February 8, 2019•Volume 104, Issue 20•nique.
net
technique
News 2
NOBEL LAUREATE AUMANN TALKS GAME THEORY
NEWS????
Top L: Photo by Casey Gomez Student Publications; Top R: Photo courtesy of Anheuser-Busch; Above: Photo courtesy of GT Chabad
Can owning a pet help combat stress and anxiety?
LAUREN LAMBERT
LIFE EDITOR
For most, the thought of a
college student owning a pet
might seem unreasonable —
absurd, even — and for some
18-20 year olds that might very
well be true. Quite honestly,
when I think of millennials
purchasing a pet, an image of
a naïve 19 year old irrationally
purchasing a puppy that they
spotted in through the dirty
Petland windows comes to mind.
Not to mention the common yet
NEWS
. .
Textbook affordability p3 Super Bowl ads
Opinions 5
horrifying justification for the
purchase of their pet being that
they offer payment plans, making
their down payment for their
new family member “cheap.” As
a new puppy owner myself, I can
say that owning a pet is anything
but cheap, but I wouldn’t trade
it for anything in the world.
While some college students are
just not cut out to take on the
new responsibilities, cost, time
commitment and effort in regards
to owning a pet while managing
their hectic schedules, my pets are
what bring me happiness amidst
the stresses of life at Tech.
Life 8
OPINIONS
When I initially started
college, many students that came
from out-of-state or students that
became easily homesick would
seek out dogs as companions.
I grew up in Atlanta for the
majority of my life, and the place
I call home is just down the road,
but I have always loved animals
and wanted a companion as
well. I would go to the Atlanta
Humane Society an embarrassing
amount of times per week until I
realized that I likely was not ready
to handle owning the puppy or a
kitty that I so desperately sought
See PETS, page 6
ENTERTAINMENT
p12
Entertainment 12 Sports 20
JAIMEE FRANCIS
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Some people cannot play a game
without their lucky socks, while some
people insist on listening to their lucky
song before a game. Some even search
for symbols or omens like ladybugs or
clovers. Others turn to game theory.
Professor Robert Aumann is one such
person. In fact, Aumann has received
the Nobel Memorial Prize in Econom-
ic Sciences for 2005 for his work in the
study of game theory.
On Jan. 29, the College of Com-
puting and the School of Economics
planned to host hundreds of people
in the Scheller College of Business to
hear Professor Aumann speak. Due to
inclement weather, the large lecture
was cancelled and instead exchanged
for an intimate talk between Aumann
and members of the on-campus Jewish
organization Chabad.
Nobel Laureate Aumann never once
tired his audience with the complicated
mathematical equations, theorems or
proofs behind his work in game theory,
speaking of the concept and its applica-
tions in a simple manner. He explained
how this science of strategic interaction
could be seen in everyday life and in
things as simple as a game of chess or
baseball.
“There are a number of entities.
They could be people, they could be
corporations, they could be parties in a
parliament. And each entity is striving
for a goal, and the entities are interac-
tive,” he explained. “Each one takes
action, and those actions not only im-
pinge on him but also on the other per-
son… Each has to figure out what he
should do to advance his goal, and he
realizes that the other one is advancing
his goals, and that the other one’s goal
is not the same as his own goal.”
See LAUREATE, page 9
Photo courtesy of Casey Gomez
My dog, Remi, has helped ease stress by giving me a sense of
purpose as well as an excuse to go outside and walk regularly.
News
MASON FAVRO
STAFF WRITER
SHANGHAI SCAM
A freshman student was threat-
ened with extradition and jail
time by international scammers
attempting to steal their money.
The student, a Chinese national,
was contacted through phone
calls and video chats by individu-
als claiming to be the Chinese
consulate in New York and the
Shanghai Police Department.
These persons told the student
that someone had used a fake
passport in his name and that he
NEWS EDITOR:
Jonathan Jeffrey
ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR:
Will Finch
news@nique.net
was being investigated for money
laundering and could face jail
time if he did not comply with
their instructions.
The student sent photos of
his passport to the scammers,
and was advised that he would
be subject to three to seven years
in Chinese prison if he spoke to
anyone about their situation. The
student grew suspicious after he
was told to transfer money from
their bank account to the callers’,
so that the funds could be “veri-
fied.” He was also sent the link to
a false police department website
in order to “check the legitimacy
of the phone number,” according
to GTPD. The scammers emailed
a picture of a warrant to the stu-
dent, listing, among other things,
that he was wanted for fraud.
GTPD officers advised the
student to stop communicating
with the callers, and began in-
vestigating the numbers that they
called from. The officers checked
through various databases, but
could only find a 2013 Amnesty
International report that listed
one of the numbers as belong-
ing to the “Director of the Pub-
State of the Union Analysis
President Donald Trump merges call for unity
with continued demand for border security;
Georgia’s Stacey Abrams responded. 44
lic Security Bureau of Pudong According to the report, the
Sub-branch.” After the student individual was obviously drunk
stopped responding to the scam- and smelled like alcohol. They ad-
mer calls, he was not contacted mitted to having had “maybe like
again, and his case set to inactive. four shots,” to the officers.
When asked for identification,
LIGHTHEADED AT THE LIGHT the student mistakenly handed
GTPD gave out a citation for the officers their fake ID. Due to
possession of marijuana and driv- the student’s level of inebriation,
ing under the influence of nar- an ambulance was called and they
cotics after they apprehended a were medically cleared.
man parked at the intersection of The student was then released
North Avenue and Luckie Street. to their friends to be taken back
The incident, which occurred to their dorm and was given two
in the early hours of the morn- code of conduct violations.
ing of Jan. 11, was called in after
someone saw his car sit at the in- GATE SNATCHER
tersection through at least four It is worthwhile to remember
traffic cycles, highlighting the that “finders-keepers” doesn’t al-
man’s altered state of mind. ways apply. This was the situation
a student found themselves in the
“MAYBE LIKE FOUR SHOTS” early morning of Jan. 12, when
It is always important to drink they were spotted running away
safely and legally, a lesson learned from Peters Parking Deck towards
by a student recently after they a fraternity house holding a wood-
were given two citations, one for en gate arm.
underage drinking, and the other He was stopped by GTPD,
for possession of a fake ID. The and upon questioning, the stu-
student was spotted by GTPD dent said that they did not believe
stumbling alone, and they were that it was a crime to take the arm,
stopped for a wellness check by because they had found it discon-
the officers. nected, lying on the ground.
technique
Friday,
2
February 8, 2019
In this they were mistaken, as
taking the gate arm amounted to
larceny of government property.
In addition to this, when the
student was asked for their identi-
fication, an officer glimpsed a fake
identification inside their wallet.
Upon questioning the student
handed it over, it was confiscated,
and the student was given another
conduct violation. The ID and
gate arm were confiscated, and the
student returned home.
PARTY IT UP
Late at night on Jan. 10, the
North Avenue Apartments served
as a backdrop for an unfortunate
scene. Eight students had gath-
ered in a friend’s room in order
to enjoy themselves, but failed to
check their noise levels.
When officers came to break
up the festivities, they met with
the on duty RA, who informed
them that alcohol had been pres-
ent at the party.
The underage students in ques-
tion were made to pour out their
alcohol, and then they were each
handed a code of conduct viola-
tion for underage possession.

E
ach week , this sec tion of GRADUATE EVENTS HAS FUNDS constrains and limits the organi- Specifically, the number of
News will include coverage The business of changing sti- zation in achieving their goals. events hosted by the organiza-
of different aspects of bills pends within the Graduate Stu- After little discussion, the GSS tion increased from 37 to 51 over
and resolutions that have passed
dent Government Association passed the bill with a vote of 20- the past three years and internal
(GSGA) was the first item on the 3-0. membership has doubled in the
through Student Government. This agenda. past five. So to both compensate
will include the Undergraduate According to the bill, which SCPC COMPENSATES CHAIRS and keep members within these
House of Representatives, Graduate would amend Joint Finance Com- Another matter of unfinished chair positions, the organization
Student Senate and the Executive mittee policy, the association has business on the agenda was the requested $600 per year for each
Branch of both government bodies. been “limited in its ability to cre- matter of increasing the allocation chair. The bill passed with a vote
ate new executive-level positions of funds for the Student Center of 19-3-1.
WILL FINCH at the current stipend levels.” Programs Council.
ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR The Chair of the Stipends The bill was written to give a AN EVER CYCLING DEBATE
Committee went on to detail that stipend to chairs, who had previ- There was much discussion
BILL SUMMARY the bill would increase the sti- ously been fulfilling their respon- over a bill submitted by the cy-
pend by $3600 for the year, most sibilities without any compensa- cling club on campus. Request-
BILL AMOUNT GSS UHR of which would go to student- tion. The representative from the ing funding for entry fees, travel,
GT Pulse Production Equipment $75.53 23-0-0 20-0-1 serving roles within the branch of council presented the bill as a way and the coach, the bill was mainly
GT Day at Krog Street Bus Rental
Graduate Events. to address increased responsibili- debated over for its submission
$1,890.00 23-0-0 20-0-1 This is mainly in response to ties among the nine chair posi- not being in accordance with
CSA 2019 Lantern Festival $305.00 23-0-0 20-0-1 decreasing stipends for many po- tions. JFC policy. The arguments heard
sitions over the past two years in One senator asked why fund weighed precedence over action,
Tufaan Spring 2019 Costumes $532.56 23-0-0 20-0-1 favor of new roles deemed neces- a stipend when they have worked and whether making things easier
American Nuclear Society Conf. $3,207.75 10-1-0 20-0-1 sary for organizational growth. for free so far, to which the rep- for students would sacrifice guide-
However according to the bill resentative detailed the growth of lines. However, the bill passed 13-
Alternative Service Breaks $12,629.28 19-5-0 21-0-1 authors, the current stipend level the organization. 11-0.

