Issue 5 | Volume 100

Drive-by shooting near GC’s dorms

Katherine Futch Editor in Chief

US DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE: THE NEW INTERNET TROLLS

cial media companies.

Shortly after midnight on Sept. 30, over 60 rounds were unloaded towards the Wray Homes/West End Projects, less than two miles from GC’s dormitory buildings. The four sus pects fled the drive-by shooting. It resulted in a high-speed chase through Bonner Park, direct ly across from The Depot and Foundation hall.

Authorities have since arrested three of the four suspects. One suspect was found hiding in the bathrooms by the basketball courts at Bonner Park. Another was found hiding in nearby bush es. Law enforcement tackled another suspect. They did not find the fourth subject, who is still at large.

The GC community received an email early Sept. 30 about the event. In the email, the GCPD alerted students of the subject still at large, saying he was un able to be located and apprehended. They said that while they believed he was not still in the area, mem bers of the campus community should be vigilant,

Multiple law enforcement agencies, including a K-9 unit, participated in the search for the fourth suspect. GCSU police also reviewed footage from the incident from cameras near GC properties on Greene Street.

In an interview with Baldwin 2k News, Milled geville Police Chief Dray Swicord said that he “absolutely” believes this incident is gang-re lated. Swicord added that he is glad one of the suspects, Travis Simmons, is “off the streets.”

“He’s responsible for probably 75-80 percent of the shootings and gun violence we’ve had lately,” Swicord said. “It’s safe to say that Travis Simmons will probably never see the light of day again.”

Simmons was on bond this past weekend and had 40 years remaining on his sentence.

Law enforcement brought nine aggravated as sault charges against the three suspects, as well as four counts of third-degree child cruelty, reckless conduct, possession of a firearm during the com mission of a crime and unauthorized discharge of a firearm within 50 yards of a public highway.

Anyone with any information on the fourth suspect, still at large, is asked to call the MPD tip line at 478-414-4413.

The U.S. military has apparently adopted a new national security strategy: internet troll ing. Apparently, the Pentagon will be doing a review on this new way of gaining infor mation after these ac counts supposedly were removed from social media platforms for being suspected of being run by the De fense Department.

As contradictory as it is, it is complete ly legal on both sides. Even though the public thinks that social media companies should crack down on fake accounts, no matter who it is run by it is completely up to these private so

“When you’re a pri vate institution, the first amendment doesn’t ap ply to you,” said Law pro fessor Adam Lamparello. “So, they have the right to censor speech, to dis criminate against speech that they don’t like or agree with and to oth erwise regulate speech that they would never be allowed to do under the first amendment.”

Many of these ac counts exist for harmless purposes, such as pro moting democracy and products. However, it still poses the question of whether these plat forms should remove all of these accounts or just certain ones.

Lamparello agrees with many critics who believe that social media

platforms are becom ing a stgte actors and, in the future, could be subject to the liabilities of the first amendment.

“That would change the entire landscape of what it could and could not regulate. In other words, it would have to allow a lot more speech than it currently does,” Lamparello said.

Another question that is raised during this controversial news is whether the U.S. govern ment should be allowed to create these accounts, whether it is to gain more information on U.S. citi zens or foreign people.

Many people are lean ing toward both sides; the government is not doing anything substan tial enough for it to be a problem versus it is

an invasion of privacy.

The U.S. government has no specific laws or regulations in place that are equivalent to the laws in place protecting pri vate social media com panies. The U.S. govern ment is allowed to make these fraudulent ac counts, just as many new generations are. New generations are on social media quite often, doc umenting their life and updating their followers. Some do have second accounts mainly for a more personal place to share with close friends, but several have them for secretly seeing others’ profiles. The U.S. govern ment is doing the same exact thing, for what ever reasons they have.

THE LITTLE MERMAID MAKES A SPLASH ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Jennifer Crider A&L Editor

The live-action The Little Mermaid re make is releasing in theaters on May 26, 2023. The main char acter Ariel will be played by Halle Bai ley Daveed and Prince Eric will be played by Jonah Hauer-King.

Typically, the main characters in Disney films are white, and mi nority characters often portray background characters. Even when there are minority char acters in these movies, many of these char acters are turned into animals or inanimate objects. For instance, in the movie The Princess and the Frog, Princess Tiana is a frog for the majority of the mov ie. Instances like this have been criticized for being performa tive and inauthentic.

“The thing that is concerning is making

SPORTS | PG. 4

BRAVES MAKE PLAY OFFS FOR FIFTH

The Braves made the playoffs

sure that you get the sto ry right,” said Nadirah Mayweather, director of the GC cultural center. “There’s one thing about being able to see your self in a film, but is that director or film compa ny telling the story that is an accurate depiction of what your culture and heritage is? I think some times there is miles to go with that as well has making sure you do the research to make sure its representation and also not appropriation just to make money.”

However, in recent years, Disney has been making inclusion a bigger priority by diversifying casts and producing films about other cultures.

“Every child deserves to have the opportunity to see themselves rep resented,” Mayweather said. “There’s nothing wrong with someone having a Cinderella doll that might not look like them because the prin cess story is also import

ARTS & LIFE | PG. 7

ant. But it is important to see a person who has the same features as them or has the same cultural upbringing so they can feel like their story is just as import ant. There is not a single story that is highlighted

as the right one or the one that should be pub licized the most. When representation happens, it’s important because it shows that we all matter.”

DON’T WORRY ABOUT THE DRAMA, DARLING

The alleged drama between the big stars

Olivia Wilde’s

OPINION & MISC. |

THE CUSTOMER IS NOT ALWAYS RIGHT

It’s no secret that customer service

nothing short

The new information gathering systems of the Pentagon raises concern that the Department of Defense is spying on individ uals through social media.

Lily Pruitt Asst. News Editor

GC fights back against book bans

Shadimon Smith Contributing Writer

The idea of book ban ning has been around for a long time, starting as a way to censor books that were anti-religion or that objected to the church’s word. Over time, ban ning books has evolved and allowed more topics that involved sexuality to be scrutinized. Some books that have recently been banned are because of LGBTQ+ characters or themes, involved an ti-policing messages or are sexually explicit.

Book banning is something that hap pens annually and in the last week of September. However, this year this event happened on Sept. 18th through Sept. 24th.

This year’s theme was “Books Unite Us. Cen sorship Divides Us.” In order for a book to be banned, one must submit an official challenge. Par ents are the top challeng ers, followed by librari ans and teachers, elected officials then students.

GC is working hard on informing its stu dents about book ban ning but has yet to ex perience a banning for themselves in the library.

