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April 24, 2017
Vol. 54 No. 56
Making connections SG President Kheireddine hopes past networking helps future progress Page 3 March for Science: Florida mountain We’re not going away biking far from flat Page 6
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Men’s and women’s tennis claim title Page 14
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the Oracle the University of South Florida’s student newspaper since 1966
Editor in Chief Jacob Hoag oracleeditor@gmail.com
Associate Editor Breanne Williams oracleopinion@gmail.com Multimedia Editor Jackie Benitez
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News Briefs
news
Strong past, hopeful future UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA
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Tampa transit study finds potential solutions A team from Jacobs Engineering, which is assembling a report on Tampa transit, has reveal five potential points for the city to revamp its transportation. The proposed areas are: • West Shore to Brandon through downtown Tampa • Downtown Tampa to USF • Wesley Chapel to USF, then to Tampa and St. Petersburg • Clearwater to the St. Petersburg Gateway area to downtown • South Tampa to downtown Tampa. The team expects to narrow that list and recommend three specific projects — including the exact routes and the type of transit that will operate on them — by November, Jacobs executive Scott Pringle told The Times. Tampa has been criticized recently for its lack of a successful mass transit system, but is looking to find a solution. “I am depending on this study a lot to be a real, unbiased analysis of what this region needs to solve its transportation challenges,” Tampa City Council member Harry Cohen told The Times. “My hope is that they’re evaluating every conceivable option.”
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SG president still has shot at BOT seat By Miki Shine M A N A G I N G
branches of SG. The two were officially sworn into office Friday afternoon after seven weeks of dealing with grievances, being disqualified and getting reinstated by the Dean of Students, Danielle McDonald, a mere 30 minutes before the ceremony. However, the two are working to move past these events that Kent said kept them from getting things started right after the election like they wanted to. The two have positions to fill within the Executive Branch that will help shape how the next year will proceed. Their primary goal moving forward, however, is simple. “Basically, ensuring that we are hands-on with the student
Despite it taking nearly two months to certify the Student Government (SG) presidential results, Student Body President Moneer Kheireddine still has the chance to represent the student body on the USF Board of Trustees (BOT). A seat on the BOT is reserved for a representative of the student body president from either the Tampa, St. Petersburg or SarasotaManatee campus. Current Tampa Student Body President Chris Griffin was elected to the seat last year. Kheireddine said the election will be Sunday. “I think getting on the BOT is one of the greatest privileges that a student body president can have,” Kheireddine said. “But we also want to continue to make sure that the growth and the expansion of the other campuses is occurring as well. We want to make sure they feel represented and that they are represented with the BOT.” There’s only one seat available on the BOT, but Kheireddine said that’s something he’d like to see change and is something he would work toward if elected into the seat. “One of the biggest things that we want to see and hopefully be able to push for is to ensure that every separate campus can have a member or representative on the BOT,” he said. “It’s one of the biggest things we’re hoping to accomplish in the next year or at least take steps toward. Each individual campus has needs and should be equally represented.”
