Hurricane Helene causes widespread damage but no deaths in Gainesville
THE CITY SAW 60 MPH WINDS AND POWER OUTAGES BUT ESCAPED DESTRUCTION SEEN IN COASTAL AREAS
By Zoey Thomas & Kairi Lowery Alligator Staff Writers
Nearly 56,000 residents, or about 40% of Gainesville, lost power during the peak of Hurricane Helene.
It was an unusual occurrence for a city far enough inland to typically miss widespread storm impact. For reference, about 12,000 lost power during Hurricane Debby, the last to hit Gainesville, in August.
The storm slammed Florida’s west coast late Thursday as a major Category 4 hurricane, bringing 140 mph winds and storm surges of up to 9 feet in coastal areas, including Cedar Key.
Gainesville faced 60 mph winds that damaged power lines and toppled trees, but there were no major injuries reported. Over 50 deaths were recorded from Hurricane Helene as of Friday afternoon, 11 of which took place in Florida.
The city saw just 0.58 inches of rain Thursday. By comparison, the city saw over 6 inches of rain when Hurricane Irma hit the state as a Category 5 storm in August 2017.
Power outages across city Gainesville Regional Utility (GRU) outages decreased to about 46,500, or about one-third of all Gainesville residents, by 6:15 a.m. Friday. About 10,000 people in the city still don’t have power as of 11 a.m. Saturday.
Ninety-two people spent Thursday night in shelters, the city reported. Alachua County opened two pet-friendly general population shelters and a special needs shelter in anticipation of the storm.
GRU crews are working to restore power to those who lost it, the company said in an email Friday morning.
“We are still assessing the full extent of
the damage,” the email said. “We’re working on restoring power to those lines in addition to several wires down and multiple other outages.”
Hurricane Helene took out two transmission lines, which GRU called “unusual” in social media posts. A transmission line carries electricity from a power source to homes and businesses.
The company reported one of the lines had been repaired Friday afternoon. The other is still being addressed.
Once both are repaired, lineworkers can focus on neighborhoods and businesses, GRU said.
Mary Kate Hitpas and Abby Rindt, 22-year-old UF physical therapy Ph.D. students and roommates, said their power went out around 9 p.m. Thursday night and returned by the following evening.
The two live in an apartment off Southwest 13th Street but spent the day bouncing between various Gainesville coffee shops, where they used WiFi to study for an upcoming exam.
“We were studying by candlelight last night,” said Hitpas from a Starbucks table strewn with empty coffee cups and sandwich wrappers.
Lines for the Starbucks off the corner of 13th Street and University Avenue, as well as the deli at the adjacent Publix, extended out the door the majority of the day Friday as Gainesville residents clamored for access to charging outlets and hot food.
Many of the apartments that lost power, including Looking Glass Apartments, The Quad and College Park Apartments, were located in Midtown. The lights for all local bars in that area, including JJ’s Tavern and Salty Dog Saloon, also went dark Thursday.
Outages also stretched across Gainesville, from Hidden Village Apartments in the southwest corner of the city to the Santa Fe Oaks complex near the community college in the northwest.
GRU also asked Gainesville residents to
HELENE, PAGE 3
Teacher unions
Story description finish with comma, pg#
AC Fitzpatrick
Playing on her home turf. Read more on pg. 12. MONDAY,
Alachua County community discusses marijuana legalization
The possible passage of Amendment 3 sparks regulation concerns
By Morgan Vanderlaan Alligator Staff Writer
Craving relief from her anxiety, Addie Sptaru, a 19-year-old UF psychology sophomore, found medical marijuana was her solution.
Sptaru has seen positive results in her day-to-day life from using cannabis, she said. She thinks other adults should have access to marijuana as well.
“I don't see any reason that alcohol should be legal, but marijuana shouldn't,” she said.
Teachers fight for better salaries, pg. 5
TheAvenue:Hurricane parties
Students combat Helene by partying, pg. 8
“There are things that are potential dangers with it [marijuana], but I think a lot of it is fear-mongering and not something that's actually as big of a deal as it's made out to be.” Sptaru intends to vote in favor of Amendment 3 in November.
If passed, Amendment 3 allows adults 21 years or older to possess, purchase or use marijuana products recreationally. The amendment would allow recreational possession of up to three grams. To gain ballot ac-
SEE MARIJUANA, PAGE 4
Madilyn Gemme // Alligator Staff
Three UF students examine the Norman Hall oak tree, lost to Hurricane Helene on Sept. 27, 2024.
Today’s Weather
Freshmen experience their first hurricane away from home
Only a month into their college experience, these students faced Hurricane Helene
By Avery Parker Alligator Staff Writer
Having a hurricane on his doorstep was a new experience for out-of-state UF freshman Reid Kizer, who moved to Gainesville from Austin, Texas.
“I went to the store, and I got a bunch of nonperishable items,” Kizer, an 18-year-old electrical engineering student, said. “Tuna, peanut butter, nuts, dried fruit — that sort of thing.”
Despite the unknown of an impending storm, he said he was “not super nervous about [Helene],” because his apartment is on the second floor and his roommate is a native Floridian.
“[My roommate] gave me a ton of very helpful advice,” Kizer said. “It is very nice to have him here, because for a second I thought he was gonna leave, too, and I would be alone in an apartment my first time experiencing a hurricane.”
Another out-of-state Gator, Natalie Cadow, an 18-year old UF biochemistry freshman from Los Angeles, said she felt unconcerned as she followed news re-
ports and tuned into university announcements.
“I feel like the news kind of downplayed how much damage would actually happen with this hurricane, especially because classes on Friday weren’t canceled until really late,” Cadow said.
Despite being away from family, Cadow said her parents and aunts were checking up on her often enough that she didn’t feel isolated.
Cadow’s father is a Floridan by birth and was able to advise her on what to do, helping her feel in control of the situation.
Carmen Antequera, an 18-year-old UF animal science and business administration freshman from Clearwater, said while the storm was fairly mild in Gainesville, she was concerned for friends and family back home.
“All my friends’ couches are floating in their living rooms, and cars have been blowing up and transformers have been blowing up, so there’s fire everywhere,” Antequera said.
She said she was especially worried for her mom because
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both she and her brother are out of the house this year, meaning she lives alone.
Additionally, her mother recently underwent spinal surgery, making mobility even more difficult for her.
While Antequera slept through the hurricane, she said she would have rather been in Clearwater to help her mom and friends.
“Normally, when it gets like this, I paddle out and see if anyone needs help, and I literally feel so helpless not being able to go,” she said.
Christina Lee, an 18-year-old UF biology freshman from Parkland, said her preparations for the hurricane looked largely the same as what she would normally do at home.
“The only difference was that, instead of being with my family in a safe spot in our house, I was huddled in my bathroom in my apartment,” something Lee said she used as a time for selfreflection.
@AveryParke98398 aparker@alligator.org
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Dead palm fronds are seen in the back of a truck as clean up efforts took place on Friday, Sept. 27, 2024.
Helene leaves destructive path through Florida
cut back on water use after several wastewater lift stations lost power. These stations pump wastewater through treatment plants, re-supplying local waterways.
The company is unsure when full power and running water will be restored.
Other than some damaged vehicles and trees, the city wasn’t affected too badly, said Lauren Sultemeier, a 43-yearold American Medical Response employee from Buffalo, New York.
“Gainesville was very lucky and spared,” Sultemeier said.
Sultemeier and fellow responder Lauren Stubblefield, 48, who works for Vicksburg Fire Department in Vicksburg, Mississippi, found out Monday they were being deployed cross-country by FEMA to assist in hurricane relief.
They expect to be relocated soon from their base in Gainesville off Eighth Street to elsewhere in the state or region where more damage was reported, Sultemeier said.
Fallen trees impact roadways, UF campus
Fallen trees caused much of the power line damage in a city designated as a “Tree City” for over 40 years.
Norman Education Library's beloved grand oak tree was among the fallen.
The oak, which had been growing in the courtyard of the UF College of Education at Norman Hall since 1932, split in three as a result of Helene’s strong winds.
“This is truly a huge loss for the EduGator community,” the College of Education said in a statement Friday.
Over 50 roadways were also reported blocked by downed trees following the
storm Thursday night. Road blockages and outed traffic lights combined for dangerous driving conditions throughout Friday. In Alachua County, 169 traffic lights went out following the storm.
While the hurricane has passed, its effects haven’t. GRU urges residents to continue to practice hurricane safety measures.
