the compass, September 22, 2011 1

compassG S C ’ s s t u d e n t n e w s p a p e r

Comics and puzzles now inside!

PAGE 16

New SGA, new agenda

PAGE 3

Vol. XLVII No. 1 September 22, 2011

w w w . g s c C o m p a s s . o r g

Inside Academic 4 GSC’s new building draws ravesPAGES 8-9

2 the compass, September 22, 2011

the compass xlvii no.1Sept. 22, 2011

Gainesville State CollegeGainesville, Georgia

EdItorS Audrey Williams 924211578@gsc.edudaniel dove 924154345@gsc.eduLAYoUt EdItor Aaron Snider 924214390@gsc.eduWEB EdItor Mike Williams 924211578@gsc.edu

SECtIoN EdItorSNEWS Brent VanFleet 9242266931@gsc.eduCAMPUS LIFE Kaitlin Batson 924228759@gsc.eduFEAtUrES/dIStrACtIoNS/oPINIoNS Katie Keiger 924212379@gsc.edu

CoPY EdItINGJoe Beasley 924212386@gsc.edu

PAGE dESIGNMichael Mullins, Alex Morris, Manny Moreno

PHotoS dominique Gaiter, Alex Morris, Manny Moreno, Brent Van Fleet, Audrey Williams

WrItErSEddie Gonzalez, Paku Lo, Kyle Shawn, Asia thomas, Aisha taylor

FACULtY AdVISEr Merrill Morris mmorris@gsc.edu

the Compass releases three printed issues each semester and an online edition at www.gscCompass.org

the compass

our fine staff

f r o m t h e e d i t o rtHIS IS YoUr NEWSPAPEr!

Welcome to the first issue of the year of the Com-pass, Gainesville State College’s campus news-paper. Lots of news this fall at GSC: We have a brand-new building that doubled the number of classrooms on this campus. And our longtime pres-dent, dr. Martha Nesbitt, announced she will retire at the end of this school year.

We are happy to get your comments and your contributions. this is your newspaper, and we hope to hear from you about ideas for stories or even complaints. And if you’d like to be a part of our team, just let us know. We always need people who want to write, shoot photos or video, or work on layout or our website. We’ll be putting out an-other issue next month, so keep us posted. the deadline for that issue will be mid-October.

Audrey Williams editor-in-chief

compass@gsc.edu

Contact us at compass@gsc.edu

ADVERTISE WITH US!Full Page 10’ x 13.5”Black & White: $250Color: $500

Half Page 10” x 6”Black & White: $100Color: $230

Quarter Page 5” x 6”Black & White: $70

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ubs

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the compass, September 22, 2011 3

n e w s tHE CoMPASSdIrECtIoNS

CoVEr dESIGNAUdrEY WILLIAMS

PHotoAUdrEY WILLIAMS

Academic 4 doubled the number of classrooms and will open new possibilities. Photos on pages 8 and 9.

CAMPUS LIFEpage 11

layout of this page Aaron Snider

FEAtUrESpage 12

dIStrACtIoNSpage 16

page 14oPINIoNS

Kyle Shawn Staff Writer924200096@gsc.edu

GSC’s Student Government Asso-ciation will be under new a new ad-ministration this year with President Jonathan Rajala. He is joined by newly appointed vice president Jonathan Ojeda and treasurer Eddie Rodriguez. Sean Magee will resume his post as secre-tary.

Last year’s SGA President, Andrew Wilk-erson, left to continue his pursuit of a biochemistr y degree in Cali-fornia after a highly success-ful tenure, which included partaking in the composition of a document opposing a new gun law allowing fire-arms on college campuses.

Wilkerson, speaking to the Com-pass last fall, advised the next SGA President to focus on a small agenda by picking, “one thing that’s really important … and will benefit the stu-dents.”

Rajala and the SGA will have a $13,000 budget to help in accomplish-ing that one beneficial thing.

The SGA held its first meeting Monday, Sept. 12, from 12 - 1 p.m. Ra-jala spoke to the attendees at the be-ginning of the meeting regarding the immediate intentions of the SGA.

“The main goal before taking on huge projects is to fill the meeting room with members,” he said.

To accomplish such an end, the SGA intends to sponsor gift card give-aways to newly-registered members. The drawings to determine winners

will occur September 20 and 21.Among the other intentions dis-

cussed at the year’s first meeting was informing students about the new ATM on campus, and where it can be located.

Rajala is optimistic about any ob-stacles that may arise in the SGA’s pur-suit of its goals.

“Every challenge, expected or not, should be viewed as an opportu-nity,” Rajala said. “I have an opportu-nity to change and serve this school; I expect to do that.”

Cara Ray, director of Stu-dent Life, feels that Rajala,

Rodriguez and Magee maintain the characteristics necessary to adequately fulfill their duty to the student body which elected them.

“Each meets the standards for can-didates for their position,” Ray said. “Additionally, Sean was our secretary

last year, and Eddie was the treasur-er for the DECA chapter at his high school, so they have some experience as well.”

Regarding the anticipated agenda of the SGA’s newest members, Ray feels that the trio is intrigued by tasks both old and new.

“So far they are very interested in doing a good job on some annual SGA projects, including the Blood Drives and our Fall and Spring Carnivals for Kids, and in representing student con-cerns,” Ray said.

The blood drive committees will meet on both the 27th of September and November. The fall carnival com-mittee will convene Oct. 28.

