The Oracle T H U R S D AY, J A N U A R Y 2 8 , 2 0 1 6 I V O L . 5 3 N O. 6 3
Inside this Issue
C O - N E W S
Universal Orlando Resort hosts Harry Potter Expo. Page 5
Montage
S P ORTS USF commit Chris Oladokun stays in Bay Area. BACK
U N I V E R S I T Y O F S O U T H F LO R I DA
Divestment resolution veto stirs up senate By Miki Shine
L I FE STYLE
w w w. u s fo r a c l e. co m
The Index
Opinion.......................................................4 Classifieds..............................................8 Lifestyle......................................................5 Crossword......................................8 sports.........................................................12
E D I T O R
A heated debate broke out at Tuesday’s Senate meeting after Student Body President Andy Rodriguez and Vice President Michael Malanga officially vetoed the divestment resolution. “We believe that bringing a topic as polarized and politically driven as this into the realm of Student Government serves only to divide the Student Body and disparage students with opposing viewpoints, instead of uniting our students,” Rodriguez and Malanga’s memo said. Students on both sides of the debate shared their thoughts on
the resolution; speaking from rations that are investing in personal experience, research human rights violations. and opinions on the matter. “For me, Palestine is A few senators also joined the what women suffered in the debate, speaking 1920s. For “I like this better me, Palestine heatedly on both sides. is what Civil “It is a com- than last week. It’s Rights was in plete honor to very nice hearing the 1960s. For support the resome, Palestine lution that sup- both sides of the is what apartported 10,000 heid in South argument.” student voices,” Africa was in Senate President the 1990s.” Brendon Green P r o - Te m p o r e Students in Student Government Senator Danish Hasan favor of the ressaid. “We’re springing away olution stated it would allow from the debate, but the fact students to see the investments is that this was a mere rec- of the university and to create ommendation to the USF a platform to raise concerns Foundation to divest from any- about the ethics behind some thing from pornography to fos- investments. sil fuels, from private corpo“I want to discuss how, if
any country poses any human rights violations, any crimes against humans, as student we have the right to voice our opinions,” an unidentified student said. “We are accountable for our own university and we shouldn’t let our own university invest funds in countries that prevent human beings from enjoying their unalienable rights. The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement is classified as a global movement by bdsmovement.net that’s campaigning against Israel until it complies with international law and Palestinian rights. The Palestinian Civil Society started the movement in 2005 hasn’t been condoned
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Tobacco-free campus not so tobacco-free By Grace Hoyte E D I T O R
I N
C H I E F
Despite being newly tobacco-free, USF’s campus has not been without smokers in the former designated smoking areas, and it has not been without the vapor from the devices that have become so popular. But questions have remained regarding how the university expects to enforce the policy. According to USF Director of Environmental Health & Safety Beverly Daly, the university expects students to enforce the policy among each other through peer enforcement. In an emailed statement to the Oracle, the university states “if a person is seen violating the policy, they should politely be asked to stop.” However, some students have chosen to ignore the policy. Every day, dozens of students still stand outside the library in the former designated-smoking area and light their cigarettes. “They say that USF is a tobacco-free campus, but if you cannot smoke inside
the campus, where will you smoke?” a student smoking outside the library said. According to Tobacco Free Florida, the state banned smoking indoors in 2003, with the exception of bars. “Campus is not small, it’s 1,900 acres,” the student said. “Getting out of campus between classes is damn difficult. The second thing is… putting these kind of posters up just shows that the university does not legally support smoking.” According to the university’s statement, the consequences of continuing to break the rule depend on the person’s relationship with the university. Students who continue to use tobacco products after being asked to stop will be reported to Student Rights & Responsibilities. Likewise, employees who are identified as having disregarded the policy will be reported to their supervisor. Although, there are some students who feel the ban is simply unfair.
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Despite the new tobacco-free policy at USF, which began on Jan. 4, students continue to smoke in former designated smoking areas. ORACLE PHOTO/JACKIE BENITEZ