2-23-17

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February 23, 2017 Vol. 54 No. 41

Different candidates, same goal First all-ticket presidential debate brings calls for change

Beware of empty promises Page 4

Tampa art urges play Page 6

Page 3

USF made wrong call Page 10

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T H U R S DAY, F E B R U A RY 2 3 , 2 0 1 7

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 Sports Editor Vinnie Portell oraclesportseditor@gmail.com Associate Editor Breanne Williams oracleopinion@gmail.com Lifestyle Editor Nicole Cate oraclelifestyleeditor@gmail.com

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Graphic Artists Destiny Moore Mark Soree

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).

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Different candidates, same goal UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA

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NASA discovers seven new planets

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Ethics committee opens investigation against SG president

By Miki Shine M A N A G I N G

SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE

NASA announced the discovery of seven new, earth-sized planets orbiting a nearby star Wednesday.

Nearby is 40 light-years away.

According to a NASA press release, there could be an eighth planet orbiting in the TRAPPIST-1 system — located in the constellation Aquarius — since only two of the three discovered in the area in May 2016 are counted in this seven.

Six of these planets are likely rocky based on their estimated densities, and scientists are theorizing the seventh could be icy. Three of the planets are within what scientists estimate to be the habitable zone, which is the area they believe would be safe for life based on the size of the system’s sun.

NASA is still observing the planets to see whether any sustain running water or an atmosphere.

MORE COVERAGE ONLINE

Humans meet zombies in campus-wide game of tag Read it at USFOracle.com

Presidential candidates Moneer Kheireddine (left) and Ryan Soscia (right) faced off aside their vice president candidates in USF’s first all-ticket debate. ORACLE PHOTO/JACKIE BENITEZ

First all-ticket presidential debate brings calls for change

By Jacob Hoag E D I T O R

I N

C H I E F

Beneath the subtle jabs tossed across the stage of the Marshall Student Center ballroom on Wednesday, with crosschecks of each other’s platforms peppered in-between, USF’s first all-ticket student body president debate was a call for unity and inclusion.

Not necessarily between the candidates, but both tickets — Moneer Kheireddine and Shaquille Kent as well as Ryan Soscia and Logan Holland — made their plea to the crowd, primarily made up of their own supporters, for the unification of all students across campus.

“Students on this campus no longer have a voice,” Holland said. “They don’t feel supported by their leaders, and that’s why

we’ve made specific items on our platforms aimed at further advocacy for students.”

In their last chance to publicly address supporters and undecided voters alike, the competing tickets covered a variety of topics ranging from whether to raise the Activity and Services (A&S) fee to community outreach and Greek life, with a couple of character questions thrown in.

But the common thread throughout the evening was a unified campus, with both sides making strong pushes for administration to better advocate for its students through public statements and support.

A center for Islamic students is one point that both tickets have spoken out for. With other centers on campus such as the Catholic, Baptist and Jewish Student Centers,

the two have a desire to see a center for Islamic students put into place.

“That is something we’re going to advocate for, but we’re not going to advocate for a mosque, we’re going to advocate for an Islamic center,” Kheireddine said, who grew up in the Islamic faith.

“At this university, we don’t have churches. We don’t have synagogues. What we have is centers … I understand the struggles that our Muslim students have gone through and I want to make sure that there is a space on campus where they are able to be represented.”

Aside from unity, moderator and former Student Body President Brian Goff asked the opponents about multiple topics. Arguably the hottest topic among students was

n See DEBATE on PAGE 9

E D I T O R

The Student Government Senate Ethics Committee decided Wednesday to investigate allegations against Student Body President Chris Griffin.

Student Body Vice Presidential candidate Logan Holland filed an investigation request to the committee claiming that Griffin used his position to discredit Holland and his running mate Ryan Soscia to multiple people.

Both Griffin and Holland declined to comment at this time.

The request states Griffin sought to “damage the reputation” of Holland and Soscia through a series of text messages to students considering voting for them.

In a past interview with The Oracle, Griffin claimed no legal wrongdoing when he sent a few messages to friends after finding out the candidates were attempting to “dig up some dirt” on him.