President Rajala maintains a suc-cinct vision of the SGA’s purpose, promise and power.

“The Student Government Associa-tion is a consultative power which is here to represent and serve the stu-dent body of Gainesville State Col-lege through discussing, voting, and sharing the students’ ideas, interests, and concerns with those in positions to take action,” Rajala said in an inter-view via email, “This is exactly what we, SGA, strive to accomplish.”

From left to right, SGA officers Sean Magee, Eddie Rodriquez, Jonathan Ojeda, Jonathan Rajala

Brent VanFleet

Brent VanFleet

The new leaders of the Student Government As-sociation meet with other stu-dents interested in participating in GSC’s student politics.

“Every challenge, expected or not, should be viewed as an oppor-tunity. I have an opportu-nity to change and serve this school; I expect to do that.” Jonathan Rajala SGA President

New faces join the SGA crew

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4 the compass, September 22, 2011

n e w s

layout of this page Audrey Willliams

Manuel MorenoLayout Editor & Staff Writer924170597@gsc.edu

After 14 years serving as Gainesville State College’s President Martha Nes-bitt will retire after this school year.

During the Annual Welcome Back Fall Luncheon for faculty and staff, Nesbitt announced that her retirement would be effective June 2012.

Nesbitt not only serves as the third president but is one of only nine fe-male presidents in the 35 institutions of the University System of Georgia.

It was also under her leadership that GSC experienced a 174 percent enrollment increase during the 10-year period from fall semester 2000 to fall semester 2010. The number of students went up from about 3000 stu-dents to almost 9000 students.

“The enrollment growth has been something that is even amazing to me,” said Nesbitt.

Due to the growth the institu-tion had, the addition of the Oconee campus was made possible. Under Nesbitt’s presidency, the Watkinsville branch of GSC opened in 2003 and was immediately successful.

“We started offering classes in Athens in 2001,” she said. “We had a building that belonged to Piedmont College and they let us use it for day classes.

“We immediate-ly saw that we were outgrowing the space, so we had to find another place,” Nesbitt said.

One of Nesbitt’s proudest achieve-ments is making the college one of the

first tobacco-free colleges in the nation.“We became a smoke-free school in

2003,” she said. “This is one of the things I am proud of. There were surveys that were passed out to students and faculty asking if ciga-rettes should be banned from the school.”

Nesbitt said 75 percent of the faculty and 51 percent

of students favored a smoke-free cam-pus.

“About four years ago, CNN featured us on national television for the Great American Smokeout,” Nesbitt said.

Nesbitt praised the GSC staff and faculty, saying one of the things that helped her get adapted to GSC her first year as president was getting to know the people here.

“The first year was kind of like a whirlwind,” she said. “I had my assis-

tant make appointments with everyone on campus and I would go meet with them.”

The meetings helped Nesbitt get im-mersed in the campus, and she still meets with faculty and staff informally every month.

With all of her accomplishments,

Martha Nesbitt talks to professor George Danns at the annual Volun-teer and Resource fair.

Audrey Williams

Martha Nesbitt prepares to fly the coop

“I felt it was a good time for me personally. I have plenty of years in the sys-tem, and it’s a good time for the college.”

Martha Nesbitt

GSC’s third president will retire after more than a decade of service

Nesbit t ’s advice to her

sucessorIn her interview, President Nesbitt had a few words of wisdom for GSC’s next

president

I really feel that whoever comes in is going to be really fortunate, just as I felt really fortunate. I feel that I have really in-

herited a good, strong institution where the staff and faculty put the students first. When we say student-centered, I really believe that with all my heart, and that’s very important. And that’s the kind of culture that remains, regardless of what changes may occur in the future. Lord knows, we didn’t know we would be this size when I came in 1997.

Anything that the new president can do to support and reinforce that culture and just look for opportunities would be great. We have a wonderful location, and we are fortunate in that we have land. We are just so well poised, because as a state college we can do so many things that some colleges can’t do.

Get to know the college, that’s the best advice I can give anybody. Get to know the people and don’t come in thinking you have to make a lot of changes. There may be changes down the road that will be made but you really need to under-stand the culture and the people of the college before you start making any kind of major change. Get to know the col-lege, that’s the best advice I can give anybody. Get to know the people and don’t come in thinking you have to make a lot of changes. There may be changes down the road that will be made but you really need to understand the culture and the people of the college before you start making any kind of major change.

For MorE oN NESBItt’S

rEtIrEMENt ANd to HEAr tHE

ENtIrE INtErVIEW,

VISIt

gscCompass.com

see “Nesbitt’s Farewell” on page 5

the compass, September 22, 2011 5

n e w s

layout of this page Audrey Williams

Nesbitt does regret one thing. “Our faculty members are still kind of below sala-

ry, compared to our peers,” she said. “I was not aware of the situation until 2008, when the economy was bad, and I wish I would have been more aware of that when we actually had the money.”

As she reaches the end of her time at Gainesville State, Nesbitt shared a few items on her to-do list be-fore she leaves.

“There are a few things I’d like to accomplish,” she said. “I would like for us to have another wing on the science building. However, we are not scheduled until 2014 for a budget allocation.

“I would also like to be able to find a place where our theater program can build sets. They need some more space. These things may not be ready by the time I leave but I do want to at least get the ground-work done,” said Nesbitt.

Nesbitt also added to her list planning for classes that will be offered in Forsyth County in partnership with North Georgia State College and University and completion of the work for the visit of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, both set for the fall of 2012.

