This summer, the SEC announced that it was ending its prohibition on alcohol sales at sanctioned sporting events. While this news made a surprisingly big splash in the sports world, most of the coverage around it was comedic — journalists and fans joking about how badly it could all go wrong come football season.

At first, my reaction was the same. I thought about how difficult it would be to monitor consumption and how rowdy the fanbases are without in-game alcohol sales. Sounds like a recipe for disaster, right?

Still, that position does not hold up well to a more thoughtful examination. In fact, there is plenty of reason to believe that introducing alcohol sales at Tech could provide a lot of benefits.

We can start by addressing the potential hazards. The fact is, people who want to be intoxicated at football games will be intoxicated at football games. Fans, from students to 65 year-old die-hards, have been imbibing on gamedays for as long there have been gamedays. At the moment, this is restricted to pre and post-game tailgates, which only encourages fans to drink excessively and keep a “buzz” on throughout the game.

It is possible that at least some of these individuals would drink just as excessively before the game and then continue drinking throughout the event, but allowing alcohol sales is just as likely to reduce pregame consumption. Granted, it is difficult to imagine the availability of $10 beers during a football game discouraging college students from getting blasted on grain alcohol mixed drinks before the game, but if students are not going to buy alcohol during the game anyways, then allowing alcohol sales will not affect their behavior at all.

There is even some evidence that introducing alcohol sales to college sporting events decreases bad fan behavior. The University of Maryland introduced alcohol sales at sporting events for the 2015-2016 academic year, and according to the Diamondback, drinking-related gameday ejections at football games declined from 61 the year prior to 18 in the first year of sales and 12 in the second. Over the same period, ejections from basketball games declined from 12, to seven, to zero.

This evidence is somewhat anecdotal, but in the 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 seasons, the NCAA conducted a more formal trial, serving alcohol at select post-season events in various sports. The results were a decrease in unruly behavior, often by significant margins.

Based on available evidence, then, alcohol sales are unlikely to worsen fan behavior and they may even improve it. Now for the benefits: alcohol sales would increase revenue for the athletic department while improving the fan-experience and possibly boosting attendance.

Granted, alcohol sales do not always increase profits, at least immediately. When Maryland introduced alcohol at their events, the program actually turned a loss in its first year. While the initiative began generating small profits in its second year, the sales are hardly a cash-cow for the athletic department there.

Still, alcohol sales would boost revenues indirectly by increasing attendance. Additionally, improving the fan experience broadens the fan base and gives the department a larger pool of potential donors and season ticket-buyers.

Although alcohol sales could have a big positive impact on football, if implemented correctly, non-revenue sports could have the most to gain from them. Sports like baseball, softball and women’s basketball constantly struggle to improve attendance, and like it or not, introducing alcohol sales at these events would make them more enticing for students.

Most students do not go to football and basketball games because they are passionate about the sports. Rather, they go because the games are social events that provide a fun all-around experience. The same cannot be said for the students that attend non-revenue sporting events, and alcohol sales could help to change that.

If reasonably-priced drinks were available at a Friday night baseball or softball game, it is easy to imagine those games becoming major campus events that students look forward to and attend for a fun all-around experience, like football games are now.

A critical phrase there is “reasonably-priced.” If alcohol is introduced, it should not just be a gameday feature for alumni who are willing to buy massively overpriced concessions. $10 beer and wine is not going to improve student attendance at Tech’s non-revenue sporting events, but at $3 it just might.

Implementing alcohol sales at non-revenue sports could provide serious benefits for students, fans, the athletic department and even the athletes themselves. In fact, the best solution might be to allow alcohol sales exclusively at these events.

While sales could benefit football and men’s basketball as well, the initiative would also be much more difficult to implement at these larger-scale sporting events than at smaller games, where there are fewer ID’s to check and fewer concession stands to retrofit.

With such a small risk for harm and so many potential benefits, one has to wonder: why shouldn’t Tech introduce alcohol sales?

The historical reasons for banning alcohol sales at athletic events do not justify depriving less popular sports of the increases in engagement and revenue they stand to gain from a change in the policy.

On Saturday, Sept. 14, Scouts@GT hosted its annual Scouts Day. The over 50 scouts in attendance toured of Tech’s Invention Studio and attended a tailgate as well as the football game at historic Bobby Dodd Stadium. Most importantly, the scouts worked to complete their Engineering Merit Badge.

Although engineering is typically not thought of in conjunction with scouting, Scouts@GT is working to blend the two domains together. The Engineering Merit Badge, designed to introduce scouts to an overview of engineering, requires mastery of a wide array of topics in engineering, its history and advancements and careers in engineering.

