The transition to two-factor authentication for all Tech accounts is in full throttle. Students on main campus have until Oct. 16 to sign up for two-factor authentication, or they will be locked out from online services until they get around to registering, at which point they will regain full access.

Students can ask anyone already enrolled in two-factor authentication to help them register using Passport. Once enrolled, students have the option to choose between using a push notification, a phone call or a text message in order to verify their identity.

Jimmy Lummis, chief information security officer with Tech’s cyber security team, stresses that multi-factor authentication is essential to protect students, faculty and staff from having their accounts compromised by online ill-doers.

According to Lummis, ensuring cybersecurity at universities is a real and ongoing concern. He shared that even this past week, a top university in Virginia was hacked and large amounts of money were stolen from several students’ accounts and transferred to the hackers’ bank accounts.

“The number one attack vector that hackers use today is what’s called social engineering,” Lummis said. “Social engineering essentially is a scam, right? It’s a form of trying to trick a person into getting what the bad guy wants.”

What “the bad guy” wants first is usually credentials — a login and password, typically — that can get them access to financial or other sensitive information.

Tech may be nationally ranked for its academics, but its students aren’t infallible when faced with phishing attacks and other threats.

A 2015 report released by the Tech cyber security team found that despite three years of efforts to increase awareness on such scams, when the first phishing exercise was released in fall 2015, nearly 22.1% of the Tech population both clicked on and provided their credentials to a suspicious link.

Students who went through cyber security training sessions only clicked on those links at a rate of two to five percent, according to Lummis. But he says even that percentage is too high.

“The problem with relying on education and awareness is that two to five percent of a school that is about 35,000 people is still a really large number,” Lummis said. “As a student, you have access all of your own personal information, including your sensitive personal information that we store on your behalf … your banking information is stored inside of that system, if you’ve ever made a payments to the Institute, your student loan information has been there, including your parent’s financial history, and all those sorts of things. As an exchange of information occurs between the student to the Institute, we then become responsible for protecting that information on your behalf.”

In response to these concerns, the cyber security team began to have discussions with the administration on implementing two-factor authentication in late 2013, and began using two-factor authentication on administrative and IT accounts soon afterward.

Tech chose to use Duo Security, which allows second authentication through a tiny USB device or hardware “token” in addition to push notifications or codes received by SMS, phone call or app. Duo allowed Tech the flexibility to tailor the two-factor authentication process to fit the process.

After an initial testing period with the College of Architecture (which is now the College of Design), the process of moving faculty and staff over to use two-factor authentication began in Jan. 2017.

Early discussions with student groups made the team rework the system so that students could help each other register in the hopes that it would speed up enrollment.

After initial success with faculty and staff rollout, OIT moved to students attending main campus full-time in the fall semester, who are the only students required to enroll by Oct. 16.

Getting the word out has not necessarily been straight-forward. When informing faculty about two-factor authentication, they simply sent out emails. The student body, on the other hand, is much larger and not as responsive to traditional communication channels like email. Although OIT has held tabling events and put up paper and digital signage, they say that the most effective and universal method has simply been adding an alert whenever students login into their accounts.

Only approximately 11,000 of the 20,000 full-time students on main campus have signed up. They expect there to be a surge in sign-ups as the Oct. 16 deadline nears. More information can be found at 2fa.gatech.edu.

In the fall of 2016, Eric Tarczynski, a 25-year-old Northeastern University graduate, started a road trip to visit 55 of the country’s top research universities with the goal of building a network and recruiting students for a unique venture capital firm. By the end of his road trip, Tarczynski had created a network of 100 students from 55 schools, consisting of the most connected students on each campus for entrepreneurship.

This network of student investors across the country then formed the backbone of Contrary Capital, a company that was publicly launched last week. Contrary Capital is a decentralized, university-focused venture capital fund backed by the founders of Tesla, SoFi, MuleSoft and Twitch.

Contrary Capital’s vision revolves around identifying potential campus entrepreneurs and providing them with the right resources they need to thrive. This includes between $50,000 and $200,000 of funding, access to Contrary Capital’s nationwide network of student investors and connections with the top tech entrepreneurs and venture capital firms in the world.

Indra Sofian and Wesley Samples, both well-known campus entrepreneurs, are Tech’s student investors.

