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November 21, 2016 Vol. 54 No. 27

Students unsure after string of crime Page 3 Apartment Expo comes to Surviving a post-election Column: Nichols masking campus through SG Thanksgiving defense’s struggles Page 4

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

Editor in Chief Jacob Hoag oracleeditor@gmail.com Managing Editor Miki Shine oraclemeditor@gmail.com Assistant News Editor Chelsea Grosbeck Sports Editor Vinnie Portell oraclesportseditor@gmail.com

Multimedia Editor Jackie Benitez oraclemultimediaeditor@gmail.com

Graphic Artists Destiny Moore Mark Soree Advertising Sales Alyssa Alexander Jess DiLiello Destiny Moore Dylan Ritchey

The Oracle is published Monday and Thursday during the fall and spring semesters, and once weekly, Wednesday, 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).

Lifestyle Editor Nicole Cate oraclelifestyleeditor@gmail.com

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T H E   O R AC L E

The Index News........................................................3 lifestyle................................................4 Opinion.................................................6 classifieds...........................................7 Crossword..........................................7 sports.....................................................8

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Opinion Editor Breanne Williams oracleopinion@gmail.com

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CORRECTIONS The Oracle will correct or clarify factual errors. Contact Editor in Chief Jacob Hoag at 974-5190.

NEWS

firstStudents express mixed feelings in USF year retention light of recent on-campus incidents rates lead

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA

News Briefs Quote of the day

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to national recognition

“I did hear what was said from the stage. I can tell you I wasn’t offended by what was said. I will leave to others whether that was the appropriate venue to say it.”

By Abby Rinaldi S T A F F

— Mike Pence on Fox News Sunday MIKE PENCE after being booed by the cast of “Hamilton” on Broadway on Friday night. Despite Pence’s response, President-elect Donald Trump continues to insist the cast apologize.

New magical film draws fans to the box office One way students can feel at ease is by taking the Safe and Free Escort team to help get around campus. ORACLE FILE PHOTO

By Chelsea Grosbeck

$500 bond. “Our school was built in a very low-income part of Hillsborough County,” Alex From an armed robbery at Naum, a sophomore majoring IQ Apartments to the arrest in public health, said. “These of a Moffitt Cancer Center robberies and incidents aren’t researcher for video voyeurism, new to this area.” several incidents have hit close Luis A. Froes to home for students Jr. was arrested over the past week. Tuesday for using With these crimes camera on I’m not going to live my life in fear the happening in the his phone to direct vicinity of of these things. It just makes you record another USF, stringing across person showering more vigilant — ­ you think twice. a few days, students at the Campus are beginning to take Recreation Center Sophomore Aaron Richmond said. notice, becoming more by holding it observant as they walk under the stall around the area. wall. Froes posted “I’m not going to live my and jewelry by two men $2,000 bail Wednesday. life in fear of these things,” near the Interdisciplinary But not all of these concerns Aaron Richmond, a sophomore Science Building. However, stem from an incident that majoring in environmental during police interviews on occurred on or near the USF science and policy, said. “It just Wednesday she confessed she campus. makes you more vigilant — you “falsely reported the crime and Herb Maschner, former no robbery occurred.” Gueye think twice.” Monday evening, four was arrested and has posted n See SAFETY on PAGE 5 A S S T .

SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE

The latest Harry Potter installment hit theaters this weekend, earning $218 million world-wide by Sunday evening, according to CNN Money. The film, which was written by J.K. Rowling, but doesn’t feature any of the previouslyknown characters, highlights the magical world within the U.S. Rowling announced prior to the film’s release that there would be five movies following the main character Newt Scamander. The film made $75 million in the 4,144 theaters in North America, according to CNN. It cost an estimated $180 million to produce, according to IMDB.

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N E W S

E D I T O R

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students were held at gunpoint at IQ Apartments by two men. The suspects got away with an unspecified amount of cash and are still at large. Tuesday, freshman Fatou Gueye reported that she was robbed of her backpack

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W R I T E R

USF’s approach to improving its first-year retention rates has resulted in national recognition after the rate went from 88.2 to 89.7 percent in the past year. The university received the Eduventures 2016 Innovation Award from the National Research Center for College & University Admissions (NRCCUA). The NRCCUA provides data for colleges and universities so the institutions can seek out high school students who meet their preferred profiles for admission, according to the organization’s website. USF received the Innovation Award in the category of “Defining and Reporting Outcomes,” for its work in identifying at-risk first-year students and working to keep them at the university. This identification and targeting of at-risk students is done through USF’s Persistence Committee, which was set up in February and has since been working to improve the first-year retention rates. “(The award is) recognition that USF is doing some unique work in the area of predictive analytics and persistence because we were recognized for the way in which our Persistence Committee has been using data to identify students who are at-risk of not persisting into the next semester,” Paul Dosal, Vice Provost of Student Success, said. The committee is composed of 15 to 20 people from various cross-campus offices

n See RATES on PAGE 5

LIFESTYLE

SG hosts off-campus housing event

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UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA

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By Nicole Cate L I F E S T Y L E

E D I T O R

One of the first life-altering decisions college students have to make when they move away from home, and consequently every year after, is finding somewhere suitable to live. With an abundance of apartments surrounding USF and in the Tampa Bay area, it is not uncommon for people to get overwhelmed and confused. However, SG is trying to make this choice easier by holding the Apartment and Business Expo (ABX). Every semester, for the past few years, SG invites several off-campus housing options to come on campus and advertise their apartments. The representatives sent by these apartments speak to students and inform them about what they offer and why they’re the best choice. They also bring promotional items as another way to sway students. “I think the idea came about just because we have a big resident commuter student population,” Colton Morgan, the director of public relations for SG, said. “(SG) wanted a more efficient way to let students know about the off-campus housing opportunities.” Fall 2016’s ABX will be held on Tuesday on the MLK Lawn. It is scheduled to start at noon and last two hours. As of last Friday, the nine apartments that confirmed their participation are The Province, Avalon Heights, 42North, 4050 Lofts, Campus Club, IQ Apartments, The Ivy, College Court and Allister Place. The one furthest from USF’s campus is the latter, which resides on Busch Boulevard. “For them, it’s an advertising opportunity to let them meet the students who, most of them, are right around here,” Morgan said. “It’s their chance to get to campus and let students know about them.”

The Province, along with eight other complexes in the USF area will be sending representatives to the Apartment and Business Expo on Tuesday to help students who are contemplating living off-campus . ORACLE PHOTO/JACKIE BENITEZ And complexes have to pay for this opportunity. SG offers three options for this event: the Queen package, which costs $749; the King package, for $963; and the Ace package, the highest tier available at $1,284. “It includes tables for them to use, parking passes, table cloths for the table, ABX T-shirts,” Madison Dazey, the SG advising, training and operations graduate assistant, said. “If they submitted their logos to us prior to Nov. 4, they got to get their logo on the T-shirt. They could also, depending on the package they get, have requested shout outs from our

DJ who’s going to be there.” The event is casino-themed this semester. A casino vendor will be providing different casino games for students to play in between finding out about apartment complexes, and Aramark, who is catering the event, will be providing a mocktail bar and dessert assortment table. While the ABX may seem to target the freshmen who live on campus for their first year, but want to try off-campus living the year after, SG hopes to attract a broader demographic. “Obviously, a big part of it is freshmen who don’t want to stay on campus,” Morgan said.

“That’s a main part of it, but I think there’s a lot of students that they tried a place in their sophomore year, they didn’t like it. They’re still trying to find another place, but they’re not sure. Anyone that’s not exactly positive where they’re living next year, that’s pretty much who we’re trying to target. I think it could really be anyone.” Tabata Rodriguez, a sophomore majoring in cell and molecular biology, is an example of the latter student. She lives at IQ Apartments with her friends, but the situation is not ideal for her. “I want to be able to walk

to school and it’s too far of a walk for me,” Rodriguez said. “That’s why I was planning on maybe moving on 42nd Street, or closer to school.” Before deciding to move to IQ for this school year, she gathered information about apartments in the area by attending Bull Market every Wednesday. However, she said that ABX would be a better way to inform students about apartment options because they’re all together in the same place. “I don’t know where I’m going to live yet for next year, so I’ll go to (ABX),” Rodriguez said.

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SAFETY

Continued from PAGE 3

director of the USF Center for Virtualization and Spatial Technologies, was removed from his position Wednesday and was reassigned after the Tampa Bay Times reported sexual harassment accusations against him when he was working at Idaho State University in October 2013. He’s accused of showing a female coworker unwanted attention, forcibly kissing and groping her. Some students have taken action to personally monitor their security. “I’m definitely more aware of my surroundings,” Samantha Priest, a sophomore majoring in international business, said. “I always ride my bike and keep pepper spray on my keychain.” The school offers transportation services such as Safe and Free Escort (SAFE) team, which operates Monday through Sunday from 6:30 p.m. to 2:00 a.m., to help students get to their desired

