Issue 11 | Volume 100

BIDEN ADMINISTRATION SUED BY SIX STATES OVER STUDENT LOAN FORGIVENESS PLAN

Lily Pruitt Asst. News Editor

Is no debt re ally more debt? Nebraska, Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, and South Carolina all sued the Biden admin istration to block the president’s student loan forgiveness plan. These six states followed one filed by the Pacific Legal Foundation, on behalf of an individual borrow er, Frank Garrison, who argued that Biden’s plan will “saddle him” with a large tax liability. The states claimed they will be financially harmed if the federal government can celed student loan debt.

Moreover, a judge in North Texas ruled that Biden’s Student Loan Forgiveness Plan is un

lawful because Biden did not follow federal procedures to allow for

public comment prior to the policy’s announce ment. Before this, the

two borrowers who do not qualify for all of the program’s benefits and

disagree with the pro gram’s eligibility criteria.

Biden’s Student Loan

suits, along with the in dividuals and the Texas Judge’s ruling. The U.S.

Many students are still receiving emails from the Federal Student Aid, in forming them that their student loan debt relief application has been ap proved. According to the email, the administration seems confident that they will not lose in court.

Forgiveness Plan is tem porarily halted because of the six states that filed

Department of Education closed the online portal for student debt relief.

“Unfortunately, a number of lawsuits have been filed challenging the program, which have blocked our ability to discharge your debt at present,” Secretary of Education Miguel Car dona wrote. “We believe strongly that the lawsuits are meritless, and the De partment of Justice has appealed on our behalf.”

RAPPER’S REPERCUSSIONS: THE BARS PUTTING ARTISTS BEHIND BARS

Cale Strickland Staff Writer

City police arrested Atlanta-based rappers Jeffery Lamar Williams and Sergio Giavan ni Kitchens, known to the world of hip-hop as Young Thug and Gun na, in May for violat ing Georgia’s racketeer ing laws, or “RICO.”

The phrase “RICO” refers to Georgia’s Rack eteer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, which was creat ed to combat organized crime, including gangs. The rappers’ charges are in connection with the gang Young Slime Life, which shares a similar name to Williams and

Kitchens’s label, Young Stoner Life Records.

The rappers’ trial is set to start next month.

A series of Williams’s lyrics, which refer to Young Slime Life and various criminal acts, are being considered as evidence. Affected songs include several of Williams’s biggest hits, including “Anybody” and “Take it to Trial.”

The practice of using rappers’ lyrics as evidence in court is nothing new.

For instance, in 2000, McKinley Phipps, Jr., or Mac, was convicted of murder, even after another suspect con fessed to the crime. Phipps, Jr.’s lyrics, rather than physical evidence,

were used to connect him to the crime scene.

Adam Lamparello, a criminal justice pro fessor, believes there is nuance to the debate over the practice’s ethics.

“First, certainly rappers, like all oth er citizens, have a First Amendment right to ex press opinions that some may consider unpopular, offensive, or distasteful,” Lamparello said. “Indeed, the primary purpose of the First Amendment is to protect such speech from government cen sorship or punishment; this purpose facilitates a diversity of perspec tives in public discourse.”

Georgia handles LSU in SEC championship game

Hayden Flinn Sports Editor

The 31 meeting of the SEC Championship took place over the weekend between the top-ranked Georgia Bulldogs and the No. 14 LSU Tigers. The Bulldogs contin

NEWS | PG. 4

ued their dominant season, handling LSU 50-30, and punching their ticket to the Col lege Football Playoff as the number one seed.

This game got off to a slower start than the Bulldogs expected. They forced an immediate stop on LSU’s opening

TRAGEDY AT UNIVER SITY OF VIRGINIA

Three UVA football players were killed on a charter bus while the team was returning from a field trip.

drive, but the Dawgs themselves followed that up with a three and out.

During LSU’s second possession, the Tigers drove down the field with a tough drive that set them up for a short field goal and to go up early on the National Champs. Georgia quickly

SPORTS | PG. 6

HARPER VICK WINS BAOTW

Harper Vick won her second Bobact Athlete of the Week

turned the tides in their favor after bull rushing straight up the middle and blocking the field goal attempt. As the ball hit the ground, LSU play ers began walking off the field as if the play was over, but a blocked field goal is a live ball just like a punt until downed or the

ARTS & LIFE | PG. 8

ball rolls out of bounds.

A second later, Geor gia safety Christopher Smith waited for the LSU players to make their way far enough off the field, before picking up the live ball and returning it 95 yards down the field for the game’s first score.

The discipline and

TAYLOR SWIFT TICK ETS

Taylor Swift fans are outraged at the re cent ticket sale. Ticketmaster experienced technical difficulties during the presale that prohibited many from purchases,

awareness shown on this play is why Geor gia is where they are now. The only play ers in the stadium that knew what was going on were the Georgia play ers. LSU had no idea what had just happened.

OPINION & MISC. | PG. 10

GC’S RELIGIOUS OB SERVANCE POLICY

GC’s religious observance policy is not as respectful as it seems.

