04-22-15

The Oracle WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2015 I VOL. 52 NO. 114

Inside this Issue

N E W S

International student earns 25 Under 25 recognition.

Page 4

Montage

S PORTS Joe Cavallaro’s active childhood helped the freshman find balance.

BACK

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UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA

Ousted professor, embroiled in conspiracy to return

By Wesley Higgins

LI F E STYLE

www.usforacle.com

The Index

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E D I T O R

After two suspensions following investigations of theft and harassment — not to mention tales of espionage — Dajin Peng is returning to USF after his unpaid five-year suspension ends in August.

Originally suspended in 2011, Peng caused tension between USF and its academic ties with China.

Peng’s reinstatement comes at a time when USF is increasingly trying to form relationships with

international universities.

Peng started teaching at USF in 1994 as an instructor for the Department of Government and International Affairs. By 2002, he was promoted to associate professor. By 2008, he became the director of the USF Confucius Institute.

The Confucius Institute, a program subsidized by the People’s Republic of China, focuses on increasing U.S. ties with the Chinese mainland through academic exchange and teaching of the language.

On the outside, it seemed Peng was an effective leader. Some administrators and students reportedly praised his leadership and teaching ability.

However, doubts grew around 2009 as Confucius Institute employees began accusing Peng of sexual harassment, misspending university money and exploitation of employees.

The university investigated the claims and, in a 187-page report, determined Peng had been guilty of misconduct.

The report stated Peng spent

nearly $16,000 on travel and entertainment unrelated to university business. Peng took multiple trips to China, as well as a vacation to California.

The investigators also discovered Peng had falsified official letters of invitations to Chinese nationals, which qualified as “fraud and misuse of visas, permits and other documents.”

It was also found Peng failed to compensate employees for time worked.

While no claims of sexual

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Learning from the dead SG tables concealed carry resolution

By Wesley Higgins N E W S

USF to acquire land for study of natural body decomposition.

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By Brandon Shaik A S S T .

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E D I T O R

For some, hands-on learning means a field trip. For others, it means working with decomposing corpses under the hot Florida sun.

USF may soon have a new facility dedicated to studying the decomposition of human bodies in Florida’s natural environment.

The Facility for Outdoor Experimental Research and Training (FORT) is a program available through the USF Department of Anthropology for students with an interest in forensic anthropology. FORT aims to be a point of research and education for students and law enforcement officials with the goal of expanding on methodologies related to crime scenes involving human victims.

The facility, which will be the first in Florida, is one of at least a dozen in the nation. The proposed location would be in a wooded area off Highway 39 in Lithia, currently owned by the

Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) and used for a shooting range.

“Everything we do is really related to the issue and problem of missing persons,” said Erin Kimmerle, a USF professor of anthropology. “They may be long term missing, or a recent homicide, but if they’re buried or dumped in these outdoor contexts, that’s where we’re trying to help answer the questions.

Who were they? Why were they here? How long have they been here?”

While facilities similar to the one proposed currently exist in

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E D I T O R

Both the USF Student Government (SG) Senate and state Senate are putting off the issue of allowing concealed carry on campus until another time.

On Tuesday, the SG Senate again voted to table the resolution that would present the views of the student body on concealed carry on campus — this time indefinitely.

The bill had been tabled the week before after the majority of senators felt the bill needed a week to consider additional amendments.

The original version of the resolution stated that SG, on behalf of the USF student body, opposed the concealed

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carry of firearms on public university campuses.

If it had been approved, SG would have sent that message to state leaders with the intention of influencing the Florida Senate and House of Representatives’ decision on the bill (HB4005, SB176) allowing concealed carry.

SG changed the resolution to remove any opinion made on behalf of the students after some senators felt it was not their place to voice such a controversial opinion without being sure it accurately represented the views of students.

Instead of directly stating opposition to the bill, the amended resolution removed what some senators believed to be an emotional narrative in favor of presenting survey results for the Legislature’s consideration.

The survey, which originally justified the resolution, was conducted earlier this month.

It asked 755 students opinions regarding concealed carry on campus.

