SEPT. 22 - SEPT. 29, 2015 VOL. 83 | NO. 5

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Feeding the hungry

News | Page A4

Georgia State’s Panther Pantry offers free goods to students in need on campus.

“Heartless” for Kanye?

A&L | pages A5

Ain’t nobody messing with his clique, but Kanye West is fair game. Read our column over Kanye’s epic persona and career

Opinion A8

Freshman reciever Penny Hart turns heads as he begins his college career at Georgia State.

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www.georgiastatesignal.com/newsNEWS

Textbook costs

The USG and faculty members are working to offer affordable textbook

options to students

Textbook prices have been stack-ing up year after year, and it’s not because of inflation.

The cost jumped 1,041 percent from January 1977 to June 2015, while the nation’s prices inflated 308 per-cent, according NBC News’ analysis of the Bureau of Labor Statistics data. In the article, Nicole Allen, spokeswom-an for the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition, said textbook companies can raise prices since students have to buy the books.

The strain of paying for course ma-terials is felt by most students, regard-less of their course of study, since the average cost of textbooks is $1,225 for those attending a four-year in-state institution, according The College Board.

Erica Mullgrae, Georgia State nu-trition major, said she paid $500 this semester towards access cards for her four courses. But she also had to dish out money for her tuition and dorm payment.

“It stops me from doing other stuff, like [getting] the groceries I need and just paying for transportation and my other bills,” she said.

Mullgrae said she contacted the university about the programs it of-fers, such as the Perkins scholar-ship and the work study she quali-fied for, but they said they don’t have the money to help her.

“So it’s like every other thing that I try to access they are out of money. So it’s just like you are on your own to pay for these books,” she said.

Saving through faculty created

textsRisa Palm, senior vice president

for Academic Affairs and Provost at Georgia State, said teachers can help students avoid paying full price for textbooks by directing them to buy used books, rentals, earlier editions of the book or texts written by faculty members.

“In some courses, faculty have written the texts and the department makes these materials available direct-ly to students to avoid the costs of pub-lisher profits,” she said.

Lynee Gaillet, a Georgia State Eng-lish professor, worked with under-graduate and graduate students, while

being the director of the Lower Divi-sion Studies for English, to create the “First Year Guide to Writing.”

When making the book, she said the net price was $41.50 for two se-mesters, and the Georgia State book-store raised the price to $60.50.

“We’ve been looking at how to have textbooks to do two things. One: Be more affordable. And two: To be more local,” she said. “We worked with Fountainhead Press to get a re-ally good price [and] to negotiate down a price. And we use the same book for both semesters.”

Gaillet wanted to create a textbook with localized material that meets na-tional writing program guidelines.

“So often you get a textbook that has nothing to do with your commu-nity,” she said. “I also wanted to make it affordable to students.”

She said all proceeds will go to “further develop support for the teach-ers who teach those courses.”

Mullgrae said her professor also wrote her course’s textbook and only changed one page when updating it to the 2015 edition.

“I bought the old one, which was used, for like $50. So, I’m like with a page difference I will be ok,” she said. “She said, ‘It’s mandatory to have the book.’”

Buying the old book saved her $150, because she said the new one cost about $200.

College bookstores are managed by the University System institution’s Auxiliary Services or third party pro-viders manage school bookstores, ac-cording to Sonja Roberts, spokeswom-an for the University System of Geor-gia (USG).

“In the past few years, the great-est source of textbook cost reductions has been through bookstore textbook rental programs,” she said. “ALG is also helping bookstores to have soft-ware that allows them to offer a range of competitive purchasing choices to students through their websites.”

ALG projects students will save $9 million in academic year 2016 through OER and lower cost materi-als. The program also plans to expand to the top 100 undergraduate course next school year, Roberts said.

“A major focus has been the top 50 undergraduate courses,” she said. “Targeting these courses through eCore and grant programs helps not only to create a collection of affordable options that can be adopted across the System, but also ensures that resourc-es are going towards the courses that have the highest impact in terms of enrollment and in terms of textbook expenses as barriers to progression.”

The role of USG and faculty

Roberts said faculty members de-cide which books are selected for courses in college, along with the in-stitution’s policies.

Palm said the only time faculty members don’t pick their course’s text-books is when there are multiple sec-tions of introductory courses.

“In this case, a course coordinator works with faculty involved in teach-ing the course to select common text-books and other course materials used in all of the sections,” she said.

However, the Board of Regents has a new program aimed at getting stu-dents and faculty to use lower cost learning materials called Affordable Learning Georgia, which is a GALI-LEO initiative, Roberts said.

“GALILEO offers a wealth of re-sources for learning and research that are used in many courses at no cost to students,” she said. “Open Educational Resources (OER) are free learning re-sources developed by faculty for use in place of commercial textbooks.”

Susan Willey, a Georgia State pro-fessor at the College of Business, is replacing her BUSA 2106, Legal and Ethical Environment of Business $250 textbook with a free option through USG’s ALG grant to students, accord-ing to Roberts.

“These courses are projected by Dr. Willey to have more than 2,400 students enrolled in Academic Year 2016, resulting in a potential cost sav-ings of more than $600,000,” Roberts said.

Timothy Renick, vice Provost and vice president for Enrollment Man-agement & Student Success at Geor-gia State, said the university and USG have teamed up to foster faculty de-veloped low or no cost electronic text-books by giving funds to the cause.

“Such texts have been used in courses in psychology, biology and several other departments,” he said. “While such free texts are still rela-tively rare, we are working in collab-oration with other universities to try to develop additional materials of this sort.”

He also said faculty can put re-quired materials on reserve at the li-brary.

