The Oracle T H U R S D AY, O C T O B E R 2 9 , 2 0 1 5 I V O L . 5 3 N O. 3 9
Inside this Issue
A S S T .
SG fails to provide promised minutes. Page 4
Montage
S P ORTS Byrd finds success in hybrid position. BACK
Classifieds..............................................8 Crossword......................................8
sports.........................................................12
U N I V E R S I T Y O F S O U T H F LO R I DA
Possible SG impeachments heat up Graduate assistants seek better “I don’t agree that the court went out working of its jurisdiction for any requests that conditions we have received.” By Abby Rinaldi
O P I NIO N
w w w. u s fo r a c l e. co m
The Index
NEWS...............................................................1 Opinion.......................................................4
N E W S
E D I T O R
Investigations regarding the impeachment of four Student Government (SG) Supreme Court Justices have yet to start, but claims by both sides are already starting to surface. Tuesday’s Senate meeting saw the creation of a committee to investigate allegations against four Supreme Court judges. Chief Justice Lindsay Betros, Senior Justice Alec Waid, Ranking Justice Milton Llinas and Associate Justice Chelsea Lo were accused of malfeasance, misfeasance, nonfeasance, incompetence and abuse of power in a memo proposed by senators Megan Summers, Muhammad Imam, Aladdin Hiba and AlaEldean Elmunaier. The Oracle obtained a copy of the memo from a member of SG. However, the nature of the allegations are different based
on which side is telling the story. The memo cited incidents from Declaratory Judgement Panel (DJP) and Judicial Review Panel (JRP) meetings that it said reflected an overstepping
Lindsay Betros SG Supreme Court chief justice
of boundaries by the Court in an attempt to expand its jurisdiction, as well as violations of transparency laws. One such instance was a DJP meeting Oct. 20 where, the memo said, “the members of the (DJP) knowingly and purposefully went outside of the statutorily granted powers to
the Court by issuing a ruling on an issue not pertaining to Student Government Statutes with the intention of expanding the influence of the Court beyond its constitutional limits.” The question the Court was discussing, according to the memo, was “Does the (ninth) Amendment refer to a student’s USF system GPA or their overall GPA?” which the memo claimed the Court did not have jurisdiction in answering, as the Court can only deal with matters concerning constitutionality. “I don’t agree that the Court went out of its jurisdiction for any requests that we have received,” Betros said. “There (have) been instances this semester where we’ve denied requests because they are out of our jurisdiction, but these requests that were made were in our jurisdiction to render rulings on.”
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Toll lane to be added to I-275 By Chelsea Mulligan S T A F F
W R I T E R
The average commuter in Tampa Bay-St. Petersburg spends about 41 hours a year in congested traffic, according to research from the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI). Another study from TTI shows that in 2010, congestion on Interstate 275 Southbound wasted 562,000 gallons of fuel. An effort from the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), called the Tampa Bay Express, aims to alleviate these problems by adding a toll lane to Interstate 275 (I-275). A toll lane is an express lane that vehicles would pay to use. The rate would increase with demand and be clearly displayed on signs. However, the lane might also challenge already-existing and historically significant commu-
Tampa Bay Express aims to clear up traffic on Interstate 275 by adding a toll lane that would automatically change the toll price based on the number of cars in the lane. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE nities, such as Tampa Heights and Seminole Heights, according to Elizabeth Strom, graduate director and associate professor at the School of Public Affairs. “I think it’s really important
that the residents of those communities make clear that they can’t just be wiped off the face of the earth because of highway expansion,” she said.
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By Miki Shine A S S T .
N E W S
E D I T O R
If a graduate student (GA) at USF seems to teach a course grudgingly, it may have something to do with the fact that, as of August 2014, the university can — and does — pay them as little as $9,880 per nine-month period of employment. Tomorrow, USF Graduate Assistant Union (USF-GAU) copresident and GA in the philosophy department, Megan Flocken, along with other members of USF-GAU will sit down to bargain with the university’s chief negotiator and bargaining team for better benefits. USF-GAU currently has three main issues to address: raising the minimum GA wage, guaranteed tuition waivers and fee reimbursement. “The employment contract that we generate as a union for all graduate assistants is called the Collective Bargaining Agreement,” Flocken said. “It puts into place all of the conditions of employment for some 2,200 graduate students on USF campus. The number of hours you work, the wage that you receive, whether you get health insurance benefits, how much paid leave you receive, when you can be fired and how much notice your employer needs to give
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SG debate to expose students’ opinion on campus carry By Grace Hoyte E D I T O R
I N
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The prospect of gun-toting classmates is one that does not sit well with many students in Florida, and a pair of bills that recently made their way successfully through Florida Senate committees are causing a stir on USF’s campus. In response to the proposed allowance of concealed weapons on campus, Student Government (SG) will be hosting an event called Debate-aBull that will allow students to voice their opinions on campus carry. According to SG Senator and event creator Chris Johnson, the event will include two twoperson teams that will debate for and against the issue. He said the audience will also have a role, as their votes will be counted to determine who
won the debate. “We (will) gauge the opinion on the topic before the debate, and after the debate, open it up for a question and answer period,” he said. The goal of the debate, Johnson said, will be to determine what the actual student body opinion is on the topic. As the issue has grown in the public eye, supporters have claimed guns will allow students “to defend themselves against active shooters or sexual assault attacks,” according to the Miami Herald. On the other hand, opponents that include police chiefs, university presidents and professors, have claimed that argument is unsound. “… There are not enough police on or near college campuses to thwart the threat,” according to an article in the Sun Sentinel. Meanwhile, students have not been able or willing to
speak up as a group and provide self-survey results to illustrate how this population feels about campus carry.