Shaundra Walker, Li brary Director at GC has never experienced a book ban on a college level in all her 22 years.

“Because we are a college and university, we collect materials on a wide variety of topics,” said Walker. “The major ity of our users are adults, professors, and students

who are doing research.”

This week helps to show that information should not be withheld from anyone. It allows schools to provide infor mation on these books and give their students and faculty a chance to read it. However, it is not easy for each indi vidual community. What may be acceptable in one place, may be un acceptable in another.

“We have been using our social media to ed ucate people about some of the common reasons why books are banned,” said Walker. “The top books that are banned and Banned Books week is sponsored by the American Library As sociation and they pro vide us with a wealth of material and they collect

information about books that are banned through out the United States.”

The American Library Association has been keeping people informed about banned books by having different topics discussed on the days of banned book week, along with having many differ ent sections on the web site to provide in-depth knowledge. Some of the books have reoccur ring themes of LGBTQ+ and are deemed too sexually explicit for those reading them.

This year, Barnes and Noble at GC cre ated a display in their front window dis playing banned books in hopes of bringing awareness to this issue.

“I think we can all find a book where we have

some issue with it,” said Sophia Peterson, store manager at Barnes and Noble at GC. “Wheth er it’s the language or sexual things in a book, I think everybody has their own interpreta tion of a book and I don’t think its necessar ily right to ban them.”

Students at GC don’t agree with book ban ning and don’t expect it to happen at GC anytime soon. Many students agree that books should not be banned but left up to households to restrict it from their children.

“I feel like banning books goes against free dom of speech,” said Keith DeBrosse, sopho more mass communica tions major. “I feel like it’s not right to silence peo ple if it’s not hurting peo

ple. I think there is much worse stuff that doesn’t get banned. I think it’s silly to ban a kid’s book but I feel like you should leave it up to the parent.”

Book banning is a way to silence the cre ators of the world and this process isn’t taken lightly by GC students.

“I think it constricts creators and artists,” said Adrienne Cook, sophomore english ma jor. “It makes certain subjects’ taboo. I can’t think of any positive ef fects of banning books. It all reinforces nega tive stereotypes about ideas and opinions. It is overall too restrict ing to artistic integrity.”

Defense

“Personally, I believe that in any free country, there is a certain number of personal freedoms that we give up in the interest of safety,” sophomore Crim inal Justice major Ryan Brewer said.

Lamparello saw three options that are potential outcomes for what is to happen in the near future regard ing these social media platforms.

“For example, Elon Musk wanted to take over Twitter. If that happened, then you would see a much more ro bust public discourse, in which con servative opinions are welcome, liber al opinions are welcome, and you get the kind of exchange of ideas that is important to a democracy and to wel coming all different perspectives on an equal and fair basis,” Lamparello said.

Among all of this controver sy, it raises some concerns among college students here at GC.

Several students like the idea of these accounts being removed just on the ba sis that there are fewer fake accounts and robotic accounts whose sole pur pose is to spam users with information they do not need, or advertisements.

“I don’t think they’re necessarily an invasion of privacy, but I do like that they are removing them because

The effect of supply chain shortages

Jude Harvey Contributing Writer

Supply chain con cerns have been driven to the front of American politics since the pan demic. With COVID-19 inducing layoffs, as well as causing ports to close, many retailers are strug gling to keep products on their shelves. These supply chain issues have sparked a phenomenon that is only intensifying the problem. With a lack of supply, retailers are overordering products, only worsening the sit uation. One of the big gest issues facing Amer ican supply lines are the railroad companies, which transport materi als all over the country. More specifically, North America’s largest rail road company, BNSF.

BNSF workers are on the brink of strik

ing. A few months ago, the company adopted a new attendance system to ensure proper staffing during a period of low employment. This new system is at the heart of worker discontent. It works by giving rail workers a certain amount of points. These points are then deducted if work is missed, or a worker suddenly calls out. If a worker’s points fall too low, they can face pen alties, or even be fired.

Dennis Pierce, a rail union president, called it, “the worst and most egregious policy ever ad opted by any rail carrier.”

With this new policy, rail workers have lost points for not being at work due to being sick with COVID-19, suffering medical issues, or even going to a family funeral. The only way for a work

er to increase their total number of points is by agreeing to be on call for 14 days straight. This un fair policy caused the rail workers to plan a strike in order to improve their conditions. A strike that would have happened if not for a last-minute meeting by President Biden, and other ad ministration officials.

This meeting result ed in a deal, which, ac cording to The Wash ington Post, “includes a 24 percent pay increase by 2024- the largest for railroad workers in more than 4 decades - and new flexibility for workers to take time off when they are hospitalized or to attend routine doctor’s appointments without penalty.” However, some workers believe this deal is still not enough, as point-based attendance

policies might still be utilized. Unless the rail road workers and their employers can come to an agreement, a strike is still entirely possible. A strike of this size would cripple US transport infrastructure, and fur ther contribute to vari ous supply chain issues.

Seeing the current struggle of retailers now, can give some insight into just how drastic the effects of this strike would be. Recent sup ply chain issues have had several other effects on retailers than just leaving shelves empty. Forbes found that “con sumer prices are 5.4% higher than they were last year, close to a 30year high in inflation.” So not only are specific items becoming harder to find, they are more ex pensive as well. Among

I won’t have to see them. They can be annoying and frustrating,” said se nior Business major Maddy Monte.

Other students like the idea of these accounts being removed because they feel like it is an invasion of their privacy.

“In this situation, regardless, of what the end goal of these fake ac counts is, it feels like entrapment, as well as an invasion of privacy. I do like the removal of these accounts. All the fake accounts and bots make the overall social media experience much less enjoyable,” Brewer said.

The Department of Defense is not legally restricted from creating these fraudulent accounts, and social media platforms are not obligated to remove all accounts or none. However, we may see changes on this in the future.

“In this situation, regardless, of what the end goal of these fake ac counts is, it feels like entrapment, as well as an invasion of privacy. I do like the removal of these accounts. All the fake accounts and bots make the overall social media experience much less enjoyable,” Brewer said.

The Department of Defense is not legally restricted from creating these fraudulent accounts, and social media platforms are not obligated to remove all accounts or none. However, we may see changes on this in the future.

these more expensive items are essential prod ucts such as gasoline, chicken, and diapers. Gasoline specifically is not more expensive due to limited quantity, but rather more supply chain issues, as there is a shortage of drivers to transport the fuel. Other, more obscure items such as semiconductors are becoming more expen sive, and less available as well. Semiconduc tors are used in nearly everything containing electronics, from cars to phones. With America’s current dependence on electronics, a semicon ductor shortage would affect hundreds of differ ent industries. A strike of BNSF railroad workers would make these items even more expensive, and even less available.