According to the survey, around 69 percent of students surveyed opposed concealed carry on campus. This number

is composed of roughly 39 percent surveyed who opposed concealed carry everywhere, including on campus, and 30 percent surveyed who opposed concealed carry on campus, but not off campus.

The survey also indicated around 54 percent of students surveyed felt safer without concealed carry on campus.

The amended bill broke down the survey to the decimal point. It also spelled out the math by providing the percentage of students who did support concealed carry — roughly 27 percent.

Despite excluding a conclusive argument, there were still concerns Tuesday that the survey may have been worded with a bias meant to sway students to give anti-concealed carry answers.

Others still questioned whether the survey was based on a truly random sample. The survey was conducted both online and by surveyors at tent day.

Senator Corey Ulloa also wanted to remove the top clause of the resolution that indicated the USF Tampa University Police chief opposed concealed carry. Ulloa said it started the resolution off with too much of an opinion.

After some discussion, the

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SG Senate voted to table the bill indefinitely, with 19 senators voting in favor and 7 voting against.

While the vote last week was so close it needed a tiebreaker, senators this week did not feel as rushed. Even Senator Samuel Shiflett, who wrote the survey and voiced urgency to the passing of the resolution the week prior, did not seem upset at the possibility of it being tabled.

Since Tuesday was SG’s last meeting in spring, the resolution will have to be rewritten and brought back up again next session.

Still, many SG senators felt no hurry because the concealed carry bill has been stalled in the Florida Senate after not making it out of committee. As legislative committee meetings ended last week, it won’t have a chance to see the floor for voting until next session.

Nonetheless, many university students, faculty and police show no sign of letting the issue go. Florida State University delivered a petition with over 10,000 student signatures opposing the bill to the Florida Senate president April 14 — the same day USF SG first tabled the resolution.

CORRECTION

Summer applications for The Oracle are now available!

For more information, email Alex Rosenthal at oracleeditor@gmail.com

In Tuesday’s issue of The Oracle, an article incorrectly stated former USF men’s soccer player Wesley Charpie was the highest pick in the MLS SuperDraft to come from USF. Among others, Dom Dwyer (drafted 16th in 2012) and Jeff Cunningham (drafted ninth in 1998) were picked higher than Charpie.

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states across the nation such as Texas, Illinois and Tennessee, Kimmerle believes there is a distinct to implement a facility unique to Florida.

“Here in Florida, we have a very different climate, different soils, different environment than really anywhere else in the country … all of those environmental variables — temperature, rainfall, acidity in the soil — all of that affects how not just human remains decompose, but fibers, paper, trace evidence,” she said. “We need local standards, we need to know what works in our environment, what are the conditions, what are the variables.”

These facilities permit students, researchers and professionals to look at human bodies and the environment at a baseline, introduce different research studies to the space and monitor them over time using specific

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harassment were proven, investigators found “vile, disturbing” images on Peng’s university computer that included an image of a woman in bondage. According to an interview with Bloomberg, in his defense, Peng said bondage is vital to understanding Japanese culture.

In 2010, Peng was suspended for one year and settled to repay the university $10,000.

During Peng’s suspension, Nankai University in China reportedly received letters supporting Peng. Nankai University was the partner of the USF Confucius Institute.

According to USF findings, Peng had misused funds to visit Nankai. Peng also once reportedly bought Disney tickets for guests visiting Florida from Nankai.

In response to letters to Nankai supporting Peng, which were suspected as being written by Peng himself, Nankai ended its partnership with USF and the Confucius Institute.

USF Provost Ralph Wilcox blamed Peng for causing the end of the relationship and determined he had violated the terms of his suspension. Peng was suspended for an additional two years until August 2015.

Then, in February of this year,

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designs in order to apply the findings to real life cases.

“We have become a resource for law enforcement throughout Florida in that we routinely do this work and we’re really the only ones that are doing it,” Kimmerle said. “Generally speaking, these are areas of expertise beyond what normal forensic units do in law enforcement and they call us. We’ve done many searches and many cases for Hillsborough and all the surrounding counties and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.”

HCSO reports 38 unsolved homicides within the last decade.

