In August 2006, while the City of Pensacola was caught up in the Maritime Park referendum, Inweekly visited the University of West Florida campus to forge a stronger connection with Northwest Florida’s only public university.
- We saw UWF as an integral component of this community’s success. I broadcast a weekly news program, IN Your Head Radio, every Friday, on WUWF, the campus radio station, we had plans to debut our new hour-long TV show, IN Your Face TV, in the fall.
The issue profiled several UWF graduates. Here are two that you may know:
ILDIKO HOSMAN, 30
Education: University of West Florida, bachelor’s degree in marketing in 1999. UWF master’s degree in organizational communications in 2001.
Job: Escambia County Health Department senior health educator.
College: She started out at UWF planning to become an English teacher. But after working at a local department store, she decided to go into business marketing.
Her master’s degree focuses on business and professional communication.
A graduate of Milton High School, she says she never wanted to attend any other college.
“UWF to me, was a very strong pillar of this community,” she says.
Her education helped her earn a position with the health department, while in graduate school, to spearhead its tobacco prevention program.
“My advice is to find an organization on campus and get involved with it,” she says.
Experience: Her marketing and communications degrees and her desire to make a difference dovetailed with Florida’s tobacco prevention program, which ended in 2002, despite being one of the most successful programs in preventing teen smoking in the country. Other states, such as Minnesota and New Jersey, have since copied the award-winning program, Hosman says.
She still recites statistics she learned running Escambia County’s program, such as 89 percent of people who smoke started before the age of 18.
“Tobacco companies really target our youth, spending tons of money to find out what their preferences are in music, clothing and what they like to do,” she says. “We know it causes cancer, turns your teeth yellow and is bad for you but they try to make it cool and an independence thing.”
Today, Hosman oversees all the local health department’s education initiatives, such as childhood obesity, infant mortality, nutrition and exercise and issues. She speaks and works with businesses and groups, including schools, to increase public awareness.
Given the Partnership for a Healthy Community’s recent comprehensive results that found health declining in the area, especially in certain areas, such as diabetes, she’s working to help create programs on those health problems, too.
“I love being part of a community service and helping others,” says Hosman, who has also served as a UWF and Pensacola Junior College adjunct professor for public speaking classes.
Community: Although she’s traveled all over the world and United States, Hosman says she has never entertained any desires to leave.
“I absolutely love it here,” she says. “I love the beach, my job, this organization and being part of this community.”
She realizes its limitations, such as lack of high-paying jobs, economic diversity and the need for revitalization.
“We have the potential for growth and attracting national businesses,” she says. “I think the university and Pensacola’s Community Maritime Park will help economically and bring better jobs.”
Hosman tries to do her part in improving the community, joining the Junior League.
Last year, as the chair of the group’s biggest fundraiser, Market Basket, she helped raise roughly $63,000.
“I know I’d hate to leave, so I’m interested in doing things that help us make progress so more people, like my friends, will be able to stay,” she says.
PHILLIP WARREN, 32
Education: University of West Florida bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude, in criminal justice in 1999. University of Florida Juris Doctorate degree with honors in 2002.
Job: Partner at the newly formed law firm of Taylor, Warren & Weidner, P.A
College: Warren first enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps. after high school because he was unsure about what he wanted to do. His four years of service included serving with the 1st marine Division in Mogadishu, Somalia, during Operation United Shield, providing security to nuclear weapon facilities on the East Coast and being a scout swimmer for amphibious operations.
“The Marine Corps provided me the skills I found are very necessary to have, like work ethic, dedication and being able to handle a stressful environment,” he says.
He returned to Pensacola and attended PJC before deciding on a career in law and going to UWF for his bachelor’s degree. He earned his law degree from the University of Florida.
At West Florida, he helped found the college’s legal fraternity, Phi Alpha Delta, which he served as vice president and had about 20 members initially. Warren was also awarded Outstanding Undergraduate Student, while there.
“West Florida was a great experience for me,” Warren says. “I found people with a lot of similar goals and interests and that was a lot of benefit to me.”
The school’s rolling hills and woodlands on 1,600 acres along the Escambia River appealed to him, along with its smaller size and a student body that had many non-traditional students, like him.
“It might not have the resources of larger universities in the state but I could tap into what existed and maximize what was there,” he says.
Tips Every UWF Student Oughta Know (2006 Version)
Alternatives to Ramen Noodles:
* Easy Mac
* Campbell’s Soup At Hand
* Smucker’s Uncrustables
* Hot Pockets
* Left-over MRE’s from the hurricanes
Online alternatives to CliffNotes:
* sparknotes.com
* pinkmonkey.com
* gradesaver.com
Things that are easier to do after midnight:
* Laundry
* Shop at Wal-Mart
* Use the SAIL lab
* Cheat on your significant other
Ways to save $1:
* Bum a ride to Pensacola Beach
* Drink a Vault instead of a Red Bull
* Get a Grande instead of a Venti at Starbucks
* Don’t download that Paris Hilton single on i-tunes
Why size doesn’t matter at UWF:
* Your professors actually know your name
* You actually know your classmates by name
* Students don’t out number parking spaces on campus
* You get your papers and exams back in less than six weeks
Best websites to waste time on:
* Celebrity gossip: pinkisthenewblog.com
* Buy stuff you don’t really need: urbanoutfitters.com
* Plan your ideal spring break: studentcity.com
* Discover new music: pitchforkmedia.com
* Guilty pleasure: postsecret.blogspot.com
Self-help books that might actually help you figure out what to do after graduation:
* “Quarterlife Crisis: The Unique Challenges of Life in Your Twenties” by Alexandra Robbins and Abby Wilner (224 pages, Tarcher , $14.99)
* “The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous & Broke” by Suze Orman (395 pages, Penguin Group, $24.95)
• “Should I Do What I Love?: Or Do What I Do—So I Can Do What I Love on the Side?” by Katy McColl (206 pages, Sasquatch Books, $14.95)
You know you’re a University of West Florida Argonaut when… (2006 Version)
* You’ve skipped class on more than one occasion to go the beach.
* You’ve walked the Commons on the first week of classes in search of free school supplies.
* You’ve waited in line for more than 30 minutes for free food.
* You’ve circled the parking lot 20 times trying to understand the signs about where to park.
* You’ve gotten lost on your way to the soccer field.
* You’ve straddled the cannon on the greens for a photo op.
* You’ve seen one of your professors outside of class and they actually recognized you.
* You’ve gone to a KA Goldfish Party.
* You’ve eaten Dodge’s Chicken at 3 a.m.
* You’ve gone to Seville Quarter more Thursdays than you can count.
* You’ve lived in a Pizza Hut dorm.
* You’ve partied in the Fountains.
* You’ve planned your fall semester around hurricane season.
* You’ve used those cubicles in the library for something other than studying.
* You’ve seen the Nature Trail after dark.
* You’ve never been to a college football game, but know a hell of a lot about soccer.
* You’ve gotten at least five parking tickets in one semester.
* You’ve had class with the same people every semester since your junior year.
* You’ve held a weekend job at Cordova Mall.
* You’ve never listened to WUWF, even though, you probably should.
* You know what the heck an Argo really is.
IN YOUR FACE TV
Here is a segment from our television show. I’m interviewing the late Susan Watson, who led the ACLU in Northwest Florida and later became the state director for the ACLU in Alabama.
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