While no consumer

wants higher prices and fewer goods, the rail road workers of BNSF do deserve better working conditions. Due to the new attendance policy, over 700 BNSF workers have quit, only worsen ing the load for those still employed. One of these people still employed is Jordan Boone, a 41-yearold BNSF rail worker. Boone has stated that

“The time away from family has a big impact on our mental health. I know people that have missed doctor’s appoint ments for months and months because of this policy.” While the effects of a strike will tempo rarily inconvenience consumers, it may be necessary to secure bet ter working conditions for those that help keep this country running.

Claire O’Neil | Art Director

Amrozowicz earns athlete of the week

Emily Henderson Contributing Writer

With GC soccer more than halfway done with their season, many of the soccer athletes have had time to show off all of the hard work that they put in during the off-season. One athlete in particular is sophomore midfielder Morgan Amrozowicz.

Amrozowicz Won her first ever title of Bob cat Athlete of the Week on September 20. The sophomore midfielder won this title after scor ing two goals during the week of September 1218, both of which helped secure GC with the win.

GC soccer played two important conference games the week of Sep tember 12-18. The first game GC played was against University of S.C. Beaufort, where Morgan snapped opposing goalie Alexis Bergamini’s fivegame scoreless streak after halftime. GC soc cer was back in action at home later that week playing Georgia South western. Amrozowicz Was able to score later in

the game to help secure the win for the bobcats.

“Her confidence has improved tremendously since last season,” said Junior defender Taylor Salvaggio, “She scored last year but this year she is scoring more and the

Amrozowicz said.“Com ing in as a freshman is obviously intimidating and so getting through with freshmen year made me more confi dent on and off the field.”

Amrozowicz took everything she gained

as a leader but upper classmen see this as well.

“Even just being a sophomore, Morgan is definitely one of the top leaders on the team,” said senior defender Haley Titus, “On the field she is confident on the ball and

tion of center midfielder puts Amrozowicz into a more central role on the field. Because of this, she has more of an op portunity to be involved in the ball movement.

“Morgan has stepped into a new role. She

main goal is to keep im proving to be able to perform to the best of their ability. College ath letes cannot spend all of their time on improving while also focusing on school, but Amrozowicz still sees her long sched ule as a way to improve.

“Having 6 a.m. prac tices and waking up at 4:45 a.m. is my motiva tion to continue at this level and even improve my game,” Amrozowicz said, “Waking up that early is hard no mat ter how much sleep I get so I might as well put in 110% effort at practice and leave the field feeling good about all the effort I put in.”

goals she has given us have won us games when we’re in tight positions.”

While Amrozowiczis only a sophomore, she has already seen her own personal growth since her freshman year.

“I think my confi dence has helped me im prove from last season,”

from her first season and was able to come back this season mentally and physically stronger.

Even though Amro zowicz is only a sopho more, she has stepped into a leadership role on and off the field this season. Not only do the underclassmen see her

composes those around her. Even as a senior I still look up to Morgan in many different ways.”

Her recent move from outside winger to cen ter midfielder also con tributes to the skill and leadership she has been able to display so far this season. The posi

was normally a winger but now she plays cen ter mid,” said sopho more defender Sydney Charles, “We are able to see her get the ball and switch the field. She is al ways constantly moving, which has been really helpful for her position.”

As an athlete, the

Amrozowicz’ hard work and dedication to GC soccer so far in her college career shows why she is a well deserving candidate for this title, with more to come in the future. Watch Mor gan Amrozowicz and the rest of the GC soc cer team back in ac tion at their next home game on October 12 to celebrate Senior Day.

GC tennis opens up against tough competition

Autumn Arnette Staff Writer

Tennis opened their season Friday, Sept. 23 at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Re gional tournament in Sumter, South Carolina.

The ITA three-day regional tournament featured all top play ers in both singles

and doubles brackets.

The GC women’s and men’s team only brought a select few sin gle and doubles pairings to compete in the ITA regional tournament.

Both Bobcat Tennis teams had highly suc cessful first days which advanced the teams suc cessfully into the second

day of the tournament.

The GC men’s team started out the second day with two single play ers and a double pairing.

Sophomore Gabri el Cizek dominated the first day of the tourna ment and continued to the second day un til the two-set matchup with the No. 16-seed.

The women’s tennis team advanced victori ously to day three. The Bobcats had two single players and a pair of dou bles teams still actively playing in the brack ets. One of the players leading the Bobcats to day three was sopho more Chiara Santoro.

“I would say the doubles performance with my partner So fia was great. We had a good run until we got eliminated by the first

seed,” Santoro said.

Both GC Tennis teams started their sea son on a successful and determined note. The fall season allows time for tremendous growth up until the spring sea son. The team is deter mined to produce a bet ter outcome this season.

“I know a lot of us re turning vividly remem ber how we felt ending the season last year,” said junior Ashton Morrison.

In the spring of 2022, the GC’s women’s tennis team finished with an overall record of 15-7. Their play in the Peach Belt Conference result ed in a record of 4-3 and their regional play earned them a record of 7-3.

The men’s team fin ished with an overall record of 6-10. Their

Peach Belt Conference

play resulted in a record of 1-5, and regionally, they finished out 1-3.

Fall training for both GC teams are at an alltime high intensity from last season’s results.

Training on court, in the gym, and on the track the players are deter mined to see progressed results this season.

“In the fall, a lot of conditioning is done so by the spring we are in the best shape to per form well all season,” said junior Sebastian Nunez. “By practicing our footwork and con sistency drills, it created good habits of hitting our shots mindfully.”

“This fall is an in tense grind, but the competition is what we live for, so grinding to wards one unison goal is really what keeps us

going,” Morrison said.

Coach Steve Barsby strives for consisten cy and precision from his players. During this fall season, drills re garding volley exercis es and baseline drills are expected from his players each practice.

“Coach Barsby has helped me tremendously with doubles but particu larly with consistency and at the net,” Santoro said.

With intense condi tioning and tournaments throughout this fall sea son, the GC tennis teams are projected to play aptly up to the spring season.

Both GC tennis teams are back in ac tion Sept.30-Oct.3 in the Mercer Gridiron Clas sic held in Macon, Ga.

Courtesy of GC Athletics

Braves make playoffs for fifth year in a row

Hayden Flinn Sports Editor

The Atlanta Braves have made the play offs for the fifth year in a row. They currently have a record of 100-59 and are first in the NL east, two games ahead of the New York Mets, who the Braves just swept in a three-game series this past weekend.

