Vol. 79 No. 29

Dr. Randy Kamphaus, the Dean of the College of Education, will step down from the position eff ective June 30, 2012. He will remain on faculty as a tenured full professor of education.

University Provost Risa I. Palm said the college would seek to appoint an interim dean in the near future and then begin a national search for a permanent replacement. Palm announced the Dean’s decision in an email to faculty.

“Under Dean Kamphaus’ leadership, the college expanded its national profi le and community

partnerships and grew external funding to record levels. The College of Education has continued to rise in the U.S. News and World report rankings, moving up 15 spots since 2008,” Palm wrote.

Last year, the College of Education ranked fi rst in the state and eight in the nation in conferring doctoral degrees to African-American students. Also during Dean Kamphuas’ tenure, the college created a weekly speaker’s series, Research Wednesdays, that provides an opportunity for faculty and students to share their work.

Georgia State chose Dr. Kamphaus to lead the College of Education in 2007. Before coming to Georgia State, he worked for over twenty years in the education department at the University of Georgia, including three years as head of the

Will Hill rediscovers his passion Two broken bones, a torn ligament

and dislocated ankle from football during his senior year of high school kept him physically confi ned in his mother’s basement and emotionally confi ned in thoughts of self-doubt. His purple blackberry and a mellow beat sampling a Sade song helped to release his inner confi dence and reunite himself with his passion for music after a long hiatus.

VOlUME 79 | iSSUE 29 TUESDAY, April 17, 2012 WWW.GSUSiGNAl.COM

THE STUDENT NEWSpApEr OF GEOrGiA STATE UNiVErSiTY

SErViNG THE STUDENTS SiNCE 1933

THE SIGNALThe Signal: First of all, congratulations on the FBS announcement. That’s a big deal for Georgia State.

Becker: Thanks. I think so. Yeah, absolutely.

The Signal: What do you think our sta-tus as an FBS school says about Georgia State now?

Becker: ... I think it’s an important move for our athletic program ... I think it’s one of the opportunities to have teams that we’re going to play where for fans that want to go to those games, students and alumni and other fans, the competition is going to be nearer, near-

by, relative to what we had before. And their fans will come here, and I think it will create a more electric atmosphere in the Dome to have those fans there. So I think, overall, it’s a big win for the students, a big win for the alumni, as well as the right move for the athletic program.

The Signal: In terms of potential stu-dents, what sort of implications do you think that will have on the growth of the university?

Becker: Since we began the launch of football ... we’ve seen some big changes in the university ...

A chat with...

President Becker

ChriS ShattuCKnews editor

Dean of Education to step down

WEDHi 71

FRIHi 79

THURHi 80

US!Follow us!

❚ SpOrtS▲ Sun Belt Conference: A sport-by-sport look at the competition ahead

p. 18

❚ neWS▲ Car thefts down While overall car thefts are on track with last year’s numbers, thefts appear to going down

p. 3

❚ artS liVing&

❚ www.gsusignal.com ❚

King of the HillKing of the Hill

Full story p. 9

▲ Catlanta: Georgia State alum and graffi tti artist hides cats all over Atlanta--just for you to fi nd. Read the method to his madness

p. 10

graham rOBSOn | the Signal

Last week, The Signal sat down with President Becker to discuss the most important issues for next year.

DAILY ONLINE EXCLUSIVES AND EVENT COVERAGE

▲ movie and music reviews:M. Ward, N.O.E. and Rascal Flatts; Also, smaller scale fi lms like L!fe Happens and Lockout take on multiplexes

p. 12 & 13

PreSident Becker

Brian CrOWeStaff Writer

“Dean of education” continued p. 5

kamPhauS

Earning their stripes

Men s̓ and women s̓ tennis fi nd their stride before conference championships

Full story p. 17

“Becker” continued p. 3

Earning their Earning their Earning

stripes

Men s̓ and women s̓ tennis fi nd their stride before conference championships

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In January 2009, you walk across the Georgia State campus, you were as equal-ly likely to see a Georgia Tech, UGA, Emory or any other university’s t-shirt as a Georgia State t-shirt, whereas today when you walk across campus you see a lot of Georgia State blue and white. I think that’s been a big move. I think the move up to FBS, where we’re going to get more atten-tion, we’ll get more media coverage, there’s going to be greater interest in our recruit-ing class, there’ll be more television cover-age. This conference comes with a televi-sion contract.

I think for students that care about that as part of their college experience, I think it’s another draw for us.

The Signal: How do you use that national spotlight that we now have to the school’s advantage?

Becker: Well, real simple. The more time that our name gets repeated out there, the more the people know about us. And, say for yourself, you’ll graduate someday, you’ll go out in the world of work ...

The Signal: Now, I have to ask, when do you think we can see a match up with ei-ther the University of Georgia or Georgia Tech?

Becker: That’s not really something I’ve thought long or hard about, meaning the schedule is not actually done by the presi-dent. You know, we played Alabama a year ago. This year we’re playing Tennessee. So clearly we’ll play the big boys, as you might

call them ... I certainly expect it’ll to hap-pen ...

The Signal: You recently travelled to China with Mayor Kasim Reed. How was it?

Becker: Well, it was good. I’ve actually been, since 2004, to China, a number of times. I’ve negotiated a number of agree-ments on behalf of this university as well as my prior institution, the University of South Carolina ...

The reason for going to this trip was to get an on-the-ground look at how Atlanta in particular is doing economic development in China. This was the mayor’s first trip, so it was good to get in on the ground and see the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, the people that organized the trip. It was good to be there and how see the chamber of commerce, working with the city, can work with the university. We have these resources, the expertise and the faculty, as well as opportunities for the students, per-haps as internships or whatever.

It’s one of those opportunities where Georgia State faculty and students, through partnerships with the city and with cham-ber of commerce, can benefit our region lo-cally, so there are people wanted for their experience.

The Signal: What’s something specifically we can expect for next year?

Becker: What we’ve done this year is put in place a number of programs to improve student success. So we’re rolling out and actually looking at how student advising is done, so the student advising improves to be much more proactive to benefit stu-dents ...We’ve had a number of major announce-

ment this year – five million dollar award from the Goizueta Foundation for our Latino leaders program; over a million dol-lars awarded from the Coca-Cola founda-tion with a bulk of that money going to help financial support for first generation stu-dents, meaning students who are the first in their family to go to college ... Everybody knows that going to college is not cheap. It takes money and there’re certainly lots of unmet need among the students, so we’re doing everything we can to help with the rest of those issues.

The Signal: We’re going to be approach-ing out 100th year anniversary. Do we have anything planned for that?

Becker: There’s a committee working on that right now ... You can expect that 2013 will be a year of celebration. There will be events throughout the year marking the event.

The Signal: With record numbers of peo-ple applying, how is the university respond-ing to that challenge and opportunity?

Becker: Well, I don’t know if you noticed but Classroom South was expanded last year. So we actually built the classroom expansion so that we would have enough seats for the coming growth in enrollment. We’ve opened, since 2009, three residence halls, two dining halls and Greek housing ... And we’re adding faculty. We’re hiring more faculty because we have more stu-dents. Basically trying to make sure that we have people and the infrastructure to sup-port the students that we have.

The Signal: And, finally, where do you see Georgia State 10 years from now?

Becker: Well, we’ll still be in Atlanta. [Laughter] ... I think we’ll be bigger. Almost certainly the buzz about Georgia State con-tinues to grow, so the number of students wanting to come to Georgia State will in-crease. So we’ll be bigger, and I think we’ll be better...

In ten years from now, you’ll see some dif-ferent majors, but you’ll see a bigger uni-versity, you’ll see a better university and I think you’ll see an innovative university. You’ll see more technology in education too.

NEWSwww.gsusignal.com/news

Reports of motor vehicle theft at Georgia State decreased over the last year, which follows a five-year general trend of less car theft.

In the past school year, police recovered three of six reported car thefts, which matches last years’ re-sults. However, these numbers reflect an 80 percent decrease from 2009, the peak in the five-year span at 30 reports.

Despite the trend, Georgia State police say stu-dents should remain alert and careful of where they park their cars.

“While most of these incidents occurred on off -campus locations, there are no specific areas that are particularly problematic,” University Police Officer Nicolay Hammond said.

Though reports of motor vehicle thefts and at-tempted thefts have not decreased from last year, Georgia State Police actively patrols parking lots and decks that are operated by the university.

In the last year, five of the six stolen vehicles were parked on the streets or in off-campus lots and garages.

“So far, in 2012, there were three reports of theft and attempted theft of motor vehicles,” Hammond said. “All vehicles were recovered.”

Hammond said that, according to state law and local ordinances, it is against the law for anyone to loiter in a parking lot where they do not have a vehi-cle parked. In order to help prevent such crimes, the University Police have a unit that focuses on prop-erty security and personal safety as well as training programs in order to ensure they are informed in trends in crime prevention.

University Police offer a number of programs de-signed to educate students about criminal activity and how to respond if they become a victim. These include a safety escort service, crime prevention pro-grams and safety tips.

While there is a unit to assist students and inform them on how to be safe on campus, Hammond offers her own advice. Hammond says students should park in lots where there is an attendant on site or in areas that are in the public’s view and well lit.

“To prevent vehicle theft, lock all windows and doors. Never leave personal items in plain sight, don’t leave vehicles on and unattended, and consid-er installing an anti-theft device such as an audible alarm or steering wheel lock.”

Car thefts down since 2009, same as last yearChateaux-Capri SirmanSStaff Writer

Patrick duffy | the SignalPresident Mark Becker sat down for an interview with The Signal last Thursday.

President Becker interviewContinued from page 1

Fire extinguisher servicing still in the worksBrian CrOWeStaff Writer

The university has made significant progress in its efforts to replace expired extinguishers on campus, most of which were expired at the end of last year.

Expired fire extinguishers can still be found on campus, but university officials expect all of them to be up-to-date by early summer.

“We have come a long ways with the servicing of fire extinguishers on the downtown campus. If I had to project a date for completion of fire extinguisher compliance, I would say we should be complete by the end of June 2012,” said Jennifer McWhorter, Georgia State’s fire

safety officer.McWhorter estimates that there are

approximately eleven buildings scat-tered across the downtown campus that are still in need of fire extinguisher ser-vice. The company performing the work, West Georgia Fire Extinguisher Inc., is currently servicing the extinguishers in the parking decks. Fire extinguisher ser-vicing there is scheduled to be finished by today.

The Signal reported in January that approximately 25 percent of the fire ex-tinguishers on campus then were still expired, according to McWhorter’s es-timate. As of last Thursday, more than 2,300 fire extinguishers have been ser-viced, according to McWhorter.

“We have serviced 90 percent of the fire extinguishers on [the] downtown campus,” McWhorter said.

On a large campus like Georgia State’s, however, there really is no such as thing as finished when it comes to fa-cility safety maintenance, according to McWhorter.

“This has been a monumental project seeking to achieve fire extinguisher com-pliance,” McWhorter said.

“Once all buildings are completely up to date, the next service cycle will need to start sometime in July or August of 2012, starting with the housing build-ings, followed by the science buildings and continuing around campus for the annual fire extinguisher inspection.”

