TheCrow'sNest-Vol50issue12

FEATURES, page 4

MAKING HISTORY

USF St. Petersburg may be known for its marine science, sailing and beautiful bayfront, but the history department has been making waves as of late.

OPINION, page 6

SPORTS, page 7

While students struggle to pay for classes, the added expense of a parking ticket makes life on campus more difficult. Jenna Jean shares her thoughts as to why parking tickets are just another way to make money off of students.

The basketball club wore purple and teal in their game to bring awareness to sexual assault and domestic violence. The club plans to host an awareness game every April in honor of Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

PARK TO PAY

PURPLE AND TEAL

THE CROW ’S NEST T H E C A M P U S N E W S PA P E R AT U N I V E R S I T Y O F S O U T H F L O R I D A S T. P E T E R S B U R G

Volume 50, Issue 12 - April 16, 2018 | Online at crowsneststpete.com

@CrowsNestStPete

@USFCrowsNest

@USFCrowsNest

@USFSPCrowsNest

White wall becomes whale wall

By Brianna Rodriguez blrodriguez@mail.usf.edu

W

hen students walk into the Student Learning Center atrium they will be met with a mural of a giant blue whale trapped in a plastic bag.

The mastermind behind the painting is Elio Mercado and his assistant Sookie, who took on a $25,000 twopart project to transform the wall into a reminder of the importance of sustainability.

The project is on its first phase, which consists of painting the mural. Phase two, which focuses on economic sustainability will begin in May. The project was proposed to Ann Wykell by students who wanted the blank walls in the SLC to be more lively. Soon enough, Wykell became the project manager and facilitator of researching artists.

This project was first announced in a 2015 open call to public artists. The open call required artists to submit mural ideas pertaining

BRIANNA RODRIGUEZ | THE CROW’S NEST

“The point of it is for you to look at the whale and ask ‘Why in a bag?’” said artist Elio Mercado.

to the theme of sustainability.

A committee then decided on the artist that was chosen for the project.

Mercado did research on environmental art for this project to capture the full essence of the whale.

“The point of it is for you to look at the whale and ask ‘Why in a bag?’” said Mercado.

He aims to bring life into the mural by painting a realistic representation of the whale, as if it is in its natural habitat.

“Freshwater is clear and this is supposed to be deep water. So it is darker. This is why we call it the deep blue sea,” said Mercado.

Mercado is a self-taught

artist who never went to art school. He taught himself how to paint and began his practice in the street art realm, which developed into a career.

Many of Mercado’s pieces are located in South Florida, though he has artworldwide.

He completed a project in St. Petersburg two years ago and he was then invited to

do more projects, such as the mural, after.

“I think that it is pretty, but for the money that was spent, I ask ‘Why a whale in a bag?’” said Kayla O’Neal, sophomore health sciences major. “The first thing that I think of is ‘Finding Nemo’ and the girl shaking the bag.”

open about your finances by Lisa Rowan, a senior writer for the Penny Hoarder, a locally based personal finance website.

“Right now, only onethird of Americans have an emergency fund. That’s zero dollars in case you chip a tooth, or get a flat tire or drop your phone in the bay because you were trying to take a picture of a dolphin again,” said Rowan.

The tone shifted between funny and personal all night, as presentations ranged from Doug Stanhope-inspired performance art to talks on the importance of etiquette.

Patricia Rossi, host of NBC Daytime’s “One Minute Manners” segment, argued in her presentation on decorum that manners are not “just for formal dinners and confusing forks.”

“I think the night went really well,” said Josh Miller, head event organizer.

According to Miller, the

RSVP list was closed a few days before the event because it hit maximum capacity.

“The speakers all went incredibly well, we couldn’t have asked for a better group of people to work with, a better group of ideas to run around with and overall I think we got the community more involved than we had last year as well,” Miller said.

Plans for next year include a Facebook live stream for students unable to be on campus the night of the event.

Audience members included friends of the speakers, local students and a group of middle schoolers from Indi-ED, a local educational non-profit.

The children were to prepare for their own TED talk event at their respective schools, according to Christine Laurenzi, founder of Indi-ED. “They have the same

parameters, they go through the interview process, they have to pitch their ideas, they have to do all of the things,” Laurenzi said.

Laurenzi gave her own TED Talk in Tampa several years ago, and used her experience there to plan a smaller version for her students.

“Right now we’re doing

‘Innovation’ at school, it’s our kind of final unit,” said Benicio Rogers, an eighth grader at Indi-ED. “So we decided this is perfect, we might as well come.”

All eight TED Talks were filmed and will be uploaded to the official TEDx Youtube channel, according to event organizers.

TEDx Conference returns to campus

By Ryan McGahan Contributor

O

ver 100 audience members eagerly waited outside the University Student Center Ballroom Thursday night for the doors to open at the third annual TEDxUSFSP event as they were accompanied by the sounds of smooth jazz, red and black balloons and talk of podcasts.

Eight speakers presented in front of a crowd in the ballroom while framed by a purple backdrop, the infamous red TED letters and this year’s theme, Author Our Tomorrow.

The event was simultaneously streamed live downstairs at The Reef.

Beginning at 6 p.m. with a presentation on public and private success by entrepreneur Arthur Wylie, the event ended over three hours later with a talk about the benefits of being

THE CROW’S NEST Since 1969

COURTESY OF EMILY BOWERS

Struggle and the triumph of overcoming it defined Trace Taylor’s speech, encouraging students to push through hard times.

THE CROW’S NEST IS THE WEEKLY STUDENT NEWSPAPER AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA ST. PETERSBURG. ALL CONTENT IN THE PUBLICATION IS PRODUCED BY USFSP STUDENTS. SINGLE COPIES FREE.

THE C ROW ’S NE ST

April 16, 2018

University Student Center Accreditation task force expands budget explained

By Anna Bryson annabryson@mail.usf.edu

T

By Jeffrey Waitkevich jwaitkevich@mail.usf.edu

T

he University Student Center is the “heartbeat” of campus according to some higher-level faculty members.

That heartbeat takes $1.7 million per year to keep it pumping.

But where does all that money come from?

