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Potential changes ahead for the state of SG Tuesday’s consolidation final report could have major implications on the future of Student Government.

By Sam Newlon A S S O C I A T E

E D I T O R

It’s no surprise that the student experience at USF will change following the university’s consolidation, but one aspect that may change is student representation.

Florida’s new consolidation laws requires USF to have one student body president.

Right now, there are presidents at each of USF’s three campuses — Tampa, St. Pete and SarasotaManatee. The Consolidation Implementation Committee (CIC) will present its final recommendations to the Board of Trustees on Tuesday.

With the recommendation The Consolidation Implementation Committee will present its final proposals to the Board of Trustwill come a plan on how to ees Tuesday. ORACLE FILE PHOTO turn three presidents into one. been faced with is that we’re what response we’re going to the task force as a whole, “The problem that we’ve not completely sure as to have moving forward from especially with a lot of things

still up in the air,” Tampa’s Student Body President Moneer Kheireddine said.

Although the final re c o m m e n d a t i o n will be presented Tuesday, Kheireddine said no plan has been solidified. One issue, he said, stems from a lack of appropriate representation.

“I would never feel comfortable being able to vote or allocate budgets for organizations that were not particular to my campus,” Kheireddine said. “I don’t think any of the other campuses would like to do that either.”

One potential solution to consolidating the student body president position is to have a single student body president to represent USF as a whole. The position would

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‘If it has to be me to break the glass ceiling for that, then let it happen’ As the only ticket on the ballot, Britney Deas will make history as the first African-American woman to be student body president.

By Alyssa Stewart N E W S

E D I T O R

In its 60th term, there will be a first in USF Student Government (SG) history.

Britney Deas will be the first female African-American student body president.

Unlike many past elections, this is

not presumptuous to claim, because she, along with her Vice President Travis McCloskey, comprise the only ticket on the ballot.

Having a one-ticket election has not happened in at least a decade, according to Supervisor of Elections Sebastian Leon.

Leon said having one ticket on the

NEWS 3

ballot has not happened since SG adviser Gary Manka began his 12-year tenure on campus.

One ticket was not something that was anticipated, but the Election Rules Commission team are fully prepared to move forward.

The presidential debate on Feb. 11 in the Marshall Student Center (MSC)

OPINION 6

Oval Theatre at 6 p.m. will operate more like a platform presentation between the candidate and the moderator. Leon said a questionand-answer forum was considered but they opted not to so that the “moderator would have more control over the situation.”

The ticket debate will be held in

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the MSC Ballroom on Feb. 20 at 6 p.m. and will be with both Deas and McCloskey.

Deas was inspired to join SG after her mentor, Judelande Jeune, encouraged her to run for Senate her sophomore year. As a third-year student majoring in political science,

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NEWS

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rotate around to each of USF’s three campuses.

“I think that’s essentially what the task force recommended with the addition of things like, the system-wide president would rotate,” Vice President of Student Success Paul Dosal said. “Honestly, I don’t know if I would support that, I’m not sure our students would support that too. It depends how that rotates, if that rotates, I’m not sure how that works.

“The mechanics of it to me are a bit awkward.”

Kheireddine confirmed that the idea of a rotating student body president had been discussed when thinking of ways to consolidate the position.

“I’ve heard it (the idea), it’s been brought up, I don’t know if that’s for sure what we would go with but it’s definitely a possibility,” Kheireddine said. “I don’t think that’s been completely out ruled but I don’t know if that’s preferred.”

What is preferred by Tampa’s Student Government (SG) is that the three campuses would maintain the status quo. Each would have its own SG and student body president but would all be meshed into one under a single Constitution.

However, it has been made clear that university officials reject that idea.

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PRESIDENT

The opposition to a rotating president isn’t just limited to Kheireddine and Dosal. SG Sen. Yusuf Fattah thinks that a rotating president wouldn’t adequately represent the student body as a whole.

“Absolutely not, by no means. I think that having something uniting the three is fantastic, which I think we see that in our current system through SPAB that incorporates all three campuses,” Fattah said. “I think if there’s a student body president that rotates, I think it creates a division among the campuses.”