“We are very concerned about the rising costs of textbooks and the im-pact of these costs on our students, and we are working to increase low-cost options for a greater number of courses,” he said.

on the riseLAUREN BOOKER

News Editor

PHOTO BY RALPH HERNANDEZ THE SIGNALLike majority of students, Jonathan Sumner is feeling the rise of textbook costs drags him down.

Last year Hartsfield-Jackson At-lanta International Airport tal-lied more passengers than any

other airport in the world. Atlanta has retained its title as

the world’s busiest airport for anoth-er year with 96 million passengers in 2014, making a total of 17 consecutive years at the top, according to a report by the Airports Council International (ACI).

However, the region surrounding Hartsfield-Jackson has fallen behind in development compared to the rest of metro Atlanta. Spurring local city governments, such as Hapeville and College Park, and business organiza-tions who want to promote growth in the area by encouraging commerce, according to Creative Loafing (CL).

The airport’s surrounding areas

Betul Kara, an international neu-roscience masters student at Georgia State, flies through Hartsfield-Jackson when traveling back and forth from her home country, Turkey. She said when coming to Atlanta, she has never con-sidered spending time in the smaller surrounding cities.

“I’m not sure if it is safe. Since gen-erally airports are away from the city center,” she said.

Atlanta Aerotropolis Alliance (AAA), an organization aiming to create a economic district around the airport, is partnering with the At-lanta Regional Commission (ARC), a regional planning agency for the 10-county Atlanta region. They plan to create a blueprint set on improv-ing the area’s business, according to a spokesperson for the ARC.

Earlier this year, Porsche opened a $100 million headquarters in Atlanta just north of Hartsfield-Jackson, ac-cording to CL. The plant is home to 100 new jobs, according to AAA. And other corporations like Kroger have followed suit by constructing near the airport.

Kroger is developing a two-mil-lion-square-foot regional distribu-tion center at the former Fort Gillem Army Base, located slightly southeast of Porsche headquarters.

ARC spokesperson Jim Jaquish said it is critical that through their partnership with AAA, they examine the area and take inventory of what is in place, since the surrounding area incorporates several counties and var-ious cities.

The ARC and AAA are try-ing to help Atlanta’s various gov-ernments work together, though some communities may not see the payoffs for years.

“The big idea is to help everyone

in the long run,” the ARC spokesper-son said.

Stuart Gulley, a board member of the Airport West Community Im-provement District (CID) from Col-lege Park, said the organization aims to enhance security and community aesthetics, and believes the promotion of businesses could correlate to cul-tural growth.

He also said the impact Hartsfield-Jackson has on the surrounding com-munity is enormous due to the jobs it provides.

The world’s busiest airport em-ploys more than 63,000 people in the community, according to USA Today.

The epicenter of Atlanta’s culture

Ryan Gravel, the mind behind the Atlanta Beltline and creator of the consultancy firm Sixpitch said he doesn’t believe that just any business would have a direct influence on cul-tural life. For him, it is about the peo-ple and how they interact with the air-port.

“Businesses that harness or prompt that interaction contribute more to the life of the city,” he said. “Porsche is an excellent example because it lever-ages the unique opportunities of the airport to create something new and exciting for the city.”

Katie Trebendis, a Georgia State

alumni and Delta flight at-tendant, said the airport’s peak times were during the summer months when kids were out of school and peo-ple had more time for leisure travel.

“I can recall numerous days when the lines for security would stretch all the way back toward the MARTA sta-tion and back down the hallways, at one point even having to be routed through and wrapped around the bag-gage claim carousels,” she said.

Kara said she wouldn’t leave the airport’s area quickly if it’s sur-rounding cities had something more

notable to offer. “Something special for Atlanta.

A place I can buy something that is special here,” she said.

Gravel said the airport region needs to create a public interface that gives us a reason to go there, even if we don’t have an airplane ticket.

“We know we have this great por-tal to the world, but other than busi-ness, we have spent very little time ex-ploring its potential for cultural and social contributions,” he said.

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Fostering culture in the

Businesses set to develop Hartsfield-Jackson’s suroundings

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2015 A3NEWS

JOSEPH DOYAGUEStaff Reporter

world’s busiest airportAtlanta’s

Hartsfield-Jackson Airport

employsmore than

63,000people in the community

according to USA Today.

ILLUSTR

ATION

BY TAMM

Y HU

YNH

| THE SIG

NAL

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2015A4 NEWS

We have free

Student-run Panther Pantry gives meals to at-risk Georgia State Students

Homeless and hungry Georgia State students will be able to focus more on their studies

and less on food during the school year. The student-run Panther Pan-try is open for current Georgia State students to receive free food, no ques-tions asked.

The Pantry opened its doors in Georgia State’s Urban Life building in the former University Print Shop in spring 2015. Georgia State Student Assistance Coordinator Nicole John-son notices there are people who may live near a grocery store, but can’t af-ford to buy food, according to the AJC.

Diana Parker, Pantry representa-tive and Georgia State nutrition stu-dent, said after hearing a friend say she only had rice in her apartment, her eyes were opened to the need for a student food pantry.

“[Panther Pantry] was written as a business plan by nutrition graduate students,” Hopkins said. “They pro-posed this to the dean of students two years ago, and several months later they used the old printing office as the Pantry.

Currently, the Pantry is operated entirely by students from the Geor-gia State Nutrition Student Network (NSN). Parker, Lindsey Mikolaicik, and Sohee Ko are the Pantry repre-sentatives who manage the Pantry and register the students and contributors. Barbara Hopkins is the faculty advisor for the Panther Pantry, the Depart-ment of Nutrition and the NSN.

