Vol. 17 | #10 | Jan. 26, 2016
Letters from Lockup How one class creates writing connections with an unexpected crowd.
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Vol. 17 | #10 | Jan. 26, 2016
4 Money & Power
A university donor helped her friend get a sixfigure salary job at Florida Atlantic University. An alumnus says there is a conflict at hand, an expert says she can’t use her influence.
6 A Strange Exchange
How one FAU class creates writing connections with an unexpected crowd.
10 Opinion: They Don’t Want You to Eat Past Your Bedtime Campus dining hours are horrible and other state universities are doing it right.
12 Aging Cinema
School’s multi-million dollar theater attracts a peculiar audience.
16 What You Missed Over Winter Break
16
Weren’t able to follow FAU Athletics over winter break? We’ve got a quick recap to get you caught up on what you missed.
19 Creative Writing Submissions
Readers submitted their work. Got a short story or poem? Email us at universitypress@ gmail.com
Marquan Botley, pictured in a Jan. 14 win over Southern Mississippi. Photo by Mohammed F. Emran
01.26.2016 University Press 3
Marleen Forkas meddles in decision making
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Money & Power How a university donor used her influence to affect the hiring of one of her friends.
Story by Wesley Wright Photos by Gregory Cox 4 01.26.2016 University Press
Editor’s note: A months-long investigation by the University Press has revealed the appearance of unethical behavior between donor Marleen Forkas, her friend Patricia Breman and chief of staff Stacy Volnick. The Harold and Marleen Forkas Alumni Center sits on the north end of the Boca Raton campus, across from the Recreation and Fitness Center. Forkas has donated a significant amount to this university. A source very close to her suggests that Forkas used the idea of donating more money down the line to influence Volnick to hire a close friend of hers. The following details Forkas’ involvement in getting Breman hired and the conflict that Breman carries into her job each day.
hat if the president of the United States was hand picked by the biggest donor to the government, rather than through an election process? It would be weird, wouldn’t it? Not at Florida Atlantic University. According to an anonymous source very close to the situation, Forkas — who has donated over $1 million to the university — was involved in the selection of Breman as the interim assistant vice president for alumni affairs. Breman, a good friend of Forkas, earns $125,000 per year in her new position according to emails obtained by the University Press. She previously worked at Florida Atlantic as the assistant vice president of alumni relations from July 1997 to March 2011. Both her relationship with Forkas and prior experience made Breman a quick choice to replace Bradford Crews, who resigned last summer. Breman brings a conflict of interest to her job because her son’s company — one that she works for — could potentially benefit from her position. In addition to her duties as vice president for administrative affairs and as chief administrative officer she also serves as the interim vice president for institutional advancement. Volnick knows that her selection ruffled some feathers. The thinking among some alumni and donors is that Volnick brought back Breman this summer at the behest of Forkas. “Charles Schmidt donated all that money for the complex. Imagine if he told Pat Chun who the next football coach should be because he could donate more money down the line,” said the anonymous source, who is both an alum and a donor. Schmidt’s foundation gave $16 million to the school in December 2014 to establish the Schmidt Family Complex for Academic and Athletic Excellence. Chun is the school’s athletic director. “Certainly no impropriety here,” Volnick said, adding that Breman’s position carries no benefits. “It seems that the rumors are that Marleen Forkas had some type of involvement in this decision, and that is simply not true.” The source of those rumors? “I believe that there’s someone disgruntled because they weren’t considered,” she said, adding that no one outside of Breman was considered to fill the interim position. “I think it’s pretty sad that we’re trying to bolster a strong area of the university like advancement and someone wants to undermine that.” Volnick sent an email to eight people on June 30 announcing the official addition of Breman to the staff. Outside of Breman herself, Forkas is the only person in that email chain who is not an FAU employee.
The alumni center of the Boca Raton campus is named for Marleen Forkas and her late husband Harold. According to Volnick, Forkas received the email because the building is named after her. “Just like we would have for anyone else,” she said. Harold Forkas made a fortune during his ownership of eight Midas Muffler franchises; Marleen Forkas spent several decades in the fashion industry. The two made a $1.1 million donation to the university in 2005 to establish the alumni center. Once Harold Forkas died in 2009, he passed on the family fortune to his wife. The anonymous source said, “She was brazenly telling people that she was the one who had Breman brought in.” Forkas requested a University Press reporter provide two references before she spoke. After he did, she did not respond to any further requests for comment.