Human body donations can be made through a living donation program where individuals can donate their bodies to USF as they would in any other type of scientific research. Since announcing the development of FORT two weeks ago, USF has received 27 requests from individuals for donation packets and additional information.

Bloomberg published an article suggesting Peng had gotten caught up in the FBI. The article reported that, according to Peng, the FBI tried to coerce him to spy on China and Tampa’s Chinese community.

Peng further stated the FBI set him up, according to Bloomberg.

Peng said he suspected the FBI of encouraging USF to bring false allegations against him. In exchange for infiltration, Peng said the FBI would protect him against the accusations.

In 2012, Peng wrote a letter to USF President Judy Genshaft alleging a “plot of making (him) spy against China.”

“The FBI suspected, without any ground, that I am a Chinese spy,” Peng wrote. “It is a pity that USF, the university I have been working extremely hard for, was working with the FBI against me.”

Peng filed a grievance against USF and accused the university of punishing him for refusing to spy on China on behalf of the FBI, to no success.

While waiting for his return to USF, Peng is teaching in China.

According to Bloomberg, he has given up on scholarly pursuit because he doubts anyone would be willing to publish him.

According to a university spokesman, the university has not finalized what position Peng, a tenured professor, will assume when he returns.

After death, the bodies may be used for research, or buried either to decompose or be used to train individuals about remote sensing.

Remote sensing involves burying a body and using tools to locate the body from above ground. Using FORT for this purpose will allow students and professionals to be trained in this type of methodology.

After the bodies have decomposed and skeletonize, they are cleaned and become a part of USF’s permanent collection, which is a resource for students and researchers.

“Studying these skeletons helps to identify how old the individual is, their health, their stature and their ancestry. There’s a great need for modern collections that reflect that human diversity,” said Kimmerle, who believes this is the reason that many people are interested in donating.

Since 2006, the undergraduate Forensic Anthropology course at USF has done a similar

program to what is currently being developed for the purpose of teaching by using animal bodies. Classes have used the USF Ecological Research Area, the woods behind MOSI and Tampa’s Blackwater Hammock Park. In these classes, large mammals are buried in these areas and the students, along with the FBI Evidence Response Team, learn how to find graves, excavate them and preserve evidence.

“It’s a way to take everything students learn in the classroom and apply it in a very fun, handson kind of way,” Kimmerle said.

“Being able to use donated remains gives us the opportunity to do that kind of research that we can do with animals.”

FORT, which was originally set for completion this summer, is currently in the hands of county officials and the public as USF seeks their acceptance and approval.

Some of the natural concerns of the public include water contamination, odor and negative

environmental effects. However, Kimmerle said none of those will occur as a result of FORT’s development.

A public meeting will be held Thursday to address public concerns, provide more information to the community, answer questions and hear feedback.

The meeting will take place in the Pinecrest Elementary School Cafeteria located at 7950 Lithia Pinecrest Road in Lithia at 6:30 p.m.

“This is about research and education, but the big picture is that all of that research and education goes toward finding missing persons and helping solve cases,” Kimmerle said. “We know that the casework that we do regularly, and through so many success stories that this works. We see this as an opportunity to build that capacity and expand that mission … it’s not just about academic research for the sake of something to study.

It’s a very applied practical solution to a very tragic problem.”

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International student on his way to becoming global businessman

By Zach Lowie S T A F F

W R I T E R

One Muma College of Business student went from growing up in a small town in South Vietnam to being named one of the top prospective USF business students under the age of 25.

The 25 Under 25 program honored Duy Nguyen this month as among the best of his peers for demonstrating excellence in scholarship, professional development and leadership.

After originally hearing about the program through fliers and word of mouth, Nguyen said he never expected he would be a member of the prestigious distinction.

Then again, it wasn’t the first time something happened differently than expected.

Nguyen is a senior studying management and marketing with a concentration in supply chain management. Following schooling in Vietnam, he said he expected to pursue higher education in his home country, but his father had another idea in mind.

“To be honest, I didn’t think I would study in the U.S.,” Nguyen said. “After my high school graduation though, my father told me he had chosen a school for me to attend in the States and I got really excited.”

