2-12-18

The Oracle

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w w w . u s f o r a c l e . c o m U N I V E R S I T Y O F S O U T H F L O R I DA

Adjuncts voices to be heard through vote

By Maria Ranoni N E W S

E D I T O R

To unionize or not to unionize? That is the question USF’s adjunct professors will face this week as they will have the opportunity to vote on whether to let one of the largest labor unions in the U.S. represent them.

After a significant push from adjuncts advocating for the right to unionize, the Florida Public Employees Relations Commission issued an Order and Direction of Election on Jan. 9.

This election will last from Feb. 16 to March 13 and will be conducted using mail ballots.

According to the Tampa Bay Times, this vote is open to about 900 adjuncts from the Tampa, St. Petersburg and

Sarasota-Manatee campuses.

Marian Conklin, an adjunct faculty member in the College of Arts and Sciences, said the push to unionize is the result of unaddressed grievances.

“Our hours are capped, our wages are low and we have no benefits,” Conklin said. “Teaching, planning and grading takes a lot of time, so it is difficult to work a second or third job elsewhere and still provide a quality education for our students. You would think that USF would want to address these grievances, given how many of USF’s courses are taught by adjuncts and the fact that USF works with other unions.”

According to Conklin, other faculty groups are represented through unions yet USF continues to push back on

adjuncts work to unionize.

“Full-time faculty are represented through the United Faculty of Florida. Graduate Teaching Assistants are represented through the USF Graduate Assistants United and, in 2014, USF agreed to subsidize their healthcare 100 percent,” Conklin said. “However, USF has formally opposed our unionization efforts, and we are unrepresented.”

The organization that would represent adjuncts if they do vote to unionize is the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). According to their website, SEIU is “an organization of 2 million members united by the belief in the dignity and worth of workers and the services they provide and dedicated to improving the lives of workers and their

Adjunct faculty will vote by mail ballot starting this week on whether to unioinize or not. ORACLE FILE PHOTO/CHAVELI GUZMAN families and creating a more just and humane society.”

SEIU could not be reached

for comment by 9 p.m. Sunday.

Dwayne Smith, Senior

n See ADJUNCT on PAGE 3

Women’s Basketball

USF stuns No. 13 Ohio State 84-65

By Josh Fiallo S P O R T S

E D I T O R

Already having three consecutive losses to Power-5 opponents and two conference losses this season, USF’s chances at hosting an NCAA Tournament game in March appeared grim as No. 13 Ohio State came to Tampa on Sunday.

A blowout loss to the Buckeyes would’ve made those chances even grimmer.

From the opening tip, however, Kitija Laksa and the Bulls (20-5, 9-2) looked like a team

worthy of a No. 4-seed. Banking off an 18-point first quarter lead, the Bulls maintained their intensity until the final buzzer, upsetting the Buckeyes (20-6) 84-65 in front of 2,576 at the Sun dome.

“I didn’t think we were playing our best basketball,” coach Jose Fernandez said about the Bulls recent play before a win at ECU last Wednesday. “A win like this in February definitely helps our résumé (for the NCAA Tournament).”

Laksa led the Bulls with a career-high 41 points against

the Buckeyes, 24 of which came from 3-pointers. Just 14 seconds into the game, Laksa made her first of eight 3-pointers to give USF its first lead of the game.

Outside of an 1:28 stretch in the first quarter, the Bulls safely handled that lead until the final buzzer, with the Buckeyes never coming within single-digit points of tying the game after the first quarter.

“She’s a special player,” Fernandez said of Laksa. “When she’s in a zone, she’s just as good as any scorer, shooter in the country. The big thing is she

got really good looks. A lot of her looks were open looks and she knocked them down.”

Laksa, who averages 20.2 points per game, came just three points shy of tying Shantia Grace’s single-game USF points record set in 2008.

“My teammates just found me,” Laksa said. “We did everything right, we did everything good, the ball was falling in.

And at the same time, the crowd was special. I think just because of the crowd, we won. They were amazing.”

One reason for her open

looks came from the play of point guard Laia Flores, who finished the game with 11 assists. Another reason was the Bulls ability to rebound at will, on both ends of the floor.

