02-05-18

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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

Father-daughter relationship builds softball star

By Sam Newlon S T A F F

Bethaney Keen first stepped onto the field at 4-years-old and moved on to play professional softball in middle school. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE

W R I T E R

He’s been by her side from the start.

From playing T-ball to being named to the All-American Athletic Conference All-Rookie team after her freshman season last year, USF Softball’s Bethaney Keen’s father has played an integral piece in her success on the field, both as a coach and as a mentor.

Bethaney’s first on-the-field experience with her father came when she was playing T-ball at 4-years-old, with her father, James Keen, as the coach.

“She was the only girl on my team,” James said. “Truly, she was my best player. She’d throw the ball to first base, and the other kids couldn’t catch it.”

Now at USF, Bethaney is doing what her T-ball teammates couldn’t — catching balls as the team’s everyday first baseman.

Before she was hitting walkoff homeruns, as she did in USF’s 2017 season opener, Bethaney was surrounded by baseball.

Her two uncles played Triple-A, while her older brother was a pitcher, which made for many days and nights at the ballpark.

She was coached by her father throughout recreational softball, all the way until she started playing travel softball with the Tampa Mustangs in eighth grade.

“My dad was always my coach,” Bethaney said. “My dad saw the potential in me when he pushed me. We would get into arguments all the time.”

The arguments usually came

in the form of bickering when she and her dad were putting in extra practice on their own time, according to Bethaney.

The two would get frustrated, one would storm off the field while the other stayed, then they would reconvene and get back to work after a cooling-off period.

“We’d just bicker when I didn’t want to be there,” Bethaney said.

“He’d say he was going to leave, and I’d realize I did actually want to be there. I would just stay on the field until he came back to soft-toss to me.”

When asked about his perspective of the story, her father laughed.

“Would we butt heads? Oh lord yes,” James said. “You get upset with your daughter, and you say ‘to heck with it’ and pick up the balls. She’d stay out there, and she knew I wouldn’t leave, and I even knew I wouldn’t leave.

Then we’d get over it, and it’d be all good.”

While softball was number one, James also said Bethaney wanted to be involved in several sports as she was grew up, including football, baseball and taekwondo.

“She wanted to play all kinds of sports, but taekwondo she was really good at,” James said. “She was doing good with that when she got into weapons, nunchucks and all that. She’s competitive.”

James described his daughter as a gamer and as someone who refused to back down from a challenge.

When Bethaney shifted from playing recreational softball to

n See KEEN on PAGE 8

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the Oracle the University of South Florida’s student newspaper since 1966

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NEWS

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA

News Briefs

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Student organizations celebrate Black Heritage Month

UP alerts students of recent robbery

The University Police (UP) issued a community crime alert stating the Bull Market on North 42nd St. was robbed on the night of Jan. 30.

According to the alert, “the suspect entered the business, produced a silver in color firearm and obtained an undisclosed amount of U.S. currency.”

Pictures captured by security footage indicate the suspect to be a white female, approximately 18 to 21 years of age, about 5’6” and 120 pounds.

The suspect, who was wearing all dark clothing, appears to be the same person that robbed the location previously.

The crime alert urges anyone with information on the robbery to call the UP or the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.

UP advises students to be vigilant of their surroundings and to report any suspicious activity.

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February serves as Black Heritage Month with events designed to bring students together.

SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE/USF.COM

By Alyssa Stewart C O R R E S P O N D E N T

USF clubs celebrate with black organizations for a month of events commemorating Black Heritage Month. The definition of diversity is enhanced throughout the month of February by providing entertainment and

expanding the unity on campus.

The kick-off begins on February 5th on the MLK stage from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m.

Caribbean Culture Exchange (CCE) is showcasing a Coming to America event on Feb. 7 at 5 p.m. in the Marshall Student Center (MSC) which sheds light

on students who experienced racial tension while living in the United States.

David Williams, the CCE president, said he believes having multiple organizations celebrating black culture breaks down walls so it is easier to step into another person’s shoes to

experience life the way they do.

“Everyone should be represented because we’re all one people,” Williams said. “Social issues are like a grassroot, and once you pick up that momentum, it creates a train of change.”

