A voter guide to the six state amendments this election
NOV. 5 IS THE LAST DAY FOR VOTING
By Morgan Vanderlaan Alligator Staff Writer
Early voting in Alachua County started on Oct. 21 for the 2024 presidential election. From dynamic candidates at the top of the ticket down to local sheriff races, this year’s election will have far-reaching impacts across Florida.
However, one important and often confusing part of this year’s election cycle is the six constitutional amendments that voters can decide on. Each amendment must meet a threshold of over 60% approval from voters to pass.
If approved, these amendments would become a permanent part of Florida’s state constitution and could not be bypassed by any act of legislation.
Despite being non-partisan amendments, voters across Florida stand divided on each issue.
Amendment 1
If passed, Amendment 1 would make all school board elections partisan races from the 2026 election cycle onward. Currently, it is up to the discretion of each individual county whether or not to bring politics into the board by making candidates list their political affiliations.
In Alachua County, school board races are currently non-partisan.
School board seats are already politicized enough without bringing party affiliation into races, Alachua County League of Women Voters President Janice Garry said.
“Schools and education of our students is not a partisan issue, and it should not be made partisan by having candidates represent a specific party,” she said.
However, the sponsor of the amendment, State Rep. Spencer
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Roach (R-Fort Myers), said the purpose of the bill is not to bring politics into the classroom but rather to educate voters on who the candidates on the board are.
“For me, it’s about transparency, and I simply believe that we have an obligation to give voters as much information about a candidate as possible and let them make a decision about vetting a candidate,” he said in a statement to the Florida House panel in 2023.
Roach’s office did not respond for comment in time for publication.
Amendment 2
If passed, Amendment 2 would provide a constitutional right to hunting and fishing. The amendment states that fishing and hunting would become the preferred method for “responsibly managing and controlling fish and wildlife" and "shall be preserved forever as a public right."
Fishing and hunting regulations are currently set by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Amendment 2 will secure Floridians' right to hunt and fish by enshrining it into the Constitution, said Ed Penny, the director of public policy education at Ducks Unlimited Southern Region. Ducks Unlimited is a national, non-profit organization that does habitat restoration in wetland territories.
The amendment makes sure that future generations have the opportunity to enjoy the outdoors through fishing and hunting, Penny said.
“In Florida, hunting and fishing is a strong part of many citizens' heritage,” he said. “It's something to be proud of. It's something to protect.”
However, some voters find the wording of the amendment troublesome. In a constitutional amendment, every single word is impor-
Meet some of UF’s international recruits. Read more on pg. 11.
Alachua County School Board fired its superintendent. What’s next?
LACK OF TRANSPARENCY AND ISSUES OF STABILITY CALL ACSB’S FUTURE INTO QUESTION
By Sara-James Ranta Alligator Staff Writer
In a 3-to-2 vote, the Alachua County School Board voted to fire Superintendent Shane Andrew at a meeting Oct. 15.
Andrew’s firing came after recent evaluations of his position were completed by each board member. Behind the scenes, each board member had their own reasons for voting the way they did.
“It’s been an honor to serve the children and families of this community for nearly 35 years,” An-
drew wrote in a statement Oct. 16.
“I will continue to do what’s best for students through my final day as Superintendent of this outstanding district, and I look forward to helping children in my next chapter.”
Board member evaluations raise concerns
District 3 board member Sarah Rockwell voted against Andrew’s termination because she wanted the board to perform a national search for the best candidate to replace Andrew. She rated Andrew overall “needs improvement” in her evaluation.
Rockwell said she found many parts of the evaluation process were last-minute and violated policy. The evaluation instrument is
supposed to be developed jointly by the board and superintendent, then formally adopted by the board. ACSB raised concerns about the instrument developed by Andrew at a workshop meeting, Rockwell said.
“Some of the language in the rubric was vague, things like ‘most,’ ‘almost all,’ ‘some,’ words that could mean different things by different people,” she said.
After the workshop, the instrument was supposed to be revised and brought back to the board. The board would then formally adopt it as an action item in a public ACSB meeting. That never happened, Rockwell said.
Per the superintendent’s contract, evaluations were supposed to
Matthew Lewis // Alligator Staff
cheerleaders wave at the homecoming parade audience on Oct. 18, 2024. Read more on pg. 4.
Today’s Weather
What’s behind the meteoric rise of online gambling among college men?
Residents bet on sports; counselors warn of addiction
By Natalie Kaufman Alligator Staff Writer
Every Thursday, Tino Taylor could win life-changing money while sitting on his couch and thumbing through his phone.
The UF forensic psychology senior bets $15 weekly on NFL games. He hasn’t been gambling long but has already seen success. So far, he’s raked in a hearty $3,500 on Hard Rock Bet, an online betting, sportsbook and casino platform.
The American Gaming Association expects fans to wager more than $35 billion on NFL games this year, up nearly 33% from 2023. Floridians must be at least 21 to participate.
Taylor, 22, said he’s mindful of the risks and doesn’t think he’ll ever become addicted to sports gambling. But he’s overcome with anticipation on game day, awaiting the thrill.
“I cannot wait to do it every single week,” he said. “I'm just itching just for Thursday to come so I'll get to watch the game and hopefully win.”
Taylor said he puts a small stake in each game, so he has little to lose and much to gain. Because he places only $15 on the line, if his team isn’t successful, he only loses that initial bet. If he wins, he could hit it big.
“I have another bet this week,” he said. “And if I win that one, I win $61,000.”
No matter the outcome, Taylor sees his weekly ritual as a fun way to test his luck and hang out with his friends, who also bet on sports. Together, they congregate around the TV screen on game days, cheering for their teams and discussing their parlays.
Online gambling has seen a surge in young bettors. A 2023 National Collegiate Athletics Association survey found 58% of 18 to 22-yearolds had placed at least one wager that year.
The NCAA also reported more than 40% of people pursuing college degrees placed bets on their own school’s team, something Thomas Hahn, a 19-year-old UF business sophomore, dabbles in.
Hahn occasionally bets on a Gator loss using PrizePicks, which is legal for those 19 and older.
“I'll bet against UF so that either UF wins and I'm happy, or I make some money, and I'm happy,” he said.
There’s not much at risk for Hahn. He invests even less in the
game than Taylor — only $5 each week — and exercises caution on the app. When the funds in his account run dry, he said he deletes PrizePicks and only re-downloads it when he’s in the proper headspace to try his luck again.
Hahn said he enjoys the intellectual stimulation of gambling and has made about $200 so far.
“I like figuring out what mathematically maximizes my odds,” Hahn said. “I get to use numbers and sports and kind of combine them.”
The allure of gambling for most is the quick hit of dopamine, the hormone responsible for pleasure and motivation. Those with low levels of dopamine are often looking for an easy way to feel better, which may motivate them to engage in risky activities and behaviors.
Jim Segal, a Gainesville mental health counselor, said when casual betting becomes compulsive, the gambler experiences a ‘tilt,’ in which they are unable to make rational decisions and restrain their impulses.
