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Hate speech in JP elevator causes security to be hired Merger bill goes By Jessenia Rivera S T A F F
W R I T E R
Trashed elevators have been the usual sight for students living in Juniper-Poplar Hall (JP), but the sight of derogatory words written across walls and doors recently has sparked a sense of discomfort for residents in the hall. While the gum on the floor buttons and the food stuck on the roof is something students don’t want to see as they head toward their rooms, the offensive words written across the doors of the JP elevator have been the root cause of much anger. Tiffany Longsworth, a health science major living at JP, saw the hateful language and said she was disgusted. “It was 3 a.m. when I saw ‘f***
n******’ as the doors closed,” Longsworth said. “I remember being filled with rage over the fact that someone thought this was funny.” After seeing these two words written in big letters across the elevator doors, Longsworth called the help desk and then decided to post about the situation on her Facebook class page. On Facebook, she learned that other students living at JP have seen other instances of offensive language inside the elevators as well. “After posting the photo on the One student complains that the extra security that was hired fell USF 2021 page, I learned that other asleep on the job. ORACLE PHOTO/CHAVELI GUZMAN remarks were written toward white people, Jewish people and the safety in the place she calls home. USF, the derogatory vandalism on LGBTQ community,” Longsworth “At USF, you would expect to feel the elevators is being discussed said. safe,” Longsworth said. “For the first considering it is not the first time the Even though everything on the time, I did not.” incident has occurred. elevator got cleaned up quickly, According to an email from “Over the past few weeks, there Longsworth said she questions her Adam Freeman, a spokesman for n See JP on PAGE 3
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On Feb. 14, USF students waited anxiously wondering if they’d hear from their loved ones that attend Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. In the wake of the Parkland massacre, students are taking matters into their own hands to prevent another senseless shooting by protesting gun violence at the March for Our Lives event on March 24. Austin Gregory, a graduate student who majored in accounting, helped organize an event to send Florida-based alumni of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School (MSD) to Washington for the March for
Our Lives event. Gregory said he was initially alerted of the shooting because his girlfriend’s little sister and cousin are current students of MSD. “At first when she told me, I was so sad about it, and the next day, I felt angry about how this could even happen,” Gregory said. Gregory said it is important for not just MSD alumni to go to the event, but anybody who cares about gun law reform. “It’s one thing to hear about the school that got shot up because they happen so often,” Gregory said. “But when it happens to you, it’s a totally different feeling.” After a friend reached out
to Gregory about organizing a bus for MSD alumni, he felt compelled to help out as much as he could. “There are so many MSD alumni — the more of us that show up, the more we are able to be heard,” Gregory said. Gregory said President Donald Trump is taking the first initiative by increasing the age restriction from 18 to 21 for purchasing an assault rifle, but the government still has room for improvement. “There are so many loopholes in these laws right now when it comes to purchasing a gun, and there is a mental health aspect that still needs to be addressed,” Gregory said. The most important
By Miki Shine E D I T O R
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regulation Gregory said needs to be changed is getting assault rifles off the streets and out of the hands of the mentally ill. “I don’t see the personal need for anything other than a handgun. People may argue differently, but other than to protect yourself and your family, there no need have an assault weapon,” Gregory said. Gregory said he hopes the outcome of the March for Our Lives event will prove to representatives in Congress the importance of gun control. When midterm elections come around, Gregory said he believes the results will show whether a change will happen. “Once they see how many
The consolidation of USF’s three campuses into a single university is one step away from being official after passing through both the Florida House and Senate. The last thing the bill needs is to be signed by Gov. Rick Scott before going into law. The bill unifies USF Tampa, USF St. Petersburg and USF Sarasota-Manatee under one accreditation by June 2020. However, according to Provost Ralph Wilcox, a plan for the unification will be submitted to the Board of Governors (BOG) by March 15, 2019. In order to ensure details of the unification are mapped out, amendments to House Bill 423 instruct USF to create a 13 member task force with representatives from each of the three campuses. This task force will include two appointees from the Florida House president with two from the Senate speaker of the house, two representatives appointed by the chair of the Board of Trustees (BOT), the regional chancellors for each satellite campus, System President Judy Genshaft and one student appointed by the Alumni Association. Setting up this task force will be the first step in hammering things out. “That’s the first step because, in essence, they will be doing the heavy lifting necessary to compile a report due to the Board of Trustees by February
n See MARCH on PAGE 3
n See MERGER on PAGE 4
Tragedy sparks activism: students plan trip to march in capitol By Alyssa Stewart
to governor
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The Oracle THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1966
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NEWS
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JP
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Many of the students that plan to make the trip to Washington are MSD alumni. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE.