Scouts@GT even plans to coordinate the Sustainability Merit Badge as part of their Scout Day for next fall. Donald Gee, a 2nd-year CE Major and President of Scouts@GT, shared how his involvement with the Scouts introduced him to his current field of study.

“My Eagle Scout project involved creating a small wetland,” said Gee. “My experiences in Scouts sparked my interest in sustainability and engineering.”

Local scoutmaster with Troop 370 Jeff Hunt further explained this drive to integrate scouting and engineering as resulting from participant demand within the student troop members.

“Historically the reputation of scouting as being low tech may be founded, but not anymore,” said Hunt. “Scouting is inherently boy led, and so it’s our job as adult leaders to help make what they want happen.”

With STEM-based merit badges (including the engineering merit badge), more STEM and technology friendly activities and outings. In fact, a recently started troop leadership position involves educating the troop about technology safety and helping to incorporate a modern edge into activities called the “Webmaster.” Hunt even reported that his troop held a camp out revolving around drones and their technology.

Scouts@GT has also organized other events and merit badge classes for local scouts to further reveal the way in which scouting and engineering can be linked.

In fact, Tech has a Scouting Alumni group of 1600 Eagle Scouts across the student body, along with thousands of both Boy and Girl Scouting Alumni. Former scouts in Tech’s faculty have led the astronomy and chemistry merit badges, among others.

“A lot of 18 to 25-year-olds in the United States don’t stay involved Scouts. People become Eagle Scouts and then they leave the program. I knew, for me, that I wanted to stay involved,” said Gee.

Through Scouts@GT, Gee — as well as other members — have been able to integrate their interests in scouting and engineering. They have also been able to continue their involvement with service and high adventure activities. The club aims to connect those who want to live by the Scout Oath and Law which emphasizes tenants within the organization.

The ideals of wellness, leadership and service that make up the fundamental pillars of scouting are strived for by many at Tech — as is the endeavor to blend engineering with other disciplines. With no prior experience needed to join, Scouts@GT offers one avenue to work towards the achievement of these ideals and to blend different disciplines together through teaching the next generation of Tech students.

Tech football had performed just above expectations entering their third game of the season. No sane analyst would have picked Tech to beat Clemson, but the Jackets managed to squeak out a victory against a USF team on roughly equal footing. Entering last Saturday, an even record was an above-average outcome for a Jackets team predicted by many to be the worst team in the ACC Coastal. Then the roof fell in, and Tech lost to its first non-FBS opponent in over three decades.

There is no sugarcoating the fact that, as bad as Tech was forecast to be, they should have won. Tech was favored by 26 points in Vegas. Tech players has access to far more resources and experienced personnel than any Citadel player might. Tech was playing at home in front of a friendly crowd. I repeat: Tech should have won.

Tech losing to Clemson was business as usual. Tech losing to The Citadel was not. Clearly, something went wrong on Saturday, and we were left scrambling.

Postgame, Geoff Collins took the blame for Tech’s woes with the whistle — the Jackets gave up 80 yards on eight penalties after combining just four penalties in their first two games against Clemson and USF. “That’s on me and we’ll get that fixed, because it was really clean football the first two weeks of the season, and then today, for whatever reason, there were some costly penalties that affected the outcome of the game.” And indeed, there were a number of factors at play in the game — the penalties, Tech’s decimated offensive line, a late-game mistake by the referees — that helped doom Tech to the upset loss.

But there was more at play than a few bad breaks and hot tempers for the Jackets, and that loss was more than the “bump in the road” that Collins called it postgame. Tech’s offense has still struggled to find its footing, and the defense looked thoroughly unprepared to play against The Citadel’s option — despite the fact that Tech, prior to Collins’ tenure, ran the option for more than a decade.

Linebacker David Curry called The Citadel the better team postgame, but also indicated that he did not feel as though Collins and the coaching staff paid as much attention to preparing as they should have in preparing for The Citadel. “The coach is very focused on everything that he does. I don’t think that this week there was good attention [paid] to every detail, like we should, and it showed up today,” said Curry.

This might be a familiar refrain for Collins, who, as Temple head coach last year, lost to Villanova, an FCS team like The Citadel, in the Owls’ season opener despite having all off-season to prepare. With a bye-week following The Citadel game, there was no reason for Collins to have been slacking on the details. But that was actually not the case — Tech’s defensive play-calling forced the Bulldogs to the perimeter during the option, but the Jackets seemed flummoxed with defending the perimeter. It is a damning indictment of Tech’s coaching staff that The Citadel — playing the last portion of the game with their backup QB — put up 350 yards against a defense that has practiced against their specific offensive scheme for much of their entire college careers.

