A natural talent Outspoken former lineman Thor Jozwiak brings high-level energy in new role on USF’s sidelines.
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October 13, 2016
Vol. 54 No. 16
Mindfulness meditation seeks to help breast cancer survivors Page 3
Celebrities’ opinions sway social and political issues Page 4
Greek step show welcomes alumni Page 6
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News Briefs Former UP police chief dies in car crash
news
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA
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Psycho-oncology alternative method to treat breast cancer
The New York Times released an article Wednesday in which two women came forward to say they were groped by republican nominee Donald Trump. One woman said it happened back on a plane in the ‘70s while the other said it happened in an elevator in ‘05. Trump’s lawyers sent the Times a formal letter announcing their intention to sue for defamation. The Times is standing by it story. Since then, the Palm Beach Post reported on a third woman making allegations of sexual assault against Trump. She said that he groped her at his Mar-a-Lago estate 13 years ago. Trump continues to deny all accusations and none of the women reported the assault to authorities at the time that they happened.
By Abby Rinaldi N E W S
Former USF police chief Robert Staehle was hit in a head-on collision on U.S. 301 on Wednesday morning, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. Staehle, 66, was driving a Chystler van headed north on 301 when his vehicle drifted into the south bound lane, colliding with a semi-tracter trailer. Staehle died at the scene.
Trump threatens to sue NYT for defamation
USF lower than national average for student debt
The month of October is breast cancer awareness month. There’s several ways of treating breast cancer including psycho-oncology. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE psychological effects of cancer four meditative techniques: By Chelsea Grosbeck A S S I S T A N T N E W S E D I T O R patients,” Lengacher said. a mindfulness meditation A breast cancer survivor focusing on the breath, a The recipient of a $2.8 in remission since 2002, concentration mental full body million grant for a five- Lengacher is personally scan, Hatha yoga and walking year research program, aware of the positive results meditation. USF’s College of Nursing is of the treatment. Now in “Chemotherapy has been the only research program implementing the program known to affect the memory of receiving funding breast cancer from the National patients, a Cancer Institute syndrome We teach them how to be grateful for (NCI) for a noncalled ‘chemo pharmacological b r a i n ,’ ” today. By meditating and concentrating approach to treat Lengacher on the moment, we teach them not to breast cancer said. patients, according loom on their fears of the past and fears Designed to Cecile Lengacher, by Jon Kabatof the future. professor and Zinn at the director of the preUniversity of doctoral fellowship Cecile Lengacher, professor at the College of Nursing Massachusetts program at the at Worcester, College of Nursing. MBSR was for her patients, Lengacher Going into the second year has emphasized the focus a program for anybody, but of the grant, the College is in on mindfulness-based stress Lengacher and her team added collaboration with the Moffitt reduction. modifications to treat breast Cancer Center and the Morsani “Our current program is the cancer survivors, too, with College of Medicine to provide Efficacy of Mindfulness Based their fear of recurrence. a complementary alternative Stress Reduction (MBSR) of “We teach them how therapy treatment meant Cognitive Impairment Among to be grateful for today. By to ease patients’ cognitive Breast Cancer Survivors,” meditating and concentrating functioning. on the moment, we teach Lengacher said. “ P s yc h o - o n c o l o g y is The two-hour, six-week them not to loom on their an area of research on the program teaches the patients n See BREAST CANCER on PAGE 7
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$1.3 trillion. It was the number that made headlines at the beginning of 2016: the total student loan debt in the U.S., according to data from the U.S. Department of Education. MarketWatch created a student loan debt clock that an estimated $2,000 additional are added every second. Controversy over student loan debt is not a new one. There are some who say the student loan bubble could burst like the 2008 housing crisis, but there are others who say the student loan debt is not as big a problem as some make it. In 2013, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Federal Student Aid reported the national student loan default rate at 14.7 percent. Since 2013, however, the default rate has been in a steady decline, coming down to 11.3 percent as of 2016. The figures at USF for 2012-16, as reported in the 2016 University Work Plan, were estimated to be 5.2 percent. Financial Aid Director Billie Jo Hamilton said that the official rate for 2016 is 5.3 percent. Hamilton said approximately 70 percent of undergraduate students at USF are receiving some type of financial aid, most of which is in the form of student loans. The USF Work Plan for 2016 says that 60 percent of bachelor’s recipients graduate with debt. “Every student who fills out the FAFSA qualifies for a student loan,” she said. “(However), not every student who fills out the FAFSA qualifies for a grant.” USF Financial Aid processed $417 million in total aid for 201516, including grants, scholarships, loans, federal work study and other forms of aid from the university. The national average for debt
n See DEBT on PAGE 5
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Opinion
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA
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The power of celebrity endorsement on social issues By Breanne Williams
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What you said Opinion Editor Breanne Williams asked students if they think celebrities’ opinions can sway a social or political issue.