Holland told The Oracle that they didn’t need to, since both worked with Griffin during the fall semester and had seen nothing that would cause concern over Griffin’s ethics during their time under him.

The investigation request cites sections of the SG Statutes that define causes for impeachment and causes for removal from office, condemns misuse of power for personal gain, states that SG officials shall not commit slander or libel and the reasons for censure or impeachment.

n See ETHICS on PAGE 9

Opinion

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UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA

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The threat of empty promises Breanne Williams COLU M N I ST

The second debate for the Student Government (SG) presidential elections came to a close Wednesday evening with thunderous applause.

Both tickets spent the hour boasting about their grand plans to revamp SG, yet history has shown those promises rarely come true.

The candidates promised a revolution in SG. They vowed to revamp the structure of the administration so students’ voices were the driving force behind every decision made.

Both essentially echoed the sentiments heard every year by hopeful candidates. Yet every year, the same issues occur.

Parking has been a major platform for over a decade.

Parking is still a major issue at USF. Transparency has been on every platform for years. SG is still a closed-off and secretive entity.

If you know how to work the system, SG is very useful.

If you know the right people, SG can help make sure your wishes are fulfilled. If you’re an average student, you probably have no idea what SG even does, let alone who is making those decisions.

So once again, we are in election season, and once again, our candidates are promising to make that change.

Let’s hope they make good on their promises.

Ryan Soscia and his vice

presidential running mate, Logan Holland, said a major platform focus was ensuring SG heard students’ voices.

They currently have a discussion board on their campaign page where they ask students to write what issues they want to see on the platform. Soscia said he planned on creating a similar item on the SG page, if elected.

A discussion board is a good idea. It’s an easy way to put your opinion out there.

However, a list of people’s opinions will ultimately mean nothing if the administration doesn’t truly comb through them and then work on making meaningful changes to address those issues.

Moneer Kheireddine and his vice presidential running mate Shaquille Kent said it was essential students were able to directly contact their representatives in order to make sure SG was making decisions that actually reflected what the student body wants.

Kheireddine plans on revamping the MyUSF app to include a page with representatives’ names, the college they represent and contact information so anyone who had an issue would know immediately who to contact to get that resolved.

This would be helpful. It would be an easy way for students to put a face to their needs. It reflects a change happening on a national level, as contact information for state and national legislatures are beginning to pop up as apps on social media, and even on politician’s websites.

The burden will then lie on the students, as it rightly

should, to step up and begin to pressure their representative.

If something isn’t done, but the representative can prove no one reached out to them, students won’t have a reason to vaguely complain about an unproductive government.

Both tickets have multiple valid plans to improve accountability and communication between SG and its constituents. Next week, one of them will be elected.

Touting grand plans of inclusivity and transparency means nothing if those promises are not upheld. We, as students, have to ensure whoever is elected is held accountable for the platform they were put in office for.

SG rarely is up to date on minutes, frequently has meetings where no one outside of those elected are in attendance and has policies that sometimes go against Florida statutes.

Current president Chris Griffin has thankfully made improvements of being open, and has been available for interview or to comment on the ongoings of the fourth floor. That progress cannot be reversed.

There is inarguably a vast amount of work to be done before SG is ever considered to be a morally sound and student-focused establishment.

These candidates have said they are the ones to make those changes happen. Let’s hope, for once, there is substance behind their promises.

Breanne Williams is a senior majoring in mass communications.

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T H E O R AC L E

Debate highlights “What I hope to start day one once starting in office is advocating to the Florida Legislature about increasing mental health counselors on campus and ensuring they are both funded within the program.”

- Moneer Kheireddine, Presidential candidate

“We need to start getting the administration involved in helping our sexual assault survivors...

We need to make sure we’re protecting our students.”

- Ryan Soscia, Presidential candidate

“I’m tired of labeling black students as one group. If you ask a Haitian if they are black they say ‘No I’m Hatian...’ I consider myself to be Carribean...The issues that someone in ASA, in African Student Association, deals with is not the issues that someone who is not from America deals with.”

- Shaquille Kent, VP canidate “(SG) needs to do a better job of reaching out to students daily.

