Review:

Though for most of us “exciting” and “compelling” aren’t the first adjectives we’d use to describe chess, “The Queen’s Gambit” not only entices watchers but makes a binge-worthy watch.

The Netflix original follows Beth Harmon on her journey as she loses her mother and is sent to the Methuen Home, an orphanage for girls. This is where she eventually comes to realize her love and natural ability for chess. She is adopted and eventually grows to enter competitions.

As the story progresses, we watch Beth grow into a master chess player while facing the challenges of becoming a woman. Beth has to deal with her first period, the awkward presence of older men and coming-of-age traditions — some typical, and some not so typical. All the while, the stakes are rising with each chess competition.

Eventually we find ourselves rooting for Beth not only in her chess career but also her development as a character. This show deals with the hard stuff — unrequited love, drug and alcohol addiction, loneliness and loss of loved ones, and it does it very well.

“The Queen’s Gambit” was written and directed by Scott Frank, who adapted the show from the novel with the same namesake by Walter Tevis. From camera movement to costume choice, the period-film felt natural and sturdy.

Mike Hale, writer for New York Times, writes, “Frank wraps it all up in a package that’s smart, smooth and snappy throughout, like finely tailored goods.”

Overall, “The Queen’s Gambit” is a perfect bite-size show able to be binged within a few days and wrapped up at the end with no need for a sequel.

If you like coming-of-age stories, suspense, drama, the thrill of sports, or period-films, “The Queen’s Gambit” should find its way to the top of your watch list.

Two of the biggest tech companies, Microsoft and Sony, just launched their newest game consoles, the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5, respectively. Unfortunately, scalpers are already trying to take advantage by reselling the gaming systems for as much as double the original price. Scalping and price gouging are serious issues, especially in the gaming community, that need to have more serious consequences.

The Xbox Series X launched Nov. 10 and the PS5 launched on Nov. 12 earlier this year. By the release day, scalpers were already trying to sell the stock they managed to secure by utilizing the pre-order function both Microsoft and Sony offer.

At the beginning of quarantine, students turned to video games to keep in touch with their loved ones, and several months later, this is still the case.

In late March, Nintendo released “Animal Crossing New Horizons,” taking the younger generations by storm. ACNH was the perfect game to escape to a remote island with cute islander friends. Mass uncertainty and extra free time drew highschoolers and college students to the game, and ACNH’s sales surpassed the expected. Not only was ACNH the best selling game of the Animal Crossing series, it was the “third-best launch for any Nintendo game ever, following Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Super Smash Bros. Brawl,” according to Mike Minotti, writer and manager for VentureBeat.com.

Scalpers also took advantage during ACNH’s height, buying out Nintendo Switch consoles, and selling them for $600, double the $299 retail price.

It seems scalpers are taking advantage of the pandemic to exploit consumers. Many people turn to virtual worlds to escape their daily lives and the comfort that can be found in nostalgic gameplay.

Although scalping has always been a problem, this exploitation tactic hits harder than even amidst a pandemic. People should stop buying new items just to sell them at a higher price for personal gain, especially if that product is valuable to one’s physical or mental health.

The United States is almost a full year into dealing with COVID-19 and most people still haven’t fully adjusted. With holidays right around the corner and a vaccine still months away, many are questioning what it means to celebrate the holidays this year.

Thanksgiving is a holiday notorious for bringing family and friends together and recounting the blessings of the year. Sitting around the table laughing and being close to loved ones seems like a distant memory.

This year our health is a number one priority, so how can we celebrate Thanksgiving while staying safe?

Online student, Mallory Hobson, said her family is doing a virtual Thanksgiving dinner to ensure the well-being of their family. Everyone will enjoy their meals while connecting over FaceTime or Zoom, so nobody is at risk. It seems like a perfect solution so long as everyone’s internet connection holds up.

When asked how they felt about the change for dinner this year, Hobson said, “It’s a downer that I can’t see my family in-person, but we will still have a great time this Thanksgiving. I would rather keep my family safe and distant than close and in danger of getting COVID-19.”

Cartersville student, Sarah Schubert, and their family have decided that the safest way to enjoy a meal in-person together is to have everyone bring their own plate of food from home and social distance while eating.

“My family thinks this is the best solution to our problem. No one will touch the food other than the person eating it, and after eating, everyone will wear masks to be safe,” said Schubert.

Some families plan not to meet up at all.