C O L U M N I S T
When celebrities get involved in politics, one of two things can occur. They either use their fame to enhance awareness of an issue or they cause harm by acting out and fostering negative attention. Two celebrities, actress Shailene Woodley and Green Party candidate Jill Stein, have both thrust themselves into the Dakota Pipeline protest, however, they greatly varied in how they chose to utilize their fame. Both Woodley and Stein had been outspoken allies of the movement and both have gone in person to participate in the peaceful protests. Stein, however, chose to use the protest as a method to boost her stagnant poll numbers by resorting to vandalism and tarnishing the nature of the peaceful protests. Woodley, though somewhat radical in her perception of the media’s role in covering the issue, did not go against or attempt to upstage the protest. She simply stood in solidarity with those peacefully conveying their opposition to the $3.8 million pipeline. The protesting began when the Dakota Access Pipeline, which will be 1,170 miles long upon completion, was set to cross under the Missouri River. The oil pipeline is near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, and building it would require the bulldozing of sacred burial sites. Tribal and environmental activists fear the pipeline, which will transport massive amounts of oil under the Missouri River. The protests have been ongoing and media coverage has slowly increased as big name stars begin to join the protestors and stand up against the pipeline. The issue has trended multiple times on twitter, showing the influence celebrities can have on social movements. Angelina Jolie is renowned for her humanitarian work across the world. As a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations
“To an extent. There are people who look at what celebrities say but also put their own beliefs and morals into the issue.” - Carolina Zapata, a senior majoring in biomedical sciences
Shailene Woodley was arrested for participating in the Dakota Pipeline protest. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE (U.N.) since 2001, her name has ment. The issue of Kony and been linked to a variety of issues, the LRA had not been eradicatmost famously her work with ed, it had simply relocated. But refugees. the embarrassment brought on Her involvement has brought by the uninformed statements attention to issues that other- damaged the cause and the pubwise would more than likely lic focused more on the idiocy have been overlooked. The U.N. of the remarks than on finding is notorious for linking well- a way to stop Kony from waging known faces with crucial causes; war in other countries. Hence, Emma Watson and Anne Celebrities have the ability to Hathaway’s positions as goodwill shine a spotlight on an underrepambassadors for the organiza- resented issue. If handled with tion. care and sensitivity, the icon can Unfortunately, not all celebri- play a key role in implementing ties do even a fraction of research change. However, if that person before throwing their name and uses the issue to benefit him- or passion behind a cause. The herself, rather than the other short film “Kony 2012” led to way around, they can do irrepaan international uprising as peo- rable harm. ple banned together to petition The Dakota Pipeline profor the removal of Joseph Kony test had not been drawing an and the Lord’s Resistance Army immense amount of national (LRA), a guerrilla group that was attention prior to Stein and notorious for using child soldiers. Woodley’s involvement. While Kim Kardashian, Nicki Minaj it is unfortunate that the public and Bill Gates all supported the often fails to care until somemovement and were advocat- one they’ve watched or admired ing for their fans to join them in on television gets involved, it is the fight against such inhumane often the reality. oppressors. What they failed Public figures need to recto realize was that Kony and ognize that truth and begin to the LRA had been gone from monitor how they interact with Uganda for over five years. political or social issues. The entire movement was considered a mockery due to the uninformed comments made by Breanne Williams is a senior those championing the move- majoring in mass communications.
