File

FROM WAR TO CLASS
Student veterans
discuss war and
the comparative
ease of college
life.
CAMPUS » 3
cn
“C” IS FOR COOKIE
Students bake, judge
and eat cookies
in celebration of
an obscure cookie
holiday.
CAMPUS » 8
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF USF ST. PETERSBURG
FEBRUARY 4, 2008
IN THIS
issue
» CAMPUS
“Can you spare a
quarter?” Campus
meter parking
rates go up. » 1
» CAMPUS
Students research
local crime. » 1
» PERSPECTIVES
Got concerns?
Just ask Jerry. » 2
» PERSPECTIVES
Get your foot in
the door at the
Career Fair. » 2
» PERSPECTIVES
The pop culture
grid: Students
speak out. » 2
» CAMPUS
Student veterans
go from missions
to midterms. » 3
» CAMPUS
Civil rights
activist’s lecture
opens eyes . » 3
» CALENDAR
Your social life, all
planned out. » 4
» COMMUNITY
Pirates invade
Tampa Bay. » 4
» COMMUNITY
Science and journalism will meet
this week. » 4
» VARIETY
Unwind with our
crossword puzzle
and sudoku. » 6
» SPORTS
2008 NFL draft:
Where will they
end up? » 7
» CAMPUS
Did you celebrate
the cookie holiday? » 8
VOLUME 42 » ISSUE 3
Your quarters now have a new home
BEN FRY
Staff Writer
You may now hear, “Hey buddy, can
you spare a quarter?” more often at USF St.
Petersburg. The city of St. Petersburg has
raised the rates of the parking meters that
line the campus streets to 50 cents per hour.
City officials said they will not charge
more for metered parking on the street
than they charge to park in the city’s parking garages, which is $1 per hour.
“Administratively, we decided to raise
them to be the same as other places, like
Central Avenue,” Evan Mory, parking
manager for the city of St. Petersburg, said.
Raising the rate on campus brings the rate
in line with the cost to park in other downtown locations.
The city did not tell USF St. Petersburg
officials when they were going to increase
the rates but school officials knew that
eventually the rates would go up, said
Melanie Marquez of the University Relations Office.
“We were aware they were planning to
implement a rate increase,” she said. “We
weren’t told when it was going to happen.”
Marquez said she paid the usual rate of
25 cents per hour in the morning on Jan.
24. When she returned from lunch the rate
had doubled.
She said she was surprised by the rate
increase.
PHOTO » CASEY FELDKAMP
A USF St. Petersburg student realized she needed more quarters on Jan. 25 after discovering that metered parking rates increased on campus.
The city was not required to notify the
university because metered parking is a
voluntary, pay-as-you-go service, unlike
a spot in a parking garage that is leased
monthly, Mory said. Stickers have been
placed on the front of meters to warn of the
increase. For those who don’t see the stickers or who did not know about the increase
and get a ticket, Mory said the city will be
lenient for the first two weeks of the rate
change.
“We use some discretion to help people
out if they didn’t see the new rates,” he said.
“If people didn’t see the signs we’ll void the
ticket.”
The new rates on the USF St. Petersburg
campus are still lower than those at the
story continued » 5
Students research homelessness and crime
has some foundation; homeless people
and transients were responsible for a large
Staff Writer
chunk of the arrests made from Jan.1 to
Sept. 30 in 2007, which is the time period
the students researched.
For residents of St. Petersburg, homeOf those arrested during the ninelessness is an issue on which everyone has
month period, 15.4 percent were homeless.
an opinion. Some are sympathetic, but
According to the Pinellas County Coalimany more are increasingly intolerant of
tion for the Homeless, the homeless make
the presence of the roughly 2,500 homeless
up 1 percent of St. Petersburg’s population.
who loiter in the city.
About half of all homeless people in PinelIn fall 2007,
las County live in
USF St. Petersburg
“Homeless people and transients St. Petersburg.
students conducted
“One percent of
were responsible for a large
a study regardthe population acing crime and
chunk of the arrests made ....
counting for 15 perhomelessness in
cent of the arrests
15.4 percent of those arrested
St. Petersburg. The
puts a burden on
study showed that
were homeless.”
the police departpeople’s intolerance
ment,” said William
AMY BEEMAN
THE CROW’S NEST
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»
Ruefle, who taught the crime analysis class
in which the study was done. Ruefle also
said the problems of many homeless people
are related to substance abuse and mental
illness.
“These things are beyond the control of
the criminal justice system, but they have
to deal with it,” he said.
The majority of crimes for which the
homeless were arrested involved liquor
law violations, drug violations, larceny and
simple assault/intimidation, the study said.
The research findings were presented
to St. Petersburg Police Chief Charles Harmon at police headquarters. The data can
provide the city government and the police
department with information about what
kinds of issues the homeless pose to the
police and to the community.
“The course allows students to conduct
USF ST. PETERSBURG
timely and important research that is relevant to the community,” Ruefle said.
While the research is important to the
community at large, USF St. Petersburg has
handled conflicts with the homeless soundly, police chief Rene Chenevert said.
