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U N I V E R S I T Y O F S O U T H F L O R I DA
SG proposes endowment that administration says breaks statutes By Maria Ranoni N E W S
E D I T O R
There is a divisive item proposed by the Senate in the Activity & Service (A&S) budget for the 201819 fiscal year that would allocate $1.375 million to create what’s known as an endowment. This endowment, if passed, would be taken and entrusted with off-campus financial institutions to invest with the intention of generating substantial returns in the future. However, there’s an issue with this: Administration says it breaks USF statutes. Danielle McDonald, the dean of students, said the act of investing money collected through A&S fees, a student fee, in an outside financial institution breaks USF6.028. This statute states that “All Activity and Service Fees shall be maintained in university accounts.” McDonald also said this would break the investment policy approved by the USF Board of Trustees. A section of this policy states that only the university Chief Financial Officer (CFO) (Nick Trivunovich) and the Treasurer (Fell Stubs) “are authorized to manage the financial assets of the university invested as short-term funds or long-term funds.” “We won’t approve a budget that violates policies or regulations,” McDonald said. “We’ve been pretty transparent. The legal counsel, the CFO, have all met with Student Government (SG) leadership that are in support of this endowment. I’ve met with them several times, gone to the endowment meetings, gone to ASRC (Activity & Service Recommendation Committee)
meetings, and have been pretty up front and clear on that. Even if they approve it all, it couldn’t happen.” Yousef Afifi, the chairman of the endowment ad hoc committee, has a different take on this. “We had been told by the university administration that it is illegal to put A&S fees — or student fees is what was told to me — in an outside financial institution,” Afifi said. “They said that was against the law and I said ‘OK, I doubt that.’” Afifi said he doubts this because USF administration holds its surplus money from every year, which generally come from student tuition according to him, in outside accounts. “We quickly came to the realization that (administration telling them it was against statutes) was something to get us to stop trying,” Afifi said. “Then we realized to ourselves — not only will we stop trying, we will divert that to other route which was to put A&S fees into the endowment.” Afifi said he maintains that he wants to work with USF administration rather than to be adversarial. “I never came into office wanting to go head to head with anyone,” Afifi said. “On the contrary, I wanted to work with them, I wanted to collaborate with them, but I was expecting them to give me a certain level of recognition in terms of recognizing that I am an elected member of representatives. They haven’t done that so far.” Jake Massa, a senator who opposes the endowment, said
Danielle McDonald, the dean of students, said the act of investing money collected through Activity & Service fees in an outside financial institution breaks USF statutes. ORACLE PHOTO/CHAVELI GUZMAN those in support of it are trying to formalize it before it exists. “What seems to be going around Student Government is that the administration is wholeheartedly against it,” Massa said. “They don’t think it’s something SG should be doing. So they (senators for the endowment) have definitely been trying to set it up so that there’s more legitimacy on their part. “They made a new committee for an endowment that doesn’t exist and that we had voted on two weeks ago.” The question remains though: Why create the endowment in the first place? The answer to that is financial trouble, according to Aladdin Hiba, chairman of ARSC and a supporter of the endowment.
Hiba said the expenses of A&S president, my goal is to always funded entities have gone up try and work toward initiatives close to 15-20 percent over the last that are in the best interest of my two years. These entities include student body,” Kheireddine said. departments like the Marshall “So, I haven’t made a clear cut Student Center (MSC), Campus opinion on what I view of this yet. Recreation and the Center for There’s not an easy way to say it, it Student Involvement (CSI), as well is a large number. There’s a large as student organizations. At the amount of money going toward same time, the A&S fee amount this.” charged to students has remained Aside from this endowment stagnant. breaking statutes, there are other “It’s impossible for us to sustain concerns related to the types of a budget that skyrockets so quickly investments that would be made without having an increased with the endowment money. source of revenue,” Hiba said. One phrase that was brought Moneer Kheireddine, student up during the planning of this body president, said he has yet aspect was “socially responsible to determine whether he fully investments.” supports the endowment. This may bring flashbacks of “In my role as student body n See ENDOWMENT on PAGE 5
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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 @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
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Multimedia Editor Chaveli Guzman @ChaveliGuzman
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Staff Writers
Matthew Cutillo Brian Hattab Jessenia Rivera Michael Standard Alyssa Stewart Paige Wisniewski
Graphic Artists Avery Dyen Jessica Thornton
Advertising Sales Kimberly Flores Skyler Nickols Katelyn Williams
The Index News.......................................................3 Opinion..................................................4 Lifestyle................................................6 Classifieds............................................8 Crossword............................................8 Sports....................................................10
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NEWS
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA
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Senate committee considers taking services away from some student organizations
A survey was sent out by Moneer Kheireddine, student body president, asking students their opinions on removing free printing services from registered student organizations (RSO’s) that aren’t funded by Activity & Service fees considering this would result in substantial changes to how some RSO’s operate. ORACLE PHOTO/CHAVELI GUZMAN By Maria Ranoni N E W S
E D I T O R
