Volume 14 Issue 20 by Eagle News

OUTREACH:

OPINION:

Coalition of Black Organizational Leaders plans to award $1,000 at pageant

Students speak up about their opposing views on abortion

ENTERTAINMENT:

Is abortion murder?

I am Divine

Read more on B1

Mission changes spark petition EN Photo/Rachel Iacovone The next drawing will take place Wednesday, Jan. 13. If nobody has the six winning numbers, another drawing will take place Saturday, Jan. 16.

Powerball rises to record-breaking $1.5 billion jackpot By Jimena Tavel News Editor @taveljimena

EN Photo/Rcahel Iacovone President Wilson Bradshaw and Chairwoman Robbie Roepstorff participated in the discussion about reverting the changes made to the mission statement at the BOT meeting Tuesday, Jan. 12. Roepstorff brought up the idea of reincluding the word ‘practices’ to the mission statement.

‘Green’ university removes ‘practices’ sustainability from official mission statement, then rethinks decision By Kelli Krebs Editor in Chief @The Real_KKrebs After student criticism and a 121-signature online and paper petition, the BOT might reverse a September

2015 decision to drop the word “practice” from the phrase “practices and promotes environmental sustainability” in the FGCU mission statement. At the Jan. 12 BOT meeting, Chairwoman

Robbie Roepstorff said the word change was “brought to my attention.” “Maybe it just fell off the radar,” Roepstoff said, “but we used to say ‘promotes and practices,’ and I think that is true to the university.

If there’s no opposition from the Board, I’d love to see ‘practices’ put back in

>> Continued on A5

The next winning numbers will be drawn at 10:59 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 13. If nobody has a ticket or tickets that match the numbers drawn from the machine, another drawing will take place on Saturday, Jan. 16. According to the Powerball website, if there is a winner or winners, they will get to choose between receiving a payment of $930 million, before taxes are deducted, or the full $1.5 billion in an annuity that would pay out over 29 years.

Powerball lottery hit an estimated $1.5 billion jackpot Tuesday, Jan. 12, increasing the highest jackpot record in the history of the U.S. This jackpot has risen since Nov. 7, 2015 when it started with $40 million. The highest record for a lottery jackpot was set by Mega Millions in March 2012 with $656 million and was won by participants in three states. For Powerball, it was a $590.5 million jackpot, which was won by a Floridian in May 2013. Feeling lucky?

>> How could you spend $1.5 billion? Read more on A8

Goodbye AB7, hello Seidler Hall By Jack Lowenstein Senior Copy Editor @lowspenj

EN Photo/Rachel Iacovone A name-revealing ceremony was held Thursday, Jan. 7 to change Academic Building 7 to Seidler Hall.

INSIDE:

Entertainment and Lifestyle.....A6 Sports............................................B1 Opinion..........................................B6 Outreach.......................................B8

University founders, faculty, students and honored guests were present for an unveiling in front of FGCU’s College of Arts and Sciences Thursday, Jan. 7. A new name would represent the college and the students who study within it. The Seidler family will now forever have their name cemented in the architecture at FGCU. FGCU Academic Building 7 was renamed Seidler Hall in honor of the Seidler family and their commitment to the university. “I think it sort of caps what we are trying to do

with the liberal arts — to encourage them, to create more opportunities for the students, more reasons to major in liberal arts and meet me in Seidler Hall,” Lee Seidler said. Seidler, his wife Gene and daughter Laurie were also honored for their contribution to the university through the creation of the Seidler Fund, which will benefit professors and students who are part of the College of Arts and Sciences. “It means we have started funding different scholarships, funding firstgeneration scholarships, and we will continue to be involved,” Lee Seidler said. With the help from the Seidler family’s donation, FGCU has reached $87

million toward its $100 million goal for the 20th anniversary of the school. “It should be a great asset to the whole community, students, as well as all of Lee and Collier County,” Gene Seidler said. “So, we are very thrilled that we get to be here and see this happen.” The unveiling of the name was initially held in the hall as a private ceremony. The hall’s new name was then publicly unveiled outside of now Seidler Hall to faculty, guests and students. FGCU President Wilson G. Bradshaw was the first to address the

>> Continued on A5

FIRST ISSUE FREE Eagle News McTarnaghan Hall 201 10030 FGCU Blvd. S Fort Myers, Fla. 33967

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➢ Golden Gate Middle School is looking for students to assist with tutoring some of their students who struggle with math. Sessions would preferably be in the mornings between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. A background check and fingerprinting will be required prior to working with students. For more information, please contact Linda Robitaille at robitalli@collierschools.com. ➢ Wa-Ke Hatchee Recreation Center is looking for interested students to assist with activities for youth between 2:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. daily (after school). There is a wide range of activities that can be done from arts and crafts to character development. If you are interested in this opportunity, please contact Andrew Payne at apayne@leegov.com or 239-432-2154. ➢ Caleb’s Crusade is looking for students to assist with their Bacon Jam event on Saturday, Jan. 16 at Centennial Park in Fort Myers. The event will begin at 11 a.m. and run until sunset. For more information, please contact Rob Whan at robwhan@gmail.com or visit

http://www.calebscrusade.org/volunteer. Lee County Homeless Coalition will be hosting the 16th annual Homeless Service Day and Veterans Stand Down on Saturday, Jan. 23. They are in need of students to assist with the event and help with their annual census, which will take place on Jan. 21 at 8:30 a.m. at the Salvation Army. For more information regarding these opportunities, please contact Janet Bartos at janet@leehomeless.org. ➢Patriot Elementary is looking to start a mentor program and is interested in recruiting FGCU students to act as mentors and assist with this program. FGCU student mentors will be partnered up with elementary students and asked to spend time with them once per week for a semester. At the end of the semester, mentors and mentees will go on a field trip together. We are hoping to begin this program on Jan. 18 and run it through April 11. For more information, please contact Elyse Clark at elysemc@leeschools.net.

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The world in brief

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El Chapo captured by Mexican authorities

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“El Chapo,” the Mexican drug lord Joaquin Guzman Loera, was recaptured Friday, Jan. 8 by the Mexican authorities. Guzman Loera could now face extradition to an American court for the first time. Loera had previously tunneled his way out of Mexico’s most secure prison in summer 2015.

Advocates arrested by Chinese police Chinese police formally arrested four human rights advocates during the week of Jan. 3 through Jan. 9 on charges of subverting state power. The advocates had previously been a part of a group of legal experts who represented well known Chinese clients including artist Ai Weiwei, activist Chen Guangcheng and scholar Ilham Tohti.

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French student attacks Jewish teacher “in the name of God” A French teenager in the southern city of Marseille attacked a Jewish teacher Monday, Jan. 11 with a machete. The educator’s back and hand were injured due to the incident. After the incident, according to the prosecutor, the boy told police that he carried out the attack in the name of God and the Islamic State.

Syrian suicide bomber hits Istanbul A suicide bomber from Syria set off an explosion in the historic district of central Istanbul on Tuesday, Jan. 12, killing 10 and wounding at least 15. Those who were killed were mostly foreign citizens, eight from Germany and one from Peru. The Turkish government is blaming the Islamic State for the attack.

South Korea; US retaliates against North Korea’s hydrogen bomb The U.S. flew a nuclear-capable, longdistance bomber over South Korea on Sunday, Jan. 10 as a show of force after North Korea’s fourth nuclear test. South Korea responded to its neighbor’s recent claim to have a new hydrogen bomb by turning on large loudspeakers pointed across the border.

MISSION STATEMENT: Eagle News, the student media group at Florida Gulf Coast University, represents the diverse voices on campus with fairness. We select content for our publication and our website that is relevant to the student body, faculty and staff. Members are committed to reporting with accuracy and truth. Our purpose is to encourage conversations about issues that concern the on-campus community. Eagle News views every culture with equal respect and believes every person must be treated with dignity.

ABOUT US: Eagle News, founded in 1997, is the student newspaper at Florida Gulf Coast University. The newspaper is the only student produced publication on campus and is entirely student run. Eagle News is published weekly during the fall and spring semesters and monthly in the summer, with the exception of holiday breaks and examination periods. The print edition is free to students and can be found on campus and in the community at Gulf Coast Town Center, Germain Arena and Miromar Outlets.

Finding a post-graduation job By Nina Barbero Managing Editor @EN_Barbero That senior sitting in the back row of class has a knot in his stomach, and it’s not because of indigestion. FGCU seniors set to graduate this spring or summer are pasting on confident smiles to stave off their private panic. After college comes another c-word — career. Students who don’t have a post-graduation job lined up don’t have to panic, but Reid Lennertz, the director of FGCU’s Career Development Services, said they do need to get started. “For many occupations, it can take anywhere from two to three months just to get through

the hiring process,” Reid said. “Students who want a job by May should consider actively engaging in the job search now. “Start submitting your applications,” Reid said. CDS offers many services for students at different points of the job search. Students can set up appointments with career advisers to look over or help create resumes, cover letters and even take assessments to find out what type of job they would like to apply for. Reid said the process of searching and applying for jobs varies depending on the field. “The job search for a nursing major will be different from the job search of an elementary education major,” Reid said. Generally, a resume should

be one page long, unless the applicant has five or more years of relevant experience or many different experiences. Teaching is one field that Reid said would accept a two-page resume because students applying for teaching positions usually have several different work experiences. One tip Reid has for students to look for jobs is to use more than one method of searching for a job or at least more than one job-posting website. For example, all FGCU students can sign up for and use College Central, a job board website targeted specifically toward college students. Reid also said students can use their network of friends and acquaintances to facilitate an introduction to an

employer they are interested in meeting. As for the interview process, Reid said students should take advantage of the chance to make an impression on their interviewer. “Some students don’t take the full opportunity to sell themselves in the interview … some just want to get it over with,” Reid said. He also recommended that they send a thank you note after the interview. CDS will be hosting its next Career Fair, with 70 to 80 local employers, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Feb. 3 in the Cohen Center Ballroom. Students should bring several copies of their resume and dress professionally.

