Up05 Justicia

JUSTICIA

As a political activist, Jorge Jraissati is fighting the Venezuelan government — all while taking 12 credits.

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Features

UP STAFF

08 Table of Contents

Photo courtsey of Wikimedia Commons

14

Alexander Rodriguez | Photo Editor

18

Photo courtsey of Wikimedia Commons

News

12

Photo courtsey of Konbit Kreyol

04

Violet Castano | Contributing Photographer

Sports

19 Joshua Giron | Staff Photographer

Justicia A student from Venezuela is fighting his native country’s government while taking 12 credits.

The Golden Age of Tabletop Gaming Despite tech advances in the gaming world, students continue to play Dungeons and Dragons.

EDITOR IN CHIEF Joe Pye MANAGING EDITOR Kerri-Marie Covington CREATIVE DIRECTOR Celeste Andrews WEB EDITOR Richard Finkel BUSINESS MANAGER Ryan Lynch NEWS EDITOR Katrina Scales FEATURES EDITOR Thomas Chiles

Demand This Here are some of the items Kesha and Chase Bryant requested when they headlined past Homecoming concerts.

PHOTO EDITOR Alexander Rodriguez DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Benjamin Paley CONTRIBUTORS Ivan Benavides, John Gao, Trey Brauch, Victor Lopez, Andres

Live Every Day Like It’s Your Last The end of a protected status could mean deportation for some Haitian immigrant students.

Homecoming News Briefs From the Color Burst 5K Autism Run to the annual Drag Show, here are some of the more popular Homecoming events.

One Year Later A look at FAU Football a year after its worst home loss in program history during Homecoming week.

Scheele, Amber Kelley, Matthew Quick, Joshua Giron, Violet Castano ADVISERS Neil Santaniello, Ilene Prusher, Michael Koretzky Cover photo courtsey of Alexander Rodriguez WANT TO JOIN THE UP? Email: universitypress@gmail.com Staff meetings every Friday at 2 p.m.

Student Union, Rm 214 WANT TO PLACE AN AD? For national/regional ads contact: Mike Anderson MediaMate, LLC. 1-888-897-7711 ext. 128 manderson@mymediamate.com For local ads contact: Von Ja nuary BV Media Solutions, LLC. 954-495-1150 von@bvmediasolutionsllc.com PUBLISHER FAU Student Government The opinions expressed by the UP are not necessarily those of the student body, Student Government or FAU. ADDRESS 777 Glades Road Student Union, Room 214 Boca Raton, FL 33431 561.297.2960

10.24.2017 University Press 3

HOMECOMING NEWS BRIEFS MTV Wild ‘N Out comedians headline Homecoming Comedy Show Comedians Rip Michaels, Nate Jackson, and Darren “Big Baby” Brand headlined the Boca campus event.

John Gao | Contributing Writer

M

TV “Wild n’ Out” stars combined stand-up comedy and rap improv games for the eighth Homecoming comedy show.

Rip Michaels, Nate Jackson, and Darren “Big Baby” Brand took the stage of the Student Union auditorium on Sunday night to a crowd of about 600 students.

Michaels kicked off the show shortly after 8 p.m. by jokingly criticizing Owl Radio DJ Alex Roy and his assistant.

“Stop. What happened at rehearsal? We rehearsed this,” Michaels said. “How do you got an assistant DJ? Is that your boyfriend or that another DJ?” After a 10-minute standup, Michaels turned the spotlight over to Jackson.

To roaring laughter, the comedian imitatively mounted a chair, joking that adult shops today make men feel like women “don’t need us no more.”

After Jackson’s 30-minute standup, Darren “Big Baby” Brand came out from behind the curtains, but didn’t start before first running offstage to grind with and attempt to kiss a female audience member while “Sex with Me” by Rihanna was playing.

Brand’s standup ran for 40 minutes, much of which was crowd-pleasing adult humor.

The show concluded with the classic Wild ’n Out games “Pick It and Kill It” and “Family Reunion.”

Eight volunteers were brought onstage from the audience and divided into a Red Team and Blue Team, who each took turns delivering improvised battle raps.

4 10.24.2017 University Press

Drag show turns up the flair for seventh consecutive year Drag queens hosted a meet-andgreet at the end of the night.

Victor Lopez | Contributing Writer MC Ariel Rims speaks to the crowd that attended the Annual Drag Show Oct. 14 shortly before the intermission. Rimms had just descended from up above the stage, dressed as Lady Gaga during her 2017 Super Bowl halftime show. Andres Scheele | Contributing Photographer

“Who’s ready to draguate, bitches?”

was the opening line to this year’s Homecoming Drag Show, where hundreds of students packed the Student Union auditorium ready to see the drag queens slated for the fall performance.

The show kicked off with a pre-show performance in which the Haus of Ungodly, a drag queen group, performed a musical dance number. Queens lip-synched and danced to “Dreamgirls” from the movie by the same title, “Lose My Breath” by Destiny’s Child, and “BO$$” by Fifth Harmony.

Queen Ariel Rimm, who MCeed for the seventh year in a row, mirrored Lady Gaga’s halftime show arrival at the 2017 Super Bowl.

