The Crimson

The only student-run newspaper at Florida Tech.

You are here: Home / Archives for Olivia McKelvey

Olivia McKelvey

Smiles, laughs and music: remembering Jeff McGuire

by Leave a Comment

A friend of Jeff visits the memorial table in the Pantherium.
Crimson // Olivia McKelvey

Jeff McGuire — aka “Cowboy” — was a beloved grounds worker that unfortunately left the Florida Tech family Wednesday, Sept. 18, after a sudden cardiac event while at work.

The 55-year-old father of nine was described as “a friend to everyone.”

Fellow grounds worker and best friend, Jeff Adkins, was with McGuire in his last minutes. “It was very sudden and tragic,” Adkins said. “I think all the students would want to know that Jeff was a friend that would support you and protect you no matter what.”

Sunday, Sept. 29, a celebration of life was held at the Pantherium where friends, family members and others in the Florida Tech community shared memories and jovial words to reminisce his passing.

In between prayers, gospel music and other songs that reflected the best of McGuire such as Old Town Road, Car Wash and To Love Somebody by the Bee Gees, people strode up to the microphone to share the impact McGuire had in their lives and the legacy he left behind.

“Jeff knew this campus was all about the students and that’s why he came to work with a smile on his face everyday,” said ground worker Cheryl Cornwall.

To conclude the celebration that more than 50 attended, McGuire’s wife, Lori McGuire, thanked everyone for showing their immense support and coming out to remember the man that she had been married to for the past 28 years.

“I know Jeff is looking down on all of us right now and if he were still here, he would want to say that he is with you forever and ever,” Lori McGuire concluded.

SOSA takes part in Orlando climate strike

by Leave a Comment

Protesters hold signs about climate change outside Orlando city hall.
Photo by Florida Tech SOSA.

This past week millions of people participated in the global climate strike.

A small fraction of those striking were Florida Tech students, demanding a change to protect and preserve the planet.

Nearly two weeks ago, Florida Tech’s Student Organization for Sustainability Action sent four of its chapter members to Orlando to attend a Friday’s For Future climate strike outside city hall.

“The energy was amazing, and seeing 200 people plus unite for a cause that they are equally, if not more, passionate about than I am was an unforgettable experience,” said Taylor Greene, SOSA president.

The Friday’s For Future is a movement started by 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, which so far has activated weekly student strikes in 150 countries.

Participating Orlando organizations and activist groups included IDEAS for Us, the Sunrise Movement Orlando, Fridays For Future USA and Fleet Farming.

These groups encouraged participants to wear green and raise their recyclable homemade signage high in the sky, reflecting the climate action they would like to see in Florida.

Guest speakers included Florida democratic state representative Anna Eskamani as well as others raising awareness for climate change.

“One of the things that resonated the most with me was when I heard Anna Eskamani preach that she didn’t run for office to talk about what was impossible, rather to fight for what is possible,” Greene said. “That was something that really spoke to me and demonstrated that there are people out there trying to do good.”

Tagging along with Greene were fellow SOSA members Jack Weaver and Jeffrey King, both of whom are juniors majoring in ocean engineering and minoring in sustainability.

Both students described attending the strike as “being a part of history and fighting for something our generation believes in.”

“I think some people believe that climate change doesn’t affect us,” Weaver said. “But people are dying as a result all around the world.”

According to Weaver, climate change goes beyond affecting the animals, it has repercussions on a human level that the majority of society should care about.

While Florida Tech’s SOSA chapter and other environmentally conscious activists rallied in Orlando, the scene in New York City was amplified.

World leaders, corporate executives and activists gathered at the United Nations Climate Action Summit.

A collaborative effort was made to turn promises into reality in hopes of global warming and rising CO2 emissions.

Topics such as the benefits and use of renewable energies were debated as well as setting a goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.

“You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words, and yet, I’m one of the lucky ones,” Thunberg stated as she addressed presidents, prime ministers, and other diplomats. “People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing.”

While there has been tremendous outrage and protests globally with frustration for the destruction of ecosystems, there has also been distress and efforts on a more local note.