“I felt it was a good time for me personally. I have plenty of years in the system, and it’s a good time for the college. I wasn’t going to leave until we had our new academic building. It was a good time to pass off the mantle,” Nesbitt said.

Upon retiring Nesbitt has planned to spend time at home and continue to be involved with the commu-nity, as she has been over the years.

“I want to enjoy my home; I’m going to stay in Gainesville. I don’t want to interfere with the college, but I will be watching over it consistently and partic-ipating where it is appropriate. I like to play golf, so I hope I can play golf a couple of times in the week.”

Other plans include exercising, a trip to Ireland, and traveling to see her children.

“I think I’ll find plenty to do to keep me busy. I’m not the kind of person that just sits around.”

“Nesbitt’s Farewell” from page 4 Paku Lo

Staff Writer924209957@gsc.edu

Two four-year programs were approved this year in the Social Sciences and Biological Science divisions due to the increase in the amount of psychology.

A bachelor of science in biology and a bachelor of science in psychology were approved in early spring of 2011 by the University System of Georgia Board of Regents.

“The bachelor’s degree in psy-chology will begin fall 2012,” said Diane Cook, chair of the depart-ment of psychology, sociology and social work.

The Georgia Board of Regents sent the proposals to the South-ern Association of Colleges and Schools to be reviewed and then given accreditation.

“It usually takes SACS a year,” Allison Ainsworth said.

Ainsworth is the chair of com-munication, media studies and journalism, which is also in the process of developing a proposal.

In the general process to get a four-year program, the faculty must first draw out the course plan and then work with the Office of Academic Affairs.

Once the proposal has been approved at the college level and the Board of Regents, it will be sent to SACS.

“Usually from when the idea first comes into the faculty’s mind that it is something they want to do,” Ainsworth said. “It usually is three or four years later before it actually happens,” she added.

In the fall of 2000, Gainesville College was only able to offer associate degrees, but through the establish-ment of the University Center, it could make part-

nerships with other colleges to provide coursework leading to bachelor’s degrees.

Not until October 2005 did the Board of Regents vote to al-low Gainesville College to be-come a state college offering four-year degrees and certificate programs with select baccalaure-ate degrees, changing the school’s name to Gainesville State Col-lege.

Vice President for Academic Affairs Al Panu has an acronym for the “three critical values that

drive our academics:” DNA, which he said stands for dedicated, nurturing and active.

“We have dedicated faculty and staff who are truly dedicated,” Panu said. “They love students, they love teaching, they love their discipline.”

More four-year degrees at GSC

“I’m not the kind of person that just sits around.”

Martha NesbittGSC President

MAY 2009

JANUArY 2006

oCtoBEr 2008

APrIL 2006

oCtoBEr 2005

GSC gets it’s first 4-year,a Bachelor’s of Science in applied environ- mental spatial analysis

2 more 4-year de-grees found their way on campus.A B.S. with a major in Early Childhood Care and a B.A.S. with a major in technology manage-ment.

A B.S. inEarly Child-hood Educa-tion is ap-proved by the Board of Regents.

The first Bachelor’s of Fine Arts is approved. GSC now has a B.F.A. in Design and Technology.

B.A. in Human Services delivery and Administrationis approved to begin Fall 2011.

A HIStorY oF GSC’S

4-YEAr ProGESS

In March and April of 2011, a Bachelor

of Science in Biology and a Bachelor of

Science in Psychol-ogy were approved.

Both degree programs will begin

in Fall of 2012.

For more information on the B.S. in Psychology, contact diane Cook at

dcook@gsc.edu or Susan doyle-Portillo at

sdportillo@gsc.edu.

6 the compass, September 22, 2011

Manuel MorenoLayout Editor/ Staff Writer924170597@gsc.edu

A year ago GSC, along with Lanier Tech, agreed to supplement the Red Rabbit loop around campus and offer free transportation to the students with ID.

This route wasn’t used as much as pro-jected by the schools, according to GSC Vice President for Business and Finance Paul Glaser.

“Due to the low participation of the loop route between the Park and Ride, the campus, and further reductions in both the GSC and Lanier Tech budgets,” Glaser said, “both institutions agreed not to supplement the Red Rabbit again this year.”

On June 21, during a Hall County commissioners’ work session, Commis-sioner Billy Powell recommended cut-ting funding for Red Rabbit.

Phillippa Lewis Moss, who is in charge of the Hall Area Transit Bus Services and director of Gainesville Community Ser-vice Center, said that budgeting was the issue.

“The county ordered a budget reduc-tion on several things,” she said. “Com-missioner Powell was under pressure considering the county is going through a difficult time financially.”

Moss also said that if there were to be a cut then it would likely affect the Oak-wood area in a negative way.

Billy Powell, Hall County commis-sioner, agreed with the importance that Red Rabbit has in the community but also said that the cut suggestion was due to the current economic crisis that the county is faced with.

“All the services the county offers are important to our residents,” he said. “Transit serves a critical role for many people, especially the disadvantaged members of our community.

“But when faced with an $11.5-mil-lion deficit — which is about 12 percent of our total county budget — we had to prioritize the core services that the county is required to fund and that only the government can provide, such as the courts, public safety, and roads,” Powell said.

Powell also said that it is the commis-sioner’s responsibility to check all ex-penses, not just the transit system.

“It was our duty to examine our ex-penditures in all other areas; including community services like Hall Area Tran-sit,” he said. “There are 45 counties in Georgia that do not offer public transit at all.

