UP13_28

University Press April 17, 2012 Vol. 13 Issue 28

Florida Atlantic University’s finest news source

Incoming!

Meet what men’s basketball coach Mike Jarivs calls, “the

best recruiting class in the history of FAU basketball.”

PG. 12

Jonatha Carr’s family tells their side of the viral outburst.

PG. 4 upressonline.com

A 21-year-old disabled, diabetic gym expert tells his story.

PG. 18

A freshman volleyball player from Italy adjusts to life in Boca.

PG. 20

First issue is free; each additional copy is 50 cents and available in the UP newsroom.

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Briefs April 17, 2012 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Mariam Aldhahi MANAGING EDITOR Ryan Cortes ART DIRECTOR Phaedra Blaize WEB EDITOR Andrew Alvino BUSINESS MANAGER Michae Henry COPY DESK CHIEF Michael Chandeck NEWS EDITOR Regina Kaza CRIME EDITOR Monica Ruiz FEATURES EDITOR Carolina Fernandez PHOTO EDITOR Charles Pratt SPORTS EDITOR Rolando Rosa SENIOR EDITORS Rachel Chapnick Gideon Grudo SENIOR REPORTERS Karla Bowsher Sergio Candido SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER Christine Capozziello STAFF REPORTERS Dylan Bouscher Michelle Ferrand Jordan Robrish STAFF DESIGNER Elena Medina STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Melissa Landolfa COPY EDITOR Jessica Cohn-Kleinberg CONTRIBUTORS Jessica Calaway, Michelle Friswell, Chase Kennedy, Taylor Johnson, Wadreama King, Amanda Rubio, Cyrus Smith ADVISERS Michael Koretzky Dan Sweeney COVER Photo courtesy of Orlando Sentinel Photo Illustration by Charles Pratt

WANT TO JOIN THE UP? email upress@fau.edu Staff meetings every Friday, 2 p.m. in the Student Union, Room 214 WANT TO PLACE AN AD? Contact Marc Litt 732.991.6353 marc@universityimpress.com PUBLISHER FAU Student Government The opinions expressed by the UP are not necessarily those of the student body, Student Government or FAU.

www.upressonline.com 777 Glades Road Student Union, Room 214 Boca Raton, FL 33431 561.297.2960 upressonline.com

Atop the conference, No. 21 Mike Spano, No. 4 Mitch Morales and the rest of FAU baseball are looking down at every Sun Belt team in the standings with an 11-2 conference record. FAU is also ranked 28th in the nation in the Collegiate Baseball poll. Photo by Michelle Friswell

News Ever since guidelines for summer courses were announced, students and faculty have been protesting the cuts. On April 10, about 30 students protested the decision to cut summer classes that don’t have at least 24 students. On Wednesday, April 18, at noon, the FAU Faculty Union is leading what will be the third protest. For full UP coverage of these protests, visit upressonline.com.

Features The spring Bachelor of Fine Arts Exhibition will take place at the Ritter Gallery on the Boca campus and features pieces by about 20 students getting their degree from the Department of Visual Arts and Art History. It’s their culminating project after working over the course of the semester. The opening reception starts at 8 p.m. on April 20 and the exhibit will run until May 4.

Sports Owls football held its annual Spring Game on Saturday, April 14, at 6 p.m. for the first time at FAU Football Stadium. The Owls were split into two squads, with the White Team defeating the Blue Team 27-3. It was the first chance for fans and the public to catch new coach Carl Pelini in action. Junior running back Johnathan Wallace scored three touchdowns for the White Team.

April 17, 2012

3

News

Behind the breakdown Jonatha Carr’s family speaks out about their daughter’s outburst

By Rachel Chapnick upress@fau.edu

J

onatha Carr, a 24-year-old FAU student, was two courses shy of graduation when she suffered a nervous breakdown and threatened to kill her professor and classmates.

The university suspended Carr for at least the semester following her outburst on March 20. Carr’s family said her rant was because she suffers from bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

The family isn’t convinced FAU handled the situation properly.

Since then, Joyce and Nicole Carr say the family has been receiving death threats from strangers and they’re worried about Carr’s safety, as well as her future.

Carr has suffered from mental breakdowns before, three of which required her to be Baker Acted. Carr found out she was mentally ill when she was 13, according to her mother and sister. They say mental disorders run in the family. Carr’s grandmother was bipolar, and her aunt and sister also battle the condition.

Carr’s antidepressant medication masks her disorders and lets her be an active member in FAU’s community. She wanted to be a doctor but a nervous breakdown in 2009 ended her dream. Psychiatric specialists told Carr she couldn’t go through residency, since she needed sleep for her mental disabilities, according to Joyce and Nicole Carr.

When that didn’t work out, Carr decided to be a chemistry teacher. With a 3.8 GPA, her family says she was on her way, until she asked her professor, “How does evolution kill black people?”

“The professor had made a comment. ‘Evolution is final, it’s not up for discussion,’” Joyce Carr said. According to her family, Carr, who is a creationist, had a problem with her evolution class after the comment.

Evolution professor Stephen Kajiura said he doesn’t recall saying this. “She may have misinterpreted me,” Kajiura said.

“You can’t ever say anything is absolute and final. We are biologists. We deal in statistics and probability.”

He also claims the class had not yet discussed evolution versus creationism.

An anonymous creationist in the class backed this up. “He doesn’t stop us from asking questions, but he’ll be prepared to argue from what he believes. Otherwise he wouldn’t be teaching the subject,” the student said.

The week before her outburst, Joyce Carr and her daughter grabbed lunch. Carr complained about Kajiura’s class. She had been enrolled in the class once before, but dropped it when her grandmother died. Her mother recommended she drop it again, but Carr needed it to graduate.

Once Carr’s breakdown began, the family thinks Kajiura should have realized something was wrong. “If someone would have acted differently, I wish it would have been the professor,”

4

April 17, 2012

Joyce Carr said.

Kajiura said he realized the student was having a mental breakdown. “It was clearly a mental issue, which is why I wanted to not confront her,” he said. According to Kajiura, his teaching assistant had left to call police, so he wanted to keep Carr calm.

