@FTCrimson @FTCrimson crimson@fit.edu Issue 1
RIMSON The Florida Tech
The Official Student-Run Newspaper•since
INDEX Editorial........................2 News.........................3 Sports...................................8
1967
SPRING
TUESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2020
Florida Tech at risk of being fined millions of dollars for under-reporting crimes olivia mckelvey, Emily walker, KEVIN BOODOOSINGH \\ EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, alumna writer, MANAGING EDITOR
This story was written as a collaboration between FLORIDA TODAY and The Crimson. FLORIDA TODAY investigative reporter, Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon, worked alongside Crimson reporters: Emily Walker, outgoing editor-in-chief of The Crimson and 2019 graduate, Olivia McKelvey, incoming editor-inchief of The Crimson (class of 2020) and Kevin Boodoosingh, managing editor of The Crimson (class of 2020). They collaborated to make records requests, consult experts and interview students who had reported crimes.
In collaboration with FLORIDA TODAY, the daily newspaper serving Brevard County, reporters uncovered at least 41 reported crimes that were not included within Florida Tech’s 2019 Annual Security and Fire Safety Reports, an error that could cost the university millions of dollars. The Department of Education is able to fine universities $57,317 per incident of under-reporting, and with at least 41 incidents of under-reporting at Florida Tech—and the potential for there to be more—the university could be fined roughly $2.3 million depending on whether or not the Department of Education conducts an investigation and determines an outcome. Data Analysis An investigation conducted by FLORIDA TODAY working alongside Crimson reporters led to the discovery of additional under-reporting of crimes other than just rape and hate crimes. Reporters cross referenced reports of crime from Melbourne police records, Palm Bay police records and Florida Tech’s campus security crime logs from 2016 through 2018 and compared them to what statistics were published in the 2019 Annual Security and Fire Safety Reports. The Brevard County Sheriff's Office did not provide records after multiple attempts to contact them. Data revealed that there were at least 41 cases of reported crimes not included in the 2019 Annual Security and Fire Safety Reports in multiple categories, including rape,
stalking, dating violence, aggravated assault, arson, robbery, burglaries and motor vehicle theft. Since data could not be obtained from the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, the number of underreported crimes could be higher. There were zero reports of incidents falling under the categories counted as hate crimes, despite at least one incident of vandalism that was investigated by Melbourne police as a hate crime. Drug and liquor law violations, as well as weapons violations, were not examined for this data analysis. In emails sent by Florida Tech security officers to local law enforcement agencies such as Melbourne Police Department and Palm Bay Police Department, reports of rape, sex crimes, domestic violence and stalking were not requested—all of which are categories that must be requested under Clery law. Although these categories were not requested, both law agencies provided Florida Tech with those particular statistics from 2016 through 2018. The majority of these statistics were not included within Florida Tech’s 2019 Annual Security and Fire Safety Reports. "The problem looks like one of a very sloppy process," said S. Daniel Carter, the president of Safety Advisors for Educational Campuses, LLC and who worked with the Department of Education as a key player in writing federal regulations for the Clery Act. Carter also mentioned that the under-reporting of crimes and unorganized method of obtaining data is a common theme nationwide at universities. He also said that the university could still be held liable by the Department of Education for “lack of administrative capacity.” Florida Tech Clery Act Violations The Clery Act is a federal law that requires federally funded colleges and universities in the United States to publish statistics regarding reports of crime on and around campuses annually. Clery law requires that all reports of crime must be published within the annual report, regardless of whether or not charges were pressed.
