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MONDAY, JULY 19, 2021

VOLUME 115 ISSUE 40

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UF students protest against Cuba’s government Following protests in Cuba, a group of UF students gathered to support the ongoing demonstrations

By Alexander Lugo and Camila Pereira Alligator Staff Writers

Protestors sprawled across the corner of West University Avenue and Northwest 13th Street July 16.

The #SOSCuba Gainesville demonstration — hosted by UF students from Take Action Florida, a social activism group — garnered support from about 70 students and Gainesville residents who called for action to change current conditions in Cuba.

The protests are in response to food and medicine shortages, inflation, nationwide blackouts and a rise in COVID-19 deaths on the island in the past month.

Thousands of Cubans both in the country and in the U.S. are demonstrating to express frustrations

against the current government’s rule.

The government in Cuba detained protestors through mobilizing police and military units and took teenagers from their homes to fight alongside the government, sometimes against their own families, according to a CBS Miami article.

“It’s literally civilians versus the military at this point,” Sayda Chinilio, a 21-year-old UF elementary education senior, said.

“Kids my age are being taken from their homes to fight against their own people.”

Chinilio’s stepdad was forced to enlist in the military at 15 years old in Cuba. After delaying his draft, he was imprisoned and sent to a labor camp where

SEE CUBA, PAGE 4

Houston Harwood // Alligator Staff

Marian Hernandez, 21, a psychology senior, (right), and Sayda Chimilio, 21, an elementary education senior, (left), shout “Patria y Vida” as they raise signs embellished with colors of the Cuban flag on Friday, July 16, 2021. UF students gathered at the corner of University Avenue and 13th Street Friday to protest human rights abuses in Cuba.

UF alumni identified from the Surfside Champlain Towers South Condominium 95 VICTIMS HAVE BEEN RECOVERED AND IDENTIFIED FROM THE SITE AS OF JULY 17

By Isabella Barnet Alligator Staff Writer

Three University of Florida alumni were recovered and identified from the rubble of the Surfside Champlain Towers South condominium after it partially collapsed on June 24.

26-year-old Argentinian Nicole “Nicky” Langesfeld and 28-year-old Venezuelan Luis Sadovnic were both recovered from the site on July 7, exactly two weeks after the collapse.

Langesfeld graduated in May 2016 and was a part of the UF chap-

ter of Alpha Omicron Pi sorority before graduating from the University of Miami School of Law. She met Sadovnic during her time at UF, and they married each other this year after a beachfront proposal last December in front of the Champlain Towers that once stood 12 stories tall.

A GoFundMe dedicated to the couple to alleviate financial burdens for their families has raised nearly $120,000.

Sadovnic graduated from Santa Fe College in 2014 and later graduated from UF with a bachelor’s of science in food and resource economics in 2016. He was an avid golf player and played for Vinotinto Sub 17, the Venezuelan national soccer under-17 team.

His cousin, Moises Rodan, was

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also among those recovered from the Champlain Towers rubble.

The two cousins attended a private Jewish school together in Venezuela and were active members of UF’s Chabad Jewish Center.

Rodan, a 28-year-old UF alumnus, was recovered on July 11 alongside his cousin Andres Levine, a Florida International University alumni, who was with him in unit 403 when the building partially collapsed. The Venezuelan graduated in May with a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering.

Stefanie Alvarez, 25, remembers her boyfriend Rodan as a selfless, hardworking individual who aspired to help others in his community. Rodan would often go to the McDonald’s on University Avenue and buy

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ating from the University of Florida after he couldn’t finish his civil engineering degree in his homeland.

“Everyone should take an extra step to help others because it’s something Moi taught all of us,” she said. “His perseverance stopped him from ever giving in to a failed exam, computing a bad code, or a bad professor… his biggest accomplishment was graduating from UF, and he was so, so proud to be a Florida Gator.”

Rodan’s legacy lives on through Stefanie, his parents, his siblings, his nephews and nieces, his friends and his dog, Balu. ibarnet@alligator.org

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Erica Studer-Byrnes starts July 19, pg. 3

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dozens of burgers for the homeless people nearby.

“He would do this around three times a month and wouldn’t tell anyone about it,” she said. “Sometimes I would find out about it, but it was something that filled him with joy— it was something he loved to do.”

The couple, both originally from Caracas, met at Santa Fe College in an English class. Alvarez knew him since he first arrived in Gainesville in 2016, two years after emigrating from Venezuela herself.

Alvarez planned to temporarily move to Miami with Rodan at the Champlain Towers upon returning from Gainesville, just a week after the collapse.

She wants others to know how overjoyed Rodan was about gradu-

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GainesvilleToday’s residentsWeather can expect a spike in parking fees and annual permit rates THE COMMISSION VOTED TO PASS TWO MOTIONS INCREASING PARKING FEES AND REDESIGNATING ZONES

By Abigail Hasebroock Alligator Staff Writer

After emerging from about two weeks of recess, the Gainesville City Commission met July 12 for a special city commission meeting where Malisa McCreedy, the city’s director of transportation and mobility, gave a presentation on proposed changes to parking zones and rates.

Parking rates haven’t increased since 2004.

“The discussion about parking rates has been something that has been talked about for at least over a decade,” City Manager Lee Feldman said.

Feldman said a final decision needs to be made in order to determine whether there will be a revenue increase in the general fund budget for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 and ending Sept. 30, 2022.

The proposed changes include limiting areas that are considered high demand as two-hour parking spaces that cost $1 an hour, limiting off-street surface lots to four-hour spaces, reducing parking garage rates to $0.50 an hour and slashing five of the current parking zones and redesignating the remaining six.

Annual parking permit rates for all zones will increase from the current

cost of $115.75 for zones 1, 2 and 5 and $58 for all other zones to $216, which will create a potential increase in city revenue of about $225,000.

McCreedy said the idea behind the higher prices for the two-hour spots is to ensure one or two spots are available on curbsides at all times.

The proposed parking changes were motivated by the city’s 2021 community survey response that found parking availability as the No. 2 concern.

While Commissioner David Arreola said he supported the hourly parking changes, he is opposed to the proposed neighborhood parking permit rate increase.

“Since rates haven’t changed in 17 years, just at the period of time we’re at now with people’s economic struggles a lot of people who are paying for these passes are probably not ready to take on this additional burden of cost,” he said. “And so I don’t think it’s the right time for us to make such a dramatic leap even if there is a rational nexus for it.”

Mayor Lauren Poe said he believed all the passes will sell quickly, however.

“We’ll learn if it’s priced too high if we don’t sell all the passes,” he said.

“That’s simple supply and demand.”

Increasing pedestrian and bicycle safety and maintaining the city’s goal of reducing the effects of climate change also propelled the proposed changes.

“This is one of the things we can do as a city to help with lowering

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greenhouse gases,” Commissioner Adrian Hayes-Santos said.

He said drivers often circle in search of a spot to park which is a big issue contributing to vehicle emissions, and the proposed changes will help mitigate that.

Hayes-Santos suggested funding more lighting in the areas that will experience higher parking demand to accommodate for the rise in people using those spaces, and Commissioner Reina Saco agreed.

The commission unanimously voted to pass the motion to implement the changes in the parking fee structure and passed the motion to change the neighborhood parking permit fees 4-2 with Arreola and Commissioner Gail Johnson in opposition. Commissioner Desmon Duncan-Walker was absent for both votes. @abbeyhasebroock ahasebroock@alligator.org

By Alexander Lugo Alligator Staff Writer

Gainesville’s city hall was evacuated before the regular city commission meeting July 15 after chemical fumes leaked into its ventilation system.

The commission meeting was canceled July 15 and rescheduled for July 19. Some of the treatments used for an ongoing roof replacement were accidentally released into the building’s air conditioning system. The

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treatments contained acetone and APTES, which can be hazardous to inhale.

Gainesville Fire Rescue recommended the evacuation out of an abundance of caution, Shelby Taylor, a city spokesperson, said.

The building is open and operational again except for one section, which is still being monitored, Taylor said.

