The Signal: Vol. 82 No. 19

FEB. 10, 2015 - FEB.
16, 2015
VOL. 82 | NO. 19
th
Sex
Issue
e
#NSFW: From exotic dancers to the best hookup spots

around campus, this is our sexiest Valentines Day
coverage yet! Read more inside if you dare.
PRACTICE SAFE SEX.

Read our editor-in-chiefs
letter on our V-DAY
coverage inside. | PAGE 9
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY JADE JOHNSON | THE SIGNAL
Inside
Inside
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Girl got game!
Fiber moves in
All the single people Power of the pole

There are so many of us!
Heres a look at the growing
trend of singles and what it
means economically.
Several exotic dancers

discuss their life stories
and the femininity
behind their careers.
Lets end the stereotypes

of womens sports and
just admire their athletic
performances.
News | Page 5
Opinions| Page 9
A&L | page 14
Sports | page 22
Google Fiber will now

offer faster gigabyte
internet speeds to metroAtlanta neighborhoods.
DAILY NEWS AT WWW.GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM
News 2
Opinions 8
Arts & Living 11
Sports 20
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2015

Jeepers, peepers,
whered you get those
creepers?
Aderhold Learning Center
Feb. 2
Words really hurt

University Center
A report was filed for

terroristic threats or harassment
by phone / email after a Georgia
State staff member said he was
threatened on social media. The
case will be handled by university
Police Investigations
Feb. 3
Out cold
Auburn Avenue
Northeast
A report for agency

assistance was filed by Georgia
State police after a non-university
student was found unresponsive,
laying at the loading dock. Grady
EMS and Fulton Countys Medical
Examiner both declared the
individual deceased. The incident
was turned over to the Atlanta
Police Department.
A report was filed for a peeping tom after a student said she observed an individual looking at her
between the cracks of the bathroom
stall on Jan. 27 at 9 p.m. The case
will be handled by Georgia State Police Investigations Division.
Feb. 4
Not like the old ball

game
Panthersville Complex
A report was filed for

criminal damage to property after
a campus police officer found the
baseball field fence to be pushed
down in several locations. The case
is being handled by Georgia State
Police Investigations Division.
harassment
Property damage
Feb. 5
medical emergency
A loud secret
University Commons
A report was filed for the

smell of marijuana. However, the source could not be located
after further campus police inspection.
possession
Photo of the week

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE TIGERS ROAR
Last weekend, the Signal staff brought home several
awards from the annual GCPA Better Newspaper
Contest, including first place in General Excellence.
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www.georgiastatesignal.com/news
SUGAR, SPICE
and everything
NICE
A sugar baby and sugar momma discuss the

LAUREN BOOKER
Associate News Editor
manda Stevens*, a 22-year-old

psychology major at Michigan
State University, is just like every other college student. She enjoys
shopping, likes to travel and immerses
herself in multiple activities.
However, theres a twist Stevens
is a part of a growing community of
sugar babies. The community involves
younger counterparts connecting with
older sugar daddy / sugar mommas
on dating websites for monetary exchanges.
Life as a
SUGAR
BABY
Stevens said she began the sugar

lifestyle when she was a freshman in
college. The TV show Diary of a Call
Girl was an inspiration.
Of course she [the shows character] is an escort and I am not an
escort, but I was like Wow, thats such
an amazing lifestyle that you lead, she
said. I am not a fake person but I love
to play a part. So if I can do this and
dont have sex with people and I can
make money, oh my God, thats the
best thing I can possibly do.
Stevens doesnt solely depend
on sugar daddies to give her money,
which she uses primarily to pay off
student loans. She also works another
job. As a sugar baby she said she is only
selling the girlfriend experience.
So I definitely see it as a business
and thats the only way to go about [it].
I make it very clear that I am somebody who background checks who
you are, she said.
Finding sugar daddies
Stevens said she is registered on

about 10 websites including SeekingArrangement, Established Men
and Hero Dating.
Out of all the websites she said
she likes how SeekingArrangement
is geared towards sugar relationships.
However, she doesnt like how the
main thing on their mind is sex.
So the vast majority of men on
SeekingArrangement are looking for
sugar babies but there is still going to
be a big chunk of them that are like
Oh hey. Can I pay you $200 to masturbate in front of me? And Im like
What? No, she said.
Stevens also said she has had six serious sugar daddies in which involvement has lasted from eight months to
a year and a half.
Types of sugar daddies
Stevens said her sugar daddies

have worked in politics in Washington
So I number men off. I have their

picture that they have sent me.
I have all their information that
they have sent me. I go online. I
look up their Linkedin. I look up
The Daddies
39 years old
Top Sugar
Daddy Cities
$273,300
1.
2.
3.
4.San Francisco
5.Las Vegas
average age
- Amanda Stevens, sugar baby

D.C., the Centers for Disease Control
(CDC) and Michigan government.
She also said she has been a sugar baby
for lawyers, doctors, business men and
computer industry men.
Out of all of the occupations, she
said she liked doctors the most because she said she feels they are naive
and believe they are in love.
In addition, there are three different types of sugar daddies, which are
salt, splenda and straight sugar/cane
sugar, according to Stevens. (See Lingo
Box to read more on terms.)
Salt are the worst types of sugar
daddies because they are reluctant to
pay their sugar babies and are hypersexual, according to Stevens. Splenda
on the other hand, are men who are
new to the lifestyle but are trying to
learn.
Stevens said the best type of sugar
daddy are straight sugar / cane sugar
because they know what they are doing and do not hesitate to provide a
sugar baby with what they are requesting.
Benefits of being a
sugar baby
Stevens said she charges $800 per

date and prefers to be paid in cash. On
these dates she usually goes shopping
or to dinner.
Recently, she said the most expensive gifts she has received from her
sugar daddies was five months of rent,
a vacation and Louis Vuitton heels
worth approximately $2,000.
She also said during a shopping
trip, her sugar daddy permitted her to
spend $5,000.
Stevens said these dates generally
end in a kiss, unless she becomes comfortable enough with the sugar daddy
to be sexually active.
She also said before sex she has
the sugar daddy discuss their previous
sexual history and provide her with
medical paperwork.
I have to tell them I am not here to
sleep with you unless it becomes truly
like a relationship where you are dating them, she said. Then money [isnt
a] factor anymore.
How she does it
Stevens said she attributes her success in obtaining sugar daddies to being a really good liar.
I cover my tracks very well and
make sure that I am an invisible person so that no one ever knows the real
[me] or anything about me, she said.
So I lie about what my parents do for
a living. Sometimes I make up that my
parents are dead. Sometimes I am an
only child. Sometimes I am one of six
kids. Sometimes Im Alice. Sometimes
Im Maria. Sometimes Im Nicole. Like
who am I? I dont even know.
She also said she lives out approximately three story lines.
So if I am Kate, I am Kate. I know
who Kate is, she said. Kate lives on
Cabot Road. If I were to be Kate right
now, I have three siblings, I live [in]
Cheboygan, Michigan [and] my parents own a four wheeling company. I
can be that person, she said.
To keep track of the different roles
she plays, Stevens said she keeps a Mac
Word document with sugar daddies
numbered with their names, personal
information and pictures.
So I number men off. I have their
picture that they have sent me. I have
all their information that they have
sent me. I go online. I look up their
Linkedin. I look up their Facebook. I
find their wife. I find their childrens
names, she said.
She said she also records when and
where she has her dates with the sugar
daddies and sends the document to
her best friend who is also a sugar baby
to ensure she is safe.
If I dont send her a text saying
goodnight or call her by midnight
then she knows to call me. And if I
dont pick up the call, then she calls the
police and gives them my information.
I never deleted any information of the
people I have been with ever, she said.
She also said she likes to hold a
conversation and is knowledgeable
about politics, sports and psychology.
Men like to bitch about their
wives. Knowing some psychology stuff
is great so you can just fake connect
with them and they think they have a
connection with you, she said. In reality they dont. At the end of the day
when you strip away me as a person
[and] who I really am, I do not give a
shit about these guys.
Sugar
continued on page 4
average income
31%
26% are entrepreneurs
16%
33% are married
The Babies
26 years old
average age
488,050
Fastest growing sugar

schools (2014)
1.
2.Arizona State
are single mothers
3.New York
42% are students

488,050
4.Kent State
40,000 are teachers
5.Georgia State
mothers
Sugar on the tongue

THE LINGO
Arrangement - Not relationships, sugar babies have arrangements with sugar daddies/mommas
- Potential sugar daddy or momma
- Sugar babies that look for a sugar daddy or mom- Someone that acts like a sugar daddy/momma but
doesnt uphold the arrangement
- Sugar daddies/mommas that limit spending on
their sugar babies
Bae - A cute nickname to refer to your arrangement partner
Basic - Used to describe someone that is predictable in their
behavior or dress
INFORMATION GATHERED FROM SEEKINGARRANGEMENT
Sugar continued from page 3

A sugar babys
No. 1 rule
The No. 1 rule for sugar babies is

to never fall in love with their sugar
daddy / momma, according to Stevens.
This is so finite. It can end at any
moment in time. You are the other
woman and you will never take the
place of a wife, an ex-wife, with children, she said. You will never ever,
ever, ever be that person and you really
have to wrap your head around it and
realize that you are so insignificant in
their lives.
However, Stevens said she is currently in love with one of her sugar
daddies. Despite this, Stevens said she
could see herself marrying her vanilla
boyfriend.
A vanilla boyfriend is an average
individual in a relationship, according
to Stevens. Vanilla friends are those not
associated with the sugar lifestyle.
Its very hard when you are in a
real relationship with somebody
like this vanilla relationship with
somebody who truly loves me for what
I am, she said. I feel very conflicted
and I am to the point where I am not
sleeping with any of my sugar daddies
right now. I am only sleeping with my
boyfriend, but it is very hard to not tell
him about my lifestyle. And I know if I
told him he would not be OK with it.
Stevens said she met her vanilla
boyfriend through her vanilla friends.
The guy I am with right now, I
know he is my person, like he is the
person I am going to marry. I have divulged all my secrets to him except for
this one, she said.
Stevens said none of her vanilla
friends or family know she is a sugar
baby.
She also said the way she regains
her sense of self after being a sugar
baby is by remembering that her lifestyle pays for her college tuition and
other luxuries.
You become a different person,
Stevens said. When I get home and
put that money in the bank and put
it on my loan or something, like, that
grounds me. It makes me realize, OK ,I
am doing this as if its a job. I am separating myself in a way.
The
SUGAR
MOMMAS
perspective
Michelle* is a lesbian Atlantabased sugar momma working in the

information technology field. She
began the sugar lifestyle because she
lacked free time three or four years ago.
Outside of my normal job, I am on
the board of directors for a non-profit. So, that takes up even more of my
time and at the end of the day, I dont
have a lot of time to go on dates and
to have someone in my life, she said.
I have always been kind of the person
who would buy things for the person I
am with in a relationship that kind
of became this natural progression of,
Well I am lonely. I want to go out on a
date, but I dont have the time unfortunately to develop a traditional relationship.
She also said she has had a total of
six sugar babies, four of which were serious relationships.
There are four types of sugar babies
Michelle said she has come across.
There are the ones that seem very
desperate... there are ones that clearly
dont know what they are doing and
just heard about this and is giving it a
try and thats fine. I would say generally
they dont stick around. They are short
term, she said. The type of sugar baby
that I see kind of more rarely that I am
more interested in are the ones who are
more lifestyle oriented.

Michelle said she only gives her
sugar babies an allowance of $1,000 a
month.
Ive gone all the way up to $2,500
and that was pretty extreme, she said.
That was a longer term relationship,
so there was a lot of intimacy that had
built there.
Michelle said her sugar babies
ranged from an artist, exotic dancer
and students.
Often times they are students.
Living in the city is expensive. School
is expensive. I totally understand that,
she said.
Michelle also said she uses SeekingArrangement, Craigslist and Whats
Your Price to find sugar babies.
SeekingArrangement is probably
like the number one. Its like really hard
because Im this huge outlier. There are
no other lesbian benefactors... people
in my position, she said. I have weird
responses on there because like 99 percent of the women I message assume
I am someones wife, you know, like
a guys wife or like we are looking for
that. Or they think I am a part of a couple and I have to [tell] them No. No.
No. Im single. Im a lesbian. Im OK.
And [the other] 10 percent of the time
they are like, No, Im not into that.
The benefits of being a sugar momma is having a shortcut to going on
dates with attractive women, according to Michelle. Also, the relationship
has less of the give and take than in
normal relationships.
Well, in a normal relationship you
have to work together to spend time
together, to do things together and you
know, stuff like that. But in my situation, if I am like Hey, lets plan to go on
a date. Its going to be three weeks away
and that sucks. I dont want to have to
schedule my relationship, she said.
The drawbacks are that sugar relationships tend to be short lived and
shrouded in secrecy, according to Michelle.
I was recently seeing someone
and I really liked her and she no longer needed financial assistance and I
stopped hearing from her, she said.
So that was a shame. I also have to
hide. I feel like I need to hide facts
about it to other people. You know, I
am openly lesbian, but it is hilarious
that I dont tell anyone the nature of the
relationships I have.
Michelle also said she thinks no
one knows about her sugar relationships, but people might be suspicious
of how she only dates extremely attractive women.
I dont tell people because I feel
like most people would react really
negatively [and] very judgmentally
and you know, not take a moment to
try to understand why I am active in
these types of relationships, because
people tend to be really negative towards lifestyles they dont understand,
she said.
Michelle also said has met one or
two other sugar daddies/mommas and
heard from sugar babies that sugar
daddies are more interested in physical
relationships.
Not necessarily exclusively but
wanting the physical part to be a much
bigger aspect than I personally care
about. They are also more interested
in keeping things shorter term, you
know, seeing someone for two months,
three months then moving on to the
next best thing, she said.
In the future Michelle said she
would like to have a long term relationship with marriage.
I would definitely like to have a
long term relationship where we are
building a life together, she said. I
dont think thats mutually exclusive to
me pampering. I would definitely like
to find someone to have that eventually.
Matthew Wolff also contributed

to this report.
* Names have been changed to
protect the identity of those in this
story. Names used are aliases.
Do students like the sugar?

ROGER KRICK
What do you think of

sugar baby relationships?
Would you consider

being a sugar baby?
I think its bound to happen.

