The Multicultural Student Center at the University of Central Florida held their annual Taste of Hospitality learning event on Tuesday, November 7.

Students with a UCF ID were invited to try free samples of multicultural food prepared by the Rosen College of Hospitality Management’s catering department. This is the fourth annual event of its kind, yet this is the first time that the MSC has collaborated with the Rosen College.

The “come and learn” experience was reflective of the MSC’s core purpose, to enlighten Knights about cultural diversity through educational programs.

“We want to get the word out about the MSC, and diversity of course,” said Kenisha Thomas, co-cultural director of the MSC. Lauren Stevens, student director for Rosen Life, added that “this is an event to have fun and get students involved, that’s Rosen Life’s purpose.”

In previous years, the selection of food items was inspired by the cultural backgrounds of different professors at UCF. Now, however, a survey of Rosen students’ interests ultimately decided which countries would be brought to the table.

The selected countries and their corresponding food items were:

Germany, Brezlen – A soft salted pretzel.

United Kingdom, Fish and Chips – Fried battered fish and potatoes.

France, Crepes – Thin pastries rolled around sweet fruit and served with syrup.

Greece, Gyros – A flatbread wrap commonly filled with lamb, greens, and tzatziki sauce (greek yogurt with garlic and spices).

Australia, Pavlova – Meringue surrounded by a baked crust and topped with cream and sweet fruit.

United States, Barbeque sliders – Small sandwiches of marinated or rubbed smoked pulled pork.

India, Samosas – Fried dumplings with savory fillings such as lamb, potatoes, or even cheese.

Jamaica, Jerk Chicken – Grilled chicken marinated or rubbed with hot spice mixtures meant for use in jerky.

China, Egg rolls – Small fried units of vegetables and/or meat rolled in thin pastry.

Japan, Sushi – A sliced and partitioned rice roll that varies in fillings, commonly fish and greens.

Organizers of the event estimated that each Taste of Hospitality draws around 150 to 200 students. The first 50 students who completed the circuit of samples were given an MSC tote bag containing prizes.

Chef Renee Bence of the Rosen College spent 13 hours over two days to prepare the food for this crowd almost singlehandedly. While students ate, she sat by and smiled.

“It’s nice that they appreciate it,” Bence observed. “The College spends money well, everything they do is in the benefit of the student and everything they like to do.”

The next day, on November 8, Bence will serve the State of Florida’s Board of Trustees and Board of Governors. Bence reflected on her busy schedule, giving some credit to her aides in the kitchen:

“It really takes all of us as a team to get this done; I cook, and my assistants set up and clean up,” she said.

Bence has worked with the Rosen College, a 13-year-old school, for 12 years. Her job title “Senior Lab Technician” doesn’t quite imply it, but Bence is deeply involved in most kitchen related undertakings of the College, teaching catering classes, restaurant operating classes, and others.

Richard Grant, a senior Entertainment Management major at the Rosen College, found the event as he walked from one class to another. Grant visited every “country” for a quick bite, something that he says was exciting, but nothing new to him.

“I’ve been to Europe at least nine times,” he explained. Grant’s parents believed that it was important for their children to be cultured, sending their son on multiple vacations to every country between France and Greece.

“I was definitely raised to understand that food was one of the most, if not the most important definitions of a culture,” Grant said. “You are what you eat.”

MSC organizers of the event are hopeful that their partnership with the Rosen College will mean growth of their user base, and they expect their next Taste of Hospitality in the Fall of 2018 to be an even bigger success.

 

ORLANDO – Local large field airsoft game venue Airsoft City held a repeat session of its annual “North versus South” event today. The previous game scheduled for April 2 was painted with a persistent rain that began at 11 a.m. and stayed in the area for 10 hours.

Last Saturday, Airsoft City opened its pastures and organized gameplay for all present without charging an entry fee. This stimulus is all that the Central Florida airsoft scene needed to be attracted in large crowds, some years’ events even supposedly breaking records for the sheer number people that participate. Divided into two teams based on their home counties, these players are given 1 hour and nearly 100-acres to strategize and conduct base-stealing missions, eliminating others via simulated gunplay.

