Directed by Maysaloun Hamoud, “In Between” is the story of two highly liberal Palestinian women, Layla (Mouna Hawa, “Zaytoun”) and Salma (Sana Jammelieh), and their new conservative and religious roommate, Nour (Shaden Kanboura) living in Tel Aviv.

The film was shown as part of the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival, which runs until Feb. 15 and aims to explore culture and history through the lens of Judaism. The festival features over 50 films, many of which are acclaimed but may be hard to see anywhere else.

“In Between” offers a perspective rarely seen or heard about when discussing or portraying Israeli-Palestinian relations. Instead of long, heavy histories, the film freshly explores more intricate personal connections.

The three women live in the heart of Israel’s second largest city, but they exist almost completely outside its culture. The women are given looks in public and even scorned for speaking Arabic. They interact mostly with other immigrants and outsiders.

At the same time, however, the fact that they reside in Tel Aviv rather than any other smaller city or town in the region means Layla and Salma’s liberal views, promiscuity and drug use can exist, even if only in a fragile balance.

Though the “roommates who are opposite in every way” is one of the most overplayed tropes in comedy, the cliché is made bearable by Hamoud’s ability to depict the depth of each character and allow their differences to play out in a more natural way.

Nour is neither a prudishly devout Muslim who believes her roommates worship the devil,
nor is she just an innocent girl who undergoes an “ugly duckling” type transformation once
she gets a taste of Layla and Salma’s lifestyle.

The resolution of their differences avoids the stereotypical meeting in the middle. Their acceptance of each other is rooted in the respect of people simply because they are human, without necessitating change.

The film follows each woman as she goes through a personal trial that puts her independence, pride and sense of self at risk. They fight pressure to fundamentally compromise themselves, and all three persevere and do not give in, largely due to the support they provide one another.

Hamoud does not, however, allow this to be a simple story, one in which a simple moral such as “as long as you are determined, you can do anything” exists.

Instead, Hamoud crafts a brutal conclusion: each of the protagonists is left contemplating whether it is better to be true to oneself in a world where independent womanhood is all but explicitly punished, or accept oppression for the sake of comfort.

Although the film contains themes and even specific moments which evoke almost universal empathy, it never loses focus of its setting. Tel Aviv is not an arbitrary location to show the women as outcasts, and the conservative expectations of women in the Middle East are not any ordinary form of oppression. These complexities create a unique situation, which in turn creates a unique tale of nuanced characters.

Despite its masterful use of setting and well-developed characters, the film does, however, have its weak aspects. While the long silences and lingering shots of the camera allow the viewer to feel the mental process of a character, sometimes these techniques seem like an unnecessary tool simply used because it is “artsy.”

The film also suffers from incessant use of juxtaposition, causing it to lose its power for storytelling and become a crutch for a quick laugh.

Ultimately, “In Between” achieves a goal which few festival dramas do: it is not preachy. Not looking to appease audience with a clean ending or simple takeaway, the film is completely genuine in its portrayal and messiness.

“In Between” won the NETPAC Award for World or International Asian Film Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival and the Danny Lernar Award for Best Feature Debut at the Haifa International Film Festival.

The Ferst Center for the Arts hosted “What’s Going On: A Musical Production for Social Justice,” a play starring many of Georgia Tech’s own students and put on by an organization called Caterpillar’s Promise.

Since 2011, Caterpillar’s Promise has been led by Industrial Engineering student Danielle Mathis.

With the ultimate goal of contributing to the greater good of the community, Caterpillar’s Promise organizes annual events, such as community service trips and talent showcases.

This performance marks the second time that “What’s Going On” has been performed on Tech’s campus, and after experiencing everything that the production had to offer, hopefully this play will return annually.

Coordinated entirely by college students and sponsored by the Georgia Tech MLK Student Board, “What’s Going On” was a six-act production that honestly and comprehensively tackled many different themes within the realm of social justice.

The show began with a welcome from Cam James, a Georgia Tech alum, up-and-coming rapper and social justice advocate in the Atlanta area.

He primed the crowd with cordial greetings, an explanation of Caterpillar’s Promise’s
purpose and a short question and answer session about common misconceptions of the Black
Panther Party.

James concluded his introduction with a concise summary that acted as a thesis statement for the entire project: “This is a play about social justice, but make no mistake — it’s about black people.”

The play began on a light note with two college students falling asleep during a late night of studying. In their sleep, dream sequences were represented by six different acts that highlighted various causes of social injustice and
their effects.