sliver // your thoughts

nique.net
LET ME TELL YOU OF HOW MY PANTS
DISINTIGRATED IN AN ORPHANAGE IN CAMBODIA
technique
The South’s Liveliest College Newspaper
NEWS EDITOR
Jonathan Jeffrey
the Kony guy didn’t actually masturbate on the sidewalk; he was OPINIONS EDITOR
just naked. Samira Bandaru EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Jon Long
i’m not paying thirty grand a year to hear these georgia state pa-
trol sirens every five minutes when the damn patriots want to Casey Miles MANAGING EDITOR LIFE EDITOR
Lauren Lambert
take a bus from the stadium to the fieldhouse
on the internet nobody knows I’m asian ENTERTAINMENT
Founded in 1911, the Technique is the student newspaper of the
To Hell with “collaborative study space” Georgia Institute of Technology, and is an official publication of
EDITOR
Editor in Chief: wtf is going on with the archives? pls clarify the Georgia Tech Board of Student Publications. The Technique
Josh Trebuchon
import numpy as np or gtfo publishes on Fridays, weekly in the fall and spring and biweekly in SPORTS EDITOR
wazzzaaaaaap the summer. Harsha Sridhar
Bring back cubicles. Bring Back Cubicles. Bring Back Cubicles. (I
really miss the silent cubicles in the library) Bring Back Cubicles. ADVERTISING: Information can be found online at nique.net/ PHOTO EDITOR
the jealousy of wives powers the world ads. The deadline for reserving ad space is Friday at 5 p.m. one Casey Gomez
The fuck is up with bullying the Nique staff through slivers? Does week before publication. To place a reservation, for billing infor- DESIGN EDITOR
that even make sense? It’s like twittering drunk on a dvorak key- mation or for any other questions please e-mail us at ads@nique. Lauren Douglas
board through an internet-compatible amiga box net. You may reach us at 404-894-2830, Monday through Friday
from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
why wouldn’t you just call a flannel a flannel????? ONLINE EDITOR
love me some good google incognito Copyright © 2018, Samira Bandaru, Editor-in-Chief, and the Zoie Konneker
Hello from Polly, miss you guys! aww, we miss you too <3 Georgia Tech Board of Student Publications. No part of this pa-
WEB DEVELOPER
A man in France tried to rob a bank using underwear as his mask. per may be reproduced in any manner without written permission
Tristen Allen
The cops put him in jail right after a quick debriefing. from the Editor-in-Chief or from the Board of Student Publica-
That Lindsay Lohan can’t swim a stroke, but she sure knows ev- tions. The ideas expressed herein are those of the individual au- HEAD COPY EDITOR
ery dive in town. thors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Board of Avni Shridhar
Student Publications, the students, staff or faculty of the Georgia
Nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program. Institute of Technology or the University System of Georgia. First
Concentrated power is not rendered harmless by the good inten- copy free; for additional copies call 404-894-2830.
tions of those who create it.
// NEWS technique • February 8, 2019• 3

More low-cost and no-cost classes available at Tech

Abdul-Hamid Zureick, pro- Zureick said. “If we can find the “Students need to know what “We subscribe to something
SARAH KALLIS fessor of Structural Engineering same material in a cheaper way they’re getting into,” she said. like a million e-books and jour-
CONTRIBUTING WRITER in the School of Civil and Envi- and deliver it with the same qual- A former low-income college nals that can be reused for course
ronmental Engineering, currently ity, why not?” student herself, Holdsworth has a materials,” Holdsworth said, who
On top of tuition and hous- teaches Structural Steel Design, The biggest challenge Zureick personal link to issues of textbook is reaching out to faculty to show
ing, textbooks have proved to be an undergraduate course that is faces with his low cost class is the affordability. them the course materials and-
a significant financial burden on completely cost-free. amount of time it takes. “I was an impoverished student benefits the library has available.
students in recent years. Accord- Instead of textbooks, Zureick “It requires a lot of detailed not too too long ago. I remember “Unlike physical books, the
ing to College Board, students on uses public domain articles and drawing which takes quite a bit of how much my textbooks cost, content we have access to can be
average spend $1,240 annually on resources from the library to teach time,” he said. and I had to work 40 hours per used by many people at the same
textbooks. the class. However, Zureick believes that week and go to school full time time,” Holdsworth said.
“As a public university we real- “So far, it’s working really with the help of the Institute, too,” she said, “Now that I am a However, Tech cannot make
ly have to be concerned about the fine,” he said. more professors across campus faculty member and working with lasting changes to costs of text-
burden that this place is on stu- Zureick was inspired to take will be able to reduce the costs of students I see that it’s even worse.” books until the Institute finishes
dents,” said Colin Potts, vice pro- on the challenge of a no-cost class their classes. Holdsworth, currently the li- gathering data on costs.
vost of Undergraduate Education. when his daughter began attend- “What works for me may not brary coordinator for Affordable “We need to know what is
As vice provost, Potts is heav- ing college, and he realized how not work for other people. We Learning Georgia, is passionate happening with textbooks,”
ily involved in student quality of expensive textbooks were. need to have a conversation be- about the issue of affordable text- Holdsworth said.
life and curriculum — and is the “When I see a book that hasn’t tween faculty, and the institution books. Tech has currently gathered
“campus champion” for Afford- changed in a hundred years, with will have to provide some sup- “It should not cost that much about a year’s worth of data on
able Learning Georgia (ALG), an material that you can get for a few port,” Zureick said. “If that con- to do your homework. That’s ri- costs of textbooks, and will soon
effort to increase the amount and dollars, why does it need to be versation can take place, I think diculous,” she said. begin to discuss change.
visibility of low or no cost courses 140? And I can afford it, but what we will see a lot of people trying.” To address the problem, the “With having that mandate,
across the University System of about the students who cannot Elizabeth Holdsworth, the Tech Library Services provides we’re working towards getting
Georgia (USG). afford it? That’s very painful for STEM librarian at Tech, fully access to multiple databases and some better data,” said Teresa
Through the ALG program, them. That is not right, and I feel supports the addition of low cost information sources to students Snow, senior academic profes-
starting in fall 2018 all USG in- like we can do better than that,” designations. and faculty. See LOW-COST, page 4
stitutions are required to “promi-
nently designate” no-cost or low-
cost course sections “at the point
of registration.” All classes with
course materials that total to less
than $40 are designated low-cost.
For example, students at Tech
can use the “Advance Search” fea-
ture in OSCAR and can search
for no or low cost courses under
“Attribute Type.” While only 42
course sections under ten differ-
ent majors were listed in fall 2018,
almost 600 course sections have
been listed as no- or low-cost in
spring 2019.
Switching to a framework of
low and no cost classes encourag-
es professors to become less reliant
on textbooks.
Potts draws his views on text-
books from his education in Great
Britain, where students were ex-
pected to find textbooks indepen-
dently to expand their knowledge.
He believes commonly-held be-
liefs on textbook usage “deserve
scrutiny,” and is actively looking
for solutions to reduce costs.
“We can use fewer of them Photo by Casey Gomez Student Publications
where they’re not necessary,” Potts A major part of increasing class affordability is allowing students low-cost options for textbooks. Barnes & Noble, which serves
said. as Tech’s partner bookstore, offers price match and rental options for students attempting to get deals on required textbooks.
4 • February 8, 2019• technique
LOW-COST FROM PAGE 3
sional in the School of Biological
Sciences.
“Once we actually get that
information in a more organized
and complete way, we can see that
okay, we can make better deals on
textbooks here, and the library
can cover materials for these class-
es,” Holdsworth said.
The Barnes & Noble bookstore
will price match books to Ama-
zon to try to reduce costs and also
offer rental textbooks. But some
worry that rental textbooks may
not provide long term benefit.
“We need to think about what
it means,” Potts said. “Does it
mean that at the end of the course
you’ll never need to consult this
information again?”
Holdsworth believes that stu-
dents should be able to rent text-
books if it is a better financial de-
cision for them.
“I think it’s a totally fine op-
tion. I think it’s important for
the student to make that decision
themselves,” she said.
Above all, Holdsworth and
Snow believe the most important
thing students can do to address
the issue is to voice their concerns.
“Students need to make their
voice heard and their concerns.
We need input from them to
make our solutions as well. If it
works for them, we know it’s go-
ing to help,” Snow said.
Holdsworth encourages any
student to contact her via email
with concerns and feedback sur-
rounding textbooks.
“The more feedback you can
give your faculty, the more feed-
back you can give me personally
about your experiences with text-
books, your concerns, your chal-
lenges, the better,” she said.
Although it may seem like a
complex and daunting issue, text-
book costs can be greatly reduced.
“As long as we understand the
pros and cons, we can come up
with a solution for all of Georgia
Tech,” Zureick said.
State of the Union finally arrives, and Stacey Abrams
delivers the Democratic response: our analyses
JONATHAN JEFFREY
NEWS EDITOR
For President Donald Trump,
the economy is the gift that keeps
on giving — talking points.
Trump began his State of the
Union address citing the growth
in the economy since his inaugu-
ration.
However, the crux by which
Trump’s speech will live or die
is whether Americans will simul-
taneously buy into his image of
American prosperity and his por-
trayal of crises at the country’s
border and beyond.
Post-shutdown, and still fac-
ing the looming threat of another,
Trump made broad appeals for
unity while repeating his warn-
ings about border that comprised
nearly a fifth of his speech.
“Year after year, countless
Americans are murdered by crim-
inal illegal aliens,” Trump said,
citing Immigrations and Customs
Enforcement officers’ 266,000
arrests of undocumented immi-
grants, among other statistics.
Stacey Abrams, who was the
Democrat’s Georgia gubernatorial
candidate, delivered the Demo-
cratic Response. She seemed to
respond not to specific points
in Trump’s speech, but instead
opted for an anecdotal approach,
talking, for example, about gov-
ernment workers affected by the
shutdown.
“They waited in line for a box
of food and a sliver of hope since
they hadn’t received paychecks in
weeks,” Abrams said. “The shut-
down was a stunt, engineered by
the President of the United States,
one that defied every tenet of fair-
ness and abandoned not just our
people, but our values.”
Taken together, the speeches
highlight Trump’s struggles with
two walls: the physical wall be-
tween the U.S. and Mexico he
wants to build, but for now exists
only in his mind; and the taller
ideological wall between Demo-
crats and Republicans that he says
must be torn down, but whose
persistence has real implications
for policy-making and gridlock.
As always, some of the most in-
teresting events of the State of the
Union address happened outside
of the speech itself. Rows of Dem-
ocratic congresswomen dressed in
white to call attention to women’s
right, forming a solid trapezoid in
the audience. And when Trump’
made his call for unity, Speaker of
the House Nancy Pelosi stood up
and clapped loudly at Trump in
an iconic moment: as if to say, let’s
see you put your actions where
your mouth is.
President Donald Trump, center, delivered a speech calling for
Democrats and Republicans to stand united under his agenda.
WILL FINCH
ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
Despite weeks of uncertainty
surrounding the date of the State
of the Union this year, President
Donald Trump spoke on Tuesday
in front of a Congress that, while
together, still was very divided.
The nearly 90-minute speech
reiterated most of the same talk-
ing points Trump has touted on
Twitter since his inauguration
two years ago. This included self-
praising for an economy growing
under his administration, wide
cuts to regulations and diplomat-
ic meetings with Kim Jong-un.
However, many of his claims were
either exaggerated, misleading or
false altogether. One notable ex-
ample was Trump’s unsubstanti-
ated opinion that had he not been
president, we would have gone to
Photo courtesy of C-SPAN
// NEWS
war with North Korea.
Rarely were legislators on both
sides of the aisle standing with ap-
plause for Trump’s address — in
stark contrast to the President’s
calls for unity.
“Together we can break de-
cades of political stalemate,” the
President said. “We must choose
between greatness or gridlock…
Tonight, I ask you to choose
greatness.”
This comes in the midst of a
temporary reprieve of the longest
government shutdown in Ameri-
can history. The issue at the root
of the shutdown — immigra-
tion — still has yet to be solved
by a Congress where neither side
is willing to compromise. And
these tensions especially pierced
through the house chamber as the
President pivoted toward his sup-
port for a border wall — clearly
using the platform to flip more
Americans to be in favor of the
barrier.
“Congress has ten days left to
pass a bill that will fund our gov-
ernment, protect our homeland,
and secure our very dangerous
southern border,” Trump stressed.
“Now is the time for Congress to
show that America is committed
to ending illegal immigration.”
Yet, Democrats continued ex-
uding their formidable new ma-
jority in the House of Representa-
tives. The party’s congresswomen,
who make up more of Congress
than ever before, wore white to
echo the women’s suffrage move-
ment. The image made the two
parties look even more contrast-
ing to the always-standing Repub-
lican party.
By the end of the night, the
President did give the nation a
state of the union, though not one
as clear or united as he claimed.
Opinions
OPINIONS EDITOR: Jon Long technique