For example, the same day as the strike in Orlando, there was also a rally and march held that night at the Eau Gallie Causeway hosted by young Brevard teens.

When she wasn’t marching along side community members with decorated signs covered from head to toe in green attire, Florida Tech senior and marine biology major Erin Casellas was trying to get signatures for the Florida Climate Pledge.

Casellas works as a campus ambassador for CLEO Institute, a Miami based non-profit that strives to educate and promote climate action.

By obtaining signatures Casellas was gaining support from those who want to protect Florida’s biodiversity.

“I think that a lot of people see how beautiful a place like Melbourne is, and we have these amazing ecosystems, but people don’t understand how fragile they are,” said Casellas when asked why some may not believe in climate change.

After a week full of awareness for the environment, the invaluable resources it provides us and the necessary action society needs to take for future generations, SOSA wanted to close their week of insightful environmental mandates and motives to “stand for what we stand on” with a tree planting ceremony on the Crawford Green.

Students planting the Gumbo Limbo tree in front of Crawford. Photo by Francesco Isaza.

A Florida Gumbo Limbo Tree, also known as the iconic south Florida tree, which is expected to grow up to 60-feet tall, was planted in a ceremonial atmosphere.

“Today, Friday, September 27, 2019, we set the roots for a better future,” Greene said as she introduced her final words of wisdom.

Perhaps the most simple and powerful statement came from a sustainability professor and faculty advisor for SOSA, Ken Lindeman left students with this lasting remark: “You got to come back and look at this tree in 10 years, this thing is going to be epic.”

Florida Tech helps Bahamas in relief missions

by Leave a Comment

CSA receives tremendous donations, such as home supplies and money, to send to the Bahamas after the Hurricane Dorian disaster. Photo by Francesco Iseza.

Since Dorian hit the Bahamas two weeks ago, Florida Tech has proved to be a united front, sending thousands of supplies over on countless relief missions.

The university’s College of Aeronautics alumni group was the first to spring to action by coordinating relief missions out of the Orlando Melbourne International Airport as early as Thursday, Sept. 5, just four days after the hurricane made landfall in the Bahamas.

Issac Silver, the associate dean of the College of Aeronautics, was one of the pilots that flew supplies over via Florida Tech’s Navajo Chieftain Piper aircraft.

“When we first landed in Abaco, it was basically like a post-apocalyptic movie,” Silver said. “There were virtually no people, maybe one or two here and there, but everything and everyone was practically gone.”

So far, Silver has made eight trips to multiple locations on the northern Bahamas island of Abaco, including Marsh Harbor and Sandy Point.

In addition to flying the Navajo, Silver has also been flying a C-47— Tico Belle.

Tico Belle was used during D-day to drop allied paratroopers over France.

The plane now serves as a memorial plane at Valiant Air Command, a warbird museum located at the Space Coast Regional Airport in Brevard County.

So far, approximately 4,000 pounds of supplies have been flown over on the Navajo Chieftain and an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 pounds on the Tico Belle.

A cart pulls a wagon of supplies to the plane. Photo // Adam Lowenstein

Silver also touched on the fact that the relief missions have evolved over the past week and will continue to do so with the possibility of future relief missions.

The first time the wheels hit the ground in the Bahamas, the goal was to provide water and food to the hundreds of people waiting to be evacuated.

However, as more and more people escaped the aftermath and devastation, that quickly changed.

“Our next mission will actually be a mobile field hospital, but there is still a huge need for humanitarian support,” Silver said.

From Boy Scout troops to local churches, numerous organizations have been volunteering alongside Florida Tech students.

The community outreach has been tremendous based off of testimonials from Alex Coultroup.

A graduate student majoring in aviation human factors, Coultroup was one individual who took a different perspective on the types of donations she wanted to send.

“As someone who cares a lot about women’s issues, I wanted to collect things like tampons and pads, diapers and wipes to fulfill those needs,” Colutroup said.