Despite the departure of Braves All-Star first baseman Freddie Free man, Atlanta has found a way to replace Free man’s bat and glove. The Braves signed all-star first baseman Matt Olson

to an 8-year deal worth $162 million. Olson has played his role stepping up big in the Braves’ most recent series versus the Mets where he hom ered in all three games.

The Braves’ success also comes from their core of young players that are signed to play for many years for the team. GM Alex Anthopoulos has signed stars Max Fried, Ronald Acuña Jr, Austin Riley, Kyle Wright, Ozzie Albies, Michael Harris, Vaughn Grissom, William Con treras and Matt Olson to multi-year contracts

and all will be play ing for the Braves for at least another three years.

“My favorite player was Freddie Freeman, before he left,” said soph omore environmental science major Sloan Freeman. “But now I think I would have to go with Austin Riley because he’s that good, and I used to play third base back in the days.”

The Braves have dom inated the NL East for the last five years. After a terrible couple of years rebuilding, Anthopou los turned the program around, making them

playoff contenders every year just like they were in the 90s and early 2000s.

The city of Atlanta as well as other cities around Georgia, including Milledgeville, are incred ibly proud of what the Braves have been doing the last couple of years.

“I’ve been a Braves fan ever since discovering baseball back in 2010,” said senior and Braves fan Jacob Revell. “Base ball is my favorite sport to watch and with all the games in a season, I watch anywhere from three to five games a week.

The Braves struggled

Hayden’s top four in college football

Hayden Flinn Sports Editor

Week five of col lege football is official ly wrapped up. With a couple of scares for some top ten teams, my per sonal rankings of the top four have changed.

At number one, I have Alabama once again. The Tide haven’t looked as dominant as they normally do. Af ter a one-point win over Texas in week two and a back-and-forth game against Arkansas. Ala bama has done enough to be back in the number one spot. Number one is

up for grabs as of now, there hasn’t been one team that looks like the clear-cut number one.

At number two, I have the Georgia Bull dogs. The Bulldogs have both the best win out of the top four, but they also have the worst win.

UGA started the season dominating through the first three games, but the last two weeks have not been kind to the Dawgs.

Despite beating Kent State by 17, that game was way closer than it needed to be for the at the time number one team in the country. Furthermore,

this past week the Dawgs trailed on the road to an unranked Missouri for three and a half quarters but were able to pull out the win. Their struggles with unranked oppo nents the past two weeks are what dropped them down to two for me.

At number three, I have Ohio State. The Buckeyes played a close game with Notre Dame to start the year but have been the most consistent team of the top three. Their strength of sched ule is the reason I’m keeping them at num ber three. The Buckeyes

have yet to have a test, but that will come with in the next two weeks.

At number four, I have Michigan. The Wolver ines have only had one game where they strug gled and that came in week four against Mary land. They took care of business this week against Big 10 foe Iowa, never trailing once the entire game. The Wolverines have a tremendous rush ing attack behind run ning back Blake Corum, but they haven’t played a tough enough oppo nent for them to jump anyone in the rankings.

to start the season, but in the end, they came through when it mat tered most, and are on the brink of clinching their division once again.

“With all the high ex pectations this season for the Braves, I feel relieved they made the playoffs,” Revell said. “I had a good feeling we were making the playoffs after our 14game win streak back in June and the sights have been on winning the di vision since. Having the chance to clinch the di vision after being 10.5 games back is an amazing feeling as a Braves fan, es

pecially when it comes at the expense of the Mets.”

The Braves will look to clinch the division with one more win in their final three-game se ries against the Marlins. If the Braves win one of these last three games, they would be the num ber two seed in the NL, and they would play the winner of the Wild Card Game between the Phil adelphia Phillies and the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Braves would have home field advantage in that best of five series.

Courtesy of the Atlanta Braves

Spotify adds audiobooks to library

Drew Oldham Contributing Writer

Spotify officially an nounced and implicated the addition of audio books to its already di verse library of digital media. At launch, the audiobook library will contain around 300,000 titles, a number that is only expected to in crease as this particular function of the applica tion grows in popularity.

The decision to add audiobooks will make them readily available to Spotify users on the plat

part of this application.

Aside from the ad dition of this paywall, all other aspects of the way consumers are able to interact with the me dia stays the same. This includes being able to download titles for offline listening, speed controls so one can listen at their optimal pace, and the presence of audiobooks within the application’s search function so one can look for specific ti tles they want to listen to.

Spotify is campaign ing to emerge as the one

desire to dominate all digital media markets, including audio services.

In relation to the ad dition of audiobooks as part of this effort, Spotify released a state ment saying that it is “committed to being the world’s most popular au dio streaming service”.

This recent develop ment stands to greatly impact people’s patterns of digital media con sumption, especially given Spotify’s remark able influence as it is the primary outlet through which many people con sume all different kinds of digital media. GC mass communications professor Chad Whittle believes that Spotify’s de cision to enter the audio book market could have a broad array of impacts on the digital media land scape, including the fact that it will introduce a whole new group of con sumers to audiobooks.

“Spotify is one of the most popular audio apps in the world,” said Whit tle. “The app is already popular for music and increasingly for podcasts, so while users are on the app searching for music and podcasts, many will discover audiobooks for possibly the first time.”

posed to the opportu nity to purchase them.

Whittle believes the addition of audiobooks to Spotify will certainly increase their consump tion among the general population, however, there is something that is intrinsically valuable to the reading of phys ically tangible media that will keep it around.

“I think no doubt more people will use audiobooks and enjoy listening to them, but I think reading books, whether it’s a paperback or on a Kindle device, is something that is never going to go away,” said Whittle. “Even among students I ask about reading digital copies over print, the majority of students prefer print over digital. It’s hard to beat the experience of reading a physical book.”

Despite the remark able practicality and enhanced integration of digital media into our daily lives, there is something irreplaceable about reading the phys ical form of something.

Trenholm Fahy, a sophomore psychology major, agrees with Whit tle’s claim that paperback media in many ways out matches digital media.

to truly pay attention.”

Other GC students appear to be more en ticed by the convenience that digital media offers, where one can listen to audiobooks while go ing about daily activi ties such as exercise or housekeeping activities.

form, however they must be purchased individu ally regardless of one’s subscription status on the app. This requisite to pay for individual titles is unique to audiobooks and is not employed in the music or podcast

stop shop for digital me dia in the postmodern era, a period which has seen unprecedented ad vancements in technol ogy in all facets of hu man existence. The audio streaming giant has been forthright about their

According to the CEO of Spotify Nic Zicher man, audiobooks cur rently make up 6-7% of the overall book market, a statistic that could cer tainly grow as a whole new and extensive group of consumers are ex

Cancel culture clap-back

William Van de Planque Asst. A&L Editor

A thesis reviewed by West Virginia Univer sity defines the recently coined term, cancel cul ture as a practice which involves publicly sham ing a person after they do something that is

considered offensive. The so-called cancel culture runs rampant in today’s society, spreading like wildfire among different social media platforms and affecting the media consumption and us age of college students.