By the numbers 2011 - 2012

- Six stolen vehicles

2010 - 2011- Six stolen vehicles

2009 - 2010- 15 stolen vehicles

2008 - 2009- 30 stolen vehicles

2007 - 2008 - 20 stolen vehicles

For full interview, visit www.gsusignal.com/news

TUESDAY, April 17, 2012 04 NEWS | THE SIGNAL

april 12university CommonsOfficers arrested a GSU student for Possession of an Ounce or Less of Marijuana. At 10:30 p.m. officers were advised of an odor of marijuana. When officers arrived they made contact with a GSU student and her guest. The GSU student confirmed she was smoking marijuana. The Non-GSU individual was issued a C.T.W. and was escorted off campus without incident. The GSU student was arrested, processed and released on a Copy of Charges. Classroom SouthOfficers issued a Non-GSU individual a Criminal Trespass Warning. At 9:55 a.m. officers observed the individual sleeping in the building and confirmed he was Non-GSU and had no reason to be in the building. He was issued a C.T.W. and was escorted off campus without incident. turner Field parking lotA report was filed for Duty upon Striking an Unattended Vehicle. The complainant, a GSU student stated, at 1:45 p.m. he noticed his rear bumper was damaged. The case is being handled by Investigations. Student CenterA report was filed for Theft. The complainant a GSU staff member stated, at 10:30 p.m. she noticed a laptop computer was missing. The case is being handled by Investigations. turner Field parking lotA report was filed for Duty upon Striking an Unattended Vehicle. The complainant, a GSU student stated, at 7:15 p.m. he noticed his front bumper was knocked completely off the track. The case is being handled by Investigations.

april 11Officers arrested a Non-GSU individual in reference [to previous cases involving two counts of theft and one count of fraud.] On 04/10/12 at 10:30 p.m. officers observed an individual that fit the description of a prior B.O.L.O. When officers attempted to make contact with the individual he attempted to flee. Officers confirmed the identity of the suspect and he was arrested, processed and transported to Fulton County Jail.

Off CampusA report was filed for Harassment. The complainant, a GSU student stated, on 08/11/11 at 7:00 p.m. she began being harassed by another GSU student. The case is being handled by Investigations.

Dahlberg hallOfficers issued a Non-GSU individual a Criminal Trespass Warning. At 6:10 a.m. officers were advised a suspicious person was in the building. Officers

april 10arts & humanitiesOfficers arrested a GSU student for Disorderly Conduct and Obstruction of Police. At 12:27 p.m. officers were advised the individual entered multiple classrooms disrupting the classes. When officers made contact with the individual he was uncooperative and was physically combative with officers. He was arrested, processed and transported to Fulton County Jail. language research CenterA report was filed for Damage to Property. The complainant, a GSU staff member stated, at 2:02 p.m. he observed an individual strike the exit gate with her vehicle causing damage. The case is being handled by Investigations. university CommonsA report was filed for Theft of Lost or Mislaid Property. The complainant, a GSU student stated, on 04/04/12 at 12:30 p.m. she noticed money was missing from her bag that she had left unattended. The case is being handled by Investigations.

With continuing efforts underway to transform it into the Downtown destination for healthy activity, Woodruff Park is undergoing some highly anticipated improvements, in-cluding the summer installation of a new playground.

In partnership with Landscape Structures Inc., Central Atlanta Progress (CAP) has unveiled the de-sign for the new playground, which mimics the letters “ATL” and features climbing walls, monkey bars and two differently sized slides.

“Landscape Structures is dedicat-ed to creating innovative play areas,” said Pat Faust, president of Landscape Structures. “The playground is a work of art, but it gives the children of Atlanta infinite ways to interact with the sculpture.”

During the installation of the new playground, visitors of Woodruff Park can expect the lawn area to remain closed at least through early June.

“The playground installation will only impact the lawn area of the Park, which is currently closed for restora-tion,” said Dave Wardell, vice presi-dent of operations and public safe-ty for Central Atlanta Progress, Inc. and Atlanta Downtown Improvement District, Inc. “We anticipate the play-ground and lawn opening to be no later than mid-June, though an exact date has not yet been determined.”

And by early July, developers ex-pect the park to be open, according to Wardell.

“The playground hours will coin-cide with Woodruff Park’s hours, 6:00 a.m. - 11:00 p.m. daily [but] we may adjust the times as needed,” Wardell said.

Some students like Shantia Redd, a senior Birth to Five education major, support the installation of a new play-

ground at Woodruff Park but worry about safety concerns.

“I think a playground in Woodruff is a great idea. It speaks volumes as to how Atlanta values the health of its kids and a sense of family in the community,” Redd said. “However, there is a lot of traffic in Woodruff Park and urban areas in general that may raise questions of safety and se-curity. I’d like to see some strategies of protection in place, especially now that children will be in the park more frequently.”

For those who might share Redd’s sentiments, according to Wardell, is-sues of safety and security will not go unaddressed and measures to in-crease and maintain safety will be in place.

“There will be specific rules for the use of the playground, one of which being all children must be su-pervised and adults without children are not permitted.”

“The playground will also be non-smoking within an area; we are work-ing with the Park’s Department right now to establish those boundaries,” Wardell said. “The area will be well-lit

and monitored by our Park Attendant and Downtown Ambassador Force.”

Stacey French-Lee, program di-rector of Georgia State’s own Child Development Program, also supports the playground instillation.

“I believe that Woodruff Park is an excellent location for a playground,” French-Lee said.

“Children who live in urban ar-eas should have access to public parks where they can play.”

French-Lee also believes that con-cerns of safety should not necessarily be limited to any specific area but in-stead should be an important issue of focus whenever children are involved.

“Safety and security are areas that families should concern themselves with regardless of where a play-ground is located and of course chil-dren should always be supervised by sight at all times at Woodruff Park as well as parks in suburban areas,” French-Lee said.

And though the children at Georgia State’s Child Development Centers may not get to visit the new play-ground while at the centers, French-Lee says that they themselves are no strangers to urban-style play.

Overall, the new playground, as well as other improvements to Woodruff Park such as the Recreation and Reading Room, the recently in-stalled music system, and other new amenities like exercise and recreation equipment are being implemented in hopes of making this park in the cen-ter of the city a place for public enjoy-ment and recreation.

Additionally, the playground will have a positive effect on the Georgia State community, as well, according to Wardell.

“The playground will have a very positive impact on the Georgia State University community by providing a fun and unique play structure for fam-ilies to enjoy.”

Woodruff Park to get new playgroundSamaria SmithStaff Writer

“It speaks volumes as to how Atlanta values the health of its kids and a sense of family in the community.”

Each leaving executive board mem-ber addressed the Senate of the Student Government Association last Thursday for their final officer reports and goodbyes.

“Hey, look guys. This is my last one. Forever,” said James Dutton, SGA presi-dent, during his final President’s Minute.

“I’ve learned so much and this has been an awesome experience, but if not for the people that we work with… we could not have accomplished anything,” Dutton said. “There’s still issues around campus, but look at what we have been able to do.”

Dutton then listed changes like “24-hour study hall,” personal graduation ceremonies and the campus readership program, which offers free daily copies of USA Today and The New York Times, as evidence of the SGA’s involvement on campus.

Other executive board members took their time to say goodbye and those like Marcus Kernizan, president-elect, dis-cussed their roles in the organization for next year.

SGA to sponsor finals study session

Members of the Student Government Association at Georgia State University announced last Thursday the finalized hours for their late-night study hall for the week of finals and encouraged members to attend.

Grace Lee, the SGA’s vice president of Student Services, said the popular pro-gram would again be held in the Freshman Dining Hall and would offer two addition-al nights from last year, bringing the total number of study nights up to six.

Police will also be available to escort students to freshman hall from Library North when it closes at 2 a.m., two hours later than the library is normally open.

Freshman Dining Hall will be open from 12 to five a.m. on April 17-19 and April 24-26.

Over 1,300 students utilized the after-hours study session last semester, despite the fact that organizers only finalized the program a mere two weeks before opening.

The hall will offer a version of the Library’s fifth floor quiet section in a des-ignated glass-enclosed area.

The university Office of the Provost’s support for the program was the force necessary for securing the two additional days from last year, Lee said.

SGA welcomes new officers

--Shantia Redd, Birth to Five education major

Georgia State’s Rialto Center for the Arts will sponsor a special forum tomorrow fo-cusing on poverty in America, hosted by CNN’s Dialogues program and others.

The program is entitled “Today’s Other America: Living in Poverty” and will fea-ture a panel-style presentation featuring fac-tors contributing in general to poverty and homelessness, moderated by CNN’s busi-ness correspondent Poppy Harlow.

The forum aims to diagnose causes for the growing homeless population, how this is changing our community and how to stop the trend, according to a press release.

The forum celebrates the 50th anniver-sary of Michael Harrington’s landmark ex-pose on the homeless problem, “The Other America,” and is also sponsored by the National Center for Civil and Human Rights and Emory University’s James Weldon Johnson Institute for the Study of Race,

The forum will feature discussions and a debate from an panel of experts and re-searchers from across the country, includ-

terah BOYDassociate news editor

CNN forum to address American poverty

“CNN” continued p. 5

ChriS ShattuCKnews editor

ing Communication Across Barriers founder Donna Beegle, former US Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Henry Cisneros, the chief executive offi-cer of the Atlanta Housing Authority, Renee Glover, and the founder of the Center for Neighborhood Enterprise, Robert Woodson.

The Metro Atlanta Task force for the Homeless cites that more children in Atlanta live in poverty than any other city and that children under the age of nine are the fastest growing homeless group.

A 2009 Georgia Department of Community Affairs report found that in any given single January night over 21,000 Georgians didn’t have a home.

The event will be at The Rialto Center for the Arts Wednesday night from 7 - 8:30 p.m. Tickets are available at www.cnndialogues.com or by phone at 404-727-2515 or the National Center for Civil and Human Rights at 404-991-6988.

Developing a plan for the future

With graduation approaching, many Georgia State students are concerned about career opportunities and the highly competi-tive job market that awaits them.

University Career Services aims to re-lieve the anxiety of students entering the job market by providing both current students and alumni with the tools necessary to gain employment.

Primary goals of the office include gener-ating networking opportunities by bringing employers and students together as well as teaching students how to interact and pres-ent themselves in given situations, according to Dr. Kevin Gaw, the director of University Career Services.

Located in the University Center, the Career Services Center offers career counsel-ors, interview rooms and resources that stu-dents may use to practice interviews, create resumes and plan for life after Georgia State.

And, thankfully for college graduates, hires are up 10.2 percent in the last year, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

Gaw said the increase in hires at Georgia State is reflective of the growing number of employers attending fairs and recruiting Georgia State students. University Career Services organizes over one dozen fairs on and off-campus during the school year.

Instead of focusing on traditional fairs

that bring a large number of employers across different fields, Gaw said the university has sponsored more this year, which have a more narrow focus and cater to niche audiences and related fields.

“Employers are seeing the students [they] want to see and the students are see[ing] the employers [they] want to meet,” Gaw said.