Raising awareness through her extensive updates on social media, Coultorup also brought attention to the value of cash donations, citing that for one round trip to fly Tico Belle it costs $4,500 for oil, fuel and maintenance.

Volunteers and students packing supplies to send on planes. Photo // Adam Lowenstein

Working beside Colutroup, Florida Tech alumni Marteen Edwards also devoted his time to loading up supplies onto planes.

A recent graduate with a masters in aviation management, the Barbados native explained how growing up in the Caribbean made him understand how powerful and damaging a natural disaster like this could be.

“It’s knowing the type of destructive power and knowing what a hurricane can do to your country that when you see it happen to someone else you’re inclined to give them a hand,” Edwards said.

In the midst of loading supplies onto the Tico Belle and other Florida Tech Navajo planes, Edwards heard many tales of what the islands now looked like.

“The most common thing I hear from pilots coming back is that the devastation is tremendous, and it looks as if a bomb had just gone off,” Edwards said.

The bottled water, hygiene products, batteries, cans of tuna fish and other perishable food items that Colutroup and Edwards have been loading onto planes have been coming from numerous student organizations on campus.

For example, Florida Tech’s student athletic advisory committee recently partnered up with the women’s soccer team at their first home game on Sept. 7.

“One of of SAAC’s main purposes is to have a positive influence on the community,” said Vanessa Rubio, a senior on the softball team and the president of SAAC. “After seeing the devastation in the Bahamas, there was no way we could just stand by and do nothing,” Rubio said.

Another student organization partaking in supply drives was the Caribbean Student Association.

Florida Tech’s CSA chapter has multiple Bahamian students.

All of them reported that their families were safe on the island; however, some of them have friends and others they are waiting to hear back from.

Malika Forbes, the vice president of CSA and native to Nassau, said that they have raised $700 in cash donations and collected roughly 500 pounds of supplies.

“What we keep trying to say is yes, it happened to the Bahamas, but it could happen anywhere,” Forbes said. “As Caribbean students, we need to step up and take action because if it was any other island we would be doing the exact same thing.”

To date, 13,000 people are missing in the Bahamas, 15,000 are in need of shelter or food based on reports from the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency and 50 are dead with that number expected to rise according to reports from CNN and USA Today.

Florida Tech’s president T. Dwayne McCay elaborated on how the university’s diverse student body—representing over 125 countries—demonstrates how a global and connected campus can lead to strides in humanitarian efforts.

“We see firsthand how compassion knows no borders,” McCay stated in an email. “One of our goals as a university is to help develop global citizens, and part of achieving that is to demonstrate through our actions the love and concern we have for those who may be struggling.”

Furthermore, Dr. McCay said this was not the first time Florida Tech has participated in a relief mission.

When hurricane Michael hit the panhandle last year, and when Maria slashed into Puerto Rico in 2017, Florida Tech was there, aiding in supply deliveries and evacuations.

“We got lucky this time when the storm stayed off our coast,” McCay stated. “At some point, when we are not as lucky, someone will help us. Human beings must take care of each other, and this is a way we can make a difference.”

Tinder profits off fraternities

by Leave a Comment

Instead of a student ID or campus activity apps like CORQ, new entry methods for college fraternity parties are rising in popularity: the latest, a Tinder profile.

The real question — will partygoers be seeing the “no app, no entry” Tinder policy making its way to Florida Tech’s campus?

The idea of Tinder partnering with college fraternities created buzz earlier this month when University of Texas fraternities signed exclusive contracts with the online dating app that has over 4.1 billion users according to data from The Business of Apps.

Reports from Vox and The Houston Chronicle cite a UT fraternity member describing the partnership as “mutually beneficial.”

The deal consists of a contracted fraternity house receiving a specific amount of money, with the potential for cash bonuses depending on the number of app downloads linked to a hosted event.

In return, the fraternity requires Tinder profiles to be shown as ID for party entry.

In addition, the online dating app provides the fraternity house with merchandise, memorabilia and other Tinder “swag” for promotional purposes.