Georgia State is home to a food desert, or a low-income area more than a mile from healthy food. Fami-lies are using food pantries as an alter-nate long-term solution to food inse-curity, according to Feeding America.

A Georgia State sociology major, who wishes to remain anonymous, said she paid her tuition out of pocket, attends classes and lives with her large single-parent family. She plans to re-ceive assistance from the Pantry.

“The strain of buying food is start-ing to get overwhelming,” she said. “I help my mom take care of my siblings, and I won’t be stressed out in school if I don’t have to pay so much for me and my family.”

Alex Chambers, Georgia State computer science student, said having to balance school and work gets rocky at times, but believes the Pantry is a great idea and beneficial to students.

“It’s a struggle to pay my bills,” he said. “I can take care of myself, but there are others who probably can’t.”

Hopkins said students who re-ceive food don’t have to divulge fi-nancial aid information. She also said she hopes other organizations

on campus will lend support.“The Pantry was designed for at-

risk students facing financial difficul-ties and inadequate access to food. We also hope to receive referrals from fi-nancial aid and other campus organi-zations, hoping they will also give us leads on at-risk students,” she said.

Jeffrey Cheek, Georgia State sports administration graduate student, said he has no problem buying food, but sympathized with college students who do.

“Education is important but to succeed in the classroom you have to be able to eat well to stay awake in class and get good grades,” he said.

The Pantry averages at least four students per week utilizing their ser-vices, and the staff are bound by con-fidentiality.

“We don’t ask people’s names or majors, as long as their Panther ID is valid,” Parker said.

The Pantry Representatives said donations should be healthy, non-perishable and unexpired.

“We want the donations to create simple recipes and make the students aware of the nutritional value,” Sohee Ko said.

Darryl Holloman, Georgia State dean of students, said his office’s re-cent food contribution was also a part of a collaborative effort with Embark Georgia, a statewide initiative dedi-cated to increasing college access in underrepresented areas in Georgia.

“The message from our office is clear. We are here to support and ad-vocate for our students for successful retention and progression at Georgia State,” he said.

The Office of the Dean of Students plans on contributing in the future. Efforts to further and maintain the Pantry are currently underway, ac-cording to Holloman.

“First, we are developing ways that the program can be sustainable and

manageable over time. Second, work towards building resources both on-campus as well as off-campus. Third, find methods that help to stabilize the program so that it becomes a consis-tent component throughout our cam-pus culture,” Holloman said.

Hopkins said one contributor asked for canned goods as her birth-day gifts in order to donate to the Pan-try.

“There was a woman who heard about it, and instead of birthday gifts, she asked for non perishable foods,” she said.

Diana Parker explained where their inventory comes from, which includes various Georgia State depart-ments.

“We have had several food drives during the summer, and we have a continual supply of donations coming in from Georgia State faculty and oth-er metro Atlanta nutrition networks,” Parker said.

The Pantry representatives and their volunteers all believe help-ing their fellow Panthers in need is a worthy cause, which will also give them outside experience towards their fields.

“We’re getting real-world expe-rience. It’s valuable to interact with the contributors, students and other administrators involved in the pro-gram,” Parker said.

Parker said plans for future food drives are in the works.

“We don’t have any upcoming food drives yet, but we will have a campus-wide drive at some point during the 2015-2016 school year,” she said.

Food donations are accepted Tuesdays from 4-5:15 p.m. Students with valid Panther ID can receive do-nations Wednesdays 11-12:15 p.m.

“Who better to run a student pan-try than nutrition students?” Hop-kins said. “Because the food can be nutritious.”

CHARLES BAILEYStaff Reporter

“People think [college students] have all this money, but our money goes towards school.”

-Diana Parker Pantry representative

Food!18.7%

The Food

insecurity RATE Is

in Georgia(equals to 1,871,790 people)

16.1%of that total

is in Atlanta

(equals to 901,120 people)

Food donations can be dropped off at the Department of Nutrition on the eighth floor of Urban Life and will be delivered to Panther Pantry.

KANYEWEST

OR

ARTS & LIVINGwww.georgiastatesignal.com/artsandliving

Can you separate an artist from the persona?

KANYE WEST

KANYE WEST

PAGE DESIGN BY DARIAN MATHEWS | THE SIGNAL

Kanye West isn’t America’s sweet-heart. He is not Miss America, he is running no popularity contests. Read any popular media outlets and Kanye West easily takes the title for biggest jackass in popular music. However, I think Kanye West would not be the artist he is today without the media’s reaction to him, and I think he’s bet-ter for it.

West’s trilogy of “The College Dropout”, “Late Registration” and “Graduation” are some of the most successful modern hip-hop projects. His later works were features of them-selves. “808s & Heartbreak”, inspired by the death of his mother and the ending of his engagement, marks his turn from traditional rap to his own alternative style of heavy produc-tion and bold sampling. “My Beauti-ful Dark Twisted Fantasy” is, in my opinion, one of the best rap albums. His most recent work, “Yeezus” was a more intense reinvention and possibly his most abrasive project yet.

Kanye West reinvents himself all the time, but his abrasiveness is what costs him his reputation. And if it’s not apparent by his demeanor, he doesn’t care.

The rough beauty to Kanye West is his nerve, which fits wonderfully with his career as an artist. One of the main facets and identifiers to rap music is the swaggering boldness, the confi-dence. In “Dark Fantasy”, West raps “Me drown sorrow in that Diablo / Me found bravery in my bravado,” That line sums up the modus operandi of West’s work. Finding confidence by demanding it, liberating yourself by boosting your own ego, aggressively believing in everything you do is an act of empowered gall not many of us could do.