“(SG) isn’t able to give an opinion for or against concealed carry, but what we are able to do is make the stage for students to get their opinions out there.” Chris Johnson SG Senator
To that end, Johnson said Debate-a-Bull will be covered by local media in order to increase awareness of what
the students actually believe. “(We) really want to increase the access of students to (SG), particularly to feel that their voices are being represented,” Johnson said. “(SG) isn’t able to give an opinion for or against concealed carry, but what we are able to do is make the stage for students to get their opinions out there.” Johnson said the debate will aim to impact the local debate, specifically at USF. “These politicians are talking about something that will affect the lives of everyone at my school, and I feel like it’s only appropriate that they understand that these lives are people.” Debate-a-Bull will take place in the Marshall Student Center Amphitheatre during Spring Week of Welcome. The date will be finalized when the debaters are chosen. Applications for positions as debaters will be accepted
through an online form that will be released next week, and candidates will be selected based on their ability to reason, rather than any sort of specialized knowledge of the topics.
CORRECTIONS
On Wednesday’s edition of the Oracle, an article stated Dr. Benjamin Carson would have a book signing event at the Barnes & Noble on Dale Mabry in South Tampa. In actuality, the event will be held at the Barnes & Noble on Dale Mabry in Carrollwood. The address for the event is 11802 N Dale Mabry Highway, Tampa Fl, 33618.
Students to continue waiting for recent SG Senate records By Russell Nay S T A F F
W R I T E R
For USF students, learning the details of Student Government (SG) Senate meetings and activities could take an act of Congress. The latest Senate minutes entry on the SG website — a full written record of a Senate meeting — were posted more than a year ago, on Sept. 9, 2014. Since that time, the Senate has done a few things of which students may be interested in being made aware. Among these were the allocation of the Activity and Service Fees — a sum of about $14.6 million last year — and a discussion on passing a resolution for concealed carry on campus. SG Senate President Kristen Truong said minutes have not been updated because the entire SG website is undergoing a migration from an older website platform to the current USF Content Management
System (CMS) platform. “We’re in that transition period right now, and so we’re hoping with the new CMS website we’ll have, we’ll be able to put things up more efficiently
and more effectively,” Truong said. SG D i re c to r of Communications and Marketing Juan Zapata said uploading recent records
of Senate meetings would slow down the migration process because it would force them to resend information to Renee Hunt from University Communications
and Marketing (UCM) and USF IT employees who are working with SG to migrate the site. “If we keep updating the website with large PDF documents, it will slow down progress because we have to go back to the document we sent originally, and (USF IT) will have to move backwards to update the website on CMS,” Zapata said. There is also the concern that Senate is operating in violation of Florida’s Sunshine Law and SG statutes both stating the public has the right to inspect SG’s meeting minutes. Regarding the violation of SG’s statutes, SG Attorney General Richard LaMura said the current statutes demanding minutes be written and published in a maximum of 15 business days are unreasonable and don’t give student transcribers enough time to type up meetings. “Student Government isn’t always giving No. 1 priority to these students who need to get schoolwork done,” LaMura
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Summit to focus on human trafficking By Chelsea Mulligan S T A F F
W R I T E R
Florida is a hotspot for human trafficking, a form of modern-day slavery, ranking 3rd among U.S. states, according to the National Trafficking Resource Center. The 2015 Human Trafficking Summit, to be held at USF’s Marshall Center, is meant to address this problem. The Summit is part of an effort from Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi’s Statewide Council on Human Trafficking, according to the event’s press release. A main goal of the council is to provide venues, such as the Summit, to discuss eliminating human trafficking. According to USF St. Petersburg professor Joan Reid, who has been studying sex trafficking in Tampa Bay since 2008, Tampa is such a prominent location for human trafficking because of a combination of heavy tourism, adult entertainment and vulnerable youth.
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Strom said the communities are historically important to Tampa Bay and have also fought to improve with little investment. “Tampa Heights was the first suburb of Tampa,” she said. “It was developed in, let’s say, the 1880s or 1890s originally, right next to downtown Tampa … It has a really lovely Victorian and 1920s-style houses … they have a really strong neighborhood association, they have a fabulous community garden that will be wiped out by the expanded highway.” She said that Seminole Heights also has a prominent neighborhood association. The Florida Center for Community Design & Research, a part of USF’s School of Architecture and Community Design, is cooperating with the Florida Department of Transportation in order to help communities get their voices heard. According to Taryn Sabia, a researcher with the Center, those
“Traffickers are going to bring girls to where demand is high,” she said. The agenda for the Summit includes sessions on human trafficking and the LGBTQ community, child sex trafficking, domestic human trafficking and court cases, among others. Christina Daly, secretary of the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, and Mike Carroll, secretary of the Florida Department of Children and Families, will be panelists, along with other major officials. Bondi, Gov. Rick Scott, USF College of Behavioral and Community Sciences Dean Julianne Serovich, and Terry Coonan, from Florida State University’s Center for Advancement of Human Rights, will also be in attendance, according to a press release from the attorney general’s Office. The Summit is hosted by the attorney general’s Office, the Florida Department of Children and Families, the Department of Juvenile Justice, and the Statewide Council on Human
Trafficking. According to the Human Trafficking Center, most victims are trafficked into forced labor, while the second most are trafficked into sexual exploitation. Reid said some common signs of a sex trafficking victim are a relationship with a controlling, older person; secretiveness about behavior; or frequent travel without explanation. “It’s so important to have these different organizations putting on the Human Trafficking Summit because many of the girls and youth that get involved and exploited in human trafficking are youth who are disadvantaged,” Reid said. “… These aren’t bad girls, these are vulnerable girls,” she said. The Summit is co-sponsored by the Florida Network of Youth and Family Services, the Hispanic National Bar Association and the Junior League of Tampa. It will be held in the USF Marshall Center on Oct. 29 at 9 am.