Due to the fact that Florida Tech receives federal funding, it is required to publish an annual security report for both students and employees every Oct. 1. This report covers the past three years of data. The most recent report included data from 2016 through 2018. Florida Tech gathers data from campus security, the Brevard County Sheriff's Office, Melbourne Police Department and Palm Bay Police Department. Since the annual report was released, three students have come forward with reports of rape on campus that were not counted in the annual report. Additionally, another student has come forward with a report of a hate crime that was not cited within the annual report. Each incident of a failure to include a reported crime in the annual Clery report can result in the U.S. Department of Education imposing a fine of $57,317. The Voices Four students have come forward to share three reports of rape and one of vandalism. Two have chosen to remain anonymous while two have gone on record with their names. Those with reports of rape all shared similar feelings of invalidation when seeing that their reports of rape, all of which occured between 2016 and 2018, were not included within the 2019 Annual Security and Fire Safety Reports. "The fact that it wasn't reported— it's sad,” one rape survivor said. “Like I say, it just goes to show that they only really care about the money they're getting from us.” In addition to issues with underreporting within the annual report, the students brought up concerns regarding the lack of assistance they felt they were given from the then Florida Tech’s Title IX coordinator, Linda Jancheson, as well as accounts of what they described as “victim shaming” during initial investigations from campus security.
story on page 3
Photo // Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader
Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani.
Tensions arise in Iran at the beginning of a new decade ETHAN QUALLE \\
CONTRIBUTING WRITER With the arrival of 2020, tensions between Iran and the United States have continued to grow. The United States issued the assassination of Qasem Soleimani, an Iranian general and key leader in Islamic revolutionary movements. This decision by the U.S. military was also made in part to Iran’s noncompliance with the 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal. Four days later, on Jan. 7, Iran’s military launched missiles to several United States military bases in Iraq; according to President Donald Trump, there were no casualties. Soleimani was drafted into the anti-American military group in his late teens, and has stood by these values since then. According to TIME, “Soleimani was tasked with sabotaging the American effort in Iraq.” As a result of his killing, Iran launched missiles onto Al Asad Air Base, in northern Iraq. Trump responded to the latest attack by addressing the nation in a speech. He stated, “Iran appears to be standing down, which is a good thing for all parties concerned and a very good thing for the world.” He also said, “Soleimani killed thousands of American military troops.” This speech was made after impeachment proceedings in December of 2019, regarding Trump’s foreign interference in the 2020 presidential election. In addition, the crash of Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 has raised suspicion about the Iranian government’s integrity. Iranian authorities blamed “technical issues,” according to the BBC. Reports from the BBC claimed the crash to be caused by an “accidental” missile strike 15 kilometers north of Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport, just two minutes after departure. It was
story on page 3 Page 2 CAPS
Page 3 New Research Building
Page 4 Nerd News
Page 8 Inequality in head coach salaries
Our Mission: Live, discover and report the truth
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CAPS/EDITORIAL New Year, Who Dis? ISSUE 1
JANUARY 14
Erika Pobee-Mensah, M.S.\\ Outreach Coordinator Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS) Division of Student Life
This year is packed with many changes. Not only is it the start of a new year, but also a new decade. Each January, people often take time to reflect on the previous year and resolve to make changes, and sometimes people notoriously fall short of making those changes. Changing your behavior can be a frustrating process. Whether you are starting an exercise routine, trying to be more mindful of how you speak to others, or promising to start your homework the day it is assigned, when the time comes to actually make these changes we might be met with confusion on how to go about changing or frustration that our efforts are not yielding results quickly enough. Take it easy on yourself. While results are import-
ant, they are not the main point of the journey. Learning how to be a better you is a process that involves self-reflection, self-acceptance and self-esteem. Afterall, why would you willingly and happily make daily changes in your life if you don’t like the person (you) telling you to make the changes? Remind yourself of your good qualities, your strengths, and what you appreciate about yourself. Maybe you do great on homework and in-class discussions, but test taking is difficult for you. That does not inherently make you a bad student. Maybe you enjoy brisk walks or a game of frisbee with friends, but not intense workouts like High Intensity Interval Training. That does not inherently make you a lazy, unhealthy person. Start small, with little achievable tasks, you can accomplish on a day-today basis. If you find yourself worrying or becoming
overwhelmed, pause for a moment. Breathe slowly, and deeply. Allow your worries to take a break from pestering you. Ask yourself these questions: Where am I right now? What am I doing? Why am I worrying about this? Is there one small thing I can do right now/today/this week that will help me feel better about this? Do I need to take a break and tend to something else that is more important? Commit to regularly checking in with yourself on the progress of your change. Some days will be great. Others will be challenging. When you check in, you can adjust your expectations based on what is happening in your life. You can also give yourself a pat on the back for achieving small goals. Each small achievement is a step towards the change you desire, and deserve. On behalf of CAPS, we wish you a Happy New Year and a successful start to the new semester and
the new decade. For more information about CAPS services and support, please contact
our center at 321-6748050, or visit our website at: https://www.fit.edu/ counseling-and-psychological-services/.
