The Oracle
T H U R S DAY, A P R I L 0 5 , 2 0 1 8 I VO L . 5 5 N O . 5 0
www.usforacle.com
U N I V E R S I T Y O F S O U T H F L O R I DA
SG looks at cutting English department professor placed department budgets on leave after misconduct allegations By Jesse Stokes M A N A G I N G
By Miki Shine E D I T O R
I N
C H I E F
Departments from the Marshall Student Center to Campus Recreation could be looking at a cut in the Activity and Services (A&S) funds they receive to put on events and provide services to students. A&S allocations, made by Student Government (SG) and approved by administration, are from a semesterly fee paid by students. The Activity and Services Recommendation Committee (ASRC) makes allocations based on the projected amount that fee will bring in for the following year. The budget for the 2017-18 year allocated $17,889,421. However, the projected budget for next year is $17,378,224, according ASRC Chair Aladdin Hiba. The budget is still being worked on and numbers aren’t official until passed by SG Senate and signed by System President Judy Genshaft. An earlier version of the budget planned to allocate $12,250,319 to departments. These include the MSC, Campus Recreation, the Center for Student Involvement, the Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement, Office of Multicultural Affairs and Veterans Services among others. However, after a meeting Monday, the working estimate for departments was cut by $905,638 or approximately 7.39 percent with an overall cut of $1,603,828, according to Hiba. In total, after the meeting, $1,603,828 was cut
from the $18,982,052 in discussion. According to Senate President Amani Taha, this wasn’t pulled from payroll allocation for the departments. “All of the departments, the executive branch, and Safe Team all received a 15 percent cut on everything except payroll,” Taha said. “So the programming, the administration, all that stuff except payroll got a 15 percent cut.” Taha said the hope of ASRC is that departments such as the MSC and Campus Recreation would be able to make up the difference with the money received by nonstudents using the facility. “I think it really depends on how they’re setting their budget,” Taha said. “Luckily, places like the MSC and Campus Rec have very large auxiliary accounts. If you’re not a student, you have to pay to get into Campus Rec. If you’re not a student organization, you have to pay to use the MSC. So, they do have some funds in auxiliary. Hopefully that (the cuts) won’t impact that too much. “Just in terms of what I expect, hopefully they can utilize their A&S budget and utilize their auxiliary budget to kind of continue to provide those services to students.” According to MSC Director Sujit Chemburkar, approximately 60 percent of the MSC’s funding comes from A&S currently with the other 40 percent from these auxiliary funds. As for cuts, Chemburkar doesn’t know how
n See BUDGET on PAGE 5
E D I T O R
The director of the First-Year Composition Program, Joe Moxley, who has served as an employee of the English Department since 1984 was notified of his administrative leave on March 19 in a letter from College of Arts and Sciences Dean Eric Eisenberg. Administrative leave is different from a suspension, as it is pending an official investigative decision, and Moxley’s pay and benefits will not be impacted until a decision is reached, according to the letter. “The University has received notice of allegations concerning your conduct that appear to be inconsistent with University Regulations, Policies and Procedures,” Eisenberg wrote in the letter.
n See MOXLEY on PAGE 5
Joe Moxley’s pay and benefits will not be impacted until a decision is reached regarding the discrimination allegations. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE.
