September 25, 2015Volume 101, Issue 9nique.

net

OPINIONS

LIFE

technique LTE: Diversity matters

News 2

Opinions 6

Life 10

p7 Voices for Justice

Entertainment 14

p10

Sports 24

OLD SCHOOL DOMINATES MUSIC MIDTOWN p16

ENTERTAINMENT

Top L: Photo by John Nakano Student Publications; Top R: Photo courtesy of Camera Dunn; Above: Photo by Tyler Meuter Student Publications

NEWS

Credit, debit card fraud spreads across Tech

DAVID RAJI

NEWS EDITOR
An increasing number of
credit and debit card fraud
cases among members of
the Tech community has
raised concern throughout
the student body.
I was actually on my
bus back from Notre Dame,
and I got a call from my
credit card company saying they found fraudulent
activity. They shut down
my account, [and] then
told me to call them back
immediately said Stephen
Schwahn, a fourth-year
CS. But this wasnt the
first time I had heard about
it; the band organizations

GroupMe had been going off since last Thursday,

[with people] saying hey,
watch your card statement,
because I got stuff stolen.
According to Schwahn,
one student had $700 of
hats charged to his account
within the span of 30 seconds. Schwahn himself had
an airline ticket to Denver
fraudulently charged to his
account.
According to GTPD,
there have been three reported cases of credit and
debit card fraud in the
month of September up to
this point in time. Schwahn
added that he was advised
to file a report with the
GTPD.

According to Schwahn,
the fraudulent transactions have ranged from $15
items to $700 of merchandise. Originally, Schwahn
had thought that the fraud
was related to transactions
made in the student center, but this possibility was
dispelled when many of the
victims advised that they
had not bought anything
from the student center.
Schwahn noted that
incidence rates of fraud
seemed to be higher within
the organizations Tau Beta
Sigma and Kappa Kappa
Psi, which are both greek
organizations
affiliated
with the Tech band in some
facet.

Photo by Tyler Meuter Student Publications

A Tech student makes a purchase at Burdells in the Student Center. Several

students on campus have reported fraudulent charges made to their cards.

2 September 25, 2015 technique

technique
The Souths Liveliest College Newspaper

// NEWS

Create-X starts up new success

ANN JOHNSON

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF:
Brenda Lin

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

MANAGING EDITOR:
Nick Johnson
NEWS EDITOR:
David Raji
OPINIONS EDITOR:
Vidya Iyer
LIFE EDITOR:
Samira Bandaru
ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR:
Trishna Chandarana
SPORTS EDITOR:
Jonathan Long
DESIGN EDITOR:
Brighton Kamen
PHOTO EDITOR:
Tyler Meuter
HEAD COPY EDITOR:
Alexis Brazier
ONLINE EDITOR:
Kripa Chandran
WEB DEVELOPER:
Ross Lindsay
Founded in 1911, the Technique is the student newspaper of the Georgia Institute
of Technology, and is an official publication of the Georgia Tech Board of Student
Publications. The Technique publishes on
Fridays weekly in the fall and spring and
monthly in the summer.
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10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

COVERAGE REQUESTS : Requests for

coverage and tips should be submitted to

the Editor-in-Chief and/or the relevant
section editor.
Copyright 2015, Brenda Lin, Editorin-Chief, and the Georgia Tech Board
of Student Publications. No part of this
paper may be reproduced in any manner without written permission from the
Editor-in-Chief or from the Board of
Student Publications. The ideas expressed
herein are those of the individual authors
and do not necessarily represent the views
of the Board of Student Publications, the
students, staff or faculty of the Georgia
Institute of Technology or the University
System of Georgia. First copy free for
additional copies call (404) 894-2830.

Two Tech students who participated in Tech Start-Up Summer, the pinnacle of Create-Xs
learn-make-launch start-up
program, won Georgias TAG
Business Launch Competition.
Create-X is an organization
led by its Director, Raghupathy Siva Sivakumar, PhD.,
who collaborated with the faculty and staff at Tech along
with investors and other startup initiatives to create the program. The program currently
has three components, starting
with the learn portion, which
is a for-credit start-up lab where
students learn about entrepreneurship and explore their own
start-up ideas.
Next is the make portion
called Idea 2 Prototype, where
students get to prototype their
designs for credit. The launch

session is Start-Up Summer,

which is a highly selective program reserved for promising
start-up teams. A number of
businesses have grown from
Start-Up Summer over the past
few years, including Gimme
Vending, Grubbly Farms and
FIXD.
Create-Xs programs are also
available to students who are
not currently in the process of
initiating a start-up. Sivakumar
believes the success of Create-Xs
programs reach more broadly
than through the successful
companies it produces.
You learn a lot, your ideas
are grounded, and you get experience about what exists out in
the world, Sivakumar said.
He also explained that big
companies such as Google are
interested in entrepreneurially
minded students coming into
the workforce because they will
be change instruments within

ach week, this section of News

will include the coverage of
dierent aspects of bills that
passed through Student Government
This will include the Undergraduate
House of Representatives, Graduate
Student Senate and the Executive
Branch of both government bodies.

DAVID RAJI

NEWS EDITOR

PASSED & FAILED BILL SUMMARY

BILL

AMOUNT

GSS

UHR

AASU BLC Conference Committee

$2,504
$2,200
$841.96
$9,980
$0
$940
$1,700
$0
$12,390
$450
$168.33

43-1-1*
51-1-0*
32-1-0
27-6-1
5-24-1
26-1-0
26-1-0
1-27-0
19-3-1
21-1-1
22-1-1

37-0-1*
40-0-0*
39-1-0
39-0-1
8-31-1
32-0-0
38-0-0
3-37-0
39-0-0
40-0-0
39-0-1

Equestrian Conference Committee

Alternative Service Breaks
Student Center Piano Refurbishments
League of Legends: Escape the Room
Wrestling Club NCWA
Golf Club NCCGA
MoneyThink Mentor Program
Mens Lacrosse Equipment
Womens Lacrosse Tournament
Be The Change 2015 (SBR)

*Vote counts denote record of conference committee

Not listed are bills yet to see UHR, GSS or conference committees

their institutions.
Create-X isnt the only startup organization that offers resources to Tech students. StartUp Semester and Venture Lab
both have their own style of
startup related opportunities,
and Create-X additionally works
to support students involved in
these organizations as well. Create-X also plans to implement a
speaker series, junior version of
Start-Up Summer and a scholarship for students interested in
entrepreneurship in the near future. Create-Xs eventual goal is
to have 100 student start-ups per
year from Tech.
Roughly 100 teams can
participate in Techs start-up
summer. During the program,
students form companies using
$20,000 of funding, a team of
mentors, physical space and access to lawyers. Early-bird applications for the program open
Nov. 10.
LA-COST GEAR
SGA discussed bill 16J041,
which would allocate funds to
the Techs mens lacrosse team
for the purchase of equipment.
Among the requested items
were gloves, helmets and away
uniforms. The total amount
came to $12,390, and no
amendments were made.
UHR and GSS both passed
the bill without extended debate
on the subject.
BALLROOM PIANO
SGA also debated another
bill, 16J048, which would allocate funding to the Student
Center for the refurbishment of
the ballrooms Steinway B grand
piano.
The piano, which was built
originally in 1919, required new
base strings, wire and tuning
pins among other things.
UHR and GSS both amended the bill per JFC policy, which
involved separating the funds
into two line items and subtracting $20 from the total amount.
Without exhaustive discussion, both UHR and GSS chose
to pass the amended version of
the bill.

HASIT DEWAN

ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

Last Wednesday, Martin Winterkorn, CEO of Volkswagen
(VW), resigned from his post, effective immediately.
His exit comes amid the exposure of an international emissions
cheating scandal that leaves the
company at risk of losing billions
of dollars in fines and criminal
prosecution.
Last week, VW admitted that
over 11 million of its vehicles,
500,000 of which were sold in
the United States, were given
passes on emissions tests when
in fact some of them emitted nitrous oxide at rates 40 times that
of United States federal standards.
The scandal erupted when the Environmental Protection Agency
released a report explaining that
VW had installed software on
over 450,000 cars that caused the
vehicles to disable high-emission
processes if they detected that
they were in a test rather than
on the road. Within hours of
the reports release, VWs stock
dropped considerably. It has since
lost 29 percent of its market value.
Additionally, VW could face
upwards of $18 billion in EPA
fines, not including any fines it incurs from a Department of Justice
investigation that has begun. Furthermore, officials in Germany
and other European countries are
launching probes to explore the
issue. In response to these cases,
the VW has set aside $7 billion of
emergency funds to be used solely
in repairing customer relations.
Despite his resignation, Winterkorn maintains his innocence,
claiming he was ignorant of the
issue until the EPAs report. The
EPA stated in their report that the
agency did not believe Winterkorn
knew about the scandal, suggesting that the issue originated from
the lower levels of VW leadership.

sliver

nique.net

Georgia Techs Journal of the Arts and Literature

art, n. - The expression or application of creative skill and
imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting, drawing, or
sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their
beauty or emotional power.
It is art that makes life, makes interest,
makes importance and I know of no substitute whatever for the force and beauty of
its process.
Max Eastman

Random thought: In Da Club by 50 Cent might be the best

song ever written.
bad
New class catchphrase: Lets matrix this thing!
shouts out to the mutual friends of tinder girls who never set me
up, you all definitely dont suck
Eating blueberries in my interview outfit because I like living life
on the wild side
If they are going to remove trees from campus, why cant it be
the skiles tree?
That thing stinks
Hobbies include: glaring at men that can bike while wearing
dress clothes
Thanks SGA, for taking away the one thing that made me happy
about Homecoming. Now my Dad cant come see the trike race
with me.
Indoor campanile? Indoor campanile! We must expand!
Several students banned together... - banned what? Banned
anxiety and sadness? With their tablets of concrete and chalk?
Who are these mighty chalk warriors?
RIP in peace pizza hut. I will miss your greasy, tasty breadsticks.
I want waching
Me: Should I get Starbucks or cheaper machine coffee? Friend: It
depends. Do you need caffeine or comfort in a cup?
Who needs skin on their ankles? -my heels
They said, Follow my heart. And my heart said, Crap! I cant
do that.

technique September 25, 2015 3

// NEWS

UHR, GSS strike JFC cultural food footnote

DAVID RAJI

NEWS EDITOR
Last Tuesday, both Student
Government Association (SGA)
legislative bodies met individually to discuss changes to Joint
Finance Committee (JFC) policy.
Much of the discussion of the
proposed alterations was in regards to the removal of the line,
While funding for food is not
permitted per JFC policy, organizations are still able to receive
funding for events or initiatives
per the legislatures discretion
within the cultural subsection
of Section 4: Specific Exemptions. Officially, no food can be
funded by JFC policy, but in practice, the legislative bodies have
sometimes made the decision to
waive policy in order to allocate
funding for the purchase of food
for a cultural event. The line was
in place to signal various cultural
student organizations that a request for cultural food funding
would be given special consideration by the UHR and GSS.
GSS saw engaged debate on the
issue of whether the line should
have been reinstated, with the
voting blocs almost evenly splitting the body in half. One senator
argued that the cultural food expenditures have historically made
up a very small portion of SGAs
total budget and that the line was
not providing an unreasonable
precedent for the funding of all
food items. After a discussion in
which the Chair of the body had
to remind senators not to speak

over each other, GSS narrowly decided not to revert the striking of
the line.
During discourse on this issue in UHR, the Speaker pro
Tempore of UHR, Brian Shin,
proposed an amendment to JFC
policy which would add the line,
Cultural organizations may request funding for cultural food
if the organization can show how
the cultural food relates to the
event. The event must be advertised and open to all students, and
it must have an educational aspect
organizations must submit an
educational PowerPoint before
meeting with both bodies of the
legislature, of which explanation
of the food is included. Shin argued that an exemption such as
the one he proposed would allow
students to embrace and educate
the culture through the food, and
that cultural organizations should
receive food since other organizations, such as those pertaining to
sports, are sometimes allocated
funding for special specific items.
He added that this amendment
would allow cultural organizations to have food for events
without UHR and GSS having to
waive JFC policy.
A number of representatives voiced their support of this
amendment. Morgan Foreman,
co-Chair of SGAs Cultural and
Diversity Committee, expressed
that she would be interested in
seeing a provision which would
prevent organizations from advertising cultural food events as
being free food. She also stated

that the educational document or

PowerPoint created by the organization should also explain the
impact of the food on the culture.
Undergraduate President of
SGA Jennifer Abrams stated that
the amendment might give rise to
the question of whether certain
foods are cultural enough. Another representative expressed that
he felt Shins proposed amendment was too radical of a change
to JFC policy. Shins amendment
was eventually failed by UHR,
and the recommended changes

regarding the cultural food line

from JFC were passed, which involved the aforementioned line
being struck by both legislative
bodies of SGA during their meetings last Tuesday.
Following this discussion,
UHR chose to waive JFC policy
in order to fund cultural food on
the next two bills that were heard,
despite the second having no description on the use of the money.
JFC policy generally serves as
a guideline and ruleset for how
SGA allocates funding when bills

are submitted for consideration.

