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New pedestrian safety project could impact traffic flow on 50th Street

By Maria Ranoni M A N A G I N G

E D I T O R

It may become a bit harder for late students to zoom down 50th Street to make it to class starting today.

The first day of the semester will also mark the beginning of some new construction to the road that borders the entire east side of the USF campus.

However, this project will yield three new raised crosswalks.

As long as there are no unexpected delays, like inclement weather, construction will end Wednesday, according to Robert Suess, the division

director for Transportation Maintenance at Hillsborough County’s Public Works Department.

Suess said during the three days construction is currently slated to take place, 50th Street will not be completely closed.

Instead, portions of the road will be reduced to one lane, allowing some traffic flow.

There will also be police officers on site to assist with any traffic issues, according to Suess.

The raised crosswalks — similar to those on USF Holly Drive — will be built where the currently existing crosswalks with flashing beacons are.

The flashing beacons were added in 2015 as a part of a larger $5 million project to improve traffic safety in the USF area, according to the Tampa Bay Times. Some other improvements were an added sidewalk along Fletcher bordering campus and reduced speed limits.

“There are other measures that you would do prior to this (raised crosswalks) and have been done, including the signage, the flashing beacons and the high-intensity pavement markings,” Suess said. “So there’s actually a hierarchy and this is the last one because it

the recruitment is expected to intensify until the right person is chosen.

Among the nearly 30 requirements detailed by the presidential search committee and Greenwood/Asher & Associates, Inc., the consultant firm tasked with finding Genshaft’s successor, includes the need for the next system president to be an individual with a strong background in education, including a Ph.D. Though Genshaft has her doctoral degree from Kent State University, her direct predecessor, Betty Castor did not have a Ph.D. In the time where USF will need to maintain its status as a Preeminent Research

University and consolidate its three campuses — Tampa, St. Pete and Sarasota-Manatee — as mandated by former Gov. Rick Scott, having experience in both areas is a crucial characteristic of the university’s next leader, according to qualifications detailed by the search committee.

The qualification reads: “Has experience in an administrative leadership position at a major research university and in successfully leading the development and implementation of a strategic plan in a complex multicampus institution.”

According to the search

will have the most impact on vehicles in the roadway.”

There have been a number of reported safety issues for pedestrians on 50th Street, including a woman being hit and seriously injured in 2014 and a guide dog being struck and also injured in 2012.

“It’s (addition of raised crosswalks) a standard industry countermeasure for traffic engineering as a result of traffic studies and it is what is prescribed and endorsed by the federal government to bring attention to pedestrian crossings,” Suess said.

The cost of the new crosswalks

is minimal, according to Suess, coming in at less than $15,000.

Suess said that as of now, there are no plans to continue to improve other areas that surround campus, but the county is cognizant of complaints when they come up.

“We’re always evaluating if there’s a condition or something that arises, we would address it, very similar to this,” Suess said. “If there’s a location or something that’s brought to our attention in the future, we would put in countermeasures to try and increase the safety at any location.”

Search committee outlines the necessary qualities in the next system president

By Jesse Stokes E D I T O R

I N

C H I E F

President Judy Genshaft will formally step away from her role in July after serving in it for nearly two decades.

Since Genshaft announced her decision to retire in September, the search has been on to find her replacement.

In an email to The Oracle, Adam Freeman, a university spokesperson, said the hope of the search committee tasked with finding the next system president is to do so sometime during the spring semester.

Freeman added that since the qualifications required in a candidate for the job were finalized in early December,

n See PRESIDENT on PAGE 7

President Judy Genshaft will be formally stepping away July 1. The search for her successor is well underway.

ORACLE PHOTO/LEDA ALVIM

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Students use winter break as a time to leave their country and comfort zones

By Leda Alvim S T A F F

W R I T E R

Often times, with passports in hand, some students used the time between the fall and spring semesters to travel the world, explore new cultures, volunteer in foreign communities and experience what they define as “personal growth.”

While many decide to stick around their homes during the holiday season, others decide to pack their things and take off on new types of adventure.

Junior Avalon Jade spent her break in Beijing, China, participating in the 2018 World Championship of Yoga Sports.

At the end of the championship, she won a gold medal in her division for Team USA and visited famous spots on the Asian continent, including the Great Wall of China and Mount Everest.

