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The student newspaper at Florida Gulf Coast University
As an undergraduate student at Florida Atlantic University, Wilson Bradshaw pictured the university president as a wise old man who wore patchy tweed jackets and toted a worn briefcase.
He thought the president would stroll around campus smoking a pipe and greeting each student by name.
Bradshaw, in his fi fth year as FGCU’s president, half-heartedly wants to be like the mythical leader from his past.
“At Florida Atlantic, I knew the president and saw him around and he almost fi t that old stereotype,” Bradshaw said. “But the role of a university president has changed. There was a time where the role was internal and he was seen as the intellectual leader of the university. I really enjoy interacting with students and wish I could do more of it, but it becomes harder to do that as the role changes.”
Students who interact with Bradshaw admire his visibility and call him approachable, responsive and gracious, chuckling at
his penchant for wearing Hawaiian shirts and cheering at basketball games.
Other students wish they knew Bradshaw.
Eagle News asked 50 students to name FGCU’s president and to recall if, and how many times, they’ve seen him on campus.
Only three students could identify Bradshaw by his full name.
Of those polled, 52 percent recall seeing him on campus at least one time.
Fifteen of the 26 students who have seen Bradshaw at least once have spotted him on campus more than three
times.Bradshaw tells a different
story. He says students recognize him wherever he goes.
A year and a half ago, Bradshaw and his wife, Jo Anna, enjoyed a getaway at Longboat Key.
As they swam in the Gulf more than 100 miles away from Estero, a proud FGCU parent approached Bradshaw and marveled at the school’s growth.
Bradshaw recalls another conversation he had last month with a student at Publix.
The student couldn’t
fathom that a university president picks apples and waits at the deli counter like the rest of us.
When he was president of Metropolitan State University in St. Paul, Minn., Bradshaw said he could walk four blocks and not be noticed.
“Students should be able to at least minimally recognize the president,” Bradshaw said. “Every place I go in Southwest Florida, I am frequently recognized.”
As the fi rst day of college classes gets closer and closer, every fi rst-year student has a million thoughts going through their head.
Will my roommate be stealing my stuff?
Will there be gossip like in high school?
Every student dwells on this one especially:Am I going to a big party school?
Whether he or she is big on drinking or not is irrelevant. Freshmen want to know if alcohol and drugs are going to be rampant on their specifi c college campus.
Students know there are parties and small get togethers where students drink, but the
amount of drinking varies from campus to campus.
When prospective students go on college tours, the guide never says things like, “By the way, drinking is really common in the mornings at our school. Most kids drop out before freshman year. But, no big deal, come to our school!”
Even if tour guides were
this blunt and straight-forward, Florida Gulf Coast University wouldn’t have a problem with it. FGCU is below average when it comes to drinking.
“The percentage of students that drink on our campus is below 40 percent. Most schools are above 40 percent,” said Jon Brunner, director of Counseling and
Health Services. “This statistic alone shows how much less our students drink compared to other campuses.”
However, the majority of FGCU students assume that there is more alcohol consumed than there actually is.
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A2 NEWS EAGLE NEWS WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4 EDITOR: VERONICA VELA NEWS!EAGLENEWS.ORG
F G C U - K A R N I G R A S : Help out with the first annual Karnigras at Gulf Coast Town Center on April 7. The cause is funding future study-abroad programs for all students. Pass out fliers on campus, make posters, face-paint, teach or judge the salsa dancing. Contact Carol Fulton at [email protected] or Joyce Laorden at [email protected].
Naples Philharmonic Run for Music: Volunteers needed for race set-up, water stations, and traffic control this Saturday, April 7 at 6 a.m. Race runs through Pelican Bay and ends at the Phil. Contact Matt at [email protected].
Promising Pathways Conference: Need volunteers to help provide respite for families that want to attend the Promising Pathways Conference at FGCU on April 14 from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Temple Grandin, well known self-advocate for people with Autism, will be presenting. See information on the FGCU website at http://www.fgcu.edu/events/promisingpathways/. Contact Lynn James at 239-699-0985 or Jamie Melendez or Shay Thomas at 239-267-2181. Volunteers also needed at the conference. Students may sign up to assist for part or all of the day at Alico Arena. Volunteers may attend the presentations as well. Contact Dr. Gischel at [email protected].
Keep Collier Beautiful: Join the big cleanup event on April 14 from 8–11 a.m. For more information visit www.keepcollierbeautiful.com. Contact [email protected] or 239-580-8319.
F G C U - G r a d u a t i o n : Volunteers needed to play an important service and public relations role at both commencement ceremonies (10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.) on April 29 at Alico Arena. Duties may include assisting ushers, managing the door, answering guest questions, and lining up candidates. Hours also can be earned for the volunteer orientation held the week prior. Contact Lauren Cargo at [email protected].
Estero Bay Preserve State Park: Enjoy the outdoors? Ever feel like we have a huge impact on the environment? Are you ready to make a difference and
need service hours? Well then come volunteer at the Estero Bay Preserve State Park! Close to FGCU, off of Corkscrew Road and 41. For more information, contact Scott Stimpson at [email protected].
Lakes Regional Park: Help with a program for children’s tours of the gardens from 3:30–5 p.m. on a weekday or Saturday at 9 a.m. Concepts that may be included are: importance of plants to the earth, plants and insect interdependence, kinds of propagation, composting and nutrients, ability of plants to filter water. Contact Susan Moore at [email protected] or 239-481-7845.
FGCU Food Forest: This student-run botanical garden highlights tropical/subtropical edible species that grow well in South Florida and is right here on campus! They need students to help on most Fridays between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. Contact them before you go at [email protected].
ECHO (Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization): Help out with agricultural development. Fill out a volunteer application at www.echonet.org. For questions, contact Ruth at [email protected].
Koreshan State Park Historic Site: Students welcome every Wednesday at 8 a.m. Simply show up on time at 3800 Corkscrew Road, the gate opens automatically at 8 a.m. Long pants, closed toed shoes are required, they suggest water and gloves.
Heartland Gardens: Did you know that FGCU alums started this nonprofit? They have a 1,700 square-foot raised labyrinth and they’re landscaping the entire acre with edible plants. Help with your financial expertise, business background, economic background, bookkeeping and data entry skills, public relations or communications background, or assist with newsletters, e-blasts, or grant writing. Contact Andrea at [email protected] or call 239-689-4249.
Calusa Nature Center & Planetarium: Numerous opportunities! Contact [email protected] or call 275-3435.
Naples Botanical Garden: Horticulture gardening starts at 8 a.m. Monday through Friday and includes weeding, potting,
moving plants, digging, raking, sweeping, clearing debris, etc. Wear closed toe shoes. No shorts or tank tops. Bring water. Wear sunscreen. Bring work gloves if you have them. Looking especially for groups of students on Fridays. No last minute requests. Give 4-5 day lead time. If you commit, then can’t make it, give notice. Be on time. Email Sally Richardson at [email protected].
Rookery Bay: Help give out literature, talk to visitors about the Learning Center, or assist with children’s craft. Contact Susan Maunz at [email protected] or call 239-417-6310 x412.
Sustainable Living and Interconnected Education (SLIE): So much of what needs to be done will be decently challenging labor, digging, building raised garden beds, constructing water capturing vessels and their gutters. Contact Hunter Preston at [email protected] or 239-245-3250.
Lee County Sheriff’s Youth Activities League: Help now through summer! Thursday at 3 p.m. at the board meeting, or flyer creation on Thursday from 3–5 p.m., or telecommute phone via Skype. Contact Katie at 239-898-6090 or [email protected].
Bonita Springs Assistance Office: Help this primary social service agency and serve the community in assisting needs of clients, enhancing public speaking presentations, or writing informational materials. Contact Maribel Slabaugh at [email protected] or 239-992-3034.
Education for Collier: Would love strong, committed volunteers! Workshops in the Take Stock Program needs students to help in the ACT testing areas of Math, English, Reading, Writing and Science to help every week. Sessions held at Grace Place in Naples. Choose Monday or Tuesday evening from 6–7:30 p.m. Contact Linda Morton at [email protected].
Uncommon Friends Foundation: Are you a history buff? Become a tour guide in a Georgian Revival style home located on the bank of the Caloosahatchee River in Downtown Fort Myers. Contact Christine Forbes at [email protected] or 239-337-0706.
Grace Community Center: Has a multitude of opportunities! Help with an afterschool program for at-risk high school students, tutor to GED seekers, thrift store assistance, or serve food to neighbors in need. Contact Cheryl Wilcox at [email protected] or 239-656-1320.
FGCU Athletics: Numerous opportunities with game day operations. Serve as ushers for basketball, baseball, softball, and timers for swimming and diving. Contact Will Pitt at [email protected] or 239-590-7055.
Center for Academic Achievement: Want to use your skills and knowledge from a specific FGCU course to help another FGCU student? Then becoming a tutor with the Center for Academic Achievement just might be for you! Service Learning and paid positions available. We are currently looking to fill tutoring positions for summer and fall 2012 in the areas of math (Calculus 1), Biology I and II, Chemistry I and II, Physics, Economics, Statistics (STA 2023). For further information about this volunteer opportunity contact The Center for Academic Achievement at (239)590-7906 or stop by Library 103.