Just like Gaga, she descended from up above, but on a platform instead of being suspended, down to the stage where she continued her performance strutting up and down.

Drag queens TP Lords, Lisa Limbaugh, Rubber Child, Rianna Petrone, and Miss Tayanna Love performed throughout the night, each with their own style, flair, and dance moves.

The “Dancing Diva of the Palm Beaches” Rianna Petrone did flips and fast-paced dance

moves to Ariana Grande’s “Problem” and “Break Free.” Rubber Child’s performance resonated, with messages related to body image as she performed to Flight Facilities’ “Crave You” and RuPaul’s “Supermodel” flanked on both sides with images and clips of morbidly obese people and fattening food.

Between each performance, Rimm would come back on stage with a new outfit and more jokes to share with the crowd.

After an hour of performances, the show broke into an intermission where free soft drinks, pizza, and other food was provided by the Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs, which sponsored the event.

The office worked to make this an educational experience by having a PowerPoint presentation both before the show and during the intermission that provided some history on drag. The history of the LGBT movement and terms that attendees may not be familiar with, such as “sexual orientation,” “pansexual,” and, of course, “drag” were touched on as well.

At the end of the night, Rimm thanked everyone for attending and invited anyone in attendance to a meet-and-greet with the drag queens at the front of the stage.

Many audience members took up this offer and a line formed down the aisles as the drag queens spoke with and hugged their fans.

Seventh annual Homecoming run raises money for autism The FAU Center for Autism and Related Disabilities organized the run.

Amber Kelley | Contributing Writer

T

he Color Burst 5K saw families and students running for a good cause Sunday, Oct. 15.

The Homecoming race began with cannons shooting colorful paint left and right, blasting runners as they made their way around the Boca campus Henderson Field. Students were also given sprayers to cover their friends and family in paint.

The FAU Center for Autism and Related Disabilities, which put on the event, works to support families and their students with autism every year.

Autism affects children and teens across the spectrum from speech to communication impairments.

Senior urban planning major Isaac Pinckney has a cousin with autism.

“It shows that we support what they’re going through and we understand that somethings that they cannot do at the end of the day,” Pinckney said. “For my cousin, sometimes he can express how he feels and it takes people a little bit more to understand.”

CARD Executive Director Jack Scott helped organize the seventh annual fundraiser and said that roughly 200 people attended.

“We wanted to get together the university

community along with the autism community and for everyone to have a good time,” Scott said.

Scott added that the organization won’t know how much money was raised this year until after Oct. 20.

The 5K run for autism raised more than $7,000 last year and helps over 4,000 families each year.

Global Student Success Program member Jason Dapko (left) said, “I don’t know who is having more fun here,” while spraying FAU students with paint as they ran passed him Oct. 15. Matthew Quick | Contributing Photographer

Students, families attend Fall Family Fest despite rain

Students sit side by side waiting to be spun on the ride, “Reckless” at the Fall Family Fest Oct. 18. Photo by Katrina Scales

Katrina Scales | News Editor

The Homecoming carnival had games, rides, food and more.

T

he annual Homecoming-themed carnival was held Wednesday night, Oct. 18, next to the FAU Stadium.

Both families and college students stood in line to stuff their own bear or ride a giant slide after enjoying a free, hot meal.

And while it started raining around 8:30 p.m., attendees were able to take shelter underneath the tents offering free food closest to the stadium.

The event started at 6 p.m.

The FAU Police Department showed off its new

SE-3 Patroller Segway and handed out stickers for the kids.

Larry “Oldschool” Ervin, captain of operations for the department, said he wants students to feel safe and be able to rely on the campus police.

“Look around, you’ll see a smile on every person’s face. This is what we want to see,” Ervin said. “We want you to know that we are community police officers and that we are there for them.”

Among the attractions were carnival games, a ferris wheel, the Delray Beach S.W.A.T vehicle, spinning

swings, and laser tag.

Junior Oliver King was impressed by this year’s event and said he was excited to try out the rides.

“There’s a lot more stuff to do and they have a lot of people coming in,” King said. “I think it’s cool that they put so much into it.”

Homecoming court members also made an appearance to encourage students to vote.

10.24.2017 University Press 5

Drag Show Drag queens Sephora Styff and Azula Saphire make their debut on stage. Joshua Giron | Staff Photographer

Three queens from drag queen group Haus of Ungodly warm up the crowd with their performance. Joshua Giron | Staff Photographer

TP Lordes takes the stage as Bruno Mars and makes her way toward the crowd. Joshua Giron | Staff Photographer 6 10.24.2017 University Press

While performer Lisa Limbaugh impersonates the main character of indie comedy “Napoleon Dynamite,� an FAU student runs up to the stage to give dollar bills to Limbaugh. Andres Scheele | Contributing Photographer

MC Ariel Rims lets FAU freshman Amari come up to the stage to motorboat her crochet boobs.

Joshua Giron | Staff Photographer

Comedy Show

(Left to right) RIP Micheals, Darren “Big Baby” Brand and Nate Jackson from MTV’s show Wild ‘N Out come out on stage to introduce themselves. Joshua Giron | Staff Photographer

Darren “Big Baby” Brand side eyes a student after they yelled something out in response to one of his jokes. Joshua Giron | Staff Photographer

Nate Jackson performed a solo stand-up routine for a half hour. Joshua Giron | Staff Photographer 10.24.2017 University Press 7

Features As a political activist, Jorge Jraissati is fighting the Venezuelan government — all while taking 12 credits.