Race, poverty, education, war, religion, gender dynamics and more issues were all touched on during the show. An exchange about “unruly” hair on black women is even featured within the play’s dialogue, which drew a lively response from the audience.

Impressively, these topics were almost always handled in conjunction with one another, providing surprisingly substantial and nuanced commentary on the way these issues can conglomerate and contribute heavily to
social injustice.

The six acts also varied greatly in the performance styles that were chosen. Actors and actresses engaged in spoken word, step routines, rap-sung collaborations and traditional dialogue. These shifts in style provided nice variances in atmosphere and mood during the duration of the performance.

Regardless of the form of performance, each act was just as heartfelt as it was culturally accurate. One scene featured an African-American pastor (with the requisite song-filled delivery and brow full of sweat) enumerating the ways in which Satan can manifest himself through social injustice. The delivery and poignancy were memorable.

A scene in a beauty parlor with four black women discussing the hardships of existing within multiple kinds of minority identities excelled for its honesty, elegance and visual presentation. The combination of relevant content, frequent audience engagement and well-performed live instrumental music resulted in an enjoyable experience.

While the transition from the play’s first scene into its dream sequence may have initially confused audience members, the transitory nature of the production became one its strengths as the play continued.

After the play had found its footing one or two acts in, a buzz could be felt in the theater after the end of an act. Audience members sat on the edge of their seats ready to engage with another form of social injustice as “What’s Going On” continued to offer awareness, insight and perspective to the issues.

The value of “What’s Going On” becomes even more apparent when it is put into context: both the play and the organization overseeing it are the brainchild of one college student. Her mission to empower individuals by developing their talents is in
itself praiseworthy.

At the end of the night, after the credits and acknowledgements had been announced, the creator and playwright Danielle Mathis offered words to live by: “You’ve got to find a vision, you’ve got to find a crew, and you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do!”

With “What’s Going On,” Mathis has done just that, and the result is an engaging production that empowers its audience to stay informed, stay involved and, more than anything, #staywoke.

The smell of kitty litter permeated the air as eager Ellen fans from all areas of Georgia congregated in Callaway Plaza on a sunny Wednesday afternoon.

On Monday, Jan. 30, Ellen tweeted a cryptic message: “If you’re around @GeorgiaTech/#Atlanta area, keep your Wednesday free.” From that day until Wednesday, Tech’s campus was buzzing with talk of Ellen’s appearance on campus.

Unfortunately, Ellen was not able to physically come to Atlanta, but her devoted crew, led by spokesperson Jeannie Klisiewicz, fueled the crowd with excitement.

Fans dressed up in their various kitten costumes paired with a “bowl” according to Ellen’s tweet, in hopes of winning tickets to Super Bowl LI, featuring the Falcons vs. Patriots in Houston. Later that evening, Ellen revealed that the reason for the cat theme was in honor of Beth Stern, Howard Stern’s wife, and her fourth annual Kitten Bowl.

The costumes included elaborate full body cat costumes paired with various animals, including a real pig on a leash, and bowls made out of old syllabuses, trash cans, inflatable pools and kitty litter bins. Caroline Young, a UGA graduate, was dressed up as a dinosaur. “The cat was a prehistoric relative of the t-rex,” Young said. “We all evolved from dinosaurs right?”

Students expressed their enthusiasm for the filming of Ellen’s show on campus.

“I’m a big fan of hers,” said Christian Gabriel, third-year IE. “The fact that she can make hundreds of students dress up like kittens and bring big ol’ bowls — that’s amazing in itself, so I’m expecting something big.”

Gabriel, dressed as the Cat in the Hat, managed to make it on the show and serenade Ellen with his compelling overtures.

Towards the far corner of Callaway plaza, near the Edge building, a few players from Tech’s football team looked longingly at the crowd from a distance.

“We want to participate, but we have workouts at 4:30 p.m. when this starts,” said Ryan Rodwell, fifth-year IE and punter for the football team. “Coach Johnson wouldn’t be too thrilled if we were out here and not in there. Priorities. I wish [I could get Super Bowl tickets], but I will be watching it [the Super Bowl] from my couch.”

At about 5:30 p.m., Ellen’s crew dove into the crowd, searching for the best costumes. The most creative fans were brought to the camera and asked to compose and sing a song that explained why they should be chosen to win Super Bowl tickets.