Additionally, University Career Services hosts special fairs just for graduate and pro-fessional school students.

Gaw explains that graduate programs from the Caribbean as well as England have recently started recruiting at Georgia State alongside some of the most distinguished col-leges in the country.

But before graduates move on to pursue a

career or grad school, they must make them-selves marketable through experience and quality references, according to Gaw.

When it comes to internships, Gaw ex-plained many companies regularly look for students with multiple internships and that it is never too early to participate in or plan for an internship experience. Part-time jobs are another avenue to consider for gaining expe-rience, references and money, he said.

Aside from providing students with re-sources, University Career Services also con-ducts internal research through graduation surveys.

Dr. Gaw said that the results have been more or less constant since his arrival in 2008. Seventy-five percent of those surveyed are gainfully employed shortly after gradua-tion, while about 17 percent are planning to pursue further higher education, according to Gaw.

“A well prepared college graduate is in great shape for being a competitive candi-date,” Gaw said.

Graduates should have an introduction or elevator speech prepared, a resume that stands out, community service, and field-re-lated experience through an internship, part-time job or research projects if planning to at-tend graduate school, he continued.

Career Services will host several more ca-reer events and workshops before the end of the spring semester. Additionally, programs at the Center will be available to current stu-dents and alumni throughout the summer.

alex OSiaDaCzStaff Writer

“Employers are seeing the students [they] want to see and the students are see[ing] the employ-ers [they] want to meet.”

--Dr. Kevin Gaw, the director of University Career Services

TUESDAY, April 17, 2012 05NEWS | THE SIGNAL

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T:10.375”

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inside Georgia State’s Career Services division

Department of Educational Psychology and Instructional Technology. Kamphaus earned his doctoral degree in educational psychology from the University of Georgia.

Kamphaus, a licensed psychologist, is an accomplished researcher in the field of child behavioral testing and screening. He co-created the Behavior Assessment System for Children, an assessment tool that the majority of major school districts in North America use to measure the behavioral and emotional adjustment of children. His current research project, in cooperation with the Los Angeles Unified School District, is a longitudinal study of the validity of early detection methods for behavioral and emotional problems.

The out-going dean will address College of Education students at the Spring Convocation, May 4, in the Georgia State University Sports Arena.

Dean of education to step downcontinued from p. 1

CNN continued from p. 4

Do you want to travel the country and make money? Do you want the cameras and paparazzi to hang onto your every word

and follow you to the ends of the earth? Do you want people from around the world to recognize your face and fall into hushed revelry when you walk into the room? Then the solution is easy! People have been doing it in America for years, and you’ll get guaran-teed results in months! All you have to do is run for president and drive your bloated corpse of a cam-paign into the ground.

Sarah Palin did it, and, now, our good friend, the infamous marshmallow-face Rick Santorum, is fol-lowing in her footsteps. He may be dropping out of the race, but, mark my words, we have not seen the last of him yet. If you thought the amount of attention he was able to bleed from his stone of a campaign was impressive, imagine the amount of money he stands to make going on the private speech-giving circuit.

Let me break down this foolproof system of get-ting rich for you, so you, my fellow students, can be-gin to exploit our political system as soon as possi-ble. First, find a controversial issue that you can put in your political platform that is already supported by some huge moneybags lobbyists. It doesn’t mat-ter how you feel about the issue, or how realistic the goal is, as long as there is someone who supports it

that has money. For this example, let’s say you want to ban smoking cigarettes all over America. Next, you’re going to have to shell out a little of your own mon-ey to plaster your big dumb face all over the TV and billboards flapping your big dumb gums about how cigarettes are destroying the moral fabric of America. This costs a lot of money, so it helps if your already incredibly rich and out of touch with the general pub-lic. If you aren’t, it’s going to be hard to break into this whole politics thing, but you have to spend money to make money, right?

Soon, you’ll meet the rage of all the smokers in America, rallying and crying for your head. But don’t worry, don’t be scared; remember all the money that the lobbyists have for you. Be patient and flap your gums about whatever makes the lobbyists happy. Maybe make some outrageous claims like “Illuminati Reptilian Satanists invented cigarettes to poison ba-bies!” It sounds crazy, I know, but trust me, just re-member the money.

Even when the polls come back and you are ranked low, don’t worry! You never wanted to be presi-dent anyway - you aren’t thinking about the money enough! Now, just keep at it, flapping your gums on TV and collecting money from the lobbyists who sup-port you. Make sure to stand in front of the camera for as long as possible: this is incredibly crucial. After a few months, you should have gained enough facial recognition with the public that you are the figure-head of anti-smoking in America. Great! This is the stage we wanted.

Now, you can drop out of the race and relax and rake in the dough as you travel the country and get paid stupid amounts of money to speak at private functions. You’re set for life! This is America’s latest get-rich-quick scheme that political candidates have been using to make a mockery of our highest office.

FrOm the eDitOrial BOarD Refl ects the majority opinion of the Editorial Board of The

Signal, but not necessarily the opinions of individual editors

OPINIONSwww.gsusignal.com/opinions

Now that the Georgia legislative session has come to a close, many are refl ecting on the perceived suc-cesses and failures of this session.

In the sphere of academia, there is much debate over whether or not the controversial legislation that would have banned undocumented students from public higher educa-tion should have been passed.

While everyone has their own opin-ion about undocumented students in public colleges and universities, we found one “opinion” in particular rather silly.

A sect of those in favor of the total ban, blame college and university professors. The group argues the professors abused their author-ity by preaching against the ban in their classrooms and off ering extra credit to those who contact their respective legislator to lobby against the ban.

We fi nd this argument ridiculous on two fronts. First, we fi nd it ridicu-lous that the group assumes we, as students, would blindly do the “evil” bidding of our professors. We come to places of higher educa-tion in order to learn and form our own educated opinion using critical thinking.

While a few “extra points” might entice some students, we have faith that the rest of the student body is capable of making their own, in-dependent judgments about such political issues and stick to them.

Second, the argument is ridiculous because it gives our overtly apa-thetic generation way too much credit. The truth of the matter is, college students in general are pret-ty apathetic when it comes to car-ing about social or political issues. College-age voters have notoriously low voter turnout. If the voter turn-out is so low, we cannot imagine college students would invest their time in actually lobbying for some-thing political. Does anyone know a bar that

doesn’t have twenty televi-sions plastering the walls?

I would also accept a bar that isn’t rag-ing to the sounds of mid-90’s club mu-sic. I’d be sincerely grateful to hear of one, because if I have to sit through 50 Cent’s “In da Club” one more time on my break, I’ll just quit drinking.

Honestly, it’s 2:15 in the post me-ridian, I’ve got class in forty-five min-utes and I’m trying to kill the bacte-ria culturing at the back of my throat. I’m not happy. Come on, whiskey, I’m counting on you. But this place sounds like a strip club from 1998 and my head is killing me.

So I need a new bar near campus, does anyone have a suggestion? I ful-ly understand it’s something you don’t want to share; you probably don’t want it overrun with rowdy folks and their sports statistics. But, there’s gotta be a place where you can grab a beer if you don’t care about Tebow’s pagan affili-ations and if you can’t be bothered to care about the various endorsements of professional golfers. I don’t care and I can’t be the only one.

I don’t want to take away game day from anyone. Atlanta’s sports fans don’t need another insult like that. I just want someone to point me in the direction of a bar that lacks televisions and doesn’t play Dave Matthews Band at all. That is all. So if you have an idea to pull me from this current tar pit of a depressing situation, please let me know.

In equally depressing events, Ninja Turtles. As many of you know, they are no longer teenagers and have also been upgraded to aliens. Fun! I had no idea Japanese culture (where ninja come from) had been appropriated by aliens. That’s nice.

I’m more than old enough to drink and just when they think I’m not pay-ing attention, the Ninja Turtles be-come aliens. What’s next; a Back to the Future remake? No. No! This ag-gression will not stand! The Vatican doesn’t let me use the shroud of Turin as a throw rug, despite repeated requests.

In summation, I need a new bar and you need to stop supporting Michael Bay and remakes of mov-ies made in our lifetime. Even The Doctor couldn’t save Fright Night. If we keep walking down this road you’ll get a watered down pg-13 version of Breakfast Club, Buckaroo Bonsai and the worst… Road House remade with The Rock. These are dark times. Will someone please point me in the direc-tion of a new bar?

JameSmCDOugalD

Columnist

No blame but what we make

“Illegal Aliens” Editorial cartoon by Antonio Rosales

Day drunk

mileS KeenlYSiDeOpinions editor

How to make it in America

BREAKING NEWSIllegal Aliens barred from Ga. universities

Staff reportsNew residents of Earth

vow to fi ght the Board of Regents’ decision to ban illegal aliens from universities across Georgia.

“We have a right to education, like everyone else on Earth,” spokesperson of

What’s the fi rst thing you plan to do once the semester is over?

A) Sleep.B) Absolutely nothingC) Find some place with a beachD) All of the aboveE) Get ready for summer semester...

Which one of these anticipated movies will actually be good?

A) The AvengersB) The Dark Knight RisesC) PrometheusD) The HobbitE) What are you talking about? They’re all awesome!F) Screw these movies. I’ll tell you which one in the comments

pOllVisit The Signal’s Facebook page to answer!

In last year’s May Issue of Cosmopolitan magazine (a magazine I’ve never been a fan

of ) had an article entitled “Your Secret Love Weapon (It’s Called the Rubber-Band Effect).” This article was in refer-ence to the all too familiar “distance” that sometimes arises in relationships in which a partner distances his/her-self for a reason unknown to the other partner.

And while this article was surpris-ingly stimulating (because, as I stated earlier, I’m not a fan of Cosmopolitan so I expected to be completely under-whelmed) it was also slightly alarming. This article strategized “the distance” as if relationships are to be calculated and logistical rather than dealt with by using emotion.

Steps involving the perfect times to contact your partner who is distanc-ing themselves and how often to text or call are completely ridiculous. I mean, there is nothing wrong with being ra-

tional, but step-by-step plans to expe-dite and/or exterminate “the distance” phase in a relationship is too much.

I mean, maybe I’m just a hopeless romantic and not up-to-date, but is that what our relationships have come to? Women work to entrap their men by be-ing calculated and baiting them through the mastery of methodology, while men hold no accountability whatsoever? Shouldn’t two people be responsible for the success of a relationship; not just one? Lack of communication and “the distance” are okay (understood/con-ventional) as long as one counterpart in the relationship works day and night to convince the other they should stay?

And if that’s the case, how should one be confident in the very fundamen-tal value of love when now all love is, is tactic, trickery and methodology? How can a person know someone is actual-ly in love with them when it very well could be they were just coerced by good skill and tactic that someone executed to win them over?

How do you know if a person is in the relationship because of the actu-al feeling, or if they’re just wooed by a person doing “all of the right steps” and decide to stay because it’s comfortable?

We’ve all heard the phrase “love is a battlefield.” But should it be a game of chess where the craftiest player wins?

