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November 13, 2014 Volume 87 Issue 12
Inside This Issue - OPINIONS: Black Friday gobbles up a nation’s traditions
- FEATURES: Debate: Award-winning team adds to long list of accolades
- SPORTS: Basketball season tips off in Valdosta
#NOSHADE Forum- The National Council of Negro Women will have a forum discussing some of the steroypes associ-ated with different skin tones. The forum will be held in the Odum Li-brary Theatre at 7 p.m.Comedy Show - Look-ing for a free laugh? The Nema and Double D Comedy show is a great place to go. The event begins at 7 p.m. in the Student Union’s Ball-room B.Flu Vaccines- The Stu-dent Health Center has the fl u vaccine for $10. They accept fl ex, cash or check, and you do not need an appointment. They will be providing vaccines from 8:30-10:30 a.m and 12-1:30 p.m.
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SGA approves grade bill
Student recovering after being hit by car
On Monday, the SGA discussed many future events at VSU, including a new academic bill, new food programs on campus, and a fi reside chat with President William McKinney,.
The SGA voted unani-mously in favor of the Academic Forgiveness Bill. If also approved by the faculty senate, this bill will allow students who earned a C, D or F in a course to have the grade wiped from their record if they retake the course and
make an A or B.Sophomore SGA Senator
Brittany Williams also intro-duced new plans that were discussed at a recent dining advisory board meeting, one of which was Palms’ pizza delivery. The program will possibly start this fall during fi nals week, while the other program, called Eco Clam Shell, will start in the spring. Palms will be delivering their pizza to various campus loca-tions, excluding Centennial Hall.
“They’re working on it,” Senator Williams said. “By the spring they hope to
expand their options so you’ll be able to order other things instead of just pizza.”
Pizza delivery will be open from 2-11 p.m. seven days a week, and there will be no delivery charge.
The Eco Clam Shell pro-gram will allow packaging food to go. Participants of this program must pay the fi rst time they get to-go food. The package is a plastic clam shell container, and a meal plan is not needed for this program.
The fi rst purchase costs about seven dollars plus the door rate. After the initial pur-chase, the only thing that has
to be paid is the door rate. The upcoming fi reside chat
event with Dr. McKinney was mentioned as well. Many of VSU faculty will be in atten-dance: Provost Hudson Rog-ers, IT’s Chief Information Offi cer Brian Haugabrook, the director of auxiliary services, Shannon McGee, the assistant director of housing for resident education, Mark McNally, and the director of housing and residence life, Tom Harding. The chat will be Nov. 18 at 7 p.m. in Powell Hall.
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Elan Waite EDITOR-IN- CHIEF
LaShawn Oglesby STAFF WRITER
As of Wednesday eve-ning, the former Lady Blazer basketball player and current VSU student who was struck by a car was doing fairly well according to VSU’s Athletic Department.
The student was hit on Monday in the crosswalk on Sustella Avenue, near the Campus Recreation Center.
The student was hit by a white 2006 Chevrolet Impala around 6:40 p.m. She suffered multiple injuries and was taken to South Georgia Medi-cal Center immediately after the accident.
On Monday, following the accident, offi cers from the Valdosta Police Department were seen interviewing the driver of the car involved in the incident. Captain Bobbi McGraw of the VPD told the
Valdosta Daily Times that the Valdosta Police Department’s Traffi c Unit is still investigat-ing the incident.
No charges have been of-fi cially fi led as of Tuesday.
This incident is the second one this year where a student was struck by a vehicle near VSU’s campus.
On Feb. 12, VSU student Lizzie Lohmar was struck by a truck driven by another VSU student.
The student was charged with failure to yield at a pedestrian crosswalk. Lohmar later succumbed to her inju-ries.
Growing hair to show you care: Movember at VSU
Soccer team set to make national run
The goal became a reality for the Blazers soccer team this past Sunday as they took down the North Alabama Lions for the team’s fi rst ever Gulf South Conference cham-pionship title.
No. 10 VSU (8-2-1) upset the No. 3 UNA (10-1) team in the South Region rankings.
VSU blazed past the UNA in the fi rst half, scoring two of its goals and fi nishing up with the third goal in the second half to shutout the Lions 3-0.
Prior to the game on Sun-day, UNA went into the match with seven shutout victories but VSU quickly showed them what they were up against when senior Zahimara Fantauzzi made a connection with a cross from Meagan Doyle and landed her third goal of the season in the fi rst four minutes of play.
Lauren Ingram scored in the 24th minute to record her fi rst career goal.
In the second half, Ingram showed up again by follow-
ing through with a pass from senior Abbi Edwards and put-ting the Blazers third goal into the back of the net.
“Everybody dreams about being that impact player,” Ingram said after being named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.
The GSC championship game made this their sixth shutout game of the season and gave VSU an automatic spot in the upcoming South Region Tournament.
“One of my own personal goals this year has been to keep things going as long as possible for these 12 seniors,” fi rst year head coach Rebecca Nolin said.
The team came back to Valdosta with a few All-Tournament team members along with Ingram, including defender Shelby Jennings, forward Abbi Edwards and goal keeper Olivia Mills, who earned her 26th career shutout at Sunday’s game.
VSU will play GSC rival Christian Brothers on Friday in the fi rst round of the Na-tional tournament.
Kristin Whitman ASST. SPORTS EDITOR
Kayla Stroud/THE SPECTATOR
Alex Tostado/ THE SPECTATORA Valdosta City Police car blocks off the road near the scene where a VSU student was hit by car. The student is a former Lady Blazer basketball player.
Grover Cleveland in the 1890’s. Charlie Chaplin in the 1930’s. Rollie Fingers in the 1970’s. Magnum P.I. in the 1980’s. These are great mustaches in history.
