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TUESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2022
VOLUME 116 ISSUE 19 Not officially associated with the University of Florida
Published by Campus Communications, Inc. of Gainesville, Florida
UF professors create online alternatives as COVID-19 empties classrooms THE UNIVERSITY HAS NOT CHANGED CLASSROOM EXPECTATIONS EVEN AS OMICRON CASES SURGE
By Gregorio Ruiz-Perez Alligator Staff Writer
Ashleigh Lucas // Alligator Staff
UF students sit inside their Integrated Principles of Biology Two lecture on Friday, Jan. 14. Students have been readjusting to in-person classes amid rising COVID-19 cases.
Community remembers murder victims over 30 years later THE COMMUNITY REFLECTS ON HOW THE GAINESVILLE RIPPER STILL AFFECTS GAINESVILLE WITH THE RELEASE OF THE NEW “SCREAM” MOVIE
By Alexis Carson Alligator Staff Writer
“Remember 1990.” Visitors approach the short phrase painted in bold, red font along the 34th Street graffiti wall and leave white roses in translucent vases.
SPORTS/SPECIAL/CUTOUT
Gator baseball finish preview Story description with comma, pg# Take a look at how the season is looking up on pg. 12
A paint-splattered plaque resting on the ground with the words “You will never be forgotten” serves as a reminder of the brutal killings that took place 32 years ago. Five Gainesville college students were murdered in their apartments along Archer Road in August 1990, and three of them were brutally assaulted by a man dubbed “The Gainesville Ripper.” The Florida Department of Law Enforcement caught the murderer after a nine-monthlong search where he, Danny Rolling, was executed by lethal injection in 2006. The 25-foot mural serves as a memori-
al for the victims: Sonja Larson, 18; Christina Powell, 17; Christa Hoyt, 18; Manuel Taboada, 23; and Tracy Paules, 23. Former and current Gainesville residents relived the fear that rocked the city and the hundreds of students and families that left following the murders. Thirty-two years later, they reflect on the evolving economic climate and the city’s improved safety precautions. The popular “Scream” franchise — of which the fifth installment released on Friday — took inspiration from the events
SEE MURAL, PAGE 4
How Bazar shuts down Second Street Local shop hosts late-night grand opening, pg. 10
Instead of moving his in-person classes online following UF’s COVID-19 spike, Mark Hostetler brought his 15 students outside in a breezeway for their biodiversity conservation class. “I didn't feel safe for myself or the students to be in an indoor classroom,” said Hostetler, a wildlife, ecology and conservation professor. Alachua County reported that new positive COVID-19 cases jumped from 2,072 the week of Dec. 31 to 6,524 the week of Jan. 14. Spreading or contracting the omicron variant is exactly what some professors and students hope to prevent. “I can do this because there's a small class, and the first few weeks we’re outdoors doing stuff anyway,” Hostetler said. “So, it worked out well.” Students who have to quarantine and miss class will be treated as being absent for any other sickness, according to an Aug. 18 campus brief. Cynthia Roldán, a UF spokesperson, wrote in an email that classroom expectations haven’t changed. The university believes that if students and faculty continue to follow the necessary precautions, it will be a successful semester. “We understand that the omicron variant has presented another challenge in the pandemic similar to the one we faced during the Fall semester with the delta variant,” Roldán wrote. “That is why university leadership has stressed the importance of wearing a mask… and getting a booster shot.” Roldán didn’t answer questions on whether UF has advised professors to offer HyFlex or Zoom as an option for students quarantining. UF has been extraordinarily vague and not very helpful at all, said Steve Noll, a history professor. The university only told him that he couldn't go completely online. There was no guidance on when he could move classes online, he said. “They’ve given basically no guidelines,” Noll said. “It’s the Wild West.” To alleviate some pressure from his students, Noll has taken it on himself to offer his students a
SEE CLASS, PAGE 4
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The virus hasn't dampened New Year's resolutions Gainesville gym memberships increase along with omicron cases, pg. 6
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