“Do NOT approach downed power lines or trees on wires, safely leave the area and report it immediately,” GRU wrote Friday on X.
Gainesville Regional Airport closed Thursday evening but reopened Friday. Six departing flights were canceled Thursday, 37% of the total scheduled for that day.
Some students say UF delayed closure
UF said in an email to students midday Wednesday that classes would be canceled on Thursday but resume Friday at 7 a.m.
The university waited until 5 p.m. Thursday to cancel classes and close campus on Friday. Some families said the announcement came too late for students to travel to be with their parents elsewhere in Florida during the storm. Many had exams or assignments scheduled for Friday they didn’t think would be canceled.
While he didn’t lose power at his East Hall dorm, Dylan Byerly, a 22-year-old UF electrical engineering senior, extended sympathies for students who wished to evacuate but couldn’t due to UF’s late announcement.
“That really hurt a lot of students’ chances to evacuate,” he said. “If they had just canceled the day before, like all the other colleges in the state, it would have probably helped students who did plan on evacuating to leave earlier.”
Florida State University announced on
Tuesday that campus would close Wednesday through Friday after the storm was originally forecast to slam Tallahassee. The city ended up avoiding the worst of the storm’s winds as its path veered east.
Also in Gainesville, both Santa Fe College and the Alachua County Public School System announced Wednesday they would remain closed Thursday and Friday. They plan to resume normal operations Monday.
However, PK Yonge, the K-12 developmental school run by the university, and Baby Gator, the preschool serving children of staff, followed the UF main campus’ lead in canceling Thursday.
Following Hurricane Helene’s path
through Florida, UF President Kent Fuchs sent his warm regards to students and all those affected in an email Friday afternoon. He also said the university would resume normal operations Saturday in the announcement, signed simply as from “Kent.”
“It is clear that our neighbors across the state are enduring significant damage and hardships,” he wrote. “My prayers and deepest sympathies are with them.”
A top down view of the Norman Hall oak tree as seen on Friday, Sept. 27.
Recreational marijuana awaits voter decision
MARIJUANA, from pg. 1
cess, the amendment was approved by the Florida Supreme Court on April 1 and acquired over 1 million voter signatures.
The amendment must have 60% approval at the polls in November to pass. Recent polls show the referendum passing by a narrow margin; 64% of voters approve the amendment, according to a recent poll by Emerson College.
In Alachua County, stakeholders have concerns over the potential impacts if the amendment gains citizen approval.
Legal concerns
In Florida, it’s a crime to possess any amount of marijuana without a medical card. Melanie Slaughter, a criminal defense attorney in North Central Florida, has defended clients with cannabis charges.
Slaughter said she often advises clients who are faced with marijuana charges to get a medical card because it's relatively easy to get if diagnosed with a recognized qualifying condition, including anxiety, cancer, epilepsy and HIV.
On first offense, clients possessing marijuana without a medical card are normally sentenced to diversion programs, like community service, Slaughter said. Jail time for marijuana usage usually only results after multiple offenses.
Yet testing for marijuana usage in cases such as DUIs can be murky, she said. Marijuana can remain in a user’s system for up to a month, leading them to test positive on drug tests even if they’re not actively under the influence.
With the passage of Amendment 3, individuals convicted of marijuana usage or possession could be serving time for a crime that no longer exists. The legal community is uncertain about what would happen to those currently incarcerated on
marijuana possession if the amendment were to pass, Slaughter said. She hopes the amendment is able to benefit her clients by offering a pathway to those with marijuana-affiliated charges to have their records cleaned, she said.
However, Slaughter finds the legalization of cannabis personally concerning because of how the drug affects the attitude and motivation of users, she said. As a defense attorney, she sees every day how for her clients marijuana can become a “gateway” to poor life choices.
“It takes away people's ambition to do anything,” she said. “They just exist in a haze of smoke, and it's just not a productive way for a society to allow people to live.”
Possible upticks in DUIs are law enforcement’s biggest concern with Amendment 3, said Art Forgey, a spokesperson for the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office.
Alachua County has a relatively low rate of marijuana-related DUI cases, he said, but there’s a possibility after the referendum there might be people who don’t understand their personal limits.
“In a [alcohol] DUI case, you have a breathalyzer that you can give that person,” he said. “With marijuana, there is no instrument like that that would gauge it.”
In the case of a potential marijuana DUI, a field assessment would have to be done based on sobriety tests and visible driving impairment, Forgey said. If the amendment passes, there’s still uncertainty on what regulations the legislature would implement on recreational usage, leaving many questions up in the air, he said.
Medical regulations
Alachua County has more than 20 marijuana dispensaries that can only distribute to customers with medical cards. It’s unclear how the medical marijuana community
could be impacted by the legalization of the drug, said Aaron Bloom, CEO of DocMJ, a licensed medical marijuana physician practice in Florida.
Over 800,000 Floridians have medical marijuana cards. These cards can only be given by certified physicians after determining that a patient has a qualifying condition under the law. Bloom said it’s the job of licensed physicians to decide whether the benefits of marijuana outweigh the risks before legally providing a recommendation.
Medical risks of marijuana usage can include addiction, pregnancy risks, permanent IQ loss and impaired athletic performance, among others. Benefits are pain regulation, nausea control and an increased appetite, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
If a doctor believes that cannabis would be beneficial for a patient, they are given a recommendation and put on the state registry, he said. Patients then have to pay a fee to the state and get a card for medical marijuana usage. Patients with a card are then able to purchase at any Florida-licensed dispensary, as long as they pay reregistration fees every cycle.
“My concern [with] Amendment 3 is that for the last eight years, we have built a very successful medical marijuana program in Florida,” Bloom said. “My concern is that those products [medical marijuana] will no longer be available.”
After recreational use was made legal in other states, Bloom said, there was an increase in dispensaries gearing products towards the recreational market, which has a higher profit margin and can sell for a higher price.
There are differences between the type of marijuana used for medical and recreational products, Bloom said. Medical marijuana is normally prescribed with higher CBD, which
is less impairing, and lower THC levels, which is a psychoactive that leaves the user feeling “high.”
Bloom said the recreational market craves the psychoactive properties of marijuana, which may lead to more strains with higher THC being sold. This is less suited for the medical market, Bloom said.
“The dispensaries can only grow so much product, they can only process so much product,” he said. “I’m fearful that the patients will get lost in the shuffle.”
Millions of dollars have been spent on Florida’s “Yes on 3” campaign, with one of the largest donors being Trulieve, a common medical marijuana dispensary. The company has already donated $95 million to the initiative, Trulieve spokesperson Steven Vancore said.
Recreational marijuana will implement regulations that will make cannabis possession safer, Vancore
said. Most illicit cannabis confiscated by law enforcement contains dangerous additives from illegal pesticides, but Amendment 3 would require cannabis to be distributed by licensed growers.
The recreational market will also bring tax revenue on all recreational marijuana that is sold in the state, he said, which will stimulate economic growth. If the amendment passes, Vancore said he hopes the legislature will enact laws to limit public smoking and consumption, on par with the laws already existing for tobacco and alcohol.
“We see that a majority of adult Americans currently have the freedom to choose to possess and consume safe lab-tested marijuana without fear,” he said. “It's time that Floridians in the Freedom State also enjoy that freedom.”
@morgvande mvanderlaan@alligator.org
Questions concerning the legalization of marijuana have
the polls, but some are skeptical.
Santa Fe students discuss new program guaranteeing transfer admissions into UF
The Going Gator transfer program guarantees direct admissions into 18 majors
By Timothy Wang Alligator Staff Writer
Santa Fe College students now have guaranteed transfer admissions into UF through a new program established this year.
The Going Gator transfer program offers Santa Fe and Florida Gateway College’s students direct admissions into 18 degree programs from UF’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. UF transfer applications for the program open Summer B 2025.
“I think it's great, especially for people like me,” Omar Pimentel, an 18-year-old Santa Fe geology freshman, said. “There's situations in which there's kids that don't do very well in high school, but then they want to commit when they get older in college or for their future careers.”
He said he applied for the program after hearing about it from an advisor at a Santa Fe open-house event. The adviser told Pimentel that the Going Gator program is trying to increase enrollment into less popular majors by making them more accessible to community college students.
Pimentel said he got lucky since geology, a major that qualifies for the program, is also
what he wants to pursue. He said he’s thankful for the program.
“I have many friends that are already in UF,” Pimentel said. “It's nice to be able to go into that school with them.”