Movember is in the news again. As a play on words from No Shave November, Movemeber has men grow only mustaches, instead of
simply not shaving, in an effort to raise awareness for men’s health.
Students can grow mus-taches to raise money and awareness for prostate and testicular cancers.
“It’s really a great cause,” John Wright, associ-ate director of student life, said. “A lot of the time, (that 18-24 year old demographic) think they are invincible, and they don’t think they need to go get physicals. The high-est rate of testicular cancer is
found in that demographic.”Wright held a kickoff for
the event at the beginning of November to get students in-
volved. “We give away items con-
cerning men’s health, like tes-ticular exam cards that guys can put in their showers so they know what they are do-ing when giving themselves exams,” Wright said.
Female students can participate by helping a male student fundraise.
“A lot of the time, girls feel excluded because
they can’t grow a mustache,” Wright
said. “The whole cause of Movember is to
raise money and awareness for men’s health. Women can do that.”
Although participation isn’t as high as Wright would like, there is still some participa-tion.
“Last year we raised about 500 bucks,” Wright said. “As long as we raise any kind of money, or reach one or a couple of students… that’s a success.”
Wright, who has been doing the event for four years, has lost four uncles to prostate cancer.
“It is something that has hit me personally, so it’s some-thing that I’m really passion-ate about,” Wright said.
Alex TostadoSPORTS EDITOR
Tatyana Phelps/ THE SPECTATORSenior Zahmira Fantauzzi uses her skills to steer the ball toward the goal. The home game against West Georgia took place Oct. 21.
New phone case gives
users added line of defense See Features for more
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PAGE 2 | VSUSPECTATOR.COM
Spectator Classifi edsServices For Rent
NOVEMBER 13, 2014
The Spectator prints free classifi eds for current stu dents of Val dos ta State Uni ver si ty only. These must be no more than 40 words, or a $9.30 charge will apply. Clas si fi eds for fac ul ty, staff, stu dent or ga ni za tions, stu dent-owned busi ness es and the gen er al pub lic cost $9.30 for up to 40 words.
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Students must also sub-mit their VSU Student ID number. Ads must be re sub mit ted each week, as nec es sary. The Spectator ad dress is: 1500 N. Patterson St.,Valdosta, GA 31698. Our email address is [email protected].
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Your Ad HERE!
� e sudoku grid consists of eighty-one squares in a nine by nine grid. To solve the sudoku, each square in the grid must contain a number between one and nine, with the following conditions: · Each row of nine cells must contain each of the numbers from 1 to 9 once and only once. · Each column of nine cells must contain each of the numbers from 1 to 9 once and only once. · Each of the nine 3 by 3 boxes of nine cells must contain each of the num-bers from 1 to 9 ANSWER ON PAGE 7
Canoe Battleship
Nov. 137 p.m.Campus Recreation Pool
� e goal of this game is to sink your opponents by hurling buckets of water into their canoes.
Save a Life:Suicide Awareness Forum
Nov. 135-7 p.m.Jennett Lecture Hall 1111
� e Honor Students Associa-tion is hosting this event to teach students how to help those struggling with suicide, even (especially) if that per-son is you. Personnel from the Hospice of South Georgia and Greenleaf Center will be presenting. Refreshments will be served.
Orchestra Performance
Nov. 158 p.m.Whitehead Auditorium
� e Valdosta Symphony Orchestra’s second concert of its 25th anniversary season
will feature guest pianist Awadagin Pratt, a well-known and highly acclaimed musician. Pratt will join the VSO in playing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major, Op. 58. � e concert will also feature music from Beethoven’s Fidelio Overture and Schumann’s Symphony No. 1 in B-� at Major.
Tickets are $27 and can be purchased at the Box O� ce or online at valdostasym-phony.org. Student tickets are $10 but can only be purchased at the Box O� ce, which will open two hours before the performance. Sta� and faculty discounts are also available.
Senior Art ExhibitionOpening Reception
Nov. 161-3 p.m.Fine Arts Gallery
� e Exposure exhibition, which will run through Dec. 8, showcases the work of nine senior art students (Christopher Cagle, Audrey Goodale, Caprice Kelly, Sier-ra King, Jacqualyn Mangels, Chelsea Miller, Astrid Scheib,
Cody Stephens and Brittney Tanner). � e exhibition will feature drawings, paint-ings, photography, ceramics, sculpture, computer anima-tion, handmade furniture and mixed media.
Refreshments will be served at the reception.
Study Abroad Informational:New Zealand and Australia
Nov. 1712 p.m., 4 p.m.Room 129,Communication Arts and Curriculum Building(Corner of Patterson and Brookwood) � is study abroad trip will take place May 30-July 1; it is open to all majors and provides the opportunity to earn six hours of credit while traveling.
International Fraud Awareness Week
On Nov. 17, two workshops will be held for faculty, sta� and students to show the impact fraud has on individ-uals. � e � rst will be held in
the Student Union Ballroom from 10-11 a.m., and the other in Pound Hall (North Campus) from 4-5 p.m.
On Nov. 18, a Community Fraud Awareness Forum will be held from 6-7 p.m. in Room 1107 of the Health Sciences and Business Ad-ministration Building. Dr. Candace Witherspoon, as-sistant accounting professor, will provide information on protecting yourself against fraud and the latest scams.
Chat with the President
Nov. 187 p.m.Powell Hall Auditorium
SGA will be hosting a Fireside Chat with President William McKinney.
Did you lose or misplace an item on campus?
Stop by the VSU Police Department (second � oor of Sustella Parking Deck) or call 229-333-7816 to see if your item was recovered.
Upcoming Events
� is week, the VSU Police Department did not make the police briefs available, an act that is required by Georgia Open Records Law.
� e Media Log containing the briefs is open to any member of the public and can be found at the police o� ce on the second � oor of the Sustella Parking Deck.
