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Articles by Sydney Bloeme
One zero-waste swap doesn’t make you a martyr
Metal straws have become a physical marker of activists who care about the environmental and practice zero-waste. This push for metal straws came after a video of a turtle impaled by a plastic straw became viral. But this straw approach is absurd, ineffective and just the tip of the iceberg that is the neoliberal perversion of the zero-waste movement. Global waste is out of control.
Blame capitalism for your caffeine addiction
While many people brag that they don’t do drugs, they forget to mention their morning cup of coffee, a stimulant with effects much like nicotine, cocaine, and meth. According to the journal Food and Chemical Toxicology, 85% of the U.S. population consumes at least one caffeinated beverage per day. But it’s not just coffee. Caffeine can be found in nearly everything — gum, seltzer water, inhalers, pills, even “energy sunflower seeds,” whatever thosethey are.
Changing language, aiding access
The former Office of Disability Services will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act with a new name, better describing their initiative to help the student body. Now, students searching for the Office of Disability Services will be redirected to the Access and Accommodations Center (ACCE). Tina E. Vires, director of the ACCE, said that changing the center’s name became a priority after noticing a disconnect between the center and its reach to students.
The Student Environmental Team welcomes their garden’s first harvest
In the fall of 2018, the Student Environmental Team received a forgotten spot atop Georgia State Stadium for their first official garden after a year of meetings and proposals. Today, that space has been transformed into a lush garden yielding crops, such as tomatoes, melons, cucumbers and more. But surviving a Georgia summer wasn’t as straightforward as previously thought. “The biggest challenge has been water availability,” Marcus McCleary, president of SET, said.
Learn this simple hack and never buy groceries again
It’s already 3:00 p.m. and student Breckwan Oliver has already eaten a full course breakfast consisting of waffles, eggs, sausage and orange juice along with a lunch featuring pizza, wings and cookies — all of which he’s paid absolutely nothing for. Every morning, Oliver scours the bulletin boards and takes notes on the events being hosted and, every evening, wonders the Student Centers looking for student events that may provide food.
Staying in Atlanta this Spring Break? Your Insta will never know.
Photo Illustration by Kirsten Jackson | The Signal This year’s spring break falls perfectly at the start of festival season, so don’t worry if you’re staying home for a staycation – your Instagram feed will never know. Get off Netflix and check out these festivals throughout Georgia for some awesome music, food and drinks. You may find yourself coming home with a new necklace, model train, bucket of chicken wings or profile pic.
Flying solo: how to plan your trip abroad
Although intimidating, traveling alone is the perfect opportunity for young people to build confidence, learn life skills, gain cultural experience and get to know themselves. Planning a trip abroad is a great way to learn to budget and build organizational skills, while the experience of traveling alone can help build self confidence. MAKE A BUDGET The biggest roadblock for many college students and young people looking to gain international experience is money.
Right-handed? Check your privilege.
While left-handed individuals make up 10 percent of the total population, they have been forced to assimilate to a “right is right� centered world and campus through simple accommodations the majority of right-handed individuals never notice.
Who's going to move the rocks?
Last year, Georgia State’s oldest building and home of geosciences, Kell Hall, was set for demolition. The entirety of the Geology Department: all the rocks, chemicals and equipment must be relocated. So, how would over seven floors of history and 10,000 pounds of rocks from all over the world be moved? The Ph.D. student responsible for the move, R. Kirn, has the answer. “A staircase,� he said. Kirn estimated that Kell at its prime hosted more than 10,000 pounds of rock.
Abuse doesn’t have to be as permanent as a tattoo
Many survivors today not only deal with the painful memories of the past, but also with physical markings on their bodies, whether those be branding and tattoos from sex trafficking or scars from physical abuse or drug addiction. These marks left behind serve as a constant reminder and often stand in the way of their progress. Atlanta Redemption Ink is a public program changing this. Nicky is a recent participant who got involved with the program after hearing about it from a friend.
