Enter Brian Tewes, who happened to be granted the special privilege of flaunting the inaugural Stewie head in the student section of last Wednesday’s UCF men’s basketball game against Memphis. The UCF Athletics section has been handing out various “big head” posters of Knights basketball players, as well as cartoon characters and celebrities during basketball games.

The only problem was Tewes and the Stewie head poster were nowhere to be found after the postgame madness.

“I stormed the court like everyone else and took the cut out with me similar to how the other students who were given them did,” said Tewes.  “Afterwards, I didn’t see who gave it to me so I went home with It and hung it on my wall.”

UCF premiered five cut out heads, featuring Stewie, Darth Vader, Justin Bieber, The Most Interesting Man in the World, and Daniel Tosh.  During the circus that followed, collecting the heads was not easy.

“We went through the crowd to collect them and realized that Stewie was missing,” said Assistant Director of Fan Development Samantha Nemeroff.  “We thought it wasn’t going to be found, but by chance, our intern’s friend was taking pictures for Valencia’s newspaper and had taken enough of the crowd for us to spot him.”

Nemeroff and the UCF marketing team decided to make the search for the Stewie head fun by making a themed wanted poster of Tewes with a Wild West flair.  It featured several shots of him throughout the game with the Stewie head and offered a reward for its safe return.

Not even 15 minutes after the pictures were posted, with the help of UCF Nation, the culprit was found.  Dan Antonino, or “Knight Fan Dan”, is a friend of Tewes and spotted the picture of him as soon as it was posted on Facebook.

“I called him as soon as I saw it and posted a link to his Facebook of the picture,” said Antonino.  “Seeking the prize, I went with Brian to return the head and was awarded three t-shirts.”

The cut out heads of celebrities and cartoon characters was inspired by an Indiana Hoosiers basketball game that the UCF marketing team had watched.  The cut out heads are traditionally used to distract the opposing team during free throws and are a way of making the crowd even more raucous.

“Our goal is to have those five heads showcased at every game, but we encourage students to make their own as well,” said Nemeroff.

The marketing team is calling for even more crowd participation with the cut out heads and will look to collect them prior to the games completion to ensure this mishap does not happen again.  As for Tewes, he is happy things have returned to normal as his time as a UCF outlaw was short, but exciting.

“I couldn’t believe they went to such an extent,” said Tewes.  “It was very creative getting the poster out there, and this was definitely one of my best college moments so far.”

UCF will play their first home game since the Memphis thriller Saturday against Southern Miss at 7 p.m., where Stewie and the gang will make their triumphant return.  Hopefully this time he’ll make it home without any trouble.

Several key issues being rallied against included rising tuition at public universities, cuts to the Bright Futures Scholarship program and the passing of bill HB1355 which is said to hinder students’ ability to vote.

Check out the video of the “Occupy UCF” protesters trying to make their point.

KnightNews.com found out why — a car was engulfed in flames on Alafaya Trail, north of University Blvd.

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KnightNews.com is working to find out how this happened, if there were any injuries during this fire and who owns the car.

Check back for updates, and remember to email us breaking news photos or video to news@knightnews.com. You can also text us tips to 407-5-tip-UCF.

Eight Republican Presidential Candidates met in Tampa, FL last night in what became a very heated debate.

For the eight contenders, this was sure to be a debate filled with fireworks, and it was. For the CNN Tea Party Debate (second debate in less than a week), this was expected to be a fight between the two front runners, and it didn’t disappoint.

Rick Perry and Mitt Romney showed that this race is about them, and that it is most likely to stay that way throughout the primaries. CNN did a good job with getting the candidates to actually debate each other.

With past debates, moderators would ask the question and the candidate would respond, last night was different. Wolf Blitzer, who was the only moderator of the evening, did a good job allowing the candidates to go back and forth, truly debating with one another.

How did the candidates themselves fare?

Mitt Romney: Governor Romney didn’t have a spectacular night, but he didn’t need to. He came in to the debate polling second behind Rick Perry. During the debate, Romney hit Perry hard on the executive order he signed in Texas which required girls to get the Gardasil Vaccine, which is proven to prevent some forms of the Human Papilloma Virus.

At one point, Romney was forced to defend his mandated health care program in Massachusetts. The other candidates pressed him on the fact that President Obama’s health care reform legislation was modeled somewhat off of the Massachusetts Plan. Romney has to continue doing what he is doing, because for the most part, it is working.