The Celebration of Black Heritage Month is an opportunity to meet black role models and student leaders spreading the meaning of black identity.

“The event gives a fair chance to everyone with different values to have a platform,” Williams said.

“There is a lot of issues circling right now, so it is important to communicate.”

Education Abroad, Safe HOME and P.R.I.D.E Alliance are participating in the month’s festivities to celebrate as well.

“It is good that the black community has allies from different communities on campus,” USF student, Deanna Baxter, a freshman majoring in chemistry, said. “America is currently split, and as a nation, this month is a big deal not just for the black community, but for

n See HERITAGE on PAGE 5

Language clubs to showcase what they have to offer

By Cyrena Sky

C O R R E S P O N D E N T

Language clubs at USF will be holding a showcase of their organizations on Monday in the Marshall Student Center (MSC) to give students a peek into the professional and cultural opportunities they offer.

At the Language Club Showcase, students will learn about the different clubs, what they have to

offer, what you will learn by being in the clubs, how you can use what you learn in these clubs to get a job after college and what you can do to be a part of the students who work with international investors.

USF offers 10 different language clubs on campus that are with the world language department and offered through independent study.

According to Miriam Friedman, a member of the Russian Club,

being in a language club not only teaches about the language, but also the culture.

“It depends on how deep you go,” Friedman said. “When you analyze words, you get the cultural information from that. Learning a different language has opened different opportunities to interact with different people who have a different point of view from yourself.”

These clubs are for both who

know the language or don’t know the language. If a student already knows a language, joining the club could teach them more about the culture.

The President of the Russian Club, Teddy Horowitz joined Duolingo, an app where you can learn languages, when he was just 14 years old.

“I finished six different language trees at 15,” Horowitz said.

n See LANGUAGE on PAGE 5

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LIFESTYLE

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Students build comradery through foam fighting

By Matthew Cutillo C O R R E S P O N D E N T

Walking around campus, students may see a group of their peers outside donning colorful garments and holding handmade weapons. These students comprise the Foam Fighting Club.

It is very easy to walk by and write the activity off as something silly, but club members are hoping the activity is given a chance.

On the surface, seeing students slashing each other with swords and spears may not appear as something anyone can get into, but the club is very adamant about how easily new members can join the community.

Charles Ramsey III, a junior majoring in creative writing, is now the Vice President of the club.

“Personally, I enjoy the exercise, sparring, meeting people and the friends,” Ramsey said. “Also getting new people involved in the sport and dressing up.”

Contrary to popular belief, there is a difference between foam fighting and larping, a term that is often placed upon the club. Larping is the act of playing a theatrical-type character while fighting, which the club does not focus on.

“We’re not larping unless you want it to be.” Ramsey said. “The majority of the club is fightingfocused. There are only two people who really go into the role playing stuff.”

Drawing close comparisons to other combat-related sports, such as fencing, two foam

Vice President of the Foam Fighting Club, Charles Ramsey III gets ready to land another hit against his opponent.

SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE/LAWRENCE MILLER

fighters often stand opposite of one another before the round.

Landing firm, but not painful, hits, the two players go back and forth until one can carry on no longer. Rounds are fast, exciting and precise, always resulting in a smile from both players after an exhausting battle fought.

Each member purchases their own weapons, ranging from $20 to $50, however there is plenty of free equipment prospective members may borrow if they would like to give it a chance without the financial investment.

The weapons are made out of rope, grip tape, duct tape, foam,

yoga mats and really anything else soft enough to not hurt a fellow member, but firm enough to let them know a solid hit has landed.

With so many different combinations of weapons varying in length and weight, each member has developed their own personal fighting style, adding a unique personality to each player on the field.

Despite the seemingly violent nature, the activity is surprisingly safe. A high amount of effort is put into constant repairs on the weapons to ensure maximum safety, and each member has

been thoroughly educated on how to not harm another.

“No one gets hurt doing this because we are all about safety,” Ramsey said. “If you have a preexisting injury, definitely tell us about it, and we’ll be more aware.”