Segal clarified that gambling, one of the most common behavioral addictions, is not a direct gateway to substance abuse. Rather, the two can coincide.
“When people stop drinking, stop doing drugs, what they say is almost like, ‘I have a hole in my soul that needs to be filled,’” he said. “Unless they're educated in the process of recovery about the risks of these substitute addictions, they may very easily fall victim to gambling addiction.”
The online medium also makes gambling much more accessible. Segal said betting apps remove the friction of traveling to a casino or stopping by a gas station to buy a scratch-off. Now, people can bet anytime, anywhere.
“[If] it was more difficult to get to a venue, they didn't do it,” Segal said. “Accessibility, availability is a big factor.”
Segal said that when people get hooked on betting apps, “it’s a gentle slope downward” until they encounter the consequences.
Gambling addictions can erode relationships and drain life savings. It may go unnoticed by loved ones — often because the gambler keeps their habit a secret — until it’s too late.
Men are twice as likely as women to develop a gambling addiction. Among those 18 to 35, one in 10 men become hooked on betting, compared with seven in 10
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women in that age group.
Gainesville mental health counselor Conor Mitchell attributes the prevalence of gambling addiction among young men to social structures and expectations.
“I think it’s more socially permissible, just the idea of gambling kind of being oriented traditionally, with masculine gender roles around finance, incomeearning,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell said most of his patients suffering from gambling addiction are young men who turn to betting apps for the intoxicating rush and potential for quick cash.
The fallout of significant losses can be dire. The most immediate psychological effect of gambling addiction is shame, Mitchell said.
“They understand that this pattern of behavior is not benefiting their life, and they have a strong desire to quit,” Mitchell said.
But that desire is often not strong enough to precipitate necessary behavioral change, he added.
According to the Florida Council on Compulsive Gambling Inc., calls to Florida’s problem gambling helpline doubled in mid-December 2023 from the previous month, largely driven by young men. The flood of calls came in shortly after the Seminole Tribe of Florida launched Hard Rock Bet, the app Tino Taylor uses to gamble on sports.
While betting can yield remarkable profits, a string of wins can make gamblers overconfident. Strictly relying on instincts may be ruinous.
Lucas Jaramillo, a 22-year-old UF statistics senior, uses Hard Rock Bet to gamble on NFL games. He estimates his net profit is between $4,000 and $5,000.
While Jaramillo analyzes game data and monitors players’ health, he said he knows friends who take their wagers less seriously. One paid dearly, losing $5,000 on a single bet.
“Most gamblers just believe they can know the result,” said Lei Yang, a 27-year-old UF statistics graduate student. “They may not believe in the statistics; they believe in themselves.”
Those experiencing gambling addiction can call or text the Florida Problem Gambling Helpline at 888-ADMIT-IT.
@Nat_Kauf nkaufman@alligator.org
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Florida voters will vote on six amendments
tant, Noto2 Chairman Chuck O’Neal said.
The amendment is not a citizen initiative, O’Neal said, meaning the wording of the amendment did not have to be approved by the Florida Supreme Court. Some words like “traditional methods” used in the amendment were left undefined, which could cause problems with ambiguity when setting future regulations.
O’Neal said he also has concerns over whether the hunter’s constitutional right will supersede private property laws. If hunters pursue game into someone’s backyard, O’Neal said, it could create a dangerous situation.
“This will preclude those property owners from calling the police and having the hunters removed off their property because the hunters will have a constitutional right,” he said.
Amendment 3
If passed, Amendment 3 allows for adults 21 years of age or older to
possess, purchase or use marijuana products recreationally. The amendment would allow recreational possession of up to three ounces.
The amendment gained ballot access after being approved by the Florida Supreme Court on April 1 and acquiring over 1 million voter signatures. Marijuana is only currently legal in Florida for medical use.
Zane Menendez, a 19-year-old UF political science senior, said he’s in favor of Amendment 3. Marijuanarelated charges disproportionately affect Black populations, Menendez said, and Amendment 3 would cut down on over-policing. If marijuana were regulated by the government, he said, there would be fewer illegal drugs in circulation.
“Amendment 3 would provide a safe, reasonable way for… people across the state to have a regulated product,” Menendez said. “Something that's tested, something that goes through the channels, that is safe for everybody.”
Opponents of the amendment say that even with regulation, marijuana would still pose risks. Black markets
for weed would still flourish, Keep Florida Clean Director of Advocacy Jessica Spencer said. People will want to get marijuana for cheaper prices, she said, so illicit markets will continue for cheap fixes.
Spencer said she also worries about the possibility of public smoking not being regulated due to the vagueness of the amendment’s language.
“The language has to be consistent with the amendment,” she said. “If a ban was put into place [on public smoking] either by a local municipality or the state itself, it would not be consistent with the language of the amendment.”
Amendment 4
If approved, Amendment 4 would allow abortion up until fetal viability, which most healthcare professionals say is around 24 weeks. The amendment would overturn the current Heartbeat Protection Act, which bans almost all elective abortions after the six-week mark, with exceptions of up to 15 weeks for cases of rape or incest.
The referendum received over
900,000 signatures in support and was approved by the Florida Supreme Court before gaining ballot access.
Women with unintended pregnancies are often removed from the workforce, said Janice Garry, President of the Alachua County League of Women Voters. Women are forced to prioritize the welfare of their children over their jobs and even political careers, she said.
“The league's position is that abortion is a health care service,” she said. “It has been performed safely for a very long time, and it is not a government decision. It is a decision between a woman and her doctor.”
However, across Alachua County, the Vote No on 4 campaign has held vigils and ran virtual campaign ads marketing the amendment as “deceptive and extreme.” Proponents of the Vote No on 4 campaign say the amendment will open the door for late-term abortions and eliminate parental consent in minor abortion procedures.
The Vote No on 4 campaign did not respond in time for publication.
Amendment 5
If approved, Amendment 5 would add an inflation adjustment to the
homestead tax exemption.
In Florida, property tax rates are currently mandated by counties, school districts, cities and special districts. Homes in Florida are assessed at their market value, with the homestead exemption subtracted, according to Ballotpedia.
The homestead exemption makes every primary residence eligible for up to $50,000 in exemption from all taxes except school district taxes. This means for a house that is $300,000, property taxes will only be paid on $250,000 of the home’s value.
However, for non-school taxes, the amendment would provide for an annual inflation adjustment for the value of the homestead property tax exemption. This adjustment would be recalculated every year on Jan. 1 based on the percent change in the consumer price index, which analyzes inflation annually.
No proponents or opponents of the amendment responded for comment in time for publication.
Read the rest online at alligator.org.
@morgvande mvanderlaan@alligator.org
Gator Nation celebrates 101st Homecoming
Friday festivities kicked off a football game weekend
Alligator Staff Report
As a crisp fall breeze swept through Gainesville, students, alumni and families gathered to celebrate the Gator Nation’s annual Homecoming celebration Friday.
UF campus shut down Friday to make room for Homecoming festivities, including the Gator Gallop run, a festival and the Homecoming Parade.
