’s ability to tally more kills than GC helped them secure the first set 25-21.

The second set mir rored the first with the Bearcats leading the set 4-0. GC slowly came back from this start. The turning point for the Bobcats came after an intense rally ending with a kill from graduate transfer Rachel Macho vec tying the game 17-17. The Bobcats were able to keep up this momentum and win the set 25-23.

The Bobcats start ed set three strong with senior Emily Long re cording two aces. After being up 5-1, Lander

recorded three kills and the Bobcats had three errors allowing Land er to gain the lead. GC continued to fight, but was never able to regain the lead, losing 25-21.

GC had a slow start going into set 4 being down 10-1. After mul tiple errors from the Bearcats, GC was able to recover. During this close set, freshman Riese Johnson recorded a kill to tie the Bearcats 20-20. Unfortunately, the Bobcats were nev er able to gain the lead in set four, and Land er finished the match with a score of 25-21.

Although the Bobcats fell short in this game, both the attack and de fense played a great first game against Lander.

“I think we played really well today. When you lose a game some times you don’t play well but I thought we played really well today,” Ma chovec said. “We stuck together, we had great passes, great swings. We played together.”

GC totaled 36 kills, 92 digs, and 12 blocks.

Sophomore Brooke Rob erts recorded the most kills of the game with eight and Rachel Macho vec had three aces. Ala nis Bernis received the most digs with 27. Four other Bobcats reached double digits in digs as well, Machovec 16, Emi ly Long 14, Ally Hall 13, and Riese Johnson 10.

Although GC played a good first game ver sus Lander, there are various areas in which they can improve upon before game two.

“I think more ener

gy. When we are getting blocked, sometimes an easy ball back we can use that as a free ball to make it easier on our selves,” said junior Cal lie Miller. “The energy overall also. I think ev eryone was getting a lit tle tired by the end. You can tell it was showing on everyone’s faces and they could tell it too.”

Lander’s freshman outside hitter Katie Mill er has been the reign ing PBC Player of the Week for volleyball since the first week of Sep

tember, but their mid dle hitter, Maya Walk er, seemed to be the most detrimental to the Bobcats in game one.

“Their middles went off. We need to contain them a little bit better,” said head coach Gretch en Krumdieck. “We did a good job on their out sides, but the middles is where we need to focus a little bit more on that.”

GC’s attitude towards game one shows how they are already pre paring for game two versus the Bearcats.

GC XC moves up a spot in the rankings

Autumn Arnette Staff Writer

The Bobcat cross country team started this season with high hon ors, as they were put at number 10 in the presea son rankings. After an impressive performance at the Jaguar Cross Country Invitational, the team moved up to ninth place in the south east region rankings.

The Bobcats placed second in the Jaguar Cross Country In

vitational. The team averaged a time of 28:45 during the 8k.

Many Bobcats ranked during the race. Soph omore Philip Bulatao led the Bobcats with a time of 27:14, putting him at second place in the meet. Freshman Ca leb Carter placed sixth, running a time of 28:13 in his first collegiate run.

Freshman Jack Sisk and sophomore Caid en Curtis finished at 14th and 15th. Four

other bobcats also placed in the race.

The Bobcats are now in third place among the Peach Belt Con ference. This rank ing puts the team behind Augusta Univer sity and Flagler College.

The cross country team has done excep tionally well this season. They have put in hours of training and condition ing in their own personal time, but also put in lots of work as a team to get

to where they are now.

Sophomore Brendan Rice put in lots of indi vidual work to get bet ter over the off-season.

“I usually focus more on my mileage and building up my en durance to where I feel ready for the start of the season,” Rice said.

Off-season training is important to each member of the team. There is always room for further improve ment on their running, agility, and endurance during the off-season.

However, each play er has their own tech nique. Head coach John Green stresses the importance of this as well as being adamant that practicing on your own time is significant.

The runners are very grateful for the

coaching they receive from their head coach. They attribute a lot of their successes to him and his guidance.

“My coach, John Green, he is a great coach and he cares about his athletes,” said soph omore Tucker Balch.