Larry GordonMCT CAMPUS
Los Angeles Times
Bill Maher won’t back down
After a weeklong debate over free speech and campus climate, political satirist Bill Maher said he intends to de-liver a December commence-ment address at the University of California, Berkeley de-spite a controversy surround-ing his invitation.
“I want to come, I’m plan-ning to come,” the comedian said Friday night on his “Real Time with Bill Maher” cable show.
Some students last week sought to have his invita-tion rescinded because of his on-air remarks last month that they allege denigrated Mus-lims. But citing free speech rights, UC Berkeley Chancel-lor Nicholas B. Dirks insisted
the speech go on as planned.“I’m happy to (speak)
because although I never at-tended Berkeley, I was very aware of their place in the American debate on the far left,” Maher said.
A campus student organiza-tion that helps choose com-
mencement speakers voted to rescind Maher’s invitation. Its leaders said it took that posi-tion not because of Maher’s views but because the debate about his presence would have harmed the celebra-tory nature of the graduation event.
Dirks then overruled the student group and said the in-vitation will stand. His state-ment noted that the decision “does not constitute an en-dorsement” of any of Maher’s views, although it supports the television personality’s right to express them.
Protesters wanted Maher disinvited because of state-ments he made on his Oct. 6 show that they contend portrayed Islam as a violent faith and suggested that most Muslims believe that anyone who leaves the religion should
be executed.The Middle Eastern, Mus-
lim and South Asian Coalition on campus and other groups started an online petition drive seeking to block the speech, calling Maher’s comments racist, divisive and offen-sive to many students. UC Berkeley should not “invite an individual who himself perpetuates a dangerous learn-ing environment,” the petition said in part.
On Friday’s show, Ma-her insisted that he is not a bigot. He said that students and others who signed the online petition don’t seem to understand the open nature of universities and a democratic society: “That’s how it’s done, kids. Whoever told you you only had to hear what didn’t upset you?”
MCT CampusMaher plans to speak at UC Berkeley in December, even though his on-air comments have elicited an outcry from some students.
NOVEMBER 13, 2014 VSUSPECTATOR.COM | PAGE 3
Spectator StaffEditor-in-Chief:Elan WaiteManaging Editor: John StephenBusiness Manager: Kristen VarneyCirculation Manager: Abbie BaggerlyOpinions Editor: Jordan HillFeatures Editor:John Preer
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Letters must include name, year in school, major, job title or other appropriate identification and phone number for verification.
Letters should be no longer than 300 words in length. Letters are subject to editing for style, length, grammar, and libelous material. Not all letters are published. Letters should be typed and turned in with a disk, or e-mailed as an attachment by Tuesdays before 5 p.m.
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Opinions expressed in The Spectator other than editorials are the opinions of the writers of signed columns and not neccessarily those of The Spectator and its staff. All rights reserved. Reprints by permission of the editors. Views in this newspaper are not neccessarily those of the Valdosta State University administration, faculty and staff.
Our point of view...
This editorial was written by a member of the editorial staff and expresses the general opinion of The Spectator.
Letter to the editor
Sociology Club demands Remerton bars’ signs to be taken down
Black Friday gobbles up a nation’s traditions This year on Thanksgiving, Wal-
Mart, Target, Sears, and Kohl’s will be opening at 6 p.m., just as
turkeys are being carved and plated across dinner tables in Valdosta.
It seems that these stores’ employees will have to grab their dinner to go, or else they may lose their jobs.
There are also other stores opening even earlier, such as Kmart opening at 6 a.m., Lowes opening at 5 a.m., and Walgreens opening at 8 a.m.
The creeping Christmas retail monster has been gobbling at our beloved Thanksgiv-ing dinners for years, but now it seems that he has finally gobbled up one of the most American holidays in one gluttonous bite.
Several companies have extended their hours with hopes of bringing in more busi-ness and customers, but did they stop to think of the downside of doing so? This not only affects customers, but employees too; not to mention it is intruding on a national tradition.
This trend is hurting society in several ways. Employees are being snatched away from their dinner tables to man cash reg-
isters and hang clothes on clearance racks. For many workers, the economic impor-tance of their livelihood takes precedence over spending time with their families.
Customers also have an ultimatum of sacrificing family time to catch the sup-posed jaw dropping deals that are falling off of Santa’s sleigh into the shopping carts of consumers. No one wants to miss out on a good deal, and the competitiveness of out shopping others is hard to ignore.
Most importantly, the overwhelming eco-nomic needs of the retail sector is overshad-owing the true meaning of Thanksgiving.
The holiday, which dates back to before Abraham Lincoln, has a deeper significance in the hearts of many Americans—one that is being lost in the lines of retail shopping outlets.
We at The Spectator feel as though Thanksgiving should be kept in a shopping-free zone. Black Friday, hence the name, should start the morning of the Friday after Thanksgiving. Our turkeys deserve just as much attention and appreciation as marked-down televisions and toys.
Are catcalls okay?
Catcalling is another way men have been sexualizing women without their consent for ages. It is a degrading act that empowers men and takes even more power away from women.
A video that has gained a lot of online buzz features a good-looking woman simply walking down the streets of New York City wearing jeans and a crew neck T-shirt.
During the 10 hours, the woman discreetly documented herself walking. She gets cat-called more than 100 times. Men of all ages and races are
trying to talk to her and yell-ing phrases at her when it is clear that she is doing nothing but walking from one destina-tion to another.
If a man sees a woman he finds attractive, there is no need for him to raise his voice in a crowd so she can notice him. Men need to realize that if they see a woman who they find attractive and want to talk to her, they should respect-fully and politely approach her at an appropriate time and place.
They should not walk past her on the street and say,
“Hey baby, how are you?” It is rude, clearly unwanted and it is harassment.