“The Contrary partners at Georgia Tech are responsible for doing two main things: sourcing and being a part of entrepreneurial communities,” Samples said. “For sourcing, we meet with three to four student founders each month to share information about Contrary with them while learning about their companies. It is our responsibility to be a key member of startup communities so that we can source these deals.”

Will Robbins, Contrary’s chief of staff, spoke about how a gap had developed between smaller university grant type funding and big league venture capital funding and how Contrary Capital’s model aims to mitigate that divide and bring true venture capital seed funding to campus entrepreneurs.

“Over the past five years, there’s been an explosion of entrepreneurship at universities across the U.S.,” Robbins said. “Yet, we believe nobody is doing anything about it. Some of the most successful companies in the world like Google, Facebook, Dropbox, Snapchat and Paypal were founded by college students at universities. At Contrary, we’re building the first venture capital fund focused solely on backing the brightest individuals and most bleeding-edge technologies coming out of universities.”

Sofian and Samples believe that Contrary’s powerful tools can support the great student entrepreneurs on campus and help build the student entrepreneur community at Tech.

“There’s a growing student entrepreneur community here at Georgia Tech that’s been in development for the last several years,” Sofian said. “A lot of students who start companies here are often first-time founders — they’ve never started a business before. For the best entrepreneurs on campus, we’ll fund their companies between $50,000 and $200,000 and help them raise their next round of funding.”

On September 23 and 24, the NBA hosted its second annual hackathon at Skylight Modern on 27th Street in New York City. Four Tech students — second-year IE Nishant Reddy, third-year CS Nikki Cantrell, third-year IE Alan Lo and third-year CS Mayuri Mamtani — competed in the basketball analytics competition and placed third out of more than 200 participants.

For the students, the road to New York began over the summer.

“I saw something about it on Twitter from one of the basketball writers I follow,” Reddy said. “Then I told Alan about it because I know he’s pretty into basketball analytics. And then he reached out to Nikki and Mayuri because they’re pretty good friends and they’re good with CS.”

The NBA would receive 900 applicants, of which, only 207 were accepted. While parts of the application were optional, they were strongly encouraged.

“There was one question which was covered in one of my ISYE classes, so that was kind of cake,” Lo said. “The rest of it was coding.” The coding project required the applicants to take box scores from the 2016-2017 season and determine when teams were eliminated from playoff contention. The group, dubbed “Team Alley-Oops,” did not finish the project, but the incomplete work they supported was enough to convince evaluators of their potential.

In late August, the group heard back from the NBA that they had been accepted; however, the NBA did not provide travel, so the group convinced the College of Computing to sponsor their travel. Going into the hackathon, they did not know with what they would be tasked.

After arriving early Friday morning to explore the city, the team began their new project Saturday morning. “Alley-Oops” decided to tackle a possible rule change dealing with offensive fouling, specifically dealing with collisions around the restricted area. Currently, the restricted area, designated by a small arc inside the paint, is four feet from the basket. It is restrictive in that no defender can force a charging foul in the area, save for some occasional exceptions.

“What we planned to do was expand that restricted area for three reasons,” Lo said. “First, to decrease the number of injuries that might occur.” More offensive fouls mean more charges being called, which can lead to an increased risk of injury.

“Second,” he continued, “was to improve game watchability, in the sense that nobody wants to watch people drawing charges, that’s really boring. You’d rather watch someone play defense. Third, was to shorten game duration a bit because for people who aren’t as familiar with basketball the game seems kind of long and boring and drawn out.”

This was particularly apparent to Cantrell and Mamtani, who were not devout fans of the sport.

While the idea was solid on paper, the team needed data to back it up. This data came from the large data pool the NBA had given them a few days before.

“We were given a bunch of data and .csv files,” Cantrell said. “And we used … play-by-plays of each game since 2007. We did two things with it. First, we went through and parsed the data and looked at the number of offensive fouls per game and the actual time of the game, and we plotted that to show that there was a steady increase in offensive fouls as game time increased.”

With a clear relationship in place, the group needed to show where those fouls were occurring to justify their arguments.

“They gave us .xml files of Sport View data which gives the players’ location in the game very half second,” Cantrell said. “We looked at the time the offensive foul occurred and then went into the .xml file and got the location of the player at that instance and then wrote it back to an Excel file so that we could graph that and overlay it over top of a basketball court. That gave us a heat map of where all the offensive fouls occurred.”