n See FUTURE on PAGE 7
n See BOT on PAGE 5
After seven weeks of controversy, Moneer Kheireddine (right) and Shaquille Kent were officially named SG president and vice president, respectively. ORACLE FILE PHOTO/JACKIE BENITEZ
Kheireddine hopes past connections help future goals By Miki Shine M A N A G I N G
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is freshman year of college, Student Body President Moneer Kheireddine never thought this would be a role he’d want to step into, but a desire to give back has pushed him to fight for the chance to impact the student body. Between two years in Student Government (SG) Senate, time spent working at Housing and Residential and a session as an Orientation Team Leader, Kheireddine has made connections across campus. It’s these connections that he hopes will help him achieve his goals over the next year. “It gives us a very strong
segue into our administration because we’re not just these individuals they’re meeting for the first time,” Kheireddine said. “They’re recognizing that we are student leaders. We’ve worked alongside them already, they’ve seen our work ethic, they’ve seen what we’re capable of doing and they’ve seen that we’re very invested in what we do. “So there’s nothing about proving it now. It’s about continuing that relationship and them having faith in us.” Student Body Vice President Shaquille Kent also felt these relationships would be helpful, but because they’ve taught the two how to make connections, which he feels will help when it comes to building relationships with members of the other
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Spark the Night
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USF partnered with Developing Untapped Talented Youth (DUTY) for the Spark the Night event held in the Marshall Student Center Ballroom. The event was designed to celebrate mentorship with USF volunteering organizations and national volunteering organizations. Kids and mentors came together to hear testimonies, see performances and participate in a game show The mentorship programs also competed against each other in various games. ORACLE PHOTO/DESTINY MOORE
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BOT
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Kheireddine and Vice President Shaquille Kent were sworn in 30 minutes after the Dean of Students, Danielle McDonald, overturned the ticket’s disqualification on Friday. The full Senate Chambers erupted in cheers as Kheireddine made his way to the front of the Chambers where he set his hand on the SG constitution and nervously stumbled over the oath of office. “I do hereby affirm to hold the office of student body president, to abide by the student body constitution, to uphold the statutes incorporated therein, to represent the student body to the best of my ability,” he repeated after Chief Justice Milton Llinas. The ceremony came seven weeks after the announcement that the ticket won with 5,285 votes, or 200 more than were cast in total last year. A total of 29 grievances were then filed between the two tickets. “One of our biggest things that we wanted to make sure that we did is to carry ourselves with strong weight and know that we wanted to build a movement among positive and doing things differently than they’ve been done in the past,” Kheireddine said. “We want to make sure we’re not only saying that, but we’re living that through our actions. “We didn’t want (the election) to be another petty, shady war among different candidates. Keeping that through the whole grievance process was very hard, it was very tough. Kent and I are human, we were very upset, we were sad, we were worried, we didn’t know what was going on. But we stuck to putting a smile on our face, keeping out chins up and making sure we represented ourselves well.” After the ticket was disqualified by a ruling issued by the SG Supreme Court on April 12, the appeal moved to McDonald. In his appeal, Kheireddine argued a bias within the court, the statute’s vagueness and witness tampering. Kheireddine’s opponent,
Ryan Soscia, has accepted McDonald’s ruling. “I respect Dean McDonald’s decision and reasoning,” Soscia said. “This election process has been stressful and ultimately detrimental to Student Government’s image. It will be a long recovery process for all of us.” The Kheireddine-Kent ticket was found in violation of “abuse of official capacity of their position (if employee of the university) for their own personal gain” when campaign volunteer Dika Ezevillo wore his nametag from his job at Career Services while campaigning. The Court voted unanimously that this was a violation of the statute regardless of whether his actions swayed voters. However, in her decision of the appeal, McDonald found an error in due process by the Court using “standard of availability” to come to its decision. Essentially, the Court stated that it was an abuse of official capacity because the nametag was an item not all students campaigning had access to. McDonald stated that there is no definition of “abuse of official capacity” within SG bylaws and therefore the Court overstepped its jurisdiction by creating a standard “that the parties could not predict would be a violation of this statute.” McDonald dismissed the claims of bias of Llinas for being difficult to prove based on student leaders knowing each other and developing friendships. She also dismissed Kheireddine’s claim of witness tampering because the witness who claimed to have been bribed wasn’t called to testify, and it cannot be assumed that those who did were bribed. The full inauguration ceremony is expected to be Friday with the time and location yet to be announced. “I’m simply proud. Proud of the team behind us, proud of the work all of us put in, proud of how we carried ourselves and proud of the vision Kent and I were able to create alongside the student body,” Kheireddine said. “Despite how cliché this sounds, it’s a dream come true. I’m relieved, excited and ready for a new year with new beginnings for Student Government and USF as a whole.”
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Opinion
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UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA
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March for Science: We’re not going away
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What you said Associate Editor Breanne Williams asked students where they preferred to study for exams on campus.
