Free Republic

UCF professor accuses Muslim civil rights group of spying on class

ORLANDO, Fla. — A professor is facing a formal complaint for how he teaches students at the University of Central Florida Wednesday. The Council on American-Islamic Relations claims Jonathan Matusitz, a UCF professor, supports an anti-Muslim hate group. It said in the letter the professor is a member of Act for America, a group that is against Muslims. Matusitz told Channel 9 he's spoken to the organization before. The letter asks UCF to review the professor's teachings. A video of Matusitz was posted on YouTube.

A 911 call from a student at the University of Central Florida and a quick response by campus police may have prevented a mass murder. Campus police said Monday that 30-year-old James Oliver Seevakumaran -- who shot himself in the head as officers arrived, before any other students were hurt -- was heavily armed with two guns, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, a backpack filled with explosives and a plan to attack other students as they fled the seven-story dorm where he lived. Seevakumaran's roommate, who hid in a bathroom after Seevakumaran pointed a gun at him, called authorities about...

A woman in Seminole County was raped by a University of Central Florida student she met on the online-dating website Match.com, according to the Sheriff's Office. The victim, whose name and age were redacted from arresting documents released Tuesday, told deputies she met 22-year-old Aaron Floyd on the website on Thursday. The two exchanged emails and cell-phone numbers, an arrest report states. The report says Floyd asked the victim questions that were "sexual in nature," and which made her uncomfortable. However, she eventually agreed to meet Floyd at a restaurant in Sanford on Friday, deputies said. According to the report,...

Police at the University of Central Florida are looking into claims that members of a fraternity bragged about a game involving drugging random women at a fraternity function in February. University spokesman Chad Binette said Friday that UCF's Office of Student Conduct and the UCF Police Department "will be conducting reviews of the incident." "Our No. 1 priority is to provide a safe environment for the entire university community," including our Greek organizations," Binette said. The fraternity denied the allegations and said it welcomes the reviews. The controversy stems from a Feb. 10 event, in which documents released by UCF...

Last week the Muslim Student Association (MSA) of the University of Central Florida invited the Imam Siraj Wahhaj to give an address on campus – funded by UCF’s Student Government Association. It was an invitation that raised no eyebrows: after all, Siraj Wahhaj is one of the most sought-after speakers on the Muslim circuit, and has addressed audiences all over the country. In 1991, he even became the first Muslim to give an invocation to the U.S. Congress. After 9/11, his renown as a moderate Muslim grew when he declared: “I now feel responsible to preach, actually to go on...

Students at the University of Central Florida are protesting the expected appearance of a controversial imam speaking at the university as part of Islam Awareness Month. Imam Siraj Wahhaj -- who was an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and a character witness for Abdel Rahman, known as the Blind Sheik -- was invited by the Muslim Student Association to dispel misconceptions about the Islamic faith, reports MyFoxOrlando. But his appearence, scheduled Friday evening, has sparked controversy at UCF --a public university part of the State University System of Florida.

The Big East's football expansion plans leave the conference with 17 universities, including non-Football members. That's a terrible number for scheduling; the only way the basketball teams can schedule an even number of games is if they play every other team only once. 18 teams would allow three divisions of six teams each. Any team would play the other five teams in its division twice, and one half of the twelve other teams in the conference. 18 sounds like worsening the problem of too many teams, but having three divisions could actually restore some rivalries, and return the conference to...

ORANGE CO., Fla. -- Both the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Orlando police are investigating a traffic stop involving a UCF professor who accused officers of discriminating against her. The same professor has made public statements in the past about racial profiling. While there was no comment from the police department itself, the university is calling this an "urgent matter." Dr. Jennifer Vest is a multi-racial, distinguished philosophy professor at the University Of Central Florida. She writes poetry about discrimination and she's an activist for gay rights. "Everywhere I go there's somebody who's got a problem with me racially,...

The residence of a University of Central Florida student housed a cache of explosive chemicals and a drug den, deputies said. Investigators on Wednesday found jugs of corrosive acids and other chemicals inside the student's Campus Crossings apartment in east Orange County. They also seized cocaine, Ecstasy and oxycodone tablets, methamphetamine and dozens of glass beakers and flasks used to 'cook' meth — a highly addictive drug. William Cecil told Orange County sheriff's deputies that he used the compounds to make amphetamine, another controlled drug. He also rattled off a tally of substances he kept under his bed that read...

International Polo Club founder and owner John Goodman blew through a stop sign before his Bentley smashed into another car, pushing it into a canal and killing the driver, authorities said. A preliminary traffic homicide report said that John Goodman, 46, drove through a stop sign at 120th Avenue South and Lake Worth Road early Friday morning. The report said Goodman's 2007 Bentley slammed into a Hyundai driven by 23 year old Scott Wilson, a recent University of Central Florida graduate. The impact sent Wilson's car tumbling into a nearby canal, where he died. The report said that charges are...