Coach Green uses various training tech niques in order to make sure his runners are ex ceeding expectations. He also signifies the importance of being a student athlete and how his runners should be performing at practice and in the classroom.

All teammates are preparing to compete to their full potential. With two invitationals already under their belt, they are hoping to improve even further in the Queens University Invitational.

“We can complete ly readjust our mind set like yes we are upset about the loss, but it is a good thing that we play them tomorrow so we can take that anger, take that frustration and just take it to them tomor row,” Machovec said.

The GC volleyball team has another im portant two-game con ference series at home Friday, Sep. 30 at 6:00 PM and Oct. 1 and 3:00 PM where they look to improve their 4-2 conference record.

“I feel very confident about my next race be cause I’ve felt more like myself in races than I have in the past,” Rice said.

Major improvements by individuals and the team have been made this season to be as suc cessful as it has been.

Coach Green encour ages his runners to want to grow in their abil ity and confidence to meet their full potential.

“I am excited for our next invitational.” Bu latao said. “I am defi nitely feeling ready to see what I can do in the race.”

The cross country team will be back in ac tion this Friday, Sept. 23 at Queens Universi ty in Charlotte, North Carolina. They look to continue to run well and to keep climb ing up in the rankings.

Courtesy of GC Athletics

(Left to right) Alanis Bernis, Ally Hall, and Rachel Machovec prepare to receive a serve from Lander on Thursday Sep. 22.

Courtesy of GC Athletics

Cohort

Continued from page 1

The high expectations on these students can become a stressful envi ronment to be in. Mack enzie Murad, a junior majoring in special edu cation, has learned how to manage her stress.

“It’s definitely stress ful, but I think the thing that has helped me the most is basically having my planner attached to my hip, so I know what I have to do and when,” Murad said. “ I always try my best to start working on things when we get them and do them lit tle by little until they’re due, so I don’t feel like I have an overwhelm ing amount of work to do. Another thing that I do that really helps keep me to be stress-free, or as stress-free as possible, is to dedicate one day a weekend to doing abso lutely nothing,” Mack enize Murad, junior special education major.

Keeping a planner and a detailed sched ule is a tool that many students within the co

hort utilize within the teaching cohorts. It helps them to stay on task and take some of those daily stressors away from student teaching.

However, having a busy schedule can lead to difficulty in maintaining a social life. The amount

and-a-half drive home,” said Cate Talbot, senior early childhood educa tion major. “So I have to be cautious with how I plan out my free time since I have to sched ule everything out for work and for leisure. In a way, it makes me sad.

stress from a long day. Sometimes those peo ple could be family and friends, and not always having the time to see them can be difficult.

“One of the biggest pieces of advice given to us by previous seniors was to make sure your

most is keeping up with my routine of teaching Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and doing home work from every day from 4 am to like 10 pm. I allowed myself an hour or more break in order to hang out with friends, catch up and get dinner.”

line system called TAO: Therapy assistance on line. This self-help re source helps students that are feeling stressed or homesick, and it can be done from home.

It provides interac tive modules, practice tools and daily logs to keep up with the per son’s well-being, as well as a mindfulness library.

This is something a per son can do at their own pace and time in or der to fit into one’s busy schedule on campus.

This is something a person can do that doesn’t have to be completed all at once but can be spaced out to fit the busy schedules on campus.

of work can make it hard for students to keep up with family and friends.

“ I spend most of my weekends catching my self up with various as signments and projects, and with that, it makes it quite difficult to plan or schedule a two-hour-

I’d love to go home more often than I’m given the time to, and I’m assum ing that the feeling is the same across many folks in the cohort.”

Keeping strong con nections with people is an important way to be able to stay sand and de

A check in with freshmen

Kate Verity Contributing Writer

It has been over a month since GC’s class of 2026 moved into Milledgeville. The new freshmen were easily identifiable for the first few weeks. They were the students getting lost in Herty Hall, trying to fig ure out the Max hours, and walking around looking generally con fused. But with Septem ber coming to an end, the freshman have worked hard to integrate them selves into college life.

