11-18-14

The Oracle TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2014 I VOL. 52 NO. 48

Inside this Issue

N E W S

Comic books yet to hit the mainstream. Page 4

Montage

classifieds..............................................7 Crossword.........................................7 sports............................................................8

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA

Cocco rails against skating vandals Workshop

By Wesley Higgins

L I F ESTYLE

www.usforacle.com

The Index

News.................................................................1 Lifestyle......................................................4 Opinion.......................................................6

E D I T O R

It took all of one week for skateboarders to mark the new student memorial honoring deceased students, and student body president Jean Cocco had harsh words in response.

In a Facebook post Monday afternoon, Cocco said the skateboarders who left black streaks on the memorial bench were “terrible, vile human beings” who will be “arrested and thrown in jail,” if caught.

Cocco further said he would

“make sure your face is known to the families and friends who lost their loved ones.”

Nevertheless, he said they should have “a beautiful day.”

The post was deleted less than two hours after dozens of students replied with comments critical of Cocco’s remarks.

In an interview with The Oracle, skateboarding club members also voiced concerns. The club’s founder Chad Riese said it is ridiculous to give a person an arrest record for grinding on a bench. “(Cocco) is obviously proud and deserves to be upset, but he’s a student, too,” Riese said. “When

he should represent all students, he instead spoke out like a cranky professor.”

Though Riese said skateboarders aren’t always the most considerate of citizens, he knew of no one in his club that would vandalize the memorial.

“When skateboarders saw the memorial go up, I don’t think they thought they should crash this graveyard,” he said. “At the same time, I can see why it is a good place to practice tricks between classes.”

Freshman Shaquille Khan said the skater community wouldn’t

n See SKATING on PAGE 2

S PORTS Bulls’ comeback at SMU ignited by freshman.

BACK

After black streaks were found on a bench by the new student memorial on Crescent Hill, student body president Jean Cocco took to social media to scold skateboarders. ORACLE PHOTO/ALEX ROSENTHAL

SG branch heads cleared from grievance Student says she will continue to fight to hold SG accountable.

n

By Roberto Roldan M A N A G I N G

E D I T O R

The Judiciary and Ethics Committee (JEC) struck down a student grievance Monday against Student Government (SG) President Jean Cocco and the heads of the SG legislative and judicial branches.

The committee found that the three branch heads were

not in violation of the statutes and sections of the constitution written in a grievance filed by Katharine Orr, a senior majoring in biomedical sciences and political science.

JEC Chairwoman Kristen Truong said the decision came down to Orr naming the wrong people on her grievance. “(The Committee) does feel as if there needs to be something done, but those people aren’t necessarily the ones that are actually violating it,” Truong said.

Orr said she disagrees with the JEC’s findings and felt their decision was a “cop-out.”

“Just because the right person wasn’t listed doesn’t mean the complaint isn’t valid and it

isn’t a valid issue,” Orr said.

Specifically, the JEC found that they did not violate their oath of office or the public disclosure statutes requiring SG to make transcripts of public meetings available to students and give students proper notice of public meetings.

Orr filed an official grievance with SG on Oct. 31 claiming SG leaders were preventing student feedback from being presented in meetings and called on SG to be more transparent and accountable in how it communicates with students.

In her grievance, Orr cited a lack of meeting minutes and issues with branches not regu-

n See GRIEVANCE on PAGE 3

starts ‘It’s On Us’ week

By Brandon Shaik A S S T .

N E W S

E D I T O R

After joining over 200 colleges nationwide in the “It’s On Us” campaign, Student Government has partnered with the Center for Victims Advocacy and Violence Prevention to create a weeklong event to promote the campaign.

Kicking off the campaign, Eileen Dabrowski, an advocate and educator for the Center for Victims Advocacy and Violence Prevention, gave a workshop about sexual violence in Greek Village on Tuesday night, shifting the focus from risk prevention to education, and understanding sexual violence.

“Empower peers through values,” Dabrowski said. “We don’t take values seriously enough because it’s much easier to blame others than help them.”

