One of Williams’ revelations about his time with the Bulls was that teammates were actually smoking marijuana before games.

“I didn’t know how to handle it at first,” Williams said. “I didn’t know how to be around it. Guys were on the bench, trying to kick it to girls in the stands, having ball boys run over. I mean, some guys were high.”

Asked to clarify, Williams said: “There were guys smoking weed before games. Guys asking in the middle of the game, ‘Do you smell popcorn?’ ”

Williams’ accusations upset more than one of his former teammates. K.C. Johnson reached out to six players from that 2002-03 team, all of whom denied using marijuana.

“I like Jay, but when you make blanket statements, you incriminate everyone,” said Rick Brunson, currently a Bobcats assistant coach. “You have to look in the mirror first: ‘Did I contribute to some of those things?’ Your career didn’t go the way it should’ve gone. Let it go. You’re doing a great job on ESPN. You should be honored and blessed the Bulls paid you.”

Donyell Marshall, who played with the Bulls for the 2002-03 season,  was a little more outspoken.

“My thing is, why say these things now?” Marshall told the Tribune. “You don’t need to be making people assume. You’re messing up situations for other people. Now, instead of Fred (Hoiberg, coach of Iowa State) focusing on the NCAA tournament or whatever, he’s got to deal with that (crap).”

Drive three and a half hours to Fort Lauderdale (thanks for sucking, Mid Florida SPJ. But more on that later).

This weekend I was able to be a part of Death Race, an event held by SPJ’s South Florida Pro Chapter. I first became associated with them through the Will Write For Food 2012 program that I was a part of this past Labor Day weekend (and I urge everyone to sign up for).

Death Race was a kind of hands-on training on writing obituaries. It’s rare the case when a j-school professor goes in depth about writing obituaries, since it’s not such a popular beat for reporters to want to cover.

Miami Herald obit writer Elinor Brecher, talked to us about her career writing obituaries and advised us on how to write them. The prize? An urn with the newspaper ashes.

Oh, and three journalists died.

Well, not really.

But these three South Florida SPJ board members volunteered to die for the day, you know, for authenticity: Gideon Grudo (managing editor at South Florida Gay News), Mariam Aldhahi (an art director with Forum Publishing Group) and Cassie Morien (web editor at Boca Raton Magazine).

And if that wasn’t eerie enough, their family, friends and colleagues were invited to speak about them in a creepy chapel, in front of a coffin, two urns, floral arrangements and pictures of the young journalists.

Here are some of the obit writing tips that I wrote down when Elinor spoke:

1. Be sensitive to the nuance of people grieving. Be patient and compassionate.

2. Know your audience. What may fly with one family, might not fly with the next.

3. Writing obituaries IS journalism–get the right facts (research).

4. Figure out why the person you’re writing about is obit worthy? The 5W’s aren’t enough.

5. Watch out for cliches (“He was so nice. He’d give you the shirt off his back.”).

6. Listen carefully for nuggets of info. The person sharing their story might not think its important, but that could potentially be your lede.

I decided to write my obit on Mariam, but the problem was that her family lives in freakin’ Dubai. Just yesterday (I’m not even kidding) I was telling my friend that I don’t know anyone that has even lived or been in Dubai. I called her uncle in Cali and we spoke for a bit and he gave me enough information about her that I could use.

Long story short: I didn’t win the obituary contest, but I realized that writing them isn’t easy. I was originally going to approach it like a feature story (which I should have done), but I doubted myself and wrote a basic boring skeleton of an obit. Its really hard to approach a story about someone dying and make it into a nice piece that people can reflect on. So much pressure!

I am interested in continuing to practice writing them (weird) so friends: Beware. You’re all my next targets.

On another topic, I quickly want to touch on the SPJ Mid Florida Chapter run by interim  president, Bobbi O’Brien. That’s the chapter that Orlando falls under and unfortunately that includes me.

Whenever I am interested in expanding my career as a journalist or simply just learning something new, I don’t have the luxury of having a good pro chapter. Our student chapter at UCF, run by journo professor Rick Brunson, is great. We get a lot of guest speakers and internship fairs, which I’ve benefitted from. But our pro chapter is ridiculous.

I decided to look up our pro chapter on Facebook and this is what I got.

That is probably the saddest thing I’ve ever seen. The 23 member open group (so that means I can see their SPJ chapter plans) lacks creativity and innovation. It doesn’t pull and attract potential journalists.

The last post was on January 9th about the “revival” of the chapter in which O’Brien invited everyone for appetizers and drinks. If I had the option of going to this or driving three hours for free food and actually learning stuff, I’d do the latter (oh wait, that’s exactly what I did this weekend).

One of O’Briens’ posts from November 28, 2012 reads:

“Looking Long range: A workshop on social media bringing journalists up to speed on Twitter, Facebook, Storify, Pinerest, Tumblr, etc [...]. Boots camps… on computer assisted reporting [and] social media [...]. Create a local public records event to incorporate Tampa Bay media and SPJ college chapter students.”

I could probably give O’Brien a lesson on social media so that we could do something about that terrible group, lack of Facebok fan page, lack of website, lack of Twitter, etc. It’s ironic that these are all her ideas for journalism workshops but our chapter doesn’t implement any of these things.

