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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2020

VOLUME 115 ISSUE 2

Published by Campus Communications, Inc. of Gainesville, Florida

Not officially associated with the University of Florida

Kate McNamara & Thomas Weber // Alligator Staff

What to know about ACPS’ first week of classes FIVE STUDENTS, NINE STAFF MEMBERS AND ONE DISTRICT EMPLOYEE HAVE TESTED POSITIVE FOR COVID-19

By Sophie Feinberg Alligator Staff Writer

After weeks of revised plans and pushed back start dates, Alachua County Public Schools made it through the first week of school. The week ended with 15 active COVID-19 cases as students, teachers and parents adjust to new learning environments. By the end of Aug. 31, the first day of school, a classroom was already in quarantine. ACPS reported a student COVID-19 case at Fort Clarke and Oakview Middle Schools. Howard W. Bishop Middle School has a staff case. There are active cases

at Idylwild Elementary School, according to ACPS’ COVID-19 tracker. The district office also had a reported case of the virus, and at least nine ACPS staff members have also tested positive for COVID-19. As of the second day of school, about 1,600 students switched over to brick-and-mortar learning from online platforms. Parents were encouraged to keep their students in place for at least nine weeks, said Jennifer Wise, the ACPS K-12 curriculum executive director, at a Sept. 1 school board meeting. The Alachua County Education Association is also still fighting against in-person learning. It joined the state lawsuit against Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Department of Education. “All we want is that the local authorities have the power to act appropriately if we have an

Dorm resident with COVID-19 speaks out SPORTS/SPECIAL/CUTOUT

Story description finish with comma, The second known person to test pg# positive for COVID-19 in Hume Hall speaks on their experience, calls for more testing, pg. 5

outbreak,” ACEA president Carmen Ward said. The different instruction modules have impacted about 4,000 students with disabilities. The students encounter inequities as support systems evolved or were lost entirely in a virtual classroom. “Being in the classroom with the teacher is what he really needs to be able to be a better student,” said Vanessa Henry, mother about 12-year-old Jeremiah, a student with disabilities attending Fort Clarke Middle School. All children, including those in Alachua eSchool, can now get free meals. Previously, these students weren’t eligible for the National School Lunch Program. Now, nine more food distribution sites have been added in Alachua County.

@feinberg_sophie sfeinberg@alligator.org

Students met with poor conditions upon move in at Hub Third Ave ISSUES INCLUDE NO WI-FI, POWER OUTAGES, NO CELLULAR SERVICE AND UNRESPONSIVE MANAGEMENT

By Nora O’Neill Alligator Staff Writer

Rooms containing exposed piping, bedrooms without windows and faulty Wi-Fi awaited Jamie Schemmel when he moved in to Hub Third Ave. He signed a lease that advertised “furnished apartments that glisten with designer-quality finishes.” That’s not what he encountered in his first-floor, five-bedroom-by-fivebathroom unit. These issues come at a time when UF students are starting a mostly online semester and are relying on apartments for Wi-Fi and safe study environments amid the rising

Bob the gator goes to the vet

Bob, a 660-pound middle-aged alligator, visited the UF Veterinary College of Medicine on Thursday for treatment and went viral, pg. 4

Felipe’s — gone too soon

The Mexican taqueria will close Nov. 1. The early exit was not brought on by COVID-19, pg. 5

positive COVID-19 cases on and off campus. Residents pay between $660 and $1,535 monthly, according to the apartment’s website, for rooms that many have said were quickly built at the last minute. Schemmel, a 21-year-old UF economics and finance senior, decided to sign a lease at the newly built Hub Third Ave after seeing that it could fit him and six friends in one unit. Once there, he said he was met with uncured concrete ceilings, extremely low ceiling fans and no cellular service. “We walked in and were like, ‘What the hell? This isn’t finished at all,’” Schemmel said. Rachel Wolfrey, a 19-year-old UF political science and public relations sophomore, said she’s been unable to attend most of her live Zoom

SEE HUB, PAGE 4

2 ALLIGATOR TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2020

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first time having this type of aggression,” Brown said. “Why did they need all of those police geared for riots. They were ready and set. They came with this kind of force for people with tennis shoes and shorts and T-shirts and just their bodies. We didn’t have any weapons. We didn’t have any sticks. We didn’t have any stones. It was just our bodies.”

