1000 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
(02/12/20 12:00am)
This year’s 62nd Grammys was filled with acts that will not soon be forgotten. The event was held in the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, Jan. 26. If you weren’t able to watch the live event, here are some of the highlights that you missed.
Kobe Bryant Tribute
At the start of the awards show, host Alicia Keys honored Kobe Bryant’s passing, saying “We’re all crazy sad right now,” and followed it up with a breathtaking performance with Boyz II Men in honor of Bryant. Following this, Lizzo hopped on the mic to shout out “This is for Kobe,” and sang a gut-wrenching rendition of “Cuz I Love You.”
Lil Nas X
Lil Nas X came in with another hot remix of “Old Town Road,” featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, BTS and Nas, his namesake. Lil Nas X won a Grammy for Best Pop Duo for “Old Town Road,” a chart-topper for 17 weeks since its debut in August, according to Billboard. He won another Grammy this year for Best Music Video, also for “Old Town Road.”
Lizzo
Lizzo started off the night with a rendition of “Cuz I Love You” as a tribute to Kobe Bryant, and finished the night with three Grammy wins in the categories Best Pop Solo Performance for “Truth Hurts,” Best Traditional R&B Performance for “Jerome” and Best Urban Contemporary Album for “Cuz I Love You.”
Demi Lovato
Lovato’s performance of “Anybody” was a showstopper. Written in 2018 before an almost fatal drug overdose, Lovato performed her new song for the very first time at the Grammys. She was very emotional, as this was her first time performing in public in two years.
Billie Eilish
Eilish finished the night with a total of five Grammys, in categories including Best New Artist, Record of the Year for “Bad Guy” and Best Pop Vocal Album for “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?” Eilish took to the stage to perform “When the Party’s Over,” one of her more famous songs from the “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?” album.
The 2020 Grammys was a night to remember filled with many performances by talented musicians, giving recognition to their hard work and dedication to the music industry. For more highlights on what happened at this year’s Grammys, check out their website.
(02/12/20 12:00am)
After finishing the 2019 season 27-29, Mercer’s softball team entered the new year with high hopes thanks to many key contributors returning.
On the offensive side, of the top five hitters on last year’s team, four return. Those players are Danielle Castleberry, Allie Jones, Micayla Rood and Abby Walsh. Castleberry and Jones both hit above the .300 mark in the 2019 season.
Castleberry’s held the highest batting average in the Southern Conference. Her .376 average helped her become an All-SoCon first-team player.
Not only do the Bears return a lot of their offensive production, but they also bring back all but one of their pitchers from last season. To go along with those four returnees, Mercer brought in Riley Hickok, a true freshman, and Amber Byrd, a junior transfer from Northwest Florida State.
Of seven teams in the SoCon, Mercer was picked to finish third along with Eastern Tennessee State University as voted on by the conference’s seven head coaches, according to a media release from the Southern Conference.
Also voted on by the coaches were their selections for the preseason All-SoCon teams. Of the 25 players chosen, six Bears were selected.
Danielle Castleberry and Micayla Rood were selected for the All-SoCon first team. Bailey Pattison, Tori Ash, Allie Jones and Abby Walsh were All-SoCon second-team selections.
Five games into the season, Mercer sits at 1-4. They started off with a mercy-rule win over Wright State before losing their next four over a three-day stretch.
Mercer’s 56-game schedule includes games against the Oklahoma Sooners, who will begin the season ranked third in the Coaches Poll, and the Florida State Seminoles, who are ranked in the ninth spot. The Sooners and Seminoles have won three of the last four National Championships.
The Bears’ Head Coach Stephanie DeFeo described the season schedule as “challenging” in an official statement to Mercer University. Her team of 24 will be facing it led by five seniors and five juniors.
The Bears will finish their season right where they start it, at home. A three-game series at Sikes Field will be the final games Mercer plays in the regular season.
That will lead the Bears into the Southern Conference Tournament which runs from May 6-9 in Greensboro, North Carolina. The winner will get a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
(02/12/20 12:00am)
Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park is hosting its fourth consecutive Black History Month series delivered by ranger Lonnie Davis.
Davis will deliver a series of five talks that cover the following topics: Slavery: Foundation for a New Nation, Reconstruction: Revising a Nation, Jim Crow Era: Racial Segregation, Civil Rights Movement: We Shall Overcome and Women’s Equality: Hear Me Roar.
Davis is the cultural resources specialist and historian for Ocmulgee National Park and a 21-year Army veteran. Davis started the Black History series when he noticed that there are “parts of the past people simply don’t know.”
The series event flyer says “reconstruction … is one of the most complicated, poorly understood and most significant periods in American history. The intent was to rebuild the South and rearrange the state and federal governments to accommodate changing times … what actually happened is much different.”
Davis has been with Ocmulgee National Park for 18 years. Part of Davis’ job as cultural resources specialist is to educate the public on local history that has been forgotten or left untold.
Davis said he is particularly interested in the history of African American soldiers in the Civil War. In previous years of the ranger series, he educated the public on the Georgia African Brigade, which contained over 3,000 African American men, then former slaves, who were recruited into the Union military.
“Most people don’t know about the three regiments that were organized right here in Macon,” he said.
Davis conducted extensive research on the Macon-based regiments of the Georgia African Brigade, compiling the names and identities of hundreds of soldiers. In doing so, he hoped to unveil information from a historical standpoint as well as provide information to utilize for tracing family lineage.
His research was under the National Parks Service’s “Civil War to Civil Rights” initiative that took place from 2011 to 2015. One goal of the national initiative was to “help Americans understand the connection between these two epic periods of time as a continuous march toward freedom and equality for all–a march that continues still today,” according to the National Parks Service.
Davis will touch on this area of history and others at his Black History series. Anyone interested can attend the talks which take place every Saturday in February from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Visitor’s Center. Attendance is free.
Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park is located at 1207 Emery Highway.
(02/12/20 12:00am)
This is an opinion article. Any views expressed belong solely to the author and are not representative of The Cluster.
A reputation for easy classes, emotional female students and little practical application plagues the Women’s and Gender Studies department — the major everyone loves to hate.
While it’s easy to write off WGS courses as “fluff,” that hasn’t been my experience. WGS is an interdisciplinary field of study that helps students understand how gender underlies all that we see and do. WGS students are diverse in terms of gender, sexual orientation and career goals, and the major offers flexibility to choose the classes that matter to us most. It’s also just as academic as any other social science. By the end of my sophomore year, I engaged in service learning with a community crisis center for survivors of domestic violence and completed a formal research project that was accepted for presentation at two undergraduate conferences.
That’s just one of the misconceptions about my major. The three most prevalent ones deserve to be addressed individually.