in favor of the project mainly include the business community, especially those that belong to the Tampa Chamber of Commerce. Sabia also said that the Westshore Alliance is in favor of Tampa Bay Express. Mara LaTorre, a graduate student in Public Affairs who studies economic development, said she suggests improved public transit as a better method over adding to an already-messy interstate system. “I feel like it’s kind of this catch-22 with the interstates as a whole … I feel like we’ve kind of created this monster over the course of time. We’ve created something where if we don’t take care of it and we don’t update it, that can cause a lot of safety and environmental repercussions,” she said. “But at the same time, this system that we created is not good for the local vitality of the area.” LaTorre’s opinions on public transit match the general opinion of Millennials: 86 percent say affordable and efficient mass transit is important, according to a survey from the Rockefeller Foundation and Transportation for America.
This survey includes Tampa-St. Petersburg as one of ten selected cities studied for public transportation preferences. The study placed Tampa-St. Petersburg’s mass transit in the “aspiring” group, the lowest rank in the study. Sabia said that designs for the Express Bus aspect of the project, which intends to have mass transit buses that use the toll lane for faster travel, have not yet been fully completely. “Ultimately, if we focus only on interstate projects, then we just encourage further sprawling development, so it’s important that we also focus on other transit-ready projects …” she said. USF does not officially endorse or disparage the additional lane, according to Sabia, but instead plays a neutral position in meeting the needs of the affected communities. She also said the Florida Center is holding community workshops in order to represent affected neighborhoods. Sabia said the project will not begin for five years, and that the projected end date is around 2030 or 2040, depending on funding.
Opinion
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UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA
the Oracle the University of South Florida’s student newspaper since 1966
Editor in Chief Grace Hoyte oracleeditor@gmail.com Sports Editor Jeff Odom oraclesportseditor@gmail. com Opinion Editor Breanne Williams oracleopinion@gmail.com Multimedia Editor Adam Mathieu Digital Editor Roberto Roldan Copy Editor Safeena Kassoo Assistant Editors Jacob Hoag Abby Rinaldi Miki Shine Graphic Artists Ashley Barzaga Luke Blankenship Advertising Sales Lauren Alford Rachel Carpenter Abby Pereira Destiny Moore The Oracle is published Monday through Thursday during the fall and spring semesters, and twice weekly, Monday and Thursday, 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).
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CORRECTIONS The Oracle will correct or clarify factual errors. Contact Editor in Chief Grace Hoyte at 974-5190.
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EDITORIAL
Student Government failing to uphold promise of transparency Student Government (SG) has once again dropped the ball and, unfortunately, gotten away with it. At its weekly Senate meetings, minutes, transcribed recordings of the meeting, are supposedly transcribed and uploaded online for all students to see. However, those records have not been uploaded since September of 2014, leaving students in the dark over what exactly SG is doing. Though it appeared SG officials were in violation of their oaths to maintain transparency to students, the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Ethics found them all innocent and simply recommended they upload the records soon. SG is responsible for allocating roughly $14 million in Activity and Service fees each year. Up until now, taking time out of a busy schedule to show up to the meetings was the only way a student could know what they were doing with those funds. Last October, one student, Katharine Orr, became increasingly frustrated over this inadequate attempt at transparency and filed a grievance with SG. “There are a lot of students who can’t physically show up to the meetings, but it’s not their fault for being uninformed,” Orr said in an interview with the Oracle. “It’s SG’s fault for not being able to do what they are required by statute to do.” When this issue was addressed in October, former Senate President Pro-Tempore Abdool Aziz told the Oracle the issue was that SG didn’t have any minutes to post. According to Aziz, the most experienced transcriber had left the university and they had yet to properly train a replacement. How long does training take? It has been over a year since the last upload. No amount of training should take this long. SG Senate President Kristen
Truong and SG Director of Communications and Marketing Juan Zapata claimed SG’s website is being migrated from an older site format to the format most USF websites are now using. This process, according to Zapata, is the reason the minutes are not up yet. He says they will be available once the website is finished. To be blunt, not displaying its minutes to the public puts the SG Senate in violation of its own statutes, as well as Florida’s open government law. Truong dismissed any accusations of wrongdoing, stating SG is in no way violating the law. She claimed any student who wishes to see the records can email her to receive a copy. That is absurd. What student will go through the process of tracking Truong down and requesting minutes? And what student would know to do that? The convenience of online records is popular for a reason. Even if a student wanted to take the extra time to hunt down the records, SG has never advertised the availability of such minutes — least of all, only upon email request to a specific senator. Are we honestly supposed to believe Truong will personally respond to each and every email she receives about the minutes? This is a waste of both her and students’ time. Refusing to upload records and then hiding behind the excuse that if students just dig hard enough they could have received them is ridiculous. SG has had over a year to fix its corrupt system. Instead of tackling the problem, it dolled out excuse after excuse as to why it was failing to be transparent. Students have had enough. We elected our SG officials believing they would lead us to a prosperous and issue-free year. But instead of trustworthy leaders, we have shady representatives who refuse to keep us informed.