One of the biggest hurdles many freshmen have to overcome is making new friends. For an incoming freshman knowing no one, trying to make the strangers in your dorm become your new best friends seems impossible. One way many students meet their friends is by joining campus organizations. These include Greek life, sports teams, religious groups and other clubs.

Savannah Evans, freshman nursing ma jor, lives at West Cam pus. She went through the rush process this fall.

“I’m in Kappa Delta, so that’s been really good,” Evans said. “I’ve made a lot of friends through that. All the girls on my floor were in the same Pi Chi group so we’re all really good friends and we hang out a lot.”

Abigail Hardt, fresh man accounting ma jor, joined a club sport team to make friends.

“I’m involved in rug by, which is crazy be cause I never thought I would do something like that,” Hardt said. “But then I was like ‘Yup, I’m going to do that’ and the friends I’ve made through it are really cool.”

Another big part of freshman year is dorm life. Learning to live in a small space with an other person is always a challenge, and one of the best ways to off set any discomfort is by decorating together.

Kaylin O’Riordan, freshman special edu cation major, lives in Adams Hall. She deco rated with her suitem ates to make their living space ideal for everyone to spend time together.

“Me and my room

mate, we lofted our beds,” O’Riordan said. “Under my bed is a big TV and then under hers is a futon, so that’s like our hangout room. Our suitemates go in there, and we all hang out.”

Evans and her room mates took time to dec orate their apartment at West Campus as well.

“I literally brought so much stuff,” Evans said. “I was so embarrassed on move-in day. All of my roommates, we knew each other coming in, and so we have a lot of cute pictures of us to gether and stuff like that.”

Hardt, who also lives in Adams Hall, decorat ed her dorm room with photos to remember all of her friends as well.

“One of my walls is like completely covered in a hundred pictures that I just found on the Internet, or I had of me and my friends,” Hardt said. “And then me and my roommate have matching comforters and I’ve got this amaz ing mix of a beanbag and a mattress, and I love it. It’s called Crash, and it’s one of my favor

relationships are one of your biggest priorities as well as the cohort be cause this cohort can get so stressful and it can take a lot of energy out of you,” said Kaylee Gais ford, senior early child hood education major. “What has helped me the

There are resources on campus that can help students that are feel ing overwhelmed with school. GC provides resources for students to help manage their stress and mental health.

The Counseling Center has a new on

The counseling cen ter also does sessions and workshops for stu dents, and the goal of this is to show stu dents different ways to manage their stress.

The student teach ers in the cohort do a lot throughout their day-to-day life, so it is important that the GC community supports them through this stress.

ite things in the world.”

Overall, the fresh men seem happy with their college experience so far. Changing from a high school class sched ule to a college load is always an adjustment.

“It’s definitely a lot of work but thankfully I don’t have like any 8 am or 9 am classes which is nice,” O’Riordan said.

Evans has a heavy class load, so she’s had to work harder to maintain her grades.

“I’m in anatomy, and I have psychology and statistics and stuff like that this year, so it’s been pretty hard learn ing how to balance ev

erything,” Evans said.

Starting out fresh man year in anatomy is impressive. Some stu dents consider it one of the more difficult class es taught on campus because of the intense memorization required and the frequent quiz zes. Evans also appre ciates the smaller class sizes here at GC so that she can get to know her professors better.

“I like how there’s not a lot of students in all the classrooms,” Evans said. “You know your professors and every thing. Milledgeville is like really big compared to where I came from.”

Kate Verity | Contributing Writer

However, this isn’t the case for all students. Hardt came from a larg er high school where the transition to GC was not radically different to her.

“My high school had like over 3,000 kids and there’s 5,000 here so it kind of just feels like the same number of people,” Hardt said. “But in oth er ways, it feels different because I didn’t have to move between buildings in high school and I have a lot more work now.”

The majority of fresh men seem to be transi tioning into college life just as smoothly as the classes of ’23, ’24, and ’25 did before them.