“I think it depends on who they are. If they’re popular and well-liked, then they can definitely sway opinions. But it’s only to an extent.” - Nathania Baptiste, a senior majoring in anthropology
“I think they definitely can because a lot of people look up to them. I don’t think they should, though, because they’re just people on TV with their own opinions just like me.” - Clinton Gifford, a senior majoring “If they say something actually intelligent and if they use their following to do something important, then it’s great. But if they ‘re just jumping on a bandwagon, it’s not OK.” - Aubrey Osiborski, a senior majoring in communications
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Amnesty International plans event to discuss police relations with minorities By Morgan Blauth S T A F F
W R I T E R
USF will soon add another entry to its list of initiatives to help abate negative perception of relations between law enforcement officers and the community with an event presented by the campus chapter of Amnesty International. The event, “Exploring Police and Public Relations,” is intended to open a discussion about solutions to the police violence problem that is plaguing minorities in the U.S. Laila Abdelaziz, legislative and government affairs director at the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Florida and a USF alumna, will speak at the event, which will take place on Monday. According to its website, CAIR is “Florida’s strongest Muslim civil rights organization,” according to its website. Fouad Albadrasawi, vice
president of Amnesty International on campus, said Abdelaziz’s youth and relatable-ness make her appealing as a speaker choice for this type of event: one put on by students, for students. “She is very well-informed on the issues at hand,” Albadrasawi said. Both Albadrasawi and Elmunaier said they hope the event will bring about change in communities affected by police violence. “I hear a lot about (police violence against minorities), but I don’t hear anything being done,” Albadrasawi said. Elmunaier said students in attendance will be challenged to think critically about possible solutions to the problem of police violence. “(The event will be a) short lecture talking about what can students specifically do about (police violence),” he said.
Elmunaier said he doesn’t want the event to be misconstrued as an “encroachment” on the Black Lives Matter movement or an attack on police. The event will be co-sponsored by the Black Student Union (BSU), the Muslim Student Association (MSA) and the Latin American Student Association (LASA). “If one group is hurting, we’re all hurting,” Elmunaier said. Talking points at the event will include a discussion about the militarization of the police in America, similar to what is taking place in the Middle East. The purpose of the event is to empower students and encourage them to “critically think, be open, willing to listen, to be willing to question, be willing to analyze,” according to Elmunaier. The event will be held Monday at 6 p.m. in Marshall Student Center room 2708. A free dinner will be provided.
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LIFESTYLE
Step show with a purpose UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA
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Step show allows multicultural Greek organizations to welcome alumni for homecoming week By Dericka James C O R R E S P O N D E N T
Culture, expression and oldfashioned competition. These were the elements for the Extravaganza Step Show that took place Friday in the Marshall Student Center Oval Theater. The event was organized by the National Pan-Hellenic Council — also known as the “Divine Nine”, which is a collaborative organization of nine historically AfricanAmerican and multicultural Greek-lettered fraternities and sororities. According to Malik Waters, a brother of the Iota Phi Theta Fraternity and Parliamentarian for the Council, the show creates a space where Divine Nine organizations can compete against each other in a step show fashion to represent for their specific organization and attract new faces to the multicultural Greek community. “This also brings alumni back to the campus to celebrate black culture and … the opportunity to revisit Greek life,” Waters said. The return of black alumni also ties into the significance for the Council’s decision to host this event during homecoming weekend. “This gives them a variety of events to partake in during their visit so that they can remain in Tampa for a longer stay,” Waters said. Initially, the Step Show was to be held at the USF Baseball Stadium and sponsored by USF Athletics, in hopes of attracting the traffic from the home-
Fraternity Phi Iota Theta and sorority Zeta Phi Beta emerged the victors at the Extravaganza Step Show. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE/JASMINE MORTON coming Parade as it passes Alumni Drive. Due to weather concerns, however, the location was ultimately changed. “Being that it was a conflict with the scheduling of the Talent Show and Extrav, it took away from the vision of having the step show be a bigger part of Homecoming to showcase the true diversity within the USF community,” Waters said. “We wanted to show both students and non-students a piece of Black culture. A lot of the times, our history can either be forgotten or taken away from us, so we want to share and celebrate it with the community.” Show attendees were able to watch a total of five performances from two fraternities and three sororities. Of the participating ladies – Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority,
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and Zeta Phi Beta Sorority – the sisters of Zeta Phi Beta have taken home the victory for two consecutive years. Jasmine Morton, a sister of the winning sorority, recalled a significant moment in their winning performance, Blue is the New Black, a prisonthemed step combination, in which the steppers “broke out of prison.” “The scene … was my favorite because it was our tribute to the injustice that is currently going on in our society,” Morton said. “Winning the Extravaganza Step Show for the second year in a row proves that all of our hardwork, consistency, creativity, and determination was well worth it.” Markayla Leggett, a sophomore majoring in criminal
justice, recalled the show as entertaining. “It was amazing. The Iotas were my favorite part,” Leggett said. In addition to the Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, the FAU Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity also competed in the show. “Being that this was my first time participating in Extrav as a performer, it was an amazing experience,” Waters said. In addition to participating for the first time, Waters and his fraternity brothers now have bragging rights as the Extravaganza Step Show 2016 champions. “Every org left it all on the stage and the resulting win was an overall victory for all the hard work and commitment put in by my brothers and I,” Waters said.