Women should not have to walk down the street with
the possibility of having sexu-ally explicit things yelled at them for absolutely no reason. Men who think catcalling is nothing but harmless banter need to take a step back and think before they act.
When a man catcalls a women it is because he is thinking about far more than the fabulous blouse she is wearing; he is thinking about what is under that blouse.
Women deserve just as much respect as men. Catcall-ing women is barbaric and an act that needs to end.
There is a difference be-tween an annoying statement and harassment.
Saying, “Hey beautiful,” or, “How are you doing?” is not harassment; it’s a compliment.
By complimenting random women and sometimes being vulgar, we desensitize what true harassment is—aggres-sive pressure or intimidation.
Yes, it’s awkward and sometimes creepy, and yes, men should think of a better way to compliment or hit on a woman, but catcalling is
not always sexual harassment. Of course there are some
men who continue to stalk a woman who is not interested and yell vulgar words at pass-ersby. Those are the men who give catcalling a bad reputa-tion. Then there are other men who are innocently compli-menting a woman.
A popular video that shows a woman walking around New York City for 10 hours
has had millions of views. She was “catcalled” by 108 people in 10 hours. The video did not show the men she walked by that said nothing to her.
While being “catcalled” nearly 10 times an hour is a lot, many of the men were not harassing the woman in any way. The men said things such as, “Wassup,” or, “You’re beautiful!”
We will always be annoyed by the opposite sex, but before we criticize an entire gender for their words and manners, we need to realize that not all men are the same and not all catcalls are cre-ated equally.
Jordan HillOpiniOns EditOr
Kenzie KesselringAsst. OpiniOns EditOr
The Sociology Club will be con-tinuing the “Diversi-ty NOT Dress Code” petition campaign next week in the Student Union.
This campaign is addressing discrimi-natory dress code signs displayed in three Remerton bars. Many of the items listed on the signs are clothing articles typically associated with black male stereotypes.
The Sociology Club observed several nights of activity in each bar over the summer, and members documented and photo-graphed many patrons in violation of the dress code. These patrons were white, while black males were being turned away at the door for wearing the same articles of clothing. The Sociology Club, as well as more than 200 VSU students, started a petition asking the bar owners to remove the signs. The cam-paign will wrap up next week after the club spends Monday and Thursday in the Student Union offering other students the opportunity to sign the petition and let their voices be heard as well.
Remerton exists because of VSU’s students… all of them!
Members of the Sociology Club contributed to this letter with these final thoughts.
“It’s only been two years since Trayvon Martin was murdered because of the clothes he chose to wear. My clothing does not determine the type of person I am, and it should not prevent me from having fun with my friends.”
“Being an African Ameri-can, I find that some of the clothing being described in the rules are more likely to be worn by people of my race. It does affect how I feel about the bars. It’s almost as though some of the bars are indirectly trying to reduce the amount of African Americans who enter them. It’s very irritating to see this.”
“The standard of assimila-
tion lingers over my head, breathes down my neck and is constantly rein-forced in the cul-ture, from a local to national level, that I experience around me EV-ERYDAY! There is a figurative noose that tight-ens each day with the goal of tensile strength to main-tain cooperation and obedience… I am to be trained to display the perfect
behavior of a loyal slave even today, in 2014. I am expected from the way I talk down to the clothes that I wear to be something that keeps me from exploring who I really am, robbing me of life.”
“These may be simple bars in a small city, but the dress codes these places support directly reflect the stereotypi-cal and discriminatory beliefs held by society concerning minorities. And to leave this situation alone, to simply allow these establishments to continue their practices, is to be a helping hand in the per-petuation of racial prejudices and stereotypes.”
“In our society today we must look past racial discrimi-nation. I am not what I wear!”
VSU Sociology Club
Ashlie Prain
Potty-mouthed princesses drop f-bombs to highlight dis-crimination against women, but they’re not talking about the word “feminism.”
FCKH8.com created a two-and-a-half-minute video using girls between the ages of six and 13 to address problems that women face, such as pay inequality, rape and violence, and how society makes girls feel as though being pretty is more important than being intelligent.
What these “potty-mouthed princesses” were trying to do is focus people’s attention on the inequalities and discrimi-nation that women face day
after day. So what if they had to use different variations of the “f” word to do so? It defi-nitely got people’s attention, whether it was in a good way or a bad way.
One of the princesses asks the question, “What’s more offensive? A little girl saying f---, or the sexist way society treats girls and women?”
It was a little disturbing to see girls as young as six years old casually throwing around the f-bomb almost 15 times. However, the message they were trying to convey was more powerful and alarming than any word on the “swear list.”
Actors and actresses throw around curse words all the time for no apparent reason at all. That’s exactly what
those little girls were doing — acting. At least they were actually doing it for a legiti-mate reason. There should be nothing wrong with these young girls using a few curse words to spread the message of female oppression.
Maybe it wasn’t exactly necessary for the girls to use vulgar language as much as they did, but let’s really think about it: Most of us wouldn’t have given the video more than 10 seconds of our atten-tion if we didn’t hear a little girl dressed as a princess say,“What the f---?” four seconds into the video.
To watch the full, uncen-sored version of the com-mercial, go to http://youtu.be/XqHYzYn3WZw.
F-bomb is dropped for good cause
Tatyana PhelpsCOpy EditOr
Young girls raise awareness for sexist treatment in society
The Spectator wants to hear your opinion! Tweet us @vsuspectator using #fbombvsu #catcallsvsu #diversitynotdresscode
MCT Campus
PAGE 4 | VSUSPECTATOR.COM NOVEMBER 13, 2014
Transgendered individuals are constantly being pushed aside when it comes to equal rights.
A recent article on CNN told two separate stories of two transgendered soldiers. One is from Britain, and the other is from America - but this is not the only difference between the two.
