Author James Morrow gives lecture at USF

On Monday, March 21, 2016 renowned science fiction author, James Morrow, will be visiting USF to discuss his new novel, “Galapagos Regained”.

Morrow will be giving a lecture on the fourth floor of USF’s library at 6:00 p.m. where he will discuss issues of science, religion, and pop culture. Joining Morrow will be fellow science fiction author and USF professor, Rick Wilbur.

“I’ve been in the science fiction community for a long time,” said Wilbur. “Getting Morrow to do this lecture was as easy as some scheduling and making phone calls to a comrade.”

After a small amount of aligning schedules between Wilbur, the university, and Morrow, the author is set to discuss his latest novel as a part of USF’s humanities institute’s lecture series.

“I urge all students who can make it to attend Morrow’s lecture,” said Wilbur. “He’s an incredible author and this is a great opportunity to discuss contemporary issues with a knowledgeable professional.”

Morrow, a self-proclaimed scientific humanist, is an author famous for his unconventional historical novels, which often examine the intertwining concepts of religion and science. His latest novel, “Galapagos Regained” plot centers on a Victorian adventurer who decides to repeat the voyages of Charles Darwin.

Anyone, whether a student, faculty or community member, will be able to attend both Morrow’s lecture and the event’s reception and book signing free of cost.

USF alumni eats like a caveman

 A young entrepreneur has taken her passion for eating healthy and combined it with her passion for cookies to create her own company Base Culture. This company is not like any other sweets retailer that sales brownies and banana bread; all of the products are paleo friendly, meaning they follow the popular Paleo Diet.

“The Paleo Diet is nicknamed the caveman diet for a reason” says Base Culture founder Jordann Windschauer, “If you were to follow the Paleo Diet, you eat meat, vegetables, seeds, nuts, and fruit.” Windschauer praises the diet and even goes on to say that she felt “more alive than ever and had more energy than she had had in years.”

While the Paleo Diet did have its ups it also had its downs. Windschauer enjoyed the new found energy boost, but she also missed all the sweets she used to eat.

“You know it got really hard not being able to just grab banana bread on the way to work in the morning. I looked for products that could satisfy my sweet tooth but would also satisfy paleo requirements but there were none” said Windschauer. It was that same day she took matters into her own hand and stated creating “sweets” that were made solely from seeds, nuts, and fruits.

She then took her paleo friendly sweets she baked to her local gym to share with her friends and they became an instant hit. People soon began offering compensation for her products, and overnight the company Base Culture was created.

Many customers have claimed to not even taste the difference between paleo friendly brownies and regular brownies. “I just tasted it and it’s actually really good and it’s awesome that it’s really healthy” said satisfied customer Lexi Ashby.

The idea of paleo friendly products has taken the market by force. Since the company’s beginning in 2013, Base Culture products are now available in over 50 stores nationwide and will soon be available in Walmart.

 

 

 

 

Collecting The “Booty” From the Pirade Of Pirates

Pereira
Photo by Dana Achatz

Even though some people view Gasparilla as a holiday to make it an all day party Marilyn Pereira wasn’t convinced. Pereira decided to stay away from the madness at Bayshore Boulevard and work a double shift as a server at World of Beer on Saturday. To her there was not much of an appeal to attend the event. It was more important to her to make some money than see the parade.

“I didn’t request off for Gasparilla because I didn’t really even know what it was,” Pereira said. “I just moved here and I didn’t know Gasparilla was today until pretty much everyone I work with requested off.”

Sometimes called the Mardi Gras of Florida; the Gasparilla Parade of Pirates attracts thousands to Tampa every year. The parade takes over the streets of downtown for a majority of the day. People from all over Florida make the trip to celebrate, and most of them are dressed up like pirates.

Pereira worked all morning and through most of the evening. She said she saw an increase in customers during her second shift Saturday evening after the parade had ended.

She described large groups of people of all ages weighed down with beads and wearing fake black beards and hats with giant feathers. She seemed to find the outfits a little silly. Even though she made more money than she had originally expected, she decided it might be worth it to attend Gasparilla next year.

“Yeah I would go. It would’ve been fun to tag along with someone,” Pereira said. “Maybe next year.”

Poetry fights against black on black crime

 

Andrea Little and Hector Angus are not your typical college students. They are owners of a grocery store, 1 Apple Grocery.

The University of South Florida students put their money together to help a low-income neighborhood thrive in this “food desert.”

Phil Scott has been president of Black on Black Rhyme Tampa for the last three years.  The poetry troop is the longest running in the Tampa area.

The troop assembles every third Friday of every month at Joffrey’s Coffee House. Their aim is to help the people in the poorer side of the community be able to express themselves in a healthy way.

When asked, “is it worth it,” Phil Scott answers, “Undoubtedly. From the neighborhood that I come from, it’s vital to our survival as a community, in order to have these outlets for us”.

Located at the corner of 8th and 15th street in downtown Ybor, Joffrey’s Coffee House hosts the Black on Black Rhyme shows every third Friday of each month.