According to Waters, the Council uses stepping – a form of percussive dance with roots in African and Caribbean dance – as a nonverbal form of communication and expression that brings one to an intense flush of excitement and focus. “The steps also have ties to resistance identities found in Black culture throughout history,” he said. And for Morton, stepping is a way for people to come together as one and express their talents. “I started stepping my eighth grade year … and haven’t stopped since,” she said. “Stepping is a way for me to give back to my community while having fun doing it.”
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BREAST CANCER Continued from PAGE 3
fears of the past and fears of the future,” Lengacher said. With approximately 40 patients currently enrolled, the program is projected to enroll 330 total patients for the upcoming five-year trial. Recruiting patients from Moffitt Cancer Center, Morsani College of Medicine and Florida Hospital, qualifications to be accepted for the program include a diagnosis of between stage one and three and having undergone chemotherapy and radiation. Additionally, Lengacher is working with USF students in the MBSR research program. A student who works closely with Lengacher is Carly Paterson, who received a postdoctoral fellowship at the NCI. Lengacher said she would encourage any USF students
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who have interest in psychooncology to reach out to her program. Regardless of age, Lengacher said USF students should implement breast selfexaminations to catch early signs of breast cancer. “If they are high risk within their family, it is important to visit a physician for a checkup,” Lengacher said. Another piece of advice, she said, is to be aware of stress levels. “The increase in production of cortisol can affect the body’s immune system by eliminating natural killer cells. This makes our bodies more susceptible to disease,” Lengacher said. Lengacher emphasizes the effectiveness of the program and how it can be an alternative treatment for breast cancer survivors. “There is great hope for women in our society for this problem,” said Lengacher.
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DEBT
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per borrower at a public university, according to federal statistics, is $26,872. The average amount of debt of a student who earned a bachelor’s in 2014-15 was $22,899. Hamilton analogized student loan debt to auto loan debt. “It’s not the price of a car,” Hamilton said. Student loans and auto loans have different interest rates on average, but Hamilton said the investment is what is important when it comes to getting a student loan. She said the average additional earnings over a lifetime for those who get their bachelor’s degree is estimated at $1 million. Hamilton said she feels that an investment in higher education is a vastly more important one. “Reasonable, responsible borrowing that gets you to graduation is the best investment you’ll ever make for yourself,” she said. USF currently offers debt counseling services and peer financial advising. Students can get help with budgeting and loan management. The financial aid fee students pay helps pay for these
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programs, so Hamilton encourages students to take advantage of them. USF also does exit counseling where graduates are provided with personalized assessments of their student loan debt and taught how to manage payments. The Association of Public LandGrant Universities (APLU) created a fact sheet as part of its Public University Values campaign that compiles statistics and research about student debt. Using data gathered from the U.S. Department of Education, the APLU reported that while students graduate with debt, the majority graduate with less than $30,000. “About 36 percent of students at four-year public universities finished their bachelor’s degree without any debt and 79 percent graduated with less than $30,000 in debt,” the APLU said in its report. “Only 6 percent of public university graduates left with more than $50,000. And those with over $100,000 in debt are rarer still: they are anomalies representing less than half of 1 percent of all four-year public university undergraduates completing their degrees.” Hamilton said those who graduate with hundreds of
thousands of dollars in debt are outliers. However, she said those who default on loans more often than not are those with small amounts of student loan debt. “The majority of the students who default on their student loans owe small amounts — $5,000 or less — and they did not finish getting their credential,” she said. “So they dropped out … life happened and they couldn’t finish.” Hamilton feels USF’s average student debt ($22,899) is a manageable amount, but also said what amount of debt constitutes as manageable is major-dependent. “I think manageable probably depends on the student’s perspective and the income,” she said. “What might be manageable for an engineering or a business major when they get out might be more challenging for a teacher, so it’s almost discipline-specific. “What they kind of recommend is that … you shouldn’t have a student loan payment that’s more than 10 percent of your salary.” She stressed the federal payment plans offered for students who need to pay off their debt. One program is Pay As You Earn (PAYE), where student loan payments increase as the graduate’s income