In a conversation-style workshop with students, Dabrowski encouraged them to offer themselves as support for their peers who may be victims of sexual violence.

“We don’t act like a community, and we need to better support each other,” she said.

Much of the discussion’s focus was placed on technology as a means of both victim shaming and support. Tweets using offensive language in regard to victims of rape and sexual violence demonstrated how victims could be shamed by means of video, picture or social media posts.

However, users have also taken to social media to create change and support vic-

n See WORKSHOP on PAGE 3

2

SKATING

Continued from PAGE 1

have been offended if Cocco had respectfully asked skaters to not use the memorial as a trick spot.

“It’s a very uncommon thing to call anyone a vile human being,” Khan said. “It’s very harsh and very subjective.”

In an interview with The Oracle, Cocco said he made the post less than an hour after finding out about the damage.

“It was a knee-jerk reaction,” he said. “I vented as any angry person would do. It wasn’t to call out the entire skateboarding community, it was to single out the few skateboarders who skateboard in that location.”

Though he stands by the sentiment, Cocco said he should act more professionally and that he regrets using the words “vile” and “terrible.”

However, the reason Cocco said he deleted the post was because of the comments of other Facebook users.

T U E S DAY, N O V E M B E R 1 8 , 2 0 1 4

“The comments were becoming too overwhelming and negative toward why the memorial was built,” Cocco said. “I don’t want family members to see the disrespectful posts.”

Some comments questioned why it mattered if people skated on public property, whether the bench is meaningful to the memorial and why no one foresaw skateboarders using it.

“Family members lost their loved ones and they kept commenting how beautiful the place was for their children to be remembered,” Cocco said. “They loved how it wasn’t like the old location that was run down.”

When Student Government (SG) proposed spending $349,800 on the new memorial last spring, proponents often pointed to the damage skateboarders caused to the old memorial as a reason it should be moved.

Though he regrets the wording of the post, Cocco said he still believes University Police (UP) should arrest anyone who vandalizes the memorial.

“I think the police should arrest you and prosecute you to fullest extent of the law,” he said. “That I still stand by.”

UP Assistant Chief Chris Daniel said putting a student in jail for skating on the memorial would be unlikely.

“Those are (Cocco’s) words,” he said. “I’m not going to take the officer’s discretion away.”

UP policy dictates that a student living near Hillsborough County who commits a misdemeanor would be issued an summons.

“We have the option of not putting them in jail because we know where to find them if we need them,” Daniel said. “If they were to fail to show up for the charges, a warrant is put out.”

Daniel said UP is aware of the damage and has increased presence at the site.

“We hope the eyes and ears of the community will help in letting us know so we can respond appropriately,” he said. “We can’t be there all the time.”

Cocco said SG is requesting SAFE Team and campus security

to patrol the area frequently.

For further prevention, Cocco said SG is considering posting a sign warning against skateboarding near the memorial.

“We rather not put up a sign near the student memorial because of the pristine-ness of the area,” he said.

Physical Plant is also being rushed to install anti-grinding metal fitting on the bench. Cocco said Physical Plant had been too busy with other projects to do so before the memorial was completed.

“I said let’s give it a week to see if anything happens,” he said. “By golly, it wasn’t even a week.”

Cocco said the repairs could cost the university a substantial amount of money.

Riese said the problem would not be an issue if the university

●

T H E O R AC L E

accommodated skateboarding like it does any other sport.

“The culture of skateboarding is only growing and there’s going to be more skaters on campus,” he said. “It’s really sad that even on a diverse campus like USF where there’s fencing, lacrosse or fishing that you’re still treated like a vandal.”

Cocco said he doesn’t mind skateboarders skating on campus, but they should be more mindful of where they skate.

“Do I regret my words and should have been a bit nicer? Yes, but the sentiment is there,” he said. “We need to have the common sense, and the common courtesy, not to commit such acts that hurt loved ones who lost their sons and daughters.”

CORRECTION

In Monday’s issue of The Oracle, an article incorrectly stated the day of the sexual harassment workshop for the “It’s On Us” campaign. The event was Monday evening.