Nguyen’s father made a name for himself in Vietnam as an entrepreneur and saved money for both Nguyen and his brother to attend college.

With his family’s good wishes, Nguyen boarded a plane and headed to USF. The move made sense for

Nguyen because the majority of his mother’s side of the family lives in the greater Tampa area. He enrolled as an INTO student, a program that acts as the pathway to USF for international students.

Upon arrival at USF, Nguyen got involved with the program’s front office. Originally an INTO student leader, he was soon promoted to an INTO student assistant, where he has since mentored INTO students after transitioning to USF fulltime.

Nguyen said he enjoys knowing he helps give these students a place to practice their English freely and ask

“After my high school graduation though, my father told me he had chosen a school for me to attend in the states and I got really excited.”

-Duy Nguyen USF senior majoring in management and marketing questions about American culture and practices. Nguyen also said he realizes a lot of new students may be fearful of getting involved, but he emphasizes this initial feeling will pass over time.

“As a former INTO program

student myself, I’d say it’s most important to make friends and connections right away,” Nguyen said. “International students are often afraid to take part in professional development activities due to the fear of being judged by their appearance or accent. I know there are students much more talented than me, but they simply don’t take advantage of the opportunities presented to them.”

For Nguyen, one of the biggest benefits of working with students is learning new information from them indirectly.

The diverse array of cultures opens the door for other viewpoints he would have never considered if it wasn’t for these conversations.

“They are so talented and very hard-working,” Nguyen said. “However, they don’t understand American culture just yet, so I’m more than happy to help my new friends get involved and become successful.”

Besides working with INTO, Nguyen has remained diligent in his studies. After covering topics such as finance and accounting, Nguyen said he couldn’t find a concentration for his preferred style of work as he entered his senior year.

He finally decided on supply chain management, which focuses on the flow of goods and services in a given company, which has been offered to USF business students for only the past two years.

Supply chain management resembles a lot of what Nguyen said he believes it takes to make a good business. He said the system is unlike any other offered in the college or like he

Duy Nguyen’s father saved up to send him and his brother to university in the U.S. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE that could benefit by using the has studied before.

“It really makes everything same process.

With both parents overseas, in a corporation seem connected,” Nguyen said. “It’s a Nguyen knows a lot of what dynamic view for doing busi- happens next is up to him. He ness in the 21st century and misses being in Vietnam with his family, but knows there’s I love it.”

After graduation, Nguyen much more to accomplish.

“I feel like what I’ve studied said he wants to stay in the U.S. and hopefully get a job has only been in textbooks,” at a company like Amazon he said. “Even though I have or Lockheed-Martin with well- the knowledge of these broad established supply chain man- concepts, I want to gain more agement systems. He wants to real-world experience before learn from the best and apply even thinking about going his skills to other companies back to Vietnam.”

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EDITORIAL

Adjuncts deserve a hike in pay particularly laughable at USF, when one night of Bullstock costs as much as several adjuncts’ combined annual income.

It can be argued that being an adjunct is not a career, as Smith told The Oracle last week, and full-time professors are those who deserve comfortable salaries, but that should not validate dismissing the work adjuncts do.

Many adjuncts teach the same courses a professor might and put in an equal number of hours meeting students, grading and coming up with lesson plans. It is a comparison that shows the unfairness of the system — that one should be financially set and the other so desperate to get by after already giving so much to the education system.

While it’s unexpected for a university to pay an adjunct the same as a professor, there should be a middle ground that allows for all educators to be free of worrying about how they will keep a roof over their heads and feed their families, especially after all the work they’ve done.

If being a student can be considered a full-time job, then it only seems fair that those instructing classes make a salary that mirrors the work they put into their courses. Instead, as reported in The Oracle and Inside Higher Education, adjuncts earn about $2,500 per course.

While the pay is above minimum wage, teaching 10 classes a year would only pay $25,000. Those ten courses make up one student’s year load, if following USF’s prescribed 15 credits a semester.

But those adjuncts teaching 30 credit hours are living under financial stress and fear of job security.