Flex your voting sticker
Every election, Georgians are faced with both a task and prize: Do your civic responsibility and be awarded a glossy sign of democracy, the famous “I’m a Georgia Voter� sticker. You know the drill. Show up, show out and get your sticker. Proudly display that sticker to show others that you care, and they should too. Stickers are so ingrained in voting protocol that some people vote specifically with the added sticker in mind and are upset if they can’t receive one.
Get your freak on and don't freak out
Tricks and treats alike tramp well-heeled and cloven-hooved on Halloween. The city is crawling with fun and waiting to get into trouble. But not too much trouble, as there are still some bumps in the night that could make Tim Burton jump. The holiday is known as a time when dark ghouls crawl slimy from cracks deeper than imagination, but that’s a load of hooey. Georgia State University Police Department Chief, Joseph Spillane, said students don’t need to worry about witches or goblins.
How long until your living room TV is vertical?
It’s 2013 and you have a video project due for school. Acting quickly after waiting until the night before, you run out and shoot all the video that morning and upload it on the family desktop. Once you upload it, those infamous black bars make an appearance, hugging your video’s sides to fit the horizontal screen. You made a drastic mistake: You forgot to turn your phone sideways and record horizontally, and now your grade will suffer. Today, vertical video is popping up everywhere.
Are you allowed to sleep in the library?
There’s nothing quite like a warm nap, snuggled under a blanket and in complete silence during a rainy day. Be sure to double check your iCollege for that beloved “class is canceled� message and after four elevator beeps that feel like an eternity, you’re there—a napper’s paradise, the Library’s fifth floor. Venture out towards Library South, past the work desks, and you’ll see it: he burgundy red chairs aching for your embrace.
What it’s like having a common name among 51,000+ students
The 1990s gave our society the hit movie “Titanic,� Furbies and, according to Social Security card application data, approximately 303,086 Jessicas. Alongside all the Jessicas, society gained 462,314 new Michaels. Within the next decade, Jacob would rise to 273,793 and Emily would climb to 223,658. From 2010 to 2017, Emma took the lead at 158,573. Common names have many benefits and drawbacks.
The community behind the newest hair color craze
The past four years have seen a rise in popularity of bold and bright hair colors. This new form of self expression and counterculture deviates from the norm of dress codes and corporate America’s demanded “natural colors,� in turn leaving us with both bleach burns and detention slips. Today, this trend has climbed its way into the mainstream and while some attitudes have changed, the acceptance hasn’t been universal.
The lost food options on Georgia State’s campus
While we all know packing lunch is the most frugal food option, traveling around campus clutching your wallet is no easy task. Under the Courtland Street Bridge lives a constant, thick aroma of peanut oil and waffle fries, pillaging the underground, soaking your clothing and assaulting your nose. The air is thick with the smell of Chick-fil-A. But it wasn’t always this way.
Get a few pointers about sword fighting from professionals at Clarkston
“It’s not as big as the America’s Got Talent stage, for sure,� Nicole Harsch said whilst walking around stage twirling a three-foot rapier blade and adjusting her tunic. Nicole Harsch and Mike Sakuta are world-famous “stage combat professionals.� They have traveled all across the globe, from Paris, Moscow, Berlin, Canada and the U.S., for their staged combat performances and choreography.
What you smoke can say a lot about you
After the introduction of the vape and the Juul, cigarettes are no longer in vogue, with many different options when it comes to picking your next buzz. These come with pros and cons leading many people with many different options of smoking. Today, smoking devices act as almost an accessory that speak for themselves. To some students, the traditional cigarette is treasured for being just that—traditional.
Typecast on Tinder
“Are you one of those Asian girls that likes white men?� These are the kind of messages Angela Besso, a Korean-American student at Georgia State, regularly receives on Tinder. She said she is constantly barraged with the assumptions people make after seeing how she looks. “An overwhelming amount of men that I do match with, very often point out the fact that I’m Asian and stereotypes that go along with my race,� Besso said.
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