Rick Perry: Rick Perry had the toughest night out of the eight candidates. He was forced to defend his record on just about everything, including the HPV Vaccine, and immigration.
In my opinion, Governor Perry came into the debate the front runner, and he left the debate as in the front of the pack as well. The crowd had a mixed night with Perry, but they know they he is the best candidate for the Tea Party. Even though some things on his record are questionable, he has the record as Texas Governor that would make him a formidable candidate against Obama.

Herman Cain: Cain the former Godfather’s Pizza CEO had a strong showing on the night. He once again showed that he is the anti-politician candidate. For the most part it resonates with voters. He continues to bring up his 9-9-9 economic plan, which he says is the best way to get America working again.

Michele Bachmann: Probably had the most to gain from last night’s debate, and she did. Coming into the debate, Bachmann lost most of her numbers in the polls. After Perry entered the race last month, her poll numbers have been steadily dropping. She hit Perry the hardest out of any candidate on the stage. They will continue to duke it out until the Iowa Caucuses roll around, unless she starts losing money and is forced to drop

Newt Gingrich: Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich continued to show what a policy heavyweight he is. When Blitzer asked him a question, he was ready to go immediately. Newt knows he is unelectable and has no chance at winning the nomination, but when he speaks there is no other person that I would rather see up against Obama that Gingrich. Another thing I love about Gingrich is that he refuses to attack the other candidates. In the MSNBC debate last week, the moderators tried but he wouldn’t bite.

Rick Santorum: Former Senator Santorum had one of the strongest performances of the night. As a candidate with little chance of getting the nomination (he is starting to realize that) he showed that he was going to hit the front runners, hard. He hit Perry hard on the HPV vaccine, and immigration. Santorum at this point is trying to make a case for Vice President, but it’s still way too early to be talking about that.

Jon Huntsman: Huntsman once again proved how irrelevant he is in this race. On some policy questions, he showed that he could hang with the rest of the field, but unfortunately Huntsman tried to be a comedian, and it fell flat. Huntsman is consistently polling between 1 and 2 percent in polls, and he is going to stay in the basement for the foreseeable future.

Ron Paul: I will not waste your time writing about Ron Paul. Last night he alienated everyone who isn’t on the Ron Paul Crazy Train. He basically blamed 9/11 on the United States. From what I could tell, it was the only comment of the night that received audible boos.

As a Republican, I couldn’t be happier about this field. If Obama keeps going in the direction that he is going, any of these candidates could beat him. For the time being though, we will look at Romney and Perry and assume that this is a two man race.

The next debate will be broadcast by Fox News, and will take place at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando.

When I first got into journalism, I was excited to dig into investigative journalism and work through different public information officers and sources to get the truth for the students. Unfortunately, I went on to find out that those aren’t always the stories I would get to report.

There is nothing worse for me than to have to write about someone young dying. Especially when alcohol may have been involved, and in some cases, the death could have been avoided, like in a DUI crash.

Whether it be the recent death of John Grosso, who we later learned was over the legal limit, or even Chelsea Torres, who died in an accident on her 21st birthday in a wrong-way crash, these accidents could have been avoided.

I applaud UCF for requiring new students to take a course on alcohol education, but in all honesty it’s not enough — just like the task forces of police that raid bars aren’t enough. As students, we need to look out for each other. The students are going to be the ones to solve this problem, not the administration or the police forces.

At the same time, the recent action to suspend all “wet events” by the UCF Greek Council is one of the worst decisions anyone could make. This wont stop people from drinking, it’ll stop fraternities and sororities from registering their events with alcohol. That means instead of having all the tough measures about security, and steps to check ID’s to prevent underage drinking, there will be more under-the-UCF-radar house parties and pre-games, where underage drinkers will have an easier time getting to alcohol.

Remember when US government officials tried prohibition in the 1920′s? How did that work out for them?

We all think that something so tragic can’t happen to us, until it’s too late.

I also want to make another thing clear: Medical Amnesty can save lives and it’s a shame that the University of Florida has it, but the state’s largest university here in Orlando doesn’t.

The University of Florida describes its Medical Amnesty Policy as this: “The Medical Amnesty Policy is designed to encourage students to make responsible decisions and seek prompt, professional, medical assistance and treatment in serious or life-threatening situations that result from alcohol and/or other drug abuse such as alcohol poisoning or drug overdose. MAP seeks to diminish fear of disciplinary and conduct sanctions in such situations and to encourage individuals and organizations to seek needed medical attention for students in distress from alcohol and drug use.”