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What you said Wednesday was National Chocolate Day and Opinion Editor Breanne Williams asked students what their favorite chocolate dessert is.
“Chocolate cake that has fudge icing in the middle and has that extra gooeyness to it.” - Anup Thomas, a freshman majoring in chemistry
“Dark chocolate covered strawberries. I hate cake, so for my birthday, my parents send me a box of them every year.” - Talya Rejtman, a senior majoring in biology
“S’mores. I grew up with s’mores. We went camping a lot, my family and I.” - Haley Parsley, a senior majoring in biology
“A nice German chocolate cake with whipped cream topping, chocolate and multi-colored sprinkles, and a side of strawberry glaze.” - Aleks Grinchuk, a freshman majoring in biomedical sciences
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Cross Country
Mountain biking aids USF cross country runner
Despite the risk of injury, USF distance runner Michael Babinec extends his training through mountain biking. Babinec’s training paid off with a win at the USF invitational. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE/GOUSFBULLS.COM By Jacob Hoag A S S T .
S P O R T S
E D I T O R
From soccer in his early years to cross country at USF, distance runner Michael Babinec has always enjoyed the thrill of competing, but there’s one sport in particular that gives him the rush he desires, while keeping form for cross country: mountain biking. Babinec started playing soccer early on, but once in high school, his passion began to fizzle and a new one began. “I didn’t have the passion for (soccer),” Babinec said. “I decided to switch over to running. It’s something I enjoyed. Playing midfield in soccer, I knew that I could run and had the ability, and after joining the team freshman year, I realized how much I enjoyed it.” Babinec soon realized his potential with college looming. He decided if he began training even harder, he could do it at the next level. That landed him at USF. “I didn’t really have a No. 1 pick,” he said. “I was just running as hard as I could to get the most
offers, but I chose USF and I’m very happy that I’m here.” Aside from what Babinec calls an “easy” run — a nine-mile trek — and other training in the weight room, he said he takes to any hill he can find to train at a different level. “I love anything outdoors,” Babinec said. “I’m huge into mountain biking. I do that almost every weekend all over the state of Florida.” Mountain biking isn’t just for training or recreation — it’s one more way the senior majoring in electrical engineering competes. “Last year I raced the mountain bike series, which is all over Florida,” Babinec said. “I went places like Tallahassee, Gainesville, Tampa and Ocala. Cycling is a huge passion of mine.” Cycling also has been a way for Babinec to bond with his father. “It’s something we’ve done for a really long time,” he said. “Now that I’m out of the house and away from him, I can enjoy (that bond) more than before.” Baninec’s father, Mike, blew out his knee playing soccer in col-
lege and needed another sport to pick up, so he started mountain biking. “I pretty much grew up mountain biking since I was 3 or 4 years old,” he said. “(My dad) has always been there for support.” Endurance running has helped his endurance on the trails. “It’s definitely taxing,” he said. “It’s nice to do something that’s not hard on your body. Running is a lot of pounding and it takes its toll, but pushing pedals around isn’t that hard.” The biggest concern for Babinec when riding is injury. “He’s had wrecks before,” coach Dana Reif said. “But it adds to his fitness level because it’s an endurance sport, as well. It’s one of those things where if we’re having a big meet coming up— like (this weekend’s) conference — I make sure he doesn’t have a race where he could hurt himself. “As long as he’s okay for our big meets, that’s fine with me” USF travels to Greenville, North Carolina for the AAC Championship meet Saturday at 10 a.m.