University of Texas is not the only college where Tinder is tapping into a potential market, specifically those that fall into the 18-22 age bracket.

Fraternities from Northwestern University, Tulane University and the University of Oklahoma have also stated that they have participated in similar contracts with Tinder.

While the Tinder/fraternity partnership has yet to reach Florida Tech, there are mixed emotions among students about how the contracts would work and how well it would be received among partygoers.

“I love the idea of chapters making money and being more accountable at the same time,” said Adam Bettencourt, treasurer of Florida Tech’s Chi Phi chapter. “However, there are obviously concerns about the fallacies of meeting up with a stranger that is often associated with Tinder.”

He also questioned how it would look to download Tinder when an individual may be in a committed relationship.

As a senior majoring in mechanical engineering, Bettencourt said he views the situation as a way to hold accountability for those attending parties at Chi Phi.

Currently, the chapter is using CORQ to keep track of their guest lists, which they submit to Cat Nanney, Greek Life advisor at Florida Tech.

So far, CORQ has made Chi Phi’s job easier when it comes to keeping track of who is at a party, Bettencourt said.

CORQ does not provide any incentive or financial benefit for checking people in, whereas the Tinder partnership allocates an unspecified amount of money through these newly introduced exclusive contracts.

“If per se we did move forward with a contract via Tinder, the one thing I would do with the extra inflow of cash would be to decrease dues for membership,” Bettencourt said.

The other dilemma the business deal raises is if the Interfraternity Council chapter at Florida Tech would even allow this type of partnership.

According to senior, Mitchell Spalding — the vice president of recruitment and expansion for Florida Tech’s IFC chapter as well as the total member educator and philanthropy chair of Chi Phi — stated that the IFC executive board on campus has not specifically looked into any type of contracts with Tinder.

Spalding stated that fraternities could participate in something like this, but in his eyes, it is highly unlikely.

“I feel if we partnered with Tinder, it is tough to create a welcoming atmosphere at Greek Life events,” said Spalding. “CORQ is neutral and we have loved using it so far. It is not just used for fraternity events. It’s for sporting events and other organizations as well and it just makes everything more streamlined and navigable.”

Pat Spangler is the high epsilon for Lambda Chi Alpha, meaning that his responsibilities include party planning and security for events.

“I could see the contract being useful because a lot of students on campus probably already have Tinder, so showing it wouldn’t be that big of a deal,” Spangler said. “But then you still have maybe freshman, or those in a relationship or other outliers who do not have it, and targeting those people to force them to download an app isn’t right.”

Financially, the Lambda Chi Alpha high epsilon said he could see it being beneficial to supplement party expenditures, but overall doesn’t see his own fraternity participating in any type of future business ventures with Tinder.

In terms of the student body’s opinions on the trending party entry debate, some said they weren’t too bothered by it, while others deemed it as a “dumb rule.”

“I probably would show my profile just because I already have one so I don’t mind, but for those that don’t have it I would say it’s pretty unfair and an inappropriate form of targeting customers,” said junior Sigurd Ozols, a construction management major.

One graduate student in applied behavior analysis, Natalia Arasa Bonavila, took a similar stance.

“I don’t currently have Tinder, but if I had to download it to get into a party, I would,” Arasa Bonavila said.

The Spanish native also pointed out that she could easily just delete the app after she got into the party, hence the loophole within the system.

Some students seem unbothered by the possibility of Tinder app entry for their weekend festivities.

However, it is unlikely there will be any signage of contracts due to regulations that could later be enforced by the Florida Tech’s IFC executive board as well as a sense of hesitation from some fraternities on campus.

Bahamas Slammed by Dorian

by Leave a Comment

Sunday night, Hurricane Dorian slammed into the Bahamas, making landfill as a category five hurricane that battered over 13,000 residential homes and left five dead.

Two hundred twenty mile-per-hour winds in combination with torrential downpour and massive storm surges lasted for over 45 hours throughout parts of the islands, based on reports from the National Hurricane Center.