Troy Moulton is a junior who traveled to Germany during the break. He said that it was fascinating to learn how cultures are different and how experiencing them can change the way people interact with one another.

“What I loved about the trip was being independent with my friend to face the obstacles, triumphs and happiness of traveling,” Moulton said. “I feel like having to face these things and then be rewarded by being immersed in a different way of life is the best reason for experiencing new cultures and places.”

Senior Lauren Flings also traveled to Germany. According to Flings, what impacted her the most was spending time with her mother, learning to help one another and focusing on their strengths together.

“I believe everyone should

discover different parts of the world because we have so much to learn from different cultures,” Flings said. “Living without traveling is almost like opening a huge book, only reading the table of contents and expecting to understand the whole thing. You only have one life, and I think it would just be a shame if you didn’t get to see the world you lived in.”

While some students traveled during the break on adventurous vacations, others managed their time to create a bigger impact and spread their knowledge to foreign communities.

Marco Terron-Barreto, a sophomore, spent his break in Ghana teaching different subjects, including science, world geography, English, math and history to 5th-grade students in a rural orphanage.

He also stayed in the local

Lauren Flings traveled to Munich, Germany with her mother where she said they tried to fully embrace the culture. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE/LAUREN FLINGS

community to understand how they live, learn and communicate.

“Being able to share your knowledge and know that you’re doing something small that will create a huge impact in their lives feels incredible,” Terron-Barreto said.

“I know that I’ve taught them worthwhile lessons that they will remember and use in the future. In the end, I learned more from them than they ever learned from me.”

While Terron-Barreto was able to share his knowledge to African youth, Jennifer Riddle, a junior, spent her vacation engulfed in wildlife.

Riddle traveled to countries in the African continent as well, including South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana.

During her time in South Africa, Riddle volunteered with the Southern African Foundation

for the Conservation of Coastal Birds, where she met with conservationists and enthusiasts about the natural world and learned about their ongoing projects.

“Sometimes, when you come back from stepping away from everything you’re used to experiencing, you notice some elements about your life you never did before,” Riddle said. “With this being my first abroad experience, I think it opened my eyes to the world in a different way than anything I’ve felt before.”

Flings said that being vulnerable in a new country and delving into a new culture will prompt people to go beyond their comfort zones.

“Traveling is important for personal growth because it tests you,” Flings said.

n See TRAVEL on PAGE 9

Rid Bhuiyan went to Bangladesh to explore the culture and get a greater understanding for what the world is like. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE/RID BHUIYAN

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PRESIDENT Continued from PAGE 2

committee’s website, the “goal is to have a new president ready for ratification of the Board of Governors by the March 28, 2019 meeting…”

Student Body Vice President Shaquille Kent, who also serves as the student voice on the search committee, said in a message to The Oracle that some of the characteristics he discussed with his fellow committee members was a strong devotion to the student body and diversity.

Dick Beard, who served as chairman of USF’s Board of Trustees from 2000-05, told The Oracle after Genshaft announced her retirement in September, that a qualification he is looking for in Genshaft’s

replacement is someone who is flexible and fully devoted to the university.

“It’s a 24-hour job,” Beard said. “People in that job react to situations and lots of them make the wrong decisions.

USF needs somebody patient, a strategic person who’s able to relook at USF’s goals and do a plan.

“That’s what (Genshaft) did and you see what it became.”

Kent shared a similar sentiment.

“I hope the next president will be as charismatic as President Genshaft was where students will know who she is and they (the next president) bring that same excitement and energy for the university that she had,” Kent said.

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Opinion

Ocasio-Cortez dancing means nothing, her ideas do

By Aida Vazquez-Soto O P I N I O N

E D I T O R

Twitter erupted last week following the emergence of a video of freshman congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) from her college days. In the video, Cortez is seen dancing and laughing with friends.

Assumed reactions have flown in the face of the real reactions. While Newsweek proclaimed in a headline that “Conservatives Mock[ed] Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez” and Ocasio-Cortez herself posted a second dancing video, rightwingers and Republicans have been otherwise unbothered.