MARCH
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people are involved in this, they’ll hopefully change their perspective,” Gregory said. The alumni bus is planned to leave Friday around 3 p.m. from Ft. Lauderdale and head to central Florida for additional stops. After the event in Washington, the bus will leave Saturday night. “If you have an opinion on the issue, the best thing you could do is talk about it,” Gregory said. “People can post on social media, but it doesn’t have the same effect of actually showing up.” Shelby Knobel, a sophomore majoring in environmental science, is going to the March for Our Lives event because Parkland is her hometown. Her brother and cousin go to MSD and she wanted to do as much could to prevent another tragedy. “In 20 years, when we look back on the event, I want to know that my community and family did everything we could to make my kids in the future feel safe at school,” Knobel said.
Knobel was in her statistics class when her brother texted her and said he was leaving the school because someone was setting off fireworks in the courtyard. “Thirty seconds later my brother texted me back and said, ‘Nevermind there is an active shooter, but I got out of the school quickly,’” Knobel said. According to Knobel, gun control in the country is extremely weak. She believes the National Rifle Association has an overwhelming control over politicians and elected officials. “The fact that President Trump has repealed a lot of the background check regulations is horrible,” Knobel said. “President (Ronald) Reagan put in an assault weapon ban for a reason, and the fact it has expired and has been repealed is very weak.” Knobel said banning military grade weapons is an appropriate response, as she does not believe it is infringing on anyone’s constitutional right. “We’re not just here because
of the tragedy, aftershock wave of ‘this happen to us and now we’re angry,’” Knoel said. “We are a force to be reckoned with, and they can’t silence my community.” Knobel commends the current students of MSD who are speaking to elected officials and is proud of their bravery. “Cameron Kasky is one of my good friends’ best friend, and I have previously hung out with him before,” Knobel said. “Seeing him speak out now makes me proud that they are taking what they have been taught their whole life — which is to stand up for themselves.” Knobel said she is not going to stop fighting for her beliefs until she sees active change. “It can happen to anyone; guns don’t discriminate,” Knobel said. “My town was voted the safest town in Florida, and we had one of the deadliest shootings that have ever happened.”
have been several instances of inappropriate language written on elevator walls inside Juniper Hall,” Freeman said. “These incidents include the use of profanity, terms that are sexual in nature, as well as offensive symbols.” Although there has been a series of vandalisms occuring, Freeman said no direct threats have been made. However, he assures that action is being taken on behalf of the issue. “Out of an abundance of caution, residential education staff asked for the presence of additional security in the building on a temporary basis,” Freeman said. According to Freeman, the additional security that’s mentioned is a security officer from the U.S. Security Associates who was brought in for six hours and was paid $20.64 per hour. The one day gig required the security officer to supervise the elevators and ensure that there was no other vandalism attempts. While the implementation was meant to prevent another vandalism incident from happening, Longsworth and other students living at JP have conflicting thoughts concerning the matter. Francesca Bertoglio, an integrative biology student living in JP, said she saw the security guard, but isn’t sure what good he might do if he continues supervising. “I think he’s just there to intimidate,” Bertoglio said. “But I don’t know how effective he is in trying to catch people vandalising.” Despite Bertoglio not being too sure about the individual’s presence, Longsworth said the security officer’s job was ineffective. “I don’t see how he could stop
3 anything that goes on inside the elevators considering he at outside and was dozed off every time I saw him,” Longsworth said. Though Longsworth doesn’t see the additional security as something that helped, one student has a slightly different look on the situation. James Simpson, a global business major living in JP, said the implementation was smart but it has its downsides if continued. Though he’s glad something was done about the issue, he’s not too sure about one person supervising every elevator if the additional security were to continue. “I think that was a good step toward a solution,” Simpson said. “But it’s really hard for him to monitor all the elevators especially because he can’t ride all of them.” Though it isn’t clear if the security guard will continue his duties, Freeman said discussion meetings have been organized. Due to the incident being deemed as a violation of Student Code Of Conduct, University Police (UP) are also involved in the issue. “UP is currently reviewing the incidents,” Freeman said. “The staff has also held meetings with residents to discuss the incidents.” Besides the additional security instituted temporarily, students also want to see an end to the trashing on elevators that’s included scattered cups, food and glitter on the floor. Lauren Burgess, an education major living in JP, is one of the students that thinks residents should stop the trashing. “I just know that when I get in the elevator everything is gross,” Burgess said. “I think people have been disrespectful in the place they live.”