“
”
No one can make you feel inferior
without your consent.
— Eleanor Roosevelt
February 8, 2019
5
Friday,

OUR VIEWS | Consensus Opinion

Who Eats from a Super Bowl?
The pros and cons of hosting the NFL’s biggest event
America’s televisions were tuned into
Atlanta last weekend as our new Mercedes
Benz Stadium played host to Super Bowl
LIII and drew visitors numbering in the
hundreds of thousands to the Atlanta area.
We have already seen an NCAA National
Championship game and the MLS Cup
Finals come through our new state-of-the-
art facilities so it’s natural to wonder: how
does this all of this attention — and the
visitors is brings —affect our city?
The most obvious of these consequences
is the increased traffic. Though congested
roads are a constant issue for Atlanta,
big events make even the shortest drives
unbearable and highlight the existing
infrastructure problems of our city.
Another issue, though slightly
overblown, is the presence of human
trafficking. It’s widely believed that
trafficking activity increases wherever
the Super Bowl is being held, and the
fearmongering around kidnappings by
Uber or Lyft drivers was unavoidable this
year. The real statistics, however, suggest
that this is not a concern. While several
trafficking-related arrests were made, they
were consistent with the usual amounts.
As long as Atlanta is a major transit hub,
we will have a human trafficking problem,
Super Bowl or no Super Bowl.
The Consensus Opinion reflects the majority opinion of the Editorial Board of the
Technique, but not necessarily the opinions of individual editors.
Not all Super Bowl-related arrests
have to do with trafficking, however.
Atlanta began cracking down on homeless
encampments in the weeks leading up to
the big game in a move that many believe
was an effort to ‘sanitize’ our image before
crowds of out-of-towners take to our
streets. Data shows that homeless arrests
increased in the week before the Super
Bowl, most for offenses that go unpunished
throughout the rest of the year.
Big events like the Super Bowl also bring
several benefits to their host cities. The
events leading up to the game amounted
to a week-long economic stimulus for
Atlanta. Hospitality industries worked
around the clock, raking in profits all the
while; local musicians and food trucks held
the spotlight in the many events leading
up to Sunday. Also, our world-famous strip
clubs were persistently filled with locals
and visitors alike.
Mercedes Benz has made Atlanta a
destination for big events like the Super
Bowl. The influx of visitors definitely
brings challenges, but having our city
in the national spotlight carries several
benefits that help offset the tremendous
cost of the stadium itself as well as the
issues related to individual events like the
Super Bowl.
The rise of cultural
diversity in pop culture
The buzz about the Marlon Tolkienesque structure using
James’ new novel, “Black Leopard, recognizable European myths.
Red Wolf”, infected me. James has later played down
I was first hooked with the title his Game of Thrones remark.
of his interview on New Yorker: “I said that as a joke in a
“Why Marlon James Decided magazine and it took off so much
to Write an African ‘Game of that Martin emailed me saying he
Thrones.’” I skimmed the article, was so excited,” James said in a
and immediately switched over Vulture interview.
to Amazon to pre- By “Martin,”
order the book: James of course
the first time that refers to George
I’ve done this. “ It seems to me that R.R. Martin,
The novel who wrote — and
arrived on we are on the edge of a remains writing
Tuesday. cultural transition ...” — the “A Song
I walked to of Ice and Fire”
Amazon store, JONATHAN JEFFREY series, the basis for
took it home, the popular HBO
and so far have NEWS EDITOR series “Game of
read the first Thrones.”
chapter, already In a 2014
drawing me in with its “In a interview, Wall Street Journal
Grove”/Rashomon-reminiscent senior editor Christopher John
interrogatory setup. Farley asked Martin why fantasy
Admittedly, I only got a third and science fiction has historically
of the way through James’ Man- been so monocultural: aka white,
Booker-Prize-winning “A Brief European.
of History of Seven Killings,” “Well, I think there’s a
which featured a wide array of relatively simple answer,” Martin
characters whose stories swirled replied, “It’s so monocultural
around the 1976 Bob Marley because it’s mostly been written
assassination attempt. But I loved by white men. And, you know,
what I read — with its authentic um, I’m a 66 year old white man.
voices featuring every line on Tolkien was — I don’t know what
the spectrum of Jamaican Patois age he was — but he was born in
and the investigation into the the 19th century in England, and
dynamics between Jamaica, the he was an Oxford don, and he
Cold War U.S., and the world. lived in small English towns his
Full disclosure: my parents are entire life.”
from Jamaica, so these topics “We look back on our own
naturally intrigue me. history and the cultures and the
With “Black Leopard, Red things we were taught, raised up
Wolf,” James is tackling an on legends of Robin Hood and
entirely new challenge head on: King Arthur, and you know,
constructing an entire fantasy Tolkien was an expert on Beowulf
universe based on an African and all of that,” Martin continued.
foundation, instead of the typical See WOLF, page 6

REALITY IS OFTEN DISAPPOINTING BY LAUREN DOUGLAS technique editorial board

Samira Bandaru EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Casey Miles MANAGING EDITOR
Jonathan Jeffrey NEWS EDITOR
Lauren Lambert LIFE EDITOR
Harsha Sridhar SPORTS EDITOR
Jon Long OPINIONS EDITOR
Josh Trebuchon ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR
Lauren Douglas DESIGN EDITOR
Tristen Allen WEB DEVELOPER
Casey Gomez PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
Avni Shridhar HEAD COPY EDITOR