Abuse Counseling & Treatment (ACT): Second Act Thrift store needs help. The benefit of volunteering is a 50 percent discount! Also need someone to help this nonprofit agency with a marketing plan for two to three months. Contact Honara Jacobus at [email protected] or 239-939-2553.
YMCA: Help coach basketball, soccer, flag football or assist with events. Contact Lisa at [email protected].
Take Stock in Children: Become A Mentor! Few bonds in life are more influential than those between a young person and an adult. Take Stock in Children needs mentors for Caloosa Middle School, Dunbar High School, East Lee County High School, Fort Myers High School, Ida Baker High School, Lehigh Senior High School. Call 239-337-0433.
Information is provided by the Service Learning department. All opportunities are pre-approved. You can find more opportunities on Facebook at “FGCU Service Learning.”
Monday March 26 at 12:25 a.m.: A drug search in North Lake Village building Mangrove recovered a water bong, grinder, and two pipes. No marijuana was found during the search except a few small stems and residue. The residue tested positive for marijuana and the items were placed into UPD evidence.
Monday March 26 at 12:08 p.m.: A large black snake was located in the corner of the lobby in the music modular. The snake left the building 10 minutes later.
Monday March 26 at 5:47 p.m.: UPD responded to a call
regarding a 20-year-old male student who exhorted himself while working out at the fitness center on campus. The student has a history of a heart murmur when he was younger. He told officers that he had not eaten anything that day. He was then transported to Gulf Coast Hospital.
Tuesday March 27 at 7:48 p.m.: A graduate student reported three of his engineering books missing from his shared graduate student office in the library. The office has a key entry and the door was locked and the lock also requires a code.
Tuesday March 27 at 9:09 p.m.: UPD was informed of a student who was kicked out of a game at the recreation field and was breaking equipment and trying to start a fight with referees. The student was observed leaving in a silver SUV. Officers tried to meet with the student at his dorm but no one answered the door. The issue was turned over to student affairs.
Thursday March 29 at 1:06 a.m.: During routine patrol, UPD officers observed an individual urinating in the parking lot of North Lake Village building M
after exiting his vehicle. The individual was a guest of a student resident.
Thursday March 29 at 4:33 p.m.: A caller advised UPD of a 15 -passenger van that was involved in a crash outside of West Lake Village Clubhouse. No injuries were reported.
The Police Beat is compiled by Eagle News staff from public logs available at the University Police Department. Police Beat is not as-sociated with the UPD. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty by a court of law.
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MISSION STATEMENT:Eagle News, the student media group at Florida Gulf Coast University, represents the diverse voices on campus with fairness.
We select content for our publication and our website that is relevant to the student body, faculty and staff. Members are committed to reporting with accuracy and truth. Our purpose is to encourage conversations about issues that concern the on-campus community.
Eagle News views every culture with equal respect and believes every person must be treated with dignity.
ABOUT US:Eagle News, founded in 1997, is the student newspaper at Florida Gulf Coast University. The newspaper is the only student produced publication on campus and is entirely student run.
Eagle News is published weekly during the fall and spring semesters and monthly in the summer, with the exception of holiday breaks and examination periods.
The print edition is free to students and can be found on campus and in the community at Gulf Coast Town Center, Germain Arena and Miromar Outlets.
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Eagle News highlights the photography of our readers. Send your best pictures — of
events, vacations, scenery, wildlife — whatever you’d like. If your photo is picked,
you’ll receive two free tickets to Regal Cinemas in Gulf Coast Town Center.
E-mail submissions (with your name, grade, major, phone number and a
description of the photo) to [email protected].
When senior Kristina Severine initially went to register for graduation, she was surprised to learn that she would only receive four tickets for the commencement ceremony.
Severine, an elementary education major, had already invited eight people to attend the ceremony.
“I invited my parents, two sisters, my three grandparents and my best friend. I was expecting everyone to be able to go,” Severine said.
A few weeks after Severine registered, it was announced that students would receive fi ve tickets. Shortly after, the number was changed to six, still leaving Severine to have to fi nd two more tickets.
With the number of graduates increasing each year, FGCU has had to decrease the number of
tickets given to each student.In Spring 2009, students
were given a total of seven tickets for the ceremony, which had 948 graduates. Just three years later, there are now a total of 1,161 graduates and two different ceremonies.
FGCU began having two commencement ceremonies in Spring 2011 when there were 1,179 graduates. This was when students began receiving fi ve tickets each. The Fall 2011 commencement was much smaller, with 641 students, which allowed each student to receive 11 tickets.
Student body vice president Justin Carter said that spring commencement ceremonies are always bigger than the ones in the fall, and as a result, graduates will receive fewer tickets.
“Honestly, it’s just an issue with space,” Carter said. “Alico Arena can only hold so many people, so they limit it at fi ve tickets. There will be a lot more students graduating, so the school has to
take extra measures to stay in line with the fi re marshal code and Alico’s maximum capacity.”
Although FGCU is looking out for the safety of others, Severine is upset by the fact that she now has to tell some of the people she invited that they can no longer come.
“I’m really upset because I was looking forward to my whole family being able to support me. They should just make another graduation ceremony so everyone could go, or they could move commencement to Germain,” she said.
Severine isn’t the only student who believes this should be considered by the school. Many students have been suggesting that FGCU should add another ceremony or move it to Germain Arena. There is even an online petition supporting this idea with more than 390 signatures.
“We’ve had graduation at Germain before, and students have said it wasn’t the most ideal
situation,” Carter said.The ceremony, which was in
Spring 2010, didn’t run as smoothly as it normally does in Alico Arena.
“The setup is a lot different and it’s really cold on ice. It wasn’t very homey and we wanted to be able to keep it on campus. It also costs a lot more to have it at Germain,” Carter said.
While senior Jordan Simard has just enough tickets for her guests, she was relieved to fi nd out her brother could not attend, because if he had been able to, she would have had to un-invite someone.
“In the future, FGCU needs to fi gure out something that allows students to have more than fi ve tickets,” Simard said. “I think it’s a little ridiculous to give such a small amount when most people have more than fi ve people in their immediate family.”
As a result of the limited space for spring commencement, students graduating in the summer now have to attend commencement
next fall instead of this spring. This news was particularly
upsetting to senior Ashley Lawrence.
“I was expecting to graduate this summer, and I found out a month ago I have to wait to walk until fall. I was devastated.” Lawrence said.
For Lawrence, having to wait until fall will affect her plans once she graduates.
“I plan on moving out of the state once I graduate, and it doesn’t really make much sense for me to have to leave my job to fl y to Florida and attend my graduation in the fall. It’s really disappointing. I feel like summer graduates don’t matter as much as students who graduate in the spring or fall,” she said.
Lawrence suggested that instead of making students wait until spring, there should be a commencement ceremony in the summer.
The Offi ce of Registrar could not be reached for comment.
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A4 NEWS EAGLE NEWS WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4 EDITOR: VERONICA VELA NEWS!EAGLENEWS.ORG
What started out as a project to inform her nephew of her African- American heritage almost 20 years prior, has transformed into a museum named “Sankofa,” a Ghanaian term that encourages the use of past wisdom to build the future.
Angela Jennings, the owner of the museum on wheels, tours the country to educate, enlighten and empower students of African-American
history and culture. She has selected the period of 1860 to the present for her museum.
“This portable museum seems so different, seems a lot less stiff than a normal museum,” said Cecilia Garcia, a freshman majoring in accounting. “I couldn’t imagine being her nephew and having a museum that affects so many people started because of me.”
The museum consists of an accumulation of artifacts collected from Europe, the U.S. Virgin Islands, West Africa and the
United States. On the day of the exhibition, 30 to 50 rectangular tables will be set up in the Cohen Center Ballroom.
At these tables, the audience can learn about slavery, the era of King Cotton, life following emancipation and innovative inventions. Prominent stories regarding Ida B. Wells, the Negro Baseball League, the Tuskegee Airmen and Martin Luther King Jr., will be told. Additionally, the audience can address individual questions
regarding African -merican history to Jennings.
Annette Snapp, of the College of Arts and Sciences, has chosen to award extra credit to her students partaking in the Foundation for Museum Studies course who visit the museum.
Part of the aim of Snapp’s course is to teach students how to effectively organize a museum.
Snapp believes this is a chance to learn from what Jennings has done.
“Their eyes will be open to new and interesting ways
to look at normal, everyday objects.”
Xue Qin Wang, assistant director of student affairs, thinks the exhibit is a unique and invaluable experience.
“We don’t need to wait for a special month to learn about history,” Wang said. “This is an excellent opportunity for students to learn more about African- American history in an interactive way.”
The traveling African- American Museum will return to FGCU from 11a.m. until 6 p.m. April 5.
