• USF is back in the first tier of U.S. News and World Report’s college rankings. The University jumped into the 127 spot after dropping from the first tier last year. USF was also ranked 19th in diversity, a fact touted by President Stephen A. Privett, S.J. at his annual convocation address.
• Two men were found shot to death in a parked car on Golden Gate Ave., adjacent to USF’s Harney Science Center on Aug. 14. The victims were discovered by police around 5:30 a.m., but were likely killed much earlier. It was later reported by SFPD that the victims were Andre Helton, 18, and Isiah Turner, 34, and had no connection to the University community. USF spokesman Gary McDonald said, “It’s absolutely out of the ordinary and shocking to everybody around here, both the university and the neighbors.”
• The Koret gym weight room is in the process of being expanded into a second room down the hall from its current location in the basement of that facility. The new workout space will offer 2000 square feet of exercise equipment, and should ease overcrowding that occurs during peak exercising hours, including from 6-8 p.m. The new weight room is set to open sometime in the next few weeks.
• War Memorial Gym received a face-lift, including a new glass railing on the mezzanine level, and new seats that spell out “USF” and “Dons” in the upper level. Also, new men’s basketball coach Rex Walters received some praise in the San Francisco Examiner. Writer Glenn Dickey said that Walters has a lot of work to do in rebuilding the team after last year’s disastrous season, but that he “seems to have the energy and vision to carry it out.”
• Over the summer, Facilities Management began working on a campus-wide initiative to replace old lighting fixtures with newer, energy efficient models. Facilities has replaced all of the lighting in Gillson Hall and expects to take three to four months to complete work on the rest of the buildings on campus. The project is being undertaken in cooperation with PG&E and the San Francisco Energy Watch, and is expected to reduce C02 pollution by 2,222,465 pounds per year.
• A USF student was murdered by her boyfriend in her hometown of El Paso, Texas on Thursday, July 24. Gabrielle Martinez, 18, was involved in a troubled relationship with Raul Grajeda, 25, when he killed her and then took his own life while they sat in his parked car in a driveway. ABC News affiliate KVIA in El Paso reported that Martinez and Grajeda began dating while she was a junior in high school, but that she had been trying to end the relationship when he shot and killed her.