Students say laundry machines are cleaning out their wallets instead of washing their clothes By Maria Ranoni N E W S
E D I T O R
Students seem to have a variety of adjectives to describe what doing laundry is like on campus. However, one seems to come up more often than the others: frustrating. The laundry experience on campus is similar to that of a laundromat. Students haul their collection of dirty clothes to the nearest laundry facility, and pay a total of $2 to wash and dry one load of laundry. Students may pay with quarters directly at the washer/ dryer or with their Bull Bucks on a
communal automated machine. With both methods of payment, students must choose a washer or dryer and hope it works properly. However, many students have revealed that this sounds easier in theory than in practice at USF. Emily Pereira, a freshman majoring in biomedical sciences and a frequent at the Juniper-Poplar Hall (JP) laundry facility, said this practice does, in fact, backfire often. “(Doing laundry on campus) is amazingly frustrating,” Pereira said. “There’s always a problem with the laundry facility — it’s so annoying. The last time I went to do laundry,
half my clothes came out smelling like chlorine and the other half were in a machine that apparently didn’t turn on so the bottom half was soaking and the top half was bone dry.” Megan Malone, a freshman majoring in public health, said she also frequents the laundry facility in JP and seems to have similar complaints. “Doing laundry on campus is practically a guessing game,” Malone said. “You are unsure whether or not the machine will actually work. About 1/5 of the
n See LAUNDRY on PAGE 4
2
T H U R S DAY, A P R I L 0 5 , 2 0 1 8
The Oracle THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1966
Editor in Chief
●
T H E O R AC L E
Asst. Sports Editor Sam Newlon
@newlon_sam
Multimedia Editor Chaveli Guzman @ChaveliGuzman
The Index News.......................................................3
Miki Shine oracleeditor@gmail.com @MichaelAZShine
Asst. Multimedia Editor Thomas Prettyman @ThomasPrettyman
Lifestyle................................................4
Managing Editor
Copy Editor
Opinion..................................................6
Jesse Stokes oraclemeditor@gmail.com @JesseStokes813
News Editor
Maria Ranoni oraclenewsteam@gmail.com @ByMariaRanoni
Opinion Editor
Samantha Moffett oracleopinion@gmail.com @bySamMoffett
Sports Editor
Josh Fiallo oraclesportseditor@gmail.com @ByJoshFiallo
Andrea Martin @andreamrtn64
Staff Writers
Matthew Cutillo Brian Hattab Jessenia Rivera Michael Standard Alyssa Stewart Paige Wisniewski
Classifieds............................................7 Crossword............................................7 Sports....................................................8
Graphic Artists Avery Dyen Jessica Thornton
Advertising Sales Kimberly Flores Skyler Nickols Katelyn Williams
The Oracle is published Monday and Thursday during the fall and spring semesters, and once weekly, Wednesday, during the summer. The Oracle allocates one free issue to each student. Additional copies are $.50 each and available at the Oracle office (SVC 0002).
BY PHONE Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . News ................. Advertising . . . . . . . . . . . . Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
974-5190 974-1888 974-2620 974-2620
CORRECTIONS The Oracle will correct or clarify factual errors. Contact Editor in Chief Miki Shine at 974-5190.
NEWS
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA
●
T H U R S D AY, A P R I L 0 5 , 2 0 1 8
●
T H E O R AC L E
Opening date of on-campus One-hour class will take place of single parking fine next semester Publix determined
3
By Jessenia Rivera S T A F F
The expected opening date for the on-campus Publix is set for the end of next fall semester, according to sources familiar with the construction of this location. ORACLE PHOTO/CHAVELI GUZMAN
By Maria Ranoni N E W S
E D I T O R
Students will have to wait a little longer for their chicken tender subs as the opening date of the on-campus Publix may still be eight months away. The targeted opening date for the USF Publix is Dec. 6, according to sources familiar with the construction of this location. This date happens to be the last day of final exams for the fall semester. Adam Freeman, a spokesman for USF, could not confirm this date and said questions should be directed to Publix. Brian West, the media and community relations manager for Publix, was not able to be reached for comment by 9:30 p.m. Wednesday. This location was originally
expected to be completed in late 2017, but there were delays in the construction for undisclosed reasons. According to the USF’s facilities m a n a ge m e nt website, the west portion of Lot 16 has been closed since Dec. 11 and temporary lane closures may occur due to the Publix construction. The university made an agreement with Publix in late 2015 for a 20-year stay on campus with six potential five-year renewals which could possibly increase the total stay to 50 years. Publix will pay USF $130,000 every year to rent the land on the corner of Fletcher Avenue and North Palm Drive, resulting in USF having no financial obligation.