Bahamas Power and Light told authorities that the storm wiped out power to Nassau and the rest of New Providence, the country’s most populous island. The Bahamas hasn’t seen a hurricane as bad as this since since the 1935 Labor Day hurricane that matched Dorian’s wind surges at 185 miles per hour.

The New York Times reported that this was the strongest hurricane on record to hit the northwestern part of the archipelago — the Abaco Islands — leaving many referring to it as a “catastrophic hit.” Extensive other news outlets showed footage of many Bahamians suffering from Dorian’s damages. Video’s feature some people stranded on top of roofs and cars as at least 60 percent of Grand Bahamas Island remains underwater according to satellite images taken this morning from Satellite ICEYE.

This morning at 11 a.m., the National Hurricane Center released an update downgrading Dorian to a category two hurricane. However, the destruction in the Bahamas is not over yet as forecasters predict the storm to continue to affect the northern parts of the Bahamas for the next several hours before it moves toward the east coast of Florida with projections to move north toward Georgia and the Carolina’s.

Although Dorian’s winds have decreased, the National Hurricane Center said Dorian’s combined winds, storm surges and flood hazards are nothing to ignore and people should plan accordingly, listen to local authorities, follow news updates and obey any necessary evacuations.

Hubert Minnis, Prime Minister of the Bahamas, released a statement Monday evening.
“We are in the midst of a historic tragedy,” Minnid said. “Our focus is search, rescue and recovery. I ask for your prayers for those in affected areas and for our first responders.”

Women’s ex-golf team continues collegiate career

by 1 Comment

In the spring semester of 2019, the Florida Tech Athletic Department dismissed three of its sports programs: the men’s and women’s tennis team, and the women’s golf team.

“In a five-minute meeting, the athletic director told us we were being cut because we weren’t competitive enough,” said Noelle Beijer, one of the eight women on the women’s golf team.

Instead of wearing Panther apparel this season, Beijer will be sporting Tiger attire at the University of Missouri.

She is one of three from the women’s golf team to transfer to another university to continue her collegiate golf career.

A key player for the Panthers, The Dutch native has an impressive golf career, scoring an average of 76.33 during her time at Florida Tech, as well as being a medalist honors at the 2018 World Golf Invitational.

Continuing her education path and majoring in global management and finance, Beijer is excited for her future at Mizzou but is saddened that she will no longer be playing on the field with her best friends and old teammates.

“The fact that I don’t even know when I will see them all again makes me sad,” Beijer said.

According to Florida Tech’s athletic director, Bill Jurgens, there were multiple factors that led to the team being cut, including a lack of competitive edge, facilities, the size of the team and the number of athletes that would be affected by the cut.

“We knew the team had not performed well in the fall, but by no means were we poor performers,” said Lauren Watson, a senior and member of the women’s golf team.

Although the women did not start off strong at the beginning of their season, they proved to leave their mark by the end of the season.

“The day we were cut, February 7, we were ranked 21 in the nation,” Watson said. “By March 26, we were fourth.”

The Scotland native described the news of being cut as giving her a sense of “betrayal” and leaving her feeling “undervalued.”

“Why us?” Watson said. “Why now?”

Refusing to go down silently, Watson challenged what she saw as discrimination with the backing of Title IX by talking to coaches and NCAA compliance directors.

After doing so, the NCAA ruled that she, as well as another woman, on the golf team could play and compete with the men.

“I know playing on the men’s team will be far more challenging due to the length of courses they play and the lack of strength and power I have in comparison,” Watson said. “It’s going to be a big adjustment because as I much as I love the guys, I’ll really miss the girls.”

Even though the news of the cut came in the middle of their season, the women persevered in the wake of what Watson described as disappointment, confusion and anger.

By mid May, the women’s determination and competitiveness led them to bring home a gold trophy with the label NCAA Division II Champions.

“Winning nationals was simply the best thing we could do,” Beijer said.

One key player that helped the Panthers take home a massive win was Megan Dennis.

Dennis had five top 10 finishes in the 2018-19 season for the Panthers, and was also a 2018 Women’s Golf Coaches Association All-American Scholar.