Conflict of interest
After retiring from the FAU Foundation in 2011, Breman began working in her son’s consulting company, Accelerate Exceed, which has had prior contracts with the university. FAU media relations representative Joshua Glanzer confirmed that the university hired Accelerate Exceed to “help develop a strategic plan and to align Pine Jog’s goals and vision with FAU’s recently published 2025 strategic plan.” Acccording to its website, Pine Jog Environmental Education Center, located in West Palm Beach, is part of the FAU College of Education. When asked if she thought that was a conflict of interest, Volnick said no. “To my knowledge, that work was completed before in June. She started in August or something like that.” The company completed its work with the Pine Jog Environmental Education Center in May. The nature of Breman’s job puts her in front of people and businesses with substantial wealth — businesses to which she could tout her son’s consulting company, whether or not it’s working for the university. “I did fundraising, I raised the four and a quarter million dollars for the alumni center,” Breman said. “My job [now] is the engagement of alumni.” The anonymous source said, “Her family’s business can benefit from her position now. It’s a clear conflict of interest.” The FAU alumni board might have been able to recognize the appearance of such a conflict, but it was not consulted. Ben Dickinson, chair of the Florida Atlantic University Alumni Association Board through June of this year, confirmed as much. He explained that the board is advisory in nature and doesn’t actually have the power to veto or affirm any decision either way. “If they wanted to bring in Donald Trump, we couldn’t stop that,” he said. He also mentioned that he didn’t know Breman had a son whose business was tied to the university.
The 13,000 square foot Marleen and Harold Forkas Alumni Center sits on the north end of campus, close to the rec center.
Patricia Breman/Marleen Forkas The notion that a donor could try to involve themselves in university fundraising affairs isn’t a new concept to Andrew Watt, president and chief executive officer of the Association of Fundraising Professionals. He explained that there is a clear line of delineation. “It’s quite acceptable for a donor to sit on a board, be involved in setting the strategic direction of an organization and assume responsibility for its fiscal health,” he said. “Stepping beyond that to influence a hiring decision, particularly for a position funded by the donor, represents a real conflict of interest. It potentially allows the donor to place an individual connected to them within the organization which, in turn, provides them influence and access to managerial and executive decision making.” Breman secured more than $1 million in university gifts from Forkas during her first stint working with FAU. The two are close and have been for some time. “I know that Pat [Breman] and Marleen had a very good relationship,” said Dickinson. Breman says she never approached the school about coming in on an interim basis. “I had nothing to do with my hiring,” Breman said. “What I did have something to do with was accepting when I was approached.” There is no job search to fill her position as of yet. First, the school must select a new long-term vice president for advancement — right now, Volnick is filling for the interim. Breman answers to her. “The search firm should be identified in the next couple weeks,” Volnick said in November. “That firm will canvas the nation to find a new VP of Advancement, who can choose to keep Breman or find someone to replace her.” “She’s absolutely a stop-gap,” said Dickinson of Breman. “I would say she happens to be a good one because she has done the job before.” He added: “She’s not looking to be working another 15 years.” Breman confirmed and said of her interim. “We were very clear about that when I took the job.”