Members of either the Undergraduate House of Representatives (UHR) or the Graduate Student Senate (GSS) may motion to
waive JFC policy for any bill, but
the motion requires a two-thirds
majority to pass. More often than
not, JFC policy is adhered to
when SGA makes funding decisions on bills.
JFC is a committee chaired
by the Vice President of Finance,
who sits on both the undergraduate and graduate executive boards.

Photo by Caity Murphy Student Publications

Representatives in the Undergraduate House of Representatives engage in discussions.

Last Tuesday, both legislative bodies of SGA voted on JFCs proposed changes to its policy.

France
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SINGAPORE
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Russia
New
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CHILE
AIR
South
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ARGENTINA

UNDERGROUND

OCT.

10am to 2pm
Student Center Ballroom
Learn about Exchanges Abroad,
Faculty-Led Study Abroad,
Study Abroad Scholarships, the
Photo Contest, and more.

Where will you go?

NORTH AVENUE

TRADE

WITH GEORGIA
TO HELL WITH GEOTO HELL
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SCHOOL

4 September 25, 2015 technique

// NEWS

MetroLab brings Atlanta,

Tech, GSU together
ADITI KUMAR

CONTRIBUTING WRITER
On Sept. 14, the Obama administration announced a new
Smart Cities initiative in order
to foster community effort to
effectively combat unique local
challenges and develop city services.
Smart cities are understood to
be communities which build and
maintain infrastructures that
improve the lives of residents. To
this end, over $160 million will
be invested in federal research
and in support of more than 20
new city-college collaborations
by the Obama administration.
Issues such as traffic congestion,
crime rates, economic growth,
climate change and city services

will be addressed by local communities that are involved in this

new initiative. Over 60 Smart
City projects have been planned
for next year.
As part of this initiative, the
federal government of the U.S.
will give more than $35 million
in new grants and $10 million in
investments for research infrastructure for Smart Cities by the
National Science Foundation and
National Institute of Standards
and Technology. Approximately
$70 million in new spending and
$45 million in proposed investments will be utilized to come
up with solutions in the areas of
safety, energy, climate change,
transportation and health.
A White House Smart Cities Forum will be held by the

Obama administration simultaneously with Smart Cities

Week. The focus for these will
be international collaboration,
leveraging existing federal activity, collaborating with the civic
technology movement, building
intercity collaborations and testing out the Internet of Things,
a network of interconnected devices, smart sensors and big data
analytics. Cities will essentially
become the new testing grounds
for the Internet of Things.
The MetroLab Network is being launched by 20 city-university collaborations. One of these
collaborations is between the city
of Atlanta, Tech and Georgia
State University. This network
will utilize university knowledge
to tackle the problems most cities

are facing throughout the country. It will allow city-university

partnerships to share projects,
manage multi-city and multiuniversity research efforts and
compete for research and project
funding.
The city-college collaboration
network will be initially funded
by the John D. and Catherine T.
MacArthur Foundation. Projects
undertaken will primarily focus
on the enhancing of the effectiveness and overall efficiency of
the infrastructure and the specific services that exist in local
communities. Another aim is to
also increase productivity of local
economies.
Tech will work to cooperate
with Atlanta in solving major
issues such as traffic congestion

and increasing crime rates in the

city. Members of the Tech community have a keen and personal
insight of some of the problems
faced by people in Atlanta because of the universitys location
in the heart of downtown.
The knowledge and expertise
of students and professors will be
put to the test in this partnership
that could potentially lead to
multi-city and multi-university
collaborations. Effects of the collaboration will include more research opportunities in a wider
variety of fields, greater experience for students in real-world
problem-solving scenarios and
opportunities for the broadening of perspectives by observing
the workings of the local government.
Design by Rishabh Datta Student Publications

Fall

Commencement Fair
Tuesday, September 29
10 a.m. 4 p.m.

Student Center Ballroom

Commencement Fair checklist:

Graduating Seniors
Be sure to mark these
important dates:
RSVP for Commencement
Sept. 28 to Oct. 9
Bachelors Ticket Pickup
Oct. 26 to Nov. 6
Purchase Regalia
by November 1

o Check on degree status

o RSVP for Commencement
o Purchase my cap and gown,
class ring, and announcements
o Register for giveaways and raffle items
o Film my Commencement Clip
o Join the Alumni Association
o Get my picture taken
with friends and Buzz

Friday, December 11

10 a.m. Ph.D. Hooding Ceremony

3 p.m. Presidents Graduation Celebration
7 p.m. Ph.D. & Masters Ceremony
Saturday, December 12

9 a.m. Bachelors Ceremony

View ceremony information at
www.commencement.gatech.edu/fall2015
For more information

www.commencement.gatech.edu

www.commencement.gatech.edu/commencementfair

technique September 25, 2015 5

// NEWS

OIT finalizes ProPlus for student download

CELESTE RUNNELS

CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Last Monday, Stamps Health
Services started accepting all
forms of insurance.
This change has been nearly
two years in the making. Previously, the pharmacy at Stamps
only accepted Student Blue,
which is the Tech student health
insurance plan, in an effort to
keep drug prices low.
Billing insurance adds a level
of bureaucratic complexity, said
Dr. Gregory Moore, Senior Director of Stamps Health Services.
With Student Blue, theres no
middle man, so that was a big
deal. However, there still are a
majority of students who are insured through their parents.

Accepting only student insurance and cash at Stamps allowed

the pharmacy to keep prices for
pharmaceuticals at low, wholesale levels. However, it was often
inconvenient for students who
wished to continue under their
parents or another coverage plan.
Were excited about it because
a lot of students would go into
town somewhere so they could
use their insurance, Moore said.
They didnt particularly not like
our pharmacy its certainly
convenient but it was cheaper
to go into town.
Students are now able to use
cash, Student Blue or external insurance for any drugs they choose
to purchase at Stamps. Students
who wish to transfer prescriptions
from their home pharmacies to

Stamps here at Tech now have a

means to do so.
Second-year CS Keshav Parwal described the move as very
forward and beneficial as now
the student body does not need
to worry about paying for any potential health expenses at Stamps.
Additionally, second-year CHBE
Andrew Krohn felt that the move
was a much needed one that
should have occurred sooner.
Not only will this change result
in the Stamps Health Services becoming more convenient for most
undergraduates students as undergraduates are more likely than
graduate students to be insured on
their parents plan but it may
also be financially beneficial to
paying members of the Tech community.

Photo by Cally Decherd Student Publications

Stamps Health Services now accepts non-student health insurance plans. The change benefits students with outside coverage.

Tech to offer new QBioS interdisciplinary graduate program

RYAN BIRMINGHAM
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Photo by John Nakano Student Publications

Joshua Weitz is the Director of the new interdisciplinary QBioS program. The first students will begin in August of 2016.

Tech announced a new interdisciplinary Graduate Program in

Quantitative Bioscience (QBioS)
at the beginning of September.
In the past few years, Tech
has seen Bioinformatics, Computational Science and Engineering, Statistics, Prosthetics, City
Planning and Policy, HumanComputer Interaction and countless other interdisciplinary fields
move from nonexistence to a large
and active part of academia. No
longer is it unheard of to have a
psychologist working closely with
a programmer on a cutting-edge
project or for a policy maker to
work with a civil engineer on a
publication.
These opportunities have given
students the ability to be more
flexible, to understand how their
fields fit with others on a deeper

level and to work on problems

otherwise potentially outside of
academia.
The newest of these interdisciplinary graduate programs is
the Doctor of Philosophy with a
major in QBioS. Even though the
program is new, similar research
has been conducted by Tech researchers in the recent past. This
August, Jay Forsythe, Ph.D.,
along with other Tech researchers,
published a paper using quantitative and biochemical methodology to suggest a new possibility for
polypeptide formation, helping to
answer the unanswered questions
behind abiogenesis and the origins of life.
Furthermore, using such interdisciplinary methods, scientists
have established methodology to
prioritize protein research. Using methodologies such as a tool
called SAPH-ire, which pinpoints
potentially significant processes in

3-D protein structures, researchers can more effectively find leads

to the next big breakthroughs in
bioscience.
In addition to Ph.D. requirements, such as a coherent minor,
thesis and dissertation, students
are expected to have at least two
group rotations, communication
skills and one accepted scientific
publication.
Across the entire program, the
goal is to apply statistical techniques and advance the frontier
of science. The molecular and
cellular biosciences unit aims to
use molecular dynamics to understand the mechanical properties of cells, while the chemistry
of biological systems and physics
of living systems units use similar techniques to determine more
about the nature of larger-scale
life, and the ecology and earth sciences unit takes the same problem
at an even larger scale.

www.pts.gatech.edu
Official website for parking and transit information

www.driverseat.gatech.edu
Online permit sales, vehicle management, and citation payments and appeals

www.stingerette.com
Reservation system for nighttime shuttle rides, 6p.m. 7a.m. nightly

www.facebook.com/GeorgiaTechPTS
Important departmental news, service updates and contests

www.youtube.com/user/GaTechPTS

endless opportunities
Whether youre interested in joining our team after class, an intership, or a co-op,
Chick-l-A has an opportunity for you! Chick-l-A Howell Mill Road has proudly
supported the Georgia Tech campus for 16+ years, and were so excited to serve your
community at our new location in West Midtown! We are currently hiring for a variety
of positions at our new restaurant, and we would love to add some Yellow Jackets to
our team!
Stop by on Tuesdays at 9AM and Thursdays at 4:30PM for open interviews!

Informational videos about PTS products and services

www.twitter.com/gt_park_trans
Service updates and one on one customer service feedback

404-351-8050
chick-l-a.com/howellmillroad
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Opinions
OUR VIEWS | Consensus Opinion

By believing passionately in something

that still does not exist, we create it.
The nonexistent is whatever we have
not sufficiently desired. Franz Kafka

Sex ed needs to be taught at Tech

Educating and promoting safe, healthy relationships

The majority of students entering college have the same base level knowledge
in common core subjects. However, sexual
education is not nationally standardized,
resulting in varying levels of knowledge
on the topic. This poses an issue on college campuses because not all students are
well-informed in making healthy decisions
in regards to sex and relationships.
As a result, Tech should require incoming students freshmen and transfer
to take a sexual education course so that
all students can be properly informed
about healthy sexual relationships.
Although it would be ideal to teach
these concepts in the APPH 1040 or 1050
courses, not all students take this course
during their first year at Tech. Not only
would the proposed course teach students
about safe and proper sex, but it would also
inform students about maintaining positive relationships with sexual partners.
Thus, it would be beneficial for students to

take this course when they enter campus in

order to ensure that the relationships they
make during their time here are healthy.
This course could face a lot of backlash,
especially from certain religious groups.
However, as Tech is a public institution, religion does not factor into these decisions.
In addition to the university, students
may also be opposed to paying for a course
they could deem as unnecessary. However, the life of a student outweighs the cost
necessary to support such a program.
On a campus with such a prevalence of
rape culture, this course would promote
open conversations about sex, consent and
relationship health, likely resulting in a decrease of sexual violence on campus and
increase of sexually responsible behavior.
It is in the best interest of students to be
well-informed on what it means to engage
in safe and healthy relationships, a lesson
that students are sure to value well beyond
their years in college.

The Consensus Opinion reflects the majority opinion of the Editorial Board of the
Technique, but not necessarily the opinions of individual editors.

technique editorial board

Brenda Lin EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Nick Johnson MANAGING EDITOR
Max Kaltman BUSINESS MANAGER
Vidya Iyer OPINIONS EDITOR
David Raji NEWS EDITOR
Trishna Chandarana ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR
Samira Bandaru LIFE EDITOR
Brighton Kamen DESIGN EDITOR
Jonathan Long SPORTS EDITOR
Ross Linday WEB DEVELOPER
Tyler Meuter PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
Alexis Brazier HEAD COPY EDITOR
Kripa Chandran ONLINE EDITOR

FROM ONE JERK TO ANOTHER BY COLLIN CALDWELL

technique

OPINIONS EDITOR: Vidya Iyer

Friday,
September 25, 2015

Timeout: Intramural Woes

Automatic $50 charge to no shows, paid to team that
shows up.

