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VOL.20 | #6 | 2.15.2019 YOUR NEXT PROFESSOR COULD BE AN ARMY CAPTAIN

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TABLE OF CONTENTS VOL.20 | #6 | 2.15.2019

UPRESSONLINE.COM FACEBOOK.COM/UNIVERSITYPRESS @UPRESSONLINE ON THE COVER Captain Glass, a military science professor at FAU, salutes the ﬂag. Photo by Alex Rodriguez

News 4

WHO’S RUNNING FOR STUDENT GOVERNMENT OFFICE THIS YEAR? ASG will hold their elections at the end of the month. By Sophie Siegel and Israel Fontoura

TORTOISE TROUBLE The number of gopher tortoises on FAU’s ecological preserve has been steadily dropping off. And if they disappear, so do several other species. By Hope Dean and Israel Fontoura

THE COVENNE IS A LOCAL BAND COMPRISED OF SOME FAU STUDENTS AND ALUMNI WHO PERFORM WITCHCRAFT-LIKE ROUTINES ON STAGE. PHOTO BY MELANIE WINTHERUP

Features

Entertainment

MAKING CLOTHES THEIR FUTURE: RUNNING A BUSINESS AS A STUDENT Two FAU students are taking their careers into their own hands by creating and designing clothing brands. By Cameren Boatner

FURRY ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY Being a furry—or a dedicated fan of humanlike animal characters—at FAU is about having fun, not having a fetish. By Kristen Grau

ALLAN NALVAN, A FAU ALUMNI, SHOWS OFF HIS GAMEBOYS THAT HE USES AS INSTRUMENTS. PHOTO BY ALEX RODRIGUEZ

HEROES AMONG US: AN ARMY CAPTAIN COULD BE YOUR NEXT TEACHER Active duty army captains teach multiple courses that are available to all FAU students. By Ross Mellman

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MEET THE COVENNE The feminist punk trio from FAU is inspired by magic and makes it on stage for the audience to see. By Sophie Siegel

8-BIT BEATS Allan Nalven, an FAU alum, uses his Gameboy to create music — and plays it live to crowds of over 100 people. By Hope Dean

WHO IS SYKE? Nathan Labossiere is an FAU student who doubles as a rap artist — and he’s released ten professionally produced songs within the last seven months. By Lucien Griffin

Opinion 22

LEGALIZING RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA WILL PUT YOUR HEALTH AT RISK From increased risk of heart attacks to vomiting-induced illnesses, marijuana is not as safe as you think. By Stone Bloom

23 MARIO RODRIGUEZ (FURSONA: BARK DANGO) IS A FURRY THAT BELONGS TO SOUTHEAST FLORIDA FURS, A FURRY MEETUP GROUP. PHOTO BY HOPE DEAN

NATHAN LABOSSIERE IS AN FAU STUDENT GIVING US A LOOK AT HIS ALBUM ON SPOTIFY. PHOTO BY ALEX RODRIGUEZ

IT’S TIME TO LEGALIZE MARIJUANA IN FLORIDA Marijuana can be beneficial to our state’s current political and economic climate. By Pierce Trudeau

UP STAFF EDITOR IN CHIEF Sophie

Siegel

MANAGING EDITOR Ross

Mellman

CREATIVE DIRECTOR Melanie NEWS EDITOR Hope

Witherup

Dean

FEATURES EDITOR Kristen SPORTS EDITOR Wajih

Grau

AlBaroudi

BUSINESS MANAGER Kerri

Covington

STAFF WRITER Cameren

Boatner

CONTRIBUTORS Dan

Bartholomew Israel Fontoura Lucien Griffin Stone Bloom Pierce Trudeau Violet Castano Alexander Rodriguez Madison Borgel

JOHN KING OF SPICY WEAR DISPLAYS SOME OF HIS PRODUCTS. PHOTO BY VIOLET CASTANO WANT TO JOIN THE UP? Email: universitypress@gmail.com Staff meetings every Friday at 2 p.m. Student Union, Rm 214 WANT TO PLACE AN AD? For national/regional ads contact: Piper Jackson-Sevy ﬂytedesk inc. (970) 541-0894 piper@ﬂytedesk.com

PUBLISHER FAU Student Government The opinions expressed by the UP are not necessarily those of the student body, Student Government or FAU. ADDRESS 777 Glades Road Student Union, Room 214 Boca Raton, FL 33431 561.297.2960

ADVISERS Neil

Santaniello Ilene Prusher Michael Koretzky 2.15.2019 UNIVERSITY PRESS 3

NEWS

WHO’S RUNNING FOR STUDENT GOVERNMENT OFFICE THIS YEAR? SG will hold their elections at the end of the month. That means upcoming votes, debates, and maybe even some contestations. Here’s an update on who’s running and what can you expect from each candidate.

ISRAEL FONTOURA | CONTRIBUTING WRITER SOPHIE SIEGEL | EDITOR IN CHIEF

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PRESIDENT AND VP TICKETS

Last year, FAU saw scandals and impeachments in the SG elections. Now, we have a new election season ahead of us. Take a look below at who’s running. KEVIN BUCHANAN AND CELINE PERSAUD Buchanan currently serves as SG’s chief financial officer and Persaud currently serves as the associate director of COSO. Both are in Greek life — Buchanan previously served as the president of Pi Kappa Alpha. Persaud is currently in Alpha Delta Pi. “We want to advocate for the students and hear the changes they wish to see here at Florida Atlantic University,” Buchanan said. Buchanan has been involved with SG since his freshman year. “I had always wanted to run for president and make a change ever since joining, and I am elated to see what the future holds,” he said.

JONATHAN MARR AND KITANA THOMAS Marr previously served as the House secretary his freshman year, while Thomas, who’s currently the Ways and Means committee chair, joined the house over the summer. Marr isn’t currently in SG. Both candidates are junior political science majors. “I entered this university with the mindset to make a difference,” Marr said. “I advocated for Greek housing on campus, community outreach and development, the mental health of our students, and academic success.” As for his motivation to run, “balancing work and school, I understand the stresses that everyday students go through. Its experiences such as these that have motivated me to run for student body president.” Marr said he picked Thomas as his VP because they’re passionate about the same issues.

PHOTO COURTESY OF BUCHANAN’S INSTAGRAM PHOTO COURTESY OF THOMAS’S FACEBOOK COURTESY OF THE CAMPAIGN’S GOFUNDME

NEASHA PRINCE AND LEONA ROBINSON Prince and Robinson are both first-generation college students, according to their GoFundMe. Their platform involves increasing student and athletic involvement and getting FAU “back to the heart,” which is their campaign slogan. Neither of them are currently involved with SG. “Creating a change starts with the heart,” Prince said. “It starts with creating a solution or aid for our student homeless population, impacting our community, assisting DACA students, improving the quality of life for students on and off campus, and [increasing] student involvement.”

2.15.2019 UNIVERSITY PRESS 5

NEWS

BOCA GOVERNOR

Campus safety is at the forefront of the Boca Raton gubernatorial race. All three candidates connect on the safety issue, but what else do they agree on?

ELIJAH COLAS Colas is currently the SG multicultural director. The junior public administration major was a House Rep. last Spring. Colas’ platform includes more oncampus light posts, shooter preparedness, increased mental wellness and advocacy, better food on campus, implementing a student food bank, and establishing free school supplies and printing. “I am a self funded candidate,” Colas said.

