With the recent opening of the new Public Policy Institute at Jacksonville University, there was a need to install an advisory board to oversee and guide the institute in its endeavors.

On Feb. 2, the institute announced it’s 21-member inaugural advisory board. Rick Mullaney, the director of the institute, expressed his satisfaction with the members who now make up the board.

“They are all great community stewards and leaders,” Mullaney said. “They really are.”

Some of the members initiated their acceptance by showing interest in the positions while others were approached by JU.

“All of them were enthusiastic in joining the board,” Mullaney said.

Mullaney said that the board is non-partisan and includes both Democrats and Republicans. Mullaney also commented on the diverse backgrounds that the board members will be bringing to the table.

Among the board members are doctors, lawyers and CEOs as well as many other distinguished members of the community, including JU alumni Brenda Ezell and Nina Waters. The members represent industries such healthcare, education, transportation, finance and economic development among others.

According to the press release, President Romesburg is also very pleased with the members and the contributions they will make to the institute.

“We have assembled a great team – this advisory board, our faculty and Rick Mullaney – to establish the institute and set a direction that will provide an excellent academic program for our students and a well-tailored community outreach program,” said Romesburg. “I am excited that such an esteemed group has agreed to serve on this board. This institute will create a vital link for not only the students of Jacksonville University, but also for the community and local leaders to discuss critical issues.”

The institute will be focused on building the first master’s degree in public policy in Florida with the goal of having a master’s degree program in place for fall 2013, and there is support for joint degrees opportunities with JU’s MBA and marine sciences programs as well as with Florida Coastal School of Law. With faculty approval, these joint degrees programs would be the first in the state of Florida. The institute will also provide community programs and forums, including an annual conference where leaders and academics will be brought together to discuss important local issues.

“I’m excited to have the opportunity to work with the university and the other members of the board,” said Joseph Debs, a Chief Marketing Officer in the transportation business. “It’s a talented group of individuals.”

According to an official JU press release, the advisory board includes the following: Fernando Acosta-Rua, Ronald R. Austin, Dr. Yank D. Coble, Gary R. Chartrand, Robert M. Clements, Joseph N. Debs, G. Ray Driver, Brenda B. Ezell, Steve T. Halverson, Preston H. Haskell, Cyrus M. Jollivette, Kelly Madden, Douglas M. Miller, Honorable John S. Peyton, C. Daniel Rice, Ambassador John D. Rood (Ret.), Robert T. Shircliff, Richard L. Sisisky, William H. Walton, Nina Waters and Ben Warner.

The institute will hold its first meeting and kick off dinner on Feb. 28. The bylaws governing the board will be discussed, including how long members will serve as advisers.

JU Public Policy Institute Advisory Board pulled the following from the official press release.

1. Fernando Javier Acosta-Rua
Fernando Acosta-Rua is the Chief Operating Officer of American Pet Resorts – a chain of upscale pet boarding facilities located throughout the southern United States. He has served as COO since Jan. 2007 and has been involved with the company since Aug. 2004. Prior to APR, he was a partner at the Connecticut based private equity group, L&L Capital Partners. Acosta-Rua led an investment group to invest $11 million in American Pet Resorts, LLC, from Oct. 2005 through Dec. 2006. Acosta-Rua earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida and an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

2. Ronald R. Austin, Esquire
Ronald R. Austin, Attorney at Law, is engaged in the private practice of law as a principal in the firm of Austin & Austin, Jacksonville, Fla. The firm concentrates in representing governmental entities and in eminent domain, land use, mass transportation and bond/corporate matters. Austin is “AV” rated by Martindale-Hubbell. He is also listed in Martindale-Hubbell’s Register of Preeminent Lawyers in America. Austin formerly served as Deputy General Counsel for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement in Tallahassee, Fla. and as an attorney representing the Florida Public Service Commission. Austin earned a bachelor’s degree from Alabama A&M University and a law degree from the University of Florida.

