Georgia Highlands students received awards at the 47th Annunal Honor’s Night that was held on April 18 at the Clarence Brown Center in Cartersville.

The event began with  a reception with food and drinks for students, faculty, staff and families.

For a list of all of the awards and the recipients, click on the link below.

honors night program-2019

Shazam is the latest film in DC’s cinematic universe and it continues DC’s hot streak into great superhero films with its wish fulfillment and comedic take on the superhero genre.

Despite being in the golden age of superhero films, not every superhero film turns out great and the latest films from DC and Warner Bros. Are the prime examples. With Disney and Marvel pretty much owning the superhero landscape with the Marcel Cinematic Universe for ten years straight, other studios like DC and Warner’s Bros. Have been trying to catch up with the same concept.

However, with an overly dark tone, poor world building and above all else, horrible storytelling and a lack of character focus such as in “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” and “Suicide Squad,” DC and Warner Bros. have been struggling to back into the ever growing superhero film movement after previous success such as Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy. But with “Wonder Woman” being an epic character focused period piece and last year’s “Aquaman” being a fun adventure film about a reluctant king, DC has found it’s footing in the current world of comic book films with “Shazam.”

The best part about “Shazam” is the cast. Zachary Levi was born to play the role of adult Billy Batson/Shazam. His performance as a kid in a man’s body with super powers perfectly captures the comedic heart of the film. Asher Angel as the child Billy Batson is the perfect counter to Zachary Levi, but also brings a more serious approach as a trouble orphan looking for his family. Jack Dylan Grazer as Billy’s friend, Freddy Freeman is one of the best supporting characters in recent comic book movies. His performance is the absolute funniest in the entire film, as a nerdy comic book loving child with a disability trying to fit in and mentor Billy into being a superhero. Even Mark Strong as the villain Dr. Sivana a sympathetic but scary villain with a clear and understanding motivation.

Another aspect that made “Shazam” a great superhero film is the directing. Much like Sam Raimi, the director of the original “Spider-Man” trilogy, any film buff can tell that director David F. Sandberg came from the horror genre with his style of directing. The way he creates the tone and atmosphere of the film are done with astounding precision as they connect to the overall story and themes. The visual effects are very impressive, especially when Billy goes from a kid to Shazam with the call of his name feel completely natural. Sandberg’s directing also creates truly scary images, while at the same time blends perfectly well with the film’s comedy.

The themes of the film also play a big part of the story. The film’s take on being a foster kid and trying to find a family is done with a lot of heart and soul. The film is also subtle with its inspirations from the films from the 1980’s such as “Big” and “The Goonies.” The film perfectly captures akids perspective of what it means to be a superhero, while at the same time, fulfills the wish fulfillment of having superheroes by having the kids just be kids.

While “Shazam” works incredibly well as a stand-alone film, the way that it connects to the larger DC universe is very creative. As Freddy is a massive comic book fan, the film subtly connects to the other superheroes that will leave the audience excited for more if there will be anymore films with “Shazam.”

Overall, “Shazam” is great film that is fun for the whole family. It is a welcome addition to the DC films and to the comic book film genre as well. The film delivers on the fun of being a superhero and brings a new icon in the character of Shazam. Just like “Wonder Woman” and “Aquaman,” “Shazam” puts DC back into the superhero genre with a focus on character. With three solid movies, it will be interesting if DC and Warner Bros. will continue this success with their future films.

Overall Grade: A

Nick Whitmire. Photo by Kayley Agan

I never really fit in anywhere I went. Sometimes I still feel that way. But when I first walked into the doors at GHC, I knew I had found a place where I wouldn’t say I fit in, but a place where I could develop my voice, and I am thankful for that.

When it came to me applying for GHC, I had no idea how influential it would be on my life.

When I first started at GHC in the fall of 2016, I was just another student trying to get by with a pathway that would get me a job. After I changed my pathway from Computer Science to English, I found the path that I always wanted. As an English major, I was able to succeed in my classes as I embraced my passion for writing, which has always been my goal. I not only met many professors that became my mentors but also great friends who helped guide me during my time at GHC.

Another big decision during my time at GHC was joining the Six Mile Post in the fall of 2017, starting out as the Assistant Online Editor and then rising up to Managing Editor for Online. Here I was able to connect to GHC in ways that I never imagined, such as writing about major events and expressing my different passions such as film.

Outside of school, I was able to contribute to the Old Red Kimono and join the Phi Theta Kappa, where I was given opportunities to publish my writing and achieve awards.

As I graduate from GHC, I know I was able to learn new skills and also find my voice as a person. I hope to continue my life as a storyteller, and I hope that future students find their voices at GHC as well.