Marleen Forkas’ background Forkas is one of the university’s most generous donors. Susan H. Peirce worked with Forkas extensively during her decade-long tenure at the university. Peirce spent three years as the vice president for campaigns and seven years as the associate vice president for advancement for Florida Atlantic University and left in 2009. She still works in advancement as the executive director of development at Nova Southeastern University. Peirce acknowledged that sometimes donors want to overstep their bounds. “You want to protect the donor, you want to protect the institution,” she said. What if a donor tries to use the notion of donating more money to get what they want? “I usually advise the institution not to accept the gift,” said Peirce. In her current position as interim vice president of advancement, Volnick deals with what she called “fundraising and friendraising.” Fundraising deals with collecting funding, and friendraising is the process of developing relationships with people who can donate funds. According to the anonymous source, Volnick’s lack of experience there might have played into why she handled Forkas like she did. “She’s never been a fundraiser,” said the source on Volnick. “She was in catering and food service before she got promoted. She has no background in fundraising.” However, Breman does have an extensive fundraising background. She wouldn’t speak on whether the notion of getting more money from Forkas could be a reason why she was brought back. Given the chance, she did not mention her history with Forkas specifically. “I solicited funds for all of the people who donated funds to the alumni center. As you can imagine, there were a lot,” Breman said. Her friend Forkas has considerable wealth, which makes her a possible asset to a university that puts a premium on donor dollars. “She was kept around because of the prospect of more money,” said the unnamed source. “She’s got sway, influence, power. It needs to stop.” 01.26.2016 University Press 5
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or students who were looking for unusual pen pal ideas this spring, all they had to do was add “rhetorics of incarceration” to their schedules. Rhetorics of Incarceration is a special topics course in the English department, taught by Wendy Hinshaw. This class is a part of Exchange for Change, a non-profit organization where students anonymously exchange their writing works with imprisoned persons taking a writing course at the Dade Correctional Institution of Miami-Dade County. Students from both academic and correctional institutions will collaborate and share feedback on a series of essays, based on the students’ identities as writers as well as ongoing conversations about assigned readings. Each assignment, the students are randomly given a new partner from their sister institution. The first exchange is an essay titled “Why I Write,” an assignment where students of both institutions discuss their goals, writing methods and what influences them as a writer. The following week, students will randomly exchange their essay with someone from the other institution. During the trade, students read each other’s work and provide their response to it in addition to feedback on writing and development. Often, these exchanges lead to a discovery of common ground between the two anonymous writers, such as similar backgrounds or motivations. Once the response is made, it is sent back to the original author and they get a final opportunity to reply. In the past, this course was a major success. “It was really transformative for everybody involved,” Hinshaw said. “There were a lot of these moments where people connected on things they wouldn’t have anticipated.”
Kathie Klarreich (left), creator and chair of Exchange for Change, with an inmate at the Dade Correctional Institution. Photos courtesy of Victor Rivera and Carlos Sterling with In & Out Productions.
A Strange Exchange Students exchange writings with local correctional institution. Story by Brittany Ferrendi 6 01.26.2016 University Press
“[The students] realized really quickly that the writers we were responding with, some of them had advanced degrees, many of them were really talented writers themselves. So it broke down a lot of stereotypes and barriers right off the bat.” Wendy Hinshaw, Rhetorics of incarceration professor
Anonymity This isn’t the sort of pen pal where you sign your name at the bottom. A key factor in the Exchange for Change program is the anonymity between both incarcerated persons, the inside writers — and academic students, the outside writers. Both use fake names and never communicate directly. Instead of face-to-face exchanges, Hinshaw travels between the two institutions and does the physical exchange. Everything brought into the prisons needs to be approved and checked, even the assigned readings. “[This method] enables the writing to be the focus, a level of anonymity, and a level of privacy that really helps us get at the power differences and the assumptions we have about the writers that we’re exchanging with,” Hinshaw said. She also noted the preconceived notions her previous graduate school classes had: “They assumed that they would have the upper hand … and they thought of themselves as lending their expertise, lending their talents and had thought of it as kind of a service,” she said. “[The students] realized really quickly that the writers we were responding with, some of them had advanced degrees, many of them were really talented writers themselves. So it broke down a lot of stereotypes and barriers right off the bat.” Keeping both classes anonymous has little to do with safety concerns. According to Hinshaw, there has never been a safety concern, incident or an occurence of feeling unsafe. In the past, inside and outside students got to meet on the prison writing program’s graduation day. “At the end of the class you get a graduation, you get a certificate,” she said. “It was a really terrific moment of the students meeting each other.”
At the graduation, the women at the inside institution were asked if they wanted to continue using their pseudonyms, but they all chose to have their full names visible. “After leaving [the graduation], one of my FAU students came to me and talked to me. There had been a writer he really connected with — everyone had connected with somebody — so, he found out her legal name, he looked her up and was really shocked by the crime,” Hinshaw said. While the woman had nothing to do with the student or his family, he had experienced a crime similar to hers that had affected his family and life deeply. Hinshaw said that the situation proved why anonymity worked. “Once he knew, he came to me and talked about it, and he was really wrestling with it, it really changed how he thought about her, he really regretted knowing, and so that moment of watching that whole process unfold and come full circle really made me think about and appreciate the model that Kathie and I had built. If he had known her name and known her crime going into it, his experience in the exchange would have been entirely different … It’s kind of a gift to connect with people in this way.”