The older people, the older guys
work non-stop and so they really
just kind of want someone to be
with them when they go out of
town. And you have these younger people that want that lifestyle
so they jump on board but it usually doesnt work. I think it gets all
messed up when they try to make
it a love relationship because
when theres that big of an age
difference it doesnt really work.
No. Ive kind of been around

it but no. Its not a fun game. You
feel like their property. Cool if you
want to treat me to certain things,
but its a messed up game, a very
messed up game. You really just
become their property. Ive been
with a guy that was older and he
had a lot of money and after a
while I decided Im not about this.
Why do you think Atlanta

is seeing an increase in
I think it has a lot to do with
the gay community. Do you
know Tenth and Piedmont? I
swear, nowadays I dont go there
as much but you always see the
daddy and the little twink boy
next to him.
MYCHELAYNE RATTES
girls that are in school. I think it
money these days and sometimes
they do anything thats possible
to get it. I dont think I disapprove.
I dont think its bad unless youre
doing something illegal.
Would you consider

being a sugar baby?
No because Im too independent but the work I do being in
school and being a [Portuguese]
teacher I do have a lot of guys proposing that idea. I think its a modern nickname for prostitution. I
think its prettier name for it but
I do understand that sometimes
when you are in need you will
and sometimes you dont think
about the consequences, I would
say. When I teach, I teach older
-

I dont know about Atlanta
but I know Georgia State is pretty diverse. You get a huge range
of people from different incomes.
Its an international city and so
you see everything.
any money so its easy for me to

offer and for her to accept, but
Ive got offers, yeah.
STEVEN MORGAN
PHOTOS BY
MATTHEW WOLFF |
THE SIGNAL
I think its strange. Ive never

had that situation in my life. Im
more on the conservative right
so I feel like its my job to make
money and marry the woman that
I love and take care of her. Other
than that, Im not into that other
stuff. Its not my league.
Would you consider being

a sugar baby?
No, I dont think its masculine.

A lot of people make a lot of
money in big cities and most big
cities are moving toward being
socially moderate. Weak people
like to have a strong companion.
In the city youve got major wageearning gaps. You could make
$400,00 and your partner might
make $35,000. Theres just wage
discrepancies and differences.
Part of it is probably political and
sociological.
City
SEAN KEENAN
Staff Reporter
tlanta could soon be one of

the fastest internet provider
cities in the world with the
help of Google Fibers internet services, according to Atlanta Mayor
Kasim Reed during a Jan. 27 press
conference.
Google Fiber will offer gigabit
speeds directly to peoples homes
whereas other fiber-optic services
only offer comparable speeds commercially, according to Googles information page.
Reed and a panel of Google executives said during the conference
that the fiber optic network will also
offer service to areas neighboring
Atlanta.
In addition to coming to Atlanta, Google [Fiber] will be coming
to Avondale Estates, Brookhaven,
College Park, Decatur, East Point,
Hapeville, Sandy Springs and Smyrna, he said.
GOOGLE FIBERS
IMPACT ON CAMPUS
Georgia States Chief Innovation Officer Phil Ventimiglia said

Googles fiber optic network will
usher in simpler connectivity for
students and professionals in and
around Atlanta.
The connectivity would allow
for additional innovative delivery of
course materials and easier access
to academic resources, according to
Ventimiglia.
Ventimiglia said Google Fibers
advertised gigabit speeds will facilitate network interaction for university students and staff.
Access to faster Internet infrastructure will allow students, faculty and staff to interact and collaborate more easily when they are away
from campus, he said.
However, Georgia State will not
yet subscribe to Google Fiber gigabit access because the service currently caters more towards homes
and small businesses, according to
Ventimiglia.
Were talking with Google to
stay aware of Google Fiber developments and [we] are very excited
about its possible effects on home
and small business connectivity, he
said. However, because Google Fiber is a consumer-focused offering
that is targeted at residential communities, it wont directly affect how
the network is provided on Georgia
State Universitys campus.
COMPARING
INTERNET SPEEDS
Georgia State already runs on

similar more research-oriented network of similar strength, according
to Ventimiglia.
We currently provide speeds
comparable to those advertised for
Google Fiber to computers plugged
directly into the campus network
via ethernet cable, he said.
Ventimiglia also said research
institutes use certain Internet2 networks for research that surpasses Google Fibers data transfer
speeds.
As a research institution
and member of Internet2, we Smyrna
have the ability to provide
speeds of up to 10 times the
speeds offered by Google
Fiber for specialized research connections between institutions, he
said.
Cassie Wilcox, Georgia States assistant director of marketing and
communications,
said
the connection speeds of
Internet2 has expanded
since Georgia States memAvondale
East
bership with the network.
Estates
Point
Weve been a member
of Internet2 for some time,
but the connection for research
purposes was expanded to 10
Gbps in the last couple years, she
said.
Hapeville
Internet2 is a service provider
which connects hundreds of universities and research institutes across Its the
the country via fiber optic cable, ac- t w e n t y first centucording to Wilcox.
ry version of the
thinks Google Fiber may solve
THE EVOLVING HUB railroad, he said.
slow internet issues as well as stimTino Mantella, president
Google Fibers Director of Marulate the citys economy.
keting Scott Levitan said Atlanta and chief executive officer of the
[Google Fiber] will make the
was chosen because of the strong Technology Association of Geor- welcome a new wave of attention
Atlanta
area more of a central hub
community foundation supporting gia (TAG) said Google Fiber will from technology students in the Atthan
it
already
is. We could see an
change the city greatly and ulti- lanta area.
its cities.
exponential
growth
in a number of
I have made a commitment
Atlanta has always been a mately benefit its inhabitants.
businesses
in
and
around
Atlanta,
[Google Fiber] will have a pro- to work with leaders from the prihub. What started with trains and
he
said.
evolved to planes will now become found impact on how we live, play vate and educational sectors to keep
Mendicino said she does not
a hub for the 21st century economy, and work. Internet speed is a game- more of our technology graduates
anticipate
any drawbacks to come
Levitan said in a statement sent to changer. It blows open doors that in the city of Atlanta after they earn
from
Fibers
development.
The Signal. This diverse, entrepre- have remained shut, he said during their degrees, he said.
Google Fiber could bring afneurial and tech-friendly region is the conference.
internet to thousands of
THE FASTEST IN THE fordable
the ideal place to show whats pospeople who would have never been
sible with gigabit speeds. Were exWORLD
THE HUB AND
able to afford home internet access
cited to see what Metro Atlanta does HIGHER EDUCATION
Reed said Google Fiber will yield
before and I do not see how anyone
with Google Fiber.
Mantella said high speed in- Atlanta residents internet speeds could be against that, she said.
Tom Lowry, director of technol- ternet is a commodity and Google comparable to those of Seoul, Tokyo
Psychology student Claire Mcogy at Google Atlanta, said at the Fiber will be a useful resource for or Zurich during the conference.
Grath said she hears that the conconference that he is glad Mayor higher education.
Google Fiber will help put Atstruction of the network may be inReed is enthusiastic in the pursuit
lanta
on par with the fastest cities in
In order to keep the pace
vasive to Atlanta commuters but she
of making Atlanta a more digital with future demand, we must have the world, he said.
thinks the impact will be insignificity.
Law and Society student Mienough bandwidth necessary to
cant.
He shares our deep commit- support our increasingly hi-tech randa Mendicino said she believes
Construction is constantment to strengthen Atlanta as a lives, he said.
Google Fiber is a win-win for the
ly ongoing in Atlanta, she said.
technology hub, he said.
Reed said during the confer- people of Atlanta.
[Though] Im sure itll increase
This development will invite en- ence that Googles neighborhood
[Google Fiber] would bring
traffic some, Im confident that it
trepreneurs and innovators to in- networks will accommodate those some of the worlds fastest internet
wont affect an Atlantans commute
troduce and develop their ideas in needs.
speeds to our busy city. This would
as much as people believe.
Atlanta, according to Reed during
We need to set up everyone be monumental because the UnitChattanooga, Tennessee witthe conference.
of our residents for success in this ed States is really lagging behind in nessed overwhelming support for
We want the metropolitan At- connected world. Were going to call Internet speed compared to other
lanta region to be a place where peo- it a Fiberhood, he said
countries, she said.
ple bring and build their dreams.
Noah Lee, a respiratory therapy Google Fiber
Reed also said he hopes these
Google Fiber is the infrastructure technological advancements will student, said he frequently hears
for the next generation of dreams.
complaints about other ISPs and he Continued on page 6
Sandy
Springs
Brookhaven
Atlanta
College
Park
Decatur
University
Staff Reporter
eorgia State may be at risk

of losing journalism major students concentrating
in public relations after Kennesaw
State announced its own plans to
implement a new degree focusing
on the program for fall 2015.
Georgia State professor Dr.
Richard Welch said high school
students wanting to pursue a public
relations degree are more likely to
choose Kennesaw State over Georgia State because of the new major.
I think what is going to happen is they will begin to siphon off
those kids who have a real desire to
go into public relations and we will
get kids who are not quite sure what
they want, he said. Kennesaw is
going to be a lot more flexible to
develop more courses and I think
they are going to be better able to
recruit high school students who
want to be in public relations.
Before teaching public relations
and other communication classes
at Georgia State, Welch taught at
Kennesaw State for 12 years. He
said Kennesaw State has always
been a university focused on improvements.
Kennesaw State has been very
good at identifying needs and
jumping on them very quickly. It is
very traditional that young colleges
can move more deftly than old colleges and we happen to be an old
college, Welch said.
Kennesaw is now the fourth
Georgia university to have an undergraduate public relations major.
Universities with an undergraduate
public relations program include
the University of Georgia, Georgia
Southern and Reinhardt University, according to Education-Portal.
However, this is not the first
time Kennesaw State has implemented new programs that would
also fit Georgia States programs
and faculty, according to Welch.
About three or four years ago,
Kennesaw started a masters in international communication, which
is fascinating because we have a
very strong program in faculty who
work in international communication, he said. We werent quick
enough to get in there and get this
international communication masters degree.
Barbara Gainey, a chair member of Kennesaw States department of communication, said this
change has been a work in progress
since 2012 with the support of surveyors.
We did a survey of our public
relation students, we talked to faculty, we talked with public relation
professionals and got a lot of support for moving in the direction
of a separate major for public relations, she said.

Gainey also said this change
was motivated to better prepare
students for when they graduate.
It is often hard for employers
and universities to identify how
students essentially focused their
studies. Separate majors will provide that area of focus that should
be clear to employers in how these
students have specialized and what
their level of preparation will be
because of the program, she said.
Welch said implementing new
majors would be difficult for Georgia State to compete with Kennesaw due to lack of full time faculty.
The reality is in many other
schools, our department would be
its own school and we would have
five different departments including public relations, he said. If
you look at the number of majors
in the arts and sciences degree programs and you look at them and
order them by number of students,
public relations as a degree program would take sixth or seventh
out of 23.
This implementation of a separate major is hoped to be followed
by the other areas of focus under
the Communication department
at Kennesaw State, according to
Gainey.
We hope to gradually be moving to four separate undergraduate
majors in our program instead of
one massive Communications umbrella, she said.
Gainey also said she is unsure
there will be an increase in student
numbers brought by the new program.
We have what is called a gated program in our department. It
means that students have to have
a specified and adjusted GPA and
have to pass a writing test, she
said.
Georgia State associate professor Dr. Natalie Tindall said she expects the undergraduate program
at Kennesaw State to be a great opportunity based off of the current
public relations program.
As Georgia State asks more departments to offer workforce-readiness programs, I hope that this degree program at KSU will prompt
the leadership to put additional resources in the current PR curriculum, she said.
Tindall also said she hopes
news of Kennesaw States major
will spark Georgia State public relations students to advocate for
change.
This degree program may not
be an immediate threat to our program, but with time, it will be if our
program does not adapt to meet
the needs of students and practitioners, she said.
the installation of their fiber optic

network, according to Public
Relations Coordinator of EPB
(formerly Electric Power Board of
Chattanooga) John Pless.
Pless said EPB delivers fiber
optic internet service to over 70,000
customers in Chattanooga and the
U.S. Department of Energy found
an interest in the companys plans to
construct a city-wide fiber network.
They caught wind of our
project through some of the vendors
that supply our equipment because
it was a pretty extensive build, he
said.
The attention combined with
the economic climate set the stage
for the fiber networks success,
according to Pless.
At the time this [planning] was
going on, the great recession of
2008 hit and the [Dept. of Energy]
administration had announced
stimulus
grants
for
public
infrastructure projects throughout
the country, he said. The country
was bleeding about 700,000 jobs a
month for a while so it was an effort
to create programs that would
create jobs.
The Department of Energy
granted the EPB $111 million to
expedite the construction and
installation, according to Pless.
The plan was to build up a
system over a number of years, but
with that grant, it accelerated our
plans and we were able to complete
the project within three years where

we were previously looking at five
to 10 years, he said.
However, he also said he
experienced resistance during
the production of Chattanoogas
network from the competing
service providers.
Some of the cable and telecom
providers who were pretty much the
only providers in the market had
filed several lawsuits attempting
to block the project, Pless said.
The idea was that there would
be another player in the market
providing communication and at
that point the lawsuits followed.
Comcast tried to balk the
project but had no viable case for a
lawsuit, according to Pless.
They made arguments that just
couldnt hold up in court, he said.
Pless also said the competitors
would manipulate statistics in
order to claim superiority over the
competition.
There are a few other providers
who are making claims that they
have the fastest internet. The
only thing that we ask is that you
compare the actual speeds. We offer
100 Mbps up to one Gbps.
BIG INTERNET
PROVIDERS
Alex Horwitz, vice president of

public relations for Comcasts big
south region, said the company
serves the fastest internet to the

most homes in the country.
Today in Atlanta, we already
offer residential speeds of up to
505 Mbps and we offer Comcast
Business customers 10 Gbps, he
said.
Although the residential speeds
offered by Comcast now are roughly
half those of Google Fiber or EPB,
Horwitz said he was confident in
Comcasts plans to stay competitive
in the internet service market.
We are excited about the
prospect of delivering gig speeds
to residential customers using a
technology known as DOCSIS 3.1,
he said. We plan to test it as soon
as later this year. With it, we will be
able to deliver 1 gigabit per second
(Gbps) speeds to more homes than
any other ISP in America.
Horwitz also said Comcast is
not unfamiliar with fiber-optic
technology.
Our network is highly scalable
and flexible and uses both fiber and
coax to deliver Internet services
to consumers, he said. We were
actually one of the first ISPs to
demonstrate a 1 Gbps connection.
The leader of the technology
race in Atlanta remains to be seen as
the installation of Google Fiber will
take a few years of neighborhoodby-neighborhood implementation,
according to a statement sent by the
mayors office to The Signal.
COLLEGE
NIGHT
February 21, 2015, 8 p.m. to 12 midnight
$7 per student, FREE for members, $5 per person for groups of 10 or more. For group
sales, call 404-733-4450.
Get to the High at 7:30 p.m. to pick up a free ticket* to the Alliance Theatre or Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. After the performance,
come back to the High for College Night! *while supplies last
Music by
Semicircle
Airbrush Tattoos
Collaborative Chalk Art
Artist Talks and Tours
Art Stations
Student Sculpture Garden and more!
Wear all white and visit our decoration station to design your own artsy look!
ON VIEW: Wifredo Lam: Imagining New Worlds
Imagining New Worlds: Jos Parl and Fahamu Pecou
Tours by artist Fahamu Pecou
More at HIGH.ORG
Sponsored by
Jos Parl (American, born 1973), Contemplating the Storm (detail), 2014, 60 x 84 inches, acrylic and ink on canvas.
Artists Rights Society, NY
SAMUEL ROTH
Google Fiber continued from page 5
University
LAUREN BOOKER
Associate News Editor
ighlights of the Student

Center Advisory Councils
first spring semester meeting on Feb. 5 include food policy expansions and unaffiliated client policies.
Currently, the food and beverages policy says food served in the
Student*University must come from
Flavours by Sodexo. Under special circumstance, an approved caterer can be
used, according to the Student Centers
website.
Sodexo is an outsourced catering
company that can provide coffee service, outdoor picnic or full-service waited staff, according to the PantherDining
website.
The International Student Associations Council (ISAC) requested for
multicultural food options to be allowed in their events during the Student Government Associations last
meeting; the Student*University Center
reviewed and approved the new Veterans Memorial Hall policy.
The approved food policy will give
organizations new guidelines for bringing commercial and non-commercial
foods into Veterans Memorial Hall and
West Exhibit Hall.
The new food policy states any outside commercial food provider can be
brought if the group consults with a Sodexo representative, have the outside
caterer request form in 15 business days
prior and obtain the caterers business
license.
The group would also need to take
full responsibility for the outside caterer
used, according to the policy.