In no way shape or form am I con-doning some of the rather laughable things Kanye West has said. There is a hilarity to saying, “I am a proud non reader of books,”, a ludicrousy to saying, “I’m like a vessel, and God has chosen me to be the voice and the connector.” These are ridiculous things to say and have no actual merit. Comparing yourself to God is some-

thing you very rarely see people up-holding. If you listen to him, however, throughout the sound bites of insan-ity, Kanye West is very clearly explain-ing himself to the still perplexed me-dia.

During his long VMA’s speech, Kanye said, “I’m confident. I believe in myself… We’re not gonna control our kids with brands. We not gon-na teach low self-esteem and hate to our kids. We gonna teach our kids that they can be some-thing. We gonna teach our kids that they can stand up for theyself! We gonna teach our kids to believe in themselves.”

We as the audience seem to be so charmed by the starving artist routine. So the more successful an artist is, it’s always good PR for them to come off as grounded as possi-ble. So we like them more. Kanye West is not a starv-ing artist. He is not a rap-per on the corner pushing his mixtape. In my opinion, it only helps his work.

He is not rapping about being lovely and polite things. When you hear Yeezy spit, you know exactly who is talking. You can laugh and roll your eyes at his pompous sound-bites and still hear when he is say-ing something of note. You can be a smart artist and talk too much. You can have a giant ego and still make g re at art.

Kanye West is the Donald Trump of hip-hop. If his mouth is moving, you can bet good money something ridiculous will come out. If he’s rap-ping, you can be sure his braggadocio will go to infinity and beyond. West, more than any other rapper in the mainstream, seems to understand the art of dialing it up to 11.

Normally, this wouldn’t be an issue for me, but hip-hop is so thoroughly defined by its personalities. It’s im-possible to miss out on the latest salty gossip and the latest nonsensical twit-

ter war. If a mainstream rapper does something – anything – you’ll hear

about it. This has made it increas-ingly difficult to divorce artist’s public personas from their mu-sic. In the case of Kanye West, his persona strikes the nerves like a motorized cheese-grater.

Don’t misunderstand me; I’m aware that music, hip-hop especially, is partly defined by the personality of the art-ist. That’s fine, but when that personality is abrasive to the core, it’s hard to get invested in the music.

“I Am a God” may have been easier to take if images of West refusing to start his show because a handicapped fan wouldn’t stand up weren’t burned into my brain. I might have even tolerated the personal anecdotes of “Hold My Liquor” were it not for the memory of West’s disas-trous Grammy interruption. In short, I just can’t fall in love

with a guy who’s fallen in love with his own act.

There’s nothing w r o n g

with self-confidence, but with West, the lines between reality and fiction have been blurred into a drunken, hazy stupor of malignant narcissism.

Moreover, West’s talent as an actu-al rapper has been vastly overstated for years. Flow is the hallmark of count-less great rappers, and West’s flow isn’t exactly impressive. Compare West’s technical skills to any of the follow-ing: Nas, El-P, Freddie Gibbs and Rae-kwon. That list could on, but really it’s most instructive when comparing the two rappers on “Watch the Throne.” I’m not sure why Jay-Z wasted his time with that one, but there it is: an all-time-great carrying the weight of a mediocre talent straight to the top of the charts. There is no universe in which West’s technical skills as a rap-per come close to Jay-Z’s. Hearing the two go back and forth remains a bi-zarre experience to this day.

West isn’t all bad, though. He’s proven he’s a wizard at production, laying down some of mainstream hip-hop’s best sounding albums. Wheth-er it’s the powerful aesthetic of “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy,” or the lush, vibrant sounds of “Late Or-chestration,” West’s soundboard work is always interesting and usually of remarkable quality. Even 2014’s “Ye-ezus,” perhaps West’s most ambitious recording from a production stand-point, was just a flattering imitation of the sound that Death Grips had been making years earlier on records like “The Money Store.”

West’s earlier albums, while not at all in my frequent rotation, do show glimmering, fleeting moments of the artist that could have been – maybe even the artist that might be. Records like “Late Registration” and “The Col-lege Dropout” are nostalgic albums from an artist who once walked the same ground as you and me. Tracks like “We Don’t Care” and “Gold Dig-

ger” are standards - far and above better tracks than disastrous cuts like “Bound 2” and “Power.” These albums show an artist who was pushing boundaries, not an art-ist who had proclaimed himself a god.

I’m not alone in wanting this version of West to come back - check any message board on the internet. But for that fantasy to ever come true, West needs to come back down to planet earth. I’ll be waiting.

Kanye West is a controversial man. Any interview from him is an instant soundbite that circulates for weeks. With the recent reportings of his VMA’s speech, the hate and love relationship for Kanye West is at a head.

With many artists, the music speaks for itself. WIth Kanye West, the person and the music battle for the spotlight. Can you enjoy an artist’s music when their per-sona is so strong? You decide.

FORAGAINST

Written by: Sydney Cunningham

Written by: Alex Kugaczewski

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 20156 NEWS TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2015A6 ARTS & LIVING

Activist protest for change

Student activists are creating a revolutionary education cur-riculum on Georgia State’s cam-

pus. The Malcolm X Grassroots Move-ment, wants to impact the learning environment by building institutions that promote higher learning.

The Six Principles of MXGM

Dr. Makungu Akinyela, the na-tional organizer of MXGM, advises the Georgia State chapter. The organi-zation was founded in 1990. MXGM branched out from New Africans Peo-ple Organization to become a mass movement for the people.