An era for the resurgence of truth seeking olivia mckelvey \\ editor in chief
For those returning to campus, welcome back. For those just arriving, The Crimson would like to wish you the best of luck as you embark on this new chapter in your life. It’s the end of the decade and the beginning of a new era with lots to report on. Whether you’re a freshman or an upperclassman, or even a graduate student, we hope you find yourself diving into all types of news published in The Crimson. Covering a plethora of topics that our staff writers contribute to such as investigative reporting, environmental pieces, game and movie reviews as well as sports updates; The Crimson strives to provide a wide breadth of coverage for our extremely diverse student body. A lot has happened since last semester. The Crimson has reported on the cut of Florida Tech’s women’s golf team, Roberts Hall renovations, Hurricane Dorian and most recently the reporting on Florida Tech’s violation of the Clery act. We will provide the most professional and factual reporting without censorship
as it is our guaranteed right under the first amendment’s freedom of speech as well as freedom of the press. Our mission is simply put: “to live, discover and report the truth.” We strive to uphold ourselves to those standards and beyond. This is a studentrun newspaper; voices are heard, stories are told, the truth prevails. Our purpose lies within providing news for the students and Florida Tech community. The Crimson welcomes you to a new decade that looks forward to distributing news; news that reports on the school rather than for it, news that informs students, staff and faculty and news that wants you reading more. Please follow us on our social media pages to stay up to date on all stories and events happening on campus: Instagram @FTCrimson, Facebook at FTCrimson and Twitter @FTCrimson. Also find all our archived stories and other news on our website at http://crimson.fit. edu/. This semester we look forward to seeking the truth and sharing perspectives. Sincerely, The Crimson
ISSUE 1
clery continued “Even if you didn't sign off on [the report] or you didn't know that the under-reporting was happening, you are the head of the Title IX office,” said Nicole Farnsworth, a 19-year-old forensic psychology student who reported her statutory rape to Melbourne police in 2018. “You have a job to do and you haven’t been doing that job.” Another student, who was raped on campus in 2017, said campus security asked her questions regarding what she was wearing. "I felt victim shamed," she said. "I lost complete respect for the school." Evangeline Archer, a transgender aerospace engineering student, said her car was parked on campus in November 2018 when she found it spray-painted with slurs. Both campus security and Melbourne police took pictures and made reports of
iran continued later admitted by the Iranian Armed Forces that they were at “highest level of readiness” when the airliner was shot down; they believed the airliner was associated with the United States. The New York Times reported that Iranian officials also did not perform the investigation with “universally accepted procedures,” in which Ukraine suggested that Iran would not have taken responsibility for the crash, in the absence of video and radar evidence. As a result of the newfound use of missiles,
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the incident. Melbourne police investigated the incident as a hate crime, yet it was not listed in Florida Tech’s 2019 Annual Security and Fire Safety Reports. “I feel like [Florida Tech], they’re very supportive of the LGBT community until there’s something they have to actually do,” Archer said in an interview with FLORIDA TODAY. University Response Florida Tech President T. Dwayne McCay told FLORIDA TODAY that it was “difficult to justify incompetence and gross negligence.” McCay also said that an internal investigation is currently underway. Frank Iannone, Florida Tech’s director of security, said that he first became aware of discrepancies in the data in August of 2019 and all available crime data is being reexamined. “I’m telling you right now, this won’t occur again,”
Iannone told FLORIDA TODAY. McCay said the university will implement changes such as retraining and employee turnover. Additionally, after the internal review is complete, an external reviewer will be contracted this year. While McCay said that the university has no indication that anyone intentionally altered the data, he added in the FLORIDA TODAY interview, “Some people just didn’t do their job. And those people’s jobs are in jeopardy.” Since FLORIDA TODAY’s publication on Jan. 10, an email was sent to the student body from Patrick Healy, Florida Tech’s general council, alerting them that Fanak Baarmand, Florida Tech’s risk and compliance manager, had been assigned as the new Title IX coordinator. Florida Tech’s online staff directory shows Jancheson is currently employee relations manager in Human
Resources. Jancheson did not respond to requests for interviews from FLORIDA TODAY and The Crimson. Implications Moving forward, one student whose rape went unreported in Florida Tech’s 2019 Annual Security and Fire Safety Reports said, “All I can do now is hope that the university will truly recognize how wrong this is and people will be aware.” According to McCay and Iannone, administration plans to request to re-open Florida Tech’s crime statistics on the Department of Education website to enter the corrected data while providing a disclaimer as to why corrections were made. A new 2019 Annual Security and Fire Safety Reports will then be issued out to all students, staff and faculty. McCay told FLORIDA TODAY that he was “ashamed” of what has happened and
went on to state, “I don't know what to do about it, except repair it, fix it. And, and I apologize."
