“From the scene, it was pretty obvious [it was a suicide],” UPD Chief Mark Foxworth said.

But the family of 22-year-old psychology major D’Angelo Hurd, who was found with a gunshot wound to the head and a 9mm Glock pistol in his lap, are not willing to accept his death as a suicide.

“We would rather just call it a death because ultimately, you never know,” said Hurd’s mother, Hazzel Sutton. For her and the rest of Hurd’s family, the death was a shock.

Although Hurd’s demeanor never seemed to change in the months prior, Sutton feels her son might have been overwhelmed by his full-time class load, particularly a statistics class he was struggling with, she said.

“He didn’t really talk too much or was very sociable,” Sutton said. “If he had any problems, he didn’t show it or talk about it.”

Hurd worked at Auntie Anne’s Pretzels for more than two years in the Avenues Mall and purchased the pistol found at the scene in October, Foxworth said.

“We didn’t even know he had a gun,” Sutton said.

But considering the violent crime numbers in Jacksonville, Sutton would have gladly accepted his son’s right to protect himself, she said.

Hurd, who graduated from Morristown High School in Morristown, N.J., was very close to his grandmother, Olive Collins, who took care of him while his mother was deployed in the U.S. Navy.

“He liked ribs,” Collins said, reminiscing how she eagerly cooked for her grandson whom her family called Brandon.

Hurd never caused any trouble and was saddened about not being able to play sports as a youngster because of a medical condition, she said.

“He didn’t drink, he didn’t smoke. He was always a good kid,” Collins said. And Hurd always made a point to visit the woman who raised him since he was 22 days old, she said.

The last time Collins called him, Hurd said he would never see her again – ever, she said.

“I would ask him when he would visit me again, and he always said ‘Oh never mommy,’ that’s how he joked,” Collins said.

Collins plans to attend the funeral services Nov. 22 at Harris Mortuary at 2261 Edison Ave.

The service is open to the public and Collins said all UNF students are welcome.

Dr. Michael Malec, associate director at the UNF Counseling Center, said cases like this sometimes bring up personal issues in other students’ lives.

They try to reach out to students in classes common with the victim, Malec said.

“With suicides, it’s not unusual for individual close to them to think ‘what could I have done,’” Malec said. “I encourage them to take advantage of our services at the counseling center.”

Students can speak to one of the 19 counselors by appointment or walk-in at any time in Building 2, room 2068.

E-mail Jonathan Morales at news@unfspinnaker.com.

The creator and instructor of the class, Dr. Suzanne Simon, never planned the event into her syllabus.

“There was this growing sensibility within the class that rather than simply write one more paper… many of the students basically said they would rather do something,” Simon said.

The students chose topics such as battery recycling and disposal, preservation of animal habitats, and water and electricity conservation. They connected these broad issues to real problems at UNF and in the Jacksonville area.

“It was nice to see the students realize environmental struggles aren’t always elsewhere; they’re right here at home,” Simon said. “I think it’s going to be tremendously successful.”

Responsible Lawn Care
This group will be sharing information about water conservation and environmentally friendly lawn care techniques. It will explain how run-off from some fertilizers and pesticides contaminate the St. Johns River.

Demonstrations will include the use of a bucket to collect rainwater and the ways different species of native plants can be used in native landscaping. This is a process that saves energy, time and money, said senior international studies major and group member, Katrina Norbom.

“It’s a really strange societal norm how we take care of our lawns here in Florida,” Norbom said. “We have homeowners associations that keep [using landscaping methods that] essentially destroy the environment.”

Shock Your Thoughts
This group will be telling students about the harmful effects of throwing away used batteries, the ways they can be properly disposed of and the benefits of using rechargeable batteries instead.

“A lot of people don’t even realize it’s an issue,” said junior international studies major and group member Roarie Borg. “They just toss their batteries when they’re done with them.”

Hit the Switch
This group will be passing out fliers printed on the backs of already used paper to not only inform students of ways to save on their electricity bills and reduce carbon emissions, but to demonstrate how easy re-using items like paper can be, Simon said.