There appears to be many misconceptions about the club and if students were to better understand what exactly the activity entails there may be more inclination to join. Every student who walks off the sidewalk to pick up a sword leaves with an unadulterated smile on their face, which is

something more students could be experiencing if they were not afraid to try.

“I absolutely think there is a stigma,” Ramsey said. “People walking by see it as silly stuff, and might have a fear of not looking cool.”

Foam fighting exists across many states and countries, steadily growing in popularity each year.

The club meets weekly in order to prepare for nationwide tournaments, as the U.S. continues to be the most popular location for the sport.

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A variety of events will be held during the remainder of Black Heritage Month. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE/USF.COM

HERITAGE

Continued from PAGE 3

every minority.”

Baxter said Black Heritage Month is important to her because it represents the struggle her family had to overcome because of her race. Baxter said that as

long as the organizations serve a purpose, there is no reason why they should not participate.

“We celebrate our culture and overcame the obstacles we as a people have unfortunately had to face,” Baxter said. “It allows multicultural students to thrive and develop.”

Jewel Hector, a freshman

majoring in mass communications, said USF does a great job in upholding its commitment to acknowledging diversity.

“America is set up in a way where if students are not subjected to knowing it (diversity), you would never know that it is out there to find,” Hector said.

“Finding new things about other

LANGUAGE

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Even though he knows English, Spanish, Portuguese, French and Polish, he still wanted to know more. Horowitz came to USF to study Russian Narrative and joined the Russian Club to learn more about the culture.

“I got awarded to go study in Poland,” Horowitz said. “I also got awarded the Gilman’s Scholarship to go study abroad in Ukraine or Kazakhstan to learn Russian.”

Kati Lichi, a senior majoring in Russian language and culture, is in the reserves, but come May, she will be an officer in The U.S. The language clubs will show students the perks of joining their clubs.

Military.

SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE “In the military I’ll be using the language skills I’ve learned to help in Russia this summer with other have another country to look at for progress, can’t say specifics, but members of the club in hopes job opportunities,” Friedman said. anything that needs to be done as of having many more learning The Language Club Showcase is far as Russian Intelligence,” Lichi experiences. on Monday, Feb. 5th from 6 p.m. to said.

“Knowing Swedish helps me 8 p.m. in the MSC room 3707.

Lichi will be studying abroad learn other languages, and now I

people who are different from us is as important as being accepted.”

The Office of Multicultural Affairs is setting up a social media competition every week in the month of February to give a member of the black community who is exemplifying leadership and involvement a chance to have the spotlight. USF students have the opportunity to nominate an individual who is impacting USF in a positive way.

Black Heritage Month will include food, dance performances, trivia night, art, a movie screening, discussions and guest speakers Wesley Lowery and Ken Nwadike Jr. “The more people who are able to come together and talk about something, allows for more perspective and an understanding of one another,” Baxter said. “Each club needs each other to improves the campus’ atmosphere.”

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OPINION UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA

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The tipping system is What you said harmful to employee income

By Paige Wisniewski C O L U M N I S T

Gratuities are an economic cornerstone for many workers employed in the restaurant industry; federal law mandates that employers can pay tipped employees less than the minimum wage.

According to the Department of Labor, employers are only required to pay tipped employees $2.13 an hour. This payment model in the restaurant industry has been operating for centuries on the basis that these employees are compensated through customer gratuity.

In December, the Donald Trump Administration attempted to regulate the pay structure for tipped and non-tipped employees in the restaurant industry by proposing that states require a “tip pool.”

A tip pool allows employers to redistribute waiters’ earned tips as they see fit. This could mean tips are equally distributed to all employees or employers could opt to pocket the earnings themselves.

This proposal is in opposition to a 2011 Labor Department regulation that mandates all tips are the property of the tipped employees.

However, tipping as a pay structure – regardless of pooling – is harmful to both businesses and their employees. Tipping should be abolished and all employees should be able to earn a reasonable wage from their employers, not their customers.

Tipping also creates a culture

of sexual harassment and racial disparity for employees who depend on tips as living wages. According to Restaurant Opportunities Center United (ROC United), 40 percent of restaurant employees are people of color and 60 percent of restaurant employees are women.