W R I T E R
Students could possibly avoid their first parking citation fee through a class offered by the Student Government (SG) Judicial Branch this upcoming fall semester. SG Chief Justice Cameron Valdez is working on implementing an educational class option that will seek to inform students on the parking rules and regulations on campus. This class would take the place of the standard fine students typically pay when they get a parking citation. While the class is intended to give students a general grasp on where to park and where not to park, Valdez said he hopes the class will keep students from acquiring any additional parking violation fees. According to Valdez, the concept of this upcoming citation option came from the former chief justice, Milton Llinas. Valdez said Llinas came up with the idea last year while in office and Valdez decided to push it forward. With collaboration from Parking and Transportation Services (PATS), Valdez said the one-hour class will include a presentation that’s directed by PATS and a test that students will need to pass with at least an 80 percent. “Someone from Parking and Transportation services will give a presentation about all the parking rules and regulations, and then you have to take a 10 question or 20 question
A test students can take in place of paying a parking citation will be implemented in fall 2018. ORACLE FILE PHOTO. multiple choice test,” Valdez said. Students don’t have to pay once they pass the test, but if a student doesn’t pass with an 80 or more, they would either have to go through the appeals process or just pay the citation amount given to them which is usually $30. This test can only be taken once. Valdez said the test will be an easy pass if students are attentive during the one-hour presentation. According to Valdez, PATS will serve to primarily educate students on parking in the right places, and that includes informing them on the empty lots and garages they could park in if they don’t find a space. “People say there isn’t parking on campus, but there are certain areas on campus where there’s parking available,” Valdez said. “So, they’ll teach you that stuff
as well.” Assistant director for administrative services, Aaron Nichols, said in an email that the class option will be a joint effort between PATS and SG. “PATS will contribute the space and content for the class,” Nichols wrote. “PATS and Student Government will co-facilitate the class (budgeted by time provided by each).” Paola Delpin, a senior majoring in criminology, said the option for a parking class would have been great at the time she got her first citation. As a busy college student who lives on a budget, Deplin said she would have dodged the $30 fee if she had the chance to attend the class. Greeshma James, a senior majoring in biomedical science, said she would most likely pick the parking class if faced
n See PARKING on PAGE 4
T H U R S DAY, A P R I L 0 5 , 2 0 1 8
●
4
T H E O R AC L E
LAUNDRY
PARKING
Continued from PAGE 1
time, I have had problems where I have lost money. I find it common for washers and dryers to be down.” Andy Johnson, the director of operations and outreach for Housing and Residential Education, said he isn’t aware of any specific complaints, but is empathetic with students experiencing these inconveniences. “I honestly don’t know how often we’re hearing about it (students losing money while attempting to use a washer/dryer) and in my opinion, that is stealing from students,” Johnson said. “We want to make sure the students are getting what they’re asking for.” Johnson said if students do lose money while attempting to do laundry on campus, there are a number of ways to issue formal complaints, including emailing Housing and Residential Education, calling/visiting the main office and talking to the residential life coordinator. While issuing a complaint may alert Housing of the problem, students must contact the vendor of the machines, Mac-Gray, to get an actual refund on lost money. Sam Unger, a freshman majoring in personal financial planning, said the refund process is too complicated considering he’d only get a dollar or two back in the end. According to his experience, he had to know the serial code of the washing machine and the vendor had to come out to determine if the machine was actually broken. Another contributing factor to students losing money on these machines seems to be a lack of proper communication of what machines are down. The MyUSF app is supposed to show exactly what machines are up and running, but according to Malone, it can be confusing which ones are down since some have signs directly posted on the machines and some only show as down on the app. “The number of washers and
Continued from PAGE 3
Maddie Barrow said that many students resort to putting up homemade signs on machines that aren’t working. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE/MADDIE BARROW dryers not working varies, but at least one of each is always out of order,” Maddie Barrow, a freshman majoring in biomedical sciences, said. “This is either as a result of a maintenance sign or a student written letter that may have been placed on the machine, but these appear to take a while to be taken off and it is unclear as to whether the machine was actually fixed or not.” While this may be an issue, Johnson said Housing’s facilities team cleans the laundry facilities daily as well as works with the vendor to ensure speedy repairs of broken machines and regular preventative maintenance. According to Johnson, Housing recognizes that laundry is an important aspect of living on campus and therefore they try to have as little downtime as possible. However, Johnson said the most common reason these machines break down is due to user error. “What we find most of the time is students will overfill the machines,” Johnson said. “They’re trying to maximize their dollar, they’ll overfill the machine and the machine will come out of balance which will then take it down. So, sometimes it’ll lock the door, especially if there’s water in there. Then the service technician will need to come out and release it. That is typically the biggest issue.” Unger said this inconveniently