Collins also talked about the bigger picture postgame. “When you just look at the loss today, it’s going to hurt. And it’s going to look bad. And I’ve got to imagine, I’m going to look bad. And that’s fine. I can take it. I understand what this program is going to look like and what this program is going be.” This is a rebuilding year for the program, and everyone involved, especially Collins, understands that. But for all of Collins’ focus on the bigger picture, he cannot lose sight of the details.

The smallest of leaks will sink the biggest of ships — and Collins took on a lot of water Saturday. Grab a bucket and start bailing.

If you were to look at my Instagram feed a year ago, you would have seen pictures from people I attended high school with (whom I had not seen since graduation), ‘finsta’ posts of those same people complaining about trivial things — like how their name was spelled wrong on their Starbucks cup — an array of influencers who are ridiculously rich for no reason and a whole lot of drag queens.

I knew there was something wrong with my social media, but I could not quite put my finger on it yet. I was constantly deleting my apps and taking “breaks” from my accounts on an almost monthly basis. I told myself that I deleted the apps to be more productive towards my school work, but deep down I knew that I had an incredibly toxic relationship with social media.

A scroll through my Instagram feed used to be a form of self-torture. I was forcing myself to engage with people’s posts who I was irrelevant to and had no real connection or shared interest with. Everyone seemed to be more social, more fit, more wealthy, more popular and overall more interesting than me.

I was obsessed with following along with the busy lives of social media influencers and my own small town celebrities. I had an acute fear that if I were to unfollow these people I would face some sort of social repercussion for not being able to readily discuss Kylie Jenner’s most recent post or tweet.

That fear vanished within my first semester of college, when I realized there were bigger and better things to talk about. Thus began a mass unfollowing and following spree for me. For years my Instagram had been tailored towards images of what I thought I wanted in life: tinier waist, popularity and perfectly filtered photographs. Now, my feed looks more like me.

I knew I would never look like a Kardashian, so why would I flood my timeline with images of something unattainable when I could be getting inspiration from people that actually look like me? That is when I found the wonderful world of plus-size social media. It seems so simple, but it had never occurred to me to follow people my size.

The first plus size influencer I followed was @pasyshia, a fashionista based in Minnesota. Seeing someone of similar proportions consistently post in incredibly cute outfits, and seeing her have an immense following because of it, was a game changer for me.

I could not believe the vast admiration, appreciation and support the plus size social community generated and I could not believe I had not been a part of it until now. This complete overhaul of my social media platforms was long overdue.

Now, if I am abruptly stopping my scrolling and clicking out of the app it is not because I saw something that made me upset. Most of the time, it is because I am rushing to the website to cop the same Torrid dress I just saw one of my favorite plus size models wearing in a post.

Similarly, diversifying my followings and creating a social community based on my interests has left me in a better mood and my feeds more inspired.

If you look at my Instagram feed now, you will see more creative photography, plus-size beauties, literary memes and, most importantly, even more drag queens.

So the next time you feel like you need to take a social media break, I encourage you to reevaluate who and what you are following and consider breaking up with them instead.

Despite the disappointing lineup this year, thousands rushed to Piedmont Park on Sept. 14 and 15 to experience the annual Music Midtown festival. The 2019 crowd as a whole seemed much younger, drawn to artists such as Billie Eilish and Jaden Smith. Pictured are some of the best acts in the linup this year, including Lizzo, Billie Eilish and MØ.

Lizzo really was “100% that bitch.” Her performance garnered arguably the largest crowd for a non-headliner and she reveled in the attention during her set. Lizzo was an act at Midtown in 2017 and expressed great pride in her progress as an artist.

MØ gave an impressive performance and surprised fans by walking through the crowd. Billie Eilish, though, was a letdown. Her microphone was extremely quiet and made it difficult to hear her act, even from up close.

Fans report it was nice to see her make a return to the city following her performance last year, but left without the brilliant performance they expected to see. Despite the auditory troubles, the visuals of her show were a very nice touch.

Quinn XCII was incredible but had a small crowd. It would be nice, for next year, to have some more artists at the middle level like Quinn XCII to transition between lesser-known and more popular artists. BANKS, like Quinn XCII, was stunning, with her choreography being the highlight of her hour-long set.

Travis Scott drew a huge crowd that was incomparable to that gathered by any other artist — including Cardi B. The fans his set was tailored to proved to be similar to the overall demographics of the attendees of the festival as a whole: young, white high-schoolers who vape heavily.

Finally, Panic! at the Disco could be heard nearly all the way down Piedmont Avenue. Despite the unnecessarily high volume, their performance was unbelievably good.

The Lumineers do more than defend their title as storytelling heavyweights in their third full-length album “III.” The album is told from the point of view of a multi-generational family whose lives ultimately intertwine. The Lumineers rely on the strong characterization of fictional people to take listeners on a journey through three different lifetimes. The band also created a short film to accompany each song while also splitting the album into three different chapters, one for each family member. The album and short film cover the addiction, mental illness and crime that plague the fictional Sparks family.