TUESDAY, April 17, 2012 07 OPINIONS | THE SIGNAL

“Honestly, not really. I’m not much of a sports person in that regard. At least football, I’ve gone to a couple of our soccer games and more alterna-tive sports like ultimate Frisbee and whatnot. Maybe, but not particularly.”

Mitch McWhorter – German

“Probably. I haven’t gone to see it so far just because we’re not that big. If we were to get bigger, I’d prob-ably go.”

Ashleigh Denny – Biology

“Defi nitely. I think there will be bet-ter competition; it will be better for the school. I’m defi nitely looking forward to going to some games.”

Matt Dunn -- Accounting

Georgia State was recently invited to join the Sun Belt Conference for football, which will allow us to play

bigger, more competitive school and attract better recruits for the program. Is this something that

will make you want to attend more Georgia State football games?

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DISCLAIMEROpinions and Letters to the Editor expressed in The Signal are the opinions of the writers and readers. It does not refl ect the opinions of The Signal.

“Yeah if they’re more competitive. I want to see Georgia State playing better teams, a lot of people don’t think of the Georgia State [football] program as being anything really big right now, so if they if they enter the Sun Belt I’d be more likely to watch.” Watende Daniels – Computer Information

Systems

Jaira BurKeColumnist

The distance

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make sure to submit as soon as possible.

PICTURE of theWEEK

What our readers are saying online...

On last week’s “Counseling Center Woes, part 2”

- “If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck...”Why were the counselors sacked in the middle of the semester? Why couldn’t they complete their client sessions at least un-til the end of the semester? Wouldn’t that have been less disruptive for everyone, and made for a smoother transition? Why the sudden, urgent need to “save” $160,000?

-Anonymous

-I have been thinking about something from the fi rst article all week. If I had been coming to the counseling center and my counselor suddenly disappeared with no warning, it would not make me feel better that “only” 34 other people were aff ected. A call telling me my counselor would not help either. It seems like money was more

important than the students. That is sad. I am glad I was not at the counseling center when this happened.

-Anonymous

While I hate to contradict Dr. Covey, he is wrong when he says that the clients belong to the counseling center and not the individual therapist. The Board of Examiners of Psychologists would not agree. As psychologists, each person is responsible for their own clients and are supposed to fi ght with the organiza-tion if the policies are against the ethical standards. The Board of Examiners of Psychologists would not agree. Not only was the termination abrupt for clients, there are notes missing for the last ses-sions if the psychologist did not complete them. There is no way that another per-son can do so instead.

-Anonymous

Two broken bones, a torn ligament and dislocated ankle from football during his senior year of high school kept him physically confined in his mother’s basement and emotionally stuck in self doubt.

His blackberry and a mellow beat helped release his inner confidence and reunite himself with his passion for music.

Freshman and aspiring rap artist, William Michael Hill, known as “Will Hill,” wrote his favorite and most per-sonal song, “L’esprit,” which made him aware of how far his talents could stretch.

Hill’s persona is a melody of a laid-back character and a less cocky attitude mixed with quiet confidence and modesty.

So, who is Will Hill? “Will Hill is just a regular teenag-

er that decided he wanted to rap,” Hill said. “It helps me to get out certain feelings that I have towards circum-stances and things that I go through.”

Hill always wanted to be a rapper, but, like most dreams, outside influ-ences and critics weighed down the reality of those dreams coming true.

“The passion can go away when you realize how many people don’t make it,” Hill said.

His mother wasn’t his number one fan in the beginning. “To be truthful, I sounded horrible at first,” Hill said. “I became a better rapper from my mom doubting me as a rapper. I just wanted

to be better and show off to her that I could actually be good at this.”

Her stance on his music did not last for long. “Overall my parents are more supportive now than they used to be. They see the passion I’m putting towards the music,” Hill said.

One of his first encounters with rap occurred when he was about five years old, riding in the car with is old-er sister. The song, “Elevators” by the Atlanta hip-hop duo, Outkast, was the first rap song he learned all the lyrics to. Hill believes that is when he dis-covered his love for music.

Years later, this drove Hill to perfect his craft by writing songs and joining a hip-hop group called H.O.M.E Team (High Off Music Entertainment) after meeting high school classmate and fellow rapper, Perrion Rodriguez.

The two performed together at the Red Light Café in the spring of last year, which became Hill’s first live performance.

This year, Hill and Rodriguez opened for rapper A$AP Rocky with a crowd of more than 1,500 at the Masquerade in Atlanta. Since then, Hill has performed at the All Atlanta Music Bash as well as on Georgia State’s campus.

Although Hill believes Georgia State has helped propel his rap ca-reer through campus performanc-es, his dream is to follow in the foot-steps of his rap god, Jay-Z, and sell out Madison Square Garden.

Hip-hop influences like Kanye West and the Notorious B.I.G. inspire

him to write material. “In order for me to get into the

mood to write I have to put on Nas’ Illmatic and Biggie’s Ready to Die,” Hill said. “I have to blast some really lyrical content and people that inspire me.”

Those artists and his daily strug-gles as a regular college kid helped him create his newest mixtape, W.H. On his most well-known track from the compilation, ‘L’esprit’, which means ‘the spirit’, Hill expresses ev-erything from the issues with paying

for college to his father almost dying from a heart attack last year.

“Everything that happens in my life motivates me to spit my heart out on a track,” Hill said.

Even though Hill is a newbie on the block, he has cemented a quality of his music that some rap veterans have not. “I pride myself on my flow,” Hill said. “A lot of other rappers pride themselves on their wordplay or on their lyricism, but I like to perfect my flow...if the flow is right then every-body will listen to it.”

With all the success he has gar-nered so far, he’s destined to reach new heights. With goals so high, he assures his supporters that he’ll re-main humble while achieving success.

“You have to have the best of both worlds by being humble but still know you’re doing your thing and on your grind at all times,” Hill said.

Hill’s advice for other aspiring hip-hop moguls like himself: “Be per-sistent and resilient,” Hill said. “If you don’t have any dreams then there’s no point in living life.”

LiViNG&ArTSwww.gsusignal.com/campuslife

niCOle hOlman Staff Writer

King of the Hill: Using passion to reach success after doubt

PhOtOS By graham rOBSOn |the SignalGeorgia State freshman, Will Hill uses his music to overcome his past struggles.

This year, Will Hill performed at the All Atlanta Music Bash and on Georgia State’s campus.

Many Atlantans abandon their comfy couch cushion and slippers to run out into the streets when they hear a drops been made.

Georgia State alumni, former studio art major and well-known artist, Catlanta, releases a sporadic statement about a “dropped” cat via social networks and sends ea-ger, hopeful owners out in a scurry to find his hidden novelties.

Catlanta, an Atlanta figure, has managed to not only uphold his anonymity but also his reputa-tion for keeping art and catlovers, among others, on their toes.

More than a year ago, the then-graffiti artist used his tag name as a way to provide legal safety, but now he purely enjoys the double life and the chase.

“It’s easier to put the work out and not have people just waiting for me to drop it then grab it in-stead of playing fair,” Catlanta said. “And it’s just more fun too.”

Last January, the street art-ist created a portrait of his cat Sterling, found a magnet at work and put the painting on North Avenue with a Facebook message sent shortly after. The message contained a vague location and a luring notice to anyone interested in finding the pictured cat. This began the Catlanta craze that has taken over the city.

This also began a strategic ef-fort from Catlanta as a way to get his art in the hands of as many dif-ferent people as possible. He fol-lowed the Twitter accounts of big businesses with lots of active fol-lowers and hid the captivating cats in their tweets to help gain attention.

Catlanta has looked to many Atlanta artists to find his way to the enigma he’s become today. One of these well-known artists is Keith Herrings.

“I like his work a lot... I try to draw inspiration from as many places as possible,” Catlanta said.

This scavenger hunt has given

Catlanta the opportunity to rede-fine street art and alter the nega-tive stereotypes associated with it.

“I think this project has shown the city that street art is a lot more accessible than a lot more peo-ple really realized,” Catlanta said. “When people think of street art, they think of graffiti immediately... These kind of projects are show-ing people that you can still inter-act with your city, but you don’t have to do it in a destructive way.”

The interest in Catlanta’s art may have started generally with a college audience, but it has grown to entice a larger demographic.

“Everyone from kids to 60-year-old grandmothers have been out there looking for them,” Catlanta said. “So it’s really for ev-eryone, and I try to make is as suc-cessful as possible.”

The community has become engulfed in joining the Catlanta movement, finding value in the hunt alongside the reward. Catlanta keeps this in mind when creating and carefully dropping his creative kitties throughout the city.

“It’s about the interaction and having people go out into the city and share,” Catlanta said. “There’s no message really in the work physically, but it’s more the act of it. That is where the message is.”

There are no signs of Catlanta slowing down, as he expands his project across the country, plans future collaborations with other street artists, all while continuing to develop what earned him his title.

With numerous cats under his belt, his appreciation for his furry friends continues to grow.

“As I continue to do it, I like it more and more,” Catlanta said.

His growing passion for this craft allows more people to have a chance in owning one of these adorable masterpieces. The next one might be right under your nose.

Curiosity finds the catTUESDAY, April 17, 2012 ArTS & LIvING| THE SIGNAL10

aliCia JOhnSOn anD thaDDeuS mOrganarts and living editor and associate living editor

Atlanta street artist Catlanta uses his love for cats and art to unite the city through community scavenger hunts.

Deepak Chopra, a prominent mind/body alternative medi-cine physician, spoke as keynote speaker in Georgia State’s Cultural Competency Conference. The theme of the conference, which was created by the Counseling and Testing Center, was interconnect-edness and global identity as citi-zens, healers and educators.

There was a clear message Chopra wanted listeners to take away from his speech.

“There is no fixed identity to your body or your mind, the only real identity is your soul. Everything else is a movement within that,” Chopra said. “The universe becomes aware through you. A larger purpose is trying to unfold in you. You are a seed of awareness, in cosmic awareness, and what appear to be random events are part of a pattern.”

Born in New Delhi, India, Chopra has gained international success both as a pioneer of spiritu-al healing and as an author of more than 60 books. Chopra’s latest book, Spiritual Solutions, came out last week. Chopra came to Atlanta after speaking at the “Toward a Science of Consciousness” confer-ence in Arizona.

Chopra is the founder and chairman of the Chopra Foundation, which aims to pro-mote spiritual healing and edu-cation as well as to fund projects, targeting at-risk children, low-in-

come youth and women, prison-ers, healers and scientists. He is also founder and chairman of the Chopra Center for Wellbeing in Carlsbad, Calif.

Chopra addressed the con-cern over the well being of the planet, emphasizing the relation-ship between the mind, body, en-vironment and universe. Urging an adoption of a holistic perspective, Chopra said that we are on track to destroy ourselves, as well as the health of the planet.

Chopra explained that we are all members of a single body, the universe, using scientific and mathematical explanations to il-lustrate this connection.

“You are a start dust, lumi-nous being with self-awareness,” Chopra said as he explained that, on a very basic level, our bodies are made up of the same hydrogen and helium of which stars are made.

“The entire visible universe, with its 180 galaxies, each of which has billions of stars and trillions of planets, is less than 0.1 percent of what really exists out there. And your body is made up of this,” Chopra said. “It is very precious.”