The phenomenon pri marily affects celebrities,

especially musical artists.

Morgan Wallen acts as a topical example, who was featured saying a certain racial slur in a video posted on TMZ that went viral about a year and a half ago. The country artist received plenty of backlash fol lowing the incident.

“I’m sticking with paperback, I’ve done the whole audiobook thing and I just wind up not paying attention to what’s said after a while,” said Fahy. “When I’m reading a print version of a book, it forces me

Andrew Lackley, a sophomore at GC, celebrates a unique advantage of audio books, where one can passively consume lit erature while going about daily activities.

“With the simple ease of having a book be read

aloud to you through earbuds, I will definitely be listening to more au diobooks during workouts, driving, and daily activities,” said Lackley.

“However, that time at the end of the day to physically sit down and open a good book will still be important for me.”

Spotify’s move will almost certainly impact not only their viability as a company, but also on how people consume media, the effects of this decision are sure to be come more apparent over the next few months.

However, Wallen’s ca reer went on virtually unaffected and potential ly even boosted by the culture hits as his newly released album, “Dan gerous: The Double-Al bum”, logged a fresh 86 weeks in the Top 10 of Billboard’s 200 chart, ac cording to their website.

In terms of musicians and how they are per ceived by their audienc es, most recover fairly quickly from being can celed due to the natural increase in streams from the attention received.

Matt Meyer, a senior economics major, lis tens to Wallen’s music regularly and consid ers himself a big fan.

“I think I’m able to separate this thing he did from his music,” Mey er said when asked how he felt about the cause of Wallen’s cancellation.

The majority of me dia consumers seem to appreciate without let ting the outside lives of artists take away from it, especially col lege students. Lines are drawn for some when it comes to morality.

“I would say if they get canceled for something

that’s morally wrong, I would not keep up with them or follow them anymore,” said Emma Sheppard, a junior early childhood education ma jor. “If they’re just getting canceled because they’re speaking the truth, then I would continue sup porting them because those are the people that need the most support.”

While most instanc es of cancel culture are seen in social media and a mere loss of followers or ban from a platform, a wide spectrum of can cellations rose in recent decades, from hateful words to jeopardizing civilians’ physical safety.

Dr. Mikkel Chris tensen, a mass com munications professor, recalled an example from his home coun try of Denmark.

“There was a newspa per fifty years ago who posted cartoons of the prophet Muhammad, and you’re not supposed to do that in Islam. That was used politically by leaders in the Middle East to say ‘hey, see, they hate us’,” Christensen said. He described large protests that ensued af

ter the cartoons were posted and an assassi nation attempt on one of the cartoon artists.

The effects of can cel culture on people’s media usage and on line interactions are evident across all so cial media platforms. Christensen took no tice of this in his former students on Facebook.

They are “so much more careful about what they post,” Christensen said.

Christensen said he doesn’t know if it’s be cause they’ve heard the stories of cancel cul ture or they don’t want to provoke anyone.

Transitioning into adulthood in the age of social media and a world with the permanence of online communication conditions college stu dents to limit the shar ing of their lives online.

“Students just now have a better under standing that what they’re posting is not just for the moment and for their five closest friends,” Christensen said. “I do see them being a lot more careful about what they’re posting.”

Screenshot from Spotify app Since the launch, Spotify displays pop-up ads for its audiobooks.

Claire O’Neil | Art Director Spotify is widely popular among college students.

Every character in the original Little Mermaid movie was white, but Disney has confirmed that this remake will have a diverse cast. The main character, Ariel, will be played by an Af rican American actress.

“The storyline is still the same,” Mayweath er said. “We are playing these roles and were still telling the same story, but different types of people can see themselves in it. It doesn’t take anything away from the story to change the look of the character. The acting and storyline are important, not what they look like.”

Although many peo ple were excited about the diversity in this cast, some were angry that Ariel would be played by an actor that is a differ ent race than the cartoon character of Ariel. Critics went to social media to share this anger, and the hashtag #NotMyAriel be gan trending on Twitter.

Other users on Twitter started using the #MyAri el in order to voice their

support of Bailey. Bailey responded to the back lash with a statement in Variety magazine.

“I feel like I’m dream ing,” Bailey said. “And I’m just grateful. I don’t pay attention to the neg ativity; I just feel like this role is something bigger than me. And it’s going to be beautiful. I’m just so excited to be part of it.”

Even though there has been more racial diversi ty in Disney movies, there has not been a significant effort to include other forms of representation.

“I think it’s important for other identities to be shown,” Mayweather said. “How often do you see a main character be ing someone with mixed abilities? Or in a wheel chair? Or just different things that need to be highlighted so everyone can see themselves and not just certain people.”

Collin Zabroski, se nior mass communi cation major, is happy about the increasing amount of racial inclu sion in childrens films, but he wishes that there was more queer rep resentation in movies.

“If Disney came out with a movie with two guys or girls, I think it would be a good mov ie to show my kids one day,” Zabroski said. “It would normalize queer relationships more, and I think it would be a positive thing to show kids with gay parents. A lot of peo ple think that putting gay people in little kids movies isn’t appropri ate which is dumb be cause it’s the same as a boy and a girl kissing. It’s not a big deal and should be normalized.”

Disney is the biggest producer of children’s films, and the media children consume is very influential to their growing minds. There fore, it is important that Disney makes an effort to expose this vulnera ble audience to a variety of cultures and lifestyles.

“If art is an imitation of life then it needs to represent all life,” May weather said. “Every one needs to be able to see themselves. No one’s story should be left out if it really is a depiction of real life.”

DON’T WORRY ABOUT THE DRAMA, DARLING

Is bad press still good press?

Cale Strickland Staff Writer

“Don’t Worry Dar ling”, Olivia Wilde’s long-awaited sopho more film, was released on September 23. The movie’s cast includes Florence Pugh, Harry Styles, Chris Pine and other big-name actors, but the rumors of onset struggles and feuds made larger headlines than the film itself.

Drama emerged af ter Shia LaBeouf, the project’s initial co-lead, exited the film’s produc tion in September 2020. LaBeouf claims he left the project; Wilde, the film’s director, insists she fired LaBeouf due to his on-set aggression.

Following LaBeouf’s exit, Styles joined the film’s cast, as the pandemic prevent ed him from touring.