Nate Nkumbu | Staff Writer

Alexander Rodriguez | Photo Editor 8 10.24.2017 University Press

Justicia

t was a warm February day in Barquisimeto, Venezuela. Jorge A. Jraissati had plans to protest alongside his friends, but the group ended up facing more than they bargained for.

“In every protest in Venezuela, you suffer police and military brutality,” he said. “So when we were protesting that day, we were attacked by the police and the military.”

A former youth political coordinator in his native country of Venezuela, Jorge saw some of his friends and even his political boss shot at and arrested for protesting President Nicolas Maduro’s dictatorship as the country fell into chaos and disarray.

While speaking at conferences in Washington D.C and the United Nations in New York and meeting with current and former world leaders, the 21-year-old economics and business management major becomes a political activist, a hero, a champion for human rights — some would say a troublemaker.

Now at FAU, he continues his fight against the Venezuelan government while juggling 12 credits at the Jupiter campus honors college.

Jorge was born in Barquisimeto, the fourth largest city in Venezuela. He said that as a child, he watched as former President Hugo Chavez failed to uphold his promises to better the country.

“There were many people where I lived that were not able to get the bare necessities and they were suffering,” the lanky, curly haired econ student said.

It was his need to help people that led him to join the party, Voluntad Popular or “Popular Will” as the youth political coordinator. The social-democratic party champions for social involvement and challenges oppressive and authoritarian ideals.

I

“I have been involved in politics since a young age for a very simple reason, politics is the way to change lives,” he

said.

Jorge’s job consists of registering new supporters, keeping young members informed about events happening within the party, and working with the party on youth issues.

“In a country as poor as Venezuela, when I was a youth political coordinator, I felt I was been able to change lives, to give hope, and to inspire a future in every single one of the kids I was helping,” he said.

It wasn’t until the death of former President Chavez that things went south for Jorge, Voluntad Popular, and Venezuela.

After Chavez’s death in 2013, his second-incommand, Nicolas Maduro, took power. Shortly after, prices for food and basic goods started to

skyrocket.

Inflation in the country has risen to above 800 percent, driving up the price of items that were once inexpensive, FAU political science professor Timothy Steigenga said.

“For example, if a gallon of milk cost a dollar, it would be $800 after inflation,” he said.

Steigenga added that the increasing costs of goods was caused by the economic policies of the Chavez/Maduro regime.

“You have an economy where 95 percent of its export earnings was from oil. So when the oil prices drop and the reserves that the government holds goes, you get hyperinflation and that’s now complicated the issue in Venezuela,” the professor added.

Jorge said that he knew many people who lost everything under Maduro.

“There are farmers that have been working and owning land for all their lives and one day the government comes in, takes your farm, and says that it is the state’s. It’s frustrating for many of them,” he said.

For the economics major, those issues came to a head in February 2014 during a protest with his friends and the political boss for Voluntad Popular, Leopoldo Lopez.

“I was with Leopoldo four days before he was arrested, so we decided to protest in my city about him being unfairly taken into custody and then a bunch of Bolivarian police [the Venezuelan National Guard] came to us and started harassing us,” Jorge said.

He added: “They started telling everyone that they were going to be arrested. To be honest, it was like any protest where police and military come and they see someone exposed, they get arrested.”

Jorge said that while he and his friends weren’t arrested that day, thousands of other Venezuelans were.

According to Venezuela expert Dany Bahar from the D.C. think tank group the Brooking Institute, over 15,000 people in 2017 alone were arrested and detained by police and military forces.

“It’s a dictatorship so these people that were protesting in the streets many of them were tried by military tribunal on the spot as opposed to civilian tribunal,” he said.

Bahar added that there was no legal due process and that often the government bypasses the existing law, arresting people just for political affiliation.

“They were sent to military tribunal, some were sent to jail. There’s around 600 plus political prisoners in Venezuela right now,” he added.

As the situation in Venezuela worsens, the White House and President Donald Trump have been vocal about a potential military intervention.

But Jorge seeks a more peaceful way to end the conflict. He currently works with leaders in the the political discussion forum, Organization of the American States in Washington D.C. “I agree with a diplomatic intervention with

the support of the OAS, the European parliament,and the governments in the region.

We’re not looking for a military, but a diplomatic intervention,” he said.

For Jorge, his fight for his country’s freedom isn’t just for his fellow Venezuelans.

His younger sister is in high school and hasn’t been able to attend her campus after the government closed down schools. She meets with her teachers online and hasn’t been in a classroom since February.

“She can’t meet with her school friends in the classroom and hang out with her friends,” Jorge said. “She’s lucky, not many students can even attend school because they now have to take care of the family.”

With this in mind, he decided to come to the U.S to continue his education with the support of his family, who wanted to see him happy and far from danger.

“I came to study, of course my family wanted me to be safe but coming to the United States and [having] been able to have a quality education is priceless and I am sure all the knowledge I have acquired at FAU will help me serve my country in the future,” he said.