Joyce Carr mentioned evolution wasn’t the problem, it’s what Kajiura said about it. “When you say it’s been proven, she wanted to challenge it,” she said.

Nicole Carr said her sister researched how the theory of evolution was used to justify the Holocaust. She thinks that’s what led to her question. “She remembers what she said, but she says ‘I couldn’t control it,’” Joyce Carr said.

They say Carr couldn’t control her racist comments because of her condition. “When my sister is in her state, that’s where she goes,” Nicole Carr said.

They insist, however, Carr is not racist. “When she’s at home, her slurs were against black people,” Joyce Carr said “She’s called my mom names, a black b-i-t-c-h, a nigger,” Nicole Carr said.

“When you go in your manic phase, you go off. It may be sex, it may be race, it may be religion,” Nicole Carr said. “On a regular basis she wouldn’t say things like this.”

According to both women, this breakdown was Carr’s worst.

“Have I seen it like that? No,” Joyce Carr said.

Nicole Carr, who says her sister has hit her and sworn at her during past breakdowns, agreed, “I hadn’t seen it with that much depth.”

Carr was released on March 23, three days after the breakdown. “We’re having a hard time having her not want to search everything being written about her,” Joyce Carr said.

Nicole added, “We’re trying to get her to watch TV, watch movies, but she’s been reading all this stuff.”

Carr’s family is also worried about the students. “Jonatha has a mental illness. It’s not their fault,” Joyce Carr said.

“We’re in an age when kids pull out their video cameras and their cell phones. It’s like the norm. […] As much as I don’t like [the video] out there, had it not been for it, I would have never known what went on in that classroom.”

The family says Jonatha will not try to receive secondary degrees from FAU. Still, they want to bring in a specialist to train students and faculty on how to deal with students with mental disorders.

Jonatha Carr, 24, was diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder when she was 13 years old. Her outburst in GS120 on March 20 landed on YouTube, Reddit, Twitter and Facebook. Photo courtesy of Jonathan Carr

For the family’s take on how Professor Stephen Kajiura, Director of the Spanish Basic Language Program Justin White, and FAU Police handled Carr’s breakdown, visit upressonline.com.

upressonline.com

upressonline.com

April 17, 2012

5

? say

Opinion

What’d

you just

By Regina Kaza upress@fau.edu

W

hen SG wanted to ask students if they thought FAU should protect all students in the LGBTQA community from being harassed, SG President Ayden Maher decided to just veto it.

The head of Student Affairs, Charles Brown, sent it back for reconsideration. Brown says he didn’t have a problem with it, he just wanted to support “what’s right.” But is that what’s really right for students?

Well, some members of Charles Brown SG are tired of keeping quiet. Senior Vice President of Student Affairs So they’re complaining. And Photo courtesy of because they’re upset, mistakes media relations administrators didn’t tell us about are now public, according to Boca Gov. Ryan Ebanks.

This semester, Boca House Speaker Boris Bastidas said Student Affairs has told him what bills should pass, while Ebanks said Student Affairs didn’t appreciate him revealing messy and missing SG paperwork. “To hear a division censors students,” Boris Bastidas Ebanks said. “Then what’s the Boca campus House point of SG?” Speaker Earlier this year, an adviser in SG made $70,987 worth of unauthorized transactions.

Unauthorized student dollars?

That seems like something we should know about. But more on that later.

Ebanks also said Student Affairs didn’t like it when he brought that up at a House meeting.

Ryan Ebanks

Boca campus Governor

6

April 17, 2012

If Student Affairs and Student Government don’t start seeing eye to eye, we’re going to have more problems

“I think the word censorship — that’s a strong word,” Terry Mena said, associate dean of students. “I can’t think of any scenario that we’ve ever stopped any entities, or Student Government as a whole, in trying to move a law forward.”

Bastidas brought up an example. Last year, the Boca House of Representatives and Senate passed a bill that would ask students if it should be against FAU policy to harass students for being gay or their ‘gender identity.’

The House has pushed the question to be on the ballot since 2005, according to Bastidas, and it finally passed in 2011. Well, not all of it.

The Board of Trustees didn’t get to vote on adding the “gender identity” part because SG President Ayden Maher decided to veto it. Brown sent it back for reconsideration.

“I explained to [Maher] I have no problem with this,” Brown said about the bill. “I said we don’t want to hold a rally and bring … you don’t want to … how can I say this and not come out in the newspaper wrong?

You don’t want to cause … I can’t even explain what I said to him.”

He then knocked on the table three times and emphasized, “You want to support what’s right.”

Bastidas claimed the entire anti-discrimination bill failed to pass because Student Affairs didn’t want SG to have an LGBTQA rally. “I guess,” Bastidas said, “they were worried about some of the media coverage.”

Maher said policy change was a university wide issue; that admin was already working on adding sexual orientation to FAU’s anti-discrimination policy. But that didn’t include “gender identity” when the BOT voted on it.

“I vetoed it because SG isn’t in the business of writing [university] policy,” Maher told the UP back in September.

The House and Senate also wanted to get student feedback on whether or not students should be suspended or kicked out of their dorms for having marijuana. That’s why they voted to put the question on the ballot, according to the representatives at an August House meeting.

Brown also sent back the Senate’s question about lower parking fines and all of the House’s ballot questions. Six questions in total.

“Legislations like that need to be discussed,” Brown said about the marijuana question. “Is that for the benefit of Florida Atlantic University [is what] I ask the

students. If you can’t answer me and give me a good answer and valid reasons — I have real issues with that.”

But it’s just a question. It doesn’t change university policy. And, even if it did, doesn’t the BOTs make the final call anyway? The truth is that it’s not about the questions, it’s about the answers they’ll get.

“We want to avoid any of those eyesores that bring a negative light to Florida Atlantic University,” Brown admitted.

And even though we don’t know exactly what constitutes an “eyesore,” unless SG is hanging a banner asking “Should students get in trouble for smoking weed in their dorms?” in the Breezeway, it isn’t really an eyesore.