T U E S DAY, N O V E M B E R 1 8 , 2 0 1 4

GRIEVANCE

Continued from PAGE 1

larly updating their respective online calendars.

At the time of print, the SG website had only two Senate meeting transcripts available from the last 12 months and no updates were made to the website’s legislative branch calendar.

Orr said she felt like asking students to name the specific SG officials who are responsible for the subject of grievances puts an unnecessary burden on students who have legitimate complaints with how SG is operating.

“If it requires a very specific person to make sure that the accountability is there and I don’t know exactly who it is, then nothing really gets solved,” Orr said. “It becomes this giant blame game of who is responsible and, at the end of the day, students are getting screwed here.”

JEC members did, however, make a few non-binding recommendations.

They recommended SG cre-

●

3

T H E O R AC L E

ate a public notice Listserv, a mass email chain, to inform student of upcoming events, though Truong said the Listserv has yet to be set up and SG has not yet acquired permission from the university to send out a mass email to students.

The Listserv would then be posted on social media and on SG’s website, per the committees recommendation.

“They are trying to make it way harder on themselves,” Orr said. “I think students go to their website, that’s what it is there for. A Listserv is just another obligation or another task that we are assigning them that they probably aren’t going to be 100 percent on anyway.”

The committee also recommended the three branches upload, within the next 10 days, the audio recordings of all the meetings for which they have yet to produce a transcript.

Even if the SG branches adhered to the JEC’s recommendation, it would not satisfy SG requirements for transcripts of public meetings, which require all minutes to be

voted on and approved by the Senate, or state requirements that require written minutes.

In his written statement to the JEC committee, SG Senate President Pro-Tempore Abdool Aziz said the legislative branch is currently using “the majority” of its payroll to transcribe minutes.

Aziz blamed his predecessor for not making him aware that the transcriber for Senate committee meetings had graduated and moved on from the university.

Though Aziz gives a detailed account of the months-long hiring and training process for the current transcribers in his statement to the JEC, he did not say how the Senate committee transcriber leaving resulted in a lack of minutes for the regular Senate meetings.

Statements from Aziz to the JEC also reveal that SG may not be in control of complying with state law, which requires public agencies to “promptly” record minutes and make them publicly available. “ … The SG control of the website is left into the hands

Obamacare 2.0

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell visited the Marshall Student Center to promote the second round of enrollment for HealthCare.gov that began Sunday.

ORACLE PHOTO / ADAM MATHIEU

of IT,” Aziz said in a statement to the committee. “SG depends on IT and their turnaround for placement of anything on the website. The time range of when items appear on the website after submission range from twenty four (hours) to a span of weeks.”

Aziz further claimed the records of SG meetings are available in multiple formats including YouTube video recordings, audio recordings and written transcriptions.

Only the YouTube videos were available to students at the time of print.

Though Aziz said SG strives for transparency by putting meeting dates and times on the Marshall Student Center screens (MSC) and social media, dates and times of committee and Senate meetings have not been posted on the official SG Twitter or Facebook accounts since at least June.

Addressing the issue of a lack of calendar updates on SG’s website, both Aziz and Maggie Hall, SG director of communications, said in their statements to the committee

that the calendar is just a courtesy to students and doesn’t have to be updated.

“The calendar claim is not valid as any student government or state entity is not required to present a calendar,” Aziz said in a statement to the JEC. “Moreover, I do not have access to the current calendar.”

The JEC findings will be presented to the SG Senate tonight at its regular meeting in the Senate Chambers on the fourth floor of the MSC at 6 p.m.

Orr said she is not giving up and will continue to pursue other options of holding SG accountable to public disclosure, including possibly refiling the grievance with the proper names.

“I’m going to pursue all my options, because it isn’t as simple as just making the information available to the public,” Orr said. “It’s them who fight against fee increases, it’s them who spend $14 million of our money and they can’t even upload things on a website.”

WORKSHOP

who are underage, mentally ill or under the influence of drugs or alcohol by any means are unable to provide consent for themselves, meaning that any sexual interaction involving alcohol is defined as rape.