Though Tu e s d a y ’s consolidation meeting is intended to act as the Board of Trustee’s final report before they move forward with consolidation efforts next month, some members of SG are still unsure of when a decision will be made about consolidating three governing bodies into one.

“I don’t know if that’s going to be the finale of all this,” Kheireddine said. “I know that administration has their own idea of how they’d like things handled, I think students have their own perspective on how they’d like things handled so I think it’s all about coming to a compromise and coming to a reasonable understanding between everyone that ensures effectiveness while still falling in alignment with what we’ve been asked to do.”

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Deas decided to run for student body president.

“Once I joined SG, I knew that this was a place where you can make a difference, so I decided to use my experience and take it to the next level,” Deas said.

When Deas found out she was the only candidate, she felt like she wasn’t going to truly earn the position with the lack of competition.

Deas said McCloskey and herself only need one vote in order to become student body president and vice president.

Moneer Kheireddine, current student body president, said he is proud of the way things turned out.

Kheireddine said due to the nature of his race, there were moments where built up drama overshadowed the integrity of the election. Although the situation is uncommon, he said there can be a lot of value found in a singular ticket.

“At the end of the day, SG is not about the drama or who should get the title, it’s an opportunity to serve others,” Kheireddine said.

Deas still said she wished she could have had that competitive atmosphere.

Nevertheless, she still wants to gain support from the student body.

“A lot of the time, excitement comes out of rivalry and the lack of rivalry this time may lessen the excitement, so we want to make sure we still get that from students,” Deas said.

Although there have been male African-American student body presidents in the past, Deas said it was only a matter of time that a black woman fills the position given the diversity on campus.

“It’s needed — it’s about time,” Deas said. “If it has to be me to break the glass ceiling for that, then let it happen.”

Jessica Muroff, the last female student body president, is in full support of having a female president

Deas will be the first female to serve as student body president in over 20 years. ORACLE FILE PHOTO for the first time in 20 years.

“It’s way past time. Way, way, way past time that there is a female serving in this leadership role,” Muroff said.

Muroff said it has become her personal quest for her to support and encourage women to fill leadership roles such as this one. She said being student body president was one of the most defining moments in her life and leadership journey.

Muroff described her election season as difficult because her opponent was an incumbent. Although Deas is running unopposed, Muroff said it proves a lot that nobody wanted to run against her.

Deas said one of her campaign agendas is supporting diversity efforts on campus.

Under the direction of USF President Betty Castor, Muroff was advocating for technology funds and utilizing the brand new Marshall Student Center at the time.

“When I look at USF now and see how much it has evolved, I am so incredibly proud and feel like I was a part of that foundation,” Muroff said.

According to the USF Office of Decision Support, there are 22,144 males and 28,593 females registered at

USF. Since women are the predominant gender at universities, Muroff said she hopes this election will start a chain reaction and show more representation on campus.

“It’s important that (Deas) serves in this role to break the ice because we need to encourage more women to stand up and run,” Muroff said. “I hope this is the tipping point where every year a woman is on the ballot.”

Kheireddine is not surprised that students are apprehensive to step into this role. Although the position was fulfilling to him, Kheireddine said he is still human and definitely had his fair share of obstacles.

“It’s unlike anything else most people in their early 20s can experience,” Kheireddine said. “Not many people can say they helped run a $17 million business and have managed to carry forth the vision of 50,000 students.”

Given the circumstances, Deas said she is still going to prove to students that she is the best person for the position.

“We’re still going to go out and campaign to get those votes because it’s important for students to know who we are and what we stand for,” Deas said.

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OPINION

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Students won’t have the chance to choose this election season

By Aida Vazquez-Soto O P I N I O N

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The revolving door of the news media

By Jared Sellick C O L U M N I S T

E D I T O R

When students go to the polls to vote for their Student Government representatives, some might notice a slightly shorter ballot. Whereas normally there are at least two tickets running for student body president and vice president, this year there will only be one — a ticket with Britney Deas for president and Travis McCloskey for vice president.

While the ticket available is undoubtedly one with experience and vision, students are losing out on the opportunity to see competing visions for what USF’s executive branch should look like.

