Monday, March 6, 2023

MONDAY, MARCH 6, 2023

UF Health complies with state audit, reports increase in gender-affirming care patients

UF declined to speculate on motivation for state’s audit

By Amanda Friedman Alligator Staff Writer

UF reported a steady increase of patients diagnosed with gender dysphoria or who received gender-affirming care at UF Health since 2018, according to an audit requested by the governor’s office and obtained by The Alligator.

Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Jan. 18 memo, issued by Chris Spencer, director of the Office of Policy and Budget, mandated Florida public universities compile a report on the number of patients receiving numerous types of gender-affirming care through UF Health facilities starting from Jan. 1, 2018. The information was due Feb. 10.

DeSantis’ office didn’t respond to The Alligator’s request for comment via email.

UF followed all applicable state and federal laws when complying

Gator Party wins executive seats, Change Party takes UF Student Senate majority

LARGEST TURNOUT SINCE 2015

By Alissa Gary & Amanda Friedman Alligator Staff Writer

More than 12,400 students voted in Student Government elections Feb. 28 and March 1, resulting in a Gator Party executive ticket win and Change Party Senate majority.

Gator candidate Olivia Green will take office as president in April, with Clara Calavia as vice president and Nyla Pierre as treasurer. In the Senate, Change won 30 seats, Gator won 19 and a non-party affiliated write-in candidate won a seat as well.

SPORTS/SPECIAL/CUTOUT

Change now holds 51 seats in the Senate — a majority.

When Feb. 28 polls closed, 7,619 students had voted, nearly 2,000 more than the first day of Spring 2022. Another 4,853 students voted March 1.

This year’s ballot count surpassed last year’s by more than 3,000. Compared to 2021’s Spring election, nearly 10,000 more ballots were cast this year, signaling a full return from low COVID-19 election turnout.

The UF Election Commission affirmed the election results at a March 3 meeting. It also adjudicated 26 original complaints filed between both parties; 11 were heard

SEE SG ELECTION, PAGE 5

with the request, UF spokesperson Cynthia Roldan said. The UF Office of the General Counsel reviewed the responsive documents and ensured protected health information was removed before the audit’s production.

The university will not speculate on the state’s intended use of the report, Roldan added.

The audit details the number of patients diagnosed with gender identity disorders and the different forms of treatment they received, including puberty blockers, hormone therapy, surgical procedures and behavioral health services. It was composed of data from UF Health’s Gainesville and Jacksonville facilities. The data was broken down into two age categories: minors and adults.

UF Health’s Gainesville entity reported 164 interactions between patients and doctors for gender-af-

SEE AUDIT, PAGE 4

Blazed, unfazed: UF students share marijuana habits

COLLEGE MARIJUANA USE ON THE RISE

By Ella Thompson Alligator Staff Writer

A freshly rolled joint and a Cane’s box combo with extra toast. A magical bong rip and three Taco Bell chicken quesadillas with a large Baja Blast freeze. A 50-milligram edible and a warm brownie with ice cream. A homemade gravity bong and Airheads Xtremes Bites.

These are just a few of the scenes UF students who smoke marijuana are far too familiar with.

College students are using marijuana

PHOTOS: UF students push for climate action

at historically high levels, according to a 2021 study by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. A significant portion — 44% — of college students reported using marijuana in 2020, compared to 38% in 2015, the study said.

Amie Goodin, an assistant professor at the UF College of Pharmacy and the faculty lead for research strategy within the Consortium for Medical Marijuana Clinical Outcomes Research, studies medical marijuana and tries to answer questions surrounding it: What’s the purpose behind the use? Is there an intention to use it for some kind of medical reason? What

SEE MARIJUANA, PAGE 5

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Kowacie Reeves expresses creativity through hairstyles Reeves has used 10 different hairstyles throughout 2022-2023 season. Read more on pg. 12.

Story description finish with comma, pg#

Members of the UF community came together to advocate for the earth, pg. 6

Baby Gator attempts to shrink waitlist

Child care facility plans expansion of staff and facilities, pg. 7

Gabriella Aulisio // Alligator Staff

Kariel Stuart, 21, (center) from the youth climate action group Sunrise Movement Gainesville leads protesters through downtown Gainesville chanting “Climate change is not a lie, do not let our planet die” Friday, March 3, 2023. Find this gallery on pg. 6.

Gainesville city manager resuspends police K-9 unit 2 weeks after reinstatement

UNIT UNDER REVIEW

By Aidan Bush Alligator Staff Writer

The city’s short-lived reinstatement of its K-9 unit ended Friday after it was pulled due to community concerns and demands for transparency.

City Manager Cynthia Curry announced the new hiatus of the Gainesville Police Department’s K-9 force two weeks after it was reinstated. The unit’s status will be reevaluated when city staff creates the budget for the next fiscal year.

The decision to take a hiatus will give the city time to develop an approach toward the K-9 unit that centers around community input, Curry said in a release.

“This affords us the opportunity to reassess how best to serve our neighbors,” she said, “We will involve the community going forward.”

GPD initially suspended the unit after staff restructuring in December, when it saw a leadership change as well as the retirement of one of its K-9s. After its reinstatement, the unit was looking to hire an additional five handlers within the month.

Instead, GPD Chief Lonnie Scott said the unit will cooperate by pausing until the city reaches its decision.

“During this time, we will reassign the officers based on the best needs of the department,” Scott said in the release. “The canines will remain in the care of their handlers until such time a decision is made.”

Reinstatement Feb. 17 drew criticism due to a series of controver-

sies the unit saw in recent years, including the mauling of Gainesville resident Terrell Bradley, internal investigations finding inappropriate conversations about the event and federal lawsuits alleging the unit had a racist culture.

Days after GPD announced the reinstatement of the unit Feb. 20, local activists attended the city’s Police Advisory Council meeting Feb. 22.

After public input, the council decided to prioritize addressing the K-9 unit, rescheduling a discussion on it from May to March.

Gainesville resident and local activist Danielle Chanzes said the public’s efforts in fighting the reinstatement led to the decision and to future input.

“It feels like the community’s calls to actions and cries for help are finally being listened to and understood,” she said.

The city should evaluate if the unit is financially reasonable as well, she added.

Both residents and commissioners seemed to call for greater transparency.

GPD currently displays annual use of force reports on its website, though 2022’s report isn’t yet available as of March 5. The department also offers videos looking at training, though they are edited.

Gainesville resident Rodney Carroll, 76, expected occasional issues to come up with the dogs, he said.

The former Army Special Forces member and Seminole County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. said while he thinks suspending the full unit is unreasonable, the city should seek out experts to ensure the handlers are properly

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trained.

“Someone independent of GPD needs to review how these dogs are trained, how the handlers are trained and see if there’s some fault on their part,.” Caroll said.

Inviting citizens and the media to publicly observe training could help restore trust, he added.

City commissioners hope additional meetings will allow for a better local understanding of what needs the K-9 unit has to meet.

District 1 Commissioner Desmon Duncan-Walker, who represents most of East Gainesville, said the suspension was an opportunity to better connect the city to locals’ needs.