happened to him during a particularly difficult laundry experience. “I went to do laundry Sunday (March 25) night around 6:30 p.m. and when I paid the washing machine wouldn’t start, of course, but the door stayed locked after I put my clothes in,” Unger said. “I went to the help desk and they called maintenance, but it took like three hours for them to come unlock it. “Finally, I switched machines around 10 p.m. and then put it in a dryer at 11 p.m. I go back down at 12 a.m. to grab it and my clothes were still wet. I switched dryers and finally finished my laundry around 1 a.m., over 6 hours later.” According to Johnson, there are about 230 washers and dryers on campus which can be a lot to handle at times. They are serviced by Mac-Gray at the end of summer and winter breaks. Johnson said the vendor has a good track record of fixing broken machines within one business day. Even with this frequent service, Barrow said she expects something to go wrong during every trip she makes to the Holly M laundry facility. She said this is usually due to faulty machines that do not complete a full wash and leave her clothes soaking wet. This, of course, will require another $1 for a second
wash. “The machines themselves are also old and do not appear to actually get fixed,” Barrow said. “With the brand new facility of Holly M, the decision to put old machines in the facility was somewhat unexpected.” According to Johnson, the laundry machines in Holly were installed in 2005 and are coming up at the end of their life. However, machines in other facilities are rather new with the JP machines being installed in 2015. “It (doing laundry) is fairly easy, except for whenever the washers and dryers take your money which happens 90 percent of the time,” Delinger Chance, a freshman majoring in marketing, said. “Then it becomes frustrating. It is also frustrating to have to load Bull Bucks onto my ID every other week. I lose money almost every time I do laundry and my friends lose money even more often than me.” While the word frustrating may come up often when this issue is brought up, Johnson assures residents that Housing cares and will work to improve the laundry situation. “We want to be accessible as possible to make sure it’s a positive residential experience,” Johnson said.
with a parking ticket. Though she’s a busy student, James said listening to a one-hour presentation is not extreme. While having an option when faced with your first parking ticket is convenient, Valdez said the execution of this class was supposed to be for the spring, but certain technological issues have caused delays. “From what I’ve been told, they have a new IT person and they’re having some issues implementing it into their website software,” Valdez said. “The goal is to have it started by fall.” Once the technological issues are fixed, Valdez said sign up for the class will be appear in a drop-down menu students usually see when they want to appeal a parking citation. Besides avoiding a fee, Valdez said the parking option is an opportunity for students to interact with PATS. “A lot of students think parking is out to make money off them,” Valdez said. “But, having worked with them really closely and watching them bend over backwards for students who have reached out to them, I can definitely tell you that’s not the case.” There aren’t many details about the funding amount for the parking class, but Valdez said the funds will not be pulled from Activity & Services fees. “I’m assuming PATS is paying for everything, we haven’t requested any funding for any of it.” Valdez said. “Once, we get confirmation on when it’s for sure going to start, marketing will start to appear across the campus.”
T H U R S DAY, A P R I L 0 5 , 2 0 1 8
●
T H E O R AC L E
MOXLEY
Continued from PAGE 1
According to the letter, Moxley being placed on administrative leave does not mean that he is at fault in the allegations regarding misconduct, but rather, that a “prudential step (is being) taken to ensure the integrity and efficiency of the University’s review.” Moxley could not be reached for comment by way of phone or email by 9:30 p.m. Wednesday. According to the letter sent by Eisenberg, until a decision is made, Moxley is not permitted to enter the space where his office currently sits and his access to his office building will be “temporarily disconnected.” “This administrative leave is effective immediately and will remain in place until you are otherwise notified by management,” Eisenberg wrote in the letter. Eisenberg said in an interview
with The Oracle Title IX investigators are looking into the allegations with hopes of their investigation being complete by sometime in June. Eisenberg said he is not aware nor able to touch on the specifics of the allegations, though he explained that the message to potential victims of misconduct is clear: say something. “The most important thing is to speak up and to use the resources on campus,” Eisenberg said. “If a student comes forward to any faculty member in the university and says there is any sexual harassment or discrimination, the faculty member is required under federal law to report that exchange.” Eisenberg also said he wanted to assure students that problems such as misconduct are not to be taken lightly. “If you have a problem, it is going to be addressed,” Eisenberg said.