The first chapter begins with Gloria, the matriarch of the Sparks family. “Donna” is the first song featured on the album and delicately balances with a sound that begins as lullaby-like and slowly grows into a more aggressive piano-heavy song. The vocals are unrefined and gritty, which adds to the rawness of the song. The lyrics describe Gloria Sparks, the daughter of Donna with lines like “You love to judge strangers’ karma / We drove from New Jersey / The trucks always made you worry.” The characterization is so vivid that it allows listeners to get a sense of who each character is in a matter of just a few lines. The lyrics in “Donna” wonderfully set the stage for the songs that follow.

The next song off the album, “Life in the City,” continues to follow the life of Gloria Sparks and her adventures in New York City. She uses the city as a getaway and a place to escape being a mother to her son and a bored housewife. Musically, the track is full of build-up and breaks in music as if to show time passing. The upbeat sound is juxtaposed with the melancholic lyrics like, “And if the subways flood and bridges break / Will you just lay down and dig your grave? / Or will you rail against your dying day?” The lyrics describe Gloria’s demons as something that she cannot run away from no matter how far she gets away from home.

“Gloria,” named after the protagonist battling alcoholism, has a carefree sound yet describes the detrimental impact her addiction has had on her loved ones. The first two lines of the song, “Gloria, I smell it on your breath / Gloria, booze and peppermint” emphasize her desperate attempts to mask her drunkenness.

The track has a grassroots and earthy vibe while also keeping up with the storytelling nature of the album as a whole. The repetition of “Gloria” at the beginning of questions directed at the protagonist shows the frequency of her destructive behavior and how often it gets in the way of her being a mother.

During the second part of the tracklist, the album jumps to the third generation and covers the destructive grandson of Gloria, Junior with the song “It Wasn’t Easy to Be Happy for You.” The song title doubles as the chorus and tells the story of Jimmy being left by his girlfriend for another man. His tale proves that his grandmother’s addiction and mental illness was passed down to other generations as well.

A standout track from third and final part of the album is “My Cell” which is told by the now-adult son of Gloria, Jimmy. The song is raw and simple. The vocals are strained, whispered and almost sound like the vocalist is holding back tears. The lyrics “My cell/ My pretty little cell” are echoed over and over again, creating the feeling that the song was recorded in an empty house. Jimmy reflects on his life, how he wound up all alone and the current state of his relationship with his son and ex-wife.

The Lumineers do not disappoint with “III” and find a way to captivate listeners through anecdotal lyrics and an authentic alternative-folk sound.

“Hustlers” is a survey of the mind of a criminal who the viewer does not see as the bad guy. It is an in-depth look at the construction and destruction of female friendships. It is a one-of-a-kind story that has quite possibly the best cast of the year.

It is also a movie about strippers. Before 2008, strip dancing was a highly profitable business. Men as rich as those on Wall Street would come to clubs and spend tens of thousands of dollars in a single night. This is around the time when Ramona — played by Jennifer Lopez (“Maid in Manhattan,” “The Cell”) — and Destiny — played by Constance Wu (“Crazy Rich Asians,” “Fresh Off the Boat”) — meet.

They become instant friends with the expertly talented, mama-bear type Ramona taking newcomer Destiny under her wing as her protegé. Things go well for a time — Destiny and Ramona are making money and becoming close with the women alongside them, not because they happen to work together, but because of the work they do together. But then the recession hits in 2008, and things immediately start to change. The new dancers will give blowjobs for an extra couple hundred bucks, everyone in the industry is either Russian or a model (or both) and the era of prosperity and friendship is over for women like Destiny and Ramona. This leads to the formation of a new enterprise, one where the women have gained the upper hand over their male customers.

With Ramona’s people skills and Destiny’s business sense, the two women decide to embark on a “robin hood” scheme to steal back the money Wall Street plundered from the working class.

The plan involves staking out high class restaurants for men who look rich. This does not simply mean men who have expensive-looking suits, because anyone can splurge on a suit. No, these men have the watches, the shoes, the means to drink and even the wedding rings.

The next step is the tricky one, but in this case, “tricky” is a loose term that also encompasses the phrase “highly illegal.” The ex-strippers approach the newly-found target, flirt, order drinks and, as soon as the rest of the “sisters” in Ramona and Destiny’s tightly-knit crew would arrive, slip a calculated combination of ketamine and MDMA into the target’s drink.

The rest of the plan is relatively simple — convince the now incapacitated men to come to the club and max out their credit cards with no regrets.

Writer and director Lorene Scafaria (“Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist,” “The Meddler”) does an incredible job of adapting the 2014 New York magazine article the film is based on into the film the viewer sees today. The true story comes across in the hour and fifty minute movie in a terrifyingly accurate manner — almost word-for-word in some instances.