increases. A White House report titled “Investing in Higher Education: Benefits, Challenges, and the State of Student Debt” from July 2016 concluded that the value of an education was still high but debt did create problems for students. “College remains an excellent investment overall, and the majority of dollars in the student loan market continue to fund investments with large returns to student borrowers and the economy,” the report said. “However, there is variation in college quality, and particularly during the recession, many students did not receive an education that allowed them to manage the debt they incurred. At the same time, many prospective students have been dissuaded from enrolling in college because of factors like poor information, high complexity, and credit constraints.” For student who want to avoid accumulating large amounts of debt, Hamilton recommends sticking to a plan to graduate in four years instead of six, not taking unnecessary classes and avoiding dropping or failing courses. She encourages students to contact the servicer on their loans and to look at the options available to them to
pay their debt. She said financial literacy is also important. “Once you’ve borrowed, it’s kind of too late to fix the problem,” she said. Hamilton said the way student loan debt is portrayed in the media may make students afraid to borrow money. The $1.3 trillion figure, she said, is logical because more students than ever have gone to college. “I worry that all this negative talk about borrowing and student debt taken out of context might make families and students reluctant to make that investment,” she said. “You know, on occasion we’ll have a student come in that’s struggling. They’re getting grants maybe and they’re trying to not borrow money and so they’re working maybe too much. “Whereas, if they just borrowed a small amount of loan money … a semester or whatever so that they didn’t have to work as much, that might take the pressure off and actually help them move through quicker.” However, the student loan debt clock keeps ticking and for some, that fear will remain.
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HOMECOMING Carnival Friday 10.7.16 PHOTOS BY David zhou
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Crossword
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Sports
A natural talent UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA
The Rundown
Football
USF News
ESPN has Bulls favored to win out in 2016 In Week 7 of ESPN’s college football Vegas rankings, USF comes in at No. 25 on the list. ESPN’s Football Power Index, which ranks each team’s probability of winning games, has the Bulls favored in every remaining game in 2016. On Saturday against UConn, ESPN’s FPI gives the Bulls a 92.7 percent chance of defeating the Huskies, earning a second consecutive bowl berth. According to ESPN, USF’s toughest matchup of the season will come when it plays at Memphis on Nov. 12., as it gives USF a 59.5 percent chance of winning.
USF Weekend Schedule
Men’s Soccer
USF (5-6-2, 2-1) @ UConn (10-3, 3-0) When: Saturday, 7 p.m. Where: Joseph J. Morrone Stadium
Women’s Soccer USF (9-1-1, 1-1-1) @ Temple (3-11, 0-4) When: Today, 3:30 p.m. Where: Temple Sports Complex
Volleyball
USF (12-6, 3-3) @ Temple (12-4, 5-1) When: Friday, 7 p.m. Where: McGonigal Hall
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Thor Jozwiak has enjoyed his new role with USF, which includes interviewing former teammates such as receiver Andre Davis (right). ORACLE FILE PHOTO/JACOB HOAG
Former USF offensive lineman Thor Jozwiak embraces new sideline reporter position
By Vinnie Portell S P O R T S
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E D I T O R
ince he was a little kid, Thor Jozwiak has been enamored by the allure of professional wrestling. From the larger-than-life characters to the hyped-up entertainment, he’s wholeheartedly embodied everything he loves about the sport. Growing up idolizing the likes of the Rock, the Undertaker, Triple H, Hulk Hogan and his favorite wrestler, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Jozwiak modeled his gregarious personality after what he witnessed in the ring. “I just respected the fact that they were truly entertaining.” Jozwiak said. “If you look at the promos they were doing, it wasn’t fake. Someone wasn’t telling them what to say. They truly believed — they became their character.”