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6 • February 8, 2019• technique
PETS FROM PAGE 1
out. I had seen so many of my
peers find an animal and slowly
realize that they were unable to
provide for their pet and were
forced to rehome them. The last
thing that I wanted was to have
this romanticized idea of owning
pet and ultimately end up failing
my animal.
With that in mind, I decided
to adopt two winter white dwarf
hamsters, Buttercup and Natty
Light. For a student looking for
an easy companion, hamsters are
certainly the perfect way to test the
waters on pet ownership. Other
than a rather traumatic incident
where Natty Light gnawed off
Buttercup’s tail — resulting in
the purchase of a separate hamster
cage — they were the easiest pets
I have ever owned. Natty Light
and Buttercup were extremely
cheap to maintain and really
did not require much upkeep
or attention. They were always
happy to see me after a long day
of classes and brightened my day
when I played with them. They
also went undetected by my RA
for the remainder of my freshman
year. I’m not saying you should
violate your lease, but if you have
a hard time following rules like I
do, a hamster is easy to hide and
lives under the radar pretty easily.
College progressed; I still have
Natty Light, an antisocial hamster
that happily resides in an over-
the-top hamster habitat located
in my closet, and a newly adopted
Pomeranian puppy named Remi.
College life is unfortunately
burdened with loneliness, high
“Owning an animal is an
amazing way to reduce
difficulties that come along
with college life.”
LAUREN LAMBERT
LIFE EDITOR
rates of stress and anxiety and
depression and animals really do
help lift that burden. While I may
be the crazy dog lady who sports
her dog in purse on a coffee run,
pets increase levels of oxytocin,
and in turn, lower blood pressure
and significantly reduce anxiety.
Whether it’s a fish, dog, cat or
even a bearded dragon, they
typically won’t mind you ranting
about your latest drama and will
always be excited to see you after
a long day.
Pets also come with more
benefits than an improvement
in mental health. Pet ownership
encourages you to make new
friendships and promotes a
healthy lifestyle as well. Remi
has easily become my favorite
conversation starter, and generally
most people are curious and enjoy
chatting about him — even if it
is just small talk with a stranger
in my apartment elevator. After
adopting my puppy, it has forced
me to get out of the house more
and socialize with other dog
owners in my apartment complex
or at the dog park. I have a
newfound responsibility to go on
plenty of walks and make sure he
goes outside to play and use the
bathroom.
Owning a pet while in college
is not something to take lightly.
Here are two things that I have
learned from the adoption of
both of my pets: waiting for the
right time to take on what is
essentially a new family member is
important, and owning an animal
is an amazing way to reduce
difficulties that come along with
college life. Having something
that depends on you to sustain
life can go a long way in giving
you purpose, companionship and
a feeling of accomplishment in
knowing that you’re responsible
enough to successfully care for a
living being.
As stressful and unforgiving
as Tech may be, deciding to care
for a pet in any capacity can help
improve your quality of life and
the life of the forever friend that
you chose to adopt. There are
plenty of pets at the local animal
shelter that are looking for a loving
home, or even simply a volunteer
to give them some needed love
and affection. If you aren’t cut out
for an animal, maybe try owning
a plant. I have plenty.
WOLF FROM PAGE 5
But what is interesting is how
Martin noted rising voices from
other areas of culture — black
writers like N.K. Jemisin, Nnedi
Okarfor, Asian writers like Ken
Liu — and proceeded to give a
prediction of when we would start
to see minority voices surface
to the forefront of fantasy and
science fiction: when they started
making money.
It seems to me that we are
on the edge of the cultural
transition, epitomized perhaps
by 2018’s box office blockbuster
“Black Panther,” which brought
Afrofuturistic science fiction
elements to a wide, accepting and
excited audience.
Before that, N.K. Jemisin,
the female writer who Martin
explicitly mentioned as a rising
star, became in 2016 the first
African-American woman to win
the Hugo Award for Best Novel,
for Fifth Seasons — and then
became the first person ever to
with the Hugo for Best Novel
three times in a row, when both
of Fifth Seasons’ sequels won back
to back.
“What is exciting about
‘Black Leopard, Red Wolf’ to
me is that it is explicitly built
on African mythology.”
JONATHAN JEFFREY
NEWS EDITOR
// OPINIONS
Heading back to James: what is
exciting about Black Leopard, Red
Wolf, to me, is that it is explicitly
built on African mythology and
cultural themes — and that it
simultaneously wants to explore
those themes while aiming for
grand Westerosian scale. James
is planning a trilogy and “Black
Leopard, Red Wolf”, despite
being only out a couple days,
already has had its film rights
bought by Michael B. Jordan and
Warner Bros.
I admit, however, when I
opened the book, I experienced
a minor disappointment: the
map seemed barebones, daresay
simple: it was lacking the
immersive micro-detail of worlds
such as Tolkien’s Middle-Earth or
Martin’s Westeros. But this small
shock reminded me of how my
expectations on this were set by
those past fantasy works.
And as I read the first chapter,
I was reminded of the griot,
how words bring the history and
locations of a world to life: not
just a map. And I also noticed
how James’ map was only a corner
of the world: the “North Lands,”
and much lay beyond.
// OPINIONS
My view on coffee
changed my view on life
“After a semester of living
for the sake of fulfilment,
coming back to the U.S. was
a shock.”
WILL FINCH
ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
It’s standard that everyone
who returns from a study abroad
uses whatever platform they can
to talk about how the experience
affected them. In keeping with
norms, the experience predictably
affected me, and one of the biggest
impacts of my study abroad on me
is through my coffee habits.
My introduction to coffee was
similar to that of most people, I
think. It started with a curious
smell, soothing and reminiscent
of a winter hot chocolate, and
it ended with a burned tongue,
bitter expression and a full
cup being thrown away in the
trash. Coffee was gross, and my
parents, utilizing the opportunity,
preached about how addictive it
was. And so it was, the middle
school me pledged to ‘stay clean,’
in a sense.
Flashforward a few years and I
had embraced the drink, but with
the small caveat of a lot of cream.
By my junior year of high school,
class culture notoriously treated
carrying a cup, mug or tumbler
full of coffee as though it was
a badge of honor. And you got
bonus street cred if you brewed
your extra cups at school, in the
eyes of the student body.
The next five years of my
life were sponsored by the hot
drink market. My high school
habits transitioned well into
the trademarks of college living
with a gifted Keurig brewer and
my weight in K-Pods to boot,
ensuring I made it to my morning
classes. The focus was always a
matter of quantity over quality.
For the past six years, coffee
has been a standard of my life
— whether out of habit, out
of necessity to stay awake, and
sometimes, out of boredom. The
entirety of my relationship with
coffee, I never saw the drink as
more than a means to an end. And
it wasn’t until I spent a semester
in Europe that a quick caffeine
fix turned into one of my favorite
parts of the day.
Coffee is meant to be
enjoyed, and on most occasions,
concentrated. Throughout France
and Italy, espresso is the drink of
choice — alongside a copy of the
local paper. And laptops or other
work rarely appeared at cafés,
where if you weren’t looking like
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH JOURNAL
Showcase, Present, and Inspire
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH @ GT
gttower.org
you were pondering the meaning
of life, you were talking about it
with your friends. Coffee was an
experience to enjoy, not a thing to
be drank.
The same can be said about
the rest of life abroad. People go
on walks for the sake of seeing
the city and pedestrians sit on
benches at the park just to see
the day fly by with hardly any
need for distraction from phones.
Museums are as integral to
cultures as their football teams.
After a semester of living for the
sake of fulfilment, coming back to
the U.S. was a shock — both to
my new taste for coffee and for my
new outlook on spending time.
When you learn to slow down,
you see how fast people go on with
their lives. Walking to class isn’t
fast enough without an e-scooter
to zoom through campus. Lines
are too slow not to pull your
phone out and see what’s viral.
Every action in higher education
should be done with career plans
and the future in mind. And
regular coffee is too hot to drink
as quickly as students need their
hourly dose of caffeine.
No matter what side of the
world you’re on, mornings are
the worst part of the day. But
now the best part of the morning
echoes what I learned from French
and Italian espressos: yes, they’re
small, but when we prefer the
experience rather than the thing,
even something as mundane as
coffee can be more fulfilling.
Otherwise, what’s the point of
staying awake if you’re not actively
living your life?
Farmers Market
Tech’s world-famous-but-
not-world-famous farmers
market has returned to Skiles
walkway on Wednesdays,
offering students coffee, food
and other unique local items,
edible or otherwise. The tents
and stalls go up at 10 a.m.
and stay open past noon until
2 p.m.. The market has also
recently expanded to include
student vendors as well!
BeliCheck it Out!
Bill Belichick, head coach
of the recent Super Bowl
Champion new England
Patriots gave Tech a shoutout
in his post-game interview,
praising our athletic facilities.
The team spent the week prior
to the big game practicing on
Tech’s campus, and despite
the inherent danger of having
known fraudster Tom Brady
lurking around our facilities,
the shoutout was a welcome
boost to our reputation.
technique • February 8, 2019• 7
Travis Nott
Expectations for this
year’s Super Bowl halftime
show varied wildly, but many
were expecting a rendition
of ‘Sweet Victory’ from the
show Spongebob Squarepants.
While the song’s intro was
featured, hopes were dashed as
Travis Scott interrupted. In the
words of Smokey Robinson,
“a taste of honey’s worse than
none at all.”
Fuss App
A new app for tracking
Tech’s busses was released
recently, providing a more
accurate map of the school’s
often-problematic bus routes.
While the improvements
are welcome, the app retains
a lot of the clunkiness and
bugs of its predecessor. Many
have also taken issue with its
inclusion of intrusive in-app
advertisements, but I get it.
Hustle is everything, and you
gotta make that bread.
Life
LIFE EDITOR: technique
Lauren Lambert Being mindful of screen time!
ASSISTANT LIFE EDITOR:
Rosemary Pitrone
The Technique dives into tips and tricks on how to reduce 8
Friday,
your screen time and enjoy life beyond your device 410
life@nique.net February 8, 2019

ENGAGES brings young students to Tech

ELIZABETH GRACE
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
For the ENGAGES group at
Tech, educating young students
becomes personal. Project EN-
GAGES (Engaging New Genera-
tions at Georgia Tech through En-
gineering & Science) reaches out
to high school students in Atlanta
Public Schools and brings them to
Tech for a research experience in
STEM labs across the school.
After spending the summer at
Tech, the students return to high
school but continue to have an ac-
tive role in the research during the
winter. Many students have gone
so far as to become published au-
thors in high school, and the ma-
jority later enroll at top universi-
ties.
Project ENGAGES is a part-
nership between the Petit In-
stitute for Bioengineering and
Bioscience and six Atlanta public
high schools. Several other Tech
departments are involved in the
program as well. The program is
managed by Lakeita Servance and
its co-founders are professors Bob
Nerem and Manu Platt.
Nerem’s role is to act as the
fundraising, networking and sys-
temizing backbone of the pro-
gram. His motivation for the cre- He said that seeing “all these program is changing the face of She works closely with students,
ation of the program was based on brown faces around” and having science at Tech. teachers and schools. She manages
a practical understanding of the friends remark that “man, there Education outreach manager the daily operations and ensures
changing times: as global demo- are a lot of black people at Georgia Servance is described as the “heart that the program runs smoothly.
graphics shift, underrepresented Tech” makes him realize that the and soul” of Project ENGAGES. See ENGAGES, page 10
groups will need to be more active
in scientific fields or those fields
will not be able to retain a suffi-
cient workforce to thrive. Groups
that are currently underrepresent-
ed in STEM are the future leaders
of scientific endeavors, and if these
groups remain excluded from sci-
ence, the STEM workforce will
deplete.
Platt plans the curricula, con-
ducts outreach and connects the
program to local high schools.
As an undergraduate student at
Morehouse College, Platt had
been conducting outreach to pub-
lic Atlanta high schools long be-
fore the program began. He was
able to bring those connections
with local high schools to the table
as the program was first develop-
ing. While a senior at Morehouse,
Platt worked with Nerem as a part
of a program to advance minori-
ties in engineering and wanted
to share a similar experience with
other students. For Platt, the most
meaningful part of the program is Photo by Elizabeth Grace Student Publications
realizing the impact on the com- Project ENGAGES manager, Laketia Servance, alongside co-founders, Bob Ner-
munity. em and Manu Platt. The program connects high school students to Tech resources.

Dear Burdell, Dear Burdell,

I just hooked up with a girl the week before Valentine’s
Day and I am not sure how serious it is. What should I do
about the approaching holiday?
I would suggest asking her to study or hang out a few
more times before Valentine’s Day and then ask to grab
a very casual dinner the day of and maybe hang out.
Don’t feel societal pressure to rush into anything and
certainly don’t rush the girl that you are seeing. In the
end,Valentine’s Day was created to bring Hallmark more
revenue.
I am newly single and am not looking forward to cel-
ebrating with my cats. How can I get through this holiday
without eating my feelings away in bed?
Find ways to turn your first Valentine’s Day alone into a
liberating experience and celebrate Galentine’s Day with all
your closest friends, dress up and go out for dinner togeth-
er. Sometimes not having a boyfriend or girlfriend makes
things less complicated. On the bright side, you won’t have
to dread over getting the perfect gift and you will look like
a fierce independent woman while doing it.