The winner of the pair of Super Bowl tickets and two tailgate passes was a student from Kennesaw State, much to the dismay of the many Tech students in the crowd. The finalists received tickets to the Ellen show.

After an exhausting and high-energy evening, the crew wrapped up, and Klisiewicz shared her sentiments on the evening and Ellen.

“The best thing about working for Ellen is the fact that what you see is what you get,” Klisiewicz. “Ellen has a platform where she can do anything in the whole world, and the thing that she wants to do is spread the message that we should be kind to one another, and she wants to be kind to people. That’s why I love her so much.”

The Women’s Resource Center (WRC) is one of Tech’s organizations that, for some, remains shrouded in mystery. What exactly do they do? What is the Flag Building? Women go to Tech?

It does, in fact, exist. The WRC is part of the Division of Student Life in a cluster called Inclusion, Advocacy and Support programs. They work closely with other programs in this area, such as the LGBTQIA Resource Center and Student Diversity Programs.

“The way I describe our mission is to create an inclusive environment for women on campus,” said Colleen Riggle, assistant dean of Students and director of the WRC. “We do that through programs, services, meeting one-on-one and creating a space where people can come hang out, study, eat or even take a nap.”

The Center was founded in 1998 by graduate women in order to create a space to come together and support each other. Since then, the reach of the center has expanded, and they have a larger presence on campus.

This space is multi-purpose, allowing student organizations to use several rooms for meetings. Several staff members are always in the office, providing an understanding and helpful ear to students who seek advice on a variety of issues or just want to discuss something they heard in the news.

“It could be things going on nationally or in the media that people just want to talk about,” Riggle said. “Sometimes they’ll be in crisis, so we will connect them to the Counseling Center, but sometimes it’s just wanting to come in and have a conversation about a social justice issue.”

Two full time staff members, including Riggle, work in the office every day, ready to listen to issues or concerns students might have. This semester, one graduate intern has joined the staff, and four student assistants help out anyone that walks in the office.

“One time, we had a student who was job interviewing and wanted assistance on things like, ‘How do I negotiate?’ ‘Is this outfit okay to wear?’” Riggle said.

In addition to one-on-one conversations, the WRC puts out programming focused around the physical and emotional well-being of women several times each month. The Body Image Committee organizes a beginner’s “Yoga for EveryBody” twice a month, and the SpeakEasy series is a biweekly student facilitated time for conversations between black women.

Body image is clearly a subject of concern for the Women’s Resource Center, so during the last week of February, the Center and Health Promotion partnered to sponsor the annual Georgia Tech Campaign for EveryBody Week.

In addition to regularly scheduled yoga, there will be events like film screenings, discussions and special GIT classes to help in honor of the week.

Special events are also held occasionally. One of the Center’s signature events is the Women’s Leadership Conference, which falls on April 1 this year.

A team of students works all year to plan this event, which uses seminars and workshops to train female leaders in the Tech community. This year is the seventeenth year of the conference with the theme “Still I Rise.”

“If there is an issue on campus or something that [students] think we could address, they can let us know, and we would be happy to work with them on that,” Riggle said. “We are always looking to collaborate and work with other students or faculty on campus.”

The WRC participates in large-scale initiatives as well.

March is widely regarded as Women’s History Month, and the Center will put on a variety of programs in collaboration with other organizations on campus that focus on women’s issues.

April is designated Sexual Assault Awareness month, which is a cause that Tech women can support through Teal Ribbon Day, which supports the VOICE initiative for preventing sexual violence.

In association with “Take Back the Night,” a candlelight vigil is held every year to support the survivors of sexual assault and educate the campus community about rape and sexual violence.

“We’re trying to broaden some of our programming,” Riggle said. “Not every program may be attractive to a student, but hopefully there will be something throughout the semester that will be of interest to them.”

Apart from the programming they do, there is even a space in the WRC for students to come in at any time to relax, chat with friends or study. Couches, tables and snacks make the space cozy and welcoming for every student.

“There is just open space where people of all gender can come and hang out and come to our programs. You don’t have to be in crisis or have an issue to come in and spend time here,” Riggle said.

The Women’s Resource Center is located in the Flag (Smithgall/Student Services) Building in Suite 131. More information can be found at womenscenter.
gatech.edu.

President Trump’s fabled ban on immigration from Muslim-majority nations has come to fruition, receiving an unsurprisingly swift condemnation from many angles and causing logistical snarls at gateways across the nation.