Transfer students in the program must complete their associate in arts degree, prerequisite courses for their intended major and maintain a 2.5 cumulative GPA, according to a WUFT article. Students must also show an intent to transfer to UF for Summer 2025 or later.
“A student who comes to Santa Fe will know exactly what they need to do in order to be ready and to be accepted into their program of choice,” Stefanie Waschull, Santa Fe’s associate vice president of liberal arts and sciences, said. “It's a seamless pathway.”
She said more than 70 Santa Fe students are already in the program.
Santa Fe College offers multiple collaborative programs with UF. In July, Santa Fe announced it had partnered with UF’s College of Pharmacy to create the Pharmacy Early Assurance Program to help Santa Fe students get into UF’s pharmacy school, according to a news release.
“I feel like there's multiple routes that you can take to get to where you want to be,” said Lia Farrell, a 20-year-old Santa Fe business ad-
ministration sophomore. “I don't think not getting accepted into UF the first time should stop other people from taking an alternate route, which Santa Fe offers.”
She said she is looking to transfer to UF but is not using the Going Gator program. Farrell said she had not heard of the program before, and she thinks Santa Fe doesn’t inform students enough about Going Gator.
Though she doesn’t qualify for the program, she said it seems like an important avenue to help students transition into a larger university.
“Transferring is a stressful process,” said Arasan Subramanian, a 19-year-old Santa Fe environmental science sophomore. “If you don't get in, you're kind of f*cked.”
He’s heard about the Going Gator program but decided against that path. He said he plans to submit a transfer application to UF this semester.
Students who are admitted into UF through the Going Gator program cannot change their major after transferring to UF, according to Santa Fe’s website.
Subramanian said he doesn’t like the inability to change majors.
“[If you] change your major to go transfer [to] UF, you'll get in,” he said, “but I don't
know if it'll be worth it.”
According to NPR, 83% of enrolled community college students plan to transfer to a four-year college or university.
About 33% of those enrolled in community colleges for Fall 2015 transferred to four-year institutions, according to a report published this year by the Community College Research Center, an independent research center studying two-year colleges and open-access fouryear institutions.
“There can be obstacles for transfer students,” said Adrienne Provost, the UF CLAS director of student strategic initiatives. “Things like not knowing the appropriate course sequence or not knowing which prerequisites lead to which majors.”
Provost said more majors could be added to the program, which is still developing. She said the program doesn’t have a maximum number of students who can apply.
The Santa Fe website says students who are in Going Gator will have benefits such as “specialized advising” and “college success workshops.”
“We know that this is going to be something that will support students from our local communities,” Provost said.
@timothyw_g twang@alligator.org
Jea Nace // Alligator Staff
entered
Discount stores dot the city. Does Gainesville still need them?
LOW-COST RETAILERS, MUCH LIKE THEIR MOST FREQUENT CUSTOMERS, HAVE FALLEN ON HARD TIMES
By Natalie Kaufman Alligator Staff Writer
Sonia Thompson avoids her local Dollar Tree’s food and drink aisle at all costs — no matter the money she could save.
The 18-year-old UF microbiology freshman said she’s thrifty only when necessary. She buys clothing from Ross Dress for Less but never purchases groceries at dollar stores. The griminess of the shelves deters her from getting food there, she said.
Financially supported by her parents, Thompson is in a different boat than many of her fellow Gainesville residents.
Hector Sandoval, who directs the Economic Analysis Program at UF’s Bureau of Economic and Business Research, said stubbornly high prices have made consumers — especially those with low incomes — more price-sensitive.
“You want to keep your consumption level the same, so you start to buy these cheaper products. You start to make this substitution,” Sandoval said. “A lot of people start to just use the generic brand from Target or Walmart.”
Theft increases, retailers scramble Those in crisis may resort to shoplifting, a persistent nuisance for retailers that has become even thornier lately.
According to the National Retail Federation, theft accounted for $112 billion of retail losses in 2022.
Discount stores like Dollar General and Dollar Tree have raised prices to cover revenue sapped by shoplifting, among other reasons, such as keeping up with inflation and competition.
Tianxin Zou, a UF assistant professor of marketing, said when retailers even marginally raise prices, they are swimming upstream. Passing the financial burden of losses onto consumers inadvertently invites more theft.
“More people have become poor, and they cannot afford the products. So they have to steal, unfortunately,” Zou said.
Discount stores, he added, generally congregate in rural and impoverished areas, where stealing is more prevalent. Zou said economic conditions have hemmed in retailers like Dollar General, forcing them to trim down their staff and security.
Kimberly, who works at Five Below at West University, said her location experiences routine theft. Her last name has been removed, as Five Below prohibits its employees from talking to the media.
“They take high-value items like stereos and electronics, cables, and we’ll have, every now and then, a group of high schoolers come steal slime,” she said.
Like many retailers, she said Five Below has a no-chase policy, so perpetrators get away relatively scot-free.
Although the company reported weak earnings last quarter, with theft contributing to revenue leakage, Kimberly believes it will prevail through economic contractions and unforeseen losses.
“We’re pretty recession-proof,” she said. “People are going to shop here because the cost is so low.”
Expanding as sales slump
Kimberly predicts Five Below’s plans for expedited growth are unsustainable at best and ruinous at worst. The company plans to open more than 200 stores this year, despite tracking losses between $2 million and $13 million. It currently has three in Gainesville.
“Anytime I‘ve seen a retailer just continue to expand, they normally go bankrupt,” she said. “I don’t think that would happen to Five Below, but it’s just, at some point, ‘When is enough enough?’”
Dollar General, which has eight local locations, joins Five Below in its plans for aggressive growth amid a dire revenue downturn. It is poised to open more than 700 stores this fiscal year.
Joel Davis, co-director of UF’s David F. Miller Retail Center, said the company must
temper ambition with caution, especially in Gainesville.
“It’s a bit of a catch-22,” he said. “You expand, and you end up too big with too many [stores], or you don’t expand, and you end up going broke because you don’t get the investment you need to maintain your current operations.”
Davis said he doesn’t think the city needs another Dollar General, and certainly not near UF’s campus.
“I think if a Dollar General opened up across the street, you’d see people buying sodas there, but you wouldn’t see a whole lot of other business there,” he said. “There’s already access to that here.”
Dollar store chains fill East Gainesville’s nutritional gaps
In East Gainesville, where most people are closer to a dollar store than a Publix, Davis said discount retailers have pushed grocery chains out of the market, creating food deserts — places where access to nutritious food is scarce.
Davis said dollar stores lack healthy food options and are rife with ultra-processed offerings.
“I can buy a can of soup, and I can buy a loaf of bread, and I can buy Coca-Cola, but I
Alachua County teachers rally for increased salaries
NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE ALACHUA COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD CURRENTLY DEADLOCKED
By Sara-James Ranta Alligator Staff Writer
Lynda Harris, a 40-year-old Gainesville resident, works seasonal jobs for many reasons. If she needs clothes, she works in clothing retail. If she wants house furnishings, she works at craft stores, she said.
While working seasonally, Harris’ full-time job is teaching third grade at Carolyn Beatrice Parker Elementary, spending nearly 70 hours a week. Without a livable wage, Harris has to work multiple jobs to make ends meet, she said.
“Personally, it’s just a slap in the face,” she said. “I feel like they’re [school board] sitting there as if they don’t understand what our position is.”
Alachua County educators and the school board are at an impasse, or a deadlock, over this year’s salary negotiations.
The Alachua County Education Association, the county’s teachers’ union, proposed a 3.2% salary increase for the 202425 school year. The Alachua County School Board proposed half that amount. The ongoing dispute has union members raising concerns about impacts on staff morale and retention as the school year progresses.
Union members raise concerns
Kristen Zunker, a 47-year-old first-grade teacher at Littlewood Elementary, said she’s “never not worked an extra job” in her 24-year teaching career. In addition to teaching first graders, she works in school team leader roles and teaches summer school.
“For me, it’s a huge issue with ‘How much do I matter?’” she said. “I don’t understand why the struggle always has to be to
pay the people who make the biggest impact. The expectation of who I am as a teacher has changed dramatically.”
Zunker said increased expectations include taking on more formal “support” roles for students, especially regarding mental health. Statewide policies indicate teachers must complete youth mental health awareness and youth suicide awareness and prevention training. Additional training is provided through the district, in adherence to statewide policies.
Zunker said among the extra pressure, she doesn’t teach for the money.
“I do this job to make a difference in the world,” she said. “At the same time, I would like to be respected.”