Matthew Kramer
TOP SLIVERS

After hearing a description of League, so its like

WoW, but not?
Me: Should I get Starbucks or cheaper machine
coffee? Friend: It depends. Do you need caffeine or
comfort in a cup?
They said, Follow my heart. And my heart said,
Crap! I cant do that.

Who needs skin on their ankles? -my heels

Hobbies include: glaring at men that can bike while

wearing dress clothes

Well the view at UH was nice while it lasted

There is a point where years of edu hurts salary.

Room of PhD students: Wait--whats that point?!

RIP in peace pizza hut. I will miss your greasy, tasty

breadsticks.

No, I dont lift. I cant even lift myself out of bed.

Write to us:

letters@nique.net
Got something to say? Then let
your voice be heard with the Technique. Sliver at Nique.net, tweet us
@the_nique or check us out on Facebook at facebook.com/thenique. We
want to hear your opinion and want
to make it known to all of campus.
We also welcome your letters in
response to Technique content as well
as topics relevant to campus. We will
print letters on a timely and spaceavailable basis.
Each week we look for letters that

are responses to or commentaries on

content found within the pages of the
Technique. Along with these letters,
we are open to receiving letters that
focus on relevant issues that currently
affect Georgia Tech as a university, including its campus and student body.
When submitting letters we ask
that you include your full name, year
(1st, 2nd, etc.) and major. We ask that
letters be thought provoking, well
written and in good taste. We reserve
the right to both reject or edit letters
for length and style.
For questions, comments or concern, contact the Opinions Editor at
opinions@nique.net.

technique September 25, 2015 7

// OPINIONS

YOUR VIEWS | Letter to the Editor

We are writing to the editor to address one of the elephants in the room on our
campus: inclusiveness. We, as
students, know that one of the
things Tech takes great pride in
and celebrates is the diversity of
our campus. Tech is one of the
most diverse institutes of higher
learning not only in the United
States but in the world. However, we urge you to think about
what diversity means as more
than a word. We encourage you
to understand and praise the
benefits of diversity, for without that comprehension we engender a community reliant on
a lack of cohesion, stereotyping
and mistrust that can cause our
students to feel unsafe.
At Tech, diversity means inclusivity. Every member of the
Tech community is a Yellow
Jacket and is contributing to the
betterment of the Institute and
our impact around the globe.
As the Yellow Jacket community we should not be looking
down on or leaving others out
based on their race, ethnicity,
gender identity, age, sexual orientation, national origin, abilities, religious belief or any other

Every member of the Georgia Tech community is

a Yellow Jacket and is contributing to
the betterment of the Institute and our impact
around the globe.

JEN ABRAMS AND JEFFERSON LOSSE

SGA PRESIDENT AND VICE-PRESIDENT

defining attribute to them as an

individual.
No member of the Tech community should be a bystander or
expect that someone else will do
the work to make our campus
more inclusive. It is the responsibility of the community as a
whole. We are in the midst of
a huge societal shift and Tech

should stand as the pillar and

example of progressivism, not
as a body that discriminates and
ostracizes its students for who
they are. We understand that
it is our role to represent the
student voice to the administration, but everyone has a voice
on this campus and it is time to
stand up and speak.

We are stepping forward to

stress the importance of inclusivity on our campus:
We pledge to make Tech a
more inclusive community that
is cohesive and open minded,
not only academically, but also
in what defines us in character.
We personally commit to creating a welcoming, diverse and
inclusive culture throughout
our entire community. As Yellow Jackets, we should strive
to uphold the values and backgrounds that make up and embody the Tech spirit.
We hope that you will join
with us in taking this pledge
and celebrating the full potential of diversity and culture
on this campus. Our pledge is
live on the SGA website, sga.
gatech.edu, and open to all
students, faculty, staff, alumni,
administration and anyone who
considers themselves a part of
the Tech community. By signing this pledge, you promise to
no longer sit down on this issue
but to stand up and be an active
part of embodying what diversity means on our campus.
With Yellow Jacket Pride,
Jen and Jeff

The responsibilities of
being a big

Dont be quick to judge

Greek life

When I joined Greek life, I

Reveal Week had snuck up
figured I would just make a few the calendar, and sprang when
friends and attend a few mixers, I wasnt looking. But in a few
but part of being in a sorority is days time, I will have a Little
that they encourage you to take Sister, and I will be a Big. Transon new responlation: I will be
sibilities of some When we get our new partly responkind, whether
sible for the welsisters, we put every fare of another
those are joining a committee,
being.
effort into creating human
organizing
an
As an only
event or taking
a second home for child, I never
a little. Each of
the experithem... had
these roles conence of having
nect us further
to treat someone
BRIGHTON KAMEN like a younger
within the sororDESIGN EDITOR sister of my own
ity by having us
work with our
and looking afsisters, new and old alike.
ter them. Now, I have spent the
When we get our new sisters, last 72 hours decorating canvaswe put every effort into creat- es with sorority logos and clever
ing a second home for them, sayings, and all the while I kept
providing meals and spare hair thinking to myself, Is she goties and the occasional tidbit of ing to like this? Does this look
advice. Sorority life treats Big/ okay?
Little Reveal with a frenzy akin
Most nerve-wracking of
to parents preparing for a new all, though, is the question:
baby. We spend hours crafting What if I am a bad Big? Begifts and painting cute canvases ing a big means you have to be
and baking until the kitchen is everything from a mentor to a
coated with a layer of crumbs shoulder to cry on to a partner
and flour.
in crime to a wingwoman to a
This year, my roommates and voice of reason.
I turned our living room into a
High school me used to
crafting disaster zone the think that Greek life was all
coffee table looks like Michaels about partying, but now that I
and Hobby Lobby dropped am on the inside I have learned
a bomb that blew glitter and that being in a sorority or any
acrylic paint on every spare inch organization that incorporates
of the blast zone. One of my mentorship like Big/Littles
roommates, in order to bake the teaches one of the most valuable
perfect cake pops, improvised lessons you will not get tested
a double boiler out of pots and on in class: how to interact with
pans (what you get when you people. Committees give you
cross sratlife with an engineer- practice with balancing multiple
ing school). Another room- personalities and points of view,
mate stayed up through the and Big/Littles has you look afsingle-digit hours to paint her ter someone and act as a mentor.
American-flag-patterned Greek
The living room is a mess
letters. High school me would and my sleep schedule is upsidehave probably made fun of col- down, but I am still counting
lege me for skimping on sleep down the hours until Revelation
to craft sorority letters with an Day, when I get to add a new sisimitation Lilly Pulitzer pattern. ter to my second family.

A lot of people have a nega- ties generally.

tive view of Greek Life. While
There are huge differences
I dont agree, its not always between individual chapters.
hard to understand why. Greek TKE, for example, is a very difOrganizations only make head- ferent organization than Delta
lines for doing
Chi, and even
things that they
individual chapshouldnt.
If
ters are by no
those sorts of in- ...a lot of the criticism means homogcidents are your
It simply
of Greek Life amounts enous.
only impression
isnt fair to sugof Greek Life, to guilt by association. gest that a handand I think that
ful of Greek Oris the case for
MAX KALTMAN ganizations are
many
people
BUSINESS MANAGER representative of
who are unaffiliGreek Life as a
ated, you might
whole. The indihold it in fairly
vidual chapters
low regard. However, judging a are far too different.
very large group of people based
I think people focus on the
on the worst thing a couple of negatives aspects of Greek Life
members ever did isnt really to the exclusion of the positive
fair.
ones. Again, the reasons for that
I think a lot of the criticism are understandable, good deeds
of Greek Life amounts to guilt dont make the front page. But
by association. Clearly, there its important to remember that
are bad actors in Greek Life at Greek Organizations arent soTech and elsewhere. There are cial clubs, theyre brotherhoods
individual members of Greek (or sisterhoods). I know it sounds
Organizations who do horrible corny, but thats a really awethings, and individual chapters some thing. Your brothers (or
that dont live up to the ideals sisters) are oftentimes going to
upon which they were founded. be your best friends for the rest
But, people are far too willing, of your life. Being in a Greek orto assume that people who do ganization is an incredible, life
bad things are representative of changing experience, but you
everyone in their chapter, that dont have to take my word for
individual chapters are represen- it. In 2014, Gallup did a survey
tative of the entire Greek Com- of 30,000 college graduates, and
munity, and that individual found that people who had been
Greek Systems are representa- involved in Greek Life were subtive of Greek Life in general.
stantially more satisfied with
Take the recent incident, their professional and personal
when three members of Phi lives than people who didnt.
Delta Theta are alleged to have
Joining a Fraternity is one
yelled racial slurs at an African of the best decisions Ive ever
American woman when she made. Its a shame to see people
walked by their house. Clearly miss out on it because their view
that isnt acceptable behavior, of Greek Life isnt representative
but people have been far too of what it really is. Greek Life
eager to suggest that the alleged isnt perfect, at Tech or anyactions of these three men are where else, but wed do well to
representative of not only their remember that by and large its a
chapter, but of all IFC fraterni- positive influence.

What do you think

makes an interview
successful?

CHRIS TRAN

THIRD-YEAR EE

Dress nice, have a good

resume and have a good attitude.

JESSIE LYNMAN
FOURTH-YEAR AE

Connect with your

interviewer.

KAT HUEBER

SECOND-YEAR EIA

Make yourself seem more

interesting than you actually are.

RYAN STRAT

THIRD-YEAR CMPE

Make the interviewer

laugh.
Photos by Tyler Meuter Student Publications

8 September 25, 2015 technique

// OPINIONS

OUR VIEWS | HOT OR NOT

HOT or NOT

Being aware and putting

an end to casual racism
Racism persists...But its
my opinion that more casual
and subtle forms of racism
deserve their due censure.

days. The large majority of the

culprits would probably never see
themselves as racist and therefore
do not realize what they are doing. However, to me, innocence
does not always accompany lack
of intent.
Those individuals who do partake in casual racism are certainly
not discouraged by mainstream
media and pop culture. In fact,
the opposite is often true. Recent
films Pitch Perfect 2 and 22
Jump Street both portray foreign
cultures as if they are merely fodder for (unfunny) one-liners and
banter. I saw both movies in the
theatre, and, depressingly, these
jokes tended to regularly elicit the
greatest amount of laughter from
the audience.
Iggy Azalea, for instance, is a
pseudo-satire of black hip-hop
culture. While she has allegedly
stepped away from music, her
legacy as an Australian-American
star who imitated a black voice
to gain popularity remains immensely disappointing to me.
So am I decrying humor? Not
necessarily. I am asking for consideration of the impact of words
and actions. Because a comment
or joke might seem to be nothing
more than that. But it might also

TECHS ON CAMPUS
PRINT RESOURCE!!!

Ha

nd
bo
o

ks
No

M
NA AIL S
ME ER
TA VIC
GS E
S

teb

ers

Several students this past

week have reported mysterious
charges made to their credit
card. Although we go to a Tech
school, we should always be
wary to whom we provide sensitive information to. GTPD
and is still unclear as to how
these charges are being made,
but hopefully they figure it out
soon. As college students were
broke, and it certainly doesnt
help if someone else is dipping
into our funds.

One of my greatest regrets is

that the half of me that is Iranian
is not outwardly visible. But sadly,
this has likely served me well. Being discernibly of Middle Eastern descent would have probably,
and unfortunately, have led to a
great deal more anxiety and stress
throughout my life.
Racism persists. And there has
indeed been increased discussion
on blatant discrimination in the
wake of highly publicized incidents of killings by police in very
questionable circumstances. But
its my opinion that more casual
and subtle forms of racism deserve
their due censure.
What do I mean by casual racism? It has to do mainly with the
perpetrator. If I asked a person
who makes 510 black male
jokes whether they are seriously
racist, they would likely say no.
Questioning the source of a bad
Asian driver joke would likely
yield the same result. However,
simple denial unfortunately does
not vindicate actions or words.
These are mere examples, but they
can be applied broadly to anyone
who engages in that sort of socialization. Making a snide comment
about someones race for a quick
laugh is very commonplace these

Inv
Po ita
Br st C tion
oc ar s
hu ds
res

Credit Card Scandal

NEWS EDITOR

nn

Viola Davis

This past week Viola Davis

won an Emmy for best actress
in a drama. The win was historic because she was the first
African-American woman to
ever do so. This moment is definitely a breakthrough because
it shows women of color are
finally being celebrated and
recognized in television, an industry where diversity has historically been lacking. Hopefully, Viola Davis win is just
the beginning of this change.

DAVID RAJI

Notre Dame Loss

Techs loss last week in

South Bend was a sobering
misstep in an otherwise impressive 2015 season. A win
would have kept the Jackets
in the playoff conversation,
and now they are forced to
win out to even be considered
for the post-season. While expectations were high heading
into Indiana, the team headed
back to Atlanta knowing that
changes would need to be
made moving forward.