During Women’s History Month, GHC will be providing students with opportunities to learn more about Women’s issues through events across all GHC campuses. Many of these events will be documentaries that will give students the perspective and story of the female experience.

One of these documentaries will be “Miss Representation,” a film about how media’s portrayals of women and girls make it difficult for them to feel powerful and achieve leadership positions.

“Miss Representation” was directed by Jennifer Siebel Newsom. It was her first film that appeared at the Sundance Film Festival in 2011. The film’s purpose was to expose the ways in which mainstream media and culture contribute to the underrepresentation of women in positions of power and influence.

According to Travice Obas, professor of communication, “In a society where media is the most persuasive force shaping cultural norms, the collective message we receive is that a woman’s value and power lie in her youth, beauty and sexuality and not in her capacity as a leader.”

This is not the first time that “Miss Representation” has been shown at GHC. Obas began showing “Miss Representation” in her mass media course back in 2012. She later provided students the opportunity to organize and conduct the first campus wide showing of the event in 2013. “Miss Representation” will be screened at the Cartersville campus on March 18 at 12:30 p.m. with free Chick-Fil-A for the first 100 attendees. Question and answer sessions will be conducted between segments of the film.

There are also extra credit opportunities for students who attend the events of Women’s History Month for classes in English, communication, history and psychology. Students will also have the opportunity to add a stamp to their Stampede Card for attending any of the events of Women’s History Month.

There will be other documentaries that will be shown throughout Women’s History Month on all GHC campuses.

Along with “Miss Representation” on the Cartersville campus, there will be a screening of the documentary “Girl Rising,” a film that follows the journey of women utilizing the power of education to overcome obstacles, and the documentary “Iron Jawed Angels,” a film that depicts the story of women in pursuit of achieving voting rights.

On the Floyd campus there will be a screening of two documentaries “Embrace: The Body Image Movement” and “No Job for a Woman.” These documentaries depict female reporters during World War II.

The documentary “Teach Girls Bravery, Not Perfection” will be screened at the Douglasville, Paulding and Marietta campuses. Paulding and Marietta will be screening “Miss Representation” as well.

Obas said, “In order to shift and ultimately change the culture in relation to gender stereotypes, it is imperative to provide a discussion platform to educate and challenge how women are perceived in media and society.”

Obas also said that part of the college experience is to engage in meaningful conversation, dialogue and ultimately act on such revelations. She believes that people simply must communicate more with one another if people hope to see change in society.

When it comes to the significance of Women’s History Month, Obas said, “The significance of Women’s History month is truly powerful. To me it represents the opportunity to share stories of women, by women, in the hope that in the future, women of all ages will be provided more opportunities.”

The Chargers defeated Gordon State College 88-83 in overtime in the quarterfinals of the NJCAA Regional XVII Tournament March 5 to advance to the semifinal round.

The Chargers will play Andrew College Firday March 8 in Cuthbert at 7:30 p.m. The game will be live streamed for those who want to watch at thegcaa.com

The GHC Lady Chargers will play against South Georgia Tech in the regional semi-final game today at 2 p.m.

The game will be live streamed at thegacc.com.

GHC Lady Chargers wil face Southern Crescent Tech in the Corral at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 26. in the the quater final round pf the NJCAA Regional Tournament. The winner of the game will move on to the semi-finals to be held Friday at South Georgia Tech. Admision is free to GHC students and employees.

The Chargers last regular season home game will be at 7:30 p.m. Wednsday Feb. 27. The Chargers will take on conference leader Central Georgia Tech.

David Horace (center), GHC’s chief of police, confers with campus security personnel at the Floyd campus. Photo by Nick Whitmire

David Horace patrols the Floyd campus. Photo by Nick Whitmire

On Jan. 24 the Floyd, Cartersville and Heritage Hall campuses were closed due to a possible threat from a GHC student.

Donald Green, the president of GHC said, “On Jan. 24, we closed our locations in Rome and Cartersville after consulting with local law enforcement regarding their investigation of an undetermined threat they had received.”

According to David Horace, GHC’s chief of police, this all began when a student took to Instagram after breaking up with his girlfriend. He then made a post on Instagram that contained lyrics from the rap song “Middle Child” by artist J Cole that said, “I’m counting my bullets, I’m loading my clips/I’m writin’ down names, I’m makin’ my lists/I’m checking it twice, and I’m getting’ ‘em hit/The real ones been dyin’, the fakes ones is lit.”

After the GHC student found out that his friends were talking to his girlfriend after their breakup, the GHC student made another post on Instagram, saying that his friends were fake friends and he felt betrayed by them for talking with his girlfriend behind his back.