Courtesy of Dani Mathis

Dani Mathis teaching a kindergarten class

Summer blockbuster bounce back

Cale Strickland Staff Writer

Prior to the pandem ic, summer was a bless ing for the domestic box office, as closed schools and blistering tempera tures were enough to bring audiences into the air-conditioned auditori ums of the nation’s cine plexes. Summer 2022’s breakout hit, “Top Gun: Maverick”, might be just what local theaters, in cluding Milledgeville’s own AMC, need in a post-pandemic, stream ing-dominated world.

Although the domes tic box office is no longer in dire straits, it is also not back to pre-pan demic levels. Accord ing to CNBC, this past summer’s releases pulled in $3.34 billion, down 21% from 2019’s totals.

However, the season’s box office bounce back is promising, as far few er films released in the aters than in summers past. Only 22 Hollywood projects received theat rical releases, a modest number compared to summer 2019’s 42 films.

Even before the pan demic, streaming ser vices posed a major threat to theater chains. Now, in the aftermath of monthslong lockdowns, stream ing is the new normal.

Dr. John Swinton, an economics professor at GC, believes the pandem ic changed the general public’s movie-watch ing habits and solidified streaming as a corner stone of entertainment.

“With the pandem ic, people were forced to make the best of what they had avail able,” Swinton said. “For many, this meant adopt ing newer home enter tainment technology and shifting their view ing habits to the home.”

In recent months, moviegoers returned to theaters, but box office success stories are still few and far between. Fewer films are crossed $100 million at the do mestic box office than before the pandemic, but “Top Gun: Maver ick” and other big hits closed in on — and, in some cases, passed — pre-pandemic records.

Swinton believes ris ing ticket costs are a large reason for theaters’ concentrated attendance.

“Those who are will ing to pay the higher prices will still relish a night out that includes a movie,” Swinton said.

crease in prices will push them out of the market.”

For GC students and staff, a night out at the movies is still afford able, as ticket prices at the AMC Classic Milled geville 6 are relative ly inexpensive: $6 for

a shift in their tastes.

“The movie tastes have changed over time,” Queen said. “Now, it’s scary movies. Obviously, that’s going to be a big one. It’s a lot of comic book movies — Marvel, DC — and a lot of feel-

in town, probably two to three times,” McGill said.

After seeing the box office begin to recov er from its pandemic struggles, Queen is op timistic about the finan cial future of Milled

“But, for some segments of the population, such as those who used the movie theater as an in expensive date, a nice, air-conditioned place to spend a Saturday af ternoon or as a place to watch classic movies on the big screen at not too expensive a price, the in

Morning Grind opens

Annie Roper Staff Writer

Morning Grind, con veniently located on the corner of North Co lumbia and West Mont gomery, began reno vations in August. The shop is tentatively set to open on October 13th.

With chilly Milled geville mornings creep ing around the corner, a warm drink is on every student’s mind. Their menu will feature drip coffees, cold brew, an espresso bar, smoothies, pastries and breakfast

sandwiches as well as a limited lunch menu.

Due to the small size of the building, the shop will provide indoor and outdoor seating. The window that once served as a drive-thru will be utilized as a walk-up window which will pro vide an even easier way for students to stop by on their way to class.

For years, Blackbird Coffee, located down town, has been a favor ite among students for a coffee-break or those looking for a cozy spot to

study. We asked students how they felt about a new coffee shop coexist ing alongside Blackbird.

“I feel like in Black bird you’re supposed to sit down and study for a little bit;,” said Court ney Owen, junior mass communications major.

“I think Morning Grind is going to be a way for us to just grab drinks on the way to class.”

Though the buzz surrounding the shop comes from all over cam pus, the students living nearest Morning Grind

matinee screenings, $9 for evening screenings.

Bekk Queen, an AMC Classic Milled geville 6 employee, has been working at Milled geville’s local theater for several years. Although he has not noticed a drop-off in GC students’ turnout, he has noticed

good movies, like ‘Where the Crawdads Sing’.”

Ryan McGill, a freshman political sci ence major, identified Milledgeville’s AMC as his theater of choice.

“I go to the movies probably five times a year, and I typically go to this movie theater here,

geville’s local theater.