All these ideas were suggested because on November 19, 2012 she posted:

“URGENT: All Mid-Florida SPJ members past, present and hopefully future!

Michael Koretzky, former president of the South Florida SPJ, current president of the Florida College Press and SPJ Region 3 director, has sent me several emails this morning demanding that I close the Mid-Florida Chapter account and mail him the check.

The Mid-Florida chapter received no prior notices of Mr. Koretzky’s intentions or this demand. The National SPJ membership officer and president have been copied on Mr. Kroetzky’s emails. But I have not heard from them yet.

I ask for input IMMEDIATELY and a meeting to review Mr. Kroetzky’s emails and demands.

Please share this information with all the journalists in the Mid-Florida Chapter region. So we can formulate a response and show that the Mid-Florida Chapter is still viable.”

First… see, Koretzky? I’m not the only idiot that misspells your name.

Second of all,  they SHOULD have taken the money because previous to that post, on October 3rd, 2012, someone posted: “Does this chapter hold meetings? Trying to find information but it looks outdated.”

AND PREVIOUS TO THAT POST, THE LAST POST HAD BEEN MADE IN JANUARY 2012. 

Holy crap my brain just imploded! What does this chapter do all year? Where exactly does the money go to? Appetizers and drinks? It’s so outdated I almost heard a dial-up tone going off.

After I graduate and become and alum, I’ll probably still be a part of UCF’s SPJ, but I can’t attend internship fairs forever, so that’s why I wish our chapter was more active. It’s important for someone like me, who just decided to become a journalist not so long ago, to have a chapter to keep me active and current with things I should know.

I’d rather have this Mid Florida Chapter be closed than continue in mediocrity.

It’s embarrassing.

State University System

Textbook publishers, college bookstores preparing for digital shift
Naples Daily News
…But research shows change is on the way, with the company that manages FGCU‘s bookstore estimating traditional print purchases will drop by 50 percent in five to seven years. However, it’s happening more slowly for textbooks than for other books…

Dispatch recordings from Friday’s accident released
NBC2 News
NBC2 just received emergency dispatch recordings from an accident that injured two FGCU students Friday. In the recordings first responders can be heard calling for air support from MEDSTAR’s replacement, but in the end, it was unable to respond.

Entrepreneurial spirit grows at FSU
Tallahassee Democrat (blog)
As Florida State strives to establish itself as an entrepreneurial university, taking one of its “big ideas’ for fundraising and converting it into reality, the music school of all places is ground zero away from the College of Business.

UF/IFAS celebrates 150th anniversary of the Morrill Act Oct. 13
TCPalm
The University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences is holding an Open House event to mark the land-grant university system’s 150th anniversary at several facilities on Saturday, Oct. 13 from 9 a.m. to noon.

USF Trustees Approve Program With LRMC
The Ledger
University of South Florida’s Board of Trustees has unanimously approved collaboration between USF Health and Lakeland Regional Health System that will turn the hospital into a teaching hospital and draw more doctors to the area.

USF Tampa police investigate on-campus rape
Tampabay.com
University of South Florida police continue to investigate the reported rape of a student in Kappa Hall on Wednesday. The woman said a man she didn’t know raped her at 6:50 p.m. in the residence hall. Police have not named a suspect or said if they believe he is a student. They also said Monday that they are still investigating how he got in the dorm room…

University of Tennessee beats out USF in ‘Today’ show’s school spirit challenge
Tampabay.com
It’s official: the Today show will not be coming to the University of South Florida next week. One of six finalists in Today’s College Challenge, a national contest that asked voters to pick the school with the most spirit…

Voter registration drive set for Wednesday at UWF
Pensacola News Journal
Escambia County Supervisor of Elections David Stafford will team up with University of West Florida faculty, Student Government Association, Voyages and the UWF Black Employee Association for a fall voter registration drive on Wednesday…

State College System

Polk State College Gets Creative To Up Graduation Rate
83degreesmedia
Polk State College in Winter Haven is increasing the number of degrees awarded, as motivated by the Graduate Tampa Bay initiative. The Lakeland-Winter Haven MSA is one of three in Tampa Bay competing with over 50 other metropolitan areas in the national Talent Dividend Competition. A $1 million prize will be awarded to the area that sees the largest increase in college degrees by the year 2013.

8th annual Professional Bereavement Conference
WTXL ABC 27
Big Bend Hospice, Inc. invites professionals to attend the 8th annual Professional Bereavement Conference on Friday, September 28, 2012 from 8:30am to 4:30pm at Tallahassee Community College.

Independent Colleges and Universities

Reef research center to help unlock, preserve sea treasures
Sun-Sentinel
That’s one of the reasons Nova Southeastern University built the new, 86,000-square-foot facility with 15 laboratories at the park.

Southeastern Unveils Initiative to Build 5000-Seat Football Stadium
The Ledger
Southeastern University announced a definitive initiative on Monday night to compete in NAIA Division I football in a new 5,000-seat stadium on its Lakeland campus starting in the fall of 2014…

University of Miami legal fellowships provide real life work experience
MiamiHerald.com (registration)
Started two years ago and funded by the university and outside private grants, Legal Corps is a six-month postgraduate fellowship program that places newly minted lawyers in public sector organizations and pays them a $2,500 monthly stipend. The goal: provide real-world experience for graduates while also helping organizations that might otherwise not be able to hire legal help.