ROC United reports that the restaurant industry produces up to five times the average number of sexual harassment claims per worker – making the U.S. restaurant industry as one of the leading industries in sexual harassment rates. Because tipping creates a system where the customer (rather than the employer) is responsible for paying the employee, the employee becomes subject to higher rates of harassment. When a person’s income and livelihood are based on pleasing a customer, the customer is not held accountable for mistreating the employee. In ROC United’s 2014 study, out of 668 total surveys, 80% of female restaurant workers and 55% of male restaurant workers reported to experiencing some form of sexual harassment by a customer.

According to a study conducted

by Cornell University, non-white servers make less tips than white servers for the same amount of work. There is a $4 per hour wage gap between white and nonwhite workers.

ROC United’s co-founder Saru Jayaraman, attributes this disparity to the fact that non-white workers make up more of the lower-level positions — such as bussers or runners — in the restaurant

industry. This racial disparity in tipping culture should not come as a surprise, because the implementation of tipping can be dated back to slavery.

According to UC Berkeley Labor Center, after the Civil War and emancipation of slaves, the wealthy white businessmen who lost their source of free labor participated in the emerging restaurant industry.

These businessmen then employed newly freed slaves without paying wages and instead required them to live off customer gratuity. Tipping not only began as a method to keep minorities poor, but it has sustained a legacy of inequality throughout the centuries it has been in practice.

Employers should be responsible for paying employees reasonable wages – not the customer. Tipping maintains a culture – already rooted in racist history – where women and people of color are subject to unequal opportunities and pay.

While pooling the tips would seem like an ideal solution to level the playing field for these workers, the Trump Administration’s proposal does not dictate how employers must divide the tip earnings, thus leaving room for employers to take property of the tips and further take advantage of their below-minimum-wage employees.

Paige Wisniewski is a junior majoring in interdisciplinary social sciences.

Multimedia Editor Chaveli Guzman asked students how they think the significance of Black Heritage Month has changed in today’s society.

“We are more aware, but at the same time the fact that there is a lot more light on a lot more issues of today makes everything seem a lot more racist as well.”

— Miguel Lopez, a junior majoring in psychology “I’ve noticed a lot of changes in the community, like there have been many projects to spread awareness.“ ­— Shelly Karr, a freshman majoring in biomedical sciences “I think that it’s more relevant now, and more people need to be aware of it, especially with the politics going on in our society.”

— Angelica Riviezzo, a freshman majoring biomedical engineering “At USF, a lot of people are more involved and aware of what the history is.”

— Caroline Yuan, a freshman majoring in finance

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CROSSWORD

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KEEN

Continued from PAGE 1

playing for the Tampa Mustangs, her career started to get more serious. While playing softball for Braden River High School, Bethaney was traveling across the country with the Mustangs.

Bethaney played in tournaments in Tennessee, Indiana and California. She helped lead her team to winning the 2015 16U Premier Girls Fastpitch National Championship in California, with her dad watching and supporting every step of the way.

After she went through a long recruiting process, Bethaney finalized her decision to play for USF and had to get right to work on the team.

“I was nervous in an exciting way,” Bethaney said. “Coach told me the day before I was starting, so I knew that. My first at-bat in college I struck out.”

Bethaney had yet to get a hit in the game and approached the plate for the third time with a runner on base and the Bulls down one run.

“I remember that game so vividly, and I remember we were down by one,” Bethaney recalled.

“It was my last at-bat, and I was like ‘Coach, don’t worry, I’ve got this, don’t worry,’ and then it happened.”

Bethaney hit a two-run walkoff home run as her first career college hit, which gave the Bulls their first victory of the season.

Bethaney would go on to hit three more home runs, while knocking in a team-high 29 RBI’s.

“I was nervous, of course,” Bethaney said. “I had been waiting for that moment for I don’t know how long. The anticipation of that game was

Sports

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA

huge. I think even now I’m nervous.”

Bethaney finished her season by being selected to the AllAmerican Athletic Conference All-Rookie team. She didn’t even know she had received the honor until a friend told her.