At its core, the language used in the ban is vague to its own detriment; border control and customs officials, as well as airlines and even federal lawmakers, are by and large unclear as to whom the ban actually applies. Both “immigrant and nonimmigrant entry into the United States” are suspended until April 25, 2017 from Iraq, Iran, Syria, Libya, Sudan, Yemen and Somalia; diplomats are very clearly exempt, but for green card holders the policy has been thus far inconsistent. CNN reports that, as they understand it, green card holders from the seven countries named above are able to board and fly on a U.S.-bound plane, and upon landing will be subject to an interview and the further collection of personal information to determine if the person poses a risk to national security. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly released a statement on Jan. 29 reaffirming the conclusion that “lawful permanent resident status will be a dispositive factor in our case-by-case determinations,” essentially exempting green card holders from the ban. Allegations from several airports around the country indicate that in the early hours of the ban officials were uncertain of its specificities and may have incorrectly detained some green card holders.

Similar confusion has erupted for dual citizens, with the State Department initially stating that a dual-national in one of the seven named nations and the United States would be turned away before later rescinding that statement.

Companies who employ dual citizens or those holding any type of affected visa, including Google, are cautioning employees to not leave the United States until more clarity on how and when such people can re-enter is available.

The situation is further muddled by decisions from federal judges throughout the nation, which have provided temporary respites from the deportation of those who arrived in the US after the ban and with legal visas. One judge in Virginia further ruled that officials must provide all legal permanent residents detained at Dulles International Airport with access to a lawyer. While a complicating factor, these rulings stop short of dismantling the order on a Constitutional level, meaning that the Department of Homeland Security must observe both court orders and the executive order where applicable.

Republican Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham have put out a joint statement calling the order “hasty” and “not properly vetted,” noting that the order went into effect immediately upon being signed after minimal — if any — consultation with the Department of Justice, the Department of State, the Department of Defense or the Department of Homeland Security. The statement further adds that the ban has inadvertently banned cooperative efforts such as Iraqi pilots visiting American military bases to coordinate in the fight against ISIL, and that ostracizing Muslims from the US may actually aid radical groups in their recruitment efforts.

Regardless of the long-term implications of the act (and not to mention the possibility that it will be extended or broadened) in the short term, chaos has ensued. An estimated 218 million people around the world have been barred from entering the U.S., and 109 travelers who were in transit when President Trump signed the order were turned away from the border. In Atlanta, 11 people were detained on Jan. 28 but were later cleared and released. Comprehensive data on how many are currently being detained nationwide remains unavailable.

Given the abrupt nature of the executive order’s passage and the lack of preparation time allotted to the organizations in charge of customs, border control and airport security, said personnel on the ground were left to improvise as word came through. The full text of the order was not released until later in the day on Jan. 28, leading to inconsistent interim enforcement between airports. Those currently being detained could, hypothetically, be held indefinitely until the new procedural normal is established.  

Experts are currently debating the constitutionality of the ban. The Trump Administration has asserted that a 1952 law permitting the president to bar any class of alien he deems detrimental to the interests of the United States; that law, called the Immigration and Nationality Act or the McCaren-Walter Act, was altered 13 years later to clarify that no person could be denied an immigrant visa due to their race, sex, nationality, or place of birth or residence — notably, creed or religion is not on that list. By the logic that an immigrant cannot be issued a visa if they cannot enter the United States, such a law applies to both the entrance and visa-issuing processes. However, those visiting the United States for temporary work, study or tourism do not have similar protections built into existing law, and so any striking of the executive order which affects those parties would have to be solely on the basis of the Constitution.

On Jan. 30, Acting Attorney General Sally Yates went against Donald Trump in a move not unprecedented for an attorney general. She informed the justice department to not uphold the executive order in court, saying that she was “unconvinced” of the order’s legality. Some, including Jack Goldsmith, a Harvard Law School Professor, are not swayed by the reasoning that Yates gave to not stand by the order in court, yet are not in full agreement with which the hastiness of the order was brought about by the Trump Administration. Four hours after the Attorney General made this announcement, the White House sent a written letter to her office, informing her that she was fired. In a statement, the White House said “[Yates] has betrayed the Justice Department.” That betrayal is unclear from a purely legal standpoint. It is the duty of an attorney general to uphold the law, regardless of what orders come down the pipe from the President.