Job Creators Network Foundation filed a law suit in court on behalf of

Judge overturns GA’s six-week abortion ban

The past, present and possible future of GA’s policy on abortion

Rebecca Meghani News Editor

After roughly half a year of controversy sur rounding the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBur ney overturned GA’s ban on abortion. This effect took immediate effect statewide. On July 26, the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) of GA, which represents doctors and advocacy groups, created and filed a lawsuit to strike down the abortion ban, in cluding on the grounds of the ban violating GA’s constitutional right to privacy and liberty be cause of the enforcement for women to carry out a pregnancy and child birth. One week after this lawsuit was filed, the federal appeals court allowed GA’s six-week ban to take effect since it was passed in 2019 and was in effect since July.

McBurney did not rule on this claim but rather argued that the ban was invalid. When it was signed into law in 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court precedent under Roe v. Wade allowed abortion past the sixweek mark. This violat ed the U.S. Constitution and the U.S. Supreme Court precedent when it was enacted in 2019 and therefore, was void.

“Today’s ruling recog nizes that the legislature’s decision to take away abortion access across our state was in clear vi olation of the law,” said Andrea Young, executive director of the ACLU of GA. “Today their right to make decisions for their own bodies, health, and families is vindicated. We hope that the GA Su preme Court affirms that right, and in doing so af firms the long-standing GA rule that the legis lature cannot pass laws that disregard our con stitutional protections.”

In 2019, Gov. Brian Kemp signed GA’s “Liv ing Infants Fairness and Equality (LIFE) Act” (H.B. 481) which states that no abortion shall be performed if the physi cian makes a “determi nation of the presence of a detectable human heartbeat,” defined as “embryonic or fetal car

diac activity,” which typ ically occurs around six weeks into pregnancy.

At the time, this was the most extreme abor tion ban in the country. H.B. 481 includes “per sonhood” language cod ifying that an unborn child is a “natural person” with rights. As a legal rule, GA law recognized “unborn children are a class of living, distinct person that deserves “full legal recognition.” This ban was defined as strict with severe consequenc es based on action. For women who get abortion from doctors or mis carry, they are consid ered a party to murder, subject to life in prison.

If the miscarry was due to her own conduct, she is liable for second-de gree murder which is punishable by 10 to 30 years imprisonment.

If the woman plans to travel out-of-state for an abortion, she will be charged with conspir acy to commit mur der, punishable by 10 years imprisonment.

If an individual helps a woman plan this trip or transports her to a clinic, they may also be charged with conspiracy.

The Supreme Court precedent that protects women’s reproductive rights should bar prose cutions like these, there fore invalidating H.B. 481. While it was signed, the law was ruled uncon

en’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade, it held that there is no longer a federal constitutional right to an abortion. While GA did not have a trigger law but it does have an anti-abor tion law which remained on hold for several weeks until a federal appel late court let the law be enforced immediately.

GA’s Attorney Gen eral Chris Carr request ed that the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals let the state’s law take ef fect on June 24, 2022.

“I believe in the dig nity, value, and worth of every human being,

implemented and ulti mately protect countless unborn lives here in the Peach state,” Kemp said. “Working closely with the General Assembly, we have made significant strides to stand for life at all ages – from adoption and foster care reform, to combatting human trafficking and passing the heartbeat bill – and we will continue that im portant work in the days and months to come.”

Rep. Et Setzler, the bill’s primary author, discussed the inten tion behind the LIFE Act and what it does.

to life of a child who has their own heartbeat, they have their own blood type, they have their own DNA, they have their own gender, they have all the things they need, all they need is a safe place to live and nourishment to grow to full adulthood, ripe old age, like any oth er person,” Setzler said.

islators are not at liberty to pass laws contrary to such pronouncements.”

Setzler stated that he was confident that the state Supreme Court would overrule Mc Burney and reinstate the ban. The GA’s At torney General’s office filed an appeal to the GA Supreme Court.

stitutional in 2020 and never took effect. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of GA ruled and blocked it from going into effect after the ACLU of GA filed a lawsuit represent ing SisterSong Wom en of Color Reproduc tive Justice Collective and other providers. Abortion remained le gal in GA up until 20 week into pregnancy.

After the U.S. Su preme Court ruled on Dobbs v. Jackson Wom

both born and unborn,” Carr said. “The U.S. Supreme Court’s deci sion in Dobbs is consti tutionally correct and rightfully returns the issue of abortion to the states and to the peo ple – where it belongs.”

There was further sup port from Gov. Kemp to implement GA’s LIFE Act.

“I look forward to its impact on the legal proceedings surround ing GA’s LIFE Act and hope our law will be fully

“GA recognized when it passed the (bill) that living, distinct, whole human beings inside their mothers deserve full legal recognition, and that’s what GA did,” Set zler said. “The LIFE Act is about recognizing the unborn child as being a legal person in social ser vices setting, civil setting, child support setting, in a tax perspective, in terms of moms riding in HOV lanes, and, naturally, if the child is a human be ing, they’re not going to be subject to abortion.”

He further explains how the bill recogniz es personhood in GA.

“It recognizes the personhood of the un born child throughout Georgia code in a com mon sense and appro priate way that recog nizes the very difficult circumstances women find themselves in but recognizes the basic right

The state court chal lenge was filed on July 26 states that H.B. 481 was already void under GA’s judicial precedent because it violated fed eral constitutional prece dent when it was enacted in 2019 and the subse quent change in federal law cannot revive it. The lawsuit states it violated Georgians’ right to pri vacy by giving prosecu tors access to abortion patients’ private medi cal records without any due process and that the GA Constitution pro hibits political interfer ence with an individu al’s medical decision to continue a pregnancy.