The activities built school spirit before Friday’s Gator Growl concert and Saturday’s football game while providing a space for families and students to partake in fun, laid-back events that brought the Gator Nation together.
Gator Gallop
The long-standing tradition of Gator Gallop, a 2.2-mile run through campus, began and ended at the Plaza of Americas. Runners set off at 8:30 a.m.
Abigail Fisher, a 25-year-old UF international studies senior, attended the Gator Gallop for the first time with her twin sister, Hannah Fisher, a 25-year-old UF international studies senior. Because they are graduating this semester, they said they wanted to fully experience their last Homecoming together as UF students.
The sisters are also training for their first half-marathon in December, so they said the Gator Gallop was a light run for them.
“I love doing these little fun runs because you always have a level,” Hannah Fisher said. “You have the really serious people and the people who are gonna have fun.”
Gator alumni also came out to the fun run. Katie Harris, a 55-yearold UF graduate, said she comes to homecoming every year.
Gator Gallop runners don't receive chip timing, and only the three fastest runners are recognized, rather than the fastest runners in each age group.
“It’s just fun to be a Gator,” Harris said. “It’s fun to be at homecoming.”
Homecoming Festival
The smell of cotton candy filled the Plaza of the Americas as an oncampus Homecoming festival began at 10:30 a.m. Children dressed in orange and blue lined up in front of bounce houses while parents, alumni and students toured tables with different activities, prizes and snacks.
Olivia Eytcheson, a 26-year-old marketing manager for the Newberry Animal Hospital and UF alum, tabled for the hospital with drink koozies, flyers about hospital care for pets and a raffle for a basket full
of pet-related goodies.
“I think it’s a great way to connect with the students because the students are such a big part of our community,” she said.
Novia Lestari, a 25-year-old UF mass communication student, was tabling with the Indonesian Student Association. It’s her third month in the U.S., so she wanted to help other international students who may need help finding a community at the university.
“It’s really helpful to have the Indonesian Student Association here to help me adjust to the new environment,” she said. “It makes me less homesick.”
Malika Green, a 44-year-old editorial assistant, was seated outside the bounce houses while her 6-yearold played inside. She grew up in Gainesville and moved back three years ago.
While she herself is not a UF
alum, her grandfather used to be a UF professor, so she grew up surrounded by orange and blue. She spent her morning stationed outside the bounce houses but enjoyed listening to the music and feeling the excitement, she said.
“The whole city shuts down for homecoming, so to have a family event like this… is really nice,” she said.
Homecoming Parade
11:30 a.m.
The Voice of the Gator Nation –UF’s Gator Marching Band – gathered together ahead of the iconic Homecoming Parade.
Shea Whitacre, section leader of the bass drumline and a 21-year-old UF mechanical engineering senior, completed her fourth year marching in the parade.
“It's always an honor that we get to lead and do the parade every single year,” she said. “It's cool to interact with young kids that are here. We'd like to represent the University of Florida as best as we can, and we do that well as a drumline.”
Eli Corneliussen, a sousaphone player and a 19-year-old UF music education sophomore, said he thinks the parade is important because it provides the opportunity for people who aren’t interested in football to participate in Homecoming and see more of the band.
“Gainesville is pretty much defined by gators and their music,” he said.
12 p.m.
Hundreds of people lined up to cheer loudly for the homecoming parade as it marched up 13th Street and down West University Avenue toward Bo Diddley Plaza. Local politicians, Gainesville high school organizations and the Gator Marching Band were among the parade’s performers.
Louis Katz, an 18-year-old UF
Community reacts to superintendent termination
be completed by Sept. 1. According to Rockwell’s evaluation, board members didn’t receive the forms to complete evaluations until Aug. 29.
Over a week after initial evaluations, board members were sent a section on the board’s interactions with the superintendent, which was supposed to be included in the original evaluation. Rockwell said it was in violation of board policy.
The priorities in the evaluation rubrics were also board-adopted, Rockwell said.
“Those priorities included strategic planning and rezoning, which were conveniently omitted from the evaluation instrument,” she said.
Shane Andrew is required to track data and progress throughout the district and provide that data to board members to complete the evaluation. Rockwell said the data she needed to complete the evaluation was not readily available to her.
“You had to extrapolate data, calculate things ourselves,” she said. “I tried to access it through our data system, and because it was last year’s data, a lot of it was no longer available”
Rockwell said she also didn’t receive any
other board member’s evaluation, nor was it attached to the public agenda, until about three hours before the ACSB meeting on Oct. 15.
Rockwell said the ongoing issues regarding the evaluation make her even more concerned about Andrew’s performance, feeling as if he wasn’t tracking his own progress on the goals he set for himself, she said.
“If I as an employee got to create my own evaluation instrument and provide the data proving my performance to my bosses, I would be extremely careful to track the exact and precise data that I was going to be evaluated on,” she said.
ASCB will hold a special meeting Oct. 21 at 6 p.m. to determine and appoint an interim superintendent while it searches for Andrew’s replacement.
Florida doesn’t recognize an interim superintendent. Any superintendent, even in a shorter contract, has duties and powers like the superintendent.
Rockwell said by “hastily scrambling to appoint a short-term superintendent,” the board remains unstable because the shortterm superintendent doesn’t have the “buy-in from the community and the skill set to run a large business.”
Board member votes, evaluations differ ACSB Chair Diyonne McGraw rated Andrew overall as “effective” in her evaluation. However, after a heated discussion during the Oct. 15 ASCB meeting, she was the deciding vote in terminating him. She felt he “had enough,” she said.
“I talked to Mr. Andrew prior to the meeting, he was tired, ready to go home,” she said. McGraw said when the board does things based on “politics and personality conflicts instead of what is best for children,” the decision to terminate Andrew was not based on his successes, but rather “unethical behavior,” she said.
“Do you think now, with the new board coming in, are they going to treat him with respect?” she said. “Our job is to work with the superintendent, not undermine and work against.”
In the new search for a superintendent, McGraw said she's looking for someone who’s community-oriented, ready to tackle the finances and big on ensuring they’re going to make sure all children have opportunities.
“To our parents and families, know that this is a difficult decision, but it was a decision I think that had to be made for the sanity of Mr. Andrew,” McGraw said.
District One Board Member Tina Certain
mechanical engineering freshman, said he was woken up by the sound of band members rehearsing, so he decided to go watch the parade. His father, a UF alum, also recommended he watch the parade.
“I like the fire trucks, and the band is always cool to see,” he said. “It's cool to get the spirit in. It’s great to be a Florida Gator, gotta hammer that in.”
Holly Chapman, a 69-year-old Jacksonville resident, said she and her family have seen the Homecoming Parade about 25 times. She and her family drove down from Jacksonville to see Saturday’s football game with their season tickets.
“The last time, I didn't think [the parade] was that good,” she said, “but I've enjoyed it this year. It seems like there's more participation and more spirit, Gator spirit, than the last time.”
Tee Marsh, a 40-year-old Gainesville resident, said her 15-year-old daughter, Niyah, is in the parade as part of Buchholz High School’s Aviance Color Guard. This is her third time seeing the parade.