According to Anthony Carinci, associate director of the USC, the student body pays for the student center through mandatory fees.

Students are charged $13.80 per credit hour as a student union enhancement fee that makes up part of the activities and services fees, which is also taken out of students’ tuition.

The activities and services fees are then allocated by the Student Government appropriations committee, though they are not permitted to change the USC’s budget in any way.

As a result, roughly $1.7 million of the $3.3 million of activities and services fees are already accounted for before the committee sits down.

The appropriations budget changes every year based on enrollment, but some parts of the USC’s budget remain fixed.

According to Carinci, $620,000 goes to repaying the loan taken out to construct the USC. That payment will remain fixed until the building

JONAH HINEBAUGH| THE CROW’S NEST

Roughly $1.7 million of the $3.3 million of activities and services fees goes toward funding the University Student Center.

is entirely payed off in 2042.

Additional fixed costs include a $70,000 administration fee that is paid to the USF system and another $250,000 that is “dedicated toward on-going and preventative maintenance,” including custodial work, fire protection and risk management insurance.

That leaves around $640,000 for the USC to allocate to staff and student wages, programming, events and the associated equipment and office expenses.

The Division of Student Affairs set this budget based on recommendations by the USC administrators.

Carinci said that the three biggest priorities are student events, USF St. Petersburg’s student employment program and programming for student success.

More specifically, Carinci said that the USC “provides a welcoming environment that every student, regardless of status or major, can

enjoy. With this as our main objective, we … enhance the campus community through our student employees, meeting spaces, lounges, and programs.”

Carinci and Dwayne Isaacs, director of student life and engagement, both likened the six-story building to the organ responsible for keeping the human body alive.

“Since the USC opened in August 2012, this building has transformed campus life for students, faculty, and staff in ways that we could not have imagined,” said Isaacs. “(USF St. Petersburg) ‘deserves’ this student union and all that comes along with it.”

The USC staff manages “the furnishings, audio/visual equipment, and reservations for 81 total spaces across eight buildings on campus” that make events like orientation, homecoming and USFSP week possible. It also houses meetings facilities for the university and community to use.

he task force for the consolidation of University of South Florida’s three campus’ added five new members April 8 expanding it to 11 members out of the 13 needed.

USF board of trustees Chair Brian Lamb chose two of the members, USF St. Petersburg leaders chose one, USF Sarasota-Manatee leaders chose one and the USF Alumni Association chose one.

Lamb appointed Anddrikk Frazier and Michael “Mike” Griffin.

Frazier is a USF alumnus who played on the men’s basketball team and is a founding member of the USF Black Leadership Network.

He is now a managing partner at Integral Energy. Griffin is also an alumnus and served two terms as student body president at USF Tampa.

He led the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce and is now senior managing director for Savills Studley Occupier Services.

USF St. Petersburg chair Stephanie Goforth appointed Melissa Seixas, an alumna of USF St. Petersburg who is now the Community Relations Manager for Duke Energy. She serves on the USF St. Petersburg honors advisory board and is a member of the boards of the

the Pinellas County Urban League, St. Pete Chamber of Commerce, Ruth Eckerd Hall, the Clearwater Marine Aquarium and the Heroes of the St. Pete Police.

USF Sarasota-Manatee chair Byron Shinn appointed Frederick “Rick” Piccolo, the president and CEO of the Sarasota Bradenton International Airport (SRQ) since 1995. He recently joined the Sarasota campus board.

The USF Alumni Association appointed Kayla Rykiel, the director of TEDxUSF. She is a USF Honors College student studying biomedical sciences. Rykiel founded the student organization Partners in Health.

The other members on the task force include Dr. Jonathan Ellen as Chair, USF system President Judy Genshaft, USF St. Petersburg interim Regional Chancellor Martin Tadlock, USF Sarasota-Manatee Regional Chancellor Karen Holbook, Alison Barlow, executive director of St. Petersburg Innovation District and Byron Shinn, Partner-In-Charge at Carr, Riggs & Ingram, LLC. The remaining two members will be appointed

by Florida Senate President and Speaker of the House.

Information from the Tampa Bay Times was used in this report.

TH E CROW ’ S N E ST

April 16, 2018

Veterans look to ease transition to civilian life

By Luke Cross lukecross@mail.usf.edu

T

ucked away in the Military & Veterans Success Center in The Terrace, a year-long, nationwide program launched Thursday.

The program looks to gather feedback on the transition from military to civilian life on behalf of Rep. Gus Bilirakis, vice-chairman of the Veteran Affairs Committee.

“It comes from a personal place for me, wanting to solve this conundrum of how so many of us feel disconnected from civilian life and why that is,” said Benjamin Smet, cochair of the Military Veterans Transition Task Force, which is spearheading the initiative.

Smet is a doctoral student, professor at the Bishop Center for Ethical Leadership and grant writer for USF St. Petersburg’s Military & Veterans Success Center.

During his doctoral research he recognized how little military transition has been studied.

“Normally for academic work, you review the literature on the subject. I was shocked to find nothing, nothing on transition,” Smet said. “When you compare how many

veterans feel disconnected from civilian life with the fact that only 14 percent see combat, the issue can’t just be (post-traumatic stress disorder),” Smet said.

The conflation of posttraumatic stress and transition difficulties is one of the primary problems the initiative is looking to solve.

“Adjustment and transition carry a lot of the same symptoms as post-traumatic stress,” said Brian Anderson, former Green Beret and cochair of the task force.

Anderson is also the founder and director of Veterans Alternative, a nonprofit focused on posttraumatic growth for veterans, and has seen the failures of the Transition Assistance Program.

TAP was established in 1990 and consists of a fiveday crash course to equip prospective veterans with the tools needed to transition from military to civilian life.

“It’s the basically the same program they are using 30 years later,” Anderson said.

“They’ve tried to make adaptations to the program, and they’re good adaptations, but it’s an antiquated framework,” Anderson said.

Witnessing the issues

with TAP firsthand, the task force is looking to create and implement a more effective system to assist with transition.

“Every war in our nation’s history, we have evolved to a new paradigm on how we take care of veterans,” Smet said.