3. Yank D. Coble, M.D.
Dr. Yank Coble is Distinguished Professor and Director of the Center for Global Health and Medical Diplomacy, University of North Florida, and Clinical Professor of Medicine, University of Florida. From 2002 to 2007, Dr. Coble served on the USA and WMA Delegations to the World Health Organization and Assembly. An endocrinologist in Jacksonville, Fla. for over 35 years, Dr. Coble is also active in his community. He served on the founding boards of the Jacksonville Community Council, Inc. and Leadership Jacksonville and as President of Jacksonville Community Council, Inc. Coble has medical degrees from Duke University School of Medicine and the London School of Medicine.

4. Gary R. Chartrand
Gary Chartrand is the Executive Chairman of Acosta, Inc. Acosta is a leading full-service sales and marketing agency. The Company employs over 21,000 associates and operates 64 offices in the U.S. and Canada. Chartrand received the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for the State of Florida in May 2001. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Tom Coughlin Jay Fund Foundation, St. Vincent’s Healthcare System, The Jacksonville Public Education Fund, State Board of Education and the KIPP schools in Jacksonville. Chartrand earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of New Hampshire.

5. Robert M. Clements
Clements has served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of EverBank Financial Corp and its predecessor companies since 1997. Clements joined the EverBank family of companies in 1994. Clements was previously a Vice President at Merrill Lynch & Co., where he was a member of the firm’s leveraged buyout group, Merrill Lynch Capital Partners, Inc.  Clements earned his bachelor’s degree in economics from Dartmouth College and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

6. Joseph N. Debs, P.E.
Joseph Debs is a member of the Board of Directors of RS&H and serves as Executive Vice President/Chief Marketing Officer. Prior to moving into the CMO position, Debs served as Senior Vice President and Director of RS&H’s national transportation and infrastructure practice, a practice that spans 14 states and the District of Columbia. Debs has been active in the planning and design of transportation systems for 35 years with responsibilities for many nationally recognized and innovative highway, bridge, transit, rail and port projects. Debs earned his bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Florida and an MBA from the University of North Florida.

7. G. Ray Driver, Esquire
G. Ray Driver, Jr. practices in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, venture capital finance, securities law and general corporate law and is a partner in the law firm of Driver, McAfee, Peek & Hawthorne. Driver has experience in representing publicly owned and privately held businesses in a wide range of corporate transactions. Driver is a member of The Florida Bar, the American Bar Association and the Jacksonville Bar Association. Driver earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Accounting from the University of Montevallo and a Master’s degree in accounting and a law degree from the University of Florida.

8. Brenda B. Ezell, Esquire
Brenda Ezell is the founder of the Ezell Law Firm, practicing in the areas of commercial real estate and business transactions and state and local government law. Ezell is an active in community volunteer, currently serving as a member and immediate past chair of the OneJax board of directors, a member of the board of Habitat for Humanity of Jacksonville, Inc., and the Mandarin Museum and Historical Society. Ezell earned her bachelor’s degree in business administration from Jacksonville University and her law degree from the University of Florida.

9. Steve T. Halverson
Steve Halverson is President and Chief Executive Officer of The Haskell Company, one of the nation’s largest integrated design-build organizations, with operations throughout the United States and Latin America and headquarters in Jacksonville, Fla.  Halverson is Chairman of the Florida Council of 100, Past Chairman of the Florida Chamber of Commerce and is Vice-Chairman for St. John’s University. Halverson earned his bachelor’s degree from St. Johns University, law degree from American University and completed executive business education at Dartmouth College and the University of Pennsylvania.

10. Preston H. Haskell
Preston Hampton Haskell, III is founder and chairman of The Haskell Company, the largest privately held construction company in Florida and a top design/build firm in the United States. He was a minority owner of the National Football League Jacksonville Jaguars, prior to its recent sale. He attended Princeton University and earned a Civil engineering degree with honors in 1960, received an MBA with distinction from Harvard Business School in 1962 and continued his studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Building Engineering and Construction.

