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September 15, 2016 Vol. 54 No. 8

Feed-A-Bull: one year later Page 3

Clean up the bay Page 4

UberEats premiers in Tampa Page 6

Bulls aim to win back the bay Page 8

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

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NEWS

Prepayment Feeding the students travel to A look at USF’s food bank a year later return

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA

News Briefs UNC player accused of rape turns himself in

FEED-A-BULL

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By Miki Shine M A N A G I N G

USF’s Feed-A-Bull food pantry has expanded to support itself with independent donations. ORACLE PHOTO/ JACKIE BENITEZ

By Chelsea Grosbeck C O R R E S P O N D E N T

SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE

Allen Artis, a football player at the University of North Carolina (UNC), turned himself in on Wednesday morning following public accusation by UNC student Delaney Robinson that Artis had raped her in February of this year, according to CNN. Artis went to a magistrate’s office and was released on $5,000 bond, accordingtoBBCWorldNews.He isfacingmisdemeanorchargesof sexual assault and battery. UNC said in a statement that it took the allegations very seriously.

Tampa International Airport receives grant Tampa International Airport received a grant for $5.3 million for safety improvements, according to the Tampa Bay Times. The grant comes from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The improvements will include LED signs and taxiway markings, as reported by the Times.

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T H E O R AC L E

Since its opening one year ago, Feed-A-Bull has provided meals for 15 to 20 students weekly on campus.

The Center for Student Well-Being partnered with Student Outreach and Support (SOS) to generate an initiative to assist students who are food insecure. Preparation for the food bank began in 2014 and ended in September 2015.

“Some students struggle with being able to afford basic food needs,” said Katie Jones, co-founder of Feed-A-Bull and registered dietitian for the Center for Student Well-Being.

Located inside the SOS office, the Feed-A-Bull pantry was created as a convenient location for students. Feed-A-Bull supplies food for students, as well as additional hygiene products that are included in their inventory and available to students upon request.

The organization Feeding America Tampa Bay, a branch of the national organization Feeding America, assisted Feed-A-Bull for the first six months after the pantry launched. Now, the food pantry has received enough donations to confidently work on its own to serve the needs of USF students, according to Jones.

“The number of students utilizing the food pantry shows the need,” she said.

Nicole Morgan, the senior

case manager at the office of SOS and co-facilitator of the food pantry, joined the team in March.

Some of Morgan’s responsibilities include supervising volunteers and coordinating food drives for Feed-ABull. The successful food drive last year, Charit-A-Bull, is anticipated to begin again in October, according to Morgan.

Feed-A-Bull is not a department and is completely supported by donations. Most donations given to the food bank have been from staff and students. Some students donate to fulfill service requirements for classes.

A crowdfunding web campaign began three weeks ago to solicit monetary donations to fill the pantry for the upcoming year.

The campaign ended today, and it successfully exceeded the goal of $3,500 by almost $100, according to the crowdfunding page at the time of print.

Maya Baram, a senior majoring in biomedical sciences and president of Feeding America USF, partnered with SOS to assist in the establishment of the food pantry.

Baram has been a volunteer since the day Feed-A-Bull opened.

“When we first started, we had maybe five or six people,” Baram said. “(Feed-A-Bull) has been open today (Sept. 14) for a half an hour, and I’ve helped at least five people.”

Last semester, Baram visited the Feeding America warehouse to pick up nonperishable items.

This semester, the pantry no longer receives donations from the warehouse, but Feeding America still provides volunteers for the pantry.

The pantry is negotiating with other organizations for additional food items.

According to Morgan, the flow of people utilizing Feed-A-Bull remains consistent year-round. However, at certain times of the year there is an increase in donation.

“The holiday time is really crucial as far as food security, so we make sure that students are provided with the food services they need during that time,” Morgan said.

A full room is divided and organized ranging from the type of food to dietary restrictions such as vegetarian, vegan, gluten free and food allergies, to fulfill dietary accommodations.

To distribute the food, a student is given a standard list of items to fill into their Feed-A-Bull bag. Students are allowed to stock their bag with two breakfast items; two cans each of fruit, vegetables, a variety of protein options and soup; one box of pasta or rice; and two snack items.