To bring non-commercially prepared food, the organization must also
talk to a Sodexo representative and submit a non-commercially prepared food
request form.
If an organization chooses to bring
non-commercially prepared food, they
would also need to have members attend food safety training lasting an hour
and thirty minutes. During the training they would have a 15 question assessment and would have to answer 12
out of 15 correctly to pass, according to
the policy.
Organizations could also choose
a self-study option where they would
read a booklet and then take the food
safety assessment, according to the
policy.
Marlena Collins, Georgia State senior and former president of national
honor society Alpha Lamba Delta, said
the new food policy is a good idea.
Its also not fair to just a general
business model that you are required to
use one supplier like Panther Dining,
she said.
Georgia State senior accounting
major Autiena Johnson said the policy
is great for students because it allows
groups to have more selections than just
PantherDining.
Most [of] the clients here are not
from outside vendors. Its from the students thats using their facilities, Johnson said. Panther Dining is not going
to offer things for an Asian culture or a
Jamaican culture. People prepare things
different.
The proposed snack

food policy
The policy requests for the expansion of the snack food list to include
Local
Five dead in Douglasville

shooting
PHOTO BY JADE JOHNSON | THE SIGNAL

Jeannie Cho, the new event planning manager, speaks on the new
food policy for Veterans Memorial Hall and West Exhibit Hall.
foods like chicken wings or a veggie
tray. A snack food waiver would still
need to be filled out.
Under the proposed policy pizza
and sandwich snack foods would not
be allowed in the ballroom and auditorium. Additionally, food must be disposed after three hours and cold food
would be kept on ice.
Organizations would also need to
attend food safety training, according to
the snack food waiver policy proposal.
Collins said the policy would beneficial because organizations face limitations within the current food policy
making them not want to book rooms
on campus.
It can make things frustrating at
times when you are the person in charge
of booking all those things, she said.
Johnson said the snack food policy
should allow organizations to submit
a list of the foods they plan to bring to
then have it get accepted. She also said
its not fair to control the types foods organizations can bring.
I really dont think there should be

a control on what people can bring. You
are telling people basically what they
can eat, Johnson said.
This policy will be voted on during
the next meeting, according to Director
of the Student*University Center Boyd
Beckwith.
client policy
Beckwith said very few non-Georgia State groups use the universitys facilities because the groups can only the
request three months before the event
day.
The policy proposes an expansion of the amount of time an outside group has to reserve a space in the
Student*University Center, according
Beckwith.
We can increase our revenue significantly in the summer because, except for Incept, this building is dead in
the summer, he said.
SGA roundup
housing and the consolidation

CIARA FRISBIE &
SEAN KEENAN
News Editor &
Staff Reporter
eorgia States Student Government Association (SGA)

hosted a Q&A-style town
hall to address the concerns about
gender inclusive housing and the
consolidation between the university and Georgia Perimeter College
(GPC).
Gender inclusive housing
Director of University Housing

Dr. Marilyn A. De LaRoche and Associate Director of Residence Life Dr.
Mylon Kirksy spoke and answered
students questions regarding the implementation of next years gender
inclusive housing option.
De LaRoche said although the
new living option may appeal more
to non-binary or transgender students, those students will not take
priority over any others.

The application is open to anybody... so you need to apply timely to
request the option, she said.
Kirksy said University Housing
will not inquire about the sexual or
gender orientations of applicants.
Some people are not ready for
you to know their business, he said.
We are not going to preference [anyone] in a way that could discriminate
[some] for the sake of protecting others.
SGA President Lanier Henson
said gender inclusive housing will cater towards many different living arrangements.
Its not necessarily just for nonbinary and transgender students but
also for siblings and cousins or other
relatives, he said.
However, SGAs Elections Commissions
Chairperson
Nyomi
Haynes said she believes first-semester students shouldnt have the option to live with the opposite sex.
I think for freshman first semes-
ter students it may be in their best interests to not allow them the option
until they got past their first semester
because there are a lot of things they
have to overcome and get used to,
she said. ...Living with the member
of the opposite sex could be distracting or may be something to get used
to that they may not be ready for yet.
The consolidation
Georgia States Vice President for

Student Affairs Dr. Douglass Covey
said the GSU-GPC consolidation will
be beneficial to the students and staff.
The people who consider that
this in any way will reduce the quality of Georgia State really dont understand what this represents, he
said.
Covey also said Georgia State
used to be called the states best kept
secret but the universitys reputation
has grown in the past few years.
Georgia State is becoming one of
the largest institutions in the nation,
he said. The sheer weight of one of
Americas largest universities is going

to reap lots of benefits for us. This in
many ways will increase the value of
your degrees exponentially.
Dr. Peter Lyons, Associate Provost for Institutional Effectiveness,
said he is working on 81 different
committees looking for student representatives to talk about how to consolidate the universities.
Georgia Perimeter will be a college within Georgia State University,
he said. The board of regents approved a plan on Jan. 6 that the new
institution will be called GSU and
the president of that institution will
be Mark Becker.
Lyons also said he does not anticipate additional student fees to come
with the consolidation.
We dont believe there will be
an increase in tuition. Becker doesnt
want this to be a financial strain, Lyons said. Were conscious this is an
issue [and] our primary thought is
whats in the best interest of students
and parents.
Five people were killed and two

more injured in a domestic shooting on Saturday, Feb. 7 in Douglasville, Georgia, according to
WXIA. Among the victims were
multiple children. Some victims
were found dead at the scene while
other individuals died en route to
the hospital. The assailant died at
the hospital from self-inflicted
wounds. The relationship between
the attacker and the victims has
not yet been released by authorities, but neighbors said the gunman was the ex-husband of the
woman living in the home. Police
said the man parked his car up the
street from the residence before
walking to it and opening fire. The
victims names have yet to be released as of Feb. 8.
National
Family stages kidnap to

scare boy
A Missouri family staged the kidnapping of a six-year old boy because they said he is too friendly
with strangers, according to BBC.
Denise Kroutil, the boys aunt, allegedly enlisted the help of her coworker Nathan Firoved to help
scare her nephew. Firoved lured
the boy into a car, showed him a
handgun and bound his hands
and feet. The boy was then taken
to Firoveds basement. Kroutil and
Firoved took off the boys pants,
told him he would never see his
family again and that he was to
be sold into sex slavery. The boys
mother and grandmother also
took part. The boy was eventually released and given a lesson
about talking to strangers. He then
told his school what happened
and child protective services were
called. The four adults involved
are being charged with kidnapping, restraint, abuse and neglect
of a child.
Global
Bank robbery shootout in

Brazil
Thirteen men in the process of

robbing a bank were shot dead by
police in Salvador, Brazil on Feb. 6,
according to Sky News. Three additional suspects and one police
officer were also injured during
the incident. The alleged criminals were attempting to use explosives to blow open a cash machine
when police arrived. Bahian military police said up to 30 men were
involved in planning the robbery.
The Public Security Secretary
Mauricio Barbosa supported police actions and said they must be
tough, firm and act with severity.
www.georgiastatesignal.com/opinions
Best hookup spots around campus

WHY:
Heck, its cheaper than a hotel
room. As long as youre not alone
and if you grab one on the upper
floors in the evening, the library
is practically deserted. Bring some
sheets for the windows and well
fire the photon torpedoes into the
exhaust port, so to speak.
NICOLE MOTAHARI
Opinions Editor
Nicole is a double major in
biology and English. When
shes not writing, she enjoys
listening to musical theater
and watching British TV
with her family.
WHERE:
Tweet her
@SignalOpinions
Court
The Johnny Mercer

Exhibit by Saxbys
WHY:
yard
Library North
Open from 8:30 a.m. - 5:15 p.m.,

its a quiet little niche in the corner. Not
many people even know it exists and
the lighting is dim enough to set the
mood. With an antique jukebox in the
corner, sheet music surrounding you
on the walls and a theater kiosk with
two cinema-style seats, you can turn
this cinema show into a love nook.
However, remember that it is on
one of the busiest floors of the library,
so a bit of cuddling and kissing is the
only appropriate form of affection in
here. Please, no one wants to walk in on
you Slytherin her Hufflepuff. Seriously,
folks.
WHY:
The
B
r
o
a
d
S
t
R
E
E
T
WHERE:
balcony in the
Aderhold Learning
Center
Courtland St.
With not many classes up there

after 4:30ish or so, its a cute and
romantic date spot with a rather
nice view of the sunset. Grab a
picnic blanket and a hamper, then
brush off the cigarette ash before
spreading out and enjoying the
fresh air. Whether you can get
your bow-chicka-wow-wow on
here is a matter of preference. If
you have an exhibitionistic streak
in you, by all means, give it a try,
but be aware of security and other
students.
WHERE:
Library study
rooms
WHY:
WHERE:
Its dark and there are seats.

I dont even want to think about
what Id see if I used a black
light. Blech. But hey, whatever
floats your boat.
WHERE:
Piedmont Ave.
The Signal
WHY:
One, writers are smart, so if
youre in the office, it most likely
means youre *ehem* printing the
paper so to speak with a journalist.
Also, were notoriously persistent
when we want something, which
is good for you if youre the object of our desire. We have coffee,
which makes for better stamina,
and the door to the web editing
room locks and has no windows.
So if you want to stop mooning
around and padfoot your prongs,
join The Signal and become a staff
writer!
WHERE:
The hot tub at the
Rec Center
WHY:
JUST A WARNING!
Our editor-in-chief does not endorse
this in any way. If yall are caught, yalls
names might just be put on blast.
Yall are already in your swimsuits and even though there are no
drinks, bubbly streams of water
are fun. Just keep in mind what
they taught you in high school:
Despite myths, you can get someone pregnant through water. Its
not as likely as the sperm will only
survive a few minutes, but it can
still happen. Dipping your wick
is technically prohibited and yes,
there are lifeguards.
Letter from the Editor

Dear readers,
This is our special Valentines Day/Sex
(slash relationships, slash stay informed,
slash boom! for the sake of our economy)
issue.
I wont lie. This was probably the most
exciting issue of the year for our staff. And
its no wonder why.
Growing up, sex was such a hushhush topic; it seemed dangerous and
promiscuous. But now that were in college, its time to do what were good at
and learn about it.
If you went to public school, you were
probably taught all the protocols for having safe sex. Use contraceptives, dont give
into peer pressure and be aware of sexually transmitted diseases. If you didnt go
to public school, all the implicit messages
were probably still there: Sex is bad.
It all seemed so scary at first, right?
And it can be, but now you should be
able to make your choices without having to feel guilty. Now that were all adults
(woohoo college!), we can finally practice those decision-making skills all the
old people were telling us about when we
were young.
Some of us will choose to stay virgins
and others of us will choose to have sex.
Which ever path you choose, there is no
judgement here.
If you plan on getting intimate with a
special someone and even if you dont
quite know if youll even have sex yet
we strongly encourage you to use your resources and learn about your bodies.
Pay a visit to our Student Health Services Center at 141 Piedmont Ave., Suite
D (right next to the University Commons). Ask them for information on the
womens or mens health care they offer,
whichever most pertains to you.
Planned Parenthood is also right on
our campus (at 75 Piedmont Avenue
Northeast #800) and they give out condoms for free.
With this special issue, we hope to
inform everyone on the issues you cant
really have a casual conversation about
in public. Whats popular in the sex shops
around Atlanta? Whats in those things
anyway? Whats with this Georgia State
being a growing university for sugar babies? What does sugar baby even really
mean?
We even cover bases on dating etiquette, interracial relationships and the
ways some women empower themselves.
Let us know how we did on our coverage this week the good, the bad and the
ugly by emailing signaleditor@gmail.
com. Well consider your thoughts and
ideas for the next year.
And while youre out there, remember
to wrap it up.
Yours truly,
Anna Yang
Editor-in-Chief
Dollars and sense with Mitch
Lets take a look at the untapped market of singles