Additionally, she made the Sunshine State Conference Commissioner’s Honor Roll.

After the initial shock, Dennis said she immediately began to wonder what her future would look like.

“My first thoughts were complete sadness, but also panic because I knew I was going to have to transfer,” Dennis said.

Hence, The U.K. native made the decision to transfer to Pepperdine University in California to continue her degree in sports psychology for her remaining two years of undergraduate schooling.

Like the others, Dennis said replacing her previous Florida Tech teammates is impossible and she will never forget her time with them.

“I’m mostly going to miss the great atmosphere at Florida Tech,” Dennis said. “We worked hard, we were competitive, and we all shared the same passion.”

Athletic Director says not to worry about more team cuts

by Leave a Comment

In early March, at the Student Leader Luncheon, President McKay mentioned that more athletic teams will be under evaluation for potential cuts.

However, Athletic Director Bill Jurgens has stated that student athletes should not be afraid.

“Although I can’t say if or when teams could be cut, the decision will divert all necessary attention,” Jurgens said. “Student athletes should not be afraid. Any decision about reducing a program is going to be studied thoroughly. It’s a tough decision and it will be not be taken lightly.”

There are numerous factors that must be taken into consideration when an athletic committee, which consists of members of the school’s board of trustees, suggest “healthy recommendations for the betterment of the university,” Jurgens said.

Such factors include academic performance, athletic performance, retention and graduation rates, academic success rates, senior exit interviews, program requirements and facility needs and maintenance, according to Jurgens.

One of the recent athletic teams to be cut was women’s golf.

This past fall semester, women’s golf had the second highest overall team GPA with an average of 3.598.

Furthermore, two girls on the team will be transferring to Division I schools to continue their golf careers at the collegiate level.

As their last season comes to a close, all members of the team that are on athletic scholarships were informed their financial aid would continue until their graduation date and that tehy can choose to play on the men’s team.

On the men’s side of golf, sophomore Evan Thompson, a student in entrepreneurship and a member of the men’s golf team, said he thinks they chose not to cut men’s golf because they were Sunshine State Conference champions last year.

“However, I think in the next five years, the school might cut the program because they will choose to focus more on academics rather than the continuation of athletic teams,” Thompson said.

Golf is not the only program that has been cut.

Florida Tech has discontinued three athletic programs since last summer.

Track and field as well as tennis are no longer athletic programs that Florida Tech will continue.

As more and more programs are reduced, students athletes have become concerned about their future at Florida Tech.

Pauline Cosson is a junior majoring in sports management.

Cosson is currently a member of the cross country team and was previously a member of the track and field team before the program was cut.

“I worry that cross country could be cut due to the fact that our roster size is so small with only seven girls,” she said. “However, I’m hopeful they will let the program continue in the upcoming years, as the cut to another running-related program was made so recently.”

Another student concerned about cuts due to a small roster size is Tania Kottke, a senior majoring in business administration and management as well as a member of the volleyball team.

“On one head, I’m worried because as of now with next year’s incoming freshman, we will be ten girls in total,” Kottke said. “However, in order for us to practice against each other and scrimmage, you need 12 on the court, so this makes training for games a bit harder. On the other hand, though, volleyball is a major collegiate sport. I view it as the female equivalent to a football program, and I don’t see Florida Tech’s football team being cut anytime soon. Therefore, I’d like to think volleyball won’t be cut in the near future either.”

As numerous student athletes have expressed their concerns, the president’s office has stated that there are no additional details to share concerning this issue.

While there is still no answer as to if or when teams will be cut, Jurgens leaves the student body with this note:

“Cutting teams at the university is the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” he said. “I love Florida Tech, I love the students, but sometimes I have to do things that are hard because it’s simply my job to do so.”

Local Business and Non-Profit Raising Heart Awareness

by Leave a Comment

MediComp is looking to partner with Who We Play For in hopes of raising heart awareness, especially among young athletes.

MediComp is Melbourne-based cardiac monitoring company.

