Frank Perry, Victim

His football coaches told Palm Beach media he was a “respectful” player — and the whole situation was hard to believe.

“I don’t know if he got himself mixed up in something out there, or if he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, Alfred Shipman told CBS 12. “I don’t understand why this happened to a kid of this caliber.”

The Orange County Sheriff’s Office has not said what the motive was for this crime. We don’t know if it was drug-related, or if Perry was a random victim. KnightNews.com checked with both the Orange and Seminole County jails to see if he had ever been arrested for drugs or anything like that in the UCF area before. He wasn’t. However, he was arrested in Orange County for driving with a suspended license in November 2010.

Joshua Cox, Suspect

KnightNews.com will continue to try and find more information about what led to this fatal shooting near UCF — the second in recent memory.

Meanwhile, those who knew Perry continue to mourn.

“You know its very troubling, just the way this whole generation is going. It just didn’t seem like Frank would end up in that type of situation. He was always a good kid, he was always popular with the ladies, all the guys on the team loved him,” Shipman told CBS 12.

Keyser’s interaction with Idol judge Jennifer Lopez was one of the top stories on Yahoo News all morning long Friday.

Keyser, who is from Pompano Beach and works as a server at Carrabba’s Italian restaurant, has been enjoying support from the UCF community. He’s performed on YouTube before, as you can see in the Gavin DeGraw cover he posted, below, but Idol looks to be his biggest break yet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udOK0yCDQUs

When KnightNews.com posted news of a UCF student on Idol last night, more than 100 students liked it on Facebook.

KnightNews.com will continue updating Knights on Keyser’s progress. We’re also working to find people who knew him at UCF. If you had class with him, were his roommate, or neighbor — or can help us find people like that — email us at news@knightnews.com.

UCF’s School of Visual Arts and Design (SVAD), along with the Office of Continuing Education, is offering a course called Ways of Seeing: The American Southwest, an Interpretation of Place. The course will be taught by Philip Peters, an associate professor with SVAD.

The course, open to all upper-level undergraduate and graduate students, is being held to help engage students in learning and developing individual creative minds. “With the way the class is structured, we’re looking at kind of the development of the American Southwest,” said Peters.

During the Summer A semester, students will travel to Nevada and the Four Corners region of the United States: Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico. While here, students will stay in different hotels and travel to certain destinations including national parks, universities and museums. Upon return, the group will present their artistic work at the City Arts Factory in Downtown Orlando.

The course syllabus states that a main objective for the course is that “students will be expected to produce work in whatever creative discipline they work in that is inspired from their encounters with the places and cultures visited.” Giving students opportunities to engage with their artistic interpretations of actual environments is something that Peters is passionate about. “I’m very interested in how the arts, particularly the visual arts, interact with place [and] environments,” Peters said.

Professor Bruce Janz, Chair of the UCF Department of Philosophy, has traveled on a few of Peters’ excursions and has noticed the difference in classroom learning verse experiential learning. “Being in the field and writing about these things is very different from being in the classroom, I think. And Phil is a master at bringing together his training and ideas that are in the university with actual places; actual experiences [and] history,” Janz said.

For Peters, his intent for students who take this course is that they will gather new viewpoints. “It’s important for me to get students out of the classroom and out of their comfort zones and get them into places. Particularly places they haven’t been.” He calls it going from an ordinary to an extraordinary.

During this course, students will travel to many well-known areas, such as the Grand Canyon, Maynard Dixon Studio and the Hoover Dam, where they will be able to create their own artistic responses to these places through photography, film and art.

John Nelson, who graduated from UCF in 2003, has also followed Peters a few times on the excursions. Nelson traveled to Utah a few times. He’s also gone to Bermuda, a camping trip to Mosquito Lagoon, and helped Peters in pre-production for his trip to India. To Nelson, these courses are unique. He notes that students are raised up in a theoretical and textbook-oriented type environment whereas Peters’ philosophy behind teaching in actual environments engages students in an entirely new way. “You’re stuck behind a monitor all day long. You’re not feeling the sand between your toes, the dirt in your food, the wind in your hair. So then it’s just kind of more of an experiential learning as opposed to textbooks,” Nelson said.

While this trip is meant to be exciting and engaging, Peters cautions students that this isn’t just a sight-seeing trip. “I really want them to interpret the place and look at it— I don’t want postcards, I want an interpretation of place,” Peters said. Throughout the course, students will have assigned readings and watch movie documentaries. “It’s a lot of work to do these trips—I think you don’t get anything unless you’re willing to put something into it. So, you know, the work is worth it,” Janz said.

Students will begin their course in Orlando, where Peters has invited a series of guest lecturers to discuss photography, landscape painting, anthropology and the environmental arts. Students will leave on May 13 and travel to Las Vegas where they will begin the traveling part of the course. The entire excursion will last about 14 days and students will present their work at the gallery on June 21.

The cost of the course is $2499. The price includes: lodging, transportation during their travels, national park and museum entrance fees, guest speaker fees, the gallery show cost, as well as five group meals. Students will have to pay for their transportation to and from Las Vegas, as well as individual meals and other personal activity expenses.

Janz recommends students prepare in advance for this trip. He encourages students to know their equipment and to “have their chops down” before they go. “The students best prepared to deal with this are students who come in with their eyes open and their bility to bring all of their training to bear,” Janz said.

Students interested in this course can contact Phil Peters directly at Philip.peters@ucf.edu or

407-832-0091. Space is limited and a holding deposit is due by Feb. 15.