The roof is being replaced for the first time since 1964 after water leaks were reported in the building, Taylor said. A 2017 report on the building deemed the roof to be in need of repairs, according to the Gainesville Sun.

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MONDAY, JULY 19, 2021 ALLIGATOR 3

UF Heavener School of Business names new assistant dean and director Erica Studer-Byrnes is the first female to lead the Heavener Business School and the second female on the dean leadership team

By Isabella Douglas Alligator Staff Writer

Erica Studer-Byrnes, the soonto-be assistant dean and director of the Heavener School of Business, is the first woman ever appointed to the position.

Studer-Byrnes, who starts the position July 19, will be in charge of operations and strategic development within the business undergraduate program.

She plans to implement university level policies across campus and facilitate the undergraduate experience with career readiness skills.

“I’m sure when a lot of female students read that they felt proud and excited that a female would be stepping into the role,” Isabella Rowland, a 22-year-old marketing masters student, said.

Studer-Byrnes’ first steps as assistant dean and director will include defining the culture in the undergraduate business school by working to provide the best services to students, she said. In doing so, she will target welcoming back both students and faculty as they readjust to inperson classroom settings.

“I also will be focusing on really greatly making sure that people still feel celebrated, feel connected, feel like they’re part of the bigger team,” Studer-Byrnes said. “Regardless of if it’s a day that they’re working remotely or if it’s a day that they’re working in the office.”

Studer-Byrnes is the first woman to lead the Heavener Business School and the second woman on the dean leadership team. She acknowledged the imbalance between the college’s student population, which she said is roughly 50/50 in femaleto-male ratio, and the professional field, where there are few female CEOs in Fortune 500 companies.

There is a disconnect between who learns the skills and who ends up taking leadership roles, she said.

“I think it’s important for our female students to see a woman in a leadership position,” StuderByrnes said.

Studer-Byrnes has about 20 years of experience in academic roles and is a four-time Gator, completing her Bachelor of Arts in philosophy, Bachelor of Science in psychology, Master of Arts in education and Ph.D. in counseling and counselor education.

She wants to expand the college’s leadership programs, which she said is a strength of the school that lacks participation.

The business school offers many curriculums, including an experiential learning program designed for students to engage in industry-driven collaborations.

The college also offers the Florida Leadership Academy, which hosts business competitions for sophomores to develop leadership qualities.

“This big suite of programs that we have is something that

we’ve developed in house as a way to provide opportunities for students to develop career readiness skills that are the types of skills that you’re just not going to pick up in classes,” StuderByrnes said.

She said it creates a culture of empowerment, success, inclusion and career readiness.

Isabella Rowland, a Heavener student assistant and Warrington Welcome Peer Leader, agrees with Studer-Byrnes’ sentiments and hopes to see an increase in participation.

For four years, StuderByrnes worked as the associate director of Heavener where she led operational strategy during the pandemic with the previous associate dean and director, Alex Sevilla.

Sevilla left UF to work at Vanderbilt as the vice provost of career advancement and engagement, but he said StuderByrnes is poised for great things and will shine in providing more resources to support Heavener’s students.

“She is a phenomenal data analyst and really understands how to pull insights from data that we collect,” Sevilla said. “Being able to really take that data to the next level to inform us on how we can continue to strengthen what we would define as the Heavener student experience I think that that’s one space where she will play a key role.”

Warrington College of

Business dean Sabyasachi “Saby” Mitra appointed the committee that chose Studer-Byrnes as the next associate dean and director.

He said he was not surprised when Studer-Byrnes was chosen because of her many years of experience.

“Some people can only really think about big picture and strategy and others really focus on the details and the implementation,” Mitra said.

“But we have someone who does both.”

Mitra hopes to see StuderByrnes modernize the business administration curriculum, improve the student experience with more meaningful engagement and career service opportunities and retain a more diverse group of students at Heavener.

“I think business education is at a really unique time period right now,” Studer-Byrnes said.

“So, I’m excited to come in at a time where there’s a lot of moving and shaking already happening and expand our reach in a really meaningful way.” @Ad_Scribendum idouglas@alligator.org

Courtesy to The Alligator

Erica Studer-Byrnes, the assistant dean and director of the Warrington College of Business.

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4 ALLIGATOR MONDAY, JULY 19, 2021

International support CUBA, from pg. 1

he cut sugar cane. Years later, he escaped to Mexico and eventually arrived in Miami.

Today, Cuba is governed by Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, whose administration has experienced limited medicine and vaccination availability, contributing to the rise in the country’s COVID-19 death toll.

Cuba’s economic crisis is partly due to the lack of tourism — one of their main sources of income — from existing U.S. travel restrictions and current restrictions on travel imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic. This, along with the govern-

ment’s rationing system, has contributed to soaring prices and scarcity of food, according to Amnesty International’s 2020 report on Cuba.

Now, Chinilio said her stepdad’s family is starving.

“We have no way of communicating to them,” she said. “It hurts a lot to see what’s happening.”

Chinilio says she is not supportive of U.S. intervention, but thinks it’s necessary because of how bad the situation is on the island.

Protests showing solidarity with Cuban protesters have sprung up from Miami to Chile. The #SOSCuba demonstration was the third protest against the Cuban government to take place in Gainesville last week.

“The reason people are protesting right now, it’s not one thing, they’re protesting because they’re tired of everything,” Sophia Medina, an 18-year-old UF exploratory freshman, said.

For more than two hours, the crowd chanted “libertad,” the Spanish word for liberty.

Alexandra Quintana, co-founder and vice president of Take Action Florida, organized the demonstration to create a haven for people to express themselves and heal while building empathy and raising awareness about the humanitarian crisis in Cuba, she said.

“I am trying to garner as much attention to the issue,” she said, “because, at the end of the day, it’s an international issue. Human rights is an international issue.”

On July 16, U.N. Human Rights

Mingmei Li // Alligator Staff

Elizabeth Carmenate, a UF marketing junior, wrapped in a Cuban flag, sings and cheers during a protest on Friday, July 16, 2021.

Chief Michelle Bachelet urged the government to address the Cuban people’s concerns and release those detained for exercising their fundamental freedoms.

Quintana urges people to amplify Cuban people’s voices while being allies to other countries in humanitarian crises like Haiti, Venezuela, Colombia, Yemen and South Africa.

“We’re all fighting corruption at the end of the day,” she said.

Being Cuban-American and raised in Miami by her immigrant parents, Quintana said seeing the protests in Cuba deeply affected her because of generational trauma passed down through her family.

“Even though I might not know everyone on the island, or know, or have the same connections as my parents do, I still feel it the same way,” she said. “I was raised that way.”

For 28-year-old Cuban-American Daniel Antonio Miguel, being surrounded by the UF Cuban student community as several people spoke and shared their stories brought him to tears.

“I had this tenseness, this sort of uneasiness in my chest, and like screaming out felt so good — screaming out ‘libertad’ felt so good,” Miguel said.

The UF history senior was born and raised in South Florida by his parents who immigrated to the U.S. from Cuba during Fidel Castro’s regime in 1987.

Miguel grew up hearing stories about the struggles of the island from his family, so seeing the protests break out in Cuba inspired him to show support for his community.

“It just felt like I was here in solidarity with my pueblo [town],” he said.

Miguel’s sentiments are shared by other students whose family members experienced Cuba’s government under different leaders firsthand.

Nelson Diaz, a 25-year-old Santa Fe building construction management sophomore, said he left Cuba when he was 14. In Cuba, his dad

was a lawyer and his mom a nurse, but they still endured tough conditions. Now, his dad is an electrician and his mom does not work.

“My grandfather, he fought with Fidel in the revolution, and he’s just disappointed with everything that has happened — 62 years of dictatorship,” Diaz said.

His grandparents still live in Cuba, and he said it destroys him whenever he talks to them on the phone. He wants to see some kind of humanitarian intervention with the goal of transitioning the island to a democracy.