“The law protects all people, but especially recognizes some groups as more targeted for sexual violence than others by refusing consent on their behalf,” Dabrowski said.

According to the Center for Victims Advocacy, one in four women will encounter attempted or completed rape, and most rape cases at USF involved alcohol and were committed by an acquaintance of the victim.

In addition to being a source of support for peers who have survived such assaults, students were encouraged to be advocates in their daily lives.

Dabrowski said she believes the major problem that victims are facing is minimizing the act of sexual violence.

“If society is telling us that women’s bodies are objects, then of course rape is viewed as no big deal,” she said.

Continued from PAGE 1

tims, using hashtags such as #yesallwomen, #heforshe and #whyIstayed, which took over Twitter following the controversial decision of football player Ray Rice’s wife to stay with her husband following an instance of domestic violence.

Dabrowski also discussed the different issues that LGBT individuals face regarding sexual assault and violence, stating that she believes it’s important to serve more than just one population of victims.

“In instances of same sex domestic violence, terms like ‘cat fight’ are used for women in same-sex relationships, and ‘mutual battering’ is used for men in same-sex relationships,” she said. “We need to stop using these terms because they minimize the issue of sexual violence.”

On college campuses, consent is a gray area that affects all who choose to engage in sexual activity.

Under Florida law, those

4

Lifestyle

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA

●

T U E S D AY, N O V E M B E R 1 8 , 2 0 1 4

Comics

T H E O R AC L E

to get new fans farther

Recently, comic mega giants Marvel and DC Comics released their respective cinematic schemes until 2020.

Several veterans of the silver screen are returning, but a few lesser-known heroes, such as Cyborg and Ant-Man, are slated to make their big screen debuts.

While films do a great job of introducing obscure heroes such as the “Guardians of the Galaxy’s” Star Lord, played by Chris Pratt, into pop culture, the world of comics goes far beyond the big screen. There are hundreds of unknown heroes and stories from lesser-known publishers such as Image Comics and Dark Horse Comics, as well as the big name publishers, who only exist on ink and paper.

“Aquaman” (2011)

PHOTOS SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE

●

Instead of waiting until 2016’s “Batman v Superman” film to see an Aquaman who breaks the notion of a joke hero that talks to fish, readers can see how powerful the King of Atlantis really is with DC’s current run.

Having launched in 2011 with the rest of DC’s New 52 line, Aquaman is immediately presented as a character with strength comparable to Superman, character conflict on par with Batman, and a mythological realm similar to Wonder Woman. Currently up to issue No. 35, the series has seen about five major arcs and appears to be nearing a conclusion to its current story revolving around the Chimera, a deadly humanoid sea creature determined to kill Aquaman.

Beneath the epic battles with established enemies such as the Black Manta or the

Ocean Master, series writers Geoff Johns and Jeff Parker manage to humanize Aquaman by way of self-doubt with his title of King of Atlantis as well as the deaths of his parents and the repercussions that follow. Yet, there is still fun to be had as this marine-based member of the Justice League wields the power of the seas and a no-nonsense attitude, making Aquaman one of the more fascinating figures in comics today. Available for purchase from DC Comics.

Commentary by Adam Mathieu “Daredevil” (2014) Way back in 2003, Daredevil actually got his own movie, but don’t hold that against him. The aftermath of the cinematic flop nearly killed the character for good. Luckily, he managed to survive.

Matthew Murdock, better known as Daredevil, has been around since the 60s and is unlike most superheroes in a big way. A childhood accident involving a face full of radioactive waste left Murdock completely blind – but his other senses were heightened to super-human levels. In the prequel to Murdock’s most recent run, “Daredevil: Road Warrior,” Murdock says, “I’ve decided it truly is a blessing.

Because if I could see the things that come at me in this job the way sighted people see them, they’d probably stop calling me ‘The Man Without Fear.’”

Daredevil’s newest series, written my Mark Waid with art

by Chris Samnee, opens with Murdock starting a new life in San Francisco. The new series offers enough information about his past to understand the character, but readers don’t

need to know too much about Daredevil’s past or the events of his pervious story arcs to enjoy the series. Available for purchase from Marvel.

