THE ORACLE
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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
A look at USF’s unoccupied presidential mansion
The Lifsey House has been unoccupied since former President Betty Castor lived there nearly 20 years ago. ORACLE PHOTO/LEDA ALVIM By Maria Ranoni M A N A G I N G
E D I T O R
The Lifsey House is a hidden feature of USF’s campus.
Built in 1993 to be fit for a president, the house on the corner of Fowler Avenue and Leroy Collins Boulevard has been mostly unoccupied for
nearly two decades. While it’s currently unclear whether Steven Currall — the next USF system president replacing Judy Genshaft in July — and his wife, Cheyenne
Currall, will choose to live there, one president did choose to call the approximately 10,000-square-foot house a home. Betty Castor, USF’s president from 1994 to 1999, lived in the Lifsey House during her tenure. Conversations of building a presidential mansion began in 1985, according to Andy Huse, an assistant librarian and specialist in USF history. In 1988, USF hosted a contest to pick an architectural design for the house. With a $1.2 million estimated budget — about $600,000 of which was donated by Mary Ann Lifsey and her late husband Julian Lifsey — a design was finally chosen in 1989, according to Huse. “We (Castor and her husband) had an opportunity to be the first and only presidential couple that lived
there … We enjoyed it very much,” Castor said. “It’s a great place if you don’t have children.” Castor said her children were adults by the time she started at USF but Genshaft chose to forego living in the house because she had small children when she started at USF in 2000. “That house was not conducive enough for two small boys,” Genshaft told The Oracle in 2004. “So my husband and I decided to build our own house in a neighborhood.” There have been some concerns raised about the Lifsey House for similar reasons, Huse said. Huse said, the chosen architect, Gene Leedy, described the house’s design as a classic and contemporary house with “antebellum
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Changes to come for two Living Learning Communities
By Niamh Larkin S T A F F
W R I T E R
Students living in the Bulls Business Community (BBC) and Zimmerman Advertising Programs (ZAP) Living Learning Communities (LLCs) will move locations in the fall. On August 18, students will be moving to The Village into two-person suites instead of the four-person suites they were living in previously.
However, the move comes with an added cost. Current residents in Poplar Hall pay $3,740.00 per semester. Next year, students will pay $4,537.50 per semester to live in Endeavor, a difference of $797.50. All students are able to live in the building, however, ZAP students will reside on the top floor of Endeavor and students in the BBC will reside on the remaining four floors,
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according to the Academic Advisor of BBC Magdala SaintLouis. Saint-Louis said the change is justified based on the amenities of the new location. “(Endeavor is) closer to the new recreation center, closer to The Hub, closer to the new restaurants, the new Publix on campus and closer to the student center,” Saint-Louis said. Endeavor Hall opened in fall
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2018 as a part of the second phase of The Village. Senior Director of Undergraduate Affairs for the Muma College of Business Jackie Nelson said that the decision to change the LLC locations came from market research that was conducted last year. “We had a hard time recruiting for the programs last year,” Nelson said. “We found that incoming students
wanted to live in The Village specifically, rather than JP.” Nelson said that the change was originally resisted by some residents because of the price increase that came along with it. The pod layout in Poplar Hall was favored because students were able to better know one another. Endeavor Hall does not have the pod and communal space
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SPORTS 8
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NEWS
U N I V E RS I T Y O F S OU T H F L O R I DA
LIFSEY
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character” but Huse said there have been issues with the design itself. “That’s one of the biggest criticisms that’s been leveled against the house is it’s supposed to be a residence but it has no warmth and kind of no sense of feeling like a home,” Huse said. “The other thing is, even though its back faces Fowler Avenue, it’s still on Fowler Avenue. “It’s a very public place to put a private residence.” Castor said she often took her work home with her while living on campus, but she and her husband had the opportunity to escape since they owned a second home off campus. However, the location was not the only controversy associated with the Lifsey House’s construction. “The other thing that rubbed students the wrong way at the time (it was built) was there was a property that USF owned on Lake Thonotosassa called Shangri La and that was for water skiing,” Huse said. “It was a lakeside kind of retreat and that was sold right before the Lifsey House was constructed. So students saw a place for them that was sold off in favor of a private place for the president.” With Shangri La now long gone, the Lifsey House still stands, even though it is unoccupied. Portions of the house have been repurposed as office
space and, according to Castor, it can be a temporary home for incoming coaches or guests of honor. “ … That is one expensive office space,” Huse said. Castor said the house needs some work if it were to be a permanent home for a future resident. “It needs a little sprucing up,” Castor said. “There’s no doubt that, because someone has not been there full-time, it needs a little work.” Currently, the future of the house remains unknown and it will be up to Currall and his wife to decide if they want to be the next presidential couple to call the Lifsey House home. The Board of Trustees is responsible for providing the Currall’s housing arrangements, regardless if they choose to live in the Lifsey House. This compensation can be for a housing allowance for a 3,500 to 4,500-square-foot home off campus. “It really depends on if the new president and his wife want to be on campus to become familiar with the campus or not,” Castor said. “I don’t want to step into that because there are arguments on both sides.” With all things considered, Castor said she enjoyed her time in the Lifsey House and “it worked very well” for her and her husband. “All in all, it’s a nice place to show off the best of the university,” Castor said.