JAVIER BRAVO Bravo, a junior finance major, serves as a House Rep. and Resident Assistant. His platform includes adding more on-campus light posts, putting security cameras in every parking lot, encouraging student involvement in campus organizations, hosting weekly campus events at night, and holding Student Government members accountable. “A Bravo administration would work hand in hand with FAU PD,” Bravo said in regards to campus safety. Bravo also wants to protect the burrowing owls on campus. “We have an on-campus burrowing owl reserve. They are an endangered species, and we should do more to protect them, after all, they are our mascot.” Bravo recently released on social media that he supports students juuling on campus. FAU is currently a tobacco free campus.

PHOTO COURTESY OF ELIJAH COLAS’S FACEBOOK PHOTO COURTESY OF JAVIER BRAVO PHOTO COURTESY OF ALEX ZAND’S FACEBOOK

ALEX ZAND Zand is a sophomore, double majoring in communication and political science. “I am currently in the process of setting up a meeting with FAUPD to discuss their ideas and suggestions on how I, as the next Governor, can make this campus safer,” Zand said. His platform includes strengthening school safety, expanding student opportunities, modernizing campus amenities, and funding student media platforms. “Funding for student media is among my major platform points,” Zand said. “Even though it is a university-wide issue I will become an advocate for this on Boca and give it the platform this issue needs.”

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JUPITER GOVERNOR SAVE THE DATE

NICHOLAS TYNDALL Tyndall is the only candidate who already holds office — he serves as the incumbent Jupiter Governor. His platform involves campus safety, improving FAU activities and events, and promoting Night Owls, a bike sharing program, and free coffee on the Jupiter campus. Tyndall said he’s “working with the FAU Police in Jupiter to enhance safety measures, such as installing cameras, getting new wide angle lights for around campus.” He also wants to promote the Uber program. Palak Shah is running against Tyndall for Jupiter Governor. We reached out to her for comment, but she did not respond as of publication time.

It’s not just election day that should be on your calendar. There are three gubernatorial debates as well as one presidential debate, where the candidates will talk in depth about their platforms.

Presidential Debate February 15 at 6 p.m. It will be held in the Boca Student Union’s Live Oak room, and will also be live-streamed on Facebook.

PHOTO COURTESY OF NICHOLAS TYNDALL’S FACEBOOK

SG Elections Feburary 26 from 12:01 a.m. – Feburary 27 until 11:59 p.m. You can vote on Owl Central.

PAST EVENTS Broward Gubernatorial February 11 at 6 p.m. It was held in the Broward SD Oasis. You can watch the live-stream on their Facebook.

Jupiter Gubernatorial February 12 at 6 p.m. It was held in the Jupiter campus SR Burrow. You can watch the live-stream on Facebook

Boca Gubernatorial Debate Feb. 13 at 6 p.m. It was held in the Boca Student Union’s Live Oak room. You can watch the live-stream on Facebook.

PHOTO COURTESY PALAK SHAH AND MELISSA CARASA’S FACEBOOK

THE OTHER GOVERNOR CANDIDATES Palak Shah is running against Tyndall. Melissa Carasa from the Broward campus is currently running unopposed. The UP reached out to Carasa and Shah and did not hear back in time for publication.

2.15.2019 UNIVERSITY PRESS 7

NEWS

TORTOISE TROUBLE The number of gopher tortoises on FAU’s ecological preserve has been steadily dropping off. And if they disappear, so do several other species.

HOPE DEAN | NEWS EDITOR ISRAEL FONTOURA | CONTRIBUTING WRITER

OR THE PAST FIVE YEARS, researchers haven’t been able to find gopher tortoise eggs on FAU’s ecological preserve. In 2014, there was nothing. In additional random sampling searches throughout the years, the result was the same. A nest was found in 2016, but it was filled with nothing but nine rotten eggs. There are over 350 other species on the preserve — including burrowing owls, mice, snakes, rabbits, frogs, and the occasional coyote. But none are as important as the gopher tortoise. There’s about 100 of them at FAU. Approximately nine to 11 inches long and weighing up to an average of 15 pounds, the stout reptile’s powerful legs act as shovels, scooping tunnels nearly 10 feet deep to escape the heat. Other animals use these burrows for shelter and survival, making the gopher tortoise a “keystone species” — but they’re also a threatened species, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Most of the tortoises at FAU are old, said Evelyn Frazier, a professor of ecology and entomology at FAU. She and her students have been studying the preserve since 2009, and during the last published count of tortoises in 2012, only seven young were found — not nearly enough to replace the elders. The results of newer studies haven’t fared much better, Frazier added. It doesn’t help that some students have run over pregnant tortoises, either. “It is possible that this population won’t sustain itself,” Frazier said.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF THE TORTOISES DISAPPEAR?

FAU has 19 species of vertebrates and hundreds of invertebrates that use the gopher tortoise burrows, according to Frazier — one being FAU’s mascot, the burrowing owl. Contrary to its name, the burrowing owl does not actually dig its own burrows. Instead, it takes advantage of the gopher tortoise’s home. So if the tortoises disappear, “most likely the burrowing owls will too because there will be nobody to make burrows for them,” Frazier said.

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GOPHER TORTOISES PROVIDE SHELTER AND RESOURCES FOR OTHER SPECIES AT FAU’S NATURE PRESERVE—BUT THE TORTOISES ARE IN DANGER. PHOTO COURTESY OF FAU

PRESERVING HISTORY The roots of FAU’s ecological preserve go back almost 80 years. In the 1940s, what is now FAU’s ecological preserve was a patch of ignored land between the runways and roads making up the Boca Raton Army Air Field, which aided the Allies during the Second World War. In the 1960s, FAU’s first professors began to take students into the unnamed space to observe and study wildlife. And in 2019 it’s the FAU Ecological Site, otherwise known as “the preserve.” All of this is according to associate professor of environmental history and FAU Conservation Committee member Susan Norman, who has been at the university since 1988. Her department has taken to calling her “the historian,” even though it’s not an official title, and she knows almost everything there is to know about the preserve — especially because she was there for its informal beginning. Although students and teachers have been taking advantage of the preserve since FAU’s beginning, it wasn’t established as a “preserve” until the late 1980s, which had a lot to do with an FAU faculty member named Dan Austin.

Austin was the “loud voice” who kickstarted the environmental committees and recruited people in the interest of the preserve, Norman said. The university only had about 9,000 students at that time, but he could see that it was growing and wanted to protect the land. “Dan was the one who said, ‘You know, we have a really nice spot here that we can do something with,’” she said. “If they were smart they would rename the preserve for Dan Austin.” FAU has taken “bites” out of the preserve since then, the biggest being its 120 acres to 90 acres downsize for the football stadium construction in 2011, but Norman says that the current administration understands the importance of the preserve. And due to its protected animal populations, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation keeps an eye on construction that would threaten the species, she added — although some have certainly tried to develop the land. “You get the planners who come in and say, ‘We can tear [the preserve] down and put dorms there’ … And we said, ‘Well, there’s this thing that we are an educational institution. And being able to actually engage in education is actually good.’ And tearing it down and putting in more dorms or athletic space or another stadium or this and that may look nice, but none of those things contribute to education,” Norman said, referring to “education” as the studies that students do in the preserve.

The other 18 species will be out of a place to live as well, Frazier added — and some of these groups are threatened or endangered. “The loss of so many species would drastically change the ecosystem. It’s not just about a cute, head-bobbing tortoise or his friends. It’s the impact on the ecosystem that is ultimately at stake here,” Park Naturalist and Manager of Deerfield Island Park Katherine Hendrickson said. But the fate of the gopher tortoises isn’t only a concern for the animals. Students will no longer have an accessible place to study wildlife in its natural habitat. “Other universities, they will have the research spaces, but they have to get in the cars and vans and drive off to them. Here, you walk across the street … It’s really rather unique among universities around here to have a living, working space of laboratory right on campus,” Susan Norman, an associate professor who specializes in environmental studies at FAU, said.

