Vincent LeBlanc
Staff Writer

One of the biggest additions to campus in the following years is the Adams Athletic Performance Center, which broke ground in 2022. The center boasts a 5,000 square foot weight room, a theater for film review, and office suites for the basketball team on campus. Originally slated to open in spring of this year, the project has taken slightly longer than expected, and is currently still in construction, with the exterior completely finished.

 The athletic center hopes to maintain FSC’s standing as one of the best Division II NCAA sports programs in the world, as well as reducing traffic around the Nina B. Hollis Wellness Center. FSC’s Director of Athletics and Dean of Wellness Drew Howard has been involved with the project from the very beginning.

“We’ve been talking about a new weight room for well over a decade,” said Howard. “Going from looking at the renderings, to the drawings, to really starting to put things in place, to seeing the ground start to move was a lot of fun.” 

The inside of the facility remains unfinished, with the film room being mostly complete and the weight room just needing the equipment. 

“It’s a game-changer for us,” Howard said. “A huge part of athletic achievement and accomplishment is what happens in the weight room.” 

Howard went on to point out that sports teams on campus couldn’t work out together due to the smaller nature of the Wellness Center. When asked where some of the biggest challenges with designing the building were, Howard shared what he has learned through the process.

“First and foremost, you’re trying to match what you need and what you want with what you can afford,” Howard said. “It was definitely a learning process for me, but ultimately I think we have a great building that is going to benefit our department for a long, long time.”

As the center draws closer to completion, the anticipation for its arrival among student athletes remains strong. There are over 500 student athletes at Florida Southern, making up over a seventh of all students enrolled. Due to this significant number of student athletes, the athletic department decided to branch out and build their own training complex. The high number of athletes combined with the pedigree of the athletic program in general, with FSC boasting 30 national championships across six different sports, administration seized the opportunity for growth.

(Editor’s note: The name of FSC Athletic Director Drew Howard was incorrect in the original article. This has been corrected.)

As delighted as I am that women and non-binary individuals are giving Harris an edge in the polls, I can’t help but wonder about what the majority of male voters who support Trump are thinking. It prompts me to ask myself: Is a strong woman in a position of power really so repulsing? Why do men still think this way about women? 

NEW YORK, September 16, 2024 – As students return to campus, upskilling and opportunities to futureproof their careers are top of mind, including training on AI and automation. A study from CFA Institute, the global association of investment professionals, found that 62 percent of American students and recent graduates ranked practical skills as the number-one […]

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Gophers volleyball defeated Long Island University (LIU) and Auburn in the Diet Coke Classic after their first home win at Maturi Pavilion against St. Thomas on Tuesday.

The Gophers started their season in Milwaukee where they upset then No. 1 ranked Texas. The team then flew to Waco, Texas for the Big Ten/Big Twelve challenge where they lost to Baylor and Texas Christian University in five sets. 

When the Gophers returned to Minneapolis, the scene at Maturi Pavilion was electric with volleyball fans from St. Thomas and the University of Minnesota filling the stands. 

Gophers Lydia Grote and Julia Hanson led the attack with 10 kills each, while libero Zeynep Palabiyik added 20 digs for the defense. 

After sweeping the match, head coach Keegan Cook said the game was not played to the same standard as their previous matches on the road despite the outcome. 

“Excellence is a moving target,” Cook said. “We’ve been playing a lot of really high-level volleyball for kind of four straight matches,” Cook said. “Tonight wasn’t quite up to that standard.”

The Gophers sent 14 players to the floor, eight of which recorded a kill. 

“You want to develop your roster,” Cook said. “Important moments for a lot of younger athletes to get out there.” 

Two days after defeating St. Thomas, the Gophers played in their second of three games that week against LIU. Grote said much of the team prefers to play at home given their class schedule.

“A few of us were talking after the game like ‘Wow we have class at 8 a.m. tomorrow,’” Grote said. “That’s a quick turnaround.”

The Gophers finished their Thursday matchup against LIU hitting a season high of .302 while holding LIU to a .108 hitting average. The Gophers tallied 43 kills to LIU’s 26. 

Gopher Mckenna Wucherer finished with a game-high 10 kills. Calissa Minatee and Grote added eight each. 

The next day, competition resumed when the Gophers swept Auburn in the final match of the Diet Coke Classic.

The first two sets saw plenty of back-and-forth action between both teams. Cook said it was the normal ups and downs of two great serving teams. 

“The third set just kind of broke it open and got it going and it was fun,” Cook said. 