Alachua County’s elementary school teacher salary is 3.8% lower than state averages and 14.8% lower than national averages, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Carmen Ward, president of ACEA, said the organization’s power is a “collective voice that gets to negotiate salary and rights.”
Teacher salaries are negotiated every year. For the 2023-24 school year, teachers received a 3.5% salary increase, with retroactive pay from the beginning of the contract period, which was in early July 2023. Retroactive pay is the compensation a teacher receives from a prior pay after a salary increase.
Ward said ACEA’s original proposal for the 2024-25 school year was a 5% salary increase, and the district provided an original proposal of 1.56% in April.
After lowering its offer 11 times, ACEA stayed put on a 3.2% increase, while the ACSB held a 1.6% offer.
For every yearly contract, there are nearly 3,300 bargaining members, or employees represented by the union, of which 2,000 are active union members, Ward said.
Frustrated by the negotiations, Ward and nearly 40 teachers and community members rallied to express their concerns at a Sept. 17 ACSB meeting. The rally was motivated by pushback from ACSB, which argued that if a decision was not agreed
can’t also buy fresh produce,” he said.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture, nearly 48 million people — approximately 14% of the U.S. population — live in food-insecure households.
Higher rates of malnutrition and obesity are prevalent in food deserts, where people subsist on packaged snacks and treats replete with sodium, fat and sugar.
Jennifer Daniel, 22, said she doesn’t buy food from dollar stores but finds good deals at discount grocers like Aldi.
The UF applied physiology and kinesiology senior said she’s part of the Machen Florida Opportunity Scholars program, which provides financial aid and support to first-generation, low-income undergraduates.
Although her tuition is fully covered, Daniel said she still feels the pinch of high prices, especially at the grocery store.
“I don’t even think I’m buying the best food out there. I’m shopping at Walmart and Aldi,” she said.
Daniel said her roommate, who’s from East Gainesville, shops for much of her essentials at dollar stores.
“Their community is really dependent on Dollar General, which is two minutes away from their house,” she said. “I was just really sad to hear that. It’s like there’s no other place for these kids and these families to get real food.”
Hannah Rider, a 20-year-old UF public health junior, also avoids buying food at dollar stores and worries those with no alternative are doing their families a nutritional disservice.
“It’s going to be canned vegetables, perishable food items or frozen chicken nuggets, which is just not a good idea to feed your children,” she said.
Still, Rider acknowledges that discount stores may be the only — and, therefore, the best — option for struggling families.
“Food on the table is better than no food on the table,” she said. “That’s the bottom line.”
@Nat_Kauf nkaufman@alligator.org
upon, no retroactive pay would be given.
“They [ACSB] were trying to strong-arm the union into agreeing to their terrible offer,” she said. “They cannot unilaterally make any of these decisions. I am never going to agree to that nonsense.”
Ward said retroactive pay was provided for many years before this contract, including last year.
ACEA is not interested in lowering its salary proposals, she said.
“Investing money in the public school employees should be a priority for the board,” she said.
Danielle Engelhorn, a 42-year-old third-grade teacher at Parker Elementary, works after-school tutoring, teaches summer school and does freelance photography to make ends meet.
Engelhorn said she feels replaceable through the negotiations with the ACSB.
“When you sacrifice so much and you give so much of your personal time to the school and to the community,” she said. “If your very bosses aren’t going to have your back, then no one is going to have your back.”
Florida is seeing a statewide teacher and staff shortage. In January, the Florida Education Association reported more than 7,500 vacancies across the K-12 system.
Engelhorn worries the replacement of teachers with longterm substitutes affects the quality of education in Alachua County, she said.
“The long-term subs have not had the years of education, experience, training and science to understand adequately how to teach this material,” she said. “When I receive a student that has come from a long-term sub situation, I have to do extra duties to try to make up those gaps.”
Read the rest online at alligator.org.
@sarajamesranta sranta@alligator.org
Noah Lantor // Alligator Staff
Five Below worker Riley Long assists a customer during checkout in Gainesville, Florida, on Sept. 28, 2024.
FDEP calls for public comment on springs protection. Residents say it won’t listen.
SCIENTISTS, ACTIVISTS AND CITIZENS OFFER INSIGHT ON HOW TO ADDRESS DAMAGE
By Rylan DiGiacomo-Rapp Alligator Staff Writer
The trip to Apopka was a roughly 100mile journey from Jim Tatum’s home in Tampa. The 85-year-old waited in a sea of faces for his turn to say he hopes the Florida Department of Environmental Protection will take better action to save the springs.
Despite the fervent pleas of springs advocates, Tatum said he knew the state still wasn’t listening.
“They really don’t give a hoot about what we think, about the people,” he said.
Tatum advocated alongside nearly 40 state residents for stronger protections at the Sept. 12 FDEP annual public workshop on springs rulemaking in Apopka. Despite the meetings, citizens and activists argue rules limiting threats like overpumping and pollution have not been enforced properly enough to safeguard the Florida Outstanding Springs.
Thirty springs were designated “outstanding” in 2016, a title reserved for those of historic importance and a signal to preserve them for future generations. However, the Florida Springs Council and other advocacy groups have challenged the FDEP to legal battles for nearly a decade over protections they repeatedly deemed inadequate.
The FDEP will accept public comment on the Apopka workshop through email until Oct. 3.
As a board member of Our Santa Fe River — a not-for-profit organization dedicated to defending the Sante Fe watershed — Tatum said he worries natural waterways will disappear because the state doesn’t want to “offend the polluters.”
He also expressed frustration that the FDEP hasn’t seemed to answer local activ-
ists’ calls for stricter protections despite the department’s annual requests for public comment. Unless Florida appoints a new governor or adds a clean water amendment to the state constitution, he said he doesn’t foresee change in his lifetime.
“I’m very tired of seeing our springs and rivers dying,” he said.
Long-time Central Florida resident and avid kayaker Gabrielle Milch has witnessed the Blue and Wekiwa Springs atrophy over the past four decades. Aquatic vegetation withered and wasted away in water tinted green and brown by algae, which Milch said was made obvious by increased erosion and fluctuating water levels. Beyond her personal connection to the springs, she also serves as the St. Johns River Middle Basin manager and spoke at the recent FDEP public workshop.
“It just breaks my heart,” she said. “I know it was so much better before, and I know we can’t go back, but we can slow it.”
Passed in 2016, the Florida Springs and Aquifer Protection Act required the state to determine a standard definition of “harmful to water resources” and regulate permits for groundwater pumping to prevent damage. The Clean Waterways Act arrived four years later in 2020 to improve water quality. It mandated the creation of Basin Management Action Plans, or BMAPs, which refer to site-specific courses of action to clear pollution.
Following a lawsuit launched by the Florida Springs Council, the First District Court of Appeals ruled last year the FDEP must rescind 2018 BMAPs deemed inadequate for the Silver, Upper Silver, Rainbow and Volusia Blue Springs as well as the Santa Fe, Rainbow and Suwannee Rivers. The FDEP is required to adopt valid plans by July 2025.
Although the BMAPs were a “good start” that would benefit from more citizen engagement, Milch said she can only hope the
state will improve its transparency.
The FDEP did not respond in time for publication.
However, Milch also said the harm done is deeply rooted in the unsustainable habits of everyday people, including frequently watering lawns and improperly disposing of garbage.
“Really, it’s all of us that need to change our behaviors,” she said. “Because we are the ones using the water that’s impacting the springs, so we’re part of the problem.”
The threats to aquifers and springs, including urban development, agricultural pollution and overpumping, weave a more complex web than what meets the eye, said UF Water Institute Interim Director and hydrology professor Matthew Cohen. As a hydrologist, Cohen studies water resources and related ecosystems.
Soon after Florida farmers use fertilizer and pesticides to protect their crops, those chemicals seep into nearby aquifers through runoff and severely diminish water quality. Though Cohen argued the resulting nutrient overload and algal blooms are the largest problems to contend with, he said the secondary issue of groundwater pumping is also a “one-way ticket” to depleting a vital resource that is slow to replenish.
The dilemma hit close to home for North Central Florida springs advocates when BlueTriton Brands set its sights on Gilchrist County in 2021. The company, formerly known as Nestle Waters North America, bottles and sells water separately collected by Seven Springs Water Co., which is permitted to draw nearly 1 million gallons of water from Ginnie Springs daily.