McBurney wrote in his opinion that sec tions of the legisla tion were unconstitu tional when enacted.

“Everywhere in Amer ica, including Georgia, it was unequivocally un constitutional for gov ernments — federal, state, or local — to ban abortions before viabil ity,” McBurney said. “If the courts have spoken, clearly and directly, as to what the law is, as to what is and is not constitution al, legislatures and leg

Andrew Isenhour, a spokesman for Gov. Kemp, criticized the ruling stating that it “places the personal be liefs of a judge over the will of the legislature and people of Georgia.”

Furthermore, nation al antiabortion groups and politicians stated that this ruling is judicial activism. Marjorie Dan nenfelser, the president of SBA Pro-Life Amer ica, said that McBurney was “ignoring the will of the voters and imposing his own pro-abortion bias on Georgia instead.”

After this Nov. 15 de cision, abortion access in GA reverted to the previous level of up to 20 weeks post fertiliza tion and 22 weeks since last menstrual period. In light of this ruling. GA could become a state for patients across the south, if the procedure remains legal. Even with the pre vious six-week ban in place, Carafem, an oper ator for a network of clin ic and telehealth services that has a location in At lanta, the providers were seeing patients that trav eled from Kentucky, Al abama and Mississippi.

-Chris Carr

The U.S. Supreme Court deci sion in Dobbs ins constitutional ly correct and rightfully returns the issue of abortion to the states and to the people - wher it be longs.

Tragedy at UVA

Three football players dead and two injured in a heartbreaking shooting

Tiana Johnson Contributing Writer

As this year’s football season ended, 3 Univer sity of Virginia football players; Junior receiver Lavel Davīs Jr, junior re ceiver Devin Chandler, and junior defensive end/linebacker D’Sean

to Washington. It is said that Jones was also on the charter bus and at tended the trip to Wash ington with the team.

Jones, who was a se nior UVA football player, has been charged with the three murders and is also looking at addi tional criminal charges

to find a solid motive.

Thus far, the investiga tion into Jones’s possible motive has uncovered that more than a year be fore he was charged with murder, Jones is said to have appeared in a music video where he holds a gun while he raps about his mental health trou

had a gun on campus, which was not investi gated. It was also dis covered that Jones did obtain a felony weapons charge in February 2021 that was later dropped down to a misdemean or. Jones was mandated to report the criminal charge to the Univer sity, which he did not.

“I think that if they get a call about a student that may potentially cause harm, no matter how much you may feel like it’s a prank call, you still have to take those things very seriously,” said Ker ryn Murry, senior psy chology major. “That’s one precaution that these schools need to check: thoroughly investigating these types of claims.”

the news, there seems to be a new shoot ing,” said junior biolo gy major, Grace Cote.

Many students are up

action or become con cerned?” Murray said.

A vigil was held on Monday, November 14th for the players on the

It’s like every time I’m watch ing the news, there seems to be a new shooting.

set that the school could have possibly prevented this situation from hap pening in the first place.

Perry tragically lost their lives on November 13, 2022, after Christopher Darnell Jones Jr. shot and killed them as they exited the UVA foot ball team’s charter bus.

The UVA football team was returning to campus from a field trip

for injuring two other UVA students during the shooting. One of the in jured students, who is ex pected to survive, is also a member of the UVA football team. Police are still trying to piece to gether the events that led up to the three deaths and

bles. In the video, it is said Jones describes how he would kill people, in cluding attending a par ty just to shoot people.

Furthermore, in Sep tember 2022, a student reported to the univer sity that Jones had stated multiple times that he

Disrupted protest in NYC

Lily Pruitt Asst. News Editor

On Monday, Novem ber 14th, there was a protest to preserve wom en’s spaces at New York City Hall. The protest group is a U.K.-based group that’s motto is to foster a community in which all women feel empowered to speak.

Trans activists dis rupted the protest on Monday morning, threatening the assem bled feminists and scuf fling with police. The ac tivists crashed the event and started pushing against the police barri cade. One trans activist, in particular, said, “I will f*ck you up,” while anoth er shirtless trans-iden tifying man screamed, “Nazi scum.” The activ ists banged drums and played instruments to “drown out the hate.”

9 people were arrested for pushing police, push ing the women activists, and being disruptive and blocking pedestrian traf fic. NYCPD will not dis close which side of the barrier the people were arrested from, leaving questions as to which side of the debate “won.”

There are many con troversial opinions about the ideas between women’s need to feel empowered to speak

and the latter. Howev er, not all places have this controversial idea in their heads, they just want a good atmo sphere for everyone.

Buffington’s, a lo cal restaurant in Milledgeville, hosts an LGBTQ+ night, more commonly called, their “Drag Show.” They usu ally charge a cover at the door, which a lot of stu dents tend to stray away from, but this event has become quite popular among GC students.

“The drag show was initially brought to us by a GC student at the time, Tori Grace,” Mike Hufstetler said, Buffing ton’s owner. “She pro posed it and we thought it was a great idea and we’re behind it 100%.”

The employees love the drag show event and even work it so that they can be involved. Buffington’s employees ensure everyone feels welcome no matter who they are when they walk into the building.

“Normally, a lot of people don’t have pro grams for this kind of event so the fact that we are the kind of bar that has something that will allow people to come in and feel safe is really nice,” Brenna Hendricks said, senior biology and psychology major.