Medical Amnesty would help make it easy for students to call 911 when their friends have too much to drink, or may take an illegal substance, instead of putting off the potentially life-saving call because they’re afraid of the consequences their friends may face for it. We should remove the obstacles that get in the way of saving lives like others in the state, because nothing is more valuable than life.

To sum it all up, in this journalist’s opinion, Student Government officials should work with the Golden Rule Review Committee and Vice President of Student Development and Enrollment Services Maribeth Ehasz to catch up with other state universities and enact a Medical Amnesty Policy. Greek Council should end its ban of all safely organized and registered “wet events,” and students should learn from the tragedies of the past to help solve this major issue affecting universities across the nation.

Although we don’t know whether Ann had too much to drink that night or not, we know her death has caused our campus to reconsider how we deal with the college drinking problem faced across the country. We owe it to Ann to make the right changes, in our personal choices and at the university-level. Changing policies to make the UCF drinking situation even more dangerous than it is only makes this tragic situation worse. But enacting Medical Amnesty to truly make students safer, will help Ann’s impact on UCF last forever, even though her time on campus was much too short.

It’s time we all stand up and do the right thing — in honor of Ann.

NCAA recruiting can be a shady, corrupt world, and best not to enter ill prepared. A school must police all employees of the athletics program, including their high profile coaches whose million dollar contracts are earned by winning games and recruiting the best athletes, and millionaire boosters whose most valuable asset is their pride. When the NCAA finishes their investigation of UCF on September 30th, will Keith Tribble and company be exonerated of all allegations or will UCF be following the footsteps of the University of Miami fiasco, that has dragged UCF QB Jeffrey Godfrey into the mess?

All of the accusations of potential NCAA infractions stem from recruiting battles in early 2011 between UCF and the University of Louisville for “Four Star” athletes Demarcus Smith (Football) and Kevin Ware (Basketball). After UCF’s initial win in these recruiting battles, chaos erupted. Smith attempted to get out of his letter of intent before recommitting and Ware de-committed from UCF and committed to Louisville after having conversations with UCF’s new friends Thamel and Forde. Unfortunately, both student-athletes forgot the student part of the equation and failed to qualify this summer for the upcoming semester.

But when investigating the allegations against UCF, it is tough to decide who to believe. In one corner you have the culprit behind all of UCF’s allegations, Ken Caldwell, whose criminal record and rumored link to basketball agents cancels out his philanthropic work and mentoring for Chicago basketball youths. Caldwell’s connection to UCF runs deep. He is the legal guardian of UCF basketball walk-on Dogukan Kuzucan, a former mentor to starting point guard A.J. Rompza, and his son attended UCF.

In the other corner you have Thamel and Forde, who have potential conflicts of interest. One journalist has failed “hit piece” articles from the past and the other has ties to the University of Louisville. Thamel spent last year battling in-state Louisville foe, the University of Kentucky, by investigating Eric Bledsoe and Enes Kanter’s eligibility. An investigation that was littered with Thamel twisting quotes of those he interviewed and unnecessary cost.

Pat Forde’s relationship with Louisville is more cut and dry. Forde partnered in a financial relationship to write a book with Louisville Head Basketball Coach Rick Pitino called Rebound Rules. He is also a former Louisville sports writer and still attends basketball games to support his business partner Pitino.

Unfortunately Pat Forde has declined to comment on the development of his original story and his relationship with the University of Louisville and Pete Thamel has not replied to the request for comment.

Its best not to get caught up in allegations surrounded by rumors of he said/she said nonsense. The best practice in this case would be to consult an expert on the subject of NCAA infractions in order to get a better understanding of what goes into an NCAA investigation. Below you will find the conversation between me and former NCAA Division I Infractions Committee member Jo Potuto whose resume speaks of her dignified career on the subject.

Please note that these answers are independent of the facts in the UCF inquiry — about which, Former NCAA Division I Infractions Committee Member Jo Potuto, has no information. They are general, informational responses directed at the operation of NCAA bylaws and are not predictions of what might happen in the UCF case.

Danny Peterson: Jeffrey Godfrey was included in the University of Miami scandal report as receiving a pair basketball shoes and attending a University of Miami football game in a booster’s luxury box at Dolphins Stadium while being recruited as a high school athlete by the University of Miami. What does this mean for UCF and could Godfrey face a potential suspension in the future?

