I chose three articles from TMZ, one regarding ethnicity, one religion, and one about race. One article basically explained that Bryce Hall is being sued for beating up Hernan Fernando simply because he was Mexican. The next article regarded a high school football coach that used “anti Semitic play calls” during a game. Lastly, the third article explained Britney Spears’ support for Black Lives Matter and that some of her Instagram followers are angry with her for this. I thought all of these articles were fitting for what we have focused on throughout this class.

For the article regarding Bryce Hall, he was at a restaurant and fought a man as the motive behind the fight was solely because the man, Fernando, was Mexican. Before the fight began, Hall was allegedly yelling at Fernando saying “I’m from Bel-Air, and you’re just a fat Mexican who works at a restaurant.” TMZ added that Fernando is “suing Bryce, Rory and their pals for assault, battery, emotional distress, and for attacking him based on his ethnicity.” The intended audience for this article has to be those that know who Bryce Hall is, meaning his fans or haters. Bryce Hall is a well known social media influencer on Tik Tok. Therefore, a younger crowd of people is more than likely the audience for this article. The purpose behind this article is probably just to gossip and find dirt on well known people. The fight was not a brawl, however the root of the fight is what is wrong. To hate someone because of their ethnicity is completely wrong and to be a social media influencer, influencing a young audience, makes it that much worse. Going back to the quote from TMZ, Fernando is suing because Hall acted this way solely because he was Mexican. There are only videos on this article and I cannot link them, however to summarize, these videos show Hall and his friends at the restaurant via Snapchat video as well as the injury Fernando had on his fingers.

For the second article, it regards the high school football coach that used anti- Semitic calls during a football game. Ex coach,”Dave Maimaron used terms such as Auschwitz, rabbi, and dreidel to describe plays for his players”. The intended audience is athletes, coaches, or any others who are involved in the sports world in some way. This is because, those who play, coach, or spectate, any sports games know that this kind of action is unacceptable. The true purpose of this post on TMZ is to inform the public that things like this still happen and younger generations are still being exposed to and taught wrong doings like this. This action by Mairaron made the public very angry as “days of parents, fans and civil rights leaders calling for action … the school finally made the move to can the coach Wednesday, blasting him for the naming of the calls.” For when the public found out about the offensive language that Mairaron was using, they would not rest until the community knew and Mairaron was fired. The main message communicated through this post is that offensive language, especially around teenagers is unacceptable and if the community comes together to receive justice, things will come together.

Lastly, the third article was about Britney Spears’ support with Black Lives Matter. The headline says “Britney Spears posts support for Black Lives Matter…Some Followers Pissed!!!” Below is the post that got people talking.

The audience to this is those who follow Britney Spears and those who understand the importance of the Black Lives Matter movement. The purpose of this article is to provide that even celebrities speak out on issues such as racism, but no matter what there will always be backlash. TMZ added that many celebrities thought that Britney Spears “went too far” on her post that provided that white people have generational wealth and black people have generational trauma. The main message behind this article is to explain that people will always have a problem with others. Despite the reason for the post, some people will have an issue with others, especially when it comes to celebrities. The TMZ article explained that people thought it was not Spears’ place to speak on the topic because she is white.

To continue on with this, these posts work together well as they all are regarding concerns with a particular topic. Each article consists of people speaking out in one way, whether it be through social media, through the law, or through the community. In the first article, I think that this story could have been slightly misconstrued or exaggerated slightly. I think people like to make social media influencers constantly look bad and give them bad reputations. Yes, I am sure Bryce Hall is in the wrong in some ways, however this does not mean Fernando did not instigate a fight with him first. However, with the second story regarding the high school football coach, this story consisted of facts. It had a lawsuit involved and was strictly facts whereas the Bryce Hall story seemed to be a story more for attention. Regarding fandom, these kinds of posts definitely facilitate fandom. With the Britney Spears and Bryce Hall story, both of these celebrities definitely gained some kind of attention and their name was being spoken of more often than usual. Identification is when the audience assumes the identity or stance that another person believes or holds. For example, the audience would assume that Bryce Hall is racist, the audience would assume that the football coach hates Jewish people, and that Britney Spears stands with the black community and does not support police officers. Celebrity gossip sites such as TMZ feed into identification and are definitely very biased in their articles. For, this feeds into identification as the audience is often swayed the way that the article is written towards.

