The Oracle WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2014 I VOL. 52 NO. 45
www.usforacle.com
The Index
News.................................................................1 classifieds..............................................7 Opinion.......................................................6 Crossword.........................................7 sports............................................................8
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA
Certificate program replaces business minor By Wesley Higgins N E W S
E D I T O R
Even the most liberal of liberal arts majors would benefit from knowing a little about accounting when tax season comes. This coming semester, the university will offer a 15-credit-hour general business certificate program. Jacqueline Nelson, senior director of Undergraduate Affairs in the Muma College of Business, said the certificate program is aimed at non-business majors.
“By the end of it, students should have a good context of what business is,” she said. “It really should give them a leg up in the (employment) process.” The general business program replaces the business administration minor, which the university stopped offering this fall. “Students who took the business minor were sitting in classes with all business majors,” she said. “We didn’t find this to be very successful.” Before, business minors fell behind when taking classes
such as Principles of Finance, which was meant for business majors who had already taken two economic classes and two accounting classes, Nelson said. So instead, Nelson said the classes taken for the certificate are focused on general ideas of business that are amicable with all majors. “It wasn’t designed to be indepth,” she said. “It’s designed to give students that little bit of knowledge when going out into the workforce.” While the minor included 24 credit hours, students who get the certificate will only be
required take 15 credits hours worth of classes. “Twenty-four credits was a lot,” she said. “We rather have something that more people will take that is still meaningful.” Classes in the certificate program include Computers in Business, Basic Marketing, Principles of Management, Accounting for non-Business Majors and Finance for nonBusiness Majors. “I’m confident that whoever teaches those classes will have a focus on their true audience,” Nelson said. “The instructors are going to deliver
the course at an eye level instead of down in the weeds.” While the program can be completed in two semesters, Nelson said she recommended taking it one semester at a time. All classes will be online and none of the program’s classes have prerequisites except the capstone course, Finance for non-Business Majors. Nelson said interested students may register online without having to speak to an adviser. “For interview purposes, we wanted students to speak intelligently, relative to what
n See BUSINESS on PAGE 3
USF looks into aftermath of Deepwater Horizon By Russell Nay
C O R R E S P O N D E N T
While it’s been over four years since the BP oil spill gushed 4.9 million barrels into the Gulf of Mexico over 87 days, the effects of the largest oil spill in U.S. history persist. Last month, Sen. Bill Nelson announced that USF’s Florida Institute of Oceanography (FIO) would receive $4 million to research how the Deepwater Horizon oil spill impacted the Gulf of Mexico. The grant is funded by a percentage of fines levied against Transocean Ltd., the offshore drilling contractor that owned the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. “The work that we’re doing won’t be about how to prevent (oil spills) but to make sure that we understand the impact of this one,” said William Hogarth, the director of FIO. FIO plans to examine the immediate impacts of the oil spill, such as the short-term effects on fisheries and the scope of the spill itself. “We’re looking at, for example, the use of dispersants,
how much oil is still at the bottom,” Hogarth said. “We’re looking at organisms to (evaluate) long-term impacts.” Hogarth said researchers will focus on specific areas, such as restoring the health of the Gulf’s fish population and developing technology to reduce the toxicity of chemical dispersants used to break up the oil. “Depending on if we decide to look at fisheries,” he said, “We could look at oyster populations, what could be done to oyster beds to increase oysters.” Lauren Sher, a legislative assistant to the senator, said the research might also benefit Gulf Coast communities by examining the impacts on coastal industries and how those industries can recover. “If you’re a fisherman, you rely on your commercial take of red snapper every year, and you don’t know why there’s a big drop in the population,” she said. “We need to have the science out there that’s telling us what’s causing these problems.” Sher said research into the impact might be key to pre-
USF’s Florida Institute of Oceanography has worked to understand the effects of the BP oil spill on the Gulf’s ecosystem and the industrial impact on coastal businesses. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE venting further harm to the Gulf. Like the infamous Exxon Valdez oil spill that took place off the coast of Alaska, she said the effects of the oil would undoubtedly damage the Gulf’s ecosystem long after it has stopped spilling. “There’s never been a spill this size anywhere in the world,” Sher said. “There’s
never been a spill of this caliber in the Gulf of Mexico. We need to figure out where the impacts are in the food web and in the ecosystem. We need to figure out what’s wrong and restore the Gulf.” While the effects of the oil spill may seem to be subsiding, Hogarth said the long-term effects are currently unclear
and that its an issue affecting every Gulf Coast resident. Since the beginning of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, FIO has been Florida’s primary recipient of government grants to fund research on the spill. “The (government) looked to FIO because we knew they had the infrastructure,” Sher
n See SPILL on PAGE 3