Despite the citizen uproar that ensued when the Seven Springs Water Co. permit was renewed last year, Cohen said the water bottling operation is a drop in the bucket beside the City of Gainesville’s consumptive use permit, which allows for the extraction of 30 million gallons per day. Scientists and
lawmakers are subsequently tasked with the difficult decision of where to draw the “line in the sand” of how much is too much, he said.
“People need to bathe and drink. We need farmers to water crops, and so, we need to be pragmatic,” Cohen said. “There’s a certain amount of acceptable ecological harm that we’re willing to put up with.”
However, he said unchecked usage and pollution should not be ignored.
The threat of reduced spring flow and rampant algal blooms — which can lead to clumpy buildups that deter tourists and suffocate native ecosystems — are also exacerbated by climate change. The baseline of Florida’s water balance has begun deviating from known patterns, which makes it more challenging to address problems that have simmered for over half a century.
Although Cohen approved of the state’s ability to find and implement solutions, he also said there has been a certain degree of “hemming and hawing and waiting around,” especially revolving around programs that would limit agriculture or otherwise sacrifice economic vitality.
“These are big, vexing, complicated problems that impinge directly on people’s livelihoods,” he said.
Cohen said the FDEP has placed too much of a focus on limiting excess nitrogen even though it’s not the primary cause of springs degradation. Instead of working almost solely on one issue, he argued the state should invest more resources in exploring additional variables like dissolved oxygen content, which he said is a key factor in the springs’ ecological decline.
“There’s a case to be made that we probably put too many eggs in that particular basket, that we stand to fix the wrong problem,” he said.
@rylan_digirapp rdigiacomo-rapp@alligator.org
A guide to UF’s ongoing and costly construction projects
AS LONG-TERM PROJECTS RESHAPE CAMPUS, STUDENTS NAVIGATE DETOURS AND DELAYS
By Vera Lucia Pappaterra Alligator Staff Writer
Denelson Estimable hastily swerves to the left and avoids crashing into another student as he rides his scooter through the Reitz Union North Lawn and The Hub’s two-meter-wide sidewalk.
Hundreds of students squeeze through the thin path daily as they run to class, grab food for lunch or meet up with friends. A danger both to those on foot and wheels, the tiny but mighty stretch has the potential to injure anyone who isn’t familiar with its blind spots.
Luckily, Estimable, a 20-year-old UF applied physiology and kinesiology sophomore, knows how to navigate UF’s version of the Panama Canal, which has faced a construction site closure since November 2023.
“When you’re entering a walkway, you cannot see who’s coming… you can easily get hit,” Estimable said. “I think it’s very unsafe.”
Construction is a constant fixture on UF’s campus. UF Planning, Design and Construction lists 10 active projects on its website, with 23 more in the planning and design phases.
Construction projects on the Reitz Union North Lawn and Inner Road from Newell Drive to 13th Street have been in progress since Nov. 6, 2023. The Reitz Union North Lawn and Inner Road project, which is one project divided into three parts, is supposed to be completed by February 2025, according to the planning website.
However, a project schedule and tracker released on Aug. 28 shows that the project will not be completed until Aug. 5, 2025. This is corroborated by the owner-contractor agreement made
between the UF Board of Trustees and Austin Commercial L.P., the project’s contractor.
On the same contract, the agreed-upon budget for all three projects is about $30 million. An expense tracker for the three projects shows the total expenses have been estimated to be about $6 million higher, according to public records requests.
In the meantime, students must participate in this daily exercise in detours, with some pedestrian walkways, bike lanes and scooter paths often fenced off.
Mira Patel, an 18-year-old UF finance freshman, said the construction near Broward Hall took her by surprise when she moved to Gainesville in August.
“It was just kind of confusing because I didn’t really know what it was about or what they were building,” she said. “It was also really loud. So that was definitely a bit of an adjustment.”
The North Lawn is only one of the heavily trafficked areas of
campus marred by construction. The architecture building has followed a similar timeline to the North Lawn, with its remodeling and renovation beginning in October 2023 and scheduled to finish in April 2025.
Rachel Warren, a 21-year-old UF psychology and religion senior, has been at the university long enough to see the revolving door of construction projects across campus.
“It’s always been there, and it’s moving around a lot,” she said. “It’s a little bit irritating to run into new construction every now and then, but I also understand why it has to happen.”
Warren said the North Lawn and the architecture building construction sites, which closed a part of the Stadium Road sidewalk, have become eyesores for many students.
“I guess it is busy and ugly, but ultimately, I do understand why they do it,” she said. “That’s unfortunately probably an inevitable part of developing a university”
Nick Kozensky, a 21-year-old UF physics and math senior, said the pace of each construction project spurs frustration.
Kozensky said projects on Museum Road and in front of the chemistry building particularly bothered him because it got in the way of his commutes through campus. He mentioned projects on Stadium Road that were expected to be completed midway through the Summer semester were finished right before Fall classes began.
“It’s slow,” Kozensky said. “Too slow. They always have contractors, and they always have a project, but they never stick to the timeframe. They’re always over time.”
Kozensky, like Estimable on his scooter, has had run-ins while navigating the pathway from the Reitz Union to the Hub. As a student on his bike, trying to get to Marston or Chick-fil-A, he said he nearly runs someone over every time he goes through the ungenerous sidewalk.
UF did not comment in time for publication.
Gabriella Aulisio// Alligator Staff
Students walk past a construction area off Newell Drive on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024.
www.alligator.org/section/opinions
UF Student Government follows the DeSantis playbook: Gerrymandering
“Inever encountered, in state and federal politics, activities as aggressive as at the University of Florida… If there were lessons taught, they were not good lessons,” attested former Florida governor and senator Bob Graham. The latest not-good lesson taught by UF student politics is one learned from statewide policy: gerrymandering.
Currently, Florida politics is wrapped in a legal battle over redistricting after Gov. Ron DeSantis intervened to install a gerrymandered map that heavily benefitted Republicans. When his own party submitted a modest map that would likely result in 16 Republican and 12 Democratic seats, DeSantis vetoed the plan, vetoed another compromise plan and eventually strong-armed the legislature into accepting a new map drawn by his office that would result in 20 Republicans seats. Bragging about this accomplishment on the campaign trail, DeSantis claimed that this move helped the Republican Party secure its slim majority in the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2022 elections.
The consequence, however, has been the silencing of minority voices. To achieve this historic gerrymander, DeSantis split North Florida’s historically Black-represented fifth congressional district among four majority white districts. In court, op-
Florida, known for its beautiful coastlines and lively population, faces a severe challenge: homelessness. Despite Florida’s allure, the state struggles with a growing crisis. In 2023, Florida reported 15,482 unsheltered individuals, which is 6% of the national total and the highest since records began in 2007. This situation highlights the urgent need for practical solutions.
Homelessness in Florida has been a persistent issue with various responses over time. Past strategies have ranged from preventive measures and reactive responses to controversial approaches like criminalizing homelessness. Economic shifts, housing shortages and changing political priorities have often hindered progress.
Recently, Gov. Ron DeSantis introduced HB 1365 addressing homelessness. The legislation bans camping on city streets, sidewalks and parks, redirecting individuals to temporary shelters overseen by law enforcement. It
ponents of the map argue that such a move violates the Florida Constitution’s Fair District Amendment as a racial gerrymander. Furthermore, an investigation by ProPublica alleges that DeSantis’s office collaborated with figures connected to the national Republican Party, another likely violation of the Florida Constitution.
At UF’s Student Government, a similar DeSantian move to redraw election maps has taken place. Last summer, after losing two elections in a row, members of the Greek-dominated Gator Party (most of whom later swapped affiliations to Vision Party) pushed forward a new 37-seat at-large off campus map that eliminated the zip code-based district model that had been in place since at least the 1970s. This map has been upheld by the UF Supreme Court, despite its dubious constitutionality. The UF Supreme Court’s decision appalled one UF justice to the point she made the rare move of releasing a dissenting opinion.
Just as the elimination of the fifth congressional district diminished the voice of Black voters, the new at-large map silences the voice of every student who happens not to live in Fraternity and Sorority Row. In January, I examined the zip codes of the 37 elected off campus Vision senators last fall and found that 28 of 37 senators lived in the former Districts A and B, which contains Fraternity and Sorority Row.
also requires shelters to enforce drug-free policies and provide substance abuse and mental health treatments. While HB 1365 offers a structured framework, critics argue it may not fully address the needs of those with severe substance abuse or complex challenges.