Their heat map pointed to almost all offensive fouls occurring just outside the restricted area. They presented their findings in front of a group that included such figures as ESPN writer Zach Lowe, members of senior management for a few NBA teams and FiveThirtyEight editor-in-chief, Nate Silver.

“It wasn’t really nerve-racking for [Nikki and Mayuri],” Lo said. “Because they didn’t know anybody. But, it was nerve-racking for [Nishant and me] because we actually knew who we were
talking to.”

Their third place finish not only won them a gift card to the NBA Store and merchandise from JBL but also the chance to meet NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, former player Shane Battier and a host of league insiders. Not bad for a weekend’s work.

Following an investigation conducted by the Georgia Tech Police Department and Office of Student Integrity into events that transpired in the spring semester of 2017, the Alpha Tau Omega (ATO) fraternity was issued a notice of suspension on Friday, Aug. 25.

The fraternity is currently in the process of appealing this suspension.

Months earlier, on March 9 just after 3 a.m., two GTPD officers arrived at the ATO house in response to a broadcast on the Atlanta Police Zone 5 radio that advised that there was a possible fight in progress.

The victim, a brother in the fraternity, told the officers that he was involved in a verbal fight over group text with a fellow fraternity brother, who later “kept asking which room he lived in and threatened to come into his room and stab him with a knife,” according to the GTPD report of the incident.

The officers spoke with who they determined to be the aggressor, who was intoxicated and visibly upset. This student claimed that he made the threats because he was upset by homophobic remarks made by the other student. The aggressor told the officer that “he felt like if anyone should go to jail, it should be him.”

Upon inspection of the group chat, the officer saw the conversation that had instigated the incident. One brother called the other a “bitch,” who replied with “I got called a bitch by a dude who wore a crop top last night.” The officer thought that this was possibly the homophobic remark the aggressor was referring to.

Despite the victim’s attempts to end the conversation, his intoxicated fraternity brother continued to make remarks such as “I will stab you between the ribs,” “I’m sorry,” “I won’t stab,” “Just a slash.”

The student who made the threatening statements was issued a student conduct code violation for “behavior that endangers any person(s), including self,” and was charged with one count of terroristic threats. The victim declined to press charges.

The morning after the incident occurred, ATO’s Judicial Board held an internal review in order to understand what had happened and determine a course of action. They placed the aggressor on temporary suspension and social probation for a longer period of time.

The internal board obtained eyewitness accounts of the night’s events corroborate the narrative included in the police report.

According to a transcript of the fraternity’s internal review, the two individuals involved in the fight had a history of not getting along and regularly engaging in verbal altercations. The aggressor had been drinking on his night out, and upon his return to the ATO house, grabbed two knives so that the pair could fight each other. He began banging on the door of the brother he intended to fight. Another brother was able to eventually get the knives from him.

ATO’s judicial board chose not to immediately expel the aggressor because they did not believe he had any true intention to harm his fraternity brother, and because his “actions that night were seen as a symptom of a larger problem concerning his mental health”, according to notes from their judicial board meeting. They mandated a zero-tolerance sobriety policy for the individual.

Both brothers were allowed to remain living in the fraternity house, but the one that was the victim in the incident eventually moved out because he felt unsafe.

In March, the fraternity was placed on interim suspension by the Office of Student Integrity (OSI)  and ordered to cease all social activities. On April 26, the fraternity was notified that OSI would be launching an investigation into the events that had transpired over a month earlier.

ATO was investigated by the Undergraduate Judiciary Cabinet (UJC) rather than an administrator.

The investigation revealed that the two fraternity brothers had been at odds for quite some time, and regularly had public, verbal altercations about various topics, such as social issues, personal choices, and the actions of each other. It also revealed that the fraternity had not gone through the appropriate channels to notify leadership following the incident. Neither Institute officials nor the national headquarters of the fraternity were notified about the incident in a timely manner.

In general, past student conduct code violations are considered in investigations conducted by OSI. ATO was placed on disciplinary probation in 2013 for a drug-related charge and for the operation of an illegal basement “pledge bar.”

UJC concluded that the fraternity had truly violated the student conduct code and was “found responsible due to a culture allowing bullying and antagonistic behavior to exist without any proper mediation and confrontation measures,” according to their official recommendations. Officials from OSI reviewed and accepted this recommendation.