Monday's Top AP Headlines The summer of COVID-19 ends with health officials worried The Lost Summer of 2020 drew to a close Monday with many big Labor Day gatherings canceled across the U.S. and health authorities pleading with people to keep their distance from others so as not to cause another COVID-19 surge like the one that followed Memorial Day. Downtown Atlanta was quiet as the 85,000 or so people who come dressed as their favorite superheroes or sci-fi characters for the annual Dragon Con convention met online instead. Huge football stadiums at places like Ohio State and the University of Texas sat empty. Many Labor Day parades marking the unofficial end of summer were called off, and masks were usually required at the few that went on. "Please, please do not make the same mistakes we all made on Memorial Day weekend. Wear your masks, watch your distance and wash your hands,” said Dr. Raul Pino, state health director in Orange County, Florida, which includes the Orlando area. In

battlegrounds, absentee ballot rejections could triple Thousands of absentee ballots get rejected in every presidential election. This year, that problem could be much worse and potentially pivotal in hotly contested battleground states. With the COVID-19 creating a surge in mail-in balloting and postal delays reported across the country, the number of rejected ballots in November is projected to be significantly higher than previous elections. If ballots are rejected at the same rate as during this year's primaries, up to three times as many voters in November could be disenfranchised in key battleground states when compared to the last presidential election, according to an Associated Press analysis of rejected ballots. It could be

even more pronounced in some urban areas where Democratic votes are concentrated and ballot rejection rates trended higher during this year’s primaries. “It is the number one thing that keeps me up at night — the idea that voters will do everything they can to ensure their ballot is returned on time and the system will still fail them,” said Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson. Ballot rejections occur even under the best of circumstances. They go uncounted because they arrived too late in the mail, voters forgot to sign them or signatures didn't match the one on file at local election offices. Florida activists released after rally over police shootings More than a dozen demonstrators were released from jail in Florida's capital city, hours after being arrested during a protest over the exoneration of police by a grand jury in the deaths of three Black suspects in separate incidents earlier this year. Saturday's protest drew an unusually high number of law enforcement officers clad in riot gear, despite months of mostly peaceful demonstrations by groups bringing attention to the use of deadly force by police, particularly against Black people. “It was like stormtroopers rushing across the street. I was in disbelief of what I was seeing,” said Trish Brown, a founder of the Tallahassee Community Action Committee and among the first to be arrested Saturday. Police said protest organizers did not have permits for a Saturday afternoon march that drew dozens and that turned raucous after police began arresting demonstrators near the state Capitol. Police said they arrested 15 people, although organizers said it was actually 14. Leon County jail records showed most were taken into custody for resisting officers and assembling unlawfully. Nearly all were released from custody after posting bond. “This is our

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Refugee families face unique struggles with online school Samuel Lavi knew he'd have to find unique ways to stay connected to refugee families when the coronavirus pandemic shut down Valencia Newcomer School. Parents and students speak more than a dozen languages, and they'd need help navigating the technology around remote learning. So the gregarious teaching assistant, himself a Congolese refugee, created group chats on the WhatsApp messaging app in Swahili and some of the other six languages he knows. To ensure parents who can't read or write could participate, Lavi taught them to record and share small audio clips. With remote classes now underway at the K-8 school for refugee children in Phoenix, Lavi helps students connect from home with loaned iPads so they can learn English before transferring to mainstream schools. “If a student has a problem, I will drive to their home and help them log in,” said Lavi, 27, who began working at the school shortly after being resettled in Phoenix four years ago. “I can't sit if our kids are suffering.” Two tropical storms, Paulette and Rene, form in the Atlantic Two tropical storms formed Monday in the Atlantic Ocean, including Rene, which took shape off the coast of West Africa. The U.S. National Hurricane Center issued a tropical storm warning for the Cabo Verde Islands due to the threat of Rene. On Monday evening, Rene was located about 115 miles (180 kilometers) east of the islands and moving west-northwest at 12 mph (19 kph). Its maximum sustained winds were 40 mph (65 kph). Rene is the Atlantic’s earliest 17th named storm on record, breaking the previous record of Rita, which formed Sept. 18, 2005. Tropical Storm Paulette formed earlier in the day in the central Atlantic. It is not currently a threat to land.

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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2020 ALLIGATOR 3

Looking east: high hopes for the progress of East Gainesville DESPITE STUNTED ECONOMIC GROWTH, EAST GAINESVILLE TEEMS WITH OPPORTUNITY

