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Vol. 17 | #16 | Apr. 26, 2016

HOME OF THE PINK, WHITE AND BLUE Transgender students share their on-campus experiences.

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UP STAFF EDITOR IN CHIEF Emily Bloch MANAGING EDITOR Gregory Cox CREATIVE DIRECTOR Ivan Benavides WEB EDITOR Richard Finkel MULTIMEDIA EDITOR Ryan Lynch COPY DESK CHIEF Carissa Noelle Giard SENIOR COPY EDITORS Kerri-Marie Covington, Rafael Baez

Vol. 17 | #16 | April 26, 2016

NEWS EDITOR Patrick Martin

4 A Deserted Chair

SPORTS EDITOR Brendan Feeney

Student Government members say the chair of the Elections Board who ran the past spring election didn’t do his job, but remains in his position.

FEATURES EDITOR Brittany Ferrendi OPINIONS EDITOR Andrew Fraieli

8 Out of Sight but Not Out of Mind

BUSINESS MANAGER Wesley Wright

See how the university is training the Army’s leaders of tomorrow.

CONTRIBUTORS Celeste Andrews, Lee Pritz, Yehudah Rodman, Nate Nkumbu, Alexandra Van Erven, Max Jackson, Mohammed F. Emran

12 No One Uses the Library for Books

Our managing editor thinks the student body president shouldn’t extend library hours.

DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Bill Good ADVISERS Neil Santaniello, Ilene Prusher, Michael Koretzky

14 Home of the Pink, White and Blue We spoke to transgender students who underwent their transitions on campus.

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Student Union, Room 214 WANT TO PLACE AN AD? Contact Jacquelyn Christie 888-897-7711 ext. 124 jchristie@mymediamate.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

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Heidi Vazquez, a junior criminology major with the ROTC program, has trouble finding her footing on the rock wall.

Photo by Patrick Martin

Campus police think SmartWater is working, even if students haven’t heard of it.

20 Troubled Waters

Some Florida Atlantic swimmers are anything but happy with the current state of the program.

23 Creative Writing Submissions

Readers submitted their work. Have a short story or poem? Email us at universitypress@ gmail.com.

4.26.2016 University Press 3

The office of the Student Government Elections Board remains vacant most of the time, as the chair of the board lives on FAU’s Jupiter campus. Ryan Klimar, the marketing director for the Elections Board, has been frustrated with Gregory Barber’s absence, and thinks it has to do with him being a Jupiter student: “He’s not in Boca, he’s not where the action happens. The representation of Broward and Jupiter towards FAU is important, … but when you’re choosing university-wide leadership positions, they need to be centered in Boca.”

Photo by Gregory Cox

A Deserted Chair

Students say a member of Student Government who ran the elections didn’t do his job, but he still gets to keep it.

Story by Gregory Cox

4 4.26.2016 University Press

A

miniature American flag hangs upside down on the corkboard of the elections office in the second floor of the Student Union, a traditional note of a state in distress. The flipped flag symbolizes the chaos the elections office faced over the past two months.

“The elections are done so I guess I’ll just—” Elections Board Marketing Director Ryan Klimar said as he reached over to flip the flag right side up. “I flipped that two months ago.”

In February, the Student Government elections for the next president, vice president and campus governors kicked off, but they didn’t go smoothly.

“Top down, it was a mess,” Klimar said.

Much of the frustration he has is with Gregory Barber, the chair of the Elections Board.

“The fact he didn’t hire anyone, or didn’t communicate what he wanted just shows his lack of quality in his leadership skills,” Klimar said.

The elections board released the official results roughly six weeks late.

Barber ran this year’s elections after current Student Body President Kathryn Edmunds placed him in the position in November.

Despite multiple attempts to reach out to Barber directly and through his co-workers and advisers, he did not respond as of publication time.

“You can’t just say ‘Yeah he broke the rules, but we’re not going to remove him because we need him.’ Those aren’t mutually exclusive, like he broke the rules, and even if you need him, he broke the rules.”

- Ryan Klimar (right), Elections Board marketing director

Unfulfilled Duties

The main duty of the elections chair is to run the elections. The chair also has to hire people to be on the Elections Board and keep records of its meetings.

Barber needed to hire four staff members to fill the board seats — a commissioner for the Boca Raton, Jupiter and Davie campuses, as well as a marketing director.

He hired just two people — Michael Wilner as the commissioner to represent the Boca Raton campus, and Klimar as the marketing director, a non-voting position. But the problems didn’t end there.

“Barber had difficulty communicating,” Wilner said, who was the sole voting member of the board.

“The new elections chair had no competence and no leadership.”

Klimar also saw issues with communication. “[Barber] ... decided on meeting times without consulting either of us, so it made it extremely difficult to meet sometimes.”

Barber was supposed to meet weekly for progress reports. Most of these meetings were never held, or were held internally, according to Klimar.

Legally, there is no such thing as internal meetings when it comes to governing bodies in Florida.

Florida law and FAU bylaws require that each meeting be open to the public, and that public notice is given 24 hours before any meeting. There also must be a meeting agenda, and someone has to keep minutes — a record of everything that is said in each gathering.

Barber only has a few meetings on the books since he took office, according to Klimar.

Photo by Gregory Cox “There were no minutes,” he said. “We weren’t having any meetings.”

On March 24, Heather Nick, the vice presidential assistant, requested the minutes from the meetings Barber supposedly held. She has yet to receive a response from him.

Barber admitted to not doing his job when Carter Lewis, the former elections chair, filed a petition against him on Feb. 26.

Seamus Maloney, the Boca Raton associate justice said, “He admitted to breaking the statutes, he claimed that he was holding meetings and was staying in contact with everybody,” in the court meeting to hear Barber’s case in early March.

The court gave Barber the chance to present his argument for not holding or keeping record of meetings, but he never made the hearing. According to Kahlil Ricketts, chief justice to the Student Court, “Barber sent me an email the day of the meeting ... stating that he would not be able to attend the meeting because he had class.”

“He isn’t here to provide proof for that so there is no way for us to know,” said Maloney.