“I’ll start off by saying I 100 percent believe I got cancer for a reason,” said sophomore Zack Schramm.

On June 1, Schramm was given news that nobody wants to hear, a diagnosis of testicular cancer. Uncertain of causes, it took a large amount of mental toughness to get through this kind of milestone. With the major motivation being his mom, Schramm soon realized he had to do whatever it took to be there for his mom. For any mother, your child going through such an obstacle as cancer is living in a nightmare.

“My mom was so distraught knowing her 19-year-old son had cancer. Most of the doctors’ appointments was me picking my mom up,” said Schramm.

It is difficult to understand the process that cancer puts an individual through — the physical and mental pain is indescribable, though Schramm found a light in this process. With hours sitting in the chemotherapy chair, anyone’s mind will wander. The thought was always in the back of Schramm’s head that it is possible he may not make it through this, for with this, the epiphany arose to Schramm that he has not lived his life the way he wants to.

Many can testify to this. People often say they want to do many extravagant things in their lives, but never actually act upon the things that they want to do. In this case, Schramm realized he had been a victim of this and found himself taking advantage of even the simplest opportunities to experience life.

“I saw a quote that made me really think about how I have lived my life up until the diagnosis. I realized I had not been living life they way I should be living,” said Schramm.

“I had not done or experienced all the things I talked about. The quote basically gave me the idea that I have wasted nineteen years of my life and that I need to capitalize on every opportunity that I am given, big or small.”

The quote was the words of Confucius, “We have two lives, and the second begins when we realize we only have one.”

It takes an immense amount of thinking to understand this quote, but once it is understood, you wonder what life you are in. To sum up what this quote represents in Schramm’s life, Schramm’s first life was his first 19 years. His second life began when he realized life can be taken from him at any second.

For any person, having cancer would break them to pieces. It could become another “feel sorry for me story,” but Schramm looked at this with a different set of eyes. A set of eyes that bettered him and his family. A different mindset that changed Schramm forever. The epiphany Schramm had because of this milestone is one of the best things that could have ever happened to him.

“Without having to go through what I did, I would still be waiting for life to come to me. Now I am taking on life with no fear or care in the world,” said Schramm.

948 minutes played for the 2021 season of Piedmont University’s Women’s Soccer program. Earning the starting spot as an attacking midfielder for four years, senior and captain Cassie Kirk holds a very strong physical and mental glue for the program. More importantly, soccer has been a major glue for Kirk within her life.

Being one of the largest influences and impacts for the women’s soccer program, Kirk has earned USA South first-team-All-Conference in 2019 and 2020. In 2018, Kirk earned the USA South All-Tournament Team. Clearly, Kirk holds a major role on the field as a player for the Lions.

Kirk started her soccer career at age 4, not knowing the love and lessons she would encounter along the way. To Kirk, soccer was not just a portion of her life, it has always been the largest part of her life, soccer has consumed her life in every way. Graduating in the spring, soccer will soon be just another time to share and reflect on stories for Kirk.

“Growing up soccer was sort of my identity,” said Kirk. “I have just recently been accepted into medical school and have applied for a few jobs. It is becoming very surreal that soccer will not be the biggest part of me anymore.”

With soccer being one of the major personality traits Kirk holds, she has found that soccer has helped her through many battles on and off the field. Most importantly, Kirk learned being the best will not always be what will win in the end.

“Cassie is one of the hardest working players I think I have ever coached,” said Piedmont head women’s soccer coach, Timmy McCormack. “She loses the ball, she will not give 100% to win the ball back, she will give 200% to get the ball back. Her work ethic on the field definitely

translates to the rest of the team. I could argue that her work ethic was the reason all of her teammates voted her captain.”

For example, in 2019 the women’s soccer team was ranked first and expected to win the conference championship. Knowing that the team was better than its opponent, Salem College, Salem had higher work ethic. Even since the opponent of Piedmont was ranked much lower, the want to win was greater.

“As cliché as it is, the saying that hard work beats talent when talent does not work hard is something I have learned because of soccer,” said Kirk. “I have been the more talented team who has lost, and I’ve been the underdog who worked way harder than the other time to win. But, I think this is really important to take into life outside of soccer because I have worked very hard to earn the opportunities I have, my work ethic is definitely giving me the opportunities such as multiple job offers.”