So now let’s go back to the messy and missing SG paperwork. This semester, Ryan Ebanks told everyone at a House meeting in February that over $70,000 worth of transactions were unauthorized in former Program Board adviser Alicia Keating’s account.

“I was told there were other means of doing it,” Ebanks admitted. “I didn’t have to go in front of the House and publicize it to everyone, knowing that the media was there.”

Making mistakes is bad, hiding them is worse.

“Those expenses were allowable,” Mena said. “They didn’t break any university policies.”

But they did.

Because even though Keating had 60 unauthorized transactions, and were spent responsibly, according to Ebanks, it’s still against policy to not file them with the budget office. That sounds like something students should know about, no? So if Ebanks never told everyone in that meeting that thousands of student dollars went unreported, we may have never found out.

“It’s almost as if they’re saying, ‘Don’t do this in public, worry about the image it will bring,’” Bastidas said.

“I’m not the most liked governor because I challenge the system,” Ebanks said. “We’re following policy 99 percent of the time and they’re not. Am I trying to air out their dirty laundry? No. I’m trying to make us accountable for the things we should be accountable for. It’s because I’ve been speaking and no one has been listening.”

Sounds like he’s just trying to support what’s right.

At least someone is. upressonline.com

Find us on Facebook and Twitter:

Tutti Frutti of East Boca upressonline.com

April 17, 2012

7

Features

Only the beginning Aspiring musician Alex Kinsey is taking all the right steps toward kick-starting his career

By Michelle Ferrand upress@fau.edu

“I

’m sorry if I don’t make eye contact with you while I play,” began Alex Kinsey as he propped his acoustic guitar onto his lap. “This is such a small

space.”

Whether or not he felt awkward playing in a lounge room on the fifth floor of HPT to a complete stranger, you couldn’t tell as soon as Kinsey began strumming out chords on his guitar and his voice began to fill the room.

A die-hard Jason Mraz fan since he was a child, Kinsey’s music is heavily Mraz-inspired. He emulates the singer/ songwriter’s sound and vibe in hope of someday having the same influence on another person the way Mraz has on him.

While music came to Kinsey at a young age — a brief stint at piano lessons when he was four and singing karaoke before he could read — it wasn’t until Kinsey was 17 that he realized he could make a living performing for people.

Now, the 20-year-old commercial music major plays four shows a month in his hometown of Daytona Beach, Fla. and recently released a song, called “I Like It,” on Hoot/ Wisdom Recordings latest CompOWLation album. He’s also getting ready to record his first EP in the summer.

“I’m hoping to write and record 10 or 15 songs, and then cut it down to six,” Kinsey said. “I already have four songs that are written and ready to be recorded.”

The leftovers, he said, will be used as backup songs at live shows. Kinsey hopes to release the EP this upcoming September on iTunes, stream it on his Facebook page, and

Playing for the greats

Kinsey first started to play guitar when he was in middle school after the school started offering free lessons. Photo illustrations by Melissa Landolfa

8

April 17, 2012

Even Andy Grammer, a Los Angeles-based musician thinks Kinsey’s got what it takes. He met the artist by pure luck after one of Grammer’s concerts in Fort Lauderdale. He gave Kinsey a chance to play for him inside his tour bus.

“I bought [Grammer’s] bass player a slice of pizza after the show and he sat with us, and then Grammer came over to us,” Kinsey said “After Grammer agreed to me buying him a slice of pizza, we talked for 45 minutes and I told him I was a musician. So he just invited me back to his bus to play a couple songs for him.”

Grammer was impressed by his talent, adding that he could tell he was a Jason Mraz fan, and told him that if he finds what sets him apart from other musicians, he has the potential to make it as an artist.

Continued on page 11 upressonline.com

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upressonline.com

Features Continued from page 8

eventually on his website, which is still in the planning and designing process. Kinsey sees the EP as an autobiographical work, where each song is about different parts of his life.

Chris Via, a co-producer on Kinsey’s upcoming EP and a Daytona Beach musician, said he heard of Kinsey while playing on tour and knew right away he wanted to work with him.

“When I first saw Kinsey play, I saw a star in him,” Via said of the time he met Kinsey two years ago. “His music is so real and you can tell it’s coming from his heart.”

Kinsey said he will be OK with any level of success his EP reaches.

“I would just love for this CD to just explode or go viral. But if just a few people hear it and like it, it’s OK.” According to Kinsey, the music supervisor of the MTV documentary series, World of Jenks, is trying to get a song of his on the upcoming season.

Plus, on March 25, Kinsey played an hour-long set outside of Revolution Live in Fort Lauderdale, while people waited in line for the rock band Blue October. Kinsey managed to land the gig with the help of his friend and manager, Matt Smith, who emailed the venue asking if Kinsey could open any upcoming shows.

“It went really well and I got a good response from the people there,” Kinsey said about the show. “Afterwards, they came up to me showing interest and asking questions about my music.”

Smith, who has known Kinsey for three years and helped him get signed to Hoot/Wisdom, believes Kinsey’s laid-back music is fun to listen to and that he can actually make a career out of it.

“I definitely think he has the potential to make it big,” Smith said.

Considering Kinsey’s lifelong determination and upcoming opportunities, he might be well on his way to stardom. But his ultimate goal is simply to reach out to someone.

“The thing I want to accomplish with music is to make someone passionate about something,” Kinsey said. “The best feeling I’ve ever felt is being passionate about music, and I want to give that to somebody else.”

Getting to know the songwriter Every song has its backstory. And Kinsey’s been inspired by a range of life experiences –– from love in his own life to his years of determination. He shared the meaning behind two of his favorite songs in the bunch.

I Like It

“It’s basically a song about a girl, like a girl being the one that you want to be with. The only one you want to be with.”

Kinsey plans on recording his six song EP during the summer and hopes to release the EP by September.

upressonline.com

Available for preview on http://www. compowlation.bandcamp. com/track/i-like-it.

Makin’ Guesses

“It’s about being creative and simply trying new things without worrying about if it doesn’t work out perfectly.”

Available for listen on http://www.soundcloud. com/alex-kinsey-music.

