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Georgia Power’s Plans to Update Power Infrastructure Across Baldwin and State
Sophia Ricketts
December 11, 2023
Earlier in 2023, the Biden Administration announced 3.9 billion dollars will be allotted to repairing power grids across the United States.
With most US power grids being built in the 1960s and 70s, over fifty years later, electrical infrastructure is failing.
Unless action is taken soon, Americans across the country could be subject to power outages, like the one that left millions of Texans without power in a 2021 snowstorm.
Milledgeville and the rest of Georgia were left out of grant funding for the new infrastructure and power grid. What is Baldwin County doing to prevent an electrical catastrophe and keep locals and students supplied with power?
For the answer to that, we need to look at the county and state’s leading power supplier, Georgia Power. The energy provider is responsible for over 97 percent of the power supplied to Baldwin County.
According to Greg Tyson, the Area Manager for Milledgeville, Baldwin County, and other surrounding Middle GA counties for GA Power, the company is making sure electrical networks across the county and state remain updated.
“We’re constantly reviewing and updating our infrastructure and our future plans,” says Tyson. “I would say GA Power is not a utility that has aging infrastructure… We are constantly updating our infrastructure.”
Tyson referred to GA Power’s Integrated Resource Plan, or IRP, a twenty-year plan to update power grids and rebuild substations and other infrastructure across Georgia.
IRP contributors look at other aspects such as energy demand and energy efficiencies, and getting customers to be more energy conscious which reduces stress on the power grid. To keep the IRP up-to-date, GA Power evaluates and updates the plan every three years to ensure the best service, power, and reliability, which according to Tyson, is “a major focus area” for the company.
The plan already allowed GA Power to replace four electric substations, facilities that convert electricity to different voltages and distribute it to the power grid. According to Tyson, two more substations will be fully replaced by the end of the year.
“Substations are a key part of our local infrastructure... that's a significant amount of work we’ve done,” elaborates Tyson. “We’re looking at our older, lower 46,000-volt transmission systems in Milledgeville and Eatonton areas being retired and replacing them with a newer 115,000-volt transmission system.”
Tyson estimates the project will last until late 2025 to 2026.
According to Tyson, the grid investment programs, “These are major capital investments, millions of dollars go towards replacing equipment that’s currently working.” Even though the federal government is providing subsidies to some states to modernize and replace power grids, a majority of GA Power’s projects are paid for by consumers.
In addition to the IRP, GA Power implemented the Grid Investment Plan. Over the last ten years, the company has invested over ten billion towards adding connections, smart sensors, and devices to better conserve power and infrastructure. The company also invested in relocating, strengthening, and undergrounding power lines.
In the future, Milledgeville will see the continuation of the IRP and Grid Investment plans carried out. “We’ve done a lot of work but have a lot of work left to do,” says Tyson.
Psychology Department Suspends Psych as Minor
Sophia Ricketts
April 29, 2022
As of August 2021, students at Georgia College and State University, including incoming first-year students, can no longer choose or change their minor to psychology. The change is the result of a considerable influx of psychology students in recent years and a shortage of staff.
The department has over 450 students, making it the second-largest department at the university after marketing. With the high density of students, class sizes are limited. This, with the inclusion of students pursuing minors, ultimately makes registration difficult for some.
“We stopped the minor effective August 2021 because we could not guarantee students could finish the minor due to the number of majors we have,” says department chair Lee Gillis. Although students may no longer change their minors to psych, Gillis reminds students that, “No one is prevented from changing their major to psychology.” Students currently pursuing psychology as a minor are not affected by this decision. The rule applies only to incoming first-year students and current students who want to switch their minors to psychology.
“The decision to temporarily freeze the minor was made as one of those decisions to help keep students on track and remove the bottleneck that was created by PSYC 2700 and 2800,” added Dr. Stephanie Jett. “Minors have to take those courses in order to gain access to upper-level courses, which increased the amount of students attempting to register for them and created a bottleneck.”
To students in the department, the change does bring some relief. “I think it would be great if people could minor in [psychology], but I’m glad that they took it away because I was waitlisted for every single one of my classes this semester…, and that is without [freshman] psychology minors. I can’t imagine how difficult it would be with them,” says sophomore psych major Ansley Huff.
With high student enrollment and limited staff, some students find it difficult to register for certain classes. Many say they are waitlisted for classes vital to their major. “Drugs and Behavior is a class that would get me my last science credit while also being psychology-related. It’s a class I really want to take, along with every other psych major. It’s nearly impossible to get into… I got waitlisted for all my classes this semester,” says Huff. “Everyone I talk to in my psychology classes this semester is having the same problem as me.”