The first solider is Caroline Paige, a transgendered wom-an who serves in the British Air Force. In the article, she
discusses difficulties at first, but she tells of how she was eventually accepted. Paige was even rewarded for her performance as a solider.
Landon Wilson, the trans-gendered male who served in the U.S. Navy, was not so lucky. After the Navy learned that he is transgendered, Wil-son was honorably discharged under the guise of a promo-tion.
How can one transgendered individual be treated with respect and rewarded, while another individual is disre-garded?
Gender identity is a fluid
concept. What needs to be established and accepted into social context is whatever gender a person identifies as, that is his or her gender.
How can “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” be repealed, but a trans-gendered individual cannot serve openly and proudly? How can the country that a transgendered individual is willing to protect not offer that same protection to that person?
If a person, transgendered or not, is willing to serve in the military, what is or isn’t between a person’s legs shouldn’t matter.
Jordan BarelaSocial Media editor
People Poll: What do you think of the dress code signs at Remerton bars?
MCT Campus
Treat transgenders equally
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recently released its Fifth Assessment Report, summa-rizing the state of climate sci-ence and solutions. The report reinforces previous findings that the earth is warming, humans are primarily respon-sible and rapid reductions in emissions are urgently needed. Our current emissions trend substantially increases the risk of costly, dangerous, irreversible and potentially catastrophic changes in the global life support systems we all depend upon.
We’ve dug ourselves into a deep climate hole. Despite ever more dire warnings, greenhouse gas emissions have grown 42 percent since the IPCC’s first assessment report in 1990. Preserving a safe climate means turn-ing global greenhouse gas emissions down this decade and reducing them rapidly in absolute terms during the next 40 years, even as GDP and population increase. It also means keeping three quarters of proven fossil fuel reserves in the ground or safely storing the emissions from burning
those fuels.The science summarized by
the IPCC gives clear guidance for what we should do next: Stop new digging.
The more high-emissions infrastructure we build now, the more we’ll have to scrap in coming decades, so let’s stop building it as soon as we can. That means no new coal-fired power plants, no new shipping terminals to move coal overseas, no more pipelines or rail lines to unconventional oil supplies, and no drilling for oil in the soon-to-be ice-free Arctic.
To stabilize the climate, we need policies consistent with a low emissions world (like those now in place in Califor-nia), including putting a price on greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants. We also need even stricter safety and environmental regulations.
Existing clean energy tech-nologies already offer many opportunities in both devel-oped and developing econo-mies. Costs are dropping fast.
Energy efficiency remains the cheapest, cleanest, fastest emissions reduction resource, with innovation (especially in information technologies) delivering more and better efficiency options with each
passing day. Retrofitting existing hydropower facilities is simple and cost effective. Cogeneration of heat and power remains underused. And if the nuclear industry can build plants as quickly, cheaply and safely as they say they can, nuclear power might also help.
Surviving this stage of human development means we will need to evolve as a species and learn how to face challenges like climate change, trying many things, failing fast and doing more of what works and less of what doesn’t work. We will need to explore changes in our values, our behaviors and our institutions, which can be as powerful as new technologies in improving our future.
Today’s technology allows us to move past combustion now, in most applications. But scaling up new technol-ogy to meet the demands of a modern industrial society won’t be easy. Not doing so will be harder still, because of the damage runaway climate change will inflict on the earth and on human society.
The new IPCC Synthesis Report shows how to climb out of this hole. But first we need to stop digging.
Jonathan KoomeyMct caMpuS
Worry about climate change
Kelsey Coates Freshman Undecided
“The way I see it, they try to keep others out.”
Christi Bryant Senior
Biology “I felt as if they were a little bit dis-criminatory toward a certain group of people because everyone knows a white tank top won’t look the same on an African-American man as it
does a caucasian female.”
Zach Johnston Graduate Student
Speech Language Pathology “Maybe its just certain people
who wear it...they notice a trend of what people are wearing.”
Brandon Greshamgeiger Sophomore Engineering
“I never really paid the signs much attention.”
Ben Mullis Graduate Student Library Science
“This is America, and you should be able to wear what you want.”
VSUSPECTATOR.COM | PAGE 5NOVEMBER13, 2014 FEATURES Whistl phone case gives user added line of defense when in danger
A new smartphone case cre-ated to help ease the number of sexual assault cases, par-ticularly on college campuses, will soon be available. The Whistl is described as an iPhone case that aims to prevent sexual assault and violent crime by giving the user a case where one click of a button on the side of will trigger an alarm system (a loud siren and fl ashing light), notify 911 services and loved ones of danger and automati-cally begin recording video and audio. LifeShel, the company behind the case, is market-ing the Whistl as unlike any other device or software on the market because it does not require the user to have to log into their phone or carry an extra device (such as pepper spray) with them to activate the software. With just a couple clicks of the button, the Whistl case will emit a temporary blinding
LED light and alarm sound at 120 decibels, equivalent to being on front row at a rock concert. A connection through the phone’s Bluetooth system will then send a 911 alert and mes-sage to preset family members through a group SMS chat, as well as turning on video and
audio recording. Whistl also contains a check-in feature that will check in on the user every few minutes and automati-cally activate the alarm and notifi cation features if the user fails to respond by a click of the button. “We want to create a cul-
ture where our community is engaged, emergency services are at the ready, and there is increased reporting and accountability,” said Jayon Wang, LifeShel CEO, said. “The Whistl’s features are designed with those goals in mind.” Whistl has already been
featured on numerous media outlets including C-SPAN and NPR. During a Pittsburg visit with TechShop workers that led to a conversation with Wang, President Obama commented on “the ability for people to alert, using a smart-phone, friends, family, law
enforcement quickly if they fi nd themselves in a tough situation.” The LifeShel company was founded in 2013 at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburg by a group of engineering students who wanted to create smarter safety products for other college students follow-ing a close friend’s haunting experience as a sexual assault victim. A limited number of Whistl smartphone cases are being offered for $57 through an online Kickstarter campaign though Whistl cases for iPhone devices will begin shipping wide in the summer of 2015, with Galaxy S and HTC One series cases to soon follow. The free app required to use the device will also be available in the summer. “We hope to reach college students, parents, runners, cab drivers, bartenders, anyone especially concerned with personal safety,” Wang said. “The more Whistl cases we can get in people’s hands, the better we can work together to make our communities safer.”