The fraternity was notified that it was to be placed on disciplinary suspension effective Aug. 25, 2017 until Aug. 3, 2018. ATO was given five days to file an appeal to John Stein, vice president of student life and dean of students. If Stein upholds the decision of OSI, the fraternity can then appeal to Tech President G.P. “Bud” Peterson. The Board of Regents will hear any further appeals.

ATO is currently in this appeals process.

OSI could not comment on the investigation because it remains in progress.

Pablo Ortega, the president of ATO, did not respond to requests for comment.

The individual who was accused of making terroristic threats refused to comment.

ommunity, connecting people and revitalizing urban space. The Technique talked to Kyle Morais, a member of Argha Noah, about how temporary art projects and installations act as an interactive means of community
development.

Technique: How would you describe Argha Noah?

Kyle Morais: Argha Noah is an artist-run civic engagement platform that transforms unused urban spaces into pop up community art spaces. We’re a platform, an initiative, rather than a physical space. We travel to different sites … This space [at Harp Transmission] is our first project, but the whole idea is for them to be temporary projects to act as models for architecture, urban design and planning  for community development.

Technique: How frequently are you planning on moving to different spaces?

Morais: We have this space until Nov. 1, but we might get an extension for the remainder of the year. The next plan is to work with the city, including Tim Keane, the Commissioner of City Planning … and also MARTA to figure out what the next space should be. We want to work with the City more often than working with developers … because we want to be a representation for a new thinking when it comes to urban design, community development, arts and culture for the city.

We are trying to be mindful and aware of the spaces we inhabit next because our whole goal is to serve the community … We can act as a forum and a central hub to talk about problems in other parts of the city and come up with solutions. So we’re here to provide solutions to problems but also just provide fun in the community.

Technique: How did you all get started?

Morais: We started out with eight people, and we now have six people … I had this idea about doing something called the Urban Theme Park of the Future. I wanted to take the idea of what a theme park is or the model of a fair: coming in temporarily and putting up this extravagant experience that becomes like a city whirlwind or a city wonder for the time being. These events bring in all this fresh energy and give this fantastical experience.

The theme park then was simplified to become Argha Noah.At first, we questioned, “What is Argha Noah? Is it a space?” Then we came up with the concept of Argha Noah as an artist-run civic engagement platform. The spaces are the projects.

This is our first year, and we’re testing out to see how much impact we’ve made, what projects did complete, what did we not … We went through many different planning stages, visited various communities and went to different neighborhood meetings to hear what’s happening in other communities.

We specifically focused on Grant Park, and I went to a couple neighborhood meetings here to speak about the development of this project and talk about future development of this site. We let the community know that we were doing a pop up community art space here. We’ve seen a lot of great support from the community, but we’d like to
see more.

Technique: What organizations have you partnered with?

Morais: We have partnered with the Atlanta Underground Food Market … Grow Where You Are and Truly Living Well, which are farms in the West End … the Atlanta Housing Authority and the Plate Sale, a local culinary dining group. We have talked about partnering with Atlanta City Studio, a pop up urban design studio produced by the Department of Planning … My goal is to partner with more civic-oriented organizations who are focused on alternative forms of education for kids. APS is one of the lowest funded school systems per child.

Technique: How are you funded?

Morias: We had an Indiegogo campaign. Our goal initially was to raise $25,000, which would have allowed us to finish our projects and allow the space to be open to the public more … We are always accepting donations online, and our main source of income is events. We do 90% free programming and 10% paid. With the donation-based programming, the suggested donation is $5 or $10. We will be having some ticketed events coming up, and we are working on fundraising.

Technique: How can people get involved?

Morais: People can get involved by volunteering for events, such as managing on site tasks or taking photographs. Artists can help us install exhibitions, writers can cover us on blogs and small organizations can come host an event here.

If you have a new concept or idea about art, music, education, recreation or agriculture and how that affects cities, then contact us and we would love to speak with you and work with you. We are looking to speak with more professors at universities about this project and they can come speak here in our space.

Technique: What does being an Atlantan mean to you?

Morais: There’s so much opportunity here now; there’s a lot of growth happening. There’s also a lot of gray areas, a lot of areas that haven’t been tackled, especially when it comes to education, affordable housing and transportation.

We can do better in those areas, but we’re trying. And now is a crucial time, since Atlanta is burgeoning right now.