This last occurred in 1973 when President Nixon ordered that special prosecutor Archibald Cox be fired for investigating the Watergate Scandal, and instead of carrying out the order, the attorney general Elliot L. Richardson and deputy attorney general William D. Ruckelshaus resigned. Many questioned Yates’ motives, especially since Senator Jeff Sessions’ vote was due for Jan. 30, but the senate democrats have stalled his vote, saying he is “too close to Mr. Trump.”

“What would happen if we included horizontal gene transfer in the model?”

It was an intriguing question asked by a new Ph.D. student from Iran. I hope he can continue his studies with us long enough to figure out the answer.

President Trump’s Executive Order on immigration issued on Friday, Jan. 27, is meant to target individuals from a specific group of seven “Muslim-majority” countries. In its specificity, this order threatens us all.

The threat is existential in its attack on our shared values and purpose. The threat is quotidian in its potential to upend the lives of many, including Muslims, Christians, Jews, Bahá’ís, members of other faiths and those unaffiliated with any institutional religion. Some of those affected are here at Georgia Tech.

I am a professor of Biological Sciences and director of Georgia Tech’s Quantitative Biosciences doctoral program. The students in the inaugural year of this program come from the U.S., Mexico, Bosnia, Israel and Iran. This past fall, we would gather at 8 a.m. on Tuesday and Thursday mornings as part of the program’s cornerstone class.

The students struggled at first, but they adapted, forming study groups, collaboratively sharing ideas and, eventually, each successfully mastered the material, moving one step closer to earning their Ph.D. This spring, the students are meant to start their research projects in earnest. However, for one student in the class, science seems of secondary concern.

The Iranian student whom we recruited to join our program and has the necessary visa permits to study is, in effect, detained in the U.S. By the terms of President Trump’s executive order, he cannot leave to attend a conference; he cannot leave to initiate a collaboration; he cannot return home to see his family. He cannot do any of these things if he wants to finish his Ph.D. — a program of study that takes five years to complete.

The executive order on immigration is already contested and will enter a process of judicial review. Yet, if you were this student, would you take the risk?

The Iranian student is just one of many – here at Tech and nationwide – who share a dream to study, to improve their lives and the lives of those around them and to help make discoveries that could one day lead to a cure for cancer, HIV or Ebola or enable a transformation of the efficiency of our energy grid.

These students deserve peace of mind as they work side-by-side with colleagues in service of something greater than themselves. Many with the legal right to study and work in the U.S. are now in limbo. If these young students and other scientists and engineers are under threat, I believe it is our duty to stand in solidarity with them.

It is time to welcome the stranger in a strange land, recommitting ourselves to the promise we made to all those who are already here, reaffirming our bond to those who were already invited to come here and renewing our efforts to open our shores to those who have nowhere else in the world to turn.

The views in this essay are those of the author only.

An anonymous post on the Tech subreddit has sparked discussion on the Institute’s protocols for working with and accommodating students who seek psychiatric assistance.

The post, published on Jan. 22, came from a presumed student using the throwaway account /u/gatechemergency.

The student expressed distress, saying that they were suicidal and needed to go to the hospital but that they were concerned that doing so may jeopardize their academic future.

Further posts by /u/gatechemergency in the comment threads suggested that Tech and the Georgia Tech Police Department (GTPD) would “make every choice … without considering what is best for [the student]” and that the student was concerned about the possibility of losing “months, maybe even years of [their] life to this one incident.”

After over 40 comments, the original post was later updated with /u/gatechemergency saying they were thankful the support but still not sure what to do.

There are no explicit policies in Tech’s Policy Manual or the Board of Regents equivalent for how the academic affairs of students who seek mental health assistance are to be handled, implying that most such incidents are assessed on a case-by-case basis. However, according to campus administrators, few cases have ever imposed any academic consequences.

“A student’s safety is always the most important thing. Everything else is secondary to that,” said John Stein, dean of Students and vice president for Student Life. “When a student expresses the fact that they’re feeling unsafe, and when we hear that, we want to hook them up with a professional so they can have a conversation and assess the level of risk.”

“So what we can request, or sometimes mandate from a student, is an assessment … we walk them to the Counseling Center, and in the evening or in the after hours, we link them to the therapist-on-call system so they can have a phone call with someone. Many times what I’ll say is that a student is able to contract — they’re able to say to the therapist that ‘this is how I feel, but I have no plan.’

“If that’s the case and the student can verbalize that they can keep themselves safe, they can stay with the thought that we trust they’ll reach out and get the help they need.