The benefit of two or more executive branch tickets is easy to see. Take for example the 2017-18 race between Moneer Kheireddine Students may not have a choice between candidates, but that does and Shaquille Kent, Gabby Cruz not mean that the presidential ticket running is not qualified to take and Scott Tavlin and Peter Corsa the reigns. ORACLE FILE PHOTO and Julius Jackson. sexual assault in USF’s Student experiences include chief financial During the race, many argued Government Senate, condemning officer of Student Government, that Kheireddine’s platform was sexual assault and supporting his vice chair of relations in Senate, in many ways a testament to policy. assistant director of outreach and his inability to handle all of the A second downside particular inclusion, as well as experience initiatives he had promised for his to this season is the lack of non- with S.A.F.E Team and multiple first term. There was a sentiment Student Government tickets. While student organizations on campus. too that Cruz’s campaign point experience is always valuable and The key to their term being truly of supporting survivors of sexual procedural understanding is useful, successful lies in their ability to violence on campus would be an as an elected official, it becomes remain in touch with the students. important and positive change. difficult at times to see what your Bring fresh faces into Student While Cruz and Tavlin constituents overwhelmingly want Government and lean on the roots ultimately failed to capture the top or care about. that made them student leaders. seats in Student Government, they This is aggravated by the fact Students may not have options were able to successfully influence that unlike senators, who represent to consider this year, but an Kheireddine and Kent’s ticket into portions of the student body, the executive branch that listens will taking more time to address the student body president and vice have the opportunity to prove itself issue of sexual assault. president represent all 40,000 a good choice, not the only choice.

During that election season, students on the Tampa campus.

Kheireddine announced that he None of this is to say we should would be advocating for transcript not be optimistic.

Aida Vazquez-Soto is a senior markers for students who transfer Quite the contrary, Deas and majoring in political science and schools while accused of Title McCloskey have every reason to be economics.

IX violations. Kheireddine also considered solid representatives of co-sponsored legislation against the student body. Their combined

Chris Cuomo of CNN ended his interview with former gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum (D-FL) with, “welcome to the CNN family” on his Jan. 29 broadcast.

He did so because the former mayor of Tallahassee recently took on a political commentator position at the well-known news organization. Gillum now joins the large group of former politicians taking part in the revolving door of the news media.

This practice is one of many that hurts the mainstream media’s credibility.

Politicians with further aspirations of political offices often take advantage of the fame they earn on campaigns in order to turn a profit in the short run, while at the same time maintaining their status as a household name.

Gillum likely has plans to run for office again, whether it be challenging Marco Rubio’s (FL-R) Senate seat in 2022 or a congressional seat in 2020. Politico reported that a democratic close to Gillum said: “He 100 percent hasn’t ruled out a run for president, either.” Whichever office he eventually runs for he wants to ensure he maintains his support in the state of Florida.

Gillum is not at all the first politician to do this.

After losing her Senate seat in 2018, Claire McCaskill (MO-D) joined the ranks of MSNBC as a political analyst.

This is not at all a democratic phenomenon either.

Fox News was happy to hire the likes of Former Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Jason

Chaffetz (UT-R). CNN was also happy to pay for the opinions of former Senator and presidential candidate Rick Santorum (PA-R).

What does including all of these political insiders do to a news organization? What happens when these politicians get back in the game? Does the dynamic between the politicians and the journalist change when they are employed by the same “family”?

The answer should be obvious.

This isn’t about partisan politics or the character of individual journalists, this is about the culture that is established when the wall between government and the news media is taken down.

It is natural to get to know your coworkers and to form relationships with them, but if it is the media’s job to hold politicians accountable, the public should not give them a pass when they make a habit of rubbing shoulders with the very people they are supposed to be holding accountable.

The Pew Research Center reported that only 21 percent of Americans have “a lot of trust” in the news media. Much of the public sees large media organizations as a lobbying arm on behalf of particular parties, whether those concerns were justified or not.

Hiring decisions like this only support that narrative.

If mass-media organizations want to improve their public perception, they need to stop hiring politicians like Gillum and Santorum and rely on the people who will actually act as watchdogs for elected officials.

Jared Sellick is a junior majoring in political science.

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remembers when her son made the decision to keep playing baseball.

“I was ecstatic that he wanted it,” Laura said. “I’ve always thought that he belonged out on a baseball field and it kind of made me sad when he didn’t think that he was going to continue on.”