In total, USF pulled down 46 rebounds, 15 of which were offensive, while the Buckeyes had a total of 26.

“I thought the biggest thing we wanted to do was rebound collectively, hold them to one shot, and try and get out and run and score in transition,”

n See UPSET on PAGE 8

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the Oracle the University of South Florida’s student newspaper since 1966

Editor in Chief Miki Shine oracleeditor@gmail.com @MichaelAZShine Managing Editor Jesse Stokes oraclemeditor@gmail.com News Editor Maria Ranoni oraclenewsteam@gmail.com Opinion Editor Samantha Moffett Sports Editor Josh Fiallo oraclesportseditor@gmail.com @ByJoshFiallo Multimedia Editor Chaveli Guzman oraclemultimediaeditor@gmail.com

@ChaveliGuzman

Copy Editor Andrea Martin

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NEWS

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA

ADJUNCT

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Vice Provost and Dean of the Office of Graduate Studies, said unionization of adjuncts could result in financial consequences for USF. “Potentially, it has some fairly serious negative consequences, most especially in terms of the finances of the university,” Smith said. “We know the union that would be organizing this is called the SEIU. They have managed to get some contracts largely in Northeastern, private universities. Those universities have simply coped by increasing student tuition.”

Smith said USF, however, does not have the option to pass down the increased costs to students.

“There has not been an increase of tuition at the University of South Florida in five years,” Smith said. “So, we don’t have the option to simply pass along the increased costs of to our students, and we wouldn’t want to do it even if we could.

“We don’t foresee raising tuition, at least for the near term. So, there is a potential financial consequence that then has to be made up somewhere and probably every coping mechanism that I can think of has some negative consequence to it.”

According to Smith, the wish to unionize is only held by a minority of adjuncts.

“Ad j u n c t s present themselves as this monolithic organization and that’s far from the truth,” Smith said.

“They’re a very diverse group and for the segment of the adjunct population pushing for

unionization are individuals who are trying to make careers out of being adjuncts. From a career perspective, we think that’s a very questionable decision.

“Do we have plans to try to offer them health care?

No, because we don’t have a mechanism for doing that at this point in time. And again, this is only a segment of the adjunct group that’s pushing for this.”

However, Smith said he empathizes with adjuncts as changing career goals and plans must be very difficult.

Conklin said she doesn’t think this is an adequate solution for adjuncts.

“Dr. Smith is not taking into consideration that many of us who adjunct have life circumstances that prevent us from competing in the extremely limited national job market for tenure-track professors, though this was our goal in graduate school,” Conklin said. “We are here because we love academia, love teaching, love our students and love USF, and USF apparently needs us as well. Why not work with us?”

The effects of this possible unionization will only be known after the vote and negotiations are held with the university.

USF adjuncts are the third group to hold union elections in the past two years. The other groups, Hillsborough Community College and Broward College, both voted in favor of unionization.

“I think the majority will vote for the union because we would like to be heard,” Conklin said.

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Dining to put more focus onto health

USF is only one of two universities with Olilo, a health-focused dining option. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE/JESSICA CICALESE

By Miki Shine E D I T O R

I N

C H I E F

The average college student tends to struggle with his or her diet. Students can overeat due to the amount of food that’s available or undereat due to stress from work or class, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, this fact can make it hard for students to maintain a balanced diet.

With these tendencies in mind, USF Dining has been working over the years to offer students accessible and healthy options. When The Hub dining hall opened the beginning of fall semester, dining officials spoke on the number of healthier options available.

Similar sentiments have been expressed about the new Olilo location in the JuniperPoplar POD Market, which opened the beginning of the semester. Olilo, made by Iron Chef winner Cat Cora, features Mediterranean-inspired rice

and vegetable bowls. The bowls are created with a base such as rice or lettuce and are built up with different toppings such as meats, avocado, chickpeas and salsa.

“Olilo is really a play on olio,” Cora said in the announcement of her partnership with Aramark. “It’s olive oil, its the Mediterranean diet. It’s health and wellness. It’s actually something you can eat every day.”

USF is one of two universities with Olilo on campus. One of the draws of the option for dining was the idea of it being a health-focused option for students.