How It Began
The organization started when Hinshaw and Kathie Klarreich — creator and chair of Exchange for Change — branched off from ArtSpring, a similar organization that focuses on using the arts to strengthen communities. They decided to make the transition because even though ArtSpring’s main mission was about the arts overall and investing in the women at Homestead Correctional Institution in Dade County, Hinshaw and Klarreich wanted to focus on getting a message out there. “We want to bring those benefits [of writing and creation] in, we want to bring those resources in where they otherwise don’t exist. We also want to get voices out, get creative and critical expressions that are coming from these men and women.” One of the biggest struggles for an organization like Exchange for Change revolves around funding. “It’s not easy to get many [funds] for the arts, it’s not easy to get money for education, and it’s certainly not easy to get many for prison programs,” Hinshaw said. “It’s because we have this idea that if you’re in prison, you deserve nothing … We have this idea that prisoners are getting more than they deserve, and whatever they have they probably shouldn’t because once you’ve done something wrong you deserve to have everything taken from you. So it’s hard to counteract that.”
Success Stories
Within the Exchange for Change program, Hinshaw and Klarreich had many memorable moments. “I have a million success stories,” Klarreich said.
She once had a student come into class who barely wrote more than a few paragraphs. Now, that student writes 10-page stories and is slated to be a mentor for other incarcerated writers in future classes. Each time Klarreich starts a new class, she asks someone to be a mentor to come in and help, like a teaching assistant. “It just opened up a floodgate for him to be able to express himself,” she said. The Exchange for Change program also resulted in a number of deep connections between writers. One involved a high school student and an incarcerated female writer: “He had an older sister who had run off to college, and he only learned after she went up to college that she was gay and she’d never told him because he had been very careless in his language and slurs on homosexuals in general and she didn’t feel safe telling him. He was really distraught when he found out that he’d been such a jerk and had been writing about how now he was learning to understand himself,” Klarreich said. “The person that he had partnered up on the inside was a woman who has known that she’s gay for probably most of her life, and she had a very tumultuous relationship with her brother, and he ended up getting HIV through needles — not through sex but through needles — and dying, and how profound that experience was for her trying to repair her relationship,” she continued. “[It] was difficult because of the brother’s homophobia and her ability to share that experience with this guy on the outside, saying ‘You’re so lucky, you have the rest of your life to share this relationship with your sister.’”
The Future of Exchange for Change The Rhetorics of incarceration class is offered every few semesters, previously to graduate students but more recently to undergraduates. Each time the class is taught, Hinshaw and Klarreich think of ways to improve the course and change things up. In the prisons, writers take the class multiple times so they may continue their education, but that may also lead to topics if there is no change. “It’s always a balance of trying new things that are gonna be interesting and valuable for the inside students and that are also going to meet the needs and interests of the outside students, the university students that may be entirely new to this,” Hinshaw said. This spring semester, Hinshaw plans to end the class with an audio collection, featuring works from both inside and outside students. “That’s really new for Exchange for Change, that’s new for the inside students and that’s new for probably many outside students as well.” This audio collection may be out of reach to incarcerated persons because of their limited Internet access. “Even though they are cut off, many of them have a surprising knowledge and level of access to Internet, which is totally contraband, but they have their own ways for having viewed the Exchange for Change website, and being to-date with things, 01.26.2016 University Press 7
Kathie Klarreich (right), with an inmate at the Dade Correctional Institution. Photos courtesy of Victor Rivera and Carlos Sterling with In & Out Productions.
“After leaving [the graduation], one of my FAU students came to me and talked to me. There had been a writer he really connected with — everyone had connected with somebody — so, he found out her legal name, he looked her up and was really shocked by the crime.”
Wendy Hinshaw, Rhetorics of incarceration professor
8 01.26.2016 University Press
another one of the reasons why we are more careful with anonymity and privacy,” noted Hinshaw. They will not be accessing the audio collection website as per the no-internet rule, but will have a good idea of what the site will look like through the facilitator — the course instructor inside the institution. “One of our main goals is for people to be aware. To think about the criminal justice system differently and to recognize that they’re people too, they are people who have made mistakes — oftentimes very costly mistakes,” Klarreich said. “We’re working with people who want to change … We’re trying to offer an opportunity for people who do want to make a difference.”