While working through his bachelor’s degree, he continued his fight online on Twitter where he has over 102,000 followers. Jorge said that while he’s mostly seen online support, he has received threats from Maduro regime supporters.

“Just as an example this month (September) I have received in social media threats by a few users that Maduro needed to incarcerate me because of my pro-free speech comments.

In Venezuela there are hundreds of student political prisoners in jail simply for expressing their political opinions,” Jorge said via email.

In his fight with the Maduro government, he’s had help from other FAU students that are sympathetic to his cause.

Student Government graduate assistant Robert Marriaga attends events with Jorge like those put on by the Organization of the American States. The two also met with former world leaders like Jose Maria Aznar, the former Prime Minister of Spain from 1996-2004, and OAS General Secretary Luis Almagro.

As political activists, they both face a large age gap with their colleagues, who are often 10.24.2017 University Press 9

twice their age. Robert recalled that during a meeting, there were doubts about the pair due to their age.

“At first when some activists from Cuba and Venezuela saw us, they didn’t take us seriously because of our age.

They were asking, ‘What are these kids doing here?’” he said.

Robert added: “Eventually we won them over and they were impressed by the fact that we knew what was going on in Venezuela and we knew what we were talking about.”

The Student Government grad student said that they have support and encouragement from FAU professors and even from politicians far from the U.S. Following a conference in D.C., Robert and Jorge met Dutch right wing politician Thierry Baudet.

“After the conference, we were talking to Baudet and he asked us what were our ages.

I told him that I was 23 and that Jorge was 20.

He was really impressed and called us heroes for taking this challenge while we both young,” Robert said.

For Jorge, he’s run into difficulties balancing his activism with his schoolwork but has had help from a professor at the honors college, thesis professor Keith Jakee.

“It’s very difficult between the honors college and other pressures all the time,” Jorge said.

“But at the same time, you cannot abandon your activism. Sometimes I have to travel during the week, sometimes the weekend.”

Jorge added: “He (Jakee) has been great with me in the fact that he has helping me with my time management and he understands how difficult it is but at the same time he wants me to have a great thesis and a great political activism as well.”

The honors college student said that his work for both school and his home country adds up to almost 90 hours a week.

“I used to have time to go out, to have fun, now I can’t but I think it’s part of the process, Jorge said. “If you really believe in what you’re doing and really believe in fighting for your rights, you’ll do it.”

While Jorge and Robert each balance their activism alongside their classes, Robert said that the reward they get from talking and connecting with these politicians is worth it.

“Nobody would think that talking to these activists, they would hear our case but getting to know them and them knowing us, we’ve been able to form friendships with many of these people,” he said.

10 10.24.2017 University Press

Robert added: “It’s really awesome and rewarding, not many expect some students from FAU to be that involved in international politics like that.”

When asked about working with Jorge and the everyday struggles of fighting a dictatorship and the nerves that may come along with it, Robert said that they aren’t apprehensive anymore and have embraced their roles.

“We’ve talked about this before, when someone is made for this you can’t be nervous, you can’t be afraid, this is what you were born for,” Robert said.

“Once you’re in this, once you’re in the political arena, you have to leave the arena walking. You have to show up. It’s like a boxing match, you can’t back down,” Robert said.

He said, “Even if you feel bad and someone came up and said, ‘Hey, don’t say that because that could be life-threatening,’ you have to do it.”

Robert said that he’s asked Jorge in the past whether or not he fears for his family back in Venezuela. The grad student said that while he thinks Jorge does worry, he isn’t alone in his fear.

“It’s not only just his family, all Venezuelan citizen have felt or are feeling that fear in moment in their life. Everyone has experienced something during those protests,” Robert said.

“Tear gas has been thrown that reaches everyone or you can’t cross the street because there are burning tires,” Robert said. “Everyone has felt the fear and the pressure. That’s what we’re we’re scared about, how others are going to feel.”

In an effort to help with some of that fear, on Jorge’s birthday, he raised around $7,000 online, with all of the proceedings going to buy basic amenities for people back in his native country.

“We collected the money and sent it through churches and the money isn’t that much as to raise alarms back in Venezuela,” Robert said.

But Robert said that he and Jorge aren’t afraid of their fight. He added that right now, it’s the duty of every young Venezuelan to fight for their country, otherwise they might lose out their freedoms forever.

“It’s difficult to be on the frontlines but if they don’t it, nobody else will,” Robert said. “I’m actually proud that he [Jorge] is speaking out. It would be easier for him to take the route and say, “No I’m going to stay here and live comfortably.”

As for Jorge, he plans to return to Venezuela after he’s finished with his schooling.

“I will graduate on Economics and Business Management from the Honors College, then do my masters in Economics or Public Policy, and then come back to Venezuela to serve my country.”

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Every Day Like It’s Your Last

Haitian immigrants at FAU grapple with the idea of being deported back to a country that isn’t home.

Katrina Scales | News Editor

H

Debris in the streets of the Port-au-Prince neighborhood of Bel-Air, in the aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

Photo courtesy of Marcello Casal Jr/ABr. 12 10.24.2017 University Press

aitian immigrant students at FAU granted temporary U.S. citizenship may be forced to return to an island that has yet to recover from devastating natural disasters and disease outbreak.