It will also post fliers next to UNF’s bathroom light switches encouraging people leaving to “hit
the switch.”

What the Duck
Members of this group will be questions like, “Is our campus as environmentally friendly as we’ve always assumed it to be?”

The answers to the questions they pose will come in the photographs they will have demonstrated at their booth. These pictures will show the pollution, construction and water loss around campus, sophomore anthropology major Jennifer Huenink said.

“The campus is portrayed to be very green and environmentally friendly, but what we’re seeing contradicts that strongly,” Huenink said.

Cookies for Carbon Offset
This group will be selling brownies and cookies donated by the Grassroots Natural Market. With these funds, it will purchase a carbon offset from carbonfund.org to help reduce UNF’s carbon footprint.

At the event, it will explain what a carbon footprint is and what efforts will be taken to help reduce it.

“We’re actually going to attach little tips to the cookies – top 10 ways to reduce your carbon footprint,” senior psychology major Courtney Lemon said.

E-mail Rebecca McKinnon at staff3@unfspinnaker.com.

The event will kick off with a campus clean up from 7:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. and will continue from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. with the trash audit and expo.

The trash for the expo will be taken from four buildings on campus, an administration building, an academic building, the food court area and a housing building.

The bags collected will be displayed on the Green, and then volunteers will sort the garbage into categories such as paper, plastic, food, etc., said Colleen Herms, the student coordinator of Garbage on the Green. Once the sorting is done, the trash will be measured, the results will be recorded and a report will be written.

The event is intended to raise awareness about the amount of trash produced at UNF and to show how much of that trash could have been either recycled or reused.

“Students need to be aware that their trash does not just disappear into thin air,” Herms said.

Not only is the intent to show students how much trash they generate, but also to change the way they think about the trash they produce, said Dr. Radha Pyati, director of the UNF Environmental Center and associate professor of chemistry, who admitted she too has to put an effort into thinking about it.

“I want students to think about every piece of waste they generate and to think about what its life cycle could be,” Pyati said.

The first Garbage on the Green was March 8, 2007 and was very successful, Pyati said. UNF is a very active campus and facility services were on board and easy to work with, she said.

Last year, 144 60-gallon bags were collected from just four of the more than 50 buildings on campus, Pyati said.

There will be 24 exhibitors on the Green during the event. They will include Southland Waste and Recycling, Healthy Way Café, which will also be serving lunch, and Grower’s Alliance Coffee, which will be providing coffee all day.

“Essentially, UNF wants to be the greenest campus in the Southeast,” Pyati said. “We are not there yet, but that is our ambition. We have to take small steps.”

E-mail Sadie Seal at news@unfspinnaker.com.

The room occupant denied possession of the substance and claimed there was not enough evidence to place the subject in constructive possession of the illegal substance.

Further examination of the room revealed a 750 ml bottle of tequila in the refrigerator.

The subject and his roommate are both underage.

The bottle of alcohol was disposed of, and the cigarette was confiscated and later tested positive for marijuana.

Nov. 12 – Death (Building 44) – A UNF police officer was conducting a property check of Parking Garage 44.

Upon reaching the fourth level, he noticed a black Ford Mustang parked in a legal parking space.

When the police officer approached the vehicle to see if it was occupied, he noticed a black male who appeared to be sleeping on the driver’s seat of the vehicle.

After he saw a Glock pistol lying on the male’s lap, he immediately backed away and summoned assistance via radio.

With the assistance of additional officer, they approached the vehicle from the driver’s and passenger’s side.

The male appeared to have a large hole above his right ear and blood running down his nose. UPD then gained entrance into the vehicle.

After checking the male’s pulse and feeling his body temperature, they summoned rescue to the scene which pronounced the male dead.

The case was turned over to the Detective Unit.
See page 1 for full story.

Nov. 13 – Petty theft (Building 38) – UPD was dispatched in reference to an altered UNF parking decal.