Atlanta as a whole is sometimes represented as an underdog of a city, but we are a global city … and I enjoy seeing similar faces in our very tight knit, integrated
community.

When you’re an Atlantan, you feel proud to be one: there’s an energy that’s within you to say “This is my city.” Sometimes it can be a bit rocky since Atlanta as a whole is still discovering its identity, but we’re very proud to be Atlantans.

Technique: How did you acquire the Harp Transmission space?

Morais: Pellerin Real Estate and Clark Property R+D gave us a six-month lease to introduce our vision and projects. This site will be developed in 2018, and you can find more about it on harptransmisison.com. They’re focused on transit- and community-oriented development, so we believe in their vision. We’re grateful to them for allowing us to activate the space and manifest our ideas.

Technique: How can people find out about your upcoming events?

Morais: We have post on our Facebook page and on our wesbite arghanoah.com. Events are typically posted for the next two weeks, and we will be announcing some big events soon.

If debuting a new quarterback comes with growing pains, then the Jackets are certainly not alone. Two of their rivals, the Clemson Tigers and the Georgia Bulldogs, are doing the same. Both teams are undefeated and serious contenders within their conferences, and while Clemson had more time to prepare for its new starter, both have learned much about their passers so far.

Kelly Bryant, Clemson

It seemed nearly impossible to fill the void left behind by Deshaun Watson — the former Clemson QB had led the Fighting Tigers to a national championship and just missed out on a Heisman Trophy, big shoes for anyone to fill. But somebody had to do it, and Kelly Bryant turned out to be that person.

Bryant’s speed, coupled with his cannon of an arm, means that the Tigers can lean on an elite running game while making big plays in the air. As a rookie, Bryant has led Clemson to back-to-back wins over ranked opponents, and even outclassed last year’s Heisman winner, Lamar Jackson, embarrassing the Louisville Cardinals 47-21 last Saturday. Bryant currently ranks No. 6 in the ACC in total yardage, and No. 2 in rushing touchdowns (behind Tech’s TaQuon Marshall). Bryant brings a balanced game to the Tigers, and is a strong headline for their offense. While surrounded by one of the best teams in college football, Bryant stands out and makes plays happen.

Clemson’s student paper, The Tiger, has had the opportunity to follow Bryant’s progression. Their sports editor, Alison Daniel, speaks highly of the young starter’s progression.

“Kelly Bryant has surprised a lot of people by being so efficient in filling the vacancy left by Deshaun Watson,” she said. “While the defense has made his job easier, I think he proved against Louisville that he can hold his own.”

Yet it is important for Bryant to remember that he need not perfectly fill the shoes.

The key to his success so far is him not feeling like he has to be Watson. He is playing his own game and doing it well. He has to continue to improve in his pocket awareness and his offensive line needs to get better as the year goes on if Clemson really wants to make another playoff run.

Jake Fromm, Georgia

It is one thing to step into a starting QB role as a freshman. It is a completely different thing to step into a starting QB role as a freshman during a road game against a Notre Dame team, particularly at a program facing lofty expectations. Yet following an injury to sophomore passer Jacob Eason, that is exactly the situation that Jacob Fromm faced. Despite the odds against him, Fromm managed to step up as the Bulldogs pulled out a close 20-19 victory against the No. 24
Fighting Irish.

Fromm was not without struggle in that game, as he gave up both an interception and a fumble and only threw for one touchdown. Fromm’s 100.5 QB rating was the worst mark by a Bulldogs quarterback since Eason’s performance against Tech in the Clean Old Fashioned Hate game last November, and Fromm’s 151.3 rating on the season has been bolstered by feasting upon non-power five opponents like Appalachian State and Samford. Fromm still has plenty that he needs to prove going forward, and in the rough-and-tumble SEC East, he will need to adapt if the Bulldogs want to be a player in the College Football Playoff conversation.

There is a long way to go before bowl season, and both quarterbacks will undoubtedly face tribulations. Fromm is probably on the tighter of the two leashes; sophomore quarterback Jacob Eason, once a highly-touted prospect and freshman wunderkind himself, will certainly push for the starting job when he returns from injury. But both have given their teams plenty of reason for hope as conference schedules near. By the looks of it, both will have plenty of help from their offensive supporting casts, defenses and coaching staffs to guide them through a difficult transition.

