"My original major was radiation therapy, but I changed it within a month of coming here because my grandmother got really sick. She has bronchiectasis, which is... where a bacteria grows in your lungs that causes you to have pneumonia... And she gets respiratory treatments all the time... It's very—she's on oxygen 24/7, and it's just hard for her to breathe. Hopefully, if she's still alive, my plan is to help her when I graduate—or anyone who is struggling because bronchiectasis is a rare disease. So, that is why."—Lessie Day, Respiratory Therapy Major

Gaming Club Requests Funds for Future Event at SGA Meeting

Augusta University's Student Government Association called a meeting to order on Friday, March 3 to discuss a proposal made by Senator Joshua LaFavre alongside guest speaker and gaming club representative Megan Collins, in which the gaming club requested $300 to be allocated from student organization funds to the gaming club so that the gaming club could host a future tie-dye event. The proposal was passed at the end of the meeting with a vote of 4-0.

When the legislature was discussing the details of this proposal, the question of whether or not the gaming club would be allowed to sell shirts at the tie-dye event arose after Senator David Peltier stated, "We cannot give money for organizations to sell things." This sparked a disagreement over the interpretation of the school's constitution.

However, after further discussion regarding the constitution, the vice president found herself dumbstruck on the issue due to a "current lack of documents." Vice President Amma Sarfo only had this to say over the conflict, "I think it would be the same if we gave them money to sell tickets. All I know for sure is that we cannot give money to sell for student profit."

Soon, Senator Briana Roberts stepped in on the matter, directing the room's attention to Collins as she asked why they had to sell the shirts at the proposed event. She then pressed further, asking, "It it's against the constitution, could you just not sell?"

Collins responded to Roberts, saying she could tell the gaming club president they would have to reach a compromise in order to throw future events and to keep the club afloat.

After the club promised not to sell the shirts, the proposal was accepted, and the SGA meeting was drawn to a close. Future events are expected to come from the gaming club.

Jesus Galvan

Jesus Galvan's family travelled here to the United States from Mexico before he was born. After crossing the border into Texas, his mother, named Elsa, bore him into the world as a U.S. citizen. For the first years of his life, Galvan spent his days in Texas, bantering back and forth between languages until he became a fluent speaker of Spanglish―a mix between English and Spanish. When he was about four or five years old, his mother took him and his sister to the state of Georgia, where he grew up in De Soto―a small area on the outskirts of Americus, Georgia. He now attends school at Augusta University as a freshman, still undecided as to what field he wishes to go into.

Galvan has a number of interests in various fields of science, including but not limited to biology, chemistry, and computer sciences. While at first he came to Augusta with the intent of majoring in chemistry and later going into pharmaceuticals, that plan took a devastating turn when he failed his first chemistry class. After failing the class, Galvan changed his major roughly three times within the first month or so in the spring semester. Now, he debates if he wants to change it once more to a field he's much more passionate about―computer science.

Galvan is very competitive by nature but feels hindered by the speed of his computer. "I like to compete,” he said. “And I eventually want to stream some of my gameplay. But uh, right now, my computer only runs at 2 frames per second. Which is really crappy.”

He hopes to solve this problem by building a more powerful computer. “So I can start streaming seriously,” he adds.

Until then, he plans to continue participating in competitive gaming with his friends, hoping to improve his ranking in the online RPG, League of Legends, one of Galvan’s favorite games. In this game, Galvan must join teams of other players to destroy the towers belonging to the other team. Whichever team completes this task first wins the match.

Galvan wants to eventually enter one of the big online tournaments. “In the international ones,” he says. “The Korean team always wins. But I’m not looking to be that big. I just want to get out of the bronze rank.”

House Bill 280

House Bill 280 recently made its way through Georgia Legislature, stirring up strong feelings in both students and faculty on the Augusta University campus. This bill will allow anyone with a concealed weapons permit to carry guns on public college campuses in the state of Georgia. While this legislation will exclude areas such as dormitories and sorority houses, many faculty members and students still express grave concerns regarding the bill.

The professors interviewed about House Bill 280 expressed safety concerns that might damage their abilities to teach and to treat their students equally. Professor Amber Routh, who teaches communications courses at Augusta University, confessed that she would feel threatened if a student who was unhappy about his grade came into her office, possibly able to carry a concealed weapon on his person. She went on to say, “I feel that teachers should be able to choose whether or not students would be allowed to carry guns into their offices.”

Dr. Angela Bratton, an anthropology professor, also felt negatively towards the new legislation. She stated that she felt the bill was a bad idea due to situations she’s heard of, where similar laws that were enacted upon ended up doing more harm than good. She went on to explain that many professionals and police officials felt similarly regarding the bill, as oftentimes allowing a large group to carry guns impeded officer safety.

However, faculty are not the only people that feel threatened by this bill as even students seem fearful of the new law. While there are a few who think it is good for self-defense, many others think the contrary. Many of the students interviewed expressed concerns much like the faculty—mostly due to the amount of school shootings sensationalized by the media over the past few years. In fact, one student, named Kacy Smith, said, “I really don’t think House Bill 280 is a good idea, especially because of all the school shootings that have been happening. It’s like inviting a bank robber into a diamond vault.”

This bill also seemed to spark a controversial topic of conversation among the Augusta University student body—about gun control—with many of the students getting into heated debates with one another. Some push towards stricter gun laws while others point to the 2nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution as their means of defense. Regardless, many of the students feel unsafe with this new piece of legislation placed into order. Now that anyone can carry guns on campus so long as they have a permit, many feel threatened by the possibility of school shootings due to the high number of shootings that happen in the United States compared to other countries. Despite this, some still keep in mind that many of those who attend the university have been in military or police training, which is relatively comforting to many on campus.