The student using the decal admitted to printing a copy on his printer at home.

He was using the fake decal so he wouldn’t have to pay a parking fee.

The student said he did not remember who gave him the original decal, and he did not share it with anybody else.

The student was issued a notice to appear.

Nov. 13 – Grand theft (Lot 18) – While riding through lot 18, a UNF employee noticed two
cedar wood slabs and their mounting hardware were stolen from a bus stop.

After he unsuccessfully searched the immediate area, he reported the incident to UPD.

The total value of the material was estimated to be $300.

Compiled by Andrea Farah.

The Children’s Miracle Network-sponsored Dance Marathon is the first campus-wide event of its kind, with a little more than 220 dancers registered so far.

The event will force participants to be on their feet for 18 hours straight from 6 p.m. Nov. 21, when dancers will be welcomed and divided into groups, to noon Nov. 22, when the total amount of money raised will be announced.

All proceeds will benefit the CMN at Shands Jacksonville and Wolfson Children’s Hospital.

Chair of the Dance Marathon and senior political science major Kristin Williams has been preparing for the event since she was appointed the position in January.

She received help from several committees who sought out entertainment, which will include DJs and local bands, choreographed morale-boosting dances and organized ways to raise extra money.

“Over the summer, I went to a Dance Marathon Conference in Orlando to get the ball rolling and really found out what steps to take,” Williams said. “The stuff I got to experience and meeting other people who do the same thing [as me] was awesome.”

Williams led many fundraising eventse in the last few weeks to advertise the event, and all the group donated all of the proceeds it raised to the CMN.

There will be activities in a rotating sequence on the two days of the marathon in order to keep spirits high and feet moving. “Miracle Families,” children who are patients at Wolfson’s or Shands along with their parents, will be present to tell their stories and interact with dancers.

Williams worked closely with Lauren Andry, an employee of the CMN of Northeast Florida/Southeast Georgia, who provided her with ideas and was in charge of bringing the families on board.

“The event will be a blast, and UNF should be proud of all the students who are making it possible,”
Andry said.

The last day to sign up was Nov. 14, but guests are allowed to visit participants during the long stakeout to bring them snacks or cheer them on.

The dancers registered have already raised more than $10,000, Williams said.

A Miracle Cup will be awarded at the end of the marathon to the team who earned the most miracle points. Miracle points are given to teams that participated in certain fundraising events leading up to the marathon, the Cup being awarded to the team with the most points.

Williams still has a lot of work to do, and she is now getting her “ducks in a row,” she said.

“I want everyone to come,” Williams said. “I took a tour of Wolfson’s a couple months ago, and the stories just moved me. I even considered changing my major. Once [the dancers] get there, they’ll get a real appreciation for where the money is going and how they’re helping.”

If you go to the event
WHEN: Nov. 21-22
WHERE: UNF Arena
WHAT: Spectators are allotted a two-hour time period to cheer on participants
E-mail Sarah Gojekian at staff1@unfspinnaker.com.

Jacksonville’s Mayport to house nuclear aircraft carrier

Jacksonville’s Mayport Naval Station has been selected as the home base of a new nuclear aircraft carrier, which is expected to be stationed by 2014, Sen. Bill Nelson said Nov. 17.

The Navy will be responsible for the half-billion dollar project to dredge the St. Johns River and expand existing infrastructure.

The carrier will ultimately add an extra 3,200 sailors stationed in Jacksonville, which is expected to have a profound economic impact on the First Coast,
Nelson said.

AROUND THE NATION

Law makers clash about $750 billion financial bailout

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and the House Financial Services Committee clashed Nov. 18 over the best use for the $750 billion financial bailout fund, with Democratic lawmakers demanding money to stem a national wave of mortgage foreclosures, while Republicans raised issue with the further
injection of liquidity into the auto corporations.

“The fundamental policy issue is our disappointment that funds are not bing used to supplement mortgage foreclosure reduction,” Rep. Barney Frank said. Paulson said $290 billion of the first $350 billion had already been used and the remainder was being held until Obama took office.