Without playing soccer for 18 years, Kirk would never have learned valuable lessons that will aid her in life after college. Being the hardest worker on the field directly links to the close to a 1,000 minutes earned in each season, starting in nearly every game for four years straight, and many honors awarded to her.

“Soccer has taught me that I do not have to be the biggest, strongest, or most skilled,” said Kirk. “In life I do not have to be the smartest, most experienced, or most skilled. I just have to out work everyone around me to be the best.”

Being a Residential Assistant (RA) at Piedmont College comes with many consequences that RAs do not expect.. 

According to Mark Jestel, current Residential Director (RD) of Piedmont College, the role of an RA is to, “create and maintain a safe, orderly and supportive environment for their residents.” RAs sign up for the job with the intent to keep their residents safe; however, the line between safety, responsibilities, and the definition of innocent fun seems to be unclear.

“A hammock,” said former esidential Assistant Caitlyn Worthy. “I got forced to tell my residents who were having harmless fun to take down their hammock.” 

Unsure why she had to confiscate the hammock, Worthy explained her first forced write-up between her residents and herself as former RD, Cordell Jones. He gave Worthy no option but to act on this situation with no explanation of how the act of harmlessly sitting in a hammock is dangerous.

“I felt awful for ruining their good time that was clearly not harming anyone, but I had to do my job,” she said. 

Worthy remembers feeling upset that her residents would not like or trust her after having to confiscate their hammock. Worthy was responding to her superior’s wishes by removing the item. 

After speaking with multiple former and current RAs, Worthy is not the only RA of Piedmont that has felt forced into responding unfairly to their residents by their supervisors. Of these RAs, it is understood that there is a large responsibility that comes with the job, but there is a difference between safety concerns and harmless fun. Actions like these cause RAs on campus to be seen as the “bad guy” seeking to write up their residents for no real offense. It is detrimental to the college experience, not only for residents, but for the RAs as well. Forced write-ups cause lack of trust for a RA’s residents which ultimately leads to a change in a RA’s social life.

“I signed up to be an RA because I needed cheaper college,” said former RA Madison Comer since RAs receive half off the cost of their room and board on campus, “I got blocked from my friends Snapchat stories because they didn’t want me getting them in trouble.” 

Most college memories are made from having good friends and a great social life, but being an RA comes with losing that aspect of the college experience.

“Early on, we are told we live in a fishbowl,” said current RA of three years Martin Gravely. However, Gravely agreed that he was not warned or aware of the side effects that come with being an RA. People treat these students differently, specifically because of the title “Residential Assistant”.

“I can tell things are different when I’m sitting with a group of friends all sharing stories,” first-year RA Christopher Bale explains. “They all stop talking, look at me and then change the topic, not wanting to get in trouble.”

Bale explains feeling socially distant from his peers. There is an obvious disconnect between RAs and regular students. When students sign up to be a RA, rules do not state how much one’s social life will change.

Jestel adds, “It is a big learning experience trying to figure out how to go about writing up your friends and understanding that you’re doing a job.” 

But some Ras feel the rules are inconsistent, making it hard for RAs to understand the purpose of their job. 

“There’s so much inconsistency in what we are told to do,” Gravely said. “I was told by an assistant resident director to make a room take down their Michelob Ultra flag. I confiscated it and gave it to my director, but the next day the flag was given back to the room by my RD.” 

Gravely explains his actions against that room seem to have been pointless because of how his superiors acted. He says that he now looks like the bad RA by that room just from doing what he was told. 

RAs feel as if they are walking on eggshells with the student body, as well as their bosses. Although they recognize that It is essential to ensure safety across campus, some feel the definition of “safety” seems to be misconstrued at Piedmont. 

“Originally being an RA seemed like a nice job with many benefits. I have learned it is the exact opposite,” said Caitlyn Worthy.