It’s that time of year again ... time to brush up on your writing skills. The creative writing club is holding its fourth annual Writers Mini-Con.
Alongside Amnesty International and the FGCU Colony of Sigma Lambda Gamma National Sorority, Inc., the creative writing club is proud to present the mini
conference, which is open to all students in all majors.
Scheduled for the program are three professionals who will be hosting workshops on the craft of writing and reading from their own selections of work.
One speaker, Sloan Crosley, is a widely acclaimed humorist and New York Times best- seller. His first book was titled “I Was Told There’d Be Cake.”
Michael Hettich, winner of two Florida Individual Artists Fellowships, will also be present.. Hettich also teaches creative writing at Miami Dade College.
Poet Katherine Riegel will also be in attendance. She recently published her first book of poems, “Castaway.”
The creative writing club is expecting at least 60 students who have RSVP’d as attending and 42 that are
interested in going. Makeda Amadi,
president of the creative writing club, thinks this is a chance for students to meet and learn from professionals outside of FGCU.
“For the majority, students attending a writer’s conference would be out of their price range,” Amadi said. “As an organization, we strive to expand learning beyond the classroom. Because this event
epitomizes that mission, we continue the tradition and ensure that it’s free so that it’s accessible to all.”
The writing conference will be Saturday, April 7, from 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. The conference will be located in the Cohen Center rooms 214 and 247. For more information about the Mini-Con and speakers, visit the creative writing club’s Facebook page.
However, the majority of FGCU students assume that there is more alcohol consumed than there actually is. Students’ perception of how much is used is overwhelming.
In the most recent National College Health Assessment (NCHA), one of the surveys states that 59.8 percent of FGCU students have consumed alcohol within the past 30 days, but students believe that
93.6 percent of students are consuming alcohol.
Even though the average drinking rates at FGCU are lower than other schools’ rates, this school still has the problem of dealing with the ever-so-accepted underage drinking.
Since the South Village dorms on campus are only for freshmen, most of the students’ who live on campus are too young to drink. The University Police Department (UPD) is aware of that and is sure
to be on the lookout for all underage drinking.
“It’s frustrating when students are so blatant about it. I see that infamous Red Solo cup in the hands of a kid in the South Village parking lot,” said Sergeant Jones of the UPD.
Unfortunately, every school has students who have trouble drinking recreationally. Some take it to0 far and can’t control their drinking and end up battling alcoholism.
FGCU provides many
outlets for these students.The Counseling and
Psychological Services (CAPS) department, which is located on the second floor in Reed Hall, provides weekly support groups to help students who think they are having trouble with abusing alcohol.
If these students need additional help, CAPS will direct them to the Alcoholics Anonymous meeting on campus, which meets Thursday nights at 8 p.m.
All of these outlets help provide a solution to the problems that come along with abusing alcohol. Brunner understands alcohol is part of society, but he knows it is important for it to be watched closely on college campuses.
“Alcohol has been around for centuries. It is used in our families and in our culture. However, we want to maintain how it is used or more importantly how it is misused,” said Brunner.
Adam Nguyen, senior marketing and management major
I’m active on campus so I’ve seen him. He knows me when he sees me and says hi. I doubt he knows my name. I see him just as much as I saw the president at Edison when I went there.
Spencer Enloe, freshman psychology major
I want our president to be visible to the point where we can contact him when-ever we want. Maybe he can send out an email newsletter once a week keeping people up to date on what’s going on.
Jeremy Ray, junior resort and hospitality major
I actually saw him today. He was walking into the student union wearing a Ha-waiian button down t-shirt and some nice khakis. It threw me o! a bit because I was like, ‘I wish I could go to work in that.’
Student quotes:
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4 EAGLE NEWS NEWS A5WWW.EAGLENEWS.ORG
“When I interact with students I don’t want them to see me as the imperil president. The president is a position. Wilson Bradshaw shops and goes to movies. Sometimes people are taken aback by that.”
Sean Kelly, director of FGCU’s honors program, co-hosts a class with Bradshaw called Lessons in Leadership.
In it, Bradshaw recruits unique, elite leaders from Southwest Florida, including CEOs, politicians and even a world record holder, and lets them tell their story to students.
Bradshaw interviews each guest and mingles with students after the class in the Sugden Hall foyer.
Kelly says a president’s visibility goes two ways.
“He interacts awesomely with honors students and is very visible to them,” Kelly said. “Many of the students who wouldn’t see him might not be visible on campus themselves. A non-visible student on campus might not see (Bradshaw), but my bet is if you’re in an organization that’s active on campus you interact with Bradshaw in some way.”
Honors President Jake
Proudfoot, a senior majoring in fi nance and economics, took Lessons in Leadership with Bradshaw.
Proudfoot doesn’t expect Bradshaw to remember his name, but when the two greet each other they often joke about FGCU’s lack of a football team.
“He is really good at remembering faces,” Proudfoot said. “He’s a really funny guy. The guy has jokes. He has self-deprecating humor where he brings up his mistakes a lot. I would feel comfortable talking about any issue with him.”
Tia Rowe, a freshman honors student and communications major, nervously introduced herself to Bradshaw on her fi rst day of Lessons in Leadership class.
Rowe questioned Bradshaw on school policies and asked about the impending opening of the campus Chick-fi l-A.
“It takes a lot to impress me, but there was nothing intimidating about him,” Rowe said. “He was soft-spoken and he never said no. He came across as a peer. The fact that I have a class with the president of my university goes beyond what his visibility should be.”
Bradshaw may manage a campus of more than 12,000 students and have a knack for relating to them, but he doesn’t know why.
Before he became FGCU’s president, Wilson Bradshaw studied rats.
As a child in West Palm Beach, Bradshaw’s parents bought their son a chemistry set every year.
Bradshaw felt powerful as he played with potent chemicals and became inspired to pursue science.
Later, Bradshaw earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in psychology from Florida Atlantic University.
But he had little interest in human behavior.
Fascinated by an emerging science called psychobiology, also known as behavioral neuroscience, Bradshaw stood in a confi ned lab and looked at the chemical make up of nonhuman brains.
He studied the function of the brain’s various parts strictly on a biological level, never dabbling in clinical psychology.
“My wife will say I know a lot about rats,” Bradshaw said. “My work was very experimental. I don’t pretend to know much about human behavior.”
Bradshaw went on to earn his Ph.D. at the University of Pittsburgh — a school so big, he never recalled seeing the president — and went on to develop his academic career.
As he moved up from faculty member, to assistant professor, to professor, to provost (at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania), Bradshaw became enamored with the workings of higher education.
Once he became Provost, Bradshaw knew he’d be a university president.
Kelly isn’t surprised by his colleague’s rapid ascent.
Earlier this semester, Kelly watched as Bradshaw asked to sit with a group of students at Subway.
Another time, one of Kelly’s students in Lessons in Leadership wondered if she could set up an interview with Bradshaw for a charity project she was working on.
“I said, ‘Yeah here’s the secretary’s (Bradshaw’s secretary Barbara Krell) phone number,” Kelly said. “He (Bradshaw) knows who you are. And he really does.”
Bradshaw doesn’t change for the faculty, Kelly says.
Kelly sees his boss as a peer.
One time, Bradshaw spoke with Kelly about how he wanted to better compensate the faculty but couldn’t because of budget cuts.
“Some leaders would say, ‘Oh that’s information we talk about behind closed doors,”’ Kelly said. “To be able to have someone who’s in that position who has to make a diffi cult decision about allocating resources say to you, ‘It would be nice if we could do a 5 percent raise this year,’ is something you don’t expect. I feel like I don’t have to hide anything from him. I love him.”
Bradshaw tries to get students to see that side.
He says he has Dining Dollars and often swipes his card at Sovi, Blu Sushi and Jamba Juice.
He often attends school concerts and trail clean-ups.
He traveled with the FGCU women’s basketball team to the Atlantic Sun Tournament in Macon, Ga., and the NCAA Tournament in Tallahassee. He offered pep talks, high fi ves and hugs.
“I never look at myself as particularly exceptional,” Bradshaw said. “But I love my work and see value in what I do every day. Students are my highest priority. I can’t see everyone all
Bradshaw’s Schedule
8:30
9:00
10:45
11:30
12:45
1:30
2:30
3:30
6:00
Tuesday, April 3rd
Meeting with Chief of Sta! Susan Evans
Meeting with President’s Cabinet
Travel to Naples for President’s Luncheon Speech
President’s Speech on FGCU – to Naples Kiwanis Club
Travel from Naples to Campus
Meeting with General Counsel Vee Leonard
Meeting with Director of Athletics Ken Kavanagh
Teach Weekly FGCU course Lessons in Leadership
Hold Evening for Possible Donor Dinner
Mistaken identityA few student guesses at President Wilson Bradshaw’s " rst name:
“Conrad”“Bradley”
“Terry”
“David”
“William”“John”
“Ryan”
A6 NEWS EAGLE NEWS WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4 EDITOR: VERONICA VELA NEWS!EAGLENEWS.ORG
All students have had to sign a contract stating that they agree to the terms of the Student Code of Conduct. This is usually done during the first week of classes as a freshman or sophomore.