Phillips made the Santa Fe Saints team as a walk-on but that didn’t guarantee any type of playing time.

“I didn’t start from the beginning but something happened and our right fielder got pulled out and I went in,” Phillips said. “I had a couple of hits and then I didn’t get pulled for the rest of the season from right field.”

In Phillips’ first year at Santa Fe, the Saints went on to dramatically win the 2016 FCSAA (Florida College System Activities Association Athletics) Championship, earning themselves a spot in the JUCO (Junior College) World Series where they lost in the first two games.

Santa Fe is considered a JUCO program. In these programs, athletes play on the team for two years before transferring to a new school, typically a Division-1 program.

“I personally didn’t have that physical profile that draws in guys after my first year like some freshmen do,” Phillips said.

“They’re a bit bigger and drawing more eyes.”

Phillips was listed as 5-foot9-inches and 160 pounds as a freshman at Santa Fe, now he’s listed as 5-foot-10 inches and 175 pounds. After his first season with the Saints, Phillips decided to put more work in at the gym.

“I got bigger, stronger, faster and really committed myself to the gym,” he said.

One of Phillips’ teammates from Santa Fe, Rob Hanlon, took notice of the extra work.

“He was easily one of the hardest

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workers on our team, both on the field and in the classroom,” Hanlon said. Phillips made the state allacademic team both years at Santa Fe. Phillips got into a routine of doing the workouts and practices with his team and would go do his own workout later in the day on his own.

“It’s almost always just me,” Phillips said. “Even on road trips, I’d get free weekend passes online and I’d Uber from the team hotels to the gyms, which was pretty fun to see the different gyms across the nation.”

The workouts paid off. Phillips finished his sophomore year at Santa Fe batting .305 with seven home runs and 31 RBI, earning him a spot in the JUCO all-star game where Division-1 coaches and scouts were looking for players to add to their teams.

One of the coaches in attendance when Phillips hit a home run in the showcase was then-USF head coach Mark Kingston, who just happened to be sitting a few rows away from Phillips’ mother and aunt.

“Coach Kingston was sitting a few rows in front of us and as the showcase was finishing up, we walked past him and my friend saw his hat and said: ‘Go Bulls’ and then she said ‘Not for nothing, but that was my nephew that just hit that home run,’” Laura recalled.

As it turns out, Phillips had already been talking to Kingston about transferring to USF before the showcase. He wanted to go to a school that was closer to his mother.

“My mom is a big part of coming to games,” Phillips said. “I had some really great out-of-state programs that liked me, but coming to USF made it possible for her to come to every single game and she has yet to miss a home series.”

Phillips’ mother described herself as a “diehard baseball mom” and has been watching Phillips play since he was 5 years old.

Phillips transferred to USF after two years at Santa Fe. Now, he is part of a nationally-recognized Division-1 program. With it came some changes.

“The biggest change when I got here was the approach to the game,” Phillips said. “In JUCO, you know who is pitching and it’s sometimes random guys left and right, but here we have stat tracks on guys.”

Phillips and other players at USF have access to other pitchers’ tendencies. Will they be worked inside or outside while up to bat?

When will the pitcher throw a curveball?

“I never thought I would care about that stuff when I was in the batter’s box, the little percentages,” Phillips said.

At USF, with its higher-quality amenities for athletes, Phillips is still able to sustain his workout routine. At Santa Fe, Phillips didn’t have a hot tub or a cold tub or the same treatment that is available to athletes at USF. “He likes to get extra work in, we tell him he needs to get a few extra calf-raises in, but he likes to lift and that’s part of the success he’s had,” coach Billy Mohl said. “He’s not a very big guy, so he’s got to be strong and he puts in extra time and effort to make sure he stays that way.”

In his first season at USF, Phillips batted .333 with 22 RBI and five home runs. He didn’t commit a single error in the outfield, with a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage.

Now, Phillips finds himself in a familiar situation. At the end of his high school career, he didn’t know if he’d be playing baseball at the next level. Four years later and he’s having the same thoughts.

“I’m not going to slack off just because I had a good year last year,” he said. “This year might be my last year playing baseball, so I’m going to do everything I can to make it a good one. Hopefully, some guys can look up to me and follow suit.”