Conservatives don’t care about a congresswoman’s college dance We should be more worried about Ocasio-Cortez’s proposed policy moves. People who claim that items than her college dancing videos. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE they do are fanning the flames of partisanship and ignoring actual ideas, including her proposed the charismatic Democratic concerns that conservatives have Green New Deal, her support congresswoman does. with Ocasio-Cortez — namely for Medicare for all and her This image produces an her Democratic-Socialist policy suggested 70 percent marginal environment where legitimate agenda. income tax rate. criticisms of Ocasio-Cortez The video of the former Bernie Ocasio-Cortez’s one-eyed and her ideas are dismissed as Sanders organizer was posted to House colleague, Crenshaw, purely political as opposed to Twitter by an account managed complimented her dancing by ideological. by conspiracy-theory group tweeting, “No one thinks this As a last note, Ocasio-Cortez QAnon. In mainstream circles, [dancing video] is scandalous,” is undoubtedly one of the most it is hardly ever acknowledged Crenshaw tweeted. “Dance charismatic and radical newas more than a pro-Trump away (was actually pretty good). elects to Congress. It is poor crowd of tin-foil hat users. To What is scandalous is increasing strategy and bad politics to attack pretend that their post criticizing income taxes to 70%. It’s wholly her for having fun. Republicans Ocasio-Cortez was more than unethical for anyone to work a who attempt to attack her that — a post from a conspiracy majority of the year just to give persona will almost always fail. theorist — is to give QAnon more their money to the government.” But in attacking and engaging credence than they deserve.

Spotlighting her dancing her ideas, Republicans stand a In contrast, the overwhelming video, while ignoring more fighting chance at pushing back response of conservatives, from radical ideas, makes our political against bad policy.

NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch conversation more partisan and to freshman congressman Dan less substantive.

Aida Vazquez-Soto is a senior Crenshaw (R-TX), has been It creates a patently false majoring in political science and to denounce any perceived image of a Republican party economics. backlash to the dancing video whose knee-jerk reaction is to and to focus on Ocasio-Cortez’s criticize everything and anything

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TRAVEL

Continued from PAGE 6

“Whether you know the language of the country or not, it is still a challenge to get around and adjust to different cultures. Traveling reveals how you choose to deal with those challenges. Whether you decide to stay in your hotel room and sulk or go out and try your best.”

Rid Bhuiyan, a senior, spent the break traveling to Bangladesh and Turkey.

He believes that traveling is essential for personal growth since it allows for a better understanding of various cultures and societies.

“I am a true believer that everyone should travel and experience new cultures because it brings us together,” Bhuiyan said. “Sometimes, it’s easier to disassociate with people of other cultures until we realize how similar

our experiences in life are no matter where you are from.

Most importantly, traveling really does offer a strong sense of fulfillment and appreciation for the little things we overlook in our daily routines.”

Whether their break was spent touring historical cities, exploring new cultures, or even volunteering around the world, students had the opportunity to experience what TerronBarreto defines as “personal growth.”

“Traveling is incredibly important for personal growth because it expands one’s cultural knowledge, and allows us to understand the difference in cultures which can enable us to make better choices about world sustainability, language learning and simply see how others around the world live can help us decide what things are really worthwhile,” TerronBarreto said.

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Marco Terron-Barreto went to Ghana to teach local children English, though he says he was the one who achieved “personal growth.”. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE/MARCO TERRON-BARRETO

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Football

Catching up on the state of USF football

By Sam Newlon A S S O C I A T E

E D I T O R

There was a lot that happened with USF football after the fall semester including a bowl game, the early signing period and a massive change in the coaching staff and player roster.

Gilbert, Mattox go to McNeese State Former USF offensive coordinator, Sterlin Gilbert, was officially announced as McNeese State’s head coach Dec. 5, 2018, but he wasn’t the only piece of USF’s coaching staff to make the switch.

McNeese State announced Jan. 3, 2019 that former USF offensive

line coach Matt Mattox would be the team’s new offensive coordinator.

Gilbert left the team before the Bulls faced off against Marshall in the Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl, leaving an offensive play caller vacancy.

Coach Charlie Strong gave the duties to Justin Burke, USF’s tight end and special team’s coach.

Although Burke was given extra responsibilities for the bowl game, it has yet to be announced who the Bulls’ offensive coordinator will be next season.

Kean, Oladokun and others to leave USF The day after USF’s 38-20

bowl game loss, former USF backup quarterback Brett Kean announced on Twitter his plan to transfer after graduating from USF in May. One week later, USF’s other backup quarterback, Chris Oladokun also announced his intention to transfer to a different program.