Analysis and impact of HB 1365
HB 1365 provides a structured approach to managing homelessness but may not tackle its root causes. By focusing on law enforcement and drug-free requirements, it risks offering a short-term solution that merely displaces the issue rather than addressing underlying problems like housing shortages and mental health needs.
This approach contrasts with recent Supreme Court rulings, such as the Grants Pass decision, emphasizing that cities cannot criminalize public sleeping when insufficient shelter options are available. This plasticity highlights the need for solutions that address the causes of homelessness, not just its visibility, and integrate support-
In contrast, students who do not live in the former districts containing Fraternity or Sorority Row received less than a quarter of the student representation under the gerrymandered map. The voice of non-Greek students, who represent the vast majority of the UF population, no longer receive a proportional voice in how millions of our tuition dollars are spent.
It goes without saying that sorority girls and frat guys, who mindlessly vote for their chicken parm dinner, do not speak for the diverse UF student body. Under the gerrymandered map, however, they will continue to hold a supermajority of the off campus seats. Barring any last-minute ruling on the election map, Vision Party is guaranteed to win these upcoming sham fall elections and every fall election for the foreseeable future, wrecking any facade of democracy within UF SG.
Read the rest online at alligator.org/section/opinions.
Rey Arcenas is a UF history and women’s studies senior.
ive services with emergency relief. Homelessness is particularly severe in Alachua, Bradford, Gilchrist, Levy and Putnam counties. Data from the Continuum of Care and a point-in-time study indicate that 725 of the 1,006 homeless individuals in these counties live in Gainesville. This concentration calls for targeted interventions in Gainesville, where local leaders face unique challenges.
A call to action: prioritize homelessness
My personal experience with homelessness profoundly influences my advocacy. After enduring homelessness for nearly two decades as a single parent struggling with chemical dependency, I have firsthand insight into the complexities involved. As a social-impact documentary filmmaker, I launched the campaign “Mandate Future Politicians to Prioritize Homelessness” to urge voters to push policymakers to address this issue with the same urgency as other critical matters.
I highly encourage Floridians to participate
The views expressed here are not necessarily those of The Alligator.
opinions@alligator.org
in this campaign. We can elevate homelessness in political discourse by engaging in advocacy, supporting local and national initiatives, and raising awareness. Focusing on immediate relief and long-term solutions will ensure comprehensive support that addresses the root causes of homelessness and offers practical, compassionate assistance.
Read the rest online at alligator.org/ section/opinions.
Eric Protein Moseley is a social impact documentary filmmaker working on the documentary Understanding the Spectrum: Exploring the Classes of Homelessness.
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 32604-2257.Columns of about 450 words about original topics and editorial cartoons are also welcome. Questions? Call 352-376-4458.
Eric Protein Moseley
Rey Arcenas opinions@alligator.org
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2024
www.alligator.org/section/the_avenue
‘Pride is everything’: Gainesville Pride Festival waves rainbows after the storm
THE PRIDE COMMUNITY CENTER OF NORTH CENTRAL FLORIDA
RALLIED OVER 100 VENDORS AT BO DIDDLEY PLAZA SEPT. 28
By Noor Sukkar Avenue Staff Writer
As downed trees scattered the streets and power outages plagued the city, Gainesville pride remained unscathed in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.
Despite week-long uncertainty, the Pride Community Center of North Central Florida hosted its Pride Festival on Sept. 28 from noon to 8 p.m. at Bo Diddley Plaza and on surrounding streets.
From National Women’s Liberation to Wawa, over 100 businesses and organizations set up tables along the streets. The colorful scene offered a vast range of activities, resources, advocacy and entertainment, though it also attracted counterprotesters.
PCNCF board director Elena Kalina said her team met throughout the week to monitor and discuss whether the show would go on and got the go-ahead from the city on Friday. Despite losing some vendors and volun-
WEATHER
teers, Kalina and her team showed up at 7:30 a.m. Saturday for setup.
“The community has really pulled through to make this happen today, which I think is a really beautiful turnout and change of events considering the hurricane,” she said.
While Pride month is typically observed in June, Kalina said Gainesville usually hosts its Pride festival around October because most students are gone over the summer, and it’s far too hot for drag queens to perform in the summer heat.
With the help of intermittent rain and fans made out of popsicle sticks, the festival beat the heat and crowds filled the lawn to watch drag performances. Children frolicked in rainbow face paint and made bracelets or built legos at the kid station.
Mom and Hop’s anime shop proved to be a popular booth, offering an array of artwork, like a 3Dprinted resin figurine. Hop Murray, the 18-year-old Mom and Hop’s coowner, said he and his mother were able to make sales before officially opening.
“[It’s] a good vibe when people want stuff before you’re open,” Murray said. “To see someone light up with excitement for something that they never see anywhere else … whenever someone’s like, ‘I need that,’ that makes my day.”
The pair were vendors at the Pride festival last year and traveled from Orlando after vending at several other conventions and hearing about it from word of mouth. They finished the day with $400 in profit.
“I always like places like this because it always feels authentic,” Murray said.
Aside from dancing to live music, shopping for crystals or grabbing a bite from food trucks, attendees had the opportunity to learn about civic involvement.
Tabling organizations included Planned Parenthood, Bread and Roses, Alachua County Crisis Center and Moms Demand Action For Gun Sense in America. Gainesville Community Counseling Center provided a spinning wheel for prizes like Pride stickers and lanyards. The Civic Media Center offered a library activist hub and a zine-making station.
Behind the booth where people could register to vote, a different crowd started to form. Protestors hoisted a sign that read “repent or perish” and “you’re going to hell without Christ,” accompanied by a graphic photo of a burning face. Donning shirts that read “Jesus saves from hell,” they chanted biblical verses into a speakerphone.
Isabella Rose stood in front of them in a neon green wig and high
Ryan Friedenberg // Alligator Staff Ashley Bowers, 27, provides information to Gainesville Pride Festival attendees from the Pride Community Center of North Central Florida tent on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024.
heels. The 20-year-old transgender woman waved her Pride flag in the air as she interacted with the male protestors and tossed dollar bills at them as she danced.
“If I see hate, I will fight with kindness and love, and I will wave this flag,” Rose said. “Pride is everything. Pride is the being, it’s who you are,
and no one can take that from you.”
It wasn’t long before the protestors attracted a crowd, which led to a police car’s arrival at the corner of University Avenue and South East First Street.
“I’m here to remind everyone that God loves everybody,” Rose told festival attendees.
On the parallel street, several churches tabled at the festival, including the United Church of Gainesville, which identifies as an “Open and Affirming Church.” Its flier said the church “declares their welcome and inclusion of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons into the full life of the church.”
Brandon Telg, a 35-year-old who has been a church member for over 10 years, tabled with his daughter at the festival. Telg wanted to find a place where everyone in his community felt accepted and his children could be themselves, he said.
“I think that as my kids have gotten older, that’s exactly what UCG has meant to them,” he said. “To be here, to be a part of a church at a Pride festival, is not what I was used to growing up, but is such a beautiful thing that I’m so glad to be a part of.”
@noorsukkarr nsukkar@alligator.org
No power, no problem: Students party as hurricane storms through Gainesville
Partygoers turned class cancellations into a cause for celebration
By Sabrina Castro & Annie Wang Avenue Staff Writers
While Hurricane Helene ripped through the state, parties raged across town.
The Category 4 hurricane made landfall Thursday evening and carried winds up to 60 mph in Gainesville. The storm left the city with broken power lines, damaged trees and blocked roadways. No major injuries were reported.
Despite campus closures and statewide evacuation notices, Aidan Smythe, a 21-yearold UF finance senior, maintained his longstanding tradition of hosting hurricane parties.
“Every time there’s a hurricane, there’s gotta be a party,” said Smythe, who was raised in Fleming Island, Florida. “That’s what hurricanes are for. I can’t remember not doing it.”
Smythe hosted a party called the Sabal Post with his roommates at their apartment on Sept. 26, which he advertised to begin at
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7:48 p.m. on a “UF 2026” public Snapchat group. He said they selected a time at random, as it’s been a tradition for every party they host. The party had no theme, and everyone was invited to attend free of charge.
“Some guy texted me, [and] he was like, ‘How much is cover?’” Smythe said. “I was like, ‘Dude, we’re not making you pay to walk into my apartment.’”
On Friday, White Buffalo, a bar in downtown Gainesville, hosted a post-hurricane party with free entry all night. Students like An Le, a 21-year-old UF public health and geography senior, went for entertainment after hunkering down in their dorms, apartments and houses when the hurricane made landfall.