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LLC
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The LLCs for business and advertising students will be relocating to The Village in the fall semester. ORACLE FILE PHOTO
layout. First-year BBC students Antonio Wilson, Hunter Barton and Elizabeth Dobek will not be living in the LLC next year, however, they are not happy with the change of location. “It’s important to have friends and connections in these programs...having the pod environment forces those interactions,” Wilson said. “I don’t believe a lot of people are going to go all the way to the pod at the end of the hall in Endeavor.” Saint-Louis said moving to Endeavor Hall is going to give the BBC a lot more “programmatic freedom” that they haven’t had before as the programs will be able to use larger classrooms in other buildings as well as the Marshall Student Center and The Fit for other events. The academic advisors are currently looking into hosting ZAP and BBC pool parties at The Fit next year. Some students said they
are excited to see the benefits that the change will provide for future residents in the programs. Freshmen in ZAP are required to live in the LLCs for their first year and are mentored by other students in the program. Tyler Rampersaud is one of those students. “I think (the change in location) is timed well,” Rampersaud said. “With President Judy Genshaft retiring and the school having preeminence, a lot of changes are bound to happen.” However, Rampersaud said the location change will create a different outlook for the new students. “I think that JP and The Village have different cultures... because of the living space, the students act differently,” Rampersaud said. “JP, for the most part, embodies what USF was before this newfound preeminence and prestige.” Albeit a more centralized
location, not all students are excited for the future of the LLCs. “I wish that (next year’s LLC residents) had the luxury of living here.” Wilson said about Poplar Hall. “We have the perfect spot here in JP, we have the dining hall and the mail room downstairs as well as the pod environment.” Darcie Milfort, a senior in ZAP, said The Village will provide students with more access to more amenities. “I think the LLC moving to The Village will give students the opportunity to be in a more centralized with the rest of the campus,” Milfort said. “Being more centralized encourages students to be more active on campus.” For Saint-Louis, it all comes down to fostering a community. “Endeavor still fosters that sense of community that we are looking for and that we have in the BBC (and ZAP)” SaintLouis said.
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COMMUNITY SHRED DAY
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SUMMER2019
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register online:
Chemistry, Biology, Math, Business, Art and More! Full course listing at www.ut.edu/summer 2-Week May Term May 13–24 6-Week Terms May 28–July 6, July 8–Aug. 17 12-Week Term May 28–Aug. 17
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OPINION
U N I V E RS I T Y O F S OU T H F L O R I DA
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‘Old Town Road’ isn’t country enough for Billboard, but it should be
Sen. Scott has no business being in charge of American healthcare
By Sam Newlon
President Donald Trump announced last week that Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) would be among the senators responsible for crafting the new Republican healthcare plan. Based on Scott’s history as a Florida Governor who denied Medicaid expansion and as a CEO of a company that committed one of the country’s largest Medicare fraud cases, his appointment to this important position should be very concerning to those who rely on these important programs. After Trump announced to the world that the Republican Party would soon become “the party of healthcare,” he was quickly reprimanded by the Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) for discussing an issue Republicans are weak on. McConnell responded to Trump’s off-the-cuff healthcare remarks by saying, “I made it clear to him that we were not going to be doing that in the Senate,” in reference to implementing healthcare legislation. The last Republican healthcare plan that was proposed had an approval rating of 17 percent in June of 2017, according to NPR. In response, Republican politicians suffered a large amount of backlash from citizens who under the plan would have lost their coverage. Republicans should be skeptical about running on the issue of healthcare because of the historic backlash that took place after the attempted repeal of the Affordable Care Act. A health-care plan headed by Scott is unlikely to be any more popular than their previous proposal. In an interview with CBS’ Face the Nation, Scott highlighted the importance of protecting patients with pre-existing conditions as well as well as allowing “individuals to stay on their parent’s plan.” These provisions are currently protected under the Affordable Care Act. Beyond that,
