As the year comes to a close, Spinnaker took a look at everything that happened this year. Here are the top ten most viewed stories on unfspinnaker.com from 2016.
We broke the news in September about the end of the UNF rule that required all first time in college students to live on campus and purchase a meal plan during their first year. The original story breaking the news had almost 10,000 views. Our follow-up story explained that university officials still think living on campus has a lot of benefits — they just hope students will make the choice on their own.
This article from late August has more than 10,000 views. It explains how UNF was competing with other schools to win an “epic” party with Victoria’s Secret models and big-name artists. While UNF ultimately didn’t win the competition, students clearly were excited to be serious competition for larger schools, such as University of Texas, San Antonio and Oklahoma State University.
A man was put in handcuffs and taken to the hospital after multiple witnesses say he screamed about ISIS and yelled at a female student on the first floor of the UNF library. After the student was put into an ambulance in the middle of campus, students turned to the UNF Spinnaker to find out the whole story. This story was viewed almost 10,500 times.
In late April, two UNF students were charged with false imprisonment after forcing a man into their vehicle and repeatedly hitting him, according to a JSO police report. Spinnaker updated the story with comments from the defendant after they contacted Spinnaker and asked that the story be removed, and the story was viewed 12,246 times.
This is a story that only works in context. When we published it in November, clowns were making headlines across the country. Reports of clowns carrying weapons, trying to lure children into the woods and making threatening social media posts had people everywhere concerned, and UNF students were no exception. This story was viewed 13,373 times.
The announcement that President Barack Obama was coming to UNF to campaign for Hillary Clinton just days before the 2016 presidential election was enough to get Ospreys’ attention — the story has more than 17,000 views and was shared 232 times on Facebook.
Laura Erdelyi, a UNF senior, was killed in a car accident the morning of Feb. 14. According to police, Erdelyi was traveling on Roosevelt Boulevard when a suburban hit her vehicle. She was pronounced dead at the scene. This story was viewed 17,648 times.
This editorial, written by former Managing Editor Connor Spielmaker, touches on how students coped with the tragedy of losing 11 students over the course of a year, and how to move on afterward. “I’ve attended many memorial services since coming to this campus, and all seem to have at least one common take-away: these people lived short lives, yes, but still extraordinary ones.” The message of this story resonated with students, and it was viewed 18,635 times.
Spinnaker’s story from June that outlines the new developments planned for the St. Johns Town Center got reader’s’ attention — nearly 20,742 of them, to be exact. The story talks about plans to build a Top Golf (done), an IKEA, and four new areas of retail, commercial, residential and office spaces. Most of the development is set to be finished by the end of next year.
Spinnaker reported last spring about a student who was arrested after allegedly starting a fire, stealing and driving through the front of a convenience store before recklessly driving through campus in January, according to police. The charges against the student were dropped in August. The original story on Spinnaker’s website was viewed more than 25,000 times.
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