Chopra equated consciousness with the soul and used quantum physics to explain consciousness as “nonlocal,” or outside of space-time with no beginning or end, and a “potentiality,” or a source of po-tential thoughts. He said that con-sciousness is everywhere but local-izes as a soul.

“That spirit lies asleep in min-erals, it starts to stir in plants, it

starts to dream in animals, and it starts to fully wake up in humans,” Chopra said. “Consciousness is ev-erywhere, it’s only either asleep, or dreaming, or waking.”

Chopra defined higher con-sciousness as a deeper understand-ing of who we are.

Chopra said that in under-standing consciousness, the se-crets to health, well-being, suc-cess, money and relationships are contained in our awareness. He explained that awareness could be contracted, expanded or pure.

“Problems arise in constricted awareness, solutions arise in ex-panded awareness,” Chopra said. “When our awareness is pure, there is no need for solutions be-cause there are no problems.”

Chopra then explained four kinds of yoga: being, feeling, think-ing and doing. He prescribed that we all sit quietly with no agenda for 15 to 20 minutes, expanding awareness into experiencing emo-tions like love and compassion, then reflecting on our real identi-ties, living in the questions without worrying about answers, and fi-nally practicing introspection, ulti-mately asking whether our actions will make others happy in life.

“If you’re experiencing chal-lenges or obstacles, they exist to make you more aware of your in-ner purpose,” Chopra said. “And what is your inner purpose? It is to expand your awareness, until it becomes limitless, until you reach that level of infinite impossibilities, which is your true identity.”

Deepak Chopra: healing, transformation and higher consciousnessanna nOrriSStaff Writer

Tents, laughter and groups of people filled the Georgia State Sports Arena as Relay For Life of Georgia State celebrated the hope for a cure for cancer.

Relay For Life - a night-long, life-changing event that gives people the opportunity to remember those who have lost their lives to cancer, cele-brate the ones who have beat cancer and fight back against the disease - is hosted by Colleges Against Cancer as their annual event.

“It’s a fun way we can all come together - everyone’s against cancer,” said freshman and psychology major Victoria Kelly, who ran a cake walk with her roommate, freshman Sarai Thompson and friend, freshman Xavier Turner.

“Both my aunts died of cancer,” Thompson said, who is studying english at Georgia State. “[Relay] gets you closer to the situation and shows awareness.”

Kelly, Thompson and Turner all got involved with Relay in high school and wanted to keep support-ing Relay For Life when they got to college.

“My uncle had cancer,” Turner said. “[Cancer] is very common and it needs to be cured.”

Clubs, groups, sororities and fra-ternities come out to Relay to show their support. Groups like The

Golden Key National Honor Society and the American Medical Students Association register and raise money for the cause.

Executive director of Relay for Life of Georgia State and executive president of Colleges Against Cancer, Jessica Thompson, is extremely pas-sionate about Relay and its mission. She was involved with Relay for Life at Augusta State University before she transferred to Georgia State.

“It’s the mission - it’s what Relay is,” Thompson said. “It’s the hope

that they provide.”Thompson interned with the

American Cancer Society (ACS), and originally got involved with Relay in 2009 when she was asked by the director of her cancer center to be a captain of a team at Relay. After the first time, she realized how much be-ing a part of Relay For Life meant to her.

“Relay is for everyone - for ev-ery single cancer there is; not just one,” Thompson said. Thompson emphasized how much she loved

this - though other foundations fight against one kind of cancer, Relay For Life is an event that fights against all of them.

According to www.gsurelay.com, Relay For Life started in the mid-1980s with Dr. Gordy Klatt, a sur-geon who wanted to raise money for his American Cancer Society of-fice by running a marathon. He spent 24 hours running around the track of the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Wash. After running for more than 83 miles, he raised $27,000

for the ACS. Dr. Klatt’s perseverance launched into what Relay For Life has become today - something truly amazing.

Today, more than 3.5 million people participate in a Relay event in more than 5,000 communities in the United States and more than 20 countries around the world. The event includes a Survivor’s Walk, where those who have survived cancer take their own walk around the track honoring their journey, a Luminaria Ceremony, where those who have been lost are remembered by lighting candles and a Fight Back Ceremony, where those who are at Relay make a commitment to save lives by fighting against cancer.

Thompson also discussed the Hope Lodge - a place where patients and caregivers can stay for free when they have to get treatment in a city that is not their own. It is operat-ed entirely by volunteers and is run by the ACS. Right now, there are 31 Hope Lodge locations in the United States.

“To be a part of an event so huge,” Thompson said. “It’s something ev-eryone wants.”

To get involved with Colleges Against Cancer, stop by the Civic Engagement Office, located at 300 Student Center, to pick up an applica-tion. An application can also be found at www.gsurelay.com. Information is also available through email at [email protected].

Relay For Life fights for awarenesslaura apperSOnCopy editor

TUESDAY, April 17, 2012 11ArTS & LIvING | THE SIGNAL

graham rOBSOn|the SignalFamed spiritual healer, Deepak Chopra discussed his way of higher thinking with Georgia State.

Sarah wOOdS|the SignalThe Georgia State community gathered together for Relay for Life’s effort to support the fight against cancer.

01 151aKishi Bashi

02 DispossessionMike Wexler

03 Great Shakes Vol. 1 & 2Whitey

04 Open Your HeartThe Men

05 4Eva N A DayBig K.R.I.T.

06 Midnight ArrivalSamantha Glass

07 Both LightsAU

08 Sees the LightLa Sera

09 EkstasisBear In Heaven

10 IradelphicClark

11 SeedsGeorgia Anne Muldrow

12 Mr. ImpossibleBlack Dice

13 In BetweenYoung Prisms

14 Bleed Bleed BleedThieves Like Us

15 Divine Power CultureBlak Madeen

16 Break It YourselfAndrew Bird

17 Ogni Riferimento...Calibro 35

18 TransitionsElephant & Castle

19 HistoryMolly Nilsson

20 PersonalityScuba

21 The ChillsSha Stimuli

22 Inner HueAnenon

23 EkstasisJulia Holter

24 Pre LanguageDisappears

25 VultureHollows

26 Spooky Action at a DistanceLotus Plaza

27 A Wasteland CompanionM. Ward

28 FRKWYS Vol. 9Sun Araw, M. Geddes Gengras, The Congos

29 Salton SeaTomas Barfod

30 ZammutoZammuto

RECORD REviEwS

CINEFEST Upcoming shows

The Brady Bunch Movie April 16-22 Monday - Friday: 11 a.m.,. 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 5 p.m., 7 p.m., 9 p.m.Weekends: 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 5 p.m., 7 p.m.

On their new album Changed, Rascal Flatts shows how they have ma-tured since the trio’s first hit 12 years ago. Once derided as country music’s answer to pop boy bands, they’ve en-dured professionally by consistently scoring radio hits and selling out are-nas. With Changed, Gary LeVox, Jay DeMarcus and Joe Don Rooney sound wiser and more grounded, balancing grown-up, light country-rockers with ballads grounded in real life.

The tender and vulnerable side of the band is showcased on the title track of Changed, a song that showcases the trio’s trademark harmonies, and it is a song about redemption through faith. A pretty trademark Rascal Flatts piano power ballad “Come Wake Me Up” was written by three Nordic writers and Sean McConnell, while another strong

piano ballad “Let It Hurt” shows more emotion from the trio. The standard version of the album closes out with “A Little Home,” the kind of strong, emo-tive ballad that the band does better than perhaps any other band. It is sub-dued and not overblown like some of their ballads can get and also features a beautiful, mandolin-based melody with steel guitars and fiddles never too far into the mix.

Moreover, lead singer LeVox per-forms with more subtlety, focusing on expressing emotions rather than showing off ostentatious vocal bril-liances. “Banjo,” the album’s first hit, illustrates how Rascal Flatts’ sound has evolved; it has more in common with a contemporary country rocker like Jason Aldean than with anything Rascal Flatts previously has done.

Through Changed, you will find a chapter that shows the trio looking to retain their status as one of the top vo-

cal groups in country music, which is a segment of the genre that is perhaps the most competitive. This album is full of the band’s high gloss harmonies, songs that speak to our hearts and, above all, their desire to push them-selves to bring more to the table with each record.

Yuti JOShi Staff Writer

Rascal Flatts, Changed

“You can’t stop what’s already pre-approved by God!” N.O.R.E. declares matter-of-factly at the start of “Kenny Powers,” the opener of his newest mix-tape, Crack on Steroids. If a deity has tru-ly ordained this release, it’s safe to say that we’re all utterly screwed.

“Kenny Powers,” named for the lead of the HBO comedy “Eastbound and Down,” makes no mention of the charac-ter other than interjecting the name in-termittently while bragging about sell-ing crack-cocaine. This head-scratching moment is but one of many that com-prises this catastrophe of a collection.

There are some fairly high-profi le guest rappers and producers included on the mixtape—Busta Rhymes, Wale

and the Black Eyed Peas’ will.i.am are among them. Their reasons for contrib-uting to Crack on Steroids are elusive; one can only hope that they were fi nan-cial, rather than artistic, reasons.

The title track features a whirring, dizzying beat that is anything but me-lodic. N.O.R.E.’s skillset seems to in-clude rhyming racial slurs, shouting an-grily about drugs and then selling them. These are America’s role models, people.

“We Ain’t,” which features will.i.am, may be the only redeeming moment in the collection. The beat is fast and driv-ing, and will.i.am certainly has a way with a pop hook. It stands out from the rest of the mixtape in that it moves like a dance track and, well, it’s actually listenable.

Most rap at least appears as though it

were created to be enjoyed, to lift lis-teners’ moods. Crack on Steroids stands in direct opposition, since most of it sounds like a drug dealer sloppily boast-ing over his stash. This time, the name really does say it all: listening to it is like withdrawing from crack on steroids.

zaCK Kraimerassociate arts editor

N.O.R.E., Crack on Steroids

M. Ward, like his vocal counterpart in She & Him, has a classic and timeless voice. It’s easy to listen to because his musical talent seems incredibly natural. A Wasteland Companion is folky, as ex-pected from M. Ward, but it’s not trying too hard.

The fi rst track, “Clean Slate,” seems to actually set a clean slate for the art-ist. It’s simple and beautiful so it opens the door for anything the rest of the album has to off er. “Primitive Girl,” a track about an all-natural woman that the singer fi nds inspiring, is more up-beat than the album’s opening track but sticks to the simplistic theme of the al-bum. His lyrics are not diffi cult to un-derstand, and that’s the charm of them.

Like She & Him, M. Ward proves that the subject matter of a song doesn’t need to be complicated for it to be relatable.

“Me and My Shadow,” one of the best tracks on the album, is a fun but somewhat haunting track that’s more rock and roll than folk. It begins with an acoustic guitar tune reminiscent of “Hotel California” but slowly builds up into a fast-paced song with distort-ed guitar about a man and his shadow, neither of which can fi nd a true home in the world. The driving beat and M. Ward’s ever-adapting vocals are defi -nitely the backbones that hold the track together.