The WGS major is an echo chamber
Opponents of “social justice” love to disparage WGS and related fields as echo chambers, where the teachers’ only goal is to turn us all into radical, man-hating feminists who spout ideologies we don’t understand. Tamer critiques of WGS suggest that it’s a purely discussion-based field of study without an academic basis. In actuality, the major is comprised almost entirely of cross-listed courses, and majors are required to fulfill humanities, social science, natural science and multicultural blocks, making it an expansive education that includes a range of disciplines, cultures and viewpoints beneficial for anyone regardless of career goals.
Classes like Women, Law & Politics, Women, Crime & Justice and LGBTQ+ Politics allow students to consider whether and how gender and sexual orientation affect one’s experience in the legal system. For those aspiring to enter policy fields, courses like these can open their eyes to gender disparities in law application. For example, women receive shorter sentences for sex crimes than men, and federal courts tend to be more lenient with women overall. However, this is only true for white women, according to a 2015 study in the Journal of Criminal Justice; black women are more likely to be incarcerated and are disproportionately granted longer sentences for the same crime. An aspiring policymaker or lawyer should be aware of disparities like these going into their field, and a WGS education guarantees that they will be.
Even students of the hard sciences can benefit from a WGS major or minor. Classes like Biology of Sex & Gender, Health & Gender, Maternal & Child Health and AIDS: Narratives of Disease can sensitize students to gender biases in the medical field. For example, according to a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, women are less likely to survive major medical problems like heart attacks when their physicians are male because male doctors are more likely to dismiss or misdiagnose women’s symptoms. Health care discrimination persists against gay and lesbian patients as well, according to a 2015 National Library of Medicine report finding that 81% of healthcare providers exhibited some level of bias against gay and lesbian patients. The study found that gender bias in the medical field reduces the likelihood that marginalized persons will seek treatment, despite experiencing higher rates of cancers, HIV/AIDS and eating disorders. If a healthcare provider had a WGS education that taught them to empathize with gender and sexual minorities, perhaps these disparities would not be so great.
The WGS major also requires a multicultural education, which can be satisfied through courses such as Gay Rights & Human Rights in Africa, Black Feminism, Race, Gender & Media, Women in Developing Countries and Queer Cinema. Gender isn’t the only personal identifier that matters in systems of oppression, and a WGS major will expose you to that through analyses of how race, class, religion and other identities overlap with the experience of gender (this is called the theory of intersectionality). WGS graduates, therefore, are exposed to a wide variety of perspectives and become more well-rounded as a result.
WGS is exclusive of and antagonistic toward men
This argument is not only tired, but painfully inaccurate. WGS classes do not exclude men, but they do not center them, either, which I understand is a new and shocking concept in academia. The truth is, gender roles affect everyone in some way, regardless of their gender identity—that’s why the major isn’t simply called “Women’s Studies.” Plenty of male students (and transgender and nonbinary students!) enroll in WGS courses, and the classroom experience is stronger for it.
Coursework does focus on men’s experiences when relevant. We’ve learned about toxic male beauty standards and men’s higher rates of depression and suicide, especially among middle-aged white men, who comprise 69.67% of suicide deaths, according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. We also studied the lack of access to services for male victims of rape, domestic violence and sexual assault. These disparities are all predicated on the idea that men shouldn’t show emotion or ask for help, which is as damaging a gender role as any.
You’ll never get a job with a WGS major
I don’t blame you if you think this; the WGS major is considered a niche field of study without much meaning or influence. The Cluster even described a course as “hidden away in the Women’s and Gender Studies department” last semester. However, WGS majors and minors learn to think critically, and our courses provide strong academic foundations. Gender Theory & Feminist Thought, which is required, is a theoretical course drawing from rigorous and diverse texts ranging from Michel Foucault to Roxane Gay. Methods in Gender Studies Research, another required class, provides hands-on experience in social science research, academic writing and formal presentation skills with an emphasis on ethics.
Mercer WGS students have gone on to do amazing things as students and post-graduation. I’ve personally had classes with folks who were preparing for medical school, political advocacy roles and jobs with sexual health organizations like Unite for Reproductive and Gender Equity, but that’s not all.
In 2017, WGS, Spanish and international affairs triple-major Alayna Williams received a Fulbright Award to serve in South Africa. The year before, WGS major Heaven Woods was accepted to Peace Corps service in Cameroon.
Jaz Buckley, Mercer Debate Team’s most accomplished member in University history, attends UCLA School of Law after completing an internship with the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, a Mercer on Mission trip to South Africa and a writing preceptorship. 2019 graduate James Stair spent two of his four years at Mercer researching and advocating for gender-neutral housing on Mercer’s campus and served as president of Common Ground, the LGBTQ+ and ally student organization. Now, he’s pursuing a Ph.D. in chemistry in Rochester, New York.
Any liberal arts degree can strengthen your writing, analyzing and arguing skills, help you understand the perspectives of folks who aren’t like you and challenge you to reflect on your own positions and viewpoints. A WGS major can bring you all that and more by helping you understand yourself on a level you probably wouldn't have considered without it.
(02/02/20 5:00am)
Mercer’s Gaming Society is currently planning a 12-hour gaming marathon to raise money for Beverly Knight Olson Children's Hospital in Macon.
On Feb. 15, participants of the “Extra Life” marathon will be in Knight Hall from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. The marathon will include activities like board games, poker, video games and roleplaying games, provided by participating organizations.
Other Mercer organizations, such as Aces Up Poker Club, Mercer E-Sports and National Society for Leadership and Success, are participating, but the Gaming Society has also partnered with Middle Georgia State University’s table talk gaming club and their gaming society, Society for Overactive Imaginations.
President of Mercer’s Gaming Society Daniel Marcuse-Gonzalez said that they have incentives planned for donors. He plans to match the first $100, but other incentives include the Gaming Society hosting a Wendy’s roleplay game at $300, one of their officers having their new hair style decided on at $500 and all of the officers of the organization wearing dresses to their next meeting at $700.
Their treasurer Joe Keller created a token system to drive up donations. For every dollar someone donates, they earn tokens in return. Those tokens can then be exchanged for bonuses and advantages throughout the day’s activities, such as banning or unbanning a specific character in their Super Smash Bros. tournament or forcing another player to fold in poker.
The Gaming Society is preparing for at least 50 people to attend, but said they hope for more. Their current donation goal is $1,000 to Beverly Knight Olson Children's Hospital. The hospital is the sole children’s hospital in the central and southern Georgia region.
Marcuse-Gonzalez toured the hospital after their recent building addition.
“It’s a great facility, and they serve thousands of kids every year, and we think it’s a really great cause,” he said.
The Gaming Society said they have considered doing this fundraiser before, but were never able to get it off the ground. As a senior and now president of the society, Marcuse-Gonzalez decided that they should do it in his final year at Mercer. He said that they hope it will become an annual event, and that if they do it again, it will be bigger and better.