Who We Play For, a Cocoa-Beach based non-profit organization, with a mission to eliminate preventable sudden cardiac death in the youth through affordable heart screenings.

“Heart disease is the leading cause of death, and by promoting heart awareness and providing affordable screenings to hundreds of communities, we’re able to prevent the loss of another young person to cardiac arrest,” Evan Ernst, co-founder of Who We Play For, said.

The story of Who We Play For started in 2007 after Ernst and his fellow co-founders lost a friend in high school who suddenly went into cardiac arrest on the Coach Beach High School soccer field and died the next day.

The co-founders of Who We Play For realized in their collegiate school years that their friend’s condition could have been detected through an electrocardiogram (EKG) screening, which would’ve caught an irregularity or major heart problem through measuring electrical activity within the heart.

“The U.S. is one nation that is behind in recognizing sudden cardiac arrest as an immense public health issue, and Who We Play For wants to change that,” Ernst said.

The Cocoa Beach NGO provides EKG screenings for the price of $20 versus the standard $150 the hospital would charge, according to Ernst.

To date, Who We Play For has screen over 100,00 athletes in over 500 communities and detected heart conditions in over 100 kids.

As Who We Play For creates more heart awareness within the community, their efforts have caught the attention of MediComp, a Melbourne-based cardiac monitoring company.

Maria Fernanda is a Florida Tech graduate student working towards her MBA in healthcare management and is also a MediComp employee.

“MediComp is looking to partner with Who We Play For to work towards providing our cardiac monitoring devices for individuals after screenings have caught particular heart abnormalities,” she said.

Fernanda stated that when she first heard about her company’s interest in this local organization, she immediate questioned why Florida tech student athletes weren’t doing this.

Who We Play For has partnered with various Division I, II, III and evan NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) schools. Ernst also stated the organization has worked towards partnering with Florida Tech before.

Jillian Collins is a senior majoring in chemical engineering and also a member of the swim team.

Collins has a rare heart condition called mitral valve regurgitation where her blood flows backwards.

Although her heart condition was not detected by an EKG, she still thinks heart prevention in young student athletes is a very important issue.

“You can never be too safe, and an EKG takes like five minutes,” Collins said. “After all, you never think something is wrong with you until something is wrong with you.”

A question that begins to arise in this topic is if EKG screenings are provided to Florida Tech student athletes, should they be mandatory or optional?

“I think it’s a good idea,” Theresa Gadilbe, a junior in accounting and a member of the women’s rowing team, said. “However, I think it should be optional because health is something personal and everyone has to be able to decide for themselves.”

Fernanda also raised a concern that if concussion testing is so prevalent and testing is mandatory for student athletes, why are EKG screenings not mandated?

Assistant athletic trainer and head athletic trainer for football, Joe Fiorina, agrees with Fernanda that there is immense value in EKG screenings for young student athletes. Yet, there are other factors involved in a decision like this.

“I would love for every athlete to have an EKG screening before their seasons begin,” Fiorina said. “However, at a school like Florida Tech, this is not exactly a feasible financial option and there could be difficulties with the university’s athletic insurance policies. I still would highly recommend to all athletes to get EKG screenings though.”

Companies like MediComp and organizations like Who We Play For are making waves and creating discussion within the community by aiming to promote healthy heart awareness throughout Brevard County.

Community mosque holds memorial for New Zealand shooting

by Leave a Comment

More than 300 people of various faiths gathered inside the Islam Society of Brevard County (ISBC) on March 23.

Buddhists, Catholics, Jews, Baptists, Muslims and others gathered to honor the 50 lives lost in the mosque shootings that took place in Christchurch, New Zealand on March 15.

Many leaders from the community such as a rabbi from Viera, a retired Brevard County judge and others attended to lead prayers and speak at the service.

Two community members holding signs in support. Picture from ISBC Facebook page.

Amongst those attending were Florida Tech juniors Natalie Tria, a forensic psychology major, and Bayan Saleh, a biomedical engineering major.

Both Tria and Saleh are members of the ISBC.