Blake Barnett won the starting quarterback position after transferring to USF in the summer — after Kean and Oladokun established themselves as the top two players contending for the quarterback role. After Barnett earned the spot, Kean and Oladokun both took a backseat again.

Whenever Barnett was out, either with injuries or just taking

a few plays to catch his breath, it was a toss-up between Oladokun and Kean for who would play.

Oladokun started a few games, but when he was in the game, it was only a matter of time before Kean got his turn.

“I will be transferring from the University of South Florida and have entered the transfer portal to be able to enroll at another university in January,” Oladokun said via Twitter. “Even though I may be starting a new chapter in my life, Tampa will ALWAYS be home for me.”

Barnett is set to return to USF next season, but with the departure of these two backups, fans could be asking themselves: “Who will play quarterback?”

It wasn’t just the quarterback position that will see some changes next season. After USF’s loss to Marshall, Strong said he planned a personnel housecleaning.

“I’m telling you right now, we’re going to clean up this whole program,” Strong told the Tampa Bay Times. “A lot of guys will be leaving. We need a good washing.”

11 USF players were suspended from the team’s bowl game, including WR Darnell Salomon, WR Deangelo Antoine, RB Elijah Mack, RB Duran Bell and DB Naytron Culpepper. According to the Tampa Bay Times, none of

n See FOOTBALL on PAGE 11

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FOOTBALL

Continued from PAGE 10

the 11 players suspended from the game are likely to return in 2019.

Early Signing Period The NCAA’s early signing period runs from Dec. 19 through 21 and USF inked 19 of their newest recruits during the threeday span when high school athletes decide where they will attend college.

Each of USF’s 19 signees were listed as three-star recruits, according to 247Sports. USF is listed on that website as the fourth strongest recruiting class in the AAC. One of the more interesting stories of the first early signing day was that of Jahquez Evans,

a 6-foot-2-inch, 180-pound dualthreat quarterback from Atlanta.

Evans decommitted from USF Dec. 12 before an official visit to Cincinnati on Dec. 14. He was quiet until Dec. 19, when he signed his letter of intent with USF. “There’s not going to be any surprises,” coach Charlie Strong told the Tampa Bay Times after the early signing period. “We know who we’re gonna get and it’s already done.”

The Bulls signed four offensive linemen, three linebackers, wide receivers, cornerbacks and defensive ends and just one running back, safety and quarterback.

The regular signing period for college football reopens Feb. 6.

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BASKETBALL Continued from PAGE 19

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the new year and into AAC play when it defeated UConn 76-68 on Jan. 2 at the Yuengling Center thanks to a 51-point second half. Rideau led the way with 25 points and eight rebounds. USF trailed the Huskies by as many as 13 points in the first half, but exploded in the second half, outscoring UConn by 16 points during the game’s final 20 minutes.

The win against UConn, which was USF’s 11th win of the season, marked the most total victories in a season since 2013-14, the last season under former coach Stan Heath.

The win in its AAC opener was USF’s first victory in a conference opener in exactly 11

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years, the last coming on Jan. 2, 2008, against Rutgers at what was then the Sun Dome.

Gregory thinks the victory over UConn, USF’s third all-time and first since the formation of the AAC in 2013, made a statement.

“We didn’t have to win — even though, obviously, I feel a lot better that we did — to play that hard, with that kind of grit and toughness, I think will resonate with our fans,” Gregory said.

Sophomore David Collins echoed his coach’s sentiments.

“We’re not here to be last anymore,” Collins said.

The Bulls return to the Yuengling Center on Wednesday against Tulane.

Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.

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Women’s Basketball

Women’s Basketball stumbles in non-conference play, wins first AAC game

By Brian Hattab S T A F F

W R I T E R

USF women’s basketball is off to a 10-5 start this season after going 3-3 in the month of December before opening up AAC play with a victory on Saturday.

The Bulls began December with three-straight victories at home against George Washington, Grambling State and Vermont. USF then dropped three-straight games to end the calendar year, falling to Creighton and Virginia at the Florida Sunshine Classic in Winter Park before losing to LSU in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Dec. 30.

USF began its conference

schedule with a 63-53 win at Temple on Saturday. Freshman Sydni Harvey led the way with 19 points, while senior Laura Ferreira scored 16. A pair of Bulls — Alyssa Rader and Shae Leverett — scored 10 each.