11. Cyrus M. Jollivette
Russ Jollivette is Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida’s senior vice president of Public Affairs. In this role, Mr. Jollivette provides executive leadership for community affairs and government and legislative relations. Prior to joining BCBSF in 2002, Jollivette had a distinguished career in university administration and public and government relations. More recently, he founded a successful consulting practice representing private sector clients in Washington, D.C. Jollivette earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from C.W. Post College, an MBA from Long Island University and a law degree from the University of Miami.

12. Kelly Madden
Kelly Madden is the North Florida Wholesale Regional President for Wells Fargo Bank. A 24-year veteran of the company, Madden started her career in 1988 with First Union National Bank, a predecessor institution of Wells Fargo. Prior to her current role, she served as North Florida Regional President. Madden has earned numerous awards in her career, including  First Coast Business Hall of Fame from the Florida Council on Economic Education, Women of Influence award from The Girl Scouts, the MS Hope award, and Top Women in Leadership award from the United Way. Madden received her bachelor’s degree in Marketing from Florida State University.

13. Douglas C. Miller, P.E.
Douglas Miller’s 35-year public works and engineering career has incorporated both private consulting and municipal engineering. For the past 30 years he has been a managing principal of England, Thims & Miller, Inc.  Miller has directed construction management and contract administration services on construction projects valued in excess of one billion dollars.  Miller serves as District Engineer for multiple Community Development Districts in Florida. Miller earned his bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Florida.

14. Honorable John Peyton
John Peyton was named President of GATE Petroleum Company, one of the largest privately-held companies in Florida, in January 2012 after serving two consecutive terms as Mayor of Jacksonville, Fla. He has been actively involved in the community, serving as chairman of the Jacksonville Transportation Agency, Jacksonville Symphony Association and Greenscape of Jacksonville. In 2006, President George W. Bush appointed Mr. Peyton to the board of trustees of the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation. Peyton earned his bachelor’s degree from Mercer University and completed the Harvard Executive Education Program.

15. C. Daniel Rice
C. Daniel Rice has served as President and CEO of Mayport Venture Partners, LLC since its founding in 2000. Rice currently serves on the Board of Directors of American Pet Resort, Inc. and has been an adviser to other portfolio companies on issues such as strategic partnerships, fundraising, business plan development, operational issues and restructuring. He currently serves as Chairman of the Board for Saint Vincent’s Healthcare System.  Rice received his bachelor’s degree from Clemson University and an MBA and law degree from the University of Florida.

16. Ambassador John D. Rood (Ret.)
John Darrell Rood is the Chairman of The Vestcor Companies, Inc. and The JDR Companies, Inc, both real estate development companies. In Sept. 2004, President George W. Bush appointed Rood as United States Ambassador to the Commonwealth of the Bahamas where he served until 2007. He is a member of the Board of Governors of the State University System and a member of the Board of Trustees of Flagler College. Rood earned his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from University of Montana.

17. Robert T. Shircliff
Robert T. Shircliff has distinguished himself as a successful leader in business, civic, volunteer, philanthropic and religious organizations. He had a successful business career with the Pepsi-Cola bottling companies. He founded a consulting group specializing in equity enhancement and retired in 1988. He served at various times as president of the National Pepsi-Cola Bottlers Association and as a director of General Cinema Corporation, Atlantic National Bank of Jacksonville, EverBank Financial Corporation and others. He served as Chair of the Jacksonville University Board of Trustees and JU’s Campaign 2000. Shircliff earned his bachelor’s degree in Marketing from Indiana University.

18. Richard L. Sisisky
Richard L. Sisisky is President of The Shircliff & Sisisky Company, a management-consulting firm based in Jacksonville, Fla. His company has had consulting agreements with more than 200 clients, primarily franchised bottlers of Pepsi-Cola products in the United States, Mexico, Canada and Middle East. Sisisky currently serves as Lead Director of Stein Mart, Inc. and has held leadership positions in many not-for-profit organizations including Baptist Health System, Jacksonville Children’s Commission, The Bolles School, Jewish Federation of Northeast Florida and United Way.  Sisisky earned his bachelor’s degree from The College of William and Mary and a law degree from the University of Richmond.

