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MONDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2021
VOLUME 116 ISSUE 9
Published by Campus Communications, Inc. of Gainesville, Florida
Not officially associated with the University of Florida
Forty UF top 5 banners stolen from campus, students suspected UF plans to sell replicas in the bookstore instead of punishing students By Maya Erwin and Serra Sowers Alligator Staff Writer and Contributing Writer
Seventy-five banners that read “Top 5” hung at UF. Now, only 35 remain. Forty banners celebrating the school’s new national ranking have been stolen across the UF campus. Since the week of Sept. 13, the missing banners amount to a loss of almost $3,000, UF spokesperson Steve Orlando said. The doublesided, vinyl hangings are 24 inches wide and 72 inches tall. They cost about $73 each. In just more than a month, the banners have disappeared just as quickly as they were put up. Within six days of the U.S. News and World Report ranking announcement, banners were hung around campus including the Reitz Lawn, Plaza of the Americas and along Union Road. Printed with local vendor, Signs by Tomorrow, the banners were prepared and hung as soon as the news was released. No official complaints have been filed with the University Police Department, Orlando said. None of the bandits have come forward. Orlando attributes these thefts to excitement about the university’s new ranking. “We were glad that people are excited about the number five ranking,” he said. “We would prefer it if they would find another way to express their excitement.” Stephen Baradon, a 19-yearold UF mathematics sophomore, watched as a fellow student shimmied their way up a light pole on Stadium Road at 2 a.m. Two men stood guard at the base of the pole while the third climbed up and cut the banner down before all three biked off together, he said. “I think people are stealing the banners because of the TikTok trend, the most devious lick, and I also just think they want it because it’s kind of cool to have,” he said. “It’s something you can just show off.” Top 7 and top 6 banners were stolen in previous years, Orlando said. Last year, out of the 67 banners originally put up, 38 were stolen. Between the Top 5 and Top 6 stolen banners, the university lost more than $5,600. To keep the banners attached to the light posts, a new locking mechanism was added to the top bracket
SPORTS/SPECIAL/CUTOUT A complete set of Sheltons
by UF Facilities and Services, who hung the banners, said Jordan Benton, assistant director of operations. But he said this extra effort has not made a difference. UF doesn’t have a plan to replace the banners that have disappeared nor is it interested in penalizing students, Orlando said. Instead, Orlando said the school prefers to find ways to stop the banners from being stolen rather than punishing its own students. A student who chose to remain anonymous said she has seen friends take banners with garden shears and ladders from nearby construction sites at night. “Within the college experience, a lot of people look for a thrill,” she said. “We are high-strung students looking for something fun. Some join a frat, some get tattoos. Others steal signs.” She supports stealing the banners as a point of pride, though she acknowledges stealing is wrong. Although she doesn’t have one, she wishes she did. “If you go to a top 5 school, you want the recognition for it,” she said. “I want this, as like a trophy, to bring with me.” In an effort to combat banners from being stolen, Orlando said Thursday UF is planning on creating smaller replicas of the banners that can be purchased at the bookstore in the J. Wayne Reitz Union. It is unclear when the replicas will become available for purchase or how much they will cost. However, a UF junior who has stolen two of the top 5 banners, said this effort will not stop students from taking the banners from campus. “Nobody is going to stop stealing them if they sell overpriced ones that are smaller in the bookstore,” they said. “You can just get a bigger one, and bigger is always better, for free.” The UF junior, who has asked to remain anonymous, stole two banners from the Plaza of the Americas as well as in between the Computer Science building and Newell Hall. They borrowed a yellow ladder left on campus by maintenance services and cut down the banners with scissors at around midnight last week. “It is now the centerpiece of my room,” they said. “It is a cool thing to have, and all my friends always comment on it. It’s kind of a collectible.”
Story finish with comma, Emmadescription Shelton transferred back topg# Florida ahead of her junior season, rejoining her father and brother in the Gators’ program. Read more on pg. 11.
@mayaerwin3 merwin@alligator.org
Lauren Witte // Alligator Staff
Vivian Anderson, 2, plays in the corn pit during the Farmers Moo-ket at Critter Creek Farm Sanctuary on Sunday, Oct. 17, 2021.
GRU rate increase disproportionately affects low- and fixed-income residents CITY ELECTRIC RATES WILL GO UP 15% BY 2027
By Meghan McGlone Alligator Staff Writer
For more than a year, Estefania Torres was paying more than $500 for her utility bill — almost the cost of her monthly rent. Each month, she was brought to tears as she helplessly looked at her bill. Then, her landlord replaced her AC unit, and her bill dropped to $200. “It was cut by half just with getting the new AC unit,” the 24-year-old Gainesville resident said. “That’s what made me so angry.” Torres is one of many other Gainesville residents who depend on Gainesville Regional Utilities. But living in a lowincome neighborhood makes
Peeping Tom
Gainesville man charged with stalking, voyeurism, pg. 5
Citizens Field
A Gainesville tradition for over 70 years, pg. 6
her disproportionately affected by current and future rate increases that GRU continues to implement. GRU’s average cost for electric, water and wastewater went up by 4% in October. The average cost for GRU’s electricity went up about $6, and the total bill rose almost $10. From 2023 to 2027, electrical rates will go up 3% and wastewater will go up 5% yearly, according to GRU. Gainesville’s utility rates were the third highest of all utility rates in the state in August, according to the Florida Municipal Electric Association. Williston, which is about 20 miles away from Gainesville, had the lowest rates in Florida. Orlando also had lower rates than Gainesville, coming in at No. 20 of the cities surveyed. Low-income households tend to spend a larger portion of their
income on utilities than other households, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. One way to decrease energy costs is through efficient appliances and proper insulation. But as a renter, that’s something Torres had no control over. To try to cut back on energy costs, Torres kept her house at 78 degrees throughout the day. But because of her inefficient AC unit, her GRU bill still came back as $500 until she got her unit replaced. “The people who need the help most, the people who are struggling the most, the most disadvantaged people in our society, are the ones that are really facing the brunt of GRU’s mistakes,” Torres said. Taylor Smith, a 20-year-old Gainesville resident, shares a
SEE GRU, PAGE 5
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