A S S O C I A T E
E D I T O R
Lil Nas X’s pinned tweet is a video of a cowboy who appears to be at a rodeo dancing. But it’s no square dance. The cowboy is flailing around, moving his hips and kicking his boots out as far as his blue jeans will allow him. The video is paired with the song “Old Town Road” which is definitely a country song, but we’ll get to that later. The tweet that accompanies the video is “country music is evolving.” Is it? “Old Town Road” currently has more than 87 million plays on Spotify and has secured its spot as the No. 1 song on Billboard’s Hot Lil Nas X’s hit song “Old Town Road” should be in its rightful place 100 chart, which ranks songs based at the top of the country charts. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE on radio airplay, sales data and streaming data. It was ranked No. people who drive Porsches. It would appear that Billboard’s 15 last week. In an interview about the song, definition of “today’s country music” Before the song emerged as the Lil Nas X gives the backstory behind is about drinking and men calling top hit, according to Billboard’s list, the song’s inspiration. He said he women “crazy.” it climbed onto two other Billboard felt like a cowboy after leaving his Lil Nas X has since released a charts: Hot R&B/Hip-Hop and Hot sister’s home and knew he had to remix of “Old Town Road” that Country. make something of himself. features country music star Billy “Old Town Road” was ranked “Old Town Road” should have its Ray Cyrus and the song has once as high as No. 19 for the March place on Billboard’s country chart again become viral. 16 edition of Billboard’s Hot reinstated. “Old Town Road” is completely Country Songs but was removed Luke Combs’ “Beautiful Crazy” deserving of its spot on top of the following week. Later, Billboard currently sits at No. 1 on Billboard’s Billboard’s Hot 100 chart and the issued a statement saying the song Hot Country chart. That song has idea of the song being taken off of “does not embrace enough elements no references to horses, tractors the country music charts is unfair. of today’s country music chart in its or cowboy hats. Instead, Combs It is a song full of references and current version.” sings about an “unpredictable, themes found across other songs What about the song isn’t unforgettable” girl but “she’s crazy that have been historically labeled “country” enough? but her crazy’s beautiful to me.” as country. Lil Nas X references horse tack, a No. 2 on the country chart is Dan matte black hat with boots to match, + Shay’s “Tequila” which highlights bull riding, Wrangler jeans, horses, drinking tequila, dancing with a Sam Newlon is a senior majoring in porches and riding on a tractor. He sorority T-shirt on and being “sky mass communications. even goes so far as to make fun of high in Colorado.”
By Jared Sellick C O L U M N I S T
Scott was hesitant to give details about any specifics on his future healthcare legislation. Scott has a unique history of implementing policies that prioritize the bottom line of insurance companies and other private institutions. The Scott administration sided with the Florida House of representatives to deny the Medicaid expansion in 2015 that was meant to be a part of the Affordable Care Act. By simply accepting the desperately needed funding from the federal government, Scott and the Florida House could have given 800,000 lower-income Floridians a chance at healthcare coverage, according to the South Florida Sun Sentinel. By denying this opportunity to so many, he forced lower-income individuals to pay for their necessary medical procedures out of pocket or invest in costly private insurance plans. Prior to Scott’s time as governor, he served as the CEO of Columbia/HCA, a large hospital network. During his time as CEO, the company was fined $1.7 billion by the Department of Justice for defrauding Medicare. Scott was not convicted of any crime but resigned from his position as a result of the scandal. It is important to recognize that while the illegal actions his company took not only defrauded the government but also stole from American people who rely on those Medicare programs. Rick Scott’s scandals involving Medicare fraud and his questionable decision concerning Medicaid should raise red flags for any Floridian concerned about the longevity of these programs. Scott’s crucial role in the development of this legislation is enough to question if the plan is going to be any better than what the Republicans have previously proposed. Jared Sellick is a junior majoring in political science.