19. William H. Walton, III
Bill Walton is a founding member of Rockpoint Group, L.L.C., a global real estate investment management firm with offices in the U.S., Europe and Asia.  In 1994,  Walton also co-founded Westbrook Real Estate Partners, L.L.C., a similar firm which the Rockpoint managing members continue to control.  Since 1994, the Rockpoint managing members have invested over $10 billion of equity capital in almost $40 billion of real estate around the world. Prior to co-founding Westbrook, Walton was a managing director in the real estate group of Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated, which he joined in 1979.   Walton has served as a Director or Trustee on the Boards of several public companies, as well as private and non-profit organizations, including the American Enterprise Institute, Princeton University and Princeton University Investment Company.  Walton received an A.B. in 1974 from Princeton University and an M.B.A. in 1979 from Harvard Business School.

20. Nina Waters
Nina Waters is the President of The Community Foundation in Jacksonville.  Waters was promoted to this position in Jan. 2005 after serving as Executive Vice President for three years. Her primary responsibilities include the leadership and management of donor services, grant making and administrative services functions of the foundation. Prior to joining the staff of the foundation, Waters served as Executive Director for the PACE Center for Girls Jacksonville program for twelve years. Waters was the recipient of the JU Distinguished Alumni Award, Scouts Women of Distinction Award, and is chairman-elect of the Southeastern Council of Foundations. Waters earned her bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Jacksonville University.

21. Ben Warner
Ben Warner is President & CEO of the Jacksonville Community Council Inc., Northeast Florida’s longstanding center for civic engagement in public policy. He is globally recognized for his work in community consensus-building around data-driven public policy issues, and has served as President of the National Association of Planning Councils and the international Community Indicators Consortium. Warner earned his bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Brigham Young University and his Master’s in Social Work from Florida State University.

In Jacksonville University’s Gooding building the floors of the honors lounge and the pavement outside of it ran white with flour and water on Saturday Feb. 4. A gaggle of Jacksonville University honors students hastened to stuff and papier-mâché fourteen columns made of chicken wire in preparation for their Italian Summit on Feb. 13 and 14. It was organized chaos as they slapped strip after strip of old newspapers dripping with the stuff only nightmares are made of onto the eight-foot-tall structures.

Simultaneously, JU played host to the North Florida Regional Latin Forum. Crowds of young students from middle schools and high schools in the area were milling about taking tests, participating in sporting events and costume contests all of Latin and Roman nature.

The National Junior Classical League is the largest academic organization in America for middle and high school students. The Florida chapter is the third largest in the world, and for JU to have hosted them was a great honor. Cheryl Sowder, Ph.D., professor of art history, acted as campus coordinator for the day’s events.

A series of misunderstandings took an otherwise very successful day down a rabbit hole of confusion, accusations, apologies and spoons.

“When they left here Saturday evening, they expected to be able to come back Monday morning to clean it not knowing the cleaning people come in very early.” said Janet Haavisto, Ph.D., English professor and head of the JU honors program.

The honors students left a sticky, white mess that has been described as disgusting, inexcusable and unacceptable. When the cleaning staff came in early on Monday morning and saw the mess, they reported it to the Coordinator of Facilities, Deborah Guy.

The blame for the mess at this point went to Dr. Cheryl Sowder and the Latin Forum that she helped coordinate. The reason is because no one  from Physical Plant or the administration building actually knew the honors students were working that Saturday. No one from the honors program had notified any one from the physical plant or administration that a group of around twenty students would be working without faculty supervision.

Over the course of the next several days, Dr. Haavisto sent numerous letters of apology and made many personal visits to those effected by the miscommunication.

As for the mess, it is barely a shadow of its former self thanks to the dedicated work of a trio of honors freshman and Linda Christoffersen, honors administrative coordinator, the Thursday after the fiasco occurred. Armed with nothing but drive, time and some spoons, the group decimated the ingrained spots of dried papier-mâché in the carpeting of their lounge.