Although Scafaria’s screenplay is stuffed with countless cannot-make-this-up details straight from the source, the closeness of Ramona and Destiny’s relationship appears to be pretty heavily exaggerated. The bond between these women, however inaccurate, does add some needed emotional depth to the horrifyingly amoral attitudes some of the women hold toward the felonies they are committing.

The lighting and cinematography of the film is stunning. The vibrant purples and neons pop; the ostentatious furs and clanging jewelry set the scene for how much money these women are dealing with; but it is not all glamorous. Scafaria made sure to include the streaky hair dye, the cigarette smoking, the gaudy piercings and tattoos. She also managed to separate the film from others with similar settings and — namely, strip clubs and strippers — with the beautiful classical score. Some of the most thrilling sequences in the whole movie are made so impactful because of the uniqueness of having classical music play alongside them.

Yes, the score also has contributions from Usher and Cardi B — both on the soundtrack and the screen — but the movie is not dominated by one genre of music, similar to the film’s overall comedy-drama-tragedy spread.

Even though Lili Reinhart and Keke Palmer’s comedy capabilities are showcased spectacularly, Scafaria builds tension like a Tarantino movie, and Lopez’s performance has been generating Oscar-buzz, there are some flaws with the film. Namely, the biggest issue is the organization. With Adam McKay as an executive producer, one might expect some of the fun edits that made the Big Short so great — especially considering that the topics of the two films are somewhat similar — but unfortunately these wishes go unfulfilled.

More diverse cuts and editing techniques would help alleviate the occasional repetitiveness of the stripping and Wall Street montages, because they do take up a good portion of the middle of the film.

Fun, sultry and empowering, this movie is an exhilerating thrill ride. Still, “Hustlers” manages to keep a layer of melancholy beneath its surface so that the viewer does not forget the wrongfulness of what these women are doing.

At the same time, though, the viewer cannot help but want them to win in some instances because their situations in life are too depressing to think about otherwise.

Plus, a lot of the men they manipulate are, in fact, somewhat deserving; these are the people who got away with the 2008 recession scot-free. Almost universally, they have wives and children yet go to strip clubs. They do not even respect or appreciate the very wealth they for which they are targeted. But, then again, that is not all of the victims. Some are sorrowful divorcees who are so pathetic, the women almost feel bad for stringing them along for new MacBooks.

The constant push and pull between who the viewer is rooting for in the movie make the whole experience that much more enticing — the viewer feels what the women feel: the intoxicating freedom and joy of the heist, in addition to the consistent voice in the back of one’s head, almost shaming the viewer for enjoying it. The tension-filled, girl-power-infused, nail-biter defies any and all expectations through the complexity of the characters and the story. The economics are relevant, the fashion is terrifying and the two hours the viewers spends in the theater will leave them thinking for weeks on end.

A look into the action and inaction from the Institute over the past two years

Editor’s note: A previous version of this story listed Scout’s major as chemical and biomolecular engineering. The piece has been corrected, stating their major as computer engineering.

Two years ago, Tech changed forever. On Sept. 16, 2017, Scout Schultz was shot and killed by Georgia Tech Police Department (GTPD) Officer Tyler Beck in an incident that captured national attention, ignited campus criticism and spurred discussions on changes to mental health policies on college campuses.

At the time of their death, Schultz was a fourth-year ECE student. Schultz identified as non-binary and intersex and was a champion for LGBTQIA activism in all forms. Schultz had excellent grades and was president of the Pride Alliance. But Schultz struggled with their mental health; before their death, they wrote three different suicide notes which were left in the student’s West Campus dorm.

The campus community has attempted to adapt and heal over the last two years — healing that has taken various forms with varying degrees of success. For example, GTPD armed officers with nonlethal weapons and implemented more mental health and crisis intervention training. Through partnership with vocal student leaders, Tech’s administration promised to make changes on campus; some promises have been successfully implemented, but others have lacked follow through.

Hovering in the periphery of these conversations is the hope that some sense of closure can be gained through the eventual release of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) inquiry into the details of Schultz’s death.

The Investigation

Because Schultz died in an officer-involved shooting, many of the details surrounding their death are still unknown to the public. After the incident, the GBI collected evidence over the course of a few months and turned the case over to the Fulton County District Attorney (DA) office. The DA will make a decision on whether or not to pursue charges against Beck and if the case should be brought in front of a grand jury.

When asked if there was an update for when the DA’s investigation would be complete, a representative from the DA’s office stated: “Not at this time.”

“Myself and many chiefs in the country would like it to happen a lot quicker — for Scout’s family, for the officer, for the community,” said GTPD Chief of Police Robert Connolly.