“My favorite place to study for exams is the library. I usually study in groups and my friends and I study there.” - Matthew Olajide, a sophomore majoring in electrical engineering Thousands gathered in St. Petersburg on Saturday to participate in one of the 610 marches for science taking place across the globe. ORACLE PHOTO/BREANNE WILLIAMS
By Breanne Williams C O L U M N I S T
Thousands took to the streets again on Saturday, in another international march celebrating science’s role in society and advocating for continued funding and support for research. From Australia to Washington D.C. to our very own St. Petersburg, people gathered, some in rain and some in sweltering heat. Like with the Women’s March, many were attempting to let their respective administrations know certain issues could not be ignored. But the question remains: Is marching in mass really the best way to get policy enacted? Some would argue it is pointless, that lawmakers will do whatever they want regardless of public opinion. That logic is flawed. Yes, lawmakers often disregard the public’s interest. But that is because they act in the interest of a stronger power. Money. Money not only comfortably lines pockets, it also helps win elections. As much as politicians love lofty incomes, they love power more. And political power lies in being in office. Policies that cripple institutions like the Environmental Protection Agency and National Institute of Health are not policies that will benefit the public. Luckily, in the U.S. no single branch of government can dictate
the workings of the nation. We have checks and balances. Ideally, if the public is unhappy with one branch, they simply need to raise their voices to the other branches to get laws they want approved. Realistically, the power of the people is a growing facade. People can rant and rave, hold clever signs and start online petitions, but nothing truly changes. Politicians in Washington live in a bubble behind closed doors and barely even notice the muted chanting in the street. And why should they? If it’s not a presidential election year, people don’t turn up to the polls. In November, when the public was asked to choose their next president, approximately 60 percent of the voting-eligible population cast a ballot. In 2014, only 36 percent showed up, according to the U.S. Elections Project. Politicians only care about one thing: Getting re-elected. And the general public has proven they only show up once every four years. However, it appears as if that may be beginning to change. In January, millions of people across the globe united in the Women’s March. Now, three months later, thousands are still showing they are willing and ready to fight for what they believe in. The March for Science wasn’t just a bunch of pissed off scientists in lab coats. It was doctors, teachers, students
and community members who are tired of seeing the Earth being destroyed, tired of being told we don’t have a cure for a variety of illnesses because there isn’t enough funding for research. Yes there were scientists in bow ties waving signs with humorous math equations on them, but they weren’t there because they had nothing better to do with their weekend. They are genuinely scared of what the future holds for our nation. And they believe the best way to resist is to march. And thousands agreed. There were 610 marches planned worldwide. In St. Petersburg alone 2,000 to 5,000 people marched. In Washington D.C., tens of thousands poured into the streets despite the constant rain. Chicago and New York City faced similarly large crowds. If we continue to raise our voices, our politicians will have to recognize we aren’t going away. Then they will have to make a decision. Gamble with our track record and assume we’re all talk, or actually make the changes we are demanding. March all the way to the polls. Call their bluff. The power does still reside in the desires of the public. It’s time we force our government’s hand.
Breanne Williams is a senior majoring in mass communications.
“The bookstore. It has Starbucks and it’s a convenient location.” - Hannah Rohrbaugh, a sophomore majoring in nursing
“My favorite place to study is generally where I find space. Usually the library, because there are designated places to study and usually everyone is doing the same thing.” - Dika Ezevillo, a sophomore majoring in mechanical engineering “The sixth floor of the Interdisciplinary Science building. There’s a bunch of benches and little tables up there.” - Laurel Thomas, a sophomore majoring in biomedical sciences
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body, making sure that we’re out there day-in and day-out getting work done, and not just staying in SG and overseeing things from that,” Kheireddine said. “We want to make sure that we’re with the student body that elected us and making sure that we’re representing them, making sure that we’re hearing their issues.” For instance, Kheireddine said they’re working on plans for orientations this summer to actually be at the sessions and have an open forum for any students coming in to ask them questions and to voice concerns. He said it’s important for students to know there are people in SG who genuinely care about them and their needs. While trying to take things one step at a time, Kheireddine also has initiatives that he wants to get working on soon such as funding for the counseling center and pushing the Florida Legislature to require transfer students who have been found guilty of sexual assault to disclose such information.