Cole EdwardsMULTIMEDIA EDITOR
Photo courtesy of Lifeshel
Seeing the action unfold through the eyes of a charac-ter is an experience that can be lived when playing fi rst-person shooters. The fi rst-person shooter has been around since the early 1970s. Two of the fi rst games in this genre were “Maze War,” which was a game in which players rambled around in a maze battling foes and “Spasim,” a space simulation
credited for being the fi rst 3D multiplayer game. Even though these games pioneered the genre, there was one game that popularized fi rst-person shooters for years to come and that game was “Wolfenstein 3D.” This game was created in 1992 and as it worked its way into living rooms, the expansion of fi rst-person shooters has been rapid.
Nowadays, the video game industry is dominated by the genre.
At some point in your life, you have witnessed a fi rst-person shooter fi rst-hand and have personally experienced or seen the emo-tional effects it has.
The genre allows players to experience the action that a character sees through his or
her eyes, which gives gamers a personal feel from a fi rst-person perspective. That’s why your face is dis-torted after being capped by a peeping tom from a distance in a multiplayer match. Regardless of having vague feel-ings toward your virtual demise and reincarnation, gamers have been mesmer-ized by fi rst-person shooters such as “Halo” and “Call of Duty.”
“Halo” and “Call of Duty” have left behind a legacy that is nothing short of legendary. And recently Call of Duty has released “COD: Ad-vanced Warfare,” a title that introduces futuristic warfare to its audience and players
have a variety of high-tech weap-ons and perks at your disposal. First-person shooters have made the video
game industry very competi-tive. The competition is fi erce
and the thought of scarcity lingers in the conscious of gamers so they wait in line at midnight to buy a copy of the latest fi rst-person shooter. Once a gamer has the op-portunity to play, their time is consumed and they explore a virtual world through the eyes of a character or multiple characters, which is an amaz-ing experience.
LaMarcus WilkersonSTAFF WRITER
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A rich history: First person shooters, a staple for gamers
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VSU’s Speech and Debate Team may be considered the underdogs on campus when it comes down to the school’s competitive activities against other universities, but the team brings wins as well as championships to the univer-sity. Members of the Forensics (Speech and Debate) Team consider themselves the homecoming champions from their win in the VSU Blazer Classic which took place Oct. 24 and Oct. 25 during VSU’s Homecoming week. The team also won fi rst place in the sixth annual UNG Chicken and Egg Tourna-ment on Sept. 26 - Sept. 28. In the VSU Blazer Classic, the team went up against eight dif-ferent schools, three of which were from different states. The Blazers were able to
get fi ve teams to break, which qualifi ed all of the VSU de-baters as quarter fi nalist. The awards won in the tournament were Mercy Dahn with fi rst in IPDA; Erin Talia-ferro won fi rst place IPDA
varsity speaker; Hannah Ta-briza and Allante Fairlay won
fi rst place MPDA together; and Lexi Outlaw and Erin Taliaferro won semi-fi nalist MPDA together. “I’m very proud of all my debaters this year,” Keven Rudrow, the forensics team’s
assistant coach, said. “I may be their coach, but all of their hard work and dedication is because of their com-mitment, love of debate, and desire to be better debaters.” Dr. Michael Eaves, head coach of the foren-sics team, was able to de-bate for the fi rst time with VSU and won best speaker. All together, the
team has at least 20 trophies. During the team’s practice on Tuesday, some of the team members confi dently took the stand before their other team-mates, and with such speed in their speech, they explained how they simply broke their opponents about the topic of Ebola. The other teammates listened and took notes. They ended by giving their honest feedback to help build their teammates’ debating and speech skills. Eaves invites students to come and join the forensics team. No experience is re-quired, “but it does require a high GPA,” Taliaferro said. Eaves can be contacted at (229) 259-5116 or [email protected] if interested or in need of more information.
NOVEMBER 13, 2014 PAGE 6 | VSUSPECTATOR.COM
Missteps could drop the cake, so walk carefully. Don’t take big risks or experiment with the dinner you’re serving guests. Discipline and creativity can boost your career now.
Important associates come to an agreement. It could get chaotic. Make plans before you make messes. Spend your money on your home and family, but not excessively.
A new theory doesn’t work as well in practice. Friends o� er good advice. Dispel ner-vous energy through exercise. Blow o� chores and follow your heart for a while. Clean up later.
Curb the desire to rush forward. Choose your direction carefully. Keep promises already made. Tally results. A romantic moment could catch you by surprise.
Work produces unforeseen bene� ts. Don’t spend on frivolities. Eat well, and nurture strength and endurance. Sacri� ce or surrendering works wonders for your love life.
Focus on a subject you love, and breakthroughs are possible. An unpleasant surprise could arise, especially if you rush. Keep quiet. Don’t be afraid, or impetuous... go slow and steady.
Keep costs down at home. Love could seem intense... work together and keep your focus for great results. Obstacles provoke accidents, so go slow and watch out.
Don’t get intimidated by strong competition. Abundance, due to your own thri� , is yours. Finish what you started. Temporary confusion can befuddle, so be careful. Advance with caution.
Postpone expansion and travel. Don’t talk about � nances if you can avoid it. Quiet productivity allows you to keep your eye on a speeding ball. Finish an old job. � ink it through to the end.