“Our argument is that this is the first time in our nation’s history that we’re using an all volunteer force, the next logical step in our paradigm shifts has to be wholistic transitions.”

The task force is looking to the community to best address the issues surrounding transition and TAP. The first means of gathering public input will be through Collaborative Labs, a meeting space oriented for problem solving hosted by St. Petersburg College.

They are looking to bring 100 “thought-leaders” from around the country Aug. 7 to Collaborative Labs to discuss their experiences with transition and brainstorm over problems they encountered.

“You don’t need to be a scientist to attend, it’s your experience that we crave,” Anderson said. “Your shared experience will go to a central, reactive hub to consolidate thoughts on transition across the nation, which Tallahassee

COURTESY OF U.S. CONGRESS

Rep. Gus Bilirakis, vice-chairman of the Veteran Affairs Committee, organized the task force responsible for reforming how active military make the transition to civilian life.

and D.C. can use to make change.”

The task force will also be utilizing the Open Partnership Education Network, a public hub for sharing thoughts and suggestions on the upcoming transition program.

“Good ideas die in emails.

By getting public thought in an open area, we can meet the needs of individuals,” said B. Taylor, Navy veteran and cochair of the task force.

The three co-chairs are hoping that the variety of

avenues for public input will better highlight the issues facing this generation of veterans.

“These aren’t baby boomers, this is a different generation coming back with different needs” Taylor said. “We’re going to kick down some walls, and get what we need to solve the problem.”

For input on the program or an invitation to the Collaborative Labs event Aug. 7, contact Benjamin Smet at bas1@mail.usf.edu

Mother-daughter duo study at same campus

By Amy Diaz Contributor

W

hen you think about m o t h e r- d a u g h t e r bonding, you might think of shopping sprees, brunch or spa days. You probably don’t think about sharing a university.

While mother-daughter duo Molly Hunsinger and Bailey Gumienny still enjoy morning mimosas, they are also earning their bachelor’s degrees in mass communications at USF St. Petersburg.

Hunsinger, 46, started at USF St. Petersburg in 2012 after receiving her associate degree from the State College of Florida the year before. She started college after high school, but chose to pursue entrepreneurial opportunities instead, including owning and operating two successful restaurants.

She now works as the director of marketing for a medical company and has been working in the communications field for more than a decade.

“I’ve been going to school for seven years just to get my bachelor’s degree,” Hunsinger said. With three kids and a full-time job, she explained that “it’s challenging because they don’t offer the classes that you need for your major at times that are convenient for people who work.”

Gumienny, 21, started at USF Tampa in 2016 after

completing two years at St. Petersburg College. Initially a theater major, she eventually realized St. Petersburg was where she wanted to be. The fact that her mom would be with her at school didn’t bother her.

Although they have been in the same program for two years, this is the first semester that they have had a class together.

Their classmates in Senior Seminar with Dr. Tony Silvia didn’t find out that they were mother and daughter right away — they don’t even sit next to each other.

“We didn’t really out ourselves,” Hunsinger said.

“We told Dr. Silvia that we were mother and daughter, but the rest of the class didn’t find out until he actually … said something about it and everybody, like, erupted.”

Senior Seminar is considered a capstone course and focuses on preparing students to enter the mass communications field.

“It’s kind of funny because it’s supposed to be gearing you up for life experience, and she’s obviously already a very experienced person in the workforce,” Gumienny said. “Our assignments are like ‘Write a cover letter,’ and ‘Make a resume,’ and she already helps me with stuff like that because that’s what moms do.”

Sometimes Hunsinger’s experience in the field comes up in the class discussion.

“There have been a lot of positive things that the professor has said about me in

COURTESY OF MOLLY HUNSINGER

Molly Hunsinger (left), visits her daughter Bailey Gumienny (right), at Soft Water Studios, where Bailey works as a gallery assistant.

front of the class that makes me feel like maybe Bailey is seeing me in a positive light,” Hunsinger said. “Like I’m not just your mom, I’m a person.

It’s kind of humanizing.”

Gumienny feels that having a class together affects the way her mom sees her, too.

“When she sees me, it’s like to do laundry or we’re going to go to brunch or something … but not how I handle myself professionally,” she said.

“As far as the class goes, I definitely feel that it gives us a better insight about each other.

Though they don’t see each other around campus apart from the class they have together, the duo have come to

know a lot of the same people.

“I had a party for Bailey for her 21st birthday and someone was there that I had a class with,” Hunsinger said. “I’m having this open bar party at my house, and this kid that I have this class with is making a drink in my kitchen.

It was pretty funny.”

Hunsinger and Gumienny aren’t the first familial relationship on campus, or in the mass communications program.

“It’s not the first multigenerational situation I’ve had,” Silvia said. “A nontraditional student named Michael Butler and his daughter, Ellery, were both in our program at the same time … but they

weren’t in class together.”

Silvia referred to their relationship as a “role reversal.”

“Parents see their kids in a school setting all the time between visiting school, going to events and meetings,” Silvia said. “They see that side of their kid but when does a kid get a chance to see that side of their parent?”

Hunsinger will graduate this spring, and Gumienny will graduate this summer.

The time that they have had together as students has improved their relationship as mother and daughter.

“I think it’s been kind of therapeutic for us,” Hunsinger said, “and I feel like our relationship gets better all the time.”

THE C ROW ’S NE ST

April 16, 2018

Growing department makes waves

By Delaney Brown delaneybrown@mail.usf.edu

U

SF St. Petersburg is known for its marine research and waterfront views, but there’s another department that’s been making waves at the bayfront campus: the department of history and politics.

The research of three professors in particular has driven a new wave of interest in the growing department.

Dr. Adrian O’Connor, assistant professor of history, published “In Pursuit of Power: Education and revolution in eighteenth-century France,” a book examining the political power structures of the French Revolution, in November 2017. He then took over editorship of “The Historian,” a history journal with international readership.

Dr. J. Michael Francis, Hough Family chair of Florida studies, received national recognition for the creation of the La Florida archive, the first interactive, online collection

DELANEY BROWN| THE CROW’S NEST

Dr. Raymond Arsenault (above) and Dr. Adrian O’Connor sat on history department search committee and narrowed down 234 applicants from across the country.

of records of Florida’s early settlers. It is considered by many historians to be one of the most ambitious history projects taken on this year.