“I am interested in having a conversation about what we might be able to do to give our neighbors and citizens of Gainesville the opportunity to engage with us,” she said.

Gainesville’s Public Safety Committee will have a meeting to further address the K-9 unit March 27. It will be held at 1 p.m. at Gainesville City Hall.

@aidandisto abush@alligator.org

Pride Community Center of North Central Florida may relocate after building sale

BOARD OF DIRECTORS CONSIDERS SHARED COMMERCIAL SPACE

By Lauren Brensel Alligator Staff Writer

After about 16 years serving the community in its current location, the Pride Community Center of North Central Florida may relocate by April.

The building’s owners — who paid the rent — sold the property, located at 3131 NW 13th St. The center’s president, Tamára Perry-Lunardo, announced the move in a statement released on the center’s website and social media.

The owners felt they needed to let the space go, PerryLunardo said, because the agency Saul Silber Properties owned the rest of the plaza.

“Our previous owners owned only the building, so they didn't have any rights to the parking spaces in front of it, the sidewalk in front of it,” she said.

The Board of Directors pays for the building’s maintenance, repairs, cleaning services, utilities and property taxes, Perry-Lunardo said, but monthly rent in the current space would be too much for the center.

Still, the board may stay and pay rent for a few months while deciding the next move, she said.

“No matter what, our expenses are going to increase,” she said. “We're going to pay rent, which we've not had to do before.”

The board is considering sharing a commercial space with another non-profit organization at the intersection of Northwest 16th Avenue and Northwest Sixth Street.

It could be an exciting opportunity, Perry-Lunardo said.

“We would be neighbors with other like-minded non-

profits who — they may not have the same mission — but are aligned with social justice and equality,” she said.

Location and accessibility are key factors in deciding where to move to, Perry-Lunardo said.

“We looked at some properties that were great, but they were on the second floor of a building and there was no elevator,” she said. “There was no easy mode of transportation for a person who uses a wheelchair or other mobility devices.”

The board is also paying attention to nearby bus routes to ensure transportation is viable, Perry-Lunardo said.

The building was sold Feb. 15, but the new owners offered the board a 60-day grace period while deciding where to relocate to.

The board is hosting a meeting March 7 at 7 p.m. to discuss the details of relocating and receive feedback from the community. There will also be “Work Parties” to clean out the space — the first one is set for April 1.

Anyone interested in providing support or input can fill out a form, available on the center’s website. The board is seeking everything from financial assistance to an artist’s decor for the new space.

After the death of the center’s co-president Terry Fleming and a hate crime investigation following the center being vandalized, Perry-Lunardo said the move is bittersweet.

“We still have a rock lodged in our wall here from that attack,” she said. “There are a lot of good memories at this place. There's also a lot of sad memories. It’s sort of a matter of loving and honoring our past, but we need to let go in order to create our future.”

@LaurenBrensel

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Surfing the state since ’78: UF Surf Club competes in Florida collegiate competition

CLUB PLACED THIRD OVERALL TEAM

By Ella Thompson

Alligator Staff Writer

As a set rolled in, Cory Gann, a 22-year-old UF architecture senior, paddled for the shoreline of New Smyrna Beach. Gann gracefully dropped into a small wave as he picked up momentum on his 9-foot-6-inch longboard.

He rode the line high, staying at the top of the wave before he cross-stepped toward the nose of his board. He cross-stepped back and carved back into the wave. UF Surf members supported him from the beach.

Team captain Paul Campbell, a 21-yearold UF mechanical engineering senior, was proud of how the team competed March 5, despite the tough conditions, he said.

“Everyone came out,” Campbell said. “Beautiful weather. Got to catch a few waves.”

Surfing in a landlocked city comes with challenges, but UF Surf has taken on this obstacle for nearly 45 years. With about 200 members, the club lies somewhere between a competitive UF Rec Sports club team and a social club known for throwing legendary parties.

UF Surf competed against University of North Florida, Florida Atlantic University, Flagler College and University of Central Florida in the National Scholastic Surfing Association March 5 competition at the New Smyrna Beach inlet. UF Surf competed with nine members of the team who made up team A.

UF’s A team placed third overall. Gann placed second in men’s longboard and Campbell placed third in men’s shortboard. Alaina Heater, a 19-year-old UF marketing sophomore, placed sixth in women’s shortboard and Braidyn Cunningham, a 22-year-old UF health education and behavior senior, placed third in women’s shortboard.

For the first time in four years, the surf club qualified for nationals in Dana Point, California. And for the first time in nearly a decade, the team took first place overall in a December National Scholastic Surfing Association competition.

The team had to participate in four competitions and regionals to qualify for nationals. The team is set to compete at the NSSA

Southeastern Regionals in April at NSB Inlet.

June 16, Surf Club will send its A team to compete in nationals where it could potentially face UCF, UNF, Flagler, University of California Los Angeles, University of California San Diego and Hawaiian schools.

Linda Johnston, a 62-year-old director of the Southeast and North NSSA conference, said she’s been organizing local competitions for 27 years. As an NSB local, she spends one weekend a month checking surfers in and calculating heat scores.

“My boys started when they were 4 and 5, and I’ve been here ever since,” she said.

“Now, they’re in their 30s.”

UF Surf President Micaiah Kennedy, a 22-year-old UF computer science senior, joined the club his freshman year. He ran unopposed for president, and he attributes this season’s success to better organization and planning.

“We’ve been able to make it happen and go to almost every contest,” Kennedy said. Surfing in Gainesville isn’t easy. When Surf Club can’t travel to nearby beaches, the team uses a backyard skateboarding half-pipe to practice for upcoming competitions.

UF Surf Club competes against UCF, UNF, Flagler College and FAU in the NSSA Southeast/North College competition in New Smyrna Beach Sunday, March 5, 2023. The team placed third overall.

The iconic half-pipe was built by “Skater” Robb Bjorklund, a former professional skater and ramp builder in Gainesville.

“We always joke that it’s 3- to 4-foot offshore [winds] all the time,” Kennedy said. “Practicing on this translates really well to surfing.”

On its half-pipe, Surf Club has some of its official and unofficial sponsors displayed. Officially, the club is sponsored by Tiger Fire Hot Sauce, Free Ride Skate Shop and Atlantic Yacht Management. Unofficially, Redbull, Four Rivers Smokehouse and the Surf Station help the team out occasionally with donations.

Most UF students know Surf Club from its former house, the “Dojo,” which it left in 2020. In its prime, the Dojo house was registered as a city venue, where it could host music shows, Kennedy said.

“The Dojo was the premiere surf house,” Kennedy said. He described it as a hotbed for Gainesville surfers, skaters and music lovers.

Mark Nelson, a 54-year-old former UF Surf Club member, was the social club chairman in the ’90s. Nelson was in the club from 1988 to 1992 and went to nationals in Huntington

Beach, California, in 1989.

“Back in the late ’80s and early ’90s, we had some pretty big parties,” Nelson said. “We had the Red Hot Chili Peppers. We had big bands play who were nobody then and became somebody now.”