(02/01/20 5:00am)
College is a great experience, truly. It’s your first taste of real freedom! Your first time living away from your parents and getting to truly spread your wings and fly!
Until you realize that keeping up a living space takes a lot more work than you ever knew. Sure, it’s easy to maintain a small bedroom when someone is constantly reminding you to do it, but when you’re juggling classes, work, clubs and a social life all on your own, it’s pretty hard to stay tidy.
We all know that college housing isn’t the cleanest, but that doesn’t mean you have to be a part of the stereotype. Who says that your apartment or dorm has to be as messy as your life?
College is all about learning how to be an adult, and I’ve found that living in a cleaner environment makes me feel like I have my life more together than I really do. In the grand scheme of things, isn’t that what being an adult is all about?
So don’t you fret. I’m here to tell you how to make your college pad feel a lot more like your adult home with just five easy chores.
Empty the lint trap on your dryer
Okay, this is actually one of my biggest pet peeves. Not only is a full lint trap a major fire hazard — yes, you heard that right, your dryer can burn down your apartment building — it makes the dryer run a lot less efficiently. But still, a lot of people don’t know that it even exists.
Most of the dryers I’ve encountered have the lint trap at the bottom of the drum — where your clothes go. So next time you do your laundry, make sure you clean out all the old lint. Your landlord will thank you.
Do your dishes promptly
I get it, not everyone has the luxury of a dishwasher and washing dishes takes so long… except it takes a lot less time than you think. Handwashing all the dishes from a home-cooked meal for two takes less than ten minutes! In fact, it’s so fast that I don’t even use my dishwasher anymore.
Old dishes can smell, stain, attract bugs and even grow mold. Because of all the nasty stuff that can take place in your sink, it takes even longer to wash dishes once they’ve been sitting for awhile. Do your kitchen, your roommates and your dishes a favor and wash them right away.
Stop shoving junk in your closet and under your bed
I’m so passionate about this list because I’ve been guilty of not doing all of these chores at some point in my life. And yet, of all the chores on this list, this is the one I was the worst about. Before, “clean,” to me, meant that I didn’t have clothes and trash all over the exposed floor, but as long as it didn’t spill out of the closet or out from under my bed I called it a day.
Now that I actually clean though, the results are amazing. My friends have all commented that my room feels huge, and I even have a home office in my college apartment! Whether or not my home office doubles as my closet is information that cannot be divulged, but seriously, if you stop pushing clutter into a closet or under your bed, you’ll have a much cleaner room and a lot more usable space.
Clean under your couch
In the same vein as the last point, cleaning under your couch is a super important chore that gets overlooked a lot more than anyone realizes. It feels unimportant until you’re looking for the remote and find last week’s chow mein, last month’s potato chips, and last semester’s lab report hanging out together.
Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration, but cleaning under the couch belongs to a category of chores that my mom likes to call the, “No one notices if you do it, but everyone notices if you don’t do it” chores. You’re already vacuuming the living room, just push the couch a few feet to the side and vacuum under there too.
Spray down your toilet/shower
I hate cleaning my bathroom as much as anyone else. Let’s be honest for a second, a lot of gross stuff happens in the porcelain sanctuary and most of us would rather not think about it. But where gross stuff happens, gross stuff grows. No one wants gross stuff growing in their bathroom, but how can anyone find the time to keep their bathroom spotless with such a busy schedule?
If you want to know my dirty — or, I guess, clean — little secret, it’s Scrubbing Bubbles Foaming Bleach. One bottle costs less than $10 and lasted me a full semester. This one cleaner kills all the gross germs and washes away all the gross stains, and all you have to do is spray it and walk away. My bathroom is always clean and I spend no time cleaning it.
So now you know how to make your college place cleaner than the average. Whether you live in Plunkett or the Lofts, these simple tips can help you feel a lot less like a college kid and a lot more like an adult.
(02/01/20 5:00am)
At first glance, it is easy to brush “Little Women” off as something that’s been done before. Adaptations of Louisa May Alcott’s 1968 novel have included notable actresses such as Katherine Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor and Winona Ryder over the years, but Greta Gerwig’s adaptation does something different.
Told through an interweaving of multiple years, flashbacks of the sisters’ youth living in the same house provoke nostalgia before the audience even learns why they have parted. Gerwig’s use of color in these scenes gives the younger years a warm-toned memory, recreating the sisters’ own rosy retrospection in the eyes of the audience. Scenes with all four of the March sisters spark with energy through Gerwig’s subtle, complex blocking and the fast-paced dialogue of four sisters speaking over each other.
The film features a notable cast including Saoirse Ronan as Jo, Florence Pugh as Amy, Emma Watson as Meg, Eliza Scanlen as Beth, Timothée Chalamet as Laurie, Laura Dern as Marmie and Meryl Streep as Aunt March.
Pugh gives hilarious performances with quick delivery as young Amy, but showcases incredible depth in Amy’s present-day argument with Laurie about the realities of marriage for women of her time. Hearing Pugh tell Chalamet, “Don’t sit here and tell me that marriage isn’t an economic proposition, because it is. It may not be for you but it most certainly is for me,” is both heartbreaking and awe-inspiring.
Gerwig’s March sisters are refreshingly problematic. They can be cruel, imposing and embarrassing. Jo showcases her self-importance only a handful of scenes into the film, storming to her room like a child when Louis Garrel’s Friedrich Bhaer does not like her writing. The audience may even hate Jo when she allows Laurie to wallow in his unrequited love for her until she cannot ignore his pain any further.
Jo’s refusal to fall in love on the basis of being a woman is an essential conflict throughout the movie, which makes the story even richer. Watching Jo fight to be independent and prioritize her dreams while breaking down from loneliness is one of the most poignant scenes in the film. It is a relief to see a strong female character crumble so honestly. Ronan and Gerwig turn the trope on its back to reveal the pain and effort Jo faces in pursuit of standing alone and prioritizing her passions.
Like all of Gerwig’s little women, Jo is remarkably imperfect. In the same scenes where Jo is being selfish, Amy is burning novels and Meg is struggling to defend her dreams. Despite this, the sisters are cozy, warm and an exact depiction of what happens when women love and depend on one another.
(02/01/20 5:00am)
Eight months after the launch of a mobile Bear Card for Apple devices, Associate Vice President for Auxiliary Services Ken Boyer said the digital credential will become available for Android devices in the second quarter of 2020.
“The Google version of the mobile credential in Google Wallet has been in beta testing at Mercer since early fall,” Boyer said. “We are using the results of this test to fine-tune and advance the platform for general release later this year.”
According to previous reporting by The Cluster, the mobile Bear Card was first available for Apple devices in late May 2019. Boyer said 3,198 students, faculty and staff have enabled the digital ID since.