And Dr. Raymond Arsenault, senior professor and civil rights historian, is set to release his biography of tennis player Arthur Ashe later this year, which will be his third book on black historymakers.

Now, after a nationwide search, the department welcomes environmental historian Erin Mauldin. Her research examining race, environment and economic inequality, joins the stacked team of historians by way of Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama.

The tenure-track position attracted 234 applicants from universities across the country. Arsenault and O’Connor, members of the search committee, admitted they had trouble narrowing down the list of applicants.

“We could’ve made that final list of 15 (applicants) three or four times over and not seen a drop in the quality of the applicant,” O’Connor said.

A dynamic department Though the history major has existed since the school’s early years, a history department did not exist at USF St. Petersburg until the university achieved separate accreditation in 2009.

For Arsenault, who joined the university in 1980 when there were only two historians on campus, the growth is astounding.

“Over the past eight years we’ve built something to be absolutely proud of,”Arsenault said.

The department is small

compared to others in the Southeast, but professors within the department say that does little to dampen the quality of the education students receive. They say the department is more like a boutique than a buffet: what they lack in quantity they make up for with quality.

“There are some great large departments, like the University of North Carolina, Duke and Vanderbilt, but there are large departments that have a certain amount of deadwood,” Arsenault said.

“We have a consistent quality.

I think you’d be hard-pressed to find any other university in the Southeast that can top it.”

The history and political science department has 15 full-time professors, six of which are historians.

Though smaller than programs like the one at University of California, Los Angeles, O’Connor believes students taking history classes at USF St. Petersburg can experience the same degree of intellectual stimulation.

COURTESY OF LARISSA KOPYTOFF

Larissa Kopytoff is a visiting instructor whose research deals with Africa and imperialism. She said that she hopes there will be more opportunity for undergraduate students to participate in research.

“Since we’re a relatively small program, we can’t offer quite as large a range as other schools,” said Larissa Kopytoff, a visiting instructor whose research deals with Africa and imperialism.

“What we do really well is let students explore what they’re interested in.”

Whereas professors in large departments have other professors or doctoral candidates with similar research interests, professors at USF St. Petersburg bounce ideas off of their students.

“We’re aware of the need to generate the minispecialist cultures here on campus,”O’Connor said.

“It means getting people involved in what we’re interested in.”

That may mean getting students interested in imperialism in Africa, the freedom riders of the ‘60s or, for Francis’ students, 16th century Spanish handwriting.

“I’m always amazed of the cohort of students Francis has working on the La Florida project,” said O’Connor.

“Getting other people passionate about paleography... people have been tried for wizardly for less!”

Small on size, large on opportunity.

Students and professors say there’s no shortage of opportunity in the department.

Some students have landed internships at local museums like the St. Petersburg Museum of History and the Florida Holocaust Museum. Others have spent time in Seville, Spain transcribing 100-yearold Spanish documents. One student works as the assistant

editor of “The Historian.”

“I don’t know of another peer-reviewed journal of this size where an undergrad gets to be an assistant editor,” O’Connor said. “Each year we get to give one to two students the chance to do work that is usually done by advanced PhD students in dialogue with scholars at the top of their respective fields.”

Kopytoff admits that finding undergraduates that have opportunities to contribute to research is rare at other schools. In the future she hopes there will be even more opportunities for undergraduate students to participate in research.

“There are programs across the country that serve as feeder programs, where students that come through with a bachelor’s or master’s are immediately given attention when they apply for graduate positions or jobs across the country,” O’Connor said. “I think we’re very well positioned to become that kind of program.”

DELANEY BROWN| THE CROW’S NEST

“We could’ve made that final list of 15 (applicants) three or four times over and not seen a drop in the quality of the applicant,” Dr. Adrian O’Connor said.

Teen news consumers become fact-checkers

By Amy Diaz Contributor

T

he Poynter Institute of Media Studies in St. Petersburg is set to receive a $3 million grant over the course of two years from Google to lead a national project aimed at teaching middle and high school students how to tell fact from fiction online.

MediaWise is a collaboration of the Local Media Association, Stanford University Graduate School of Education and Poynter Institute. The project has many components, including developing curriculum to be taught in schools and an online initiative involving social media celebrities.

Stanford is creating open source curriculum, assessments and instructional videos for teachers to implement across disciplines.

“Typically, news literacy is taught through history classes

and the library,” said Tina Dyakon, Poynter’s advertising and marketing director, during a recent a press conference for USF St. Petersburg journalism students. “We feel that’s too limited.”

The curriculum will teach students how to look at websites to determine group motivations, political agendas, false references and to debunk the latest news about Kim Kardashian.

The initiative will be amplified through popular YouTube creators, including John Green of CrashCourse, Destin Sandlin of Smarter Every Day and beauty guru Ingrid Nilsen, with large platforms reaching the target audience — students.

“We are developing a 24-month content strategy with the (YouTube) creators focusing on reach, voice, and how it will go across time,” Dyakon said. “We want it to be authentic and in the voice of their show.”

The program will also employ teen fact-checkers who will consume information and look for things to be fact-checked. They will then correct the information on the platform that the information was natively found.

“If they debunk a Snapchat, they will make a Snapchat correcting it,” Dyakon said. “We’re not taking the traditional approach by publishing a website. Teens need to see information in their feeds.”

In the era of fake news the Poynter Institute views this program as vital to preserve democracy and “reduce the spread of misinformation, which is polluting our civic life,” said Poynter Institute president Neil Brown in a press release.

To keep the program going, they will need more than $3 million.

“I think $30 million wouldn’t have been enough,” Dyakon said.

It is their hope, Dyakon said, that people will realize the importance of developing the skills to identify misinformation and the project will continue to receive funding and support from Google and other

corporations.

“We want to show Google that we are having these conversations,” Dyakon said.

“We want to create paths that will be worth walking down at the end.”

JONAH HINEBAUGH| THE CROW’S NEST

In an effort to support media literacy, The Poynter Institute of Media Studies is receiving $3 million to teach teens the process of fact-checking.