A man and a woman suffered gunshot wounds to the head Monday afternoon at a technology park near the University of Central Florida, according to the Orange County Sheriff's Office. The shooter is dead at the scene of an apparent suicide at the Central Florida Research Park The shooting happened at 1:11 p.m. today in the parking lot of an AT&T Wireless Call Center on Research Parkway, according to the sheriff's office. The shooting victim, a woman, was shot multiple times, according to Cpl. Susan Soto of the Sheriff's Office. The woman is still still alive but is in very...

Longhorn fans may be jumping the gun, but with players like Colt McCoy who’s a Heisman contender, Jordan Shipley a semifinalist for the Biletnikoff Award, and Earl Thomas a semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe Award, fans anticipate the best. Not to mention Texas has one of the leading defensive lines in the conference. So how does Coach Mack Brown feel about his key players? "I do feel like, the way Colt has been playing the last two weeks, that he's right back in the middle of the Heisman race," said Coach Brown. What about the Texas defense? "It's unusual to...

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- President Bill Clinton spoke to a group of students at the University of Central Florida on Sunday. Clinton addressed the first class of a new leadership program at the school. Clinton challenged students to make a difference in their communities. “Once you believe the tomorrow doesn't have to be like yesterday, the whole world opens up,” Clinton said. His speech lasted about 30 minutes, but his message was clear. “You can make a better tomorrow for Florida,” Clinton added. It was a message heard loudly and clearly by those in the crowd. “It was really empowering....

Playboy founder Hugh Hefner’s legacy will live on with a new University of Central Florida study aimed at saving the endangered bunnies named after him. Rosanna Tursi, a master’s student and graduate teaching assistant, is using population genetics to aid in the conservation of the Lower Keys marsh rabbits (Sylvilagus palustris hefneri), which were declared endangered in 1990. It is estimated that less than 300 rabbits remain today. Hefneri, the most recently recognized subspecies of the marsh rabbit, is small with short, dark brown fur and a grayish-white belly. Discovered in 1984, the subspecies was named in honor of Hefner...

Youssef Megahed, fresh off being acquitted by a federal jury on explosives charge, was shopping with his father, Samir, Monday..."We were surrounded by men...," said Samir. "They did not allow me to talk to Youssef...Then Youssef was whisked away... Megahed...was arrested on an immigration warrant, according to his attorney...agents of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement made the arrest. "Mr. Megahed has been placed into removal proceedings and is being held in ICE custody pending the outcome of his case," said James P. Judge, local ICE spokesman.... Allen said he thinks Megahed will be taken from Tampa to ICE's Krome...

UCF Economist: Obama's Stimulus Makes Me LOL By Christine Dellert Feb. 26, 2009 The state of the economy remains laughable despite President Barack Obama’s recently announced plans to pull the nation out of financial chaos, says a University of Central Florida economist. So far, says Sean Snaith, too much money is being spent in the wrong places, and Americans are tired of footing the bill. “There is a growing public sentiment that you might call ‘bailout fatigue,’” Snaith says in his U.S. quarterly forecast released this morning. “Millions of people who did the right things and yet still have watched...

Eugenie Scott, a national expert on the teaching of evolution, will speak at the University of Central Florida on Monday, Nov. 3. Scott, the executive director of the National Center for Science Education, will discuss “Florida’s Academic Freedom Bills: Creationism du jour?” at 7:30 pm in room 101 of the College of Sciences building. Her presentation is free and open to the public. Scott and the NCSE are among the biggest opponents of intelligent design being taught in science classrooms. She has written several books, including “Not in Our Classrooms: Why Intelligent Design is Wrong for Our Schools.” She also...

ORLANDO - On Tuesday morning, the University of Central Florida Research Facility was evacuated after a white powder was found inside a package addressed to Oviedo resident Rep. Tom Feeney. "All 300 or so employees in the Research Facility and Pavilion were evacuated," said Grant Heston, spokesman for UCF. This is the second time this week that a suspicious package has been delivered to Rep. Tom Feeney. Heston said the problem is bigger than UCF......

ORANGE COUNTY, FL -- A Catholic student group is facing hazing charges after a worshiper allegedly used force while trying to rescue a communion wafer from a student leader smuggling it out of Mass. Catholics consider the consecrated wafer, the Eucharist, among the most sacred objects in the world and believe it becomes the 'Body of Christ' through transubstantiation. Student Government Senator Webster Cook filed the hazing charges with University of Central Florida administrators shortly after he admitted violating church rules by bringing the Eucharist home from Mass on June 29, then holding it hostage for one week in a...