Leading the Gophers attack was junior Julia Hanson, finishing the match with 12 kills, 16 digs and five blocks, the team-high in all three categories. Grote added 11 kills and 10 digs. 

During the first two sets, Hanson said she struggled to find a groove but decided to be more aggressive in the third. 

“In our meeting after the second set my coaches were very encouraging to go for it, my teammates as well,” Hanson said. “I said I’m gonna go for it, whatever happens happens.” 

Hanson’s best set came in the third where she tallied seven kills and six digs. 

After a three-game home slate, the Gophers will play three matches in Green Bay, Wisconsin before coming home again. 

But before that Cook said he is just looking forward to getting to practice. 

“We are excited to practice,” Cook said. “Hopefully come in on Monday and Tuesday and have two of our best practices to set us up for this week because there is still work to do for sure.”

NEW YORK, September 16, 2024 – As students return to campus, upskilling and opportunities to futureproof their careers are top of mind, including training on AI and automation. A study from CFA Institute, the global association of investment professionals, found that 62 percent of American students and recent graduates ranked practical skills as the number-one attribute to gain an edge in today’s job market. The 2024 Global Graduate Outlook Survey gleans insights from students and recent graduates to inform current students as they embark on the 2024-25 academic year.

Students and new graduates also agreed that a competitive edge on their resume is required in today’s job market. The majority (82 percent) of American graduates found that pursuing post-graduate certifications and qualifications will help them land higher earnings. Further, 94 percent say upskilling or acquiring certifications are important, and 69 percent say certifications will have a large impact on their earnings prospects, job fulfillment, and opportunities.

As today’s students prepare for their careers, they are eager to embrace the power of AI. The data revealed that nearly half of American graduates (45 percent) believe that AI and automation will be important to career success, and 86 percent said that knowing how to use these tools will benefit their career prospects.

For those pursuing careers in finance, which graduates around the globe ranked as the industry with the best career prospects in today’s economic climate, emerging technologies are especially top of mind. The survey found that of those who studied finance, 76 percent say that AI and automation are important to the success of their careers, and the vast majority (97 percent) agree that knowing how to use these tools will benefit them.

“As graduates today seek professions that not only promise stability but also resonate with their desires to make a tangible difference, finance emerges as an industry of opportunity. Our research shows that careers in finance offer the assurance of stability and provide a platform for graduates to contemplate a more impactful future,” said Margaret Franklin, CFA, President and CEO, CFA Institute. “With a new focus on sustainable investment strategies, and the possibilities for AI to enhance investment workflows, graduates have an opportunity to help shape a more innovative industry through a career in finance.”

Within the financial industry, the future looks bright with opportunities in investing-related roles, accounting, risk, client management, and more. Recent and new innovations such as AI, machine learning, and blockchain development have increased the need for a broader range of roles, such as data experts and programming. To explore the wide range of career paths and credentialing programs for finance, visit: https://www.cfainstitute.org/en/programs/cfa/charterholder-careers.

Notes to Editors:

The 2024 CFA Institute Graduate Outlook Survey was fielded via an online survey from March 19-April 8, 2024, by Dynata with a sample of 9,916 respondents studying for a bachelor’s degree or higher, or who have graduated with a bachelor’s degree or higher within the last three years aged 18-25. Respondents were from the UK, US, Canada, India, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong SAR, UAE, Germany, Spain, France, Brazil, Mexico, and China.

About CFA Institute

As the global association of investment professionals, CFA Institute sets the standard for professional excellence and credentials. We champion ethical behavior in investment markets and serve as the leading source of learning and research for the investment industry. We believe in fostering an environment where investors’ interests come first, markets function at their best, and economies grow. With more than 200,000 charterholders worldwide across 160 markets, CFA Institute has 10 offices and 160 local societies. Find us at www.cfainstitute.org or follow us on LinkedIn and X at @CFAInstitute.

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For further information please contact pr@cfainstitute.org

This story is published as part of U.S. Democracy Day and the Utah College Media Collaborative, a cross-campus project bringing together emerging journalists from Salt Lake Community College, the University of Utah, Utah State University and Utah Tech University.

Founded on placing the power of governance in the people, democracy is an ongoing experiment dating back to ancient Athens. Today, the United States remains a leading example of this ongoing political experiment.

Fundamentally, the only requirement for democracy is vesting the power of decision-making to the people, whether directly or indirectly.

The U.S. applies this indirectly, allowing voters to elect government officials to represent them. The most extreme example of this is the upcoming presidential election.  