Student Involvement
When asked about advice for students interested in the program, Klarreich encouraged people to attend events. “When the opportunity presents itself, come to a graduation or a performance inside the institution. I guarantee it will be life-changing. Everybody who’s come inside has walked out with a totally different perception of the world, about
criminal justice and prison reform.” The graduations allow incarcerated writers to read their work. “You’ll see the depth and the breadth and the talent because they are individuals just like the rest of us. Some are funny, some are poignant, some are sad. They are individuals.” Hinshaw plans to continue teaching the rhetorics for incarceration class in the future. The earliest that the class can return to FAU would be spring 2017, but it may move to the following year. If you are interested in learning more about or donating to Exchange for Change, you can visit its website at exchange-for-change.org.
Brittany Ferrendi is a staff writer for the University Press, and is currently enrolled in Wendy Hinshaw’s Rhetorics of Incarceration class.
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Opinion
THEY DON’T WANT US TO EAT PAST OUR BEDTIMES
Campus dining hours don’t match a college student’s schedule. Story and photo by Andrew Fraieli
10 01.26.2016 University Press
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“Limited service essentially means you get to fight other late-night eaters during the dinner rush for leftovers...”
Interior of the Atlantic Dining Hall when it’s open. Photo by Andrew Fraieli
AU has cornered freshmen and everyone else with a meal plan, or without a car for that matter, into going hungry at night and on the weekends. According to FAU’s website, the Atlantic Dining Hall — known more informally as “the caf” — opens at 7:30 a.m. for breakfast through 7:30 p.m. when dinner ends. Monday through Friday, limited service is offered from 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Limited service essentially means you get to fight other late-night eaters during the dinner rush for leftovers because food stops being cooked after 7:30 p.m. On Saturdays and Sundays, breakfast is not served until 11 a.m. and the cafeteria closes at 7:30 p.m. with no limited service. On their own these aren’t horrible, maybe the hours of a casual diner that serves breakfast, but this is a college campus. The cafeteria caters its hours like that of a normal restaurant-most students don’t exactly go to bed at 10 p.m. to wake up at 6 a.m. for their 9-to-5 job — how a normal restaurant seems to cater their hours. But at least there’s some kind of food available at all hours for people to eat if they live on campus, right? Well, the only option you have for food after 10 p.m. is subpar … I-I mean Subway, open until 2 a.m. and The Burrow’s burgers, chicken and fajitas un til midnight. On the other hand, Florida State University has 25 on-campus dining spots. FAU has 12. While a handful of the spots at FSU are Starbucks and food stands like Outtakes, but one is “The Den” — a 24-hour breakfast-all-day restaurant — and another is Chili’s. Literally an entire Chili’s, open everyday until 10 p.m. and midnight on Fridays, according to their website. The University of Florida has a Starbucks that’s open 24 hours a day, five days a week. This accompanies the fact that its cafeteria is open from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekends. The University of South Florida has a cafeteria open from 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. on weekends. Its Beef ‘O’ Brady’s restaurant is open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday, AND … wait for it, a Ben & Jerry’s ice cream that’s open until 1 a.m. every night of the week. Other universities seem to realize the schedules and appetites of average college students — but FAU has not. Freshmen residence halls don’t have kitchens like the upperclassman dorms do and yet, freshmen are required to have a meal plan. Unless they have a car to go out to eat every time they want a meal past 10 p.m. on weekdays or 7:30 p.m. on the weekends (except for subpar Subway) and feel like shelling out money, they’re out of luck. FAU’s gym is free to use for enrolled students, but apparently it’s not enough for everyone to lose weight, they want to starve us a little too. 01.26.2016 University Press 11
Older theatergoers arriving to watch a film at FAU Living Room Theaters. Photo by Patrick Martin
12 01.26.2016 University Press
AGING CINEMA
Living Room Theaters draws an older crowd, but fails to appeal to students. Story by Patrick Martin
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ary Cope, a woman in her 60s, enjoys an independent movie on a Wednesday night with a group of her girlfriends at a university theater, but no students are in sight. The Living Room Theaters on FAU’s Boca Raton campus has become a beacon for members-only jackets and stories of grandchildren, with its major demographic being from “the greatest generation.” Cope has graying strawberry-blonde hair and she’s wearing a red long-sleeved shirt with a pair of khaki slacks. Her friends are dressed in business casual clothing as well, reminding you of a time when people dressed up to go to the cinema. “I think, truly, we come back for the movies. They’re very thought provoking,” Cope said. She saw “Lauf Junge Lauf (Run Boy Run),” a foreign film about an 8-year-old boy fleeing a Warsaw ghetto in 1942 while trying to keep his Jewish identity. The same movies Cope believes are thought provoking may be the reason why the students at Florida Atlantic aren’t going. Cynthia Stein, manager of the Living Room Theaters, said students aren’t coming because the movies they show aren’t mainstream. The theater mainly shows foreign and independent films. “I think people have a negative feel, students think it’s too high brow,” she said. According to Stein, only about 10 percent of theatergoers are students. The theater provides a “9 at 9” deal where students
