The Current | Vol. 31 Issue 6

September 15, 2020 | nsucurrent.nova.edu 3 News News Briefs Shark Talent to host Shark Magic: The Showcase Get the scoop on events happening on campus On Sept. 18, the Razor’s Edge Shark Talent program will host Shark Magic: The Showcase, a compilation of student submission videos highlighting the artistic talents of Razor’s Edge Shark Talent program scholars and NSU students. The event will be held via Zoom at 7:30 p.m. Twice a year, The Razor’s Edge Shark Talent program puts on two showcases -- one to spotlight Shark Talent students’ talents and the other open for Shark Talent students to recruit other NSU students to participate. The title of the event this year is Shark Magic, a theme that reveals the hopes of the students who have worked hard to put the showcase together. Schneider Campfort Jean-Pierre, a sophomore computer science major in the Razor’s Edge Shark Talent Program and the showcase committee chair, was the one to come up with this year’s theme. “With everything going on right now it is important to find a little bit of something to help you get through it, a little bit of magic. We as the arts, just for one night, can be that magic that helps to entertain people during this time,” said Jean-Pierre. This year, the showcase will feature a diverse array of talent from a variety of student video submissions. From singing and dancing to comedy, all artistic talents are welcomed in the showcase. Indya Williams, a senior Shark Talent Scholar and one of the coordinators for the showcase, is sure that the event will have something for everyone to enjoy. “It can be artwork, singing, dancing, we’ve had spoken word in the past, comedy monologues, magic shows [and more],” said Williams. Campfort Jean-Pierre encourages students to come out and show their support for their fellow Sharks. “It’s going to be great. Just judging by the number of submissions we are planning to have, we are going to have a lot of variety and a lot of good stuff to watch. It’s [also] very convenient. It’s unfortunate that we have to do it online, but it doesn’t take much to just click a link and watch the showcase. It’s going to be a fun show. I’m excited,” he said. To find out more information about the event, students can check out the SharkFins weekly newsletter, the Shark Talent Instagram and Facebook pages or keep an eye out for flyers posted around campus. Students can access the Zoom link for the event by scanning the QR code posted on both physical and digital versions of the flyers. Further questions can be directed to Dan Gelbmann at gelbmann@nova.edu. NSU launches new parking system NSU’s new parking registration system is now available online. The system allows students and employees to register their vehicles in a contactless virtual format. After registration is complete, vehicle decals can be picked up from the One-Stop-Shop in the Horvitz Administration building. The Office of Facilities Management is asking for members of the NSU community to register their vehicles using the parking portal by Sept. 21. With the launch of this new system, parking citations will be suspended until Sept. 30. Students can find access to the Parking Portal in an email sent out Wednesday by the Office of Facilities Management. Additionally, more information and registration can be found under the public safety tab on NSU’s website. “Good Trouble:” Online panel discussion On Sept. 21, the Broward Center for the Performing Arts will present a virtual event alongside the Rose and Alfred Miniaci Performing Arts Center on the recently released documentary “John Lewis: Good Trouble.” The event will be a film screening, followed by a live virtual discussion panel with the film’s director. Additionally, attendees have the opportunity to rent the film prior to the event for a fee, with a portion of the proceeds going toward the Broward Center’s Road to Recovery Fund. The rental allows viewers access to not only the film, but two other videos on the documentary. The virtual panel begins at 7 p.m. and registration for the event is required due to limited space. If interested, more information and registration can be found on the SharkFins website. Latino literature discussion On Sept. 18, the Alvin Sherman Library will celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with a discussion led by NSU professor Reina Barreto, based on the poem “Estás Invitado y” by Carlos Cumpián, which highlights Latino American culture through its characters, cuisine and language. Cumpián is known for his poetry collections “Coyote Sun,” “Armadillo Charm” and “14 Abriles.” The discussion will be held online at 12:30 p.m. and is open to the general public. Those interested can register on the Alvin Sherman Library website. All Write 2020 The Florida Chapter of the Mystery Writers of America and the Alvin Sherman Library will present the fourth annual All Write event on Sept. 26 and Oct. 3 at 1 p.m. The first event will feature author Nancy J. Cohen and discuss the core elements of creating a plot and developing ideas. The second event will feature author Janice Hardy as she explains why the middles of novels are troublesome and