“My role is to get bags ready, prepare them, sort items, and give to students in need,” Baram said.

Being a dietician, Jones was able to create preplanned meals using the ingredients included in the Feed-A-Bull bags. Options included

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E D I T O R

Controversy erupted across campus after Student Business Services (SBS) announced last week that it would no longer offer prepaid travel for student organizations. However, that decision has been rescinded.

Prepaid travel for student organizations will once again be an option for student organizations.

Originally, the policy was removed after student body president Chris Griffin vetoed a bill that would offer funding for an additional SBS staff member. His reasons included concerns about being able to continue funding the position and doubt that SBS’s workload is sufficient to warrant the additional position.

SBS Director Matthew Swanson defended the need for the position in a letter sent out to Student Government (SG) senators. According to the letter, reimbursement-exclusive travel takes 30 minutes for the department to process, but prepayment travel takes two hours to process.

“This was not an easy decision because one of my goals for our department is to eventually move us to only offering prepayment services to make it easier, and less stressful, for students to travel,” Swanson told The Oracle.

“Due to the increase in our travel-related workload, we would not be able to respond to all travel requests if we were still offering prepayment services” In his letter, Swanson said that last year, SBS managed 967 trips compared to the 586 trips the year before, along with 3,355 fiscal transitions compared to the 2,440 the year before.

However, at the SG senate meeting Tuesday night, the senate overrode Griffin’s veto, which means the position will be funded for $42,652 from unallocated funds.

OPINION

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UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA

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EDITORIAL

It’s time to prioritize cleaning up the bay Tampa Bay is no longer a picturesque marina, thanks to the 172 million gallons of partially treated sewage released into the waterways following Hurricane Hermine on Sept. 2.

St. Petersburg dumped 70 million gallons, Pasco County spilled 36.8 million and Clearwater leaked 31.7 million into the once-uncontaminated bay.

The question on everyone’s mind, outside of how on earth we allowed this to happen, is “What do city officials plan to do to remedy the repulsive mistake?”

Despite the contamination, St. Petersburg opened its beaches Tuesday after the results from two days of bacteria testing showed levels within healthy limits.

However, the repercussions of the massive waste dump are far from over. In St. Petersburg, 45 carcasses of juvenile seabirds called Black Skimmers have been found, leading volunteers to suspect the sewage as the cause, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

Black Skimmers are a species of special concern in Florida and state officials have been debating increasing the protection level to “threatened.” This recent outbreak of deaths among the species may very well be the push needed to raise their protection level.

Salmonella, Red Tide or even a virus are the assumed causes of death, Elizabeth Forys, a professor of environmental science and biology at Eckerd College told The Times.

“This is the first time I have ever seen anything like this in

Florida,” Forys said.

According to The Times, tourists at the Dali Museum claim the pungent smell permeated the area every time the wind blew.

“It punched us right in the face,” James Noreto from South Pasadena told The Times. “It smelled like the circus. You could tell right away.”

The massive amount of sewage was dumped due to a combination of heavy rains in August as well as Hurricane Hermine. Officials are taking as many steps as possible to prepare for another storm causing similar problems, but they’ve now run out of time.

Tropical Storm Julia hit the Gulf Coast on Wednesday after forming over Georgia.

Residents are waiting to see if the waterways will be further polluted.

On top of the already disturbing news that large amounts of fecal matter now inhabit the bay, a USF researcher found preliminary signs of antibioticresistant bacteria at two St. Petersburg beaches last week.

Yet, Deputy Mayor Kanika Tomalin told The Times the city hasn’t contacted USF yet to find out more about the bacteria, proving just how seriously some officials are taking the issue.

Pinellas County Commissioner, Charlie Justice, is advising the establishment of a countywide sewer task force to assess its part in the sewage crisis due to its utilities dumping 134.4 gallons of waste.

“I believe that this collective task force could facilitate more

beneficial outcomes through greater collaboration, closer communication and mutual support when needed, as well as enabling all task force partners to better solve the key wastewater system issues we face: capacity and inflow/infiltration,” Justice wrote in a memo Tuesday.