Registered Student Organizations (RSO’s) that aren’t funded by Activity & Service (A&S) fees have long enjoyed services, such as printing, free of charge. The Activity & Service Recommendation Committee (ASRC) recently considered taking this privilege away due to the fact that these organizations aren’t open to all students. A survey was sent out by student body president, Moneer Kheireddine, asking students their thoughts on this proposal considering this would result in
substantial changes to how some RSO’s operate. According to Kheireddine, 90 percent of the approximately 700 people that participated in the survey did not favor taking away free printing. Kheireddine said taking away these services would save Student Government about $10,000$15,000 in the end. “What that (taking away printing from non-A&S funded RSO’s) sets in stone is a principle,” Kheireddine said. “A principle that we do not want to fund non-A&S entities, because they’re not open to all students. So when you set
a principle like that, you can’t go back on it. So, that decision would lead to other decisions, like lack of free MSC room reservations. That’s a big principle change.” Kheireddine said he worked on this survey and brought it before the Senate Relations Committee to no avail. “Eventually, they decided that they didn’t want to send out that survey, because they didn’t think it was something that they wanted to ask the student body,” Kheireddine said. “In hindsight of that, I decided to send out a survey through the executive branch.” This issue comes up while
a controversial $1.375 million endowment, comprised of student paid A&S fees, has been proposed. This endowment would be invested with the hope of it yielding high returns in the future. RSO’s may not be granted A&S funding when they have certain requirements for membership like those based on sex, religion or gender. Examples of this is Greek life organizations and honor societies. Even though these organizations are selective in choosing members, Kheireddine said these services are still offered
due to the fact that they still host events and participate in philanthropies that are open to all students. Ultimately, ASRC decided not to cut these services, so RSO’s are safe for now, according to Kheireddine, but the issue could arise again. “The budgeting process isn’t over, so the decision could be brought up again if there was an interest in the committee to change it again,” Kheireddine said. “It could also be brought up again next year or something like that.”
OPINION
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UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA
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Abortion reversal pill is not What you said backed by credible evidence By Paige Wisniewski S T A F F
W R I T E R
Having knowledge of all possible options for medical treatment is important for any patient considering a procedure. The Abortion Pill Reversal process is intended to give patients an alternative after taking an abortion pill. Patients should know all their options. As long as these options are scientifically credible and not based on anti-abortion fear mongering. The Abortion Pill Reversal does not fit into this criteria. The abortion pill is a two-step process. Patients first take the drug mifepristone and follow it with misoprostol one to two days later. The Abortion Pill Reversal treatment is intended to be taken after the ingestion of mifepristone; it is a progesterone therapy meant to reverse the effects of the mifepristone. Progesterone, a hormone that supports pregnancy, is blocked by the ingestion of mifepristone, but the Abortion Pill Reversal is meant to reverse the effects of the mifepristone by adding extra progesterone into the body. If a person seeking an abortion truly ends up changing their mind halfway through the abortion process, then this reversal treatment would be sound. But the reason for its creation appears rooted in attitudes just as misconstrued as the faulty science behind the product. According to the Huffington Post, Dr. George Delgado, founder of the Abortion Pill Reversal
conducted a case series “showing successful reversal rates between 60 and 70 percent.” The Abortion Pill Reversal website features anonymous testimonials from women who regret their abortions, but the abortion remorse rhetoric is not statistically supported. According to Medical Daily, 95 percent of 667 surveyed participants over a two-year period reported to being satisfied with their decision to terminate their pregnancy. The false sense of urgency saturating the Abortion Pill Reversal website emulates anti-abortion sentiment rather than a legitimate concern for ensuring patients have access to all reproductive options. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) has stated that the abortion reversal is not rooted in credible science. Delgado’s case series was not administered by an institutional review board nor did it follow any scientifically ethical guideline. The Abortion Pill Reversal is also not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA.) ACOG also states that a pregnancy cannot be terminated by mifepristone alone, which is why the abortion pill is a two-pill treatment. This means that while there may have been 60 to 70 percent of “successful reversal rates,” the Abortion Pill Reversal may not be undoing these abortions after all. The pregnancy continues because the original abortion treatment was not completed. Abortion Pill Reversal should
not be taking credit for a saved pregnancy when the preferred outcome can occur without an extra dose of progesterone. Their product is essentially unnecessary and useless. Idaho, Arkansas, South Dakota and Utah have recently passed legislation mandating medical providers notify any patient seeking the abortion pill that the Abortion Pill Reversal process can be stopped with this reversal method. It should not be too much to ask that governing bodies pass legislation regarding medical practice when treatments are scientifically supported. Since this is not the case with the Abortion Pill Reversal, these states prove that their concern with abortion has less to do with providing safe options and more to do with a political stance on reproductive health. Given that the Abortion Pill Reversal is not scientifically verifiable or FDA approved, legislating that medical providers must inform patients of its availability is unethical and irresponsible. Physicians should not be legally required to give false information to patients seeking safe and credible options for their pregnancies. Fearmongering and baseless evidence are not suitable conditions for medical treatments or the laws that enforce them.