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A campus consolidation would mean all three current campuses will operate under one umbrella. ORACLE PHOTO/CHAVELI GUZMAN
MERGER
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15, 2019,” Wilcox said. The report is being sent to the BOT in February so the trustees have time to review it and make adjustments to it before sending it to the BOG. It has been determined that the St. Petersburg and SarasotaManatee campuses will maintain
their regional chancellors — although what that role will be is still getting figured out — and both will have a campus board that is focused on issues on that campus with a faculty and student non-voting representative. According to Wilcox, the task force will focus on identifying the degrees and programs for each campus, celebrate the identity of each campus, gather
faculty input, standardize the path to admission and figure out a way for the university to be transparent about where funding is going. One of the impending questions concerning the unification is how it may impact USF’s ranking for Performance Based Funding and preeminence. According to Wilcox, Performance Based Funding isn’t expected to change because it is already measured using systemwide metrics. However, pre-eminence — which USF Tampa is expected to be awarded with for the first time when the BOG meets in June — isn’t currently measured systemwide. Since pre-eminence is given to research universities, USF Tampa has been the only campus to qualify. When the universities are unified, the metrics such as first-year retention rate will be impacted by all three campuses. “One can reasonably
assume that once 2020 comes around, they will look at the combined performance on the 12 pre-eminence metrics for USF Tampa, USF St. Petersburg, USF Sarasota-Manatee,” Wilcox said. “We know that there is some room for improvement there. “We believe that between now and then, that we will be able to close any gap that currently exists between the separately accredited institutions so that by July 1, 2020, we will be in a good position to maintain our designation as a pre-eminent research university.” Pre-eminence itself is seeing a change from this bill as well. One of the current metrics is a six-year graduation rate of 70 percent — which USF Tampa is meeting for the first time with a 71 percent rate — but that is being replaced with a four-year graduation rate at 60 percent. This is a change that was considered last summer, but ultimately didn’t pass.
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House Bill 423 also adjusts Bright Futures so that the top tier will include $300 a semester for books and cover summer classes. Other changes to financial aid include additional state scholarships such as one for farm workers and additional funding for grants to first generation students, which will have the state providing $2 for every $1 the university fundraises for the grants. “Certainly the positive, the upside if you will, of this proposed consolidation of accreditation is that we will be guided by a student first outlook,” Wilcox said. “Meaning that I would expect consistency of commitment and dedication to student access and student success. Of course along with that is consistency of student support, whether inside or outside the classroom, at each geographical campus locations.”
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Retail, legislative voices weigh in on gun control By Paige Wisniewski S T A F F
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After the massacre that left 17 people dead in Parkland on Feb. 14, debate regarding gun policy began to rise, as is typically the case when a large-scale mass shooting occurs. However, it is the response to this particular shooting that has caused some changes to be made – on a corporate and legislative level. These corporate or legislative policies are problematic and their eventual effectiveness is questionable. Underlying motives for these changes are questionable. The changes made are also counterproductive to each other’s aim. If effective policy is to be made, cohesive and systematic amendments are required. Some unlikely voices have joined the conversation on gun control – in the form of “corporate activism.” The most recent corporate voice to speak and act in support of enforcing gun restrictions is Dick’s Sporting Goods.
On Feb. 28, Dick’s ended all sales of assault-style rifles and high-capacity magazines in its stores and will only sell guns to those over the age of 21. Following soon after, Walmart also raised its age limit for gun purchase to 21. Both companies enacted these decisions after various companies, such as Hertz Car Rental, Metlife Insurance and Delta Airlines, ended their partnership with the National Rifle Association (NRA). The Washington Post reports that Dick’s had also ended sales of assault rifles in 2012, as a response to the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Connecticut, where a gunman killed 26 people. However, they went back on sale only months later at their Field & Stream stores. This decision appears more business related than humanitarian. Given Dick’s Sporting Goods’ history, this decision could reverse if cultural attitudes were to fade or shift, despite
their claim that this is a permanent change in their retail chain. There would be nothing to stop Dick’s from repeating what they did after Sandy Hook, unless federal restrictions were put into law in the meantime. However, on the contrary to Dick’s apparent stance, The Florida Senate has recently voted to mandate a $67 million proposal to arm and train teachers in case of an incoming attack. While Dick’s is acting to promote more gun restrictions (regardless of its motives), legislators are inviting more guns into the classroom to combat gun violence. This legislation would not only be ineffective, but could potentially create more fatalities – during or outside of a mass shooting event. It is unreasonable to require teachers, who earned their degrees to educate, to essentially become law enforcement officers. Like their students, teachers deserve a right to a safe working environment – without
Opposing gun control policies raise the question of effectiveness. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE
being required to engage in gun violence to make it happen. Civically and commercially, gun policy changes are in effect. However, these changes are not cohesive and serve to further divide the conversation on gun control. If corporations are using companywide mandates or severed partnerships in their activism, their changes
must be permanent and not solely enacted during shifts in the cultural climate. Policymakers should pay more attention to the voices in the current cultural climate instead of passing legislation that contradicts the ultimate goal of safety in the classroom. Paige Wisniewski is a junior majoring in interdisciplinary sciences.