Low income is what drove adjuncts across the country to take part in a national protest last Wednesday and demand $15,000 per course. The adjuncts on the USF campus were no different. They protested in front of the Library, where they demanded more pay and sought to inform their own students about the realities of their lives.

At USF, The Oracle interviewed adjunct Summer

Cunningham, who summarized the plight she and her colleagues face: “We are underemployed, we don’t have benefits, we don’t make enough money to take care of our families and many of us live at, or below, the poverty level.”

The USF System is home to 1,425 adjuncts, 1,934 instructors and 2,097 graduate assistants. While Senior Vice Provost Dwayne Smith said USF adjuncts average somewhere between $3,500 and $4,000 per class, this is still not enough.

The poverty level mentioned

by Cunningham is no exaggeration. As reported by NBC News, a study by UC-Berkeley found 25 percent of families of part-time college faculty are enrolled in at least one public assistance program. The same research also found 20 percent of part-time college faculty is living below the federal poverty line.

To compensate educators so poorly suggests universities do not appreciate their faculty and do not value the work put into teaching a course. It is

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the University of South Florida’s student newspaper since 1966

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What you said In response to last week’s Faculty Forward and the Fight for $15K National Day of Action, in which adjuncts demanded an increase in pay, editor Adam Mathieu asked students if they believe adjuncts should see an increase in compensation.

“It doesn’t sound like a fair wage for teaching a class with all the work that goes into it.”

- Jonathan Payne, a junior majoring in business economics

“I feel like if they have the credentials and education they should get paid more, just so they get some kind of salary.”

- Thomas Tchir, a sophomore majoring in biomedical sciences

“If being an adjunct is a preliminary thing before being a professor, then it seems fine, but they still need to get paid more than they are now.”

- Jordan Egg, a junior majoring in international business

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.

Additional copies are $.50 each and available at the Oracle office (SVC 0002).

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“They should get paid more. They have to pay off their student loan debt somehow.”

- Luke Holt, a junior majoring in theater performance

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Baseball

Freshman pitcher finds balance in baseball

By Tiana Aument C O R R E S P O N D E N T

For USF pitcher Joe Cavallaro, incorporating balance on the mound — and off it — has been ingrained in him since childhood.

As a multisport athlete, Cavallaro balanced both baseball and basketball until he fully committed to America’s pastime in college.

At 9 years old, he’d enjoy 15-minute car rides from Auburndale to Winter Haven to play in baseball and basketball tournaments.

Other weekends, the rides back and forth were much longer.

“You had to drive an hour across to get to the next game and come back and play the next one,” Cavallaro recalled. “You’re a little kid. You just want to keep playing something. Those drives were always exciting.”

As the youngest of three, Cavallaro knew he wanted to pursue baseball when he began playing T-ball.

“My family is basically basketball-oriented,” he said.

His sister Juliana plays basketball at the University of Tampa, and his brother Stefano played in high school.

His father Steven coaches bas-

With seven homers, Levi Borders is only two shy of tying USF’s total as a team last season. ORACLE FILE PHOTO/ADAM MATHIEU

ketball at Sarasota High School, where Cavallaro played during his sophomore and senior seasons.

“There’s nothing like it,” Cavallaro said of playing for his dad. “He’s definitely not going to take it easy on you. He’s going to push you to be the best you can be. I was extremely blessed to play for him.”

As a point guard, Cavallaro was the team captain and named MVP his senior season.

As a right-handed pitcher, he boasted a 6-1 record with a 1.06 ERA that year.

“I like being on the mound with all eyes on you,” Cavallaro said. “You’re in control of the game. It’s just a fun feeling. I like to compete. It fits me well.”

Cavallaro began honing his skills at 10 years old when he started playing AAU baseball under coach Mark Guthrie. He played four years for Guthrie, who taught him how to throw to corners and command the strike zone.

“I used to be able to just throw strikes,” Cavallaro said. “It didn’t matter where it was. I didn’t really have the best stuff when I was younger, but I definitely knew how to compete and how to pitch to get people out.”

Now, the 6-foot-5, 200-pound

pitcher sports a sinker, slider, circle-change and four-seam fastball in his arsenal.