can purchase $9 tickets after 9 p.m. and get popcorn and a fountain drink by showing their student ID. However, the majority of customers are senior citizens. The theater doesn’t do very much advertising around campus either, Stein said. Evan Jones, a senior film major, didn’t even know the theater existed until his second semester. “I was fairly certain they didn’t advertise at all, besides from coming here, I didn’t know you could find Living Room Theaters times anywhere,” Jones said. He has only seen one film at the theater outside of his classes. He watches indie films by himself in order to analyze them and take his time respecting the subtle nuances. When he does go to major theaters he likes to see the latest blockbuster film, like “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” Jones also said he always thought it was too expensive. When he found out the actual price, he was surprised and again blamed it on a lack of advertising. Walking into the theater lobby, people will notice a cafe to the right packed with older clientele and a bar to the left serving craft beer and wine. A group of women can be overheard joking in thick New York accents, “Oh hi Marcia, yep, I’ve been here at least four times this month.” An older man wearing a white polo shirt with a blue fish-print approaches the group and starts to flirt with them.
“I was fairly certain they didn’t advertise at all, besides from coming here, I didn’t know you could find Living Room Theaters times anywhere.” Evan Jones, senior film major
01.26.2016 University Press 13
“He’s like a really old gigolo,” Chi Sharif, an employee of the Living Room Theaters’, said on one of the regular theatergoers.
Living Room Theaters employee and FAU theatre major, Chi Sharif, often notices older gentlemen with different dates every weekend. Photo by Patrick Martin
A lot of times customers will come in with their husbands and wives. But, according to Chi Sharif — an employee and FAU theatre major — people will bring dates as well. An older man in his 70s will come in with a different woman on his arm every weekend, Sharif said. “He’s like a really old gigolo.” The ticket taker is a theatre major as well. His name is Paul Harrington. He chose this job because he wasn’t “feeling his other job.” As he takes people’s tickets, he sees a man walking into several different theaters who looks fairly confused. The older man has his pants pulled up above his belly button like the “Family Matters” character Steve Urkel. “Excuse me, can you help me? Is my theater to the left or right?” the older man asks Harrington. After escorting him to his theater, Harrington returns to checking tickets. “Yeah it can get annoying but I’m still trying to get 14 01.26.2016 University Press
used to it,” Harrington said about dealing with the older clientele. This isn’t the only Living Room Theaters. There’s another location in Portland, Oregon, Stein said. Ernesto Rimoch, a Mexican film director and the theater’s founder, came up with the concept to show foreign and independent films in an intimate setting where the patron can have a cocktail with something to eat that’s more sustainable than popcorn or SnoCaps. FAU’s Living Room Theaters’ creation began during a chance encounter with Rimoch’s son, according to Stein. Diego Rimoch was on a flight discussing expansion when he spoke with a representative from FAU, Mike Budd. Budd brought the idea to Susan Reilly, the founding director of the School of Communication. The two came up with a deal that benefitted both sides: The university would use the theater for classes
Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and the Living Room company would use it to show foreign and independent movies at night. Reilly said it took them about six months to negotiate. She was already in the process of contacting major theater groups because she wanted a better venue to teach film instead of via PowerPoint and poor-quality projectors. Reilly said the Living Room Theaters has been successful financially, but not among students. She said Rimoch was hopeful that students would go later in the night after the older crowd, but it just isn’t happening. “We need to find out what students want to see … something unique,” Reilly said. The theater doesn’t play typical blockbuster movies because one, Ernesto Rimoch doesn’t want to, and two, because they would be competing with major movie chains like Muvico. Reilly said, “Another thing we want is for kids to show their films here. We wouldn’t have to worry about cost because it’s free during the day.” According to Stein, the theater makes its profits in a two-fold approach — ticket sales and concession sales. “I would say it’s about 60/40,” she said. “Sixty percent of the profit going toward ticket sales and 40 percent going toward the bar and cafe.” Prices for food range from about $5 to $10 with the most expensive items costing about $12 — eggplant Parmesan and chicken shish kabobs. Cope decided on the Caprese panini, $9.50: “Fresh mozzarella, roasted Roma tomatoes, basil pesto, and balsamic reduction,” the description on the menu reads. The Living Room Theaters company isn’t planning to expand on FAU or any other campus. Stein agrees the venue does well, but said the company doesn’t like the restrictions imposed by the university, like tighter alcohol limitations and limited hours. Although, Reilly thinks the Rimoch family and the theater group would change their minds if the students started coming.