“Sweetheart,” featuring Zooey Deschanel, is a classic catchy love song (“Oh my love take my hand we’ll go walking/Moon and stars are shining in the sky/everyone I know must be jeal-

ous/They don’t have a love such as I”). This is the perfect track to bring in Deschanel’s old-timey vocals.

A Wasteland Companion brings the sounds and qualities that listeners ex-pect from M. Ward.

KenDall harriSStaff Writer

M. Ward, A Wasteland Companion

ChronicleApril 23-29 Monday - Friday: 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 5 p.m., 7 p.m., 9 p.m.Weekends: 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 5 p.m., 7 p.m.

TUESDAY, April 17, 2012 ArTS & LIvING| THE SIGNAL12

Best song:“We Ain’t”

Worst song:“Kenny Powers”

Georgia State’s Italian club combines literature, film and food to create an educational and enjoying group for every-one to join.

The club finds ways to in-tertwine Italian culture and entertainment into their stan-dard activities. Members who are studying the Italian lan-guage can practice their skills together and even have the opportunity to read books in Italian with one another. This club even reaches out to other outlets on campus. The Italian club teams up with Cinefest once a month to present an Italian movie to an excited audience.

The club’s most recent event, the Atlanta Italian Film festival, took place at the Rialto Center for the Arts for the third year in a row with the help of sponsors from local Italian res-taurants and other establish-ments. The festival consisted of six thrilling, dramatic, tear-

jerking and lighthearted films, starting off with “20 Sigarette” on the opening night. The ac-tion movie was perfect for kicking off the event.

“20 Sigarette” is a story of a young man who gets the opportunity to co-direct a film about the Italian military peace mission in Iraq. But his life is reshaped when he wit-nesses an attack on the Italian Army barracks and becomes a hero and the sole-survivor. The Italian film with English subtitles gave speakers and students alike a chance to strengthen their speaking.

“It’s a pleasure to see the event growing, there was more of a turn out this year,” said Cristina Roman, president of the Italian Club. Not only was the audience larger than previ-ous years but their enthusiasm for the films was palpable, as shown in their ratings for the films.

The six movies were grad-ed by the audience to deter-mine which was the most popular film, according to

the viewers. All six of the films were rated 8 out of 10 or above. The winning comedy film, “Imaturi,” focuses on a group of six, middle-aged, ex-best friends who are all going through crises of their own. The friends are forced to re-unite when they are notified that their SAT scores have been invalidated and, unless they retake the test, they will lose their jobs as a result.

Another event the Italian club is hosting is the ‘Feed Your Senses’ event. This is a part of the “Free Lunchtime Learning Arts Series.” Every month, the Rialto Center for the Arts showcases the best aspects of a culture: food and music. Anyone interested can grab a quick, traditional lunch from the featured coun-try and relax and enjoy their food while listening to music, which can be customary to the culture, modern, or a mixture of both.

At the event, the Italian Club is preparing a small ex-hibit to broadcast the club’s basic information, upcom-ing activities and plans for the future.

Now that the spring semes-ter is coming to a close, Roman and her fellow club members

are brainstorming ways to im-prove the Italian Club and to make meetings an even more enjoyable experience in the coming fall semester.

“We’re working on start-ing up coffee hours at Café Intermezzo,” Roman said. “I

know other clubs have them, and it would be a great way to mix with other international groups.”

At coffee hours, she hopes to have members engage in discussions about the books and movies they’ve watched

and would like to watch. Coffee hours are also an op-portunity to meet and listen to speakers and take part in cul-tural activities.

“It’s a great opportuni-ty to become more culturally aware,” Roman said.

REEL REviEwSL!fe HappensBrittanY SpOrnhauerStaff Writer

LockoutBrian CrOWeStaff Writer

Sometimes it’s fun to go into a mov-ie cold, with no expectations and only a vague idea of what it’s about. I went into “Lockout” having heard only that it’s a futuristic prison movie set in outer space and that it stars Guy Pearce. Normally, I would not be inclined to see a prison mov-ie set in outer space, but the top billing for Pearce got my attention. Would Pearce finally prove he can carry a movie again, particularly a mainstream action flick?

Guy Pearce hasn’t had a major lead-ing role since “Memento,” more than ten years ago. He’s one of those actors whose name you struggle to remember when you first spot him onscreen. I used to confuse

him with Val Kilmer, back when Kilmer was in movies people actually saw. Pearce is capable of playing the rugged tough guy, but he’s never shown the charisma of his fellow Aussie and “L.A. Confidential” co-star, Russell Crowe. After “L.A. Confidential,” Crowe went on to super-stardom, with iconic roles in “Gladiator” and “A Beautiful Mind.” Pearce, with the exception of “Memento,” settled for being a solid supporting actor who rarely calls attention to himself. “L.A. Confidential”...now that was a hell of a good movie. But I digress.

And I’d like to keep digressing rather than consider “Lockout.” It’s a hell of a bad movie.

Pearce plays a secret agent named Snow who is framed and wrongly convict-ed for espionage. He’s offered a reprieve if he agrees to rescue the president’s daugh-ter (Maggie Grace) from an orbiting space

prison that she is visiting on a humanitar-ian mission. The prisoners have escaped from “stasis,” a semi-permanent sleep that is the incarceration method of choice in the year 2079, and they have taken the first daughter hostage. There’s also a confusing sub-plot about stolen military secrets, but I promise you won’t care enough to keep track of it.

As Snow, Pearce certainly looks the part of the wisecracking hard-ass. He’s all buff and grizzled, like Bruce Willis in “Die Hard” mode. But the few good one-liners Pearce gets to deliver can’t compensate for an otherwise dumb script. Not to men-tion the shoddy direction, blurry action sequences and needlessly confusing plot-ting in what is really a very simple story.

After Snow and the president’s daugh-ter pair up as they attempt to escape the prison, an already derivative movie be-comes even more so. The two opposites—

he’s the cynic and she’s the do-gooder—trade clichéd barbs before winning each other’s respect. You know where this is going, and you’ve been there before.

“Lockout” doesn’t even have a fun bad guy. The two possibly British broth-ers who take over the prison are not near-ly smart enough to be really threatening. It doesn’t help that the wild and out-of-control brother, the one who should give the movie some real menace, speaks in a mostly unintelligible accent.

There just isn’t much good about “Lockout.” The cinematography looks like what you would see in a video game. The fight scenes are blurry looking and too dark. Even going in with no expectations, this movie is a disappointment. And as for Guy Pearce in a leading role? He can’t carry this movie, but no one could. He should have carried the script straight to the trashcan when they handed it to him.

“L!fe Happens,” starts off with a comi-cal scene with Kim (Krysten Ritter) and Deena (Kate Bosworth) fighting over the last condom in their house.

Without too much commotion Deena calls “dibs!” and makes her way back to her bedroom with her triumphant con-traceptive, resulting in Kim giving a shrug and returning to her bedroom without one.

While the opening scene struck laugh-ter among the audience, the movie jumps forward a year down the roommates’ lives and demonstrates the difficulties of single motherhood.

The majority of the movie was dedi-cated to following main character Kim as she struggled to accept her new title of mom. With the main story following Kim, the movie failed to incorporate compel-ling sub stories to compliment it, thus cre-ating an inconsistent plot.

Deena continuously worked on her book throughout the movie and, predict-ably, sold it and became successful. The other roommate, Laura (Rachel Bilson), is the self-proclaimed virgin in the house and constantly finds jobs that are quite ris-qué. She eventually lands a role in a real-ity show called, “World’s Last Remaining Virgin.” Her role seemed pointless throughout the entire story.

As Kim struggles to accept mother-hood, she finds herself missing male com-pany and eventually meets handsome di-vorcee Nicholas (Geoff Stults). Kim in-

dulges in a night with Nicholas and leaves her son, Max, home with the 12-year-old neighbor. The night ends early and Kim arrives home to an ambulance pulling away. Although it is clear that the baby is not harmed, the presence of the medical vehicle is never explained.

As quickly as their relationship began with lies of Kim’s baby belonging to her roommate, it ends at the same pace with breast milk in Nicholas’ face. This scene proved to be the best ten minutes in the entire movie. After this scene the movie goes nowhere. Kim sulks repeatedly over her situation and her dead end job, with a condescending boss only making matters worse.

Kim soon meets other moms and her relationship with her best friend and roommate drifts apart. Although this was one of the main obstacles of the story, the

film did not spend enough time captur-ing the raw emotions that come from two close friends growing apart.

The majority of the movie lacked both creativity and consistency. The most steady elements in the movie were the scenes centered on the melancholic Kim and her apathetic attitude toward her life.

Considering this movie was a com-edy, there were not enough funny mo-ments throughout the film. Within that same thought, there were also not enough serious elements to classify it as a drama either.

The end of the movie left the audi-ence waiting for a climactic scene. This film fell flat where it should have peaked. Although the movie contained humorous scenes peppered into the storyline, the film as a whole failed to keep audiences captivated, to say the least.

Director: Kat Coiro

Stars: Krysten Ritter, Kate Bosworth and Rachel Bilson

Release Date:April 4th

Director: James Mather and Stephen St. Leger

Stars:Guy Pearce,Maggie Grace

Release Date:April 13th

Lockout

L!fe Happens


SIGNAL SPOTLIGHTS

iman naimStaff Writer

Italian Club

SuBmitted PhOtOStudents come together to celebrate the Italian culture through food, arts and language.

In the true essence of a muse-um curator, Seth Thompson, the Curatorial Assistant at the High Museum of Art and a Georgia State alumnus, shoos away a couple too close to an original Alejandro Aguilera drawing in the Modern and Contemporary Art exhibition.

Aguilera, an Atlanta-based painter, draftsman and sculptor, is featured in a rotating exhibi-tion hall within the Modern and Contemporary Art exhibition. About the Modern Spirit, his featured art collection open un-til May 20, displays 30 drawings created between 1998 and 2011, according to Thompson.

According to the High Museum of Art website, About the Modern Spirit includes por-traits of artists and other histor-ical figures, such as Christopher Columbus and Pablo Picasso, who Aguilera considers inspira-tional and personal heroes.

According to Thompson, he finds the Columbus and Mohandas Gandhi pieces to be two of the most attention-grab-bing of the collection.

“The color first drew me to-ward them, then the movement of the piece- how the patterns are repeated,” Thompson said. “As

you move closer you start seeing a face within the patterns.”

Aguilera is known for using African geometric patterns in his previous work. According to the High Museum of Art web-site, Aguilera cites a wide range of influences, including the artis-tic impact of African sculpture, modern art and oral Southern art. Along with these influences, Aguilera also uses the modernism art forms of Cubism, Futurism and Primitivism, according to Thompson.

According to the High Museum of Art website, to Aguilera, the drawings featured in the About the Modern Spirit collection metaphorically repre-sent a step towards Modernism, (in which) a journey toward that moment (when) the contact be-tween the so-called “primitive cultures” and the expansionists from the Western world (took place).

Through his inspired artwork Aguilera inspires others to see what he envisioned. According to Thompson, he finds Aguilera’s vision clear and his work to be moving.