“We certainly do not want to become one of those counties, but unfortunately a decrease in funding for this service is

necessary during this economic crisis,” Powell said.

This cut in county budget has sparked concern amongst students that use Red Rabbit as a means to get to school.

Nancy Martinez, a current GSC stu-dent, uses Red Rabbit four times a week in order to get to school.

“This service is so beneficial to me and it’s reliable and relatively inexpen-sive. If funding were to be removed for it, it could affect a lot people not only students,” Martinez said.

M a r -tinez be-l i e v e s t h e s e c h a n g e s will have a nega-tive effect within the s t u d e n t body.

“It would make it more difficult for students to get to class and would put more strains on students’ budgets. Stu-dents don’t need that stress.”

This cut has taken effect as of early

July and has been applied not only to the county’s transit but many other com-munity services offered by the city of Gainesville, Powell said.

“The county decreased its funding contribution for the entire Community Service Center, not just Red Rabbit, by $120,000 as of July 1st. A total of $503,834 is budgeted for the Community Service Center that includes Meals on Wheels, the Senior Life Center, Hall Area Transit

and many other services,” Pow-ell said.

Several peo-ple of the city of Gainesville, including Phil-lippa Moss, stress the im-portance of this service in the community even with the budget strains.

While these changes have already tak-en place, there are still ways that students can advocate for the Red Rabbit to stay.

“Students can write to their elected officials and their Hall County Commis-sioners. Do not wait to the last minute to do this,” Moss said.

n e w s

County budget cuts re-route the red rabbitManuel Moreno

There are currently seven bus routes serv-ing Gainesville/Hall Residents. Each bus makes approximately 30 stops per hour and follows a different route within the City of Gainesville and along At-lanta Hwy. The Red Rabbit bus ser-vice is available, with-in the City of Gainesville and on Atlanta Hwy to Gainesville State College, Mon-day through Friday from 6:30 a.m. until 6 p.m.

“Many students depend on an easy and effective transporta-tion to get to school and be able pay tuition at the same time, which is why we are eager to maintain the support for Red rabbit”

Phillippa MossGainesville Community Service

Center director

layout of this page Dominique Gaiter

the compass, September 22, 2011 7layout of this page Audrey Williams and Daniel Dove

c a m p u s l i f e

Kaitlin BatsonSection Editor & Staff Writer924228759@gsc.edu

Textbook prices have always been an issue for college stu-dents. Companies such as Chegg and Amazon allow students to rent textbooks at a fraction of what a newly purchased book would cost.

Gainesville State College is catching on to this modern way of loaning textbooks to students and has implemented an online book rental system this year.

“We’ve talked about a book rental service for almost one and a half years,” GSC Auxiliary Di-rector Jackie Mauldin said. “We had four companies come to us and present different options

on campus promoting them-selves. We chose to use Follett Higher Education.”

Mauldin said the school gets a percentage of the sales from textbook rentals.

The process is “easy and students are allowed to keep books through the semes-ter” bookstore and mailroom clerk Vickie Moody said.

Students can go to the bookstore or access the web-site for renting at home.

With rental rates as low as $17, students renting text-books from the GSC book-store will save money.

“I have really noticed stu-dents taking advantage of or-dering from home,” Moody said.

textbook rentals are closer to home

A C C e S S G S C ’ S T e x T b o o k R e N T A l S HTTp://WWW.GSC.ReNTSbOOkS.COM

http://www.gsc.edu >> Registration >> books & Supplies >> Textbook Rentals

-Midpoint: Last day to drop classes without an F-“Georgia Roots”

18SUNdAY

P.I. Club Panel on Immigration

19MoNdAY

20tUESdAY

Last 10 Weeks Begin

21WEdNESdAY

National Day of Peace Foreign Lan-guage Film Series.

22tHUrSdAY

23FrIdAY

-Taste of Gaines-ville Festival -Taste of Clarkes-ville Festival

24SAtUrdAY

25 -Withdrawing from classesworkshop-Professional Communication 101 Workshop

26 Mercer Univer-sity Recruiting on campus

27

Rosh Hashanah

28

National Coffee Day

29 30

World Vegetar-ian Day

october 1

National Custo-dial Workers Day

2 3 4

World Teachers Day

5

-Mad Hatter Day First Session Ends-“Georgia Roots”

6 7

“Georgia Roots”

8

Columbus Day“Georgia Roots”

9

-Second Session Begins-“Georgia Roots”

10

“Georgia Roots”

11

Farmer’s Day“Georgia Roots”

12

“Georgia Roots”

13

“Georgia Roots”

14

“Georgia Roots”

15

“Georgia Roots”

16- Fall Music Concert ft. Sym-phonic and Brass, String and Percus-sion ensembles-“Georgia Roots”

17- Fall Music Concert ft. Sym-phonic and Brass, String and Percus-sion ensembles-“Georgia Roots”

18

“Georgia Roots”

19-“Louder Than a Bomb” screening at Ind Film Fest. -“Georgia Roots”

20

“Georgia Roots”

21

“Georgia Roots”

22

S E P t E M B E r - o C t o B E r “Georgia Roots” featuring artwork by Bonnie Loggins, Art Rosenbaum and Margo Rosenbaum will be on diplay in the Roy C. Moore Art Gallery in the Con- tinuing Edu-cation build-ing. It will be open Mon-day through Friday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Oct. 6 through Nov. 3.