As the sun was still on its way to reaching high noon, Airsoft City owner Dave Kaplan called the last game of the day at 12 p.m., six hours before the closing time anticipated by many who had not yet gotten their money’s worth out of using airsoft guns rented on location. Though interrupted, however, the crowd of 200-250 was given a rain check in the form of a complete do-over slated for the next day.

“It was really difficult to play in that rain,” commented player Daniel St. Pierre, 19. “All of my clothes were wet and heavy, my face mask was so foggy that I couldn’t tell my team mates from enemies, as it got worse I couldn’t discern people from bushes.” St. Pierre, not being an airsoft enthusiast, explained that he and his friends went to Airsoft City that day because of the free admission. “The rentals still cost like 50 bucks, there’s kind of a reason why I’m never here, but it was really, really fun.”

Airsoft City’s massive field contains many diverse battlegrounds from dense forest to sparse grassland and numerous empty buildings. The property runs games from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. every weekend.

As the people of Puerto Rico still work to repair their homeland, the University of Central Florida will soon have to deliver on their promise to provide their students tuition at in-state prices.

On Wednesday September 27, the University of Central Florida’s Board of Trustees approved in-state tuition for Puerto Rican students who should find themselves in Florida because of Hurricane Maria. The same policy was also adopted by Valencia and Seminole State Colleges.

As two weeks have passed, much attention has been given to the idea from both outside and within UCF. Viewed as an act of impulsive understanding, the University now moves into action and plans for the incoming expansion of its Puerto Rican student body.

Dr. Cyndia Muñiz, Assistant Director of Multicultural Academic and Support Services, has been answering more and more phone calls from these future UCF Knights as news of the tuition eligibility spreads; the calls, she says, are mostly about questions that can be answered by accessing an FAQ page developed especially for eligible students.

“Step one is this: you apply to UCF,” Muñiz usually tells them. “If you’re accepted, then you get a UCF ID number, and then that helps us look into each student’s specific case and make referrals as needed. I’m happy to try to assist them and I point them in the direction of the web page so make sure that they’re aware of that information because it’s laid out for them there.”

Undergraduate Admissions developed this page to inform soon-to-be students affected by Hurricanes Irma and Maria in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Info on retrieving transcripts and transferring credit hours, attaining student housing, how much everything will cost, and other important topics are covered.

“Community is one of the tenants of the UCF creed, our University is very committed to diversity and inclusion so this is just another piece of the puzzle with the work we do on a daily basis,” Muñiz explained. “As a Puerto Rican myself, I have a special interest in helping however possible. No matter what comes our way, we just have to take it day by day, semester by semester.”

The phrase “semester by semester,” despite its optimism, is somewhat burdened by the lifespan of the tuition policy itself, one not to be carried out beyond Spring 2018. As of now, incoming students have just one spring semester to make the best of their UCF experience before tuition rises up once again to out-of-state costs.

This has left some students hesitant to apply for admission. Many are unsure if they want to go to a school for just one semester, they want to know if the Board of Trustees plans to extend the deadline.

“That’s something to take into consideration,” says Muñiz, ” many of these students want to stay here and want to continue their education here because it’s going to take time for Puerto Rico in general to get back to normal.”

On October 12, Muñiz will represent M.A.S.S. in a round-table conversation with all departments involved specifically with the admission of new Puerto Rican students, including voices from Admissions, Financial Aid, and the Registrar’s office. The meeting’s purpose is to share information and advice specialized to their fields, to “bring it to the table” as Muñiz puts it, making sure that everyone’s on the same page and prepared to support the new students efficiently by working together.

JUNTOS will also be attending this meeting. As UCF’s Latino Leadership council of representatives from UCF’s Hispanic/Latino registered student organizations, at the meeting they are expected to collaborate with faculty members to humanize their academic plans, tuning them to the anticipated needs of the new Puerto Rican students. During the weeks of recovery, JUNTOS has been supportive of many student-led efforts to aid Puerto Rico.

Pierro Castillo, President of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers at UCF, has recently had help from JUNTOS.