Jo Potuto: It depends. Regarding prospects and the provision of benefits, there are recruiting violations (NCAA Bylaw 13) and amateurism violations (NCAA Bylaw 12). Recruiting violations are specific to a particular school and are committed by someone associated with the school. No other school would be responsible for Bylaw 13 violations and any impact on a prospect’s eligibility would be specific to that school. Amateurism violations attach to a prospect and affect his eligibility at any NCAA college or university. Among amateurism violations are benefits provided to a prospect because of his athletics ability or reputation (12.1.2.1.6); payment for playing; and involvement with agents. How serious the consequences to a prospect depends on a variety of things — how large the benefit; the degree of knowledge of the prospect that the benefit was prohibited; status of the person providing the benefit (agent/handler etc). It is possible for conduct to be both a Bylaw 12 and a Bylaw 13 violation.

DP: The NCAA’s letter of inquiry states its enforcement staff intends to complete its investigation by Sept. 30. The letter of inquiry was sent to UCF on August 17th, which gives the NCAA a month and a half to complete their investigation. Does this mean the investigation has been going on since before August 17th or does this mean they are allotting a month and a half to complete the entire investigation?

JP: In almost all cases the enforcement staff does a preliminary review of information and follow up to decide if it has “reasonably reliable information” that a violation has been committed (32.5.1.) At that point it sends a notice of inquiry to a school.

DP: Does their need to be clear evidence in order to hand out infractions to a school’s athletic program? Or does the infractions committee just need to form a majority opinion that they believe a potential violation occurred?

JP: You are asking two questions here — (1) what level of confidence is needed to find a violation and (2) how many Committee members must share that level of confidence. As to the first, NCAA bylaws dictate that the Committee on Infractions may find a violation only if it concludes that the information supporting a finding is “credible persuasive and of a kind on which reasonably prudent persons rely in the conduct of serious affairs). (NCAA Bylaw 32.8..8.2) This is a standard in law that is called “clear and convincing.” As to the second, NCAA bylaws do not require that the Infractions Committee must be unanimous before deciding that there is a violation.

DP: Are there NCAA rules that deem media (who have ties to certain schools) contact with high school athletes as being a potential violation if the media personnel misleads the recruit to steer clear of a school based on nonfactual information? I ask this question because these allegations began with articles published by two former Louisville sports writers who published these stories after UCF beat out Louisville for two high profile recruits. The media representatives then contacted one of the recruit’s parents to talk about these unproven allegations, resulting in the recruit de-committing from UCF and committing to Louisville.

JP: The NCAA is a private association. It has jurisdiction only over schools that are members of the association and, through them, to their staffs and student-athletes. Schools are responsible for the conduct of their boosters. (NCAA Bylaw 13.02.14.) It is not impossible for the relationship of a media rep with a school to make the media rep a booster. Violations committed by a booster are violations of the school. A school may “disassociate” its booster because of the conduct of the booster.

A question regarding the potential relationship between UCF and Ken Caldwell was presented but an answer was respectfully declined due to the fact dependence of the question.

What does all of this mean for UCF and this mess of an NCAA investigation? One can’t come to a positive conclusion without asking more questions. Is there a paper trail linking Caldwell to a sports agent? Has UCF been in contact with Caldwell to facilitate illegal recruiting methods of prep athletes? What are Pete Thamel’s motives behind his assault on this year’s chosen school? How deep is the relationship between Pat Forde and the University of Louisville?

All of those are interesting questions but the most important question is simple. What does UCF do going forward to put all of this bad press and lousy 2011 summer behind them? That question will be answered soon.

On Thursday, President Obama gave what was dubbed a “major” speech on the Middle East. However, the big focus towards the second half of the speech was the peace situation between Israel and the Palestinians. Some pundits are calling the speech a “major change” in U.S. policy.

I am calling it a disgrace.

President Obama today called for the Palestinians and Israelis to come back to the table and start moving rapidly towards a peace deal. Unfortunately for the Israelis, the President is calling for them to move their borders back to what is called the 1967 borders, with minor swaps.

Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel, who is scheduled to visit the White House on Friday, came out with a statement against that idea right after the Speech. The Prime Minister called the 1967 borders “indefensible.”

He also said, it would “leave major Israeli population centers in Judea and Samaria beyond those lines.”
Throughout its history, Israel has had to defend itself against neighbors who have said that the Israelis have no right to exist. Netanyahu also said today that peace will never come until all claims against Israel have been resolved.

If Israel were to go back to the 1967 borders there would be major changes. First, Israel would be forced to give up the strategic region located in the north, the Golan Heights. This region is considered vital to Israel’s security. Israelis say that if they were to lose the region, there would be a significant increase in the potential for attacks from Syria and Lebanon.