8 the compass, September 21, 2011

c a m p u s l i f ec a m p u s l i f etake a tour around Academic 4

<<Academic 4 houses new TV and sound studios for use by media studies and jour-nalism students. “In this 900-square-foot stu-dio, there’s just about nothing you can’t do,” said Media Studies professor David Smith (pictured).

The sound stage has a three-cam-era set-up. <<

The campus’ first and only Mac lab is in Academic 4 and holds 26 computers, said com-puter sup-port spe-cialist Jack Whidden.

all photos Audrey Williams

Academic 4 has five stories, with the

main entrance on the third floor. Each floor has a seating area with tables for students to relax and do home-work. There are also flat screens that scroll GSC news for quick updates and information on what is going on around campus in theseareas.

>>

Academic 4 is the newest buliding on the Gainesville State College Oakwood campus and opened for classes this fall. The buliding cost $37.5 million and was paid for through sale of bonds, not student fees.

>>

>>

the compass, September 22, 2011 9

c a m p u s l i f e

layout of these pages Audrey Williams

c a m p u s l i f e

<<Although the building was open for the first day of classes, construction is ongoing. Newtechnology in the building requires more set-up from the IT depart-ment and equipment for the studios on the fourth floor is still being installed.

Vickie King (pictured) serves Starbucks coffee and pastries in Academic 4’s new cafe. >>

GSC continues to go green with hydration station water fountains that refill bottles of water to reduce plastic consumption.>>

Between classes, students enter the building through the third floor. Ele-vators are located on each floor for students travelling from class to class in a hurry. >>

The parking deck built last year is the closest place to park near Academic 4.

10 the compass, September 22, 2011 layout of this page Aaron Snider

Dominique Gaiter and Asia ThomasStaff Writers 924218868@gsc.edu924185452@gsc.edu

The first art exhibit of the school year is a collection composed of books prints and 3D models depicting universal life events. A joint display of Margot Ecke’s and Eileen Wallace’s work is currently on display in the art gallery and will be until Sept. 29. Ecke’s work focuses on passages from the book of Corinthians in the Bible.

“I’m interested in this idea that many people go through the same life events, but each story is different,” Ecke said. In anticipation of her marriage in the fall, Ecke said that her favorite pieces in the gallery are these Bible pages.“

“A lot of people have thought that be-

cause of the work that I have done with the Bible that I am religious but I’m not,” Ecke said.

“ D i f f e r e n t people can grab different things from her art work,” said Den-na Smith, an as-sistant in the Roy C. Moore art gal-lery. “I get faith and family.”

Eileen Wal-lace’s work brings a 3D aspect to the exhibit with book bindings and pieces made from old books. Of all of her works in the exhibit Wallace’s favorite is Sem-pre: At sea.

“It references the notion of constantly

searching or trying to reach a destina-tion but never quite getting there,” said

Wallace. “I liked the idea of always being at sea liter-ally and emotion-ally.

“It’s like try-ing to find your place and reach a destination be-cause you’re al-ways searching.” The inspiration behind her pieces comes from her

personal journey in trying to find her place in the world as an artist.”

The exhibit closes on Sept. 29, the same day as the reception that begins at noon.

Two artists, one art gallery: A new exhibit at GSC

“It references the notion of constantly searching or trying to reach a destination but never quite getting there.”

Eileen WallaceArtist

E X H I B I tt I M E S

WoRk by MARGoT eCke ANd eileeN

WAllACe

the gallery is open Monday through

Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and

Thursday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The show runs from August 24 to September 29, with a closing reception on September 29 at noon.

Relocated - Handmade paper, silk thread, and ephermera by Eileen Wallace

Dominique Gaiter

Bracciale Millefoglie - Handmade paper bracelet by Eileen WallaceDominique Gaiter

Interpretation -Letterpress by Margot Ecke

Dominique Gaiter

Sempre: At Sea - Handmade paper, silk thread, and ephermera by Eileen Wallace

Dominique Gaiter

Updated Family Portrait - Letterpress by Margot Ecke

Dominique Gaiter

c a m p u s l i f e

the compass, September 22, 2011 11

s c a n u s ! STAy up To dATe WiTh GSC NeWS

Use your smartphone to scan straight to our website. It couldn’t be easier!

Download QR code reader athttp://get.beetagg.com/

layout of this page Audrey Williams

c a m p u s l i f eNew food service takes over at GSC Daniel DoveCo-Editor-in-Chief924154345@gsc.edu

GSC’s Student Commons food court got an up-date this year with a brand new company taking over to serve students.

The change was brought on by contract changes with the previous food service known as Gourmet Services.

“We are usually under contract with them, ei-ther on an annual or bi-annual basis and the other food service, their contract was up so we were looking for a new service,” said Brenda Adams, coordinator of Student Life.

Gainesville State College Dining Services, as it is now known, is owned by David Owen and Butch Exley. Both Owen and Exley have been in food service for a number of years, and they said they plan to bring that experience to campus.

“I’ve been doing food service on college cam-puses for about 25 years now. Butch (Exley) has a lot of restaurant and catering also, se we decided to come together,” David Owen said.

The catering end of their business, which is also available to GSC, is Ace Catering.

GSC student Matt Wade, who is in his second semester, said that he sees a big difference between last semester and now.

“It’s a step up. It’s more of a variety, and you have a lot more options. You notice that it’s getting to be more multicultural. It’s definitely a step up,” Wade said.