“I think they all learned their lesson,” Christoffersen said. “I doubt they’ll make a mess like that again.”

As the United States presidential primaries get underway, Jacksonville University is holding its own election.

The Jacksonville University Student Alliance is holding its presidential elections, and will have a new student assembly board by Thursday, February 7. The winners will be announced in Davis Student Commons Room A during the weekly JUSA meeting.

The candidates for president are Katherine Thomas, a junior, Brandon Krouppa, a junior and Jordan Miklowitz, a senior. The candidates for vice president are Trevor Touchton, a junior, and Sungjoon Ryou, a senior. They participated in a debate held Tuesday, February 2 in Nellies at 2 p.m.

“I feel that the debate went really well,” Thomas said.

Thomas is one of the more experienced candidates, having been on JUSA since her freshman year.

She went on to clarify that she felt the debate had really been more of a discussion of the issues amongst the candidates, rather than an actual debate. Thomas felt that one of the biggest issues discussed was She also commented on the low attendance rate. There were less than 10 attendees present.

Thomas feels that her experience as a political science major, as well as her broad background of involvement in many different campus organizations, makes her a strong candidate.

“I represent a lot of different areas of campus,” Thomas said.

Thomas has been Panhellenic president, a Peer Career advisor, an admissions ambassador, and president of the Political Science Society and the Pre-law Society. She was also the JUSA representative for the college of arts and sciences.

As president, Thomas would focus on using JUSA to promote creative solutions to the problems brought up by the student body, rather than making demands of the administration.

“I don’t think making demands is what JUSA is about,” said Thomas.

Krouppa, JUSA’s historian, has also had a lot of experience on JUSA. He has held several positions on JUSA, including residential life liaison and physical plant liaison.

Krouppa  gave the Dolphin Channel an interview detailing why he wanted to be president. According to Krouppa, his main motivation to wanting to be president is because he feels we’re disconnected to the student body.  He said that JUSA receives input on a weekly basis on things JU should be doing, or could be doing. He said that it doesn’t seem like a lot of these things get done. As president, he would focus on solving these problems.

Krouppa is a coxswain of the crew team, and secretary of the Society of Physics students, a member of the math society, and a student worker in the Davis Student Commons.

Miklowitz, who was recently installed as JUSA’s press secretary after only one semester as north campus representative, wants to make changes as president. He wants students to feel like they are more empowered, like they have more rights, and to be able to connect with the administration, and with JUSA. As president, he wants to get everything working “in sync.”

Miklowitz’s is also involved on campus as the assistant intramural director.

As one of only two vice presidential candidates, and the only one currently on JUSA, Touchton had hoped for there to be more attendance at the debate, and for there to have been more questions. He feels he is the best candidate because of his problem-solving ability.

“I think that actions speak louder than words and feel that when a problem arises it is better to work on solving the problem rather then playing the blame-game,” Touchton said. “Positivity goes a long way.”

Sungjoon Ryou emphatically refused to comment.

One of the issues facing this election is the “greek vote.” This is where members of the greek community will vote for a candidate will vote for someone based off of their association to a particular organization, rather than their qualifications. The “greek vote” has drawn concern from some members of the student body, as they feel it may skew the election in an otherwise unforeseen manner.

“The greek  vote is probably the biggest deciding factor in the elections,” said Zach Shacter, current president of JUSA. “When there is a greek candidate in elections they already have a set of unconditional votes from the members of their organizations. It may not be fair, but that’s exactly how it is. Personally, my candidates of choice for president and vice-president are not greek.

Photo by Grace Singer

The city of Jacksonville provides its citizens with a complex infrastructure of buses that gives Jacksonville University students the opportunity to explore the city.  The public transportation system is called the Jacksonville Transit Authority (JTA).  JTA operates throughout the year, operating on holidays using amended hours.  Currently JTA maintains 56 routes, 320 bus drivers and 110 vehicles.