CO
CA UN
MP TE
US R C
& U ARD
S S
MA
IL

oo

ks

Ba

Hack GT

Last years Hack GT was an

immense success. It was hard
to imagine what the newly established hackathon could do
to up its game, but it has managed to outdo itself by introducing the No Meal Time
concept. While the initial
reaction is to think that the
hackathon would not be providing food, it is actually the
opposite. There are going to be
free meals for the duration of
the hackathon.

be fuel for further discrimination

and prejudice.
Further combat of casual racism can be carried out by stopping
to view the world from anothers
perspective. It may seem like a tall
order to do so on a regular basis. If
that is your sentiment, you should
pose the question to yourself before you make a joke is anothers peace of mind and nice day
worth my consideration? I hope
the answer is yes.
It grinds my gears to no end
when, faced with questions about
their casual racism, perpetrators
trot out the First Amendment and
proceed to hide behind it. Too
many times I have listened to the
argument that its a free country, and I can say whatever I
want. Truthfully, there are some
things you should not say, regardless of the extent to which you
desire a taste of that sweet racistjoke-making freedom.
Truthfully, I am not very surprised that there is little talk of
casual racism. Innately, it goes
unaddressed the majority of the
time. Sincerely, its my hope that
this will change. Tech shouldnt
require another Phi Delta Thetatype incident in order to instigate
serious discussion on this facet of
the ever-present issue that is racism.
When a friend or acquaintance
finds out that I am half-Iranian
and as well as a nuclear engineering major, a common question
is, planning to take some nukes
home? And while upsetting, I
deal with it. Yet I cannot begin to
compare my experience with what
I imagine those of the black community go through on a regular
basis.

CONTACT US TODAY!!!
404-894-3570

www.pcs.gatech.edu
pcs@oit.gatech.edu

technique September 25, 2015 9

// OPINIONS

NO

YES
SAMIRA BANDARU
LIFE EDITOR

Writing is a form of expression where perspective

and opinion are infinite.
Its an expression that
holds no definite rules,
save for the basic elements
of language that allow the
author to convey a message to the public. That is
the sole purpose of writing the message, the
content.
In the case of Michael
Derrick Hudson, who
wrote under the pen name
Yi-Fen Chou, his actions,
of all the possible issues in
literature that can be controversial, should be the
least of anyones concern.
Writing under a pseudonym is just as deceiving as Daniel Handler
writing under the beloved
pen name, Lemony Snicket. The usage of a pen
name in writing is commonplace, a stratagem
for publishing. Hudson
writing under an ethnically different name is
akin to J.K. Rowling and
S.E. Hinton withholding
their first names to hide
their gender. Whether or
not it was Hudsons intention to deceive the public,
he and anyone else in
the world is entitled to
change his name.
Any work of literature
has the right to be controversial. The purpose

of writing is to evoke
emotion and opinion. To
make judgments and criticism based on an authors
name and not his or her
reflections on experience,
opinions and thoughts, is
unnecessary and shallow.
There is a difference
between falsifying personal experiences and
misconstruing the events
of history, and writing
under an ethnically inaccurate pen name but
even rewriting the events
of history, is, for those
non-literary types, a commonly known genre called
historical fiction. If anything, Hudsons altered
pen name should allow
us to think more deeply
about our perception and
judgments of poetry and
other works of literature
based on the ethnicity of
the author.
Writing under a pen
name of a different race
is not racist. Judging a
piece of literature by the
authors name is racist. As
freethinkers, authors have
the right to deliver their
message in any way they
choose, even if it means
changing their name.
If there is no freedom
of expression through
writing, then where is?
Literature is not for the
easily offended, and
should you still oppose
Hudsons actions, dont
read his work.

KRIPA CHANDRAN
ONLINE EDITOR

Recently, it was discovered that a poem selected to be part of the

Best American Poetry
anthology was written
under a pseudonym.
The poet, Michael Derrick Hudson, used an
East Asian name, Yi-Fen
Chou, which was actually the name of a girl who
went to the same high
school as him.
This is another example of cultural appropriation, albeit an uncommon one. This author
picked and chose what
parts of a different culture he wanted to claim
as his own, without any
of the background or life
experiences associated
with that culture. Sherman Alexie, who selected
the pieces that would go
in the anthology, mentioned that one of the
reasons he decided to
consider that poem was
because he was intrigued
that an East Asian poet
would incorporate so
many European themes
in their poem without
alluding to their own
culture; he was interested in this persons background, and thats why
Hudsons choice of pen
name was misleading
and inappropriate.
The real tragedy of

this, however, is with the

audience of these poems.
Imagine a young Asian
poet who read Yi-Fen
Chous poetry and was
inspired to pursue their
passion. Then, imagine
the disappointment that
person would have felt
when they realized that
one of their inspirations
was just another white
man. Published poetry
isnt the best representation of poets of color, so
seeing one published is a
big deal to other people
of color. Sure there are
other Asian poets, but
to find out that someone is claiming something from ones culture
because they think it
increases their chances
of getting published, its
hurtful.
Part of what makes art
such a unique experience
is that every artist draws
from their own experiences and backgrounds
to create something that
speaks to them and others whove gone through
what theyve experienced. When someone
with none of those experiences takes the name of
someone with an entirely
different set of experiences and then uses that
name to create art that
doesnt even acknowledge that background,
its disrespectful to that
entire group of people.

SYDNEY OVERTON

FIRST-YEAR UNDECIDED

Eye contact.

STEVE RAYBURN
FIRST-YEAR BCHM

Make the interviewer

remember you.

Photos by Tyler Meuter Student Publications

Life

LIFE EDITOR:

Samira Bandaru
ASSTISTANT LIFE EDITOR:

Alex Covington

life@nique.net

Bringing back the Beat

technique

After the Summits appearance on campus in 2013, SCPC

has ramped up the event, inviting Tech and the public to
participate in an epic night of Hip Hop.411

10

Friday,
September 25, 2015

New food service app released at Tech

CHRISTIAN SHAHEEN
STAFF WRITER

Have you ever wanted Cook

Out late at night but found yourself without a ride? Or found yourself too drunk to get there? Theres
an app for that! Crunchbutton
is an app that delivers food from
places that dont deliver. Place an
order online and pay online, then
the food is delivered. After the first
time ordering, payment information and your previous orders will
be saved so that users can reorder
the same meal with just one click
of a button. The app will continually save every meal ordered for
future one click ordering.
The app was launched at Tech
this past spring, though it is already popular across the nation
at schools like Yale University and
University of Southern California.
At Tech, students can order food
from 12 different restaurants near
campus including Chipotle, Cook
Out, Zaxbys, Fresh to Order and
the Varsity. The app is available on
iOS and Android, as well as on the
computer, so food can be ordered
from virtually anywhere. Additionally, when users share an access code with their friends, they
can receive free food if the access
code is used.
Locals also have the opportunity to apply to be a driver for the
company. After filling out a minimal application and a brief phone
interview, drivers can have the

Keeping your
head up
Photo by Brenda Lin Student Publications

Pictured is Cook Out, a burgers and BBQ joint popular among Tech students. Crunchbutton
users will be able to have food delivered to them from the restaurant, among various others.

chance to make some easy pocket

money while just simply driving
around town.
Not only is this a great idea,
the company, based in LA, has a
Buzzfeed-esque charm that allows
for the possibility for huge popularity on college campuses. The
design is clean and fun. When
the app is first opened, customers type in their address. Then the
app pulls up all the restaurants in
the area where the service is available. Users then click on the restaurant of their choosing and an

easy to use menu pops up. Users

then order, and food is delivered
directly. The app even estimates
the wait time.
While the app only serves from
12 restaurants near campus, on
campuses where the app is more
popular, like the University of
Southern California, the app supports around 22 different restaurants, including Starbucks, which
can be delivered straight to the
dorm rooms.
There is a service fee, but compared to other food delivery apps,

like Zifty, the fee is minimal.

Plus, it most likely is paying another college student, maybe even
someone you know. The app has
58 five-star reviews from colleges
across the nation, raving about
how quick and easy the service is.
Most of the lower rated reviews
cite that their food order was incorrect, which may be more on
the fault of the driver rather than
the app. The company has also
addressed this by adding a receipt
confirmation that verifies the users order.

Whats Going On: Visions for Social Justice

HANNA WARLICK

CONTRIBUTING WRITER
As the hush of the evening
settled down on campus on Friday, Sept. 11, a group of students
ramped up to make their voices
heard.
Several expressive paintings
close in the steps of the Campanile as even the familiar spray of the
fountain is absent. Tonight is the
night Danielle Mathis, a thirdyear IE, has been waiting for.
In the summertime, I had a
dream where I saw this happening. It was outside, and we were
just grooving and vibing to music
and art where were speaking out
about whats going on in society.
The title of the event, Whats
Going On, comes from a 1971
Marvin Gaye song, ranked by
Rolling Stone magazine as the
fourth greatest song of all time.
Gayes song was written about police brutality, an issue that persists
today.
This event involved music,
spoken word, dance and artwork
from a handful of talented students and friends with the hope
of bringing awareness of current
social justice issues to campus.
Along with promoting social
justice, Mathis wanted to showcase art at Tech.
I wanted people to see the talent thats on our very campus,
she explains. I feel like Georgia
Tech should make that a goal, to
help students who have talents

ALEX COVINGTON

ASSISTANT LIFE EDITOR

As the school rolls into motion
and results from the first battery
of tests come in, many students
are thinking about grades. A
result thats less than whats expected, like many negative events
in life, can be a knock to your self
esteem and keep you from feeling capable. Here are some tips
to keep up a positive self image
as stress, grades, or any other life
events threaten to overwhelm.

CLAIM YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS

If you find that youre kicking yourself endlessly over a mistake you made, try to counter the
thought with something youve
done that youre proud of. Give
yourself a little bit of positive self
talk out loud; formulating and
stating the idea of your worth
helps to codify it in your mind.

FOCUS ON THE PRESENT

Excessive worry about the future and regret about the past can
keep you from getting done whats
necessary in a given moment. Take
what you can learn from past mistakes and then leave them behind.
Remind yourself that you have, in
this very moment, the power to
make your future better for yourself. Try to accept the things you
cannot change.

SEEK SUPPORT

Photo courtesy of Camera Dunn

Engineer and dancer, Raianna Brown, dances to Tie My Hands by Lil Wayne. Brown
is a third-year student, majoring in Industrial Engineering at Tech and Dance at Emory.

and also are incredible engineers

to develop both and not have to
put one to the side.
Fourth-year MSE, Aaron Jordan performed three songs at the
concert, two with his brother and
a solo piece a cappella. Two of
his performances focused on the

death of twelve year old Tamir

Rice at the hands of Cleveland
Police.
With his pieces, he hoped to
show the tragedy with the current
social justice issues facing America. If it doesnt affect you then
you tend to think its not impor-

tant A lot of people arent even

aware that these things are going
on so most of it is just to bring
awareness before you can create any sort of change, people have
to know about it.
Jordan continued, Most of
See JUSTICE, page 13

Dont be afraid to get a little

emotional support from others.
Remember that humans are social
beings, and none of us are able to
survive without a little help from
time to time. It can be hard to
open up about abstract feelings,
but try to explain whatever has
been gnawing at you and why.
Dont be afraid to ask for a bit
of time to relax together or a hug
if you need it. Seek out positive,
supportive individuals for friendships.