Chenevert said there are not many issues on campus because the university is
good about informing campus police of any
suspicious activity.
“I think that’s helped,” he said.
Chenevert said that when there have
been issues, such as loitering in the library,
the homeless are usually asked to leave.
Still, St. Petersburg’s downtown business
owners’ and residents’ vocal intolerance has
helped to invoke public policy change. Two
new ordinances were passed by the St. Petersburg City Council on Jan. 25. One
story continued » 7
FEBRUARY 4, 2008
community
Gasp-arrrrr-illa sails into Tampa Bay
calendar
EVENTS
Monday 02/04
» The Diving Bell and The Butterfly.
Tampa Theatre, 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday 02/05
» Harborside Weekly Meetings. CAC
133, 1 p.m. Stop by to find out what
the campus student activities planning organization does.
» Now Write Writing Workshop. B&N
USF St. Petersburg, 6–7 p.m.
» USF Women’s Basketball vs. Depaul. USF Sun Dome, 7 p.m.
» Gregory Sauer, Cello. USF Music
Recital Hall, 8 p.m.
» Lecture by Robert Bazell, NBC’s
Chief Science Correspondent. Mahaffey Theater, 8 p.m.
Wednesday 02/06
» Alejandro Sanz. TBPAC, 8 p.m.
Thursday 02/07
» Sexual Health Seminar: “National
Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.” Residence Hall One, 6 p.m. Learn how to
protect yourself against HIV, AIDS and
other sexually-transmitted infections.
Refreshments will be served.
» The Go-Go’s. Jannus Landing, 7 p.m.
Friday 02/08
» Blaze. Boomerz Boiler Room, 7 p.m.
» Quiet Storm Live – with Kenny &
Chante. Mahaffey Theater, 8 p.m.
Saturday 02/09
» Saturday Art Market. Williams Park.
9 a.m. – 2 p.m. Fine arts and fine crafts
show and sale. Free. 727-898-6061.
» Saturday Morning Market. Central
Ave. between 1st St. and 2nd St. 9 a.m.
– 2 p.m. Free. www.saturdaymorning
market.com or 727-455-4921.
» Gallery Walk. Throughout downtown, 5:30 p.m. See what’s new at
downtown galleries, meet artists and
gallery owners. Free. www.stpetearts.
org or 727-821-6767.
» Black History Month Gospelfest!
Campus Activities Center, 6–9 p.m.
» Talib Kweli. Jannus Landing, 7 p.m.
» Tasco Valentine’s Formal. Coliseum
Ballroom, 7 p.m.
» 2007-2008 Florida Orchestra – Carmina Burana. Mahaffey Theater, 8 p.m.
Sunday 02/10
» Vatican Splendors. Florida International Museum.
» UPAVS African Violet Show. Sunken Gardens, 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. www.
sunkengardens.org or 727-551-3100.
» Silent Film Special Event: Buster
Keaton Double Feature. Tampa
Theatre, 3 p.m.
» XIIR: Xtreme International Ice Racing. St. Pete Times Forum, 3 p.m.
» Dyango & El Consorcio. Mahaffey
Theater, 7 p.m.
PAGES 4 & 5
PIRATE
PARTY
1 » James “Doc”
Holiday, 53, of
Tampa has been
serving the United
States Postal
Service for over
15 years. Holiday
drops off mail
decorated in
Gasparilla gear.
The beads are
from parade-goers
who have passed
him in the streets
spreading celebratory cheer.
1
PHOTO » KATHLEEN PEARSON
2 » Quin T., 5, and
sister Sofi, 3, sell
Gasparilla beads
down the street
from Luca C., 6.
This is the first year
the siblings are
participating in a
little bit of neighborly competition.
The past few years
they have helped
sell beads with
Luca.
PHOTO » KATHLEEN PEARSON
4
PIRATE PARTY
3 » Members of the Krew of Seville, on the South Tampa Chamber of Commerce float, throw beads to participants celebrating
Gasparilla despite rain or shine.
2
PHOTO » KATHLEEN PEARSON
3
PHOTO » KATHLEEN PEARSON
Scientists and journalists will speak the same language
CAITLIN KULECI
Assistant Editor
USF St. Petersburg will host the
Science and the Media 2008 conference on Feb. 6. The event aims to help
scientists and journalists to bridge
the communication gap between the
professions.
Journalist Robert Bazell kicks
off the event on Feb. 5 with a 7 p.m.
speech at Mahaffey Theater. Bazell,
NBC’s chief science and health correspondent, plans to speak about
communicating science to the public
as part of the Energy and the Environment Lecture series sponsored by
Progress Energy. The next day nearly
100 scientists, journalists and educators will gather at the Poynter Institute
for the Science and the Media 2008
conference, a series of four moderated
discussions about science journalism.
“This conference has a very practical goal,” said Mark Walters, the USF
St. Petersburg journalism professor
who organized the conference. Walters said the event will provide the
scientists and journalists with tools
to will help them communicate more
effectively with each other.