By Edysmar Diaz-Cruz Alligator Staff Writer

Scherwin Henry couldn’t have chosen a better place to raise his family. The former District 1 Gainesville City Commissioner swells with pride reminiscing about his childhood in East Gainesville. Henry, 67, remembers how he played the drums in Lincoln High School’s marching band and attended Springhill Missionary Baptist Church service with his family on the weekends. Henry’s home brimmed with social activity as neighbors and friends visited to enjoy his father’s barbecue cookouts. Though he doesn’t live in his childhood home anymore, Henry enjoys maintaining a relationship with

his neighbors. He chats with them from across the fence between their homes. “East Gainesville is a community that has a lot of beauty and character,” Henry said.“It is the original Gainesville.” The region is known for encompassing clusters of historically Black neighborhoods, such as the Porters Quarters, Pleasant Street, Fifth Avenue and Springhill, Henry said. However, the east side of the city has lagged behind because of the west side’s development and vision of becoming a student-centered community. Peggy Macdonald, a public historian and former director of the Matheson History Museum, said the past is key to understanding East Gainesville today. What’s referred to as East Gainesville was really where Gainesville started out more than 150 years ago, when UF was about 17 years old, Macdonald said. Buildings with early 1800s-style architecture remain, such as the

Historic Matheson House. “The historic value of East Gainesville can’t be overstated,” she said. “It tells the story of our community and that there is something unique here.” Macdonald said more white residents used to live in east side neighborhoods. As Gainesville began to integrate schools, white flight, or when white people moved out from areas that were becoming ethnically diverse, happened, and white residents moved to the west side, closer to the university. The closing of historically Black schools, most notably that of Lincoln High School in 1970, was a significant loss to the close-knit community culture of the east, she said. “There’s still raw feelings — a lot of pain — over how that process unfolded,” Macdonald said. “The Black community lost a connection where teachers and administrators really knew the students’ families.” Northwest Newberry, Alachua,

Hawthorne and East Gainesville have the highest concentration of Black residents in Alachua County, according to a UF study on racial inequity in Alachua County. The cities’ populations include 600 to 3,000 Black residents. Jarell Daniels, a 25-year-old East Gainesville resident and local musician known as Sky Luca$, said he hopes people will realize what the area of the city has to offer — from the Matheson History Museum to the abundance of untouched nature like the GainesvilleHawthorne State Trail. Daniels moved to Gainesville from Alabama when he was 11. Last year, he relocated to Duckpond, east of North Main Street, and was shocked by how different his new neighborhood was from where he lived previously in Goldview. Prior to that, Daniels attended Buchholz High School with affluent peers, and he didn’t often encounter homelessness on the streets. “It was eye-opening,” Daniels said. “It takes 30 minutes to drive from one

side of Gainesville to the other. I was not aware of the community’s culture and its history.” To Henry, East Gainesville needs development, but developers are afraid to invest because of the area’s many low-income residents. The Black neighborhoods in the area have the lowest per capita income and highest exposure to poverty. Black residents’ incomes are more than a quarter lower than the average per capita income in Alachua County, according to the UF study. However, when Henry thinks of East Gainesville, he sees potential, remembering his childhood. “My community shaped me,” Henry said. “Even segregation didn’t stop me from having a dream. All I had to do was take advantage of the opportunities that were presented to me.”

@EdysmarDiazCruz ediaz-cruz@alligator.org

Faculty wage increases unlikely this year, UF says UNDER FINANCIAL STRESS DUE TO COVID-19, UF SEES SALARY INCREASES AS UNLIKELY

By Corbin Bolies Alligator Staff Writer

Despite years of salary increases, UF will not be implementing any this year. That’s placed faculty in a bind. UF President Kent Fuchs said during his State of the University address on Aug. 25 that, due to budget cuts incurred by the COVID-19 pandemic, the administration was forced to reconsider salary and wage increases for faculty and staff. “Although we have worked hard to protect the jobs of our staff and faculty, it is unlikely we will be able to fund salary and wage increases this year,” Fuchs said. Paul Ortiz, the president of UF’s United Faculty of Florida chapter and a UF history professor, looked at the lack of increases as a necessary evil. However, he would like the administration to consider faculty’s efforts to transition to remote learning.

“We’ve proven our commitment,” Ortiz said. “We would like them to respect our work and commitment to the university.” UFF plans to negotiate salaries and furloughs with the administration over the Fall semester for the next fiscal year, Ortiz said. Until then, he believes salary increases are needed to solidify UF’s public school ranking. “A good faith assumption is that UF is trying to make it into the top five universities,” Ortiz said. “To do that, your salary and compensation benefits for all staff has to be top five.” William Connellan, an assistant provost and UF’s chief bargainer, said faculty members are just performing their regular duties. “We’re not asking them to do extra work, we’re asking them to do their jobs,” he said. “And they’re doing it very well.” UF’s reasoning for the absence of wage increases for the upcoming fiscal year is due to the state withholding 6% of UF’s funding, Fuchs said during his address. With the state allocating $775.7 million to UF in the 2019-2020 fiscal year, that amounts to more than $46.5 million in losses. Fuchs also cited unexpected costs that came with the pandemic, including $15 million in