Now, Jozwiak’s path as a football player has given him his own chance to entertain the masses since becoming the sideline reporter for USF’s broadcasting team for the 2016 season. “One of the reasons we turned and offered him the opportunity was the experiences we’ve had talking with him and interviewing him when he was a player,” USF broadcaster Jim Louk said. “You can see a natural gift there.” Rather than duking it out in the ring, Jozwiak followed in the footsteps of his father, Brian, who was an All-American offensive lineman at West Virginia and later drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs with the seventh overall pick in the 1986 NFL Draft. Jozwiak, an offensive lineman for the Bulls from 2011-15, used what he learned from the per-
formances of the heroes of his childhood to become one of the Bulls’ unquestioned leaders. “My Dad had a Mohawk back when he played, but my Mohawk was like my alter ego,” Jozwiak said. “The game of football is very brutal and very punishing and especially to be an O-lineman, you have to be a little off to play that position. On game day, I’d make sure my Mohawk was straight, I’d always have my wife shave the sides the day before. “You just got into that persona — that character — and you use that to fuel your performance on the field.” After graduating from USF in December 2015 for the second time — he has a bachelor’s degree in both communications and psychology — Jozwiak was unsure of what life without football would be like.
He earned an invitation to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers mini camp after his pro day at USF in the spring but was told he wasn’t a fit for the team. “At first, with the football dream going away, that’s something I had worked toward for 13 years,” he said. “I always wanted to make it and when I realized that wasn’t going to happen, it really hit hard and I had to sit back and take a couple of weeks to re-evaluate what was going on, what I was going to do.” Shortly after Jozwiak accepted the end of his playing career, USF was searching for someone to fill the vacancy left by former sideline reporter Jenna Laine, who was hired by ESPN after working with USF for one season. Louk, who has been the voice of USF football for each of its 20
n See THOR on PAGE 11
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Know the foe: UConn at USF T H U R S DAY, O C TO B E R 1 3 , 2 0 1 6
Football
By Chuck Muller S T A F F
W R I T E R
Entering Saturday night’s matchup with UConn (3-3, 1-2), no one on the USF roster or coaching staff knows quite as much about the Huskies as offensive coordinator T.J. Weist. Weist, now in his first year with the Bulls (5-1, 2-0), was the offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach at Connecticut in 2013. After the departure of UConn’s thenhead coach Paul Pasqualoni following an 0-4 start, Weist took over as the interim coach for the remainder of the ’13 season. Although he won his last three games as the Huskies’ coach, UConn elected not to retain Weist after finishing with a 3-5 record. One of those losses, his first game as a head coach, was a 13-10 loss to USF. Despite that loss, the Huskies have played the Bulls tough in their 13-game series, with neither team winning by more than eight points since a 38-16 USF win in 2006. “I think there is a mutual respect of toughness,” Weist said. “Me being on both sides and at Cincinnati, I’ve seen both programs from the out-
THOR
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seasons, remembered Jozwiak’s magnetic personality from interviews, so he floated the idea by the former lineman. “We’ve had a lot (of sideline reporters) over the years, we’ve had broadcasters, we’ve had former players,” Louk said. “Kawika Mitchell did it for us a couple years ago and he did a great job, but his schedule didn’t allow him to continue after one season. You want someone who understands the game. “I tell Thor what I ask from him is to bring knowledge as a player that I’m not going to know because I never played on this level. You know, I’ve done a million games and I see stuff and understand stuff, but not on the level of a guy who has
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side. I know the conference fairly well, and think there is a mutual respect of toughness. “I think as a coach, you respect other teams that play tough. South Florida has always played tough and athletic. UConn has always been a tough football team … maybe not as athletic as the more southern teams or as fast, but they’ve made up for with it with smart, tough football players.” The Bulls will once again be challenged Saturday by another hardy pack of Huskies, this time led offensively by junior quarterback Bryant Shirreffs and senior wide receiver Noel Thomas. Shirreffs, who transferred to Connecticut after his freshman year at NC State, is a dual threat for UConn. Having eclipsing 2,000 yards passing on the season, Bryant has also rushed the ball 102 times (251 yards and two scores) already this season, tied for the most by any quarterback in the AAC with Navy’s Will Worth. After facing the AAC’s top receiver in East Carolina’s Zay Jones last week, the Bulls will once again be tasked with stopping another elite AAC receiver in Thomas. Thomas leads all UConn receivers with 55 receptions