While democracy has long remained on a pedestal in Western culture, it isn’t without flaws.

Any system that requires individuals to cast votes relies on the assumption that voters are educated on the topic of discussion. The fact that democracy cannot guarantee this assumption suggests an inherent flaw in the system of governance.  

An individual’s voting power is rendered mute when it stems from a lack of civic education. Democracy fails when the public lacks the education to make informed decisions.  

Education Inequality 

There is a widening gap between the educated and non-educated subsets of the American populace. According to a 2020 study, this gap is present not only between income levels but also over party lines. Voters are 10% to 30% less likely to be aware of stories unfavorable to the political party they affiliate with.

Americans are not only uneducated on their country’s political affairs but also unaware of their ignorance. In a 2022 study, those who performed the worst on political tests also exhibited the most confidence in their political knowledge. In practice, this results in the less educated often being the loudest when politics are being discussed.

Education itself has a direct impact on election results. A phenomenon referred to as the diploma divide describes the shift of college-educated voters towards the Democratic party, with non-college voters aligning with the Republicans.

This isn’t to say being a liberal is the correct, educated position to take. However, it serves to reason there is a direct correlation between college education and voter turnout. Republicans cannot rely on voters who lack a civic education to win elections, sacrificing a necessary pillar of the democratic voting process.

It has been suggested that this is the result of college brainwashing. Assuming this is the case, the answer lies in changing the way education is approached, not avoiding higher education altogether.

The Role of the Media 

Democracy is a longstanding tradition, yet only now has it begun to truly showcase the system’s shortcomings. This can be traced back to the funnel of misinformation that has plagued American media.

Digital news consumption has outpaced traditional news media, unleashing a new avenue for misinformation to spread. This becomes incredibly problematic when every major news site subscribes to a political bias.

A left-leaning voter cannot be considered more educated than their counterpart simply because they watch more CNN, and vice versa. Americans are held prisoner to whatever their main source of news is.

Fox News, a right-leaning news network, was forced to pay upwards of $785 million for spreading misinformation in 2023.

There are ways to protect oneself from misinformation, but they are time-consuming. Fact-checking every facet of political news one consumes is a luxury that most Americans do not have.  

Presidential Campaigns 

As November inches closer, voters have been subjected to Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump’s campaigns. Unsurprisingly, both corners are littered with lies.

Harris has bounced back and forth between policies, leaving Democratic voters confused if she is the left-leaning candidate they were promised. President Joe Biden wasn’t known for his honesty either, often twisting the truth to support a specific narrative.

When Trump took the debate stage with Biden in June, his performance consisted of more lies than truth. Lies regarding increased taxes and post-birth abortions defined the debate that night.

Americans cannot trust their politicians to inform them of their own beliefs, let alone educate them on the state of the nation. As presidential candidates, they are the most responsible for conveying accurate information. Americans depend on them to be the most accessible outlet for information. 

Slippery Slope 

The discussion regarding voter eligibility has always fallen under scrutiny. After all, there is no true way to determine what defines an intelligent voter. Even if there were, voting is a fundamental right. This makes it difficult to pass legislation regarding the form of a test.  

Blocking Americans from voting will never be the answer. Rather, steps must be taken to address the increasing education disparity limiting democracy.  

Public education must be reformed to raise critical thinkers capable of weeding through obvious misinformation. The media and politicians must be held more accountable for knowingly spreading disinformation.  

As it currently stands, democracy lies at the mercy of whoever controls and distributes information. Partisanship is much less indicative of personal values than it is of wherever one chooses to consume political news.  

For democracy to be fully effective, the public must have access to accurate information. 

If these criteria are not met, all that remains is a country that pretends to give its people decision-making power, while failing to represent the will of the people themselves.  

Matthew Timpa reported and wrote this story as a journalism student with the University of Utah’s The Daily Utah Chronicle. His article is part of U.S. Democracy Day, a nationwide collaborative on Sept. 15, the International Day of Democracy, in which news organizations cover how democracy works and the threats it faces. To learn more, visit usdemocracyday.org.

m.timpa@dailyutahchronicle.com

@timpa.chronicle

The post Opinion: Democracy Dies Under Misinformation first appeared on The Daily Utah Chronicle.

Welcome to Overhead Oregon!  In our new segment, the Daily Emerald will feature anonymously submitted quotes to be the subject of a cartoon! 