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but I think I could do a better job back on the back end and not at the husky position,’” Taggart said. “I was like, ‘Jamie, I appreciate you, but you’ve got to give it a chance first. Just give it a chance. This could really utilize your athletic ability. You could not only make a lot of tackles but you could get some sacks, some tackles for loss.’” Taggart and Allen both reassured him and told him to trust them and the plays will come. Byrd struggled early, but once he got a hold of the scheme, something clicked. Soon the position felt natural for him and his production on the field intensified even more. Byrd has recorded four sacks, two forced fumbles and an interception during USF’s current three-game win streak. His play has been unrivaled and his teammates have taken notice. “We joke around a lot (with him, saying), ‘I’m trying to lead the team in sacks. I’m trying to lead the team in picks,’” sophomore defensive back Tajee Fullwood said. “He’s real fast. He’s savvy, and everybody on the team loves him, because of how hard he works and how hard he pushes us.” One thing that surprises Byrd is being left unblocked, something Davis probably wishes wouldn’t have happened on Saturday. “It gives me that feeling though like, ‘Did they really just let me free? Is this real?’” Byrd said. “And then it goes into slow motion like ‘Don’t make a mistake.’ I love it.” Byrd said he is finally at ease in his new role, realizing its perks. It’s a vision Allen saw all along. Now, USF is reaping the benefits. “He can maneuver himself,” Allen said. “He accelerates when we gets close to the quarterback rather than slow down. I saw that on film, that’s why we put him here. “He fit the profile of what we wanted. He has a burst to the ball that you just can’t
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you.” Flocken said most classes taught and research done at the university are done by GAs. She also said graduate student income is currently below the poverty line. As such, part of the discussion on Friday will focus on raising the minimum GA wage — $12.67 for master’s degree-seekers and $14.30 for doctoral candidates. “Number one is that we are in a crisis … what that (figure) amounts to is poverty levels, even for a one person household. But many of our GAs have children, have depen- Graduate assistants are going to bargain with administration for better working conditions tomorrow. dents,” Flocken said. “Really, It will be their second such meeting of the 2015-16 school year. The meeting is open to all those just with federal standard, that who would like to attend. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE puts us below the poverty line. have tuition waived for nine make sure that benefit is not reimbursement for those fees We’re looking for an annual credit hours during the fall and under threat,” Flocken said. for the employees of the uniraise to keep up with inflation, spring semesters and waivAs students of the universi- versity who also have to be as well as a minimum raise ing six credit hours during ty, GAs currently pay fees such students,” Flocken said. because most of our GAs are summer semester, it’s not a as the Activity and Service fee, An additional topic to be making minimum and they guarantee. as well as lab fees. Flocken included in the discussion is need to be brought above the “That has been the common said these fees cost GAs about proper advanced warning to poverty line.” practice, 100 percent, for our $700 to $800 a year, which is write a syllabus or gather supGAU’s second main point is history and we feel that with about 12 percent of their cur- plies. Flocken said GAs often for tuition waivers. While it is the new business model with rent income. only receive notice a week common practice for GAs to the university, we just want to “What we’re looking for is a before they have to walk into
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Waid said, in terms of the GPA case, the request was submitted by Attorney General Richard LaMura. A similar issue occurred when LaMura requested an opinion on another issue that is now being determined as not in the Court’s grounds. LaMura declined to comment. “This is a decision that I have made in an effort to ensure that I can serve the Student Body without bias. I will say that I am dedicated to ensuring that the rights of the accused are protected and that a fair process is followed,” he said in an email to The Oracle. The memo also stated the Court was in violation of Title II Sunshine Law requirements, as they deliberated in private, which the memo said created an environment that allowed influence of other Justices’ opinions. Keeping deliberations private, according to Waid, is part of a doctrine called deliberative secrecy, which allows courts to do deliberations in private
in order to avoid any political pressures. The memo also talks about meetings by the JRP on Friday concerning the Activity and Service Fee Recommendation Committee (ASRC). Allegations in the memo include not understanding ASRC and attempting to “change the composition of the committee” by declaring its composition unconstitutional. Composition of ASRC can only be changed by “a supermajority vote of the (SG) Senate,” according to Title V of the Senate statute 601.5, per the memo. The Court’s opinion on ASRC is the one Waid feels SG leadership has the biggest problem with. Waid said Student Body Vice President Mike Malanga was placed on ASRC due to a bill Malanga helped push through the Senate earlier this year — a bill that made him chair, which was among the acts of the executive branch the Court deemed unconstitutional. “They mention in their memo that the Justices were incompetent because they don’t understand ASRC so they can’t make that opinion,” Waid said. “However, as a senator, I served on ASRC and I played a
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a classroom to teach. Tomorrow’s meeting will be will be the second meeting between GAU and the university. The first took place in June, when GAU was told by the administration that since the state budget was not yet set, they had to wait to present their position until the legislative budget was set. Vice Provost for Human Resources and Space Planning Kofi Glover served as chief negotiator during the first meeting, and Flocken said he has a good history of working with GAU to ensure employment conditions. However, about a month ago, it was announced he would not have the same role during upcoming meeting. “To be honest, it does make us a little apprehensive of what sort of ethics the administration has now adopted,” Flocken said. “We don’t know that it will be worse — we don’t know that it would change — but the climate of the university and the financial decision-making that has been going on … makes us a little bit nervous.” role in that opinion.” The memo also directly quoted a statement made at the JRP meeting and called it incorrect. That quote, Waid and Betros said, was taken from a recording of the meeting by Student Body President Andy Rodriguez. The group — which included Senate President Kristen Truong, Senate President Pro-Tempore Danish Hasan, Malanga and two other senators — also recorded the DJP meeting held the same day. “The six of them came into our deliberations and pulled out a (recorder). They applied political pressures where political pressures are supposed to be nonexistent,” Waid said. “(It’s) another overreach of power, and they stayed the entire meeting.” According to Betros, the party stated they were recording the meeting for their own purposes and gave no further explanation. The Court has requested that audio recording and has yet to receive it, both Justices said. “They are trying to create an argument against us solely out of disagreement (with) that
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Classifieds
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T H U R S D AY, M AY 1 5 , 2 0 1 4
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Crossword
by EUGENE SHEFFER
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said. “I wouldn’t say that they’re in non-compliance with (the statutes), I would just say we’re bound by a broken process that needs to be fixed.” He said SG plans for these statutes to be updated to give student transcribers more time to write up meetings, as SG’s transcribers are currently backed up writing up minutes from February of last year. “We also run into the issue where the (government) body that the minutes are being taken of are no longer here and have graduated,” LaMura said. “The only way to ensure the accuracy of the minutes and make sure they are compliant to (Florida law) is to have more time allotted.” Regarding the Florida Sunshine law, Truong said this includes all meetings since the September 2014 minute listing and students can request these at any time through an email to Truong or public records request through SG.