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Basbeball

From walk-on to preseason all-conference: How Kyle Phillips got to his senior season at USF

By Sam Newlon A S S O C I A T E

E D I T O R

Like most sports in America, there is a steep drop-off in the number of players who make the transition from high school to college athlete. Baseball is no exception.

Senior Kyle Phillips thought he would become part of the 89 percent of players who stop playing baseball after high school. But with some luck, sacrifice and grit, Phillips worked his way onto USF’s roster and has earned preseason all-conference honors.

The process of getting where he is today wasn’t easy.

“High school was really good,” Phillips said. “I was on JV (junior varsity) my freshman and sophomore year, then played right field my junior year. I moved to center field my senior year, then moved again to shortstop.”

Kyle Phillips transferred to USF from Santa Fe for the 2018 season where he earned all-Tournament honors at the Deland Regional Tournament.. PHOTO COURTESY OF GOUSFBULLS Even with what Phillips described as a good senior season,

he didn’t receive much college attention. He didn’t commit to play

at any school and decided to enroll at Santa Fe College in Gainesville.

He got a job valeting at Shands Hospital near campus and took on a full course load as a freshman at Santa Fe. In his first week of classes, he met Matt Quicuti, a member of Santa Fe’s baseball team.

“I was in my career development class and the professor told us to meet everyone around us,” Phillips recalled. “The kid to my left was Matt Quicuti. We ended up talking and he said he played baseball for Santa Fe and I told him I played baseball growing up. He said ‘we have a walk-on tryout this Friday,’ so I went and signed up for the walk-on tryout.”

Phillips remembers that he had a mediocre tryout. The first day got rained out, but he still got to hit some batting practice in front of coaches. He ended up getting through the tryout and making the fall team. Phillips was the only

walk-on player who stayed with the team through the whole process, all the other walk-ons were cut.

With the excitement of making the team, Philips knew he had a decision to make. He still had his valet job and his courses. He wouldn’t be able to juggle all three.

“What really made me decide that I wanted to keep playing baseball was after I made that fall tryout,” Phillips said. “Because my mindset was that I was going to hang up my cleats, I was working a job, I was in school, getting in a rhythm trying to figure out what I was going to do. Then I made that tryout, made the team. Now, I’m like ‘alright I’m giving it one more shot.’”

He quit his job and dedicated his time to baseball.

Phillips’ mom is one of his closest friends. Laura Phillips

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Softball

USF loses four straight games in opening weekend

By Nolan Brown C O R R E S P O N D E N T

USF softball was defeated 7-1 by No. 5 Florida for the final game in the Opening Weekend Invitation Tournament.

The Bulls (1-4) started their season on a high note with a 2-1 victory over Illinois State but dropped four consecutive games afterward.

“We need to work harder. I

think people need to establish themselves,” coach Ken Eriksen said at the end of the tournament.

“Just play the game...you have to play where your feet are. We need to get a little more mature that way.”

In USF’s opening day win, redshirt sophomore Bethaney Keen, who was out last season with an injury, stepped up to the plate to hit a solo home run to seal the Bulls’ first win of the

season.

USF then took the field against No. 7 Arizona on Friday in a 4-1 loss. Junior Riley Gore hit a home run in her first career at-bat with the Bulls, however, it was not enough to avoid defeat as USF fell to the Wildcats for their first loss of the season.

USF saw its second consecutive loss against No. 19 Michigan on Saturday. Despite another solo home run by Keen in the fourth

inning, Michigan’s grand slam in the seventh inning sealed its 10-1 victory.

The Bulls lost again 2-1 on Saturday against NC State. Senior Macy Cook managed to bat home Junior Anamarie Bruni in the first inning, however, it was not enough to win as the Wolfpack came from behind to score a tworun homer.

The Bulls started strong against Florida with an RBI double from

senior Lindsey Devitt to send Bruni home for the Bulls’ only run of the night.

Despite USF’s early run, Florida managed to come back and score seven of its own. Bulls pitcher Nicole Doyle gave up a grand slam in the fourth inning to give the Gators a 5-1 lead. UF capitalized on their lead in the seventh inning with two RBI to seal UF’s 7-1 win.