“Even the seniors are having a hard time getting the classes they need to graduate. As a freshman, even when you’re coming in with credit hours that let you get rid of all your core…, you focus on taking your major classes, and there’s just not enough room,” says first-year student Trenholm Faye.
When asked about how the department plans to combat the students’ registration issues, Chairman Gillis said, “We have been down one faculty member all year and covering it with faculty overloads. We have hired a new faculty member who will begin on August 1st. I would like an additional faculty member, but that is a long process based on needs.”
Adding a new faculty member is just one way the department tries to address the problem. In addition to hiring new staff, students are given the option to complete classes at other USG schools online over the summer, and the credits will transfer back to GCSU.
Although the psychology minor is no longer available to students at GCSU, this is not necessarily how it will be in the future. “Right now, it’s on “pause” as we determine if our majors are not impeded from progression toward graduation. When we have some data, we will reassess”, says Gillis, leaving the future hopeful for students.
GCSU Dance Department Shows Off Student Talents in “Bountiful” Performance
Sophia Ricketts
November 27, 2023
This weekend, the GCSU dance department impressed and inspired audiences at its annual dance concert, Bountiful. Performances were completely choreographed and presented by students in the dance minor program.
Originally, a showcase for students in the Chi Tau Epsilon dance honor society, the concert has evolved to welcome all dance minor students to choreograph, and any Georgia College student to participate in the dance numbers.
Auditions took place in September, and seventeen students were selected to dance in the performance’s six pieces choreographed by a different student. After auditions, choreographers organize rehearsals and put their pieces together. Then in October, all the numbers originally pitched are performed in front of the director of the dance department, Emily Pelton, who then selects which pieces are publicly performed for the November performance, based off of preparation of dancers and how ready the piece is for the public.
“[The students] had to audition their dances and choreography to make sure it ready for the show,” says director of the GCSU dance department, Amelia Pelton. “There were several pieces that were not ready for whatever reason… and things that can affect the piece like students not being able to rehearse… We try to help them as much as we can, but ultimately, it is up to the students.”
Choreographing and cleaning the pieces together takes about an hour a week for practice, and an additional hour or two per week for choreographers to put pieces together. For all the dancers and choreographers, this is all on top of being a full-time student. Finding time to practice posts is a challenge for all involved.
Students are required to find studio time that works around GCSU’s university and community dance programs, leading ‘Bountiful’ dancers to practice outside normal hours. “[Our Choreographer] is a nursing major and had clinicals during our normal practice time,” says senior dancer, Lizzy Niswonger. “Then we had to rehearse at 7:45 in the morning.”
For these dancers and choreographers, the work is worth the freedom they are granted. From style to choreography and music, student choreographers have complete creative control over their pieces, allowing dancers to create a piece of art that is uniquely their own. This year, the performances consisted of four contemporary pieces and one tap piece.
Dancers and choreographers collaborated with dancers based on skill level and technical capability. Students were also responsible for their costumes, which groups coordinated; students in the tech theatre department designed the lighting.
One student chose to take lighting a step further, by projecting images of forest fires and hurricane damage during her number, ‘Mother Nature’s Heart-Breaking Beauty,’ to better convey her message.
"Some people don’t see nature the way I do,” says junior choreographer Renee Woodruff, whose piece grappled with the destruction of nature due to natural disasters. “I realized the easiest way to have something settle into someone’s mind is to show a photo.”
A story inspires each piece and for many choreographers, the creative process starts early.
“My vision for this piece was something I planned for over a year,” says Junior Delaney Faas. “My piece is titled ‘Discipleship,’ and is based off of something we got to experience through our church community on campus... the piece is about what it means to walk with someone through life.”
For other choreographers, Bountiful is a chance to show off technical skills and just enjoy themselves. “There isn’t any particular message to my piece. It simply exists to be an exploration of sound," says junior dance minor, Helen Garcia-Carreras. "To me, this piece is just fun and exciting.”
The dancer’s hard work paid off, with family, friends, and dance enthusiasts, taking up seats in the Russell Auditorium Friday and Saturday nights. The show, now a main stage production at GCSU, allowed for ticketing for the first time and raised money for the dance department. The next major production for the dance department is ‘The Nutcracker,’ which will take place on December 8th, 9th, and 10th.