Morgan Wallen’s latest album, “Dangerous” is a double album and consists of 33 songs that have been developed over a number of years. It is said that the purpose of this 33-song album is to portray Wallen’s life, and through quarantine Wallen was given the time to create this extremely long album. The album consists of songs portraying partying with friends, drinking beer, overcoming heartbreak with a mystery girl, small towns, Nashville and of course, dirt roads. The majority of songs such as “Whiskey Glasses,” “This Bar,” “Wasted On You,” “Me On Whiskey,”, “Beer Don’t,” and “Your Bartender” solely portray how much Wallen loves drinking beer and whiskey. This album could have easily changed into an alcohol worship album. In many of these songs alcohol has been said to have helped him heal from heartbreak and live a good life. Maybe this is a sign Wallen needs some addiction recovery — just before “Dangerous” was released, multiple girls from the University of Alabama spoke out publicly how Wallen took advantage of them, is an alcoholic and ultimately the epitome of a douchebag. Ironically, in the songs Wallen released that involve a girl, Wallen is always the victim and always the one to have been heartbroken. Many of the songs released in this album are sappy, “feel sorry for me songs” leading to Wallen singing about his low-key alcohol problem and addiction. In many of his songs, Wallen literally conveys how much he loves drinking and how it makes his life that much better.

“Dangerous” falls along the lines of pop country, which is the equivalent to modern country. Pop country is much different from true country. The song “Heartless” has been debuted not only on country radio stations but also on pop radio stations across the country as the song has been remastered into a poppier version. In this case, some of Wallen’s songs are more upbeat and made for parties or for a happier mood. The songs “Country A$$ Shit” and “Living on a Dream” are definitely for beer drinkers and corn hole players in the summertime. These songs were fun and were placed well in the album to break up the miserable words Wallen sings about his life.

With this information, the 33-song album has some, emphasizing some, versatility to it. Not every song is about Wallen drinking his life away. Wallen definitely wrote and sang about different aspects of his life. Drinking, love and partying were the three main themes to Wallen’s album. However, these themes seem to cross way too often, and each song became very similar and repetitive in the overall message. Towards the end of the album, it was difficult listening about Wallen drinking whiskey in a bar to get over a girl again. It is honestly concerning that a girl has done this much damage on a man where he sings about her and alcohol in almost every song he writes and releases. 

Ultimately, what I got from listening to the one hour and 33-minute album is that alcohol should be able to fix all of my problems. Either that, or Wallen has a serious drinking problem. In fact the album title “Dangerous” fits the album well as Wallen is indeed extremely dangerous when it comes to his health and wellbeing. This album proved that without alcohol, Wallen would have absolutely nothing to sing about, because he legitimately does not understand anything else except alcohol. 

Morgan Wallen released his album “Dangerous” on Jan. 8. “Dangerous” consists of 17 songs and was released just after multiple girls at the University of Alabama spoke publicly about him taking advantage of them at bars, sleeping with multiple girls in a weekend and ultimately being a douchebag. The irony behind this is because “Dangerous” speaks about his life, and nowhere does a song illustrate his disloyal, disgustingly drunk and extreme flirty side of himself. Where his album in fact recites him being the one heartbroken, him living a perfect life with his friends and drinking beer of course.

When thinking about the homeless, many think of someone begging or asking for money. However, most homeless people do not fit this stereotype, and Piedmont College alum Nathan Blackburn is hoping to break this stereotype. 

At the 2020 Piedmont Symposium, Blackburn presented the session, “Poverty Portrayals: An examination of Media Portrayals Stereotyping Homeless Populations,” a project that was derived from his mass communications theory and research course. 

“This research became the starting point for my senior capstone, which I’ve recently completed, and it played a big role in the short film that I created as part of that capstone (Wander Boys),” said Blackburn. 

However, the inspiration behind the research extended past just a MCOM 3850 course. It came from his personal background. Blackburn experienced homelessness himself growing up. Understanding what it is like to be homeless, Blackburn has a different perspective than most on the topic. Throughout his research, Blackburn found difficulty in setting aside his own personal biases regarding homelessness, where he had to keep an open mind throughout. 

“Nathan’s personal experience with homelessness added a more complex layer and gave him a unique perspective than if he had been an objective researcher,” said Professor Tingle. 

