News & Public Affairs

USF study adds to knowledge of how to control invasive species listen

10/11/12 Olivia Kabat
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Tags: invasive species, environment, USF, biology, science

University of South Florida researchers have studied one of the most commonly known invasive species in the world, house sparrows. They found behavioral and stress hormone patterns that could help control and prevent house sparrows and other invasive species from future invasions.

The study was published in the biological research journal, Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Andrea Liebl, a PhD candidate at USF, says in many cases invasive species are controlled after they’re already intr...

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Tampa Bay area college students march for peace on anniversary of invasion of Afghanistan listen

10/08/12 Janelle Irwin
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Tags: 9/11, terrorism, peace, USF, Students for a Democratic Society, Afghanistan, SDS

The war in Afghanistan is now in its twelfth year and some students in the Tampa Bay area have had enough. Ten members of Students for a Democratic Society, or SDS, rallied at USF Tampa today to speak out against the continued occupation of Afghanistan and other Middle Eastern countries. Matthew Hastings said the military spending can be better used to fund public education.

“Well, if we’re spending trillions of dollars to maintain a military that is fighting overseas, we’re not going t...

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Searching for Subversives in Florida: The Johns Committee

09/19/12 Robert Lorei
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Tags: Johns Committee, Stacy Braukman, Communists and Perverts Under the Palms, homosexuals, gays, USF, UF

Good morning—welcome to Radioactivity. I’m Rob Lorei.

Coming up we’ll talk about the Johns committee—which for ten years from 1956 to 1965 searched for subversives, homosexuals and communists in Florida’s schools—and weeded them out. The Johns committee was inspired by the anti-communist campaign waged nationally by such people as Senator Joseph McCarthy in the early 1950’s….

But first three listener comments that came in after yesterday’s show. On part of the program we talked about th...

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9/11 remembered by peace activists for resulting in more violence listen

09/11/12 Janelle Irwin
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Tags: 9/11, terrorism, peace, USF, Students for a Democratic Society, Islam

While groups around the country are remembering the victims of 9/11, other groups are marking the day for a different reason. A group of Peace activists rallied at USF and downtown Tampa today to remind people that American lives weren’t the only ones lost as a result of the attacks that day. Gonzalo Valdes with the group Tampa Against the War on Terror said more people were lost post 9/11.

“9/11 was the beginning of this war on terror. That’s when the world changed. I personally feel...

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Group wants a switch to compressed natural gas to help clean up Tampa Bay air listen

08/14/12 Janelle Irwin
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Tags: compressed natural gas, Clean Cities Coalition, Clean City, USF, Patel Center, sustainability, transportation

A trio of public and private groups in the Tampa Bay area is joining forces to reduce dependence on petroleum. The University of South Florida, the Environmental Protection Commission of Hillsborough County and TECO Energy committed funding to the Clean Cities Coalition this morning at USF’s Patel Center for Global Sustainability. USF president Judy Genshaft said transportation accounts for more than 71% of the nation’s petroleum consumption.

“Vehicles are major sources of greenhouse g...

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Occupy Tampa protests Police killing of teen Javon Neal listen

07/30/12 Seán Kinane
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Tags: Travon Neal, Tampa Police, Occupy Tampa, USF

A week ago Tampa Police shot and killed a sixteen-year-old they say aimed a shotgun at them. On Saturday members of Occupy Tampa led a subdued protest in front of the police’s district 3 substation on 22nd Street.

Kelsy O’Morrow is a student at USF and a member of Occupy Tampa.

“I’m here because he’s a sixteen year old boy and the police department has yet to really reveal any details about what actually happened that night. All they have done is release and big, obscure picture of hi...

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Conservation group wants Endangered Species Act protection for reptiles and amphibians listen

07/20/12 Olivia Kabat
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Tags: reptiles, amphibians, Henry Mushinsky, Center for Biological Diversity, USF, Endangered Species Act, habitat loss, climate change

Earlier this month the Center for Biological Diversity filed a petition to receive Endangered Species Act protection for rare amphibians and reptiles. The goal of this petition is to save 53 species across the country, 10 of which live in Florida.

Collette Giese is an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity who specializes in reptiles and amphibians. She says species like the Florida Scrub Lizard and the Apalachicola King Snake can only be saved if they’re protected under the Endan...

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Analyzing the Supreme Court's ruling upholding the Affordable Care Act

06/28/12 Mitch Perry
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Tags: Affordable Care Act, Judithanne Scourfield McLauchlan, Paolo Annino, health care reform, USF

A little after 10:00 a.m. on Thursday June 28, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld President Obama's signature domestic achievement, the 2010 Affordable Care Act that aims to provide health insurance to 32 million people.

With us on the program to analyze are Florida State University Law Professor Paolo Annino, a Constitutional expert and wrote an amicus brief in support of the Affordable Care Act for the Supreme Court case.

Also joining us in studio is Judithanne Scourfield McLauchlan, assis...

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Coalition to March on the RNC holds organizing meeting at USF in Tampa listen

06/18/12 Michelle Friedline and Seán Kinane
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Tags: RNC, 2012 RNC, Tampa, Occupy Tampa, Occupy Wall Street, Clean Zone, Tampa City Council, ResistRNC, Coalition to March on RNC, Veterans for Peace, USF

The Coalition to March on the RNC is solidifying its plans to march on the first day of the Republican Convention in August. On Saturday Representatives from community and student groups from around Florida and as far away as Atlanta and Asheville traveled to the University of South Florida in Tampa to learn tactics used in past large-scale protests which they could apply this year to increase their numbers and effectively maintain a strong presence. Mick Kelly, an activist in the anti-war an...

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Sea Level Rise is real, predictions still to come listen

06/05/12 Janelle Irwin
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Tags: Sea level rise, global warming, climate change, USF, Patel Center, USF College of Marine Science

New technology is making it easier for scientists to study changes in sea levels. During a UNESCO Ihe international water institute conference on May 24th, experts talked about what coastal regions might expect in the coming decades. Gary Mitchum, the Associate Dean of USF’s College of Marine Science, celebrates the huge influx of data over the past several years. But he said it’ll still take ten years before there will be enough to make accurate projections.