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“Everything that we have 2014 exist, but there are no November 2014 found all — any documents or audio other entries listed at the time three branch heads — forrecordings — are open for of publication. mer Student Body President public records,” she said. “If This is also not the first Jean Cocco, former Senate you email me, ‘Can I have the time the transparency or legal- President Andy Rodriguez and meeting agenda for tonight’s ity of the Senate’s activity has former Chief Justice Sammy meeting?’ I would send it to been called into question. Hamed— not in violation of you.” In October 2014, former any Student Body Constitution Zapata said SG stores all USF student Katharine Orr statutes. The committee recthe agendas, ommended SG minutes and “For minutes that have to be updated upload audio other meetrecordings for every week, we’re keeping track of ing records on missing minutes SG’s network regularly them on Scholar Commons and on our and storage and update calenUSF Scholar (network hard drives). As soon as we’re dars. Commons. Zapata estigiven access to the new website, it’s mated the new “For minutes that have SG website and just adding a link to it and all the to be updated minutes will every week, hopefully be documents will be there.” we’re keeping available before track of them the end of the Juan Zapata on Scholar fall semester SG Director of Communications and Marketing Commons and but said it could on our (nethappen sooner filed a grievance against forwork hard drives),” Zapata or later, depending on how mer SG executive, legislative said. “As soon as we’re given the process goes. and judicial branch leaders, access to the new website, it’s “Once we do our part, it’s asking SG to be more transparjust adding a link to it and all on USF IT to make it happen,” ent in how it communicates the documents will be there.” he said. with students, and to make SG The most recent minHunt said the process for decisions and activities accesutes entry on USF Scholar publishing the new site consible to students. Commons is from April 8, sists of a number of checks A subsequent investiga2015. Two earlier entries from to make sure site content is tion by the Senate Committee spring 2015 and five from fall correctly organized and strucfor Judiciary and Ethics in
9 tured for CMS. She said a completion date before the end of the fall semester is ‘aggressive, but doable’ and UCM publishes new university websites twice in December on scheduled dates, not when the website is finished. “(SG) has their work cut out for them to get that content ready,” Hunt said. “I would love to say it’s going to be up this semester, but I think that’s going to be a pretty big challenge.” Truong said the Senate recently finishing hiring four new transcribers since last summer when they previously had one or none, and LaMura said SG will soon hire an executive clerk who will type minutes and keep track of Senate minutes on SG’s website. “Getting these minutes out needs to be a top priority of the Student Government,” LaMura said.
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UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA
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JUDGES
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opinion,” Waid said. All of the opinions of the Court are public record and can be requested at any time, Betros said. Opinions must be requested via email, as the judicial documents posted are not up to date. Rodriguez confirmed he, Malanga, Truong and Hasan were in attendance at Friday’s meetings along with two senators whose identities Rodriguez said he didn’t remember. He said he wanted the audio for his own records and announced during open forum he was recording the meeting for accuracy. Hasan said Rodriguez was the only one of the six recording and he attended the meeting of his own accord, not at the request of Rodriguez. When asked if he thought this violated deliberative secrecy, he said he felt it was not his place to comment. Rodriguez said all individuals involved came of their own accord and this was not collusion between the two branches. Rodriguez also said Waid and Betros’ interpretation of Hasan’s going to speak with him during the discussion of the impeachment committee was not accurate. Hasan confirmed this saying he talked to Rodriguez about his questions about parliamentary procedure. He said the legislative experts on the procedure are Senators Hiba and Elmunaier, both involved in sponsoring the memo, so he didn’t feel comfortable going to them with his questions. Rodriguez said he advised Truong and Hasan from his experience as Senate president last year. As far as claims against him go, he said they are just claims. “I don’t know that it’s necessarily my place to get involved in the impeachment but what I can say is that I think that the processes that we have outlined within our constitution and our statutes are there for a reason,” Rodriguez said. “As one of the main representatives of (SG), I don’t think it is my place to get involved in hearsay or slander of any sort. “People are going to be angry during impeachment,” Rodriguez said. “That’s the
(Left to right) Associate Justice Leslie Gibson, Associate Justice Chelsea Lo, Senior Justice Alec Waid, Chief Justice Lindsay Betros, Ranking Justice Milton Llinas and Associate Justice Ruth Gameiro currently sit on the Student Government Supreme Court. Those set to be investigated by the impeachment committee are Lo, Waid, Betros and Llinas. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE nature of the process and I Government Statutes I would his discussion of trials, Waid can’t help it.” prefer to wait until the legal said he simply discussed the A similar argument came proceedings have occurred content of the trials, not their from Betros in reference to the before commenting,” Malanga proceedings. claims against the judges in said in an email to The Oracle. “They’ve created a hostile question. In the email Malanga quoted environment (in SG),” Waid “All the claims that are SG Senate Statute 503.6.7: “A said. being made on the However, “If we never questioned anyone’s memo of impeachHasan has ment are exactly denied the actions then there would never be that. They’re hostility and claims, no merit any accountability. But to have all four said the curto them,” Betros rent commembers (of the court) all at the same p l i c a t i o n s said. Waid and Betros from time, all doing the same exact thing, I stem both said the wordimpeaching of the memo mean, what purpose would that even ment prowas almost identiceedings. be for? What are (the accusers) cal to the wording H o w e v e r, of a trial request former SG trying to plan?” submitted by Senator Malanga prior to Kyla Wyatt Kyla Wyatt the Senate meetsaid she has Former SG senator ing. A request for experienced that trial request is hostility in Justice shall not make any pubcurrently pending. Hasan, who lic comment about a