“The Malcolm X Grassroots Movement is what’s called the mass association of New Africans Peo-ple Organization,” Akinyela said. “ We realized that all black peo-ple don’t necessarily want to belong to a very disciplined, very focused,

revolutionary organization.” MXGM focuses on a wide variety

of movements and it was designed to accommodate ordinary people that want to see change. The name “Grass-roots” describes everyday people.

“Grassroots, comes from Mal-colm X’s 1964 speech message to the grassroots,” Dr. Akinyela said. “Grass-roots were those ordinary every-day working class people who were wanting change for the condition of black people.”

The MXGM is united by six prin-ciples rooted in self-determination, human rights, reparations, anti-geno-cide, freedom of political imprison-ment, and gender equality.

“We are for the end of sexist op-pression, we believe that all of our people have a right to participate equally in society,” Akinyela said.

Malcolm X Grass-roots Movement As a student organization, MXGM

started in early August of the 2015 se-mester. They are a part of the larger

Atlanta chapter. MXGM steps up to be a voice for the students and the com-munity. The organization wants to spark an educational revolution where youth understands the importance of african history, politics, economics, and self substablity.

Seyoum Bey is the chair of com-munications, for MXGM’s on campus chapter. The young scholar activist is eager to spread his knowledge.

“We look to reach back within the community and build within the com-munity,” said Bey. “We consider our-self people-centered revolutionaries, and so that means whatever we do will always be reflective of what the people need.”

Hoping for a better future, the stu-dent activists advocate political edu-cation as a means to liberate the black community. “The fight for equality is never over,”said Bey. “ We need to hold our politicians accountable.”

“I consider myself a scholar ac-tivist, in which the things that I learn within my studies, I try to put into ac-tion by creating programs and ideas in terms of liberating people who are being oppressed, particularly black people.”

There are multiple activist orga-nizations on campus such as Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diversity, Black Student Alliance, Ambassador for Global Awareness and more.

Georgia State Alumni, Jonathan Ellis, describes the activist movement on campus as riveting. Ellis is a mem-ber of International Socialist Move-ment, and a supporter of MXGM.

“When I was here a few years ago, there wasn’t really any super black rad-ical organizations that were on cam-pus, so I felt like there was a gap and there needed to be multiple groups that’s doing everything on campus,” Ellis said.

Creating a new Education

The new curriculum that MXGM wants to implement focuses on poli-tics, African history, economics and trade skills such as organic farming. The goal is to provide youth with ap-plicable information that they can use

in the future. Education is an important factor

for liberation, MXGM calls for a new education system that requires stu-dents to apply more critical thinking.

“What it does is disempowers you, it [desensitizes] you because you don’t have any sense of of agency in your education,” Bey said. “We recognized that the American education system does not contribute to our success as much as it should.”

MXGM is currently working with active youth in West Atlanta. The collaborative program is called The Rising Scholars.

The Rising Scholars are engag-ing in organic farming, which teaches them how to grow organic food. The next step for MXGM is to step into the community to get people outside of campus involved.

Leila Abadir, is the MXGM orga-nizer, her goal is to see more people being active in community.

“We don’t want to just preach to the people on campus, like ‘this is what you should be doing,’” Aba-dir said. “We want to have [peo-ple] come out and be a part of our organization [and] actually start organizing themselves.”

Seeing the VisionWhat motivates MXGM stu-

dent activist is seeing a future where African Americans come together as a community.

“My motivation is seeing black people active both in the communi-ty and on campus,” Ellis said. “Any-thing people are active [about], es-pecially black people, helps grow the movement.”

The unity of MXGM is what makes it a diverse organization, mem-bers share the importance of revolu-tionary education. Thiver Thomas, is a member and supporter of the move-ment. What keeps him motivated is seeing others being active in their fu-ture success.

“Seeing that unity, taking it to the streets and seeing it be multifaceted,” Thomas said. “You should care about this organization because it’s about

you at the end of the day, your future.

Getting the word Out Last Thursday at 12:30 p.m.,

MXGM conducted a demonstration in library plaza to inform students about the organization.

“We want to speak to them on what our organization is about, the necessity for there to be a MXGM on campus, and additionally, we want to politically educate and let people know what’s going on,” Bey said.

MXGM does coordinate events with other student organizations such as Black Student Alliance. Stu-dents can contact MXGM through the Georgia State student organization da-tabase Orgsync.

By using propaganda, MXGM hopes to inform students and peo-ple within the community about their organization.

”We’ve been making a lot of noise on campus, I think one of the things that’s necessary is to form a coalition with other organizations on campus,” Bey said.

Activist Groups on Campus

-For more information on the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement email mxgmgsu@gmail.com

- Black Student Alliance, contact blacksa.gsu@gmail.com, The Black Stu-dent Alliance strives to provide a com-munity for black students looking to break down cultural barriers.

-Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diversity, breaks away from gender norms this organization sets out to create a free flowing supportive net-work for LGBT, contact president@gsualliance.com

- The International Socialist Organization, emphasizes equal-ity no matter race, sex or religion, contact,atlantaiso@gmail.com

FIGHTINGFOR THEFUTURE

CHANTE FOSTERSTAFF WRITER

Student activists in Atlanta advocate for equality in Unity Plaza on September 17, 2015 PHOTO BY BRITTANY GUERIN | THE SIGNAL

PHOTO BY BRITTANY GUERIN | THE SIGNAL

Clueless Gamer

Where The Hell Is The Ball?

The world is full of sports are-nas, sports bars and sport-lov-ing homes. Each of those plac-

es is stocked with painted, chanting people and those weird plastic tubes that are banged together. It is almost impossible for people who don’t

like sports to escape the clutches of a sports fanatic around game time. So, here are a few ways that someone who hates sports can survive a game surrounded by sports fans.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 20156 NEWSTUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2015 A7ARTS & LIVING

Before sitting down to watch a game, make sure you research a little bit about the sport so that you aren’t completely lost. It would be good to know a few key words (frequently

used terms or lingo). But if you need to kn know anything at all, for God’s sake know the team you’re cheering for.