This event has opened the eyes of many students, wel coming them into an unfamiliar, yet very fun and diverse culture.

“I like the diversi ty of the night, it’s very enlightening,” Natalie Williams said, junior psychology major.

This diversity makes everyone involved happier altogether.

“To see so many people come togeth er just to support oth ers is very nice to see,” Kendra Key said, Buff ington’s employee.

It was an important factor to the Buffing ton’s staff that every one who came in felt welcomed and loved.

“People who just wander in get to learn about the culture and they end up loving it,” Hendricks said.

“We always have an accepting and friendly atmosphere here,” Huf stetler said. “The drag shows always bring in a different crowd, a younger one, it expos es them to something they’ve never seen, and brings them to a new environment and lets them realize they can be themselves, where they want to be them selves and when they want to be themselves.”

Many GC students feel that the adminis tration of the universi ty dropped the ball to ensure the safety of its campus and students.

“It’s definitely up setting hearing about these different school shootings and it’s like every time I’m watching

DEBT

Continued from page 1

Several lawyers have made announce ments that the plan is unconstitutional. GC law professor Adam Lamparello, agrees with this statement.

“Biden’s midterm election year ploy to eliminate certain as pects of student loan debt is not constitu tional and should be invalidated because the student loan program was passed by Congress to essentially help the lower classes afford col lege,” Lamparello said. “The President does not unilaterally have the authority to can cel student loan debt.”

There are conflict ing opinions on this topic amongst col lege students across the nation, includ ing students at GC.

“From a college stu dent perspective, the

“One thing that stuck out to me the most about this story is that the school got a call and did nothing about it, which I didn’t know initially reading the story,” Mark Daly said, freshman finance and economics major.

“If you receive a tip about a potentially dan gerous person, why wait until the situation es calates into something worse before you step into

plan is not so bad,” said Jackson Coppedge, sophomore accounting major. “I find it inter esting that the states are suing because I don’t see the plan being unlawful.”

However, other stu dents seem to hold different sentiments.. They believe that as taxpayers, it will cost

Charlottesville campus just 24 hours after the news of their murder cir culated the media. Can dles lined the statue of Homer, an important ar tifact native to the cam pus, as they mourned the lives of three young men taken too soon.

“It’s gotten to a point where we need to start looking into past threats that have been made be fore they actually act on them,” Cote said. “With Jones being on the team or being school-associat ed they should have tak en the report seriously.”

ber of states that have decided to sue the Biden administration, most students feel that the plan will never hold in court.

“I think it would not stay a plan because of the amount of debt that would be relieved and a lot of people don’t want that,” Coppedge said.

A lot of students be lieve that the plan will never become anything more than an idea.

“Seeing as how the public has reacted, I feel the Student Loan Forgiveness Plan will be dispersed,” Good said.

Seeing as how the public reacted, I feel the Student Loan Forgiveness Plan will be dis persed. 4 NEWS REBECCA MEGHANI, NEWS EDITOR 12.05.2022

them the same amount.

“I feel like Biden’s stu dent loan plan is unlaw ful,” said JT Good, soph omore MIS major. “I think people need to re alize the cost that comes with taking on student loans and stop looking at it as ‘free money.’”

Because of the num

The Student Loan Forgiveness Plan will be ruled in court due to the number of lawsuits filed calling it uncon stitutional and unfair.

“The courts will hold that Biden’s plan will not be ruled consti tutional and the only reason he made this plan was to get votes for the midterm elec tion,” Lamparello said.

(Left to Right:) Lavel Davis Jr., Devin Chandler and D’Sean Perry

-Grace Cote

GC’S HANGING OF THE GREENS CELEBRATION

The GC community celebrated the new holiday season at this annual tradition

Anjali Shenoy Digital Media Editor

Thunder was present at the event

Hannah Adams, Rose Wagner and Jennifer Crider enjoy the festivities with GC’s mascot, Thunder.

Avrie Crum and Rebecca Meghani at Hanging of the Greens

Left to Right: Greer Flint, Hannah Adams, Nora Epstein, Jennifer Crider, Thunder, Cathy Cox, Rose Wagner, Katherine Futch, Collin Zabroske and Anne Elise Biles.

The Bulldogs then took over from there. Georgia quarter back Stetson Bennett IV showed poise and promise once again in the big game throwing four touchdown pass es in the first half. The LSU defense had ab

solutely no answer for this lethal UGA offense.

After another turn over from the Tigers in the first half, this game seemed far out of reach by halftime as Georgia led 35-10.

In the second half, LSU tried their best to fight back into this game. After Tigers’ quarter back Jayden Daniels

left the game due to in jury, backup quarter back Garrett Nussmeier brought a little spark to the Tigers’ offense.

The Tigers put up 20 points in the second half, but it wasn’t enough as UGA’s offense couldn’t be stopped and put up 15 points of their own.

GC students around campus were pleased with

the Dawgs’ early perfor mance early in the game.

“Overall, I thought Georgia played very well and I was really pleased with Stetson Bennett’s performance,” said se nior Alayna Fogarty. “In the second half we gave up some points and we were having trouble stop ping their passing game, but we also did not have

Hayden’s Hot Takes: Week 14

Hayden Flinn Sports Editor

Conference cham pionship weekend is officially wrapped up between Power 5 (SEC, BIG-10, BIG-12, PAC12, ACC) teams and the College Football Play off is set. No. 1 Geor gia will face No. 4 Ohio State in the Peach Bowl Semi-Final game and No. 2 Michigan will face No. 3 TCU in the Fiesta Bowl Semi-Final game.