TH E CROW ’ S N E ST

April 16, 2018

Being ‘other’: Reflections on being biracial

By Martha Rhine Contributor

W

hat are you?

S o m e people react automatically to that question and move on. For others, it is annoying and disrespectful.

It is a question of race, of course, but why do people ask?

To understand others better, or to decide how they feel about them or where they belong?

America is more diverse than ever in 2018, so what’s with the question?

In a recent example, Dominican singer and “Love & Hip Hop: Miami” star Amara La Negra visited the radio show “The Breakfast Club,” where after declaring herself excited to be there, she was pointedly asked by cohost Charlamagne Tha God, “What are you?”

The singer is no stranger to conversations on race and colorism. She identifies as Afro-Latina, a term that is often confusing for people who believe you must be African-American in order to call yourself black.

Amara La Negra’s dark complexion and signature ‘fro have been used against her. She’s been accused of appropriation — of pretending to be something she’s not.

Are you black if you’re not African-American? What if you’re half white and half black? Are you Hispanic if you have blonde hair and blue eyes? Are you Korean if you don’t speak the language?

People of mixed race are accustomed to being asked to define themselves more clearly, and it is not just acquaintances who ask. There is always the dilemma of which box to check on official forms asking: Caucasian, African-American, Asian or Pacific Islander?

In recent years, HispanicLatino has been added, but realistically speaking, those define ethnicity, not race.

There are black Latinos, white Latinos and many other divergent individuals that make the concept of race so unconvincing to anthropologists.

National Geographic and The New York Times have recently published work on the topic of race and genetics, addressing race as a social construct used to categorize people.

There is security in belonging.

Some people have it easier than others; they fit neatly into the boxes society has allocated for them as others struggle to define themselves clearly for a time until they make their choice to live outside the box.

The following people shared their thoughts on race and experiences growing up biracial.

MARTHA RHINE | THE CROW’S NEST

Tylia Battle is a marine biology major. She is half African-American, half Puerto Rican.

“In south Florida most families were biracial,” she said. “I still got picked on because I had big curly hair and people would be like

MARTHA RHINE | THE CROW’S NEST

Jake Troyli is a graduate student getting his masters of fine arts with a concentration in painting.

“Both my parents are mixed, 50-50 black and white. Yes, I identify as black but I really don’t think I have the option.

The truth is, we’re designated as things, we become categorized,” he said.

Troyli’s art is primarily about issues of race, stereotypes and otherness. He features himself in much of his work, connecting his personal story to his message. Troyli uses colorism in his work as a source of inspiration.

“I’m black, but in the black community I’m light-skinned which is an insult sometimes,

MARTHA RHINE | THE CROW’S NEST

Angelina Lindsay is a criminology major.

“I’m half Korean, half Caucasian. I feel more pride to be Korean, it’s unique and different,” she said.

Lindsay’s parents are a big influence in her life and have

‘You don’t look black, you speak Spanish.’ They’d also say, ‘You’re not Spanish, look at your hair!’”

Battle remembers being called white for speaking properly.

“I was like, ‘I don’t know what to tell you, this is how I talk,’” she said.

Battle’s childhood was a back-and-forth between her African-American and Hispanic traditions, and she’s thankful for family dynamics that exposed her to different cultures and helped her learn Spanish, for instance.

“My grandparents didn’t speak English,” she said. “So I learned a lot of Spanish because that was how I talked to them.”

and sometimes a compliment, you never know,” Troyli said.

He disagrees with the narrative that implies being light-skinned is negative.

“Anytime we’re making these blanket statements about a group of people based on the color of their skin we’re continuing these issues,” he said.

Although Troyli identifies as a black man, he acknowledges how others sometimes feel it’s more fluid.

“I exist simultaneously as black and mixed, I am both. In the eyes of the Western world, I’m a black man. In the eyes of the black world, I’m a mixed man. Never a white man.” always encouraged her to embrace her unique place in the world. She believes race is a real and present issue.

“It defines a person. It’s a big deal in today’s society, people are discriminated against,” she said.

However, Lindsay considers herself fortunate to have escaped issues of discrimination growing up and feels grateful for that. She wishes people could look past classifying others.

“I’m about embracing everyone: black, white, blue, purple,” she said. Circumstantially, Lindsay’s friends are mostly white. “The Asian friends I do have are family friends. I like hanging out with them, but they speak primarily Korean,” Lindsay said.

MARTHA RHINE | THE CROW’S NEST

Graham Colton is a graduate student in journalism.

“I’m three-quarters white and one-quarter Asian.

I identify more with my white side because that side constitutes the mathematical majority of my racial makeup,” Colton said.

Colton explained he isn’t intimidated by stereotypes of the studious Asian or the white male, and he’s learned

to push past them to define himself clearly.

“I don’t need racial stereotypes to help me form my identity anymore, because I’ve pushed past the discomfort of selfdiscovery into the realm of the self-actualization of my identity, racially and in other respects,” he said.

Colton sees the pressure to define racial identity as a political tool.

“People of different political persuasions value certain racial identities more than others,” Colton said.

“As race has become more politicized in this country, I’d imagine that it almost feels invasive for people of any race to be political pawns.”

Colton believes that biracial people are proof that race does not have to be binding.

MARTHA RHINE | THE CROW’S NEST

Ian Shelby is the lead Area Director for the nonprofit Progressive Abilities Support Services in Tampa Bay. Shelby recently visited a communication ethics class at USF St. Petersburg where he shared some life experiences and how they lead him to the work he does today, which is helping people with disabilities find meaningful work. Shelby considers that on a basic racial level, he is black and white, but he considers his ethnicity to be a relevant factor as well.

“Ethnically speaking my mother’s family is AfricanAmerican, Seminole Native-American, Irish and German. My father’s side, the white side of the family … he still has some questions,” he said.

Shelby recognizes that race is a social interpretation but doesn’t downplay that on cultural levels it’s become a real issue. He grew up in a middle-class neighborhood surrounded by diverse

families and friends who didn’t pressure him to define his identity.

“I wasn’t forced to choose, I was lucky enough to not have to. If I grew up in an African-American neighborhood perhaps I would’ve had to identify more, perhaps I would have been cultured differently,” Shelby said. “We’re all a product of our environment to a large degree.”