“It’s not raining today, most of Gainesville is under a power outage right now and everyone’s really bored,” Le said. “We just wanted to do something fun and make the most out of the situation.”
Le and her roommate, Soren Vanderschouw-Turner, a 21-year-old UF economics senior, were both at White Buffalo to celebrate their friend’s birthday. After losing
power in their apartment, they saw no reason to stay home.
“I was confident we’d be safe,” Vanderschouw-Turner said. “Right now, I don’t have power either… I’d rather be out here with power.”
Julianne Robinson, a 21-year-old zoology senior, said she was afraid the tree outside her window was going to crash the night of the hurricane because it was swaying at a 45-degree angle.
But as the storm passed and damage appeared minimal, she decided to go out to White Buffalo with her friends the following night.
“The weather’s not bad anymore, so it’s safe to go,” she said.
For local liquor store clerk Dylan Phelps, the arrival of a hurricane in Florida stirs up more than just storm clouds — it often triggers a rush for alcohol, a key ingredient in the state’s infamous hurricane parties.
“Friday was actually kind of slow,” the 28-year-old Gainesville employee said. “Everybody got their supplies Wednesday night
Caimán Festival de comida ofrece una variedad de platos sudamericanos. Lea más en la página 11.
[and] Thursday morning.”
Phelps works at Gator Beverage, which is conveniently located near campus on University Avenue. After UF canceled classes Thursday and Friday, Phelps said students likely stocked up in preparation for spending long stretches indoors.
“Because a hurricane ran through, it might incentivize people to go out and try to meet up with friends, because there might not be power at the house,” Phelps said. “Or [maybe] they realize that their beer has gone warm.”
Despite the storm, Phelps said Gator Beverage never lost power and was able to meet the community’s demand for alcohol.
He said the store was lucky to be able to supply cold beer during widespread power outages.
“Some people were buying two handles worth of vodka or a handle of tequila as opposed to a fifth of tequila,” Phelps said. “There was definitely an increase in quantity when it comes to hurricane season.”
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TESTING
1. MOVIES: Which animated film was the first to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture?
1. MEASUREMENTS: How many inches are in a mile?
2. SCIENCE: What is a common name for the Aurora Borealis?
3. U.S. PRESIDENTS: Who was the third U.S. president?
4. GEOGRAPHY: Where are the Maldives (islands) located?
2. ASTRONOMY: What does the acronym SETI mean to the scientific community?
5. MUSIC: Who was the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?
6. TELEVISION: What is Dorothy's job on "The Golden Girls"?
3. LANGUAGE: What does the Latin prefix “sub-” mean in English?
7. MATH: Which number doesn't have a Roman numeral equivalent?
8. LITERATURE: In the Harry Potter series of novels, what was Lord Voldemort's name before he changed it?
4. U.S. PRESIDENTS: Who was the only president to serve two nonconsecutive terms?
9. ANIMAL KINGDOM: Which dog breed doesn't "bark"?
10. FAMOUS QUOTES: Who wrote the poetic line about fall, "Nature's first green is gold"?
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. Sebastian the Ibis is the mascot of what university's athletic teams?
2. What two heavyweight boxers were dueling on the Las Vegas Strip in November 1993 when James "Fan Man" Miller crashed his powered paraglider into the ring?
9. GENERAL KNOWLEDGE: What was the name of the United States’ first nuclear-powered submarine?
3. What auto-racing facility in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley opened in 1910 and hosted open-wheel and NASCAR races until it closed in 2004?
10. GAMES: What are the four railroad properties in Monopoly?
4. Who was captain of the 2006 Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes? (Hint: He was hired as the Hurricanes' head coach in 2018.)
Answers
5. What team selected Tennessee's Chamique Holdsclaw with the first overall pick in the 1999 WNBA Draft?
1. 63,360 inches
2. Search for extraterrestrial intelligence
6. He has two Super Bowl rings as a cornerback for the New England Patriots. His son, also a cornerback, was a 2021 draft pick by the Los Angeles Chargers. Who is he?
7. Outfielder Andre Dawson's plaque in the National Baseball Hall of Fame depicts him wearing the cap of what team?
3. Below or insufficient
4. Grover Cleveland
5. Katharine Hepburn
6. Devils Tower, 1906
7. The Philippines
8. “The Matrix”
Sudoku solution
El Caimán
LUNES, 30 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2024
www.alligator.org/section/elcaiman
La Liga de Mujeres Latinas celebra culturas a través del evento de comida Taste of the World
CULTURAS
SUDAMERICANAS COMPARTEN COMIDAS Y TRADICIONES
Por Eneida Escobar
de El Caimán
Escritora
El Museo de Historia Matheson se convirtió en un bullicioso y vibrante tapiz de aromas, sabores e historias mientras los participantes sirvieron y probaron una mezcla de platos sudamericanos.
El Museo de Historia Matheson en Gainesville fue sede de Taste of the World, uno de los eventos del festival que celebra el vigésimo aniversario del Festival de Cine Latino de Gainesville, el 27 de septiembre de 6 p.m. a 8 p.m.
Organizado por la Liga de Mujeres Latinas, el evento reunió cocinas de todo el mundo, buscando resaltar cómo la comida puede ser un puente entre culturas.
Ericka Ghersi, criada en Perú y presidenta de la Liga de Mujeres Latinas, vio el evento como una forma de revelar las filosofías únicas de la cocina de diferentes países.
“Creo que a través de la comida puedes entender una cultura, y eso es muy importante”, dijo Ghersi. “Como viste aquí,
todas las organizaciones usan los mismos ingredientes, pero todos tienen sabores diferentes, y eso se debe a que cada cultura tiene una filosofía de cocinar o preparar su comida, y eso es lo que cambia todos los sabores que puedes encontrar en cada una de ellas”.
Ghersi probó una sopa de frijoles nostálgica que la llevó de regreso a su infancia en Perú.
“Mi madre solía hacerla los domingos”, dijo.
Destacó cómo platos como las papas, también presentes en el festival, reflejan diferentes sabores y tradiciones culinarias cuando se preparan con ingredientes de otras culturas como las especias indias.
“Cada uno tuvo que usar los mismos ingredientes, pero de diferentes maneras”, señaló Ghersi.
El sentido de unión fue algo que Cielo Ortiz, otra organizadora del evento y nativa de Colombia, también expresó.
“Es muy importante porque es muy bueno para uno conocer tanto los sabores como las culturas de otros países”, dijo Ortiz. “Todo el ambiente siempre ha sido muy, muy familiar... Estamos entre amigos, entre conocidos”.
Ortiz señaló que Taste of the World crece cada año, ofreciendo experiencias tanto tradicionales como nuevas que unen
a la comunidad y permiten que las personas prueben los sabores de culturas que quizás no encontrarán de otra manera.
Añadiendo a la diversidad de platos, Manisha Ranade y miembros del Centro Cultural y Educativo de India se asociaron con la Liga de Mujeres Latinas para presentar una mezcla de arroz, frijoles y papas sazonados con sabores indios.
“Sería muy interesante tener diferentes países usando los mismos ingredientes... pero añadiendo diferentes especias”, dijo Ranade. “Los frijoles, especialmente los frijoles rojos y los frijoles negros, son muy similares a los platos de frijoles de Sudamérica”.
Ranade enfatizó cómo compartir comida en eventos como este conecta a las comunidades y ofrece una oportunidad para la colaboración y el entendimiento.
“Y algunas de las especias también son [similares]... como que usamos cebolla, ajo, jengibre, comino, chile”, dijo. “Casi todas nuestras reuniones con amigos y familiares giran en torno a la comida, y comer juntos es una tradición muy común”.
Para Mirian Hay-Roe, una bióloga peruana que enseña tanto en Santa Fe College como en la Universidad de Florida, el evento permitió una exploración única de tradiciones compartidas.
Hay-Roe habló sobre cómo el festival presentó platos de diversas culturas, permitiendo a las personas saborear sabores que normalmente no experimentarían.
“Creo que es una forma de poder unir a la comunidad”, dijo Hay-Roe. “Es una forma de unificar a la comunidad porque comer algo diferente y algo especial es una buena manera de unir a la comunidad”.
Para Hay-Roe, descubrir los matices culturales de ingredientes como la asafétida — una especia de la cocina india utilizada como sustituto del ajo — fue una experiencia de aprendizaje en sí misma.
“La única forma de [ampliar] tu dieta es entendiendo los alimentos que se sirven en otras culturas”, dijo Hay-Roe.