WHY ARE THE TORTOISES DISAPPEARING?

Nobody knows for sure why the tortoise population is declining, but researchers have a few guesses.

LACK OF LAND One theory is that the population is overcrowded, which can put stress on the females and cause them to “retain,” or simply not lay the eggs, Frazier said. The preserve used to be 120 acres, but the construction of the FAU football stadium in 2011 bit into the land, shrinking it to 90 acres. It may be even smaller than that in the future. FAU has a Conservation Committee that meets bimonthly to manage the campus’ habitat land, and they have considered taking out another portion of the preserve to build more parking lots, according to Norman, who is a committee member.

LACK OF CONTROLLED BURNS In other preserves, the scrubland is set on fire to thin out large expanses of canopy and stabilize the environment for the tortoises. However, because of how close the FAU football stadium, Boca Raton airport, and Glades road are to the grounds, it is nearly impossible to go through with it. As an alternative, the preserve is mechanically cleared to thin out foliage. These methods remove all food sources, requiring tortoises to put their energy toward scavenging a meal when they should be using that energy to find a mate, protect themselves from perceived dangers, or obtain other necessities, Hendrickson said.

EXTREME HEAT Another possibility is that, with global climate change, Florida’s already blistering heat is only getting hotter, killing the tortoises before they hatch. One of the nine rotten eggs found in 2016 “was cooked through like a chicken egg,” Frazier said. By 2055, the temperature in Florida will likely be over 95 degrees Fahrenheit for more than 50 days of the year, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

High temperatures normally aren’t an issue for grown tortoises, but they can dictate which species are living in an ecosystem, according to Hendrickson. And if they aren’t friendly to the tortoises, it can be a problem.

PREDATION

The heat doesn’t matter if the eggs are being eaten before the sun can get to them. “The higher temperatures do allow new species to move into habitats that they normally wouldn’t have been comfortable in and thus they become another predator for the tortoise to deal with. Whether these new species are direct predators and eat the tortoise eggs or just eat very similar food, each of these issues can greatly impact the gopher tortoise,” she said. Frazier and her team often find eggshell fragments around the preserve, but they don’t know which species is doing the predation. They think it could be the visiting coyotes, however. They have placed cameras by 12 burrows in the preserve, and they see coyotes sniffing around them all of the time. However, they could just be looking for the rabbits that share the burrows with the tortoises. As of right now, there’s no way to tell, Frazier said.

WHAT ARE PEOPLE DOING TO HELP?

Both seasoned researchers and college students are doing their share to prop up the gopher tortoise population.

PROFESSIONALS To solidify better regulations and rules for South Florida gopher tortoises, Frazier is teaming up with other biologists around the state to prove that these tortoises are genetically distinct from others, and therefore require special protection from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Committee. The strongest evidence of this is that gopher tortoises in South Florida do not hibernate, while others in the state and around the country do, Frazier said. Florida’s climate allows the tortoises to be active year-round. Most studies of gopher tortoises are done in northern Florida, while the southern tortoises go neglected, wildlife biologist Steve Whitfield from Zoo Miami, who also specializes in conservation and research, said. He first met Frazier at Florida’s Gopher Tortoise Council, and they joined forces to study the tortoises. “Because Southern Florida, particularly the coastal counties, are so well-developed, people assumed that any tortoises that lived down here had been wiped out decades ago. And what we find through South Florida is when we have these little urban parks, they often tend to have tortoises still in them. So they’re not completely gone — at least, not yet,” he said. Along with the lack of hibernation, the studies look to answer several other questions: which plants are the tortoises eating? Is their breeding season the same as others, or is it affected by South Florida’s heat? How many tortoises are there? How much habitat do they use? “The future of tortoises as Florida continues to develop is to live in more and more habitat patches surrounded by suburban and urban areas,” Whitfield said. “Our hope is that studying these tortoises in Miami will help us kind of understand what we need

to do to protect tortoises around the state as the state becomes more urban in the future.”

STUDENTS Not everything is being left to the professionals, however. FAU students are pitching in, too. With grants from FAU’s Office of Undergraduate Research — $600 for individuals and $1,200 for groups — some will track six female gopher tortoises with radio transmitters and sample “every single inch” of the area that they’re in for a whole year, Frazier said. This will help them understand where the eggs are being laid and find out what is happening to them. And another student group dedicated to the preserve is SEEDS, or the Strategies for Ecology Education, Diversity & Sustainability. SEEDS is an on-campus ecology club focused on sustainability and conservation efforts, and they have been responsible for clearing and maintaining Tortuga trail since 2011, which makes it easier for students to access the preserve. Outside the classroom, Frazier is one of their advisors. One of SEEDS’ missions is to educate FAU students about the preserve because most students are completely unaware of its existence, SEEDS Vice President Rousse Bidon said. “Being in SEEDS and learning about the tortoises, I got really interested in the environment and ecology,” Bidon said. “[Tortoises] are endangered and on our campus, so it kind of shows how human involvement contributes to the downfall of animals.” But ultimately, members like SEEDS Treasurer Estanfania Abbate believe “we can do something about it.” SEEDS hosts annual events to encourage student engagement in favor of the preserve. Last year they held a Halloween-themed pumpkin carving and composting event and tested out a “Fun Run” along the preserve’s trails. They also encourage students to remember that the preserve is there for the animals, not the people — because although many don’t know about the grounds, some are a little too familiar with them. Students have made campfires out of the preserve’s wooden benches and signs. Others harass the animals, often with dogs who will make a beeline for the gopher tortoise burrows and dig around them, Norman said. The preserve is also no stranger to trash, especially with the FAU football stadium in close proximity. “There is a lot of evidence of people littering on the preserve … I went out there one time, there was this big dumpster [overflowing] with trash, and there was probably 50 vultures circling. They hire people to clean up after the tailgate, and they don’t seem to be doing a very good job of it,” SEEDS President Avery Knoll said. Knoll also said she has found drug paraphernalia on the grounds. Members of SEEDS ultimately hope that FAU will show more care toward the preserve, inform the students of its existence, and make it an important part of the campus. “It’s part of our university. It’s what makes us special,” Abbate said.

2.15.2019 UNIVERSITY PRESS 9

FEATURES

MAKING CLOTHES THEIR FUTURE: RUNNING A BUSINESS AS A STUDENT

Two FAU students are taking their careers into their own hands by creating and designing clothing brands. CAMEREN BOATNER | STAFF WRITER PHOTOS BY VIOLET CASTANO

ITH OPPORTUNITIES to show off their work at pop-up shops and festivals across South Florida, FAU students are starting their own small businesses in fashion. While creating and designing clothing is their dream, every entrepreneur — young or old — faces some bumps in the road. Here are two students, Julia Cataldo and John King, who are making their dreams into their future careers.

PEPPY DEBS Julia Cataldo’s life was left in shambles after her mother died in May 2016 while she was finishing her freshman year at FAU. She said she felt lost, and as if she was losing sight of everything. She wanted to pick up a hobby to get her out of her rut. So, Cataldo taught herself to crochet and sew, imagining the clothes her mother wore when she was young. What the 22-year-old journalism major ended up creating a year later was her own clothing line of retro, vintage, and upcycled clothing called “Peppy Debs,” named after her mom. She sells her clothing across the country and hopes to turn it into her fulltime job after she graduates. The only problem is, some people don’t take her passion seriously.

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CATALDO OFTEN LEAVES HER FINISHED PRODUCTS SPRAWLED ACROSS HER BED.