MITCHELL OLIVER
Columnist
alentines Day is fast

approaching as we all
scramble to make plans.
Whats worse is having to make
the tough call between taking your
girl out to Olive Garden or cooking at home.
Of course you choose the lazy
option, just as any man who cant
resist the electric atmosphere of
middle class romance melded
into the aroma of endless breadsticks. While there, in between
short bursts of underwhelming
chit-chat and overcooked shrimp
scampi, the haunting realization
dawns on you that youre sinking
ever deeper into a mediocre relationship.
But you think to yourself At
least Im not single right?
It doesnt have to be like this!
Valentines Day, as we all know,
was invented to sell cards, roses
and Olive Garden meals. The fervent marketing to couples this
time of year pays off to the tune of
$13.2 billion in related merchandise sold. The companies behind
the holiday might want to start
thinking of an exit strategy, as the
singles revolution is fast approaching. Theres a huge untapped market for the rest of us on Valentines
Day and it must be taken seriously!
The times are changing and
cultural shifts are making being single the new hot trend. For
the first time in America, single
people now outnumber married
individuals (50.2 percent vs. 49.8
ZACH ITZKOBITZ
Columnist
eres a scenario: youre

a woman dating a man,
and your relationship
happens to coincide with Valentines Day. What is expected of
you? I cant speak as a woman because Im not one, but there is the
cheesy seasonal quip something about men expecting sex
on Valentines Day and women
feeling pressured to oblige.
Conversely, youre a man dating a woman. What is expected
of you? Our traditional culture
tells you to take your significant
other out on a date and that you
should pay for it. For Valentines
Day, our culture also tells you to
be a gentleman and to hide any
libido you may have by giving
prominence to the romantic love
that you and your special someone supposedly share.
percent). More and more people

are single and they are increasingly OK with it.
To me, being single used to
be a sign of being a loner or even
borderline narcissistic, not wanting to share emotions with anyone
but oneself. Now I see a single person and assume they are focused
on their career, school or other life
goals before settling down with
anyone. Even the independant
woman being a positive role model for girls has been ingrained into
our zeitgeist in recent years and
will continue to be influential for
years to come.
For the first time, society
is telling us Its OK! You dont
have to be with somebody right
now and you dont have to get
married before youre 25 if you
dont want to.
Eric Klinenberg, a sociology professor at NYU who has
authored a book on this subject,
says it is now easier than ever to be
pickier than ever with whom we
date. This, coupled with changing
the negative perception of being
single, is a reason for the growing
number of those disassociating
with relationships. Its become
legitimate and viable to be single
for a long period of time, he said
in a recent interview with Public
Radio International.
Sociologists refer to this as the
paradox of choice, a recent phenomenon in the world of dating
and relationships. With so many
options and ways to meet new
people, we see the flaws and imperfections in everyone we come
across, making us more inclined
to wait for Mr. or Mrs. right who

could be one click, swipe or breakup away.
Along with this paradox of
choice comes a cultural shift that
is appearing in Japan. What many
in the country are calling celibacy
syndrome is sweeping the nation.
Japanese men are more interested
in advancing their careers than going on dates and having children.
Even a survey in 2014 by the Japan
Family Planning Association revealed that 45 percent of women
aged 16-24 were not interested in
or despised sexual contact.
This could be an issue for not
only hopeless romantics in The
Land of the Rising Sun but also
for the Japanese government.
From an economic development standpoint, Japan is facing a
shrinking birth rate. As the population ages, there isnt a young labor force to replace it. While here
in the US this isnt likely to happen, it is important to realize that
trends are shifting away from the
typical courtship of centuries past.
So, Valentines Day is coming
up and all Im talking about is being single. Dont worry Im not
doing this because I feel that life is
unfair or that seeing couples secretly makes me jealous. I simply
see that trends are slowly moving
towards the singles culture having a larger market share and I
am surprised companies havent
caught on yet. Sure, theres things
like National Singles Day to allow
singles to meet up and celebrate
their singleness, but why havent
marketers latched on to this growing market and taken advantage of
this audience?
Single people are out there and
they are out there in droves. The
problem is marketers think they
might offend people by directly
targeting the singles, but this isnt
the case anymore! As I mentioned
earlier, its no longer some taboo
subject that we dont talk about
- people are single and proud
now. Im sure they would love
products and services directed at
them other than eHarmony ads
for once.
The possibilities are endless.
You could do discounts at sporting events for single people, solo
night at a local bowling alley or
even 25 percent off at buffets and
restaurants (like Olive Garden!).
While this wont be the most lucrative thing right now, its a neat
idea to think about. Besides, I as
a millennial would appreciate a
company who cares about my
relationship status!
Not only might fresh ideas like
these get singles to spend more,
but as a side effect it will get them
out in social settings where, who
knows, they might meet their future soul mate. Call me Cupid.
So maybe this whole being
single thing is a real cultural trend.
Or maybe its just a way for me to
justify my own being single instead of accepting my spiral into
this inescapable loneliness. Im going to go with the less Edgar Allen
Poe-y possibility. So happy Valentines Day to all the singles out
there keep the spirit alive. And
for all of you with a hot date lined
up, take my sage advice: Dont take
them to Olive Garden.
In addition to reinforcing
gender stereotypes, the social expectations of each gender make
Valentines Day a chore. The
problem is that romantic love is
intensely personal between two
people. How could such an intimate feeling emerge naturally
when every media outlet spews
expectations? You wont here
explicit commands to take your
girlfriend out or to have sex with
your boyfriend, but that doesnt
diminish the message. Its subtlety makes it pernicious.
Like any culture, messages
are engineered for a variety of
reasons. Curiously, most widely
observed holidays in the United
States are great for the economy.
Valentines Day, Christmas, Independence Day each of these
has an associated commodity
that you just have to buy to celebrate it right. Food (along with
contraception) for Valentines
Day, gifts for Christmas, and
fireworks for Independence Day.
Thanksgiving would seem to be

the quintessential gratefulness
and humility holiday. Too bad
turkey isnt free, and Black Friday
isnt so humble.
You might say, Slow down
there, Zach! If these holidays
benefit our economy, why are
their cultural messages so pernicious? Isnt a flourishing economy good for everybody?
Good catch. But consider
what these cultural expectations
rob us of besides our money.
If Valentines Day had nothing
about dates and restaurants and
sex and gender roles, would romantic love be easier to experience? Would it isolate the single
folks out there quite as much?
Hey Zach, nobodys forcing
you to adhere to these guidelines.
You arent robbed of anything
that you give up voluntarily.
Well, I could disobey my culture and treat Valentines Day like
any other day. Anybody could.
But if youre a man who decides
-- with his special someone -- to

treat Valentines Day like any other day, how does your girlfriend
feel when all of her friends are
at a fancy restaurant, gobbling
$25 entrees and slurping down
the finest bottle of Merlot in the
house? If youre a woman, how
does your boyfriend feel when
his friends are spending +$100
on their girlfriends?
Sure, you dont have to feel
boring or guilty. You may be
the most confident and secure
couple on the block. But tell me
that the media, Valentines Day
sales and your social circle have
no effect on your Valentines Day
experience.
Valentines Day should be
a time to address something.
What is the difference between
romance and love? Good luck
trying to answer that one in the
dull roar of whatever restaurant
you find yourself at. Thanks for
my great economy, and dont forget to tip.
10
time you meet someone and

start dating, try these tips.
ZOYA HASNAIN
Copy Editor
h oh! Valentines
Day is approaching. This could be
a very happy time in your
life where you celebrate
your relationship with your
significant other. However,
it could also be a time for
reflection on your dating
life and why youre single
yet another year in a row.
If you fall in the latter
category, I completely understand how youre feeling. Dating isnt simple anymore. With new technology
and a faster paced lifestyle,
especially in college, the
same dating rules that applied in the 50s or even the
90s dont apply anymore.
However, I do believe
there are some principles
from those decades we
should bring with us into
college no matter how oldfashioned they may seem. If
they worked for our parents
and grandparents, they are
sure to work for us. So next
JOHN MILLER
Guest Columnist
hat makes a
healthy,
longlasting
relationship? Let me begin by
saying that everything expressed in this column beyond this point should be
read purely as being how it
seems to me. Ive been in a
few relationships myself -some good, some bad -- and
I am in no way an expert.
It seems to me that the
first condition is that both
people want to be in a longterm relationship with each
other. In order for that to
work, each person has to
have a pretty accurate idea
of who the other person is
1. dates
Go on
I know this seems really obvious. Youre dating. That means youre
going on dates. However, it
does seem to slip the mind
of many college students
to make the time for actual
dates. Many students seem
to think watching Netflix, having sex and falling
asleep with someone is the
equivalent of dating that
person. However, those are
things you should do after
you are already together.
Dates are important because they build the foundation for a relationship. They
force you to have a conversation and determine if you
can truly connect with that
person. They also allow
you to demonstrate commitment. By planning and
going on a date, you show
and what their actual personality is like. If a longterm commitment is made

without a fairly comprehensive knowledge of the
person to whom it is being
made, then the commitment is open to deception.
A good way to do this is
to date for a period of time
before committing in the
first place. Also, each person should give thought to
the future of their relationship. How long-term does
each person want it to be?
What is the likelihood of a
change of heart? Will the relationship get in the way of
some other goal?
Once the commitment is
made, it has to be continually reinforced. Often, problems in a relationship can be
that you can make time for

each other in the future.
This way when youre in a
relationship, you will still
be accustomed to taking a
certain amount of time out
of your schedule every week
to spend with your partner.
After all, love is an obligation. Relationships require
making time for one another.
Call
2.
dont text
This one always gets on

my nerves! Yes, texting is
quick and efficient. It allows
you to communicate with
others while completing
other tasks and partaking in
other activities. However, it
doesnt allow for the same
level of communication.
According to an article
by Huffington Post, Text
Messaging: Is Texting Ruining the Art of Conversation? experts are saying
that while there is no prob-
solved by simply extending

an expression of concern.
For example, if a couple
has been fighting and are
not speaking, its very important for one to set aside
their anger and make sure
that the other knows they
still care for them, no matter what caused the anger.
That is not to say that a relationship is always more
important than the cause of
the anger, but it is important to recognize when it is
not and immediately try to
make amends.
Another
thing
that
seems to be important is for
each person to make up for
some of the others faults.
In order to grow together,
each person needs to be
able to identify unhealthy
lem with texting to keep in

touch, conversations are not
particularly deep. Moreover, texting has become the
perfect way to avoid crucial
conversations, according to
Joseph Grenny, author of
the book Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking
When Stakes are High. In
these first few weeks of dating, you want to get a feel
for this persons personality.
When youre not physically
together, this will be better
done voice-to-voice where
there is no backspace button!
Additionally, texting is
dry and leaves your words
up for interpretation. You
just met this person! You
dont know each other that
well yet. In order to truly
get your message across,
you should actually speak to
them. When you first meet
someone, the more direct
the communication the better. So, call the person you
are dating to ask them about
their day and plan the next
date!
3.things
Remember
the little
This is the most important part of dating! You have

to show the person you care.
They cant read your mind
and they havent known you
for very long. I know crazy
college schedules can get
in the way, but its not difficult to bring a lady flowers when shes had a rough
day or surprise a man with
cookies when hes done well
on a test.
I remember when I first
started dating my second
boyfriend who was an
amazing artist he made
me a dreamcatcher because
he knew how much I loved
dreamcatchers. He added
his own spin to it by using
copper wire. It made me
feel special; it showed me he
cared about me and listened
to me.
Now, you dont have to

shower your significant
other with gifts, but do
show him or her that you
appreciate them. Show them
you are truly committed to
building a relationship with
them.
While these tips may
seem simple and obvious,
they often slip the mind of
busy college students. Dont
get pessimistic if youre
single again this Valentines
Day. If you remember these
tips, Im sure you will have a
more successful year of dating. Good luck!
If a long-term commitment is made

without a fairly comprehensive
knowledge of the person to
whom it is being made, then the
commitment is open to deception.
habits in the other as well as

other things that might put
the relationship in jeopardy.
This is a delicate aspect of
a long-term relationship
because more often than
not, people are resistant to
change. Its up to each person to remind the other that
theyre encouraging him or
her to change for the better to say that theyre not

trying to make them someone different from who they
are, just a better version.
People get into relationships for all sorts of apparent reasons, but the underlying reason is that every
person on this planet is
born with the need to love

and be loved. Relationships
are just a way for people to
express that need to one another. Because it is such a
heartfelt and personal need,
it is essential for people to
respect the vulnerability
that comes with its expression.
Youve got the opinion.

Weve got the soapbox.
To be a guest columnist, send in your thoughts to signalopinions@gmail.com. To
nists
employment and turn it in to Dr. Bryce McNeil at 405 University Center.
www.georgiastatesignal.com/artsandliving
Liberate yourself:
Take a walk through a sex shop
Start Small:
Liberators Bestsellers
If a sex shop has been off
the table before and youre
looking to begin exploring,
make a safe bet with products done, tested and raved.
These items have been positively reviewed and tame
enough to be of interest to
the least bold.
Wedge Ramp
Combo
The top purchases are
different pieces of sex furniture. The top product
is the combination of the
popular wedge and the
favored ramp.
We are known for the
Liberator Wedge/Ramp
combo, Lieber said. The
Ramp was featured in the
Cohen Brothers movie,
Burn After Reading and
the Combo was featured
on Meet the Fockers.
The Wedge/Ramp are
used for added support
and height lift for any and
all positions.
The LELO
Among
the
many
brands of vibrators offered, the LELO is the
most sleek and popular
option.
Fascinator
Throe
These supremely plush

throws have an inner
moisture barrier and are
specially designed to
keep any sex from ruining
your bedding. One side
is silky satin, making it
reversible.
PHOTO BY NADIA DELJOU | THE SIGNAL

Liberator, Atlantas adult luxury store, has a variety of objects in the erotic arts including furniture,
toys and more in their very own production factory.
SYDNEY CUNNINGHAM
Staff Reporter
hen discussing Valentines Day, romance and

sex are the main themes
marketed and celebrated. Sex is
popular all year, but the truth behind it is often tucked away from
the public eye. Sex shops are one of
the very places where one might feel
condemned to avoid eye contact.
Sex shops may go by numerous
aliases including erotic shop or
adult boutique. Nevertheless, they
house sexual entertainment that
is implemented all over the world.
These outlets are comprised of vibrators, pornography, lingerie and
other products related to sprucing
up ones sex life.
Sexual stigmas
For the average sexually active

person, sex shops might still seem
like a place for the depraved. For
Angela Lieben, the Content Manager at Atlantas sex shop Liberator,
that is far from the truth.
The misconception is that sex
shops are tawdry spaces to rendezvous when actually its regular,
everyday individuals that are looking for something to enhance their
pleasure, Lieven said. The ideal
way to view sex shops is to look at
their website and the materials that
they offer. My personal opinion is
that the sex shop needs a huge overall in the aesthetics department and
the way customer service is handled. Mixing drug paraphernalia
such as bongs and smoking materi-
als causes an intermingling of different clientele.