The Department of Homeland Security granted Haitian residents “temporary protected status” in 2010 after an earthquake killed more than 250,000 people and a subsequent cholera epidemic killed thousands more.

In May of this year, then-Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, who now serves as President Donald Trump’s chief of staff, granted a six-month extension (instead of the usual 18) of TPS designation and advised recipients to make arrangements for departure from the U.S. This announcement sent a wave through the Haitian community and forced families to consider difficult decisions.

Konbit Kreyol is an FAU student organization seeking

to promote awareness of Haitian culture while serving the community. Their Oct. 4 meeting was held specifically to inform students and deliberate TPS and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policies.

President Jennifer Deneus led the discussion and addressed points about limitations on immigration, why they think certain immigrants are treated differently and if they should be held accountable for the decisions their parents made for them.

When she asked the group if they were affected by DACA or TPS or is close to someone who is, half the hands in the room went up.

According to data from the FAU Provost office, FAU hosts a total of 360 Haitian immigrant students.

An executive board member of Konbit Kreyol who wished to remain anonymous wrote to the University Press in an email and said that life as an adult immigrant student involves a lot of money and limited opportunity.

“I’ve lived in Boca Raton since I was 2 years old. Like most DREAMers, I was not aware of my status and how it would affect me. Most of my household got TPS after the earthquake but it wasn’t until my senior year of high school that I realized how limited I really was here.”

In March, Florida lawmakers including both U.S. senators and five congressmen signed a letter to Washington pleading for DHS to extend the protection citing the damage from hurricane Matthew that destroyed much of the country’s infrastructure and decimated crops.

Senior English major Elin Eugene was in attendance at the Konbit Kreyol meeting.

“In middle school, high school I didn’t really have to worry … it was like, to me, I saw myself as an American,” Eugene said. “Then you get to that point where you have to get a job and then you find out your status and you get that shock where you’re like, ‘Wait, OK, so I am different.’”

Eugene’s parents were nervous that their family would be targets for theft and kidnapping because of their middle-income status in Haiti.

“The way I look at it is, when I first came into this country, I was very young I didn’t know what was going on. To me it was like, ‘Oh we’re going on vacation.’ We went on vacation to the U.S. every summer to Florida,” he said. “Then in 2006, I remember I had a conversation with my uncle and he was like, ‘How would you like to stay here?’ and I was young so I was like, ‘Yeah, I’d love to stay.’ Then later on when I became older, I found out the real reason why I stayed.”

When asked about TPS students losing their visas, Assistant Director of Undergraduate Admissions Anna van Dam said their status at the university would not change.

“If they are current students at the university, we don’t see an issue with admitting our current student population.”

South Florida is home to the nation’s largest population of Haitian immigrants and would see the greatest economic impact of a termination. According to the Migration Policy institute website, 213,000 documented Haitian immigrants live in West Palm

Beach to Miami, making up nearly four percent of the metropolitan population.

TPS recipients also pay taxes. In addition, each extension comes with a renewal fee of $495 meaning they would pay almost $1,000 in one year if the program is granted another six months.

The anonymous student said, “It definitely is a struggle. Especially when most people within your household are submitting the same payments. My household currently has 4 TPS recipients. We also have to pay the person that does the paperwork for us.”

Many believe that Haiti is in no way ready to accept more than half a million nationals, including the Haitian government. On Oct. 9, the government sent a formal request to the U.S. administration to extend TPS for another 18 months.

“Our research, as well as our conversations with U.S. law enforcement and elected officials, representing districts and states where Haitian TPS recipients reside, have shown that our nationals have been exemplary law-abiding residents and pose no threat to the security of the United States or its people,” Ambassador Paul Altidor wrote.

Two months before the election, then-Presidential nominee Donald Trump spoke cordially to residents in Miami’s Little Haiti neighborhood, saying he wanted to build a better relationship with the community.

This led many Haitian voters to believe that the administration would be friendly to maintaining TPS after Trump promised he would be their “greatest champion.”

In May of this year, the Associated Press found that immigration policy chief Kathy Nuebel Kovarik was looking for crime statistics and information on how many Haitian immigrants may be receiving public welfare, sparking fears that the administration is building a case to end temporary protection.

Eugene has one semester left before he graduates and said he’s not sure what he would do if the program ended in January. He hopes that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will recognize and protect the law-abiding people who are in the country only trying to work and get an education.

“You have thousands of people in a society and they are working, they have children, they have a house, they have a car,” Eugene said. “And they’d be taking them from a stable environment and moving them to an unstable environment.”

The Department of Homeland Security has until mid-November to make a decision. In the meantime, Haitian activists in South Florida push for another deportation reprieve.

While students receiving TPS would retain their status as FAU Owls, the future is uncertain for their place in American society. The Konbit Kreyol executive concluded, “Many people have TPS without those that are close to them...ending this program will tear apart families and relationships. We have to live in fear because we can be deported and taken away from everything that we know.”

