10 07 14 oracle whole (1)

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The Oracle TUESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2014 I VOL. 52 NO. 25

Inside this Issue

N E W S

Dress for the season with fall fashion. Page 4

Montage

S PORTS Bulls search for first win against ranked team. BACK

classifieds..............................................7 Crossword.........................................7 sports............................................................8

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA

Cocco censure unlikely to lead to impeachment By Wesley Higgins

LI F E STYLE

www.usforacle.com

The Index

News.................................................................1 Lifestyle......................................................4 Opinion.......................................................6

E D I T O R

The censure against student body president Jean Cocco is unlikely to lead to impeachment, according to members of Student Government (SG). SG Senate enacted a censure resolution last Tuesday to reprimand Cocco for holding a seat on the Local Fee Committee. Though the majority of SG senators voted for censure, SG Senate President Andy Rodriguez said no senators have presently indicated that they would sponsor an impeachment, which requires three signatures. “Impeachment and censure are not necessarily hand in

hand,” Rodriguez said. “It’s obviously not an impeachable offense, or something that he should be impeached for.” Nonetheless, Rodriguez said that the senate was correct to censure Cocco. SG statutes state the student body president cannot sit on the Local Fee Committee, a committee Cocco appointed himself to on Aug. 15. Cocco said while challenges to his seat on the Local Fee Committee play out, he will remain on the committee. The Senate passed the statute during their final meeting last spring. The Local Fee Committee recommends fee increases for the Athletic, Activity and Service, and Health fees. “It’s more or less the concept that

you would be representing something and then be voting back on it,” said former Senate President Pro Tempore Adam Aldridge about the new statute, on April 15. Central to the issue is whether SG statutes can supersede Florida statutes and whether Cocco’s right to sit on the committee is an issue within SG’s jurisdiction. On Aug. 15, the Judiciary and Ethics Committee deliberated and found Cocco in violation. SG Attorney General Alexander Johnson, however, said the SG statute was unconstitutional, as it conflicted with Florida law that states the student body president must nominate students for the Local Fee Committee, but

does not forbid a student body president from sitting on the committee itself. In his legal opinion, Johnson wrote that SG does not have the ability to further define state law within its own internal procedures. The Dean of Students Michael Freeman also said Cocco is eligible to sit on the committee and recommended that SG Senate not pursue action against Cocco. In email correspondence with The Oracle, Freeman said Florida statutes clearly allow Cocco to sit on the committee. However, Freeman’s involvement brought up another issue: whether SG Senate has the authority to set further limitations on the Florida statutes.

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Students develop nail decal to detect date rape drugs By Chelsea Mulligan C O R R E S P O N D E N T

Research by the Centers for Disease Control Prevention claims that nearly one in five women have been raped. Sexual violence also came to the forefront recently when Emma Watson addressed the issue at the U.N. Headquarters in New York last month. Three fourth-year students — Ileana Alvarez, Roger Stern and John Pilz — are working with the USF Innovation Incubator to develop a drugdetecting nail decal intended to combat sexual violence, but it is not without controversy. “It is unfortunate that we need such a product as theirs, but I think that it is much needed. I think that their solution, if they are able to make it work, would be an extra step in protection,” said Keosha Poole, a USF graduate student and Student Innovation Incubator co-founder. The product, created by the

student company Spike Drink Detectors, is similar to the nail polish product Undercover Nails developed by UNC students, which changes color when exposed to chemicals commonly used in date rape drugs. Some of the most common date rape drugs include Rohypnol (roofies), GHB and Ketamine. Alvarez said the intention is to develop a sticker-like decal that will be applicable to any type of nail polish including gel nails, as opposed to just another nail polish. “We just want to make it easy and discreet and just something you can apply, literally, in a second,” Alvarez said. When UNC students released their product Undercover Nails, a number of critics said the product doesn’t do anything to stop rape culture. Alvarez said she could understand criticisms of the product, agreeing the similar decal sticker her company is developing could be viewed as perpetuat-

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A product created by Spike Drink Detectors changes color when exposed to commonly used date rape drugs. PHOTO ILLUSTRATION


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