“Everybody be doing their own thing,” she said. “But we are all out here today, celebrating. We're all out here together, having fun.”
Corie Evans, a 26-year-old Alabama resident and a UF 2020 alumna, said she’s tried to come to the parade almost every year. She grew up in Gainesville and participated in the parade as a child and later as a UF student.
“I like to watch all the people who have come after me and cheer them on because it was such a special time in my life at the time,” Evans said. She said she drove down from Alabama to see the parade and the football game.
“A lot of times, UF students and the institution can be separated from the community,” Evans said. “It's good to have an event like this that brings us all together.”
Annie Wang, Delia Rose Sauer and Timothy Wang contributed to this report.
rated Andrew overall as “unsatisfactory” in her evaluation. However, she voted against his termination to get out of the disruptive “cycle” she feels the board has created, she said.
“Our board has a history of terminating superintendents, hiring an interim, converting the interim to permanent, and then the cycle starts all over again when a new election happens,” she said.
She said she felt Andrew was “learning on the job,” where some challenges and opportunities were missed because he “didn’t have a framework from which to draw and act upon quickly or efficiently,” she said.
Certain voted against the termination because she wanted the board to perform a national search.
“In doing a search, you put an application out, we develop the criteria that we like to see in our next superintendent, we advertise, and we have it open for candidates from all over to apply,” she said.
For a large organization as complex as a school district, Certain said the next superintendent should know it’s more than “teaching and learning.” She said she wants someone who is able to drive change and manage multiple projects simultaneously, she said.
Read the rest online at alligator.org.
@sarajamesranta sranta@alligator.org
Matthew Lewis // Alligator Staff
UF mascot Albert points at a parade attendee during the homecoming parade on Oct. 18, 2024.
A look into Gainesville’s local bookstores shows paper books remain preferred
DESPITE RISE OF E-BOOKS, PAPER BOOKS CONTINUE TO BE PEOPLE’S PICK
By Sofia Meyers Alligator Staff Writer
A bright screen lights up the faces of readers. The word “instant access” in large black letters catches the eye. All they have to do is click “add to cart” and type in their information, and the book is immediately sent to their digital library, with 24/7 access forever.
This instantaneous access to e-books through large retailers has raised the question of whether paper books will become something of the past.
According to tonerbuzz.com, the paper books market is made up of about 1.8 billion people, while the e-reader market is made up of 1.2 billion people.
Local businesses in Gainesville can attest that the magic of grabbing a tangible book while sharing a space with fellow readers is not going anywhere, anytime soon.
Jan Fronk has been the owner of Book Gallery West, a bookstore with gifts and second-hand books, for 21 years. Despite the rise of online book retailers like Amazon, e-books have not been able to overtake her store.
“We survived, because we offer something that you can’t get from those imper-
After
sonal ways of buying books,” Fronk said.
Fronk said people continued to come back to her store after the rise of Kindle.
“They tried it, they didn’t like it,” Fronk said. “They like having hard copy books that they can keep and refer back to... People still love books.”
Fronk also said the in-person presence in bookstores makes it a “very social experience.” The atmosphere of the store, and the people in it, are the reason customers enjoy going in person to shop for books, Fronk said.
A patron of Book Gallery West, Patricia Henderson also said she enjoys coming into the bookstore to buy books.
Henderson said she’s not an avid e-book user, but her husband and kids are. She also said some of her friends prefer to hold books in their hands.
She enjoys going to Book Gallery West to explore the store and to get different books.
“It’s really nice to look around and see,” she said. “It’s nice to get a chance sometimes to trade your books in, too.”
The Alachua County Library District is another facility many readers frequent. Consumers are surrounded by books and others who share the same enjoyment of immersing themselves in the world of novels.
Paul Lightcap, the Technical Services Senior Manager of the Alachua County Library District, said the library has seen unique trends in relation to e-book and print book
checkouts by library goers. The genres of novels appear to have a great factor in whether people consume e-books or paper books, he said.
“While it seems that new, popular adult fiction and nonfiction titles are surging in use in digital form and in less demand in print editions, we’ve noted increases in the use of some physical formats, including DVDs, graphic novels and manga and readalong picture books,” Lightcap said.
According to the Pew Research Center, young people tend to read more e-books, which could explain the trend amongst library goers’ transactions.
The Lynx Books is another Gainesville bookstore that agreed e-books will not be replacing the role of paper books.
Jackie Davison, the Lynx’s operations manager, said there are multiple reasons why e-books will never replace paper books.
Davison said books are like art to some readers.
“The object itself has been carefully designed from the paper choice to the font, to the cover, ” she said. “People will always want to see beautiful objects in their homes.”
According to an article from YouGov, about 70% of Americans own fewer than 100 books, while a quarter own at least 100.
Davison said the in-person and individualized atmosphere of interacting with bookstore employees is another factor why she
believes people will continue to buy paper books from bookstores.
”The Lynx provides a unique experience wherein you get personalized recommendations from our friendly books sellers,” Davison said. “That is not an experience that can be matched digitally.”
Philip Worm, owner of Books and Music, Wormhole, a small bookstore that doubles as an art gallery space and place for book readers to browse, brought up concerns about selling paper books online.
“Selling online sucks. Prices fluctuate,” Worm said. “It also takes out the magic.” Selling books online became popular during the COVID-19 pandemic. People were forced to social distance, and bookstores were unable to hold customers.
Worm described the satisfaction of going in person to a bookstore and finding the exact book that an individual is looking for.
“When I was younger, you’d hear rumors of a book,” he said. “You’d spend years finding that book, and you’d finally wander into a used book store, and then it would be sitting there.”
Worm said he’s optimistic about his store’s frequent customers.
“I think bookstores only exist because people care about books,” he said.
@SofiaMeyer84496 smeyers@alligator.org
losing everything to hurricanes, Floridians grapple with leaving permanently
ALACHUA COUNTY PREPARES FOR THE RISKS OF A CLIMATE-RELATED POPULATION INCREASE
By Rylan DiGiacomo-Rapp Alligator Staff Writer
When the water receded, it took Mackenzie Spiroff’s new life with it. The stench of sewage and fish clung to her St. Petersburg home — or what was left of it — as she navigated the graveyard of her past before the storm.
Spiroff knew what she needed to save: a shoebox of fond memories, her father’s pottery and the “soggy brick” resembling her record collection. Notes and photographs dried scattered across her driveway, and dazed, the 21-year-old UF graduate baked in the sun along with them.
Everything else, she laid to rest.
“I’m never living in a flood zone again,” she said. “I’m never going through that again.”
Hurricane Helene made landfall in the Big Bend region of Florida Sept. 26, pummeling Spiroff and other state residents with 140 mph winds and an estimated storm surge of up to 15 feet. The Category 4 then wreaked havoc on Georgia, the Carolinas, Tennessee and Virginia. With a death toll amounting to over 200, it was one of the deadliest storms to hit the U.S. in the 21st century.