They need to be downstairs on the first floor of the MSC, not on the fourth floor. They need to be out, engaging students everyday.”

- Logan Holland, VP candidate

Student bands get chance for the big stage T H U R S DAY, F E B R U A RY 2 3 , 2 0 1 7

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By Morgan Blauth S T A F F

W R I T E R

With a chance of opening for well-known artists at this year’s Bullstock, USF students are perfecting their sound in preparation for Battle of the Bands.

Dozens have applied, but only one or two groups will be selected for the final show, with applications for the student portion of Bullstock closing Friday.

Battle of the Bands is a free event put on by the Campus Activities Board . Bands of USF students will have 15 minutes each to show judges and attendees why they deserve to be the opening act at Bullstock, which will be April 7 and is the last event of USF Week.

Before they can take the stage at Bullstock, they must compete with other student bands at the seventh-annual Battle of the Bands. The event will take place at the Marshall Student Center (MSC) Amphitheater on March 7 at 7 p.m.

Every year during USF Week, student bands get the chance to open for well-known artists at Bullstock.

SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE

Joshua Wilson, associate director at the Center for Student Involvement and Fraternity/Sorority Life at USF, said the judges at the Battle of the Bands are usually faculty members.

“We’ve reached out in the past to have different faculty or staff members from various departments represented on campus, some with music interests and some who we think might fit the bill,” he

said.

The bands will know at the end of the event which of them will have the glory of performing on stage in April.

Wilson said the Battle of the Bands is great for student

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musicians who want to share their talents with a wider audience.

“One of the key benefits is getting to perform in a university space to their peers,” Wilson said. “Hopefully it’s a chance for them to reach a new audience, for people to know the music that they’re making, but also just a chance for the community to come together and see the talent that we have on campus.”

Though the lineup for Bullstock 2017 has yet to be announced, Wilson confirmed that the festival will have an “indie-alternative feel” with three to five nationallyrecognized artists, as it has in previous years.

Bands interested in competing in the Battle of the Bands can apply by turning in a CD or USB with their songs to the Center for Student Involvement, located on the second floor of the MSC. Bands that are chosen to compete in the Battle of the Bands will be notified on Tuesday.

LIFESTYLE

Tampa design firm urges city to play 6

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

Don’t touch the pieces.

Stand behind the line.

No playing.

These are the most common guidelines displayed in places that exhibit art, but a Tampabased design firm founded by USF alumni is throwing the rulebook out the window.

The Urban Conga, run by Ryan Swanson, constructs installations in cities nationwide centered on getting communities to interact and play with each other.

Originally from Ft. Lauderdale, Swanson moved to Tampa in 2006 to attend USF, where he majored in architecture. He went on do his masters in architecture there as well, ultimately graduating in 2013.

At the time, he had no intention of staying in the city, as he disliked living around the USF area.

“For my last two years, I moved to downtown and saw the potential that downtown had, the growth that it was going through. From an architecture perspective, that was more interesting to me to live in,” Swanson said. “Then, during my thesis, I had started this company, and it made sense to stay here in Tampa as a testing ground for what we were doing.”

Swanson and two other USF architecture students, Mark Perrett and Brennen Huller, officially launched the Urban Conga in 2012.

“At that point in time, we were all free, doing interactive installations that activated under-utilized spaces, and then we all graduated and kind of started to move off to do our own things while still continuing this as a hobby,” Swanson said.

After graduation, when Swanson was working at an architecture firm, the three friends decided to go on a trip across the country, partly to help Huller move to Los Angeles, but

On Thursdays at noon, Tampa residents can play a friendly match of Ping Pong with the Tampa Downtown guides in Lykes Gaslight Square Park. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE. also to try out their installations at various cities whose metropolitan areas were focused more on work than play.

They visited Houston, Tallahassee, Tucson, Los Angeles and the Lower Ninth Ward in Louisiana, which was still struggling post-Katrina, all with a 12 foot tall beach ball in tow.

“That’s kind of how we got people’s attention, by rolling that through the street,” Swanson said. “People were like, ‘Oh what is this?’ and then they would come to the site that we were at and started interacting with some of the things.”