“One of the biggest things that I talked about on the campaign trail was the Safe Transfer Act,” Kheireddine said. “We want to draft up a letter and send it to the Florida Legislature right away and urge them to push for this act. Currently, under Florida law, it’s not required for individuals who are trying to transfer universities and have been found of that to disclose it.” Along with their own initiatives, Kheireddine said they hope to continue some of the current term’s big projects including finalizing a syllabus bank for students and discounted theme park tickets, as well as new contracts the administration is just starting to look at. Kheireddine and Kent were friends outside of SG before deciding to run together. Kheireddine said it’s the way they carry themselves with positivity and a desire to get work done that will help them throughout the year. “I thinks it’s our mutual understanding of what we want to see, not out of SG but out of each other,” he said. “When we were first elected, we started creating an expectation sheet for
each other. And also just our friendship. We didn’t have a lot of SG bias. We had just a genuine friendship outside of SG, through other organizations.” Kent expressed a similar feeling with their ability to support each other. “Moneer’s a person that he likes to take on a lot and I think I’m a very supportive person so being able to support him in that aspect of being able to help him if he has something that he’s dealing with,” Kent said. “I think spreading responsibility more so that we’re more effective is something that I think we’d be able to work well toward.” Ultimately, the two have to work through the pressure and stress that comes with their new positions. “Even when stress and grades and all those other things are adding up, you know at the end of the day that you made a promise to the student body, we made a promise to everyone who supported us and we made a promise to ourselves to uphold what we said we would do,” Kheireddine said. “That’s one of the biggest things driving us forward.”
SG President Moneer Kheireddine (right) and Vice President Shaquille Kent (left) celebrate after the election results are announced. ORACLE FILE PHOTO/JACKIE BENITEZ
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Alafia River State Park, located in Lithia, features 14 miles of trail ranging from begginner to expert level. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE
TRAILS
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(intermediate) to black diamond (expert). The higher the difficulty, the more obstacles and steeper descents found along the trails. “The best thing you can do is know where you’re at,” said Andrew Fisher, a junior at USF. “If you’ve never been out before, you should be starting off pretty tame. There’s a lot of stuff you should stop, walk and scope before you roll it because you can’t always see what’s on the other side.” Fisher has been riding in the Bay area for around eight years and has ridden nearly every trail in the area. He’s also traveled up and down the east coast riding various terrains. But to him, there’s not much that can compare with what riders find in Florida. “Florida trails are pretty different than people would expect,” Fisher said. “People come here expecting flat terrain, but we do alright in building some pretty upperlevel stuff.” According to Lenosky,
Florida trails began to innovate around five years ago, adding more wooden features to trails to add difficulty without a ton of maintenance. In addition to the trio of Bay area trail systems, Santos Mountain Bike Park is about a 100 miles north of the USF campus in Ocala. Santos features a broader set of terrain for riders with dirt jumps, drops and various levels of trails. “Santos is pretty unique,” Fisher said. “It’s sort of the hotspot for out-of-state riders, and for good reason. It’s got a lot more built-up features than any other place in Florida.” The other bonus for riders in the area is the ability to ride year-round. With trees covering most trails, the summers aren’t as sweltering as one might assume, but more importantly, there’s no snow. In other areas such as the mountain bike Mecca of Whistler Bike Park in British Columbia or Snowshoe Mountain in West Virginia, the trails turn into ski resorts for the winter and are open during the warmer months. In Florida, it’s a 12-month season.