Dear Burdell, Dear Burdell,

I have a crush on one of my BFFs and would like to ask
them out on Valentine’s Day. I am not sure if they feel the
same way, or if sharing my feelings would ruin our friend-
ship. Should I risk it?
I would recommend asking them to hang out, see a movie
or grab take-out with them on the day of Valentine’s Day.
This holiday is good day to test the waters, and if they turn
you down, life goes on and if you’re close enough of friends,
you will stay friends. There are also plenty of dating apps
that you can join if you really want a date on V-day.
What should I get my significant other for Valentines
Day on a budget? Help, I am broke.
Sentimental value is more important than monetary val-
ue when it comes to getting a romantic gift for your boo. If
your significant other really loves you, they will not care how
flashy or expensive their present is. Take the artistic route
and make them a scrapbook of your time together, or show
how well you listen by putting together a gift box of their
favorite foods.
// LIFE technique • February 8, 2019• 9

LAUREATE FROM PAGE 1 she had one son split the candybar ties by an impartial third party. Although it at first seems coun- Aumann explored the power of
and the other son choose the piece Despite the idealism that is often terintuitive, Aumann explained game theory, a theory that is able
How does a person achieve his of candy he wanted. held for compromising, Aumann how both sides can benefit from to bring different entities with dif-
goal when their objectives differ This way, there existed an in- explores how compromising can an agreement in which a com- ferent goals together.
from those of the person he is in- centive for the person who was give the conflicting parties the promise is not allowed. In fact, The Nobel Laureate presented
teracting with? Aumann stressed splitting the candy bar to divide wrong incentives. Aumann argued that the sides are game theory not as an abstract
the importance of knowing that it equally. That this new method “The incentives [compromis- drawn closer together as they be- mathematical construct, but as
any action taken affects not only of sharing candy had the ability to ing] creates is to exaggerate your gin to view the dispute more rea- something that applies to our ev-
the actor but the other player as stop sibling bickering and solve an demands, because you know the sonably. eryday lives.
well. Therefore, understanding argument, something some would end is going to be a compromise,” “When compromise is not al- Game theory could be some-
the other player and this other have formerly deemed as an im- Aumann explained. lowed, then the incentive of the thing that has the power to not
player’s goals are vital to winning possible task, reveals the impor- “So from a dispute that could sides change completely. Because only benefit those similar to one-
the game. tance of incentives. have been reasonably small, it be- now the sides want to be as rea- self, but also the power to benefit
In some scenarios, the goals of Aumann extended his discus- comes a huge difference, because sonable as possible, because they those who are different from one-
the two entities are completely op- sion on incentives by explaining both sides are exaggerating their want the arbitrator to pick their self. It is important to realize that
posite and opposing: an advantage its effects on arbitration, the set- demands and have an incentive to sides. So they come closer togeth- an opponent’s goals are not so dif-
gained by one player automatically tling of disputes between two par- misrepresent the evidence.” er,” Aumann explained. ferent from one’s own.
signifies a disadvantage incurred
by the other player. Scenarios like
these have been termed “zero-sum
games,” and although they are the
foundations of games like chess or
baseball, Aumann explained that
zero-sum games are rare in life.
“In real life, it is quite unusual
for interacting entities to strive
for the opposite goal of the other
side,” he explained.
“In war, the sides are striving
towards different goals. But even
in war, the goals are not opposite.
War is not a zero-sum game. Even
though each side wants to win the
war, it is advantageous to both
sides to have as little as destruc-
tion as possible.”
Even if the goals between two
different entities are not as dif-
ferent as originally thought, how
does one still end up victorious
over the other? Aumann stressed
the importance of incentives: if
player A wishes to win, she must
understand the power of incen-
tives so that she can get player B to
do what is advantageous for her.
Aumann shared a memory of
his past in order to illustrate the
power of incentives. He described
the bickering that used to occur
between him and his brother as
they fought over the larger piece
of candy. His mom, who he cites
as an “early game theorist,” de-
vised a clever way to stop their Photo courtesy of GT Chabad
bickering. Instead of splitting the Nobel Laureate, Robert Aumann addresses members of the on-campus Jewish organization, Chabad. Aumann spoke on the concept
candy bar into two pieces herself, of game theory, which encourages the player to consider the goals of opponents, and that they are not at different from one’s own.

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10 • February 8, 2019• technique
ENGAGES FROM PAGE 8
She deeply resonates with many
of the students, as she herself had
limited access to resources and
opportunities as a teenager.
As a first-generation college
graduate, she was exposed to a
similar but less comprehensive
program in high school that al-
lowed her to see that there was
more “out there” than what she
had known. Like Harriet Tub-
man, who came back and rescued
others after she was free, Servance
believes in helping young students
with similar circumstances real-
ize their full potential. One of the
most meaningful moments for her
was when a mother of an accepted
student said to her, in tears, “You
are the first person to see in my
child what I’ve always seen in her.”
All three individuals agreed
that the student interviews were
one of the most profound parts of
the program for them. They hear
so many passionate and heartfelt
stories while talking to prospec-
tive participants. Most of the stu-
dents in the program have limited
access to the kinds of resources
that they need to bridge the tran-
sition from high school to college,
but Project ENGAGES believes
the outcomes of this experience at
Tech show that these students will
shine once they have those tools.
The future of the program is
expansion, both in terms of the
number of students and in the
number of participating universi-
ties.
The program has doubled in
size since its inception in 2013,
and the group recently published
a paper on their program as a tu-
torial for other universities hoping
to follow in their footsteps and
open the doors for the next gen-
eration of scientists.
Project ENGAGES is always
looking for new graduate student
mentors and encourages you to
reach out if your lab group is in-
terested in hosting a high school
student.
Reducing
screen time and
maximizing
mindfulness
LANE ELDER
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
It is midterm season, friends,
and the sparkly new year simply is
not enough to motivate you to get
your work done. There are plenty
of things to distract you from the
piles of assignments: clubs, Greek
events, intramurals, basketball
games or a simple nap. Recent
research has revealed the one dis-
traction that takes up even more
time than getting a good night’s
sleep. The culprit: screen time.
According to a study done at
Baylor University on 164 college
students, male students spend
nearly eight hours on their phones
daily, while women can spend
over ten.
“As cell phone functions in-
crease, addictions to this seem-
ingly indispensable piece of tech-
nology become an increasingly
realistic possibility,” wrote James
Robert, Ph.D., in the study.
As a part of the Tech commu-
nity, we know that screens and
computers are not universally
detrimental. The key is knowing
when it is time to reduce Insta-
gram scrolling in favor of a more
productive activity.
BE AWARE OF USAGE
Simply being cognizant of the
amount of time spent using a
smartphone is the first step to re-
ducing it. There are downloadable
apps, such as Moment for iOS or
QualityTime for Android, that al-
low users to see how much time
they are spending on various apps
every day. The screen time feature
that is now included on iPhones
is particularly insightful. You can
track the numbers of hours daily
and compare from week to week,
as well as see how many “pickups”
you have per day.
You may find the results sur-
prising — you may discover you
spend two hours on BuzzFeed at
night when you thought scrolling
through Instagram in line to get
coffee was the culprit. You will
never know until you check!
YOU CAN WAIT
One reason students may be
prone to pick up their phones
is simply that they feel it vibrate
and think they have notifications.
Half the time, it was an imagined
vibration, or maybe the phone was
not even on their person to begin
with. Nonetheless, once the phone
gets turned on, apps just have to
be opened and there starts the dis-
traction cycle.
This phenomenon, called
phantom phone vibration syn-
drome, has been studied by pro-
fessors here at the Institute.
“Through bodily habit, your
phone actually becomes a part of
you and you become trained to
perceive the phone's vibrations
as an incoming call or text,” said
Robert Rosenberger, public policy
professor and researcher on tech-
nology and behavior. “So, due to
these kinds of habits, it becomes
really easy to misperceive other
similar sensations.”
One way to reduce the auto-
matic urge to check your phone,
whether it’s truly vibrating or not,
is to change up where you keep
your phone in order to break long-
standing habits.
“Do you experience phantom
vibrations in your front pants
pocket? Move it to a shirt pocket.
Do you experience phantom vi-
brations in your purse? Move it to
your pocket,” advised Rosenberg-
er. “If we want to change up our
relationship to the technology,
then it can be helpful to shake up
our routine.”
GO COLD TURKEY
If you understand that your
phone is stealing away time and
hindering productivity, some-
times blocking yourself from your
phone might be the simplest way.
Try leaving your phone in the
other room while you study, or
putting in “do not disturb” mode.
There are also apps that allow
you to block known distractors at
certain points in the day, or give
you a time limit on different web-
sites to prevent mindless scrolling.
As annoying as setting up
downtime hours on your phone is,
it can go a long way towards giv-
ing you space in the day to study
or helping you sleep more easily.
One other simple way is to
delete an application from your
phone to make it harder to get
to. That way, if you want to open
Facebook, instead of just tapping
an icon, you have to go into a web
browser and manually login.
The inconvenience of the ex-
tra step breaks habits. It gives you
time to pause and reassess if you
really do want to go on Facebook
right at that moment.
FIND OTHER THINGS
Finally, realize that many other
activities exist that can make you
forget about using your phone in
the first place. Think about dieters
— if they resolve to eliminate un-
healthy food, but they have noth-
ing else in the house to eat, what
happens when they get hungry?
They reach for the less healthy
snack again.
Similarly, if you’re hungry for
stimulation, connection or mere
distraction, find something else to
JOIN THE
Technique
FLAG 137
- Tuesdays -
AT 7:00 P.M.
No Experience
Necessary
WE HAVE FREE PIZZA
// LIFE
reach for instead of a screen that
will satisfy the urge to pick up
your device.
Find a book to read, or maybe
an audiobook if you tend to use
your phone to scroll while in line.
Take up a new hobby, like find-
ing parks in Atlanta or knitting
hats for a care center in your spare
time. If you have ten minutes,
consider using your phone to call
friends or your grandmother in-
stead of opening Twitter.
Exercising might be another
avenue that you can pursue in
attempts of limiting your screen
time. Yes, you can listen to music
and such, but you will be occupy-
ing your time with bettering your
mind, body and health, instead of
mindlessly scrolling through your
social media feed. Exercising will
ensure that you are being produc-
tive, instead of wasting time.
Another route that you might
find useful is scheduling time with
friends. Hanging out with your
friends instead of communicating
virtually and sharing content, is
far more fulfilling and stimulat-
ing. By communicating with peo-
ple face-to-face, you will also grow
upon your interpersonal skills that
electronic devices often diminish.
In addition, it is extremely rude to
be on your phone while your time
is supposed to be devoted to your
friend, so this will really help you
stay off of your device.
ENCOURAGE OTHERS
Bringing awareness to your
friends about wanting to reduce
your screen time might encourage
others to give it a try as well. Hav-
ing a support system can prove to
be helpful, and you can bounce
ideas off of each other. This tip
will also give you accountability
partners who will catch your slip
ups and steer you in the right di-
rection.
All of these activities have the
added benefit of not only keeping
you off your phone, but also mak-
ing you a more holistically inter-
esting person.
// LIFE technique • February 8, 2019• 11
 technique

Entertainment
ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR:
Josh Trebuchon
ASSISTANT ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR:
Eli Hendler Friday,
12
entertainment@nique.net February 8, 2019

Super Bowl ads: the good, the bad and the weird
MAYA FLORES
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