Every year, Nelson gets together with other UF Surf alumni at Marineland beach for the Alumni Challenge. The alumni group has considered establishing a formal travel fund to help the UF Surf club with funding so it can afford to travel for surfing, Nelson said.

Although Nelson is a Gainesville resident, he continues to be an avid surfer and supporter of the club.

Surf Club doesn’t have a member fee, nor does it require surfing or skating experience to join the club. To compete, members have to try out once a year, usually in the Fall.

Although the surfers were competing against one another March 6, they walked back to the beach with smiles on their faces.

“Only a surfer knows the feeling,” Kennedy said.

@elladeethompson ethompson@alligator.org

Jiselle Lee // Alligator Staff

Jiselle Lee // Alligator Staff Alaina Heater, a 19-year-old UF marketing sophomore, competes in the NSSA Southeast/North College competition in New Smyrna Beach Sunday, March 5, 2023.

Gator Marching Band gears up for performance in Ireland

STUDENTS WILL PERFORM IN ST. PATRICK’S DAY FESTIVITIES

By Sophia Bailly Alligator Staff Writer

For the first time in the country’s history, Ireland will hear the singing of woodwinds, the buzzing of brass and the booming of drums from the Gator Marching Band as it embodies the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day with “We Are the Boys from Old Florida.”

About 340 out of the roughly 400 students who comprise the Pride of the Sunshine will spend Spring break performing in the Cork St. Patrick’s Day Parade, Limerick International Band Championship and Dublin St. Patrick’s Day Festival. The band is performing at the invitation of Caroline Conroy, the Lord Mayor of Dublin.

John “Jay” Watkins, associate director of bands, said UF will represent the first well-known college band Dublin has seen in a long time, as his students will have the opportunity to perform live in places other than football stadiums.

“Getting that interaction — that feedback — from a live audience is incomparable,” Watkins said. “Especially for people that have never seen the [band] before. They have no clue what's getting ready to hit them.”

Gator Marching Band is no stranger to prime time, having performed at SEC championships most recently in 2006 and 2008. In 2012, the London Organizing Committee invited the band to perform during the London Olympics, which earned the band international exposure.

Conroy has requested for several years for the Gator Marching Band to perform during St. Patrick’s Day, Watkins said. He confirmed the band would be able to finally perform after UF released its 2022-2023 academic calendar and found Spring break aligned with St. Patrick’s Day.

“This year, with the change in the academic schedule, was the first year that it looked like it was going to line up,” Watkins said.

About 200,000 to 300,000 people will see the band perform on St. Patrick’s Day, Watkins said. The band was invited to compete in the Limerick International Band Championships, but they decided not to compete to avoid an unfair advantage against smaller local high schools.

“We typically don't compete,” Watkins said. “Our goal is to entertain.”

Watkins, who has served the band program for 17 years, said

the opportunity for students to perform with hundreds of thousands of international spectators is once in a lifetime.

The eight-day trip costs about $3,205 for students, but the Gator Band Alumni Association and the provost’s office helped with the funding, Watkins said. He’s not sure how much the entire trip will cost the band program because transportation for instruments is still being accounted for.

Band students were officially notified about the trip at the start of their August camp. Joseph Simmens, a 19-year-old UF microbiology and cell science freshman, said he didn’t want to miss this opportunity after he was unable to perform in London’s New Year’s Day parade his freshman year of high school.

The COVID-19 pandemic sent schools into lockdown at the end of his sophomore year, so Simmens couldn’t participate in international travel until now.

The band is preparing a combination of popular pieces performed at football games with traditional Irish tunes. Students are preparing music specific to their experiences at UF, such as the fight song, “The Orange and Blue,” “We Are the Boys from Old Florida” and the music of Gainesville legend Tom Petty.

The band’s goal is to bring some of its Florida heritage to Ireland, the freshman saxophone player said.

In addition to traditional football game tunes and the Irish music selected, Simmens said the band is playing other popular

‘Very scary times’

AUDIT, from pg. 1

firming care in 2018 and 410 in 2022 — a 150% increase. However, the numbers fluctuated throughout the four years. Roughly 30% of the 410 encounters were patients’ first times seeking gender-affirming care.

UF Health in Gainesville reported 192 patients diagnosed with gender identity disorders — either before, during or after treatment with UF Health — in 2018 and 465 patients diagnosed in 2022, a 142.2% increase. The number of minors diagnosed with gender identity disorders increased from 82 in 2018 to 148 in 2022.

UF Health’s Jacksonville facility reported lower numbers for treatment encounters, with 16 in 2018 and 10 in 2022.

At UF Health in Jacksonville, the institution reported 36 patients diagnosed with gender identity disorders in 2018 and 77 diagnosed in 2022. Only nine of the 77 patients diagnosed in 2022 were minors.

No minors have undergone gender-affirming care surgical procedures at UF Health’s Gainesville or Jacksonville facilities within the four years. Gender-affirming care surgical procedures performed include surgeries that cater to the areas of the body above and below the waist, in-

cluding facial feminization surgeries and breast augmentation.

In comparison, Doernbecher Children's Hospital gender clinic at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland treated 248 patients in 2017 and 724 in 2021, according to a Reuters investigation.

Diagnosis for gender dysphoria, which UF Health defines as the anxiety individuals may experience when their biological sex doesn’t match their gender identity, has continuously risen among youth in the U.S.

Youth gender dysphoria diagnoses among minors aged 6 to 17 increased from 15,172 in 2017 to 42,167 in 2021, according to reporting by Reuters.

The number of initiations for hormone therapy and puberty blockers prescriptions has also had stable growth for minors in the U.S., according to the report.

An increased social acceptance surrounding exploring one's gender identity contributes to the rise in the number of young people identifying as transgender, Dr. Angela Goepferd, medical director of the Gender Health Program at Children’s Minnesota hospital told The New York Times.

The broadening of the idea of what being transgender looks like, as not every transgender or nonbinary person medically transitions, has

also been attributed to the increase, Goepferd said.

Florida Sen. Keith Perry, RGainesville, who will review the audit when he goes to Tallahassee March 6 for the start of the legislative session, said questioning genderaffirming care concerning children is crucial. He supports Florida’s ban on the treatment for minors, he said.

“I think that gender-affirming care [for minors] should be outlawed — probably at almost every level,” he said.

Florida is one of at least eight states to ban gender-affirming care for minors. The treatment was prohibited through a vote of the state’s medical board, not legislation.

Additionally, Perry said he would like to see patients have a cause of action to sue providers for supplying minors with gender-affirming care, so the court system can decide whether the treatment was appropriate.

As a member of the senate committee on post-secondary education, Perry said he’ll do what he can to ensure Florida isn’t funding genderaffirming care at institutions like UF Health.

“It is our duty to make sure that your money is being spent in what is the best interest of the public,” Perry said. “There's a lot of things the state should pay for in health care, and there's a lot of things that the state shouldn't.”

A Florida medical provider who works in gender-affirming care and

show pieces including “Time Warp” from “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” and some of Elvis’ music.