Shelby didn’t question issues of race until newcomers in his life began to ask questions.

“Later on, whether it was with girlfriends or newer friends they would almost be frustrated with my behavior. All of a sudden we’re talking about this one thing and it’s ‘you’re acting white, you’re switching out on me.’ That’s when the insecurities started,” Shelby said.

He recalls being asked “What are you?” as a teenager. “I answered it with ‘both.’ I don’t have to choose.”

THE C ROW ’S NE ST

April 16, 2018

University fishing for student dollars THE CROW’S NEST The Crow’s Nest is committed to providing its readers with news relevant to the University of South Florida St. Petersburg and its surrounding community. The Crow’s Nest abides by the highest ethical standards and focuses on stories that help readers make informed decisions on current issues. We take seriously the public’s trust in our news reporting and strive to uphold the highest standards of reporting as defined by the Society of Professional Journalists. Opinions in this newspaper do not necessarily represent those of the administration, faculty or student body.

Reach Us Office 2400 140 Seventh Ave. S. St. Petersburg, FL, 33701 (727) 873-4113 usfcrowsnest@gmail.com

Staff Michael Moore Jr Editor-in-Chief

Editorial Whitney Elfstrom Managing Editor Emily Wunderlich Online Editor Jeffrey Waitkevich News Editor Anna Bryson Arts & Life Editor Luke Cross Opinion & Features Editor Delaney Brown Assistant Editor

Design

Brianna Rodriguez Creative Director Jonah Hinebaugh Photography Editor Juliet Di Preta Design Assistant

Operations

Brenden DelaRua Business Manager Rob Hooker Adviser

Letters to The Editor The Crow’s Nest accepts letters to the editor. All submissions should be no more than 500 words. Writers must include their full name. In addition, USF faculty should include their title, department and extension. All letters are subject to editing for clarity and length. Letters can be sent to michaelmoor@mail.usf.edu with subject title “Letter to the Editor.”

Because of high production costs, members of the USFSP are permitted one copy per issue. Where available, additional copies may be purchased for 10 cents each by contacting the newspaper’s editor-in-chief or managing editor. Newspaper theft is a crime. Those who violate the single copy rule may be subject to civil and criminal prosecution and/or university discipline.

By Jenna Jean Senior Journalism and Digital Communication

W

e live in an age where students who go to college aren’t living a perfect fairytale experience.

Students in 2018 are either working to pay for college or working to survive. Let’s face it: Life is expensive, and the stereotypical “mommy and daddy paying for everything” scenario hardly exists anymore because they are trying to survive too.

Now, if your parents are helping you out, I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with that. Trust me, I’m a 22-yearold college student working to make ends meet with my significant other, and I have a mortgage.

So no, University of South Florida, you are not my only concern or obligation.

USF has left a bad taste in my mouth since Hurricane Irma. Everyone saw the headlines and made their own judgments regarding the whole controversy with the ousting of former Regional Chancellor Sophia Wisniewska.

Fast forward to now, and we have all this talk about the “merge” and this new direction for USF St. Petersburg.

We receive videos from USF system President Judy Genshaft telling us how much she cares about students and blah blah blah.

Well, on April 9, I learned firsthand how much USF cares about their students: cha-ching.

On Mondays, I start my day at 4:45 a.m. I’m a mother of

two furry creatures that are the loves of my life who I care for every morning. I also have a man-child to look after.

After taking care of my pups, I get myself ready for work, pack breakfast and lunch and I’m on the road by 6:20 a.m. to arrive at my job by 7.

By 3 p.m., I’m off work rushing to campus to make my class at 3:30.

I’m the kind of person that sticks to the book. I obey traffic laws, I read the instructions and I pay attention. Anyone who knows me can vouch for that.

On April 9, I parked my car just like I normally do in the narrow, double-lined spots while students zoomed past me. We all know how much of a victory it is getting a spot, because parking is so limited on campus.

After my 3:30 class, my mind was racing as I tried to figure out all my deadlines for the end of the semester as well as what I was going to make for dinner for my significant other and myself. I reminded myself to feed the dogs, pay my credit card bill and touch base with my mother so she knew I was still alive.

However, to my surprise, I had a bright orange love note on my car.

I thought to myself, “This has to be a mistake.” I’ve paid for my outrageously expensive parking pass every semester.

I read further and saw that it is a ticket for being “parked over the line.”

I instantly burst into tears.

Let me note that it wasn’t the cost of the ticket that made me emotional — it was the idea that the university feels the need to pay people to patrol the college’s only parking garage on campus to get more money out of its students.

Is this really worth $15 dollars to the university?

Where is the money even going?

The comments on the citation were incorrect. It stated that I crossed the line on the passenger side back tire, when in reality, it was the driver’s side back tire that had barely crossed the line.

Barely.

I posted my experience on Facebook, which I don’t normally do, and received multiple replies and feedback from friends and colleagues that have experienced citations for this same infraction.

The next day, I felt a wave of anxiety driving into the parking garage. This shouldn’t have been my main concern of the day. I should be able to come to campus and just focus on my education.

But no — instead, I found myself focusing on meeting the exact parameters of the parking space so as to avoid another ticket.

I pulled into a spot in the cramped garage and saw that my tire grazed the line. I got back into my car, reversed and re-parked until I felt good

about my parking job.

Did my previous job cause any harm? Nope. But apparently to the university, it was worth $15.

My mind started wandering, and I began to walk around the garage looking at the hoods of vehicles to search for citations.

You know what was hardly surprising? I found them. The cars were hardly touching the line, just as mine was on D-day.

While speaking to another student after class about my story, she made an interesting point that made me stop and wonder: The parking garage is supposed to be “selfsustained,” with sun panels that help power it and all.

So that begs the question: Who exactly is our parking pass and citation money benefiting?

I guess the outrageous cost of the parking pass wasn’t good enough, and the university needs to get every dollar out of its students that it can.

I hope that the $15 citation for my my tire barely touching the line helps USF pay Genshaft’s $925,000 salary.