“People don’t really understand that I run everything myself. And that’s one of the biggest challenges, it’s a one-woman show. I’m not Forever 21. It’s just little old me in my bedroom,” Cataldo said. “On the one hand, I do want to get a real job and have a secure salary … but at the same time, I’d love to take Peppy Debs to the next level. Make it a full-time thing. But when I told my dad that, he laughed in my face.” It took her six months to build up her brand to where she was making profits off her work, and instead of running bids over Instagram like she did in the beginning, she has her own website where customers can order the clothing she makes. Now, she’ll post around ten items at a time, and they normally sell out within three days. She makes around $400 for one round of clothing.

THE FIGHT AGAINST “FAST FASHION” Cataldo is a believer in sustainable fashion, which is “clothing, shoes, and accessories that are manufactured, marketed and used in the most sustainable manner possible, taking into account both environmental and socio-economic aspects,” according to consulting firm Green Strategy. Fast fashion, or mass produced clothing, is the opposite of sustainable fashion — it’s really bad for the environment. To make Peppy Debs sustainable, Cataldo buys pieces from thrift shops for cheap and transforms them into something new and trendy. “People don’t realize that stores like Forever 21 and Urban Outfitters and PacSun are all fast fashion retailers, and the textile industry is actually the second largest pollutant behind the oil industry, but people don’t realize that when they’re buying their clothes,” she said. “So just by thrift shopping alone, I really value creating something out of clothes that are already out there.” She finds name brand clothes and gives them makeovers to then sell for an average of $30 a piece.

WHO’S DEB BEHIND “PEPPY DEBS”? Cataldo has a photo collage on the wall of her and her mother, her friends, and a drawn map of everywhere she’s sold clothes to in the U.S. Sprawled across her bed are some of the clothes she’s made. Sitting in her room, looking at the photos and her creations, Cataldo thinks about how she got here. The biggest reason... “My mom. One of the reasons why I started it was because she was my fashion inspiration. She could wear boy clothes and knew how to put all the different styles together and make it cool. When I’m sad and I miss her I just remember that she’d be so proud, and she would be my number one cheerleader,” she said. Cataldo says Peppy Debs started as a hobby, and nothing came together quickly. It took her a while to perfect her craft — she said she messed up a lot of pieces at first. But through all of the trial and error it took her, she knew her mom was there with her. “The truth is, no one is an expert overnight. Even the people that are so good at something had to start from

somewhere. That’s what I try to tell myself when I mess up on something,” she said. But the toughest and most stressful trials are the ones Cataldo finds the most humbling. “I get so caught up in running my own business and going to classes and being a student that sometimes I have to sit back and look at what I’ve done, and all that I’ve created,” she said. “There’s people all over the country that sit by their phones and wait to buy my clothes, and it’s crazy because I’ve dreamed of that since I was a little girl.” Check out Cataldo’s clothing at PeppyDebs.com.

King says the next step is to bring his clothing to malls. He’s also working on a swimwear and gym line. He says the most surreal part of the job is seeing people feel good in clothes he designs. “It makes me so happy to see people around FAU wearing Spicy. That’s what I’m in it for. I don’t care about the money. I want people to love it,” King said. Check out King’s clothing at SpicyWearClothing.com.

SPICY WEAR John King first thought of starting a clothing brand in high school. He had designs of the items he wanted to make and would ask his classmates which ones they liked in surveys. Now, he’s making those goals a reality. The 20-year-old marketing major started Spicy Wear in summer 2017. What began with a hat and t-shirt, both donning the pepper logo, turned into an entire clothing line and lifestyle brand. In the beginning, King would try to sell his clothing at FAU, but it didn’t immediately go over smoothly. “I would post up in the Breezeway with my little popup shops and try to sell my clothes, and at first people thought it was a joke. People didn’t take it seriously. You can’t expect everyone to like your things. But honestly, their friends are probably wearing Spicy Wear now,” King said. Now, King runs his brand out of his dorm. His living room is filled with boxes and racks of hoodies, tank tops, t-shirts, hats, shipping equipment, and a photography set up. “Every month, sales are increasing, and really I’m just doing this myself. I always said I wanted to be an entrepreneur, and I’ve always been into clothing, style, and what makes a top clothing brand. And I love the satisfaction of someone feeling good in something they buy,” King said. He got the idea for the brand from a certain look he pegged as “spicy,” which led to the pepper on all his clothes — although some people thought he was representing Chili’s, he said. After he perfected his logo, King took to social media to build his brand and find inspiration for his designs. “I really look at trends and I study Instagram. It’s a great tool to see trends and what women like. You have to know what people are looking for. I really like to absorb everything I look at,” King said. And as for the designs themselves, he’s very particular. King says you’re not going to see “crazy, huge designs” on his clothes. “The Spicy Wear brand is in the name, and I think that’s different from a lot of upcoming clothing brands. They’re all very loud. I like to keep mine clean and simple,” he said. To further build his customer base, King studied web design and social media marketing to build an online strategy that worked for him. Now, the Spicy Wear Instagram has almost 5,000 followers.

JOHN KING RUNS HIS CLOTHING BRAND OUT OF HIS DORM.

ALL OF CATALDO’S PRODUCTS ARE THRIFTED AND SUSTAINABLE.

PEPPY DEBS, CATALDO’S BUSINESS, IS NAMED AFTER HER LATE MOTHER. A PHOTO COLLEGE OF THEM TOGETHER DECORATES THE WALL BEHIND HER. 2.15.2019 UNIVERSITY PRESS 11

FEATURES

FURRY ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY

Being a furry—or a dedicated fan of humanlike animal characters—at FAU is about having fun, not having a fetish. KRISTEN GRAU | FEATURES EDITOR Editor’s Note: Some sources are anonymous or go by altered names in this story to protect their identities.

“

MY LITTLE PONY was it for me,” Joey DeCelles said. “That was the beginning of the end.” The animated children’s show about wide-eyed ponies that live in an anthropomorphic utopia is what DeCelles, who is a junior communications major at FAU, believes turned him into a furry. “Furries,” he said, are people with an infatuation for anthropomorphic animals — which are human-like animals like mascots or cartoon characters. Those who don’t enjoy dressing up as anything from a bird to a sloth fall usually fall into two categories: People who could never fathom such a thing and, as a study from the journal “Society and Animals” found, people who think it’s a great mental disorder. And whether you know it or not, the community is present at FAU. DeCelles, like most furries, goes by an alter ego called a “fursona.” Fursonas aren’t simply a name — they’re either a real or fictional animal with their own likes, dislikes, and features. To display these, furries typically either commission an artist to do a digital drawing of their furry, or order full (or partial) customized body suits that resemble those of mascots. “My fursona is like a guardian for me,” Skyler, an art major who preferred to use her fursona instead of her real name, said. “It’s like the universe is taking care of something for me.”