Blackburn found curiosity in understanding how the rest of society viewed the homeless and found that the media directly influences peoples’ viewpoint on those who suffer from homelessness. The media is able to shift situations accordingly in order to make others feel certain feelings like sadness or anger. This is known as “media framing,” where the media frames particular situations to make others feel a certain emotion. This is Blackburn’s pivotal argument in the case that the media does affect the way others view the homeless. As Blackburn anonymously interviewed individuals of various ages, his research proved that after these individuals watched the same clips on homelessness, all of the feelings towards homelessness were very similar. 

“After viewing Nathan’s presentation online, it really made me realize that the media really does have a major impact on how society sees homeless people,” said student Haily Tigue. “I can say that I have definitely been caught in the basic stereotype of homeless people in the United States, but I will now be more compassionate towards this topic.” 

Blackburn’s research portrays that the media is often biased when discussing homelessness. Blackburn explains that the media often displays homeless individuals as “beggars on the side of the street” or that these individuals must have done something wrong in their life to be in this situation. Though, Blackburn knows from personal experience that this is not always the case. 

For example, many homeless individuals are children who have lost parents, a recent immigrant trying to start a new life, or someone who unexpectedly lost a job. However, Blackburn explains that because of films and the news, homelessness is often viewed by others for something that it is not. 

One of Blackburn’s favorite interviews he conducted was one with a fellow student where Blackburn learned about a different perspective of homelessness. Through this interview 

Blackburn explained that this student’s first thought of the homeless was “always dirty and begging for money” 

“I’ve always noticed that the media tends to lean more towards one stereotype or one side of portraying homeless people,” he said. “It was interesting to learn more about that from the view of someone who had not experienced any kind of homelessness.” 

Global Hand Washing Day Professor Julia Schmitz informs students on proper hand washing techniques 

Demorest, Georgia, Sept. 2, 2020- In efforts to educate before the Global Hand Washing Day on Oct. 15, Piedmont College Microbiology ProfessorJulia Schmitz wants to educate students on the importance and effects of hand washing, and more importantly how to properly wash hands for it to be effective. 

“Making sure that people are going between their fingers and their thumbs is important,” she said.”Everything that we’re doing we will be touching our face with our hands.” 

Hand washing is crucial living through a pandemic, especially on a college campus. Covid tests are increasing weekly on campus, therefore knowing how to effectively wash hands is extremely important to ensure safety amongst the campus.It is more than common that individuals miss parts of their hands, do not use the correct products, or simply wash their hands incorrectly.On Global Hand Washing Day, Piedmont College hopes to teach students the proper ways to wash hands through a Tic Tok competition in which students can submit their educational and entertaining videos on handwashing.

“Probably the most often area where things would be left is your knuckles…underneath your nails, around your nail beds, underneath rings and jewelry, and thumbs,” she said. 

The hand washing practice is one students in the biology department take seriously.

“Even before the pandemic during biology labs we are expected to wash our hands consistently, but now it is more important than ever to wash our hands correctly and thoroughly,” said biology major, Cameron McDonald.

With all of this information, the biology and mass communications departments are teaming up to educate students at Piedmont during Global Hand Washing Day. Piedmont is hosting Tik Tok contests and social distancing events to educate students in an exciting manner on the positive and negative effects of washing hands. To engage students in participating in the hand washing events, winners and prizes will be given to those who create a creative video on the correct ways to wash hands. For more information on the National Hand Washing Day events, email Joe Dennis at jdennis@piedmont.edu. 

About Piedmont College

One of the most dynamic small colleges in the Southeast, Piedmont is an independent liberal arts college of more than 2,260 students. The college’s four schools—Arts & Sciences, Business, Education, and Nursing & Health Sciences—develop tomorrow’s leaders by engaging students in the classroom, in their community, and around the world. Founded in 1897, Piedmont offers bachelor’s, master’s, specialist, and doctoral degree programs at its Demorest residential campus in the foothills of the northeast Georgia mountains and at its Athens campus in the heart of Georgia’s Classic City. Information can be found at http://www.piedmont.edu.

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Growing up, my sister and I were extremely close. We are nine years apart, so I looked up to her for almost everything. She was my best friend as a child and I wanted to be just like her. Though as I got older, I realized she was not as perfect as she seemed to be. 

