01-27-15

The Oracle TUESDAY, JANUARY 27, 2015 I VOL. 52 NO. 70

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S PORTS High school success eases college career for Weber.

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UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA

Campus dining caters to vegans

By Amar Rele

Mock trial team puts students in the courtroom.

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The choice to be a vegetarian used to also be a sacrifice, but USF is catching up with the times by adding more vegan-friendly options to on-campus dining halls.

To make this happen, USF SPEAK, a student organization that promotes animal rights, vegetarianism and veganism, worked with USF Dining Services to expand on more vegan-friendly choices.

“We have been meeting with (Aramark) once a month from May to December,” said Meghan McManus, an organizer of USF SPEAK. “I am impressed with the progress that was made to bring

more food options to the dining halls.”

Vegan students at USF had both positive and negative reactions to the dining hall options on campus.

Gabrielle Patterson, a sophomore, has mixed opinions about the vegan options in the dining halls.

“They offer a good to moderate amount of vegan options and I mainly live off the stir fry station and black bean burgers, which they offer daily,” he said. “There are some options for vegans like me, but there is room for improvement.”

Tim Crawford, a freshman, sometimes enjoys the dining hall, but has some concerns as well.

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Lecture shines light on human trafficking

By Jeff Odom S T A F F

W R I T E R

Krista Ann Hoffman has spent more than 20 years combating human trafficking.

As a training and technical assistance consultant for the Booz Allen Hamilton strategy consulting firm and recognized expert on international criminal justice and trafficking, Hoffman has seen firsthand the unforgiving realities of one of the fastest-growing and most profitable crimes in the world.

During a Human Trafficking Awareness Month lecture presented by the Institute for the Study of Latin America and the Caribbean on Monday in the USF Library’s Grace Allen Room, Hoffman called for heightened awareness of the plight of millions worldwide who currently reside in captivity.

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Krista Ann Hoffman discussed the realities of human trafficking in the U.S. at Monday’s lecture in the USF Library as part of Human Trafficking Awareness Month. ORACLE PHOTO/ADAM MATHIEU

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According to the U.S. Department of State, human trafficking generates an estimated profit of $32 billion per year, second only to drug trading. That’s more than several U.S. corporations, including Apple, Ford Motors and Exxon/ Mobil.

While the revenue generated is staggering, Hoffman said the number of victims is even worse.

The Polaris Project, a nonprofit organization that works to fight illegal trafficking, estimates 27 million people around the world are currently being held in captivity, 2.5 million of whom reside in the U.S. Florida has deep roots in the issue, ranking third nationally in the number of minors trafficked and forced into prostitution or sexually abused.

To Hoffman, that isn’t a surprise. The Tampa Bay area is widely known as a breeding ground for trafficking because of its variety of adult entertain-

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ment venues and Asian massage parlors, both of which are often red-flagged as potential “danger zones” for the activity.

“Florida is considered a hotbed for this,” Hoffman said.

“You just have a lot of easy access. There are the borders, of course, with easy entry. You can come in from land, sea, air — all of that. Any place you have large transient population … you definitely have (trafficking).”

One of the biggest issues added to Hoffman’s fight in recent years with advancements in technology has been the Internet.

“Demand for sex trafficking has gone through the roof with technology,” Hoffman said.

“It’s removed the fear of getting caught.”

Hoffman pointed to classified advertisement websites such as Craigslist and Backpage, where traffickers have been known to post profiles for adult services, as reasons for the spike.

In one particular case that Hoffman worked on recently in Pennsylvania, she stum-

bled upon a woman known as “Dallas” who had a post advertising sexual favors. In the woman’s profile picture, Hoffman noticed the words “Cash Money” tattooed on Dallas’ chest.

With additional digging, Hoffman found a similar post with a woman that had the same tattoo, a sign that they had been branded by the same captor.

After setting up a police sting operation, Dallas and the other woman were rescued.

The man responsible for their kidnapping was arrested.

“We have to harness the good that does come with technology and just be as aware as possible,” Hoffman said. “We can use that technology for good.”

Although the world may never be completely rid of human trafficking, Hoffman said she hopes bringing more awareness to it will make a difference.

“I’ve seen lots and lots of progress with this,” Hoffman said. “Nothing is insurmountable.”

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VEGANS

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“The main issue with the meal plan is that as a freshman, they make you either choose the open access or 15 meals a week, if you live on campus, and it is hard for Dining Services to accommodate many different dietary preferences,” he said.

In response, USF Dining listened to the opinions of students with dietary needs and provided new options for vegans and vegetarians on campus. One of the new changes to the dining halls is the addition of an all-vegan breakfast, which was started at the end of last semester.