The Office of Auxiliary Services anticipates that 2,500 more users will sign up once the Android option is available.
Some students told The Cluster in 2019 that older versions of Apple devices did not allow them to use their mobile Bear Card once the battery ran out. However, Boyer said most users “have been very supportive in the university’s efforts to bring these services to our campus community.”
Why? One reason is that the mobile option is more sustainable.
“While we still offer the plastic Bear Card and the choice is the users’, it is our hope as the service continues to develop more and more, people will choose the mobile credential, which is environmentally more friendly,” he said.
Boyer said the Android ID option is not the only new initiative from Auxiliary Services planned for 2020. The office recently installed a Pharmabox, a vending program offering over-the-counter medicines and health products, in Tarver Library.
Auxiliary Services also oversees Mercer Dining and Mercer Mail & Document Services.
“Mercer Dining continues to introduce new and enhanced services, meal options and sustainable refill cups and programs on both the Macon and Atlanta campuses,” Boyer said. “Mercer Mail & Document Services has a new graphics and design manager to assist students, faculty and staff with print projects.”
(01/31/20 5:00am)
The Student Government Association has selected Senior Magistrate U.S. District Judge Willie Louis Sands to be this year’s Founders Day speaker, scheduled for Feb. 5.
“I’m reviewing and recalling the Mercer experience,” Sands said. “It’s an honor. I was surprised, since I had no idea that I would be selected, but I am delighted.”
Sands, who is from Bradley, Georgia, started his path to the Founders’ Day stage when he drove past the administration building with his mom as a child. Sands was somewhere around five years old, he said.
When they drove past the administration building, Sands asked his mother what that building was. His mom told him that it was Mercer University, he said. At that moment, he told her that he was going to go to Mercer University. There was, however, a problem.
“The thing about that,” Sands said, “at the time I would have said that to her, everything would have still been segregated.”
By the time he turned 18, the times had changed. Mercer was voluntarily integrated in 1963. When he entered Mercer in 1967 as a member of the third integrated class of Mercerians, his mother reminded him of what he said about his future at Mercer when he was a young child.
“It was something I had said at four or five, and then it turns out that when I was 18, I actually went to Mercer and she reminded me that. It was almost miraculous,” Sands said. “I was well aware of the tremendous opportunity.”
Founders’ Day, organized annually by the SGA Heritage Life Committee, brings back a successful Mercerian to talk about how their Mercer experience shaped their experience reaching their goals, Heritage Life Chair Alexis Passmore said. The tradition was started in 1891 to celebrate Jesse Mercer’s birthday.
“I always find it very amazing and interesting to hear about people who are now super successful in their lives," Passmore said. “It is really cool to know that they came from the school we attend today. It is kind of inspiration and motivation to end up in life like them.”
Sands attended Mercer for both his undergraduate and legal degrees,, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in 1971 and from Mercer Law School in 1974. During his undergraduate experience, Sands studied political science and music. He was also a member of the Phi Mu Alpha music fraternity.
Now, for this year’s Founders’ Day festivities, he is coming back to talk to students about his experiences.
“Judge Sands is going to bring in his experience,” SGA President Adam Penland said. “That’s what we push Founders’ Day speakers to do.”
Sands was a judicial appointment of President Bill Clinton and has been in the federal judiciary since 1994, adjudicating cases in U.S. District Courts for the Middle District of Georgia. Additionally, Sands was also a member of the Mercer Board of Trustees, but finished his third, nonconsecutive, five-year term in November 2019.
“That’s kept him connected to the Mercer community,” Penland said. “Obviously he graduated, obviously he has had a very successful career, but he still wanted to give back to Mercer University. So he served on the Board of Trustees for so many years, continuing to help students and continuing to make changes to the University.”
Sands was selected from a short list of five candidates, which Penland and SGA Vice President Michaela Jones brought to Mercer President Bill Underwood to discuss, Penland said.
Founders’ Day is planned for Feb. 5 in Willingham Hall at 10 a.m.
“We really want people to come if they can,” Passmore said. “Just like any other event, you hear some amazing speakers. There’s a free gift; it is always a good one. We are excited to kick off this spring semester and the new year with something like this.”
(01/31/20 5:00am)
It’s safe to say that there have been few film franchises as iconic and impactful as “Star Wars.” The original trilogy was a cultural phenomenon and has since evolved into something much larger than just a movie series.
The sequel film trilogy attempts to introduce a new generation to a galaxy far, far away. The release of J.J. Abrams-directed “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” in 2015 saw the creation of a new stage for “Star Wars” after Disney acquired it in 2012. The conclusion of this saga, “The Rise of Skywalker,” was highly-anticipated and had high expectations.
Abrams takes up the reins once again as the director of “The Rise of Skywalker.” Ever since Rian Johnson’s “The Last Jedi” came out in 2017, fans and critics alike have eagerly awaited Abram’s conclusion of the modern Star Wars trilogy. And while “The Rise of Skywalker” isn’t bad by any means, its old, tired tropes stunt any growth made by “The Last Jedi.”
The Achilles’ heel of the sequel trilogy is the handing off of the director title from Abrams to Johnson then back to Abrams. As a result, “The Rise of Skywalker” feels disjointed. It attempts to tie up the loose ends of the past few films, but ends up raising more questions than answers.
“The Rise of Skywalker” was written as the antithesis to “The Last Jedi,” and it shows. It completely reverses many of the plot points of the latter film, including one of its most important revelations: Rey’s (Daisy Ridley) parentage. The big reveal of Rey’s lineage as a Palpatine feels tacky, and the resurrected Emperor Palpatine seems like a shell of his past self.
Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) also falls flat as both a villain and a character, deflecting back to his Ben Solo persona without any real character development. Finn (John Boyega), once so full of potential, is squandered with his limited role in this film. Poe’s (Oscar Isaac) role as a character transforms from “The Last Jedi,” but even elements of his story, such as his spice dealer past, seem out of place.
The new plots and characters “The Last Jedi” introduced, such as Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran), are completely ignored, and the story harks back to past villians and heroes without any real significance.
Of course, no blockbuster film on the level of “The Rise of Skywalker” comes without controversy. A brief scene of two women kissing at the end of the film, the first gay kiss in the franchise’s history, was removed from the film for its release in Singapore. This move was also criticized for its subtlety, as many fans were hoping for more substantial LGBTQ+ representation, particularly between Boyega’s Finn and Issac’s Poe. In an interview with IGN, Issac said, “I think there could’ve been a very interesting, forward-thinking – not even forward-thinking, just, like, current-thinking – love story there, something that hadn’t quite been explored yet; particularly the dynamic between these two men in war that could’ve fallen in love with each other. I would try to push it a bit in that direction, but the Disney overlords were not ready to do that.”