“I think that a lot of the places will appreciate us wanting to show stuff that's important to us,” Simmens said, “Especially Tom Petty.”

The band has rehearsed its music for Ireland with four Sunday rehearsals lasting two hours since the beginning of February. Of all the songs the students are practicing, Carter Erickson, a 22-year-old UF theater production senior, said he’s most excited to play the Irish ballad “Danny Boy.”

“I'm probably going to break my lips playing it just because I like the [mellophone] part on it a lot,” Erickson said.

Luz Perez, a 22-year-old UF music education senior, learned she was going to be one of the three Gator Marching Band drum majors this school year in May — the same time Watkins told the newly appointed drum majors they would be leading the band on a trip to Ireland.

“It was one of the first conversations we had,” she said, “‘Hey, we're going to be going to Ireland, and you're going to be the drum majors for that.’ That was a super big, fun announcement to hear about along with the new position I had just gotten.”

As the drum major, Perez helped pick about 20 songs that would best represent UF in Ireland. She has been rehearsing since August to conduct and lead the band in parade formation during each performance.

“I think the whole band feels pretty prepared, too,” she said. “Because we've obviously been working towards achieving a more top-tier level of musicality since we found out about this trip.”

The trip to Ireland marks Perez’s first time traveling internationally, which is a major step away from the traditional band experience inside football stadiums.

Aside from focusing on rehearsals and performance, Perez said she’s excited to be a tourist and get in some sightseeing.

“I'm excited to do all the touristy things and take Instagram pictures,” she said.

For Perez, the trip to Ireland will be the last time she dons the Gator Marching Band uniform. Her March 14 departure to Ireland marks the beginning of the end of her career as a marching Gator.

“I'm trying to hold on to it every single day,” she said. @sophia_bailly sbailly@alligator.org

requested anonymity for fear of retaliation, hadn’t seen the audit as of March 5. They worry the state legislature and the DeSantis administration will misrepresent the audit’s data to further propel its political agenda of restricting access to gender-affirming care, they said.

“My guess is that they'll use that to say people are just getting put on hormones left and right without thoughtful and meaningful evaluations,” they said. “But that's not true.”

They emphasized how the audit discloses that more often than not, patients at both facilities did not receive behavioral health services before their first treatment. Although, the audit only includes data for behavioral health services provided by UF, not providers unaffiliated with the university.

The doctor is also concerned about legislation aiming to restrict gender-affirming care, such as SB 254, a bill introduced by Florida Sen. Clay Yarborough, R-Jacksonville.

The bill seeks to criminalize parents and medical providers who provide gender-affirming care to minors and allow the government to claim jurisdiction over children if their parents allow them to receive the treatment. The legislation also proposes prohibiting the use of public funds to finance gender-affirming care through state-funded entities.

“It's pretty egregious,” the medical provider said. “It's just another example of hypocritical governing

rather than the free state of Florida like our governor likes to state regularly.”

The bill has seen no action in the Florida Senate since its introduction.

The medical provider said they have been receiving numerous phone calls from panicked parents amid the pending ban on genderaffirming care for minors.

“It's very scary times for these families,” they said. “We're literally going to create medical refugees who have to try to go elsewhere to get care if all these things are passed.”

The ban will go into effect March 16, the medical provider said, prohibiting gender-affirming care for minors seeking first-time care, not those already receiving treatment. However, they said, they have little doubt that further restrictions will be implemented in the future.

While these restrictions are going into effect now, the medical provider said they predict much of Florida's anti-gender-affirming care legislation will be overturned by the state legal system. Until then, they said, many trans youth and their families will suffer.

"People have been seeking care for all kinds of things for thousands of years, and a physician's job is to treat them the best that we can," they said. "The state deciding to specifically restrict access to this care is particularly barbaric." @afriedmanuf

Gabriella Aulisio // Alligator Staff

The Pride of the Sunshine rehearses at Gator Band Field for their Ireland performance Sunday, March 5, 2023.

New Senate majority

at the meeting, while 15 were dropped. Gator was charged a total of $25 with five charges of improperly labeling campaign materials, while the charges brought against Change failed.

Election Commission Chair John Clementi led the four election commissioners present. Director of External Affairs Noah Fineberg advocated for Gator, while Change Deputy Minority Party Leader Oscar Santiago Perez represented Change.

At the end of the meeting, Clementi urged both parties to avoid situations like this in the future by resolving complaints beforehand.

“With everything going on during these elections, it’s just a bad look on UF as a whole,” he said. “Moving forward, both parties need to be more amicable and try to work things out because things don’t get done like this.”

Prior to running for SG office, candidates currently holding office whose positions overlapped with the positions they ran for had to resign their current seats, as per the Resign to Run Act.

As a District C senator, Faith Corbett, Change’s presidential candidate, resigned her Senate seat because it would conflict with the presidency. But since her executive loss, Corbett has attempted to revoke her resignation from the Senate.

Corbett confirmed she’s searching to regain her Senate seat. She hasn’t heard back from Supervisor of Elections Ethan Halle and Senate President ProTempore Catherine Giordano regarding the revocation of her resignation, she said.

Students who voted in the election varied on their SG knowledge.

Cyril Bennett-King, a 21-yearold UF psychology junior, said his identity as a transgender student played a role in his decision to vote for Change.

“Having people that are going to have my back in Student Government…when we’re in a scary time outside of UF, was a big part of my vote,” he said.

Grace Denault, a 19-yearold UF biomedical engineering sophomore, said she mostly voted for Gator. Denault sees Gator being more involved than

Change, she said.

“I’ve only seen Gator Party advertised,” she said. “That’s the only reason I also think [Gator Party] would maybe do more, because they take the time to advertise.”

She has voted at every SG election since arriving at UF, she said.

“You have a say in what happens within your school, and

Behavior-altering drug

Legalizing marijuana will only make smoking safer, she said.

you have a voice,” she said. “You kind of feel like you’re making a change as well.”

But for others, the intricacies of SG still remain a mystery.

Lucy Parrucci, an 18-year-old UF accounting freshman, wasn’t sure if she would vote by the end of the election cycle because she was confused about what each party stood for.

“I just know there’s the Gator

sible in Florida. CBD doesn’t provide the user the same effect as THC, but it may affect moods in other ways. CBD can be found in oils, lotions and gummies, Goodin said.

Party and there’s the Change Party,” she said.

Ella Thompson contributed to this report.

@AlissaGary1 agary@alligator.org @amandasfriedman afriedman@alligator.org

makes you lazy, he said.

“I still get everything done,” he said. “All my [stuff] is done on time — never late, never once. So, shut up.”

is the environment like where a person would use it?

Goodin examines state and national demographics of marijuana use. As of last year, Florida was close to surpassing 800,000 medical marijuana users, Goodin said.

“People overall who are young have tried cannabis more often than previous generations tried cannabis,” she said.

About one in three adults aged 18 to 25 years old reported they have used some type of marijuana product at least once in the last year.

Kat, a 19-year-old UF media production, management and technology and political science freshman who requested the omission of her last name to maximize her chances at a career in public service, said she started using cannabis at 16. She received a medical marijuana card when she became of age and uses it to help with insomnia.