After losing the Pac12 Championship by a large margin to Utah, USC dropped out of the top four over the weekend, allowing oneloss Ohio State to slide back up into the top four from number five.

No. 3 TCU narrowly lost in overtime in the BIG-12 championship game to Kansas State 3128. After having a 12-0 regular season record, TCU did just enough to keep their spot at num ber three despite this loss.

There was some con versation that Alabama should have gotten in over TCU, but TCU de serves it more. They

have played well all year. They lost on the final play of the game to Kan

consistent all year, win ning games narrowly and losing two games. For a

a conference cham pionship appearance.

No. 1 Georgia and No.

all of our starters (on de fense) in and maintained a comfortable lead.”

After this victory, UGA has locked up its playoff spot and will take on Ohio State in the Peach Bowl in Atlanta for their semifinal game.

“I think UGA domi nates Ohio State in a sim ilar fashion to LSU,” said senior Jack Beers. The

defense needs a few big plays which they’re capa ble of and that’s all it takes.

I think Michigan puts up the biggest fight for us this season, but UGA does enough to get by.”

Georgia’s semi-fi nal game will be played on December 31 as the Dawgs look to repeat as National Champions and finish the season 15-0.

SEC championship game, tallying 50 points on the Tigers’ defense. LSU put

created four turnovers throughout the game. They blocked a field goal, intercepted two passes, and forced and recov ered a fumble. Georgia will be the favorite to win the national cham pionship and will try to be the first team to go back-to-back since Ala bama in 2011 and 2012.

No. 2 Michigan punched their ticket to the playoff for the sec ond year in a row. After a slow start in the BIG-10 championship game, the Wolverines lead by one point over Purdue head ing into halftime. They found their stride in the second half outscoring the Boilermakers 29-9.

Michigan won com fortably 43-22 and finished their first undefeated regu lar season since 1997.

sas State, but they have respectable wins over Texas and Kansas State earlier in the season.

Alabama has been in

two-loss team to get into the playoff, they would need to have a confer ence championship on their resume or at least

2 Michigan were the only teams that were guar anteed a playoff spot. No. 1 Georgia throt tled No. 14 LSU in the

up 30 points of their own, but never controlled the game or looked like they were going to win.

The Bulldogs’ defense

All four teams in the College Football Play off will have a little less than a month to prepare for their matchups. Both semifinal games will take place on December 31. The Fiesta Bowl kicks off at 4 pm, while the Peach Bowl begins at 8 pm.

Claire O’Neill | Art Director

Claire O’Neill | Art Director

Hayden’s top six teams in college football after Week 14.

SEC

Six Bobcats earn CSC all-district academic honors

Emily Henderson Contributing Writer

The College Sports Communicators named 26 PBC women soccer players to the 2022 Aca demic All-District team on Nov. 16. The CSC rec ognizes the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performance on the field and in the classroom. GC women’s soccer led the PBC with six girls being honored.

The six GC players being honored are se niors Kate Richardson, Haley Titus, and Sum mer Ligon, junior Kath erine Crouse and soph omores Sydney Charles and Aralyn Everett.

Kate Richardson, studying marketing, was able to maintain her 4.0 GPA while also lead ing the GC soccer team on and off the field this season. Haley Titus, studying exercise sci ence, finally got honored with this award her se nior season after having a cumulative GPA of 3.71 and receiving more playing time this season, which ruined her chanc es of eligibility in her past

seasons. Summer Ligon, studying economics, showed off on the field and in the classroom this season. She was also named to the Second Team-All Conference team while having a cu mulative GPA of 3.96.

Katherine Crouse fin ished her second season

Everett showed off her strong offensive skills throughout the sea son, being the lone goal scorer in the quarterfi nal game. She did all of this while also double majoring in criminal justice and philosophy where she maintained a 3.72 cumulative GPA.

son the summer before school starts, with scrim mages closer to the start of school. When these players start school, they are already faced with early practice, playing games, and traveling. These girls practice at six in the morning four times a week, while

this time to prepare for the next season, doing personal practices and weight training. They do all of this while still being expected to per form well academically. This can be difficult for many student athletes.

“Balancing time has come with lots of hard

dent athletes cannot change the fact that they will have to miss class throughout the sea son, it still is stressful to miss. Luckily many of the students have been supported by the teach ers they have had here.

“It definitely gets stressful at times as it can be difficult miss ing class and trying to keep pace with my courses,” said Kather ine Crouse. “I have been very fortunate to have great professors who are understanding of my athletic commitment.”

here with the Bobcats with a 4.0 cumulative GPA studying manage ment, adding to her im pressive career thus far. Sydney Charles was able to shine on the field helping hold together the strong defensive line the Bobcats have. She was able to keep a 4.0 cumu lative GPA throughout her first three semes ters here at GC. Aralyn

Being a college stu dent is not easy. With a mix of school, rela tionships, extracurric ulars and much more, it is hard to maintain a steady balance. Student athletes do this all while practicing year-round, playing an entire season and traveling sometimes multiple times a week.