personal protective equipment for students and faculty and $30 million in losses to UF enterprises like housing and performing arts. To justify the lack of salary increases, William Keegan, UFF’s co-chief bargainer, sent a letter to Connellan on Aug. 21 inquiring about the current state of UF’s finances. “We request supplementary documents to help us understand the university’s deliberative process and financial situation,” Keegan wrote. However, the odds of a salary increase at all have been low. Despite an April 2019 proposal to implement wage increases for the 2020-2021 academic year, UFF withdrew it last spring due to UF not being able to commit to a figure, citing financial stress due to COVID-19. “By June it was becoming increasingly clear that the university was unlikely to be able to offer salary increases for the next fiscal year,” Steve Orlando, UF’s spokesperson, wrote in an email. The salary portion of the union contract was finalized last June, leaving the issue “TBD” for the coming fiscal year, according to the contract. Furloughs have also been a point of contention.

UF released a proposed memorandum on Aug. 28 to officially incorporate furloughs, though it hasn’t reached a final decision on the idea, Connellan said. The issues add another wound to the battles between the two. UFF had been staunchly opposed to UF’s reopening plan, describing it in statements as “unacceptable and dangerous.” The absence of wage increases also runs against the university’s position from 2019, where Fuchs introduced a pay program. It offered a 1% salary increase throughout the school and an additional 2% increase based on market and performance-based standards set by UF. However, the union believes the lack of wage increases doesn’t reflect the added work faculty has had to do to shift their classes online. “There should be a consideration to see how hard we’ve worked to reconfigure the way we teach,” Ortiz said.

@CorbinBolies cbolies@alligator.org

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4 ALLIGATOR TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2020

‘Gators helping gators’: 660-pound alligator visits UF Veterinary Hospital BOB VISITED UF’S LARGE ANIMAL HOSPITAL THURSDAY BECAUSE OF A PAINFUL BACK RIGHT LEG. BY SATURDAY HE WAS BACK TO SWAMPY BUSINESS AS USUAL.

By Asta Hemenway Alligator Staff Writer

Courtesy to The Alligator

Bob the alligator, 38, was treated by UF veterinarians last week for a bone infection.

When Bob the St. Augustine gator hears his name, he looks up with wide eyes and waddles over to zookeepers. However, the 660-pound middleaged alligator let veterinarians at the UF College of Veterinary Medicine know he wasn’t in the best mood Thursday while closing his eyes, exhaling and hissing. Preliminary findings found evidence of osteomyelitis, an infection in the bone. During his visit to the Gator Nation, the 38-year-old alligator, whose feet and tail hang off the scale, visited the hospital for radiographs to evaluate his right hind leg. “He looks even bigger than he is, and he’s big,” said Sarah Carey, UF Veterinary Hospitals spokesperson. “I mean, trust me, he’s huge.” It’s not the first time an alligator has

visited the UF Veterinary Hospitals, but it is believed this is the first time staff has seen an alligator of such massive size, Carey said. About three weeks ago, zookeepers at St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park, where Bob lives, noticed the 12-foot alligator wasn’t using his hind right leg when exiting his pond, said Gen Anderson, a park general curator. When the zookeepers noticed Bob’s leg, they prescribed him meloxicam, a pain reliever, Anderson said. Two 15 milligram tablets were tucked into a frozen rat instead of injecting Bob with medicine. UF vets were due to go to the park that same week for his bimonthly checkup. During the visit they recommended Bob visit UF for radiographs. Bob became a local sensation, garnering more than 20,000 views on a video posted on Facebook. “It’s kind of funny that this alligator stuff has gone viral because we do this regularly,” Anderson said. “He was a large, difficult animal to take in, but everything seems to be ending up in a very positive manner.” While alligators usually pout for a few weeks after a visit to the vet, Bob, despite his injury, continues slithering

in the swamp with his fellow gators, Anderson said. Brought in before noon Thursday, Bob was mildly sedated with anesthesia and X-rayed at UF’s large animal hospital, she said. After his three-hour appointment, Bob began his two-hour ride back to his swampy home in the park. After arriving at the hospital, veterinarians ensured there weren’t other animals around.

“We just want everything to be safe for everybody and reduce the stress levels as much as possible for everyone – including the alligators, of course,”

Carey said.

When she saw Bob wheeled into the hospital’s hallway, she said she admired the effort, concentration and focus it takes to manage a case like this. “It made me proud to work there, yet again,” Carey said. “Gators helping gators.”