“We don’t want capitalists, we don’t want a dictatorship, we don’t want any of that. We want the people of Cuba to be able to choose their own president,” Diaz said.

This month’s protests represent an outcry against Cubans’ current reality and their ancestors’ history.

It’s common to see families live in the same house through four generations without any maintenance, Gabriel Rivera, who left Cuba five years ago to the day of the July 16 protest, said. Many people there die from houses collapsing on them, he said.

“What happened in Miami, that is a day-to-day in Cuba,” Rivera said.

He said Cubans get indoctrinated into political ideologies at an early age, and many don’t understand life outside the island. The censorship of the internet and media outlets under Castro’s rule has only worsened Cuba’s isolation.

“You see American movies, but you think that that doesn’t exist, it’s like that cannot be possible, how so many people can have liberty, cars, houses,” Rivera said. “When we’re born there, you don’t struggle, you just live. You start to struggle when you realize what is outside Cuba.” @alexlugo67 alugo@alligator.org @CamilaSaPereira cpereira@alligator.org

UF College of Veterinary Medicine makes new advancements in research and patient care focuses on feline infectious process.

The only college of veterinary medicine research disease and humane community cat Ashley Ferrato, president of the Premanagement.

Veterinary Medicine Club and a 20-yearin Florida is ranked ninth in the U.S. Now a 27-year-old rising senior at the old animal science senior, said growing up

By Eve Thompson Alligator Staff Writer

The only college of veterinary medicine in Florida, UF’s College of Veterinary Medicine is ranked ninth in the country, with its prominent research and patient care recognized nationally.

Home to six degree programs and 454 doctorate of veterinary medicine students, its research and graduate training programs have been featured in a variety of online publications.

In the past year, researchers at UF’s ​​ College of Veterinary Medicine have discovered a new disease affecting gopher tortoises, performed a total ankle replacement surgery on a dog and developed a new treatment for animals with bone loss.

“When I was interviewing for positions around the country and internal medicine faculty positions, this was the one that

best met my hopes to combine high-level patient care with teaching and clinical research,” Dr. Julie Levy, professor of shelter medicine education at the College of Veterinary Medicine, said.

Besides having the state-of-the-art clinical skills laboratory and the leading aquatic animal health program, Dr. Levy also said the faculty felt like a family.

“The thing that struck me with the UF veterinary school was how friendly and collaborative everybody was,” she said.

“You felt like this was a family working towards a common goal, rather than a collection of people working towards their separate goals.”

There are two animal hospitals open to the public on the Gainesville campus, a Small Animal Hospital and a Large Animal Hospital. Last year, they treated over 42,000 animals.

In 2008, Dr. Levy co-founded the college’s shelter medicine program. Her

college, Polly Weldon began her studies at Ross University in the Caribbean. She transferred to UF a year later because of its reputation.

“I knew a UF degree would really be an amazing thing for me to have if I could, and it is just an awesome hospital,” Weldon said. “They have some of the best experts in the world, and I just definitely wanted to be a part of the Gator nation for veterinary medicine.”

Weldon said her professors at the college are devoted to student research.

“They’re on the forefront of veterinary medicine, which is amazing to be involved in as a student,” she said.

While there is no official pre-veterinary program at UF, students can join either the Pre-Veterinary Medicine Club or the Minority Pre-Vet Students. Both clubs provide prospective veterinary students with support while they undergo the grueling veterinary school application

on a horse farm helped her become aware of her passion for helping animals.

“As soon as I started working in the field, actually touching people’s lives, both animals and humans, the reward for me is just so great,” Ferrato said.

Veterinary medicine is a stressful field, but it is not a very diverse one, said Daniela Vassolo, president of Minority Pre-Vet Students.

The 21-year-old animal biology senior hopes to become a veterinarian, but it can be difficult for minority students to succeed in the field. The club helps her feel less alone.

“We really try to give our members speakers that have diverse backgrounds so that they don’t feel so alone, and they can find their goals are more attainable and relatable because they’re meeting people who are like them,” Vassolo said. @evealanaa ethompson@alligator.org

MONDAY, JULY 19, 2021 ALLIGATOR 5

UF researchers fight dementia using AI technology to develop new treatment THE POTENTIAL TREATMENT IS ONE OF THE FIRST PERSONALIZED APPROACHES TO COMBAT AGE-RELATED COGNITIVE DECLINE

By Alexandra Harris Alligator Staff Writer

If presented with current models of electrical brain stimulation a decade ago, Dr. Adam J. Woods would have thought of a science-fiction movie plot. Artificial intelligence now pulls the fantasy out of screens and into reality.

When patients visit Woods in his lab, he applies two electrodes on their scalps and sends electric currents to their brains. After about sixty seconds of tingling and prickling, the sensation from the shock usually dwindles.

Woods’ laboratory has completed over 6,000 sessions of transcranial direct current stimulation, or tDCS, in the past five years. The procedure shows promise for improving cognitive function in older adults, which may help prevent dementia later in life.

Paired with cognitive training and the help of AI, precision dosing treatment in tDCS may pave the path to

preventing dementia.

“It’s no longer science fiction,” he said. “It’s science.”

Dementia is one of the top health care problems both in the U.S. and worldwide, with over 50 million cases in the world today, Dr. Ruogu Fang, UF assistant professor of biomedical engineering, said.

Among the about 6.2 million Americans living with dementia, 85-year-old Richard Irey’s first signs came about seven years ago when his daughter noticed he forgot routine driving directions and grocery list items.

Richard Irey is a retired UF mechanical engineering professor who spent most of his life teaching classes ranging from complex subjects like thermodynamics to sailing — one of his passions.

“He’s very, very intelligent,” his daughter, Elizabeth Irey, said. “That’s part of what’s been so sad about this.”

UF researchers have been working to find noninvasive treatments to fight Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia for years.

However, tDCS efforts have long been hindered by a seemingly simple challenge: how to tailor the treatment to personal anatomical differences like skull thickness and the amount

Alex Brown // Alligator Staff

of age-related brain atrophy in each person.

“You walk into your doctor’s office for hypertension medication — they don’t give every single person exactly the same dose of the drug — they titrate that dose based on things like body mass index, height and weight,” Woods said, UF Clinical Health and Psychology associate professor and Center for Cognitive Aging and Memory in the McKnight Brain Institute associate director.

With the aid of a $2.9 million grant from the National Institute on Aging, a solution seems to be on the way using artificial intelligence, which Fang said allows for rapid and holistic interpretation of data that can outpower and exceed human performance.

“Using machine learning, it can make the previously impossible work because of the huge data set and high dimensional data possible today,” she said.

This new research marks an advancement from a crude one-size-fitsall approach to a personalized treatment that can be adapted to every patient, allowing different intensities and directions of brain electric currents to treat each case.

“Because every single dose isn’t going to be as effective in every single person,” Woods said.

In conventional tDCS, which applies a fixed dose of electrical stimulation to every patient, an early trial showed moderate improvement in working memory in older adults.

“We think we can enhance those effects significantly by titrating the dose just like you would with a pharmaceutical,” Woods said.

UF has established itself as a national leader with a growing, internationally ranked AI Initiative.

“This project will enable us to generate one of the first personalized medicine approaches to combat agerelated cognitive decline,” Alejandro Albizu, a doctoral student in neuroscience at the UF College of Medicine, said in a press release.

Woods and Fang co-lead an over

two-year collaboration on a pilot study between the College of Public Health and Health Professions and the College of Engineering. As the lead principal investigators for the project, they are working to combine artificial intelligence and neuroscience research in a journey to prevent dementia.

Fang and the researchers are bridging data on tDCS with AI to disentangle the mysteries behind where and how much of the electrical current goes to each region of the brain.

AI technology analyzes over 6 billion brain MRI data points, Fang said, contributed by 360 study participants to find patterns in tDCS responsiveness. Pairing the patient’s unique anatomical makeup with information on whether the treatment caused improvements can inform personalized doses in future patients.

When a new patient supplies an MRI of their brain, researchers may then know where to place the electrodes and the amount and direction of current to apply to make the treatment effective for each person, Fang said.