GIVE TO OTHERS

To remind yourself you can do

good for others, take any opportunities you see to help someone
else without expecting anything
in return. You dont have to be a
genius, the greatest athlete or the
most popular person in your circle
to share simple generosity with
another person.

technique September 25, 2015 11

// LIFE

Beat box battles and dance duels: The Summit

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Last Thursday night, Sept. 17,

Tekstyles, in the collaboration of
BuzzBeats, hosted the Summit,
a celebration of Hip Hop culture
through music, dance and beat
boxing.
The Summit is a semesterly
beat boxing and Hip Hop dancing
event, which features one-on-one
battles between contestants, in a
direct elimination tournament.
This semester, for the first time
since its appearance on campus
in Fall 2013, the event was scaled
up and widely advertised, to the
point that the SCPC decided to
participate in its organization for
the first time.
Jeffrey K. Baucom, fourthyear CS major and President of
the Tekstyles as well as founder
of the event, describes this as one
of the most important steps in the
history of The Summit on campus, The hardest thing was to
implement the scaling of the event
without changing its inherent nature, its casual atmosphere.
In order to achieve this goal,
the event was held open-doors
and completely free. The chosen
location was the Student Center
Ballroom rather than the usual
room 220, also known as Under
the Couch.
For SCPC and the Summit,
this was a huge improvement as
the Ballroom can hold a greater
amount of people and offers features that make the competition
more interesting, such as parquet
floor and better sound.
Also, a joint committee formed
by Tekstyles and BuzzBeats members offered a workshop for beginners in the half hour before the actual competition. On the far side
of the large room, SCPC affiliates

THE

provided free
popcorn and
soft drinks
to hungry spectators for the entire
length of the event. Finally, for the first time in
The Summits history, the winners
of either competition would receive actual prizes: two tickets to
Six Flags and a $25 gift card, plus
some SCPC swag.
All these perks, along with
curiosity and genuine interest in
hip-hop culture, attracted a good
amount of spectators and by 7
p.m., the Ballroom was filled with
a diverse crowd. In attendance
were graduates and undergraduates from a variety of cultures and
backgrounds.
The group of competitors also
represented a variety of ethnic
groups. As Konstruct, one of the
dancing judges, asserted, Hiphop culture promotes difference
within integration: it pulls people
together, but also sets them apart
in their uniqueness of style.
Konstruct judges these types
of competitions on a regular basis, but it was the first time he
had ever judged at The Summit,
called on by Baucom. He believes
this event was of fundamental
importance in order to spread the
hip-hop culture on international
campuses such as Tech.
While waiting for the workshops to be over, the competitors
began warming up. Tekstyles focused on stretching and practicing some moves, while BuzzBeats
trained their voice for the upcoming challenge.
At 7:30 p.m., the Master of
Ceremonies, Gabe Auyeung, Tech
alumnus and former member of
Tekstyles, kicked-off the event
by describing the rules of Preliminary rounds. Dancing rounds
would be thirty seconds long,

beatbox ing
rounds
would
last an entire minute
and each competitor ,
in the first portion of the
competition,
performed
alone. Auyeung reminded
everyone of the prizes
and started calling on
the individual dancers to perform
with the dynamic formula: Let
me get (name)
on deck!. A
similar
process
brought the beatboxers to perform on
deck one by one. Of
course performers used artistic names and aliases
such as Maniac, Yoshi, Dan the Man,
GoYippy,
Yappas, Grandmaster Thug Lord,
ChoiceBeatz,
and more.
Many spectators who had never
witnessed such a display of hip-hop were
impressed just by watching the freestyle sessions.
See SUMMIT, page 12

North
Avenue
Review

Design by Brighton Kamen

sliver

nique.net

READ.
THINK.
SPEAK.
northavereview.com

TOMMASO PIERONCINI

You have brought up a very excellent details , regards for the post.
ebkeadebebkgeabc
Well the view at UH was nice while it lasted
There is a point where years of edu hurts salary. Room of PhD students: Wait--whats that point?! #gettingout
Our professor referenced a heat pipe article written by George P.
Peterson. Our president does in fact know his engineering.
After hearing a description of League, my Professor said so its like
WoW, but not?
Dancing girl, are you co-oping?
To whoever made this post you dont know sh*t about ronaldo
Italics look way better than quotes.....dumb AP style
Five minutes late to class apparently counts as absent
The new UH crane makes my 10th floor view ever so wonderful...
Tech green sprinklers ruined my beautiful hammock nap
Yaaaaaaas fall weather yaaaaaas, work it girl
What maroon chose maroon as the fall fashion color?
Brace yourselves, flu season is coming
To the students in the library talking sh*t in korean ... I can understand you
I try so hard to not be that stereotypical white girl, but when
pumpkin spice season comes around, I just cant help myself
HAPPYYYYY MOOONNNN FESTIVALLLLLL
Meow meow meow meow meow meowwwwwwww
dumb new Spotify ad with the cats
I cannot believe the paper did a story on cowboy bebop, looking
forward to more
Freshmen think they have it so hard, wait until sophomore year
Did anyone else notice Subway changed the ham they use? Its gross
now, thanks Subway.
Is there a No Fear Shakespeare for Calculus?
Gt1000 seems like the only class Ill be passing this semester...maybe
Homecoming week is coming soon, whos hype to get high in space?
Why are we building a statue for Einstein. He literally has no affiliation with this school.

12 September 25, 2015 technique

// LIFE

SUMMIT FROM PAGE 11

Brando de Courten, first-year
ME, went so far as to declare Ive
never seen so much talent in one
room! He agreed that events
like this are extremely valuable in
terms of increasing diversification
on campus.
The judges had some time to
deliberate and chose eight beatboxers and 16 dancers who would
stay for the actual battles. The
time for each round at this point
was extended and two competitors got on deck at the same time
and faced each other. At the end
of each battle the judges would be
called on by the MC and would
each point towards the competitor they liked the most. Ties
were solved by fighting another
round.
I like that there is interaction
and friendly competition: they get
along with each other, said Garrick Larson, third-year CM, impressed with the competition. In
fact, every time two competitors
left the deck theyd shake hands
and sometimes hug it out.
Wei Ohl, a friend of Larson,
on the other hand, was impressed
that Tech students are able to
find an outlet in such a creative
activity. Beatboxing is like creating your own new language and
showcasing it to others.
As the competition approached
the finals, the quality of the performances rose incredibly fast.
In the final round for beatboxing
SpitFire and Doc faced each other, while in the final dancing battle Hermes and Maniac fought
intensely. Amazing beats and im-

Photos couresty of Alykan Lalani

A beatboxer performs at the BuzzBeats competition. Beatboxers had one minute to impress the judges during the preliminary rounds. Dancing was also one of the categories
participants were able to participate in during BuzzBeats

pressive steps earned SpitFire and

Hermes their well-deserved victories.
Neither of the winners is a student at Tech, but that only adds
value to this event. SCPC Arts
& Culture Chair, Annie Son,
points out, The Summit is one of
the most diverse events Tech and
the fact that we can involve lots
of students from outside of campus boundaries proves it. Son is
convinced that hip-hop is very
undervalued at Tech and that
events like The Summit work well

to spread awareness across campus. She observed that although

she enjoyed it, SCPC will probably not partner with Tekstyles and
BuzzBeats next semester, because
it is constantly varying scope of
action.
This event revealed that Tech
students are not only great at using technology and intellect, but
are also inclined to make the best
of our physical capabilities. The
next big hip-hop event will be
held at SouthBound, organized
by Tekstyles in November.

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technique September 25, 2015 13

// LIFE

JUSTICE FROM PAGE 10

those songs were extremely heartfelt because its literally like is
this going to happen to me? Am
I next? It really hits home ... Its
just to say look these are real issues, this is really happening. And
its like if we dont do something
about this, it is going to continue.
For all of the artists, this event
was an outlet to express themselves. Jordan explained, If I
dont get these thoughts out somehow then itll literally drive me
insane. Its torturous almost. And
I think music really helps me cope
with a lot of it.
Raianna Brown is a third year
Industrial Engineering major also
enrolled at Emory as a Dance major. She performed a dance titled
Tie My Hands.
When I dance I feel like I can
communicate a lot more than I
could with words. And I feel like
thats true for most artists. Its the
medium that we choose to communicate with.
For Brown, the most moving
part of the event was the culmination the different types of art.
Essentially everyones saying the
same thing. But different peoples
spin on it [is really powerful].
On the event, Mathis confessed, Seeing it unfold, seeing
people show their talents, be enthusiastic, people come out, fellowship with one another, make
the atmosphere on campus a little
bit better after a long week at
Georgia Tech Sometimes you
have a vision and what happens is
more than what you thought was
possible.

Mathis had never put on an

outdoor event on campus, but she
revealed, It just came easily once
I had the vision, everything just
started falling into place.
Mathis drew much inspiration
from the biblical quote, All things
work together, while preparing
for this event. I knew it was going to happen, like there was no
doubt that we were going to have
the performance. I knew even if I
had to be out there by myself
Mathis trails off. Thats how determined I was.
Multiple artists referenced the
abundance of hash tags on Twitter as a current problem.This is a
daily thing, said Jordan. Every
day I see a new hashtag on Twitter or I hear about another black
person who was murdered in the
city. The justification for it is always tragic.
Brown feels her showcase represents how it feels as a minority
to be in this, and be living it right
now, and the pressure that comes
with that. But also just the immense weight ... of going on Twitter, and seeing somebody elses
name hashtagged, and that being
normal now.
The words that we are expressing are our everyday lives, Mathis
acknowledged. And for social
justice its not about color at all.
Its about whats right. And whats
right is for us to live in unity, in
harmony. And I feel like thats
what music represents unity,
harmony.
Artists are always typically
at the forefront of social change
so I feel like its important to
have stuff like that on our cam-

pus so its accessible to students,

Brown added.
Moving forward, Mathis wants
to make this an annual event. She
is eager to launch her own initiative and even start her own com-

pany that coincides with her passions. She keeps up with her own
music endeavors on SoundCloud
and is part of an inspirational
outlet that will start this weekend
called Caterpillars Promise.

I felt love at this event. Thats

basically all I could have asked
for. For people to feel love, to feel
something. Mathis finished by
saying, When we come together,
theres nothing like it.

of their original purchase price.

Listing my dresses with Borrowed by Design was super easy,
and I cant wait for them to get

borrowed! states Eden Fletcher,

first-year ECE.
The lender is responsible for
dry cleaning and shipping the

dress to the borrower, who pays

for the return shipping. Borrowed by Design makes sure the
lender receives 85% of the profit

and their specified replacement

value if their dress is damaged or
never returns. This gives women
the opportunity to make a return
on their expensive investment in
formal wear in a secure way.
Borrowed by Design has been
utilizing campus ambassadors
within universities like Kennesaw State, Georgia State and
now Tech, to connect with young
adults.
At Tech, Borrowed by Design
has ignited a competition among
the Collegiate Panhellenic Councils sororities in the name of charity. Sorority sisters are quickly
listing their dresses on the site because the sisterhood with the most
listings wins $500 for their charity. Borrowed by Designs competition ends on Sept. 30.
Lucy Edgar, a third-year BA
works at Borrowed by Design as
the social media and marketing
intern. She says, The Borrowed
by Design staff is overjoyed to
have Tech sororities competing for
$500 for their philanthropy. We
are excited to watch the friendly
competition take place as more
and more dresses get listed, and
we are even more excited that the
winning money will go to a great
cause. Combining our love for
fashion and philanthropy makes
us extremely happy!
Borrowed by Design is connecting lenders and consumers to
make shopping for a special occasion a positive and affordable experience.
Connect with Borrowed by
Design on Instagram (@borrowedbydesign), Twitter (@borrowbydesign), or on Facebook
(www.facebook.com/borrowedbydesign)

Photo courtesy of Camera Dunn

Artwork is showcased along the edge of the campanile. The pieces serve as a barrier between the outside world and their emotional and provocative gathering.

Dress to the nines with Borrowed by Design

ELIZABETH RAMAN
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

A modern day fairy godmother

can be found in local-start up,
Borrowed by Design. Borrowed
by Design helps people find the
perfect dress for a night while also
rewarding the women who lend
them out.
Unlike Rent the Runway,
Borrowed by Designs peopleto-people business model allows
women to find outfits for their
specific body types and communicate with the lenders personally.
Co-owners Kat Ewing and
Jennifer Collum said, Were really the only ones in the fashion
tech space that offer a peer-to-peer
rental platform. We are structured
very similar to the Etsy marketplace, but with a rental model
instead of selling. The trend of
collaborative consumption and a
shared economy are seeing huge
success in a lot of other spaces
(think Uber or AirBnB), so why
not for dresses?
Kat and Jennifer founded their
company in 2014 in Atlanta with
the mission of promoting positive
body image among women of all
ages, sizes and styles while shopping online for semi-formal to
formal wear.
They wanted to create a community among the women who
look for dresses to foster discussion about what stores to shop at
or how to find clothes for different
body times.
Borrowed by Design is an opportunity to save money on an
evening dress needed for just one
night. Rental dresses on the site,
with borrowing fees ranging from
$30-60, are usually listed for half

Design by Brighton Kamen

Borrowed by Design users wear their rentals for their formal night out. Those who use the
site are able wear their dress of choice for significantly less than the purchase price.