The Liberator Flagship Store is
located off Bankers Industrial and
is an extension of their 140,000-sq.
foot factory. However, their primary business comes from online
sales. Within Liberator, the unique
environment is set up with products
divided by category in an open floor
plan. This allows potential customers to see and touch what they could
possibly bring home with them.
To differentiate themselves from
the novelty shop, Liberator provides a wide variety of high-quality
brands and specialized products
like LELO, Tenga, Jimmy Jane and
Aneros.
Along with the mill of various
toys, Liberator houses a selection of
BDSM gear such as restraints and
blindfolds. They feature bedding,
oils, lubes and hand created glass
toys.
Lovely toys
Valentines Day may spark an

interest in getting yourself comfortable with sex shops and inevitably
yourself. Whether the day is about
romance or sex to you, both themes
encourage the average person to
look into sex shops.
What better way to express
your love and passion for someone
than with an item like this? Our
products can be whatever the customers want, Lieber said. If its
lusty they want, then we will cater
to that. If its romantic love, we have
that as well.
Despite living in a society doused
in sexual images, many are still skit-
tish about being open and embracing products such as these. Tawdry
images come to mind and the level
of easiness is at a minimum while
perusing the shop. Sex is arguably
celebratory for men and shameful
for women, so the environment expected in a sex shop might not be
the most women friendly.
I can personally say that in the
past, when going into a sex shop, it
felt uncomfortable, like I was being
judged and watched, especially being a woman. The stigma associated
with sex shops is all in perception
and what weve been shown through
movies and television, Lieben said.
The seedy neon riddled shop full of
novelty items and back room booths
and sweaty palmed men groping at
a selection of X-Rated films. All I
ask [of other shops] is to get rid of
the blaring neon signs and make sex
more approachable.
The stigma does not stand alone
with just the subject of sex shops but
of sex itself. Sex can be often seen
as a shameful, delicate and guarded
thing that we keep to ourselves and
need not to embrace in open spaces.
The stigma about sex is resounding and never goes away.
Exploration of sex has to be comfortable for you and if going out in
public to purchase pleasure enhancing items makes you feels anxious,
we always have a very informative
website. Theres no judgement, Lieber said. But for someone that
wants to explore, there are so many
sex positive websites that discuss all
types of sex. When youre ready to
come to the store, we will be ready
to serve and make the experience all
worth while.
Valentines Day
12
Love Does Cost a Thing
ts the season where love is in the air

and romance takes a front seat in ones
life. Valentines Day is the prime holiday to show your loved ones how devoted you are to them. However, not
many know the origin of the joyous
occasion.
Some may agree that the true meaning
Its all about

the Benjamins
Another factor that affects societys
view on Valentines Day is that major
retailers and public relations firms have
the power to insert the idea that the
limit on money for gifts is not an issue.
They want to ensure consumers are understanding that giving numerous gifts
to a loved one has the ability to take a
relationship to the next level or even fix
a relationship that is in turmoil.
The number of holidays we celebrate and the money we think is appropriate to spend on gifts to celebrate
them have increased substantially since
the end of the second World War. Valentines Day is part of that, Deckard said.
This particular holiday also speaks to
perhaps the greatest human insecurity
whether or not one is loved. Especially as the role of gender in relationships is shifting and people are increasingly unsure of what their expectations
should be, Valentines Day offers this
really unique way to reaffirm the enduring quality of even the most fleeting
relationships, Deckard said.
Valentines Day thrives on marketers
knowing that consumers are willing to
spend a lot of money one those they love
as well as knowing that consumers will
feel as though they havent done enough
if they dont spend a lot of money.
My understanding is that Valentines Day has pretty much always been
about romantic love and little trinkets
to proclaim it, Deckard said. I think
the only real change is in the involvement of expensive jewelry and price
fixed champagne dinners and mass consumer expenditure. Also, it makes real
love oddly class-based, doesnt it? Only
relatively wealthy people can really celebrate Valentines Day, so poor people
have cheaper love.
Written by Inga Masic
for celebrating Valentines Day has been lost

through the years and now other factors play an
important role. One question that is brought up
in todays society is: Why should there only be
one day where loved ones devote themselves to
each other?
Real love is measured in obligation and enduring mutual respect, Natalie Deckard, a pro-
Expectations
create limitations
The average person has been conditioned to associate romance and lust with
Valentines Day. Also, the hope that a certain gender should be the main giver on
the holiday is another popular societal
norm. However, Deckard argues that these
norms could be harmful, perpetuating an
With no plus one,
its no fun
Another factor that affects societys
view on Valentines Day is that major retailers and public relations firms have the
power to insert the idea that the limit on
money for gifts is not an issue. They want
to ensure consumers are understanding
that giving numerous gifts to a loved one
has the ability to take a relationship to the
next level or even fix a relationship that is
in turmoil.
The number of holidays we celebrate
and the money we think is appropriate to
spend on gifts to celebrate them have increased substantially since the end of the
second World War. Valentines Day is part
of that, Deckard said. This particular
holiday also speaks to perhaps the greatest
human insecurity whether or not one
fessor in the Sociology Department at Georgia

State, said. Real love isnt an expensive dinner
out; its your partner saving money in the bank
so that you dont have to walk to work when
your car breaks. Its not a Pandora bracelet; its
textbooks. We know thats not as exciting, but
real love often isnt exciting. But that doesnt sell,
so we have Valentines Day instead.
outdated social construct.

The expectations of Valentines Day are
really gendered, being that men must prove
their love to women through consumerism.
Thats really limiting for everyone, Deckard said. I cant help but think of the sociology of emotions and how our feelings are
ultimately contrived by our participation
in the larger society. I think people get really upset when their Valentines Day hopes
are dashed, and given that its all a contrivance, thats kind of terrifying.
is loved. Especially as the role of gender

in relationships is shifting and people are
increasingly unsure of what their expectations should be, Valentines Day offers this
really unique way to reaffirm the enduring
quality of even the most fleeting relationships, Deckard said.
Valentines Day thrives on marketers
knowing that consumers are willing to
spend a lot of money one those they love
as well as knowing that consumers will feel
as though they havent done enough if they
dont spend a lot of money.
My understanding is that Valentines
Day has pretty much always been about romantic love and little trinkets to proclaim
it, Deckard said. I think the only real
change is in the involvement of expensive
jewelry and price fixed champagne dinners
and mass consumer expenditure. Also, it
makes real love oddly class-based, doesnt
it? Only relatively wealthy people can really celebrate Valentines Day, so poor people
have cheaper love.
Q: D
Q:
13
Tony Kashif Ekeweme
Year: Sophomore
Major: Criminal Justice
Q: What are your plans for Valentines Day?

TE: I dont really have any as of right now, but
I would really like some. If there are any single
ladies out there, my name is Tony.
Q: What are your thoughts on the concept of

Valentines Day?
TE: I feel like Valentines Day is really corny [to]

an extent, because I feel that it shouldnt take
one day for you to should your appreciation for
somebody. It should be an everyday thing;
you shouldnt have to wait for one
day out of the year to show
someone you love
them.
The History beh

ind
the heart
t
t
Vale ntines D a
y fl our ished fr
om
o n e m e m o r ab
le ge sture mad
e by
S aint Vale ntin
e of Rome, w h
o
w a s impr is on
ed for pe r for m
ing
w ed ding s for
s oldie rs w ho
w e re nt all ow
ed to mar r y. T
his
w a s his adv oc
ac y for lov e.
Whil e in jail ,
S aint Vale ntin
e
me t one of the
jail e r s
d aug hte rs, Ast
e r iu s, and g re
w
fond of the g ir
l. T he stor y
goe s that r ig h
t be fore he w a
s
e x ec uted for h
is c r ime s, he
w rote a le tte r
for his belov e
d
and sig ned it
Your Vale nti
ne
a s a g o o dby e .
Tod ay, Vale nti
nes
D ay is a d ay sy
mbolizing
pa ssion and lo
ve.
Katie OBrien
Year: senior
Major: Sociology

KB: None.
Q: What are your thought on the concept of

Valentines Day:
KB: I think its pretty bullshit. Its a holiday
created to make people feel like
they need someone, and its a
capitalist scheme.
Marisa Bass
Year: Junior
Major: Social Work
MB: Watching Fifty Shades of Grey by myself.
Q: What are your thoughts on the concept

of Valentines Day:
MB: Its a Hallmark holiday
and its bullshit.
Michael Brown
Year: Senior
Major: Computer Science
Noelle Tolison
Year: Junior
Major: Women Studies
t t
Do you have any plans for Valentines Day?

MB: Nope. Single.
: What are your thought on the concept of

Valentines Day?
MB: Well, Im not one of those people
who thinks its commercialism; its
just a holiday. I dont feel too
strongly one way or
the other.
Q: What are your thought on the concept of

Valentines Day?
NT: Even though its capitalist and a relatively
dumb Hallmark holiday, I really like the color
scheme.

NT: Probably writing a
paper thats due
the next
day.
14
NICOLE MOTAHARI
Opinions Editor
Women in
the adult
entertainment
industry share
their story
alking into Flashers Adult Entertainment lounge, the acrid

scent of cigarette smoke and the
sultry darkness overwhelms the senses. A
pole onstage is illuminated with a spotlight
while a young woman swings from left to
right.
Step behind the curtain into the small,
cramped dressing room and the sight of girls
in six-inch heels greets you. They are putting
on lip gloss, chatting and laughing. It seems
just like any other gaggle of girls hanging
out.
At first glance, the average person would
assume that they are merely strippers, a term
which is rapidly becoming devalued by the
industry. They prefer to be known as artists,
entertainers or dancers words that act as
self-reflection in showing who they feel they
are. Many fail to realize that there is more to
being a dancer than appealing to men.
Hypnotic
Hypnotic, a relatively young dancer,
started when she was only eighteen. She
pouts her lips and poses for a photo as she
gets ready to go out.
I went out for my birthday party and
somebody offered me $3,000 for a song, she
laughed, recounting her first experience with
stripping. I never made that much money
for one song again, but its an easy and great
way to be set up for life.
Despite common stereotypes, she holds
a Bachelors degree and is saving up to start
her own PC Repair Company to work with
computers.
Ive danced in Portugal and Puerto Rico,
but its not a permanent job just temporary. You have to know when to get in and
out, Hypnotic said. Its hard for girls not to
get caught up in it, but its not prostitution.
Youre a self-employed independent contractor and its really empowering.
For her, the industry is a means of reaching her dreams and goals just another
stepping stone as she works her way towards
opening the computer store.
PHOTOS BY
NADIA DELJOU |
THE SIGNAL
Dancers at
Flashers, located
in Sandy Springs,
find expression and
self-empowerment
through their
work as adult
entertainers.
the self-esteem. I have a problem with my

eyes when I get stressed out or during allergy season, they swell up. But when a guy
looks at me and tells me how beautiful my
eyes are, it makes me feel better about myself.
Although the media romanticizes the
idea of beautiful women filling most exotic
dance clubs, in reality many clubs fall short
of the stereotype.
Lots of the prettier ones dont make that
much money. Men assume that theyre too
expensive or that they wont give them the
time of day and they get intimidated. But
we have all kinds of girls here. A man might
have a really skinny woman at home, so he
comes here to see curvy girls. Thats why we
have such diversity.
Mimi
Although some assume exotic dancers
are women with no responsibilities or obligations, many of them lead normal, stable
lives at home like any other woman. Mimi is
married with a 16-month-old daughter and
an infant son.
At first my husband didnt understand it,
but it comes down to trust, she said. When
you tell people what you do, they look down
on you, but theyre not in my situation. As
long as my kids are being fed and have a roof
over their heads, you can say whatever you
want.
Shae
Shae, another working mom, is so young
that most attendees would not expect to see
her in an exotic dance club. She dreams of
being a veterinarian one day and proves that
just because a woman may work as a dancer,
it doesnt necessarily mean she doesnt have
real aspirations and self-worth.
The women in here have stories to be
told. Theyre down to earth, real girls, Shae
said. We have all kinds of girls most of
them are trying to support a family; others
are paying their way through law school.
One girl was a nurse, working for Blue Cross
Monday through Friday and shed do this on
the weekend so her kids could have whatever
they want.
Red Snapper
Tamara
For others, like Red Snapper, it was a

means of supporting a family. Starting out in
Atlanta as a single parent, she loved that she
could make her own hours, working around
her childrens schedules.
I was 30 years old when I started dancing, which put me in a better position than
many of the younger girls, Snapper said.
Now older with her three children grown
up, she is still a flamboyant woman with skin
the color of a caramel macchiato and hair to
match her name.
I knew what I wanted, but lots of young
girls get lost in pills and pimping because
they dont know better.
Addressing the stereotypes about the industry, she said, We dont break up marriages, though sometimes a dancer will fall in
love with a patron. Weve even had some girls
who ended up marrying one of their clients.
Snapper says that working as a dancer actually helps her self-esteem, giving her confidence.
The biggest upside is what this does for
They all look up to their manager, Tamara, who started out waitressing, then did
a stint as a dancer herself before becoming
manager.
Tamara has five kids and shes the strongest woman I know, Red Snapper said. She
takes care of those kids and all the girls over
here and the owner. If you dont have your
shit together at home, you cannot manage
the club over here.
All in control
For these women, this is a job, not a lifestyle.
Whether theyve been at it for three
years or thirty, they work hard to reach their
dreams, take care of their families and exercise their right to be anything they desire.
I feel empowered and sexy when I dance.
I enjoy being independent and able to control how I work and when I work, Hypnotic
said. Im in control of my life.
15
Written by Taylor Josey
On Tuesdays and Thursdays in

Langdale Hall, students engage in
critical discussions regarding various social issues with Professor
Angie Luvara, an artist, photographer and feminist.
With half of her hair black (the
other half blonde), and the words
Hug Life tattooed on her knuckles, shes far from the stereotypical
image of a Georgia State professor.
Professor Luv is a feminist, an anti-racist, and she is all about love.
While some feminists shun
Valentines Day because of its sexist and commercial evolution,
Professor Luv believes the holiday
is more than boxes of chocolate
and fancy dinners.
Redefine Valentines Day,
Luvara said. Whether you have
a significant other or not, just tell
all the people in your life that you
love them. It doesnt have to be so
much pressure. Make it be about
what actually makes you happy.
Luvara grew up in a small town

in West Virginia where her dad
was the coach of a football team.
Early on, she recognized gendered
differences in treatment between
her and her brother that conflicted
with her parents telling her nothing could stop her from doing anything she wanted.
As a young girl, Luvara was a
tomboy because she associated
femininity with weakness due to
what she was taught. She knew she
was strong, and the women in her
family were strong.
I didnt want to be weak, Luvara said. My mom is super independent and also takes on a lot of
leadership roles within our family,
so I always say she was my first
feminist role model.
Luvara moved on to do humanitarian work as a young adult,
and she says she put that above
feminism. After she had worked at
both a Youth Development Center
and a Day Treatment Center for
children with mental and emotional health problems, she realized she would fight for racism
without addressing sexism.
We served boys and girls, but
every single girl that ever attended our program the whole time
I worked there had experienced
sexual assault at some point in her
life. And these are kids between
five and 18, Luvara said. These
little experiences just showed me
over and over how much privilege
I have to have not gone through
these things.
Luvara has been an active feminist for four years, and she says
there is no particular kind of feminism. Her feminism comes from
wanting everyones freedom.
I think its all-encompassing
for me just wanting to eliminate
all aspects of oppression, Luvara
said. My feminism is recognizing
that yeah Im a woman and I have
limitations on my life but then
Im also a white woman. So I have
privileges that other people that I
consider sisters dont have.
Luvara does not claim to be a
perfect feminist, and she is still
growing. She wants to act constantly and react to others from
a place of love, but it can be challenging because the world is broken.
We are all hurting and when
were hurting, it makes it really
easy to fire back and hurt others,
Luvara said. And I have a totally
smart mouth so I can do it. But
who I am when you strip away everything all of the impact the
world has had on me is loving.
The holiday of love is often a

point of interest due to the social
dynamics of American culture.
Luvara describes Valentines Day
as heteropatriarchal because its
geared toward straight couples,
and she says the holiday has a
PHOTOS BY JADE JOHNSON | THE SIGNAL