In conjunction with the Georgia Information Sharing and Analysis Center also known as GISAC, the FBI and the GBI saw the post and the FBI flagged the post along with the lyrics and became suspicious that the friends the GHC student was referring to were the ones that he was calling fake friends.

Horace said, this led to suspicions that the GHC student might be a shooter or a least had that kind of motive and since he was a student from GHC, his friends might be GHC students as well.

The FBI and the GBI contacted the Rome Police Department, and they got together with Horace, who along with the rest of campus security gathered more information on the student, such as his enrollment status and which classes he was taking.

Horace then presented all his information to Green, who made the decision to close the Floyd and Cartersville campuses along with Heritage Hall to keep students, faculty and staff safe and to possibly stop the student if he was at either of those places.

Green is the one who always make these types of decisions after Horace gathers as much information as possible from local emergencies and other counties. When it came to finding the GHC student, Horace said, “We got in touch with him through a family member. We conducted an interview with the student with local law enforcement, and we determined that what he posted was not a threat.”

Horace said, since the school closing, the GHC student has not been charged and there have been no court cases regarding the possible threat. No one was harmed or injured during the situation and no future precautions have been made.

What allowed students, faculty and staff to find out about the threat was the GHC Notify system. It is a system that allows students, faculty and staff to be notified when possible closings come to the school and helps them determine whether they should come to school or not.

According to Todd Jones, the vice president of student affairs at GHC, “GHC students are automatically signed up to receive the notifications using the contact information they provided when they first applied to GHC.”

Jones also said that students should routinely check their information through SCORE to ensure recent and accurate contact information is available to the alert system and that GHC also places closing messages on social media and the college website.

Horace believed that the biggest takeaway from this situation was for students to be very careful with what they post on social media.

He said that he was “incredibly thankful for our law enforcement’s quick response.”

He said, “There is no filter with social media and students need to remember that, so be mindful with what you post and don’t post anything if it feels wrong.”

“Our-number one priority is the safety and security of our students, employees and visitors to our institution,” said Green.

He said that he was “incredibly thankful for our law enforcement’s quick response.”

Students, faculty and staff who wish to check if they are registered for GHC Notify or need to make changes to their current information in order to receive notification from GHC Notify, should go to https://intranet.highlands.edu/ghcnotify/index.php.

Paris Lake is a distinguishing feature of the Floyd campus. Photo by Nick Whitmire

Students at the student center at the Floyd campus. Photo by Nick Whitmire

The Floyd campus is where Georgia Highlands College began. The college was founded in 1970 after the citizens of Rome gathered together and went to the Board of Regents to have them recognize the growing need of a higher education in Floyd County.

Rebecca Maddox, director of the associate’s degree in the nursing program said, “Only 12 percent of high school grads went to college in Floyd, so a group of citizens went to the Board of Regents to have the college approved.”

The Floyd campus is 252,743 in total square footage and is located on 223 acres of lands with a total of 1500 hundred students. Todd Jones, vice president of student affairs, said, “The Floyd campus has all the things a full campus has and it’s the location where all the wheels turn.”

On the Floyd campus, students go to interact with each other at the student center in the F-Wing of the administration building. In the student center, John Spranza, the student life director, hosts different activities for students to do outside of class. Next to the student center is the solarium, where faculty and staff have meetings and where some of the clubs such as the Gaming Club get together. Most of the clubs at GHC got their start at Floyd and includes Green Highlands.

The Walraven Building at the Floyd campus is where the math and science classes take place. But within the Walraven Building are different labs where students can have a hands-on experience in class by using various tools, models and materials. Recently the Walraven Building has been updated along with the labs. However, Jones said, “One lab costs $100,000.”

Billy Morris, a professor of geology at GHC, was just a kid when the Floyd campus was being built. His father was one of the original employees of GHC when it was called Floyd Junior College. Over the years, Morris has watched the campus grow to what it is today, but he always tries to preserve some of the originality of the campus while embracing the new updates. He even has some of the old cabinets that were used when the college was founded back in 1970.

Morris said, “While seeing the old stuff go tears me up a little, it has been a fun ride to watch the campus change, and it shows that the administration really cares about the campus by keeping it updated. It will always be the heart of the college.”

When students need a quieter place to do schoolwork outside of class, they have access to the campus library. The library has a vast number of books, computer labs, quiet rooms to study and one of the college’s tutorial centers.

For the business side of GHC, students have access to the McCorkle Building.