Entertainment

technique

ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR:

Trishna Chandarana

ASSISTANT ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR:

Jamie Rule

entertainment@nique.net

14

Friday,
September 25, 2015

Affordable Mexican food comes to 10th Street

RESTAURANTS

Tech Taco
LOCATION: 10th Street
CUISINE: Mexican cuisine
COST: $6-$10
HOURS: Open until 4 a.m.
PHONE: Unknown

OUR TAKE:
JON LONG

SPORTS EDITOR
Midtown Atlanta is no stranger
to Southwestern cuisine. Between
Moes, Willys and Chipotle, Tech
students have a myriad of options
to choose from when it comes
to burritos. In the modest strip
mall on the corner of Hemphill
and 10th Street, a new face has
emerged in the world of affordable
Mexican food: Tech Taco.
Although the restaurants appearance from the outside may
not impress potential customers,
the interior paints a very different picture. Tech Taco radiates
a very modern feel, and it is spacious enough to accommodate
even the busiest of lunch rushes,
while still leaving each table with
a comfortable amount of elbow
room. TV monitors create a casual atmosphere, and the restaurants cleanliness is conducive to
an all-around more enjoyable dining experience.
The restaurants food itself
brings more to the table than
hungry customers would expect
from a strip mall burrito joint.
While the Mexican cuisine may
lack the strong flavor of the ever
popular Moes chain, the subtlety
of each of the included ingredient
allows them all to be experienced

Photo by Nick Johnson Student Publications

Pictured above is a burrito with its complementary side of authentic flavored chips from
Tech Taco. The restaurant, though low key, has surprisingly good food and a nice atmosphere.

without being overpowered by the

meat.
The restaurants white and yellow rice, rather than act in the
usual role as a filler of sorts, each
brings its own flavor to the meal.
The beans, on the other hand,
are no different from those one
would find in a typical southwestern grill. However, the choice of
pinto or black beans, much like
the two types of rice, have a significant impact on the on the final
taste of the burrito.
The strong flavors of the rice
and beans are not to say that the
main choice of meat is lacking: if
anything, it is the best part of the

meal. The meat certainly serves

as the focal point of the burrito,
but like a good band conductor, it
leaves plenty of room for the rest
of the members of the ensemble to
show their individual yet complementary merit.
Surprisingly, the offered vegetarian burrito also provided a
meal that was both filling and
flavorful at the same time. While
this meat-free burrito is a bit on
the lighter side, it definitely has
enough substance for it to still
serve as an adequate meal for the
average diner.
In addition to the burritos, the
complimentary chips an as-

users spend in order to listen to

songs and playlists uninterrupted.
Additionally, users can spend a
larger sum of coins to legally own
a song. The amount of coins that
are spent on an artists music directly translates into ad revenue
for that artist.
Trebel Music is currently in its
early release phase after having
been piloted at five universities,
including Tech.
Georgia Tech is one of the
largest, most diverse and socially
active campuses in Georgia, said
Mekikian. Our goal is to develop
long-term relationships with students who understand the value in
what we are doing and are excited
to be part of a new technology at
an early stage.
Students who sign up with
their university emails which is
currently the only way to sign up
can see a live feed of the most
downloaded and most played
songs on campus. Additionally,
users can see their friends activity
feeds, send songs and playlists or
even send coins. Playlists can be
imported from other music services, and the users existing song
library can be played as well.
The prototype that became

Trebel Music was created by then17-year-old Juliette Mekikian and

was presented to several major labels. Co-founders Gary, Juliette
and Grace Mekikian, backed by
those major labels and several
indie labels, are releasing M&M
Medias first product.
The main feature of the app is
the playback screen, where a circular disc containing the songs
album art spins as the song plays.
This disc can be rotated manually
to scrub through the song.
To browse again, the player
can be sent to the background,
and the song will continue to play.
If available, the lyrics and music
video can be accessed from the
playback screen. These features
highlight the apps design for
mobile devices, which over 85
percent of Trebels target demographic own and from which 44
percent of all Americans listen to
music, according to Nielsen.
My generation is the social
media and mobile generation, J.
Mekikian said. What sets Trebel
apart from other music services
is that its designers are predominantly the college students and
young adults that comprise its audience. Trebel is by millennials for

pect of Mexican cuisine that can

hardly be overlooked are another highlight of the meal. They
are firm and somewhat bland,
descriptors that may make them
seem inadequate but actually
qualify them as some of the best
chips around.
These chips know their place
in the Tech Taco hierarchy; they
aspire to be nothing more than
dull vehicles for the queso or for
any of the numerous salsas that
are available for free. While the
chips are enjoyable on their own,
they are clearly created with the
purpose of carrying something
with a more interesting and vivid

flavor to your mouth rather than a

standalone product.
Tech Tacos free queso was
surprisingly different from that
of any other southwestern grill
in the area. The quesos taste falls
somewhere near Willys on the
spectrum but with a much cheesier taste. Not only does the queso
goes with the chips very well, it
also makes an incredible addition
to the burritos.
The staff, having just started
their new jobs at a Mexican restaurant, have a bit of work to do
before they can be considered
masters of the art of burrito assembly. Assembling burritos is a
careful art form that can only be
mastered through hours of dedicated practice, so the employees
mistakes in the restaurants first
few weeks of business are forgivable.
The less than stellar placement
of sour cream made for a very
messy meal as well as a structurally unsound burrito. This is an
issue that will almost certainly be
fixed with time; however, this currently less than optimal layering
of burrito ingredients is certainly
not a deal breaker.
While the food is definitely
good, the real selling point of
Tech Taco lies in its collegefriendly hours. Staying open until 4 a.m., the restaurant encompasses the Waffle House factor:
offering tasty as well as filling late
night food when there are no other options.
With its price range comparable to Moes and Willys, Tech
Taco is by all means quite affordable. All things considered, 10th
Streets new burrito restaurant is a
quality southwestern food vendor
which has been found worthy of
bearing the Tech name.

Trebel trades ad views for free music downloads

NICK JOHNSON

MANAGING EDITOR
Released in the App Store last
week and currently available to
Tech students for free, Trebel Music is a service to deliver free music
downloads to college students.
Think of it as premium Spotify without a subscription, said
Gary Mekikian, CEO of M&M
Media.
Rather than attempting to
compete with paid services such
as Pandora and Spotify, Trebel
Music aims to compete with legalgrey-area torrents and YouTubevideo-to-audio converters.
Trebel is for the college student on a budget, Mekikian
said. Were legitimizing the free
download experience so users can
choose and play the songs they
want whenever they want for
free.
The service offers free, legally
downloaded music with an adfree listening experience, all while
benefitting artists. Trebel does
so by serving static ads while users search for music and video
ads while users download songs.
Viewing these ads nets users
coins, a virtual currency, which

Photo courtesy of M&M Media

The Trebel Musics brand mark plays off pause and play symbols. Users can watch ads in exchange for music downloads.

millennials.
The plan for Trebel is to have a
wider rollout in December to include even more of the 3000 colleges and universities in the U.S.
Eventually, it will expand to U.S.
high schools before finally going
international.
As the service is in early rollout
and at the mercy of record label
law, there are songs not currently
available to download (recent,

popular songs from major labels

are, though). Users can essentially place a vote on these songs,
and the most voted for will be
explored from a legal perspective.
However, the app does still try to
find the associated music videos of
these songs to play.
This app is currently available
in the App Store, with a Google
Play version coming soon and a
desktop service planned for 2016.

technique September 25, 2015 15

// ENTERTAINMENT

Annual JapanFest shares heritage and culture

MARIA FURUKAWA

CONTRIBUTING WRITER
From kimonos and bicycleriding robots to anime shops and
samurai demonstrations, the annual Japanese Festival (JapanFest
for short) celebrates the beauty of
the Japanese culture. Every year
during the fall, thousands of curious and fascinated people from
all over the Atlanta and Gwinnett
area flock to the Infinite Energy
Center, or the Gwinnett Center,
to experience the true essence of
Japanese heritage.
JapanFest is not an average festival martial arts exhibitions,
sushi-making demonstrations and
taiko drum performances are just
some of the noteworthy features
highlighted at this event. With
such an enormous space for the
festival, event attendees are able
to venture between floors as well
as room spaces from the 11:30
a.m. taiko drum performance on
Stage 1 to the 3:00 p.m. taido karate exhibition on Stage 3.
Exhibitions and demonstrations aside, various booths in the
Food Court area enable people
to have a taste of common Japanese cuisine as well as promote
Japanese businesses, including
origami art and travel opportunities. Every inch of space is used
to create entertainment; hallways
contained childrens games such
as wanage (ring toss) and balloon fishing, while smaller rooms
consist of beautiful bonsai and
flower arrangements. Needless to
say, everyone at the JapanFest has
the opportunity to enjoy and experience some aspect of Japanese
culture.
Popular attractions that engage children and young adults
are the Japanese-incorporated
games. One of the most memorable games is the rubber-band gun
game. This game features rubberband guns made completely out

of sticks with the objective of

shooting rubber bands in order to
hit a target. Three tries later, the
sharpshooter will receive a prize
depending on how many of the
targets he or she was able to knock
down. Knocking down no targets
or only one will earn participants
a packet of tissues.
While it may appear odd to
Americans, receiving tissue packets is not uncommon for Japanese
people. Often times, in a mall or
a heavily populated area, people
who are promoting a service or
a product advertise by handing
out tissue packets to consumers.
In this way, by receiving a tissue
packet, regardless of the result
of the game, a participant is able
to leave the festival having experienced a companys sponsored
event.
Another game available, the
metal maze game, sponsored by
Kubota, consisted of a metallic
maze (in the form of the word,
Kubota) in which a participant
uses a metal rod to trace the maze
without touching the sides. The
prize awarded depends on how
far one can progress through
the maze without setting off the
buzzer. For instance, at the first
checkpoint, the prize is a pen and
at one of more difficult checkpoints, a company cup. Although
an intense game, people enjoyed
the challenge and the pleasant experience with the company representatives.
One of the most popular
games in JapanFest is the chopstick challenge. This game involves chopsticks and ninja-like
reflex skill. This Murata sponsored game comprises of attempting to balance three Murata Boy
(bicycle-riding robot) figures on
a narrow, elevated track, with no
parts of the figure sticking out of
the track.
To add more fun and pressure
to the game, each participant has

ten seconds to balance all three

figures with chopsticks. Prizes
from this game range from origami cranes (with Murata logos decorating it) and Murata pens and
notepads. All-in-all, the games are
an entertaining way for Japanese
businesses to promote their services or products in a memorable
way.
The Japanese Festival brings
Japanese heritage, culture and entertainment to people who have
an interest in experiencing the
uniqueness of the nation. With
the event being held every year,
JapanFest volunteers strive to
spread the value and beauty of the
culture in the most memorable
and original way. By unifying
a common interest of people of
all backgrounds, JapanFest is an
event worth experiencing.

Photos by Maria Furukawa Student Publications

Murata Boy was an interesting attraction at JapanFest of a robot riding a bicycle.

Among the several booths and events were many such culturally significant artifacts.

technique

Join the

Technique
Flags Bldg 137 t Writers, Designers, Photographers

/thenique
@the_nique
nique.net

16 September 25, 2015 technique

// ENTERTAINMENT

Guitars reign supreme at Midtown

JAMIE RULE

ASSISTANT ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

Early last weekend, Sept. 18
and Sept. 19, Piedmont Park was
flooded by thousands of music enthusiasts eager to see their favorite bands perform. Returning for
its 17th (non-consecutive) year,
Music Midtown graced Atlanta
with four separate stages featuring various genres throughout
both nights of the massive music
festival.
As in the past, where the festival featured such big name
musicians as Joan Jett, Journey
and Imagine Dragons, this years
lineup included classic artists
like Van Halen, Elton John and
Lenny Kravitz. Of course, a music
festival would be remiss if it were
not also a venue for lesser-known
bands and those who are currently gaining popularity. This years
openers included Vinyl Theatre, X
Ambassadors and Augusta Alsina,
whose musical careers are each
less than a decade long.
With the undeniable attraction
of the musicians, Music Midtown

could easily have simply let fans

watch the various stages, but the
festival opted for a more stimulating experience: offering food,
drinks and alcohol. While there
were signs posted at the entrance
expressly prohibiting smoking,
these were ignored by many attendees, and the policy was not
visibly enforced.
This made the offered food less
than appetizing since it was difficult to get far enough away from
smokers to enjoy the untainted
taste of funnel cake, falafel, burritos and ever-present pizza. Those
who could ignore the smoke,
though seemed to enjoy the slightly overpriced (admittedly, not by
festival standards) sustenance.
The other attraction of the festival
was an ill-frequented Ferris wheel
situated on the top of a hill, which
overlooked the largest clearing
that hosted two of the festivals
stages.
These attractions aside, the
main scheduling of Music Midtown was, for the most part, well
thought out. There were four
stages, two on one end of Piedmont Park, and two on the other
end of the park. Logically, each

musician was assigned a time slot

on a certain stage, but since two
stages were in the same vicinity,
the shows were staggered so that
only one artist would be playing
at once, preventing sound bleeding between the stages.
Staggering the performances
between the two stages allowed
for crews to setup and clear away
the various artists stage adornments between shows. It also allowed the festival goers to congregate before their artists show
without getting in the way of the
previous performance.
Perhaps the most impressive
part of Music Midtown was the
trash clean up. On Friday night,
the lawns were littered with massive amounts of bottles and various other refuse, but come festival
time on Saturday, the park was
relatively clean again, allowing
obliging attendees to recreate the
devastated wasteland.
Of course, Music Midtown
was far more than catering and
cleaning. The venue was merely
an aside to the draw of the musicians. Each artist was a show of
itself. While many, including Alice in Chains, fully embraced the
lighting of their stages, blinding
attendees at times, others opted
for less flashy shows.
Elliot Moss was one such musician; since he played during daylight hours, he was able to effectively bring character to his stage
with fog, tinting it various colors
based on the mood of his current

song. The fog and repetitive lyrics

complemented Mosss half-hearted drum beating and his bearing,
which suggested that he might
pass out at any point during his
performance of Best Light.
This rather insulting description would be indicative of a
horrible performance for most
musicians, but somehow, Moss
managed to pull off the nearly
collapsing manner, and his small
audience was thrilled by each
song the new musician exhaustedly performed.
Mosss early Friday performance was a stark contrast to the
polished performance of Van Halen, the closing act of the entire
music festival. While David Lee
Roth, the bands original singer
graced the stage with his energetic
performance, the eager audience
packed every available space in
the vicinity.
Though it is undeniable that
the band gave an impressive performance last weekend, the fact
remains that David Lee Roth
tended to get sidetracked. During
several of his songs, the lyrics took
a back seat to his random musings, and at one point, he played
the harmonica and acoustic guitar
while relating a lengthy tale involving Japan, fireflies and some
other odd threads of thought.
The audience did not seem to
mind these tangents, happy to
just be hearing Van Halen live,
and most stayed for the finale
which was one of their most iconic pieces Jump, the final song of
Music Midtown until next years
far off festival.