It is time to talk about underrepresentation in film
By Sonu Trivedi C O L U M N I S T
The University of Southern California has analyzed 100 of the year’s highest-grossing films annually from 2007 to 2016 in order to determine the film industry’s inclusiveness both on and off screen. The report titled “Inequality in 900 Popular Films” takes gender, disability, LGBT status and race into account. Unfortunately, the results of the study reveal one constant: The domination of straight, able-bodied white men in Hollywood. Out of the 4,583 characters studied from 2016, less than onethird were women, only 1.5 percent higher than when the study began in 2007. Of the same characters studied, only 2.7 percent had some type of disability and only 1.1 percent were LGBT-identified. When it comes to the racial and
ethnic breakdown, the results are just as shocking with 70.8 percent of the characters studied in 2016 were white. The U.S. movie-going audience is 49 percent racial/ethnic minorities. However, less than 30 percent of the characters in film are representing this portion of the population. The statistics paint an even bleaker picture for women and ethnic minorities working behind the scenes in Hollywood. Of the 1,006 directors hired over the nine years, only 4.1 percent were women, only 5.6 percent were black and only three percent were Asian. There is also a huge drop-off in the number of individuals at intersections of these minority groups being hired with only three African-American women and two Asian women working as directors across 900 films. There have been criticism
against a number of different films for “whitewashing” characters that should clearly be portrayed by ethnic actors. Jake Gyllenhaal was casted in the “Prince of Persia,” Matt Damon was the lead in “The Great Wall” and Natalie Portman plays a character in her new movie “Annihilation” that is described as being Asian in the book. Even when minority actors are cast they often play into tired, untrue stereotypes. As an Indian, I tend to be more nervous than excited at the idea of Indian culture being translated to film. The exhaustion of Indians being portrayed as doctors or taxi drivers with heavy accents and overbearing mothers is something I know all too well. The same goes for stereotypical portrayals of every other minority imaginable. Just in the past couple of years, films with more diverse
leads have gained both critical acclaim and box-office success. “The Theory of Everything,” a biopic about Stephen Hawking, brought about conversation regarding ALS. Films made by and centered on women like “Wonder Woman” and “Lady Bird” have proven themselves through their various accomplishments. “Moonlight” and “Call Me by Your Name” told wellcrafted stories through gay leading characters and collected multiple Academy Award Nominations. Finally, “Black Panther,” created start to finish by a predominantly black team, garnered stellar reviews and broke box-office records in the past couple of weeks. These movies have been consistently strong and successful, and there is no excuse for the industry to shy away from continuing to make them. Top agencies act as gatekeepers
of the industry, and they tend to repeatedly promote white actors and directors. The top three agencies account for approximately 70 percent of film directors and 72 percent of actors. This fact makes it apparent that if there is going to be a change in film, it must start from there. Action has to be taken in order to bridge the gap between the reality of the film industry and the reality of the population. If filmmaking is a medium for storytelling, the industry needs to keep in mind that we all go through the same emotions and struggles, and many of the stories they are channeling through conventional leads can be done just as well through more diverse characters. Sonu Trivedi is a sophomore majoring in mass communications.
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Hey Bulls! Have a great weekend and enjoy spring break.
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 ! The validity of your words can be checked at https://www.collinsdictionary.com/scrabble/. Good Luck. Solutions will appear in the paper on March 19th . Created by faculty member H. Henrick Jeanty, an instructor in the Computer Science and Engineering department.
Answer
Solution to Monday’s Puzzles
CROSSWORD
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Sports
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA
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Men’s Basketball
Preview: Bulls try to continue win streak into AAC Tournament
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USF blanks Seton Hall 9-0 for fourth shutout of season Softball
By Sam Newlon A S S T .