The menu ranges from classic burger and fries to a customizable sub station. Chicken strips that boast be-ing made from “fresh- never frozen chicken breast” and nachos, not previously available on campus, are also on the menu.

“The price is still kind an issue,” Wade said. “I notice a lot of people still bring stuff from home, but I think that has to do with the economic situation.”

Exley and Owen did research to find out how they could better provide for fresh items to stu-

dents. “We talked to students and tried to find out what

they like. We wanted to set it up in stations so that students had a lot of choices. We want-ed to do more of a food court style feel,” Exley said.

In addition to the dining services, Exley and Owen own and oversee the coffee shop in the new Academ-ic IV building. The coffee shop, which serves Starbucks brand coffee and pastries, has not officially been named, and Owen said they are con-sidering having a contest for

students to name it.“We wanted a name on campus, a brand. Stu-

dents recognize it, and we feel like it makes a big difference,” Exley said.

Head chef, Kenny Blair, at the made-to-order grill station, also known as the strip. This station of-fers burgers, grilled chicken sandwiches, fries and chicken strips.

Audrey Williams

“We wanted to set it up in stations so that students had a lot of choices. We wanted to do more of a food court style feel.”

Butch Exley

co-owner of GSC Dining Services

The previous food service, Gourmet Services, served pizza from Domino’s, but the new GSC

Dining Services makes their pizza from fresh ingredients on site.

Audrey Williams

GSC’s new food service aims to deliver fresh food at student request

12 the compass, September 22, 2011 layout of this page Audrey Williams

f e a t u r e s“A bird” takes flight in Gainesville’s indie film tour

Eddie GonzalezStaff Writer924214607@gsc.edu

“We like getting things before New York City.”

This was Jeff Marker’s, professor of film and lit-erature at GSC, reply dur-ing an intimate Q&A with Steven Tabakin, producer of “A Bird of the Air’” af-ter Tabakin informed the modest audience that his movie had not been seen by many people, and was to hit Village East Cinema in New York in “a week and one day.”

The crowd in the cozy Smithgall Arts Center beamed with laughter as students and adults alike eagerly awaited their turn to ask a question.

Tabakin delivered with humorous anecdotes con-cerning such topics as the assembling of the movies cast and crew, the difficul-ties of location scouting and the extensive animal training involved in shoot-ing the movie, a task which “kept him up at night.”

As the bantering con-tinued, Tabakin offered a clearer picture of the chal-lenges involved in produc-ing the charming indie film, an effort that he hoped would allow his film to be one of the indie’s to “break through in a big way.”

So what exactly is an ‘in-die’ film?

If you’ve seen ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’, ‘(500) Days of Summer’, or the hugely successful ‘Juno’, you’ve seen an indie movie.

Because they are not fi-

nanced by major studios, independent productions are often supported by rel-atively small budgets. To compensate for, say, a lack of special effects, pricy sets or well-known stars, indies typically feature peculiar plot devices or narrative techniques, and are gener-ally more quirky and exper-imental than major produc-tions.

This fresh content is sometimes enough for a small film to, as Tabakin says, “break through.”

“A Bird of the Air” cer-tainly has that chance.

The movie, based on Joe Coomer’s popular novel “The Loop,” follows the lonely life of Lyman (Jack-son Hurst), a highway pa-trol man whose dark line of work perfectly suits his aloof demeanor.

However, his long nights of dealing with stranded motorists and hit-and-runs take a rough turn when a loquacious parrot enters his mobile home. As Lyman struggles to find the parrot’s owner, Fiona (Rachel Nich-ols), a librarian, sees this as an opportunity to make an advance on Lyman, of whom she’s attempted to talk to (only to be ignored) for some time.

Her forward manner and incessant intrusion al-lows Lyman to classify her behavior as “unusual for a librarian.”

As the two begin to un-cover the parrot’s past, Ly-man remains hesitant to acknowledge Fiona as any-thing other than annoying (and maybe a little cute)

until Fiona uncovers Ly-man’s broken past and con-fronts him about it.

While the odd couple bonds in way that Direc-tor Margaret Whitton de-scribes as “lightning in a bottle”, it is the parrot that steals the show.

Lines like “prepare to meet your maker!” and “mmm mmm good” easily make the bird the funni-est character in the movie, which is pleasant consider-ing that the entire success of the movie depended on, as Tabakin put it, “this little green man.”

If any of this sounds in-teresting to you, there is more information available on the movie at its official website, abirdoftheair.com.

this is the second year that the Arts Council has paired with

GSC to hold the Southern Circut

Tour of Independent Filmmakers.

GSC’s Media Studies

department and Film Club works with the Arts Council to

bring independent

film to Gainesville.

Lyman is a loner, working the graveyard shift for the Courtesy Patrol. When a green parrot flies in to his trailer he becomes ob-sessed with finding its owner, which leads him to Fiona. The pair set off on a search that doesn’t always lead them where they think they’re going, but gradually leads them to one another.

Courtesy of Paladin

Steve Ta-baken, producer of “A Bird of the Air,” answers audience questions at The Smith-gall Arts Center.

Audrey Williams

N E X t S H o W I N GLouder than a Bomb

oct 20, 20117:30 pM

Gainesville State College “Louder Than a Bomb” is a film about passion, compe-tition, teamwork, and trust. It’s about the joy of being young and the pain of growing up. It’s about speak-ing out, making noise, and finding your voice…it also just happens to be about poetry. Every year, more than six hundred teenagers from over sixty Chicago area schools gather for the world’s largest youth poetry slam, a competition known as “Louder Than a Bomb.”