Paige Wisniewski is a junior majoring in interdisciplinary social sciences.
Multimedia editor Chaveli Guzman asked students if Student Government should get student opinions before making big decisions.
“Yes, definitely.” — Chantell Bingham, a freshman majoring in biomedical science.
“Yes, it’s better to get a student opinion before making some drastic change and then facing backlash and having to reverse the change anyway.“ —Larry Farris, a junior majoring in accounting. “Yes ... when you make drastic changes that affect the masses, you should get the opinion of the masses.” — Mark Harewood, a junior majoring in industrial engineering.
“Sure, they should do that.” — Rahun Khheri, a freshman majoring in electrical engineering.
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ENDOWMENT Continued from PAGE 1
the divestment referendum that was on the SG ballot last year which urged the USF Foundation, a private entity, to divest their own investments from companies that may not be considered morally upstanding by some. These can include the private-prison system, fossil fuels and war industries. Students voted overwhelmingly in favor of this referendum, but it was late thrown out by the SG Supreme Court. “There are certain things we don’t want to invest in,” Afifi said. “That’s a conscious decision that the committee members made. That’s not to say divestment is our intention.” Hiba said that although these socially responsible investments are important, they are not the reason the endowment is being proposed. “The key component of the endowment is a financial one rather than a humanitarian one,” Hiba said. “It’s that we’re running out of money and we need to have some way not spending more money than we have.” In a Senate meeting on March 27, however, Afifi said that “Islamic financing” was an important principle in which the money could be invested. “... I have a phone call scheduled with a potential new provider for our endowment that bases their allocations and investment portfolio management on a very unique principle based on Islamic financing, which was something we deemed necessary in terms of providing a better middle ground between our socially responsible investments opportunities which have very low yield or the very tactical approach to have a very high yield …,” Afifi said. Aida Vazquez-Soto, a senator who opposes the idea of the endowment, said that based on this statement, she is concerned that
this endowment will be used as a way to enact the political beliefs of those who are spearheading it. Another item proposed in the budget was sweeping cuts to those departments that are wholly or partially funded by A&S fees. These include the MSC, Campus Recreation and CSI among others. “We did realistically run out of money, I’m not going to dispute that, but there’s a couple things involved,” Vazquez-Soto said. “We ran out of money — that tells me we didn’t have the ability to fund an endowment. The other thing is, we were told you can make it with a 5 percent cut, or a 10 percent cut, as long as you’re not funding insane little projects.” According to Hiba, Campus Recreation’s budget would be going from $3.37 million during the 2017-2018 fiscal year to $3.26 million for the 2018-19 year, the MSC would go from $2.82 million to $2.12 million and CSI would go from $2.08 million to $1.1778 million. “They (Campus Rec and the MSC) are going to be faced with some difficult choices,” Hiba said. “The MSC, compared to last year, will have a 5.38 percent cut to their entire budget, so they’re going to have to figure out how to make that work within their budget.” Hiba said CSI was one of the hardest hit departments in the proposed budget, because SG felt they overspent on some their programs like Bulls Night Out. However, ASRC did manage to fit $132,480 in the budget to pay senators next year as they do not get paid currently. This amount would most likely be used to pay for a certain amount of credit hours per senator, but this detail has not been finalized. Massa said it is selfish on the part of ASRC to propose senator pay while also cutting the department budgets. With all of this coming to light around the same time, it’s easy to assume that these cuts are
being proposed to help fund this endowment. Afifi said that’s not the case. “The endowment has $2 million requested to it initially and that was a number I was comfortable with, it was a number that made sense to optimally issue returns and I ended up settling for $1.375 million which was a 32 percent cut off the top,” Afifi said. “The endowment got a cut that was almost more substantial than almost any line item that was funded in all of ASRC. “So, to say we made cuts (to the departments) to fund the endowment is asinine. By that same principle, you could say that I made cuts to the endowment to fund other things.” Vazquez-Soto said she looks at it differently though. “He’s been going on and on and on about that 32 percent, but the thing is the endowment didn’t exist before this budget,” VazquezSoto said. “That is not a 32 