April 17, 2012

11

Cover

Incoming!

Led by showstopper Stefan Moody and veteran transfer Dragan Sekelja, the new squad is here

(Top left) Stefan Moody, a 5’9 point guard from Orlando, will take over the position after Ray Taylor and Alex Tucker have departed. Photo courtesy of the Orlando Sentinel

By Rolando Rosa

E

very night last year, Dragan Sekelja had one of the best seats in The Burrow to witness an 1119 season for the Owls.

Right on the bench.

Sekelja, a 7-foot center who transferred from Baylor after 20102011, had to redshirt and sit out. During games, an undersized FAU squad with no player averaging more than the 4.5 rebounds of the now-departed Kore White, was constantly getting bullied, beaten, bruised up inside the paint.

Frustrated, all Sekelja could do was watch. The pain, the helplessness of not being able to help his team, took a toll on the Croatian junior.

“It was one of the worst experiences of my life,” Sekelja said. “Seeing us losing, wanting to come in — but you can’t. It was always hard to just sit there. I learned from it though, and I don’t want our fans to have to watch another season like last [year].”

With the arrival of the new recruiting class, it’s possible they won’t.

In addition to Sekelja, the incoming players for 2012-2013 are some of the most highly acclaimed players FAU has ever acquired, with head coach Mike Jarvis making a bold claim.

“The class that we’re bringing in is going to be the most talented class,”

Jarvis said. “It includes a 7-footer in Dragan. It includes probably the most incredible athlete that I’ve ever seen in Stefan Moody, it includes a 6-foot-8 power forward in Chris Bryant who is a top player. It will include two more guys at two more positions.”

“We’re bringing in a team,” Jarvis added.

Bryant, the Florida Class 3A Player of the Year while at Rickards High School in Tallahassee, was invited as one of 100 seniors to a National Basketball Player’s Association (NBPA) camp in Charlotte, S.C. and was pursued by ACC schools Florida State and Virginia Tech.

Instead of battling under the basket for one of those programs, Bryant attended Fishburne Military School to improve his grades. It is a decision his high school coach says has matured Bryant.

“He’s matured,” Eli Bryant, his coach at Rickards High School, said. ”They’re getting a great young man. [While he was at Rickards] he’s told me that he was doing enough in the classroom. I kept preaching to him. ‘Enough ain’t good enough, Chris. It’s going to catch up with you.’ I think he’s learned his lesson because he was really bummed out that he had to go to prep school.”

The multi-faceted Bryant plays three positions — shooting guard, small

forward and power forward — which could help an Owls team that lost six players in the offseason.

Point guards Ray Taylor (declaring for the NBA draft) and Alex Tucker (graduated) are among those leaving FAU, but Jarvis and others rave about the play of fellow point man, Stefan Moody, who has a 40 inch vertical leap.

“He is the most athletic kid I’ve ever seen, and I’ve played Division 1 basketball and professional basketball,” Poinciana High School coach Oliver Simmons said. “Phenomenal. He’s what they call a YouTube kid. He’s 5-foot-9 and dunking on 6-foot-9 people. Tell your fans to get ready.”

Simmons explained that the 160-pound Moody virtually carried the team. Poinciana made it to the Sweet 16 and Moody was the biggest reason, he says.

“He was our everything. He led us in almost every category. No one else VU [OL [LHT H]LYHNLK KV\ISL ÄN\YLZ ¹ Simmons said. “For us, he was such a dominant scorer that we didn’t need him to pass as much.” ;OH[ KVLZU»[ TLHU 4VVK` PZ ZLSÄZO Simmons also mentioned that Moody played summer ball for the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), he was the MVP of the all-star game with over 10 assists. He does admit, though, Moody’s athleticism blinds scouts to

The New guys

Mike Jarvis believes the recruiting class of 2011-2012 will be the best ever at FAU. With players from Florida, Georgia, Virginia, and New York, the class includes four freshman and a transfer (Dragan Sekelja).

Here’s a look into each player.

C Dragan sekelja 7’0, 255lb. transfer (Baylor) OPZ ÅH^Z “The one thing about him that is never talked about is, he needs to work on his ballhandling. He’s so fast and athletic that he gets away with that,” Simmons said. “I always tell him, when he gets to the point where he can dribble the ball better than anybody, then there’s no one that can guard him.

He’s that good.”

The other players, like Devonte Thornton, Javier Larunza and Jackson Trapp, are not as highly publicized.

“If you’re going to ask me what my style of play is, 90 percent of the time, it usually has been: Winning,” Mike Jarvis said. “What I do is, I take what 0 OH]L HUK 0 Ä[ V\Y [LHT HYV\UK ^OH[ I have. I’m not North Carolina, I’m not +\RL :V 0 JHU»[ NV V\[ HUK YLJY\P[ Ä]L McDonald’s All-Americans.”

Even though FAU played the 23rd toughest (out of 349) non-conference schedule in the nation last season, according to CBS Sportsline, Jarvis expected a championship caliber team.

“This year, I thought we would be a little better with the schedule we had, but we learned from that and now we move on from that,” Jarvis said. “We’ve got an opportunity next year to really upgrade our overall depth, talent and size.

“I’m really excited.”

Biggest strength: shot blocking and rebounding. “It helps to be 7 feet tall,” Sekelja said. “Being a huge presence, I’m going to try to protect the rim and get as many rebounds as I can [and] make a difference on defense and blocking shots.”

Biggest weakness: lack of bulk. Sekelja weighs just 10 more pounds than Kore White, despite being four inches taller. “I think I need to work on my body the most,” Sekelja said.

“I want to get bigger and stronger.”

PF Chris Bryant

6’8 190lb. (Fishburne Military School)

Biggest

strength: versatility. Despite being listed at power forward, Bryant can also play shooting guard and small forward.

He averaged 16 points and 10 rebounds his senior year at Rickards, leading them to the state title.