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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13 EAGLE NEWS NEWS A3

Ready, set, hack Second annual Hackathon will bring together college and high school students By Taylor Crehan Assistant News Editor @TaylorCrehan The second annual Hertz-Florida Gulf Coast University IT Hackathon, a competition open to college and high school students in the local area, will take place at 11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 23 in the Cohen Center Ballroom. The event, which is hosted by Hertz Equipment Rental, will consist of several challenges, which haven’t yet been announced. During last year’s event, the first challenge allowed participants to design an application capable of connecting with smart phones and tablets that assisted users in storing pictures of rental

equipment. The second challenge consisted of contestants scanning data from an individual’s driver’s license and then building a web profile based on information about that person. The third challenge tested contestants’ ability to manipulate data to show day-by-day performance of current Hertz customer rentals and reservations. The data will be provided by the Hertz team and must be collected through a web-based or mobile application. The last challenge allowed participants to design a piece of technology that will improve Hertz’s ability to appeal to younger renters. Casey Baer, a junior software engineering major and president of the

Computer Science Club at FGCU, will be participating in the event alongside vice president Derek Pike. “It is difficult to specifically prepare for events such as this,” Baer said. “Having a solid background in object oriented programming and data structures and algorithm knowledge is probably enough. Learning to use various programming libraries or frameworks can be done rather quickly if you have a solid understanding of computer science principles.” Baer said the list of specific issues that will be addressed through team members’ entries has not been released to the public yet to prevent groups from cheating and working on

them ahead of time. In addition, Baer and her team have been practicing technical interview questions using a website called “LeetCode.” “These questions help with your object-oriented design skills and data structure and algorithm knowledge, which have almost universal applicability in software development,” Baer said. In order to take part in the contest, participants must be enrolled at a college, university or high school and must bring their school ID to registration, which ends Jan. 16. Once the challenges are announced, students must begin creating original material and cannot use previously created work. Teams of up to four are

required; however, if a participant does not have a full team, Hertz members will assist in matching up individuals who need a team member. Members of the Computer Science Club participated in the inaugural event last year; however, the club does not participate as a single group. Club member James Palmisano placed third, won a Keurig B31 Brewer and is now interning at Hertz. “I would assume his performance at the Hackathon was a major part in him getting the Hertz internship,” Baer said. Prizes are offered to the winning teams every year, with the first place winners at the 2015 competition

each receiving a flat screen TV for their efforts. Winning teams will be subject to detailed reviewing, and everything created at the event will belong to Hertz. Hertz and participating teams are allowed to use any original ideas however they please. Projects are required to be submitted to the Hertz Hackathon webpage, and teams will be given 5 minutes to present their ideas. “Students will have the opportunity to further develop their software development skills and get better at working in groups,” Baer said. “Companies like Hertz are able to identify talent at hackathons like this and use them as alternative recruiting tools.”

OSI attempts to soften transition for commuters By Brian Kleeger Contributing Writer @fgcu_eaglenews

EN Photo/Rachel Iacovone The first F.L.O.C. week started with a student discussion in the OSI Fishbowl about commuting, where students got to write some concerns about commuting on a board.

From Jan. 11 to Jan. 15, the Office of Student Involvement has been holding daily activities designed for commuters. F.L.O.C. week, Forming Lasting Opportunities for Commuters, is an effort to address the potential difficulties many commuter students face — transportation, meeting new people and affordable dining selections — and facilitate their success in academic and social aspects during their time as an Eagle. The events have been put together by several of FGCU’s departments, including the OSI, Environmental Health & Safety, Programming Board and Student Government.

The week will consist of six sequential events that aim to provide opportunities for participants to interact with each other. “Students should attend events during F.L.O.C. Week to continue maximizing their experience here at FGCU,” said Ashton Hartley, the coordinator for Student Organization Development for OSI. “This week will provide many opportunities to learn about resources, become more engaged and make connections with students, faculty and staff.” The OSI encourages all commuter students who are interested to get involved in one or more of the planned activities on campus. Although, non-commuters are welcome as well.

Police Beat 01/02/2016, 11:31 a.m. A complainant told UPD he or she found a note in the kitchen of Modular 1 left by a disgruntled student. Since nothing criminal was implied in the note, the complainant was advised to give the note to the professor the note was intended for.

01/06/2016, 2:00 p.m. A complainant stated that he saw some raccoons around the dumpster and they ran out into the parking lot in North Lake Cypress Building. A UPD officer searched the area and found no raccoons.

01/07/2016, 3:03 a.m. A fire alarm was pulled in Building Q in North Lake Village, and Lee Control was contacted. A UPD officer was contacted, and he stated he didn’t see smoke or a fire. A ladder from Lee Control came in and concluded someone had pulled the alarm. The UPD officer found some residents inside their room ignoring the fire alarm and forwarded them to housing conduct.

01/07/2016, 2:52 p.m. A complainant requested assistance from UPD because she was having trouble with opening her car door with the key. The UPD officer was unable to assist because the key was worn out, so the complainant was advised to contact a locksmith.

01/08/2016, 10:37 a.m. A complainant called UPD and stated that there was a white female possibly intoxicated in the bookstore. She had been last seen wearing a black t-shirt and jeans. After calling, the complainant realized the female in question had mobility issues related to a disability.

01/08/2016, 10:39 a.m. An employee reported the theft of two missing outdoor speakers from Alico Arena. The speakers had been missing since a week ago, so the employee wrote a statement.

01/08/2016, 11:29 a.m. A traffic crash between a vehicle and a fire truck occurred near the FGCU Softball

Complex. The vehicle that struck the fire truck left without leaving any note. A description of the driver was given to UPD, who later in the day checked two suspect vehicles, but neither appeared to have struck the fire truck. A hit-and-run crash report was completed the next day.

01/08/2016, 7:14 p.m. Several males walked into Elevator 2 in the garage in South Village, activated the emergency box and left. A UPD officer canvased the area but was unable to locate one of the white males, who was seen wearing a royal blue t-shirt and tan shorts and had his hair up in a ponytail. UPD was unable to view further details on the cameras because the recordings were too dark.

01/08/2016, 7:13 p.m. A UPD officer advised he was at Garage 2 with three suspicious males. The individuals were taking pictures. The officer told them to hurry up and leave.

01/08/2016, 11:00 p.m. A large alligator was spotted by Howard Hall. UPD escorted the animal back into the lake.

01/08/2016, 11:28 p.m. The resident assistant on call for Biscayne Hall in South Village called UPD to report a 19-year-old male cut his wrist. Lee Control was contacted. The bleeding was under control, and the victim was conscious but intoxicated. The victim was then transferred to Gulf Coast Hospital.

01/09/2016, 2:37 a.m. A complainant called UPD to report a reckless driver; it was a white Pontiac going into North Lake Village in the FGCU Lake Parkway East. A UPD officer made contact with the reckless driver, and she said she was driving in the fog and didn’t intend to drive erratically.

01/09/2016, 4:20 a.m. A UPD officer spotted that all the lights were on in the information booth. The officer also noticed the door was propped open, but all the equipment was still in the booth. The officer turned the lights off and secured the door.

A4 NEWS EAGLE NEWS WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13

EDITOR: JIMENA TAVEL NEWS@EAGLENEWS.ORG

New road might interfere with tortoise habitat on campus

EN Photo/Kelli Krebs The gopher tortoise, which is listed as threatened by the state of Florida, is considered a keystone species due to the fact that they share their habitats with more than 350 other species.

By Taylor Crehan Assistant News Editor @TaylorCrehan The Board of Trustees officially passed the creation of a new roadway

that will lead from Ben Hill Griffin Parkway to South Village in December. However, this road will be paved over the campus’s main gopher tortoise habitat.

“The road isn’t for convenience, it’s a safety issue,” said senior Hcaz Korn. “Too many people live in one small area for only one entrance and exit. The school has grown, and with

that access roads need to be added.” Despite the fact that the road will give freshman direct access to their dorms to and from Ben Hill Griffin Parkway, there are around

15 gopher tortoises living on the land that is going to be paved over. The gopher tortoise, which is listed as threatened by the state of Florida, can be found throughout the state in pastures and forests. They are considered a keystone species due to the fact that they share their habitats with over 350 other species, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. According to an article published by WGCU, John Herman, an assistant professor of biology at FGCU, takes his students to the area around 20 hours every semester and studies more than just the gopher tortoises. “The list is at 300 plus species that utilize gopher tortoise burrows,” Herman said to WGCU. “So, by impacting that one species, you’re actually impacting hundreds of others and they’re found right where that road will be coming through.” Once the road is completed, Herman and his students will lose long-term data they have collected over the last few years. Christina Bowley, a freshman communications major, chose to attend FGCU in part due to its ongoing environmental efforts and finds the

plan for the new road disappointing. “We’re losing that vision we once had,” Bowley said. “Driving an extra couple of minutes is worth saving a habitat for any animal. It’s time that we actually started making proactive decisions to protect our local wildlife.” Freshman and athletic training major Allie Snyder believes that while the road would be beneficial to herself and fellow freshman, completing it wouldn’t be worth it. “I don’t think they should destroy their habitat to make our lives easier,” Snyder said. “Yes the road would connect to SoVi and be quicker, but using the main entrance will get us to the same place without destroying their homes.” Before moving forward with the project, FGCU has to wait for approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as well as permission from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to remove the tortoises from the area and place them in a different environment.

