THE ORACLE
T H U RS DAY, JA N UA RY 3 1 , 2 0 1 9 I VO L . 5 6 N O . 3 1
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U N I V E R S I T Y O F S O U T H F L O R I DA
The Center for Victim Advocacy is in need of a “critical mass” of new employees
By Jesse Stokes E D I T O R
I N
C H I E F
The Center for Victim Advocacy and Violence Prevention, as it is known now, was in trouble of being changed in the spring. However, now that it has been agreed on that the purpose and goals of the center will remain as they were, one issue still persists: hiring a staff. The fear of change came in September when a job listing was posted on Indeed advertising for an open position for “Assistant Director - Victim Assistance and Violence Prevention.” This sparked an outcry from students and faculty members Currently, The Center for Victim Advocacy and Violence Prevention is operating with just one advocate alike who were advocating for and one violence prevention expert. ORACLE PHOTO/JESSE STOKES the “advocate” title. Now, Chris Ponticelli, who is the search for the assistant presented issues of its own. have to hire under that title the chair of the Women’s Status director for the center, said the “We ran into a legal of ‘Victim Assistance and Committee and is helping lead back-and-forth title change has issue,” Ponticelli said. “We Violence Prevention.’ All of the
candidates that came in were made clear that this was a center for advocacy. So, I think what the plan is that the assistant director will work more on the side of prevention and then when the director comes in they will be more on the side of advocacy.” According to Ponticelli, the center is currently operating with just a single advocate and one violence prevention specialist. Step one of the hiring phase is filling the assistant director role, according to Ruthann Atchley, USF’s associate vice president of Community Engagement, who is also serving as the interim director for the center. “We need a critical mass of bodies and we need some leadership in that unit,” Atchley said. “We recognize that serving
n See ADVOCACY on PAGE 3
Senate approves additional funding for Bullstock By Maria Ranoni M A N A G I N G
E D I T O R
The Student Government (SG) Senate voted almost unanimously Tuesday to give the Center for Student Involvement (CSI) an additional $50,000 to fund its music festival-style event Bullstock. With a vote of 38 yes and
two no, the additional money will bring the total budget for Bullstock to $173,867. Of this total, $98,437 came from money that was already allocated in CSI’s yearly budget and $25,430 came from the department’s concert auxiliary funds. The money that is used to budget CSI and many of their events comes directly from
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student tuition in the form of Activity and Service fees. Much of the auxiliary money mentioned is coming from leftover funds from Homecoming, according to comments Monica Miranda, director of CSI, made Tuesday at the Senate meeting. “The lower the budget we have for the artist, the less
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people will know who they are, the less people will want to come,” Miranda said. CSI estimates that about 3,000 people will be in attendance with the approved budget. During the discussion period in which senators voice their opinions prior to voting on the request, most seemed to
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support CSI’s request. “I think CSI should have this,” Sen. Ryan Prieto said. “I think CSI should get more of this because the funds are already set aside. Might as well use them for students.” According to Sen. Salud Martinez, chair of the Finance Committee, there is
n See BULLSTOCK on PAGE 3
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