“Fall is typically our busiest time of the year — with summer being second — and for fall, we are expecting quite a big turnout with all of the movies we have coming up,” Queen said.

seem to be exception ally excited. The shop falls directly along the path to class for those living in Campus Edge and Boulevard; there fore making it almost too easy to grab a pastry or latte before a 9:00 AM.

“I drink coffee every day,” said Kayla Taitz, junior psychology ma jor. “I’m so excited for it. Next year, when I’m living in Boulevard and walking past it, I’ll definitely be getting it.”

Morning Grind will operate where Old Tyme

Delicious Hotdogs once stood. The restaurant was one of few late-night food options, and its closing came as a shock to many. However, to reach it re quired a twenty-minute walk from downtown, and some feel as though a coffee shop may be a more practical business to occupy the building.

“I think the loss of Old Tyme was sad, be cause it was a great latenight food, but at the same time the conve nience of that was not so close to downtown,” Taitz said. “I think coffee could be a better option, if executed properly.”

Brigette and Jar ed Smith, the owners of Morning Grind, are GMC and GC alumni’s. The shop fulfills their dream of opening a small business in a town close to their hearts.

“We’re from the area, and we know a lot of family and friends around there,” Bridgette Smith said. “It just kind

of fell into our laps, and we’re hoping that we’ll make it a successful statement in the city.”

The Smiths hope to im plement extended hours during finals season, and possibly to add a mobile order and delivery sys tem for students work ing hard at the library.

“We’re really going to try and make every ex perience a good one, and always have a smile on our faces,” Jared Smith said. “And I think the taste of our drinks is going to be top class.”

When asked what their message would be to those anticipat ing the grand open ing, the Smiths ex pressed excitement for their new chapter.

“We just want to get our name out there, hope fully do great with the community, get to know everybody, and see how it goes,” Bridgette said.

They plan to finish renovations and be gin hiring this week.

Marissa Marcolina | Digital Media Editor

Whether or not this summer’s blockbusters saved local theaters in the age of streaming remains to be seen.

Marissa Marcolina

DIANA

“The only bright spot in Diana’s life is her sons and the film does portray her as a caring and con cerned parent, although one wonders if her sons weren’t troubled by their mother’s erratic behav ior,” Driedger said. “The boys do express worry about her unhappiness in the film. I hope they don’t watch this movie about their mother.”It is curious the aspects of Diana’s life that caused her so much unhappi ness and depression af ter becoming the Prin cess of Wales. I think the true villain of this story is none other than her cheating husband, the now King Charles. In the article “This is What Really Happened Between Prince Charles and Princess Diana” writer Hana Hong ex plains some of the details of the king’s well-known affair with Camilla and the ultimate divorce of the royal couple.

“It wasn’t until 1994 that Prince Charles ad mitted to his adultery with Camilla for the first time,” Hong said. “Prin cess Diana famously stated, ‘There were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowd ed.’ The two royals filed for divorce in 1996. Di ana died a year later.”

The article also pro vided some insight

into Diana’s struggles with bulimia as well as some of the caus es for her struggle.

“According to Diana, the stress induced by their failing marriage is what instigated her eat ing disorder, which she

and satisfy his unfair expectations. To me, it seems Charles was cruel to his wife by instilling insecurities and pain in her. I would venture that he most likely deflected his adulterous behaviors as well with excuses and

As said before, there is no way to know to intimate details of the unraveling of Diana and Charles’s marriage. It is hard to pass judg ment on those we do not know. But there is proof enough in her statements

an article called Princess Diana’s Most Riveting and Revealing Quotes in Diana: In Her Own Words, by Elise Taylor, that displays some of the most heart-wrenching citations from Diana. The quotes within this article

ate, and I was crying my eyes out. And he said, ‘I’m not going to listen, you are always doing this to me, I’m going riding now.’ So, I threw myself down the stairs. Bearing in my mind I was carrying a child.”

At another time, she admitted to confronting Camilla about the affair.

“I said, ‘Camilla, I’d just like you to know that I know exactly what’s go ing on.’ And she said, ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’ And I said, ‘I know what’s go ing on between you and Charles, and I just want you to know that . . .. Don’t treat me like an idiot.’”

said began after they got engaged,” Hong said. “According to the book, Diana reports, ‘My hus band put his hand on my waistline and said: ‘Oh, a bit chubby here, aren’t we?’ and that triggered off something in me.’”