Foundation scholarship applications open By Aiden Strawhun Staff Writer @AStraww The FGCU Foundation has opened scholarship applications for the next school year. Scholarships by the University Foundation provide students with aid based on their academic achievement, financial need and other donor specifications. These scholarships occur annually and are open to all incoming and continuing students. Chris Simoneau, executive director of the FGCU Foundation, explained that the FGCU Foundation is a separate entity from the university — a direct support organization. It’s an independent non-profit that aims to support FGCU and its students. One of the many ways it does this is by raising money through fundraisers and events, as well as channel and invest money from donors into long-term projects and scholarships. “We raise money on behalf of the university, we manage money, particularly the endowment, on behalf of the university, and then we distribute money from the Foundation to the university to support the programs and activities of the university,” Simoneau said. “One of the things we

support, more than any other, are scholarships for students.” The Foundation is run by a board of roughly 50 people who want to support FGCU. Its members include representatives from athletics and alumni associations, as well as donors. Opportunities are primarily for undergraduate students, but there are some opportunities for graduate students. The Foundation also offers student employment and oversees the University Ambassador program on campus. “We talk with a lot of donors, and donors want to support students in a variety of ways,” Simoneau said. “The number one way is through scholarships, by helping them to afford their education here at the university.” Scholarships are determined by the donor in hopes of assisting a particular student, or students, in need. These can range from anywhere from being majorspecific, merit-based, need-based, sports or minority-exclusive. The full list of scholarships can be found on the FGCU Undergraduate Scholarships webpage. Last year, roughly 1,700 students received scholarships from the FGCU Foundation alone. An exact number for

how many scholarships are available this year is difficult to determine due to many larger scholarships being broken down into smaller ones to provide for a larger amount of students. During the application process, students will be asked a series of questions pertaining to their personal information and five short essays about any club activities and why scholarships should be earned. In order to be considered for any of the Foundation scholarships, it is vital to have correct personal information, including student ID numbers. By filling out the single application on the Undergraduate Scholarships website, students will be considered for all Foundation scholarships. Selection will begin in March, continuing through the following academic year. ”I encourage everyone to apply the Foundation scholarship,” Simoneau said. “It’s a great opportunity to receive some money from donors who are investing in our student population.” However, not many students are aware of the scholarships the FGCU Foundation provides. Wes White, a senior, and his friend Taylor West, a junior, both said they did not know about the

opportunity. West had ideas about how to promote it. “Definitely flyers on campus would help,” West said. “I’ve learned about a great many things on campus through just walking and people handing me a piece of paper … It stays in my mind, and I sometimes end up following through with it.” Max Conoley, a freshman, was also unaware of the FGCU Foundation scholarships. He explained that he’d like to see more notification through email and flyers on campus, as well as in his dorms through resident assistants.

Sophomore Kaley Doyle had not heard of these scholarships either, nor has she applied to any. “I always check my Eagle email,” Doyle said. “I get a lot of emails that don’t mean anything, so it would be nice to get some helpful ones.” Natalie Rubio, a freshman, knew about the scholarships available through the FGCU Foundation. “I did that when I was applying for the school … It was moderate, just answering essay questions. It wasn’t too difficult to fill out.” Rubio also mentioned she applied to other scholarships not related to

the FGCU Foundation. Unlike most scholarships, FAFSA is not required to be filled out before applying, though it is highly recommended. Priority registration for the FAFSA is due on March 1, 2016 and can be filled out on the FGCU website. The FGCU Foundation Scholarship Application will be open until March 1. Full details on the application and other affiliated scholarships can be found on the Undergraduate Scholarships webpage.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13 EAGLE NEWS NEWS A5

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>> BOT continued from A1 there.” The original draft for the revised mission statement, which was presented to the BOT by Provost Ronald Toll in September, did contain the word “practice,” but the word was pulled out by the BOT in a series of several changes. President Wilson Bradshaw said the BOT will consider Roepstorff’s suggestion. “We will make those

suggestions and bring them back for the next meeting,” Bradshaw said. The student petition to put the word “practice” back in the statement appeared online Dec. 11, 2015, and was written by FGCU student Brittany Jacobs. Jacobs is the treasurer of Students for Environmental Justice, and called the Sept. 8 decision to drop the word “practice,” “very wrong.” “FGCU will ‘promote’ sustainability — I mean, what does that even mean?” Jacobs said. “The school brought all of these

students here that were under the impression that it was a green school.” In 2015, Jacobs attended Al Gore’s Climate Reality Leadership Corps workshop in Miami. FGCU was built on approximately 400 acres of conservation land. It was recognized in September 2014 as the first Florida institution to be awarded a Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System 2.0 Gold award in recognition of its achievements in sustainability from the Association for

the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. Some of those achievements include using solar panels to power several campus buildings, requiring students to take Colloquium, a course which teaches them about the environment of Southwest Florida, and allowing students to develop, grow and tend to an on-campus Food Forest. This past summer, FGCU was recognized for its sustainability efforts by BestColleges.com, a website that collects and

posts school information for prospective college students. On the website’s list of “The 39 Greenest Universities of 2016” in America, FGCU was ranked No. 25. Maria Roca, an associate professor in FGCU’s Communication and Philosophy Department, encouraged Jacobs to start a petition and enact change after the mission statement wording was adjusted. “That’s how we get on all of these lists of ‘greenest university’ and all these awards,” Roca said. “If they knew that we pulled that word out of our mission statement, we’re not going to see any of those awards come our way.” Roca was not sure why the BOT made the change in September. “From what I’ve been told, it’s because of economic reasons,” Roca said. “We understand that, but at the same time, if we’re going to be one of the leading universities teaching about sustainability, we need to be living it also. The idea of dropping out the word ‘practice’ seemed hypocritical and contradictory.” “It’s become a green-

washed institution,” Jacobs said. “It doesn’t feel right. You can bring that out into the world as far as with corporate companies saying that they’re ‘green,’ but not here.” Activists refer to green-washing as when a company or organization spends more time and money, through advertising and public relations, promoting their environmental practices than working to minimize environmental impact. Jacobs did not attend the BOT meeting, but said she plans to attend the next one to show the board meembers her petition during public comment. “I feel empowered to make a difference around campus and around the community,” Jacobs said. Provost Toll agreed with the Board’s decision to reconsider the word change. “I think what you heard today,” Toll said, “was that in a chance to step away from that and think about it, that word was important, so it was put back. I don’t write the mission statement or put words in or take words out, it’s all done by the Board of Trustees.”

Moonlight on the Marsh: 2016 edition By Maven Piniella Contributing Writer @maven_chase Starting Thursday, Jan. 14, FGCU’s Everglades Wetland Research Park will be presenting its 2016 Moonlight on the Marsh Distinguished Lecture Series. The next four seminars will be held Jan. 28, Feb. 11, March 3 and March 10. “There will be five lectures, each about 45 to 50 minutes,” said William Mistch, the director of the Everglades Wetland Research Park and a professor at FGCU. “About 100 to 150 people usually attend.” Moonlight on the Marsh is a lecture series that started in 1995 with the first lecture, “The

>> Seidler Hall continued from A1 audience at the public ceremony. Lee Seidler has written six books on accounting. His wife, Gene Seidler, is an educator whose experience includes 14 years in the Lee County School System. “I often say that athletics and the arts are the two main ways we attract new friends to our incredible university,” Bradshaw said. “Lee and Gene Seidler first became engaged with FGCU through the Bower School of Music and the Arts. It was their love of the arts that sparked their deepest involvement with FGCU.” Among the audience members was university founder Roy McTarnaghan. “I’m thrilled to be here at the dedication of Seidler Hall,” McTarnaghan said.

Prosperous Way Down.” After 1995, the lecture was held again in 2000 and then every year consistently through 2010. The series began again in 2012, and it has been held every year since. The idea behind these lectures is to inform people about the wetlands with an emphasis on restoration and conservation. Climate change and water quality are also reoccurring topics. Each lecture will have a different topic addressed by different speakers. The speakers will be coming from Ohio, Pennsylvania and Indiana from the U.S. and Ontario, Canada. The speakers addressing the first lecture on climate change are Lonnie G. Thompson and Ellen Mosley-Thompson.

“It’s wonderful that there are so many giving people who live in the area, who see the advantage in higher education and what their money and interest can bring to a lot of people.” Dean Robert Gregerson spoke at the ceremony. “The name on the building really represents so much more than just that,” Gregerson said. “What this really is is an investment in our students. The Seidler gift is going to make things possible that we weren’t able to do before.” Gregerson spoke about the investment that the Seidler family’s donation will have on students at the College of Arts and Sciences. “A lot of the gift goes toward student scholarship and research and creative work,” Gregerson said. “So, helping students do those kinds of creative things —

Thompson is an American paleoclimatologist, which means he studies climates, and a Distinguished University Professor at Ohio State University. Mosley-Thompson is also a paleoclimatologist who uses the chemical and physical properties of ice cores collected from polar ice sheets and mountain ice fields to reconstruct Earth’s climate history. She is also a distinguished professor at Ohio State University. The second lecture, “The Art and Science of Translating Ecological Indicators to Ecosystem Services for Wetlands, Streams, and Riparian Corridors,” will be presented by Robert P. Brooks, a professor of geography and ecology, at Pennsylvania State

University. Evelyn E. Gaiser will be the speaker of the lecture “Expecting the Unexpected: Pandora’s Box of Paradox in an UpsideDown Estuary.” Gaiser is an executive director at the School of Arts and Society and a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and Southeast Environmental Research Center at FIU. Five professors from the Department of Biological Sciences at University of Notre Dame will be discussing the fourth lecture, “When Nature Bites Back: Solving the Budget Busting Invasive Species Epidemic.” The last lecture, which is called “The Hitchhikers Guide to Global Water Issues,” will be presented

by Phillipe Van Cappellen, who is a Canada Excellence Research Chair in Echohydrology in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and the Department of Biology at the University of Waterloo. Originally, the lecture series was just informative, but now Mistch makes it mandatory for his graduate students to attend. “Twenty-six of my graduate students attended last year, and I know of 57 attending this year,” Mistch said. “I figured, why not make it a class, and let it give them a credit hour.” Olivia Hilfiker, a freshman environmental studies major, isn’t in Mistch’s class, but she will still be attending. “I will definitely attend

this event,” Hilfiker said. “Climate change is a very important subject that everyone should know about.” FGCU’s Everglades Wetland Research Park is a part of FGCU’s campus, located in the Naples Botanical Garden. It is designed to provide teaching, research and service in an environment that fits those needs. All seminars will be held at 7 p.m. in the multipurpose room in FGCU’s Harvey Kapnick Education and Research Center at Naples Botanical Garden.

like working with faculty members elbow-to-elbow, so we can get them to be true scholars.” The Seidler family has also donated a work by the late Robert Rauschenberg, a former Captiva resident, through their involvement with Bower School of Music & the Arts. The Seidlers support other related art projects, such as FGCU’s annual 24-Hour Festival. FGCU student Blake Trochon was surprised that the former Academic Building 7 took as much time as it did to have a name. “It seems kind of funny how this, one of the largest major buildings, as far as like communications and all the other science professions, is one of the last buildings to be named,” Trochon said. “So, it’s good that they finally gave it to someone that’s deserving.” A collection about donors Gene and Lee Seidler can be found within the portico.

