MINARET UNIVERSITY OF TAMPA’S NEWS SOURCE SINCE 1933
THE Vo l u m e
80
Number
7
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October
10,
2013
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ut.minaret@gmail.com
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theminaretonline.com
USF Incidents Trigger Concerns About Campus Emergency Procedures By JESSE LONG News Writer
Danielle Natalie, a student at the University of South Florida, was walking to class when she received a text alert about a suspect with a gun on campus. “I was on my way to a chemistry exam, which was across the street from the shooting, and it had not been canceled,” said Natalie, a USF Biology major with a minor in psychology. According to Fox 13 News, it started on Sept. 20 just after 1:30 p.m. when a man, possibly carrying a gun, was reported jumping a fence between the Shriner’s Hospital and Moffitt Cancer Center. It was about 10 to 20 minutes after this, that Natalie received the text alert. “I think that it was as effective as it could be, although it’d be awesome if we had some sort of warning that’s visible while walking around campus, for the people that don’t have cell phones to warn them or who aren’t signed up for the text service,” Natalie said. This wasn’t the first time that Natalie received a text concerning an issue on campus. A few weeks ago there were
incidents of rape that happened on the USF campus, and she was alerted of each of them. Another safety precaution put in place at USF is the Blue Light Alarm System. There are areas where students can pick up the phone and immediately call security. “There are blue lights all over campus within maybe 50 feet of each other, so if I ever ran into trouble I could use my phone or one of those,” Natalie said. On the UT campus there are many programs that have been installed to protect students and provide them a safe learning environment. UT security has been an ongoing concern among students due to the fact that the campus is right by downtown Tampa. GraceMarie Schian, a freshman and undecided major at UT, feels that the openness of the campus to the public is a big concern. “Many of the buildings on campus are easily accessible to outsiders,” Schian said. “Also, for the buildings that do require a scan in, people could See SECURITY Page 4
Casey Budd/The Minaret Campus Safety is working to keep UT safe from potential emergency situations in light of recent USF incidents.
ROTC Cadets’ Training Affected by Government Shutdown By KHADIJAH KHAN News Writer
As the U.S. entered the second week of the government shut down, a solid solution still hasn’t been found. As time goes on, there are more and more people, including students, being affected. At UT, the shutdown has started to take a toll on R.O.T.C. [Reserve Officer Training Corps] program. The government shut down on Oct. 1 for the first time in nearly two decades when the House of Representatives and the Senate couldn’t come to a consensus on the government budget. This shutdown caused several landmarks, monuments and museums along with the nation’s 400 national parks to be shut down.
I.R.S tax refunds have also been suspended, and new home loans from the federal government housing administration have stopped processing. Almost all of NASA has been shut down, and the E.P.A has also lost about 94 percent of their workforce according to The New York Times, The Washington Post and several other news outlets. “The Government shutdown has had some minor effects on our program,” said Kevin Kelly, professor of military science. “Luckily it does not impact our academic process at all. All classes are being conducted as usual with no impact to the Cadets or students. We have had to cancel
University of Tampa ROTC/Facebook
University of Tampa ROTC cadets prepare to perform troop leading procedures in a lab.
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one field Training Exercise due to no funds authorized.” Some students were upset because this was the first time a training exercise had been cancelled in years. “As a member of the ROTC for three years, we have never canceled any training until this past week,” said senior and sports management major Russell Wagner. “We have spent the last six weeks training vigorously for our field training exercise but due to the government shutdown, we were unable to come up with the necessary funds that the training required.” Two R.O.T.C employees, the supply technician and the human resources liaison, haven’t been able to work. The rest of the R.O.T.C program is made up of army active duty soldiers. “Our civilian employees who deal with our equipment supply and human resources haven’t been able to work since the government shutdown,” Wagner said. “Some cadets’ pay will be pushed back now until our civilian employees can return to the office.” Some students, though not in R.O.T.C, had very strong opinions on the government shutdown and were less than impressed with the way the government has handled this situation.
“When I heard about the government shutdown, I was disappointed that the people we elect to be our leaders could not come to a mutual agreement. I think it makes our government look weak. That’s just my take on it,” said Tyler Barrett, UT sophomore and Government and World Affairs major. While the R.O.T.C. program has faced minor struggles, so have members concerned with graduation. Some seniors are scared of how this will affect them after graduation if the shutdown continues. “If we were in a government shutdown after I graduate and commission in the U.S. army, it would definitely affect my development as a leader,” Wagner said. “Funds would be scarce and getting the proper training that a second lieutenant needs could possibly be hindered.” According to Kelly, R.O.T.C has gotten word that the two civilian employees who were furloughed this past week have officially been called back to work. “As of now there should be little impact except our ability to train,” Kelly said. “Once the government is back up and running we will be able to reschedule these events and get our cadets back on track.” Khadijah Khan can be reached at khadijah.khan@spartans.ut.edu
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News..................................2 Diversions.........................6 A+E....................................7 Opinion............................ 11
Sports..............................16