Phil Scott is FAMU graduate, obtaining a Bachelor’s Degree in Science and Music. He is currently the band director at Van Buren Middle School.

He says, “I didn’t choose Black on Black, Black on Black really chose me.  It was kinda like they just welcomed me with open arms”.

Black on Black Rhyme Tampa show times are available on the Tampa Bay Poetry page on Facebook. Be sure to check out there show this Saturday evening at 8:30 p.m.

USF Quidditch Club practice shows magic, hard work

The USF Quidditch Club has been bringing the fictional sporting event from the Harry Potter series to life since the club’s inception in January 2011. The club boasts an active roster of approximately 30 members, as well as official membership status in the International Quidditch Association. Major achievements for the team include seventh place at the 2011 Quidditch World Cup and second place in the 2012 Swamp Cup. Take a closer look at the magic that happens during USF Quidditch practice.

Unique challenges, frenzied pace unite Greek chapters to ‘Run With the Bulls’

Story and photographs by: Emma Sims and Alyssa Perry

The men from USF’s Sigma Nu fraternity had a powdery layer of sawdust on their glasses. It was nearing midnight Wednesday. The clouds of fine dust battled for space in the already anxious air that filled the fraternity house backyard.

There were two days until the USF Homecoming parade, and the team of two Greek chapters, Sigma Nu and Delta Delta Delta, had just started building their float. They were behind schedule and running out of time. And to add more spice to the Crock-Pot of confusion, they did not have a theme for their float.

The team planed on decorating their trailer with a “Peter Pan” theme – at first.

“We have a problem. Gamma Phi Beta is already doing “Peter Pan” as their theme,” Delta’s activities director Nicole Harris said. “We can’t do it now, it’ll look like we copied them.”

“Maybe they copied us,” Sigma’s activity director John Lemmer said.

“We need a new theme, like now. Does anyone have an idea?” Harris asked the crew of six.

“What about “The Little Mermaid?’” Jill Bowen said.

The three Sigma Nu brothers were not impressed. Their childhood movie repertoire likely did not include the singing redheaded mermaid. The men wanted to stick with “Peter Pan,” but the women had already started singing Ariel’s ballad, “A Part of Your World.” The battle was lost as soon as it began.

“I’ve got gadgets and gizmos aplenty, I’ve got whozits and whatzits galore. You want thingamabobs? I’ve got 20. But who cares? No big deal. I want more,” the group of Deltas belted to their confused audience.

“OK stop. This isn’t “High School Musical,’” Jordan Moore said.

“We don’t have any more time to talk about it,” Lemmer said.

And so, “The Little Mermaid” it was.

USF’s 2014 homecoming theme was “Once Upon a Homecoming.” The campus celebrations culminated with the Running with the Bulls Night Parade Friday night, comprised of floats and participants from various organizations, including Greek teams. Floats were judged for first, second and third place. There were four categories in the judging criteria: originality and creativity, theme, design and construction and, of course, green and gold spirit. The deadline for float construction was 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 10.

The Running with the Bulls Night Parade took place at 7 p.m. Friday. Professional and homemade floats participated in the contest. The winner would be announced later that night at the Homecoming After-Party.

Fraternities and sororities at USF paired up for the homecoming week events. Each Greek team had a committee of 20 participants, with 10 from each fraternal organization. The participating few were expected to take part in the homecoming responsibilities, which included building the float.

Float construction was not limited to the homecoming committee. Any of the organization’s members could help, but finding available students proved to be a project in itself.

“It’s really hard to find people who will help. It’s a really ridiculous time commitment for the week,” Harris said. “That’s hard when people have class at night and jobs.”

Wednesday night’s float crew included only six workers – three sorority sisters and three fraternity brothers. The Sigma men were working until 1 a.m. Thursday, building a pirate ship on their trailer.

“Girls can’t exactly handle power tools,” Harris said.

Once the float construction was assembled, the women joined the men to help improve the aesthetics. Friday afternoon was spent working collaboratively to meet the float competition’s criteria.

Harris was trying to round up the focus of her workers. She needed to make a trip to the Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Store for some last minute supplies.

They had three hours left.

“OK, so we need spray paint, plastic swords, candy, bubbles, fabric and hats. What else?” Harris said.

“Girls, who wants to be the Rose to my Jack?” Moore asked.

Harris rolled her eyes.

“This isn’t “Titanic”, Jordan. It’s “The Little Mermaid,” Harris said.

On the house’s back deck, Jack, Bowen’s four-month-old Golden Retriever, yelped and whined. Perhaps his distress stemmed from the cone of shame around his perky head (a result of his recent neutering procedure), or perhaps he was warning the students that they were running out of time.

Jack was politely ignored. The team was busy bantering about what to buy at the craft store.

“What about confetti poppers?” Lemmer asked.

“No,” Harris said. “We’re not doing that.”

“I’m the king of the world!” Medlin shouted from the pirate ship’s platform as he gripped the ship’s wheel.