EN Photo/Rachel Iacovone

ENTERTAINMENT & LIFESTYLE

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Six years and 135 pounds later FGCU student’s weight-loss journey receives national attention

By Melissa Neubek Staff Writer @melissayosephin In 2010, at the age of 21 years old and standing 5 feet and 4 inches tall, FGCU student Caitlyn Mannherz weighed in at 275 pounds. Her doctor told her she had type 2 diabetes. Mannherz struggled with anxiety, depression, fatigue and irritable bowel syndrome. This month, Mannherz was featured in People magazine’s “Half Their Size” issue, which highlighted six people from around the country with inspiring weight-loss stories. Now, Mannherz weighs 140 pounds, has her own wellness coaching business and is studying biology with a pre-professional track, with the goal of becoming a naturopathic doctor. “I want to help people become better versions of themselves,” Mannherz said. “Every day when I look back at who I was, I acknowledge I am a better version of myself but can also foresee an even better version of myself.” Her transformation was far from easy. Being raised in a household that lived off of microwaveable meals and processed food, Mannherz never knew anything else. In the fourth grade, she failed her first class and continued on that track until she graduated high school with a 1.6 GPA. She failed her first two semesters studying nursing at the County College of Morris in New Jersey “I didn’t like myself,” Mannherz said. “I didn’t like what I saw.” It was her doctor’s diagnosis of diabetes that kicked Mannherz into gear.

“I was sick of being sick,” Mannherz said in the People interview. Mannherz found a way to reach her goals with help from outside sources. “Just because nobody had taught me how to be healthy, didn’t mean I couldn’t teach myself,” Mannherz said. “When you’re an adult, you can’t blame anybody else for the food you put in your mouth and the decisions you make.” Mannherz taught herself how to be healthy. She started to watch what healthy-looking people were eating at restaurants, and what they had in their grocery carts. She used Pinterest to find healthy shopping lists and recipe ideas. Mannherz started to seek out fitness and health gurus on social media to learn everything she could about how to get healthy. Within the first eight months of her journey, Mannherz dropped 40 pounds. She decided she was ready to go back to school. Back at CCM, she declared herself a business major and aced her first two semesters. Mannherz started to see value in herself and realized she could do anything she set her mind to. Mannherz earned her associate’s degree with a 3.9 GPA in 2014. By that point, her weightloss transformation had been completed, and she had started to share her tips and experience with close friends and family, realizing that she could help people achieve the same success she had. “You have to start to recognize the behaviors that got you to where you are,” Mannherz said. “And then, learn how to change them.” It was a multiplestep process with several

obstacles for her to lose half her weight. While shedding pounds, she found she also had to shed unhealthy relationships and habits. She stopped going out a lot and experimented in the kitchen at home. She took the time to learn how to enjoy being alone and how to be alone without being lonely. W h e n discussing what it was like to end longtime friendships, Mannherz said it was a challenge. “I literally went through b re a k- u p s with these people, but they say you are most like the five people you spend the most time with, so I had to make sure those people reflected the better version of myself I was trying to be, that they shared my same mentality,” Mannherz said. Mannherz shared some of the tools that contributed hugely to her success: calendars, following the right people on social media, positive affirmations, cost-effective food choices and reading. “I love calendars. I would have one for food and one for school and another for how I was going to get everything done. It really helped me to change my habits and feel in control,” Mannherz said. Following life coaches like Tony Robbins, celebrities like Oprah and motivational authors like Dr. Wayne Dyer helped Mannherz to learn about all the different ways to be motivated, learn to love herself and just be positive.

“We spend so much time on social media, it makes sense to fill our news feeds with positivity, people who are out there to help others,” Mannherz said. Positive affirmations are a tool that helps people to believe the best in themselves. The idea is to

have to be,” Mannherz said.

tell themselves every day all of the things they want but reminding themselves they already are that. For example, “I am strong. I am happy. I am confident.” If you tell yourself these things every day in the mirror or in a notebook, or however, you will start to realize that you are those things, and it does wonders to one’s selfesteem. Being educated about where farmer’s markets are and where to find costeffective healthy food is vital. “Eating healthy can be expensive, which can be discouraging, but it doesn’t

When Mannherz started to spend a lot of time with herself, she started reading. Selfhelp books, health books, “Twilight,” anything. “Reading allows you to see the world from somebody else’s point of view and to learn. There’s no better gift,” Mannherz said. “Reading probably helped me the most.” Mannherz said not knowing how to cook was her biggest struggle, but with endless resources available online and in

Special to Eagle News

books, she knew she didn’t have an excuse not to learn. Having been a student during the majority of her body and mind transformation, Mannherz said she knows better than anyone that it’s hard, but with proper motivation, it’s more than possible, and each person deserves to be the best version of themselves. Mannherz can be reached at www.facebook. com/caitlynwellness

Healthy Choice of the Week

Shift needed in our diet Government publishes guidelines to healthy eating

By Klaudia Balogh E&L Editor @ByKlaudiaBalogh Hold your cookies. According to the “20152020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans,” published Jan. 8. by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Americans’ eating habits and diets need improvement. In other words, we eat more of what we should eat less of, such as sugar and salt, and we eat too little of what we should eat more of, such as grains and vegetables. The “Dietary Guidelines for Americans” is published every five years with the intention to promote overall health and prevention of chronic diseases by breaking it

down into clear numbers and recommendations for what a healthy diet should look like. Some of the key recommendations included the consumption of less than 10 percent of calories per day from added sugar, less than 10 percent of calories per day from saturated fats and less than 2,300 milligrams per day of sodium. Let me put into perspective for you how much of those ingredients we as Americans consume on average as opposed to those recommendations. Less than 10 percent of all daily calories should be added sugar; however, at all age groups, regardless of gender or race, the average consumption is at 13 percent and above. We consume 78 percent

of the added sugar from sodas and snacks and sweets. The rest of the sugar comes from salad dressings, condiments, fruits, grains, mixed dishes and dairy. Our other enemy, sodium, might seem harder to avoid because it’s in almost everything we eat — unless you use sodiumfree seasonings, which are largely available and taste good, too — yet we should keep it under 2,300 milligrams (0.08 ounce) per day, as opposed to the 3,440 milligram (0.121 ounce) daily average. On the other hand, according to the guidelines, we should pack our fridge with a variety of vegetables from all of the subgroups, including dark green, red and orange, starchy and legumes (beans and peas).

As of today, the average intake doesn’t reach the recommended amount. When it comes to fruits, especially whole fruits, we are doing great and meet the recommended amount up until the age of eight — probably about the age when you think you’re smarter than mom and leave that apple behind — but after that, the average won’t climb to even the bottom number of recommended, which is 1.5 cup or equivalent a day. Other food groups we should include more consciously in our diet to avoid chronic and preventable diseases are grains, at least half of which are whole grains, fat-free or low-fat dairy, including milk, yogurt, cheese and/or fortified soy beverages and a variety of

protein foods, including seafood, lean meats and poultry, eggs, legumes and nuts, seeds and soy products. We also must pay attention to having more oils as opposed to solid fats (saturated and trans fats) in our diet. Before we forget, many of you might wonder about alcohol. It’s OK, with moderation: up to one drink per day for women and up to two drinks per day for men. All of the above mentioned guidelines are based on the most current scientific evidences and are put together by an Advisory Committee of prestigious researchers in the fields of nutrition, health and medicine. A couple diets that incorporate the

recommended proportions of each component are the healthy Mediterraneanstyle eating pattern and the healthy vegetarian eating pattern. Needless to say, although healthy living depends 80 percent on diet, we need to fill that 20 percent with physical activity to maintain a strong and healthy muscle and bone structure. Applying these guidelines to our diets is the first step toward lowering the number of Americans — 117 million — who are diagnosed with some type of chronic disease, such as high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, some cancers, cardiovascular disease and poor bone health. This dietary shift will also lower your chance of becoming one in 117 million.

EDITOR: KLAUDIA BALOGH ENTERTAINMENT@EAGLENEWS.ORG

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13 EAGLE NEWS E & L A7

Challenging heights FGCU International Club hosts team-bonding at ropes course By Chelsea Green Staff Writer @ChelseaGreen_ The FGCU International Club and the Eagle International Ambassador Program hosted a day of teambonding activities at the FGCU Eagle Challenge Course for international students and Eagle I Ambassadors on Buckingham Road in Fort Myers Sunday, Jan. 10. Randi Levey, the president of International Club and third-year Eagle I ambassador, plans a trip back to the FGCU Eagle Challenge Course. “Being an ambassador and part of the International Club has shown me my passion of pubic speaking and potentially running a business,” she said. “Meeting a diverse group of people from around the world helps you build long–lasting relationships and friendships and opens doors of opportunities.” Levey has a particular reason why she chooses to come back to the Eagle Challenge Course every semester with the International Club and Eagle I Ambassador Program. “I like the nature

overview the course shows, but you also establish the bond with the club in a unique way,” she said. “Everyone has to work together while overcoming obstacles throughout the course, which can be challenging. Being here teaches you how to interact with one another and build leadership by climbing up a netted rope or zip lining down from a high distance.” Stephanie Centeno, a sophomore political science major, is also part of the International Club. “My favorite aspect of the FGCU Eagle Challenge Course is getting to know everyone while being in a large united international group,” Centeno said. “You really get the chance to learn about each other and different practices from other cultures that you may not be used to. I also love how the outdoor course is built for teambonding in a perplexing way.” Mahnoor Aziz, an international student from Pakistan and senior software engineering major, proclaims her interest for the club. “I love how we get to visit the Eagle Challenge Course every semester,” she said. “Visiting the

course each time is a new exploration, which has taught me how to be more confident in my personal life and academics at FGCU.” Being at the top of the ropes course challenges students to seek more opportunities and allows risk taking. “Participating in the Eagle Challenge Course allowed me to make closer friendships by working together in thoughtprovoking ideas and hearing other people’s voices,” said Nurjahan Khatun, a second-year ambassador and senior biology major. FGCU’s Eagle Challenge Course is a great opportunity to get outside of your comfort zone by meeting new people and taking risks together in a safe environment. Iheb Njaimi, an international student studying industrial engineering and biomedical engineering, enjoyed the course. “It is really easy, fun and good for pushing yourself to doing things that, as humans, we probably would not do,” Njaimi said. “We can do a lot more than we think, and the obstacle course allows you to do so.”