Another building on the Floyd campus is the Lakeview Building. Besides having classrooms, the Lakeview Building has an art gallery where students, faculty and staff can share their artwork. It also has an auditorium where events such as orientation for new students take place.

For the more athletic students, the Floyd campus has a gym where students can exercise, take physical education classes and watch the college basketball games at the Corral. The campus also has tennis courts, a soccer field, a volley ball court and a baseball and softball field.

When it comes to nature, Paris Lake behind the Floyd campus has been a favorite among students and faculty. It is a massive lake with a trail that goes all around it for students to walk on. The campus has canoes that students can rent, or they can bring their own canoes along with their own fishing equipment. It is also a favorite place for the ducks that hang around campus to complement the nature of the Floyd campus.

Through the years the school has evolved from Floyd Junior College to the Floyd College to what it is today, Georgia Highlands College. GHC has always had one goal, a goal that would eventually spread to the other campuses; to bring higher education at an affordable price, and it all started at the Floyd campus. While the campus continues to be renovated and updated to keep up with the times and for the benefit of the students, the Floyd campus remains as the place where GHC got its start.

Donald Green, the president of GHC, said, “This is where it all started. The people of Floyd County realized they needed higher education that is convenient, so a group of people got together and founded Floyd College and became GHC. They understood the importance of education.”

It was a great year for entertainment, especially when it comes to the world of video games.

Last year has pushed the boundaries of gaming through great storytelling and character work, gameplay, world building, genre, graphics, sound design and replay ability.
Here are the top five best video games of 2018.

5. “Mario Kart 8 Deluxe”

As an enhanced version of the original “Mario Kart 8” for the Wii U, “Mario Kart 8 Deluxe” brings an even better version of the game for the much superior Nintendo Switch.
The game has new features, enhanced game modes and new outfits for characters and vehicles. The racing in the game is amazing along with the new flying mechanics, graphics, sound design, different driving modes and replay potential.

4. “Super Smash Bros. Ultimate”

“Super Smash Bros.” was the best game to come out for the Nintendo Switch in 2018. It is a culmination of every character and stages, plus new ones from the previous Super Smash Bros games and refines every aspect of the game that continues to make it stand out in the fighting genre.
With polished gameplay, massive roster of characters and stages and replay ability, Super Smash Bros Ultimate is the perfect celebration of the history of Nintendo and offers great fun for the player.

3. “Marvel’s Spider-Man”

“Marvel’s Spider-Man” from Insomniac Games for the PlayStation 4, gave us the definitive Spider-Man experience in gaming. The player will be in awe and get lost just by the game’s incredible web swinging with its perfect recreation of New York City. Most missions, particularly the main story, were a fun experience.

But what made Marvel’s Spider-Man one of the absolute best adaptations of Spider-Man was not just the story, but the complete understanding of what makes Spider-Man/Peter Parker one of the greatest comic book characters, which is the consequences and sacrifice of being a superhero. With a new but unique take and complete understanding of the character, Insomniac Games have created the best Spider-Man game and possibly the best superhero game ever made.

2. “God of War”

“God of War” is a perfect game that reinvigorated the franchise. After completely wiping out all of Greek Mythology in the previous six “God of War” games, protagonist Kratos steps into the world of Norse Mythology.

But Kratos must face a new, a more compelling challenge, raising a son. With his son Atreus, Kratos travels across the Norse realms to spread the ashes of his diseased wife all while rekindling his relationship with Atreus and by fighting the Norse gods and monsters that oppose him.

“God of War” completely reinvents the formula of the “God of War” franchise with new and innovative gameplay mechanics that involve Atreus as a partner, a world a little more open than the previous games, exploration, more grounded but still massive and epic boss battles and quieter moments that complement the themes of story.

Also, the connections the game makes with the previous games in the franchise are not done for nostalgia but are made in service of the story and the growth of the characters in what is arguably the best video game story of 2018.

1.“Red Dead Redemption II”

Red Dead Redemption II is a masterpiece of gaming. It is a living and breathing world with tons of variety. Its story and character work are cinematic and superb. The gameplay expands from the original game by bringing a more innovative flare with some of the most realistic mechanics ever conceived in a video game. The missions, side missions and the world present the player with colorful characters and new ground to explore. The graphics are breathtaking, the score is astounding and the sound design is excellent.

“Red Dead Redemption II” is everything that a prequel should be. It builds upon what was established in the original game and even though the player knows how the story is going to go down if he or she played the original game, the game still manages to emotionally shake and surprise in ways that the player never sees coming. “Red Dead Redemption II” has some of the best and most complicated characters in a story of the Old West dying and the consequences and meaning of civilization. The game is perfect across the board.