Biggest weakness: being aggressive, and posting up. “Has plenty of upside. Needs to assert himself inside and be a force. Has the body and talent, waiting for him to make his move.”- From Dawgpost.com

PG Stefan Moody

SF Devonte Thornton

Biggest strength: athleticism. Despite

Biggest strength: athleticism. Thornton

5’9 160lb. (Poinciana HS)

being 5-foot-9, Moody began dunking his sophomore year of high school and has won slam dunk contests, most recently the FL vs USA Dunk Contest in Orlando. From ESPN. com’s Director of Basketball Recruiting Paul Biancardi via Twitter: “He can dunk over substantially taller players and Has a SOLID stroke as well...so aside from size, appears to have the complete package.”

Biggest weakness: ball handling. His high school coach Oliver Simmons said dribbling is the one skill Moody needed to work on most. Last season, he averaged 3.6 assists per game.

6’7 195lb. (Osborne HS)

averaged 19 points and six rebounds last season. He excelled in transition particularly, KPZWSH`PUN H RUHJR [V ÄUPZO VU [OL IYLHR 6U OPZ mixtape on YouTube, the lanky Thornton drives the baseline and throws down a one-handed jam directly over a defender.

Biggest weakness: lack of range on jump shot. “He still needs to work on his range with his jump shot and ball handling a little bit,” his high school coach Emmett Rouse said. “At the next level you need to be able to handle one-on-one.”

F Javier Lacunza

(Left) A transfer from Baylor, the 7’0 Sekelja will give the Owls size at the center position — something head coach Mike Jarvis has been seeking for years. Photo courtesy of Stuart Browning

6’8 205 (Spain)

“He is the most athletic kid I’ve ever seen, he’s what they call a YouTube kid.

He’s 5-foot-9 and dunking on 6-foot-9 people. Tell your fans to get ready.”

- Oliver Simmons about Moody (top left) 12

April 17, 2012

upressonline.com

Biggest strength: scoring. Lacunza had 31 points, 16 rebounds and two blocks in a victory last season over South Glens Falls.

Biggest weakness: The unknown. Lacunza is from Spain, but was an exchange student last season at Hudson Falls in New York. Little information can be found of him on the internet and his Twitter page is entirely in Spanish.

April 17, 2012

13

Cover

Incoming!

Led by showstopper Stefan Moody and veteran transfer Dragan Sekelja, the new squad is here

(Top left) Stefan Moody, a 5’9 point guard from Orlando, will take over the position after Ray Taylor and Alex Tucker have departed. Photo courtesy of the Orlando Sentinel

By Rolando Rosa

E

very night last year, Dragan Sekelja had one of the best seats in The Burrow to witness an 1119 season for the Owls.

Right on the bench.

Sekelja, a 7-foot center who transferred from Baylor after 20102011, had to redshirt and sit out. During games, an undersized FAU squad with no player averaging more than the 4.5 rebounds of the now-departed Kore White, was constantly getting bullied, beaten, bruised up inside the paint.

Frustrated, all Sekelja could do was watch. The pain, the helplessness of not being able to help his team, took a toll on the Croatian junior.

“It was one of the worst experiences of my life,” Sekelja said. “Seeing us losing, wanting to come in — but you can’t. It was always hard to just sit there. I learned from it though, and I don’t want our fans to have to watch another season like last [year].”

With the arrival of the new recruiting class, it’s possible they won’t.

In addition to Sekelja, the incoming players for 2012-2013 are some of the most highly acclaimed players FAU has ever acquired, with head coach Mike Jarvis making a bold claim.

“The class that we’re bringing in is going to be the most talented class,”

Jarvis said. “It includes a 7-footer in Dragan. It includes probably the most incredible athlete that I’ve ever seen in Stefan Moody, it includes a 6-foot-8 power forward in Chris Bryant who is a top player. It will include two more guys at two more positions.”

“We’re bringing in a team,” Jarvis added.

Bryant, the Florida Class 3A Player of the Year while at Rickards High School in Tallahassee, was invited as one of 100 seniors to a National Basketball Player’s Association (NBPA) camp in Charlotte, S.C. and was pursued by ACC schools Florida State and Virginia Tech.

Instead of battling under the basket for one of those programs, Bryant attended Fishburne Military School to improve his grades. It is a decision his high school coach says has matured Bryant.

“He’s matured,” Eli Bryant, his coach at Rickards High School, said. ”They’re getting a great young man. [While he was at Rickards] he’s told me that he was doing enough in the classroom. I kept preaching to him. ‘Enough ain’t good enough, Chris. It’s going to catch up with you.’ I think he’s learned his lesson because he was really bummed out that he had to go to prep school.”

The multi-faceted Bryant plays three positions — shooting guard, small

forward and power forward — which could help an Owls team that lost six players in the offseason.

Point guards Ray Taylor (declaring for the NBA draft) and Alex Tucker (graduated) are among those leaving FAU, but Jarvis and others rave about the play of fellow point man, Stefan Moody, who has a 40 inch vertical leap.

“He is the most athletic kid I’ve ever seen, and I’ve played Division 1 basketball and professional basketball,” Poinciana High School coach Oliver Simmons said. “Phenomenal. He’s what they call a YouTube kid. He’s 5-foot-9 and dunking on 6-foot-9 people. Tell your fans to get ready.”

Simmons explained that the 160-pound Moody virtually carried the team. Poinciana made it to the Sweet 16 and Moody was the biggest reason, he says.

“He was our everything. He led us in almost every category. No one else VU [OL [LHT H]LYHNLK KV\ISL ÄN\YLZ ¹ Simmons said. “For us, he was such a dominant scorer that we didn’t need him to pass as much.” ;OH[ KVLZU»[ TLHU 4VVK` PZ ZLSÄZO Simmons also mentioned that Moody played summer ball for the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), he was the MVP of the all-star game with over 10 assists. He does admit, though, Moody’s athleticism blinds scouts to

The New guys

Mike Jarvis believes the recruiting class of 2011-2012 will be the best ever at FAU. With players from Florida, Georgia, Virginia, and New York, the class includes four freshman and a transfer (Dragan Sekelja).

Here’s a look into each player.