Preliminary data found dosing may be customizable to turn treatment nonresponders into responders, she said.

In theory, Woods said the generalized AI framework can be applied across a variety of clinical conditions, such as depression and chronic pain, as well as other electrical brain stimulation approaches.

For a growing and aging population, he said dementia is an imminent public health concern. The number of people afflicted with Alzheimer’s will more than triple by 2050.

With dementia running in her family, Elizabeth Irey, 55, said she worries about suffering from the same disease as her dad. She hopes this new technology may allow younger patients to have access to more preventive treatments in the near future.

“There is a pressing public health concern that we need to find novel interventions that are accessible to

reduce the incidence of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease,” Woods said.

The projected national cost of providing care for people with dementia is $355 billion in 2021, with the cost rising as high as $1.1 trillion in 2050, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.

“Simply put, our economic health care infrastructure is not built to address that level of increase,” Woods said.

When faced with a dilemma and an unanswered question, he said the best part of the research is getting to find that answer.

Despite being long retired, Richard Irey’s mind still places him back in his youth during his teaching days at UF — reminiscence is a common experience for dementia patients who draw more easily from memories of the past than short-term memory.

“One of the things he’s saying currently is he’s got to go,” Elizabeth Irey said. “He’s got a class to teach.”

Back then, Richard Irey built a 25foot sailboat. He named it Vorticity, a technical term relating to the wind.

His creations didn’t cease after that. When he was 65, he crafted his own home in the mountains of North Carolina.

Now, while he’s with his family and between bouts of sleep, Richard Irey still asks to go home, talking about what his wife of 65 years believes to be his lakeside North Carolina house and boat.

As his mind blurs the past with reality, his family offers him pictures in hopes of the memories drifting back to his days of sailing.

The potential to make an impact on lives like Richard Irey’s motivates Woods, Fang and the researchers to continue studying dementia and improving its treatments.

“For me, that’s the driving force behind this,” Woods said. “Because we get to go out and actually use our science to maybe help someone.” @harris_alex_m aharris@alligator.org

Student Government will transfer $1.55 million from its reserves to improve student experience

The bill allocates money to Student Government Cabinet, SG agencies and student organizations

By Juliana Ferrie Alligator Staff Writer

After over a year of virtual programming and social distancing, UF Student Government is taking $1.55 million from its reserve account to enhance the student experience as in-person activities return.

SG’s reserve fund is an account that holds about $4 million and collects leftover money at the end of each fiscal year to be used for one-time expenses. It was last used May 2020 when Senate passed a bill allocating $500,000 to provide students with rent relief because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now, as UF recovers from COVID-19, SG wants to welcome students back with an exciting year by adding $1.55 million onto the fiscal year budget. On July 13, Senate unanimously approved the second reading of the bill advocating for the transfer.

The transfer sets aside $750,000 for Student Government Productions and $250,000 for the Accent Speakers Bureau, which are SG agencies funded by student fees. It also

allocates $500,000 for student organizations and $50,000 for the Student Government Cabinet.

The bill was authored by Student Body President Cooper Brown and sponsored by Vice President Faith Maniti and Treasurer Giovanna Mompremier.

SG administration recognizes its role in helping students create lifelong memories, Brown wrote in an email.

“Students deserve a big year coming out of one and a half years of campus being shut down,” he wrote.

Each year, 7% of the annual budget must go into the reserve account, according to SG codes. The last transfer from the account allowed students to receive up to $500 after applying for rent relief.

Kevin Trejos, the president of the Hispanic Student Association, said it’s amazing SG is using some of its emergency money to help campus life. Trejos, who previously served as a business administration senator, said the money awarded from the reserve transfer will help ensure student organizations have enough funding for their events.

“We’re able to use all that money that never got to be used to have an amazing year that should hopefully bring a lot more entertainment and a better experience for students,” he said.

For HSA specifically, Trejos said it’s a shame how some of its third-year members don’t know what the organization’s events are really like. In the past, HSA collaborated with Accent to bring Hispanic guests, like Pitbull and Prince Royce, to speak on campus and virtually, he said. Trejos hopes the reserve transfer will allow them to host Hispanic and Latinx artists again.

Radames Leyva, an 18-year-old UF finance freshman, said after a year affected

by COVID-19, the money from the transfer will definitely enhance students’ experiences.

For instance, the speakers can give students another perspective on life, he said.

“It’s pretty nice to have something to do on campus,” he said. “You don’t necessarily have to go off campus or 40 miles to the springs to have fun.”

However, not everyone agrees with the reserve transfer. Zachery Utt, who won the Murphree Area senator seat in Oct. 2020, said

he was furious when he first saw the bill.

In May 2020, the 20-year-old UF computer science, statistics and mathematics junior co-authored a bill that would have shipped students hotspots to help with internet issues as they navigated online classes. However, he said he was told it would be irresponsible spending.

“We could’ve given 900 students WiFi,” he said. “We could have improved education for 900 needy students that struggled and had to claw their way for an education that they didn’t ask for. They didn’t sign up to go to a virtual school.”

Last year, when another reserve transfer provided $500,000 in rent relief for students, Utt said they tried to double the amount to no avail. People needed investments when times were hard, not now when everything is fine, he said. He is supportive of spending reserve funds to enhance the student experience, but said it needs to be done logically and for the benefit of all Gators.

“I think it’s hypocritical because when students needed us the most, we weren’t there for them,” he said. “The reserves over the Summer had $4.5 million in it. It’s ridiculous that we’re sitting on that kind of money.” @juliana_f616 jferrie@alligator.org

MONDAY, JULY 19, 2021 www.alligator.org/section/the_avenue

MUSIC

Snail trail: Gainesville DJ paves her own path

One of Gainesville’s only female DJs is finding her place in the city’s crowded creative landscape

By Heather Bushman Avenue Staff Writer

Emily Lube tells her origin story as dj smushyslugs with astounding simplicity.

She recounts her artistic beginnings as one would recount their weekend.

After a few YouTube videos, all absorbed during the stagnant summer of 2020, the 22-year-old UF botany graduate became a rising Gainesville staple in a matter of months.

“Over quarantine, I really wanted to learn more about it,” she said. “I was just watching so many videos.”

Lube’s inaugural performance as dj smushyslugs was at The How Bazar, a pop-up market and emerging hub for local creatives. Lube reached out to the market in February and made her Gainesville debut.

“They let any creative person try it out, so that was my first thing,” Lube said. “It was really awesome.”

Rather than a club or concert, venues like these were Lube’s launchpad. Bigger bookings quickly followed — Swamp Records spring Showcase, UF Pride Awareness Month Queer Arts Market and Queer Prom and a semi-regu-

lar gig at Arcade Bar. The work of dj smushyslugs is an intense and dynamic display of EDM — bold, pulsing sets that exist in sharp contrast to Lube’s laidback nature. They don’t just demand attention.

They threaten to swallow the room whole.

Kick drums pound, and wobbling basslines reverberate under the mix, settling deep within the chest cavity. Synths stab and spike, snares snap, hi-hats hammer and menacing electronic nuances invade at random. They can vary from groovy to gritty, Lube said, but a dj smushyslugs mix is always a sweeping tidal wave that powers through all in its path.

With the way Lube is continuously cropping up at some of Gainesville’s hotspots, the sound is becoming increasingly hard to miss.

Through her mainstay gig at The How Bazar and other appearances, Lube has put the city on notice — not just in her ability, but in her identity. Gainesville’s DJ scene is largely devoid of women. Women of color are even rarer. And queer women of color are almost unheard of among the city’s DJs. The local DJ scene feels like an almost-impenetrable boys’ club, and it’s one Lube isn’t too interested in entering. She’d rather find other female artists to support and start a club

of her own, but so far, she’s the sole member.

Blazing this kind of trail isn’t without its challenges. Lube said. With no mentor or network of fellow artists, Lube said the opportunity to play even bigger venues feels out of reach.

“It’s hard to even get them to listen to your mix,” she said.