how to work around that. Both events are open to the public, but the Alvin Sherman Library asks attendees to register online due to limited availability. Those interested can register on the Alvin Sherman Library website. By: Emma Heineman Features Editor CURTESTY OF HALLYU CLUB AND DANCE TEAM Hallyu Club and Dance Team last year’s performance Not receiving NSU Alerts? This may be why On Sept. 8, a timely warning regarding a sexual assault reported on NSU’s main campus was sent via email to the NSU community. However, one student population in particular, student employees, did not all receive this email, which included details about the incident, suspect descriptions, resources and general crime prevention information. In a poll of 15 student employees conducted byTheCurrent,11receivedthisalert.Furthermore, 10 out of 15 student employees believe the NSU Alerts are received inconsistently, stating that they receive messages sometimes, and other times, they either don’t receive themor are receivedwith a significant time delay. “Multiple times when there were thoughts of a ‘shooter’ or threat near campus, I didn’t receive the emails or it was hours after my friends received them. It is very inconsistent with how it delivers emails to students,” said Blake Lind, a junior psychology major. According to Larry Massey, director of NSU Public Safety, NSUAlert is a two-pronged effort between NSU Public Safety and the Office of Innovation & Information Technology (OIIT). OIIT provides the technology and Public Safety drafts and sends out the messages the NSU community receives. For messages like timely warnings, a message can be categorized as either “emergency” or “outreach.” Emergency messages are sent to all students, regardless of if they registered to receive alerts or not. Outreach messages can be optionally received. When a student registers for NSUAlerts, they can change and update contact information, adjust how they are contacted and opt-out of receiving outreach messages altogether. The alert sent Sept. 8. was meant for the NSU community, but with a lower priority than emergency status. After the message was sent and concerns about consistency were brought to the attention of Public Safety and OIIT, it was discovered that it was sent as an outreach message, which Massey was not aware had an opt-out option. Public Safety is now aware of this issue and is working on ensuring messages with a lower priority than emergency status are sent out properly. However, some students believe that this message brought up concerns about the alert system, in general. “I felt it was a little weird that it didn’t reach every student on campus when it was an NSU Alert. After learning that some people simply didn’t receive the message, it makes me wonder what would happen if this was a severe event that can impact every student on campus. I love the idea of NSUAlert, but if it’s not reaching every student, it is a big issue that needs to be fixed,” said Cormac Gilmore, a junior English major. Larry Lettie, the site administrator for the NSU Alert system portal, explained that there is another potential reason that student employees missed out on this message. At one point in time, the entire NSU community had “ @nova.edu ” email addresses. A decision was then made for students to have an “ @mynsu.nova.edu ” address and for employees, staff and other members of the NSU community to continue holding an “@ nova.edu” address. It was also decided that work- related emails would take precedence in cases when an individual has both addresses. For student employees, this may mean that these NSU Alerts may be received, but if a student is unaware of their “ @nova.edu ” address or doesn’t access it frequently, they may not see these alerts. According to the poll, 13 out of the 15 student employees were aware they had an “ @nova.edu” email and of those, 10 stated they do not check their student employee email frequently. Additionally, 14 out of the 15 also felt that their employee email should not take precedence over their regular student emails when it comes to receiving NSU alerts. “Since students receive so much correspondence through their student emails, no one really checks their employee email. Even at work, I never have documents or meeting details sent to my work email, it’s always my student email,” saidEvelynCasas, a senior biologymajor. According to Lettie, members of OIIT are aware of the work-related email precedence and are contemplating if this should remain unchanged. They are also ensuring that updated or preferred contact information provided to the portal is properly integrated into the NSU Alert system. Students are encouraged to check the NSU Alert System portal to ensure accurate contact information is provided and connect their employee “ @nova.edu ” email to their student email, if they have not done so already. If students still run into the issue of not receivingNSUAlerts, they are encouraged to reach out toOIITat help@ nova.edu o r 954-262-4357 by phone. They could also reach NSU Public Safety’s NOVALERT hotline at 954-262-8999 for non-emergency and emergency calls. By: Christina McLaughlin Co-Editor-in-Chief