The Oracle THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2015 I VOL. 53 NO. 19
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UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA
Donations to stack up for Charit-a-Bull food drive By Russell Nay A S S T .
O P I NIO N
Comedienne stirs up controversy with video. Page 4
Montage
S P ORTS USF focuses on getting back to the NCAA Tournament, winning. BACK
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N E W S
E D I T O R
While many universities have food drives, few stack donated items in creative structures before distribution. USF is currently hosting its annual canned food drive “Charita-Bull” with donations going to the new on-campus student food pantry, Feed-a-Bull, and Metropolitan Ministries, a Tampa Bay human services charity. USF students and community members can drop off non-perishable canned goods at any one of the 20 drop-off boxes across campus through Oct. 1. Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement (CLCE) Assistant Director Justin Fitzgerald said it’s important for the university to host an annual food drive to raise awareness of and assist the many USF students and nearby Tampa residents who face food insecurity. Fitzgerald said a food drive also gives students the opportunity to give back to USF and the Tampa community. “I think a lot of our students on campus don’t … realize there are students going hungry and struggling to afford food,” he said. “This event allows (students to) materially give back by donating cans, but
The Feed-a-Bull food pantry, which serves students on campus, will receive a majority of the cans collected during this month’s Charit-a-Bull food drive. Special to the Oracle it also allows for some volunteer opportunities.” During last year’s food drive, USF was able to collect an estimated 3,000 pounds of canned goods, and Fitzgerald said the university hopes to collect 5,000 pounds this year. Once the donations are collected from around campus and at CLCE, Fitzgerald said the Feeda-Bull pantry will have priority in selecting the food it needs most to fill its on-campus pantry to capacity before the remaining the food is sent to Metropolitan Ministries. Before the food is packed away, however, Fitzgerald said student members from the American
Society of Civil Engineers will use the cans to create a large structure in the Marshall Student Center (MSC) Atrium. Called “Canstruction,” Fitzgerald said the idea comes from the national charity of the same name that creates giant structures from canned goods before donating them to local hunger relief organizations. Fitzgerald said this is not an uncommon practice among universities, and George Mason University used “Canstruction” to kick off its own homecoming week in February. He said students can stop by to watch the “Canstruction” on Oct.
4 and 5, and the structure will be based on this year’s Homecoming theme “Bulls Unite.” It will be present in the MSC by the USF seal for the rest of Homecoming Week. “There will be two tables (next to the structure) — one for Feed-aBull to promote what it’s doing on campus and one for Metropolitan Ministries to promote what it does in the community,” Fitzgerald said. Other than volunteering Oct. 2 to help collect cans from around campus, Fitzgerald said students can also get involved by volunteering Oct. 12 when help will be needed to take down the structure. “We need a lot of help putting all of those cans from the structure in the atrium into crates because … Tuesday morning after Homecoming, Metropolitan Ministries will come with their trucks and take it … right to their kitchens,” Fitzgerald said. Fitzgerald said students wanting to volunteer for the “De‘can’struction” event Oct. 12 can send him an email at jtfitzgerald@usf.edu. Donation drop box locations are spread around campus, including in Student Health Services and the Zimmerman School of Advertising and Mass Communications.
Four things you didn’t know about what’s happening in the stock market By Miki Shine N E W S
A N A LY S I S
Volkswagen This week, Volkswagen admitted their cars actually have a device in them that knows when they’re being tested and produces a lower amount of emissions. In actuality, they produce 10 to 40 times higher emissions than allowed by the Environmental Protection Agency. This caused a 23 percent drop in their stocks, and has opened up concerns about Germany’s economy which is largely based on manufacturing cars. CEO Martin Winterkorn resigned today.
Interest Rates Last week, the stock market dropped in response to the announcement that the Federal Reserve might increase interest rates. The interest rate has rested near zero since 2008 in order to help the U.S. economy recover in wake of the recession. The chairwoman of FED, Janet Yellen still expects the central bank to raise interest rates before 2016. Additionally, the Don Jones has dropped nearly 2,000 points since June. It currently rests at 16,279.
Chinese Factories
Greek Depression
Chinese factory growth is at its lowest point since 2009. While many economists hoped for a revival in the Chinese economy, that hasn’t occurred. As such, other countries who trade very closely with China are concerned that this will lead to a “hard landing” in their economies, as well. The decline is reportedly due to weak foreign demand and low export prices. This led all of China’s leading stocks to fall drastically over the last couple months.
After elections in Greece, Alexis Tsipras was elected the Prime Minister, which allowed them to start receiving a bailout worth $96 billion. Greece’s current depression-like state is projected to continue declining for the next year. Its unemployment rate is currently 25 percent, and it has the highest poverty rate in the European Union. The country’s banks and stock exchange were forced to close for several weeks in July, before reopening with a withdrawal-cap.