Yip Yap: Noted and Quoted FLHE Voices from Around the State

FSCJ faculty members express conerns
Florida Times-Union
The news in the Times-Union investigative series on Florida State College at Jacksonville has been devastating to our institution. As veteran faculty members with a combined 47 years of service to FSCJ, we feel compelled to express our deep concerns regarding the information exposed in the Times-Union series. During the spring term, we read with disbelief accounts of the dispute over the dismissal of former Associate Vice President Celine McArthur, the questions surrounding the part-time employment by another institution of Executive Vice President Don Green and the early reports of mismanagement of the federal Pell Grant program…JoAnn D. Carpenter, Ph.D., is professor of history and Marcella G. Washington, Ph.D., is professor of political science at FSCJ.

Q&A with: Kim Wilmath
The Florida Current
Kim Wilmath has been on the job as communications director for the State University System and Board of Governors for three weeks. A Tampa native and graduate of the University of Florida, Wilmath, 25, leads a team that shapes the message in stories about the Board’s policy decisions and responds to reporters’ questions about the SUS’s performance…

Art and poetry programs at Flagler College
St. Augustine Record
An artist and a poet will be in the spotlight at upcoming Flagler College programs. International artist Romero Britto will speak at 7 p.m. Thursday Flagler College in the Virginia Room of the Ringhaver Student Center…

They’re adults now: Stop hovering!
Palm Beach Post
At Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Dr. Corey A. King, associate vice president and dean of students, said the goal is not to cut parents off from their children, cold-turkey. “We tell them, ‘You’ve been highly engaged for 18 years, but we want you to do it in a different way.’ We don’t want to cut the rope, we want to lengthen the rope, because the more we try to close parents out, the more likely that puts up a road block. We want to redirect that parental energy into the Owl Parent Association.”

Dueling projects face big hurdles
Sun-Sentinel
“I don’t know if visitors coming down from cold places will want to do anything winter here,” said Peter Ricci, director of hospitality programs at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton…

FGCU Vice President Rosemary Thomas resigns
Naples Daily News
Seven months after becoming vice president of university advancement at Florida Gulf Coast University, Rosemary Thomas is leaving to take the same job back in Maryland…

State officials put spotlight on human trafficking
Sun-Sentinel
“The message we’re sending today is a strong one – that Florida will be and is a zero-tolerance state for human trafficking,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi at a summit dedicated to the issue at Florida State University…

Fla GOP defends campaigning against justices
Palm Beach Post
“Before we had that, we had terrible scandals involved” with the court, said Talbot ‘Sandy’ D’Alemberte, a former American Bar Association president, legislator and Florida State University law school dean and president.

How Much Weight Does Fla. Latino Vote Carry in 2012 Election?
WFSU
“It looks more like they’ve been concentrating more on showing some Hispanic faces once in awhile, or having the candidates endorse that they are for Hispanics and say something in Spanish that they can’t really speak very well, and I’m referring specifically to Mr. Romney,” said Felipe Korzenny, the Director of Florida State University’s Center for Hispanic Marketing Communication…

Florida State University chemist may hold key to building a better toxin mousetrap
Science Codex
A Florida State University chemist’s work could lead to big improvements in our ability to detect and eliminate specific toxins in our environment. Featured on the cover of the prestigious Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS), Sourav Saha‘s specialized work to strip electrons from the toxic chemical known as fluoride is producing a variety of unique results. ”I started out with the very basic premise of trying to find new ways to detect toxic fluoride in solutions,” said Saha, an assistant professor of chemistry at Florida State. “As I got further into that work I was able to create a compound that could actually strip the electrons right off the molecule, producing a variety of tangible benefits such as toxin detection and removal.”

MRSA found on 80 percent of dollar bills according to SPC study
Examiner.com
A St. Petersburg College biological sciences professor and some of her students set out to discover how much, if any, “bad bacteria” is found on frequently handled fomites like paper money and credit cards. The preliminary findings from the study titled, “”Cash or Credit: Spreading the Wealth of Virulence Genes?”, were released Monday. Shannon McQuaig, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Natural Sciences at St. Petersburg College spoke to the Infectious Disease Examiner Monday about the study and their preliminary findings…

Do You Hate Getting Political Posts on Your Facebook News Feed?
Huffington Post (blog)
Rick Brunson, a journalism professor at the University of Central Florida, told the Orlando Sentinel that he disagrees with the practice of blocking a Facebook friend over politics, stating, ”I find (the political posts) mildly irritating, but I tolerate them. I may read the posts or I may not, and then I move on. That’s the price you pay for stepping into a social-media platform.’