After Barber failed to show up at his own defense hearing, the Student Court recommended his removal.

From there, the decision went to Edmunds, who lost the election that Barber ran. She claims she passed the recommendation onto the senate.

“I was an involved party so my response to the senate was ‘I’m an involved party, I’ll forward both,

not because I am making a decision, simply for you to make the decision,’” Edmunds said.

Casey Martin, the vice president and the chair of the student senate, has yet to see any legislation for the removal of Barber.

“No one presented it,” he said.

If Barber or any other member of the Elections Board were removed, the entire election could have been compromised, which runs the risk of having to start all over again.

“We’ve never seen anything like this before,” said Student Body President-elect Michael Cairo in a March senate meeting. “I implore you to put off the date [of removal] to a later time so that the election process can be finished.”

At the time, the board had yet to release official results from the spring elections as they were waiting to resolve filed complaints.

Candidates who run can file complaints — called contestations — against each other for rules broken during their respective campaigns. All contestations have to be settled before the official results can be released.

The candidates who won the unofficial results pled the senate to not disturb or remove any members of the board.

“The entire Elections Board was recommended for removal,” said the winner of the Boca Raton governor position, Hamilton Ezell, to the student senate in March. “If we decide to uphold the recommendation 4.26.2016 University Press 5

for removal, the entire contestations process will have to start all over again.”

Wilner was also in jeopardy of losing his job as commissioner when Boca Raton campus Gov. Chris Ferreira filed a petition against him. Ferreira’s complaint was that he failed to provide progress reports to the Boca Raton House of Representatives.

Both Wilner and Barber kept their jobs after the senate dismissed the recommendations of removal in the hopes they would finalize the elections.

Edmunds said, “[There] was a need, from my understanding, that the elections finish the right way.”

Wilner eventually stopped showing up for work, saying that Student Government “wasn’t really for him.” Once he did, Barber dismissed all of the contestations himself. “[Barber] validated the election ... in a meeting that he called alone, they had the marketing director [Klimar] voting on contestations when he’s not even a voting member of the board,” said Lewis. “That happened.”

Barbara Peterson, the president of the nonprofit First Amendment Foundation, said that the chair doesn’t have the right to dismiss all of the contestations on his own.

“The chair is not a collegial body and I don’t know under what authority the chair can take action [without] a supporting vote by the members of the board,” she said in an email.

According to Peterson, not following proper open government laws means those involved could end up fined, in jail and potentially unemployed.

“An intentional violation is a [second] degree misdemeanour punishable by a $500 fine and up to 60 days in jail. A public official who has violated the law can be suspended or removed from office,” Peterson said.

Barber will hold the position of elections chair until May 6, until Cairo takes office as student body president and hires his own staff.

Barber Keeps His Job

Former elections chair Lewis, who filed the petition to remove Barber, doesn’t think these actions set a good precedent.

“Barber actually broke statutes, the senate acknowledged that he broke statutes,” Lewis said.

“If you do your job badly enough, then they can’t remove you I guess ... just because his removal would destabilize [the elections] too much.”

Lewis was the elections chair for two years, until Edmunds forcibly removed him from the position in November. She justified the move by saying he was failing to do his job.

“Certain things had not been followed or done properly and we want to have someone with the leadership who has the ability to fulfill the job,” Edmunds said at the time.

The documents from the Student Government Court regarding the removal of Lewis did not cite any job duties that weren’t fulfilled. Lewis did catch criticism for having low voter turnout in the elections he ran.

6 4.26.2016 University Press

“The election might not have been heavily voted in, because no candidates advertised, but it was administratively by the books,” Lewis said of the elections he ran. “They didn’t even have any meetings, I had all the meetings, public notice, we voted on things.”

Klimar, like Lewis, is frustrated that Barber is still employed.

“You can’t just say, ‘Yeah he broke the rules, but we’re not going to remove him because we need him,’” said Klimar. “Those aren’t mutually exclusive, like he broke the rules, and even if you need him, he broke the rules.”

Lewis explained how his position is a lightning rod for criticism more so than just about any other within Student Government.

“Your mistakes on the Elections Board will most likely get you fired if they’re egregious enough. The

Michael Cairo (right), the Student Government president-elect, pled the student senate not to remove any members of the Elections Board, arguing that their removal could result in the need for another election.

Photo courtesy of Logan Penrod

“They didn’t even have any meetings, I had all the meetings, public notice, we voted on things.”

- Carter Lewis (left), former Elections Board chair

Photo by Gregory Cox

slightest mistake is going to draw criticism,” Lewis said. “It’s like being the kicker on the football team.

You only get one chance to make sure everything goes right. If things don’t go right, there really isn’t anyone else to blame.”

For this reason, Lewis thinks the Student Government “advisers tend to be way more involved with the Elections Board.”

Lewis said when he was the elections chair, some of the first and last calls of the day he would get would be from his advisers, making sure everything was running smoothly.

The Hand of the Advisers Most Student Government members have the same idea about what the advisers should be doing: providing answers when the students are in the dark.

“If we have questions on how things work, they can give advice on what the steps are to take,” said Edmunds. “They give advice on how to best do your due diligence in your job.”

Allison Rodgers, the adviser and assistant director of Student Government, sees her own job as a “silent supervisor.”

“I personally perceive my job as the support of the success of Student Government,” she said. “My job is to make sure they’re not breaking the law.”

Rodgers answers to Shontae White, the director of Student Involvement. During the Senate meeting deliberation to remove Barber and Wilner, he wasn’t as silent.

“If you decide to remove two individuals, the possibility for [another election] could be high.

[The advisers] might have to get involved if SG can’t do its job,” White told the student senate, who was contemplating the removal of the Elections Board officials. “It would be awkward to invalidate an entire elections process. Please do your job ethically and really think about what you’re going to do.”

Klimar thinks that the advisers go too far sometimes.

“The advisers are paid to advise, but they step over that line a lot,” Klimar said. “And that line is obviously very ambiguous, but they shouldn’t really be directly influencing votes or policy.”

On the other hand, Rodgers thinks that White was well within his right to voice his concerns.