“We’re able to train our staff on how we can make our menus healthier and our fruits and vegetables we provide to students,” said Jessica Cicalese, marketing director with USF Dining. “We make recommendations to our team to make our menus more healthy and provide that to students.”

Along with opening Olilo on campus, dining has partnered with the University Lecture Series to bring Cora in for a lecture during the semester, according to Cicalese. Her speech will focus on being an entrepreneur and her focus on healthy dining.

While some changes in dining come from the new locations, dietitian Mary Waddill is also working to ensure healthier options are available at the older dining facilities as well.

She helped organize a fruit or vegetable of the month program where each dining hall will be offering a different special each month that’s locally grown and in season. For February, the dining halls are offering strawberries as the speciality fruit. Last month, it was kale.

Additional labeling at the different stations in each hall is geared toward letting students know quickly whether that option is considered by Waddill to be nutritionally balanced or low calorie. Those stations are marked with a leaf-inspired graphic that says what the food is designed to be, such as low calorie.

“I think that health and wellness is something that’s a big focus for students everywhere, but particularly at the University of South Florida,” Waddill said. “I think that health and wellness is impactful for college students as they’re working hard studying, hanging out with their friends, exercising, everything. Having healthy options available is something we want to provide them.”

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Students build artistic skills through improv comedy

By Matthew Cutillo C O R R E S P O N D E N T

Comedy proves itself time and time again to be an incredibly universal pastime, spanning across different cultures and generations. An organization carrying this torch is the USF Improv Club.

Coming from all walks of life, comedy can be a very satisfying and rewarding door for students once it is opened.

Jayce Bertucelli, a senior majoring in theatre design, is the active president of the club.

“One or two of our members did it in high school, but most of the members are communication and science majors,” Bertucelli said. “They don’t come from a theater background.”

Within minutes of a traditional meeting, the members gather around to begin warm-up games. As the students laugh and participate together, it becomes very evident more is at play than just simple comedy.

Members are finding a release from stress through their work.

Each laugh comes naturally and often warms up the room as the members become more and more comfortable performing with one another.

The improv games played during the meetings are always group-based, involving multiple students in each activity.

Involvement is a key factor of the club. Each activity can hold anywhere from two to eleven students at a time, even going so far as to involve the crowd in order to insure everyone has the opportunity to take part.

The comedy performed can

Members Ben Anthony, Thiago Olabarrigo and Mark Zimmer await to join a group-based improv activity. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE/NATE BLAKELY range anywhere from serious to light-hearted to dramatic and so forth. Enough scope can be created between genres in order to allow for every member to have their chance to shine and to allow new members their opportunity to find what type of comedy works best for them.

A sense of community seemed to be fostered, each member becoming aware of one another’s strengths and weaknesses as they come back every week to work on their craft.

“I’d say there’s about a 40 percent return, many come back which is very good.” Bertucelli said.

Even if interested student consider themselves to not have any knowledge of improv comedy, the leadership of the organization is very adamant about showing instead of telling the instructions to each activity.

“A couple of the people here are newer, they started coming this semester which we love,” Bertucelli said.

With a warm sense of welcome, older members are very sure to do their best to include newer members and to help them properly assimilate into new activities, showing them the ropes and the best ways to improve their craft and complete the activities in a meaningful and creatively productive way.

The members of the club find solace through comedy and the opportunities to hone their abilities among a group of

like minded individuals. They often meet one another outside of the regularly scheduled club meetings, performing in showcases to further display their abilities.

Members often gather in improv workshops to learn new and valuable skills from older members.

As improv comedy continues to rise in popularity, the club provides a consistent outlet for students to display their skills.

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OPINION

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African-American superheroes speak to the current social climate

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What you said Opinion Editor Samantha Moffett and Multimedia Editor Chaveli Guzman asked students how they think USF can provide healthier food options on campus.

“I got a meal plan with USF, and I think it’s pretty good.”

- Ahmed Aboukhadija, a freshman majoring in chemical engineering The reclamation of characters like Black Panther is a step in the right direction for diversity in film.

SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE

By Camryn Harris C O L U M N I S T

This year has just begun but already it has been a historic year in film for the ever-growing superhero genre and its recent efforts toward diversity.