Commentary by Courtney Combs “The Wicked + The Divine” “Just because you’re immortal, doesn’t mean you’re going to live forever.”

That tag line and the eye-grabbing cover art contributed to the first issue of “The Wicked + The Divine” selling out earlier this year.

The premise of the series is that every 90 years, 12 gods are incarnated as humans, living for only three years in human form, and this time around they all take the guise of pop stars.

Currently on issue No. 5, readers have been tagging along with Laura, a super fan of the pop gods, as she enters the inner circle of the dazzling and dangerous figures. So far, the young series is sticking with a “who done it” storyline, as Luci (aka Lucifer), the David Bowie-esque female god, is charged with a murder she claims to be innocent of.

Laura is left to meet the gods one by one in an effort to see which god actually had a hand in the murder.

If pop gods and murder don’t hook readers, then it is hard not to be engaged in the vibrant and well-drawn art of the books. Surely readers will be quick to find a favorite god, as they rapidly develop strong personas and distinct styles thanks to series writer Kieron Gillen and artists Jamie McKelvie and Matt Wilson. Available for purchase from Comixology.

Commentary by Adam Mathieu

T U E S DAY, N O V E M B E R 1 8 , 2 0 1 4

TWIRLER

Continued from PAGE 8

St. Petersburg High School is where current USF Color Guard Director Jamie Dyer first saw Jockers perform. It’s also where she started adding fire to her routines.

“I’ve sprained my ankle multiple times. My knees hurt once in a while,” Jockers said. “No pain, no gain.”

Despite the difficulties, Jockers remains disciplined, pushing past the bumps and bruises. She’s shown a desire to improve in every aspect of her life since her mom began to home-school her and her younger brother.

“When we were learning long division, I remember (my brother and I) would race each other,” Jockers said. “We would have fifty pieces of paper just covered in math. My brother and I learned so well in math and science because it was fun.”

Learning multiplication and division was entertaining for Jockers, but spending time at Disney remains one of her favorite things to do with her family.

Disney has always been a place for the Jockers family to get away.

Jockers was 6 months old when

●

T H E O R AC L E

she was first taken to “the most magical place on Earth,” back before cellphones were popular.

“There was no beeper reception there, so I loved it because we could go and (my husband) wouldn’t get called into work,” Michelle said.

“When we’re there, whether we’re camping and playing board games, or whether we’re in the park, we call it the Fortress of Fours - the four of us. Most all our memories are around Disney.”

Jockers continues to make memories at Disney. She started working as a character performer at the park this year.

“I get to make a lot of magical moments and share a lot of pixie dust,” she said.

However, this isn’t Neverland, so Jockers can’t spread pixie dust forever. Eventually, she wants be a sideline reporter for ESPN and work with deaf athletes across the country.

Jockers is expected to graduate this spring with a major in communications and minor in American Sign Language, and the USF Herd of Thunder will miss having her on the field with them.

“She likes to make people smile,” Dyer said. “She’s a great asset. We’re definitely going to miss her next year.”

5

Opinion

6

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA

●

T U E S D AY, N O V E M B E R 1 8 , 2 0 1 4

Letter to the Editor

●

T H E O R AC L E

What you said

In response to parking issues on the USF Tampa campus.

USF should make more student parking spaces I am outraged that I pay so much money for something that the university does not provide. It is $120 each semester for a parking permit, yet the university does not provide enough parking spots for students.

The teacher lots are unnecessarily big, and I don’t understand why USF can’t give some of that space to students. I drive around for 30 minutes looking for a parking space, which causes me to be late to class. Being late in class affects my attendance grade, so there should be a solution to this madness.

In order to avoid constantly being late, students sometimes pay to park in spaces.

When we do this, there are 15 of us lined up at one pay station that all have to wait five minutes for cards to be processed. This turns into a 30-minute wait, and we’re all still late to class. Students pay the most money to the university, so we should receive parking benefits.