Swing-state Florida’s up-for-grabs region
HeraldNet
For the bigger corridor picture, I spoke with Terri Fine, professor of politics at the University of Central Florida. Tampa, with its large Cuban-American population, tends to be conservative, she explained, while Central Florida “is probably more purple…

Christian Aguilar, University of Florida Student Missing Since Thursday …
Huffington Post
Christian Aguilar may have been beaten in a dispute over a woman, according to reports. Christian Aguilar, a University of Florida student, has been missing since Thursday, and police fear he may be too hurt to get help after a possible beating …

Search continues for Miami-Dade teen missing near UF
MiamiHerald.com (registration)
Christian Aguilar chatted on his cellphone Thursday with a friend from Doral Academy Preparatory School in West Miami-Dade. Though he was a freshman at the University of Florida in Gainesville and she was at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, they kept in contact.

Univision anchor: Mitt Romney made demands during Miami appearance
Bradenton Herald
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney made several demands during his Wednesday appearance at the University of Miami forum sponsored by Spanish-language network Univision , according to the website BuzzFeed.

GrowJAX and ACG: ‘Companies to watch’ focus on human and financial capital
Jacksonville Daily Record
Urban Land Institute North Florida chose University of North Florida President and former Mayor John Delaney as the recipient of its 2012 Visionary Leader Award…

UNF professor honored
Florida Times-Union (blog)
The University of North Florida is honoring Mina Baliamoune-Lutz, a professor in the Coggin College of Business Department of Economics and Geography with the 2012 Distinguished Professor Award during the 41st annual fall convocation ceremony…

FEA backs Nancy Soderberg
Florida Times-Union (blog)
Nancy Soderberg is a Jacksonville resident, small business owner and political science professor at the University of North Florida. She served as Ambassador to the United Nations from 1997 – 2001…

Matricide in South Florida, the unimaginable crime
Sun-Sentinel
Kathleen Heide, a University of South Florida criminology professor, said an average of 250 cases of parricide — the killing of one’s father or mother — occur in the U.S. each year…

Obama, Romney Spar Over Space Exploration
U.S. News & World Report
At the University of South Florida, Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan accused Obama of “dismantling” the space over his first term, and an accompanying policy paper released by the Romney campaign said America’s space program is “befitting [of] a President who rejects American exceptionalism, apologizes for America, and believes we should be just another nation with a flag.”

Genital cutting tied to later abuse risk
Reuters
“If something is entrenched in a culture, it is difficult to change,” said Dr. Hamisu Salihu of the University of South Florida in Tampa, the lead researcher on the new study.

Politics Play Part in Gulf Power’s Economic Symposium
WJHG-TV
Even the Panhandle’s foremost economic expert, University of West Florida Professor Dr. Rick Harper, warned the federal government’s actions will also have a local impact. “We need to slow down the growth rate of federal government spending…

Gulf Power Symposium Focuses on Panhandle’s Economic Competitiveness
wmbb
Not forgetting the dominant military force of Northwest Florida, Economist from the University of West Florida, Dr. Rick Harper, said its Congress who must work together in order to bolster the economic outlook for our area…

Releases and Web Stories

FAU To Celebrate Disability Awareness Month
BocaNewsNow.com
Florida Atlantic University will host a series of events to commemorate Disability Awareness Month during October.

EXPLO Launches Join the Debates, An Online Project for High School Students …
Sacramento Bee
Trained students hailing from the University of Denver, Centre College, Hofstra University, and Lynn University, host sites for the 2012 presidential and vice-presidential debates will facilitate many of these discussions…

A Decade of Community Outreach: 2002-2012
Santa Fe College
Santa Fe College and East Gainesville Instruction (EGI) invite you to join them in celebration! On Thursday, September 27 from 6-7:15 p.m., everyone is invited to attend the Tenth Annual Community Forum.

SF Teaching Zoo Hosts Animal Enrichment Day Oct. 13
Santa Fe College
Find out on Saturday, October 13 from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. at Santa Fe College Teaching Zoo’s Animal Enrichment Day. On Animal Enrichment Day, come visit the zoo to talk to zookeepers, find out how we use animal enrichment, and make enrichments for your pets …

FAMU scores fifth on national highest rated universities list
The South Florida Times
RateMyProfessors.com has announced its annual list of the “Top 25 Highest Rated Universities” in the nation, and Florida A&M University (FAMU) is on it, ranking fifth out of more than 7,500 schools…

University debuts anti-hazing website
USA TODAY
A website that will be unveiled Friday is Florida A&M University‘s next step in combating a culture of hazing that has spread from fraternities to the marching band to a female dance team, suspended earlier this week after a parent reported purported hazing…

FAMU Looks for New Director of Marching and Pep Bands
WCTV
Committee members are moving forward in the search for a director of marching and pep bands at FAMU. The position has been vacant since Dr. Julian White resigned in July in the wake of drum major Robert Champion’s death…

UNF student newspaper, Spinnaker, finalist for national award
Florida Times-Union (blog)
The Spinnaker, the University of North Florida student newspaper is a finalist for the 2012 Pacemaker Award, which is prestigious national recognition…

USF bemoans its students’ lagging success rate
Tbo.com
Problems with funding, graduation rates, financial aid and other issues vexing students at the University of South Florida were picked over by the school’s Board of Trustees at its meeting Thursday. Paul Dosal, vice provost of student success, told the board that only slightly more than 50 percent of students who begin USF as freshmen will graduate in six years. The key rating remained virtually unchanged during the past five years, despite the school’s efforts…

USFSP: New student center helps build new reputation
ABC Action News
The freshman class at USF St. Pete is the biggest ever, but it’s the small school atmosphere that lured students Dianne Montez and Cheyanne Robinson.