“Every person who sits in those meetings has a chance to speak,” Rodgers said. “It’s [White’s] personal opinion.”

Carter thinks the advisers’ presence in the office can be intimidating.

“They’re kind of like the bosses, they’re kind of like the managers of the office and they act like it,” Lewis said. “You can’t not take their advice and not expect repercussions in some fashion.”

According to Klimar, when the board failed to host public meetings, Rodgers would call “one-on-one” meetings to discuss the elections.

Lewis said, “The advisers are here to make sure everything just kind of runs smoothly. For good things and bad. They can be lifesavers for events, because

their life experience push it along, but then also that means in events like this, they might not take the most judicial path.”

Klimar thinks that the pressure is coming from higher-ups. In his eyes, Corey King — the vice president of Student Affairs — is responsible.

“They’re motivated by outside factors … that is their positions, and Dr. King that pushes them to get things done to make the school look good,” Klimar said.

“Which is fine and all, but when you’re dealing with something that actually legally matters, it’s not just inhouse policy.”

Allison Rodgers (right), a Student Government adviser, works closely with the Elections Board and Gregory Barber. Some students that work with the Elections Board think she and other advisers may have overstepped their bounds to influence decisions within SG. Photo courtesy of Logan Penrod

Shontae White (right), the director of Student Involvement that oversees Student Government, pictured with Kathryn Edmunds, the student body president at the annual SG banquet. White told the student senate that if Gregory Barber was removed from his position as elections chair, Student Government may need to have a new round of elections.

Photo courtesy of Logan Penrod 4.26.2016 University Press 7

Out of Sight but Not Out of Mind A look into the university’s ROTC program, which works with multiple schools to develop the Army’s next generation of leaders.

Story and Photos by Patrick Martin

In position, the cadets are reporting to the first sergeant, who makes sure that everyone is accounted for.

8 4.26.2016 University Press

Cadets train in the T-11 building located on the outskirts of the Boca Raton campus. Maj. James Hillabrandt, the officer in charge of the program, thinks the location can be beneficial because the cadets can train in the open fields adjacent to the building. “Distance is nothing for us,” said Hillabrandt regarding the building placement.

T

he Florida Atlantic Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program was formed in 2005 with just four cadets and the mission to teach students how to be leaders and become commissioned officers upon graduation.

Today, the program has more than 70 cadets in multiple jobs including cyber crime, aviation and military police.

The ROTC develops the next leaders of the U.S. Army while still in a college environment. See sidebar for more information on the program.

The Owl Company is part of the Southern Strike Battalion originally formed at Florida International University, according to Capt. Michael Chezum, an instructor for the ROTC program.

FAU is one of just many schools in the Southern Strike Battalion. According to its website, FIU, FAU, Florida Memorial University, Barry University, the University of Miami, Palm Beach Atlantic University, Miami Dade College and Broward College are all in the battalion.

On campus they learn about improvised explosive devices, putting together operations orders and sexual harassment awareness, said Chezum. These classes are commonly referred to as “hip-pocket training.”

The classes will help the cadets when they conduct training at Snake Creek in Hollywood, Florida — where they perform both raids and key leader engagements.

This training teaches cadets how to talk to leaders in the local community when they are deployed overseas.

The military science first-year cadets through the military science third-year cadets conduct ropes course training at FAU. [Usually, MSI through MSIII cadets are freshmen to juniors, according to Cadet Lt. Col. Skyler Philbin, a senior business major.]

On Dec. 4, 2015, FAU approved the inclusion of a military science minor.

“One of our primary motivations for creating a minor

Cadet 1st Sgt. Mariah Sontag, is an MSIII. This was her first time doing the ropes course. She is in her three-week rotation of being the first sergeant. Sontag is responsible for receiving the accountability report and helping the commander.

4.26.2016 University Press 9

Gabe Bugallo, a junior criminology major, prepares to rappel down the wall after making it to the top.

“Those little grips are so freaking small,” he said referencing the rock wall.

Edwin Rivera, a freshman studying information systems, prepares to leap to a floating red ball on the power poles obstacle. The top of the pole is 15 feet off the ground.

is to reward FAU cadets who work so hard to obtain a commission as an Army officer,” said Hillabrandt in a memorandum announcing the new minor.

The minor is open to all 3000-level students and they must make a commitment to ROTC upon selecting it.

Hillabrandt said, “In addition to the minor appearing on their transcript, completion of such a program would provide the student with credentials that can help secure employment or special assignments in the Army, state department or other government agencies.”

ROTC Rundown A quick summary of what this program entails.

Cadets who are in the ROTC basic course — the first two years in college when the ROTC classes serve as electives — do not have a commitment obligation.

However, cadets who are in the ROTC advanced course, or the last two years in college when the ROTC classes serve as electives and the cadet must take lab courses as well, do require a commitment to serve as a U.S. Army officer.

Cadets don’t always go overseas to fight: Army missions are always changing and the cadet isn’t guaranteed to deploy or not to deploy. It all depends on the unit and the branch.

Information provided by the U.S. Army. To find out more, visit the Army ROTC site.

10 4.26.2016 University Press

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OPINION

No One Uses the Library for Books

The library isn’t being used for its intended purpose, making Student Government’s push for extended

hours unnecessary.

Story by Gregory Cox

T

he Florida Atlantic S.E. Wimberly Library is filled with over a million different books, journals, CDs, DVDs, VHS tapes and more. But if you look through any of the building’s five floors and in the computer labs, the chance of finding students with any of those things in front of them is slim to none.

The majority of people in the library could be doing whatever they’re doing anywhere else.

The majority of people in the library could be doing whatever they’re doing anywhere else.

Yet Student Body President Kathryn Edmunds wants to extend the library hours on the Boca Raton campus. By fall of 2016, she hopes the library will be open 24 hours a day, from Sunday through Thursday.

Most people just try to fool themselves by saying they’re studying because they’re in a library. In reality, you can see people scrolling through photos of someone else’s SunFest Music Festival experience, or their friend’s latest beach picture, which looks the same as the one she posted four days ago.

So you already have people who are barely studying in the library during the day, but they’ll be more productive at 4 a.m. right?