Coming from the United Kingdom, sports at the collegiate level has always been alien to me. In the UK, the only comparable event between colleges is the Oxford versus Cambridge Boat Race that happens once every year along a small river just outside of London. Let’s just say Jacket football games which attract 55,000 people to the stadium and millions more on TV are an incredible spectacle.

Upon receiving my acceptance letter from Georgia Tech this fall, I realized I had much to learn about the many sports programs at Tech. A lifelong fan of sports, notably soccer (try saying that word to some of the English ‘football’ fans), I came to learn about the extremely wide variety of sports offered at all levels here at Georgia Tech. How many people knew that we have a Sport Parachute Club here on campus? What about our historically successful GT Waterski & Wakeboard Club?

The varsity level sports are a spectacle in their own right. Immediately, one would think of a packed-out Georgia Tech football game as the definition of varsity sports. However, I have learned about the amazing range of Georgia Tech varsity level sports on offer and how accessible they are for every student to get involved in. With the exception of football games, students can watch every varsity sports game for free with just their BuzzCard as means of entry. This is music to the ears of every avid sports fan as it means one can immerse himself in a whole range of Georgia Tech athletics, perhaps even allowing him to learn to love a new sport just through going to a few games here at Tech.

I am personally very excited for the start of the tennis season, with matches at the Ken Byers Tennis Complex sure to be a highly enjoyable way to watch some of the best collegiate tennis in the country. This includes watching our very own US Open sensation Chris Eubanks, the first tennis player to get to the opening rounds of the tournament whilst still being enrolled here at Georgia Tech.

Further to the whole array of clubs, varsity athletics, and intramurals here at Tech, I think the whole sporting culture is incredibly diverse. Whilst football often takes the limelight, Tech and its students hold all-round sporting culture in high regard. To reference my experiences in the United Kingdom, we often sat down to watch soccer, rugby or cricket games in old and largely shabby stadiums. In contrast, many of the sporting facilities here at Tech are incredibly advanced and give a great experience when watching all levels of sports. McCamish Pavilion, which hosts Yellow Jackets’ basketball games, is a perfect example of this as it was opened for the 2012-13 season to raving reviews. The stadium is renowned for being technologically advanced, yet it still provides the atmosphere and noise that makes watching Yellow Jackets’ games a breathtaking affair.

And those who favor history and tradition over fancy features need look no further than Bobby Dodd Stadium at Historic Grant Field, the longest continuously used college football venue in the United States, replete with its own set of idiosyncrasies (not the least whatever is left of old architecture under the west stands).

My overriding impression of Tech athletics is how diverse yet encompassing it is at every level. It is not just the number of sports that are offered here; it’s the level of dedication that cannot be understated. Not bad for a bunch
of engineers.

For the first time in three years, a new season of Tech football ushers in a new quarterback: TaQuon Marshall. While Marshall has only started in two games so far, many fans are already wondering what to expect out of him. Will he lead the Jackets to a bowl game? Can he be as good or even better than Justin Thomas? While these questions are hard to answer definitively this early in the season and in Marshall’s starting career, his early returns merit taking a look at how Marshall matches with Justin Thomas’s physicals and game performance thus far.

Physically, Justin Thomas and TaQuon Marshall are similar. Both quarterbacks are a similar height (5’11’’ and 5’10”, respectively) and weigh in at 185 pounds. They both are built like running backs, which allows them to excel in run-heavy offense. They come from slightly different positional backgrounds; Justin Thomas turned down an offer to play defensive back for Nick Saban at Alabama, while Marshall played A-back in a pinch in 2015.

Under Coach Paul Johnson, Tech has traditionally relied on the triple option, a system wherein the quarterback makes a split-second decision after the ball is snapped to hand the ball off to a running back, keep it and run themselves, or pitch it to a nearby receiver. Because this scheme requires a quarterback who is fast and durable when they do keep the ball and run themselves, it makes sense that Tech’s last two quarterbacks are physically fit for the job. As Justin Thomas thrived in this style of offensive play, TaQuon Marshall’s physical similarity to Thomas is promising in his potential to succeed as the cornerstone of this triple option offense.