played.” With no immediate plans for the future and a passion for the spotlight, Jozwiak jumped at the opportunity. “I’ve always been a fan of the microphone and reaching an audience somehow, so I was thinking this could be fun, this could be a good experience and it keeps me around the guys and it keeps me involved with the program,” Jozwiak said. “At the same time, I get to do something I really like, which is talk and bring entertainment to people. “The past 13 years of my life have been devoted to football, so I’m just now in the stage of figuring out which avenue to go.” Louk worked with Jozwiak over the summer on mock broadcasts using tape from the 2015 season and despite some
UConn at USF • Raymond James Stadium • 7 p.m. • CBSSN and seems to be Shirreffs’ favorite target this season, having caught 39 more passes than the next closest Huskies receiver. Last year, Shirreffs threw for 365 yards and rushed for another 100 against the Bulls. Matching up with Thomas will likely be junior cornerback Deatrick Nichols, who was paired against Jones in USF’s 38-22 win over ECU. Even if he won’t be the one defending the Huskies top
receiver, Nichols is confident in whomever lines up against Jones in the Bulls’ secondary. “However the game flows,” Nichols said. “I like any of my corners or safeties to cover the guy, because we all get the job done. (Thomas) is a good guy … he finds a way to come down with the ball, he finds a way to catch the ball … he’s just a good athlete.” Defensively, the Huskies are led by junior defensive tackle Cole Ormsby, who is fifth in
the AAC with four sacks. In their meeting last year, the Bulls escaped East Hartford with a 28-20 win over UConn. The Bulls established the run, as they will look to do again Saturday after rushing for 275 yards against the Huskies in 2015. The Bulls are 8-5 all-time against the Huskies, winning the last four matchups. Kickoff for Saturday night’s game with the Huskies is at 7 at Raymond James Stadium.
inevitable hiccups, the 20-year veteran of the broadcast booth said he’s been impressed with USF’s new sideline reporter through the first half of 2016. Even with a knack for the microphone and five years of playing college football, Jozwiak said there’s still some times he gets wrapped up in the excitement of it all. With just over 52,000 in attendance for USF’s game against Florida State on Sept. 24, Jozwiak had a momentary lapse in keeping his school pride in check. “The energy was unreal, especially after that first touchdown pass, first play of the game,” Jozwiak said. “It’s funny because I’m on the sideline jumping up and down losing my mind. My microphone is live, but we have a tech up in the booth who turns
my microphone on when they throw it to me. But the whole time, Jim and Mark (Robinson) can hear what I’m saying. “So I’m jumping up and down screaming and hollering because I told some people that the first play was going to be a touchdown and they didn’t believe me. So I’m yelling and yelling and then I get to the other side of the field and I’m screaming and hollering and they went right to commercial after they kicked the extra point. And Mark and Jim throw it to me on the sideline and I had lost my voice from the emotion, so I was like, ‘OK, I can’t react like that, I have a job to do. Compose yourself, get some water, get your voice back. Ah, man it was unreal. But that atmosphere was outstanding, you live for that as a player.”
Jozwiak said he’s enjoying his time helping USF Athletics any way he can, which includes speaking to students about Athletics at school events and promoting the football team around campus. As far as future plans go, he said he hasn’t made up his mind just yet on what he’d like to do, but he could see himself continuing on in this line of work or even giving wrestling a try. “You never know,” Jozwiak said. “I’ve always considered just going to a wrestling school and be like, ‘Hey man, I can rock the microphone, I’ve got some tape of that.’ So, we’ll see. “It’s never out of the cards until I’m 50 or whatever, but you still see guys who are 50 throwing down in the ring, so I don’t know. I’ve always been a huge fan and still am to this day.”
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