The mission statement of JTA is “To be the Northeast Florida leader in providing safe, effective, coordinated and integrated multimodal transportation solutions.” In other words, JTA wants to be the solution to your transportation needs, utilizing different tactics.  The route that is centered in the heart of the Arlington community is the AR6.

The AR6 starts at the Rosa Parks Transit Center and completes its route at the Regency Square Mall.   There are several points of interest on the route, the most noted is JU.

Alongside Terry Concert Hall beyond the fence sits a bus stop that gives bus goers a place to congregate until the AR6 arrives.

Once on the AR6 inbound, meaning heading towards the Rosa Parks Transit station, bus goers will be able to switch between bus lines for the price of  $1.50 since the price increase taking effect as of Jan. 30, 2012.

Students cam simply walk outside the gates of JU to utilize the public transportation system.

Freshman Manrique Torrens says that he uses the transit system here in Jacksonville and doesn’t mind the way it’s set up, believing there are no problems with it either.

Public transportation does provide a low cost alternative; however, it’s not appealing to everyone.

“I do not utilize public transportation, but in general it’s cheaper not necessarily more efficient,” said senior Alyssia Cousins.

A general concern for most bus goers is the length of time that it takes to go from origin to destination.  Typically, each route is about an hour long.  However, this does not included traffic conditions, the number of bus goers entering and exiting the bus or hazardousweather conditions.

“I don’t like Jacksonville transportation,” said junior Safiya Lawrence. “I think it’s confusing and always off schedule for me.”

JTA is known for its ability to meet the transportation needs of its patrons. Many people are thankful for having a mass transit system, but that does not excuse deficiencies in the system.

“It’s great when you have a well-developed mass public transportation; it sucks when the system is poor,” said junior Kim Mak.

With the sights and sounds of new construction turning heads throughout Jacksonville University’s grounds, the question has been murmured amongst some campus residents on whether other areas of the campus are in their due turn for renovation.

The major area called to question is one that hundreds of students interact closely with on a daily basis, the older residence halls of Botts, Johnson, Williams, Brest and McGehee.

The complexes are showing a number of the battle scars of a seasoned old age. Students, especially in Botts and Johnson, have commented on extreme temperatures, reoccurring loss of hot water, backed up plumbing, rusted piping, damaged furniture and peeling paint among other issues.

“The biggest complaint would be about the temperature,” said Michelle Adams-Manning, assistant director of residential life for residence education. “Because it’s an older building, the heating and cooling system is not of today’s time.”

Although Williams Complex for men, built in 1964, underwent renovations within the past decade, Botts Complex for women has not seen major construction since it was originally built in 1968. A number of rumors have circulated about renovations for the women’s living quarters, such as Botts being torn down or renovated. However, as it stands, this is not true. There are no plans for upgrading the women’s buildings.

This lack of change is speculated to be due to an absence of donor funding specifically for renovation projects. However, for the major renovations the halls will soon require, the money must be found. Any donors interested in contributing to renovations in the halls can contact JU’s University Advancement Office. In the mean time, without this type of funding, the budget does not allow for improvements such as upgraded water and air systems that the buildings and students cry for.

With this in mind, the current approach for maintaining the health and quality of student life within these structures must be one that tackles one issue at a time.

“With social media, we stay on top of the things we can control,” Manning said.

Residential life, distributes information about scheduled maintenance, such as power and water cut offs, through JU e-mail and Facebook.

However, this is a feat that cannot be accomplished without involvement from the students living within the buildings. Active communication by students is the initiating step for change within the buildings.

“We are a liason with the students and the physical plant,” said Devon Scheible, director of residential life. “If there are any specific problems that need to be addressed students can go to their community advisor or come to our office and we will in turn contact the physical plant to let them know about the issues.”

Nevertheless, the debate among students remains: Is it worth it?

For each student living in a double occupancy room in one of the older dormitory halls, the cost averages to about $375 a month. This means that each room costs approximately $750 a month between the two residents, about the charge of the average two bedroom apartment in Jacksonville.