On Jan. 16, the CW premiered “Black Lightning.” Already home to four superhero television shows, the CW showcased the DC Comics hero Black Lightning, who uses his electric powers to fight crime in his neighborhood.

On Feb. 16, Marvel’s newest move, Black Panther movie hits theatres.

To the everyday “colorblind” viewer, it may come off as problematic that both of these black superheroes have “black” in their names. It may savor of a past era of aggressive tokenism where the likes of Apache Chief — a stereotypical Native American hero from the show “Superfriends” — passed for representation.

Indeed these characters have suffered that treatment at times, but upon closer inspection of these characters’ history it becomes apparent that the “black” in their names is more than a vestigial part of their identity. The characters were and are explorations of the African diaspora cultural identity.

Black Panther made his debut in Fantastic Four #52 in 1972 as Marvel’s first black superhero and very much reflected the 1960’s civil rights movement attitude. Politics are no stranger to comics and the Black Panther is an especially strong example.

Aside from having a theme in common with the Black Panther Party, a revolutionary socialist party that challenged police brutality in the 60s, he also represents the ideas of Pan-Africanism and anticolonialism by being not only a highly intellectual scholar and fair leader but also definitively African.

He is the king of Wakanda, a nation which, unlike the common perceptions of Africa as innately backwards and primitive, is advanced and futuristic. Wakanada is explicitly this way because they avoided European colonialism. If that symbolism wasn’t overt enough in one of his first headline comic runs, Black Panther also fights the Ku Klux Klan.

Black Lightning is similarly tied to his times and his culture. He was introduced in 1977 as DC’s first headlining black superhero. Black Lightning, like Superman, lives in Metropolis but unlike the idyllic

cityscape the Man of Steel routinely flies through, Black Lightning lived in a lower to middle class minority neighborhood on the southside riddled with drugs and violent crime.

As Metropolis can reflect the view of New York City in the 1940s, Black Lightning’s Southside reflects the grim reality of New York City’s Bronx in the 1970s, a time when violent crime and gang activities trapped it’s mainly Black and Latino citizens making for an almost unrecognizable version of American life.

From this context comes Black Lightning, not only a superhero by night but a school teacher and community leader by day. Both these characters serve a purpose beyond simple superhero entertainment.

While, yes, sometimes black characters can be just that, characters who happen to be black like the Falcon or Storm of the X-Men, sometimes a character’s blackness should be a primary part of their character. You can’t forget for a second that Black Panther or Black Lightning are black and that’s not a bad thing.

Camryn Harris is majoring in art.

“I believe that USF should add more fruit, salads and subs to make the food healthier.”

- Garrett Williamson, a freshman majoring in business “Use better, fresher sources.

Actually go out and get a better provider because as of now the provider doesn’t seem that good.”

- Daniel Grunbaum, a sophomore majoring in mass communications “I think there is plenty of healthier options. I know the Smokehouse was just changed to a new greens place. I think they’re doing a great job.”

- Josh Bohorquez, a senior majoring in chemical engineering

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Classifieds To place a classified ad go to

http://www.usforacle.com/classifieds

CROSSWORD

ANNOUNCEMENTS Staffer West Meadows Community Club seeking part-time college students that are selfmotivated, mature and assertive, to work at their clubhouse. Flexible hours.

Duties include - office and computer tasks, and pool attendant.

Email frontdesk@tpostcdd.com

HELP WANTED Medical Assistant (No Experience Needed) Part-time Medical Assistant needed. No experience necessary; will train on the job.

Saturday availability is required. Apply in person. Call 813-932-5389 for more information.

Email drsblh13124@gmail.com

Magic Puzzle

Rules: Fill the rest of the puzzle using words from the official International Scrabble Word List. Words must be spelled left to right or top to bottom. Words can only be used once. THERE IS ONLY ONE SOLUTION ! Good Luck.

Solutions will appear in Thursday’s paper.

Created by faculty member H. Henrick Jeanty, an instructor in the Computer Science and Engineering department.