some Americans have expressed concerns of the possibility of war and many are already calling it “World War III,” which has has been trending on many social media platforms. Teens and young adults have taken to TikTok, Twitter and Instagram discussing the possibility of being drafted and creating various memes about it. Registered behavior technician and Florida Tech graduate student Anna Reick said, “The youths of our generation are internally scared of being drafted, and use humor as a defense mechanism; they are desensitized to war, having
grown up during the Iraq War.” Patricia Sullivan, a military policy researcher at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, told The Washington Post, “I think there is almost no chance at all that the draft will be reinstated,” Sullivan said. “With Iran, there’s almost no chance that we’re getting into the kind of ground-war scenario that large numbers of ground troops would be needed and we would implement the draft.” Some Florida Tech students have voiced their thoughts about taking the draft as a serious concern at
this point and time in their lives. “I am definitely worried about the war because of how the Iranians responded to the killing of one of their top generals,” said Farran Barker, a sophomore in business. “I am not worried about being drafted because I am enrolled in college. As the memes on Twitter are funny, this conflict is a very serious situation that should be treated as so.” The last time the draft was in use was in December of 1972 for the Vietnam War. The draft was suspended in 1973 as a result of protests; according to the Selective Service System of the United States Army,
college students may qualify for a student deterrent, given they are in good academic standing. As reported by many news outlets, the United States and its allies are keeping a close eye on the situation in Iran. Trump has said that Iran “appears to be standing down” as of his speech made on January 8. He is confident that despite the various missile strikes in Northern Iraq and the crash of Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752, the United States is willing to “embrace peace” with Iran and its people.
If you have made a report to Security or Title IX and feel it has not been handled correctly, visit endrapeoncampus. org/the-clery-act to file a complaint. As a student-run newspaper, your voices are extremely important to us. If you feel you have experienced something similar as described in this piece and would like to speak with us, please contact us at crimson@fit.edu. National Sexual Assault Hotline 1-800-656-4673 Women’s Center Counseling 321-242-1526 National Domestic Violence Hotline 1-800-7997233.
New Health Sciences Research Center to host growing biomedical engineering and pre-med programs sonja michaels \\ staff writer
In spring 2020, construction will begin in the Olin Quad on Florida Tech’s new Health Sciences Research Center, an $18 million facility to host growing biomedical engineering and premedical programs. Along with classrooms and labs for the biomedical engineering and pre-med programs, the 61,000-squarefoot building will house a design center, two lecture halls, study lounges, graduate student workspace, and a café, according to facilities operations. The center will also host augmented and virtual reality tools, providing access to simulations like virtual dissection tables, according to the Florida Tech Newsroom. Brett Twery, a senior from Orlando majoring in biomedical engineering, describes hearing the news of
Vision for the new research building that will be located in Olin engineering complex. the new research building as “bittersweet.” “I’m glad to see that there is progress within my program towards bettering opportunities for biomedical engineers, however it’s unfortunate that I will graduate by the time that the project is completed.” Twery said. Construction is expected to be completed in 2022, according to FLORIDA TODAY.