@astahemenway ahemenway@alligator.org

Students are spending more time at home this semester. Blessing or curse? THE DYNAMICS OF ROOMMATE RELATIONSHIPS ARE BEING TRANSFORMED DUE TO ONLINE CLASSES AND COVID-19

By Rachel Slay Alligator Staff Writer

Online classes and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic are keeping students in their rooms and at home more often than in previous semesters. Despite having much more free time, students can’t — or shouldn’t — have large gatherings. There is also the looming, potentially awkward, confrontation with roommates about the spread of COVID-19. Sarah Duffy, an 18-year-old Santa Fe animal sciences freshman, signed a lease at Canopy Student Apartments and was placed

with random roommates: one Santa Fe sophomore and two UF sophomores. Santa Fe’s largely online fall semester started a week before UF’s. Duffy spent the week in online class while her roommates enjoyed their last week of summer, having friends over and playing loud music. “When I hear noise I get very easily distracted by it,” Duffy said. Since the start of UF’s Fall semester on Aug. 31, the group has taken steps to make sure everyone can do work without disruption. The students hung a whiteboard with their class schedules and got ‘Do Not Disturb’ signs to put on their doors, Duffy said. She worries not knowing if her household guests have been taking COVID-19 seriously, she said. Because she doesn’t know her roommates very well, the idea of confrontation is nerve-wracking.

‘This isn’t finished at all.’ HUB, from pg. 1 lectures since school started due to the issues. “It’s unacceptable for the Wi-Fi to not be working,” Wolfrey said. Along with internet issues, she said there’s a broken elevator, no cellular service and an unfinished rooftop area, which includes the pool. She said there was also a widespread air conditioning and power outage last Sunday, and her washer and dryer are broken. Both of these residents said they reached out to the complex’s maintenance team with little to no response. Wolfrey said no relevent messaging has been sent out by the complex regarding the issues.

In an email to The Alligator, Sherman Modeste, the regional vice president of property management of Core Spaces, the company that owns the Hub Third Ave, wrote the complex is addressing the issues. Hub Third Ave has upgraded the internet equipment, he wrote, and service has been restored. The power outage affected the entire neighborhood including the Publix on NW 13th St., Modeste wrote. “We know it has been a frustrating experience, and we are truly sorry our residents have had to endure these challenges,” Modeste wrote. Hub Third Ave showed signs it was struggling before students even arrived. Wolfrey said she was supposed to move in on Aug. 18

“I would like to know so I don’t walk out in my pajamas. It’s also frustrating because I don’t know these people or where they have been during corona,” Duffy said. On UF’s campus, 21-year-old Manny Girona and his roommates in the Keys Residential Complex have benefited from the flexibility of online classes. He’s a member of the UF men’s golf team and lives with two of his teammates. This semester, due to COVID-19, the guys can’t do homework in Otis Hawkins Center, a UF academic building, like in previous years. Instead, Girona does work in his room, the UF food and resource economics senior said. “If I can do the same thing at home that I can in the library, I might as well limit the risk,” he said. Girona’s cautious and calm attitude toward his circumstance is similar to that of

Jack Ten Hulzen, a 20-year-old UF aerospace engineering junior. Ten Hulzen has a room to himself in the Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity house, where he lives with about 40 other brothers. At any given time, 20 people are home, but he hasn’t dealt with a lot of noise because the house is big, he said. Residents at the house must wear masks when they aren’t in their rooms, so he isn’t spending much time with others, Ten Hulzen said. “We definitely haven’t been hanging out as much but hopefully when all this is over we can get back to normal,” he said.

@racheljslay rslay@alligator.org

before Hub Third Ave pushed back everyone’s move-in date by one week. “I’ve been up here for about three months, and everyday I’ve driven past the building and nobody was doing construction on it,” Wolfrey said. “It was very clear that it was not done being built.” Wolfrey said Hub Third Ave offered prorated rent, gift cards and hotel accommodations for those who needed it, but she wasn’t anticipating her previous lease would end before she could move in. She asked the complex if she could be put in a hotel but was told she was too late. “I was homeless for a week,” she said. “I had to stay with my boss.” Wolfrey said she doesn’t see herself signing another lease with Hub Third Ave.