This year’s Super Bowl was

decidedly underwhelming; it was
low scoring, had a predictable
outcome and living in the host
city was a logistical nightmare.
Usually, viewers can at least count
on the commercials to incite a
chuckle. Advertisers spend mil-
lions for one minute, and they
usually make every second count.
This year, many failed in the hu-
mor department, but were still en-
joyable in other ways, while others
were just plain bad.
The best ads of the year came
from a variety of sources and fit
into several different categories.
Many commercials this year
went for a more serious tone. One
that stood out in this group was
the Washington Post’s ad, “De-
mocracy Dies in Darkness.” Nar-
rated by Tom Hanks, the com-
mercial is a tribute to journalists
who put everything on the line
to inform the general popula-
tion. It highlights the importance Photo courtesy of CBS
of freedom of press, and mourns CBS debuted a commercial for its new reboot of the classic science fiction series ‘The Twighlight Zone’ during the Super
deceased journalists, including Bowl on Sunday. The ad has proven to be among the big game’s most popular ads, setting the internet ablaze with excitment.
Jamal Khashoggi. In an age of
thought bubbles and fake news, tugged on heartstrings with “100 interactions all over the world that The best celebrity cameo in a sion is immediately jarring. So
this ad was poignant and timely. Billion Words.” In an increas- require translation. This commer- commercial came from Burger when Andy Warhol’s unmistak-
Google Translate took the ingly global world, 100 billion cial managed to make a world of King’s “Eat Like Andy.” In a able platinum head appeared on
route of trying to inspire its cus- words are translated each day, 7 billion seem a little more acces- world of 4K Ultra HD content, screen, fuzzy and straight out of
tomers, debuting an ad that and this ad features some of the sible and a little more unified. anything but crystal clear televi- See SUPER, page 15

Cutler shows off unique style at Smith’s Olde Bar

ZAFIR SHARIF
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Dru Cutler opened Melodic

Monster’s show at Old Smith’s bar
last Tuesday night. The venue’s
back room, which is also home
to the Secret Comedy Show every
Saturday night, had its familiar
layout ditched in favor of an open
floor, and Dru Cutler was per-
forming to an intimate crowd of
about 13 people.
To most, Cutler’s genre is in-
die-rock, and his work stays true
to the style of the man-guitar duo.
Cutler’s use of his instrument is
crucial to his performance; he
seems to value his guitar skills just
as highly as his lyricism.
For most of the set, Cutler
rotated between covers and his
originals, the first half of which he
debuted on an acoustic guitar. For
a listener who is familiar with the
original songs covered, Cutler’s
original songs were up to par with
existing ones.
Much of his tone was calm and
as if he was telling the audience
about his day. Cutler let the audi-
ence in on grave moments of his
past, told his listeners jokes, and
even turned song into story. Cut-
ler’s comfort with the listeners was Photo by Zafir Sharif Student Publications
striking and it seemed as if he was Indie artist Dru Cutler opens for Melodic Monster at Smith’s Olde Bar. The singer-songwriter combines a classic
among friends. acoustic guitar sound and a unique narrative songwriting style to create music which is intimate, but also open-ended.
One song was simply a story
from Cutler’s childhood about his listener. The songs all have distinct associated with a Haruki Mu- songs. Cutler abandons the tra- Cutler’s chords are raw and un-
stepmom, Judy. The artist’s imme- messages, but no real construction rakami novel. ditional tenets of rhyme, and his tamed; the artist brings the same
diate involvement of the audience of a story. In this way, Cutler’s Cutler’s singles and albums music finds a flow that the listener intensity to his tracks which fea-
into serious parts about his life writing style is rather unorthodox can be found on Soundcloud does not expect as first. The gui- ture electric guitar, but he is at his
eliminates a barrier that typically — his songwriting often reminds and Bandcamp.com. “Judy” and tar playing pairs beautifully with best and most authentic with his
exists between the performer and one of the open-endedness often “Oceanside” are some of his best Cutler’s vocals. preferred acoustic style.
// ENTERTAINMENT technique • February 8, 2019• 13

‘Velvet Buzzsaw’ cut to pieces by tired tropes

FILM
Velvet Buzzsaw
GENRE: Horror
STARRING: John Malkovich,
Jake Gyllenhall
DIRECTOR: Dan Gilroy
RATING: R
RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1
OUR TAKE: «««««

JEREMY BENSON
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Netflix’s latest original film is

a horror-thriller of sorts that was
written and directed by Dan Gil-
roy (“Nightcrawler,” “Roman J.
Israel Esq.”) and stars Jake Gyllen-
haal, Rene Russo, Zawe Ashton,
Toni Collette, and John Malkov-
ich. Its plot centers on an esteemed
art critic named Morf Vandewalt
(Gyllenhaal) studying the disturb-
ing yet groundbreaking work of a
deceased artist, whose paintings
were released to the public against
his wishes by Josephina (Ashton),
a woman struggling to find her
way in the art industry. Things
take a turn for the worse when
the people who have attempted to
profit off of the artwork begin to
die off in peculiar ways.
Gilroy’s directorial debut Photo courtesy of Netflix
“Nightcrawler,” also starring Jake Daveed Digs and John Malkovich join a star-studded cast for Dan Gilroy’s new Netflix horror film, ‘Velvet Buzzsaw.’
Gyllenhaal, was extremely well The film, like much of Netflix’s original material, falls victims to a lack of originality and a reliance on overused tropes.
received commercially. Addition-
ally, it is one of the best films of “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs,” second half, as soon as a character get to represent their work in their cially after how excellent “Night-
2014. His next project, the Denzel “Mudbound” — Netflix has re- is alone at night, the viewer knows preferred museums. This film also crawler” is. Although this film
Washington-helmed “Roman J. cently become Hollywood’s go-to exactly what is going to happen. falls victim to many of the cliché does make an attempt at parody-
Israel Esq.,” was met with mixed place to send a film that would In most slasher films, the charac- horror tropes, including gratu- ing the modern art world and its
critical reception. Nevertheless, likely underperform in theaters. ters’ deaths are somewhat creative itous jump scares and characters sometimes pretentious worldview,
there was reason to look forward Unfortunately, the vast majority or exceptionally gory, but in “Vel- making absurd decisions that end it mostly just manages to comes
to this movie, especially because it of them range from mediocre to vet Buzzsaw,” none of the deaths very poorly for them. off as pretentious itself.
would be readily available on Net- poor, and “Velvet Buzzsaw” is no are in any way memorable whatso- While “Velvet Buzzsaw” is un- Overall, “Velvet Buzzsaw” is a
flix. Looking back on it, that prob- exception. ever. If anything, the first half of original and tropey, its greatest sin film viewers should probably skip
ably should have been a reason to This film is simply under- the film is more enjoyable, featur- is that it is simply not enjoyable over, especially now that the rest
be less excited about it. With a few whelming. It plays out like a pre- ing some drama between compet- to watch. It is a complete shame of Netflix’s movie selection has
notable exceptions — “Roma,” dictable slasher film; for the entire ing art galleries over which artists that the film is such a flop, espe- improved significantly.
14 • February 8, 2019• technique
‘Hearty Har’ lives up to high expectations
BELLA SAVELL
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Most Tech students have prob-
ably never heard of the Los Ange-
les psychedelic rock band Hearty
Har. Still, based on the group’s
pedigree alone — Shane and Tyler
Fogerty, two of the band’s mem-
bers, are the sons of rock legend
John Fogerty of Creedence Clear-
water Revival — it is hard not to
want to give them a listen.
The Technique recently had the
chance to speak with the mem-
bers of the group before their
performance at the Super Bowl
Live concert series. According to
the event coordinator who set the
interview up, he had never even
heard of the group.
In a makeshift media lounge
set up behind the stage in Cen-
tennial Olympic Park, the five
guys making up Hearty Har sat
around a plastic folding table,
clad in what could only be called
vintage thrift chic. They had yet
to transform into the jewel-toned
gentlemen they became later on,
reflective rhinestone embellish-
ments glinting stage lights and the
bright Atlanta skyline back to the
crowd. While brothers Shane and
Tyler Fogerty did most of the talk-
ing, it was obvious that there was
no one spokesperson for the band.
They were just a group of
friends hanging out and getting
excited for their upcoming gig.
Drummer Will Van Santen had
// ENTERTAINMENT
joined the duo in high school,
while keyboardist Doug Lamothe
and bassist Marcus Högsta came
into the picture in college.
On February 1, at 12:00 a.m.,
Hearty Har released “Calling You
Out” on all of their media plat-
forms. That night, they played
the never-before-performed song
for the attendees for the Super
Bowl Live concert series, put on
by the city of Atlanta. This song,
the release of which was timed
specifically for their Atlanta per-
formance, is part of a larger album
coming out between late March
and early April.
At the beginning of their thirty
minute set, a dispersed number of
people casually listened in. By the
second song, a crowd of people
had formed around the stage. Ve-
rizon VIP members recorded the
band from the very front, while
others lined up along the gate to
get as close to the band as possible
despite the eardrum-shattering
volume levels. Photo courtesy of Hearty Har
The band’s music is exception- Several members of the Los Angeles based psychadellic rock band Hearty Har during a recent
ally unique. A contemporary mix performance. The group performed in Atlanta as part of the Super Bowl Live concert series.
of rock and electronic psychede-
lia, the music was both audibly in the crowd swing dancing along the ground to the Earth’s core. synergistic interplay.” And as for
pleasing while also managing to to the song. Now you have an idea of Hearty the image of a lightning bolt: “I
rile up the crowd. Psychedelic rock is truly the Har’s live show.” However, for the was just having fun with it…We
The songs brought a tangible phrase that best sums up the mu- band, it’s more than just a label. want you to feel it…it puts an im-
energy to the crowd, from the sical experience of Hearty Har. “For [Tyler], it’s more than just age in your mind.”
strum of the electric guitars to This phrase is found on their web- having fuzz guitars and synthesiz- Based off the energy in the air
the keyboards jamming along to site along with their self descrip- ers. It’s kind of about the arrange- and the reaction of the crowd to
Tyler and Shane’s lyrics. When tion: “Imagine a neon lightning ment of songs, and when you have each subsequent sound, Hearty
their final song, “Psycho!,” was bolt extending from the stage and a lyric or something that the mu- Har certainly lives up to the vi-
played, the obvious influence of reaching deep into your heart, sic is an expression of the words sion which the Fogerty brothers
the Beach Boys had several people down to your feet, then through and vice versa. It’s kind of like a have set for it.
// ENTERTAINMENT technique • February 8, 2019• 15