The St. Petersburg City Council, along with Mayor Rick Krisman, wants to have $58 million set aside in the next year’s budget in order to do necessary repairs and upgrades to the aging sewer system, which has struggled for years to handle heavy rainfall.

Sadly, though, waiting until next year may be too late. If the level of sewage in the Bay is not treated, tourists will be more hesitant to come to beaches they are apprehensive to swim in.

If researchers determine the sudden death of the Black Skimmers was in fact the sewage polluting the water, other wildlife might find themselves at risk while many fishermen have already sworn off fishing in the area.

“This is like the best spot,” said Dan Carpenter a 24-yearold fisherman told the Tampa Bay Times. “But this changes the game completely … We should probably move.”

Will the beaches be truly safe for students and tourists?

Will wildlife face the brunt of the carelessness of the sewage plants?

It seems the answer most of our politicians have adopted is to simply wait and see.

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T H E O R AC L E

Miss America’s slow path to inclusion

By Breanne Williams C O L U M N I S T

Since its debut in 1921, Miss America has received its share of praise, and more often than not, criticism. Its lack of diversity and continued objectification of women has led many to view its existence with disdain.

Now, 95 years after its premiere, Miss America had its first openly gay contestant, Erin O’Flaherty, proving the pageant, though inarguably flawed, is slowly attempting to become inclusive.

In 1983, Vanessa Williams made history as the first African-American women to win the crown; though less than a year later, she resigned her title due to a scandal around nude photos taken years prior to her pageantry.

In 2001, Angela Baraquio was crowned the first AsianAmerican as well as the first Filipino American to win the pageant. In 2014, Nina Davuluri was the first contestant of Indian descent to win the crown.

O’Flaherty, while not successful in winning the pageant, did open the doors to a conversation that was previously absent.

“This is not just an issue of diversity but (of) saving lives,” O’Flaherty said in an interview with the Huffington Post. “LGBT youth are up to eight times more likely to attempt suicide as compared to their heterosexual peers if they come from an unaccepting environment. I hope that my presence can give others hope.”

O’Flaherty has adopted The Trevor Project and The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention as her platform and has heavily advocated the resources available for LGBT youth struggling with their identities.

Her presence also helped those who may have bigoted mindsets realize that the

LGBT community does not strictly adhere to stereotypes.

O’Flaherty was a feminine, southern, highly educated contestant who also happened to be gay.

Hopefully, her presence reshaped some of the intolerable mentalities often directed at the LGBT community.

After all, each instance of LGBT victimization, whether physical or verbal harassment or abuse, increases the likelihood of self-harming behavior by an average of 2.5 times, according to the American Journal of Public Health.

Miss America indubitably has many mountains left to climb before it can even attempt to claim complete inclusivity but at least it’s not completely opposed to change.

Until viewers can see an accurate representation of our country rather than a handful of minorities splashed amongst an overwhelmingly blonde, heterosexual group of white contestants, there will continue to be backlash directed at the event.

The pageant is fighting to be recognized as the largest provider of scholarships in the world for women rather than a degrading beauty contest. And on one hand, they do technically award more money to women than any other group — even if the total sum is far less than what is claimed as exposed by a segment of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver in 2014.

Unfortunately, we live in a society where the best scholarship program requires contenders to parade around in bikinis and be capable of answering intricate questions in fewer than 20 seconds.

While it is regrettable the Miss America pageant is still a leading form of entertainment in this country, at least women of all sexual orientation are now being represented.

T H U R S DAY, S E P T E M B E R 1 5 , 2 0 1 6

FOOD

Continued from PAGE 3

vegetable fried rice, Three-Bean Taco Soup and cheesy tuna noodle casserole to give students variation for their weekly meals. The pantry also offers pamphlets with recipes for meals.

“A well-balanced meal is especially important for college students,” Jones said. “Hungry minds do not think well.”

Jones splits her time between the pantry and the Center for Student Well-Being.

“Definitely, what I like most is the reaction of people,” Baram said.