percent cut. That is $1.375 million of new initiatives.” The endowment money is said to come from some remaining unallocated cash and a senior gift account that Senate voted to repeal, according to Hiba. For the 2017-18 year, ASRC allocated 252,000 for the senior gift. It does seem that Senate has chosen to do little outreach with students to determine if this is a popular idea. “We are a student government and we’ve all been elected by students and we’re representatives of the students, and by being elected, we make decisions on behalf of students,” Hiba said. Kheireddine said that even though SG is comprised of elected officials, their power is vested through the student body. “They (senators) need to internalize and ask that question: ‘Do I believe that the majority of the student body would be in favor of this,’” Kheireddine said.
LIFESTYLE
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UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA
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For some USF students Quidditch is more than fiction By Matthew Cutillo S T A F F
W R I T E R
Quidditch has been on the rise for the last decade. People are making an effort to turn the fictional sport found in the Harry Potter series into real-life competition. This includes over 100 U.S. collegiate teams to over 500 international teams. While some may hear the name and think of computer gaming or something that doesn’t require much physical activity, over the last 12 years since U.S. Quidditch was founded in Vermont it has developed into a full-contact, gender-inclusive sport. The USF Quidditch team was created in 2013 and had its first game against UF Quidditch. Brielle Scoliere, a senior majoring in health science, plays Quidditch for a few different reasons. “It is a lot of fun and it is great exercise. I also like that it is just as intense as other sports even though it is made up,” Scoliere said. “I wish people wouldn’t judge a sport that they are unfamiliar with and be open to trying something new. That’s how I got started. I wanted to try something new. And that it is just as aggressive as any other sport if not more because we do not have any padding or helmets. Just a mouth guard and cleats.” According to Samuel King, President of USF Quidditch, each team can have a up to 21 active players on their roster, with seven from each team on
the field during play. Each team has four positions with three chasers, a keeper, two beaters and a seeker. As is commonly the goal with most sports, whichever teams scores the most points in Quidditch by the end of the game wins. However, it is the way in which a team scores their points that is different. On offense, chasers attempt to score through three ring-shaped goals of different heights with the opposing team’s keeper serving as a goalie. Each goal counts as 10 points and the snitch, which triggers the end of the game, is worth 150 points. “Chasers are the point scorers. They handle the main ball, the quaffle, and try to score on offense,” King said. “On defense, they are trying to get the ball back.” On defense, keepers protect the hoops by blocking shots and making contact, whereas when playing offense, the keeper serves as another chaser, according to King. Contact is a key part of the sport, with dodgeballs often used as equipment. “The two beaters on each team handle the bludgers, which are dodgeballs,” King said. “Their job is to protect the chasers on offense and try to prevent the opposing team from scoring on defense.” Matches last typically around 20 minutes as at the 18 minute mark the seekers are introduced. The seeker’s goal is to catch the snitch. “They are responsible for
ending the game by catching the snitch,” King said. While in the books, the snitch is a small golden ball with wings that flies around the pitch, in this version of the game the snitch is a ball velcroed to the back of a person’s back similar to flag football. The person carrying the snitch is dressed in all yellow or gold. Similarly to the snitch in the books, they aren’t restrained to the pitch but rather are encouraged to run off with the seekers behind them. Since the snitch is able to be off the field, a catch can happen anywhere, but the seeker has to return with the ball before game play ends. According to King, to ensure contact happens safely among players, there are many safety precautions in place. “There are rules in place to make the game safer for everyone on the field,” King said. “Mouth guards and cleats are required for safety. There are also strict rules concerning contact. In brief; contact must be initiated from the front, only one arm may be contacting the other person at any time and contact can only be initiated from shoulders to above the knee, any lower or high is illegal contact.” For King, he said he wants others to see Quidditch as a real sport rather than writing it off as something silly. “Honestly, I’d like people to understand that we are a real, competitive sport club and not just a Harry Potter fan club,” King said.