International students and members of the Eagle I Ambassador Program get together for a team-bonding experience.

Students were challenged in different ways by climbing ropes and getting through obstacles.

EN Photos / Chelsea Green

EDITOR: KLAUDIA BALOGH ENTERTAINMENT@EAGLENEWS.ORG

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13 EAGLE NEWS E & L A8

How to spend $1.5 billion Peachy app New social media for iOS Powerball jackpot on campus By Rachel Stroecker Staff Writer @rachelstr_

Don Hofmann, the cocreator of Vine, recently launched his newest social media platform. Meet Peach. On the surface, Peach is very similar to its competitors. Users register with a username, upload a photo for their profile and then use the software to post status updates and photos. Peach’s official description says “posting is easy as texting,” and that “Peach is a refreshingly fun and simple way to keep up with friends and be yourself.” It is, at the end of the day, just another social media platform. What makes it unique, however, is its set of “magic words.” When a user types any of the so-called “magic words,” a corresponding option appears below the text box. These special commands allow users to send their location, post

the weather and even use their phone’s microphone to identify the song they are listening to — just try typing “song.” The full list is 20 items long and can be found on Peach’s official website. There is also no “news feed”-type feature on Peach. The “homepage” is the user’s full list of friends with small previews of their latest updates; users must click on their friends’ name to view their profile and see all of their posts. Once on a friend’s profile, simply tap a photo or status to post a comment, or click the little heart below to ‘like’ it. Users may also send certain emojis, such as “wave,” “cake,” “hiss” and even “boop” (that’s poking another person’s nose, for those of you unaware). The app is currently only available on iOS, but the developers recently tweeted that an Android version is “launching very soon.”

Snap and edit

Photo-editing app offers a simple look yet wide options By Javier Moncada Contributing Writer @jlandel_LX In both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store sit countless different photo-editing applications that offer similar tools. Even popular social media applications such as Instagram and Snapchat offer their own imageediting tools. Among the countless number of photo-editing applications sits Snapseed. Snapseed is a simple, powerful application that brings professional grade photo-editing tools to your fingertips. Snapseed’s interface is simple. All of its tools are well-presented to users when they select the photo they want to edit. For beginners, Snapseed will take a bit of time to learn, but the power of its tools makes the learning curve worth it. All edits on the application are layered, so a user can easily remove

a specific edit by just removing its layer. Snapseed’s imageediting tools are deeper than just applying a filter. A user can adjust the brightness, contrast, saturation and highlights of the selected image. Does the image emit a depressing, cool tone? A user can adjust the image to give it a warmer and lively tone. Photos on Instagram can be similarly adjusted, but Snapseed executes those features in more detail. Snapseed has those image-editing tools available right from the start. It does not require its users to upload and share their edited photos right away such as Instagram and Snapchat do. Snapseed offers its users simple everyday tools from cropping to rotating. The application doesn’t fall short in filters either. It offers 12 different ones for users to play around with. Although it might seem a very low number when

compared to Instagram and other popular applications, Snapseed lets its users intensely adjust those filters — some more than others. “I like the filter options available, but the multitude of choices you can make after selecting a specific filter makes the app unique,” said FGCU junior Kyle Dabrow. One if its highlight filters is called Lens Blur. The Lens Blur filter lets users select what they want to focus on. It works by selecting a subject then blurring out the image’s background or foreground. That is usually a technique that photographers can perform on a digital single-lens reflex camera. Snapseed brings that feature to both iOS and Android devices. “Snapseed is easy to use and is a great application for beginners and experts of photo editing, and it’s free,” Dabrow said. Besides Snapseed’s

Image before edits

Image after edits tools, one of its biggest selling points is that all of its tools are free. Adobe’s Photoshop Express is another powerful application, but some of the tools in that application require a separate purchase. Snapseed is an ideal application for users who want to step up their mobile photography game or just want a cool, new application to tinker with. EN Photos/ Javier Moncada

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ATHLETICS EN Illustration/Kelli Krebs

FGCU soccer players get their chance at the professional level By Kelli Krebs Editor-in-chief @TheReal_KKrebs Riding on the coattails of former FGCU defender and 2015 Atlantic Sun Conference Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Guillen signing with FC Dallas, an American Major League Soccer team, four other 2015 seniors are setting up professional careers. Coming off the team’s most successful season to date, FGCU women’s soccer standouts Brittany Brown, Emma Blackwell and Ally Kasun were announced to be in the pool for the upcoming National Women’s Soccer League draft on Friday, Jan. 15. The National Women’s Soccer League, the country’s highest-tier of women’s soccer, consists of nine teams across the country: the Boston

Breakers, Chicago Red Stars, Houston Dash, FC Kansas City, Portland Thorns, Seattle Reign FC, Blue Sky FC, Washington Spirit, Western New York Flash and league newcomer Orlando Pride. The highly decorated seniors led the program to three NCAA appearances, its first NCAA win, three conference championships and 58 wins. After their final game against College Cup runner-up Duke in the second round of the NCAA tournament, all three hold a place in the A-Sun record books tied at sixth in total career games played with 84. A four-year starting goalkeeper, Brown topped record books, holding the conference record with 36 career shutouts and topping FGCU’s record book with 263 saves, 50 wins and a goals-against average of 0.67.

The Rochester, New York native held a save percentage of .807 and shut out 11 games through 18 games this season. Brown, a biology major, was also recently named to the College Sports Information Directors Association Academic AllDistrict 4 team with a 3.91 GPA. This season, Blackwell became the first A-Sun player to win back-toback Defensive Player of The Year honors and has been a member of the postseason All Conference First Team since her sophomore year. Blackwell was also recently named to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America All-Southeast Region Third team in December. Kasun, who has been named to the AllConference Team

>>Continued on B4

Photo by Linwood Ferguson FGCU starters, including Brown, Blackwell and Kasun, huddle before the Atlantic Sun Championship game.

Photo by Linwood Ferguson FGCU captains, Rodrigo Saravia (far left) and Aaron Guillen (far right) present conference championship rings FGCU President Wilson Bradshaw and JoAnna Bradshaw.

Photo by Linwood Ferguson

FGCU sophomore Katie Armitage swims the breaststroke during FGCU’s meet with Rice last week.

Swimmers sweep CCSA awards again By Madison Hampton Sports/Media Editor @Hamantha5 The FGCU swimming and diving team has swept the CCSA weekly awards. Sophomore Katie Armitage was titled Women’s Swimmer of the Week while junior diver Ashley Wright took Women’s Diver of the

Week. This is the fifth time this season the Eagles have taken both weekly titles. "I'm excited for the girls to gain the recognition they deserve," said FGCU head coach Neal Studd. "They both work extremely hard, and it's good to see them get the results." Armitage has now been named the Women’s

Swimmer of the Week twice this season. In the Eagles’ recent home quad meet, she put seasonbest breaststroke times on the books: 100 yards at 1:01.27 and 200 yards at 2:14.90. These events tallied her 11th and 12th event wins of the season. Armitage already holds the FGCU records for the 100 and 200 yard events

and got the second and third fastest times in the home meet on Saturday, Jan. 9. Although she didn’t beat her personal best in the breaststroke, her commendable performance brought her within .05 seconds of the FGCU program record of the 200-yard IM. Alongside Armitage’s performance, Write

earned her fifth, and well deserved, title as the CCSA Women’s Diver of the Week. She earned her personal best in Saturday’s meet on the one-meter board. Her 280.20 mark took a second-place finish in the meet and a thirdplace spot in FGCU’s program history. Write’s 274.20 in the high-dive competition was

also ranked in program history as the eighth best. She now holds five of the top 10 scores in FGCU program history in the one-meter and threemeter drives. This is her first season with the Eagles.

B2 SPORTS EAGLE NEWS WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13

EDITOR: MADISON HAMPTON | SPORTS@EAGLENEWS.ORG

This week in athletics

Men’s tennis host St. John’s By Madison Hampton Media/Sports Editor @Hamantha5 FGCU men’s tennis will be hosting its first dual match of the 2015-16 season on Thursday, Jan. 14. St. John’s will visit the Eagles at the FGCU Tennis Complex. FGCU completed its final invite on Sunday, Jan. 6, where they hosted

multiple teams for three days at the FGCU Tennis Complex. The Alfonzo brothers finished off a perfect weekend of doubles on Sunday to take a 6-0 victory over No. 45 Memphis. St. John’s kicks of a spring season of matches for the Eagles followed by South Alabama and Florida State next week.

Women’s swimming vs Miami at Coral Women’s basketball host USC Upstate Gables By Madison Hampton Media/Sports Editor @Hamantha5 In their first away meet of the year, FGCU swimming and diving will face Miami in Coral Gables on Friday, Jan. 15. Last season, FGCU took down UM 195-104. This meet comes right after the team hosted a

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quad meet at the FGCU Aquatics Center where the Eagles out performed Liberty and Central Connecticut State on Jan. 9. After competing in Coral Cables, the team will have two remaining meets until CCSA Championships begin in Athens, Georgia.