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Classifieds
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LIFESTYLE
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Despite common belief, Florida trails far from flat UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA
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Trail info Flatwoods City: Tampa From USF: 8.6 miles Trail: 7 miles Cost: Free Balm Boyette City: Lithia From USF: 32.1 miles Trail: 20 miles Cost: Free
Alafia River State Park
Alafia River State Park
City: Lithia From USF: 34.2 miles Trail: 14 miles Cost: $5
Balm Boyette Scrub Nature Preserve
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Santos Bike Park
Professional rider Jeff Lenosky (top-left) and USF student Andrew Fisher (bottom-left, right) have nearly three decades of combined mountain biking experience. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE By Jacob Hoag E D I T O R
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Most people wouldn’t view Florida as much of a mountainous state, but when it comes to mountain biking, riders and trail builders find a way to make use of the resources the Sunshine State has to offer. Despite the notion that Florida is flat, it offers some unique riding options to those who are interested. While Florida trails aren’t going to send riders down hundred-foot hills, trail builders make use of what little elevation change there is to build trails that attract riders from across the country. “Florida is sandier and flatter than most places, but it creates a blank canvas for trail builders,” said Jeff Lenosky,
In a lot of regions the topography and terrain dictate how a trail can be built. In Florida, the builders can be much more creative. Jeff Lenosky, professional rider for Giant Bicycles
a professional rider for Giant Bicycles who has been riding for over two decades. “In a lot of regions, the topography and terrain dictate how a trail can be built. In Florida, the builders can be much more creative.” Lenosky, a New Jersey native who has ridden trails in Florida for nearly a decade, travels the country doing demonstrations for Giant and rides virtually
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every type of trail there is. On his YouTube channel, Lenosky has featured two Florida trails in his series “Trail Boss,” which spotlights different trails across the U.S. Lenosky’s series has shown the jumps and climbs of “Gravitron” in the Alafia River State Park trail system and the speed and elevation of “Ridgeline” at Balm Boyette Scrub Nature Preserve in
Lithia. A lot of the local Florida trails are built on old phosphate mines that provide short, but steep elevation change. The SWAMP Club is one of a handful of organizations that help to maintain the various trail systems around the state. “The soil has clay and limestone in it, so it is fairly resilient to a lot of tires,” said Ronald Zajac, SWAMP Club President. “The area has also have been around long enough that we have trees shading the trail.” The Bay area has three main trail systems — Alafia River, Balm Boyette and Loyce Harper Park in Lakeland. These trails have various difficulty levels ranging from green (easy) to blue
n See TRAILs on PAGE 9
Loyce Harper City: Mulberry (Lakeland) From USF: 37.6 miles Trail: 10 miles Cost: Free Santos Bike Park City: Ocala From USF: 86.4 miles Trail: 85 miles* Cost: Free Grapefruit Trails City: Melbourne From USF: 145 miles Trail: 4 miles* Cost: Free Tom Brown Park City: Tallahassee From USF: 267 miles Trail: 5 miles* Cost: Free *Also features dirt jump and freeride areas.
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The Rundown
Tennis
Sports
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA
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Men’s and women’s tennis win AAC Bulls lose titles, clinch NCAA Tournament berth Merrell and
McClanahan, win series at Memphis
Outside USF
Warren Sapp critical of Myles Garrett “I don’t see it from this kid. I see the splash plays; everybody gets those. Where’s the game he took over? Where? Any defensive lineman who’s the No. 1 pick, you turn up and you say, ‘There it is!’ This kid, no, I don’t. I’m a pretty plain and frank guy, and I watch Sapp the tape and he disappears. I watch the tape, and he absolutely disappears.” — NFL Hall of Fame defensive lineman Warren Sapp on potential No. 1 NFL Draft pick Myles Garrett. Sapp went on to call Garrett a lazy player who “makes four plays a game.”