Soon thereafter, Wil de and her fiancé, actor Jason Sudeikis, split up. Rumors of Wilde and

Styles dating began cir cling during the film’s production. Many be lieve Wilde and Styles’s rumored romance sparked division be tween Wilde and Pugh.

Although the film’s first trailer was released in April, Pugh did not post about “Don’t Wor ry Darling” until Au gust. Further, Pugh did not acknowledge Wilde’s Instagram post prais ing her performance.

Pugh did not attend the film’s premiere at the Venice Film Festi val, but her co-stars set Twitter on fire. Styles appeared to spit on Pine, which launched an on line phenomenon jok ingly coined “SpitGate”.

On September 21, Wilde appeared on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” to re state her perspective on LaBeouf’s exit. She dis missed her rumored onset feud with Pugh and laughed off Styles’s in volvement in “SpitGate”.

Amanda Respess, mass communication professor at GC, indi cated the controversies surrounding the film might benefit its perfor mance at the box office.

“The old adage about no press is bad press is certainly true for some things,” Respess said.

“For ‘Don’t Worry Dar ling’, the ostensibly neg ative publicity in recent weeks has raised over all awareness about the film. A lot of people now know about this mov ie, its lead actors and when the film is com ing to theaters. I don’t think brand awareness for the film would be as high without all the press attention surrounding the supposed ‘scandals’.”

In spite of the film’s controversies and nega tive press, “Don’t Worry Darling” generated $30 million at the worldwide box office over its open ing weekend. The film is expected to outgross its $35 million budget.

Dr. Joanna Schwartz, GC marketing professor, identified our culture’s obsession with celebrities as a large reason for audi ences’ interest in the film.

“It resonates with au diences to find aspects of their favorite celeb rities that make them more human and re

latable,” Schwartz said. Respess is conflict ed with Wilde’s critics.

Although Hollywood’s dismissal of male film makers’ misbehavior fosters sexism, she wor ries about giving fe male filmmakers a pass.

“I think the media’s particular focus on Ol

ivia Wilde is, on the one hand, somewhat sex ist, given that some of the things she is being criticized for are no dif ferent than what male directors have done for decades,” Respess said.

“On the other hand, the ‘Me Too’ movement was about putting an end to

abusive behavior, so if we are going to call out men for inappropriate behavior, we should not have a double standard that allows women in power to get away with bad behavior either.”

Sydney Hendrix, se

nior mass communi cation major, believes

gossip and rumors of on-set struggles increase films’ public relevance.

However, in an effort to steer clear of poten tial spoilers, she has at tempted to avoid the “Don’t Worry Darling” drama as the cast’s bigname talents are enough to pique her interest.

“Hearing celebrity gossip around movie sets, if anything, makes me more aware of the movie, but it doesn’t nec essarily mean I am more likely to watch it,” Hen drix said. “I want to see ‘Don’t Worry Darling’ because of Harry Styles and Florence Pugh.”

The truth about having a dog in college

Hannah Adams Asst. Opinion Editor

When I decided to get a dog the summer after my freshman year, I had many people that thought it was a terrible idea. My parents, brother and a few friends tried to talk me out of it because they believed it was too much responsibility. At that time, I was working a decent amount and had also been struggling with my mental health.

I have always been tre mendously strong-willed and once my mind was made up; I knew a dog was what I needed.

I am not someone to jump into a situation without doing my due diligence, so I knew that I was prepared to take on the commitment of a dog. Growing up, my family always had dogs which allowed me the chance to learn how to train them from a young age. Given that I was in college and lacking in ex cessive free time, I made the choice to adopt a shelter dog that was eight months or older. Even tually I began looking at online adoption web sites and visiting shel ters to try and find the right companion for me.

It was not until I was searching on the web site Petfinder.com that I found a dog that I felt connected with. She was a rescued 8-month-old Lab Pitbull mix named Chloe that had been re

homed four times. Im mediately I fell in love with the pictures of her and contacted the then owner to set a meeting time. It was love at first sight for me and I knew that she was going to be my dog. That night I settled on the name for her that I felt suited her best, Indigo. For many, finding the perfect pet is a unique process to them and it seems that sometimes dogs really do find us sometimes. They teach us so much about gratitude and choosing a positive attitude on the day to day. In the blog written by an author named Kyle on bunnys buddies.org website, he expressed how having rescue dogs changed his perspective in life.

“I truly believe that animals have feelings and emotions. I can not imagine the things they’ve seen, felt, and had to endure. AND YET, they still wag their tails and embrace a new family as if nothing ever happened,” Kyle said. “Whenever I’m about to have a toxic thought or a complaint I find now that I quickly stop my self and just think of how insignificant this “prob lem” is. It’s pretty pow erful stuff and you’ll be surprised how your at titude, relationship, and life will change with just a simple perspective shift and seeing something through a different lens.”

Having an animal

in my life has changed how I feel about many scenarios. For example, although I am an intro verted person, I do not know that I would have felt comfortable living alone if I did not have Indigo. My junior year I made the decision to get a one-person studio apartment and having Indigo with me made the experience so much better. Her constant companionship and love for me has helped me get through some of the hardest times of my life. Indigo truly is a testament to the ben efits that having an an imal friend can do for mental health. In the HelpGuide.org article written by Kai Lundgren, Lawrence Robinson, and Robert Segal; the au thors express the known benefits of having pets.

“One of the reasons for these therapeutic ef fects is that pets fulfill the basic human need for touch,” said Lundgren et al. “Stroking, hugging, or otherwise touching a loving animal can rapid ly calm and soothe you when you’re stressed or anxious. The compan ionship of a pet can also ease loneliness, and most dogs are a great stimu lus for healthy exercise, which can substantial ly boost your mood and ease depression.”

This is not to say that having a pet is a com mitment for every young college student to take

on. It is a ton of respon sibility and an account ability to another living thing aside from your self. Now when I make decisions to go out or take a trip, I must take into consideration Indi go and her well-being.

Along with this there are the general medications and vet visits that should be an obligation to any pet owner that has to means to afford it. Given that I work, a portion of my money always goes to her and her needs.

In the Wet Nose Esca pades article “18 Reasons Why You Should NOT Get a Dog”, the organi zation lists a few of the primary financial obli gations of having a dog.

“Dogs are expensive! From dog food to annu al vet check-ups to flea meds, having a dog is not cheap. Sure, you can save a few bucks by buy ing cheap dog food and skipping vet visits but you’re essentially jeopar dizing your dog’s health (which will cost you even more in the long run),” said the Wet Nose Esca pades organization. “If you don’t have a steady income in addition to at least six months of emer gency savings, then you should work on building up your financial stabil ity before adding a de pendent into your life.”