Although TaQuon Marshall fits the bill physically to follow in Thomas’s footsteps, physical build is just one of many factors necessary in leading a Jackets team to victory given its Division 1 standing. What is much more important to look at are the intangibles such as dexterity, decision-making on the field and, of course, accuracy when Tech needs to throw the ball — typically in third and long situations. The list goes on and on for skills a quarterback needs to possess, but the best way to judge a long-term outlook for Marshall is game performance, and more specifically how Marshall’s first couple game performances compare to Thomas’s first couple game performances and season overall.

Justin Thomas was the starting quarterback for Tech beginning in his sophomore year. That season, he came out strong, leading Tech to a 2-0 start to their season in contests versus Wofford and Tulane. In those two games, he passed for a total of 297 yards with an interception and rushed for a total of 141 yards. On the other hand, Marshall is the starting quarterback now as a junior. He led the Jackets to a 1-1 start to their season, albeit against tougher teams than Thomas opened against in his debut season. In these two games, Marshall has thrown for 232 yards with zero interceptions and rushed for 274 yards. Statistically, Marshall matches up quite well with Thomas on the passing front with less yards but also less interceptions and surpasses Thomas on the rushing front.

While a quarterback is normally judged for his passing ability, the rushing stats are actually more telling of Marshall’s success given that he plays in a run-heavy offense rather than a traditional pass-heavy one. It is important to note that simply using statistics from two games is not enough data to draw an accurate conclusion for how the rest of this season may play out or how Marshall will end up comparing to Justin Thomas, but it is promising that Marshall has performed very well, statistically speaking. In fact, it could be argued that his games have come against more rigorous competition.

Unlike quarterback Matthew Jordan, who acquitted himself admirably in a start at Virginia Tech last season but starts the season as the primary backup, Marshall looks remarkably comfortable throwing the ball downfield. Though Head Coach Paul Johnson quickly quelled any notion of the Tech offense involving more throws on a weekly basis with a terse “no” following the Jacksonville State game, the Jackets certainly have a credible aerial threat.

Justin Thomas ended up finishing his first starting season leading Tech to a very successful 11-3 campaign. He improved on his first two games’ performances as the season continued and he accumulated more experience under his belt. Given the great athlete TaQuon Marshall is, there is reason to be hopeful.

Some people just look like athletes. Mario West is one of them. His 6’5” frame is more towering in person than any photograph could depict, and his handshake is of the enveloping sort.

Indeed, West is an athlete. A former member of the men’s basketball team, West took his craft to the professional level after leaving Tech. After stints in the NBA and abroad, he is back on his home campus as the program’s director of player personnel.

Yet the path has not always been so clear-cut for West. A slam dunk artist with the ball in his hands, West was nonetheless a relative afterthought in the Tech offense, playing less than 20 minutes per game and scoring less than five points per contest his senior year, courtesy of sports-reference.com. He had to make it as an undrafted free agent, starting in the 2007-08  season.

Yet West was successful. He counts among his fondest memories his first contest, a game against the Phoenix Suns and legendary Duke alumnus Grant Hill. In his first year with the Atlanta Hawks, the team took the vaunted Boston Celtics to the brink in the playoffs.
Sure, he was playing a bit role, but he was part of a team at the highest level of his sport.

Not all was so sunny for West. Going into his third season with the Hawks, he was cut. It was difficult news for the hometown hero who had tried out for the team successfully two years in a row. Most people have midlife crises in their forties and fifties. At the age of twenty-five, West says, he was experiencing just that.

“I was devastated,” he remembers. “Because up to that point, everything I had wanted to obtain, every opportunity, every door I was able to knock down. But at that point, my faith was tested, and I was reminded that God is in control.”

West’s spirituality guided him to China, where his career was initially met with similar futility. In the period of a few weeks, he tried out for three teams. All of them passed. The man who once took on Jon Scheyer in heated ACC matchups was finding cold reception in a faraway land.

Set back but not defeated, West returned to the United States to play for the NBA’s Developmental League (now known as the G League), a time he called a “truly great experience” for the confidence it gave him. “Look, I can still play this game,” he recalls thinking to himself.

A month and a half after he had bid adieu to the Hawks, things had changed in Atlanta. The team wanted him back. The beginning of his second career in Atlanta was the end of a spiritual trial.

His playing days over, West now serves Tech basketball as the director of player personnel. In that role, he liaises with entities across campus, from housing to dining to academics, in an attempt to ensure that Tech players have all they need to be successful both on and off the court.