THE WORLD OF FURRIES Furries at FAU like Skyler, whose fursona is a house cat, argue that their community is just like any other “fandom,” or fan community. But instead of rallying

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THREE MEMBERS OF THE SOUTHEAST FLORIDA FURRIES, WHICH RECENTLY PEAKED AT 500 MEM LEZ (FURSONA: BELLA SUGAR), GENNA WEBBER (FURSONA: ZARØ), MARIO RODRIGUEZ (FURSON

around a tangible fad, they rally around a concept for fun. Skyler thinks furries aren’t going anywhere anytime soon because of this. “The fandom isn’t based on a TV show or a book … It’s the individuals in the community,” she said. The individual-driven community flourishes online and at annual furry conventions, often called “FurCons.” These conventions are a hub for furries — a place to buy art, mingle, and meet new furries within the confines of a judgment-free zone. There were a handful of major national conventions

MBERS ONLINE. LEFT TO RIGHT AMELIA GONZANA: BARK DANGO). PHOTO BY KRISTEN GRAU

that attract thousands of furries, especially in 2018. The most-attended last year was MidWest FurFest in Illinois, which attracted nearly 11,000 people, according to the convention’s social media. Another notable convention last year was Anthrocon in Pittsburgh, which rang in 8,407 attendees, the organization also said on social media. But DeCelles believes that not every convention worth going to needs to have a five-figure turnout. As a regular participant in local furry meets like Southeast Florida Furs, which lists 500 members online, he says that the experience is the same. “I’ve met friends [at furry meets] that I wouldn’t have met under any other circumstance,” he said.

NO, IT’S NOT A “FETISH” Furry sex is what one FAU furry, “Alex” — an opossum character who chose to remain anonymous in both name and fursona — calls the “elephant in the room.” The “main misconception,” they said, is that being a furry means you have a twisted fetish. Part of the reason that this misconception is common is because of portrayals of furries on television and the internet. One such portrayal was an infamous episode of “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” called “Fur and Loathing.” In the episode, a furry is alleged to be a murderer and is brought in for an interrogation. The cops’ line of questioning eventually leads him to admit that he, at some point in the crime’s timeline, participated in a “furpile,” defined as “when all the animals start rubbing and wiggling.” Furries argue that not only are these portrayals unrepresentative of the community, but they also have unfortunate consequences. “I had an ex and I was showing him how much I love opossums, and I was showing him a [group of photos] I had on Tumblr… and because my fursona is an opossum, I had a drawing there and he was such a dick about it, honestly,” Alex said. “He took my computer from me and he locked himself in the restroom … It just made me feel really bad … He immediately jumped to the sexual thing and asked, ‘Is this a sexual thing for you?’ He went so far as to imply bestiality.” Bestiality is defined as sexual relations between a human and animal, according to Merriam-Webster. Most furries are part of the fandom for genuinely platonic reasons. According to the International Anthropomorphic Research Project (IARP), most males and females said they were “not at all” influenced by sex or porn to be a furry.

‘STARVING ARTISTS’ One of the unifying forces of the furry community is the art that makes fursonas possible. All furries can describe their fursona in terms of personality and a few specific traits — but transforming that abstract aesthetic into a concrete representation takes a lot of effort and money. Those representations typically take on one of two forms: digital art or customized animal costumes, much

like Owlsley and other mascots. Although the latter may seem more sensational, it’s not all that common. The IARP found that less than 15 percent of furries own a full “fursuit,” as the outfits are called. This is probably because high-quality full fursuits run upwards of $2,000, which is “lowballing it,” said DeCelles, whose girlfriend has made several full fursuits for people. “They can take her weeks or even months to make,” he said. “But a fursuit is a luxury, not a necessity.” Because not many furries opt for a full fursuit, the artists who make them usually can’t make a living in that line of work. That’s why they sometimes also create “partial” fursuits, which are paraphernalia like ears, paws, and tails. According to the same IARP study, over 70 percent of furries own partial suits. However, Alex said that partial suits can be “dirt cheap.” “Some commissions that took roughly four hours’ worth of work [were sold for] $10,” they said. So furry creators often find themselves in an economic dilemma: should they make elaborate full fursuits that are out of reach for most, or make paraphernalia that are financially realistic but worth much less? “They’re the classic starving artists,” DeCelles said. But suits aren’t the only way furries spend their money. Furcons often raise money for animal shelters and other animal-friendly organizations. Last year, Anthrocon raised $42,051 for a dog daycare center called South Hills Pet Rescue in Pennsylvania, and the Midwest FurFest raised over $92,000 for a literacy advocacy group called SitStayRead, according to the respective organizations.

‘DON’T BE A JERK’ A furry having their significant other accuse them of bestiality isn’t the worst discriminatory act that’s happened within the community. During the Midwest FurFest in 2014, 19 furries were rushed to the hospital after coming in contact with chlorine gas. USA Today reported that authorities believed this was an intentional crime. But despite this, furries try to remain optimistic because they know what they’re doing is “inherently silly,” DeCelles said. His reasoning: there’s nowhere else you can watch “blue dogs break dancing” to electro-swing music than at FurCons. Skyler added that bowling in fursuits is also a common furry rite of passage. “We embrace the weird … We say to hell with the people who think low of us,” DeCelles said. They embrace it because, as Alex argues, the community and the friendships cultivated are well worth the weird looks and sexual stereotypes. “I’ve had friends for over a decade now who have been with me through thick and thin,” they said. “It’s amazing that people can create this connection through something as absurd as anthropomorphized animals … I’m not going to say it’s not weird. Just don’t be a jerk.”

FEATURES

AN ARMY CAPTAIN COULD BE YOUR NEXT TEACHER

Active duty army captains teach multiple courses that are available to all FAU students. ROSS MELLMAN | MANAGING EDITOR

ROM FIGHTING in the battlefields of Afghanistan to teaching in a classroom at FAU, U.S. Army Captains, Shantel Glass and Jose Hernandez, have never stopped giving back to their country. When you arrive to your first day of class in the Military Science department, you will see that your teacher is dressed in a full military uniform, and you will hear other students reply to the teacher by saying “yes sir.” While your first reaction may be to think that you signed up for the wrong course, or have walked into the wrong building, you have indeed shown up to the right place. Courses offered in the Military Science Department are taught by active duty U.S. Army captains. They offer courses varying from leadership to history, and they’re available to all FAU students regardless of one’s major.

MEET YOUR PROFESSORS CAPTAINS Captain Shantel Glass, a Mississippi native who has been an engineer in the army for 13 years and deployed seven times, is an instructor of the U.S. Military History course.

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Having traveled to over 30 countries during his time both in the military and as a collegiate athlete, Captain Glass acknowledged that being in the military has enabled him to see many different perspectives. One of Captain Glass’ main efforts as an instructor is to prevent students from jumping to conclusions too quickly. That is why he makes an active effort to challenge students to gain their own perspective by reading multiple sources. “The best way to understand something is by reading several sources, which is why I love history. I can read about the civil war for five years and never read every source because there’s over 10,000 books written,” he said. He stressed the fact that history can be taught from many different viewpoints, and that his role is to enable students to become independent thinkers. For students entering the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program who will eventually become officers in the military, Captain Glass said that military history “provides them with a unique skill set. You know when to adapt, when to make a decision on whether to stay with, or discontinue their course of action.” The ability to adapt is a point that he often harks back to when teaching, as he mentions that not every scenario can always be answered or responded to ‘by the book’. Yet Captain Glass said that military history is also important to learn for people who will not enter the military, and described the dangers of a society that is unaware of its roots. “We’re living in a time where history has to be elevated to another level of importance in our school system because a lot of individuals don’t understand the country that they live in,” he said. His personal connection to his hometown, family

history, and his curiosity about the painful past of American slavery helped him appreciate the importance of military history. “I’m from the South, my hometown is still segregated … a lot of people don’t even understand that what occurred during the civil war still matters today,” he said. “When you don’t have history, the next generation never understands their culture, their society, their national history.” Captain Jose Hernandez, who was sent to Afghanistan after only 90 days in the army, served multiple deployments in the Middle East and in South America. He is also an instructor for the U.S. Military History course. As someone who participated in an ROTC program during his time as an undergraduate at American University, Captain Hernandez realized the influential role that an instructor can have on their students. “I put my instructors on a pedestal; they groomed me and molded me into who I am today. Now I really want to be a mentor to young officers because I want to return the favor,” he said. Captain Hernandez said that it was only in the past few years that he realized how important courses about military history can be to future officers in the army. “I was never a fan of military history as a kid. In college I never learned it. I’ve realized that I wish I would’ve taken a course like this because the information could have been applied. There’s things that I can come across that past lessons could teach me,” he said. In class, he often advises the students to make connections between past and present events, and he reiterates his belief that “history doesn’t always repeat itself, but it definitely rhymes.”