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Men’s Basketball
USF faces new expectations next season
By Nolan Brown
C O R R E S P O N D E N T
This wasn’t supposed to be USF men’s basketball’s season at all. After a rocky first season, coach Brian Gregory led the Bulls to one of their best seasons yet after they lifted their first national postseason trophy in program history. “There was a fight in that group,” Gregory said. “We played with a great spirit the whole year.” With USF’s championship in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI), the Bulls look toward the 2019-20 season with great expectations. Past winners of the CBI have often gone on to bigger and better things. Nevada won the CBI in 2016 and went on to appear in the NCAA Tournament the following three years. “As opposed to fighting for relevancy, now we’ve got to handle some expectations,” Gregory said. USF will have to adapt to the loss of its seniors, with T.J. Lang, who shot 74.5 percent from the free-throw line and Nikola Scekic, who towers at 7 feet 2 inches tall, both graduating from USF. “[Lang] played his best basketball for us at the end … both those guys are steady guys,” Gregory said. “You can’t underestimate the value of [Scekic] … in terms of sacrificing. He started almost every game last year as a junior and although it was tough on him, you couldn’t tell every day in practice. He’s a better player now than he was last year and he didn’t log nearly as many minutes.” Gregory said that the team owes it to the outgoing seniors to continue to strengthen the program. “With those seniors that are leaving, they started this whole thing up for us and now it’s up
to us to continue to build it.” David Collins and Laquincy Rideau have been cited as the players in which the team has been built around and both guards had seasons to remember. Collins broke his record for points in a game with 31 and steals in a game with seven against Stony Brook in Round 1 of the CBI and was named MVP of the tournament. Rideau broke his record for points in a game with 35 in Game 2 of the CBI final and led the Bulls in steals with 101 last season. Collins and Rideau will now have to fill the shoes of the outgoing seniors and set an example for the underclassmen. “They’ve kind of proven to be the heart and soul,” Gregory said. “Those two guys as a backcourt have a special opportunity in front of them next year.” USF will travel to Montréal at the end of July in preparation for next season. This will give an opportunity for the team to bond and give the incoming freshmen to show their skills on the court. The Bulls are not getting ahead of themselves after their title-winning season. The focus is now on sharpening their consistency. With big shoes to fill, Gregory says that the Bulls will need to keep a level head to match the caliber of the NCAA Tournament contenders next season. “For us to play in the CBI is not the same to play in the NCAA Tournament, no one is trying to equate it to that,” Gregory said. “We had some unprecedented success this year and some surprising success to some. That doesn’t pass our guys by without them noticing … they didn’t come here as we move forward to play in the CBI.”
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Cronkrite being in the backfield, it is going to really utilize the talent we have on offense.” Bell plans on using Ford as a slot receiver even though the sophomore speedster caught just three passes out of the backfield last season. Another playmaker returning to the offense from last season is wide receiver Randall St. Felix who averaged 20.6 yards per reception and caught four touchdowns last season. “He [St. Felix] is a big strong kid, really fast with big strong hands,” Barnett said. “We are taking the next step, getting into
this offense, and obviously what makes this offense so effective is giving the playmakers the ball.” While the offense will have three of its top playmakers back from last season (Cronkrite, Ford and St. Felix), the ways those players will be put into positions of success will be different than a year ago. Bell’s offense employs two playbooks — one is traditional and the other shows players a video of what the play should look like. Last season, the Bulls offense relied primarily on a hand-signal offense. “We have a video playbook and a written playbook,” Bell said. “They can have copies of
the plays. It tells them all the details into the routes and the plays and the video they can actually see the play being run the proper way. I just think it is a great teaching tool.” USF’s offense drew a fair amount of criticism last season because of what some thought was predictable playcalling. With Bell’s new playbooks in place, the Bulls will have a wider variety of options this season. “We are going to be a lot more effective because there are a lot of plays in this playbook,” Barnett said. “It’s very dynamic. There are a plethora of plays, so we are not hurting for plays and endless options of what to do.”