Como parte del vigésimo año del Festival de Cine Latino de Gainesville, los participantes dijeron que el evento fue un recordatorio conmovedor de que una comida compartida es más que un banquete: es una forma de aferrarse a las tradiciones, acercar a las personas tanto en momentos alegres como desafiantes, y encontrar consuelo y conexión a través de las diferencias culturales.
@EneidaMariaEsc eescobar@alligator.org
Latina Women’s League celebrates cultures through Taste of the World food event
SOUTH AMERICAN CULTURES SHARE FOODS AND TRADITIONS
By Eneida Escobar Alligator Staff Writer
The Matheson History Museum became a bustling, vibrant tapestry of smells, flavors and stories as attendees served and savored a mix of Latin American dishes.
Gainesville’s Matheson History Museum hosted Taste of the World, one of the festival events celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Gainesville Latino Film Festival, Sept. 27 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Organized by the Latina Women’s League, the event brought together cuisines from around the world, pushing to highlight how food can be a bridge between cultures.
Ericka Ghersi, raised in Peru and president of the Latina Women’s League, saw the event as a way to
reveal the unique philosophies of cooking from different countries.
“I think that through the food you can understand a culture, and that's very important,” Ghersi said. “As you saw here, all the organizations use the same ingredients, but they all taste different, and that's because each culture has a philosophy of cooking or making their food, and that's what changes all the flavors you can have in each of them.”
Ghersi tasted a nostalgic bean soup taking her back to childhood in Peru.
“My mother used to make [it] on Sundays,” she said.
She noted how dishes like potatoes, also present at the festival, reflect different flavors and cooking traditions when prepared with ingredients from other cultures like Indian spices.
“Each of them had to use the same ingredients, but in different ways,” Ghersi said.
The sense of togetherness was
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something Cielo Ortiz, another event organizer and a Colombian native, also expressed.
“It is very important because it is very good for one to know from others both the flavors and cultures of other countries,” Ortiz said. “The whole atmosphere has always been very, very familiar ... We are among friends, among acquaintances.”
Ortiz noted Taste of the World grows each year, offering both traditional and new experiences that unite the community and allow people to taste the flavors of cultures they might not otherwise encounter.
Adding to the diversity of dishes, Manisha Ranade and members from the India Cultural and Education Center partnered with the Latina Women’s League to present a mix of rice, beans and potatoes seasoned with Indian flavors.
“It would be very interesting to have different countries using the same ingredients ... but they put in
different spices,” Ranade said. “The beans, especially the kidney beans and black beans, are very similar to the bean dishes from South America.” Ranade emphasized how sharing food at such events connects communities and provides an opportunity for collaboration and understanding.
“And some of the spices are also [similar]... we use onions and garlic, ginger, cumin, chili,” she said. “Almost all our get-togethers with friends and family revolve around food and eating these together is a very common tradition.”
For Mirian Hay-Roe, a Peruvian biologist who teaches at both Santa Fe College and UF, the event allowed for a unique exploration of shared traditions.
Hay-Roe spoke of how the festival featured dishes from various cultures, allowing people to taste flavors they might not typically experience.
“I think it's a way to be able to join the community,” Hay-Roe said.
“It’s a way to unify the community because eating something different and something special is a good way to unite the community.”
For Hay-Roe, discovering the cultural nuances of ingredients like asafoetida — a spice in Indian cuisine used as a substitute for garlic — was a learning experience in itself.
“The only way you [expand] your diet is by understanding the foods that are served in other cultures,” Hay-Roe said.
As part of the 20th year of the Gainesville Latino Film Festival, participants said the event was a poignant reminder that a shared meal is more than just a feast — it's a way to hold onto traditions, to bring people closer during both joyous and challenging times and to find comfort and connection through cultural differences.
@EneidaMariaEsc eescobar@alligator.org
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Lena Bailey
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2024
www.alligator.org/section/sports
WOMEN'S
Lena Bailey’s journey from six high school sports holds ‘special place in heart’
FAMILY, DISCIPLINE AND DEDICATION WERE VITAL ASPECTS OF THE
SOPHOMORE’S
PATH TO UF
By Amanda Roman Sports Writer
Typically, athletes spend their entire lives dedicated to one sport, fine-tuning their skills and mastering a specific craft. But for Florida soccer’s sophomore forward Lena Bailey, the path looked a bit different.
Bailey stands apart from the typical player with a diverse athletic resume. As a previous student-athlete at Tampa Catholic High School, Bailey excelled in not one, but six different varsity sports.
She played lacrosse, basketball, volleyball,
WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
soccer, flag football and track and field, but ultimately decided to pursue collegiate soccer at Florida after high school. Bailey noted that every sport she played “has a special place in [her] heart,” but soccer ended up being her true calling.
Bailey’s aptitude for athletics was inevitable given the family’s strong sports background. Her father grew up playing football, while her mother, Aesha Bailey, was also a multi-sport athlete who pursued a collegiate basketball career at Florida Southern College.
“There was a day in high school she went [to] basketball practice at 5:30 in the morning,” Aesha said. “Then she would go to school, [I’d] pick her up. [Then] she would go to soccer practice, and then from there, we would leave and go to club [soccer practice].”
As a coach for 27 years at Memorial Middle School in Tampa, Aesha provided Bailey with
the support needed to be a successful multisport athlete.
From organizing and preparing Bailey’s numerous team uniforms to driving her back and forth to countless practices, Aesha has been invaluable throughout Bailey’s remarkable athletic journey.
With her coaching background, Aesha was naturally supportive of Bailey’s pursuit of multiple sports. She was glad her athletic career wasn't confined to just one specific passion, she said.
“I’m very flexible, and I never wanted anyone to pigeonhole Lena into soccer only,” Aesha said. “That happens so much in soccer. They’re like, ‘You can only play soccer.’ Well, if you’re gonna do that to her, you won’t have her.”
While many high school athletes struggle to balance the busy schedule of competing in multiple sports, Bailey thrived amid the challenge.
“I literally loved it,” Bailey said. “I did it for fun. It wasn’t like, ‘Oh, I have to go to volleyball practice.’ Or, ‘Oh, I have to do three practices today.’ It was fun, I loved to do it. It was just me I guess. I never had any mental struggles with it.”
It may have become a seamless task for Bailey, though it’s almost unheard of for a high school athlete to play more than three sports throughout an academic year.
She still utilizes the lessons she learned from each sport, making her a well-rounded athlete for the Gators with an impressive arsenal of skills.
Read the rest online at alligator.org/ section/sports.
@mandy_romannn
aroman@alligator.org
Ocala native AC Fitzpatrick’s childhood dream turning into reality
THE FIFTH-YEAR OUTSIDE HITTER HAS THE SECOND MOST KILLS FOR GATORS VOLLEYBALL IN 2024
By Max Bernstein Sports Writer
Patric Young hasn’t let the hardships get the best of him thrFlorida volleyball’s fifth-year outside hitter AC Fitzpatrick regularly attended Gators volleyball matches growing up, with the dream of one day donning the orange and blue herself. Volleyball always served as her calling card. Fitzpatrick led Trinity Catholic High School in Ocala to four district titles, two regional titles and a 3A state championship in 2018. She capped
off her illustrious high school career as the 2020 Florida Gatorade High School Player of the Year.
Fitzpatrick received scholarship offers from 17 of the most elite volleyball programs in the nation. She ultimately committed to Penn State for the first two years of her collegiate career.
Six states away in Happy Valley, Fitzpatrick hit the ground running, starting all 16 matches in her freshman season. However, her role decreased during her sophomore campaign.
Following the retirement of Penn State’s former head coach Russ Rose, Fitzpatrick decided to enter the transfer portal in 2022.
It was then the lifelong Florida fan had a full-circle moment. Fitzpatrick received an offer to play volleyball for her dream school.
“When I entered the portal and saw that I was going to have
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a call with Mary Wise,” Fitzpatrick said. “I was like ‘Oh my gosh.’ When the opportunity arose, I was like ‘I can’t say no to this.’”
Despite spending her childhood less than 50 miles from UF’s campus, Fitzpatrick's journey to becoming a Gator was not ordinary by definition. Nevertheless, she fulfilled her mission of playing under the bright lights at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.
“I’m in such a unique situation,” Fitzpatrick said. “Being able to play for the Florida Gators and also being from Ocala, not a lot of people get that opportunity.”
Read the rest online at alligator.org/section/sports. @maxbernstein23 mbernstein@alligator.org
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