C Dragan sekelja 7’0, 255lb. transfer (Baylor) OPZ ÅH^Z “The one thing about him that is never talked about is, he needs to work on his ballhandling. He’s so fast and athletic that he gets away with that,” Simmons said. “I always tell him, when he gets to the point where he can dribble the ball better than anybody, then there’s no one that can guard him.

He’s that good.”

The other players, like Devonte Thornton, Javier Larunza and Jackson Trapp, are not as highly publicized.

“If you’re going to ask me what my style of play is, 90 percent of the time, it usually has been: Winning,” Mike Jarvis said. “What I do is, I take what 0 OH]L HUK 0 Ä[ V\Y [LHT HYV\UK ^OH[ I have. I’m not North Carolina, I’m not +\RL :V 0 JHU»[ NV V\[ HUK YLJY\P[ Ä]L McDonald’s All-Americans.”

Even though FAU played the 23rd toughest (out of 349) non-conference schedule in the nation last season, according to CBS Sportsline, Jarvis expected a championship caliber team.

“This year, I thought we would be a little better with the schedule we had, but we learned from that and now we move on from that,” Jarvis said. “We’ve got an opportunity next year to really upgrade our overall depth, talent and size.

“I’m really excited.”

Biggest strength: shot blocking and rebounding. “It helps to be 7 feet tall,” Sekelja said. “Being a huge presence, I’m going to try to protect the rim and get as many rebounds as I can [and] make a difference on defense and blocking shots.”

Biggest weakness: lack of bulk. Sekelja weighs just 10 more pounds than Kore White, despite being four inches taller. “I think I need to work on my body the most,” Sekelja said.

“I want to get bigger and stronger.”

PF Chris Bryant

6’8 190lb. (Fishburne Military School)

Biggest

strength: versatility. Despite being listed at power forward, Bryant can also play shooting guard and small forward.

He averaged 16 points and 10 rebounds his senior year at Rickards, leading them to the state title.

Biggest weakness: being aggressive, and posting up. “Has plenty of upside. Needs to assert himself inside and be a force. Has the body and talent, waiting for him to make his move.”- From Dawgpost.com

PG Stefan Moody

SF Devonte Thornton

Biggest strength: athleticism. Despite

Biggest strength: athleticism. Thornton

5’9 160lb. (Poinciana HS)

being 5-foot-9, Moody began dunking his sophomore year of high school and has won slam dunk contests, most recently the FL vs USA Dunk Contest in Orlando. From ESPN. com’s Director of Basketball Recruiting Paul Biancardi via Twitter: “He can dunk over substantially taller players and Has a SOLID stroke as well...so aside from size, appears to have the complete package.”

Biggest weakness: ball handling. His high school coach Oliver Simmons said dribbling is the one skill Moody needed to work on most. Last season, he averaged 3.6 assists per game.

6’7 195lb. (Osborne HS)

averaged 19 points and six rebounds last season. He excelled in transition particularly, KPZWSH`PUN H RUHJR [V ÄUPZO VU [OL IYLHR 6U OPZ mixtape on YouTube, the lanky Thornton drives the baseline and throws down a one-handed jam directly over a defender.

Biggest weakness: lack of range on jump shot. “He still needs to work on his range with his jump shot and ball handling a little bit,” his high school coach Emmett Rouse said. “At the next level you need to be able to handle one-on-one.”

F Javier Lacunza

(Left) A transfer from Baylor, the 7’0 Sekelja will give the Owls size at the center position — something head coach Mike Jarvis has been seeking for years. Photo courtesy of Stuart Browning

6’8 205 (Spain)

“He is the most athletic kid I’ve ever seen, he’s what they call a YouTube kid.

He’s 5-foot-9 and dunking on 6-foot-9 people. Tell your fans to get ready.”

- Oliver Simmons about Moody (top left) 12

April 17, 2012

upressonline.com

Biggest strength: scoring. Lacunza had 31 points, 16 rebounds and two blocks in a victory last season over South Glens Falls.

Biggest weakness: The unknown. Lacunza is from Spain, but was an exchange student last season at Hudson Falls in New York. Little information can be found of him on the internet and his Twitter page is entirely in Spanish.

April 17, 2012

13

Opinion

Try again Timeline

FAU Athletics finds itself in a whirl of instability and confusion in trying to find a new AD

Oh, how much has changed. With FAU athleticsnow in a constant state of turn over, the last fourmonths have included a fired AD, an angry women’s basketball coach who departed and much more.

In the funhouse world of Athletics, try this on for discomfort: Dec. 5, 2011: Athletic Director Craig Angelos hires Carl Pelini to be the second football coach in school history. Angelos was a one-man committee in charge of unearthing Howard Schnellenberger’s replacement.

March 21, 2012: Angelos is fired by President Mary Jane Saunders. The UP reported the firing came about because of Angelos’ lack of ability in securing naming rights for the FAU stadium and poor ticket sales. Melissa Dawson is named interim AD.

March 29, 2012: Dawson announces that women’s basketball coach Chancellor Dugan has declined a one-year extension, ending her 13 year run as the team’s coach. Dugan tweets out “Ppl that know me know I NEVER ‘quit’. I will always have fond memories of FAU....#Keepitclassy,” while Dawson says a new women’s basketball coach will be named before the new AD is hired.

“Yeah,” Dawson told me this week. “You can’t pretend that’s not a concern of a coach coming in — you know, who their leadership is going to be.”

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April 17, 2012

March 31, 2012: FAU posts an ad on the NCAA’s website for its AD position looking for applications.

April 2, 2012: Owlaccess.com reports that Saunders has named her fiveperson committee in charge of finding the next AD: Charles Brown (dean of students), Eric Shaw (an FAU marketing professor), Justin Davis (a former FAU basketball player, current graduate assistant), April Turner (SG vice president elect) and Saunders.

By Ryan Cortes upress@fau.edu

W

ell, would you want it?

FAU is in the process of hiring a new Athletic Director.

Sounds simple enough.

Except, the people in charge of finding that man, know precious little about management in Athletics. Still, after the complaints lobbed at former AD Craig Angelos — weak ticket sales, no naming rights and poor relationships with coaches — a new hire makes some sense. “I think we need somebody who can fundraise and market our programs,” Melissa Dawson said. “I think that’s an area we can definitely do better.”