Photos by Tyler Meuter Student Publications

technique September 25, 2015 17

// ENTERTAINMENT

New 70s gangster drama: biographical blunder

FILM

Black Mass
GENRE: Biography/Drama
STARRING: Johnny Depp,
Joel Edgerton
DIRECTOR: Scott Cooper
RATING: R
RELEASE DATE: Sept. 18

OUR TAKE:

NOAH ROBERTS

CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Director Scott Cooper (Crazy
Heart) recants the stunning biography of James Whitey Bulger (Johnny Depp, Pirates of the
Caribbean), an exceedingly power-hungry gangster boss operating
in the late 70s in the crime drama
Black Mass.
The true-story biopic delineates the endemic behaviors of
Bostonians halfway between
brotherly love and being blatantly
independent. Bulger exploits the
former characteristic in his relationship with fellow South Boston
native, an FBI agent, John Connolly (Joel Edgerton, Warrior),
to gain immunity in exchange for
information on a rival gang.
Cooper displays the 70s Boston community by incessantly
returning to characters firmlyplanted Southie roots. Viewers
witness Jimmy (James Bulger)
playing gin rummy with his
mother and eating Christmas dinner with his brother, Billy Bulger
(Benedict Cumberbatch, Sherlock), ironically a powerful state
politician.
Black Mass netted a fairly
weak opening weekend box office
pull of $22.6 million, a surprising
figure considering the all-star cast
headlined by chameleonic Johnny
Depp. Though the role might
seem strange to viewers introduced to the iconic actor by films
like Pirates of the Caribbean
and Sweeny Todd, Depp is actually no stranger to the gangster
and crime lord persona, racking

up stunningly twisted portrayals

in Donnie Brasco, Blow and
Public Enemies. The structure
of Coopers biopic unfortunately
hardly gave one of the great actors of his generation any room to
shine.
The films basis in truth granted the filmmakers the false notion that every significant event
needed to be covered, so the film
impatiently swings from scene to
scene, briskly progressing without
any emphasis on character development.
Elite gang films such as The
Godfather and Goodfellas
gain high esteem due to character dynamics. Legendary director
Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather) conveys deep emotion in
his characters, beautifully developing and reshaping their perso-

nas beneath a veil of stereotypical

Italian mobster grit. Black Mass
disappoints in this category.
For the first 30 minutes, no
protagonist development exists
aside from repetitive mob-style
murders in empty parking lots
and an excess of skeletal makeup.
Cooper absolutely botches countless opportunities for emotional
scenes.
Amidst a family crisis, the
film skims over the situation and
awkwardly cuts together a poor
dialogue between Jimmy and his
wife, who contributes nothing to
the film, squandering character
progression once again in favor of
moving on with the plot.
FBI agent Connolly exists as
the best example of character dynamism, as he is slowly corrupted
by Bulgers influence. However,

Cooper once again fumbles this

advancement, even resorting to
using Johns wife to outline his
changes in appearance and attitude, exhibiting the young filmmakers inadequate ability to manipulate these nuances on screen.
Perhaps the only positive development scene occurs over halfway
through the film, illustrating the
protagonists nature as a twisted
monster and crazed sociopath by
delivering a chilling dialogue to
Connollys wife. In the end, the
audience has but a vague sense of
the characters inner workings.
From a technical standpoint,
cinematographer Masanobu Takayanagi compiles strong shots and
seamless cuts worthy of the big
screen, although the cliche lowangle shot staring into the eyes
of a gun-brandishing villain is

overused. A great cinematographer should incessantly baffle and

astounds viewers with creative
shots, raising questions like how
in the world did they do that?
This film fails to do so.
In Black Mass, director Cooper creates a true biopic, bound to
the constraints of James Bulgers
historical story in neglect of what
distinguishes a pedantic recantation from an elaborate, magnetic
retelling.
The story itself was stunning
and unbelievable, but it proves
deficient in its task of propelling
the film, while detrimental factors
like lack of directorial control and
character arcs pull backwards.
The film had legitimate potential
and even talk of Academy Award
consideration, but Coopers creation disappoints instead.

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.

Johnny Depp, as James Bulger, plays a nefarious gangster boss in Black Mass, based off of a true story from the 70s.
The screenplay pays meticulous attention to the details, to the detriment of the audiences overall cinematic experience.

18 September 25, 2015 technique

SMBC BY ZACH WEINERSMITH

CROSSWORD PUZZLE

ACROSS
1. Communist enemy (13)
10. Must have (4)
12. I cheated, good luck (4)
13. And you, Brutus? (2)
14. Create nomenclature again (13)
15. First process upon boot (4)
16. Radioactive (8)
17. With one of 24 DOWN makes a pet (7)
18. Ending of multiples which previously ended in
o (2)
19. Be gone, ye musty smells! (13)
22. Compelling desire (4)
23. One step greater than 23 DOWN (3)
24. You are getting sleepy (8)
25. Unsorted mixture (7)
30. Parasitic insect youth (3)
33. Legal document trustee (4)
34. 0xFF0000 (3)
38. Archaic ostrich cousin (4)
39. Dassler, Granov, Shamir or Smolar (3)
41. Lorax speaks for each of these (4)

CLASSIC
FOXTROT BY BILL AMEND

// COMICS

XKCD BY RANDALL MUNROE

ACROSS
42. To bring upon oneself, unfortunately usually the
wrath of others (5)
43. Glow, not necessarily light (4)
46. Honorific Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (3)
47. Both to learn and to fear (2)
48. Obsolete British intercept and hinder (3)
65. Spinoza, by reason, chose the less of these (4)
DOWN
1. First-years who call themselves freshmen (13)
2. Granular snow on a glacier (4)
3. Neither Angel nor Demon, yet divine (5)
4. Unemployed or out of gear (4)
5. In the current state of existing (2)
6. Chucked out a window (13)
7. Hills near Zin-Azshari (4)
8. Wise philosophers herb (4)
9. Trail, Highway, Strait, Channel (13)
20. First double yet no twos (3)
21. Belt or rather easy (5)
22. More powerful than Meteo (6)
23. Currently: cenozoic (3)
24. Fluffy, Mouse, Toto, and Old Dan and Little
Ann (4)
26. Executives of UKs Defra (3)
27. Cameramans bane (6)
28. Used to see Altar, Ezio and Connor (5)
29. Present a problem whilst posturing politely (4)
31. 1963 until usurped by Diet-Coke (3)
32. First man and thus a wooden statue (4)
35. No squaring the circle because it is transcendental (2)
36. Only slightly less ambiguous than thing (4)
37. Sustenance was presented and eaten (3)
40. Fangorn, Leaflock or Quickbeam (3)
43. Against (4)
44. Dishonest money (5)
45. He who fervently regrets (4)
BY JAMIE RULE Student Publications

LAST WEEKS SOLUTION

ZIGGY BY TOM WILSON & TOM II

technique September 25, 2015 19

// COMICS

DILBERT BY SCOTT ADAMS

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE BY STEPHEN PASTIS

CLASSIC
CUL DE SAC BY RICHARD THOMPSON

LIO BY MARK TATULLI

CLASSIC
CALVIN & HOBBES BY BILL WATTERSON

SUDOKU PUZZLE

BY SUDOKUCOLLECTION.COM

20 September 25, 2015 technique

// SPORTS

Offense needs rebound against Duke

MARK RUSSELL

CONTRIBUTING WRITER
After a disappointing loss at
Notre Dame, the Jackets offense plans to get on track this
weekend versus Duke. Tech had
a chance to burst onto the scene
with a statement win but had an
extremely difficult game solving
Notre Dames defense. Saturday
marked one of the worst offensive
performances in recent memory
for Tech. The players and coaches
echoed that sentiment.
The blocking was poor, but
we had triple the missed assignments I believe weve ever had in
a game that I was a part of, Head
Coach Paul Johnson said. It was
a terrible way to start, and then
we got rattled a little bit. When
you have a lot of young guys on
the road in a hostile environment
against a good team, sometimes
that happens.
The team had to replace some
key players but returned four out
of five starters on the offensive
line. Despite being one of the most
experienced lines in the country,
the veteran group still struggled
on Saturday.
Frustrations from the offense
showed all game as mistake after
mistake left the team unable to get
into a rhythm or keep any kind of
positive momentum.
Some of the difficulties the offensive line and other players had
blocking could be attributed to
Techs first two opponents of the
year being just not very good, but
credit has to be given to Notre
Dame and their defensive staff.
Give [Notre Dame] credit.
They played well. We played horrible. I dont know if we can play
any worse, especially offensively.
Thats for sure, Johnson said.
Notre
Dame
defenders
swarmed all game to the ball and
hardly ever made a mistake. Their

the techn

performance made it a much more

difficult task for Techs offense.
According to Johnson, there were
70 missed assignments. Thankfully for Tech, many of the problems
are correctable, and the veteran
offensive line should quickly fix
its mistakes.
Earlier in year, Johnson repeated that the team isnt as good as
they think they are right now, and
players werent recognizing their
mistakes due to demolishing their
first two opponents with little effort.
Against Notre Dame, Tech
started the game 0-9 on third
down conversions with an average distance of 9 yards to pick up
a first down. That is unheard for a
Johnson-coached Tech offense, as
the team led the nation last year at
converting third downs. Their 60
percent conversion rate was one of
the best recently.
With new faces at A-back and
B-back, Johnson is not satisfied
with the results from the backs
yet. Graduate transfer Patrick
Skov starts at B-back, but being
the most utilized back is still new
territory for him.
Were not getting the production we need out of those spots
right now either one of them
running the football, Johnson said. [Skov] gets some tough
yards. Hes hard to tackle, but
theres more to it than that. Cant
just be a bull in a china shop.
Inexperience has started to be
felt in regards to the passing game.
At times, Notre Dame stacked the
box and dared Tech to throw.
Tech did not a complete a pass
until the second half, which is
concerning due to the run game
struggling as well.
We had chances in the passing game. We need to run better
routes. Especially on third down,
we had some horrendous routes,
Johnson said. We need to be

ique

zz?
u
B
e
h
t
s
What

H US

E WIT
S
I
T
R
E
V
AD

WE OFFER DISCOUNTS
FOR STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS
& CAMPUS DEPARTMENTS

mediakit.nique.net

Photo by John Nakano Student Publications

B-Back Patrick Skov has played a large role in Techs triple

option offense this season with 41 carries for 188 yards.

more consistent and know our assignments and not get wide eyed
[during the game].
Unfortunately, the Jackets will
be without leading wide receiver
Michael Summers against Duke.
True freshman Brad Stewart will
get the start in replace of Summers, and Johnson raved about
Stewarts physicality in the Notre
Dame game.
Going into the Duke game,
the team will look to recapture
the performances they had on offense at the end of last year and
before Notre Dame. Duke will
be no easy task as they were the
lone team to beat the Jackets last
year at home and held them to a
season-low 25 points.