It was going to be a long afternoon.

Homecoming week was packed with events.

Every day, except Wednesday, had a game in which the Greek teams were expected to compete. Various other events accompanied the games, including a weeklong blood drive, a soda can tab donation and the construction of a USF Spirit sculpture. These events were ongoing, and teams were given sign-in points for each event in which a member participated.

“It’s just kind of a lot,” Harris said.

Although the homecoming week consists largely of competitions, teams remain friendly with one another.

“It’s nothing dramatic,” elementary education major and Gamma Phi Beta sorority member Amanda Carlton said. “You get to bond with someone you wouldn’t normally work with.”

At the end of homecoming week, points were tallied and winners were announced. The categories included overall placement and individual competition placements.

“Sigma Nu is really good at intramurals,” finance major and Gamma Phi sister, Shelby Fouts-Harley said.

Lemmer said their team, The Fuzzy Wombats, spent around $450 on their “Little Mermaid” float, which was entirely homemade. Essential materials included large particleboards, gallons of green paint and fabric for decorations and costumes.

“We put a lot of work into it, so at this point we want to win,” Harris said. “It’d be awesome if we did, but it’s not the end of the world.”

The staging area on Holly Drive was buzzing with school spirit.

The gold dresses of the Sun Dolls sparkled in the setting sun as the Herd of Thunder band tapped on their snares. Professional floats boasted bright paint jobs, permanent props and loud music. The homemade floats were waiting next to their manufactured competitors. Everyone was gearing up to go.

The parade was in an hour.

The Wombat’s float was hooked up to the trailer-hitch on Bowen’s white Chevrolet truck. A Sigma Nu flag flapped proudly from a pipe on the ship’s bow. There were two fishnets draped on the sides of the 10-foot-tall trailer construction, named “The S.S. Fuzzy Wombats.”

The team’s creation met all the required competition criteria: it was original, it fit USF’s fairy tale theme, the construction was sturdy and it was decked out in all green and gold paint. There was only one component missing from the team’s float – the members of the Fuzzy Wombats. No one accompanied the float.

There was 15 minutes to show time.

The sidewalks on Holly and Maple Drive were peppered with an audience of students, alumni and everyone in-between.

The parade was rolling along the road covered in Laffy Taffy and cheap strings of beads. Children leapt for their lives to catch the flying treats.

The party music and cheers of “Go Bulls” filled the air with school spirit.

It was 8 p.m. and the parade was almost over.

Then, around the corner cruised “The Little Mermaid” crew. The Delta women and Sigma men were cheering and grinning.

“The S.S. Fuzzy Wombats” made it after all. Their float was not the best looking one, but it was there. And for that, they were proud.

USF Police Department keeping peace amongst the chaos at Homecoming

police image

 

Friday night of Homecoming week is probably the most hectic. There is so much going on all at once: the carnival is up and running, crowds line the streets to watch the parade and then file across Palm Drive to watch a concert. There is a line of cars trying to make it to the various parking lots and people are crossing the streets from all directions. From a by-stander’s point of view, it’s a recipe for disaster.

To handle this much chaos, the USF Police Department start preparing months ahead.

“We collaborate with various entities on campus in preparation for it,” Assistant Chief Chris Daniel said. “As the week approaches we start looking at staffing. We require all officers to be available.”

There are 52 officers on staff at USF, but during large events, such as Homecoming, the Temple Terrace Police Department steps in to offer additional resources.

While students, alumni and faculty are relaxing and enjoying the various events, some USF Police officers are riding around on bikes patrolling the campus grounds making sure attendants are staying safe.

The biggest issue of Homecoming is the concert. Because the concert is open to the public, people not affiliated with the university attend and this has caused some problems in the past.

“We don’t have control of access,” Daniel said. “There’s no checkpoints around the event. We just have to deal with what occurs instead of trying to prevent.”

And this year would be no different from past Homecomings. The university police had to remove a few people from the concert for disorderly conduct and there was one arrest.

“A student who took a fire extinguisher and discharged it throughout the crowd and then ran from police when we tried to catch him.” Daniel said

The university police have also had issues concerning the people who attend the parade. They run out in front of the floats to cross the street or to pick up the goodies that have been thrown.

“Often times the person driving the float can’t see that well and there’s always a risk of somebody getting hurt,” Daniel said.

To help with this problem the USF Police Department has officers riding on bikes alongside the floats, and officers, dressed in safety-green vests, standing in the intersection of Bull Run Drive and Alumni Drive directing cars, people and floats, making sure all get across the intersection safely.

University police officer Frank Wassenberg, who was riding a bike patrolling the campus Friday night, said so far everything has gone smoothly.

For many USF students Homecoming week is an exciting time. A time to relax and enjoy the array of festivities. But for USF’s Police Department it’s a time of working long hours and making sure all in attendance stay safe.

“Homecoming is a great event,” Daniel said. “It’s taxing on our resources, but it’s only one week out of the year that we’re in this position, so it’s very manageable.”
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