pending SG firsthand. She was a volunreceived the memo regarding or impending proceeding in the teer senator and said she loved the creation of the impeach- Supreme Court, and a Justice it, but once she became a paid ment committee, said he has shall not make any non-public SG employee, she saw a change not seen that trial request. comment that might interfere in her work environment. Hasan said he did not feel with a fair trial or hearing. The “Instead of being guided (in comfortable commenting Justice shall require a simi- my work), I would get threaton collusion claims between lar abstention on the part of ened. Or if I wanted to do the legislative and executive Supreme Court personnel sub- something my way and somebranches. ject to the Justice’s direction one didn’t agree with it, they Truong declined to com- and control.” would try to go … behind my ment. Speaking as a student who back and have it done anyway,” “(Due) to the questions feels that his rights have been Wyatt said. “These were people regarding Senior Justice Waid’s violated and referring to legis- who … I (looked up) to more comments and whether they lative procedures, Waid said the because they had more expericomply with the below Student statute is irrelevant. In terms of ence in Senate than I did.”
She had no complaints against the people in Student Government Advising, Training & Operations. She became frustrated, however, when she became a committee chairwoman and was denied the ability to change the time of her committee meetings due to an academic schedule conflict. “They said they’d rather have my vice chair sit in for every single one of my committees than to allow me to change it,” Wyatt said. She felt students were not being prioritized and was no longer comfortable being in charge and accountable for a committee whose meetings she couldn’t attend for academic reasons. Wyatt stepped down at the end of the summer. While she did not feel comfortable disclosing names of those who threatened her, she said it happened between different members of Senate leadership. Wyatt said she wondered why four people are getting impeached without some other reason behind it. The judges, she said, were hired and confirmed by the executive and legislative branches of SG. “If they really are that type, then how did they fool everyone into getting into that?” Wyatt said. She said she finds it suspicious the majority of the Court is under question. “Of course there might be a time where one member of the Court will have their actions come up into question and that’s to be expected,” Wyatt said. “If we never questioned anyone’s actions, then there would never be any accountability. But to have all four members (of the Court) all at the same time, all doing the same exact thing, I mean, what purpose would that even be for? What are (the accusers) trying to plan?” Wyatt said when she was only a volunteer senator, she loved it and thought it was one of the best things she’s ever been in. But once she moved to a paid position, she said she felt the pressure. Waid and Betros also said they feel the pressure. The two are hopeful that the committee will be unbiased and do its job. But as far as Betros is concerned, the Court will continue to do its job in the meantime.
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Football
Showcasing a new breed
By Jacob Hoag
T
A S S T .
QUINTON FLOWERS ORACLE FILE PHOTO/ADAM MATHIEU
KEENAN REYNOLDS SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE
S P O R T S
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Flowers, whose elusive scramble and 22-yard he era of the traditional big-bodied quarter back are quickly fading. Though they still heave to sophomore tailback D’Ernest Johnson exist, a new prototype is quickly rising to take in USF’s Sept. 5 opener against Florida A&M got national attention on ESPN’s SportsCenter, contintheir place. This new quarterback mold will take center stage ues to prove why this new type of small yet elusive Saturday when USF makes its first-ever trip to Navy signal-caller is here to stay. This quarterback mold is becoming a recurring for what could be a rushing performance for the ages. theme in the AAC and teams On one side, USF sophomore are finding success. Quinton Flowers, who stands a Houston’s Greg Ward Jr. shade under 6-feet, is coming off stands 5-foot-11, SMU’s Matt arguably his best career game — Davis is 6-foot and Temple’s against Southern Methodist on P.J. Walker — slightly bigger Saturday — which included a at 6-foot-1, but still not the program and AAC record 201 once typical 6-foot-4 or -5 — yards on the ground and three has led the No. 21 Owls to a touchdowns. 7-0 record this season. In his first full season startUSF offensive coordinator ing, Flowers has thrived in USF’s Danny Hope, who coached new up-tempo, spread-style at Purdue prior to USF, said offense. His instincts, speed and Danny Hope it’s not necessarily a new era, elusiveness make him a chalOffensive Coordinator but one that has been evolvlenge to tackle. His passing abiling over the last decade. ity, while not a strong suit, has “Russell Wilson was phenomenal,” Hope said of also developed to a level that demands respect from the Super Bowl-champion Seattle Seahawks quarterUSF’s opponents. “We (as a defense) adjust to the offense,” defensive back and former North Carolina State and Wisconsin coordinator Tom Allen said Wednesday. “If that guy can standout. “I think he’s one of the best players in the NFL run, it changes everything. It changes how you attack right now, and he’s not very big once you get up on them and the pressures you bring.” Allen’s defense will have the daunting task of him. He’s probably similar in stature to Quinton and defending one of the nation’s top mobile quarterbacks similar in some ways, as far as being able to make in Navy’s Keenan Reynolds, who is on track to break some people miss.” While Flowers has a long road to match Wilson’s the NCAA’s all-time career rushing touchdowns record (79) held by former Wisconsin running back Montee status, his arm and instincts match up well. “Size can make a difference, Hope said. “But the Ball. As if his 75 career rushing scores don’t frighten USF bottom line is, if you’re good enough, you’re tall enough, the senior’s 636 rushing yards rank 47th in enough. “That’s what it boils down to.” Division I-A. His 11 touchdowns are tied with Florida State tailback Dalvin Cook — who rushed for three TDs in a victory over the Bulls in Week 2 — for 12th. FOOTBALL “That’s the kind of guy, if you had to pick on as a defensive coach, we would say, ‘We don’t want to see USF (4-3, 2-1) at that kind of guy,’ and offenses are realizing that,” Allen Navy (5-1, 3-0) said. “As long as he can throw, at least well enough to make you pay, it’s a tough combination.” When: Saturday at noon For now, Flowers will rest in the shadow of the wily Where: Navy Memorial Stadium veteran. But as the highlights have shown, it’s hard to TV/Radio: CBS Sports Network count him out.