COURTSEY OF JENNA JEAN

Does this car look as if its parked outside the lines? It did to parking enforcement.

TH E CROW ’ S N E ST

April 16, 2018

Basketball game raises awareness, is a win for all

By Jeffrey Waitkevich jwaitkevich@mail.usf.edu

T

he USF St. Petersburg basketball club is more than just a club. It’s a platform.

Aleek Nibbs, basketball club president and junior marketing major, knows he can do more than just organize competitions with the club. He also uses it to address issues in the community.

On Friday it was time to highlight sexual assault and domestic violence.

With April being Sexual Assault Awareness Month, Nibbs said raising awareness for the issue is important to the community and to college campuses.

The game, fittingly dubbed the Purple and Teal Game, due to domestic violence awareness being represented by the color purple and sexual assault awareness by teal, is an event Nibbs plans on hosting every April.

Raising awareness and standing for something, Nibbs said, is the key to hosting good events.

“In order to have great events that people enjoy as well as learn something, you have to integrate a message behind it,” Nibbs said after scoring three points.

Representatives from the Wellness Center along with Jacob Diaz, dean of students, gave a brief presentation before tip-off.

Mandy Hines, victim advocate at the Wellness Center, said that awareness is imperative to reducing the cases of sexual assault and domestic violence, which would change the #MeToo movement to the “#NoMore” movement.

On the court, Rahndyh Bonhomme, a junior health science major, led the purple team to a 50-43 victory over the teal team, with a gamehigh 18 points.

After the game, Bonhomme stressed that it is more than just a game because of what it symbolizes.

Nibbs plans to host a game to raise awareness for mental health in the fall, continuing his trend of initiating dialogues about important issues.

JONAH HINEBAUGH | THE CROW’S NEST

The basketball club reached out to Big Fish Co., a local T-shirt company, to make custom shirts for the game.

Albert Moreno, former chair of Student Government’s appropriations committee, was the oldest participant in the game at 31. He said that seeing student-led initiatives was refreshing.

However, no current members of Student Government were in attendance, nor were any administrators aside from Diaz.

The game featured a halftime performance by the HERD Step Team.

The basketball club reached out to Big Fish Co., a local T-shirt company, to make custom shirts for the game – a part of Nibbs’ initiative to support the community as much as possible.

Nibbs resurrected the basketball club last semester and has handled all of the marketing efforts since, including designing the logo, posters and promotion.

The 56-member club usually holds formal practices Sundays and pick-up games Tuesday and Thursday nights, though most of the scheduling is done through the messaging app GroupMe. To join the club, one should email Nibbs, who adds the members to the group chat.

Nibbs can be reached at aleeknibbs@mail.usf.edu.

Although the team also competes on occasion, that is not the primary focus of the club.

The club is a mix of former basketball players and fans, so beyond practicing, the team hosts watch parties and video game tournaments at the Edge.

Nibbs didn’t play basketball in high school, but between having a dad who played pro basketball overseas and living in Miami, he fell in love with the sport, the Miami Heat and his favorite player, Dwyane Wade.

JONAH HINEBAUGH | THE CROW’S NEST

The USF St. Petersburg basketball club’s Purple and Teal game has each side sporting the colors of domestic violence and sexual assault awareness.

JONAH HINEBAUGH | THE CROW’S NEST

“In order to have great events that people enjoy as well as learn something, you have to integrate a message behind it,” said Aleek Nibbs (not pictured), club president and junior marketing major.

W hat to do t h i s week: Apr i l 1 6- Apr il 2 2

By Ashley Campbell Contributor MONDAY Today kicks off Fitness Week hosted by Campus Recreation. Glow and Flow Night Yoga will take place at 8 p.m. on the USC lawn.

Students who choose to attend this unique, relaxing experience can receive T-shirts as well as prizes.

Get your gears tuned up on Alternative Transportation Day. From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., learn about public transportation, bike registration and get a bicycle tune up at the Harbor Walk.

There will also be a mural tour from 4 to 6 p.m.

TUESDAY Interested in planking for prizes? Come by the Campus Rec table outside of the SLC from noon to 4 p.m. to use the body composition analysis machine and enter the planking competition. The winner who holds the longest plank will receive a prize.

Celebrate Food Systems Day from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. there will be seed giveaways, tickle the worms and a Bullbucks drive at the Harbor Walk.

Get your hands dirty planting a butterfly garden from 2 to 5:30 p.m. at the Harbor Walk.

WEDNESDAY There will be a Campus Rec Combine from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Rec Field. Students can test their athletic abilities in a variety of exercises on the field. Bring friends and challenge them to see who has the greatest fitness ability.

Help protect our waterways at the waterfront cleanup from 3 to 5 p.m.

THURSDAY Interested in free food?

Come out to Coquina pool from 5 to 7 p.m. and compete in a Log Rolling Competition. Students who don’t wish to participate can still enjoy refreshments and free food.

Learn to reduce waste by attending a recycling workshop from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m.

FRIDAY Any student who wants to learn how to deadlift weights should attend the Weightlifting Clinic at the Fitness Center with nationally certified personal trainer Tyler. This free clinic will be from noon to 2 p.m., and anyone who chooses to attend will learn all the tips and tricks for a proper deadlift.

SATURDAY It’s Record Store Day hosted by Planet Retro Records at 226 Dr. MLK Jr St. N. Doors will open for shopping at 8 a.m.,and bands will start performing outside at around 11. A special beer was brewed for the event and will be served to those of age.

Over 15 bands will perfrom at this event.

SUNDAY Lucky Cat Yoga at 2742 N Florida Ave. in Tampa will host the House of Yoga Does Velvet Underground & Lou Reed from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. This class includes a blend of dynamic sequences and balancing postures to strengthen the mind and body.

Admission is $12, but USF St. Petersburg students get a $2 discount.

THE C ROW ’S NE ST

April 16, 2018

Holi Hai festival splashes back onto campus

By Dylan Hart Contributor

D

ozens of students dressed in white South Asian Association T-shirts lined up against a wall in the central circle on Harbor Walk Wednesday in preparation for Holi Hai, the annual South Asian festival of color.