Douglasville student, Khaled Abdul-Rahman, said, “Well, I don’t think we are planning on having a family Thanksgiving dinner since most of my family live in the northern region of the country.”

Though this isn’t out of the ordinary for Abdul-Rahman, he still thinks taking precautions is important. “We have to take responsibility to protect ourselves and the people around us,” he said. “My message to the people who are planning on having family dinners is to be responsible and limit the amount of people in the house and plan accordingly to the size of the house. We will get through this together.”

Human Communications Professor, Allison Hattaway, is ensuring family safety with a whole new way of celebrating.

“Our family has several members who are in the high risk category for Covid. So, we have decided not to gather indoors and slave over the stoves like we usually do. Instead, we are ordering hot, ready made Thanksgiving meals from Cracker Barrel and will set up tables and chairs outside on the porch. Each family will have their own table and each table will be six feet apart. Even when we are outdoors visiting, we wear masks to be safe,” said Hattaway.

There are plenty of different options to stay safe. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has a helpful guide on precautions to consider when planning Thanksgiving this year.

However students choose to celebrate this Thanksgiving, there are plenty of ways to stay safe, eat good food and spend time with loved ones.

Professor of art, Brian Barr, is innovatively navigating changes with COVID-19 and continues to show his character good character and fun nature.

Being a student of art with Barr, there is never a dull moment. Between “Batman” references and long tangents that start with, “Well when I was in school…” Barr’s personality shines brightly.

Barr teaches several classes every semester, usually around eight and teaches at both GHC and Berry College.

Having such a hands-on subject to teach, COVID-19 has thrown some curveballs. Barr said, “This semester, it has been difficult trying to distance while teaching, as, so often, I have to work side-by-side with students so that they can see what I am trying to demonstrate. And I have had to create multiple still-life arrangements for the classes so that students would not be bunched up around one set-up.”

Barr, like most artists, has always dreamed of being an artist of some kind. “Well, I had always wanted to be an artist of some sort. Originally, I had planned to be an animator or comic illustrator, but, when I began taking the core art classes, I found that I was better at more traditional forms of drawing,” said Barr.

Thoughts of being a professor weren’t far behind. “Throughout my college and graduate school years, I was often asked to help other students learn certain techniques. So, pretty early on, I began to consider being a professor” said Barr. “Truthfully, when I was a child, I had wanted to be a college professor because Indiana Jones was one. I remember briefly considering being an archeologist, but I quickly returned to art before I hit high school.”

Cartersville student, Glyder Jorge, expresses his experience as a student of Barr saying, “Barr is an excellent instructor. His teaching method is easy to understand, and he allows us to work with our choice of medium. His knowledge has helped me grow as an artist and pushed me to expand my horizons when it comes to exploring different forms of medium. His best advice that has stuck with me was that if you can draw a face you can draw anything.”

Barr often urges his students to branch out with different mediums, especially pen-and-ink, it was no surprise this is one of his favorite mediums. Barr said, “Since college, my favorite medium has been charcoal. I’ve always liked the expressive qualities of that medium and that it allowed me to make very large drawings. But recently, I’ve become more enamored with pen-and-ink. It feels like a complete reversal of technique, but that may be why I like it. I think that I like the graphic quality of it, and that the final image feels a bit more ‘clean’ than with charcoal.”

Cartersville student, Hannah Boling, said her Drawing I class, “really pulled me out of my comfort zone and of what I thought art was and challenged me to think in a unique perspective.”

Outside of art, Barr has several hobbies, “Well, I confess that, though I’ve certainly gotten older, I’ve never truly grown up. I still enjoy so many things that I did as a child: toys, games, comic books. My childhood love was Transformers toys, and I’ve been working on building a decent collection for years. I really enjoy video games, old and new. I still have my old Atari and my Nintendo systems hooked up near my PlayStation 4 and I play them all whenever I can. Perhaps a little less common, I have a real passion for interesting, B-grade films, particularly in the horror, action, sci-fi genres. Some great examples would be Turkey Shoot, the Warriors, Night of the Demons and just about any of the Stuart Gordon films.”

Registration opened November 2 for spring 2021 classes.

To register for classes sign into SCORE, click student services, registration and then click add/drop classes. Students unsure which classes they need to take can either talk with their advisor or sign into ScoreCard to see what classes are required for their major.

Advisor appointments can be scheduled via email or by using navigate.