“The only time I’d say a student may be brought to the hospital is when they’re in a true psychotic state where they’re truly not able to think on their own. Again, usually it’s the psychiatrist or psychologist on campus who [is] making a decision with a student to send them to the hospital. It would never really be an administrative decision; it would always be a clinical decision.”

“This was encouraging because when a student posts something like this, it means they do want help. It’s the student who doesn’t post, who doesn’t say anything out loud, that’s the most worrisome. Not that we’re not worried about this student, but this student publicly expressed what was going on to see what came back.

“If he or she reads this, I hope, one, that they reached out for professional help on campus, and if not, I hope they do. I hope they find their way to my office or the counseling office and get the help that [they need]. That student and anybody else who feels that way.

“As members of this community, we are the eyes and ears,  and we should always be watching out for each other. Especially students who live with each other, work with each other, eat with each other, play with each other: you have the ability to assess each other in a way that professional staff don’t, and faculty often don’t. … That’s what keeps us all safe and in a place of wellbeing with each other.”

Though there have been few such posts in the /r/gatech subreddit’s recent history, Tech’s Counseling Services staff have commended the work of commenters on this post in being reassuring and correcting misconceptions.

“I imagine seeing such a post was upsetting for other users,” said Lacy Currie, Ph.D., suicide prevention and crisis response coordinator with the Counseling Center, “particularly those who want to help but are unsure how given the anonymity of users on the platform. That said, I am extremely encouraged to see the responses posted by others offering encouragement, support and resources — as it is exactly what I would suggest individuals to do.

“Even more, they followed up and checked in again with the individual. Great job users!”

“It would never be the case that [the Institute] would just remove a student due to mental health concerns,” said Ruperto Perez, Ph.D., director of the Counseling Center. “We work with the student to evaluate what their current level of functioning is, what their current level of distress is and what their current ability is to continue functioning successfully. If they want to stay, we really try to work with them.”

“I guess what I found kind of curious is that the student who posted had a subsequent reply to someone else, and what I found ironic is that they were feeling suicidal but didn’t want to jeopardize their academic career by potentially having to go to the hospital. And my thought is, ‘Well, gosh. If you die, there’s no academic career.’ I think part of it is working to realize that students who are at that level of distress are really struggling to make a decision of how to get help and where to get help, and I think it’s our responsibility as a campus to provide them with the hope that things will get better and that help is always available. … That’s really kind of the
takeaway for me.”

Perez also addressed common concerns about the ease of obtaining assistance from the Counseling Center.

“A student who is in crisis is going to be seen immediately. … I think sometimes what happens is that a student will say that they came to the Counseling Center, they were in a crisis, and they got turned away. Sometimes what happens is that they come into the center, they’re not suicidal, they’re not gonna kill anybody, they may be feeling anxious. Part of what they may perceive as crisis, we assess as ‘well, you’re doing okay. You’re not feeling good, you might be feeling anxious, but by and large you’re functioning pretty well as a student, and you’ve got good coping skills, but there are some things going on that counseling could help you with’. Depending on the time of year, … they could be seen in a week for initial consultation or that kind of thing. We try to keep it down to two weeks, no more.”

GTPD’s Reddit account commented three times on the post, once providing the dispatch center’s phone number and once offering to open a dialogue over Reddit direct message with a specific officer. All three comments reassured the student that GTPD’s “overriding goal is to get you the help you need.”

Neither GTPD nor the specific officer were able to provide comment regarding the post. Moderators of the /r/gatech subreddit were unable to be reached for comment.

A cursory glance at the basketball court during a collegiate game indicates ten players and a handful of referees. On the benches, coaches yell out adjustments while assistants dutifully prepare a whiteboard for planning.

But in this chaos, a set of important figures can be forgotten all too easily.

After all, not every person on the Tech women’s basketball team plays on the court. For every practice and game, there are two student managers refilling water, looking after the referees, preparing the locker rooms or making sure the lights come on.

“It’s a little more than a glorified towel holder,” said Jacob Greenspan, a second-year BIOL from Marietta, Ga. Greenspan was involved in the Tech basketball program last year as part of the practice squad until he became a student manager, while Quincey Lowery, first-year graduate ME, joined in the fall of 2016.