“For it to be two years now and we still haven’t seen a grand jury case, that’s doing a disservice to everyone. We would like the grand jury a lot faster — to get to the facts, to get to the details, because you’re leaving a lot of lives out there.”

After the events of Sept. 16, 2017, Beck was placed on administrative leave while Connolly reviewed the incident based on the Georgia Department of Public Safety’s use of force policy, which states that “the central inquiry in every use of force case is whether the amount of force used by the member was objectively reasonable in light of the particular circumstances perceived by the member [officer]” (Policy 10.01.4 B).

Based on evidence that was available to him, Connolly determined that Beck had acted appropriately under the circumstances, and therefore, Beck was permitted to return to work. Beck has been performing administrative duties ever since, but does not patrol.

The Schultz family announced in a press conference on Sept. 12, 2019 that they had filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the school, the Board of Regents and Beck. They claim that Schultz was experiencing a mental health crisis and that the officers on the scene were not properly trained to handle such a situation.

“It never should have happened,” said L. Chris Stewart, an attorney representing the Schultz family. “Sadly, Scout was having a mental breakdown — something we all have sometimes.”

“No parent likes to lose a kid,” said Bill Schultz, father of Scout. “Tyler Beck killed my kid. That’s the bottom line.”

Institute relations representatives said they could not speak about the suit, citing pending litigation.

The Technique filed an Open Records Act request on Aug. 27 for information on Beck’s employment status. At the time of publishing, Institute’s legal team had not complied with the request.

The Action Teams

While waiting for the results of the investigation, the Tech community has had considerable time to identify and implement changes. The primary sources of these changes were action teams formed shortly after Schultz’s death.

“I believe that the concerns raised by the student leaders, faculty and others can be placed into four broad categories — student mental health, including a focus on both counseling and psychiatric services; campus culture; LGBT+ community issues; and campus safety,” stated an email from President Emeritus G. P. “Bud” Peterson that was sent to the campus community on Sept. 23, 2017.

“Based upon the discussions already held and those I will be having in the next few days, I will be appointing, within the week, four Institute-wide “Action Teams,” each focusing on one of these four areas.”

An update from Peterson on Oct. 2, 2017, stated that “the formation and charge of the Campus Safety Action Team has been delayed, however, pending the completion of the investigation by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.”

The action teams were later reworked into three focus areas, under different names: student and community life, academics and health and well-being. Notably, this reorganization of the action teams removed an LGBTQIA-focused group. Together, the three teams provided more than 180 recommendations, which were distilled into 55 action-oriented objectives.

Information about the status of each objective can be found at gatech.edu/path-forward-together.

Despite the failure to form a campus safety action team, there has been progress. Among the completed objectives is an expanded LGBTQIA resource center, which moved from a small office to a full suite in the Smithgall Student Services building in August of 2018.

“Part of Scout’s mental health issues were largely part of their oppression as an intersex, non-binary, bisexual person,” said Naiki Kaffezakis, an NRE Ph.D. and close friend of Schultz. Kaffezakis, a vocal student activist, recognizes that significant improvements have been made, but she insists that more work needs to be done to ensure marginalized groups on campus are lifted up.

The center aims to provide a safe space for LGBTQIA students and runs educational programming to educate the campus community about queer lives and concerns. In addition, gender-inclusive housing is now available and single-occupancy restrooms have been implemented in 63 buildings on campus.

The mental health action team responded to calls for easier access to mental health resources by creating the Center for Assessment, Referral, and Education (CARE). The CARE center opened ahead of schedule in August 2019 and is now the first point of contact for students who require mental health support.

“Students tell us they’re proud of the rigor because you got into a really tough school and you’re getting out with a really amazing degree,” said Lynn Durham, former chief of staff for President Emeritus Peterson and current vice president of institute relations. Durham headed the action team initiative. “[The rigor] comes along with a lot of pressure. How can we get our faculty to understand the pressure that you all are under? What can we do to just be more humane in how that is?”

Efforts to adjust academic attitudes came in the form of an expanded “freshman forgiveness” that allows all undergraduate students to retake up to two classes in which they received a grade of D or F.

While other teams made strides to improve upon the areas they had identified, promises for the eventual creation of the campus safety action team never came to fruition. Peterson sent an update on Dec. 6, 2017, about the progress the teams had made; absent was any mention of the campus safety action team, and all mentions of this team were also removed from the website.

Durham stated that the team originally intended to focus on general relations between police and students, but not the events surrounding Schultz’s death. Under advisement from Tech attorneys, the administration decided to cancel the action team altogether. The student body received no update.

“People were so hurt, and it was such a traumatic event that [an action team] couldn’t help but go into that,” Durham said. “So the lawyers said that really until the legal issues are resolved on this, we don’t feel you should have the campus safety [action team].”