Roger Cheng of CNET said, “Here’s the thing about Abrams’ films: they move so quickly you don’t really have time to process everything that’s going on,” and I think this exemplifies “The Rise of Skywalker.” It’s chock-full of flash, which is nice, but there’s little substance. Even most of the bombshells of the film are passed over, quickly moving on to the next shootout or fight. The pacing is off, and I found myself resisting the urge to check the time on my phone when I saw the film in theaters. At the film’s end, Rey announces her chosen name, which turns out to be a very unsatisfying and even borderline cringeworthy moment.
Skywalker does have many of the thrills and high-speed chases of previous films, and for many nostalgic “Star Wars” and movie fans, it should be a relatively enjoyable viewing experience. But Skywalker was written as a pleaser. The whole thing feels like a rehash — nothing about it feels fresh, original or interesting. Most importantly, the magic present in most Star Wars films is nowhere to be found. It is instead replaced with mediocrity stew with a side of nostalgia. It is good enough, but it is missing those little elements that could have made it great.
(01/31/20 5:00am)
Intermittent fasting is a recent trend in the health and fitness circles that focuses on changing one’s eating patterns in some way in order to promote weight loss. One of the most well-known and popular methods is restricting yourself to only eating in a certain period of time, such as between 1 p.m. and 9 p.m. Other methods include fasting for 24 hours twice a week or consuming only 500 to 600 calories on two separate days while eating normally for the rest of the week.
When I first started, my knowledge of fasting was solely in a religious or spiritual context. Once I learned what intermittent fasting was, I thought that it would be a fun experiment for a few days, but had my reservations about doing it on a more long-term basis.
As a general rule, I try to avoid diets or eating patterns that aim specifically at losing weight because of my own personal issues with how people approach weight and weight loss. Long-term intermittent fasting seemed like it was something that could be easily twisted into an attempt to be healthier to very rarely eating at all. Despite that, I’d already pledged to try and be healthier this year, especially in working towards a diet that wasn’t solely Chick-fil-A.
I chose to focus on restricting my meals to a time span, specifically from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. I first started on a Thursday and ended that following Saturday to see if there was any big difference when I resumed my typical diet. Beyond that, it was just a matter of going about my daily life and hoping for the best.
Most days, I eat before my classes because they’re all back to back, but my Thursday classes began at 9:25 a.m. and didn’t end until 1:30 p.m. By 11 a.m., my stomach was growling in class and I was pretending it wasn’t me. My last class, however, ended early and I was able to fit in a 20-minute lunch at Chick-fil-A before work. I was too busy to eat again before work, and since my shift lasted until 9 p.m., that ended up being my only meal that day.
A similar incident occurred Friday, where I toted a Chick-fil-A bag with me to an interview because I hadn’t had time to get food beforehand. (Luckily, my interviewee did not mind.) On Saturday, I ate lunch before work and didn’t eat anything else until I finally broke the fast by eating two bowls of macaroni and cheese at 11 p.m.
The biggest thing I noticed about intermittent fasting is that I was always hungry to the point where my stomach was growling for most of my classes. When I finally did eat, I always ate a lot more food than I would have otherwise, but ended up hungry again later. Throughout, I felt a lot more stressed about food and thought about it far more than I typically do. It was a struggle to really be able to fit in something as necessary as eating into my schedule because I was so restricted.
Part of my issue with intermittent fasting may simply be that my schedule isn’t the best fit for it. Most of my classes, work shifts, and extra-curricular activities are planned back to back so that my break times are longer, but that meant that the majority of the 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. block was already filled with either classes or work, without even considering things like studying, naps or workouts.
When I finally had the spare minute to go eat, I was typically aware that I would most likely be unable to eat again that day, so I tried to eat more so I wouldn’t be hungry later. That ultimately didn’t work and is the reason I spent my Saturday night eating microwavable macaroni and cheese.
In regards to other people intermittent fasting as a health and fitness trend, I have to admit that I’m not a fan. Regardless of my own experience with it, the premise of it is that someone restricts their eating in odd ways to try to be “healthier.” With over thirty million Americans suffering from eating disorders and the worth of the weight loss industry resting at seventy-two billion dollars, even after the recent body positivity movement, it concerns me that this is another unhealthy fad masquerading as a legitimate way to be healthier.
That being said, if it’s an effective way of eating for someone else and they’re not doing it in an unhealthy manner, then I see no reason they shouldn’t do it. Intermittent fasting is similar to what people already do between meals; it’s just on a slightly longer time scale. As for me, I still think that it might be interesting to try it again in the future in a different way, whether it be through a different method or a different time period. Currently, however, I’m happy that I get to eat breakfast again.
(01/31/20 5:00am)
For senior violin performance major Bronwyn James, music runs in the family. Her parents and her sister are classical musicians, and her father is “rapidly becoming one of the most respected teachers in the country,” James said.
“We pretty much grew up at the symphony hall. The entire orchestra would come to our house for parties. They would come do barbecues and just show up and sight-read chamber music, which was always really fun for me as a kid,” she said.
James got her start in music at the age of four, when she accompanied her older sister to violin lessons.
“I would apparently start correcting her before the teacher would,” James said. “They were like, ‘Okay, well, might as well give her something to do.’”
James originally wanted to play the flute like her mother, but she said she wasn’t able to start playing wind instruments at such a young age. She turned to the violin instead. Amongst her inspirations, she names Leonidas Kavakos, James Ehnes and Augustin Hadelich, all of whom she has gotten the chance to meet through family connections.
For the past 18 years, James has been building a reputation for herself in the world of classical music.
“I’ve played concerts in Europe and in China and all across the country,” James said.
In addition, she’s participated in music festivals in Rome, Colorado and New York.
Out of all the places that she’s been around the world, James said Carnegie Hall remains her favorite venue.
“It has this incredible history. You’re playing on the same stage that music premiered on 200 years ago, but also people like the Beatles were there, and there’s pictures of Mark Twain and Einstein being there at the same time,” she said.
Rich history is also part of what drives James’s passion for the violin.
“Western classical music has been so politically relevant,” James said, reflecting on the past centuries of the violin’s existence. “One of my favorite, more contemporary composers from the 40s, (Dmitri) Shostakovich, a lot of his work was politically censored by the Russian government during the Soviet Union because it was not nationalistic. It was trying to express things and convey hardships and outcry and emotions.”
This expression is what James believes art should do.
“I think it’s an intentional pursuit to say something,” she said. “Whether you’re saying it to somebody that knows what you’re saying, whether you’re saying it to people that aren’t even listening or paying attention, or whether you’re just saying something for your own sake.”
While James said she doesn’t know what she wants to say in her own work just yet, she is excited to be adding to her artistic toolbelt.