Postpone a discussion. Avoid reckless spending. Your strength is quite attractive. Don’t get stopped by past failures. Learn from them. Make plans but don’t act on them yet.
Postpone a romantic conversation until you’ve thought over what you want to say. Pay attention to the mood. Light candles; add so� music and fragrant � owers. Express feelings wordlessly.
Don’t take o� on a lark quite yet. Allow extra time for travel. Move slowly to avoid accidents. Acknowledge the limits, and keep to them.
MCT Campus
Photo courtesy of VSU Debate TeamThe Forensics, VSU’s debate team, poses for a photo with coach Eaves. The Forensics have recently won fi rst place at the Chicken and Egg Tournament.
FEATURES DEBATE:
Award winning team adds to long list of accolades
Marquez SlaughterSTAFF WRITER
Horoscopeweekly
Marquez Slaughter/ SPECTATORThe Forensics (Speech and Debate) Team set up a table for its achievements, which adds up to 20 or more awards and trophies, including Dr. Eaves’ award for winning best speaker in the VSU Blazer Classic that he greatly appreciates.
Nearly 30 minutes after the Valdosta State’s women’s soc-cer team received a standing ovation at the Complex for advancing to the DII NCAA tournament as Gulf South Conference champions, the volleyball team began their march toward claiming the same honor.
VSU defeated the Universi-ty of Alabama-Huntsville 3-0, to move on to face University of West Florida in the semifi-nals of the GSC tournament on Saturday in Rome, Georgia at 2:30 p.m.
Head coach Mike Swan
earned his first playoff victory as a coach at VSU, and also finished 13-0 at home.
“It’s a good feeling,” Swan said. “This is one of our three goals we set out this year: to win all of them at home.”
After beating the Chargers 3-0 nine days ago, Swan knew this would be a different UAH team.
“I knew Huntsville would put up a much better battle than they did nine days ago,” Swan said. They were really flat that day, and we domi-nated them.”
GSC player of the year, Jessica Codato, kept her high level of play going again by tallying 38 assists, four kills and four digs.
“It’s the first round, so we’re always going to be a little nervous, but I mean we got back in the game,” Codato said.
After splitting the season series with UWF, Codato be-lieves consistency will be the key to winning the champion-ship.
“It’s mental at this point of the year,” Codato said. “We’ve been practicing, working hard every single day from the beginning of the year, and our team is so great, and we’ve been work-ing every single day, and it’s working. So it’s just mental.”
On being the player of the year in the GSC, Codato expresses her gratitude for
the award, but also admits humbly how important her teammates were to achieving the award.
“It’s great,” Codato said. “It’s an honor, and that’s still a team award because I’m a setter (and) without them I wouldn’t have gotten any-thing.”
Although it is his first play-off win, Swan is no stranger to needing to win when it counts. His response to ex-actly how many was simply, “too many.”
“I still get a little nervous, but I don’t let a whole lot of stuff get me rattled,” Swan said.
Follow Neil on Twitter:@NeilFrawley
Six weeks ago, Valdosta State was coming off a crush-ing 31-29 last second loss to No. 15 North Alabama and had a mediocre record of only 2-2.
Head coach David Dean then challenged his football team to something: win its remaining games and give themselves a shot at the play-offs; they’ve done just that so far.
VSU has gone on a five-game winning streak, outscor-ing their opponents 199-36, only giving up three touch-downs during that span.
“I’ve been very pleased with how this group has made this five game run and put us in a spot to win that sixth and get into the playoffs,” Dean said. “I’m even more proud in how we have improved each week. We are continuing to come together as a team.”
No. 25 VSU (7-2, 4-2) will look to make it six in a row and clinch a playoff spot when they travel to Mel-bourne, Florida, this Saturday to take on an impressive sec-ond year program in Florida Tech (6-4, 3-3).
Looking at the FIT offense though, it’s easy to believe this program has been around for years.
Lead by the seven time Gulf South Conference fresh-man of the week quarterback Mark Cato, wide receiver Xavier Milton, and fullback Trevor Sand, the Panther offense is a well balanced attack that has given multiple opponents trouble this year.
Milton and Sand lead the GSC in receiving and rushing yards respectively. Milton has 1,011 yards on 69 catches and nine touchdowns, while Sand has 1,058 rushing yards on 161 carries.
With all these weapons to account for, Dean is aware of the challenges his defense has
ahead of them. “They are always able to
match scores which is the sign of a good football team; if their defense gives up a touchdown their offense just comes out and drives it down to score,” Dean said. “They execute really well and (Mil-ton) is very, very good if you give him room.”
However, matching the hot play of the FIT offense is a Blazer defense that has no plans in watching their season end early.
“We are just going to keep doing what we have been doing,” linebacker and lead-ing tackler Kenny Murphy said. “We are just going to keep buying into what coach (Bubba) Walker is telling us. We all have confidence in each other to make the play and I think its showing out there.”
Entering the final week of the regular season VSU’s “Black Swarm” defense has looked just as the name
implies.Allowing just less than 16
points per game, the Black Swarm is ranked first in the GSC and 12th nationally in points allowed.
Offensively, the Blazers have looked like a well-oiled
machine for a majority of the season averaging over 35 points a game.
Dean credits the success to the balance his offense has shown, averaging over 220 rushing yards and 245 passing yards a game.
“Being as balanced as we have has been huge for us,” Dean said. “You’re not able to key on one specific thing. That’s what happened last week with UNC-Pembroke, they tried to stop our run and we ended up passing for over 300 yards. It’s been a blessing to be able to take advantage of what defenses want to give us this year.”
Quarterback Kaleb Nobles is expected to get the start behind center yet again with starter Jake Medlock out nursing a knee injury for the second straight week.
Nobles stepped up to the challenge last week and thrived in the spotlight finish-ing the game going 24-38 for 308 yards and four touch-downs.