If USF cleared out some guest and teacher lots for students, fewer of us would be late and our parking permits would actually serve a purpose.

Alexis Paul is a junior majoring in mass communications.

Assistant multimedia editor Sebastian Contento asked students about the recent event involving skateboarders grinding on the new student memorial.

“If they don’t know what the significance behind the memorial is, then it would not be that bad since they weren’t informed about it.”

— Shawn Joseph, a freshman majoring in computer science “It’s disrespectful because this is a sacred site, and anyone with morals would think this is inappropriate.” ­ Luis Velez, a freshman — majoring in mechanical engineering

Letters to the Editor guidelines: Letters should not exceed 400 words in length and must include name, major and year in school. They also must include phone number for verification purposes only. All letters are subject to editing for content, grammar, taste and length.

All letters are published at the discretion of the editorial board.

Only letters sent via email will be considered.

“If someone had a friend who died recently, I’m pretty sure they would be angry with something like this.”

Submit letters to oracleopinion@gmail.com

the Oracle

— Kelsey Rogers, a freshman majoring in psychology

the University of South Florida’s student newspaper since 1966

Editor in Chief: Alex Rosenthal ............................ oracleeditor@gmail.com Managing Editor: Roberto Roldan .................. oraclemeditor@gmail.com News Editor: Wesley Higgins ......................... oraclenewsteam@gmail.com Sports Editor: Vinnie Portell ........................ oraclesportseditor@gmail.com Lifestyle Editor: Courtney Combs .......... oraclelifestyleeditor@gmail.com Copy Editor: Grace Hoyte Assistant Editors: Sebastian Contento, Jacob Hoag, Brandon Shaik Multimedia Editor: Adam Mathieu Graphic Arts Manager: Chelsea Stulen

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).

BY PHONE Main . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Sports ................

Lifestyle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Advertising . . . . . . . . . . . .

Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Website: Facebook: Twitter:

974-6242 974-5190 974-1888 974-2842 974-2398 974-2620 974-6242

usforacle.com facebook.com/usforacle @USFOracle

CORRECTIONS The Oracle will correct or clarify factual errors.

Contact Editor in Chief Alex Rosenthal at 974-5190.

“As disrespectful as it is from the students, I also think the university should be held responsible, and they should put signs, specially line-stoppers to prevent this from happening again.”

— Lana Hinds, a senior majoring in marketing

Classifieds UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA

To place a classified ad go to HELP WANTED Gymnastics and Swim Instructors Needed Must love kids and be enthusiastic.

Call: 813-264-5000

●

Crossword

T U E S D AY, N O V E M B E R 1 8 , 2 0 1 4

http://www.usforacle.com/classifieds

●

T H E O R AC L E

7

Sports

8

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA

●

T U E S D AY, N O V E M B E R 1 8 , 2 0 1 4

●

T H E O R AC L E

Football

Bulls inspired by unlikely source at SMU

By Jacob Hoag A S S T .

S P O R T S

E D I T O R

Before the Bulls took the field late in the fourth quarter for what ended up being the game-winning drive against SMU, the offense was inspired not by a veteran, but by a young linebacker.

“Before we went out on that drive, we were talking and I kept hearing this voice saying, ‘Believe in yourself, we can do this,’” coach Willie Taggart said. “I look and it’s Auggie Sanchez. I was like, ‘Wow, this is awesome. He’s a freshman and he’s out here encouraging this offense.’ I was watching our football team grow up.”

On the subsequent drive, the Bulls offense, led by sophomore quarterback Mike White, embarked on a 21-play, 75-yard drive, converting four fourth downs before senior receiver Andre Davis hauled in a back-shoulder touchdown to give USF a 14-13 win.

“Not only did we score, but also we left no time on the clock,” Taggart said. “Our offense execut-

ed and converted fourth downs.

We had a lot of high-pressure situations and the guys stepped up and made plays.”

USF has relied on its youth throughout the season, with all six leading rushers as well as six of its top 11 tacklers being underclassmen.

Chop blocks In Saturday’s game against SMU, the Bulls were called for four chop blocks, which accounted for 60 of the Bulls’ 96 penalty yards.