USF’s new football coaching staff will be on display in Saturday’s spring game at Corbett Stadium. ORACLE PHOTO/BRIAN HATTAB
SPRING
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“If I had to give [the defense] a grade, I’d actually give it a B,” Jean-Mary said. “I think if you’re going to go from where we ended last year to where we feel like we’re at right now, I think we’ve progressed.” Jean-Mary’s B grade for his defense should be a welcome sight for a defense that finished 122nd in yards allowed per game
in FBS last season. There were 129 teams in FBS in 2018, so the defense’s grade clearly wasn’t a great one to end the season. “Obviously that was anywhere from a D to an F if you want to give ourselves a grade,” JeanMary said. “So we feel like we’ve progressed. We like where we’re at right now, but we’ve got to keep progressing and honestly, our No. 1 goal is still always to stop the run.” If the defense is going to stop
the run like Jean-Mary intends it to, it’s going to have to make tackles, and that’s perhaps the most improved aspect so far for USF. “That’s something that we’ve worked on at the start of practice after we do field goals,” Livingstone said. “We have like four little drills that we do for maybe like 15 minutes or so. And we’ve done it since Day 1 [of spring practice].”
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RUNDOWN Florida holds off USF softball in shutout
USF softball fell to No. 9 Florida 1-0 on Wednesday night in Gainesville. Georgina Corrick threw a no-hitter through five innings and the Gators’ first hit came in the sixth inning after Cheyenne Lindsey connected on a line drive to third base. A walk and a fielder’s choice later and the Gators (33-9) had bases loaded with one out in the bottom of the sixth inning. Gator shortstop Sophia Reynoso hit a sacrifice fly to center field, giving Lindsey the chance to tag up and score the first and only run of the game. Florida pitcher Kelly Barnhill gave up just one hit in the game when Bethaney Keen hit a double to right-center field in the fourth inning. Barnhill tallied 10 strikeouts against the Bulls, while Corrick struck out four Gator batters. USF (29-15, 7-2) will travel to Orlando to take on conference rival UCF (28-11, 7-2) this weekend. The Bulls and the Knights are tied atop the AAC standings. This weekend’s three-game series will set one team apart from the other. Tulsa (26-13, 7-2), which is also tied for first in the AAC, will play against ECU (19-21, 1-8) this weekend. The Bulls’ postseason future will start to take shape this weekend as the three top AAC teams continue conference play.
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Football
Barnett buys into Bell’s new offense
By Steven Gerardy S T A F F
W R I T E R
One thing that has been made clear by new offensive coordinator Kerwin Bell is that USF’s offense will be run differently next season. Returning quarterback Blake Barnett doesn’t want to dwell on the past. He said Bell’s new scheme gives the signal callers more of an opportunity to open up the offense to its playmakers. “I don’t really want to talk too much about last year’s offense,” Barnett said. “This year’s offense is more of a pro-style concept, which is good, because it gives the quarterbacks a better idea that when we go out to a play, to execute on a higher level.” Bell will look to use the many weapons the Bulls have on offense in ways never thought of last season. With Barnett
Quarterback Blake Barnett takes snaps working with USF’s new offensive scheme in spring practice. ORACLE PHOTO/BRIAN HATTAB
remaining under center, Jordan Cronkrite and Johnny Ford will continue to be a dual threat out of the backfield, but Bell has something more in mind for Ford
than just rushing the ball. “Man, he [Ford] has been a surprise,” Bell said. “He has been one of our best man beaters. He runs really crisp routes. It’s
unbelievable how he has caught on to it. We have sold him on the fact that this position uses all of his talents … With him and
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Football
USF to ‘showcase’ its new team in Saturday’s spring game
By Brian Hattab A S S I S T A N T
S P O R T S
E D I T O R
Spring practice is winding down for USF. That can only mean one thing — the spring game is here. After an offseason filled with changes — from departed players to new coordinators — fans will be able to get their first glimpse at a new-look Bulls team.
But don’t show up to Corbett Stadium on Saturday at 1 p.m. expecting to see the finished product. This is, after all, spring football. “It’s always kind of a showcase,” defensive coordinator Brian JeanMary said. “It’s going to be pretty vanilla for us on defense. Spring is one of those things, I always say, ‘It’s like fighting your … twin
brother.’ It’s still a family affair. You’re not going out there trying to embarrass them or injure or hurt anyone or anything like that.” Saturday may just be a showcase, but it’s still an opportunity for players to start fresh and show fans what’s changed from last season. “It’ll be fun,” defensive end
Kirk Livingstone said. “It’s something that we haven’t done since last year and it’s something that we’re looking forward to. “It’s always nice to play in front of the fans … and it’s always nice to start off fresh.” So, how improved is the USF defense from last season?
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