Friends and colleagues- This semester has been tumultuous.  To say there have been ups and downs would be a momentous understatement. Yes- we’re not out of the woods yet. But credit should be given where credit is due.  And today, that credit is deserved by our president William J. McKinney. Our institution has been lambasted in the media and derided ...

Written by: Zenobia Harris, Asst. Features Writer Is marriage becoming a dying tradition? CNN reporter Carol Costello seems to think so. In a video entitled “The Millennials Project,” Costello interviews a couple of journalism students from her alma mater, Kent State University. In the interview, she asks them about what their thoughts were on marriage, children, travel and religion among other ...

Written by: Kenzie Kesselring, Asst. Opinions Editor Rolling Stone magazine has long been thought of as a prestigious and creditable new source, but the decision to not fire anyone following their journalistic meltdown that took place earlier this month is a huge mistake. The slipup reporter Sabrina Rubin Erdely made while attempting to report on an issue plaguing college across ...

Written by: Zenobia Harris, Asst. Features Writer Michael T. Slager, the South Carolina police officer who was arrested and fired after shooting and killing an unarmed man, has apparently become a cause worth supporting. Go Fund Me, a crowdfunding site that allows people to raise money for various causes, shut down a page that was gathering money in support of Slager. ...

Written by: Lia Armistead, Asst. Sports Editor Racism is a topic that is tender to bring up. However, in a recent article that Cosmopolitan published on its online magazine, racism was definitely prevalent. The article discussed recent trends that were either “gorgeous” or “need to die. ” The 21 trends that were considered “gorgeous” had white models showing the trend. However, those ...

Written by: Kenzie Kesselring, Asst. Opinions Editor   Starbucks declared its’ longing for Americans to “race together,” but not all coffee drinkers seem thrilled about the idea. It’s not that Americans are opposed to talking about race, but many don’t seem to want to at 8am over a tall skinny vanilla latte. The campaign launched by Starbucks’ CEO Howard Schultz ...

Written by: Zenobia Harris, Asst. Features Writer Valdosta State University is home to a lot of different things, but diversity may not be one of them. According to the VSU 2013-14 profile, there were about 9, 328 undergraduate students last year. Of those students, 51.9 percent are listed as White, 35.8 percent as Black or African American, 4.9 percent Hispanic, 3.0 ...

The temperature of racial tension in this country is reaching a boiling point.  The lid that was the civil rights movement is struggling to contain the bubbling mixing pot of race relations.  The mounting pressure of police brutality has many Americans steaming over the injustices that seem to be perpetrated on a daily basis.  Anyone with television or Internet access ...

Written by: Tyra Mills, Photo Editor With protests breaking out at Valdosta State, a Blazer may be beginning to question what is going on with our beloved campus. Students have been stepping on flags, veterans coming on campus allegedly “armed” in protest of it, black lives matter campaigners joining the march and many students inserting their opinions and adding to ...

Better late than never? Not this time. As of last Friday the campus has seen a lot of protest and demonstrations. On Tuesday many students received an email from the university stating that one of the lead protesters who has been walking on the flag had a firearm on his person while on the campus. Students received this email almost ...