Photo // Florida Tech
The Newsroom reported that the undergraduate biomedical engineering program will double in size to 300 students with the new facility, and the undergraduate pre-med program will increase enrollment by 100 students for a total of 250. The anticipated increase in enrollment of between 250 and 350 students will not surpass previous high enrollment levels, according to facilities operations.
The field of biomedical engineering is expected to grow similarly to other occupations, by four percent from 2018 to 2028, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, with a median yearly pay in 2018 of $88,550. According to U.S. News and World Report, the top-paid 25 percent of biomedical engineers made $114,930 in 2018, with the lowest-paid 25 percent making $67,830. Specializations in the field include genetic engineering, biomedical electronics, and medical imaging. Genetic engineering uses biotechnology to directly alter the genetic makeup of an organism, according to the National Human Genome Research Institute. Medical imaging includes commonplace diagnostic tools such as MRI and ultrasound. Facilities operations said in an emailed response that Florida Tech “seized the opportunity to refinance debt
at historically low rates” which they say provided funds for center. According to the Florida Tech Newsroom, the facility will be funded by the sale of educational facilities revenue bonds. A revenue bond is a municipal bond backed by revenue that is generated by a certain project, facility, or other entity. The revenue from the project is used to repay investors, according to personal finance and business website The Balance. This method of funding differs from other types of bonds, as the repayment comes solely from revenue, not from tax. While some students like Twery may graduate before the building is completed, future students enrolled in biomedical and pre-med programs will have access to a multi-million dollar building centered around the technology and research of the two growing fields.
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ENTERTAINMENT
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Nerd News: 2020 Comic book movie preview David “Is it 2021 yet” Thompson FAN FANATIC
The 2010s set the gold standard for what comic book movies could be, especially those produced by Marvel Studios. It is hard to gauge how we will look at this decade in 50 years; it could be the renaissance or a turning point. Heading into the 2020s, we may be in trouble. It is too early to hit the panic button, but the start of the decade is certainly looking like it will leave something to be desired. February 7, 2020 Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn I almost chose to revoke this movie’s right to be on this list due to the “I’d rather eat chalk than say this title” title. This spirit successor to the misfire that was 2016’s “Suicide Squad” is seemingly taking a positive from the movie, Harley Quinn — Margot Robbie — and putting her front and center. The idea from the trailer that Quinn has broken up with the Joker — Jared Leto — and is now on her own being an antihero is enticing.
The bad aftertaste that “Suicide Squad” has left in my mouth is making me have extremely low expectations despite the marketing for this movie has been pleasantly surprising. Hopefully, “Birds of Prey: And the blah blah blah” won’t be as atrocious as “Suicide Squad: And the lack of plot” was despite having incredible potential. April 3, 2020 - The New Mutants After the filming of this X-men spinoff finished up in 2017, it has been a disaster. Normally when films get delayed by multiple years at a time it is during the pre-production stage, “The New Mutants” has been a unique exception. The initial release date was April 13, 2018, but then got pushed back to February 22, 2019. The reported reasoning for these delays was to avoid being too close to fellow 20th Century Fox films “X-Men: Dark Pheonix” and “Deadpool 2.” Then there was another delay to August 2, 2019, after a report that there were going to be substantial reshoots. Ultimately, reshoots never happened. Finally, after The
Walt Disney Co. acquired 20th Century Fox, Disney announced released dates for all their films up to 2023 and “The New Mutants” was given its final date (we hope) for April 3, 2020. At this point, who cares if the movie is even good or not, just seeing it actually play in a theater will be groundbreaking. May 1, 2020 - Black Widow After a 304 break, the MCU is back and they’re starting off the new decade, saga and generation with… Black Widow? Before you think I’m a hater, hear me out. I love the Black Widow/ Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) character that has been heavily featured in the MCU since her debut in 2010, but this movie feels about two years too late. While I have no doubt that I will enjoy this movie, beginning the next saga of MCU films with a prequel feels underwhelming. Maybe “Black Widow” will be exactly what the MCU needs to start off the new decade, but for me, this feels more like a June 5, 2020 - Wonder