More info at: http://www.theartscouncil.net/

the compass, September 22, 2011 13

f e a t u r e s

layout of this page Compass Staff

Katie KeigerSection Editor 924212379@gsc.edu

Yes, sadly summer is over but if you want something else to do in the fall besides watching football and throwing leaves around there are cosplay conventions to attend.

Maybe you’re wondering, what is a cosplay convention? Well, co-splay is a short term for costume play and convention is a meeting, so cosplay convention is a meeting with a bunch of people in costumes.

Dragon Con, one of the most fa-mous cosplay conventions, has just passed us. Though many GSC stu-dents wanted to go, few were able to because of price, transportation and schedual conflicts. However one member of the Cosplay Club, Teresa McClure, went and shared her experience.

“This year there were people dressed up as Captain America, Harry Potter, and of course anime characters,” McClure said. “The costumes are always a very big part of these events.”

There is more to do than just look at costumes at these events,

right? Amy Hardigree, GSC student and Cosplay Club member, says there is plenty of activities going on at these conventions.

“There are formal balls and raves at midnight,” Hardigree said. “You can dress up as characters or black tie attire.”

GSC Cosplay Club member Ash-ley Cobbs is new to cosplay events such as these but likes to go because of the fun environment, being around lots of people.

“I don’t go for the activities, “Cobbs said. “I go because it’s fun to see cosplayers in their natural habi-tat.”

Anime Weekend Atlanta is the next big convention coming up as well as Japan Fest and MomoCon. AWA is a smaller version of Dragon Con while Japan Fest and MomoCon are smaller conventions that focus on specific things. Japan Fest is mostly a celebra-tion of Japanese culture while Mo-moCon is a much smaller AWA but is free to attend.

While some people just prefer Hal-loween to be their only costume dress up day, consider going to a cosplay convention this fall.

Cosplay conventions show the art of costumes

Courtesy of Alexander AshtonPeople dress up as their favorite characters from cult favorites like Star Wars to comic book heroes like Spider-Man(below). m o r e c o n s

t o c h e c ko u t

Anime Weekend Atlanta (AWA)

September 30th - October 2nd

AtlantaRenaissaance Waverly Hotel in Cobb Galleria

Centre

trektrak February 18th - February

20th Atlanta

Holiday Inn Select

MomoConMarch 12th - March 13th

AtlantaGeorgia Tech Square

14 the compass, September 22, 2011 layout of this page Audrey Williams

o p i n i o n sThe delayed impact of 9/11 Audrey WilliamsCo-Editor-in-Chief924211578@gsc.edu

In my lifetime I’ve only had a few moments that were significantly alter-ing. Mind you, I am only 20. Of them all, September 11, 2001 is one the big-ger of these moments, although at the time that it happened, I didn’t know it.

This year marks the 10th anniversa-ry of the terrorist attack on New York City’s World Trade Center. This places me at 10 years old at the time of the attack.

At 10 years old I was a relatively naive child hung up on the allure of the all-girl powerhouse known as the Spice Girls and all other new things that came with turn of the 21st cen-tury.

At 10 years old I was also a stu-dent at P.S. 6 in Brooklyn, N.Y., a school only a few train stops away from Ma n h at t a n . This is where I was day that the hijacked planes were flown into the Twin Towers, in a generic c l a s s r o o m su r rou nd e d by a group of other 10-year-old peers.

Mid-lesson, our homely fifth grade teacher, Mrs.Boldger, got a phone call, an unusual occurrence.

What happened in between the time of the call and what followed, I can’t specifically remember.

The TV was on, and in a mumble of smoke, static and frantic voices we knew something wasn’t right.

Almost immediately children were getting pulled out of class by their par-ents. By that time the news was had enough clarity in signal to say what had happened. Even then, my 10-year-old mind couldn’t understand it all.

What I did understand was that we weren’t having recess and my friends were leaving one by one. It was an unsettling feeling being the only one around in the midst of obvious chaos.

The perspective of a 10-year-old is entirely nearsighted. What you care

about, what surprises you, what scares you, it’s all a reflection of what a sin-gle decade can teach. I hadn’t learned much in respect to mass murders and terrorist attacks.

The days following 9/11 were what told me that the tragedy, a national equivalent of what to me was mean-spirited schoolyard bullying, was go-ing to change everything about the way life went on.

Immediately, school was cancelled for two days. To a fifth grader, this was heaven. Why we weren’t in school didn’t mean much to me then. The closest the attacks came to me were through the repetition of the violent footage.

As soon as we came back to school, a strange, but nice lady in a grown-up suit came to speak to our class. It

was only un-til years later that I’d real-ized we were speaking to a psychologist. The trauma of the event had w a r r a n t e d mental analy-sis of our en-tire school.

In classic shrink fash-ion, she asked us what we thought had h a p p e n e d and how it made us feel. The words of

a 10-year-old could only permit sim-ple adjectives like “sad,” “scared,” “and angry.”

This was the first time we’d learned what a terrorist was, who the Taliban were and what Islam meant.

She asked us to draw what we felt we could do to do to be safe against any more attacks. We all took to our construction paper, the wheels of our minds turning to find some legitimate solution that could save us. How could we be safe?