SUPER FROM PAGE 12

avoids making its viewers feel un- Most commercials aim to en- willing to switch to T-mobile, like premise to start off with, even for
comfortable. That’s more than can tertain their audiences through free Taco Bell for a year. The offers a company that specializes in pet
the 70s, Burger King hit a home be said of TurboTax’s commercial, humor or drama or visuals, but were pretty good, but the com- goods. This commercial was not
run. Warhol eating a plain Whop- which featured a weird baby an- there are always some that man- mercials brought a full stop to the even for dog food or cat toys, but
per with ketchup on the side is droid with a silicone face that falls age to just be downright boring. excitement of the Super Bowl. for avocados. The whole advertise-
hard to forget, and its simplicity at the very bottom of the uncanny T-mobile aired a commercial There are always a few com- ment was strange, as watching
stands out in the decadence and valley. The commercial is short every quarter. They were memo- mercials which aim to be inten- humans run around an obstacle
in-your-face nature of all the other and to the point — TurboTax now rable too, which is not always a tionally weird. The most notable course meant for dogs was more
ads. #eatlikeandy was a success. offers human representatives, and good thing. Each commercial was example of this style this year was uncomfortable than funny. The
The best received ad of the eve- robots could never keep up. While essentially a screen recording of an Avocados From Mexico ad ti- duration of the commercial was
ning came from the game’s broad- it gets the message across, the ro- typical text-conversations. And at tled “Top Dog.” spent trying to figure out just how
caster itself. When the words bot child is grating, unfunny and the end of each commercial there A dog-show-style competi- this spectacle was in any way re-
“CBS is off the air” appeared on uncomfortable. was an exorbitant offer for anyone tion between humans is a strange lated to avocados.
screen Sunday night, panic and
confusion set in. Then a deserted
Mercedes Benz Stadium and a
suited Jordan Peele appeared on
screen. The confusion was still
there, but now the panic was
gone. Finally, it was revealed “The
Twilight Zone” was being reboot-
ed in 2019. As the director of “Get
Out,” Peele was the perfect way to
announce this nostalgic hit’s re-
turn to the small screen.
Super Bowl commercials are
supposed to take it to another lev-
el and introduce something new
to the game of advertising. While
many of the commercials this year
were so-so, a collaboration be-
tween Bud Light and HBO hit it
out of the park. What started out
as yet another Bud Light Knight
commercial ended in flames with
one of the dragons from “Game of
Thrones” flying across the screen.
On the other side of the adver-
tising spectrum, there were plen-
ty of ads of different types that
missed the mark this year.
Turkish Airlines’ commercial
was clearly supposed to be a play
on an international spy movie,
and was even directed by Rid-
ley Scott (“The Martian,” “Blade
Runner”). Instead, it was just a 30
second muddled confused mess
full of jump cuts. At the end view-
ers were invited to go online and
watch the rest of the short film.
It is unclear what the rest of the
commercial was about, or if any-
one plans to try and find out. Photo courtesy of Avocados From Mexico
While the Turkish Airlines ad The most befuddling commercial to air during the Super Bowl was an Avocados From Mexico slot which featured a dog show-style
is confusing and unclear, it at least competition between humans. The plot of the commercial was hardly related in any way to avocados, prompting confusion online.
16 • February 8, 2019• technique // COMICS