Photo by Mohammed F. Emran 12 4.26.2016 University Press

Nope.

The only people in there at that time will be those hammering away at the books for eight hours straight, trying to cram every piece of information into their brain like people in Japan trying to get onto a train. And studying like that won’t even do anything. Psychology professor Alan Kersten already said last-minute studying doesn’t help. Cramming holds information in your short term memory and come test time, short term memory isn’t as valuable.

Cramming holds information in your short term memory and come test time, short term memory isn’t as valuable.

“Short-term memory doesn’t store,” said Kersten to the University Press in fall of 2015. “Long-term is where you want [information], it’s where you retrieve it during the test [and] seems to be organized by meaning.”

On top of encouraging all-nighters, the type of studying that is associated with an all-night library can lead to some other ugly side effects, like decreased mental function and poor eating habits, according to Seattle Pi, a Washingtonbased newspaper.

Student hustle in and out of the library, but would they be doing the same if the hours were extended? Photo by Mohammed F. Emran

We already live in Florida, where flakka, cocaine and club drugs are rampant.

We don’t need sleep-deprived students looking like the rest of South Florida’s population that’s coming down from a drug-fueled bender.

Aside from encouraging unhealthy habits, what Student Government isn’t so quick to talk about is that this plan will cost roughly $40,000, according to

We already live in Florida, where flakka, cocaine and club drugs are rampant.

Felix Hartmann, the Student Government treasurer.

Meanwhile, there’s the Hillel Jewish Life Center, a 24-hour study center next to the Breezeway, behind the Chik-fil-A. It’s open seven days a week and has computers, private study rooms and desks for students to use.

This means the school already has a center that eliminates any need for an extension of library hours.

But that’s right. I forgot how efficient FAU is with its money, like when it waters sidewalks right after it rains.

On top of that, there are people who might not use the library for its intended purpose, the ones with ulterior motives.

College students are like rabbits when it comes to sex, and will try to have it anywhere and everywhere they’re not supposed to. I’ve heard of three separate friends who wanted to fornicate in between the shelves.

College students are like rabbits when it comes to sex, and will try to have it anywhere and everywhere they’re not supposed to.

But I won’t divulge if that ever really happened or not.

FAU doesn’t need extended library hours. I’d rather see that money put toward scholarships or, well, just about anything else.

4.26.2016 University Press 13

Hila Case, who transitioned while obtaining a graduate degree at Florida Atlantic in 2012.

Photo courtesy of Facebook

HOME OF THE PINK, WHITE AND BLUE Transgender students share their on-campus experiences.

Story by Brittany Ferrendi

A

lumna Hila Case never considered herself a male, even though her birth certificate said otherwise.

In 2012, one semester into her graduate bioengineering program at Florida Atlantic, Case made the decision to transition fully into a woman.

“I felt desperation, but also a sense of hope. I knew I had to do it if I ever wanted to feel happy,” she said.

“Everything seemed very time critical ... It was an intensely emotional period of my life.”

Case isn’t alone. Whether “out” as transgender or not, there are students who feel they weren’t born in the right body — and several of them choose to transition while attending FAU. Transgender students have resources available on campus to get support like Lambda United, a studentrun organization that has attempted to meet “the needs of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer/ questioning, intersex, asexual, and straight allies community of Florida Atlantic University,” according to its Owl Central page.

14 4.26.2016 University Press

Case said, “Transitioning on campus was a helpful experience for me, because it felt safer than anywhere else I knew and I had places to go for support.”

Students also have the LGBTQA Resource Center, a safe space for all students located on the second floor of the Student Union within the Office of Diversity and Multicultural Studies. The resource center has been a part of the Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs since spring of 2011.

Artie Jamison, the associate director of Enrichment Programs for First-Generation and Underrepresented Students, said, “As a part of the larger ODMA office family, we make a conscious effort to ensure that the space is one in which students feel they can come and share their experiences with others who might be facing similar challenges.”

Case said of her home life: “I had to know everyone’s schedules and determine what days and what hours it was safe for me to present as a woman. I really didn’t like it.”

She said she felt that transitioning on campus was easier than transitioning anywhere else.

“I was just learning how to be me, and I’m sure I came off incredibly awkward. That didn’t seem to matter, and I would guess many people were in a similar place of self-discovery,“ said the alumna.

Although Case received support, not everyone was positive.

“There was only one time where someone got very close to me and said ‘You’re f----d up,’ as he walked by,” she said. “I was really shook up. It made me feel very shattered.”

When it came to her experiences in the classroom, Case described everyone as kind. “I never told any

“The on campus support changed my life. At the time when I came out, I was living with my (male) fiance, who was very aggressively opposed to the idea of his pretty little woman cutting her hair and not shaving.”

- Brendon Lies (right), alumnus

Brendon Lies before his transition.

Photo courtesy of Brendon Lies Photo by Andrew Fraieli 4.26.2016 University Press 15

“I came out to my friends when I started here at FAU. Like, I never introduced myself as my birth name, I only used my chosen name ... I just started telling my teachers about it — last semester I didn’t.”

- Roman Alexander (right), freshman studying social work and public relations

classmates I was trans, but would some days show up presenting as a different gender. It was never an issue.”

Brendon Lies is a former FAU student who left in 2014. The former art director of the University Press went through a similar process during his transition on campus.

“Honestly, the on campus support changed my life,” he said. “At the time when I came out, I was living with my (male) fiance, who was very aggressively opposed to the idea of his pretty little woman cutting her hair and not shaving.”

According to Lies, he had to stay with his then-fiance so he could continue going to FAU — and he felt he had to stay in the closet. To make sure his fiance wouldn’t find out, Lies slowly cut off half of an inch of his hair every three days and had to keep his everyday appearance a secret.

“In the morning, I would wake up and do my makeup very lightly, dress in a skirt, throw on a cute hat and shove a plaid shirt and jeans in my pocket,” he said.

“As soon as I kissed my fiance goodbye, I’d get in the car, drive 30 minutes to school, then change clothes in the car and remove my makeup. And before heading home that night, I’d make sure to change back.”