5
BUDGET
Continued from PAGE 1
the MSC could be impacted if A&S funding is cut. “I’ve heard people talking about it (cuts),” he said. “But nothing official has been received or emailed so I haven’t invested any time in seeing how the building would react.” For the 2016-17 year, the MSC received $2,789,864. An approximate 7.39 percent cut — which is about what would be cut after the exclusion of payroll, according to Hiba — would equate to a cut of $206,171. The SG departments are also facing a cut of about $354,440, according to Hiba, or about 15.59 percent of their budgets. Additionally, the SG reserve accounts are facing a 12.15 percent cut, which is about $343,750. SG is also looking at cutting funding for student organization printing and room reservation. A survey sent to the student body on
Taha said ASRC hopes departments like the MSC and Campus Recreation would be able to make up the difference with the money received by non-students using the facility. ORACLE PHOTO/CHAVELI GUZMAN
Friday asked student opinion on whether these services should be available to student organizations who do not receive other A&S funding. According to Taha, the cuts come down to inflation.
“Things are getting more expensive and the A&S fee is staying stagnant,” she said. “We (were) actually in the negative and then the cuts put us back in the positive.”
OPINION
6
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA
●
T H U R S D AY, A P R I L 0 5 , 2 0 1 8
On-campus stadium should not be USF Athletics’ priority By Sam Newlon A S S T .
S P O R T S
E D I T O R
Rather than politicking and telling students what they want to hear, Student Government (SG) should communicate with USF Athletics about funding projects that will actually help programs thrive. An on-campus football stadium would be fun, but it’s not what USF football needs right now. Instead, the program needs funding for its indoor practice facility. One of USF football’s two losses in 2017 was to Houston on Oct. 28. Houston finished construction on its $20 million indoor football facility that same month. The Bulls also lost to in-state rival UCF, which opened its indoor facility in 2005. USF strives to be a PowerFive team, but currently lacks the facilities to do so. Currently, 62 of 65 PowerFive schools have indoor practice facilities. An indoor practice facility will not automatically make USF a national title contender, but it’s a step in the right direction — more so than an on-campus stadium. The proposed indoor practice facility costs about $40 million, according to USF. As of February, just $7 million was raised. Instead of implementing a student fee designated to an on-campus stadium, the same type of fee
should be used to fund the construction of the proposed facility. More than just a place to protect USF football practices from stormy conditions, the indoor complex would serve as a recruiting tool. The proposed facility includes meeting rooms, a strength and conditioning facility and a team auditorium with tiered seating. The indoor practice facility will help the football program grow. Proponents of the on-campus stadium will point to an increase in revenue from football. According to USA Today, USF Athletics nationally ranked 60th in revenue in 2017. The Bulls had a net gain of approximately $47 million. UCF ranked 53rd with over $59 million. Even with an on-campus stadium, an indoor practice facility, an undefeated record and a New Year’s Six Bowl win over Auburn, UCF only bested USF by $12 million — showing that an on-campus stadium doesn’t significantly increase yearly revenue. Ranking lower than USF was Florida Atlantic University (FAU) and the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). In March, UAB announced a plan for a new stadium and their revenue hasn’t grown
past USF’s. FAU has an on-campus stadium and will unveil their own $40 million indoor facility this summer. FAU’s football stadium opened in 2011 and was met with some of the worst football seasons in the program’s history. The Owls did not record more than six wins in any of the stadium’s first five seasons. The stadium didn’t have a huge impact on the team and a similar situation would occur in Tampa for the Bulls. Games would be more fun for fans, but the overall product on the field would remain the same. The proposed indoor facility would enable the Bulls to practice more often and effectively. Fans attend football games because their team is good. If USF continues to be a contender in the Associated Press Top 25 and competes with teams from Power-Five conferences, it will draw fans to games regardless of where they are held. USF football has the potential to keep improving and the indoor practice facility — not an on-campus stadium — is the way to do that.
Sam Newlon is a junior majoring in mass communications.
●
T H E O R AC L E
What you said Multimedia editor Chaveli Guzman asked students what Parking and Transportation can do to help students after a violation instead of making them pay a fee.
“Community service would be a good alternative.” -Crystal Drakes, a junior majoring in biology.
“The fees to me are so high. I think there should be more warnings. We already pay enough here for tuition, why does it have to be so expensive to pay for the parking ticket?” Viviana Lara, a junior — majoring in biomedical sciences. “We could definitely emphasize warnings and promote parking in the right spots.” —Liam Garcia, a junior majoring in cellular and molecular biology.