Walters said issues relating to climate change and the sea-level rise in
Florida will be the topic of conversation. The discussions involve a scientist, a journalist and a moderator, each
of whom will talk about a different
aspect of sea-level rise. The presenters
will also discuss the process through
which professionals relay this information to the public.
“We want to keep it focused on the
process, not the content,” Walters said.
USF St. Petersburg graduate stu-
dent Pam Hogle said she hopes that
she will learn to write more effectively
about science by attending the conference. Hogle said she hopes to gain
some insight as to how she can make
things better.
“The scientists need to get their
information out, the journalists need
to understand it better,” she said.
“Anything that makes that easier and
clearer is going to help that.”
Chris D’Elia, professor and interim
vice chancellor for academic affairs,
said this lack of mutual understanding
on the parts of scientists and journalism professionals is what perpetuates
the miscommunication.
“There is a very poor ability of
journalists to translate science into
useful public information,” said
D’Elia, who teaches environmental
science and policy. “We as scientists
make our own mistakes and don’t ap-
preciate the modes of communication
that are necessary to make complex
issues understandable.”
D’Elia said bridging the gap between the two professions is the challenge they both must face today.
The issue has real-life implications
for the public, Walters said. He offered
global climate change as an example
of this disconnect.
“Why is it that the press in a sense
was reporting the skeptics of global
climate change long after the science
was rock solid?” he said. “You don’t
have to tell the two sides of the story,
that the Earth is flat according to the
Flat Earth Society but that most scientists think it’s round.”
Walters and D’Elia said they think
Bazell is an example of a journalist who successfully works in both
realms.
“A guy like Bazell is an example of
THE CROW’S NEST
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someone who communicates well and
understands the science,” D’Elia said.
“He is widely respected by the scientific community because he tends to
get his stories right.”
The conference is funded by a
grant from the Environmental Protection Agency. The grant was used
to establish the Center for Science &
Policy Applications for the Coastal
Environment, or C-SPACE. Since
2005, C-SPACE has served as a think
tank for researchers from USF St.
Petersburg and the College of Marine
Science, as well as scientists with the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, Florida Wildlife Research Institute and the U.S. Geological Survey.
For more information about the
conference, please visit
www.scienceandthemedia.org.
USF ST. PETERSBURG
meter $$$
story started » 1
USF Tampa campus, which charge
$1.50 per hour.
“Fifty cents an hour is still extremely low compared to other communities,” Joe Kubicki, the director of
parking for St. Petersburg, said.
Kubicki said the increase is due to
the high maintenance costs associated
with the parking meters. He said the
city is trying to standardize the parking rates all over to avoid confusion
among residents and parking personnel.
Kubicki said he hopes the higher
rate will not cause too much of an
inconvenience for students.
Still, USF St. Petersburg students
are not happy.
“It’s, like, ridiculous,” journalism
student Concetta Deluco said as she
returned to find a parking ticket on
her car for $17.50.
Deluco said she was not aware of
the increase and did not see the stickers on the meters when she put her
usual quarter and dime in the meter
before class.
Education major Darby Smith said
she occasionally uses the metered
parking because it is convenient, but
will now park in the garage more often due to the increase.
“It’s kind of annoying that they did
that,” Smith said. “Fifty cents is a lot.”
Finance major Tom Wilite said the
increase was upsetting.
“I brought enough to get me
through class today and now I’m going to need more change.”
Wilite said he is on campus only
one day per week right now, so he did
not purchase a student parking pass
this semester. He said he probably will
get one in the fall. Before the rate increase, he said, it was easier to park in
the metered parking spaces.
“It’s not too convenient anymore,”
he said.
4 » Jeremy Mecham, 33, of Tampa drinks from a beer bong at
the Gasparilla parade. Mecham says it is not often he does beer
bongs, but he came equipped with “tail gate gear” – a belt of
beer koozies.
jerry! jerry!
story started » 2
socialist society. Less than one-third
said the government would do a better
job than private insurance companies.
According to the poll, “forty-four
percent said the government would be
worse as a health care provider than
private companies.”
Americans are accustomed to the
capitalist system, which remains the
leader in producing beneficial research and new medicines. However,
while we think we are getting the best
health care, in reality, the wealthy are
the only people who can afford it.
There are other types of standardized health care that would do the
trick such as the single-payer health
care system once advocated by presidential candidate Barack Obama. The
problem remains of finding a happy
medium.
What needs to be created is a
system that gives Americans a health
plan from companies in the private
insurance system. Citizens would get
the care they deserve. This would not
be a socialist system run by the government, but rather by the people.
Springer ends each episode of his
show with a final thought, and his Sun
Dome lecture was no different. He
enthusiastically told his audience to
demand change.
Demanding change for health care
is a good start. Instead of wasting
money on refunds this summer and
digging our country a deeper hole of
debt, the government could use half
of the money to fuel the economy by
giving people health subsidies. This
would allow people to visit the doctor
for a physical or yearly exam, some of
who have not been checked by a doctor for a decade or more. Then we will
have a healthier, competitive economy
and healthier people to run it.
FEBRUARY 4, 2008