Along with the finan cial obligations, having a dog can be an extremely stressful process. At the end of the day, training

a dog has truly been one of the most frustrating but rewarding things I have ever done. Indigo is hyperactive and crazy, always on the move and ready to play. She also was a rescue and has a past that I do not know the full story of. So, when I first got her, and she showed severe signs of anxiety around men I did not know what to do. It was not until she and I had truly established a relationship that I began to understand how to properly work with her and gain her trust. Af ter three years of being a dog owner I can safe ly say that Indigo and I have a mutual respect as well as an unbreak

Personality and psycological perspectives

Hannah Adams Asst. Opinion Editor

Although I am a Jour nalism major, the con cept of Psychology and personality types has al ways been thought pro voking to me. I love to come to an understand ing of the personality types of those around me especially in compar ison to my own. I find that certain personality tests are more relatable than others. With tests such as the 16 Person alities or Myers Briggs, or the Enneagram Test, I feel the most in con nection with my type results and descriptions.

The Myers Briggs test was the first personality assessment that I took where I identified with my outcomes. I also ad

mire this test because it gives thorough expla nations about your type and the traits you gen erally exhibit in certain situations. Each type consists of four letters choosing between I for introverted or E for Ex troverted, S for Sensing or N for Intuition, T for thinking or F for feeling and J for judging or P for perceiving. For example, my results are INTJ. Af ter getting the four letters you are then given the ti tle of your specific type as well as the group you fall in too. Each group consists of the various types that exhibit traits like one another. As an INTJ, my title is “The Ar chitect” and my group is “The Analysts”. There are three other personality types that fall under the group of Analysts. The

other groups are “the Diplomats, the Sentinels and the Explorers.” Each group has a general syn opsis of their typical be haviors. For instance, the official 16 Personalities website provides a de scription of the Analysts.

“These personality types embrace ratio nality and impartiality, excelling in intellectual debates and scientific or technological fields. They are fiercely independent, open-minded, strongwilled and imagina tive, approaching many things from a utilitarian perspective and being far more interested in what works than what satisfies everybody. These traits make Analysts excellent strategic thinkers, but also cause difficulties when it comes to social or romantic pursuits.”

For me these results could not be more spot on and reading them helped me come to cer tain understandings of myself. It made me feel self-aware in a way that I did not before. The website also allows par ticipants of their test to develop a profile for themselves that offers in sight into a large variety of possibilities. Some of these include strengths and weaknesses, roman tic relationships, parent hood, friendships and working performance.

As an INTJ my strengths are listed as be ing “rational, informed, independent, deter mined, curious and orig inal”. My weaknesses are being “arrogant, dismis sive of emotions, overly critical, combative and socially clueless”. In re lationships I am said to approach romance as a challenge and in friend ships I am very selective with who I open to. These traits are alike to those of my other favorite per sonality test, the Ennea gram. The Enneagram test is divided into nine different results, each number representing those who fall under cer tain traits. An example would be that I am a type five, which is The Inves tigator. According to the Truity website, type fives are known to display these overall behaviors.

“Fives seek under standing and knowledge and are more comfort able with data than other people. The biggest fear of the Type Five is being overwhelmed by their own needs or the needs of other people. Fives en joy deepening their un derstanding of the world, expanding their intellect, while minimizing their physical and relationship needs.”The key person ality qualities of a type five are: “appearing lost in thought or absent minded, being extremely difficult-to-crack, hav ing in-depth knowledge on specific subjects of interest, giving insight ful, well-thought-out re sponses, thinking exten sively before speaking, having clear boundaries between family, friends and work, being with drawn and extremely independent. These are all scarily relatable to me and coincide nicely with the results of my MBTI.

I find it so fascinating that an exam can iden tify so much about me and reveal things about myself I had not noticed before. In a way it is also comforting to know that there are others out there like me who potential ly struggle with some of the same things. It is also intriguing that the Myers Briggs and En neagram results seem relatable to one anoth

able bond that I would not trade for the world.

I do not and will not ever regret my decision to adopt Indigo. Having her has challenged me in so many ways and ultimately led to some serious maturity. So, if you feel that you have the money, time, and pa tience that it takes to own a dog, I think it is one of the most incredible ex periences for a young person to have. The most important thing to keep in mind is that your dog is dependent on you and relies on you to provide them a home where they feel safe, loved and pro tected. When they are in need or are afraid it is you that they will look to for security and protection.

er in many ways. In The Personality Junkie web site article “Myers Briggs / MBTI & Enneagram Correlations” writer Dr. A.J. Drenth offers speci fications of which Myers Briggs traits correlate with respective Ennea gram types. Dr. Drenth says that Enneagram 1 correlates with Judging types, Enneagram 2 with Feeling, Enneagram 3 with Thinking, Ennea gram 4 with INFP and INFJ types, Enneagram 5 with INTJ and INTP types, Enneagram 6 with Sensing, Enneagram 7 with Perceiving, Ennea gram 8 with ENTJ and ESTJ and Enneagram 9 with INFP and ISFP types. The idea that each person is unique and yet also generally falls into specific categories of per sonality types is captivat ing. In my opinion, being able to discover aspects of myself that come from a psychological perspec tive is comforting in a way. Knowing that my struggles are relatable to the other people in the world that are like me helps alleviate insecurity. It also helps me under stand the best ways to carry myself around oth er people. When I know the types of my friends or those that I encounter I can then understand in some way their per spectives and reasonings.

Courtesy of Hannah Adams

THE CUSTOMER IS NOT ALWAYS RIGHT

Abigayle Allen Opinion Editor

Black butter-stained apron, non-slip shoes and server book in hand; servers make their way from their cars into their desig nated places of work.

The whirlwind of cus tomer food service that has encompassed the last 6 years of my life has been nothing short of an ex hausting experience. Fol lowing in the footsteps of many family members, serving was the end-allbe-all college job that I was always somewhat ex cited about partaking in.

Perhaps I should’ve read the yelp reviews and horror stories posted on all forms of social media to better prepare myself for the line of work I was blindly walking into.

It is no secret that serving jobs are consid ered, by some, the fastest way to make easy money while also maintaining the everyday schedule of being a college student. However, this easy-tomake money has prov en to be not so easy.

“Know what you’re go ing to say before you get to the table” still lingers in the back of my brain – likely because “con trolling the flow of your table” has been drilled

into my mind from the countless managers and server trainers I have worked under. How ever, it is the nervous gibberish and sweaty palms that plague me most during my hours spent serving customers.