Woman 1984 Yes, finally, a DC movie that has a strong predecessor to build from and is running a high risk of being disappointing. I don’t mean to be this cynical but I’m tired of being baited by Warner Bros. into hopping completely on board to one of their DC hero franchises. They haven’t produced a character trilogy since The Dark Knight trilogy, and they ended in 2012. I still can’t believe we never got a Man of Steel 2. Alright, that’s it. I really liked the first Wonder Woman, Gal Gadot is perfect for the role and I love everything I’ve seen so far from this sequel. Hopefully, DC doesn’t crush my spirit once again this June. July 31, 2020 - Morbius Did you want this movie? No? Then who did? The answer is no one -except Sony Pictures. After the box office success of 2018’s “Venom,” Sony quickly got to work on a Morbius film and once again a well-known Spider-Man is being given a solo film sans Spidey. I personally didn’t like Venom, not only because I thought the plot was dry and the amalgamation of humor and dark violence didn’t blend well, but their use, or lack thereof, Spider-Man. The whole point of any villain is for there to be a counter villain and vice versa. This notion that Sony has that they can just pump-out solo films centered around
villains hurts my nerd soul way more than it should. I can’t wait to watch The Living Vampire fight and bite some random villain who is just a slightly worse version of himself. Can’t. Wait. November 6, 2020 Eternals “Eternals” may be the most pivotal MCU movie to come out since 2012’s “The Avengers” and is easily the biggest risk since 2014’s “Guardians of the Galaxy.” By “most pivotal” I mean hold the most weight for the future success of the MCU. In 2012, the team was assembled: Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Captain America and gang were all introduced but not beloved yet. “The Avengers” is really what set the standard for Marvel Studios and laid the groundwork for the next 7 years of sizzling success. Now this year, Feige and Marvel are entering uncharted territory and introducing a whole new set of heroes that will begin to define what this next decade has in store, good or bad. If “Eternals” is a critical failure or box office failure, we may see Feige and crew start to lose their balance on this massive wave they’ve been successfully riding. This could lead to doubling back and taking fewer risks, changing future plans and giving the greenlight to reboots of more wellknown characters. To be fair, it would probably take a few Marvel stinkers in a row for that to happen but it all starts with “Eternals.”
SONJA MICHAELS \\ "Sunny and moon"
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Inequalities found among head coaching salaries olivia mckelvey \\ editor in chief
Florida Tech displayed instances of inequalities, particularly among head coach salaries for men’s and women’s athletic teams in 2018, according to data reported within the Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act. The Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act is an annual report released from the Department of Education that examines gender equity amongst collegiate athletic programs. The most recent data from the Department of Education, dating from June of 2017 through May of 2018, cited the average pay for a head coach for men’s varsity sports programs at Florida Tech was $60,131. The average pay for a head coach for women’s varsity sports programs at Florida Tech was $40,700; resulting in nearly a $20,000 gap. “We're always looking at salaries,” said Bill Jurgens, Florida Tech’s athletic director. Jurgens also stated that there are numerous factors that play into a coach's salary at Florida Tech. For example, contributing factors include age and experience, time spent at Florida Tech, success of the team, particularly raises for NCAA appearances and SSC championship wins. Florida Tech sports camps and youth programs also provide opportunities for coaches to obtain additional pay. “I will say, there is much more money generated from the camps for men’s sports than women’s sports,” Jurgens said. “It often has a lot to do with the receptiveness of certain camps. Some camps just draw a lot of people and a lot of youth and others don't draw as much, and some of it has to do with your success and reputation.” Coaches’ Voices According to Val Silvestrini, head coach of the Panthers softball team, the issue with the salary gap goes beyond gender. “To me, the issue is not male versus female,” Silvestrini said. “My issue is that our salaries are not comparable to the other salaries in the conference.” Florida Tech is one of 11 schools that competes within the NCAA Division II Sunshine State Conference. In comparison to other salary gaps between schools within the SSC, Florida Tech had the second largest pay gap among head coach’s salary for men’s and women’s varsity sports. Embry Riddle Aeronautical University had the largest gap of $54,166. Florida Tech’s gap of exactly $19,431 was almost double that of all other schools
