January 28, 2019 by The Independent Florida Alligator

www.alligator.org

We Inform. You Decide.

VOLUME 113 ISSUE 51

MONDAY, JANUARY 28, 2019 Published by Campus Communications, Inc. of Gainesville, Florida

Not officially associated with the University of Florida

UF chemistry professor GYMNASTICS Florida still has some room for stuck in Mexico improvement despite hot start HE IS TRYING TO GET A SPECIAL VISA TO COME BACK TO THE U.S.

low them to stay indefinitely. After attempts to receive the waiver, the Venezuelan government denied it to all Venezuelans in 2015, Lopez said. “If you’re outside Venezuela, the government will put a mountain that you need to climb in order to obtain something from them,” Lopez said. After fighting with lawyers for almost three years, Lopez began applying for an O-1 visa, a visa for people who are talented in the sciences, arts, education, business or athletics, in August, he said. By the middle of November, he was approved for the visa, but in order for it to go into effect, he was required to get his passport stamped outside of the U.S. Lopez decided to go to Mexico City with his family, so they could all go through the process. He said it was supposed to be simple, considering he brought all the necessary documents along with them, however, the Mexican embassy told the Lopezes they had to go through administrative processing that would last a week. It’s been over three weeks and the documents are still being processed, he said. Lopez does not know when he and his family will return to Gainesville but has been trying his best to keep managing his chemistry class. “It’s been difficult for me, of course, to do the job from outside,” Lopez said. “But I’m really glad to see how the UF family has been helping me.” Once the documents are processed, Lopez said he will be able to return to Gainesville on the visa.

By Lakshmi Gomez and Hannah Beatty Alligator Staff Writers

Lopez

Simon Lopez’s trip to Mexico should have only lasted a week. He planned on returning to UF to teach organic chemistry before the start of the Spring semes-

ter. But a month later, he’s still in Mexico — and doesn’t know when he can leave. Lopez, a UF chemistry professor who is originally from Venezuela, went to Mexico City in December to complete his visa application. Due to processing delays, he hasn’t been able to return to Gainesville. Despite the delays, he is still assigning homework, creating exams and scheduling virtual ofﬁce hours for his class. “I’m a Gator now so for me it’s really hard to be outside Gainesville,” Lopez said. Lopez initially came to UF as a researcher and adjunct professor in 2014 while on a J-1 visa, he said. This visa gave Lopez the opportunity to travel to the U.S. through a work and study based exchange program, as long as he returned to his home country after a year. Due to the economic and political crisis in Venezuela, Lopez and his family decided to stay in Gainesville and apply for a waiver that would al-

SEE PROFESSOR, PAGE 4

Chris King / Alligator Staff

UF gymnast Trinity Thomas performs her beam routine against Missouri on Jan. 11. She scored a 9.850 for her performance.

By River Wells Sports Writer

The Florida gymnastics team remains unconquered after a convincing win over the No. 17 Kentucky Wildcats. Things are looking up for the Gators as they prepare for what could be their biggest match of the year against No. 1 Oklahoma on its home match in Norman, Oklahoma, after a historic bar routine and some impressive ﬂoor scores Friday night. The squad has found success in many ar-

eas during its first few meets, but as coach Jenny Rowland mentioned after the meet against Kentucky, there is still work to be done for UF. Here’s one thing the Gators can be happy about from the first three weeks and one thing they’ll need to work on: Doctrine of Trinity Freshman Trinity Thomas is on the U.S. National Team, and in these first three weeks, she

SEE GYMNASTICS, PAGE 14

UF student financial aid impacted by government shutdown

THE UNIVERSITY ANNOUNCED IT WILL MAKE ACCOMMODATIONS FOR STUDENTS By Taylor Roth, Mikayla Carroll and Kelly Hayes Alligator Staff Writers

UF students have felt the effects of the government shutdown on a personal scale. Although it was partial, some UF students were affected financially because it has delayed them from receiving financial aid, UF Spokesperson Margot Winick said. The shutdown ended temporarily on Friday, but it is unclear how this will affect financial aid for stu-

Baseball begins spring practice

Second baseman Blake Reese and the Gators baseball team are preparing for the season-opener against Long Beach State , pg. 14

dents. The university announced that it will continue deferring the payment of charges and waiving late fees for students who are federal employees or who rely ﬁnancially on family members who are federal employees, Winick said. On Saturday, Winick said the university will make accommodations on a case-by-case basis to help

Dance to the Latin beat

students impacted. “We want to help students the best we can,” Winick said. Alexis Bishop, an 18-year-old UF zoology freshman, said she and her roommate were worried. They tried to calculate what they needed to use from their savings because Bishop received her ﬁnancial aid later than expected due to the shutdown. “It’s scary not knowing how long

A UF student started a radio station for Latin and Hispanic music, pg. 5

Crown the Queen

A UF alumna was crowned 2019 Miss Florida USA, pg. 10

these delays will last,” Bishop said. “I use that money to pay for rent.”

@Taylor__Roth troth@alligator.org @mikaylacarro11 mcarroll@alligator.org @kellyrhayes khayes@alligator.org