Marijuana has also helped with her academic performance and time management, Kat said.

“It’s helped me slow down my life a lot and organize it so I don't rush through everything,” she said. “It helps me a lot with time management.”

Kat wants to go into international relations, but she plans to be an advocate for the legalization of recreational marijuana on the national level, she said.

“For a lot of people who want to smoke, there’s a reason more than just having fun,” she said. “A lot of people have nightmares, or they can’t sleep, or they can’t eat or they eat too much.”

Classified as a Schedule 1 drug, which means there’s no potential for medical use and high possibility of abuse, marijuana has a distinctive history in the United States. In June 1971, Richard Nixon declared the War on Drugs, naming it public enemy No. 1.

In an October executive order, Biden asked the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Attorney General to review how marijuana is scheduled under federal law. This could potentially change how cannabis is studied, allowing for more in-depth studies and an expansion of knowledge on the subject, he said.

The War on Drugs is now known as an intentional effort by Nixon to suppress the two groups of people who were against his campaign: “the antiwar left and Black people,” Nixon’s domestic policy adviser John Ehrlichman explained to Harper’s Magazine in 1994.

Since Nixon’s presidency, cannabis enthusiasts have fought to reverse the effects, stigmas and policy issues the War on Drugs created.

Most people know the cannabis plant for its THC and CBD properties.

Delta-9 THC is a specific type of THC, although the terms are often used interchangeably. This is the substance that’s Schedule 1 in the U.S. and causes the psychoactive effect of ‘being high.’

Companies sell very slight modifications of delta-9 THC, known as delta-8 or delta-10, which fly under legal radars, but in theory, cause the same effect as delta-9 THC, Goodin said.

CBD is a legal gray area and is permis-

CBD has U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval as a treatment for seizures. Researchers are studying CBD to see if it can help with swelling and joint pain, according to Goodin.

Hemp and cannabis are the same plant, biologically speaking. Hemp has a lower concentration of delta-9 THC versus the concentration in cannabis, Goodin said.

A 19-year-old UF student-athlete, who requested anonymity as they aim to launch a career in professional sports, said they started smoking heavily in Spring 2022. They weren’t using marijuana to cope with stress, but it definitely helped, they said.

“It improved my life as a whole and just made me happy,” they said. “That boosted my athletic performance and academic performance.”

The student-athlete compared alcohol to marijuana. Alcohol destroys body organs, they said, while marijuana isn’t as hard on the body physically or mentally.

Marijuana has different effects on different people. Some people get hungry or paranoid, while others get giggly or sleepy. Marijuana has a relaxing effect, the student-athlete said.

“I get really giggly, and I get really hungry — but I also get really relaxed,” they said. “I get really open-minded and really down-to-earth and emotional, almost.”

Some students, like a 22-year-old UF business administration senior who requested anonymity as he applies for a master’s degree program, started smoking in the ninth grade and has smoked every day for the past seven years.

He refutes the idea that marijuana

He has been smoking marijuana for a long time but is starting to feel the effect on his highs and on his body.

“Before sophomore year, it was just really good because I actually enjoyed it. I loved it,” he said. “Now, I kind of do it just to do it.”

He believes marijuana has started to affect his memory. Marijuana affects how the hippocampus, a part of the brain in control of memory formation, processes information, according to NIDA.

“I feel like I just don’t retain information,” he said.

Many UF students use marijuana products to combat anxiety and overthinking. A 21-year-old UF microbiology and cell science junior on the pre-med track who works for UF Health said she started to smoke consistently in Fall 2022 and uses marijuana to ease anxiety.

STEM classes, thoughts of the future and social situations are all anxiety triggers. She said she uses marijuana like a reward system — only smoking at night when she finishes her homework.

“Rather than just sitting on the couch and watching TV but still feeling anxious about everything going on in my life, I can sit on the couch, watch TV and smoke and not feel anxious at all,” she said.

Even though cannabis laws remain stagnant in Florida, the benefits of marijuana are still supported by research. While research facilities across the country continue to discover the effects and benefits of cannabis, UF students will continue to conduct their own research in private. @elladeethompson

Caia Reese // Alligator Staff

Gator Party's executive ticket Clara Calavia (left), Nyla Pierre (center) and Olivia Green (right) burst into tears after winning student body vice president, treasurer and president Wednesday, March 1, 2023.

Protesters take to the streets in Gainesville

Community members protest climate change, immigration

Gabriella Aulisio // Alligator Staff Lea Horsley (center) and Kariel Stuart (right) prepare to start the 45-minute climate action march from Gainesville City Hall to Heartwood Soundstage Friday, March 3, 2023.

Alex Winn // Alligator Staff

Richard Powell (left), Christina Castillo (middle) and Alice Gridley (right) advocate for further action against immigration detention and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Interfaith Vigil at the University Lutheran Church Thursday, March 2, 2023.

Gabriella Aulisio // Alligator Staff Two young girls display the signs they made for the climate action march from Gainesville City Hall to Heartwood Soundstage Friday, March 3, 2023.

Alex Winn // Alligator Staff Jennifer Rich holds a sign protesting immigration detention and ICE at the Interfaith Vigil at the University Lutheran Church Thursday, March 2, 2023.

Baby Gator to undergo renovation, expansion to address waitlist

SOME STUDENT-PARENTS SAY MORE SQUARE FOOTAGE ISN’T ENOUGH

By Peyton Harris Alligator Staff Writer

As Baby Gator’s waitlist has reached over 300 families, the on-campus child care center will undergo a twofold expansion and renovation.

Baby Gator’s Lake Alice location will undergo an expansion, with construction projected to be completed in August. This comes alongside a large recruitment effort of educators, as the team hopes to open up 50 to 70 additional spots to UF-affiliated families by adding five classrooms.

After the expansion and renovation is complete, all three locations — Lake Alice, Newell Drive and Diamond Village — could serve up to 370 students, Baby Gator Director Stacy Ellis said.

“We are also unique and special because we support the UF community,” Ellis said. Beyond providing child care for UF-affiliated families, Baby Gator works to support UF departments for various research and observation projects.

Part of Baby Gator’s expansion goals are to reduce the size of its waitlist, Ellis said.

The waitlist for Baby Gator, currently at around 300 people, requires a $100 nonrefundable application fee and has a wait time of over two years. Once a student is enrolled, there’s a one-time $250 per child registration fee and an additional $100 annual supply fee.

Baby Gator is certified for the early learning coalition waiver, which provides students with a voucher for reduced-cost child care based on household income. The program also offers the federally funded Child Care Access Means Parents in School grant, which offsets the costs of child care tuition to low-income student-parents.

Baby Gator differentiates itself through its play-based approach and involvement in experiential learning, such as campus walks.

“They’re out experiencing the world because the best way that they learn is through those natural experiences,” she said. “It’s a pretty special place.”

Baby Gator is also cross-disciplinary, interacting with colleges across campus such as the College of Medicine and the College of Agriculture. Baby Gator has over 150 student volunteers, who often transition to substitute or fulltime teaching, Ellis said.