Less than two weeks later, Hurricane Milton brought meteorologists to tears on live TV as it tested the bounds of maximum hurricane intensity. Torpedoing through Sarasota Oct. 9 as a Category 3, the newly weakened storm still piled more panic on the Sunshine State when it hadn’t yet recovered from Helene.
An unavoidable question crossed
the minds of those who lost everything: When is it time to leave?
As coastal residents flee the threat of storms and rising seas, inland areas like North Central Florida prepare for a possible influx of these environmental refugees, otherwise known as climate migrants.
In the ruins of her home postHelene, Spiroff said she would never move back to St. Petersburg.
“We’re going to have to keep relocating and relocating and becoming smaller and smaller and try to find that place that’s safe,” she said. “Eventually, no place is going to be safe.”
Based on the height of a grimy water line, the storm surge had been about chest high — tall enough to reach her stacked belongings. Even the doors fell off their hinges, sodden and moldy on a bubbling wood floor. Spiroff threw everything she owned in a tower of trash, quit her job as a kayak tour guide and left for Orlando to stay with her mother and otherwise live inland permanently.
What she described as poor development choices and a lack of flood risk disclosure from the neighborhood left Spiroff feeling “scammed” into her former home, but she also blamed climate change for being forced off the coast.
“It’s here,” she said. “It’s affecting your family and your neighbors and people in your state. And It’s in front of your door and literally flooding your house.”
More displaced people will likely follow, said Richard Doty, a GIS coordinator and research demographer for the UF Bureau of Economic and Business Research, or UF BEBR.
Completed in July, Alachua County’s climate vulnerability assessment used UF BEBR projections
to examine migration trends in response to environmental stressors, primarily sea level rise. The study concluded that the county could face population growth of 8% by the end of the century as a result of climate migrants alone, especially as more residents are battered by intense storms.
“After Hurricane Milton, there are a lot of people in those impacted areas that are just fed up. They’re exhausted,” said Doty, a researcher involved in the study.
The UF BEBR combined general population projections for Alachua County with those estimating climate migration, he said. It provided a forecast extending through the 21st century and took spatial limitations for county development like wetlands, conservation areas and administrative boundaries into consideration.
However, Doty said the study was also a “visioning exercise” and the first attempt at interpreting “cutting edge, if not bleeding edge research” with a decent degree of uncertainty. Creating more accurate climate migration predictions would require extensive work surveying statewide residents on their responses to a range of environmental situations, including hurricanes and sea level rise.
For Doty, it begged the question, “How long will we be able to engineer our way out of this to delay the inevitable?”
But one way or another, he said, people will eventually leave. It’s just a matter of finding out whether they’ll switch counties or leave the Sunshine State entirely.
Alachua County Commissioner Mary Alford said she noticed an increase in climate migration as far back as a decade. Preparing for an
onslaught of these new residents will remain a priority, especially in light of the county’s existing housing shortage, she said.
“I do expect to see continued housing pressure for folks as they attempt to protect themselves from climate disruption and the increased strength of storms that we’re seeing,” she said.
Gainesville has also set out to pioneer a vulnerability assessment of its own during the development of its climate action plan. Chief Climate Officer Dan Zhu sought community input on a first draft Sept. 18, and though its ten chapters didn’t address climate migration directly, she said it may be added depending on the next round of public comment.
About 100 miles south, Tampa General Hospital nurse Tania Pike recalled her grandmother’s stories about the 1921 storm that decimated the bay. The devastating surge from over a century ago was the part that reminded her of the “river” coursing through her Davis Island neighborhood during Helene.
Pike, 67, and her husband struggled to wade through the waste-deep flow to take shelter in a friend’s house, fearing electrocution if power lines toppled in the wind. Since settling on the island in 1980, Pike said a flood of that magnitude had never inundated her neighborhood before.
“It just rose in seconds,” she said. “The water was moving so fast you couldn’t really see any landmarks. Driveways weren’t visible.”
The couple later ripped out their drywall and hardwood floors, which were ruined by the 8 inches of Helene that seeped into their home. Milton swept through shortly after but caused no further damage.
Faced with the decision to fortify
or go, Pike said the next hurricane season will signal her whether to leave the island.
Former Miami resident Ellen Siegel grappled with a similar choice over 30 years ago. Hurricane Andrew swirled through the city in 1992, the first of many local disasters that urged the 75-year-old to head somewhere “high and dry.”
She chose Gainesville, where she could seek inland security and take environmental courses at the university. Now a retiree and self-identified climate migrant, Siegel said she used to value her career as an investment manager, a feeling that dwindled after witnessing continuous threats to Miami.
“I thought that was really important work, but I kind of started thinking that’s not important at all,” she said. “What is the point of having enough money to live on if where you live is unlivable?” As an Everglades park ranger for nearly three decades, she said rising sea levels also killed a personally significant Jamaican Dogwood tree, and scuba diving on dead coral reefs only furthered her unease. The ground eventually became so oversaturated with water it caused a septic tank to leak back into her home, the final signal to Siegel that it was time to go.
As a CLEO Institute climate speaker specialist based in Gainesville, she only expects the pattern to gain speed.
“No question about it, there’ll be more people like me who connect the dots slowly,” she said. “More people that are impacted directly over and over again will make that decision.”
MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2024
www.alligator.org/section/the_avenue
FESTIVITIES
Gainesville’s guide to fall festivities and pumpkin patches
FIVE PUMPKIN PATCHES WITH FALL ACTIVITIES FOR STUDENTS, FAMILIES
By Tanya Fedak Avenue Staff Writer
As the weather begins to grow cooler and the days become shorter, it’s time to begin fall festivities. To get in the fall spirit, here is a list of the five best pumpkin farms in the Gainesville area. Grab your flannels and warm apple cider.
5. Amazing Grace Family Farms
Amazing Grace Family Farms stands out from other pumpkin patches in Gainesville because of its late hours, which are extended to 9 p.m. for fall festivities. Although only open on Fridays and Saturdays, the farm offers families plenty of time to enjoy its attractions, like a pumpkin patch and crop maze.
The farm’s activities also include a corn crib, jump pad, ball pit and farm animals.
Keep up with the Avenue on Twitter. Tweet us @TheFloridaAve.
Tickets are sold online for $17.95, with a $2.64 processing fee, and $24.95 at the gate.
Amazing Grace opens on Fridays at 4 p.m. and Saturdays at 10 a.m. Located at 4521 SR-21 in Green Cove Springs, the farm is a little over an hour away from Gainesville, making it a great opportunity for a small road trip.
4. Crossroads Farm and Apiary
Although Crossroads Farm and Apiary is open year-round, the farm celebrates a fall festival from Oct. 5 to Nov. 3. Festival admission is $12 for ages 3 and up and includes a pumpkin patch, crop maze, bounce pad, animal feeding, handmade crafts and hay rides. For an additional purchase, guests can access the farm’s “pumpkin chunkin,” paintball target practice and face painting.
The farm, located at 3831 NW 156 Ave, also offers flower picking, which doesn’t require festival admission. Though the Fall Festival hours are Saturdays, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sundays, from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m., Crossroads is open to pre-scheduled groups Tuesday through
Friday.