Though people in these smaller spaces have been supportive, Lube said the pop-ups that got her started can only take her so far — when you’ve played one, she said, you’ve played them all. Though invaluable, these smaller shows exist in an endless loop: important but inescapable.

But in these more intimate settings, Lube isn’t isolated. As dj smushyslugs continues to grace local lineups, Lube said she’s felt especially embraced by Gainesville’s LGBTQ community. Friends and strangers alike have enthusiastically supported smushyslugs, Lube said, approaching her amid her sets to express their appreciation.

“People will come up to me and be like, ‘You’ve made my year,’” she said.

And with every new fan, there’s an old friend in her corner. Sophia Simmons, a 21-year-old UF architecture graduate, has known Lube since their freshman year and said she’s seen more smushyslugs sets than she can count.

“She’s so natural and honestly just looks

Mingmei Li // Alligator Staff

Emily Lube, 22, a UF botany alumna, also known as DJ Smushyslugs, poses in front of Hippodrome Theater in Gainesville on Thursday, July 1, 2021. like such a badass when she’s performing,” Simmons said.

The soundscape of smushyslugs is so dominant that even Lube herself gets lost in it. Closing her eyes, nodding her head, swaying along with the sweaty sea of bodies crashing into each other from her place behind the table — Lube is transported to a world of her own design. ”It’s just like a high almost, it’s just crazy,” Lube said. @hgrizzl hbushman@alligator.org

MOVIES

Film rate and review: ‘Space Jam: A New Legacy’ SUPERSTAR LEBRON JAMES IS FRONT AND CENTER IN THE SEQUEL TO THE 1996 CLASSIC

By Joseph Henry Sports Writer

He’s played for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers. Now, NBA superstar LeBron James is taking his talents to Tune World in “Space Jam: A New Legacy.”

The film, directed by Malcolm D. Lee and penned by six writers, premiered in theaters and on HBO Max July 16.

Serving as a sequel to 1996’s “Space Jam,” high expectations surrounded the new film’s release. At 30% on Rotten Tomatoes it is clear it buckled under that pressure.

Scoring metrics from sites like Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb will bolster the idea that sequels rarely live up to the expectations of their predecessors. However, there are exceptions to the rule, “The Dark Knight”, “Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back” and “Toy Story 2” being some of my favorite examples.

Despite its 44% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the original “Space Jam” had an impressive impact on kids born from the late 1990s to early 2000s.

Falling into that range myself, the original film was a childhood staple. My love for it persevered into my college years. I may or may

not still have a giant poster featuring Michael Jordan and Bugs Bunny on my wall.

The 1996 film is pure nostalgia. The plot of space aliens stealing the talent of NBA players and then playing a high-stakes game against Jordan and the Looney Tunes is ridiculously entertaining. I wouldn’t want it any other way.

Twenty-five years later, the Tune Squad is reuniting and teaming up with the best basketball player of the 21st century, James.

In “Space Jam: A New Legacy” the fourtime NBA Champion, four-time NBA Most Valuable Player, 17-time All-Star and threetime Olympian faces a new challenge, the big screen.

The film opens with a young James at a basketball game in Akron, Ohio, in 1998. Following is a credits sequence showcasing his famed career. From there, the film jumps to the present day.

Within just the first few minutes on screen, it is made very clear that James is not an actor. His performance makes Jordan’s acting chops in 1996 look like those of Robert De Niro. James spends most of the movie riffing off of animated characters, a tough task even for experienced actors. It is easy to cut the athlete some slack, but his interaction with his sons Dom and Darius, played by Cedric Joe and Ceyair J. Wright, is unnatural.

“Athletes acting, that never goes well,” quips James during an early scene when meeting with Warner Bros. executives. I think

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James is right on this one, and he proves the notion.

While there are many small things to nitpick, I’d rather focus more on the overarching problems present in this sequel–the biggest being its ambition.

The plot centers around James and Dom getting trapped in the Warner Bros. Serververse, a computerized realm that is the home to various Warner Bros. characters. Once sucked into the digital landscape, they meet the film’s antagonist, Al G. Rhythm, portrayed

by Academy Award-nominated actor Don Cheadle. His performance, menacing at times, sparks the movie’s main plot. Rhythm kidnaps Dom and tells James the only way he will get his son back is to beat him in a basketball game with the whole world watching.

James is sent to the Looney Tunes planet of the Serververse and, with the help of Bugs, searches for teammates. Once the film dives into this montage of movie references, the majority of which stem from R-rated films, the justification that this is meant for kids seems to get lost. Looney Tunes characters are thrown into the middle of scenes from “Mad Max: Fury Road”, “Austin Powers” and “The Matrix.” All of these segments are a couple of minutes long and aim to draw in the adult audience. Watching this chunk of the film brought me back to “Space Jam” and the ridiculous “Pulp Fiction” reference placed in the middle of the big game. If you understood it

you got a laugh, but if you didn’t it was easy to move past.

The idea of having easter eggs and cameos from other Warner Bros. properties is fine in principle, but when you pile so much on the audience, it becomes wildly distracting. Any adult viewer will pick up on the fact that this movie is a very convoluted HBO Max marketing scheme.

“Space Jam: A New Legacy” is not all bad.

The combination of live-action, hand-drawn and computer-generated animation looks quite impressive. A few jokes landed for me, mostly from the game commentary coming from Ernie Johnson Jr. and Lil Rel Howery.

The movie was entertaining enough, but the dialogue and performances didn’t pull me into the larger narrative of James attempting to get his son back. There is potential for younger generations to feel the same nostalgia I have for the original, but it’s hard to overlook the slew of other options when it comes to kid’s movies that nail the adult appeal.

Mediocre acting, clunky writing and an overload of Warner Bros. IP make this movie fall flat on its face. Instead of leaving a new and distinct mark, like the title anticipates, “Space Jam: A New Legacy’’ tramples over one of the most beloved films of my childhood. I’m already subscribed to your streaming service, I didn’t need to be convinced.

Rate: 3/10 @Josephhenry2424 jhenry@alligator.org

Tough as nails

Emily Heller’s journey from Babylon, New York, to Gainesville.

Read more on pg. 11

Scan to follow the Avenue on Spotify

El Caimán

LUNES, 19 DE JULIO DE 2021 www.alligator.org/section/elcaiman

Alumnos de UF fueron identificados del Condominio Surfside Champlain Towers South 95 víctimas han sido recuperadas y identificadas desde el sitio a partir del 17 de julio Por Isabella Barnet Escritora del Caimán

3 ex alumnos de la Universidad de la Florida fueron recuperados e identificados de los escombros en el condominio Surfside Champlain Towers South después de que colapsó parcialmente el 24 de junio.

Nicole “Nicky” Langesfeld, la argentina de 26 años, y Luis Sadovnic, el venezolano de 28 años, fueron recuperados desde el sitio el 7 de julio, exactamente 2 semanas

después del colapso inicial.

Langesfeld se graduó en mayo de 2016 y era una hermana del capítulo de UF de Alpha Omicron Pi antes de graduarse de la Escuela de Derecho de la Universidad de Miami en 2019. Conoció a Sadovnic durante su tiempo en UF, y se casaron recientemente este año después de una propuesta en la playa en diciembre frente a las torres Champlain que una vez tuvo 12 pisos.

Una página de GoFundMe

Foto por Isabella Barnet

Nicole Langesfeld (izquierda) y Luis Sadovnic (derecha), dos ex alumnos de la UF que fallecieron en el colapso parcial del Condominio Champlain Towers South en Surfside, Florida. Su foto cuelga de una pared conmemorativa en Surfside el sábado 3 de julio de 2021.

dedicada a la pareja ha recaudado casi $120.000. La página escribió que Nicky’s “presencia es más grande que la vida y su sentido de humor no tiene límites”.

Sadovnic se graduó de Santa Fe College en 2014 y después se graduó de UF en 2016 con una licenciatura en economía de los alimentos y los recursos. Sadovnic era un ávido jugador de golf y anteriormente jugó para el Vinotinto Sub-17, el equipo nacional venezolano de fútbol sub-17.