USF guard David Collins scored 21 points in the Bulls first game against Memphis in 2018, where they fell 86-74 on Jan. 31. ORACLE PHOTO/CHAVELI GUZMAN Martin. Martin was named to The had to lead the way, including junior By Brian Hattab C O R R E S P O N D E N T American Honor Roll for his per- guard Kareem Brewton Jr. Brewton It’s not how you start, it’s how you formance during USF’s 2-0 week. was held to only six points in the finish and USF (10-21, 3-15) is hop- The Miami native led the Bulls in loss against USF, but bounced back ing to ride a strong regular season scoring and rebounding, including against ECU with 22 points. finish as it begins play in the AAC 19 points and nine rebounds against “He didn’t play as well against us,” Tournament on Thursday against Memphis. Gregory said. “But like a really good Memphis (19-12, 10-8) at Amway “This whole month, I’ve been player, he bounced back. He’s a load Center in Orlando. playing really well,” Martin said. “I because he can get to the rack, he’s The Bulls will face off against think every game, I’ve just been get- got a very good midrange game and Memphis for the second time in ting better and better. In the game of defensively he causes a lot of proba week, after defeating the Tigers basketball, confidence is a real good lems with his length and athletic 75-51 in Memphis on March 1. The thing. And seeing just one shot go in ability and quickness.” 24-point win was USF’s largest mar- … It’s really helping my confidence If USF is able to knock off gin of victory in a conference game a lot.” Memphis for the second time in a since March 4, 2015. The Bulls folAnother bright spot for the Bulls week, the Bulls would come back lowed up their upset in Graceland has been the play of freshman guard and play Tulsa on Friday afternoon. by downing SMU 65-54 Sunday at David Collins. Collins was named “Guys have been through the Sun Dome. to the AAC All-Rookie team on these runs before,” Gregory said. Despite the dominating perfor- Monday thanks to a conference “(Stephan) Jiggetts’ team was, I think, mance from his team last week, season that has seen him average the fifth or sixth seed and they won coach Brian Gregory understands 11.3 points per game, second among the conference tournament. They’ve that Memphis is no pushover. AAC freshmen. seen it on TV. And we’ve talked “We’ll see a much different “It means a lot,” Collins said. “I about it. But I also told them you Memphis team,” Gregory said. worked hard and it’s good to see can’t make a run unless you win the “They played exceptionally well on accomplishments for things that you first game. So there’s nothing more Sunday in a win over East Carolina. love to do.” important and our only focus is on They’ve won five out of their last six. Memphis has been without their Memphis right now.” Their only loss was to us. They’re leading scorer junior guard Jeremiah The Bulls and Tigers tip-off at basically playing their best basket- Martin since Feb. 22. The Memphis 2 p.m. Thursday. The game will be ball of the season as well.” native suffered a season-ending foot broadcast nationally on ESPNU. A key part of the Bulls’ recent suc- injury against then-No. 23 Houston. cess has been junior forward Malik Since the injury, other players have
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USF (12-12) wasted no time in its 9-0 rout of Seton Hall (10-8) on Wednesday night at the USF Softball Stadium. Due to the mercy rule, the game concluded in the 5th inning after just one hour and 23 minutes. Leading the Bulls’ offensive thrashing were second baseman Lindsey Devitt and third baseman Brooke Hartman. “I think our guys really had a plan when they went to the plate,” assistant coach Laura Ricciardone said. “They stayed with that plan, didn’t try to do too much at the plate and were getting their barrel to the ball really well.” Devitt was responsible for a season high five RBI against the Pirates. She was three-for-three on the night, hitting a double and a homerun that landed on top of the batting facility in left field. “To be honest, we’re just hitting the ball really well,” Devitt said. “The past few games also just seeing the ball up front. See the ball, hit the ball.” Hartman was also perfect. She went three-for-three and had a homerun of her own. She has been on base for each of her last eight at-bats. “Brooke Hartman is locked in right now,” Ricciardone said. “She’s seeing the ball really well, again, not trying to do too much at the plate, just getting
her barrel to the ball well as you can see tonight.” On defense, pitcher Cheyenne Eggens made it easy for the Bulls. Allowing just four hits through five innings, Eggens threw a shutout against the Pirates. This was Eggens’ second straight complete game win in a row. She now posts a 1.81 ERA. “Cheyenne Eggens had some incredible innings,” Ricciardone said. “She brought back zeroes for us. That’s all we can ask our pitchers to do is give us a shot.” USF took the lead in the bottom of the second inning and never let up. They scored three runs in the third inning and scored four in the fifth. Samantha Worrell closed the game with a walk-off three-run homerun that ended the game early. “We’re just going game-togame, practice-to-practice,” Ricciardone said. “So our guys are owning their plans and approaches. Doing the little things.” This is the Bulls’ fifth win in a row and their fourth shutout of the season. USF opens their Under Armour Showcase Friday against Villanova (3-7) on Friday at 2 p.m. at USF Softball Stadium.