The Reporter

* V V * I I * M Hidden Stetson: Rusn vveei pg. 3 .■—. Thursday September 13, 2012 Vol. CXX Issue 2 Stetson University | DeLand, F Officer Ray Morris patrolling campus Lauren Cepero News Editor Editor's Note: News Editor Lauren Cepero spent approximately three hours riding with public safety Officer Diaz on the night ofThrusday, September 6th. I arrived at the public safety office for my delta shift ride along at 2130 hours, and waited while one of the dispatchers radioed Officer Andrew Diaz. Officer Diaz graduated from the police academy on February 6, 2012 and has been working for public safety for two years. "I love working here, I consider it a home away from home," Diaz said. The public safety office is made up of 17 officers, the chief, the captain, four dispatchers, and an administrator. Typically, four officers will be on duty each night for a 12 hour shift, without official breaks. They are the only on-campus department that is open 24/7. Our first call was to pick-up a lost item at the Hat Rack. Public safety is in charge of lost and found, visitor sign-ins, reports, decals, camera monitoring, medical and safe ride escorts, patrolling, work orders, monitoring the blue phones, and answering after hours calls. They function like a real police station, complete with radio lingo. I was Officer Diaz's 10-12 (ride along/visitor) for the evening. According to Officer Diaz, one of the most important duties a public safety officer has is to "proactively patrol all areas to ensure the safety of students and also Stetsons assets." So, that's what we did, after dropping off the item in the lost and found we began patrolling Sampson, Elizabeth, the library, and Presser. Stopping on each floor to check the doors, turn off lights, and swipe his FOB key. Stetson students know when public safety is patrolling their building by the tale-tell jingling of keys and the loud beeping noise from the FOB. Each building on campus has FOB keys that track what buildings have been checked and at what times. Zipping along at a clip of about 15mph we arrived at fraternity row. I was expecting something more rowdy, but the fraternity house we patrolled was pretty quiet. As we walked through people scattered and the once crowded hallway was empty, except for people peeking behind doors and the random girl quickly switching rooms. Reaching the end, Officer Diaz beeped the Photo by: Dan Duvall FOB and then we walked back down the silent hall. Later on Officer Diaz mentioned getting a mild form of stage fright when entering the frats, completely understandable after our awkward entrance and exit. Officers are required to patrol residence halls two times a night, but it is up to officer digression how many times he patrols a building in a single night. Next stop was the Stetson Cove. The gate to the Cove is broken, so it is patrolled five to six times a night, to ensure safety. "That's what Public Safety is about, making sure you guys are good," said Diaz en s soccer defeats acksonville 2-0 lj Reba LaRose Sports Editor Breaking the losing streak on the road, the Hatters proved themselves back home winning 2-0 against Jacksonville University on Friday night. For the first 20 minutes of the game, it was a running match between the Hatters and the Dolphins, both still scoreless. With 25 minutes left, senior midfielder Kai Eckenrode went in for the goal, giving the Hatters the first score of the night and the first goal at the new athletic center this season. Almost equally matched in skill and speed, the Hatters and the Dolphins kept colliding with each other, resulting in a few bad calls and a yellow card in the first half. Some home team fans voiced their opposition to the refs when they made calls on the Hatters, and rarely made any on the Dolphins; nothing like a little rivalry and some team spirit to bring in the new season. The Hatters came charging into the second half of the game. Just three minutes in, senior midfielder Luis Ocejo scored the second goal of the night for the Hatters. The Dolphins' attempts at any comeback Defender JJ Bostic holds off a Jacksonville player to reach a 2-0 victory were repeatedly shut out all night by junior goal keeper Andreas Schnabl. Stetson came out victorious at the end of the night. Sophomore midfielder/defender JJ Lofthouse- Smith said communication on the field and knowing where to send the ball was the key to the Hatters' success. The next match is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 22 against Florida International University. Photo by: Andres Lopez Now standing 1-3 and with a week to rest before the next game, there's hope that the Hatters will send another team home from DeLand disappointed. v