As someone who has no love for sports, I will admit the fact that I only have one sports related shirt (I did not choose to buy it on my own); wearing sports merchandise doesn’t come sec-ond nature. So, if you’re invited to a

sports game and have nothing to wear the best color to wear is white. Almost every team has white in their color scheme. It’s quick, simple and not bi-ased. Lord knows the worst debate to get into is a sports team related one.

Keeping track of what is going on in a game when you have no insight into sports is hard to do. The best thing to do is follow the lead of some-one that’s really into the game.

Cheer when they cheer, “whoop” when they “whoop”, and cry when they cry. Don’t be the most clueless person there.

If you start to feel really uncom-fortable about not knowing what’s go-ing on, find a place to hang out away from the TV. Most of the time the best place will be the kitchen. It is the

one place where you can pretend to be busy. You can constantly be pick-ing things up, like the courteous guest you are, or you can avoid conversa-tion by constantly eating.

get informed

appropriate attire

Copy Someone

FInd a safe place

Trying to explain why you don’t like sports to a fan is hard, but get-ting out of watching a game is harder. Their attempt at getting you into the game is never ending. So here is a list of people you should try to avoid talk-ing to.

· The Know It All: This is the person who knows all the players, every play and isn’t afraid to let you know. Give this person one wrong an-swer and they will expose you as the fraud you are.

· The band wagoner: Although they shift from team-to-team these are the people that know everything about sports and are extremely pas-sionate. They will make sure that you look like a fool for not knowing any-thing just to make themselves feel

better about not being a real fan.· The Coach: This is some-

one who will be calling plays and yelling at players. They don’t actually have an impact on the game, but they don’t know that. They might ask you for your opinion but they really don’t care.

· The Trash Talker: The trash talker yells and uses foul language that will be forgiven on Monday morning. Their abusive style of celebrating can be pretty scary. Avoid them so you don’t have to be violently yelled at.

Being the clueless gamer at a sports event is a little nerve racking. Hopefully, next time you get stuck watching a game it’ll be easier.

GoodLuck !

NICHOLE PLACEAssociate A&L Editor

On stands Every Tuesday!

Find us during Plaza!

OPINIONwww.georgiastatesignal.com/opinions

The flooding

blockThe clash between ethics and law on Maddie Jackson’s block

As of me writing this article, residents of a suburban block near Turner Field wait apprehen-sively to find out if their houses will be torn down by city officials. As soon as the plans are reviewed by the city’s Office of Buildings, the residents will find out.

Creative Loafing reported on Sept. 14 that city officials plan to tear down the houses on a block between Atlanta Avenue and Or-mond Street to make way for a retention pond to keep the area from flooding and double as a park.

But many of the block’s resi-dents oppose the plan, since it would require them to sell their houses and relocate to different homes. As a response, the city is threatening eminent domain, a legal action that allows the city to claim the land for its own use.

The figurehead of the op-position is a 93-year-old wom-an named Maddie Jackson who sees no reason to move from her home, and has spoken openly about her reluctance to sell her house.

Residents have been offered sums of money by the Atlanta Department of Watershed Man-agement for their houses, per authorization, but Maddie Jack-

son and other residents still don’t want to move.

Watershed’s communica-tions direction Lillian Govus in-sists that anyone living within the block is susceptible to flood-ing, but those who disagree with the proposed demolition insist that it is unfair to relocate Jack-son and the other residents from their homes.

The problemIt’s easy to get caught up in

all the rhetoric surrounding the plan. It’s easy to either empathize with Maddie Jackson’s appeals or to sympathize with city officials’ concerns about flooding, but what’s missing in that is a good understanding of what’s really happening.

The issue is not “Look at this poor old woman, she’s going to lose her home.” If it was, it would be too easy to dismiss her, saying “What’s so bad about moving?”

The real issue is “How are all the residents on the block going to afford to move back into their own neighborhood?” And that question’s getting lost among all the other stuff.

The assumption is that Water-shed will compensate the block’s residents well enough that they can relocate close by, but ac-cording to an article by MyA-JC, the monetary compensation the city is offering residents is

“insultingly low.”According to Atlanta Progres-

sive News, Jackson hasn’t been able to find a house in the neigh-borhood for a price comparable to what the city offered her. And similar complaints have been voiced by other residents on the block.

That’s because areas around Jackson’s neighborhood are quickly gentrifying, according to the article. Gentrification, of course, makes things more ex-pensive and displaces low-in-come residents.

And that’s why the city’s ac-tions are unfair. They’re paying the residents the bare minimum amount that’s required by law, and taking their houses away from them.

It’s not news that eminent domain has been used to bul-ly residents out of their houses for reasons much less important than flooding. An article by CBS News says that eminent domain can be legally employed for a number of vague reasons, all of which may fall under the catego-ry of “the public good.”

A justification as vague as that might as well read “for any rea-son at all, as long as the city says it’s a good idea.”

According to that same CBS News article, cities have used eminent domain to force people off their land so private devel-opers can build structures with

higher property taxes.Similarly, it might be more

than a happy accident that, on top of seizing the land for the re-tention pond, the city could have the added benefit of not having to respond to lawsuits every time someone’s house floods on that block.

So, Maddie Jackson’s appeals are only one part of the story. However, I don’t mean to down-play them.

Her role in the opposition is to embody the connection the residents have to those homes and to remind city officials to be less hasty in their decision to uproot a life that has been living there for nearly a century.