But how many students ever look at the code after that?
A draft of the new Student Code of Conduct was publicly released on FGCU’s website March 16. It’s almost a month later, and many students have no idea the policy changed at all.
“I didn’t know it changed,” said Ethan Silver, a junior communication major.
And Brooke Jans, also a junior majoring in communication, agreed.
“I had no idea,” Jans said.The 10-page draft shows quite a few
changes to the policy, but Vice President of Student Affairs Mike Rollo said those changes mostly just warrant more clarity and understanding.
Some of the main changes, according to Rollo, are as follows:
“Before the code was revised, the language appealing to student groups was murky,” Rollo said.
Now, under the new code, it is very clear that student organizations will have the same standards to uphold and abide by as individual students not associated with a club or organization.
Rollo also pointed out that conduct that endangers the health, safety and well-being of oneself has been eliminated from the code.
Every year, the Code is revised and updated. Once it goes through the Office of Student Affairs, it goes to the general council, which consists of the university’s resident attorneys, to make sure nothing has been violated in the legal sense.
“I would like to just write it and leave it alone,” Rollo said and chuckled. “But it’s a living document, so it must always be updated.”
Students seem to feel a sense of
indifference about the lack of information being widely and readily available to them.
“Most students don’t look at the code unless they’re being violated and they have to,” Rollo said.
But Rollo thinks the changes to the code are going to benefit and improve the university.
“These changes will make sure to address the current needs of students,” Rollo said.
If students have been accused, it’s important to have good, clear information in order to defend themselves to the best their ability.
According to University spokeswoman Susan Evans, the regulation will be voted on by the FGCU Board of Trustees at its April 17 meeting later on this month. After that, Rollo said the regulation will go to the FGCU Board of Governors.
This Friday, a dynamic symposium “Philosophy Without Borders” will examine existentialism, feminism and Latin American philosophy and explore pluralism and diversity within the field of philosophy. The symposium, held in honor of visiting professor Ofelia Schutte, will follow the philosophy program’s recent recognition by The Pluralist Guide to Philosophy as a top program for the study of Latin American philosophy.
The event will feature renowned speakers and aims to introduce audience members of all backgrounds to new developments and issues in philosophy. The discussions will take place from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Marieb Hall Room 200.
Mariana Ortega, a John Carroll University professor and Don Schula chair of philosophy, will be delivering a keynote address at 11 a.m. titled, “Self-Mapping, Be-Longing, and the Home Question.” The focus of the address will be the philosophical problems associated with being exiled from a home country.
After lunch, the symposium will resume with talks including “Exploring the History of Latin American Philosophy on New Terrain” and “Radical Pluralism: On Finding One’s Voice in Professional Philosophy.”
At 3 p.m., the final portion of the symposium will begin with distinguished professors discussing the impact of Ofelia Schutte’s philosophical work in the fields of existentialism, feminism, and Latin American philosophy. Schutte will then give a keynote address to further examine the evolving relationship that the field of philosophy has with diversity and pluralism.
The event, sponsored by the philosophy club, the honors program and the department of communication and philosophy, is open to all FGCU students. For more information, contact Elena Ruiz-Aho at [email protected].
On Friday April 20 at 7 p.m., approximately 300 FGCU students will join hands posting signs with the nation and the Kony 2012 “Cover the Night” movement, an effort to end Joseph Kony’s reign of terror manipulating Ugandan guerilla armies of children in Africa.
What began as a seemingly simple video has inspired many at FGCU to come together at the end of this month to participate. For a day, FGCU students will unite with others around the country in an attempt to stop a man who has made life for many a living horror movie by targeting young and innocent children in Africa.
Whether you have just heard of Kony or have known of him for years, learning what he has done in Uganda and Africa is deeply unsettling for many. We have all seen our share of horror films and frightening situations, but it’s as though even the movies wouldn’t take it as far as Kony does. In poverty-stricken African areas, Kony abducts young children from their families and then uses dictator-like command to scare, force, and train the abductees into his “Lord’s Resistance Army.” With only Kony and few other adults involved, the ones harassing and then taking and training children of very young ages are past abductees themselves. Kony also uses girls for sex slavery.
The army uses extreme torture and scare tactics to keep things in line with the army’s children and with families or close ones searching for their child. Families and abducted children are scarred for life from numerous cut wounds as well the emotional trauma. Kony moves his army throughout Africa, rampaging through towns and tribes stealing, killing, and taking more children.
Although going on for years, a recent movement came together when a man from California met a young man while in Africa and heard his story of the pain Kony had brought to him. Showing that one man can make a great difference, the efforts have grown to end Kony’s ways with a very well-known YouTube video,
“Kony 2012.” Many FGCU teachers have been either
showing or speaking about the video in their classes. Along with mention from teachers, other students collaborated to form an FGCU official “Cover the Night” page, too, on Facebook.
“Cover the Night” on April 20 is the night that the video makers marked as the evening to post up banners and posters saying “Kony 2012” all over their areas across the country.
The campaign-like “Kony 2012” banners being plastered everywhere are meant to make Kony and what he does visible to all. This stems from his terrifying ways and actions toward children being invisible to so many for so long.
The term “Invisible Children” came from many not only not knowing of this on an international level, but also the fact that even African armies and efforts either could not or would not stop Kony. The idea between the Kony 2012 efforts and hundreds of FGCU students is to make Kony and his ways notorious. Once famous and well known, it is believed that the right efforts and actions will be taken to capture Kony and bring countless scarred and abused children back to their families.
Shortly after the video gained
popularity and went viral with millions of hits, one of the co-founders of Invisible Children and director of the video, Jason Russell, was detained by police on March 15.
Russell was found naked, yelling incoherently and pounding on the sidewalk disrupting traffic in a San Diego neighborhood. There were no alcohol or drugs found in Russell’s system. Instead the “preliminary diagnosis he received is called brief reactive psychosis, an acute state brought on by extreme exhaustion, stress and dehydration,” according to CNN.
The next day, Invisible Children CEO, Ben Keesey, released a statement about the heightened emotional state employees have underwent.
In the statement, Keesey said, “The past two weeks have taken a severe emotional toll on all of us, Jason especially, and that toll manifested itself in an unfortunate incident yesterday. Jason’s passion and his work have done so much to help so many, and we are devastated to see him dealing with this personal health issue.”
To be involved with the efforts the Invisible Children webpage is http://www.kony2012.com/ offering all the details and information of Kony 2012, and other FGCU students’ efforts are communicating to connect at http://www.facebook.com/events/192061900903222/.
If you go:
What: ‘Cover the Night’ event for FGCU
When: 7 p.m. Friday, April 20
Where: FGCU main campus
On Tuesday night, senator Jason Hoop was elected to be the new senate president.
Hoop, a biotechnology major, stated his desire to make SG more available and transparent to students.
“That goes along with working with the website. Putting every single thing on there and letting each student know
what we’re doing, how it’s benefitting everybody,” Hoop said.
He also said he wanted to put SG’s brand on more products and items to hand out to students while remembering that it is their money being put to use.
“(I’ll) definitely keep in mind that this is the students’
money and we’re going to try and put it where it benefits the most students as possible,” Hoop said. “Maybe not in directly funding things, but making sure that student government is known in the community for doing things.”
Hoop also wanted to implement training for the appropriations committee to prepare for budget season and shortening the bill process from six to five weeks to better accommodate clubs as looming deadlines approach.
All senators present at the meeting voted and Hoop was awarded with the position with a 15-5 vote.
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When it comes to enjoying the sun, FGCU students have many options to choose from in order to have a good time and get some tan. Waterfront, swimming pools and beaches around Fort Myers are the number one places to go when the weekend arrives. However, there are some basic steps people should follow to get that perfect tan without hurting their skin.
Remember, the sun’s UV rays are stronger in the beginning of the afternoon – 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. – so make sure you stay protected and drink at least eight ounces of water a day to maintain your body fl uids and to avoid any skin damages.
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Lissa GibsonFreshmanPsychology
1. “Country Boy’s World” by Jason Aldean2. “Firework” by Katy Perry3. “Count of Me” by Bruno Mars4. “We Are Young” by F.U.N.5. “Love Me Like My Dog” by Billy Currington
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Student organization takes dancing to a higher level with stepping
If you are interested in trying something new and exciting and are curious about learning a few new dance moves and embracing new friendships, A Step Above Perfection (ASAP) is for you.
ASAP is a group of FGCU students who take dance coordination to a whole new level, all done by stepping.
Stepping is a kind of dance method where the dancer uses their hands, feet and legs to make a beat.
But there’s a difference between a step team and a dance team.
“We use our hands and our feet to make music instead of dancing to a song. We are similar to a dance team because we also dance, but we step the majority of the time,” said Malissa Sanon, president and committee chair.
FGCU graduate student Clarissa Delva founded ASAP in January 2009.