The second region would be Jerusalem. Back before 1967 when the Palestinians controlled Jerusalem, there were restrictions on Jews even being able to visit the Western Wall. As the holiest site in the world to members of the Jewish Faith, it would be morally heartbreaking, and emotionally painstaking. However, Obama did mention that he would like to see land swaps, without going into detail on those plans.

As a Jewish person who recently visited Israel, I cannot imagine the country without them.
With this major shift in policy, Obama is putting an additional speed bump to a dialogue that is already in a stalemate. It is unthinkable to me that a sitting American President would call on our biggest ally in the Middle East to give up such strategically, and religiously important areas.

President Obama should be ashamed of himself. And the Jews, who voted for him, should seriously reconsider their views on this President when he comes up for reelection next year.

What you need to realize is that what the President did today was not just talk; he physically changed the U.S. approach to the entire situation. It will be interesting to see if there is a statement made tomorrow by either leader, after they meet at the White House.

The President today also called on Syria to cease all action being taken on demonstrators in their country. He also praised the additional uprisings around the region. He also questioned how the Iranian regime could congratulate the demonstrators of other countries while at the same time denouncing and firing on its own demonstrators.

The race for the White House in 2012 has begun. With a few questions left to answer, I think the biggest one is Mike Huckabee and it looks like that answer will be made shortly before 9 p.m. tonight. Former Governor Mike Huckabee is someone we need to run for president, especially against President Obama.

Tonight, the former Governor turned television host will make an important message on his Fox News Channel Show “Huckabee.” People who are closest to Huckabee don’t even know his decision. Ed Rollins who is considered one of his closest advisors has said that it would seem that Huckabee is going to take a pass on 2012. However, Governor Huckabee has been quite tight lipped up to this moment.

It would seem that Huckabee, and more than likely members of his family are the only ones that know his true intentions. Officials at Fox News are even out of the loop, with Huckabee saying that his own Executive producer has no idea what the announcement is going to be.

Tonight is definitely the biggest in the very young 2012 campaign.

Either way, Huckabee’s decision is going to set the tone for the rest of the election. On one hand, if Huckabee decides that he is going to throw his hat into the ring for the White House he will probably be getting into a race where he is the presumed front runner. His poll numbers are consistently first or second with Mitt Romney usually being up there with him.

From my point-of-view, Mike Huckabee needs to run in 2012. He is one of the perfect people to run in the GOP primary. He is charismatic, and will bring some life into the campaign. As a member of the Republican Party, I am going to be watching Huckabee very closely. I believe that along with Herman Cain, Tim Pawlenty and Mitch Daniels these are the ones that would be worth watching.

Now, if Huckabee decides that 2012 just is not for him things would also turn out to be very interesting. Who would receive the highly coveted social conservative vote? Huckabee who is an ordained Baptist Minister is assumed to be the person who social conservatives would flock to at this time. However, even on Bill O’Reilly’s show last night, Huckabee mentioned that the economy would be the central part to anyone’s campaign at this time.

Ultimately, I believe that Huckabee will decide to run tonight. I believe that the factors surrounding his decision tonight are just too strong for him to pass up on this possible run. While although I feel as if it is too early to make an endorsement, I feel tonight’s decision one way or another will make things begin to move much faster. All I can say is folks, tonight is the real beginning of 2012 one way or another. But like I said, I think he is in!

The other day, Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich had announced that he will be seeking the Presidency of the United States. Speaker Gingrich is one of the people credited with the 1994 Republican Revolution, announced his decision to seek the Republican Nomination via his official Twitter Account. Gingrich called for American’s to stand up with him, because this is something that not “one person in the Oval Office,” can do on his own.

Speaker Gingrich is an interesting candidate moving forward. He is the first major candidate to officially declare that he will be seeking the nation’s highest office.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRSz21Vedxc

To me, Gingrich is someone to really watch in the republican primaries. If social conservatives across the country can get past the fact that he has been married three times, then he could be just who the Republicans need going up against President Obama.

Gingrich is what some would call a policy heavyweight. He is well versed in Foreign Policy, as well as the country’s domestic problems. Gingrich takes a lot of credit when discussing the Clinton era Welfare reforms.

Gingrich going head to head against Obama would make conservatives salivate. Obama, who dare I say is not the best speaker without a teleprompter, would have a really tough time discussing policy on a lectern against the former Speaker.

While I am not ready to endorse a candidate for President, what I will say is that I am very much looking forward to how Republicans across the country receive Gingrich in his second go around in Politics. However, I will say that he better become a little more exciting, because if his candidacy is going to be anything like his announcement today, it could be a short run for him.