Crossroads Farm and Apiary plans to give away a free pack of four tickets to the festival, and visitors can enter on its website.
3. Bryer Patch Farm
Bryer Patch Farm offers too many fall activities to fit into one trip — each weekend offers a new experience. On Oct. 19 and Oct. 20, Bryer Patch celebrated Dog Days, a $10 event inviting guests to bring their furry friends to the farm.
For those looking for something more spooky, Oct. 25 and Oct. 26 might be the perfect weekend to visit the farm. Titled “Slightly Frightening at the Patch,” the event offers a costume contest, pumpkin patch, flower picking, farm activities and a “slightly frightening” crop maze and hayride.
Bryer Patch’s final fall event is the Sunflower Festival, which occurs Nov. 2, Nov. 3, Nov. 16 and Nov. 17. The festival will feature live music, flower picking, vendors, flower fields, hayrides and a crop maze.
Each weekend event is open from 10 a.m.
Gator win UF takes homecoming victory over Kentucky. Read more on pg. 11.
to 5 p.m. Slightly Frightening at the Patch will open Oct. 25, from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., and Oct. 26, from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. All events will take place at 5700 SW 250 St.
2. Amber Brooke Farms
With one farm in Williston, located at 3250 NE 140 Ave., and one in Eustis, 36111 County Road 44A, families have two opportunities to celebrate Amber Brooke Farms’ Fourth Annual fall Festival. Both locations offer a pumpkin patch, petting zoo, “U-Pick” flowers and a sunflower express hayride. It also offers a sunny hemp maze, using the tall, green and yellow plant to disorient guests. This year, the farm also created two new attractions: the gel blaster range and an archery range.
Read the rest online at alligator.org/section/the_avenue.
@ttanyafedak tfedak@alligator.org
El Caimán
LUNES, 21 DE OCTUBRE DE 2024
www.alligator.org/section/elcaiman
Una guía del votante sobre las seis enmiendas estatales de estas elecciones
EL 5 DE NOVIEMBRE ES EL ÚLTIMO DÍA PARA VOTAR
Por Morgan Vanderlaan Esritora de El Caimán
Traducido por Isabela Reinoso
Esritora de El Caimán
La votación temprana en el condado de Alachua comenzó el 20 de octubre para las elecciones presidenciales de 2024. Desde los dinámicos candidatos que encabezan la lista hasta las elecciones locales para el aguacil, las elecciones de este año tendrán repercusiones de gran alcance en toda Florida.
Sin embargo, una parte importante y a menudo confusa del ciclo electoral de este año son las seis enmiendas constitucionales sobre las que pueden decidir los votantes. Cada enmienda debe alcanzar un nivel de aprobación superior al 60% de los votantes para ser aprobada.
Si se aprueban, estas enmiendas pasarán a formar parte permanente de la constitución del
estado de Florida y no podrán ser anuladas por ningún acto legislativo.
A pesar de tratarse de enmiendas no partidistas, los votantes de Florida están divididos sobre cada cuestión.
Enmienda 1
Si se aprueba, la Enmienda 1 haría que todas las elecciones de la junta escolar fueran partidistas a partir del ciclo electoral de 2026. Actualmente, queda a discreción de cada condado introducir o no la política en el consejo haciendo que los candidatos enumeren sus afiliaciones políticas.
En el condado de Alachua, las elecciones a los consejos escolares son actualmente no partidistas.
Los puestos del consejo escolar ya están suficientemente politizados como para introducir la afiliación partidista en las elecciones, dijo la presidenta de la Liga de Mujeres Votantes del Condado de Alachua, Janice Garry.
“La escuela y la educación de nuestros alumnos no es una cuestión partidista, y no debe partidizarse haciendo que los candidatos representen a un partido concreto”, afirmó.
Sin embargo, el patrocinador de la
Mantente al día con El Caimán en Twitter. Envíanos un tweet @ElCaimanGNV.
Election season
enmienda, el representante estatal Spencer Roach (R-Fort Myers) dijo que el propósito del proyecto de ley no es llevar la política al aula, sino más bien para educar a los votantes sobre quiénes son los candidatos en la junta.
“Para mí se trata de transparencia, y simplemente creo que tenemos la obligación de dar a los votantes tanta información sobre un candidato como sea posible, y dejar que ellos tomen una decisión sobre la investigación de un candidato”, dijo en una declaración al panel de la casa de Florida en 2023.
La oficina de Roach no respondió para hacer comentarios a tiempo para su publicación.
Enmienda 2
De aprobarse, la Enmienda 2 otorgaría un derecho constitucional a la caza y la pesca.
La enmienda establece que la pesca y la caza se convertirían en el método preferido para “gestionar y controlar de forma responsable la pesca y la vida salvaje” y “se preservarán para siempre como un derecho público.”
Las normas de pesca y caza las establece actualmente la Comisión de Conservación de la Pesca y la Vida Silvestre de Florida.
La enmienda 2 garantizará el derecho de los floridanos a cazar y pescar al consagrarlo
Exercising the right to vote. Read more on pg. 10.
en la Constitución, dijo Ed Penny, director de educación sobre política pública de Ducks Unlimited Southern Region. Ducks Unlimited es una organización nacional sin fines de lucro que se dedica a la restauración de hábitats en territorios pantanosos.
La enmienda garantiza que las generaciones futuras tengan la oportunidad de disfrutar del aire libre a través de la pesca y la caza, dijo Penny.
“En Florida, la caza y la pesca forman parte del patrimonio de muchos ciudadanos”, afirmó. “Es algo de lo que sentirse orgulloso. Es algo que hay que proteger”.
Sin embargo, algunos votantes consideran problemática la redacción de la enmienda. En una enmienda constitucional, cada palabra es importante, dijo Chuck O'Neal, Presidente de Noto2.
Lea el resto en línea en alligator.org/section/elcaiman.
Para obtener actualizaciones de El Caimán, síganos en línea en www.alligator.org/section/elcaiman.
October 25, 2024 | 7:30 PM at the Curtis M. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts
Purchase tickets by scanning the QR code, by phone at 352.392.2787 or in person at the box office of the Curtis M. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.
Hop on your broom and come dressed bad to the bone in your favorite spooky wear and win a prize pack valued at $150. If you’ve got it, haunt it. The winner also gets a photo op with Dracula + Vampyra post-show, fang-tastic!
PROUDLY PRESENTS
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
How to Place a Classified Ad:
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1. U.S. STATES: Which is the least populated state?