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE BY STEPHEN PASTIS

SARAH’S SCRIBBLES BY SARAH ANDERSEN

LIO BY MARK TATULLI

LUNARBABOON BY CHRISTOPHER GRADY

IN THE BLEACHERS BY STEVE MOORE

// COMICS technique • February 8, 2019• 17

SMBC BY ZACH WEINERSMITH CHANNELATE BY RYAN HUDSON

XKCD BY RANDALL MUNROE

SUDOKU PUZZLE

BY SUDOKUCOLLECTION.COM
18 • February 8, 2019• technique
Gresk leads men’s tennis in final season
JOHN EDWARDS
SPORTS EDITOR
No matter that he has been
ranked as one of the best junior
tennis players in Europe and the
best in his country — at Tech,
Phillip Gresk still must slog
through classes just like everyone
else. “They’re a grind,” he laments.
As a part of the core of Tech’s ten-
nis team for the past four years,
Gresk will be finishing up his final
season in the white and gold this
spring, highlighting a talented
squad poised for contention in the
best tennis conference in colle-
giate athletics.
Originally from Poland, Gresk
has anchored Tech’s tennis squad,
which is off to a 3-2 record on the
year already. Gresk left his native
land — with a little help from his
parents — to pursue his dream
of playing competitive tennis.
“When I was four years old, my
mom signed me up for tennis les-
sons after school … as I got a little
older, I started playing more and
more, and I started liking it a lot:
enjoying being on the court and
playing tennis,” Gresk explains.
So when Gresk was seven years
old, his parents decided to move
to Florida to allow Gresk to train
at the prestigious IMG Tennis
Academy, which has graduated
such tennis superstars as Serena
Williams, Maria Sharapova and
Jim Courier. “It was a pretty big
investment from their side,” he
notes of his education.
From there, Gresk underwent
a brutal training schedule. “I
was playing in Poland mainly in
the summers, living and practic-
ing [in America] in the winter,”
Gresk says. He would balance
classes and practices as a junior
tennis player, developing during
the school year and showing off
Phillip Gresk prepares to return a shot during Tech’s 2019 MLK Invitational. Gresk,
a Polish national, is one of only two seniors on the Jackets men’s tennis team.
in European tournaments. Gresk
captured a gold medal in doubles
during the 2011 European Youth
Olympics and was ranked the No.
1 junior tennis player in Poland
before coming to Tech.
The decision to go to Tech and
not begin his professional career
upon turning eighteen, however,
was a difficult decision for Gresk;
“When I was 13, 14, everyone was
always asking me if I wanted to
go pro, and I was always saying, ‘I
want to go to college instead.’ But
that changed a little bit afterwards
when I was a little older, I thought,
‘Maybe I’ll go pro instead because
I’m doing pretty good.’” Only af-
ter wrestling with the decision and
encountering some potential diffi-
culties in turning pro did Gresk
decide to take his talents to col-
lege. Even with offers from other
schools in hand, Gresk decided to
go to Tech because Tech’s recruit-
ing staff made him feel wanted. “I
bonded with the team really well,
and [men’s tennis coach] Kenny
[Thorne] really wanted me here…
it was a perfect fit.”
A perfect fit indeed. Gresk has
anchored Tech’s lineup. He has
picked up some big wins over the
years, including remaining unde-
feated in the 2017 Georgia Tech
Invitational, but looming largest
in his mind is when he can con-
tribute to the team. Asked what he
felt his biggest victory had been,
Gresk cited Tech’s 2016-2017
team making it to the second
round of the NCAA Tournament.
“We had a really good team that
year,” Gresk says.
Photo by Jon Long Student Publications
Could Tech get back to the
tournament this year, in Gresk’s
final season of eligibility? It’s an
uphill battle. “[The ACC teams]
are all really tough,” Gresk says,
“The top teams — Wake Forest,
the defending national champions
and No. 1 in the country, North
Carolina’s always up there, Virgin-
ia’s always good as well… they’re
all really good in the ACC. There
are no weak teams. Every single
team will be a tough match.”
In his last season at Tech,
Gresk is looking towards the fu-
ture: “I’m definitely going to try
to go play pro after [my collegiate
career] — it’s something I’m look-
ing forward to. I’m going to go
and play on a tour and see how
that goes, give it a year or two and
see where I am after that.”
// SPORTS
BANKS FROM PAGE 20
Carolina, but has only fouled out
once since: a recent game against
Duke in which he was tasked with
defending transcendent freshman
Zion Williamson. His 56.2 per-
cent shooting from the field leads
the team, and his 10.4 points per
game come second only to Jose
Alvarado’s 12.4. For a team as of-
fensively challenged as the Jacket,
double-digit scoring is a sign of
real importance.
Although the Jackets are no-
where near as good as they were
in that 2016-17 campaign, which
saw them reach the finals of the
NIT primarily on the backs of
Okogie and Lammers, it is worth
asking how Banks stacks up to
Lammers. The comparison is clos-
er than one might expect.
By virtually every metric,
Banks is better than Lammers was
last season, a year that plagued him
with injuries. In Player Efficiency
Rating, a metric that holistically
considers a player’s value, Banks’
19.2 narrowly edges out Lammers’
19.1. Banks has shot a higher rate
from the field, scored more points
and pulled down more rebounds
on a per-forty-minute basis. And
his box plus-minus score — the
number of points a player contrib-
utes over 100 possessions relative
to an average player — beats Lam-
mers’. At the very least, Banks is
a more than adequate replacement
for the slowed-down but still for-
midable Lammers the Jackets put
in the starting lineup last season.
Banks cannot yet touch Lam-
mers’ 2016-17 season, an effort
so impressive Lammers became a
well-known name in the relatively
sports-apathetic Tech student
body. But for this season and next,
he is perhaps the best thing Tech
basketball has going for it. Pastner
certainly expects Michael Devoe
to show why he was such a highly-
touted prospect and Jose Alvarado
to continue his ascent, but this
just may be Banks’ team.
// SPORTS
Gueye: raw talent to finished product
ROHAN KANSARA
STAFF WRITER
Redshirt senior Abdoulaye
Gueye is on a hot streak — Gueye
has scored ten-plus points in each
of his last six games, averaging
12.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 1.2
blocks per game while shooting
an impressive 54 percent from the
field in that span. From the begin-
ning of the season to this six-game
streak, though, Gueye exceeded
the ten-point threshold only once.
This stark difference in his scoring
ability from the beginning of the
season to now raises questions as
to what exactly has changed to al-
low Gueye to contribute more in
putting points on the board.
One contributor to his success
is his time spent on the court —
over his past six games, Gueye has
averaged about 34.0 minutes of
playing time after averaging just
13.3 on the court in his first 14
games this season. The difference
demonstrates the Tech coaching
staff’s increased trust in Gueye as
a focal point in this Jackets team
on offense. More time on the
court opens the doors for Gueye
to take more shots — Gueye av-
eraged 3.8 shots a game prior to
his hot-streak, but during his past
six games, that figure has soared
to 10.5.
It might seem obvious that
more opportunities to shoot the
ball would yield more points
scored, but it is difficult to remain
efficient while doubling a players’
number of minutes played. How-
ever, despite the increased work-
load, Gueye’s efficiency has im-
proved over the course of his hot
streak, shooting raising his season
field-goal percentage from an
even 50.0 percent to 52.1 percent.
Against Florida State on Saturday,
Feb. 2, Gueye went 6-7 from the
field across 37 minutes, showcas-
ing his expanded offensive role
and maintaining his efficiency.
Abdoulaye is adjusting well to
his seemingly new role on the of-
fensive side of the ball, and it has
boded well for the Jackets.
But it is not simply at the
whims of Josh Pastner that Gueye
has seen more minutes this season;
Gueye has also done a substantial-
ly better job of staying out of foul
trouble than last season. Last sea-
son, despite ranking No. 7 on the
team in minutes played, Gueye
was second in personal fouls per
game at 2.8. This year, that figure
has dropped to just 2.3 per game.
Gueye’s ability to stay out of foul
trouble has helped keep him on
the floor longer, in turn aiding his
scoring volume.
Abdoulaye Gueye jumps for a shot in a 2016 game against Tennessee Tech. Gueye played
limited minutes that year, but his role has increased since then, as has his productivity.
Indeed, while Gueye’s numbers
have changed dramatically, his
style of play remains the same. He
is not a perimeter shooter — Gu-
eye has only attempted six three-
point shots this season and made
one of them — relying instead
mostly on his killer hook shot. Us-
ing his six-foot-nine frame to his
advantage, he is able to consistent-
ly jump above defenders and, us-
ing either hand, put just the right
touch on the ball to get it through
the basket. Referring to Gueye’s
specialty, former Tech star Ben
Lammers commented last year, “I
swear, he has the nicest hook shot
I’ve ever seen,” courtesy of AJC.
com. During this offseason, ac-
cording to an interview with Gu-
eye on ramblinwreck.com, Gu-
eye’s point of focus was to improve
every single day, and specifically,
to hone his hook shot and mid-
range shooting even more. He is
a force to be reckoned with in the
paint — among Tech starters, Gu-
eye’s two-point percentage is just
behind Curtis Haywood II and
James Banks III — and his recent
uptick in playing time has granted
Gueye additional time and space
to showcase his improved form.
As the season continues, Gu-
eye should continue to playing a
significant role on the team and
remain an offensive threat. Al-
though it is his final season at
Tech, the Jackets finally have the
player they hoped to one day un-
lock when they recruited Abdou-
laye Gueye. He has morphed from
a high-upside project into a criti-
cal contributor.
Photo by Sara Schmitt Student Publications
technique • February 8, 2019• 19
HOOPS FROM PAGE 20
The Jackets have seven more
conference games against Pitt,
Wake Forest, Virginia Tech,
Clemson, Virginia, Miami and
Florida State before entering into
the beginning rounds of the ACC
Championships. While the team
has typically shot above 40 per-
cent, games like the match up
against the Wolfpack in which
the Jackets shot 34.4 percent will
hinder a chance at playing in the
NCAA tournament. The team has
shown resilience in rebounding
from early deficits, but an end-to-
end win would do wonders for the
team’s confidence. The Pittsburgh
Panthers were ranked No. 113 in
the nation as of February 2, while
Virginia Tech, Miami and Florida
State were all ranked in the top
100, with the latter two consid-
ered Top 25 squads. In compari-
son, the Jackets were ranked No.
41 in the nation as of Feb. 4.
Although teams such as Wake
Forest and Virginia are not as
highly ranked, the Jackets will
need to bring the consistent drive
that they showed they are capable
of during the wins against a top-
15 team like Syracuse earlier in
the season. With each team in the
conference, even those that are
well out of contention, focused
on building its resume in hopes of
momentum for the next season or
a spot in the postseason this one,
no game will be a quick and easy
win for Tech. That is particularly
true because of the fundamental
errors that have plagued Tech in
some recent games; shooting free
throws at a poor rate will sink
them against almost any team.
The upcoming games against
Pitt, Virginia Tech, Clemson and
Florida State will offer the Jackets
a home court advantage. Whether
they successfully leverage that
advantage will go a long way to
determining where Tech is play-
ing when tournament season rolls
around in a month.
Sports
Against tough foes, women’s hoops face slump
EMILY DYKSTRA
STAFF WRITER
Earlier in the season, it seemed
like Tech’s women’s basketball
team was headed into a strong sea-
son. It was helmed by freshman
guard Elizabeth Balogun and
the returning leadership of junior
guard Francesca Pan and forward
Martine Fortune. Head Coach
Machelle Joseph notched her
300th career win with the Jackets,
and Balogun had established her-
self as ACC Rookie of the Week
before the conference competi-
tions had even begun. Since then,
Balogun has been awarded the
title of ACC Rookie or Freshman
of the Week two more times. She
is accompanied by her peer, fresh-
man forward Elizabeth Dixon,
who was named ACC Co-Rookie
of the Week following games
against Duke and Louisville. But
the wins that rolled in through
a relatively easy non-conference
schedule have dried up as of late.
After a tough loss against the
elite Notre Dame team to start the
semester, the Jackets rebounded
by pushing past Duke with a 70-
64 win. However, the team fell
to Louisville in a showing that
resulted in a final score 61-44, a
lopsided deficit for the Jackets.
Following the loss to the Cardi-
nals, the team lost again, this time
against the Clemson Tigers. In
this defeat, the Jackets narrowed
their losing margin to a 10-point
difference in a final score of 71-61.
After the back-to-back losses
on the road, the Jackets returned
home to McCamish to conquer
Banks picks up where former star Lammers left off
HARSHA SRIDHAR
SPORTS EDITOR
For all the handwringing as
of late — in this section included
— about Tech’s backcourt woes,
not enough has been said about
the fear held by many at the end
of last season: that the loss of Ben
Lammers to graduation would
doom the Jackets’ frontcourt for
at least the 2018-19 campaign.
Lammers, a San Antonio, Tex.
native, spent four years at Tech
and improved from an interesting
but not particularly capable bench
player to an all-conference caliber
defender. His peak was his junior
year, his first under the tutelage
of new head coach Josh Pastner.
Lammers led the conference with
an eye-popping 3.4 blocks per
game, good for third nationally.
His 5.8 win shares made him the
fourth most valuable player in
the ACC, inarguably basketball’s
finest conference. In the 2017-18
campaign, severely hampered by
injuries, Lammers production fell.
But he remained one of the most
important two-way player on a
team that included future first-
round draft pick Josh Okogie. In
the last 35 years, only nine players
have finished their careers at ACC
schools with more blocks than
SPORTS EDITOR:
Harsha Sridhar
ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR:
John Edwards
sports@nique.net
No. 14 Syracuse in a morale-
boosting final score of 65-55, a
game in which the Jackets bottled
up the Orange’s electric Tiana
Mangakahia. The outcome must
have been particularly sweet for
Coach Joseph and her team, given
that Managakahia came just short
of the Carrier Dome’s single-game
scoring record when Tech played
Syracuse on the road last season.
Lorela Cubaj faces resistance from two Syracuse defenders on her way to the basket. Tech’s
win over the Orange is one of the few they have collected in conference play this year.
Lammers. With names like Tim
Duncan on that list, Lammers is
in good company.
In April, they found the player
who would be his replacement.
Decatur, Ga. native James Banks
III, a former four-star prospect
who had tired of his limited play-
ing time at Texas, announced that
he was headed home to Atlanta.
Banks was the second four-star
prospect Pastner had brought to
the flats, along with freshman
guard Michael Devoe. And like
Lammers, Banks was hoping that
the move east would raise his pro-
file and help him meet the lofty
expectations set for a top-100 na-
tional prospect.
It certainly has. In Austin,
Banks found himself trapped be-
hind Jarrett Allen and Mo Bamba
in consecutive seasons, both of
whom are now prized NBA play-
ers. At Tech, Banks is not only
the best option the Jackets have
in the frontcourt but perhaps the
team’s best offensive weapon, pe-
riod. And for the most part he
has shouldered that responsibility
nicely in his first season in Past-
ner’s scheme.
Banks was not even expected
to play for the Jackets during
the 2018-19 season. Transfers are
typically required by the NCAA
to sit out a year when moving to
For Phillip Gresk, a pro tennis career
awaits. First up, though, is ending his
senior season on a high note.418
However, the taste of victory did
not last long as the women lost
to the NC State Wolfpack, who
maintained their undefeated
streak for the season. Last, but not
least, the Jackets narrowly missed
a win over the UNC Tar Heels,
losing 91-90 in a heartbreaking
push to the finish for both teams.
Most recently, Tech traveled
to South Bend, Ind. to compete
James Banks looks to drive to the basket at home against Notre Dame. Out of the shadow
of Texas’ Jarrett Allen and Mo Bamba, Banks has thrived since returning to his home state.
a new school, a rule put in place
to discourage athletes from rashly
jumping ship at the prospect of
immediate playing time else-
where. Banks applied for a waiver,
which was not ruled upon by the
time Tech’s season opener came
around. So he watched from the
sideline as Tech beat Lamar 88-
One Last Ride
against No. 5 Notre Dame. Af-
ter a first half that resulted in a
41-point deficit for the Jackets,
Tech was able to score an addi-
tional 37 points. However, Notre
Dame put up another 36 points to
defeat the Jackets 90-50 in a loss
that revealed the apparent youth
and inexperience of the Tech team,
which Coach Joseph acknowl-
edged after the game. Dixon led
Photo by Casey Gomez Student Publications
69 at McCamish Pavilion, know-
ing full well he might not get the
chance to play until a year from
then. But shortly before Tech’s
next game, on the road against
then-No. 5 Tennessee, Banks’ eli-
gibility was granted. And though
he fouled out after only 16 min-
utes, his contributions to the box
technique
20
Friday,
February 8, 2019
the team with a mere 12 points,
while sophomore forward Lorela
Cubaj put up seven rebounds. The
team shot a paltry 21.7 percent
from the field, while Notre Dame
found itself at a much better 55.9
percent. The Fighting Irish hit
two-thirds of their threes en route
to an easy win.
Amid these recent losses, there
appear to be some perfectly un-
derstandable results and some that
should worry Joseph and her team
if their hope is an NCAA Tour-
nament bid. Losing to the likes
of Louisville and Notre Dame is
understandable; both are power-
house programs, led by star play-
ers who project as excellent pro-
fessional prospects. But dropping
winnable games to the likes of
North Carolina and Clemson, not
to mention facing a 41-point defi-
cit against any team, shows that
the Jackets have a long way to go.
Throughout the aforemen-
tioned games, Balogun has con-
tinued to stay strong and position
herself for accolades with career-
high statistics such as 35 points
in the game against UNC and
31 points in the match up against
NC State. Yet, it has become clear
that a single outstanding fresh-
man cannot carry the team to
victory through scoring points
alone. Even as three Jackets post-
ed double-figure rebounds during
the Clemson game, aspects of the
game such as a 12-for-20 mark at
the free throw line, as opposed to
Clemson’s 19-for-26 showing, are
where the Jackets are falling short
this season: correctable but poten-
tially fatal flaws.
See HOOPS, page 19
Photo by Casey Gomez Student Publications
score were significant. He accu-
mulated seven rebounds — two
of which came off the offensive
glass — made three of his four
free throws and added a field goal,
all in his first real gameplay of the
season. Banks fouled out again
in the next game against Eastern
See BANKS, page 18