“When I tell people I’m a student manager, the first thing they’ll say [is], ‘So are you like the towel boy or the water boy?’ and stuff like that,” Lowery said. “That’s kind of what I thought it’d be like, because I know had friends who did managing in high school, and that’s kind of what they had to do. But it’s a lot more than just passing out towels or giving water. … We have to set
up practice, and we do a lot of running around on game day, making sure the [referees] have everything they need, getting the locker room set up for the away team, and different things of that nature as well.”

Lowery, whose background before coming to Tech was in football and track, had always wanted to learn about basketball and maybe become a coach someday.

“I saw the flier in the [student] union and emailed JP [Josh Pastner]. Shortly after, I had an interview and kind of just wanted to feel like a part of the university since I was a new student here, and I’ve been here ever since,” Lowery said. “My biggest concern before coming to the part of the team, I mentioned to JP, was feeling like a part of the team. They definitely make you feel like you are part of the team as well. I know like after the game, we’ll all high-five.”

With nearly 30 scheduled games per season and time commitments of around 12 hours per week, the student managers keep the team running smoothly from behind the scenes.

“Typically, we arrive around an hour before practice and set up the court,” Lowery said. “Whether it’s basketballs, pads for practice, for [practicing] hitting the players, getting the lights turned on, getting the music ready for practice. Also, we pull out the couch’s board for Coach Jo [Tech women’s basketball coach MaChelle Joseph] as well as get her water and anything else the players might need for practice.”

While practices may be a time commitment, home games are all-day affairs and away games can take up two entire days, meaning that sometimes the student managers have to miss class. The key to balancing a hectic Tech schedule with managing a basketball team, Greenspan said, is time management skills.

“I feel like as a manager I’ve really developed my time management. …You gotta start early. You can’t let the work pile up, because managing does take a significant amount of time,” Greenspan said.

“Basketball-wise, I’ve been able to pick up a few things — a few strategy things, like how to cover a triple-switch. I had no idea what a triple-switch was before this,” Greenspan added.

Still, the job is not without its perks. Greenspan most enjoys just being around basketball, and his favorite moment of the season so far was Tech winning the Junkanoo Jam in Bimini, Bahamas against Dayton and Missouri, while Lowery’s favorite moments were winning games against u[sic]GA and Syracuse and the whole team participating in the mannequin challenge, Greenspan and Lowery included.

“I’m just grateful to be a part of the team,” said Lowery. “I didn’t think I was going to be able to do it, because of the time constraints between the intense work at Georgia Tech, but I’m working on balancing everything out, just getting work done early. It’s exciting to be a part of this team. When you see these girls play, you feel like you’re on the court with them. So when we’re at the games, we’re right behind the bench, right there, cheering them on.”

For the rest of the season, they’ll do just that. Although their names will be scarcely mentioned, Greenspan and Lowery are members of the team.

This year’s Super Bowl features a former college lacrosse player, a Lady Gaga halftime show and two Tech alums. Both the Falcons and the Patriots both have a graduate of the Jackets football program: Linebacker Phillip Wheeler for Atlanta and offensive lineman Shaq Mason for New England.

In his second year in the NFL, Mason continues to impress. This season, he appeared in all 16 regular season games, started in 15 of those games and has started and played in both of the playoff games for the Patriots. The premier Tech lineman has been an integral part of the offensive line since joining the team, especially when it comes to run blocking.

Wheeler is in his ninth NFL season and his second with the Falcons. This is Wheeler’s second time on a team in the Super Bowl. In his second season in the league, he and the Indianapolis Colts played in Super Bowl XLIV, losing to the New Orleans Saints 31-17. While Wheeler doesn’t start many games, he is seen as a rotating linebacker and consistently gets snaps. This year he has 28 tackles, 18 solo and 10 assisted.

Beyond the Super Bowl, the NFC championship game saw an additional Jacket, Green Bay Packers safety Morgan Burnett. In the game, he had seven tackles, two of which were assisted. Burnett was unfortunately struggling with a groin injury throughout the conclusion of the Packers’ playoff run. This was Burnett’s seventh season in the league, all of which he has spent with the Packers. This season Burnett recorded 93 tackles, three sacks (a career high) and two interceptions for 19 yards, a reliable piece on defense.

Moving to the rookies, defensive back D.J. White and defensive end Adam Gotsis both saw play through the season. White was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the sixth round of last year’s draft. During the season, he saw playing time in five games, recording 11 tackles and his first career interception in a game against the New York Jets.