“I’ve figured out within ev-ery character he’s representing a moment of clarity,” Thompson said. “They had a thought and the thought turned into action.”

According to Thompson, the

High Museum of Art hopes to cre-ate an environment where others can discover Aguilera’s vision for themselves and emerge them-selves in the art process. This is done by hanging the drawing in a salon style, which recreates the feeling of an artist’s studio, ac-cording to Thompson.

The High Museum of Art

hopes to immerse visitors into the art, open their minds and chal-lenge their thinking, according to Thompson. Such display tech-niques within the museum such as the salon style, along with the themed- and time-period-based organization used, are an attempt to trying to accomplish just that.

In accordance with this goal,

the High Museum of Art of-fers special programs for peo-ple of all age groups. Among the events provided by the museum are College Night, Teen Talk, Culture Shock and Drawing in the Gallery.

For more information about the High Museum of Art visit www.high.org.

TUESDAY, April 17, 2012 ArTS & LIvING| THE SIGNAL14

“Alejandro, Alejandro…”

SaVanna keO|the SignalAtlanta artisit, Alejandro Aguilera impresses visitors with his latest High Museum of Art exhibit.

intiSar SeraaJStaff Writer

FAMILY & FRIENDS WELCOME CHILDREN TWO & UNDER FREEFREE PARKING AT SIX FLAGS

APRIL 20, 2012

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CALENDAr


Editor’s note: Publicize your event in this calendar! Contact Alicia Johnson at [email protected] with the event name, time, date, location and a brief description.

april 17The Student Veterans

Association MixerThis will be an opportunity to discuss issues with veterans and includes free lunch.Veterans Memorial Hall//12 p.m.

april 18thFeed Your Senses: The Italian

OperaFeatured performing artists from the School of Music Opera Theatre performing “The Marriage of Figaro.” Lunch will be provided.12 p.m.//Rialto Center for the Arts

april 19Van Halen

They’re lucky Eddie can still shred,

because otherwise they’d never pull off a reunion this convincing. Come watch these legendary rockers at Philips Arena.1 Philips Dr.//8 p.m.

april 20Joe Rogan

The jokes from this famous proponent of THC and hallucinogens are as raunchy as they are truthful. The date of the event is likely no coincidence. 152 Luckie St//10:30 p.m.

Dave DouglasGeorgia State University School of Music & Rialto Center for the Arts present Jazz trumpeter Dave Douglas in concert with the Georgia State University Jazz Band.Rialto Center for the Arts//8 p.m.

Atlanta Mess-AroundOur flagship punk-fest is back again, and it’s better than ever. Punk legends Zero Boys will

headline one night of the fest, and local heroes the Carbonas will helm the second. The price is steep, but it gets you access to two daytime shows at 529 and two nighttime gigs at the E.A.R.L. down the street. If you care about your local punk scene, you won’t miss this one. 529 and the E.A.R.L. // 4 p.m. // $45

april 21Peter Case w/ Jade Lemons & the Crimson Lust, The

Marques, What The?Peter Case will always be revered for his work with the Nerves and the Plimsouls, and that’s exactly what he’ll be playing this time. If you’re at all a fan of power pop, this will be the show of the year. Star Community Bar // 9 p.m. // $10

april 23SmartPower Workshop

National Center for the Prevention

of Home Improvement Fraud is holding this workshop for homeowners. This takes place at the Mechanicsville Branch Library.400 Formwalt St. SW, Atlanta, GA 30312//6:30 p.m.

april 29Dick Dale w/ Grinder Nova

The undisputed surf-rock king is returning to the E.A.R.L. to make us think about the opening credits to Pulp Fiction all over again. Seriously, though, there’s a reason why he’s a legend—don’t miss out.The E.A.R.L. // 8 p.m. // $22

april 30Poverty Stimulation

workshopThe Georgia Public Health training center is holding this workshop, which includes information on low-income living. Registration for this event is free. This event repeats May 1.

Student Center Ballroom//5 p.m.

may 1Black Joe Lewis and

the Honeybears w/ the Preservation

Mixing the best of Mick Jagger and Otis Redding, these soul-stirrers know their craft. If you’re too cool to dance to some tenderly prepared soul music, don’t bother with this one.The E.A.R.L. // 8:30 p.m. // $12

may 3Street Violence (last show) w/ Piss Shivers, Saskatchewan,

Gun PartyIt’s locals Street Violence’s last show, but don’t make this a sad one—come and party with the band and make some memories. 529 // 9 p.m. // $5 // 18+

may 5Spindrift, Ocha la Rocha,

Strangers Family Band, Psych Army DJs

If spaghetti westerns are your thing, look no further than Spindrift. Come to this show and relive your favorite Clint Eastwood moments in your head.529 // 9 p.m. // Free // 21+

may 18Unknown Hinson w/ Syrens

of the SouthThere isn’t enough room on this page to describe why Unknown Hinson is as cool as he is, or even what his show would be like. Just know that he voices Early on Squidbillies and that he’s toured with Hank III and Reverend Horton Heat, and that this show will be talked about for a long, long time. The E.A.R.L. // 9 p.m. // $20

may 23Reggie Watts

Many of his song titles are too profane to be reprinted here, but he’s the funniest rapper, well, ever. If you can stomach it, be sure to make it to this one.Variety Playhouse // 7 p.m. // $25-30

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www.gsusignal.com/sports

SPOrTS

After getting off to a great start, win-ning four of their first five matches, the team lost in three of their next four outings. Head coach Miha Lisac said the team was able to get back on track by staying focused and working hard and he feels the team is playing the best they’ve played all year.

“It’s happening at the right time,” Lisac said. “If you ever want to be playing your best, you want to be playing your best at the end of the season.”

The team ended the regular season by earning a 4-3 win over University of South Florida, who at the time was ranked no. 37 in the nation. In perhaps their most impressive win of the season, the Panthers fought back from being down 3-2 with singles wins from Abigail Tere-Apisah and Whitney Byrd.

“These are the times where we are earn-ing our stripes as a team, when we are mak-ing progress, when we are going through bat-tles,” Lisac said. “So it was great to see when we were going through that situation with South Florida, we came through”

Tere-Apisah’s performance against USF was enough to earn her CAA Player of the Week honors for the third time this season. Down early to USF’s Ecaterina Vasenina, Tere-Apisah ended up winning seven straight games to win the match. Performances like this have given the sophomore to walk with

a bit of pep in her step. “I have become much more confident in

my game,” Tere-Apisah said. “Mentally I feel more focused and I am able to pull out tough matches.”

Earlier in the year, Tere-Apisah earned a victory over Georgia Tech’s Jillian O’Neal de-spite playing through a sprained ankle. Both Vasenina and O’Neal were nationally ranked. Lisac said these victories are indicative of Tere-Apisah’s development.

“We knew that Abigail was a talented player coming into the season,” Lisac said. “But I think we are starting to find out that she is also developing into a mentally tough player and a physically tough player.

Lisac said he also likes the improvements he has seen from the rest of the team and he feels the team can earn points from every player on the roster.

“Today I feel more solid about the lineup than I did at the beginning of the season and that is a good feeling to have going into the conference tournament,” Lisac said.

Tere-Apisah also said she feels positive heading into the CAA Championships.

“I’m really excited about the conference championships coming up because I feel pretty confident about winning it,” Tere-Apisah said. “I think we have a really good team this year and hopefully we can pull out.”

Jerel marShallSports editor

The Panthers will take a three-game winning streak into the tournament af-ter earning a 6-1 victory future Sun Belt Conference foe, Troy State University. The team has played well all season but junior Victor Valente said the team has still improved quite a bit since the be-ginning of the year.

“We started well but we had some gaps on the team that we didn’t know how to fill,” Valente said. “We had some weaknesses in the singles in the doubles. But fortunately it’s the end of the season and we have this problem solved.”

The team has plenty of things to feel confident about. On Apr. 8 the team defeated UNC Wilmington—the team that eliminated them from the CAA Championships last year and win-ner of two of the last three conference championships.

“By beating them it gives us the con-fidence that we are the type of team that can win this conference,” head coach Chase Hodges said. “We are not going to be intimidated by anybody we play and we are going to have the confidence that is needed to win this [conference].”

During the 2008-2009 season, one year before Chase Hodges took the helm, the Panthers managed to only win one of their 21 matches. Three years later,

Georgia State is ranked no. 54 in the na-tion and their standards have increased accordingly.

“The other years that we were going to the CAA Championships we thought, ‘let’s try out best and see what hap-pens,’” senior Juan Pablo Gutierrez said. “But now we are thinking about winning it and it is really possible.”

Valente, who said the team’s win over UNC Wilmington was the biggest they have had since he has been a part of the team, is happy with the transition the team has made over the last three seasons.

“It’s a good time now for the team,” Valente said. “It’s good to take the pro-gram where it is supposed to be.”

Hodges said the key is recruiting and all nine members of the current roster are recruits that Hodges’ coaching staff has brought in. Hodges thinks the cur-rent team has the perfect mix of youth and leadership.

Valente and Gutierrez both set the tone for the Panthers and the younger players look up to them.

“When you have good role models on your team and they happen to be the older guys, it really sets the tone for the younger guys,” Hodges said. “I really couldn’t ask for a better group.

geOrgia State athleticS geOrgia State athleticS

With the CAA Championships beginning April 19, the Georgia State men’s tennis

team looks sharper than ever. The women’s tennis team has had their

rough stretches this season, but with the CAA Championships set to kick off this Thursday, the team looks poised to make a run.

Set for championships

TUESDAY, April 17, 2012 18 SPOrTS | THE SIGNAL

As Georgia State looks ahead to 2013 and the new rival-ries that will be formed as they begin competition in the Sun Belt Conference, The Signal decided to take a look at the conference powerhouses in each sport over the past couple of seasons.

Football: The driving factor behind Georgia State’s decision to join the Sun Belt was the football program. With more money and more exposure the advantages were a given. Competitively, Arkansas State posted an 8-0 con-ference record last season and went 10-3 overall, losing to Northern Illinois in the GoDaddy.com Bowl. Western Kentucky ran through the conference going 7-1 but had no success against non-conference opponents going 0-4. After Louisiana-Lafayette (6-2 conference, 9-4 overall with a R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl win) and Florida International University (5-3 conference record, 8-5 over-all), no other Sun Belt team posted a winning record last season. But Troy, once the powerhouse of the conference, will look to get back to their winning ways over the next couple of seasons after going a dismal 2-6 in the Sun Belt and 3-9 overall in 2011. In the four years prior, Troy went 26-4 in the conference, so a return to the norm for the pro-gram could mean trouble for Georgia State and the rest of the Sun Belt.

Men’s Basketball: If Georgia State basketball con-tinues to play at a level close to their performance this past season, they could make some real noise in the Sun Belt. Georgia State was able to collect 22 total wins while play-ing in the competitive CAA. Only one team in the Sun Belt, Middle Tennessee, was able to win more than that, with 27

total wins. In fact, only four teams in the entire conference managed winning records.