“I LEARNED THAT HISTORY DOESN’T ALWAYS REPEAT ITSELF, BUT IT DEFINITELY RHYMES.” -CAPTAIN HERNANDEZ, INSTRUCTOR OF U.S. MILITARY HISTORY.

CAPTAIN JOSE HERNANDEZ, DRESSED IN FULL UNIFORM, SITS AT HIS DESK IN THE ROTC BUILDING. PHOTO BY KRISTEN GRAU

“I’M FROM THE SOUTH, MY HOMETOWN IS STILL SEGREGATED … A LOT OF PEOPLE DON’T EVEN UNDERSTAND THAT WHAT OCCURRED DURING THE CIVIL WAR STILL MATTERS TODAY. WHEN YOU DON’T HAVE HISTORY THE NEXT GENERATION NEVER UNDERSTANDS THEIR CULTURE, THEIR SOCIETY, THEIR NATIONAL HISTORY.” - CAPTAIN GLASS, INSTRUCTOR OF U.S. MILITARY HISTORY. CAPTAIN SHONTEL GLASS AIMS TO SHOW STUDENTS NEW PERSPECTIVES AFTER BEING DEPLOYED TO OVER 30 COUNTRIES. PHOTO BY ALEX RODRIGUEZ

FEATURES For FAU students who aren’t in ROTC, Captain Hernandez believes that the leadership styles and planning processes taught during his course “can absolutely be applied outside of the army because these are attributes necessary to obtain leadership positions in competitive companies.” While acknowledging that his military background makes him different from other teachers on campus, Captain Hernandez stated that “I wouldn’t say that we’re better or worse than other teachers on campus. Our military experience helps us apply the information to the cadets … We could take a textbook and teach military tactics all day, but the experience we have from learning it first hand is by far the most important.”

A UNIQUE CLASSROOM EXPERIENCE In accordance with both instructors’ commitment to teach their students leadership, their courses focus on everything from the Revolutionary War to modern-day terrorism.

A typical examination of a battle will include a brief summary lecture on the events leading up to the battle, along with a video of how it unfolded. Students are then asked to identify the relevant tactics that were used, to identify the key generals, and to explain the significance and outcome of the battle. The discussions often include looking at the tactics used by both competing sides. Battles are always compared to those previously studied in order to determine if one army adapted, and to then examine how that adaptation may or may not have affected the outcome of the fight. While students are expected to complete the readings before class, the battles are often summarized by the instructor prior to class debate. Students can expect to be asked to debate the material in groups or individually, which may take place either while standing in front of the class or while seated. Students are often advised to express their own opinion and to come to their own conclusions based upon reading multiple sources.

LIFE DURING AND AFTER ROTC Captain Hernandez gives his take “We are always looking for qualified recruits. Our program gives students a taste of military science in general, the idea behind it is to prepare future leaders to commission to the United States Army as Second Lieutenants. We are looking for agile leaders who are physically fit and competent, high GPA, academically inclined, future born leaders.”

Gene Vinoya, a junior criminal justice major and student in Captain Hernandez’s class, said that “classes are definitely more interactive… There’s more of an informal method of instruction and student dialogue with each other.” The Military Science department at FAU remains to be hidden, as many non-ROTC students are unaware of its existence. From its heavy focus on class participation to having instructors who serve in the military, students who enroll in a military science course may have an experience that is unlike other classes. “I haven’t quite seen other classes formatted in this manner besides those within Military Science,” Vinoya added. “The instructors combine with the text material with his or her real-world experience, to deliver practical and easy to understand information that’s useful to all students.”

WHAT COURSES DOES THE MILITARY SCIENCE DEPARTMENT OFFER? 1. Foundations of the U.S. Airforce 2. The Evolution of USAF (US Air Force) Air and Space Power 3. Air Force Leadership Studies

“ROTC can provide a solid job after your university, it gives good experience and a good paycheck. It gives them a very high leg up in the hiring community. It looks good on resumes and many employers are looking for military experience because that speaks volumes. We can benefit from good leaders and they can benefit from us too”.

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4. Basic Leadership 5. Leadership and Teamwork 6. U.S. Military History 7. Leadership and Ethics 8. Leadership and Management

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ENTERTAINMENT

MEET THE COVENNE The feminist punk band from FAU is inspired by magic and makes it on stage for the audience to see. SOPHIE SIEGEL | EDITOR IN CHIEF PHOTO SERIES BY MELANIE WITHERUP

HEN WITCHCRAFT MEETS MUSIC, it may create some kind of dark magic. Meet “The Covenne,” a 4-piece band from South Florida made up of Sandi Kill, Aradhana Rage, Sami-Jo Bones, and new member Synnn Skyclad. The group has been together for two years now, and half of the band originated from FAU — Sandi is an alum, and Aradhana currently attends the university. They’re centered in Lake Worth and based on “scum scene,” as coined by Sami-Jo. Around Halloween in a small Fort Lauderdale bar called Beer Punx, the band grabbed everyone’s attention when they started to play and scream into the microphone. The stage was set with an ouija board and baby dolls to add to the influence of witchcraft. Dressed in Halloween-style makeup, they opened up with a cover of “Bruised Violet” by the riot grrrl band called Babes in Toyland, who they cite as one of their influences. But crowds at small bars aren’t the only people The Covenne has played for. They got the chance to open for their idol, Doyle from The Misfits, during an October show at Respectable Street in West Palm Beach, where they played for “roughly 50 people,” according to SamiJo. The show was sold-out, which Sami-Jo said “was nuts!” During shows, Sandi and Ardhana switch instruments in a “witchcraft dance,” accompanied by Sami-Jo playing a beat. This has been part of their stage persona since they started as a band. During one show, Sandi yelled out, “We’re switching bodies, bitch!” when the audience asked what they were doing to go with the theme of their goddess-based witchcraft. The dance on stage came “organically,” according to the band. The chanting was inspired by Wiccan chants, which are about the earth and spiritually. The band also said their Hispanic and Iranian heritages have inspired dances on stage. “It is very engrained in our cultures,” Sami-Jo said. But the “scum scene” of music isn’t where they started.

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SANDI KILL, ARADHANA RAGE, AND SAMI-JO BONES PUT A DARK TWIST ON THEIR LIVE SHOWS.

Sandi said she was focused on the classical music track at FAU, and worked with Hoot Wisdom, FAU’s record label. But eventually, she wanted a change of pace. “I didn’t like that stuff. I just wanted to do punk for some reason,” she said. Sandi’s goal was to start an all-female band inspired by Bikini Kill and Babes in Toyland. The Coven, their former name comes from “what is means to be a female,” she said. “Sometimes, when you are part of a marginalized group, you have to feel that you have to be more perfect than other people do,” she said in regards to how she believes women have to present themselves in society. That is how the name “The Coven” was born. A

“coven” is a gathering of witches, who are typically represented as female. It’s also “very punk,” Sandi said. She met Ardhana while playing in another band, and they met Sami-Jo through mutual friends. It all felt like a “blind date” where they clicked instantly, Sandi said. Their 4-song EP “Fire” opens up with a song called “Cynical,” where Sandi screams about wanting to be with someone so badly, and closes with “Daisy,” which was one of the first songs Sandi ever wrote. “Daisy” was Sandi’s favorite song. She said it was about having the right to choose in life, as well as “having a voice and accepting who I am.” The EP’s second song, “Made in China,” was written by Ardhana and is about civil rights and corporations.