Answers

Answers to previous Magic puzzles

Sports

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Men’s Basketball

Bulls fall to Temple 73-55 after poor second half Dorottya Nagy, Maria Jespersen and Alba Prieto celebrate after the Bulls upset No. 13 Ohio State. Jespersen scored 20 points and recorded 14 rebounds in the game. ORACLE PHOTO/CHAVELI GUZMAN

UPSET

Continued from PAGE 1

Stephan Jiggetts going up for a layup against Temple on Saturday. Jiggetts scored only six points in the defeat and didn’t record a single assist for the first time since Jan. 17. ORACLE PHOTO/JOSH FIALLO

By Josh Fiallo S P O R T S

E D I T O R

It was a tale of two halves for USF on Saturday afternoon.

After entering halftime tied 30-30 with Temple, USF allowed the Owls to shoot 55 percent from the field and 7-of-13 from behind the arc in the second half, leading the way for a 73-55 Temple win in front of 2,576 fans at the Sun Dome. The loss was USF’s fifth in a row, while the win extended Temple’s win-streak to five.

“I felt, going into today’s game, Temple was playing just about as well as anybody in our league,” coach Brian Gregory said. “I was very pleased with where we were at in the first half. We moved the ball well, attacked their defense well, took care of the ball, rebounded it. I felt really good at halftime.”

Winger Payton Banks and forward Isaiah Manderson led the way for the Bulls in the first half, scoring eight and 10 points, while five different Bulls recorded at least one assist.

From the moment the second half started, however, the Bulls slipped.

Temple went on a 7-0 run to start the second period. The Bulls then hung around, trailing between nineto-15 points, until they went on a seven-minute scoring drought that started with nine minutes to play.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t do any of that (move the ball well, attack their defense well, take care of the ball, rebound) in the second half,” Gregory said. “We were, at times, casual with the ball. Thirteen turnovers, minus-7 on the glass in the second half. Our Achilles heel, that have hurt us in so many games this year, that we’ve done a much better job of recently, came back.

“We’ve taken a lot of steps forward over the last five or six games, but in the second half today, we did not. We plateaued. We didn’t respond as well as we did in the past.”

Only Manderson finished the game with more than 10 points for USF, while he also lead the team with eight rebounds.

“I thought this was his (Manderson) best game as a Bull,” Gregory said. “His best game in his career was the other night at UConn, and I thought he exceeded that today.”

The Bulls’ leader in scoring and assists, point guard Stephan Jiggetts, only scored six points and recorded no assists in the loss. Before Saturday, Jiggetts had scored in double-digits for seven consecutive games. One potential reason for his down-game could be fatigue, as he’s played an average of 36 minutes per game the past seven games, the most on the team in that stretch. “(The points are catching up to him) a little bit,” Gregory said. “He’s accustomed to scoring, there’s going to be nights where you’re not making shots, but you still have to find ways to impact the game. He just didn’t play as well as he’s been playing.”

The Bulls will be back in action when they travel to Orlando to face UCF on Wednesday. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.

Fernandez said. “They had one offensive rebound in the first 20 minutes of basketball. That was the key, it was one-and-out for them.”

While the Bulls leading-scorer, Laksa, had one of the best games of her career, the Bulls limited the Buckeyes leadingscorer, senior guard Kelsey Mitchell, to 19 points and two 3-pointers. Entering Sunday’s tilt, she averaged 24 points a

game and was the NCAA leader for made 3-pointers, but met her match in the Bulls’ Laura Ferreira, who guarded Mitchell for a majority of the game.

“We don’t win without (Ferreira),” Maria Jespersen, who scored 20 points Sunday, said. “Her defense was tremendous.”

The Buckeyes are the last ranked opponent left on USF’s schedule until they travel to face UConn on Feb. 26. The Bulls will host SMU (4-8, 10-15) at the Sun Dome on Wednesday.

Tip off is set for 7 p.m.

Softball Scoreboard When: Feb. 8 Who: Illinois State Where: USF Softball Stadium Result: Win, 3-0

When: Feb. 9 Who: Georgia State Where: USF Softball Stadium Result: Win, 5-4 When: Feb. 10 Who: No. 18 Michigan Where: USF Softball Stadium Result: Win, 3-2

When: Feb. 10 Who: UAB Where: USF Softball Stadium Result: Win, 6-3 When: Feb. 11 Who: No. 2 Florida Where: USF Softball Stadium Result: Loss, 14-3