USF-St. Pete opens new student center
MyFox Tampa Bay
USF St. Petersburg’s student center is brand new, and largely undiscovered…

UWF enrollment tops 12800 for fall semester
Gulf Breeze News
After the three-day closure because of Hurricane Isaac, the University of West Florida officially opened its doors last Thursday to a record breaking 12,823 students…

State College System

State asks FSCJ to prove it is running bachelor’s programs properly
Florida Times-Union
The Florida Department of Education asked for proof this week that bachelor’s degree programs at Florida State College at Jacksonville are being “administered and delivered appropriately.” Chancellor Randy Hanna sent the request, dated Sept. 4…

HCC campus president sees growth, more technology
Northwest News and Tribune
The new president of the Plant City campus of Hillsborough Community College said he sees a bright future for the school. Martyn Clay, who took over July 1, said about 4,000 students are enrolled in the fall semester, about 4 percent more than last year…

HCC Campuses To Be Tobacco-Free With Start of New Year
Patch.com
With the new year all Hillsborough Community College campuses will be tobacco-free, which means if you want to light up a smoke, you’ll have to do it outside campus boundaries…

Obama targets young voters at Pinellas rally, but will it work?
WTSP 10 News
It’s no coincidence Obama’s last visit to the Tampa Bay area was at Hillsborough Community College…

On-ramp to cyberspace: Delray expanding free Internet access to neighborhood
Sun-Sentinel
And Palm Beach State College has offered 24/7 Help Desk for the program’s participants should they encounter technical problems…

Mayors Laud Cooperation Between Cities
The Ledger
The 10 Polk County mayors met today in the Student Center at Polk State College as part of Polk Vision’s Polk County Leadership Exchange…

Santa Fe College ranked among best community colleges
WUFT
Santa Fe College recently held a ceremony in honor of its achievement as one of the top community colleges in the nation, but there could be more accolades to come. The college announced Wednesday that it is ranked as one of the top 10 community colleges in the nation and is eligible for a $1 million prize fund…

Seminole State gets big-time donations
Seminole Chronicle
The Seminole State College of Florida recently celebrated its all-time highest donation revenue for the 2011-2012 school year during the Celebration of Giving on Aug. 23. This past year, SSC received $5 million in gifts and pledges with assets totaling $16 million.

Independent Colleges and Universities

Obama-visit tickets go up for grabs today
Florida Today
Long lines are likely to form early this morning as people vie for tickets to President Barack Obama’s Sunday morning campaign appearance at Florida Institute of Technology…

Obama’s Sunday morning Melbourne stop detailed
Orlando Sentinel (blog)
The re-election campaign of President Barack Obama announced some details of his intended visit to Melbourne Sunday morning, with the stop being at Florida Institute of Technology and free tickets becoming available in several Brevard County locations Saturday. Melbourne will be the third stop in Obama’s three-day, post-convention bus tour of Florida. He begins Saturday in St. Petersburg and Kissimmee then heads for Melbourne and West Palm Beach on Sunday…

President Obama to visit Melbourne
WFTV Orlando
President Barack Obama will deliver remarks at a grassroots event at the Charles and Ruth Clemente Center on Florida Institute of Technology campus on Sunday, September 9.

A look ahead at the debate on defense policies
Washington Post
Mitt Romney and President Obama previewed last week some of what might occur on Oct. 22 when they debate defense policies at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Fla. Romney, who oddly avoided that subject in his acceptance speech before the Republican …

Rollins College encourages students to embrace changing the world
Orlando Sentinel
What did you do on your summer vacation? For students at Winter Park’s Rollins College, the answers include launching an eco-lodge project in Tanzania, founding a company that creates energy from waste and helping women in a South African village start a profitable baking business…

Not Your Father’s MBA
Forbes
The University of Miami is beginning to address this problem. It is offering a field trip to MBA students, in this case to China, to visit with companies doing business there to see the challenges of operating in a business environment with rules and …

Yip Yap: Noted and Quoted FLHE Voices from Around the State

Mark Wilson: Florida Must Expand From Reliance on Ag, Tourism, Construction
Sunshine State News
The forum is being put on by Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater and Florida State University’s Jim Moran Institute for Global Entrepreneurship…

Florida Student: Obama And Biden ‘Help Us Achieve’ Success
TPM
Angie Flores, a student at Miami Dade College in Florida, introduced Jill Biden by praising the current administration’s dedication to education in Charlotte Thursday…

Jaimie Warren Has an Opening in Miami Tonight
VICE
Jaimie [Warren] has an opening tonight at the Miami Dade College’s Museum of Art + Design called The WHOAS of Female Tragedy. The exhibition is a series of hilarious, intricate self-portraits Jaimie has taken over the past ten years…

Deep-sea oddities: light-spewing shrimp, crabs with ultraviolet vision
Fox News
“We were surprised by how little bioluminescence is down there,” Tamara Frank, a marine ecologist at Nova Southeastern University and study coauthor, told LiveScience…

Vice president of advancement appointed at Ringling
Bradenton Herald
Ringling College of Art and Design has appointed Michael E. Moore to the position of vice president for advancement for advancement for Ringling College…

Navigating politics with friends on Facebook
Orlando Sentinel
But Rick Brunson, a journalism professor at the University of Central Florida, strongly disagrees with the practice of blocking a friend on Facebook over politics because it’s “antithetical to the spirit of social media and free speech.”