“I don’t think it is worth the money,” said Jennifer Miller, a sophomore and resident of Botts Hall. “It is always cold and the living conditions are less than average.”

In response to this reoccurring sentiment, residential life is attempting a forward step for students in the coming year with the resources they are given.

“We recognize that students who are living in Oak Hall and the Village Apartments have better physical conditions than those in older buildings so we are working to keep the prices considerably lower,” Scheible said.

It is, however, the structural conditions of Botts and Johnson that face the most criticism. The lifestyle, sociability and cleanliness are significantly well received by residents. Despite the need for repairs, many of those who live within them value the close-knit, commutative atmosphere of the halls.

“A positive of dorm life is the aspect of living near a bunch of different people from different places,” Miller said.  “From personal experience I am ultimately happier in these dorms than Oak. Oak is just a little bigger and cleaner.”

“Overall we have a pretty nice community,” said April Morton, sophomore and Botts Hall resident. “We have had two great CAs this year and I like it. The maintenance people do their best to keep everything nice for us.”

Encouraging students to remain living on campus is intended to be of benefit to both the school and student residents.

“We would argue that it is definitely safer to live on campus than in other parts of Jacksonville or even this neighborhood,” said Scheible.

Campus life is designed to be a transition, convenience, security, community and learning experience for students. In this system, although they often feel so, students are not powerless. In essence, they are the ones paying the bills and it is this residential population that should not silence their own voice. Before individual problems can be fixed, they must be expressed.

Local

• Unusual Numbers of Dead Birds Wash up on First Coast Shores
  • Over a dozen sea birds were discovered dead between Atlantic Beach and North St. Johns County’s Guana Preserve in the past week. According to a report in the Florida Times Union, the birds were discovered by a member of the Jacksonville Waterways Commission who by chance was walking on the beach. Officials with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission as well as the Bird Emergency and Kare Sanctuary (B.E.A.K.S) state that the deaths are natural effects of migration and the public should not worry.

• The Bugs are Back in Town
  • As the product of an unusually warm season there has been an increase in Jacksonville insect activity, according to a News4Jax article.  As spring progresses, the reproductive activity is expected to increase within populations such as mole crickets and ants in the area.

Regional

• Susan G. Komen Charity Says It Will Restore Grants to Planned Parenthood
  • After three days of extensive criticisms throughout the national community, the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation discontinued plans to cut off grants to Planned Parenthood.  According to an article in the Florida Times Union, the initial decision to stop funding towards Planned Parenthood for political motivations quickly marred the organization’s image. It was met with defiance within the organization itself as well as outside, with some branches openly ignoring the cutoff and continuing their grants to Planned Parenthood, which provided about 170,000 clinical breast exams and 6,400 mammogram referrals throughout the past five years. This led to a swift change of mind.

• Georgia Court Rejects Law on Banning Assisted Suicide
  • The Georgia Supreme Court may have set a precedent for the nation Monday by unanimously ruling that a law intending to control assisted suicide is unconstitutional in nature. According to an article in the New York Times, the court concluded that the law violated free speech rights by making the advocacy of assisted suicide a crime in itself.

World

• Hundreds of Lives Lost in European Cold Snap
  • A flash of extreme cold lasting more than a week has killed hundreds of people, according to an article in the New York Times. The snow and ice has stifled transportation and utilities throughout the continent, cutting off many areas from access entirely. A number of the individuals who have succumbed to hypothermia and frostbite brought on by the cold were homeless, as they faced nightly temperatures well below freezing.

• Eradication Sought for 10 Neglected Tropical Diseases by 2020
  • Through the London Declaration on Neglected Diseases, the Bill and Melina Gates Foundation, a number of pharmaceutical companies, global health organizations, and the governments of U.S., U.K., and United Arab Emirates have announced their intent to eradicate ten neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) by the end of the decade.  According a press release as well as a CNN article, the conglomerate intends branch out from typical focus on western illnesses. They set out to provide approximately $785 million to support efforts to eliminate tropical diseases such as lymphatic filariasis and river blindness.