I drew a standard geometric house, complete with a garden (there were no gardens in Brooklyn), covered by what I called a “protecto-shield.” It was made out of some fictional material that was impenetrable by guns, bombs or planes.

Only the ideas of a 10-year-old raised on fantastical tales could com-bat the newly present threat of terror-

ism with what was essentially a safety bubble. And only a 10-year- old could whole-heartedly believe it.

This event coincided with my last year in elementary school, as well as my last year in New York before I would move to the slower-paced south.

My family wanted to make my last moments in New York memorable so they’d taken me to see more sights in two months than I’d been to in my en-tire life in the city. Everywhere I went, months into 2002, there were rem-nants of 9/11.

Certain parts of the city were still blocked off, American flags hung from every bodega along with anti-Islam fli-ers that had Bin Laden’s face as a target in the windows.

Street vendors hawked posters with photos of The World Trade Center with inspirational quotes.

Like homemade lost pet posters, lost people posters found their way onto subway walls and boards around the city. Waiting for the train en route to the next attraction, I would find my-self staring at these posters to kill time.

It didn’t register with me that these faces were of mothers and fathers and of sons and daughters who’d been missing for months by that time.

No remains found at Ground Zero, they’d hoped family could be resur-rected by a simple poster.

These faces on posters were real people who were most likely gone for-ever and I didn’t realize it until years later.

After 10 years of memorials ser-vices, 10 years of carefully scheduled telecasts, 10 years of “the war against terror” and 10 years of just simply growing up, 9/11 finally means what it was supposed to mean back then.

“It didn’t register with me that these faces were of mothers and fathers and of sons and daughters who’d been missing for months after September 11th. No remains found at Ground Zero, they’d hoped family could be resurrected by a simple poster. these faces on posters were real people who were most like-ly gone forever and I didn’t realize it until years later.”

t H E 9 / 1 1 M E M o r I A Lthe 9/11 memorial museum opened

this year after beginning

construction in 2005.Their Mission Statement: “The National September 11 Memorial Museum at the World Trade Center will bear solemn witness to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and Febru-ary 26, 1993. The Museum will honor the nearly 3,000 victims of these attacks and all those who risked their lives to save others. It will further recognize the thousands who survived and all who demonstrated ex-traordinary compassion in the aftermath. Demonstrating the consequences of terrorism on individual lives and its impact on communities at the local, na-tional, and international levels, the Museum will attest to the triumph of human dignity over human depravity and affirm an unwavering commitment to the fundamental value of human life.”

For more information on the memorial , visit:

http://www.911memorial.org/

People crowd around lost people posters on the subway after 9/11. Courtesy of paul Litwack at the-coach.com

the compass, September 22, 2011 15layout of this page Audrey Willliams

o p i n i o n s

M o r E B A N G F o r Y o U r B U C K

IN CASE YoU dIdN’t KNoW, YoUr GSC Id CArd GEtS YoU dISCoUNtS

At MANY rEStAUrANtS AroUNd tHE SCHooL.

The Subway in the Wal-Mart across from campus gives a 10 percent dis-count, along with Burger King, McDon-alds, Wendy’s, Moe’s Burritos, Dairy Queen, Arby’s and Taco Bell. Checkers gives free French fries or a free drink, depending on the day that you go. Rice, the chinese restaraunt in Wal-Mart’s shopping plaza across from campus, gives you 10 percent off, too, as well as giving the option of getting lunch prices at any time of the day.

Lose a space, save some change?Aisha TaylorStaff Writer924202235@gsc.edu

The Gainesville State College cafeteria has a new look: an all new food court-like style in the cafeteria. .

Unlike last year where food choices were limited, the new café offers more to choose from: tacos, sub sandwiches, pizza, hotdogs, cheese hamburgers, fries, salad and more.

Also new this year, is the increase in prices. With prices ranging from $1.99 for a slice of pizza, to $5 for a sandwich, it leaves one won-dering: Is it worth it to spend money at the school café or go off campus for lunch?

“I would rather spend money off campus, than to spend money at the school cafeteria,” student Justin Castleberry said. “I could buy something off the dollar menu and spend less than I would at school.”

Unlike McDonald’s where you can create a combo meal off of the dollar menu, I found it isn’t so easy so at GSC.

Why? Because there is no dollar menu. Also,

not everything off the menu comes with a side, such as fries or chips and a drink, forcing stu-dents to pay extra just for a bite to eat at school.

If I wanted to buy a cheeseburger, fries and a soda, it may cost more than at a fast food restaurant, since prices may not include side items, like French fries.

“It’s convenient to buy food from the cafete-ria,” said Mark Green. “If you don’t have time to go across the street to get something, it saves you time.”

Saving time is one attraction for staying on campus for a meal, but another concern is parking.

Getting a good space on campus is hard enough as it is, so the risk of losing a prime space is not worth going across the street for a cheaper lunch.

In the battle of convenience over practical-ity, it seems that convenience may be winning.

However, if the given the choice to choose between paying $7 for a meal, or getting a Meal Deal from Taco Bell for $2 and losing my park-ing space, I would definitely choose a trip to Taco Bell.

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c o m p a r e f o r y o u r s e l f !What is the real price difference between GSC and some local restarants?

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$5.99 chicken fingers, toast w/ fries & drinkvs$6.37 chicken strip sandwich w/ fries & drink

$5 whole cheese pizzavs $8 whole cheese pizza

16 the compass, September 22, 2011 layout of this page Compass Staff

layout of this page Compass Staff

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