The cutting words of her husband left deep wounds in the princess and triggered her to take drastic measures to try

Freshman 15

Abigayle Allen Opinion Editor

~TRIGGER WARN

ING: BODY IM AGE AND EAT ING DISORDERS~

Growing up in a social media fueled generation allows many young peo ple to be riddled with comparison at every turn. This is especially true when speaking of college students, whose lives are so affected by the pressures from soci ety being driven home by the constant appear ance of social media.

For most, the tran sition into college can prove to be very challeng ing and a complete 180 from their lives in high school. On top of a new gained independence, students must learn how to regulate their new lifestyles, find time for school, health and social lives. Sadly, society plac es an unrealistic goal of staying the same size as you were in high school on these students. This goal of looking the same, should never trump the new life experiences, opportunities, respon sibilities and academ ic agenda that already plagues college students.

Freshman 15 is a ter minology that many stu dents hear before even enrolling or choosing their desired universi ties. As for me, I knew

it to be frowned upon as something that many of my family members went through. Unfortunately, in many senior letters I received, instead of giv ing me life advice on how to survive college, I was given a health manu al on how to stay skinny. This normalized rhetoric of looking different or gaining the freshman 15 can take a toll on men tal health, possibly lead ing to eating disorders and/or an unhealthy relationship with food.

Instead of learning to understand that a growing body endures

blame on his wife. All because Diana was not Camilla. Charles put Di ana through the public humiliation of an un abashed admittance of his love for Camilla and still did not have the de cency to be kind to her behind the scenes. It is a shame that a man like this even has the oppor tunity to reign as king of the United Kingdom.

and the media coverage to draw some general conclusions about the pain Princess Diana en dured while living with in the monarchy. In Di ana’s famous audio tapes, she admits to her issues while also shedding light on her marriage. She even went so far as to describe her thoughts of committing suicide. Vogue magazine released

were portrayed in the Na tional Geographic doc umentary Diana: In Her Own Words. Perhaps the darkest confession from Diana known to date is when she confessed to having harmed herself during her pregnancy with Prince William.

“I threw myself down the stairs. Charles said I was crying wolf, and I said I just felt so desper

To me, the most chill ing thing Diana ever said on record is when she described herself as, “a lamb to the slaughter.” The most heartbreaking part to me is that she was such a shattered soul but still tried to be a mor al leader and represent goodness to the people. She did copious amounts of volunteer work such as working with HIV and AIDS support and acting as the patron or president of over 100 charities. Despite living in so much misery, she gave her entire heart to those less fortunate than herself. The day the Prin cess of Wales was taken from the world a beau tiful light was lost and a role left empty seeming impossible to fill again.

of those individuals de velop disordered eating.

Social media promo tion of diet pills, detox teas, juice cleanses and unhealthy digestion gummies have become the rage on many apps like TikTok. These ac counts have accrued a following of many stu dents looking to live this “perfect” lifestyle that has been sold to them so well. Instead of see ing through photoshop, warped angles and un achievable standards, many students see them selves as “wrong” for not accomplishing their

normal changes in size with age, students learn how to look their best, neglecting feeling their best. The social media presence offers harmful advertising of diets and weight loss plans rather than the advertisement of the “silent disease” that plagues many col lege students. According to The Mercury News, 35% of normal eaters progress into patholog ical dieting and 20-25%

desired appearance. The unfortunate and hidden truth behind many of these health and fitness accounts comes down to the wealth of these con tent creators in that they can afford personal train ers, nutritionists and pri vate chefs to help main tain these appearances.

Disorded eating af fects the entire popula tion regardless of race, gender, age, ethnicity, socio-economic status,

weight and body size. This illness is not chosen and is something that af fects many students on a vulnerable level. Instead of idolizing these fake influencers, let’s work together to raise aware ness, education, research dollars, and access to life-saving treatments to target the mental health of students struggling

with these awful diseases.