“Size can make a difference, but the bottom line is: If you’re good enough, you’re tall enough. That’s what it boils down to.”
BY THE NUMBERS
75
Career rushing touchdowns for Navy QB Keenan Reynolds, two shy of record.
563
Rushing yards for USF QB Quinton Flowers, who’s on pace for 965 yards in 2015.
Sports
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UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA
The Rundown Outside USF
Minnesota coach forced to retire
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USF (4-3, 2-1) at Navy (5-1, 3-0)
Saturday, noon • Annapolis, Maryland • TV/Radio: CBS Sports Network, 820-AM
New role a big hit Byrd’s switch to husky driving USF’s defense
University of Minnesota football coach Jerry Kill retired effective immediately Wednesday due to health concerns. Defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys will serve as interim coach for the Kill remainder of the season. The 54-year-old has a history of seizures, including five he suffered on game days. In 2013, Kill missed a game to recover and coached from the press box for most of that season. Kill was 29-29 in five seasons with Minnesota.
By Jacob Hoag A S S T .
Note-a-Bull If USF defeats Navy on Saturday, it will be the first time the Bulls have won three straight conference games since 2010 and only the second time it’s happened in the last eight seasons.
Quote of the day “This team taught all America’s children that ‘playing like a girl’ means you’re a badass.”
— President Barack Obama while honoring the U.S. women’s national soccer team for its World Cup title Tuesday.
See more online Check out our weekly football segment, “2-Minute Drill,” where sports editor Jeff Odom looks back at USF’s win over SMU and previews Navy. Watch it at YouTube.com/USFOracle.
A look ahead Volleyball at Tulane Friday, 8 p.m. Men’s soccer at Connecticut Saturday, 7 p.m. Volleyball at Houston Sunday, 2 p.m.
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USF husky Jamie Byrd doesn’t just hit opponents. He takes every ounce of his 185-pound compact frame and drives through them, pummeling them into the dirt. SMU quarterback Matt Davis was his latest victim. Midway through the second quarter of USF’s 38-14 rout of the Mustangs Saturday at Raymond James Stadium, Byrd came on a blitz off the right side completely untouched. Before Davis could take a breath, the air was forced out of his lungs by the crushing blow. It was the senior’s second sack of the day after he had forced Davis to fumble on the game’s opening drive. He now leads the Bulls with four sacks, all of which have occurred d u r i n g the last two games. Byrd likes to drop back in coverage, but has made one thing clear: he’s out there to take your head off. “The one great skill set that Jamie Byrd has is his courage on impact,” coach Willie Taggart said Tuesday. “He’s a small guy, but he will rattle the fillings in your mouth when he hits you. He’s not afraid to hit anybody.”
Byrd has played this way since his pee-wee days. It’s a mindset instilled in him by his father, Jamie Byrd Sr., a former standout at Pasco High in Dade City, where his son also played. “I was always competing with my dad, wanting to be better than him and hit harder than him,” Byrd said. “He was a head hunter when he was in school, so I was always trying to be better than him and that pushed me to be the hardest hitter, no matter what league I played.” Byrd said his crowning achievement was when his father told him he was a harder hitter than Byrd Sr. had been in his heyday. “It felt great, because I had been working for that for so long,” Byrd said. “I try to improve every week, and him saying that I hit harder than him was like, ‘I’m finally here.’” In Byrd’s year and a half at USF since transferring from Iowa Western Community College, he has led the Bulls with 145 tackles and four interceptions. But switching positions under first-year defensive coordinator Tom Allen almost derailed his success. Under Allen’s 4-2-5 scheme, Byrd switched to a safety-linebacker hybrid called “husky” that plays close to the line of scrimmage rather than 15 or so yards back. Having spent over a decade in the deep safety spot, Byrd was reluctant to make the change. “I remember him coming into my office saying, ‘Coach, I appreciate you and I appreciate coach Allen, and I know exactly what you guys want,
n See HUSKY on PAGE 5