By Kelli Krebs Editor-in-chief @thereal_kkrebs Coming off of a win at home against instate Atlantic Sun Conference rival Stetson, the FGCU women’s basketball team will host USC Upstate on Saturday as part of a conference double-header game with the men’s team. Upstate, who is

currently ranked second in the conference behind the Eagles, come into the weekend with a 10-6 record after defeating league newcomer NJIT in the A-Sun opener. Upstate’s Brittany Starling is currently leading the league as well as earning the No. 11 spot in the NCAA in rebounds averaging, 9.0 per game.

Photo: Linwood Ferguson Julian Debose fires up his teammates and the crowd during starting line-up introductionin FGCU’s conference opener

Men’s basketball welcomes two conference foes to Alico this weekend By Miguel Rodriguez Assistant Sports Editor @Miguel_Rod0914 After stomping Stetson in its first Atlantic Sun Conference game of the season, the FGCU men’s basketball team welcomes A-Sun newcomers NJIT to Alico Arena at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 14. After losing on a last-second tip-in to USC Upstate, the Highlanders will look to bounce back in conference play with a win on the road in their first-ever meeting against the Eagles. The Eagles host their third straight A-Sun game when they take on USC Upstate at 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan.16 at

Alico Arena. The last time these two teams squared off was in the A-Sun Men’s Basketball Championship semi final where the Spartans knocked out the Eagles to reach the championship game on a gamewinning four-point play. The Spartans will look to do much of the same and defeat the Eagles in front of a home crowd. After a strong showing against the Hatters, FGCU will look to show the Highlanders who runs the A-Sun and get revenge on the Spartans after sending them packing and ruining the Eagles’ chance at making an NCAA tournament run.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13 EAGLE NEWS SPORTS B3

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B4 SPORTS EAGLE NEWS WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13

EDITOR: MADISON HAMPTON SPORTS@EAGLENEWS.ORG

10 things you need to know about the MLS SuperDraft: 1. The SuperDraft, which consists of four rounds, will allow the MLS’ 22 teams to choose from collegiate players that have exhausted NCAA eligibility as well as some non-collegiate international players to bring onto their rosters. 2. Most picks will enter team training camps for preseason, but only about half will make an MLS roster. 3. This week, 72 collegiate players participated in the MLS Combine in Fort Lauderdale , a showcase allowing MLS scouts to watch collegiate players for the SuperDraft. 4. The Vancouver Whitecaps are set to have the most selections in the SuperDraft with a total of six, while New York City FC will have the least with one pick. 5. The Chicago Fire, which finished the 2015 season with the least amount of points, will get the first overall pick. 6. The first eight picks in each round were determined by each team’s finish in the Supporters’ Shield standings. The remaining positions were ranked by fewest regular season points among the teams that were eliminated in the same round of the MLS Cup Playoffs. 7. The 2016 MLS SuperDraft will be held at 1 p.m. on Jan. 14 at the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore, Maryland. 8. The SuperDraft will be live streaming with a draft tracker at MLSsoccer.com. 9. Rodrigo Saravia, a former FGCU midfielder is eligible for the SuperDraft after participating in the MLS Combine this week. 10. Saravia was one of the top-10 finishers in one of the performance tests at the MLS Combine this week. He finished tied for eighth in the agility (5-10-5) test with a 4:20 second time.

GOING PRO

>>Continued from B1

since her freshman year, finished her career with 17 goals and 19 assists, totaling 53 points in her four years. If Brown, Blackwell and Kasun are drafted into the NWSL, they will join former 2014 teammate Julia Roddar and Shannen Wacker, who are playing for professional teams. Roddar is playing in her native Sweden for Kvarnsvedens IK, a women’s Swedish soccer club competing in the highest division, and Wacker trained with NWSL club FC Kansas City in preseason. The draft will be held at 10 a.m. Jan. 15. The draft will be held at the National Soccer Coaches Association of America

Convention in Baltimore and will be open to the public. Saravia doing well in 2016 adidas MLS Combine The Atlantic Sun Player of the Year is holding his own at the 2016 adidas MLS Combine in Fort Lauderdale this week. FGCU midfielder Rodrigo Saravia finished in the top-10 in the agility performance category during MLS Combine’s performance testing, tying for eighth place with a 4.20 time in the 5-10-5 shuttle on Saturday, Jan. 9, according to a report released by the MLS. The MLS Combine showcases the nation’s top collegiate soccer players fighting for a chance to make it to the top tier of American soccer in front of

representatives from all 20 MLS clubs in Fort Lauderdale Jan. 7 to 12. Saravia is in the company of A-Sun teammate Alex Morrell of North Florida, who has also done exceptionally well, placing in all three top-10 categories: third in the 30-meter dash (3.97), tied for seventh in the 5-10-5 shuffle (4.18) and tied for sixth in the vertical jump test (30 inches). Other top-10 finishers include players from Georgetown, UNCWilmington and UCF, which FGCU kept scoreless in their games this season. According to the MLS, clubs don’t put that much stock in the performance tests as much as a player’s performance in college; however, it does make an impact on how players

are ranked entering the SuperDraft. “We value it,” Jesse Marsch, the head coach of the New York Red Bulls, told MLSsoccer.com. “It’s not like it outweighs other characteristics, but for us, it’s good to know. Seeing how fast a guy is and then how big his tank is from watching him play a little bit — that’s good information.” A total of 73 players were invited to the combine, though five players did not participate in the 30-meter dash, six in the 5-10-5 shuttle and four in the vertical leap. The combine, which has lasted from Saturday, Jan. 9 until Jan. 12, will allow MLS coaches to scout players before the 2016 SuperDraft in Baltimore on Jan. 14.

5 things you need to know about the NWSL Draft: 1. FGCU seniors Brittany Brown, Emma Blackwell and Ally Kasun became eligible for the NWSL draft. 2. Three players from USF, who FGCU knocked out of the first round of the NCAA tournament this season,

are also eligible for the draft. There are no Duke players on the eligible player draft list, despite having two seniors last season. 3. After trading with the Boston Breakers and Orlando Pride, Portland Thorns FC will take the first two

picks. This is the first time in league history that one club will hold the first two picks. 4. There are 145 players eligible for selection in the 2016 NWSL College Draft, which will take place at 10 a.m. Friday, Jan. 15.

5. The NWSL Collegiate Draft will be held at the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Convention in Baltimore. The draft will be held at the Baltimore Convention Center and will be open to the public.

Weekend recap: Men and women earn wins in conference opener

FGCU guard Dytiesha Dunson drives toward the net during Saturday night’s game.

Photo: Linwood Ferguson

Second half comeback fuels win over rival Stetson to open A-Sun By News Staff The FGCU women’s basketball team opened up the Atlantic Sun conference season with a 61-48 win over in-state conference rival Stetson. FGCU senior and 2015 A-Sun Player of the Year Whitney Knight led the floor with 16 points in the low-

scoring game and adding four rebounds and four assists. Taylor Gradinjan and Kaneisha Atwater scored 11 points each, and Atwater led the floor with eight rebounds. After allowing Stetson to lead for 13:29 minutes in the first half, the two teams went into the locker rooms at halftime tied at 21. A fiery

third quarter helped the Eagles gain and maintain a convincing lead over the Hatters. FGCU will host USC Upstate at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 16 followed by the FGCU men’s basketball team hosting USC Upstate at 7 p.m. as part of another conference double header.

Marc-Eddy Norelia blocks a shot from a Stetson player during Saturday night’s game.

Photo: Linwood Ferguson

FGCU earns third-largest win against Stetson in A-Sun opener By News Staff The FGCU men’s basketball team opened up the conference season with a record-setting first half to give them an 82-53 victory Saturday night over Stetson. The 29-point margin of victory is the thirdlargest in program history against an

Atlantic Sun opponent. In the first half, FGCU shot a program-best, 71.4 percent (20-25), against any Division-I opponent to open itself up for a 27-point lead at the half. FGCU redshirt freshman Zach Johnson led the floor with 17 points, followed by redshirt junior MarcEddy Norelia with 16

and redshirt senior Filip Cvjeticanin, who knocked down four 3-pointers. Saturday’s win is the seventh in a row for FGCU against their instate conference rival, who have now won fivestraight A-Sun openers. FGCU will host conference newcomer NJIT at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 14.

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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13 EAGLE NEWS SPORTS B5

EN Photo / Kelli Krebs

Aaron Guillen (left) celebrates Dylan Sacramento’s goal during a home game in the 2015 season.

FGCU soccer’s Aaron Guillen signs with FC Dallas By Kelli Krebs Editor-in-chief @TheReal_KKrebs FGCU added another professional to its increasingly impressive repertoire. Recently graduated FGCU men’s soccer defender Aaron Guillen, 22, joined the professional ranks on Tuesday, Jan. 5 when he signed with Major League Soccer club FC Dallas. “It’s a dream come true,” Guillen said. “It’s been something that I’ve been working toward since I was little. You get to see these players on TV every weekend. It’s exciting to think that you could be

next to them and be at their level and train with them.” Aaron Guillen avoids an attacking Furman player during a home match in 2012. (Photo: Linwood Ferguson) Guillen, who returned to his hometown of El Paso following his departure from FGCU, will join FC Dallas as a center back, after spending his summers working his way through the club’s Homegrown Player program. In high school, Guillen was one of the first players to join the program, which aims to “raise” and allows teams to sign local products directly

from their academy to their professional team. The defender played for FC Dallas’ U-18 team and helped them reach the US Soccer Development Academy national championship in 2012. This previous season, FC Dallas had one of the best finishes in the club’s history, finishing first in the MLS’ Western Conference after defeating the Portland Timbers in the conference final. Players will report to Frisco, Texas to begin training with FC Dallas on Saturday, Jan. 23 where the team will travel to Phoenix, Arizona and Medellín, Colombia during a six-week preseason

training camp. FC Dallas will open its 21st season at 2 p.m. March 6 at Toyota Stadium against the Philadelphia Union. “I’m really excited to start,” Guillen said. “We’ll see what happens. It’s a matter of what the coaches decide.” Guillen joins teammate Rodrigo Saravia, a former FGCU center midfielder and 2015 Atlantic Sun Conference player of the year, in making an impression in the MLS professional ranks. This weekend, Saravia will participate in the 2016 Adidas MLS Player Combine, a showcase that allows collegiate players

to compete against each other in front of scouts from 20 MLS clubs for a chance to qualify for the MLS Super Draft in Baltimore on Jan. 14. The combine will be held in Fort Lauderdale from Jan. 7 to Jan. 12. “I believe that he’s got a great chance,” Guillen said. “He’s a great player and has a huge heart and never stops working for what he wants. I hope the best for him.” Savaria is the first FGCU product to be invited to the combine and third A-Sun player since 2007. Last summer, Savaria represented his home country of Guatemala, playing for the

-Back-to-Back Atlantic Sun Conference Defensive Player of the Year

-Atlantic Sun Conference record-holder for career shutouts with 36.