VSU remains hopeful Medlock will be available for the playoffs if they can escape from Melbourne with a win.
Follow Chris on Twitter:@CTRSWebb
VSUSPECTATOR.COM | PAGE 7NOVEMBER 13, 2014
Sudoku Answer
Football goes to FIT, playoffs in sightChris Webb
Staff [email protected]
Alex Tostado/THE SPECTATORDavid Dean is on the cusp of a playoff appearence. VSU last went to the playoffs in 2012 when they won the National Championship.
Volleyball moves to GSC semis Neil Frawley
SportS [email protected]
Blazer basketball begins its 60th season Friday night against the Lane College Dragons.
With the preseason coming to a close, the Blazers are ea-ger to see a different opponent than themselves.
“It’s gotten to the point now where you’re tired of going against each other over and over again,” junior guard Blake Justice said. “It’s nice to see new guys out there. We’ve heard a little bit about Lane so we just want to come out and have a good showing the first night.”
Lane, a member of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC), finished 3-20 last season and struggled defensively throughout.
The Dragons surrendered 84.3 points per game and 50.4 percent shooting to their opponents while getting outscored by 10.8 points per game on average.
Blazers head coach Mike Helfer has long maintained the present is all that matters when a new season begins.
“In these early games, I think you have to throw out last year’s stats,” Helfer said. “Every team can change throughout the course of the year. When you really don’t have a lot of video or knowl-
edge of exactly what teams are going to do, it’s important to make sure you’re prepared to do what you do best and hopefully do that often.”
Justice, a sharpshooting transfer from Akron, saw his first season with the Blazers suffer from a frustrating com-bination of hot flashes and the chills; Justice shot 38.5 percent from the floor and just 31.9 percent from three-point range on the season.
Looking noticeably lighter than last season, Justice feels his improved conditioning will make him a more potent weapon as the season wears on and spoke of the expecta-tions for the team this season.
“One of my goals person-ally was to come back in bet-ter shape,” Justice said. “It’s a long season, legs get heavy, you kind of go through ups and downs where you’re not as consistent shooting-wise. Being in shape is definitely going to help.
“Team-wise, I think we’ve got a good team. I don’t want to say anything too outra-geous right now but I expect high things out of us.”
Albany State visits The Complex Saturday night.
The Rams have developed into a non-conference rival in recent seasons, a rivalry intensified by the Blazers’ 91-89 overtime win on the Rams’ home court last season.
“There are some positives
and negatives (to the back-to-back games),” Justice said. “You might not play well the first night, then the positive is you get to turn around and make up for it the next night. The negative is you get the short recovery and less plan-ning time.
“Albany is one of those teams where we went to their place and ended up winning in overtime so it’s an inner rivalry. They’ve got some guys back, we’ve got some guys back—it’s kind of brag-ging rights for the rest of the year so it’s a big game. We’re preparing for Lane first, but at the same time, Albany’s in the back of our heads.”
Helfer is entering his 10th season as the Blazers’ coach. Helfer is 174-90 in his VSU career, including being 112-23 at home.
For the coach, the challenge of a new season is exciting and having two games in two days is something to embrace.
“I don’t really look at it as my tenth season,” Helfer said smiling. “Each season brings its own challenges and rewards so I’m just looking forward to another season and getting ready for Friday night.”
Tip-off for Friday’s game is scheduled for 8 p.m. The Blazers host Albany State at 8 p.m. on Saturday.
Follow Shane on Twitter: @ItsaThomasThing
NOVEMBER 13, 2014 PAGE 8 | VSUSPECTATOR.COM
Basketball season tips off in Valdosta
Justice, VSU ready for new season
Hill has team prepped for opener
The Lady Blazers basket-ball team plays their first game Friday against Eckerd, who finished the 2013-2014 season with a record of 11-16.
As part of the Holiday Inn Valdosta Conference Center Challenge, The Lady Blazers will also play the next day against a Fort Valley State team that finished 13-15 last season.
With back to back games looming to start the season, head coach Kiley Hill is fo-cusing on getting his players ready to play.
“Right now our focus is getting ourselves prepared,” Hill said. “We’re making sure that everybody’s on the same page. That’s our main focus on offense, defense and in transition. We’re steadily get-ting better and better.”
“We have so many new kids,” Hill said. “Discussing the new challenges the young team will have to face. We haven’t played Eckerd or Fort Valley State. We played some exhibition games but you just never know what you’re going to get from them, just like they don’t know what they’re going to get from us. All we’re doing is trying to prepare based on what has
happened in the past and be ready to go play.”
Hill also discussed the aspect of having to play back to back games and the impact it has on the team.
“With back to back games we try to get a lot of prepa-ration in, not only from a mental standpoint but a physical standpoint as well,” Hill said. “Leading up to this week we’ve started tapering
back our workload. We’ve got to have high energy playing back to back games first thing out of the gate.”
The Lady Blazers will play Fort Valley State again on the road this Tuesday, and Hill sees this as a good thing for his young squad.
“I think you have a little better of an idea of what they’re going to do right out of the gate,” Hill explained. “You see what kind of adjust-ments they make against you and what adjustments you make against them. For us right now it’s probably a good thing to play someone back to back instead of having to prepare for someone new in a less amount of time, espe-cially for our younger players. Familiarity is a good thing.”
Shane ThomasSportS Writer
Austin WellsSportS Writer
Photo Courtesy of VSU Head coach Kiley Hill enters the season with many new faces. The season begins Friday.
“We’re making sure that everybody’s on the same page. That’s our main focus on offense, defense and in transition. We’re steadily getting better and better.”
-Kiley Hill VSU women’s head
basketball coachSierra King/THE SPECTATOR
The men’s basketball team huddles during a recennt practice. The season is set to tip off on Friday against Lane College and Saturday against Albany State.