“They (Delva and others) really enjoyed stepping and they wanted to continue it because they stepped and danced when they were in high school, so they felt like they should bring it onto campus at FGCU,” Sanon said.
When performing, the women in A Step Above Perfection have an image in their heads of how the performance should go.
“We try to be perfect,” Sanon said.
This dedication to perfection shows in the awards that ASAP has under their belt. ASAP has won The Talent Rules show and
they have also won the Delta Sigma Theta Step Show in 2011.
With these awards we can only expect greater things from ASAP.
Now when it comes to ASAP, it isn’t all about the glory. They also are intertwined with the community.
“For us to get known in the community is not difficult at all. Anthony Hyatt, our adviser, does a lot of networking for FGCU. We have done a lot of community service. We get invited back to different activities all the time,”
Sanon said.Some of the community
services that the team has participated in are Kids in the Kitchen and Upward Bound.
But even with this community connection ASAP is still struggling to get themselves known in the FGCU community.
“For FGCU it is kind of difficult to get known. People don’t understand what a step team is or have never heard of us,” Sanon said.
But despite this obstacle, ASAP refuses to stay silent.
According to Sanon, the team performed at many basketball games last year.
They have also performed at the Black Student Alliance annual banquet.
ASAP also performs at Family Weekend and Eagle Expo every year.
If you are interested in learning how to become involved with this organization, it does not matter whether you have had experience stepping or you are new to the whole scene. ASAP welcomes everyone.
If you’re a FGCU student who likes adventure and music, you might want to mark Bonnaroo as a “to-do” in your organizer for a four-day music festival on a gorgeous 700-acre farm in Manchester, Tenn., this June.
Bonnaroo is a music and arts festival that covers a bunch of bases for the adventurous and chill types.
With premier artists jamming, goods and trading, eating and drinking and other classes and festivals going on for relaxation, the environment, plus health and awareness, you might be asking someone to pinch you soon once there.
The relaxed yet never ending list of things to do at Bonnaroo allows you to wake up and take
a yoga class in the morning and then hours later be dancing to the Red Hot Chili Peppers with your friends.
The main attraction is the varied music on numerous stages, which is headlined this year by the aforementioned Red Hot Chili Peppers, Radiohead, The Roots, Phish, and the Beach Boys, just to name a few.
The musical variety goes on and on ranging from Ludacris to The Shins, and this year Bonnaroo has added on a lineup of stand-up comedians as well.
With a great vibe of tunes and comedy uniting most, there is also then a world of food and drinks, trading and goods, and informative booths about the environment, our personal health and relaxation all around the farm sight.
With music in the air and
most on the same relaxed page for days, some have even called the festival “Bliss-aroo.”
Bonnaroo would make for a great summer trip for you and some friends, even possibly better if you could camp or rent an RV.
Bonnaroo is set up to accommodate many with numerous ticket packages available, and some of the best deals are offered with camping or staying in your RV for the week.
No matter what the deal, once there you have four days of music, comedy and other tents and festival events for the taking.
Along with the comedians, Bonnaroo also sets up on the Tennessee farm a beer festival tent, a movie theater tent to hang out at, and even numerous tents featuring artists or even for you to do some art.
More than 50 musicians of many genres are also listed, accommodating easy-going acoustic guitar to bass-heavy Ludacris yelling “Shake your money maker.”
Offering such a variety with music and art, Bonnaroo runs from June 7 through 10 in the farmlands of Manchester, Tenn., and www.bonnaroo.com can answer most anything about the dreamlike events, from the vast arts activities to when the yoga classes are each morning.
With so much variety, Bonnaroo can make for Bliss-aroo adventure for you and a variety of many friends this summer.
Bonnaroo’s main focus is our environment and relaxation, no matter what, whether with yoga and art or going to the Ludacris show and actually shaking your money maker
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If you’ve ever seen one of those movies that’s just kind of depressing, “Jeff, Who Lives at Home” is another one you can add to the list.
“Jeff” follows a day in the life of Jeff (Jason Segel), a 30-year-old stoner who lives in his mom’s basement.
After he gets a call asking for a nonexistent “Kevin,” he wanders outside and follows mentions of the name, believing it to be the will of the universe.
During the course of his journey, Jeff encounters his brother (Ed Helms) and helps him fix his troubled marriage.
Meanwhile, the duo’s mother (Susan Sarandon) ventures through a later-life crisis with the help of a coworker.
“Jeff, Who Lives at Home” is one of those quirky movies that talks about how horrible life is, but then reminds you that the little things make it OK.
However, it has problems with the second part.
Is the simple joy of ice cream with friends a nice way to escape the complexities of life?
Of course it is, but it’s just going to paper over the problems, not fix them.
Many of the kinks that the characters have in their lives are just too big to be reasonably solved with “they have each other,” at least for the level of realism the movie is going for.
If you subscribe to the adage that “women want to talk about problems, men just want to fix them,” then “Jeff” is a very feminine film (and directed by a pair of brothers).
That’s not to say that all of the movie’s messages are lost.
The other (very true) point the film makes is that if your life sucks, it’s your fault. Bad friends? Leave them. Poor grades? Stop partying. Unsatisfying job? Find a new one (even if it is a bit harder, right now).
Performance-wise, everyone is solid and gives a convincingly real act. All the dialogue is high-quality, too; it’s natural and it flows well.
It’s odd that a film so well-done technically has such trouble with its central message, but that seems to be two-fold: On one hand, there are a couple of ideas floating around the narrative, sometimes mixed.
More focus might have helped. The other issue is that the movie aims to be philosophical, and that’s just such a personal concept, that it’s bound to alienate some, if not most viewers.
This is kind of the point where criticism fails.
Most films can be generally agreed to be good, bad, or average. In this case, “Jeff” attempts to go for so much a realistic and individual version of the hero’s journey, that it’s impossible to appeal to everyone.
Overall, “Jeff, Who Lives at Home” is a well-made film, but enjoying it is hugely a matter of internal taste and belief (more so than other movies).
If you have the money to spend, then go see it. If you’re scrimping and saving, wait until the rental.
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Allow me to preface this article by communicating to the reader one crucial point: Rush Limbaugh is not the voice of the Republican Party. Period. He has his listeners and he has his detractors — I am not a detractor, per say. I am not, however, one of his listeners.
In a time of extreme political polarization, Rush found himself in some hot water this February with the Sandra Fluke “slut” controversy, Fluke being a Georgetown Law School student who testifi ed before Congress in favor of taxpayer-funded birth control. Limbaugh implied Fluke was a “slut,” because ipso facto, she was being “paid for sex.”
In reality, I believe what Rush was trying to convey is that when birth control is free, it might promote certain behaviors that a young woman might not undertake if she were footing the bill for birth control herself.
After all, the only 100 percent sure-fi re way to prevent pregnancy is through complete and total abstinence, which has been proved to be fairly ineffective as an education program, but when implemented, it is certainly effective. As far as Rush’s comment goes, I suppose you can add that to the list of statements that Limbaugh has said that he probably shouldn’t have said.
The bigger issue is whether the state should be footing the bill for contraception. I am not a doctor, nor a women’s health expert. However, the notion that the taxpayer should pay (according to Fluke herself) up to $3,000 for three years of birth control is quite ludicrous. I understand that contraceptives are used for reasons other than birth control. Not to mention that new laws require that insurance companies cover women’s birth control without a co-pay or deductible.
At the risk of sounding like a male chauvinist jerk, if a woman’s sole intention is to prevent pregnancy with a birth control regimen, it should be her obligation to fi nance her preventative measures.
Those might be quick to say that condoms for males are given out by the truckload for free, why shouldn’t birth control for women be taxpayer funded? I reply with there is a difference between a private organization (or even a public organization) handing out condoms to sexually active males, when condoms are extremely inexpensive to produce, and handing out $1,000 a year birth control to women.
Therefore the issue becomes whether the uninsured should be able to receive birth control for free. In my mind, as previously stated, if the birth control is for a medical use other than preventing pregnancy,
there should be a way for the less fortunate to receive said care.
Another hot topic regarding birth control is whether or not a “conscience clause” should exist for religious medical organizations in regards to not distributing birth control when it is against their religious doctrines.
Promoting the free expression of religion is perhaps one of the most paramount rights protected by our Constitution. A person has a choice of which medical organization they decide to receive care from. No religious organization should be held liable if they do not provide birth control to a woman who plans to use it solely for contraception — a violation of many religions’ practices.
However, if is it clear that the woman seeking to use birth control wants it for a reason other than contraception, the organization should distribute it just like any other medication.
The muckiness that surrounds this topic stems from what the patient intends to use the medication for. If a woman wants to be sexually active and take birth control solely for the prevention of pregnancy, she should pay the bill herself. If she cannot afford birth control, there are plenty of other less expensive options to consider — or she may attempt to fi nd a woman’s clinic that provides birth control at a reduced price.
If a woman is taking for preventive measures other than preventing pregnancy, there should be an avenue for her to receive said care — with as little burden on the taxpayer as possible.