It wasn’t long before those same students were sprinting across the lawn behind them and launching packets of colored powder at each other, turning the campus into a brilliant warzone of green, pink, blue, red and yellow hues, each representing virtues held by South Asian culture.

Alongside the exciting dodgeball-like game of launching color packets, the South Asian Association brought traditional Indian food, as well as mash-ups

of American and Indian pop music and dance performances.

“Holi Hai is a celebration of colors at the beginning of spring - the colors represent what spring would represent. It’s a rebirth,” Radhika Dang, president, founder and choreographer for the SAA said.

Holi Hai is modeled after Holi, a complex religious and cultural South Asian festival based on the Hindu calendar that is celebrated every spring. In South Asia, the festival includes water guns, amplifying the mess made by the powder.

Dang, who is in her final term as president for the SAA, started the club in the interest of seeking diversity on campus in 2014.

“The primary focus is to celebrate the small number of South Asians on this campus, bring them together and share our culture with

others,” Dang said.

A visually captivating and incredibly messy event, Holi Hai sprayed the campus with pigment. Hard throws smashed packets open on the ground, and participants finished them off by pouring the contents on their friends’ heads.

Entrances to the University Student Center and Residence Hall One hosted signs directing guests to “dust off powder” before entering the building.

Powder or no powder, the event sticks with students and leaves a lasting impression.

Dang, alongside three other performers, led two traditional Bollywood dances as part of the SAA Bollywood Dance Team before the color festival officially launched. They swapped outfits between dances to showcase different

DYLAN HART | THE CROW’S NEST

Holi Hai is known as the festival of color for a reason — students attending have the chance to coat each other with packets of colored powder.

parts of Indian culture for the audience.

“The first dance was an ode to an old generation (of Bollywood dance) back to the ‘70s and ‘80s,” she said.

The second dance kicked off the following festivities, as the dance team held plates with colored powder on them and

launched them into the air with their movements, spraying themselves and onlookers with the colored dust.

“In India, when the harvest begins, (Holi) celebrates love - it’s a blossom of life,” Dang said.

Take a trip through America’s cultural heritage with the newly opened James Museum

By James Bennett III Contributor

T

he James Museum of Western and Wildlife Art is more complex than Stetson-adorned cowboys drinking sasparillas and dueling at high noon.

It is the product of over 200 artists, decades of art collecting and Tom James’ nuanced interest in American art and history.

James, the owner of the museum and chairman emeritus of Raymond James, allowed The Crows Nest to tour the museum before the opening weekend.

“We hope that our guests will come and be taken to a place where much of our culture and heritage began,” James said. “And that every visit to our collection will include education as part of the experience.”

The museum sweeps people away from the modern industrial setting of downtown St. Petersburg and drops them into a Western movie.

The Teak Sandstone mesa, which resembles Colorado’s Mesa Verde Cliff, becomes an arroyo and sculpture sanctuary, complete with a waterfall as guest walk through the front doors.

An extensive amount of attention was paid to detail, from the placement of the 10,000 lights, to the thematically painted walls and placement of art.

Remembering that the building was originally a parking garage can be shocking.

One room, which resembles a geode, is dedicated to a collection of contemporary American Indian jewelry.

The jewelry room opens to reveal an array of bolo ties, necklaces and earrings. The black walls are rumored to be laced with glitter so that the jewelry shines even brighter.

There are eight themed galleries ranging from Native life, cowboy culture and international wildlife depicted in their natural habitat.

The majority of sculptures are out in the open within arms reach of guests -- although the docents do not encourage touching the statutes. The museum designers felt that the layout would accent the American history theme as it should feel inclusive to its visitors.

Aside from watching out for museum-goers with wandering hands, an army of docents are also available to answer any questions the visitors might have.

James became enamored with Western and Native American art while on a skiing expedition.

He discovered that most of the ski resorts had wonderful art galleries, but he waited to purchase any of the artwork.

Instead, James took his time getting to know the gallery owners and artists.

“I was scared to death that if I started buying it, it would be a disease,” James said.

His fever began years later when he told his wife Mary that he was off to buy some art.

He left with the intention to spend $15,000 on artwork, and returned having spent $30,000.

James hopes to promote living artists and aims to elevate them to a point of vocation.

Of the artists showcased at the museum 98 percent are alive.

The majority of American Indian artwork draws from various tribes, artistic styles and mediums.

“We’re trying to help talented young artists make a living in fine art,” James said, adding that there is a special gallery in the museum reserved for living artists who deserve recognition and support.

Instead of displaying Western and wildlife art the special exhibition will house artwork that the museum deems underappreciated.

James also hopes that the museum will act as a tool to educate people interested in American history and artists.

As time passed and James began to collect more Western art, he received a disenchanted education of the west from the Native American artists he had come to call friends.

His conversations with the artists lead to lectures discussing the art and its intended purpose.

He became fraught over the actions of his forefathers and the excessive relocation of the Native Americans; of broken treaties and money allocated to the Americans running reservations, rather than the Natives.

Although the museum is incapable of changing the past, it does have the ability to educate visitors on American heritage in a respectful and empathetic manner.

COURTESY OF BROCK COMMUNICATIONS

The James Museum of Western and Wildlife Art harbors the work of over 200 artists, 98 percent of which are still alive.

The museum’s entrance resembles Colorado’s Mesa Verde Cliff, complete with waterfall.

Individuals wishing to view the collection are able to visit the James Museum of Western and Wildlife Art at 150 Central Avenue, St. Petersburg, FL. The grand opening celebration will be on the weekend of April 28.

Their daily hours of operation are from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m., or 8 p.m. on Tuesdays.

Public tours are available on Saturdays at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., and give 45-minute overviews of the galleries. The tours are included with admission, without requiring a reservation.

Private docent-led tours of the museum are available for groups of 10 or more, and must be scheduled at least four weeks in advance.

Adult group rates: $15 for adults; $10 for seniors (65+) and college students; $4 for schools.

For more information, email education@thejamesmuseum. org.

Parking is available on floors 3 – 4. $2 per hour, $15 maximum per day.

Pricing General Admission - $20 Students/Military/Seniors 65+ - $15 Youth (7-18) - $10 Children (6 & under) - FREE