As we celebrate International Women’s Day, it is important to recognize the immense contributions that women have made throughout history and continue to make today.  This day is not only a celebration of women’s achievements, but it also serves as a reminder of the ongoing struggle for gender equality.  Despite significant progress in recent years, women continue to face systemic ...

Candle Palace is a new business in Valdosta that brings a fun experience through candle making. People can come by the store and make 12 oz candles with classes that they provide. The experience is reservation only with a class on the history and process of candle making while guests melt, mix and pour their own creations. The owner, Antoinette ...

VSU Police Department has a method they encourage all students to take advantage of that will help handle the most common crime on campus, petty theft. Administrative Sergeant-State Certification Manager, Heidi Browning, said petty theft is the most common crime on campus and consists of students stealing items such as laptops, phones, game systems or anything of similar value. VSUPD ...

A.C.T.I.O.N, a sociology and anthropology club at VSU, is currently petitioning for a change of “Forrest Street” to “Barack Obama Boulevard.” A.C.T.I.O.N stands for A Chance To Initiate Opportunities Now and is organized by David Davis, a graduate student and passionate activist. The club is consistently pushing for social change in Valdosta. Forrest Street is named after Nathan Bedford Forrest, ...

Hello, Blazers. My name is Zach Edmondson and I am the sports editor for The Spectator at VSU. I have started a sports column entitled “The Bench” and this is the first column of many. The name was inspired by a place where people sit and talk about sports: the bench on the sidelines, in the dugout, on the court, ...

Lady Blazers softball will face a lot of pressure during the 2021 season while playing in the middle of a pandemic. The Lady Blazers started out the year ranked twelfth in the nation. They were also picked to finish second in the Gulf South Conference. These high expectations come after a 2020 campaign that was cut short due to the ...

As we’ve seen in the sports world, the best teams win championships; not the best player. We as an American society could reflect this truth if we would let ourselves. All too often, people are held back from being great at what they do because of their skin color, gender, etc. This has to stop. Imagine if Tom Brady wasn’t ...

Last week, VSU welcomed back students alongside 27 COVID-19 cases. According to their website, VSU has a total of 46 active cases on campus since Jan. 15. There are 24 students and three employees who have been added to this list, making 27 new cases in total. There are a total of 1,390 employees and 12,407 students at VSU this ...

Mike Helfer, the VSU men’s basketball head coach, tested positive for COVID-19 in Dec., resulting in the cancelation of two home games. “It’s not anyone’s fault, especially in sports, it’s not anyone’s fault if you get it,” Coach Helfer said. “But, it’s real. It’s very real and we have to respect that it is and be careful.” Helfer said there ...

There was an uproar on social media during the summer of 2020 when people were receiving eviction notices after they had been advised to quarantine during the pandemic. One thing many landlords failed to realize was that quarantining meant less job opportunities, and less job opportunities meant financial dead-ends. Unfortunately, eviction during a pandemic isn’t just a problem in the ...