“I think the most obvious alternative is prioritizing more parking... A warning system would be more helpful, as well as clear guidelines.” — Daley Drucker, a junior majoring in English.
T H U R S DAY, A P R I L 0 5 , 2 0 1 8
●
7
T H E O R AC L E
Classifieds To place a classified ad go to http://www.usforacle.com/classifieds
ANNOUNCEMENTS All-Inclusive Weddings at Bakers Ranch (myevent@bakersranch.com)
HELP WANTED Optometric Technician No Experience Needed. Medical field major preferred. Work prescreening eye exam patients with the lastest technology. Enjoy working with a variety of patients and medical conditions. 813-679-1092 Email drcancellari@gmail.com
HELP WANTED Fiscal Manager Develop & manage fiscal processes for growing firm. Reports directly to board chairman. Potential for CFO. Ideally CPA/ MBA. Email vb@znergyworld.com
APTS & HOUSES FOR RENT TempleTerraceRentalHome Beautifully Remodeled 3 Bedroom/1 Bath single family home 4 rent. New Kitchen, Bath, paint,appliances. Bonus/Family room 19x11. Inside utility w/ W&D. Fenced yard. Minutes to USF. 1Year Lease $1495mo/$1495sec. LynnWerner C21EliteLocations 813-335-3092 Email lynn.werner1@century21.com
FURNITURE Mattress Twin XL : Tempur-Contour Supreme bought in 2016, includes free foundation, from smoke and pet-free home. 70% off (used) www.pascoyardsale.com
HELP WANTED Entry Level - Part Time Sales and Marketing Assistant Positions Available Faircount Media Group is looking for an entry level marketing assistant who is a passionate individuals to support marketing and sales operations for the International publishing company Defense Media Network. 15-20 Hours a week, $12/hr. We are a specialty publisher producing “high quality” campaigns in a variety of fields including agriculture, defense (Special Operations, Army, Navy, Air Force, Veterans Affairs), and clients such as Carnegie Hall or the Sundance Film Festival. A marketing Research/Project Development Assistant will be responsible for assisting Project Managers in researching upcoming publications and in developing potential sales leads. The ideal candidate should have the following skills: Social Media (Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter, Wordpress) Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, Powerpoint) or Google equivalents Experience with Salesforce or other CRM Tools would help, but not required Details Oriented with Ability to Multi-Task Familiarity with Mac Computers Please contact Lawrence Roberts, lawrence.roberts@faircount.com, 813-6753873 to Apply and for More Information.
SERVICES OFFERED Real Estate Services Are You Ready for a Change? Thinking of Buying or Selling? Tired of paying rent? Now is a good time to move while interest rates are still low! Contact a Real Estate Professional with the resources to streamline the process and answer your questions. Lynn Werner, C21 Elite Locations 813-3353092 lynn.werner1@century21.com
CROSSWORD
Sports
8
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA
Women’s Tennis
Bulls’ eight-match win streak snapped by No. 22 UCF
●
T H U R S D AY, A P R I L 0 5 , 2 0 1 8
T H E O R AC L E
Commentary
USF Athletics’ social media presence needs more personality to thrive
By Brian Hattab S T A F F
Both of Julia Cardoso’s matches, singles and doubles, went unfinished Wednesday. ORACLE PHOTO/THOMAS PRETTYMAN certain spots in singles that By Thomas Prettyman M U L T I M E D I A A S S I S T A N T we just couldn’t capitalize on,” Moros said. “But credit to them. After being shut out in the They have a high ranking. first match of doubles, USF They’re a good team for a reason ended its second against No. 22 and I thought they showed that UCF in a tie on Wednesday at today, especially when it came the USF Varsity Tennis Courts, down to some sets and some before falling to UCF 4-1 overall. games. Looking forward to our Juniors Nicole Dzenga and last match, so hopefully we can Vanja Klaric fought back for the make some adjustments and do Bulls in doubles against UCF’s a little bit better on Sunday.” early lead, but the contest ended UCF (16-2, 4-0) has only lost early due to time constraints two matches all season, both with UCF taking the doubles- of which were to power-five match point. teams — Alabama and TCU. Singles followed suit for the The loss was only USF’s second Bulls as the Knights clinched conference loss of the season, the match, breaking USF’s with its other loss coming eight-match win streak. Klaric against Tulsa. would put up the Bulls’ only The Bulls’ final match of the win, despite two other contests regular season will be against ending unfinished. Rice on Sunday at noon on the “It was definitely a tough USF Varsity Tennis Courts. The match,” USF coach Cristina Bulls will try to defend their Moros said. “I thought we had AAC Conference title in the some chances in doubles.” AAC Conference Tournament in Senior Juliana Cardoso and Dallas, which starts on April 19. freshman Evelyne Tiron fell to UCF in singles.“There were