After the trip, he decided to quit his job at the firm and started working on Urban Conga full time. Huller stayed out in Los Angeles. While Perrett still lives in Tampa and does help the firm occasionally, he has since released a book on drumming, which is his current focus.

The firm recently moved to a warehouse on 7th Ave in Ybor from Florida Avenue and will

resemble a tree fort when finished, with offices upstairs and space to fabricate installations below. While they consult with various artists, Urban Conga currently employs four people who come from different art backgrounds, such as street art and engineering, as well as architecture.

About three years ago, after connecting with the Tampa Downtown Partnership and being awarded a $1,000 grant from Awesome Tampa Bay, Urban Conga did its first installation with the City of Tampa.

They made the Ping Pong tables that can be found in Lykes Gaslight Square Park downtown, where residents can challenge downtown Tampa guides to a friendly match every Thursday from noon to 1 p.m.

Since then, they have also done the Color Code Benches outside of the Straz Center for Performing Arts, Urban Pixels for Lights on Tampa and a musical wall for the Tampa Bay Rays

at Tropicana Field.

Swanson recalls how, at first, their installations were met with skepticism, but they have received positive feedback from the public, both verbally, and also just by the wear and tear on the pieces.

“The thing I think most people are asking is, ‘Why isn’t there more of this stuff and downtown?’” Swanson said.

“And that’s kind of a question that we’re trying to push for the city to do more for the activation of public spaces.”

Urban Conga isn’t doing these installations only for beautification or even just the sake of it. To Swanson, they mean so much more.

“Our main mission is to promote communal activity and social interaction,” he said.

He remembers the exact moment when this larger significance appeared to him.

“One moment in Tampa, we had (interactive projections) and this family was playing with

it and then this homeless guy walked over and started to engage with them,” Swanson said. “Seeing that kind of interaction of those barriers breakdown was really like a big moment.”

He believes now more than ever, especially in cities like this one, people only focus on themselves and don’t bother to get to know the community around them.

“That causes people to have stigma against other people and create boundaries and look at people different, rather than just as a person,” he said. “When you play with someone, it begins to break those barriers, just like that story of the homeless man.

“Seeing that ability, where we can introduce these small elements, these small little things that get people engaging with one another, how that could kind of, big picture, maybe, hopefully, in a way change the world and the way people look at each other.”

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ETHICS

Continued from PAGE 3

Voting for student government elections runs from Monday through Thursday with the winners announced Friday. ORACLE PHOTO/JACKIE BENITEZ

DEBATE

Continued from PAGE 3

A&S fees.

This is where the two sides split.

“I believe wholeheartedly that an increase in an A&S fee is needed.”

Kheireddine said. “The increase doesn’t have to be anything massive — a couple dollars.”

Kheireddine said these added funds will enable SG to “upgrade the student experience” through the revamping of programs that in his eyes have been neglected over the years.

“In order to do that, we need the funds,” Kheireddine said.

On the other side, Soscia staunchly opposed, citing the process of distributing money as the reason.

“When I was Student Body Chief Financial Officer, I got to see the way student organizations spent and how SG spent, and there are a lot of problems in the process,” Soscia said. “I think we need to fix the funding process first before we even think about an A&S fee increase. I would never advocate for that.”

When running for office, most candidates have one initiative that they hold closest and want to implement right away.

When asked what platform they would deliver first once in office, Kheireddine chose more resources toward the mental health of students, with Soscia keying on aiding sexual assault survivors.

Both of these initiatives rely on more funding for their respective

programs.

“We need to have administration that is going to put money outside of A&S fees toward these programs,” Soscia said. “We need to make sure we’re protecting our students and that starts with administration putting money toward our issues.”

The two sides didn’t differ much, with a few exceptions. With similar platforms, the two sides boast fairly parallel messages with the same general theme: give students a strong, unified voice.

To this point, both tickets have given promises of platforms for students to voice any concern to SG and the administration through various ways, including an online message board, which the Soscia and Holland ticket has already implemented on their website.

“We want to make sure that all students have the opportunity to submit any issues that they have to SG, and thus, we can gather signatures to showcase to the administration these are serious issues,” Kheireddine said, his opponent agreeing. “These are things that students want to see improved. We think that’s a huge focus.”