“People are so thankful. A lot of people come here and didn’t know Feed-A-Bull existed. Seeing the impact we make is awesome.”

Eligibility to receive assistance from Feed-A-Bull is determined by a screening administered to every student to assess the level of food insecurity using standards from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The survey includes questions pertaining to the quantity and nutritional quality of food eaten, Morgan said.

If assistance is required, students need a valid USF ID and must also be enrolled in the current semester to qualify.

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T H E O R AC L E

“(On the USF campus,) students’ surveys meet the higher level of food insecurity … where they are both hungry and not eating nutritional foods,” Morgan said. “We’ve found that people who are coming really need it. They have the highest level of insecurity.”

Referred to the food bank by his Students of Concern Assistance Team, Jack Doe, who has chosen to remain anonymous and is a junior majoring in computer engineering, has utilized the food bank’s resources since January.

“Feed-A-Bull really helped me have food on the table,” Doe said.

“Having a place where I can get food has helped me focus on my studies.”

Thriving off of word of mouth referrals, Feed-A-Bull has produced a “great chain reaction,” Morgan said.

Students who have further questions are encouraged to visit the SOS offices located in Student Services room 2058. The food pantry is open Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to noon and Wednesdays from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Donations are accepted in the form of rice, pasta, pasta sauce, peanut butter, breakfast foods, soup, macaroni and cheese, or cans of tuna, chicken, beans, fruits or vegetables.

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LIFESTYLE

Fast but slow UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA

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T H E O R AC L E

UberEats off to a sluggish but steady start

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

E D I T O R

UberEATS opened its (car) doors to Tampa on last week, making it one of the first 30 cities to welcome the service.

Even though ridesharing is still illegal in Hillsborough County, the Public Transportation Commission has no jurisdiction over food delivery services. This allows UberEATS and competitors such as GrubHub, Eat24 and Seamless, to operate in Tampa.

According to Davidson Prevot, the manager of Alez Caribbean Restaurant and Lounge, a Haitian restaurant off Fletcher avenue, sales from the first week have been satisfactory overall, but not yet great. Prevot attributes this slow start to the short time that the service has been available.

However, he has seen some

positive effects already, in the form of new customers trying Haitian cuisine for the first time.

“I’m pretty sure that if it wasn’t for UberEATS, they would have never tasted it,” Prevot said. “It’s just a different way for our food to get out there.”

Uber driver Leroy Fortune, 42, agreed with Prevot about the pace of UberEATS’ order, as he has had two deliveries since the service started.

He thinks this might be due to the fact that, for Uber drivers to get delivery orders, they have to be close to restaurants that are available on the app, and not all of the restaurants are located in areas commonly frequented by Uber drivers.

Fortune said that he first received the announcement about the ridesharing service’s foray into the delivery industry about a

month ago.

“They sent me a little text talking about it, so I started looking into it myself so I thought it was a good way to supplement when I’m not driving someone around,” Fortune said. “(It’s) another good thing to keep me moving.”

There are already multiple posts on USF’s Facebook “Class of” groups from students asking classmates for discount codes that allow users to take $10 off their first order.

Fidel Chung, a senior majoring in mass communications, has already used it twice since last week.

“So far it’s been a five-star experience both times,” Chung said. “I guess because they’re just starting, they’re not really congested with a lot of people. They’ve been on time. I haven’t had any problems.

The Uber drivers are nice. The

UberEATS delivers food from select local restaurants to USF’s campus. ORACLE STAFF/JACKIE BENITEZ students living on campus. food always comes as I expect.”

“I do think that it is a great There haven’t been many complaints about the app, but Chung program,” Fortune said. “I think that Uber did a great thing with had one in particular.

“The only thing that they don’t their whole business demographic do is … put utensils or napkins,” and how they’re doing it. I think Chung said. “It’s not really a prob- it’s a benefit to a lot of people. I lem, but it would be nice to have would hate to see it leave. It really supplements part of my income it.”

Both Prevot and Fortune have that really helps me out a lot, for said that most, if not all, of their something that I could do with my order so far have come from USF car and that is so easy to do.”

