www.alligator.org
We Inform. You Decide.
VOLUME 114 ISSUE 45
FRIDAY, JANUARY 10, 2020 Published by Campus Communications, Inc. of Gainesville, Florida
Not officially associated with the University of Florida
The last straw: ban takes effect BUSINESSES CAN BE FINED $250 FOR HAVING PLASTIC STRAWS By Grethel Aguila Alligator Staff Writer
Most Gainesville residents won’t be finding single-use plastic straws at stores or restaurants any longer. A plastic straw ban officially began to be enforceed in Gainesville on Jan. 2. In August, city commissioners voted to ban single-use plastic straws and stirrers from restaurants and stores. The ordinance doesn’t apply to hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living facilities or people with disabilities. The ban is part of the city commission’s plan to make Gainesville waste-free by 2040. City Commissioner David Arreola, who voted in favor of the ban, said he hopes it raises awareness of the waste produced by our society and the impacts of everyday con-
sumerism. Businesses that don’t adhere to the ban will receive verbal and written warnings, and those with written warnings will receive citations until they comply, Arreola said. The Code of Ordinances lists the fine amount at $250. “We’re talking about straws — just do the right thing,” Arreola said. Arreola said he doesn’t think Gainesville’s straw ban will suffer the same fate as the single-use plastics ban, which was repealed following The Florida Retail Federation’s lawsuit against the city of Coral Cables in 2016. In May, Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed a bill for a statewide prohibition of local straw bans. Satchel’s Pizza, located at 1800 NE 23rd Ave., received a warning about its straws back in October. As first reported by WCJB TV20, the city issued a warning to the res-
SEE STRAW BAN, PAGE 3
CAMPUS
Lauren Witte / Alligator Staff
Madhav Sodhani and Dhiraj Paryani, both 25-year-old computer science graduate students from India, rest on the benches outside Library West Thursday afternoon. They said they appreciate being able to study on the sixth floor as graduate students.
FEATURE FRIDAY
Doctoral student demands response to UF sexual assault cases on website RECORDS SHOW SOME CASES WEREN’T HANDLED CORRECTLY BY FACULTY By Hope Dean Alligator Staff Writer
Openlettertodeanperri.com is exactly what it appears to be: an open letter to Michael Perri, the dean of UF’s College of Public Health and Health Professions. But 100 pages of two UF sexual assault cases within Perri’s college lie in another tab, and 31- year-old Andrew Cistola, a second-year UF masters and first-year doctoral student in public health, isn’t finished collecting records. UF’s Title IX office has investigated a cluster of sexual assault cases from the college within the past two years, and records show that some cases weren’t handled correctly by
faculty, Cistola said. This makes Cistola “extremely concerned” for the safety of students, he wrote in a letter on the site he created, which is why on Dec. 23 he requested that Perri release public documentation of the cases by Jan. 6. Cistola told The Alligator he made the website to dispel rumors about the cases spreading through the halls of the college. He also said he doesn’t want any sexual predators attached to the research projects he has to complete at UF because it could damage his career. “I wanted to make sure that students, faculty, staff, alumni and community members can have access to public information so they can make their own decisions about their safety – about who they want to work with,” Cistola told The Alligator in an interview. Perri did not follow through with the request. When The Alligator pressed him on why, he referred a reporter to UF spokesperson
What’s all the buzz about? ENTOMOLOGY AND NEMATOLOGY DEPARTMENT OFFERS NEW ONLINE BEEKEEPING II CLASS
By Marlowe Starling Alligator Contributing Writer
A new online beekeeping class being offered this Spring is the bee’s knees for students with a sweet spot for an unusual hobby.
Beekeeping II, under the course codes ENY4932 for undergraduates and ENY6934 for post-graduates, offers more foundational knowledge to beekeeping than its predecessors, Beekeeping I and Practical Beekeeping, said Cameron Jack, entomology and nematology lecturer. “Beekeeping brings people together from all different backgrounds and all walks of life,” Jack said. “It’s not really for people just
SPORTS/SPECIAL/CUTOUT Gymnastics season begins tonight
Story description finish with comma, Sophomore Trinity Thomas and thepg# No. 3 Gators host No. 19 Arkansas at 6:45 tonight at the O’Connell Center, pg. 10
Steve Orlando. “We are confident that the university’s Title IX office handled these cases properly,” Orlando wrote in a statement. When Cistola asked Perri for documentation of the cases and to publicly release these related documents, Perri instead responded by making a public records request for Cistola to find the information he was looking for. Cistola then published Perri’s response to the website Monday, in which Perri also forwarded Cistola to Russell Froman, UF’s Title IX director. Froman declined to comment. “I appreciate your concern for the welfare of the College and its students. I know that Dr. Froman will do his best to address your concerns while respecting the confidentiality required in these matters,” Perri wrote to Cistola in an email. The front page of openlettertodeanperri. com now shows Cistola’s pubic response to
interested in agriculture.” Students interested in agricultural fields at land grant universities like UF typically take classes, get internships and then enter the industry, Jack said. “Really, nothing exists like that for beekeeping anywhere in the United States, so we’re kind of trying something new,” he said. Other new classes are expected to give students more knowledge of beekeeping in hopes of eventually introducing a certificate students can earn, Jack said. A new study
Perri. Cistola wrote that Perri did not comply with his original demands and expects the reports to be sent in by Feb. 1. “Tell us a story. Tell us what’s going on. The reason why I felt it was so important is because we had no idea what was going on,” Cistola told The Alligator. “Release these documents, please”: what’s in the letter Cistola wrote about three cases in his intial letter posted on the website that sparked his concerns. The first is the case of Andrew Lotto, a former professor in the college that Perri let resign after the university conducted an investigation that found multiple incidents of sexual harassment against female students and faculty dating back more than two years.
abroad program this Summer will focus on beekeeping in Thailand, and a honey bee biology class will be introduced in Fall. “We want students to walk away with a piece of paper that says they know how to keep bees and are proficient at doing it,” Jack said. Carson Beattie, a 21-year-old UF geology senior, is registered in the new class this semester. Beattie also worked as a teaching assistant for the practical beekeeping class over the Summer. “When you really get to work
UF records first tortoise allergy Nancy the tortoise is allergic to hay, pg. 5
SEE OPEN LETTER, PAGE 3 with them hands-on, most people are really afraid of them, but it’s actually the opposite,” Beattie said. “They’re really good animals to work with.” While Beattie said he is only interested in beekeeping as a hobby, he appreciates its environmental benefits. “Agriculturally, some crops, like almonds in California, are 100 percent pollinated by bees,” he said. “Without commercial growers coming in to pollinate the almond crop,
SEE BEEKEEPING, PAGE 3
FOLLOW US ONLINE FOR UPDATES
What does the UF Board of Trustees do?
How these people make impactful decisions that affect the university community, pg. 6
@FloridaAlligator @TheAlligator_ @TheAlligator @alligator_newspaper