What You Missed:
Winter Break in FAU Athletics
Story by Brendan Feeney
F
lorida Atlantic University took off for a month over winter break, but sports seasons never really end. Here is what you missed over the break and what to expect this upcoming semester from the Owls:
Men’s Basketball
What you missed over winter break:
Clemson transfer Adonis Filer is the starting shooting guard for a 4-15 team. Photo by Max Jackson
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Men’s basketball began on a good note, defeating Ave Maria on Dec. 10 to improve to 2-5 on the season. Since then, the Owls have lost nine straight games to close out winter break with a record of 2-14, the second-worst record in all of Conference USA at the time. The team snapped its losing streak after defeating Southern Miss 58-51 on Jan. 14, and followed that with another win on Saturday, Jan. 16 against Louisiana Tech. The Bulldogs held a 24-point lead in the second half, before a miraculous FAU comeback was capped off by a Jackson Trapp 3-pointer in the final seconds. “Our players have been working hard, their spirits have been great,” said head coach Michael Curry after the team won its first game in over a month. “They’ve been working every day despite our record … We still have nine conference games, let’s try to take care of business at home one game at a time, and it started tonight.” FAU lost its next game on Thursday, Jan. 21 at UTEP falling to 4-15 on the season. The Owls have had issues off the court as well. C.J. Turman was dismissed from the team on Dec. 21. According to a Florida Atlantic University Police Department report, Turman’s then girlfriend filed domestic abuse allegations on Oct. 2, 2015. The allegations included improper physical contact on eight different occasions and intimidation from a coach of the men’s basketball team to keep quiet about the matter. “C.J. has not lived up to the standards required to be a member of our basketball family,” Curry said following the announcement of Turman’s dismissal. “We have worked extremely hard to establish a culture within our program that will lead to a lifetime of success for our student-athletes. C.J. has not met the necessary obligations, which led to this decision. We love C.J. and wish only success for him in the future.” Turman — who was leading the team in points and rebounds at the time of his dismissal — filed countercharges the next day. The University Press has requested all public records regarding this case. You can follow this story as it develops at upressonline.com.
What to look for in the spring: With a 4-15 record, the Owls are on pace to finish the season with 6.5 wins. That would give Florida Atlantic its lowest win total since the 2008-09 season when the team finished 6-26. However, with a conference record of 2-4, FAU is in a four-team tie for tenth place in Conference USA. At the end of the season, the top 12 teams in the conference standings will compete for a conference championship and an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
Women’s Basketball C.J. Turman was dissmissed from the team in December. At the time, he was leading the Owls in points and rebounds. Photo by Mohammed F. Emran.
What you missed over winter break: Women’s basketball started its break by allowing 102 points — the most it is allowed in a single game since 2003 — in a loss to Kansas State. The Owls split their next two games entering their annual FAU Holiday Tournament, where the team defeated both Bethune-Cookman and Miami-Ohio to keep the championship in Boca Raton. Following the tournament, Florida Atlantic won two of its next three games, including a 17 3-point performance against Marshall, to finish winter break with a 10-4 record. Since returning from break, the team has lost three straight games, dropping an offensive shootout at Southern Miss and a nail-biting three-point loss at the hands of Louisiana Tech, - including a 12 point loss at the hands of UTEP.
What to look for in the spring:
Junior guard Kat Wright is second on the team with 11.6 points per game. Photo by Mohammed F. Emran.