The soccer team starts preparing for the fall sea

also doing weight train ing two times a week. This season, the team regularly had games on Wednesday and Saturday. Wednesday games were often away games where they trav eled sometimes multi ple hours away to play. After the season is over, there is a short break to allow the girls to rest. They then use

decisions,” said Kate Richardson. “Knowing that you are going to be using your whole off day with your head crammed in a textbook is some thing that I have had to get very comfortable with. Most athletes take some time to figure out time management fresh man year before really getting a hang on things.”

While many stu

Harper Vick wins her second Bobcat AOTW

Emily Henderson Contributing Writer

With the GC women’s basketball season under way, the team has shown off so far. Since the start of the season, the team has seemed to improve since last year. Currently 7-1, the team has been led by senior Harper Vick.

Vick is currently el igible for her final sea son due to the COVID year. She has started the season off prepared to make this one her best. With three weeks in, so far, Harper has won Bobcat Athlete of the week two times already.

She first received this recognition the week of November 15 after an amazing start to the season at home during the Conference Chal

lenge Tournament. She averaged 14.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game. GC played the 2021-2022 NCAA Tourney Qualifi er vs Barton College No vember 12. Vick stood out scoring 15 points with four rebounds and three assists to help lead the Bobcats to victory.

Vick received this award again on Novem ber 29. Having three games the week of No vember 21, Vick helped her team win two out of the three. She aver aged 13.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 2.0 as sists per game. Her best performance came against Shorter Univer sity where she scored 22 points while going 10for-21 from the floor.

Vick along with her

teammates found a con nection with one another on the court this season, which has contributed a lot to their success so far.

“I

mance has been very consistent to start this

season,” Vick said. “I just try to focus on being confident and playing my game to the best of my ability with my team.”

During this past off season, Vick took the time to prepare one

last time for a new sea son, truly ready to fin ish out her athletic ca reer as a Bobcat strong.

“I think Harper’s per formance has improved a lot, finishing at the bucket through contact, knocking down shots when needed, and her defense,” said sophomore Ashyia Willis. “She de fended the best player on every team we face because we know that she is very reliable when it comes to defending”

The GC women’s bas ketball team is young with only a few seniors on the team to look up to. Vick continues to show the team what it means to be a lead er by how she express es herself in this sport.

“Harper is a very vocal leader and is a huge voice

Because of the re quirements of this re ward, not all athletes are recognized for all of the work they put in on and off the field. Many with high GPAs are not eligible due to little playing time.

“It really does feel nice to finally be recognized,” said Haley Titus. “I think it is awesome that they give this award to rec ognize hard working athletes. I am very grate ful, but I am so proud of all my teammates who put in the same amount of work, if not more, but are not eligible.”

in controlling the ener gy and attitude for the whole team,” said senior Cassie Markle. “All the players, including me, look to her as a leader on the court. She is extreme ly talented both athlet ically and academically and that makes it easy for us all to learn from her.”

Vick is extreme ly grateful for the op portunity she has and the team she is on. She plays her heart out but not without the help of those who support her.

“I attribute my suc cess to the Lord,” Vick said. “He gave me this ability to play basketball. My teammates, coaches, and trainer are a huge part of my success as well. They push me to be the best player I can be.”

feel my perfor

Courtesy of GC Athletics

Harper Vick shoots the ball vs Shorter on Tuesday Nov. 22.

Courtesy of GC Athletics

LYRICS

In his opinion, free dom of speech is a dou ble-edged sword. Rap pers are entitled to free expression under the First Amendment, but their words are also free for the taking in court.

“The right to free speech, however, is not absolute,” Lamparello said. “If a rapper — or any other citizen — ex presses views that suggest involvement in criminal conduct, whether in vi olation of federal or state law, such expressions can be used as evidence to prove such conduct.”

Dr. Christina Smith, a GC mass communi cation professor, dis agrees with the practice.

“Using a rapper’s own rap lyrics as evidence in court against them sig nals that we don’t think of rap music as anything more than a tool that can be weaponized as evi dence of assumed con fession to prove a defen dant committed a crime,” Smith said. “It delegit imizes a person’s art.”

Joseph Jackson, a ju nior management in formation systems ma jor, is undecided on the issue. He believes both sides of the argu ment have valid points.

“I believe it can be unethical because many musicians lie about what they put in their songs just to sell music or ap peal to their fanbase,” Jackson said. “At the same time, some artists may actually be guilty of the crimes they sing or rap about within their songs.”

However, he believes it is often almost impos

sible to decipher if art ists’ lyrics are reflections of their day-to-day lives.

“Many artists have a ‘persona,’ or anoth er personality, when making music,” Jack son said. “This alter ego will rap or sing whatever to boost rev enue or claim fame.”

Yet, Dr. Stephanie McClure, a sociolo gy professor, believes many audiences see artists’ lyrics as a defin ing aspect of the genre. She witnessed striking differences between students’ responses to rap and other genres of music firsthand.

“I remember a col league whose subspe cialty was in the sociol ogy of music who did an exercise where he had students ‘judge’ the content of particular lyrics related to sexism, and all of the lyrics were actually from coun try songs, even though the students assumed they were from rap songs,” McClure said.

Rap music’s frequent appearances as evidence in court still unsettles Smith. She, too, worries about the public’s sin gling out of the genre.