The problem?

The university may have cleaned to much house. See, while there was reason enough to let Angelos go, the timing was still odd. “I wouldn’t lie, it took me at least a day to get over the shock,” Dawson said. “Just a surprise, I’ve worked here for Craig for seven, eight years, so the idea he wouldn’t be here leading the program — I had to do a double take.”

He was in charge, by himself, of finding a new football coach. No one else in the entire department spent as much time evaluating, judging, observing Carl Pelini. No one believed in him more than Angelos.

No matter. No more.

The most difficult part in finding a new AD now, though, may be in how the job is packaged and sold to prospective hires. That is because the next hire will inherit the following: a new football coach, a new women’s basketball coach, and a fuming men’s basketball coach with a contract set to expire shortly — a man who wants and deserves a new contract.

It’s an almost impossible position to

be in. If Pelini and the new women’s basketball coach (and, presumably) Mike Jarvis all succeed in a big way, guess who isn’t getting credit for it?

As John F. Kennedy said in 1961: “There’s an old saying that victory has a thousand fathers and defeat is an orphan.”

So if it blows up in the new guy’s face, if the football team stumbles and bumbles its way toward another losing season, and whomever is hired to replace Dugan loses big to go alongside another poor men’s basketball season, guess who gets all the blame for it?

There’s no longer enough power available in the job to make it attractive.

Regardless of how Pelini does in year one, it’d be uncommon and unexpected for him to be fired. And in a South Florida where football, both collegiate and professional, has always reigned supreme, the new AD will have to live with the fact they can’t make changes to the most important position. Not for a while.

Not to mention, Kore White, Ray Taylor, Omari Grier, Shavar Richardson and Alex Tucker are all gone from the men’s basketball team as the doors to leave FAU keep getting pushed open and pushed with more anger, more players.

So here’s where it gets interesting.

Ridding itself of Angelos may or may not have been the right move. We’ll see.

But the implication in firing him was that, well, things couldn’t get any worse.

But without any attractive qualities to the job, without big money to dole out (Angelos pulled in $192,456 per year, compared with Peter Garcia, at FIU, who takes in $421,116 per year, according to the Sun Sentinel), and without any more leverage — they’re about to get even worse.

[Mike Jarvis was unavailable for comment as of press time. Craig Angelos declined comment for this story.] upressonline.com

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17

Opinion

No EXCUSES

How a 21-year-old disabled diabetic used fitness to change his life

By Chris Ruden upress@fau.edu

I Bio

I currently own Adapt Wellness Personal Training and am a certified personal trainer through the national academy of sports medicine. I am also a certified Muscle Activation Techniques practitioner and on my way to becoming a strength and conditioning specialist. I have trained alongside NFL pros, military personnel, bodybuilders, female models and people with special needs.

t’s 8:15 p.m. and I’m just finishing my second bench press warm-up set. As I get up from the bench, a few other guys in the gym are staring at me with a quizzical and doubtful look. It’s because of my left hand and arm. Anyways, then they watch me lift double what they can and squat more than they would ever think about squatting. It’s surprising to them. See, my left arm is 5 inches shorter than my right, and I have only two fingers on my left hand which causes people to look at me strange, to discredit me. Not to mention the amount of people who stare at my insulin pump, wondering if it is a beeper or merely a second MP3 player.

I was born differently than most people. But I outperform “normal” people in the gym everyday. Humblebrag. Some view my adversities as a terrible thing. Don’t feel sorry for me, though.

It’s the reason I’m a successful fitness professional today.

It’s also why you should listen to me.

Throughout this semester and next, I’ll teach you seemingly hopeless gym junkie wannabes how to look and feel better. I will instruct you on how to burn stubborn belly fat, build lean muscle and look better naked. Seriously, who doesn’t want to look better naked? Yes, it will be slightly more difficult than your usual doughnut eating, once-a-week workout program, but you will see results. After all, if a diabetic, disabled college student can do it, why can’t you? Don’t answer that yet. Well, for one, you don’t know where the gym is.

But I do. And here’s my story.

I was born in an ordinary hospital, but I was transported to a specialist hospital that takes care of amputees and kids with disabilities. My left arm was much shorter then my right, and my fingers were grouped together in a way where the doctors decided to remove all but two of them from my hand.

According to the docs, I would have little-to-no use of my left arm and hand.

Wrong.

Growing up with a disability was extremely difficult, though. While everyone else was worrying about what they were going to do during recess, I worried about who was going to make fun of me that day, about what group activity I physically couldn’t do. The difficulties were more emotional than they ever were physical. So I learned to adapt physically and play with other kids, realizing I wasn’t completely doomed. I had desires like every other kid.

I wanted to be a drummer, so bad, but there was no way I could hold the stick in my left hand.

But I was determined to find a way.

I tried holding a drumstick with the two fingers I had, a wrist band — even tape, but nothing worked. Until … I used a workout glove. Sliding the drum stick through a finger hole, I tightened the glove strap and began to play the drums.

Playing mindlessly turned into practice and eventually led me to competing state wide on my high school drumline. I had accomplished the inconceivable.

My mind ran wild with possibilities. The next of which was breakdancing.

I was already a decent dancer but I wanted to breakdance, partly due to the difficulty of the challenge and partly because it’s just badass. I started taking classes and practicing everyday, which eventually led to me earning the title of best dancer in high school. I wanted to really further my skills, but I needed to build strength, so I joined a gym.

I quickly became infatuated with fitness.

I jumped around from machine to machine and then began experimenting with free weights, adapting every exercise to my physical capabilities. I went home and researched exercise science every night and it became almost an obsession. I was the go-to guy for fitness info but, at the time, I was merely a glorified gym junkie.

Everything changed when I was diagnosed with diabetes at 19.

I was hospitalized for two days because of diabetes.

While in the hospital, I didn’t mope, though. I realized how important fitness is for patients with diabetes, so I became a trainer to help myself stay healthy, to help other people overcome adversity in their own life. I changed my career path to exercise science. Fitness and health have engulfed my life. Diabetes was the best thing that happened to me.