Su primo, Moises Rodan, también fue unos de los recuperados de los escombros de las Torres Champlain.

Los dos atendieron una escuela judía privada en Venezuela y eran miembros activos del Centro Judío Jabad de la UF. Moises Rodan, ex alumno de la UF de 28 años, fue recuperado el 11 de julio junto a su primo Andres Levine, un ex alumno de la Universidad Internacional de Florida, que estaba con él en la unidad 403 cuando el edificio se derrumbó parcialmente. El venezolano se graduó recientemente en mayo con una licenciatura en ingeniería informática luego de 6 años de escolaridad.

Stephanie Alvarez, de 25 años, recuerda a Rodan como un individuo desinteresado y trabajador que aspiraba a ayudar a otros en su comunidad. Rodan a menudo iba al McDonald's en University Avenue y compraba docenas de hamburguesas, varias

Cortesia al Caimán

Moises Rodan, un alumno de ingeniería informática que falleció en el colapso parcial del Condominio Champlain Towers South en Surfside, Florida. veces al mes, para las personas sin hogar cercanas.

"Lo hacía como tres veces al mes y no le decía a nadie", dijo Alvarez. “A veces me enteraba que lo había hecho, pero era algo que lo llenaba a él, era algo que le encantaba hacer”.

La pareja, originalmente de Caracas, se encontraron en Santa Fe College durante una clase de inglés. Alvarez lo conoció desde que el primero llegó a Gainesville en 2016, 2 años después de emigrar ella misma de Venezuela.

Alvarez planeaba mudarse temporalmente a Miami para estar con Rodan en las Torres Champlain al regresar de Gainesville, solo una semana después del colapso.

Quiere que otros sepan lo feliz

que era Rodan por graduarse de la Universidad de Florida después de que no pudo terminar su título de ingeniero civil en su tierra natal.

“Si pueden ayudar en algo, den ese extra paso de ayudar, porque eso es algo que Moi nos enseñó a todos nosotros”, dijo Alvarez. “Su perseverancia no se rindió a sacar mal en un examen, o no hacer un código, o el profesor le decía algo malo… su logro más grande fue graduarse de UF y él estaba demasiado orgulloso de ser un Florida Gator”.

El legado de Rodan sigue vivo a través del querido perro mascota de la pareja, Balu. ibarnet@alligator.org

La Comunidad de UF se une contra la dictadura autoritaria de Cuba LUEGO DE LAS PROTESTAS DE LAS ÚLTIMAS SEMANAS QUE ESTALLARON EN CUBA, UN GRUPO DE ESTUDIANTES DE UF SE REUNIÓ EN EL CAMPUS PARA APOYAR LA LIBERTAD DE CUBA DESPUÉS DE 62 AÑOS BAJO UN GOBIERNO OPRESIVO

Por Valeria Pagnani Traductora de El Caimán

La esquina de West University Avenue y Northwest 13th Street se llenó de manifestantes el viernes por la noche durante una manifestación contra la dictadura autoritaria de Cuba.

La manifestación #SOSCuba de Gainesville, organizada por estudiantes de UF de Take Action Florida, un grupo de activismo social, obtuvo el apoyo de unos 70 estudiantes y residentes de Gainesville que llamaron a la acción

para cambiar las condiciones actuales en Cuba.

Las protestas son en respuesta a la escasez de alimentos y medicamentos, la inflación, los apagones en todo el país y un aumento en las muertes por COVID-19 en la isla. Miles de cubanos tanto en el condado como en los Estados Unidos se están manifestando para expresar sus frustraciones contra el gobierno actual.

El gobierno cubano detuvo a los manifestantes mediante la movilización de unidades policiales y militares y sacó a los adolescentes de sus hogares para luchar junto al gobierno, a veces contra sus propias familias, según un artículo de CBS Miami.

"Son literalmente civiles contra militares en este momento", dijo Sayda Chinilio, una estudiante de 21 años en su último año de educación primaria de UF. "Los niños de mi edad están siendo sacados de sus hogares para luchar contra su propia gente".

El padrastro de Chinilio fue obligado a alistarse en el ejército a los 15 años. Después de retrasar su servicio, fue encarcelado y enviado

Mantente al día con El Caimán en Twitter.

Envíanos un twet @alligatorElCaiman.

Plants in Space

UF studies plants in microgravity, pg. 8

a un campo de trabajo donde cortó caña de azúcar. Años después, escapó a México y finalmente llegó a Miami.

Hoy, Cuba está gobernada por Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, cuyo régimen fomenta la disponibilidad limitada de medicamentos y vacunas, lo que ha contribuido al aumento de la cifra de muertos por COVID-19 en el país.

La crisis económica de Cuba se debe en parte a la falta de turismo, una de sus principales fuentes de ingresos, por las restricciones a los viajes impuestas durante la pandemia de COVID-19. Esto, junto con el sistema de racionamiento del gobierno, ha contribuido al aumento de los precios y la escasez de alimentos que dejan a muchas personas en la isla muriendo de hambre, según el informe 2020 de Amnistía Internacional sobre Cuba.

Ahora, Chinilio dijo que la familia de su padrastro está muriendo de hambre.

“No tenemos forma de comunicarnos con ellos”, dijo. “Me duele mucho ver lo que está pasando”.

Chinilio no apoya la intervención de los Estados Unidos, pero cree que es necesaria debido a lo mal que está la situación en la isla.

Desde Miami hasta Chile han surgido protestas de solidaridad con los manifestantes cubanos. La manifestación #SOSCuba fue la tercera protesta contra el gobierno cubano que ocurrió en Gainesville la semana pasada.

“La razón por la que la gente está protestando en este momento no es una sola cosa, están protestando porque están cansados de ​​ todo”, dijo Sophia Medina, una estudiante de 18 años en su primer año exploratorio de UF. Durante más de dos horas, la multitud cantó "libertad".

Alexandra Quintana, cofundadora y vicepresidenta de Take Action Florida, organizó la manifestación para crear un refugio para que las personas se expresen y sanen mientras desarrollan empatía para crear conciencia sobre la crisis humanitaria en Cuba, dijo ella.

Síganos para actualizaciones

Para obtener actualizaciones so El Caimán, síganos en línea en www.alligator.org/section/elcaiman.

vpagnani@alligator.org

8 ALLIGATOR MONDAY, JULY 19, 2021

UF Online set to welcome largest ever incoming class this Fall APPLICATIONS WERE UP 30% COMPARED TO FALL 2019

By Isabella Douglas Alligator Staff Writer

Initially disappointed to be joining PaCE her freshman year, Marium Abdulhussein was glad to learn her online classes would give her an advantage among her in-person peers in 2020.

“I think I got a little lucky because everyone was taking online classes when I was,” Abdulhussein, an 18-year-old public relations sophomore, said. “So the way my classes were structured were actually a lot more put together than my friends who were in-person.”

In Fall 2021, UF Online will welcome its largest incoming class with applications leaping by 30% compared to Fall 2019, Evangeline Cummings, assistant provost and director of UF Online, said.

She said about 1,000 PaCE students also accepted the offer of admission by UF, which represents a cohort nearly 40% larger than Fall 2018.

UF’s online bachelor’s program is ranked No. 3 in the country by U.S. News & World Report and has held a top-five ranking for the past three years. When the pandemic forced Fall 2020 classes to move online, associate provost for teaching and technology William McCollough said UF Online hardly skipped a beat.

“There was some universities who did not have the kind of online experience we had that really had some difficulty as they tried to move from face-to-face to online,”

McCollough said. “We weren’t ready for the pandemic but we made that major transition in a week essentially to bring everything online.”

Cummings said $5 million a year in appropriations and about $13 million in tuition is invested in UF’s academic core values through faculty positions and academic advisors for online students.

The pandemic changed the way the college experience was once thought of for many incoming freshmen at the start of the 2020 school year, specifically how education was traditionally taught at UF. In-person classes moved to Zoom, students chose to stay at home and forgo paying for residential housing and going out turned into continuous online chatting.