It was for this reason that Lies loved the LGBTQA Resource Center.

“Not just because it gave me support from other students going through the same thing, who didn’t hesitate to call me Brendon or hang out with me, but because I had a place where I could be myself without feeling ashamed.”

The UP asked Jamison if transgender students generally feel safe on campus outside of the center.

While Jamison shared the sentiment that those who use the resource center feel safe, she could not account for all transitioning students.

“I have not been made aware of any specific incidents however I cannot say that every student who identifies 16 4.26.2016 University Press

Photo by Andrew Fraieli

as trans feels safe,” she said in an email.

Lies was not very open initially about his transition to his classmates on campus.

“To be honest, I was afraid that everyone would harass or hate me if I came out, so I kept it to myself until the last day of the semester.”

This fear grew when it came to which restrooms Lies would use.

“I didn’t feel like I belonged in the women’s room, but I felt too feminine for the men’s room,” he said.

“I was heading towards a stall when I began to double guess myself — and suddenly a woman walked in. I BOLTED from the women’s room, and I didn’t stop running until I was halfway across campus,” said Lies in an email.

Lies explicitly came out to one of his classes — and received a supportive response.

“There was only one class I came out to [out loud], because we were very close and it was actually shocking how kind my classmates were to me! It made me wish I had come out sooner,” he said.

Though Lies still had to change in his car to hide his transition from his fiance, he said he felt liberated.

“Everything felt so much more clear, and instead of being confident because I had everyone else’s approval, I walked with my head high knowing I was finally the guy I always wanted to be. And that really made it all worth it.”

In addition to the LGBTQA Resource Center, transgender students have other options available.

Roman Alexander of Lambda United, a freshman studying social work and public relations said, “[Lambda United] is the LGBT organization on campus and the goal of it is to provide a safe social atmosphere for LGBT students and to have some activism going on.”

Although Lambda United is beginning to make more headway as an organization, Alexander commented on its shortcomings.

“Most people are accepting of trans students, which is more than trans students get other places, but … We don’t help trans students get resources, or look into getting them therapy or anything, which is something I’m trying to change.”

Former Lambda United president and transgender student Benjamin Brage created Benji’s Closet, a clothing drive for transgender students during his reign. The clothing drive has since died down, but still remains a part of the organization.

Alexander hopes that Lambda will be able to provide more resources in the future, like chest binders for transgender males and clothing options with a wider size range.

Alexander claimed to only have a few problems with other people while on campus.

“I have had some instances where I was trying to use the bathroom and I got either called out or I got laughed at or made fun of,” he said. “That’s happened a couple of times.”

He added: “Fortunately, no one’s confronted me and I

haven’t been physically assaulted or anything so that’s a plus, but I wouldn’t say it’s been overly positive.”

Alexander officially came out as transgender seven months ago.

“I’m still not out to my family other than my sister.

I came out to my friends when I started here at FAU,” he said. “Like, I never introduced myself as my birth name, I only used my chosen name ... I just started telling my teachers about it — last semester I didn’t.”

When it comes to advice for students who may have difficulty transitioning on campus, Jamison encourages them to be familiar with on-campus resources.

“Students can be faced with any number of challenges and being a part of a supportive community and having someone to discuss those challenges with can be helpful in any number of ways,” she said. “I hope that students would feel comfortable utilizing our office and connecting with someone here so that they know they are valued and supported members of the FAU family.”

Transgender Terminology Here’s a reference guide for what you need to know.

Sex:

According to Gay Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, an LGBTQA media source, sex is a person’s biological status, categorized as male, female or intersex. More than just genitalia, signs of biological sex include chromosomes, internal reproductive organs and hormones.

Transgender:

This is the term for those whose gender identity or gender expression does not match up with the sex assigned to them at birth, according to the National Center for Transgender Equality, a leading social justice advocacy organization. This term also encompasses a wide variety of people, so it’s a good idea to ask a person what pronouns they use to identify themselves.

Gender Identity:

Gender Spectrum, a website dedicated to creating gender sensitivity and inclusivity for all young adults, defines gender identity as one’s personal sense of their own gender.

Some identify their gender as male or female, but others may feel that their gender identity does not fit into those two options.

Trans:

According to Slate magazine, this covers a wide variety of people, such as those who identify as transgender, transsexual and more.

Transsexual:

This is an older and rarely used term to describe someone who has changed or will change their bodies through surgery, according to GLAAD. The term transgender is often preferred over transsexual, which does not cover an umbrella of people — some transgender people may consider themselves transsexual, but not all transgender people are transsexual.

Roman Alexander talks with sophomore biology major Gerardo Ruiz in the LGBTQA center, Room 206 on the second floor of the Student Union.

Photo by Andrew Fraileli 4.26.2016 University Press 17

Off-Duty

Water Mark Despite a slow start, the FAU Police Department is doubling down on a crimeprevention initiative even if students aren’t paying attention.

Story by Yehudah Rodman

D

espite Florida Atlantic’s Boca Raton location being the first university in the nation to bring SmartWater — a water-based forensic liquid — to its campus in October of 2014, FAU Police have yet to use the technology to solve any crimes. And more than a year later, many students still don’t know about it.

Trying a Different Approach

Though the initial launch of the product did not reach the majority of the student body, the police plan to order more SmartWater kits for the upcoming fall semester.

Each bottle costs approximately $30, and while the $6,000 investment was made by Student Government, the police said that in the coming year they’ll be funding the program’s expansion.

Although police haven’t used the technology to solve any crimes yet, Deputy Police Chief Sean Brammer is confident that SmartWater can combat theft.

18 4.26.2016 University Press

SmartWater CSI uses water marking technology to return stolen property to its original owner.

Photo courtesy of SmartWater CSI

“It’s doing exactly what it’s supposed to do. And that is to be a deterrent,” Brammer said.

To deter people from targeting student property, and to inform them that SmartWater technology is present on campus, police have put up signage with the company slogan: “Thieves Beware.”

“Any tool that we can provide our students with to combat property theft, we’re all aboard,” said Brammer. “Crime prevention is not just about an uniformed police officer showing up, it’s about community involvement.”