Not every table has proven difficult, and ac tually, most encounters I have with customers are very pleasant. In fact, I even have personal rela tionships built with many of the regular customers I have served over the years. Nevertheless, I still happen upon some ta bles that treat me almost less-than-human and consider me to be noth ing more than the “help”.

It is during these en counters that I find the treatment I have received to begin defining me as an individual, rather than just an employee.

After the COVID-19 pandemic, opinion columnist writing for Food&Wine, Khushbu Shah, says, “restaurants were faced with decimat ed wages....a tailspin of closures [and] reopen ing’s, and ever-chang ing guidelines, all while exposing workers to health risks’’. I can attest to the fact that while these struggles were ever present, it was the customer entitlement

A guide to GC

Abigayle Allen Opinion Editor

Welcome to GC!

Whether you are a fresh man, upperclassman or transfer – you might have found that your college experience is shaping out differently than you previously expected. You may not have pictured climbing hills or circling parking lots looking for a spot to park, just to show up sweating on your first day of class anyways.

Regardless, GC proves to be (in my humble opinion) one of the best schools Georgia has to offer, but with that, comes unexpected obsta cles. These are the things I have learned during my time spent at GC.

Do not drive to class.

As I am sure you no ticed upon move in day, GC has a major parking crisis. You are lucky to find a spot in your resi dential areas, much less on campus itself. GC offers the convivence of smaller class sizes that many students find helpful when complet ing their studies. Unfor tunately, with a smaller

university, comes less parking. Of course, there are commuter students with lots designated for these students specifical ly. There are also students that live off campus, with the luxury (if you’d like to call it that) of bus es that take you to and from campus. I found myself circling campus looking for a spot, only to be late to class any ways. Set your alarm, walk to class and ensure there are spots left for students that do not have the option of walking or provided transportation.

Let’s talk about the hills. With it being the mid point of the semester, I am sure you’ve noticed the hills that surround this campus. While GC is not very large in size, running up and down these hills to get to class or the other amenities on campus can leave stu dents out of breath and drenched in sweat upon arrival. Luckily, you won’t need a gym mem bership to get a good workout in. With that being said, showing up to class covered in sweat, smelling like BO or out

that seemed to outshine the already difficult working environment.

It is this entitlement matched with what cus tomers believe they are owed while dining out that causes such an issue in this industry. My fel low coworkers and I take turns swapping stories regarding bad tippers, abusive conversations and total disrespect that we encounter through out a shift. The pandemic and the absurd customer behavior accompanying it – disregard for safety protocols, name-calling, impatience regarding wait times and frus tration due to limited seating and menu op tions has finally begun to highlight the problem that many servers face.

It is my opinion that the slogan of “the cus tomer is always right” has seemed to spear head the movement of bad behavior from cus tomers. While servers work to awe and delight customers with every visit, we begin bend ing over backwards to meet their every need.

Many managers, in cluding my own, encour age servers to “always ac commodate the guests” no matter what the cost of doing so may be.

With this added

pressure of providing excellent customer ser vice regardless of the treatment we face from the customer, many of us begin internalizing abuse that should never be tolerated. This tactic of internalizing abuse to provide excellent ser vice leaves no boundar ies for these customers and further entices poor treatment to be placed on servers themselves.

I have been met with many encounters where customers demand items that are not on the menu, argue that they did not order the drink they have already finished and have blamed me for the wrong temperature of their steaks although I did not cook it. I have been labeled because of my skin color as “priv ileged” and have been told that I do not de

serve a tip because I am a “white, sorority girl”.

I can assure you that there are very few serv ers that work in this in dustry because they love customer service and do not care about making money. As for myself, maintaining a job while partaking in college classes has been a ma jor struggle for me over the past 4 years. I work to make ends meet and to relieve the burden of cost from my parents as much as possible.

I am under the im pression, now, that re gardless of how empa thetic of a person you may be, a server must learn their limits, and stay true to themselves. I am lucky to have man agers that fight for my well-being and person ally confront tables that cause issues. Unfortu

nately, this is not true for every establishment.

At this point in my service industry career, I would be satisfied to be treated with respect, even if it means a decline in tip wages. I think it should be out with “the customer is always right” and in with “please, just be nice. Even if you don’t tip me...just be nice”.

The issue that plagues the service industry will never be resolved with out the proper aware ness raised around it. I understand some serv ers are not meant for this industry, however, each of us are people. And no person should ever fear being treat ed less than human.

So, from a fellow server to the pub lic, “please, just be nice. Even if you don’t tip me...just be nice.”.

of breath can prove ut terly embarrassing. While this was a shock to me freshman year, I learned to wear breath able clothes, pack a stick of deodorant and make

When going through orientation when com mitting to GC, you learn all about the downtown scene and the safety procedures following it. If you were anything

Do not let this reputa tion scare you. You are allowed to set limits for yourself – this school can be whatever you want it to be! While the pres sures of having a social life seem all the rage as a freshman, that does not mean you have to partic ipate in going downtown. The pressures of class can be completely draining, and it is important to find a good routine and a balance between social interactions and suc ceeding in your courses. Trust your gut and do what feels best for you!

Make a med icine cabinet.

yourself with activities or just being exposed to a plethora of differ ent people with different germs, this is sadly just a part of college. Before the temperatures begin dropping, now is a great time to begin stockpiling cold medicine to combat the sickness before it hits you. Begin filling your cabinet with your typical sinus medications, Ad vil, or whatever your goto medications may be. This will save you the trip when the inevitable sick ness comes out to play.

sure to have my water bottle on hand to stay hy drated. However, you can take comfort in the fact that all students walking to class are in the same boat when it comes to sweating and breathless ness from marching up our mountainous hills.

You do not have to follow the rulebook when it comes to work ing hard vs. playing hard.

like me as a freshman, you tuned out the rules and heard only that you were allowed into bars at the age of 18. While this was exciting to me, I found out really quick ly that while the down town scene was popular among students, pro fessors took classes and grading really seriously and the reputation of go ing out proved daunting.

Regardless of what vaccinations you re ceive or probiotics you take – you will get sick, especially while living in the dorms. There are many rumors that this sickness has to do with the shared air vents run ning through your dorm rooms. While I am un sure of the facts behind this statement, it was proven true for myself and my friend’s freshman year of college. Whether this is from forming a new routine, exhausting

As you have come to find out, GC has many challenges that may come as a shock to you. However, learning to adapt to change is one of the best parts about college. Soon, everything will begin to feel normal to you. As a fourth-year student, these are the challenges I found most prevalent, and these are the tips I wish students would tell me before beginning my college journey. With change comes obstacles and it is with adapting to change that can make your GC experience so great!