@noroneill noneill@alligator.org

Nora O’Neill // Alligator Staff

Hub Third Ave greeted new residents with unfinished rooms and faulty Wi-Fi.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2020 www.alligator.org/the_avenue

LIFESTYLE

The casual culture of Zoom classes STUDENTS AND INSTRUCTORS HAVE FORMED A MORE LAIDBACK ATTITUDE IN RESPONSE TO ONLINE CLASSES

By AJ Bafer Avenue Staff Writer

Stuck in online classes, students and instructors are on the same page: They woke up like this. With many of UF’s classes being held through Zoom this semester, Zoomers are not afforded the same luxury of in-person interaction and self-expression. To get around this, they are developing a culture of their own — one with an absence of makeup and an abundance of memes. The online format has given students the opportunity to keep it casual. Instead of dressing up for classes, Gina Genova said she wears pajamas because of the lack of pressure to go out. The 18-year-old UF psychology and criminology sophomore said the lack of traditional structure has also granted people a degree of anonymity, increasing their confidence and making them more likely to goof off by changing their backgrounds and sending messages. “What I’ve noticed is just a lot of memes and a lot of people saying funny things that I don’t think they would have the guts to say in class,” Genova said. “The vibe of a Zoom class is more laid back.” As a spectator, Genova said she usually can’t identify the people pulling jokes because they often do not have their cameras on. She said

she enjoys the shenanigans as long as they are not too disruptive. “When it’s your fourth class of the day and you’ve just been staring at a computer, it’s nice to see someone do something funny,” she said. Zoom is treating students to more than just comedy. Isaac Grossman, a 19-year-old UF telecommunications production sophomore, was surprised to find one of his classmates “shredding” on guitar while scrolling through the call participants. The guitarist was muted, but Grossman said he was impressed by the complicated technique his classmate used to strum the fretboard — he doesn’t think the professor or many other students noticed. Grossman stands out himself, treating his schoolwork as if it is a 9-5 job by getting fully dressed and working out before logging on to stay focused, he said. “One of the best parts of college for anyone is just making new friends and meeting new people all the time,” Grossman said. “You can’t really do that through Zoom.” As for his professors, Grossman has been satisfied and understands those who are having trouble — his mother is a teacher adjusting to the online environment. He said instructors who do not own all the best technology might have difficulty adjusting. “It’s really not anyone’s fault,” he said. Brandon Murakami, a 30-yearold UF graduate student, teaches Introduction to Literature and taught Anime and Manga Adaptations of

Western Literature last Spring. He said he thinks Zoom is terrible overall, but it has helped to see his students stay motivated. When UF began its shift online, Murakami hosted Zoom sessions specifically for students to socialize and was met with a grateful response. “It was a measure of still having that sense of community and connection,” he said. Murakami has found creative ways to level with his students like joining them in an effort to find the silliest background or letting his cat, Jeremy, jump onto his desk for attention. He said these kinds of distractions are a positive way for students to stay engaged. His relaxed attitude carries over into his teaching style as well. Murakami usually teaches on Zoom in a tank top to stay comfortable. He said many students do not realize how taxing having to be on Zoom at all times is for instructors. “We may be ‘educators’ or ‘teachers’ but on our side too, we’re still learning how to do things as good as we could have done in person,” he said. Professors and students realize how different Zoom classes are, and most are trying to accommodate students as much as possible, Murakami said. His advice for students is to use the resources they have access to, like office hours or the UF Counseling and Wellness Center. “Don’t be afraid to ask for help,” he said.

@ajbafer abafer@alligator.org

FOOD & DRINK

Felipe’s Mexican Taqueria announces closure after four years By Samantha Chery Avenue Staff Writer

Felipe’s Mexican Taqueria announced Wednesday via social media it will no longer serve its tacos, bowls, burritos and margaritas after it says “adios” to Gainesville on Nov. 1. In its four years of operation in Gainesville, the Mexican restaurant strived to start a party for the neighborhood every day, with buyone-get-one-free margaritas on Fridays, Latin Nights with local DJ Elio, a booth in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium during football games and outreach to local high schools, said Pike Howard, Felipe’s director of development and finance. “We made a connection with the University of Florida, and for that, we will be forever thankful,” Howard said. “It will always be a special place for us in terms of success and failures at times, but also a step forward for us as a company.” Decreased sales during the COVID-19 pandemic “wasn’t necessarily the straw that broke the camel’s back” as some might assume, Howard said. The development director said the main reason for shutting down is because the landlord was considering selling the property, located on 1209 W. University Ave. Ultimately, Felipe’s had to decide if they wanted to stay under a different landlord. Upon deliberation, Howard said Gainesville ended up not being the ideal area for the chain’s growth, as Felipe’s tends to do well in densely populated residential areas where people from different age groups regularly dine. “When they’re not there and

business is pretty slow, it becomes more challenging to be profitable in the offmonths,” Howard said referring to the local students. “We thought we’d get an additional sort of older demographic, but that never really materialized.” Instead, Felipe’s hopes to add restaurants in southwest Florida to meet its market need, he said. A new location is currently being developed in North Naples to complement the sites already in Naples and Fort Myers Beach. Olivia Williams, a 21-year-old UF health education and behavior senior, was one of many Gainesville students who was shocked by the announcement. “After Swamp closed, it felt like one of the only places left in town that was outside, and you could really relax and hang out,” she said. Williams has been going to Felipe’s about once or twice a month since her freshman year in 2017. Without the presence of the two party-time staples, she said the only close-to-campus eatery with a similar atmosphere is The Social at Midtown. The inexpensive build-your-own menu items at Felipe’s made eating vegetarian easy for Williams, who said she plans on visiting with her friends a few more times before the taqueria closes in November. “I personally love Mexican food, so I’ll miss their food and their margaritas and having that atmosphere,” she said. “It’s just sad.”