The obligation to prevent pregnancy is on the individual. It is not the role of the government to provide birth control for the prevention of pregnancy at the expense of the taxpayer. Be responsible when it comes to sex — and that goes for both genders.
Jeffrey is a junior majoring in political science. He is a brother of the Kappa Sigma fraternity and believes that “all are lunatics, but he who can analyze his delusions is called a philosopher.”
The problem with health care in this country is that we don’t take care of one another. Just like with many other things in this country, we have a mentality of “me” instead of “we,” which is why the United States is one of the only developed countries on earth that does not guarantee health care as a human right to every man, woman and child.
Why any politician would want to give an employer or health care provider the “freedom” to deny someone health care tells me that a person’s religion and authority over someone else’s life is more important than someone’s health.
Proud lovers of capitalism who are sadly not living in reality are those who embrace the “me” mentality because these folks would eat all of their pie in terms of wealth and that everyone else below them would be jealous, or worse: Entitled socialists.
The “we” mentality represents people like myself who believe that we are all on this ship of life together. In essence, those with a “we” mentality believe that things such as health care should not have an expensive price tag displayed where citizens would be forced to sell their house and possessions to pay their medical bills or put off going to the doctor or hospital even in an emergency situation. It’s not that unusual for a person to die because an insurance company cares more about their profit more than the customer.
The Republican Party has embraced the “me” mentality for decades, but I didn’t think the party could get any worse after the disaster of George W. Bush. I was so very wrong on that an analysis.
It absolutely stuns me that I live in a country where states are controlling women’s health 39 years after the passage Roe v. Wade and that there are states forcing pregnant women to undergo sonograms against their will, or that another state would require women to explain to their employer in great detail why they are taking contraception.
As the wise Bill Maher had said, there is no bottom for conservatives in this country right now because the wedge issues are more important to this group of folks than the positive progress of a society.
The war on Planned Parenthood left me very upset, but this endless war on women’s health that has gone on over the past months just leaves me cursing louder
than Lewis Black has on this subject because any man with self-respect and integrity wouldn’t subject any woman, even if he hated her, to this kind of humiliation, which many conservative men say their goal is due to their strict obedience to their faith in an attempt to “protect” the culture from evil.
I have serious doubts about God and I find myself praying for every single woman who will be affected by these new laws in Pennsylvania, Virginia and Arizona and any other states governed by Republicans, who I predict will join this pointless culture war soon enough to pump up the radical conservative base.
The next time you hear a conservative male politician running for office saying he wants smaller government and mention themes of religious liberty, the destruction of Planned Parenthood, controlling women’s health and talking trash about those women who object as if the 19th Amendment never passed at all, you need to nominate decent people to run against these sick, brainless, unethical and soulless bastards in the 2012 election.
I lived through one dictator without a heart and brain in my short life, and I refuse to live through another one. I can accept being in a minority for many reasons in this country, but treating women like second -class citizens will not be one of them.
Alex is a junior majoring in communication. He enjoys going to concerts, going to Starbucks, listening to his Sirius Satellite Radio, going to the movies, swimming and playing games like UNO and Monopoly. His favorite musicians are R.E.M., Bon Jovi, Elton John and Kenny G. His favorite magazines are Mother Jones, Newsweek and Rolling Stone, which he loves to pick up at the campus bookstore.
There’s a tense climate developing around the Supreme Court and last week’s hearing of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, widely known as “Obamacare.”
This law is arguably the current administration’s highlight in domestic policy. Yet, it’s in great risk to be overthrown by the decision of the Supreme Court judges.
This institution is taking center stage again and the
absence of cameras didn’t affect our increasing curiosity.
In the midst of an election year filled with partisan remarks, this hearing might even challenge the beloved March Madness in terms of publicity.
The outcome might solidify or diminish the chances of Obama to get re-elected. If the law is upheld, it will remain a key factor in Obama’s achievements during his first term.
If not, it’ll be a great failure even in the eyes of beloved Democrats and independents. The same could be said for the
GOP. As much as the Republican
candidates have seemed divided during this year’s primaries, they all have expressed a unifying theme in regards to Obamacare: if elected president, they all will choose to repeal the law. So far, this has been one of the few common grounds among them.
Given the political importance of the decision, both sides are intensifying their efforts and adding more contradictory facts about the law. Although this excites the particular right and left bases, it does very little to
inform the general public about the actual positive and negative effects of the legislation.
Republicans claim that the law will deny Americans quality healthcare and will increase the premiums, while Democrats say that this will guarantee universal health care and keep insurance premiums in check. Beyond these superficial claims, there are very little facts that we can use to form a constructive opinion.
They are absent not only from Congress and government agencies’ publications (no wonder) but also in the
mainstream media’s reflections on the issue.
We are yet again left in the dark and with not much information about key issues. In an election year, this can be a very dangerous proposition as we’re tempted to carry our ignorance in the ballot boxes this coming fall.
And the decision about the most important public office in the world should not come as a result of partisan passions, but careful analysis based on non-partisan facts and ideals.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
On March 16 — almost two years after Tyler Clementi’s death — Dhauran Ravi was found guilty of some charges in the case of the suicide of the gay Rutgers student after Ravi videotaped him in an intimate interaction with his partner.
Ravi was guilty of a number of crimes including: invasion of privacy, tampering with physical evidence (tweets and text messages were deleted) and hindering apprehension to the police/trying to influence a witness’ testimony. In other news, the rain is wet, scrambled eggs are yummy and Kelis’ milkshakes brings all the boys to the yard.
What gets me the most about this case as a gay American is the fact that in 2012, Ravi’s lawyers were trying to use the pathetic “gay panic” defense, stating that Ravi was not used to homosexuals and encountering
one had scared him. In other words, straight
people who are not used to gay people may attack them verbally and physically as the law allows. Just imagine if this panic defense was a viable excuse for any other minority.
Afraid of fat people, the elderly, Muslims, the handicapped, Asians, Jews, Hispanics, African Americans, women? How about those scary pagans? Here’s a baseball bat, now run along now you ignorant little imp. In a time when the LGBT community is gaining visibility on television shows and movies, equality
in marriage, jobs, the right to serve our country and the right to adopt, “gay panic” no longer is a justifiable reason to film an intimate moment between two people and broadcast it on the Internet. In fact, regardless of sexual orientation, there is none.
In a sick way, I believe that Tyler Clementi’s death has taught America that bullying laws don’t work. I came out my senior year of high school and it was one of the saddest times of my life.
I could not tell my parents that I had my life threatened because they would have supported my attacker. To protect myself, I withdrew, speaking only when I was spoken to or when I had something really insightful or witty to say.
So when I came to college I was funny, a great writer, several young women’s best friend and shoulder to cry on during pregnancy scares, and yes, peeps — it got better.
However, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity,
kids are downright cruel. Statistics show that children with leukemia are not afraid of cancer,
but what the other c h i l d r e n will say when their hair falls out. As a big Dan Savage fan, I believe that not
only do people need to make “It Gets Better” videos for LGBT youth, but in fact, people need to make “It Gets Better” videos for all youth.
Americans need to reclaim the names they were called in childhood. It’s not the word that causes the pain. If that was the case, Tyler Clementi wouldn’t have died.
It’s the built-up reaction to the word and the stigma it holds. If everyone “came out” as four
eyes, sissy, fat, slut, queer, or pizza face, then children wouldn’t be hanging themselves over Myspace comments.
If children were raised as open-minded, parents would be horrified to hear them ask what homophobia is, there would be no anti-gay Facebook pages, and the Internet would be a safe haven instead of a stalker paradise. And if everyone really acknowledged we all are different and possess our own unique beauty as individuals, these truths would be self evident.
Ashley Scott is a sophomore majoring in journalism with a gender studies minor. She enjoys art, reading, listening to Savage love and drinks more coffee than anyone ever should.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4 EAGLE NEWS OPINION B5EDITOR: ANDREW FRIEDGEN OPINION!EAGLENEWS.ORG
I waited as long as I possibly could to write this piece, because it seems almost every minute we hear some new piece of information about the tragic death of Trayvon Martin. On Feb. 26 in the gated community of The Retreat At Twin Lakes in Sanford, Martin was shot and killed by the sole neighborhood watch volunteer, George Zimmerman.
Unless you have no television, no access to newspapers or the Internet, or absolutely no social media network contacts, you have heard many things about this sad case. Seventeen-year-old Martin leaves his house to head to a local 7-Eleven just before 7 p.m. to buy some Skittles and a tea. Shortly after 7 p.m., Zimmerman calls the Sanford police department number to report that Martin is looking suspicious.
The tapes that were released by the police department let us hear the dispatcher asking Zimmerman to not follow Martin, as well as contain some of the most damning evidence against Zimmerman that this “self defense” shooting may have actually been murder. Phrases like “this guy looks like he is up to no good” and “these assholes always get away,” lead many of us to believe that Zimmerman was stereotyping Martin from the beginning.
At about 2 minutes, 20 seconds into the Zimmerman call to police, you can hear that he has left his vehicle and started to follow Martin.