More than just an administrator, West has the chance to serve as a mentor. Being a former professional player, he says, gives him credibility amongst the players. One he thinks particularly highly of is Josh Okogie, who dons the same number and plays the same position as West.

“He’s far better than I ever was,” West says. While their work ethic is comparable, he adds, Okogie has significant untapped talent that will fuel his ascent.

Many unknown faces will fuel Tech basketball in 2017. West’s will certainly be one of them.

Many people reject independent and alternative films these days for being too “pretentious.” Sometimes, they are not wrong. Much of what the “pretentiousness” of a film hinges on is whether or not it claims to be something grander, deeper or more intellectual than it actually is. Is it just posturing, or is there some substance to back up the pretense?

This distinction is important because many alternative films are not that accessible to the casual viewer. Indie films are often too slow, quiet or even boring if there is not that spark of substance and meaning and profound connection with the audience that elevates a film from “pretentious” to “profound.”

Sometimes, as in the case with Darren Aronofsky’s newest film, “Mother!,” the distinction is not quite so clear. To be blunt, this is an understandably divisive movie. “Mother!” has received an F on CinemaScore (a site which aggregates audience responses to films) while being lauded by critics at various film festivals.

This polarizing response is largely due to how ambiguous this film is. The film is built off of each individual audience member’s interpretation and response to the film’s events, so there is no
right answer.

The film itself follows Jennifer Lawrence (“Silver Linings Playbook”) as the wife of Javier Bardem (“No Country for Old Men”), a writer who has not written for years. The two live together in a house isolated from society as Bardem struggles to write and Lawrence slavishly works to maintain the house.

Lawrence acts as the audience’s eyes, but she is largely passive throughout the first two acts as she is ignored and manipulated by her egotistical husband. Bardem’s character serves as an archetypal God figure, attracting visitors who journey to dote upon Bardem and his writings.

The volume of visitors to the house gradually increases as the film progresses, allegorically portraying chaotic, violent biblical events within Lawrence’s carefully maintained house. Bardem relishes the attention and, contrary to Lawrence’s meekly expressed wishes, brings the house to ruin as his never-ending stream of guests turn the home into a literal war zone.

Filmed primarily by following Lawrence in a perpetual bust shot as she navigates the chaos of her husband’s escapades, “Mother!” is designed to be psychologically disturbing and mostly succeeds. Regardless of how one interprets the central allegory of the film, the images and sensory stimulation that the film presents are legitimately uncomfortable.

Aronofsky opts to omit a soundtrack, leaving the house in a serene quiet when Lawrence is at home but mounting to an anxious, overbearing chatter as more guests enter the house. Even the lighting is largely dim, creating a claustrophobic, ominous mood as the film slowly escalates.

By the third act, the film reaches a fever pitch as guests engage in horrendous acts of brutality towards each other and their hosts. This nightmare scenario for Lawrence has a disconcertingly potent effect on the audience.

However, what makes the film so notable is its allegory. Lawrence’s character provides viewers a look at the muse and a counterpart to a biblical God figure. Bardem’s character is vain and egotistical and desperate for praise: in this characterization, Aronofsky draws parallels between a God and an artistic creator.

The film could easily be interpreted as tackling themes of religion, environmentalism, art, inspiration and feminism. Or it could be interpreted to be nothing but nonsense.

Aronofsky leaves the film vague intentionally, and a viewer’s experience relies on how well they buy into whichever allegorical narrative they like best.

Viewers should watch this movie without any expectations as to what everything means. Searching for a definite answer will almost certainly result in disappointment.

Unfortunately, there are times where the movie drags. Before Lawrence’s house turns into a madhouse, the allegorical narrative gets repetitive, constantly reinforcing the egotism and manipulative nature of Bardem without adding much more complexity to the plot.

While the visuals and soundtrack are functional and serve the film well, neither device is particularly memorable or adventurous. The movie is thrilling by the third act, but it often feels like Aronofsky has embroiled himself so deep into building his allegory that the emotional impact of his visuals and narrative loses much of its edge.

For viewers who are not completely engaged in the allegorical narrative by the third act, the violence and barbarity presented on screen can appear grossly gratuitous and unnecessary.

Nonetheless, “Mother!” is a daring film that is worth a watch even if its attempts at allegory may fall flat on some viewers. “Mother!” is playing at the Landmark Midtown Art Cinema and AMC Phipps Plaza.