Unsure what classes are being offered? Check out the course offerings to look up all available classes for spring 2021.

For an in-depth step-by-step on how to sign up for classes, click here.

Students who have finished registering for classes can check their balance by clicking here.

Click the map to create your own at 270toWin.com

Through the years, many have called for the reformation or complete abolition of the Electoral College. In 2016 when the popular vote lost, an uprise in confusion about the power of the Electoral College arose.

What is the Electoral College and How Does it Work?

The Electoral College is the system that our nation abides by to choose a president. It is stated in the Constitution in Article II, Section I. Essentially, when a person votes, their vote isn’t directly counted. Instead, the popular vote in each state is awarded all of that state’s electoral votes. Each state counts for a stagnant number of electoral votes – Georgia is 16. To win, a candidate must get 270 or more votes — a majority of the total 538 votes.

Why is this potentially harmful?

Under the Electoral College, not everyone’s vote is counted the same. It doesn’t matter how many people in a state vote for a candidate, as long as that candidate wins the majority. So, if a state had 20 people, a 19-1 vote would be the exact same as an 11-9 vote.

Since electoral votes are not distributed by population, rural populations tend to be overrepresented while urban voters are underrepresented. This means a vote from someone in California is worth less than a vote from Wyoming.

Most states always vote for a specific party and are considered “safe states”. Since the results of these states are the same every year, candidates focus more on winning over “swing states” during their campaigns. This means a small handful of swing states invariably decide the outcome of presidential elections.

It also means a candidate can lose the popular vote by over two million votes and still become the president, as was the case in 2016.

Should the Electoral College be Abolished?

The Electoral College is a deeply flawed system. According to Britannica ProCon.org, “Using electors instead of the popular vote was intended to safeguard against uninformed or uneducated voters by putting the final decision in the hands of electors most likely to possess the information necessary to make the best decision…” The intent behind the system is no longer relevant since technology makes information easily accessible to a majority of the U.S. population.

The Electoral College was made for a different time and it’s due for an upgrade.

Many states have replaced Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day as a way to celebrate the first inhabitants of America and recognize the displacement of native populations that followed Christopher Columbus’ arrival.

Indigenous Peoples’ Day is observed on the second Monday in October as an official holiday in 14 states, not including Georgia. Its purpose is to commemorate Native American peoples’ cultures and history.

Columbus Day celebrates the landing of Christopher Columbus in the Americas. It is widely misconstrued as a celebration of the discovery of America, however, according to the editorial staff at CNN, “Indigenous people had been living in the Americas for centuries before Columbus’ arrival.”

On October 9, Donald Trump proclaimed October 12, 2020 as Columbus Day to commemorate Columbus’ travels which “led to European contact with the Americas and, a century later, the first settlements on the shores of the modern day United States.”

As mentioned earlier, Columbus and his crewmates were not the first settlers in America — not by a long shot. Perhaps President Trump is saying Columbus and his crew were the first english settlers. Though true, why is this, 500 years later, something to celebrate?

Trump also mentions that Columbus Day is “to commemorate the great Italian who opened a new chapter in world history.”

While he is correct that Columbus did open a new chapter in history, that doesn’t mean it’s something worth celebrating. Columbus partook in the transatlantic slave trade, European imperialism and what would now be considered genocide.

Instead of celebrating a holiday centered around a man that enslaved and killed native people, we should change the holiday to uplift indigenous voices.

As the Unitarian Universalist Association says, “‘Indigenous Peoples Day’ reimagines Columbus Day and changes a celebration of colonialism into an opportunity to reveal historical truths about the genocide and oppression of indigenous peoples in the Americas, to organize against current injustices, and to celebrate indigenous resistance.”

In the same article, the UUA lists ten ways to honor Indigenous Peoples’ Day as well as resources to get educated and participate in Indigenous Peoples’ Day correctly.

As Cartersville student Elysia Thompson-Fields says, “I believe that switching the Holiday from Columbus Day to Indigenious Peoples’ Day is a step in the right direction to recognizing an underrepresented demographic and community that has always needed a bigger voice and good opportunity to educate people and children on the cultures that are so widely unknown to the common American, largely because of the glorification of the people who raped, manipulated, massacred, enslaved, and destroyed those same cultures and nations.”

America should not celebrate its shameful past but instead celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day to uplift previously silenced voices and work towards a more inclusive future.