According to Sgt. Mary Douglas, police will be ramping up their marketing efforts to reach a larger number of students and potential thieves come fall.

“We target those places that we know are hit the most. Bike racks, student housing areas and the like,” said Douglas, regarding the warning signs that began appearing around campus with the introduction of SmartWater.

She said the police will be doing more than just showing up at dorms to give the liquid out.

Part of the new push to introduce SmartWater will be to advertise in high traffic areas like the Breezeway.

“We’re also going to utilize our social media, Twitter, Facebook. I just recently realized that we need to grab an Instagram handle,” said Brammer. “We’re trying to push it on social media.”

“Crime prevention is not just about a uniformed police officer showing up, it’s about community involvement.”

- Sean Brammer, interim police chief

Antonio Arserio, FAU graduate and general manager of SmartWater CSI’s corporate headquarters, said, “The best use for SmartWater is to flood a specific market with it, and to hang up signs so everyone knows it is there.”

“It’s not going to stop criminals from stealing, but they’re going to go to an area that doesn’t have SmartWater,” he said.

Students Still Skeptical

The department distributed SmartWater to students living on campus by setting up a booth introducing the product outside of the Indian Rivers Tower residence hall on move-in day.

But some students ignored their offer.

Junior communication major Chelsea Dillon, who lives in University Village Apartments, said, “I got a kit on move-in day, but I’ve never used it.”

Dillon said she thinks SmartWater would have a bigger impact on the Boca Raton location if more students knew about it. When her friend’s bike was stolen on campus last year, police told her they wouldn’t be able to recover it because it would be impossible for them to prove it was stolen.

“If she would’ve used SmartWater maybe it would’ve helped,” said Dillon. “Maybe I’ll use it next year.”

Other students living on campus didn’t know SmartWater existed.

“I’ve never heard of it,” said Austin Hill, a senior finance major who lives in Indian River Towers. “I didn’t see anyone giving it out on move-in day.”

“It’s not going to stop criminals from stealing, but they’re going to go to an area that doesn’t have SmartWater”.

- Antonio Arserio, FAU Alumnus and general manager of SmartWater CSI

SmartWater Success

Despite recent budget cuts at FAU, Arserio believes SmartWater kits will be a worthwhile investment for the police because each small bottle can last a user several years.

“Studies show that it costs society approximately $6,000 for a burglary prosecution,” he said. “Police departments that are using it have seen an average reduction in property thefts of about 25 percent.”

Some South Florida neighborhoods that are currently using SmartWater have seen the number of thefts decrease by an even greater margin.

According to the Palm Beach Post, Swan and Seacrest Estates— two neighborhoods in Boynton Beach—had thefts decrease by 75 percent since they started using the forensic solution in 2013.

As the product continues to be used by more police departments around South Florida, including the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, Arserio said its impact on crime prevention will continue to grow.

However, he believes that in order for SmartWater to have its intended impact, thieves need to know that people know about it and are using it.

“You have to show that the community is on board,” he said. “Criminals avoid places that people are using it. They may go somewhere else, but they’re not going to come to FAU.”

Photo by Nate Nkumbu

What is SmartWater?

Alexandra Van Erven contributed to the reporting of this story.

SmartWater CSI has signs advertising the technology near bike racks and other crime hotspots on campus.

Photo by Max Jackson

The technology is manufactured by SmartWater CSI, LLC — a privately operated crime-reduction and theft-deterrence company.

The water-based forensic substance is used to tag belongings in case they’re stolen or lost.

Although items tagged with SmartWater appear unmarked to the naked eye, a unique UV black light — not available commercially — can detect the solution.

The fluid is encoded with a forensic identification number that is registered to the property owner, allowing law enforcement officers to determine exactly whom a swabbed product belongs to.

The serial number is uploaded to the Boca Raton Police Department and SmartWater CSI databases.

Coming in a kit, the smallest container, which is about the size of a tube of lip gloss, is accompanied by an applicator that tags the user’s property. The department hoped the technology would dissuade thieves from snatching items like laptops, cell phones and bicycles.

During the initial rollout of SmartWater on campus, police estimate that out of the 300 they purchased, 100 tubes of the liquid were handed out.

4.26.2016 University Press 19

Head swimming coach Lara Preacco.

Photo by Max Jackson

Troubled Waters

A trend seems to be forming inside the school’s swim program, where two successful coaches have been fired in two years.

Story by Brendan Feeney

A

pattern is developing in Florida Atlantic’s swimming program, where head coach Lara Preacco has been kicking her most accomplished coaches overboard.

The firing of assistant coach Manny Noguchi in March led several swimmers, from both the men and women’s teams, to reach out to the University Press to shed light on dissatisfaction with their coach.

Two swimmers, who both swam for Preacco a season ago, chose to stay anonymous because of fear of possible repercussions. Noguchi declined comment, saying he has no right since he’s no longer a part of the program.

“It is very critical time for me to move forward from here,” he said in an email.

Preacco said that Noguchi was fired because of “philosophical differences,” but the swimmers believe their coach wants “absolute power” over the team.

20 4.26.2016 University Press

“The only viewpoint you need to have in common is to have the team succeed,” a female swimmer said. “It seems like she wants to be the top dog and she wants people to just be yes men coming in.”

Noguchi’s firing occurred less than two years after former dive coach Michelle Davison-Sandelin was fired — three months after she was named Conference USA’s Diving Coach of the Year. She won the award in three of her five years at FAU. John Walsh — a former FAU swimmer, official graduate assistant in the 2014-2015 season and a volunteer assistant coach a season ago — doesn’t think Preacco handled informing the swimmers of Noguchi’s firing well.

The team found out from high school recruits, who only heard because Noguchi was also the recruiting coordinator. Walsh himself found out from a club coach who is unaffiliated with FAU.

“The lack of description, lack of warning and the mishandling of the whole event was why I wanted to talk,” said Walsh.

Davison-Sandelin said, “A lot of people quit since [Noguchi] was fired and a lot of people didn’t like the way she treated him.”

Preacco, who has been head coach since February of 2014, declined to comment on all personnel issues.