If you listen closely, you can hear Zimmerman utter a derogatory, racist comment even though the actual transcript says it was unintelligible, and there is
question over whether the word he used was racist or a few other words.
Many people called 9-1-1 in the time around the shooting to tell police that two men were fighting. In one call you can hear cries for help and the gunshot that took Martin’s life. Out of the seven calls that have been released in this case, no one went outside to answer the calls for help. One caller even said she didn’t want to be any kind of witness. Zimmerman went on to tell police that it was his cries that went unanswered, but there is very little to back his story up.
According to Zimmerman, after returning to his car, as police dispatchers instructed, Martin approached and asked why he was following him. That’s when the pair allegedly started scuffling and the facts about the case become unclear.
Zimmerman has said Martin started beating his head against the ground so he fought back and shot the teen. According to the funeral director who prepared the body of the slain teen, Martin had not been in a fight. Police reports say that Zimmerman was treated and released by paramedics at the scene before being taken downtown for questioning. Martin was transported to the morgue, where he was tagged as John Doe.
It was the next day when Martin’s father contacted missing persons before he knew his son had been killed. Zimmerman was released from jail because the district attorney said there was insufficient evidence, despite the lead investigator’s recommendation to arrest the 28-year-old. Zimmerman was not tested for drugs or alcohol; Martin was.
In the days that have followed
this tragic event, conversations in Sanford, as well as Martin’s Miami neighborhood, have become heated. The outcry over
the tapes and the fact that Zimmerman w a s n ’ t arrested after what appears to many as a racially-m o t i v a t e d killing have
the nation refocusing on race relations.
Zimmerman, who is a bi-racial man (Peruvian mother and white father; identified as Hispanic on legal documents), has been portrayed in the media as someone who hates African Americans. Neighbors inside the gated community said he had approached them warning they should be on the lookout for young black men who didn’t seen to belong.
Previously arrested for assault, Zimmerman had a gun license and had recently completed some criminal justice courses at the local community college. He was an insurance underwriter. Martin has been portrayed as a wonderful young man who did OK in school and always had a positive outlook. He was well-liked by school administration and had a girlfriend.
However, it didn’t take long for other views of both to come to light. Photographs shown of Zimmerman wearing a suit and Martin wearing his pants low showing two middle fingers have tried to give us all doubt. Maybe Zimmerman was attacked.
Allegations that Martin was in Sanford because he had been suspended from school for drugs and even that he had some
paraphernalia on him the night he died has sought to change the public vision of the victim, as if to make it his fault that he was shot.
There have been numerous rallies and calls to action by Martin’s family and friends. There have been high school walk-outs in support of the Martins. There have been marches to let people know that wearing a hoodie, as Martin was that night, doesn’t make people a “hood.” There have been calls to change the “Stand Your Ground” law that Zimmerman seems to be invoking to remain free. There have been shouts to relieve the police chief that let Zimmerman go.
But most loudly we have heard the rally cry that there is still a racial problem in America in 2012. Zimmerman assumed that a young black man walking through a gated community on a rainy night wearing a hooded jacket has to be a thief, and this exemplifies the problem.
Geraldo Rivera said that what Martin wore alone is what got him killed, although Rivera apologized. I don’t think that’s right. Zimmerman didn’t kill Martin because he had on a hoodie — it seems to me it was simply because it was a black kid in a seemingly good neighborhood.
At what point will we start to dispel the stereotypes that cause us to dislike or even hate certain groups of people? We have all been taught them, even if we don’t know it. Do you walk through the parking lot and grab your purse tighter when only certain people get too close? Do you find yourself puffing up when you see a group of people up ahead that you have to walk past? Do you cross the street so you can avoid particular people?
All of these are reactions to profiling that we have been taught by society. Certain clothes are only worn by certain people. Neighborhoods are only for certain colors of residences. Why are we still thinking about these things in 2012? Why did it take the death of this poor young man to get the mass media to focus on these problems?
I have no idea what really happened that February night. I hope that the ongoing investigation will find the real answers, not just what we want to hear or think we know, but the truth. I hope that if Zimmerman shot this kid in cold blood, he is brought to justice. I hope for Martin’s parents’ sake that things are done correctly so that they can find justice and start to heal. I also hope that Martin’s name is not used by those who would use him for their own gain.
Most of all, I hope that we learn from this, that we talk about this, that we see what is going on. I hope that we have conversations about color and privilege and how to get past archaic ways of thinking. But, we can not rush to judgment of Zimmerman — we have to let the system do its work. To assume anything would disgrace the memory of Trayvon, because our presumptions are no better than what Zimmerman’s may have been.
Mandie is a junior majoring in secondary social science education. She is married with two children and serves on the Board of Directors of C.A.R.E.S. Suicide Prevention.
TRAYVON MARTIN
TYLER CLEMENTI
SportsB6 www.eaglenews.org
The FGCU men’s golf team has been preparing since January to win its first Atlantic Sun Championship, which will take place in Braselton, Ga., on April 16-18.
Eagles freshman Jack Hernandez, who has been one of the leaders for FGCU all season with five top 10 results, including a first-place finish at the UCF Rio Pinar Invitational on March 20, looks to break out at the conference championship.
FGCU men’s golf coach Brent Jensen anticipated Hernandez’s rapid rise.
“I expected Jack (Hernandez) to perform at this level, and this quickly,” Jensen said.
“Obviously, to be as consistent as he has been is an added bonus. Anytime you get consistency out of a freshman like Jack, it’s something to really take advantage of. That consistency takes some time. You get a lot of these recruits that’ll give you low scores every once in a while, but they won’t give it to you as consistently as Jack has.”
Hernandez, a Fort Myers native and Bishop Verot graduate, has earned two A-Sun Golfer of the Week awards this spring.
“I feel I’ve done pretty well so far,” Hernandez said. “The accolades have given me the confidence to go into my next tournament. I’ve been hitting the ball pretty well and everything’s pretty much going the way I like.”
For Hernandez, his most memorable
tournament was the Rio Pinar Invite.Fueled by a 5-under 67 in the final round,
Hernandez played the final 36 holes of the event at a combined 9-under par to win his first career collegiate tournament.
“My swing was pretty much on key,” Hernandez said. “My putting was pure and I had some great confidence. I knew I had a chance of winning. Pretty much I just focused on every golf shot and I ended up succeeding.”
Unfortunately, that victory was short lived, as the Eagles had a quick turnaround competing in the FAU Spring Break Tournament where the team was sixth. Hernandez finished tied for 30th overall, only his second finish outside the top 20 this season.
“We had an off day the last day, but I
think we just need to learn from our mistakes, and I think we can improve going into the A-Sun Championship,” Hernandez said. “Our practices have been more positive. We’ve been focusing a lot more and I think that will greatly improve our chances of winning the A-Sun Championship.”
The Eagles hope to have a better showing in the A-Sun Championship Tournament where their ultimate goal is to win, but in order to do so, they will have to compete with top seed UNF, which is currently ranked No. 17 in the country, and No. 41 Kennesaw. St.
“I hope to win,” Jensen said. “That’s one of our goals every year. Our number one team goal has been to win conference and we have a team that can do it this year.”
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Breakfast. Lunch. Dinner.
After a rough stretch where they lost two Atlantic Sun matches, FGCU men’s tennis team came home looking to rebound.
The home stretch didn’t start off well as the Eagles lost a March 29 night match to No. 56 ranked UNF by a score of 6-1.
Things changed two days later, though, as FGCU fought hard to win in dominating fashion against Jacksonville by a score of 6-1.
That win improved the Eagles’ conference record to 3-3, good enough for fifth place, with three matches remaining: against No. 74 Stetson on Saturday before closing the regular season against Lipscomb and Belmont the following
weekend. FGCU hopes to qualify for
its first A-Sun Tournament. “It feels good,” said C.J.
Weber, FGCU men’s tennis coach, after the win against Jacksonville. “We just got done playing three really good teams. We knew it was going to take a little bit of resiliency for us to rebound, and we knew that today was a match for us to show that we can make the conference tournament, so the guys responded well to that pressure and competed.”
FGCU’s ability to continue fighting is one reason why they have been competitive in conference.
“I think that’s just a characteristic of this team,” Weber said. “We’ve been growing in our toughness all year and if our guys want to consider themselves tough and if they want other people
to consider themselves as tough, then this comes with the territory. It’s a characteristic of what we are trying to accomplish here.”
Saturday’s battle with Stetson will be the Eagles’ last home match of the season and senior day for Matt Rock and Steve Binninger.
The Eagles hope for a win despite the fact that Stetson is a ranked opponent and sits third in the A-Sun.
“I know we’re going to have chances, and I want our guys knowing and believing that we can win the match,” Weber said. “We’re playing good tennis now. Everything that we have been doing up to this point has been building for that specific moment, to this senior day. It’s going to be a really special day for both of them (Rock and Binninger) and I know our guys are going
to be ready to play their best.” Rock also believes that the
Eagles can beat Stetson.“It’s going to be really
tough,” Rock said. “They’re at the top of the conference. They’ve been top of the conference the past few years. I. If we play at least the way we did today (against Jacksonville) if not better, we can take them.”