Ashley Horowitz, marketing manager for USF Dining Services, was excited about the new changes to the on-campus dining halls.

“For both fall and spring semes-

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ter, we worked really closely with our dining halls to identify ways to implement new and innovative recipes that fall under the category of vegan and vegetarian,” she said.

Christina Berry, a dietitian who works with Aramark, explained the new changes at the dining halls.

“All three of the dining halls now have a hot vegan entrée, such as legumes, lentils, beans or tofu, which rotate daily for lunch and dinner,” Berry said. “Fresh Food Company and Juniper-Poplar (JP) have vegan stir fry, which is gluten free.”

Horowitz said students at JP dining hall should be satisfied by the new vegan breakfast.

“We’re now featuring the ability to create your own tofu, potato, or vegetable scrambles, which provides students an alternative option for all students to expand their variety and awareness,” she said.

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USF’s Mock Trial turns classroom into courtroom

By Brandon Shaik L I F E S T Y L E

E D I T O R

Started as a small club of about six students in 2008, the USF Mock Trial team has blossomed into two competing teams totaling 20 students, and has even gone against the likes of Harvard.

The team began as a way for pre-law students to gain and exercise courtroom-based skills as undergraduates. The team, which regularly practices and holds scrimmages against mock trial organizations from other institutions, has seen a great deal of success its seven short years at USF. “The purpose is to give students that are interested in the pre-law track an opportunity to get real courtroom experience using real courtroom procedures, rules of evidence, real objections, and the best part about it is when we compete against other universities, we get judged by real attorneys and real judges,” said Sammy Hamed, president of the USF Mock Trial team and a junior majoring in political science. “The feedback

is really relevant for us and helps us grow.”

Hamed, who was part of his high school’s mock trial team, came to USF as a freshman with the intent to continue on to law school after graduation. Because of his interest in law, he looked for organizations that would allow him to gain experience and knowledge before law school; thus: Mock Trial.

“It helped me grow as a leader on campus and get involved in Student Government,” he said. “I wouldn’t have been in Student Government if I didn’t join Mock Trial, I don’t think.”

Participation in the club helps to build students’ public speaking and critical thinking skills while sharpening their ability to think on their feet, a critical skill for any lawyer.

While the club primarily attracts pre-law students, Hamed said the club is inclusive of all majors and there are opportunities for everyone involved to gain experience related to their areas of study.

“We have English majors, we have engineering students because they

can play different types of expert witnesses …” Hamed said. “That gives even theater students an opportunity to grow some skills.”

The team’s win at a recent tournament in Pensacola was one of many that earned them a spot in the upcoming regional tournament, described as “the playoffs” of mock trials, hosted by the University of Central Florida in Orlando.

In the recent tournament, the USF Mock Trial team beat out schools such as Auburn, the University of Florida and the University of Alabama for the first time.

While the team missed the chance to move on by a mere five points last year, they hope to win and continue on to the Opening Round Championships.

Each year, the team takes on and prepares a case with three attorneys and three witnesses from both sides.

The team has an attorney coach this year, who helps them practice arguing their case before scrimmages and tournaments.

Every tournament is modeled after

a real life courtroom environment and consists of four rounds, each three hours long, which typically span the course of two days. Each competing team direct-examines their witnesses and cross-examines the other teams witnesses.

The judging panel, which consists of volunteer attorneys, judges and law students, uses a ballot system to score each team’s competence in direct- and cross-examinations and compares scores to determine a winner among teams.

Because of the real-world nature of the mock trial tournaments, students who participate walk away with knowledge that they utilize throughout the duration of their studies.

“Everyone that graduates from USF Mock Trial and goes to law school will come back and tell the team how much it really helped them and put them ahead in terms of evidentiary classes, public-speaking wise, critical thinking skills,” Hamed said. “It really just develops skills that you’ll see in law school, even if you don’t do criminal or civil law.”

21 students from USF’s Mock Trial team competed in the University of West Florida’s fourth annual Argo Invitational (left), competing against 18 teams from 13 universities. Sammy Hamed and Daniel Christopher (right) pose with the first place plaque the team won at the Argo Invitational.

PHOTOS PROVIDED BY USF MOCK TRIAL

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Death penalty should at least be painless if still around ily against one expert’s argument given that mistakes are avoidable.

Another major problem that arose with the case is the sheer irony of the court voting not to stay the execution of one of the inmates who led the case, when that inmate was appealing the use of the particular drug combination in question. However, with nine justices on the court, only four have to agree to hear a case while five must agree to hold off an execution.

As indicated in another NY Times article, if the Supreme Court doesn’t stay the other executions, the lead petitioner in place of Warner is to be executed this week, while the others have execution dates prior to April, when the court will hear the case.