And the third song, “Solipsism,” is about academic concepts and experiences that Sandi went through in an FAU anthropology class. She was reading the Satanic Bible at the time, and the song illustrates her frustration with how people reacted negatively to her studies, as she grew up Catholic. They band doesn’t plan to stop at this EP. They are releasing a single later this month, which they said is “folk-er” than their normal sound. “It takes three to create this music,” Sandi said. You can stream The Covenne on Spotify under their old name, The Coven.

ARADHANA RAGE PHOTO

SAMI-JO BONES

SANDI KILL

ALL PRACTICE WITCHCRAFT, WHICH HAS INSPIRED THEIR BAND NAME AND LIVE SHOW PERFORMANCES. 2.15.2019 UNIVERSITY PRESS 19

ENTERTAINMENT

8-BIT BEATS Allan Nalven, an FAU alum, uses his Gameboy to create music — and plays it live to crowds of over 100 people.

HOPE DEAN | NEWS EDITOR

HEN it comes to the Gameboy, Allan Nalven is a fan of Pokémon Yellow, Kirby’s Dreamland, and Link’s Awakening. But he also plays something else on the old system — music. The Gameboy’s 8-bit sounds are the building blocks that Nalven, who graduated from FAU last December with degrees in computer science and sociology, stacks on stop of each other to create songs. The 25-year-old has been fiddling with the software to create music for years, but decided last year to branch out into live shows all around South Florida, spanning from Churchill’s in Miami to Subculture Coffee in West Palm Beach. Some of these shows have racked in over 100 people. “Just growing up, I always played these old systems, and you know, it’s something that I always enjoyed doing,” he said. “Those kinds of sounds and melodies from those old pieces of hardware, I’ve always been nostalgic for.” Nalven produces music with a program called Little Sound DJ, where he pre-composes loops of music and then combines them in different ways, “which is where the live performance aspect comes in,” he said. The Gameboy wasn’t exactly designed to produce music, so Nalven adds “mods,” or modifications, to the system to bridge this gap. This includes cracking the device open and altering the motherboard. He may also add a new audio chip, or replace parts to enhance the bass. Nalven learned how to be a Gameboy surgeon through the internet, where his fascination with 8-bit, or “chiptune,” music began in the first place. He discovered “Anamanaguchi,” a group that plays music with a hacked Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and a band, in 2011. This caused him to “delve deeper into the scene,” he said. He tried to create conventional electronic music for a while, “but I almost found that they were too open ended, that there was too much inherent freedom that the software provided that I never actually produced proper music with them. I’d just kind of always be fidgeting with them,” he said. To Nalven, the limited set of sounds that the Gameboy can produce offers the “benefit” of restrictions. “It kind of forces you to be creative in how you bend and break the rules and work within the constraints of the system,” he said. “Being exposed to chip music as

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FAU ALUM ALLAN NALVAN CREATES ORIGINAL MUSIC USING HIS GAMEBOY. PHOTO BY ALEX RODRIGUEZ a genre and then diving into that kind of gave me a lot of creative freedom that I otherwise didn’t have. And I also just think the novelty of making music on this old gaming device, and using things that they’re not intended [for], is always fun and interesting.” So Nalven has one thing to say to creators: go for it. “I think a lot of art, or just life in general, is just being kind of bad at something for a while until you’re eventually good at it,” he said. “So I think if you are someone who is inclined to tinker and do interesting things, then you should just do it and not make excuses as to why you can’t do something.”

WHO IS SYKE? Nathan Labossiere is an FAU student who doubles as a rap artist — and he’s released ten professionally produced songs within the last seven months. LUCIEN GRIFFIN | CONTRIBUTING WRITER

NATHAN LABOSSIERE IS AN FAU STUDENT LOOKING TO SHAKE UP THE SOUTH FLORIDA RAP SCENE. PHOTO BY ALEX RODRIGUEZ

ATHAN LABOSSIERE is a 20-year-old commercial music major at FAU. But he’s also known as Syke, an upcoming West Palm Beachbased rapper. Syke is fresh on the South Florida scene with seven months of experience and is working to get his music and his name out to the public, as his tracks are on streaming sites like Spotify. He has released ten professionally recorded songs so far. Syke’s goal is to skip the “stereotypical SoundCloud rapper phase.” “I tried to move out of the whole microphone in the closet and everything … I had a bunch of songs prerecorded but they were in the closet and I was like ‘I’m not putting these out,’ and so I re-recorded them once I got in a professional studio,” he said. The South Florida rap scene offers a landscape for budding artists to flourish. Famous rappers like Kodak Black, the late XXXTENTACION, Ski Mask the Slump God, YNW Melly, and Denzel Curry were all born and raised in the heart of South Florida. Syke’s debut EP, “The Duality, Pt. 1,” came out in November 2018, and is 21 minutes of party-themed songs with production quality similar to that of his contemporaries. The opening song “Syko” features a “haunting” vocal sample over pummeling bass, and the closing track “Chum Bucket” starts with a sleepy series of notes that eventually underline a quick beat. Syke cites Tyler, the Creator, Ski Mask The Slump God, A$AP Rocky, and $uicideboy$ as some of the inspirations of his EP. He’s not a one trick pony, however. He has some more tunes coming out soon. In his follow-up project, “The Duality, Pt. 2,” Syke plans to show a more thoughtful, conscious side, he said. He lists artists such as Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, and Logic as influences on his current direction, and said that the new music will be released soon. Nathan’s journey as both a student and a rapper looking to get himself out there has been arduous. “It’s been pretty hard, I’ve had to mold my schedule into something that fit enough space for the music to be involved. But at the same time, it helps because the classes I’ve taken have helped me with the music, like audio engineering and programming.” You can stream Syke’s music on, Spotify, Apple Music, and SoundCloud, or follow him on Instagram (@ thisyke) and Twitter (@Issyke).

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OPINION

From increased risk of heart attacks to vomiting-induced illnesses, marijuana is not as safe as you think. STONE BLOOM | CONTRIBUTING WRITER

HILE IT MAY be an unpopular opinion among young people, marijuana should not be recreationally used. It goes without saying the medical aspects of marijuana have been beneficial in many people’s lives. But the adverse effects of the drug on a healthy adolescent body are far too great for it to be legalized for recreational use, whether it be the way it increases users’ risk of heart attack or the way it can cause illnesses with nausea and vomiting, among other negatives. Putting facts aside, I took the liberty of furthering my argument by attending a Narcotics Anonymous meeting. I wanted to see firsthand if marijuana had been the root cause to any of the users’ drug addictions. I had the opportunity to have candid conversations with some users The majority of the people I spoke with said they started out using marijuana prior to getting into more hardcore drugs, such as heroin and cocaine. Two people I spoke with, who had been sober for three and 12 years respectively, stated that marijuana contributed to their downfall and was most definitely the gateway drug that led to their eventual heavy drug use.

