Issue 8 • Volume 125 Thursday, Oct. 25, 2018 www.thesandspur.org
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driving students to the polls Democracy Project aims for at least 50% student voter turnout for the midterms
By Caroline Klouse
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cklouse@rollins.edu
he Democracy Project at Rollins has registered over 250 students this semester. Through voting simulations, tabling events, and attending classes, this non-partisan political organization is gearing up for the upcoming midterm elections. They hope to reach their goal of having 50 percent of the student body make it to the polls on or before election day on Nov. 6, which is over 30 percent higher than the national college student turnout in the 2014 midterms. In 2014, the rate was only 18 percent. There are two main barriers that stand in the way of student voting. The first is “educating students on the compelling reasons why it is so important they
vote in the first place,” said Dr. MacKenzie Moon Ryan, assistant professor of Art History. The second barrier is getting students to physically show up at the polls or send in their absentee ballots. According to Frances Asbury (‘19), a coordinator from the Democracy Project, they
INSIDE Page 4-5 ‣ Everything you need to
know about amendments will be tackling that first barrier by “hosting early voting drives from Oct. 22 to Nov. 4 to get students to the polls before Election Day.” The Democracy Project wants to inform students on the candidates and their platforms. Asbury said that “when students realize that the policies that politicians implement actually affect
us, and that we can have a say in those policies, students do go out to vote.” Earlier this month, they held a voting simulation where students could practice filling out a ballot and learn about the various candidates and their positions. Approximately 70 first-year students engaged in the simulation, according to Ryan. The League of Women Voters, a historic civic organization, was in attendance helping students register and explaining the 12 amendments on the ballot. The Democracy Project’s efforts will not cease on Election Day, when they will be running buses to and from the polls every hour on the hour. After voting is over, they, in conjunction with Rollins Entertainment Programs, will host an Election Watch Party in Dave’s Boathouse. ‣ See VOTING Page 7
Hurricane Michael hits home for two first-year students
Complete destruction to grandparent’s home, a place filled with memories By Maura Leaden
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mleaden@rollins.edu
Bryant said. She also remembered fighting with her siblings over playing on the computer in the backroom. It is hard for her other family members, too. “My uncle, he called me… crying. And I don’t ever, like, hear or see my uncle crying, but... that’s the house he grew up in, so he was really upset,” said Bryant. Bryant’s parents live in Niceville, approximately 50 miles west of Panama City, and their home fared well in the
storm. While her parents were safe, her grandparents did not have time to evacuate before Hurricane Michael hit the panhandle on Oct. 13. Overnight, the storm changed from a Category 2 hurricane to a Category 4. It was only two miles per hour shy of a Category 5 and was the largest hurricane to ever hit Florida’s panhandle, according to an online Time article. ‣ See HURRICANE Page 8
he roof of the one-story house in Panama City is caving in and splinters of wood poke out. The planks of wood the homeowners used to board up the windows in preparation for the hurricane hang helplessly like loose shutters. Damp pink insulation covers all of the furniture inside. This is what the Panama City home of Raiven Bryant’s (‘22) grandparents looked like after Hurricane Michael. The physical structure of the home was completely destroyed, stealing away many childhood memories Bryant made there, she said. The house had been in their family for more than 40 years. “[I] learned how to shuffle cards in the living room of that house. After that I always wanted to play cards when we would visit my grandparents,” Raiven Bryant’s grandparent’s Panama City home. (Photo courtesy of Raiven Bryant)
Graphic by Anastasia Rooke
WiFi troubles continue to plague campus Despite an increase in funds for Wi-Fi, service provider issues cause connection problems, according to IT By Heather Borochaner
hborochaner@rollins.edu
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he mass Wi-Fi problems that the Rollins community has dealt with this fall are due to the campus internet service provider, CenturyLink, not upholding service deals and bugs getting into the software, according to Troy Thomason, chief information officer and assistant vice president of the Office of Information Technology (IT). Campus frustration grew when returning students and faculty faced a wide range of WiFi connection problems, causing disruptions in many classes and chaos for student assignments. Thomason said that many of the connection issues at the start of the semester were vendor-related, meaning that the companies who supply the tech
equipment that supports the WiFi were not delivering what was promised. These disruptions, however, are being fixed, according to Thomason. “There were software bugs on the routers and our [Internet Service Provider], which for Rollins is currently CenturyLink, wouldn’t give us what we paid for,” said Thomason. CenturyLink openly advertises its use on college campuses on its website, promising “high-speed, on-demand networking to power education.” “We’re holding vendors accountable and trying to get out of our current contract with them, but it’s a slow process,” said Thomason. Currently, IT is evaluating new vendors. “Unfortunately, the timing with the beginning of the semester was bad,” Thomason said. ‣ See WiFi Page 3