In spite of the court’s bizarre split on the decision to stay the execution, the case will hopefully reduce any complacency with problematic execution drugs.

Rather than simply administering more of the same drug to make sure it works, as the Associated Press reports Oklahoma now does with midazolam, states must use the safest options available, whether or not that means using other drugs or none at all.

While being on death row does mean a death sentence, it doesn’t mean the procedure itself should be painful — a standard to be measured in an approaching Supreme Court case after not-so-harmless lethal injections.

According to the New York Times, the Supreme Court chose to hear a case Friday brought by four inmates on death row about the constitutionality of certain combinations of execution drugs that have sparked controversy for their having caused severe pain during the lethal procedure. This decision rightfully puts the spotlight back on Oklahoma, where inmate Clayton D. Lockett experienced visible pain after an injection last year and died 43 minutes later.

Morality of the death penalty aside, the court’s decision to address this issue could eliminate the unnecessary harm involved, which shouldn’t be inherent to

lethal injections.

One of the drugs in question is midazolam, a sedative meant to induce unconsciousness that is used before the other drugs in order to prevent pain. In addition to being used in Oklahoma, Ohio and Arizona, it has also been administered in Florida several times, as the NY Times article reported.

While proponents of capital punishment might argue that it doesn’t matter if death row inmates experience pain, given the nature of their crimes, states still have a responsibility to prevent cruel and unusual punishment, regardless of the inmate’s reason for being on death row.

Additionally, there certainly shouldn’t be any ambiguity about the effects of the drugs that are used — if they must be used — especially since medical experts have noted that those injected with midazolam can suffer while paralyzed if the drug doesn’t work properly, according to the NY Times article.

As the article reported, in her dissent of the court’s refusal to stay the execution of Charles F. Warner, one of the inmate plaintiffs, Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote that a witness from Oklahoma in defense of the drug referenced Drugs.com instead of medical studies. As Sotomayor suggested, the chances of an execution going awry weigh heav-

the Oracle

the University of South Florida’s student newspaper since 1966

Isabelle Cavazos COLU M N I ST

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What you said Editor Isabelle Cavazos asked students their thoughts about Gov. Rick Scott’s proposed $41 million plan to remove sales tax from college textbooks, which could save full-time students about $60 a year.

“Whatever helps a student save money is the best because students are already struggling with loans.”

— Rema Hamoui, a junior majoring in biomedical science “As a college student, it sounds awesome, but as an overall community, $60 compared to $41 million makes a big difference.” ­— Max Hand, a freshman majoring in electrical engineering

“I usually use my financial aid, but I would like to save a couple bucks.”

Isabelle Cavazos is a junior majoring in English and Spanish.

— Elisa Pulgarin, a junior majoring in studio art

The Oracle is published Monday through Thursday during the fall and spring semesters, and twice weekly, Monday and Thursday, during the summer.

The Oracle allocates one free issue to each student.

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“$60 is not that big a deal.

Textbooks are not the specific issue here. It should be tuition.”

— Laura Rangel, a senior majoring in public health

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Women’s Basketball

Weber continues high school success with Bulls

By Zach Lowie S T A F F

W R I T E R

Loud cheers, hugs and high fives were exchanged. The Hall High School Warriors had just beaten their Little Rock rival, the Parkview Patriots, for the 2013 Arkansas Girls State Basketball 6A Championship by a final score of 56-45.

Senior center Katelyn Weber, now a sophomore at USF, and her teammates at the time had waited quite some time for this moment.

Hall High School, known for its athletics, had women’s teams receiving the short straw when it came to national coverage.

“The men got all of the attention, so we had to work our way up and make a name for ourselves,” Weber said. “In a way, we kind of rebuilt the program on our own.”

Going 18 years without a state championship, the Warriors had lost in the semifinal during Weber’s junior year and the quarterfinals the previous two seasons.

Starting all four years under coach Selita Farr, Weber developed a deep connection with her team, eight of them playing together for all four seasons.

By the time the team had become upperclassmen, they turned toward their junior season to serve as the beginning of the team’s legacy.

After rival Parkview snatched a win from them in the semifi-

Notebook

nal that year, the Warriors were left stunned and distraught; some with tears rolling down their faces.

“Coach Farr comes in and says, ‘I don’t know why you guys are crying, you have a whole year to redeem yourself,’” Weber said. “‘You don’t have any reason to cry about it because you made it this far — you should be proud of yourselves.’

“I feel like senior year, we all looked back at that moment and said to ourselves, ‘that’s not going to happen again.’”

The Warriors went 29-2 during Weber’s final season, ending with revenge against Parkview and a win in the state title.