“I have a main pursuit,” she said, “but also being able to do things like trying to design and make clothes and paint and cook—they’re all things that involve making something that you experience. I love that kind of thing, so I definitely plan to pursue all of it—at the same time—forever.”
While James continues developing her hobbies, her ultimate goal is that her “main pursuit” concludes with a career in an orchestra.
“I am really passionate about working with other people in the arts,” she said. “Usually string quartets are my favorite.”
In the meantime, James is looking forward to attending the Big Ears music festival in the spring, spending the semester painting in one of the McEachern Center’s art studios and auditioning for grad programs.
(01/31/20 5:00am)
Fencing is not a typical sport. It involves little movements, small steps and complete concentration. Participants train in a combination of running, gymnastics, dance, plyometrics and yoga in order to prepare for competitions.
Since 2015, Mercer University’s Club Fencing Team has been led by James Taylor, an experienced fencer who teaches the course in the College of Liberal Arts and coaches the team. He said fencing is an anaerobic sport that requires more than what most people think.
“Fencing is a well-rounded physical discipline because we work on all sorts of things with the human body because as fencers we need all sorts of different capabilities,” Taylor said. “You have to have flexibility, strength and endurance.”
Taylor said that fencers tend to be individuals interested in music, theatre and dance as opposed to typical sports such as soccer or baseball. He also compared fencing to physical chess because of the way one thinks and processes information while totally relying on one’s own and their weapon.
After warming up, the team puts their gear on. This includes masks, jackets, knickers and gloves. Participates also pick their weapon, choosing between a foil, epee or sabre. Each sword is built differently and comes with its own set of rules and strategies.
“We’re a little bit like Harry Potter in a way because sometimes the fencer chooses the weapon and sometimes the weapon chooses the fencer,” Taylor said. “Each of the weapons has its mentally, its own personality.”
The team is also led by team captain, senior Elijah Maier, who has been fencing since his freshman year. He said the club has grown since he started and that members are always welcoming new people to join.
“There aren’t many sports where you can stab people with a sword and they’re okay with it,” Maier said.
Maier said that he was interested in fencing before he got to Mercer and joined the club when his friend brought him to practice. Growing up, he said he participated in historical fencing.
The club has three competitions scheduled for this semester, with hopes of adding a few more. Fencers competed at the University of Georgia Jan. 25-26, and they will be competing at Emory University Feb. 22-23 and the Georgia Institute of Technology Mar. 7-8.
The club meets Wednesdays at 6 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. at the UC Intramural Courts. It is also offered as a PE course in the College of Liberal Arts.
(01/30/20 5:54pm)
Students across campus have been noticing that their physical Bear Cards are no longer working. Associate Vice President for Auxiliary Services Ken Boyer said in an email to The Cluster that this change isn’t completely unexpected.
“When the Mobile Bear Card was announced it clearly stated that cardholders could only have one valid Credential at a time. During the launch period cardholders were able to test the mobile Credential and decide which format they wanted to use,” Boyer said. “Now that the initial launch is over and as we prepare to launch the program to include Android devices an audit is being done to make sure that only one Credential is valid.”
Boyer also said that the only people who will be affected by this audit are those who previously had access to both a physical Bear Card and a digital Bear Card.
Students who still need to choose between the two formats can do so by contacting the Bear Card office at 478-301-2929. The office is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
(01/30/20 5:00am)
Of all the sounds that roar to life inside of a sold-out baseball stadium, a bat hitting a trash can does not seem like it would be the most important one. In the case of the Houston Astros organization, however, this seems to be exactly the case.
During the 2017 regular season and postseason, the Astros used audio cues such as banging on trash cans to steal signs from opposing teams, making opposing teams’ pitches easier to hit. These strategies were used in the Astros’ home stadium, Minute Maid Park, on a regular basis in 2017, according to Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich of The Athletic.
In case anyone has forgotten, let it be known: The Astros won the World Series in 2017.
Obviously, this scandal impacts Major League Baseball on a scale rarely seen. Its ripples will be felt in ways that haven’t occurred since the steroid scandals of the 2000s or the 1994 player strike. But what exactly will change? What should change, and how? The scandal is likely to break certain parts of baseball, and there should be an order behind the chaos that could ensue, particularly concerning two major fallouts that could mold the game for years to come:
Players should be reprimanded
Major League Baseball has already punished the Astros officials that organized the scandal via suspensions of manager A.J. Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow, as well as the stripping of draft picks and millions of dollars from the team itself, as summarized by the Houston Chronicle. The players involved, however, have not faced any consequences.
In the eyes of both fans and other players who were negatively impacted by the scandal, this is ridiculous. While the managers were the ones who organized the technology and system itself, it was the players who consented to cheating and used it for their own personal benefit.
“I’d like my career numbers against Altuve, Springer and Correa erased from the record books. Seriously though, it’s bad. Can they do that?” Phil Hughes, a former pitcher who faced the Astros during this season, said in a tweet following the surfacing of evidence against Houston.
This quote, while humorous, reminds the fanbase and media watching of a crucial repercussion from this scandal: careers have been changed. Players were cut, traded and even sent down to the minors for their lackluster performances against the Astros.
These players put themselves above the rules for personal gain, and as a result, negatively impacted their peers’ lives and careers. This should not be forgotten or forgiven. As difficult as it may be, MLB must punish at least some of the players complicit in this scandal.
Electronics must be regulated harshly
In an age of analytics where new statistics and tracking devices come out of the baseball woodwork on an increasingly regular basis, it is no surprise that electronics are becoming commonplace in MLB dugouts. The prevalence of digital information comes with a risk, however, and the risk may need to be more properly assessed by MLB’s officials.
The Astros obtained their signs using an outfield camera zoomed in on home plate, then sent the signs that the catcher gave the pitcher to their home dugout via the video replay room, according to The Athletic.
This system relies on a dugout not placed under strict supervision, as well as a large group of complicit players and employees working with electronics to relay signs at such a high speed. Why has technology as simple as this not been monitored before?
The Boston Red Sox, one of the teams affected by the Astros’ cheating, broke these rules themselves in 2017 be using a smartwatch to steal signs with a similar video system, according to the New York Times. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred warned that future violations by teams would warrant harsh punishments, and yet no further actions of surveillance were taken.
These occurrences all point to one decision: dugouts and press boxes should be closely watched to avoid cheating. With tech and communication as prevalent in baseball as they are, their abuse must be contained, and hopefully prevented, at all costs.
With the reverberations of this scandal still incomplete, it isn’t fair to criticize MLB for punishments yet to be issued, but it is clear that fans and players alike have certain expectations of the league concerning these problems. As the scandal progresses, one can only hope that those responsible for tainting America’s pastime are held accountable.