As for the final two matches against Lipscomb and Belmont, both on the road, Rock also feels confident that the Eagles can win.
“Against Lipscomb and Belmont it’s going to be a lot of traveling, but our team’s definitely going to rebound and really work,” Rock said. “We’re going to take both of them. We bring what we did today (against Jacksonville) and we will take both of them.”
Sophomore Amanda Josie is a pitcher. When you hear the word pitcher, you would think she is a starter or a relief pitcher. Surprisingly, Josie fills both roles. She has a 6-5 record and leads the team with a 1.42 earned run average.
When the season began, Josie knew what her role was going to be on the team.
“Coach Deiros told me that I was definitely going to have to step it up and I wanted to be a starter. I worked hard in the offseason and coach liked what he saw so he told me that I was going to be an asset to the team this year.”
Josie said. When the season began, Josie was a
reliever. “The season started with me relieving most
of the time and I guess I did a good enough job in that role to get some starts,” Josie said.
She credits her success as a starter to a strong defense. “Having a strong defense behind me and having my teammates encourage me made me calm when I made my first start.”
Even though she plays the dual roles of starter and reliever, the coaches do not keep Josie on a certain schedule.
“Softball is not like baseball when it comes to pitching rotations. I can pitch every day and
I’ll be OK or the most part. I’ll relieve one day and start the next day,” Josie said.
Josie says that her curveball is her best pitch. “It is my most effective pitch and it has some good movement. I use it a lot.”
Redshirt junior Kayla Gabel, although older than Josie, sees her as a positive influence on the team.
“Amanda is a good teammate, that’s for sure. She keeps things interesting and she always lightens the mood with her jokes,” according to Gabel.
“She likes to keep us up and keeps everything positive. When we’re down she likes to keep it fresh.”
Gabel appreciates what Josie has done to
help the team. “She’s doing really good and has come a long way since last year. She’s done a good job stepping up and taking control of pitching.”
Gabel likes the mindset of the team at the moment.
“We’re doing good right now and bonding , so everything is meshing together,” said Gabel, who feels confident about the team for the rest of the season. “We definitely had our rough patches in the beginning, but we’ve stepped up and gotten better.
“Amanda makes it possible for us to get the outs that we need to get when she pitches, and she’s making it possible for us to get wins, so she’s definitely doing a great job.”
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ENSPORTSWeekly recap
The FGCU women’s tennis team won the doubles point and used ! ve singles wins to cruise against Atlantic Sun conference foe Jacksonville, 6-1, on Saturday at the FGCU Tennis Complex. The Eagles improved to 6-9 (3-3 A-Sun) on the season and Jacksonville fell to 5-10 (1-4 A-Sun).
Florida Gulf Coast women’s basketball standout Sarah Hansen continues to collect postseason honors, earning Full Court Mid-Major All-American Honorable Mention accolades. The redshirt sophomore was the lone player from the Atlantic Sun Conference to earn honors from Full Court.
Women’s tennis
Baseball
Coming o" an Atlantic Sun series loss to USC Upstate in Spartanburg, S.C. , last weekend, the Eagles’ record sits at 10-18 (4-5 A-Sun) this season. After dropping the rain-delayed opener with the Spartans (6-0) on Saturday, the Eagles bounced back with a 4-3 victory in the second contest of the afternoon before falling in the series ! nale, 10-2, on Sunday.
Women’s basketball
Men’s tennisSenior men’s tennis player Steve Binninger was honored as the ! rst FGCU student-athlete to be named to the 2012 FGCU Hall of Fame on Monday.Binninger was one of seven undergraduates and one graduate student to be named to the list. He was the only male honoree this year and he becomes the ! rst student athlete to ever be chosen in its six-year history.
Tw tter in Sp rts Tw tter in Sp rts
Twitter is today’s hottest social networking site in sports.
Twitter gives fans the opportunity to receive updates about their favorite teams every inning, every quarter, and when that big play happens.
Most FGCU athletes have a Twitter account and update theirs daily. Twitter gives an athlete the ability to speak their mind through 140 characters or less.
Professional athletes such as Dwayne Wade have over 2.9 million followers. FGCU athletes are lucky to have 500 followers, but still have the opportunity to reach out to their fans.
Their tweets are very diverse and very rarely about sports. Most athletes tweet about what they are going through personally or what’s on TV. FGCU athletes’ tweets range from “#TheVoice is so good”
to “My hair tie broke #frustrated.”Amanda Josie, sophomore
pitcher for FGCU softball, had her best moment on Twitter when a special someone re-tweeted her for her birthday.
“On my birthday Evan Longoria (third baseman of the Tampa Bay Rays) re-tweeted me and I was really excited,” Josie said. “I have a Twitter to talk to my friends and honestly, I like tweeting celebrities and seeing if they tweet back.”
Freshman FGCU men’s tennis player Michael Beiler uses his Twitter to keep fans informed.
“ I don’t know how many fans I have, but I like to keep my friends updated on how the team is doing and how I played,” Beiler said.
One of the most unique characteristics of the Eagles Twitter pages is some of the athletes’ screen names. @WhitGotDaJuice (freshman basketball player Whitney Knight), and @GG_40 (freshman volleyball
player Gigi Meyer) are just a couple of the creative screen names FGCU athletes have.
Patrick Pierson, FGCU sports information director, believes Twitter is a good outlet for student athletes to communicate their lives beyond college.
“We don’t have any restrictions on their Twitters; it’s a good way to prepare yourself for life after college,” Pierson said. “There are a lot of things on the job market that require social media skills so we defi nitely don’t want to restrict them from having it, especially because we haven’t had any issues.”
Pierson and his team of assistants monitor FGCU athletes’ Twitter accounts in their athletic offi ces through TweetDeck. Their primary focus is that no vulgar language is posted or defamation of another team or teammates.
“It is their responsibility what they put on Twitter and they
need to be smart about what they post,” Pierson said. “We tell them what they shouldn’t say and stuff to stay away from for their own protection.”
Pierson also sees Twitter as being a great messenger to the FGCU community about events and big games through its favorite student athletes.
“They are now role models for kids and our fan base loves our student athletes,” Pierson said. “It is a good way to spread our brand, the athletic department’s brand, and their own brand to be followed by fans. It’s quick information to spread to the community and connect with fans. You get to know the athlete, and it’s a very benefi cial tool.”
Twitter is evolving every day, and so is FGCU, so be sure to follow the numerous FGCU athletes’ Twitter pages.
Usually when a team goes on a winning streak, coaches use that as momentum. FGCU sand volleyball coach Dave Nichols has a different approach.
“I don’t know whether or not I’d call it momentum,” Nichols said. “We’re getting better. It’s more that they understand the game better. We’ve had a few more practices and we are aiming toward getting to be the best that we can by the conference tournament. We have three more matches remaining until then so that’s what we are working toward.”
FGCU has won two consecutive matches, both against Stetson, and is now 2-3 in their inaugural season. Although they’ve played Stetson three times this season, Nichols sees a difference between the fi rst time they played and the last.
“I see a big difference,” Nichols said.
“We went into the fi rst match with three days of practice and lost 5-0. The girls played hard but really were confused about responsibility and communication out there and the techniques you use on the sand. We’ve had more practices since then and these kids are bright kids, so we’re just checking things off the list. By no means are we polished right now, but we’re really getting better.”
With 11 out of 12 girls on the roster playing both indoor and sand, the transition from the indoor game to the sand has already paid off.
“We played in a tournament at USF indoor on Sunday and the girls were jumping higher, were reading the court better, and they were moving their feet better to attack
balls,” Nichols said. “We were a little bit rusty in
terms of the indoor stuff, but we saw a lot of positives. The girls were like, ‘Wow, it’s so easy to move on the indoor.’ Playing both just makes you better, especially with the fi tness and the jumping part of the game. Freshman Oliva Mesner, our middle, I felt like she was jumping fi ve or six inches higher than a month ago.”
Mesner is one of the 11 playing both forms of the sport. This is also not her fi rst time playing sand competitively. Mesner is one of the fi ve freshmen on the team.
“I’ve played in the junior leagues over summer just for fun, and it’s so much harder now,” Mesner said. “The spirit is more intense out there with all the other girls who have the same goal. Playing against girls who only play sand compared to us who play both indoor and sand, it’s defi nitely a lot harder.”
FGCU faces off against Conference USA foe Tulane April 11 at home before they compete in the Fiesta at Siesta tournament.
The tournament hosts 23 schools from all over the country.
The list includes UF, FAU, FSU, UCF, USF, Tulane and the University of Louisiana-Monroe.
“(All of the teams) are all in the same boat, we’re all new,” Nichols said.
“Some of the programs have been preparing for this. For example Stetson has eight kids who just play sand and I believe Tulane is just like us. FAU has some really good sand players; I think they’ll be a tough outing.
My kids are athletic and once they start to fi gure this thing out, we’re going to be very good.”