“We were moving the ball and then hurt ourselves with those chop blocks,” Taggart said. “Some of them were questionable, but they were called and put us in bad situations.”

Taggart said one of the calls happened after one of the USF linemen slipped in the wet conditions into the defender, but nonetheless the flag was thrown.

“We hadn’t had a chop block called on us all year,” Taggart said. “We’ve got to correct it; we can’t have those. It was huge.

Those were 15-yard penalties that cost us.”

Weekly honors Three Bulls made the AAC’s Weekly Honor Roll stretching across three sports.

College Football Player Awards selected junior punter Mattias Ciabatti as the National Punter of the Week after pinning each of his five punts inside the 20-yard line, averaging 49 yards per punt.

Ciabatti was also named to the conference Honor Roll.

Sophomore forward Chris Perry was selected for the conference Honor Roll after averaging 19.5 points and 8.5 rebounds in the basketball team’s first two wins over the weekend. Perry recorded the third double-double of his career in Sunday’s 73-64 win against Jackson State, contributing 21 points along with 10 rebounds.

Junior guard Courtney Williams led USF women’s basketball to two wins over top-50 RPI teams over the weekend in the Chattanooga Invitational. Williams averaged 18

Redshirt freshman Auggie Sanchez’s speech fired up the offense before the game-winning touchdown drive. ORACLE FILE PHOTO/ADAM MATHIEU

points and 9 rebounds in the first two games of the season.

Falling short of NCAA After its first 10-win season since 2011, the USF men’s soccer team did not receive an at large bid

for the NCAA tournament.

The Bulls fell short of a repeat in the AAC championship game, losing to Tulsa 6-5 on penalty kicks Sunday.

Prior to this year, USF had made seven consecutive NCAA appearances.

Twirler’s passion shows in fiery performances

By Tiana Aument C O R R E S P O N D E N T

Senior Tiffany Jockers picked up her passion for baton twirling when she was 8 years old. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE

When senior twirler Tiffany Jockers performs at USF sporting events, she sparks interest with fire and flashy costumes. She holds the crowd’s attention with her trickfilled routines.

Jockers moves with grace, but the self-proclaimed “klutz” has been perfecting her craft since she first fell in love with twirling as a child.

At 8 years old, she spotted twirlers at the front of the Festival of States Parade in St. Petersburg. The young girl, who had already tried gymnastics and ballet, just wanted to take on another adventure.

She begged her mom for about a year before finding a baton in her Easter basket.

“The Easter bunny brought it for me,” Jockers said. “I really haven’t put it down since.”

Jockers has had her baton with

her ever since, with only a few exceptions “I can’t tell you how many times I would trip over the baton,” Jockers’ mother Michelle said. “There are so many things that have been broken. She has only one glass door in her closet because the other one was broken. We’ve gone through fans (and) a million porcelain objects.”

Yet, Michelle has sacrificed more than furniture and household items for her daughter’s twirling career.

Twice a month for seven years, Michelle drove her daughter five hours from St. Pete to Tallahassee for a three-hour twirling lesson.

“Every time we would go, we would always find somewhere new to stop,” Michelle said. “Whether we would be going up 19, and we’d stop at Crystal River and look for manatees, or if there was a crazy building with Christmas decorations, we’d stop and check it out.

We always did something to make

it an adventure.”

Practice didn’t stop once they got back to St. Pete.

“My mom would sit outside with me for three hours a day,” Jockers said. “She wasn’t forcing me to go outside; that’s what I wanted to do. I would do my schoolwork and say ‘OK, let’s go play baton.’

We’d go outside and go play, and we’d come back inside and watch ‘Gilmore Girls,’ and then we’d go back outside.”

Jockers refused to put down her baton even when she broke her funny bone after flipping off a trampoline. Because of that, she was in a cast twice as long.

Her cast was temporarily removed for two weeks, during which time she performed “How Does She Know” from “Enchanted” in her high school talent show where she caught her principal’s attention and was asked to be the feature twirler.

n See TWIRLER on PAGE 5