The Bulls were a force on the boards against the Owls, collecting 57 rebounds, with 26 of them coming offensively.

Enna Pehadzic led the way with 13 rebounds, while Leverett earned her second doubledouble of the season by collecting 10 rebounds.

“We haven’t been in a position that we’re in right now, with five losses, going into league play for a long time,” coach Jose Fernandez said. “Right now,

it’s a situation where we’ve just got to continue to get better in practice, individually and collectively, do a great job in preparing for games and bring our young guys along.”

Excluding injured senior Kitija Laksa, who sustained a torn ACL in the third game of the season, Harvey was second on the team in points per game during non-conference play with 13.1, behind only Ferreira.

Pehadzic posted six-straight games in double-figures scoring to close non-conference play.

“I like her confidence,” Fernandez said of Pehadzic.

“But what I like about Enna is the time that she’s invested.

She’s put in time and now the

rewards of her working on her game and spending extra time shooting, she’s seeing it come to fruition with how she’s playing on the floor.”

USF will continue AAC play shorthanded after losing Beatriz Jordao to a seasonending leg injury. The freshman center averaged 11.3 points per game and 5.7 rebounds per game and was twice named the AAC Freshman of the Week. Jordao only played nine minutes against LSU, her last game before being sidelined.

The Bulls were able to add some help with the addition of five-star recruit Luize Septe to their roster in advance of the LSU game. The native of

Ventspils, Latvia, signed a letter of intent during the offseason, but had been unable to join the roster until December. While in Latvia, Septe played for TTT Riga, the same club Laksa played for before joining USF in 2015.

“She’s going to help us playing minutes because of her versatility,” Fernandez said.

“She’s a big wing and can also play the stretch four.”

Next up for USF is a War on I-4 matchup against UCF on Tuesday at the Yuengling Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

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Men’s Basketball

Men’s basketball win streak snapped at seven

By Brian Hattab S T A F F

W R I T E R

USF men’s basketball is off to its best start in almost 30 years.

The Bulls started their season 11-2 for the first time since the 1990-91 thanks to USF’s first seven-game winning streak in 11 years, which started with a 75-71 victory on Nov. 28 against Stetson.

The Bulls’ streak came to an end Saturday in dramatic fashion after losing to Tulsa 78-75 on a last-second buzzerbeating three-pointer. USF (113, 1-1) battled back from nine points down with 1:12 remaining to eventually tie the game on a three-pointer by Collins with

five seconds left before Tulsa’s Curran Scott connected as the buzzer sounded.

“We did some things out of character a little bit for us, but the one thing that was in character was we just kept fighting,” coach Brian Gregory said in a statement after the game. “We just kind of hung in there and kept fighting, and did some really good things at the end, really good execution.”

Still, the seven-game win streak gave USF one of it’s best starts in program history to close out its non-conference schedule.

“I thought we had a chance to have a really good nonconference campaign,” Gregory

said. “I knew that the teams we were going to play — there were 50/50 games, so to speak.

But if we did what we were supposed to do, we were going to put ourselves in a position to win.

“The two games we lost were close games, but we won three or four close games as well.”

Freshman Alexis Yetna was a force during non-conference play, finishing with six doubledoubles, at the time good for 19th most in the NCAA. Yetna also led the AAC in rebounds per game during nonconference play with 10.9.

“We’re excited,” Yetna said.

“We’re excited to see how good we can be and excited

for the future, obviously. But we know that it’s starting now, so we’ve just got to work right now for the future and just not be excited for what’s coming after.”

After defeating Colgate on Nov. 30, USF took its break for finals week. Once that eightday gap concluded, USF had to wait a little longer to play basketball again.

The Bulls had their first true road game of the season, which would have been against Charlotte on Dec. 9, canceled due to a winter storm in North Carolina. Attempts are being made to reschedule the game, but nothing has been announced yet, according to

USF’s sports information department.

When USF was able to play its first true road game, the Bulls were victorious in Miami against Florida International 82-73 on Dec. 18.

Junior Laquincy Rideau led all scorers with 28 points. The two teams combined for a total of 57 turnovers, with 33 of the turnovers allowed by USF. The Bulls’ other victories in December came in home games against Appalachian State on Dec. 15, Alcorn State on Dec. 21 and Fairleigh Dickinson on Dec. 29.

USF kept its streak alive into

n See BASKETBALL on PAGE 12

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