Senior English major Elin Eugene is a member of Haitian cultural organization Konbit Kreyol and plans to graduate next spring. Katrina Scales | News Editor

“You have thousands of people in a society and they are working, they have children, they have a house, they have a car. And they’d be taking them from a stable environment and moving them to an unstable environment.”

- Senior English major Elin Eugene

10.24.2017 University Press 13

Features

The Golden Age of Tabletop Gaming During a time of video games and virtual reality, some students are stepping back to play Dungeons and Dragons.

Thomas Chiles | Features Editor Photos by Alexander Rodriguez

(Left) Pen and Paper Life President Phil Matadeen, 25, ponders his next move while playing Magic: The Gathering.

(Top) Multi-sided dice on top of gridded paper used for Dungeons and Dragons.

(Bottom) A stack of Magic: The Gathering cards.

14 10.24.2017 University Press

I

f you peek into Room 210 of the College of Business on Thursday evenings, you may see a group of students sitting around a large sheet of grid paper littered with multi-sided dice.

But at that moment, they don’t consider themselves students.

They are soulcasters, warriors, and gunslingers, momentarily absorbed in the fantasy world of Dungeons and Dragons. They are also members of one of the newest clubs at FAU. Pen and Paper Life is a club for students who meet once a week to play Dungeons and Dragons (DnD) along with other tabletop games. They recently held their third official meeting of the semester.

Tabletop gaming has grown into a billion dollar industry and millennials are one of the biggest driving forces behind the continually growing market. So why are they buying board games more than ever?

The Themes

Visited by some Pen and Paper Life members, Docking Bay 94 Comics and Games in Coconut Creek is one of the closest spots to FAU for those interested in tabletop games.

“Probably about 50 percent of the customer base are college students,” Logan Brezenoff said, a Docking Bay 94 employee. “We actually have a lot of people who go to FAU and Palm Beach State who buy board games, buy Magic cards, and have started groups there.”

Brezenoff, 31, has worked at Docking Bay 94 for six years now, and was able to offer one explanation as to why college-aged consumers might be attracted to these games.

“Theme is a huge part of it,” Brezenoff said. “So you got stuff like Conan the Barbarian, The Expanse, Firefly, all these favorite TV shows that people love.

And then they see board game versions and they want to do that.”

A large number of tabletop games are based around franchises that consumers are already familiar with, meaning that buyers feel invested in the game before they even know how to play.

When “Stranger Things” premiered on Netflix in summer of 2016, scenes of the main characters playing Dungeons and Dragons inspired many fans of the show to follow suit.

“After that we had probably a 200 percent increase in DnD sales,” Brezenoff said. [“Stranger Things”] was a huge endorsement to DnD.” Inside, Docking Bay 94 is filled with neat rows of tables for gamers to spread boards and cards across.

The walls are lined with shelves of plastic-sheathed comic books. In the back left corner stands a case with a glass display, stacked with various tabletop and card games that are available to play for free.

“On Saturday, when we got somebody that wants to get into it but don’t really know how, we teach them,” Brezenoff said. “Then they bring it to their friends, or bring their friends here, and it grows off that. Here at this store we are very community and neighborhood friendly.”

If you’re interested into getting into Dungeons and Dragons, don’t worry about a steep entry price. The

Celeste Reardon, 23, usually operates as the Dungeon Master during the Pen and Paper Life meetings.

DnD starter kit runs just $19.99.

“You can buy just that and have everything you need for a campaign,” Brezenoff said. “Players then build off of that by buying these grid sheets that they lay out and make their own dungeons. They use figures to represent bosses and characters.”

In a DnD group, the game is controlled by one allpowerful person, the Dungeon Master (DM). The DM is responsible for creating the fantasy world and weaving the narrative that players attempt to guide their created characters through.

“The Dungeon Master literally makes his own dungeon,” Brezenoff explained. “Where the hallways are, the corridors, the rooms, the bosses. He chooses what level everybody starts at, how they level up, and there’s instructions on how to do that in every starter kit.”

When the DM does create a character to control, it is usually an evil boss or overlord whose main purpose is to combat the players.

“DnD in general is a big imagination game,” Brezenoff said. “You’re saying stuff like ‘A goblin popped out from behind a treasure chest and attacked you for two damage’. And that’s part of the game that [the DM] wrote in themselves.”

“You know in video games you eventually hit that barrier where you can’t move past where they haven’t animated? There’s none of that, you can do anything in DnD.” - Pen and Paper Life President Phil Matadeen

The Freedom

At the Pen and Paper Life’s official meeting on campus, a DnD campaign with four players and a DM was underway.

Vice President of the club Celeste Reardon, 23, is 10.24.2017 University Press 15

(From left to right) Jacob Adams, 20, Hossep Yenikomshian, 21, and Jordan Riggs, 20, play Magic: The Gathering outside The Burrow Bar and Grill on FAU’s Boca campus.

a psychology graduate student and serves as the Dungeon Master at the club meetings.

“Usually I’m the one running the world and setting up the bad guys,” Reardon said. “My enjoyment mainly comes from being able to build a custom world and have these guys to help me populate it and allow me to encounter new situations I may not expect.”

Planning a DnD campaign can be time-consuming, which is why the club takes a week long break in between sessions. Sessions can be saved and returned to each week, meaning one campaign could last for months, or potentially even years.