These could be anything from the silly to the strange, as long as it is heard in passing and taken completely out of context. Heard your classmate talking about penguin philosophy? Submit it! Has one of your friends compared Tic-Tacs to student loans? Submit it! Is there an especially eccentric neighbor you talk to about gardening? Hear any juicy gossip? Have a shower thought? Submit it! 

This comic series aims to shed a whole new light on the University of Oregon’s day-to-day where you get the opportunity to impact our next comic. Send in your best quotes here for a chance to have your quote chosen for Overheard Oregon! Remember, everything is completely anonymous and only the best quotes will be selected.

This story is published as part of U.S. Democracy Day and the Utah College Media Collaborative, a cross-campus project bringing together emerging journalists from Salt Lake Community College, the University of Utah, Utah State University and Utah Tech University.

Ranging from polarization to the closure of student resource centers, University of Utah students shared their thoughts and concerns on democracy with The Daily Utah Chronicle. The Chronicle discussed this topic for International Day of Democracy.

A March Pew Research Center report showed that most people in 24 countries are unhappy with their democratic systems. In addition, 74% said they believe elected officials don’t care what they think. Similarly, Jamie Lachowsky, a freshman and games major at the U, said he feels like state lawmakers ignore his thoughts and have pushed against his interests.

DEI Changes

Lachowsky cited the LGBT Resource Center’s closure as an example.

“It’s just sad to watch and experience … and [it does not] feel as safe because I don’t know where these people are or how to find them or interact with them because we don’t have those places anymore,” Lachowsky said.

In January, Utah passed an anti-DEI bill. The bill led the U to close the LGBT Resource Center alongside the Women’s Resource Center and the Black Cultural Center.

According to the Salt Lake Tribune, the law does not currently require state colleges to disband their cultural resource centers. However, in a press conference, University of Utah President Taylor Randall said closing the centers and forming two broader cultural centers was based on uncertainty over the law.

“We could have taken other centers forward,” Randall said at a press conference. “We just thought if all the universities did that, there was a high likelihood they would all get rejected. That is just purely a judgment call on our part.”

Lauren Antley, a senior and strategic communication major, said she thinks the U decided to shut down the resource centers without considering students’ perspectives.

“I feel like the students haven’t had much say about that,” Antley said. “The teachers have tried to put their say in, but … nothing is really happening.”

Over 900 U faculty members and staff signed a letter condemning the closure of the resource centers in July.

Gerrymandering

Brenna Dunn, a senior civil engineering major, expressed concern about the state legislature’s power to overrule the voters. She pointed to lawmakers repealing Proposition 4, a ballot initiative that assembled an independent committee to redraw congressional maps to prevent gerrymandering.

In July, the Utah Supreme Court ruled that lawmakers’ repealing Proposition 4 was unconstitutional. In response to the court’s ruling, the legislature passed proposal Amendment D in a special session on Aug. 21. The proposal would amend the state constitution to allow lawmakers to repeal or amend any ballot initiative passed by voters.

Despite her concerns, Dunn said she feels her views are sometimes represented in state politics.

“Luckily, every time I’ve written to a congressperson, I feel like that has been heard,” Dunn said.

Political Polarization

Zoe Foster, a non-degree-seeking student, said one of her main concerns is the growing polarization between the two parties and the need for mediated discussions.

“I feel like a lot of the news that we get is either/or, and it’s not a lot of both/and,” Foster said. “You really have to search for the both/and kinds of discussions.”

Political polarization has increased animosity between voters. A Pew Research Center report in 2022 found that 72% of Republicans think Democrats are more immoral than other Americans. Meanwhile, 63% of Democrats think the same about Republicans.

The growing resentment between the two parties has made political rhetoric more antagonistic. According to a 2023 Pew report, 84% of Americans think political debates have become less respectful.

Andrew Grow, a freshman games major, said candidates seem less focused on policy and are more concerned about painting the opposition in a bad light.

“I’ve seen a lot of [politicians] trying to point out the things the other candidates are doing wrong and not building an argument that stands on its own,” he said. “They’re trying to put the blame on other people rather than … be accountable and trying to solve problems.”

Giovanni Radtke reported and wrote this story as a journalism student with the University of Utah’s The Daily Utah Chronicle. His article is part of U.S. Democracy Day, a nationwide collaborative on Sept. 15, the International Day of Democracy, in which news organizations cover how democracy works and the threats it faces. To learn more, visit usdemocracyday.org.

g.radtke@dailyutahchronicle.com

@GiovanniRadtke

The post U Students Voice Their Thoughts on Democracy first appeared on The Daily Utah Chronicle.