(01/30/20 5:00am)
Music has been a prominent aspect of my life ever since I was born. Its longevity continually impacts my outlook on the world, myself and the things around me. Without music, I’m unsure of how my life would be. It’s a new decade, a perfect time to reflect on the music that has been an integral part of my life as a whole.
If That’s True - Esperanza Spalding
Jazz is a genre of music often surpassed by the common teenager. For me, however, it’s totally different. I grew up with jazz being a dominant force in my household; every year, my family would go to the Monterrey Jazz Festival in Monterrey, California. From there, I began to listen to various jazz artists like Vijay Iyer, Esperanza Spalding and Leo Genovese. This song specifically reminds me of my family and our musical background, giving me warmth when I’m away from them for long periods at a time.
Thinkin Bout You - Frank Ocean
Frank Ocean is one of my all-time favorite artists. This particular song is a staple in his entire repertoire, and I know literally every lyric, word for word. When this song initially came out, I was in middle school. This was the first song that allowed me to really understand the value of music and how it affects me. Frank Ocean continuously releases music unmatched by other artists, this being one of my favorites.
Cranes in the Sky - Solange
I vividly remember the first time I heard this song. It was 2017, a couple of days before I moved from California to Georgia. My friends took me out to dinner, and one of them introduced me to the song. She was driving me home and played Solange’s album, “A Seat at the Table,” which I quickly fell in love with. By the time I got to Georgia, I played the song so recursively that it was almost therapy, especially with everything going on politically and socially in the United States. “Cranes in the Sky” allows me to breathe and truly heed the things around me.
LNT - Stevan
If you love to just dance, this song is definitely for you. There are times in everyone’s life where you really need to just let go. When I listen to this, I put everything away, and make myself completely loose. I jump and spin around my room, and let the groovy tones take control of me. I love this song because it reminds me to just take a break. It’s good to work hard, but don’t stretch yourself too thin.
Hate CD - Steve Lacy
This song is a really good depiction of my feelings when I fell in love for the first time. Lacy sings a “love is a drug” narrative, which directly related to how love was coming into me. It’s so intense but addicting, like a drug. In some ways I couldn’t explain how I felt for this person, I just knew it was completely different than previous feelings I had for other people. This song ultimately reminds me of love and how powerful it is.
Pretty Wings - Maxwell
“Pretty Wings” is a song that I connect to my mother. In elementary school, she played this song on our rides home. It’s one of her favorite songs, and the vivacious joy she emitted while listening to it quickly made it one of my favorites as well. This song makes me smile when I hear it because I think of my mother and the moments we shared when we first listened to the song. It’s liberating.
Sweetener - Ariana Grande
When I first came to college, I was all over the place and honestly didn’t have myself together. I first heard “Sweetener” from one of my best friends during my freshman year. This was a song that we played profusely, and soon it became an anthem for us and our friend group. Keep your friends close, there’s nothing like them.
Things I Imagined - Solange
Solange again? No, this isn’t a mistake. This song, on her “When I Get Home” album, speaks unimaginable volumes. I had a really rough summer after my freshman year, and this song helped me get through it. It taught me the importance of repetition and intention. Solange repeats herself saying “I saw things I imagined” over and over again, which reaffirmed me in the things that I was doing. It reminded me to act on what I wanted and manifest what I wanted out of everything to get to where I wanted to be. Believing in myself and getting to a point of seeing what I have manifested is so powerful to me.
I Ain’t Got Time! - Tyler, The Creator
Sometimes it’s good to fill your ears with creative nonsense. To the naked ear, Tyler Okonma’s music may seem like gibberish and without any meaning but in actuality, it does, in fact, have tons of lyrical excellence. From bass bumping bangs and synthesized sounds, Tyler, The Creator makes me want to just have fun.
Open Your Eyes, You Can Fly - Lizz Wright
Lizz Wright was an artist I first listened to on a plane. I was flying from California to Georgia, and I was truly sadder than I’d ever been before. Randomly, I chose the song to listen to as I sat in between my mother and a stranger. I remember the song was really soothing to me. I fell asleep to it, and it was all I had listened to while I was on the plane. A year later when I went back to California to visit, I made sure that it was the first thing I listened to on the plane. Similar to “Cranes in the Sky,” I take to this song as therapy.
These 10 songs all have a special place in my heart, and I take them wherever I go. My life has had its ups and downs, but I can definitely say that without the music that comprise the soundtrack to it, I wouldn’t be who I am today.
(01/30/20 5:00am)
This is an opinion article. Any views expressed belong solely to the author and are not representative of The Cluster.
From writers and painters to actors and dancers, there is a wide variety of careers on the creative side to choose from. The problem, however, is that they are incredibly slept on.
Recently I’ve found that there are many extremely creative people going into non-creative careers, such as engineering, business and education. They’re creators, making brilliant things like music or poetry, yet they still choose to get involved in careers that are completely unrelated. Why is that?
Personally, I feel as though many families across generations take a wrong view in regard to creative careers. There’s a strong relation between risk-taking and any field that’s not directly “academic” per se.
There is a strong narrative that going into the realm of art as a career will typically end negatively, unless you have everything needed to be as big as moguls in the industry today. However, we must dispel this narrative. It is definitely possible to make it within a creative career. It’s not the simplest task, but never doubt yourself on what’s possible.
Initially, I thought I’d have a career in the Engineering field, but I also had a very strong interest and soon to be passion for writing and photography. Now don’t get me wrong, I definitely enjoyed engineering. I never strayed away from it, but I also made sure that I put time into my other interests as well. My passion for writing and photography began to develop, and I changed my course of action to adhere to what made me truly happy, versus what made outsiders happy.
We all should do what we think brings us joy. If your creative side is shining brighter than everything else, listen to it.
In all, if you write, write. If you dance, dance. Make your true passion your first priority. Never fall for the traps that may be placed in your mind by anyone else about a choice that’s ultimately yours. If you have intent and put the effort into it, you’re bound to be successful regardless.
(01/30/20 5:00am)
College is a time when people experience a lot of “firsts” in their lives: the first college party, the first failing grade, maybe even the first time using a washing machine. For some people, college also includes their first time on a dating app.
Maybe you’ve been feeling lonely, struggling through cuffing season and yearning for someone to send the pouting eyes emoji to. So, you download the app of your choosing, but before you can start searching for the love of your life, you hit the dreaded impasse of writing the perfect bio. Here’s what to keep in mind:
Don’t get too caught up in playing it cool
The first thing to remember is that writing a bio is awkward even for seasoned users (anyone who says otherwise is lying). It’s easy to be tempted into using one lone emoji or leaving the space blank to achieve those mysterious, aloof vibes. The problem with mystery is that this is a dating app, and even though you’re already breaking the “no strangers online” rule, it’s hard not to imagine that someone with no bio might have plans to lock their matches in a basement somewhere. We’ve all binged both seasons of “You.” We know better.
