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VOLUME 114 ISSUE 44
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2020 Published by Campus Communications, Inc. of Gainesville, Florida
Not officially associated with the University of Florida
Bill could make voting harder
FIRST DAY
IF PASSED, IT COULD BE A LAW BY JULY 1 By Samantha Chery Alligator Staff Writer
Lauren Witte // Alligator Staff
Brooke Klinker, 19-year-old UF elementary education sophomore, and Tyler Heflin, 20-year-old family, UF family, youth and community science junior, take a selfie with President Kent Fuchs on Turlington Plaza Tuesday afternoon. Klinker said she is excited to finish her prerequisites. Heflin said she is excited to learn more about psychology.
Some students fear a proposed bill in the Florida Senate could make voting more difficult for young and low-income Florida voters. Florida Sen. Jeff Brandes (Pinellas County, Republican) filed the bill last Friday, which would prohibit a voter from using their ID to confirm or challenge their address. If the amendment passes, the bill could become a law on July 1, months before the 2020 general election. Mackintosh Joachim,
a 20-year-old UF political science and women’s studies junior and a former Student Government senator, said he thinks the bill is a tactic to discourage collegeaged and low-income voters from voting in elections. Joachim believes that by filing this bill, Brandes is also trying to prevent young people from voting for progressive candidates. “It’s just another way to suppress votes, like the grandfather clause or the poll tax,” Joachim said. Things like the grandfather clause and poll taxes disenfranchised black voters during the Jim Crow era. Sen. Brandes could
not be reached for comment as of Tuesday evening. The Alligator attempted to reach him via phone and email multiple times. The bill would likely affect the voting process for people like Aren Saini, a 20-year-old UF biology junior. Saini’s home address in Tampa is listed on his ID, but he registered to vote in Alachua County so he could conveniently vote at the Reitz Union. If the bill passes, Saini said he would have to change the address on his voter registration, travel home to vote or use mail-in absentee ballots. “Florida is already very gerrymandered for
SEE VOTER, PAGE 3
New LGBTQ+ affairs director was a UF graduate SHE WAS CHOSEN FROM A POOL OF MORE THAN 100 APPLICANTS By Kaelyn Cassidy Alligator Staff Writer
The UF Multicultural and Diversity Affairs department welcomed a new director of LGBTQ+ Affairs on Monday. Tiffany Richards is a UF alumna who has spent most of her career advocating for equality for the LGBTQ+ community, people of color and women. She was
chosen from a pool of more than 100 applicants to fill the position after it had been vacated by Billy Huff, who now works in the communications department at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, said William Atkins, the associate dean of students and the senior director of MCDA. Atkins said Richards was selected for the position because of her phenomenal performance during the interview and her ability to effectively engage with students and faculty.
“I look forward to her engaging with students, faculty, staff, alumni and really figuring out what the needs in 2020 are and being strategic around how to support student success in the LGBTQ+ community,” Atkins said. Aldrin Gaffud, a 21-year-old UF civil engineering and architecture senior, said he’s spent a lot of time in the Rainbow Room, the space for LGBTQ+ students inside the MCDA, when he held meetings there as president of the Queer Professional
Organization. He described the previous director as nice but difficult to reach, and said he has high hopes for what the new director could do to provide a voice and advocate for students. “It’s very hard to feel supported on this campus,” he said. “A lot of what UF does isn’t as impactful or effective as we deserve as LGBTQ+students.” Richards joins recent hires Bianca
SEE LGBTQ+, PAGE 3
Puerto Rican UF students affected, fearful of earthquake UF STUDENTS WORRY FOR THEIR HOME AND FAMILY’S SAFETY By Meghan McGlone Alligator Staff Writer
Collapsed houses, crushed cars and rubble-filled streets clutter southern Puerto Rico, leaving hundreds of people in the street as they struggle through aftershocks.
The largest of a series of earthquakes that began Dec. 28 struck Puerto Rico Tuesday morning, killing one and injuring eight. The 6.4-magnitude earthquake was followed by dozens of aftershocks, according to The Associated Press. The epicenter of the earthquake was about seven miles away from Guayanilla, the southern part of the island, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
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Areas most affected by the earthquake and aftershocks were in the southernmost part of the island. Natalia Machicote, a 21-yearold UF biology junior, is from Guaynabo in the northern part of Puerto Rico. Her family, including her grandmother, siblings, cousins and uncles were on the island when the earthquake struck. She said she visited her family and friends in December. “I left feeling fulfilled because I
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spent a lot of time with them, and now, here is this horrible news,” Machicote said. She said she was grateful her family and friends live in the northern part of the island, but they still felt minor shakes. Puerto Rico faced Category 5 Hurricane Maria in Sept. 2017 and still had power outages and uncleared landslides two years later. Now, these recent earthquakes have torn up streets and
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collapsed buildings as hundreds of people took to the streets, according to The Associated Press. U.S. Senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott of Florida and U.S. Rep. Jenniffer González-Colón of Puerto Rico sent a letter to President Donald Trump Tuesday supporting Puerto Rican Gov. Wanda Vázquez’s request that help be sent to Puerto Rico. “The localities that are grap-
SEE EARTHQUAKE, PAGE 3
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