The gay panic defense, a pro-hate-crime legal strategy against LGBTQ people, is being fought by Democratic lawmakers in Florida. Sen. Lauren Booker and Rep. Carlos Smith filed a defense against this strategy in the House and Senate on Sept. 28 to outlaw it in the next legislative session. The defense […]

Mater Academy, Inc., a South Florida charter school company, was granted permission and funding by the Hillsborough County School Board on Sept. 21 to open an elementary and middle school in unspecified Hillsborough locations. Hillsborough County shouldn’t build more charter schools, which often take advantage of taxpayer dollars to the […]

Champion’s Choice used to be the place students went to eat at after a morning class or a quick jog on the treadmill at The Rec, but USF Dining Services has now made the dining hall exclusive to athletes, unless a non-athlete forks over an additional $80 per semester for […]

Florida State Rep. Webster Barnaby filed HB 167 on Sept. 22, an anti-abortion bill which forces physicians to test for a “fetal heartbeat” when a woman tries to get an abortion and reject the procedure if one is detected.  Barnaby’s proposal would ban abortions after six weeks, punish doctors with […]

Florida legislators are currently in the process of redrawing state legislative and congressional districts. These GOP legislators are under particular scrutiny this year after the Florida Supreme Court concluded the last process was illegally hijacked by Republican political operatives 10 years ago. Despite this, GOP leaders have held no public […]

The Second Chance Pell Experimental Sites Initiative, conducted by the Department of Education (DOE), is open for colleges to apply until Oct. 28. The initiative provides college access to incarcerated students and leaves an opportunity for USF to join the program, better the community and offer accessible education to inmates. […]

Florida plans to replace the Florida Standards Assessment (FSA) with a different system to monitor student progress periodically, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Sept. 14 at a press conference. This new test, the Florida Assessment of Student Thinking (FAST), will periodically assess student performance throughout the school year. FAST has the […]

Florida businesses will begin to rack up fines Thursday for requiring proof of vaccinations from customers. This move, compounded with the loss of certain unemployment benefits a few weeks ago, means Florida citizens will be forced back to working in potentially unsafe conditions.  The state must retract the fine and […]

Students settling into the third week of classes and cracking open their required readings may notice a lack of diverse texts in their curriculums. As a senior English major, I’ve only now encountered my first translated text in a course. Students across all majors would benefit from the inclusion of […]