While Kheireddine and Kent said that SG currently does a good job at representing the student body, their opponents disagree.

“I do not believe SG accurately represents students on this campus, not at all,” Holland said. “ Polls will open Monday for students to begin voting and will close Thursday. Results will be announced at noon Friday in MSC 4200.

Faculty adviser for the Ethics Committee, Jennifer Bielen, told the committee to disregard the citation concerning libel, as it is not within their jurisdiction to determine what is libelous.

“I need you guys to not look at that,” she said. “That pertains to slander and libel and we as a committee within SG do not have the ability to review that. That is something that needs to be taken up, outside of the university to a court of law and that’s stated per our university legal.”

However, the committee does intend to investigate the situation in relation to the other statutes Holland’s request mentioned.

This includes receiving information from both parties and anyone else who could provide insight into the situation.

The committee can request information in the form of written witness testimony, personal statements, general or specific information and appearance before the committee.

It will not look at any information it did not request.

After ending its investigation,

The SG Senate Ethics Committee opened an investigation against Student Body President Chris Griffin for allegedly using his position to discredit one of the presidential tickets. ORACLE PHOTO/JACKIE BENITEZ the committee will present its conclusion to the SG Senate with its recommended course of action (COA) if applicable. The COA can recommend censure

or impeachment. After this presentation, the Senate votes on any further action.

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Sports

enter USF made wrong call Bulls critical UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA

The Rundown Outside USF

Men’s Basketball

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final stretch

Ole Miss self-imposes one-year bowl ban Ole Miss punished itself before the NCAA could on Wednesday, as the school announced it was self-imposing a one year postseason ban following more accusations of rules violations by the NCAA. The eight new violations Ole Miss is accused of raise the school’s total number to 21 on the year. Headlining Wednesday’s accusations were a lack of institutional control and the inability of coach Hugh Freeze to monitor his coaching staff.

The postseason ban also means Ole Miss will not be given any share of the SEC’s postseason revenue, which could total as high as $7.8 million, according to ESPN. USF News

Softball postpones game until Thursday Due to stormy conditions surrounding campus Wednesday evening, USF softball postponed its game against Eastern Michigan until 2 p.m. this afternoon.

Following today’s game, USF (6-3) will travel to play in the Stetson Tournament in DeLand this weekend, where it will play Mississippi, Colgate and Stetson.

Women’s Basketball

Though former USF coach Stan Heath had just two winning seasons over seven years, those two seasons have been the best basketball the Bulls have played in over 15 years. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE/GOUSFBULLS.COM

Firing Stan Heath in 2014 has set the program back several years

Stan Heath was fired as the USF men’s basketball coach in March of 2014.

Since then, it’s been all downhill for the Bulls.

Though Heath was afforded seven seasons to improve USF, the t e a m ’s regresVinnie Portell sion from a 22-win COM M ENTARY s e a s o n and NCAA Tournament berth in 2012 to back-to-back 12-win seasons was enough to bring about his exit.

Now, with the Bulls at the

bottom of the AAC and much worse off without him, it’s clear USF made the wrong call.

The year he was fired, Heath had brought in one of the best recruiting classes in USF history.

Ranked 22nd in the nation

by ESPN, the Bulls added a class that featured two 4-star players (John Egbunu and Chris Perry) who were expected to become the faces of the program.

Now, they’re both excelling at different schools.

“My freshman year coaching staff was everything I could ask for,” Perry told The Oracle.

“We really had a family oriented team with the Stan Heath crew. I just wish they gave him an extra year or two.

Coach Jose Fernandez said his team doesn’t deserve to be in the NCAA Tournament if the Bulls lose to Tulsa on Saturday.

ORACLE PHOTO/JACKIE BENITEZ

By Vinnie Portell S P O R T S

E D I T O R

“Coach Heath was on the right track, but when we got (athletic director Mark Harlan), he was big on changing things when he got there, so out the window that went basically.”

Now playing for Division II Lincoln Memorial (22-4), Perry is averaging 18.4 points and 7.4 rebounds per game.