If I have learned any thing as a fourth-year se nior, I have learned that our bodies are machines. They are machines that must be fueled in order to perform our day-today lives. Our bodies are beautiful, and they are OUR OWN to take care of. While it is important to maintain a healthy

lifestyle, it should never be done at the expense of your mental health.

If you find yourself relating in any way to the topics above do not hesitate to reach out to your friends, fam ily and the resources provided on campus.

You can find re sources at gcsu. edu/gcmentalhealth

Courtesy of Claire O’Neill | Art Director

- Anna Bloess, 4th year nursing major

“When I was in high school I was a complete ly different person than I am now. College is meant to be the time when you grow mentally so why are we shamed upon for growing physi cally? I would never trade my 21 year old body and mind for the one I had when I was 17.”

Courtesy of Claire O’Neill | Art Director

OPINION

#BeReal or #BeFake

Abigayle Allen Opinion Editor

I grew up in a small town, meaning there was little left to the imag ination when finding out about each other’s whereabouts or dai ly activities. After high school, my friends and I all dispersed and keep ing in touch was left to the casual stalking of snapchat stories or the mindless scrolling of other social media plat forms. This tactic proved to be true for many of my friends I have met since being at GC. Being a fourth-year student, many of my friends, in cluding myself, have very different academic and professional agen das that do not allow for the same quality time as freshman year. A phone call or text re quires a certain amount of effort and shared time between two people, but BeReal has allowed for the maintenance of “keeping up” with friends more convenient.

The idea that each

user of the BeReal app receives a notification at the same time and must produce a snapshot at tempting to look good or interesting in two minutes seems almost comforting. Society is riddled with insecurities regarding our looks and comparing our lives, so watching every person feel this same insecuri ty and still manage to upload two pictures a day has proven to break the barriers that many social media platforms uphold. But who am I to say this mold has not already been broken?

I remember sitting in a large group of my friends when I first heard about BeReal—an app used to capture your most au thentic moment. BeReal started with just my little group of college friends and now has blossomed into a community of people I have known my whole life. Every single day we would all post our snapshots and scroll aimlessly to see what everyone was up to.

Fast forward to today:

The simplicity of what used to be has some how shifted. What used to be a fun moment to take our phones out and capture the exact same moment has turned into BeReal having bad tim ing, notifications that

The toxicity of our known social media platforms has seemed to infiltrate our once authentic two minutes to be our real selves. I have begun to detest the late notification received from some that decided

begun breaking the mold of filtered, perfect pos es with the uploads of photo dumps, it is my hope that BeReal does not gain the same repu tation of chosen random posts, and rather uphold the comforting insecuri ty left to a random two minute assigned time limit. While BeReal does not have the same cap tion space or DM share able ability as a Twit ter or Facebook profile might allow, it upholds a since of tradition and simplicity through pho tos that no other app has been able to gain. BeReal promotes and has hopes that its users will remiad authentic even if it is for just two minutes a day.

Gen Z has the chance to experience social media without the stress and give the opportunity to look back at a photo al bum of all snapshots tak en within the app visible to these private accounts.

friends have posted late, and an overabundance of friends on this app that makes the aimless scroll ing we participate in on other social media plat forms feel all too familiar.

Where BeReal used to be a fun activity that my friends and I took part in, it has seemingly become more of a chore.

Fictional Characters

Hannah Adams Asst. Opinion Editor

For most people, there have been at least one or two fictional characters that influenced them at a young age. Whether it be aspects such as looks, personality, fashion or just overall demeanor, something about being young and witnessing fictional characters is heavily influential to per sonality developement. Growing up, I always had a vivid imagination, and there was a plethora of characters that caused me to change parts of my self to be more like them.

Hermione Granger was probably the first fic tional character to really inspire and impact me from a young age. I re member watching Har ry Potter each year and wanting to match her intelligence and bravery as I got older. I always loved the way she was the smartest of the group and the fact that she was always referred to as the brightest witch of her age. It inspired me to want to do well in school and to work hard so that I would also be perceived as intelligent by others. In a Varsity Tutors es say written by Melanie of Covington, the au

thor reflects on Hermi one’s impact in her life.