ALL OF US READING THIS ARTICLE PROBABLY KNOW OF THE TERMS ‘POTHEAD,’ ‘BURNOUT,’ AND ‘STONER.’ WHY IS THAT? It’s because we all can associate these names with someone we know, or have known. When we think of these names, we usually don’t think of favorable character traits. We think of the person who is always out of it, can’t really hold a conversation, and does nothing but smoke. These are people who smoke regularly. Not all marijuana users are “potheads” or “burnouts,” but I

22 UNIVERSITY PRESS 2.15.2019

think we can all agree that the effects that marijuana has on these types of people are not good.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU SMOKE MARIJUANA? When smoking marijuana, you are essentially overcharging different areas of the brain. By doing this on a regular basis, a user can damage their dopamine center, which can impair memory. Marijuana users are normally greeted with a sense of relaxation. However, the drug can also cause feelings of anxiousness, paranoia, lost sense of time, impaired body movement, impaired memory, and even hallucinations. Using marijuana at an early age can affect the necessary connections in the brain that allows for memory and learning, according to the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA). It can even impair thought processing. It’s functions such as these that are vital to proper brain development. NIDA also found that the mental effects of marijuana in teens can lead to depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts. A recent study from the National Academy of Sciences suggests that users who consistently smoked marijuana showed signs of neuro-physiological decline from adolescence to adulthood. Subjects who had used marijuana consistently throughout adolescence into adulthood lost an average of 6 IQ points. The more a subject was dependent on the drug, the greater the decline in IQ.

SMOKING MARIJUANA CONSISTENTLY CAN LEAD TO SERIOUS HEALTH RISKS. Cognition is one thing, but marijuana can also have a great impact on physical health for both short and long periods of time. As the years have gone by, marijuana has become more powerful than ever before. This is due to the concentration of THC in the plant continuously increasing, a Colorado-based lab named Charas Scientific found. THC, otherwise known as tetrahydrocannabinol, is the main chemical found in marijuana and the reason that users feel relaxed. As THC levels rise, the drug becomes more addictive through regular use. Marijuana has even surpassed heroin to become the number one most used illegal

drug for people entering “specialists addiction services” in Europe, a study published in the international scientific journal “Nature” found. Dangers such as an increased heart rate, which can put a user at a higher risk of a heart attack, come with smoking pot. Those who smoke marijuana can also develop breathing problems, which may feature a continuous cough as well as phlegm buildup. This can increase their chances of contracting a lung infection, NIDA said. It doesn’t end there, though. Using marijuana regularly can lead to cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome. CHS causes severe nausea, vomiting, and dehydration. Approximately 2.75 million Americans aged 18-49 who smoked no less than 20 days per month possibly suffer from CHS or something similar, according to a 2018 study from the Nordic Pharmacological Society. Is this really the path we want to take?

WE MUST ENSURE THE SAFETY OF AMERICA’S HEALTH It’s not about the legalization of marijuana having an effect on whether the crime rate in the United State goes up or down. It’s not about legalizing marijuana because alcohol and cigarettes are legal. Most people do not drink because they like the taste of alcohol. They drink because they like the effect alcohol has on them. Most people do not smoke cigarettes because they think it’s cool, but because of the need to smoke in order to cope or because they have become addicted. Most people do not smoke marijuana because they like the taste, or because they think it’s cool. They smoke marijuana to achieve a high — a high that is far too dangerous to be used recreationally and on a regular basis. Marijuana affects cannabinoid receptors within in your brain, sending messages through the nervous system. This has been proven to affect areas of the brain such as memory, learning, appetite, coordination, impaired body movement, and mood changes. These are just some of the affects people experience within 1 hour of smoking marijuana. Is this the type of drug that should be legalized for recreational use? I don’t think so, and I don’t think you should believe in the legalization of this drug, either.

Marijuana can be beneficial to our state’s current political and economic climate.

consume marijuana, including some ways that don’t have to be inhaled at all. One such method is edible products infused with marijuana. Eating these marijuana-based foods doesn’t affect lung function, nor does it give you the possible increased cancer risk that smoke inhalation does.

MARIJUANA CAN LOWER CRIME RATES PIERCE TRUDEAU | CONTRIBUTING WRITER

OLLEGE-AGED STUDENTS in the United States have the highest rate of marijuana use in the country by far, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. For the majority of these students, it’s a crime that could have lasting impacts on their careers beyond graduation. But there’s no need for these harsh penalties. The United States made marijuana possession illegal in 1937 against the American Medical Association’s opinion — and there’s evidence to support that its legalization will benefit Florida’s climate and politics today. Our neighbor, Canada, legalized recreational marijuana last year, and I believe it’s time for the United States to do the same.

MARIJUANA IS SAFER THAN YOU THINK No one is under the impression that using marijuana is void of risks and negative effects. Unfortunately, decades of fear-mongering and American-produced propaganda films such as “Reefer Madness” have led to misleading talking points on the effects of marijuana. THC is short for tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive ingredient responsible for most of the psychological effects. While these natural cannabinoid chemicals might not be a source of damage, smoke is harmful to your lungs and the cardiovascular system no matter the source. But that doesn’t make marijuana itself dangerous. It may be less dangerous than tobacco, the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) found — even when smoked. Beyond smoking, there are many other ways to

Let’s say that you do believe that marijuana is relatively safe and healthy to use as an adult, but you’re still against legalization based on the fear that it will drive up crime. Drug trafficking crimes are relatively common in Florida. We are now the largest source of drug planes in the United States. And just last year, MiamiDade police seized nearly $4 million worth of illegal marijuana from a grow operation. With so much illegal money and drugs moving through Florida, there is no doubt violent crime is accompanying it. Legalizing marijuana can mitigate this violence. Legalization will not only lower the obvious low-level, drug-related crimes through decriminalization, but it has actually been shown to lower violent crime in border states by more than 10 percent on average, said the Economic Journal. Legalizing marijuana will not only make our state safer, but will make other states around the country safer as well. We need to legalize marijuana here in Florida, and we need to do it right. We must allow adults to possess it, allow them to grow it, and regulate the sale of it with minimal taxing. This must be done so that we can remove marijuana from unsafe drug deals while making sure people are purchasing a safe, unadulterated product.

LEGALIZATION HAD A SLOW START, BUT HAS RECENTLY PICKED UP ITS PACE. Oregon decriminalized marijuana back in 1973, becoming the first state in the nation to do so. Other states and localities soon followed with their own slow process of decriminalization — which has featured a

reduction of penalties — but have lacked true elements of legalization. Not until 2012 did any state actually legalize it for recreational use, but now that it’s begun, the effects of legalization are snowballing. Legalization is finally moving on from simply being on ballot initiatives to becoming the agenda of politicians. Two years ago in New York, a state of similar size and makeup as Florida, Gov. Andrew Cuomo stated that marijuana was a “gateway drug” and that he was fully against a move towards recreational marijuana. Cuomo’s thoughts changed two months ago. “Let’s legalize the adult use of recreational marijuana, once and for all,” he said in regards to the use of marijuana. Back in our own political sphere, the newly elected Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, recently announced that the ban on smoking medical marijuana must be removed. It appears as though he has embraced the ballot that initiative Florida voters overwhelmingly approved in 2016. Marijuana laws on the East Coast might soon look like those of the West Coast. It only took Massachusetts one election cycle to go from medical marijuana to full recreational marijuana.

LEGALIZATION IS INEVITABLE An October 2018 Gallup poll found that two out of three Americans now support the full legalization of marijuana. This is an upward trend that has been continuing for decades. Even a majority of Republicans and Americans aged 55 and up now support the legalization of marijuana, Gallup said. The District of Columbia and 10 states have legalized recreational marijuana, and many more states have made it available for medical patients. Although, in states like our own, smoking it is still illegal — even for approved patients. Why is it still a criminal offense to possess a substance that is safer and less addictive than alcohol and tobacco, especially when it’s supported by a majority of Americans?

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