Johnson called Dukes defense

this year the best theyve had in
his time at Tech. Tech and junior
quarterback Justin Thomas will
have their work cut out for them
this weekend. After a tough game,
Thomas will look to get back to his
usual self. Recently, hes had some
problems pitching the ball that he
will look to correct, and coaches
want him to be calmer and not get
frustrated during the game.
Theres a lot of things fundamentally he needs to do to get better. You start pressing, and usually
when that happens it gets worse.
Weve got to help him more. The
guys around him got to help him
more. He cant win the game by
himself, Johnson said.

TIMEOUT FROM PAGE 24

down the stretch against a bad,
winless Louisville. The Tigers
next two games are against Notre
Dame and the Jackets, so we will
have a much better understanding about the caliber of this team
soon enough.
6. Northwestern is a legitimate dark horse this season.
They are currently ranked No. 17
with a win over No. 21 Stanford
in week one and Duke this past
weekend. Their stymieing defense
is ranked first in the nation, surrendering just 5.3 points per game,
and their 235 yards per game
ranks No. 6. Expect this academic
force to show its athletic prowess
and make its first bowl game since
2012 easily. Finally, since they
avoid both Big Ten powerhouses
Ohio State and Michigan State on
their schedule, they may even earn
a spot in a New Years Six bowl.
7. It is very important to have
a good kicker. My deepest sympathies are with Texass junior
kicker Nick Rose. The Longhorns
mounted an electric 20-point
comeback in the fourth quarter
against California on Saturday,
only to lose the game 45-44 when
Rose missed the game-tying extra point with just over a minute
to go. On the opposite end of
the spectrum, Harrison Butkers
The Kick forever cemented his
legacy in Techs rivalry with Georgia and in the minds and hearts
of Techs fans. Too often it seems
like special teams play is often ignored or diminished in the minds
of fans compared to the offense
and defense. Even coaches at the
FBS level are reluctant to spend
a scholarship on a kicker, considering them easily replaceable.
Hopefully the Longhorns game
should prove once again just how
important it is to recruit and develop talent on the special teams
squad: no matter how well the rest
of the team plays. A great deal of
games are ultimately decided by
the kicker.

IMAGINE
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22 September 25, 2015 technique

// SPORTS

28%

55%

72%

Games
won at
Duke

Games
won at
Tech
45%

All Time Record

50-31-1
50-31-1
GT - Duke - Ties

Final Scores for Past Five Years

30 points

31 points

25 points
20 points

Design by Brenda Lin Student Publications

UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH JOURNAL

Showcase, Present, and Inspire

UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH @ GT

gttower.org

technique September 25, 2015 23

// SPORTS

Football looks for sweet revenge in Durham

ALISON LAVERY

CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Saturdays loss to Notre Dame
hit the Jackets hard. The Jackets had high hopes of making a
name for themselves on the national stage. Like the Blue Devils,
the Jackets entered Game Three
with high hopes after two huge
victories against Alcorn State
and Tulane. However, the Jackets left South Bend, Ind., disappointed after their fourth quarter
scramble wasnt enough to secure
them a victory against No. 8
Notre Dame.
Tech has proven to be a team
with incredible drive, refusing to
lie on their backs and submit to
defeat. However if Duke is able to
rattle Techs option offense early
on, the Blue Devils may be able to
gain the upper hand.
It will be important that Tech
performs well in both halves
against Duke. Techs defense
didnt perform powerfully during the second half of their match
against Notre Dame, and the offensive line did a poor job in both
halves, missing more than half
their assignments.
Coach Johnson expressed
disappointment at the defensive lack of power but later said
that the Jackets will move forward and prepare for their match
against Duke.
Well flush it, Johnson
said. You put it behind you and
move forward.
For defensive coordinator Ted

Roof, moving forward will mean

preparing Techs defense to hit
with strength in the secondary
and ensuring that Techs linebackers perform the entire game.
Techs defense had half as many
sacks against Notre Dame as
they had in each of their first two
games. When it comes to tackles,
Tech kept the numbers on par
with previous games, but their
hitting game was weak.
With a week to work through
the growing pains that were expected as the Jackets break in

new players, Jacket fans have

every hope that Tech will come
back ready to put together two
dynamic halves against the Duke
Blue Devils.
The Blue Devils began the season defeating both Tulane and
NC Central easily. With only
six offensive and six defensive
players returning, head Coach
David Cutcliffe did some rebuilding before kicking off 2015s season. He managed to resurrect
Dukes lacking rush defense into
one of the most intimidating in

the ACC. However, a powerful

defense on the ground was not
enough to gain the Blue Devils
a victory against Northwestern.
Quarterback Thomas Sirks fiveyard touchdown during the first
quarter was not as impressive as
his performance in the previous
two games. Dukes loss against
No. 18 Northwestern makes some
of their fans doubtful that they
will be able to defeat No. 20 Tech.
Justin Thomass unrivaled
speed and his ability to man
Coach Johnsons triple option

Photo by John Nakano Student Publications

In Techs Ground-and-Pound style of offense, their success rests almost entirely on the performance of the offensive line. They will need to play sharply this Saturday in Durham versus Duke.

will be the biggest difficulty for

the Blue Devils. However, Coach
Cutcliffe has filled the defensive
gaps with fresh faces and will be
relying on a faster, stronger rushing defense to rival the Jackets
offense.
Dukes matchup with Tech is
the perfect opportunity for the
Blue Devils to show how formidable their defense really is. If the
Blue Devils can shut down Techs
rush attack in the first half, they
will gain the upper hand against
Coach Johnsons triple option. As
Notre Dame proved last week,
limiting Techs offensive passing
attack throws Justin Thomas and
the option offense off.
Not only is Dukes defense
boasting a new need for speed, it
has welcomed several new power
hitters into its ranks. Sophomore
linebacker Zavier Carmichael has
taken over play calling after an
ACL injury landed Kelby Brown
a permanent position on the
sidelines.
Senior safety Jeremy Cash has
established himself as a powerful
defensive playmaker and a critical
component in Dukes defensive
strategy. As Dukes strongest defensive hitter, Cash will likely hug
the line of scrimmage in order to
smother Techs explosive offense.
If Sirk is able to complete his
passes, Dukes offense could see
more success against Tech than
they did against Northwestern.
Much like the Jackets, the key to
Dukes success will be putting together two well-played halves.

Sports

SPORTS EDITOR:

Jon Long

ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR:

Joe Sobchuk

sports@nique.net

Devils in the Details

The Technique recaps the storied

history between the Jackets and the
Duke Blue Devils.422

technique

24

Friday,
September 25, 2015

Jackets prepared to begin conference play

WAGES CARROL

CONTRIBUTING WRITER
College volleyball has been
back in action for a month now,
which can only mean one thing:
conference play starts soon. And
for the Jackets, soon is 7:00
p.m. this evening. The Jackets,
riding high on an impressive 9-3
start to this years season, begin conference play today on the
road with a match against the 5-7
Clemson Tigers.
When the Jackets entered
conference play last season, they
were only one game above 0.500
and started things off on a bad
foot by losing to the Duke Blue
Devils 3-1.
However, that was last year,
and this years Jackets are poised
to show drastic improvement in
comparison to their ACC performance that began twelve months
ago today.
Although [our] preseason performance was good, ACC play is
what really matters, says junior
libero London Ackermann.
In a strong conference filled
with perennial powerhouses such
as Duke, Notre Dame and Florida
State, performance against conference opponents is crucial to
the success of season. The Jackets
look to carry their early season
momentum into their conference
schedule.
Last year, in their first season
under Head Coach Michelle Collier, the Jackets experienced some

difficulty against their in-conference opponents, recording a 6-12

ACC record. Many players on
last years squad were recruited by
Techs former coach Tonya Johnson and may have had struggles
when adjusting to the new coach.
Because this is Colliers second
year at Tech, the players should be
more used to her leadership.
When asked how last years
transition was on a personal level,
Ackermann, who had been recruited by Coach Johnson since
she was 13, expressed sentiment.
I kind of grew up knowing
that I was going to play for her,
and it was difficult having to
realize that someone who had
been an influence on my life for
so long wasnt there anymore,
Ackermann says.
However, after a 9-3 start to
this years season, Ackermann and
Coach Collier have figured out a
way to ameliorate the difficulties
of the transition.
Michelle and her staff came
in with open arms, and overall, it was a pretty easy process,
Ackermann said. Based off of
this years results, I think we are
responding really well. I think everyone likes the new culture that
were building and how everyone
is getting along.
The record agrees, but nonconference play is less important
in the long run.
Everyone knows that at any
moment they could be put in the
game and that she [Coach Col-

lier] has confidence in each individual player, which is a big step

up from where we used to be,
Ackermann says.
Ackermann also mentioned
that playing Nebraska was a big
help in preparing for ACC play.
According to the teams libero,
who has already amassed 191 digs
this season, Tech is prepared for
ACC play on a basis of individual
experience in addition to experience as a unit.
I am pleased with the way we
competed this pre-season, Collier said after last weeks match
against Kennesaw State. We had
some great games, and we know
what makes us win matches and
what makes us lose matches, so we
will be working on keeping our
strengths more consistent.
When things are all said and
done, Techs performance will be
evaluated against their conference
opponents. And London Ackermann, the libero who is a player
that cannot be substituted out of
a match and is designated to play
only defense, will be looked at
under closer scrutiny because her
performance can often times dictate the outcome of matches.
So, with Techs volleyball team
commencing its ACC schedule in
a matter of hours from the time of
publication, fans can only hope
that the Jackets will use their experience and momentum to their
advantage in ACC play. As for
Ackermann, she only hopes for
consistency.

Photo by John Nakano Student Publications

London Ackermann celebrates after a point against Siena. She

will be an important factor for the Jackets in the coming games.

JOE SOBCHUK

ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR

Now that we are a few weeks
into the college football season and
have seen a nice variety of games,
here are some of my thoughts on
the current landscape.
1. Its better to lose early
rather than late. The Jackets loss
to Notre Dame this past weekend dropped them from 14th to
20th in the AP Poll, while the
Irishs win bumped them up to
sixth. Since it is only the start of
the fourth week, the Jackets have
plenty of time to climb back towards the top and will still play
plenty of highly-ranked foes along
the way. As long as the team takes
care of business in the rest of its
games, this one-possession loss on
the road to a very highly ranked
team should not hurt them.
2. Ohio State is not looking
like a No. 1 team. After their
Week One drubbing of Virginia

Photo courtesy of Scott Stuart

The Ohio State Buckeyes, last years national champions, went into the 2015 season with a
No. 1 ranking. Although they currently sit at 3-0 this season, they dont look like a No. 1 team.

Tech, the Buckeyes have looked

very beatable. They struggled to
score for three quarters against
Hawaii the following week, and
they beat the Northern Illinois
Huskies of the Mid-American
Conference by only a touchdown
last weekend. Starting quarterback Cardale Jones is completing just 57 percent of his passes
and has been pulled from each of
the past two games for J.T. Bar-

rett. After committing five turnovers against the Huskies, the

offense will have to clean up its
act in order to have any chance at
the playoff.
3. The voters think a little
too highly of Ole Miss. It seems
like this happens every year: Alabama starts the year ranked near
the top, and then when they lose
they drop a few spots as the team
that beats them skyrockets in

the rankings. Ole Miss has certainly looked great, forcing five
turnovers against the Tide and
hanging 70 points each on their
previous two opponents. However, maybe Alabama was simply
ranked too highly to start, and
Ole Miss took advantage of an
offensively undisciplined team to
squeak out the victory.
4. Poll inertia and SEC bias
are both real, and its a poten-

tially dangerous combination.

Speaking of the Alabama-Ole
Miss game, before the contest
the teams were ranked No. 2 and
No. 15 respectively, and now they
are No. 12 and No. 3. The teams
combined to jump two spots simply by playing each other. Also,
the fact that Auburn was ranked
at all (never mind at No. 18) after
that embarrassing scare against
FCS Jacksonville state is laughable, and the fact that they are
still receiving votes after suffering a blowout loss to LSU shows
how powerful preseason rankings can be. Any other team in
any other conference that had the
same outlook as Auburn at the beginning of the season would not
have been ranked sixth, and their
fall from grace would have been
much swifter. Likewise, despite
the fact that Stanford just beat
USC, the Trojans are still ranked
higher simply because they were
ranked higher in the preseason.
Finally, relating to SEC bias,
Missouri should absolutely not
be ranked after barely defeating
bottom-feeders Connecticut and
Arkansas State.
5. Neither Florida State nor
Clemson look particularly
strong, and it is only a matter of
time before one of them falters.
Florida State played sloppily for
much of their game against South
Florida, and their offense only
managed to score one touchdown
at Boston College. Meanwhile,
Clemson easily defeated Wofford
and Appalachian State but needed
to hold on to a three-point lead
see TIMEOUT, page 20