Women’s Basketball: Middle Tennessee was dominant in women’s basketball too, going 16-0 in the con-ference and 26-7 overall. At the other end of the dominance pool was Troy, with only one conference win. Outside of Middle Tennessee and Troy, the women’s talent level seems more balanced and competitive than the men’s, which is bad news for a struggling Georgia State program.

Baseball: Florida Atlantic is leading the confer-ence so far this season with Arkansas State and Middle Tennessee not too far behind. If Florida Atlantic hangs on for the regular season conference title it will be their sec-ond in three years. Last year six out of ten teams had win-ning records, but the division has become top heavy this season with only four teams above .500. Georgia State has struggled this year but has a lot of young talent that should still be around in 2013 to make an immediate impact in the conference.

Softball: There’s no doubt who runs the Sun Belt

when it comes to softball. Since 2000, Louisiana-Lafayette has won 11 regular season conference titles to go along with 11 tournament crowns. From the look of things so far this season they seem to be continuing their dominance with the closest competition coming from South Alabama. Outside of Middle Tennessee and Florida Atlantic the con-ference seems to be fairly competitive throughout, which should be a good test for the consistently talented Georgia State softball program.

Soccer: Unfortunately for Georgia State men’s soccer fans, the Sun Belt doesn’t have a men’s soccer league. What will be done with Georgia State’s program is yet to be de-

termined. As far as women’s soccer goes, the Sun Belt looks like it will be a competitive conference. North Texas was the regular season champion in 2011 with a 14-4-3 record, but Florida International (13-7-3) was able to capture the conference tournament title. These aren’t the only teams to watch out for, since Denver finished with the best over-all record at 16-4.

Tennis: For men, Middle Tennessee is the cream of the crop, winning two out of the last three conference championships (2009, 2011), with Troy taking the 2010 ti-tle. For women, Florida International won last year’s cham-pionship, but Denver has been dominating so far this year.

Golf: Women golfers have had little chance to shine in the Sun Belt lately unless they’ve played for Denver. Denver has been able to call itself the conference champ for the last eight years. While not quite as dominant, Denver’s men’s team joined in on the fun last season as they were the men’s champion. This was their second championship in four years.

Men’s Track: It will be hard for Georgia State to compete on the track since Western Kentucky has built a Sun Belt dynasty, winning the last four outdoor conference championships.

Women’s Track: Western Kentucky has been even more dominant at women’s track as they’ve won the past six championships.

Volleyball: Western Kentucky, Middle Tennessee, Florida International and Arkansas State all have had dom-inant programs as of late. With this level of competitive-ness at the top of the conference, Georgia State will defi-nitely be challenged.

the Sun Belt Conference: a sport-by-sport look at the competitionDYlan riCeassociate Sports editor

chriS Shattuck | the SignalJoining the Sun Belt Conference will present an array of new challenging opponents to compete against.

TUESDAY, April 17, 2012 19SPOrTS | THE SIGNAL

GSU Sports Scoreboard:

As Georgia State’s women’s soccer team is undergoing a phase of renewal during this spring sea-son, the players are doing their best to get accustomed to the new system executed by new head coach Derek Leader.

“The team has built from scratch this season,” senior Carly Lafferty said.

Coach Leader arrived three months ago and had limited time to prepare the team for the spring season.

“It has been an adjustment pe-

riod when it comes to the team understanding the coaching staff ’s expectations,” Leader said.

So far in the season, the team has only won once and has lost all of the past five games. The rest of the games have ended in three draws and three losses. However, the lack of victories is not a big deal for Lafferty - she assures that the scores have not reflected the team’s performance on the field.

“Even though we had ties and losses, we are playing better as a team,” Lafferty said. “We are more structured.”

Although the team’s num-bers are not so hot, Coach Leader

is still happy with the team’s response to the “adjustment period.”

“I am happy with the girls and the improvements they’ve been making,” Leader said.

According to Lafferty, the toughest team that they have played so far has been South Carolina because of their struc-ture and more advanced physical game. However, that is subject to change for the Panthers since, for the first time, they are expected to lift weights.

Weight training has not been the only change that came along with Coach Leader. The expec-tations for the players have in-creased and Leader introduced a different style of game.

“He likes to possess the ball and attack by building the game,” Lafferty said.

All of these changes are a pos-itive initiative for the team to strive for better results in the fu-ture. Nevertheless, there is still room for the team to keep grow-ing in certain aspects.

“When playing female op-ponents, we have given up five goals in five matches. Three of those five goals are from set piec-es and specifically corner kicks,” Leader said. “At a minimum, we have to match the other team’s aggression.”

Also, when it comes to the of-fensive area, Leader and Lafferty agreed that the team has some shortcomings to polish in order to be more effective and send more balls to the back of the net.

“As a team, we must get our-

selves into more scoring oppor-tunities,” Leader said. “Finishing our chances on goal is paramount to our success.”

Matching up with her coach, Lafferty said that one of the as-pects that the team mostly has to work on is “finishing the plays.”

However, Lafferty feels that the team can overcome these flaws and that the expectations are higher than last year’s. “Last year our goal was to get into the conference tournament, but now our goal is to win it,” she said.

Things seem to be moving to-wards that direction, since ac-cording to Leader, “everyone is responding quite well [to the new system].”

In addition to the work that’s being done to improve, the team will strive to strengthen even more by acquiring nine new play-ers for the fall season.

There is still a vast amount of time for the team to prepare for the fall season. Coach Leader be-lieves in the team and wants to win in their first run at the Sun Belt Conference Championship. According to Leader, the key to success for the fall is the players’ work on the offseason and adapt-ing to the new system.

“The girls need to continue from the platform that was built this spring,” Leader said. “The girls have the ability, they just have to believe.”

Leader changes direction of womenʼs soccer teamiSmael SuarezStaff Writer

geOrgia State athleticS

geOrgia State athleticSNewly hired coach, Derek Leader, used this year’s spring scrimmage season to fi ll out his new team.

Softball4/11 @ Georgia Tech L 2-3

4/14 vs. Drexel W 3-24/14 vs. Drexel W 8-04/15 vs. Drexel W 6-1

Baseball4/11 vs. Mercer L 5-12

4/13 vs. William & Mary W 7-64/14 vs. William & Mary W 1-04/15 vs. William & Mary L 5-6

m tennis4/14 @ Troy W 6-1

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Spotlight

SPOTLIGHT PROGRAMS BOARDwww.gsu.edu/spotlight

Finals Break: Stress Free ZoneTuesday, April 17, 7-11 p.m., Student Recreation Center

Come and join us for a break before finals. The Student Recreation Center will be declared a Stress Free Zone from 7 to 11 p.m. We will have yoga classes, rock climbing, video games, karaoke and more. Be sure to wear workout clothes. Thanks for a great year and good luck on your final exams!

For more information, call Spotlight at 404/413-1610.

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Student Organizations

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STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS http://gsu.orgsync.com

AnnualOrganizationRenewalDeadline: May 1Visit your organizationʼs OrgSync portal to submit renewal paperwork now. For more information, contact [email protected].

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Campus Events

Styles

Tuesday, April 17, 7-11 p.m., Student Recreation Center

Recreation Center will be declared a Stress Free Zone from 7 to 11 p.m. We will have yoga classes, rock climbing, video games, karaoke and more. Be sure to wear workout clothes. Thanks for a great year and good luck on your final exams!

Styles

Tuesday, April 17, 7-11 p.m., Student Recreation Center

Thanks for a great year and good luck on your final exams!

CAMPUS EVENTSwww.gsu.edu/studentevents

Open Mic Night Wednesday, April 18, 7-9 p.m. Courtyard Stage (Student Center next to Food Court)Come out for another great Open Mic Night — open to all acts, including spoken word, composition, a capella and instrument performance. Cash prizes awarded to the top three GSU students! Full sound system included.

Student Concert Series: American Bandstand, Music from the ʼ60s and ʼ70sThursday, April 19, 12:15-1 p.m., Unity PlazaEnjoy live music while eating lunch or hanging out between classes. Featuring your very own GSU classmates, the Student Concert Series highlights the best musical artists and bands at Georgia State,

from rock bands to classical performers. If you are interested in performing, contact Campus Events at 404/413-1857 or [email protected].

GSU Night at Six FlagsFriday, April 20, 6 p.m.-midnightSix Flags Over GeorgiaEnjoy an evening at Six Flags Over Georgia with the GSU community and receive a free return ticket for another day at the park on June 3, 10 or 17. Choose from a specially discounted ticket for park entry only, or pay just a little more for park entry and an all-you-can-eat catered meal. This event is open to GSU students, faculty, staff and their families and friends. Free parking at Six Flags.LAST CHANCE TO BUY TICKETS!Through April 19: $28 for park entry or $38 for park entry and catered mealEvent Day at Gate: $35 for park entry or $45 for park entry and catered mealChildren two and under free. No season passes accepted. Buy your tickets at Campus Tickets in the University Center or online at www.gsu.edu/studentevents. No ticket service fees. For more information, visit www.gsu.edu/studentevents.

Interested in performing in the Courtyard for 2012-13?Applications available May 1 at www.gsu.edu/studentevents/forms.

Good Luck on Finalsand

Best Wishes to all New Graduates!

Itʼs time to clean out your locker!

The deadline to remove all items and locks from

lockers rented through the Student•University Center is

Tuesday, May 1.Any items remaining in lockers after this date will be discarded.

NO EXCEPTIONSSummer locker rentals will begin on Monday, May 7.

the Courtyard for 2012-13?

www.gsu.edu/studentevents/forms.

All shows free for GSU students, faculty and staff with ID. Guests $3 before 5 p.m. and$5 at 5 p.m. and after.

For more information, call Spotlight at 404/413-1610.For more information, call Spotlight at 404/413-1610.

All shows free for GSU students, faculty and

xcinefest movie times

students, faculty and All shows free for GSU students, faculty and

cinefest movie timeshttp://www.gsu.edu/cinefest

Georgia State University uLearn Facebook TwitterGeorgia State University uLearn Facebook Twitter

Cinefest Film Theatre

students, faculty and staff with ID. Guests $3 before 5 p.m. and$5 at 5 p.m. and after.

All shows free for GSU students, faculty and students, faculty and staff with ID. Guests $3 before 5 p.m. and


$3 before 5 p.m. and

students, faculty and staff with ID. Guests $3 before 5 p.m. and


x

The Brady Bunch Movie, April 16-22Monday-Friday: 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 5 p.m., 7 p.m., 9 p.m.Weekends: 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 5 p.m., 7 p.m.

War Horse, April 23-29Monday-Friday: 11 a.m., 1:30 p.m., 4 p.m., 6:30 p.m., 9 p.m.Weekends: 1:30 p.m., 4 p.m., 6:30 p.m.

For details, visit www.gsu.edu/cinefest.

Itʼs time to clean Styles Spacing Lists

Campus Events

Any items remaining in lockers after this date will be discarded.Any items remaining in lockers after this date will be discarded.

ListsLists

http://www.gsu.edu/studentcenter

WHATʼSHAPPENINGON CAMPUS! Supported by Student Activity Fees

Vol. 79 No. 29

Documents

Transcript of Vol. 79 No. 29