You want to change how you look? You want to build confidence? You want to function better? I can show you everything you need, but ultimately — it’s not up to me. It’s up to you, and if I can do it, why can’t you?

In addition to being born with a shorter left arm and just two fingers on his left hand, FAU student Chris Ruden was diagnosed with diabetes at 19. He overcame those obstacles and has his own business, Adapt Wellness Personal Training. Photo by Christine Capozziello

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April 17, 2012

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19

Sports

Coming to

America

All the way from a small town in Italy, freshman Alessia Pizzocheri adjusts to playing volleyball in a new culture

By Cyrus Smith upress@fau.edu

A Freshman Alessia Pizzocheri came to FAU from Cesna, Italy. In her first season, Pizzocheri has tried to adapt to American culture. Photo illustration by Maria Mor

fter a 12 hour non-stop flight from Italy to Miami International Airport, Alessia Pizzocheri is drained. Recruited to play volleyball at FAU, the 18-year-old from Cesena is now on the other side of the world.

Within a couple days she is already feeling the effects of life without familiarity, without comfort, without her loved ones. It is only until fellow foreigner and teammate Darija Sataric (from Biberist, Switzerland) persuaded her that life in the United States could be fun, too, that she began to settle in.

“I was thinking about going home when I arrived,” Pizzocheri said. “I felt very lonely, homesick, missing family members early on when I got here, but I realized how Darija loved the U.S. and loved FAU. I figured it can’t be so bad.”

Yet getting acclimated to a new culture, a new lifestyle, did not come easy to her. She exhales and explains the roller coaster that was the first few days in a new world.

“It was very stressful,” Pizzocheri said. “It was a Thursday when I arrived in Florida. I got a quick tour of the campus from one of the assistant coaches and that was it. The following morning, I had to go to class and then afterwards travel all the [way] up to Jacksonville to be with the team. People were asking me questions, talking to me, explaining things, and I remember I didn’t understand anything.”

When Pizzocheri is on the court, though, you immediately sense a change in her demeanor, teammates say. There is no fear. Her spirit beams with confidence.

It is another blazing hot Tuesday and practice is in session on the sand volleyball court next to the IRT dorms. Some players are hunched over, catching their breath at every stoppage. Pizzocheri, on the other hand, is angry. As the ball gets hit onto her side of the court, she jumps toward the net and tattoos the ball, sending it through the air. A crazed expression overtakes what was once a passive look on her face, veins popping out of her arms, her pupils revealing the one thing on her mind: Attack. Wham. The volleyball slams into the ground.

Though Pizzocheri says she loves to travel, especially when venturing into states like Alabama and Kentucky during Sun Belt Conference play, she admits that living in America was a complete culture shock.

“It was kind of a dream world, or like, being in a movie,” Pizzorcheri said. “All of the things I knew about the U.S. came from the movies, so it was kind of surreal.”

Her taste in music gets her teased by teammates as well. Pizzocheri often listens to rock, punk and heavy

20

April 17, 2012

metal and sings it at the top of her lungs.

“My suitemate defines my music as screaming music,” she laughs.

Her favorite artist?

“It depends, because I remember one time when we went to Jacksonville, I spent all of my time singing ‘TNT’ by AC/DC, so it changes month-to-month.”

Pizzocheri plays outside hitter, which gives her opportunities to be the main passer and go-to hitter for the team to score. Though she has always loved playing volleyball, she also took up track and field before devoting her full attention to the sport at 16 and playing against some of the best competition Italy had to offer.

“I just quit doing track and field because I just enjoyed playing volleyball so much.”

And although she came to Boca all the way from Italy to play volleyball, head coach Jody Brown explained FAU has had players from the Czech Republic, Serbia and Germany. He said what he liked most about Pizzocheri.

“She is very passionate, very aggressive and an outstanding passer and hitter,” Brown said. “She has a lot of potential.”

On top of playing volleyball and adjusting to American life, Pizzocheri is still learning how to balance travelling with the volleyball team, understanding team rules and keeping up school grades. So Darija Sataric, her sophomore teammate and friend, guides her.

“I just help her understand that you wanna keep your GPA high so you can avoid study hall, and [I] help her understand curfews,” Sataric said.

The Internet has helped remedy some of the homesickness she experienced earlier, Pizzocheri says.

She keeps in touch with her family via Skype. And after initially feeling as if FAU and America were not the right fit for her, she says she’s had a complete change of heart.

“I love the location of the school, I love being around my teammates and coaches, and I love the weather,” Pizzocheri said.

However, one thing still disgusts her about America.

“The food is terrible,” Pizzocheri said. “I mean, I love frozen yogurt and burritos, but that’s it. Back home, I love pasta and the dishes my mom makes.”

She even begins to debunk the stereotype that both spaghetti and meatballs are from Italy. She insists that only spaghetti is and the meatballs are something Americans created. She smiles. It’s a new life, yes, and she’s loving every moment of it.

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Free food

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UP Editor Selection

noon April 17, 2012

21

Crossword

Across

Down

1. Tiny leafy-stemmed flowerless plants 5. Defeat decisively 9. Wooden shoe 10. Kidney-related 12. A doglike nocturnal mammal 13. Befuddle 14. Dawn goddess 15. Relapse 17. Not bright 19. Historical periods 20. Harps 22. Lackluster 25. The arch of the foot 29. Trimmed 31. Back then 32. A type of small lizard 33. Runs in neutral 35. Bet 36. Hangman’s knot 37. Give temporarily 38. Lady’s man

1. The head of a city government 2. Overweight 3. Male offspring 4. A clear night sky 5. Downer 6. Remedy 7. Not over 8. A very light wood 9. Small storage structure 11. Not more 16. Bird’s nest 18. Egg white 21. Outcome 22. Illustrate 23. Imperial 24. Maxim 26. Claw 27. Discharge 28. Sit for a photo 30. One of 52 in a deck 34. Female deer

Crossword by Crosswordpalace.com 22

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