The more the DM is able to plan out the world, the better the experience is for the players.

“Tabletop takes a lot of time especially when you’re DM’ing because I have to make sure I know everything that these guys can do,” Reardon said. “I have to try and predict their actions, which I have gotten quite good at.”

Almost everyone who plays DnD can agree that one of the most appealing factors of the game is its freedom.

“In DnD the core tenant is freedom,” Reardon explained. “It is a poor DM that will restrict their players and railroad them and say, ‘You have to take these actions.’”

Club President Phil Matadeen, 25, already has a psychology degree but is currently pursuing a second bachelor’s in biochemistry. DnD’s “core tenant” of freedom is what attracted him to game as well.

“You know in video games you eventually hit that 16 10.24.2017 University Press

barrier where you can’t move past where they haven’t animated? There’s none of that,” Matadeen said. “You can do anything in DnD.” Junior mechanical engineering major Bryan Bautista, 20, is a player in the current DnD campaign led by Reardon.

“When I play my characters, it’s the sense that I’m not me anymore. I am the character being played,” Bautista said. “And that’s the big thing that I like about these types of games. The ability to just go on ahead and NOT be yourself.”

The Social Aspect

Most students walk right past the few tables in the Student Union that line the wall outside The Burrow Bar and Grill on campus, but to some it’s known as “The Magic Corner”.

You will most likely find students there playing the popular tabletop card game “Magic: The Gathering.”

It’s also a spot where members of Pen and Paper Life hang out when the weekly meeting is not in session.

“It’s a designated place where we all play Magic or DnD, we just meet here and play when we have free time,” physics junior Grant Morris, 18, said.

Morris has been playing Magic since about 2014, but you don’t have to be as experienced to be accepted at “The Magic Corner.”

Sophomore mechanical engineering major Jacob Adams, 20, hasn’t been playing Magic for very long at all. He doesn’t even own a deck yet. But one thing that attracted him to “The Magic Corner” was the

“There’s the social aspect of it, sometimes you’ve been in your house forever and you just want to get out and come to a good, wholesome community.”

- Sophomore mechanical engineering major Jacob Adams

face-to-face interaction that playing a game like Magic demands.

“There’s the social aspect of it,” Adams said. “I don’t play Magic that much but I came here and all of them were just very nice. These guys usually have a couple decks and they are nice enough to lend one out.”

In short, playing tabletop games gives students the opportunity to make friends and discover a sense of freedom that video games may not be able to offer.

Adams said, “Sometimes you’ve been in your house forever and you just want to get out and come to a good, wholesome community.”

WE NEED

PHOTOGRAPHERS If you’re at the Boca campus, come to our meetings, every Friday at 2 PM.

MEETINGS 2 PM / STUDENT UNION / ROOM 214

EVERY FRIDAY

Features

Demand this

Ryan Lynch | Business Manager Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

From Jack Daniels to an electric heater, learn what flies when it comes to past requests from Homecoming concert headliners, Kesha and Chase Bryant.

W

hen a musician comes to FAU, they aren’t just being paid. They also have a list of requests.

After student-run organization Program Board makes a bid for an artist, they also have to negotiate the “rider,’ which lists everything from what equipment they and their crew require, what food and drink they want, and everything in between.

The University Press put in a public records request for this year’s Homecoming concert headliner, T-Pain, along with opener 30H!3, but has not received a response as of publication time.

With access to last year’s riders for both Kesha and Chase Bryant, we give a rundown on some of the artists’ stranger requests.

the university.

“The university condemns any act related to the consumption of alcohol that impairs, interferes, or endangers the safety or enjoyment of others, including the individual who chooses to consume the alcohol,” the policy says.

In her initial “hospitality” rider, Kesha asked for a bottle of Don Julio or Patron tequila, two bottles of “nice” Sauvignon Blanc, and a bottle of vodka (“Grey Goose preferred”). For her dancers and band, Kesha asked for a bottle of Pinot Grigio.

Chase Bryant asked in his rider for a bottle of Jack Daniels, Tito’s Vodka, and Malibu Rum. His rider does not list extra bottles for his band.

Neither artist were granted the respective alcohol.

No Booze Cruise

Kesha’s Special Requests:

Some artists have asked for a selection of alcohol in their backstage room for both themselves and entourage members. At FAU, that’s a no-go.

According to FAU University Policy 1.2, alcoholic beverages are only allowed in certain designated areas (including residence halls like IVA and UVA and on-campus food service locations such as the Burrow). President John Kelly is the only one who can sign off on the changing of alcoholic policy at

As part of Kesha’s rider, she asked for one “large comfy chair” as part of her room backstage. There were no specifications as to what constituted a “large comfy chair.” Ultimately, the items would be approved, or disapproved, by her tour manager.

Items that were rejected included a phone line and a high speed internet connection. But others were more interesting.

Among her furniture requests, she asked for sage

18 10.24.2017 University Press

bundles, a lavender candle, and an electric heater.

FAU doesn’t allow exposed flames or heating elements in any of their buildings or residence halls.

She also asked, and was subsequently denied, 10 24-inch confetti cannons for use during her performance.