Sociology professor and feminist, Angie Luvara, lectures
students on societal issues and exhibiting unconditional love.
We are all hurting, and when were

and hurt others ... But who I am when you
strip away everything all of the impact
the world has had on me is loving.
reputation for telling women their

value comes from being connected
to a man.
Lots of women choose to be
single, but general society doesnt
see it like that especially on Valentines Day, Luvara said. If youre a
woman and youre single you must
be deficient in some way or you
must be sad about it and want a
man. Whereas men can be single,
and its not the same pressure on
Valentines Day.
Despite Luvaras strong views
on the holiday, she still celebrates
Valentines Day every year by making it her own.
I try to show love to as many
people as possible every day, but I
try to make that day full of loving
everyone that I care about, Luvara
said. I have Hug Life tattooed on
my knuckles. Im all about love.
Being enlightened by friends,

writers and scholars allowed Lu-
- Professor Angie Luvara
vara to grow in feminism. So she

offered words of advice for those
who want to know how to grow in
feminism beginning with introspection.
You define what your own
version of feminism is, Luvara
said. It comes down to figuring out your truth and what that
means for you after you strip away
everything society has taught us
about what it means to be a man
or what it means to be a woman.
Theres a lot of outside work to be
done, but it starts inside.
Reading and teaching helps
her continue to grow every day, so
she advises eager feminist to read
from feminists who have inspired
her.
In terms of growing in feminism I read a lot of Patricia Hill
Collins and Belle Hooks. Teaching
helps me because it keeps me on
my toes. Luvara said.
Students and friends who are
actively resisting the standards of
femininity continue to inspire Luvara. They give her insight on topics she has never lived.
From cutting off all your hair
despite your family and friends
telling you not to because its beau-
tiful, to taking leadership roles in

things that people dont expect you
to do, I see tons of women in Atlanta doing their own things and
resisting standards of femininity,
Luvara said.
Furthermore, Luvara also offered advice to those who want
to resist the culture of Valentines
Day and to those who feel oppressed by it.
You dont have to wear all
black to resist Valentines Day because we need more love, Luvara
said. Having a day about love is
cool. We just have to let everyone
know its not about chocolate and
roses and expensive dinners. You
can make them handmade cards
or throw glitter on everyone. Just
love on people, thats free.
Luvara believes the stereotypical view of Valentines Day is that
if you arent in a relationship, you
are not whole or complete as a
person.
Society says if youre single,
youre not complete or if youre
in college and you havent made it
into your career youre not complete but thats stupid. Youre complete now. Now go celebrate and
love on people.
16
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY JADE JOHNSON | THE SIGNAL

No strangers to diversity, Georgia State students share their experiences with interracial dating and relationship building.
Georgia State students share their interracial relationship experiences

by Nichole Place
alentines Day is the one

day of the year that focuses
solely on being in love and
Valentines Day on a college campus is full of new, old and complicated relationships. Georgia State
is one of many colleges whose campus is crawling with diverse cou-
ples. From different ages to mixed

races, almost every kind of couple
is found at Georgia State.
Living in the city means that the
mixing of cultures is unavoidable.
Whether it is lab partners, roommates, or friends, interracial relationships are found everywhere.
But for some reason, people still

tiptoe around couples with mixed
races. People still ask questions like
What does your family think?,
or Arent you worried about your
kids getting bullied?, as if those
questions dont apply to all relationships.
Diversity killed The Cat
Demographics play a big role in

how many people feel about mixing
races in relationships; the generation,
culture and area people live in can affect their way of thinking. Lauren Deneau, a white woman dating a Filipino,
agreed.
The people that are viewing [interracial relationships] in a negative way
are the ones that havent been around
other cultures a lotpeople who have
only been around the same race their
entire lives arent as culturally competent.
Gonzales said. They are used to sticking to their own race. But we get to date
other races and we have homosexual
relations in todays society.
Things that were once taboo in society are becoming normalized more
than ever. With different cultures all
around, it is hard to avoid the diversity.
This leads to newer generations growing up with different people and it allows them to be more tolerant of others.
I definitely think the norms of
relationships are evolving, said Josh
Roberts, a Colombian/white male with
a multiracial girlfriend. His girlfriend
is very ethnically diverse, mixed with
Thai, Spanish, Puerto Rican and Russian.
People have become more understanding and accepting and have realized [there] is much more to experience
besides the culture they associate with,
Roberts said. People like the aspect of
being cultured and finding out about
new things and interracial relationships
have a big part in that.
Being students in the city, some

Georgia State attendees may not think
twice about race, but that does not
mean interracial couples arent still being harassed in certain areas.
Ace Wynn, a black man who is dating a white woman, says that he and his
girlfriend have received uncomfortable
stares and whispers.
If we go to the deep country and
we are walking around the fair, you can
see the glares. When it catches you, you
either get tired of it or you just want to
say something.
Wynn admits that it does get to him
and he is not the only one.
Jenny Vu has also gotten comments
about her relationship since she is a
Vietnamese female dating a white male.
Its weird when theres another
couple where both people are the same
race, and they look at you like, Why are
you together?
An evolving society
Jan Gonzales, a Filipino man currently in a relationship with a white
woman, believes interracial couples
are slowly becoming a social norm. As
times change, the newer generations
are leaving the old ways in the dust.
I feel like older generations [are
more against interracial couples],
Open Playing field

There are many people and
areas that oppose diversity in relationships. The city has nearly
become a safe haven for a variety
of people, which is why so many
interracial couples are found in Atlanta.
Everyone is on the same playing field, Deneau said. Especially
where we live: In a big city where
every culture coincides.
Several students believe diversity plays a large role in how an
individuals life is shaped. Going to
a school in a city that has access to
many different cultures allows others to try new things.
I think a lot of positive things
come out of interracial relationships, Roberts said. Savannah
[and I] have learned a lot from each
whether [it] be about food, culture
and things like that.
With Valentines Day right
around the corner, it is important to focus on what love is really
about that no matter the age, sex
or race; it is equal.
Ive never really looked at my
relationship as being interracial,
Deneau said. I dont think that
race really plays a role when it
comes [to] love. It just is what it is.
17
ALBUM REVIEW
Marvin Gaye
ALEX KUGACZEWSKI
Staff Reviewer
any of us can think of at

least a couple scenes in
movies, television or video
games in which a sexual encounter
was accompanied with a sensual, funky
soundtrack. This tactic seems to be
most prevalent in romantic comedies,
which is odd, because theres nothing
inherently funny about sexual relationships. No, in fact, theyre quite serious.
Many of us have been there lost
in moments as our thoughts slip
back to that special someone. It circles
around in your head like an infectious
song on repeat. Its not just powerful. Its
beautiful. Id wager that no one understands just how much more so than legendary soul man Marvin Gaye, whose
1973 album Lets Get It On stands the
test of time as a monolithic tribute to
the passion of pure romance the perfect album for the upcoming holiday.
Few songs have been so lauded for
FILM REVIEW
A list of
their pure sex appeal more than that

iconic opening cut, Lets Get It On.
Opening with the quintessential funky
guitar line, Gaye bursts onto the scene,
crooning, Ive been really trying, baby,
trying to hold back this feeling for so
long. As the song waltzes throughout
its sultry soundscapes, its hard to imagine most listeners holding those feelings back at all.
A simple, methodical beat and slow,
pulsating bass push the song forward as
Gayes voice rises and falls with effortless grace. Lines such as if the spirit
moves you, let me groove you, let your
love come down, get it on, come on,

baby only serve to cement the song as
an all-time classic cut one that has
undoubtedly filled the walls of countless bedrooms.
Of course, one track doesnt make
for a classic album. Fortunately, then,
that Gaye brought out the best of his
songwriting for the remainder of the
record. If I Should Die Tonight is as
moving a soul ballad as any, weaving through impassioned falsetto and
swelling strings.
The track reaches its emotional
peak in its propulsive saxophone solo,
leading into Gayes final verses: If I
should die tonight, baby, I just want you
to keep this one thought in mind, that
I will never die blue, cause Ive known
you. Lines like these could threaten
to derail the record into overwrought
tear-bait, but Gayes peerless vocal delivery sells each and every verse with
authoritative conviction. The albums
remaining tracks follow suit, delivering
emotional blow after emotional blow.
Thats why I make sure Im in a sentimental, romantic state of mind every
time I decide to spin Marvin Gayes
A
Lets Get
It On is a masterful,
classic recording that
embodies everything
beautiful about loving
another person.
Lets Get It On. Thinking of that special someone seems to enhance the experience in ways that an ordinary listen
through the record just wouldnt do.
Whenever Gayes voice cuts
through the air, her face comes to mind.
Its easy to reminisce of the first movie
we saw together, and its easier still to
recall the time spent on the bench by
the lake. If the power to conjure those
memories and the feelings that follow
doesnt cement Gayes 1973 album as a
true classic, Im not sure what could.
Lets Get It On, despite the pure
sexuality of its title, is much more than
just an ode to casual, primal dalliance;
its a testament to the pure emotive
power that springs forth from two people together and truly happy.
Staff Reviewer
y now, after seeing the previous

columns, your imagination may
already be somewhere else and
with someone else but this article
must go on. However, while reading
this article, keep at least one foot on
the ground.
In a special edition of the film column for this Valentine and Sex issue,
I selected some memorable sex scenes
from movies over the years.
In the beginning of cinema in the
United States, feet were actually required to touch the ground whenever
a couple was shown kissing in bed.
The rule was a consequence of the
1934 Production Code, which sought
to regulate what was deemed decent
in movies. And yet, since we all know
how much things changed, here is the
list where feet as well as other body
parts left the ground.
This classic by Bernardo Bertolucci

contains some of the classic sex scenes
in film history. By 1972 standards
and even todays the movie shows
more than some audience members
are willing to see in public. All the sex,
however, should not fool you. Bertolucci constructs here two incredibly
complex characters, each dealing with

the emptiness in their lives, symbolized
by the old and empty apartment where
they meet. Sex here is a escape in the
life of these two strangers who choose
not to know each others names. For
Paul (Marlon Brando), pain begins
with a name. The film became famous
for the sex scene where Paul uses butter as a lubricant. However, Last Tango in Paris is about pain and missing.
The sex on screen is a representation of
those feelings.
This movie definitely contains one
of the more memorable sex scenes
for movie goers; featuring two of the
most beautiful actresses in Hollywood, Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis, this movie is all about expressing
ones true identity and letting go of
fear. Perhaps thats what makes the sex
scene between these two all the more
memorable, as Portman finally lets
go of her inhibitions toward her antagonist, Kunis, and succumbs to her
playful sexual advances. This scene is
especially important because it represents Portman freeing herself from her
mothers control while also detracting the heteronormative depictions
of sexual intercourse in mainstream
films. The storytelling technique used
by director Darren Aronofsky is also
commendable in this scene as it transitions from a perplexing aesthetic
climax to an ambiguous next encounter between the two, leaving viewers
wondering whether or not it was ever
now playing at
actually Kunis that Portman ended up

in bed with.
Woody Allens masterpiece includes an array of sins, all culminating
in murder. It also includes a memorable sex scene between Nola (Scarlett Johansson) and Chris (Jonathan
Meyers) in a hay field with a rainstorm
falling over their heads. The soaked
clothes pressed tight against their bodies adds to the sensuality of this scene.
The bursting passion defies logic as
this man is potentially throwing away
the chance of moving up from being a
poor, former tennis player to marrying
an enormously rich woman. He has
planned all the aspects for his future
life, but it may all be for nothing when
his burning desire for Nola leads him
astray from his goals.
Stanley Kubricks masterpiece

shows the extreme levels of human
violence. This powerful movie shows
what can happen when evil goes beyond any imaginable limits. There are
strong rape scenes during the film,
which shouldnt fit under a column
about sex in films but one about violence in them. There is, however, one
scene where sex is consensual, involving Alex (Malcolm McDowell) and
two women. In one minute and using
only one angle, Kubrick shows every
imaginable sex position in a sequence
of fast paced shots, accompanied by
Jaga Jazzist 94 - 14
Animism
4
5
6
7
unexpected sex scenes in movies
FERNANDO MATTOS
Viet Cong
a synthesized version of Beethovens

Symphony No. 9 Ode to Joy. Its a futuristic film, but sex scenes dont get
much more realistic than this one. Of
course, it looks somewhat exaggerated,
but it fits the psychology Kubrick develops for Alex.
One of the directors Kubrick admired the most was Krzysztof Kieslowski. In the late 1980s and early
1990s this prolific filmmaker from
Poland delivered an unusually large
amount of movies. Amazingly, each
new film quickly entered cinematic
history, as Kieslowski kept a fantastic level of storytelling and technique
throughout his career. White is part of
his colors trilogy based on the ideals
of the French flag (blue for freedom,
white for equality and red for fraternity). In the film, Dominique (Julie
Delpy), a French woman, asks for
divorce from Karol (Zbigniew Zamachowski), a poor Polish man. Her reason: Karol was never able to have an
erection again after their wedding and
thus, failed to consummate the marriage. When Karol finally succeeds in
setting a trap for his ex-wife, trying to
achieve his sense of equality, he wants
first to prove his powers in bed. As
Dominique reaches the highest levels
of her orgasms, Kieslowski combines
her shrieks with quick white screens
fading in and out, in a memorable sex
scene. Who said art films are boring?
10
36 Seasons
11
1888
SYNOPSIS:
Robert McCall and Teri simply

cannot walk away. With his set of
formidable skills, McCall comes
out of self-imposed retirement
and emerges as an avenging
angel, ready to take down anyone
who brutalizes the helpless.
Psychic Pizza Connection
12
13
14
15
SHOWTIMES:
Wednesday- Friday
1p.m., 3:15p.m., 5:40p.m.,
7:45p.m.
Rated: R
Running Time: 131 minutes
18
Lifestyle column
my love
Im not wasting
money on flowers
NICHOLE PLACE
Columnist
Nichole is constantly crafting

and is an avid re-decorator.
Not only does she have a
love of bright colors and
patterns but she also is a
pug fanatic. Nichole is the
writer of the Lifestyle column
and the creator of SunshineSomedays, a lifestyle blog.
Follow her
@GSUSignalAandL
alentines Day, the day

