FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2020 ALLIGATOR 5
Lucky’s Market in Gainesville being sold to Southeastern Grocers THE STORE IS OFFICIALLY CLOSING FEB. 12 By Stephany Matat Alligator Staff Writer
Lucky’s Market is officially being sold to Southeastern Grocers, according to a press release from Lucky’s Market. Southeastern Grocers will also be taking over the Naples, Fort Myers, Lake Mary and Melbourne stores, while other locations in Florida are going to Seabra Foods and Hitchcock’s Markets. WCJB reported that “court records seemed to indicate Aldi was interested in the Gainesville location,” but the store is officially confirmed to be sold to Southeastern Grocers under an asset purchase agreement. The agreements previously signed five leased store properties and another owned property to Aldi. The agreements also signed five leased store properties to Publix Super Markets,
Inc. Now, it includes the Melbourne location, which has now been signed into the Southeastern Grocers agreement, according to the press release. Lucky’s will be officially closed on Feb. 12. Bill Muccio, the store director for Lucky’s Market in Gainesville, said he was unsure of what was really going on because he had heard multiple rumors without any word from the company itself. The Alligator reached out to Southeastern Grocers twice via phone but didn’t receive a response by publication Thursday evening. The Alligator also emailed Lucky’s Market to confirm the information and received no response. When current Lucky’s employees were called to comment, The Alligator was told that Lucky’s will not pay severance to the employees who speak to the media and that they are legally not allowed to give more information. The Fair Labor Standards Act does
Inspire:
• Centralize sexual assault and mental health resources on Canvas and make them available in several languages • Amend Student Government finance codes to ensure a fair process for funding student organization events • Extend Uber Safe Rides and SNAP to include morning hours on weekends so that students have reliable transportation home when they need it most • Support an LGBTQ+ Living Learning Community within UF Housing and improve roommate matching for LGBTQ+ individuals • Implement online voting to make it easier to participate in Student Government elections and to end the ‘I Voted’ sticker collection system that enables corruption in Student Government
Gator:
• Partner with the Dean of Students Office to launch the “kNOw MORE” initiative to create a proactive sexual prevention culture • Create an annual Parking Ticket Forgiveness Day • Navigate ways to improve textbook affordability for all Gators • Create a Transition Cabinet Division for transfer, PACE, IA and first-year students • Ensure SG’s minority outreach program (Bridges) is properly funded and supported
not require employers to pay severance, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. The Employee Benefits Security Administration may help an employee who did not get severance benefits under their employee-sponsored plan. One of the store’s former employees, Hayden Page, 19, said the company is helping employees find new jobs by calling recruiters from places like Sam’s Club. About 80 employees will lose their jobs at Lucky’s Market, and they will gradually be released as the official close date approaches, said Eric Cheek, the store’s front-end supervisor.
Anna Wilder contributed to this report. Lia Dagostino // Courtesy to The Alligator
@StephanyMatat smatat@alligator.org
A Lucky’s Market customer shops as the store’s closing approaches. The store is officially closing on Feb. 12.
Inspire, Gator release platform points BOTH PARTIES FOCUS ON STUDENT SAFETY By Chasity Maynard Alligator Staff Writer
In the wake of an increase in sexual assaults on campus, both UF Student Government parties prioritized student safety this election season. Inspire Party announced its party platform Wednesday, or its goals if elected this semester. Gator Party planned to announce its platform in three parts. It posted the first part Thursday and the second part today. Both parties shared their platforms on social media. Inspire’s goals consist of four main categories: keeping students safe and healthy, helping them reach their potential, making sure they are all valued and using SG to make a difference. Some key points include creating a Living Learning Community for LGBTQ+ individuals, amending Student Government finance codes “to ensure a fair process” for event funding and increasing accessibility to mental health and sexual assault resources. Inspire President Kristen Jackson said the party plans to consolidate mental health and
sexual assault resources and then make them available in multiple languages. “The goal is to have them available on Canvas, a place that all students already have to go,” she said. “So if something does happen to you, you know where they are.” Inspire Student Body presidential candidate Matthew Diaz said solving the funding crisis for student organizations is a campaign point he cares about personally. As the president of the IndigeneousAmerican Student Association and vice president of Volunteers for International Student Affairs, two organizations that he said have lost funding, Diaz said he wants to make sure institutions aren’t being undervalued. He said he cares about their long-term stability. “I think that one of the big ways that we need to focus that, is by having an administration that values that [long-term stability],” he said. “An administration that didn’t originally cause the issue to begin with, and one that has been sufficiently connected to these orgs to know what they want, and how to execute it in a way that would actually benefit them in the long run.” Gator’s first announcement focused on shaping the student experience. Today’s is about building for success. Gator Student Body presidential candi-
date Trevor Pope said he is excited about the kNOw MORE campaign point, which provides support to sexual assault survivors, discreet reporting services and prevention training. “We’re not only providing platforms for people who have the courage to come out and report sexual assault,” he said. “But also, we’re like preventing it in the first place.” Katie Hernandez, Gator campaign manager, said in addition to bringing kNOw MORE to UF, she thinks that platform points like adding nap pods and an annual Parking Ticket Forgiveness Day will improve students’ lives. “When we were doing platform generation, a lot of students came with things that affect their everyday lives or things that they think will end up making their college memories better, that weren’t necessarily academic in nature,” she said. “And so today’s [Thursday’s] platform release is really focused about honing in ‘What is the daily life of a Gator?’” She said building for success will improve accessibility, affordability and help prepare students for the professional world. @chasitymaynard0 cmaynard@alligator.org
UF student data among information sold by anti-virus software AVAST SOLD USERS’ BROWSING HISTORY AND GEO-LOCATIONS By Hannah Phillips Alligator Staff Writer
Avast, the anti-virus software recommended by UF since 2013, sold the browsing data of millions of its users to thirdparty companies like Microsoft and Amazon. The data of students who did not opt out of the collection upon downloading Avast may have been included in the information that was sold, said Matt Pendleton, UF Information Technology senior director. Avast’s consent policy outlines what data is sold: IP addresses, geo-locations and search histories, for starters. This is not a data breach, Pendleton added — Avast is only one of many software companies that sells user data. Sensitive information like users’ search terms and viewing history on porn websites were also among the data collected, according to a Vice News investigation that broke
the story. Third-party advertisers like Google and Amazon use the data to create personalized advertisements by targeting user demographics and browsing habits, according to the policy. Avast Director of Communications Whitney Glockner Black wrote in an email that the data is stripped of identifiers so that no personal information is shared. For this reason, there’s no way to know which UF students were among those whose data was sold, she wrote. Following the Vice News investigation, Avast discontinued the practice of using any data collected for any other purpose than the core security engine, Black wrote. Avast CEO Ondrej Vlcek published a letter apologizing for the data collection and breach of trust that many of its customers felt. UF initially recommended Avast because it was free and used by millions of people, Pendleton said. According to the apology letter, Avast data collection began in 2015. An archived snapshot of the UF Information Technology website from Dec. 22 shows step-by-step instructions
on how to download Avast. As of Thursday, the page no longer exists. It was replaced with a message that reads: “We can help you install any software that you want to have on your computer.” “We are moving away from recommending specific products to students,” Pendleton said. Now, UF encourages students to check the settings on all software and applications and determine if they can opt out of sharing their web browsing data, he said. Evan Cowie, a 20-year-old UF classical studies junior and tech consultant for the UF Computing Help Desk, said he was unaware that Avast sold users’ data. For now, he said he will reconsider recommending the application to students. “It’s slightly concerning,” he said. “I can imagine feeling a bit sketched out.” @haphillips96 hphillips@alligator.org