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on-campus location. “I never took (SAFE) team before,” Dana Samelson, a sophomore majoring in environmental science, said. “But I started to once I was approached by an older man trying to get me into his car — it’s kind of getting out of hand.” However, not all students are concerned by these events. “I don’t feel any more unsafe than I did prior to hearing this,” Sabrina Valladares, a sophomore majoring in political science, said. “Similar events happen across universities nationwide — it’s good to be cautious.” Regardless of the reasoning behind these events, students recommend being cautious and aware of surrounding areas while walking. “The holidays are coming up and people with low incomes are panicking,” Kendal Westphal, a sophomore majoring in environmental science, said. “The important thing to remember is to be aware of your surroundings and make good judgment calls.”

COPY EDITOR ASST. SPORTS EDITOR STAFF WRITER EMAIL ORACLEMEDITOR@GMAIL.COM FOR DETAILS

RATES

Continued from PAGE 3

and support units according to Dosal, and was formed to help coordinate efforts to boost USF retention rates. The retention rate is one of Florida’s performance metrics, which allows the university to get more in state funding. It is also one of 12 metrics for the university to gain preeminent status, a goal the university has been working toward for some time. The university currently meets nine of the 11 required metrics for pre-eminence, a status that comes with more state funding and greater access to resources. The other metric USF needs for qualification is its six-year graduation rate (67 percent), which needs to be at 70 percent to meet the pre-eminence benchmark. “On that metric, we’ve been on what we have called a performance plateau,” Dosal said. “That is, we raised our performance to about 88-89 percent, falling just short of the 90 percent required for preeminence.”

The university uses a platform developed by Civitas that uses predictive analytics, which generates a list of which students are at-risk for not continuing on, according to the analytics. That list is then provided to the committee members, who attempt to help the students. They figure out who is at-risk, to what degree and for what reason. Then, the appropriate office is notified to reach out to the student. That reaching out may come from an academic advisor, financial aid counselor, resident assistant, or career counselor. “In essence, we’re developing a case-management approach to support our students,” Dosal said. The committee has been in operation now for about nine months. The retention rate has increased from 88.2 to 89.97, according to Dosal. That is just 0.03 short of the 90 percent needed for preeminence. “The good news is that it seems to be working,” Dosal said. Dosal said he is confident that when the official figure comes in, USF will have reached

90 percent. Dosal said the challenges that come with trying to keep up a retention rate are plentiful. There are students who face financial troubles, who cannot pay their bills, or may be struggling to do so. Some students are not in the right major for them, who may not have the drive to stay in their chosen major. Some students come in with a shining academic record but are struggling in their first semester. Even more still may be pursuing a major that isn’t the major they need for their career path. “It’s all about identifying the students in real time and providing them the services they need in a timely way,” Dosal said. Dosal said what USF has accomplished on its first-year retention rate is a sign of what is to come. “We are becoming, if we’re not already, a preeminent university and it’s this innovative, entrepreneur approach that has allowed us to achieve this much so quickly,” Dosal said. “All of us, students, faculty, staff, should be very proud of what we’ve done here.”

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OPINION UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA

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Surviving Thanksgiving with a divided family

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What you said Many students are going home for Thanksgiving to a politically divided household. Opinion Editor Breanne Williams asked students what advice they had for handling a tense holiday.