“Therefore, it’s not only important to ask ourselves, is rap mu sic and its lyrics art and/or self-expres sion, which should be legally protected by the First Amendment, but we also need to ask ourselves, ‘Why is rap music and its lyr ics so often tagged in the judicial system as a form of evidence to be used against a de fendant?’” Smith said.

Holiday Traditions

Annie Roper Staff Writer

The month of December holds holiday tra ditions for countless people around the world. This week, students may have noticed the an nual holiday decorations popping up around campus. The wreaths hang proudly upon the buildings, and though the weather may feel the opposite, the holiday season is in full swing.

GC celebrated one annual tradition onThursday: The Hanging of the Greens. At this event, students listened to holiday carols from the Wesley Founda tion and the GC music department, took photos with Santa, roasted marshmallows, painted ornaments and much more. As the sun went down, President Cathy Cox pulled a lever to illuminate the lights.

“We’re so glad you’re here to celebrate this season of light and hope,” President Cox said. “And what bet ter way to do that than with a lot of light and hope?”

Many other annual Christmas events take place during the month in Milledgeville. On Dec. 4, the Exchange Club of Milledgeville hosted the Milled geville Christmas parade in which floats representa tive of local businesses marched through Downtown.

Milledgeville has other festive traditions such as taking a Christmas tour of the Governor’s Man sion, dropping a letter in Santa’s Mailbox located outside City Hall or visiting Reindeer Flight School, a Downtown light display put on by a local retiree.

A more recent tradition exploded to life across the U.S. in 2005 with the invention of the Elf on the Shelf. Since then, over 13 million

elves have been purchased by families looking to share some holiday mischief with their children.

Throughout the month of December, par ents place the elf in various locations around their home, and the elf watches over the behavior in the home and reports back to Santa each night.

Another tradition popular across the nation and GC students is a White Elephant gift exchange. During White Elephants, participants draw a number corre sponding to a gift. Then, other players are able to either pick a new gift or choose to steal another player’s gift.

“Every year on Christmas Eve we host a White Elephant party,” said Laura Beth Nix, junior mass communication major. “My grandma would pay me money to steal a gift and give it to her after.”

Families that have a member that has a Christ mas birthday often try to make the day extra spe cial for the person, as it can be easy for one born on Christmas day to feel overshadowed by the holiday.

“My brother’s birthday is on Christmas, so we al ways have a party just for him,” said Isa Boatwright, junior marketing major. “We get to eat birthday cake on Christmas Day, which not a lot of people get to do.”

“IT’S ME, HI, I’M THE PROBLEM IT’S ME” - TICKETMASTER

Autumn Arnette Staff Writer

The sale of tickets to Taylor Swift’s Era’s Tour has been canceled after Ticketmaster experi enced technical difficul ties during the presale.

To gain presale tick et access, fans had to apply to be accepted to the Verified Fan Pro gram. If accepted, fans receive a presale code, and they will be able to purchase tickets be fore they go on sale for the general public.

Though the Verified Fan Program has been used for popular artists tours since 2017, the website was not able to withstand the amount of traffic from Swift’s fans.

3.5 million fans were accepted to the Verified

Fan program for Swift’s tour, but only 1.5 mil lion of them were sent a presale code. All fans registered for the Veri fied Fan program alone could fill 900 stadiums; that equivalates to a sta dium show every night for the next two years.

Swift’s popularity is partially the issue of the website crashing.Almost 14 million people in total joined the site for pre sale. However, this in cludes internet bots that purchase tickets for re sale purposes. Although President Obama’s Better Online Ticket Sales Act of 2016 created a nation al ban on all software that purchases tickets, these bots are still in use.

After the cancellations of sales, resale ticket

prices have skyrocket ed. According to The NY Post, some tickets are being resold for as much as $22,000. Seats found in the nosebleed sections are being resold for as much as $12,000.

“I am grateful for the ticket that I got, but the pricing for my ticket was severely messed up,” said Carly Henderson, ju nior marketing major.

Ticketmaster kept up to date with Swift fans on Twitter throughout the whole fiasco. They explained that demands and high anticipation for this tour is the rea son for the website crash.

Ticketmaster delayed the presale, but tickets still sold out before it could even hold a public sale.

“We apologize to Tay lor and all her fans- es pecially those who had a terrible experience trying to purchase these tick ets,” Ticketmaster wrote in a statement on Twitter.

Many fans felt that it was unfair that they could not get tickets. A group of 26 fans filed a lawsuit that accused Ticketmaster’s parent

company, LiveNation, of anti-competitive conduct that lets fans and scalpers buy a surplus of tickets.

“I have been a fan for years, and it was heart breaking hearing peo ple buy tickets for their own profit,” said Mary Kate Kuchinski, a sopho more psychology major.

Taylor’s tour tick ets may have bro ken the internet, but it also broke many GC students’ hearts.

“I was in the Verified Fan program, but like many other fans, I was in the queue for eight hours or more,” said Kate Porter, junior mass communication major.

“I didn’t get any tickets, and I haven’t been able to discuss that with out shedding a tear.”.

Taylor Swift was as tonished by all the cha os revolving around her tour tickets and empa thized with her fans.

“To those who didn’t get tickets, all I can say is that my hope is to provide more opportunities for us to all get-together and sing these songs,” Taylor Swift wrote on Twitter.