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CROSSWORD

USF heads to Syracuse, New York this weekend to play The Orange. USF is 7-2 in the all-time series between the two schools. ORACLE PHOTO

FOE

Continued from PAGE 8

we’re sound,” Taggart said.

“Fundamentally, we can’t do too much and just be sound. Our guys have to be able to get the call and line up. I think with this up-tempo stuff, that’s when you can get in trouble when your guys don’t line up.”

Syracuse dual-threat quarterback Eric Dungey helms the Orange’s fast-paced attack, having already compiled 610 passing

BAY

Continued from PAGE 8

the Big 12 would like.

“If (attendance) is going to be a part of (joining the Big 12), I guess it’s really important,” Taggart said.

“We’re going to get there slowly but surely, but we’re going to get there.”

Despite attendance trending in the right direction through the first two games of 2016, fans and alumni are still hesitant to buy in to the Bulls for the long haul.

USF’s 6-28 record over Taggart’s first two seasons caused a staggering drop off from 18,638 annual season tickets to 12,954 from the time he became head coach through the 2015 season.

Rather than touring the state to drum up support as he had done in years past, Taggart stuck to the bay area with his “Kickoff with Coach Taggart” tour in which the fourth-year coach implored supporters to help him on his quest to fill Raymond James Stadium once more.

“We want to get everyone

yards and 5 touchdowns through his first two games as a sophomore.

Babers is no stranger to coaching dynamic quarterbacks, as he has coached New England Patriots backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo in 2012-13 at Eastern Illinois.

Redshirt senior wide receiver Amba Etta-Tawo, who won ACC Receiver of the Week last week after hauling in eight grabs for 103 yards and 2 touchdowns, leads a talented Syracuse receiving corps.

Along with junior receiver Ervin Philips, Etta-Tawo also heads a stable of talented Orange pass catchers.

“With that up-tempo offense, it’s tough for any defense to adjust,” Bulls’ Defensive Coordinator Raymond Woodie said.

“They go so fast, it just scares you. They have some big-time players in Dungey … he’s an unbelievable player himself. He can make plays and extend them with his feet, he can throw the long ball, and they have a lot of weapons.”

around here to come out and support,” Taggart said at one of his four stops on June 7. “Lee Roy Selmon and President Castor had a vision for this program, and I think it started with this community. This community got behind this football program and it got going and we built it into something special and it happened fast.

“We don’t have a lot of tradition, we’re young. So, we can’t rely on that, we have to rely on this community to get behind us. Whether you graduated from Florida or Florida State, you live here in the bay area. You can graduate from there and love those teams, but you can love the Bulls too.”

Even with season ticket sales back on the rise — over 16,000 sold for the 2016 season — the Bulls still have a long way to go to reclaim the glory days of a sold-out crowd.

And despite the 20-minute hike to games, student support has been far from the issue for USF. In Week 1 of 2016, 5,202 students came out to watch USF defeat Towson to open the season

in impressive fashion with a 56-20 win.

On Saturday, when USF pummeled Northern Illinois University 48-17, over 7,200 were in attendance — the most since the Bulls’ sellout against FSU in 2012.

With the Seminoles set to return to Tampa for what is expected to be another packed house on Sept.

24, USF will have the audience it needs to give fans a reason to support the team again.

With just over 50,000 tickets already distributed or reserved for that game and a national audience on ABC, all eyes will be on the Bulls for the first time in years.

“We’re going to continue to build it each and every week,” Taggart said. “Ray Jay’s going to get packed each and every week, and we’re all going to party and have fun, and that’s how it should be.

We should just grow together, build it together, and great things will happen here in the bay. So come and show up and show out.

We really, really appreciate it.”

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Sports

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA

The Rundown

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T H E O R AC L E

Bringing back the bay

Football

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Outside USF

ACC pulls title game from North Carolina The ACC will no longer be hosting its conference championship in North Carolina following the refusal of the state’s government to budge on House Bill 2, which limits bathroom use to each person’s biological sex. Over the summer, the NBA pulled its All-Star game from Charlotte for the same reason.