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Annual Bullstock concert featured COIN, We the Kings and X Ambassadors Photos by: Correspondent Paola Bahena and Multimedia Assistant Thomas Prettyman M U L T I M E D I A
In the high heat of a Friday afternoon, students and visitors gathered for the annual Bullstock concert held in the Sun Dome parking lot. This year, the lineup included COIN, We the Kings and headliner X Ambassadors. Two student bands, Lyrical Menacez and Coastals, who competed at Battle of the Bands for their spot as openers also played.
Being from Bradenton, it was like a hometown show for We the Kings. ORACLE PHOTO/PAOLA BAHENA
Students sing along to songs performed by We the Kings. ORACLE PHOTO/THOMAS PRETTYMAN
X Ambassadors closed Bullstock as the headlining band. ORACLE PHOTO/THOMAS PRETTYMAN
Lead singer of COIN, Chase Lawrence, performs top songs at Bullstock. ORACLE PHOTO/THOMAS PRETTYMAN
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CROSSWORD
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Sports
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UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA
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Football
Former offensive lineman speaks out about departure from team By Josh Fiallo S P O R T S
E D I T O R
Through an elaborate tweet, former USF offensive lineman Brooks Larkin announced Friday he was leaving USF football, calling offensive line coach Matt Mattox a “liar and a coward.” He added in his tweet that Mattox “plays who he wants rather than the best player for the job.” In a phone interview, Larkin, 22, elaborated on his issues with Mattox and spoke out about differences between USF football under former coach Willie Taggart’s coaching staff opposed to under current head coach Charlie Strong’s. “Under Taggart, you knew exactly where you stood with coaches,” Larkin said. “They were fair and didn’t play favorites. They played who deserved the jobs and as you saw in Taggart’s last year, we were explosive. “The coaching and culture (are different now). We would leave games under Strong and be ridiculously frustrated. Tulane we should’ve beaten by a lot more; Temple we should’ve
Brooks Larkin gained national fame for his split with teammates behind him on live TV during the 2017 Birmingham Bowl on Dec. 23. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE/ESPN.COM beaten by a lot more; Stony Brook was a joke. We should’ve never let them hang around that long.” Another difference between Taggart and Strong, according to Larkin, was how players are disciplined for mistakes made on and off the field. Under Taggart, Larkin said a missed tutor session meant “dom patrol,” which forced players to push a 45-pound plate 20 yards and back, 20 times, all in a 30-minute span at 5 a.m. the next morning. Under Strong, after missing
a workout over the summer, Larkin’s only punishment was to push a 100-pound plate the length of the weight room and back. Others who missed, he said, were never punished at all. “It was child’s play,” Larkin said. USF has made no official statement in regard to the situation and has removed Larkin’s bio page from the athletics website. “A lot of times that’s gonna happen to you where a player
gets disgruntled,” Strong told the Tampa Bay Times after Saturday’s practice. “But we have to continue to just coach the guys we’ve got and just make them better.” Of Larkin’s personal issues with Mattox, which is what ultimately pushed the walk-on lineman to quit, Larkin said his biggest issue was false promises. Larkin said he was told in the weeks leading up to USF’s first game against San Jose State that he’d be starting on the offensive
line. Two days before the game, Larkin said he was abruptly told he’d been moved to the secondteam offense. He’d go on to play in six games in 2017, starting none. “Everybody would tell me I was the best player for the position, but still, I’d never see the field,” Larkin said. “Other players would tell me they were most comfortable when I was on the line. Still, I’d never even see ones (first team) action during practices.” In the Spring, Larkin said Mattox promised him split first-team reps with redshirt sophomore Michael Wiggs in a competition for the starting center job. According to Larkin, that never happened. “A competition is (quarterbacks) Chris Oladokun and Brett Kean,” Larkin said. “They’re literally splitting reps. That’s a competition. That’s what I was promised, but not what I got. I know if I had a shot, I’d win the job — no problem.”