The rhetoric Jackson’s daugh-ter employed was particularly cautionary: “If the city moves her, my mother will die.” While this may seem hyperbolic, there is an ardency to it, and it evokes a sense of weight to what would otherwise be a bureaucratic deci-sion on the part of city officials.

But, again, the fundamen-tal issue is that the city is giv-ing the residents a bum deal on their paid compensation, on top of forcing them to leave their homes.

While the city might like to think they’re being lenient giv-ing the residents time to sell their properties before threaten-ing eminent domain, and that the monetary compensation is

fair, the act is still inherently co-ercive, and the outcome does not look good for the residents.

A few SuggestionsGiven the fundamentally

threatening nature of imminent eminent domain, I strongly ob-ject to the city’s treatment of the residents of the city block. How-ever, the block’s flooding is an in-frastructural problem that does need to be dealt with.

I’m no civil engineer, but I would assume there would be a way to create a retention pond without destroying every single house on the block.

Perhaps it would be better for the city of Atlanta to pro-pose (not threaten) and compen-sate relocation only to those with homes affected by floods, espe-cially those who had sued for floods in the past.

That way, residents like Mad-die Jackson who don’t see any reason to move won’t have to, and residents who are affected by the floods will most likely agree to the generous and mutually beneficial offer from the city.

If the entire block does in-deed need to be destroyed, the responsibility rests doubly on the shoulders of city officials to make sure the residents are able to relocate to nearby residences, paying an actually fair price for their relocation.

JOHN MILLERColumnist

4 MEAT WAVEDELUSION MOON

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DERADOORIANTHE EXPANDING FLOWER PLANET

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3 KHAYDAKINGTRANZITION

Read how downtown residents are resisting the city’s plan to level their neighborhood

PHOTO BYGOOGLE MAPS

SPORTSwww.georgiastatesignal.com/sports

SENIOR J.J GREY REFLECTS ON GEORGIA STATE GOLF CAREER

JEREMY JOHNSONStaff Reporter

Jonathan ‘J.J.’ Grey is now in his fourth and final season with the Georgia State men’s golf

team and now finds himself wonder-ing where the time went as he pre-pares for the next step in his life.

Grey has been a huge part of the pro-gram since the day he arrived on campus in 2012 from Kent, England.

From the start he flashed the tremendous ability that Panthers’ nation has become ac-customed to as he was named a freshman All-American and was named Sun Belt Freshman of the year in 2012.

Now, that “new kid” from England is the “old man” on the team as he is two years older than every player on the team.

Grey, naturally, is being looked to for lead-ership from his young teammates and he is em-bracing leading, though he does it in a more qui-et and relaxed manner by leading by example and not so much with his vocals.

“I don’t want to say there’s pressure, but you kind of feel like you need to lead the team. But I’m two years older than the guy closest to me in age. I’m not really shoving anything down their throats. I’m just kind of trying to do my thing and hopefully it impacts them in a positive way,” Grey said.

Grey’s new role has him in an unfamiliar position at the end of his college career. He is leading a young team and honing his own skills while looking at life beyond golf and furthering his future in golf.

Grey reflects on his time with the Panthers.“It’s gone by so quick, these last three years.

Now there’s just one left until I’m kind of doing everything by myself. It’s kind of scary,” Grey said.

This is not unlike most senior college stu-dents. It’s common for college seniors to hit that stage of looking back at the good memories, the contemplation of the next move and the uncer-tainty of moving to the next big step in life.

As of now, Grey’s future plans look a lot like his current plans. Playing golf, and being very good at doing so.

Grey has his eyes set on a professional career in golf after college. His college resume certainly makes a case that this would be a feasible plan

moving for-ward.

It will be a long and winding road, but Grey is willing to do what is needed

to reach the eyes of the PGA Tour and one day go toe to toe with his idols Tiger

Woods and Justin Rose.“I’ll probably stay amateur until fall of 2016

and play amateur stuff during the summer. May-be try and get Walker Cup, that’s been a big aim of mine for a long time. Try and do well in the U.S. Amateur and British Amatuer tours. Maybe get some tour invites as an amateur. That would be huge and then see where that puts me after that summer,” Grey said.

Grey’s drive to reach the professional ranks comes from his love of the game. A love that runs in the Grey family and was passed down.

“I always had a fairly golf oriented family. My mom was really good. My grandad’s still re-ally good. My dad tries to play. My little sister went through a stage where she was really good. So I just kind of went with my parents to the golf course and got into it that way,” Grey said.

Grey’s mother was a very talented former player in her own right as she played interna-tionally and received scholarship offers to play college golf of her own in her early years.

Grey can remember being around his moth-er while she was playing golf even in the days before he was old enough to swing his own club.

“She got offered a scholarship to North Caro-lina State when she was 18. Didn’t take it. It was, you know a little more difficult to travel back then. But she’s shown me the ropes and a lot of things growing up. She’d take me to the golf course when I was still in a stroller and I guess something rubbed off,” Grey said.

Though golf is what he ended up playing, Grey can remember playing soccer as it is big in Europe. Ultimately, the talent he showed in golf, in addition to his family’s love of the game, pushed him from the sport that is synonymous with the part of the world he grew up in.

“That’s kind of every English kid’s kind of first sport I guess. I don’t really generalize, but it’s kind of the sport you play in school. It’s like the national sport so that’s always been a big part of me,” Grey said. “I was better at golf.”

Grey does still scratch his competitive itch with the game he once played as a kid by playing EA Sport’s FIFA video game with his teammates and oc-casionally getting on a field and playing a little soccer for fun and even a little basketball.