“What [Preacco] did is not very professional nor is there any reasoning behind [it],” Davison-Sandelin said. “It just appears she fires people who are good at what they do.”

Walsh doesn’t believe she ever liked DavisonSandelin as a fellow coach when Preacco was an assistant.

“Michelle should’ve stayed as the coach because she was a proven coach,” Walsh said.

“There was no reason, she just didn’t like me,”

Davison-Sandelin agreed.

Soon after Preacco was named head coach, she let the diving coach go. Davison-Sandelin said Preacco fired her for a similar reason as Noguchi — different coaching styles.

“It’s almost comical because diving and swimming are totally different,” Davison-Sandelin said. “We’re not even together, she doesn’t know anything about diving.”

That firing was when the anonymous female swimmer first noticed something fishy was going on.

Now it’s obvious, she says.

The annonymous male swimmer, believes philosophical differences did not lead to Noguchi’s firing. He said that from the team’s perspective, “she wants to sit on top of her little castle and govern.”

What bothered the swimmers about the firings is that they believed Noguchi was the coach from whom they learned the most.

According to them, Noguchi put all of his effort into the team.

He researched and stayed up to date with all of the new techniques in the sport; he would walk around the pool deck and watch everyone, focus on every person. Noguchi would approach the swimmer if there was any problem and if that didn’t work, he would videotape and analyze each swimmer.

“It’s hard to watch everyone, but you have to try your best and that’s what he does,” the female swimmer said. “He’s just very dedicated.”

Noguchi’s dedication carried beyond the school year.

During the summer — which Preacco spent in her home country of Switzerland — he was at the pool every day. The female swimmer said she saw most of her improvement when she was able to work closely with Noguchi.

“Manny was better, everything about him was better than the coaches on the team,” said the male swimmer.

“He absolutely made the team better.”

“I have a lot of goals. Under [Preacco], I don’t think I can achieve them,” he continued.

Walsh said the main difference between Preacco and Noguchi is their experience. He believes Noguchi is able to provide more information since he comes from “great programs” and has learned from head coaches who have produced Olympic swimmers and NCAA champions.

In 2001, Noguchi started as the head swimming coach at Kyushu University in Fukuoka, Kyushu, one of Japan’s main islands. He then became a graduate assistant for the University of Georgia in 2002, before coaching at Michigan State University and the University of Wyoming, where he helped the program set more than 30 school records.

According to his FAU sports bio, he was a leading coach for Damian Alleyne, who competed in the 2004 Olympic Games in Greece and led Wyoming to “thrive” in NCAA championships, World Championship Trials and U.S. Olympic Trials.

Preacco swam and coached at FAU under previous coach Steve Eckelkamp before becoming head coach in 2014. She competed in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta while she was still a student, and has been

“What [Preacco] did is not very professional nor is there any reasoning behind [it].

It just appears she fires people who are good at what they do.”

- Michelle Davison-Sandelin, former FAU dive coach

involved with FAU’s swimming program ever since.

She first was an assistant coach at the school from 1998-2001. In May of 2012, she took FAU’s assistant coaching job for a second time.

“I feel like a lot of [Preacco’s] coaching mentalities have come from Steve,” said Walsh, who also swam under Eckelkamp. “Not to say that’s a bad thing, but for quality of practices and the attention paid to the technique of the swimmers and different things like that, I definitely feel [Noguchi] is a superior coach in that aspect. He has more experience, he’s been doing it a lot longer than she has.”

Preacco wasn’t as open to accepting input from her assistant coaches as Walsh had hoped.

“I feel like she should’ve listened a lot more to them,” he said. “Even though she’s the boss, it isn’t the boss’s job to make all the decisions herself. The reason you hire assistants is to listen to your assistants and formulate ideas between the three. It feels like when you talk, a decision was already made and it just goes in one ear and out the other.”

The anonymous female swimmer said, “It got to the point where [Preacco] couldn’t really set those differences apart and she wasn’t being an adult.

[She] took the easy way out and just fired him, and it’s not what’s best for the program and there was no reasoning behind it.”

Walsh said that Preacco firing her two most accomplished coaches in the past two years is odd, but believes it’s more coincidental than purposeful.

However, according to the female swimmer, that doesn’t mean the connection isn’t noticeable, which has her fearing for the program’s future.

“You’re not going to feel secure,” she said regarding any possible new hires. “You’re going to see all these amazing coaches, Diving Coach of the Year, and you’re like ‘Wow, how did they get fired? I shouldn’t go there because if they get fired, I’ll get fired.’”

For her, swimming at FAU is no longer fulfilling. She says some swimmers will stay if they’re on scholarship, but other than that something has to change or “no one’s going to want to stay.”

Downplaying Success According to two anonymous swimmers, Lara Preacco would find times when the team was successful and use them to bring up issues unrelated to swimming. They both told a story about a 5 a.m. workout, which they claimed was by far the toughest of the year.

One swimmer finished the workout, despite others being unable to complete it. However, this individual was not wearing the same shirt as everyone else — it was a year older and therefore had a different font size.

Preacco then spent 10-15 minutes ranting about how the different shirt would prevent the team from winning conference.

This angered both of the anonymous swimmers.

The female said that for Preacco to come and yell about the shirt after the swimmer’s workout and claim that the swimmer doesn’t care about conference was “a slap in the face. Why am I here? Why did I train all summer when you were gone?”

“I was absolutely infuriated,” said the anonymous male. “To dismiss our hard work and say it doesn’t matter unless we’re wearing the same thing truly bothers me.”

Both swimmers also stated that it’s not easy to swim for a coach like that. The male swimmer said it’s “hard to be civil” under her and there is a strong “dislike.”

“It does make it hard,” John Walsh said. “When you’re a college athlete, having that added pressure really takes a detriment to them, where they’re more focused on ‘What am I going to wear in the morning?’ rather than ‘How am I going to prepare for practice?’”

“I think that’s important as a team to represent FAU to the best that we can,” Preacco said. “I’m very proud of FAU, I love FAU. I always have, I always will … It’s your way to show your support to your team, your swimmers, your divers, to the other coaches, to the athletic department, to everyone around you.”