As a young child I always associated drug addicts and alcoholics in a negative connotation. I never understood who these kinds of people were and why they did the things they did. The only things I could think of was these people are crazy and stupid. I always questioned “Why don’t they just stop?”  But I soon realized it is much deeper than that, it is a mental disorder and for many, professional help is essential and for addicts of many years, it is nearly impossible to stop on their own.

Still naive to the lifestyle of an addict, I found these kinds of people closer and closer to me. Before, I saw these people from a distance, on the way to vacation at a gas station or walking in downtown Atlanta, but I never thought I would experience it firsthand. I heard my parents talk of family friends and friends of friends going down the drug road, but I never thought I would experience such a thing until my older sister became addicted to heroin. 

It started in 2014 and it is still a battle to this day. It was confusing at first, but more so, it was heartbreaking. Watching this lifestyle and not knowing how to help broke my heart more than anything I could ever imagine. I would do anything to help and change my sister for the better. For many years, I was filled with anger because I thought that my own sister had betrayed me. I thought she did not love me enough to give up her addiction. However, as I educated myself, I soon understood that the drugs have taken over who my sister truly was. My sister and my sister on drugs were two completely different people. Freshman year of college the addiction became worse and I did not know how to handle it or help. As she was in and out of the hospitals due to overdoses, in and out of schizophrenic episodes, and in and out of detox, it was a long and brutal process to simply admit her into the facilities she needed. The person my sister was on drugs needed serious help. 

My family and I found that it was more than difficult to admit an addict into rehab without insurance than it was impossible to admit a schizophrenic over 18 into detoxification. It was also impossible to change the mind of an addict. After multiple stages of detox and state funded rehabilitation, staying clean is not the only problem for an addict, the addict needs professional help mentally as “drug addiction is a chronic brain disease”. Simply put, the brain needs support as well. The majority of individuals suffering from drug addiction cannot and will not survive in the real world with only a seven-day detox. They need aid in understanding who they are, and that life is possible without drug use. 

Additionally, a majority of addicts do not have jobs, homes, or money to start a new life after a week of detox. In this case, rehab centers are meant to help with this situation. However, in my sister’s case, she had no insurance and was in debt, therefore she was unable to pay the average of $20,000 for the impatient rehab that she desperately needed. Years upon years she battled relapses and schizophrenic episodes because my family could not afford to keep her in rehab for more than a month. Studies show that severe addicts need a 12-month impatient program in order to successfully stay sober.

The government and states need to make entering rehabilitation centers and mental facilities simpler, cheaper, and quicker for drug addicts. Funding for drug abuse should increase as in 2018 alone, more than 70,000 people died from drug overdose. Two out of three overdoses were opioid related. Each second that goes by for an addict is one step closer to an overdose. It should not be next to impossible for an individual with no insurance to be admitted into detoxification: most addicts probably do not have insurance in the first place. My sister was lucky to have a supportive family, but most addicts do not have the support of a family, therefore giving an easy outlook to drug addicts straight out of detox is essential. 

Addicts cannot be kicked straight to the street after only seven days of being clean, they need support mentally as well as aid in getting back on their feet. 

My name is Lesley Randall and I am from Buford, Georgia. I was born and raised in Buford where I have spent my entire life. I graduated from Mill Creek High School as an honor student and editor of the yearbook staff there. However, I do not want to stay in Georgia my whole life. I hope to travel to different places while I am young, though my dream has always been to live and work in New York City after college. I am majoring in Mass Communications where I hope to become either a magazine editor or something along the lines of that.

I have an older brother and an older sister. I am very close to my brother and look up to him in every aspect of life. He is 100% my biggest role model in life because he works hard for everything and has a positive outlook on the future despite hard times. He is intelligent about how he spends his time and money and I go to him for advice with almost everything.

I have a love for writing and photography which is why I chose to major in Mass Communications. In high school I became very interested in photography. I hope to learn more throughout my time in the Mass Communications department and further understand constant improving media. I also hope to further understand the brain and human behavior through the psychology department as Psychology is my intended minor.

On the other hand, I am also a soccer player at Piedmont. I have played soccer throughout my entire life. I began playing soccer at the age of four and fell in love instantly. I grew up playing sports as I looked up to my older siblings playing sports. I played basketball for most of my life as I quit my senior year of high school to focus more own school and soccer. I also swam for about 10 years, but again quit in order to focus on school and soccer.