in the SSC, which include Barry University, Eckerd College, Florida Southern College, Lynn University, Nova Southeastern University, Palm Beach Atlantic University, Rollins College, Saint Leo University and the University of Tampa. Pete Mazzone, Florida Tech’s associate athletic director as well as the head coach for the Panther’s men’s and women’s cross country team, alike to Jurgens emphasized that there are many factors as to why there are discrepancies between the salaries. “Certain factors need to be taken into consideration when looking at that stand alone number,” Mazzone said. “Longevity as well as experience is not something that the gap examines.” Mazzone went on to say that he thinks “there should be room for improvement.” “If you have one coach that has been here for eight years and that person happens to be coaching a female sport, there’s no difference in coaching men and they should be compensated for that properly,” Mazzone said. Recruiting Budget Gap within the 2018 EADA Report Another gap that stood out within the Department of Education’s EADA report for Florida Tech was the recruiting budget for men’s and women’s sports. In the 2018 athletic year, the recruiting budget for men’s sports was $87,841, and the recruiting budget for women’s sports at Florida Tech was $29,502—a $58,339 gap. According to David Fassino, Florida Tech athletics business manager, it is crucial to compare the recruiting budgets to the percentage of male and female athletes at Florida Tech. “Once you look at that comparison you should see that the percentage of male and female athletes should be nearly equal to or very close to the allocation of the recruiting budgets being spent on men’s and women’s sports,” Fassino said. Sixty-five percent of Florida Tech athletes were male and the remaining 34 percent of athletes were women. Yet, 75 percent of the entire recruiting budget was spent on men’s varsity sports, and 25 percent was spent on women’s sports. According to Alexander Vamosi—an associate professor in the Nathan M. Bisk College of Business who teaches sports economy— the gap within the recruiting budget at Florida Tech “is not a fair comparison.” “Football is a huge outlier in terms of operating expenses as well, but also the amount of revenue they bring in,”
Vamosi said. “No sport of such size or portion is at all equivalent to football in women’s athletics.” Florida Tech is the only school within the SSC that has a football program. The Panther’s football program does not compete within the SSC, rather they compete in the Gulf South Conference, playing against many teams located outside of Florida. Vamosi also stated that a huge factor that plays into the recruiting budgets at any athletic program is revenue. “Primarily speaking, football and men’s basketball generate the most revenue and that’s simply because there is a higher consumer demand for those sports than others, making them profitable,” Vamosi said. Backing Vamosi’s claims, the 2018 EADA report for Florida Tech showed that revenue generated from football was $3150,032, and the total revenue for all men’s sports combined not including football and basketball was $3,625,096. All eight other men’s varsity athletics programs brought
in only about $475,000 more combined than football and men’s basketball alone. “The bottom line is that football is the main reason why there is a gap within the recruiting budget,” Vamosi said. Student-Athlete Voices Kailee O’brien, a sophomore who was recruited out of Ohio to play as a midfielder for the Panther’s lacrosse program, was surprised to hear of the gap, but could see why there is such a discrepancy, saying that “football is a massive program in comparison to other sports teams on campus.” “It makes sense why there's a gap, but it’s crazy to see that $58,000 number at first,” O’Brien said. “It’s also scary that we're not really aware of it.” Evan Thompson, a junior from Orlando on the football team as well as the men’s golf team, was not surprised of that gap because of his experiences on the football team and the general understanding that football brings in large amounts of revenue between
game day tickets, revenues, special events, fundraising and more. “I still feel as though the girls are not treated as fairly and are not given the same amount of opportunities as males at this tech school,” Thompson said. “I feel as though our school should do more research into closing this gap, and creating a more engaging culture for particularly women studentathletes at our school.” Jurgens said that one of his main priorities in 2020 will be to perform a yearly analysis of data within the EADA report, specifically the gap among coaching salaries. “We will look at comparisons not just within the conference, but nationally,” Jurgens said. “The salaries are very important. I think it's critical that we provide equitable support for the men and the women's teams.” As of now, the analysis is still underway as data is being collected for the 2019 athletic year. According to Jurgens, this criteria will be examined shortly into 2020.