-Member of the A-Sun First Team All-Conference since sophomore year.

-FGCU record holder for most career saves with 263 in her four years.

- Sixth all-time in the A-Sun for career games played with 84.

-Finished career with 0.67 goals-against average.

Brittany Brown, GK

Emma Blackwell, D

ROCHESTER, NEW YORK

JENKS, OKLAHOMA

-Atlantic Sun conference AllConference Team member since her freshmen year. -Scored 17 goals over four-year career. -Tallied 17 assists over fouryear career.

U-23 National Team. A four-year starter with the Eagles, Guillen led the team to NCAA appearances in 2012 and 2014 and was named the conference Defensive Player of the Year and was named to the NSCAA AllSoutheast Region second team his senior year. Guillen credits FGCU’s coaches for his successes. “They gave me a great opportunities, believed in me and made me a part of the family,” Guillen said. “(Being signed) is a dream come true.”

-2015 Atlantic Sun Player of the Year. -Two-time A-Sun First Team AllConference member. -Member of the U23 Guatemalan National Team.

Ally Kasun, MF

Rodrigo Saravia, MF

LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA

GUATEMALA CITY, GUATEMALA

OPINION

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for clarity, grammar and style. There is no guarantee that all submissions will be printed. Editorials represent the majority opinion of the Eagle News staff, not necessarily the FGCU student body. The editorial board is managed by the Opinion editor and the Editorin-Chief.

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The topic of whether or not abortions should be legal has caused controversial protests for years.

Is abortion murder?

Women should be able to choose what to do with their bodies By Madison Hampton Sports/Media Editor @Hamantha5 I’m pro for a lot of things. I’m pro-education, pro-chemotherapy, and most of all, pro-choice. Pro-choice indicates what I would hope our rights as an American citizen imply: the ability to make choices for ourselves. I’m pro-abortion because I truly believe abortion should always be legal and safe to those who choose it. According to OperationRescue.org, “A total of 730,322 abortions were reported to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for 2011.” In January 2012, the Guttmacher Institute published “Facts on Induced Abortion Worldwide.” According to the report, “In Europe, 30 percent of pregnancies end in abortion. A higher proportion of pregnancies end in abortion in Eastern Europe than in the rest of the region.” The publication reported North America to have an abortion rate of 32

percent in 2008, down from 37 percent in 1995. According to the report, “Between 1995 and 2003, the abortion rate (the number of abortions per 1,000 women of childbearing age—i.e., those aged 15–44) for the world overall dropped from 35 to 29. It remained virtually unchanged, at 28, in 2008. So, in 2008, the world averaged 28 percent in abortion rate and North America sat above the average by four percent. So, what does this all mean? There were 4.25 million births in the United States in 2008. Without abortion, 5.61 million children would have been born. While 4.25 million children were born in the USA in 2008, there were an estimated 132 million orphaned children worldwide. This brings me to my points. I am pro-abortion because children deserve to be wanted and wellsupported in their homes. Children should not have to live a life without a family or home because of failed contraceptives and laws prohibiting abortion. I take

motherhood and family very seriously. Just because someone can physically support a child doesn’t mean they can raise one. Being a mother should never be an accident, taking me back to the point of being wanted and nurtured. No child deserves to be an orphan. Children do not make memories until they are between the ages of 2 and 3 years old. This concludes that a fetus cannot have a conscience or have feelings in the womb. An early abortion ensures safety for the mother and what would have been a child if given more time. The reproduction process is not a perfect one. A pregnancy cannot be supported by some bodies. Unwanted pregnancies can put mothers at risk. Pro-abortion is a matter of gender equality. Thinking of any professional woman you know, an unwanted pregnancy could end her career, while a man could comfortably continue his career. In no case should failed contraceptives or an unwanted pregnancy in general keep a woman from pursuing her career.

An unborn child should still have the right to live By Cayla Sloan ENTV Director @caylasloan I’m pro-life because an innocent human being should be able to get a chance at life rather than not existing at all. In the United States, the consequence for taking or harming a bald eagle is $5,000 or one-year imprisonment for the first conviction. But the government has no problem with helping women get abortions under certain circumstances. What makes a bird so much more important than a human being? If anything, both should be of equal value and worth. I understand the need for an abortion if it is a truly lifethreatening situation for the mother or the baby. However, if there are no harmful threats, then there should be no need for an abortion. In cases of rape and

incest, I understand why some women wouldn’t want the child. It’d be a constant reminder of what the mother experienced. However, that memory is going to be engraved in her mind forever, regardless if she has the baby or not. You can’t forget something that traumatic.

Babies are called miracles for a reason. They can take a terrible situation and turn it into something incredible. That’s what life does. It takes bad situations and makes it something worth getting through.

If the parents of the unborn baby have no way of emotionally or physically supporting the baby once it’s born, there are better options than aborting the baby before it even has a chance to live. Although foster homes and adoption centers aren’t ideal for a lot of people, it’s still a better choice than not being offered a chance to experience life at all. To me, abortion is considered murder unless it’s a life-ordeath situation. By getting an abortion, the mother is terminating the life of a human being. Some people may make the argument that the baby is not fully developed and cannot feel, but abortion is still taking away the opportunity to grow and live.

A closer Luke

“I don’t want to die” Police custody shouldn’t be a death sentence B y L u k e Janke Assistant Opinion Editor @jankeleg In a tragic, yet sadly not u n ex p e c t e d turn of events in police brutality rules, dash cam video of a Florida woman dying in police custody was released to the public this week. Barbara Dawson was still complaining about experiencing abdominal pain after being discharged from Calhoun Liberty Hospital in Blountstown Dec. 21. Dawson was then banned from the hospital. Dawson was held in

custody by Blountstown police department for an estimated 20 minutes, and she is seen briefly in the dash cam video. Dawson can also be heard saying things such as “I can’t breathe,” and “I’m going to die.” The officer on the scene wrote it off as Dawson trying to get out of an arrest. The police officer did not buy her pleas, proceeding to say over his radio that Dawson “was being noncompliant by not trying to get in my car and faking it.” Chief Mark Mallory of BPD told the “Tallahassee Democrat,” felt the officer handling Dawson acted appropriately, saying that becoming involved with Dawson’s medical needs

would have been reckless. The fact that Dawson was pleading for oxygen with the officer should have been a clear indicator that something wasn’t right. When the officer opened the door to check on Dawson, she collapsed on the ground. Medical services weren’t called onto the scene until after Dawson had lost consciousness, and, by that time, it was too late, and Dawson was already dead. This is clearly a tiredout fad by now. And, it’s getting to be a devastating narrative, that people are losing their lives in police custody. It’s one thing if there weren’t patterns that exemplified white victims, but it’s negligent to say that this isn’t a race

Misjudgement by police has led to too many custody deaths.

issue. Clearly, minorities get profiled by police more than white people. In what kind of society do we live where people in dire need for medical

attention get arrested in the ER waiting room, and then simultaneously die in custody? It has been clear for this decade that real change needs to be made

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in US police departments, and the accountability that more surveillance brings is a key to stopping police brutality for good.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13 EAGLE NEWS OPINION B7

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The price of happiness Winning this year’s record-breaking Powerball may do more harm than good By Allie Taylor Assistant E&L Editor @AllieTaylorEN With the winnings for the largest Powerball in history reaching $1.5 billion, much consideration is put into what you could buy with the remaining $785 million, after taxes. However, would the winnings bring more or less happiness to an average citizen’s current living situation? Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School conducted a study showing that up to $75,000 a year essentially buys people’s happiness, but not their emotional well-being. Princeton University professors Daniel Kahneman and Angus Deaton gathered data from the GallupHealthways Well-

Being Index and found responses from the more than 450,000 U.S. residents surveyed that correlated with emotional well-being and life evaluations based on income. The results indicated that living below the median $75,000 brings both low emotions and a low life evaluation. On the other side, living beyond $75,000 does not bring about a high life evaluation or higher emotional well-being. Another study conducted by Elizabeth Dunn, Lara Aknin and Michael Norton suggested that how someone spends his or her money might be as important as how much money someone earns. In short, the research provides that “spending more money on other people may have a more positive impact on

happiness than spending money on oneself.” The curse of the lottery shows how this theory can cause trouble for those who come into a huge fortune in a short amount of time. An article in the New York Daily News followed stories of misspent earnings, reporting that nearly 70 percent of lottery winners go bankrupt within the first seven years. Stories of such lottery winners as Abraham Shakespeare, David Lee Edwards, Billie Harrell Jr. and Michael Carroll might be enough to scare the future Powerball winner from being too greedy, but unfortunately, winning the $1.5 billion dollar Powerball would put them about $1.49 billion over the “happiness limit.” The Powerball has reached a record-breaking prize amount of $1.5 billion.

EN Photo / KellI Krebs

EN Photo / Iman Zekri

Contrary to what some people believe, the majority of the American Muslim community lives in peace in the United States.