However, the pandemic also showed students and faculty alike of the beneficial qualities of e-learning.

“The pandemic really allowed us to get to know our students in a way that we feel really fortunate about,” said Emma Brady, assistant director of academic programs at UF Online.

UF Online has worked to build immersive virtual labs, which handle dissections and data collection from a student’s home. Going forward, Brady said the university plans to work on new programs, which hopefully include entomology.

Brady has collaborated with the physics department to build kits to mail to online students.

“It’s difficult to take just one course anywhere,” Brady said. “So being able to do your labs online when it works well

has allowed a lot of students to finish their degrees.”

Although she’s appreciative of UF’s online program, Abdulhussein felt the main downside of being a fully online student was the lack of interaction between professors and students. She remembers talking to other students rarely or not at all throughout her classes.

After hearing about the need for an online community, UF created the UF Online app September 2020 for students to foster connections with 4,000 online classmates.

Now on campus, Abdulhussein was surprised to see a lack of recorded lectures and online notes. She said her professors don’t entertain the idea of recording their classes and are strictly pro-in-person.

“One of my teachers doesn’t do that.

He doesn’t even put the PowerPoints up

on Canvas because he says that you want students to come to class otherwise they’ll just skip and say, ‘Oh, I’ll read the PowerPoint,’” Abdulhussein said.

Both in-person and online students shared more similar experiences than one would think, Brady said.

“A lot of people who had that idea that the pandemic wouldn’t affect them, but it actually affected them just like everyone else, in that, they had more responsibilities as caregivers, they perhaps had to change their work positions,” Brady said.

“And so we found that the pandemic allowed us to sometimes lend our expertise for helping people who had to put their courses online really quickly.” @Ad_Scribendum idouglas@alligator.org

Alex Brown // Alligator Staff

UF’s space plants lab scientists take another step toward sustainable space travel A recent suborbital flight is one of many developments to send people and plants into the solar system

By Abigail Hasebroock Alligator Staff Writer

While new freshmen settled into their second weekend in Gainesville and upperclassmen slept in after long nights of blazing through bars, three tubes with plants cultivated by researchers at UF hurdled through the sky into the solar system.

On July 11, Anna-Lisa Paul and Robert Ferl’s research reached new heights when Virgin Galactic, a spaceflight company, launched a suborbital flight. The launch will allow UF to study gene expression changes in a particular plant species enduring microgravity, which is weaker gravity found in an orbiting spacecraft.

Paul’s been mesmerized by the science of plants since childhood.

She said she would brave the sweltering South Florida heat in the summer and bike to her local library to learn more about the behavior of plants.

“I remember I was in the third grade, and I got a book, a TimeLife book that was just called ‘Plants’ and started reading about

how plants do photosynthesis,” she said. “It struck me even as a little kid that that was a pretty amazing thing — that all plants needed was light and air and water.”

The “Unity 22” project is operated by Sirisha Bandla, the Virgin Galactic vice president of government affairs and research operations and is in conjunction with Paul and Ferl’s research.

“We are plant molecular biologists who ask the question: How do plants respond to the novel environments of space at the molecular level?” Paul said.

Paul’s floral infatuation ultimately led her to becoming a co-principal investigator with Ferl in UF’s space plants lab, which is a team of scientists focused on successfully cultivating plants in space.

The team analyzes the patterns of gene expression exhibited by the plants while they travel and live in atmospheres with extreme conditions that mimic space, which Paul said are completely outside of their evolutionary experience.

But the research aims

to uncover more than the fundamentals of how plants grow and thrive. UF’s lab has its sights set on the solar system, and much of the efforts are invested into creating sustainable solutions to grow and maintain plants on the surface of celestial bodies like the moon and Mars.

“In the future, astronauts may go back and forth between Earth, the moon and Mars and orbiting platforms like the International Space Station and the Gateway outpost orbiting the Moon,” Ferl said in a press release.

“Understanding the changes that occur in cells during these missions will be important to maintaining their health.”

Natasha Haveman, a research assistant scientist in the lab, had a key role in preparing for the flight by helping with the development of hardware components and ensuring the plants were in proper condition. The 36-yearold pursued her Ph.D. in UF’s space plants lab from 2012 to 2018 before becoming a research scientist in March.

“There’s so much that we’re trying to do right now to try and

understand how plants respond to the spaceflight environment,” she said. “It is an ongoing process because there is so much to learn — so much to figure out in terms of trying to get to a point where you can successfully grow plants and feed the colony that’s going to go on Mars.”

Haveman said the colonization of the moon and Mars is not far in the future, but the only way for an established galactic community to thrive is if they can also grow food crops, which is why the current space plants research is vital.

“It would be really awesome if we could start establishing a colony outside of Earth,” she said. “Making spaceflight affordable for everybody would be even better because I would really like to go to space.”

UF’s lab works extensively with a plant called Arabidopsis thaliana, which is essentially a mustard weed, and it is the same plant currently in space in the Virgin Galactic flight. Jordan Callaham, the lab manager, said the Arabidopsis is the “white mouse of the plant science world.”

However, Callaham said UF’s colleagues around the world work

with plants like tomatoes, salad greens, cucumbers and kale, which are considered candidate crops for long-term habitation away from Earth.

“Sometimes they just grow things because that’s what people like to eat,” she said. “There are certain crops that researchers start liking to grow but maybe astronauts don’t necessarily want to eat, so we have to find the balance of that.”

Plants are necessary for the expansion of the human race to other planets not only for survival but for sustained nutrition so astronauts don’t have to rely on protein bars, Callaham said.

While it may be many years before animals can occupy extraterrestrial colonies, Callaham said the ability to bring and grow plants is a huge step for sustainable space travel, which was a feat once deemed impossible.

“Things that we think of as fiction are just where the science hasn’t reached yet,” she said.

“All the magic that takes place, science will get there eventually.” @abbeyhasebroock ahasebroock@alligator.org

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ANSWERS: 1A-Commit 5A-Oasis 6A-Alarm 7A-Wealth 1D-Chosen 2D-Mistake 3D-Install 4D-Warmth B-Saint Thomas

King Features Weekly Ser vice

January 27, 2020

by Fifi Rodriguez

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2021 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

& Hoyt Designs. All Rights Reserved.

Send comments to TCA - 160 N. Stetson, Chicago, Illinois 60601 or DLHoyt@HoytInteractiveMedia.com

solution on page 10

10 ALLIGATOR MONDAY, JULY 19, 2021

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MONDAY, JULY 19, 2021 www.alligator.org/section/sports

FEATURE

“Tough as nails”: Who is Emily Heller?

THE RISING JUNIOR SHARES HER JOURNEY TO GAINESVILLE

By Karina Wilson Sports Writer

Nerves ran through Emily Heller’s small frame as the fourth grader stepped onto the field.

Twin sister beside her, Heller gripped a lacrosse stick for the first time. She didn’t know it then, but the turf would become her domain and take her from Babylon, New York, to Gainesville.

No. 9 began her lacrosse career at 9 years old alongside her twin, Hannah.

“I always knew where she would be and she always knew where I would be,” Heller said.

“We had a connection every time we’d play.”

Heller, a rising junior on the Gators lacrosse team, credits her uncle with introducing the two to the sport after he accepted a coaching position with the Duke University’s men’s lacrosse team.

The twins played together at West Babylon Senior High School and played travel lacrosse with the Long Island Top Guns.

Hannah said the two loved being competitive with one another. They knew each other’s tendencies and their connection was best seen

in action on the field. Hannah would assist Emily’s goals and vice versa.

The Hellers walked hand-in-hand in every aspect of life — from school to lacrosse to just relaxing at home.

“We always had someone who we knew and were comfortable with,” Hannah said.

“Even when we’d go to tryouts, I would always be with Emily and be like ‘Okay this is good, I feel a little bit more confident.’”