‘So You Think You Can Dance’: UCF student is in finale
Orlando Sentinel (blog)
Tiffany Maher is one of the Final Four on ‘So You Think You Can Dance.’ Photo credit: Mathieu Young/Fox. Tiffany Maher, a junior at the University of Central Florida, has made it to the Final Four of “So You Think You Can Dance.”

Payroll growth seen tepid, may force Fed’s hand
Reuters
“If the labor market continues to sputter then it makes it a much more difficult case (for Obama) to get a second term,” said Sean Snaith, director of the University of Central Florida’s Institute for Economic Competitiveness.

UF Guantanamo Bay Lepidoptera study sets baseline for future research
Phys.Org
“Biodiversity studies are extremely important because they give us clues about where things were and how they evolved over time so we can better understand what may happen in the future,” said study co-author Jacqueline Y. Miller, curator of Lepidoptera at the Florida Museum of Natural History’s McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity on the UF campus.

New charges widening scope of China scandal
Huffington Post
That had been expected before the party congress, although University of Miami China expert June Teufel Dreyer said authorities might be holding back because of a lack of consensus or uncertainty over how to proceed in such a tight time frame. ”The door’s still open to prosecute Bo at a future time,” Dreyer said. “The more attention can be diverted from so high-level, and reputedly fairly popular, personage, the better.”

Plea deal for former model rejected by judge in hit-and-run
MiamiHerald.com (registration)
Betsy Jones, Jacob Jones and Jamie Jones, mother, brother and sister of Jared Paul Jones, a University of Miami student who was killed in a hit-and-run automobile accident, appear in court Thursday…

Health-care leader Donna E. Shalala to speak at UNC
News of Orange County
Donna E. Shalala, Ph.D., president of the University of Miami, will speak at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on Tuesday, Sept. 11, about how nurses can help meet the increasing need for more health-care providers…

The Goods: Myths vs. facts of cranberries
Florida Times-Union
Judy Perkin, faculty member in the University of North Florida’s Department of Nutrition and Dietetics Flagship Program, discusses the fruit that is good for you anytime…

Business coalition adds board members
Gulf Coast Business Review
The three new board members for the South Manatee Business Coalition (SMBC) are Robert Anderson, dean of the College of Business at the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee…

Releases and Web Stories

FAU to celebrate 2012 in state of university address Thursday
TCPalm – by news release
BOCA RATON — Florida Atlantic University President Mary Jane Saunders delivered the 2012 State of the University address, themed “FAU 2012: Celebrating a Year of Firsts, Building Community,” on Thursday in the Lifelong Learning Center Auditorium, …

Google Street View and FAU Partner For Ultra Cool Maps
BocaNewsNow.com
BOCA RATON, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) — While many people and places fight to keep Google’s map mobiles away, Florida Atlantic University is embracing the technology and the ability to provide stunning views of the campus to pretty much anyone, anywhere…

IRSC grads invited to join alumni association
TCPalm – by news release
FORT PIERCE — Indian River State College is calling all graduates to become members of the IRSC Alumni Association.

Symphony launches 25th birthday season with Sept. 22 world premiere
Crestview News Bulletin
The Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra, which performs at the Mattie Kelley Arts Center on Northwest Florida State College’s Niceville campus, has announced a season of five concert events for 2012-13 in honor of its 25th birthday…

Michael E. Moore Joins Ringling College as Vice President for Advancement
PR Web
Ringling College of Art and Design today announced the appointment of Michael E. Moore to the position of Vice President for Advancement for Ringling College. Michael has more than 25 years of experience in organizational management and fund development. Prior to his appointment at Ringling College, Michael spent the past two and a half years on the University Relations leadership team at the University of California at Santa Cruz (UCSC), serving as interim Associate Vice Chancellor for Strategic Philanthropy and Constituent Engagement as well as guiding the university’s $300 million comprehensive campaign…

Peak 10 Tailors Disaster Recovery Solution for Saint Leo University
MarketWatch
CHARLOTTE, N.C., Sep 06, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) — National cloud and data center solutions provider Peak 10 announced today that it will provide tailored disaster recovery planning and other managed services to Saint Leo University. Saint Leo University serves approximately 2,000 on-campus students at its main campus in west central Florida and more than 13,000 students through its 18 continuing education centers in seven states and its Center for Online Learning…

National organization gives award to UF for safety, security at stadium
University of Florida
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The University of Florida’s Ben Hill Griffin Stadium has received a Facility of Merit Award from the National Center for Spectator Sports Safety and Security.

Texas A&M Partners With University of Florida To Develop Clean Energy For India
Texas A&M University
A project involving Texas A&M University and the University of Florida could prove to be a huge benefit to millions of people in India.