The Student Government

In the absence of administrative action, the Student Government Association (SGA) decided to step up and create a Campus Safety Advisory Board. The idea was brought up by the administration of Evan Gillon, former SGA President. It was implemented by Pooja Juvekar, current SGA president, and Kathryn Otte, vice president of campus services, just a few weeks ago.

The first meeting of the Campus Safety Advisory Board took place on Sept. 3; among those in attendance were Connolly, Kaffezakis, Vice President of Student Life John Stein and various student and staff representatives. The advisory board aims to eventually become the formal conduit of communication between students and other safety-related departments on campus.

“It can allow us to have an avenue to hold GTPD and administration accountable in the realm of not just what happened with Scout in 2017, but also moving forward,” said Juvekar. “It’s a way for students to basically pulse check the progress of Path Forward.”

The advisory board is still in its infancy; the first task is learning more about how GTPD is trained to handle mental health issues and identifying actionable items in order to improve campus safety in a variety of ways.

Shortly after Schultz’s death, SGA and the Institute made an agreement to create a Mental Health Joint Allocation fund. SGA and Tech would each contribute $500,000 for long-term mental health projects. This fund has been used to fund after-hours on-call counselor and student conferences, among other things. Genny Kennedy, president of Pride Alliance, indicated that her organization had submitted a proposal for funding of a memorial bench for Scout. Kennedy said that administration had failed to put up their half of the $10,000 and that Pride Alliance had to ask SGA to fund the whole thing.

“The total cost for the memorial bench is $10,000,” stated the proposal for the remaining amount that was submitted to SGA. “Of this amount, $5,000 has been secured. There has been no effort to create a positive memorial. The only physical memorial to remember Scout by is a stain on the sidewalk.”

The Police

GTPD has been quietly working over the last two years to improve their ability to handle mental health crises. Every officer has had additional training on mental health crises as well as training on LGBTQIA issues.

At the time of Schultz’s death, GTPD officers had received some mental health training. One such program is Conflict Intervention Training (CIT), which according to CIT International is intended to help officers understand common signs and symptoms of mental illnesses, recognize a crisis situation, safely de-escalate individuals experiencing behavioral health crises and utilize community resources and diversion strategies to provide assistance.

Beck, as well as several other officers who responded to the incident, did not have CIT certification, because it was not required. Each officer now has CIT training, Mental Health First Aid training and Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR) suicide prevention trainings.

Additionally, GTPD purchased a simulator with 800 different scenarios that officers are required to use at least once a month. The immersive simulator aims to put officers under realistic levels of stress and evaluate their ability to act appropriately in a variety of situations, including when an individual is undergoing a mental health crisis.

Mental health crises become more pronounced on campus around finals season, when both GTPD and Tech’s on-campus mental health resources begin to get a lot of calls from students who are struggling. In the spring 2019 semester, GTPD partnered with the Georgia Crisis and Action Line and put a clinician in the car with every officer that responded to a mental health call. Connolly said GTPD received great feedback and will continue the finals week adjustments in the future.

The Aftermath

“Scout’s friends are still here. Anniversaries are hard,” said Kaffezakis. She knows that the suit from Schultz’s family will once again bring Tech into the spotlight. “Once we have survived that, once we have answers, once we know what’s going to happen to Tyler Beck … I would like to know that the person that killed my best friend isn’t still working in this community. It’s not going to let the community heal.”

This week has been a tough one for many students, as they spent time remembering Schultz and bracing for increased media coverage. For so many whose lives were impacted by them, it is imperative that what happened to Scout Schultz is never forgotten.

Those who like to laugh out loud while learning about comedy culture through the witty banter of dueling comedians will certainly enjoy “Good Talk with Anthony Jeselnik.” In the new series, stand-up comedian Anthony Jeselnik interviews a series of friends from the world of comedy. He is known for being offensive with his material, which sometimes loses him some fans, but does not intimidate his comedian counterparts.

In the premiere episode, Jeselnik is joined by Nick Kroll. Kroll is a comedian who performs improv and previously starred in his own series “The Kroll Show.” He is also known for the Broadway show “Oh, Hello!” and “Big Mouth,” the animated Netflix series of which he is co-creator and star voice actor.

Interview formats are common in entertainment, whether it be talk shows, podcasts or articles. “Good Talk” sets itself apart from those in three main ways.

The first is its humor. It certainly is not the only interview-style show to be hosted by a comedian, but it is one of few where comedy is the focus and is not restricted by daytime TV regulations. Even the intros and outros to and from commercial break have odd tones and bookend the ads with the show’s characteristic sarcasm.