“You want to meet need where you can,” Ellis said. “This is going to help meet some of that need, but not all of that need.”

Baby Gator employs about 40 full-time teachers and 25 student teachers between its Newell Drive and Diamond Village locations while the Lake Alice location is closed, and is planning to add an additional 25 staff members with the expansion and recruitment effort.

Within this effort, Baby Gator targets early childhood education graduates, regularly uploads job postings and attends job fairs.

Baby Gator is accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, which has stricter teacher-to-student ratios than Florida standards. The required ratio for Florida for two-year-olds is 1:11, whereas the NAEYC requirement is 1:6.

But some worry hiring new employees might be difficult — after 2020, the childcare sector lost 9.7% of its workforce, with low pay and challenging work environments cited as reasons for its shrinkage.

Herman Knopf, a senior research scientist at UF’s Anita Zucker Center for Excellence in Early Childhood Studies, said issues with retention in child care date back decades and have been worsened by economic hardship. Child care typically requires low entry skills, Knopf said, and similar low-skill occupations are dramatically increasing their starting wages to attract employees.

“You can see ‘warehouse staff’ at Amazon for $17 an hour or ‘lead teacher in a preschool’ for $12.50, $13 an hour,” he said. “You’re going to explore the warehouse job.”

Child care is challenging because it’s costly, Knopf said, but young families can’t afford to pay the full price of high-quality services.

“The constraints of the child care operators are that they can’t charge for … services that no one can afford,” he said. “Because personnel is their highest cost driver, it creates a situation where teachers are not compensated in a way that is going to attract a lot of folks into this occupation or this line of work.”

In his research, Knopf found different retention strategies used to retain child care workers, such as professional development opportunities — one aspect Baby Gator prides itself on, Ellis said.

“They’re involved in research … in their classrooms, they’re presenting at conferences, they’re learning, which then, in turn, helps the children because they’re being exposed to all these different things,” Ellis said.

Caroline Wheeler-Hollis, a 21-year-old UF English junior who works as a floating prekindergarten teacher at Gainesville’s Cedarville Global Community School, said she reached out to Baby Gator before accepting a job from Cedarville, but it wasn’t hiring part-time then.

Burnout is frequent within child care, she

said, and she’s noticed high turnover rates at many preschools across Alachua County.

During her first weeks at Cedarville, she drove home in silence and would fall asleep at 9 p.m., she said, just because of how tiring the job was.

Wheeler-Hollis declined any jobs at $11 to $12 per hour because of how exhausting the profession can be.

“If you’re not taking care of your employees, then you’re not going to retain your employees,” Wheeler-Hollis said.

Baby Gator’s average salary is $15 to $20 an hour based on education and experience, offering benefits like 15 days of paid leave, paid holidays, health insurance and continuing education scholarships.

For some student-parents, Baby Gator is not doing enough about the waitlist.

UF first-year law student Aubrey Mys, 22, has a 3-year-old child enrolled in the Baby Gator at Diamond Village program.

She joined the waitlist as an undergraduate student in 2020 when she was eligible for student-reduced costs under the early learning coalition waiver. However, once she began law school, she said, she became ineligible for fee reduction unless she worked more than 20 hours a week.

“While I couldn’t really continue my education because they weren’t willing to work with

me, I had to work in addition to going to law school to afford child care,” she said.

Mys began working 20 hours a week to get partial coverage, which made Baby Gator far more affordable than her other options, she said. The program is hands-on, Mys said, and she hopes UF will continue to strengthen what it offers.

“The need is definitely there,” she said.

Looking for child care resources in Gainesville, 37-year-old UF business senior Mehr Kashmiri found Baby Gator to be the most affordable option. But with the length of the waitlist, Kashmiri was deterred from signing up.

The financial strain caused Kashmiri to change her minor and her major tracking. UF should invest more in student-parents, she said. Some clubs have denied her from attending events when Kashmiri was unable to secure child care or babysitting.

“I was the only one at Career Fair with a stroller and a baby,” she said.

Kashmiri believes the current expansion isn’t enough to meet the demand of parents on the waitlist, she said.

“If they’re so full that students can’t take advantage of it, what’s the point?” she said.

@peytonlharris pharris@alligator.org

Sunshine Records store set to open in Gainesville

Store will feature diverse selection of new, secondhand records

By Gracey Davis

Alligator

Staff Writer

Daniel Halal grew up with constant access to vinyl records through his family’s collection. From rock groups like The Band and Elvis Costello to Arabic music from Fairuz, the diverse collection piqued Halal’s interest from an early age.

When Halal was 12 years old, he bought his first record — “Pinups” by David Bowie — from the dollar bin at Off the Record in Ormond Beach, Florida. From there, he became an avid collector and seller.

Now, Halal, 38, is gearing up for the opening of his new record

store, Sunshine Records. Owned in partnership with his friend James Siboni, the store will host its grand opening March 11 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

“The main thing we wanted out of this store was that it would be a store for everybody — we just wanted it to be really warm and welcoming and bright,” Halal said. “That’s why we picked the name sunshine, too.”

Halal and Siboni first met more than a decade ago and bonded over a shared love of music and records. Siboni, a 37-year-old Jacksonville resident, would frequently visit Gainesville to see friends and go record shopping with Halal.

Siboni owns another record store in Jacksonville, Tiger Records. It was his idea to open a new store in Gainesville, Halal said.

Halal previously owned a record store in downtown Gainesville, Arrows Aim, but he sold it after moving to Wesley Chapel while his wife earned her doctorate.

After moving to Gainesville last March, he noticed a gap in the market. When Siboni approached him about opening a new store, he knew it would be a great opportunity.

The shop will be located at 220 NW 8th Ave., surrounded by other Gainesville staples like

Flashbacks, Germains and Goldenrod Parlor.

The location offers a unique opportunity for the store to become part of the community, Halal said.

“Everybody has similar views on what we want the community to be like,” Halal said. “There’s this really big patio space that’s kind of shared by a bunch of the businesses, and so, we want to eventually do music and stuff out there.”

Aaron Connor, a 21-year-old UF media production, management and technology junior, said he started collecting records during his last year of high school. While his collection is a little

sparse, he loves discovering new music through records — something he’ll start doing at Sunshine Records. Connor values vinyl releases over experiencing singles as they come out.

“There’s definitely something to be said about the craft of creating an entire record,” Connor said.

Since Connor started collecting records, he has only ever visited brick and mortar record stores. Stores like Books-a-Million and secondhand stores that were close to his home offered a bigger variety of music, he said.

“If I have easy access to [Sunshine Records], I will spend an unreasonable amount of money on records,” Connor said. “Especially if it’s something I’ve never heard before.”

Minca Davis // Alligator Staff

Gainesville staple Satchel’s Pizza celebrates 20th anniversary

Event to host podcasters, 2 live music performances

By Gracey Davis Avenue Staff Writer

Jack Polk’s white Honda Civic, known by his friends as “Satchy,” has at least 10 Satchel’s Pizza bumper stickers on its back window. While Polk doesn’t recall exactly when his collection started, he estimates around 2009, when his grandparents first moved to Gainesville.

