Fall Issue 8 Nov. 25
Fellow classmates, friends, professors and family celebrate life of Nick Spiva Rebekah Duntz Editor-in-Chief The month of November brings with it a somber mood for students, faculty and staff at Florida Tech. There have been four deaths this Fall, including Nick Spiva, a 25-year-old physics student, was killed in a vehicle accident on Monday, Nov. 10. Spiva was riding his motorcycle southbound on Dairy road, and as the light turned yellow, another car tried to take a left onto Eber road, the front side of the car colliding with the motorcycle, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. Spiva was wearing a helmet. A memorial event was held on the roof of the Olin Physical Sciences Building, where students wrote messages on the whiteboard about Spiva, talked about their memories with him, and ate Hawaiian pizza. Students were
calling the event a “Nick’s Earth graduation party.” The event ended with a weather balloon release. In remembering Spiva, his friends and family are choosing to celebrate his life, and to cherish the fact that he was a part of their lives. Spiva was a light that seemed to touch the life of each person he knew. “Nick was a character, to say the least. He was always super enthusiastic. He was the kind of guy that will run up to you, give you a hug, take a selfie with you for no damn reason, and then walk out of there,” said 21-year-old brother, Nate Spiva. “He always spoke his mind, and lived life on his own terms, and I would never have had it any other way,” said his mother, Martha Spiva, at his memorial. “He craved learning his entire life.” He was a dedicated student, and he was going to graduate next semester. He was always in and out of the physics department offices, and he held friendships with many people in the department. As a
senior, almost everyone knew him. He had just finished taking his GRE test. Spiva also held down two jobs while studying full-time. He worked as a research assistant in the Geospace Physics Lab, GPL, where he was one of the key undergraduate researchers. “He was responsible for taking images of sprites and jets, which is the backfiring of lightning. And the lightning group here is really important because this part of Florida is the most lightning-active region in the United States,” said professor Daniel Batcheldor, interim head of the physics and space sciences department. “He was a little bit older, as well, he was 24,” said Batcheldor. “So he had a more developed sense of self than a lot of freshman have. He was very sure of himself, he knew what he wanted to do, he was driven, he knew how to ask for help. He had that balance down very well. So it was refreshing to have a student that knew exactly what he wanted.”
Nate talked about how he looked up to his brother, and he viewed him as a genius. “He was just that kind of person that once he got something started, he would never stop until he perfected that field,” said Nate. “He was somebody that inspired me, and I was always looking forward to seeing what he was going to do next.” His second job was at Sears, where he was an auto mechanic. “I called him my favorite mechanic, because he would work on my car. Whenever anything went wrong with my car, he’d be the first one to fix it,” said Elizabeth Starling, friend and a member of the Secular Student Alliance. “He worked on everybody’s cars in this department.” He was the president of the Secular Student Alliance, and he held passionate secular beliefs. His mother jokingly said at his memorial that he would often get into long debates, usually inappropriately and usually on Facebook, about atheism and religion.
“You know, he was always excited to have meetings and do something special. Like this year, he put together this graveyard of the Gods for Halloween,” said Starling. “All down Crawford lawn there were these gravestones of all the different Gods from all of the different mythologies and history with the influence they’ve had on culture today.” He’d spent hours putting it together and sticking them in the ground, just to “do something ridiculous,” Starling said. “Passionate, I guess, is the biggest word that comes to mind with him.” Spiva’s wife, Suzy, had an estate sale and will now be moving in with Nick’s family. “My mom is actually still in Florida with Susan, moving all the stuff to Idaho. She’s going to live with us. She’s family to us. She really is like the sister in the family,” said Nate. There is a youcaring.com fundraiser online, held by the Spiva family, to help raise funds for his wife Suzy and the memorial. v
In memorium It is with much sadness that we announce the loss of staff member Phil Martinez. Martinez was the Registration Process Coordinator in our Continuing Education Department. He had worked for the university since 2013, and was an engaging young man who always wanted to make things better. He will be remembered for his warm personality and his smile. Our condolences go out to his family, friends and colleagues. Martinez passed away unexpectedly on Sunday, Nov. 16. Martinez bonded with his friends and colleagues through his love of music. He played video games and board games with his friends and colleagues, and always sparked happiness in those around him. May he rest in peace.
Two new ways to get a seat in that filled class. Go to page 4.