●
W R I T E R
USF Athletics has a serious problem — it’s social media presence. If you can even call what USF Athletics does on social media a presence. In the age where companies and brands gain easy publicity by sending out compelling tweets, USF falls flat on its face. It seems that USF’s focus for its social media accounts, especially on Twitter, is simply to tweet out news and keep it largely at that, with very few exceptions. It doesn’t have to be that way. There is room for both news and personality. Consider Cinderella-story University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) — the first ever men’s basketball No. 16 seed to knock off a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The UMBC Athletics account — which only had 5,000 followers prior to the Tournament — exploded during the game, adding 100,000 followers. Most importantly, UMBC managed to keep the followers after the spotlight died down by being entertaining. From calling out insulting tweets to simply retweeting pictures of people’s dogs that were tweeted at them — and there have been a lot of dogs — UMBC is doing everything right in the social media department. All the while, they still have been able to tweet out important news as it breaks. How has the extra exposure helped UMBC? From the end of the game Friday to Sunday morning, the UMBC Bookstore received about 3,500 online orders — almost as many as the total for the entire previous year, according to the Baltimore Sun. That won’t be the case with USF.
When was the last time USF made a joke with somebody on Twitter? When was the last time a USF account properly interacted with another user? You can’t ask the same questions about USF’s rival down the road. After defeating Auburn 34-27 in the Peach Bowl, UCF Athletic Director Danny White declared the Knights national champions, despite the Peach Bowl not being the national championship game. Quickly afterward, UCF’s social media followed suit — and things rapidly went viral from there. Whether you agreed with UCF’s claim or thought it utterly ridiculous, people were talking about UCF on social media and UCF was talking right back to them. Throughout the entire process, UCF’s accounts were engaging users who agreed with the Knights’ claim or defending themselves from those who disagreed. And it paid off. According to SocialBlade, a website that analyzes statistics on social media profiles, in January — during the height of UCF’s national championship claim — UCF Football added over 11,000 followers. For perspective, USF Football — despite being ranked most of the season and playing in what many nationally called the best game of the regular season against UCF on Black Friday — gained only around 16,000 followers from September until the end of 2017. UCF’s main athletics account drastically dwarfs USF’s. UCF presently has almost 150,000 followers compared to USF’s 40,000 — which is nearly four times more. That differential is what you would expect USF vs. UMBC to look like, at least before March. Not two schools that are in the same conference and have roughly the same notoriety nationally. So, what’s different here from
UCF? What’s different from UMBC, which now also has more followers than USF? These accounts have personality. It feels like there is a real person behind the blue checkmark, not some faceless corporation. UCF and UMBC are actively engaging other users on Twitter, which is ultimately the entire reason brands should be on social media. The only explanation that would make any sense for USF’s utter lack of a social media pulse is the desire to look professional. Which is odd, considering professional teams in this market have fairly engaging accounts. On Tuesday, following an 11-4 loss to the New York Yankees, a tweet was directed at the Tampa Bay Rays telling them they “suck” and to “shut up and cancel (their) Twitter account.” USF wouldn’t touch a tweet like that with a 10-foot poll, but the Rays did. “(B)ut then we wouldn’t get to hear from awesome fans like you,” the Rays responded. All it took was 12 words to show the Rays have a pulse. It probably took fewer seconds than words to come up with that reply, too. The people who run USF’s accounts are more than capable of being engaging on social media. If it was a personnel problem, one of the accounts surely would have shown personality by now. Whether the directive to run these accounts with no flair comes from Athletics, University Communications and Marketing — which is the organization that runs usf.edu, among other things — or even USF System President Judy Genshaft — something needs to change. USF has been completely left behind in the age of social media due to their lack of engagement.