of love, also known
as single person selfpity day it is the one day
out of the year where you
take one of the bodys most
vital organs and slap a price
tag on it. It is a chance to
be as corny and mushy or
angry and depressed as you
want. But what if you dont
want to fit the cookie cutter
mold of this Hallmark holiday? Here is a little guide to
make it through this Valentines Day without being
straight out of a romantic
comedy.
1. The committed
couple
Being in love is tricky,
but being in love while trying to live up to The Notebook standards is nearly
impossible. This Valentines
Day, instead of filling up
the pockets of corporate robots, try making this holiday more personal. Nothing
about a store bought cardboard box full of chocolates
says that you really care so,
maybe learn how to make
candy. Then once youve
burnt it, tell your significant
other you tried to make it. If
they get mad that you dont
have a real gift for them,
maybe you should rethink
your love. But in all seriousness, handmade gifts are
a great way to show that you
really care. You could even
build them a blanket fort
to watch movies in or play
video games or do the dirty.
Its really your call.
2. The new
couple
I really hope Valentines
Day isnt awkward for you.
I mean, its hard when you
start a relationship too close
to the holiday of love. And if
you havent taken your relationship to the next level - I
mean by saying I love you,
then arent you really just
friends that hold hands?
The pressure of this holiday can make things pretty
awkward. So, instead of try-
ing to make your love seem

everlasting when youre really unsure of where its going, dont make the day all
about love. You could go on
a date to the zoo or somewhere really public to take
the focus off of being head
over heels for each other.
campus life column
Everybodys
doing it,
right?
3. single ladies
I know this time of the
year is hard, but itll be okay,
I promise. But I want you to
know that you do not have
to be the Debbie downer
portrayed in movies; you
are allowed to have a great
time too. Gather all of your
single friends and have a
party! Get giant pounds of
candy, classic comedies and
the best take out you can
find. You could also have a
fun gift exchange with your
friends. You dont have to
wait for the love of your life
to buy you a gift. As Charlotte York once said Maybe
we can be each others soul
mates. And then we can let
men be just these great, nice
guys to have fun with.
4. Single males
Hey, look at the bright
side: Your wallet will stay
full this year! We all know
you dont care that much.
5. the
Matchmaker
This is your time to
shine! I know you have
been waiting all year for
this day because so have I.
This is the perfect day to set
up friends. And nothing
works better than a good
old Parent Trap scheme.
Trust me.
Valentines Day is not a
day that should be feared.
So what if you dont have the
same expectations as every
Nicholas Sparks book? You
are allowed to do your own
thing. Whether its chalky
heart candies or deep fried
burritos, it is a chance to
show different people how
you care. Happy Valentines
Day!
MIA MCDONALD
Columnist
Mia does amateur
photoshoots, maintains the
title of bookworm and hangs
out with friends and family.
Follow her
@MiaMore09
eb. 14 is right around

the corner and some
people have one thing
on their minds. Its Valentines Day so every couple
is looking to get intimate,
right? Youve been snuggling
up all winter long and patiently waiting for the right
time to express your love in
a special way, so youre probably considering sex. Before
you go book your hotel room
for the weekend, you should
make sure you and your mate
are on the same page.
Yes, there will be hearts
everywhere, PDA will be acceptable all day long and affection will be amplified, but
theres nothing worse than
you two not being clear on
your intentions to throw your
mood off.
So how do you ensure that
there is no confusion or mix
up? Simply put, be straightforward. Theres no need to
beat around the bush or act
like you dont know what you
want. Whether youre trying
the direct approach or adding the popular or nah to
the end of your question, you
need to handle your business. If youre not comfortable enough to confirm your
Valentines Day plans then
maybe you shouldnt be making plans with that person in
the first place.
Also, there are people

who dont believe in making a
big fuss over Valentines Day.
Feb. 14 is just another date to
them and it doesnt have to be
glorified. Love and affection
is something that should be
expressed and given daily
as some believe so to make
a big deal or go all out of your
way for one day doesnt make
sense to some. Their argument is what about all the
other days?
Theres also an alternative to having the talk with
your companion. No sex.
This may be the less common approach, but its an option. Believe it or not, there
are still virgins out there and
their position is made clear.
Theres no pressure, discomfort or awkwardness in waiting on an answer or reply, because you already know what
to expect.
Though I personally fit
into the no sex category, I
dont believe in imposing my
beliefs on others. To each
their own. I do, however,
promote safe sex. As clich as
it sounds, safe sex is the best
sex. It may be a special day,
but no one is too special for
you to risk your health.
What if sex isnt a part of
your Valentines Day lineup
at all? You could have recently started dating someone and youre not physically
trying to go there yet. Thats
fine too. There are ways to be
intimate without being physically or sexually intimate.
Intimacy is really based on
your own discretion. There
isnt a guideline or a book
that says theres one official
way to be close. Again, this is
something you need to clear
with your partner or potential lover before trying to solidify any plans.
Love may be in the air or
maybe its lust. Whatever it
is, just make sure the person
whos helping you figure it
out has the same intentions
as you. Everybodys not doing it, but if you are, be
smart about it. Happy Valentines Day!
Campus &
Downtown
Events
Ill Always Love
You: A Tribute to
Whitney Houston
Feb. 10
5:30 p.m. - 7 p.m.
In celebration of African
American Heritage Month,
Georgia State will host a
performance in honor of
the late Whitney Houston.
Joanna Maddox, an actress and
performing artist, will put on
a one woman theatrical show
taking the audience through the
epic life of Whitney Houston.
Houston was awarded for her
talent more times than any
other female artist, and her
legacy remains in the hearts of
many. Join the Georgia State
community to commemorate
the unforgettable artist in the
Speakers Auditorium and
lobby.
He Thinks/She Thinks:
Battle of the Sexes
Feb. 11
Noon - 1 p.m.
Havent you alway wondered
what someone of the opposite
gender was thinking? Now
theres a chance to finally
find out. You will get the
opportunity to ask questions
that have been pondering in
your mind, and get the answers
you might not be expecting.
This showdown will be held in
the Student Center, and is free
admission. Solve the mystery
of what the other gender truly
thinks.
19
Criminal Justice
Career & Internship
Fair
Feb. 27
1 p.m. - 3 p.m.
If you want to make changes
in peoples lives, then look into
careers in law enforcement,
human/public services, public
safety, and correctioner. This
fair will allow you to acquire
more information about the
fields you are interested in and
give you a better understanding
of what the job truly entails.
This event is sponsored by
the Criminal Justice Student
Association and will be held
at Veterans Memorial Hall
(Dahlberg Hall).
Word Search
The sexy puzzle
Courtyard Music
Series
Feb. 17
Noon-1 p.m.
Held in the student center
courtyard food court, the
Georgia State community will
put on an eccentric musical
show. Different genres like
classical,acoustic, pop, an jazz
will be vibrating through the
halls. This event is no charge,
so its simply a time for you to
enjoy some sick beats!
SEX
SEXUAL
EROTIC
VALENTINE
ROMANCE
RELATIONSHIP
HOOKUP
DATE
Atlanta Fair
2
6
7
6
1283 Columbia Dr. Decatur, GA 30032

404-424-8503
6525 Tara Blvd, Ste. B Jonesboro, GA 30236 678-487-1035
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save lives, and get free wi-fi
at the same time?
CLUB
CONDOMS
HEART
ROSES
Sudoku
8
Feb. 28- April 6

Grab yours friends and family
and head out to Turner Field
for some real fun. The Atlanta
Fair is back again this year and
has the same amount of rides,
games, and food as always.
Come see a sea of colorful
excitement get draped over
the famous field, and make
memories with the people you
love.
DILDO
STRIPPER
POLE
FEMINISM
3
7
SIGNING
DAY2015
www.georgiastatesignal.com/sports
GEORGIA STATE LANDS 24

SIGNEES FOR THIS SEASON
Georgia State signees
Kendrick Dorn
RB 6-0, 205 Fontana, California, San Bernardino

Valley CC
Chase Middleton
LB 6-2, 225 Atlanta, Georgia, Brookwood HS
DeQueszman Kelley
DL 6-0, 285 Buena Vista, Georgia, Coffeyville CC
Matlin Marshall
ATH 5-10, 170 Evans, Georgia, Evans HS
Julien Laurent
DL 6-4, 325 Toronto, Ontario (New Mexico

Military Institute)
Kaleb Ringer
LB 6-0, 235 Claymont, Ohio, Butler Kansas, CC
Penny Hart
WR 5-9, 170 Atlanta, Georgia, Kings Ridge

Christian School
Dom Roldan
OL 6-6, 350 Virginia Beach, Virginia, Grossmont College

ILLUSTRATION BY JAMAAL HICKS | THE SIGNAL
Tyler Simonsen
OL 6-3, 305 Redlands, California, San Bernardino

Valley CC
Kelepi Folau
JARED OLIVER
Staff Reporter
eorgia State has signed 24

new football members for the
2015-16 season on National
Signing Day (Feb. 4).
Last season, the Panthers finished
the season 1-11.The team had holes in
its defense and offense that contributed
to the record.
Third-year Head Coach Trent
Miles knows that the football program
is still looking to find its identity in the
Sun Belt Conference and across the
nation. As is the case every place else,
recruiting is a major key.
The recruiting strategy for the
upcoming season was to get players
from junior colleges. The Panthers
have brought in 17 junior college
transfers. A few of last years most
productive players came from junior
colleges or were transfers.
Quarterback Nick Arbuckle was
a junior college transfer from St.
Bonaventure and Pierce College in
California. Wide receiver Donovan
Harden was a transfer from Illinois
State in 2012. TE Joel Ruiz was a
transfer from Presbyterian.
Following the extinction of the
University of Alabama-Birmingham
(UAB) football program, Georgia State
sought after an opportunity to recruit
some of the talent that UAB will no
longer be able to keep. The Panthers
were able to get six transfers from
UAB.
Coach Miles is excited to have the
former Blazers on campus. He will

have the players go through winter
workouts with the team.
So far so good. I see them with
smiles on their faces. They are doing
a good job making sure they get to
everything. They are blending in here
like theyve been here for six years,
Miles said.
The defensive side of the ball was
a weakness last year and caused the
offense to play catch-up in most
games. The team fined 128th last year
in points given up, averaging 43.3
points per game.
Georgia State recruiters have
worked to bring in experienced players
defensively who fit Coach Miles
style of play. A total of 11 signees are
defensive players. Last season the
Panthers had a difficult time with
having substitutes when starters went
down.
Miles made it imperative to have
a full roster in case the team becomes
shorthanded due to injury. There
was a point in the 2014 season where
the running game for the Panthers
disappeared with the injury to Kyler
Neal (Sophmore.) and the departure
of former Texas recruit Krysten
Hammon.
Cornerback Marcus Caffey (Jr.),
who originally was listed as such,
switched to offense throughout the
season.
Last year in the season we were
at 60-something scholarship guys
and now were going to be once the
Fall hits, were going to be in the 80s.
So, I know were catching up from a
numbers stand point. We were short
on scholarship numbers, so with

bringing in mid-year players, we have
95 percent of our football team here
going through winter conditioning,
Miles said.
Coach Miles mentioned that
everyone has a fair chance to go out
and win a starting job on the team. The
third-year Georgia State head coach
used the phrase open competition to
describe the opportunity to fight for a
spot on the starting 22.
They are projected starters and
positions, but everybody has to go out
and compete all over against either
keep their job or earn it, Miles said.
As coaches tend to do in recruiting,
change of positions for players coming
into college can occur. There is no
definite certainty on switching an
incoming freshman or mid-year
players position as of yet.
Well see as we go, we really cant
tell all that until we get them out there
in pads and work with them football
wise, Miles said.
Transitioning from high school
to college can be tough sometimes,
even for junior college players to
universities. Making sure adjustments
are made smoothly and in a timely
manner is important for a studentathlete.
Coach Miles thinks that the biggest
change for the signees will be speed.
Its all about speed, the speed of
everything, the speed of learning in
the classroom as opposed to in high
school, the speed on the field, the
speed of the way we do things; thats
the biggest thing for young men to
learn, Miles said.
OL 6-3, 305 Concord, California, UAB
Marquan Greene
WR 5-10, 180 Moultrie, Georgia, Colquitt County HS
Aaron Winchester
QB 6-2, 170 Atlanta, Georgia, Mount Pisgah HS
Demarcus Kirk
RB 6-0, 190 Dora, Alabama, Dora HS
Nyiakki Height
WR 6-1, 190 Atlanta, Ga.UAB
Cloves Campbell
DB 6-1, 205 Phoenix, Arizona, Scottsdale CC
Alonzo McGee
LB 6-1, 220 Sumter, South Carolina UAB
Kameron Myers
WR 5-9, 175 Charleston, Mississippi, East Mississippi CC
Bobby Baker
S 6-2, 190 Sherman Oaks, California, UAB
Charlie Patrick
LB 6-0, 215 Atlanta, Georgia, Mays
Demarco Davis
CB 5-11, 175 Atlanta, Georgia, UAB
Melliek Jackson
S 5-11, 185 Miami, Florida, Champagnat Catholic HS
LB 5-11, 220 Atlanta, Georgia, Carver HS
Lucas Johnson
OL 6-4, 285 Cartersville, Georgia, Cass HS
Ari Werts
TE 6-4, 225 Stone Mountain, Georgia, Stephenson HS
23
21
TUESDAY,
FEBRUARY
10, 2015
TUESDAY,
DECEMBER
10, 2013
Several former UAB football players to come to Georgia State