“I would advise students to just listen to family members, but if their opinion comes at the expense of an oppressed group of people maybe there’s room to argue it.” A sketch on Saturday Night Live mocked divided family members by advising them to play “Hello” by Adele to ease the tension on Thanksgiving. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE 19, and Trump won 61,864,015 economy and job creation. votes. Yes, a large portion of the Not every Clinton supporter Breanne Williams country more than likely agrees is in favor of heavy government with your stances, however an control and wants everything equally large group does not. in life handed to them. Most COLU M N I ST Think of Thanksgiving as a simply place a greater weight on Every year, students find trial run of learning how the fighting injustice and ensuring themselves returning home for other side thinks. Decipher why equality for people of all walks the holidays to atmospheres they voted the way they did. of life. that often contradict the views Ultimately, you may even learn If you plan on engaging this many hold dear. While nor- something from the experience Thanksgiving, take a moment mal Thanksgivings consist of you had been blind to before. to prepare. Review your stances. drunken uncles, grandmothers So when your uncle shouts, Recall the statistics and stories dissecting your social life and “You’re cold hearted if you’re that made you decide one canannoying cousins, Thursday not a Democrat as a college stu- didate was stronger than the assures to make previous years dent and an idiot if you’re not other. seem like a cakewalk. a Republican when you grow At the end of the day, this is The 2016 presidential elec- up,” across the table, practice your family. Smile and don’t distion has created an ever-growing that fake smile that will get you parage them for their stances. divide in this nation, and few through many uncomfortable Keep a cool head, and above families were left unscathed. meetings in your future career. all, don’t allow yourself to be The New York Times stated This is not a science-fiction baited. Tuesday that some were can- utopia. We don’t live in a bubBe prepared for yelling, but celing the holiday altogether ble. Leave the Bernie Sanders remember that volume does to avoid the conflict. However, T-shirts at home and go watch not equate to truth. No matter avoiding those with a different the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day how much you love your family, opinion in the sake of forgoing Parade with your aunt and instead of a day of being thanka headache is not the way to uncle. ful, this Thursday will more than handle the next four years. Both liberals and conserva- likely be six hours full of disapThe obvious answer for a tives have been brutal in their pointment. peaceful holiday would be to stereotyping of the other side And as tempting as it is to avoid politics completely, but this election, and if we can’t numb the toxicity of the evening realistically that is not going to come together over the holi- with another beer or a glass, be an option. Instead, remem- days when joy and compassion or four, of whiskey, remember ber to channel tolerance. should be at the forefront of our what’s important: Black Friday Regardless of whom you voted minds, we will see four years is just hours away, and if you’re for. It’s important to recognize of greater divide and escalating drunk, you’re going to miss out that millions of Americans share tensions. on some amazing deals. the belief of those who are Not everyone who voted for goading you into an argument. Trump is a misogynist or racist. Breanne Williams is a senior Hillary Clinton received In fact, most are kind people majoring in mass communications. 63,541,056 votes as of Nov. who were worried about the

- Ciara Monroe, a sophomore majoring in social work

“If you’re going to a divided house avoid politics. Going home is a time to spend with family after working your butt off for months on end. I can think of 15 different things I’d rather talk to my family about than politics.” - Forrest Hartmann, a senior majoring in music education

“Respect different opinions and explain why you feel like you do. People don’t always understand your political views so explaining why you voted like you did may help bridge the gap.” - Jasmine Peters, a senior majoring in history

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Notebook

Bulls down Rider in close win CROSSWORD

Junior guard Geno Thorpe leads USF in scoring with 17.7 points per game through the Bulls’ first three games of this season. ORACLE FILE PHOTO/JACKIE BENITEZ By Vinnie Portell S P O R T S

E D I T O R

After suffering its first loss of the season 74-61 against Elon on Thursday, USF men’s basketball found itself on the verge of a losing streak as it trailed Rider 53-45 with just over 12 minutes left to play on Saturday. However, led by the scoring of guard Geno Thorpe, the Bulls (2-1) took command in the game’s final minutes to hold on for the 70-65 win at the Sun Dome. In a game that featured 14 lead changes, Thorpe scored six of his team-leading 18 points in the last four minutes to keep Rider (2-1) at bay. In his debut, freshman forward Malik Fitts scored 11 points on 5-of-10 shooting and also grabbed five rebounds. “It was our defense and not fouling them, not letting them get points at the free throw line,” USF coach Orlando Antigua said. “We made the

adjustment in the second half. I think in the first half we had 12 fouls and in the second half we only had five. I wish we would’ve been able to get a few more of those long rebounds down the stretch, but I thought our guys battled and tried to compete with a team that’s a veteran and a physical team.” Following a first half in which the Bulls gave up 37 points and were losing by three, USF’s defense tightened up in the second half to limit Rider to 28 points and 1-of-13 shooting on 3-point attempts. The Bulls will hit the road for the first time this season when they play at FAU on Tuesday at 7 p.m. Volleyball continues to fall in AAC standings Despite a strong start to AAC play in which USF volleyball went 7-4 in its first 11 conference matches, the Bulls have dropped six of their last seven to fall to sixth in the AAC.

Sunday afternoon at The Corral, USF continued to slip down the standings as it was swept by Temple in three sets. It was USF’s final home match of the season, with only two road matches (Houston, Tulane) remaining in the regular season. Men’s Soccer eliminated from NCAA Tournament The last time USF won an NCAA Tournament game, the Bulls moved past FGCU 5-3 on penalty kicks at Corbett Soccer Stadium on Nov. 15, 2012. Almost exactly four years later to the date — Nov. 17, 2016 — the Eagles downed USF 3-0 on penalty kicks to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. In what was a back-andforth match that finished with a 2-2 tie in regulation, USF missed the goal completely on two of its three missed penalty kicks and FGCU made three of four to seal the match.