Gag Order: As a provision within her contract, Kesha said that she didn’t have to talk to any media or give interviews after her show last Homecoming. But at the last second, the artist also made a change to her photo rules.

Usually during concerts, groups who have a media pass are allowed to take photos for their publications or for promotional purposes for 15 minutes (or three songs) at the start of the performance. After the normal period was given for opener LunchMoney Lewis, Kesha only allowed a single photographer to be there for the performance.

According to Assistant Director Student Activities and Involvement Richard Mahler, there was an incident at her previous concert in the Tampa Bay area that caused her to change her mind. No further information was given from Kesha’s management or local media who were at the other concert.

Sports

ONE YEAR LATER After facing one of the most lopsided defeats in program history, FAU Football looks to capitalize on the changes it’s made.

Ryan Lynch | Business Manager

A

lot can change in one year. Just ask FAU football about the time that’s passed since last Homecoming.

In the 2016-17 season, the Owls had a game they and their fans would like to forget. Sitting at 1-6 in the standings and without a conference win, the Owls were set to face the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers.

Instead of giving the crowd a reason to cap off the week with a celebration, the team shat the bed in a 52-3 loss for what is the worst home defeat in program history. The defeat continued what became a sevengame losing streak and led to the eventual dismissal of former head coach Charlie Partridge.

The team is changed though. With a new head coach in Lane Kiffin and a team sitting with a 3-3 record coming into the game, the Owls are in a much better place than they were since that time.

How much better you ask? Here are a few things they’re not messing up anymore.

Succeeding in conference

After years of struggling in conference play, the Owls came out of the gates flying and picked up their first one of the year versus Middle Tennessee and another versus Old Dominion. They are already up to the three

FAU redshirt junior quarterback Jason Driskel (16) passes the football off to sophomore running back Devin Singletary (5). Joshua Giron | Staff Photographer wins that would tie the highest mark Partridge hit while he was coach, and that’s only midway through Kiffin’s first season.

Part of the problem last year was their inability to hold off opponents late in games. FAU lost four of its eight conference games by a touchdown or less, leading many to wonder what would have happened if the team salvaged those wins.

This year, the Owls have kept the lids on most victories, with a shootout against Buffalo representing the only game where they missed a chance to pick up a victory.

The Owls have never come close to sniffing a Conference USA championship, let alone an appearance in the game. After winning their first and only title as a member of the Sun Belt in 2008, they still have plenty of work to do.

If Kiffin and company can prove they play close games more like versus Middle Tennessee than Buffalo, they’ll be on the right track. If anything, the football will at least put more butts in the seats.

Better quarterback play

Redshirt Junior Jason Driskel had not started a game since 2016 and was not firmly planted in the discussion for the quarterback battle during the fall.

After struggling at points last year during the 3-9 season, it was easy to see Kiffin wanted to give redshirt sophomores Daniel Parr and De’Andre Johnson a chance.

Instead, Johnson ended up in the hospital with blood clots in his arm, unable to play, and Parr was inconsistent through the first couple of games. In stepped Driskel to start the Buffalo game, with a whole lot of uncertainty surrounding how he would perform.

While Driskel was far from perfect, going 17-of-28 for 150 yards and an interception, he showed potential.

That potential reared its face in the next game versus MTSU as Driskel looked more comfortable running the offense than he has in past years.

Even though he only passed for 187 yards and a touchdown, Driskel has shown the quarterback job could end up as fully his once again. That was a far cry from when he started last year’s Homecoming game and went 10-of-24 with 52 passing yards and

an interception.

“Today, obviously I did not play well,” Driskel said after the WKU game. “Didn’t put the ball in the right spot for the guys, It was just inexcusable as a [Division I] quarterback, I got to do better.”

So far he has done better. But he has to continue to prove he can let the offense flow consistently instead of playing like they’re in traffic on I-95.

Back to the backs

After being used sparingly in the first two games of the season, running backs Devin Singletary and Greg Howell have found their place as the backbone of the offense.

Howell had only one carry in the first game of the season against Navy, but had 21 carries in his last game versus Old Dominion. The sophomore Singletary also has seen more reps, going from eight in the first game to 26 versus ODU. In general, both are having a turn from last year’s struggles.

As a freshman, Singletary had 1,021 yards of rushing and 12 touchdowns. A year later, he looks poised to knock both figures out of the water only halfway through the season, racking up 686 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Singletary also looks more comfortable running at the FBS level. Against Middle Tennessee, the back danced around multiple defenders on the west sideline to score the first one of a game he would dominate.

Howell has changed his role to provide a different, power-based look for FAU. Working as the primary back for much of his career, Howell has split carries with Singletary this year, and the altered workload has paid dividends.

In 2016, Howell only averaged five yards per carry while taking the brunt of the carries for much of the year. This year, he’s averaging 7.2 yards per carry on fewer chances, making the most of the opportunities he is currently given.

The use of both backs will be key to helping set up opportunities for the pass game and keep the whole offense moving at its high tempo. If they can’t, the pass game alone is too inconsistent to rely all on them.

10.24.2017 University Press 19

I can’t believe I didn’t read the University Press

MEETINGS 2 PM / STUDENT UNION / ROOM 214 EVERY FRIDAY