As of Jan. 22, the Owls have made 169 3-pointers in their first 17 games. If the team continues this pace, it will finish the season with 288 made 3-point shots, blowing away the previous record of 264 set in 201314. “We want to take threes. That’s who we are, it’s what we’re about,” said coach Kellie Lewis-Jay in December. Junior Kat Wright is also searching for her own spot in the record books. Through the team’s first 17 games, she has made 43 3-pointers on a .426 percent mark. If Wright’s numbers stay steady, she could finish with the second most 3-pointers in a single season, at the second highest percentage in the team’s history. The Owls boast the fifth- best record in Conference USA at 10-7, but thanks to their recent four-game inconference losing streak leading to a 2-4 record in conference games, they sit in the bottom half of the standings. The team will look to clinch a bye in March’s conference tournament by finishing the regular season as one of the conference’s top four teams. 01.26.2016 University Press 17
Football What you missed over winter break: Head coach Charlie Partridge made a couple of changes to his coaching staff over winter break. The team hired Travis Trickett as the new offensive coordinator, replacing recently fired Brian Wright. Trickett’s offense averaged 332.9 passing yards per game last season at Samford, the third highest in the FCS. Samford’s offensive scoring improved every year under Trickett, finishing off at a 34.6 point per game mark in 2015. Trickett will come to Boca Raton along with Garin Justice, FAU’s new offensive line coach. The two coached together as student/graduate assistants at West Virginia. They also coached together at Florida State. Justice will be coming over from Concord where he led the team to a 40-17 record and two conference championships in his five seasons.
What to look for in the spring:
Senior defensive lineman Trevon Coley and senior defensive back Cre’von Leblanc were invited to play in the 91st annual East/West Shrine Game, which will take place on Saturday Jan. 23. Coley and Leblanc will become the fourth and fifth Owls in team history to play in the annual game. Seniors Sharrod Neasman and Mikingson Marsaille also represented FAU in the inaugural Tropic Bowl FBS College Football All-Star Game, which was played on Jan. 17. The Owls’ 2016 spring game is scheduled to be played on Saturday, April 16, where the team will get its first look at the Trickett-led offense. The game is also likely to pit Jason Driskel and Daniel Parr against each other, as the quarterback battle will be in its beginning stages. Incoming freshman Steven Frank may also find himself in the chase for the starting job when fall rolls around. With National Signing Day a month away, the Owls currently have 16 committed recruits, including eight three-star prospects, as rated by 247 Sports, an online sports site.
Softball What to look for in the spring: Florida Atlantic softball reached the NCAA tournament, but ran into the Florida Gators, the top ranked team in the country at the time and eventual National Champions. The team finished with a 39-191 record and finished second in Conference USA after dropping the conference championship to Western Kentucky. 18 01.26.2016 University Press
Senior Brett Lashley prepares to swing versus Ohio State last season. Photo by Max Jackson.
Junior pitchers Kylee Hanson and Amanda Wilson head a pitching staff that led all of Conference USA in ERA and wins a season ago. Hanson recorded a teamhigh 18 wins and 219 strikeouts in 157.1 innings of work. She was recently named 2016’s Conference USA Softball Preseason Pitcher of the Year. The Owls will look to continue their recent success when they host Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and Hofstra in a doubleheader as part of the FAU Kickoff Classic. This will commence the 2016 season on Feb. 12. Penn State, Wright State and Tulsa round out the field of teams who will be visiting Boca Raton during the weekend.
Baseball What you missed over winter break: Junior shortstop CJ Chatham was named to Louisville Slugger’s 2016 Preseason All-American team. He hit .355 a season ago, along with a team-high 22 doubles.
Baseball also announced its captains for the upcoming season — seniors Devon Carr and Christian Dicks. Carr struck out 21 batters in 27.1 innings in the last season. His co-captain drove in 39 runs in 2015 with a team-high eight home runs.
What to look for in the spring:
Last season, the Owls finished with their best record since 2004 at 47-17, ending in an NCAA regional. The team will have to replace six drafted players including Brendon Sanger, last year’s Conference USA Player of the Year. Chatham and Dicks will lead the FAU offense along with junior second-baseman Stephen Kerr. Kerr — last year’s leadoff hitter — hit .307 in 2015 and made a play at second base that was selected as a SportsCenter Top 10 Play. Florida Atlantic baseball will open its season with a doubleheader on Feb. 19, taking on both South Dakota State and Mississippi State. The team also will get the chance to take on Major League Baseball’s St. Louis Cardinals on March 2 in Jupiter, Florida.