The female swimmer continued with another story at the end of conferences. According to her, after the team’s last meet, Preacco said, “You guys did a very good job at conference.

Next year let’s come back and get higher GPAs and more community service.”

4.26.2016 University Press 21

The female swimmer said she believes Preacco has the potential to be a good leader, but she needs to take a step back and listen to her fellow coaches. Until Preacco does that, she doesn’t think things will work out.

The team also feels that Preacco isn’t focused enough on the team’s success and puts too much emphasis on issues unrelated to swimming.

Walsh said, “She’d rather focus on all the other things outside the pool before working on making swimming a priority.”

Alongside Walsh, the swimmers believe a coach has to maintain a balance between academics and athletics — while Preacco seems to lean solely toward academics.

“It’s very hard for the student-athletes to [maintain a balance], because it’s a busy, busy, busy schedule. I do believe that academics come first and will always come first,” Preacco said. “And then we try to do as many community service hours that we can during the offseason when we have less meets … You’re always trying to do enough for the community but you don’t want to burn them out … I always listen to feedback from the swimmers and divers and it’s kind of a weekly juggle.”

The female swimmer said she felt her coach was more focused on pleasing the athletic department and letting the team suffer. “She seems very paranoid that she’s going to lose her job if she doesn’t meet a certain GPA standard.”

Walsh also says Preacco focuses heavily on Owl Points — points that athletic programs receive for going to events like resume critiques, Relay For Life and other FAU sporting events. At the end of the year whichever program has the most points wins the Owl Cup. The anonymous male swimmer said Preacco will push “very hard” for events with double Owl Cup points, “even when they conflict with a healthy sleep schedule or we have work for school.”

The team hosted several swim clinics for the community, where team members and assistant coaches were present to teach kids how to swim. The female swimmer said that while Noguchi would get in the water to teach, Preacco “never attended one of them.”

The swimmers continued: “If she really cared about volunteering the way we do, she would attend important events and lead by example.”

Preacco doesn’t believe she’s the only one who values Owl points. “[Owl points are] important to me because it’s important to the swimmers and divers.”

The male swimmer disagreed with Preacco.

“Owl Cup points mean virtually nothing to us,” he

Former assistant coach Manny Noguchi (left) and head coach Lara Preacco (second to the right).

Photo courtesy of Facebook 22 4.26.2016 University Press

said. “Of course we enjoy doing community service and supporting our friends in other sports, but in the end, Owl Cup points are a meaningless construct that [Preacco] believes will make the team look better and, as such, pushes us to go to them — though it is worth noting that nothing is mandatory, everything is optional. But she will give you a hard time, interrogate you about why you didn’t go.”

The female swimmer elaborated on her teammate’s comment, saying she thinks the Owl Cup is irrelevant.

“I don’t think us swimmers who volunteer care about winning [the Owl Cup], [we] just enjoy meeting others in the community and passing down whatever we can,” she said.

Regardless of issues outside the pool, the female swimmer said she’s never seen the team perform as well as it did with Noguchi, and for him to be fired is “not in the best interest of the team.”

“We should bring anything to light that we can,” she said. “I think it’s important to prevent stuff like [Noguchi’s firing] from happening.”

“I no longer respect her as a coach,” said the anonymous female swimmer. “She used to be very caring and in tune with how we were feeling and very motivated and excited to coach and now she’s more worried about the logistics of things, like keeping the athletic department happy instead of keeping us happy. I kind of miss the way she used to be.”

No Floaties Michelle Davison-Sandelin was eight months into her pregnancy when she won Conference USA’s Diving Coach of the Year. While on her maternity leave, she said Lara Preacco “kept emailing me, saying ‘when are you coming back, how are you enjoying vacation?’”

Preacco fired Davison-Sandelin the first day back from her six-week maternity leave.

Manny Noguchi also had a child on the way when he was fired.

An anonymous male swimmer said, “Getting fired for philosophical differences when a child is on the way really says something about [Preacco].”

The female swimmer believes Preacco may be worried that having children interferes with coaching. When Preacco was an assistant, coach Steve Eckelkamp would arrive late and postpone practices because of his kids.

The anonymous female swimmer said, “I don’t know what it is with her and kids, but I guess she has a problem with it.”

Creative Juices

After Some Time

By Angie Jimenez, English/French double major, senior

But he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 7:21) Where the sunrise tethers ripening, one-hundred And ninety-seven miles out of Bishop City, He unloaded his most beloved, set fire to the ground And began to burn One by one, one by one. On this peculiar dawn, A man by the name of Anthony Bellicossae wandered out into the darkness, And bending-past all limits, Stranded far beyond the familiar, his home Ground in Sunrise Park.

On a narrow, with the moon still stringed To the dark stellar (three-hundred-eightyFour-thousand and four-hundred km Out?), his shadows took reflection: My father He showed me, Illiterate He taught me Inheritance

And The Interpretation of Dreams. My mother, I miss how she gave me Tenderness. And, the universe. The universe Did provide intelligence; Yesterday, I had a revelation.

You see: man’s existence Is a fantasy. Man’s work is a fantasy. Man’s Legacy is a fantasy.

Reaching his end out in full bruteWilderness near the shores of Lake Tahoe; Having burnt every-last, including his mobilehome; Caged, he began pacing; and, in a most horrid

Pitch of desolateness, began; “Lord, Lord pity this barren, unmolded Soul. In a minute I will cease being, knowing fully, That you arranged The Cosmos for me,

Illustration by Lee Pritz

And that because I am not awake day ceases.

Love did not stay. Sanity never took Hold. And every day is a-new; and, ‘Though This be madness, there is method in’t.’”

Veering, finally, to the edge of foaming rock, Where a most-fervent saffron Coloured sunrise now glistens Off the waters.

With pistol in hand, finally taking One last: a click, a thump, And then silence dissipated into another Scenic blossoming morning.

This Creative Juices is the winner of Voices From The 3rd Floor’s second spring contest.

Visit Voices From The 3rd Floor’s website to see the runners-up and other writing from English majors at FAU. 4.26.2016 University Press 23