Collaboration Between Texas A&M And University Of Florida Creates Popular …
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University kicks off its inaugural season in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Saturday with the University of Florida Gators. While the teams battle it out on Kyle Field’s natural grass turf, for some horticulture enthusiasts it may bring to mind an historic academic collaboration between the two schools that led to the creation of one of the most widely used types of lawn grass in many parts of the world: Floratam.

Overview

The Bulls roster underwent a lot of changes the summer, and head into this season with eight new players. Still, on a line-by-line basis, the Bulls are stronger in nearly every aspect, and they still have one of the most dynamic cores of any team in the East. With the additions of Boozer, Korver, Brewer and C.J. Watson, the Bulls may prove to be one of the deepest teams in the conference.

Roster

* New to team
** NBA Record

Head Coach: Tom Thibodeau
Assistant Coaches: Ron Adams, Rick Brunson, Andy Greer, Adrian Griffin, Ed Pinckney

Meaningful Offseason Moves

• Traded Kirk Hinrich (along with the 17th pick and money) to Washington for Vladimir Veeremenko
• Released coach Vinnie Del Negro
• Hired coach Tom Thibodeau
• Signed Carlos Boozer for 5-years, $75 million
• Signed Kyle Korver for 3-years, $15 million
• Put J.J. Reddick to a 3-year, $20 million offer sheet (Magic matched this sheet and retained Reddick)
• Signed Ronnie Brewer for 3-years, $12.5 million
• Sign and Traded Hakim Warrick to Phoenix for a 2011 second round pick
• Released Brad Miller
• Signed Omer Asik for 3-years, $4 million
• Traded second-round pick to Golden State for C.J. Watson
• Signed Kurt Thomas for 1-year, $1.8 million
• Signed Keith Bogans for 2-years, $3.2 million
• Signed Brian Scalabrine for 1-year, veteran’s minimum
• Signed Quentin Richardson for 4-years, $10 million
• Matched Chicago’s 3-year, $20 million offer sheet, kept J.J. Redick
• Drafted Daniel Orton and Stanley Robinson

Why the Bulls are Contenders

Bulls fans who wanted a fresh start after a disappointing first round departure last season will get their wish. They’ll also get to enjoy said fresh start with the same core of Rose, Noah, Deng and Gibson that were really the only bright points of the previous year.

Last year’s Bulls ended 41-41 and made the playoffs, which was a bit of an unexpected result after starting 7-13 and suffering through 10-game losing streak from Feb 27th through Mar 19th. Said losing streak was so ugly that it seemed inevitable that the front office would dismiss Coach Del Negro at the end of the year (really, he was lucky to get that far), and that most of the roster would be released.

At the end of the season, the Bulls ended with a team average of 97.5 PPG (24th of 30), while  allowing 99.1 PPG (13th of 30). This from a squad that features an All-Star PG in Rose who averaged 20.8 PPG and 6.0 APG and a pair of solid forwards in Deng and Noah who combined for 28.3 PPG and 18.3 RPG.

On the Eve of the NBA Finals, then Celtics assistant coach Tom Thibodeau interviewed for the head coaching job, a role that many NBA insiders, including Doc Rivers, felt was a great fit. Thibodeau has been credited for playing a big part in developing the Celtics as a team and building players up when needed.

As you probably remember, the Bulls got into the LeBron sweepstakes, but smartly keep their eyes on several other players that could come in and help them right away.

(This is when I put on my Jazz hat)

When LeBron fell through, the Bulls managed the free agent market as well as any other team not based in Miami. Say what you will about Carlos Boozer, but he, Korver and Brewer spent several years developing their basketball IQ at the alter of Sloan. They are smart, effective basketballers, and the prospect of them playing with Rose and Noah is intimidating.

Korver is coming off a season wherein he posted an NBA record for greatest three point percentage in a season, and there may not be a better low-ego 2-guard to compliment Derrick Rose than Ronnie Brewer. He doesn’t make a lot of headlines, but he plays hard, takes pride in his defense, and finds the open lane to the basket incredibly well.

I’m realizing right now that I kind of miss him a little.

Once Boozer is healthy, he’s going to go hard. Boozer longed for a contending team that would allow him to break out of the traditional PF role and play more of a high low-ish flexing forward. That probably is exactly what the Bulls have in mind for him as it allows Noah to stay closer to the Center position and bang around inside for the rebounds and put backs (something Boozer didn’t do with reckless abandon while stationed in Salt Lake).

Boozer, Brewer and Korver all afford Thibodeau the kind of flexibility that you saw (and still see) in Boston. Don’t be surprised to the see the Bulls running a flex offense that allows Rose to generate the offense on the fly based on who is on the floor and where the mismatches are.

The Heat are going to be the high flying squad in the East, the Magic is going to be the Center-centric force.

In my opinion, the Bulls – much like the Jazz in the West – *could* become the thinking man’s team in the East. I’m not sure if that’ll be enough to outsmart the Celtics or the Heat, but it’s going to be a lot of fun to watch.