“It was truly a ceremony of cultural inclusion to demonstrate that the community can come together for a greater cause despite our differences,” Tria said.

After numerous prayers were said, the mosque invited people from the crowd to come forward and share their thoughts. Tria was one voice that stepped forward.

“I spoke because I wanted to let people know that I study offenders and criminals when they’re at their worst,” Tria said. “I stand by the motto ‘by the people, for the people,’ and I wanted them to know that there is hope, and there are others like me that want to make a change to try and prevent these tragedies from happening.”

The Atlantic reported that this was the worst terrorist attack to take place in New Zealand’s history, leading New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, to react immediately.

Within six days of the shooting, Ardern was backed by legislative support from her country in banning all assault rifles within New Zealand.

In a live television announcement addressed to the nation, Ardern said, “The guns used in this attack had the power to shoot continuously. The times for the easy availability of these weapons must end. And today, they will.”

In addition to changing gun laws, Arden has also helped pay for the funeral costs of the victims and honor the cultural traditions in which people of Islam faith be buried immediately.

Ardern and investigators returned all the victims’ bodies immediately after autopsies were completed just five days after the shooting happened so their families could hold funeral services.

When asked about how they thought the prime minister of New Zealand was handling the aftermath of the shooting, both Tria and Saleh strongly agreed that Ardern has been responding swiftly and respectfully.

“She compares to no other world leaders who have also faced mass shootings within their own country,” Saleh said. “Almost six months ago the U.S. dealt with a similar shooting at a synagogue in Pittsburg. Yet, why is it that New Zealand was able to change laws within six days while this nation has not been able to do so in six months?”

Saleh, like Tria, said she was also in awe of the amount of support outpouring from the community.

“I think the terrorist wanted us to be broken and hate each other, but what I saw was quite the opposite,” Saleh said. “At the memorial, you couldn’t tell the difference between a Muslim woman wearing a hijab or a Jewish woman wearing a hijab as a sign of respect, and that was something that I thought was really beautiful.”

It has been nearly four weeks since the shooting, and people everywhere are still showing support, even in Brevard County.

A week after the memorial service was held at ISBC, Saleh described a husband and wife that came in during Friday prayer with whiteboards that read, “We will keep watch while you pray.”

Saleh said that her heart was touched, and knowing that this support was felt here within the community was something that left her speechless.

Scabies Outbreak – Third outbreak “second nature” to athletics

by Leave a Comment

A quiet moment in the diseased-infested Varsity Training Center. Photo by Florida Tech Athletics.

The Panther’s Varsity Training Center is filled with more than just sweaty athletes.

It is now home to an extremely irritating and flesh-eating disease: scabies.

Scabies is a highly contagious skin condition that causes severe itching from sarcoptes scabiei mites, also referred to as itch mites.

The itch mites burrow into and lay eggs in the outer layer of the skin, resulting in nonstop itching and an angry rash.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, scabies is mainly caused by poor hygiene and is spread through skin-to-skin contact.

What is even more worrisome about the recent outbreak is the fact that this it is not the first time, nor the second time, but the third time the skin rash has wreaked havoc on campus.

There have been numerous outbreaks in the past three months, all of which have been due to a lack of proper hygiene practices.

“It’s almost second nature,” one athlete in a Facebook post. “I think the team has had a scabies problem longer than it hasn’t since I’ve started.”

While the athlete declined to speculate where the outbreak started, a Florida Tech coach has been investigating on his own.

“It’s a lot of he-said-shesaid, but I think I’m closing in on the culprit team.” The coach requested to remain anonymous. “Wouldn’t want it to be from my own court, you know?”

Showering , washing clothes and equipment and other basic cleaning practices that you would think to be essential to people’s everyday routines have proved not to be so essential.

The VTC will close down for a day so the athletic trainers can wipe down a few racks with a Clorox wipe and declare it “all good.”

“Hopefully certain players on the field will invest in some soap and a nice hot shower,” said the investigative coach.

Athletes might then be able to rid themselves of disgust and infestation, as well as put the rest of the student body out of misery and fear.