@SammyChery4276 schery@alligator.org

Opinions Column

I caught COVID-19 at UF. Here’s why UF should test students weekly

am the second person to test positive for COVID-19 at Hume Hall at UF. I was become a fraught place, and deaths will skyrocket. As a result, this is what I propose: Test every UF student weekly. exposed to the virus by another resident of Hume. Both of us were wearing UF informed me that one reason they can not do this is that they do not have masks but were not socially distanced in the Hume Library. I may have contracted enough tests. Yet, administrators could find ways to allocate money the right way. the virus because we were sitting very close to each other, talking or because If UF genuinely prioritizes student health, it should test every student regularly or of the cards we were passing around. One way or another, I acknowledge that dismiss us off campus like the students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel socializing that day was my decision; I am not blaming any person in particular, and I Hill were. Numerous private and public institutions alike administer tests every five to take responsibility for contracting COVID-19. seven days. Even large state schools, like the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Anonymous However, I do believe UF needs to take more serious measures regarding COVID-19 are testing students twice a week. opinions@alligator.org tracking on campus. At the very least, UF should test a random sample of students every week as well For example, students were not required to get tested before returning to campus. as every student who comes into contact with known positives. Testing UF students Implementing this requirement would have potentially prevented hordes of students will prevent the spread and detect the virus in students before it is too late. from bringing COVID-19 to campus from their hometowns. Obviously, everyone on campus understands the risk of contracting the virus. I also appreciate I found out about the positive case in my dorm not from UF Housing or contact tracers but the immediate action taken to test me and contact trace my case. But currently, UF is endangering from a group chat. I was, and still am, asymptomatic. No one asked me to get tested but just in its students, staff, faculty and their families. If we want football season, the ability to leave our case, I reached out to UF to get tested. It took three days for my suitemates to be tested after my dorms without fear and to stay alive, UF Health and its Screen, Test, and Protect initiative has to positive result. UF told the people I interacted with that they didn’t have to be tested unless they do more. Test us weekly for the betterment of our community. developed symptoms. This is tremendously dangerous because lab tests in Iceland suggest that up to 50% of coronavirus cases have no symptoms, and researchers in South Korea found that The author is a resident of Hume Hall who tested positive for COVID-19. asymptomatic cases can carry just as much of the virus as symptomatic cases. We all know how deadly this virus is. If this trend continues, our beloved campus will inevitably

Keep up with the Avenue on Twitter. Tweet us @TheFloridaAve.

Know your enemy Sports Editor River Wells sat down with the Daily Mississippian’s assistant sports editor James Minzesheimer to talk about UF’s season opener, pg. 8

Scan to follow the Avenue on Spotify

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answer on page 7 Release Date: Tuesday, September 1, 8, 2020

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

ACROSS 1 Remove politely, Former soldiers as a hat 5 Explosive 5 Muscle cramp compound, 10 Hang brieflyonto 14 10 Assert A lot as true 15 with dreads 14 One Quarreling 16 Out of theaswind 15 Still soft, 17 Topper concretefor a toreador law 16 First-year 19 On cloud __ student 20 with joy 17 Fill Housekeeper’s 21 Feature that whisky request? results in extra 19 Gillette razor legroom on a 20 Wire-bending plane hand tool 23 On __: sans 21 Place to adopt contract a dogsib 26 Bro’s 23 Indy Really bigletters cats 27 500 26 How Mechanical 30 sale items learning routine are priced 27 Brewed Itemizesbeverage 36 30 Pseudonymous International 37 shipping punk rockco. 32 Red wine grape surname known as looking Shiraz 38 “This isn’t in Australia good” 35 Turn Eight:back Pref.to zero 39 36 Picnic Grins pest 41 38 Step Be inbetween debt 42 39 One of a bike’s landings two girl!” 43 “__ 44 40 Stir “Li’l”up comic strip 46 Press into service character 47 so image for 41 “I’m Medical disappointed!” diagnosis 49 42 Corrosive Bering or Black solution 43 First game of the 50 PBS “Science season Kid” 44 Related by blood 51 (out) 45 Crossed Type style that 53 Previews that sounds like a sound like they Disney mermaid belong after 47 Gun, as an the film engine 58 48 Eye-popping Johnny Mathis colors classic that 62 Little Boy Blue’s begins, “Look at instrument me” 63 System 49 FBI agent administrator’s 51 Fix taska...lawn and a hint 53 Hawaiian to what can be medicine men30found in 17-, 56 Saudi __ and 47-Across 60 “In Ships’ rears 66 memoriam” 61 Bachelor’s whisky piece request? 67 Speak from a 64 Loyal platform 65 River Letter-shaped 68 of Pisa dress style 69 Change the 66 ExxonMobil decor of brand 70 Gall 67 Like Clumsy 71 the one’s 10th exclamation frame in bowling