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Softball
USF avenges 9-1 defeat Friday, wins two out of three against Houston By Brian Hattab S T A F F
W R I T E R
It was a tale of two halves for USF over the weekend. The Bulls dropped their first game against Houston 9-1 on Friday and were trailing the second by two runs in the sixth inning. The Bulls, however,
fought back to win their second game 3-2 after a three-run sixth inning. USF then won it’s game Sunday 7-4, taking two games out of three against Houston at USF Softball Stadium. Freshman pitcher Georgina Corrick saw action in all three games — starting the first and
third game, and pitching in relief in the second. Corrick threw a combined 14.2 innings, allowing four earned runs and striking out 12. Friday’s loss, at the time, was USF’s second in a row. The Bulls tallied their only run in the bottom of the fifth
inning, taking a 1-0 lead into the seventh inning. After six scoreless innings by Corrick, the freshman hit the first Houston batter of the inning to put the tying run on base. Senior Hannah Parker entered the game after the hit batter to attempt to close the
door on Houston. Parker was unable to record any outs in her appearance, allowing both batters she faced to reach base and allowed Corrick’s hit batter to score on a wild pitch. She would be
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SOFTBALL
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charged with her fourth loss of the season after allowing two runs. The rest of the inning would not fare any better for USF pitching or defense, as the Bulls allowed a total of nine runs on five hits and two errors. “We can’t win ball games against good teams by giving them four or five freebies from the mound and three errors in the field,” USF coach Ken Eriksen said. “You have to make plays and we didn’t make plays tonight.” The Bulls looked to bounce back in its second game of the series Saturday, but Mother Nature had other plans. USF trailed 3-0 after four innings before the game was suspended due to lightning in the area, which led to the rest of the game being postponed until Sunday morning. Once the game resumed, the
Bulls came back in the bottom of the sixth inning, putting the first two batters of the inning on base. The rally was capped off by a three-run homer by sophomore Brooke Hartman to give the Bulls a 3-2 lead heading into the final inning. Senior Astin Donovan was one of the runners to score on the Hartman homer after hitting a bloop single to short. Donovan’s hit was the 200th of her career. “It’s a pretty great feeling,” Donovan said. “I just focus on the game and the game rewarded me back.” Corrick picked up her 10th win of the season, throwing the final three innings of the suspended game in relief of junior Cheyenne Eggens. During Sunday’s regularly scheduled game, USF and Houston each scored two runs in the second inning before the Bulls were propelled to victory by a five-run fourth inning that
saw USF send nine batters to the plate in the inning. The biggest blow in the inning would be a Donovan two-RBI double that scored Mia Fung and Jasmine Hayes to give the Bulls a four-run lead. Lauren Evans scored on a Cassidy Boyle groundout to score the seventh USF run of the game, giving the Bulls a lead they never surrendered despite two Houston runs in the sixth. Corrick collected her 11th win of the season in the 7-4 USF victory, throwing 5.2 innings and striking out four batters. After the series victory, USF (29-15, 7-2) finds itself first overall in the AAC, leading UCF (26-15, 6-3) by one game. The Bulls and Knights meet in Tampa the weekend of April 27. Before meeting their rivals from Orlando though, the Bulls travel to Tulsa next weekend and ECU the following weekend.
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When Larkin tried to meet with Mattox to discuss issues, he said his texts, calls and voicemails went unanswered. After he talked to Strong and shared his grievances, Strong suggested the two meet together in Mattox’s office. Larkin said he reluctantly agreed and waited for Mattox in his office for 25 minutes. According to Larkin, however, Mattox never showed — so he left and went to class. “I actually heard Mattox’s voice in the hallway near his office,” Larkin said. “He still never came in. I knew he was ignoring me. It just reassured me about everything I was doing.” Later that morning, Larkin released his public statement via Twitter at 11:04 a.m. In regard to why he chose to voice his opinion publicly on Twitter, Larkin said: “A lot of athletes get lied to and it’s just wrong. I’ve always believed
honesty is the best policy and that’s how I was raised. If I stir the pot a little with this post, then I could open a door for other athletes to say, ‘I’m not going to stand being lied to anymore.’ “Most coaches say, ‘you need to keep doing your thing until you get your opportunity.’ Then they keep leading you on and leading you on and nothing happens. It crushes your spirits. I went in loving football and there was nothing in the world better than putting on a helmet. Really, when this staff came, it deflated me — borderline depression from all that went on. It was getting tough.” Larkin mentioned other current players hold the same position as he did. However, as they’re still members of the team, he requested their names be withheld. In regard to his tweet, Larkin said he wouldn’t hesitate to do it all over again. “No regrets,” Larkin said. “I’d absolutely (do it all) again.”
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