Video

Related Articles

• Chicago Bulls: 2010-11 preview (sportingnews.com)
• Fast break or Carlos Boozer (chicagonow.com)
• NBA Trade Rumors: Bulls Can Compete with the Heat by Trading Deng for Crawford (bleacherreport.com)
• 2010 Chicago Bulls Preview: Can Derrick Rose Lift the Bulls To the NBA’s Elite? (bleacherreport.com)

The Bulls have officially announced Tom Thibodeau’s assistant coaches for the upcoming season. Ron Adams, Andy Greer, Rick Brunson and Adrian Griffin will round out the coaching staff. In addition to the coaching positions, Randy Brown was named a Special Assistant to the GM and Pete Myers was named a scout.

Adams, 63, will start his second stint with the Bulls having spent the 2003-2008 seasons with the team before moving on to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Adams started his coaching career as an assistant at his alma mater, Fresno Pacific University. Over his coaching career he has had stops in Oklahoma City, Milwaukee, San Antonio and Philadelphia.

The 48-year old Greer will be making his forth assistant coaching stop in the NBA. He has previously spent time with the Memphis Grizzles, Houston Rockets and New York Knicks. Greer’s college coaching career has a local focus. He spent four years at Northern Illinois University, and half of a season there as the interim head coach.

Griffin, 36, is coming off two seasons in an assistant coach/player developmental role for the Milwaukee Bucks. A former member of the Bulls from 2004-2008, his nine-year NBA career included stops in Boston, Dallas, Houston and Seattle, along with the Bulls.

Brunson, 38, another former Bull and Temple University player will make his first NBA coaching stop. Has previously served as an assistant at the University of Hartford and as the Director of Basketball operations at the University of Virginia.

Brown spent the 2009-10 season as the Director of Player Development for the Bulls. The Chicago native was a member of the Bulls’ 1996, ’97 and ’98 NBA Championship teams.

Myers, another former Bulls player, will enter his 11th season with the organization including nine seasons as an assistant coach.

In what traditionally has been known as Region 3 (a number that is insignificant to those outside of the organization), the Southeastern Region, which includes South Carolina, Florida, Georgia and Alabama, has gathered in the Sunshine State THREE of the last four years.

While I certainly enjoyed the 2007 conference at University of Florida in Gainesville and the 2009 “unconference” in Hollywood, Fla.,  the University of Central Florida did some different things that bear a closer look NATIONALLY as SPJ looks to the future of the regional conferences.

Rick Brunson, SPJ adviser poses with SPJ President Robyn Sidersky and Melissa Patterson, a UCF graduate and online producer at PalmBeachPost.com

In fact, UCF Professor Rick Brunson and Chapter President Robyn Sidersky assembled a team of “blue shirts” (name for the SPJ shirts that the team of students wore to help us attendees easily spot them) to put on a student-oriented, forward-looking conference that gave attendees take-home tips that hopefully will translate into them being active members of SPJ.

The more than 120 registrants who journeyed here to the UCF campus were treated to a blue-ribbon panel of recent journalism graduates who were a lot more upbeat about their future in the field than many we hear speaking at professional journalism gatherings.

UCF Journalism Professor Lance Speere moderates a session Friday featuring recent UCF graduates who are working in journalism.

Starting out on Friday afternoon with a “reality-check” from top editors at two Florida news organization, this event did more to uplift, encourage and empower those who participated than most journalism workshops to which we invite those in the field.

Usually the highlight of this conference is the Mark of Excellence student award presentations.  This year, that had a different feel because it took place at an evening banquet rather than a luncheon.   I know the food was probably more expensive than a lunch menu.  But, the Holiday Inn-UCF had great food.  (Although the chicken they served for the luncheon in Hollywood, Fla. last year was good too)

While Mark of Excellence was big, the talk of social media was bigger.   The hands-on training sessions on Saturday were a hit with my students from the University of Alabama.

At the same time, there were some industry panels that gave attendees more than just practical tips for specifics technologies or software.  Our SPJ President-Elect Hagit Limor made the trek from Cincinnati to not only give a keynote address on Friday night, but share her insights on one of those industry panels.

It’s a combination of good, timely industry panels AND professional training with hands-on instruction that made the UCF-sponsored event a success.

If I count a brief appearance at an SPJ Regional more than 10 years ago in Birmingham, this was my sixth SPJ Regional.   It ranks among the best, most memorable for me.

SPJ Regional Directors, who are charged with organizing these events around the country, need to look at what Brunson and Sidersky did here in Orlando.   From the corporate sponsorships to the return of T-shirts to an SPJ Conference (We used to have those at national convention) to the plethora of cookies/snack breaks and networking opportunities built into the schedule,  this is definitely the WAY TO DO IT!

–

“Something tells me that even the most bellicose Knicks fan will allow him that courtesy, rather than resenting his contract from dusk till dawn.”

Knicks fans will forgive anything — anything — if we believe you’re trying hard. The reason we’ve hated Eddy Curry (and why we hated Jerome James) isn’t because they’ve been bad players when they’ve played (though neither was exactly Moses Malone). It’s because it became obvious very early and very often that neither one of them gave much of a shit about trying to get on the court or trying very hard once they got out there. Dude, Knicks fans remember RICK BRUNSON fondly, and he was terrible. It’s not the money; it’s the malaise.