“I got a congrats from my friend, and I was so confused. I looked on Twitter, and I was like ‘Ah, that’s cool,’” Bethaney said.

“Of course, my own accolades are cool and all, and I wish we had better team accolades last year, which didn’t happen.”

As a team, USF finished the season 32-24 and lost in the first round of the AAC tournament to Memphis 7-0. The Bulls didn’t make the NCAA Tournament or win a conference tournament game for the first time since 2011.

Despite an accolade-filled freshman season, Bethaney’s college experience hasn’t come without some low points. She would often go back to her roots and reach out to her father when she faced tough times.

“She’d talk to me always,” James said. “There were ups and downs with her sometimes. She wants to be up so much all the time sometimes she’d get down on herself really bad. Her worst enemy was herself, I’d tell her.

There’s so much up above her she’s got to keep working and not get too down on herself.”

Bethaney said she almost quit softball to become a baseball pitcher like her brother, but her father convinced her to stick with the sport.

“Me and my dad still practice pitching sometimes when I’m home,” Bethaney said. “It’s a fun little hobby I used to do. I don’t know what made me not quit, but I’m glad I never did.”

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USF loses to Tulsa 63-54

By Brian Hattab

C O R R E S P O N D E N T

Despite having multiple scorers in double figures, USF (8-16, 1-10) was unable to down Tulsa (13-10, 6-5), falling to the Golden Hurricane 63-54 Sunday in front of an announced crowd of 2,484 at the Sun Dome.

A key issue for the Bulls was their inability to rebound. USF was outrebounded by Tulsa 44-32, with only nine rebounds coming on offense.

“The one area that obviously is still a stumbling block for us is finishing the defensive possession with a rebound,” head coach Brian Gregory said.

In addition to outrebounding the Bulls, Tulsa was propelled to victory by a 12-1 run over the course of two minutes during the early stages of the second half.

For the vast majority of the game, the lead went back and forth. USF and Tulsa would exchange the lead 10 times over the course of the afternoon. The Bulls would lead the game for almost 10 minutes in total, but trailed at the only time it mattered.

Graduate guard Stephan Jiggets led all scorers with 22 points. The 20-plus point performance was the fifth on the season for Jiggets.

Jiggets was joined in double figures by David Collins. The freshman guard scored 11 points over 35 minutes, however he did find himself in foul trouble at the end of the game. Collins finished the game with four after fouling out Wednesday against Memphis.

Despite all the fouls, Gregory remains optimistic about Collins.

“I’m not going to … throttle him back,” Gregory said. “I’m not going

Freshman guard David Collins was unable to overcome Tulsa’s offense during the game Sunday. ORACLE FILE PHOTO/MIKI SHINE to do that because he’s going to be a great player here. He needs to make some smarter defensive plays. He can’t get a foul reaching. He can’t get a foul if he’s out of position … we got to keep his engine running as fast as possible. When he does make a mistake, it’s done aggressively and I’d rather have that.”

Two other Bulls came close to scoring double figures. Graduate forward Payton Banks finished with nine points, with all three of his field goals coming from beyond the three-point line. Senior forward Isaiah Manderson finished with eight points over the course of 19 minutes.

“Offensively, I thought we did some good things,” Gregory said. “I thought Jiggets played extremely well today … I thought (Collins) played well and I thought (Manderson) had a very good second half, especially offensively.”

The Golden Hurricane were led offensively by two players in double

figures. Senior forward Junior Etou and junior guard DaQuan Jeffries scored 17 and 16 points respectively.

Etou also collected 12 rebounds to record his second straight doubledouble and sixth on the season.

“Those guys go every single time,” Gregory said. “They’re physical and they’re long and you got to put a body on them.”

Up next for USF is a midweek trip to Storrs, Connecticut, to take on UConn on Wednesday night.

The Bulls and Huskies will play each other for the first time since the American Athletic Conference tournament on March 9. UConn won that game 77-66 in Hartford, Connecticut.

USF is still in search of their first conference win at home since Feb. 11, 2017, against ECU. Their next opportunity will come Saturday against Temple. Tipoff for that game is scheduled for noon at the Sun Dome.