1. MEASUREMENTS: How many inches are in a mile?
2. TELEVISION: Which character on "The Office" has a heart attack during a fire drill?
3. HISTORY: Why is Delaware's nickname The Diamond State?
2. ASTRONOMY: What does the acronym SETI mean to the scientific community?
4. LITERATURE: Which children's book features the characters Tweedledee and Tweedledum?
5. GEOGRAPHY: What is the capital of The Bahamas?
3. LANGUAGE: What does the Latin prefix “sub-” mean in English?
6. MOVIES: What is the name of the villain in "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre"?
7. SCIENCE: Which unit measures food energy?
8. ANIMAL KINGDOM: What is a group of swimming ducks called?
4. U.S. PRESIDENTS: Who was the only president to serve two nonconsecutive terms?
CATNIP
Borrow a Trap / Make a Clinic Reservation Make a Donation / Volunteer New Expanded Hours
Lots of NEW info at http://ocgainesville.org/
9. MUSIC: Where does the pop group name The Bee Gees come from?
10. PSYCHOLOGY: What irrational fear is represented in the condition called globophobia?
5. LITERATURE: Which 20th-century movie star penned the autobiography “Me: Stories of My Life”?
6. HISTORY: What was the first National Monument proclaimed in the United States?
7. GEOGRAPHY: Where is the island of Luzon located?
8. MOVIES: Which sci-fi movie has the tagline, “Reality is a thing of the past”?
1. Tommie Aaron, brother of Hank, hit how many home runs in his seven-sea-
1. Name the wide receiver who threw a 43-yard touchdown pass for the Pittsburgh Steelers in their 21-10 win over the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XL. (Hint: He played quarterback for the Indiana Hoosiers.)
2. In pickleball, the non-volley zone extending 7 feet from either side of the net is known by what common household name?
9. GENERAL KNOWLEDGE: What was the name of the United States’ first nuclear-powered submarine?
3. Defenseman Don Sweeney played 1,051 games from 1988-2003 with what NHL team? (Hint: He was named general manager of this team in 2015.)
10. GAMES: What are the four railroad properties in Monopoly?
4. All 87 crew and passengers -- including 22 athletes, trainers and doctors from the U.S. amateur boxing team -- perished in March 1980 when their plane crashed while attempting to land in what country?
Answers
5. Name the bowler who had televised perfect 300 games in Professional Women's Bowling Association (PWBA) Tour title events in 2001 and 2021.
1. 63,360 inches
6. Right-handed pitcher Bryan Haas, who started Game 4 of the 1982 World Series for the Milwaukee Brewers, was better known by what nickname?
2. Search for extraterrestrial intelligence
3. Below or insufficient
7. What Villanova Wildcats player made a three-point shot at the buzzer to seal a 77-74 win over the North Carolina Tar Heels in the 2016 NCAA men's basketball championship game?
4. Grover Cleveland
5. Katharine Hepburn
6. Devils Tower, 1906
7. The Philippines
8. “The
www.alligator.org/section/opinions
Beginning next week, many UF students will – for the first time in their lives –have the chance to exercise a singular civic privilege: voting in a presidential election. They will not only be casting a vote for president, but also for the many other federal, state and local candidates and propositions on the ballot.
This political season, like many before it, has no shortage of acrimony and division. Some prominent candidates inspire equally passionate devotion from their supporters and loathing from their critics – here among our UF community just as across the rest of our nation.
We should not disregard these divisions or downplay their significance. The issues at stake are indeed very consequential. Yet our political differences should not stop us from appreciating a more fundamental truth that unites all Americans: the ability to choose our leaders. The right to vote is a sacred one and is central to the American experiment in self-government. We hope UF students will cherish this and exercise it. Especially since, sadly, it is a right that too many Americans take for granted.
Sometimes it takes a look around the world to appreciate anew the blessings we enjoy in the United States. Consider the plight of citizens in many other countries whose choices are controlled and whose votes are disregarded — or in some cases, who are not allowed to vote at all.
William Inboden & Matthew Jacobs opinions@alligator.org
Earlier this summer, voters in Venezuela voted overwhelmingly for opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urruttia, only to see the Nicolas Maduro dictatorship overturn the will of the voters and send Gonzalez fleeing into exile in Spain to avoid almost certain imprisonment by the Maduro regime. Voters in Iran this year elected Masoud Pezeshkian as their president, but only after the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameini and the ruling clerics who hold ultimate power in the country had pre-selected Pezeshkian as part of a small slate of four approved candidates. In Russia this past March, autocrat Vladimir Putin “won” the presidential election with 88% of the vote after his main opponent Alexei Navalny was imprisoned and then murdered.
Read the rest online at alligator.org/ section/opinions.
Professor William Inboden is Director of the Hamilton Center for Classical and Civic Education. Professor Matthew Jacobs is Director of the Bob Graham Center for Public Service.
Among Peace Corps volunteers, we often say our service is “the toughest job you’ll ever love.” At 18, however, I couldn’t grasp this sentiment; I was too focused on escaping my responsibilities to understand the profound journey ahead. It was the summer before my senior year of college, and I felt the pressure to go to law school — a goal I had pursued my whole life. Having graduated high school with an associate degree through dual enrollment and spent just two years “finding myself” at college, I knew I wasn’t ready for that next chapter. Then I discovered the Peace Corps and immediately knew I would serve.
In hindsight, I was naive and overzealous; the possibility of rejection didn’t even cross my mind. When I told my parents about my application, they were skeptical. Both had served in the U.S. Navy, so they understood life in resource-limited places. My family, Haitian immigrants, questioned why I would abandon a life they had worked so hard to build in a country full of comfort and security that had been generations in the making. Admittedly, I hadn’t thought
The views expressed here are not necessarily those of The Alligator.
through the practicalities of living in one of the poorest countries in the world, but that was probably fortunate. Otherwise, I might have missed out on the best experience of my life.
It didn’t take long for me to understand what “the toughest job you’ll ever love” truly meant. I lived each day at the edge of my comfort zone, facing challenges I had never anticipated. As the first volunteer in my community, I felt the weight of expectations. For the first time, I had to defend my Americanness as a Black American in Malawi, Africa, while also taking on the role of a teacher responsible for my students’ education in a large class with limited resources.
Read the rest online at alligator.org/ section/opinions.
Arnwine is a UF law school student and Peace Corps recruiter.
The Alligator encourages comments from readers. Letters to the editor should not exceed 600 words (about one letter-sized page). They must be typed, double-spaced and must include the author’s name, classification and phone number. Names will be withheld if the writer shows just cause. We reserve the right to edit for length, grammar, style and libel. Send letters to opinions@alligator.org, bring them to 2700 SW 13th St., or send them to P.O. Box 14257, Gainesville, FL 32604-2257.Columns of about 450 words about original topics and editorial cartoons are also welcome. Questions? Call 352-376-4458.
Dani
Dani Arnwine opinions@alligator.org
MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2024
www.alligator.org/section/sports
Todd Golden courting diverse roster ahead of his third season at Florida
THE GATORS WILL FEATURE SIX PLAYERS FROM OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES IN 2024-25
By Luke Adragna Sports Writer
In the decade preceding Todd Golden’s arrival at Florida, the Gators had just eight different international players. In Golden’s three seasons, there have been
Todd Golden isn’t like most Southeastern Conference men’s head basketball coaches.
His hair isn’t gray, his skin still has a teenage-ish glow and his relaxed clothing sometimes even makes it difficult to distinguish him from Florida’s several student managers.
Golden has a different way of going about his moxie and philosophies. He’s not afraid to appear or think differently, an ideology that has been reflected in his roster decisions throughout his tenure at Florida.