It’s okay to be upfront about why you’re swiping
Everyone has their own reasons for joining dating apps, and that’s fine. Some believe their one true love must be swiping in a 15-mile radius. Others believe their one night stands are swiping in a 15-mile radius. Both of these motives are valid, but it’s important to be clear about which one fits your intentions. Even if these are strangers who you’ll never see again, a little courtesy goes a long way. Stating what you’re looking for doesn’t have to be dramatic or corny. A simple, “Swiping for fun,” or well-placed emoji can probably get the point across, but the extra seconds of typing are worth it.
Include a conversation starter
When I was a young, naive first-time swiper, I remember telling my friends that, as a rule, I didn’t respond to anyone who only said “Hey” in their first message. This rule likely sounds a little over the top, but I justified it because I knew I had ample conversation starters in my profile. Everyone has something interesting to share about themselves, whether it’s a hobby, a unique interest or a favorite TV show (just please, not “The Office”). If you don’t give your matches something to strike a conversation on in your bio, your swiping days will be a monotonous series of people sending “Hey” and “WYD” until you delete the app or you die.
Take advantage of any features the app has to make your profile more interesting
Not all dating apps are created equal, and some are better for certain types of dating than others. Apps like Bumble and Hinge both include helpful profile features if you’re really trying to get to know your matches. Profile questions, for example, are a great way to add even more conversation starters, find people with the same interests as you or showcase your sense of humor. Bumble and Hinge also make it easy to get the awkward questions like political views or even your Zodiac sign out of the way right on your profile. Many dating apps also have options to link your Spotify and Instagram accounts without sharing your username or account info. Connecting Spotify is a great option for music lovers, and adding your top Instagram photos can help show off what you like to do.
When in doubt, keep it simple
Whether you plan to get to know your matches better or forget them in a month, your bio is not the place for your life story. If you try to throw out all of your interesting quirks and funniest anecdotes right away, your matches may have nothing left to ask you once you get to the dating part. Sometimes a really clever one-liner or listing out your coffee order can paint you as every Gen Z’ers dream match who is carefree, funny and not at all complicated.
(01/30/20 5:00am)
Sauced, a local pizzeria located in Mercer Village, closed its doors in December 2019.
In its place, JAG’s Pizzeria & Pub, named after the last names of co-owners Richie Jones, Brian Adams and Ryan Griffin, is slated to open in early spring. General Manager Lisa Williams said that they plan to be open by the end of February or the beginning of March.
Williams said that they hope to be open by the start of March Madness, the yearly NCAA basketball tournament.
JAG’s will offer a full bar, arcade games, multiple televisions for watching sports and both indoor and outdoor seating. Williams said she also expects to have trivia nights and live music.
“We’re adding in about eight more TVs in here, we’re bringing in new equipment and we’re building an arcade room,” Williams said.
Williams wants to offer an atmosphere that is centered around entertainment in a more modern venue.
“It’s definitely going to be more lively. A fun atmosphere… I think the entertainment is what needs to happen over here (in Mercer Village) so students don’t have to go downtown to have fun,” Williams said.
JAG’s Pizzeria & Pub will have bartop charging stations, outdoor eating areas that are pet and smoker friendly and will also accept Bear Bucks.
The restaurant hopes to attract business from Mercer students by offering drink specials.
“There will definitely be some kind of happy hour specials, we just don’t know what that will be yet,” Williams said.
The new restaurant will also serve all of Sauced’s pizza recipes, but will likely have a more simplified menu.
Williams wants to be able to provide an entertaining spot that customers can watch a wide array of sports events as well as Mercer games.
“It’s going to be pretty much a pizza sports bar,” she said. “I wish I had one of those in college.”
(01/29/20 5:00am)
At the start of a new decade, Mercer University President William Underwood reflected on his time at Mercer and what's in store for the 2020s.
Underwood has been a part of Mercer’s history for 14 years. He took his position at Mercer following his position as Baylor University Interim President and the Leon Jaworski Chair at the Baylor School of Law. He was also designated as a Master Teacher at Baylor, and in 2008, he received the W.R. White Distinguished Service Award from the Baylor Alumni Association.
“What I love about Mercer is the fantastic students, the interesting students that do so much with their Mercer degree,” he said.
One student Underwood highlighted was Zechariah “Zac” Rice, a 2018 Mercer graduate. Rice was an offensive lineman on the Mercer football team, and the first football player to win the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship.
Beyond campus, he said that Mercer students’ activities across the globe impress him.
“The Mercer on Mission program was started my second year here. I think the impact students have around the world is great since my time that I’ve been here,” Underwood said.
Underwood said that Mercer on Mission in Vietnam has helped 13,000 amputee victims get prosthetics fitted.
He also said that the institution and establishment of Mercer as a Phi Beta Kappa school, along with the level of research Mercer students conduct, are other significant changes he’s seen.
“Mercer was admitted into the Georgia Research Alliance along with schools such as Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia. This alliance allows Mercer to share pieces of equipment with these universities, such as a million-dollar microscope that can be used in research anywhere at Mercer,” Underwood said.
The last major change that Underwood discussed was the recognition and reclassification of Mercer as a top-tier university.
In 2016, Mercer was reclassified from a regional master’s university to a national doctoral research university, allowing Mercer to be moved under the national universities classification.
In 2018, Mercer was ranked number 35 in best value schools in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report’s annual “America’s Best Colleges” issue.
Underwood said there are still changes that he hopes are made, the first being a change to the campus itself.
“Next fall, when everyone returns to campus, the computer science building will be gone. We are planning to take it down this summer in order to put a garden space there,” Underwood said.
The computer science department is now located in the new Willet Science Center with an entire floor being used solely for the department.
When he looks back at his time at Mercer, Underwood said that the first memory that came to mind was Mercer’s famed defeat of Duke University during the first round of the NCAA tournament back in 2014.
But he also said he remembers visiting the Mekong Delta in Vietnam with Mercer students.
“A team of Mercer students and I went to an area of the Mekong Delta to fit amputees with prosthetics. A woman had lost both of her legs and the prosthetic was very hard to fit because of how they had amputated her legs. The students allowed me to work hands-on with them, so we moved slowly, mostly because I didn’t know what all I was doing,” Underwood said, laughing. “At the end of the day, though, this woman was able to walk through the clinic on her new legs. She couldn’t wait because she told us she was getting married. She wanted to dance at her wedding.”
Making more of these fond memories at Mercer and having students change the world is Underwood’s main goal looking into the new decade, he said.
“I want Mercer to keep doing more of what it is doing,” he said. “I want us to continue to do what we’re doing but even better. We have come so far in the level of student achievement that I hope to continue that. Mercer is Mercer because of its students. I can’t wait to see what all they accomplish.”