“While reading the Harry Potter series, I saw so much of myself in Hermione, that I felt connected to her on a personal level,” Melanie said. “We shared simi lar viewpoints and I felt that I could follow her example and be a model student and even bet ter friend. Hermione always found solutions to problems concerning her and her friends and I mimicked that aspect of her character. Hermione Granger was indeed a great role model for me, and for future genera tions of girls just like us.”

Another fictional character that has been monumental in my life is Brooke Davis. If you are not familiar with the show One Tree Hill, Brooke Davis was one of the most iconic female characters of modern television. She was fun ny, confident, sarcastic and completely unafraid of standing up for her self. Even today I some times go back and ask myself, “What would Brooke Davis do?” when I’m not sure how to han dle a situation. I also loved watching the char acter progress through out the seasons and to

mature into an amaz ing woman. In the early episodes, Brooke was a mean girl that projected her personal pain on to others. It is not until the character gets older that you realize she was just a lost teenager that really does have a good heart. I loved watching Brooke find herself and ultimate ly become the kindest character on the show. I was not the only young girl to be influenced by B Davis, as writer Alex andria Luker tells about her love for the char acter in Play Buzz arti cle, “Why Brooke Da vis is a role model for young girls everywhere.”

“Brooke knew she was special and that she was one in a million,” Luker said. “She wasn’t afraid to stand up to for herself and stand her ground. She embraced who she was and was never apol ogetic, And through her self-confidence she always said want she needed to say and stood up for her loved ones.”

When it came to smarts and confidence, Hermione Granger and Brooke Davis were my role models, but when it comes to mental tough ness and independence another character comes into the mix. In 2011,

the assigned two min utes was not interesting enough to post. While these photos are still un edited and posted within a two-minute span, this late post has given users the opportunity to post their “best” moments rather than the moments that may fall on between.

While Instagram has

There is comfort in the fact that no one can go viral, get more likes, or even make BeReal their career. BeReal has allowed the opportunity to make fun out of so cial media again, where a generation has only seen the competition, comparison, and insecu rity that lies within the realms of social media.

Like our parents rem iniscing on scrapbooks, old polaroid’s and year book photos, every us er’s personal BeReal albums could be the photos shown to our kids. The best of times, the times in between, and the unedited ver sions of our real selves in real time. This power to remember the nights we spent studying, the nights we spent together, and the nights we may not want to remember helps in making BeReal beautiful and authentic.

It is my hope that we can continue pushing for authenticity and strive to do away with the con straints of many of our social media platforms. We must keep BeReal, real, if you will change the narrative of the tox ic social media pres ence we all live in now.

when the first Avengers movie played in theaters, I was immediately drawn to Black Widow or Nata sha Romanoff. Obviously for any young girl it is inspiring to see a female character being a talent ed fighter and holding her own. And then, this past year at the release of the Black Widow movie, I once again fell in love with the character. She was one of the first female roles of my childhood to display so much strength, independence and deter mination. She was not a damsel in distress, but she was also portrayed with realistic limitations as one of the only heroes without a special ability. Natasha also did not feel forced into the group to fulfill the female movie quota. She fit well into the dynamic and con tributed so much to the success of the group. It was Natasha Romanoff’s character that inspired me to work towards that same independence and determination for my self. In the Entertain ment article, “How Black Widow helped clear the way for more female su perheroes,” written by Anthony Breznican, the author shares a quote from actress Scarlett Jo hansson about the im

pact of her character.

“That is such a pow erful journey to see any body take, but certainly to see a woman on screen represented in that way: a flawed superhero with a gray moral compass coming to terms with what’s happened to her,” Johansson said. “It’s defi nitely shown some sort of path for these other female superheroes to be able to walk down. I certainly don’t take credit for that, though.”

As a young girl, hav ing these inspiring fe

male characters to look up to was everything. It taught me how to get through tough times and provided me with a safe place for when life was hard. I still love and relate to each of the characters named and see parts of their influ ence in my personali ty today. I would guess that most people have a few key characters from their childhood that were impressionable to them while growing up.

Courtesy of Claire O’Neill | Art Director

Claire O’Neill