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Are you smarter than Diaz?

Posted by Diedra Rodriguez ⋅ March 1, 2012 ⋅ Leave a Comment

While the Student Government presidential candidates campaign this week, The Digital Bullpen rounded up each one to participate in its own spin-off of ‘Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?’ and see who knows their current events better than Matt Diaz, the current student body president.

Each were asked five questions on the news surrounding USF. Diaz set the bar high by answering four out of five questions correctly. Which candidate(s) beat Diaz?

The six candidates could not use their cell phones during the Q&A time and had one minute to answer each of the following:

1) When did USF President Judy Genshaft meet with Sen. J.D. Alexander to discuss the proposed budget cuts?
Answer: Last Monday

2) Which Board of Trustees member was also part of that meeting?
Answer: Brian Lamb

3) Who proposed the Polytechnic conforming bill earlier this year and what would it mean for the campus if passed?
Answer: Sen. Evelyn Lynn and it would mean the immediate implementation of a 12th state university by dissolving the campus and bypassing the benchmarks set by the Board of Governors.

4) On Thursday, the Senate passed its version of the state budget. Originally, USF was facing a $78 million cut from the state. But under the new bill, how much would be cut if it is signed by Gov. Rick Scott?
Answer: $45 million

5) When the Board of Governors approved of Poly independence, how many benchmarks did they require the campus to meet?
Answer: Nine.

Here are the results!

Omar Rodriguez:
5 points. All correct! Congratulations!

Brian Goff:
4 1/2 points. While Goff could not provide the name of the trustee for number two, he provided accurate background information and details of Brian Lamb. Congratulations!

Christopher Cano:
4 points. Cano could not recall the name of the trustee in question two.

Sarah Pollei:
3 1/2 points. Pollei also could not recall the name of the trustee in question two and incorrectly referred to the BOG decision made in November for question three. I gave her half a point for question four. She said the Senate bill offers about a 30 percent decrease. The reported percentage is 26 percent.

Alan Ethington:
2 1/2 points. Ethington could not recall the name of the trustee in question two or the name of the state senator in question three, but received half a point for the third question. He also did not answer question five correctly.

Christina Hughes:
2 1/2 points. Hughes could not recall the answers for questions two and five. She explained the conforming bill correctly for Question three, but could not recall the senator who proposed it.

About Diedra Rodriguez

I am a current junior at the University of South Florida, majoring in Journalism-News Editorial. I have interned with The News Chief and The Ledger and will be interning full-time with the Tampa Bay Times this summer. I have been with The Oracle, USF's student newspaper for three years and have been a correspondent and news editor for the publication. In my spare time, I love going to the movies, running and using social media. I live, breathe and write news.

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