JEREMY JOHNSON
Staff Reporter
ix members from the now

defunct
University
of
Alabama-Birmingham (UAB)
football program are now Georgia
State Panthers.
Wide receiver Nyiakki Height,
linebacker
Alonzo
McGee,
cornerback
Demarco
Davis,
offensive guard Kelepi Folua, safety
Bobby Baker and running back
Demarcus Kirk all will be suiting up
for the Panthers in the fall for the
2015 football season.
Read on for the new additions to
the team.
UABs end
These six players were expecting

to be suiting up for the UAB Blazers
again next fall when the football
season kicked off.
The team had just completed
what was the best season in a
decade with a 6-6 record which had
the Blazers bowl eligible for the first
time since 2004 under first-year
head coach Bill Clark. UAB football
was on an uptick until the school
announced in early December
that the football program would
be canceled. According to UAB
president Ray Watts, the program
was too much financially for the
University to continue to sustain.
The shocking announcement left
150-plus student athletes confused,
hurt and misplaced. The reality of
not being able to play football with
the brothers they had accumulated
was setting in. The friendships
and team comradery were taken
away due to the abrupt end to the
program.
Losing a family. Losing a
brotherhood. Thats the first thing
that went through my mind. It
wasnt even football, Cornerback
Demarco Davis said of his thoughts
of the closing of the program at
UAB. When I first got to UAB, I
found 150 brothers who I knew
had my back from freshman year
to senior year. So, when they took
the program from us... it was first
of all heart breaking. It was real
shocking.
The misplaced athletes were
then left pondering their shaky
football futures that were once
certain and in view out of their
windshields.
The National Collegiate Athletic
Association (NCAA) stepped in and
granted the former UAB players the
freedom to transfer anywhere in
the country along with the right to
immediately play for the school in
which they transferred to.
There are a few cases in recent
memory with programs such
Southern Methodist University
(SMU), Penn State and the
University of Southern California
(USC) for multiple reasons to help
protect the student-athletes for the
difficulties of the institutions in

which they compete for.
This led to a college football
gold rush on UAB in which college
football programs looked to scoop
up some seasoned college football
players to their programs.
Georgia State
Georgia State also looked to

grab a few of the former Blazers and
ended up coming out with six new
faces to add to their program to fill
a few needs and add depth.
I see myself fitting in good.
I came here to make plays, said
running back Demarcus Kirk of
how he feels he will fit into the fold
at Georgia State.
Kirk will be looked at to compete
for playing time at the running back
spot with the mid-season departure
of Krysten Hammon. Georgia State
is hoping for healthy competition at
the runningback position with Kyler
Neal returning from an injury and
the transition back to cornerback
for senior Marcus Caffey.
The new Panthers look to add
what they can on the field as well as
becoming voices of the team.
I want to take on more of a
leadership role. I know Im a young
cat, coming from UAB as a redshirt
freshman this year, Davis said. But
I know I can be a leader to some of
the older guys and some younger
guys. Because I do know a lot about
playing defensive back. But, I know
I can learn more from the older
guys and the younger guys as well.
One task for the UAB transfers
will be getting acclimated to a
new city, a new playbook, a new
philosophy and a new football
family.
That transition to making the
Panthers has been aided by having
the familiar faces around them from
their old family to guide them into
to the comfort zone to truly become
a part of Georgia States nucleus for
next season. They planned it to be
that way.
The other five, we all came
on the trip together. There was
probably more of us, but the five
that did came here. Before we even
committed, we gave each other
calls to see what the plan was. I
think in December was when we all
committed, so it was kind of like a
team choice, Senior Guard Folua
said.
Folua thinks that having
his former teammates as new
teammates has already paid
dividends.
Knowing that I would be
playing with more of my teammates
that I did at UAB really helped my
choice, coming in here not as a new
face, but knowing people, it really
helped, Folua said.
Demarco Davis recruitment to

Georgia State was not only aided
by having his UAB family coming
with him, but also having his actual
family in the Atlanta area and on
the team.
Davis is not only an Atlantanative where he played at local
Booker T. Washington High
School, but Davis is a cousin to
current Panthers redshirt freshman
cornerback Jerome Smith.
Me and my cousin are very
close....Were more like brothers. So,
talking to him, he told me, Its your
decision bro. Dont rush it...dont
rush it at all. Make your decision
wisely. I just felt like being closer
to him and with him being closer to
me, well be able to push each in the
right direction. He was a big part of
my recruitment, Davis said.
Smith is also coming off a
redshirt season and would be
looking to be a factor in Georgia
States secondary next season
alongside his cousin.
The new Panthers will continue
to work out off-season and prepare
for spring practices.
BoBBy Baker:
senior
safety
63, 185 pounds

sherman oaks, California
2014:
played in three games
had one interCeption for
13 yards
19 taCkles
kelepi Folau:
offensive lineman
senior
63, 305 pounds

pleasant hill, California
2014:
started one game at guard
DeMarcus kirk:
Runningback
Redshirt freshman
60
190 pounds
Dora, Alabama
DeMarco Davis:
CornerbaCk
redshirt freshman
511, 172 pounds
atlanta, georgia
played high sChool football

at booker t. Washington
HigH scHool
nyiakki HeigHt:
senior
Wide reCeiver
61, 190 pounds
atlanta, georgia
2014:
17 reCeptions
136 yards
one touChdoWn
alonzo Mcgee:
linebaCker
redshirt junior
61, 220 pounds
sumter, south Carolina
2014:
played in 12 games
42 taCkles
TUESDAY,
DECEMBER 10, 2013
22
SPORTS COLUMN
Theyre athletes just like the men are

AKIEM BAILUM
Sports Editor
ometimes, I think about where athletics would be without Title IX and

the opportunities that it afforded
many women looking to play sports.
Title IX is the federal regulation
passed in 1972 that prohibits discrimination in educational programs and activities that receive federal assistance.
This includes sports.
There are plenty of women who play
sports and plenty of women who coach
sports. Dipping ones toes into the waters
of athletics is a challenge for any woman,
given that sports has traditionally been a
male-dominant institution.
Anyone who is a woman whether it
be a player, coach, executive or reporter
who decides to enter sports earns my
utmost respect for this alone.
Unfortunately, the male-centric machine that is athletics is still hard at work
in many parts of the world, churning out
stereotypes.
What needs to be addressed is the bogus stigma that is sometimes put on any
woman who plays sports. Those of the
female sex who are a part of any competitive sport are sometimes looked at
(primarily by those of the male species)
as lesbians, not feminine or less of a
woman.
Seriously? Its 2015. Are we still unfairly placing this tag on women athletes?
This is something that is put on WNBA
players and softball athletes almost regularly.
Whats the matter, men? Got beat by
a girl on the soccer pitch in junior high?
It is unfathomable that in the 21st
century that this is still out there, but it
still is.
The majority of the mainstream sports
are competed in by men. The majority of
athletics organizations are ran by men.
That may not be the heart of the problem,
but it at least serves as either the lungs or
the blood vessels.
This is an extremely competitive and
extremely intense activity to partake in.
Maintaining that competitive edge require large degrees of athleticism and
toughness in order to succeed and prosper as an athlete.
Athleticism and toughness are virtues
that more often than not are said to be
attributes of masculinity it is the reason as to why male sports are said to be
played by those that look like athletes.
So, why dont womens sports get the
same modicum of respect that mens
sports do? Some say it is because mens

sports have higher attendance and garner
higher ratings.
Why do they have higher attendance
and garner higher ratings? Because the
male-controlled media has ingrained in
our heads that sports are for men and any
woman who partakes in sports needs to
have her sexuality questioned.
Not because, you know, she may love
sports just as much as any man may. Believe me, any time I hear this stereotype
either on TV, radio, in newspapers or in
casual conversation, I want to puke.
What this really boils down to the
conversation about just what is feminine and what is not feminine.
Entering into beauty pageants, having
long blonde hair and being as demure as
possible around the opposite sex are what
we have defined as womanly traits in
society. If said woman even dares to enter
sports, then her attractiveness quotient
dips into negative figures in the eyes of
a lot of men.
The problem with this is obvious.
Young girls who watch beauty pageants
or events like the Victorias Secret Fashion Show grow up with the idea trying to
be a model is what defines being a woman. They have this idea that if they do not
look like a Barbie doll by the time they
reach their teens, their lives are not worth
it.
Thats where sports come in.
Sports are not just about wins, losses
and gaudy stats. Sports can be a positive
source of empowerment and self-fulfillment for young girls. It teaches them that
instead of aspiring to be the next Marilyn Monroe or Brooklyn Decker, wanting
to be the next Alex Morgan or Angel McCoughtry is just as worth striving for.
At most colleges and universities, including at Georgia State, womens sports
fly under the radar with everyone concentrating on football and mens basketball. But by playing for Georgia State
sports, volleyballs Deidra Bohannon and
womens soccers Taina Anglade are ambassadors of the university just like footballs Nick Arbuckle or mens basketballs
R.J. Hunter.
Women have had to fight hard to gain
acceptance in many institutions, including in sports in the United States. Even
today, that is still continuing as women
still strive to earn equal recognition in
sports circles.
I do not assume anything about
the personal lives of any athlete, mens
or womens. It is none of my business.
Whenever I see a woman athlete doing
well there is only one thing I pick up
from that: Girl Got Game!
With being an athlete, a certain amount of

fitness is required. That
well-sculpted figure one
needs in order to be an
athlete also brings with
it a level of sex appeal.
Some athletes may
deny it, but playing
competitive sports does
include a certain modicum of physical attraction from onlookers.

The Signal had a
chance to talk with students around Georgia
State and get their opinions on who not only
plays good but looks
good.
Tre Cash
Year: Freshman
Major: Criminal justice
His pick: Dakota and Dylan
Gonzalez (Womens Basketball UNLV)
Imani Richard
Year: Freshman
Major: Exercise science
Her pick: Paul George (NBAs
Indiana Pacers)
Trey Cash on the left and Imani Richard

pictured on the right
Robin Sutton
Year: Senior
Her pick: Gregory Van Der
Wiel (Soccer - Paris SaintGermain)
Ashley Angel
Year: Senior
Her pick: Derrick Rose (NBAs
Chicago Bulls)
Courtney Manning
Year: Sophomore
Major: Studio art
His pick: Ronda Rousey (MMA
PHOTOS BY MARC VALLE | THE SIGNAL
23
TUESDAY,
FEBRUARY
10, 2015
TUESDAY,
DECEMBER
10, 2013
PANTHER OF
THE WEEK
SPORTS CALENDAR
*conference games
South Alabama*
GSU Sports Arena
7 p.m.
1340 The Fan 3
GEORGIA STATE ATHLETICS
LaPorscha Wells
Track and Field
Wells had a record-setting
performance on Friday at the
ETSU Bucs Invite as she put in a
weight throw of 18.75 meters to
set a new top mark for Georgia
State in the sport. The new record
also netted Wells a victory for
that day in the weight throw.
At T.W. Josey High School
in Augusta, Wells not only participated in the weight throw but
also in basketball as well as volleyball.
In her freshman season at
Georgia State, Wells put in the
second-best weight throw distance in school history with a
15.29 meter throw at last seasons
Sun Belt Indoor Championships
at Birmingham, Alabama. At
last years Troy Invitational, she
set a school record in the hammer throw with a 50.72 distance.
Wells 13.99 distance in the shot
put at the USF Bulls Invite won
her the event.
Samford at Atlanta
Athletic Club
6 p.m.
THE FINAL SCORE

The performance of Georgia
States track and field team was highlighted by LaPorscha Wells setting
a new school record for the weight
throw on Friday with a distance of
18.75 meters. The Panthers also finished 1-2 in the womens seeded
3,000 meter run and the womens
seeded one mile run. Georgia States
next events will be split-squad meets
in Ohio and Alabama this upcoming
weekend.
South Alabama*
George Washington
GSU Sports Arena 5 p.m.
Piedmont Park
2 p.m.
Appalachian
State(Play4Kay Cancer
GSU Sports Arena 12 p.m.
SPIRE Division I Indoor

Invitational (split squad)
at Geneva, Ohio 1 p.m.
Furman
Atlanta Athletic Club
6:30 p.m.
Texas State*
San Marcos, Texas
12 p.m.
Samford Invitational
(split squad) at
ESPN2
Birmingham, Ala. 1 p.m.
Miami (Ohio)
Life Time Athletic and
8:30 a.m.
1340 The Fan 3
The Panthers could not claim

first place against Georgia Southern
as the Panthers lost by a final of 58-54
to the Eagles. Georgia State managed
to bounce back from its defeat to its
in-state rival with a 65-54 victory at
South Alabama. Three Panthers finished in double-digit points including R.J. Hunter who had 19.
Georgia States fortunes were

much better against the school down
south on the womens side as the
Panthers routed the Eagles by a final
of 82-54 in Statesboro, Georgia. The
Panthers followed that up with an
84-78 victory over South Alabama.
Makeba Ponder had 19 points while
Kennesha Nichols finished with a
double-double with 10 points and 10
rebounds.
Sun Belt Standings

STANDING
MENS BASKETBALL
1st
UL Monroe
10-3 | Overall: 16-8
2nd
Georgia Southern
9-3 | Overall: 16-5
3rd
Georgia State
9-4 | Overall: 16-8
4th
UT Arlington
7-5 | Overall: 13-9
Troy
8-5 | Overall: 13-9
5th
UL Lafayette
7-6 | Overall: 13-11
UL Lafayette
7-6 | Overall: 15-7
6th
Appalachian State
6-6 | Overall: 9-12
UT Arlington
6-6 | Overall: 12-9
7th
Texas State
5-8 | Overall:11-11
UL Monroe
6-7 | Overall: 10-12
8th
South Alabama
5-8 | Overall: 7-17
Appalachian State
5-7 | Overall: 10-11
9th
Arkansas State
4-9 | Overall: 9-13
Georgia State
5-8 | Overall: 10-12
WOMENS BASKETBALL
UALR
12-1 | Overall: 19-3
Arkansas State
11-2 | Overall: 16-7
Texas State
8-5 | Overall: 13-9
10th
Troy 4-9 | Overall: 9-13
Georgia Southern
1-11 | Overall: 4-17
11th
UALR 4-9 | Overall: 9-14
South Alabama
1-12 | Overall: 4-18
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY RUTH PANNILL | THE SIGNAL

Liberator offers a variety of sexual toys that branch
out from the traditional vibrator.

The Signal: Vol. 82 No. 19

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FEB. 10, 2015 - FEB.

#NSFW: From exotic dancers to the best hookup spots

PRACTICE SAFE SEX.

Girl got game!

All the single people Power of the pole

Several exotic dancers

Lets end the stereotypes

Google Fiber will now

DAILY NEWS AT WWW.GEORGIASTATESIGNAL.COM

Arts & Living 11

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2015

Aderhold Learning Center

Words really hurt

A report was filed for

A report for agency

Not like the old ball

A report was filed for

A report was filed for the

Photo of the week

ARTS & LIVING EDITOR

ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

ASSISTANT ARTS & Living EDITOr

ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR

STUDENT MEDIA ADVISOR

The Signal shall provide, in a fair and accurate manner,

The deadline for all advertising is 5 p.m. on the Tuesday

Requests for coverage and tips should be submitted to the

4VJUF 6OJWFSTJUZ$FOUFSt10#PYt"UMBOUB ("

SUBMIT LETTER TO EDITOR

Letters must be submitted to the Opinions Editors via

maximum. The Signal will allow longer letters, but only in

Opinions and Letters to the Editor expressed in The Signal

A sugar baby and sugar momma discuss the

manda Stevens*, a 22-year-old

Stevens said she began the sugar

Finding sugar daddies

Stevens said she is registered on

Types of sugar daddies

Stevens said her sugar daddies

So I number men off. I have their

- Amanda Stevens, sugar baby

Stevens said she charges $800 per

How she does it

Fastest growing sugar

are single mothers

42% are students

40,000 are teachers

Sugar on the tongue

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2015

Sugar continued from page 3

The No. 1 rule for sugar babies is

Michelle* is a lesbian Atlantabased sugar momma working in the

more lifestyle oriented.

Matthew Wolff also contributed

Do students like the sugar?

What do you think of

Would you consider

I think its bound to happen.

No. Ive kind of been around

Why do you think Atlanta

Would you consider

Why do you think Atlanta

any money so its easy for me to

I think its strange. Ive never

4VJUF 6OJWFSTJUZ$FOUFSt10#PYt"UMBOUB ("