AROUND THE WORLD

Russia pushes for $200 billion bailout to back banks

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Nov. 18 the global financial crisis has spread to the real economy, and the many sectors that need aid will get it.

Russia is pushing ahead with a $200 billion state aid package, and the central bank has spent tens of billions of dollars propping the local currency in recent weeks as investors pulled money out of the country and its stock markets.

“About five trillion rubles ($182.3 billion) will be spent on stabilzation measures,”
Medvedev said. “But this is not the final number. We understand the scale of the problem.”

Compiled by James Cannon II.

Once holds are placed on students’ accounts, students are unable to access their transcript, register and even graduate.

“It doesn’t matter whether you owe a penny or $5,000,” UNF Bursar Margaret Partyka said.

The Controller’s Office system records all fines imposed on the students’ accounts by various departments and places a hold on each of these accounts programmatically overnight, she said.

The fee can come from any department at school, Partyka said. It can be the Cashier’s Office, which is currently responsible for more than 50 percent of holds, the Women’s Center, Library or the bookstore.

“We had thousands of students on financial hold this semester,” Partyka said. “It is more than
I’d like.”

Even though it prevents students from academic progress, most of the offices agree this system is very effective.

“Many students don’t react to e-mails, but they do react to holds,” said College of Arts and Sciences academic adviser Liz Wondell. “Is it beneficial? In terms of academics, probably not.”

Each department has its own policy for deciding which cases result in fees on MyWings accounts.

“Our account doesn’t even start unless it reaches $2,” said Robb Waltner, head of Access Services.

The Library fines people only for two reasons, Wondwell said.

One is for items that have been checked out and are now overdue and second are fines the Library charges for items that were never returned.

“The purpose is not to sneak up on anybody. We send multiple letters and e-mails to people to remind them of the overdue books,” Wondwell said.

But, the COAS advising office uses the dean’s hold as a means to make sure students appear for advising after a period of probationary status.

“Our students are notified verbally about what happens if they don’t meet what is required of them,” Wondell said. “And they have to keep that in their mind.”

About one quarter of all holds ultimately end up involving a third person, such as a collection agency. Students first get a pre-collection letter that gives them a chance to pay their debts within a 30-day period without having to pay the collection fees.

“The problem is half of the students don’t even make it through 2nd payment,” Partyka said.

Some students perceive referring debtors to collection agency as unnecessary and inadequate at making students pay on time.

“If you don’t have the finances, then how can you pay it?” said Tiffany Moore, international studies junior. “People get parking tickets because they don’t have the money to buy a parking pass in the first place.”

However, the holds process is used all across Florida to make collections, Waltner said.

But changes have been implemented to avoid unfair treatment of students, Partyka said.

“Parking Services now lifts a hold for the period of time during which the parking ticket is appealed and a decision is made,” Partyka said. “Students can appeal any fine placed on their account by filing out a fee petition. However, they appeal the fee, not the hold.”

The COAS advising office along with the Controller’s Office and Access Services strongly encourage students to keep track of holds on their account.

“Stay on top of it by checking your MyWings account and your e-mail on a regular basis at least once a week,” Wondell said. “It’s easy to find it and it can save you a lot of worries.”

E-mail Andrea Farah at staff2@unfspinnaker.com.

There were 1,478 incidents of virus detection on 30 managed computers – staff and lab machines – which is considerably higher than the last several months, said Alison Cruess, ITS communications coordinator.

The virus triggered the university’s virus protection – Symantec’s new Bloodhound software that tracks down heuristic viruses.

These viruses exploit vulnerabilities in software and allow third-party machines the ability to take control or use the computer in a malicious way, according to Symantec’s White Paper Series on Bloodhound and
heuristic viruses.

“We re-imaged the infected machines and got it back to a known good condition,” Cruess said. “If teachers could not be down – due to usage during the semester – we would scan and monitor the computer’s alerts issued from the virus software.”