Terrorism will never belong to a religion Grouping Muslims as terrorists is prejudiced and incorrect By Iman Zekri Contributing Writer @iman_zekri The San Bernardino shooting and the Paris attacks have put many Americans on edge, and Donald Trump’s xenophobic comments have only escalated the existing tensions. With the recent terror attacks in the news, it is important to take a step back and consider the big picture. It is clear that Muslims in America have been victims of religious discrimination ever since the 9/11 attacks. Countless Americans fail to realize that American Muslims are no different than other U.S. citizens. Religious extremists are

an exception to a religion; the word extremists itself points out that they are unusual and uncommon cases. Religious extremists are not the norm, and it is irrational to label all of the members of a religion with negative characterization just because of a fraction of extremists. America has a major problem when it comes to religious discrimination, and this issue needs to be addressed. It is important to remember that stereotypes and individual extremists do not define an entire group of people. Sara Lohbauer, a junior biology major at FGCU, believes that diversity and tolerance are important principles of American society.

“In today’s society, we face a large amount of stereotyping and judgment,” Lohbauer said. “But, I feel it is important to remember how this country began. The U.S. started because people wanted to be free of persecution and prejudice. Our country is a melting pot that embraces freedom from judgment. But, how can we truly say our country is this way if the individuals of our country are not free from these judgments?” Claims such as all Muslims are terrorists, all Blacks are criminals and all Hispanics are illegal immigrants contradict the foundation of the United States, yet these racist remarks have been made by people throughout this

nation. When most people hear the word terrorist, the image that pops in their head is based off a stereotype they have heard on TV or from a politician. In reality, the majority of the American Muslim community lives in peace in this country. In fact, there are several million Muslims residing in the U.S. They are Americans; this nation is their home. Yet, so many Americans are terrorizing them and making them feel uncomfortable because of their religious beliefs. The beauty of this country is the freedom of its citizens to practice or not practice a religion without anyone infringing upon this right. Religious discrimination violates the very basis of our country, which has

been built on the principles of diversity, integration, cooperation and openmindedness. The U.S. promotes the idea that if you follow the rules and work hard, you can succeed, whether your skin is dark, you wear a headscarf or you’re a woman. Discrimination must be conquered by tolerance and acceptance rather than alienation and bigotry. The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution gives all Americans the freedom to exercise their religion, and alienating people because of their religious beliefs is not the solution to terrorism. Most people are unaware that most of the victims of so-called Islamic terrorism are

actually Muslims. There are incredible people and unpleasant people in every religion, race, gender and culture. Islam is not the exception to this reality and neither is Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism or any other religion. So, the next time you hear a frightening claim about Muslim terrorists on TV, consider the bigger picture and remember that there are millions of peaceful Muslims in the US that, just like you, are trying to graduate from college, support their family or maintain a full-time job.

OUTREACH

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I Am Divine is all inclusive The second annual pageant raises $1,000 for its contestants

(EN Photos / Jack Lowenstein)

Antwon Lindsey is an original member of the FGCU Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. Lindsey can be seen with Chairperson Alission Melville and Co-chair Taelor Nolen.

By Jack Lowenstein Outreach/Senior Copy Editor @lowspenj Antwon Lindsey and fellow FGCU students wanted to develop an idea, so all students from different cultural backgrounds could come together and celebrate themselves. He came up with a name for a pageant that was motivated through values of scholarship and good deeds. This contest would judge participants on the basis of their individual character and the amount of time they would put into it in order to have a chance to say “I am divine.” The I Am Divine Scholarship Pageant will operate its second annual event on Thursday, Feb. 25 in order to continue the promotion of an allinclusive celebration of

individual students at FGCU. “It’s open field for everyone to come out and do what they enjoy and just kind of bridge that gap between different cultures,” Lindsey said. “We have the minority community her and then we have the majority community here. And, we want to bridge that gap so that way we are able to mingle and let people know that this is a pageant that stands for that, that stands for that union and that culture and that excellence.” Lindsey felt that most of the pageant events held at FGCU had either an underlying cultural bias or an obvious barrier to entry for minority students on campus. The pageant committee had ideas for names like Mr. and Ms. BSA pageant or “My Black is Beautiful Pageant,” but

Salt Warriors raise money for autism

Lindsey wanted to design a name that was all inclusive. “I didn’t think that people would agree to it,” Lindsey said. “So, we were upstairs and having a meeting. And, they were like, ‘does anybody have a name?’ at the end of the day, I wanted something more inclusive, so I came up with the name I Am Divine.” His constituents were instantly for the name, and the pageants ideals took shape. “People saw it as not having a cultural barrier,” Lindsey said. In the spirt of scholarship, I Am Divine became a scholarship award pageant. In its first year, Mr. and Ms. Divine were awarded $250 each. This year, Community Outreach, which awarded all of the scholarship money the first year, along with FGCU Admissions together,

raised $1,000. So, this year, the two winners will receive a $500 scholarship. “If we can double it each year, we will have to move to Germain Arena,” said Taelor Nolen, this year’s cochair of the event. Last year, the pageant reviewed 15 I Am Divine contestant’s applications. Four men and five women were chosen to compete for the title and scholarship awards. At deadline this year, Allison Melville, the chairperson of the pageant, was pleased to have a folder filled with applications, exceeding the number of applicants from the previous year. “The other person I had on my side was Allison Melville, my right-hand woman,” Lindsey said. “She helped me make a lot of things happen.” Melville was focused on the aspects of the student

that measured them in school and community involvement. “Also, with that, it’s ‘I Am Divine,’ but it’s also I Am Divine, the scholarship pageant,” Melville said. “So, the judges rate you on your scholarship also, your grades your GPA, your service-learning hours.” Nolen drives the point home with the main theme of the pageant. “A group of judges, they aren’t the people to tell you that you aren’t divine,” Nolen said. “We just showcase it and let everyone know what is divine about you. So, it’s just we are all different and we want to showcase it.” Last year, during intermission, Alpha Phi Alpha donated gift cards in a raffle to audience members. Lindsey designed this pageant and people such as

Melbille and Nolen continue to carry forward the ideals. “I think, being a person of good deeds, scholarship, as well as love for all mankind, being able to be the person that understands others and just pretty much is a genuine person in every aspect, not someone who maliciously tries to disrupt someone’s progress,” Lindsey said. This year the doors of the Cohen Center Ballroom will open at 7 p.m., and it will begin at 7:30 p.m. There will be a DJ playing music for entertainment, including the talent show that is showcased for all I Am Divine contestants to perform at the pageant. “We want to be able to bridge that gap between the cultures that don’t mix.”

Nina Barbero Managing Editor @EN_Barbero

scavenger hunt at 10 a.m. Jan. 16. The hunt will have participants solving riddles in downtown Naples to get from destination to destination, all the while earning points and raising money for Adonis Autism. Adonis Autism is an advocacy groups for people

with autism and their families. It has been serving Southwest Florida for 30 years. People can sign up as an individual or as a member of a fourperson team through Adventures4Autism.com. The registration fee is $25 per person before Jan. 16,

but will go up to $30 the day of the event. The scavenger hunt will start at Cambier Park, and a map will be given to participants at the event. According to autismspeaks. org, one in every 68 children in the US has autism spectrum disorder.

Salt Warriors, a Southwest Florida company founded to raise money for local charities, is encouraging people of all ages to participate in its Adventures 4 Autism

Chris Sale teams with Laces of Love

FGCU hosts a softball game for wounded warriors By Rachel Iacovone Photo/Copy Editor @totesrachel

Special to Eagle News

Chris Sale and son Rylan enjoy their time at FGCU.

Michael Danielewski Contributing Writer @MDanielewski Former FGCU standout and current Chicago White Sox pitcher Chris Sale is teaming up with Laces of Love for the secondannual shoe drive at 4 p.m. Saturday Jan. 16. Children’s shoes and monetary donations will be accepted during the basketball doubleheader against USC

Upstate. Laces of Love is a local charity that provides shoes to low income and disadvantaged children in Lee and Collier counties. “We are looking forward to this event again and topping the great results we had last year and are happy to be able to make any kind of positive impact on these children that we can,” Sale said. In its inaugural drive with Sale, fans donated 850

pairs of shoes and collected nearly $2,000. Since its start in 2005, the charity has donated nearly 85,000 shoes to children at local public schools. Laces of Love relies solely on donations and volunteer staff, working directly with local school staff to identify the children in need. Sale, alongside his wife, Brianne, and son, Rylan, will be in attendance at the event.

Sale led the American League in strikeouts last year on his way to his fourth straight All-Star selection. Donation boxes will be available upon entry into Alico Arena for the women’s 4 p.m. tipoff and throughout the men’s 7 p.m. matchup. Fans unable to attend but who would still like to donate to Laces of Love can visit www.lacesoflove.org or call 239-591-1172.

The FGCU Department of Athletics will host the Wounded Warrior Amputee Softball Team for the fourth time in an exhibition game against the FGCU Celebrity Team at 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 17 at Swanson Stadium. The WWAST is comprised of soldiers and veterans. These men have sustained severe injuries resulting in amputation while serving in the military, and, through extensive rehabilitation, they have become competitive athletes again. Their equipment now includes prosthetic legs and arms as well as extreme perseverance and positive attitudes. As part of Military Appreciation Night at FGCU, the WWAST will be recognized as a special guest at the men’s basketball game vs. USC Upstate at 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 16. The night will recognize current and former military personnel for their service, and Bank of America will present a $1,000 scholarship to a veteran. The WWAST’s mission is to raise awareness,

through exhibition softball games, of the sacrifices and resiliency of the young men and women that serve our country. Their goal is to show other amputees and the general public that through extensive rehab and training, they are able to excel at the sport they loved. “It’s very satisfying to know that FGCU and Southwest Florida are strong supporters of the military and honors active duty soldiers and veterans,” said David Van Sleet, the general manager of the WWAST and U.S. army veteran. “Working on this venue with FGCU, I’ve seen firsthand the strong pride that this university and area of Florida displays for military personnel and wounded warriors, and it’s very gratifying to see the recognition for those that have served our country.” The exhibition game is open to the public. Admission is free, but donations are encouraged. The FGCU Celebrity Team is coached by Ken Kavanagh, the director of athletics, and Emeritus Butch Perchan, the senior associate AD for external affairs. The team will feature a blend of FGCU coaches, former student athletes, athletics administrators and local media members.