The second is that the interviewer and interviewee are experts in the same field. When Jeselnik asks Kroll about his comedic influences, the two can bounce off of each other when discussing “Wayne’s World.” Specifically, they are able to discuss their respect and experience with Dana Carvey.

The third thing that sets “Good Talk” apart from the rest of the pack is the friendship between Jeselnik and his guests. Though they may not be the best of friends, their experience with each other’s style makes the interview feel more conversational even while still clearly largely scripted. Their comfort with each other aides in the transition between joke and legitimate question and answer.

The show includes goofy bits like a game called “Actual Turtle or Turtle From ‘Entourage’?” in which Jeselnik describes a turtle and the guest has to guess whether the description was of an actual turtle or the character Turtle from the TV show “Entourage.”

In contrast with this quite simple game, the end of the episode features a game called “Agree or Disagree” in which Kroll has to state his position on some debatable topics within the entertainment world. To the question of whether or not to react to internet comments, Kroll references Maya Angelou in saying essentially “If you don’t pick up the compliments then you don’t have to pick up the criticism either.” And just as the episode reaches a new level of depth, Jeselnik comes back with “But doesn’t Maya Angelou deserve all the s*** she gets.” Still, the emotional and deep side of the show is not entirely over.

In a final segment titled “Making God Laugh,” Jeselnik asks Kroll about his relationship with Brody Stevens, a comedian and friend who died by suicide at the age of 48 earlier this year.

Those who do not like being ping-ponged between comedy and deep discussion and laughing at dark things will probably not enjoy this show. It isn’t joke after joke as Jeselnik says of “Big Mouth,” but it is an impressively humorous approach to discussing someone’s life and career in comedy. Viewers should not expect stand-up, but they should expect to laugh and to learn something new about a comedian.

Future episodes feature Kristen Schaal, Kumail Nanjiani and others. The show airs Fridays at 11 p.m. on Comedy Central.

Alternative-pop trio Muna sparkles and dispels the sophomore album jinx with “Saves the World.” With each member identifying as a part of the LGBTQ community, inclusivity and acceptance have always been an important theme in their music.

Muna manages to address sensitive subjects all while setting it to a rock-synth backdrop. The lack of pronouns used during this album creates a gender-fluid atmosphere that any listener feels comfortable stepping into. “You” is used more often than “him” or “her” making the album feel personal, like a letter written to the listener rather than a story about someone else. This album soundtracks the life of twenty-somethings reminiscing on the “good-ole-days” while also realizing that they are living through some of the best days of their lives.

The album begins with “Grow,” a light and ballad-like intro featuring spoken word vocals. The singer’s voice is haunting and angelic as they yearn to grow up and “take this song off repeat.” It is a perfect opening to the delicate and self-reflective qualities of the rest of the album. Muna’s first single “Number One Fan” offers an upbeat and electronic sound juxtaposed with more serious lyrics that detail anxiety and feelings of inadequacy.

The track “Stayaway” discusses the ending of a relationship and how the hardest part is not leaving that person, but rather not later going back to them. Its raw and honest lyrics cut deep. They recount all the little things that have to change in order to get over someone — “If I go out dancing then I put on music / If I put on music then I play your song / If I play your song then I think I’ll lose it.” Another standout track, “Who,” similarly looks back on a past toxic partner and questions how they have already found themselves in a seemingly perfect new relationship with someone else. Both of these songs dive deep into the aches and pains that come with reflecting back on a relationship ending and examine the unconscious need to compare oneself to an ex’s new partner.

“Taken,” an upbeat tune that sounds strikingly similar to Kelly Clarkson’s dated “Breakaway,” deals with infidelity and wanting to be with someone only because they are taken. It forces the vocalist to reevaluate why they wanted to be with that person in the first place. Lines like “I just thought that if I could take you from her / Maybe then it would prove that I’m worth something” are heartbreaking and drip with vulnerability. “Memento” similarly looks back on the scars figuratively and literally left from past relationships. The lyric “I’m glad it left a mark” lingers as it is repeated on top of a beat and synthesizer-heavy track.

The album closes with “It’s Gonna Be Okay, Baby” which details the trials, tribulations, and experimentation that comes with being in one’s twenties. It also tackles heavy topics like mental illness, drug addiction and self-reflection. This song has the special ability to make the listener laugh and cry all within the same verse. Muna finds a way to write lyrics like “You’ll have some all-time nights / Dancing outside with LCD on the speaker / And you’re drinking dark pink wine / Yeah, and you’re gonna lose those friends” that are both specific and relatable. Although these verses deal with melancholic themes it is interjected with the chorus, “It’s Gonna Be Okay, Baby” which is said over and over again and each time seeps in a little more. This song reads like a big sister calling home and giving advice. “It’s Gonna Be Okay, Baby” brilliantly ties the album together and is the perfect closer.