UNF has a contract with Symantec to provide anti-virus software to all current students.

The software can be found under MyWings’ Student tab in technical resources.

Students living in the dorms receive additional software – Spysweeper – which will help reduce the possibility of a viral outbreak.

Studen’s are also urged by ITS to turn on the operating system’s automatic updates and their default firewall software.

E-mail James Cannon II at asst.news@unfspinnaker.com.

About 1,400 classroom teachers in the area only have temporary teaching certificates, according to the regional coordinator of the North Florida Personel Development Partnership who founded a program aimed to do something about it.

Dr. Kathryn Krudwig started the Educator Preparation Institute at UNF last November to help alleviate the problem in the local school districts.

“We continue having a critical shortage of math teachers, science teachers, special education teachers, reading teachers and teachers for children and students who speak English as a second language,” Krudwig said.

Within the past year, EPI has successfully passed 52 teachers with professional certficates into the workforce, and another 103 teachers are still in the process of completion, Krudwig said.

“We are 52, but that’s a start,” Krudwig said. “We certainly hope for many years to come to continue turning out professionally certified teachers.”

Along with EPI’s training, teachers can choose any field they have an expertise in or want to teach and that’s taught in a school, Krudwig said. Many of these teachers have already graduated with bachelor’s degrees, and EPI trains them in teaching methods.

“We provide the professional knowledge and skills that you [need] to have to teach,” Krudwig said. “They bring the subject, and we bring the professional preparation.”

In order to gain full certification, teachers go through a nine-month certification process, where they take competency-based courses such as classroom management and assessment, instructional strategies, the teaching and learning process, professional foundations, diversity in the classroom, technology and a Florida online reading course.

She said all of the courses are interconnected and cover all of the major areas teachers need to have expertise in.

Teachers – some who already have temporary certificates – must also demonstrate fieldwork in an actual classroom with students and have to complete the Florida Educator Accomplished Practices (FEAPS), an observation/evaluation process during their field and coursework experience.

The teachers must also pass the three subtests –-general knowledge, subject area and professional tests – of the Florida Teacher Certification Exam and receive a credential of EPI completion, which confirms they’ve met all the requirements and are eligible to apply to the Florida Department of Education for professional certification.

“They can’t complete the EPI until they have actually mastered all of the competencies required by the state of Florida for a professional certificate,” Krudwig said.

EPI gives the teachers already in the workforce and with bachelor’s degrees a chance to find a new career.

One of these teachers is Carmen Theis, an August 2008 graduate.

Before attending EPI, Theis had a bachelor’s degree in economic science from San Marcos National Public University in Peru, she said. She worked for 10 years in international logistics before gaining a passion to teach and coming to the U.S.

Theis, who now works as a Spanish teacher at Samuel W. Wolfson High School, started her career as a substitute teacher where she realized teaching was for her.

“I decided to become a teacher because I [want] to be a part of the shaping of the next generation of students,” Theis said. “I believe education is the gift for success in life. I want all my students to experience that success in the future.

Dr. Betty Bennett, director of EPI, said it’s a great benefit for education to have people choose teaching as a second career.

“The idea of having people that have gained other kinds of experiences rather than being in education [...] can bring in rich experiences,” said Bennett, who is also an EPI instructor and confirms completion for the teachers.

She said EPI can also give options and opportunities for jobs to recent college graduates who are unaware of what they want to do.

“If they’ve graduated and have a bachelor’s degree in anything, this gives them an opportunity to go into teaching without having to go back and get another degree,” Bennett said.

EPI is currently going through its second year at UNF and has had a total of 167 teachers were admitted in the program’s first three cohorts.

But at the end of the day, EPI’s mission and main priority is the children, Krudwig said.

“Everything we do in the EPI is really about the kids,” Krudwig said. “It’s really so that every student K-12 will have expert committed teachers. If the students are being taught well, then we’ve been successful. That’s really what it all goes back to.”

E-mail Laura Franco at asst.features@unfspinnaker.com.

Compiled by James Cannon II.