USF weekend scoreboard Baseball
USF Memphis
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Women’s Tennis
USF Tulsa
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Men’s Tennis
USF UCF
4 1
Baseball
By Vinnie Portell S P O R T S
Justin Roberts clinched the conference tournament title for USF when he defeated Danny Kerznerman of UCF in singles play. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE/GOUSFBULLS.COM straight singles wins, securing nament, and along with fellow By Josh Fiallo A S S T . S P O R T S E D I T O R the conference title. senior Vadym Kalyuzhnyy, has “I couldn’t be any happier won the American every seaWith his teammates watch- for the guys, they work hard son in his four-year career as ing anxiously from one court every day and really bring it,” a Bull. away, Justin Roberts stepped men’s coach Ashley Fisher “USF wasn’t on the map back as a return hit from UCF’s said after the win. “I was so four years ago,” Fisher said. Danny Kerznerman went too impressed with how they con- “The honors are now on me long, giving Roberts the win, tinued to fight even after UCF to carry on that winning tradiand top-seeded USF its fourth took the doubles point.” tion.” straight conference title. UCF was the only conferA day earlier, USF women’s Roberts was immediately ence opponent the Bulls had tennis secured its second AAC embraced by his teammates, lost to throughout the sea- championship in Cinderella jumping up and down in a son, making the win over the style. mixture of relief and celebra- Knights in the championship “We’ve been struggling the tion. match even sweeter. whole semester, so just to get Over the weekend, both the “It’s just amazing to have this conference win is unreal,” USF men’s and women’s ten- four (championships) in a row,” USF sophomore Nicole Dzenga nis teams brought home an said USF senior Sasha Gozun. said after the win on Saturday. AAC title, going a combined “There was even more motivaEntering the tournament as 7-0 in their respective confer- tion (playing against UCF), so I the No. 7 seed, USF faced an ence tournaments at the USTA just did my best, left in all on uphill battle to the conference National Campus in Orlando. the court in my last match as title. After losing the doubles a Bull, and I came out on top.” However, with each win, point to start the match, USF Gozun was named the most hope grew for the Bulls, who (19-8) answered back with four outstanding player of the tour-
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Despite playing without leading-hitter Kevin Merrell and losing starting pitcher Shane McClanahan, USF split a doubleheader Sunday at Memphis to win the series. Heavy bouts of rain pushed Saturday’s game back twice before it was rescheduled for Sunday morning. Already without Merrell, who is nursing a foot injury, USF had to replace McClanahan (back) after facing just one batter. Both players are considered day-to-day, and neither has a set timetable for a return, according to USF coach Mark Kingston. “I think winning (without Merrell and McClanahan) shows that we’re a complete team, we’ve got a lot of good depth, a lot of guys we have confidence in,” Kingston said. “It’s tough to lose great players, but our guys stepped up in their absence.” After USF took the first game of the series 4-2 behind 5 1/3 innings of one-run ball from Phoenix Sanders, Kingston was forced to turn to his bullpen early in game two. McClanahan pitched four straight balls to open the first game of Sunday’s doubleheader, but was removed. Senior Ryan Valdes provided four innings of relief, allowing three hits and a run while striking out four. Backed by an explosive day of offense, including a fiveRBI game for sophomore outfielder Chris Chatfield, Valdes improved his record to 8-0 in
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Sophomore outfielder Chris Chatfield went 3-for-3 in the first game of Sunday’s doubleheader, falling a triple shy of the cycle. ORACLE FILE PHOTO/JACKIE BENITEZ
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the 11-6 win. USF followed up its 11-run performance by opening the second game of Sunday with a first-inning home run from Luke Borders, but nothing else after in the 5-1 loss. “We’re disappointed we didn’t get the sweep,” Kingston said. “Once you win the first two, you want to get
TITLES
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capped off their run with a 4-2 victory over Tulsa on Saturday afternoon, making USF the lowest seed to ever win the women’s tennis AAC title. “I couldn’t be more proud,” coach Cristina Moros said. “This is just a cumulation of all of the toughness and adversity we’ve faced. We battled through it and came out the winner today.” Like the men, the women’s victory over No. 1 Tulsa was a redemption match, having lost
the sweep, so we’re disappointed we didn’t finish it out. “But, in the big picture, we had four road games this week and we won three of them. So, when you win 75 percent of your road games, that’s still very positive.” The Bulls return home Wednesday for a 6:30 p.m. game against Stetson before hosting Houston for a threegame series over the weekend at the USF Baseball Stadium. to the Golden Hurricane earlier in the season. In its journey to face the Golden Hurricane, USF secured wins over the conference’s No. 10, No. 2 and No. 3 seeds. With two conference title trophies on their way down I-4 to USF, both the men’s and women’s teams secured automatic bids into the national tournament. The NCAA tournaments for both men’s and women’s will be played concurrently from May 18 to May 29, 2017 in Athens, Georgia at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex.
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