“When [Maria] happened, we started a Puerto Rico drive with JUNTOS because Region 4 [of SHPE] is in Puerto Rico,” Castillo told us. “We have no contact with them. All we’ve heard is that there hasn’t been power yet. We want to support them, but the only thing we’ve gotten into is the drive and a GoFundMe. We haven’t been able to do more than that.”

Castillo was joined in his office by David Betancourt, President of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers’ UCF chapter and native Puerto Rican. He described his family’s experience.

“Some of [my family] just got light and water, so it’s improving, but it’s still really hard,” Betancourt describes. “It’s sad. There, when something falls down, they never fix it, so imagine everything falling at the same time.”

Puerto Rico was brought to its knees by Hurricane Maria on September 20. In facing the hurricane, clearing debris, and rebuilding, the island has collectively shed blood, sweat, and tears in that order. However the will of the people is stronger than their trees and houses, it’s indestructible. For the distraught, Muñiz has a message: “Pa’lante.”

“Pa’lante for Puerto Ricans means keep moving forward, keep going,” Muñiz implores. “I know that it’s rough, this college thing is very much a roller coaster, you’re gonna have your highs and your lows and so you just have to keep pressing on – here at UCF we say ‘charge on,’ but you have to keep moving forward, you know? Do the best that you can.”

 

The incoming student FAQ can be accessed at admissions.ucf.edu/hurricanes

After almost two months in the sweltering island heat of Puerto Rico, some are driven to stay by a desire to rebuild while hundreds of thousands pursue a new life in Florida under the same motivations.

Afred Gonzalez, a Psychology major at the University of Central Florida, was at his home in Puerto Rico when both storms tore through it.

“Maria was a hellhole,” Gonzalez said. “The floors were shaking, I had these window shutters and water was going through them, my garage door wrapped itself around my mom’s car like a glove, it was crazy.”

Gonzalez was living with his family and going to school in Puerto Rico at the time of the hurricanes. A month later, seeing little improvement to the island’s infrastructure, he decided to leave.

“I could’ve gone back to school, but I decided not to because my house still doesn’t have power or water and gas is very expensive,” Gonzalez said. “I’d rather make a life here and kind of leave that back.”

After making himself comfortable in his new home, Gonzalez earned an Undergraduate degree at UCF. He’s one of over 130,000 Puerto Ricans who have arrived in Florida following the events of hurricanes Irma and Maria, a number that political analysts are watching closely for good reason.

Over the course of the next two years, some experts estimate that up to 300,000 Puerto Ricans may move to the United States, the vast majority of them likely coming to Florida due to its close proximity and historically large Puerto Rican demographic.

Floridian politics are known for being very close; the margin of victory in Florida for presidential candidates is only 2.6% on average, and Florida’s vote has decided who won these races for the last six elections. In the 2016 Presidential election, Donald Trump won Florida by approximately 112,911 votes.

The political “battlegrounds” of Florida are so nicknamed because of their oddly even nature. Northern Floridians tend to vote Republican while Southern Floridians favor Democrats in a way that nearly cancels each other out, and between them is a sea of registered voters so closely divided between red and blue that it would seem purple if you squinted at it. Central Florida, this purple sea from Tampa to Orlando and Daytona, is the swing region; as of 2016, the sea was 36.4% Republican to 35.9% Democrat, a difference of five tenths of one percent.

Associate Professor Aubrey Jewett, Ph.D., of UCF’s Political Science department thinks that this is exactly why political analysts are paying attention to Puerto Ricans as if they were eying the perfect storm.

“Given those statistics that we know, historically, Puerto Ricans are supporting democratic candidates,” Jewett said, referring to the fact that that two thirds to three quarters of Puerto Ricans in Florida vote Democrat.

As a Political Science academic, Jewett looks to trends in the past when he begins to consider the future.

“What political science 101 election history tells us is that the president’s party tends to lose some votes in the first midterm election after that president is elected,” Jewett said, elbowing at the recent Democratic victories on November 7.

This means that a surge in blue politics is happening regardless of the Puerto Rican migration.

“Over the last eight years we have had four statewide elections each decided by one percentage point, so take that fact, take everything in context, and then say ‘okay, now we’re adding potentially 300,000 Puerto Rican residents’.”