Anjali Shenoy | Digital Media Editor

Taylor Swift

Elf on the Shelf pays a visit to GC’s campus

Elf on the Shelf visited GC’s campus this week to give stu dents some finals week moti vation.

Anjali Shenoy Digital Media Editor

The Grinch apologist

Is the Grinch the true villain of Whoville?

Hannah Adams Asst. Opinion Editor

The Grinch is a wellknown villain amongst those that celebrate Christmas or enjoy clas sic holiday films. He is a character portrayed to have a special hatred for the Christmas season, spending his time sim mering with spite for the members of a nearby town, called Whoville. He lives just north of the city, in a dark cave within Mt. Crumpet. His only

companion being his dog, Max. Because of his hatred for both Christ mas Day and the Whos of Whoville, the Grinch plots an elaborate scheme to steal Christmas.

In the film, the Grinch is initially portrayed as bitter and evil, hating the members of Whoville with no fair reason. He is described to have been born with a heart that was “two sizes too small”. Eventually, it is revealed that the Grinch hid him self away from the city af

ter suffering intense bul lying from his classmates while trying to impress his school crush, Mar tha May Whovier. The Grinch was treated hor ribly by the other chil dren his age, causing him to feel like an outcast. Because of this, his spite for the city grew with each year, until he could no longer stand looking down from his lonely cave as the Whos cele brated Christmas time with obvious delight.

It is not until a young

Cindy Lou decides to attempt friendship with the Grinch that he be gins to show his true colors. Feeling stubborn and insecure because of his past, the Grinch is hesitant to accept Cin dy’s invitation for him to attend the Christmas festival in Whoville. Bit by bit, we begin to see the hurt and embarrass ment that the Grinch truly harbors, rather than the initially per ceived hate and evil. Cin dy Lou gets the Grinch a nomination for Cheer Meister and once again attempts to convince the Grinch to attend the festival. His attention is especially attracted by the prospect that it is Martha May that will be presenting the award. After working up the nerve to attend the fes tival, the Grinch receives

GC’s religious observance policy

Hannah Adams Asst. Opinion Editor

Although Georgia College often portrays it self as a campus flowing with inclusivity, there are certain policies that go overlooked only by those that they do not affect. It goes without noticing for those that celebrate holidays such as Christ mas, that GC’s religious observance policy is not as respectful as it may initially seem. While days such as Thanksgiv ing and Christmas allow for week long breaks and even a month’s worth of time off, other holi days require a form to be filled out by students and signed by a pro fessor, allowing them only the days neces sary to the holiday off. For those that must go through the process of having these forms signed, it can feel incon siderate to their beliefs. It is unfair that only certain religious practices need to be validated through the university while oth ers are acknowledged unanimously without ex planation. While it could

be argued that the long breaks are markers for the end of a semester, it is still clear that they are also affiliated with the holidays that take place during their duration. It is not something that get questioned or re quires an explanation for.

of a religious holiday or event are required to notify each instructor in writing within the first week of class of the se mester in which the ob servance occurs and to make up the coursework missed as a result of the absence. The Religious

assignments are at the sole discretion of the in structor. Given the time limitations inherent in completing end-of-se mester assignments and final exams, this policy does not apply during finals week. Students are expected to take fi

yet another blow after witnessing the mayor re ceive the award. To top it off, he is forced to watch as the mayor proposes to Martha May as well. Heartbroken and humil iated, the Grinch returns to Mt. Crumpet. Strick en with grief, he plans to steal Christmas from Whoville by dressing up as Santa Clause and thieving all the presents.

Although by the end of the movie, the Grinch finally wins over the city and gets to be with Martha once more, it is important that it be de bunked that the Grinch was ever a villain in this

story. He was a wounded soul that retaliated due to the discrimination of his peers and spending years in isolation, afraid of potentially being hu miliated once again. Despite being children, the Whos did not have any excuse to treat him so harshly, and it makes sense that he would want to take something from them in return. It is an unfair stigma that the Grinch is classically por trayed as an evil conspir er against Christmas. It is clear that all he wanted was acceptance from the other Whos and to feel loved for being himself.

be included in class syl labuses, it is the nature of this policy that causes non-Christian students to feel socially outcast. A feeling that is incred ibly hurtful and should not go unacknowledged by a liberal arts school.

An example of how

en that the started policy does not apply during final exam week, Mus lim students were put in a position of having to minimize the impor tance of their religious holiday. Because of the university’s failure to acknowledge the over lapping time, Muslim students had to juggle fasting while also man aging the stresses of tak ing exams and finishing semester responsibilities.

This is a struggle that Christian students will not have to endure as their holidays are un der the protection of the school. Despite the issue having been called to at tention by students in the past, it has yet to be com pletely acknowledged.

On the GC website there is a statement that explains further the re quirements of the Reli gious Observance Policy.

“Students who will miss class in observance

Observance Faculty No tification Form may be used to facilitate this notification. The nature of the make-up assign ments and the deadline for completion of such

nal exams at the sched uled times and com plete end-of-semester work by the deadlines set by each instructor.”

Although this state ment is mandatory to

these traditions have af fected students of other religions took place last year during the end of first semester. Rama dan took place last year during finals week. Giv

It is a poor show of unity and acceptance for GC to uphold a pol icy that leaves minori ty students feeling less acknowledged than the majority. An individual should not be forced to endure hardships that other students do not, simply for having indi vidual religious practices.