“FIFA is a big part of outside of golf. Playing FIFA. We’ve got some good guys on the team that are pretty de-cent at that. Just socializing, playing a little soccer every now and then. I like to try and play basketball but I’m not very good at it. So, I’ll leave the Americans to that,” Grey said.

Grey will go down as one of the best players to come through Georgia State’s golf program. The light at the end of his Pan-thers’ career is quickly ap-proaching and the bright lights of the PGA Tour may-be in his future.

But for now, Grey will be going one tournament at a time doing what he loves to do for a school that he has been a great player for over the last three seasons.

Grey’s last season is now in full swing and his next opportuni-ty to add to his resume will be Sept. 26-27 in the Sun Belt Conference Preview in Miramar, Florida.

Final Stage of Grey

72.62Career Score AverageAll Sun-Belt Conference First team 2012-2015

Freshman of the year 2014Fall Dean’s List 2012-2015

PHOTO BY RALPH HERNANDEZ THE SIGNALLike majority of students, Jonathan Sumner is feeling the rise of textbook costs drags him down.

Surely there was some anxiety and nerves in freshman wide receiver Pen-ny Hart when he began to realize the injuries to the wide out group began to pile-up. Hart knew his time to fill a bigger role was sooner than later.

“I knew I was going to have to step up some time this season, injuries happen that’s part of the game,” Hart said. “I was just making sure I was pre-pared when my number was called.”

Step up is exactly what Hart did when he caught 11 passes for 150 yards and two touchdowns in a win-ning effort against New Mexico State on Sept. 12. The freshmen was also was able to grab nine receptions for 128 yards against the Oregon Ducks. Hart also caught a 53 yard touch-down catch in the season opener against Charlotte.

A graduate of King’s Ridge Chris-tian High School in Buford, Geor-gia, Hart entered his senior campaign playing slot receiver, running back and a little bit of quarterback. In his fi-nal high school game he scored a total of seven touchdowns by himself while throwing for 162 yards.

In college, Hart’s athleticism would be put right to the test and it shined bright against New Mexico State. Get-ting the first win of the season was an exciting moment for the wide receiver and the rest of his teammates.

“It was great,” Hart said. “I was re-ally just doing it for all of our seniors and trying to start a new year. You know, trying to start a new year, with the past not being as successful as we want to be. We are going to be going uphill from here now on.”

Hart on his big performance

The receiver has put on stellar per-formances in just his first three college football games. Aggregating a total of 331 yards and 21 receptions. Hart gives a lot of his credit to the amount of film he studies and the coaches pre-paring him as much as possible.

“A lot of film work[s], just under-standing they ran a lot of cover 2 man, that left us [slot wide receivers] a lot of good looks in the open field,” Hart said. “So really, it was all coaching, be-ing able to put us in the right position to get out and make plays.”

Hart was asked does he ever have moments where he feels the oppo-nent across from him has no chance of stopping him.

“I try to approach the game as me being the best I can be,” Hart said. “Ei-ther way it goes it doesn’t matter who’s lined up against me, I have to do the best I can to make plays as best as possible... Like I said before it was all coaching. Coach Huard, Coach Jag-odzinski, Coach Miles, they put us in the best position and be able to work in space.”

Going from private high school to a division

one schoolHart has been on the receiving end

of finding the end-zone in each game thus far. Hart said it’s mind-boggling about production and the early suc-cess he has had. As of now, it’s safe to say his confidence is where he likes it to be.

“It feels good, for me coming straight out of high school my last game was against a single A private school and now I’m going to play Or-egon,” Hart said. “This is a big step, but I’m definitely prepared, God wouldn’t put me in the position if I wasn’t.”

Hart hauled in nine catches for 128 yards against the No. 12 Ducks.

Penny Hart among others Niyak-ki Height and Glenn Smith have had to step up, due to Donovan Harden’s injuries in the summer and Avery Sweeting. Hart was thrown into the fire, becoming one of the quarter-back’s (Nick Arbuckle) vital targets in the slot wide receiver position.

“Initially when I came in my goal wasn’t to necessarily be a starter or anything, it was just doing whatever these coaches told me,” Hart said. “I was just excited to be on this team, do-ing special teams and things like that.”

Hart steps up

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 20156 NEWSTUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2015 A11SPORTS

JARED OLIVERStaff Reporter

GEORGIA STATE ATHLETICS

PANTHER OF THE WEEK

Deidra BohannonVolleyBall

WOMEN’S SOCCERFriday, Sept. 25UL Monroe*GSU Soccer Complex7 p.m.

Sunday, Sept. 27UL Lafayette*GSU Soccer Complex1 p.m.

MEN’S SOCCERTuesday, Sept. 22Presbyterianat Clinton, S.C.6 p.m.

SPORTS CALENDAR

The volleyball outside-hitter was named a candidate for the se-nior CLASS (Celebrating Loyalty and Achieving for Staying in School) award. To be considered for the honor, the stu-dent must be a NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas: community, character, classroom and competition. In the classroom, Bo-hannon has been named to Georgia State’s Dean’s List and the Athletic Hon-or Roll multiple times and the Presi-dent’s List the 2014 Spring semester. On the court, Bohannon is Georgia State’s all-time scoring leader since the NCAA made scoring changes in 2008 and has been named to both the preseason and postseason all Sun-Belt conference for the past two seasons. In the community, Bohannon has helped educate college.

*CONFERENCE GAME

Penny Hart has stepped up beyond measures

PHOTO BY SIGNAL ARCHIVES THE SIGNALPanthers Wide Receiver, Penny Hart, shows to have a promising season coming off of the Panthers’ win over New Mexico State.

Wish you were here!