The 21-year-old UF computer science senior sees Satchel’s Pizza as more than just a family tradition on his visits to Gainesville. It’s also special for its iconic pizza and artsy atmosphere, he said.

“One of the first things I noticed when I went there was the tables — how they have all these little things in them. One of the tables has bones, like really old bones in it, and then the [floor] has pennies,” Polk said. “[It’s] just really really cool.”

Satchel’s Pizza, founded and owned by 55-year-old Satchel Raye, is celebrating its 20th anniversary March 7. Featuring local folk bands, podcasters and a couple special surprises along the way, Raye’s excited to celebrate his passion project with the community.

Growing up in Jacksonville, Raye first started making pizza when he was 16 at a local pizzeria run by Italian immigrants. Spinning pizzas was much more entertaining to him than high school, he said.

“I fell in love with the restaurant business right away,” Raye said. “I liked the food and the hubbub and the sounds of the silverware and plates. Just the activity — it kind of matched my personality to be high energy.”

Raye moved to Gainesville in 1986 to attend UF, he said. He completed his associate degree in 1989, but while he felt college wasn’t necessarily for him, something about Gainesville had a hold on him, and he knew he wanted to open a pizzeria here.

To Raye, making pizzas was an art.

In addition to food, he was also an artist of multiple mediums. He eventually settled in Gainesville with his wife and was able to start renting the building still used today located at 1800 NE 23rd Ave.

When designing the space, Raye knew incorporating his art into the building design was important to him.

“Marrying those two things and being able to have a place where people can not only come for the food,” he said, “but also an [art] experience feels really good because I’m a painter … so that allows me to make this lifelong piece of art that I really enjoy.”

Satchel’s growth came very quickly. Every week, the restaurant would get busier and busier as word-of-mouth helped propel the pizzeria into local legend status.

About three months into the opening, the Gainesville Sun ran a story in its lifestyle section which praised Satchel’s pizzas and salad and featured a photograph of Raye spinning a pizza. From there, Satchel’s was always busy. On a typical weekend, patrons could wait up to an hour to sit down and an additional hour for the pizza to be ready because of how busy it became.

Shane Tierney, a 37-year-old UF

alumnus, first discovered Satchel’s in 2004, about a year after its opening. Tierney’s friends were passionate about pizza, and when word started spreading throughout campus about this new unique pizzeria, Tierney knew they had to try it out.

“This was a totally different experience,” Tierney said. “It was the type of pizza you go to when the Gators just got a big win, or when you pass a test.”

Tierney’s first time visiting Satchel’s was after a Gators game. While he was skeptical, his friends were going on about the place’s electric environment and unique design.

While Tierney lives in Jacksonville now, Satchel’s has remained a staple, even bringing his girlfriend there in recent years to share it with her.

Satchel’s steadily outgrew its setup within the kitchen, Raye said.

The building had been a restaurant before Raye began renting, so a lot of the kitchen was renovated from what had been left behind.

In 2012, Satchel’s had a fire that ended up ruining the kitchen. While this was devastating and caused the restaurant to close for three months, it allowed for Raye to expand their unit to better accommodate their sales.

“That actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise,” Raye said.

Raye describes the experience of running Satchel’s as rewarding but exhausting. Raye hasn’t celebrated anniversaries for Satchel’s in the past, but he knew for the 20th anniversary he needed to do something, even if it was small.

As he began gearing up for its 20th anniversary, he knew he wanted to do something special to highlight Satchel’s impact on the Gainesville community, while still sticking to what Satchel’s does best:

celebrating local art and pizza.

His first idea was celebrating his employees through Satchel’s employee trading cards – photos of the employees on vintage baseball trading cards, featuring stories of why they started working at Satchel’s and some of their favorite Gainesville spots. While he doesn’t expect these to sell out, he considers his employees to be as important to the business as its food.

The trading cards will debut at the event March 7. Additionally, the event will feature two local live bands: the Front Porch Backsteppers at 5 p.m. and Wax Wings starting at 6:30 p.m. The event will also be hosted live by podcasters The Election Profit Makers starting at 8 p.m.

“Anything we do, I want to do it 100%,” Raye said. “Our motto from the beginning was keep it simple. It’s definitely not simple [the restaurant], but our motto is still to try to keep it simple.”

@graceydavis_ gdavis@alligator.org

Gators men’s basketball finishes regular season with win against Tigers

Kamryn Bailey // Alligator Staff

Satchel’s Pizza, located at 1800 NW 23rd Ave., will celebrate 20 years of making pizza in Gainesville March 7.

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Kowacie Reeves: Showcasing hair creativity on the court

REEVES HAD 10 VARIATIONS TO HIS HAIRSTYLE THROUGHOUT SEASON

By Brandon Hernandez Sports Writer

Florida sophomore guard Kowacie Reeves anticipated his new look as he walked into Juan’s House of Fades on 13th Street in late October. He sat upright in the leather barber chair and awaited the two steel blades that were about to slice off his hair.

Reeves, who at the time had long bleached hair tied up into two knots, had chunks of his hair chopped off. His barber — Juan Castano, also known as Juan The Barber — handed each strand to the guard as he removed them from his head. Reeves had been thinking about the haircut for a long while, Castano said.

Castano filmed the cut on his TikTok, and the video quickly gained fans’ attention. The video currently has 239,800 views on his account, making it his most viral video to date.

“He’s definitely one in a million,” Castano said of Reeves. “He’s

MEN'S BASKETBALL

very free-spirited.”

Whether it was for comfort or style, the native from Macon, Georgia, had a new canvas to express his creativity.

Throughout UF’s 2022-23 men’s basketball season, Reeves caught the eyes of many with an array of different colors above his headband and his elevated game on the court.

He first revealed his new look when getting ready for a closed preseason scrimmage against the Jacksonville Dolphins Oct. 29. Reeves laced his shoes while he took a new blond look to the court; his hair was still bleached but was now buzzed short.

The blond base was one of the many foundations for his hairstyle changes throughout the season.

By the time Florida was back on campus for its Orange and Blue open team scrimmage Nov. 1, Reeves surprised his teammates once again with his blond hair donning pink hearts.

The change caught everyone off guard, including Gators head coach Todd Golden. The new hairstyle marked the second time Reeves changed it in less than a week.

“He’s a very unique, talented young man, and if he wants to

express himself that way, it’s all good,” Golden said. “I didn’t anticipate the hearts to come in today, but again, it’s his canvas.”

Reeves grew up always playing sports around his hometown of Macon. Whether he participated in baseball, football or basketball, his parents always made sure he was active.

His father, Kowacie Reeves Sr., coached Reeves until he entered sixth grade. However, he was always involved during the guard’s time at Westside High School and, even now, while Reeves plays at Florida.

“I think that's a big part in what helped me and what made me like basketball even more,” Reeves said. “Just having that other type of relationship with my dad.”