The Gators men’s basketball team’s roster in 2024-25 will feature six internationally-based players. Sophomore guard Kajus Kublickas, freshman guard Urban Klavzar and freshman center Viktor Mikic are from Europe; sophomore forward Alex Condon is from Australia; freshman center Olivier Rioux is from Canada and sophomore center Rueben Chinyelu is from Nigeria.
Florida’s abundance of international players marks a stark contrast from the rest of the SEC. There are only 22 international players among the other 15 schools in the conference.
FOOTBALL
However, for those aware of Golden’s background, his emphasis on international recruitment shouldn’t come as a surprise.
The Phoenix native began his head coaching career at the University of San Francisco in 2019 after serving on the coaching staff for three previous seasons. Golden also served as an assistant coach at Columbia during the 2013-14 season. Both shared a common denominator: many international players.
Jonathan Safir, UF men’s basketball’s director of basketball strategy and analytics, worked and played under Golden at Columbia and San Francisco. He attested that international recruitment has always been a point of emphasis for Golden.
“We’re not afraid to think differently, operate a little differently [and] challenge tradition or conventional norms,” Safir said.
So how is Golden able to recruit internationally?
According to Safir, international recruitment is a process several of Florida’s coaches have been doing over the last decade.
“Really, it kind of all starts with knowing what events [to go to],” Safir said. “And then just getting to know the people, the boots on the ground, the agents, the coaches … people who have say or are going to have a constant stream of prospects or players.”
Safir spearheaded Condon’s recruitment two seasons ago and introduced him to UF associate head coach Carlin Hartman. After talks over Zoom and an eventual visit, Condon committed to Florida.
“If you put that kid in EYBL [Nike Elite
Youth Basketball League], [he’s] every school in the country’s recruit No. 1, [he’s] somebody in the top 25, top 50 recruits,” Safir said. “You put him in the Centre of Excellence in Australia, and he really only has three schools recruiting him.”
Condon was the first international player to make significant strides under Golden regarding his production on the court for the Gators during his freshman campaign in 202324.
The Perth, Australia, native and rising sophomore played significant minutes in his first season with the program.
“Once I came over here, got comfortable,” Condon said. “It was the right decision.”
Condon averaged just under 8 points, over 6 rebounds and around 1 assist per game in his first season. He could be expected to take on a larger role this upcoming season as a starter, which Golden has been optimistic about throughout the offseason.
“I think both those guys are geared to really, really help us this year,” Golden said of Condon and Haugh. “They're incredible competitors, really smart guys and really driven. They both have high aspirations in terms of where they want their careers to go, and they spend a lot of time in the gym.”
It hasn’t just been Florida where international players are prevalent on the roster. In the West Coast Conference, international recruitment has been a staple for San Francisco, where Golden served as the head coach from 2019-2022.
Among 11 WCC teams in 2024, there are
63 international players or an average of six international players per team. This is a staggering difference from the average among all collegiate Division I basketball programs, which averaged two international players per team in 2022.
In Golden’s three seasons as San Francisco’s head coach, there were at least five international players each season. With the Gators, he has featured nine international players in three seasons. Before Golden arrived at Florida, the program only had eight international players in the last 10 seasons.
“If you have an international player who wants to come to America, the distance isn't going to matter,” Safir said.
However, the selling point isn’t quite the same in Gainesville. There are several other draws besides its location — the education, history of the program and presence of other international players were significant factors, Chinyelu said.
“Being able to have diversity, having different people coming together for one purpose is really lovely,” he said. “The school culture, just being a great sports school and also academically being a great school, it’s something that drove me down here. Being in The Swamp is lovely.”
Read the rest online at alligator.org/ section/sports.
@lukeadrag ladragna@alligator.org
The future is now: Jadan Baugh, DJ Lagway shine in much-needed moment
By Max Tucker Sports Writer
Most 19-year-olds at UF spend their first semester wandering around campus trying to find their classes, struggling to find a club to join or a favorite place to eat. However, freshman running back Jadan Baugh and freshman quarterback DJ Lagway have been tasked with a much more unique circumstance.
For the first time in Florida football history, two true freshmen started in the backfield for the Gators on Saturday. By the time the final whistle blew, nearly 90,000 fans at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium had just finished rabidly cheering loud enough to make your ears ring.
Florida’s 48-20 victory against Kentucky was largely connected to the positive impact that Lagway and Baugh produced. Perhaps more important for the Gators, however, was
the reassurance that UF head coach Billy Napier received.
“We had a vision for what they could accomplish here,” Napier said, “[as a] person, student and player, and a ton of people contributed to that. Both come from great families. Both have humility. Their work ethic is second to none.”
Although the aforementioned 90,000 fans get the chance to watch Lagway and Baugh perform nearly every week, there’s an immense amount of time and effort spent behind the scenes on the practice field and in the facility as Florida prepares for its opponents.
But if you ask Lagway where his motivation and faith come from to compete at a high level, you’ll find a deeper meaning than just throwing touchdown passes or winning football games.
“As a kid, I've always been taught what God gives, he can also take,” Lagway said. “I just definitely
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stay humble and give God all the glory because without him I'm nothing. That's just the biggest thing with me.”
Lagway has also attributed his instant success for the Gators to the man he replaced as the starting quarterback. In the third quarter of Florida’s game against No. 7 Tennessee, redshirt senior quarterback Graham Mertz tore his ACL, all but ending his college football career.
Mertz has played an invaluable role in Lagway’s progression within the program since the latter arrived on campus in January. Lagway has absorbed the knowledge like a sponge, soaking in tips and guidance from Mertz both on and off the field.
“Graham is the best thing that could ever happen to me,” Lagway said. “Him being here, just learning from a veteran player himself, it's been amazing to learn and to see how to do things right. He's a true professional, and that's what I want
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to be when I get older.”
Veteran players passing down their knowledge seems to be a recurring theme for the newfound duo of Baugh and Lagway. UF senior running back Montrell Johnson Jr. also went down with a lower-body injury against the Volunteers on Oct. 12.
In his debut as Florida’s starting running back, Baugh tied UF’s all-time single-game rushing touchdown record, finding the end zone five times against Kentucky. After his performance, he wasted little time showing homage to Johnson Jr.’s role in his development as a player.
“Hats off to Montrell,” Baugh said. “He brought me in and put his arms around me and told me I'm a good player, but I got to keep working. So him being the leader in that room just makes me better and the rest of the guys around me better.”
Baugh’s recruiting process in high school was a peculiar one. He
originally committed to play football at the University of Arkansas on Dec. 18, but just two days later, he flipped and signed his National Letter of Intent to Florida.
The Atlanta native acknowledged how the close-knit relationship he shares with the people who have been there every step of the way in his recruiting process played a major role in his decision to join the Gators.
“Being somewhere that I knew could take care of me and my family,” Baugh said. “That played a big part [in] being close to my brothers. So that really sealed the deal for me. Florida had a plan when I came up here on my official visit. They had a plan for me and my family.”
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