Despite recently tearing his ACL in his left knee, Florida center John Egbunu has been a critical piece of the No. 13 Gators.

The 6-foot-11 junior has averaged just over 22 minutes a night while scoring 7.8 points, grabbing 6.6 rebounds and blocking 1.5 shots per game.

If that wasn’t bad enough,

Just three weeks ago, USF women’s basketball was comfortably on its way to a third consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.

The Bulls were ranked No. 20 in the nation and had lost only three games, with two of those coming against ranked teams.

Then, USF began to struggle.

Starting guard and top minute-getter Laia Flores sprained her ankle in a 62-57 loss at Memphis and has been playing through pain since. Within a week, starting forward Tamara Henshaw also twisted her ankle.

With the bench already depleted from other injuries, USF stumbled down the stretch.

Beginning with the loss

n See HEATH on PAGE 11

n See CRITICAL on PAGE 11

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CRITICAL

Continued from PAGE 10

to Memphis on Feb. 5, USF has lost three of its past six games as it has lost its national ranking, and a postseason Tournament berth is no longer a given.

The Bulls have fallen to 34th in RPI, and another upset loss could put them on the outside looking in.

“We’ve had too good of a year for us not to close it out on the right end of things,” USF coach Jose Fernandez said following the team’s most recent loss on Sunday against Temple.

The Bulls currently project as a nine seed in the Tournament after recently being listed as a potential seven seed, according to ESPN college basketball expert Charlie Creme.

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T H E O R AC L E

With two games remaining on the regular season schedule and one of those being a match-up with No. 1 UConn, the pressure is on USF to close out the season on a high note.

Tuesday night in Houston, USF bounced back for a 79-50 win over the Cougars, but the Bulls have put themselves in a position where each remaining game will affect their postseason standing.

“We can’t afford to go to Houston or Tulsa and not play well,” Fernandez said Sunday.

“We got to go on the road and win those two games.

We don’t deserve to go to the NCAA Tournament if we don’t go and win at Houston, or Tulsa. If we lose one of those, then we have to make it to the American Championship Laia Flores is seemingly returning to health after spraining her ankle on Feb. 5, as she was just one assist and game.” one rebound away from the second triple-double in program history against Houston on Tuesday.

ORACLE PHOTO/JACKIE BENITEZ

HEATH

Continued from PAGE 10

Chris Perry, a four-star recruit and three-year starter for USF, said he thought former coach Stan Heath deserved more time at USF. ORACLE FILE PHOTO/ADAM MATHIEU

several of the players who departed along with Heath flourished into talented players who were sorely missed at USF. Just take a look at what some of Heath’s other former Bulls are doing across college basketball.

As a senior playing for Virginia Tech (19-8, 8-7), former Bull Zach LeDay has evolved into the leading scorer for an ACC team that ESPN college basketball expert Joe Lunardi has as a 10th seed in the NCAA Tournament.

As a Hokie, LeDay is scoring 15.3 points per game on 51.7 percent shooting while grabbing the second-most

rebounds per game (7).

Heath’s son, Josh, has also been a factor on a potential NCAA Tournament team, scoring 5.7 points and dishing out 4.4 assists in just under 30 minutes per game for Georgia Tech (16-12, 7-8).

Others such as Musa AbdulAleem (16 points per game at Troy) and Javontae Hawkins (13.8 points per game at Fordham) have also found success, albeit at smaller schools.

“So many people left because they weren’t certain on how their careers would end up if they stuck around,” Perry said. “I wanted to stick around because I was a native and I wanted to be close to mom, but if I would have done it again, I probably would have left after Stan Heath got fired

as well.”

But regardless of what Heath’s former players are up to, what he accomplished as a coach will be difficult to recapture at USF. Even though he only had two winning seasons in seven years, those two years resulted in a trip to the NIT (2010) and then the NCAA Tournament (2012).

Before Heath, the last time USF had been to the NIT was in 2002, and its last NCAA Tournament berth happened way back in 1992.

It’s always much easier to assess decisions with hindsight than it is to look forward to the future, but it’s abundantly obvious that USF made the wrong call when it fired Heath.

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