Cavallaro committed to USF his junior year when former coach Lelo Prado recruited him.

“He saw me throw in high school maybe once, and he offered me that weekend,” Cavallaro said. “He showed a lot of confidence in me.”

Even with Prado now gone, the coaching staff still has faith in the freshman. New USF coach Mark Kingston showed his confidence in Cavallaro early this season.

In USF’s season-opener Feb. 13 against No. 17 Cal State Fullerton, Kingston called Cavallaro from the bullpen to relieve Jimmy Herget.

The freshman tossed two shutout innings to earn his first win.

“We started the season with him out of the bullpen,” Kingston said. “He slowly worked his way into a bigger role.”

Cavallaro (3-1) has started six games thus far for the Bulls (2614-1, 8-4) and currently holds a 2.66 ERA through 40 2/3 innings.

With 15 games remaining in the regular season, Cavallaro said he still gets nervous before every game.

“I embrace my nerves,” he said. “I don’t really shy away from them. I like being nervous. I like it

Freshman Joe Cavallaro’s ERA of 2.66 is second only to ace Jimmy Herget, who has an ERA of 2.65.

ORACLE FILE PHOTO/ADAM MATHIEU

because it makes you get focused a little more.”

To improve his game, he said he’s focusing on “trying to stay back and incorporate more legs into pitches, so it’s not so much stress on (his) arm.”

His velocity could also use improvement, Kingston said.

“The reason he has success is because he has good movement on his fastball,” Kingston said. “He doesn’t throw for great velocity yet. I think his velocity will continue to improve, but right now, he gets by on fastball move-

ment.”

In his first year of college, Cavallaro has had to adjust to a new team with a new coaching staff, but he still carries an old mentality: balance.

“It’s your first time being on your own,” Cavallaro said. “You have to learn how to take care of your body, you have to run, you have to get sleep, plus you have to stay on top of your classes and there’s traveling involved. It’s a lot more than just having to drive 15 minutes to go see another high school.”

Baseball

Bulls’ offense ready for rematch with Wildcats

By Vinnie Portell S P O R T S

E D I T O R

Judging by the numbers, one could guess the USF baseball team has been eating some of Popeye’s spinach.

Or more likely, it could be the new flat-seamed balls the NCAA introduced prior to the season that have caused a 39 percent spike in home runs across the board, according to the NCAA’s midseason report.

With 15 games left on the schedule, the Bulls have already hit over triple the amount of home runs compared to all of last season.

The added power has helped take

the Bulls from a fifth-place finish in the AAC in 2014 to the top in the conference.

“The ball definitely jumps off the bat,” senior shortstop Kyle Teaf said. “It flies off the bat better than the high-seam balls. The biggest thing is the offensive numbers. Our home runs are up 500 percent or something stupid.”

Despite the improved offense and added pop, USF struggled to score a single run in its only meeting with Bethune-Cookman (15-29) this season.

The Bulls scored their only run in the 1-0 victory on an errant throw that should have resulted in an inning-ending double play.

Since the two teams’ matchup March 11, they’ve trended in opposite directions. Thanks in part to their improved offense, USF sits atop the AAC standings and has lost only two series since.

USF (26-14-1) is on pace to hit 38 home runs by season’s end, but coach Mark Kingston said there’s more to the Bulls’ newfound power.

“I think the new balls have helped, but I also think the guys are a year stronger and have really worked on driving the ball in the past year,” Kingston said. “So I think when you factor that all together, that’s why you see the improved power output.”

With more than triple the

amount of fly balls hit over the fence rather than falling harmlessly into outfielders’ gloves, the Bulls’ offense is up nearly a full run per game, from 4.6 to 5.4.

With the Bulls’ offense on the upswing, the Wildcats are playing them at an unfortunate time.

They have lost seven of their last 10 games and have struggled to hold opposing teams from scoring, while allowing eight runs or more in four of the past six games.

The Bulls, who have lost only four games at home, will look to do more damage this time around when they host the Wildcats at 6:30 tonight at the USF Baseball Stadium.