Weber ended her career at Hall averaging 6.1 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game. After graduating cum laude with honors as a salutatorian of her class, Weber was faced with the choice of where she wanted to pursue her collegiate basketball career.

During recruitment, USF coach Jose Fernandez knew right away that he wanted Weber on his team.

“I knew her best basketball was ahead of her,” Fernandez said.

“She was physical, she was smart.

She had a great work ethic. She could run the floor.”

After finally deciding to become a Bull, the 6-foot-5 freshman shadowed then-senior center Akila McDonald.

McDonald taught Weber her role in coach Fernandez’s sys-

tem and how the offense was run through the center position.

Weber has always been a physical presence down low, but hopes that she can return the favor for another up-and-coming teammate before she leaves USF. “If coach brings in a freshman when I’m a senior, I want that freshman to be able to say, ‘Oh, Kate taught me this,’ or ‘I got that from Kate because she was my role model,’” Weber said. “I did learn things from Akila and she helped me a lot even though I don’t think she realizes it, but she did.”

The transition from high school to college isn’t always the easiest to handle, especially when those schools are in different states.

Struggling with this at first, Weber became humble upon learning that she was not alone in this change. USF has six international players on its rosters, many making a trip much farther than Arkansas to Florida.

“The fact that they can come overseas, go to school and not see their families more than once or twice a year really says a lot for Americans, where their parents can fly or drive here whenever they want,” Weber said. “Not only are they missing their families when they come overseas, but they don’t have their food or their culture, basically their whole lives.”

With a humbled approach to her play shaping up, Weber start-

ed in all but two games she played in this season, starting only three last year.

She has averaged 11.7 minutes, scoring 82 points and grabbing 80 rebounds with 24 blocks. Weber also shot .486 from the field, including a 6-7 effort vs. Middle Tennessee on Dec. 18, earning a career-high 12 points.

Off the court, Weber knows being part of a team runs deeper than shot attempts and bullet passes during games.

“So many people take teamwork for granted, but they don’t actually know what it means to be a part of something bigger than yourself,” Weber said. “When you’re around a huge group of girls for 90 percent of your time, it can really change your outlook.”

Teammates like sophomore forward Paige Cashin, who is also Weber’s roommate, attest to her hard work and determination.

“She’s very focused on the court, very aggressive,” Cashin said. “(Weber) realizes you can be fun and silly with teammates off the court, but on the court, it’s business.”

Because of her comedic personality, a lot of people find it hard to believe she can be serious, both on and off the court.

“They call me a transformer,” Weber said. “I’m not a mean person, but I turn mean when I’m on the court.”

Weber has let her personality and winning attitude shine

Katelyn Weber has started nine games for the Bulls this season, compared to only three last year. ORACLE FILE PHOTO/ADAM

MATHIEU

through her teammates this year more than ever. Her increased role has only allowed her to become more of an impact for the Bulls and establish herself as the big-time player she wants to be known as.

Three-star recruit flips from Utah to USF

By Vinnie Portell S P O R T S

E D I T O R

Coach Willie Taggart was able to flip a second three-star recruit this week when receiver Chris Barr announced his commitment to USF on Monday afternoon.

Barr received offers from 20 schools, including Wisconsin, Maryland, Pittsburgh, Kentucky and Cincinnati.

The high school senior tweeted Monday that he is “100% commit-

ted to USF” and will now be “shutting down his recruitment.”

The 5-foot-11, 175-pound receiver out of Trinity Christian Academy in Jacksonville had been committed to Utah prior to deciding to join USF. According to Scout.com, Barr flipped to USF due to his visit to the school last weekend when Taggart pitched early playing time in the team’s new spread offense.

Barr had 54 catches for 757 yards and eight touchdowns, in

addition to 341 rushing yards and four touchdowns in his senior season.

Perry injury unclear After sitting out Sunday’s game against UConn, sophomore Chris Perry is undergoing tests after returning to Tampa on Monday morning.

The forward has been an impactful player for the Bulls this season, averaging just over 10 points and seven rebounds per game.

However, Perry experienced shortness of breath and chest pain at practice in Connecticut on Saturday evening and underwent a series of tests, which have yet to reveal a reason for his discomfort.

Williams earns weekly awards Junior guard Courtney Williams was named AAC Player of the Week on Monday, following a week in which she averaged 24 points, nine rebounds and six assists per game.

Her outstanding play was also

recognized by College Sports Madness, which honored Williams with its player of the week award as well.

USF won both games last week by double digits with the help of Williams’ scoring. The junior has scored at least 20 points in each of the last five games and is averaging 20 points per game.

Williams will look to score 20 points or more for a sixth game in a row when USF travels to play Memphis at 3 p.m.