Gotsis was drafted by the Denver Broncos at 63rd overall in the second round of the NFL draft. Gotsis appeared in 10 games across the season recording at least one tackle in every game he played and 14 overall. His best game came against the Patriots and former teammate Shaq Mason, where he recorded three tackles. Gotsis remains a rotational player early in his career.

The final rookie, cornerback Christopher Milton was picked up by the Indianapolis Colts in May. His season was rocky, involving getting demoted to the practice squad then promptly pulled back up to the main team. Milton played in six games throughout the season, recording nine combined tackles, seven of which were solo. The good news for Milton was he put up two identical stat games at the end of the season against Minnesota and Jacksonville, recording four combined tackles in both games.

While Calvin Johnson just retired, there are still plenty of Tech veterans who are in the NFL. Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Michael Johnson continued his consistent play in his ninth season. This year he started all 16 regular season games, recording 45 tackles, 3.5 sacks and three pass defenses. The name of Johnson’s game has been consistency: over his nine-year career he has 316 tackles and 39 sacks.

Additionally, Tennessee Titans linebacker Derrick Morgan played in his seventh season in the NFL this year, starting all 15 of the games he played in and recording a career high nine sacks on the season.

When the season ends, a Tech alumnus will stand as a Super Bowl champion. Regardless of the victor, that’s worth celebrating.

At the beginning of the spring season, the luminaries at the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (conveniently abbreviated USTFCCCA) ranked the top teams in the country. At the top for both the men and women were powerhouses such as Oregon, LSU, Florida and the University of Georgia.

Finding the Jackets is a bit more difficult. The men ranked No. 123 of 143 eligible programs, looking up at the likes of Northwestern State, Florida International and Northern Arizona. The women placed a more respectable but nonetheless nondescript No. 46, lagging behind conference foes such as Miami (No. 14) and Clemson (No. 27).

Two weeks later, little has changed, if the USTFCCCA is to be believed. The men have moved up slightly to No. 121, and the women have dropped to No. 53. Yet results from the Vanderbilt Invitational, held this past weekend, reflect a team trending upward.

Tech faced off against two top 25 teams, and many individuals shined brightly. At the Commodore Invitational the previous weekend, the Jackets had 10 career best performances against four top 25 teams. At the Vanderbilt Invitational, 15 new career best marks were broken. On a week-to-week basis, the Jackets are steadily and surely improving.

On the first day of the Invitational, four women had career best performances in their respective events. Carissa Tipler, a senior, had her best ever finish in the long jump, posting a score of 6.01m. Meanwhile, many younger members of the team improved on their best times as well. In the 200-meter event, sophomore Dasia Smith (26.73 seconds) and freshman Denise Woode (25.48 seconds) improved on previous performances. Woode also broke her own record in the 400-meter event. Another freshman, Briana Hayden, managed to finish just a hair faster than her peers in the 200-meter event, posting a career best time of 25.03 seconds.

The women also finished strong in the hurdles. Senior Kenya Collins was in the top five again, as has been the norm for her at every meet so far this season, finishing in third in the 60-meter hurdles. Joining her in the hurdles and recording their own personal best times in the 60-meter event were Raven Stewart and Marinice Bauman. In the 3000-meter, Mary Prouty and Courtney Naser had personal best times as well. Freshman Jeanine Williams rounded out a day of firsts with her collegiate debut in the 60-meter dash.

The men had solid finishes of their own as well at the Invitational, particularly in the 3000-meter. Leading the way was sophomore distance runner Christian Bowles, whose time of 18:17.62 was good for a first place in the event. Meanwhile, junior Tanner Shaw and sophomores Matt McBrien, Ryan Peck and Mitchell Sanders posted their own career best times in the same event.

The 800-meter followed a similar theme. Veteran Andres Littig finished second with a time of 1:50.04, and freshman Bennett Hillier followed up that performance with a career-best time of 1:54.95. Other career-best times came in the 400-meter from sophomore Lionel Jones and freshman Dwayne Watkins as well as a sixth-place finish for junior Andres Ward in the 60-meter hurdles. Like the women, the men look to be improving at a very opportune time. The schedule for both the men’s and women’s teams is packed with meets every week for at least the next month.

As for men’s coach Grover Hinsdale and women’s coach Alan Drosky, their focus now turns to the Bob Pollock Invitational in Clemson, S.C.

“We still have work to do, but I am pleased with the progress we’re making each week,” Hinsdale said, courtesy of ramblinwreck.com.

If this level of success is sustained, the Jackets’ track and field team’s rankings on the national stage will improve in time.