Classifieds To place a classified ad go to

http://www.usforacle.com/classifieds

HELP WANTED Kennel Cleaning Staff The Lodge at New Tampa,an upscale dog boarding and daycare facility located on Morris Bridge Road, approximately 20 minutes from Campus, needs a person who is interested in working with dogs. Duties include cleaning, exercise and daycare duties. Two shifts, 7am to 2pm and 2pm till 7-8 pm. Great for person interested in a veterinary degree and working with dogs. Apply in person, 15403 Morris Bridge Road Thonotosassa (1/2 mile south of the Cross Creek Blvd/Morris Bridge Road intersection). 813-986-2226 Email GritsDVM@aol.com

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Sports

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA

The Rundown

Football

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Nichols again masks defensive woes in win

Outside USF

Strong out after three years at Texas The University of Texas fired head football coach Charlie Strong on Sunday after three unsuccessful seasons at the head of the program. Strong led the Longhorns to a 16-20 record, including a 5-6 record in 2016. Strong Strong’s struggles culminated Saturday when Texas lost 24-21 to Kansas (2-9, 1-7), a perennial bottomfeeder of the Big 12. According to ESPN, Strong will be owed a $10.7 million buyout over the remaining two years of his contract.

USF weekend scoreboard Men’s Soccer

FGCU (won PK’s) USF

2 2

Volleyball

Temple USF

0 3

Men’s Basketball

Rider USF

65 70

Junior defensive back Deatrick Nichols caught his team-leading third and fourth interceptions on Saturday against SMU in a game the Bulls defense barely survived. ORACLE FILE PHOTO/JACKIE BENITEZ For anyone paying attention to now ranking 120th out of 128 the balls that come to you, because They’ve been criticized a lot and USF football in 2016, it’s been plain FBS teams in total defense, junior we need it.’” rightfully so, but for them to step to see that the Bulls’ defense has defensive back Deatrick Nichols After halting an SMU third-quar- up when we needed them the been the Achilles heel of an other- has helped mask just how bad the ter drive near midfield with an most, you can’t ask for more than wise dominant team. defense has been over the past two interception of Mustangs quarter- that.” The defense’s miscues were weeks. back Ben Hicks, Nichols once again Led by the play of dynamic hard to miss On Nov. 12 at Memphis with the made a game-changing play in the quarterback Quinton Flowers, USF on Saturday Tigers trailing by seven and with closing minutes. opened the contest with a 77-yard against SMU a 2nd-and-goal to go, quarterback With SMU set up with a second- touchdown from Flowers to receivin Dallas, Riley Ferguson threw at Nichols and-nine at the USF 14-yard line er Marquez Valdes-Scantling in a where USF three times in a row in an attempt down eight with just under five game where the Bulls would never barely held for the game-tying score. minutes to go, Nichols picked off trail. on for a 35-27 With each throw, Ferguson was Hicks’ pass and ran the ball back Flowers finished the night with win. rejected by smothering defensive to the USF 32 yard-line. 195 passing yards with three Vinnie Portell The Bulls pressure from Nichols on the tarThough the Mustangs would touchdowns and an interception COM M ENTARY have allowed geted receiver. make it back to the USF once more on 7-of-15 passing along with 142 an average Again on Saturday, Nichols inside the final two minutes, the rushing yards on 16 carries. of 40 points over their last four masked the Bulls’ troubles on Bulls got a stop on fourth-and-one Junior running back Marlon games, needing an explosive offen- defense with two interceptions. to hold on for the win. Mack also added 129 rushing sive performance in each contest “My team was really on me now “Especially down there in the yards on 18 carries, highlighted by to give them a chance at winning because at the beginning of the red zone, keeping them out of the his 60-yard touchdown run in the the game. season, I dropped multiple picks end zone was huge,” coach Willie first quarter. Though USF (9-2, 6-1) held SMU and that could have changed a Taggart said. “Then there at the If the Bulls want to reach doubleto 27 points, the Bulls allowed just whole bunch of games,” he said end, two weeks in a row where our digit wins for the first time in proshy of 600 total offensive yards to postgame. “But they still believed guys stepped up and made some gram history on Saturday against the Mustangs, including an embar- in me and they had my back. I big time plays for us. I can’t say UCF, they’ll need Nichols’ stellar rassing 423 passing yards. worked on it during practice and how proud I am of them. play to rub off on some of his But despite the “Bull Sharks” everything. It was just like, ‘Catch “I’m happy for our defense. teammates.