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ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

08/31/2020 09/01/20 09/08/20

09/01/20 09/08/20

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SEC FOOTBALL

Know your enemy: The Ole Miss Rebels By River Wells Sports Writer

In 18 days, Florida will kick off the 2020 season in Oxford, Mississippi, against Ole Miss in the first game of an all-SEC schedule. Because COVID-19 has put most teams strictly within their conferences for this year’s college football season, The Alligator will talk with journalists from SEC student newspapers to preview each game. For our first “Know Your Enemy” installment, we sat down with the Daily Mississippian’s assistant sports editor, James Minzesheimer, to talk about the Rebels’ storylines and expectations. Let’s talk Lane Kiffin. What was the general reaction around campus at that move, and what do you think he brings to the team as its new head coach?

From what I’ve seen, it’s been mainly a pretty positive perception — everyone kind of got on board with the idea of the “Lane Train.” (Former Rebels coach) Matt Luke was part of the Ole Miss staff under Hugh Freeze. So to finally kind of get rid of that last piece of that goodbut-bad administration in some regards I think was — at least from my perspective — a good thing. And also, with the season we had last year, I think it was pretty clear we needed a coaching change. There’s currently a quarterback battle between Matt Corral and John Rhys Plumlee, right? Are there any other names we should know about that might be in the mix? We’ve got some younger guys. There’s a true freshman, Kade (Renfro). He’s pretty decent, but he’s obviously not in that starting

Former Gators wide receiver Antonio Callaway is getting another shot in the NFL after he was added to the Dolphins practice squad on Sunday. Callaway is currently under a seven-game suspension but can still attend team meetings.

position. There are some other younger guys, but I think it’s strictly between Corral and Plumlee, I would say.

from everything that has been kind of told to us from the scrimmages, (Corral) has kind of been leading the charge. For Week 1, I wouldn’t be surprised if Corral winded up getting the start. I don’t even think Kiffin can give you an answer at this point.

because right now there are a lot of injuries with the cornerbacks and safeties. We already have kind of a weak secondary, and with Florida’s receiving corps, I’m definitely worried about us getting torched in that respect.

Who do you think is going to end up on top? Oh, that’s such a hard question right now. I think that out of the two of them, Plumlee is definitely the more electrifying quarterback. I mean, the kid can flat out run, like he’s one of the fastest players on the team. Obviously, he had some pretty good performances on offense last year. The one that mainly comes to mind is the LSU game, where he rushed for over 200 yards and I think it was three or four touchdowns (212 yards, 4 TDs). I’d love to see him, but at the same time, I know that he struggles with passing the ball and Corral is a much better game manager, passer at this point. And

Who do you think could be an X factor for Ole Miss to help win the game? It’s going to be the offensive side of the ball. They’re going to need to put up a lot of points to keep up with the strong Florida offense and our weak-ish defense, which is currently being crippled by COVID. For Week 1, I would be interested to see how they split up the running back areas, because we have a couple of guys who really need carries. Obviously, (Jarrion) Ealy is coming off of a Freshman All-American season, and Snoop (Connor) is also, you know, really good as well. In terms of the X factor, I would just say to see if our secondary is even healthy,

And finally, what is your prediction for how the game will play out on the 26th? I think it’s gonna be a highscoring game: I think it’s probably going to break the 40s, if not the 50s, at least for Florida. I’m pretty curious to see how this is going to work on the offensive side of the ball, because there is still a bit of shuffling going on there. I would say it’s going to be a bit of a shootout, and I think in the end Florida is probably going to win. Florida probably wins by a touchdown or two.

Gators receivers find NFL homes

All four UF receivers that declared for the NFL draft last year will stick on NFL rosters: Van Jefferson (Rams), Josh Hammond (Jaguars), Tyrie Cleveland (Broncos) and Freddie Swain (Seahawks).

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

@riverhwells rwells@alligator.org