The ACC Championship game was scheduled to be played in Charlotte on Dec. 3., but will now be moved to a site like Orlando, according to ESPN.

Weekend sports schedule Men’s Soccer

Buffalo (6-0) @ USF (2-3-2) When: Sunday, 1 p.m.

Where: Corbett Soccer Stadium

Volleyball

USF Classic When: Beginning Friday, 7 p.m.

Where: USF Sun Dome Opponents: Stetson, Wright State, LIU Brooklyn MORE COVERAGE ONLINE

USF men’s soccer’s thrilling 1-0 win over UNF. Read it at USFOracle.com

Know the foe: USF at Syracuse Football

By Chuck Muller S T A F F

Ryeshene Bronson points to the crowd after scoring a 73-yard touchdown Saturday at Raymond James Stadium against Northern Illinois University. ORACLE PHOTO/JACOB HOAG

Taggart, Bulls look to win back local support

By Vinnie Portell S P O R T S

E D I T O R

Growing up in the bay area, coach Willie Taggart has been involved in Tampa football since before the Bulls made it their home in 1997.

From selling Cokes at Houlihan Stadium for some extra cash when the Buccaneers played there in the late ‘80s to knocking off a 5-0 USF team 31-24 as the quarterback of Western Kentucky in 1998, Taggart fondly remembers the packed stadiums and fun-loving atmosphere that Tampa has to offer.

Now, four years into his tenure as USF coach, Taggart still yearns to recapture the support that has since fallen by the wayside.

“It was pretty cool to see that first game and how packed the whole stadium was,” Taggart said.

“Again, that’s proof that we can

pack that place. That is proof, we just have to get them back, and we will.”

As is typical with nearly any fan base across the nation, support wavers from year to year based on little more than the on-field product.

From the tail end of former coach Skip Holtz’s tenure in 2011 through the 2015 season, that support took a turn for the worse.

At their peak, the Bulls were nationally ranked and packed the 65,890-seat Raymond James Stadium to its capacity four times from 2007-09.

However, it’s been nearly four years since USF’s last sellout, when No. 4 Florida State visited on Sept.

29, 2012.

The Bulls have failed to come close to a full stadium since, even electing to close off 300-level seating after a 4-8 season in 2014.

USF’s surge to an 8-5 record and a berth in the Miami Beach Bowl in the second-half of 2015 has helped the Bulls get back on the right track, but they’ve yet to recapture their fan base of old.

“For us, we have to control the things that we can, and that’s our attitude and our work ethic and the way we perform on the football field,” Taggart said. “That’s all we can control and all those other things will take care of itself. We can’t worry about who’s in the stands, it’s our job to go out and give them everything they came for so they can come back.”

After USF’s announced attendance dipped from an average of 30,694 per home game in 2014 to 26,522 the following season, the first two home games (36,267 average) show the support is returning — albeit slower than both USF and

n See BAY on PAGE 7

W R I T E R

Heading into last year’s meeting with the Syracuse Orange, the Bulls appeared to be going in the wrong direction following a 1-3 start.

However, after a 2-0 start to 2016, the Bulls go into their nonconference matchup with the Orange gaining momentum.

Before their October matchup with Syracuse in 2015, the Bulls and their head coach seemed to be walking on eggshells, with change looming if the Bulls’ fortunes did not make a turn for the better.

Following the Bulls’ 45-24 win against Syracuse, the Bulls haven’t looked back, winning nine of their last 11 games since then.

A 27-35 record over their last five seasons compelled the Orange to turn to former Bowling Green head coach Dino Babers. And while Syracuse did have a winning season in 2013, the Orange have not won a conference title since 1998, while a member of the Big East.

With head coaching experience at Bowling Green and Eastern Illinois, Babers’ 38-17 career record has much to do with an offense built on speed and spacing much like USF’s Gulf Coast scheme. In four years as a head coach, Babers’ teams have averaged almost 40 points per game (39.2).

While the Bulls had no trouble in their 48-17 victory over Northern Illinois, coach Willie Taggart did admit to needing to get back to basics after committing 8 penalties for 77 yards against the Huskies.

“We just have to make sure

n See FOE on PAGE 7