Thanks to his father’s influence, and his family's support, Reeves quickly gained the attention of college programs and became a four-star prospect, according to 247sports’ composite rankings.

Florida started to recruit the 6-foot-6-inch point guard while he was a freshman at Westside High School.

Reeves knew he had a chance to play on the collegiate level when

the Gators showed interest in him.

“Before then I was just enjoying high school basketball,” Reeves said. “Just trying to make a varsity game — trying to be there.”

Before scouts even went out to watch the top-notched shooter knock down triples, Reeves always showcased his originality around

town.

Reeves described his unique style as “alternative.” He tried to wear brands that were different from the brands he saw others wearing.

Clothes from BAPE, Converse and COMME des GARÇONS filled his high school wardrobe.

He continues to wear alterna-

Golden, Gators carry momentum into Southeastern Conference Tournament

FLORIDA WON ITS LAST 2 REGULAR SEASON GAMES

By Jackson Reyes Sports Writer

The Gators men’s basketball team sat below .500 after a deflating three-game losing streak.

Florida rallied and won its last two games of the season to finish with a winning record in head coach Todd Golden’s first season at the helm. UF now turns to the Southeastern Conference Tournament with the regular season officially over.

The Florida Gators (16-15, 9-9 SEC) finished eighth in the SEC and will take on the Mississippi State Bulldogs (20-11, 8-10 SEC) in their first matchup of the conference tournament in Nashville, Tennessee.

Golden’s Gators were marred with inconsistencies and fell off the NCAA tournament bubble as the season concluded. Florida went 4-6 in its last 10 games, but Golden was satisfied with how his team finished the regular season, he said.

“I’m really proud of our team, our program,” Golden said.

The Gators were without graduate stu-

dent forward Colin Castleton for their final five games and went 2-3 without their star. Castleton suffered a broken hand against the Ole Miss Rebels Feb. 15 and is out for the SEC Tournament.

Florida went on a three-game losing streak after Castleton went down, but won its last two against the Georgia Bulldogs and Louisiana State Tigers.

Golden acknowledged the hill his team had to climb after the injury, he said. The team could have checked out and become complacent, but players like graduate student guards Kyle Lofton and Myreon Jones helped UF uphold its high standard, he said.

“It says a lot about their resiliency as a group but also where we’re headed as a program,” Golden said. “We’re not going to be OK just getting to the finish line.”

The Gators have had to make up for Castleton’s production. The graduate student forward led UF in points, rebounds and blocks.

Florida freshman guard Riley Kugel has stepped up in Castleton’s absence. Kugel scored in double figures in his last eight games and is averaging 18.3 points per game during the stretch.

The Orlando native has scored efficiently also. Kugel finished with a shooting percentage of more than 50% in six of his last eight

games. He scored 21 points in the Gator’s regular season finale on an 8-14 clip.

UF sophomore guard Will Richard also improved his play through the last two games. The Belmont transfer scored a career-high 24 points against Georgia in the Gators’ last road matchup of the regular season Feb. 28.

Richard lit the Bulldogs up from deep and finished 5-8 from beyond the arc and 8-11 overall. He followed up the career game with an 18-point performance against LSU March 4. He finished 7-10 from the field and 3-6 from 3-point range.

The Gators’ last two games were representative of how they’ve gotten more adjusted to playing without Castleton, Richard said. There was an initial struggle after Castleton went down, but they’ve adapted well over time, he said.

“It was definitely a big adjustment for us because he does so much for us, but after the time we have without him, I definitely think we are more comfortable,” Richard said.

The pair of guards will need to continue their efficient play into the SEC Tournament to keep Florida’s NCAA Tournament hopes alive. The Gators aren’t on the bubble and will need to win the conference tournament to clinch an automatic bid into the tournament.

Mississippi State will be UF’s first matchup in the win-or-go-home tournament. The Bulldogs lost their final game of the regular season to the Vanderbilt Commodores 77-72 March 4 to finish ninth in the SEC. Florida and Mississippi State played earlier in the regular season Jan. 21. The Gators traveled to Starkville, Mississippi, and took down the Bulldogs 61-59.

The first matchup between the two teams came down to the final possession. Mississippi State redshirt senior forward Will McNair Jr. drove to the basket with a chance to tie the game, but Castleton contested the shot and forced a miss to secure a UF win.

The Bulldogs are 3-2 in their last five games. Mississippi State went to overtime twice through that span and went 1-1 in those two games.

Bulldogs redshirt senior forward Tolu Smith is the team’s leading scorer and rebounder. The 6-foot-11-inch forward averages 15.4 and 8.3 rebounds per game.

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@JacksnReyes jacksonreyes@alligator.org

Ryan Friedenberg // Alligator Staff Florida guard Kowacie Reeves plays defense against a Connecticut player in the Gators’ 75-54 loss to the Huskies Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022.

Expression through hair

FEATURE, from pg. 11

tive clothes while attending UF and loves his style no matter what people might think, he said.

“That’s what I think people fall in love with,” Reeves said. “Stuff that people are afraid to wear, or [makes people] think about what somebody else is going to say on what you have on. For me, if I think it looks good, I like it.”

Reeves stayed true to his ideas and brought his style to the game with 10 hair modifications across 31

regular season games.

Nobody on the Gators has a similar style to him, Reeves said. However, he said his teammates are fashionable. Junior guard Niels Lane, Reeves’ friend and teammate, has a style similar to that of a model, Reeves said.

“If you were to see a model on a site for some jeans you wanted, or some real model type stuff like plaid pants with a button down — he’s like that,” Reeves said.

Blond with hearts, crosses or flames, green with question marks riddled across his head, or straight

Fabuloso purple were all designs seen on Reeves from the Stephen C. O’Connell Center rafters throughout the regular season.

Reeves’ favorite hairstyle premiered on the Billy Donovan Court, but it shined the best elsewhere in the Sunshine State.

Reeves exploded in Florida’s 82-48 victory against the Ohio Bobcats Dec. 14 in Tampa. He came off the bench and was automatic from 3-point range.

The 6-foot-6-inch guard hung the Bobcats out to dry with his accurate shooting. He rocked black cobwebs across his blond dyed hair — a hairstyle he always wanted to try, Reeves said.

Reeves finished with a seasonhigh 20 points and shot 7-11 from the floor — 4-7 from beyond the arc — against Ohio.

The game was a moment from this season that Reeves etched in the back of his mind, he said. The venue holds a special place in his basketball career with the Gators as well.

“That was where we played at that SEC Tournament last year. I had a big game there,” Reeves said. “To turn around and play there again and have another big game following up there in that same gym, it was cool to me.”

Reeves scored a career-high 21 points last season in UF’s 83-80 overtime loss to the Texas A&M Ag-

gies in the Southeastern Conference Tournament March 10, 2022. Many have tried to compare his style with former athletes who also used their hair to express their flair, but the Florida guard said he replicates no one.

No influences came from Hall of Fame forward Dennis Rodman’s hair color switches or former New York Knicks defensive stalwart Anthony Mason’s tendency to engrave his name on the side of his head.

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@BranH2001 bhernandez@alligator.org