The girls had been inseparable since birth, but the two took different paths once the college commitment process came around. They wanted to stick together at first, but Emily ended up at UF, while Hannah plays lacrosse at the University of Massachusetts.

“I honestly miss playing with her,” Emily said. “We both did a good job in pushing each other to be the best possible players we could be.”

Emily started every game for the Gators during the shortened 2020 season. She said the 2021 season meant a lot to her because it gave her another opportunity to play after her freshman season was cut short.

“Obviously the season was very different from my freshman season,” she said. “It was a tough season, but at the end, things opened up and got better and it was fun.”

Karina Wilson // Alligator Staff

Emily Heller races down the field for Florida against Cincinnati on May 6.

She finished the season with 12 goals and two assists, totaling 14 points over 21 games.

Emily recorded a career-high three points against Cincinnati March 28, two caused turnovers in the AAC semifinals and six draw controls versus Old Dominion April 25. The midfielder boasted 42 draw controls, 22 ground balls and seven caused turnovers on the season.

“Her athleticism just shows at every point on the field,” Florida head coach Amanda O’Leary said. “Offensively, defensively [and] through the midfield.”

O’Leary said Emily embodies everything a UF athlete should be.

“I think she is tough as nails,” she said.

“Probably one of the toughest kids I’ve ever coached.”

Emily saw herself in O’Leary, which she said drew her to commit to UF. “I went on my visit to Florida and I just compared every school to it,” Emily said. “I feel like there’s no place like Florida, for lacrosse especially.”

It takes 16 hours and 30 minutes to drive from Babylon to Gainesville. Luckily, Emily wasn’t alone in her transition from the Empire State to the Sunshine State, as fellow classmate Janine Suris joined her at UF. The Hellers and Suris played travel lacrosse together for Top Gun, but Emily said her friendship with Suris grew once they both committed to Florida. Suris said it was nice having someone she knew before college at UF with her. Emily and Suris roomed together their first year at UF and still live together two years later.

“We’re always helping each other out,” Suris said. “It’s so nice having her during practice to keep each other in check; we’re always on top of one another.”

The duo makes the trek home to New York together whenever they return, Suris said. She said they often stop at Emily’s cousin’s house in North Carolina to shoot arrows on the ranch before finishing the night off watching “The Bachelor.”

“She’s my best friend. We do everything together,” Suris said. “She means the world to me. I would do anything for her.”

Now, it’s the offseason. The Heller twins are participating in the Long Island Lacrosse Journal Women’s Collegiate Summer League to keep their stick skills sharp, Hannah said.

Courtesy to The Alligator

Emily and Hannah Heller during a game at West Babylon Senior High School.

She said it’s exciting to be able to finally play together again, but she knows her sister is eager to return to Donald R. Dizney Stadium.

The Florida lacrosse team lost a historic senior class at the conclusion of the 2021 season.

Emily said the team has big shoes to fill, but the opportunity doesn’t scare her.

“I’m excited for the whole team to step up and try our best to fill their spot,” she said.

O’Leary said she hopes to see Emily build upon what she’s already accomplished.

“If you throw a ball out and it’s [Emily] and someone else, my money is on Emily,” O’Leary said.

O’Leary, Suris and Hannah each spoke highly of Emily’s character.

“I wouldn't say she's a vocal leader, because she doesn't have to,” O’Leary said. “She leads by example.”

As the 2021 season fades into the past and the 2022 season is on the horizon, Emily looks to persevere past the Elite Eight.

“I just can't wait for another year to be like playing with those girls again,” she said. @kk_rinaa kwilson@alligator.org

MEN'S BASKETBALL

Florida basketball Releases non-conference schedule ACTION KICKS OFF NOV. 9, IN GAINESVILLE AGAINST ELON UNIVERSITY

By Julianna Reichenbach Sports Writer

Florida basketball released its 2021-2022 non-conference schedule Thursday, as the Gators hope to improve upon their second-round NCAA tournament finish.

The team begins its season Nov. 9 against Elon University.

UF gets Florida State at home

next, a team whom the Gators have not defeated since 2013. They were beating the Seminoles early last December until forward Keyontae Johnson collapsed. Johnson is currently with the team but not practicing while he awaits medical news. In the meantime, he prepares to host a basketball camp July 23-24 via the new NIL rules.

The team travels to the Fort Myers Tipoff on Nov. 22 and 24 to play two of California, Ohio State and Seton Hall in a four-team tournament.

Head coach Mike White and

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his squad sandwich this first trip of the season with contests against UW-Milwaukee Nov. 18 and Troy University Nov. 28.

Returning forward Colin Castleton and the Gators fly west on Dec. 1 to take on Oklahoma in their first game of their home-and home-series.

Two Sundays later, Florida plays the preseason 19th ranked Maryland Terrapins in Brooklyn, New York.

The Gators make the trip south to play South Florida in Sunrise on Dec. 18.

Florida plays three home games

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in December: Texas Southern on Dec. 6, North Florida on Dec. 8 and Stony Brook on Dec. 22.

Florida concludes its nonconference schedule against Oklahoma State as part of the 2022 Big 12-SEC Showdown on Jan. 22, which features ten games between the two conferences.

The 2021-2022 season will be White’s seventh with the Gators. The squad features four new transfers, including former Penn State guard Myreon Jones, who averaged 15.3 points a game a year ago. Rivals five-

star signee Kowacie Reeves arrived on campus too and will begin his college career.

Castleton, guard Tyree Appleby and forward Anthony Duruji return as three consistent starters. Scottie Lewis and Tre Mann declared for the NBA Draft while several others transferred.

Stay tuned for coverage on Florida’s regular-season SEC schedule.

Follow us for updates

@Julianna_Reich jreichenbach@alligator.org

For updates on UF athletics, follow us on Twitter at @alligatorSports or online at www.alligator.org/section/sports.

12 ALLIGATOR MONDAY, JULY 19, 2021

TEAM USA

Bradley Beal withdraws from Olympics

The former Gator was placed in health and safety protocols July 14

By Michael Hull Sports Writer

This summer was supposed to be historic for former Florida guard Bradley Beal.

Beal should be preparing to fly to Tokyo, Japan, to represent the stars and stripes on the Olympic stage. He should be the first Gator to play for Team USA on the hardwood. Instead, the current Washington Wizard will not travel to Tokyo after being placed in health and safety protocols July 14.

The news came as a crushing blow to both Beal and Team USA head coach Gregg Popovich.

“I’m dying for him,” Popovich said. “We all are. Since he’s a little kid, this has been a dream of his. He was playing great.

He was having fun, being a big part of us coming together chemistry-wise and as a family… So, we just feel horrible about it.”

Beal had been a consistent option for the Americans in their first few exhibition games. He averaged 10.3 points per game and had his best game against Argentina July 13. He scored 17 points and added six rebounds and three assists in the 108-80 victory.

The former Gator earned his stripes after a career year in the nation’s capital. Beal averaged 31.1 points per game this past season. The three-time All-Star earned third-team All-NBA honors for his performance this year, his first appearance on an All-NBA team, and led Washington to its first playoff berth in three years.

Prior to the news, Beal spoke about how honored he was to don the red, white and blue on the Olympic stage.

“You don’t take it for granted,” Beal said in an interview with NBC Sports. “You understand

the history behind it, you understand the importance of how everybody wants to beat us... I’m definitely excited about it.”

Out of caution, Team USA also placed Detroit Pistons forward Jerami Grant in quarantine and canceled its scheduled exhibition against Australia July 16.

Team USA announced San Antonio Spurs forward Keldon Johnson will fill Beal’s spot on the roster.

While Johnson takes Beal’s spot, Popovich made it clear it’s impossible to replace Beal.

“I don’t think we can replace, point-by-point, what Bradley did for us,” Popovich said. “All players are different. There’s no next Bradley Beal.”

The US is currently scheduled to travel to Tokyo July 19 before its first game against France July 25. @Michael_Hull33 mhull@alligator.org

Courtesy of The Associated Press

Bradley Beal shoots over Argentina’s Marcos Delia in an exhibition game on July 13.