By: Lily Maxwell

Keyser mentioned that he attends UCF on national TV, getting some publicity for Knight Nation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1H3E4JnXLQc

KnightNews.com will continue following this UCF Knight’s progress on American Idol.

Like Us For UCF News Updates on Facebook:

As you can see from the video someone posted on YouTube, judges were impressed. Make sure to like KnightNews.com on Facebook to follow his progress!

Joshua Cox, 23, has been arrested and charged with first degree murder with a firearm, robbery with a firearm and use of a firearm in committing a felony according the the booking report.

Frank Perry,21, was found dead due to a gunshot wound at the Arbour Apartment complex near UCF. According to the Orlando Sentinel, the shooting was drug related.

Cox is being held at the Orange County Jail on Thursday without bail.

Here is a link for more info on the story: http://knightnews.com/2012/01/dead-body-with-gunshot-wound-found-in-ucf-area-apartment-parking-lot/

Palm Beach billionaire John Goodman, who stands accused of driving drunk, plowing into UCF grad Scott Patrick Wilson, then leaving him to die, has reportedly pulled a legal move an adoption attorney told WPEC is “both awful and brilliant.” That attorney suggested it was done in order to shield his assets from a Wilson family lawsuit.

A Polo club founder, Goodman, 48, has adopted his 42-year-old girlfriend, Heather Laruso Hutchins, according to reports. They’ve been dating since 2009.

According to The Palm Beach Post, Wilson’s family attorney shares a similar analysis as the adoption attorney. The paper is reporting the plaintiff’s attorney says Goodman is “attempting to shield assets from a civil suit” filed by Wilson’s parents.

“By way of this adoption, John Goodman now effectively owns one third of the trust assets,” the Wilson attorney told the Palm Beach Post. “It cannot go unrecognized that he chose to adopt his 42-year-old adult girlfriend as opposed to a needy child.”

Goodman’s attorney disagrees with the analysis of the other two attorneys. Goodman’s lawyer denies the move is an attempt to shield assets in response to the lawsuit. Instead, according to a statement, it is all being done to protect and grow the assets of the Trust for his two minor children.

“Nothing in this arrangement with Ms. Hutchins is illegal,” read a statement from Goodman’s lawyer. “Everything that has been done by Mr. Goodman was done with the intention to preserve and grow the assets of the Trust for his two minor children, even should he personally be unable to continue his historical role in achieving these goals.”

“The adoption of Ms. Hutchins will have no effect on the civil proceedings as none of the assets of his children’s Trust belong to Mr. Goodman. All of the assets of the Trust have been disclosed to all parties in the current civil proceedings, so any allegation of hiding or secreting of assets is totally false.”

Read the full Goodman attorney statement here.

According to ABC news, West Palm Beach Judge Glenn Kelley described the moves as something that “border on the surreal and take the Court into a legal twilight zone.”

“The Defendant has effectively diverted a significant portion of the assets of the children’s trust to a person with whom he is intimately involved at a time when his personal assets are largely at risk in this case,” the judge wrote.

Again, Goodman’s attorney disagrees with the context in which ABC has characterized the judge’s quote. He provided KnightNews.com with the following excerpts from the judge’s Jan. 26 ruling:

· From Page 1 – “The Court has previously held that the assets owned by the children’s trust may not be considered a part of the net worth, or the financial resources, of Mr. Goodman for purposes of assessing punitive damages.”

· From Page 6 – “Heather Hutchins’ interest in the children’s trust maybe considered in connection with assessing Defendant John Goodman’s financial resources.”

KnightNews.com has been following the story since Wilson died in February 2010, driving home from Orlando to visit the Palm Beach area for his little sister’s birthday. It has sparked outrage among UCF students.

Goodman’s civil trial will reportedly start March 27. Meanwhile, his criminal trial is set to start March 6, where he’ll answer for charges of DUI manslaughter, vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of a crash. He could face 30 years in prison if convicted, according to ABC news.

KnightNews.com will follow the trials and let you know what happens.

Michelle Parker flier

The case got national attention as Parker disappeared the same day she appeared on The People’s Court, having it out with her fiance Dale Smith. Smith has been named the prime suspect in the case, but he denies wrongdoing and has not been charged by police.

The couple has young twins.

KnightNews.com will let you know if there are any more major developments.

Florida is the biggest electorate yet, with winner-take-all in delegates. Thus far in the race, Romney has more than three times the amount of delegates than any other candidate. Fortunately for Romney’s opponents, there are still 95 percent of the delegates to be given out.

Newt Gingrich is here tonight in Orlando at the Rosen hotel hosting a primary results party. Newt Spoke in front of an optimistic crowd all holding up signs saying “46 More States”.

Gingrich did not seemed phased by his second place finish, telling the crowd that it is a two-man race between him as the true Republican and Romney, who he called the Massachusetts moderate.

He ended his speech by reminding all of his supporters that this is the most important election of their lifetime.

Check out the video below for highlights from Newts speech here in Orlando.

Also check out some photos from the event!

The new health care center will be the closest off-site emergency health care center to campus.

On top of treating non-life threatening illnesses, the center is also equipped with labs and x-rays.

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The center will accept all major credit cards, and operate Weekdays 9:00am to 9:00pm and Weekends 9:00am to 5:00pm.

Take note that the free screenings and lunch are on a first-come-first-serve basis, so make sure to get there quick!